One-size-fits-all support
Those most likely to solve problems are those closest to students.
Originally published in the Moultrie News.
Every year, my kids take state standardized tests, and my son really struggled last year and didn't meet the basic standard. The school is going to place him in a remediation class next year to catch up. I appreciate their effort, but I'm not sure if this is what he needs. Putting all the kids who failed the test in the same class seems like the same thing all over again.
A key purpose of state testing is to help adjust instruction and offer specific support to students who fall short.
That’s as it should be. But problems can arise when administrators, coaches, or district specialists analyze the data and blanketly prescribe the support without involving teachers. Bureaucrats don’t have the same close connection to students, making it hard for them to understand the kids’ needs.
Thus, we get remedies like this: If students fail the state reading test, stick them in extra reading classes.
That’s like a doctor looking at a chart, saying: “These 12 patients failed their physicals. Put them all on Ozempic.”
But, doctor, don’t you want to see the patients? And then, don’t you want to diagnose why they failed the physical?
Teachers are the nurses who actually spend time with the patients. We know them well and can provide valuable insight into how to fix what ails them. When looking at test scores, administrators see numbers on a spreadsheet. Teachers see names and faces.
Here’s an example: Each year, a low number of my students fail to meet the basic level in reading. The data suggests that the kids are way behind in their reading skills. They’re slapped with the tag of “below basic readers.”
It only makes sense to assign them a special class for extra reading instruction, right? Like many top-down answers, that solution is neat, logical, and wrong.
That’s because when I look at the names in red, I don’t see just scores — I see kids. I know who they are and what they need.
Yes, some may need that extra class. (They actually needed serious help in the early grades when the problems started — but that’s beyond my scope.)
The others, however, fall into one of three categories outside the classic struggling reader:
1) Multi-language learners: These students don’t read proficiently because their primary language isn’t English, so they don’t understand its fundamentals, grammar and vocabulary. An extra class would help, but not the kind for a classic struggling reader.
2) Apathetic students: These kids do not “get with the program.” They don’t study. They don’t try. They don’t care. It isn’t that they can’t read well; it’s that they don’t read at all. A basic skills class will be just another course they shrug off. The extra class they need is one where they’re forced to do their work and practice their lessons.
3) Test bombers: These are kids who deliberately flunk the state test because they know it doesn’t count for their grade. They don’t need a special class at all, just an incentive to give the test their best.
Giving a child the wrong kind of support is just as bad as no support at all. Developing a plan to address the actual needs of these students makes more sense. But because the system holds middle managers and high-priced consultants in higher regard than the nurses who care for the patients, we continue to enroll kids in classes they don’t need, stick them on learning apps that don’t help, and spend countless dollars on solutions for problems they don’t have.
It would also be wise to enlist parents, since any effective solution must involve them. If a student is a classic struggling reader, give the parents targeted activities to complete with their children on a regular basis. If the problem is something else, let them contribute to a proper solution.
Take you, for instance. You seem to realize that the special class won’t help your son. Perhaps you can offer the school a better solution. Ultimately, those most likely to solve the problem are those closest to the patients.
Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books, or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.