Chapter 3 Testing

I apologize for my tardiness with this site, I seemed to have overlooked this assignment. This chapter focuses on the utilization of the multiple choice exams to define adequate yearly progress in a school district. The author questions the skills that are evaluated with the standardized tests and the motivation the test provide students to stay in school. "While all employers need workers who can solve problem, they do not find that students who have taken the usual math and science and passed the test can apply this content to solve real problems" (pg. 92). With the vast amounts of professional development available, problem-based and inquiry-based teaching strategies, I can see were students can be prepared for solving real problem while teaching content within core classes. But would the state standardized testing method reflect the students ability to problem solve? Multiple choice tests are used because they are the cheapest to administer and assess.
Looking a NCLB and state testing requirements to compare them to the needs of students entering secondary education, college teachers state that "70 percent say students do not comprehend complex reading material, 66 percent say students cannot think analytically, 65 percent say students lack appropriate work and study habits, 62 percent say students write poorly, 59 percent say students don't know how to do research, and 55 percent say students can't apply what they've learned to sole problems" (pg. 103). The focus was not whether the students knew the content but how they could utilize the content. Are the high school educators teaching students how to study content? Are students being required to research material to solve problems? The chapter provided examples of students and how they felt about Advanced Placement classes. It was interesting to note that the students were bored and frustrated with the large amount of information needed to memorize to be prepared for the test and the lack of opportunity to have discussions on the materials.
"Schools have less money in their budgets for elective courses" (pg. 113). Many of these elective courses entice students to stay in school to begin with. With all of the effort put into NCLB and standardized testing, students are left with fewer course choices and less motivation to stay in school. Overall, the accountability system in education lacks the depth to fully evaluated a student, does not motivate learning, and does not spotlight requirements needed for secondary education or the workforce.

Chapter 4 Reinventing the Education Profession

This chapter talks all about the education system in the United States failing to provide an adequate education due to lack of teacher and administration training and a lack of streamlining and teamwork. It begins with this interesting quote, “the district that has ten priorities really has none” (p. 127). As we all know, we often see this as the case when some motivational speaker comes in saying all the right things, or we get a glimpse of a new education fad. This seems to occupy our agendas for a short while, but it eventually fades out when we either hear of a new fad or go back to our old ways because it’s “easier.” This chapter also shows us the author’s position that we often fail to reflect on our teaching and work together as a team to improve. Too often our districts search for someone outside who is thought to have all of the answers, and, because of this, we lose focus on the learning process, teaching, and teachers. We also often fail to agree on what makes a good teacher, as made evident by some of the author’s research in this area. He strongly suggests making professional development meaningful by reflecting on what a good teacher is by consistently observing fellow teachers and reflecting on teaching videos. In his example of “The Hawaii Story” he talks about how beneficial collaboration and reflection were between administrators and teachers. At one point, he quotes the administrators who took part in this project naming their presentation, “From Castles to Kingdom.” This, of course, means that, instead of working in isolation behind closed doors, it’s much more beneficial to the learning process for teachers to open up and collaborate. (This is a great idea, but let’s not forget that time is extremely valuable and often lacking!) From this reading, the doors need to be open and the critical reflective process needs to be an integral part of teaching.

There was one part in the text that was a bit offensive. On page 150, this is stated:

“…to get and keep a teaching license, teachers would have to show evidence that they’re competent--and that they have continued to improve—in the skills that are critical for effective teaching.”

I think most of us would agree we are competent teachers and quite effective with the requirements we have been given. However, we are sometimes limited by 20 content standards to master in a short amount of time AND a multiple choice test that we need to make sure our school passes so our jobs aren’t in jeopardy. Because of this, we often have to push the “7 survival skills” to the back burner.

The author’s idea of having programs for teachers similar to medical residencies is also alarming. After this statement it would appear the author is asking a lot out of educators especially those under paid and asked to work a lot of extra hours. He also stated that in this type of program for educators us educators would have to see a pay increase and be properly compensated. I would have to agree with the author as long as we can convince those at the state capitals and Washington.

Citizenship-Ready?

Blabberize

Chapter 2 The Old World of School

Chapter 2 The old World of School

In chapter one it discussed the economic gap between schools. In chapter two it discussed the gap between what students are taught vs. what they need to know.
This chapter talked about the author visiting schools. He would go into the classroom with other school officials (principals, superintendents, etc..) and observe the classroom. The majority of the classrooms visited had lecture based lessons. The group observed that most teachers were teaching the content and not skills. Most teachers were preparing students to do well on the standards based tests.
The only classroom that differed from all the other classrooms visited was an algebra II class.

The teacher:

1. had the students divided into groups
2. introduced a new type of problem
3. told the students they will need to use algebra and geometry to solve the problem
4. told the students they needed to solve the problem in two ways
5. told the students he would randomly choose a person from each group to explain

Advice on how to do better on standardized tests was given to a school district. " Using the data you can identify and focus on kids who are close to passing. The bubble kids. Those are the ones who can pass with a little extra help. They'll give you the biggest return on your investment." (The Global Achievement Gap, 73).

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) gave a test in 2003. This test focused on critical thinking and problem solving. The United States scored 29th out of 41 countries. Then the book talked about United States graduates loosing jobs to people in other countries because they don't have critical thinking skills.

Basically the majority of the United States' teachers are teaching to the standardized tests. Many other countries are preparing their students for the workforce by teaching them how to think not how to memorize facts.

One Gap at a Time

I chose this image for my book cover because "I" want to close one "Gap" at a time. As I thought of what this book might be about and how I will be using the info from this book and from this technology class I have realized that I have a few gaps of my own to close in order to help my students. So I see this student here as a student that might have been left behind and needs to focus on "One Gap at a Time." I see some great opportunities from this book but I may need to slow down and focus on "One Gap at a Time."

I chose this image beause it depicts the traditional look ofa classroom. Students are in neat rows, listening to a lecture. Critical thinking skills are absent in this picture and students are not being prepared for real life situations.