Charter Schools

I feel as though in class we have been talking a whole lot about Charter Schools and their recent popularity in education reform. As the focus on testing increases, it is easy to see why Charter Schools have become the focus of wanting to change our education system, for Charter Schools greatly focus almost all their time on testing. Obviously, as we have discussed in class, focusing only on test results can be detrimental to creating a healthy learning environment and can greatly hurt a student's motivation in regards to their successes only being measure by a test score. I think it is also implied and has been said that this hurts the relationship between teachers and students and can make it very static, boring, and stressful. However, I would like to clear up some of the negative stereotypes and shed some light on this topic. As an example, my mom teaches at a Charter School here in Columbus and while, yes, there is so much emphasis on testing that it seems ridiculous, there still are teachers that help motivate their students to learn besides this and have wonderful relationships with their students. My mother is a great example of this type of teacher. She does not let this stressful pressure of testing or the fact that her "at will contract" which means she could be fired at any time the school chooses get in the way of how she treats her students. In fact, she gets requested often by either parents who have heard great things about her or parents whose older children have had her and would like their younger siblings to experience her classroom. She often spends her evenings at home after work thinking of new ideas of how to get the kids excited for testing and just experiencing learning; she strives to keep the boring, static pressure of testing away from her students. Often she will prepare songs or dances for the students to participate in during the day so they aren't simply preparing for the tests by doing worksheets and mock tests all day. She will also go out and buy the kids t-shirts to decorate and wear during testing weeks so that they can have some fun and forget about the pressure of testing at least momentarily. And as I have seen many times while observing in her classroom, my mother always puts patience first with the students, no matter what kind of day she is having or what kind of stress the administration may put her under. She always talks to the children in a light-hearted, friendly, silly manner, even when they are misbehaving. So, while I definitely do not condone such rigorous testing and I do think that it can put stress on the teacher-student relationship, it does not always. While some do, not all Charter Schools demand constant pressure towards their teachers. More importantly, as we have said in class, it takes a special kind of person to be a teacher. And we have have to remember that those special people can be found everywhere, even in situations where they may be put under pressure. Even when stress and situations can be very demanding, these caring and hard working teachers will always put their students first.

Here is an article that further shows that even in Charter Schools and/or stressful schools where your job is not guaranteed, there are still teachers who dedicate time and love to their students. This article also recognizes the importance of student relationships and how well students perform in the classroom and get excited about the subject:

http://oaklandlocal.com/2013/09/education-voices-student-teacher-relationships-essential-for-school-success/