School Daze...School Daze...

Thank you for your continued understanding and support.  Latest idiocy from the district - we are going to be giving up over a month of critical ELA instruction to test the kids.  There will be 7 unit tests - including giving the end-of-the-year test the 2nd week of school, as well as at the end of the year.  Then there are computer tests 3 times a year.  Then there are dibels testing 3 times a year.  Then there is prep for the state test, and finally 3 days of state tests themselves.   As I've said before, it's like my continuous diets.  Let's just keep on getting on the scale, but don't change eating habits at all.

God help us all!

The quote above is from an email from a colleague who teaches 2nd grade in advance of this new school year in a mid-sized urban school district. This teacher is closing in on retirement eligibility within the next couple of years. This teacher reflects the plight of teachers all over the country, teachers who have dedicated their lives to educating our children. Passionate teachers who are now facing retirement have seen countless reform initiatives and never have those initiatives stood in the way of the care teachers have for children. But the current state of education is definitely impeding teacher passion for their work because of the unreasonable and often unfounded choices they must comply with any given school year.

I have seen fabulous teachers planning their exit strategy who fully know not only how to teach but how to properly and thoroughly assess the learning evident in their students. It is not because they are lousy teachers or they do not love kids. It is because the business of education is as broken as much of the rest of our system in this nation. It is because of the dehumanizing of the national climate of education. It may be that the media and the current wave of reformers are placing the greatest weight of the failures of our schools on the shoulders of teachers. 

In a recent conversation on Book TV's program Afterwords, between Diane Ravitch and Steven Brill, Brill cites a teacher in New York City barking at students as he shouts inane questions at his students, feet up on his desk. I find it very difficult to believe that this was a firsthand observation, rather than a reflection of someone else's story. I cannot imagine any teacher being so lax while being observed by outsiders.

This rant in the nation about the impact of bad teachers is a filmy argument. There are inept practitioners in any field and they are always the minority. The current demonization of both the unions, Randi Weingarten (president of the American Teachers Union) in particular, and teachers in general offends my intelligence.

I have seen Michelle Rhee and members of the press gang up on Ms. Weingarten over and over in panel discussions. It seems the charter school reformists are the newest teacher's pets of Washington. I hear Ms. Weingarten stating over and over that teachers should be evaluated, as should students, but the playing field has to be equal and teachers need to be afforded all the needs and resources possible to insure their success, much less provided a healthy and vital workplace. This includes validation as to their own level of expertise. This includes a viable income. It includes quality and consistent professional development.

But it also includes access to the supplies necessary to serve the students well. This playing field must allow for students to be well-nourished, rested, clothed appropriately for their climates, and to have support in dealing with and healing from outside influences that impact learning. Few of these new reformists seem to be even the least bit willing to address this issue, much less our legislators.

On the other hand, reformer Geoffrey Canada proposed that the best teachers be recruited for and retained in poverty-ridden schools by offering considerable signing bonuses and significantly higher salaries. His logic was that the less able teachers would be less of an obstacle in districts where the income supported higher school taxes, thus more resources, not to mention the benefits affordable outside of school, such as tutoring, private lessons, extra-curricular sports, etc.

We have got to look through a clear lens here. We have to pay attention to the plight of what teaching to these assessment tests only does to the quality of daily instruction. I took tests in school but they were in relation to my teacher's curriculum. Then I carted home my green report card with the gauge of my success as a student several times a year. Once a year, I took the famous Iowa Test along with everyone in my school district. I was extremely intimidated. I later realized that I am not a good test-taker. I panic. I am much like many people and certainly many students. But we took the test with our #2 pencils poised to fill in the bubbles. Then, the next day, we got back to learning. 

Put Your Efforts Where Your Mouth Is...

Yesterday I watched a discussion on CSPAN2/Book TV between Diane Ravitch and Steven Brill as they debated issues and concerns regarding the current state of American education on the show Afterwords.

Here we have two people who are obviously invested in the current state of education in our nation, as we all should be. One of them has the newest book on the market, written by a professional journalist who admitted in the conversation that he was motivated to investigate educational issues after he heard about the infamous "Rubber Rooms" in New York City. He is noted for creating "Court TV." He completed law school but clarified Ms. Ravitch's stating that he was a lawyer by explaining that he did not take the bar exam. Most likely a well-meaning fellow. With a book that is getting a lot of press.

Diane Ravitch has 40 years of teaching and writing on the history of education. She has experience working with the first President Bush on national education reform and with numerous think tanks studying educational policy. She also has a recent book that looks at the concerns from a place of her study, her practical application, and her data, one of several.

Steven Brill anticipated antagonism so,in turn and without warrant often, he created it throughout the whole hour. It was supposed to be an interview but it was a dialogue and at times bordered on argument. I have to stand on the side of Diane Ravitch, who has dedicated her whole career to the subject that Brill, the journalist, has just opened his eyes to, and upon which he has churned out a book now that he has become enlightened to the problem.

Good for him that he took some action. He wrote a book to call people to the cause. But does he miss the real point? I have not yet read the book and I feel obliged to do so. But I believe I am going to be annoyed when I do; I can tell from his performance on Book TV.

There is plenty on the internet to give some insight and substantiation of my perception. Search out the reviews. View the episode of Afterwords yourself. But what I really want to suggest is that there should be some sort of mechanism to allow these people to try education on for size. Actor Tony Danza tried with his reality show, Teach. He had to teach two classes for one year. Twenty-six students who met the "casting call." He was reduced to tears. His show was cancelled before the complete run. Cameras left school in April. Tony left in June. He did not return nor is he pursuing permanent certification. He understands how hard it is.

So for those who are considering school reform, for instance, Steven Brill, here's an idea: go teach in any school of your choice for one month. Pick your grade level. Pick a subject if you are in secondary school. Work all day. Administer pre-tests, design lesson plans, learn your students' names, teach them all day, grade papers, council students and meet with parents, take lunchroom duty, proctor in-school suspension, monitor study hall, attend faculty meetings, and then administer post-tests and assess the quality and retention of learning based on your work. Then receive evaluation of your effectiveness as a teacher. You will be permitted to take a vacation after that 4 weeks. You will need it. Then tell us about how badly teachers perform in America. Then you can speak authentically about teachers unions, charter schools vs. public schools, and what you understand about the challenges to teaching our youth and the level of support any teacher receives in being professionally prepared for what will happen in that classroom daily.

I suggest this very same for all of our federal legislators before they debate on funding for education. People do not understand. For years I have heard people tell me that teachers have an easy job. Oh yeah...just try it.

I am in numerous schools throughout the year, in urban, suburban, and rural settings. The average adult worker could not do this job. I see it through a clear and large lens. Don't believe the myth of all the vacation time and short hours. These are the people who are shepherding our youth toward their future. Have some respect for those in whom many of us are placing the responsibility of raising our children. They are so much more important than a judge on American Idol or a professional athlete, so much more worthy of our respect, if not our devotion and idolatry.