Education Week - February 10, 2016 - 28

COMMENTARY

In Low-Income Schools, Teachers Need Guidance

By Bruce Hansen

or 14 years, I taught in schools
with students from low-income
households. It was a source of great
professional fulfillment for me. I
witnessed daily triumphs and joys
that more than offset the particular
difficulties in working with economically deprived children.
On the day the district presented me with its
Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching, a
colleague approached me, pointed to the award,
and suggested that now I could finally "get out of
this low-income school." I think he meant I could
get a job at a middle- or high-income school since
I had an award to my name.
Often the public, and even educators, view working with economically stressed children as something that lesser teachers do. There's a perception
that the really good teachers work in schools that
cater to students from wealthy families.
Working with children who live in poverty requires some special skills-skills that took me
years to develop. I watched beginner teachers
come into my low-socioeconomic-status, or SES,
school and flame out because they lacked management skills. Teaching is a tough job. Nationwide, roughly 40 percent of new teachers quit
within the first five years. This rate is 50 percent
higher at schools in low-income communities.
I saw successful, experienced teachers transfer into my low-SES school and fail because they
didn't have the specialized skills they needed to
work with economically stressed students. Teaching these kids and working with their parents
does not come naturally for many teachers.
I've also witnessed high-poverty schools become
the laboratory for training new principals. To move
up the chain, these neophyte principals feel pressure to play along with more experienced administrators who might request the transfer of one of
their struggling teachers to a low-income school.
This doesn't happen often, but the impact of a lowskilled teacher on a fragile population of children
can be devastating. New principals typically lack
the training and experience to follow the prescribed
steps to improve the weak teachers or fire them.
Studies show that experienced teachers are
far more effective than newer teachers. So when
an experienced teacher leaves a low-SES school,
the loss in experience and leadership places an
additional burden on the remaining staff. Since
teacher turnover causes the most harm in schools
with large populations of disadvantaged students,
our kids struggle to overcome the effects of both
poverty and an unstable, rookie teaching staff.
Top professional educators working in lowincome schools must often face the scorn of
politicians and pundits who label their low-SES
schools as "failing." It is clear to me that people
who use this appellation don't truly understand
why these students lag behind their middle-class
or privileged peers. My students lived with poverty-related stress that impaired cognitive and
emotional functioning, and they struggled with
learning disabilities at a higher rate than other
populations. When immigrants moved into the
area, the most affordable housing was near our
low-SES school. As a result, we often had Englishlanguage learners, many of whom had never been
in a classroom before. And yet, what we were able
to accomplish with these students struck me as
bordering on miraculous.

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AMERICA'S
'EDU-MASOCHISM'

But these kids still scored low on standardized
tests. And, predictably, to many observers, low
scores meant we were a failing school. Trying to
shame the teachers who work with economically
deprived learners into closing the achievement
gap only motivates the successful teachers to work
somewhere else. And that's exactly what happens.
Who's left to teach these students?
What if teachers in low-SES schools were specifically trained to work with children who live in
poverty? What if the teachers had a special addon credential that said to the world, I'm a highly
trained specialist working with the kids I choose
to teach? The teachers in high-poverty neighborhoods could show that they are there not because
they are inexperienced, transferred against their
will, or because there was nothing better available. Those teachers are there because they want
to make a difference in the lives of these kids. It's
their area of expertise.
Part of the training for this specialization
would need to include working with experienced
teachers and university-based educators who
have studied and developed curriculum for this
specialization. A casual review of teacher-training courses in my home state of Oregon revealed
that none specifically addresses the teaching
techniques and special needs of underresourced
learners. If the credential existed, it's safe to assume that such courses would be created: Colleges would need to get classes up and running
for teachers to acquire this new credential. It
would stimulate research into special methods
and skills necessary to be successful in the lowSES classroom.

28 | EDUCATION WEEK | February 10, 2016 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary

I'M TIRED
OF 'GRIT'

Michael Glenwood Gibbs for Education Week

Often the public,
and even
educators, view
working with
economically
stressed children
as something
that lesser
teachers do."

And me? What happened to my commitment to
these precious underresourced learners? Maybe,
like a tiny pebble in my shoe, I finally started to notice their needs were wearing at my enthusiasm for
teaching. Had I received more support, I would likely
have stayed where I was. Instead, I needed a change.
After grappling with my flagging enthusiasm and
arduous commute, I finally applied for a position at
a high-SES school closer to my home.
When the test results came in showing my new
school as "highly effective," the principal attributed
it to the hard work and talent of the teachers on
staff. I was the same teacher at both schools, but
was suddenly valued differently. Many of my former
colleagues are still toiling in the dark, without any
praise or recognition. And I still feel guilty about
leaving them behind. But faced with many professional challenges, including those of the struggling
colleagues I tried to help, the job became impossible
for me.
We need to elevate our respect and the skills
for teachers at high-poverty schools. Training and
support for an add-on credential could go far to
contribute to the stability and quality of the teachers who serve our most fragile students. It is time
to recognize and reward these educators for their
hard work, so we can stop them from walking out
the door. I don't want my story to become theirs. n
BRUCE HANSEN has taught in public schools for over 35
years. He's now an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark
College and the author of Literature Based Writing (Mt.
Hood Press, 2006). He has received recognition for his
teaching from his former district of Beaverton, Ore., the
state of Oregon, and the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

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Education Week - February 10, 2016

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