Taking Hope Out of Teaching

Abstract

HOPE POSTED A composite score of 790 on the SAT. Because of her low score, most teacher preparation programs in Georgia, Hope's home state, considered her an unlikely candidate for the teaching profession. To be officially accepted into a teacher preparation program and begin student teaching, she needed to reach state cut scores on Praxis from ETS. On her first attempt, Hope passed the math and writing tests but not the reading test. She retook the reading test four times, each time missing Georgia's cut score by 5 to 7 points. As her junior year in college drew to a close, student teaching and state certification appeared to be impossible. POSTER CHILD FOR DETERMINATION Hope has wanted to be an elementary teacher since childhood. She imagined herself as a teacher while playing Little House on the Prairie. An animated, highly determined student, she has a record of achievements that would make any parent proud. Those who know and work with her agree that Hope is passionate and has an obvious aptitude for teaching. During school Hope missed just two of 543 days of school and graduated in the top third of her class, with an overall grade-point average (GPA) of 3.8 and a 92.3% average on assignments. Hope participated in the National Honor Society, the Community Leadership Club, student council, volunteer teaching, Junior Beta Club, varsity cheerleading, track, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and chorus. She was also a member of her school's homecoming court, tutored remedial students in math, and logged 288 hours of community service. Hope was president of her class during her junior and senior years and amassed an array of awards that would warm any college admissions officer's heart. As Hope tells she and her two older siblings grew up in a climate of high expectations and support. Her social skills are strong, so she enjoys working with others, and they enjoy working with her. When Hope was in third grade, she and her parents realized that reading was going to be a problem. Her parents found a tutor, and she began reading with her mother, swapping pages as each read aloud. Hope found that she could manage as well as or better than most of her peers, although schoolwork took her longer. Hope willingly committed the time and effort needed to succeed. Community service is important to Hope. She believes everyone has a responsibility to give something back to society. As a volunteer teacher during her junior and senior years in school, Hope spent 90 minutes each day helping in kindergarten and third-grade classrooms. During summers she helped with vacation Bible school and other children's activities at her church. I want to make a difference in young children's lives and leave the world better than found it, she says. Testing was never Hope's strong suit, but she learned that here, too, diligence and determination paid off. She performed adequately on achievement tests and passed her school graduation exams. Although her grades qualified her for Georgia's HOPE scholarship program, Hope's SAT score was not enough for admission to the college of her choice. In her typical, determined fashion, she attended a local community college for a year and earned a commendable college GPA that qualified her for admission to the school she originally wished to attend. At the end of her successful year at the community college, she transferred and declared herself an education major. Through hard work and determination Hope successfully completed her sophomore and junior years in a top-ranked, nationally accredited early childhood education program. Her institutional GPA at the end of her junior year was a respectable 3.33. A 21-year-old ball of enthusiasm, Hope completed all assignments in a timely manner, followed directions carefully, and sought peer and professional feedback on her practice as a teacher. Her practicum work in diverse inner-city and rural schools indicated that she was likely to be a superior primary-grades teacher. …