Getting Real - Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Teacher Reflects on Change over the Decades

In the 1970s, high school was not as serious as it is now.

Homework loads are greater, standardized testing has multiplied, competition between students is more intense, and the stakes are higher.

Our challenge, however, is this: a segment of our student body has not become more serious, despite the fact that high school in general has.

In the 1970s, the consequences for not doing homework or not studying were not as impactful as they are now.

Good study skills and good work habits are essential to get good tests scores and get admitted into a competitive college or university.

In the late 1970s, students who were average or a little above average routinely gained admission to Big Ten universities. Now, to get into U of M, a student must be significantly above average.

The University of Michigan, along with MSU and Wayne State University, has become quite selective. But a significant percentage of high school students haven't adjusted to this reality.

The situation is, naturally, multi-factorial, and there is no simple answer. But one essential part of the solution is parental involvement and encouragement. Without that, a student's chances of excelling dwindle.

[Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Teacher Andrew Smith teaches History and German in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.]

School Census - Interesting Demographics

A statistical overview of Huron High School's student body as of November 10, 2014, reveals some interesting ratios. Total enrollment for these purposes was listed at 1501, although in reality it is probably somewhat higher.

Of 387 ninth graders, 221 were boys and 166 were girls. This lopsided breakdown held for every ethnic or racial demographic group except Asians. Among those labeled as 'white' or 'Caucasian' there were 103 boys and 56 girls.

By contrast, of 344 tenth graders, the gender ratio skewed in the opposite direction: there were 155 boys and 189 girls. There were more girls than boys in the following categories: Caucasian, African-American, Asian, and Multi-Ethnic. Among tenth graders, there were slightly more boys than girls among the 'American Indian or Alaskan' and the Latino/Hispanic, Arab-American, and 'other' categories. There were no data points among sophomores in the 'Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander' and 'unclassified' categories.

Among eleventh and twelfth graders, there were no significant asymmetries in the numbers. The total student count included 745 males and 756 females.

The statistical quirkiness seems to be found primarily among the freshmen.

A Sports Metaphor for Assessment

When it comes to testing, the unique and paradoxical role of the teacher may perhaps best be captured in a sports metaphor. Imagine a game in which one person is simultaneously a coach and an official.

Picture a coach, who’s worked with his team all week to help them prepare to struggle for a victory: picture this same individual being asked to make a “neutral” call, perhaps while watching the slow motion video replay several times.

Obviously, this doesn’t happen in organized athletics, and for good reason: the assignment of the tasks of coaching and refereeing involve a conflict of interests.

The classroom teacher, however, is placed into exactly this paradoxical role. The teacher works all week to ensure that the students are engaged in meaningful academic experiences. Yet the same teacher is then called upon to judge the students.

This creates a counterproductive psychological relation between the students and the teachers. If the students see the teacher as a coach, who’s helping the students to gain academic skills, then the students feel betrayal when the teacher suddenly assumes the role of the umpire and calls the students “out.”

Conversely, if the students see the teacher as a judge who will make the objective calls on the assessment, then the students are less inclined to engage when the teacher coaches them toward achievement.

The solution to this conflict of interest? Regular assessments - the ordinary tests given in a class, not the high stakes college admissions tests - should be designed, administered and graded by someone other than the classroom teacher.

If twice, or four times, or six times, per semester, the students were put through an examination regime by someone who’s not their regular classroom teacher, then the students would see more clearly that the teacher is their coach - the teacher is “on their side” and helping to prepare them to “clear the hurdle” of an upcoming examination.

Otherwise, as is commonly done now, the classroom teacher seems to be the one erecting the barriers for the students to jump: the teacher is seen by the students to be the problem, because the teacher creates, administers, and grades the tests.

In those rare occasions when a teacher is not the author of the assessment - in classes which prepare for AP tests, or for ACT or SAT tests - there is quickly a different relation between student and teacher. It is clear to the students that the teacher is there only to help them, and not to create obstacles.

To ensure meaningful results, the classroom teacher should not see the examination prior to the students taking it, although the classroom teacher should receive a clear description of the test, so as to prepare the students for it.

Such a method for classroom, in-course, assessments would lead to a better relationship between the students and the teacher, a more clear sense in the minds of the students that they are there to prepare for the test, and subsequently to better test results reflecting better academic achievement.

As a side benefit, the test results would be more meaningful: a more accurate and neutral measure of student progress.

[Andrew Smith is a German teacher at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.]