I am an experienced teacher who has friends who work in a Title 1 middle school in FCPS. I’m shocked at how academically low so many of the students are, even kids who have been in FCPS since K or 1st grade. There needs to be a concerted effort to get kids to attend school and behave while there, and that isn’t happening. I know that a rigorous behavior modification program will work, with clear guidelines and rewards and sanctions for not behaving appropriately, but schools are left to try these things themselves, and there isn’t buy-in from the students and staff. Kids in low SES families will work for food items, for personal hygiene items, and other teen items that their families can’t buy for them. There is money to set up programs with these items as goals, and kids will behave to get them. They will not work for stickers or cute pencils. Once they get a taste of success, they will start to see success and have hope and commit to school, for the most part. Many of the kids at this school that I am familiar with score poorly on IQ tests and are at a second or third grade reading level, despite years of American schooling. They need to be taught in very small groups and not be forced to sit in general education classrooms where they have no understanding of the content. They need basic skills and vocational education so they can be good citizens and get jobs, but every day in school they feel like failures. I’m by no means lumping all Title 1 kids together, but there’s a group that is not being served by our present system.

Anonymous wrote:I’m also a teacher at a title one elementary school and love it. I have been here 4 years. We have a wonderful principal at this school who supports everyone. I worry what will happen if she retires. I hear horrible stories from the other schools in our district with worse leadership. All of our staff is very caring and loving towards our students. The first year I was here was very hard because they were trying restorative practices and there were no real consequences so there were major behaviors. We also had a couple of kids move last summer that had violent tendencies.

On the flip side I have also taught at an alternative high school that was for kids that were dropped out or expelled from a major public school system. They were truly living in poverty and had few role models except mostly grandmas. They had major absences and brought in things that we could not overcome in the short time we saw them. Also, the administration treated the teachers horribly and we had lots of turnover.

Teachers can try their best which most of them do from all the schools I’ve worked at and seen but we can’t control the other 17 hours a day when they’re not with us and that has a huge impact, more than we can overcome.

I wanted to add that after the first year of restorative practices they saw it wasn’t working and switched to something with consequences which helped tremendously.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

This is simply not true. Chronic absenteeism is way higher at Title 1 schools and it affects all aspects of education and behavior. It is highly disruptive to a class as the teacher is constantly trying to catch kids up, taking time away from everyone else. Parents regularly no-show meetings and conferences. They don’t come pick up the kids when they are sick. Kids are routinely promoted to the next grade with no mastery of the prior grade. This is not a matter of option.

You seem extremely judgmental; sorry not sorry.

DP. There were no judgements or opinions in the post you are referring to. There were several examples of what poorly performing students and their parent(s) chronically do. And fail to do. Many of them are low SES and on welfare, hence the extra Title 1 federal funds.

I’m also a teacher at a title one elementary school and love it. I have been here 4 years. We have a wonderful principal at this school who supports everyone. I worry what will happen if she retires. I hear horrible stories from the other schools in our district with worse leadership. All of our staff is very caring and loving towards our students. The first year I was here was very hard because they were trying restorative practices and there were no real consequences so there were major behaviors. We also had a couple of kids move last summer that had violent tendencies.

On the flip side I have also taught at an alternative high school that was for kids that were dropped out or expelled from a major public school system. They were truly living in poverty and had few role models except mostly grandmas. They had major absences and brought in things that we could not overcome in the short time we saw them. Also, the administration treated the teachers horribly and we had lots of turnover.

Teachers can try their best which most of them do from all the schools I’ve worked at and seen but we can’t control the other 17 hours a day when they’re not with us and that has a huge impact, more than we can overcome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

This is simply not true. Chronic absenteeism is way higher at Title 1 schools and it affects all aspects of education and behavior. It is highly disruptive to a class as the teacher is constantly trying to catch kids up, taking time away from everyone else. Parents regularly no-show meetings and conferences. They don’t come pick up the kids when they are sick. Kids are routinely promoted to the next grade with no mastery of the prior grade. This is not a matter of option.

+1000

Generational poverty and generational lack of education or learning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

This is simply not true. Chronic absenteeism is way higher at Title 1 schools and it affects all aspects of education and behavior. It is highly disruptive to a class as the teacher is constantly trying to catch kids up, taking time away from everyone else. Parents regularly no-show meetings and conferences. They don’t come pick up the kids when they are sick. Kids are routinely promoted to the next grade with no mastery of the prior grade. This is not a matter of option.

You seem extremely judgmental; sorry not sorry.

Everything I stated is an objective fact.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

This is simply not true. Chronic absenteeism is way higher at Title 1 schools and it affects all aspects of education and behavior. It is highly disruptive to a class as the teacher is constantly trying to catch kids up, taking time away from everyone else. Parents regularly no-show meetings and conferences. They don’t come pick up the kids when they are sick. Kids are routinely promoted to the next grade with no mastery of the prior grade. This is not a matter of option.

You seem extremely judgmental; sorry not sorry.

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

This is simply not true. Chronic absenteeism is way higher at Title 1 schools and it affects all aspects of education and behavior. It is highly disruptive to a class as the teacher is constantly trying to catch kids up, taking time away from everyone else. Parents regularly no-show meetings and conferences. They don’t come pick up the kids when they are sick. Kids are routinely promoted to the next grade with no mastery of the prior grade. This is not a matter of option.

I am an algebra 2 teacher for 11th graders at a title 1 school. Most of the curriculum is watered down to pre-algebra. They struggle to stay in school and struggle with simple elementary math. They mainly do Aleks and a packet of notes per week, where they cheat through. They refuse to do tests and do not do traditional homework or other assignments because they can't do it alone after asking for help more than 5 times. This is most on level classes at a title 1 school.

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

+1.

There is “right or wrong.”

There is nothing “bad” at or about Title I schools. The students and parents simply have alternative lifestyles, that’s all.

Parents care. But there is only so much they can do when they are working 12 hour days to put food on the table.

“Even when parents care”.

Sorry but caring is an action word, you demonstrate care and caring. Not merely say it.

It is not a concept you willy nilly say that you are, yet do nothing to show that you care.

Anonymous wrote:What you have learned is children growing up poor are disadvantaged in every possible way. There is no greater indicator of how successful a child will be than their parents’ economic status. Many of their parents also lack education and this means that activities that enrich and support learning cannot happen at home and your endeavors to teach them are solo and not reinforced- even when the parents care, and almost always they do, they simply lack the tools to academically support their children.

-another title 1 teacher

They lack the means, values, and intent to use birth control, marry, and parent. Often both of them. If both are even around.

Anonymous wrote:Without a major education overhaul, public education will be only for poor and Sped within one generation. We were pretty die hard public education supporters (it went well for us as children) and I honestly don’t think my grandchildren will attend public school unless something massively changes. My youngest is in 9th grade and decided not to change course but I can’t wait to be done with public education as it stands. Kids who want to learn and be at school are treated like criminals because of all the crap the school tolerates from the other kids. Bathrooms are regularly locked and guarded. Cheating is rampant. They make entire classes retake tests because a few kids cheated, while those kids get a slap on the wrist.

+100