tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47996945736731035332024-03-12T20:20:19.789-07:00Murdock's EduCorner CafeFood for Thought about Public EducationLinda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-80480310184279104902017-01-29T11:33:00.003-08:002017-01-29T11:33:35.275-08:00Why are Republicans turning their backs on American values?
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I grew up in
a staunchly Republican family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
father, his father, and his brother were all newspaper editors, and actively
involved in the state Republican party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were proud of the “Grand Old Party” and America, and I grew up believing
that our country was a moral beacon for the world because of our values -- a
nation that valued freedom, and welcomed immigrants seeking a better life. I
learned the Emma Lazarus poem that appears on the Statue of Liberty (“Give me your
tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. . . send these,
the tempest-tossed, to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door”) and thought
of our country as a place that welcomed all who thirsted for freeom.
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of course,
there have been many points in our history when we have not lived up to these
values – the Japanese internment camps during World War II, for example, or the
ship of Jewish refugees that was turned away from our shores during the
Holocaust – but I grew up hopeful that we had learned from these examples, and
would make sure that nothing of the kind ever happened again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1965 immigration act made it clear
that bigotry had no place in immigration decisions, a hopeful sign, along with
the civil rights movement of that era.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Two days
ago, however, President Trump’s executive order enshrined bigotry,
discrimination, fear, and cowardice as the values of our nation, and Republican
voices in Congress objecting to this have been few and far between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have even supported it, describing
a vision of a nation beset by fear and turning away from the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What has
happened to the Republican party? Has it changed that much since my
childhood?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do Republicans no
longer value our country and our Constitution? Are there no Republicans with
the moral courage to fight for our country?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Justin
Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, tweeted yesterday “To those fleeing
persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your
faith. Diversity is our strength.” This tweet should express the values of our
country as well, and is what our leaders should be saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope that in the days ahead
Republicans will regain their moral courage and stand with Democrats to rescind
this bigoted and immoral executive order. As Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
representative, said, “This is a question of right vs. wrong,” and all of our
representatives should stand together on it. </span></div>
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</span>Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-47669555447354966962016-02-15T10:34:00.004-08:002016-02-15T10:34:48.070-08:00Another Laudable Goal and Mismatched PolicyBoth Arne Duncan and his successor, John King, seem to pursue laudable goals, but in ways that not only fail to create progress toward those goals but in many cases actually undermine the achievement of those goals. Recently, <a href="https://medium.com/@JohnKingAtED/stronger-together-why-our-budget-supports-voluntary-community-led-efforts-to-increase-diversity-53b45a5f49df#.8rtagjyo7" target="_blank">King announced a new initiative</a> intended to increase socioeconomic diversity in schools. (See also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-education-budget_us_56ba0701e4b04f9b57db1fe0?ir=Education&section=us_education&utm_hp_ref=education" target="_blank">the Huffington Post article</a> on the topic.) The format of this new initiative? A competitive grant program, providing funds for community efforts at increasing socioeconomic diversity in local schools.<br />
<br />
My frustration around this program is two-fold: funding things through competitive grants is a wonderful way to waste resources and a lousy way to fund anything; but, more important, the best way to accomplish this goal would be to reverse the policies of the past few years that have fostered increasing segregation in the schools.<br />
<br />
First of all, policies that encourage the creation of charter schools have contributed significantly to the increasing segregation in schooling. There is quite a bit of evidence that charter schools foster increased segregation, both racial and socio-economic. See <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/02/01/kappan_rotberg.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/779" target="_blank">here</a>, for example. When you think about how charter schools operate, and why they are popular with many parents, this makes sense. At a very basic level, charter schools do not generally enroll students with parents who have difficulty organizing themselves to apply for their children, whether because they are hampered by substance abuse or other issues, because they are working many jobs just to stay afloat and have little time left over to investigate schools and complete the application process, or because they are homeless and just barely managing to survive. Thus, although in some locales charter schools enroll substantial percentages of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, they generally tend to not enroll the very poorest of the poor. Charter schools also manage to have fewer students with behavioral issues and fewer students with severe learning disabilities. (I have personal knowledge of an incident in which charter school administrators told parents that they would not pursue further discipline if the parents withdrew the child, and another in which charter school administrators told parents of a child with special needs that the child was welcome to enroll but they simply did not provide the services he needed.) As a result of these policies, and as a result of the loss of funding due to the charter, the local public schools end up with a greater percentage of very poor students and students who are more difficult to educate, as well as less funding to work with. This result then causes some of the remaining parents in the public schools who are financially able to do so to seek out other alternatives for their children, further reducing diversity.<br />
<br />
Second, the test-and-punish policies favored by the current administration also operate in much the same way by reducing funding and closing schools primarily in the most poverty-stricken areas, once again causing parents who have the ability to do so to seek out other alternatives for their children, while leaving those who do not have that ability, either because of personal issues or financial issues, behind in increasingly non-diverse and resource-poor schools.<br />
<br />
The goal of this new initiative is very important -- substantial research demonstrates the negative effects of socioeconomic segregation on student achievement. See, for example, <a href="https://usm.maine.edu/sites/default/files/cepare/poverty_achievement_Web.pdf" target="_blank">this article regarding student achievement in high- and low-poverty schools in Maine</a>. Especially noteworthy are the findings that the single best predictor of student performance is school poverty level, and that low-poverty students do not perform as well in high-poverty schools as low-poverty students do in lower poverty schools.<br />
<br />
So -- once again, a laudable and very important goal. But is a competitive grant the best way to solve the problem? Or is it simply a way to avoid analyzing and facing the real factors involved, and yet be able to claim that they are doing something to tackle the problem? My recommendation for increasing economic diversity in schools doesn't involve soundbites and is not easy to implement -- it would be to develop effective policies to eliminate housing segregation, tackle the increasing income inequality in our country, phase out charter schools other than those that enroll the poorest of the poor and the most difficult students to educate, and support neighborhood public schools for all students.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-68515523072197287672016-02-10T05:59:00.001-08:002016-02-10T05:59:11.948-08:00What is "Exemplary?" A Distinction Without A DifferenceRecently, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released its <a href="http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/educatorevaluationperformance.aspx" target="_blank">report on educator evaluation ratings</a> from school year 2014-15. To my delight, there are still a number of schools and districts where there were no teachers rated exemplary. To my disappointment, though, many schools and districts do have teachers rated exemplary.<br />
<br />
So. . . why should anyone be delighted about schools and districts with no exemplary teachers? Notice that I didn't say that those schools and districts HAD no exemplary teachers, just that they had no teachers rated exemplary. I'm sure those schools and districts do indeed have many exemplary teachers. Since one of them is my former district, I <u>know</u> that there are many exemplary teachers in that district, in all schools.<br />
<br />
What I'm delighted about is that some districts and schools are refusing to play the damaging ratings game in which the DESE wants schools to engage. As in other professions, the process of evaluation is complex. There really is no such thing as a perfect teacher (or a perfect lawyer, a perfect doctor. . .). There are many excellent teachers, but as with all people, each has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. In many school systems, particularly the affluent ones, there are many more excellent teachers than the DESE would be comfortable with having labeled "exemplary." (Although in published FAQs, the DESE has stated that there is no particular percentage quota or limit for the designation, other communications have implied that the expected percentage is somewhere in the single digits.) In contrast, in my former school, I would estimate that at least 80% of the faculty are "excellent" teachers -- all human, of course, with different strengths and weaknesses, as we all are. I would imagine that this is true in most schools and districts. <br />
<br />
For the vast majority of teachers who are excellent teachers in most respects, with some weaknesses, splitting hairs and designating some as "exemplary" and the rest as merely "proficient" has no useful purpose. What could possibly be a good result of this practice? Creating divisiveness and competition where collaboration is most important? Isn't it far better to acknowledge each person's strengths and excellent skills while helping each improve his/her weaknesses? (Note that no one is perfect.) Thus, as an evaluator I only used three categories -- "proficient," "needs improvement," and "unsatisfactory," while complimenting individual excellences and helping with individual weaknesses -- and I am glad to see from the DESE report that there are at least some schools and districts that appear to be doing the same thing.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I would caution anyone from coming to any general conclusions from the numbers of "exemplary" teachers. These numbers amount to an artificial distinction and are not any sort of valid measurement of the excellent teachers in any particular school or district.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-35361048674321040712016-01-10T08:21:00.000-08:002016-01-10T08:26:22.411-08:00Schools are not all alike -- but children need the same thingsSchools are not all alike. It's been pointed out many times that many of those who advocate so-called "no excuses" schools, with rigid rules and harsh discipline, for some children send their own children to a very different kind of school, generally with small class sizes and a curriculum emphasizing hands-on, project-based, engaged learning with opportunities for student choice. Schools and districts also differ significantly in available resources and thus in class size, teacher quality, and opportunities for students. Parallel to these differences, of course, and enhancing/exacerbating these differences, is the difference in student background and economic advantage in more affluent districts compared to the student background and economic disadvantage in less affluent districts.<br />
<br />
A telling example of these differences comes from my own experience in an affluent suburban district. Several years ago, the state decided to house a group of homeless mothers and children in a local motel in our community. We welcomed the children and did our best to integrate them into our school. They were uniformly astonished at our clean, spacious school and surprised by the field trips and other opportunities. One boy, who was 15 years old and in the 8th grade, had significant behavioral issues and was "reading" at a pre-first grade, "beginning phonemic awareness," level. He was unable to participate in our regular 8th grade program, even with considerable assistance, so we hired one of our substitute teachers to work 1:1 with him, and designed a half-day schedule for him focused on reading, writing, and math, and providing for many basketball-playing breaks as rewards for completing work. After six months in our school, he was able to read and write at approximately a beginning second grade level. Unfortunately, at that point, the state pulled all the families from that motel and we lost track of him. Many years later, his name appeared in a local paper, unfortunately in connection with criminal acts. I can't help but think that his story could have been different had he been able to remain in a school with sufficient resources to make a difference for him.<br />
<br />
Think about this boy in a school without the resources to provide 1:1 help and a specially designed schedule -- imagine him in a large class of students, some of whom also have learning problems and behavior issues. Then think about the teacher of that class and what he needs to help him give the children in the class the help they need. What immediately comes to mind? Will it help him the most to require annual standardized testing, with the scores published in the news media, so that that he can see exactly how badly his students are performing? And then to evaluate him based on his students' scores? The theory of evaluating teachers and schools based on student test scores seems to be that by making achievement differences obvious communities will be forced to provide sufficient resources to alleviate the disparity. In reality, all it does is create a culture of blame, and motivate teachers who can to move to districts with sufficient resources, thus exacerbating differences in teacher quality between more affluent and less affluent districts.<br />
<br />
This boy, along with all children, needed attention, caring, and help -- and because our district had the resources we could provide those for him. In too many others, the resources are not available, and labeling those schools and those teachers as substandard does nothing to fix the problem.<br />
<br />
An <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/opinion/sunday/how-to-fix-the-countrys-failing-schools-and-how-not-to.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=0" target="_blank">excellent article</a> in yesterday's <u>New York Times Sunday Review</u>, by David Kirp, gives an outstanding comparison. The article is entitled "How to Fix the Country's Failing Schools. And How Not To," and compares the results of the top-down, "corporate reform" style approach in Newark to the "home-grown gradualism" approach in Union City. The Union City approach, which appears to me to be based on educators working together, looking at the children's needs, and developing strategies to meet those needs, has been successful. As noted in a <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1994/09/14/02yatvin.h14.html?qs=catchers+in+the+rye" target="_blank">wonderful <u>Education Week</u> article</a> by Joanne Yatvin ("Catchers in the Rye," September 14, 1994):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Where schools are failing, it is not because they don't have enough projects and programs, but because they have lost the human touch. Children mired in the morass of family and community decay can't benefit from red ribbons, higher standards, or instructional technology; they need caring adults to pull them out of the much and set them on solid ground -- one at a time. . ."</blockquote>
All children need attention, caring, and help in their growth, but all schools are not alike -- some have the resources and some do not. Children with fewer family resources and more challenges need more support, not less, and schools with children with more needs need resources and help rather than blaming.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-61449559207620415692016-01-05T07:17:00.003-08:002016-01-05T07:19:46.490-08:00“Value-Added” Measurement Has Little Value: Using These Numbers Negatively Impacts Real People in Real Schools<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At the end
of the last school year, I was chatting with two excellent teachers, and our
conversation turned to the new state-mandated teacher evaluation system and its
use of student “growth scores” (“Student Growth Percentiles” or “SGPs” in
Massachusetts)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to measure a
teacher’s “impact on student learning.”</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Guess we
didn’t have much of an impact this year,” said one teacher.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The other
teacher added, “It makes you feel about this high,” showing a tiny space
between her thumb and forefinger.</div>
</blockquote>
Throughout
the school, comments were similar -- indicating that a major “impact” of the
new evaluation system is demoralizing and discouraging teachers. (How do I
know, by the way, that these two teachers are excellent? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know because I worked with them as
their principal – being in their classrooms, observing and offering feedback, talking
to parents and students, and reviewing products demonstrating their students’
learning – all valuable ways of assessing a teacher’s “impact”.)
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
According to
the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“DESE”),
the new evaluation system’s goals include promoting the “growth and development
of leaders and teachers,” and recognizing “excellence in teaching and leading.”
The DESE website indicates that the DESE considers a teacher’s median SGP as an
appropriate measure of that teacher’s “impact on student learning”:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 31.5pt; margin-right: 27.0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
“ESE has confidence that SGPs are
a high quality measure of student growth. While the precision of a median SGP
decreases with fewer students, median SGP based on 8-19 students still provides
quality information that can be included in making a determination of an educator’s
impact on students.”</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Given the many
concerns about the use of “value-added measurement” tools (such as SGPs) in
teacher evaluation, this confidence is difficult to understand, particularly as
applied to real teachers in real schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Considerable research notes the imprecision and variability of these
measures as applied to the evaluation of individual teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other side, experts argue that
use of an “imperfect measure” is better than past evaluation methods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theories aside, I believe that the
actual impact of this “measure” on real people in real schools is important.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As a
principal, when I first heard of SGPs I was curious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered whether the data would actually filter out other
factors affecting student performance, such as learning disabilities, English
language proficiency, or behavioral challenges, and I wondered if the data
would give me additional information useful in evaluating teachers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Unfortunately, I found that SGPs did not
provide useful information about student growth or learning, and median SGPs
were inconsistent and not correlated with teaching skill, at least for the
teachers with whom I was working</b>. In two consecutive years of SGP data from
our Massachusetts elementary school:
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>One
4<sup>th</sup> grade teacher had median SGPs of 37 (ELA) and 36 (math) in one
year, and 61.5 and 79 the next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first year’s class included students with disabilities and the next
year’s did not.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Two
4<sup>th</sup> grade teachers who co-teach their combined classes (teaching
together, all students, all subjects) had widely differing median SGPs: one
teacher had SGPs of 44 (ELA) and 42 (math) in the first year and 40 and 62.5 in
the second, while the other teacher had SGPs of 61 and 50 in the first year and
41 and 45 in the second. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>A
5<sup>th</sup> grade teacher had median SGPs of 72.5 and 64 for two math classes
in the first year, and 48.5, 26, and 57 for three math classes in the following
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second year’s classes included
students with disabilities and English language learners, but the first year’s
did not.</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Ø<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Another
5<sup>th</sup> grade teacher had median SGPs of 45 and 43 for two ELA classes
in the first year, and 72 and 64 in the second year. The first year’s classes
included students with disabilities and students with behavioral challenges
while the second year’s classes did not.</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">As an experienced observer/evaluator, I
found that median SGPs did not correlate with teachers’ teaching skills but
varied with class composition.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stronger teachers had the same range of SGPs in their classes as
teachers with weaker skills, and median SGPs for a new teacher with a less
challenging class were higher than median SGPs for a highly skilled veteran
teacher with a class that included English language learners.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Furthermore,
SGP data did not provide useful information regarding student growth. In
analyzing students’ SGPs, I noticed obvious general patterns: students with
disabilities had lower SGPs than students without disabilities, English
language learners had lower SGPs than students fluent in English, students who
had some kind of trauma that year (e.g., parents’ divorce) had lower SGPs, and
students with behavioral/social issues had lower SGPs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>SGPs were correlated strongly with test
performance: in one year, for example, the median ELA SGP for students in the
“Advanced” category was 88, compared with 51.5 for “Proficient” students, 19.5
for “Needs Improvement,” and 5 for the “Warning” category.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
There were also
wide swings in student SGPs, not explainable except perhaps by differences in student
performance on particular test days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One student with disabilities had an SGP of 1 in the first year and 71
in the next, while another student had SGPs of 4 in ELA and 94 in math in 4<sup>th</sup>
grade and SGPs of 50 in ELA and 4 in math in 5<sup>th</sup> grade, both with
consistent district test scores.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>So how does
this “information” impact real people in a real school?</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b> </b> </span>As a principal, I found that it added
nothing to what I already knew about the teaching and learning in my
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using these numbers for
teacher evaluation does, however, negatively impact schools: it demoralizes and
discourages teachers, and it has the potential to affect class and teacher
assignments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In real
schools, student and teacher assignments are not random.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students are grouped for specific
purposes, and teachers are assigned classes for particular reasons. Students
with disabilities and English language learners are often grouped to allow
specialists, such as the speech/language teacher or the ELL teacher, to work
more effectively with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Students with behavioral issues are sometimes placed in special classes,
and are often assigned to teachers who work particularly well with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leveled classes (AP, honors, remedial),
create different student combinations, and teachers are assigned particular
classes based on the administrator’s judgment of which teachers will do the
best with which classes. For example, I would assign new or struggling teachers
less challenging classes so I could work successfully with them on improving
their skills.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the past,
when I told a teacher that he/she had a particularly challenging class, because
he/she could best work with these students, he/she generally cheerfully accepted
the challenge, and felt complimented on his/her skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, that teacher could be concerned about
the effect of that class on his/her evaluation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teachers may be reluctant to teach lower level courses, or
to work with English language learners or students with behavioral issues, and
administrators may hesitate to assign the most challenging classes to the most
skilled teachers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In short, in
my experience, the use of this type of “value-added” measurement provides no
useful information and has a negative impact on real teachers and real
administrators in real schools. If “data” is not only not useful, but actively
harmful, to those who are supposedly benefitting from using it, what is the
point?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is this continuing?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-13122160155884978882015-12-26T09:25:00.004-08:002015-12-26T09:25:54.344-08:00Charter Schools - Data Show Different Enrollment From District SchoolsI recently read in <u>Commonwealth Magazine</u> an <a href="http://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/charters-better-than-or-just-different-from-district-schools/" target="_blank">excellent article</a> analyzing the data that show who enrolls, and who remains, in charter schools. Every article that trumpets a charter school's success should also include an analysis of that school's enrollment as compared to the local district. As pointed out in this article, students without learning disabilities tend to do better than students with learning disabilities, students who are fluent in English tend to do better than students who are not proficient in English, etc. Not mentioned in the article, but implied, is that students without behavioral issues tend to do better than students with behavioral challenges. Charter schools that have fewer students with learning disabilities, fewer English language learners, and fewer behaviorally challenged students will obviously have better test scores. If we as a society <u>want</u> that -- schools that provide a good education for less challenged students, while leaving the public schools with a more challenging population -- that's one thing, but full disclosure should be made, and the choice should be clear.<br />
<br />
Check out the article at this link -- <a href="http://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/charters-better-than-or-just-different-from-district-schools/">http://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/charters-better-than-or-just-different-from-district-schools/</a>Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-58269546251292951742015-12-21T08:05:00.001-08:002015-12-21T08:05:10.848-08:00Competition Reduces Performance of TeamsExcellent new book -- <u>Humans Are Underrated: What High Achievers Know that Brilliant Machines Never Will</u>, by Geoff Colvin -- with a fascinating analysis of the increasing capabilities of computers, including even creativity, and a great discussion of what capabilities are likely to stay entirely human.<br />
<br />
Regarding new "education reform" policies like merit pay, ranking of teachers, and encouragement of competition in general, it's interesting and instructive to consider Colvin's analysis of the research:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Competing for status poisoned a group's effectiveness regardless of gender composition. . . More ideas and better judgments -- those are what make groups effective. But when group members can compete for status, the female advantage [in terms of social sensitivity and ability to develop productive relationships that increase a group's collective intelligence], at least in creating collective intelligence,, gets shut down. . . In real-world settings, group incentives thus become crucially important. . . whether it actually happens [group composition leading to effectiveness] depends on whether group members are given incentives to try to outdo one another. Not even ancient, inherent strengths can survive bad management." </blockquote>
<br />
It's been shown time and again that schools are more effective when educators work collaboratively, and there is no research indicating that competition among teachers increases effectiveness. Yet again another "reform" based only on the unsupported beliefs of a few powerful people.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-71003538768879092612015-12-18T14:36:00.001-08:002015-12-18T14:36:16.478-08:00Charter Schools and Student Behavioral IssuesThe DESE just published school discipline statistics for last year. I find it interesting that 25 of the top 30, in terms of most students suspended out of school, are charter schools. And the top 17 are all charters -- you can check it out by going to the chart (<a href="http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/ssdr.aspx">http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/ssdr.aspx</a>) and sort by percentage of out-of-school suspensions.<br />
<br />
It's frequently said that charter schools have ways of causing students with disruptive behaviors to leave, and I have personally experienced a couple of examples of this. Some years ago, the head of a charter school consulted me about a particular discipline issue. I gave him my advice, and a couple weeks later, asked him how it had worked out. He said, "Oh, we just told the parents that we wouldn't pursue it further if they withdrew him and returned him to the regular public schools."<br />
<br />
It appears that more frequent use of out-of-school suspensions may also lead to the same result. Of course, excluding students with difficult behaviors is one of the reasons charter schools are so popular with parents. And it's difficult to know exactly how to hold charter schools accountable in this area -- if a child is disruptive, and frequently suspended, and parents return him/her to the regular public schools, probably also requesting an evaluation for special needs, that appears to just be parent choice. In order to have a level playing field, though, the child would have to be required to stay at the charter, and the charter assume the expense of special services if that's what's needed. But that flies in the face of the concept of parent choice. . .Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-73964643491199404972015-11-29T06:38:00.000-08:002015-11-29T06:38:07.949-08:00$2.00 a Day - How Does Poverty Enter Into the Equation?I just finished reading an excellent book -- <u>$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America</u> by Kathryn J. Edin & H. Luke Shaefer. This eye-opening book provides a picture of the lives of those Americans living on "almost nothing" -- and records the tremendous increase in their numbers since welfare "reform" in 1996. The descriptions of the lives of the children impacted by poverty are particularly gripping. It's impossible to read this book and think that all the problems these children have will be solved if we simply "raise the bar" with standardized tests and increase the stakes associated with test results. How can "raising the bar" help children living in shelters, or who go hungry most nights, or who are abused, or who live in continual chaos? There is a wonderful example in the book of a teacher (a dedicated TFA intern!) who makes a difference in the lives of one student and her family -- not by demanding more, "raising the bar," imposing more "rigorous" requirements on homework, but by helping the family with medical and dental care, clothing, and the like.<br />
<br />
Welfare "reform" in 1996 appears to have succeeded in providing more assistance to low-income working people through the means of the "earned income tax credit" but ended up missing the other half of the plan -- providing access to jobs for people who need them. (It could also be that the EITC actually functions as a subsidy for employers, allowing the continuation of very low wages rather than requiring a livable minimum wage -- the authors point out that there is no state in the country in which a person working full-time at the minimum wage can afford a market rate two-bedroom apartment.)<br />
<br />
If we truly want to make a difference for this generation of children, and as a corollary improve the United States' performance on international standardized tests (whether or not that's an important goal, it's clear that many think it is), we need to change their life circumstances and make it possible for them to focus on learning. In comparing the U.S. with other developed countries, the worst statistic is that according to the OECD the U.S. poverty rate is the "highest in the developed world." We should be determined to change that, and invest in doing so. Rather than arguing about such matters as whether 2% of instructional time is the "right" amount of testing, or how to measure that, our representatives could be spending their time working on improving the life situations of children living in poverty.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-34138902167017323172015-11-22T07:29:00.001-08:002015-11-22T07:29:09.457-08:00How Much Testing Is Too Much?? (Hint: It's More Than the Actual Test-Taking Time)Arrrgggh -- it's been a long time since I've posted -- too many other projects going on, I guess. Meanwhile, limiting the time allotted to standardized testing has become a popular topic. Even the politicians are supporting test-taking limits, at least if those limits don't impact whatever "reforms" they support. (See the federal government's "<a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-testing-action-plan" target="_blank">Testing Action Plan</a>," which proposes a 2% limit on classroom time spent on testing, and agrees to provide flexibility -- <b>but in areas other than those that are federally mandated</b>.)<br />
<br />
I agree that there is too much testing, and way too much emphasis on standardized tests as a measure of how students are doing, how teachers are doing, and how schools are doing. But -- will simply enacting a law, as New York has done, limiting testing to 2% of instructional time, solve the problem if everything else stays intact, or will it simply add yet another piece of paperwork as school administrators have to calculate testing time and undoubtedly submit a report to prove compliance with the new law?<br />
<br />
First of all, how is this going to be calculated? And which tests are going to be included? (And what research supports the 2% figure as the correct one, anyway? But that's another topic.) Reading the federal "Testing Action Plan," it appears that the limit applies only to the actual time students spend taking the tests and only to state and local "standardized" tests. The plan includes an offer to schools of flexibility <b>in areas other than federally mandated testing</b>, and nothing that in any way indicates that less weight is going to be placed on the results of testing in evaluating teachers and schools.<br />
<br />
Let's take the time issue first. How will the actual classroom test-taking time be measured? In Massachusetts, there are at least three different ways of measuring actual test-taking time -- (1) the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's estimate of how long each test session takes, (2) the DESE's recommendation for principals in scheduling the test-taking time, and (3) the time it actually takes students to take the tests. Not surprisingly, these three measurements are quite different. For example, the MCAS 4th grade "long composition" test consists of two test sessions. The DESE characterizes these as 45-minute sessions, but in its 150-page instruction manual for principals recommends scheduling 2 hours for each session. Furthermore, in practice, these two sessions generally take 4th graders most or all of the school day to complete. In our school, starting at 8:15, most of the 4th graders were finished by the time a late lunch was served at 1:15 or 1:30, but a significant percentage worked through their lunch and finished only at the end of the school day at 2:25. Thus, the two sessions actually took close to 5 hours for most students, and 6 for many. (In fact, the DESE seems to anticipate this length -- the instruction manual includes directions for principals about how to maintain security for students who need to work through lunch, as well as a recently-added permission for students to continue working for a short period of time after the end of the school day as long as arrangements are made for them to be picked up and taken home!)<br />
<br />
<b>My guess is that in calculating the 2%, the number that will be included is the stated 45 minutes per test session. </b><br />
<br />
The second issue, of course, is that the impact on instruction is far more than the testing time for those students taking the tests. In addition to those students actually testing, the other students in the school are also affected by the testing. First, students who have finished testing cannot be immediately involved in classroom instruction as long as their teachers are still proctoring testing. Second, because many students require testing accommodations, most specialist teachers and many teachers in the other grades are involved in proctoring the tests, thus impacting the non-tested students. (There is no provision for any funding for schools for extra staffing in order to complete the testing and, in fact, there is a prohibition on having anyone other than school department employees do the testing. It would be possible to hire substitute teachers to work with students who are not testing in order to have their teachers help with proctoring, but aside from the extra expense that's not the same as regular classroom instruction.) Finally, in most cases, the school schedule is significantly affected by scheduling time for testing, in order to schedule the testing at the best time of day and give students the best opportunity to do well on the tests. That affects the quality of instruction for students in the whole school, both tested and non-tested students. In our school, with only two grades (4th and 5th) testing generally took 10 school days per year, not including time for make-up testing or any test preparation or any district or school level testing. (Ten school days per year amounts to 5.5% of the school year. ) The problem is worse in schools with more grade levels involved in testing. Last year, I looked at the spring testing schedule in another local middle school and counted 29 days on which the school schedule and instruction were impacted by testing. (29 days is 16% of the school year.)<br />
<br />
As far as I can tell, the current proposal for a 2% limit on testing time will simply create another paperwork headache for principals, who will be required to calculate testing time, undoubtedly either simply using the stated time of 45 minutes/test session or with another 20 pages or so of instructions on how to calculate the actual time when students take anywhere from 1-3 hours per test session, and then will be required to notify parents and file an "action plan" if testing exceeds the limit.<br />
<br />
What a great idea (NOT)!!! Has anybody considered the alternative of allowing schools and districts to determine the amount and type of testing needed to provide sufficient information on student progress and achievement and report out that information to their communities???? Or, rather than enacting yet another supposed "quick fix" that will cause more problems that it solves, taking the time to review the impact of the legislation and regulations that already exist and developing a more appropriate long-term solution?Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-22658234997603518082015-08-03T12:10:00.001-07:002015-08-03T12:10:55.130-07:00Rethinking Equity?A couple of weeks ago at a concert I met an enthusiastic 7th grade trombonist. During the intermission, our conversation moved beyond the excellent brass quintet we were listening to and his playing experience, and he began telling me about his school. He explained that at his middle school students are divided into three teams -- the A team, the B team, and the C team -- and that the A team was for the kids who do well in school, the B team was for regular kids who don't work as hard, and the C team was for the kids who have trouble. He had noticed that most of the kids in band are from the A team, but he wasn't sure why. He also said that he mostly just knew kids on his team, and that he didn't see the others much.<br />
<br />
He was enthusiastic and involved in his school and in band, and I didn't want to say anything to diminish that enthusiasm, so I just listened, but I found it easy to imagine the increasing stratification and inequity in his school. As I listened to his description, it seemed to me that two different trends were converging to cause what I might call a "flight from equity" in this school. <br />
<br />
One trend is the proliferation of charter schools, and the tendency of charter schools to avoid students who are difficult to educate, whether that is because of learning disabilities, language issues, or behavioral concerns. In this student's town there is a charter school whose name implies that only top students should apply (the "Advanced Math and Science Academy"). Most recently, according to the state department of education statistics (2014-15), this charter school has 0.1% English language learners (compared to 16.4% for the public schools in the same town), 3.6% students with disabilities (compared to 19.0% for the public schools), 9.6% "high needs" students (compared to 49.5% for the public schools), and 6.1% economically disadvantaged (compared to 25.2% for the public schools). This charter school is obviously not working with the same population of students as the public schools, and I have heard from parents whose children attend this school that they like it because the school attracts "serious students" and does not have many students who are "behavior problems." Meanwhile, of course, the student population of the town schools has become more heavily weighted toward students who do have learning or other difficulties, making it more difficult to have balanced classes and to succeed with all students.<br />
<br />
Another trend is the increasing emphasis and consequences associated with standardized test scores. One of the negative results of this emphasis is the tendency of many schools to reinstate "tracking," in an attempt to tailor instruction to the needs of different groups of students, in order to more effectively increase test scores. Tracking is often supported by parents, particularly parents of high track students, who feel it will provide their children with advantages. Listening to this student's description of the different "teams" in his school, which sound very much like "tracks," it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the school has this structure at least in part in response to parental concerns about the needs of the "serious students," as well as in a (well-meaning but misguided) attempt to give each group of students teaching geared toward their particular needs. (As a former middle school principal with experience in scheduling, I wondered whether the students on the C team even could include band in their schedule or if their schedules were too full of remedial classes.) Unfortunately, as Carol Burris has demonstrated so persuasively in her recent book, <u>On the Same Track</u>, tracking like this just increases inequities and increases the achievement gap between different groups of students, because the lower tracks inevitably create a culture that inhibits learning. (She also noted the National Research Council conclusion that "students should not be educated in low-track classes due to the overwhelmingly negative research regarding them." (Burris, 2014)) It seems to me that this town is well on its way, thanks to charter school policies and the pressures created by the current testing mania, to separate schooling for the "haves" and the "have nots." Because of the charter school, the local students are split into two "tracks," one at the charter school, and one in the local public schools. Because of pressure created by testing policies and parents, then, within the local public schools, students are further separated into three tracks, thus increasing inequity. <br />
<br />
Burris noted, that supporters of school choice (such as charter schools) tend to think that a child's educational opportunity should depend on parental choices:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
". . . Parents make good choices or bad choices as to where their children are educated, and children live with the consequences. This is very different from the perspective that sees the providing of equality of opportunity for <i>all</i> students -- not only those in choice schools, but those left behind as well -- to be a public responsibility."</blockquote>
<br />
In my view, we should be responsible for all students and all students should have equal educational opportunities. The research demonstrating the deleterious effects of tracking is extensive, and a system that tracks between schools (charter school and local public schools) and then again within the public schools is only exacerbating the problem of the achievement gap and making it impossible to succeed with all students.<br />
<br />
If you haven't, read Carol Burris's book -- <u>On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the Twenty-First-Century Struggle Against Resegregation</u> (Boston: Beacon Press, 2014). I hope that many people will read it and join the fight to provide excellent and equal educational opportunities for all our children.<br />
<br />
<br />Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-67926362712770042982015-06-23T13:57:00.000-07:002015-06-23T13:58:16.947-07:00Who's Grading Those Standardized Tests Anyway?Ever wonder who actually grades kids' essays on standardized tests like the MCAS or the PARCC? If you care about education, you won't like the answer.<br />
<br />
Check out this recent <u>New York Times</u> article on the topic -- <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/us/grading-the-common-core-no-teaching-experience-required.html?referrer=&_r=2">http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/us/grading-the-common-core-no-teaching-experience-required.html?referrer=&_r=2</a><br />
<br />
And also this blog post about the article -- <a href="http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/06/mcgrading-mctest.html">http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2015/06/mcgrading-mctest.html</a><br />
<br />
Even better, take the time to read Todd Farley's book, <u>Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry</u> about his experiences as a grader for these tests. It's an interesting, if depressing, read -- and explains well how following a formula produces good scores and actual understanding and thoughtfulness may not.<br />
<br />
<br />Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-67848229309097911882015-02-24T11:54:00.001-08:002015-02-24T11:59:04.150-08:00Personal Learning vs. Personalized LearningA great blog post in "The Answer Sheet," written by Alfie Kohn, about some of the "learning" materials being foisted on schools --<br />
<br />
Here's the beginning of it, explaining the difference between "personal learning" and "personal<u><i>ized</i></u> learning" --<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em>"Personal</em> learning entails working with each child to create
projects of intellectual discovery that reflect his or her unique needs
and interests. It requires the presence of a caring teacher who knows
each child well.<br />
<br />
Personal<em>ized</em> learning entails adjusting
the difficulty level of prefabricated skills-based exercises based on
students’ test scores. It requires the purchase of software from one
of those companies that can afford full-page ads in <em>Education Week</em>."</blockquote>
To read the rest of it, click here -- <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/24/four-reasons-to-seriously-worry-about-personalized-learning">http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/24/four-reasons-to-seriously-worry-about-personalized-learning</a>/<br />
<br />
Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-40828495471749801132015-02-21T13:39:00.002-08:002015-02-21T13:39:16.837-08:00Excellent New Book About TestingI've just finished reading a new book about testing -- <u>The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing -- But You Don't Have To Be</u>, by Anya Kamenetz. Although I would take issue with part of the book's title (schools and educators are having the testing mania foisted on them -- they are not naturally obsessed with testing), the book is well researched, interesting, and well worth reading. Kamanetz does an excellent job of demonstrating the harm caused to children and schools by the current obsession with standardized testing, and also includes an excellent and enlightening history of standardized testing. I was most surprised (and delighted), though, by the section of the book entitled "Measuring What Matters" in which Kamanetz describes four new trends in assessment; it made me feel there is hope for the future, and that it is possible that we may develop something better before the current trends destroy public education. She also includes an excellent final section for parents with strategies that can help them minimize the harm to their children. Anyway -- well worth reading, I think!Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-18791524363928194012014-12-03T06:40:00.003-08:002014-12-03T06:40:30.605-08:00What Is Really Needed in Education, Anyway?<br />
<br />
I recently finished reading Amanda Ripley's book, <u>The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way</u>, and it raised many questions about what is really going on in the world of education (or in education in the world!) and what really needs to happen. Ripley makes some good points, particularly about the vast differences in educational experiences in different states, different districts, and different schools in the United States. My experience as an educator is entirely within the top school districts in Massachusetts, so that's my vantage point about educational quality, but as a student I attended a small school in a small rural town in the Midwest and my experience as a student was very different from the experience I see students receiving in the MetroWest area west of Boston.<br />
<br />
The high school I attended was nowhere near the quality of the schools where I live now. On the end of course physics exam, which was a state-provided exam, the highest score in the school was 39% (yes, that was my score -- the next highest was, I think, 25%). Once, when I was a senior, our debate team traveled to one of the suburban Minneapolis schools for a meet; we were in an English classroom and on the board was evidence that the class was studying British writers (writers I'd never studied) at a depth of analysis and understanding that had never occurred to me. I went home and went to talk to my English teacher about the class (in my high school, my senior English class featured lessons on agreement of subject and verb, watching and writing about silent movies, and slowly reading books aloud in class). I showed my English teacher the information I had copied from the board in that suburban Minneapolis classroom and asked if we couldn't study some of these writers or if he could at least give me a reading list of what I should read to be better prepared for the next year when I would be at the university with the suburban Minneapolis students who had experienced this depth of teaching. His response was that the rest of the students in the class would not be able to do the work, and, no, he could not put together a reading list for me.<br />
<br />
More recently, for the past many years that I was a school principal in a good MetroWest school district, I consistently noticed that students moving in from out of state were almost always behind our students and needed help to catch up. There was often culture shock, as they absorbed the differences and tried to manage both the workload and the level of the work. I have also visited other schools in Massachusetts and seen gaps between what their students were doing and what our students were doing. Books such as Jonathan Kozol's <u>Savage Inequalities</u> have documented the disparities in a dramatic and powerful way.<br />
<br />
So, I am aware that Ripley's analysis of the vast differences in educational experiences and quality of schools is accurate. I also think that her recommendations relating to improving teacher education and creating a societal culture where everyone, including the kids, understands the importance of education are good. I do wish she had looked at some of the top American schools, though, such as the Massachusetts schools with which I am familiar, because without that the book does end up giving a limited picture of U.S. schools, and I fear that the book will play into the hands of those who think the solution is additional high-stakes testing, more top-down mandates and micromanagement, and more undermining of public schools and public school teachers.<br />
<br />
I think we can acknowledge the existence of the problem that Ripley identified -- that there are large differences in the quality of schools across our country, and that there are schools where student achievement is lower than it should be -- without coming to the conclusion that the problem is that teachers don't work hard enough or aren't good enough, and that the way to fix it is to remove teachers' job protections and pensions and generally make the teaching profession as unattractive as possible. How about. . . focusing on teacher education programs and making sure that they are excellent, providing additional support to schools that need it, eliminating the provision in federal law allowing our neediest students to be taught by new recruits with 5 weeks of training, providing teachers and schools with support and the autonomy to do their jobs well, and improving working conditions for teachers? I have frequently said that if I ever won the lottery (which I probably won't since I never play) I would love to use the money for an experiment -- find a school, any school, in need of help, NOT change the faculty, but provide them with small classes (preferably very small) and the time to plan and collaborate with each other (U.S. teachers spend much more time with students and have much less planning time than teachers in any of the high-performing nations) -- and I am willing to bet that you would just watch student achievement soar! <br />
<br />
Now -- what do you think will be the logical result of current approaches -- removing teacher job protections, cutting budgets so that teachers have to provide their own supplies, increasing class sizes, making teachers' jobs depend on how students do on the standardized testing (or worse, on "student growth percentiles" -- watch for another post on this topic), or even, as the Massachusetts education department recently suggested, making their licenses depend on that? Somehow, this list makes me think that the teaching profession will disappear, and that teaching will be done by kids just out of college, for a couple years while they're figuring out what they really want to do -- it does not make me think that teachers will somehow manage to work harder and/or that teaching will improve and lead students to higher achievement. What on earth are they (politicians, corporate financiers, education department personnel) thinking??<br />
<br />
For a particularly interesting article with solid, thoughtful suggestions, check out the November 2014 issue of <u>Kappan</u> -- suggesting (1) developing career ladders for educators, (2) increasing compensation to attract top talent, (3) changing how teachers' time is spent (fewer hours of class time & more time for preparation & collaboration), and (4) developing a professional model of peer-to-peer acccountability. I hope that those "in charge" will wake up and change direction before our government policies destroy public education.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-45326899585591150192014-11-18T05:56:00.001-08:002014-11-18T05:56:31.901-08:00Who Are the Rotten Apples?A wonderful response to that recent Time magazine cover, by an assistant principal in Virginia! Well worth reading!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://leading-by-example.blogspot.com/2014/11/dear-time-magazine.html?m=1">http://leading-by-example.blogspot.com/2014/11/dear-time-magazine.html?m=1</a><br />
<br />
<br />Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-90172067908286042602014-10-02T07:11:00.001-07:002014-10-02T07:11:51.528-07:00What Can We Do About Bullying?With the beginning of the school year, once again articles are appearing about bullying, as well as advice and programs for schools designed to help schools handle bullying and make a difference with kids (or, as my more cynical side thinks, designed to make money for the consultants offering the advice/program). However, as I've said many times, bullying is not a school problem -- that is, it is not caused by the school and is very difficult to deal with in schools in the absence of a wraparound, whole society effort to stop it.<br />
<br />
Where do kids learn to bully? I believe that they learn it from many different sources, including family, media, and other kids. Television shows model put-downs as humor, a form of bullying, all the time. Take some time to watch programs, and also commercials, through this lens, and you'll quickly see how much attention is given to put-downs, and that they are presented as humorous. I remember one ad, for some kind of take-home chicken, I think, that showed a father coming home with the meal for his family. The kids ran out, grabbed the food, ran back into the house with it, and ignored the father, who appeared to be sad and left out. The whole thing was supposed to be funny, and what message does it give about how to treat others when it shows someone being sad and excluded as humorous? I also remember hearing a student telling another about asking a girl out and then saying "NOT!" when she responded positively. The student telling the story thought it was funny, and I think we can remember where that model came from. AND -- this might be the most difficult to say, but it's also clear that kids learn from observing their parents. The parents who come into the school to demand that their child be placed in a particular classroom, or who confront a teacher about a child's grade, or who demand that a coach give their child more playing time, or who cut off other drivers on the road, or demand concessions from a clerk in a store -- all are clearly modeling for their kids that it's OK to bully others to get what you want.<br />
<br />
So one reason that schools have such a difficult time dealing with bullying is that kids are having it modeled for them, and shown as appropriate, in so many different arenas. Some kids are actually puzzled by the messages given to them by the school, because the messages are so different from what they are hearing elsewhere. Also -- and very important from a school point of view -- is that kids also learn, and learn very early and very well, that "tattling" is worse than bullying. All too frequently, a parent will call the school to let them know that his/her child is being bullied, but will ask that the school not take any action for fear of repercussions. This scenario always frustrated me tremendously, because obviously this code of silence makes the environment safe for the bullies, while if the code were the reverse, and telling was the default, the environment would be safe for everyone else and not for the bullies. Many people whom I have talked to about this feel that if kids didn't learn not to tattle parents and teachers would be driven crazy by all the "telling on" that would happen, but I feel strongly that by teaching kids not to "tell," we are sending messages that rules and expected behavior don't really count and that what's important is to protect those who hurt others. <br />
<br />
So what would I suggest to end bullying? I would suggest a two-fold approach, but not just in schools -- if we could all join in two efforts, I think it would make a big difference, not just for kids but for everyone. First, of course, adults need to stop bullying and treat each other respectfully, in driving, to store clerks, to those we work with, to teachers and administrators, to everyone, and model this for their kids. Second, we need to stop teaching kids not to "tattle." I would suggest that when a child comes to complain -- e.g., "She's throwing sand at us" -- instead of telling the child not to tattle, we confirm the child's feeling about the event -- "You're right -- she should not be doing that" -- and then say, "Can you handle it yourself or do you need my help?" After that, there are three possibilities: (1) the child says he can handle it; (2) the parent can coach the child on how to handle it ("What if you tell her you don't like it and ask her to stop? And if she doesn't, let me know and I'll help"); or (3) if the child really needs help, the parent can intervene in the situation. That way, the child is learning appropriate assertiveness skills, as well as having it confirmed that another person should not be doing something hurtful and that it's appropriate to get help if the person ignores requests to stop. Imagine for a minute that we all took this approach -- I think it would, over time, change our world to one in which people were more likely to treat each other with respect, and thus would be a better environment for all of us.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4799694573673103533.post-89044865304575735002014-08-06T15:29:00.002-07:002014-08-06T15:29:48.683-07:00Testing Decisions Hurt Real ChildrenI thought I'd start this blog by repeating a post that I wrote and published on my previous blog last November, because it sets out the bottom line of why I care so deeply about working to stop the corporate-style "reform" being imposed on our public schools -- the actions being taken in the name of "reform" hurt real people -- real children and families.<br />
<br />
The following is a post from last November regarding all the hoopla around MCAS scores and the way in which emphasis on standardized testing hurts children and families -- <br />
<br />
I was working today on analyzing our MCAS results from last spring
and decided, just for the fun of it, to see how many of our students
would have been considered to be "advanced" and "proficient" if the "cut
scores" for the 4th and 5th grade tests were chosen in the same way as
the cut scores for the 10th grade tests. ("Cut scores" are the scores
which indicate the division between two categories -- for example,
between "proficient" and "needs improvement.") The results were very
interesting -- had our scores been calculated in the same manner as the
10th grade scores, 97% of our students, in both 4th and 5th grade, would
have been considered "advanced and proficient" on the ELA tests, and
100% of 4th graders and 94% of 5th graders would have been considered
"advanced and proficient" on the math tests. Since that's not how the
scores for the grades below 10th grade are calculated, though, our
actual percentages, while good, were quite a bit below that.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile,
I was talking with teachers today who were worried about a particular
student, who is stressed and anxious because of his parents' concern
about his MCAS scores. We have many of those students, and many parents
who are concerned about the scores. In some cases, worry about these
scores and worry about how their child is doing can cause parents to
lose sight of many more important qualities that their child has --
perhaps she is creative, a great thinker, kind to others; perhaps he is a
good practical problem-solver, skilled in getting along with others,
with many passionate interests -- and focus so much on the scores that
the child begins to feel that he/she isn't good enough and becomes
stressed and anxious about school and about the tests.<br />
<br />
This makes me angry. Where the performance categories on the tests are set is a <i>decision</i>, possibly a political decision, but certainly a <i>decision</i>,
by someone, for some purpose. Perhaps the scores at the lower grades
are set on the low end to encourage schools and students to strive for
higher performance. Perhaps they are set on the low end to create the
perception that schools are failing. Perhaps they are set on the low
end because the people who set them genuinely believe that they know
what 4th or 5th graders <i>should</i> be able to do. Whatever the
purpose, where the scores are set is a decision. As stated by Lesley
Professor William T. Stokes in his article entitled "Inside the MCAS: A
Close Reading of the Fourth Grade Language Arts Test for Massachusetts,"<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>.
. . The reader may wonder at the logic of this system. Why, it might
be asked, are the raw score groupings unequal in number? The fact is
that the conversion between raw scores and standard scores was decided
by a committee of designers, consultants, and policy makers. It was
decided. It was not a matter of necessity; there is nothing intrinsic
to the test that requires this particular conversion. . . The reason
this matters is that performance levels are reported in all the media in
relation to standard scores. To obtain a score of 240 will place the
student at the threshold of the "proficient" level. Thus, it makes a
very great difference whether a raw score of 35 or 40 or 47 gets the
student to that threshold. . . It is not my purpose here to examine the
political and institutional processes that governed these decisions, so
I'll leave these issues for another discussion. My concern now is to
help parents and teachers understand the relationship between the
reported performance of their youngsters and media presentations of
disappointing results. Suffice to say that if the decision had been
made to convert a raw score of 35 to a standard score of 240, then more
than half of all fourth graders in Massachusetts would have been judged
to be "proficient" or "advanced" -- and the public response to the tests
would have been very different indeed. . </i>."</blockquote>
<br />
And,
as I noted earlier, if the 10th grade cut score levels were applied to
the 4th and 5th grade tests, then 97% of our students, in both 4th and
5th grade, would have been
considered "advanced and proficient" on the ELA tests, and 100% of 4th
graders and 94% of 5th graders would have been considered "advanced and
proficient" on the math tests. For whatever reasons, the decision was
made not to do that. <br />
<br />
There may or may not be
well-intentioned reasons for that decision in the political or
institutional realm. But the decision hurts real children and families,
and that makes me angry.Linda Murdockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04167305841603759769noreply@blogger.com0