Should We Beat Ourselves Up Over Test Scores?

When I look back on this last school year, I really have mixed feelings.  I have to admit, my kids test scores were lower than they probably have ever been before.  I have racked my brain trying to figure out why this happened.  I've come to the conclusion that it's not just one thing.  I could blame the schedule, the kids, or myself but the real truth is that my goal for the kids was never to make them score higher on a test.

This year I gave up control in my class.  Does that mean kids were hanging from the ceiling and running around the room like animals?  Of course not.  It just means that I gave the kids many more choices than I ever had in my career.  I went away from the traditional set up of me standing in front of the kids and lecturing them.  I let them choose their own groups, seating arrangements and resources for learning.  I provided them with the standards, created pages of resources on my website and provided them with any materials they needed.  They had access to laptops, cell phones, desktop computers, iPads, iPods and other devices.  They chose all kinds of ways to show their learning.  They built models, made videos, created rap songs, used Web 2.0 applications and found other creative ways to show what they learned.  I saw them improve at collaborating, creating, public speaking, researching and in some cases even leading.  Many even got better at trouble shooting the devices they were using.  They were still given assessments so I could give them a grade.  It would be a lie if I said there were no behavior problems or struggles.  There were both.  Welcome to the real world.  All of this may sound good but it didn't necessarily result in higher test scores.

Should my main goal as a teacher be to prepare them for a standardized test or should my main goal be to turn them into 21st century learners?  That is a very hard question to answer.  Parents want to see test scores improve.  I don't think most parents would be able to recognize if their child has become more creative or a better collaborator.  I don't think they would even care about that.  However, we are told that today's workforce desires creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.

In a perfect world, this type of learning would always result in higher test scores for every student.  This is not a perfect world and I don't think that is ever going to happen.  That doesn't mean that I wont spend the next school year trying to make that happen. 

TO BE elite OR NOT TO BE elite!

What exactly is the purpose of the whole charter school push that currently faces us?  Is it a way to try and circumvent the ridiculous guidelines set by the epic fail we know as No Child Left Behind or maybe there is something much more evil at hand here.  Could some be using this as a way to create schools of "Haves" and "Have Nots"?  Let's take a look at some of the things that are currently going on and let everyone have a chance to form their own opinions.  

Why would a charter school have kids fill out an application and then go to an interview before they find out if they have been selected to attend the school?  More than once I've heard people talk of kids being a "good fit" for a certain school.  It blows my mind that kids would need to be a good fit for a school.  I always thought schools existed to meet the needs of students.  Would a school have a selection process like this so they could have complete control over who attends?  For if they did not have control certain kids could not be guaranteed to get in.  Worse yet certain undesirable kids would get in.  Try to imagine this process from the perspective of a child.   

First there is a lengthy application that has to be filled out and a number of recommendation forms that have to be completed.  Once that is turned in, you have to attend an interview.  At the interview, you work with a small group of other kids, some of which you have never met and you work on a project together.  While you work a group of teachers from that school watch you and evaluate your performance.  Weeks later you get a letter in the mail letting you know if you "made the cut".  As I type this I'm reminded that this sounds like trying out for a basketball team.  The child that makes it can't wait to go school the next day to let everyone know their exciting news.  However, imagine the child that doesn't make it.  They will have to go to school and face those other children that were lucky enough to make it.  Who would want to face that?  I know I wouldn't!  The other part is the pain of knowing that you tried out and didn't do good enough to be selected.  That gut wrenching feeling of failure is something they will surely never forget.

In the past, I had a student apply to attend a certain charter school and was denied.  This student was very intelligent and super creative.  She didn't make the cut though.  I emailed to complain.  I asked professionals at my school their opinion on why she wasn't selected.  I was told that this student had a history of not doing her school work and of generally being unmotivated.  I pointed out that this child just spent a year in my class doing her work and being super motivated and even producing such creative work that she raised the bar for others in my class.  I was then told that just because she was able to do that in my class for one year, that doesn't take the place of the other years that were characterized by lack of motivation.  That makes absolutely no sense to me.  The description of her history of low motivation that only improved in my class told me that she is exactly the kind of student that should have been selected first for this prestigious school.  Could it be that she spent other years in classes that did not peak her interest and tap into her creativity and when she was placed in a class that provided those things, she blossomed?  It almost seems like the very kids that are turned away are the ones that need to attend this school the most.  Why take all the brightest, most creative and motivated students out of other non charter schools and put them in one charter school?  If that school is such a special school with such innovative ideas, shouldn't every child have the same chance to attend?  I had another student that wasn't fortunate enough to be selected and even though she had a record of very few absences throughout her academic career, she missed three days in a row after getting a letter in the mail that she didn't make it.  She spent those three days in bed crying.  That child did eventually get a call and get selected but that doesn't take away the misery she went through.    

I'll end with a few more thoughts to ponder.  If Spanish is so important, shouldn't there be some kind of Spanish program in all schools?  If technology and creativity are so important, shouldn't it also be found in abundance in all schools?  Should schools that are "special" be turning away the kids that may need them the most?  I for one would love to see the whole charter school idea become a thing of the past.  I would like to see all schools become elite.  That to me would be so much better than the current elitist trend of trying to pick students that are a "good fit".     

  

A Revelation and a New Day

We are now in the process of being a charter school.  Our charter is based on an Inquiry Based learning model.  I realized recently that nothing about the way I teach relates to inquiry.  Inquiry after all is about questioning.  The model I've been using is more of a Project Based learning model.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Since being given the freedom to create units and use more technology, I know that this project based learning has increased the learning and increased the love of learning in my class.  I've always wondered how I can teach inquiry when I have to teach standards.  That pretty much takes the creative questioning out of everything.

Today we started using inquiry.  I still don't think it's a true inquiry model but it's definitely based on questioning.  The kids are given standards.  They create questions based on those standards.  They then research to find the answers to their questions.  This makes them responsible for their own learning to a degree.  I will be there to guide them.  They will set appointements with me when they need help.  Once they have found the answers to their questions, they have the leeway to pretty much display their learning in any way they choose.  This not only will increase the inquiry in my classroom, it also gives the students a lot of choice in what they are learning and how they are learning it.  My hope is that giving this choice will increase the motivation of my students.

Today was only the first day.  I know there are going to be challenges along this path.  The kids got to choose their own groups and working within a group can be very challenging for some kids.  I know it's challenging for some adults like yours truly.  Yes today was a new day in the classroom of Wandrum's Warriors and I do believe I got one step closer to fitting a watermelon in my pocket.  That will be another post.