So many questions--so little time
- How do we create more time for writing in our classrooms?
- How do we work most effectively with the Common Core LA GLE?
- What makes lessons fail or succeed in your experience?
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Week Five-Optional Post
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Right now so much time and effort is being put into preparing kids for the up coming tests that it has been hard to find time. Our school, who has never passed AYP until last year, has spent an enormous amount of money on tutors for the last 4 years as well as the staff working overtime with some kids in both writing and math. Up to last year it was just math, but due to this, writing fell behind. It truly bothers me that some teachers, principals and districts have to live under such a heavy burden in regards to the results of tests. And it seems that it will be getting worse as our principal explained that in the year 2015-2016, teacher’s increase of salary will be tied directly to test results. Hmmmmm is that possible??
ReplyDeleteWhen I grew up, we had homework and parents spent a certain amount of time with us in helping master a skill we were learning in school as there was (and still is) only so much time in the classroom. As a teacher who spends the bulk of their time teaching students with disabilities how to best approach their work with limited understanding needs this extra home time. Strategies that will prayerfully help them throughout their life is my primary goal. This is much more important than what their test points will be on information that they learn over and over in drill and practice to benefit them in testing. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get some parents to do this and my children hardly ever bring in their homework. So, some stay with me after school to work on it. Anyway, that was me blowing off steam about the current trend I see happening. And if one doesn’t believe it, let me site an example.
Several yrs ago I had a teacher request that I advocate for putting a student on the Alternate Assessment Test (AA) which takes them out of the normal graduating track and puts them into a non-graduating track. Then it allows them not to have to take the graduating exam. I was asked since I am the district AA testing mentor. When I told them no, because the student didn’t qualify under the terms of one who can enter this track the teacher then stated; “But, we won’t make AYP if they are not changed” So, I informed the teacher that not making AYP or passing the SBA’s is not a reason for putting a student onto the AA track.
This is not an isolated incident. Sometimes teachers want to refer students to SPED on the basis that they are not passing the SBA. There was a huge attempt at this a number of years ago when I was in the Anchorage School District. Consequently, measures within the system had to be enforced to prevent this from happening. So, when I hear people say that teachers and principals aren’t teaching to the test, I just shake my head and walk away, because that is basically what I have been seeing for the last several years. So, if salaries become contingent on tests scores it will increase this trend.
Anyway to subject at hand, how I can increase writing in my classroom. I have already started and I must admit it is fun. The students and I have are ahead of where they need to be, so we are slowing up and learning how to write summaries of what we read, what we learn in math and of our time together. I have put their first collaborative summary on my blog and will talk about it when I show my room. For me, this course has been a great class as it has brought back energy I have set aside due to the want of drill and practice.
Hi Regina,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to pass along the press release from the Board of Education. There is so much misinformation out there :). Teachers salaries won't be connected to the test scores, but our evaluation performance will be partly based on student (test-score) growth. I don't know what that means for us exactly, but it's pretty scary for some teachers. As educators, we know that there are many dimensions to a student than the one they like to test and there are many reasons a student may or may not do well on test day. Maybe we should be looking at society as a whole and not focusing on teachers? I hope this helps...
You can read the whole thing here:
http://education.alaska.gov/news/releases/2012/board_actions_dec2012.pdf
Thanks DeeAnn for including the link to the source. We want our young writers also to realize how helpful and credible it is -- to not only state what you know and believe, but the basis of your information. (a huge emphasis in the CC standards)
ReplyDeleteGood Morning DeeAnn
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. I will give it to my principal. And you are right it does stress some teachers. I am not scared by it, (sorry if I gave that impression). I am bothered by what I see around me. You are right as well about different dimensions to kids, I am not a believer in tests as I do not believe it is a true/complete measure of ability. I am putting a cartoon on my blog that I attempted to post but it didn’t come up. It expresses my concern to a tee. Anyway, thanks.
Regina, et al,
ReplyDeleteThe new evaluation standards the state plans to adopt (not sure if they've made a final decision) are so poorly thought-out, according to NEA-AK's top brass on this, that should they be implemented, there will be enough chaos to force the State DEED to amend, revise or delete the standards altogether.
There are nine "criteria" for teacher evaluations. Not meeting ANY ONE criteria means a teacher will be put on a "plan of improvement" and have their names released publicly. Test scores are one of the nine criteria, and, as such, low student test scores could put you into this category.
Of course, the prudent teacher would not sit idly by as this happens. She or he would contact their union building rep and, smartly, obtain their own legal counsel to fight every part of their referral to a plan of improvement: There would be so many challenges, legal and otherwise, to the effects of this new policy, it will become its own "cluster f**k" of a situation: expensive for the state and districts, complicated to the point of becoming nonsensical.
The State Board of Education, by the way, is not comprised of educational geniuses. It is comprised of political appointments by the governor. The governor, what-his-name, is no expert in education. In fact, quite the opposite. The man is incompetent when in comes to guiding educational policy.
(I'm holding back here, biting my typing fingers. Of course, if I were Pulitzer-prize winning author Norman Mailer, I would publicly ask Sean to a fist fight.)
What is more than annoying about the whole teacher-evaluation junk show is that HUNDREDS OF TEACHERS WROTE LETTERS EXPLAINING THAT THERE ARE DEEP PROBLEMS WITH THE PROPOSED CHANGES.
I spent a few hours drafting comments, like hundreds of others, only to have them completely ignored; indeed, not so much as given the courtesy of a reply.
Yes, there are idiots running the show, from school boards all the way to the top. This makes our jobs, everything we do-from teaching writing, to being forced to give meaningless tests--political. It's all political.
The ultimate dysfunction, though, is not merely that people who make sweeping education decision are nincompoops (read NCLB), but that we suffer from a structural problem: education decision-making is top down. And guess who is at the bottom, who is affected most by these decision, who has zero say, but who is the target of all this "educational reform"? Yes, the student.
And next up on the rung, second from bottom?
You and me.
Teachers need to begin to fight back.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/07/seattle-teachers-go-on-strike-refuse-to-test-students/
Hi Soren
ReplyDeleteI had to bite my fingers to stop typing as well when I wrote the above. To top it off, my district is already including the results of our individual students this year for evaluations. Since tests are around the corner, he came and made sure all the right teachers names were next to each student testing and the subjects they taught. My principal hates it and he may not return as he doesn’t like the idea at all. It will be interesting to see if the union can do anything about it. But, fight back we must or move on to where accountability is held by all including parents and the students themselves.
I thought I would put the article here for anyone who didn’t get a chance to read the link given by Soren. I believe it is important to know what is coming….
ReplyDeleteTeachers at a public high school in Seattle have refused to administer a standardized reading and mathematics test to their students, out of fear that the results might reflect poorly on them.
The teachers claim that the MAP tests students on material not covered in the curriculum, and takes up valuable class time. They are also wary of government proposals to tie teacher pay and employment to merit via testing results — a proposition that led hundreds of Chicago teachers to go on strike last September.
Administrators continued negotiations with teachers this week, but were unable to reach a compromise. Jose Banda, superintendent of Seattle public schools, has asked the principal and assistant principals to begin administering the Measure of Academic Progress test to students, in lieu of the 80 teachers at Garfield High who are boycotting it.
“Regardless of whether we think testing is good or bad, it’s really about the children and making sure we are able to identify any potential gaps in their learning,” said Banda in a statement.
The strike has allowed roughly 75 percent of ninth-graders at Garfield High to play hooky during testing. Since parents have the right to refuse to let their children take the tests, and many parents support the teachers union, only about a quarter of the 400 night graders at Garfield High will actually take the MAP.
“We really think our teachers are making the right decision,” said student body president Obadiah Stephens-Terry in a statement.
The MAP test is administered on a computer . Each student’s testing experience is unique. For instance, if a student gets the first question wrong, the test provides him with an easier question next. The test can be given multiple times a year in order to show whether students are improving.
A spokesperson for the Northwest Evaluation Association, which created the MAP, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Thank you, Soren. I wish I could have said everything you did with such eloquence.
ReplyDeleteI certainly didn't mean to give the impression that I am OKAY with any of what lies ahead. I'm not. I too, sat for hours and wrote comments to DEED on every proposed change (and maybe some from my husband, too). I was simply correcting what I keep hearing over and over- that our salaries are connected to the evaluations.
I don't understand why our governor is so opposed to education- his mom was my high school teacher. But then again, our current mayor is married to a teacher and he doesn't support education, either.
And just a little more to make your blood boil- Joe Boyle, President at Mat-Su EA did a little research and wrote a short report:
The Alaska State Board of Barbers and Hairdressers must contain at least two barbers, two hair dressers, and one person licensed to practice body piercing.
The Alaska State Board of Nursing must have at least five nurses.
The Alaska Bar Association has 11 members: nine attorneys elected by the membership and three public members appointed by the governor.
The Alaska Board of Public Accountancy consists of five certified public accountants and two public members.
The State Medical Board consists of five physicians, one physician assistant, and two public members.
The Alaska State Board of Education & Early Development consists of nine members including a military adviser and a student adviser.
There is no requirement that the board includes teachers, and from what I can tell, there are no practicing teachers serving on the board now and hasn't since the Knowles administration.
Alaska State Board of Education and Early Childhood Development is the only state board I could find that, by law, does not include the primary practitioners of the profession it regulates: teachers.
That's incredible. And telling.
DeleteThe heart of the discussion is accountability for student learning..We had merit pay when I taught in Colorado. It was a great incentive.There was also.criteria established for the Master Teacher. If the teacher chose that track that was an advanced explicit set of requirements and more pay was built in that salary trac. Professional development was required every year. Improved teachers were thought to be more effective in improving student performance.
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? All these words--"tracks," "incentives," "merit," etc.--are meaningless. Worse, these terms, and the designs they imply, are inventions of people who work at testing companies, policy wonks, and/or mid-level bureaucrats.
DeleteDon't fall for it! "Merit pay"??? You mean if I teach rich, white kids (the demographic mostly like to be successful academically), I get paid more as a teacher. When I motivate a child to read after they've long left books behind, help a kid move past his parents divorce through writing, or help keep a teenager from dropping out of school (all things I've done), I don't get a "Master Teacher" certificate, merit pay, performance recognition.
I get nothing.
I work in the trenches.
I work because I'm needed.
I work for a union.
It's not about the damn money.
I was also concerned when I heard the announcement about this. It is a contradictory requirement. If we want to include all students in our classrooms, those that are high achievers and those that need extra help, then there is no way that you can ethically hold teachers accountable for the test results of all of their students. It's sort of like what Regina was saying at the top. If all teachers knew they would be "graded" on the achievements of the students in their class, I think there would be at least some teachers who would attempt to have certain students removed from their class. This is not good for the students.
ReplyDeleteI also found DeeAnn's comments about the Alaska State Board of Education and Early Childhood Development interesting. It seems the state, or someone in the state government, thinks it is important for barbers and accountants to represent themselves, but does not think that teachers need or deserve the same representation or voice on matters that will effect them.
The voice and passion rings loudly in your writings. May you pass on the message to your students that each written voice matters; writing matters!
ReplyDeleteIf your students find topics that they feel this passionately about, they may be engaged to write as well as you have. Help them develop their own thinking, their own voices through composition.
I'm sorry I keep forgetting to copy my responses here from my blog. Part of the problem is that I am quite long-winded (haha!) and my posts are too long to post here. Here is the link for this blog response:
ReplyDeletehttp://mamashutts.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/what-makes-a-writing-assignment-work-or-fail/