teaching to tests?

I'd like to revisit a topic that drew comments to several of last week's blog posts. It is clear that many of us, parents, teachers, administrators and board members alike, are concerned that one effect of "No Child Left Behind" and other legislation of recent years has been a narrowing of schools' curriculum and a tendency to "teach to the test". To some extent this is a legitimate concern. Anyone who does research in science, business, or education will agree that "you get more of what you measure." But let's not forget that the Federal law was called "No Child Left Behind" because many children were (and too many still are) left behind. NCLB is a law with many failings and is much in need of amendment, but the reasons for its existence still exist in many of America's schools. To the extent that current studies show that the majority of the students in some high schools are still years behind in basic academic skills, increased focus on these basics seems like a rather natural and necessary response. Unfortunately, instead of taking a hard and honest look in the mirror, too many people from classrooms to state houses to the halls of Congress skipped over important but difficult reforms and relied on following old habits more intensely. A very real concern is that this approach will fail to solve the problem of undereducated students in under-performing schools, but that it will also hinder students who have mastered basics from exploring more challenging skills and concepts. But what are the choices for teachers and administrators faced with a very diverse student body?
A recent post on this blog concerned reading aloud to children, and there are very few things that a parent can do that will have a more positive impact on a child's school success. The flip side of that is that in too many homes, especially in low-income families the is not only no "story hour", there is a shortage of even baby talk conversation. A child whose family falls below the federal poverty line may enter kindergarten having heard several million fewer words of conversation than the average middle class child. In an ideal resource-rich classroom with a well-trained, highly competent teacher, a small class, a modern facility and a creative curriculum the teacher would be able to address that shortfall while also offering a content-rich program to other students. Too often one or all of those elements are lacking and "drill and test" prevails.
On the flip side, I've seen some great things happening in schools that have stepped up to the challenge and under teachers who have accepted accountability. These schools have aligned their courses with the standards and the teachers understand exactly what concepts and content must be covered. Course content is the result of thoughtful decision making, not tradition. Teachers and students are mindful of the goals of the class. Rather than spend time "teaching to the test" they adapt their routine tests to present the type of questions that are used in standardized tests. They include short and long written response questions, not just multiple choice and strengthen skills that not only result in higher test scores, but which prepare students for civil service tests, ASVAB, job interviews and college applications. They analyze the results of both their own tests and standardized tests and constantly adapt their teaching to improve student performance.
Unfortunately but realistically, while a great teacher is a critical factor, other resources are needed to make our schools uniformly able to respond to very non-uniform students. I mover to Canon-McMillan more than twenty years ago because they offered my step-daughter the chance to take Latin (a very "old school" reason, I know). C-M still does offer Latin, and many other electives along with strong programs in both arts and technology. Our District is committed to this and our communities make a serious financial investment for it.However, as a member of the Pennsylvania School Board Association I work with representatives of districts that are smaller, more rural, more urban, losing population, or just plain poorer. If a reasonably affuent district struggles to allocate resources, how are they to do it? Even if they do the curriculum reform and test score analysis they face an uphill battle that resembles a ski jump as seen from the bottom of the hill. As advocates for public education we have some very tough choices to make to get beyond "No Child Left Behind" to "Every Child All That They Can Be".

Reading Aloud

As parents we are always searching for ways to help our children do their best and be their best. One of the best tools I’ve discovered in my own quest is reading aloud to my child. As I mentioned in a previous post, my son is now eleven years old and yes I continue to read aloud to him. Admittedly it’s not as often as it was when he was a toddler or before he could read on his own but it’s something we still do together. It’s something that I credit for helping him to become a proficient reader. It’s something that I firmly believe has helped him do better in school. It’s something that we as a family truly enjoy doing together.

One of the best things about reading aloud is that it is very inexpensive. All you need is a good book, a comfy place to sit and you are set. The public library is free and so are the books our kids can borrow from the school library. It’s something that every family can afford to do together.

It is very important to consider the material you are going to read aloud to your children. It must be something your child wants to read or have read aloud to them. Chapter books are wonderful read aloud books to start with. I’ve been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to read aloud frequently in classrooms in our school district. I’ve found that chapter books are by far the most popular books I’ve read aloud. Kids are thrilled to find out there are more books based on the characters they just learned about. You can go to Amazon.com to find thousands of chapter books that your children would love to read. There are thousands of book reviews on Amazon and you can read those reviews and decide together what books interest your children most. Some of our family favorites are the Narnia Series, Harry Potter Series and My Weird School Series.

Read above your child’s reading level. Reading experts recommend that adults read a grade or two above a child’s own reading level. Listening comprehension comes before reading comprehension. When my son was in second grade son he might not have been able to easily read a book written for a fourth or fifth grader but he was able to listen to the book and comprehend what he was hearing and process that information. Reading above a child’s own reading level will introduce them to higher vocabulary. That will help them with their own reading skills when they get to that level of reading on their own.

Make sure you have the proper amount of time to read when sitting down with a book but know that you don’t have to read an entire book in one sitting. You don’t want to rush the experience and you don’t want to make reading aloud a chore. You need some balance. Sometimes reading for just 10-15 minutes and continuing another day works better for families. Many of the books we read together actually take us weeks to finish. We’ll often read a chapter or two at a time depending on the size of the book.

You don’t have to stop at reading chapter books. As children grow older and time at home becomes less and less you will need to come up with more creative ideas to find time to continue reading aloud at home. Some families enjoy reading newspaper articles aloud. They are much shorter than actual books and they are just as effective. Reading a newspaper or magazine article can open the door to discussing current events and discussing issues not addressed in fiction. Reading aloud gives families an opportunity to spend time together and have discussions we might otherwise not think to address.

Another way for families to enjoy reading aloud together is by listening to books on tape. We’ve enjoyed listening to several different books on tape. As an adult I still enjoy being read aloud to. You can borrow various titles on tape at the Citizen Library. These are great for long rides in the car. It definitely helps to pass the time and is better than counting license plates or punch buggies!

Reading aloud is proven to increase a child’s vocabulary and help them to become more proficient readers. Sharing this experience with children not only will help them do better in school but will allow families to spend valuable quality time together. You may just find that you enjoy this experience as much as the kids do!

Charleroi High School uses new technology in statewide forum with Gov. Rendell

Charleroi High School was one of 10 schools that participated in a videoconference with Gov. Ed Rendell Wednesday.
Classrooms for the Future equipment was used in the videoconference. The state has pumped millions into new technology for schools, including laptop computers and electronic chalkboards.
Rendell used the opportunity to explain in more detail his plans that impact students, including his plan to give tuition relief by legalizing video poker.
He also detailed President Barack Obama's plans to help high school students, which include an increase in Pell Grants and a $2,500 tax credit for college tuition.

Should sports play be restricted on Sunday morning?

Apparently Peters Township thinks so.
The council must approve the application to the school district for an event because lacrosse is a township-sponsored sport.
A lacrosse representative said it's not appropriate to restrict sports on Sunday mornings. The township, however, seems to disagree.
The board had been operating under an unwritten policy to not allow use of township sports facilities before noon on Sundays except for tournaments a few times a year.
What do you think?

Stimulus

For several days, the Federal government has inquired of schools in PA about potential uses for Federal Funding, should it be made available.
While most School Districts could use some type of infrastructure improvement or upgrade, the guidelines for use of these are still unclear.
The concern will be that the Districts in the long run may have to add services that they ultimately will be responsible for funding.
Like any Federal Program, this will take some time and patience to sort the details.

How much is your district going to get from the federal stimulus package?

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor recently released estimates of how much each district will receive from the stimulus package. The committee broke down the amounts by special education and school improvement, also known as Title 1. Additional money will be available, but the state will have to decide who gets what.
Do you like how the money is being spent?

Discussions about consolidation are not just happening in Pennsylvania

I have a story in today's Observer-Reporter about how surrounding states are handling consolidation. In Ohio, they aren't even having a conversation. In Delaware, with less than 20 districts, more consolidation is a possibility. In West Virginia, they aren't consolidating districts, but consolidating some schools has been controversial.
I find the topic fascinating because I think it's near and dear to a lot of hearts. Schools are an important part of communities.

Educational complexity in the global village

Did you know…
If you are “one in a million” in China, there are 1,300 people just like you. In India the number would be over 1,100. The 25% of the Chinese population with the highest IQs exceeds the entire population of North America. In India that number would be 28%. The translation for teachers and parents – they have more honor students than we have students. And if we exported every job in America to China, they would still have a labor surplus.
Did you know…
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, today’s high school student will have 10 to 14 jobs - by the time they are 38. One in four U.S. workers currently works for a company they have been employed by for less than one year. One in two has been with their current employer for less than five years. On top of that, the top ten in-demand jobs for 2010 didn’t even exist in 2004.
Did you know…
There are over 2.7 billion Google searches done every day, and the number of text messages sent and received in a day exceeds the population of the planet. There are over 3,000 books published daily, and the amount of technical information available doubles in less than two years. Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capability of the human brain, and that by 2023 a $1,000 computer will do so.
So today’s schools are preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, which will use technologies that haven’t been invented yet, to solve problems we haven’t even identified as problems yet.
But America’s schools are not just about technology and jobs. We understand that many kinds of thinking and imagination will be needed in the future; and we hope that our children will be excited and fulfilled as well as employable. So we teach music, and dance, and art. We offer carpentry and culinary arts in our schools; not in industrial apprenticeship programs as much of the world does. We provide both casual and competitive athletics in our schools, something that is uncommon in the rest of the world. Add to that home economics; driver’s ed; drug, tobacco, and alcohol awareness; character education; obesity prevention; and a litany of other subjects that compete for time and attention in our schools.
Finally, unlike almost every other country, we ask our school system to reach and teach every child, regardless of physical, mental, emotional, socio-economic, or cultural barriers.
Does that sound like we’ve created an impossible situation for our schools? Well, I remember when John F Kennedy said that we would commit to putting a man on the moon in less than a decade. It sounded outrageous, impossible… and I remember when it happened. So I don’t believe that reaching all of these goals is impossible. It’s just very, very, very hard. Setting high goals, especially when they involve our children, requires of us a commitment to creativity, dedication, honesty, and the plain hard work that will be needed to get it right. Of course, the Apollo Program had one goal, getting to the moon. Education has as many goals as there are students.
The complexity and urgency of the education issue is why I an so glad and grateful that the Observer-Reporter and Dawn Keller have begun this public conversation. As they say, all of us are smarter than any of us.

RESPECT

Growing up, my parents taught me that being respectful and having respect for others was very important. Respecting adults, teachers, family and most of all having respect for ourselves seem to have diminished. I think the lack of respect is quite evident in schools today. Parents must be more accountable in teaching their children this simple concept. How do we help restore the respect factor in our schools?

A public hearing about closing Ringgold's Carroll Middle School

The Ringgold School Board voted Wednesday night to have a public hearing in March to determine whether to close Carroll Middle School.
State law requires a hearing before the district can close the school. If the board votes to close the school, Carroll students will attend Finley Middle School in the fall, said Superintendent Gary Hamilton. The district is considering closing Carroll and Finley middle schools and building a new middle school.
The public hearing will be March 9 at 7 p.m. in the Ringgold Board room.
The school board will also have an executive session Thursday at 7 p.m. in the board room to discuss buying property for the new middle school. The public will not be able to attend the closed session. However, board members said a decision will not be made after the meeting because a public hearing must first be held before they vote to buy property for a new school.
Do you think the district should build a new school?

21st Century Skills

Yesterday, having been our oldest child’s 27th birthday, I found myself: (1) spending some time convincing myself that I do not look old enough to have a child that age and, when that didn’t work, (2) reflecting on her childhood. When you leave the hospital with this adorable little girl, they don’t give you a manual of directions to go with her. We, as new parents, were excited but also overwhelmed at the task that lay before us; the task of protecting her, teaching her, and preparing her for the future. What would she become? We didn’t know, but we wanted to do our best to prepare her for adult life in the world as we knew it.

When my father was young, boys grew up and worked in the mill or the coal mine. Girls grew up and become nurses, teachers or homemakers. When I was graduating from high school, opportunities were more varied than my father’s generation; however a college degree was thought necessary to pursue big dreams.

Now, years later, I am a teacher and I can’t help but think about the future and how different it will be for today’s students. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learners will hold 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38 years old !(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf) Many of today’s college majors didn’t even exist 10 years ago. What will college students study 10 years from now?

How can we prepare our children for a future that is so rapidly changing, for jobs in fields that don’t even exist yet? To solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet? What universal skills can we teach them now to prepare them for whatever job the future holds? How can we teach these skills?

Fortune 500 companies list 21st Century skills they look for in future employees. I am curious to know what skills our readers feel will be necessary in any future job and how they feel these important skills can best be taught, both at home and in school. I would welcome any discussion on this topic.

School Mergers

Govenor Rendell has proposed consolidating our number of schools from 501 to around 100. While it is clear PA has too many schools, studies have shown that if you create too many "big schools" those with enrollments over 3,000 students that you actually don't save any money.

What is needed is a detailed review at what District's can geographically be put together and can if possible co-exist with the very different tax structures that usually exist from one School District to the next.

Probably a more realistic number is closer to 300 schools.

Gambling money = tuition relief?

Gov. Ed Rendell is pushing the state Legislature to approve his plan for tuition relief that would be paid for by legalizing video poker and taxing the proceeds. He says this plan could give 170,000 college students tuition relief.
What do you think of those plans?

~Have You Read To Your 11 Year Old Lately?~

Have you read aloud to your 11 year old lately? That probably sounds absurd to most. Years ago I would have thought it strange that a parent was still reading aloud to their fifth grader. Most children learn to read on their own by first or second grade. Why would a parent need to continue reading aloud to their children after that point? You would think that allowing them to read on their own would help them become more independent and better readers. How does it help a child to have someone else do the reading?

I attended a parent workshop when my son was in second grade that I tell everyone changed our lives. Sounds a bit dramatic but I honestly believe it did change the way my husband and I now view our role in helping our son with his education.

The first question asked of parents at the workshop was how many of us read aloud to our children. I saw many in the audience nod their heads and some raised their hands. I also nodded my head. I had read to my son from infancy until the time when he began to easily read on his own. I knew the importance of reading to my child and I especially enjoyed sharing my favorite childhood books with him.

The next question asked was how many of us read aloud to our children once they had learned to read on their own. The room was silent. I was silent. My child was reading to me now. In fact, his second grade teacher made it a daily assignment for him to read aloud to us for homework. My son had some favorite books he loved reading aloud over and over to me. He was already reading chapter books both aloud and to himself. I was past that stage in parenthood. I briefly thought about how I missed sharing that time reading to him. It’s true that kids grow up so fast.

Much of what was said in that parent workshop was common sense. In fact, it was so simple and basic that I was embarrassed that I didn’t already realize I’d been so disconnected. I’d never once considered that I still needed to read aloud to my child. I had no idea that children master listening comprehension before reading comprehension. It never crossed my mind. Not once. I have discovered since that workshop three years ago that I’m not alone. I've come to realize that I'm not the only parent who hadn’t considered the benefits of continuing to read aloud to children as they grow older.

I went home the evening of that parent workshop and had a long talk with my husband. I explained to him the importance of continuing to read aloud to our son and how it would benefit him. I also explained the importance of a male child having their father or other male role model read to them. That very night we started a reading aloud program in our home that we continue to this day.

In my next few blog posts I will be sharing fun, creative ways that you can incorporate reading aloud into your own family routine. I’ll also be sharing some of the research that explains the many benefits of reading aloud to children of all ages. Reading aloud as family is a wonderful way for families to spend quality time together and for parents, grandparents and caregivers to help our children become lifetime readers.

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." ~ the report Becoming a Nation of Readers

"The commission found conclusive evidence to support reading aloud not only in the home but also in the classroom: “It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades.”~ the report Becoming A Nation of Readers

One significant key to a child's success? An involved parent

Research tells us that being involved in your child’s life will help them be more successful. Children can perform well in school if their parents aren't involved. But they have a better shot at success if their parents are involved.
Some area parents are finding a variety of ways to be involved - from making sure their children have breakfast before school to helping with homework to helping the classroom. The result? Their children bloom.
Yet too many parents aren’t taking the time - when we know it works.
You can find more details in my story.
So what about you? What do you do with your children? Do you have any ideas about how parents can get more involved involved?

From 500 to 100

Gov. Ed Rendell wants to merge school districts in the state. As of July 1, there will be 500. He thinks 100 is all that is necessary. Rendell wants a state commission to determine boundary lines and come up with two recommendations. If the state Legislature doesn't approve one of them, then Rendell wants the state Board of Education to decide. He believes this is a way to save the state money and potentially reduce taxes.
Do you think it will save money? Do you think it's a good idea? What districts could be consolidated?

Moving seventh and eighth graders to Washington High School?

The meeting I attended in the past year that drew the most attendance was about the possibility of moving seventh and eighth graders to Washington High School. Parents wanted to know why it was necessary, whether seventh and eighth graders would be transported and why an alternative school might be placed in the Washington Park School.
The Washington School Board has not voted on whether to move the seventh and eighth graders yet, though it is expected to decide this year. The board is also expected to get the results of a feasibility study about the proposal in March.
Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo has recommended the change as a way to better use resources and says it is even more necessary in the sour economy.
She also says she has listened to the community's concerns. As a result, if the move happens, an alternative school will not be placed at the Park School. She says the space can be used for something else, such as pre-kindergarten or day care.
She said she is also trying to address concerns about transportation. Right now, all high school students walk. Seventh and eighth graders are bused to the Park School. DiLorenzo is considering a plan to bus all seventh through 12th graders who live more than a mile from the school. Those living within a mile of the school would walk.
Should Washington move the seventh and eighth graders to the high school? Do you like the idea of busing students who are more than a mile away? What about not having the alternative school at the Park School?

Sexting - Is your child doing it?

I recently wrote about the growing phenomenon of teens texting nude pictures of themselves to others. It’s led to school districts creating policies about what they can do with cell phones if students violate rules about having them in school.
Can schools look at a student’s confiscated cell phone for no other reason than it's in a principal's possession? Should they?
The issue is not just what schools should do, but how parents, and others should deal with the possibility of teens doing this. One parent told me that in her generation a girl may take a picture like that show it to a friend or boyfriend, but it never went any further than that. Now, these pictures are making the rounds.
What should schools do? What about the police? What about parents? What about teens?

Welcome to Behind the Desk

As the education reporter at the Observer-Reporter, I thought it would be a great idea to create a blog to get community members talking to one another about education. We have invited parents, teachers, administrators and school board members to post daily on this blog. Anyone can respond to their posts as long as your follow our site rules. I hope it will be a tool to create a conversation about education. So please, jump right in.