Teachers

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

The value of student and teacher input in EdTech

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Garrett Zimmer

OK so I’ve been wanting to ask this question lately.  Who do we lean on for input and advice when we have to teach or create something?  Maybe advice isn’t the right word, perhaps I’d rather use perspective.

What stakeholders are we looking to for their perspective when designing a project, a lesson, a company, or technology? As teachers, leaders, or even team members do we put stake in the perspective of everyone, or are we dismissive of some perspectives simply because they don’t hold a specific degree or level of experience.  I’ve had my share of high growth leadership experiences and I’ve found some of the best results and insights seeded from the most unlikely sources.

Let me briefly share my example.  During the very beginning of my 1st career in Sales and Marketing I sat in a strange and unique position. I believed I was gifted, charismatic, intelligent, and I even outsold most of my co-workers with years of sales experience.  My youth gave me little credibility, in spite of the fact that I’d been professionally selling since the age of 7. See I grew up in a very religious organization where going door to door selling bible philosophy for hours each week was the norm.  I experienced rejection, learned and honed abilities in ice-breaking and relating to people’s needs, but my unique perspective and experience went unrecognized, till a few years in when my talents were noticed by a great manager.

See it’s very easy to seek out someone’s views if they come with a degree, or 50 years of experience, and quite honestly I think those views should hold much more weight. But are we just as apt to dismiss the views of someone else a little lighter in experience?

Let’s take a step into the EdTech and general Startup landscape though.  Market research and understanding your market is so important for startups and getting it wrong can have devastating impact.  I’ve seen and heard of countless companies fail a launch or cost themselves so much by putting out a product that just failed to meet the needs of their intended target market. I’ve also seen many companies launch a product and spend their marketing dollars targeting one segment, and a year later shift their marketing to a whole different audience because it turns out that the product is actually perfect for the later.

It’s easy to take a top level approach when designing a piece of software, a tool, or a business product and say Who’s Buying this, let me appeal to them. Who’s backing this, or investing in it, let me appeal to them. However, are we forgetting about who is using this? I remember my good friend Shawn Q, a clinical informatics specialist, told me a story of the E-Health Management system that went over budget by something like 500% because it just didn’t work for the ground floor nurses who were supposed to be using it. This is directly resulting from not keeping the end user in the loop and conversation.

EdTech and the Education market though is so much more complex.  Education is so directly tied to every level of our lives that the stakeholders are vast and varied.  Governments, Administrators, Lobbyists, Employers, Post Secondary Institutions Teachers, Parents and Students are all Key Stakeholder groups with a public and personal interest.    Of course with so many voices in the discussion, efficiency dictates that emphasis be placed on those who pay the bills.  The Administrators, the Governments, and the Institutions.  I advocate for that voice as a strong part of the equation in the hopes that that voice resonates the needs of the rest.  But even further I support the importance of actually connecting with each stakeholder group, to make sure nothing is missing.

Some Educational tech companies seem reluctant to drive their business with Teachers and Students in mind, and instead pay homage to their own vision of what is good and right and effective. In everything from connectivity to compatibility and even down to price modeling, some still fail to match their offering to meet the needs of the people using it. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not disparaging. There are many that build Advisory Groups and speak with Teachers, and Administrators and the Thought Leaders with years and years of experience. And I do the same in my development. But how many are going to the students, to the brand new fresh out of college teachers to see what their perspective is?

What a thought Garrett, you’re CRAZY! Ask an uneducated student to give insight on a project that they can’t even begin to understand the complexity of designing, much less the complexity of the market. Wait! Ask a teacher who just stepped out of college and doesn’t understand what it’s really like in the classroom yet? CRAZY! All you would get is kids that want every game ever made loaded into the software, and teachers who want the price to be free. I say “so what!” Yes you’re going to get some of that, but you will also get a wealth of information that adds amazing value for that group. And perhaps that’s the value add, that really makes your product stand out and help millions of students and teachers.

I’m a Kid Friendly YouTube Content Creator and I can tell you 100% that there are some really amazing and intelligent kids out there who know what they want. My interactions around my own EdTech startup company with Teachers and thought leaders, both inexperienced and experienced, have yielded such amazing insights into what they need and want. By working closely with a diverse group of end users, designing for them, my product has become theirs as much as ours.  I strongly believe that by keeping all the stakeholders in the conversation, our product will solve real teacher and student concerns.

So if you’re a Teacher, an Administrator, or even an EdTech Startup yourself and are not regularly in the trenches to talk with the day to day soldiers, you’re likely missing valuable information that could make you more successful.  To reword a Famous President’s mantra:  “And so, my fellow leaders – ask not what you can do for students and teachers, ask what they can do for you.”

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Garrett Zimmer is an experienced entrepreneur, speaker, and leader with a background in business and a passion for educational leadership.  Garrett has been awarded a Parliamentary Citation from the Government of Canada and various honors for his work with educational boards and councils across Ontario Canada. He continues to advocate and work for the future of students everywhere in the educational sector.  Garrett has spent the past 10 years as an entrepreneur and runs a popular Kid Friendly Youtube Entertainment Channel called PBJellyGames.

If you’d like to learn more about Garrett or MineGage, follow him on twitter: @PBJellyGames or visit the Minegage website www.minegage.com.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

Reforming K-12 Education: How the Activists are Doing It

By Matthew Lynch

Activism when it comes to public K-12 education is flourishing. Laws regarding K-12 education are no longer simply handed down and enforced without pushback – student, parents, teachers and outside activists have a larger voice than ever when it comes to the decisions impacting the future of their public schools.

After some thought, I came up with the most impactful things (in no particular order) that education activists have done in the past few years when it comes to K-12 education:

Student-driven change. When it comes to the paths of their educations, K-12 public school students are standing up for their rights more than ever before and empowering positive changes in their learning experiences. In April, over 100 Chicago Public Schools students made news when they skipped their standardized testing to protest the tests instead. Speaking to the press, one CPS student said that the protest was designed to draw attention to the fact that “standardized testing should not decide the future of our schools and students.” Student-led zombie flash mobs took place in front of the Philadelphia School District headquarters to oppose the closing of public schools in the city. Hoards of students in other cities like Denver, Providence and Philadelphia followed suit and spoke out against the advance of high-stakes testing and school closing. They rallied together and marched relentlessly to prove their strong dislike against standardized testing – and the belief the effects are not a true measure of success in the real world. While there may have been some parental encouragement behind the scenes, these students appeared to act alone in their pursuit of a better public school learning experience.
Parents as reformers. In California, the parent-led “trigger movement” made waves as parents demanded more from failing public schools. Dessert Springs Elementary School in Adelanto is an example of a school that was transformed from a consistently failing school (students had reading scores in the bottom 10 percent of the state) to a public charter that better served its student body – all because parents took a stand and demanded the change. The Lone Star State had some big news this year when a coalition led by parents was successful in petitioning the state to reduce by two-thirds the number of tests required to graduate high school. In 2011, the state required at least 15 high-stakes tests on students prior to earning their diploma. Two years of hard work later, the Texas legislature passed an education bill reducing the number of tests to five.

Activists stepping up. During 2013, civil rights advocates found an audience with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. In January, these public-school supporters gathered in DC to discuss their grievances to the Department of Education. The Journey for Justice came as Chicago was on the cusp of closing around 50 schools, and New York and Philadelphia had voted to close more than 20 each. These activists had every right to speak up – research shows that the closing of public schools in urban areas has the biggest negative effect on Latino and Black students. Mass school closures often shake up communicates and disrupt children’s learning, among other effects on displaced students. Perhaps the biggest public school activism success story for 2013 was the teacher union-led Scrap the Map in Seattle. After months of protesting Washington’s mandatory MAP standardized testing at Garfield High School, a decision was made to make the test optional for students throughout the state. In 2013, public school activists came out en masse and took to their local, state and federal legislators to protest detrimental closings and other public school legislation.

Pushing for increased funding. In 2013, activists were vocal about the need for stronger programs in science, technology, engineering and math. Thankfully, President Obama listened. His 2014 budget includes $3.1 billion in investments in federal STEM programs – an increase of nearly 7 percent over the budget of just two years ago. Of that total, $80 million is intended to recruit 100,000 well-qualified educators and another $35 million is earmarked for the launch of a pilot STEM Master Teacher Corps. The rest of the money will go to supporting undergraduate STEM education programs and investment in breakthrough research on the way STEM subjects are best taught to modern learners. At the urging of advisors and activists, the president realized that demand for STEM-related jobs is there and the money allocated to STEM learning initiatives will better prepare today’s students for the worldwide workforce.

Supporting Race to the Top. Over the last 2 years, education activists have continued to support the president’s incentive-based Race to the Top program, which was launched in 2012 and it rewards states that are willing to reform their education models to best adapt to modern student learning needs. The Race to the Top initiative has raised standards for learning to reflect a push toward college and career readiness. Each year, the program gives even more in federal funding to states that prepare plans for reforming their student offerings and 2013 was a big year for it. To date, the program has allocated more than $4 billion among 19 states that have shared well-developed plans to improve learning standards, teacher effectiveness and struggling schools. The states that have been granted the funds represent 42 percent of all low-income students in the nation – making the initiative an effective way to close the achievement gap and equalize funding in areas where schools may struggle based on their geographical location.

Lobbying for college affordability. College affordability activists urged the president to make earning a college education more affordable for all Americans and convinced him that this will impact future K-12 classrooms. In August 2013, the President announced plans to assign a ratings systems to colleges by the 2015 school year that takes items like tuition, graduation rate, debt and earnings ratios of graduates and percentage of low-income students who attend into consideration. The grand plan? To base the amount of federal financial aid colleges receive on the rankings system by 2018. The overall principle is not to call out colleges but rather to make them more accountable to students, and to ensure that every American with college degree aspirations has the actual means to make it happen. Long term, this will impact the quality of teachers in the classrooms, particularly in urban settings where research has shown that the most effective teachers are generally those who come from the same background. More lower-income college students earning degrees will have a positive impact on the entire education system and the college scorecard initiative is a step in that direction.

What would you add to my list?

photo credit: Steve Rhodes via photopin cc

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Policy & Reform, Teachers

STEM Learning Must Go Beyond Memorizing Facts and Theories

By Steven Korte

There is a growing global demand for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals. At the same time, experts in science education are calling for students to become more “scientifically literate.” This call, however, is about more than filling jobs.

A basic understanding of scientific concepts, processes, and ways of thinking is critical for students to succeed in the world of today and tomorrow. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2014 report on the results of the international PISA 2012 science assessment, “An understanding of science and technology is central to a young person’s preparedness for life in modern society.”

This means that students must go beyond memorizing science facts and theories; they must gain experience with the tools and practices of science. Technology can help. While technology alone does not create scientific understanding, it represents a key tool for promoting inquiry investigations.

A substantial body of research confirms the positive impact of inquiry-based instruction on students’ understanding of science, including substantially higher learning when compared to traditional instruction. Further, education experts specify that technology is most effective in supporting student learning in science when it is used in an inquiry context. Indeed, blending technology into data collection, analysis and visualization as part of inquiry-based instruction has been shown to deepen students’ understanding, and increase their motivation and interest in science.

Districts transitioning to or implementing STEM programs should consider the following points:

  • Lab investigations and technology tools should be connected with classroom experiences, including lectures, readings and discussions. Lab experiences and technology are much more effective when fully integrated into the curriculum and the flow of classroom science lessons.
  • Whether teachers choose to use a structured, guided or open inquiry format, lab activities should give students the opportunity to apply the scientific process to their learning. These activities should allow them to question and investigate; make predictions; collect, analyze and interpret data; refine their questions; and engage in argumentation from evidence. This builds problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills, as well as “soft skills” such as communication and collaboration.
  • Inquiry-based investigations inside and outside the classroom should engage students in real-life scientific and engineering practices. Students should also have the opportunity to use real-world tools to make data meaningful for them while they “do” science.
  • Traditional labs can be time-consuming and classroom sets of industry equipment can be prohibitively expensive. Be sure that lab investigations and technology tools are specifically designed for instructional use to save time and money, and reduce frustration. For example, traditional cell respiration labs are typically complex and inaccurate. In a respiration lab activity built to facilitate student understanding, the setup for a carbon dioxide or oxygen gas sensor should be simple, so accurate data can collected in minutes with minimal frustration.
  • To maximize your technology investment, make sure tools such as sensors and probes are compatible with any classroom environment and work on a variety of platforms, including iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets, Mac and Windows computers, and netbooks. In addition, make certain the tools match the ability levels of your students.
  • A key part of the scientific process is the sharing, analysis and discussion of data. Consider how students’ data will be transmitted from tools, such as sensors, to their computer or tablet. Will it be done via a USB or wireless connection? Will the data be transmitted directly to the student’s device or will it go to the cloud first? Can students do this themselves or will they need teacher assistance? Allowing students to get their data faster gives them more time for analysis and discussion, which is key to building scientific understanding.
  • When possible, consider investing in multi-measure sensors that allow for the collection of multiple, simultaneous measurements in a single sensor, e.g. for areas such weather, advanced chemistry, or water quality. This not only helps keep costs down, but also helps conserve instructional time by reducing the time it takes to set up sensors and collect the data.
  • If inquiry-based instruction is new to your district, conduct professional development workshops that guide teachers to begin with more highly-structured activities and then move students, over time, to open-ended investigations where they take more responsibility for planning their activities. Each stage of this transition should informed by teachers’ assessments of students’ readiness to complete learner-led investigations.
  • Instructional resources and professional development workshops should also provide suggestions on ways to scaffold student capabilities. This will ensure that teachers can provide multiple levels of guidance and support for investigations. It will also help teachers to select the level of support that best matches their students’ skills and experiences, so they can accomplish challenging tasks.

Across the country and around the world, teachers are effectively implementing inquiry-based science instruction that takes advantage of technology tools for collecting, analyzing and visualizing data. When students “do” science, rather than simply read about it, they deepen their understanding, they develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and they retain more content knowledge. They are also more motivated to learn and to continue building their science literacy. This is not only critical for students who decided to pursue STEM careers, but also for life in the modern world.

Steven Korte is the CEO of PASCO Scientific, a developer of innovative teaching and learning solutions for K–12 and higher education since 1964.

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Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Policy & Reform, Teachers

Stop blaming poor parents for their children’s vocabulary

Paul Thomas, Furman University

While the reading wars in education have raged for decades, most people agree that literacy is crucial for children and that the path to strong reading and writing skills begins in the home. But focusing on poor children’s parents may actually be the real problem when trying to increase their success in school.

In a recent article in the New York Times, journalist Douglas Quenqua looked back 20 years to a “landmark education study which found that by the age of three, children from low-income families have heard 30m fewer words than more affluent children, putting them at an educational disadvantage before they even began school.” He detailed new research by Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, professor of psychology at Temple University, challenging the importance of the quantity of words a child hears and emphasising the quality of language in each child’s home.

That “landmark study” refers to a 1995 study by American psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley. They concluded that the key to children’s language development is quantity of words they hear. And that an important way to evaluate early years child care is the amount of talk actually going on between children and their caregivers.

What the New York Times article fails to mention is that in 2009, education researchers Curt Dudley-Marling and Krista Lucas discredited Hart and Risley’s claims as being biased in favour of middle- and upper-class children. They showed that the study’s research design, limited population studied and biases reflected assumptions about the impoverished. Thus, Dudley-Marling and Lucas argued that Hart and Risley’s claims should not be generalised to the whole population.

Also absent in these debates is the recognition that whether we identify quality or quantity of vocabulary, we remain trapped in a “deficit perspective” of language. Deficit perspectives are those that identify a person or a condition by what is missing – in this case, parents talking to their children in a certain way. That deficit often reflects biases and stereotypes.

Blame the poor

Hirsh-Pasek’s claims about the quality of words children hear complicate a simplified view of language as merely how many words a child knows. But the broader discussion remains trapped in a perspective of blaming impoverished children’s parents.

Ultimately, a shift in focus from the quantity of words a child hears to the quality of those words does not usher in a step-change in policy. This is because the myth persists that the flaws of impoverished parents are passed to their children – and so the impoverished continue to be blamed for their poverty. The deficit must be filled: first it was more words, now it is higher-quality words.

Neither approach turns our attention away from the victims of poverty and toward the social conditions creating it. This results in differences in language among social classes – often related to grammar or vocabulary – that reflect not failed people but an inequitable society.

Such debates simply allow cultural stereotypes to determine what research matters publicly and politically – and how. Whether we argue that impoverished parents fail to share the same number or quality of words with their children when compared to middle-class or affluent parents, we are still blaming those parents and not the social inequity driving poverty.

Giving children more or higher quality vocabulary teaching without addressing the roots of social and educational inequity exposes that simply embracing ongoing research is not enough in education. Without first setting aside our cultural biases, research fails us and our students.

What messages get through

In a recent article on The Conversation, Dennis Hayes lamented that a study in the UK shows education often fails to link practice to research. Back in 1947, American educator and former president of the National Council of Teachers of English, Lou LaBrant expressed a similar concern about the “considerable gap between the research … and the utilisation of that research in school programs and methods.”. This lack of research-driven practice in the classroom spans decades and stretches across national borders.

Further complicating this failure is distortion by media who disproportionately cover think-tank press reports (often not peer-reviewed) compared to more rigorous university-based research.

Psychology professor at Florida State University, K. Anders Ericsson has confronted this problem since journalist Malcolm Gladwell has misrepresented his research and made popular the misleading 10,000 hour rule – that greatness only comes by a defined amount of lengthy practice.

Ericsson has called for not allowing research to remain primarily in the hands of journalists: “At the very least [media coverage of research] should not contain factually incorrect statements and avoid reinforcing existing misconceptions in the popular media.”

As the ongoing concern for the literacy of impoverished children shows, research can be the problem and not the solution, if we view that research through the lens of stereotypes and assumptions.

Yes, we need to link research and practice in education, but we must do so while guarding against oversimplification and biases, especially those perpetuate deficit views of impoverished families and children.

The Conversation

Paul Thomas, Associate Professor of Education, Furman University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, First Year Teachers, Teachers

The First Year Teaching: How do I handle misbehavior?

By Matthew Lynch

New teachers will find that one of the most frustrating parts of teaching is classroom misbehavior. This misbehavior is easy to identify, but finding the solution to effectively deal with it by finding the causes may be more difficult. As misbehavior will continue if not successfully dealt with the first few times, teachers need to get to the root of the problems that are the causes of students’ misbehavior as soon as possible (Moore, 2008). Teachers should take close looks into students’ behaviors to find the influential factors that are shaping students’ behavioral patterns.

Consider Background Factors

One notable place to start is by examining students’ home environments. Children model their behavior on that of their parents, and their parents are also likely to have a high degree of influence over their point of view.  Students with well-educated parents are more likely to have been instilled with respect for education and the institutions and authorities that accompany it. It follows that these children will be more likely to maintain a high level of personal discipline because they see the purpose of their presence at school and understand what they will achieve from adhering to prescribed behavior. On the other hand, it helps to be aware that there are also students whose parents expect perfect scores, forcing their children to take the most advanced courses offered, against the wishes of the child.

Rules and customs that are set by parents for children directly influence students’ behaviors. Students with extremely tolerant parents who let their children have things their way all the time will talk back to teachers and get into trouble with other students who disagree with them.   The student may struggle to understand why such behavior is not allowed at school but is allowed at home. Students who grow up under authoritarian-style also exhibit classroom misbehavior, although this may be manifested in a different way. These students may show overt fear and anxiety in response to authority figures, including teachers.  This may result in under-performance, lack of engagement in activities or an inability to focus appropriately. On the other hand, these students may feel that they are able to release their frustrations on other students, whom they see as their equals.

Poverty, among other socioeconomic factors, is cited as being a particularly important factor in understanding why students misbehave. This is not necessarily because there is a direct lack of discipline in homes affected by poverty. It is a reflection of the different values that are present at different socioeconomic levels of society. If children grow up in a home where they are unsure of where their next meal is coming from, or are unable to rely on parental support (parents who work multiple jobs, for example), their values will be fundamentally different than children who grow up in homes where they have the privilege of being able to take these things for granted. People living in poverty, particularly in extreme poverty, will value survival more highly than academic achievement. Other values will include interpersonal relationships and entertainment, the former likely to assist with survival and the latter because this will allow them to temporarily mentally escapes the confines of their situation.

Conversely, high-income families may come about as the result of parents allowing inadequate time for effective parenting. Parents may have demanding jobs, leaving their children unsupervised during this time, particularly once they are old enough to look after themselves. Parents who show over-involvement in their work for any reason may also play a less active role in their children’s lives. Increasingly, parents of high-income families are also providing their children with access to their credit cards. These children now have the ability to live and function as adults in every other aspect of their lives, other than at school. This may have an influence on their behavior at school.

Consider Classroom Factors

Various factors within the classroom may also affect whether or not students behave appropriately. Good air circulation in the classroom is essential and should never be compromised. Students should be made as comfortable as possible in their environment, as discomfort may prompt them to engage in undesirable behavior. Observe whether or not students are seated at desks and chairs that are suited to the size of their bodies. It will be impossible to accommodate every child, but various efforts can be made.

Mismatches between the abilities of the students and the learning material being presented will also tend to encourage misbehavior. Students who are being insufficiently challenged will display a lack of interest in various ways. This may take the form of abject disinterest in the teaching, or may result in them being disruptive to other students. It is important to adjust your teaching to make the lesson interesting to even the most gifted students in the class, while also taking into account the interests of all your students. Conversely, students who are unable to grasp the material being taught, or who are being presented with material that they are completely unfamiliar with, will also be more likely to misbehave. Bear existing levels of knowledge in mind when you plan lesson content,and conduct frequent informal assessments, to ensure that you understand what is appropriate for your students to be learning.

In some cases, misbehavior may be due to factors arising from the teachers themselves. In some cases, teachers are not aware that they are indirectly a cause of the poor classroom behavior, making it clear why you should conduct regular self-evaluations and self-reflective exercises. Continuing your professional development is important to enable you to remain in touch with effective teaching practices. There is always room for improvement to your personal teaching methods and your approach to teaching. In particular, ensure that you identify situations which you are unable to cope with early and seek assistance from other teachers, principals or school counselors — all of whom may offer creative and innovate ways of addressing classroom behavior problems.

Ensure that you strive to treat all your students with respect as individuals as well as in terms of their cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. If you set a good example of behavior for your students, they are likely to pick up on this and treat you with respect. Avoid raising your voice or using a disparaging tone, and always ensure that you respond to students with appropriate validation where necessary.

Never humiliate or embarrass your students, as this is highly counterproductive, and is never in the best interest of your students. Students may try to provoke you during classroom time, which requires you to be able to identify these attempts without reacting to them and without losing self-control. You need to demonstrate adult methods of conflict management when dealing with your students at all times. This may be difficult when you are dealing with personal difficulties or frustrations, which is why it is important for you to remain aware of the boundary between your duties as an educator and your personal duties towards yourself. Leave your own personal frustrations outside the classroom as much as possible.

It is important to be clear with your students about what behavior will be tolerated and what will not, as consistency in your approach to them as students will encourage them to adhere to your requirements of them. Always aim to plan effectively and avoid frequent and unnecessary disruptions to your teaching plan, as this may contribute to misbehavior by allowing students idle time. Prepare class materials and be ready to deal with any unexpected disturbances, giving students minimal idle time and ensuring that there is something to keep them adequately occupied should anything unplanned arise.

Consider Physical and Psychological Factors

Although there are differences in behavior of students according to their age, many physical and psychological factors can have an influence at different stages of their school career. Children are unable to make adult-like choices in how they behave, but are often trying to communicate a need or desire. It is important to be able to determine whether or not this behavior is under their control to determine whether or not there is a need or desire that you can assist in addressing.

It would likely be unwise to determine that misbehavior is the result of a physical or psychological problem in a child who commits a single act of undesirable behavior, but it would be as unwise not to consider these factors in a repeat offender. Sometimes students will simply be acting on the desire to break any rules that have been imposed on them. Some students, however, are subject to various medical conditions or are exposed to environments that have severe effects on their ability to function normally. Enlisting the assistance of a school nurse or school counselor is crucial in ensuring that these students also receive the same standards of education as their peers.

A commonly encountered disorder is Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD. Children who suffer ADHD will commonly have a reduced ability to control their impulses and have bouts of hyperactivity, which are disruptive to both themselves and their peers. On the opposite end of the spectrum are Autistic Spectrum Disorders, in which children have difficulty with social interaction and perform compulsive, repetitive behaviors which may equally be perceived as disruptive to themselves and their peers.

There are also mental health problems that are more commonly encountered in adults which may present during later childhood years, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, in which sufferers cause severe difficulties in interacting with them due to their excessive and sometimes unprovoked aggression. These students will often be a source of extreme frustration to teachers, but may also be so aggressive that they cause physical harm to teachers, and therefore there may be teachers who are simply afraid of them. Other mental health conditions include Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Major Depressive Disorders, all of which are much more difficult to diagnose in children than in adults. It is imperative that you consult with your school counselor or similar mental health professional in order to determine if your students is suffering from any of these disorders.

Behavior changes may also result from the intake of substances, whether narcotic or simply unfamiliar to the body. Students who are taking medication for any condition, including antibiotics or anti-epileptic medication, may show changes in their behavior. These will be more easily disclosed to a teacher than the taking of narcotic or illegal substances, and you will be required to maintain a certain degree of suspicion with regard to children whose behavior changes drastically during the course of a school day.

Medical conditions such as viral infections and meningitis may also cause changes in a student’s behavior. Some medical conditions are so subtle that children may not even realize that they are sick because they are not feeling any obvious symptoms. In many cases, however, they may be feeling quite marked symptoms, which have either not been addressed by their parents or caretakers or are ignoring these symptoms out of fear. Changes resulting from medical conditions have the advantage of being easier to detect as they are more likely to occur suddenly, giving a clue as to their cause. With experience, you will learn to identify different behavioral problems more effectively.

If you are a veteran teacher, how did you get a grip on behavioral issues in your classroom when you were first starting out?

photo credit: Lotus Carroll via photopin cc

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

How to Prepare for Your First-Year Teachers Evaluation

As a new teacher, be aware that you will undergo evaluations by school principals or other administrators. Such evaluations often cause some anxiety for new teachers, but it’s important to view them in a positive light.

The evaluators are responsible for assessing new teachers’ performance. The frequency of assessment differs not only according to the district regulations, but also according to individual differences in evaluators. The number of visits for evaluation range from once a year to once every month, but on average, it’s a quarterly visit. Rehiring, terminating, and even merit pay largely depend on this evaluation, so it’s important for you to have a good idea about how you’ll be evaluated. Some preparation work is necessary, and this is your responsibility.

Check the education department Web site to see how the visits are arranged in the local area, and also seek advice from your mentor teacher on what evaluators are looking for during the assessment. After the evaluation, you’ll receive feedback. Take this feedback seriously, because it will provide ideas on how to strengthen your skills and work on your weaker areas. And research shows that teachers who get the most feedback from the classroom are the most satisfied with teaching.

Feedback is usually based on three components of evaluation:

1. Quantitative Evaluation

The quantitative approach simply looks at how many times a teacher undertakes certain actions such as questioning, praising, and critiquing. In another quantitative approach, the evaluator takes a quick look at each student for about 20 seconds and records his or her activities. For example, “Amy was concentrated on the task” or “Ben was disturbing the students sitting nearby him.”
When the U.S. Department of Education announced its $4.35 billion Race to the Top Grant competition, one of the stipulations of eligibility to compete required states not to have any legal, statutory, or regulatory barriers to linking data on student achievement or student growth to teachers’ evaluation. Since the passage of the Race to the Top Act in 2010, many states have been focusing on addressing the Act’s emphasis on student achievement as part of the teacher evaluation process.

2. Qualitative Evaluation

A qualitative approach measures the complexity of the classroom environment that may not be accurately measured by quantitative methods. Evaluators write down their own description of the classroom, which will later serve as a guide for giving subjective feedback to the teachers.

3. Clinical Supervision

A more detailed form of evaluation is clinical supervision, which includes the following four steps:
1) A supervisor’s meeting with a teacher
2) Classroom observation
3) Analysis of observation
4) Post-observation meeting with the supervisor

In the initial meeting, supervisors and teachers schedule the observation date and determine the focus of the evaluation. At the meeting after the observation, teachers and supervisors work together to create plans for improvement.

Although this clinical supervision method is most effective, implementing a four-step procedure for every new teacher is time-consuming. Teachers will thus often encounter modified versions of such evaluation. Some have regular, unannounced visits of 5 minutes a few times a day during the evaluation period, and after each short visit, the evaluators and teachers have a follow-up conversation. Some aspects that may be observed are whether the teacher stays on the topic and doesn’t get sidetracked, whether the students understand the teacher’s words, and whether the classroom environment has enthusiasm.

Although you may be tempted to feel intimidated or uncomfortable with evaluations at first, most teachers soon find that feedback from knowledgeable and understanding evaluators can improve classroom attitudes and teaching behaviors.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

4 Ways Americans Can Love Education Again

Most patriotic Americans agree education should be the most important issue in the country. After all, a country that lacks knowledge lacks power… right? Common sense tells us that in order to secure a thriving future for our nation’s children, we must become high achievers in the areas of math, reading and science. Unfortunately, the collective concern for education continues to wane. This may explain why education in the United States is considered average when compared to the rest of the world.

Often employed by public officials looking for a platform, the issue of education continues to make headlines, but very little actual progress is being made. In fact, teachers across the country continue to express their dissatisfaction with leadership, salary cuts and a lack of resources. Our children are in crisis; our future is in jeopardy and with each passing day, we become more vulnerable to the darkness of ignorance and unawareness.

According to the Pew Research Center, education ranks among the public’s top ten policy priorities, coming in at number six. At first glance, this may seem impressive, but Pew also reports that in general, Americans have a declining interest in education. Not surprisingly, the economy, job creation and terrorism are the public’s top three priorities, and there’s no question each would have grave consequences if not addressed. While most agree these topics should be focal points of interest, however, many argue the public has lost sight of what should matter most: education.

The reality is our country is guilty of becoming increasingly apathetic about education. As a rule, teachers are grossly undervalued; their significance is continually diminished and their contributions go highly underrated. The majority of school teachers love what they do and consider themselves blessed to be afforded the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. Their profound impact on the world of academia, and their willingness to sacrifice high-paying salaries should be applauded. But at what point do we, as Americans, stand up and say that our treatment of teachers is simply unacceptable? When do we decide that a number six priority ranking for education is not good enough – and that our students and teachers mean more to our collective society than that?

Here are some facts about America that reflect our current attitude toward education:

  1. The U.S. is only average when it comes to education. According to data collected by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the performance of American students as compared to their international equivalents is mediocre at best. PISA is an international study that evaluates education systems worldwide every three years. This involves testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in more than 70 participating countries/economies.Scores from the 2009 PISA assessmentreveal the U.S. performs about average in reading and science and below average in math. Some of the top performers on the PISA evaluation were Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Finland, Shanghai in China, Singapore and Canada. Out of 34 participating countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. These statistics are staggering.
  2. America could become richer by becoming better educated. As reported by the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation, a recent study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggests that if the U.S. could boost its average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years, it could lead to a gain of $41 trillion for the U.S. economyover the lifetime of the generation born in 2010. Therein lies the solution to every major problem facing the American people — including the economy, job creation and terrorism awareness.
  3. More money is not the solution to the problem. Based on research provided by  Steven Paine, a nationally renowned American educator, the OECD has offered a number of simple and practical lessons to the United States. According to Paine, money is not the answer to boosting our country’s international educational status, nor will it bring about a greater classroom experience. In studying the world’s highest achievers — Finland, Singapore and Ontario, Canada — Paine suggests our lack of respect for teachers is the nation’s number one enemy of education. “The major difference between those systems and the one in the U.S. had to do with how teachers are valued, trained and compensated,” he noted.

Paine stated in his report to the OECD, “In Finland, it is a tremendous honor to be a teacher, and teachers are afforded a status comparable to what doctors, lawyers and other highly regarded professionals enjoy in the U.S.” The report also suggested the teaching profession in Singapore “is competitive and highly selective, [a country] that works hard to build its own sense of professional conduct and meet high standards for skills development.” The study of Ontario revealed similar findings.

Paine insists, “The U.S. must restore the teaching profession to the level of respect and dignity it enjoyed only a few decades ago. This will not be easy, particularly in the current economic environment with states and localities strapped for funds. But improving the regard with which teachers are held is not principally about how much they are paid.”=

Paine continued, “OECD countries that have been most successful in making teaching an attractive profession have often done so by offering teachers real career prospects and more responsibility as professionals — encouraging them to become leaders of educational reform. This requires teacher education that helps teachers to become innovators and researchers in education, not just deliverers of the curriculum.”

  1. The solution to better educational outcomes is within our reach. The report concluded that the U.S. has the resources and talent to compete more effectively and raise its level of educational achievement. This is contingent upon our willingness and ability to “demonstrate with action that it truly values education, display an understanding of the vital importance of having an educated workforce that can compete globally, and develop the political will to devote the necessary resources for educational reform.”

To make that happen, every American who cares about the economic future of our nation must come together and work to help make that plan a reality. It starts by giving our teachers the support, and financial compensation, they deserve.

We, the People, must take action to rightly place education where it belongs — as our number one concern. Get involved; make your voice heard and take a stand.

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Matthew Lynch published in Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform, Teachers

Another Failed Charter: Do These Schools have a Future?

In February of 2013, the Einstein Montessori School in Orlando became a casualty of the charter school experiment. State officials closed the school that had 40 students ranging from third through eighth grade. The school promoted itself as a specialty institution for dyslexic students but teachers told media outlets that there was no curriculum in place, no computers and no school library. Despite these and other red flags the school remained in operation longer than it should have because Florida law currently only allows for immediate school closures for safety, welfare and health issues.

Of course parents of the students at the school are outraged but so are taxpayers. Einstein Montessori received close to $165,000 in state money for operations – money that cannot be recovered or redirected. That number is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the total $287 million in state money that four failed Orlando-area charter schools received in recent years. Consider what that number looks like on a state scale. Now consider it on a national level. With stories like the failure of Einstein Montessori in the headlines, it is no wonder parents and other community members angrily attend charter school meetings and protest against their opening.

Despite this negativity, I’m on the proponent side of charter schools. Katie Ash recently posted the results from a charter school research study out of Stanford that found 63 percent of charter schools outperformed public school counterparts in mathematics. The report looked at schools in New York City but similar results exist across the country. I think that in addition to providing quality education overall, the competitive vibe that charters bring with them elevates the performance of all public schools. Traditional district schools are faced with more pressure to perform in order to keep the brightest students and this translates to higher levels of innovation by administration and teachers. I think that the future of K-12 learners is brighter as a result of the inception of charter schools but only if these schools are continually monitored for quality, strength in management and prioritization of student needs.

For charter schools to succeed in the future, there needs to be more transparency. States have long held a somewhat laissez faire approach to charters, allowing them freedom to operate how they see fit and not stepping in until mistakes are beyond repair. For charter schools to fulfill their mission – which I believe is to add value to the traditional public school system and raise the educational bar for all K-12 students – they need to consider their presence a partnership with the state. Since the first charter schools began sprouting up in Minnesota in 1991, the battle to find balance between accountability and innovation through autonomy has existed; stories like the ones out of Orlando show that not enough progress has been made in this regard. Educators and legislators need to realize the success of each depends on the other and approach charter school goals with this mentality.

For charters to achieve optimal success for students, the public also needs more information on what these schools actually are and how to heighten the public school education experience. While most educators recognize charter schools as public entities, community members often confuse charter schools with for-profit educational management organizations, or EMOs. This leads to an automatic feeling of resentment as students are viewed as a business opportunity. These misconceptions mean that charter schools are often viewed in a negative light for the wrong reasons. As more parents, students and community members understand the benefits of well-run charter schools, better outcomes for all are possible.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

School Community Collaboration and Peer Observation as Levers to Student Success

A guest post by Mark D. Benigni, Ed.D., Thomas W. Giard III, and David Levenduski

Meriden Public Schools, Connecticut

We are in an unprecedented era of accountability, a new teacher evaluation and development system, the Common Core State Standards, Smarter Balance Assessments and increased scrutiny from big business, the press and public. Our public schools face decreasing financial resources and additional federal and state mandates. Therefore, creating opportunities for our educators to work together in meaningful ways needs to be a priority for every district. School districts must create systems that encourage our educators to observe, reflect, collaborate, and enhance their instruction.

In Meriden, our deliberate and thoughtful steps to promote peer collaboration at the district and school levels has been a five year journey working with our teachers’ union to design and implement true teacher support programs. Together, union and management are breaking down the barriers that have isolated educators from their colleagues and peers. We first developed a comprehensive approach at the district level to begin having teachers spend time in each others’ classes as a strategy towards instructional improvement. The development and implementation of three distinct programs took shape: our Peer Coaching Program, our Learning Walks Program, and our Meriden Teachers Sharing Success Team.

Peer Coaching Program

Our peer coaching program provides educators with an opportunity to observe other educators in action. The premise of our program is that our best teachers are our best teachers and that educators can help educators improve student learning. The major roles of a peer coach are to collaborate, provide beneficial feedback, share effective teaching strategies, and reflect on teaching and learning. Peer coaches are matched with peers by grade level or content area with someone outside their building. Peer coaches receive training from the National School Reform Faculty and use an established protocol to share honest and open feedback with their peer coach and to guide their reflections regarding what they learn from each other.

The program expectations include peer coaches spending a minimum of one full day in the peer’s classroom. While the minimum is one day in the peer’s classroom, many do more and many have formed lasting professional relationships that continue long after the one year in the formal peer coaching program. Over the last five years, we have sent a clear message to the teachers that this is important work and vital to their own growth as an educator.

Learning Walks Program

Three years ago the district launched a learning walks program in all twelve schools. The learning walks program involves having teams of teachers, with an administrator, observe classroom instruction in their own building using an evidence-based protocol for data collection and debriefing. We collaborated with The Connecticut Center for School Change to develop a model, based on instructional rounds, which could be adapted to the building level and inclusive of teacher teams as opposed to simply teams of administrators. Two teams of four to five teachers visit up to six classrooms for about 15-20 minutes each, using a descriptive evidence data collection strategy. The classroom visitations are centered on a problem of practice or focus area and teachers are there to observe teacher and student actions. Teachers use data collection sheets that ask them to observe within the context of these three questions: What is the teacher saying and doing and to whom? What are the students saying and doing and to whom? What is the content/task? These data-gathering questions are used in a comprehensive debrief process of the classroom observations. Data is shared as common instructional patterns observed, not individual teacher critiques.

Our teachers constantly tell us that the learning walks debrief is an exceptional professional development experience. The debrief is a three-step process. It starts with an individual debrief where the teachers review their classroom evidence in the context of the focus area and select key pieces of evidence from each of the rooms visited. Evidence may only contain what they actually saw occurring in the classroom and cannot include any judgment or assumptions. Teacher names are not used. The second step of the debrief process entails having teachers share their evidence with their team and evidence is organized into patterns by the two respective teams.

The third step in the debrief process is each team reports out to the whole group and evidence is discussed, challenged, and reflected upon by all teachers in attendance. The whole group then answers three questions that will be shared with the faculty at a future meeting. The questions answered by the teachers are: What did your group observe as strengths? What did your group observe as possible areas for growth for our school? What questions/suggestions can you pose that will help our school move instruction related to our focus area to the next level? Are their implications for future professional development? Any teachers observed on a learning walks day become part of the learning walks classroom visitation team next time. This process helps us promote an atmosphere and cycle of continuous improvement in our schools.

Meriden Teachers Sharing Success Team

As Meriden rolled out their new teacher evaluation and development process, a commitment was made to provide educators with additional development and growth opportunities. As a result, union and management created the Meriden Teachers Sharing Success Team (MTSS) to recognize our exemplary educators and to provide support and growth opportunities for teachers. MTSS team members are tenured Meriden Public School teachers who open their classrooms for peer visitations and avail themselves for discussion and reflection with their peers who visit.
At the elementary level, MTSS teachers are educators who have led their students to substantial student growth for four consecutive years. We have MTSS teachers at all grade levels from kindergarten through grade 5. At the secondary level, our major instructional focus has been on creating student-centered learning environments. Secondary MTSS teachers are teachers who are effectively implementing student-centered learning in their classrooms. These teachers are identified by their principals and are vetted by a group consisting of central office administration, teachers’ union leadership, and administrators’ union leadership. All MTSS teachers are trained by the National School Reform Faculty to assist their colleagues in their continual growth process.

Teachers can self-select to go observe an MTSS teacher or it might occur after a conversation with a coach or supervisor about how best to enhance their classroom instruction. Regardless of how a teacher decides to observe an MTSS teacher, all who take advantage of this program have shared that it has improved their instructional practice.

The School-Based Launch

Initial conversations: There are two words that can have a negative impact on educators, and leave any good idea or intention on the cutting room floor: initiative and mandate. In the dynamic world of education, initiatives and mandates are thrown at educators with the speed and fury of a tsunami. Wave after wave of expectations crash in from legislators, state departments, districts and administrators. If these initiatives and mandates are not carefully presented with connections to improvement in practice, they are doomed from the onset.

So the school principal presented the idea in a way that connected the practice to what was being implemented across the district, and explained how staff can improve and learn from each other. Prior to beginning to have teachers observing one another, every opportunity, from faculty meetings to data team meetings to individual conferences, were used to emphasize and highlight the importance of collaboration and sharing of best practices. Beyond data teams, the principal worked in conjunction with the staff to develop an intervention and enrichment system which increased opportunities to collaborate to plan instruction, and allowed teachers to share students and begin to blur the lines regarding who “owned” the students. Their own data was utilized to build confidence and exhibit the instructional strengths that were being cultivated within the school. Staff came to realize that they did not need to always look outside the school for professional development opportunities; the professional expertise was among them. These conversations built the foundation for the next stage; creating the system.

Creating the system: With the foundation laid to enable staff to increase collaboration, peer observations as a supportive tool for strengthening instructional practices was a natural extension of our efforts. The next step was to share the idea of utilizing an observation to connect a teacher who shows a strength in an area to a teacher who exhibits a weakness in that particular area; all based on student achievement data and on the premise of supporting, not evaluating. These conversations were accomplished through the district’s process of goal setting meetings, which occur at the beginning of the year when student-achievement goals are set for the school year. These meetings became the catalyst to connect teachers for observations with an instructional focus in mind.

With building leadership’s support, time was re-engineered to create opportunities within the schedule for the teachers to conduct their observations. A reflection sheet, which the observer used to document the experience and reflect on what they observed and how the observation would impact or influence their future instruction, was developed. Then came the light bulb moment at a state-run professional development workshop regarding adaptations to the data team process during which a new mandate was presented for developing a SMART goal for the teachers. While other districts and schools expressed concern, the staff conferred and decided that instead of adding another mandate or initiative to teachers’ already full plates, the peer observations would be used as the new mandated adult SMART goal.

It was at this point that peer observations became “officially mandated”. This was viewed in a positive light by the staff because it involved the utilization of a practice which had already begun instead of adding yet another initiative or mandate. The system for peer observations was now created and in motion, and the teachers were supportive because they were involved and part of the decision to mandate the practice.

Releasing Responsibility: The overall goal was to begin a practice that would ultimately become a natural part of our professional routine. Through the creation of a schedule in the office where teachers could sign-up for times to observe others, we quickly began releasing responsibility to the teachers. Securing sub coverage at the beginning of the year assured a successful release of responsibility to the teachers. Another change that provided momentum was the adoption of a new district evaluation plan. Like the teacher SMART goal that was originally linked to the peer observations, the new evaluation plan contained a professional practice goal for teachers. This goal required the teacher to collect and present artifacts and evidence which connected to the identified practice the teacher selected. The peer observations and accompanying reflection sheet served as valuable artifacts for this professional practice goal.

Culture of Collaboration: A wonderful transformation began to unfold as the staff progressed; teachers were not only scheduling times for the peer observations, but teachers were also conducting observations on their own during preparation periods. The teachers were now viewing the peer observations as important for improving their instruction, and were using their own time to conduct them. The school was also beginning to see improvements in student achievement, which provided tangible evidence of improvements in practices. The staff was also becoming much more comfortable with the practice of observing each other to improve their own teaching practices. It was not “taboo” for teachers to admit they had areas for growth, and more importantly they realized there were available resources in their own building to assist. In essence, the school was fast-becoming a learning community. As the school was progressing with its own internal observation system, staff saw the connections to the district’s initiatives of MTSS and learning walks, and the value in their own internal peer observation system. The connections between the district initiatives and the school-based observation initiative provided a level of comfort with opening classroom doors that did not exist previously.

Moving Forward: As the journey of sharing best practices through professional collegiality and peer observations continues, the plan will be to have all teachers within a grade level conduct “vertical” observations. This would include visiting and observing instruction of classrooms one grade below and one grade above the grade they teach. This will allow the teachers to understand the rigor of instruction at those grade levels, and how it impacts their own instructional practice at their grade level. Wherever the school proceeds to next with observations, the idea is to build upon the level of trust, support and collaboration that has been established. The “culture of collaboration” has been instrumental in improving the way the staff operates on a day to day basis, and the results seen in student achievement and teacher development have validated the efforts.

As a district, we are moving forward together with a foundation of trust and open-mindedness. We are a collaborative team that has created a unifying vision for our district. We believe that every child is entitled to a high quality education, that teachers and leaders impact every child’s achievement, and that collaboration improves student learning and sustains our mission to see our students make positive progress.

Just this past year, we achieved the highest scores in district history in grade 3 reading, grade 5 science, grade 6 math, grade 7 reading, and grade 8 reading and writing. Our school climate data were equally impressive. Since 2010–2011, suspensions have decreased by 58%, expulsions are down 88%, and school-based arrests have been reduced by 77%. In the Meriden Public Schools, we know that in this era of accountability, our approach has to be more than simple compliance; we have to create a professional learning community where teachers learn from one another. We must create schools where students and staff want to be.

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Mark D. Benigni, Ed.D. ([email protected]) is Superintendent of Meriden Public Schools and is Co-chair of the Connecticut Association of Urban Schools Superintendents. Dr. Benigni also serves on the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) national Governing Board.

Thomas W. Giard III ([email protected]) is Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and Staff Development of Meriden Public Schools and is an adjunct professor at Sacred Heart University in the Educational Leadership Program.

David P. Levenduski ([email protected]) is Principal at Ben Franklin Elementary School in the Meriden Public Schools and is the architect of Meriden’s school-based peer coaching model.

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Resources:
City, E.A., Elmore, R.F., Fiarman, S.E., & Teitel, L. (2009). Instructional Rounds in Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Govindarajan, V. & Trimble, C. (2010). The Other Side of Innovation: Solving the Execution Challenge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Kelly, M. (2007). The Dream Manager. New York, NY: Beacon Publishing

Sinek, S. (2009). Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. (2011 ed.). New York, NY: Portfolio/Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Teitel, L. (2013). School-Based Instructional Rounds: Improving Teaching and Learning Across Classrooms. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., & Adamson, F. (2010). Professional Learning in the United States: Trends
and Challenges. Dallas, TX: National Staff Development Council.

Wong, K., & Nicotera, A. (2006). Successful Schools and Educational Accountability: Concepts and Skills to Meet Leadership Challenges. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform, Teachers

Survival Tip: Integrating Standardized Test Preparation into the Curriculum

In this age of accountability, teachers are responsible for ensuring that their students learn. In order to measure what students know and don’t know, states all over the country administer standardized tests. Most new teachers are usually clueless in terms of how to best prepare their students for these high stakes tests, and this in turn causes a lot of anxiety. Most are left with one simple question, “What can I do?” Experienced teachers will tell you that standardized test preparation should be part of the day-to-day curriculum, but you should not teach to the test. Below are some tips that will help you incorporate standardized test preparation as part of the regular day at school:

• Before you can help your students prepare for the standardized test, understand the components of the test yourself. Check the specific areas that the test emphasizes. If you have not received the test guidelines from the school administration, you can get the guidelines as well as older versions of the test from your state department of education’s website.
• When you know the areas that are covered on the standardized tests and the amount of emphasis that each section receives, you can ensure that you cover those areas well in advance.
• Do not spend time on a specific section just because it is a favorite of yours.
• Use the older versions of the standardized tests and incorporate typical questions into unit tests and weekly quizzes. This ensures that the students get used to the format and do not dread the unfamiliar format when it appears on the standardized test.
• A very typical aspect of the standardized test is the assessment of higher order thinking skills. If you teach your students to think critically, you can be sure that they will be able to handle any question that appears on a standardized test. Raise the bar by creating class discussions that allow them to evaluate, analyze, synthesize and apply what they have learned.
• Cross curriculum connections help the students learn information more authentically. You can use your language class to teach about historical personalities and more.

If you are able to integrate standardized test preparation into the daily curriculum, you can be sure that none of your students will be apprehensive or nervous about these once a year tests that are so feared otherwise. Good Luck!

 

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