Abstract
The purpose of the literary review, was to explore the causes of abnormally high teacher attrition within the majority of America’s urban schools. The articles reviewed focus on challenges of staffing teachers within an urban school, the challenges of teaching within an urban school, as well as qualities a teacher must possess in order to succeed when teaching within an urban school. Also, one question was asked of two teachers of ten or more years experience within a North Tulsa urban school, as well as two assistant principals. What one quality must a teacher possess, in order to be considered a “ High Quality” teacher within an urban school. Hence, a study of essential urban teacher qualities that may enhance the benefit of
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The revolving door of urban teachers can be reduced if only the focus was on quality rather than qualified teachers. The definition of a “quality urban teacher” will be analyzed throughout the following literary review, as well as a data analysis from data collected from a questioner of two urban assistant principals and two successful urban teachers.
Challenges Urban Teachers Face
Many aspect of teaching are drastically different from teaching in an urban low-socioeconomic school compared to suburban and rural schools. Though prevalent their counterpart districts, urban students tend to be much more of a challenge for even the most experienced of teachers. With higher than normal student mobility rates in urban schools, teachers are faced with a constant flip flop of students within their classrooms that tends to cause disruptions for those stable students that choose to stay the duration (Jacob 2007). On the flip side of this high mobility rate within urban settings is the students tend to develop gaps in their learning due to long stretches of missing school as well as the mere frequent change schools (Druham-Barnes 2011). This is not the only reason “urban students score lower on standardized achievement exams than their suburban counterparts” (Jacob 2007). Over sixty percent of urban students fail to meet a “basic” level on national standardized tests (Gehrke 2005).
Common examples of urban student inhibitors to learning range from hunger, anger,
The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing
1. I understand that the job of an Urban Teacher is a daunting task.It requires an individual with the capability to building strong student ethics , character and achievement Teaching requires passion and a desire to impart knowledge in students from all communities.
The case study of the Branden Smith and his first year in the Parkland School District is a prime example of what can happen when there is a lack a control and guidance in the educational setting from an administrative perspective. Branden’s mentality is soon completely altered and jarred from optimism to pessimism within a matter of months after working in the Parkland district. He has formed a common mentality amongst many teachers that teach in an urban setting develop which I like to refer to as “Urban Fatigue”. Urban Fatigue is a mental, physical, and emotional state that you often find teachers in the urban school settings develop over time. This state seems to be far more progressive amongst teachers in the urban school setting than teachers in the suburban school settings. I attribute this fatigue to the fact that many teachers in the urban settings often are challenged with more disciplinary and behavioral issues, lack of parent support, lack of departmental and district funding, and overall structural issues within the learning environment and community. These factors attribute to the concept of “Urban Fatigue”. The case study of Branden Smith is an example of what can happen when the factors of “Urban Fatigue” set in due to a lack of school cultural, climate, and structural framework are not fully implemented by the administrative parties.
According to the state report card, Salem Elementary School’s socioeconomic status of students is strongly high in poverty. Correspondingly, all of the students enrolled in Salem also have some type of economic disadvantage. As discussed in our EDTE 2020 class, high poverty areas tend to have teachers “with less experience”, who do not have “proper certification”, or who have a “high turnover rate”. This is the complete opposite at Salem, as it’s stated on the report card that all teachers have a bachelor and a master’s degree, with over 72% of teachers being
With any class complication, the new teachers are more likely to focus on condemning student behavior and less on actual teaching. This is a dilemma because not only are twenty three percent of teachers dropping out after five years, but also student’s achievement is based on the teacher’s commitment. Students in these low-income schools feel abandoned and setback when they keep getting new teachers who aren’t fully experienced (Shernoff
In a qualitative study of ten inner-city teachers, Stanford (2001) concluded that resilient teachers derived deep personal satisfaction in their work and relied on an extensive network of support involving teacher colleagues, family and friends, and church groups. This was regardless of in which career stage they were in. Participants of this study included those teachers having 30-33 years of teaching experience, 28 years, and also 10-21 years of teaching experience. In Williams’s (2003) study, she found that the experienced teachers in her sample found strength and resilience to continue to teach from their passion of teaching and the dedication to improve themselves through professional
This article whose focus was on minority teacher candidates in teacher education programs presented an argument that schools with increased numbers of minority teachers will have a richer multicultural knowledge base, stronger roles models, and more shared experiences between students and teachers, and greater numbers of insider experiences that help build bridges between cultures (Szecsi & Spillman, 2012). The article touched on a few of the “hindrances”, like low pay and standardized test difficulties, but the purpose the article was to help readers gain an understanding of how minorities in teacher education programs feel about their journey to becoming a teacher. The article showcased a study of three minority students in a teacher education
An example of this educational gap was in the New York schooling system. Where blacks and Hispanics “make up about 71 percent of public and charter school students citywide, they received just 12 percent of specialized high school students in 2003 ( Leonie, Ravitch 2). One of the causes this of disparity is the difference in schools. According pew research there is a difference between schools in the suburban which are made up of mostly white children and inner city schools made up of mostly minorities like Hispanics and African Americans. The suburban schools which according to pew research center is mostly white and the inner city schools which are mostly made up of the other minorities (Citation 3). Staring with the quality of teachers, according to Pitre “unqualified teachers are disproportionately assigned to teach low-income ethnic minority children” (Pitre 5). An example of this difference is in the state of California where it was found that in the most segregated schools there “were more than five times as likely to have an uncertified teacher” (Pitre 5).The importance of teachers in the schools, especially teachers who teach young children is invaluable. According to Cowan Pitre “the issue of access to a high quality teacher is important because research has consistently identified teacher quality as the most important school-based factor in student achievement” ( 5). When low quality teachers are assigned to minorities how
Fife-Demski (2016) presented a collective case study on White urban student teachers (USTs) immersed in US urban school neighborhoods on the use of analytical portrayal and thematic analysis in the, and the role of the urban student teaching program in teacher development, and the theoretical framework of ethic of care. Sample populations included 5 White females, who volunteered out of nine total participants in the UST programs. Due to the sample size, the study lent itself as a small, interpretive, collective case study. These particular group of student teachers was prepared through the UST programs, thus placing them within a similar context onsite for a fully immersive experience. The findings illustrated that significant immersion in
There was not an honors or accelerated program that she could offer. However, at the suburban school, she was able to offer honors programs for motivated students beginning at 7th grade. After school activities were offered and buses were available to provide transportation. At the city school however, instruction was basic and did not contain many creative arts courses. Students had difficulties participating in after school activates due to the lack of transportation. Another problem that she faced at the city school was the staff turnover. Many teachers did not appreciate the low compensation and did not stay long at the district. She was faced with very few applications when positions opened. This was also the same back in 2008 According to Teach Make a difference. They claim that at one point, “ almost one hundred percent of urban schools had job vacancies for teaching positions ranging from special education to vocational education that they could not fill” In the urban school, principals are also faced with the challenges of overcrowding and poor funding. With high poverty levels, increasing taxes is something that would not be favored by the
I am interested in completing a year-long internship in an urban school setting at Andrew Robinson Elementary because students in urban schools need dedicated teachers. Schools in urban areas have challenges that range from poverty, violence, cultural diversity, and a multitude of languages. It is so much different than teaching in suburban settings, which have more uniform student populations, parental support and stable student populations. Which is exactly what makes the urban setting so interesting to myself. Students need dedicated teachers who respect the youth, believe in them and understand the possible homes and cultures that they comes from.
The next area to address would be the lack of instructional coherence. Instructional coherence has become an issue because everyone is trying so many different approaches to address the performance issue that they end up making the students confused. I at one time in my high school years was a victim of the instructional madness. I survived the no child left behind and the race to the top movement. The next area is inexperienced staff, Urban schools continually have to deal with the fact that they are hard to staff. These schools have a high turnover rate and this affects students’ performance. It is often seen in the years of experience of the teaching staff in schools. Most Urban schools have teacher that have low or no experience in teaching. Therefore it goes without saying that this has a direct impact on student performance. The last but most detrimental area of concern that has to be addressed is the low expectations of students. This is a major concern from a academic and ethical point of view. Not believing in the students that you are teaching shows a teachers inability to be truly connect with the Urban students. I believe that this issue has the most
To begin this reflection let me ask a couple questions, what are we supposed to expect when we as future teacher get hired at a urban school compared to a non-urban school? How is it going to be different? These are just a few questions I had in my mind going into this field experience. The reason for this thought process was the result of the school system I grew up. The school I grew up in was mainly a white based student population and non-urban. So, before this field experience I had no idea what a urban school was going to be like as the result of my white privilege of the location of where I lived and the amount of money my parents make. It seemed to me that an urban school was the total opposite of what a non-urban school, that I went to was. An urban school, has a more diverse population of students and students that come from parents that can’t make as much money as my family. Furthermore teachers that rotate between other urban schools in the area compared to teachers staying in one school. This is a major difference because when I was in high school where I knew from year to year if my teacher was going to be around. In a urban setting a teacher may be working at school for one year and working at a totally different establishment the next time period. I feel the differences at intervals of urban and non-urban stop there. These schools are similar by the virtue of they have teachers that care about their students. If teachers are present to care about the
To improve education in the United States, the core objectives in federal education legislation address the improvement of teacher education and quality, for example, Higher Education Opportunity Act (Cohen-vogel, 2005). Teacher preparation program is one of the policy instruments to deliver the goals. Unlike traditional preparation program and alternative teacher preparation programs, Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) is an innovative preparation program improving teacher quality in which a mentor will be assigned to work with the novice teacher for a year. UTRs are distinctive than other programs mainly in three aspects as follows: recruitment, preparation, and ongoing induction. First established in 2002, UTRs have gained its popularity and
When I think about teachers that I have had in the past, several different ones come to my mind. Each of these educators stands out in my mind for a variety of diverse reasons. Whether it is their sense of humor, their tactfulness, their love of the subject matter, their fanatical and sporadic behavior, or their yearning to be childish themselves, I can still remember at least one quality of every teacher I have ever encountered. Every one of these teachers conveyed subject material to their students just as they were educated and employed to do. However, I trust that every professional in the world has an abundance of opportunity for improvement; teachers could discover and improve themselves merely by having