I'll be the first to admit that I was skeptical about the influence of computer based testing for science. I was worried that computer scored questions would result in more "recall" questions. However, after taking the practice test, I was pleased to see that the majority of the questions evaluated the ability of the taker to think scientifically. Many questions require students to set up data tables, or graph data using the information presented within the four corners of the screen.
Science teachers will give their students a better chance to excel if they give their students some screen time with the practice tests. Students need to know that "tab" won't move the cursor between fields and they need a chance to work the "drag and drop" feature. Some time in Excel or Google Sheets won't hurt either. That said, putting kids behind a computer screen won't be the best way to prepare them for the test. The best way to prepare students for the test will be to get them in a lab.
If you want students to be able to fill out data tables and chart the data in graphs, give them opportunities that will allow them to design experiments and communicate the results of the experiments.
Not only will it prepare them for the new tests, it will also give them a chance to enjoy science.
Angela Duckworth's Ted Talk on grit celebrates perseverance in academic achievement. Duckworth correctly asserts that IQ and talent do not always lead to success. Her formula, achievement = talent x effort is another phrasing of the coaching maxim that hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.
I almost used the TedTalk in a professional development session because her basic message is so appealing: in addition to teaching content, we also need to teach work ethic.
It begs the question.......what's the best way to go about doing this?
Do we teach work ethic by pilling on more worksheets? Do we teach work ethic by assigning tasks with complexity beyond our students' skill levels and withholding any supports that would help them be successful? Do we make "responsibility" and "work ethic" a prerequisite for the opportunity to learn anything? For example, shaming a student for failure to complete an assignment in a way that guarantees disengagement.
I try to avoid coaching analogies, but before I stumbled into administration I spent twelve years coaching wrestling, a sport requiring perseverance.
I coached athletes who struggled with certain drills. They would say "I can't do that," and I would respond "You can't do that, yet." I never let them off the hook completely for attempting the drill, but I never made their inability to do one task restrict them from a chance to learn another. I also coached talented and driven athletes who had to be required to rest due to injuries or family situations. There were times over the course of a season when training peaked and times when it tapered off. Even in the very "gritty" sport of wrestling my coaching instincts told me sometimes "slack" was more appropriate.
And so it is in classrooms.
Our students need grit and perseverance, and our best teachers constantly calibrate how to do this best. How much? How fast? Which student needs a challenged? Which student needs more support? Determining the slack/grit ratio is not a science waiting to be perfected; it is an art.
More often than not, our teachers excel at this art.
Teaching is a tough job, a gritty job, taken on by tough, and caring, people. It is far more complicated, and beautiful, than a talk, a blog, or a word.
Jackson and Jensen both make two claims educators should accept.
1.) Poverty often negatively impacts brain development of children for a variety of reasons: chronic stress at home, limited access to medical care, improper nutrition, etc.
2.) The plasticity of the human brain allows educators to mitigate, and even reverse, those effects on the brain.
Jackson and Jensen each offer practical advice to educators for leveraging the brain's plasticity to increase academic achievement. Here are three values they both embrace.
1.) Relationships are key.
Jensen encourages teachers to "build supportive relationships, provide positive guidance, foster hope and optimism, and take time for affirmation, and celebration." Administrators are warned that their schools "will hit a test score ceiling until you include students' emotional and social lives in your school 'makeover.'" Jackson states, "Possessing a deep understanding of child and adolescent development enables us to be better able to construct relationships and classroom environments that are motivational and lead to cognitive and social growth."
Prioritizing relationships, in my mind, is a main function of building administrators. Most teachers, I believe, want to be given permission to teach kids, not content.
2.) Enrichment should be provided for all students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Jensen describes enrichment not as "'more' or 'faster' schooling.' It means rich, balanced, sustained, positive, and contrasting learning environments.'" Jackson draws on her experiences with gifted education and encourages teachers to allow their pupils to experience "gifted land."
Again, here I say, administrators should communicate clearly the expectation to provide rich learning experiences: projects, labs, field trips etc. These activities are important even if, and perhaps because, they force the pace of the class to slow or reduce the number of learning targets that can be assessed in a unit. The clearest way for administrators to do this in my opinion is to challenge teachers to reduce the number of power standards they intend to teach. Teachers have to be given permission to teach fewer standards if we expect deeper learning, the kind that occurs in enriched environments, to occur.
3.) Teachers should devote time and effort on teaching students how to learn.
Jensen offers guidance for teachers on how to "build capacity" in their students by upgrading their "academic operating system." Jackson outlines techniques to help teachers "nurture high intellectual performances."
Often we assess the short term working memory of students without collectively working to build their short term working memories. Often we want students to evaluate without teaching how to evaluate. Administrators must support teachers' efforts to teach "learning how to learn," by providing professional development on teaching strategies that support engagement and critical thinking across all content areas.
Much of the Yvette Jackson and Eric Jensen's work compliments the other but there are unique offerings from each I find compelling.
Jensen offers a great deal to school leaders. He reminds them that the best way they can support disadvantaged students is to support their teachers. He reminds administrators that teachers need support, flexibility, and time to collaborate. He reminds administrators that one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is "putting kids first and staff last." These are important reminders.
Jackson also offers an important reminder. Much of her work is grounded in the work of Reuven Fuerenstein, who educated and documented the intellectual gains of Jewish children who survived the Holocaust. I love this because it places the work of educators in a historically significant context. We are part of Fuerenstein's legacy, which is a legacy of hope. We need to remember this.
On November 24th I attended a workshop on Student Learning Objectives (SLO's). Here are a few reflections on the training.
SLO's are DESE's response to the NCLB waiver, which requires student achievement data be part of teacher evaluation. Beginning in 2016 Missouri schools will be required to document, through core data, that achievement data is used in evaluation. Local districts have been given the responsibility for choosing what data will be used. This is certainly better than models which would mandate evaluations be based on state assessments. However any change to evaluation must be communicated clearly and followed by thoughtful support.
A few bullet points on using SLO's for achievement data:
-SLO's should evaluate individual objectives/learning targets contained in the Missouri Learning Standards.
-SLO's should document achievement over two points in time.
-SLO's should incorporate "stretch." Formative and summative assessments should challenge students in appropriate ways.
-SLO's should be chosen by teachers.
-SLO's should allow teachers to communicate to administrators any unique learning challenges students have.
-SLO's should allow teachers to set "growth targets" for individual students.
The formula for setting individual growth targets suggested by our trainers is illustrated below. Growth targets are set at half the distance between the student's baseline score and one hundred percent. This is a straightforward method, but it leaves me with a few questions.
Thoughts, questions, and concerns:
-Using SLO's will come naturally to many teachers. Most elementary teachers already use assessment data in reading and mathematics. Secondary teachers in large departments have common assessments. Many teachers already submit results on locally created assessments to central offices. Data being tracked by assessments already in place is a perfect resource for meeting new evaluation requirements. However, for various reasons, not all teachers have had the same practice working collaboratively on data collection and evaluation. How will administrators support them?
-What is the most efficient way to submit SLO data? Could a teacher's grade book be used to track SLO's. Administrators and teachers would need to have conversations along the way, but once the assessments have identified, could a teacher submit a printout of their grade book as part of the evaluation process?
-SLO's emphasize baseline data. How can administrators discourage teachers unfamiliar with best formative assessment practices from incorporating results of baseline assessments in a student's final grade?
-The "half the distance to the goal" strategy works on a points earned/points possible mindset, which runs counter to standards based grading. Wouldn't a rubric, with a high bar set for mastery, be a better model for incorporating both "stretch" and growth targets?
These are important questions that administrators and teachers should have sooner rather than later. I'd be interested in hearing from those who are further along in the conversation.
My son and I share a ritual. It begins when one of us, he as often as I, asks the other to go on a bear hunt. The ritual demands an invitation to bear hunt can not be declined, regardless of weather, or time left in a tied football game. If you are asked to bear hunt you are required to respond, "Let's go."
A half mile trail winds through a few acres of cedars on the far side of the lake behind our house. We walk the path with our eyes peeled, carrying sticks. We haven't seen a bear yet.
The name stands.
A November morning with frost on the ground and a stream of division on the news feed makes a bear hunt appealing. At four he is becoming bold enough to run ahead, leading me to a bench at the crest of the hill where I sit and consider the reasons I want to retreat from and engage in society. Along the trail we bust cottontails in the woods and ducks along the shoreline. We examine the workings of beavers and tracks in the frost left by the survivors of last week's deer season. All of it encourages: the cardinals, the cold air, the light reflecting off the cottonwoods.
He's four so he is beginning to run ahead and lead the hunts. But he's four and the hunts still end the same as they always have. His legs get tired and asks to "ride up top," on my shoulders back to the house.
No school improves without the tough work of collaboration. "Leave me alone and let me teach," is a mantra for those who are uncomfortable with collaboration. While the allure of autonomy is understandable, interdependence is the path to better outcomes.
The mile stretch of Perche Creek just upstream from the Missouri is a fantastic place to watch the seasons change. My sit-on-top Wilderness Systems kayak allows me to skim along with the leaves that litter the surface. In late October I miss seeing the turtles, but when the trees begin to shed, terrific views of the limestone bluffs, hidden all summer, emerge.
Stripes on the trunks rising from the bank mark water lines from spring and summer floods, revealing how dynamic nature is. The creek, turtles, and trees seem to relax in the fall, but paddling in and out of the powerful eddies at the confluence reminds paddlers that the Missouri isn't ready for winter yet.
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