Birmingham: First public statement from student advocates

[Anne Nonniemouse <ShopMathEdu@AOL.COM>]

Statement issued exclusively to Elaine Witt, reporter, Birmingham Post Herald.
This statement is not authorized for use by any other reporter.

Stop Blaming The Victims

    I have watched the controversy unfold regarding the students who were
pushed out of school prior to the administration of the Stanford 9 (SAT9)
achievement test.  The debate took another tragic turn last week which I did
not expect.  We have sunk so low as an educational community that we are now
blaming the victims.  Both the TV and printed media have painted a picture of
chaos and mayhem at the school.  "A band of students who would roam the
halls, disrupting classes and causing troubles," claims one report.  We are
now hearing about arson, fights, and intimidation in the hallways.  Last week
the Birmingham Post Herald ran an interview with a colleague from Woodlawn
High School who posed a fair and reasonable challenge.  He said, "Walk in my
shoes.  Spend a week at school with the 115 dropped students."

    As an adult education instructor with Birmingham City Schools Adult
Education Program, I have had the pleasure of personally working with more
than a dozen of the students who were pushed out of Woodlawn prior to the
SAT9 testing.  They enrolled in our program which is located across the
street from Mark's Village in Gate City.  At least 30 pushed out students
from Woodlawn have enrolled in our programs around the city.  I use the term
"pushed out" because most of the students I am working with did not dropout
or voluntarily withdraw.

    One of my colleagues from Woodlawn is quoted as saying, "They had made a
choice.  They have decided school is not what they like."  This is contrary
to my experience where the students found their way to our program about 2
miles from the school.  Although these students were pushed out prior to the
AEA Spring Break, many of them came to school during the break and are
continuing to attend at this time through the summer.

    One student is developing his skills to design websites on the Internet.
Through cyber technology, we have networked him with a website designer in
Brooklyn, NY.  A number of students have obtained library cards and are
taking advantage of this wonderful resource.  The students who have turned 18
have registered to vote.

    Several of the students from Woodlawn have made significant progress
which ironically is measured by a standardized test called TABE (Test of
Adult Basic Education).  We use the TABE to identify their weak areas and
concentrate our instruction in those areas.  We use standardized testing to
inform our instruction, not to exclude a single student.  They still have
many skills to master, but it is so encouraging to watch them improve through
individual instruction.

    There hasn't been any horseplay, let alone a fight.  There hasn't been
any disruptions or a lack of respect for the other students, our staff, or
our volunteer tutors.

    These observations are not mine alone.  I have asked all of our teachers,
staff from other agencies that work in our building, and the volunteer tutors
how they assess the pushed out students from Woodlawn.  We are very fortunate
to have seven volunteer literacy tutors, six of whom are employees of a
nearby bank.  One colleague told me, "Some of these students have come into
our class and they have their nose in the books.  They came in and accepted
help.  They've worked hard.  Some have progressed extremely well in math."
Another staff member told me, "I have not had a bit of trouble from that
group of students that got put out at Woodlawn.  As far as having any
disruptive problems, I thought it was ridiculous.  The students did not give
me a problem at all."

    So what is the public to believe?  Some school officials and staff have
vilified these students.  They are teenagers with all of the capacity to be
mischievous, impetuous, generous and loving, as teenagers often are.  Each of
these students has exhibited their individual potential and value.

    Why are our results different from what was happening in the traditional
school environment?    First, I would like to say that I do not envy the
position of any of the principals in our local high schools.  I acknowledge
that their burdens are heavy and the pressures upon them are great.  However,
we cannot become jaded towards our students.  The Coordinator of our Adult
Education Program always reminds our staff that our job is to cherish and
nurture the students we work with.  She is adamant that it is our
responsibility to meet each student at whatever academic level they are at.

    It is my dream that we will stop bickering and unite as an educational
community to immediately establish, at each high school, a  new, intense,
innovative, one-on-one curriculum with an emphasis on reading, for all of the
students performing below their grade level.  We owe it to our students to
have additional instructors assigned to each high school and have this new
curriculum in place prior to August 15th, so that we can dispatch all of the
pushed out students back to their original schools.  We haven't a day to
lose.  Between the teaching and support staff of the Birmingham City Schools,
and the various departments of education at the local universities, we have
the resources to fix this problem. To accomplish this task, we've got to stop
pointing fingers and accept responsibility that this is our obligation to the
students of the Birmingham City Schools.

    I regret that our students have been used as pawns in the political
controversy over the way standardized testing is used. Testing should be used
as a tool to assist teachers and students, not as an axe to cut students from
the rolls.

    Statement submitted by Steve Orel, June 19, 2000

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