Retired teacher: Make admins teach. Reduce testing. Eliminate gifted. Restore recess.
Retired Atlanta Public Schools teacher Scott Stephens — he taught English for 15 years at Grady High School and taught for a decade in Fulton County — sent me a list of reforms. I thought it was a great list and have his permission to share it here:
Courtesy of Scott Stephens:
1. All certified personnel at a school, including academy leaders, graduation coaches, instructional coaches, assistant principals and principals, should teach at least one class during the school year. This would be of benefit in two ways. First, it would help reduce class size and, most important, it would provide administrators with continued input from the classroom. I believe that when a number of people are at school, but not teaching, morale is adversely affected.
2. All students (K-12) need daily physical activity, both recess and structured physical education. Many students need to get rid of excess energy. Others need to lose weight and get in shape. Further, many discipline problems result from making children sit all day in a classroom. Physical education should be a part of all students’ (k-12) daily schedule. It should be demanding and rigorous, resulting in an elevated heart rate and some sweating. Only athletes get that kind of physical education now.
3. Students need models for behavior. To that end, teachers need to be present, on time and prepared for each class. There are far too many teacher absences on Fridays and Mondays. Stricter guidelines for absences around a holiday or weekend should be implemented.
4. There is too much standardized testing, particularly at the elementary level. At the high school level, I applaud the elimination (finally) of the graduation test as it is replaced by End-Of-Course-Tests (EOCT). However, the EOCT should reflect the curriculum taught in the classroom. The present 9th grade English EOCT, for example, does not test students on any of the readings from the textbook that we have done. It is a generic reading comprehension test that is so easy that many of my students fail to take it seriously. Another issue is the system’s emphasis on PSAT, SAT and AP tests. In many instances, these tests are given during class time. Even more troubling is that many school systems pay the Educational Testing Service for these tests. The Educational Testing Service has been criticized for profit making and high administrative costs. These tests should be paid for by students’ families with a few exceptions made for pupils on free or reduced lunch. Let’s stop subsidizing an out-of- state company.
5. Transportation to and from school could be reformed in several ways. First, school buses should be eliminated for high school students. Instead, all students in Fulton and DeKalb counties eligible for transportation should be given a monthly MARTA pass. This is similar to the system in New York City where students take the subway or bus to school. The present system duplicates already existing MARTA routes. Even worse, many days the buses arrive late to school because they have been used earlier for elementary and middle school routes. Having ridden both school buses and MARTA buses with students, I know that most of the discipline problems on the school bus would be eliminated if the students rode with the general populace on MARTA. Teachers and staff who choose to ride MARTA to school should be given incentives for doing so, eliminating the growing parking problem for school staff. Finally, students who choose to drive to school should be required to pay for a parking pass and park in assigned spots. This would help with the problem of unwelcome visitors to the school and would generate some much needed revenue. Atlanta taxpayers should not be providing free parking to students, especially where there are public transportation alternatives.
6. Struggling students and low achieving schools need the best teachers. In order to provide the best teachers for those students who need extra help, teachers who work in low-performing schools should receive incentive pay and be given reduced class sizes. Also, teachers who teach below-grade-level students should be paid extra for the tutorials they often provide.
7. We are suffering from grade inflation. There are several reasons for this. One is that a passing grade has been raised from 60 to 70. A passing grade should be dropped to a 50 or 60, giving teachers more latitude in creating challenging tests and giving teachers a greater range of numbers for use in evaluating students. Many students are receiving a 70, not having mastered 70 percent of the work. Second, the HOPE Scholarship program has resulted in many more “B” averages. Some students that qualify for HOPE based on their GPA have not been able to pass a graduation test or get a decent score on the SAT. Many more lose their HOPE after their first year in college.
8. Eliminate the challenge and gifted programs. Too many parents are having their children privately tested, resulting in a huge increase in the “gifted.” Even worse, gifted classes are kept at 20 or fewer students. Without an increase in the number of teachers, that means that the students who really need the smaller class size are actually being placed in larger classes. Meanwhile, the gifted students, who can be effectively taught in larger classes, are now in classes that should be reserved for those needing academic help.
9. We need to provide better alternatives for the non-college bound students and provide more practical learning experiences for all students. Classes in keyboarding, wood and metal shop, auto shop, carpentry, cooking, fashion design, sewing, first aid, gardening and personal finance among many others should be expanded or introduced.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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209 comments Add your comment
MB
September 2nd, 2012
9:01 pm
@GradyHSStudent Sweetheart, no matter what you may have taken away from your Grady experience, it does not represent a microcosm of Georgia schools. Compared to the majority of GA high schools, Grady has a disproportionate number of high-SES, college-educated families.in its feeder district. Yes, you have “diversity,” but you also pass the tipping point in parental support. Gifted education is state-funded, so removing the option to support gifted students with some differentiated instruction and support would mean that many students in Georgia’s other schools would not have their academic needs met. My children were educated in Fulton schools and I can tell you that overall their general ed classes (e.g., political science, econ, and health) were MUCH different from their gifted, honors and AP classes and I heard from their friends (and their friends’ parents) that those who opted to blend AP and college-prep found many of the CP classes “a joke.” Not saying that you are wrong in your perception that there was little difference in honors, AP and gen ed, other than a week’s pacing, but it is YOUR experience with your personal schedule at ONE school and others of us had much different experiences. Maybe that’s why Mr. Stephens has the perspective he does; unfortunately, I have heard that APS has not had a concerted effort and expectations for gifted services in the past. Because APS has been, perhaps, misguided and disjointed in gifted services doesn’t mean that all of the gifted students in Georgia should be penalized.
MB
September 2nd, 2012
9:17 pm
@RonF Dual enrollment arrangements are, sadly, too dependent on local system or school priorities, it seems, but the (in)famous bureaucracy can also get in the way. Fulton, as noted above, is generally pretty supportive of joint enrollment. We were the first system to collaborate with GA Tech in distance learning to have students our high schools complete Calc II and III from Georgia Tech in classrooms in their home schools. Due to commute times, it was obviously not easy to have students enrolled part-time to attend Tech physically, but arrangements were made for students to continue with Tech classwork when needed through joint enrollment and the TAG Directed Study program. Fulton also worked with Georgia State and Perimeter to offer college English, mostly on-campus for the high school students. (At least one principal, however, would not allow this so students had to go to a Perimeter campus for the classes.)
Also, strange implementations of regulations lead to difficulties for students. For example, students who were very accelerated found one year that the ACCEL program (HOPE for joint enrollment) had been limited to 1000 and 2000 level classes. They were told that they COULD take the 3000 or 4000 level math class at Tech or UGA, but their parents would have to pay half-time tuition. (No, I am NOT kidding. ) After multiple phone calls and some questions from the lieutenant governor’s office, this was resolved, but… later a policy was implemented (than later revoked) that students could only qualify for ACCEL for four semesters.
Eternal vigilance to even try to keep us 1st world, sigh…
CobbTeach
September 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
Smartest article I’ve read yet. I know eliminating gifted programming would ruffle a lot of feathers, but consider this: While “gifted” classes max out at 20, the inclusion classes that help special education students work within the general education classroom don’t face any class size restrictions. So last year, I had 15 special education students in a 3rd grade classroom of 22. How am I supposed to meet their needs?
MB
September 3rd, 2012
9:03 am
@CobbTeach Gifted services are state-, rather than federally-, funded, so class size maximums are waivered most places now. (And the class sizes of 20 were only in elementary school, and generally only for the pull-out classes of one period a day or one day a week.). If you truly had 15 identified special ed students in your class last year, you should have had certified special ed team teachers with you. I suspect that instead you had a number of students on 504 or SST, (Not that they don’t present challenges…)
Here is a DOE document that shows that gifted services are weighted at 1.6695 per FTE. For comparison, kindergarten is 1.6611 and Special Ed weights vary from 2.3975 (Level 1) to 2.4607 (Inclusion) to 5.8308 (Level IV). http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Technology-Services/Data-Collections/Documents/FTE%20Resources/FY2013%20FTE%20%20Categories%20and%20Weights.pdf
A teacher of gifted in middle or high school could have a mixed model class of 30+ students with IQs between 90 and 180. Chances are high that she’ll have kids with ADD, etc., as well. How is s/he supposed to meet their needs? (As TeacherMom4 notes, it is hard to meet the needs of the gifted as well, but unfortunately for the overall good, more of the instruction will be directed to the lower levels.)
MidtownMama
September 4th, 2012
1:11 am
Mr. Stephens was a well respected teacher and was sought after by both students and parents. He taught gifted literature classes and published the literary magazine each year. He rode a bike to school to stay fit and he did not want to leave the classroom to be an administrator because he believed it was decidedly more important and satisfying to teach children. He had a reputation for having very difficult classes that required a child to produce and learn at a high level. Students had to work hard for him and because he did not accept garbage, they knew that they deserved their grades and they were proud when they pulled an A or B in his class. The school where he taught welcomes a diverse group of children–wealthy, poor ( and every color) to come together and learn to the best of their abilities. The school was never part of any scandal and Mr. Stephen’s has more integrity that most of us in this world. There are a lot of negative comments coming out of the northern counties. You are up there for a reason though, aren’t you? FYI: teachers only make about 50k after a decade of service. For the last 4 years though, their pay has been reduced each year with multiple unpaid furloughs and a step freeze. So okay, you don’t want to listen to someone who graduated from Stanford and gave his all for 15 years? Hey, no problem, there are plenty of folks ready to tell you pretty lies. Truly gifted students should only attend two years of high school at the most. They can and should go straight into college classes. That is why you don’t need gifted classes beyond 10th grade. AP is nothing like a real college class. Don’t believe that? Sit in on both. All the standardized testing, eats up at least a month of class time each year. What a shame.
Puzzled
September 4th, 2012
7:34 am
Are you serious…eliminate the gifted program? And I would love to know what county accepts “outside” testing…we do have reciprocity in the state of Georgia, but not with other states…and I do the testing for gifted…not an outside source. Most students from other states do not even qualify for Georgia’s gifted program because our standards are higher than other states.
These are the students who will make a difference…who will achieve…they are in smaller classes (although not anymore) because they learn differently…gifted is not where money is being spent…try justifying a special education class with 8 students, 1 teacher and 2 parapros to parents of regular ed students and see how far you get.
GT Alumna
September 4th, 2012
8:55 am
Not that anyone at the DOE will take this seriously, but… if we did ability grouping, you could take those kids that are truly gifted (as verified by objective measurements) and put them in classes of much higher numbers. By lessening the disparate cohorts in the classroom, the size could grow assuming you had the space. Then, the student populations in the remaining classrooms that have multiple cohorts could be reduced. That way, the schools could still do the “differentiated” instruction that they love so much AND give the non-gifted learners more individual attention. Is this a new idea? Nope. This is how it was done when I was in school. Advanced classrooms were kept between 25 and 35 students. Other classes were kept below 20.
***One item to note: measurement of gifted must be objective and verified as the only way the large classroom would work effectively is if the kids were of similar abilities.
Of course, another idea would be to allow for subject-matter or full-grade acceleration. This is also not a new idea. When I was in ES and MS, kids were moved between class levels depending upon their ability to show mastery of prerequisite concepts. And really advanced kids were allowed to do independent study while sitting in another class. These solutions were cheap to implement and met the academic needs of the students.
Teacher
September 5th, 2012
1:08 am
I am an educator, and I need to vent….anonymously. Anonymously – why? If I were to openly express my frustrations in any sort of public forum, I would be labeled with any, or all, of the following: negative, not a team player, pessimistic, and the list goes on. Actually, I consider myself a fairly positive person. However, I am becoming increasingly more cynical as each new school year brings a myriad of new policies and procedures which directly affect my ability to focus on the instruction of my students. As each new year begins, my creativity as a classroom teacher is limited by increasing class sizes, limited budgets, paperwork, lack of textbooks, copy machine quotas (We are a school…pencil and PAPER are basic necessities), and incessant testing. The latter is, by far, the most intrusive and useless. For the past three weeks, I have been required to test all 27 of my students, individually, in the areas of math and reading. I am not referring to a quick, concise computer based assessment. I am referring to one-on-one individualized step by step testing while the remainder of the class is working on “busy work.” I understand that we are in the midst of the data driven phenomenon, but when does common sense come into play? We are cutting direct instruction by 1-2 months when you consider that these tests have to be conducted three times a year, in addition to the state standardized tests. Not to mention that preparing to instruct 27 students each day, leaves little time to analyze this mountain of data. But it sure looks good when it is neatly compiled on spreadsheets and school improvement plans! I also find it ironic that we are told to differentiate to meet all the individualized learning needs and styles of our students, yet we, as educators, must follow these ridiculous cookie cutter methods of instruction and plan with our grade levels a minimum of two times a week . I am, by all means, a team player and value professional dialogue with my peers, but let us decide what information and teaching topics are most useful to us. This mandatory meeting time , by the way, would be better spent in our classrooms adequately preparing for the next school day. We are so often told what we can’t teach in the classroom. What has happened to professional judgment? What happened to wisdom as it relates to experience? What happened to grades on report cards? Yes, grades – A, B, C, D, and F’s. Now it is, emerging, progressing, and mastered, which are completely subjective and ambiguous. Ok, I am rambling. It must be because it is 1:00 a.m. I can’t sleep. I wonder why.
Will
September 10th, 2012
10:34 pm
#4: Literature EOCTs necessarily must test general concepts, because not all teachers across the state give the same reading material to their classes. Does Stephens propose a statewide reading list for all HS literature classes?
Emphasis on the PSAT, the SAT, and AP exams is a national issue, not something that school districts can just “reform.” Students need these tests to win scholarships, be admitted to college, and prepare for college, respectively. Schools don’t have a choice when these national exams are administered. While AP exams are always (and the PSAT is sometimes) given during class time, the SAT is never given during class time FYI.
#7: While I agree that too many undeserving students qualify for HOPE, I’m surprised Stephens complains about their bad SAT scores, considering his distaste for standardized testing in #4.
#8: Stephens makes an absurd conclusion in calling for the elimination of gifted classes. Couldn’t schools just take up his (reasonable) suggestions? Make the gifted pool more exclusive and make the gifted classes a bit bigger. No reason to trash them altogether.
#9 is an excellent idea.
Overall, this list is pretty shortsighted. Just because he’s taught high school for 25 years doesn’t mean he gets the big picture.