interviewee noted the difficulty in securing student teachers from local colleges and universities because of the district’s urban image. The interviewee stated that because of the above reason,
leave once more appealing jobs open up in places like the Chicago suburbs.
Fit is extremely important if a district wants to positively affect its student outcomes. As noted earlier, the percentage of White students in the district are decreasing while the African American and low-income student percentages continue to rise (IIRC, 2015). Conversely, over 90% of the teachers in the district are White and 7% are African American (IIRC, 2015). According to the Illinois Report Card (2015), the average teacher experience in the district has been decreasing from 18 years in 2002 to 11.9 in 2012. Average teacher experience has also decreased statewide from 14.2 years in 2002 to 12.9 in 2012.
Several interviewees referenced hiring practices put in place by a previous administrator designed to ensure applicants have the desire and skills to work in Woodview. Reflecting back to an informal conversation with the previous superintendent, such actions were conducted to ensure a good fit of the applicant with the district. This practice was common to similar school districts in urban environments with high-minority, high-poverty student populations. Judy noted that the assessment given to prospective teachers, principals, and administrators “measures how open and receptive you are to other cultures.” It is unclear if any other screening
assessments are used in the application process as this was the only one mentioned. Interviewees also stated that applicants had to start by filling out an application on AppliTrack, a common portal used by school districts to hire teachers.
One particular situation spoke to this “good enough” theme. Adrienne reflected on a situation she encountered with a colleague who told her “You’re doing too much…she told me if I wanted to lost my job, I need to stop doing so much.” Instead, her colleague encouraged her to follow her work style “it’s an 8 am to 3 pm job…I’m not doing anything extra.” As a result,
knew she could be doing more for her students but also wanted to maintain harmony with her colleagues. “Good enough” in this instance meant working 8 to 3 and not providing anything ‘extra.’
Several interviewees noted that many of the teachers in the district actually lived outside the district and perpetuated negative comments about the public educational system. Robin asked “How many really live and work here, send their kids to school here?” Beth noted
“because we have people within the district that work here that live outside the city of Woodview that complain about WPS. What we’ve discovered is we are our own worst nightmare…we need to be a part of the solution.” Derek’s belief that “every administrator needs to live in the district they work in” was a common solution brought forward by several interviewees.
Analysis
School personnel perceived that familial and community expectations and a shrinking middle class have affected the educational value in the community. A focus on building and maintaining relationships with students, families, and the community was consistent throughout the interviews. Judy stated, “It’s still relationships between people that make a difference.” Lena agreed and added, “You don’t have to be really close friends with every kids and their family, but you better have the respect of that family.” Since teachers have the most direct impact on students, developing trust and relationships with students is essential to students meeting set expectations. Derek reflected “As parents got to know me and some of the other school personnel, they were letting us do more to mold and guide their kids. We sort of became parents. And that helped them. They had to rebuild trust.” Stacy said, “I must be doing
teacher and student.
Throughout the interviews, there were contradictory statements about the current college- going of these students. In fact, the actual college-going of students in the school district was not clear from the interviews. What was clear was that most of the interviewees did not know the data (i.e., percentage enrolling in college, top feeder schools, etc.). Only one interviewee
actually brought data to the meeting; the other data was anecdotal. Additionally, as discussed in Patterns 1.1 and 2.1, the post-high school plans of low-income African American varied and were inconsistent, according to the interviewees of this study. What was clear was the publically available data. As stated in Chapter 3, there are very low rates of college-going among the districts’ African American residents. According to the state report card, 20% of the school district is college ready compared to the state (46%) (IIRC, 2015). In terms of college
partnerships (McClafferty et al., 2002), most interviewees mentioned relationships developed with the two postsecondary institutions in town over time. These relationships were maintained, while relationships with state schools have weakened. Public state schools were once a heavy recruiter of Woodview students. Personnel have noticed a decline in recruitment from these particular schools. Instead, representatives from technical schools, military branches, and cosmetology programs are much more prevalent.
Noting Robin’s quote that “hiring is key,” the hiring practices of the district were not discussed by interviewees much. In fact, many of the interviewees were unsure of the process, except through their own hiring experience. After repeated attempts to interview the human resources director, I was not able to reach them. The human resources director position was in flux during data collection, thus, I was not able to interview someone in such a position. I do not
completion of this research, I learned that a veteran teacher has now taken the reins and providing credibility and stability in the position. With a seasoned person in such a leadership role, I would definitely be interested in hearing more about the current hiring process as well as qualities the district looks for in its future personnel.
One particular tension of note is here is the time commitment by school personnel. While Marie wanted to find educators who would work past the normal 8 to 3 pm schedule, Adrienne discussed how her colleague only wanted to work 8 to 3 pm and not any time beyond that. The interviewees’ responses do not help tease out this particular issue, however, several discussed the “extra” work they conduct outside of normal hours to help their students be successful. Perhaps through my sampling method, I managed to only interview school personnel who were
committed to their students’ college-going efforts. I would have liked to understand more about those who were less committed and potential constraints which limited their time beyond 8 to 3.
Lastly, the findings of this study showed that the school district is working to establish structural supports in place to encourage a college-going culture. Knight-Diop’s (2010) study necessitated the following three structural supports: an academically rigorous environment, college advisement, and co-curricular/extracurricular activities. From the interviews, it can be inferred that the school district’s curricular offerings were intended to be rigorous, with the increase of AP offerings in the school district. Additionally, there were a large number of co- curricular and extracurricular activities available in the district. Recently, the school district was able to access a grant because of its large low-income, first generation student population and obtain a college advisor. However, according to Grant, the “lack of participation in these supports from the student has been detrimental to building such a culture.”
continuance was listed. Beth, an administrator, stated that “guidance, support, and reallocation of resources to help buildings meet the needs of their kids and get them on grade level.” Often, the administration sets the expectations of students and teachers, teachers hold students to those expectations, and counselors support such expectations by giving students access to college knowledge tools. Each of the interviewees supported these assumptions. The next theme expands on outer layers of Perna’s (2006) model to help make sense of what is happening regarding college-going in the district.