Why Test Scores Don't Mean Jack...... Cristina's Story

State test scores became available to us this week.  I always get mixed feelings - my kids work SO HARD on the CSTs (California Standards Test) every year, and I always think, "They are going to do well.  They worked so hard and really tried.  They knew the information.  This is the year."  Every year I get my hopes up.  Then my hopes come crashing down when I see the results.  It is a mixed bag - the scores range from amazing to holy-crap-how-did-that-happen?  But this year what stands out for me is one story - the story of Cristina.

Cristina is an English learner who was in my class for two years.  She came to my class at the beginning of her third grade year.  The following year I had a third and fourth grade combination class, and she was one of the many students I looped.  What a gift!

I conduct IRIs (Individualized Reading Inventory) with every one of my students three times throughout the year.  I have done this for as long as I can remember, but it became especially important when NCLB and high stakes testing really kicked into gear.  (More on that later.)  Two years ago, Cristina, along with a few other students, could not pass the pre-primer IRI.  Further assessment revealed she had major gaps in her reading skills in all areas, but especially decoding/phonics.  After parent-teacher conferences, it was clear why.  Cristina had missed a great deal of school her first few years.  I had my work cut out for me.

By the end of her third grade year, Cristina passed the pre-primer, primer, and first grade IRIs.  She also improved in all of the other assessments that I use to assess reading skills.  I was so proud of her!  When she returned for fourth grade, she was the only one of my "loopers" who showed increased reading scores over the summer.  She told me, "My mom worked really hard with me."  It showed.  (Even more impressive?  Her mother is a beginning English learner herself.)  Cristina was still at the first grade level, but had increases in her accuracy, comprehension, and fluency.  Yet the second grade IRI was just out of her grasp.  Still lots of work to do.

By the end of her fourth grade year, Cristina passed the third grade IRI with flying colors.  Her scores on all other assessments had increased as well.  She had made phenomenal growth over the past two years - she moved up five levels!  Again, I was so proud of her.  In addition, over the course of the two years Cristina went from a Beginning level EL to an Intermediate, bypassing the Early Intermediate level completely.

That brings us to the CSTs.  Cristina's third grade ELA score earned her a "Below Basic" rating.  Not surprising.  In fourth grade, she scored one point higher than the previous year, but due to increased cut-offs, she is now labeled "Far Below Basic."  Heart-breaking.

If Cristina is to be judged solely by these numbers, one might think a host of things.  Maybe she has a learning disability?  Maybe she doesn't try?  Maybe she doesn't have support at home?  Of course, all of these assumptions are false.  This kid works her tail off and gives her best every single day, and so does her mother.  How else could she have made such amazing growth?

Is it fair that I be judged by these numbers?  Of course not.  This is the problem with high stakes testing - it tells you NOTHING about what students know, or what teachers have done.  It tells you nothing about how far students have come.  These numbers tell you nothing about my instruction as a teacher.  These numbers tell nothing about all of the small group instruction and interventions this child received.  The numbers do not tell how hard this kid has worked, or how hard I have worked.  This child made AMAZING growth.  But you would never know that from the test scores.  Test scores do not tell you each child's story.

If standardized testing is going to be a part of what we look at when assessing student and teacher performance, fine.  (Well, not really.)  But it sure as hell shouldn't be the only thing.  And it definitely does not deserve much weight.  Authentic measures, such as IRIs, are what is needed.  Measures that show growth.  Measures that paint a more accurate picture.  Measures that actually work to inform instruction.  Measures that mean something.  It is time for this madness to stop.  The Cristinas in our classrooms deserve better.  And so do we.

Teacher as Super Hero

Over the summer I read a wonderful book by Thomas Newkirk: Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones - Six Literacy Principles Worth Fighting For. In Chapter 8, "Finding A Language for Difficulty: Silencing Our Teacher Stories," Newkirk raises an interesting issue regarding how teachers are portrayed in popular culture.

Think about the following educators:

Jaime Escalante (Stand and Deliver.... Garfield High School)

Erin Gruwell (Freedom Writers)

Rafe Esquith (Author of There Are No Shortcuts and Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire)

Joe Clark (Lean on Me)

What do these educators have in common? While their stories are inspiring, what is the message they send not only to the public, but to teachers? Newkirk puts it this way, "In any situation, no matter how difficult, teachers can prevail through the purity of effort, through 'teaching harder.' Even when they are operating alone, in conditions of urban poverty." The teacher is portrayed as heroic, selfless, and larger than life.

I don't know about you, but I am torn by this issue. On the one hand, the stories are inspiring. But at the same time, I often feel like I don't measure up - I don't give enough of myself. Am I selfish if I do not give 110% to my students, neglect my family, and run myself ragged (Esquith and Escalante did this to the point of serious illness)? I must admit, I do feel inadequate when I compare myself to these superheroes.

Think back to what you read during your credential program. Did those texts prepare you for what you experience every day in your teaching? I know I wasn't prepared - not even close! Everything I read was about classrooms and lessons that worked, not what happens or what to do when things fall apart. Newkirk asks, "I wonder if we are not creating the role of 'superteacher,' one more ideal, one without cracks, that can create a sense of inadequacy. Are there silences in the narratives of our teaching? Are we telling everything? Do these consistently upbeat success stories capture the emotional underlife of teaching? I think not." These narratives leave out what Newkirk calls "the dark side of teaching." You know that side; the side that leaves the life sucked out of you at the end of some days, the side that makes you question why you chose teaching, the side that makes you worry if you are doing enough for your students, the side that makes you wonder if you are doing enough for your family - the dark side.

What are the answers to this? Newkirk has some suggestions:

1. Begin with the premise that difficulty, disappointment, resistance, and failures are inevitable in the profession of teaching. Success is dependent on not avoiding difficulty but finding a way to process it.

2. Break down the walls that create professional isolation. Teaching is one of the most isolating jobs out there. Interaction with our colleagues is essential - something Professional Learning Communities attempts to address.

3. Find ways to translate emotionally felt difficulties into something less personal, less emotional, less undermining.

4. Teachers need more opportunities to visit and learn from peers in order to demystify teaching and view someone other than themselves.

5. In order to achieve long term goals, we must focus on the small and immediate. (Al Pacino put it this way: "Forget the career and focus on the work.") As a culture, the large transformative stories are celebrated thanks to Hollywood. But "our pleasure in teaching must come from something smaller."

So what do you think about the portrayal of teachers in popular culture? How do these portrayals affect you and your work? Do you think we adequately prepare teachers for the "dark side" of teaching? If not, how can this be addressed? How can we come together as colleagues and tackle the issues raised by Newkirk?