Sunday, March 14, 2010
President Obama launches plan to overhaul No Child Left Behind. About damn time!
I have to admit I am more than a little apprehensive with the President's plan.
I am definitely in the camp that sees NCLB as a steaming pile of shit, and it is hard to see ANY changes to that bill as being bad, but I wonder if what Obama is planning will really do the job of reforming education in this country.
Here are some of the features in the President's education reform blueprint.
— By 2020, all students graduating from high school would need to be ready for college or a career. That's a shift away from the current law, which calls for all students to be performing at grade level in reading and math by 2014.
Okay this sounds promising.
— Give more rewards — money and flexibility — to high-poverty schools that are seeing big gains in student achievement and use them as a model for other schools in low-income neighborhoods that struggle with performance.
I like the idea of rewarding good teachers, and more flexibility will really help teachers to use their creativity to address teaching challenges.
— Punish the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools using aggressive measures, such as having the state take over federal funding for poor students, replacing the principal and half the teaching staff or closing the school altogether.
No. Even putting the word "punish" in this plan sends the wrong message to these professionals. Look I am all for getting rid of bad teachers, and I admit they exist, but if you are firing HALF of the teachers at a school, then more than likely the problem is not with the teachers but with the community itself. Perhaps the children are not English speaking, or there are issues of poverty, drugs, and gang violence to contend with. Mass firings and school closures send a message to the community, to the students, and to potential teachers that educators are not to be respected. If our government does not respect the teaching profession then how can the children they are supposed to educate?
— Duncan has said the name No Child Left Behind will be dropped because it is associated with a harsh law that punishes schools for not reaching benchmarks even if they've made big gains. He said the administration will work with Congress to come up with a new name.
I agree that calling it No Child Left Behind is no longer an option. Teachers HATE that program. But like my doctor friend said, "You can't shine shit". So just a rebranding is simply not enough. The administration has to be willing to start virtually from scratch and implement a model that has strong guidelines but enough flexibility to fit the unique environment found in different schools.
What works in Chicago, may not work in Alaska, or Hawaii, or Alabama. Teachers need to feel a sense of ownership over this new approach. They need to be able to put their own unique stamp on it, and make it their own.
I would hope that before these bureaucrats make a final decision that they elicit input from teachers all across this nation, and visit as many different schools as possible. Perhaps have Arne Duncan substitute teach in a poor school district in New York, or Texas, or a village in Alaska. Have the individuals crafting this bill go and visit teacher's lounges all across the nation. Just sit and listen.
These people are teachers, let them teach the people wanting to improve education in this country how to do it right. Wouldn't THAT be a better approach then simply demanding change and then firing whole teaching staffs or closing schools that could not jump through that hoop? Would we kick a student out of school who wanted to improve but was struggling to do so? How can we expect teachers to demonstrate compassion and patience if they are not treated in a similar manner?
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Way to go Mr. President. Now Sarah Palin can go back and regain those lost years of childhood and finish her education.
ReplyDeleteGreat posting, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I agree with your reactions, conclusions and suggestions.
We simply cannot understand the "all or nothing" approach that is taking over the decision makers.
NCLB was designed, from the get go, to undermine public education. It goals sounded good,but its implementation has crippled the system and forced schools to "teach to the test" rather than teach children real skills.
There were few allowances made for schools that had large percentages of non-English speakers, mainstreamed children who physically or mentally cannot perform to grade level, district populations impacted by unemployment or transient employment (how do you teach older kids whose main focus is working part-time to help the family meet basic needs or younger kids who have to go home and take care of themselves or siblings because the parents are forced to work evenings).
How do you deal with local school boards who will put more money into athletic programs than into textbooks, scientific instruments, art supplies, musical instruments, or even desks?
How do you deal with school boards who allow students to miss up to one-third of each quarter with no consequences? How do you deal with school boards that will not allow teachers to fail children who are not or will not perform at grade level? There is such a big push from boards to simply push the kids through rather than concentrate on their individual needs.
When our district, once one of top three in the nation, got bond issues passed to renovate our schools, the money went almost exclusively to the athletic fields, parking, gyms and auditoriums - not the classrooms where leaks in the roofs were shorting out lights, not to the restrooms where toilets were leaking, not to updating the computers the students and teachers use, not to the libraries.
I could go on - but my point is that unless everyone works as a team to focus on supporting the classroom teachers and the children in their goal of learning, then nothing is going to work.
Local school boards should be working to enhance the schools, not dominate them or steer monies to local businesses.
I will concede this to administrators: they have been spending enormous amounts of time dealing with parents who won't accept any responsibility for their children, who threaten lawsuits over any perceived slight, et cetera.
Why can't we as a people just agree that teachers teach because they care. Kids want to learn. Teachers want to teach. Everything else should enhance not destroy that basic premise.
"What works in Chicago"
ReplyDeleteI would like to see hard data showing that this approach actually has worked in Chicago.
Yeah CGinWI, I am not exactly suggesting that this is how Chicago does it, I was just using that as an example.
ReplyDeleteI know that Bush based NCLB on his reform of schools in Texas, which should have been our first warning, but I don't know hoe the Obama team decided on their approach.
Listen to the teachers...the people who are actually IN the classrooms trying to fill their students' heads with knowledge.
ReplyDeleteIf you're crafting education policy, spend some time in classrooms, the places that will actually have to implement that policy. Make sure to visit as many classrooms in as many varied geographical and economic settings as possible.
Wow...what a concept!!! Damn, Gryphen, I think you're onto something!
Now, how do we convince the policy wonks in Washington to follow these obvious suggestion?
Here are two competing viewpoints,both froma websight about teacher salaries.Note that the second viewpoint is from a teacher who is also an administrator,obviously someone who has gone the extra mile in the system to make a difference.
ReplyDeletehttp://teacherportal.com/teacher-salaries-by-state
jafv at 01:08 PM on 06/05/09
""I taught for many years and I must say that it was the best and easiest life ever. I don't know why I moved on to practice law. Consider the number of hours per year that a teacher works. In NYS, teachers work 180 days a year and their benefit package is worth 35%-40% of their salaries. The retirement plan and medical insurance are first class. In addition, sick leave, personal leave, teachers' aides etc., etc., etc. make their lives a dream - even though you would never know it from talking to them. All they do is complain, complain, complain. They should get with it and be grateful for the generosity of taxpaying citizens who support them and their families.""
marcia at 01:52 PM on 06/05/09
""To the former teacher,now lawyer, who says it is the easiest job and that current teachers should not complain is ignorant of the current realities in the teaching profession. I am proud to say that I taught in two different states NY ( the city) and for 20 Yrs in MD a total of 30 yrs not counting two years of college teaching. Teaching , in and of itself, is a joyful and rewarding experience. You have to love kids and love your teaching area of expertise. When I retired 3 yrs ago I was called "teacher coordinator/ dept chair. I enjoyed the position but found the adminsitrative responsibilities a negative impact on my teaching to what had been my optinum level. The administration weighed heavily on demanding too much in too little time. I was called at night, I was pulled from my class room to cover for an absent teacher, I was forced to prepare lessons for absentee teachers, I was forced to coach inept teachers that the system was not or had not dismiissed for incompetence. How I managed I'm not sure. Some days I was working on pure spirit. By the time I retired, I was burnt out and terribly exhausted by the adminsitrative demands directed from administrators some of whom never taught a day in their lives. Teachers are not respected, they are underpaid, unappreciated and are obviously not valued. Most teachers would say " just let me teach" and leave all the beauracratic mess to the administration. Teaching is an art and the delivery of information is a skill ,not all are equipped to perform. I would recommend that anyone walk in a teacher's shoes for a few years before commenting on how we complain. It is an arduous job and it is only through loving children and wanting to bring about knowledge and helping others to become mindful adults that we do this job. For all those who are professionals .ask yourself,"where would I be without a teacher/" Teachers need encouragement, respect, support and time to reflect and regenerate and reinvent. Yes ,we have for the most part excellent retirement benefits and Lord knows we deserve it and we do pay for those benefits. School years have been extended, workshops and extra training is essential and when teachers leave the school house there work is never over. Their evenings are nights of correcting papers,, lesson planning and bearing up for one more day which can be hell. Respect and appreciate those who teach as it is a profession laden with love and dedication. Amen"""
I would like to see the second teacher rewarded and would like to hear her ideas. The first teacher,not so much,but perhaps its a snapshot of what teaching is really like for those who view it as just a paycheck,a job with great vacations and little demands if you do the minimum. I am glad that person chose to change professions
The GOP has shown us how easy it is to disagree with President Obama and say he is wrong,while not having any solutions of his own. You disagree that the worst 5% of schools in this country need drastic change? What is your solution? Do nothing? Reward them with more money ,but no oversight?
ReplyDeleteIf the problem is that the majority of students speak no english,perhaps the teachers need to be bi-linqual.If they are not willing to make the effort to learn basic Spanish,perhaps new teachers who are bi-lingual need to be hired.If the problem is that their are a lot of gangs in the neigborhood,is that going to change by doing nothing?
I know you have experience at a Kindergarden in Alaska.You know the nice happy teachers having fun making learning fun for these small bright minds. But unless you have experience in an inner city highschool in the South,for example,you have no idea how bad SOME of the teachers can be.Lazy,apethetic,mean,prejudiced,to tired to teach because they spent the night at the local casino,or out drinking. Set in their ways and unwilling to change.,entrenched in the system and doing the minimum to keep thie job. Constantly complaining about everything,with no solutions of their own. Are these the ones you would listen to ?
Yes,this was my DD's highschool,these were her teachers.They are still there.She got by on what she had already learned by 8th grade in a school in rural upstate NewYork,and graduated with a "B" average,never having been challenged to learn during those 4 years.My volunteering was diected at helping in the office for the administaration.
However,in the same district,we now have her children in an excellent school that is elementary level,with great teachers,a principal who knows her students by name and spends time speaking with them,school is fun and interesting,and the students are encouraged to learn.Here I volunteer and spend time helping in the classroom,or providing birthday cakes and parties for those who are unable to afford the class parties the other kids parents provide.
Would you take advice from the first schools teachers? I would find out which teachers at the first school are salvageable and fire the rest.I would reward the second school. What would you do?
It would appear that Duncan does have some 'hands on' experience, at least according to this 'official' bio. Also describes the results of some of his programs.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's more out there, but it's a good place to start.
http://ed.gov./news/staff/bios/duncan.html
I've always found it interesting that politicians get all the authority to set education policy and determine curriculums (Texas BOE, anyone?), usually without any experience or willingness to consult with teachers.
ReplyDeleteThen, when students don't succeed, all the blame is put, not on the politicians who drafted these unworkable laws, but the teachers, who have no authority to set policy.
Seems a little bass ackwards to me. But then again, I'm just a teacher, so what do I know!
NCLB was endorsed by a child who was left behind and speaks English as a second language (Bush). As for poor teachers, that problem is at least two-fold. Industry lures our best teachers away with better pay etc. Second, poor teachers are still teaching because administrators are often an example of the Peter Principle and are not doing their jobs when they evaluate teachers. In my state, tenure means guaranteed due process which means the district must prove the teacher is incompetent. I have taught over 35 years and worked for many principals. We are evaluated every two years. Most principals rubber stamp the forms. We have had a teacher who swore at the students, showed up 1/2-1 hour late almost every day etc., and is still working after 20 years. All you have to do in any district is be a "friend of a friend" and nothing happens. I'm sick of the teachers' unions being blamed for poor teachers still on the job. Administrators are not doing their job! The many good teachers are absolutely not in favor of retaining poor teachers.
ReplyDeleteThen too there are many administrators who give their teacher friends all the high performing, well-behaved students and load the other teachers with the lowest and ill-behaved students. How unfair do you think that is to the teacher and the students in that class?
No child left behind? Let's start with Piper......
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that things will shape up for the education of our country's children. I am fortunate enough to be able to homeschool my children and teach them things in the manner that not only suits their style of learning but also their speed. I don't homeschool for any religious reasons, but purely because I feel the educational system as is is horribly damaged and I will not subject my children to that if I don't have to.
ReplyDeleteBush's reform in Texas was to.....wait for it....lower the bar of expectations. When he lowered the benchmarks, the percent of students considered to be "passing" was miraculously increased! Woo hoo!! What a guy!! Another smoke and mirrors act by the Shrub!
ReplyDeleteNCLB rant I
ReplyDeleteAs this teacher sees it, there are three MAJOR problems with NCLB.
1. Standardized Tests - These test benefit nobody except the testing industry. And it is a billion $ industry which has a guarantee of all 50 states buying their products. However, their are NO national standards (which we’ll revisit below). We rely on the industry to determine if their products are worth a damn, and as we have seen in virtually every other industry that relies on self regulation, that is guaranteed to produce less than top quality, especially when the industry already knows that every state is legally compelled to buy their products. There technically is competition, but realistically, how many states are doing an adequate job vetting the quality of their NCLB tests? How many people with Ph.D.s or Ed.D.s are scrutinizing these tests? Probably far fewer than you think. Look at what the Texas State Board of Education just did to its curriculum. These are the same asshats that buy NCLB tests.
2. No National Standards - We have nationally determined consequences for failing the NCLB tests, but no national standards in the tests themselves or the standards set by individual states for determining by what metric each state measures their students. This means that state to state comparisons are utterly meaningless. Therefore, having the same punitive consequences for failure to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for all states is ridiculous. As the law exists, it is absolutely in a state’s best interest to dumb down their own standards so their schools perform high relative to the schools in other states. This is the equivalent of letting each student determine their own standards and requirements for graduation. In short order, high school diplomas would become meaningless and useless as any kind of standardized measurement of a student’s academic achievement. The NCLB testing is already way beyond the useless stage.
3. Punitive Actions Against Schools/Teachers - This is pointless and counterproductive for several reasons. First, individual teachers are the educational professionals who are LEAST likely to possess the ability to effect systemic change. Teachers have a certain amount of autonomy within their own classrooms, but beyond that are unable to change anything. Issues of funding, parental involvement, and bureaucratic inefficiency and incompetence at the school administration, board, state, and national levels all have the power to negate nearly everything an individual teacher can do. For those of you quick to blame teachers, how does a teacher counteract the effects of physical or sexual violence, mental and/or emotional abuse, or just plain indifference that a shockingly high number of our students suffer at home? Show me the lesson plan that I must write to offset any/all of those issues?
To punish teachers or schools for these very real impediments to education is idiotic and counterproductive. Sure, there are bad teachers. Fire them. Do so by using the existing procedures that are on the books in every district, in every state. EVERY school district has policies for firing teachers for cause, even those with tenure. Tenure does not mean bad teachers cannot be fired, it simply means that teachers cannot be fired without cause. Anyone who says otherwise is either uninformed or lying. Show me any tenure policy anywhere which precludes the firing of incompetent teachers.
NCLB rant II
ReplyDeleteTo punish schools makes no more sense than punishing teachers. Schools do not, will not, and indeed cannot respond to market forces. Therefore,threatening schools with withdrawal of funding cannot make students’ test scores rise. Individual schools are to a certain extent held hostage by the communities that they are in. My local school district is one of the best in the nation. It routinely scores among the top few percentage points in NCLB tests. It is also one of the wealthiest communities (highest median income in the U.S. last time I heard) and it as the highest concentration of people with doctorates in the U.S., so the parents place a great deal of emphasis on the importance of education. If you could swap the entire administrative and teaching staff of our district for one in Washington, D.C. or in New Orleans, our schools would fare little better than their underperforming counterparts. Conversely, I would bet that the fortunes of the other schools would rise exponentially.
Funding and parental involvement are critical to the success of ANY school. Without BOTH, the best teachers and administrators in our country won’t make a damn bit of difference. On parent teacher nights, I NEVER talked to more than the parents of 2 or 3 students. Not once. That was out of 100+ students that I had every semester. And, the parents I met had kids who were the highest achievers. I never met the parents of the kids who needed the most help.
The NCLB must go, but so too should the mindset that would punish those least likely to effect systemic change. Rewarding teachers for creativity sounds nice, but it is simply merit pay. I will support merit pay for teachers when we have merit pay for administrators at local, state, and national levels, for legislators and senators at state and national levels, and REAL merit pay for CEOs. And, merit pay is useless until we as a society recognize what teachers CAN do, what they WANT to do, and what the ALREADY do.
Let’s stop blaming the teachers.
Bottom line - no amount of money thrown at education will matter until STUDENTS buy in. I never thought I would say this, but why not pay students for their work? If they don't succeed, they don't get paid - just like real life.
ReplyDeleteEvangelical "education" group outlines plan to overtake National textbook market via Texas
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bjupress.com/resources/articles/t2t/market-driven-textbooks.php
No Child's Behind Left
ReplyDelete"Punish the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools using aggressive measures, such as having the state take over federal funding for poor students, replacing the principal and half the teaching staff or closing the school altogether."
ReplyDeleteI read "punish" and immediately thought of criminal charges. How long before a group of fashionable lawmakers, noshing comfortably in DC slap criminal charges on educators who are trying to make a difference in bad areas? The prisons are full of non violent people who should have hjust gotten fines or a slap on the wrist as it is. "Punishing" is the best way to deter anyone from teaching, especially in the scarier schools.
Punishing teachers and firing half the staff... hmmm, would you as a teacher want to even interview at a low performing school where half the staff has been let go because of student performance? No teacher in their right mind would I can tell you that! So the best and brightest in the profession will avoid those schools and those areas like the plague. Ultimately, this hurts the children in those districts. Not a good provision in the new proposal.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so where can I find preogressive or liberal blog that actually supports President Obama? This constant critism of anything and everything that President Obama does is the same crap found on the main stream media. Why is this? How do expect change to happen if no one supports it?
ReplyDeleteThe most important ingredient in making this work is the input from teachers & students from all levels of achievement, including the bottom 5%. Without their advice and input, these programs will continue to fail. Go to the source! Is it really so difficult for those that want to change things to realize it has to start with the students & teachers??
ReplyDelete@ anon 10:45 -- agree! in no way intimating that the cynicism on the left is comparable to the crazy on the right -- I am getting finding the methods of a great many progressives to be less than constructive
ReplyDeleteNCLB...is/was ridiculous. There are some children who won't ever be able to pass any of those tests!
ReplyDeleteWhat about the special needs kids with severe mental challenges? I found that some schools have a much larger than average of this population. How can they possible judge these schools by the same standards as those that don't?
anon@10:45
ReplyDeleteWho says we aren't supporting him? We object to NCLB and we object to the word "punish". He is on the right track, but he needs to refine his plan. You absoulutely cannot lay failing schools at the feet of teachers. Most teachers are pretty darn good. So what makes a school fail? Demographics, poor administration, lack of parent respect and support, and lack of community support. I live in a community that supports and respects its teachers. We have a very low tax base, and yet every one of our schools is high performing. Believe me, attitude has everything to do with our success. The good attitude starts with most of our community. We could certainly use more money, but nevertheless, we are doing great because of the community support and respect.
You're all missing the point. The answer is to arm all children over the age of six and allow them to bare their arms at school. That way there will soon be no child left to be left behind. America's problem solved and a hell of a good start to solving the problem for the rest of the world!
ReplyDeleteLuv from Canada.
Anyone interested in this issue needs to research and inform themselves about Teach For America.
ReplyDeleteTFA resembles the quiet takeover
methods used by the right wing political and religious conservatives.
Look at who they recruit, and also who applies, and who is hired.
Look at their stated plan to move many TFA alumni into administrative positions.
Look at Washington D.C. for example.
Look at the connections between TFA founders and early involved persons, the charter school movement, religious right wingers, and those that wrote and implemented No Child Left Behind.
Anon @ 10:45. . . Gryphen is balanced. He likes some of what the prez does and isn't afraid to call him on what he doesn't like. If our ex guv does something smart, he is likely to support it.
ReplyDeleteMost people are in the middle. We are not totally for one side or the other. If you want a mouthpiece for the president, I'm sure you can find one, but Gryphen is about thinking, not merely following.
I have to agree with mommmom here. I've lived in several different places during my years as a military wife/teacher. I've seen the European system, the DODDS system, SC, NE, CA, NY and now AK.
ReplyDeleteWe are very much shielded here in AK, particularly here in the Valley. Do we even HAVE a school in AK that is performing in the lowest 5% of the nation? If we do, I've never heard about it. No school that I know of has ever had to face the "punishments" leveled out in repeated failures to meet AYP and the very school I worked in failed to meet it 4 years in a row. Then we made it one year, but the very next year failed again. Whatever was sanctioned by NCLB never affected me directly in the classroom. Honestly, I have no idea what was going in at the admin level regarding this. I know my principal furiously crunched numbers, but our school saw no changes other than the implementation of some skills classes to prop up the subgroups that did not meet requirements. Nothing punitive there.
When we hear of schools firing complete staffs, we aren't getting the back story. They didn't just walk in off the street and say, "That's it- you're all fired." I refuse to believe that. There is verly likley a high percentage of terrible teachers at that school. You have to consider is that often, the poorest, most underperforming schools are stocked with teachers who were pushed out of higher performing schools and into these poorer ones because they were cutting it for one reason or another. It's either that or lose their job, so they transfer and do a shitty job of teaching the kids they are morally obligated to serve.
What is broken is our teacher evaluation system. I've contended since my very first evaluation almost 10 years ago that they are a joke. I learned nothing from it. It was just boxes to be checked off stating that I was competent in my content area, and whether I behaved properly/ethically with my kids.
I take my job very seriously. I live and breathe teaching. How I feel about educating touches everything I do, colors the way I think and view the world. I feel I have a moral imperative to prepare my students to be global citizens who can think for themselves and question what they see and hear and read. My students know this. They know we have a job to do in class and that I am there to guide them through it. I teach 8th graders and they often have very different agendas than mine, but they know when they enter my classroom they have a chance to express their world views (as young and emergent as they are) by reading and discussing excellent literature and poetry, by developing their voice in writing, but sharing in an environment that is safe and accepting and free for risk-taking.
I want to work with teachers like that and for the most part I do. I am extremely lucky to work in the school that I do because we are all on the same train and our school, despite not meeting the goals of NCLB, has one of the best reputations among all middle schools in the Valley.
Sadly, there are so many schools in the lower 48 that aren't stocked with teachers like this. Something has to be done to encourage the good teachers to stay with the profession and encourage the bad teachers to find another job. A very good place to start would be overhauling how we evaluate teachers. We need something more specific than what we have and we need specific plans to get the teacher toward meeting the standards than we do, and we need tighter timelines in which to do it.
As for the parent issue. I would love to be able to put all the blame on the parents- it sure is easier than accepting the responsibility as the teacher! But really, having uncaring, or nonpaticipatory parents does not preclude a child from being able to learn. I have found, in the hardest cases, that if I can be the ONE ADULT,for the year that I have that child, that helps keep them on track, that helps to show them the value of education, that works with them so they can figure out a way to get homework in on time or whatever, then it can make up for a lot of what they aren't getting from parents at home. I advocate for my kids on a daily basis- they know this.
ReplyDeleteImagine if a child had an adult like that every year? How much could we make a difference for that kid? For some, I can see the results immediately. For others, I don't but I'm reminded of the quote by someone (sorry, can't recall the exact details) who said something like you don't always see the influence you have on a child, sometimes it surfaces 20 years down the road.
Your comments make great sense. There is also the problem of principals (yes, here in Anchorage) who fail to carry out suspensions when students fight, call adults X-rated names to their faces, use their cell phones (not allowed) with impunity just to make their schools look more under control than they really are. This is especially a problem in some Title I schools where parents may be less likely to come in and protest to authority for various reasons. Teachers cannot be at their most effective without administrative support. A recent study published in ADN revealed that teachers want administrative support more than higher salaries. A good school needs a good principal.
ReplyDeleteanon@ 10:15- the best and brightest already avoid the poorest performing schools. Those schools are filled with teachers who were forced to be there because the high performing schools recognized their inadequacies, but our current evaluation system and tenure protections don't allow for them to be immediately discharged of their duties. They have to be put SOMEWHERE- why not that crappy little school in the projects? Rather than lose their job, they go and do an even poorer job at educating just riding it out until retirement.
ReplyDeleteI'm a teacher, yet I wouldn't bat an eye if, tomorrow, they said, no more tenure. You have to prove your skills as an educator (hopefully on more than just a standardized test given once a year)in order to keep your job. I would applaud that.
Last year was my first year that I could opt for a type of eval called "goal setting"- where I could get away with writing down a "goal" I had, for example, "Improving vocabulary instruction", and could write up a nice little action plan and implement it at my discretion, and then at the end of the year, or whenever the evals were due, I'd go in and have a conversation with my admin about it. Never once were they required to step foot in my classroom to see me in action implementing my plan. Appalling.
I could have done that again this year, but I chose to have my principal come into my room- they aren't in the classrooms enough to begin with! I forced their hand. But even then, the tool that is used is a joke.
Level 4 on NCLB- each year you fail to meet AYP(adequate yearly progress) you go up a level. Below is the "consequence" of a Level 4 school taken from a school improvement plan. Note that one of the options, #1 infact, is firing teachers "relevant" to the failure.
ReplyDeleteFor Title I school improvement sites at Level 4, districts are required to take one of the following actions to be implemented during the current school year. Please indicate the action being implemented by checking the box next to the action selected and provide information as to how the action will be accomplished. The most common action taken? #4.
1. Replace the school staff who are relevant to the failure to make adequate yearly progress;
2. Institute and fully implement a new curriculum, including providing appropriate professional development for all relevant staff, that
is based on scientifically based research and offers substantial promise of improving educational achievement for low-achieving
students and enabling the school to make adequate yearly progress;
3. Significantly decrease management authority at the school level;
4. Appoint an outside expert to advise the school on its progress toward making adequate yearly progress, based on its School Improvement Plan
under NCLB 1116(b);
5. Extend the school year or school day for the school;
or
6. Restructure the internal organizational structure of the school.
anon @2:20
ReplyDeleteI have heard and seen principals do that sort of thing and you are right, it doesn't help us, the ones who have to deal with those kids.
But I'm wondering if something bigger is at work here. I feel like there has been a push to avoid having kids out of school because, obviously, if they aren't in class, they aren't learning. I think it has something to do with drop out rates. Idk, I can't put my finger on it, but I have noticed even in my building a "desire" to find other ways of dealing with discipline issues other than suspension. I don't have a firm opinion on this either way- mostly because I, personally, rarely have issues with kids that require suspension but because we do middle school teaming, I do have kids that are suspended for various reasons.
Something that I neglected to mention before, but students couldn't give a fat rat's ass about the NCLB tests. I remember a freshman I had who was laughing that he had employed a kind of "eeny, meeny, miney, moe" strategy and simply randomly guessed at his answers, he hadn't even tried. Since there are no direct consequences for the students - their NCLB grades are not part of their transcripts - there is no incentive for them to take the tests seriously. Their individual academic futures are not effected in the least by their performance, good or bad.
ReplyDeleteWe've created a mandatory test that can result in firings of all the teachers in schools and yanking the funding of schools and the kids think the whole thing is a big joke. They are right.
Totally in agreement with you Gasman- they don't care about the tests and in fact, I see signs of very real testing fatigue from my students. Last year, within 2 weeks of each other we administered the state test, and a district-wide test, in that order. When I told them they had another test to take after the state testing, I had a complete and utter mutiny on my hands and while they couldn't get out of taking the test, it was very much in their power to bomb it- and they did exactly that. District went nuts because the aggregated results showed a LOSS of learning. If I didn't know that they were looking directly at ME as the reason for this issue, I'd have laughed outloud and applauded the kids! But I wasn't laughing when they started questioning whether or not I was teaching my kids effectively.
ReplyDeleteTo all of you who responded to my 10:45 message: Of course, the person running this blog does a great job. And I am sure that the Gryphen EXPECTS his readers to question and expand on his statements, because I have yet to see strong evidence that Gryphen suffers from a major god complex... :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the state of the nation or the education system: Again grow a set. Get of your asses, and do something! Start by supporting the current administrations efforts to make a change. I voted for change, but I never thought that change would be magical. The very thought is really pathetic...change does not happen over night. We did not get to this point over night and we will get out of this hole without a lot of effort! If you want change to happen, if you want the world to be different, then get off your high-horse and do something! You can start by supporting the current admistration's attempts to change...rather then just bitch about how indequate it is. We have to start some where...or would you rather just return to the middle ages where you and I are serfs serving the master...oh, wait my bad ...we already are! It is only an illusion that we have a voice or can make a difference. Our world is the world described in "1984".
Grow a set - actually do something - or shut up.
Gasman, you are right on the money. I repeat - pay the kids if you want to change their attitudes toward the tests/school achievement.
ReplyDeleteanon @8:43
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone here is disagreeing with you!Is what PO attempting to do with NCLB perfect? Most likely not and that's all that Gryph was saying.
Hell, I'm IN the trenches- I'm a teacher! I can assure you I am off my ass affecting change on a daily basis to the best of my ability. And I wholeheartedly support my President and his efforts to reform NCLB. I believe in him, but he is not perfect. If we start to believe that, we are no different from Sarah Palin's minions.
I have extremely high hopes for the President but that doesn't equate to a "free pass" on stuff I'm leery of in regard to policy. This is a blog where we are all free to voice opinions. I love this blog because most people here are able to see all sides of a situation as well as person (trolls excludes). We discuss it, debate it, and come away in the end more knowledgable for it.