TL;DR:

• Being well-versed in trauma-informed practices is essential when working with marginalized students.
• Reach marginalized students by embracing a shift in school culture and reflecting on why previous ideas fell flat. Enlist faculty to assist you. And realize that lasting changes will occur if you and your staff have the willingness to do what it takes.

Much focus has been put on reaching marginalized students in today’s classrooms, whether the school is currently in-person or remote. Many Title I schools are still operating in a way that promotes the “school-to-prison pipeline,” whether or not that this their intent.

Title I schools are schools that serve large concentrations of low-income students. These schools receive extra funding in order to support the students’ educational needs. The value of this extra funding is most often evaluated by how the students perform on yearly standardized tests. Thus, instruction at these schools is often focused on teaching to the test.

Teachers who accept positions to teach at Title I schools often do so because they have a heart for teaching marginalized students.

They want to make a difference in these students’ lives, especially because these students are often experiencing increased trauma in their homes. Other teachers and staff who are offered positions to work at these schools accept their positions because they have limited experience. Sometimes they are unable to be offered positions at their “first choice” of schools.

These educators are often ill-equipped to handle many of the challenges that come with teaching in Title I schools. Add to this the fact that much of this is true for administrators. Those who are hired to lead in Title I schools are often those who are gaining experience before switching to a position in a higher socio-economic setting. Districts don’t often offer leadership professional development or training to these inexperienced leaders. Necessary PD would include keeping high expectations for student achievement along with promoting a positive school culture and climate.

When it comes to working with marginalized students in Title I schools, we must remember that their parents are sending us “the best they’ve got.”

Many of these students have needs that may have been overlooked or left undiscovered in earlier grades (literacy, academic gaps, emotional regulation, etc.). How do we serve students who are likely to come to school on any given day emotionally dysregulated because of something they experienced at home? Being well-versed in trauma-informed practices is essential in these settings.

Furthermore, seeking alternatives to suspension and actively working to reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions (which, in turn, can lead to expulsions), are ways leaders in Trauma-Informed Title I schools must work to break the cycle of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Slow, but lasting changes will occur if you and your staff have the willingness to do what it takes! Click To Tweet

Turning around a school, whether it be in terms of low achievement, or actively responding to the need for a caring, inclusive culture, both around students and staff, isn’t accomplished in a few months or even a full school year.

It isn’t something that can be accomplished by just sending a few staff members to a training and saying, “This is the way it’s going to be from now on.”

You don’t get buy-in that way. A leader needs to make a conscious effort to formulate their thinking everywhere and to everyone with whom the school staff and students interact. It needs to be seen by the way staff treat each other. In turn, it will affect the way students treat each other. TLC is needed when working with students in Title I schools and leaders have to be all in. They cannot be waiting until retirement or until “something better” comes along. Thus, the longer a school remains stagnant with a poor culture, climate, lack of trauma-informed practices, and no alternatives to suspension, the longer those marginalized students will suffer.

You can be the change-maker!

There are many stories of success of turning around school culture, such as in Hans Appel’s Award Winning Culture and Todd Whitaker & Steven Gruenert’s School Culture Recharged. I interviewed Dr. Whitaker on my “Out of the Trenches” podcast about this book. View the episode on YouTube.

If you want to help invoke change in your school, look for signs the staff and stakeholders are ready. Are they satisfied with the “status quo” and how things have always been done? Make sure your school is fully invested in making these changes. It starts with the principal, and if the principal isn’t fully on board, lasting changes are unlikely to occur.

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What can you do if you work in a school where students are marginalized?

1. Take the pulse of your staff and their openness to embracing a shift in school culture. Accomplish this through surveys, conversations, or quick polls.
2. Examine any efforts to make changes in recent years (within the last 10 years). Discover why those ideas “fell flat.”
3. Enlist the help of faculty who you know will be fully on board. Through conversations, and in the relationship you’ve built with these staff members, find out if some of them have experience working in a turn-around school and/or have training that can benefit your efforts.
4. Reach out to me on Twitter @danagoodier. Let me know what ideas you may have and what you’ve already tried. I have been there. Let’s have a conversation around your passions to bring lasting change to your campus!
5. Finally, remember Rome wasn’t built in a day. Slow, but lasting changes will occur if you and your staff have the willingness to do what it takes!

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About Dana Goodier

Dr. Dana Goodier has 20 years of experience in education. She has taught World Languages and English and worked as a middle school administrator. She completed her doctorate degree (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership early 2020. For her dissertation, she researched reasons parents were opting their students out of high-stakes testing at middle schools and how that affected the district accreditation rating. She often speaks at conferences, providing educators with techniques to minimize off-task behavior and to increase time on task. She is the host of the “Out of the Trenches” podcast, which features educators who share their stories of resiliency. Follow her on Twitter @danagoodier and visit her website at: www.danagoodier.com