Tabs, tabs and more tabs…

I said it late last week that’s how I keep up with topics that I want to cover as a blog article/post. I’ve now been using Mozilla’s Firefox for the better part of 2 years now, and I still find it far superior to anything Microsoft can churn out. I’ve heard good things about Flock and it’s adaptability to web 2.0 tools and such…but I’m a loyalist, and I love the theme that I have in firefox now. I’m sure I could use diigo to begin blog posts and just save them as draft copies, I’ve actually tried it, but didn’t care for it. I found it tedious to go back and double check facts from the source I was quoting or basing a post on.

I recently added a feed to my bloglines for Education Week. Joseph DiMartino shared in his commentary of April 23^rd what the great states of Rhode Island and New Hampshire are doing to assess their students. For my usual readers, you know what a HUGE proponent of authentic, standards based assessment I am over standardized testing. One of the reasons I love diigo so much is the highlighting capability it brings. I’ve not used any of the other tools out there, as again, I’m a loyalist. But as I was reading, if I was reading it off a newspaper, magazine or any other print media I would have probably run my highlighter dry. For example, in both New Hampshire and Rhode Island’s model for assessment

“The tasks generally fall into three categories—performance, portfolios, and projects—and are designed to encourage students to think and to solve problems through hands-on activities.”

Is this not what we want our students to be able to do? Think critically in real world situations? This reminds me of a post I read a while back, and I wished I would have saved it, of a Florida administrator mocking the FCAT test.

For any program like such one factor MUST remain constant. Support. Support from not only school level administration, but all the way up to the highest levels of the state’s Department of Education. Again, both New Hampshire and Rhode Island seems to have jumped on the right bandwagon, and are wanting to do this the right way.

“Teachers are trained to judge the quality of student work using rubrics or criteria, which they often help develop.”

Trained. What does this word imply? Professional Growth and Development of the instructors leading the class. This goes to the very essence of David Jake’s “The 10 Keys to Effective Professional Development“. These 2 states are making the professional development of their teachers a meaningful experience, that has a direct bearing in the classroom.

I personally think the most telling and important portion of Mr. DiMartino’s commentary is this:

“Like any substantial change in education, performance assessments face stiff resistance from powerful interest groups with a stake in the current system. These include the testing industry, school boards, teachers’ unions, and colleges and universities committed to traditional admissions requirements.”

Why is this important? I will make no mistakes about position on the unions (from NEA all the way down to the district level unions). Between them and the lobbying groups for the testing industry, they have a stranglehold on the creativity that could be in our classrooms. And what scares me is that most (I cannot honestly say all based on what I read about of Rhode Island and New Hampshire, plus the conversations that I’ve had with my very own principal) school boards and state DOE’s drink the kool-aid that is served to them.

I applaud these 2 states for going out on a limb and trying a model of assessment that will engage the students to show mastery of a topic. This type of program lends a level of ownership for the students and their education. Again, is that not what we want of our students? To become better thinkers when faced with a problem? Sometimes it scares me, but these students of ours are the future leaders of our World.

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Article Citation: (sorry for the length, but I did want to cite the source )

DiMartino, Joseph. “Accountability, or Mastery?.” Education Week April 23, 2007 24 April 2007 <http://www.edweek.org/ew/arfs6aticles/2007/04/25/34dimartino.h26.html?levelId=1000&rale2= KQE5d7nM%2FXAYPsVRXwnFWYRqIIX2bhy1%2BKNA5buLAWGoKt77XHI2terRpWBSgktL4bXgTCD silEK%0ApLhr8qJIllQWcfP2pr4jfwgdsXKTJyTh%2F9BFEakU7ZHII%2Fmu01CUEpLNhfZ%2FY5RTS AFMoROfwTsH%0AAsyDLJnT9czpjKHi7khQUPRB5iYdt8raVbF99llxJDrN7mXLd6ib88rEb65Q2g5M9 sAj1nhqBhwl%0Aj1pvtxgbG8UMgOitEFboRy8zQyHPF%2FiP2%2FJ7d%2BUx1McEL049NbwfzwGLCo% 2BXBn%2FILJyqNlGRyCP5%0ArtNQlGankiYM9xDf5wg%2Bh471YpdnzNXzjUKWQzgoDdb3zvNyojUQT EN4w56HNxXcKkPjUYAm4k4d%0ARBOTFFV%2B3wmPzirk%2BKpqSaJ2hzRyBuIK356xVuhHLzNDIc% 2Bl%2FY%2Fi6FDanzssq13OQiEKYjwAx%2Bvh%0AarjqEZv%2F%2BQnhgJ%2B1puBcZ6CexT78LVpyMx 5iPADH6%2BFquOoRm%2F%2F5CeGAXYcbGpJt8l64F5Q1xRzY%0A9VSNswRmVgVjVuhHLzNDIc%2F9 GyTi0siB6Br109eMMuciqvh%2BdTr6Mdk9ARjXgYeWNk7H45orVMvZ%0AP5H4AxX66tSCX4aZnyM9q plEsxlH81%2B%2FbBue46JCdHCuWLKfY8VeoP0bJOLSyIHoGvXT14wy5yKM%0AeMX3oyBaGL8AQIilA OxmA2XNaievBmNwLs1WcFcS%2FOibV%2FVbhQe%2BJwMx%2FHEW20UYfvY8owwmGhKL%0A4z%2 BpgU838wHntoc2DUvTZwb82BzP0o0eo3b9IPbiUrbPGbcsWiMFxRpSrF0FdRUcIIDToWPxUifG%0Ar7m5 0R39iLKjqbYFP0mNtuhS6PjF7hF%2FU92hkxVU9kZjm2Ckbh18zyIyb%2FoCVjFwW0UenQ8d8ced%0AR HlgnRol%2FvzbArJXLBA1Q0JlwDyTv%2B7d%2B%2FdzhByfc%2FiYMBKxUqId3%2B4EizghOfc6fhKIu9Q RbHpT%0AMcGb0kyJZsBklcA8J6nIt3pzpOaSdJzt>.