http://www.hsreadingteacher.com
Thank you!!
The Next Chapter
14 years ago
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
To test or not to test...that is the question. Even at Costco.
Today I received my August 2013 copy of The Costco Connection, "A lifestyle magazine for Costco customers." Not surprisingly, it was a back-to-school issue. I flipped it open, fully expecting to see products that fill backpacks and desks, meet students' technology needs, and decorate and furnish dorm rooms. Okay, those items were there, but what I was not prepared for were the insightful, thought-provoking articles on current educational issues such as standardized testing, flipping the classroom (Khan Academy style), and an interview with the national teacher of the year. Whaaaaaah? I almost had to double-check the cover to make certain I hadn't grabbed my Journal of Adolescent Literacy instead.
I highly recommend picking up a copy if you don't have one already. Especially dear to my heart is the standardized testing issue. The article, titled "Are Standardized Tests a Fair Measure of Student Achievement?" (NO, of course), presents opposing viewpoints on this issue. Warning: you may have to laugh at the "yes" viewpoint, which is that of Richard P. Phelps, "...the founder of the Nonpartisan Education Review and the author of "The Effect of Testing on Student Achievement: 1910-2010" (International Journal of Testing, 2012). His argument is semi-circular and assumes we moronic teachers would employ absolutely no formative assessments of our own in the classrooms. He seems to believe the options are standardized national testing or no testing at all. Sorry to hit you with my own bias before you even read it, but do check it out here: http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201308#pg23
The other education-related articles are also good reads - worthy of your time (which is eeking away this time of the year, I know!). Check it out and let me know what you think!
I highly recommend picking up a copy if you don't have one already. Especially dear to my heart is the standardized testing issue. The article, titled "Are Standardized Tests a Fair Measure of Student Achievement?" (NO, of course), presents opposing viewpoints on this issue. Warning: you may have to laugh at the "yes" viewpoint, which is that of Richard P. Phelps, "...the founder of the Nonpartisan Education Review and the author of "The Effect of Testing on Student Achievement: 1910-2010" (International Journal of Testing, 2012). His argument is semi-circular and assumes we moronic teachers would employ absolutely no formative assessments of our own in the classrooms. He seems to believe the options are standardized national testing or no testing at all. Sorry to hit you with my own bias before you even read it, but do check it out here: http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201308#pg23
The other education-related articles are also good reads - worthy of your time (which is eeking away this time of the year, I know!). Check it out and let me know what you think!
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Cart Before the Student
So, okay - it's been over a year and a half quite a while since my last post. My sincerest apologies. I have been presenting at conferences and also designing a new course called "21st Century Literacy." Well, not exactly designing it: more like REdesigning it. It will involve not just text literacy in the 21st century, but also new media literacy, visual literacy, and other elements (think infographics, Web 2.0 tools, online collaboration, etc.). More on that in a future post.
Today I am administering a Gates-MacGinitie Online Reading post-test. Why, you might ask, am I giving a summative measure designed to assess my students' reading growth during their freshman year in JANUARY? Two words: class registration.
At our high school, and many others similar in size, I would guess, class registration for the next year's course schedules is performed in January and February. There are several good reasons for doing this: (1) Schools can examine enrollments and allocate teachers effectively; and (2) The Guidance Office has months rather than days or weeks to get the students registered into their new classes.
As the freshman reading teacher, I am expected to provide recommendations for my struggling readers' class placements for the following year. Many of my students will be "released" from Tier 2 reading RTI intervention class having been able to demonstrate comprehension at or above grade level. Some students, however, will be recommended to stay in the program. Yes, it's good for them. Yes, they need it, yada yada yada. However, as a reading teacher, it feels extremely wrong for me to give my seal of approval (or disapproval) for students' year-long progress in JANUARY.
I make my recommendation based on where kids sit at this point in the year. Those on the bubble could go either way and I have to rely on my professional expertise to make a decision. The good thing is, should kids make abundant progress between now and May (or for whatever reason revert), their class schedules can be adjusted on an individual basis later on.
Here is my problem: I have quite a few kids who have made a lot of progress, but aren't at or above grade level yet. It's not a fun conversation to tell a kid who has been working hard and who has been making big improvements that it's not enough. Especially when there are kids who were "closer" to begin with who make the cut with very little effort.
I realize there's no way around it. This must be what doctors feel like when they have a patient who has been following all of the "rules," working hard to be healthy and get better, but just not making progress health-wise to be "cleared" for whatever it is they want to be free to do.
Most of the time, it's fine. Because I communicate with the kids early and often about their progress and their performance, they often have a good idea whether or not they'll need to stay in the program when the time comes. However, it has always irked me that this conversation has to take place in January, not May.
Thoughts?
Today I am administering a Gates-MacGinitie Online Reading post-test. Why, you might ask, am I giving a summative measure designed to assess my students' reading growth during their freshman year in JANUARY? Two words: class registration.
At our high school, and many others similar in size, I would guess, class registration for the next year's course schedules is performed in January and February. There are several good reasons for doing this: (1) Schools can examine enrollments and allocate teachers effectively; and (2) The Guidance Office has months rather than days or weeks to get the students registered into their new classes.
As the freshman reading teacher, I am expected to provide recommendations for my struggling readers' class placements for the following year. Many of my students will be "released" from Tier 2 reading RTI intervention class having been able to demonstrate comprehension at or above grade level. Some students, however, will be recommended to stay in the program. Yes, it's good for them. Yes, they need it, yada yada yada. However, as a reading teacher, it feels extremely wrong for me to give my seal of approval (or disapproval) for students' year-long progress in JANUARY.
I make my recommendation based on where kids sit at this point in the year. Those on the bubble could go either way and I have to rely on my professional expertise to make a decision. The good thing is, should kids make abundant progress between now and May (or for whatever reason revert), their class schedules can be adjusted on an individual basis later on.
Here is my problem: I have quite a few kids who have made a lot of progress, but aren't at or above grade level yet. It's not a fun conversation to tell a kid who has been working hard and who has been making big improvements that it's not enough. Especially when there are kids who were "closer" to begin with who make the cut with very little effort.
I realize there's no way around it. This must be what doctors feel like when they have a patient who has been following all of the "rules," working hard to be healthy and get better, but just not making progress health-wise to be "cleared" for whatever it is they want to be free to do.
Most of the time, it's fine. Because I communicate with the kids early and often about their progress and their performance, they often have a good idea whether or not they'll need to stay in the program when the time comes. However, it has always irked me that this conversation has to take place in January, not May.
Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
