School Systems and Business Models

Schools must decide the expectation for teachers with respect to student performance, and the repercussions if students fall below expected proficiency levels. However, in most schools throughout the United States, the focus is not on established goals for, but rather on who is to blame for failing students and the recent dropout crisis. There is too much focus on requiring students to learn to work within the confines of the school structure, rather than being accepting of all differences and working with the students in their own comfort zones.

Education could be changed for the better if schools were to think of themselves as businesses and the students as the customers. In a business model, students might receive more one-on-one attention, making them feel more satisfied with the education they are receiving. If a child acquires the love of learning at a young age, he or she is more likely to reach higher levels of educational attainment. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a person with a college degree will make a million dollars more in a lifetime than someone without a degree.

In all good businesses, employees create and produce products based on the general needs and wants of the customer/consumer. If students are the customers, then school reform should be created to meet their needs. The task of the employee is to manage and motivate the people they are supervising. Teachers will implement change in their classrooms by individualizing the reform to the general needs of their students.

The idea that educators are transmitters of knowledge and students are passive vessels receiving the knowledge is an antiquated notion that has long since been dismissed as a fallacy. A student should be an active participant in the educational process. If schools adopt student-centered lessons and reform, administrators can then move their schools onto a productive path.

More often than not, students learn best when working with their hands and having visual aids to enhance their understanding. Research shows that when teachers used a plethora of visual aids, the students were better able to remember and comprehend the concepts being taught. One of the ways in which teachers evaluate a student’s comprehension of a lesson is by evaluating if a student can relate the material addressed in their own lives.

Students learn from their own interpretations of what is being presented to them. Teachers should be sure to create authentic lessons using visual aids, allowing students to use their deductive reasoning skills and ability to connect the activity to their lives or the lives of others. The skills described are skills most employers look for when hiring respectable and hard-working employees.

Although schools were created to meet the needs of the students and the teachers were hired to meet those needs, students have to be held responsible for their actions. Teachers will need to find an instructional strategy to promote learning that meets the needs of the students, while also teaching life skills and holding students accountable for their actions and choices.

Teachers are often considered jugglers, because they must gain the trust of their students, but must also play the part of the students’ instructor and disciplinarian. If a teacher lacks the ability to control his or her classroom, learning cannot take place. Teachers need to demand the attention and the respect of the individual students.

Schools operate on the notion that students have no choice but to attend school and do what is asked of them. This cannot be further from the truth. Some students choose whether or not to attend school on a given day. Even students who attend school regularly choose whether or not they want to comply with their teachers’ directives, or whether they want to participate in the learning process. Some students comply with teacher directions, even if they find the activity uninteresting. Too many students do not give teachers what they need most: undivided attention and engagement.

Many educators today are concerned with the lack of respect for authority many of our young adults and children display. The lack of respect for teachers can be traced to the growing mistrust of parents towards teachers. In today’s society, it is not uncommon for parents to sue teachers for educational malpractice or some form of mistreatment of their child.

The increasing distrust of teachers could be brought on by the increasing number of teachers who have inappropriate relationships with their students. Parents need to realize that the majority of teachers have their student’s best interest at heart. Educators earned their degrees to help the children and youth of America, not to cause them harm.

Sometimes, parents feel the teacher is trying to parent their children, and that certain disciplinary actions should only be carried out by the parent. The reason for this misunderstanding is the lack of communication between the parent and the school. With the increasing numbers of children per teacher, teachers have less time to ask the parents what they feel their child needs, and to discuss with parents what the teacher believes is the best way to accomplish the set goals. 

Ruby Payne mentions a term called “mama law.” This law goes into effect when a teacher or administrator tries to explain why a behavior is not acceptable in school, and the child responds, “Well, my mama said it is okay.” Teachers and administrators need to understand that students may come from different environments than the teacher or administrator and that there is a discrepancy in the way the teacher/administrator was brought up compared to that of the student.

Often, when students come from a rough neighborhood, their mothers tell them it is okay to defend themselves in any way possible. Students feel they have been given permission to engage in behaviors supported by the home, even though these behaviors may interfere with teaching and learning in the school environment. It is up to the teachers and the administration to explain to the student how his/her actions are wrong in ways they will understand and respect.

There are two positions teachers might take when combating negative feelings students display toward them or other teachers. They can spend their time complaining about the lack of respect children have for authority or they can accept the fact the students are the customers and, like all customers, teachers have to accommodate their needs.

Thinking of the students as customers reinforces the idea that the student is in full control of whether or not they pay attention or engage themselves in academic activities. Certainly, state laws require the majority of American students to attend school until they are 16 years of age. Sooner or later, truant students will be tracked down by the school attendance officer, who will inform parents that their child’s lack of attendance is against the law.

However, once the student is in school, there is absolutely no way for teachers to force the child to pay attention and fully engage in schoolwork. Part of the teacher’s profession is to find ways to motivate children by providing them with appealing learning activities. Also, schools have to accept the fact that in order to engage students and keep their attention, you must earn their respect and trust. Student learning is comparable to profits in a business. Student learning is what happens when the business of schooling is managed correctly.

In keeping with the business model, successful schools must realize that quality education is paramount. Administrators and the boards need to understand that students are not products and schools are not businesses, but rather schools are places to foster a love for learning and to create productive futures for American children and the country itself.

Ruminations on Teacher Pay and High Stakes Testing

There is a tendency for American teachers to be treated like factory workers. They receive little recognition, a meager salary, and their training after hire consists of professional development that rarely fosters much growth. Since a mediocre teacher earns the same salary as a high-quality teacher, there is little monetary incentive to strive to become an excellent educator. In addition, No Child Left Behind holds teachers entirely responsible for their students’ performance on state achievement tests, regardless of the many variables that influence students’ performance on these tests. For example, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prepare a sixth grade student reading at a second grade level to perform well on a state achievement test. It is no wonder that standardized testing has caused schools and teachers to panic.

Generally, students’ performances on tests are considered to be directly attributable to the instruction they receive from their regular teachers. Many teachers lose their jobs every year because of poor standardized test scores. Our current educational assessment system refuses to take into account all extraneous variables that lead to educational gaps among our students. For instance, some teachers may end up having mostly high achieving, well-behaved students in their classrooms, while other teachers may consistently have classrooms with low achieving students, students with special needs, and students who exhibit behavior problems. In the case of the latter, it seems unfair to hold teachers accountable for the shortcomings of their students’ abilities. Even the best teachers are not miracle workers.

The sad reality of education is that some children do not have the ability to achieve standards within the time periods set by of NCLB. Teachers should be held accountable for students’ test performance; but the focus of that accountability should be a teacher’s ability to improve student’s test scores based on the student’s level of achievement when he/she enters the teacher’s classroom. For example, a student who is well below the expected level of proficiency at the beginning of the school year may not reach the expected proficiency level at the end of the school year, but they may show significant improvement. This is a better measure of a teacher’s effectiveness and their ability to impact student learning.   

In addition to concerns about job security, low compensation, and student performance on high stakes test, teachers must also worry about subpar principals who are overcompensated for the successes of teachers. Although administrators deserve to be fairly compensated for their work, their pay does not seem equitable compared to that of teachers. If administrators are to be compensated fairly for the job performed, then teachers, too, should be fairly compensated.

Playing the Blame Game

With skyrocketing costs, budget crises, inconsistent curricula, poor standardized testing scores, and poor morale among teachers, administrators, and students, the need for sustainable and pervasive educational change is greater now than ever before. The numbers of questions related to the quality of the U.S. educational system from multiple sectors of society is at an all-time high. Many American parents have seen reports that American schools rank well below schools in countries such as China and Japan, or have heard President Obama declare a “dropout crisis” in the USA. An abundance of news reports and discouraging case studies has created panic among education stakeholders, who want to know why American school systems are failing. However, many insist on playing the “blame game,” which in most cases is counterproductive.

 Many Americans believe that only a small percentage of leaders understand the complexities of the school system, and that individuals who do understand the intricacies of the system use their knowledge to justify the mediocre performance of our teachers and students. The American school system is the best-financed system in the world, but is one of the lowest performing. The American school system as a whole has an appalling performance record. For children living in urban environments, the story is even more alarming. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are often educated in dilapidated schools where the too many educators lack the credentials and skills necessary to perform their duties adequately. High student-to-teacher ratios are found in most urban schools, and these schools often lack the resources to deal with the diverse challenges they face, including unruly student behavior. Education has been called the great equalizer, but for students living in poverty-stricken urban areas it is little more than a babysitting service and a place to get a hot meal.

Many question whether the No Child Left Behind Act has contributed to achieving academic success. Although NCLB was well intentioned, it has not lived up to the hopes of government or schools. In the eyes of some, NCLB has actually contributed to subpar academics becoming even worse.  If American educators and school personnel do not make a concerted effort to develop effective measures to hold schools accountable for the education of all of our children, then the education crisis will continue.

There is an exception to every rule: some urban school systems are providing a quality education. Unfortunately, however, only a small number of school systems meet the state and federal government student performance requirements. For underperforming urban school systems, the problem usually lies with the inability to sustain existing reform efforts and initiatives. Mayors and school superintendents in these areas often concoct grandiose reform plans that are merely political devices meant to beguile voters into believing they genuinely care about educational reform. The idea that politicians create school reform to gain popularity and votes is sad and sobering. It is discouraging to realize that our children’s futures might be used as a political device to win elections.

Politicians are not the only people at fault for the shoddy education American children are receiving, but no one will take responsibility for subpar educational environments. If administrators were asked who was at fault, they might point to a lack of parental involvement and too few quality teachers. If teachers were asked who was at fault they might also cite a lack of parental involvement and ineffective administration. If parents were asked who was at fault they might blame teachers and school administrators. Society in general seems to conclude that the lack of quality teachers, effective administration, and parental involvement are all factors contributing to educational failure.
Whatever the reason, Americans have become the laughing stock of the free world when it comes to K-12 education. The solution, of course, is for the country to unite and work together to carry the responsibility of enriching and continuing America’s future via educational excellence without playing the “blame game.”

Making a Commitment to Educational Change

Substantial educational change will never occur until we as a country decide that enough is enough and make a commitment to change, no matter what it takes. When America realizes all children deserve a stellar education regardless of who their parents are, their socioeconomic status or where they happen to live, we will be able to reform our education system. Americans have to stop treating minority students in underperforming urban environments like collateral damage.

The disheartening reality is that America has billions of dollars to fight a two-front war, but cannot or will not properly educate its children. If a hostile country attacked the U. S., it would take less than 24 hours for American troops to be mobilized into battle. However, we seem unable to mobilize a sea of educated teachers and administrators to wage war against academic mediocrity, which is a bigger threat to our national security than Iran or North Korea.

Over the last century, many reform movements have come and gone, but in the end, it seems, there have been no substantial changes. Some might even believe the American educational system is now worse off than ever. From Bush’s NCLB to Obama’s Race to the Top, presidents have shown an inability to tackle the real issues of education reform. Reform is primarily used as campaign rhetoric, and when it comes time to take real action, the politicians simply unveil a grandiose plan with all the bells and whistles amounting to a dog and pony show.

America’s schools were originally intended to ensure that all citizens were literate. The founding purpose for American schools has long been obsolete, and Americans must have the courage to realize that in order for us to remain a world power, we must institute change. The risks have never been greater: the future of our country and its children is at stake.

Education reform is possible, but it depends on what the nation is willing to do to achieve its educational goals. Will America develop and pass effective educational legislation aimed at creating viable solutions to the problem at hand? Or will America continue to develop legislation, such as No Child Left Behind, that operates under the fallacy that 100% of our students will be proficient in their core subjects by 2014? The bar for education should be set higher, but there has to be exceptions and differentiated goals in order to effectively accommodate all the differences among teachers, students, administrators, and school cultures.

Creating a Gender Responsive Learning Climate for Girls

In a responsive model of instruction, teachers seek out and include examples of achievements from both genders.  While women and women’s classroom parity has come a long way since the days of Dr. Edward Clarke, it is still difficult to find curriculum texts that reflect an equitable picture of female accomplishments.  Progress has been slow to incorporate gender-fair terminology into textbooks.  Girls need to read about role models in science and mathematics—not just see pictures of women in lab coats with occasional references to females in the text. 

The accomplishments of minority women, women with disabilities, local women from the community, and working class women all are important to help present a complete, realistic and equitable picture of female role models in society.  It is valuable for young women to see the variety of ways in which females can impact their communities and their society, regardless of race, ethnic background or financial status.  Teachers help overcome the gender inequities and change present perceptions by presenting accomplishments, experiences, and hard work of both men and women.

A balance of the particularistic and the inclusive is required.  It is not healthy or productive to promote the historical female experience as completely negative—or to emphasize the struggles and minimize the triumphs—such an approach presents an unrealistic picture and may produce bitterness.  Nor is it positive to emphasize men as the “oppressors”—this fosters resentment.  Balance promotes equitable, respectful, and cooperative relationships with men in society. There are many important reasons to emphasize women’s achievements.

One of the most important is to build girls’ self-esteem.  Blame the magazines, the movies, the models—blame Barbie—pin it on the pin-up girls, but the fact remains: girls struggle with the mixed messages about body image.  Particularly impressionable adolescent girls struggle with bulimia, anorexia and the obsession with weight, and sometimes self-inflict injuries and other damage to their bodies.

Many girls who are bulimics and/or cutters have indicated that these actions are the only aspects of their lives over which they have control.  Teachers lack the ubiquitous influence of the media to manipulate girls’ self-image.  Advertising often pitches to the fundamental needs of the subconscious mind.  Sex sells to be frank—and while we cannot deny it, we do have some means to counter it.

Girls must be guided to see their potential in areas other than the physical. One helpful strategy is to acquaint young girls with the accomplishments of great women, including: Phyllis Wheatley, Marian Wright Edelman, Rosa Parks, Clara Barton, Mary Shelley, Jane Addams, Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sacagawea, Wilma Mankiller, Isabel Allende, Deborah Sampson Gannett, Dolores Huerta, Frida Kahlo, Maya Angelou, Sonia Sotomayor, Margaret Sanger, Unity Dow, Sally Ride and other women who overcame great odds to be strong and successful. 

Each of these women is a standout figure in history or in society because of her hard work, her inner strength and her determination.  In a society where supermodels and sex appeal are overvalued, adolescent girls must be reminded of their important inner qualities.

Fostering Collaboration between Schools and Urban Communities

If school reform is going to be long-lasting and successful, it must involve the voices of the community. The regeneration of urban schools and communities are intrinsically linked, as it is difficult for communities to improve without good education, but it is also difficult for schools to improve without support from an energized, active community.

Districts have typically found it hard to improve schooling in poor districts, as these efforts are generally carried out entirely separately from other community-enhancing efforts. Linking these efforts is preferable, as children cannot be expected to achieve at school if they lack adequate housing, nutrition, or safe communities.

It is unreasonable to expect that schools alone can make up for debilitating factors such as poverty and racism, although they must undoubtedly improve their efforts in teaching inner-city children. Community-based organizations that deal with issues such as housing, health, and regeneration would profit from partnering with schools and working together to improve the lot and the education of children living in these areas as a means of benefiting both schools and the community.

Engaging community groups with schools has the added benefit of helping teachers and other educators to better understand the communities and lifestyles of the children they teach, and thus to better adapt their style to meet their needs. This humanizes the student population, treating students not as simply a problem to be fixed, but as a group rich in heritage, culture, and traditions that adds value to the public education system. Community groups working with schools provide a vital link between schools and the families of inner-city students.

Racism, often fuelled by ignorance and isolation, is another problem faced by many inner-city schools. This often leads to teachers discriminating – however unconsciously – against students of color, and particularly against low-earning ethnic minority parents who are sometimes seen as being part of “the problem.”

Financial and social resources are not enough to solve these issues; the entire culture of schooling needs transformation. Inner-city schools tend to be underfunded compared with schools in more affluent, suburban areas. In order to achieve change in this area, it is necessary to create a political constituency around the issue of school funding made up of community groups who are passionate and motivated enough to force positive change.

Key contributions that community initiatives can make to school reform include helping children become better equipped to learn at school through improving the social context of education, and encouraging parents and communities to become involved with schools and participate in the education of children. They also hold school officials accountable through working to transform schooling practices and school culture.

Perhaps most valuable to the process is the fact that communities are able to build a constituency around public education that can be mobilized to support the delivery of more and better resources into schools and address any other inequalities that may be found within the education system. Despite these obvious and comprehensive benefits, it is clear that in many urban areas, the reality reflects isolation and ignorance more than it does community participation and cohesion. Teachers often report feeling isolated within these schools and many inner-city parents do not ever go into the school unless the school has a problem with their child. This results in a dearth of schools offering meaningful participation opportunities for parents.

Focusing on social capital between groups of people better equips them to achieve common ends. This is substantiated by the finding that schools with greater amounts of social capacity – even though they might only have limited resources – make better use of the resources they do have, and use their social capital in productive relationships in order to obtain influence and further resources. The usage of social capital fosters better relationships between adults and children, creating an atmosphere of transparency and trust within schools as well as between schools and communities, and among parents.

Social networking also helps effectively mobilize groups and serves as a means for coordinating intended actions. When a network of trust is developed among teachers, principals and parents, it allows them to work together to develop a common vision for school reform and implement that vision with fewer issues than they would have otherwise.

Power within communities impacts school reform. Communities with a high number of ethnic minorities are often poorer than average, and lack the means to challenge unfavorable views of them. Negative perceptions about the community, from those both inside and outside of the community, can lead to community decline and even school failure.

These pejorative views are exacerbated by powerful leaders who often redline these communities and burden them with environmental hazards. As long as these communities lack the necessary power to mobilize in any great numbers, urban schools will continue to fail the children they serve. Greater community engagement in school reform will not correct this without comprehensive restructuring of inequality, particularly in the underfunding of schools in inner-city areas.

Lack of power causes problems between parents and teachers as well. Any effort to increase social capacity must also address this power imbalance, in order to ensure that maximum productivity is being gained from the engagement of the community. If this does not happen, then any effort to push reform forward is likely to end in disagreement and unresolved conflict. If parents do not feel they are being given sufficient opportunity to participate or feel that their opinions are not being respected, they are not likely to be effective as agents of change.

In order for community groups to work with schools to implement change, the focus should be on relational power, which, in theory, should be a win-win situation. Relational power refers to the power of groups of people to get things done, as opposed to zero sum power, where one group leverages influence over another. Focusing on relational power placates teachers and principals concerned that some community groups may try to make unreasonable demands that cannot be accommodated.

Collaboration between groups and schools is the best option for working together and avoiding confrontation without ignoring confrontational issues, such as overcoming prejudices related to race or poverty. Working to build both social capital and relational power in order to form collaborations is arguably the best way to expand the capacity of school communities, while allowing latitude to build an electorate that can push for urban school reform. Traditional, elite school reformers cannot complete their mission alone. They must work with communities looking to make a difference.

Effectively Educating Gifted Students

It is a challenge for teachers to generate ways to stimulate gifted students and provide them with the resources and instruction that will allow them to test their abilities and grow intellectually. Teachers also do not have the support of additional classroom help to work with gifted students.  Many teachers use enrichment activities such as independent projects, small group investigation, academic competitions to address the needs of gifted students in the regular classroom, and may design special areas of the classroom to offer advanced learning opportunities.  Gifted students might be pulled out of their regular class for part of the day to learn at a more advanced level, much in the same way learning-disabled students are pulled out to learn at a level that is appropriate for them.

Services provided for gifted students in secondary schools usually include broaden or accelerated learning opportunities. There is a difference between the two approaches however. Broaden learning experiences takes place within the regular classroom however the curriculum is changed to accommodate a wide range of interest and learning styles. The accelerated approach allows students to take more demanding courses beyond the regular classroom. Many secondary schools offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program (an international program in advanced science, mathematics and foreign language studies) and/or Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Upon completion of courses in either program, students are able to take exams for college credit.  A number of schools have built a reputation on supporting and educating gifted students with exceptional programs, such as the Bronx High School of Science, and the North Carolina School for Mathematics and Science. Others have focused on giftedness in the arts.  At least fifteen states have public high schools for advanced mathematics and science and/or arts and the humanities. Many school districts have collaborative programs with area colleges and universities, where high school students are able to take college level courses. Gifted students are able to take advantage of these programs as well.

There is concern that gifted students who accelerate and advance significantly beyond their peers will experience social problems, since they will be attending school with others who are older.  Some educators and parents believe the academic advancement is not worth the social risk.  The most commonly recommended method of educating gifted children is the same as the method for educating those with learning disabilities—inclusion. It has been proven however that acceleration is good for students despite misgivings about gifted students’ social development, and many gifted students feel completely comfortable around their older peers.