Though the Chicago's teacher's strike has tentatively come to an end, getting the issues fairly addressed in the media as been a struggle. Here is what they are fighting for int he words of a Chicago teacher. Please pass it on.
"...the mainstream media is not covering all of the issues for which the teachers are striking. It is unsettling, but that is where we come in. It is our job to talk with friends, colleagues, and neighbors to illuminate the struggles that the students face in Chicago. A school with 1000 students does not have a social worker. Teachers use economic text books that are 12 years old. Our curriculum has become more and more narrowed to teach finite skills on absurdly written tests, tests which close our neighborhood schools and unfairly evaluate us. In CPS once test scores drop, the district begins to divest in the school and take away parent, teacher, and administrative voice, leaving the schools left to improve with fewer resources..."
If we care about children, we can do better. Detractors paint teachers as selfish money-grubbers who work few hours for high pay. That is not the issue.
The issues are:
Do we really want to assess teachers based on student test scores? Not only has this been repeatedly proven to be unreliable, it means that students will have to sit for tests--all the time.
Try to imagine being a student who must take multiple tests in every grade. Now try to imagine how teachers and systems might try to ensure that all students are read to take the tests. Right. More tests to make sure they are ready for THE test. (This is already the way many students experience school right now.) Now, try to imagine how an adult, who's livelihood depends on the test scores, might behave. Getting a little ugly, isn't it?
Who, in this fight, is really thinking about the children?
Why is there NO money for air-conditioning or new texts but there IS money for charter schools and multiple tests? (Both of which have been proven to have very poor track records for improving education.)
Who, in this fight, is really thinking about children?
Why is poverty an EXCUSE for teachers but not for public officials? Children make up the majority of those who live in poverty, but that's okay?
Who, in this fight, is thinking about children?
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Feeding the Data Machine
In 1978 when I began teaching, I was handed a plan book, grade book, curriculum map, test book, and a schedule.
Off to work I went, writing things down, assessing kids all by myself, and reporting grades. (To be honest, I can't remember how we did this! Were high school report cards hand written?)
Today, all teachers must be conversant with a wide variety of software: grading software (that keeps parents continually updated), a student-accessible website (that must be continually updated), and a large variety of behind the scenes software responsible for collecting data (that ultimately must be kept 'fed' by the classroom teacher). All of these duties take more time than the old-fashioned method. (But if its in a computer then it must be true!)
Every school year, each program must be updated with the current rosters. This year we are adding individual online student accounts to access the textbook - as I'm sure is occurring all over the nation as textbooks gain an online presence.
This takes considerable time and often results in a mad scramble at the beginning of the year as kids are put into the system, taken out, moved around, and on and on. Yesterday, (Sunday of Labor Day) I spent five hours in service to some of these tools. I will spend more time updating the course website later today. (Computers: So convenient you can continue to work from home!)
Sometimes things go awry. We are not a Fortune 500 corporation with legions of data crunchers and IT specialists. In public schooling it is every district for itself when it comes to meeting the data-driven demands in terms of salaries and techy tools. Each year these tools take up more and more of the budget pie.
But the data machine must be fed, and it is getting worse rather than better. The reformist love affair with numbers means that nothing is real unless it is quantifiable with a number.
The classroom teacher provides all the raw data.
And so, just like the day I realized I was working for the machines in my life -- car, household appliances--rather than the other way around, I find myself increasingly chained to a computer. (Thoreau: We do not ride on the railroad. It rides upon us.)
And it's not helping.
Recently, in an effort to get our struggling students some additional help as soon as possible, rather than waiting on the official data, we asked teachers to look at their previous year's rosters, highlight the names of kids who could benefit from some enriching activities, and send the lists on.
It took about ten minutes.
That's what can happen when you rely on professional judgement.
Still waiting on the "data."
Sometimes it feels like we're spinning our wheels.
Off to work I went, writing things down, assessing kids all by myself, and reporting grades. (To be honest, I can't remember how we did this! Were high school report cards hand written?)
Today, all teachers must be conversant with a wide variety of software: grading software (that keeps parents continually updated), a student-accessible website (that must be continually updated), and a large variety of behind the scenes software responsible for collecting data (that ultimately must be kept 'fed' by the classroom teacher). All of these duties take more time than the old-fashioned method. (But if its in a computer then it must be true!)
Every school year, each program must be updated with the current rosters. This year we are adding individual online student accounts to access the textbook - as I'm sure is occurring all over the nation as textbooks gain an online presence.
This takes considerable time and often results in a mad scramble at the beginning of the year as kids are put into the system, taken out, moved around, and on and on. Yesterday, (Sunday of Labor Day) I spent five hours in service to some of these tools. I will spend more time updating the course website later today. (Computers: So convenient you can continue to work from home!)
Sometimes things go awry. We are not a Fortune 500 corporation with legions of data crunchers and IT specialists. In public schooling it is every district for itself when it comes to meeting the data-driven demands in terms of salaries and techy tools. Each year these tools take up more and more of the budget pie.
But the data machine must be fed, and it is getting worse rather than better. The reformist love affair with numbers means that nothing is real unless it is quantifiable with a number.
The classroom teacher provides all the raw data.
And so, just like the day I realized I was working for the machines in my life -- car, household appliances--rather than the other way around, I find myself increasingly chained to a computer. (Thoreau: We do not ride on the railroad. It rides upon us.)
And it's not helping.
Recently, in an effort to get our struggling students some additional help as soon as possible, rather than waiting on the official data, we asked teachers to look at their previous year's rosters, highlight the names of kids who could benefit from some enriching activities, and send the lists on.
It took about ten minutes.
That's what can happen when you rely on professional judgement.
Still waiting on the "data."
Sometimes it feels like we're spinning our wheels.
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