Kids in Boxes

I can tell stories about my three brilliant brothers all day and all night.

While all three are very different from one another, all three have quick minds and quirky personalities.

But two of them learned differently from the conventional teaching methods used when they were in high school.

Most schools still use those antiquated teaching methods.

You probably experienced the same method – sit in this chair, listen to a teacher speak from the front of the room, watch a movie, take a test.

Do not move.

Do not wiggle.

Do not, under any circumstances, yawn.

Many of us made it through this education system. Some of us even thrived.

But peer-reviewed research demonstrates amazing benefits of restructuring our educational system so that each individual student reaches his or her potential.

The research demonstrates that when a student fails, it isn’t because the student is dumb. It is because the system failed.

The system attempts to fit every student into the same-sized box, which encourages school administrators to fit every student into that box and then limits the tools that teachers can use so they must fit every student into that box.

Two of my brothers didn’t fit into that box.

One brother, Rob, believed the adults who told him he must be stupid because he didn’t learn the same way other kids learned.

He escaped with drugs and dropped out of school.

When the insurance company declared his addiction cured, Rob visited the local community college to begin his GED program.

He took the placement test, expecting to spend the next eight months studying to earn his GED.

He passed the GED on his first day.

Rob was not stupid.

A different way of teaching Rob would have built his self-confidence, reduced his risk of using drugs and helped him reach his potential.

Another brother could not stand the daily criticism in high school either.

He dropped out of the school system and earned his diploma at the community college where teaching methods were aligned with individual student needs.

Now, my daughter wants to take classes that will count toward high school graduation and earn college credits at the same time.

We have her schedule worked out now, but it wasn’t easy.

Eight months ago, she was not allowed to take a dual credit course if the class were offered by the high school even though the high school class did not qualify for college credit.

The superintendent told me that he wanted to keep teachers busy with full classrooms.

I asked him if he understood the concept of dual credit courses and then mentioned that the school district’s job is not to employ teachers, but to educate students.

At some point between my visit with the superintendent and online class enrollment, district policy changed.

I commend the powers that be for that change.

They made one step out of that box.

They should take another step.

Montana law allows school districts to measure performance instead of measuring time that students spend at their desk.

It allows students to attend classes in a different school district for all or part of each day.

It allows districts to develop trades academies – programs that provide internships and work experience so students gain hands-on skills for living wage jobs after high school.

It allows districts to educate each and every student as an individual instead of cramming kids who don’t fit into a box that won’t hold them.

Administrators know how to teach kids effectively.

They just don’t do it.

We need to encourage our schools to use a variety of tools to educate our variety of students.

All of us will benefit when they reach their potential.