Developing Standards for SBG

One of the most difficult things that I've had to deal with this year is trying to figure out a set of standards to use for chemistry. As I was preparing last summer, I wrestled with our state standards (which, at the time, seemed too "big") and the-slightly-less-daunting learning targets for each (series of) lessons that would be taught.

I spent quite a bit of time reading through lots of SBG tips and ideas, but I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around how it would look for my class. I tried grouping targets by topic (such as "atomic structure", or "chemical reactions") and used a lot of Jason Buell's structure for designing rubrics (or topic scales, as he calls them) and set up checklists similar to what Mylene had done.  When all was said and done, I went about 3 weeks into the year before realizing that the grouping I had done and all of the rubrics I had created were not working the way I wanted them to - so I scrapped them and started over¹.

My intentions were to fully use SBG this year, but the initial setback (without much time to gather the pieces) made it difficult to move forward. I have been utilizing learning goals (targets) for each section/unit and making the targets clear and assessments based on those targets. However, the big ideas (standards?²) are being loosely strung along while we plod through the year and not as clearly tied to the targets as I would like them to be. I'm hoping that by the start of our 3rd trimester in a few weeks, I will be able to have a bit more structure to end the year on a high note.

As our district moves forward with our SBG implementation plan, we are meeting with all of the other chemistry teachers tomorrow to finish developing our standards for next year. I'm hoping that this collaboration will give me a better sense of the "big idea"-"learning target" connection and make it a much easier transition to full SBG next year, and I will have a later post that details what we come up with.

[1] Although at first I felt as though I had wasted a ton of time by doing this, I've come to realize that I learned a lot about how to design useful rubrics through this process - even though I didn't use the rubrics I created.

[2]  I haven't settled on the preferred verbiage just yet (standards? targets? objectives? blah?) but I usually think of standards as being the "big ideas".

Movie Review: Waiting for Superman

Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim

Call it a new-found interest in educational issues; I love reading, watching, discussing and thinking about them. I'm inclined to blame it on grad school. Regardless of where it comes from, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out this movie, with all of the (non-educator) buzz about how "amazing," "eye-opening" and "shocking" it is. It had popped up on the Netflix instant-play list a couple of weeks ago, so a friend (who is also a teacher) and I decided to watch it. It was quite thought-provoking, so I figured I would share a few things that came up.

There were a number of issues that the movie examined, many of which involved our "broken" educational system. It mainly follows three students; all minorities living in urban areas and all showing a clear affinity for learning and a great deal of intrinsic motivation. Their story lines mostly involved their school and home life, and their struggles to find a (charter) school that would offer them more/better educational opportunities than their "under-performing" public schools. It also features a former high school teacher, Geoffrey Canada*, who created and runs a charter school in an extremely impoverished area in Harlem. The film even highlights Michelle Rhee's controversial stint as Chancellor of Schools in Washington DC.

The Good
There is no question - our educational system is not perfect. Although the government "tried" to prevent it, students get "left behind" in our school system. But it's not just the students that are getting left behind, it's that some students are also being held back from achieving their full potential. There could be a variety of reasons for this, including (but not limited to) peer groups, school resources, motivation, and their classroom teacher. The movie focuses predominantly on the issues involving the school (resources & teachers), and doesn't do much to consider the influence of other factors.

The Curious
One factor that arose only briefly was the "outdated" idea of teacher tenure, which is an increasingly contentious component of teacher contracts. It made sure to show samples of video taken by students in public high schools of teachers not doing their job while in class (reading the newspaper, etc.). While it certainly is curious that tenured teachers could "get away with it," it certainly is not justification for removing tenure. However, I'm still considering the idea that it needs to be reformed. The jury's still out on this one.

The Questionable
While the movie brought up a number of reasonable problems, it also based many of its conclusions on flawed information. The most prevalent flaw involved the classification of "successful" schools, that seemed to rely on only two pieces of information: test scores and graduation rates.

The easiest strike is thrown by relying on standardized test results. There's a slew of research that shows how worthless standardized tests are at measuring student learning. Yet schools are still being classified as good/bad (or passing/failing) based on the results. There's a reason why NCLB was a flop!

The next strike is a bit of a screwball, and I had to think about it a bit before I realized what was happening. In the video, they show lots of fancy graphics that compare the graduation rates of "failing" schools (in some cases as low as 40%) to the graduation rates in the desired "high-performing" charter schools (all above 90%). But here's the rub - the movie was played up the dramatics of the lottery system these charter schools use (which is the basis of another ed movie, The Lottery), showing how desperately the kids and their families want them to get in. When they do, the families are overjoyed at the idea that their student will be successful - and why shouldn't they be? But with a student who recognizes the importance of the school and a family who will do virtually anything to get them to succeed, is it any wonder that these motivated students are graduating at a higher rate?? Of course not! I don't mean to say that the school has nothing to do with the graduation rates, but merely to point out that the students applying to charter schools with limited spots WANT to be there - and that can make a huge difference.

But there's one big, burning question that I still have - what about the other students? Sure, creating charter schools can provide opportunities for students to succeed (if they want to), but how do we reach everyone else? Let's pretend for a moment that all of the students who wanted to go to successful charter schools were actually able to do so. Almost all of the charters would maintain their "high-performing" status - with students who are trying to make the most of their opportunities going on to be successful. They get to fulfill their potential as a human beings, it's a happy ending, right?  If all of the motivated students leave, who is left in the public schools? All of the students who didn't want to be there in the first place, and who don't care enough (or have enough support) to try to get into a more successful school? The drop-outs, burn-outs, and slackers? Would it be the end of public education as we know it??

Uff-dah. Just thinking about working in a school like that makes my head hurt.

*Update: I found some more info about Geoffrey Canada on another blog, which can be found here.

Feedback

THIS. Above all else, I recognize that giving students feedback is one area of my teaching in which I'm in need of improvement. In fact, I might even go as far as to say that this is the area in which I am in need of the most improvement! Oy vey.
It wouldn't be professional development without an article to read, now would it?

Recommendations

When I first started blogging (sometime early last summer) I came across a number of blogs that have allowed me to reflect and develop my educational "theory" and apply it to make changes in my classroom. Most of them are science related, some are math, and all of them offer great insight into what a classroom can (and in most cases, should) be like. Yesterday, I created a blog roll that lists the main ones that I make a point to read whenever I have the time. Here's a few snippets from that list:

The Math/student-engagement guru:

Dan Meyer is a pretty big name in the math blogosphere, and his blog was the first one that got me searching for others. It was his TED talk that led me to him; if you're interested, start with his "Author's Choice" page. Highly recommended for anyone working with students who are less self-motivated (or anyone in math or science). 

The Puzzlers:

Each of these guys post frequently about science as well as education, and many of their posts leave me questioning and reflecting:

John Burk is a physics teacher who has endless insightful posts. I was particularly intrigued by his recent post about the growth mindset.

Brian Frank is another physics guy who teaches teachers, and constantly has interesting posts about physics as well as teaching.

The SBG-er:

Probably the best resource I have found for SBG guidance has come from Jason Buell. He has an entire page that lists all of the posts about SBG, and they have been an immense help in my transition to SBG this year. It's worth mentioning that he's also a science guy.

****UPDATE
I neglected to include another great SBG (and science) resource: Shawn Cornally, who also has a TED talk that is quite good. He also has a page of SBG stuff, and it's not just for science!


The Newest Addition:

A blog that I just found last week, but has been a great addition to my reading list, belongs to Nick Mitchell - yet another science teacher (surprise surprise). I particularly enjoyed his most recent post about the purpose of using demos in science. Couldn't have been more timely - our district just had a recent incident, and I will be attending a meeting with other science teachers to discuss our district's demo safety policies this week.

Homework; Unanswered Questions

As I was responding to Natasha's comment on my previous post, it was getting a bit long - so I thought it would be better served as a post than a comment.

Natashazen said...

I have often wondered about how much true learning a student can do at home alone. What homework resources, how much homwork, and precisely what kind of homework taska are the best for true learning? It is a question for which I still do not have all the answers

I have many of the same questions about homework - and also a lack of definitive answers. The article I posted presented some interesting conjectures about the amount of homework that is assigned and its relation to student learning - there was not a clear correlation in the research saying more homework = more learning. As you mentioned, I'm sure much of this is also influenced by the tasks as well as the resources available to students; it seems quite difficult to isolate just one of these factors as an individual influence on learning.

Another question that I have is whether or not students NEED homework in order to learn? Yes, it can be used as a form of formative assessment, but do students view it that way? Do they know how to use it that way? Should we teach them?? Should students be punished for not doing it? We know (or at least we think we know) it will help them improve their learning and perform better on assessments, but does that mean they should receive a lower grade for not doing it? So many questions....

I sometimes wonder (and I believe this was also in the article) if we are creating a bigger gap between the "smart" students and the "not-so-smart" students. The students who do the homework usually do better on assessments, but do they need it; would they learn the same amount without doing the homework? And for those students who seem like no amount of harassing will get them to trouble themselves to do homework, will it just keep them thinking (and behaving like) they are "not-so-smart"? Ok, I need to stop... question overload!

On a somewhat related topic, it is interestingly related to the growth vs. static mindset issue, which I have been currently reading about. It's really interesting, and it also reminds me of another book I heard about in grad school this past fall called Choice Words (which is on my list of books to read). I'm excited to learn more...!