Teacher World

While visiting other blogging sites, I spent some time on http://assortedstuff.com. The author of this blog talked about a gathering of educators to discuss “why schools have remained isolated islands of status quo over the past twenty years, while the rest of the world has been fundamentally altered by computers, networks, and communications tools”. He will be a speaker at this conference where he will talk about his “growing frustration with American education and the two-faced embrace of techie tools while at the same time rejecting the transformative possibilities they offer.” He continues to contend the following:

“Schools in the US have spent billions of dollars in just the past decade to buy laptops and software, install networks, connect classrooms to internet, and train teachers. However, walk down the halls of your average American school, especially high schools, and you’re likely to see a teacher-directed, lecture-demo formatted lesson, with little or no technology use by either teacher or students. Over the past few years, the most visible example of technology use in the classrooms of our overly-large school district has been interactive whiteboards, devices which chain teaching to standards of the previous century. Talk all you want about ‘student engagement’ and ‘interactivity’, these boards are little more than expensive electronic extensions of blackboards and chalk, controlled by the teacher, and locking the learning focus on them, not the students.”

First, I use a smart board daily in my classroom, and I do allow it to direct my instruction by either introducing or reinforcing subject matter which is to be covered in an interactive way. And with more professional development, I am sure I could utilize it even more effectively. But therein lays the problem with incorporating technology into the classroom to its full extent. How many schools in this crippled economy have the financial resources to purchase the technology needed and provide the professional training required to truly bring classrooms into the 21st century? Our school still doesn’t even have smart boards in each classroom, and those we do have are hooked up to antiquated computers which are living on borrowed time. Our district has been unable to pass a levy, which is true of many districts in this troubled economy, so we are looking at significant cuts in order to survive. We have already been told that the budget for replacing computers is non-existent, as is money for professional development. Now that is about as bare-bones as it gets.

How can we provide 21st century classrooms without the significant amount of money it requires to do so? It is expensive to purchase the technology, and even more expensive to train teachers to use it adequately. So often, software is purchased, but teachers are not thoroughly trained in how to use it. And if they aren’t comfortable with it, they will not use it. It is that simple. And the cost to purchase software licenses is often a deterrent for school systems that are pinching pennies.

So here is the bottom line. You cannot expect significant changes in the use of technology, which I totally agree is necessary to better prepare our students for the future, without the resources that it takes to implement them successfully. Where is that money coming from? Because, sure as shooting, it isn’t coming from our overwhelmed school systems or already-taxed tax payers.

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Funding Education, Teacher-World's Blog economy, school levies, technology

I am always so encouraged when I see students show empathy and concern for other people. By their very nature, young children live in a world that predominately revolves around them. Their world consists of those events and people who impact them, and they have a tendency to tune out anything else. So when our world is altered by such a catastrophic event as the earthquake in Haiti, it consumes adults who cannot imagine such tragedy and death. But, it may register as a mere blip on the radar screen of a young person. I don’t mean to sound judgmental. This is just the way kids are psychologically wired.

So what a beautiful thing it is to see children pitch in to help out those whose lives have been forever altered! It happened in our school, and I am sure similar events are occurring all over the world; kids working together to bring some relief to these poor victims. And what an awesome lesson they are learning by looking beyond their lives to see the need around them! So, as a teacher of young children, I just want to express my appreciation to all children everywhere who are doing their part. As educators, we need to encourage them to keep paying attention and keep looking for ways to sincerely reach out to those who need help. After all, these are valuable lessons which help shape the character of our future citizens.

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We recently had a snow day due to the prediction of a huge snowstorm that never materialized. Based on the weather forecasts, we were due for several inches which would have hit during the school day making it very difficult for students to get home at the end of the day. So school was called off for most schools in the area, not based on any actual snow but based on all of the indicators that the forecasters used to make their predictions. As it turned out, it was a beautiful day with very little snow, and it would have been an easy commute home at the end of the day. It was then that it hit me! Teachers face many of the same difficulties that weather forecasters face.

Let’s think about it. Teachers use all of their knowledge, skills, resources, and strategies to assess the current situation, take measurements, calculate what those measurements mean, and predict what is most likely to occur based on all empirical data. The same can be said of weather forecasters. And just like weather forecasters, even the best of our efforts and information can often lead to an incorrect forecast.

Now here is where the difference between our jobs breaks down. When weather forecasters get it wrong, everyone is quick to point out the fickleness of Mother Nature. After all, how do you predict a force that can be so unpredictable and even wild? Therefore, they are quickly forgiven, and people are quick to tune in again the next day to see what new predictions are in the works for the new day.

But what happens when teachers do all that they can to prepare their “forces of nature” for their achievement tests in the spring, and in spite of all of their knowledge, skills, resources, and strategies, students who they predicted would do well, do not? Is there an understanding of the unpredictability of individuals, especially young ones? Talk about the unpredictability of Mother Nature, what about the dynamics of family situations and some of the uncontrollable problems that some students bring to school due to divorce, money problems, parents without jobs, alcohol and drug problems, and abuse? How can teachers control the effects of lack of sleep due to sleepovers, video game marathons, or late nights in front of the television? How do we factor in and make the necessary accommodations for those students who get little to no academic support at home, who don’t have parents making sure homework is done, let alone taking the time to make sure their children understand their homework? How do we change the fact that all of the intervention and individual help in the world just doesn’t matter to some kids who don’t think these tests matter and race through them in thirty minutes flat? How do we keep children from getting sick or control test anxiety which some students face when taking these tests?

In spite of the number of times weather forecasts are wrong, we continue to tune into the news everyday to hear the next day’s forecast, and we graciously forgive the previous day’s wrong predictions. We even revere the forecasters for the job they do. And what about teachers? Are we revered when, despite all of our best efforts, the goal we seek is not met? Give us a break, guys! We may not have to tackle Mother Nature, but I believe what we do tackle is even less predictable. And, just like your favorite weather man or woman, we do the best we can.

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Let’s talk seriously for just a minute about a pretty ridiculous penchant we have here in the United States to try to pretty things up simply by changing what we call it. Take for example the following euphemisms: a janitor is now a custodian, a garbage collector is a sanitation worker, a classroom aid is a paraprofessional, and the list goes on. I guess we are supposed to be fooled by the new titles which are more respectful names for things that haven’t changed one iota, but they sound so much better. Don’t they?

And now the newest name-doctoring has been added to our educational terminology. Instead of OATs, this year I will be administering OAAs. What’s the difference, you might ask? Apparently a world of difference, as we will now administer Ohio Achievement Assessments instead of Ohio Achievement Tests! Gee! I feel better already, don’t you? I wonder how long it took and at what cost to make this miraculous change.

Is one of the reasons behind this significant improvement to make sure we all know that these tests line up with the standards we have been assessing throughout the year (like we haven’t had that drilled into our standards-based brains constantly over the last several years)? The only other rationale I can think of behind the new name is to distance ourselves from the word test, I guess in the hopes that these “assessments” will be more positively perceived by teachers, students, and parents.

Really? If it quakes like a duck and waddles like a duck, no matter what name I call it, don’t we all know it is a duck? I don’t care what name you call it, it is a test and calling it something different doesn’t make it any less a test. It will not change the fact that teachers will labor all year to provide students with the strategies and skills they will need and be in a continual process of assessing where they are in their journey to master the standards covered each year. It will not change the fact that students will spend the year being tested in a variety of ways all leading up to the mother-of-all-tests in the spring which they dread as much as a visit to the dentist to have teeth pulled. It will not change the fact that the parents who put academics first will push their children and worry about the scores their children will get, and that the parents who aren’t as academically minded will proceed as normal, placing no real energy or concern into how their children perform at all. 

I don’t know about you, but I will administer those “assessments” in the spring with the same enthusiasm (please note the sarcasm here) as I have every year. I wish the name made it easier to swallow, but a duck is a duck, and a test is a test. Period! So, happy testing, oops, assessing, everyone!

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I have been blogging about the upcoming meetings which will be held to discuss the assessment process currently in place and ways to improve it. I wish I had seen anywhere in the statements made by either Arne Duncan or the Department of Education the need to revamp the social studies achievement tests. Let me state my case, and feel free to tell me if you agree or not.

One of the issues we have in Ohio, which may or may not be true of all states’ achievement tests, is that so much of our social studies test at the fifth grade level is a fourth grade test, in that it is based on material covered in Ohio history in fourth grade. Now, I understand the rationale that students should remember what they learned the year before and build on that knowledge the next year. But Ohio history and United States history involve two completely different curriculums, and the only time they converge is when we talk about the Mid West region or historical events that occurred in Ohio. Therefore, to ask students on a fifth grade achievement test to recall very specific information about Ohio inventors or battles and other events that occurred in Ohio seems both unfair and unnecessary. How many of us could remember specific details about events we learned about a year ago? Does this really test mastery of the social studies standards?

These tests contain many questions which, in my opinion and other teachers I have spoken to as well, have little or nothing to do with understanding the foundations upon which our nation is built. We should be assessing students’ broader knowledge of important concepts pertaining to:
* the exploration and colonization of our nation and how this affected the Native Americans who lived here
* our fight for independence
* the formation of a workable government through the Constitution of the United States
* the branches of government and how they effectively check and balance each other
* citizen’s rights and responsibilities
* a basic knowledge of economy
* immigration; reasons for it and how it shaped our nation
* how industrialization, transportation, and expansion changed our nation

If our social studies test would address these issues in a broad way, I believe it would be a truer test of how well students understand the country in which they live. Shouldn’t the goal in teaching social studies be to educate the younger citizens to have pride in their country and instill a desire to be responsible, contributing members of the society they will play an active role in when their education is complete? If that is our goal, then shouldn’t our test reflect that goal? Or would we prefer citizens who can recall the Battle of Fallen Timbers and what the most important outcome of that battle was?

Don’t get me wrong. I think it is admirable to have the ability to recite specific and detailed information about the past. I am just not sure that this is the criterion upon which we wish to base mastery of social studies. The time has come to revamp these tests with the true goal in mind; to create citizens who have a solid understanding of their nation and a strong desire to serve it as contributing members. Otherwise, I think we’ve missed the mark.

Educational Reform, state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog Add new tag, Arne Duncan, assessment testing, citizens, Department of Education, Educational Reform, social studies achievement tests

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the U.S. Department of Education will by holding meetings to look at a variety of educational issues. I would like to address another one of the issues they will be discussing: assessing students with disabilities. This is an issue that has become extremely problematic since the introduction of NCLB, which has created the impossible expectation that all students, including those in special education, are expected to pass their state achievement tests. Teachers everywhere shook their heads in disbelief when this was added to the list of expectations by our government.

Before NCLB, we administered achievement tests to all students, but SPED scores were usually not factored into overall school’s scores because, for most of these students, the tests were extremely difficult and tedious. Through no fault of their own, this population of students struggle with the regular education curriculum and require accommodations and modifications, which are delineated in an IEP, in order to be successful in the classroom. Now, with the push for inclusion and co-teaching, most of these students are in a regular education classroom all or most of the day. Let me be clear that I am all for inclusion and for pushing these students to participate in as much of the regular education curriculum as they can. But even with my higher functioning SPED students, curriculum needs to be adjusted regularly to allow them to experience success. Accommodations and modifications range from shorter assignments, extended time to complete assignments, tests and selections read to them, etc. So we make all of these provisions for them knowing that it would be difficult or impossible for them to be successful without them, and then we sit them down in the spring and make them take the same test that the regular education students will take with no reduction in length, and the only modification they have is that the directions and questions can be read to them. The numerous selections on the reading test cannot be read to them, and calculators cannot be used on the math test. Then we take their results and include them with those of the regular ed population. Does this seem reasonable or fair?

Why don’t we test and evaluate these students in a more meaningful manner? What if we looked at their progress to determine if they have achieved AYP? Isn’t that a more meaningful measure of success for these students than expecting them to somehow miraculously perform on tests in a way that their IEP would collaborate is not their most effective way of performing? When I think of the stress we place upon these students to pass these tests, it seems preposterous to me. Wouldn’t we better serve them by striving for yearly progress in their educational journey, and setting realistic and attainable goals to help them be successful in that endeavor? Don’t get me wrong! If a SPED student is capable of passing these tests, let their scores by factored into their school’s scores. But for those who can’t, let’s evaluate them fairly and not make them feel any less able than they already do.

Educational Reform, state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog Add new tag, evalutions, NCLB, special education, SPED, state achievement tests, U.S. Department of Education