The underlying premise of “Grad Nation” is the notion that ineffective teachers are the cause of academic deficiencies which lead a student to drop out of school.  Having taught in public and private high schools in Ohio for ten years I will admit I have seen more than a teacher or two who lacks the content knowledge of the subject they are teaching or lacks the skills to conveying such knowledge to their classroom of students.  Should they be removed from the classroom – absolutely yes.  Are they common among the faculties of the schools I have worked – absolutely not.  The vast, vast majority of teachers do have the knowledge of the subject(s) they teach and do so with conviction, energy, and passion.

Most of our students hear the mantra of the importance of education on a regular basis at school and from their parents at home.  Some may have heard our President speak so eloquently about it in a number of his speeches, and some have the inborn appreciation and motivation to achieve success at the highest of academic levels.

 So why the high level of dropouts and lower academic achievement?

It has been suggested teaching methods have not kept up with technology.  With very few exceptions, the average classroom setting cannot begin to offer the visual stimulation and mental intrigue our students are bombarded with each day by cell phones/games, text messaging, video games, computers, and the internet. 

Extracurricular activities after school and at home have proliferated to such a degree that our children have precious little time and/or energy to complete their homework assignments before dinner or bedtime.  Societal demands, or simply perceived expectations, require both parents to work which leads to an empty home at the end of the school day for many of our children – and, the loss of structure diminishes the support of continued academic preparation. 

Other impacts on the after school hours include the number of student work hours to pay for clothes/car/insurance/cell phone/”mall” money, neighborhood violence/bullying, and family issues such as divorce/alcohol/drugs/abuse/death.  Any and all of which become a huge mental distraction to prevent the completion of homework and sufficient rest for the next day’s classes.

An analogy I have used recently to help develop an understanding of the difficulties of achieving success in the classroom relies on my engineering consulting experiences.  “Designing Quality In” has been a big program in the industrial world to ensure quality products are delivered to the demanding customer.  The foundation of the program required consumer product giants such as Procter & Gamble, DuPont, Monsanto, Kellogg’s, etc. to stringently define their process and the specifications of the required raw materials.  It becomes very apparent that quality products cannot be produced without quality raw materials.

We understandably expect our teachers to develop our children into quality citizens with excellent academic talents.  The problem is our teachers have NO control over the quality of the incoming raw materials (students) each and every day.  They cannot ensure homework was completed with parental support/motivation, adequate nourishment is provide before bed and the prior to leaving for school the next day, and that amount of distractions are monitored and restricted.  The teacher can provide support, understanding, and sympathy to a student struggling with family issues, but the teacher cannot remove the student’s ongoing concerns.

Now I am not suggesting that all of our children are dealing with the host of issues listed above, but it only takes a couple of struggling students to disrupt the flow of education in classroom.  The situation is particularly difficult at the high school level where the teacher has a group of 25 to 30 for only 40 to 45 minutes a day with a significant agenda list – deal with individual student issues before class starts, take attendance, check homework, answer homework issues, present new material, provide individual help so students may start on new assignment, and finally deal with an new set of individual issues at the conclusion of class.  There is precious little time to deal with disruptive students.

So what is the answer?  I will share a few of my ideas in “Grad Nation” Plan – Part 3.  Please stop back.

William G. Pierce, P.E.