Teacher survey shows distressing snapshot
IN a 2015 survey of Oklahoma City public school teachers, 60 percent of respondents said they felt student behavior had worsened. One teacher said she regularly witnessed students “yelling across the room, cussing at other students, interrupting my instruction, bullying other students.”
Two years later, it seems little has changed. Results of a new survey should concern parents and district officials.
The American Federation of Teachers, which bargains on behalf of about 2,400 classroom teachers, surveyed its members about a month ago. Eighty percent of the 585 teachers who responded said they have students who fail to comply with classroom rules.
One teacher with 38 years’ experience said this has been the most difficult year. “Every day I am still working on discipline,” the teacher said. “These students are the most defiant, disrespectful and disruptive ones I have ever had.”
The district has seen an increase in emergency-certified teachers in recent years, and so you might expect that these men and women new to the profession would struggle with some aspects of classroom control. But a 38-year classroom veteran reflecting such a level of frustration is alarming.
About half of the respondents said they have a student with a chronic discipline problem who shouldn’t be in their classroom. Between 75 and 80 percent said they have students who don’t comply with classroom rules or refuse to complete their work. About 60 percent said they had students use foul language; 70 percent said they put up with “disruptive outbursts” in class.
About 80 percent of respondents said it falls on them to handle most of the discipline issues they encounter. Only about one-third of teachers said their administrators were very responsive and supportive in dealing with this issue.
This problem has dogged the district for several years. The Obama administration’s Department of Education placed the district under investigation because of data showing the district “over-suspended” black and Hispanic students and doled out inconsistent punishment.
Former Superintendent Rob Neu tried to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, but the plan was sharply criticized by teachers who said it essentially left them to deal with the problem and provided little support.
The district implemented a revised student code of conduct that took effect at the start of 2016. The district also implemented intervention training in many schools.
The district’s director of student discipline says his office regularly increases the tools teachers can use to maintain classroom control. Suspensions during the first two months were up 9 percent over a year ago.
Superintendent Aurora Lora noted that the district — teachers, principals, staff — is moving away from a mindset of “punishing” students and instead trying to help them develop discipline and self-control. “When a student struggles in reading, we teach them,” Lora said. “Likewise, we believe that when a student struggles with making positive behavior choices, teaching should also be our first response.”
It’s an admirable goal. Yet when disruptions continue to be the norm and not the exception, as these responses indicate, then it suggests a change in approach is needed. The large majority of kids behave in the classroom, and they deserve the opportunity to learn.