Got the dress. I was in Ohio last weekend, bridal gown shopping with Andrea. On Saturday we went to Wendy's Bridal Salon, a very nice store in Dublin. Andrea tried on about eight dresses and we were sure she had found the one! When she came out of the dressing room and stood on the pedestal, I just smiled from ear to ear, and she was smiling too. We left there feeling like we should keep the next day's appointment, but we would probably be back to get the dress from Wendy's. On Sunday we went to Elegant Brides and met with Wafa! She was great and together she and Andrea chose about seven dresses to try on. Most of these dresses were very different from what she had on the day before and while beautiful, none were matching up to the dress from Wendy's. Then, she came out in THE ONE. I didn't know it then, because while I knew it was absolutely gorgeous, we had so liked the one the day before. Andrea I know was sold, but we went back to Wendy's to put the dress from there back on. When she came out in it, I still smiled from ear to ear because here stood my little girl looking every bit like a bride, and I knew it was not the dress because the other one made her look like a goddess! Got the dress.
Rosemary
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Education Reform Part 5
According to an article in the Free Press, it seems that fewer than 10% of students graduating this spring are college ready. Maybe they are not college ready because they come to school in their pajamas, listening to their ipods and texting on their iphones totally oblivious to the world around them. Makes me sound like an old fogey doesn't it? Well I guess I am. I don't get the lax rules in schools today. It isn't the curriculum that needs to be more rigorous, it is the expectations that we have for students' appearance and behavior that need to be raised. Let's raise that bar and see what happens. If schools could take control back from students who think no rules apply to them, we might be able to graduate kids who are ready for the challenges that face them after high school. A citizen in Detroit was quoted as saying "If they can't control 30 students in the classroom, how are they going to control 60?" Why is it so difficult to control the behavior of students in many public schools today? Maybe because today's students have no idea that there are rules to be obeyed as they see the adults around them breaking them everyday. Maybe because today's students have mommy and daddy swooping in the minute the student has the slightest problem with anyone in the school, screaming that it isn't their kid's fault. Our leaders might tell us that in Japan classrooms have 60 students, so what's the problem? Well, in Japan the students enter the classroom and bow to the teacher, and apologize if they were absent the day before, or are arriving late! Picture that in an American classroom full of students who are reading about how horrible their educational system is, and are listening to everyone and his brother bash the teacher. We have good kids, we have respectful, thoughtful, and motivated kids, and we have kids who are graduating with the skills necessary to succeed in college. Let's start hearing about them and the good teaching it took to make it happen.
Rosemary
Rosemary
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Education Reform Part 4
Stop using state and national assessments as a way to judge if teachers are doing their jobs. Here is a letter I just sent to the Free Press. I don't know if they will print it or not because it is fairly long so I am posting it here. Those who want real education reform need to stop putting all the apples in the testing basket, and they need to stop throwing data around to prove their point. Data needs to be analyzed. When newspaper writers and politicians just throw the numbers around it is misleading, and it becomes a tool of propaganda.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
Let's start with the editorial in Monday's paper, "New metrics reveal schools' real woes." "When the state Board of Education lowered the cut scores..." I am not sure the board ever lowered the cut scores, but yes, according to an esteemed colleague of mine, the scores were set low at the start with idea of raising them little by little. That was never done so now the scores have been raised dramatically. Then there is this statement; "More than three-quarters of the state's students did adequate work on the MEAP, but only 30% did so on the NAEP." I am assuming this is based on the data of 4th and/or 8th graders since both the MEAP and the NAEP are given at those grade levels, (the results of the 12th grade NAEP scores were not listed on the NAEP website, and the last results I found were from the 2009 assessment year.) First it must be pointed out that all 4th and 8th graders take the MEAP, but only a sampling of these students take the NAEP. Secondly, the 30% makes it sound like Michigan students tested far below the national average which isn't so. For 4th graders the scores in mathematics were just slightly lower, in reading they were practically even as they were in science, and only slightly below in writing. 8th grade scores were again, just slightly lower in mathematics, even in reading, slightly higher in science and just slightly below in writing. If another "sampling" of students were chosen the scores would have been different, perhaps far better. I find it interesting that on Jan 25th of this year, Lori Higgings, a Free Press education writer, had an article titled "Michigan students outpace U.S. national average on the NAEP exam!" Which way does the wind blow? The editorial goes on to say that "reraising" (again the scores have been dramatically increased, but I am not sure they have been "reraised), the cut scores will more closely reflect the standards that children are meeting in other states." Which states? I found many states where the scores on the NAEP were much lower than the national average. I believe the demographics of the states have much to do with the results. Then there is this; "Michigan's slide backward in educational achievement has been going on for a decade or more, and has touched a lot of different areas that now need attention." This statement is just another slap to Michigan educators, it has no backbone or data given to support it! On the positive side, the lack of funding for education in Michigan is mentioned as one of the areas that need attention. The writer of the editorial says that Michigan has antiquated tenure laws which give school districts too little leverage to get rid of underperforming instructors, and union leaders who have been slow to embrace performance-based metrics. I do not think any "good" teacher wants "bad" teachers to continue in the profession, however, you can not judge a "good" teacher based on the scores students get on state or national assessments because those scores reflect only how well the student tested that day, and not the knowledge the student has gained and can apply to real life and work situations. Do these tests have a place? Yes, but using just a number to decide if a school is succeeding in its job to educate its students is not it.
Rosemary
WHERE TO BEGIN?
Let's start with the editorial in Monday's paper, "New metrics reveal schools' real woes." "When the state Board of Education lowered the cut scores..." I am not sure the board ever lowered the cut scores, but yes, according to an esteemed colleague of mine, the scores were set low at the start with idea of raising them little by little. That was never done so now the scores have been raised dramatically. Then there is this statement; "More than three-quarters of the state's students did adequate work on the MEAP, but only 30% did so on the NAEP." I am assuming this is based on the data of 4th and/or 8th graders since both the MEAP and the NAEP are given at those grade levels, (the results of the 12th grade NAEP scores were not listed on the NAEP website, and the last results I found were from the 2009 assessment year.) First it must be pointed out that all 4th and 8th graders take the MEAP, but only a sampling of these students take the NAEP. Secondly, the 30% makes it sound like Michigan students tested far below the national average which isn't so. For 4th graders the scores in mathematics were just slightly lower, in reading they were practically even as they were in science, and only slightly below in writing. 8th grade scores were again, just slightly lower in mathematics, even in reading, slightly higher in science and just slightly below in writing. If another "sampling" of students were chosen the scores would have been different, perhaps far better. I find it interesting that on Jan 25th of this year, Lori Higgings, a Free Press education writer, had an article titled "Michigan students outpace U.S. national average on the NAEP exam!" Which way does the wind blow? The editorial goes on to say that "reraising" (again the scores have been dramatically increased, but I am not sure they have been "reraised), the cut scores will more closely reflect the standards that children are meeting in other states." Which states? I found many states where the scores on the NAEP were much lower than the national average. I believe the demographics of the states have much to do with the results. Then there is this; "Michigan's slide backward in educational achievement has been going on for a decade or more, and has touched a lot of different areas that now need attention." This statement is just another slap to Michigan educators, it has no backbone or data given to support it! On the positive side, the lack of funding for education in Michigan is mentioned as one of the areas that need attention. The writer of the editorial says that Michigan has antiquated tenure laws which give school districts too little leverage to get rid of underperforming instructors, and union leaders who have been slow to embrace performance-based metrics. I do not think any "good" teacher wants "bad" teachers to continue in the profession, however, you can not judge a "good" teacher based on the scores students get on state or national assessments because those scores reflect only how well the student tested that day, and not the knowledge the student has gained and can apply to real life and work situations. Do these tests have a place? Yes, but using just a number to decide if a school is succeeding in its job to educate its students is not it.
Rosemary
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Education Reform Part 3
This is precipitated by the news that a teacher in Pennsylvania is being threatened with the loss of her job for a blog she posted that does not put high school students in the best light. I did not read her post, just reports about it and comments on it. Part 3 of my education reform series was going to be about parents so this is fitting. What would really help to reform education and enhance student achievement would be to let teachers be honest with parents. Administration should support the teacher who has to deal with an angry parent and not cave in to the parent's demands because the school can't afford a lawsuit. Yes, folks that is today's reality, if parents don't get their way they threaten the district with a lawsuit, and as you all know school districts have no money! I can see the hesitation in going to court because the most ridiculous lawsuits win. Here's the problem; "One of Munroe's former students, who now attends McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., said he was torn by his former teacher's comments. Jeff Shoolbraid said that he thought much of what Munroe said was true and that she had a right to voice her opinion, but felt her comments were out of line for a teacher." Why are her comments our of line if she spoke the truth? If her students are not being appropriate in the school environment, why are there actions not having consequences?
"Whatever influenced her to say what she did is evidence as to why she simply should not teach," Shoolbraid wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "I just thought it was completely inappropriate." Why? Frustration over the stress of trying to do your job well, when those you are trying to help are not participating in their own learning is not appropriate?
He continued: "As far as motivated high school students, she's completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. ... It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."
It is a teacher's job to plan lessons that will deliver the curriculum and that will engage students. It is the teacher's job to do everything possible to help the unmotivated. But it is not the teacher's job to jump through hoops, bang her head against the wall, lose sleep, spend countless unpaid hours trying to find the answer to why the students "won't" engage and in the end fight a losing battle because no one in the students home is holding the student accountable It is not the teachers job to give students the motivation to learn, young tadpole, that is the job of the home.
Rosemary
"Whatever influenced her to say what she did is evidence as to why she simply should not teach," Shoolbraid wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "I just thought it was completely inappropriate." Why? Frustration over the stress of trying to do your job well, when those you are trying to help are not participating in their own learning is not appropriate?
He continued: "As far as motivated high school students, she's completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. ... It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."
It is a teacher's job to plan lessons that will deliver the curriculum and that will engage students. It is the teacher's job to do everything possible to help the unmotivated. But it is not the teacher's job to jump through hoops, bang her head against the wall, lose sleep, spend countless unpaid hours trying to find the answer to why the students "won't" engage and in the end fight a losing battle because no one in the students home is holding the student accountable It is not the teachers job to give students the motivation to learn, young tadpole, that is the job of the home.
Rosemary
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)