What the Heck?

Why are Students Failing at an Alarming Rate, and why is Absenteeism off the Charts?

Well, I am so glad you asked. Here is my two-cents worth. There are probably as many factors contributing to this problem as there are students in your school, but there are a few that stand out more than others. And there is one in particular that is under the surface. It has been here for -ooh- who knows how long?

Some might say, “Well, we are in a global pandemic.” “These kids don’t know how to deal with this.” “This is unprecedented.” “Their minds and brains are still developing.” “There is too much mental stress on them.” “They are withdrawn socially and emotionally.” True, true. So true. And this underlying factor makes these concerns no less valid. These are all very real issues that our students have to deal with on a daily basis. And remember, the list goes on. Another blog, another day.

So, you know how the pandemic brought to light many disparities in our society? For example, people of color are more likely to contract Covid-19 and die from it (Covid-19, CDC, 2020). Without breaking down the rationale for this horrid statistic, this health inequity did not come about because of the coronavirus; it has been here -ooh- who knows how long? But this pandemic has put the ails of our communities front and center.

What about the ails of the education system? Has the pandemic enlightened us of what is so wrong that we would mobilize to fix it? That we would rise up and bring about change? Time will tell. What is the big problem in this country’s education system that is ever-present yet unseen? It is not talked about much, at least not in my experience. Kind of like the many disparities in our society - they are known but ignored.

The big problem is why Mississippi ranks low at 46 among the 50 states for strength in public education (Baker, S., Insider, 2019). It is why this country cannot seem to pull rank in the top 10 among other industrialized nations and regions for reading, math, and science on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), although coming close at 13th in reading in the latest 2018 exam (Barshay, J., The Hechinger Report, 2019; PISA 2018 Reading, NCES; PISA 2018, FactsMaps), an improvement from 24th in the same subject in 2015 (PISA 2015, FactsMaps; Colorado Succeeds, 2016). I wonder what the results of this year’s assessment will look like.

Have you ever polled a group of students with this question, “Would you attend school if it were not compulsory?” I have done so, and I challenge you to do the same for your classes, for your entire school. Encourage them to be honest. They will be. Don’t be surprised to get a mixed bag of responses. Don’t be alarmed at the percentage who say, “No” or “Heck, no!” And don’t blame them. And don’t blame their parents or guardians. Blame the system. Our students are not failing. They are not missing the mark. We are failing them. We are missing the mark.

The big problem is a diminished value in education. What we want kids to learn, we teach them. If we want them to know the Pythagorean theorem, we teach them. If we want them to know how to conjugate verbs, we teach them. But if we want them to know the value of education, we don’t teach them? How does that work? It doesn’t – this is the issue.

We tell kids, “You are getting a free public education; you should appreciate it.” That’s basically the lesson in the value of education. The way some see it, free public education is so free that it is cold as a fridge because classrooms have no heat. It is so free that it is hot as a sauna because classrooms have no air conditioning. It is so free that children have to study from outdated and dilapidated books or no books at all. It is so free that coeducation means sharing the school building with rodents and the rest. I can hear an Amen in the distance. Where is the investment, local government, state government, and federal government? That is the big problem on a broad scale. But what does it look like up close? It looks like high school dropouts. It looks like drug use and alcoholism in the school. It looks like teenage pregnancy. It looks like class disruptions and defiant behaviors. It looks like widespread failures. It looks like chronic absenteeism. It looks like not being prepared with a simple pencil or paper. I know I hear an Amen in the distance on that one! And this is not all. This evidence only scratches the surface of a diminished value in education. What you value, you invest in.

It was predictable that coronavirus illness and death would be disproportionately represented by people of color because we know that the majority of those jobs that could not transfer to a remote platform are held by these populations, leaving them to greater exposure. Likewise, it was predictable that there would be massive failures, setbacks, and learning gaps brought about with the disruption of our educational systems due to the pandemic for this reason alone – a diminished value in education, notwithstanding other factors such as incompetence and technology disparities. Another blog, another day.

So, what is the solution to this big problem? Well, I do not purport to have all the answers. But this is what I do know. I know that in order to solve any problem, you must first acknowledge it. Let’s begin with how much we value student outcomes apart from what they can do for us on an accountability scale. Do we holistically invest in them, not just in word, but in deed? Remember, the value in education must be taught, but we must also reflect it ourselves. We must invest the time, resources, and the like to get students to buy into the concept of education. I believe this begins with all levels and continues at all levels. What does this “curriculum” look like? I don’t know, but we will figure it out if we want to figure it out.

Think about that student who is always respectful to you as her teacher, no matter what. She could very well be one who says, “No, I wouldn’t go to school if I did not have to.” But she would never disrespect you, and she might even stand up for you when others act out in defiance because she was taught the value of respecting others, especially her elders. In the same way, we must teach our students the value of the educational process, the educational system, and the educational outcomes and benefits. This begins with creating a climate that addresses this issue, and overtime, that climate will become a culture that embraces the value of education.

Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. (proverb attributed to Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie)