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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I've worked in high FARMs schools and low FARMs schools. The stress teachers and staff deal with in high FARMs schools is unbelievable. The teachers are blamed for students not meeting proficiency. We had supports like snack bags sent home for the weekend, Linkages therapists and case managers on site, a mobile dentist who cleans teeth on site etc. Kids were pulled out of class for these things, and while they are very important, that is time missed from instruction. The neediest kids are pulled the most often.

What happens then is that even though the kids are getting important services, they get even farther behind academically due to the missed class time. These also tend to be kids who are frequently absent as well. Teachers are told they're making excuses during data chats when they explain that the family shares housing with other families and their family shares one bedroom in the house and the new baby keeps the student up all night. Or that they were absent multiple days last week so this week all the services they missed are trying to ensure they see the kid in case they stop coming to school again so they have spent little time inside the classroom. We were told we need to just find a way to make sure they're caught up. Meanwhile this is one student out of twenty something (no reduced class sizes in 3rd-5th in a focus school). Many other students have similar situations but we can't let anyone fall through the cracks. So the teacher gets stressed because it ultimately all comes down on her/him when the student is below grade level. So then the teacher starts resenting the times the student is pulled out of class for services because it just means the student is getting farther and farther behind.

Contrast that with teaching in a low FARMs school where I'm constantly being praised for my data but the truth is that I'm not doing anything special or working even a quarter as hard as I did in the high FARMs school where I was blamed and demoralized for things out of my control. Here I'm being praised for things out of my control (students who come from high SES families) and being made to feel like I single handedly was able to get 90% of my class above grade level when they probably would have achieved the same way with pretty much any teacher in my role. I have time to work with the 10% on grade level and the few below who need more support and don't mind at all when they're pulled out of class because I know I have time to catch them up and it won't mean making a choice between providing a reading intervention to a student who won't move past EMT because he's ESOL level 2 and the special ed team won't acknowledge ESOL students can also have learning disabilities, or administering a mandatory district assessment to a student who was absent when the class took it. I remember the panic I would feel when the Linkages therapist came to pull a kid who was absent 3 days this week already. Of course I knew they needed the service and would never get in the way of that, but I would start panicking about how MAP testing is next week and it will fall on me if the student doesn't make what's deemed as sufficient progress.

I have time now to do all the cutesy fun things that kids love like transforming the classroom into a different theme for the week and having all activities relate to the theme or having the class create and put on a skit for parents to come watch. It's kind of funny to me that now I'm seen as a "good" teacher when at my former school I kept being asked what more I could do to help students achieve proficiency as though if I just put in a smidge more effort the kids with significant needs would just magically get it and achieve proficiency.

My point is that we (admin, central office, the public) have to stop blaming teachers who work in high FARMS schools for what the data looks like and tell them they're making excuses when they point out very real situations that impact students. Of course we can't just throw our hands up and say they come from struggling families and there's nothing we can do about it so the data is what it is. But the way the system works now demoralizes teachers who choose those roles and they are the ones getting burnt out quickly when they are doing the absolute best they can. They need support and acknowledging that the students face serious hardships isn't making excuses--it's acknowledging the reality and we know that trauma impacts learning but we have to pretend it doesn't. MCPS gives very mixed messages about that.

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Oh my gosh that panic when someone comes to pull them out! Yes! I've taught in both types of schools as well and completely agree. Acknowledging the issues doesn't mean we're making excuses. I can't stand administrators like that. I teach elementary school but know of a few of my former students who dropped out of high school due to either getting pregnant or getting a girl pregnant and having to start working full time. [/quote]

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