Role Play: "High Stakes Community Schools"

For one of our evening sessions, a role-play was conducted about the “High Stakes Community Schools.” Professor Langholz and Professor Knick were the two individuals presenting the proposal for these schools. The basis of these schools is increasing student achievement within the school district. With this plan in mind, the students and teachers will be held to much stricter standards. Teachers will even be fired if their students are not showing improvements throughout the school year. The students will be held back or forced to enroll in summer school if they are not succeeding academically. These new aspects of “High Stakes Community Schools” not only affects the teachers and students, but also the parents, administrators, and local business owners. With these ideas in mind, a role-play was conducted. During the role-play, different groups within the class were told to represent various individuals who were affected by the changes within these schools. My group represented the parents of low-achieving students. If these students continue to be low achieving, they will not be allowed to participate in sports. Our group had to defend the parents of these individuals and attempt to stand up for their best interest. We thought that it was unfair to force students to repeat a grade or attend summer school, as their lack of success could be caused by poor teaching or other factors. After we presented our case to Professor Langholz and Knick, other groups also rebuttaled this plan for the school district. Ultimately this role play helped me to realize that schools not only have a role in the lives of teachers and students, but also parents, community members, and local businesses. As a teacher, it is important to keep this in mind, and to try to effectively deal with each of these groups of people in an effective and appropriate manner.