The introduction of the International Baccalaureate at a Missouri high school forced all of the faculty to change the way they taught, a history teacher reported. Essay tests and primary sources are now typical strategies throughout the school. Further, a science teacher from Florida found the international comparisons helpful because they helped him set standards and let his students know what they, too, could be capable of learning.
Science teachers reported using cooperative learning as a way to help students delve into the scientific process, supplemented by lots of projects, experiments, and problem solving. "Everybody has to participate, and kids put pressure on each other to contribute," said one teacher. Forum teachers also are open to nontraditional ways of organizing classrooms, such as cross-age grouping or staying with one group of students for multiple years.
They also often rely on competitions to deepen student knowledge, encouraging and sometimes requiring students to enter academic contests but also emphasizing that it is the process that is important, not winning.
Rather than fret about covering the material, Forum teachers seek time for going deeper into subjects. As one teacher observed, "we need to take advantage of opportunities that arise spontaneously to cover material more in depth." This requires students to have access to quality resources--and teachers to have flexibility in using them. "It is important to have the freedom to use resources appropriately," commented one teacher.
For a growing number of classrooms among the Forum teachers, this means using technology creatively, especially to connect students with other students and resources beyond school walls (in fact, they are more apt to value telecommunications for their students before they consider it as a resource for themselves). There seems to be no reluctance on the part of the Forum teachers to integrate technology into their instruction, and their comments make it obvious they see computers and other advanced technologies as important tools within classrooms, not as add-ons or to use with activities that happen in labs down the hall a few hours a week.
Their strategies go much further, however, reflecting deeply held views that students are capable of directing their own learning and accepting teachers as learners themselves. A sixth- grade teacher from Colorado communicates her expectations to her students clearly, then enrolls them "as co-curriculum writers and co-assessors," even though many of her colleagues at the school cannot "trust kids to teach themselves."
A junior high school teacher asks whole classes to set academic and behavior goals for themselves every six weeks. At the end of the period, students review and rate their success. A teacher from an elementary school in Rhode Island carries out the same philosophy: "I set the agenda of the classroom with my students." A Maine teacher sets high standards by becoming a "powerful listener," asking permission to speak in class and letting students take responsibility for the discussions. A South Dakota teacher asks students to monitor their behavior in groups, reflecting on whether or not they have been facilitators and collaborators. They are tougher on themselves than she would be, she reports. A math teacher from Idaho assigns students to do the teaching under the supervision of a substitute when he is away from the school. An elementary teacher conducts brainstorming sessions with her students that allow them to show her what they have learned. Many of the Forum teachers praise peer tutoring, especially of younger students, as a way for their students to assume responsibility for learning.
These are anecdotal examples of practice, but added up, they represent a wholesome view of student behavior. The Forum teachers truly accept students as capable of taking charge.
Most important, however, they don't allow problems to become excuses. Too often, some said, students are accepted as victims, rather than required to accept responsibility and to take control of their learning. But the Forum teachers do not leave problems at the feet of their students, realizing that today's youngsters do not have the supports available to previous generations--and do have distractions created by family life and societal trends.
The Forum teachers believe in drawing from the strengths of families. Instead of dwelling on the lack of parental support, they try to find ways of encouraging it. Few talked about typical parent involvement activities--the newsletters, the regularly scheduled conferences. Most go beyond such strategies, seeking to empower parents in order to empower students. "The issue of self- esteem for a child is really self-esteem for the family," said a teacher from a low-income school in California. Instead of asking parents to come, she takes the initiative, with a focus on constantly helping parents understand that their children are capable of much higher achievement. For a teacher in an Alaskan village only a few miles from the Bering Sea, self-esteem for both students and parents is linked to their culture. He focuses on what is "basic stuff" in his context--"traditional values that our ancestors used to solve problems."
A New Jersey high school English teacher assigns students to discuss their reading with their parents and report to the class on the discussions. Parents also come to the class to read and participate. "This helps parents to become supportive rather than critical," she said. A Baltimore elementary teacher uses parent and family journals to reach reluctant parents. She sends the journals home to parents every few weeks, asking questions that need responses from them. Those who don't want to write can reply through tapes. "I just want some conversations with them," she said. "Some write poems, some write essays. I learn a lot, and the journals are something parents can look at over time and share with their children."
Still, teachers are realistic, knowing that by high school some students cannot depend upon strong family support. With such students, one high school teacher does not emphasize parent involvement as a necessity but, instead, seeks to help the student find his or her identity. "You have to give support to a kid when the traditional ones aren't there," she added.
The Forum teachers welcome the presence of community services in the schools, and some endorsed the idea of school facilities being open early and late into the evening, serving families as well as students. Many teachers infuse their classrooms with community and business resources. Rather than just providing monetary support, they want this involvement to be a real partnership that focuses on helping students link their studies with future occupations.
High school teachers must compete with student jobs for time, but instead of just complaining, one teacher marched to the source- -the business community--and is holding it accountable. "I told them they need to take some responsibility because they set the work schedules," she said. Businesspeople and educators should sit down at the table together, she advised, and talk about why Johnny's 40-hour work week prevents him from even staying awake in class, much less performing well academically.
The overwhelming changes outside of schools unnerve many teachers, but those at the Forum recognize that these changes cannot be ignored--they must be addressed. But it is quite clear to the Forum teachers that schools cannot address these changes alone.
It is a tragic loss for American education that these teachers, with so much to give, also believe they are not taken seriously. If they were, they would be actively involved in policy making at all levels. Their knowledge of best practices would be informing decisions that are reshaping much of what they do professionally. More to the point, they would be making those decisions. "I am in a state of complete readiness and raring to go," commented a teacher at the conclusion of the Forum expressing in a few words the sentiment of participants as a whole. Says Tracey Bailey, 1993 National Teacher of the Year, "We should be using our innovative teachers... Let teachers play a leadership role in bringing about change in the schools."
The conversation that began at the Forum will launch many similar conversations between teachers and policy makers in localities and states, as well as at the national level. Conversations that focus on the changes that need to take place in our schools and comunities if we are to enable all students to meet high levels of academic achievement.
The Power of Connection