Search results matching tags 'teachers' and 'federal government'

"They" don't listen because they don't understand.

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:30:00 GMT

Do educational leaders know what's happening?

In recent months many of "them" (influential figures affecting education) have become very vocal about the problems with NCLB as the looming 100% pass rate timeline approaches. Compelled to do so out of fear that their school or division will be labeled as failing. They've snapped up Race to the Top(RTTP) funds as an alternative but have honestly done little to affect the overall direction reform is headed. Shame on them! Shame on them for not doing something sooner. Shame on them for not having a better handle on what on occurring within schools. Since early on in my state there were countless warnings about NCLB that went unheeded. Many of those calls coming directly from the classroom. Shame on them for not listening until "they" were affected. Sure teachers are sometimes the reason a class or school is not as good as it should be. Listening to many reformers out there it might seem bad teachers are the only reason. RTTP funds are being used to sell out teachers and educators even more. This "revision" might be less punitive than NCLB but it is no less harmful.

The call to strengthen and improve performance grows louder day after day. The pressure to perform is crushing. That is not a good thing for a learning environment. Positive pressure is good. An element of competition is good. A benchmark for comparison is good. What we are tolerating is bad.

A single indicator for success is not a sound approach. How would parents and students respond if a teacher used the same approach to assign a grade? Any criticism would be warranted. It is worth remembering as leaders use accountability to justify action that schools and teachers are expected to educate every child regardless of achievement level, motivation, or behavior. As we press for accountability the teacher and school are saddled increasingly with responsibility to make kids learn. Lost in the shuffle of responsibility is the role students and parents must play in this partnership. Sadly many students do not not get much if any support outside of school and do not appreciate the value of their education. Some schools can't or don't do much to mitigate this reality. The effects of such an environment are crippling.

Kids can grow into entirely dependent learners and too many lose desire or interest to advance themselves academically. They just don't like school. Gone is a love for learning that is present in young wide eyed children. They'd rather be elsewhere. But they may pass the test. So tests don't help. In fact these tests likely do more harm than anyone admits. To ignore this and place all that burden disproportionately on the education system will never remedy the issue. Geoffrey Canada has it right in this sense and what I admire most is he actually did something about it rather than just blame people. Blaming schools, kids, parents or anyone is akin to treating the symptoms and not the illness.

"The Lottery" is not a great date movie.

I recently watched the film "The Lottery" which chronicles the plight of inner city kids in NYC as they seek to gain admission into one of the Harlem Success schools. It was excruciating to watch. Not because I dislike charters. Because I felt for the kids. I disliked though how charters were portrayed and how they affect those not in or working in them. Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan and other non teaching reformers portray charters, vouchers and school choice as THE answer.   Those in the know more accurately think of them as only one of many potential medicines. They are just schools afterall. Schools freed from some of the buckling rules regular schools are forced to weather. Different in many ways but also treated differently. Do they work? Some yes, some no...and that is about as scientific a response as you can find when you google effectiveness of charter schools.

Until you sit, immersed in a crowded room of young people unable to get them where they need to be, you'll never really get it. Teachers do not hold exclusive private membership to good ideas on education but most do have good common sense stemming from time in the trenches. Lack of complete success is part of the job and forces constant professional improvement. Any given lesson on any given day can be frustrating, inspiring, frightening, demoralizing among other things. We know this because we work with people. What we don't need is a bunch of higher ups pounding on us and making things worse. Their efforts to design systems that will attract and retain the best teachers most of the time make me want to pack my bags.

The higher up you are the less you see people and the more you see data. The more you see systems and not people. The more you think in terms of numbers and not kids. I'd like to believe educational leaders are well intentioned but the more I read and hear I arrive at the reality they just don;t care what teachers think. Such a frame of mind has led us to where we are. We are led to believe schools are beyond repair and we should shudder them and start over. The people most able to functionally affect positive change feel demoralized, ignored and are leaving the teaching profession at an alarming rate. The time has come to guide reform from the bottom up and not top down. Anything else will mean a continuation of policy bereft of what is most essential to success, buy in from teachers.

What other landscape would generate the following comment?
“I would, if I had the ability – which nobody does really – to just design a system and say, ‘ex cathedra, this is what we’re going to do,’ you would cut the number of teachers in half, but you would double the compensation of them and you would weed out all the bad ones and just have good teachers. And double the class size with a better teacher is a good deal for the students.” -Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Pistols at dawn Mr. Bloomberg?   (We haven't forgotten your Cathie Black appointment) Maybe if we both had figurative pistols(meaning teachers had any real power) you and all the other "reformers" might listen. I don't usually reference the UFT but when the Michael Mulgrew says "clearly the mayor has never taught," truer words were never spoken. So I will count Bloomberg and many others among the "them" I referenced. "They" are highly skilled at both patting us on the back with one hand and with the other saying and doing things that slap us in the face. Until people at the top listen to educators opinions, insights and experience little will change for the better.

PS

If you know any of "them" recommend they read the TU. Or any other frustrated educator's blog.   There are plenty out there.

Basic Ideas of Education...I mean democracy

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:07:00 GMT

Once upon a time before NCLB, I actually taught government. Then I was told I didn't. Just that simple(in a related twist Turner was told he did). The details of why are sealed among the corners of my mind but I was reassigned and not because of anything I did. It was a result of NCLB language.   As a younger teacher it takes time to build a library of resources. Thus I relied heavily on the textbook in those days. So maybe I didn't meet the term "highly qualified" when I started but what new teacher ever does? I thought 6 years would have earned me that label. I as wrong.

Cleaning out the room last summer I came across some if the materials I used teaching government once upon a time. I recalled working hard to convey to all my senior students key ideas about our great nation.    Liberty, Freedom, Opportunity and all the other cool stuff that makes us who we are as a country. It reminded me that I struggled with the constantly changing landscape of the politics. Elections made it hard to keep up with the faces and names. I learned quickly to steer the focus of my students to the bigger ideas of our democracy.

One thing I constantly stressed with my kids back then was that they mattered. Once they turned 18, and even before, they could make a difference. Their voice, their wallet, their time and of course their vote were all ways to make an impact. I tried very hard to instill in them a sense of political efficacy. Beyond that I tried to convey that there is a common set of beliefs that somehow weaves us all together as Americans.   As I examined an old notebook of mine and weighed its fate, some of the materials caught me eye.

One section I had written said:
Basic ideas of Democracy
    1. Worth of the individual(respect all people, make sacrifices for group: like taxes)
    2. Equality of all persons(does not mean all have same abilities, all should have an equal chance      and same under law)
   3. Majority rule, minority rights(usually make correct decisions, must listen to minority)
   4. Need for compromise(blending of different views, important to freely express ideas)
   5. Individual Freedom(everyone given freedoms but they must be limited, complete freedom would result in anarchy, democracy balances freedom and authority)

That pretty much sums up a great deal of what this country is about. Oh and the fact that we are awesome...that part I left out. As I sat my mind wandered to how I would deal with today's political climate if still teaching government. What a challenge I thought. Or is it? Politics certainly enters my classroom discussion from time to time. With 9th graders you have to tread a little lighter than with 12th graders. I'd describe the grasp of politics for most of them as knowing just enough to be confused or dangerous. But I sense they also share a love of our nation coupled with a growing dislike of the political tensions within the government running it. Left or Right it doesn't seem to matter.

These thoughts of our government sedge way nicely to thoughts about education. We live in a nation that sees fit to place the important choices in the hands of those farthest from the classroom, farthest from the students, farthest from the parents and farthest from the impact of those decisions. To paraphrase JFK "the very word secrecy in a free and open society is repugnant." This approach has come to symbolize our country’s educational management in many ways. Small numbers of people with a great deal of influence. Dissent is dismissed or silenced not welcomed. The idea of questioning things and being able to ask questions and get answer is intertwined with independence is the seed that made this nation strong. Within our many of our nations school systems that idea has been stifled and confined by a desire to control or micromanage, much to the detriment of our children, our schools, our profession and our future.   Top down decision have become the norm.   Nationally there has always been concern about ceding too much control to those at the top and the practice is reserved for extreme crisis. Existing or manufactured that seems to have been the case in education.

There are a handful of professional endeavors as noble as to teach the young. That is not to say teachers are in any way better than any other member of our society. But is an acknowledgment that they perhaps best understand how to educate. Why is it then the financing, structure, and curriculum of our schools is controlled by those who no longer work in a school? As flawed a model as there ever was.

Our democracy allows for each of us to find his or her own path and pursue it as we see fit.   Pity it does not allow some of these same freedoms within our schools. I guess there's good reasons for this. But it could be argued that schools are now operated by the ill informed who do not visit, ask or experience before making decisions. Who follow the reform of the hour with no accountability as to the result. Who make decisions without enough concern or understanding. Subject to be misinformed either intentionally or out of ignorance .

Our schools are not political capital.. They are not an intellectual laboratory. They are not static. They are not perfect. They are not all truly failing. And most certain of all most people in them think they are not currently being well led from the top.   Failure here lies with anyone who does not recognize the value of allowing our schools to create their own identity, community and pursue it to best serve their own kids.

What all that venting reveals is I have a low sense of educational efficacy.   Surely I make a difference with my kids. But it grows increasingly more difficult to do so as well as I used to.
Whether it be a new testing, curriculum, value added, compensation practices, treatment of longtime employees, resource allocation, over-reliance on technology, a disconnected leadership structure, poor evaluation systems, unusual districting, promotional practices, privatization of public school funds, reform policies in general, they are woeful when compared to what could and should be done. In short it just seems a lot going on here is contrary to much of what I think we are all about.

Educational McCarthyism

Anonymous — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:30:00 GMT

Despite internet reports we here at TU have yet to endorse Donald Trump or any other candidate for that matter. We might support those who question current trends in reform. But we try our best to avoid overt political involvement. Accordingly we frown on those who criticize or attack for personal or political gain. Keeping this effort in mind the tone of criticism of public schools and specifically teachers by politicians and other public figures is noteworthy for that exact reason. Examples of acceptable criticism have grown rather outrageous. Some link this to partisanship and single out conservatives for this practice in particular. They might just be the loudest or most effective. I hear it in both my left and right ears.

The current federal administration is driving reform so deep that is likely to embed deeper than a deer tick. Scary to think much of this reform is unproven but its impacts are huge. The politicians on the left which was historically seen as a champion of educational reform are cashing in the bad teacher and failing schools card all based on an ambiguous foundation. Many within education have spoken out in opposition to much of this reform. Rather than sit down with teachers and listen to ideas as they say they are doing they sit down with Gates and Wall Street and other darlings of the elite. When teachers express concerns they are dismissed and portrayed as stuck in the past. Teacher Unions have lost influence and been relegated to only being involved in issues involving compensation.

From the other side of the spectrum many take aim at our schools. Here's some examples.
Speaking about teachers "their carefully orchestrated, partially hidden agenda has deliberately steered the public schools, its teachers and children down a disaster road to socialism, secular humanism, radicalism, planned failure in reading and writing, suffocation of Christianity, the trashing of basic values and the establishment of one of the most powerful and dangerous unions, the National Education Association". Another volley from a U.S. Congressman who seeks to "protect children from mental, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by secular humanists in a socialist society or governmental system.” Hmmm...thanks for the kind words.

One local bully turned "host" continues has asked "Do you know who's teaching your children?" Even going so far as to post among his various youtube clips one of a student who went to a school board meeting asking for more tax support for local education. Another effort singled out a teacher at a political rally featuring the president and he added a blog post featuring "anonymous testimony" from a student accusing the majority of the teachers at the school of being too liberal. To presume that to be the case is an insult. Once he targeted a teacher for posters in the room supporting peace and environmental responsibility. He's put a bunch of similar clips up in what I can only I presume in a sad effort to discredit our teachers and schools. The most recent zeroed in on how the athletic departments at local schools had "illegal" contracts with apparel companies. Way to go! You guys are great Americans and do a great service to our nation by bashing our schools. I'm currently working to have your faces carved on a local mountain.

I've never heard this local working in a constructive way to help our schools or teachers let alone actually say anything good about them. All bad, all the time. Just doing what bums like this do, trying to get ratings and get attention. I'm far from smart, but I'm smart enough to not engage him, that's what he wants. He's a smart guy, but so was another guy a ways back named Joe. What I would like to do is point this out for what it is...Educational Mccarthyism.

Any decent teacher knows we can't say whatever we want in class. On issues ranging from evolution to the President we have to use sound judgment and we are always under the microscope. I think parents should have a certain expectation of objectivity. It can be tough but increasingly we are forced to defend ourselves for no reason. Here's a radical idea, if you have a problem, call the teacher. Don't go on TV or through the media. Its unbelieveable that when teachers speak of our concerns about education and reform publicly no one in a position to do anything about it seems to care and we become targets of critics as a result. We are the ones teaching the kids. So really, who's teaching your kids? Allow me to take a moment to tell you.

We are overworked and demoralized. Increasingly we are made responsible for all that seems wrong with the nation. We have low morale, are underpaid at best and at the least undervalued and we feel unsupported. We are frightened of where the past decade of federal efforts are taking us. As local districts and states scramble to adapt and even just maintain some level of quality amidst the barrage of economic and political shifts, the lowly teacher hangs on as the boat rocks, many of us sadened we've seen our abilities to be effective reduced.

I suppose we stay cause we think our work means something. We enjoy actually teaching. We value interacting with the young and their families and working with them as they develop into people who will inherit the world. We believe in the good our schools do. But who listens when we speak of our concerns? The collective voices of teachers have started to rise against things they think are bad ideas. But it is hard to speak out when you are a teacher. You're quickly linked to the evil unions or made out to look self serving. Blanket phrases like "failing schools" and wasteful thrown out to muffle your voice. Locally I've spoken up about more things in the past 6 months than in my entire career. Most of what I said with my colleagues has been ignored and some even used it as proof we are not objective. Our voices are ignored in favor of people who know less and maintaining the appearance of a smooth facade.

Teachers are shouted down with a voice reminiscent of Tailgunner Joe. We are discredited, labeled and singled out. What's hard here is that it doesn't take long to find what teachers are saying(the internet is one safe outlet to express discontent), but you sure don't hear that anywhere. The media doesn't seem interested and many politically driven plans that make little educational sense garner their attention. Where and when cay we say what we want without fear and actually be heard? Maybe the public no longer has the attention to sit through televised hearings as they did in 1954 when Joseph Welch stood tall.
Welch’s reply to Joe McCarthy's attacks became famous: “Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness .... Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

Who will defend us?

How to Make Us All Great

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:20:00 GMT

Greatness is a relative term and there is a growing effort focused on making the teachers we have across this country better. But there's a simple solution. Hire more crappy teachers and voila. That will effectively increase the relative quality of those currently employed. Obviously that was a joke but so are some of the suggestions currently gaining favor.

Here's a serious one, actually pay educators for what they do. One way to do that would be to pay higher ups less. Keep the money in the schools with the people who work with kids in them, nowhere else. Don't allow yourself to be naive to the degree that you fail to recognize how influential companies are slowly leeching money away from actual instruction in schools and into management and testing. Let's use that money to do what was suggested in a bad 2008 Time Article reward teachers so that "the most competent, caring and compelling—remain in a profession known for low pay, low status and soul-crushing bureaucracy". If you use student scores and similar measures to rank us some of us are going to be bad. If you must tie this information in use it appropriately and rate, do not rank. Similarly be very careful about how you choose to reward educators. It is pretty important. Why not increase teacher pay across the board?

Great teachers know their subject, they communicate well, they inspire and connect with young people, they motivate, they understand kids and their emotional needs, they have the intangibles, they are creative, dependable, organized, work hard, are patient and resilient(My English teacher would run out of red ink on that sentence). Good luck getting all that from everyone. As some yolk the momentum for change in campaign season the finger can get pointed at teacher preparation. In other professions it seems what you did in college matters, but it seems OK to have graduated and underperformed before you got a job. Each year you work what you did and learned before you were hired matters less. Not so in education. Truth is the best preparation for teaching is actually teaching, the other stuff helps but learning about teaching and actually teaching are very different. Why does this even get pointed out as a big reason our students under-perform? Many kids I know only excel when their performance affects others, when it really maters. Teachers can be much the same. Imagine 25 faces staring back at you wondering what is about to happen when you don't know either. That would suck huh? Thus it'd be great to stop implying what you learned in college makes you a great teacher.

My favorite analogy came from Katy Farber who wrote Why Great Teachers Quit: And How We Might Stop the Exodus . She said that teaching is like treading water and then being handed more and more bricks. I feel that way almost daily. The more bricks we are handed, the less great we are. To offset the increasing demands some propose raising pay but that won't make the day any longer.

Many efforts to increase pay require that increase be tied to student performance on standardized tests(see previous post). Some are calling for experience to play a reduced role compensation or even be removed all together. Would that approach make sense for doctors, pilots, police officers, or any other job? News flash: EXPERIENCE MATTERS IN TEACHING. Tenure allows teachers to take risks and improve. To have piece of mind that they will have a job and focus on developing their craft free of the burdens of probationary supervision. Opponents of tenure argue it serves to keep bad teachers around but there are far more pros to cons.

Other ways to make us all great are to allow and protect the time teachers need for effective and meaningful collaboration. Squeezing it in the schedule here and there with a shoehorn doesn't cut it. That will allow for relevant sharing of resources and ideas along with professional development among peers so they can actually support each other. This enables them to successfully navigate the maelstrom of public education. Collaboration instead of competition.

Force everyone who wants input on educational decisions to sub in schools so they'll gain understanding on how tough this job can be when working with unmotivated or disrespectful kids.

Actually go back to where the kid was the one being held accountable. The are you working to engage johnny and what have you done to reach this kid stuff goes away when a kid acts like an idiot.

Respect the profession of teaching. Foster more autonomy and individual control, allow for advancement and leadership without leaving teaching. Excellence suffers when pressures from efficiency and output are applied to the classroom.

Simplify things. Teachers need time built into the day to settle the chaos. That would allow them to model a much calmer nature and be more understanding. Schedules need to be constructed in a way to allow this. Having full time subs would be a classic example of ways to help teachers be great with simplicity.

Recognize the limitations on digital and online learning, use it to supplement instruction, not just replace it. It has a growing and important role but has limits. Just as virtual human exchanges are useful but fall short of sitting down face to face. One of the lessons of John Henry is that technology is not always better. So much of what teachers do are those more subtle things or actions that have a formative impact of kids. Online classes should maintain similar student teacher ratios to brick and mortar learning. Kids can learn content from a book or a computer but the dynamic between a teacher and student can never be replicated virtually, period.

Keep teaching authentic not out of the box top down. Let teachers use their passion to instruct and do not extinguish that trait with minutia of pupil management.

Understand that teaching is a struggle. Every day is different and presents its own unique challenges. Support teachers accordingly.

Alleviate the student load to a level that allows more one on one attention and focus. This goes for all educators, teachers, counselors on down the list.

Just do what Jeb suggests...I mean he is obviously an education expert.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110401/EDIT05/304019996/1021/EDIT No don't...the seismic shift referenced on that link will be good teachers leaving the job.

Try building teachers up instead of tearing the profession down. It is a human endeavor and the human spirit can accomplish some pretty amazing things when it is cut loose and kept healthy. Ask what they need and work to get it to them. Don't give them stuff then convince them to use it.

Whatever paths chosen locally, statewide and federally to encourage greatness among teachers they should be carefully chosen and well thought out to help us be great, or at least allow us to show that we are when allowed to be.
Just don't hand me more bricks.

Taking a Stand in Virginia and Texas

Anonymous — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:25:00 GMT

In the previous post on the Underground, my colleague referred to Superintendent John Kuhn of Texas testifying before the Texas legislature regarding teacher evaluation and "value-added" systems of measuring teacher effectiveness. Across the nation, we are moving toward systems that measure the effectiveness of students, teachers, schools, and entire districts on the basis of standardized testing. The push toward common core standards will only lead to more. (See here for a interesting post discussing merit pay and common core standards)

I am convinced that the American public agrees. I am also convinced that our politicians, educational leaders and all of the media-endorsed experts agree that excessive standardized testing degrades our educational system. I don't think these same leaders and "experts" understand just how much their ideas and policies that sound great in theory can do so much damage when put into practice. Let me concede a few things:

1) The idea that every family in America can expect a consistent and quality curriculum for their students is a good idea.

2) The idea that a teacher should be evaluated based on how well they are able to move their student from one level to the next is a good idea.

3) The idea that teachers and schools should be held accountable for what and how they teach is a good idea.

Maybe that is a little common ground that we can all agree on that might help us move toward reducing our differences. The differences arise in the methods proposed to make these ideas reality. Organic systems work when they are sensitive to their environment and respond properly. In the human body, this means the brain receives information from the body and responds accordingly. Executive functions in a healthy system arise from quality feedback. For whatever reason, the executive functioning of education policy acts independent of quality feedback. Perhaps the teachers and students who raise their voices in opposition to the onslaught of standardized testing are seen as too self-serving. But the survival and maturation of our system requires that decision-makers understand the impact of their decision.

That is why Superintendent Kuhn should be applauded. Openly testifying to the Legislature that he has considered opting his child out of the testing process and publicly naming a company like Pearson, asserting that we have placed more trust in them than in our local teachers, is not the smartest political move. Standing out against the grain of public education policy may cost him any hopes he may have had of holding higher position at state or national levels. Calling out a player in the "industrial-educational" machine may limit his post-education employment options. But, perhaps for these reasons he will also be taken seriously.

Virginia now stands on the verge of facing an increasing growth in the importance of standardized testing and the resources it will require of schools for administration and reporting. It is not a secret that the state is on the "value-added" teacher evaluation bandwagon. The secretary of Education, Gerard Robinson, belongs to the "Chiefs for Change" coalition supported and promoted by former Florida governor Jeb Bush. The group focuses on issues such as creating "value-added" evaluations for teachers and principals, stronger standards and testing, and expanded school choice.

Allowing for the "common sense" thinking that "value-added" is a reasonable method of teacher evaluation, we should consider the serious misgivings of the approach. Just a few criticisms of the approach can be found on the blog of Harvard Education Publishing, at the National Academy of Sciences, and the Economic Policy Institute. Full texts of the reports and studies can be found at the links above.

Further bringing Virginia into the realm of "value-added," Governor Bob McDonnell has implemented a pilot merit pay program in the state. Closer examination of this program reveals that teachers working in "struggling schools" who succeed in raising achievement will be eligible for up to $5000 in additional pay. The identification of deserving schools in this case does not seem clear to all, but even more problematic is the sublime move toward a value-added model on which to base this reward. At least 40 percent of a teacher's performance evaluation must be tied to student academic performance. This includes improvements in standardized test scores. As a "pilot" program, this appears innocuous enough, and framing the terms (a la Race to the Top) in such a carrot and stick fashion might cause districts to run for the money.

Educators have two choices in situations like this. 1) Take the money and run, don't rock the boat, and accept this as the future and get on board early. 2) Take a stand, speak up for what's good for education, and refuse to play a role in implementation of bad policy.

I am encouraged to hear the news that district leaders in Fairfax and Loudon County are not likely to apply for this program. I hope they follow through. I also hope that the school board and administrators in my own county of Albemarle will not accept the advent of value-added as inevitable and take the opportunity to stand against it by refusing to apply for the funding. To the public, refusal of this funding may appear confusing at first, but it provides an excellent opportunity for school leaders to communicate what responsible reform should look like. Change is needed in American education, but reform such as this is no reform at all, it is more of the same "carrot and stick" motivation driven by standardization.

We would love to hear other opinions regarding the movement toward "value-added", merit pay, and especially this new Virginia policy even if you disagree. Click the comment link below to add your thoughts.

5 Things to Make You "Smarterer" Than Us

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT

It is hard to believe that what this post's title suggests is even possible, but just a short time ago the Underground had only a limited knowledge of what was happening everywhere across this great country. Then we started a blog. Look at us now. Frightening huh?

In an effort to foster similar growth among our "audience"(both of you) we'd like to recommend a few things worth reading(Thank you Al Gore for inventing the Internet). We will periodically begin sharing links to readings and subjects we feel would be informative or interesting.(everything our own posts are not) Enjoy!

The Answer Sheet- Valerie Strauss is my idol. It won't take long when you read her stuff to realize why.

This article from Dissent Magazine (which is pretty far left)summarizes concerns with those driving reform agendas. Whether it is Michelle Rhee, CNN's Education contributor Steve Perry, NBCs Education Nation, or a simple state mandate beware what lies behind the curtain.

"Tested"-An article that addresses some the issues with over-reliance on standardized testing .

Are Schools Necessary?-Yikes! We obviously feel they are but it helps to listen to those with different viewpoints from your own.

Harlem Children's Zone-The well documented effort in NYC and some less well known insights exploring the efforts of Geoffrey Canada(that deserve to be applauded but maybe not copied eveywhere).

These are just a start. Feel free to share others in the comments section.

In the NBC television series "Cheers", the bar was located underground...coincidence?

Diane Ravitch on the Daily Show

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:40:00 GMT

Twice in the same week, John Stewart and the Daily Show address education issues. This time by interviewing Diane Ravitch. Nothing new from her in this interview, but it's great to see her arguments reaching a wider audience outside of the education world. It is also great to see a national television show cover this side of education. It's just under ten minutes, but a great watch. Let us know what you think. My favorite quote, "but they get to go to the dentist."

The Daily Show - Diane Ravitch
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Teaching Underground Grassroots Teacher Response to the State of the Union Address

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:05:00 GMT

So tonight we get both a Republican and a Tea-Party response to the President's State of the Union Address, so we here at the Teaching Underground have decided to throw our hats into the ring and offer the official "Teaching Underground Grassroots Teacher Response" to the State of the Union Address. We've included relevant text from the President's speech tonight below in italics with our comments embedded. So here we go...

Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.
     History has shown us that America is at its greatest when we forge ahead and live up to our unique ideals of democracy and progress. We have seen some our worst moments in times of fear spent chasing after a dream just because a perceived opponent might reach it first. Innovation is the buzzword of today, but true American innovation is original and "organic." The sheer size of China and India alone must lead us to conclude that in the future we will relate to them as partners on the world stage. Perhaps it is time that we learn what our unique role in this partnership will be instead of chasing their dream and pretending that all we need to do is educate our children the same way they educate theirs.

What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?”
     Agreed. That first line may sum up the reason why most of us entered the teaching profession in the first place. But in the current environment of accountability through testing, how do we standardize "what would you change about the world." Our education systems must not lose sight of the value of teaching our students to do more than memorizing equations in it's desire to measure.

Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to America’s success. But if we want to win the future – if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas – then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.
     We spent much of the twentieth century producing a quality workforce for America. When the corporate world found a better deal they took it. If we want to produce jobs in America, we need to also consider that education is not a race. A race is something you finish and either win or lose. When I attended the University of Virginia, students referred to themselves as first, second, third, or fourth years because in the eyes of its founder, "one cannot reach seniority in learning." We need to understand that education is about Human development, not Human resource development.

Think about it. Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us – as citizens, and as parents – are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.
     Also agreed, but it is about more than just sending kids to college. A college degree does not guarantee success anymore. A lack of a college degree is not a death sentence. Our students need a vision of what they can become. Ask any number of unemployed or underemployed college graduates what they think about this comment. Rather than pushing all students into this vague notion of college, we should make sure that our students are thinking about their future and how they hope to give back to the world.

That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.
     I appreciate an acknowledgment that the responsibility for the education of our children is not squarely on the shoulders of our schools. We do need to instill a reality check that hard work and discipline are the keys to success, but also the truth that sometimes even this isn't enough. We need to learn from personal failure and understand how to positively respond to setbacks.

Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. That’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all fifty states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”
     I'm writing this tonight with an eye for the weather, wondering whether we will have school tomorrow or not. Sometimes we risk our lives to get to school, and other times we sit home in the rain. If schools were smart, they'd hire a meteorologist to make this decision after all, they're the professionals. Why wouldn't we let the meteorologists make the call on school cancellations? It seems that we're becoming more and more willing to let the economists make the call on school reform.

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids. You see, we know what’s possible for our children when reform isn’t just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities.
     Flexibility is key. This is why education is best left in the hands of local government. We spend so much time and resources on National and State mandates for chunks of money that usually doesn't even cover the cost of implementation. Federal and State governments are essential in setting minimum standards and ensuring equity in education, but their efforts to prescribe policy hurt our ability to effectively and (yes I'll say it) efficiently educate our students.

Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college. And after the first year of the school’s transformation, the principal who made it possible wiped away tears when a student said “Thank you, Mrs. Waters, for showing… that we are smart and we can make it.”
     OK, and this example tells us what? Not to be negative, this is a great story, but I'm not sure what it tells us about how to move forward in education.

Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as “nation builders.” Here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
     I do like to think of myself as a builder of people more than a nation, but thank you for the shout out. I can't help but think this is a little bit of a back-door comment however. We have a system too complex to simplify this good teacher/bad teacher dichotomy. Part of the reason I'm a good teacher is that I work for a good system, with adequate support and resources. Within that system I have some of the best students, some of whom would succeed despite my efforts if not because of them. How do you compare that to a teacher struggling to keep student attention daily because they lack necessary resources and administrative support, and the students they teach come into the class struggling. In ideal situations, almost anyone could be a good teacher, but on the contrary, in some systems only a few would have what it takes to be an excellent teacher.

In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.
     Yes we do.

These are just a few of my initial reactions, don't judge too harshly. I used to think that national rhetoric about education was just that, harmless rhetoric. After all, the federal government doesn't control our schools. But in the last decade I believe the national rhetoric and the cascade of reforms that it has required greatly impacts the education systems of America.

So there you have the official "Teaching Underground Grassroots Teacher Response" to the State of the Union Address. What are your thoughts? Feel free to share using the comments link below.