Alfie Kohn: The real cheating in APS and other schools is little meaningful learning

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Well this is unique. Someone who has decided to critique how educators are running our schools. All that is being offered here is another easy complaint and a solution of allowing teachers to decide what to teach. We have gone through this before with teachers teaching the same content year after year. Education is a profession and professionals have standards that they follow. There is a common assumption that bad teaching means better test scores and testing results in bad teaching. Neither one of these is true. Standards and assessment isn’t a solution. They are a basic framework that all education needs to begin reform. Lets stop complaining about the standards and the tests and start educating our children.

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Trying to apply a business model in the schools and it has failed. The end result of business and politicians is that learning is no longer fun. Trying to turn a human being into a widget. How stupid are politicians and business leaders? The upside is that now kids can graduate because they can pass a test but know nothing else.

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A dismal effort to divert public attention from the APS’ many unresolved problems. What else is new?

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Just blogged about Kohn’s 10 common sense ideas for schools: http://honeyfern.ning.com/profiles/blogs/alfie-kohn-how-do-i-love-thee?xg_source=activity

He is spot-on; we are cheating our kids of the power and beauty of learning, and it is endemic in all iterations of school. Even homeschoolers who pull their kids out of school need a de-institutionalization period; it is easy to be sucked into a focus on test scores and grades. I found this to be true this year when I started HoneyFern, but we are working through it and finding our balance.

@EducationCEO, come on over to HoneyFern. We are 6-12, in the process of accreditation and more affordable than your standard private school.

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Thinking MACE’s thoughts after MACE, heh? Ha! We have been saying this for 16 years now. In the maiden article written in The Teacher’s Advocate! magazine in 1995 (For Kids’ Sake, Let Teachers Teach!), we eviscerated this whole corporate, “data-driven,” top-down, heavy-handed culture which has just about wiped out all creativity and inquisitiveness in our public schools. At the end of this rather long article in this inaugural publication, I made 15 recommendations. Recommendation Number Two, for example, was the following: “Quell the test mania that has whipped the school systems into a frenzy (for fear that their test scores will look bad in the media). Eliminate much of the standardized testing.”

Nah, we haven’t been Johnny-Come-Latelys when it comes to railing against this sterile, plastic, and artificial “educational” environment. In fact, in Georgia, we were the first group to speak out boldly against this educational insanity. And like most prophets, we were metaphorically stoned and dismissed as being “crazy.” Well, if the norm is the crap that is being pawned off as “education,” then I gladly accept the appellation of being “crazy.” Ha!

You can find the aforementioned article in Issue One of The Teacher’s Advocate! magazine in 1995 which is located in our Archives sections of the MACE website.

http://www.theteachersadvocate.com

I am happy that others are seeing the futility of trying to “educate” kids by this test-driven hocus pocus. (c) MACE, April 8, 2011.

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Humans crave learning. It took millions of years of evolution to produce a brain with a main purpose of innovation and acquiring new ideas. Spending an afternoon with any normal child (”put that down, come here, I don’t know why the sky is blue”) makes that obvious.

Our schools have achieved incredible success in killing this instinct. That’s quite an achievement. Too bad it’s in the negative category.

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Dr. John Trotter wrote: “Thinking MACE’s thoughts after MACE, heh? Ha! We have been saying this for 16 years now. ”

Alfie Kohn is no Johnny-come-lately either. No Contest was published in 1992, and The Case Against Standardized Testing in 2000. Perhaps you are Leibniz and he is Newton. [smile]

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No, Laurie, I have been railing against this insanity way before we started MACE in 1995. I was operating on the assumption that Maureen was putting forth a recent article. I am sorry if I was misinformed. I was misinformed once before in, I believe, 1972. Ha! Thank, Laurie.

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I am further away from Alfie Kohn on the political spectrum, but I agree. Testing has become the dominant focus, instead of teaching and learning. If those two things are done the right way, then the results on the tests will happen. My 3rd grader and soon-to-be kindergardener love school. But I have already seen the excitement dwindle with the 8-year old. I don’t expect school to always be fun – but in her case it’s because she doesn’t have to work hard enough and is given busy work instead of enrichment work when she’s finished an assignment. LET KIDS EXPLORE AND HAVE FUN. Learning by trial and error and through experimenting is what teaches us our best lessons – in school and life.

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@Laurie:

Just an FYI…the 2nd grader didn’t get sprayed for showing ‘verbal’ disrepect’. He threatened to stab his teacher.

Dr. Trotter:
Education has now become a business. And I am starting to wonder to if the horse is too far out of the gate to ever be put back in.

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@ “@Dr. John Trotter”: I meant no disrespect for Mr. Kohn. I don’t know him, and I certainly accept your assertion that he too has been railing against the stupidity of the culture of standardized testing and the accompanying narrowing of the curricula in our public schools for years. It is not a matter of “winning.” Heck, we “win” each day when teachers tell us how much they appreciate us supporting them and empowering them. This is “win” enough for us! I know that I share Mr. Kohn’s concerns for over-testing and narrowing of the curricula as well as less creativity; I don’t know much about any of his other theories of schooling.

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Testing should not be the only criteria and assessment for students and teachers. However, when you apply for a license at the DMV, Bar Association, Dept. of Financial Services, Dept. of Education, and many other professional organizations they require that you pass the test. Children have to take tests to get into college. Electricians and auto mechanics have to pass tests to work on the wiring in your house or repair your car. Life has exams!

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“Focusing on the CRCT as a matter of policy writes off low-income kids of color by turning their classrooms into sterile test-prep centers.”

I feel that this statement is racist and disrespectful to low-income/minority families. Is he trying to say that low-income/minority kids are dumb and do not have the abilities to pass these standardized tests?

I am not saying CRCT is the answer. What I am saying is that we need some ability to measure learning and make sure kids are learning and teachers are teaching. And maybe instead of claiming CRCT “writes off low-income kids of color” we should instead focus on why this phenomenon is happening. Get to the root of the problem and put programs and policies in place to help with this.

Is it a lack of parent involvement? Is it a lack of growing up in a home without a father? Is it due to living in areas of high crime? Is it because of high rates of teenage pregnancies? Does coming from a family that either lacks or does not value higher education make a difference?

There is a reason low-income kids of color do not score as high on standardized testing and I refuse to believe claims that they are simply just not smart enough. Doing away the CRCT to accommodate these kids will only hurt their already precarious futures.

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MACE-separating low performers from their money since 1995. Maureen, please do not harm your reputation by being seen near a Trotter picket.

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This author makes many valid points

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If they’re learning what they ought to learn, the CRCT ought to be a piece of cake.

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If the schools were truly doing their jobs, the CRCT would be a non-issue. Most children would pass it without any preparation whatsoever. That the schools need to spend weeks focusing on that test shows how poorly they are doing their jobs. The test is revealing the problem, not causing it.

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Coach: I see that you like to use that word “shill” under most of your monikers. Ha! It’s a good word. I use it occasionally.

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@clueless – the issue is who decides what kids “ought to learn”? Will we have education or indoctrination?

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Roach

April 8th, 2011
12:32 pm

Agreed. Further, its kinda like when people at work, superiors, make the statement “we are gonna work and have a lot of fun.”. HUH!!??

Work is work, fun is fun and the two do not intersect. My thoughts anyway. Now perhaps if ones job were being a highly paid vandal, rock musician etc, but still just the thought of “having” to do something and it being ones job might take the “fun” out of it.

Just food for thought from a wise middle aged sage…

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http://theteachersadvocate.com/id45.html

Coach: You always want to know (though you are well aware) what MACE does for the teacher who pays membership fees of $40.00 per month. I posted a link for you above that details MACE’s services. Coach, are you sure that you aren’t a “shill” for MACE…because your softball “attacks” are so sophomoric. Ha!

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Fascinating responses to your interview with Kohn. I am deeply saddened that so many purported teachers posting here seem to believe the factory model is de rigueur. My other half, fortunate at the end of her career to be teaching gifted and AP after her share of everything else at every income level, with four star teacher and a presidential scholar awards under her belt, would say the reason her UGA, Tech, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, etc, etc, etc bound students persistently put her on that pedestal is because she DOES provide the joyous experience Kohn advocates. But she’s lucky, because as @DK so naively wished all kids ought be, hers are far above the drivel of our worthless minimum competency tests that create the living hell for the bottom third of our students that ensures they HATE learning. He or she obviously has not the remotest clue what schools or students – or tests and the testing mania – are like. Nor has he/she any understanding of the nature of intelligence or the economic and social realities of our rapidly declining society. AND, worse, seems to represent that majority of which I’ve spoken before: Barnum was wrong – you CAN fool most of the people most of the time. Go read some, DK – I presume you can, even though you obviously choose not to do so.

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Dr. John Trotter, how true you are in regards to Mark Elgart. It makes one question the need of SACS accreditation.

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Enter your comments here
John, facts are facts. If you arre going to promote your propagandist outfit, then I feel compelled to offer a more balanced view.

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Trust me, you can have engaging learning and teaching while still preparing students for tests. It doesn’t all have to be boring, and I think a good number of teachers do a decent job of presenting state standards while engaging students in a meaningful way. My first graders are each creating a nonfiction book on an animal or insect of their choice, and we have been able to incorporate standards from every subject in this one project. They also love working on it every day.

The real problem I see with all of this pie-in-the-sky education rhetoric is that people have a strong desire to entertain students. Folks, how much of your life as an adult would you consider to be entertaining? As far as I can see, the list of things that need to get done in my house aren’t terribly exciting. Here it is on Friday of spring break, and I’m catching up on laundry, paying bills, writing lesson plans, and finishing a few organizational projects. Fun? Not really. Important? Absolutely.
I am not going to be a paid entertainer. If I wanted to do that, I would be trying out for American Idol or pursuing a career that is far more financially rewarding.

I’ve seen amazing teachers like Ron Clark, and I respect him greatly. However, I’m not going to be him. I very much enjoy having a life and a family of my own, and wouldn’t get the same satisfaction by spending every waking moment at school. I feel that I can be an effective teacher without giving up my life. Try to turn education into the Catholic preiesthood, but don’t expect teachers to fall in line. Especially for a salary of $50,000 a year, and that’s with 10 years of experience and an advanced degree.

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Maureen, My latest post about SACS, a private organization, which holds the PUBLIC school systems captive was hijacked by the Filter Monster. SACS is not accountable to the public in any way and yet, like the charlatan reverends, it dangles the school systems over the pit of educational h_ll if they don’t genuflect before it. Let me stop…before I give away the post. Ha! I think that “h_ll” with the “e” might have been the problem.

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Maureen – do free DJT’s post, I’ve felt for some time that SACS should be reined in a little.

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And I also love this business of teaching children to be “good people” as noted above. What Kohn would define as a “good person” would not sit well with the average American unless you are faithless and have a total lack of respect for any authority whatsoever. Maureen has done a great job of making this far-left loon seem like a great advocate for teachers and children. Pick up one of his books or watch one of his videos to see for yourself what his true intentions are. It won’t take long. My entire graduate class walked out of a showing of one of his rants in very short order.

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Dr. Who Are You: Why does that matter? Japan doesn’t have NEAR the diversity that we have here in the U.S. You can’t compare the two.

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@Dr. Who Are You (“How do the Japanese run their schools?”):

Here’s an example, the first part of five:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armP8TfS9Is&feature=related

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Great article, Maureen. I especially love the line about kids sitting in chairs all in a row. That visual alone illustrates how out of balance we, as a society, are in our thinking. What we have today is an educational system run solely by left-brain folks. We have that because neither our schools, nor our testing, champion right-brain thinking. With no innovation you stay stuck, right where you were 50 years ago . . . sitting in chairs, all in a row, learning cursive and writing with #2 pencils. Vouchers won’t solve the problem. Privatization won’t solve the problem. Those just serve to punish the present system — simply wasted energy. We need to call in some good strong right-brain educational innovators, put them in a room with an equal number of left-brainers, and I guarantee we’ll move forward at record speed. It’s all about balance.

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“[I]f our standards aren’t what we really want kids to know and be able to do, we should adjust those standards accordingly.”

Yeap, let’s keep figuring out how to do the wrong thing better. That will solve the problem.

“Today’s students are generally lazy and unmotivated.”

Yeap, and of course the way school systems are managed from the top has nothing to do with the kids bing lazy and unmotivated, right?

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Kohn has not a clue of what he talks and writes about. I agree with Cobb Teacher 2. I remember in graduate school having to read one of his books and thought to myself, that this guy knows not of what he speaks and is making money for the garbage in this book.

The problem with testing isn’t necessarily the test. The problem is that in many cases teachers aren’t able to truly educate children. We are not able to give students the grades that they earn. We must pass on students that have not mastered standards. We must give students grades no less than a 70 whether it is deserved or not.

Also, teaching to the test is not the answer. Providing students with a solid education where they are required to think and explore the concepts being taught will enable students to do well on the test. Also, students taking the tests seriously and working hard at the tests. I have often seen students not take the tests seriously and finish a 60 question test in less than 15 or 30 minutes.

The tests are not racist. Many teachers are doing what they are being told to do, because they need their job.

Having worked in the inner city in several cities in our nation, low income parents do struggle to make ends meet, but what many value is stuff and not an education. I remember my students whose parents were all on welfare coming with new Michael Jordan gym shoes every six months back when Micheal Jordan was all that. We’re talking about $100 sneakers, that my husband and I could not afford for us to have. Or the cable tv with HBO, and the rest of the pay per view channels, also something that my teacher salary did not allow us to afford. What I have seen by many poor in the inner city that they believe that they need to give their children stuff and not focus so much on education. These parents were worried about a child’s behavior, but not always worried about troubles or extra help that the child needed to understand a specific concept. As a white teacher usually in all black schools, I have heard more than one occasion that I was trying to make my students white, when I was simply trying to educate them, hold them to the high standards that I would want for my own children to be held to and offer the children the education I demand for my own children. Until education is valued, and excuses are stopped, test scores will improve in slow increments and our children will be poorly educated in public schools.

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@ Cobb Teacher 2 – I agree, tables aren’t the answer either. Therein lies my point. Think outside the box, the desk, the table. Maybe sitting is the problem.

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@ Teacher Reader – I would have to agree with you on many points. I used to teach outside of LA in low-income/ minority schools (7th and 9th grades) and I found that these students main obstacle was their parents’ lack of “parenting” and their basic lack of value in an education. Many of these students were very bright and could have easily passed any test given to them had they put forth time and effort. But they did not. They watched the examples of their parents and choose to value things and not an education.

And how is doing away with testing helping anyone? As someone pointed out, you have to take a test to get your license; you have to take a test to become a teacher, lawyer, electrician and even waitress (I waited tables in college and had to take math test).

While I do not agree with the way we are currently testing our kids, there is a value to it and it helps to prepare them for the future. What would we do if the first test a kid ever took was the SAT or driving test?

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@Watching: Are you a teacher?

What exactly is meant by saying that that the CRCT measures things that are the least important? So, reading comprehension isn’t important? Math computation, problem-solving, geometry, measurement, data interpretation…none of this is important? I know people feel spelling and grammar are no longer important, that is until you realize your resume sits at the bottom of every hiring manger’s pile because you have no command of the English language. These skills are the foundation of all learning and cannot be skipped.

We are all about higher order thinking these days. Great. I’m all for it. As long as students have mastered basic skills. This means that the child should read on grade level, be able to construct quality sentences and paragraphs, be fluent in basic math facts at grade level, and have decent learning and organizational behaviors. Then, and only then, is a student ready for that wonderful discovery that can and DOES happen in today’s classrooms. You have to know enough to know what you are seeing and discovering. Let’s not put the cart before the horse.

@Scott Allen: Wonderful comments! I agree wholeheartedly.

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My experience in school as a student is totally different than my students’ experiences. The reason is pretty simple. I always liked school but understood that there were things I would have to learn whether I wanted to or not. It simply did not occur to me or my friends that there was any option but to suck it up and learn. My students, fifth graders, seem to believe that their interest in a subject should dictate whether they learn anything about it. Many, if not most, have no motivation to learn a thing, unless it relates to their own social life, but it does not occur to them that it their responsibility to put forth effort, interested or not.

That said, I would love to have fewer standards that are specified within a content area and more latitude in how I taught them and how much time to spend on a particular topic. I would love to see interest sparked in my students and then follow it. When teachers are passionate about what they teach they are much more likely to inspire interest in their students. Unfortunately, the narcissistic students combined with the relentless pacing calendars and testing, make engaging our students nearly impossible. The types of activities the kids enjoy consume more instructional time than most topics are allotted. The other issue is students’ self-discipline. If students will not use their time as it’s intended, no matter how many chances they are given, it does no good to plan engaging student centered lessons. They will learn nothing curriculum related.

Do schools need to change? Absolutely. Does society need to change the values kids are bringing to school? Absolutely. I don’t think testing is wrong, per se, but it is being overused and used as a weapon rather than as a diagnostic tool. Off topic, but If you want to judge me (and pay me) in my Title I school based on test scores, at least do me the courtesy of a pre and post test so progress can be based not just on where students should be but where they started as well.

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I agree with Teacher Reader, but I do think the tide is changing. I see more and more mid and upper middle income kids and parents who no longer value education. Instead I hear how teachers/coaches/parents should be more sensitive to the needs or the difficult time the student is going through. Parents seek excuses for behavior instead of parenting. A brief discussion with my children’s pediatrician this week confirmed that most parents don’t ask “is this normal” or “what should I do” instead they ask “which prescription does my child need” or “what does my child have that causes (fill in the blank)”. People simply don’t want to parent unless given the perfect self-raised child from Lake Woebegone.

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@East Cobb Parent Your comment is sadly true and very scary for the future. We have created a culture of instant gratification where everyone is a winner. We cater to sue-happy parents so much so that I have been forced to pass 5th graders that cannot even read! I have kids on my soccer team that have no business playing and only made the team due to threats from parents. Consequently the kids don’t bother to practice and better themselves since they know they can’t be kicked off.

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@Teacher Educator: No, walking out on that particular presentation was not problematic for me, or for the other 20 or so teachers in that class. We had already engaged in hours of “healthy debate” with this professor. The presentation was hateful, disrespectful, and quite frankly, false on every level. Conversatation is one thing. Indoctrination is another, and that was exactly this professor’s goal.

For the record, that is the only time I have ever walked out on a class. I engage in many forms of discussion daily and am a champion debater. Putting together a thoughful opinion isn’t and has never been a problem for me.

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@Cobb Teacher 2: Can you please cite a few recent research articles that say sitting in desks and rows is the best way for kids to learn? I have seen exactly the opposite.

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@ Cobb Teacher 2: I have taught elementary, middle school and university students. None of those classes were taught using desks and rows. My students talked when they were supposed to and it worked well. Of course, I had to teach them in the beginning of the year how we work in groups and what not to do. If a few students needed personal space, they could take their chair and go to another table. Students have to be taught to work in groups (the real world functions in teams) and accomplish tasks effectively. I have yet to hear about a company using desks and rows. Lack of classroom management is often the reason teachers cite for different classroom arrangements not working and yet we know kids need to be able to work in groups. There are times for individual work as well.

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@Not Buying It: I do understand your frustration with standards and pacing guides. Clearly, there is a difference between standards in elementary and secondary education. As a first grade teacher, I see value in every standard I teach. I have also taught second, fifth, and sixth grades and I will say that as students get older, some standards seem less relevant.

However difficult and unrealistic they may seem, pacing guides are needed. Whether you follow a state curriculum or write your own, you have to have at least some sort of plan for how you will organize and present information. Pacing guides keep parents informed of what their children are learning and help schools with high levels of transiency. I work in such a school and every time I get a new student it is easy for me to determine where they are, thanks to the pacing guide. They aren’t perfect, and I wish more teachers were consulted in their design.

If you feel there are important historical figures that your students need to know about, then teach them! Just because you have standards doesn’t mean you can’t go beyond them or link other topics/people to them in some way. I’m a huge baseball fan and every class I have ever taught knows about Jackie Robinson. Robinson is a part of the standards for second grade, but I can easily incorporate him in reading groups, Black History Month activities, and writing for other grades.

I would argue that allowing a teacher, especially a history teacher, to “do what they want” would be very dangerous. There are just too many opinions about historical events and figures and I don’t trust every teacher to present those events accurately and fairly. Standards are a must for this reason.

You also bring up another age-old question in eduation: Is it better to know a little about a lot of topics, or have a deep understanding about a few? We don’t know where our students are headed, so for the purpose of K-12 education, I believe it is best to present a wide variety of topics that students can study in-depth at a later time.

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“We don’t know where our students are headed, so for the purpose of K-12 education, I believe it is best to present a wide variety of topics that students can study in-depth at a later time.”

Home schoolers have a much better understanding of where their child’s strengths/talents lie and intuitively organize the curriculum around this. Less time is wasted and students can specialize earlier. Artistically talented children are totally neglected in public school, and trying to develop their art talent in high school or college is just too late. Home school gifted children are allowed to pursue their passions early and advance at their own pace. This is why many home schoolers have a natural curiosity and love of learning.

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tt: Even if a parent is unable to homeschool, they can still find lots of ways to nuture their children, no matter what ability or talent.

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@ East Cobb Parent: It would be nice if I could announce to a school board the following: “If 60% of your teachers don’t join MACE, then MACE will revoke the MACE Accreditation from your county, and your county needs this MACE Accreditation or you kids can’t have HOPE Scholarship (if they is any left).” SACS is nothing more than a private organization which has snookered (to use Dr. No’s recent verb) states and school systems into thinking that its “accreditation” is worth anything. If we simply say that it is “useless,” then it becomes useless. I think that SACS’s accreditation is hollow…based mainly on money. The school systems have to pay a hefty fee to SACS for this accreditation for the system and for each school within the system. And, should SACS spank a school system, then the system has to pay for remedial measures (written materials, visits, etc.). In my opinion, SACS is a racket. I don’t see a “service” rendered. I see SACS like I see those charlatan preachers who essentially dangle their parishioners over the pit of h_ll if they don’t “tithe” their salaries to the preachers who are not accountable to anyone. SACS is not accountable to the State or to the public in any way. I see SACS like these so-called bishops or reverends who are extorting money…based on the fear of going to educational hell (no accreditation).

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I apologize for what will be a bit of randomness here, but I have several different thoughts and I just want to get them all out.

1) Should we have tests like CRCT every year or EOCT/GHSGT….. Yes and no. I am not a fan of the administration of CRCT annually as a sole picture of what was learned. I am not a fan of the state taking over my final exam weeks before the actual end of course which causes me to accelerate the content of the course to meet a deadline for testing (May 2 in the case of the current semester. This eliminates 21 hours that could be dedicated to actual instruction (19.5 if you take one day for an actual final exam on a block schedule). I am in favor of GHSGT as some sort of gateway test to ensure that students have *learned* the material they should have, but not as a measure of whether or not the teachers are doing their job. We’re spending so much time focusing on the “bad” teacher that we miss the good stuff happening in the classrooms.

2) There is a difference between assessment and testing. The problem we’re facing is that we do not allow teachers to actually do their job. We are focusing on test prep, not assessment. I can’t think of how many times I’ve uttered the line “this is EOCT material” (hoping that it actually is based upon the sample questions I have seen in Georgia OAS). In DeKalb, we are giving the End of Semester benchmark next week (although it has been shortened to reduce some of the questions on the last unit that I haven’t covered yet). Just imagine how many other activities and simulations I could include in my lessons if I wasn’t tied to this blasted testing schedule and I could actually assess my students. I am currently taking a PD class on understanding student needs. A quote from the class “If a teacher is not constantly assessing, the he or she isn’t really teaching.” The quote wasn’t “If a teacher is not constantly testing….”

3) Of my students who failed the EOCT last semester, I had 3 come to me to tell me they became physically ill during the test (test anxiety most likely) and one who was thrown out of the test after answering 12 questions because of a cell phone issue. I had at least 8 others admit to me that they were up late the night before, but not one of them actually used any of the time to study. I can’t tell you how many of the students tell me that the 15% is little incentive to them to do well because in the end, it doesn’t make that large of a difference in their overall course grade. Yet I, the teacher, am held accountable, not the actual students.

4) I have argued this before and I will say it again, the best way to assess student learning is a portfolio system using student work samples throughout the course of a semester – with some sort of pre-assessment activity and showing progress through each unit. Who, however, will take the time to grade and evaluate (two separate things) these portfolios. It is so much cheaper and quicker to run Scantrons.

5) I will only point to the emails and visits from former students telling me how much better prepared they were than their peers in their college level courses because they remembered what I taught them. Yes, I have standards. Yes I feel these are necessary to focus teachers in on the important concepts. I just ask to be treated like a professional and have input in creating those standards (or my colleagues who also have experience in my field). I do not need legislators like the one in Tennessee who basically told teachers to stay out of the way and mind their place in society, because the legislators were the warriors who were going to remake education (even though they haven’t a clue what is actually going on in classrooms).

6) Although my initial fears about Nathan Deal haven’t been settled fully, after seeing Scott Walker, Rick Scott and Paul LePage in action, I’m glad we have a mainstream Republican in the Governor’s Mansion and not one of the 21st century version Radical Republicans in office.

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http://www.wsbtv.com/news/27483308/detail.html

The above is a link to the story on WSB-TV 2. I just watched it. I have been saying for years that Mark Elgart takes sides as to who will have control on the school boards. That is what happened in Clayton County. My colleague, Norreese Haynes, was having too much influence to suit Ericka Davis (a LaChandra Butler-Burks type), and she and Rod Johnson called upon SACS (and Eldrin Bell and his dirty tricks) to take out Mr. Haynes. Haynes had many fellow school board members siding with him…like the situation with Mr. Khaatim El in Atlanta. In fact, the school board attorney apparently told Mr. Haynes, “Everyone knows that after the next election, you are going to be the new chairman.”

I have been saying for years that Mark Elgart is an educational phony and that SACS is a money-grabbing organization that likes to masquerade as if it is some do-gooder organization for our children. SACS is about money, pure and simple, and Mark Elgart is in control of SACS.

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@ Not Buying It My husband and I actually went to a school district much like DeKalb outside of Philadelphia-only much smaller. It was dysfunctional. Many of our teachers-especially in math and science were worthless. The teachers had 2 long strikes (unions) during my 8-12 grade years, including that in my 12th grade year, when teachers refused to write us letters of recommendation and do anything extra as they were forced back to work. I did not get a great education. In fact, I went to college not knowing how to really study, and had to learn how. My husband was our valedictorian and has always worked his tail off. He went to an Ivy League school and earned his PhD, and is a college professor and well known for his the research he does in his field. I was a school teacher, and am now a stay at home mom. We have accomplished what we have accomplished not because we had a good education, but because we had expectations for ourselves and from our families.

I also did not grow up rich or wealthy. My father made $25,00-30,000 a year depending on how much over time he worked and in the early to mid-80s he rarley worked a full year being laid off from his job as an electrician at the steel mill. My mom was a stay at home mom.

You see, my parents valued you an education. My father grew up on a farm and his school work was an after thought to his work on the farm. He was not able to go to school until his chores were done or do his homework until they were finished. My dad is very intelligent and continues to be an avid reader, about history, animals, hunting, fixing things, and the like. My mom is an undiagnosed dyslexic, something that I am also. She hates to read, because she is not good at it and became a hair dresser, something that she is very good at-while we were growing up, but mostly she stayed at home with us (my brother and sister and I).

You see, I was poor, I just didn’t know it. I never had cable tv, new clothes, my own bedroom, AC, or a big house. My parents spent time with me. My father read to me and sat and helped me to do my homework even when he got home late from working a double at the mill. When he didn’t understand the way that I was shown how to do algebra, he and my mom found me a tutor who could. We went fishing, on bike rides, and walks in state parks. Our vacations were always to the historical sites in Philadelphia, as they were free or very cheap and taught us something. Going to the Franklin Institute was a splurge.

I was raised to value an education and taught that despite my dyslexia and being poor, that I could do whatever I wanted. I did not get any college scholarships or grants. There were no trust funds paying for my education and even being out of school for 15 years, I still owe $15,000. I wish that more kids were taught the values that I was. You see our society values stuff-i phones, i=pads, fancy cars, big homes, and it doesn’t matter if we can afford it or not-kind of like how our government is run.

I have always chosen to work with poor kids, because I can relate to them. I understand them and have always tried to help them over come their obstacles. I wanted to be a roll model for them, so that they could see that they could make it and do something. As a teacher, I have refused to teach to the test, but to impart the skills that my kids need. I do not like the standards, because so much of history is left out and if we only teach what is in our standards, our children are being gypped. I was taught in Pennsylvania, that the standards were the bare minimum that we taught our children. It seems in Georgia, that the standards are all that we teach our children-at least that was my experience in DCSS. Instead, I chose to close the door and do what I felt was best for the kids, speak up in faculty meetings, and leave when I knew that I could not send my child to the system that I lived and worked in.

I firmly believe that Mr. Kohn is well meaning, but does not understand that until the society and their expectations of themselves and their children change, the outcomes are going to be the same. We could give many of the people that Kohn writes about everything under the sun, but they will not respect what they have been given, and will be asking how can they be given more. Our society as a whole does not truly value education, we value stuff. We do not value one who is knowledgeable, we value someone with the nicest stuff. As others have pointed out, this is not just poor people these days, even middle and upper income families value stuff, more than they value education. I am not sure what it will take for society to value education, but as a white girl working in mostly black schools, it needs to start with administration being able to speak and write proper English and expecting the same from all employees and students. It begins with not allowing excuses for missed work or work not done to one’s best ability. It begins with having high expectations for behavior and throwing those that do not want to conform out of school and making their parents deal with the consequences. It begins with providing our children with a solid foundation of learning, so that the tests are not a big and threatening deal, because the children truly know the material that they have been taught. It begins with our school districts putting our children first, and realizing that if they can’t read, write, or add, that they aren’t going to be able to do a good job of taking care of us when we are in the nursing home.

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for years Alan Greenspan used a certain “model” for running the ecomony and looked what happened; Greenspan’s excuse, “I guess the model was wrong”. Those same politicans and business leaders that crashed the American ecomony want to do the same with education.

banks and credit card companies took TARP funds; then raised everyone interest rates by 5 to 15% to pay back the Tarp; wait isnt that the same as a tax increase??? you have been hoodwinked and dont even know it.

Now they will milk the education system and dont even get me started on energy policy. there is an end game going on here and here it is in a nut shell; they want to do away with the middle class. Ross Paroe(sp) said what was going to happen 20 years ago.

Do the research on Ross and look at tapes of Ron Paul over the last 30 years

get a clue…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8801lDriKo&feature=related

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@Maureen Downey

April 8th, 2011
1:39 pm
@Dr. Trotter, If you are picketing any schools in my area, I can lend you my copy.
Maureen

Maureen, I certainly hope you and the good Dr. are not referring to City of Decatur Schools

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Dr. T: Agree with you (again!) re the mess SACS has become. It’s the ultimate good ole boys club, with paid “approval.” It uses its power to mandate uniformity of thought among board members–no disagreement allowed!

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This is the most ridiculous thing I have read in a long time about the challenges in education. Let’s assume for a minute that what is being pushed here is true…that standardized testing, Bill Gates, etc. are all the problem that she claims they are…..those are all things that have come into existence in the last 10 years.

Education was a disaster 10 years ago…..so what was the problem then? I agree that teaching to the test is a problem that needs to be addressed but these things have just become a convenient scapegoat for teachers to blame.

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@Mark: my classes weren’t a disaster ten years ago.

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@ B. White of Fulton High: No, I did not coach the Red Birds in the 1960s. That must have been another “Coach Trotter.” I was indeed “Coach Trotter” at Southwest DeKalb High School and at Jonesboro Jr. High Schools in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But, I am familiar with the old Fulton High…alma mater of Evander Holyfield and the Rocker brothers who played for Auburn. Tracey was the Outland Trophy winner. Two great linemen. Of course, we know that Evander is a four time World Champion.

I hope that you guys have a great reunion. I spend a lot of time in Peachtree City too. By the way, I know an old Fulton High grad (in the 1960s) who lives in Rio. It’s a small world, heh? Take care.

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Note: I had a few typos in the early version. This is the edited and updated version. I hope that it provide food for thought for the legislators and educators who don’t seem to have a clue as to why teachers teach. Have a good weekend!

Why Do Teachers Teach?

By John R. Alston Trotter, EdD, JD

Many times you see me rail against what has happened to the teaching profession. Sometimes I may seem like a broken record (ala “You can’t have good learning conditions until you first have good teaching conditions”). I am passionate about what has happened to the teaching profession…educrats treating teachers like they are hired hands and expecting them to mindlessly teach a prescriptive curriculum like they are robots. It is a tragedy. When I taught in the old days, we could be zany and creative in the classroom. We could have our own style, a style that the students knew and to which they adjusted…and usually with a degree of delight. That’s the great part of growing up…learning to adjust to different people (teachers, in this case) with different styles.

I have often told my colleagues and teachers that I would be fired every day under the current culture of teachers being placed in straightjackets. I even bowed up to the odious structure that was in place in the old days (especially those horrid TPAIs and the accompanying written lesson plans and behavioral objectives in the old DeKalb County — when DeKalb was King of the Rock and thought that their mess didn’t stink). I turned down my second contract (didn’t even sign it — which was stupid of me) and left. Moved back to Athens and the next year car-pooled each day to Greene County High School. I had a great principal, Dr. Donald Garrett. He was so supportive of me and just let me do my thing. When MACE picketed the superintendent in Greene County on three occasions about three years ago (yes, this superintendent moved on not too long after these downtown pickets which were joined in by local towns people!), I had one of my former students, Vincent, to happily meet me on the picket line. We laughed, talked about where my old students were today, and just reminisced. I had a blast teaching at Greene County High School, but I was offered a good assistantship in the Department of Administration at the University of Georgia for the next year, and Dr. Garrett (who was finishing up his doctorate there at the time) encouraged me to take it. He said, “You can always come back here anytime you want.” But, after my assistantship, I took a job as Assistant Principal at Washington County High School down the road…at 27 years of age.

This morning I looked at my Blackberry to see my emails and my Facebook comments. I saw the nicest comment from one of my former Jonesboro Jr. High School students. It was from Eric Jensen, a First Team All State football player from Jonesboro High School and a student and player whom I taught and coached at Jonesboro Jr. High School in the early 1980s. Forgive me for my vanity but he wrote the following: “Well I hope my boys have a teacher as dedicated and passionate about education. A legend is a person whose fame or notoriety makes him a source of romanticized tales and exploits. That’s you coach.” This is why teachers teach. We teachers (and I am still a teacher at heart) teach to have an influence (not to artificially raise the standardized test scores to fatten up the superintendent’s wallet or pocketbook). We love interacting with the children and watching them grow — even to adulthood. I get a kick out of watching Norreese Haynes run the day-to-day operations at MACE…especially since he was the classroom “bishop” in my 7th Grade History class.

I have witnessed hundreds of people through the years come up to my father at restaurants or elsewhere and be delighted to see “Coach Trotter” or “Mr. Trotter” (my father was a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal). They love to regale in the old stories. The men love to recount the times that my father had to paddle them. I remember some over 70 year old retiree recalling at the Burger King Breakfast confab (a morning ritual at Airport Thruway in Columbus) this to my father (who will be 86, Lord willing, on April 21): “Mr. Trotter, do you remember paddling me when I showed up for school with no socks?” This man was laughing big time about this disciplinary incident. I bet he didn’t show up anymore to Jordan Vocational High School with no socks! My father didn’t put up with any foolishness, and the students loved him and respected him for this. This is what is missing in our public schools today. Today’s students hold the teachers in contempt because there is NO discipline (especially in the large school systems). Kids really crave discipline. That’s how they know that they are loved. Pampering and coddling won’t do the trick. It’s like what is said in the Bible: “The Lord disciplines whom he loves.”

Why do teachers teach? Teachers love the interaction with children. Teachers love watching the light turn on when a kid finally understands a concept or skill. They love watching them grown and mature. They love the “relational learning” (I will coin this phrase) that takes place. That’s why teachers are so frustrated today…because all of this has been hijacked for the sake of infinitesimal gains on a standardized test which does not amount to a hill of beans, with the exception to the gypsy superintendent receiving financial bonuses and maintaining his or her job for another year or two. (c) MACE, April 9, 2011.

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6 more weeks to go and 10 weeks off. I am doing nothing school related this summer. Tired of the abuse. Have not had a raise in 3 years and I work damn hard. I do not care anymore.
.

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Ms. Downey, I hope you will link your next Get Schooled blog topic on SACS and the AJC article on SACS.

If SACS cared about educational quality in APS, then where were their probing eyes when APS reported shady graduation rates and dropout rates?

Has SACS bothered to see how the APS’ High School transformation is working now that APS has implemented in into all of their high schools? (Based upon postings to this blog, SACS should start their scrutiny with North Atlanta and Grady since those are the two high schools with obvious racial (black/white) issues. I understand a quick walk down the halls will raise eyebrows.)

Has SACS taken a look into why APS high schools haven’t made AYP? I understand that CRCT cheating is not a high school issue, but what about the high school’s lackluster performance on the high school benchmarks?

Has SACS been asking questions to find out if the Title I funds which schools receive to help close the achievement gap are being used for the designated purposes? Or, is APS and/or the various high schools using them for improperly designated purposes?

SACS, if you care about “quality education” for high school students, then please get out of bed with the Atlanta business community and Dr. Hall, and EVALUATE THE EDUCATION being offered to ALL of the APS high school students. While the board issues are interesting, they are petty; the real focus should be on the work of Dr. Hall and her staff. Or…..are you only concerned with a quality of education being offered only to a certain group of students?

Please Ms. Downey, let’s have this discussion while it is still relevant and while the educational futures of many of Atlanta’s youth might still have a chance to be salvaged.

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concerned educator,

The focus of the educracy is not the test but is the salaries and positions which its members fear are contingent upon their releasing test “results” which meet “standards.”

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SACS : school evaluation :: The Harlem Globetrotters : basketball competition

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17 September 2002

Atlanta School Board Charter Review Commission
c/o Dr. Thomas Cole, Chair
Clark Atlanta University
223 James P. Brawley Drive, Southwest
Atlanta, Georgia 30314

Dear Dr. Cole and Commission Members:

It is fitting you chose Crim High School as the venue for your final public forum to solicit additional and final comments on your Preliminary Report of 4 September 2002. Accordingly, I take this opportunity to present my comments via this open letter.

But first, a question, please: Who among you is knowledgeable of the works of Dr. Alfie Kohn, to any extent?

To the extent you are, you are poised to honor the late Dr. Alonzo Crim. To the extent you are not, you are poised likely to dishonor Dr. Crim.

Why? Well, you see, the paths of Dr. Kohn and Dr. Crim crossed on 23 March 2000 at Georgia State University School of Music, where Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn lecture.

Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn make the case that people who concentrate on standards, goals, performance, achievement, and such get school reform wrong. Such people opt for a demand model of learning rather than a support model of learning.

Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn make the case that people who concentrate on standards, goals, performance, achievement, and such get improvement wrong. Such people opt for maximum difficulty rather than optimum difficulty. Harder is better, they believe.

Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn make the case that people who concentrate on standards, goals, performance, achievement, and such get teaching and learning wrong. Such people opt to focus on uniform and specific skills rather than understanding.

Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn make the case that people who concentrate on standards, goals, performance, achievement, and such get evaluation wrong. Such people opt for critical reliance on standardized test results rather than helping kids become better thinkers and learners.

And Dr. Crim heard Dr. Kohn make the case that people who concentrate on standards, goals, performance, achievement, and such utterly misunderstand motivation. Such people opt to force kids to overly focus on how well they are doing rather than on what they are doing. Winning and top-rank is better than excellence, they believe.

At the end of Dr. Kohn’s lecture, I approached Dr. Crim, introduced myself as president of Atlanta Area Deming Study Group, and asked his opinion of the cases Dr. Kohn made. To my delight, Dr. Crim replied: “Alfie is right on. He gets it.”

With those words, Dr. Crim renewed my hope for the future of public education, in general, and Atlanta Public Schools, in particular. Still, I had one concern: has Dr. Crim the moral and ethical courage to lend his voice to the matter?

To put my concern to rest, I contacted the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter who covered Dr. Kohn’s lecture with the idea to interview Dr. Crim.

The AJC reporter did indeed interview Dr. Crim, and subsequently reported: “‘I think [Kohn is] right on the money,’ said one member of the audience, former Atlanta school Superintendent Alonzo Crim, now a GSU education professor. ‘Just as Kohn said, we’re trying to go back to the ’20s and make our schools factories.’” (Uphill battle: Many teachers think using standardized tests to measure specific objectives will change education for the worse, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 April 2000.)

By your Preliminary Report of 4 September 2002 that shows the changed Atlanta Public Schools Charter you apparently aim to push through to the state legislature, my heart and prayers go out for you, for you obviously do not get it. Perhaps only the delusional dare to believe the charter, as changed, will serve to “improve the governance of the Atlanta school system in order to support delivery of the best education possible for the children of Atlanta.”

My comments enclosed are incomplete. Time did not allow me to write comments on all that I read. Still, my comments note glib exactness, numeral illiteracy, and nonsensical contention created where none existed before the changes.

Moreover, in your new Section 2-114, Roles of Board and [S]uperintendent, I noted therein this horrific responsibility among the others: “… the Board is responsible for … Adopting district-wide policies that provide incentives for progress and consequences for failure for all decision-makers in the district, as well as for students.” (Emphasis mine.)

This is behaviorism at its worst. If institutionalized, such responsibility will help to move Atlanta Public Schools “back to the 20s and make our schools factories,” just as Dr. Crim understood.

You of course have until 30 September 2002 to honor Dr. Crim, and prove his wisdom and your work worthy. It would be wrong of anyone to suggest otherwise. All it takes is the recommendation to leave the charter nearly unchanged and to seek avenues to improve learning and other matters unfettered by political expedience and the agendas of certain private and non-profit organizations. Do you have Dr. Crim’s courage to do so?

Frankly, I fail to see why you and the organizations you represent would choose to participate in this insidious affair. Why have you allowed yourselves to be appointed foremen of harm and destruction of Atlanta’s children? Why have you chosen servitude over freedom and innovation? What have you to gain?

Whatever your answers, know that your gain will in no way offset the damage effected through you. Dr. Crim knew this. May your God help you to know it, too.

Thank you,

[Ed Johnson]

Enclosures:
1. Comments on Preliminary Report of 4 September 2002
2. Preliminary Report of 4 September 2002, reference lines and shading added

cc: The Honorable Roy Barnes, Governor, State of Georgia
The Honorable David Scott, Senator, State of Georgia
Members of Atlanta Board of Education
Mr. Sam Williams, President, MACOC

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The rhetoric to keep you distracted while ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS and the Buckhead business community goes underground to cover up the corruption they created.

When they are finished chewing this bone…all of Atlanta will beg for the PAST CORRUPTION to disappear. All signs of corruption will be Buckhead candy coated for another 10 years of new leadership and the underhanded corruption will start all over again.

BUCKHEAD…POLITICS as usual.
All smoke and mirrors to keep your head spinning while they stuff their pockets full.

http://www.TopPublicSchoolCorruptionAtlanta.com

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Good for you, Maureen, for bringing this to our attention. We could solve much of this if everyone would spend time in a school during the CRCT prep and testing. They would see how much time is spent on it, and what the results actually are. In my opinion, it has done much harm to the schools

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The whole system is designed against “people of color” designed by the white man trying to keep them down. No test scores should be used—everyone should pass with flying colors!

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There is good and bad in what Kohn says and proposes. I personally have a problem leaving teaching just to teachers. How will teachers (especially teachers who have done nothing else but teach) know that the educations they provide are truly relevant? However, I totally agree with his objections to an over dependence on testing, deferring to unions, and resisting national standards/national control. His voice is needed in this debate.

And APS should be ashamed!

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Ed Johnson wrote (at me), “…By not discriminating among even general forms, uses, and effects of tests, you intimate that your simplistic knowledge of tests is all there is to know about tests. Can and will you explain why you hold such a limited and, yes, stupid view? I really am curious to know.”

I assumed that I would not have to specify the “right” tests, given at the “right” times. I thought it would go without saying. But testing, properly done, is the best way to know where instruction is failing, and it is the best way in which to distinguish the poor students from the good students, and the good students from the very best. I suspect that it is the very effectiveness of testing in revealing the latter information which some people don’t like. (How dare anyone suggest that some are “better” than others? Sniff.)

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