Middle school students’ views on good teaching:

How do students in Philadelphia's high-poverty middle schools view their educational experiences?

A three-year study by Bruce L. Wilson and W. Dickson Corbett for the Philadelphia Education Fund found that middle school students in Philadelphia held on to high aspirations for themselves even when their academic performance was modest.

Wilson and Corbett interviewed a cohort of students each year during their three years in middle school. They found students to be set on going to college and having satisfying careers, and to be clear about what they wanted from their teachers.

What they heard consistently from students was that they were looking for teachers that refused to allow them to fail. Wilson and Corbett titled their report "No Excuses." 

The student interviews are now the focus of a new book, Listening to Urban Kids (SUNY Press, 2001).

Middle school students have clear ideas about what they need from teachers

"I want a teacher who doesn't just pass me so when I get out in the world I won't know nothing. I prefer a teacher who doesn't let me give excuses for not doing my work."

"A good teacher is someone who stays on top of you and gives you homework. Someone who prepares you for the next grade. A good teacher cares about you.…If you don't do it, she doesn't just say it's on you to get the work in."

Students told Wilson and Corbett that their good teachers would not give up on them for any reason. They explained that some of their teachers believed they could complete the work and did everything possible to make that happen. This helped students believe in themselves.

"It's not that I'm lazy, but I like a teacher that push me to learn. I might not be that confident at first, but then I'll get it."

"I like the ones that don't allow excuses. It's my turn to get an education. I need to have someone to tell me when I'm tired and don't feel like doing the work that I should do it anyway."

Students told the interviewers they were looking for their teachers to explain things until the "light bulb went on" for the whole class and to provide students with a variety of activities through which to learn.

"A good teacher takes time out to see if all the kids have what they're talking about . . . and cares about how they're doing and will see if they need help."

"In math, it's showing us several different ways to do the problem. Also tutoring one-on-one really helps. That way you get to spend more time with the teacher."

"My favorite teacher is one who makes her lessons relate to people my age. Like we might do plays where we acted out a story. When kids do stuff together, they learn that way."

Corbett and Wilson concluded, "It is this unwillingness to accept any excuses for failure that separates classrooms where students succeed from those where they do not." The report urged middle schools to adopt a "no excuses" philosophy and to emphasize the quality of relationships between teachers and students. The authors stressed that students want and need teachers to be deeply involved with student learning.

"A good teacher to me is a teacher who is patient, willing to accept the fact that she might be dealing with students who have problems."

"One of my teachers really push kids to do work. She is the most caring teacher. She really want you to do work. Sometimes that make me mad but I still try to do the work. It nice to know you got a teacher who cares."

"No Excuses": The Eighth Grade Year in Philadelphia Middle Schools, by H. Dickson Corbett and Bruce L. Wilson, is available from the Philadelphia Education Fund, www.philaedfund.org., (215) 665-1400. Listening to Urban Kids is available from SUNY Press, (800) 666-2211.