Ninth Grade: Precipice or Springboard?

In the December 13th Washington Post, writer Jay Mathews focuses on the ninth grade, what he calls the precipice or the springboard in education. The full-page analysis of what is known about 14-year-olds highlights views of developmental psychologists and educators who describe from research and from practice ninth graders from a range of schools and home contexts. See which of these match your experience.

• They enjoy research and putting together research reports.
• They like to discuss current events, either formally or informally.
• They complain about the volume of homework but often secretly enjoy challenge and their ability to meet teacher demands.
• They often say the work is too easy when they find it plenty challenging.
• When they complain about work as “boring,” that translates as, “I really don’t understand this stuff.”
• They function well in small (8-10-person) discussion groups.
• They like to improve work if given the chance to revise.

The article features researchers, i.e. Walter Haney, a Boston College education professor who investigates why ninth-graders are held back and eventually drop out, and teachers and administrators, i.e. the principals and teachers at Minnie Howard School, where classes of no more than 15 students meet daily with a teacher or other professional to discuss their lives based on individual achievement plans they wrote at the beginning of the year.

I write about this article because it has the potential to start discussions among readers about what can really work to keep adolescents engaged in their learning, For example, did you find yourself wanting to talk back about the points above that either did or didn’t ring true to you? But, I am also impressed by what The Washington Post is doing to inform the public about positive actions addressing adolescent needs while not ignoring the formidable challenges. So much negative publicity feeds the angst based on tests, without including the complexity of the challenges and the ways in which creative educators are addressing that complexity, by research that informs practice and practice that informs research.

What if local newspapers published informed reports like this one to spark and reframe discussions about education in communities that are grappling with how to keep adolescents in school? Jay Mathews, who spoke at NCTE this year, is a hero in my eyes: he cares enough about education to write in-depth accounts of what does and could happen in schools. Could you supply to your local paper material for education writers who perhaps have less commitment, time, or resources than Mathews to research and write about education in your own community? You could use materials from NCTE that appear in the In Box to situate your report about effective practices used by you and your colleagues.