Can We Truly Reach EVERY Student?

I can’t stop thinking about this post by Chris Lehmann, Principal at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. Chris is talking about charter schools like KIPP and Mastery Charter and the Ted Ginn Academy. While we don’t have charter schools in our immediate area, I’m intrigued by the conversation. I can anticipate that we will be working with virtual charter schools in the next couple of years and so I continue to pay attention to the discussion.

We know that kids need different opportunities to succeed and some need different pathways. That’s why we need to switch things up in the classroom and teach using a variety of instructional strategies, integrate technology, offer lots of different extra-curricular programs, provide electives that reach every kid, participate in BOCES programs and offer AP/College level courses.

As a school team of administrators, counselors, and teachers we also become preoccupied with reaching every student in a way that keeps them in school and helps them to succeed. This can be a challenge for any number of reasons, some within the school and many from beyond our walls. It is truly heartbreaking every time we lose a child to a decision to “drop out”. So reading about alternative routes like those found in some charter schools is compelling.

That’s where Chris makes a poignant point that cannot be ignored,

… because if we could only believe that we could solve all the problems of educating students in poverty with charismatic school leaders and hard working teachers… and that all the kids who don’t get the education they need are simply being underserved by those lazy teachers… that would absolve our society for not being more just, more equitable, more fair. We could point to those schools that succeed against all odds and say, “See… if they do it, every school should be able to do it.” It is a myth that keeps us from really understanding what is necessary to solve the problems for the children of our cities. It is the myth of the schools that have solved the problems.

Read Chris’ entire post. Think about the students who don’t stay in the Charter Schools either. Our public schools work for the vast majority of our students, but not for all. Charter schools don’t seem that different.  And we all continue to ponder and to plan, to connect and serve, to try to reach every student. 

What do you think: Can we truly reach every student?

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6 Comments
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  2. I agree 100% with Lauren’s comment. Kim you taught us all that you have to be approachable to the student body. For some students we are the only ones who are listening. I believe every student can be reached as long as we are willing to reach out to all of them.

  3. I also feel that every student can be reached. There is that question of “Does the student want to be reached?” Some may argue this point up and down. Many times a student has other things to worry about- “Will my parents be home when I get home?” “Will I have food on the table tonight?” “Do I have to go out and work tonight instead of doing my homework?” Sometimes as educators we see a student as unreachable when in actuality, they are just trying to survive. There are different kinds of reaching out to a student. Sometimes it is not academic. We have to step up and step out and reach that student no matter what it takes. We have to recognize what that student needs and do it. It’s NOT about US in education. As Flip Flippen once said, “If you have a child’s heart, you have his head.” In my opinion, when you do this, you then have reached a student in numerous ways. This is where success occurs in the classroom and in life! : )

  4. Kim, great question and compelling topic. The mission of our school district, and the mission of most in the US, is to reach “every” child. Every . . . single . . . child.. Therefore, to my way of thinking, it has to be an ongoing goal, something we all have to aspire to. I respectfully disagree with the other responder, John, who in reference to saving every child says “it is outside of our reach to aspire to that.” The reality is that as a school district saves more and more kids, the ones at the end of the distribution curve are the toughest to reach, and in practical terms make be impossible to reach. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying – ever! We have to keep coming up with new strategies, new programs, new methods – something, to some way, somehow, reach them. As a society and as individual communities, it’s imperative we continue to try.

    Fred Deutsch
    Watertown School Board Member
    Watertown, SD

  5. Pingback: Can We Truly Reach Every Student? « Dr2's Blog

  6. I’ve been following your blog for awhile. It’s great to see an administrator with such transparency!

    As for your question – can we reach every student? Yes. Can they all be “saved” from dropping out? Probably not. Students walk through the school doors carrying more baggage than teachers could ever help support. Making a connection or reaching that student may be the best a teacher can do for them.

    Educators must always remember that they can only control what happens to students in the safety of their classrooms. I would consider that the bitter pill of teaching. Not every student can be saved, and sadly, it is outside of our reach to aspire to that.

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