Blog 29: Summer School

February  28, 2009
Summer School Unfulfilled Promise

Reflection:
    This article was an interesting read. As the title would suggest it examined how various states run summer school. It was particularly focused on the Chicago summer school program. This program is still widely considered one of the best in the nation (Stone et al, 2005). Under the context of the law, where students are required to stay in school until a certain age, the key question is what to do with the underperforming students. Historically the answer has either social promotion or retention. Both have significant drawbacks. The author of this report suggest that summer school is a good alternative. By providing an opportunity for struggling students to attend summer school many are able to pass on their own merit and not ‘clog’ the middle schools.

MTC Summer School 2009:
    I would imagine that MTC summer school will be an academic setting. The students, although they may not want to be there, they paid to come.  Therefore, fear of being removed and losing their money should increase their attentiveness. I would hope that the teachers will provide the best education possible for the students and I would hope that all of us as teachers will make it an environment conducive to learn. 

    The rod I use to measure success at summer school will be the same one I use at school now. This is simply being able to say yes to the following question.  “Have I done my reasonable best to accomplish my goal of providing the best education possible for these students.” If I can say yes to this question then whether my students all go on to score perfectly on the state test or they all fail I have done what I can.

    I have developed this measure of success because of the intangible of student's learning. In my brief teaching career I set target goals on district tests for my students to attain. They consistently failed miserably to reach what I presumed to be meager learning objectives. At the same time these students were out producing the district results. Ideally I would like to have my entire student attain a complete mastery of the material taught. However, since at this point in my career I feel that this is too high of a goal, I base success on my effort.
 
    To ensure student success I will work hard to ensure that the little things in the class are set up and conducive to learning. First and foremost I will work to ensure that the class is quiet and constantly on task. Secondly I will ensure that my lessons are of the highest caliber possible. Finally, I will attempt to incorporate some labs to help provide some visual representation of theoretical knowledge. 

Thoughts on Recommendations For State Policies:
    The recommendations for summer school were interesting. I agreed with some of the suggestion. These suggestions imply the use of summer school as a kind of remediation class for students who do not attain sufficient information during the regular school year. This is a valid option but a successful special education option I believe could handle the same task during the school year. I do not agree that summer school is the only option. However, I do agree that there should be some sort of safety net for students who are struggling academically.

Stone S., Engel M., Nagaoka J.,  Roderick M. 2005. Getting t the second time around: Student classroom experience
      in Chicago’s  Summer Bridge Program. Teachers College Record 107: 935-957.