Sometime D Magazine contributor Pam Kripke has taken to teaching English in a public school not so very far away. It has been, to say the least, an interesting experience for her. At some point, you’ll get to read about the full experience in our magazine. Till then, the Huffington Post will periodically publish dispatches sent by Pam from the classroom front. Here’s her first installment. Worth your time.
20 comments
well done, thanks for posting. Teachers are heroes.
I predict that, when DISD realizes she’s doing this, her magazine piece will cover a shorter time span than you’d hoped. Which is why memoirs used to be written mostly after the fact.
I agree with Jeffrey. I’m guessing this is probably the last one.
There are 2 sides to every story, and you’re only hearing one.
Not allowed to take textbooks home?
Absolutely not true at Marsh.
Administrators telling teachers to scream at kids?
Absolutely not true at Marsh.
And offensive.
The teachers wouldn’t stand by and let that happen.
Marsh being the only DISD middle school to rec’v Recognized rating without help of TPM?
Definitely True at Marsh.
A unique ROTC program so special that when kids miss school for ROTC events other teachers are willing to stay late or come on Saturdays to get them caught up so the kids can stay in ROTC?
Yep, that’s true at Marsh.
There isn’t time to list all the other good things going on at Marsh; come see for yourself.
Yes, urban education is a mess and in DISD, it’s the people at 3700–notably the superintendent–who are the problem.
But not at Marsh.
I am not a teacher but I know two teachers who teach at Marsh and are complimentary of the principal there. There are a few select schools who are having great results with students with this demographic because they have figured out the culture. Success within any organization starts and ends there. Strong teachers feel supported, principals feel empowered, student achievement is paramount. Data is important and used frequently. Teaching children with these backgrounds is very hard and under appreciated….but it can be done.
Kripke is a journalist, not a teacher. Thank god, maybe she’ll return to her true profession.
“Marsh Teacher” is correct about the errors in this Huffington Post article. It is rather sad to know that the Huffington Post would publish such an article without some minimal research.
Marsh Middle School, according to the current school “report card” at http://www.dallasisd.org/scorecards/pdfcards/054E_MARSH.pdf , has 76% of their students who are on the free lunch program, not 90% as alleged by this first year teacher who wrote this rather sensational article.
Yes, some of those situations certainly happen. (After 28 years as a social worker in Dallas) I became a teacher at Quintanilla Middle School 11 years ago. Our school’s “report card” is at http://www.dallasisd.org/scorecards/pdfcards/068E_QUINTANILLA.pdf.
If you study it you will see that 95% of our students are on the free lunch program, almost 20% more than Marsh. Our school is also in an area of Dallas that is easily considered to be much more crime ridden.
Yes, I have many students with parents in jail. One once told me that “both my Daddy’s are in jail,” but such tragic family situations “only” affect maybe 5% of my students. Yes, in every class I have tragic family stories, but the VERY large majority of my students are not from criminal families. They are simply struggling with poverty to survive in a big city.
There is no need for us to sensationalize the lives of our students. Reality is enough. We must work harder to focus our students onto their own lives, their own future, and how their school work now can change their future for the better. We can make a very big difference if we only encourage our students to think more of themselves and their own future, and the ultimate power in school work.
We started such a project in 2005 at our middle school. It is a 10-year time-capsule and 10-year class-reunion/mentoring project focusing on the future. Since then the 7 year average 34% graduation rate (2000-2007) at Sunset High School, which receives most of our students, has risen to 60% with the Class of 2010!! Google “Dallas” and “dropout,” and read the blog at the first hit. It has the rest of the story.
One teacher can make a very big difference at a school by simply running such a low cost, $1 per child, project focusing students on their own futures. It takes about 30 hours a year, but makes a big difference.
We have had no problem finding donated money for the first seven 500-pound vaults that are now bolted to the school lobby floors, in a central place of respect, in the first 7 DISD schools to start School Archive Projects. The vault becomes a time-capsule for the most valuable possessions our students have. The dreams of their parents for them are recorded in one of the letters in the vault. It is a letter to them from their parents about their parental dreams for their child. Then the students write their own letter to themselves using that first letter from their parents. Their perception of their future seems to change. They stay in school, and work harder, looking forward to their 10-year class reunion, and what they will tell the students in the 8th grade when they return for their reunion.
The potential of our students is no different from that of any private school child anywhere in D/FW. Resources available to them may be different, but not their potential!
As I teacher at Marsh, I take issue with almost everything that Ms. Kripke alleges. Why does media publish without fact-checking? There are so many devoted teachers who invest time and energy into the school and the students. Most of us go above and beyond because we believe that the students are worth it – and we are fortunate enough to have a principal who leads by example. Believe me, if a teacher’s students are removed from her class (and that many!), there’s a good reason for it! Marsh always puts students’ academic and developmental well-being first. Come see for yourself and decide.
I also teach at this school and disagree with the article. Kripke defines our students by their circumstance, which makes her blind to their potential. It is ridiculous to think people are taking her seriously when she does not reflect the culture at our school. Teaching is a challenge. Kripke saw the challenge and ran away from it, but only after she exploited it first.
You get what you give. If you are a teacher who believes every student can learn and will work tirelessly towards their academic success then that is what you will get, students who are moving forward and achieving. My students come to school every day, work hard and do everything I ask of them. They have ability; they have shown measureable growth in the first semester. Everyday these kids show up with their supplies, their binders, their library books. There are brilliant, creative minds, and there are struggling readers who are working hard to get better. I believe in them and they know that, as a result they believe in themselves as well.
I have been teaching at Marsh Middle School for quite a few years, and I see a very different school from Ms. Kripke. I see teachers turning up on Saturdays and staying late after school to help students. I see teachers investing time and effort to nurture students academically. If you see a security officer with a student, he is more likely to be having a heart-to-heart talk because he understands that building trust through relationships is the key to keeping students on track. Why doesn’t Ms. Kripke see this? Where is her data? Why doesn’t she have any corroboration for her story? To have an opinion is one thing, but to pass it off as fact is quite another. Ms. Kripke has seen what she wants to see because it serves her purpose. It doesn’t, however, serve her students.
There are two sides to every story, and this HER story. Kripke is also a small voice for the children. She is only getting you to see the point of view of her students and there .
I’ve read the article three times to see what is the root from which this anger and rage is stemming from. The Marsh teachers above are almost like guards. What are you protecting I wonder. I truly don’t understand the anger. I didn’t read direct critism of the administrators. From what I see on the inside she speaks the truth from the students’ perspective. She never mentions the school. In your rage, you are not listening. In your rage, you are not seeing with pure vision. In your rage, you have exposed that institution and now that principal. (She never once mentioned the name of the school). (Note: Maybe things have changed since I was there, but most teachers were indirectly threatened to attend Saturday. It was a cold-hearted environment if you were “different”).
I’ve worked at that school and I have worked at other schools. Her percentages may not be accurate, but the problem and solution stated (there is a drop-out rate crisis in our nation) are clear. We must understand the background of minority students of new to know how to teach them.
This may sound like a contradiction especially if you are not reading with an open mind. Pam does speak the truth and so do you, but her truth is of the vision of the minorities (students and staff). Her truth is from the side of those who are not like you.
I have been on the “inside” and know for a fact that the reason Ms. Kripke’s students were stripped from her was because she refused to change failing grades to passing ones, and this FACT is exactly why the next day she was “reassigned.” Pull the videos and look at the nice little meeting the principle had with Ms. Kripke instructing her that she WOULD change the grades, and Ms. Kripke refused. Shock of all shocks, someone finally said, “um, no, I do not believe I am going to lie and give a child a grade he did not earn, and certainly not change a 45 to a 75 so DISD can get some sorely needed federal funding.”–By the way Ms. Kripke, if you are reading this please talk to the union reps about what happens to DISD’s federal funding when grades are being illegally changed–you have opened up a hornet’s nest and thank you for doing so. Kudos for someone finally standing up to one of the largest academic systems failures in K12 education in the US: DISD.
If you check out the Texas Education Code, you will see it states that it is illegal for an administrator to request and/or order that a teacher change grades. Explain why, if what I just wrote is not true, the administration submitted a formal evaluation of Ms. Kripe to the district after 14 days on the job, illegally, and only after she said NO to changing grades. This “evaluation” was to have been performed in the second semester. And, next, if what I wrote is not true why then did this same adminstration rescind the evaluation after their superiors counseled them to do so? If Ms. Kripke, who holds degrees magna cum laude from Brown (undergrad) and Northwestern (grad)is SUCH a bad and incompetent teacher surely this “evaluation” would have stood and not been rescinded.
If you have actually read this far please go back and reread the story Ms. Kripke tells…it is not an attack against the efforts of other teachers,despite the brainwashing administration may be conducting snidely with hands covering mouths, but rather an illustration that makes the point that kids’ circumstances everywhere in this country get in the way of their learning, and that a safe environment (without yelling, threats of detention, referrals, suspension) is essential for success. Further, the story is not localized to Marsh but is a wakeup call to all school administrations that our children deserve better.
Official grades–grades for the report card–are not recorded until after the 1st 6 weeks.
At 3 weeks, we give progress reports, but those grades are in no way final or “official” for the purposes of a report card.
At 14 days, there simply are no “grades” to contest, change, tamper with, whatever.
It doesn’t happen.
In order to have progress reports or official grades, you have to have scores from tests to average, don’t you? A grade on a test is supposed to be what the child scores, not what a principle instructs a teacher to change it to.
When I was in college I earned extra money typing papers for other students–was that a long time ago! I still vividly remember a paper on Ebonics–the movement that encouraged inner city teachers to assign As to incorrectly written and spoken English. “I ain’t got none” is not an “A.” It is an “F” and when principles instruct teachers on how to change grades, that is an “F” in the book of how we run our education system.
There seems to be some confusion about when Ms. Kripke was demoted versus the grading periods.
The grades Kripke was asked to change were report card grades for the first 6-week marking period. She was not hired until 3 weeks into the year, after the students had 4 subs. She was demoted the 3rd week of October, after 6 weeks of work, not 3, and only immediately after she refused to change the report card grades.
In response to the comment regarding federal funding, certainly that comment is spot on considering the “race to the top” incentives that higher scorecards would yield. Ms. Kripke is sitting on top of a huge whistleblower case she should consider filing.
@Dan,
What percentage of her 64 students failed the first 6-weeks of her class?
What was her failing rate like compared to the other teachers on the grade level?
Did any of the kids who failed her class pass other classes?
Inexperienced teachers sometimes grade very harshly because they do not yet realize what the kids are and are not capable of grasping.
Generally, new teachers in a class where there had been multiple subs would err on the side of the students until she/he had a better sense of what to expect from the kids.
Principals are right to question new teachers about their failure rate, just in case the problem is the teacher and not the kids.
As for there being 4 subs, that certainly isn’t on the principal or the campus. Teachers have to be cleared by the central offices before they can begin teaching. It’s done to keep kids safe.
I have also been on the “inside” of this school. I taught the same subject as Ms. Kripke, and I think maybe she should re-consider journalism and invest in writing fiction; she is good at that. Marsh is a recognized school that is defying the odds. The students and faculty have a close relationship. The principal is loved by the community, faculty and students… why? Because he has shown them that success is possible, and not only available to the residents of Mayberry. Students have told me of the way that she spoke to them and downgraded them; it is possible that is why she was demoted. While at Marsh, I failed every kid who did not earn their grade. I never once was asked to change a grade. Actually to the contrary, the principal and vice principals made home visits and brought parents in as soon as there was a problem… even as little as not showing up to tutoring. I hope at some point I am able to meet this lady. There are former Marsh graduates turned college attendees that I would like her to meet… some on complete full rides.
If D Magazine will consider someone who thinks that students should not dream, that college posters are absurd and who was stripped of her students a mere four weeks in, a teacher… well maybe Ms. Kripke can inform you of the definition of irony… although tread lightly, she may try and crush your dreams as well.
In reference to the failure rate, if none of the students were succeeding the problem lies with the so-called teacher.
I have never been asked to change a failing grade, just account for the failing grades that I gave. This was not done as a punishment but to ensure that struggling students were getting the support that they needed. If students were getting every opportunity to succeed and they still failed, then the administration had my back. Any teacher worth their salt would understand policy. Ask Ms. Kripke if she tutors like the other teachers. What is her plan to help struggling students? Where are her solutions (apart from the classroom psychologists, hugs, and cookies)? In response to an earlier post, teachers do not have to act as ‘guards’. Why would we have to protect the work that we do, the curriculum and rigor that we create and impart, and our administration who lead by example? I certainly feel that they can take care of themselves. I do, however, take issue with sensationalizing something to justify one’s own behavior.
So many times in my early years of teaching, I persevered with a student while inwardly thinking that I was wasting my time (but being too bloody-minded to give up), only to have that same student come back to visit me from high school and tell me about his AP courses or his first year at college. THOSE students taught me never to give up.
Ms. Kripke writes beautifully. Her article is the stuff of a Hollywood screenplay and she makes at least one valid (although obvious?) point: kids who go to urban schools have circumstances that make it difficult for them to be scholars. As a ten year Dallas ISD educator, I agree 100%.
However, the rest of the article rubbed me the wrong way. The tone seemed to be one of pity for the students and their miserable urban plight. I think the LAST thing these students need is pity and teachers with dreams of social workers and psychiatrists for teacher assistants. Empathy? Sure. Cookies? Great! (We’ll save the child obesity epidemic discussion for another blog – I love cookies.) What they need is a teacher who goes beyond the outlined duties in the job description to help students succeed in spite of their difficult circumstances.
Getting back to the “rub” on this article is that I know many of the Marsh teachers, and worked with several, and know them to be incredibly, impossibly, above and beyond dedicated – teachers who work late nights and weekends (tutoring, lesson planning, sponsoring) as the rule, not the exception. They are teachers who cheer their students’ efforts and who delight in their successes as though they were their own, flesh and blood, children. They are teachers who come down on students with lackluster efforts and miserable excuses with a vengeance but offer every possible scaffold and opportunity for success.
Next… Ms. Kripke’s comments on the administration. Mocking a principal for touting AP courses and plastering the middle school walls with college propaganda – really? If you’re a middle school student and your own principal thinks you are too pathetic to go to college or take a challenging course, you really must be too miserably hopeless to ever do anything other than eat cookies. And talk to a social worker. Or see a psychologist.
The administration having a policy to restrict teachers from sending books home – absolutely not true. Put it in the Hollywood screenplay, but leave it out of something that is supposed to be a news story.
Administration pressuring teachers to yell at students? I find it HIGHLY unlikely. I worked under the Marsh principal at another school, and remember being told in faculty meetings, in no uncertain terms, “YOU WILL NOT YELL AT STUDENTS.” I find it hard to believe that his philosophy would have changed so much in five years.
Ok – sorry for the long post. I just hated seeing Marsh portrayed as a school of inner city gloom. Although not perfect (yet) it’s a warm and inviting place that could very well be used to illustrate what is going RIGHT in urban education.