For the last two months I have been working on one blog post. I had this hook about how I had always wanted to be an archaeologist..... you know, digging up great finds. And how I still get to realize this dream - I still get to dig. But all it is, well, is dirt.
The whole post was about Lexiles, SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory), CCSS, and the questionable connections and flimsy research between them. I worked very hard on this post. It had tons of charts, research citations..... it was pretty good if I do say so myself. I had saved it and was waiting to post it. I kept thinking it wasn't quite ready..... I needed to add a little bit more to make it just right.
About two weeks ago I logged in to add the finishing touches and finally post the blog entry. When I logged in and took a look, over 75% of the post was GONE. Vanished into cyberspace. At first I didn't believe it. I thought I needed to click somewhere, or maybe the scroll feature was malfunctioning. But no, it was just GONE.
W.T.F.
I have been away from blogging for quite some time, and even when I was blogging, it wasn't all that often. This kind of crap doesn't make it any easier.
Ugh.
I will try to get re-motivated.....
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Musings from "The Flats"
My district is unofficially divided into "The Hills" and "The Flats." As one might imagine, The Hills are where the more affluent homes are found, and The Flats are where the areas of poverty lie. I have worked in the same school in The Flats for 26 years. I love it and would never work anywhere else.
You would think after 26 years I would be used to it, but I am still not used to colleagues, my fellow teachers, talking trash about The Flat schools. For some reason, many of these teachers actually think they are better than those of us who teach in The Flats. Obviously, that is laughable.
Yet I am still blown away by what people say. I suppose this comes with the territory.... something we in The Flats must accept. But I must also remember, many of those same people wouldn't last a week in The Flats. It's a tough gig at times. So many teachers have left my school because they haven't felt successful. They literally "run for the hills." And of course they are more successful. Who wouldn't be?
A quick look at the research shows turnover is high in schools like mine all over the country. Many teachers do not stay in high poverty schools very long. Maybe it's because they don't have what it takes? I know I didn't have it when I first started. And it is something I am always working to improve.
After all this time, I haven't learned to speak up when the digs happen. I am still shocked by it. I am still left speechless by the rude comments - the comments that insinuate or flat-out state that my wonderful school isn't as good. The hell it isn't. My school is awesome. And so are the teachers.
You would think after 26 years I would be used to it, but I am still not used to colleagues, my fellow teachers, talking trash about The Flat schools. For some reason, many of these teachers actually think they are better than those of us who teach in The Flats. Obviously, that is laughable.
Yet I am still blown away by what people say. I suppose this comes with the territory.... something we in The Flats must accept. But I must also remember, many of those same people wouldn't last a week in The Flats. It's a tough gig at times. So many teachers have left my school because they haven't felt successful. They literally "run for the hills." And of course they are more successful. Who wouldn't be?
A quick look at the research shows turnover is high in schools like mine all over the country. Many teachers do not stay in high poverty schools very long. Maybe it's because they don't have what it takes? I know I didn't have it when I first started. And it is something I am always working to improve.
After all this time, I haven't learned to speak up when the digs happen. I am still shocked by it. I am still left speechless by the rude comments - the comments that insinuate or flat-out state that my wonderful school isn't as good. The hell it isn't. My school is awesome. And so are the teachers.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Vigor vs. Rigor
Over the weekend I joined the "Badass Teachers Association" on Facebook. This page was started Friday night. It is now Thursday, and the group has over 7,700 members. It is clear from what I have seen thus far that teachers are fed up and, at least this group is, ready to take back their profession.
Someone in the group posted about the frustration with buzzwords such as "rigor." Later on in the thread, another member wrote about how she tells folks she prefers "vigor." As I thought about that, a few posts down, someone posted a link to the definition of rigor. So I clicked on it. Here is how rigor is defined according to Merriam-Webster:
rig•or noun
1 a (1): harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgement: severity (2): the quality of being unyielding or inflexible: strictness (3): severity of life: austerity
b: an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty
2: a tremor caused by a chill
3: a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable; especially : extremity of cold
4: strict precision : exactness
5 a obsolete: rigidity, stiffness
b: rigidness or torpor of organs or tissue that prevents response to stimuli
c: rigor mortis
Wow. Really? Goodness! I don't know about you, but this sure as heck is NOT how I would like anyone to describe my classroom! So of course, this led me to look up vigor:
vig•or noun
1: active bodily or mental strength or force
2: active healthy well-balanced growth especially of plants
3: intensity of action or effect: force
4: effective legal status
Now that's more like it! My next move was to Google rigor vs. vigor. Apparently many others in education have thought of this one before. Blogger Joe Bower asks us to consider the synonyms for both words. For rigor, we have inflexibility, stringency, cruelty, and pain. For vigor, we have drive, strength, force, flourish, and vitality. Clearly we want our classrooms to reflect a vigorous curriculum rather than a rigorous one. Don't we?
Joanne Yatvin wrote on this subject, and it was published in Valerie Strauss' The Answer Sheet in The Washington Post. Joanne Yatvin is one of my heroes. She was a member of the National Reading Panel in 1998 - the only teacher. Dissatisfied with the rushed process and narrow definitions of literacy, she wrote a minority report expressing her concerns. (Her story is told in the book Silent No More: Voices of Courage in American Schools.) I cannot help but wonder if her story mirrors the acceptance of the word "rigor" to describe a goal we would like to achieve for our students. Did this start somewhere in a small room with a group of policy makers trying to decide on the next silver bullet in education? Or maybe a typo was made somewhere along the line? Maybe the original word was vigor, and the policy makers were too embarrassed to admit the error?
In reading further, I found an article from 2008 by Tony Wagner in ASCD's Educational Leadership. "Rigor Redefined" summarizes Wagner's seven survival skills - what people require in the new world of work. These skills are:
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination
Of course these are not the skills emphasized in schools today. Test prep is where it's at. And this is where the change needs to occur. A rigorous education, according to Wager, encompasses the skills listed above. But it seems somewhere along the way, "rigor" has come to simply mean harder and more difficult, in larger quantities.
Now, could this be because too many people associate academic rigor with the actual meaning of the word rigor? I mean, that makes sense, doesn't it? Why do education theorists and policy makers choose terminology that does not accurately describe what we want to achieve in education? WHY? I still think it was supposed to be vigor. Someone somewhere should be fired for this one. Because, unfortunately, something that started out as a good thing for students and teachers has been disfigured and warped and convoluted to the point where the term "rigor" only brings about eye-rolling and heavy sighs from educators. And that is a shame. The intent was good.
Which brings me back to the Badass Teachers Association. As this group continues to grow by the second, so does its power. Maybe we will be able to come together as a cohesive unit and exercise some of that power. Maybe even change "rigor" to "vigor." You know, so we say-what-we-mean and mean-what-we-say. So we are at least in agreement with the dictionary for crying out loud!
Someone in the group posted about the frustration with buzzwords such as "rigor." Later on in the thread, another member wrote about how she tells folks she prefers "vigor." As I thought about that, a few posts down, someone posted a link to the definition of rigor. So I clicked on it. Here is how rigor is defined according to Merriam-Webster:
rig•or noun
1 a (1): harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgement: severity (2): the quality of being unyielding or inflexible: strictness (3): severity of life: austerity
b: an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty
2: a tremor caused by a chill
3: a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable; especially : extremity of cold
4: strict precision : exactness
5 a obsolete: rigidity, stiffness
b: rigidness or torpor of organs or tissue that prevents response to stimuli
c: rigor mortis
Wow. Really? Goodness! I don't know about you, but this sure as heck is NOT how I would like anyone to describe my classroom! So of course, this led me to look up vigor:
vig•or noun
1: active bodily or mental strength or force
2: active healthy well-balanced growth especially of plants
3: intensity of action or effect: force
4: effective legal status
Now that's more like it! My next move was to Google rigor vs. vigor. Apparently many others in education have thought of this one before. Blogger Joe Bower asks us to consider the synonyms for both words. For rigor, we have inflexibility, stringency, cruelty, and pain. For vigor, we have drive, strength, force, flourish, and vitality. Clearly we want our classrooms to reflect a vigorous curriculum rather than a rigorous one. Don't we?
Joanne Yatvin wrote on this subject, and it was published in Valerie Strauss' The Answer Sheet in The Washington Post. Joanne Yatvin is one of my heroes. She was a member of the National Reading Panel in 1998 - the only teacher. Dissatisfied with the rushed process and narrow definitions of literacy, she wrote a minority report expressing her concerns. (Her story is told in the book Silent No More: Voices of Courage in American Schools.) I cannot help but wonder if her story mirrors the acceptance of the word "rigor" to describe a goal we would like to achieve for our students. Did this start somewhere in a small room with a group of policy makers trying to decide on the next silver bullet in education? Or maybe a typo was made somewhere along the line? Maybe the original word was vigor, and the policy makers were too embarrassed to admit the error?
In reading further, I found an article from 2008 by Tony Wagner in ASCD's Educational Leadership. "Rigor Redefined" summarizes Wagner's seven survival skills - what people require in the new world of work. These skills are:
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination
Of course these are not the skills emphasized in schools today. Test prep is where it's at. And this is where the change needs to occur. A rigorous education, according to Wager, encompasses the skills listed above. But it seems somewhere along the way, "rigor" has come to simply mean harder and more difficult, in larger quantities.
Now, could this be because too many people associate academic rigor with the actual meaning of the word rigor? I mean, that makes sense, doesn't it? Why do education theorists and policy makers choose terminology that does not accurately describe what we want to achieve in education? WHY? I still think it was supposed to be vigor. Someone somewhere should be fired for this one. Because, unfortunately, something that started out as a good thing for students and teachers has been disfigured and warped and convoluted to the point where the term "rigor" only brings about eye-rolling and heavy sighs from educators. And that is a shame. The intent was good.
Which brings me back to the Badass Teachers Association. As this group continues to grow by the second, so does its power. Maybe we will be able to come together as a cohesive unit and exercise some of that power. Maybe even change "rigor" to "vigor." You know, so we say-what-we-mean and mean-what-we-say. So we are at least in agreement with the dictionary for crying out loud!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Hey, They're Not MY Kids.......
As we start the Back to School frenzy, I am seeing more and more posts on Facebook and in blogs about the frustrations this time of year brings - from parents and teachers alike. But two topics were especially, well, let's say..... agitating.
Let's start with school supplies. Yes, I work in public education, which is free for your child. But here's the thing - I don't know if you've heard, but there is a MAJOR budget crisis. And by major, I mean your kids are losing days off of their education. They are losing learning opportunities. And yeah, guess what? Your kid's school cannot afford all of the supplies like it used to. And if you live in California there is more doom and gloom to come. If the governor's bill doesn't pass, public education will be raped and pillaged like never before. Knowing how ridiculous and short-sighted voters can be, I am getting ready for the worst. So yeah, we teachers are asking for donations. DONATIONS. You are not required to send in anything. So quit complaining already. I am sick of it. (PS - If it doesn't get donated, guess who buys it? THE TEACHER!!!!!)
Moving on to teachers requesting volunteers..... This one is odd for me. I will be starting my 24th year at a Title I school this week. I have rarely had volunteers to help me with anything. It's not their fault - they are usually working at least one full time job if not more and do not have the time. I totally get that. When I do get volunteers, they usually start off strong, but have to quit for one reason or another. So I have stopped asking. But guess what? That means I do not have time to do a lot of the wonderful engaging and enriching activities that should occur in school. You know why? Because I HAVE A FAMILY TOO. I have a life. I spent the first ten-plus years of my career not having a life - it was all about other people's kids. And even now, I still spend WAY too much of my own time on other people's kids. Now don't get me wrong. I love my job, and I love teaching. But most people have NO CLUE how much time and energy it takes to run a classroom effectively. All of the planning and prep happens before and after school, when your children are gone. We cannot plan or prepare while your kids are in class. We are busy teaching them. So again, if a teacher asks for your help, you are not required to do so. But don't get pissed off when your child's education isn't all you hoped it would be. Your child's teacher has her own family to take care of. Her students are NOT her children. They are yours.
Let's start with school supplies. Yes, I work in public education, which is free for your child. But here's the thing - I don't know if you've heard, but there is a MAJOR budget crisis. And by major, I mean your kids are losing days off of their education. They are losing learning opportunities. And yeah, guess what? Your kid's school cannot afford all of the supplies like it used to. And if you live in California there is more doom and gloom to come. If the governor's bill doesn't pass, public education will be raped and pillaged like never before. Knowing how ridiculous and short-sighted voters can be, I am getting ready for the worst. So yeah, we teachers are asking for donations. DONATIONS. You are not required to send in anything. So quit complaining already. I am sick of it. (PS - If it doesn't get donated, guess who buys it? THE TEACHER!!!!!)
Moving on to teachers requesting volunteers..... This one is odd for me. I will be starting my 24th year at a Title I school this week. I have rarely had volunteers to help me with anything. It's not their fault - they are usually working at least one full time job if not more and do not have the time. I totally get that. When I do get volunteers, they usually start off strong, but have to quit for one reason or another. So I have stopped asking. But guess what? That means I do not have time to do a lot of the wonderful engaging and enriching activities that should occur in school. You know why? Because I HAVE A FAMILY TOO. I have a life. I spent the first ten-plus years of my career not having a life - it was all about other people's kids. And even now, I still spend WAY too much of my own time on other people's kids. Now don't get me wrong. I love my job, and I love teaching. But most people have NO CLUE how much time and energy it takes to run a classroom effectively. All of the planning and prep happens before and after school, when your children are gone. We cannot plan or prepare while your kids are in class. We are busy teaching them. So again, if a teacher asks for your help, you are not required to do so. But don't get pissed off when your child's education isn't all you hoped it would be. Your child's teacher has her own family to take care of. Her students are NOT her children. They are yours.
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Bag of Good Intentions
I don't know about y'all, but I brought home a ton of work to do over the summer. The bag of good intentions. Although this summer, it's more like BAGS! Ugh. There it sits - I can see it all from here - piled up in the corner of the office. Haunting me.
At the beginning of the summer I thought, "I am going to get everything done right away so I don't have it hanging over my head." Ha! I haven't touched it.
I wrote a while back about NOT bringing anything home, and the guilt I felt. But this is worse - knowing you have all of this work to do and not wanting to touch it. But if you don't, you will regret it. It will slap you in the face come late August. 'Cuz one way or another it all needs to get done.
But I so value the time over the summer. It is essential - teaching is such a high-stress job. You must have the time to decompress or you will explode. Implode? I dunno. Some type of explosion will occur. As always, it's a question of balance. Finding the right balance so you can manage your life and have time for everything. Impossible. At least it usually seems that way.
So, do you have a bag of good intentions sitting untouched in your house this summer? And if you have touched it, I don't want to hear about it. I feel bad enough as it is. ;->
At the beginning of the summer I thought, "I am going to get everything done right away so I don't have it hanging over my head." Ha! I haven't touched it.
I wrote a while back about NOT bringing anything home, and the guilt I felt. But this is worse - knowing you have all of this work to do and not wanting to touch it. But if you don't, you will regret it. It will slap you in the face come late August. 'Cuz one way or another it all needs to get done.
But I so value the time over the summer. It is essential - teaching is such a high-stress job. You must have the time to decompress or you will explode. Implode? I dunno. Some type of explosion will occur. As always, it's a question of balance. Finding the right balance so you can manage your life and have time for everything. Impossible. At least it usually seems that way.
So, do you have a bag of good intentions sitting untouched in your house this summer? And if you have touched it, I don't want to hear about it. I feel bad enough as it is. ;->
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Testing..... Week Two......
Week two was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that my classroom was a disgusting cesspool of germs. The seven dwarfs were alive and well in my classroom: Sneezy, Hacky, Coughy, Phlegmy, Snotty, Drippy, and Wheezy. Good times. I had a sore throat the whole damned weekend. Those parents did their duty - send those kiddos to school come hell or high water!
Once again, I was discouraged by the tests - both the types of questions and the number of questions. So many trick questions. So much developmentally inappropriate content. Such a colossal waste of time. Do these tests tell me what my kids have learned? HELL NO. Poor kids. Six days of this crap. They were SO DONE.
Scores will come out in the summer, and when we return in the fall we will have the dreaded meeting where we go over how we did. I have gotten used to the annual humiliation. And I deal with it much better. Last year I started keeping track of a variety of assessment results - both standardized and assessments that are actually meaningful. My kids show growth on all of them, except for one. District benchmarks and CSTs. Well, they show improvement from Benchmark 1 to Benchmark 2. This is supposed to be an indicator of how the kids will do on the CSTs. It never is. *sigh* But I take heart in knowing that my kids have made growth. I take heart in my kids who started the year at the pre-primer level and are now reading at the beginning second grade level. What an accomplishment! But those kids will still score Below Basic on the CSTs. Yeah. Those tests don't mean jack......
Once again, I was discouraged by the tests - both the types of questions and the number of questions. So many trick questions. So much developmentally inappropriate content. Such a colossal waste of time. Do these tests tell me what my kids have learned? HELL NO. Poor kids. Six days of this crap. They were SO DONE.
Scores will come out in the summer, and when we return in the fall we will have the dreaded meeting where we go over how we did. I have gotten used to the annual humiliation. And I deal with it much better. Last year I started keeping track of a variety of assessment results - both standardized and assessments that are actually meaningful. My kids show growth on all of them, except for one. District benchmarks and CSTs. Well, they show improvement from Benchmark 1 to Benchmark 2. This is supposed to be an indicator of how the kids will do on the CSTs. It never is. *sigh* But I take heart in knowing that my kids have made growth. I take heart in my kids who started the year at the pre-primer level and are now reading at the beginning second grade level. What an accomplishment! But those kids will still score Below Basic on the CSTs. Yeah. Those tests don't mean jack......
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