Waiting for Superman Reflection

“Waiting for Superman” – Reflection

Tim Brown

“Every morning it’s the same … juice, shoes, backpack.  A morning ritual.  And with it comes the uneasy feeling.  No matter who we are or what neighborhood you live in, each morning wanting to believe in our schools we take a leap of faith.”   

These are the words of the narrator of the movie “Waiting for Superman” by Davis Guggenheim.  The ritual may be somewhat altered for different people but taking a leap of faith in wanting to believe in our schools is somewhat universal. 

This movie was heart wrenching, partially because by the end of the movie I felt so personally invested in the students featured in the film.  Also because of the reality that so many of the problems that were highlighted in the film are still very prevalent today, particularly in our poorest communities. 

When I read the description of the movie, before watching the movie, I thought that I would agree with some things and disagree with others.  However, after watching the movie, I am surprised that I completely agree with all of the concepts and objectives that the movie has introduced. 

While the majority of what the film depicted were issues I was already aware of, there were two items that I did learn.  One of them was the disparity between what constitutes passing among schools in different cities and states across the United States.  The work that would equal a passing grade in Omaha might be considered failing work in Arizona.  I was surprised that not only is there not continuity between accounting for achievements but that it was so widely varied.  This gave me a new appreciation for Common Core Standards.  I understand what Common Core Standards intends to do.  Common Core State Standards aim to have a unified system of expectations in English, language arts, and math.  The goal is to prepare every student to be successful in college, career, and life.  The goal ‘to prepare every student to be successful in college, career, and life’ is the overall theme and discussion of the movie. 

Common Core State Standards can make people, particularly teachers who have been teaching for a while, uncomfortable.  It is not only a potentially new way of teaching, but it holds educators accountable in ways that have not been in place, at least, in a unified system around the United States.  According to the article The Competition that Really Matters -Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian Investments in the Next-Generation Workforce”,   to position the United States for the future, substantial investments are needed in research, infrastructure, and education. The most important of these areas to address, however, is education, as the overwhelming economic evidence points to education—and human capital investments, generally—as the key drivers of economic competitiveness in the long term. 

While there may be flaws that will creep up with Common Core Standards, we would have to admit that what we’ve been doing through the years has not been working.  For that reason alone, we should be willing to step out of our comfort zone to secure our student’s success in college, career, and life. 

The other topic I learned from the movie “Waiting for Superman” is about tracking.  I knew that there were tracking systems, determined by test results, in place across the United States to track the progress or lack of – of students.  What I did not know was that students are also tracked by arbitrary subjective factors like neatness, politeness, and obedience to authority.  This causes lower tracks have lower expectations, and often worse teachers. 

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report, of the 30 occupations projected to grow the most rapidly over the next decade, nearly half are professional jobs that require at least a college degree.  The article “Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete? “ By Paul E. Peterson, Ludger Woessmann, Eric A. Hanushek and Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón notes that in 2007, just 32 percent of 8th graders in public and private schools in the United States performed at or above the NAEP proficiency standard in mathematics, and 31 percent performed at or above that level in reading. When more than two-thirds of students fail to reach a proficiency bar, it raises serious questions.  Although the United States is edging up in math and science, still our achievement places us only in the middle of the pack in the developed world.  Among students in 34 developed nations, America’s 15-year-olds rank 25th in math and 17th in science, despite rising achievement in both areas.

LynNell Hancock, in his article “Why Are Finland’s Schools Successful?” describes a “Whatever it takes” attitude taken by the educators in Finland.  This attitude depicts educators being so empathetically involved in a child’s education that they are willing to use practically any method of teaching that reaches a student.  They recognize a student as an individual who learns and relates differently and as such should be taught and related to differently.  The educators consistently confer and pool their resources, taking turns to give individual attention to students in need.  They have achieved great results and have done so spending far less time in school than American students. As stated in the article, “Disrupting Class -How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns“, Schools exist to maximize human potential. They are supposed to develop the skills, capabilities and shape the attitudes of students. Schools are also supposed to help children think differently and encourage the development of multiple perspectives. But schools in the US are struggling to meet these lofty objectives.

In addition, Finland offers these benefits to encourage healthy education:  three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, state subsidies for parents, paying them around 150 euros per month for every child until he or she turns 17, and free health care for students.  Certainly with all the money we spend in America, in the name of education, we could afford to offer as much.

The fact that it costs considerably more to send a person to prison than to college educate is woefully astonishing.  Like many government run systems, there is a vast amount of people making a lot of money – who take money away from our children.  These people are people who sit on boards, are part of education bureaucracy departments, and teachers who aren’t teaching our students, but still get a salary – in and out of classrooms. 

Tenured teachers has long been a plaque among poorly performing schools.  In the movie Michelle Rhee states “There’s this unbelievable willingness to turn a blind eye to the injustices that are happening to kids every single day in our schools in the name of harmony amongst adults. I too, have heard a teacher use the highly quoted phrase, “I get paid whether you learn or not”.  Thankfully for me, I was not in that school for long before going back to private school.  It is a phrase that translates to the student hearing it, that the teacher doesn’t really care if the students learn.   Its’ all about the paycheck.  It’s a phrase and a moment that children do not forget and even, like myself, remember into adulthood. 

A fitting way to summarize is in the words of the narrator of the movie …“We’ve tried money, passing laws, and the latest reforms.      But, the one thing that those who work in the trenches know is … You can’t have a great school without great teachers”.

References

1- Paul E. Peterson, Ludger Woessmann, Eric A. Hanushek and Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón

Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete? - Education Next. (2011, August 16). Retrieved         February 12, 2015, from http://educationnext.org/are-u-s-students-ready-to-compete/

2- LynNell Hancock   History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian. (2011,                                                      .     September 1). Retrieved February 12, 2015,      -       http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?c=y?no-ist

3- PISA Data Reflects American Schools' Failure to Prepare Students to Compete Internationally                                          .     in the Digital Age. (n.d.). Retrieved February 12, 2015, from http://www.edtrust.org/dc/press-room/news/pisa-data-reflects-american-schools’-failure-to-prepare-students-to-compete-inter

4- Donna Cooper, Adam Hersh, and Ann O'Leary -The Competition that Really Matters -                 .       Comparing U.S., Chinese, and Indian Investments in the Next-Generation Workforce -        .        August 21, 2012

5- Clayton Christensen, Michael B Horn, Curtis W Johnson - Disrupting Class - How disruptive         .        innovation will change the way the world learns –- Mc Graw Hill, 2008

6- Davis Guggenheim - Waiting for "Superman" [Motion picture]. (2011). Paramount Home            .     Entertainment.