When many of you attended school, your parents sent you off with the expectation that you would actually learn to read, if you didn't already know how, your math would be developed as well as your crictical thinking skills. In between you would learn geography and current events etc. In the era of No Child Left Behind or NCLB all that vanished. Although I agree that all children should be able to read on grade level if we want them to succeed in our country's high education system or just get a job, the how to implement this new mandate was left completely up to the states. Since I live in Texas, I'll speak to the system here.
When I started teaching elementary school after my years of teaching high school, we had balanced literacy. Kids read with me, they made progress, they moved up in their reading ability and books etc. This was a bilingual class which means I started off with some who could read and some who couldn't. My first year in elementary school was the first year of THE TAKS, or the high stakes state assessment. It seemed relaxed, no administrative freak outs, not unreasonable oaths to sign, just give the test, be honest and wait for the results.
As the years went on, teachers were asked / told how to teach, gearing everything to THE TEST, while somehow fitting in science and social studies. Administrators started looking at data, breaking it down by English Language Learners or in those days Limited English Speakers or LEP, kids on free or reduced lunch, low socio economic status or SES, ethnicity and a few other criteria. We as teachers were to analyze our data and come up with a reason for the failure of these "at risk' populations and how to correct it. Each teacher's class was examined in front of his or her collegues and suggestions made for how to better improve test scores. Not how to best teach the kids so they can actually get an education, but how to pass the test. What strategies to use, who will take the lower ones and work closely with them, again the means to the end was 90% of the kids passing the test the first time it's administered.
Let's talk now about what that really means in layman's terms. It means frankly, that your poorer children who have had less opportunity to "see the world" and experience things like going to the beach, will have to be "given" experiences so they can relate to stories about traveling cross country to visit relatives at the beach house, or archeolgical digs to find fossils etc. None of the kids that I worked with even knew that Spanish was spoken in Central and South America much less where these places were and they were in 3rd grade. So we work with them in after school, during school, and in Saturday school to help them with their reading, writing and math. Yes, to give them the knowledge to carry over into their next grade but mostly to pass THE TEST.
You are now wondering so, what about THE TEST? Why all this heartburn over a single test? Well, if they don't pass after THREE tries they fail the grade. IF they don't pass after the second try it becomes a black mark on the school's accountability record and the school's rating and money is then affected.
If the school has a vast majority of students of all races on free or reduced lunch they become a Title 1 school and more funds are available to them to help educate these at risk kids. If they don't preform though, guess what, yup no money and possible state intervention, district freak out, pressure on teachers and administration changes. The higher the passing rate for the district and especially in what they call sub populations, the more money and with it more recognition like Exemplary, Recongnized, Academically Acceptable ( no one wants that one) or Underperforming ( no one REALLY likes that one.)
This is just in Texas as I mentioned. So, you ask what does that have to do with teaching? EVERYTHING. The districts will deny they teach to the test but at the beginning of the year all data is disclosed to the teachers , areas of concern are noted and words like " we really need to make sure we are reaching thus and such population in order for them to pass on the first try." Teachers are given lessons to use that use old test questions to sprinkle through out their lessons, they must pull their lowest readers several times a day and on and on. If a school, like the one I worked in is determined high risk because it has almost all kids on free and reduced lunch, the district sends out teams of "specialists" to work with kids all over the building to ensure they understand how questions will be asked on THE TEST. No history, no geography and some grammar in passing. Science is covered but that's a hard one to actually dive into given the limited amount of time.
What do the administrators do with all this information? They go to meetings that tell them which schools are struggling and how to fix it. I think those are called district directives. Mind you, very few of these handing down the directives have been teaching in a classroom in the last say, 5 years. Most have been out of the classroom 10+ years so they really have a no idea how this actually works in a regular class. Administrators come back from their meetings, meet with teachers and give them more things they need to include on lesson plans or do in their classroom or hand on their walls. My heroes, the teachers all meet or exceed these expectations leading to frustration, lack of personal lives and long hours at school after school. So the hierarchy goes like this: district says thus= administrators inform and require thus from teachers,= teachers rewrite plans to reflect new directives or implement new lessons
Some of you are thinking, who care, the kids are in school and they are learning...good job. Not so fast my friends. What are they learning? Are they learning material that will help them succeed in our society and become productive members that go on to get degrees from Univesities or are we teaching them the barest mininum to be able to pass "THE TEST?"
In districts all over our country you will hear administrators, teachers and others say " we are doing what is best for children." Pardon me, but when 3rd graders reach my class having been in the SAME SCHOOL for three years and aren't even reading on 1st grade level, I think we have a problem. Remember how fun Charlotte's Web was to read? None of my students can read it. Thus, they are deprived of fabulous literature, excieting characters and good books. Houston, I think we have a problem.
I pose to you, my readers, what do you think is best for children? Give it some thought and leave me a comment. I would love to hear what you have to say. If you child is in a public school go to that state's educational website and click on accountability rates or rankings. You'll see things broken down by ethnicity, free and reduced lunch etc. Check it out. If you live in a rather middle class district you won't see dramatic numbers between ethnicities. If you know of a school your area that is struggling, take a look at their break down. VERY INTERESTING.
Tonight I will tackle the thorny issue of Parental / Personal Responsibility when it comes to educating children. Stay tuned, it only gets better.
Hugs,
Adrienne
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment