Happy (Belated) Birthday NCLB! (Part 4)

As No Child Left Behind celebrates its eighth birthday, its future remains unclear. The success of its past is even more debatable. Based on my own educational philosophy and my personal experience in the classroom I'd say the results are mixed. NCLB has made positive progress by bringing vital attention the ways in which education in this country has failed the most vulnerable children.

By creating a policy that singles out English Language Learners, children with special needs and children in high-need communities, NCLB has brought these students out of the shadows, at least in terms of the national conversation. Furthermore, NCLB has created a framework, however flawed, that has implemented accountability for schools, cities and states to reach all students regardless of need or background.

Unfortunately, NCLB relies on tests that are uneven and possibly inaccurate. It has also created a climate that is dominated by high-stakes testing and pressures schools to eschew more well-rounded instruction. Thirdly, NCLB has in many ways, intentionally or unintentionally depending on your propensity for conspiracy theories, aligned national pedagogy closely with corporate interests.

The most powerful way NCLB has done this brings us back to testing. The creating of a high-stakes testing culture has created an insatiable market for a myriad of test prep materials and standards-based curriculum. Standards-based curriculum aren't necessarily a problem on their own, but its a major sign of the integration of testing and teaching. Whereas testing was once a tool for teachers, it now seems to be the other way around.

Everyday Math and Reading First are two major examples of curricula that were presented to as "choices" across the country after NCLB was enacted. Incidentally "choosing" them gave states and schools a lot of money. Some have also pointed out that the publishers of many similar programs have close financial ties to the Republican Party.

Regardless of whether this played any sort of role in education policy via NCLB, it is clear that publishers have gained immensely from the brave new era of NCLB. Most of these companies are not publicly traded, so I can't cite stock quotes from Harcourt or Houghton Mifflin, but it is telling that Kaplan is the most (if not the only) profitable section of The Washington Post Company.

There are also concerns that the rise of charter schools under NCLB provides a sort of Trojan Horse for the privatization of education. The fact that many of these schools are run as for-profit institutions does little to allay these fears. At its core however, the problem is that charter schools are catering to select groups of the broader student population whose parents may or may not have financial capital, but do often have political capital (as defined simply by knowing enough to enter in a lottery, etc.). As charter schools grow more prolific with no efforts to integrate their successes and curricula into the public school system at large it seems inevitable that charter schools will become a very separate and unequal enterprise.

For all of its many flaws, and the headaches it provides me as a teacher, I do believe NCLB should be renewed. Whether that takes place in this political climate (it was supposed to be renewed two years ago) is another issue. Either way, NCLB has for all practical purposes established the direction of education policy in this country. I just hope a long, serious look is taken at some of its problems before we continue any further.

Law and Order: Third Grade

A worn High School Musical wallet with two dollars in it is currently sitting in my jacket. I acquired it after school today, when Mastermind handed it over to me, her mom looking at her with a look somewhere between bemusement and exasperation. The wallet, Mastermind had told me earlier, was hers, as was the money. I was asking since that exact sum had gone missing from Digo's pencil case, and Mastermind is the only student with what passes for a prior record in the third grade.

The story changed of course once her mom told me she hadn't given her daughter any money, and she wouldn't have any money otherwise. When her mom took charge of the inquisition Mastermind tried a new performance. Now the wallet was a gift from the guidance counselor and the money was given to her by her friend (aka follower), another student of mine.

I'm looking forward to getting to the truth tomorrow. It's been a while since I've gotten to try out a good old fashioned prisoner's dilemma with eight-year-olds. I'm sure however, the experience will be less than enlightening and somewhat anticlimactic. Relying on these two students to tell the truth will probably be something like a reenactment of Rashomon, but with third graders instead of samurais.

It's not the first time I've faced a situation like this obviously, and they always begin and end practically the same. This is actually one of the rare cases where I've resolved who took the money. Still, even with this pretty much settled, the resolution remains unclear. What will the consequences be? Her mom already knows about the incident (and every problem we've had prior) but seems in complete denial. There's very few privileges or rewards to take away. Recess? The kids spend lunch time in the auditorium. Choice time? She won't earn it anyway. Field trip? Can't be taken way because of Chancellor's Regulations. Suspension? She can't afford to miss instructional time, and even if she could, it's doubtful she'd take any lesson away from the experience.

In the end I'm asking myself how many second chances a kid should get. I believe in building relationships with students based on trust and a willingness to forgive. When a student makes a mistake, I'll explain why it is wrong (or more often ask them to explain themselves) and give them a chance to make a change. But with a student like Mastermind there doesn't seem to be any lag time between one transgression and the next. It begs several questions. Does she even understand right and wrong? Does she totally lack impulse control? What is going on at home after each of these problems?

I'm not sure I can answer the first two questions yet, but Mastermind's fairy tale draft gave a glimpse of an answer to the third. Her writing told the story of a princess who was badly treated by her parents the King and the Queen. She wanted to go to the scary castle, but they wouldn't let her, so she cried. When they got home, they punished her and she learned to be a good girl. Maybe the fairy tale is just a fairy tale, but it seems like Mastermind's developing a somewhat strange sense of morality.

So how will I handle the theft of two dollars? It doesn't shock me like it might have two years ago, but it still bothers me deeply, because it shows a flagrant, purposeful act against the classroom community I've worked to create. And I really believe that even an eight-year-old who may lack empathy for others, should be able to understand the wrongness of stealing.

Brookly Charter School "Flunks Out"

I'm sure this story represents a rare and extreme exception, but today's NY Post illustrates the worst case scenario presented by the more lax oversight of NYC charter schools. A Brooklyn charter school is going to be only the second to have its charter revoked before it is expired.
According to the article:

Among the concerns uncovered by the state Education Department are:

* Founding principal Sheila Joseph changed her title to "superintendent" and had her salary hiked from $120,000 to $180,000, plus a $20,000 bonus, without explanation.

* The school offered 12 fewer days of instruction than approved in its charter.

* Forty-eight students were discharged in the 2008-09 school year, including seven low-performing third-graders prior to state testing.

Well, getting rid of the lowest performing students is definitely one way to boost your school's scores.

Happy (Belated) Birthday NCLB! (Part 3)

This month marks the 8th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act. This legislation has redefined education in America and it's worth looking back now at the ways NCLB has done so. I started my reflection Wednesday by saying that for all it's faults NCLB has changed education for the better by putting the achievement gap at the center of the education debate.

Unfortunately the theory of accountability for everyone has had some very detrimental practical effects for high need students and their teachers. Thursday I discussed the problems with standardized testing. But while the debate over standardized testing is somewhat abstract
the creation of a new testing-centered culture, particularly in high need schools is indisputable.

You might argue that creating a high stakes environment based around testing is essential for these failing schools. But that assumes that 1) these schools have been failing mainly because a lack of effort and 2) the high stakes culture benefits the students. Both assumptions are false, but unfortunately they allow the general degredation of public schools and the educators who work in them.

It is important to understand the actual consequences of the Nclb testing culture. Namely the reallocation of energy and resources toward test prep materials, test prep instruction and test prep professional development. This is especially egregious during a time of economic downturn when principals are being told to "do more with less." The result is schools like my current and former workplace no longer have after school arts and sports programs, but still have the
latest test prep books.

As for the day to day effects, I can attest personally that the testing culture eventually subsumes all other aspects of teaching - more and more so as the test day approaches. Starting this week my school is beginning its test "blitzing", one period each day of math or ELA test prep. Something inevitably takes a back seat in this case, whether it's social studies, science or just an extra 45 minutes of the math or reader's workshop.

Then you have to take into account the lowest performing students and how test prep affects them. I have three students taking the students who are reading at a kindergarten level. Getting them to a third grade level by April would be nothing short of a miracle. But schools like can't afford to let anyone fail. So in the interest of time students like these are given the shortcuts to get through the test in place of reading interventions that might better help these students over the long term. If they do manage to pass, they'll move forward another grade, only to face a bigger deficit the next year.

Perhaps worst, the testing culture trickles down from the testing grades (3rd and up) to the lower grades. In many schools, even though these kids aren't yet testing, test prep is still encroaching on more worthwhile instruction. Too many schools are investing energy in turning kids into test-takers at an earlier and earlier age, rather than helping them to be good readers and critical thinkers (abilities that make a student a natural test-taker). In the worst case, there are kindergarteners taking standardized tests, a trend some studies (click the link to the Alliance for Childhood) have linked to depression, poor self esteem and antisocial behaviors later on.

I understand there needs to be a system of accountability. There needs to be a way to measure efforts to close the achievement gap. But the way testing has permeated school cultures, has too often come at the expense of approaches to education that would benefit students beyond standardized tests and outside the classroom.

Happy (Belated) Birthday NCLB! (Part 2)

Yesterday, I talked about the positive achievements of the No Child Left Behind Act. I argued that for all its faults, the NCLB has had an overall positive impact on American education.

Now for the bad news. And I hope Pres. Obama, Sec. Duncan, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein will pay attention for this part, because it's important. NCLB hasn't fixed education. In fact, it has created some problems of it's own. And if policymakers aren't extremely careful over the next few years, the so-called cure will become much worse than the disease.

The three main problems with NCLB are testing, testing and testing. More specifically the assessments themselves, the school and classroom environments created by testing, and the coalescing of corporate interests with education policy are all major problems created directly or indirectly by the changes enacted by NCLB.

Let's start with testing. NAEP test scores have risen under NCLB and NYC test scores have risen under Mayor Bloomberg. Awesome news. But particularly with regard to NYC test scores we have to ask are the tests a valid indicator of progress? Every single one of my students from last year ended up passing the 4th grade. I can say for a fact that all but four or five of these students were below grade levels in reading and/or math, with some of them closer to two grades below level. So what does that say about the tests?

Even if we were to raise the standards of the standardized tests (the Race to the Top specifically asks states to rethink assessments to include more open-ended questions) the general legitimacy of standardized testing as a worthwhile and effective educational tool is far from established. In fact few people would argue the system currently in place is even close to ideal.

The system of standardized testing we use now is simply the easiest way to gather data on the millions of students in the American public school system. But considering the high-stakes nature of testing in the NCLB era, this laziness isn't serving anyone, least of all the students. Computerized adaptive testing like the system used on the GRE is one idea that require an initial investment in technology, but would actually streamline the testing process.

Another idea I've come across repeatedly is to simply change the content of the standardized tests. Instead of students reading randomly selected passages (a classic potpourri of folk tales, poems and how-to's) tests could be based on grade-level content. Third graders would read about matter and global communities. Fourth graders would read about Algonquians and the water cycle. Students would be familiar with grade level content and vocabulary, and "teaching to the test" would no longer push social studies and science to the periphery.

A third idea would be to hire trained teachers (there would have to be caution with regard to conflicts of interest) to assess students using an observational checklist. Students would be asked to perform multiple tasks to demonstrate understanding of grade level performance indicators, rather than fill out a scantron and a couple of written responses. This would be the most labor-intensive, but would also provide the most thorough and authentic data possible.

There are numerous ideas out there to improve the standardized testing currently in place across the country. Whether by raising the bar on the content tested or overhauling the entire system, it is clear that a change needs to be made. Given that the whole system of accountability NCLB has created rests on the validity of these tests, the urgency for this change could not be greater.

Happy (Belated) Birthday NCLB! (Part 1)

Not long ago (okay, almost two weeks now) the No Child Left Behind Act quietly turned eight years old. NCLB is arguably Pres. Bush's smallest disaster (hold your applause). In fact, as a fervent, anti-Bush bleeding heart liberal, I would even say it has the potential to be his finest achievement. Whether NCLB redeems Dubya's legacy however, remains to be seen, and much of it depends on how Pres. Obama and Congress steer the direction of education reform from here on out.

Now many of you might be wondering how I could be such a fan of NCLB. Aren't teachers supposed to hate it? Hasn't it just turned education into teaching to the test. I'll get to that later. For all it's flaws, I do believe that NCLB has changed public education for the better, and I hope that it will ultimately bring about changes that will fix American education for good. In the mean time, NCLB deserves credit for making public education a major issue in American politics and for changing the nature of that discussion for the better.

In the years since NCLB was enacted concepts such as accountability, student achievement and high standards for all have permeated school systems that have often accepted defeatism. For all his struggles with the English language (see the top of this blog) Dubya also gave us the phrase "the soft bigotry of lowered expectations." NCLB has most succeeded in publicizing the achievement gap and leading the efforts to close it. As a direct result, Black and Hispanic students are closing the gap for the first time in 25 years. That's something we all should celebrate.

It's a Miracle

I've made it a habit of asking social studies and science questions nightly to reinforce what we've learned. For my lowest group of students these questions, even when differentiated, can be difficult. Sometimes students will use the internet to help out with these questions. I don't mind if their answers aren't always their own words, because I appreciate the effort and it's a good introduction to research skills. Still, I had to laugh at this response from Digo to my question, "What crops do they grow in the Dominican Republic?" Digo is a girl who can barely read or write, and yet she answer the question with the following (mistakes left in for posterity):

Karachi: Senior US Scist Dr Michel hensen has said genetically modified crops are not the pencea for food security. Rather that answer to food security lies with smallscale ecologically rational sustainable local agriculture that focuses on local food systems.

I would say the whole, allowing students to use the internet for research has reached its limits. Time for a quick lesson on research and plagiarism. Still, it was funny to see the little false miracle of Digo not only writing complete, coherent sentences, but also words like panacea and sustainable.

Snapshots From My Day

As is becoming a recurring theme on here, I'm short on time and energy. Here was my day in brief snapshots...

Me running around like a madman trying to figure out why my students aren't understanding a simple math experiment I clearly explained...and realizing I must not have explained it very clearly.

Listening to my students brainstorming ideas for a class fairy tale. Motormouth shares his ideas which include a "magical chariot" and an "evil dragon lurking" in the forest.

Using my broken Spanish to try to navigate a much needed Parent Teacher meeting with Mastermind's mom to discuss her behavior.

Trying to hide my yawns during my meeting with the Core Inquiry Team, a group I'm a part of that includes the principal and two AP's.

Asking one of my after-school kids why he's crying. Listening to him explain how he misses his old school in Pennsylvania where his mom still lives. Doing my best to cheer him up and wondering if it's even fair to him to try.

Leaving school and being hug-attacked in rapid succession by the kids.

It's Good to Be Back

Two days back from a quasi-productive winter vacation and I'm still trying to find my rhythm. The kids aren't the only ones who lose a bit of momentum from 11 days off from school. It's been something of a roller coaster ride. High points include the kids telling me how happy they are to be back, and just getting back into the flow with them. Low points include going to Staple's to pick up a new $140 printer cartridge for my classroom printer (I naively asked if the school had a supply of cartridges) and trying to communicate with a crying Eeyore.

He complained he wasn't feeling well, and then admitted he skipped lunch. Trying to explain this was no way to make it through the day, I asked if he'd eaten anything for breakfast. His response? Maybe. He couldn't remember! I love this kid like crazy, but he also blows my mind sometimes with his... helplessness. Sometimes, I can't figure him out. He refused to eat a breakfast bar I hadn't gotten to from this morning and refused to eat snack between school and after-school, so I just had to send him home. Sigh.