Article #14

            Poor Teaching for Poor Children was an article written by Alfie Kohn. It looks at the exploitation of low income students by NCLB as well as A Blueprint for Reform. The aims of both plans being to divert public funds to charter schools, pit states against each other in pursuit of federal funds, offer rewards to states when test scores go up and fire teachers and close schools when they don’t go up.

            The article attacks the policies of the past and present administration stating that things have gotten worse for the poor. The act of teaching in these communities or areas has regressed even more. Teachers preach, test for factual information, punish noncompliance and assign work as punishment. The experience for most students in these low-income neighborhoods is much different from the experience in suburban and private school settings. Very little enlightenment is occurring for student of low-income backgrounds.

            Achievement gaps demand better scores. Teaching skills are being defined by the ability to raise these scores. Many students in low income communities are being trained by worksheets, rote memorization and a rewards system. Very little teaching is done by teachers. Studies show black students are schooled by worksheets more than white students. Computers are used less frequently as well. Suburban students learn to interrogate and reflect on reality, low income inner city students learn to accept and be quiet.

            The article goes into further details about the disparity between the poor, middle class and the rich students in the United States. What becomes obviously clear is that students from low income neighborhoods are not being prepared properly by public schools. The current systems in place are similar to those of big business. Competition and rewards based on achievement. It is hard to educate children from under privileged communities when many of the basic needs of a proper education are already missing. Teaching to tests is nearly impossible in these instances as well. United States has become big business. We put people from different backgrounds and experiences in the same situation and expect better results from everyone. We are valuing compliance, competition and the gold nugget.

            As we’ve discussed in class while dissecting NCLB as well the Blueprint, teaching is no longer occurring in the classes of America. We have begun a process of evaluating our students against students of other countries. Due to the standardization of curriculums across America, all students are expected to perform to the same standard being used nationwide. This does little for students of low income backgrounds. The playing fields are so uneven, only the brightest from the poor stand a chance. What we should be doing is evaluating schools using a growth model where students can be measured against themselves. The lead horse is the only horse in the race.

Kohn, A. (2011, April). Poor Teaching for Poor Children, Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php