• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

March 16, 2015 Common Core

The Best Teaching Happens in the “Worst” Schools

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About TER Staff

The Educator's Room is a daily website dedicated to showing that teachers are the experts in education. If you are interested in submitting a piece for publication, please send a draft to info@theeducatorsroom.com.
  • Under a new federal bill, teachers would make a minimum salary of $60,000 - December 17, 2022
  • Redefining in loco parentis: What does it mean to care for Black children? - October 5, 2022
  • Quinta Brunson + ABC Network Sued For Copyright Infringement For Television Show ‘Abbott Elementary’ - July 18, 2022
  • We Crowdsourced What Teachers Said Can Stop Gun Violence in Schools - May 27, 2022
  • Weird News: Why Are People Asking Quinta Brunson To Do a 'School Shooting' Episode? - May 25, 2022
  • After Another School Shooting, No More Words. - May 25, 2022
  • Teacher Appreciation Week Deals 2022 - May 2, 2022
  • Abbott Elementary When Discretionary Funds Are On the Line - April 6, 2022
  • Abbott Elementary Tackles Tik Tok Challenges - April 6, 2022
  • The Dangerous Suppression of “Don’t Say Gay” - March 23, 2022

By Jennifer Orr

“That’s a good school.” I’ve heard people say that many times. If the speaker’s child attends the school in question, it’s possible they have many reasons for such an assertion. If not, chances are good they are basing the statement on test scores.

Test scores are certainly one way to determine the quality of a school; an easy, simplistic way. Using test scores as the measure of quality results in a certain set of schools being deemed failing, mostly schools serving students living in poverty. Not only are such schools considered to be failing, but the students and teachers there are as well.

If, instead of considering test scores, one looks closely at the teaching in various schools, I believe the labels would look quite different.

I have spent my 17 years of teaching in Title I schools at which more than 75% of the students receive free or reduced-price lunches. Similar numbers of students are English Language Learners.

Our students often speak two or more languages, help their families navigate bureaucracies, care for younger siblings, and support the family in a variety of ways. Our students are skilled and smart in many different ways. Unfortunately, those ways aren’t always reflected in school-related skills or on standardized assessments.

Spend some time in ‘failing’ and ‘successful’ schools. Watch how the time is spent. Look carefully at the instruction. In schools in which students struggle to pass tests, you will find consistent, thoughtful instruction. Teachers in such schools have to make sure every activity and every lesson is well designed and meaningful. Not to say teachers in ‘successful’ schools don’t do so as well, but the urgency is not the same.

A quick search online for elementary activities and projects will result in some fun, cute activities. Activities you might see in many schools. Word searches on scientific topics are fun, but it’s not clear they do much to support deep learning on the topic. Colonial Days are fond memories for many, but I wonder what people learned from them beyond how people dressed and what they ate. Colonial Days happen at ‘successful’ schools. They aren’t successful because of their Colonial Days, they have the time for such events because their students are lucky enough to come in prepared for typical school skills and assessments.

At ‘failing’ schools you won’t often see Colonial Days or science fairs or cute projects. Click To Tweet

At ‘failing’ schools you won’t often see Colonial Days or science fairs or cute projects. You’ll see guided reading groups digging into and discussing books, students writing and sharing what they wrote, math games being played in a way that includes a conversation about numbers and learning. You’ll see teachers working with students, as a class, in a small group, or one-on-one, but always working with students. You’ll see classes waiting in line for a bathroom break playing a math game. In P.E. students will be skip counting as they do warm up exercises. Every minute will be accounted for and a part of meaningful learning. It has to be.

You may see these same things in ‘successful’ schools, but not as consistently. The urgency simply isn’t there. The best teaching is happening in our ‘worst’ schools.

The best teaching is happening in our ‘worst’ schools. Click To Tweet

Bio: Jennifer Orr is an elementary school teacher in Fairfax County, Va. She was selected as a 2013 ASCD Emerging Leader and was a panelist at ASCD’s fall 2014 Whole Child Symposium on teacher leadership. Connect with her on Twitter at @jenorr.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

{Editorial} A Teacher's Experience with PARCC in Tennessee Default ThumbnailTesting a Thousand Madelyns Default ThumbnailGoing Back to School Renewed and Empowered, Not Burnt Out Default ThumbnailThe Problem in Urban Schools- Stop Teaching to the Test
« Celebrate Super Pi Day!
What are We Testing? - PARCC and SBAC »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • Ask The Educator's Room: I'm dating a student's dad. Should we tell the school?
  • My Union Showed Up for Me, and I'll Never Forget It
  • Your Students Deserve a Diverse Classroom Library. Here's How to Set It Up.
  • You Don't Have to Watch the Tyre Nichols Video, But Be Ready to Talk About It

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.