So admittedly the title of this post is intended to generate traffic but we are busy and do have lives outside of teaching and this award winning blog(that will be true when we win an an award of some sort). There are at least a few notable events taking place around the nation connected to education. As we await the fate of the outcome and a looming Federal Government Shutdown we ponder the demise of Walter White and Breaking Bad. The members of the Underground had a conversation today that amounted to sarcastic banter for the benefit of a student teacher who was present. But it went something like this;
"I'm trying to plan out this teaching thing but my brain is not really working anymore. I forgot how hard this teaching thing is."
"Yeah, I thought after my first few years I'd have this thing all figured out, turns out it's still hard."
In other events there were a few pieces of news worth sharing.
He says things like "charter schools (which are generally just public schools freed from union red tape" -OK? Basically he's a movie critic with a shallow understanding on education. He has a loose grip on the subject and while smart he is forced cite experts like Erik A Hanushek who deals with economic analysis of educational issues.His review of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is much better.
the fact he has a website and has created a website with teaching advice makes it more scary than comical. As simple as abolishing Public Schools sounds we might suggest such an effort is neither that wise or that worthwhile. I'd prefer to abolish dumb as there seems to be plenty of that among our nations leaders. Utter stupidity as David Gergen called it is often tough to watch but our nation's teachers dealing with reform are getting fairly used to it. Sadly there is no shortage of people promoting books out there. We here at the Tu might get to work on one at some point if we weren't so busy doing a crappy job as teachers I suppose. And they are the ones adversely affecting the fate of us all. While we wait some who will put Paul's plan into action we'll just keep teaching.
New York State is holding the Summit for Smarter Schools sponsored by the Partnership for Smarter Schools and three State Senators. It focuses on the effects of the statewide testing and possible and common sense approaches for positive change. Time will tell whether the ideas discussed gain any traction but there are hints of such ideas in many states including our own.
Bill Gates tipped his hand about the efficacy of his reform agenda in an interview and I and most other teachers I know could likely provide a more substantive change with the funds he is pouring into education through his foundation. We've talked about Bill Gates before in our How do you Make a Teacher Great post. That answer remains a mystery but there is no shortage of experts on the matter. Accountability...only for teachers and students I suppose,
With that we leave you to another week. Our hope is that even if you lose faith in the Feds ability to get anything done, you keep a bit of faith in your local public school. We'd appreciate the help.
Come again? One would think that something as important as Merit Pay or Merit-Based Pay would fly a little farther up the news flag pole locally but sadly that is not the case. No worries, Teaching Underground has you covered. In fact we've had you covered on the topic of Merit Pay something like six times already. We will say again with a loud and unwavering voice that making kids part of the pay equation is a bad idea. Don't believe us? Keep reading.
"Merit Pay" seems like a Panacea for all that ails schools performance wise, but also financially.
Can this be so? The concept is to boost student achievement and improve our schools using bonuses for teachers. Many are supporting this flawed concept. Common sense and mounting evidence suggests Merit Pay is not only a failed solution but that it is not even an improvement. For this idea to be suggested is contrary to what most educators already know.
Nashville schools were part of the most scientific evaluation to date and after 3 years of study Matthew Springer, executive
director of the National Center on Performance Incentives announced the following:.
“We tested the most basic and foundational question
related to performance incentives — Does bonus pay alone improve student
outcomes? – and we found that it does not.”
I tend to be wary of "centers for" things but it seems prudent to point out the above name seems to suggest they would be looking for evidence that it did positively affect student performance. The RAND corporation's mission is to improve policy and decision making through research and analysis. It might seem RAND has failed on the front end part of their mission here. Meanwhile New York City, Chicago along with the State of Texas tried and abandoned such plans after showing no improvement. But here we are. Still dealing with faddish cavalier approaches to reform. Education Historian and expert Diane Ravitch has a better sense of things and doesn't mince words here on the subject.
Bad reform ideas seem more contagious than good ones.
No Child Left Behind and now Race to the Top pushed by our Education Secretary Arne Duncan fail to comprehend the complexity of what motivates all of us who teach. A uniform system of pay does indeed do little to motivate us yet we show up every day and good teachers have yet to beat down the local government or statehouse door calling for such a shift. We teach not to be rich but to make a difference. Fair pay and work conditions are far more important. It is exceedingly difficult to measure teacher effectiveness and
quality and designing a valid system is elusive so we settle for
something else. The only result of PfP is the further demoralization of teachers and more reliance and focus on standardized
exams which are debatable in terms of their measure of showing teacher quality. Something they were not designed to do. The United States is constantly compared to Finland where
they've focused instead on reduced class size, boosted teachers’ salaries, and eliminated most standardized testing. It would appear we are resolved to forge our own reform path come hell or high water. It is hard to turn the reform train around.
We could separate Merit Pay and Value Added(another topic we've covered pretty well) and they both amount to Pay for Performance. You can pay me for what I do, or, you can pay me for what my students do. The latter is a bad a idea and no sound example of the former truly exists. That does't change the fact that current compensation practices are inadequate and potentially outdated. I can only hope is the same will soon be true for Merit Pay. Most teachers simply ask they be paid what they are really worth something that is rarely the case.
In the meantime we plan on doing our best to "educate" our local representatives on the subject with the hope that Merit Pay might not progress far beyond consideration. We'd encourage you to voice whatever our your view is as well.
In an age where "grades" grow more irrelevant by the day, the TU thought it fitting to assign grades to some people and events that have transpired during the past school year.
Teaching Underground-
We increased traffic and managed to avoid violating our moral standards(we have none). Still we navigated the past 12 months with some effort and did our best to share what we thought about where we are and where we are going. Grade = B+
Virginia Weather-
Earthquakes, derechos, 100+ degrees, no snow days. Grade - You decide.
NASA-
This actually happened during Summer School last year but how on earth(how's that for a punn) could we have a space program without the shuttle? Since 1981 the Space Shuttle has been the face of manned American Space Flight. In an age where we are expected to inspire young scientists and explorers we will have to teach them more from movies than real life. Russia and China are now the only 2 government programs capable of manned missions that dock in space. China was 40 yrs late but is catching up fast. NASA might not actually deserve a low grade but the Feds and others who complain about the budget saying "we should solve our problems here on earth before going into space"... leave me uninspired. Grade = D
"Rhee" rhymes with "me"
Michelle Rhee-
You have learned much during the past year. You have worked hard. Sadly it seems all your efforts have done little save self promotion and distort actual events. We suspect you are a nice and decent person, but dislike your policies immensely. Grade = F-
Diane Ravitch-
TU was very impressed with her comments back in December and we would rank her among the smartest kids in the class. Keep up the good work. Grade = A+
UVa Board of Visitors-
We are grading them just because in the new world of accoutability..the people at the top have carte blanche for Strategic Dynamism and that ain't good. While re-instating President Teresa Sullivan calmed the storm, some things you can't take back. Dragas is back on the board, re-appointed by McDonnell in a move some found unexpected. Hope you all learned something from all this and won't mess up again. So we have to do our best to give the grade you earned on this group project. Grade =D
Albemarle County-
More is not always better and as high school students now flock to study halls and complain about workloads, their hand is forced by trying to remain competitive amongst their own classmates. Teachers share an increased burden as well, leaving some kids regrettably, behind. The longer the system stays in place, the less people are able to say about it because of fatigue. This creates the illusion that it's ok. Seven classes seemed plenty, just sayin'. Grade = Proficient(grades will soon be replaced a standards based system)
KC reacts to an SOL question.
Ken Cuccinelli-
Who sues a college professor for fraud? Never mind those people who steal money from the elderly with phone and E-mail scams or companies that pollute our streams. He's running for governor and steering hard right. If he gets the nod hope he builds bridges instead of burning them. Still you are the C.A. for our great state, obscene seal and all, props. Grade = No Credit
The US Supreme Court-
How can a corporation be a person? Agree or disagree, it was interesting to see them make a ruling that mattered on health care. Grade = NA(we know nothing about the law, just the Constitution)
Lebron James-
He stands still, the world spins around him. That "announcement" showed that some people do lose touch. Still he did win a title and is probably among the most athletic individuals, ever. Present company excluded. While in a perfect world, Cleveland would have won a title before him, he won. Let's end the hate and hope he plays as well and as hard at the Olympics since everyone else is hurt or backing out. Grade= B+
Sausage Boy-
Man that guy is a legend. He lost all that weight and when he puts that shirt with epaulettes on, look out. The world would be his oyster, if he ate those. He left the basement but still managed a solid year. (and rumor has it Turner's on a mini-juicing binge.)
Patricia Wright-
Not sure about what to assign here. The state continues to pour money towards Pearson and SOLs but also was recently granted a NCLB waiver doing away with complex and unrealistic AYP objectives . (Thanks secretary Duncan). Time will tell if the hoops that probably come with the waiver will help or hurt. Still 2014 was only 1 year away. Grade = Inc
Fermilab Tevatron Scientists
You maybe sort of found or proved that the Higgs Field or the Higgs Boson exists? Huh? This theoretical physics stuff is above our pay grade but makes more sense thanks to all things, Youtube(see video here).
Take that CERN and your Large Hadron Collider. We like particle accelerators as long as they don't make Black Holes. Grade = B(too smart is not always good)
Bashar al-Assad -
You should be expelled and the people of Syria will be better for it. Grade = Double F
City of Lynchburg
For the second time they discharged wastewater into the James River. This time 250,000 gallons an hour for about 18 hours. Sees to me that somebody somewhere could find a way to fix this. Either that or change your city logo to show the stench coming off the river Beyond the damage to the river itself I and other citizens of the state will again have to avoid a place we love dearly. Grade = F
Greece and the EU-
Not saying we understand economics, austerity measures or anything having to do with international fiscal policy or currency but it appears the same could be said for you folks over there in Europe. Grade = D
Bryce Harper
This talented rookie plays hard day in, day out and we admire that. The Washington Nationals are for now relevant, though some TU members remain Orioles fans and think the Senators will always be the only rightful DC team, not the Expos. He did break a bat in a tantrum and injure himself but he still went to bat, blood and all. Only retiring Chipper Jones stood between him and the MLB All Star Game. He dropped out of HS to chase his dream. What does he deserve? "That's a clown questions, bro." Grade = C or A depending on your loyalties.
Va General Assembly-
What the heck is going on down there in Richmond? What was once a proud bipartsan legislature has devolved into side by side party convention on our dime. Please stop the political infighting and focus on doing the job you were given when elected.
Grade = D
America
This is still the best country on Earth. Anyone who disagrees is a red bellied commie. Have a great July 4th. Grade = A++
Have some grades you want to assign? Add a comment.
“If enough people care, the public may learn the course is not wise, not reform and backed by no evidence. Public Education is a precious resource that must be preserved and improved for future generations.”
-Diane Ravitch, NCSS 2011
Diane Ravitch is a voice of reason and sanity in the politically charged and reckless world of education policy and so-called reform. The Teaching Underground had the privilege of hearing a lecture from Dr. Ravitch at the NCSS national convention this weekend in Washington, D.C.
Conventional wisdom might brand her “anti-reform,” but in reality the term educational reform has been high-jacked and turned into “testing, accountability, and choice” at the exclusion of meaningful reform seeking appropriate ways to “develop qualities of heart and mind and character to sustain our democracy for future generations.” The Teaching Underground is ready to steal the term back and label Diane Ravitch as the voice of true reform in American education.
After hearing Ravitch’s talk we jokingly said to each other, “she stole all of her material from the Underground.” Since our arrival in the blogging world in October 2010, we’ve learned that every challenge we’ve faced at the local level is rooted in the national education landscape. Like Ravitch, our primary hope is that people would care, and by caring, the public will learn that our present course of educational policy in the United States often guised as reform is really no reform at all.
Ravitch’s lecture at the NCSS Convention centered around a dozen or so questions. (I was typing fast, if you were there and see that we missed a question let us know.) Below are the questions Ravitch addressed. We've included a few links to related posts on the Teaching Underground. Feel free to offer your reactions to the questions, and if you were at the talk, let us know what you thought. We'll post about some of these topics in the months to come.
Are we in crisis?
-one of the very first posts on TU: Are We Failing?
Should public schools be turned over to private management?
Why not have a free market of choices for parents and students?
-these two questions were addressed in our post Breaking the Public Schools
Should public funded schools be allowed to make a profit?
-in April we discussed The Education Marketplace
Should teachers get a bonus for higher test scores?
Will test scores go up if teacher evaluations are tied to them?
Should student test scores ever be a part of teacher evaluation?
-each of these three questions remind me of the post Why You Should Care
Should NCLB be reauthorized?
-among other posts addressing NCLB, here is 2012 or 2014
So as you may know we are attending the NCSS conference in DC. Given we are pretty worn out we will simply provide a summary of the days events. In no particular order here are some highlights and some of what we learned...
-TU appreciates having a point person to get us registered(Thanks Jen)
-Don't wear any attire with your school logo when traversing the vendor section...it's like wearing a bullseye. "Hey ...AHS....Right" Quickly annoying and makes avoiding eye contact nearly impossible.
-There is no clear delineation between the NCSS and the Washington Craft Show. Be careful out there.
-We sadly missed the "Using Yoga to Teach History" session. Probably for the best.
-There are lots of great ideas among the sessions.
-Some people don't turn their ringer off during sessions....no names mentioned but they know who they are.
-Diane Ravitch is the man. I mean ...well her talk was spot on. More on this in the future.
-Geoffrey Canada was quite inspiring. He's practical, understands his community well and is willing to do what it takes to help kids in a sensible way. Whether the establishment is on board or not.
-Kareem Abdul Jabaar is not only a great basketball player but also funny, knowledgeable and creative.
What we saw of his film On the Shoulders of Giants was memorable.
-Pierre L'Enfant was a genius. A maniacal genius.
So that's about all we can muster but we'll leave you with this lasting image.
Recently we got a call from some folks up in DC indicating they were interested in what we here at the Underground had to say. Actually it was just an E-mail, and it was not a request to hear what teachers think about education it was only a confirmation that we were registered for the National Coouncil for the Social Studies(NCSS) Conference in Washington, DC.
So we packed our bags(a bag each actually) and headed north. TU along with a handful of other teachers in our division were going national. I mean we went past National, now Reagan National on our way here. We also passed the Occupy DC site, the Washington Monument and our Hotel twice before we stopped.
Diane Ravitch. Honorary TU Member.
Harlem Children's Zone Founder Geoffrey Canada
The conference is loaded with great topics and boasts an impressive list of speakers. We anticipate the highlight of those being the speech by Diane Ravitch. Also looking forward to hearing from Philip Zimbardo, Judy Woodruff, Geoffrey Canada, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar. After registering, we learned Secretary of Education Arne Duncan would also be giving a speech. (When I heard that I wanted to register under the name "R. Neese Tinks" but thought better of it.) It wouldn't have mattered in the end as Mr. Duncan ducked us, indicating he had been called to the White House. His appearance would be limited to the ticketed "President's Breakfast" where the Teacher of the Year Awards were given out. Oh well. Mr. Tinks will not be in attendance and I will.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan
That said we are pretty sure our attendance is an elaborate ruse to get us out of our building. When we return we fully expect to to find all of our stuff gone from our classroom and a new teacher there who has replaced us.
We are hoping to learn a lot and perhaps leave with some ideas and tools to better serve our students. Look for an update that covers our first full day in DC soon. We'll leave you with this NCSS link to some useful social studies classroom resources keep you busy.
My last few posts had a sort of boxing theme woven in. Not sure why as I never really watch boxing. But for the first time publicly I will admit I occasionally watch C-Span. I'll risk the damage to my reputation and street cred to share something with all the subterranean readers.
C-span is a channel I usually only peruse when really really bored or on the way to another channel. Once in awhile I actually plan ahead and tune in to something on C-Span. Such was the case a few days back when I watched a program called After Words where Diane Ravitch interviewed Steven Brill on all things education. The bout, I mean show, lived up to my expectations. I agree completely with almost no one in this deceitful world of ours but I'd sit on Ravitch's side of the church in a wedding for sure. I'm just sad we rely on a 74 year old to carry the flag and she's pretty much the only one that makes a convincing case on behalf of common sense.
Buckle up and make some popcorn before you sit down to watch. This is a tense, informative, frustrating and entertaining look at what amounts to a debate reflecting the polemical nature of education reform. Sure I'm personally a little frustrated with all the data, abstract talk and absence of real teachers in the conversation but still I highly recommend you spend a few minutes(or even the whole hour) watching.
This interview has it all: Diane Ravitch, Steven Brill, Joel Klein, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Charter Schools, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America's Schools, Teacher Unions, Pay for Performance, Merit Pay, Value Added, Democrats for Education Reform, you name it.
Love to hear some reaction and then I'll maybe share some of my own.
As I took everything down from the walls in my room in the hopes it could be painted for the first time in 15 years I remembered that my colleague and I had floated the idea of putting tables and chairs in our rooms to replace the desks. The furnishings we have are somewhat dated and showing their age(most have been in my room longer than me). We thought the table setup might allow for a more effective environment to learn. We'll see what happens with that plan.
In the meantime I thought I'd pass along this photo and invite anyone interested to add a fitting caption or two in the comments section. Good luck.
Twice in the same week, John Stewart and the Daily Show address education issues. This time by interviewing Diane Ravitch. Nothing new from her in this interview, but it's great to see her arguments reaching a wider audience outside of the education world. It is also great to see a national television show cover this side of education. It's just under ten minutes, but a great watch. Let us know what you think. My favorite quote, "but they get to go to the dentist."
