A vision of the "new educators":
Tracy Henry has a list of expectations on the blackboard of her Family and Consumer Sciences classroom at Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School: "No judgment." "Have fun." "Be nice." "Not too peppy." It's not what she expects of her students. It's how they want her to behave.
Henry figured it was only fair, since she laid out her own expectations for her kids.
"No judgment"? Let's hope that, in this exchange of "only fair" requests, Ms. Henry explains to her students that accurate judgments are a lot of what being a good teacher is all about.
Down the hall, Kiley Shortell and Majiel Noonan run a physical education class for the 21st century. After the day's activity, such as badminton or speedball, Shortell and Noonan plug daily grades for their students into a computer grid. Students also go online and calculate their heart rates.
Cool. A phys ed class that adds technology - and doesn't remove competition.
A few miles away, Sean Powers teaches his fourth-graders at Peter B. Coeymans elementary school about thigmatropism, the phenomenon by which certain plants, like Venus flytraps, respond to touch. He realizes the youngsters won't fully digest the terminology, but in future years, they'll remember that some plants will move when you touch them. The knowledge may serve them well when, down the road, they take standardized science exams, one of many tests facing students from this year on.
Excellent. I would expect them to be well-served by a science teacher who didn't dumb things down for them.
This is what it's like for the Teaching Class of 2004...They bring a mix of old and new ideas to an education arena quite different from that of their predecessors.
Most of all, teachers know their students will take standardized tests throughout their school years, and instructors will be judged in part on how well their kids do. Consequently, there is more structure than ever before as schools constantly adjust their curriculum to adhere to the tests their students must take. And there is a bit more pressure, especially for those who don't yet have a guaranteed job under the tenure system...
Fourth grade is when serious testing begins. Students are tested in math and English, and teachers are under pressure to keep scores up. In future years, thanks to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students in grades 3 through 8 will be tested. This nationwide push for accountability and testing has prompted some of the biggest changes, says Patricia Baldwin, coordinator of the department of teacher education at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. For one thing, teachers receive more guidance on what to teach, with a more defined, standardized curriculum, she said.
What follows is the boilerplate blather about how we now have a pressure-cooker environment for both teachers and students, but that's to be expected. And there's even a pro-testing teacher featured at length:
Others, such as Stanford University political science professor Terry Moe, see testing as a plus. A frequent critic of the education establishment, teachers unions and the tenure system, Moe believes testing may weed out new teachers who aren't effective.
"There is a selection effect that is good," Moe said.
Heh. With comments like that, I bet he is at odds with the teachers unions (More about Dr. Moe here; he's also, unsurprisingly, a supporter of vouchers). It's nice to see his ideas at work in the classroom, too:
"The biggest change in the last 20 years has been the accountability movement." Accountability and testing are all newcomers like [teacher Sean] Powers know, and consequently, he's OK with the concept of "teaching to the test."
"I don't think it's bad if it's a good test," Powers said.
The reality of standardized testing affects how he runs his class. The carpet on the reading area of his classroom -- where students sit when they read along -- is a brightly colored map of the United States. He plays a game, prompting students to stand on a state, such as Oklahoma or Minnesota. It's a way to get them ready for social studies tests, which start in fifth grade.
Powers works math and reading -- the most heavily-tested subjects -- into almost everything he does. A history lesson on the Pilgrims also serves as a math drill when math teacher Alice Whalen gets the kids to figure out how many Pilgrims died in the first few years after leaving the Mayflower. Students then put the numbers in their "math journals," in which they combine writing and math skills.
Nifty. Sounds to me like this new wave of educators is accepting the reality of, and need for, testing, and they understand the purpose behind laws such as NCLB.
Posted by kswygert at November 14, 2004 03:34 PM