warning: system failure.

i know that one of the reasons i'm doing what i'm doing is because the students are ridiculously underserved. it's just ridiculous to me that they are underserved by the administrators who have the most knowledge about their struggles and the most access to a variety of resources to help them. i'm sorry if this was naive or ignorant or whatever, but i expected that people who are professional educators are generally in it for the kids. they have their best interests at heart. i'm starting to not believe that any more. call it disillusionment, or call it enlightenment. either way, it sucks.

not just one, but several of the high schools in my school district handpick children to be placed in classes in tested areas. there are 5 classes with state mandated tests that count towards the students' graduation requirements. on top of that, there are state tests for other classes that still count toward the schools' annual yearly progress, and overall image. the big 5 are algebra 1, english 1, geometry, civics and economics and biology. others are chemistry, algebra 2, physics, u.s. history and physical science. on top of these classes, there are other electives and more remediated classes that do not require state tests. so basically, kids who are not almost guaranteed to pass the state tests based on their past performances are not placed in those classes. they are not given the chance to learn at a higher level, or to challenge themselves to perform. awesome. we're letting our kids down by failing to have high expectations for them. we actually have really low expectations for them, and we're letting them know that by denying them entry to difficult classes. jerks.

on top of failing our kids, we're also failing our teachers. at one high school in the district, teachers are being moved around like chess pieces according to so-called "data" and student needs. ummm, students need to have their teachers switched mid-semester? i don't think so. students need consistency and to feel valued. neither of those scenarios occur when you yank their teacher. and that situation doesn't exactly encourage the teacher to be motivated in his or her next classroom, especially when they were not originally given his or her own classroom, or he or she had already had his or her classes switched once before during the school year. jerks!

i would really love to believe that curriculums and tests are developed in order to push our kids to succeed. i would love to believe that everyone has their best interests and futures at heart, and take into consideration a diverse student population - in relation to race, ethnicity, culture, religion, socioeconomic status, etc. - but i'm not convinced that is true. standardized tests ask questions using vocabulary that my students have never encountered and about situations they've never encountered. no matter what you say, i'll never believe that british literature is what is truly relevant to high school seniors right now. students who have special needs generally get the shaft in relation to classes and testing. once again, jerks.

maybe i'm oversensitive or overreacting or something, but most of my students don't know to question the system or to be upset about these things. i'm going to have to do it for them.

let's move on to more positive experiences... i was asked to speak at a recent professional development about one of my student's academic progress so far. i have not yet figured out a solid method for tracking progress towards mastering english objectives since they are written so ambiguously, so i don't really have any quantitative data. well, the group i was supposed to speak in front of is extremely data-driven, so i was nervous that my students' success stories wouldn't be good enough. i mean, the fact that tamez now capitalizes words correctly most of the time is a huuuuge deal to me. the fact that quanesha displays a more positive attitude is a huuuuuuge deal to me. the fact that brittney held a very mature, not to mention grammatically correct, 5+ minute conversation with my family is a huuuuuuuuuuge deal to me. but who else would care about these things? they don't know my students, they don't understand that these are big deals.

on friday, i found my story. one of my students is on the autism spectrum. though he is academically gifted, he has extreme social anxiety and a very difficult time with oral expression. no matter, though. he is still required to give a senior exit presentation about an argumentative research paper he wrote last year in front of a panel of judges. i knew going into the semester that this was going to be a challenge, and i was under the impression that no accommodations or modifications could be made to the presentation itself even if a student had special needs. i helped david to prepare a 6 minute speech on his topic and gave him ideas for a product to go along with it. i gave him advice about how to make eye contact with his audience and when to make pauses. we practiced every day for a month to get him ready for the worst case scenario - presenting in front of a panel of strangers. meanwhile, i was attempting to contact the district coordinator of the senior exit project to explain the situation and ask if anything could be done to meet my student's needs. ta da! there was. i finally heard back. i had two options. 1) david could present in front of the regular panel, without letting them know david has autism, and then i could adjust his grade accordingly, or 2) david could present to a panel of people with whom he is familiar, and that panel could give him a grade based on the same guidelines as the regular panel. option 2 is in david's best interest, and it helped to restore my faith in the system, if even just a wee bit. on friday, david presented his 6 minute speech in front of his special education case manager, his study skills teacher, myself and another teacher with whom he is familiar. he did an awesome job! he made eye contact with the audience, he asked questions to get the audience involved, he paused in appropriate places and came up with a very good product. using the state rubric, our panel decided that he deserved a 4/4 for his presentation. we were able to meet his needs as well as evaluate him fairly. for once, the system worked to a student's advantage. well done, folks, well done.