Teaching with Poverty in Mind
Chapter 5 reflection
Jensen identifies five themes from his research that drive
change within the classroom. The first
is standards based curriculum and instructions.
Academic standards are a defined set of skills and knowledge that all
students are expected to learn at specific grade levels in each specific
content area. Standards simply define
what students need to learn. Curriculum
and instruction define how the standards are to be taught. The two must align to assure that all
resources, instructional practices, and assessments are available to meet the
requirements of the standards.
I do believe our school is heading in the right direction. Things to take a good look at to assure
standards and curriculum are aligned are the resources available to teachers
and training in evidence-based instructional practices. The textbooks currently used at the
elementary school are very outdated and appear to be the main resource
available to teachers. As for training
in instructional strategies, the opportunities are there. Since I returned to North Dakota, I have
attended a couple of conferences that had presentations on instructional
strategies, which were very enlightening.
So the teachers just need to be provided the opportunities to attend
these conferences.
Jensen also writes about the achievements of the North Star
School in New Jersey. He identifies the
feature of teaching to mastery as one of the features that lead to this
school’s success rates. This school has
developed formative assessments that are administered every 6 to 8 weeks with
feedback given to teachers in an easy to read format. Teachers would need to have a plan of
instruction or an instructional road map for the school year to ensure that students
learn the skills/concepts being assessed. Pre-assessments to determine students’
current levels of instruction are also completed. Teachers are not left on
their own to decide what additional or alternative instruction is needed. Teachers work with instructional coaches to
make decisions as to what are the best interests of each student. Students who come from low-SES environments
may achieve at a slower rate because of so many other stressors in their lives,
but they can succeed when instruction is formatted correctly for them; when all
of this is developed, it works very well. This is the same system used in the school
I taught in before coming back to Rugby.
A quote that I have appreciation for:
“America’s educational system today is
more of a boot camp for high-stakes testing to measure the strength of an
educational organization than a place for children to learn about the world or
themselves.”
Jensen identifies standards as the most
visible measure of a school’s success. Standards are here to stay. Standards are simply
standards, and it is up to each teacher to present them in a manner that keeps
students engaged and thinking. Let us
never forget that we are teaching children .
