Case Study Two

Carla, a lively seventh grader at Hawton Valley, a middle school in the predominantly low-income mountainous outskirts of a Southeastern state, loves history class. By all apparent accounts, Carla has a gift for history that could lead to any number of career opportunities.  She excels on test and quizzes and any form of in-class work.  She regularly helps classmates who are struggling with challenging conceptual ideas. 

This makes it particularly difficult for her teacher to understand why Carla rarely turns in any out of class work (e.g. homework). Wondering whether there was an issue at home, her teacher has touched base several times with her colleagues who have Carla’s younger siblings in their classes to see whether they were noticing similar patterns. To the contrary, she learned that her younger siblings always turn in their homework.

Ms. Grady has reached out to Carla every way she knows how, from pleading with her to offering to give her more advanced work that might engage her in new ways. On several occasions she has asked Carla why she rarely turns in her homework. 

Carla typically responds. “I’ll do it next time. I promise.”

Regardless of how often she calls Carla’s parents, nobody answers. 

As a conscientious teacher, Ms. Grady wants to support Carla. On the other hand, she has roomfuls of other students who also need her attention. And, when it comes down to it, Ms. Grady’s grading policy is clear: students are allowed to turn in one homework assignment one day late without penalty—she calls this her “life happens” rule; but in every other instance, failure to turn in homework results in a grade of “0” for that assignment. 

One day after school Ms. Grady approaches Mr. Paul, a social studies teacher who had taken a particular interest in Carla during the previous academic year. 

“I know,” Mr. Paul says. “Brilliant young woman. I had the same experience with her. I didn’t know what to think until I decided to pay her family a visit at home.”

Possible Discussion Questions & Rationale 

• What assumptions is the teacher making about his students’ backgrounds, learning styles, and/or interests?

Carla is obviously a very bright student who has a love for history. She lives is a low-income community. She excels in learning at school but is obviously struggling at home with other possible responsibilities that may take away her time to do complete homework. 

• Is the teacher’s extensive use of collaborative learning just as one-sided as teaching styles that focus extensively on individualized learning?

• Why did the teacher wait so long to talk to the student and try to determine the origin of the problem? 

I think the teacher focus was on all of her students and not just Carla because she excels so much during class. 

• Is the central problem a learning style issue, a cultural issue, or something else?

I think the central problem is something else. Carla younger siblings turn in their homework but there are so many other factors that could be problem for Carla. Her parents doesn't seem to be involved or care to much since they never answer the teacher phone calls. This make me ponder on if Carla is having to take care of her sibling once they get home. There definitely must be a problem at home. I think it's wise to pay her home a visit to see whats going on. 

I would 1st try to connect with Carla on a personal level where she knows I generally care about her as a person and student. By connecting with her, hopefully she'll eventually feel comfortable talking and opening it to me about her home life. I believe in making that special connection with students so they know I truly care about them. 
I think an exception policy has to be in place for situations like this.