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A concerned member of the human race

Thursday, July 31, 2014

On Socrates and Sockets: The Importance of Career and Technical Educaction



I have always respected people with technical skills.  We recently had particular cause to reflect on the role of the electrician.   One of our neighbors, a contractor, came by to consider a few small jobs.  After learning about the lack of electricity in one outlet, he unscrewed the plate and tested the wires.  The black wire brought in the current, but the white wire failed to complete the circuit. 

With a bit of serendipity, another neighbor, an electrician arrived home at about the same time.  He stopped by to thank us for helping to recover his lost dog while he and his family were away, another bit of serendipity.  When the electrician saw the contractor, unlicensed in electrical work, with sparks flying about him, he told us he would look into the problem.  With the possibility of electrical fires and electrocution seemingly hovering over the contractor's head, I was greatly relieved.

This brings me to my point.  I have been greatly disappointed to learn that the trades have been slowly removed from the Chicago Public Schools.  In 2011, Chicago's Simeon Academy closed its machine shop.  In the last four years, Chicago Public Schools lost graphic design and automotive programs as well.  Now, the last electrical program is closing.  It seems "career" has been redefined in this age of the Common Core to include four years of college, to the detriment of CTE, Career and Technical Education.  

For anyone who belittles trade skills, I would ask:  how much is all the good knowledge of manifold dialogues of Plato and Socrates worth if one is electrocuted playing with electrical plates and testing sockets?  If one wishes to study all subjects, I say, so much the better, but, if not, it is an inescapable fact that the job of electrician can be very practical and well-paying, in and of itself.  As the Chicago Teachers Union would be quick to point out, it takes students off the streets and provides them with skills to become self-supporting.  At a time when the unemployment rate in Chicago is high, it is a path to meaningful employment, with an earning potential well above that of the minimum wage.  CTE programs continue in increasing numbers outside the City.  As long as humans harness electricity, we will need electricians.  I cannot forget how the demand for electricians skyrocketed in NY following Hurricane Sandy.  

It seems part of the problem with CTE in Chicago, but one not without solutions, is that enrollment is down.  Yet, I would argue a little publicity goes a long ways.  In this day and age, if more people realize that meaningful employment does not have to entail huge college debt followed by a period of joblessness, then the trades might look more attractive.  I agree that no one should be unwillingly pushed towards a trade, but I believe if we spent a little more time respecting, and a little less time belittling, all the knowledge and skills necessary to be a licensed tradesman or tradeswoman, we might see a surge in enrollment in these programs and we might see the youth of today with more and varied chances to succeed in life.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

The New Superhero on the Block!


In a short addendum to a story exclusive to this blog site, "Marvel at Captain Common Core," it turns out that the Captain, himself, has been among the less than desirable characters haunting Times Square, NYC, much to the chagrin of the current Mayor, posing for photographs and handing out free Common-Core aligned propaganda pamphlets in expectation of his August 2014 comic-book debut.  

Not Free To Be You And Me

I have the warmest memories of elementary school in the early 1970s.  My teachers taught to the whole child.  I didn't suffer through tests.  I wasn't standardized.  Yet, somehow I learned and I learned to love to learn.  And, I still love to learn.  And, sometimes, I even learn things from my students.

My favorite memory from elementary school:  one very hot afternoon, a friend's Mom brought her old-fashioned ice-cream maker to our schoolyard.  I'm pretty sure we never worked harder than when we turned that crank.  And, somehow, we still survived and we succeeded in life.

So, here's a version of the 1972 "Free To Be You and Me" to try to capture the spirit of the modern educational "reformers."  In an age of punitive Common-Core aligned testing, children might sing "Not Free to Be You and Me":


There's a land with no bail where the children all fail
And I say it ain't far to this land from where we are
Take my hand, to a jail, where the children all fail
To a jail, take my hand, and we'll test

In a land where the students all fail
In a land where esteem is frail
In a land where children all ail

In a land where the courses are stale
And you and me aren't free to be you and me


Every boy in this land grows to be the boss' man
In this land, every girl grows to be the boss' woman
Take my hand, to a jail where the children all fail
To a jail, take my hand, and we'll cry


[I see a land sad and drear, and the time's comin' near
When we'll test in this land, you and me, pencil in hand
Take my hand, answer wrong, lend your voice to my song
Come along, take my hand, answer wrong]

To a land where the students all fail
To a land where esteem is frail
To a land where children all ail
To a land where the courses are stale
To a land where the children all fail
And you and me aren't free to be
And you and me aren't free to be
And you and me aren't free to be you and me

Student #62



My students did well on their Regents exams last June.  I don't hold myself singularly responsible for either the success or failure of my students.  A lot depends upon the students themselves, their network of support, the level of difficulty of the test, etc.  In my two Regents classes, it seems that only one student failed, and with a grade of 62.   In my mind, that's on par with a miracle. 

It seems like I'll more than survive my V.A.M. this year, but rather than gloating, I'm thinking more about my student with the 62.  So as to maintain anonymity, let me call this person "Student 62."  Student 62 came to my class a few weeks into the school year.  I could see that Student 62 probably wondered, "why the program change?"  Student 62 probably had to leave some friends behind to come to my class, beginning late in the day, after 4 p.m.  Student 62 may have been miffed.  Even more "miff-worthy," I may be a harder teacher than some...but, doubtless, easier than others.  I sympathized with Student 62.  I wanted to help Student 62 adjust to our class as swiftly and seamlessly as possible. 

It seemed Student 62 adjusted well, but then, all of a sudden, Student 62 disappeared for no apparent reason.  I learned that Student 62 had suffered an injury.  Student 62's name still appeared on my class register for weeks, then it disappeared.  If I remember correctly, the name reappeared for awhile and then disappeared again.  I still held onto 62's Delaney card in the back of my book and carried it with me to class each day.  Then, one day, out of nowhere, Student 62 re-emerged.  I wasn't even sure it was Student 62 at first.  Once I was sure, however, I was pleased to be able to pull Student 62's Delaney card from the back of my book like a magician from a hat.

During the extended absence, student 62 had been home schooled for many weeks.  Student 62 had some good grades to show for it.  When Student 62 started taking tests with me, however, I could tell that Student 62 wasn't on track to pass the Regents.  I spent the obligatory weeks in May and June reviewing with my classes for the Regents.  I was concerned about Student 62's grades.   But I was also concerned about the grades of a number of other students.  

Student 62, although she failed the Regents by a few points, will succeed in life.  I am sure of this.  Let me tell you why.  When students made brief presentations to the class in late April, two boys struggled accessing their file on the computer.  Student 62 boldly left her seat.  Instead of asking Student 62 to sit down, I watched Student 62 with keen interest.  Was Student 62 going to the garbage can?  Was she headed to open a window?  Happily, I did not have reason to suspect mischief.  Without a word, Student 62 strode over to the computer, pressed a few keys and accessed the file in question, solving the boys' problem as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  Then, Student 62 returned to her seat.  Not a word was said.  Student 62 was probably not the only student in that room with the knowledge to help, but Student 62 was the only one who took action.  

Student 62 is a practical problem solver.  Student 62 is an independent thinker.  Student 62 is affable, but also tough.  Student 62 is confident, and I hope that her most recent test score of almost passing will not counter that in any way.  In my best judgment, Student 62 has the qualities necessary to succeed in life and in greater abundance than some with higher test scores.  Student 62, as, indeed, all of us, is more than just a test score.  As Student 62 grows and matures, my bets are that Student 62 will build her own success.  If as educators, we can encourage more people to move their smarts into action to help other people, I'm pretty sure it would ultimately prove more valuable than raising a generation of test takers!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Some Bugs in V.A.M.?



We often find ourselves raising new and exciting living creatures, sometimes even insects.  Call it science or just plain old curiosity.  We've raised painted-lady butterflies, ants in a space-age gel, lady bugs from larvae and a praying mantis from her egg.  (We had to let nature adopt her 187 siblings.)  There are many humorous anecdotes, but they would lead me further off my topic.
                           

This summer we decided to try our hand at monarchs.  It is not an easy endeavor.  First, one needs to ensure a steady supply of milkweed leaves.  So, we grew some potted milkweed, only to later discover that our friends have a garden in which milkweed is truly a weed.  They were only too happy to have my daughter root it out. 

There is a point to my discussion, but I'm slow as a slug in getting there.  In raising monarchs this summer, we received three caterpillars in the mail.  We deeded one over to our milkweed-rich friends, and kept two.  We soon noticed a significant difference in the size differential of our two caterpillars.  One, dubbed Betterfly, plumped up in the healthiest way and took on extra length.  The other, Cuterpillar, seemed to go nowhere. Unfortunately, the littlest guy didn't make it.  We buried him among a growth of flowers. 


So, here is my point--which is really a question.  What is my value-added measure for monarchs?  I had two caterpillars of roughly equal size, doubtless, sharing a very similar life history.  The two caterpillars were moved into the same home, given the same pile of leaves to eat and the same amount of care.  One is doing well.  He is an accomplished eater.  If we made an analogy to academics, we might say he is an accomplished reader.  And the one that keeled over, well, in academic terms, let us say the results were less than desirable.  

Who is to blame?  The two outcomes were so different; yet, the conditions seemed so similar.  If one butterfly should live to fly away as a beautiful monarch and the other lies buried in the ground, stunted in its growth, am I highly effective or highly ineffective? It set me to thinking about V.A.M.  How much influence do I have over the test grades of my students or their academic success, let alone their lives?  Do you think there might be some bugs in V.A.M.?

Monday, July 28, 2014

Brown's Crusade to Turn Teachers and Tenure into Scapegoats

Campbell Brown Practices her Pose

The NY Daily News had a piece yesterday:  "Exclusive:  Second lawsuit challenging tenure to be filed by group of New York families."  The second suit, launched by Campbell Brown, came as no surprise following Vergara.  It only remains to be seen if and when this suit will combine with the one launched by Mona Davids of the NYC Parents Union.    

Tenure's benefits far outweigh any potential costs (see here, for example).  And for those who would say, teachers do not need an added layer of protection, I would say some teachers are intimidated even with tenure.  Tenure is necessary as an added layer of protection to guarantee the due-process rights of those who would bravely stand up for students' rights "to a sound, basic education," including the provision of legally-required special services for children with I.E.P.s. 

The parents in Brown's lawsuit will "charge that their children are underserved in schools due to incompetent teachers."  As in Vergara, the children hail largely from impoverished communities and plaintiffs seek to pin students' lack of success solely on teachers.  A student's performance, however, is much more than the total of a teacher's effort.  A teacher cannot be effective for a student without a parent or guardian giving support when needed, a student committed to homework and study, a supportive administration, basic supplies and a generally healthy environment. 

The irony is immense.  Campbell Brown, now heads an organization called Partnership for Educational Justice.  She says, "I think we should evaluate every education law or policy by first asking, 'Is this good for children?'"  But if she was really concerned about what is good for children, she would raise the obvious issues of class size, charter school co-locations, lack of classroom supplies, over-testing, the increase in childhood poverty, etc., the issues that really hit at the heart of Educational Justice.  Yet, she and her "reform group" are silent on these issues.  Is it that they are blind or is it something else?  When asked who is funding her campaign against teachers, Brown is equally silent.  This says a lot more to me than any of her words.

For the time being, the case does not name any ineffective teachers, but you can sure bet that any good Samaritans who teach students from poorer neighborhoods may soon be wishing they had taken that more highly paying job in the suburbs.  If you work with poorer kids, doubtless, there's a target on your back already.  

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Marvel at Captain Common Core!

News from an alternate universe, coming soon to a planet near you:


In a surprising twist of events, Marvel Comics has accepted a $2.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support a cohort of the company's characters in the development of Common-Core aligned plots.  Coincidentally, Marvel Comics simultaneously announced its new superhero, premiering in August, Captain Common Core.  A spokeswoman for the company said that the decision to create the character was in no way clouded by Gates' generous grant.  


Captain Common Core has the uncanny ability to find "grossly ineffective" teachers throughout the metropolis after analyzing reams of sub-par Common-Core test data in his secret laboratory in the trunk of a fallen tree.  Firing poison seeds in the direction of ineffective teachers, Captain Common Core is judge, jury and executioner as he frees sobbing children from the arms of highly-paid teachers who have been corrupted by tenure.  Whose classroom will he come to next?  Maybe your's!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

If p then q and What on Earth Else?: On the Unintended Consequences of Educational Reform


If you've ever read a story about time travel, you probably realize how one little change in the past can have millions of unforeseen effects upon the future.  It is the same for the present.  As educational "reformers" with sometimes lofty goals reform away, with little practical experience and less understanding, they institute changes which may have horrific effects upon the future.  Foremost of these side effects in my mind, they experiment on a generation of children who are not their own, making mistakes whose ultimate impact upon young minds we cannot yet grasp.

Then, there are a series of side effects upon teachers.  Some of the effects are seen in higher incidences of teachers quitting the profession.  As in any war of attrition, at some point, not only will the new recruits be less experienced, but they may be fewer in number.  There have been significant drops in student enrollments at teacher-education programs.  I am sure current teachers are suffering more stress-related illnesses.  I would guess some are more serious than the common cold.  It is sad that the people who experience the worst stress are probably the people who work the hardest, even prior to all this micromanagement.  

Then, there are tricky problems created unintentionally for present as well as potential administrators.  The City is currently very interested in ensuring an up-and-coming cadre of high qualified administrators, promoted from the ranks of teachers.  A recent Chalkbeat piece discussed the need to build a "principal pipeline."  The City is trying a variety of new paths as alternatives to the Leadership Academy.  Administrators today have the new and huge added burden of filing numerous observation reports, a responsibility that eats up time and, in my mind, threatens the more meaningful roles which they have played in the past.  Ironically, the UFT has put another roadblock in the way.  If teachers become administrators, or if they made the decision several years ago, they stand to lose a lot.  As per the new contract, they lose out on their retro pay.  Court challenges are, of course, now pending.

These are only a few of the unintentional changes of current educational policy.  There are many more.  And, sadly, I can't envision too many of the side effects as positive.    Reform is necessary, but it ought not to be done by people who are so removed from realities, prove largely inflexible and seemingly unaccountable.  When people play with fire, first, it is inadvisable; second, they ought not to do so in other people's houses, especially when small children are home.

Friday, July 25, 2014

The Rime of the Modern Educational Mariner



There is a war being fought now for the heart and soul of education.   Let us imagine this war pictured above.  Let us say the large ship above symbolizes Eva Moskowitz and her Success Academy.  With so many stout financial backers, her guns are loaded.  She got a lot of ammunition and met with little resistance in Albany.   With the help of the Governor, she is blowing the public schools out of the water.

In this analogy, the smaller sail boats represent other charters.  They do not have the same weapons at their disposal.  They will soon become targets of Eva's expansionist policies.  Her chain will grow, and like a chain pulled across the Bosphorus' Golden Horn to protect Byzantium, it will attempt to block the expansion of other charters.  It will also strangle competition, operating almost exclusively to defend its own self-interest.  

The smaller boats represent the public schools.  How might one know?  Just see how the people are packed in like sardines.  Do you wonder about their fate?  Many will be blasted out of the water.  Eva may carry the flag of public schools, but so long as she can weed out students and refuse services to others, Success Academy is something entirely different.  And, as much as I would like to believe Moskowitz is a modern-day Mother Teresa, looking out for the disadvantaged, her half-a-million-dollar salary, huge war-fund chest and push for co-location at the expense of truly public-school students, tells me otherwise.  As long as she places pleasing financial backers ahead of helping students with poor test scores, kids who don't do well will be forced to walk the plank.  Happily, the public schools are still life boats for these children--but if Eva sinks one too many public ships, she will have hung the Albatross about her own neck.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Common Core Re-Brands Itself

In its efforts to re-brand itself, look for a more fashionable, upscale version of the Common Core, soon to be sporting this fancy label...


after a certain Foundation purchased co-ownership rights to the logo.  

With such chic attire, the newly reinvented Common Core is sure to appeal even to "white, suburban moms"!  Picture yourself prepping your little one and leading his mind down the runway to college and career readiness in this elegant ensemble!


Coordinate your look with a new twist on an old favorite, a quilted Common-Core carry all, chic to the core, with plenty of room to carry your all your grant $$$ from Bill and Melinda Gates.  


Show the world you know how to wear your fashion smartly in this tweed Common-Core jacket, aligned to your lifestyle.  And, if you've been up late, studying to meet those standards, match it with Common-Core sunglasses, sure to cloud over any day!



When you're looking to find that perfect suit to suit your taste for high standards, go no further than the Common-Core label.  You'll look like you're worth a million dollars whether you're a model, mannequin or plain, old dummy!



Be sure to look for the entire Common-Core line by Cuckoo Chanel, herself!  Coming to a school near you this fall.  

The Lost Art of the Research Paper



I can't exactly say it's all fond memories, but I wrote research papers in high school and assigned them to my own students before the age of educational deformity. 

In ninth grade, my teacher guided the class through every step of the process.  We picked a topic, developed a thesis, searched for sources, made index cards for potential bibliographic entries and took notes on, larger yet, cards.  We learned how to properly quote, paraphrase and cite our sources.  We learned something that comes hard to kids today, the definition of plagiarism.  We outlined our paper, wrote a draft, suffered through multiple revisions and then handed in (either with pride or like a hot potato) the final project framed by a cover page and bibliography.  I wrote my ninth-grade history paper on Don Miguel de Cervantes.

I continued to use my paper-writing skills throughout high school.  You'll notice a common theme, no matter the nature of the course, I managed to find a history topic.  In eleventh-grade U.S. A.P., I wrote my paper on John Adams' defense of the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre.  That same year, I wrote an English research paper on Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.  As a senior English student, I wrote "Walt Whitman:  Man as Mirror."  In Economics IB, I wrote my paper on the Massachusetts Land Bank and Manufactory Scheme of the 1740s; that was reaching a bit. But in my mind, a good teacher allows students wide latitude to research their own interests.

By the time I got to college, and had to write even more papers, it seemed tolerable given my preparation in high school.   Moreover, my research taught me good life skills.  I learned how to weigh sources.  I learned how to organize ideas.  I learned how to think and write coherently.  
  
In this day and age with so much information instantly available, it seems even more important for students to be able to distinguish between credible and non-credible sources.  People need to be able to weigh evidence, filter out biases and try to understand the complexities of truth.  Students need practice organizing information, putting their thoughts into words and structuring an argument. 

For many years, I gave students a research paper or two.  Plagiarism was always a concern, and time-consuming to track down, but it was not the modus operandi for most.  In the internet age, however, plagiarism is more prevalent.  I designed some assignments to be almost plagiarism-proof, but also great fun to read.  I once asked students to write a creative piece, placed in another time period, in which they could show their understanding of some problem and have their characters work to solve it.   I enjoyed grading these papers, although it had its ups and downs.  One student handed me the most remarkable description of Napoleon on the battlefield.  Too bad it turned out to be Tolstoy in translation!

Unfortunately, many students are no longer getting practice writing research papers.   Instead of guiding students through the process, teachers are asked to take students by the hand for time-consuming test prep for potentially punitive exams.  We practice writing, but we are asked to turn the DBQ into a project that affords students too much time to do too little, geared primarily towards test prep.  

In this age of educational deformity, so much rides on standardized scores.  If our students fail, the teachers fail, the administrators fail, the school closes and only the privateers smile.  I doubt research papers ever brought great joy to anyone, but, in my opinion, they are a heck of a lot more valuable than the test prep made mandatory these days by those who would punish us with their exams.  

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

What Will Be the Future of a Common-Cored World?


If we continue on this course of corporate-sponsored reform, what will be the characteristics of the Common-Cored generation?  

1.  I fear society will be separated into those who compliantly study old tests to score well on future ones and those who are branded as failures because they do not.  I think society may be more sharply divided than ever. 

2.  I fear America will lose its creative edge.  With too much focus on test prep, people will "think inside the bubble."

3.  I fear we will condition citizens to accept what they are told as "right" answers, instead of learning to question.  

4.  I fear we will raise kids who lose faith in themselves and others who think they are the world because they know how to rope, drag down and subdue a standardized test.  I fear for the kids who will become nervous, agitated and anxious in life as well as for those who will develop false bravado because they think the best measure of a human being is his test score.  

5.  I fear for the kids with learning disabilities and I fear for others who may be wrongly diagnosed with the same or given unnecessary "remediation" because they just don't care to sit for so many long hours of testing.

6.  I fear what will happen to kids who have social and emotional issues pressing upon them.  They will be pushed further down because of their inability to focus on standardized stuff.

7.  I fear what will happen to kids who are held back by common standards.  How many will seize their inner grit and sprint ahead to try to rejoin the race?  And, how many will walk away and give up, with head bowed?

8.  I fear what will happen to populations that don't buy into the system.  They don't lack in "smarts," but they'll be counted as losers by statisticians, just more fatalities of the Common Core.  

9.  I fear what will happen as society becomes more segregated between those who thrive on tests, those who do not and those who see the whole thing as meaningless.

10.  I fear good teachers will be driven from a profession that is becoming increasingly more unattractive to the kind of people who like people.  

With educational deformity so prevalent these days, it seems like we're living in a science-fiction story.  And the landscape looks pretty bleak some days.  But I remind myself, ultimately, the future remains for us to write.  

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Who's Failing Now?

This upcoming school year, NYC teachers will be measured against eight elements of Danielson (down from Mulgrew's work-gumming 22 of the 2013-2014 school year) to compile the 60 points of their MOTP score, or Measures of Teaching Practice.  In schools which pilot student surveys, elements of Danielson will count for 55 points and the student surveys will count for the other five points.  State and Local Measures of Student Learning will count for the 40 points, most likely including mainly standardized test scores in most schools.

The eight elements of Danielson will be weighted in the following manner:

1a:  Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy, 5%
1e.  Designing coherent instruction, 5%
2a:  Creating environment of respect and rapport, 17%
2d:  Managing student behavior, 17%
3b:  Using questioning and discussion techniques, 17%
3c:  Engaging Students in Learning, 17%
3d:  Using assessment in instruction, 17%
4e:  Growing and developing professionally, 5%

Teachers will still have Option 1 and Option 2, as per the Commissioner's decision last year, 6 informal ("snapshots") or 1 formal (full period) and 3 informal observations.  In addition, there will be a new Option 3 for Highly Effective teachers which entails 3 informal observations for evaluative purposes as well as 3 non-evaluative observations by colleagues (and I'm not sure of their duration; this may be negotiable or debatable), scheduled by the principal and the teacher choosing Option 3.  

There will still be IPCs (Initial Planning Conferences)  as well as "Summative End of Year Conferences" (SEYC; since this last one doesn't seem to merit its own acronym, I invented that one for the hell of it!)  Teachers will have the "sole discretion of setting professional goals" during the IPC (MOA, Memorandum of Agreement, p. 15).  Artifacts are no longer required, but some of the categories for observation seem to beg additional evidence (1e and 4e, for example). So, we'll have to see how this plays out.  

Teachers, it seems, will still be placed under the microscope whether they are new to the profession or have many years of experience with proven success.  Sadly, some of the most meaningful contributions a teacher can make to a student's life will never be measured in the evaluation formula.   It's ironic that people who know very little about the profession and would never "sink so low" as to actually make a career of it, feel totally justified in dictating policy and profiting from it.  It should be noted, however, that Danielson, although she profits from the use of her rubric, is not strictly among this group.  She has spoken against the manner in which her rubric is currently being used.  If these self-same reformers who impose VAM upon us think to make teaching a more attractive profession for highly qualified people, as they say, then who's failing now?

Monday, July 21, 2014

Walking With Ed. "Reformers"

A charter-school Allosaurus creeps up upon a public-school Stego.  Far from helpless, Stego shows Allosaurus what it means to have too much on his plate.


Most fearful of all charter-school dinosaurs, the T'Eva Rex emerges.  It will show no mercy to the unsuspecting, peaceful public-school Brachiosaurus,

failing to realize that these creatures find protection in packs.

A Pterosaur sends word to Albany that the T'Eva Rex may need reinforcements.

Receiving word in Albany of the conflict, there is limited debate on the floor.


T'Eva Rex takes her pocketbook, loads some of her Success Academy dinosaurs on a bus to Albany and stages a protest during school hours.  They meet with the Governor and other key players in funding education.

T'Eva lets a student know that the Governor has promised her everything she wanted, including either rent-free space at the City's expense or co-location rights.  Campaign donations go a long ways in the Jurassic Period!

While T'Eva Rex is sure she and her kind rule the land, they have little idea what the future has in store for them.  If the world collapses around them, their power, indeed, amounts to very little!  

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The Hard-to-Staff School Bonus


Under the new contract, NYC teachers will be awarded bonuses for working in certain City schools designated by the Chancellor as "hard-to-staff."  I'm guessing these are the schools with higher percentages of impoverished students where, not surprisingly, academic scores take a dive.  These schools generally lack teachers with experience because when students have such high needs in overcrowded, underfunded classrooms, teacher "burnout" is generally high. 

One might think that the City's bonus will do the trick.  But if you are a teacher and money is your magnet, you're probably already teaching in the wealthier suburbs, or thinking about it.  Any $5,000 bonus seems paltry in comparison.  

Teachers who work in these "hard-to-staff" schools will need some additional job protections.  Some teachers who took bonuses to work at such schools in the past ended up digging their own professional graves.   They went off with the best intentions of helping kids, but then kids suffered low test scores, graduation rates lagged and, voila, the school was closed.  Many of the teachers became nomadic ATRs, continually castigated by the media.  

If the City wants to attract and keep a committed cadre of teachers in "hard-to-staff" schools, it needs to offer significantly smaller class sizes and some more services to students and their communities.  Otherwise, I would predict teacher burnout will be high and student academic progress pretty much stagnant.  And, in the event of another Bloomberg, schools will be shuttered and so many teachers who once worked in these schools will  become instant martyrs.  These are some of the realities with which we must deal in an era of educational deformity.  

Saturday, July 19, 2014

On the Possibility of O.D.ing on P.D.

There's going to be an awful lot more structured PD, or professional development, next year, per the new contract.  With a new curriculum coming down the line, we'll need to amend, alter or abolish a few things.  But these changes will not be revolutionary.  We did "common-core-aligned" lessons, to the best of our students' reading abilities, before the Core came along.  Students read texts, critically examined positions, considered biases, extrapolated and all that good stuff.  

I cannot speak to the situation at all schools or for all teachers at all points in their careers, but I think two periods a week of CPT (common-planning time) may prove counterproductive.  I know in my department, we have always had professional conversations, shared resources and discussed ideas.  Having already established this kind of rapport, I would rather spend more time with my students; in a cost-benefits analysis, in my opinion, it would prove far more valuable than so much more structured PD.  I feel sure the parents of most of my students would agree.  

In addition to two periods of CPT and one for administrative duties, there will be two periods a week for parental outreach.  Many of us have done well on this account already. With one phone and far too few computers, the simple logistics of the situation will discourage teachers from calling homes and printing letters during the scheduled PD time.  Our school will, doubtless, expand its technology reserve, but I'm pretty sure it won't be sufficient.  How could it?

And, when I stop to think about the assumptions behind all this PD, i.e., all teachers are deficient and need extensive help remedying that situation, I lament the time lost with my students.  It's a sad commentary, but many I know, when asked about our most memorable PD moments, might point to this video shown by a workshop facilitator invited into our school.  The video is a humorous take on the need for differentiation (in a world in which standardized tests are anything but that).  This is not to say that all PD is meaningless, only that it reaches a point of diminishing returns.  Instead of making me sit through loads more of professional development, I wish educational "reformers" would treat me as a professional and let me do what I do best:  teach to children, not high-stakes, punitive tests!  

Friday, July 18, 2014

Warning: You Are Not a Test Score!


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I like to find stories about schooling in other countries.  Most of the news, as you would expect, puts a damper on the day.  A couple weeks ago, a teacher in France was stabbed to death in front of her primary-school students.  Just the other day, a six-year old girl was raped at a school in India, reportedly by a gym teacher and a security guard.

Recent news from a Lancashire primary school, however, did make me smile.  When students and their parents opened letters from the school, they found not only KS2 (Key Stage 2) test results, but also some pearls of wisdom.   In the video segment attached to the BBC story, the correspondent speculates that the new British Secretary of Education, Nicky Morgan, might even have a copy of the viral letter in her inbox by now.  

The letter from head teacher, Rachel Tomlinson, enclosed with the test results, helped put the scores in perspective.  In brief, the letter tells students that they should be proud of their efforts; they are more than just a test score; "there are many ways of being smart."  Each student is singular in some special way and has many talents and positive characteristic traits to which the test makers are completely oblivious.  

One wonders whether Secretary Arne Duncan or NY State Commissioner, John King, would even have the forbearance to read the letter in its entirety or understand the sentiments behind it.  It must be so much easier to see the letter as part of a vast conspiracy plot by tea-party members and "white, suburban moms."

Here is a copy of the Lancashire letter in its entirety.  


Please find enclosed your end of KS2 test results. We are very proud of you as you demonstrated huge amounts of commitment and tried your very best during this tricky week.
However, we are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you... the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do.
They do not know that many of you speak two languages. They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture.
They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school.
They do not know that you have travelled to a really neat place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends.
They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything.
So enjoy your results and be very proud of these but remember there are many ways of being smart.
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And, how I wish our Secretary of Education, his financial backers, and all those who share a similar mindset, so detached from the realities of childhood development, would find new "ways of being smart."

Thursday, July 17, 2014

"MESsing" with Education

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As I thought about the type of schools that might help some students the most, I remembered the brief experiment in my own city with M.E.S., More Effective Schools.  This experiment sought to create the first, in effect, "magnet schools."  Whereas the debate today focuses primarily on blaming ineffective teachers,  in the 1960s the debate led to a War on Poverty before Vietnam.  At the time, President Shanker's UFT aimed to help some of the most disadvantaged students with More Effective Schools.  

The More Effective Schools program began in September 1964 with ten schools, the old M.E.S.  These schools were created as laboratories for experimentation in helping some higher needs children.  Class sizes were set at fifteen in pre-K and twenty-two in the later grades.  There were teacher specialists (in speech, language, audiovisual and health, including psychiatry), team teaching heterogeneous grouping and more firm community relations and services.  The program was expanded in 1965 with the addition of eleven more schools, the new M.E.S.  

The experiment was a bold one.  Eighteen of the twenty-one schools were former Special-Service Schools in which students were significantly below average in academic achievement.  Teachers in the twenty-one M.E.S. were given a greater degree of latitude to make decisions and greater community participation was urged.  The program became controversial by 1968 and U.F.T. president, Albert Shanker, had his hands full trying to maintain funding and keep the program alive.  Short on cash, community districts wanted to shift Title I funds away from MES to other schools.  By 1972, it seems the program became a court issue and, then, a nonentity.  In one opinion I read, Shanker, himself, sacrificed the program and higher class size in return for higher teacher wages.  

Shanker hoped to attract white, middle-class students to the MES by advertising lower class size and greater services.  Indeed, he sent his own child to an M.E.S. pre-school.  (I admire when reformers are willing to put their own children through their experiments; you don't see much of that today!)  Some of the schools did include some mix of white and middle-class students.  With the advent of the Black Power movement of the late 1960s, Shanker ran into conflict with the community-based Planning Council of Ocean Hill-Brownsville.  Shanker's idea of greater community participation spun out of control as demands were made for community control.  Community advocates demanded a black curriculum and unbiased teachers.  MES was denounced as racist in its attempt to remake children into the "white" image of success.  Ocean Hill-Brownsville decided not to sign onto the program.

On top of these troubles, MES faced less than complimentary evaluations by the Center for Urban Education, CUE.  The 1967 statement noted that it was a "short-term" evaluation, not "definitive," as the schools had only been operating for a few years.  The schools were commended for excellent school climate and community relations, but no significant difference was noted in the functioning of children.  The biggest objection in the report seemed to be that teachers had not "revised techniques of instruction to obtain the presumed instructional advantages of the small class and the availability of specialized instruction.  In view of this, the lack of academic progress is not surprising."  The report further made note that the schools were elaborate and expensive "in terms of both money [$200/student] and professional time." 

In another 1967 critique of MES, Ms. Gloria Channon (an elementary-school teacher who joined MES) notes that "Again and again the fault seems to lie not so much with the machinery as with the people using it, or afraid of using it, or ignorant of the ways in which it can be used."  She sees the MES as a battlefield upon which the UFT, the B.o.E., civil-rights groups and a "fearful" white community contend.  And, she discusses how terms such as "black power" are infused with "emotional meanings, they do not, in themselves, possess." 

Channon criticizes rigid, uninspiring and sometimes quarrelsome teachers (including the poorly defined role of the "cluster" teacher) and administrators as well as insufficient funding (leading to sub-par libraries, for example).  The author notes that "gimmicks" such as overhead projectors are used as substitutes for real change in curriculum.  She criticizes the faith placed in guidance over necessary curriculum changes.  The author notes, however, that students could make gains in reading and those gains might never be picked up on a standardized test.  In her opinion, all too often, schools teach children that they are "dumb."  In one of the comments I found most perceptive, she stated, "When our feelings contradict our words, he [the student] judges us, and if we are lucky, instead of fighting us, he will tune out our words--as we, tragically, tune out his feelings."  

In 1968, another report by the C.U.E., using 15 "instruments" of measurement, including observations, surveys and test scores, basically slammed the schools again.  As in the 1967 report, control schools were used.  This time the study included 16 MES schools, seven control schools and  seven specifically Special-Service Schools, making for a total of thirty.  It was noted that MES schools had  "instruction at different levels," and an environment perceived as positive by parents, observers and other participants, yet an underwhelming lack of academic success.  According to the report, "This positive profile makes the lack of consistent progress in the academic areas disappointing."

It seems, and the reports even noted, the MES schools inspired passion by both supporters and detractors.  MES became a point of contention for Shanker in new contract negotiations and subsequent striking along with class size and issues of discipline.  The UFT issued a lengthy response questioning the 1967 C.U.E. report as a reflection of politics more than sound research.   The UFT questioned the test scores used as well as the control group.  The UFT noted that the MES schools should be compared solely to other Special-Service Schools, given the nature of the school populations.  The studies were not longitudinal; they did not track the same set of students.  (Indeed, one source, shows that for the 25% of students who stayed in the program, there was notable achievement).  The report criticized the fact that the twenty-two of the thirty-seven observers came from the College of the City of New York, making "inbreeding of ideas" a real possibility.  There was also no evidence in 1967 that any of the observers had experience in early childhood education.

Shanker had hoped at one time to expand the MES schools to three hundred.  After the MES schools failed, Shanker briefly romanced the idea of charter schools in 1988.  He became disillusioned here, however, realizing that charter schools might ultimately eat at the heart of pubic education, rather than help the neediest students.  

Our current UFT tries in limited ways to romance reform.  It has taken large grants from Eli Broad and partnered with Steve Barr to create its own charters. The last contract called for up to two-hundred PROSE schools as incubators for reform.   The PROSE schools, however, seem a far cry from the bold vision put forth by Shanker's MES.  But we do not know the full story, yet.  From the little we know, however, the reforms promise to be as affordable as they are disappointing.  One wonders if corporate reformers could ever jump on board with the big bucks for more meaningful, carefully planned, but entirely flexible, community-based reform in which the results would be judged by something more than stale test scores, percent of non-unionized workers, profit margin or degree of privatization.  Then, how far we might be able to take our students and our society!  It would truly be a public service.

I Must Not Question Corporate Rule



I found this cartoon online yesterday.  It's class-ic!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Finally Mulgrew Says What I Always Suspected!


I wasn't surprised when Michael Mulgrew remarked at the AFT Convention last weekend, "I have heard the stories about how Eli Broad and [Bill] Gates and a flying saucer full of Martians designed these standards."  For you see, I, too had long suspected that the Common-Core was promulgated by Martians.  I just wasn't sure whether it was one misguided martian or a  whole band of them.  

You might have been thinking the very same thing yourself.  After all, who, but space aliens, could have written and copyrighted the Common Core?  Ask yourself:


1.  Who, but space aliens, could have such low regard for our federal system of government so as to circumvent the reserved power of education with some tempting RttT bribes grants to disseminate the Core?

2.  Who, but space aliens, could have such little understanding as to the purposes of testing?  

3.  Who, but space aliens, could have such little regard for the social and emotional effects of over-testing on Earth children?

4.  Who, but space aliens, could try to link the Core to vast databases to deprive little children of their privacy?

5.  Who, but space aliens, could delight in failing 70% of Earth's NY student body?

6.  Who, but space aliens, could believe it's either their copyrighted standards or no standards at all?

7.  Who, but space aliens, could try to lull humans into focusing upon conceptions of college and career readiness when there are too few well-paying careers left, college is too expensive and the planet is going to pot?

8.  Who, but space aliens, could have such a lack of understanding of early childhood development?

9.  Who, but space aliens, could delight in profiting from the development of tests that make students "wee" on themselves, vomit, bang their heads, cry and just plain give up?

10.  Who, but space aliens, could want to take down students, teachers, administrators and schools, in one foul swoop?

How could aliens not have constructed this Core?  Ask yourself that question.  Pretty soon we may start to see pro Common-Core commercials paid for by this guy: