Teaching Assistants on the High School Level
Developing a TA Program for Seniors Offers Many Benefits
Jun 1, 2009
There are many benefits in instituting a TA program on the high school level. For students, it can represent the first step toward an educational career before beginning college studies. For teachers, highly motivated students in a particular discipline break the monotony, help with grading assignments, and can give periodic class presentations on areas under study.
Senior Responsibility in the Final High School Year
Many high schools recognize exceptional talent in senior classes. Students are nominated to leadership committees, like the National Honor Society, and receive awards and scholarships at the end of the year for a job well done. While all of these accolades are fitting, some high schools are doing more to involve certain seniors at the beginning of the school year.
Selecting one or more seniors to serve as TAs during their study hall periods accomplishes a number of worthwhile goals. First and foremost, it encourages students in the classroom, usually sophomores or juniors, to see one “of their own” as a mentor and helper. Ideally, the TA will possess above-average knowledge in the subject.
TAs can be used to tutor struggling students, help to grade minor assignments like homework or reading quizzes, and can be taught to develop their own quiz assessments for use in the classroom. The position should not be used for “grunt” work. TAs that believe that they are being used for the wrong reasons rapidly lose motivation and interest. TAs sit in on the class everyday, helping when needed.
Although not “student teachers,” TAs can be used to periodically teach a particular unit or a brief part of that unit, under appropriate guidance and instruction. For students considering a career in education, this is a tremendous first step and one that they can list boldly on high school resumes. Such experiences can also serve as a thesis in college application essays.
Benefits to the Student TA
The TA experience boosts confidence and takes student preparation to the highest level of learning. High Schools typically give transcript credit for the responsibility, something that looks very good to college admissions personnel and helps to set apart students with similar academic backgrounds and standardized scores.
Frequently, the TA experience solidifies career choices, usually affecting college majors toward education degrees although the experience affects students in other ways as well: A Biology TA might gravitate toward a career in science, even though this may not involve teaching. The TA experience is merely one more academic opportunity high schools can offer in a well-rounded curriculum.
Resistance to the TA Program
Because it is a radical innovation, many school administrators might resist the idea of giving senior students such extended responsibility and offering transcript credits. Administrators need to see the program as another “peer leadership” endeavor, already in vogue in many schools. High schools usually do a good job in using school leaders, such as members of the Student Council.
It should also be noted that many high school students today crave the opportunity to express leadership, whether through volunteerism and community projects to developing entirely new outreaches that have never been addressed. The TA program is akin to all of these efforts by giving academically interested students an opportunity to express leadership, mentor younger students, and ultimately make a difference.
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