TUSD Teacher's Op Ed on Social Promotion

by David Safier

This falls into the "Damn, I wish I wrote that!" category. Nancy McCallion, a third grade teacher in Tucson, published a terrific op ed in today's Star: Fight social promotion with aides in classroom.

Here's the passage that's worth the price of admission:

Teachers promote students because they don't think retention will help them succeed.

Retained students are returned to the same course of study in the same traditional classroom environment that was unable to meet their needs in the first place.

Failing students are failing for a reason. Be it because of learning disabilities or emotional or behavioral problems, they are unable to succeed in the crowded, traditional classroom.

What we need here is not legislation to force teachers to retain students, nor more high paid accountability experts to conduct lengthy and expensive studies.

What we need are warm bodies in the classrooms: aides to monitor one group of students while teachers work with struggling students; tutors to provide one-on-one help for students who are too distracted to focus in a large group setting; high school students in need of community service to listen to a struggling reader.

I was talking about the op ed with a friend this morning, a recently retired art and math teacher. He said he had a math class with two adult volunteers and a special ed aide to help with some special needs kids. "We may not have gotten everyone up to speed," he said, "but everyone who needed help got it."

Here is the final sentence of the op ed, for those people who wonder where we can possibly find the money for all those teacher's aides.

Perhaps the Star could do some research on how many $10-an-hour teachers' aides could be hired with what we pay out to accountability departments and standardized testing companies.

Amen.

Comments

[James A. Bretney]

I have zero confidence in our school district to hnadle this problem. Why not let private schools develop solutions at bringing the rate down? In light of what the Wall Street Journal said about Catholic Schools, we would be wise to adopt such a strategy.

[Francine Shacter]

The public school system is the cornerstone of our democratic society. Private schools and religiously-based and run schools are not the answer to a quality public school system. Better public schools are the answer. What we need to have better public schools - small classrooms, well trained and paid teachers, equipment necessary for the students - starting with the chairs they sit on and the desks they use - school books which are not parceled out in a mean-spirited manner, but school books in every child's hands. Local, neighborhood schools where the school is part of the community and the community is involved in the success of the school and its students. These things cost money and require a commitment on the part of our society to provide not only the funds but also the community's involvement.

An excellent example of citizen involvement is the recent citizen effort to ensure that our children have a full 1/2 hour of recess. The primary dictum of all training/learning: the brain can only retain what the seat can sustain. A single individual in the community saw that there was a problem and has worked tirelessly to inform all of us and to take action himself with the State Legislature. Despite gasoline costing what it does, Steve has gone repeatedly to Phoenix (how many gallons per trip - not to mention his time, etc) to testify on the importance of this issue and he and his wife, Mariana, have been telling all of us how important this issue is. This is the kind of citizen activism which, in the long run, will help to save the public school system.

As for your lack of confidence in the school district to handle the problem, I would suggest you run for the school board and help them - or support good candidates, committed to a quality education - to get elected to the school board to correct the problem.