Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Education Ride 365: What We Get Out Of Young People Depends Upon What We (ALL) Demand Of Young People!

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Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Parent Involvement, Accountability

Monday, March 26, 2012

Education Ride 365: Warning, This Prescription May Produce Dangerous Side Effects

Posted at 11:42 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Education Ride 365, EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Accountability, Cheating, Merit Pay, Standardized Testing, STAAR

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Education Ride 365: Too Much Talk, Too Many Miles, Too Dark, And Too Close

Over a most excellent fried filet of flounder, I struck up a conversation with the owners---Angel and Carlton Boutwell---about the education of their 10 and 13-year old daughters...as well as their views on education in general.  Angel and Carlton were 16 when they married.  Excepting a brief move to and stay in Georgia, she has worked at this establishment since she was ten years old....from doing the basics to now owning the place.  They have some strong views on schooling.

When they married at 16, she was not pregnant but was ostracized at school none the less.  She reports one teacher telling her outright, "you do not belong here."  She felt so unwanted that she decided to drop out.  He, on the other hand, graduated from the local high school.  They are both intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate individuals.  They both value education.  They both have high expectations for the education of their daughters, as well as for a niece who lives with them.

Angel and Carlton feel---as do MANY folks I have met over the first three weeks of this journey---that our schools are lacking in discipline and structure.  They feel that their school is too "touchy feely."  Respect for educators, by both children and adults, is too low to maximize effectiveness in their opinion.  They decried the practice in their local schools of the students calling their teacher by Mr. or Mrs. (insert) 'first name.'  So I would be called "Mr. Dan" rather than "Mr. Martin" there.  They felt that the principal should not be high-fiving the students and otherwise engaging them in a manner that is below the status and dignity of the office.  There should be a distance between the students and their principal.  Students should know that being in the principal's presence means something greater than a casual interaction.  I had to gulp and tug on my shirt collar, as I am one of those principals who engages the students in ways they decried.

They celebrated the structure of the schools their daughters briefly attended in Georgia.  They appreciated the ability grouping those schools employed.  They feel---like MANY---that the obsession with standardized assessments and accountability measures is actually hampering our schools.  One example Angel shared is how teachers are being stressed to the point of exhaustion and, as a result, a negative energy trickles down to the students in many ways.  We are human after all, Angel asserted, so how can we expect the exhausted and stressed teachers she knows to consistently overcome that during interactions with students? 

Beyond that, she asks, what are we teaching these students?  How to take tests?  I hear that a bunch.  All educators do.  She noted that when testing time approaches, the schools totally change their character in a last ditch effort to remediate and otherwise focus exclusively on pass rates.  Students are pulled from classes.  Special schedules are instituted.  Etc, etc.  I can attest to that tendency.  As an administrator, I have been part of that practice.

Is this what we are doing with our standardized assessments and accountability systems in American schools?

BTW, I enjoyed my conversation with Angel and Carlton.  Their food is really, really good.  I respect them.  If you find yourself around Hosford FL on Highway 20, two-miles east of 267, I recommend you eat at "Angel's Seafood By The Dam" ...just south of the dam!

I had several such lengthy conversations about education along my ride from Destin to Ocala on Day 12.  So much so that I rode in 'deadly darkness' through rural lands into the night.  A couple of hours after dodging a possum on a lonely rural road---which was the closest I've ever come to hitting a live ground animal on the cycle---I wearily pulled into the driveway of Bev and Steve McCarthy in Ocala, Florida.

---

Riding stats: Day 12---325.9 miles, 5 hours and 50 minutes of moving time, 5 hours and 55 minutes of stopped time, 55.9 moving average miles per hour, 27.7 overall average miles per hour, and 81.2 maximum speed.

Posted at 9:46 AM (permalink) 2 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: EdClick, Cycle Of Education, Education Ride 365, Day_12, Accountability, Standardized Assessments, Continuous Improvement

Monday, November 14, 2011

School Accountability: Playing With Numbers To Meet Perceptions Of Expectations

The accountability movement in American education has had both positive and negative ramifications.  In fact, there has been so much change in American education over the past two decades, it is easy to oversimplify most any analysis of it.  As an educator, for many reasons, I am thankful for the increased expectations and scrutiny this accountability movement has ushered in. 

For nearly as many reasons, however, the increased accountability politicians often trumpet smacks as underfunded mandates, stacked one upon another, such that the proverbial turnip is being squeezed hard in hopes it will yield blood.  An example was the expectation under NCLB that 100% of students (regardless of the degree of their qualifying condition) would pass high stakes, grade-level assessments (without modifications) by 2014.  So, a student with an IQ sub-75 was expected to pass standardized assessments that were also designed to "test" the top percentage of our students.  It screamed flawed accountability so loud that it is almost disturbing politicians had schools making decisions for years based upon the fear that this would sting us by 2014 if we didn't reach the 100% bar.  We all kind of knew the expectation was unreasonable and had to change, but for years school administrators were charged with speaking and making decisions as if it wouldn't.

Many Americans are convinced that education spending has increased dramatically since the 1980s.  While recent tough economic times have somewhat moderated this perception (after all, how can we ignore recent dramatic education cuts in many states across our country....like Texas cutting $4 billion dollars in its most recent two-year budget, despite adding 68,000 new students over that time), it is important to understand that even before this wave of cuts the bulk of increases to school funding have been in the growth of special programs---> read, special education.

My personal experience as a public school student in the 70s and 80s was that I could pass without doing much of anything by virtue of possessing some intellectual capacity combined with a willingness to play the game.  School was a series of short hurdles.  Rigor was minimal.  It was easy to float along with the mass in the middle.  The school knew we'd pass the (then) low-stakes accountability assessments.  That was just about enough.

Now that accountability assessments carry so much higher-stakes, one would think that a focus on the individual student has increased---and it has.  However, my experience tells me this is a misleading fact.  It is true that schools tend to be much more deliberate about studying data on each child and educators are getting better at disaggregating the data to provide students with targeted remediation in areas where they have a need.  That is a positive development.

This positive development has been tempered by the realities of a country that prizes its military over its educational system.  Increased accountability without increased resources results in a system where the appearance of success is almost important as the true measure of success.  For example, schools in Texas are almost all consumed with meeting the marks.  In particular, pass rates.  Texas holds schools accountable by "sub-pops".  If even one sub-population (Hispanic, African-American, Low SES, etc.) underperforms, the school rating can drop a level.  Nevermind that some Texas schools are lily-white and wealthy, with no real sub-pops to worry about, while others are represented in each sub-pop and have a much greater exposure for "underperformance."

I would go as far as to say, at least at the bureaucratic level, meeting pass rates on standardized assessments drives Texas education these days.  Principals and other campus personnel must allocate their tight resources in ways that maximize overall pass rates (especially of sub-pops) even at the expense of marginalizing students who either "can't" pass (read---> aren't projected to pass) or---on the other end of the spectrum---are very likely to pass.  The "bubble kids", they are often called. 

In the current system, a school better have good data on who their bubble kids are and how to get them to pass the assessment.  Often, it can be a mere handful of students...or even a single student...who makes the difference between receiving one school rating versus the next lower one.  Beyond knowing who these bubble students are, the school must have a sense of how many fall into which sub-pop...or even sub-pops.  Because students are often part of more than one sub-pop (for instance an African-American who also happens to be low-SES and special education), it becomes even more of an imperative to address the needs of these students over those of a student who will only count for or against you in one category.

The result is often a much more targeted effort to remediate the academic gaps of some students over others.  Schools are forced into this necessity by the mismatch of resources versus expectations in the context of a gotcha accountability system.  It is self-preservation.  In this context it is understandable.  In the context of the continuous improvement of our schools for all students, it is an abomination.

I've barely scratched the surface on this topic
and will further develop this analysis in upcoming posts.

Posted at 11:02 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: EdClick, Continuous Improvement, Assessments, Accountability, School Funding

Monday, October 24, 2011

Is Your School Properly Equipped For Discipline, Part III

Posted at 7:19 PM (permalink) 1 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Discipline, School Climate, Accountability, Special Education, Compliance, Documentation, Teachers, BIP, IEP, ISS, Assistant Principals, Principals, EdClick

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Is Your School Properly Equipped For Discipline, Part Duex!

In a healthy discipline program, the "radar screens" that keep personnel informed and actively participating in the school's discipline program extend out to parents too. 

One such radar screen is documentation:

*Does your school collect data over time, in a "electronic repository" that can be used by the school to, for instance, create discipline histories allowing parents to view patterns of behavior, interventions attempted, consequences assigned, consequence follow-through, and so much more?  This is a radar screen on their child that parents deserve to see readily.

The technology EdClick offers schools does this--->efficiently, easily, and inexpensively.

Another component of an effective discipline system that gives parents a radar screen on their child's overall behavior is regular communication pushed out by the school, especially when it relates to the child of that parent.

*Is a documented attempt at contacting the parent of each student involved in each discipline matter part of your school's discipline program?  If so, does it happen...even most of the time...really?

The technology that EdClick offers schools does this--->efficiently, easily, and inexpensively.

Bring a little automation to the task of running your data-dependent school!  In the process, create radar screens parents can use to get a truer picture of their child's contribution to the disciplinary climate of your school!

More "radar screens" to good discipline in upcoming posts!

Posted at 6:50 PM (permalink) 3 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Discipline, School Climate, Accountability, Special Education, Compliance, Documentation, Teachers, BIP, IEP, ISS, Assistant Principals, Special Education Diagnosticians, Special Education Psychologists, School Counselors, Parental Involvement, EdClick

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Is Your School Properly Equipped For Quality Discipline?

More "radar screens" to good discipline in upcoming posts!

Posted at 11:08 AM (permalink) 4 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Discipline, School Climate, Accountability, Special Education, Compliance, Documentation, Teachers, BIP, IEP, ISS, Assistant Principals, Special Education Diagnosticians, Special Education Psychologists, School Counselors, ISS Monitors, EdClick

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Annual Honeymoon That Was!

Posted at 7:11 PM (permalink) 1 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Discipline, School Climate, Accountability

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Trends: Even Bob Dylan Is Probably Shocked By How Rapidly The Times They Are A-Changin'!

“Schools today, we say we’re preparing our kids for the 21st century,” said Jacqueline DeChiaro, the principal of Van Schaick Elementary School in Cohoes, N.Y., who is debating whether to cut cursive. “Is cursive really a 21st-century skill?”

With schools focused on preparing students for standardized tests, there is often not enough time to teach handwriting, educators said.

“If you’re a school or a teacher, you can bet that if kids are being tested on it, that it’s going to receive a priority emphasis in your curriculum,” 

Posted at 10:22 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Trends, Cursive Writing, Technology, Assessment, Accountability

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

STAAR: The Latest On Texas' New Assessment Tool From The Texas Education Agency

The entire letter can be downloaded in .pdf format by clicking here!



Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 6:44 PM (permalink) 2 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, Texas, Accountability, Assessments

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Trends: Lost In Accounts Of Worst-Case Examples--->The Majority Of Public Schools Work Well And Are Improving

But there is one thing that characterizes a surprisingly large number of the people who are transforming public schools: they attended private schools.

Which raises the question: Does a private school background give them a much-needed distance and fresh perspective to better critique and remake traditional public schools? Does it make them distrust public schools — or even worse — poison their perception of them? Or does it make any difference?"

Click the image below for the complete article from The New York Times

Posted at 11:51 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Accountability, School Reform, Public v Private Schools

Monday, March 21, 2011

Personalized Education: Standard's-Based Accountability's High Stakes...Indeed

Posted at 9:29 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Personalized Education, Standard's-Based Accountability, Accountability, STAAR, Common Assessments

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Accountability: Parents In Florida May Receive Grades From The Teachers Of Their Children

Posted at 4:36 PM (permalink) 2 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Accountability, Parent Accountability, Parent Involvement

Monday, January 24, 2011

Accountability: The California School Guide

Click here to access the LA Times "California School Guide" web page

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Keywords: Accountability, California, The California School Guide

Monday, January 3, 2011

Pass It On Education Tools: Data First

"...designed to guide people through the questions they should be asking about their schools, and point to the data sources that offer answers."

Go to Data First Here!

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

(Pass It On using the buttons below!)

Posted at 12:05 PM (permalink) 1 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Pass It On Education Tools, Pass It On, Data First, Accountability

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Trends: Common Assessments For Common Standards

The other comes from the ETS' Center for K-12 Assessment & Performance, the same folks who have already produced graphic and Power-Point depictions of the two consortia's testing proposals. (All of these resources, along with the newest report, "Coming Together To Raise Achievement," are available at the Center's publications page.)"

Click here to see "Curriculum Matters" at Education Week

Posted at 8:21 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Common-Standards, Standards, Accountability, Common-Accountability

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

STAAR: Texas Assessment Conference PowerPoints

What a resource!

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 6:00 PM (permalink) 4 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Pass It On Education Tools: STAAR Overview From The Texas Assessment Conference

When you click "To Slideshow" on the page, the view will change to one like that below and it will then present the slides:



Download the actual PowerPoint file here!

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 10:23 AM (permalink) 5 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Trends: How Accountable Will We All End Up Being?

Click Here To Go To The Website

When school personnel consider these questions sooner rather than later, potential problems can be more easily defused and this potential "threat" can actually become an opportunity!!!  That is the ticket!

A few questions and suggestions for you to consider:

• Do criticisms of your school or the administration by personnel mean that these employees (often teachers) understand but disagree, or does it mean they don't understand? In other words, is better communication within the school needed? 
  
• Could comments on TeacherVoice about your school provide insights and a starting point for important discussions with the staff?
  
• If there are one or two disgruntled comments, is that representative of the entire staff?  You may choose to ask the staff.  If the answer is yes, maybe you should do something about it. If the answer is no, maybe you should encourage your teachers to join in the TeacherVoice discussion and tell the positive side of the story.
• Is there a channel for complaints from staff within the school, and do you take it seriously? If not, you're nearly forcing people with problems to make them public.
• Do prospective teachers check you out on TeacherVoice or similar sites (almost certainly, they do)? If so, you'd better know what's being said about you. If it's inaccurate, take steps to fix it. If it's embarrassing, take steps there too.
• Google your school periodically to see what's being said about you.
• If you have a positive environment in the school, you might encourage your staff to post comments. If these sites can improve the reputation of the school, you'll likely be able to hire better staff members than otherwise. That's good for the school and will be good for the other teachers there.
• Take your story to the Web. Have an informative and up-to-date website. Keep the community informed through newsletters, blogs and the rest. By taking the information initiative, it's more likely that your story will be told. If sites like TeacherVoice bring to light that something needs to be fixed, announce plans to fix it on your website. (You needn't refer to the complaints as the impetus to make the improvements.)

Thank you Dr. Tennant for your contributions to the end of the post!

Posted at 6:13 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Trends, Teacher Voice, Accountability

Sunday, December 12, 2010

In The News: Parent-Trigger Law (and Parent Empowerment)

Will "parent-triggers" become a national trend? 

Parents are increasingly empowered in our school systems.  Is this a positive trend?  Like everything else, it is no doubt a mixed bag.  What can we as educators do to accentuate the positives of parent empowerment while minimizing our exposure to the negative aspects? 

Beyond simply exhibiting excellence in general, building capital in advance of "issues" seems to be one of the most effective ways to ride the wave of an increasing level of parent empowerment in our school systems.  One of the more important ways to build this capital is through helpful, consistent communication between the school and parents.  Is your school doing enough in this critical area of operations?

Posted at 11:36 AM (permalink) 2 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: In the News, California, Parent-Trigger, Charter Schools, Accountability

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

In The News: Ranking American Schools Internationally

48th Is Not a Good Place

Editorial Published: October 26, 2010

"The National Academies, the country’s leading advisory group on science and technology, warned in 2005 that unless the United States improved the quality of math and science education, at all levels, it would continue to lose economic ground to foreign competitors.

Posted at 1:58 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Accountability, International Education, National Rankings, Student Expectations

Monday, December 6, 2010

Pass It On Education Tools: Common-Core Standards Website

This is the website of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. 
View the Standards there...and more!
 

Check It Out!  Pass It On!

Posted at 3:24 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Pass It On Education Tools, Common-Standards, Standards, Accountability

Monday, December 6, 2010

Trends: Common-Standards

Click here to see the Education Week article this graphic is from.

Posted at 12:31 PM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: Common-Standards, Standards, Accountability

Friday, December 3, 2010

STAAR: House Bill 3 Transition Plan

Download Complete House Bill 3 Transition Plan
You can also see it broken down into easier to manage sections by clicking here!

Posted at 10:01 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

Thursday, November 18, 2010

STAAR: A New Assessment Model (for Texas)

Posted at 11:13 AM (permalink) 0 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas

Thursday, November 11, 2010

STAAR: Texas Education Agency Letter

• Assessment attributes. This chart compares TAKS and STAAR based on the primary features of the state assessment program and provides a quick overview of the major differences between the two programs.

• Assessed curriculum. The assessed curriculum documents show the reporting categories (referred to as objectives on TAKS) for each assessment as well as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that are eligible to be assessed. The eligible TEKS student expectations grouped under each reporting category are divided into those that are considered essential for academic readiness and those that are considered supporting. See Attachment A for details about the specific distinctions between readiness standards and supporting standards.

• Test blueprints for the grades/subjects and courses assessed. The test blueprints show the reporting categories, the number of questions and TEKS student expectations assessed in each reporting category, and the number of questions on the test overall. All blueprints are final with the exception of U.S. history, world history, and world geography. The preliminary blueprints included for the assessments for these courses will be reviewed by Texas educators in early 2011 prior to finalization.

Posted at 3:39 PM (permalink) 17 Comments View/Leave Comment
Keywords: STAAR, TAKS, Accountability, Standardized Testing, Assessment, Texas