Opinion
Teaching Profession Opinion

Making a ‘Substantial Difference,’ Despite Student Poverty

By Casie Jones — May 29, 2013 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Memphis residents cannot go far without seeing a billboard or image on the side of a bus featuring an “irreplaceable,” one of the city’s most effective teachers. These teachers rank in the top 10 percent of teachers based on observations and student-achievement data. However, according to recent comments by Memphis Education Association President Keith Williams, these teachers and their colleagues will not be able to “make a substantial difference” with our students because of poverty.

Williams’ comments unfortunately echo the same kinds of remarks we’ve heard for years from all corners of the country. I’m a teacher who knows that poverty presents many challenges, but it does not prevent teachers from making a substantial difference.

In response to Williams, Tennessee Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman published a guest commentary in The Commercial Appeal, and I was honored to be one of two teachers featured in the piece. I appreciate the commissioner’s accolades, but the “proof is in the puddin’,” as they say. I know that effective teachers can make a difference with low-income students because my students show me every day that I am doing just that.

At my school, an alternative program that serves youth who are expelled or recently incarcerated, a “substantial difference” is necessary. My students struggle with poor attendance, behavioral issues, emotional challenges, and below-grade reading levels. Many students enter my classroom with failing grades and apathetic attitudes toward school.

However, I make contact with parents and demonstrate to students that I care about them personally, and this year I have even seen a drastic reduction in discipline referrals in my classroom. I also watched my seniors create four-page research papers after saying they couldn’t do it. Now, many of them are graduating when they thought they’d already missed their last chance.

My juniors conquered the state writing assessment this year. Their initial response to our practice writing was absolute dread, but we toiled together, and I refused to let any of them quit. I called their parents to ensure they would be present and graded their revised essays every night. On test day, attendance was higher than ever before, and I was awed by the students’ eagerness to get started. They struggled with the new Common Core State Standards-aligned structure of the assessment, but the scores revealed that more than half of the class scored proficient or higher. That is a “substantial difference.”

Above all, I try to embody the core belief Commissioner Huffman addressed: optimism. Students, teachers, and administrators cannot use poverty as an excuse. We have to see through it and teach students how to maneuver around their obstacles. Our optimism becomes their hope.

Transcending Barriers

Williams’ comments also remind me of another claim I’ve heard before in Memphis: That many teachers cannot relate to their students’ backgrounds—cannot understand their poverty and what it means to have their skin color—and therefore cannot teach them. I suppose this means that as a middle-class white teacher who currently teaches disadvantaged African-American students, I should transfer to a school where I will be more beneficial to “my own kind.” But if you visit my classroom on any day, you will not see disconnect. My students respect me because I respect them; the economic and racial barriers are down because we chose to take them down. I refuse to leave because my current school is indeed where I am making “a substantial difference.”

After 11 years of teaching, I have learned that there is a secret ingredient to effective instruction that transcends barriers. When students recognize that a teacher is genuinely interested in their present and future, a desire to learn emerges. As teacher and students interact daily, relationships begin to work in both directions. The students want the teacher to be proud of their accomplishments and the teacher wants the students to believe that they can achieve any goal.

Regardless of the challenges my students face outside school, they hear the word “college” come from my mouth daily. We are always prepping for that place that was once so elusive to them, assembling a reality in their minds. They know that I will smile and welcome them to class, that I will expect the bell work to be done immediately, that I will walk around the room to reach out to each one of them during the lesson, that they will have to complete their work and answer questions, and that we will discuss and argue over the day’s topics. When we are finished for the day, they know that we will do it again tomorrow.

I challenge them to focus on their opportunities instead of their “lack of privilege,” as one of my students refers to his situation. I challenge them to address the needs of their community and understand where the obstacles come from. I challenge them to stop thinking with a “privilege vs. poverty” mindset. I challenge them to learn what they can because knowledge is power.

I teach. I am making “a substantial difference.”

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Profession 'Here’s a Room. Here’s a Book. Good Luck': Veteran Teachers Reflect on How Their Careers Began
A little bit of support in the first year of teaching can go a long way, and older teachers are willing to mentor their new colleagues.
5 min read
Two female teachers in a school hallway having a discussion.
E+
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching It's 'a Passion, It’s Not Just a Paycheck': Teachers' Advice on Joining the Profession
If you go into the job with open eyes, it's worth it, say five teachers featured in EdWeek's The State of Teaching project.
Fourth grade students have fun interacting in a math class taught by Helen Chan at South Loop Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2023, in Chicago, Ill.
Fourth grade students have fun interacting in a math class taught by Helen Chan at South Loop Elementary School on Nov. 15, 2023, in Chicago.
Jamie Kelter Davis for Education Week
Teaching Profession The Finalists for National Teacher of the Year Have Ideas for Boosting Teacher Morale
The four award-winning teachers also met with U.S. lawmakers to advocate for their education causes of choice.
5 min read
Illustration of hands holding speech bubbles.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Teaching Profession From Our Research Center Forget the Free Food and Gift Cards. Here's the Kind of Recognition Teachers Really Want
New survey results reveal what teachers and administrators find to be the most meaningful type of acknowledgment from a supervisor.
4 min read
Thank you card inside a brown envelope left on desk
iStock / Getty Images Plus