Uphill climb for Fresno schools

"where poverty and other factors conspire to make the job of teaching and learning much more difficult." (Russ Minick)

I don't subscribe to the theory that poverty is a major obstacle to learning in a public school system that is free of charge. I believe poor communication or the lack thereof is a far greater obstacle. In the only ED class I took at FSC, I learned that Fresno teachers have in excess of hundred languages and their various dialects to deal with. From Austria I have email explaining why entry level children have to attend a pre-school year to make certain that the many children of immigrants are in command of the German language prior to first grade. Poverty is not in the equation due to that nation's superior child welfare system.

In view of the recent dismal academic scores for Fresno Unified students and the Brookings Institute study that found Fresno Unified and Valley high school students ill-prepared to earn a college degree, why is Bullard High School allowing female Jr and Sr Varsity softball players to cut classes Monday, March 2, 2009 to participate in the softball tournament at Buchanan softball complex in Clovis? Girls' softball teams from other local high schools will be participating in the all day tournament as well. What happened to weekend high school sports tournaments that don't interfere with class time?

Mr. Williams;
I would like to nominate every classroom teacher in the United States of America. I know, to some people, they are just doing their job and don't deserve special recognition. But, I know this special group of Americans go above and beyond their job descriptions, millions times a day, in classrooms in every region, district, city or state.
I have been teaching 6th grade in southwest Fresno, California, an area full of poverty, new immigrants, cultures, and languages, from allover the world. A world filled with gangs, crime, sex predators, houses and buildings that need repair, tagged with graffiti, full of children playing in busy streets, dumpsters, or never coming outside to play because of parents that are working and unable, while others are unwilling to watch over them at a safe park, or schoolyard. An area of town that has the one of the highest dropout rate, one of the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the entire United States an area of town where decent families live and grow despite all the negativity.
Most of our students, are hopeful, come to school smiling, with positive attitudes ready to learn. The Good News is that they are learning English, Language Arts skills, Math skills, everyday, despite speaking another language at home, or only have been speaking English less than the seven years that all the research, has demonstrated it really takes to learn a new language. These kids are trying and with the encouragement of their teachers, the achieving, and learning everyday.
There is a large fraction of our students, that are not so positive, they don't trust the system or have other issues that prevent them from being successful in school. Some have negative attitudes about school from years of being labeled, "Low Performer, Below Basic, Far Below Basic," or from being treated in previous years, in a discriminatory way by previous teachers. Many of these students have discipline problems, due to low interest of their parents, in their children's education or these students have low self esteem. Seeing themselves, as the negative labels the media, the government, or administrators have bestowed on them. They only identify with the only role models they have, which could be abusive or drug using parents, or parents and older siblings that have dropped out and joined the many gangs that are entrenched in Fresno's neighborhoods and are in many ways more respected than the teachers in their schools. Another group of American's that influence these students are the "gangsta" rap stars, bad boy superstars in the entertainment and sports fields.
The teachers at our school are so wonderful, always giving time, money, extra hours of one on one tutorial or attention or going the extra mile to meet the needs of our community, within a community. Our staff, has provided funds to help with our student's families medical emergencies, funerals, graduations, former students needing financial help to visit Ivy League schools back east, funds to help pay the way for some former students to make field trips to England and other places. I have seen members of our staff, become almost like family members to our student's families, helping not with money but with encouraging words when needed, or just to be there to support them by just listening. We have a very tight knit family here on our campus that not only includes teachers, but everyone that works here from the cooks in the kitchen to the secretaries, to the janitors and administrators. They all care so much, and never do they blame the students for their test rankings. I have witnessed our teachers trying to do more, either through differentiated tailor made instruction after hours, or by reaching out to each other or the families for assistance. This Mr. Williams, happens in every campus, in every state, across America, not just in our little community within a community.
Teachers are being blamed for failing our students when everybody knows that the schools are truly a reflection of our society with all it’s flaws and problems only on a smaller scale. I truly believe that anybody can learn anything they want, if they really wanted to without a teacher or school, especially, in this day and age of computer technology. I know, because most that I have learned, through out my life, I learned and mastered on my own with a little instruction, from my teachers, I did not blame them for my failures, I blamed myself, my shortcomings, and my character traits I demonstrated at the time. I do not see teachers complain about the workload of being an effective teacher, the complaints come from the extra paperwork, and all the test prep for the big assessment of accountability mandated by NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND and pacing charts that have no regard for the individual student. Due to NCLB, every teacher in America has more on their "plates " that could be handled in a regular eight to ten hour workday.
In fact, there is so much effort being put forth to look good on these assessments, that the administrators have left behind many students, and subjects that make up a "well rounded student," proficient, in many more skills than passing a multiple guess, culturally biased assessment, that is only one measure of student progress. All professional educators, educated in American universities, know that to assess a student's growth or mastery of a skill or subject matter, a student should be assessed through multiple measures of assessment. Administrators, legislators, and others who fill the need to blame the school systems for society's ailments, especially when it comes to failing our youth, don't respect the fact that every child, (including their situations, their problems, their ability to learn, their family situation, their arrival date to this country and every other factor that affects them,) is different in many ways. Ask, any kindergartner or first grader, who taught that everybody is different and we come in all colors and in different sizes, etc. Yet, teachers have to teach them all one way, (one size fits all) which has been mandated by the government and the education reform they called; NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.
NCLB is an educational reform or law that is so flawed, mandating teachers to teach students, a spoon-fed education, that leaves them without problem solving skills, writing skills, low reading comprehension ability, overweight unhealthy lifestyles, bad penmanship, and are so bored with their schools, that have been labeled, along with themselves, low performers or a failing school. They attend schools that no longer teach social studies, history, the sciences, physical education, or that train them to in good problem solving skills, good study habits, and how to live a good healthy life with positive character traits. The students in these schools are only taught language arts and math all day long. The teachers here and in every school across America, have become good obedient little soldiers that follow the lead of people that either have never taught, or it has been so long that they are not familiar with the teaching methodology of a modern classroom, that is based on minds on hands on instruction, where the teacher, teaches material through short lessons with lots of practice time involving real life application of the skills taught. The bulk of the session is time for the student to investigate further, apply the skill correctly and the teacher differentiating the instruction to reach different levels of students or to monitor student's progress towards mastery. Students in today's classrooms have no time to practice reading and writing through a sustained time that research shows is needed for student success and growth. I also believe that administrators, legislators, and other government leaders are not in touch with the reality of today's youth's attitudes or their world.
Therefore, Mr. Williams, I nominate all the teachers in the United States as people that are newsworthy, each with their own stories of good news. In every classroom in America, these professionals, see everyday, the small gains, or successes of our students, that make up the gains or the lack of gains, in a school's test scores. Yes, it is not enough to make our numbers rock or newsworthy, but it does demonstrate, that our students are learning at their individual progress rates, they are not failures. They are people that are in different situations than main stream America, that has a fairly stable family situation, who has mastered English because it is their native tongue and has experienced the situations and language of the assessment given as the sole measurement of learning growth and abilities. My sixth graders this year, have been taught since kindergarten, with the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND model of instruction, which has left them two grade levels below in reading, math, and in writing abilities, which ironically, are the only subjects explicitly taught to them over the last six years. Which reminds me of a quote I once read, "When I teach I rob or cheat a child from learning." Teachers, Mr. Williams are quiet warriors of education, fighting on the frontlines in the war against illiteracy and society's apathy towards our country's problems and more importantly our youth's dire situation in getting educated in order to compete in tomorrow's world and job market. Teachers Mr. Williams all have good news to share with the country in bite sizes, called anecdotes of my student's success. One more thing, Mr. Williams, take a vacation, drive across our country, and see for yourself, America, is full of good news, it just does not sell newspapers, or ad space. Good Luck Mr. Williams, in your search for good news, but I think you will not have any problem finding good news in America. Now it's up to you to report it.