addressed the faculty as “you people” in
meetings and frequently cut colleagues
off in conversation. The assistant principals took cues from her.
For much of my first year, the sight
of administrators filled me with dread.
The idea that they could help me
become a better teacher was not even
a passing thought; they were menaces
to avoid. When my class teetered into
chaos, I had no idea whether I could
count on the higher-ups to help; some-
times they would undermine me with
public castigation. One administrator
told me the day before school started,
“Don’t need us too much, especially in
the beginning. Prove you can handle
yourself.”
I’m currently in my fourth year at the
SEED Public Charter School in Wash-
ington, D.C. Head of School Charles
Adams and Principal Kara Stacks are
both in their fifth years, and they are
energetic, supportive former teachers.
Under their leadership, staff turnover
is low, and the continuity they have
engendered is invaluable to the school
culture. Test scores are also way up,
but not because of drilling; it’s a natural
by-product of a higher-functioning
community.
Adams and Stacks have also supported me in forming external partnerships with such local organizations
as the Shakespeare Theatre Company
and the PEN/Faulkner Society. These
connections have been invaluable in
exposing students to cultural opportunities and boosting student learning.
It’s energizing when my school leaders
encourage me to try new stuff.
Kids in my class are now far less
likely to freak out than my 4th graders
in the Bronx were, but if they do, both
the students and I know the exact consequences and chain of command for
dealing with it. For better or worse,
administrators mold the culture of the
school.
New teachers can’t
thrive when their
supervisors’ priorities
do not involve
excellent teaching.
High-Quality Curriculum
High-stakes testing and its attendant
army of prepackaged test-prep curriculum vendors are waging a formidable campaign to tear the soul out of
public education. It’s up to educators
to fight this and make sure that standardized assessment is a tool, not a way
of life. However, new teachers have
virtually no clout when it comes to their
curriculum.
Scripted curriculums are boring for
students and teachers. People don’t
have breakthroughs or epiphanies, and
it’s deadening for intellectual curiosity.
In the Bronx, test-prep season dominated several months—it wasn’t what
I’d signed up for. The idea of facing
another school year with that pressure-cooker tension over testing was a factor
in my decision to leave.
Conversely, a high-quality curriculum
activates students’ and teachers’ curiosity and individual gifts. And there’s
so much exciting and empowering stuff
out there. Administrators who choose
scripted test prep are operating from a
position of fear. I wouldn’t want my kid
in one of their schools. I also wouldn’t
want to teach there.
District Policies That Promote
Good Teaching
Some people in power obsess over cos-
metic things—like bulletin boards. This
was the case my rookie year, when the
regional superintendent was universally
feared for her penchant for visiting
classrooms hours before school opened,
photographing your bulletin boards,
and putting stinging critiques of them in
your permanent file.
Don’t Forget the Village
For each of these factors, it’s crucial for
veteran teachers and school leaders to
build the infrastructure to support new
teachers’ success. Rookies don’t grow
into strong teachers if they’re in hostile
environments or under attack.
Trial by fire isn’t fair for anyone. For
me in the Bronx, this approach invited
Fausto to make a bombastic test of my
authority and consigned 25 other students to education purgatory when his
challenge exposed my inexperience.
New teachers can’t do it alone, but
with supportive leaders, student-centered policies, solid curriculum, and
opportunities to learn their craft and
connect with the community, they’ll be
in a position to earn those student
breakthroughs and experience those
epiphanies that provide the rocket fuel
to continue and improve. EL
Dan Brown teaches 11th and 12th
grade English at the SEED Public Charter
School of Washington, D.C. He is the
author of The Great Expectations School:
A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard
Jungle (Skyhorse Publishing, 2011);
danbrownteacher@gmail.com; @dan
brownteacher on Twitter.
