Reply to Poll for Teachers. Your top 5 reasons for metro D.C poor performing schools.

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is not only poverty but the culture of poverty.  I teach in a high FARMS school (not in DC).  I think we are appr. 95% FARMS.  Even if we gave money to the parents of the students, it probably wouldn't make a difference academically.  Most years, 90% of my students have cars in their family.  They never seem to go anywhere except stores and restaurants.  Going on a field trip for them is eye opening.  They could be visiting another planet for all they know.  My students' parents believe that education happens in school.  No matter how much we do to get parents to be involved (directly or indirectly) in their child's education, our efforts are mostly for naught.  The only thing that gets parents into school is giveaways mostly in the form of gift cards.  These students who qualify for free lunch sure do seem to have plenty of money for luxuries like cell phones (often newer versions than my own), electronics in the home like tablets, X-Box, etc.  These same students often don't bring in school supplies.  It is very frustrating to understand this culture when you don't come from it.  But those who come from this culture don't go to college.  We tout college and career readiness but I don't even know if college is what these families want for their kids.  Some families in this neighborhood won't allow their high schoolers to go to magnet schools b/c the local high school is where they went and they turned out fine.  Meanwhile, the local high school is near the bottom of our district.  There are many fights and daily violence there.  I want the best for my kids but many of the parents here seem to think the local option is good enough.  Poverty is very concentrated where my school so too much poverty places a huge stress on the teachers, etc.  I guess that is a districting/zoning issue.  Attendance is an issue with kids not coming to school for reasons I used to laugh at when I first started here.  Kids wouldn't come because  1) they overslept    2) it was raining/snowing, cold  3) their mom said they could stay home. All of our students live within walking distance except for special ed students who take a bus.  None of our students go hungry (all get free breakfast and lunch and many get free dinner).  We make sure all students have coats, backpacks, dental care, gloves, etc etc.  I feel like the more we do, the more we are expected to do.  I wish some of these [b]students could be spread out into schools so they aren't all concentrated in one[/b].  Maybe if there were, they might meet kids who have plans for the future that involves higher education.  I don't know if the solution is just one thing but I know that the teachers are tired and we just started.  Back to planning.[/quote]

This.[/quote]

Yes.

But then, what's the solution?[/quote]

I don't think this notion is a solution in and of itself, but I think it would help. Might not work in DC since so many families of higher SES are not in the system and attend private. But I think it would help tremendously in suburban areas just outside of DC that have VERY segregated school systems (MoCo, Fairfax, Arlington come to mind). If the students are immersed in an environment that DOES value education and effort from an early age, like Pre-K, they might be more likely to adopt that outlook. Also, they would have access to a wider variety of enrichment activities, which would be beneficial in multiple ways. For instance, let's say your school has an active PTA that can fund/staff something like a Chess Club. Not only might a student learn to play chess, which might improve logic through the ability to visualize, analyze, and think critically (which might even improve academic achievement), but they would be gaining access to a hobby that many elite/high achieving students share. I know I'm generalizing here. It could be violin lessons, or French lessons, or whatever. The more things like this that an underprivileged child can be exposed to, the better off they will be. Not just academically, but socially, too. They will have more in common with the peers they might (hopefully) encounter later in life during higher education.  [/quote]

This could be studied in some of the DC elementary schools which have increasing #s of high SES kids in the lower grades due to more high SES families moving into a neighborhood and using the local school who plan on staying at the school (e.g., in Ward 6 - Ludlow-Taylor, Maury, JO Wilson, Payne).[/quote]

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