This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 7, 2013: I'm a K-12 teacher for a large school district in the St. Louis area. I teach history and English as a second language. These thoughts come from 20 years of experience working with students from pre-K to college; in three states and abroad; in rural, suburban and inner city environments.
What many teachers need mostly are up-to-date materials, as well as technology that is in working condition and sufficient training on how to use the technology in the classroom.
In addition to this, and it is a big one, we teachers and parents (I speak here as a parent and teacher) need an organized administration and district that is consistent with its support and follow-through.
One example of this could be getting teacher feedback on a new report card, piloting the report card one year and then training all teachers how to use it before implementing it with students -- as opposed to throwing a new report card at a teachers three weeks before report cards are out. Sounds crazy on paper. But it happened!
Also needed is consistency with discipline practices and programs for kids — just overall consistency and support for teachers.
On the home front: Not to pass the buck on to the parents, but the No. 1 person in a child's life is his or her parents.
I say parents in the plural. Once you diminish that number to the singular parent, it becomes even harder to bridge the gap. Schools can offer and supply all sorts of assistance for that child, but in the end that is not something a school can fix for them at home.
Economics is a big player in how someone will do in life and school.
While watching a Marzano webinar on my lunch yesterday, I was reminded just how disproportionate it can be for kids coming from poverty. The level of language as well as the sheer number of words spoken in the home is much different in a higher versus lower income home. The average child in a higher income home will have a 30,000-50,000 word vocabulary by age 5, and a lower-income child will only have about 10,000. Already at 5 years old, before "schooling" officially begins, children are at a massive deficit.
Kids learn way before we teachers ever get our hands on them. Brains do most of their growing between birth and age 5. All this occurs before children ever take their first steps into kindergarten. So these children are already starting out at the bottom of the pack. And we, as a society, are not making enough gains in this area — not just in pre-K but throughout childhood.
And when I talk about lower socio-economic families, it is not so much being poor that is the problem, as is it the culture of poverty, which I find to be the greatest battle.
What I mean is the culture that can evolve in poverty, i.e. immediate gratification and materialistic focus on what others "see." Very surface, i.e. "see me in new Nikes, see my new phone" instead of "save money to put toward owning a home or investing in retirement."
When I'm talking to kids, I do my fair share of preaching about getting ahead in life. A lot of what I talk about is their need to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them each day. School only has them seven hours a day and eight months a year. I ask them all the time: "What are you doing on your own to advance your learning? Reach your goals?"
I want them to understand, deeply, that learning starts with them. It is the school's and teachers' responsibility to set up situations that will best engage them, make material comprehensible and meaningful to them.
I totally understand how difficult and utterly stressful things can be when you don’t have enough money. I know what it is like when you look at something in the store for $1 instead of the item you really would like for $1.50, and put it back because it will save 50 cents. I know what it is like when you have to think about getting meds versus getting clothes or food. I've lived it; been on WIC;, been on food stamps. I still shop at second-hand stores and use coupons to get by.
I very much understand. But I know that my goal setting, hard work and perseverance will keep me moving forward and help me get better each year.
This is the idea I push with my students.
Gelene Strecker-Sayer is a parent and teacher and lives in St. Louis.