Knowledge, skills and attitudes...

Knowledge, skills and attitudes... I think that attitude is possibly the most important component that a student needs to be successful. Without a positive attitude, in a 21st Century environment, or any other environment, for that matter, there will be no success. I think of students with average skills and above average attitudes, and I see students who are more successful than a student with a below average attitude. Attitudes are shaped by environment; Home environment, school / learning environment, socio-economic environment, to name but a few. A teachers' focus should be formulating and focusing the positive attitude, as well as facilitating knowledge and skill acquisition. An attitude that envelopes the positive learning / school environment will assist a student with success of knowledge and skill acquisition. "Ya gotta wanna." You have to want to learn. You must want to get better, to succeed. You want to be competitive in your learning, your collaboration, your experimentation and experiences. These are all attributes of attitude.

Why won't the children work harder?

Over and over again, I have been bothered that I can't get my students to love learning as much as I do. Why won't these children work harder to learn? What must I bring into my classroom to encourage them, to create such an environment, that they would tire me as I taught, taught, taught; coached, coached, coached; supported, sup-, well, you get the picture. Instead, I am tired because I can't get them to self-motivate. In turn, my motivation tires, as I fall into a slow downward spiral, trying to grasp onto a tool to help us all!

As I watched Dateline last night, I was taken by the story of a high school class in Pomona, California. The teacher, Mr. Michael Steinman, recognized that there were students in his class worried about their personal family financial situation. Mr. Steinman asked them to share their concerns, and actually videotaped the sessions named, "Is Anybody Listening?", and posted it on You Tube. President Obama heard of the video, obviously viewed it, and mentioned by name one of the students (Yvonne) in a speech this week. President Obama then visited the school. I think it's fair to say that those students in Mr. Steinman's class are quite motivated right now. Mr. Steinman said, "For me as a teacher, the whole process was about giving the kids a voice and allowing them to use freedom of speech to express the heartache they and their families were feeling because of the economy. I made them a promise if they did it [the video], I’d make sure the president found out about it."

A few themes ran through my thoughts:

• isn't it cool that Mr. Steinman recognized that a basic necessity was lacking ($, housing, food) in his students' lives and it would be tough to motivate them to learn when they were thinking about the rent being late, or that there is no butter in the refrigerator?
• isn't it cool that technology exists that allows students to talk and the President has access to listen?
  
• how motivated are the Pomona students now?
• have they been heard?
• will it help?
  

After reading Dan's Blog, dated March 9, 2009 about motivation, I was drawn to his comparisons between our students and Pakistani students. He had read "Three Cups of Tea", by Greg Mortenson. I happen to be 2/3 of the way through that particular book and have also been struck by the motivation of these poor children, scraping letters and numbers in the dirt with sticks... without a building, a teacher, a book. Why are they so motivated?

Why won't our children work harder? I really wish I knew. Why is education such a 'trivial' component to some families? Has it been so easy to attain that is no longer considered valuable, like it is in Pakistan? Does it take a You Tube post to make it real for others? What will it take?

Teach for the Test??? Sure, why not?

Teach for the Test??? Sure, why not?

You know, I really do think that there are certain areas or conditions when it may be acceptable to "teach for the test". It is assumed here that we are considering standardized tests such as the NJASK, but I think that teachers routinely teach for all of the tests.

• What is a study guide if not a vehicle to teach for the test? Sure, we all say the study guide helps to assist students narrow down the wide range of content and direct their studying; but isn't it really teaching for the test?
• As for the NJASK, I think that teachers teach for the test all year long. Much of their curriculum maps and weekly plans reflect what has been on the test in the past. Teachers re-arrange their teaching to 'fit in' the content they think will be asked on the test.
• Beyond content, teaching the vocabulary of the test is essential.
• Finally, considering the delivery of the test... the expectations of answers through the preferred rubrics and the way in which questions are asked (in bullets, for example) need to be taught to students... in other words teaching for the test.
  

No Child Left Behind

In theory, "No Child Left Behind", or NCLB is a positive move toward equally educating all children. The government has decided what components are necessary in order to provide the education that every child deserves. I think I get the concept, but worry about the test scores and documentation that each district must reach in order to receive funding.

Although I'm not actually in a classroom, there are a certain factors contributing to our district's management of NCLB for which I am involved. In my opinion, the most frustrating area is in special education. APA is restricted to the most disabled student (1% of special education population) who is never in the general education setting. So therefore, most special education students who attend their home district school are therefore required to take the NJASK or HSPA.

Years ago (prior to this NCLB Act in 2002) students were not required to take certain state assessments based on their IEPs were written after certain consideration was given to their program. Although I believe that this system was misused, and many students were allowed to be excused without an alternate assessment, the expectation of a certain percentage of students to perform at a certain level is hard to grasp... especially when their classes are not only formatted around NJCCCS, but also individualized goals and objectives meant to remediate specific weaknesses (not necessarily @ grade level).

Standardized Test Results

For the past seven years or so, teachers have been asked to investigate the mountains of papers received by the state regarding NJASK tests. In grades where there were no NJASK, teachers deciphered TerraNova assessments (this year the district is using NJPASS for grades one and two). This is how it works...

1. Grade level and/or content area teams are formed.
2. Criteria is explained, i.e., what specific information is the district looking for? Most often, teachers are looking for weaknesses in reported subdomains. A weakness that has often been reported is in the area of mathematics - measurement. So, in that case, the teachers actually tally the number of students in a particular grade level with a weakness in measurement. Every student's record of subdomains are scrutinized for weaknesses, as well as strengths. Numbers are tallied, resulting in subdomain areas that will (moving forward) require a different approach to teaching the content (say, of measurement).
3. Latitude and longitude studies are done... is there improvement with the same students as they move from grade to grade in the reported weak areas? Is there improvement in one subdomain in a grade level?
4. Data is gathered resulting in possibly new resources, additional curriculum, professional development, etc.
5. The following year, the data is again brought out for comparisons to the current scores.

Another usage of standardized test scores, is for student scheduling. NJASK scores are used as a component of a rubric to determine student placement.

Still another use is for the district budget appeal. Scores are displayed for the community to see as a comparison to where the district falls in the state levels. Community members often use this data as a measure of success of the schools. Are we doing a good job? How are we compared to other K-8 districts in our socio-economic group?

Of course, state funding is based on this data.

Standardized test scores also help with placement into Basic Skills Instruction, Gifted and Talented, and I&RS programs.

Time Spent on Testing

"Yes, Mrs. R., I do see how you would think that I spend a lot of time on testing... sometimes it seems that EVERYTHING I do in the classroom has SOMETHING to do with an assessment of some sort.

"Let me explain my rationale... let's talk about state assessments first, because honestly, we don't have a choice in that matter. The federal government mandates through NCLB that students will be assessed at certain grade levels. The state has developed tests based on CCCS that we are obligated to utilize. The good news is that we can use scores to remediate weaknesses in the student's learning, as well as deficits in class curriculum. To make any student comfortable in the testing environment, we must practice... something we do quite often in the classroom as part of the regular lessons, through Study Island all year long, and during midterms, as we use Learnia for our mid-year assessments. All of these practice options will become 'second-nature' to the students and will assure better results.

"As far as my classroom tests, I use a variety of situations to assess students. As you know, I have weekly quizzes and/or tests to assess the success of my students in content/facts. I use observations during class discussions and independent and group work to assess how a student works in a classroom setting. Homework and classwork are important avenues to gather students work, and use repetition to hone in on skills. The gathering of work into portfolios is still another way of assessment.

"Why so much, you ask? Well, all these areas drive my daily classroom curriculum. When I have found that the students have learned/mastered an area of focus, we move on. If there is any area that needs work, this is the way I can find it. All in all, almost everything I do is related to assessment in one way or another. I don't want you to let that make you nervous for your student, but just please understand that assessment is the tool I use in my class to further instruction. I need for my students to learn, and this is how I can check that they have."

RAFT

This is an area that I am immersed in, especially at this time of year. I handle the transitioning of our 8th graders into the receiving district's high school. There have been some instances when a parent is not happy with the proposed placement of their child.

Scenerio:

R: Subject Area Supervisor (Me)
A: Parent angered about student placement (Mrs. J.)
F: Phone conversation
T: Supporting school's decision for student (Amy) placement in College Prep vs. Honors class

Me: Hi Mrs. J., I'm glad I was able to return your call. I have a message here that you have some concerns regarding Amy's placement for 9th grade? Tell me the areas or classes, and lets see how we can investigate this.

Mrs. J.: Well, Amy was placed in the college prep course for Geometry; Geometry A, and she has had straight A's every marking period in Algebra this year. Why can't she be placed in the Honors level Geometry?

Me: Give me a minute to pull her files, Mrs. J. I would like to look at her grades and teacher comment history in mathematics, as well as her 7th grade NJASK scores.

Mrs. J.: Why are you concerned with her 7th grade tests?

Me: Typically, we use a few measurements to place students, and the most recent standardized test scores are just one of the areas that we consider. She won't take the NJASK8 until May. As you know, she is taking her midterms this week, and that is another consideration to her placement. Let's see, yes, she was proficient with a 223 in the math portion of the NJASK7. And I do see that she has gotten all A's this year. You must be quite proud of her.

Mrs. J.: So you agree that she is in the wrong level?

Me: Well, not quite, Mrs. J. Although Amy was proficient in math with a 223, for an honors level course, we are looking for a student with a higher level of proficiency, even possibly an advanced proficiency level of 250 or above. Amy is a hard worker, and does earn A's, but the honors level geometry class will have few freshman... mostly sophomores in attendance. It is required that Amy has an advanced knowledge as a spring board in order to achieve success in honors Geometry.

Mrs. J.: Well, what if Amy does really well in the NJASK8?

Me: If Amy meets the criteria set in the coursebook for the high school, and she already has the algebra grades for it... if she achieves the necessary NJASK8 score in math, there is no reason why she couldn't be pushed into the honors class. We won't receive the 8th grade test scores from the State until the summer, but we have a team here, and guidance counselors work at the high school over the summer. We could look into a change then. But, I would also want you to think a bit about the transitioning into a new school. Amy is in a class of 45 here, and will be joining 350 other students in her freshman high school class. We want to balance her academic load with the social component of the transition, so that she is successful in her learning experience.

Mrs. J.: Okay, I guess we need to wait and see on this. I'm not happy, but I can't argue with the data.

Me: Thanks for your understanding, Mrs. J. I wish Amy luck in the midterms this week as well as the State tests in May. We can talk after we see how she has done, and by then she'll have a guidance counselor assigned for assistance at the high school.