Ideas of Imperfection: "Always already"

Ideas of Imperfection: "Always already"

Is the American education system taking creativity away?

I posted a brief comment regarding NCLB and creativity at Helium. The link below will take you to that post. Thanks for taking a look at this short piece.



Is the American education system taking creativity away? - Helium



Technorati Tags: NCLB, education, creativity

No Child Left Behind

You might want to check out the following post at Helium.com:



Understanding the "No child left behind" law - Helium

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Parental Involvment and Literacy

Check out this post at Helium.



The importance of parental involvement in improving a childs literacy - Helium

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A school finds a singular road to academic success - Los Angeles Times

A school finds a singular road to academic success - Los Angeles Times

This is the most hopeful I have been in a long time. It is not about raising standards, placing more of a burden on schools to prepare students for tests, or doing the same old thing that has been done before. To change schools one must change expectations. That means that teacher expectations must change; expectations of students and of the quality of their work. Student expectations must also change but in order to create a context in which student attitudes can change, teachers must take the first step. What a concept. I am sharing this article with all three of my teacher preparation classes this semester.

Education Week: Standards Get Boost on the Hill

Education Week: Standards Get Boost on the Hill

Oh my, what's next. States are not meeting current standards set by the Republican Congress through the No Child Left Behind Act so the solution must be to create even tougher standards to make sure that we are completely fair in our attempt to reduce everyone to the same, to engage in totalization of the self in the name of rigor. I simply don't get it. NCLB is broke and needs fixing, that is for sure. But the answer is not to get even tougher. Perhaps, and this might just be a radical thought, we ought to think more in terms of what the real objective might be. If the objective is to separate and categorize members of our democratic republic, then by all means continue along the lines we have laid out--indeed get tougher for that will separate and categorize far faster than anything else we could do. But if the objective is to help school children become active, critical participants in our democracy, then we must begin to think boldly--GOOD TEACHING INDEED TAKES CARE OF BAD TESTING. What about concentrating our efforts into inviting students into the classroom as active, engaged participants in areas of study. Let children practice history, become scientists, find real and practical uses for mathematics, and read as adults read, for the sake of reading alone. Then, and only then, can we learn to celebrate the diversity of our classrooms, hope to improve schools and find that our students are far smarter than NCLB gives them credit for. Until then, just shout LEARN and don't spare the rod either.

READ THIS BOOK and teach kids to write.

My book is now out and wow Katie and I are very excited. It is available at Amazon at a pre-publication discount but I have no idea how long that will last.

Teaching Writing in the Inclusive Classroom: Strategies and Skills for All Students, Grades 6 - 12

Teaching Writing in the Inclusive Classroom offers teachers in grades 6-12 everything they need to help all students develop basic writing skills, relate writing to real-life tasks, and explore writing as a creative and enjoyable practice. Filled with fifty engaging activities, this hands-on resource is an important and valuable tool that can supplement any teacher's approach to writing instruction. Teaching Writing in the Inclusive Classroom offers strategies based on the proven TIP Writing Process that is designed to individualize the writing process by focusing on the specific needs of each student within the classroom.

Editorial Reviews
Review
"A very teacher-friendly guide to teaching writing . . . give teachers ample ways to entice students into sharing their own stories and experiences."--Donna Ogle, Ed.D., professor, National-Louis University and past president, International Reading Association

"Throughout this book, teachers are encouraged to clarify their own beliefs about the writing process as well as belief in the potential of each child to find their own unique 'voice' through writing."--Beverly Otto, Ph.D., professor, teacher education and author, Language Development in Early Childhood

"A must-have for any individual interested in providing access to appropriate educational opportunities for all students, especially for students who struggle with academics."--Peggy A. Duran-Klenclo, M.Ed., J.D, coordinator, student support services, Region 17 Education Service Center,

Lubbock , Texas

"Contains practical approaches for teaching our students to become better writers . . . I wholeheartedly recommend this book."--Melvina Adams, literacy teacher,

Chase Elementary School , Chicago . Illinois

Literacy Educators and the Public Deeply Concerned about NCLB

Literacy Educators and the Public Deeply Concerned about NCLB (The Council Chronicle Online, Sept. 6, 2006)

This piece reports on a survey of English teachers in the United States regarding NCLB. 76% of the respondents believed that NCLB has had a negative impact on the teaching of English and literacy in the US. The only thing that is surprising about this number is that it is so small. Here is the real problem as I see it. NCLB strives toward differentiated instruction based on data that is carefully and systematically analyzed by instructional teams within schools. So far this is a good thing. The danger arises when districts, both large and small, begin to provide teachers with mandates for teaching with little or no support. Furthermore, NCLB restricts what counts as data to "sound science" which is a buzz word that data that does not rely on teacher input or judgment. Testing results are all that count as data.

Teaching is a profoundly human activity. Well trained, competent professionals must be expected to make judgments about students, curriculum and the like. Of course testing results must be considered but so must student produced work, journals, reflections, projects as well as teacher observations and student teacher interactions. Without the human factor at play teaching and learning is reduced to a mechanistic, profoundly undemocratic activity that is uninspiring at best.

So let's use data to drive instructional decisions, but let's make those decisions based on the broadest data set available.

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Corporal Punishment and Texas Schools

Corporal punishment adds just one small fear factor back into the system.

The Dallas Morning News reports the following:

A sign stuck to the principal's desk outlaws whining. A blue jar on a nearby shelf claims to hold the ashes of problem students.

But it's the custom-made, arm-length pine paddle that delivers the old-school discipline that Anthony Price says has helped turn his junior high school around.

He stands behind a practice headed toward extinction.

Most local students returning to school this month will not face corporal punishment. But in a time when child psychologists, Dr. Phil and even Supernanny tout timeouts and tenderness, a dwindling number of holdout school districts continue to believe in the power of the paddle.

Some spank their students for missing homework, others for untucked shirttails. They have the support of the state Legislature and their communities and say that despite research to the contrary, they're helping a generation that needs some old-fashioned remedy.

"We, as Americans, have let our school system get a little bit out of control," Mr. Price said. "I love children, but when I see how many are going astray, it's heartbreaking. ... Corporal punishment adds just one small fear factor back into the system."

When Anthony Price, an advocate of paddling, states, "I love children..." it seems to me that he must define what he means by love. When one beats another that is less powerful than him/her self is this an expression of love or is it merely bullying? When one exercises arbitrary power over another in a physical manner how is this different than controlling behavior through fear?

The article goes on to report that many states, especially those in the south, consider paddling or other forms of corporal punishment as normative. Advocates of this normative approach to discipline must provide a reasoned rationale for implementation of this degrading and often brutal form of punishment and show how it differs from, say, torture designed to exact desired language in the form of a confession--even to deeds not done. Fear is, of course, a great motivator. When one fears one is more likely to comply with a desired outcome. But fear is not a desired tool of democracy. Fear is the choice of dictators. From Hitler to Stalin, Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden, Mao to Fidel, fear of physical harm is the stuff that keeps the populace in line. Dare to dissent and one can count on pain and suffering. To avoid that pain one simply toes the line.

But Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Osama, Mao and Fidel and all others that aspire to dictatorial power are merely bullies, using their position of power and strength to terrorize those with less power or influence.

Take a look at Mr. Price in the photo above. Here is a big, powerful man with a wooden paddle in his hand like a knight wielding his sword at the enemy. There is no indication in the photo that Price towers over his 6th, 7th and 8th grade charges. What is clear is that he is a man obsessed with the power of his office, the authority granted him by the state, and a desire to maintain order in his school building no matter what the price. Mr. Price is a bully not far removed from the likes of other bullies that run countries through fear and intimidation. There is nothing moral or ethical or decent about a grown man beating a child into submission.

Price is proud of the fact that his building is quiet and well ordered. The simple fact is that anyone can get anybody to do anything given enough time and adequate instruments of pain. Of course the halls and classrooms are quiet. If they aren't students will be beaten into submission. There is no secret to maintaining order in this manner. Just be cruel and unyielding and those under you will appear to comply. Underneath the surface, however, is a resistant strain that resents the oppression and seeks ways to return the favor.

'Infidel' book ban repeal unlikely

'Infidel' book ban repeal unlikely

"Kentucky's century-old "infidel" books ban might be archaic and unconstitutional, but don't look for it to disappear any time soon, lawmakers said this week.

"Republicans and Democrats alike predict legislators will shy away from the issue when they convene in 2007.

"Many of my colleagues are fearful of taking a vote that would tend to put them on the side of infidels," said state Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington.

"Lawmakers expressed shock when they were told of the existence of the law that says "no book or other publication of a sectarian, infidel or immoral character, or that reflects on any religious denomination, shall be used or distributed in any common school."

"But as news spread this week, politicians questioned the wisdom of removing it from the statutes.

"There's nobody that wants to get on record saying 'I'm against God and Christianity,'" said state Sen. David Karem, D-Louisville."

This ran in the Lexington, KY HERALD-LEADER. While my first instinct was to laugh out loud at the language of the Kentucky law I quickly caught myself as I thought about the fact that in America, founded on principles of freedom of expression, religion and the like that political hacks of either party felt they had to be more like the Taliban than enlightened Americans. Banning the infidel runs through fundamentalist thought but thinking like that that cannot stand up to critical examination is, I submit, not worth the paper it is printed on. To be fearful of a handful of radical religious "nuts" that, although they have captured the presidency of the United States, are, and will remain for some time to come, a fringe group is simply unAmerican. Stand up Kentucky lawmakers. Repeal this law and join the 21st Century.

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What are Teachers Responsible For in the Classroom?

Gary Fenstermacher argued some time ago that there is no causal relationship between teaching and learning. The flawed idea that if, as a teacher I teach, that this is somehow translated into student performance must be replaced by something more appropriate to the way learning actually takes place. It is important to note that Fenstermacher does not imply that there is no relationship between teaching and learning, far from it. Rather, the relationship is not causal but reciprocal. If teachers don't teach then students never have a chance at learning. What teachers are responsible for is teaching.

• Creating inviting and energetic classrooms
• Planning lessons so as to invite students into the learning process
• Knowing what they are talking about (content knowledge is important)
• Knowing how to teach (so is professional knowledge)
• Executing plans in such a way so as to help students focus on the task(s) at hand

In all this students also have a significant responsibility--students must student. But what does it mean to student? What must students do in order to learn? Well, they must be engaged fully in the experience of learning. They must be willing participants in the process. They must do the work asked of them--reading, writing and so on as serious exercises leading toward the construction of new knowledge.

If teachers fail to teach it is likely that students will not student. But, if teachers do teach there is no guarantee that students will learn. Learning only occurs when students desire that which is being taught. If, for whatever reason, students see little value in the work of the classroom then they tend not to engage in that work. If they fail to engage in the work of the classroom then it is likely that no significant learning will take place.

As we begin a new school year the idea of focusing on assigning appropriate responsibility to teachers and students is something to think about.

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Teachers, and a Law That Distrusts Them - New York Times

I could not have said this any better myself so I will just quote from MICHAEL WINERIP's article in today's New York Times.

Teachers, and a Law That Distrusts Them - New York Times:

As readers know, I?m not a fan of No Child Left Behind, the 2002 federal law aimed at raising education quality. Instead of helping teachers, for me it?s a law created by politicians who distrust teachers. Because teachers? judgment and standards are supposedly not reliable, the law substitutes a battery of state tests that are supposed to tell the real truth about children?s academic progress. The question is: How successful can an education law be that makes teachers the enemy? Even No Child?s strongest supporters acknowledge that one of the law?s most important provisions ? to guarantee a highly qualified teacher in every classroom ? has been the most poorly carried out to date. So, to improve classroom teaching and make teachers more enthusiastic about the law, I have three departing suggestions for when the legislation is expected to come up for reauthorization next year. First, why not add a provision rewarding states and districts that mandate small class size? It?s an idea that enjoys great support among parents and teachers and is easily carried out on a national scale. Why small class size? Deborah Meier, the teacher, principal, author and MacArthur Award winner who has created successful public schools in New York and Boston, says the best chance for educating poor children well is surrounding them with as many talented adults as possible. The same premise drives one of the most hopeful efforts in urban education today, the Gates Foundation?s small schools movement. Joe Gipson, a black public school parent in California, which has had a mandatory cap of 20 in grades K to three for a decade, told me small class size is the best thing that?s happened to his children?s education, giving them what rich private school pupils have. While small class size is no guarantee that teachers will be good, he said, with just 20, you can tell faster if teachers are performing well, and get rid of them if they?re not.

So, once again, the question is if teachers are so damned untrustworthy why do so many Americans trust their children with them for some six hours every day, 180 days a year?

Zoundry

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No Child Left Behind and Wasted Resources

The three articles posted below point out the inordinate amount of time and resources wasted on No Child Left Behind. Is there something gone significantly wrong with a system that spends so much time concerned with the high-stakes outcomes of school children and so little time on curriculum and content in educational practice? We need sanity in this nation or I fear we are headed down an irredeemable road toward mediocrity.

JournalStar.com

USA Today

Arizona Central

Zoundry

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Reading Gains Slowing, Study Says

Reading Gains Slowing, Study Says - Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles Times reports on a study that is critical of No Child Left Behind. In part the article states:

Since enactment of No Child Left Behind in 2002, "a lot of governors and a lot of state school chiefs have celebrated and claimed significant progress in terms of reading and math achievement," said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at Berkeley and lead author of the new report. But, he said, "in many cases ? including in California ? state officials seem to be exaggerating progress that has been made in children's basic reading skills."

In fairness, the article also points out that the Department of Education called the Fuller study "flawed and misleading" but it is important to read what the DOE says with a critical eye. I would argue that the DOE is guilty of egocentric thinking in that, when faced with criticism, their first reaction is to discount that criticism. In part, egocentric thinking is the result of an egocentric view of truth:

• It is true because I believe it.
• It is true because WE believe it.
• It is true because I WANT to believe it.
• It is true because I have ALWAYS believed it.
• It is true because it is in MY SELFISH INTEREST to believe it.

What is becoming clear through empirical research and anecdotal evidence from across the country is that NCLB is significantly flawed. This is not surprising. Principled positions rarely lead to appropriate political solutions. The push by the radical right to standardize schools is one that is doomed from the start. I would argue that education should be left to the professionals and that one significant reason for perceived school failure in this country is political interference.

Zoundry

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Black-White Gap in IQ Scores Closing, Study Finds

Black-White Gap in IQ Scores Closing, Study Finds.

I wonder if any intelligence test actually measures intelligence. Perhaps they measure something else:

• Values
• Class membership
• Attitude toward education
• Understanding of the Western cultural experience

If this is the case, then, as African-Americans move toward assimilating into the middle class in this country, it should come as no surprise that the gap that exists on intelligence test scores between blacks and whites is closing. Middle class values, a growing assimilation into Western values and cultural experience and a positive attitude toward education may help explain the closing gap.

Whatever the explanation, it seems clear that racial or inherited traits have little to do with measurable intelligence.

The Mismeasure of Man

Zoundry

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Teachers study shows their worth

Teachers study shows their worth | Chicago Tribune:

"In Illinois, that score was determined by five factors: the average college entrance exam score of all teachers in the school; results on the teacher licensing test of basic skills; a national ranking of college attended; years of experience; and number of teachers with provisional credentials. All of the state's 3,800 public schools were evaluated."

The study reported by the Tribune appears to make an assumption that teacher quality is related to:

• Teacher testing
• College attended
• Experience
• Schools where teachers are working with provisional certificates

It seems to me that none of these indicators actually relate to teacher quality directly. The assumption that teachers that do poorly on basic skills examinations are somehow deficient fails to account for the problem of bias in the test instruments. The college attended, based on national ranking, fails to account for the potential of teacher education responsibilities at the so-called "better" schools may be the responsibility of junior faculty or the responsibility of graduate students while the tenured professors are out "researching" better practice. Experience is a red herring. The fact that a teacher has many years of experience does not have anything to do with how well one teaches. Finally, teachers tend to work on provisional certificates in poorer urban schools during their early years in the classroom. Schools with higher poverty rates tend to have more teachers on provisional certificates.

Rather than looking at straw men and red herrings perhaps we should be looking at the underlying problems of school success--

• Poverty
• Cultural differences
• Resistance

Only when we stop blaming teachers, parents, and the students themselves will we ever get to the bottom of effective school change.

Zoundry

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The Good Book, or just a good book?

The Daily Herald reports the following:

The Grapes of Wrath offered his first clue.A second came with another John Steinbeck classic, East of Eden. By the time Alex Cyhaniuk got around to reading Fahrenheit 451, the South Elgin High School sophomore knew to scout for references to the ancient text that permeates many of its pages--the Bible. For him, it was not a quest for religion but for literary meaning.

Teaching the literary references found in literature that have biblical foundation is not the same thing as teaching The Bible! It is quite true that one must have a passing knowledge of biblical references in order to fully understand what novelists and poets allude to in their text but teaching those textual references is done in the context of the text being read and not by teaching The Bible as a work of literature.

Teaching The Bible as literature as a ploy for teaching The Bible is fraught with far too much baggage to be of much value to be of much value to anyone save the fundamentalist wearing blinders. For example:

• Which translation would one use? It does make a difference. In Genesis, for example, yom echad, is often translated as the first day when a far better translation would be one day without reference to temporal time.
• Whose version of the text would be used? Would one insist on a Christian version and, if so, would it be a Catholic or Protestant version? Or should the Old Testament be read as a Jewish text using a Jewish translation in order to capture the references in their original form?
• Are Bible stories taught in isolation setting a foundation for literary references?

These are important questions that are generally not part of the public discourse regarding the fundamentalist desire to teach The Bible in the public schools. Perhaps they should be!

Daily Herald | News:

Zoundry

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ETS Pays $11.1 Million to Settle Teacher Test Lawsuit

In yet another case of improper scoring ETS must pay $11.1 to teachers covering lost wages, mental anguish and the like. This is not the first instance of ETS (or for that matter, other testing publishers) incompetent handling of test scoring. Not long ago in a widely reported story, ETS was guilty of improperly scoring a large batch of SAT tests thereby denying many students admission to the college or university of their choice.

In Illinois the publisher of the ISAT failed to deliver the tests to many school districts in the state in a timely manner.

This series of errors raises an important question in my mind. If scoring and delivery are significant issues, if management is so incompetent as to allow these types of errors, then how can we be so sure that they exercise competence in the construction of their tests. Incompetence breeds incompetence, greed is never satisfied. Since the testing industry has grown in the past few years can we be sure that tests are being developed along accepted psychometric principles? Are corners being cut just to meet deadlines for No Child Left Behind commitments? Can we trust the testing industry that cannot deliver on time and cannot accurately score tests of their own making? I wish I had the answers!

Praxis Settlement:

Zoundry

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Justices restore exit exam

"California's Supreme Court reinstated the high school exit exam as a diploma requirement Wednesday, less than two weeks after a trial court handed the Class of 2006 a free pass."

What is the issue in California? The trial court ruled that the California testing system discriminates against low-income students and students of color. The California Supreme Court held that the temporary injunction issued by the trial court should be set aside as the case moves through the appellate process. The underlying issue is not, however, a legal one rather it is a societal issue deeply tied to the current wave of xenophobia running rampant across our nation.

It is well-known that standardized testing is biased in favor of middle and upper income students who tend to be predominantly white. That tests discriminate is not a matter of controversy. What is controversial, however, is the high-stakes impact that testing has on our country. Nicholas Lehman writes about the meritocracy created and sustained by the testing industry in the United States in The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy. Lehman's argument is critical of the testing industry and the political drive to attach high-stakes results to testing at all levels.

Creating high-stakes testing arises out of what Berliner and Biddle call The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America's Public Schools. Here the authors argue that much of what is made of the crisis in American schools is a figment of the radical right's imagination. The statistical analysis that Berliner and Biddle use is important as they unpack each of the myths regarding the failure of American schools and public education.

What is going on in California and elsewhere with regard to high-stakes testing is a blatant attempt to divide Americans one from another. In spite of the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, we are regressing as a nation into one that mandates division along a standard bell curve approach. Using testing to divide is what the late Stephen J. Gould called The Mismeasure of Man.

If we are to be a free society then, it seems to me, we must look for ways to include rather than separate. Inclusiveness is not a matter of homogenizing differences into an assimilationist broth where all diversity is lost through melting everything into a single clear mix but, rather, one that embraces cultural and social differences into a stew where flavors meld into an exciting mix yet the ingredients are clearly recognizable. Acculturation recognizes the contributions of difference rather than trying to erase those differences from the face of the earth.

MercuryNews.com | 05/25/2006 | Justices restore exit exam:

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The Long (and Sometimes Expensive) Road to the SAT

The Long (and Sometimes Expensive) Road to the SAT - New York Times:

"MARK KROESE, of Medina, Wash., spent more than $2,000 on SAT test prep classes, books and tutoring for his son Daniel. Mr. Kroese said the tutor deconstructed the test format, taught Daniel logical strategies and pacing, and gave him confidence."

This article raises two important questions.

1. Do test preparation courses provide an unfair advantage for children of well-to-do parents leaving poor children behind?
2. What ethical questions arise as a result of test preparation?

Regarding the first question, the answer appears to be obvious. Those that can afford these expensive courses appear to have a clear advantage over those who can't. Is that advantage limited to being able to afford expensive courses? I think not. The advantage of the rich over the poor in school goes far deeper than that. Issues of school funding, the design of curriculum, standards and assessment all favor the middle and upper classes at the expense of the working and welfare classes in the United States. The advantage extends largely to white students leaving students of color struggling to achieve in school. John Dewey argued that the real worth of the advantaged is how they are willing to support public education for those less advantaged then they are. In Dewey's mind, all citizens are entitled to a fair shake at learning.

Ethical questions abound with regard to test preparation courses. The issue of advantage over disadvantage is one that separates the class structure in America. The question of unfair advantage is an ethical issue with which we have not yet come to grips. Additionally, the question as to whether test preparation is cheating can be raised. What about the competitive nature of college preparation? I could go on but I will stop here.

George Hillocks writes in The Testing Trap: How State Writing Assessments Control Learning (Language and Literacy Series (Teachers College Pr)) that tests tend not to align with standards and are inherently unfair. Nicholas Lemann's The Big Test : The Secret History of the American Meritocracy presents a vibrant historical view of the American obsession with testing while addressing issues of class division.

Zoundry

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