Teachers

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teacher Education, Teachers

Getting Ready for the Age of Experiential Education

As education continues to evolve, experiential education has been on the rise across K-12 schools and higher education. According to the Association for Experiential Education, this type of education is defined as “a teaching philosophy” that informs many methodologies in which educators purposefully engage with learners in direct experience and focused reflection in order to increase knowledge, develop skills, clarify values, and develop people’s capacity to contribute to their communities.” In other words, experiential education can be thought of as learning by doing, or incorporating more hands-on work and concrete experiences into the curriculum.

Study Abroad

One of the most well-known and best examples of experiential education is global education, or studying abroad. Though studying abroad was not extremely common in the United States a mere fifty years ago, the amount of students who are choosing to incorporate an international experience into their education is increasing. In addition, study abroad offices, departments, and provider companies have been steadily increasing over time as well, in order to accommodate for the demand of this educational experience.

Even though students from different walks of life will experience their time abroad differently than one another, studying abroad still accomplishes the goals of experiential learning, as defined by the Association of Experiential Education. Those who go abroad have valuable opportunities to develop intercultural skills more deeply than their counterparts who do not study abroad, hone language skills, build a sense of contributing back to communities, and learn about different values around the world. These skills are extremely valuable since companies and recruiters are now looking for intercultural skill sets in their candidates. As we move towards the age of experiential education, students should begin to plan ahead on how they can incorporate a study abroad into their educational plans.

Student-Centered Learning

Another excellent example of experiential education is the move towards student-centered learning. Many of us know the traditional methods of teaching: students are lined up, alert and ready to follow a teacher-centered lecture or lesson. Students are expected to take notes, ask questions, and listen. But the issue with this method of traditional teaching means we assume all students are coming into the lesson with the same level of learning – it does not address the varying levels of education that these students come in with.

There are many ways to accommodate for student-centered learning, but one way is to differentiate instruction. Moving towards experiential education could mean more professional development for our educators to learn how to accommodate for the diverse learners in the classroom. It would require teachers to assess students before, during, and after the lesson to make sure they are differentiating the learning goals for each student. By focusing on the student, we are creating a student-centered learning environment where their needs are met.

Overall, the shift towards experiential education is a positive change that has excellent potential to really improve and enhance our traditional educational system. There are many more ways to incorporate experiential education practices within the classroom in both K-12 and higher education, and the first step is to shift our mindset to this non-traditional way of learning and support both our educators and students. Making their success a priority in this ever-changing world – where success looks different for every generation – will help us continue to evolve with the new ideas of experiential education.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers

How Educators are Make Their Voices Be Heard

Where once we lived in a world where there were stark differences between privatized and public education, we are now shifting into an era of grassroots determination to provide quality education to children in public schools.

And part of that upward shift requires giving educators the quality treatment that they deserve, first. Time and again, it seems apparent – underpaid teachers and under-funded schools result in lackluster public education for students because educators fall short when they don’t have the resources they need. And when they don’t have the resources they need, students tend to underperform, making the teachers look bad. As you can see, it’s an ultimately frustrating and cyclical problem.

How educators are doing it

Educators are changing education, though, by taking to lobbying themselves, striking, and calling physical attention to the nature of poverty in the American education system. In the past two years alone, media coverage has increased as teachers began striking from their towns and the front lawns of the state capital to demand fair pay for the hard work they put into the public school systems.

This process of educator lobbying is complicated because children suffer in multiple ways. They suffer when they have to stay home from school for weeks on end because their teachers have to make the difficult decision of picketing. And they also suffer because the effort teachers make to create change often barely comes close to making the government budge, or worse, their efforts create temporary change followed by stricter regulations from the government.

The aim of educators’ strikes is that they can prove a point of how crucial it is to fix the public education sector, rather than allowing more and more money just to be poured into private education, which is seldom available to anyone other than the wealthy. It’s the public schools, teachers demand, that have needs to be met, and that starts with the teachers who show up to make students’ education possible every day.

So, the problem arises that, while educators are taking matters into their own hands, and trying to reinforce a sense of quality in public education, there still remains a lack of total government support for the public education of America’s youth. And the fact of the matter is that the majority of children in America will attend public school, and only a small percentage attend private school.

So, what will the next few years bring in terms of potential change? It will depend upon how much of a difference teachers and financially endowed persons are capable of making within the government. Because up to this point, it seems that, without the additional support of the people in office, the efforts to revolutionize education on behalf of educators will sadly fall short.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in First Year Teachers, Policy & Reform, School Leadership, Teachers

How Our Education System Fails Most Students

Currently, the United States has problems of all sizes, and one of the most serious problems is the crisis in the education system. Trends such as school closures, unequal access, budget cuts, and privatization end up taking a gradual but heavy toll on students from the pre-kindergarten, to the K-12 and higher education level. Let’s take a look at some of the ways the US education system is failing most students.

Education as a commodity

Today, our education system, especially in higher institutions such as universities has been commodified at the expense of students’ intrinsic values. In many American colleges, each student is seen as a consumer who is simply undergoing the process of acquiring a degree. When the system encourages individualism, arrogance, and disinterest, the result is the erosion of values like honesty, solidarity, discipline, and cooperation. It’s little wonder 50,000 students reported that they engaged in exam malpractices within three years, according to a 2016 study by The Times.

A system that breeds cheating students can only record low academic performance and achievements. For instance, 60% of English language students in New York high schools failed the algebra Regents examination in 2017/18 academic session. This amounts to 13,000 more of students who failed the exam when compared to the figures from the previous year.

Unequal access

The US educational environment is becoming less and less egalitarian. Educational opportunities in our higher institutions largely depend on families’ social statuses. Students from wealthy homes usually have sufficient resources to gain access to preparatory courses into colleges, which is a prerequisite for gaining admission into the American tertiary education level.

It should not be surprising that among the best 146 US universities, only 10% of the students come from the lower social strata in the United States. You may want to ask what do these students who are shut out from the system engage in? It’s a no-brainer that a failed education model will only result in a failed societal system.

School closures

One of the endpoints of the failure of the US education system is the trend of frequent school closures. According to NCES, in 2015-2016 alone, 893 regular level K-12 schools were shut down, including 32 special education schools, 14 vocational schools, and 221 alternative schools. This amounts to a total of 1,160 school closures in a single year.

Students in these schools come from the poorest, marginalized, and excluded communities of American cities. Unfortunately, Hispanic and African-American students are the majority in failed schools. A sad example is Manhattan’s Norman Thomas High School that was shut down in 2014. It had 67% Hispanics and 27% African-Americans (94% of the students).

This environment of school failure, school closure, and extreme poverty in the Hispanic and African-American communities is the breeding ground that fosters the reproduction of inequality, despair, and violence in these communities. It’s a time bomb!

Conclusion

The failure of the US education system is the direct consequence of a bureaucratized public system and an educational model which is exam-centric and disconnected from the particular realities of the people. Quality education for all is a right. Students, parents, teachers, school administrations, and the communities, in general, have to take part in the search for solutions to raise the poor performance of schools.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

Five Stereotypes About Poor Families and Education

Living in poverty is not directly linked to views on education. The stereotypes hold views that can be found in any level of economic strata. An attitude toward education is not determined by economic status, nor does it change as people move up or down in the socioeconomic sector. The following stereotypes about the poor and their view of education are just that, stereotypes and do not truly represent people in poverty.

Poor parents do not want to be bothered with their child’s education and learning.

On the contrary, parents in these situations want to support their children. Some barriers block parents from assisting their children and come in different forms. There are language barriers that stop some parents in poverty from supporting their children at home. Another barrier includes the level of education the parent has may be far below the education the child is receiving. However, one of the biggest obstacles is access to school and its resources. While the child can attend school, parents are not always able to physically be present in school due to their work schedule limitations. Low-income families would like to be more involved; however, there are limiting factors.

Poor children have limited vocabulary because of their parents.

When something does not work, the blame is placed somewhere. Unfortunately, in this case, poor parents are blamed for their child’s vocabulary skills. Much of this bias is based on limited research and comes from research that tests only a small population of low-income families. Additionally, when these studies are done, there seems to be a disagreement about what facet of vocabulary is being studied. Is the focus on the quality of the words, or is the focus on how many words the child knows? No matter what the focus is, effort should be on improving these issues rather than blaming.

Poor students are lazy because their parents are lazy.

This stigma is associated with poor communities in regards to education. The truth is that the work ethic in low-income families is similar to other socioeconomic groups. Wealth is not an indicator of work ethic. Many low-income families work very hard because they see the value in education as a means for social mobility. Low-income families look to string together as many jobs as they can to make their monthly payments. Getting a better job is not a solution because the opportunity may not be there for a number of reasons. While jobs are being created in the United States, many of them are low-wage or pay just enough to remain above the poverty line.

Poor children have “bad parents.”

This fallacy could not be farther from the truth. Many, if not most, put their children’s well-being before their own. To an outsider, it may seem like the parents are never home and are always leaving their children alone. However, the issue continues to access. Many of these parents work multiple jobs to make rent, pay any outstanding bills, and put food on the table. To no fault of the parents, there may be limited access to extracurricular activities or tutoring for any number of reasons.

Parents of any socioeconomic level want the best for their children. The wealthy classes do not care more about their children, and poor parents do not care any less about their children as compared to other families. There are many success stories where struggling parents did everything they could to push their children through school or to become a professional athlete even if it meant the parent went hungry or slept on the floor instead of in a bed.

Poor students are more likely to abuse substances, just like their parents.

After many different studies and thorough research, this stereotype has been debunked. Poor students and parents are less likely to abuse substances. The studies were also conducted internationally, and the findings were the same. Addiction is progressively worse with increasing income — parents and children alike. The difference between social classes and substance abuse is the availability of help for those plagued with the disease. Low-income families cannot afford substance abuse counseling or rehabilitation, whereas wealthier families have more access to these services because they have more expendable income.

Low-income families are just like every other family. The major difference is access to money. Access to money can afford things such as after-school tutoring, designer clothing, or sports camps. Just because a family lives in poverty, it does not mean the parents are any less of parents. They still take care of their children, are still responsible for their children attending school, and support their children’s dreams. Poor parents are no different from wealthier parents.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Policy & Reform, Teachers

How to Assess Teacher Quality: What We Have Learned Over the Last Decade

There is general agreement that the key to student learning success is the quality of a teacher’s instructional skills, combined with the teacher’s ability to understand their students as individuals with diverse needs, backgrounds, behavioral issues, social skills, and learning styles. But while there is general agreement on the teacher’s role in their student’s success, there is considerable disagreement on how to measure the quality of a teacher’s skills and abilities.  

Teacher education reform, specifically in the area of quality testing for teachers involved in elementary and secondary education systems, has been a subject of interest to educators, politicians, policymakers, and parents in countries around the world for some years. Let’s examine what we have learned over the last decade or so.

For example, in 2011, both the United States (US) and Australia published plans/standards for improving the quality of their nation’s teachers.  Our Future, Our Teachers the Obama Administration’s Plan for Teacher Education Reform and Improvement (Obama’s Plan) was issued by the U.S. Department of Education in September 2011. This comprehensive plan outlined actions to support and encourage effective teaching to ensure every child had the opportunity to have an excellent teacher.

Also in 2011, the Australian government first published standards for teachers under the name National Professional Standards for Teachers. The standards were renamed the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in 2012 and were implemented throughout Australia’s states and territories at different times throughout 2013. The purpose of the standards was similar to Obama’s Plan. They were designed to outline teacher quality standards to improve and ensure success for students.

In 2014, the American Psychological Association (APA) published a report called Assessing and Evaluating Teacher Preparation Programs. Their report summarized three common methods for assessing teacher performance:  “value-added assessments of student achievement, standardized observation protocols, and surveys of teacher performance.” The report suggested that the effectiveness of teacher education programs should be measured by well-established scientific methods that focused on behavior. And, it encouraged quality teaching measures to be developed in partnerships with teacher education programs, school districts, and states. Whether the APA’s recommendations have been put into practice is not clearly known.

However what is known is that about five years after the implementation of standards in the US and Australia to improve and measure teacher quality, “The evidence base for how teaching quality and impact may be defined and demonstrated is weak.” This was the key finding of a report entitled, Review of the Research Literature on Defining and Demonstrating Quality Teaching and Impact in Higher Education. To explain further, the report found the literature contained mostly opinion pieces and concluded there was a lack of empirical evidence.

The report was commissioned by the United Kingdom’s Higher Education Academy (HEA) and published by RAND Europe in 2016. The purpose of the report was to discover how quality teaching was defined and validated at institutions teaching education.

The report reached two main recommendations:

  1. More research is needed to test, measure, and monitor new quality teaching methods.
  2. But first, “…there needs to be more consensus in the discourse on how ‘quality teaching’ may be measured or evaluated.”

Although the HEA is a UK national body, the literature search was comprehensive. The search included literature published since 2012 and was published in ERIC, Education Abstracts, the HEER database, and Web of Science. What the report revealed is that as recent as 3 years ago there was no agreement on how to test for teacher quality. If the search were repeated today, looking at literature published since 2016, I suspect the results would be about the same.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers

Realistic, Time-Efficient, and Manageable Ways to Monitor Student Growth

Before enumerating some realistic, time efficient, and manageable ways to monitor student growth, let’s clarify what is meant by growth.  According to The Education Trust, a non-profit national organization working to support and expand excellence and equity in education, growth is different from improvement.  Growth makes an assessment of the changes in a student from one year to the next year.  Growth can also help parents and teachers understand how one student’s growth compares to other students at the same level.  Some growth indicators can also predict if a student is ready for either college or a career.

So what can an educator specifically do to monitor student growth? Of course one obvious answer is the use of formal standardized tests and informal classroom tests. But, in addition, here are some realistic, time efficient, and manageable ways:

Provide Positive Feedback

By providing positive feedback to students encourages and motivates them. Positive feedback also helps students become more aware of their performance, and they learn what they do and do not know. Positive feedback also helps students take more responsibility for their own learning. This link provides 20 ways to provide effective feedback for learning. 

Engage One-on-One During Seat Work

Teachers who circulate around the room during seatwork and interact with students one-on-one can have a significant impact on a student’s progress.  Teachers have an opportunity to provide encouragement and positive feedback to students who seem to be “getting” the material.  More importantly, teachers can give special attention to those students who may need a little extra help.

Test for Understanding during the Lesson

Testing for understanding can be considered a way to monitor growth because it is helping to ensure students really do grasp the material being presented to them and it allows them to make progress towards the next concept. At first, it may sound difficult to test for understanding at the same time you are trying to teach the lesson but it is not as difficult as it sounds. This link provides 21 ways to test for understanding.

Provide Clear Targets for Progress

SWBAT stands for Students Will Be Able To (fill in the progress goal).  Some educators think this statement is written from the teacher’s perspective.  Okay, so if you don’t like that, change it so that it reads I can (fill in the progress goal).  Children in younger grades, like reciting this goal together at the beginning of class.  Older students can choose to write it down. Regardless of age, the target is clear and they know what is expected.  Once that goal is reached, they can strive to achieve the next goal.  That is progress.

What did I miss?

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers

34 Questions That K-12 Teachers Must be Able to Answer

To make it in the fast-paced, stressful world of K-12, you must be able to hold your own. This means having the skills and knowledge that it takes to impact student learning and outcomes positively. As a K-12 teacher, what do you need to know? Don’t worry, we have you covered.

In this short piece, we will discuss the 34 questions that that K-12 teacher should be able to answer. Some questions will be basic terms and concepts that you must understand, and others will be pedagogical strategies that you must be able to employ, such as balanced assessment and co-teaching.

What is Balanced Assessment? A philosophy of educational assessment that recognizes that a variety of measures must be used for the teaching and learning process to help students reach their intellectual potential. This includes the use of formative assessments, summative assessments, authentic assessments, standardized assessments, etc.

What is Connected Learning? Is a form of personalized learning where a person pursues something of interest to them, with the aid of a caring support system. In the process of pursuing connected learning, new opportunities and possibilities open up for them.

What is Co-Teaching? Is having two or more certified teachers in the classroom sharing responsibility for teaching all or some of the students assigned to the classroom. These teachers work together to plan and deliver instruction, assessment, remediation, etc.

What is Critical Literacy? Is a collection of dispositions and skills that cultivate innovative teaching, critical thinking, and active inquiry. Critical literacy assists students in thinking critically about the things that they read, instead of just brushing the surface.

What is Education Research? An organized strategy for asking, answering, and effectively reporting a question that is related to the field of education.

What is an Exit Exam? An assessment that students must pass to pass a course, be promoted to the next grade level or receive a diploma.

What is GED? Is an assessment that is made up of four subject area test which if passed, signifies that the test taker has high school level academic skills.

What are Multiple Measures? The use or varied indicators and sources of evidence of student learning. This evidence is gathered at intermittent times, within and across subject areas.

What is a Pacing Guide? A document created by school district administrators to assist educators in staying on track and ensure the continuity of curriculum across schools within the district.

What is a Paraprofessional? An educator who is delegated to perform certain educational tasks within and outside of the classroom but is not yet licensed as a teacher.

What is Remediation? A form of education that is provided to students who need more instructional support to master the competencies in subjects such as math and reading.

What is School Choice? Is an education policy that permits education funds to follow the pupil to the K-12 school or service provider that best fits their needs. Possible placements include public schools, private schools, charter schools, homeschools. Any learning environments that parents feel meet the educational needs of their children.

What is a School Within a School? Is a concept that is used for reorganizing schools, especially high schools, and the dynamics within them. Also called small schools, their optimal size varies, they are usually defined as schools with enrollments between 500-900 students.

What is Socioeconomic Status (SES)? Is a collective assessment of a persons economic and sociological standing. Many students from low-SES backgrounds face socio-emotional instability.

What is a Student-Led Conference? Is a type of parent-teacher conference in which the student gives their parents updates on what they have been learning, what their goals are, and provides insights into what type of learner they are.

What is Cognitive Development? Is the creation of increasingly complex thought processes, including self-regulation, remembering, perceptual skills, language learning, problem-solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood.

What are Wraparound Services/Programs? A fluid collection of social services provided to severely at-risk children in the criminal justice system. Theoretically, it is tailored towards building confidence, promoting safety and success in the home, school and the community.

What is Classroom Management? The various strategies and skills that educators employ to keep pupils structured, docile, attentive, motivated, and academically successful during a class or school day.

What are Co-Curricular Activities? A K-12 school or university activity that is pursued in addition to a student’s academic core. This could include sports, the arts, etc.

What is Community-Based Learning? Various instructional strategies that teachers employ to correlate what is being taught and what is going on in a student’s community, which includes institutions, literature, history, cultural history, etc.

What is a Community of Practice? Is a group of educators who share a passion or affinity for something that they do or a type of work that they perform. They band together to learn how to become the best they can be. Also, know as collective learning or a personal learning network.

What is a Computer-Adaptive Test? A form of assessment where the rigor or questions is adjusted based on the student’s response. For instance, if the student a question correctly, the next question will be harder; if a student answers incorrectly, the next question will be easier. In essence, the assessment adapts to accommodate the test takers ability level. This customization provides a more accurate assessment of a student’s present level of academic functioning. The learning potential is endless, as the best computer-adapted tests pull from a large pool of test items designed to both assess and improve a student’s knowledge of a particular subject or skill.

What is a Content or Subject Area? Describes a defined area of knowledge or skill in a curricular program. For example, reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies are all content or subject areas.

What is a Cut-Off Score? Is the lowest possible score on an assessment that a student can make to obtain mastery or pass.

What is Data Masking? The process of concealing or encrypting certain information in school performance or assessment datasets and reports to protect the privacy of education stakeholders.

What is Data Suppression? The process of removing or deleting certain information in school performance or assessment datasets and reports to protect the privacy of education stakeholders.

What is a Learning Experience? Describes any class, activity, or experience in which learning takes place, whether it’s a typical school setting or outside of the school location.

What is Achievement Growth? Academic progress that is accomplished over a period, as assessed at the onset and end of a specified time. It can be calculated for countries, states, cities, schools or students, and many variables and strategies can be used to determine if “growth” has occurred.

What is a Learning Pathway? Describes the classes, programs, and learning activities that students complete during their high school matriculation. Learning pathways can be academic and vocational in nature.

What is a Block Schedule? Is a system for scheduling junior high or high school days, usually by replacing the historical scheduling method six or seven 40-50 minute class periods with class periods that are longer in duration and meet fewer times during the week. For instance, a traditional block schedule class period may have 90-120 minutes and convene every two days instead of every day.

What is an Opportunity Gap? Illustrates the ways that race, SES, familial situations, or other variables work in concert to facilitate anti-intellectual sentiments and behaviors in certain segments of students. This in turns leads to low academic and skills attainment which can perpetuate the cycle of generational poverty that caused the opportunity gap in the first place. It truly can become a never-ending cycle that affects generations.

What are Weighted Grades? Are letter or numerical scores that are given an advantage when calculating a GPA. Usually, these scores were attained in higher level, honors, advanced placement or international baccalaureate courses. Thus the advantage is received because of the challenging nature of those courses. Think of it as a reward for tackling courses with increased rigor.

What is Student-Level Data? Is any information that school officials or states collect on students who are enrolled in public schools in their jurisdiction.

What is a Common Planning Time? A block of time that is scheduled for several teachers to work together to plan instruction.

What did we miss?

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Assessment, Education Leadership, Teachers, Testing

Testing Experts Convene at What May Be the Most Consequential Conference in Education

Assessment has been an education hot button since the day the first one room schoolhouse sent home the first report card, and probably even before then. And while questions about what is measured, how we do it what it means will persist, assessment as we know it today probably won’t.

Already, the very meaning of assessment is moving away from the counting of right and wrong answers on a common, standardized test. It’s moving, experts say, to be increasingly driven by computer and Artificial Intelligence systems that can make assessment more adaptive to each student, includes more means of measurement than just testing, and makes assessment both more accurate and more efficient – increasing information while cutting the time to administer and grade a test. 

Those experts–the ones with that vision for the future for education assessment–will meet on June 10-13 in Minneapolis as part of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing (IACAT) 2019 Conference. When they do, it may be the most important meeting about assessment in a generation.

Sponsored in part by big names such as Pearson, ETS and Duolingo, the upcoming IACAT conference will play host to hundreds of professionals and specialists in fields such as psychology, psychometrics, AI, and testing development. They will not only discuss the future of assessment but debut new products, techniques, and technologies that will be in classrooms and exam rooms almost immediately. If education testing has a learning lab or a World’s Fair, IACAT is it.

Source: Assessment Systems Corp

Dr. David Weiss, who is generally regarded as the grandfather of Computerized Adaptive Testing, is the featured keynote speaker at IACAT 2019, being held June 10-13 in Minneapolis.

Perhaps chief among those experts at IACAT will be Dr. David Weiss, who is generally regarded as the grandfather of Computerized Adaptive Testing – the cornerstone testing practice by which a computer picks a test-taker’s next question based on how they answered the previous one. Dr. Weiss gave what is believed to be the very first presentation on adaptive testing in 1969 to the American Psychological Association Conference. And although the idea of CAT, as it’s known, has been around since then, it is still a relatively uncommon practice in academics, where less efficient, less accurate tests of standard length and pre-set questions are the norm.

Dr. Weiss, who taught at the University of Minnesota and co-founded the company Assessment Systems, which is hosting the IACAT conference, is expected to address the use of CAT in both practice and frequency, in a rare keynote address. Among the topics Dr. Weiss is expected to address is how even standardized tests should not have time limits and how future test designers should ensure a focus on people instead of numbers.

“Assessment,” Dr. Weiss said in previewing his speech, “has become the domain of mathematicians and an exercise in statistics, people who don’t necessarily have the background understanding of psychology.  And we can do that too much and lose sight of the effect on people and forget that the end result should be to do a good job measuring everyone.”

It’s impossible to know whether Dr. Weiss’s words will resonate with the interested audience of test designers and practitioners. But he won’t be the only influential or experienced voice at IACAT hoping to shape the very nature of academic and career assessment.


Source: International Association of Computerized Adaptive Testing

The International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing (IACAT) Conference June 10-13 on the University of Minnesota campus features academics, practitioners, test developers, school leaders, and testing companies coming together to share and learn about the best ways to assess learning.

Additional conference sessions include thought-provoking concepts such as ways to assess nonverbal IQ traits and learning gains in autistic students, identifying enemy question items that sabotage test validity, multistage testing, using artificial intelligence in assessment, on-the-fly machine learning, item response theory, rapid guessing behavior, vertical scaling, and more.

Perhaps the most interesting, even controversial, future for assessment in education isn’t even AI or machine grading – it’s something called performative assessment, or performance assessment. And according to those assembling at for IACAT next month, it could bring about the demise of the standardized test entirely, which would be big news in education.

Performative assessment is assessment that includes everything a student does – even day-to-day tasks such as reading, note-taking, class participation, and homework – as evidence of performance and learning. In practice, performative assessment can provide thousands of data points related to subject comprehension and mastery as opposed to just select, mid-level questions a standardized test may offer. It proposes to make assessment an ongoing, evolving practice instead of a designed, timed, proscribed testing experience.

Many of the experts who will be in Minnesota in June agree that this new breed of assessment is, and will be, more accurate than even computer-assisted and adaptive testing, which is already more accurate and efficient than the old fill-in-the-bubble, multiple choice tests. There’s a reason, the experts say, that good teachers know which students will do well on a test and which won’t – before the test is even given. And that reason is that teachers collect weeks and months of data for each student before any test, making the test itself a confirming reality instead of a genuine insight. There’s no reason, the assessment experts say, to leave all that information out of the picture.

“Performance testing will merge in the education environment as instruction becomes more personalized and computerized,” said Dr. Weiss. “If instruction is by computer, everything a student does should be used as assessment data – so testing and instruction merge, allowing all information to be used continuously for assessment.”

Even if that’s coming, Dr. Weiss cautioned it won’t happen overnight. Given how long it’s taken even computer-assisted and adaptive testing to take hold in classrooms, he thinks true performance assessment will take at least 20 years to be widely used in education, regardless of how much more efficient and more accurate these assessments would be. 

Not only are the results of assessments used to measure student achievement, but student achievements are used to measure the successes and shortcomings of teachers, so these tests matter greatly to schools and entire education models. How they are designed, by whom and what they aim to measure will be the looking glass through which we see all future education attainment. As such, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that what happens in Minnesota in June may end up being the most consequential education conference to come along in quite some time.

For more information about the IACAT conference or to register, click here. 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, School Counselor, School Leadership, Teachers

Why Home Visits Are Critical to Student Success

Very few teachers do not understand the importance of creating a partnership with parents to educate their students, but it can be difficult at times to establish contact with parents in this busy day and age. So, how can a teacher convey a sincere desire to work alongside parents to bring out the best in a student?

This where the home visit can be critical. Not only does a home visit allow a teacher to better understand a student’s home life and how it impacts school performance, but it has the potential to bridge any gaps in a culture that may be hindering a student.

California State at Sacramento did a study of fourteen schools whose teachers conducted home visits before the start of school. What they found was that the visits set the stage for reducing discipline issues, improving parental involvement, boosting positive feelings about school and improving student performance.

Benefits include:

  • Forming close partnerships between parents and teachers.
  • Sets the tone for positive communication during the school year.
  • Reassures the student that the teacher cares about his/her welfare.
  • Helps to bridge any cultural differences that may hinder learning.

Visit in the Home

The traditional visit has been for the teacher to set an appointment with the family before school starts.  Often, more than one of the student’s teachers may visit at the same time, which has the advantage of making the visit as convenient for the parents as possible.

Because the visit is in the home, the parents, especially those from another culture, may feel less intimidated than meeting in a classroom. Many times it can lead the family to share the traditions that are important to them, helping the teacher to understand the student’s perspective better.

Visit on Neutral Ground

Some parents are not comfortable having a stranger in their home, so meeting at a fast food restaurant or a coffee shop can be an excellent alternative.  One teacher from Washington, D.C., said, “These visits are the most direct way to get the parents’ help. We’re able to gain their trust. It makes the connection instant and so much deeper.”

Preparing for a positive home visit is essential for a teacher to establish a foundational relationship with parents from the beginning.  Many schools compensate the teachers for the visits and provide training to create a successful visit.

Project Appleseed is a program aimed at improving public school involvement that ties in with home visits.  They encourage schools to host an open house picnic in the first week of school for parents and anyone from the community. This allows the parents to see the school firsthand.  The second week is a breakfast for families, students, teachers, and administrators to allow everyone to get to know one another better.  The third week is an evaluation of how well the school is reaching out to parents. And, finally, the last week is an invitation to the parents to take the Appleseed pledge to volunteer 10 hours per week at the school and to read to their children for 15 minutes each day.

 

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Modern Parenting, Teachers

Confronting Suicide Among K-12 Students

According to the American Association for Suicidology, suicide was the second leading cause of death in the world for people 15-24 years of age and for people 10-14 years of age. The paper suggested suicide prevention/intervention and training is “justified and imperative” for family members, the community, and especially for teachers and faculty members. It is also important to note that every year 1 in 15 high school students attempts suicide.

Students should have access to suicide prevention/intervention programs, especially in the school environment. All educators and parents should be aware of the risk factors and warning signs that should be recognizable in a child or adolescent considering suicide. These risk factors don’t necessarily mean someone will attempt suicide but they should never be ignored. These factors include:

  • mental illness
  • alcohol or other substance abuse
  • easy access to lethal items (e.g., firearms and pills)
  • previous suicide attempts
  • non-suicidal self-injury
  • exposure to friends’/family member’s suicide
  • sexual orientation confusion
  • bullying
  • low self-esteem

Depression and anxiety are the two most common mental illnesses that can lead to suicide. What is striking, however, is that at the time of death, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than half of the people who died by suicide “did not have a known diagnosed mental health condition”.

There are also a number of protective factors that can mitigate or reduce the risks of suicidal behavior.  These include:

  • strong connections to family and community support
  • restricted access to lethal items
  • cultural and religious beliefs
  • problem solving and conflict resolution skills
  • access to health care for mental, physical, and substance abuse concerns

Warning signs to watch for include:

  • talking about dying
  • changing behavior, personality, sleep patterns, or eating habits
  • acting erratically or recklessly
  • harming self or others

There are many suicide prevention resources available for schools. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration under the Department of Health and Human Services has a wonderful resource called Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools. The tool kit “includes tools to implement a multifaceted suicide prevention program that responds to the needs and cultures of students.” At a minimum, all school personnel should be aware of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  This lifeline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or online at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.

  • no reactions
0
Share