Stigma

The stigma that comes with academic success and failure is presented as a detrimental to student success and self-esteem. When students who perform below their expected grade level because of learning or behavioral difficulties, schools need to intervene with passionate learning coaches and teachers who truly care in order to help the students get back on track. At Greenwich Middle School, and many schools around the country, this is not what happens. Mr. Kermit accuses Dr. Thaddeus of mistreating the students: “They’re the kids you’ve given up on. They had their chance in sixth and seventh grade, and now you’re just warehousing them until they can be the high school’s problem” (14). At Greenwich Middle School, students are gathered together and placed in a single class that is ostracized from the rest of the eighth-grade class.

The Unteachables are quite aware of how...