· Student achievement is a constant topic of debate in the national spotlight. Lawmakers, both locally and nationally, set academic standards that students should meet to ensure that America has a high-quality pool of students ready to fill high-tech, twenty-first-century jobs. The future contributions of current students joining the workforce will potentially move America forward into the next millennium as the leading country regarding economic progress and innovation. Study after study shows that, although it is known that America needs qualified workers to move the country from an industrial economy to an intellectual economy, the American educational system is not producing sufficient numbers of qualified students to fill the jobs that will be needed to keep The United States of America positioned as the number one superpower in the world. In 2014, while 80 percent of high school seniors in the United States received a diploma, less than half of all those who graduated were able to read or complete math problems with proficiency, (Martin, 2014) . The graduation rate for students attending American colleges was 60 percent for first-time, full-time students who began seeking a bachelor's degree at a 4-year institution in fall 2008 and finished their degree by 2014. The lack of student performance within America’s school system ultimately leaves students that fail to perform academically with fewer life-choices once they graduate or drop-out from high school. Today, it's harder to earn a middle-class wage without a college degree.
Currently, the focus for improving America’s school’s is on teachers and leadership at the school level. Lawmakers can improve America’s educational system by implementing initiatives that focus on building formal partnerships between students, student peers, school personnel, and parents while simultaneously focusing on teaching practices and leadership behaviors that impact student achievement. Time and time again when I am in the teacher's lounge, the answer for improving student performance is mentioned daily without notice. On a daily basis, teachers will make comments like Shawn works in your class, but not in mine. After a few changes, the reason is discovered. The student likes one teacher and not the other. I have been told by students directly that students do not work for teachers that they don't like. The statement is true and not true. High achieving students will work for their teacher regardless of whether or not they like them. However, I am not talking about high-achievers. High-achievers are probably not accounted for in the troubling statistics mentioned earlier on this blog. Students that fail to achieve academically fail for a reason. The reasons vary, but it is certain that relationships can help all students achieve. It is even possible and probable that high achievers achieve because of relationships that they have formed with family, friends, and professional in education.
An indicator for student achievement is the teacher assigned to the student being observed. Teachers can have negative and positive effects on student achievement. Ross (1994) contends that having effective teachers serves a significant factor for influencing outcomes such as student achievement. Similarly, Gordon (2001) investigates how a group of individual teachers with high belief in affecting student achievement can actually yield desired high student achievement levels in a school. Regarding teacher attitudes and characteristics, teachers in effective schools have high expectations for students and have a dual personality which consists of being friendly and firm. One week prior to writing this blog as a student in my class became angry with me. The student refused to do any work at all and eventually put her head down. Normally, the student is a motivated student and wants to do well in class. On this particular day, she shut down because she was not given a piece of candy. The reason behind not given her a piece of candy that she won in a drawing are unimportant, but for 45 minutes the student did not participate in class. She was mad. It was not until she calmed down that she began to participate again. Can you imagine how the same student would perform in my class if she did not like me as a teacher? She would bring in the emotional barrier with her each day. Her grade would be impacted. Imagine if I have twenty-five children with the same emotional barrier, focused daily on hating the teacher, rather than on the lesson. A caveat is that if a child is angry, the brain is not focused on the lesson because it is too busy pumping adrenaline, breathing hard, circulating blood faster, and thinking about knocking the teacher's block off. To avoid such moments, I make a concertize effort to make my classroom and welcoming, relaxed environment for students to learn. Is it always calm-did I mention I teach high school students-no! However, I don't as many behavior problems as other teachers.
An indicator for student achievement is the teacher assigned to the student being observed. Teachers can have negative and positive effects on student achievement. Ross (1994) contends that having effective teachers serves a significant factor for influencing outcomes such as student achievement. Similarly, Gordon (2001) investigates how a group of individual teachers with high belief in affecting student achievement can actually yield desired high student achievement levels in a school. Regarding teacher attitudes and characteristics, teachers in effective schools have high expectations for students and have a dual personality which consists of being friendly and firm. One week prior to writing this blog as a student in my class became angry with me. The student refused to do any work at all and eventually put her head down. Normally, the student is a motivated student and wants to do well in class. On this particular day, she shut down because she was not given a piece of candy. The reason behind not given her a piece of candy that she won in a drawing are unimportant, but for 45 minutes the student did not participate in class. She was mad. It was not until she calmed down that she began to participate again. Can you imagine how the same student would perform in my class if she did not like me as a teacher? She would bring in the emotional barrier with her each day. Her grade would be impacted. Imagine if I have twenty-five children with the same emotional barrier, focused daily on hating the teacher, rather than on the lesson. A caveat is that if a child is angry, the brain is not focused on the lesson because it is too busy pumping adrenaline, breathing hard, circulating blood faster, and thinking about knocking the teacher's block off. To avoid such moments, I make a concertize effort to make my classroom and welcoming, relaxed environment for students to learn. Is it always calm-did I mention I teach high school students-no! However, I don't as many behavior problems as other teachers.
It is clear that aside from focusing on teaching, there are variables that can improve educational programs across America. One such variable is teaching teachers how to build professional, meaningful relationships with their students. Teachers can improve academic achievement with the understanding that their teaching is filtered through their relationships with their students, and their relationships with students help to determine what academic achievement, positive or negative, will result from their teaching. There are very few, if any, professional development opportunities that address how school personnel should build relationships with students to maximize student achievement in the district I work. However, there are a wealth of professional development opportunities that addresses how teachers should teach, manage classrooms, plan lessons, and increase content knowledge. If you want to improve student achievement in the classroom, focus on building relationships with your students.
References
Martin, D. (2014, May 14). Education Crisis Sweeping the United States. Retrieved from Liberty Voice: http://guardianlv.com/2014/05/education-crisis-sweeping-the-united-states/
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