Our time working with the Scarlett middle schoolers is now half over; our summer semester of classes more than half so. In just a few short weeks we will be placed in schools where into which we will integrate ourselves and, eventually, design our own lessons. And with lessons, assessments. That our students will take. For a grade.
As goes the popular sentiment that our students are the future, so too are we theirs (in a sense).
I'd like to take this space to reflect not only on today's and this week's discussions about assessments (specifically of the standardized variety) but also to address the fact that we are the future of the education system. We will be instrumental in designing in-class assessments and preparing our students for the bigger, state-mandated ones. We will be assessed, ourselves, in return. And we are already halfway done with our first term.
...
Ok, so we still do have nearly eleven months left, so there is hope. Besides, we will be getting more hands-on experience and personalized guidance once we actually begin working in the school, so there is also structure. The past two days' emphasis on testing and accountability have probably just shaken my confidence a bit. I can recall having new teachers at various times in my formal education, and many of them seemed fully functional and competent in spite of their [in]experience. Yet I can't help but think about how the assessments in our own futures as those inexperienced teachers are dictated in large part by those who are 1) not the people designing the assessments, 2) not the people implementing them, and 3) not the people who's careers are contingent upon their success. What are we supposed to do now to prepare to be assessed then? To what aspect of the profession should we devote the most attention and practice?
The obvious answer to me is on how to facilitate higher-level thinking. But then how does one balance that with SEL? How does one maintain his own content-specific knowledge? The state apparently doesn't care that we take the time to complete the PRE if our 16-year old selves scored high enough on yet another standardized test. It all just seems so arbitrary, and that the purpose of education--the purpose of school--gets lost. The students get lost.
What is getting in our way from being able to simplify the formal public education system and just have it be some Dewey-an utopia of student-centered social development and practical assessments? Why have schools become so politicized?
As I continue to go through this program, I will continue to assess myself and try to articulate some of these answers. But I know, as always, I'll have plenty more to learn.
Mr. Johnson, you bring up some great points in your blog and I think many of us share your concerns about standardized testing and assessments in general. You point out that "the purpose of school...gets lost" and that "the students get lost". And I think part of the problem the purpose of school gets lost is because its so complex. People assume that school is all about learning content material, but in fact it also involves learning social skills and developing one's personal identity. Teachers then have the complex task of teaching higher-level thinking, encouraging positive identity and social development, and assessing their progress. The teaching profession is under-appreciated and not well understood in many respects, perhaps this confusion leads to problems and the politicization of education. Everybody thinks they know best, but in reality very few people seem to truly understand.
ReplyDeleteJimmy, reading your post brought up a lot of very valuable and prevalent points. Assessment of ourselves, through others and self, is something we will be faced with as future educators. It's up to us to "get it together" and gather that confidence to deliver. I remember when I was in high school, the chemistry teacher was always a first year teacher because they had terrible assessments and/or only took the teaching job for money. Their head was not in it for teaching. I feel like us MACer's already have taken the plunge and decided that THIS is our career, which will help shape our confidences and effectiveness in the long run.
ReplyDeleteJimmy,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your insight and your apprehension. Here is how I've dealt with this paradox of teaching what I know is right vs. teaching to the test. Looking at the broader context of the history of education, the target is always moving for teachers, in terms of standards and assessments. But all research shows that a guaranteed, viable curriculum with an emphasis on close reading of complex texts and critical thinking will beat out any exam. Keep that in mind and I think you'll be okay. My thing is this: if I'm deemed ineffective because I'm teaching what I know is right, then perhaps it's time for me to get out of the profession. The trick is to find a school that agrees with that!
By the way, Into the Wild is one of my AP Lang summer reading books. Good stuff.