another answer
I have one, if it's not too late. If you were suddenly appointed the head of the United States Department of Education, what would you change about the education system here in America (I know it's too broad, what would be the FIRST thing you'd change)?
This is a great question. Oh, there's so much that could be improved. There are so many ways we could grow. And it's tough because, technically, education is a function of the states (since it's not explicitly given to the federal government). Hmm... not that it's stopped anyone before.
Hands down, though, the first thing I would do is begin work to replace the No Child Left Behind law. There was a great article in Time that matter-of-factly explains the issues that schools are facing.
NCLB has such a negative connotation in schools that it might be best to completely leave it behind. Just about any reform would be a step in the right direction, though. Maybe.
Basically, it boils down to...
1. Schools who have fantastic test scores are being labeled as "failing" because they are no longer increasing their scores enough each year. The school average may be 99%, but if that score does not rise over time, they are a failure. Failure can result in the firing of all staff, hiring an outside organization to come in to reform the school, closing the school, pulling funding from the school...
2. The emphasis of NCLB is on one, count it, one, measure of accountability. The test. The single state assessment. In Kansas, for reading, this means three days of multiple-choice testing. That's it. This, most definitely, encourages teaching "to the test" in order to ensure that students do well on these three days of testing. And, honestly, my students are pretty darn good at playing the testing game - eliminating answers, looking for key words. Most teachers will admit that kids don't have to be reading at grade level in order to pass the state assessment (and Kansas has relatively high standards, nationally), if you drill and kill enough and teach test-taking strategies. It's the ugly truth. (And you truly cannot blame teachers for this. If we fail the assessment, we stand to lose a lot - see the Time article linked above.) I will not go on about the test and how it doesn't measure higher-level thinking, problem solving, etc... I will not go on about the test. I will not... Today.
3. Right now, we are comparing apples and oranges. "Growth" of my students, in terms of test results, is shown by comparing sixth grade scores from the past several years, meaning that it will compare this year's class to last year's class to the class from the year before. This doesn't quite make sense to me. If you want to know whether or not an individual student is learning, you need to compare his or her results from this year to those of previous years. Right?! That's what makes sense to me.
The good news is that we (at least the state of Kansas) are moving in the right direction, toward assessments with performance tasks that measure individual student growth. You can look up Common Core Standards and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium for a little more info.
The second thing I would do is declare a ban on teacher-bashing. Yes, there are bad teachers. But, mostly, we're a pretty darn good (and passionate, dare I say?) lot. Not that this would work. I'll keep dreaming.
The third thing I would do is work toward funding pre-K programs for all children in all 50 states.
But those are topics for another day.
And now I will step off my soapbox. Good night.
(Isn't this questions thing fun?!)
This is a great question. Oh, there's so much that could be improved. There are so many ways we could grow. And it's tough because, technically, education is a function of the states (since it's not explicitly given to the federal government). Hmm... not that it's stopped anyone before.
Hands down, though, the first thing I would do is begin work to replace the No Child Left Behind law. There was a great article in Time that matter-of-factly explains the issues that schools are facing.
NCLB has such a negative connotation in schools that it might be best to completely leave it behind. Just about any reform would be a step in the right direction, though. Maybe.
Basically, it boils down to...
1. Schools who have fantastic test scores are being labeled as "failing" because they are no longer increasing their scores enough each year. The school average may be 99%, but if that score does not rise over time, they are a failure. Failure can result in the firing of all staff, hiring an outside organization to come in to reform the school, closing the school, pulling funding from the school...
2. The emphasis of NCLB is on one, count it, one, measure of accountability. The test. The single state assessment. In Kansas, for reading, this means three days of multiple-choice testing. That's it. This, most definitely, encourages teaching "to the test" in order to ensure that students do well on these three days of testing. And, honestly, my students are pretty darn good at playing the testing game - eliminating answers, looking for key words. Most teachers will admit that kids don't have to be reading at grade level in order to pass the state assessment (and Kansas has relatively high standards, nationally), if you drill and kill enough and teach test-taking strategies. It's the ugly truth. (And you truly cannot blame teachers for this. If we fail the assessment, we stand to lose a lot - see the Time article linked above.) I will not go on about the test and how it doesn't measure higher-level thinking, problem solving, etc... I will not go on about the test. I will not... Today.
3. Right now, we are comparing apples and oranges. "Growth" of my students, in terms of test results, is shown by comparing sixth grade scores from the past several years, meaning that it will compare this year's class to last year's class to the class from the year before. This doesn't quite make sense to me. If you want to know whether or not an individual student is learning, you need to compare his or her results from this year to those of previous years. Right?! That's what makes sense to me.
The good news is that we (at least the state of Kansas) are moving in the right direction, toward assessments with performance tasks that measure individual student growth. You can look up Common Core Standards and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium for a little more info.
The second thing I would do is declare a ban on teacher-bashing. Yes, there are bad teachers. But, mostly, we're a pretty darn good (and passionate, dare I say?) lot. Not that this would work. I'll keep dreaming.
The third thing I would do is work toward funding pre-K programs for all children in all 50 states.
But those are topics for another day.
And now I will step off my soapbox. Good night.
(Isn't this questions thing fun?!)
Well I know that this isn't anything to do with the United States Department of Education, but I think that what would best benefit public education in Kansas would be to get rid of Governor Sam Brownback. Period. Check my Facebook status for his latest "Great Idea"
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