Education

Current Educational Policies: A Dad’s Reflection

/ Douglas Wieczorek / Leave a comment

I have many professional and personal connections to the world of education. I am a former social studies teacher, Assistant Principal, an emerging scholar in Teaching and Curriculum, and serve as an administrator in the teacher education unit at a regional university. I am also married to a high school math teacher, and a father of three daughters who are in 2nd grade (the twins) and 7th grade. My perspectives on education, education policy, and the profession at large are interpreted by my multiple identities. Today I write through the lens of a Dad, reflecting on the state of affairs in education as they impact my family on a micro-level, as I am sure they are affecting many children and families across New York.
Our oldest daughter recently took the new Common Core-aligned, New York State standardized tests in Spring 2013. The state education department issued a statement regarding the exam scores, and how they anticipated a significant drop in achievement results. At the end of the statement, the commissioner assured the public that these exams are critical to determining our students’ readiness for college work and subsequent careers. It is from this point at which I engaged in some serious reflection this past weekend, confronted by the over-compartmentalized vision of preparation defined by academic success.
My daughter started running cross-country for her school team this year and participated in an open meet on Saturday afternoon. At the race my family assembled at various points along the course to cheer on the runners. These young athletes left it all on the course, sprinting to the finish- some of them physically sick after the race. Some cried, some laughed, and some gave fist bumps to teammates or opposing runners for a job well-done. There was such a spirit of camaraderie that permeated through all the participants, regardless of what school they represented. What an accomplishment, a celebration!
We arrived home after the race, and I went to check the mailbox. And there it was- an envelope from the school district (which as a parent always generates immediate curiosity). I opened it right there at the end of the driveway. The envelope contained my daughter’s 6th grade New York State standardized test score results in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.
So, do we open this now and review the results and talk about this today? What does this mean? How will my daughter feel about these results? Do we call the school on Monday? Do we care? The school district said not to worry, so should we believe them? It was not until that moment, after that race, that I truly resented the changes which have consumed our school communities.
The arrival of that envelope created such mixed feelings at our house on Saturday. For the better part of the day, we saw an example of one of the best opportunities our public education system has to offer. We witnessed hard-work, determination, teamwork, school spirit, community, growth, success, and failure. After watching and cheering on these young women, there is no doubt in my mind they will be successful, contributing citizens and the leaders of tomorrow. These athletes have something inside them that cannot be found in a curriculum, or measured, and is essential for success in life.

There is so much more to the sport than the completion of the event, the athletes’ times, or what place they came in. At the end of the race, there is a certain, quantitatively measured outcome, but what are the intangibles that are not measured? The significance of the race is not based on the outcomes of the race itself, but the lessons learned along the way. These hard-working, talented, tough, resilient young women are more than a test score- more than a snapshot exam. My daughter came in 68th place in that race, and I assure you that her test scores will not determine her level of college and career readiness — or her success as a person.

Revolting Against Standardized Testing

/ Gregory Clark / Leave a comment

For reasons unbeknownst to me, a reputable news source located in Washington, D.C. has removed an article from their website in the past few days; This severely harms the blog post I prepared in response. Despite their removal of the post in question, I wish to discuss the topic. As a substitute, I quickly tracked down a Fox News blurb that gives a similar impression of the topic.

The general idea is as follows: For a variety of reasons, parents and schools are opting out of standardized tests. Parents don’t want their kids to take the tests, and schools are not stopping this from happening.

Some of the reasons parents may do this:

-Prevent child’s stress induced by taking long exams.

-Boycott a system which they believe harms the school system.

-This can be either concerns raised about narrowing curricula, or

-General negative attitudes toward standards-based policies which utilize test results.

-Among other reasons; we could probably identify a host of viable rationale.

Whatever the reasons, this revolt against standardized testing has serious consequences. Here are a few things I suggest thinking about as a response to this ‘news’:

-Do you find the reasons for boycotting valid?

-Is it to protect the children from some harm inherent in the testing administration?

-Can this be interpreted as a new form of school choice?

-Is it a political action where parents are simply using their children as weapons?

 

My largest concern is from a scientific perspective.

-If some kids are not taking the test because parents are voluntarily opting them out, what are the implications for the validity of the results?

-Is it likely that kids with parents who opt out represent a specific subgroup of the population, thus making any results obtained invalid?

-Will their absence from observation impact the integrity of the test results and, by extension, policies based upon the conclusions drawn from them?

Malcolm Gladwell: College Football Should Be Banned

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Sunday on Fareed Zarakia GPS, author Malcolm Gladwell discussed his proposal to abolish college football.

Here is an excerpt from the interview.

You compare football to dog fighting. Why?

Yes, I did a piece for The New Yorker a couple of years ago where I said it. This was at the time when, remember, Michael Vick, was convicted of dog fighting. And to me, that was such a kind of, and the whole world got up in arms about this. How could he use dogs in a violent manner, in a way that compromised their health and integrity?

And I was just struck at the time by the unbelievable hypocrisy of people in football, for goodness sake, getting up in arms about someone who chose to fight dogs, to pit one dog against each other.

In what way is dog fighting any different from football on a certain level, right? I mean you take a young, vulnerable dog who was made vulnerable because of his allegiance to the owner and you ask him to engage in serious sustained physical combat with another dog under the control of another owner, right?

Well, what’s football? We take young boys, essentially, and we have them repeatedly, over the course of the season, smash each other in the head, with known neurological consequences.

And why do they do that? Out of an allegiance to their owners and their coaches and a feeling they’re participating in some grand American spectacle.

They’re the same thing. And the idea that as a culture we would be absolutely quick and sure about coming to the moral boiling point over the notion that you would do this to dogs and yet completely blind to the notion you would do this to young men is, to my mind, astonishing.

I mean there’s a certain point where I just said, you know, we have to say enough is enough.

 

Why We Are Failing Good Teachers

/ Matthew Clemente / 1 Comment

Why We Are Failing Good Teachers

Last weekend, This American Life ran a story about an award winning teacher who is being forced to quit.  It’s a really exasperating story if you care about the state of American education.  Here is a description of the segment: 

Science teacher Jason Pittman, who teaches pre-school through sixth grade at a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, won a big teaching award this week. In fact, during his ten years teaching, he’s won many, many awards. He loves his job. But this week, he explains to Ira why he’s quitting, even though he doesn’t want to. (6 minutes)

Expelling Suspension from School Policy

/ Matthew Clemente / Leave a comment

Expelling Suspension from School Policy

Recently, NPR’s All Things Considered ran a story about a California school district that no longer suspends trouble students from school.  Here is a description of the story: 

The effectiveness of school suspensions is up for debate. California is the most recent battleground, but a pattern of uneven application and negative outcomes is apparent across the country.

California students were suspended more than 700,000 times over the 2011-2012 school year,according to state data. One school district decided it was getting ridiculous. In May, the board for the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a new resolution to ban the use of suspensions to punish students for “willful defiance.”

Those offenses include: bringing a cellphone to school, public displays of affection, truancy or repeated tardiness. They accounted for nearly half of all suspensions issued in California last year.

But there’s mounting research that says that out-of-school suspensions put students on the fast track to falling behind, dropping out, and going to jail. Moreover, some groups are disproportionately suspended more than others. . . .