Reply to Kaya Leaving; John Davis in as interim

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Reply to "Kaya Leaving; John Davis in as interim"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
DCPS's problem truly is an easy fix.

[b]Here it is in a nutshell: Create a culture and climate for learning.

How does DCPS do that? They develop a discipline policy that holds students accountable for appropriate behavior.[/b]

Giving teachers PD, evaluating them differently, bringing in new programs and tutorings, creating a wonderful curriculum are ALL MEANINGLESS if students are able to disrupt class by cussing, fighting, cussing at teachers, walking in and out of classrooms as they'd like and cussing out teachers who tell them not to...When students are sent out by teachers, they're sent right back. Teachers are told that the reason students challenge them to fight and act aggressively is because their lessons aren't engaging enough. The reason students stole from the teachers desk is because they didn't lock it. It's the teachers fault. When kids fight in class, guess who's to blame? The teacher whose lesson wasn't rigorous enough to hold their attention.

Teachers are told that it's not the kids fault they're angry and use profanity. It's the way their families speak, the language they hear in their neighborhoods. While this is true, the school still needs to send the message that the language and behavior are not okay there. Believe it or not, the majority of the kids will adapt. But they don't have to. So DC schools remain ineffective, violent, and unappealing for families that are serious about education.[/quote]

So how do you do that, though? When you say "create a culture" that does not sound like a specific, measurable thing. It also sounds to me like the OTHER things you list (develop curriculum, PD for teachers, etc.) are things that are often considered to be components to "creating a culture."

It sounds to me like as a teacher, your concern is that teachers are blamed for students' bad behavior while simultaneously being denied tools to manage that behavior. Clearly this is not universally true, since there are teachers who are able to maintain discipline. What are those teachers doing differently? Why are those methods not being passed on to other teachers?[/quote]

I think the post is specific enough. The way to do it is to create a discipline policy. You cannot expect teaching and learning to take place in chaos. Every functioning school system is such because they absolutely do not accept-much less justify-the types of behavior that are the norm in most DC schools.

And who are these teachers who have no issues with the lack of a discipline policy??? Where are they??? Across the board you will see teachers and visitors in underperforming schools bemoaning the lack of structure. There are teachers who've thrown up their hands decided they don't care as long as the pay check comes, their kids are doing well in life so forget those bums. They pass kids along en masse who don't do the work for the same reason. But that teacher who has supreme order whole others struggle is a myth used to justify turning a blind eye to poor behavior.

In functioning school systems admin deals with egregious behavior while educators teach. In DC the principals are afraid to deal with the kids as they respect NO ONE! Not even their parents![/quote]

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