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I know Catherine has discussed this sort of thing before, but I just got back from an after-school course I'm teaching and the seventh grade kids were moaning about the work they have. My son is in sixth grade, but is taking the seventh grade Pre-Algebra course. His sixth grade classes involve a lot of crayon work and not a single textbook, but the seventh grade math class requires a lot of speed to do well on the tests. (I'm not necessarily complaining, but the teacher doesn't prepare the kids for speed.) My son is coloring posters for sixth grade Social Studies, but the seventh grade kids are loaded with work for that subject. In fact, my son is in sixth grade and has never had any history.
Schools seem to go from low expectations to sink or swim in just one year. They don't worry about mastery (let alone speed) in K-6 math, and then they decide that they have to ramp up to prepare kids for high school. The onus is on the kids to make this nonlinear jump and the teachers don't seem too concerned. They spend years talking against drill and kill, and then, suddenly, that argument disappears.
Has anyone else seen this sort of nonliner jump? Our schools used to have this jump going into high school, (because of CMP in 7th and 8th grade math.) but after many complaints, they've shifted the jump backwards to 7th grade.
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When I see my son's response to the information presented in "core*", it baffles me why any teacher would refuse to teach history, geography, and civics/government. Kids love to know things -- particularly if they learn things that their parents don't know. Give them the chance.
On the original question: I've seen exactly the same sort of nonlinearity in the education of friends' children. It never works well. (Sometimes it works better than other times, but never well.)
* A's class uses the Core Knowledge curriculum, which has a regular place in the school day alongside math and reading/writing.
We seem to have a big jump from 2nd to 3rd (when letter grades are first given), 5th to 6th (the beginning of middle school), and then again from 6th to 7th. I've heard lots of horror stories about 7th grade, and 6th is bad enough. Seems that it was all manageable in 2nd, but the tests and homework amount (and the dreaded home projects) really increased in 3rd. In 6th grade, there's a lot more homework and quizzes/tests, along with a large amount of "crayon" projects too, along with all the added responsibility magically expected in middle school. Add in having a kid in special ed dealing with this jump and the stress on the child (and parents!) really increases. The only thing worse than going through middle school the first time is doing it again with your child. But since they don't want to hear "curricular concerns" at the parent-teacher conferences, I think most parents just suffer. At least I can always call an IEP meeting to complain.
There is a big leap in my school, but the Crayola Curriculum still continues.
Some of it's been fairly smooth, but I'm sure math is an absolute shock for a lot of kids. When you go from Trailblazers to a fast moving pre-algebra class there's bound to be trouble.
Luckily, my son skipped any reform math, so we never had to deal with the transition.
I think some schools are responding math-wise by re-aligning the middle school to better match the grade schools. They probably have less kids ready for 6th or 7th grade pre-algebra.
That's what my school did. Again, we dodged that bullet, but I do feel sorry for those coming after us.
This is exactly what we're experiencing, although K-5 wasn't crayons.
I basically think, now, that the best part of Irvington is K-5.
In fact, I'm quickly coming to think that the best education we offer in the country is K-5. (My sister-in-law says this is true of her district.)
We have a vast cultural divide between K-5 and 6-12 here.
K-5 was a much nicer place.
I miss it. The high school has a terrific atmosphere, but the philosophy is gatekeeping and sink or swim. Everyone gets to take AP courses, while Honors courses are rationed. One teacher, of an AP course, tells students overtly, "I don't do test prep."
The administration, to its credit, has published our AP scores:
2007
Number courses offered 19
Number taking tests 410
Number passing 266
Number enrolled (in courses): 600
In terms of percentages, that comes to:
Percent of AP students taking test: 68%
Percent passing: 65%
Percent of all kids taking AP passing test: 44%
National percentage passing tests appears to be 66%.
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n29.html
I emailed an AP teacher at a college prep charter school in N.C. (middle class families) asking her opinion of our AP pass rate.
Here's her response:
I would have to know about your district - what type of population you have. Why are so many opting not to take the tests - are they just signing up for the honors point. Why are so many failing of the ones who take it? Do they have any screening for who can sign up for an AP class?
Is this a poor district with lots of kids from poor socio-economic backgrounds? If so, then this doesn't seem that surprising. If it's mostly a middle class district with kids with educated parents, this does seem pretty low.
[snip]
At our charter school which is basically middle class, almost all the kids who take AP classes, take the tests. I've only had a handful in the past 5 years not take the exams out of a few hundred kids. And, overall, we have over 95% pass.
[snip]
I'd have to look up our figures - somewhere about how many of our students take the tests. Almost every kid takes at least one AP class - probably close to 85%. But then we're selling ourselves as a college prep school so the type of parent who would have a kid taking AP chooses to send their kids to our school. That's why we rank highly on Newsweek's numbers - because we have such a high participation rate. That's not the average for most schools.
That quote from Elmore sounds very true to me. If a school has mostly middle class kids whose parents all have a good education and believe education is important, the kids are going to be easy to teach to a certain level - whether they're going to rise higher than that involves more inspiration and effort.
Writing Across the Curriculum, our new initiative, may crush me.
This may be it.
Farewell.
Writing Across the Curriculum is to 6-12 what crayons are to K-5.
And you get grades!
Grades given to you by teachers never training in writing or in assessing writing!
Grades on your h.s. transcript!
Our worst WAC experience thus far has been the "article write-up" of a 423 "earth science" article ("Find an article related to earth science")
First of all, it turns out to be quite difficult to locate a summarizable -- excuse me -- write-upable Earth Science article.
They are either long or short, and the long ones are incomprehensible by me.
The short ones aren't write-up-able, because they're short.
So...we spent quite a long time trying to find a write-up-able article related to Earth Science, finally locating one we could semi-understand.
It was 423 words.
The assignment requires that one entire sheet of paper be filled using 1-inch margins (no widening the margins) and size 12 New Times Roman font & double-spaced.
One full page is 292 words.
So...that leaves only 131 words to NOT write up....
Overseeing this assignment was an utterly bizarre "writing" experience, a first in my life as a professional writer.
I have never in my life been asked to lengthen a piece of writing.
Nor will I ever be asked to do so.
There is no earthly reason to produce a 292-word write-up of a 423 article.
The write-up has to have a cover page, too.
First, it would help to know what score is reflected by a "pass". Does a "3" count? What about a "2"?
Assuming some reasonable value of "pass", as I read those numbers, there are systematic problems with AP classes in your district. Even though a third of the students don't even take the test, it seems that those that do take the test have an unrealistic opinion of their own skills. This points to poor teaching IMO.
The students are being taught material that is being represented as college level. When their understanding of that material is tested, less than 2/3 of those who are willing to bet the testing fee are at the required level. Less than half of those "taught" the material are passing.
I'm afraid that this is a refutation of those who have claimed that their education from IHS has been first class. The 44% who are passing have apparently learned something. The majority, however, haven't learned what their class requires. I can't see how that could be reasonably interpreted as good education.
Hi Catherine
I don't see a tag for Writing across the curriculum- is there more info on it somewhere? Maybe the original KTM? (I should have checked there first)
Based on what I experienced in our K-4 this past year, it is clear that the Kindergarten to first grade is completley non-linear. This is a greater problem than it appears at first blush. Children enter first grade after a year in a half day program in which there are very minimal expectations of learning. One parent I know says that her pre-schooler is learning more than her kindergartener. Exit kindergarten and enter first grade, full day and you've got a huge population of children who really aren't reading yet and another group that is reading extremely well, adding and subtracting... you get the idea. This is where the gap begins for many children. Children who aren't strong readers will be at a huge disadvantage in almost every subject. Children who aren't being richly supplemented at home with more sequential knowledge are at a distinct disadvantage.
When I had the opportunity to work in my son's first grade classroom last year, the divide between the haves and the have not (preparation wise) was overwhelmingly sad. These children were just completely lost. At least 4 children in one first grade class I know of are repeating first grade. It's not what happened in first grade so much as what didn't happen in kindergarten.
This cycle continues from grade to grade but merry-go-round just keeps spinning.
Is C. allowed to use internet articles? If so, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding suitable subjects at an appropriate length and difficulty for a middle-school student. Future possibilities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geyser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer
(Wikipedia is really a pretty good source for general knowledge issues.)
If Wikipedia won't work, try these:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.html
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/geysers.html
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwaquifer.html
(Those articles cover the same subjects as the Wikipedia articles and also seem to be reasonably appropriate for middle schoolers.)
For that matter, it might be a useful exercise to compare a well-written Wikipedia article with similar sorts of articles written for a less general audience. Some of the writing is really pretty good.
Interesting question, Steve...
We've seen a non-linear jump between elementary and middle school, and not just in terms of academic expectations. Teachers in 6th grade (our first year of middle school) require students to be pretty much self-sufficient on organization and planning. Independence is the order of the day ("take responsibility for your own learning," etc. etc.) -- but these skills have never been valued (let alone taught) before 6th grade. Kids are supposed to magically acquire executive function, whether it's developmentally appropriate or not.
Combine that with increased academic expectations, and you've got a recipe for disaster...
Cheryl vT in Singapore
My special ed son is 14 yr old but listed as an 8th grader (one year behind). This year we put him in 6th grade general ed social studies and math because this is where his academic skills seem to fit.
The 6th grade teachers in our middle school take it upon themselves as part of the curriculum to teach organization skills. You can purchase a binder with everything in it at the begining of the school year. The teachers in every class use it. I no longer get papers stuffed into the backpack. Now, they come home in the homework pocket and go back to school in the homework pocket.
All assignments are written in the planner and posted online so that parents can see everything the students covered that day as well as the assignment for homework. Additionally, all grades for all assignments are posted online.
Assignments may be completed in writing or on the computer and handed in on a separate sheet.
For current events, the students pick an article and write a summmary (at least 4 sentences) and a response (at least 4 sentences). In addition to handing it in, the students post their report on a blackboard system. They must respond to 5 other students. This has been great for my son because he is doing more writing this year than ever. And he is actually improving.
His reading is improving also. In my own opinion, his reading has improved at least one grade level since starting this school year. I believe a lot of it is due to the fact that he is finally maturing in this area. Because he has had some wonderful reading instruction before but has never shown a (non linear)leap like this.
I am very happy that we all agreed to try the 6th grade curriculum. The 7th or 8th grade general ed classes would have been way too far above his head. He fits right in academically to the 6th grade curriculum.
A pass is 3 to 5.
Most colleges accept only 4s or 5s for college credit.
Yes, we have systematic problems across the AP program.
The explanation has been that we "let" everyone into AP courses; they are open enrollment.
So of course the kids fail.
Same explanation for black & Hispanic kids.
They're black and Hispanic, so their scores are low.
At the largest Board meeting last year the middle school principal told the crowd, matter of factly, that "X" school (in Rockland County, I think) "has lower scores than we do because they have more black and Hispanic students."
Period, over and out.
One parent was so furious she was going to attack him as a racist there and then, but Ed restrained her.
(And yes, I know that blacks and Hispanics as a group have lower scores; he was stating a fact. But his tone and the meaning he conveyed, she told me, was "That's the way it is, naturally.")
Meanwhile I've managed to get the whole community worked up over the sex brochures and the media attention to sex brochures....
Stupid.
(Stupid meaning stupid me.)
The most benign interpretation one can make is that the administration, going back for years, doesn't understand math or population distributions or assessment, etc.
Everything, always, is naturalized; nothing can be different.
If a kid can't hack it, it's the kid who is the problem.
Speaking of which, kids are starting to drop out of the Phase 4 class.
That won't cause the faintest ripple of concern.
At least 4 children in one first grade class I know of are repeating first grade. It's not what happened in first grade so much as what didn't happen in kindergarten.
This cycle continues from grade to grade but merry-go-round just keeps spinning.
I am so tired of watching this.
Teachers in 6th grade (our first year of middle school) require students to be pretty much self-sufficient on organization and planning. Independence is the order of the day ("take responsibility for your own learning," etc. etc.) -- but these skills have never been valued (let alone taught) before 6th grade. Kids are supposed to magically acquire executive function, whether it's developmentally appropriate or not.
Combine that with increased academic expectations, and you've got a recipe for disaster...
HI!
boy oh boy, you're going to have to go read the first ktm --- remember when we were all writing EXACTLY THIS about our kids???
For current events, the students pick an article and write a summmary (at least 4 sentences) and a response (at least 4 sentences). In addition to handing it in, the students post their report on a blackboard system. They must respond to 5 other students. This has been great for my son because he is doing more writing this year than ever. And he is actually improving.
sounds great
C got a C- for writing a summary of an earth science article, because it was too short.
I don't think we can use internet articles, but I can find out.
I think they have to be published.
I think we did talk about WAC over at the old site.
This is another program that was implemented without the advice or the consent of parents.
Shared Decision Making
Alright, I'm going to knock this off, and go cruise Alan Greenspan for more post-able tidbits.
Kathy wrote:
"... along with all the added responsibility magically expected in middle school."
Magically. Yes. That's the feeling I get at our school. It's apparently not something the school considers. The attitude is: "You're big kids now. Deal with it."
"Exit kindergarten and enter first grade, full day and you've got a huge population of children who really aren't reading yet and another group that is reading extremely well, adding and subtracting... you get the idea."
Our town went to a full-day Kindergarten. My son was in the first group that did this. Almost everyone liked it; teachers, parents, and the kids thought they were like older kids - real school.
It allowed teachers to (try to) get all kids on a more equal footing when they started first grade. There were some adjustment problems since the first grade teachers kept doing what they had always been doing. Hopefully, they are now able to get off to a faster srart in first grade. However, there are still issues with full-inclusion, crayons, and Everyday math.
According to one parent in my area, middle schools are saying those entering 6th grade do not have the proper grounding in the "fundamentals".
It seems many students have been pushed ahead who didn't need to be or that the instruction was not adequate or properly reviewed and moderated. This implies the non-linear jump Steve was describing.
What I feel is most unfair is that kids are looked down upon if they can't make this jump on their own. They are deemed deficient.
"Kids are supposed to magically acquire executive function, whether it's developmentally appropriate or not."
This is what Kathy was saying and the feel (frustration) I was getting today from the kids. I like rigor, but I also saw their frustration. I'm not a fly on the classroom wall, but the kids say that their teachers expect them to "just do it". I had heard from other parents that there was a big jump in 7th grade, but I am now seeing it first hand.
The biggest problem my son is having in his Pre-Algebra class (with a more traditional textbook) is speed and accuracy. Not only is the amount of homework jumping, but they have to do it faster on tests. In our state, teachers have to to be certified to teach their subject starting in 7th grade. I get the feel that these teachers are tacitly repudiating the Crayola Curriculum of K-6, but the kids get stuck with making the big leap.
"What I feel is most unfair is that kids are looked down upon if they can't make this jump on their own. They are deemed deficient."
I guess that's what (finally?)struck me today. Sixth grade - crayon work, seventh grade - textbooks, problem sets, and speed. After all of these years of spiraled mastery and low expectations, boom! Deal with it.
Part of me is saying, "Finally, content!", and part of me is wondering if the 7th and 8th grade teachers ever go back to the lower grade teachers and tell them to lose the crayons and get some textbooks. Outside of (7th grade) math, my son has no textbook or even ANY workbooks.
My county has yet to go to full-day kindergarten citing "space requirements" as the reason. However, Fairfax county, if I am not mistaken, has implemented full-day kindergarten and there population is much larger.
First grade is pretty much kindergarten in review. It is up to the principal whether your school ramps up the instruction and even then I'm not sure it is true differentiation or in fact busy work.
" ...and even then I'm not sure it is true differentiation or in fact busy work."
Yes, busy work. Full day Kindergarten helps, but it doesn't fix fundamental curriculum problems.
In the Earth Science course, do they have to find scientific articles or articles in the popular press (like Scientific American)? If the former -- that's nuts! We have senior science majors who still struggle with reading the literature, and struggle mightily with finding articles at the right level. Seventh graders wouldn't be ready without a tremendous amount of scaffolding, which it sounds like they aren't getting.
"Outside of (7th grade) math, my son has no textbook or even ANY workbooks."
My fourth grader has a math textbook that he never brings home and a social studies book that I told him to bring home so he could study for a quiz. He also has no workbooks.
The sad fact is he didn't know how to use the SS textbook since this is the first year he has had one. I had to show him how to look up answers for the quiz sheet. Then, I googled VA history for a more concise study guide.
What good is content if you don't know how to translate it into studying for a test or taking notes? I mean, shouldn't the school be responsible for showing students how to research material? This does not mean sticking them in groups to collaborate on the answers.
"What good is content if you don't know how to translate it into studying for a test or taking notes?"
My son has had six years of slow, low expectation math specified by the curriculum. Now, all of a sudden, the teacher is expecting speed and grading on it. On top of that, the teacher is deaf to kids' complaints. Kids are always complaining, aren't they?
Actually, this morning, my son went to school 15 minutes early because the math teacher is giving them more time to finish the test. (If you think it will make any difference, or some remark like that.) I guess it's just too bad if you take a bus or can't get to school early. It's patently unfair.
Kids in middle school start to develop attitudes, so it's hard for some adults to get past the facade to see real issues. (i.e. it's too easy to blame the kids.) My son has had some teachers who mirror the flippant attitudes of some kids. They joke around in the hope, perhaps, that the students will like them more and pay attention. This doesn't work. Kids are much more sensitive than they show.
School shouldn't be an obstacle course requiring parental help. If 90 percent of the kids can't finish a test, then the kids aren't the problem.
Magically. Yes. That's the feeling I get at our school. It's apparently not something the school considers. The attitude is: "You're big kids now. Deal with it."
Yes.
Ditto.
We went round and round about this when C. was in 6th grade.
We were in there at the school citing research on frontal lobe development every five seconds.
As usual, some of the teachers are great; C. had an ELA teacher last year who was so lovely --- she kept the notebook (or binder?) of one of his friends who couldn't manage.
I will say that this has been one improvement under the new principal, I think.
The school is now run like a medium security prison without a right to due process, BUT I think it's a little less punitive when it comes to organization.
This is what Kathy was saying and the feel (frustration) I was getting today from the kids. I like rigor, but I also saw their frustration. I'm not a fly on the classroom wall, but the kids say that their teachers expect them to "just do it". I had heard from other parents that there was a big jump in 7th grade, but I am now seeing it first hand.
It's not rigor.
It's sink or swim.
Sink or swim is utterly, utterly different from rigor.
Sink or swim results in less learning with more pain.
And a whole lot more tutoring.
Megan's SS textbook is pretty good (world history) but the teacher hardly ever uses it and does lots of projects. They haven't even opened the LA textbook as the entire 1st quarter was spent on one novel. The science text is physical science and full of stuff I didn't learn until 9th grade Introductory Physical Science or even 11-12th grade Chem and Physics. Some of the content is incomprehensible for a 6th grader. She was reading the other night and didn't understand something; neither my husband (who has more of a science background) or I could understand the text. It was something to do with the law of conservation of mass; I ended up doing my own home demonstration as the textbook was not at all helpful. The kids do lots of guided reading worksheets to try to make sense of the text.
Part of me is saying, "Finally, content!", and part of me is wondering if the 7th and 8th grade teachers ever go back to the lower grade teachers and tell them to lose the crayons and get some textbooks.
That isn't the problem at heart, I don't think.
Our 4-5 school, I'm told, is now heaping homework on 5th graders "to get them ready."
Instead of improving "instructional practice" (Richard Elmore's term) at the middle school, they're simply spreading the pain downward.
I prefer a crayola curriculum.
If the kids aren't going to learn at school, I'd rather they have nice teachers who care about them than be put into a brutal, head-to-head competition based in biology and how much their parents can teach them at home.
Speaking of parental help, my son had to do weekly science journals at his previous school, starting in 3rd grade. He had to find an article in the paper (magazine, or internet) and do a write up of who, when, where, why, and how.
A lot of these questions don't make sense for all articles. The topic might be about something that has been going on for centuries, so the when (the reason for the article in the paper) might be the publication of an article in a technical journal. It could be the date of the article in the paper. But you also have to pick just the right article, because some require way too much background knowledge.
I can't imagine my son doing the journal without my help. Too often, schools give a quick introduction and tell the kids to just do it. It may be obvious for teachers to tell when paernts help out on big projects, but there are so may other cases.
Schools could ask willing parents to keep journals of exactly how (and how much time) they help their kids with homework or background knowledge. But I would worry that it would reflect poorly on my son or that it would be held against him.
Kids in middle school start to develop attitudes, so it's hard for some adults to get past the facade to see real issues.
I agree. I developed an attitude in the 7th grade and it wasn't a good one.
I see my son trying to develop an under-the-radar, underachievement one. Since he makes good grades and isn't a discipline problem, his teachers don't pay a lot of attention to it.
The 4th and 5th grades at our school seemed determined to prepare kids for the middle school. Unfortunately, they almost expected high school-like executive functions and attention spans. It was a nightmare.
Now, I hear the same thing from 7th grade teachers about getting ready for high school. At this point, though, they don't seem to overloading on the homework except for the hours of coloring here and there.
chemprof
Thanks so much for leaving this comment.
They have to find articles in the popular press (which means subscribing to the popular press since no student in our school seems to do library research).
I've found some articles in peer-reviewed journals, which I now have access to through Ed's NYU account, but I can't read them.
I don't have the background knowledge, period.
I can read most articles on psychiatric research, and some on biology.
Earth science, no.
So....we have the problem of trying to find articles in the popular press on earth science, which turns out not to be a popular subject. They're few and far between, and the ones we do find are short.
Also, I haven't been able to understand press releases from laboratories, etc.
C. wanted to do his write-up on the discovery of water on an exoplanet. I couldn't understand the Nature article, nor could I understand the Lab's press release about how they'd done it.
The teacher doesn't provide articles from the kids, offer any instruction in how to do the write-up, or provide feedback on the assignment. She gives the kids a grade, and tells them to read the rubric.
The rubric has criterion such as, • "Superb and crystal clear writing, each word accurately describes the thoughts and intentions of the author," and "The work is clear, thorough, proficient, and done with incredible diligence."
Not sure how the teacher is going to assess "done with incredible diligence," but there it is, on the rubric.
In the Earth Science course, do they have to find scientific articles or articles in the popular press (like Scientific American)? If the former -- that's nuts! We have senior science majors who still struggle with reading the literature, and struggle mightily with finding articles at the right level. Seventh graders wouldn't be ready without a tremendous amount of scaffolding, which it sounds like they aren't getting.
"Instead of improving 'instructional practice' (Richard Elmore's term) at the middle school, they're simply spreading the pain downward."
Perhaps rigor isn't the right word. My son's math is not perfect, but it is much, much better than Everyday Math. It's like a proper math course. The curriculum is better, but the intructional practice is not. Sink or swim is not a reflection of his textbook.
"If the kids aren't going to learn at school, I'd rather they have nice teachers who care about them than be put into a brutal, head-to-head competition based in biology and how much their parents can teach them at home."
Um, can I pass on arguing that choice? Actually, it's just pushing the filter back to when nothing can be done and it's ignoring the problem. With sink or swim, parents see the grades and the stress and will do something about it before it's too late. Perhaps. Either of your choices require a lot of parental involvement. Can I have a third choice?
I would like a third choice.
I would like schools to hold themselves accountable for student learning.
A grade on the student is a grade on the teacher and the school.
"If the student hasn't learned, the school hasn't taught."
What I see happening, probably in response to parents' and the publics' demand for rigor, is simply huge amounts of homework kids don't understand and can't do without parents or tutors piled on the kids.
Now, in my district, in response to parent demands for writing instruction, we have the same with writing.
We have more homework and more grades.
Where is the instruction?
Thank God I found Kerrigan when I did.
Who, What, When, Where, Why must be something they teach in ed school, possibly in ed school science ed??
The science teacher wants the kids to supply Who, What, When, Where, and Why in each and very article write-up.
That is journalism.
It's not academic writing.
Schools could ask willing parents to keep journals of exactly how (and how much time) they help their kids with homework or background knowledge. But I would worry that it would reflect poorly on my son or that it would be held against him.
I did it anyway, although I've fallen down on the job.
This is actually one area in which we've made headway.
There is a pretty massive awareness --- public awareness --- of the amount of parent reteaching and tutoring going on, to the extend that the district is now asking parents, in a survey, how many of them have hired tutors.
They need to ask about parent teaching, too.
A lot of these questions don't make sense for all articles. The topic might be about something that has been going on for centuries, so the when (the reason for the article in the paper) might be the publication of an article in a technical journal. It could be the date of the article in the paper. But you also have to pick just the right article, because some require way too much background knowledge.
Exactly.
We'll just choose strictly newspaper articles & maybe something from SCI AMERICAN if we can understand it.
That way we'll be able to do the five Ws and supply quotations from scientists (also a requirement of the rubric, unless the teacher meant quotations from text - impossible to say).
Of course, there isn't that much Earth Science in the news.
Finding these things isn't easy.
Meanwhile the class has an 81% average on the last test, but we're putting our time into tracking down news articles on Earth Science and figuring out how to pad the write-ups.
"I would like schools to hold themselves accountable for student learning. A grade on the student is a grade on the teacher and the school. If the student hasn't learned, the school hasn't taught."
OK. I'll take door number 3. I would give the schools some slack, obviously, but that's the philosophy I would like to see.
Here’s an example of how it sometimes worked in our middle school. In 6th grade, if you forgot to bring your homework to class, no problem just turn it in tomorrow. Then, in 8th grade, you got a zero on your quiz because you forgot your pencil.
The school made a point of saying that middle school was supposed to be a place for kids to learn about taking more responsibility for their own learning, but of course the devil is in the details.
"That is journalism."
And many journalists can't get that right. It was interesting to see that many of the science articles in the paper my son used for his science journal didn't answer those questions. We always looked for simple articles where they couldn't screw it up, like hurricanes, tornados, and volcanic eruptions.
It's also informative to compare the 4th and 8th grade state tests. I suspect the nonlinear jump is a factor in why 67% of our 4th graders scored 4 on their math tests, but only 26% of 8th graders did. My quick review left me with the impression that the 4th grade test was fuzzier, with more opportunity to earn credit for “showing your work” even if your answer was wrong.
"Then, in 8th grade, you got a zero on your quiz because you forgot your pencil."
That's extreme, but I don't have a problem with it in general. However, in our school, there seems to be a big change in attitude between sixth and seventh grades. The kids in my after-school class yesterday seemed to be going through shock therapy.
A few years ago, some teachers from the high school told the lower schools that there was a big issue with freshmen expecting "do-overs". The response was to toughen up 7th and 8th grades. It's just that they don't seem to worry about the details. The K-6 teachers continue to do their same old things.
Our cliff is between buildings, going from 5th to 6th. In 5th the philosophy is that 'all learners' must suceed, so the classes are not deep in content and different learning styles are included in the pedagogy (with the exception of math). Inclusion & sped are grouped with high acheivers, so much that the Regent's suggest for the grade level curriculum is omitted. In 6th, content rules. Inclusion is still grouped with high acheivers, but inclusion is given study guides, help from a teacher, and the IEP is used to reduce the h.w. load and usually extra time and quiet on the test is given. There is a lot of h.w. in 6th - well over 2.5 hrs nightly for those not on IEP in the 'high' reading class, about 30 min. less for those on grade level in reading. It is difficult because the 5th grade curriculum omitted all the writing skills and about 1/3 of the necessary background in mathematics.
Students that do well in the transition are either highly verbal or those that had to develop study skills in elementary to stay in the high acheiver group. Those that stumble are usually smart visual spatial boys who had not developed study skills in the elementary or the ability to translate a verbal sequential lecture into good notes; sometimes they are the highly capable verbal boys who don't care to do the h.w. that doesn't lead them to mastery of the material. The former are usually not placed in honors in subsequent grades unless they develop the study and note-taking skills on their own by Feb of 6th grade; the latter are in honors until they reach the point that they can't keep up on the tests from the material they hear in class (usually 7th grade honors english does them in by mid-terms, if not 8th grade earth science is the wash out).
No surprise, the top 10% academic group based on grades earned exiting high school will include 1 or occasionally 2 boys out of a starting 9th grade population of over 600 students. Enrollment in advanced science and math is very low compared to similar school. National Merit, SAT/ACT results and college diplomas earned tell a different story about academic excellence for those whose v-s boys stayed and persisted despite the lack of encouragement from the school. This is a large suburban average needs school, not title 1 or urban. App. 25% of parents are highly educated (meaning B.S./B.A. or beyond).
sciencenewsforkids.com has middle school appropriate articles on Earth science.
The summary criteria for my 7th grader is that the summary be accurate (all main ideas from article included) and well written with the basic hamburger or 3 para essay format including grade level or above vocabulary and sentence structure.
Length is given when the teacher wants to help the students differentiate between a quick intro/body/concl piece and a detailed piece in which the body includes many supporting examples to back up the assertions without explicitly saying 'three paragraph model' or 'five paragraph plus model'.
Personally it ticks me off that the rubics and examples aren't given in advance of long writing assignments - very hard for the student to understand the assignment when he's never seen the product before.
"Those that stumble are usually smart visual spatial boys who had not developed study skills in the elementary or the ability to translate a verbal sequential lecture into good notes."
This describes my fourth grade son to a tee. His spatial ability is in the 97th percentile, but his verbal is in the 60s. However, he is persistent and hard working and I only hope he can keep this mentality up because he certainly has not received any encouragment from his teachers or the principal.
Just the other day, while I was in the office, I overhead the assistant principal call his class a bunch of goof balls. And, I don't mean goof balls ha, ha...I mean, the look on her face was one of sheer annoyance. The majority of the boys in his class fall in the highly visual/spatial category. These are smart kids who get this label stuck on them. Only sheer determination and parental guidance will see these guys through a school that labels them with such contempt.
OK. I'll take door number 3. I would give the schools some slack, obviously, but that's the philosophy I would like to see.
I think, as a result of an email exchange I had with a parent here this morning, that I'm going to make accountability it.
That gets me out from under having to argue constructivism versus direct instruction....I think.
I want accountability.
When a teacher has a class earning 81% as the average, that is an 81% for the teacher.
etc.
Obviously you can invite major grade inflation by promoting this idea, but at this point I don't care.
I can't go on like this much longer.
What I'm seeing in the accelerated courses, which is where C. is now headed, is that the students are pretty much on their own, depending on the teacher.
This is what I've been told directly, by other parents whose kids are already there.
Thanks for the tip lgm - that will be an enormous help.
I just can't stand a lot more quests for Earth Science articles my kid can actually read.
oh wait!
You said sciencenewsforkids -- yeah, I love those articles, but they're probably too short.
Thanks for reminding me, though.
I'll look there for the next one.
My son has had six years of slow, low expectation math specified by the curriculum. Now, all of a sudden, the teacher is expecting speed and grading on it. On top of that, the teacher is deaf to kids' complaints. Kids are always complaining, aren't they?
right
ditto
School shouldn't be an obstacle course requiring parental help. If 90 percent of the kids can't finish a test, then the kids aren't the problem.
ditto
ditto
ditto
Our school philosophy is obstacle course.
If a student is "struggling," he doesn't belong in the class.
In NY state, 8th grade tests are significantly harder than 4th grade.
I've got the link for that, but won't take the time to find it now.
For articles, take a look at least at the USGS websites I posted upthread. At least one of those is a web version of a printed publication (also orderable). USGS is pretty trustable in matters of dirt, so that should be OK, and since the information is available in print form, I can't see why that would cause a problem either.
On our middle school's online gradebook, they used to show class high score, class low score, and class average for each test, quiz, and assignment. I thought this was very useful information. On the first science test, the class average was a C-. On a bunch of German quizzes, class averages were in the D range. Recently, I've noticed this information is no longer being shown. How interesting.....
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