One of my proudest accomplishments was leading my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, as Step Master for our May 2008 step show (Ohio State). The show was a bit of a Pepe LePue stinker. We only placed 3rd because there were four fraternities that stepped and one happened to be worse than us. Still, I was proud the show took place because it was a lot of work for my team, especially for me having coordinated the steps and taught them to the team. The elected Step Master had resigned just weeks before the show so I had to work like David Bowie, "Under Pressure", which is what Vanilla Ice sampled "Ice Ice Baby" from for all of you urbanites. Being the fraternity's Vice President, step show Chairman, and full-time student simultaneously was very draining. However, the most frustration resulted from dealing with late practices, members who were rarely on time, and a team that didn't work as hard as possible in practice.
The quarter before that step show I was asked by a friend to teach her sorority, Kappa Phi Lambda, steps for Greek week to perform during the variety show. Of course I would oblige to spending my nights teaching moves to an Asian sorority with enough eye candy to give my eyes ulcers, which I assume is the equivalent of “eye cavities”? One advantage my fraternity brothers had over KPL was they were much better dancers. Go figure, a group of 21 year old black guys could dance, amazing. Even if not as precise, my frat just looked more coordinated and rhythmic. However, my Asian sisters were excellent workers. What impressed me most about them wasn't what they did in practice, but what they had done amongst themselves outside of practice. Each practice those ladies were on time and it was evident that they had practiced with each other outside of my instruction. Teaching them was a joy, and was less stressful than teaching my frat brothers.
Teaching two distinct groups to step taught me not only the truth in stereotypes, but also a valuable life lesson about learning; the teacher is not always to blame, rather our students hold the power.
Diane Ravitch wrote an article that saddened me entitled "Why Teachers are Enraged". It discusses how teachers in the state of Wisconsin are attacking Governor Scott Walker's "efforts to reduce their take-home pay - by increasing their contribution to their pension plans and health care benefits - and restrict their collective bargaining rights". However, what really caught my eye was the following excerpt:
"Teachers' despair deepened last August when The Los Angeles Times rated 6,000 teachers in Los Angeles as effective or ineffective, based on their students' test scores, and posted these ratings online. Testing experts warn that such ratings are likely to be both inaccurate and unstable, but the Times stood by its analysis".
In a nutshell, this is what has become of the American public education system. Our system teaches to socioeconomically biased standardized tests, evaluates our students' capacity to learn by standardized test scores, and evaluates the effectiveness of our educators by their students' performance on these tests. Wrong, wrong, and wrong.
Standardized tests are fundamentally flawed for various reasons, the biggest being that they are socioeconomically biased. Though many people prefer to describe the tests as "culturally biased", I believe the term "culture" is bland and overtly subjective. If hip-hop is its own "culture", who is to say what is and is not its own marginalized culture? Standardized tests are difficult to study for because they do not test content, but rather an accumulation of a lifetime's worth of cognitive patterns. Their preparation starts at home from birth. It is not a coincidence that students from economically advantaged public school systems are more likely to do well on the Ohio SATs and ACTs, for example. Cleveland Public schools have roughly tested 30% below the national average for standardized tests over the last decade and it just so happens to be one of the most impoverished cities in the nation. How is that the Cleveland Public Schools teachers' fault?
Those who are born to wealthier and more intelligent parents are more apt to academic success as indicated by such tests than are those who are not, regardless of race, gender, and favorite Desperate Housewife. Thank you Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt for the evidence (as reported in "Freakonomics"), I hope you guys love Lynette as much as I do. This is not to say that socioeconomically disadvantaged students cannot perform well on these tests, but you cannot deny the likelihood that they will not perform as well as more advantaged students.
Sticking with Mr. Dubner and Mr. Levitt, they laid a pretty solid foundation for increasing the likelihood of our students’ academic success, which is best stated by being better parents and not pointing the finger at our teachers. By reproducing with better people we put our children in a better position to succeed, and this does not simply mean lying with "richer and smarter" people. To expand on this concept, Mr. Dubner and Mr. Levitt detailed how the Chicago Public Schools randomly assigned students to different high schools. Some schools were regarded as "good" and some were regarded as "bad". The students who recorded the best academic performance turned out not to be from those who went to the schools that were consensually regarded as "good", but instead were the students of the parents who wanted their children to attend the "good" schools. Meaning, the schools that the children eventually were assigned to had much less effect on their performance than did their parents' expectations and desire for their children to succeed. As you may imagine, the parents who had the greatest expectations from their children were typically on the wealthier and more educated side, so socioeconomics remains in play, yes, but still isn't an ultimate indicator. Love and discipline goes a long way as well.
Teachers need America's love and defense instead of being evaluated on their students' test scores. In order to be a public school teacher, one must have gone to and graduated from a college or university, as well as earned certification and passed multiple background tests. Given the awful pay of the average public school teacher, I whole-heartedly believe our teachers are here to help our students for no reason other than a love of teaching. Basing the quality of their teachings on their students' test scores is absurd. Consider the following parallel example: An oncologist only has a 30% survival rate of her patients. However, she specifically takes patients with only the most advanced stages of cancer, many of which are fatal. Is she a bad doctor? Conversely, another oncologist has a 92% survival rate of her patients. However, she only sees patients whose cancer has recently been detected and is usually not of a fatal strand. Does her low mortality rate make her a better doctor? While numbers do not lie, they can mislead, just like standardized tests scores.
In order to fairly evaluate our teachers it is necessary to define their responsibilities. We need only to hold that our educators communicate information to students in a matter that is understandable and to maintain and enforce an environment that is conducive to learning. "That is it!” says Ricky Bobby. Our teachers should not be regarded as disciplinary figures, nor should they be held accountable for students' lack of desire to learn and retain information. If our teachers are failing to provide a safe learning environment or cannot effectively communicate with students the information at hand, then yes, bad teachers. While I'm sure cases of this exist I doubt that this is the criteria used in analyzing our educators.
My seventh grade science teacher, Mr. Norris, once came to class very upset. He said he had received a complaint from a parent because the parent did not know her child was currently repeating the seventh grade. Yes, take a moment to think about that - a parent did not know that his/her child had failed a grade! Fast forwarding to high school, I recall a barrage of complaints my guidance counselor told me she received by parents who were upset that their children would not be attending spring graduation. How is it possible to not know your child will not be graduating on time by the end of their senior year? While this explains why I'm not friends with too many people from my middle and high school anymore, it says much more about the sad state of our parenting. If parents were analyzed by the LA Times based on their child's academic performance just as the teachers were, Gerber would undoubtedly sponsor a nation-wide child recall. As Pastor Rick Warren said in "The Purpose Driven Life", "There are no illegitimate children, but there are illegitimate parents". Preach, preacher man.
As always I am solution-oriented. I look forward to one day holding a political office that will bolster my vision to reduce the prominence of standardized testing, or at least enforce measures to reduce the systematic advantages and disadvantages presented by these tests. I agree that there needs to be some universal standards in place to evaluate our students for college and other academic institutions, and standardized tests just may be the solution. However, as it stands now these tests are not accurate indicators of academic capacity or the quality of our nation's undervalued educators. The best action we can take is to be responsible parents by enforcing discipline in our homes and making education a priority for our children. The simple gifts of love and discipline will benefit our children, alleviate some unfair criticisms of our teachers, and will hopefully deliver a Superbowl to Cleveland. Not quite on the last one, but I was on a roll. I digress.
In closing, lay off of our teachers, America. They are doing the best they can to build our country with the parts they are given. Be responsible parents and community members by placing value in our children's education. Then, when your child loses his or her step show competition, remember that the step master was not solely to blame. Maybe you should have been a better step teacher at home.
Thank you.
-Christopher Charles Ivory
