My 6 Year Old Students Need A Union!

I teach in an inner city school where inequity is apparent.  The neighborhood has a high poverty level.  Violence and poor housing conditions tuck my students in at night!

Underemployment, unemployment, lack of health insurance is the norm.  It has only been of late that a “real” grocery store was available for residents to purchase fresh foods.

Society has let these children down first because many of them were born into poverty through no fault of their own.  Now they are attending schools that must comply with a Federal Law, “The No Child Left Behind” Act that dictates how teachers will teach reading.  Teachers are locked into teaching reading practices that are driven by the federal government’s bad research.

The National Reading Panel’s report of “scientifically-based” reading instruction had major problems, yet teachers have to follow what is recommended. Teachers don’t have an opportunity to choose teaching reading materials, and yet they are held “accountable” for scripted programs that must be taught “with fidelity” to the program.

 I witness a lack of all that made school a joy for my students.  Literally the things that helped to build community and self-respect and self-esteem for children have disappeared.  In their place are rigid schedules and long periods of disjointed phonics, and disjointed language practices.

As a teacher, it is impossible to voice an opinion, even though I have a Master’s Degree in Teaching Reading and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. Teachers are leaving the profession because they cannot continue to “teach” children in this manner.

Critical decisions are being made from results of the DIBELS test which measures the number of sounds and words a child can produce in one minute.  One subtest, the Oral Reading Fluency test, measures how many words a 6 year old can read in one minute.  At the end of first grade a child must read 40 words per minute from a reading passage or he/she must attend mandatory summer school and/or repeat the grade.

On the last day of school this year teachers were given copies of a yearly evaluation and some teachers received “U”s, an unsatisfactory rating because of the students DIBELS scores.

 I’m talking about dedicated, professionals who stay late, arrive early and do their best for the love of children. 

My Unsatisfactory “grade” was followed by the comment:

“This teacher’s students made minimal growth in her classroom this year.”

All of the children in my class made growth as measured by the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency test, many of them made significant growth. Yet because some of the children did not meet the 40 words per minute level, I was regarded as being an unsatisfactory teacher.

Most of my children are reading on or above grade level as found by administering a reading test where the child actually has to retell the story, measuring comprehension.  The amount of “progress/growth” they made this year for most of my children was no where near minimal. 

I asked my principal if she believed that statement that appeared on my evaluation.

She said “Yes, I do, based on your DIBELS scores!” 

Her statement hurt me because I know the amount of work I did this year with my precious students. The amount of growth the children had in all areas was in no way “minimal.”  I mentioned that the reading levels of some of my first-graders were equal to the end of second grade.  She said the district didn’t recognize non-standardized test scores.

I and the other teachers began calling our Teacher Union, because of the unfair practice of this principal.  The comment after the “U” didn’t even match the other comments on my evaluation. Other comments referred to my strong knowledge of content matter; my solid understanding of the content, and that my instructional practices reflect current pedagogical knowledge, etc.

The comment about minimal growth only had to do with the DIBELS scores.

There is an eleven month chronological age range in a first grade classroom.  Common sense will tell you that not all children can be at the same exact level at the end of a school year.  But isn’t that what the NCLB Act is asking for?  Will we narrow the curriculum so far that we only teach to this “skills in isolation” and “how many words can you read in a minute” DIBELS test?

There was no Title I Reading Teacher or no teacher assistant to help in first grade, while I had 25 children during reading time.

As I left the building, after an extremely difficult year, and after having to say goodbye to my class I had looped up with from Kindergarten to First Grade I felt the sadness I usually feel when saying goodbye to students I have come to love.

I also found myself wishing that my students had a union to plea their case.

They not only are being judged by their DIBELS scores, they are attending summer school

and/or repeating Kindergarten or First Grade because of DIBELS scores.

Sadly, my students are being left behind by society and they are being left behind by the No Child Left Behind Act.

 

Joan LoCurto