All Children Can Learn

*Disclaimer: The writing of the following post was accompanied by two (large) glasses of wine...if I ramble, it's not my fault.

When you decide to become a teacher, one of the core beliefs you are required to believe is that "All Children Can Learn."

I think somewhere deep down, I still believe it, but that belief is tested each and every day. I stopped being an idealistic new teacher who thought that I could reach all my kids years ago (for that matter, I'm not sure if I ever really was that crazy).

What they forget to tell you about are two groups.

Group A: Kids who won't learn.

Group B: Kids who are so far behind they can't learn what I'm there to teach them.

As we come to the end of the school year, these are the two groups that keep me awake at night. Actually, that's a lie. They've kept me awake since the beginning of the year.

I had a couple of really frustrating conversations/encounters today that I just can't seem to shake.

This year we have a trio of n'er-do-wells that I've tried my best to help. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call them Jacob, Washington, and Warren. They've been friends since 9th grade, and a pain in the side of each and every teacher, administrator and staff member that has had contact with them since.

Jacob and Warren are actually really bright. In terms of pure intellect, I'd put them up there with some of the top kids in our current senior class. Washington has more problems, but isn't a dumb kid by any means. Unfortunately, they've all decided that the rules just don't apply to them.

They're all failing classes. They're all on Academic Probation. But they won't show up, and when they do show up they're all so vulgar and rude that I end up kicking them out. I know they have crappy home lives. I know they have tons of baggage that they bring with them to school. I know that they CAN learn. Jacob and Warren are two of the less than 20 kids I have that read at grade level. They just do everything in their power to avoid any actual learning. They're late to class. Jacob has managed to turn in EVERY paper all year late. You let them go to the bathroom, they end up playing basketball in the gym. They come to school high. These are kids who SHOULD pass. They COULD pass. The only thing getting in their way is themselves.

The flip side is Walker. Walker is one of the hardest working kids you could ever imagine. As one of my co-workers brilliantly said, he's Forrest Gump. He does everything asked of him. He follows instructions exactly as they were given (which, more often than not, makes you realize that you need to be more precise in giving instructions). But he reads and writes at a 4th grade level, if I'm being generous. He's going to graduate high school reading at a 4th grade level. He came to talk to me today because he'd read a book and then failed the online test for it. It was a 5th grade level book. He could only answer 4 out of the 10 questions correctly.

At the beginning of the year, Walker told me that he wants to be a doctor. He's since changed his plans to wanting to be a nurse. If this kid ever walks into my hospital room as anything more than an orderly, I'm checking myself out AMA. Can he learn? Yes. Can he improve his reading and writing 8 grade levels in one year? No.

Do I believe that all children can learn? Yes. But they have limits. They don't all learn at the same speed. They don't all have the same aptitude. No, they all can't be doctors. But where do we draw the line? If we decide not to leave anyone behind, we all have to go as slow as the slowest. If we're racing for the top, someone's at the bottom.

I'm really starting to question the school choice movement. I'm starting to question charter schools. In theory, they're great. Smaller schools where we can really tailor our instruction and school plan to our students' needs. The problem is that not all schools are right for all kids. There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all school. Unfortunately, because charter schools are public schools we have to play by the public school rules with a totally different mission. We're supposed to make all our kids college ready, but we have to accept special needs students no matter how severe their issues. We aren't allowed to have a competitive admissions process, but we're supposed to get all our kids prepared for a competitive admissions process. It would be one thing if the parents understood enough to understand that the "math and science school" isn't the right place for their talented artist, but most of the parents just hear "it's a good school" and decide that means it will be a good school for their kid. It just doesn't work out that way. We're really good with some kids. We're really not good with a bunch of other kids. And unless we're good with everyone we get, we risk our existence. But what are we supposed to do when we have kids who just flat out refuse to learn. Kids who refuse to take advantage of the opportunities they're given. Kids who won't be "college-ready" no matter how hard they (and we) try.

I found out this week that our after school online credit recovery program costs $1000 per student. We have to offer it free to the students, so the organization that runs our after school program has shelled out $20k for our most needy students to have a chance to graduate. And they won't show up. We aren't allowed to tell them that the program costs anything (let alone $20k), we aren't allowed to make them pay the school back for the wasted money, we have to just sit back and watch them fail at $1000 a pop.

How many extra chances can we possibly give?