Teacher World

If you are an advocate of rewarding teachers whose students perform well on state tests, I have a little, true story I would like to share with you which might bring some clarity to this issue. Before I start, I want to reinforce that this is just one story. There are more where this comes from, and I’m sure I am not the only teacher out there with a story such as this.

After several weeks of test prep activities, I gave the OAT Reading Practice Test to my students this past week. When I graded them, I was disturbed to find that one of my very capable students scored a 42%!!!!!!!! I was further discouraged when I studied some of his responses. For example, in spite of the fact that we had just completed a variety of summarizing activities emphasizing how to summarize various types and lengths of text, this student wrote a one sentence summary! One sentence!!!! How is that even possible? And when I talked to him after grading the test, he could offer no explanation for his poor performance and minimal effort. He just “didn’t know” why he had done so poorly and why he did not fully answer questions on the test. He just “didn’t know”!

Here is where the frustration comes into play for teachers everywhere, and this is what the public does not understand. I could masterfully teach every concept, skill, and strategy my students will need. I could stand on my head, do a song and dance routine, beg and bribe. But if they don’t feel like putting forth effort; if it doesn’t matter to them, it doesn’t matter what I do or how I do it! My effectiveness or ineffectiveness as a teacher surely should not be based on a test that students may not care about. I can talk about the importance of these tests till the cows come home, but if they don’t care, or if their parents don’t care, all of my words to the contrary don’t matter.

What we do in education is not always black and white. We deal with kids, and nothing is ever certain with kids except the uncertainty. Please don’t judge my effectiveness as a teacher on test results which are taken by students who may be uncertain about the test’s importance.

state achievement tests, teacher evaluations, Teacher-World's Blog state achievement tests, teacher evaluation, test prep

Who is stressed to the max right now? I have to assume that I am not the only one. This is the time of year I most dread as we prepare to administer state achievement tests in April. I have to think that most of you feel the same. So, this blog is to wish you patience, perseverance, and a little bit of luck in the next few weeks.

We are in the final stretch with only two instructional weeks to go. You have probably tested, intervened, and retested numerous times. You have utilized every technique in your arsenal to reinforce the skills you know your students will need in order to be successful. You have probably administered a practice test which has either encouraged or sobered you, or a little of both. And you are in the process of doing damage control based on the data you have collected from those tests. You have planned, prepped, and graded to the point of exhaustion. You have encouraged, coached, pushed, and driven your students to be the best you can get them to be. Yet, you are still hanging in there and will not give up until that very last day; the day you pass out the test, step back, and place it all in your students’ hands.

So here are a few words of advice for the next few weeks:

* Try not to stress out too much.
* Do all you can do now, so that later you can honestly tell yourself and anyone who will listen to you that you gave it your all.
* Build your students up and tell them how capable you know they are, even if you worry about some of their capabilities.
* Take a few minutes each day from your frantic activity to laugh, to commiserate with your fellow teachers, and to feel the commonality of what you all face together.
* Remind yourself that the outcome of these tests is not the true measure of what you are and the job you do every day.
* The night before the test, toast yourself and what you have accomplished with a glass of your favorite beverage, and reconnect with your family members who have sorely missed you over the past few weeks.
* And when you pass out those tests, let it go. It’s out of your control at that point anyway, so relax. Your part is over.

So, here’s to great test results for all of us. Now that is worth a toast!

state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog state achievement tests, test prep

Let’s talk about other reasons why so many school systems in Ohio chose not to be a part of Race to the Top. I already stated in my last blog that it was poorly publicized. But I will discuss three other reasons why I believe so many school districts in Ohio turned down this opportunity.

First, something I touched on a little in my previous blog, there were rumors circulating that this new plan would probably change the way teachers are currently compensated, based on years served and graduate classes and degrees achieved, and replace this with merit pay. This is a troublesome issue for teachers for a variety of reasons, which I have addressed in previous blogs. But let me lay out a few concerns that I have with merit pay. First, I do not feel that it is appropriate or fair to link merit pay to test scores as there are so many factors, over which teachers have no control, that influence student achievement on state tests. Home issues and the degree of parental involvement are two major factors in student performance. Second, I feel that merit pay creates competition between teachers when what we should be striving for is collaboration. If Joe Teacher has a system that is highly effective, and he knows he will be paid more bucks for his effectiveness, is he likely to share his techniques if that might mean sharing the bucks as well? Some certainly would, but I am afraid many would not. I can see using merit pay to reward schools which have consistently been effective in showing AYP in all areas of their student population.  That makes sense because it inherently builds a network of staff working in unison to be as productive as possible across the board. That is what is best for students. But I do not believe merit pay for individual teachers will create better schools.

Another item which I believe made it virtually impossible for many school systems to participate in RttT, including my own, was the requirement that all LEAs who joined in had to agree to match the funds that they would receive from the government. In our current economy, how likely is that? At a time when so many schools are operating in the red, this seems like an impossible stipulation, and I am sure it kept many school districts like ours from participating.

Finally, I believe some school systems bowed out when they learned that Ohio is proposing to allocate more than $35 million to hire 50 new Ohio Department of Education staffers, including some with annual salaries in excess of $100,000 per year. Again, at a time when districts throughout Ohio are being forced to make drastic cuts just to stay solvent, this is almost a slap in the face. Let’s put that money where it belongs and where it can do the most good. It just seems mismanaged to me, but what do I know?

Educational Reform, Funding Education, Merit Pay for Teachers, state achievement tests, Teacher-World's Blog Add new tag, Department of Education, LEAs, merit pay, Race to the Top, school reform

First, I am curious to know how many of you out there even knew about Race to the Top. I think it was one of the best kept secrets. And I’m not sure why that would be the case. This should be a good thing, right? So why wasn’t there more publicity about it?

The only reason I knew anything about RttT was because I am always searching the internet for important education news that might be interesting to blog about. So I read about it quite awhile ago and blogged about my excitement that possibly, for the first time, the Department of Education was going to get it right, since one of the goals was to align the math and reading standards nationally from elementary school up to college. I was very excited about the prospect of common standards and what that could mean for teachers. Aside from that, I heard nothing about RttT. We received no information at our schools about it. Such an important venture that would involve school systems throughout our state, and we were never adequately informed? I don’t get it!

A few months ago, we got an email from our union president asking us if we wanted to be a part of this plan. The first problem I had with this was that it was hard to commit to a plan that you had never seen. One of our concerns was that it might involve merit pay, something most of us do not support, and that it also might interfere with the union and its rights. Due to these issues, we voted down the opportunity to participate in this contest. But, admittedly, I don’t think most of us even realized that what we were turning down was the Race to the Top. I didn’t connect the two events either because it wasn’t expressed clearly in the email.

Recently, I explained to some of my co-teachers what we had turned down and what it means for our careers. That will be the topic of a future blog, but my point in this blog is this: why was the opportunity to be involved in educational reform, which is supposed to be so important, so poorly explained and why was there so little publicity? Every school system in participating states should have been showered with information about Race to the Top long before we were ever asked to take a vote. Additionally, it seems ridiculous to sign on to a plan that you have never seen. The order seems convoluted. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to study the proposal before committing to it? Am I crazy or does it feel a little like a trap to you? Would you ever sign a legal document that would affect your future without reading it over first?

I am hoping that before states enter into Phase 2, some of these issues will be ironed out and school systems will be better equipped to make the decision to either accept or decline the opportunity to be involved in Race to the Top. We will just have to wait and see.

I am also curious how many of you who are reading this are in a school system which is currently participating in Race to the Top. Please let us know, and tell us how you were informed about RttT,

Educational Reform, Merit Pay for Teachers, Teacher's Unions, Teacher-World's Blog Department of Education, Educational Reform, Race to the Top, teacher unions

Over the next few weeks, I will be blogging about Race to the Top, the national contest to find creative ways to improve education in the United States. First, let me give you a brief summary of the goals of Race to the Top, or RttT, as it is called.

It all started last February with the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by President Obama. The purpose of this legislation is to “stimulate the economy, support job creation, and invest in critical sectors, including education. The ARRA lays the foundation for education reform by supporting investments in innovative strategies that are most likely to lead to improved results for students, long-term gains in school and school system capacity, and increased productivity and effectiveness”. This act is providing $4.35 billion in grant money to the RttT fund, to “encourage and reward states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in college and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas:
 
Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy;

Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction;

Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and

Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.”

The states chosen as finalists in this national competition are Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee. Winners will be chosen in April, and the school systems that were part of their state’s application process will be the models for implementing their detailed plan of recovery for their state.

Wow! Quite a venture with some awesome potential! If you haven’t read anything else about it, follow my link above, and do some other reading about it because, in my next blogs, I will be discussing my state’s plan and what I think of the process and the proposals. Interesting reading! Talk to you again after you’ve done your homework! Enjoy!

Educational Reform, Funding Education, High Caliber Schools, Teacher-World's Blog American Recovery and Reinvestmenat Act, education reform, President Obama, Race to the Top, state competition

Okay, by now we’ve all read about it and seen news reports about it, but it continues to shock me as I consider all of the ramifications of the recent firings of all teachers in a poorly performing school in Rhode Island. As educators, we need to watch what is happening very carefully because clearly, this is coming down the pike for other schools as well. Here are some of my thoughts about what happened.

First, I find it ludicrous to buy into the philosophy that the answer to turning around ineffective schools is to fire all of the teachers in a building. Are we serious? Do we really not get the fact that the main reasons these schools are ineffective is because of their environment; the poverty, the crime, the drug and alcohol abuse, the gang violence, and myriad other factors that make more than just the schools ineffective. How do teachers get students to care about test results when they are wondering where their next meal is coming from, whether they will get beat up on their way home from school, if they will be the victim of robbery, assault, rape, or a drive-by shooting? We all watch the news. We know the prevalence of crime in these high poverty areas. Isn’t that what needs to be resolved? How will shutting down a school help solve crime and poverty; clearly roadblocks to achievement in school? And how much parental support do many of the students in these schools get? Is education a priority in these homes? How do teachers educate children who place no value on education because their parents don’t? Don’t get me wrong, I know there are many hard-working, good parents in these areas who are pushing their children to succeed, but it doesn’t change the simple truth that environment is a critical issue.

Second, is the school board in Central Falls really trying to tell us that all of the teachers on that staff were ineffective? There were no teachers on their staff worthy of retaining their jobs? While I am sure that there were teachers who were burned out and just going through the motions (which is somewhat understandable given the atmosphere in which they teach), it is beyond my ability to grasp the idiocy of lumping all teachers in that school together as incompetent. Mark my words, there were teachers on that staff who were battling against factors we cannot begin to imagine trying to elevate their students out of the environment they live in by providing them with the tools a good education would give them. How dare this board of education tell them that because the test scores have been very low, they are under qualified and do not deserve jobs! Again, when does environment take the blame? And shame on the superintendent of this school for not taking stopgap measures along the way to avoid this bloodbath. She bears equal responsibility since it is her school, and she ultimately determines who gets hired and what their credentials are. Why isn’t she being fired as well for not doing her job more effectively?

Finally, in the New York Times article reporting on the firings in Rhode Island, it was reported that Frances Gallo, the school’s superintendent, originally planned to extend the instructional hours and make additional changes to turn this school around but decided to fire all of the teachers when the union fought for extra pay for the additional 25 minutes to the teacher work day. Okay, I understand being annoyed, but is this taking it a little too far? Surely, some intermediary steps could have been agreed upon. The article goes on to say that Dr. Gallo later agreed to the possibility of hiring back some of these teachers, but she and the union could not reach an agreement. It makes me want to scream! Careers are at stake here, and an agreement cannot be reached? Preposterous! 

Needless to say, I am befuddled and angry over this decision. But the final straw for me is that President Obama supports it and applauds it. This was just the start, ladies and gentlemen. So, what that tells me is that we all need to fasten our seatbelts because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Changes in Teaching, High Caliber Schools, state achievement tests, Teacher's Unions, Teacher-World's Blog President Obama, Rhode Island schools, Teacher's Unions, turnaround schools