I teach middle school and these scores just add numbers to patterns I've noticed since before the pandemic.
Now if I could just off road, teach some basic decoding and work other basic skills, I have no doubt scores from my little classroom square would rise. However the institution isn't exactly flexible to student needs.
Also, who listens to teachers? We've known this stuff at the ground level for years but have no voice. Everyone thinks we're off indoctrinating kids when, truth is, we can't get them to bring pencils to class or properly use folders.
Here's some encouraging data that adds another dimension to this story: Federal pandemic-relief funding specifically targeted at homeless students (ARP-HCY) has shown remarkable success.
Recent federal study (https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/new-federal-study-shows-investment-improvements-for-homeless-students) found that schools receiving this funding saw reading proficiency rates 10 points above the national average for homeless students, while also decreasing chronic absenteeism by 5 percentage points. These improvements came while schools were actually identifying and serving 25% more homeless students than before.
It’s funny but I am not surprised. My wife mentored a girl who had a bunch of psych issues probably due to her incredibly bad family when she was still working in the high school. The girl managed to get into a good state college and as she was 18 my wife drove her to campus the fall she started. This young woman dropped out in her 2nd semester, began doing a lot of drugs and became homeless and disappeared. A few years later she contacted my wife. She is now sober, teaching 6th grade math and living in supportive housing. She is teaching in a public school with barely 2 semesters of undergraduate education , no background in teaching or math. When I was surprised my wife reminded me of how back in the day she was hired to teach AP American History with neither a history or teaching background at a Bay Area charter school. This school bragged how its teachers were all credentialed (they were not).
Please tell me that these average scores are so low because students in wealthy suburbs are reading above grade level and students in the cities are not reading at all. When I was in fourth grade I was reading at an eighth grade level and I don't think I was at all remarkable for doing so.
I teach middle school and these scores just add numbers to patterns I've noticed since before the pandemic.
Now if I could just off road, teach some basic decoding and work other basic skills, I have no doubt scores from my little classroom square would rise. However the institution isn't exactly flexible to student needs.
Also, who listens to teachers? We've known this stuff at the ground level for years but have no voice. Everyone thinks we're off indoctrinating kids when, truth is, we can't get them to bring pencils to class or properly use folders.
Thank you, Adam, for caring about those kids. I wish that teachers like you were given a megaphone, so the system would change.
Here's some encouraging data that adds another dimension to this story: Federal pandemic-relief funding specifically targeted at homeless students (ARP-HCY) has shown remarkable success.
Recent federal study (https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/new-federal-study-shows-investment-improvements-for-homeless-students) found that schools receiving this funding saw reading proficiency rates 10 points above the national average for homeless students, while also decreasing chronic absenteeism by 5 percentage points. These improvements came while schools were actually identifying and serving 25% more homeless students than before.
It’s funny but I am not surprised. My wife mentored a girl who had a bunch of psych issues probably due to her incredibly bad family when she was still working in the high school. The girl managed to get into a good state college and as she was 18 my wife drove her to campus the fall she started. This young woman dropped out in her 2nd semester, began doing a lot of drugs and became homeless and disappeared. A few years later she contacted my wife. She is now sober, teaching 6th grade math and living in supportive housing. She is teaching in a public school with barely 2 semesters of undergraduate education , no background in teaching or math. When I was surprised my wife reminded me of how back in the day she was hired to teach AP American History with neither a history or teaching background at a Bay Area charter school. This school bragged how its teachers were all credentialed (they were not).
Please tell me that these average scores are so low because students in wealthy suburbs are reading above grade level and students in the cities are not reading at all. When I was in fourth grade I was reading at an eighth grade level and I don't think I was at all remarkable for doing so.