Analysis of Teacher Curriculum

America's Teacher's Today- Inhibiting or Accelerating Student Success?

Research studies at more than 6,000 fourth-grade Texas classrooms revealed the following significant differences that separated low SES school systems from high SES school systems:

Low SES School System

• Extremely lower scores on state assessment tests
• Poor classrooms = less school materials
• Curriculum is less interactive and more authoritative

Who is to Blame?

Resources, school environment, and student socialization in the classroom are just a few things that are brought back to teachers. The issue of lack of resources cannot be blamed simply on the educators, but it is their responsibility to be sure everyone is receiving the same level of education no matter their socioeconomic status. In today’s curriculum, the material leans toward the affluent members of society who can afford to have the time and materials necessary for school related affairs.  The curriculum also goes under the assumption that the students in the classroom have all had similar life experiences. This is simply not the case as often low SES students do not get beyond their immediate neighborhood; local grocery store, apartment and school.

The following graphs analyze the percentage of student proficiency in three different academic categories over different grade spans based on the overall population and based on student socioeconomic status:

The grade spans were separated to determine the “multiple elementary structures” and the effect they have on elementary student academic achievement. In the overall graph, the amount of students that were classified as proficient was lower, but in a very small range of 6% to 7%. However, when analyzing the low SES graph, there is a significantly greater amount of proficient students recorded. The percentages practically doubled, especially in the reading category. These graphs intend to analyze the inadequacies in the current teacher curriculum which is specifically causing low SES students to fall behind at an early age. The author of this article, Dr. Dave states that this should be of great concern to our society due to the importance that education has "in a young student’s capacity to learn."

What Needs to be Done?

Educational reform needs to begin from inside the system. One cannot change the makeup of a student body to better academic results. It must be a responsibility of the education system to provide more accommodating system for a group of diverse students. Ladd’s research promotes using student academic achievement to evaluate teaching quality. Her theory states that by “attaching stakes” to student academic achievement, it will promote teachers to work harder in helping students by putting their job on the line if their students fail.

Source: "Grade Span Configuration – A Local Investigation." Ames Coalition for Effective Schools. ACSD School Board, 10 2010. Web. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://amesces.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/grade-span-configuration-a-local-investigation/>.