“Unfortunately, the likelihood of having well-qualified teachers differs across socially defined groups in the United States: Large proportions of the teaching staff in poor schools are made up of noncredentialed or unqualified teachers. Substitutes also regularly fill the places of full-time teachers in these schools, staff turnover is great, and there is often little support for English language learners (Fashola, Slavin, Calderon, & Duran, 2001; Peske & Haycock, 2006). Thus, poor and language minority students are much more likely to be exposed to unqualified teachers, with implications for their intellectual development.” (ECCLES AND ROESER, 225-6) Ok this pissed me off in all kinds of ways. I have only ever taught in Title I schools for the past 27 years, and the faculty and support staff have always been the most dedicated, highly-qualified, and hardest working educators. Maybe I just live in a bubble of my own experiences; maybe the schools I have worked in have not been the norm. This blanket statement was just offensive. It made me curious about the sample schools this study researched.

Ironically, the remainder of the observations, conclusions, and critiques of this study were spot on in reference to my personal beliefs and practices in relation to the efficacy of teachers and the responsibilities we as educators have as a major influential part of adolescent development. Much of what was said seemed common sense to me. “Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that the quality of teacher – student relationships and students’ feelings of classroom belonging predict changes in students’ academic motivation, engagement and learning, and social – emotional well-being in school.” (Burchinal et al., 2008; Deci & Ryan, 2002; Hattie, 2009; NRC/IOM, 2004; Roeser et al., 2000; Wentzel & Wigfield, 2007) It baffles me that these pedagogical tenets and practices are not the standard. I have seen it first-hand; kids perform better when they believe that their teachers genuinely care about them as individuals and believe in them and their ability to succeed, regardless of their previous academic “records”.  Not only have I only taught in Title I schools, but I have developed an affinity for creating a classroom in which at-risk students, kids who have failed elsewhere and are on the verge of dropping out, turn their lives around, not only graduating high school (many the first in their family to do so), but also going on to succeed in college. I am not unique to this experience; most of my professional colleagues are of the same convictions and competences essential to adolescent development and achievement.