I may be an English teacher, but I have become pretty good at numeracy lately. Let's do some basic math right now.
I spent the half hour right after school today (when I could have been helping students) in a Test Training session. One of the tidbits of information that I gleaned from this training is how much is spent on each student copy of the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment (hereafter referred to as SBA) which is the direct result of No Child Left Behind (hereafter referred to as NCLB or That Insanity).
Each test costs just over $57 ($57.10 to be exact). That made me wonder. How many students take this test, and how much money is pent on this instead of on actual teaching materials. So when I got home, I Googled how many high school students are in New Mexico. Not that easy to find, but the census bureau had some data that I could extrapolate to get the info I wanted.
We have roughly 40,193 juniors in New Mexico (they take the test in high school as juniors). I then multiplied $57 by that number and reached the whopping sum of $2.3 MILLION a year for one test for one grade level. They also take the test in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades. That comes out to $16.1 MILLION spent every year on a test.
SIXTEEN MILLION DOLLARS
At the high school, we also lose six days of instruction to take this test. 6 days are spent checking to see if kids can take a standardized test. Add to that, all of our 9 weeks tests (3 days per 9 weeks, so another 12 days) are really designed to see how kids will do on the SBA.
That means we spend 16 million dollars and one tenth of the school year taking standardized tests.
If people think our education system is defective, that is why. What would you spend $16 million on to help our kids learn more? More computers? More books? More librarians? Smaller schools?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Testing Fever
I spent Thursday planning/preparing to have a sub on Friday. Then I spent Friday at our district office writing a test for my students. That's right. I spent all DAY Friday writing one test, with just 25 questions, for my students. I had been so wrapped up in this tedious process that I hadn't actually realized how ridiculous it was until I talked with one of my students. He works in the office where I was writing the test. He saw me in the morning, then again in the afternoon. He asked how my day went, and I said, "Great! We finished a test."
"A test?" He said. "You spent all day here and wrote ONE test?"
Yeah. Pretty ridiculous when you think about it.
So why had we spent an entire day writing a test instead of actually teaching students? Because we need to have "Short Cycle Assessments" that mimic the state Standards Based Assessment (in edu-speak that is SCAs mimicking the SBA). And why did this test only have 25 questions? Because it takes so DARNED long to meet all the requirements. . .err.. EXPECTATIONS. . . of the test. We have to look at the standards, make sure we use the nouns and verbs used there to create our questions, and then make sure this is actually something that sophomores can understand.
Sophomores who are reading at a 5th or 6th grade level because all their previous teachers are so busy making tests, and then giving the tests that they have no time to actually teach! Heck, we give up two weeks of instruction just to give the SBA. Then we also take four weeks every year to give the SCAs, and now our sophs and juniors take another day to take the PSAT. That means, out of 36 weeks a year, our kids spend 6 weeks testing.
No wonder I can't cover everything I used to.
But all this testing is worth it, because it is helping to make our students College and Career Ready.
Right
Do you remember when finals actually tested all the STUFF you LEARNED in the class? We had to remember the specific material and ideas we had covered in class all term. OK, so I don't think kids need to memorize lists of pointless stuff. But I do know that in college (and probably in career) we are expected to remember what was covered.
My son is a freshman in college in San Francisco. He just finished mid-terms. They were pretty overwhelming for him because he had never really had to study for a test until this year. In high school all his tests were "skills based." That means he did not actually have to remember the things he had learned. So now, he doesn't have any techniques for memorizing or recalling the actual stuff he learned.
So when is this education pendulum going to swing back to normalcy?
"A test?" He said. "You spent all day here and wrote ONE test?"
Yeah. Pretty ridiculous when you think about it.
So why had we spent an entire day writing a test instead of actually teaching students? Because we need to have "Short Cycle Assessments" that mimic the state Standards Based Assessment (in edu-speak that is SCAs mimicking the SBA). And why did this test only have 25 questions? Because it takes so DARNED long to meet all the requirements. . .err.. EXPECTATIONS. . . of the test. We have to look at the standards, make sure we use the nouns and verbs used there to create our questions, and then make sure this is actually something that sophomores can understand.
Sophomores who are reading at a 5th or 6th grade level because all their previous teachers are so busy making tests, and then giving the tests that they have no time to actually teach! Heck, we give up two weeks of instruction just to give the SBA. Then we also take four weeks every year to give the SCAs, and now our sophs and juniors take another day to take the PSAT. That means, out of 36 weeks a year, our kids spend 6 weeks testing.
No wonder I can't cover everything I used to.
But all this testing is worth it, because it is helping to make our students College and Career Ready.
Right
Do you remember when finals actually tested all the STUFF you LEARNED in the class? We had to remember the specific material and ideas we had covered in class all term. OK, so I don't think kids need to memorize lists of pointless stuff. But I do know that in college (and probably in career) we are expected to remember what was covered.
My son is a freshman in college in San Francisco. He just finished mid-terms. They were pretty overwhelming for him because he had never really had to study for a test until this year. In high school all his tests were "skills based." That means he did not actually have to remember the things he had learned. So now, he doesn't have any techniques for memorizing or recalling the actual stuff he learned.
So when is this education pendulum going to swing back to normalcy?
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Pedulum Swings
My mother always talked about how history is like a pendulum, which swings to each extreme side. I have always taken that as encouraging. The other view is of a straight line that keeps heading in the direction we are going now (which is usually scary), or maybe of a circle, going round and round and round.
The advantage of perceiving life as a pendulum is that really most of the time things are somewhere in the middle, not very extreme in any way. Thus, when life gets a tad too extreme, and I start to worry about where things are heading, I just visualize a pendulum reaching its outer arc and beginning to swing back the other way.
Thus, I am starting to feel more comfortable about where education is going right now. It seems pretty scary right now, but I have faith that things are actually getting better. Proof? You want proof that it's getting better? How about the following:
Diane Ravitch, an original supporter of NCLB no longer supports it. Education think tanks are touting Finland as a model now instead of Japan. I think I like Finland, with its emphasis on providing strong education and practice for teachers, then assuming they can do their jobs without being micromanaged. Wow. What a concept. Finland also doesn't seem to expect miraculous results in three months. They have been working on overhauling their system for years (decades?), and knew it would take years. In the US, a long term goal/vision tends to be about 2 years, if we are lucky.
So the fact that people here are noticing Finland, and talking about it, gives me hope. Maybe the pendulum is starting its downward swing and things will get better. I sure would like to recommend teaching as a profession to my students again.
The advantage of perceiving life as a pendulum is that really most of the time things are somewhere in the middle, not very extreme in any way. Thus, when life gets a tad too extreme, and I start to worry about where things are heading, I just visualize a pendulum reaching its outer arc and beginning to swing back the other way.
Thus, I am starting to feel more comfortable about where education is going right now. It seems pretty scary right now, but I have faith that things are actually getting better. Proof? You want proof that it's getting better? How about the following:
Diane Ravitch, an original supporter of NCLB no longer supports it. Education think tanks are touting Finland as a model now instead of Japan. I think I like Finland, with its emphasis on providing strong education and practice for teachers, then assuming they can do their jobs without being micromanaged. Wow. What a concept. Finland also doesn't seem to expect miraculous results in three months. They have been working on overhauling their system for years (decades?), and knew it would take years. In the US, a long term goal/vision tends to be about 2 years, if we are lucky.
So the fact that people here are noticing Finland, and talking about it, gives me hope. Maybe the pendulum is starting its downward swing and things will get better. I sure would like to recommend teaching as a profession to my students again.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
What we misunderstand about education
Having been in the public school system for 25 years, I have noticed many things. I suppose you can summarize these as being prime examples of hypocrisy.
1. When education becomes a political hot button, students suffer.
Politicians need to create a threat in order to be the saviors. Thus, we have the crisis in American schools that needs fixing by people whose only real experience with teaching was as a student. With that logic, then I should be able to tell Apple what their problems are (do they have any?) because I have used Apple computers. Or, I can tell GM how to improve their bottom line because I drive a car.
2. Are American schools really so bad that they need a hurricane to wipe them out?
Over and over again the politicians who want media time shout about how bad American schools are. This hits home to voters, since pretty much everyone has some connection to schools. But, are the schools really that bad?
We often see results of surveys that show the America public is dissatisfied with the public schools. But when parents are asked if they are happy with their local schools, most say they are. Thus, it appears that most people are happy with the schools they have, but assume that all the other schools are doing poorly. How can that be? Maybe people are merely repeating what the politicians say about education. They assume the schools must be doing poorly elsewhere, because they hear it so often. I have a quote on my wall at school that says, "Just because a rumor is repeated often enough, doesn't make it a fact."
3. An apple-shaped plaque with #1 Teacher on it does not make me feel appreciated
We have a tendency in this country to extol the virtues of teachers in theory while at the same time belittling or denigrating the actual people who do the job. What makes teachers feel appreciated, and valued, is actually listening to them, and taking their ideas seriously. Right now any politician who listens to us, is considered caving in to the teachers (or soft on educational reform). Afterall, "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Can you say disrespectful?
4. We do the same thing to students
My dear friend who got me back to writing, always says:
"In America we know that every precious student is a special and uniqe individual, which is why we treat them all EXACTLY THE SAME." After all, how can we possibly respect each student as an individual, and then evaluate them all with the same standardized test. By definition that is not respecting individuality.
5. And THAT is the problem
Therein lies the problem. We are turning our backs on what made the US a strong country, our support of individuals and independent thought. People say we need to get away from the factory approach to education, that we do not need to produce mindless factory workers, that we need to create critical thinkers. But how do we do this by teaching to a standardized test?
1. When education becomes a political hot button, students suffer.
Politicians need to create a threat in order to be the saviors. Thus, we have the crisis in American schools that needs fixing by people whose only real experience with teaching was as a student. With that logic, then I should be able to tell Apple what their problems are (do they have any?) because I have used Apple computers. Or, I can tell GM how to improve their bottom line because I drive a car.
2. Are American schools really so bad that they need a hurricane to wipe them out?
Over and over again the politicians who want media time shout about how bad American schools are. This hits home to voters, since pretty much everyone has some connection to schools. But, are the schools really that bad?
We often see results of surveys that show the America public is dissatisfied with the public schools. But when parents are asked if they are happy with their local schools, most say they are. Thus, it appears that most people are happy with the schools they have, but assume that all the other schools are doing poorly. How can that be? Maybe people are merely repeating what the politicians say about education. They assume the schools must be doing poorly elsewhere, because they hear it so often. I have a quote on my wall at school that says, "Just because a rumor is repeated often enough, doesn't make it a fact."
3. An apple-shaped plaque with #1 Teacher on it does not make me feel appreciated
We have a tendency in this country to extol the virtues of teachers in theory while at the same time belittling or denigrating the actual people who do the job. What makes teachers feel appreciated, and valued, is actually listening to them, and taking their ideas seriously. Right now any politician who listens to us, is considered caving in to the teachers (or soft on educational reform). Afterall, "those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Can you say disrespectful?
4. We do the same thing to students
My dear friend who got me back to writing, always says:
"In America we know that every precious student is a special and uniqe individual, which is why we treat them all EXACTLY THE SAME." After all, how can we possibly respect each student as an individual, and then evaluate them all with the same standardized test. By definition that is not respecting individuality.
5. And THAT is the problem
Therein lies the problem. We are turning our backs on what made the US a strong country, our support of individuals and independent thought. People say we need to get away from the factory approach to education, that we do not need to produce mindless factory workers, that we need to create critical thinkers. But how do we do this by teaching to a standardized test?
I AM a teacher
Education will probably be the most common theme in these posts, as teaching is what I do, as well as who I am. Literally. If you ask me about myself, the very first thing I will say is that I am a teacher. Although being a wife and mother are both important to me (as I love all my guys), they do not define me. In fact, although I dream about retiring as soon as I can, I am not sure if I actually would. OK. I may retire from teaching in this town and this state. I may even retire from teaching high school English. But quit teaching? Nope.
I have been a teacher since I was a freshman in high school. Really. Before I even went to college I worked in an after school program for elementary kids (they taught me how to use a pogo stick). I worked in a nursery for little kids whose moms were meeting with their social worker (they taught me I don't do toddlers). I worked in a first grade classroom (they taught me about tattling) and in a resource class for high school guys with learning disabilities (they taught me that school didn't come easily for everyone). I worked with college athletes who could play football or basketball (something I can't do) but could not write a complete sentence (they taught me to think about what was really important in writing).
Are you seeing a pattern here? I am. Although I have taught all these years, what has actually happened is that I have learned as much, if not more, as I have taught. That is what I love about teaching. It is as much about learning as it is about teaching.
Or at least it should be.
Good teachers keep learning. How can we talk to our students about becoming lifelong learners if we quit learning ourselves when we graduate from college? I have been reading lots of books, articles, and other blogs about education and have some ideas. Keep reading to see what I think.
I have been a teacher since I was a freshman in high school. Really. Before I even went to college I worked in an after school program for elementary kids (they taught me how to use a pogo stick). I worked in a nursery for little kids whose moms were meeting with their social worker (they taught me I don't do toddlers). I worked in a first grade classroom (they taught me about tattling) and in a resource class for high school guys with learning disabilities (they taught me that school didn't come easily for everyone). I worked with college athletes who could play football or basketball (something I can't do) but could not write a complete sentence (they taught me to think about what was really important in writing).
Are you seeing a pattern here? I am. Although I have taught all these years, what has actually happened is that I have learned as much, if not more, as I have taught. That is what I love about teaching. It is as much about learning as it is about teaching.
Or at least it should be.
Good teachers keep learning. How can we talk to our students about becoming lifelong learners if we quit learning ourselves when we graduate from college? I have been reading lots of books, articles, and other blogs about education and have some ideas. Keep reading to see what I think.
Let's Begin
For someone who loves words, and who taught journalism for almost 20 years, it is a crime that this is my first blog. I feel downright hypocritical that I am only now creating a blog. Why has it taken me so long?
~ Those 20 years I taught journalism absorbed my every waking minute. Heck, journalism absorbed my sleeping minutes as well, awakening me in the middle of the night with both founded and unfounded fears ("founded" is a word, right?)
~ I work for a district that, like many (if not most) school districts is paranoid. After being burned by journalism in this district, I was afraid to post anything online that may get me into even more trouble.
~ I have two sons, one with a learning difference that required quite a bit of my time helping him with homework (very willingly, I might add). Now that he is in college, and the other is an invisible 8th grader (living upstairs unless I force him to come down and join the family), I have time to write.
~ Finally, and maybe most importantly for me, I just couldn't see why anyone would care what I wrote.
But now I meet regularly with a good friend and her daughter (who was one of my stellar journalism students) to discuss their writing. They keep prodding me to make it OUR writing. So, here I go. Now I can tell them that I have writings to discuss as well!
~ Those 20 years I taught journalism absorbed my every waking minute. Heck, journalism absorbed my sleeping minutes as well, awakening me in the middle of the night with both founded and unfounded fears ("founded" is a word, right?)
~ I work for a district that, like many (if not most) school districts is paranoid. After being burned by journalism in this district, I was afraid to post anything online that may get me into even more trouble.
~ I have two sons, one with a learning difference that required quite a bit of my time helping him with homework (very willingly, I might add). Now that he is in college, and the other is an invisible 8th grader (living upstairs unless I force him to come down and join the family), I have time to write.
~ Finally, and maybe most importantly for me, I just couldn't see why anyone would care what I wrote.
But now I meet regularly with a good friend and her daughter (who was one of my stellar journalism students) to discuss their writing. They keep prodding me to make it OUR writing. So, here I go. Now I can tell them that I have writings to discuss as well!
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