PARCC Week, Day 1: Intro to Standardized Testing

As I sat down to write about my personal opinions about PARCC and standardized testing in general, I came to the realization that a single post might not be enough. Over the course of the next week, I'll be posting about PARCC and some of the reasons it merits the attention of anyone connected to students - parents, teachers, and community members. This is the first entry of this series.This week our local School Committee voted to change the Spring 2016 assessment tool from the previously approved (October 2015) Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to Parternship for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC). The deed is done, but that doesn’t mean it has to stand forever.As a third-grade and fourth-grade teacher for the last 9 years before I retired in June, I had quite a bit of experience with MCAS. My students were never part of the PARCC pilot, or try-out tests, but I have taken a good, long look at what PARCC releases on their website (parcc.org). I reviewed test items as part of my personal work as educator as well as when I was a part of the team re-writing math curriculum to align with Common Core Standards.Preparing students who are barely 9 years old for hours-long testing involves teaching test taking strategies. This does not mean teaching to the test. It means basic skills such as teaching students to scan questions prior to reading a passage, reading the italicized introduction to a reading passage, highlighting using allowable tools, staying within boundaries of open response question/answer areas, erasing bubble sheets, and making only one answer choice, ensuring that the whole test has been answered and no items left skipped, reading test items and dealing with tricky and subtle changes in wording, and it means preparing to focus and concentrate for long periods of time. Some may think that those listed strategies should be assumed; I would remind you of that old saying: " when you assume....". None of this is second nature to a 9-year-old.Each year that I administered MCAS, I kept a notecard inside one of my desk drawers. On that card, I noted some factors of a students’ life that might negatively impact test performance. Why? Because invariably when the results of testing were released, teachers are rightly asked to look closely at the results and make instructional decisions to improve.  And now, in a more toxic environment, those test scores can become part of an evaluation of my teaching.I don’t think my instruction was perfect and there are/were plenty of standards on which I could have done a more effective job. My notes, however, contained items such as “no glasses, broken and not replaced”, “arrived 2 hours after test began” and “upset and crying due to fight at home”. This is the reality of teaching in schools where trauma is high. To disregard the impact of such things on a child tasked with performing on a one-shot high-stakes test is foolish.I dislike and distrust most high stakes testing. My English Language Learners (ELLs) - some years that population made up 75% of the classroom - are smart and funny and wonderful learners who easily misunderstood some of the subtleties of test language.  They’ll make sense of these tests and learn to deal with them, of course, but it will take more than a few years. Yet the Commonwealth punishes them by designating their test scores “needs improvement” or “warning”. What must that do to a child’s psyche? My students were always more than a number to me, but the Commonwealth doesn't see it that way.So through the lense of someone who has been in the room during testing, who has witnessed extraordinary effort of students to try to show their best performance on a snap-shot of their learning, over the next several posts, I will try to explain what it is that makes me even more apprehensive about this new assessment, the PARCC tests.Next topic: The Corporate Connection

School Committee Meeting, 20 January 2016

School Committee Meeting: Wednesday, January 20, 2016All members present.Twenty-seven items were posted on this agenda which included an Executive Session to discuss contract negotiations and consideration of contract extensions for two Assistant Superintendents. Although most of the meeting was routine, there were two points that caused longer discussion: STEM at Lowell High and a move to use the PARCC test this Spring.There appeared to be a glitch posting the packet and agenda on the LPS website for this meeting as it did not appear on the School Committee website until a day before the meeting. While this was resolved in time for the meeting, there is interest from the community in the agenda; it would be beneficial to also see the agenda in time for people to consider the issues being discussed.  By also publishing minutes for the Subcommittees, more citizens who are interested in the Lowell School System can better understand the issues facing the schools and understand and even contribute meanfully to the decision-making process.

Unfinished Business

The Establishment of Subcommittees and the members assigned to each committee was approved without discussion at tonight’s meeting.The packet posted on the City of Lowell website and on the LPS School Committee page did not include this information. The Subcommittee webpage has not be updated since last year. So, at this point, the subcommittee member assignments are unknown. 

Motions

Agenda Item 10 (2016/12) made by Connie Martin formally invited the administration and students from Generation Citizen who presented their findings regarding Financial Literacy courses to the Curriculum Subcommittee meeting for further discussion of such a program. This action was a follow-up to last school committee meeting when the LHS group made a presentation of their project to the whole committee.Agenda Item 13 (2016/13) made by Ms. Martin requested the Superintendent develop a comprehensive plan to restructure the district and accommodate the imminent increases in student population. This motion is very loosely tied to the request for modular classrooms for the Wang School (see Reports of the Superintendent).Agenda Item 14 (2016/29) made by Mayor Kennedy requests the administration establish a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) curriculum at Lowell High and received more in-depth discussion. Mr. Kennedy reminds the committee that he initiated this requests last year from the City Council; the motion was referred to Subcommittee. The Mayor feels that such a curriculum will make Lowell and LPS more attractive to parents and students and cites US News & World Report ranking of STEM High School programs; Massachusetts has 15 recognized programs, Lexington High School being one of them. A suggestion that Lexington’s program might provide Lowell with at least a starting point. One suggestion was to structure STEM at the High School similar to the Latin Lyceum.Mayor Kennedy feels referring this back to Curriculum Subcommittee will only cause implementation of the program, something he would like to see start in September 2016, to be delayed. There had been some discussion with Headmaster Martin who compared a STEM curriculum to what is already in place. That programs is referred to as Pathways. Quoting from the Lowell High website:

Our Pathway Programs provide opportunities for all students and their different abilities, interests and talents. Whether a student is planning to work immediately after high school, or will continue learning by attending a training program, a technical institute, a college or university, there are courses in our Pathway Programs that are right for every student.

Link here for more information.In further discussion, Mr. Hoey would like to hear from Mr. Martin that implementing a STEM program is feasible. Mr. Gendron would also like to hear from the Headmaster; however he notes that STEM is already part of the district and wonders about the transition from Middle School STEM programs. In the end, the committee votes to support the original motion that directs the LPS to begin development of a STEM program.My understanding of the Lyceum is that students must apply to participate in this four-year program or Pathway (we used to call this a “track”). This would be a question for the Committee - is the envisioned STEM High School program going to be for students who apply, or is it a choice in the track of coursework?  What would be the expectation or end-result of a student successfully completing the four year course of study? Parents will want to keep an eye on this as an opportunity for their students.

Reports of the Superintendent

• Knowledge Bowl update: dates to note are March 7 - March 24, 2016.
• Quarterly Financials: Amounts spent are consistent with previous years. Some amount encumbered to anticipate spending through rest of fiscal year.
  • Transportation is running a deficit ancitipated to be $179,000 (attributed to increase in transportation needs of SpED students);
  • Insurance account anticipated to have $300,000 shortfall (attributed to employee insurance status changes)
  • Grant funds - 8 new grants since last report resulting in an increase of funding close to $400,000
  • Revolving Account (milk/lunch) has about $2.8 million in account. Ms. Martin inquires about refunds due to parents who had prepaid lunch accounts prior to the free lunch program starting. Those amounts are still due parents, but as reported previously, this presents a logistical problem for City accounting. Mr. Antonelli is working with City to get refunds to parents.
• Modular Classrooms: As a response to the population bubble anticipated for the Middle Schools in 2016, the District is requesting 2 modular classrooms to be installed at the Wang Middle School. Each classroom ($36,000) plus anticipated design (approximately $10,000) needed as the Wang has no room for additional students. Other middle schools throughout the city will also be taking in students of course (anticipated additional students anicipated for 2016-17 school year alone are 200 plus), but have some way to accommodate them. Students are assigned to Middle Schools from Grade 4 according to Zones, so that the population increase will be felt by all Middle Schools, not just the Wang. By requesting modulars for this year only, the Superintendent will have some time to look at a more comprehensive way to accommodate increasing Middle School student populations, anticipated to continue for the next 4 years.

I’m making an assumption/interpretation that the other schools have some ability to include more students with some scheduling or repurposed classrooms. For example, at the Lincoln School, there are 5, not 4 Fourth Grade classrooms this year accommodating an increased bubble class that has been making its way through the Lincoln School since Kindergarten. The “extra” classroom was originally a faculty meeting space; and had several other purposes since the building was constructed; once the bubble class “graduates”, a new program will be housed in that classroom space.

• Project LEARN and Grant Updates. District continues to work in partnership with UML and MCC. Project LEARN has been very active thus far in helping schools to raise funds.
• Personnel Report accepted as a report of progress.

New Business

Item 18 (2016/31) requested permission to post the position of Part-Time Office of Accountability Developer. The funding for this position is available through the end of the fiscal year (June 2016) using Title I funds. There is a lot of confusion about what funds are available for (student programs?, teaching staff?, consultants?); Dr. Khelfaoui is looking for someone with experience in Accountability to assist with rolling the currently organized accountability endeavors into the new strategic plan. Passes 6 to 1 (Ms. Martin votes no). Request for an organizational chart to help Committee Members understand realignment of duties and responsibilities.After approving the request to post Accountability Developer and a transfer of funds to Teacher Academy, the big ticket discussion came up: Adoption of PARCC test for this spring (Agenda Item 2016/36). Superintendent Khelfaoui is requesting that the School Committee, which had previously rejected PARCC test in October 2015, now approve administration of PARCC in the Spring. Originally against using the PARCC test in Lowell, but now making the request to move to PARCC, Dr. Kehlfaoui cited the following:

• While the online test administration for the pilot program in Lowell was disasterous (expensive, infrastructure demands), Commissioner Chester now allows that test can be administered in pencil/paper format. The Commissioner had visited Lowell on January 6, 2016.
• Although we have great schools (shout-out to Bartlett for attaining Level 1 status), some schools are at Level 3 and preciptiously close to Level 4 even though the teachers are working hard to prevent this. Just one Level 4 school means the entire district will be designated Level 4; negating the extraordinary good work of schools at Levels 1 and 2 as well as any progress being made by Level 3 schools. It also will mean that, as a Level 4 District, there will be consequences impacting how the schools are managed (see the Commonwealth’s takeover of Lawrence and Springfield as examples).
• Commissioner Chester has offered that any Massachusetts school district using PARCC this year will be held harmless. Meaning that test scores that go up will count toward moving a district UP, test scores that go down will not impact the school by moving it toward a lower level or designation. Note that while the school district is going to enjoy this breather, teachers may or may not - test scores are under discussion for consideration in teacher evaluation.

Mr. Gignac opened discussion by expressing concerns about PARCC and the lack of information available in the packet. He expresses his concern that there has been virtually no discussion or public input, and that there is pressure to make the decision (PARCC or MCAS) now. Mr. Gignac learned that some accommodations for IEPs are still disallowed. He has also discovered each test is to be completed within a specified amount of time where MCAS was not. Mr. Gignac says our students deserve the best education NOW; does holding the results harmless negate thorough analysis of data? He is puzzled that the deadline for making the decision to test using PARCC has passed, yet the School Committee is being asked to approve PARCC use tonight.Discussion continued with school building administrators expressing that PARCC was enthusiastically being embraced by their building teachers. Jennifer McCrystal had spoken with DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) to clarify the use of accommodations that were previously available in MCAS, and she had answers to many questions. Ms. McCrystal has committed to explaining this fully to interested parents and anyone else at the upcoming SpED Parent Advisory Meeting.Paul Schlictman spoke about test from his vantage point as a district administrator and school committee member (Arlington). As the pool of schools taking MCAS shrinks, if Lowell continued to administer MCAS this school year, the probability of more Level 4 designated schools will likely increase (fewer schools taking MCAS will mean that Lowell Schools will be compared to a small subset of Massachusetts schools which increases the odds that any struggling school may find themselves with a Level 4 status). Ms. Abrams, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, states that while MCAS had served us well over nearly 20 years, students are ready for the rigors of PARCC because teachers teach to standards not to test.Paul Georges, UTL president, spoke about the Union’s objection to all high-stakes tests and the punitive nature of tests like PARCC. While understanding that this is a difficult choice, he states that tests like this are punitive.  State Commissioner of Education Mitchell Chester has recently been quietly removed as PARCC Board chair (link) and seems to have a ulterior motive in pushing PARCC. Corporations standing to make money on the change (Pearson Education) are pushing out this test and the high-stakes test agenda with little or no regard to expertise of educators.Mr. Gendron says adopting PARCC, especially since the online requirement is removed, will buy time to find out about resources. (The Commonwealth is only offering E-rate which pays for infrastructure and not for hardware) Mr. Hoey echoes the sentiment that testing is punitive and states that having been on the School Committee when MCAS testing first began, he feels that children are being damaged by testing. Connie Martin also expresses reservations; however, will support adoption of PARCC as it appears as the District’s “only choice”. She is not enthusiastic.In the end, the move toward PARCC was approved 5 yes, 2 no (Mr. Gignac and Mr. Hoey).As this is mainly a report, I have tried to restrict my commentary in this post. However, it is clear to see that this is a decision that will cause our students - all of them, a great deal of stress. It is also clear that the PARCC issue really puts our school system in a difficult position. The Commissioner of Education's recent visit to Lowell seems to indicate that he has put Lowell in his sites. Readers may recall that during his recent visit with the Murkland School, on one hand he was complimentary about their phenomenal success and with his next breath advocated a move toward PARCC and “encouraged the district to re-think its decision to stick with the MCAS state test this spring."  Amelia Pak-Harvey's story covering this visit can be found here.I have many concerns about the PARCC test, or any high stakes tests actually, and our students, primarily English Language Learners (30% first language not English, 25% English language learners in district from Massachusetts DESE website). After having looked at the PARCC consortium and the web-based test samples for the last 3 years. I have concerns about this test when states that used to be part of the PARCC consortium leave it, sometimes after administering the test one time (Washington Post).I have concerns when I hear that there are set limits on the amount of time for each subtest. I have reservation that fitting 7-8 test periods into a short test window (April 25-May 27 per DESE) will lead to test fatigue, students who are exhausted from days of testing.   I am relieved that paper-and-pencil versions will be used as the technology layer is one many of our students are not yet ready to conquer.  I appreciate that the English Language Arts test does not take place in early March as testing children on one years’s growth at the seven month point in a school year, as MCAS did, seems to be set up for failure.I have a concern when a PARCC Executive Board member appears to be applying the hard-sell with school districts across the state (not just Lowell as it turns out) by making deals that ignore passed deadlines. That alone makes me wonder what the ulterior motive might be. We have recently learned Mr. Chester lost his chairmanship of the PARCC board. He is still a member of the PARCC Executive Board, however, and that, in my opinion is a conflict of interest concerning objectivity and this test.Pragmatically, I understand the rock and hard place that caused the PARCC vote to pass. No one wants the specter of a Level 4 designation and the consequences that could accompany it (demoralization of staff, loss of local control, installation of school overseers) and by taking the “deal” (that being the incentive to not hold scores against the District) the LPS can avoid that.  Reading between lines - what was said and left unsaid - there was little choice for the Committee. What is unavoidable is that our students will be put through the wringer with a new assessment that may or may not provide useful curricular data, no performance data, and may still be used as a tool for teacher evaluation.I plan to write about this in depth over the weekend from the perspective of a teacher who was in the midst of high-stakes testing in a lower performing school.  {Edited to include link 23 January 2016}Executive SessionThe committee ended the public portion of the meeting and went into Executive Session for the contract, litigation updates and to consider extensions of contracts to the Assistant Superintendents.The link to the meeting packet can be found here.

You are more than a number

We are at that time of the year when high stakes test prep is kicked into gear. I try to keep the required and inevitable test prep low-key and casual, if that's even possible, because, for goodness sake -- the kids are 10! Here in my urban classroom, however, the tension and stress can be seen in my students' actions and words. They have already endured round after round of mid-year assessment. Layering MCAS testing on top of that is like dousing your paper cut in hand sanitizer. Some kids are at the breaking point.To O who wondered yesterday if he hadn't been born, would the world (and I) be better off.  You are more than a number.And to A, a kid with a tough exterior, but so hard on herself that tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto her desk because her reading score "wasn't good." You are more than a number.To C who worries if she will "flunk the MCAS" and not go on to Middle School. You are more than a number.To N who just wants to get a 4 on his report card. You are more than a number.To all my sweet, hard-working students, who rise up to meet every challenge I throw at them in the best way that they know how. YOU ARE MORE THAN A NUMBER! And I apologize that you have to go through this.Torn between not giving a rat's behind and giving my students every strategy I can muster so they can get through this unfair and practically useless test is a non-stop debate I have in my head every day. MCAS tests our students on English Language Arts and Composition when we are barely three-quarters of the way through fourth grade. When my kids get their score - or number - how are they supposed to feel?So for you, O and A and N and all of "my" kids, I apologize. You are so much more than a test score to me. You are funny, and enthusiastic, and curious, and talented and challenging, and I would never have wanted to miss out on knowing who you all are. You are more than a number, you are infinity.

Unintended consequences

Most of the time when I see this phrase, it's not a good thing. Today, however, there was an unintended consequence that fell into the plus side of the education balance sheet.In anticipation of state testing, my students have been practicing writing to a prompt for a couple of weeks. This week, we practiced using this prompt from MCAS:

Think about a memory you have of a teacher. The memory could be something funny your teacher said or did, something your teacher taught you, a field trip you teacher took you on, or a time that your teacher made you feel proud.

Many children wrote about their Kindergarten teacher, or First or Second Grade. But one of my quietest students, unexpectedly wrote about me! Since the essay is about 6 pages long - dialog included - I won't subject readers to the full writing. I certainly did hear my own voice projected through this student's writing - some of the dialog describing a multiplication lesson seemed to come right out of my mouth with amazing accuracy! Hmmm, maybe I should be checking for recording devices?

But the words that this child wrote, the words that expressed this child's feelings about me were that Mrs. Bisson "teaches in a funny way and gives you advice on how to remember important things". What more could a teacher want than this?

After a difficult, stress-filled week at school, this child's test prep (!) essay had the unintended consequence of lifting one bone-tired teacher's spirits.

And that's a wrap....

Yesterday, we - my class and I - wrapped up our standardized state testing for 2013.  What a long, strange, trip it has been.Starting last March with our Reading MCAS test, my students have been demonstrating their knowledge of third grade skills.  That's right, last March, when we were 7 months into our academic year (minus the week of snow days), my students had to demonstrate their end of year proficiency in Reading.  I may not have been the best math student on the planet, but I know that 7 months does not equal an entire school year.Yesterday, students completed their Mathematics tests. They worked so hard it is easy to forget that they are not taking the SAT or PSAT; they are 8- and 9-year olds performing on tests that take unbelievable amounts of stamina even if you are older.Kids are kids. While one child finishes a 45-minute test in 20 minutes, another will take twice or three times that time. One student completed the test twice - she literally went back to each question, reworked the answer and then wrote a sentence or two explanation for why her math was correct.  Two and one-half hours later, she finished this 45-minute test. After months of telling kids to "check, check, and double-check" your answers, I certainly was not going to discourage her effort!We had the usual events out of our control: no glasses.... sick.... Hopefully the impact of those variables won't be too great; however, my experience with MCAS - and now that it plays a part in my own teacher evaluation this becomes more important - is that it can have an impact and I do need to document just in case. Sad but true, MCAS is not just about student achievement.So yesterday we put a period at the end of "MCAS 2013", and today we return to our regular classroom routines. I can't put a quantifier on it, but the classroom mood sure seems a lot lighter. 

Go Ahead.... Make My Day

My students started their state testing yesterday.While it continues to aggravate me that my kids are getting tested as if it were the end of the school year (which, believe me it is not!), the test is here and we need to deal with it. By the way, did I mention the test is scheduled before the second trimester has ended? And that this year the students will have had a week's less of instruction because of the snow days we've piled up here in Massachusetts?In the end, all I can do is ensure that my students have some strategies under their belts: strategies for decoding those challenging words - especially important for my English Language Learners, strategies for deriving word meaning within context, strategies for understanding what they're reading, and strategies for making the best out of this testing situation.I have no idea how my students did on yesterday's test. I am not allowed (by law!) to even take a look through students' completed test booklets to see that they haven't skipped a question. I do know that I saw children who are 8- and 9-years-old diligently reading (read the directions, read the italics, read the questions, THEN read the selection), and underlining, and rereading, and writing.If effort and persistence were something we were assessing, every single one of my kids would be proficient. And that makes my day.

Madness of Another Kind....

There are no brackets. There are only anxious and tense teachers and students. Stressed to the maximum. And the cracks are starting to show.We are in the middle of our test marathons. Last week it was MEPA - Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessent, given to 15 out of my 22 children to assess their growth in English. This week - today actually - we start the Reading MCAS. Fifteen out of my 22 students will have endured two high-stakes and grueling tests within the space of 2 weeks.Walls are covered or stripped of anything that could remotely be thought of as a study aide. Last year I had to rip desk tags from tops of desks because the tags had the audacity to show the cursive alphabet. I've covered birthday charts, removed math words, and even turned the labeled genre baskets in our classroom library around. No cheating.This year we have a new feature to testing that will not prove anything except that 9 year olds are not adept at checking their test booklets. We teachers have always been sworn to not look at the questions/test materials on the MCAS - please explain how I proctor students to ensure they do not go on to another section of the test that is off-limits when I can't look at the test <sigh>.Students - those very same 9 year olds - must check their own test booklets to ensure they haven't forgotten to fill in a bubble answer. This is new and worrisome. If you've ever met a 9 year old, you know they are not usually meticulous about details. If they turn 2 pages of a test booklet at a time and skip 6 answers, for them, that is an "oops" moment. And it is frequent. It is making me very tense because my students need every answer they can muster and to punish them for normal kid-stuff seems mean. And maybe meant to up the ante in proving teachers don't know what they are doing.I feel like there is so much more my kids could know of third grade curriculum before being tested. And there is, of course. It is mid-March; school does not end for 90 days - one-quarter of a school year later. What could possibly be the motive for testing children on end-of-year skills 3/4 of the way through their learning cycle? Seriously?The cracks are showing. Kids are acting out. Teachers are not smiling. No one is happy.Welcome to March Madness - public school style.

Opening the Newspaper Can Hazardous to Your (Mental) Health

Caught a news article in today's Boston Globe - which you may or may not be able to read depending on whether or not the Globe is instituting its $16-a-month subscription fee.  Here it is, just in case: State aims to test its youngest students (October 2, 2011).I'm relieved to hear that this is not an "early MCAS", that kindergarten students won't be tossed out of kindergarten (really? that was on someone's radar?), that Kindergarten students won't have to fill in bubble sheets or write essays.  If the Globe article is correct, the assessment will be used to determine what resources early childhood students may need. And while this is laudable, I agree with the Boston Public Schools director of Early Childhood education - we already assess students quite a lot - in Boston's case, there are 14 other assessments; is there really a need for another? It appears the answer is in making the state eligible for grant funding offered through RTT.... hmmm, is that reason enough to put 5-year-olds through another battery of tests?The Globe article continues to point out that 3rd grade MCAS scores are flat; that scores in high-poverty cohorts haven't improved much.  Well, there's a shock; and here's a factor that won't require anyone to test a 5-year old. Poverty and the traumas students deal with are a gigantic factor in whether or not students in the urban school districts cited as not performing can test as well as more affluent peers.You see, when you come to school hungry you can't think. When your family has been kicked out of your apartment, when the power is turned off, when the world around you is one big sh**storm, you probably won't do well on a standardized test. Dare I say that test-taking may not be the most important part of your day?Until we get serious about providing a social safety net for those who are most vulnerable, you can test kindergarteners, third graders and any one else you want. The results will be the same - and all that will be accomplished is that a company who writes and provides scoring for a test will get rich.

Let the testing games begin

I have a new definition for "March Madness" and it has nothing to do with playing a sport.This March, we have the following on our docket: MELA-O (ELL assessment), MEPA (ELL written assessment), District Math Benchmark, MCAS Reading, and report cards. And of course there are always assessments for RTI/TAT tracking and reading progress conferences/running records.My poor ELLs -- they are going to have to endure two rounds of high-stress standardized testing as devised by the state over the next two weeks. I really question the wisdom of testing kids on a whole year of learning in March -- for goodness sake it is only 7 months (6 1/2 really) into the school year. I guess those other two months count for nothing? And let's not mention that all of the procedures and disrupted teaching time to administer a test will take -- 4 days out of the month of March alone.I do believe that data helps us to drive instruction, to move our students forward. But for goodness sake do we need to gather it all in one month?

Really?

With the Common Core Standards, we -- that means teachers -- are bracing for new and improved standardized testing.  An article in the Boston Globe this morning (link here) floats the idea. MCAS may or may not be replaced by a new Common Core test, presumably aligned to the new standards.If you read the story, take a close look at Paragraph 4. Yes indeed, the vision for the new test is that all students will take the test electronically.  Ponder that for a minute, does anyone else see a problem?I teach third graders. I know younger people do not have the same adjustment to reading directly from a computer, but developmentally speaking, I just don't see 8 and 9 year olds being able to focus on a screen, read the test, scroll around, scroll to the question, in a perfect world scroll back to check for accuracy of the answer chosen, click, and repeat ad nauseum. And that's just a reading based test.  Let's talk about math.  I'm picturing lots of guessing because using a scrap paper to figure something out accurately will be too much. Eye-hand coordination issues? Tough darts.So that's just the developmental/mechanical issue.  I suppose that the expectation might be that teachers practice the mechanics of electronic test taking. So now we should teach taking the test?Then there's logistics.  I have one aging iMac in my classroom, 2 if you count the one I use for personal work and to connect for demonstrations for the larger group. So with a classroom of 24 student - normal for my district - I can accommodate 2 students at a time while the rest of the class does..... what? We have a lab - without an Instructional Technology Specialist this year due to budget cutting. Now one entire classroom of students could take the test at a sitting, but they are right on top of each other. And we have 8 classroom vying for computer time - 4 thirds and 4 fourth grades.Don't even begin to think about technology failures.  ALL of the equipment, even the latest and greatest in the lab, is subject to failure: network, electronic, power. I believe there is ONE network guru for the entire system's multiple elementary schools. So when the system goes, or as happened yesterday, equipment is slowed to the point that a screen refresh takes 60+ seconds, that won't affect the testing?Keep reading this article and you'll probably discover more. The Commissioner of Education also floats the thought that the new Common Core exams could be used to progress monitor student achievement in addition to MCAS.Maybe the first and second grade teachers won't mind taking over the third grade curriculum so we can get all this testing accomplished?

The older I get, the more things stay the same

Summer hiatus is a challenge for me ; I am compulsively obsessed with education. However, this summer I have made an effort and, until today, have left my pile of things to consider in a far corner of our spare bedroom.This week, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved implementation of the National Standards. Standard based education - and the testing that goes with it - is nothing new. We've been working with standards for years. The new standards - like it or lump it - will be tied to testing and most likely funding. Isn't that the SOSDD?There seems to have been a lot of debate about the merits of adopting the National Standards in Massachusetts. I don't know for sure because 1) teachers are seldom invited to be part of the debates, and 2) most of this happened in the Spring when teachers are too busy with actual teaching to engage in investigations of new standards.  That would leave the politicos and "think tanks" to debate the merits. And despite the predictions of watering down the education (and testing!) of students, the Board adopted the National Standards.So, we in Massachusetts, have something new to consider. As a grade level Math Lead, I downloaded the National Mathematics Standards for my grade level (thereby breaking my summer hiatus) and to be honest, they seem to be exactly what we focused on with just the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks . This is hardly a surprise. The Massachusetts Mathematics Frameworks have historically been based on National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards and, if what one reads in news outlets is correct, the National Standards are heavily influenced by the Massachusetts Frameworks.Some who oppose(d) the adoption of the National Standards have predicted that this will mark the end of MCAS testing. Puh-leeze. If a single high-stakes do-or-die test is done away with in this state, I'll fall off my chair. MCAS or something resembling it (and possibly dictated by the Feds) is here to stay. For those who think that a single test tells whether or not a child has a good education, whether or not a teacher is qualified, whether or not real estate can fetch top dollar because students score well (oops, let that little piece of sarcasm slip), relax! We can and will continue to spend inordinate amounts of time testing the students.So what is all the uproar about? Maybe I'm missing something, but what I've seen doesn't appear to be education Armageddon.

What would be fair?

This week I was asked at a Team Meeting what I thought about particular student's participation in MCAS (this student has serious health issues which limit school participation). Was there an alternate way to assess this student that would enable us to know what had been achieved?And that got me thinking about what I really feel about MCAS, this 4-day brain drain.I get that standardized testing and MCAS is a part of teaching now. I get that teachers need to be help accountable for teaching the state (and now federal) standards. Honestly, watching my student navigate the Mathematics tests this past week made me realize that there are some weaknesses in the curriculum that was delivered. My teaching will be informed by my students' performance on the test -- a test which, by the way, I thought was reasonable.What I don't understand is how one high-stakes test can serve as the ultimate measure of my students' achievement, particularly when more than half of my students are English Language Learners. Six and a quarter hours of correctly spoken and written English each day can only go so far - the vocabulary that English speakers take for granted is daunting for many of my students.And before anyone's shorts are tied in a knot about second languages, let me say that I wish those who disparage people whose first language is not English tried to take that test in another language that they were in the process of learning. My experience in learning a second language, a Romance and therefore related language, was and is one of the biggest challenges I've ever encountered. I think if you attempted an important reading/writing task in a second language, you too might be hanging onto new vocabulary by the tips of your fingernails. I'm not advocating for abandoning the goal of performing in English -- that is the language of business in this country and therefore, the way to economic success -- I'm just saying cut these English speaking/writing "toddlers" a little slack on the high stakes tests.What would be fair? Well for one thing, look at my students' growth over the year. We have data for that - Fountas Pinnell Benchmarks, SRI Reading tests, Writing Portfolios, and district-wide Math assessments. Consider these as well as the MCAS when commenting on my students' achievement. Look at the Massachusetts Growth data -- are we making progress? Is it just at a slower rate than the students in more affluent, parent-involved suburbs?We need to look at a more complete picture of our students before pointing fingers of blame at educators. Nothing in education is black and white - we aren't producing widgets on an assembly line. To know what students know and don't know, we need to dig deeply. Standardized state testing should be just one item to consider.

Because I Had To

This week concluded our adventures into the world of the  Third Grade  MCAS Reading Test. And yes, our third graders took their last test on April Fools Day - better known as March 32 in Room 207.

I've been administering these tests during each of the four years I've been teaching third grade. Before that, my time with my students was not disrupted by high stakes testing - I taught second grade.

While I was giving my students a pre-test session pep talk - and I can't believe the words "that's what a good test-taker does" came out of my mouth! - for the umpteenth time I felt the ridiculousness of a single test experience determining what my students have or have not learned.  And in mid-stream of our third grade curriculum, no less. Does it make any  sense to test students on their acquisition of reading in third grade 2/3 of the way through the year?

I had to explain to the students that I am bound to read a script to them and that they may hear me say things that just don't make any sense.  And right off the bat, the script instructed me to warm my students against using cellphones or music players during the test. That created a giggle that could almost not be stopped. With all the wisdom that an 8 year old can muster, one little one explained that was so "those teenagers" didn't cheat on their tests. Did that just create a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Well, my little test takers made me quite proud. I have no idea whether or not their answers will get us out of under-performing hell,  (as an test administrator I cannot so much as look at the test contents, it's against the law - really). What I did observe was students who glanced at the questions following a test selection before reading, holding a finger to mark their place in the questions while looking back for the answer, staying in the designated writing boxes when answering open response questions. All things that seem out of whack with the developmental age of these students, but strategies that I spent time teaching so that they could survive the test experience. In other words, they performed their due diligence.

Oh, and no one had a meltdown and threw the test at me - that kind of frustration level was manifested AFTER the testing was finished.

March Madness

Does it seem odd to you that all year long, we tell our students to use the word wall or whatever else we have available for students to use in a classroom, but when it comes time to do standardized testing we effectively tell them "just kidding" ?Yesterday, I was giving my students a practice run at what next Wednesday, our first day of MCAS, will be like. Kids are used to asking for help when they need it, or (even better) using a classroom resource when needed. For some, it is a challenge just to read a text in silence. For others it is a shock that, when they ask for help with a word in a text, instead of working through the thought process for strategizing how to decode the word, I say "I'm sorry, but I can't help you at all." Frankly I don't know why I am apologizing.One of my students was stuck on a spelling word yesterday.  Of course if helping students decode challenging vocabulary in a text is outlawed, helping them with spelling is definitely out. He did exactly as he has been taught to do - he went to his personal word wall folder to look for it.  And when I told him he couldn't use that word wall? He shut down. Completely. From that point on he wanted no part of the whole business - I'm hoping I can cajole him back into positive thinking before next Wednesday. This student, by the way, is one of my most accomplished readers and writers.So I have to ask, why in the name of all thing holy are we preventing students from using the tools that they are accustomed to using? What are we telling them - give it up, there's no way you can be successful?As adults, if we don't know something from memory, don't we look it up?  Can't we allow students to do what an adult out in the work world would do?

100 Days

Yesterday, we reached the 100th day of school -- triple digits.  From this point on the year will whiz by at the speed of light... 80 school days from now we will be all done. For kids, that seems like an eternity, but for me Day 100 is the point at which panic sets in.In Massachusetts - and in most of northern New England - we have a school vacation week coming up beginning next week. Originally put into the academic calendar to accommodate the ski areas, it morphed into a week of "energy savings" in some districts. No students = low(er) energy costs for buildings. I'm not certain I buy into that one. It seems like teachers and custodial staff both show up for chunks of time during "vacation" weeks to catch up.After the vacation week, my third graders will be subjected to a battery of tests that rival the National Teachers' Exam (remember those?).  First, each ELL will be evaluated for language acquisition using the MELA-O (more of an observation really), then they will take the more formal MEPA test. The District Math benchmarks are opening up on the Monday after vacation and all students will take those tests. Then there will be end-of-term assessments in the classroom, and last - but certainly not the least - we have the MCAS Reading Test, my students' first foray into state-wide testing.  Just thinking about all the testing is making my head explode - imagine what it must be like for a 9 year old.But wait, that's not all. We have another round of testing in May (MCAS for mathematics) and more required assessment.  After we hit the math MCAS, we're on to end-of-year activities - field days, final field trips, report cards, Team Meetings.... yikes!So for me, Day 100, while a milestone in our academic year, is the start of stress season. Heaven help us all!