Back to my current school’s plight though. A “D”. I should be upset. The principal and AP’s should be out and out disgusted. Right? Having come in just past the midpoint of the school year I’ve already taken ownership as being a part of the school. It’s a direct reflection. After speaking to the principal today, and sharing my many great ideas brought back from NECC, we have a vision of success. This much I know. I just wish the higher ups would take a look at what exactly we accomplished this past year and see that a “D” is not so bad. So here are some lowlights:

• After being targeted for about 700 students for the first day, well over 900 showed up for the first day of classes.
• 4 classrooms shared the cafeteria for a full month until enough portable classrooms could be installed to house them all.
• Some students during the year were moved around to at least 3 different teachers to ease class sizes.
• District personnell (non teachers) taught class for a month to help ease class sizes (Again, non teachers)
• Adequate numbers of books and support material were not delivered until at least the end of October.
• Principal and other office staff spent a full month straight staying at the school till 11pm to arrange new classrooms, unpack books and resources for new classrooms.
• End of year student population: approximately 1370
• Many out of field, non education based teachers brought in. Many were great teachers, some not.

And the big Highlight:

• We survived a tough situation with some areas of scoring higher than other schools that have been around for a while.

To me that is a success. It might not look like it on paper. The one commonality that each and every teacher after leaving at the end of the year stated was, “They were mentally and emotionally exhausted.” This is a normal teacher statement at the end of a year, but it was pasted to their faces.

I’ve no doubt that next year will be much better. We move into our new campus in mid-July. I received the first inventory of the hardware that’s been delivered to the warehouse. Some things that are on that list includes: 6 qwizdom response systems, 6 SMART boards, 1 SMART board for trainings, and a Macbook for the ITV lab (drools!). I’ve already in the works a couple of Free Dress days that will help pad the Tech Fund to purchase a couple of iPods for a podcast lab along with other equipment for digital storytelling.

I have no doubt that in a month’s time, things will be just a’ok on my campus.

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Technorati Tags: FCAT Assessment Florida schoolgrades

(Note to everyone here, I’ve been using diigo for the last few weeks for my blog posts. I’m really loving the fact that I don’t have to zoom back and forth to edublogs to start my writings. I’m also hoping that the highlighting of a portion of the blog entry the way that I want. So again, trying new things out that I’ve never done.)

So what the ‘goof’ has come down to are anchor questions? Who are we kidding here? Give me a computer with access to the internet, a copy of Google Earth, Audacity, my unitedstreaming account, photostory 3/windows movie maker/garageband/iMovie and I can show you a very nice anchored project that shows learning is taking place.

I’ll give an open invitation to the governor, state congress member/senator, or school board member to sit down and discuss testing, teaching for rigor, and the current ‘best practices’ in teaching that the pundits see as effective. Boy that would be an enlightening conversation.

As always, I’m…

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Here’s the article at Teacher Magazine. It is a free sign up when you get there if you are not already registered: Teacher Magazine: Schools Chief Calls for Less Testing

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Danielle A. over at tie4teachers talked about this the other day. One of her friends was lucky enough to be invited for this chat. Here’s hoping he ‘gets’ what the teachers are talking about. What I wouldn’t do to get invited to one of these sit downs.

I must say that one of the best things I’ve seen is the suggestion to Gov. Crist about changing the testing from Feb/Mar to the beginning of the year. My how that would change the atmosphere of the test in and of itself. I think as she put it…teachers would then be able to utilize the results for that year, and plan/teach accordingly.

I had my new toy, read: cellphone, with a camera with me on my trip to Walt Disney World this weekend. When it comes to Disney I’m what you would call a spoiled, little brat. It is now just under the midway point of the 2007 calendar year. Based on that, it’s been just about 17 years since I’ve had to pay to get into Disney. Ok yes, maybe I’m bragging just a bit here. That’s where I’m a bit spoiled. I worked there, I met my wife there, and now her father is still working there after almost 13 years. So when my mother in law made the comment as we were walking down Main Street USA that we had saved just about $400 dollars, and it was barely 9am. So again, I’m spoiled and blessed and I’m sure I take it for granted.
It was this picture that struck my fancy as I was leaving the park the other day. “Where dreams come true.” How much are we willing as adults to make our children’s dreams come true. I remember when I was courting my wife, we talked about how her parents would save up and every five years they would travel down here to Orlando as a family for a Disney Vacation. We’re talking billions and billions of dollars spent here in the attractions area annually. I won’t begin to mention the amount of foreign visitors contribute to this figure as well. Not really wanting to get into a discussion of the “Flat World” that we live in. Again, “Where dreams come true.” Parents are willing to do without, pinch corners here, save a bit there. All so their children’s “dreams come true.”

Why are we not doing this in the educational arena? Much has already been blogged about the NY Times article from last week. “Yet school officials here and in several other places said laptops had been abused by students, did not fit into lesson plans, and showed little, if any, measurable effect on grades and test scores at a time of increased pressure to meet state standards.” I’m sorry, but HOW exactly did they not fit into lesson plans? I’m sorry, but did the district do its part in training the teachers who would be using these tools in their daily lessons? I’m sorry, did the district instruct students and teachers on the care and use of the laptops other then, here’s an AUP, now sign it? These are all valid questions in my opinion.

“Where dreams come true.” Rather then let the Disney Corporation have this mantra, why are our schools not taking with this phrase and running with it? I’m a firm believer that college is NOT for everyone. For some of our students an alternative vocational education is the best that they will probably attain. This does not mean they are any less then the college grad. I know plenty of examples of people who have not graduated High School, yet went on to great achievements in business. “Where dreams come true.” Should we not as educators begin the process so dreams can come true? In this era of assessment and accountability, the goal of empowering our students I believe has been lost. It’s actually a funny little cycle when you think about it. States send out state mandates for testing, district administrators push it down to the principals who in turn preach accountability to the teachers.

Again, how are states, schools and districts alike meeting the needs of the teachers? Low technology budgets and professional development that involves ‘tried and true’ practices such as Kagan and CRISS strategies. All great concepts in their own rites, but the word needs to get out to the digital immigrants we call probably 75% to 80% of the instructional workforce. Using David Jakes’ professional development model would be a great start! For the most part I agree with all 10 of his keys to professional development.

All hope is not lost though, at least in Florida. Two years ago, they created the Florida Master Digital Educator program. They inducted their second cohort just this spring. Also, the county I’m in, and it’s neighbor partnered on the E2T2 grant and is working to create “Florida Digital Educators”. We will be shown and trained on the cutting edge technologies that are out there, and we will be sent out to mentor other teachers on integration ideas. I look forward to being able to continue the peer mentoring program that I was a part of at my old school. I’m also pleased that my new principal is rather enthralled with the concept as well. I will definitely keep you all updated on the happenings!

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Hu, Winnie. “Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops.” The New York Times 4 May 2007 7 May 2007 <http://tinyurl.com/27g53r>.

Rather than adopting policies about technologies that are banned, school districts would be better advised to have their teachers craft new assessments. Our goal should not be, “How can we maintain our instructional and assessment paradigms from the 19th century today in our 21st century digital culture?” but rather “How can we craft authentic assessments our students cannot fake and they can take with open notes?”

But the powers that be would never go for such a plan. Teachers? Driving curriculum? NO! NEVER! Won’t happen!

Think again. Look here and here.

Also, read a online chat transcript regarding High Stakes Testing over at Education Week (it’s a free registration to read, I should have said that the other day in my post!). My personal best quote had to be a portion of the answer to Terrill Wyche’s question: “What purpose does the testing system serve? Couldn’t a portfolio assessment system serve the same purpose as the testing system?” There are 2 parts to David Berliner’s answer that struck me funny:

1. “I wouldn’t want to base a decision on the knowledge base of a dental hygienist on the basis of the portfolio she presents to me were i the state examiner–its too ideosyncratic and may not cover all the areas I’d want info about.”
2. “But if there weren’t high stakes attached to these tests then a portfolio could be used. So they are great in a classroom, for sharing growth of kids with their parents…”

His answer goes on to discuss that without the high stakes testing, there would be no way to determine the strength of the teachers in the classroom, schools and school districts based on “reliability and validity”.

My thoughts on this answer is this, is not the goal of assessing our students to show the knowledge gained by our very students? Bringing the argument of what a dental hygienist knows and demonstrates in a portfolio to me is apples and oranges. I’ve never said I was against some sort of test to determine basic skills acquisition. I grew up taking the CTBS and SAT tests in elementary and middle schools. I always performed well into the 80^th to 90^th percentiles because there was no stress attached to the testing. So who is putting all the pressure on the students to perform well on these tests, or else? Adults, up on up all the way to President Bush and the NCLB. I go back to what Rhode Island and New Hampshire is doing. Think of how much stress would be reduced from bottom on up. Our students feed off of what the teacher is feeling. They know when something is happening in a teacher’s personal life. So if they know/feel the stress of the teacher, they are going to take on that stress. District Administrators are putting stress on Principals, who put it on the teachers. Again, it’s a trickle down effect.

Here’s a final thought. My daughter just finished her 3^rd DIBELS assessment and SAT-9 testing in the last few weeks. She’s 15 days from finishing her 2^nd Grade year in school. She’s an above average student, gets bored easily in school because as she professes, “I know this stuff already daddy”. Yes…I’m sure I exaggerate because I’m the parent. But this is a child that has been stressing about taking the 3^rd Grade FCAT test since she started the 1^st Grade. Because she doesn’t want to fail the 3^rd Grade if she doesn’t pass it. Now tell me, is this the type of environment conducive to maximize student learning? Again, I ramble on sometimes, but when it comes to this ‘high stakes’ talk, why not keep the ‘high stakes’ in Vegas where it belongs?

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

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>.

I’ve always stated authentic assessment models are the best gauge of how well our students are performing in our classrooms. But, that will never happen, because creating tests for school districts around the country is a multi-million dollar industry. Ok…I will throw a disclaimer in here that I have NO proof on that. But let’s be a realist here, everything costs money. Living as close to Walt Disney World that I do, the ONLY thing you can get for free is water, and they give you about a 4 oz. cup and send you off to the nearest water fountain. So the only thing you are getting is the convenience of not having to bend over to drink it. Get my point?

The powerpoint that Roger presents shows slides of actual test questions along with some of his annotations. Having proctored the FCAT for the past 5 years to my students, I’ve never really looked at the questions, for fear of someone saying, Mr. Turner was ‘really’ watching over me while I was taking my test today. Next thing you know, I’m in the office being grilled as to why I was giving help to my students. No thanks! That’s what it’s come down to in this era of high stakes testing.

So what can we do to curb this tide? Is it possible to do a 180 degree turn on testing? I’m of the belief that until something breaks, our American Educational system is doomed. So I ask…if you can change 3 things, what would they be?

Here’s mine:

1. More paid professional development time for teachers. Yes for technology, none of this data geared stuff that I had done to me this year.
2. More $$ for technology in the hands of proven teachers that can train others. I’ve seen in the peer coaching program that I am a part of that some teachers get jealous by what you get. My room at 8 computers, a smart board, LCD project and a laptop.
3. $$ for infrastructure support. Switches, hubs, T1 or better lines coming into schools, wireless access points for students and teachers alike. This is behind the scenes type stuff…but equally as important. A smooth running network means teachers don’t have to alter their lesson plans because there is a network outage.

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.

Seat time assessment makes a basic but often fallacious assumption: If a learner “sits there” in class for a specified amount of time, then as a rule “learning” will take place and the educational purpose will be fulfilled. As we all know, seat time does not necessarily correlate with learning. Whether or not learning takes place is correlated to time on task, but it also has to do with things things like:

* the learning environment created by the teacher/professor
* the curriculum that is studied
* the tasks assigned to students
* student background knowledge about the topic(s) being studied
* student perceptions about the importance / value of the assigned activity task (both its instrumental as well as intrinsic value)
* The degree to which students are provided with bounded choices in their learning activities

I added the boldfaced font to the two items because these are what I deem as the MOST important aspects to ensure student learning takes place. I’ve taken great pride in knowing that I’ve created a safe and fun learning environment for my students. I related topics to the real world, in a way that they would understand. So the question begs, how do we as educators create a positive learning environment? I’ve walked into many a classroom over the last 2 weeks in my new capacity and I’ve pretty much seen it all. From a teacher buzzing the office that an ‘object’ had been stuffed into the toilet in her room and continuing to send students into the restroom to use it, to another classroom engaged in a deep discussion about genetic traits, complete with graphic organizers being used (albeit on the board, but some semblance of continuity in the lesson being adhered to for the sake of the students). It will not take a rocket scientist to figure out which classroom has more learning taking place. How do we teach our educators to have what we can call “classroom withitness”? More workshops? One on One Mentoring Sessions? Team Teaching?

“Classroom withitness”. How does one attain it? Is it innate? Can it be attained over time? I’ve professed already that I wasn’t born with it. I failed in my first classroom. Not afraid to admit it one bit. I learned from it and it made me the educator I am today. To get it, it takes the entire administrative team, support personnel, the faculty and classroom teachers to help teachers gain it.

What scares me is the perception of teachers that “it’s not their job” or “I’m not getting paid to be here in the summer, so why should I be there?” Was in a district meeting this week and I heard another specialist say that her teachers would NEVER go for an idea of a workshop during the summer because they weren’t getting paid for the day. With that attitude, true “withitness” I feel can never be achieved. They may be a great teacher, the students really respond to them. But are they doing everything they can do to help their students learn? I’m sure they are using “seat time” as their main source of student evaluation. As Wes ends his article

We need to move beyond seat time. Stickers may have been a good way to measure learning in the 19th century, but the novice and expert learners in our schools today need and deserve more authentic assessment models in the 21st century.

Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages…

Tom.