Deciding to Teach Them All
This a summary of article that appeared in the October 2003 volume of Educational Leadership. For the entire article go here.
The premise of the article is "asking the right questions has an enormous impact on how we pursue equity and excellence in our classrooms".
| Limiting Questions | Equity/Excellence Questions |
| How are my students labeled? | What interests and needs do my students have? |
| What are my student's deficits? | What are my student's strengths? |
| How do I remediate my students? | What can I do ensure that each student works at the highest level of thought and production possible? |
| How I can motivate these students? | What releases the motivation born in all humans? |
| What do I do if a student cannot accomplish my agenda? | How might I adapy my agenda to work for the student? |
Principles for Fostering Equity and Excellence in Academically Diverse Learners
Good curriculum comes first. The teacher's first job is always to ensure a coherent, important, inviting, and thoughtful curriculum.
All tasks should respect each learner. Every student deserves work that is focused on the essential knowledge, understanding, and skills targeted for the lesson. Every student should be required to think at a high level and should find his or her work interesting and powerful.
When in doubt, teach up!. Good instruction strecthes learners. The best tasks are those that students find a little too difficult to compete comfortably. Be sure there's a support system in place to facilitate the student's success at a level he or she doubted was attainable.
Use flexible grouping. Find ways and time for the class to work as a whole, students to demonstrate competence alone, and for students to work with varied groups of peers. Using only one or two types of groups causes students to see themselves and one another in more limited ways, keeps the teacher from "auditioning" students in varied contexts, ad limits potentially rich exchanges in the classroom.
Become as assessment junkie. Everything that a studnet says and dies is a potential source of assessment data. Assessment should be an ongoing process, conducted in flexible but distinct stages, and it should maximize opportunities for each student to open the widest possible window on his or her learning.
Grade to reflect growth. The most we can ask of any person -- and the least we ought to ask -- is to be and become their best. The teacher's job is to guide and support the learner in this endeavor. Grading inpart, in part, reflect a learner's growth.
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Last modified: September 30, 2003
Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.