Yesterday, I posted a link to a study that shows that Minnesota is falling behind the rest of the country in the achievement gap. Then, we have this study that shows that Minnesota students are some of the best in the country on 4th grade Math tests. Also, we have one of the most equitable funding systems in the country, and having been a teacher in Chicago Public Schools, I can attest to that. So which is it? Are we failing our low income and disadvantaged students are are we succeeding? I think we have a long way to go, but it's encouraging to see that we are still succeeding by some measures.
Minnesota Schools Receive Praise
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Honor their identities, it is more than just a box of crayons.
Recently, my kindergarten class completed a portion of our IB (International Baccalaureate) Planner called All About Me. The unit focused around student driven inquiry and was guided under the central idea that students can learn more about themselves by learning about other people. A very basic, yet developmentally appropriate concept for this age group. Near the end of the inquiry, which lasted several weeks, the students chose a partner to interview. Each child had their own paper and was to record their partner's eye color, hair color, skin color and an ability that they had. Later they would present it to the larger group. As I circled around the pairs as a silent observer I came upon one very frustrated child who was making a loud proclamation that his crayon was broken. I watched him impatiently and audibly scrub the white crayon on the white paper in the square meant to record his partners skin color. I held back to see if his partner would offer any suggestions. Moments later he said, "No, no, no, you are choosing from the wrong bin, go get the people colors. See, I am not like a white crayon (he stuck out his hand next to the crayon). You are not black like the black crayon either." The child went across the room to obtain one of the people color bins. When he returned the conversation continued. "Oh, you are like this one," said the frustrated partner. He asked me the name of color on the crayon. "This one is called toast," I said. "Okay, toast color, but really I am not toast I am Mexican and Black, but there is no crayon that says Mexican and Black but that one looks just like my hand."
In my classroom the people color crayons are among the favorite items to use. Each table has their own specially assigned bin and there are additional sets of colored pencils always out and available. If you have ever looked at the standard box of 24 crayons used in most classrooms across the country, you will find a black, brown, white and peach colored crayon that millions of children (if they are lucky enough to even have this) must use each day to depict themselves in their stories, illustrations and artworks. However, most don't fall exactly within this color range. Even my own skin falls neither on just quite the white crayon or the peach crayon. Race, of course is more than just color or the way others see your skin, it may not define you as a person, or it may completely define you as a person. What does your box of 24 afford your students?
Note: Crayola makes a set of what they call multi-cultural colors, but I like the people colors in the jumbo crayons and colored pencils from Lakeshorelearning.com
Monday, November 29, 2010
"I was wrong" - The Minnesota Achievement Gap
Well, I've said this before myself, and it turns out I was wrong as well.
from an article at minnpost...
"The statistical argument we'd hide behind was that our kids of color weren't doing so much worse than kids of color in other states, but rather the gap was mostly a function of our white kids doing so much better than white kids in other states.
I was wrong. That argument is simply not true, according to the latest evidence."
Minnesota's stubborn and scary reading achievement gap
from an article at minnpost...
"The statistical argument we'd hide behind was that our kids of color weren't doing so much worse than kids of color in other states, but rather the gap was mostly a function of our white kids doing so much better than white kids in other states.
I was wrong. That argument is simply not true, according to the latest evidence."
Minnesota's stubborn and scary reading achievement gap
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
You know your students' names, but do you know their parents' names?
One of the many gifts I have gotten in this life is to teach for a living. It is something I was born to do. The child of two exemplary educators, it was encoded in both the nature and nurture parts of my childhood. Regardless, to me teaching is a gift with which I take pride, find stress in and rejoice at the small bits of daily triumph. The second gift I have been afforded is that of being a parent. Like any parent, I find awe in and grow to love my daughters more each day. Nature's response to this in my innate feeling to provide them with the best that I can. The best warm winter jacket, a filling and healthy lunch, a well rested and clean body with which to happily start the day. I also want what most parents want a school that is going to take over where I left off for the day. A place that is going to teach them to read and write and be ready for the world beyond first grade, but mostly a place that is going care about them while doing this. A place where they feel safe enough to ask questions and make mistakes. But, also a place where if they are pushing the limits their teacher cares enough about them to involve me in their choices, not because the behavior is a nuisance and interfering with his or her teaching, but because he or she cares enough to expect better from them.
There is a former kindergartner of mine, we'll call him Lyle (not his real name) who is now a second grader. When Lyle first arrived mid-year in my classroom, he was an expert in pushing the limits of both my patience and the boundaries of what our class had decided was socially acceptable in our classroom. He was an extremely friendly kid, very easily engaged but academically low compared to his classmates and one of only three children of color in the class. His response to work when things became difficult would be to visit with another kid and get them off track, thus diverting the attention from himself (tricky, right? quite brilliant) or become defiant. It took me several weeks to see the patterns. It took me the same amount of time to learn his mother, Gayle's (not her real name), cell phone number by heart.
Sometimes, I would march him over to the phone and we would call her together. She would give him a good talking to and remind him that Mrs. Haen wanted just what she wanted, for him to do his best. We both cared about him. There were other times when I would call Gayle out of Lyle's presence just to check in on things and update her on his progress or struggles.
We got to be a team. She called often to ask questions about her other three children or just to talk.
It became the secret magical tool that I could pull out. The caring and compassionate tool. "I care about you, I care that you learn, I care that you expect the best from yourself just like your mom does." Lyle knew these words. He knew them well.
So well that I'll never forget one day while he was sitting at his table and he saw me walk towards my desk and said, "What you gonna do call my momma?" In fact I was, it was a perfectly normal day, nothing extraordinary, nothing rotten just a kid sitting at his table doing the work that his teacher had given him. I called him mom to report day and she teared up in responding to my consistent caring and compassion in being Lyle's teacher. She said that she had a teacher just like me when she was in school and she never forgot her. She was the reason that she even graduated.
Lyle is a second grader now and has had a string of excellent and compassionate teachers. He still struggles with academics, but not for want of his teacher's caring, he is making the necessary growth. I see him at least once a month and talk on the phone to both he and his two older sisters and mom once a week.
Gayle and I were a team during Lyle's kindergarten year. One of many teams I have been on. Gayle new my expectations were high not because I wanted the smartest kids in my class, but because I cared about his future, his well being and his positive choices. These were the same things she cared about. We should all be so lucky should it be our choice, to be a parent know the deepest depths of wanting the best for our children. This can translate into the depths of caring that we want for our students.
What team are you on? Do you know the names of all of your parents? Give yourself a little quiz and see if you are at grade level with the score. How can the simplicity of caring cross racial, economic and social lines in your school and classroom?
There is a former kindergartner of mine, we'll call him Lyle (not his real name) who is now a second grader. When Lyle first arrived mid-year in my classroom, he was an expert in pushing the limits of both my patience and the boundaries of what our class had decided was socially acceptable in our classroom. He was an extremely friendly kid, very easily engaged but academically low compared to his classmates and one of only three children of color in the class. His response to work when things became difficult would be to visit with another kid and get them off track, thus diverting the attention from himself (tricky, right? quite brilliant) or become defiant. It took me several weeks to see the patterns. It took me the same amount of time to learn his mother, Gayle's (not her real name), cell phone number by heart.
Sometimes, I would march him over to the phone and we would call her together. She would give him a good talking to and remind him that Mrs. Haen wanted just what she wanted, for him to do his best. We both cared about him. There were other times when I would call Gayle out of Lyle's presence just to check in on things and update her on his progress or struggles.
We got to be a team. She called often to ask questions about her other three children or just to talk.
It became the secret magical tool that I could pull out. The caring and compassionate tool. "I care about you, I care that you learn, I care that you expect the best from yourself just like your mom does." Lyle knew these words. He knew them well.
So well that I'll never forget one day while he was sitting at his table and he saw me walk towards my desk and said, "What you gonna do call my momma?" In fact I was, it was a perfectly normal day, nothing extraordinary, nothing rotten just a kid sitting at his table doing the work that his teacher had given him. I called him mom to report day and she teared up in responding to my consistent caring and compassion in being Lyle's teacher. She said that she had a teacher just like me when she was in school and she never forgot her. She was the reason that she even graduated.
Lyle is a second grader now and has had a string of excellent and compassionate teachers. He still struggles with academics, but not for want of his teacher's caring, he is making the necessary growth. I see him at least once a month and talk on the phone to both he and his two older sisters and mom once a week.
Gayle and I were a team during Lyle's kindergarten year. One of many teams I have been on. Gayle new my expectations were high not because I wanted the smartest kids in my class, but because I cared about his future, his well being and his positive choices. These were the same things she cared about. We should all be so lucky should it be our choice, to be a parent know the deepest depths of wanting the best for our children. This can translate into the depths of caring that we want for our students.
What team are you on? Do you know the names of all of your parents? Give yourself a little quiz and see if you are at grade level with the score. How can the simplicity of caring cross racial, economic and social lines in your school and classroom?
Monday, November 22, 2010
Closing Schools
From the new york times...
Over the past decade, the elementary and high schools that make the list of the worst— those in the bottom 25 percent on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test — have changed. One of every three schools — 47 of 155 — managed to make it off the list. The worst schools now are arguably better than the worst schools were 10 years ago. Their test scores have gone up (though much has been made about changes to the ISAT that made the test easier), attendance is up slightly in the elementary schools and the dropout rate in the worst high schools has improved by 10 percentage points, though it remains at a troubling 54 percent.
It's great to see that schools in Chicago have been improving, and that attendance is up and dropout rates are down. Although this article was about closing struggling schools, something my district just had to go through, and something Minnesota has had to deal with, I thought it was nice to highlight that Illinois schools are getting better. As a former teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, I'm happy for my former colleagues.
Over the past decade, the elementary and high schools that make the list of the worst— those in the bottom 25 percent on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test — have changed. One of every three schools — 47 of 155 — managed to make it off the list. The worst schools now are arguably better than the worst schools were 10 years ago. Their test scores have gone up (though much has been made about changes to the ISAT that made the test easier), attendance is up slightly in the elementary schools and the dropout rate in the worst high schools has improved by 10 percentage points, though it remains at a troubling 54 percent.
It's great to see that schools in Chicago have been improving, and that attendance is up and dropout rates are down. Although this article was about closing struggling schools, something my district just had to go through, and something Minnesota has had to deal with, I thought it was nice to highlight that Illinois schools are getting better. As a former teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, I'm happy for my former colleagues.
Milken Award-winning teachers share their tips
Milken Award-winning teachers share their tips
"Two Minnesota elementary school teachers received the prestigious Milken Award. They join Midday to talk about what makes an effective teacher.
"
I listened to this radio broadcast today, and one of the best points raised was how they use the QCOMP, which is an alternative teacher pay system in Minnesota. I have appreciated what ATPPS (which is our version of QCOMP in St. Louis Park) has brought to our district. We now have professional learning communities, and have 3 observations every year. It has definitely improved our teaching, our collaboration and our professional development. However, in this school, Sojourner Truth Charter School, they use the QCOMP funds to pay for two staff development teachers, 1 hour a week to meet for professional development, and then co-teaching with the staff development teachers using the strategies discussed in professional development. I love how they have connected staff development with the actually training, and provide the support necessary to see that happen. Too often I've gone to trainings, and then been unable to use the training we learned, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the support structure in place to ensure that I could implement the training.
"Two Minnesota elementary school teachers received the prestigious Milken Award. They join Midday to talk about what makes an effective teacher.
"I listened to this radio broadcast today, and one of the best points raised was how they use the QCOMP, which is an alternative teacher pay system in Minnesota. I have appreciated what ATPPS (which is our version of QCOMP in St. Louis Park) has brought to our district. We now have professional learning communities, and have 3 observations every year. It has definitely improved our teaching, our collaboration and our professional development. However, in this school, Sojourner Truth Charter School, they use the QCOMP funds to pay for two staff development teachers, 1 hour a week to meet for professional development, and then co-teaching with the staff development teachers using the strategies discussed in professional development. I love how they have connected staff development with the actually training, and provide the support necessary to see that happen. Too often I've gone to trainings, and then been unable to use the training we learned, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the support structure in place to ensure that I could implement the training.
Add Your Voice: My ideas for school improvement
Can we fire our way to success?
Absolutely not. I would love to see how experienced teachers are at non-AYP and AYP schools, as in the current system, more experienced teachers earn more money. At most of the schools I've been at that were struggling, the teaching staff was predominantly young and less experienced.
What role do charter schools play in driving public school transformation?
This is an area that makes me sad. I wish public schools and the unions would drive the school transformation process. I am a huge proponent of public education and unions, but too often we are preventing reform, instead of suggesting and empowering it. Public education needs more funding, and that is something we just don't have. We have to figure out how to more with less.
I think charter schools have some powerful things we can learn, but it's not the only way that can reform the schools, and it's not going to solve things for all students.
What state and federal policies have driven the students in your school to success?
I think there have been some good policies, however too many of these good policies are underfunded. I personally don't see much good in the federal programs, it's too remote from the local schools. However, there have been many important reforms in schools that would have been impossible without the federal government (title IX, special education, de-segregation), but for every positive, you have something like NCLB, which, while forcing us to focus on the failings of our school system, has created a school grading system that will have every school eventually fail.
Our state in Minnesota has historically had very strong support of education. The state funding model is one that should be copied throughout the country, as I have never seen inner city schools as well funded as the one's in Minneapolis. Hopefully, with a Democratic Governor, there can be some increases in funding, as well as improvements in how certain programs are funded.
Absolutely not. I would love to see how experienced teachers are at non-AYP and AYP schools, as in the current system, more experienced teachers earn more money. At most of the schools I've been at that were struggling, the teaching staff was predominantly young and less experienced.
What role do charter schools play in driving public school transformation?
This is an area that makes me sad. I wish public schools and the unions would drive the school transformation process. I am a huge proponent of public education and unions, but too often we are preventing reform, instead of suggesting and empowering it. Public education needs more funding, and that is something we just don't have. We have to figure out how to more with less.
I think charter schools have some powerful things we can learn, but it's not the only way that can reform the schools, and it's not going to solve things for all students.
What state and federal policies have driven the students in your school to success?
I think there have been some good policies, however too many of these good policies are underfunded. I personally don't see much good in the federal programs, it's too remote from the local schools. However, there have been many important reforms in schools that would have been impossible without the federal government (title IX, special education, de-segregation), but for every positive, you have something like NCLB, which, while forcing us to focus on the failings of our school system, has created a school grading system that will have every school eventually fail.
Our state in Minnesota has historically had very strong support of education. The state funding model is one that should be copied throughout the country, as I have never seen inner city schools as well funded as the one's in Minneapolis. Hopefully, with a Democratic Governor, there can be some increases in funding, as well as improvements in how certain programs are funded.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)