The Domino Effect of Education Standardization

Cross posted at Brilliant or Insane 
 
Fourteen years ago, after five wonderful years as a teacher, everything imploded during the sixth year. The same administrators, who once encouraged risk-taking and personal growth, became dictatorial and over-controlling. Instead of working together, we now competed and fought for control.

Why the sudden deterioration? Standards of Learning (Virginia’s standards).

I abandoned the sinking ship. I wasn’t alone. Seven other teachers (a significant number as this was a very small school) jumped to other jobs. One of the other departing teachers expressed the feelings of all of us, “I feel like I’m just a cog in the machine. Easily replaceable.”

In the blink of an eye, everything changed with the new standards. Administrators became manipulative and domineering. Teacher autonomy went out the window. We were told, “If it’s not mentioned in the Standard of Learning Framework, you won’t be teaching it.”

When observing classes, administrators sat with the standards in hand. I got chastised for talking about Winston Churchill and the Battle of Britain in my World History class (remarkably at the time this wasn’t included in the framework, but it has since been added).  A peer was raked over the coals at a School Board Meeting for having poor SOL scores (Virginia’s End of Course Tests) despite his students scoring well above the state average.

Sadly, my experiences are not unique. Today far too many teachers feel the same way I did 14 years ago.

Essentially one knee-jerk reaction led to another in a domino falling-like series of transgressions. NCLB led state governments to increase “accountability.” Pressured school districts exerted control on school administrators who passed it on to the teachers. Constantly being reminded, “It’s your job to make sure your students perform to these high standards,” led teachers to increase their control over students. Reluctantly, we taught to the test.  With autonomy destroyed, many educators’ enthusiasm and excitement for teaching waned. Lectures became commonplace. Teachers bypassed labs and projects that engaged students and instead dispensed review worksheets to drill in the facts.

The pressure to produce results undermined teachers. The burden of standardized test results backfired as student learning suffered. Teachers became more controlling despite knowing that students need the opposite—teachers who nurture, support and engage students.

Fortunately, many states, including Virginia, are looking at loosening the standardization grip. Reform can’t come soon enough.

We Owe It to Our Students and Our Teachers to De-emphasize Standards

As a high school history teacher, I struggled to balance Virginia's state standards (SOLs) standards with bringing history alive, instilling creativity, developing higher-order thinking skills, and building 21^st-century skills.

When push came to shove, the standard always won out. It was a constant source of frustration. 

As an administrator, I don't want my teachers to feel the same pressures to teach to the test. I've encouraged them to take risks, stretch themselves, try something new and sometimes even reinvent themselves. 

I owe it to them and we all owe it to our students to make school and learning enjoyable and engaging. 

Below is part of my weekly message to my staff.

Please know that I have complete confidence in you. In this era of standards and accountability, risk-taking can be daunting, but I’ll come back to a simple question, “Why did you become a teacher?”

I’m willing to bet that none of you answer, “So my students can pass a multiple choice test?”

So as you enter the second term, take a risk. Step out of your comfort zone. Bring your subject alive. Create lessons that embody your spirit, your passion and show why you became a teacher.

As we go forward, lets make it a goal/expectation that each of us tries one brand new lesson this term. Please invite me into your classroom when you try this new lesson.  I look forward to seeing your passion come alive.

Recently, I’ve seen several teachers—and more importantly, students—go beyond the standards.  These teachers recognized that the standards are simply a framework that shouldn't restrict our teaching. Their lessons were filled with creativity. The questions being asked didn't have right/wrong answers. The end result: students who were enthusiastic about learning and a classroom filled with pride and passion.

In addition to applauding your efforts, I want to encourage you to take risks. Step out of your comfort zones. Try something new. Diverge from the pacing guide. Challenge yourself and your students. 

So as you enter the second term, take a risk. Step out of your comfort zone. Bring your subject alive. Create lessons that embody your spirit, your passion and show why you became a teacher.

As we go forward, lets make it a goal/expectation that each of us tries one brand new lesson this term. Please invite me into your classroom when you try this new lesson.  I look forward to seeing your passion come alive.

Standardized Tests: The Movable Target?

A couple of weeks ago, a Washington Post article stated, “Reading scores for the Virginia Standards of Learning test dropped by double digits following the introduction of a new, more rigorous exam this past year.

A couple of years’ ago, it was Virginia’s math scores that dropped as a result of newer, more rigorous standards.

Meanwhile D.C. Public School students made impressive gains in math and reading tests, but math officials reported that the gains were in part tied to the division’s decision to “score the tests in a way that yielded higher scores even though D.C. students got fewer math questions correct than in the year before.”

Virginia and D.C. are by no means alone as they try to balance tougher standards with consistent scoring. In 2012, seeing scores plummet, Florida state education officials decided to lower the passing cut rate/grade. A couple of months ago, the debate played out again with the Florida State Board of Education again voting to prevent school grades from dropping more than one letter grade. Even Board Member Kathleen Shanahan, who was a driving force behind the school grading system that “served as a model for other states,” commented, “I am struggling with the integrity of the accountability system…and the reliability of grades.”

As the debate plays out amongst politicians and state boards of education, it is teachers and students who are caught in the middle.

Should standardized tests enable educators to compare student performance from year to year? Yes.

On the other hand, standardized tests should challenge all students. But, at what expense? In Virginia, the more rigorous tests and scoring resulted in significantly lower student scores. State officials talked up the results as a temporary price to pay as Virginia shifted to higher standards.

But who paid the price? Students. Students, who in essence served as guinea pigs, and as a result may not earn and Advanced Diploma or even a Standard Diploma.   

Like too many classroom grading systems, proficiency on state tests seems immeasurable and perpetually alterable based on the whims of a few elected or appointed officials. Instead of being based on teacher instruction and student learning, passing rates and standardized testing have become politicized (the consequences range from the grade the school receives, to funding, to accreditation,  to employment decisions, to student graduation) while failing to galvanize meaningful educational reform.

We cannot expect our teachers and students to hit a moving target.

Going Beyond Standards

Several months ago I wrote about embracing risk-taking in our schools (here, here, and here). Wanting to show my confidence in our teachers and to encourage risk-taking, I talked to teachers about stepping beyond their comfort zones. I attempted to ensure teachers that risks were not just acceptable; they are desirable.

After a couple of initial conversations, I realized one of the largest impediments to risk-taking was—and is—our state standardized tests, the SOLs. Teacher after teacher commented, “I’d like to try something different, but the SOLs.” With so much emphasis placed on SOLs from the federal, state and local governments, school administrators (including me), parents and students, who could blame them for not wanting to diverge from the state’s curriculum?

The teachers’ motives made perfect sense? I don’t want to be the one responsible for a student not passing the SOL/earning their advanced diploma/graduating. Hard to argue with logic like that.

Only a couple of years removed from teaching, I too fell victim to over-emphasis on standardized tests. Now I had to plead to the teachers to do what I said, not what I did. To best move teachers—anyone for that matter—I’ve always found it best to ask questions instead of preach to them. Below are some of the questions I asked:  

1.     Why did you enter teaching? Not so amazingly, none of the teachers said, “So I could teach a prescribed curriculum and my students will ace the SOLs.”

2.     What is it that you want students to get out of your class?

3.     Where’s your passion?

4.     How can you pass that passion on to your students?

5.     What would your students say if you tried something different?

6.     Tell me about some of your most successful lessons and what made them successful.

Most of the teachers seemed to enthusiastically embrace risk-taking and the idea of going beyond the SOLs. I promised to support them. Undoubtedly, failures will occur. I ended each conference with a simple message, “I’m going to support you and I look forward to working with you and seeing the changes.”

Now about those standardized tests...