The View from Here

Preparing to Teach

In December of 2014 Janet Barresi, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, responded to a report by the National Council of Teacher Equality regarding teacher preparation. This is one of the statements she made about our teachers:

“They need to be taught to look at and interpret data for each of their students so they can see what instruction works and what should be revised to help each student achieve academically. Elementary teachers need to be taught how to teach reading, using phonics and differentiated instruction for each student. This is job one.”

I read that statement three times before I could even begin to process all of the thoughts and emotions that it evokes.

First of all I have to tell you that the unique circumstances, challenges, and needs of kindergarten students are for the most part misunderstood and overlooked by anyone without direct knowledge and experience of this student population. That means that during my college years much of what I was taught was geared toward the upper end of the K-8 spectrum. During the fifteen years I’ve taught kindergarten (in three Oklahoma schools) much of what I’ve heard at staff meetings, curriculum workshops, and test preparation meetings has been prefaced with or followed by “of course this doesn’t apply to kindergarten”. So you have to understand that I’ve developed an “attitude” about defending my grade level.

Mrs. Barresi’s first admonition is that we must be taught to look at and interpret data for each of our students. That’s a great plan…once we HAVE data! Some of our kindergarten students come to us from local preschool programs that do formal testing and collect data. Others have attended private daycare centers that don’t do formal testing. Some come from out of state, and we may or may not receive any testing data from them. Some haven’t attended preschool. So we must begin the year by giving each of our students a “basic skills” test created by our kindergarten staff. Formal testing doesn’t begin until about October.

The purpose of collecting and interpreting this data is to “see what instruction works and what should be revised to help each student achieve academically”.

Young children do NOT respond to tests like older children. First of all, most don’t even understand the concept of testing. Second, how they respond to questions and tasks depends a great deal on their maturity level. Many tests given at the beginning of the year are simply not accurate because the child is not yet confident in their ability to even speak directly to the teacher, much less answer questions correctly. It might be November or December before I’ve given enough tests and collected enough data to accurately assess how a student learns and how to adapt my instruction to meet his or her individual needs.

Elementary teachers need to be taught how to teach reading, using phonics…

Too bad we can’t all agree that phonics instruction is the best method of teaching reading! Our educational system has gone through many changes over the years and some of them have been moderately successful. Teachers have been urged to embrace “back to basics”, “whole language”, “learning through play”, “phonics” and “Core Curriculum”, among others. During my college years “whole language” was touted as the primary method of teaching reading in early childhood. That lasted for a few years and then phonics rose to the top again. So within any district you’ll find teachers fully prepared to teach whatever programs were accepted during their college years, plus anything they’ve received further training in as part of their school’s staff development. And of course there will be some arguments about which method is best.

One year, early in my career, I was asked to be part of a “wonderful” new program designed to improve instruction, raise test scores, and solve a variety of problems. It cost our district thousands and thousands of dollars, required months of teacher training workshops, forced all of us to create new files and teaching tools, and was adopted for only ONE year because it simply didn’t deliver all that was promised.

…and differentiated instruction for each student.

For those of you who are not in education:

Differentiated instruction is the way in which a teacher anticipates and responds to a variety of student needs in the classroom. To meet student needs, teachers differentiate by modifying the content (what is being taught), the process (how it is taught) and the product (how students demonstrate their learning).

 

The best way to describe this concept is to quote James R. Delisle, author of Differentiation Doesn’t Work: “Although fine in theory, differentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back.” I have to agree. He also states that “teachers are either not doing it at all, or beating themselves up for not doing it as well as they’re supposed to be doing it”. I fall into the latter category. While I agree with the intention of the concept, I disagree with the idea that it can actually be done successfully.

 

The problem with differentiated instruction is that our classrooms are now filled with more students and a greater variety of students than ever before:

 

1. The age range in a kindergarten class is from “barely five” to “almost seven”.

2. As mentioned before, the experience of students might be two years of preschool or none at all.

3. Students with major and minor disabilities are included in the regular classroom for as much of the day as possible.

4. Students may have vision or hearing problems that affect how they learn.

5. Many students have emotional or behavior problems that impact every aspect of learning.

6. Students can be auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners.

7. Some students are gifted in language skills. Others struggle with every stage of the reading process.

8. Some students have supportive parents who help with homework, provide encouragement, and communicate with the teacher. Others have parents who participate in their child’s education as little as possible…either by choice or necessity.

9. Some students barely speak English and come from homes without an English-speaking parent.

10. Some students are eager to learn and some are totally uncooperative.

 

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. We’re asking teachers to “be all things to all students”. I currently have 18 students and each one is a little different. Yet I attempt to teach each and every one of them the same information and skills, as required by the State Department of Education. I’m doing the best I can, but on any given day someone in my group will not get what they need. We need to rethink some of our misgivings about dividing and grouping students and realize that in some instances being with others of similar strengths benefits them. We’ve already begun to address some of these issues with special education classes, computer classes, and reading tutors, but we may need to look at other specialty classes that would help students be more successful.

 

So, while I agree with some of Mrs. Barresi’s recommendations for teacher preparation, as usual much of it “doesn’t apply to kindergarten”. 

On My Soapbox...

KXII-

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The latest "Quality Counts" report ranks Oklahoma 48th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the quality of education it provides students.

The report issued Thursday focuses on educational outcomes while looking at academic achievement, school funding and the chance for success students have when they grow up.

Oklahoma received a D+, which placed it ahead of Mississippi, Nevada and New Mexico. Massachusetts led the nation with a B.

Outgoing state schools Superintendent Janet Barresi issued a statement saying Oklahoma teachers are not adequately prepared for the classroom.

Spokesman Alex Weintz for Gov. Mary Fallin said Fallin is working with educators, parents, lawmakers and the business community to find ways to improve the education outcome for students in the state.

 

Oh, my! Where do I start?

I began by reading about the history of the “Quality Counts” report and the information collected for the state report cards.

Then I read the 12-page report specifically for Oklahoma.

Then I read more about Janet Barresi’s statement. Let’s start there. It appears that her statement about teacher training was actually made in December in response to the National Council of Teacher Equality report that “Oklahoma’s teacher preparation policies fail to ensure that new teachers are ready to help students to the high levels necessary for college and careers.” Her response was “Our teacher preparation colleges need to have more method classes. The focus needs to be on helping teachers develop more classroom management strategies. Classroom teachers graduating from institutions of higher learning are good, well-intentioned people who are not being adequately prepared.” Unless she said the same thing about the Quality Counts report, we’ll cut her some slack on that. She did, however, make one statement that I refuse to ignore and I will address that tomorrow. I also agree with many of the state-specific recommendations made by the NCTE, but they have little to do with today’s topic. And while Oklahoma’s “grade” on teacher preparation was a C, the average grade for ALL states was a C. FL, IN, and RI got a B+ and MT and AL got an F.

Now let’s take a brief overview of the information collected for Quality Counts, which is done by Education Week. Three broad categories are reported (average state score in parentheses): Chance for Success (C+), k-12 Achievement (C), School Finance (C-). The EW research team makes the statement that “most states post a strong showing in at least one area. This suggests that while broad evaluations of state rankings and performance can be useful, a deeper reading of the results presented in this State Highlights Report will provide a more nuanced perspective on the educational condition of the nation and states.”

In addition to the broad categories mentioned, the states are graded on early education. So we are ranked 48 in overall quality of education, but 12 in early education- clearly our area of strength. The national average for early education is D+ and we got C-.

The data collected for the early education grade included preschool enrollment, preschool poverty gap, Head Start enrollment, kindergarten enrollment and whether kindergarten was full or half day. EW states that “Preschool participation is heavily influenced by a range of socioeconomic factors, including household income, parental education levels, and race and ethnicity.” The national average for preschool enrollment is 47.3%. Oklahoma’s is 41.3%. 83.2% of our kindergarten students attend a full-day program. The national average is 75%.

The Chance-for-Success Index is the most complicated one and includes factors that influence a person’s success from “cradle to career”. It “provides information that could be used to target the efforts of public education systems in ways that better serve students of all ages”. The information collected includes family income, parent education, parental employment, and linguistic integration (parents fluent in English). It also takes a look at whether the state provides sufficient employment for those who do complete their education. For the school years it collected data on enrollment, reading and math proficiency on NAEP, and high school graduation. Even a casual reading of those lists tells you that many of those factors have nothing to do with teachers and are hardly within our control. Oklahoma’s ranking in this index ranges from 3 (adults in labor force working full time and year round) to 48 (children from families with incomes at least 200% of poverty level).  Oklahoma’s Chance ranking is 43 with a grade of C-. National average is C+.

So now we get to the index that really matters to us: The K-12 Achievement Index. This includes achievement levels (4^th and 8^th grade reading and math), achievement gains (4^th and 8^th grade reading and math), poverty gap, achieving excellence, high school graduation, and advanced placement. Oklahoma’s rankings for achievement run the gamut from 4 (8^th grade math gap) to 46 (change in math excellence), with an overall rank of 41 and a grade of D. The national average was C-. I have to confess that my gut reaction to this is apathy at best.  There is very little difference between the state scores, and the national average is just that…average. On a 100-point scale Massachusetts, the highest, scored 83.7, the national average was 70.2, Oklahoma scored 64.2, and Mississippi, the lowest, scored 57.1.  Those of you familiar with statistics know there aren’t any big gaps between the scores of the other 47 states in the middle.  

I’ve been in education long enough to know that testing children is MUCH more complicated than most people understand or are willing to admit. Of course we want to know if our students have learned anything during their year with us. We need some measure of their skills and knowledge. We want to see annual progress throughout the educational process. We accept testing as a necessary evil.

However…testing has many variable conditions:

Who was tested?

What was tested?

How was it tested?

When was it tested?

Who gave the test?

Where was the test given?

Was the test given in the student’s primary language?

Was the student feeling well the day the test was given?

Did the teacher give the instructions clearly and correctly?

Was the method of testing (computer) familiar to the student?

The danger of testing lies in giving too much importance to any one test or method of testing. We give three major reading/language tests to our kindergarten students. In addition to those, we give half a dozen different tests in our classroom, we grade daily work, and we observe our students as they work and play. Last week I got the results from one of our “standardized” tests and the score summary stated that one of my students is “reading simple words like ‘mat’ and making progress toward reading with understanding”. Sounds good for a kindergarten student…except for one little glitch. That particular student can read at a first grade level! Just to reassure myself that I hadn’t overlooked something, I reached into my files and pulled out a 7-page little reader that included the words “building, making, hooray, right, catching, friend, fort, snowman, mittens, and warm”. My student had never seen it, but read it without a single error! Obviously the test results from that test on that day are not accurate and I’ll compare his scores on other tests before I make an assessment of his skills.

I have another student who has enough knowledge and skill to “test well”, but is unmotivated, disinterested in education, and a constant behavior problem. How will he and thousands like him factor into “chance of success” and “academic achievement” in years to come?

I just have to grit my teeth when I get to the next report. School Finance is the “make or break” index for so many states, including Oklahoma. School financing determines the size, age, and quality of your school buildings.  School financing affects teacher-to-pupil ratios. School financing determines whether a district can offer art and/or music. School financing means one school has an amazing computer lab and the one down the road is lucky to have one computer per classroom.  

I have to admit that I don’t even understand some of the data gathered for this report. State grades are based on their wealth-neutrality score, McLoone Index, coefficient of variation, restricted range, adjusted PPE, students funded at or above national average, spending index, and spending on education. The one thing I do understand is dollars- per pupil spending. Ours was $8,624 (2012) and the national average was $11,735. New York spent $19, 522 per student. Our rank in this category is 45.

So what’s my conclusion? We’re doing the best we can where we are with what we have. That’s not meant to be the least bit superficial or sarcastic. It’s actually my personal objective each and every day. We’re constantly changing our curriculum and teaching methods in an attempt to improve the outcomes for our students. We’re trying to improve the way we train, certify, and evaluate teachers. We’re exploring different ways to generate funding. What more can we do?

We tell our students to work hard, do their best, study for the test, and then graciously accept the grade they earn. We support them when they don’t do quite as well as they wanted and we encourage them to keep striving to do a little better next time. I think our teachers and even some of our administrators deserve the same encouragement. 

Kindergarten Report Card Testing

 

Me: Say the days of the week.

Student: “The days of the week.”

 

Me: Write your numbers from one to ten.

Student: 1 2 10

 

Me: When is your birthday?

Student: “I don’t know. My mom hasn’t told me yet.”

 

Me: Start at 26 and count for me.

Student: “26, 36, 46, 54.”

 

Me: Say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Student: “I pledge legions to the state of Oklahoma and its symbols of liberty.”

 

Me: What’s your emergency phone number?

Student: Mom

 

They Are Who They Are

I had an epiphany yesterday as I watched my students eat lunch: I have spent most of my teaching career trying to change the nature of children, and my efforts have been for naught.

When I was young I embraced the concept that parents influence the way their children think and talk and act.  I spent a lot of time and effort passing on the beliefs and values and actions that I thought would make my children more successful in life. Train up a child…

When I became a teacher I thought that concept would carry over into education and I would influence the way my students think and talk and act, thereby making them more successful in school and in life.

My underlying error was in thinking that it was MY actions that made the most difference. I have been operating within the parameters of the simplest definition of nature: the way a person or animal behaves. What I have failed to remember is the deeper meaning of nature: an inner force or the sum of such forces in an individual; the genetically controlled qualities of an organism.

Proverbs 22:6 has always baffled and angered me. It’s one of the verses I want to talk to God about when I get to heaven. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” sounds like an implied guarantee, but I can guarantee that it has not worked for me as a parent or as a teacher. Didn’t work for my parents or my grandparents or their parents. Each generation of our family has had several individuals who have departed from the teachings of their parents. So is the fault with the teaching of the parents or the behavior of the child?

Genesis 8 tells us that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”. I have to believe that this truth is more essential to the success or failure of a person. As a parent or teacher I can teach and guide and counsel, but that means nothing if it “falls on deaf ears” as my grandmother always said. Many of my students follow my instructions in class, behave well in my presence, and complete the tasks I request of them. However…once they are out of my classroom they revert to their natural personalities and actions. I have taught the same basic concepts of behavior since I began teaching, and yet some of my former students are leaders of their community and some are serving time in prison. That is not the result of my actions, but of their reactions.

After two weeks away from my students I suppose I was just more observant yesterday as I watched them interact with each other. They are who they are…and while I may influence them, I can’t change them. Only they can do that, if it is their nature to do so. 

Time and Money

We all complain about our lack of time and money.

If only there were more hours in the day we could accomplish all that we wish.

If only we had more money we could solve all of our problems.

If only…

If only that were true.

My mother often told me “money can’t buy happiness”. I assumed for years that she told me that simply because we didn’t have much and she didn’t foresee that we ever would. It took me years to appreciate the wisdom of her words and only now am I beginning to fully understand that there is one thing far more important than time or money: health.

There are thousands of people who would sacrifice all of their time and trade all of their wealth to cure themselves or a loved one of a terrible disease. There are people in your circle of friends who could increase their income by a million dollars and still not find relief from their suffering. Consider that the next time you are inclined to think that more time or more money will make you happy. 

A Plan for Me...

I’ve put off thinking of this year as my “last one in kindergarten”, but January brings with it the reality that this will indeed be my last class. I have mixed feelings of course. None of us makes a major decision without having a bit of “buyer’s remorse” once it is made. I felt the same way about returning to college to get a degree! “Will I be able to do this?” “Can I afford to do this?” “Will anyone hire me when I’m finished?” were just a few of the questions that tormented me for a while.

Of course one of the biggest questions we always ask when presented with a major life change is “Am I making a mistake?” I have few doubts about this decision, but I am still comforted by reading about God’s “mistake”.

Genesis 6:6

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

 

God started over with a “clean slate”: Noah and a plan. He got some pretty good results, even though man continued to grieve him. And He had a plan for that too.

 

I have no doubt that He has a plan for me.  

Happy Birthday!

The best way to begin any new year is with a new baby! Happy birthday Katrina!  

Longing for the Light...

It’s been cloudy and dreary today. I ventured outside and took a few photos, but they have a dull quality that I find disappointing. Photos, like paintings, need light for inspiration.  My soul needs light. Perhaps that’s what I fear most about winter…not the cold, but the darkness…the dull, depressing drabness of it. But I am blessed to live in a region of the country where the gloomy days are few and far between, where the sunlight usually warms my face for at least part of the day.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

I am so thankful for that gift of creation, for it is light that gives us life and health. But there is a different kind of light, the light that gives us hope, that gets us through the dreary days of winter, comforts our sleepless nights, and guides our path in the valleys of life.

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

And if we need a little daily lighting there is provision for that also:

Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. (Psalms 119:105)

We who share the light also have a responsibility to use it wisely:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

May you be blessed this coming week with sunlight in your soul, even if you don’t see it in the sky.

*And please pray for those afflicted by SAD, a potentially serious condition that affects about six to ten percent of the general population. 

Living Without

I live in an old house that has “seen better days”. It’s a bit shabby and shows the scars of too much wear and not enough repair. It’s cold in the winter, hot in the summer. It has no style or appeal other than its location. I’m sure there are people reading this who wouldn’t even live in it. I find it not only satisfactory for our present needs, but wonderful beyond measure compared to other places I’ve lived in the past.

When I was a young girl in California my father leased some pasture land just down the road from my grandmother’s house.  The front part of the property contained a large house that had completely collapsed, its roof leaning at an odd angle atop a pile of splintered boards and crumbled sheetrock. Next to it was a smaller house with all of its walls still intact, but filled with rubble and broken windows and trash left by squatters who had camped there from time to time. When he told us we were going to live there I thought at first that he was insane.

I don’t remember how many months it took to clean the house, put up new sheetrock, replace the windows, build a small room for my brothers, and add a front porch, but eventually it all got done and we moved into our “new” home. It was tiny and ugly. It didn’t have hot water. We kept water heating on a potbellied stove near the kitchen, unless it was laundry day. Then mother took a hose and filled a big cauldron that hung over an open fire outside. We used pans to transfer the water to a wringer washer that sat on the back porch.

You might think that we were miserable because of our primitive lifestyle, but I don’t recall feeling any more unhappy than any other girl my age. Some of my friends certainly had better homes and more “stuff” than I had, but all of them had their own problems and mine didn’t seem to keep me from having a social life or a boyfriend or good grades. My diary is filled with the mundane things that concern a thirteen year old. Besides, I had lived in worse houses and experienced far more unpleasant things in my short lifetime than hauling hot water. If my mother was unhappy I don’t remember hearing much about it. She planted flowers, worked in the fields, read books, went to church and baked cookies just as she had done all of my life. Perhaps because she had grown up without a refrigerator or bathroom or air conditioning or a dozen other modern conveniences she was more appreciative of what she had. I don’t know…I only know that she lived her life with humor and dignity and I tried to follow her example.

Of course things improved slowly but surely. Mom and Dad moved us again. Eventually they built their own house, complete with hot water and a laundry room! I’ve lived in a variety of homes and apartments- old, new and in between. But I don’t think any of us will ever forget the years “without”, any more than my grandmother ever forgot living through the Great Depression.

When I hear people complaining about living without the latest phone or appliance or convenience or service I wonder if they realize how truly blessed we are to be living in a place and time when those things are even available. I wonder if they understand how much earlier generations accomplished without some of the things we now take for granted. And I wonder if some of them have considered for a moment that they too might survive and even be happy without…

Cut and Paste

My grandmother once told me to begin a new year the way I wanted to end it. So I began this morning at 4am with my Bible and a cup of coffee. I want to read the Bible from start to finish this year instead of just reading favorite books or passages as I usually do. I’ve done this a few times in the past and also listened to the Bible while driving back and forth to Hugo. Always find something new to ponder.

I’ve spent most of the morning doing what I usually do: watching the news, doing some research, reading, emailing friends, writing my blogs, and taking care of little chores around the house. I’m avoiding the laundry and any major cleaning. lol Who wants to start or end the year like that?

However, as I was typing my Caddo blog post I stopped in the middle of a “cut and paste” task and thought about the convenience of being able to take a piece of text from one page and move it to another…and then it occurred to me that I’m doing that with much of my life. I’m simply taking the parts of 2014 that I like and moving them to 2015. There is a sense of security and continuity in being able to do so, but on the other hand there is also the danger of reaching a level of complacency that teeters on the brink of boredom.

I don’t want a “cut and paste” life. I know I don’t strike anyone as a daredevil and I’m hardly a risk-taker at any level. I’m fond of gradual, positive improvements and I generally accept challenges only after a little kicking and screaming. I like to think of myself as a “reluctant adventurer”, a “reticent achiever”. Each of us must embrace our own style…but this year I’m ready for a few changes and perhaps even some challenges.

I’ve already read some lofty goals on FB this week. Some are admirable, some predictable, some laughable. Some will be achieved and some are destined for failure. But I have to admire people for setting goals and seeing a different future for themselves instead of just cutting and pasting last year’s life on a new page. I truly wish everyone success.

May each of us begin and end 2015 better, healthier, and happier.