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In defense of NCLB
Wow… there’s a LOT there. I can’t even begin to go over it all. So I’m just going to point you there…
- Read Dan Meyer’s blog entry in defense of NCLB. Read it with an open mind and realize that Dan is a teacher. A nearly brand-spankin’ new teacher. And he makes some very valid points.
- Read the comments to his entry. Wow. Lots of comments. But specifically, make your way to this response on another blog.
- Read his follow up post, which is mostly in response to the response in #2.
Give yourself some time, though. Because it’s all long and thought provoking. And comment there or comment here, but either way, I’d be interested to know what you think.
Technorati Tags: nclb
Reform or Replace?
Was reading Assorted Stuff today. Tim Stahmer was quoting an interview (it’s becoming habit of mine to response to someone who is responding to someone who is responding…) of Alvin Toffler (who wrote Future Shock) who suggests we replace the public school system – not reform it. Now that would be an undertaking. Toffler suggests that education might not need to be compulsory, nor neccessary for each student to start at the same age.
Wow. See that makes so much sense. If we’re really worried about leaving no child behind, if we’re really interested in giving each child the best education that’s right for him, if we’re really interested in differentiating, then why do we have each child start school at five? And why aren’t classes made up of a range of ages? And I don’t mean how it is now because some kids fail, but with younger ages as kids reach grades early. Why do we start class at 8am (or whatever) for every student when not every student is ready to learn at the same time of day?
I don’t think this is going to happen in the near future – having kids start whenever, finish whenever. And it’s a lot to ask of a teacher. I can’t imagine a class full of kids at all those maturity levels even if they are on the same educational level. Or trying to teach different kids at different times. Yikes.
Tim Stahmer says,
we need to seriously reconsider what it means to be “well educatedâ€, the purpose of school, and the role of teaching and learning in society.
AssortedStuff » Blog Archive » Shut Down The Public Education System
That’s very scary for educators. Toffler is also quoted as suggesting that teachers only teach for three or four years, then go do something else and come back to teaching. I can just hear my husband right now. He’s not in public education and never has been unless you count substitute teaching between jobs, but he’s always says that if he were a principal he’d fire teachers after five years. He says after that they’re too set in their ways, not open to change, don’t know what the real world is like anymore. I guess he’s heard me gripe a little much, huh? The point is, I always thought that was just crazy-talk. I tried to explain that some of the older teachers embraced the changes, but really he’s right in a lot of ways. And to “hear” someone else suggest that teaching five years in a row is too long… well, it does give me pause.
Some of our better teachers are alternatively certified – meaning they didn’t go to college to be teachers but they made a career change and crash-coursed all those teacher classes. They have real-world experience and now they’re in the classroom. So they know what skills are necessary in the work force and they stress that when they teach. So this makes so much sense.
The idea would terrify and anger some teachers though. “I’ve been teaching for 20+ years! You want me to work somewhere else?! Are you KIDDING?! All I know how to DO is teach!” But if all you know how to do is teach, then you don’t know how to teach what kids need to learn. I think it’s a great idea, but I’m pessimistic of something like that actually happening.
I hesitate to share this because it may come across as hypocritical… but if I had the luxury of maintaining a high standard of living without working, I think I would homeschool my kids. It’s not that I think they’re getting a bad education. I love my 1st grader’s teacher, but I think with information all rightthereatyourfingertips I could do a better job of differentiating for my kids, only having three and knowing them as well as I do, than a paid educator could do with twenty. I wouldn’t have to schedule field trips. Wouldn’t have to wait for my weekly lab time. Wouldn’t have to subject my kids to so many standardized tests, and test them to prepare for the standardized tests, and test them to see if they’re prepared to prepare for the standardized test, and then tests to… well, you get the idea. But as a public educator, I don’t want other people to pull their kids out! There’s so much potential in schools – kids working together, learning WITH their teachers.
I’d like to think that if I could afford it I’d just get my kids’ school more technology and then volunteer and basically do what I’m doing now – support my teachers with integrating technology (yes, I said the “I” word). I would even get to avoid the yucky part of my job, like setting up servers and printers and fixing things or calling things in for repair or taking the brunt of it when the district’s email is down. But there would still be that testing, and I’d still be fighting for more engaging lessons and there’d still be all the red-tape for field trips, and there’d still be kids in my daughter’s class so far below my daughter’s level that the entire class would have to wait around so that he’s not “left behind,” and I’d still not be able to do the M&M graphs because the kids aren’t allowed to be given M&M’s and I could go on and on and it just makes me sad. It makes me sad and scared for my kids’ future and my future as an educator.
My thoughts are rambling, like they usually are, and I wish I had the time to sort them out better to post here, but if I waited for that they’d never be posted. I think, like both Stahmer and Toffler suggest, the questions and answers are scary. But I’m worried about public education and what it will be in the future if we don’t do something now. Still no answers from me.
Technorati Tags: schoolreform, school reform, education, nclb, alvin toffler
Too much content?
This has all gotten me to thinking, that’s for sure. David Jakes responded to Wes Fryer’s response to Helen’s post on assessment. Lost yet? Okay, it doesn’t matter the round about way to get to here. Basically, Helen said we might be spending too much time with assessments and David Jakes said we don’t spend enough time. Only, as David Jakes points out, they were talking about different types. David Jakes says we’re doing too much of the wrong kind – the kind Helen was talking about. So… they agree really. NOW are you lost?
So anyway, I thought this was interesting:
we spend too much time teaching the wrong way, the way that hasn’t worked for so long now, and that includes teaching too much content!
The Strength of Weak Ties: Aerial Photographs, Coverage and Assessment
I think this goes back to Helen’s original concern about engaged learning experiences. And David and Helen are both right. We’ve got all these state standards and state assessments and “cover the content” or in our case “cover the TEKS,” that we’re failing our students. We’re doing a fly-by on everything they’re supposed to “cover” and they’re not learning, not truly learning. Even if they can pass the test, I’m not so sure they’re all critical thinkers because of it.
And again, I have no answers. And I didn’t see answers on David Jakes post either. More of the right kind of assessments, less of the wrong and less “covering the content.” But I’m still not sure how to pursuade the teachers, and the administrators. And I’m still not sure how to judge whether or not it’s “working” without those wrong kind of assessments. It’s a matter of knowing what’s right and what should be done, but not knowing how to get the decision makers to see that…
Technorati Tags: schoolreform, nclb, assessments, davejakes, wesfryer, education
Formal assessments continued.
We certainly could have legislative policies, however, which encourage teachers to ENGAGE students rather than test them to death, and provide more TIME for teachers to craft the sorts of differentiated and creative lessons that students are likely to find fun as well as educational. Perhaps we could assess schools based on a happiness and engagement index? It’s a revolutionary idea, but it just might work.
I guess we’re playing a little blog tag here, but this quote was on Wes Fryer’s blog which was in response to Helen’s blog on assessment.
At first I thought that a happiness and engagement index might be the key. Judge the success of the teachers, the success of the school, but the engagement of the students and the opinions of the parents. Unfortunately, Wes does point out that some parents will only be happy if their kids have loads of homework or else how can they be learning?
But I’m also worried about those teachers that would be think “we’re supposed to keep the kids happy” and not have any focus on the learning portion. Luckily, we don’t have many of those kinds of teachers but we know they exist. If they’re going to be judged on standardized test, they’ll teach to the test. And if they’re going to be judged on the kids being happy, well, learning be damned – let’s have a party.
And then, too, without formal assessments, how do you convince Billy’s parents that he really would do better to repeat second grade? You have no formal assessment to back you up.
At my campus, I think this whole “engagement thing” is bothering some teachers because they’re afraid it won’t work. I know some teachers that don’t want to leave the drill and kill, the worksheets, the memorization, because it’s what they’ve always done and they’ve always been considered good teachers and their kids have always done well on the standardized tests. If they try this… this… “ENGAGING EXPERIENCE” hoopla, what if their kids are playing too much and not learning? What if they don’t know their times tables? What if they can’t list all of the battles of the Civil War in the order they occurred?! They’re just afraid. And I want to scream – “IT WILL WORK!” But I’ve only got 9 years of experience in education, not 25+. How do I KNOW?
So yeah, no answers here.
New podcast episode, new forums!
Episode 16 is up now. Helen and I are so dedicated, we were shivering in my van in below freezing temperatures to bring you this podcast! Really! Check on the podcast episode notes!
We’re also in the process of updating the forums. We had so many problems with spam that we’re trying out a different web application. We’re trying to copy/paste all of the old forum topics to the new forum location so that we don’t lose any of that great information! And now, users can choose to have their email address hidden to all users (except admin) and none of the introductions can be viewed by guests. And the biggie is that members don’t become members until they’re approved. While they couldn’t post in the old forums either, they were listed as members and their yucky spammage could be read. Hopefully this will help!
If you didn’t already get an email from me, go ahead and sign up in the new forums and have a look around!
Technorati Tags: education, technology, edublog, techchicktips, podcast