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Summary
Independent researchers interview urban middle school students to get their impressions of the teachers that help them to succeed in schools.
According to the many student voices in this book, urban middle school students want teachers who "stay on them" to complete their work, maintain orderly classrooms, give them the extra help they need to succeed, explain their work clearly, draw on a variety of teaching strategies, and make their work relevant and meaningful. This book, rich in detail, brings these inner-city students' perspectives to life and issues a compelling call for urban school reform that actually touches students' daily lives.
"This book provides a cogent argument for including urban students in the dialogue on urban school reform. The students, because of their insider status, offer clear, specific views concerning those conditions that foster and hinder their learning. The students' suggestions warrant serious attention by those who are genuinely concerned about improving the quality of education in urban schools." — Grace Cureton Stanford, The Pennsylvania State University
"This book persuasively makes the case for--and uses effectively--student perspective as a key component of school reform. The implications for change of teachers' practice and for school reform in general are unmistakable and compelling." — Gil Schmerler, Bank Street College of Education
Bruce L. Wilson and H. Dickson Corbett are both independent educational researchers and coauthors of Testing, Reform, and Rebellion. Wilson is coauthor of Mandating Academic Excellence: High School Responses to State Curriculum Reform, with Gretchen B. Rossman and Successful Secondary Schools: Visions of Excellence in American Public Education, with Thomas B. Corcoran; and Corbett is coauthor of School Context and School Change: Implications for Effective Planning, with Judith A. Dawson and William A Firestone and Change and Effectiveness in Schools: A Cultural Perspective, with Gretchen B. Rossman and William A. Firestone, also published by SUNY Press.
Table of Contents
One
INTRODUCTION
The Reform Context Students as Useful Windows through Which to View Reform Overview of the Study and Its Participants The Student Sample and Interview Strategy The School Sites Other Considerations in Reading This Book
Two
CHANGES IN STUDENTS’ SCHOOL LIVES OVER THREE YEARS
Changes in Plans for the Future Changes in the Schools More and/or Harder Work Different Student Behavior Small Learning Communities Changes in Classroom Experiences Multiple or Long-term Replacement Teachers Disruptive Classrooms “Support Scarce” Classrooms A Need to Scale Up within Schools
Three
PEDAGOGICAL, CONTENT, AND CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT DIFFERENCES WITHIN AND ACROSS FIVE SCHOOLS
Pedagogical Differences—The Case of Science Content Differences—The Case of English Classroom Environment Differences—Two Examples School #1: Two Teachers on the Same Team School #4: A Comparison between Students’ Initial Teacher and a Replacement Students Focused on Instructional, Rather Than Personal, Style
Four
THE TEACHERS STUDENTS WANTED
Three Teachers Students Praised Qualities Students Wanted Their Teachers to Have Valued Teachers Pushed Students to Complete Their Assignments Valued Teachers Maintained Order in the Classroom Valued Teachers Were Willing to Help Valued Teachers Went to Great Lengths to Explain a Topic Until Everyone Understood It Valued Teachers Varied Classroom Activities Valued Teachers Respected Students, Related to Them, and Tried to Understand Their Worlds Behind the Actions: The Student–Teacher Relationship
Five
SPREADING THE POCKETS OF SUCCESS
A Brief Description of School #6 Students’ Aspirations and Teachers’Preferences Pedagogical Differences—The Case of Science Content Differences—The Case of Writing and English A Note on Mathematics Classroom Environment Differences Evidence of School Effects Students’ Perspectives on School #6 Student Performance Data Student Comparisons of School #6 with the Other Study Schools Student Talk and School Differences
Six
STUDENTS AND REFORM
Making Reform Noticeable Focus Professional Development on Adults’ Underlying Beliefs about a School’s Role in Supporting Student Learning Rather Than Discrete “Best Practices” Emphasize the Quality of the Relationships between Teachers and Students Changes in Student Performance Standards Must be Accompanied by the Creation of Standards for Pedagogy, Content, and Classroom Environment— and the Professional Development Necessary to Implement Them Connect Changes in Standards to Grades, Not Just to Performance on Large-scale Assessments Create “Extra Help” Situations That Encompass All Students Who Need It, Not Just Those Students Who Avail Themselves of It Extend Extra Help Beyond School Work to How to Succeed in the Future Reforming with, Not for, Students
