When Students Don’t
Students who broadcast their disengagement from school
are challenging—but they can also be a blessing in disguise.
Jessica Towbin
Start where the kids are was a mantra in my teacher certification program. This imperative served my students and me well for the first 13 years of my career, when
I taught in diverse but predominantly middle-class, suburban schools. But last year, after
transferring to an urban school just south of
Seattle, Washington, I gained a new and
deeper understanding of what it means
to start where the kids are—and why
it’s essential for effective teaching
and learning.
In September 2008, I began
teaching at Health Sciences and
Human Services High School
(HS3), one of three new
autonomous themed schools on
the campus of what had been a
large comprehensive high school.
I had been searching for a small
school where I could pursue my
passion for reform, and here was an
opportunity to be part of establishing
a school’s identity, structures, and practices. I knew that my new school, where
about 70 percent of the 350 students
were eligible for free and reduced-price
lunch, would also offer me new challenges
in the classroom. But as an experienced,
accomplished teacher, I believed that I
was ready to take on those challenges.
No Culture of Compliance
When I met my students at the beginning of
the school year, I was prepared to meet them
where they were. I expected this would mean
addressing large skill deficits. I quickly
discovered, however, that most of the
students did not have skill deficits; what they
had was a level of disengagement and even
anger toward school that I had never before
encountered on such a wide scale.
When I taught in predominantly middle- or
upper-class suburbs, I took for granted a
culture of compliance. Although there were
always a few disengaged, disobedient
kids, they were the exceptions, the ones
who didn’t fit the system. I either tried
to make them fit or accommodated
them by tinkering around the edges
of the system.
Although my colleagues and I
talked about differentiated
instruction and personaliza-
tion, it was easy for me not to
do those things very deeply
as long as students played
the game. When students
who didn’t have the skills to
engage meaningfully in
instruction at least made an
effort, the most I had to do
was provide extra help or
slightly modify the assignment.
When even students who didn’t go
through the motions were at least
