In Josh Wright’s Algebra 2 class, missing a linear equation question during Do Now practice comes with an unexpected accountability measure: students start apologizing, not to Wright, but to Mr. Barraza, who teaches down the hall.
"I have 'disappointed Barraza face' pictures ready to go in my slides," Wright said. "My students literally apologize to him when they see him in the hallway."
It's a small detail, but it reveals something bigger about what's happening in the math department at DSST: Cedar High School. This isn't just a collection of teachers working in adjacent classrooms. It's a team that's built vertical alignment into the fabric of student learning.
Wright is in his 10th year at DSST, and his 67 Median Growth Percentile on the PSAT this year proves what research has long suggested: teacher longevity benefits school culture and drives measurable academic growth.
Ask Wright about the impact of staying in one place. Students, their siblings, their friends, they all start to recognize you, but he'll tell you it's about more than familiarity.
"Teacher longevity is critical to academic growth," he said. "Not only is there a cultural capital you gain when you're at a school for a long time, but when you're teaching before or after someone consistently, you build a vertical relationship. You understand both how things were taught before your class and how to set students up for success in the class that comes after yours."
Wright's first year at DSST: Cedar taught him something he didn't expect: how much he didn't know.
"I learned so much about the cultures of our Muslim students from various countries around the world," he said. "It was a blind spot for me at the time, and I missed a ton of things because of it."
But here's what makes longevity matter: Wright didn't just learn and move on. He stayed. And that meant he could apply what he learned in ways that changed instruction and relationships.
Now, in his compound interest lesson, he pauses to acknowledge students who practice Islam. "If you practice Islam, charging interest is haram (forbidden), so instead think of it like percentage growth in the number of customers your family's business serves."
In his end behavior lessons, he flips the typical left-to-right progression. "If you grew up reading Arabic, things are actually flipped as Arabic is read from right to left."
"I wouldn't have had the opportunity to apply these lessons learned if I hadn't stayed in the same community," Wright said.
One of Wright's most powerful early-career experiences wasn't about his own success. It was about watching students he struggled with find success elsewhere.
"Seeing students whom I really struggled with find success in other classes with strong, experienced teachers flipped my mindset completely and was a big motivator for me to improve," he said. "I think long-term teachers provide an important 'proof of concept' in our buildings that a) kids CAN do it and b) it takes commitment to growth over time to become that teacher."
At DSST: Cedar High School, Josh Wright and his colleagues are proving something essential: when teachers stay, students grow. Not just in test scores, though those matter, but also in confidence, in connection, in the belief that learning is something they can succeed at.