Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 222: Teaching in a Title 1 School

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Ep 222: Teaching in a Title 1 School · New Teacher Talk

Welcome to New Teacher Talk.
I'm Dr.
Beth Wilkins.
And I'm Dr.
Anna Quinzio-Zafran.
Teaching in a Title I school comes with real rewards and
real challenges,
and if it is where you are starting your career,
you deserve more than a deficit story about your students
and your community.
We are glad to welcome Dion Copeland back to talk about
teaching in a Title I school,
the assets your students bring,
the systems that support you,
and the mindset that helps you thrive there.
Let's get into it.
Hello, and welcome to the New Teacher Talk podcast.
My name is Dion Copeland,
and I'm a National Board-Certified Teacher and Assistant P
rincipal.
But not long ago,
I was a new teacher navigating my career just like you.
I actually started my journey as a teacher in a Title I
school,
which leads me to today's topic that I'd like to discuss
with you all, which is teaching in Title I schools,
how to build impact, resilience, and career growth.
So today,
we're gonna review the roadmap to impact and sustainability.
We're gonna define the context.
We're gonna talk about mastering strategies,
leveraging data,
and ultimately building futures for not only just your
students, but for yourself as well.
Let's go ahead and get started.
So I wanna start by, you know,
setting the Title I landscape for you.
Um,
you may or may not be familiar with what a Title I program
is,
and that is a federal program that provides funding designed
to bridge the gap, um,
between low income and other groups of students.
Title I should not be considered a label of ability,
but rather a designation of economic need and resource
allocation for, um, our most vulnerable students.
So as we talk about what a Title I school program is in
that landscape, um,
this is a very important time to discuss that mindset shift
from deficit to opportunity,
because there are a lot of misconceptions related to Title
I schools such as, you know,
that they are broken or have high numbers of,
quote unquote, "at-risk students,"
which is obvious deficit thinking,
when the reality of the Title I landscape is that it's an
opportunity for asset-based work.
It's rooted in the opportunity to support students and not
fix students.
As educators in Title I environments,
our role is to improve the learning landscape in order to
activate the potential that exists within each and every
student in which we serve.
So now that we have talked a little bit about what a Title
I program is and, you know,
beginning to shift our mindsets from deficit to
opportunity,
it's important to go ahead and acknowledge that Title I
schools are high-needs environments,
and they do require a high level of skills.
So teaching in a Title I setting requires more than just
your standard instructional skill.
Um,
it really does truly demand a complete professional profile.
Um, so as a new teacher,
you bring high levels of skills to the classroom.
I want you to ask yourself,
do you have or are you willing to learn a commitment to
equity-driven practice, data literacy, adaptability,
cultural competence, and instructional skill?
As these are going to be the recipe for how do you really
efficiently and effectively serve students in high-needs
environments.
So as we talk about serving students and y- leveraging
these high levels of skills that you bring or are willing
to develop in service to Title I schools,
let's talk about the dual engine of student achievement,
because that's our overall goal as educators is for our
students to achieve.
So if you answered yes to are you willing to learn or do
you already have commitment to equity-driven practice,
data literacy, adaptability, cultural competence,
and instructional skill,
then you are on the path to driving student achievement in
high-needs environments such as Title I schools.
So speaking of student achievement,
let's discuss the dual engines or the non-negotiables,
as I label it, that drive student achievement.
Success in high-needs context requires these two pillars,
instructional rigor,
which means high-quality instructional resources being
provided, high expectations for learning,
teachers being prepared to meet diverse learning needs,
and ensuring students are learning on grade level or above
or being very intentional about building capacity,
background knowledge on instructional gaps that may exist
within their students that they serve.
In addition to the instructional rigor,
there must be relational trust that works in tandem with
that instructional rigor.
In other words,
teachers must use evidence-based instructional strategies
and relationship-centered practices to positively impact
student learning.
So when we talk about relational trust,
this sometimes comes easier to some than instructional
rigor,
and it's important as new teachers that you understand it
is okay to be stronger in one area than the other,
and recognizing that and being intentional in your
professional growth plans on how to build your capacity in
the area in which you have identified an opportunity for
growth.
So relational trust,
instructional rigor are going to be those dual engines that
drive student achievement.
They work in tandem together to ensure that students are
held accountable, provided the resources that they need,
and have trusting adults in the school system whom they
know are there to ensure that they are successful in and
out of the school building.
So high needs requires high expectations,
and so we cannot love students into poverty.
We must expect students to rise to a higher level of
expectations that we place on them.
Our responsibility is to scaffold up to help students reach
grade level expectations and standards as we recognize that
all students may not be on grade level.
It's important to remember that rigor signals a belief in
student capacity.
And provide supports that establish relational trust which
motivate students to take academic risk.
I know I just used a lot of big words there.
In other words, um,
when we show students that we have high expectations of
them,
and we create the conditions for them to meet those expectations,
students start to feel as though the adults care about
them, are doing what is best for them,
and they are willing to take academic risks.
They are willing to put their best foot forward,
make mistakes,
and be comfortable enough to make those mistakes because
they've placed relational trust in the teaching staff and
in the administration to come in and support them and help
them correct the mistakes that they've made,
ultimately driving their success.
I know we've talked about a lot here.
We've so far covered what a Title I program is,
the steps to beginning to shift from a deficit mindset to
an opportunity-based mindset as we have identified and
discussed some misconceptions and the actual reality of
Title I environments.
We've talked about how to commit to high level of skills
that we will need to serve in high-needs environments such
as Title I schools.
And we've also touched on the dual engines of student
achievement being that instructional rigor,
relational trust in order to positively impact student
learning,
and placing high expectations on our students so that we
don't love them into continuous cycles of poverty,
but we disrupt those systems and place high expectations on
students and create conditions for them to meet those
expectations and support them when they do not meet
expectations so that they know that it is okay to make
mistakes,
that there is a system behind you of supports that is there
to make sure that you learn from those mistakes and that
you grow from them.
Speaking of learning and growing and the teacher's role in
supporting that academic and behavioral growth,
they need to use data.
And so as new teachers,
you will hear a lot about data in this field,
but remember that data is a flashlight and it is not a
hammer.
The purpose of data is to reveal who we are serving well
and who we are missing.
You will use various data sources for reflection,
improvement, and advocacy for not only yourself,
but for your students as well.
Title I schools specifically,
you can use data to reduce disparities through targeted
interventions.
I want you to consider the continuous improvement cycle,
such as a PDSA, where you analyze, you reflect, you adjust,
you monitor,
and then you repeat continuously throughout the year in
order to achieve school goals or just again,
to continuously engage in that improvement cycle as there
is always room to improve and grow.
So now before we get into leveraging Title I teaching
experience for career growth, let's check in.
I've covered a lot and it may seem overwhelming,
but remember that you don't need to master all of these
things right now.
You do not have to be a master of all things.
You must be aware of your context and willing to
continuously grow in areas that we've discussed so far,
and I want you to know that if you're here and you're
listening, you've got this.
You've got this,
and you have resources and tools available for you out
there, myself included.
Feel free to reach out.
I will provide my contact information at the end in my
conclusion.
But it's important to know that it will take time,
and having that commitment and willingness to grow and
reflect is that first step.
So now let's talk about the professional portfolio.
As experience in Title I schools builds distinct and
transferable skills such as classroom management,
differentiation, family engagement, and data usage.
When we discuss classroom management,
this is very similar to organizational leadership,
being able to manage diverse groups of people to achieve a
desired outcome.
Differentiation is the equivalent of strategic planning,
identifying the needs of those in which you serve,
and organizing resources and materials in order to service
those needs.
Family engagement is the equivalent of stakeholder
management,
being willing to partner and collaborate with those who
have stake in the goals in which of the organization.
And last but certainly not least,
data usage is very similar to systems-level analysis.
So looking at various data sources, being able to analyze,
interpret, and respond to what the data is saying,
all of these are skills in which teaching in a Title I
setting lends itself to being a direct pathway to school
district and organizational leadership.
So in summary,
the mindset is Title I is truly an asset-based opportunity.
The method for student achievement is rigor and
relationships.
The measurement is determined using data,
which can also be used for a tool for advocacy and equity.
Remember, you're building momentum.
Your experience in Title I schools will build elite
leadership skills for yourself and for your students.
Now, listeners, as I close,
I leave you with the following questions to reflect on.
Which transferable skill are you currently developing most
rapidly?
Is it classroom management, differentiation, data usage,
family engagement?
Where are you seeing the most development within your
professional capacity?
The next question is,
how does your current data usage support equity in your
classroom?
As we discussed,
service in Title I schools is about disrupting inequity and
systems that are present that keep our most vulnerable
students from being successful.
So how are you using data in your classroom to support
equity and disrupt inequities?
And last but not least,
where do you see the greatest opportunity to shift from a
deficit to an asset-based mindset?
Whether that be personally, socially, or in the community,
where can you support helping not just yourself,
but others shift to seeing the assets that,
and opportunities that exist within our Title I schools?
I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn under Deon
Copeland, Ed.S, NBCT.
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Talk.
Take care, and we'll see you next time.
That wraps up today's episode.
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