Peter Graffagnino is a resident of Bridgeville.
There have been a couple of “Opinions” posted by the Daily State News in recent weeks regarding the poor performance of school-age children in Delaware. These individuals rely on standardized tests scores and how the decline of such scores throughout the state have impacted Delaware’s standing nationwide. The most disturbing comment that I have read in more than one “Opinion” is that the Delaware Education Department should take full responsibility and be removed. I wish the issues were that simple. However, they are not. I would also like to know how many years of classroom-teaching experience in public schools the two individuals who made that suggestion have. It’s very easy to sit in an ivory tower and make your opinions heard when you haven’t danced the dance.
I have had the advantage of working in the field of education for over 35 years, in numerous environments. I also had the advantage of being a principal and graduate school professor, teaching teachers who wished to become school administrators. I began my teaching career working in a large public school district that had a significant economically challenged population. This was not an inner-city situation. It simply was a lower-income environment in a rural part of the state. In that environment, it was difficult, at times, to get the needed support from parents regarding their children’s education. Many children in that environment needed more than average help. Some did not. You see, there are no black or white solutions to education. So many things influence the ability of children to learn. For example, do they have a stable home life? Is there enough food for them to come to school and perform their best? Are parents involved with their children’s education or are they so consumed with trying to keep their economic heads above water that they don’t have the time? The list is endless. I taught in that kind of environment for 14 years.
Then, I went from one extreme to another. I was hired by a district that was very wealthy. How wealthy, you may ask? Without giving away the store, let me give you an idea of what I mean. One of the residents in that school district invented a product that each and every one of us in the USA and worldwide have bought multiple times throughout our lifetimes. He became so wealthy he bought a castle in Europe and had it shipped brick by brick and reassembled in that school district. That should give you an idea about the type of students who lived within the boundaries of that district. The children there had all the advantages wealth could buy. And guess what! Their standardized test scores were as high as their parents’ income! Once again, not every student in that district was so gifted. There will always be a bell-shaped range of success in every learning environment. However, in the aforementioned district, the bell was very much tilted toward success.
My next career move was to become the principal of an elementary school in the blue-collar part of town in the same state. This was more like middle America with regard to student success. I had 500 children in that school. Parents were mostly positive toward the school, and the teachers were hardworking and took pride in their achievements.
Did I have students who struggled? Absolutely! However, we had the advantage of helping those students with just about every resource possible. Our standardized test scores reflected the positive home and school environments you would expect. Were they the highest scores in the district? No! But they reflected the demographics of the population, which is a factor people sometimes overlook when comparing apples to oranges.
Teaching can be a challenge. Not every student body in one part of a given state has the advantages that other parts of the state may have. You can’t dismiss the educational leaders of a given state and expect the next set of leaders to do so much better, not unless you truly understand the variables involved.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
