Posts
They made the test easier and gave it later in the year, so why are scores lagging?
Could it be the curriculum? Could it be the instruction? Or should we blame the parents?
If you read to the end to the reader's comments section, you'll notice that teachers seem to be blaming the parents. "If parents don't teach their kids to read, there's nothing we teachers can do about it," is a fair generalization.
But the article has this to say about teacher prep:
"It was the reading scores that drew much of the attention and that could lead to pressure to change the way new teachers are trained. Under state rules, new teachers are required to take only two courses in reading instruction before being licensed, but some educators believe that is not enough."
One superintendent claims that teachers are unprepared to teach literacy and calls it "disgraceful."
It is disgraceful. It's almost as bad as administrators that continue to purchase poorly designed reading instruction programs and force them upon teachers and students alike. Teacher quality is really important, but the choice of curriculum is equally important and we are still struggling with whole language materials in many, many school districts.
24 comments:
maybe someone can get this notice out to those in education ...
"STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES"
-- you buy a poor curriculum, dont expect miracles from your teachers
-- you fail to train your teachers, dont have high expectations in educating the students
-- you destroy the home to school connection in wealthy districts, dont blame the parents when you need our cooperation in learning and teaching
-- you blame everyone but looking in the educational system itself, when if once education said "we're wrong", like with WHOLE LANGUAGE, everyone would rally and say, lets help those exposed to the wrongness, and lets move on to what works
-- you cant except that EDUCATION is not about being an expert in HOW CHILDREN THINK (sorry, a whole other area exists in that expertise -- psychology, sociology, ...) or WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW (sorry, again experts in those fields can really help out here - take for example in MATH!) but that by being in education your job is going about the business of teaching material - not social experiments or righting social injustices
its about delivering the CONTENT to the kids and deferring to those experts who tell you when something doesnt work
We haven't received individual student scores yet. I've only seen district results so far. Perhaps that is the case in other districts, but I don't know for certain.
I do see a flat (sometimes downward)trend in our "high performing" district that seems to follow the state numbers, however. I'm still digesting the results but what I see isn't stellar at this point. With all the accomodations (later test date, prepping for at least 7 months, similarity between texts/tests/homework and the CMT exam itself) I expect so much more from our district.
I imagine they're holed up working on how to spin the numbers as we speak. I hate when they do that... I'd much rather swallow the bitter pill and figure out what needs to change to make it better. Isn't that what we're supposed to teach our children? Admit your mistakes, learn from them and do whatever you can to fix them? Isn't that the responsible thing to do?
I hope the Courant article causes parents to look closely at scores and not take for granted how their districts choose to interpret them. We'll see.
ConcernedCT -- Maybe.
I think Hartford's new superintendent, Adamowski, and the new State Commissioner, McQuillan, are cut from a different mold then our usual educrats. I watched a public access taping of Adamowski and was struck by how incredibly realistic and focused he is. Almost no edubabble at all. McQuillan has seen a stark turn-around in Massachusetts by rewriting the state standards to be intelligible.
But we still have far too many sacred cows. We also have the ongoing Scheff v. O'Neill school desegregation issues.
We have a lot of complacent middle class parents, too. You know, when you are paying such high taxes for a town with good schools you are reluctant to believe that its all a sham.
I don't know much about Admaowski but I have high hopes for McQuillan.
Something's gotta give.
two courses in reading instruction
???
How many courses should one take, do we know?
I'm thinking that reading in the sense of decoding (phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency) could be well taught in two courses....
Or is that wrong?
Almost no edubabble at all.
That's what instantly appealed to me about our new assistant super.
Very low-level of jargon.
Our state tests are hopeless.
At least they're hopeless for parents.
My Scarsdale friend, a one-time medical researcher who knows her way around statistical analysis, told me she absolutely cannot decipher the state test scores.
Period. She doesn't even try.
THIS IS A PERSON WHO HAS PUBLISHED MEDICAL RESEARCH.
C. racked up two more 3s this time around.
In theory, he did better in math than in ELA.
He missed a 4 by 1 point in math, by 10 points in English.
But here's the deal.
The state also gives you a percent corect figure, and his average percent correct in math is something like 85%, while his average percent correct in ELA is 95%.
The ELA test has so few questions that he may have gotten every single multiple choice question correct; he probably lost points on the written answers.
So....as far as we can tell, he in fact did well on the ELA & lousy (IMO) on math.
I say "lousy," because:
a) he was supposed to be a full year and a half beyond the tested material (he took the 7th grade test, but his class completed the 7th grade curriculum the year before)
b) I had him do ALL of the Triumph Test Prep book for the 7th grade NY state curriculum
I'm horrified.
That's the only word for it.
This is one of the reasons I'm now working on fluency; I'm also trying to figure out how to improve my teaching/reteaching.....
Basically, I'm trying to figure out what to do. C. should NOT be getting an 85% on a very simple state math test.
He should be getting something close to 100%.
The ELA situation is mystifying.
The new assistant super told me that basically there's no range for 4s, and no distinctions can be made. You can only miss one or two questions to get a 4, and the difference between any kind of 4 ("high" or "low") and a high 3 probably doesn't exist.
This is why I'm giving the ITBS every year from now on. The state ELA test tells me nothing.
In the fall we're going to ask to see both tests so we can read them for ourselves and form an opinion.
The one great thing that I think I've figured out from the ELA tests is that our school has done a terrific job teaching C. grammar, usage, and possibly mechanics, too.
I'll add that one mom I know told me her child still isn't writing grammatical sentences (VERY bright kid - no LD issues AT ALL - but a hyper guy).
So...that's not good.
But C. didn't teach himself grammar, usage, or mechanics & neither did we.
I'd say my school has done a terrific job teaching my own particular child the fundamentals of written expression!
I think my daughter is teaching herself grammar through nonstop reading. The problem is, she doesn't know the names of any of the parts of speech -- she really couldn't identify an adverb or a preposition. But she has a good feel for usage, I guess because of her reading.
I've picked up a few things to work on direct and indirect objects and stuff like that. She writes well enough that she does well in state testing, but I'm not confident that she really has the fundamentals in place to take it up a notch.
I think my daughter is teaching herself grammar through nonstop reading. The problem is, she doesn't know the names of any of the parts of speech -- she really couldn't identify an adverb or a preposition. But she has a good feel for usage, I guess because of her reading.
I'm positive I did a huge amount of incidental learning via around-the-clock reading.
C., however, isn't that kind of reader.
This is definitely a case where his teachers - his schools - have done the job & done it well.
(I think his knowledge of words for grammar isn't bad, either. I'll check, but I'm pretty sure he has at least a basic knowledge of the terms.)
Hello to everyone at KTM,
After returning home from a month long vacation, I just finished reading my son's SOL scores. According to his scores, he is proficient in Science, advanced in History/Social Science, Reading and Math. The kicker is the math score--a 98%. At the beginning of the third grade, he was doing second grade work.
The Kumon has paid off. Would he have done so well without my husband and I pushing him so hard? I doubt it.
He has continued to do Kumon during the summer and is currently working on long division. It is a killer!!
I am glad I am back and can catch up on what has been happening on KTM.
PoggyV
paulav--
Welcome back! And congratulations to your son for that great score in Math! It sounds like it's a tangible result for the hard work he put into Kumon!
Long division IS a killer. When my M was first working on long division at Kumon (also after her third grade), it wasn't pleasant. And then, after awhile, it just kicked in and she "got it." From that point forward, it was smooth sailing. Her 4th grade teacher did have the kids work on long division at the end of the year, and M ended up working with some of the kids who were struggling.
The funny part was that M knew long division so well by that point that she would use a shortcut. The teacher insisted that she had to use the long way when she was helping the kids who were struggling, so that those kids could see all of the steps.
I am such a believer in Kumon if the school isn't using a coherent, teach-to-mastery curriculum that emphasizes the arithmetic algorithms.
I should clarify my earlier comments about Kumon. I didn't mean to exclude Saxon or Singapore, but in our situation, what M. most needed at the time was practice with, and exposure to, the arithmetic algorithms.
We needed the sequential structure provided by Kumon and also its external discipline. I think we would have struggled to teach M. at home with a separate curriculum. Also, M. gets math conceptually; what we felt was lacking in her elementary education was good, old-fashioned practice with arithmetic.
karena,
Thanks for the welcome back!
Speaking of Saxon, I ordered the kindergarten and second grade homeschool materials. Kindergarten for my soon-to-be first grader and second grade for my up and coming fourth grader. My nine year old took the Saxon placement test and placed in the second grade. It is strange that he could do so well on the state test and still have trouble with concepts such as time and money. I would love to see the actual questions on the SOL!
My kindergartener was introduced to TERC this year so after I reviewed some of the SAXON lessons, I knew he had not learned what he needed this year.
I do have a dilemma, however. My nine year old has been going to Kumon for ten months. It has been a slow process. We haven't even touched on fractions or decimals.
I would like to continue Kumon, and use SAXON on the side. However, remember, he is in the second grade level in Saxon. So I am going forward and backward at the same time. Should I skip around in the SAXON lessons...only concentrating on those areas I feel he needs extra practice? Oh, he has a problem in measurement as well. Time, money and measurement were briefly covered in third grade.
I am also thinking of putting my first grader in the KUMON reading program. He needs the structure and discipline. I feel he will be fine with Saxon math.
Do you spend weekends doing catch up with your kids? How do you keep them from becoming burnt out? How do you keep yourself from becoming frazzled?
Any suggestions or comments would be most appreciated!
Paula V
Paula V
You raise some excellent questions. In our situation, Kumon was an effective remedy. Again, however, I emphasize that what M. needed, in my opinion at least, was mastery of the arithmetic algorithms (I hope I'm using that expression correctly.) She was doing fine with time, money, measurement. However, as I recall, time, money and measurement can also be rather challenging.
I don't have personal experience with TERC, but based on the experiences of others (including Linda Moran), it just seems like a math program with a lot of holes.
If I had been aware of Saxon math at that time (over 5 years ago), I might have considered using that with M, because it sounds like such a good program.
I have become a great believer in the importance of kids receiving a solid foundation in reading, writing and arithmetic in grades K-6. Thus, any signs of a weakness in the curriculum in those areas (especially math and reading) merit red flags. I don't know much about the Kumon reading program.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the whole burnout problem. Here's a thought. With the first grader, could you alternate nights for Kumon and Reading? Or, adjust based on the activities/workload of the day. I think this could be a case where slow and steady wins the race.
Keep in mind that I am just tossing out suggestion, for whatever they are worth. Our oldest starts college this fall, and our youngest starts high school, so we have an entirely different set of issues to contend with. The freshman year of high school can be a bit overwhelming, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for that ride again.
Having a college freshman is a whole different kind of parenting experience, especially when said daughter's boyfriend is going to be attending college two hours away.
Paula
WOW!!!!
Boy, we DESPERATELY need KUMON.
I'm NEVER going to get C. there.
Though if he doesn't figure out what 10% off is soon I'll have Ed wanting to send him back to KUMON, too.
That would make it happen.
I'm going to show your comments to Ed.
He is finally as frustrated as I am by the math situation.
These are THE questions.
What I need is to be able to pull Christopher out of his school for math altogether.
He needs to know, and the family & school need to know, that he is doing a complete curriculum at home.
Instead I have to remediate on the side, and everything I do is seen as stealing time from his "real" life, which is summer camp & middle school.
The freshman year of high school can be a bit overwhelming, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for that ride again.
I can't wait.
(I'm joking.)
I think the above comments point to the problems when a curriculum itself is weak, not coherent or is fundamentally flawed. The reality is that to remedy it is overwhelming. Of course, realizing that there's a problem in the first place can take awhile. I still have (highly educated!) friends comment about how surprised they are to discover that there's something wrong with their child's math foundation.
"The reality is that to remedy it is overwhelming."
This is exactly how I feel. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I caught the problem early.
I wish it was just the math I was concerned with, but there is reading and writing to contend with as well. The reading/writing curriculum at our school
seems incorhent to me.
At the end-of-the-year conference with my son's third grade teacher, I expressed my concern with the reading assessment. We use the Direct Reading Assessment (DRA). I was unaware that the program added a writing assignment and my son's reading score would be lower because of this. Imagine trying to write without being taught systematically...no grammar or punctuation rules. I suppose like everything else he will learn by osmosis and by writing in those compostition journals.
My third grader struggles with context clues. When I discussed this with his teacher, she said it was okay to skip over words because adults do it all the time. How can she compare a 40 year old woman with a nine year old child?
PaulaV
PaulaV--
Here are a couple of thoughts, for what it's worth. Is it possible that you could have your kids practice writing a sentence a day? Come up with some prompts for them, or even give them a sentence to write. See if you can figure out what they know and what they don't know, but you could start with some of the fundamentals like beginning each sentence with a capital letter and ending each sentence with the appropriate punctuation mark.
You could also use this as a starting point for talking about nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, etc.
When my kids were younger, they loved using a chalkboard and a whiteboard. We actually bought a chalkboard and mounted it on a wall in the basement. The whiteboards that use the erasable Expo markers are great fun as well.
I guess what I'm saying is that since it's summer and they might not look at sentence writing as a fun way to spend their time, give them an incentive.
"My third grader struggles with context clues. When I discussed this with his teacher, she said it was okay to skip over words because adults do it all the time. How can she compare a 40 year old woman with a nine year old child?"
Hmmm. . . this is interesting. In my mind, vocabulary is so important! I would prefer, I think, that the teacher use this as a great way to have your son learn a new word.
"Oh, let's look this up in the dictionary, shall we? Learning new words can be such fun. Now that we've looked it up, let's see if it makes sense within the sentence. And for really good measure, maybe make it your word for the day/week. See if you can "own" this word by the end of the week."
Learning the meaning of a new word is also a great way to stoke curiosity. Learning to ask questions, and wanting to ask questions--seeking out knowledge, is a good thing, at least in my mind.
karena,
I sent you an email! I hope it goes through!!
Paula V
PaulaV--
Yes, I got it! Thanks so much!
Post a Comment