Last year, SS homecoming and winter break were approaching. A recent graduate visited the school to see the place he couldn’t wait to return to six months ago. This is one of my favorite phenomena in teaching high school. It’s always nice to see their faces, whether they’re just feeling nostalgic or really miss me.
I visited twice during the week between Thanksgiving and winter break. The first one was from an alumna who works near the school and is watching over her younger brother who is graduating this year. Her first time was from a former student who had returned from Northwestern University for the holidays. . They both timidly showed up at my door, asked for copies of the books we read in class, and annotated excerpts with my current students. “heavy” Written by Keith Laymon.
The impact their presence had on the space was obvious. Once his older brother sat down and picked up a highlighter, his younger brother and all of his friends started reading aloud a little more seriously, including one volunteering to read aloud in a second language for the second time this year. Some students did. When a freshman at Northwestern excitedly shared how the excerpt we were reading related to Ta-Nehisi Court’s paper; “Between the world and me”said the senior, nodding cautiously before building on what he had shared during the discussion. The two students visited their favorite teacher with whom they built a solar oven, created a plant medicine tincture, and built a banana museum. On their way out of the building, they hugged and patted their juniors, with whom they played soccer and participated in student council when they were students.
It’s moments like this that make me realize that teaching has made me softer. Both days my former students visited, I shed tears. Part of the reason is because they’re so proud of the people they’ve grown up with. It’s also because this beautiful, imperfect school that raised them will no longer be a place they can return to.
Last month, the New Orleans Public Schools (NOPS) Superintendent and the Orleans Public School Board decided to close our school At the end of the school year.and Parents’ trust in public schools plummeting, schools throughout new orleans and Other major districts Not enough registrations.
As a result, NOPS has been keen to close small schools it deems to be underperforming, while providing positive experiences for students and families who feel they don’t have enough support from traditional larger schools. Small schools with innovative models are exactly what we need to deliver this. institution.
Trap of trials
I teach in New Orleans, America’s first city. Force all public schools to be handed over to private accreditors. NOPS acts like a parent who assigns charters to organizations that run one or more schools and makes sure there’s food at home, but you don’t seem to notice. Unless you’re doing very well or very poorly. — and each praises or punishes you. As part of this system, NOPS periodically evaluates the suitability of private organizations to operate public schools. Allowed to continue managing public fundsresources and the future of children.
Accountability is fine and even welcome, but my problem lies with the fact that the charter renewal decision made by the New Orleans public school board and their appointed superintendent is significant. . based on school performance Calculated by the State of Louisiana.
What is noteworthy is that it is half of the high school grades. Calculated based on standardized testspractice with racist origins it is well documented inaccurate, unfair, inefficient and increasingly irrelevant. Recognizing the flaws in the common test, the state of Louisiana has decided to provide a “diploma” program based on graduation data, specifically the percentage of students who graduate on time, as well as what qualifications, dual enrollment classes, and other student academic performance. Expanded the rating matrix to include “Strength Index”. What I earned in high school. These two measures come closer to actually assessing how schools impact students’ lives, but like standardized tests, they don’t just tell you what’s going on in the school; often reflects more about their lives.
If our school had a failing school based on all these metrics, I wouldn’t be so mad about this outcome, but 95 percent of our scores were calculated based on test scores. .Louisiana Department of Education calculates graduation rates and diploma strength as metrics 1 year late Allowing states to verify data. My school has only been open for four years, so last May was the first graduating class.
94 percent of the first graduating class, including all Special Education Programming students, and 75 percent of English Learner students – City and state anomalies — I got my diploma last year.These results are It won’t count towards your score until next year. Unfortunately for my school, this means that standardized tests account for almost the entirety of the school’s performance scores. That was the year the school board and superintendent decided whether to allow the children to continue their education.
Two separate public hearings were attended by Living School students, alumni, families, staff, and community partners. they explained problems with calculations He implored school board members to use their authority to override the superintendent’s recommendation and give them another year. At the second meeting, which was more like a vigil than a public hearing, our voices were not heard and the board ultimately voted to support the superintendent’s recommendation to close the school. .
How should we support schools that are facing challenges?
This story, like all New Orleans stories, is heavily shaped by our unique context, but its themes are There was a response in schools across this country.. I am heartbroken and furious that all that my students and I have accomplished in the face of great challenges is considered less important than the results of a few exams.
I know too many teachers and students in America feel the same way. Because students face a rapidly changing world and teachers must face the responsibility of preparing students for a world we cannot yet imagine, we must seriously consider . harmful effects Standardized testing nevertheless continues to impact students, teachers, and schools. increase the evidence These tests are not indicative of future success.
When schools like mine are penalized for low test scores, I have to believe that the school system is not just shifting the responsibility that should be placed on hard-working, under-resourced teachers and students. not.
Like most educators, I believe that teachers and schools should be held accountable for how well they prepare their students, but I also believe that teachers and schools should be held accountable for how well they prepare their students. Similarly, new charter schools like ours need the same time and support.
As I write this, I am fielding texts and emails from current and former students at the school, as well as friends. our teachers union We’re asking what you can do to fight for our schools and the vibrant communities we’ve built. Like me, they know that school grades calculated based on standardized tests are not a reasonable or important measure of the impact of the work we are doing together. . Like me, they know that the value of a school community is measured by the personal growth students demonstrate, supportive school staff and peers, and culturally relevant curriculum. All of these things give me hope that our schools can and do prepare students for something more valuable than standardized tests, but none of them of schools received no school performance points.
Shortly after being appointed to her role and moving to the city, NOPS Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams. spoke with WWNO. In her interview, she claimed that she asks all school district leaders three questions: What does “school quality” actually mean? How do we evaluate schools using letter grades that are primarily based on test scores? And what happens when we consider culture and climate when it comes to accountability? Dr. Williams and these If OPSB’s answers to the question are, I feel they are disjointed.
It takes a year of testing to tell teachers and schools that we want them to find innovative ways to serve all students, and to tell families that they have a choice in how their children are educated. Just shut down schools that stipulate that they will show a quiet part after a bad grade. Out loud: We want our schools to improve, but we’re not going to change the system to support struggling students.
