HOW SHE SEES IT U.S. schools score high in caring

By DOROTHY RICH
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
There is wonderment in some countries where student test scores are higher than those in the United States: "Our students test well, but when they are out of school, they don't do as well in life."
I think I know at least some of the reasons. They include the usual suspects that we have been hearing more and more about: creativity and problem solving that many U.S. schools emphasize. Another reason is one less talked about: Caring. American teachers I talk to believe that students are supposed to feel special, not coddled or spoiled, but cared about.
This is not a basic message in many countries. It is, in truth, not practiced by all U.S. schools (and homes) either. But, when it is, it may well be the foundation that provides U.S. students with a stronger base of resiliency for life outside of school. This is especially true when is it is coupled with our schools' efforts to accentuate creativity and problem solving.
Most teachers do care
When it comes to teacher caring, I believe that we lead the world. Of course, I know that we all have examples of uncaring, cold teachers: I have a list of my own. Yet, overall, our good teachers not only know their subject but also believe that students need to and deserve to feel special.
In a school I visited recently, with a majority of new immigrant children, teachers in the early grades described the work they do to help their students feel more comfortable at school. At the beginning of the year they ask students: "How are you special?" The answers from many of these children: "We are not special."
For the teachers I talked to this is heartbreaking. Many of these children come from homes where parents are under stress, often working two to three jobs, have not known about or had the time it takes to provide this sense of specialness of their children. So, teachers do it as they do so much else these days that used to come from home. Before the end of the term, each child can describe what makes him/her special.
Let's give ourselves credit for what we still see in young Americans. I was recently in a supermarket and when I went to the bakery counter wanting a loaf of bread sliced, there was no one behind the counter.
I saw a young man stocking shelves several rows away. I called to him: "Do you work here? Can you slice bread?"
"I don't know if I can," he replied, "but it can't be too hard. I'll give it a try."
He went to the slicing machine and looked hard at it. He moved and tested a few levers and said, "Sure I can do it."
At that point, more nervous about his hands than he was, I found an already sliced bread and told him he didn't have to slice after all.
We thanked each other and I said to myself: How very American. How wonderful his readiness to try, to move beyond what he was comfortable doing and to try something new. We need to give the schools some credit for this.
Seeking to be special
We all want to go to schools where we are special, where if not everyone at least lots of people know our name. This is not easy with larger school populations and student mobility -- in one school one month, in another the next. It's hard, to be sure, but school administrators need to know the names of students and their families.
There is lots of discussion about standards and rigor. So it should be. But, there is no contradiction between high test scores and high level of caring at school. Actually, in most situations, they go hand in hand.
X Dorothy Rich is founder and president of the nonprofit Home and School Institute, MegaSkills Education Center in Washington. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services