Months ago, when we were planning this issue, an informal advisory group of ASCD staff members gave the Educational Leadership editors advice about shaping the theme titled “Helping Struggling Students.”
Broaden the term struggling students to includeall students, they said. In a sense, every student struggles with something.
Focus on students who are not performing well academically in school, they suggested, and consider the many reasons for their struggle: lack of motivation, absenteeism, learning disabilities, difficulties learning English as a second language, stressful family life, poverty, low expectations from adults, poorly trained teachers, ineffective instruction, disorganized schools, lack of instructional resources.
Don't define struggling as test failure, one advisor continued. If we do that, we fall into the high-stakes testing trap: By making test scores the most important measure, we fail to see that even if students are proficient test takers, they may be struggling as learners and as people.
Avoid a deficit model, another staffer recommended. Don't suggest that the struggling students are at fault. If most students struggle, that means schools need to change.
Don't assume that all students who belong to a particular racial, ethnic, or social group, or who attend urban or rural schools will struggle, another warned.
And, finally, the group recommended: Don't lose sight of the regular classroom teacher working with 30 students with diverse needs. Make sure to publish practical, realistic strategies within their sphere of influence. Address the question, “What can I do to help the struggler?”
As I struggle to write this “Perspectives,” I am glad I kept these notes! It will be up to you readers to tell us whether we come close to achieving these important aims.
The fact of the matter is, helping struggling students is a gargantuan task. Students who struggle with schoolwork without receiving effective intervention often drop out of school and, as a consequence, have increasingly dire employment prospects. Paul E. Barton tells us (p. 14) that approximately 30 percent of all students of graduating age fail to complete high school. That appalling statistic is even higher for minority and low-income students.
Many factors that correlate with dropout rates—coming from low-income or single-parent families, getting low grades in school, being absent frequently, and changing schools—seem to be beyond the realm of a teacher's practice. But as Chester Hartman tells us in his article about the consequences of student mobility (p. 20), it is time for educators and others—including those who advocate school reform—to get out of their silos and take collective responsibility for solutions that demand effort on many fronts. These solutions include but are not limited to affordable housing and employment for families; more effective counseling, teaching, and tutoring; and after-school, during-school, and early childhood interventions.
But back to the daily struggle. Educators know that statistics tell only part of the story. Many students are invisible strugglers, falling through the cracks and being written off as not needing the extra effort and intervention that educators can provide. So look inside for some insights into struggle as well as answers to practical questions. How do we motivate students to do the work of learning (p. 8)? How do we engage them in reading (pp. 44, 56, 66)? How do we teach math for understanding (p. 74)? Improve writing skills (pp. 70, 80)? Teach English language learners (38)? Make school a haven for homeless students (p. 26)? What can we learn from the struggling students themselves and from those educators—bearers of hope, as Julie Landsman (p. 26) calls them—who do reach them?
