Championing Excellence: Honoring Inclusive Education with a Teacher of the Year Nomination

I have to admit that the 2022 - 2023 school year threw me for a loop. There were challenges left and right; I was teaching a new (and tested) grade level of English as well as a new content with the addition of Theatre I, there were classroom management struggles I had not experienced before, and my rosters were filled with special population students that (self-consciously) I felt willing but unequipped to serve properly.

So imagine my surprise when I became a finalist for Teacher of the Year during the 2023 - 2024 school year.

In Metro Nashville Public Schools, to be eligible for Teacher of the Year you must have evidence of student growth, contributions to school culture and community, investments in your own professional development, and have completed 3 years in an MNPS school. The beginning of the 2023 - 2024 school year marked the start of my 4th year in MNPS, but I was confident it would take at least a few more years before I felt remotely qualified for such an honor.

The English II Content Team (AKA the Greatest Team There Ever Was) | 2023 - 2024

My colleagues felt differently.

Every year, the school's executive principal sends out a nomination form to the staff with each eligible teacher's name listed. The staff nominates their chosen candidate and the top 3 are notified to write a rationale for why they are deserving of the title. These piece are sent out to the staff who then vote on the overall winner.

To this day they deny my accusations, but I am convinced that my content team got together without me and planned my nomination. The nomination list was sent out early in the morning and I began receiving text messages from each of my team members shortly after.

"Clarky, I nominated you for teacher of the year!"

"You have done such awesome work here, and I see how much you do to differentiate for your kids."

"I'm voting for you for teacher of the year. You do so much. You’re amazing with the kids. You’re organized and structured."

I was shocked. I myself had nominated our team lead, Ellie, because I had learned so much from her and felt she was much more deserving. Right? But the team's minds were set.

That evening, I received an email stating that I was a finalist for the building. Nominated along with me were Dr. Greg Smith, an already award-winning Science teacher, and Mrs. Katie Michael, an incredible educator to our school's Freshmen English Learners.

I was honored, but I still felt unqualified. It wasn't until I began writing my rationale and reflected on the past three and a half years that I realized just how much I had accomplished in such a short career. I'll include my rationale document at the end if you're interested, but first, [DISCLAIMER] you have to read through my very loud opinions. c:

Part of why I initially felt unqualified for the title was an unspoken, internalized insecurity; I taught standard level English and standard teachers don't win awards.

Each of the TOY winners I had previously seen taught Honors level classes. Without fully realizing what I was doing, I had begun to question my skills as a teacher: Am I not doing well enough to teach honors? What am I doing wrong? I will never be as good as them. But in reality, it is often a systemic inequality that keeps teachers like me "stuck" in routined pathways similarly to how students are tracked throughout their education regardless of any progress made or lost.

Let me explain. The public school system is very resistant to change. Sure we get new acronyms every 2-3 years, but the actual meanings behind them stay the same. We may get a new schedule or a new incentive, but the education system's primary goal has never changed. And that goal is to improve test scores.

I am anti-testing. I do understand the need for a "common denominator," but I do not think state developed tests (or nationally developed tests for that matter) are actually "common;" they simply are not equitable in modern America. Policy makers, curriculum designers, and administrators at every level will defend the need for test scores and their value for measuring learning. And at least in Tennessee, test scores are used to determine a teacher's "Level of Effectiveness." This may make sense at face value, but let's dig a little deeper into it.

State tests are designed by the state's Department of Education and not by teachers or school officials. The questions and skills in each test are tied to state learning standards, but there is no common curriculum in Tennessee. So, a student in Davidson county may read "The Necklace" and a similar student in Rutherford county may not. But, in theory, the skills should all be the same and transferable. I agree with that.

The problem lies in the analysis of the data and the consequences that flawed interpretation has for teachers and students. Every 10th grade student in Tennessee, for example, is given the same End of Course test. Students in special populations (those with IEPs or 504s and/or those who are coded as English Learners) are given certain accommodations (read aloud, scribes, native-language dictionary), but the content of the test stays the same. And I even agree with that. But, the data is all looped together and no context is ever applied to adjust the achievement scale for these special populations.

I know you may be thinking that wanting achievement measures to be adjusted seems like an excuse; in other words, an adjustment would allow teaches to hide their "laziness." Or, perhaps you're thinking that the bar is already so low for student achievement, why would we lower it further? What about the future of America?! Our country is doomed!!!

Pause. Breathe. In then out. Good.

I think adjusting the scales would hold students more accountable because it would be a far more accurate assessment of their learning than the current model. The student population I served in standard classes was comprised mostly of non-native or first generation English speakers. Many, if not most, lived below the poverty level. And, because I know you're all wondering, the majority of students in every class period were POC.

Based on the data provided by our in house College and Career specialist in 2024, most of our school's kids who do make it to graduation will not enroll in college; only about 1/3rd enroll for post-secondary education despite being eligible for the Tennessee Promise scholarship. Furthermore, the majority of those students who do enroll will not return after their first year.

And I tell you all of this because I know it can be easy to write off someone's complaints when you have not shared their experience. I grew up in the private school system; I did not face the challenges the modern student faces both within and outside of the classroom. My teachers did not face the challenges a modern public school teacher now faces. I get that it's hard to understand without context...

... but, clearly, something is not working.

Teachers in MNPS can expect any number of new enrollments throughout the school year. This year, I had 2 students added to my rosters at the beginning of Quarter 4, the quarter during which we administer state tests. They were added so late in the year that even the computerized testing system had not had enough time to generate an entrance ticket for them to even begin testing. Earlier in the year during Quarter 2, I had 7 students added to one section of Theatre I who were all recent arrivals to America; they spoke very limited English and I speak very, very limited Spanish, but we all worked hard to be able to communicate with one another. And it was joyful! ¡Fue alegre! We had an influx of refugee students this school year. Imagine having to leave your home due to a lack of basic rights and safety, arriving in a country where the language is unfamiliar and the rules are inaccessible, being introduced to at least 12 new adults who cannot pronounce your name correctly, and then being told to take a test that color codes your achievement and understanding of culturally based content.

As it is now, the system neither accurately measures nor promotes learning. Instead, it is attempting to funnel the data into an image that it simply does not fit.

Let's imagine that every student is able to sit in class for the full year from start to finish, uninterrupted. Great! Let's imagine that an adjustment is made for language and varied ability. Great! There's still a problem!

In the state of Tennessee, teachers are graded on a rubric that asks them to develop and implement rigorous and highly engaging lessons with fidelity. Sounds reasonable, right? I think so. But much like the testing structure, context is not taken into account. An English teacher with AP Literature is judged on the same rubric as a teacher with Co-Taught Standard English II; the Math III teacher is assessed with the same rubric as the Physical Education teacher; Weight Training and Advanced Wind Ensemble teachers are graded with the same criteria. Each content and grade level has different student facing learning standards, but the teacher facing rubric? All the same! It's because of this structure that you see the same teachers teaching Honors and AP year after year; they're the ones who receive all the accolades; they're the ones who lead professional development; they're the ones with the least (not none, mind you) amount of challenges and with the most potential to fulfill each element of the rubric on a consistent and authentic basis. As a result, the same teachers are given standard classes year after year and the burn out is high. School administrators want to have a staff filled with highly skilled teachers, right? Wouldn't it make more sense to give everyone a bit of every level? That way they're able to teach all students? That way they're challenged to grow? Right? *crickets*

So we work hard to create rigorous lessons. Speaking more personally, the teachers on my English II team are doing a tap-dance every day just to get students to keep their heads up and take out the AirPods! We are observed by our administrators who grade us with this rubric. We are given feedback; we implement it. We write and re-write SMART goals. We attend collaborative planning; we engage during professional development. We scrap lectures and replace them with project based learning. We substitute multiple choice quizzes for Socratic seminars. And what does the state give us to measure both our student's learning and our professional competence?

~Multiple. Choice. Questions.~

After a year of writing, thinking, and discussion based assignments, students must prove themselves to The Powers That Be with a multi-part, multiple choice test - an assessment structure that will surely score you poorly based on the aforementioned teacher facing rubric. It is an impossible task.

But wait. Now you're just ranting. How does this at all connect to you being nominated teacher of the year? I'm so glad you asked! I do love a circle-back moment.

If I, an adult, am questioning my worth and my abilities, my qualifications and my deserving of a nomination because of a clear systemic issue, how must the students feel in that very same system?

Let's revisit my idea of adjusting achievement expectations. Students coded as English Learners are all given a language score (based on yet another test). Perhaps, for example, those with the lowest language scores have a different marker for "Meets Expectations" than native speakers: 30% correct compared to 70%. Then, instead of these students seeing their names in bright, bold red year after year for being in the lowest percentile, perhaps they will see how they are meeting goals. They can track their learning. They can feel motivation, ownership, possibility. This is excellence. (And if you're thinking that they should have the same goal as everyone else, that 30% just isn't good enough, or that teachers wouldn't accept that in the classroom so why should they on the test, please read about ILPs. Teachers are expected to make these adjustments in class, so why should the test be immune?)

At the end of the day, any decent educator just wants their kids to learn. We want them to feel good about themselves and to feel capable. We want them to experience ah-ha moments and inspiration. We want them to experience failure - trust me, they need to experience failure - in a way that will show them a better path forward.

This is what I want for my students. It's not always easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. And, quite frankly, I am sick and tired of standard level students and their teachers being discredited and overlooked. Good work is being done in standard level classrooms. Learning is being achieved. Rigor is being maintained. And it's with that truth in mind that I penned a rationale for my Teacher of the Year nomination. I wanted it to be a testimony to the skills and commitment a standard teacher can have, to be a record of the joy that can be had in the midst of or because of challenges, to be one more reason why the education system should take time to reflect upon itself.

And I think it is; give it a read. I hope you agree.

____

"I'm honored to be a Teacher of the Year finalist, representing the English II team and Standard Course teachers at Overton. My journey from English III, IV, and ACT Prep to teaching English II, Theatre I, Choir, and serving as the Academy Lead for Engineering reflects my commitment to understanding diverse educational needs. Education must extend beyond classrooms to shape students for higher education and career. I'm dedicated to equipping students with skills beyond academics, fostering lifelong learning, and empowering their individual choices.

Exposing students to diverse perspectives is crucial for long-term learning and effective communication. I prioritize representation in class materials, curating contemporary curricula with texts like Stephen King’s “Popsy” and Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline to ensure students are engaged and have room to make authentic connections. Acknowledging the impact of popular culture, I integrate media literacy units to cultivate responsible digital communicators. Beyond academics, real-life scenarios such as proofreading business advertisements and reading legal documents are woven into my curricula, preparing students for the professional world.

At the core of my teaching philosophy is collaboration—with colleagues, students, and the broader community. Within the English department, our Level 5 English II team exemplifies efficient collaboration; my specialty lies in student-oriented instruction adding supports and accommodations to assignments for our EE and EL students. As an academy lead, I connect teachers with their colleagues and business partners to kickstart collaboration, manage meetings and announcements, and provide supports so teachers can focus on delivering quality instruction. I collaborate with students in various contexts within and outside the classroom. In Choir, I engage students in decision-making for this newly revived course; this has created a special space for students to express their creativity and explore leadership and management skills.

Constant communication with students and families provides tools for success through digital and classroom supports. The physical setup in my classroom encourages self-management. I promptly communicate with students and families, recognizing the power of positive feedback and the impact of effective communication on a student’s stamina for learning.

My commitment to providing diverse opportunities extends beyond the classroom and into the community. Partnerships with the Engineering Academy's business partners provide practical exposure with a focus on professionalism. My work with Nashville Children's Theatre facilitates scholarship opportunities and furthers training in trauma-informed practices that have helped me foster inclusive community in the classroom.

In my time as a teacher, I’ve received letters of thanks, messages from parents, and even a crochet ghost, but nothing has been more valuable than seeing students thrive. I’ve seen students expressing joy for learning, overcoming barriers, receiving district recognitions, experiencing remarkable turnarounds, and even being placed in careers at Enterprise Solutions and at prestigious universities like Lipscomb.

My success in preparing students for life beyond high school is a testament to the collaborative spirit at Overton. I am grateful for colleagues' unwavering support, students' dedication, and our shared commitment to an environment where education transcends boundaries, preparing students for a future of endless possibilities."