AFT Article About First-Year Teacher

According to the American Federation of Teachers article below, "roughly 40 to 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within five years." With so many new teachers often assigned to our most challenging schools, we hope this perspective
gets worthwhile consideration:

FIRST YEAR TEACHERS ABOVE ALL MUST KNOW TO AVOID 2ND FLOOR BATHROOM

On her first day as a high school English teacher in a large urban public school, a new teacher expected to be greeted by the principal or chairperson, guided to her classrooms and provided with what she considered to be the essentials (schedule, curriculum, rosters and keys), writes an anonymous second-year teacher for American Educator.

Instead, she was provided with only a piece of paper with two numerical codes and a warning not to use the women's bathroom on the second floor. After frantic inquiries, she learned that the codes signified that she would be teaching 9th and 10th grade English. She then asked a question that, two years later, has yet to be answered: "what is taught in 9th and 10th grade English?"

In response, all she received was a list containing more than 20 books per grade and was told to select six books from the appropriate list and teach one book every six weeks. As her colleagues scrambled to inspect their classrooms, one experienced teacher kindly informed the neophyte that they wouldn't receive books for the first month, so she should try to do poetry. This led to the inevitable and also unanswered question: "what does 'do' poetry mean?"

Before she had a chance to find out, her students arrived eager to know what was expected. So she reproduced the same vague responses that she was given. She felt sorry for her students that day and each day after because this was not the education they were intended to receive.

When she hears the commonly cited statistic, that roughly 40 to 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within five years, she wonders how many of those departures could be avoided if teachers were provided with clear and achievable expectations.
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/spring2008/newteacher.htm

Ending "Cradle-to-Prison" pipeline

Our schools too often are places that contribute to the "Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline." This intiative below sets higher expectations for our children and youth:

The Youth PROMISE Act focuses on putting an end to what experts at the Children’s Defense Fund have termed the “Cradle to Prison Pipeline.” Unfortunately, too many of our nation’s children – and particularly minority children – are born under circumstances that, without sufficient intervention, place them on a trajectory to prison. Yet, credible research and studies show that we can intervene and place these youth on a "cradle to college" trajectory.


A vital piece of the "cradle to college pipeline" is education. The Youth PROMISE Act would ensure that education entities are provided with the assistance they need to redirect youth at risk of adverse criminal justice involvement. These grants would also allow communities to fund a variety of education-based programs, including Early Head Start, Head Start, after school programs, mentoring programs, conflict resolution skills training, sports, arts, life skills, employment and recreation programs, summer jobs, summer recreation programs, alternative school resources for youth who have dropped out of school or demonstrate chronic truancy, and education programs for pregnant teens and teen parents.

More information on the Youth PROMISE Act is available at: http://www.house.gov/scott/hotissues_youthpromiseact.shtml.

Henry parents examine school choice

What factors do parents consider in choosing an elementary or middle school for their child? And how does this differ among schools? A survey by Mt. Airy’s Henry School parents offers a glimpse. Nearly 200 responses were collected, and one clear indication emerged: “Families in Northwest Philadelphia are very serious about choosing” schools.

You can download the full report from http://whatmatters.uwde.org/henry.pdf.

Here’s a summary from United Way’s “What Matters” report:

Henry School parents surveyed
In October 2007, The Henry Group, an informal group of parents whose children attend Mt. Airy’s C.W. Henry School or are considering sending their children to the school, surveyed families in the Mt. Airy community to understand how they choose elementary and middle schools. The group was interested in the demographics of the respondents, and how these differed between Henry families (those who did/do send their children to Henry) and non-Henry families (those who did not choose Henry), as well as the factors driving school choice, and how these differed between Henry and non-Henry families. The group also surveyed the participants on how Henry and non-Henry families feel about Henry School, and whether the Henry Group meetings were helpful in making school decisions.
A total of 192 survey responses were collected and yielded the following information:
Demographics. Despite differences in race and income level, there were few significant demographic contrasts between the Henry families and the non-Henry families.
Factors in School Choice. In general, Henry and non-Henry families sought the same characteristics in elementary and middle schools. The survey indicates that both populations were comparable in their school selection criteria as well as in their demographic profiles.
Henry School Rated. There were several areas in which Henry and non-Henry families rated Henry school similarly (such as opportunities for parental involvement). There were also areas
in which Henry and non-Henry families rated factors dramatically differently (such as teacher quality). The preliminary conclusion is that there are substantive attributes and liabilities which
attract or deter all families. The survey results also indicate that Henry School may want to address promotion and perception as well.
Henry Group Meetings. Most of the respondents who attended the Henry Group meetings found them very or somewhat useful.
The group says that its initial findings suggest that families in Northwest Philadelphia are very serious about choosing elementary and middle schools; that Henry School has strengths as well as practical and promotional challenges; and that the Henry Group meetings have helped families explore school choices. They are sharing their survey results in the hope that the survey provides useful information to Henry School, Henry School families, the Mt. Airy community, the School District of Philadelphia, and the new mayor and administration.