Sep 8, 2008
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Liam Goldrick at the Education Optimists gave the education portion of John McCain’s speech a yawn. After McCain said, to paraphrase, that we should encourage easier routes for talented professionals to enter teaching - and make that route out for bad teachers more quickly and easily navigated, too - Goldrick wrote:
“The education portion of McCain’s speech served up the same boring, rehashed Republicanism as the rest of his speech. Basically, it’s all about choice and competition-and firing bad teachers. You always need an enemy.”
Yes, yes, we’re all belligerent warmongers, we stomp on the throats of the poor [how do you think they get downtrodden?], etc. etc. I sense a little bias, but I digress.
He’s right that this is “rehashed,” though I didn’t consider it boring. We have to rehash problems when we’ve failed to implement effective solutions. I considered all the 25th anniversary of A Nation at Risk hoopla to be rehashing as well because we still face many of the same issues and we’ve failed to implement properly many potential fixes.
So, I like reading solid analyses/solutions for some of the problems with our teacher corps. Enter ABCTE’s Dave Saba with a post today called “Fixing Teacher Quality”:
“There are 3.2 million teachers. Jack Welch, the brilliant CEO of GE, made his managers rank all staff so that they knew the top 20%, middle 70% and the bottom 10%. The top 20% were fast tracked into leadership positions and the bottom 10% got fired.
We would have to fire 320,000 teachers per year. That would double the number of teachers we need to hire each year and since we can’t find enough to fill our positions now, we will never have enough if we start to really push an aggressive approach towards eliminating mediocre teaching.”
Common sense stuff. Whereas it would be nice to cull the herd and instantly improve quality, it just isn’t realistic. What can we do, then?
To solve teacher quality we need to do the following:
- Fix recruitment – have enough candidates for each position so that the principal can hire the right teacher for his/her students – we need more routes to the classroom to increase the numbers
- Be Selective - less than 40% of our ABCTE candidates make it through the program and we are starting to see great results from our teachers
- Train principals in hiring – ensure they know how to match the teacher to the students
- Develop great performance evaluations for teachers – outcomes and observations based and ensure the evaluation is more than once a year
- Train principals on evaluations – ensure they know how to develop teachers
- Develop truly great professional development for teachers – develop efficacy measure for the professional development to ensure it meets minimum standards
- Train principals on how to assign prescriptive professional development from performance evaluations
Once that is in place, then you can start to move teachers who do not succeed with students out of the classroom. But we have a lot of work to do learning to walk before we can start running.
I’d add two more to that list:
8. Encourage the most talented high school and undergraduate students to enter teaching. Right now, they just aren’t interested.
9. Increase standards for content knowledge in education schools. We need our teachers to know math and English, at the very least, to a reasonably high degree.
Sep 8, 2008
Posted | 4 comments
Back in April, Wes Fryer admonished teachers to “Be wary of saying it in e-mail,” which advised the following:
“The recommendations said you should never write what you:
- would not say aloud
- would not write in a letter to someone else with your name at the bottom
- don’t want published in a newspaper”
… and later in the piece, “Be careful what you write ANYWHERE, including email messages.”
I thought then - as I do now - that Fryer has the wrong attitude toward e-mail in public service. It’s really quite simple - communication undertaken as a public employee [teacher, municipal servant, etc.] is owned by the public. It’s a wonderful bit of common sense accountability/transparency, and that isn’t something to be feared.
I think Fryer is so wrong because public employees shouldn’t run scared, tiptoe, or otherwise panty-wad. They should embrace the transparency of e-mail and uphold their professional responsibilities.
Fryer invoked ye olde specter of Enron as having brought to the forefront of public communication regulation these issues of accountability. I replied then:
“Some people have conservatively said that schools must archive EVERYTHING on their networks which is sent by users.”
This depends largely on the state in which your district operates.
For example, in New York and Florida, archiving e-mail isn’t something that “some people” say should happen - and it certainly isn’t a conservative assessment of the situation. It’s the law.
In those states, e-mail within public schools is a matter of public record. Obviously there are restrictions on what can/can’t be made available via a Freedom of Information Law [or similar] request - I couldn’t have access to e-mails containing confidential information - but communication, as with other public institutions, is to be archived.
Public right-to-know, Sunshine, and FOIL acts pre-date the Enron fallout by decades.
No one replied to that comment and there was no discussion.
Fryer posted today to “Assume your inbox is public record,” and he’s still wrong - this time about a different facet of the e-mail issue:
“Reminders like this [that e-mails are public records] are important for not only teachers, but also parents and others who communicate with teachers, principals, and other school employees via email. Don’t assume an email message is going to remain private with the person to whom you are intending to send it. If a subject is touchy or sensitive, don’t address it with an email.”
E-mails are public records - which is precisely why you should document contentious issues in e-mail.
Parents of students with IEPs will be the first to tell Fryer and others how important it is to have proper, solid documentation of contentious issues. Cynics and realists call it a “paper trail,” but in truth, having access to clear, hard evidence of communication goes a long way for both parties.
Stop fearing this stuff and start using it, folks.
“Meet face-to-face or discuss it on the phone.”
In-person discussions are obviously a good way to handle minor problems - I record those as well. Phone conversations are notoriously weak evidence. I tend not to have them when I communicate with public officials about anything remotely serious, and when I do, I record them.
“Not only can email messages be readily misinterpreted (especially when they concern sensitive topics) and readily forwarded to others (intentionally or unintentionally)– they can also be subpoenaed as public records.”
E-mail messages are writing - which is loosely defined as putting on paper or typing those words and thoughts that are in your head. If you want to [or need to] look back to an important communication, it’s better to have a hard copy of the words than to rely on one’s recollection. This is why the grocery store gives you a paper receipt instead of saying, “Be sure to remember what you bought, including prices, and if there’s a problem we’ll take your word for it!”
If your e-mails are “misinterpreted,” that’s your problem. Have someone help you write a solid communication to a teacher or administrator - there’s no shame in it.
That communications can be forwarded wrongly is a real issue, but it’s not one we should fear. If it happens, then we hold the offender to account like we do with any other violation of statute.
It’s also worth noting that non-tangible communication [conversations, telephone calls, etc.] can be forwarded as well. We call it “gossip,” and it’s a much larger problem than e-mail forwarding.
Fryer wraps up with:
“Don’t assume your email inbox is a space for private communications.”
I think that Fryer has a problem with clarity here, though I can’t be sure. I think that he’s trying to suggest that “private communications” - say, writing to a friend that you’ve got a crush on the girl in the next cubicle over, or writing on a listserv about how much you hate Political Candidate A, B or C - aren’t as private as one might think. He’s right about that.
But e-mail has offered the public and the employees of its government a tremendous opportunity to archive conversations. The benefits of the accurate record-keeping are many, and they benefit the most contentious situations the most.
Sep 8, 2008
Posted | 4 comments
Apparently this was on Deadspin, but I read the education sites each day before I hit sports, so I’ll tip the hat to Mr. Russo.
The Bengals wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson legally changed his name recently to Chad Ocho Cinco to reflect his jersey number of 85 - and now “Ocho Cinco” will appear on the back of his jersey in place of the old “Johnson.” Cue the outrage!
Rubes like me don’t know much about Spanish. We just know that Teddy Roosevelt whooped the Spanish single-handedly and that a lot of people in California [like Spain, another foreign country] speak their language. I’ll do my best to sum up the gripes detailed by these scholars of the language - consider this testimony fair warning.
Here’s the meat:
“Why is Carlson, and many other Spanish teachers so upset? “Ocho cinco” actually means “eight-five”, while “ochenta cinco” or “ochenta y cinco” would be the correct formations of 85 in Spanish.”
Yes. Yes, I follow. The question I’m having trouble with is…
… so what? Another scholar explains:
“Aaron Carlson, Spanish teacher from Kearney, Nebraska explains: “Chad’s little prank is making it difficult for us to effectively teach numbers. Students think that we are teaching them wrong because this clown can’t use a dictionary.”"
I wouldn’t call a legal name change a “little prank,” but Kearney is entitled to his mouth-frothing.
Take a step back, Mr. Carlson. Is Chad Ocho Cinco’s football jersey the highest hurdle you face as an educator? If so, don’t let the education world know - your school will get about 40,000 applications for its next job opening.
Perhaps Kearney and others could use this as what the proper ed-school graduates and certified teachers - not me - call a “teachable moment.”
Really, how often does grammar in any language come up in pop culture? It’s a fairly interesting bit - taking 3 minutes to describe how “ocho cinco” reflects the “8″ and “5″ on his jersey and not the cardinal number “85.”
This might be one of the few times when I’d argue that the discussion would facilitate engagement among students, and that the engagement would be a valuable thing.
Chad Ocho Cinco seems to grasp the gravity of the issue:
““I really don’t care, you cant stop me either way,” related Ocho Cinco. “Maybe next year I’ll go with Acht Fünf. That’s some German right there.”"
As soon as these teachers pound out a solution to this intellectual rift, they might want to tackle two other problems in high school education.
1. High school teachers don’t know basic English, as evidenced by the mean GRE Verbal score of 484.
2. High school teachers don’t know basic math - algebra and geometry - as evidenced by their mean GRE Quantitative score of 576.
Both of these scores are well below the mean. Verify it here [PDF] at your leisure. I recommend you take solace in knowing that your bosses aren’t any better off.
Good job, guys. The grammar myth of The Ocho Cinco Jersey? Consider it busted.
Hell, the Spanish teacher article is probably a fake, but since I read 20 real education articles a day this ridiculous, I’ll treat it as true.
Sep 8, 2008
Posted | 2 comments
trite, adj. Overused, “lacking in freshness of effectiveness.” Recommended synonyms: hackneyed, stale, shopworn.
The semester has officially begun - as signaled by Boston University Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore pandering to the kiddies on his Dean’s Blog. After inviting the University’s youth to spend a few minutes listening to Mary J. Blige, Elmore advises:
“Finally, if you are eligible to do so, I encourage you to register to vote. I mean no political endorsement when I encourage you to take a look at the Rock the Vote Web site and use their easy registration forms. (If you can suggest other sites, send them to me and I will post a tweet.)”
I’ve got a few suggestions, though they may not “jive,” as the kids say [!], with Elmore’s commitment to MTV politics. Students can:
- Fill out The National Mail Voter Registration Form available through the Federal Elections Commission.
- Visit the League of Women Voters website for more voting/registration resources than you can count.
- Google “voter registration” and see that every state makes it easy to register.
Those are a few of the “other sites” that we already pay for via taxes or private donations. Rocket science, Dean Elmore? No - common sense.
“If you drop off a voter registration form to my office, we’ll make sure it gets to the right place.”
I’d rather you focused on the business of education - God knows there’s plenty to do, even at an excellent University like [y]ours. Stick to your job.
No unnecessary bureaucracy or responsibilities. Really, Dean Elmore, if you want your students to register to vote, have them print out the federal form at drop it in a mailbox. That’s all it takes - and familiarizing students with one of the few no-nonsense facets of our republic is a better idea than coddling and nannying.
“Look for voter registration drives organized by departments, clubs, and organizations around campus. Remember that elections are held this and every year.”
Boston University isn’t a rotten place - it’s wonderful, and it pumps out many talented graduates. Elmore, however, doesn’t see a problem with having to suggest to those on whom degrees will be conferred that elections happen every year.
Maybe it’s a reminder to international students new to Planet America? Probably not, since they aren’t voters.
“This Friday, during our weekly Coffee & Conversation session, let’s talk about voting and the upcoming election of the leader of the world.”
I’m as pro-American as any sensible person can get, but I don’t describe the President of the United States as the “leader of the world.” Leader of the free world has certain connotations - I’ll go with that - but I’ll leave titles like “King of the World” to young, excited lovers leaning precariously off the bow of a ship.
Maybe I’ll drop by the Coffee and Conversation the next time I’m on campus. Perhaps we could talk about treating college students as adults.
FYI, I prefer espresso.
I’ll leave you with Dean Elmore’s post script:
P.S.
I confess that I dig Girl Talk – can’t wait to see him on September 20. I’ve got two extra tickets. I’ll give them to the person who sends me the coolest photo of life at BU. You can send the photo to [email protected] by Tuesday, September 16, 2008. I’ll post some of the good pictures. Good luck!
Visit this blog often.
UPDATE: There’s a follow-up to this post at Intellectual Dishonesty and Fearmongering on the Boston University Dean’s Blog.
Sep 8, 2008
Posted | 0 comments
28
As measured by how many kindergarteners we could take in a fight, that is. Tammy clocked in at 15.
Really, Tammy? 15?
I bruised up 28 before those little rapscallions got to me. If we worked together, we could probably best 50 tiny scamps - which is roughly how many kindergarteners are in one classroom in New York City.
I posted the rules for no-holds-barred fights with children about 8 months ago, so click or read on. How many could you take?
Here are the ground rules:
- You are in an enclosed area roughly the size of a basketball court
- There are no weapons or foreign objects
- Everyone is wearing a cup (so no kicks to the groin)
- The children are merciless and will show no fear
- If a child is knocked unconscious, he is “out.” The same goes for you.
My favorite question:
During the fight, would you feel morally comfortable picking up a child and using him/her as a weapon to throw at other children?
28 for me! Feel free to take the quiz and post your results.
From their website:
Please Note: All our badges and widgets that you can install on your blog come with an extra link attached that you may remove if you wish. The extra link is the <a> tag located at the very bottom of the HTML code we provide. Removing it will not affect the widget in any way.
They’re up front with that extra link - excellent. Sneaky link tactics stink.
