Two Educators Reflect on Eisen's Essay

Last week, Marc Eisen wrote about the challenges of educating our children. My Life and Times With the Madison Public Schools

The danger Madison faces is too starkly pitting the needs of the kids who have fallen behind against the needs of the high achievers. It will make things even worse if middle-class families feel their kids are suffering.

Milwaukee's ruined school system is a testament to middle-class abandonment...

I asked two prominent educators to comment.  The first response is from my cousin, Audrey Soglin, who, after twenty five years teaching in the Evanston, Illinois elementary schools is now the Executive Director of the Consortium for Educational Change in Illinois.

Audrey's response:

I think we have learned and the research supports that kids need a balanced literacy approach.  The "whole language vs. phonics" wars should really be put to rest. It is an old fight.  Kids don't learn the same way so a variety of instructional methods should be available.  It is not unusual for districts to offer both direct instruction to identified students and reading recovery to others.  The problems that kids have are different so the instructional interventions should be different as well. In terms of kids in heterogeneous classrooms receiving instruction - all kids need to be taught at their level. The challenge for teachers in diverse reading and math classrooms is to figure out how to meet those very different needs.  It is difficult but not impossible.

The author seems to be saying that we should be segregating our classrooms and our schools.  If you look at the scores of low-income students in low income schools-where the demographics are 90% low income, 90% African American or Hispanic - the scores are generally low.  It is not like segregating the kids will automatically raise the scores. 

I think he is concerned that the bright kids are challenged, presented with a rigorous curriculum and held to high expectations, which is what all kids need. I guess he is saying that it is not possible to have this kind of education these days because of the types of students in public schools now. The kind of kids and this "politically correct"  curriculum that he refers to is the reason why the quality of education has suffered.  I would say that this is a pretty simplistic viewpoint.  There are a lot of things that effect the achievement of schools.  He identifies some things that we know are important: effective leadership, a rigorous curriculum that has enough "stretch", best practices around instructional strategies.  But there are a lot of other things that need to be addressed: what kind of professional development is provided by the district or by the school?   Are the new teachers mentored effectively?  Do the teachers and principals receive the kind of data they need to effectively guide instruction for all kids in diverse classrooms?  Do the teachers have time to collaborate with each other, to review the data, and learn from each other to improve? Just to name a few. 

I think the author is feeling challenged and frustrated by the relatively rapid change in demographics Madison experienced.  And that is exactly what the schools face as well.  My guess is that the change of demographics is presenting challenges that are probably taxing the entire city in different ways.

Audrey suggested I run this by Char Gearing, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Wisconsin Education Association Council.  Char's response follows:

I think Audrey has captured very well the relationship between demographic and ethnicity changes and the needs of the classroom.

I would caution that all of us in our role as parents have data about learning, the learning of our children, but that does not equal valid data for classroom or school wide decision-making.  Our children each have different learning styles and have a different set of life experiences (emotional context) that they bring to the learning targets and topics.  It reinforces the important concept that learning is personal and individual, hence the need for balanced approaches to literacy, numeracy and other areas of learning.

All children enter and exit puberty differently too.  Some have amplified emotions, but still enjoy and succeed in middle school.  Others are overwhelmed by both the physical changes and by emotions, especially feelings of anxiety, inferiority and unworthiness.  The family relationships are a dynamic outside of the school’s direct influence.  For example, (a child) sunk lower and lower academically during 8^th grade and then into high school.  ...disinterested and bored, but in reality, she was underperforming in response to her feelings of insecurity.  . (That can be the work of Mom and Dad to fix.)

... What I am saying is there is complexity to a child’s success or failure... 

I agree that we must not let liberalism or progressivism cloud our judgment as we look at the evidence of what works in instruction.  We need a menu of research-based interventions and instructional strategies to draw from.  The sooner we embrace education as a science upheld by research, and practiced by intuitive and caring teachers, the more effective and respected our professional work will become.  We also need to be realistic about the emotional needs of teen-age learners.  Adolescent learners do not learn at their best in classrooms with 30 and more students.  They need more individual attention than that class size will allow.  They need to be known by their teacher and that is difficult when a teacher interacts with 150 different students each day.  Research is clear that student engagement or the student feeling important to adults in the school can counteract truancy and dropping out.

As for learning being personal, we can differentiate if the numbers are smaller; if we have grade level, or course topic, common planning time to work as a team on differentiation strategies for different kinds of learners; and if we have opportunity to share and replicate instructional success across a team.

My appreciation to both Audrey and Charlene, They both gave me a perspective that is classic and yet refreshing.

Comments

[Thomas J. Mertz]

I'm a product of the Evanston Public Schools. I don't think I crossed paths with Ms Soglin, but she reminds me of many of the teachers who shaped my faith in public education. I'm proud to share the connection.

[KDeRosa]

While it is true that children are indeed different in many ways; however, it is equally true that children are the same in many ways. What exactly is wrong with identifying those similarities and teaching to them?

It is the content of instruction that disctates about 90% of what must be taught. Content, and the nature of content, doesn't change according to the interests of children, nor according to any other characteristic of children. If we were trying to teach a gorilla to read, the nature of reading wouldn't change. Obviously, when it comes to the nature of content, differences among learners don't have much to do with anything.

[Chris]

I too am a product of Evanston public schools and if Madison can take a lesson from that system, it would be good I believe. I didn't have Audrey as a teacher but from what I do recall, the teachers were excellent and key to the quality of the system. I can't speak for the classes intended for less well-prepared students but most of the teachers I had were top-notch.

I do not recall a lot of hand-holding, however. My impression of MMSD is that the goal is to have excellent teachers use their sparse time helping the poor students instead of pushing the good students to excel. From what I recall in my education, poor students were given a reasonable chance, then, if they didn't keep up, sent down to the minors (easier classes).

I really think that teachers should teach students at a level they feel students are capable of. If some students can't handle that level then they should be in an easier class. The level shouldn't be adjusted to the lowest capability in the class nor should the teacher have to waste valuable time trying to bring poor students up to speed.

So, yes, classrooms should be segregated by skill level and drive to learn. Maybe that results in race and socioeconomic segregation as well; maybe not. Education in our great country is free so regardless of a student's race or poverty level, he can study and learn as well as the next student. If he doesn't want to take advantage of this free and ultimately inalienable gift, then his lack of drive should not affect the students who do want to.