Madeline - TFA - Blog 3

Another long day in the city! I don’t know what was in the air this morning but most of Ms. Rockwell’s student’s were on task and ready to learn second through sixth period. It was cool to see the students behaving like civilized, engaged students. I worked individually with a lot of students and it seemed like most of them were able to grasp the concepts being taught with a little extra help. Eighth period, unfortunately, was a bit of a mess—perhaps even worse than usual. Most of the students were absent, but the ones that did come to class were so talkative and off-task that I don’t think Ms. Rockwell was even able to get through one problem the entire 40-minute class. Incredibly frustrating. Cody and I also graded standardized tests the students had taken yesterday. Yikes. Ms. Rockwell said that the majority of the material on the test was covered in fifth and sixth grade. As juniors and seniors in high school, one would think that even a below average student would be able to get at least 70% of the questions on this exam correct. Unfortunately, most of the students received around a 40% on the test. It’s no surprise these students need so much individualized attention in class—they have hardly developed basic algebraic skills! I too would be frustrated and disheartened during a math class if I struggled with the most basic aspects of the skills being taught. It just reminded me that the issues within the Chicago public school system, and many other impoverished public schools throughout the country, is very cyclical and complex. Students not meeting academic standards at a high school level didn’t just get there after one bad test score or a few weeks of slacking. Years of inadequate education in a struggling school system have contributed to the current state of affairs. The government’s ludicrous expectations and illogical standards certainly aren’t helping the matter. I believe that in order for this cycle of poverty to be broken, a systematic change must occur. Now I just have to think up a way to do that...