These were the words of Andres Alonso, the city chief executive officer of Baltimore.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools are expected to have a greater percentage of students passing the tests each year until the 2013-2014 school year — when every child in the nation is supposed to be passing their state’s test.
A school gets the “needs improvement” label for failing to meet federal standards two years in a row. Across Maryland, 176 schools are on the list — including more than 60 in Baltimore City and, for the first time, two in Howard County.
Educators across the state continue to delve into why so many schools have failed to meet AYP and what can be done to improve student performance there.
According to Howard County’s coordinator of testing, Portia White, “We are not focusing on the label as much as we are focusing on what the students need.”
Baltimore County spokeswoman Kara Calder stated “We really need to strike a balance between the time and effort on compliance and delivering instruction to the children.”
Although both are heading down the right path, as a system, we DO need to do better. This “system” can only improve if and only if we give our teachers the resources they need to understand the individual needs for each student and address those learning challenges one-on-one.
Utilizing technology in the classroom for this purpose is not a band-aid. It is a necessary system overhaul to prepare our students not only for AYP, but also for success in the 21st-century.
~ MATT HAUSMANN, Vice President ~
I completely agree with the statement, “as a system, we need to do better.” It is unrealistic to think that this can happen when teachers are not given the appropriate respect and materials from their superiors to make it happen. The CEO, principals, assistant principals, IST, and whoever else fits into a leadership role overwhelm teachers day after day by making demands, shouting orders, and dictating how we run our classrooms. The fact is that even if their ideas are good and have the potential to be successful, they never will until the teachers get what we need from them to ensure success. We need support not harrassment. We need training not dictatorship. We need protection not investigation. We need our authority enforced not undermined. We need encouragement not disrespect. We need leaders we can trust. No school runs without teachers. Principals are the number one reason why so many Baltimore City teachers are quitting. We talk about giving the children what they need and we should because that is why we are here. But how can teachers give something we don’t have? If teachers are always anxious and nervous because administration is treating us like criminals who need to be reprimanded instead of educators who can make a positive difference, how can we be expected to succeed or produce valuable citizens?