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UCLA graduate students help inner-city youth in Teacher Education Program

By Kelly Zhou

April 11, 2010 9:13 p.m.

Edith Issakhanian’s job extends far beyond demonstrating the Pythagorean Theorem and grading homework.

A second-year graduate student in UCLA’s Teacher Education Program, Issakhanian works with teenagers who have often committed offenses such as grand theft auto or drug abuse.

Many come to the youth home she teaches at with little drive and low expectations for their own academic potential.

Students at inner-city schools all across the Los Angeles area are suffering.

One of the largest school districts in the country, the Los Angeles Unified School District is struggling with a $640 million deficit, and is resorting to cutting days from the school year and laying off thousands of teachers.

Armed with innovative strategies and an optimistic outlook, the 300 graduate students in TEP want to fix the alarming circumstances of underprivileged schools.

Issakhanian, surrounded by students who lacked people to talk to and thus internalized their problems, persuaded her students to write in interactive journals, hoping to motivate them to improve their grades. She unexpectedly gave them an emotional outlet.

While Issakhanian began the project as part of her master’s thesis, some students seized it as an opportunity to privately vent or share stories about their lives.

One student wrote about his friend dying from drug use, and his concerns over his brother getting more involved with drugs. Issakhanian wrote back, offering an ear if he ever needed someone to talk to.

“All he wrote back was “˜Thank you, I needed this,'” Issakhanian said.

As Issakhanian tries to explain to her students at the probation school, “I don’t know anything about living in your shoes, I don’t know anything about running from gunshots, but teach me, show me.”

TEP is a two-year program that focuses on social justice. Graduate students work toward their credentials and master’s degrees, while simultaneously teaching at various schools in the L.A. area.

“We’re only working in low-income or low-performing schools that serve underrepresented students, and that’s not what typically you see in a lot of teacher ed programs,” said Ashley Clifford, TEP program coordinator.

While many students work in LAUSD, others find jobs at charters or private schools. For example, Issakhanian teaches math at a non-public probation school dedicated to special education students.

Yet with the current economy and the district’s troubles, many are unable to find any available positions.

Last year, the district voted to eliminate about 5,400 positions to help close the budget deficit. This year, LAUSD proposed shortening the school year by five days to avoid sending another 5,000 layoff notices.

“I think about the students. Most of the students at Cochran are not honor students, and they need to be learning,” said DeJanae Sharp, a TEP first year who student-teaches at Johnnie Cochran Middle School in South Los Angeles.

“Taking away a week of learning … will affect them in the long run,” she said.

While some see this change as dangerous, others weigh the significance of different ramifications.

“It was so disheartening to be told, “˜Thanks for the hard work, we have to let you go,'” said TEP alumna Stephanie Lee, who is currently a long-term substitute for kindergarten and first-grade classes.

Without seniority, many TEP students were pink slipped.

Program alumna Erin Deis was hired to teach at John Liechty Middle School in downtown Los Angeles when it opened in 2007.

Even though the principal hired a lot of program members, including Issakhanian, Deis said most were laid off in 2009 and replaced with teachers who had seniority. But dismissals of teachers at schools across the district have made classes larger, leading to even less individual attention for students, Lee added.

“(Students) get left behind essentially because they can’t acquire their basic skills in first or second grade, so by fourth grade you can really tell that they have a hard time reading,” said Hoa Le, a TEP first-year who student-taught a fourth-grade class at Leo Politi Elementary School.

In addition to students falling behind in grade level, educators must contend with budget cuts and the pressures of standardized testing.

Teachers have seen the tense atmosphere, dearth of resources and negative attitudes of administrators trickle down to students, who often lose interest in learning, Sharp said.

With mounting troubles and a deteriorating district, it is easy for these student teachers to become disillusioned or break down in tears when faced with overwhelming issues.

While many student-teachers acknowledge the escalating responsibilities, they remain passionate about the field of teaching. From the “light-bulb” moments of understanding that dawn on students to dramatic improvements in grades, all of the human moments make teaching fulfilling for these budding teachers.

People have asked Sharp why she wants to be a teacher at a time when education is facing such severe challenges.

“The thing I want people to know is that you don’t go into teaching for the money, you don’t go into teaching for the prestige,” she said. “You go into teaching because you feel like you have a calling. … We’re not doing it blindly, and we understand what we’re getting ourselves into. It’s something we care about and believe in.”

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