On July 30, just 50 days away, educators rally in
Washington, DC, to challenge the direction of educational policy (http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/).
In the weeks leading up to this event, the University of Maryland Writing
Project’s Summer Institutes will light up Martin Luther King Jr Middle School
just 17.4 miles away. How will these two be connected? How can they not be connected? Last night Troy Hicks (The
Digital Writing Workshop & Director of Chippewa River Writing Project
at Central Michigan U) was featured on Steve Hargadon’s Future of
Education. (The recordings of the
one-hour session is available at
http://www.stevehargadon.com/2011/06/thursday-june-9th-live-with-troy-hicks.html
). Seventy or so educators
from around the world participated and throughout the interview the chat box
backchannel was very busy.
Most of the time I want more time to mull over and self-edit
before throwing my unreflected impressions out in public; but when the front
and back channels explored the distinctive opportunity in digital media,
particularly involving the elusive but vital dimension of “voice,” I scratched
in: Digital media offer a richer mirror for persons of any age to see the self
(incl the "other" side of self), to integrate, possibly to achieve
more integrity which is evident in power of voice.
How will NWP and local sites connect our digital voice with
the moment of truth for democratic education? What is being done in our summer
institutes to speak truth to power without being crushed? How can we have integrity on social
justice if we do not stand up against the attack on teachers?
Responses
There's a lot to think about in those four short paragraphs, Joseph. I actually focused on the "Save Our Schools March" part and started to think about one of my colleagues who will be retiring from teaching public school in Maryland this year. In his goodbye message at a retirement celebration last night he talked about his activist background and how, when change makes things worse, especially change that hurts students, we really need to do something about it. He added that he didn't think his retirement would mean disengaging himself from continuing to educate policy makers about the importance of supporting teachers and students.
Those words affected me because I’m pretty close to retiring, too, but I’ve been thinking that retirement will mean that I can continue to be a “passivist” and not feel guilty about it. But as I thought about all the blows being thrown at teachers and students now, I remembered the spark that ignited my own teaching 22 years ago, my participation in the 1989 Maryland Writing Project Summer Institute and then my continued involvement in National and Maryland Writing Project activities. Even though I don’t think of myself as an activist, I’ve never had a problem encouraging teachers to get involved in a local Writing Project site. I know they’ll be better teachers because of it and I’m not shy to add that they’ll learn a lot about digital literacy in the classroom through the National Writing Project’s Technology Liaison Network.
So to respond to your question on an individual level, I need to continue to support the work of the National Writing Project now when I’m still in the classroom and hopefully more when I retire (when I’m not so exhausted at the end of the day). Oh, and I better show some more activism and take part in the July 30 march in DC, too.
I've heard other folks around the country thinking about the SOS March. Would one of you like to make an event entry for it and perhaps that entry (with its discussion area) could provide a way for people to find each other?
I intend to take the SOS event to our ISI and leadership group, hoping that someone will feel passionately about it and might take a lead. Perhaps it will be connected to an advanced or open "institute" on professionalism today. We have some grad students who could take this with mutual advantages. What do you think about something like that?
TCs of the Great Valley Writing Project, during a Professional Learning and Leadership Academy (PLLA, pronounced "play") last week, got into a pretty intense discussion about the ways that teachers are (inaccurately) represented in the public these days. To respond to this inaccurate portrayal and to add our voices to the SOS movement, we all began writing pieces (op-eds, articles, vignettes) that we will publish in the week before the event. One group-authored piece was this one, about what teachers do after "quitting time" each day. Here it is:
No Clear “Quitting Time”
--a composite list poem written by the K-16 teachers in the Great Valley Writing Project.
*A snapshot of teachers' lives after hours, inspired by Mike Rose's 5.16.11 blog.
After school,
I buy notebooks for students;
take pictures at the Winter Formal;
go to a school play;
watch a student race in his track event;
purchase pizza for the yearbook kids;
have lunch with former students;
write letters of recommendation;
see students’ entries at the Ag show at the Fair;
watch a student compete in her first auto race;
and create a backpack full of supplies,
a secret surprise for a student who needs it.
After school, I respond to student writing,
tutor students,
and do research.
I call every parent in the first weeks of school to introduce myself (roughly 150 students);
I meet with concerned and unconcerned parents;
I buy book after book of new teen literature to provide my students
with a wide array of books to read.
I spend the night with students for a community service project called Kids in a Box;
run a 7th and 8th grade girl’s book club;
serve as a club adviser for The Writer’s Guild.
I arrange field trips,
contact parents, create and revise my curriculum,
and plan and organize more fundraising events.
Each year, during my Spring Break, I go to Washington, D.C. with the 8th graders.
I give money to a student so he can afford college necessities;
donate to the wrestling team;
keep in contact.
I print 4x6 photographs of students performing Hamlet in costume;
arrange wall bulletin boards to show off student work;
make Portuguese sweet bread with my students;
attend a sober grad fundraiser;
and purchase a t-shirt to support the cause.
I supervise yearbook and the advertising that goes with it;
write recommendations for club officers;
attend sporting and dance recitals for former and current students and
for the last two weeks of the school year,
I offer a homeless student a ride to school.
I organize a pre-post school-wide writing assessment;
participate in staff vs. student fundraisers; and
read adolescent lit. to add to my “tool kit.”
I help students write personal statements for college applications;
organize a book drive for our school library;
listen to other teachers and when asked, offer suggestions.
After hours, I make copies, enter grades, write more letters of recommendation.
I tutor students one-to-one in writing conferences before and after school;
haunt used bookstores looking for books to fill my classroom library;
send books to my former (fantastic) student now in prison (a life sentence for a gang-related murder).
I play on the faculty basketball team;
attend pizza fundraisers and students’ dance shows;
spend the weekend in the school photo lab with my two kids
so I can meet the yearbook deadline; and
I set up a reward for a student who struggles and when she improves,
stage a celebration.
After hours, I read books on English Language Arts;
read The English Companion (a Ning for English teachers);
plan lessons;
read and respond to more student papers; and
look for engaging information to supplement district adopted materials.
I take a group of twenty kids on a college tour, a two day trip;
host a pool party for my AVID kids;
attend basketball games; and
open my home for student book group discussions.
Sometimes I drive kids home when their parents can’t or won’t.
Sometimes I dream about angry, violent students who have threatened me.
I attend a student’s church play;
and orchestra performances.
I sponsor girl’s volleyball and pay admission to encourage a good turnout.
I buy new clothes for a student after her house burns down.
I make lunches for students who have no lunch.
I edit articles for Write Voice, the Great Valley Writing Project’s Newsletter;
submit articles to California English.
I write.
Some days I think small acts of attending mean the world;
other days it is harder to tell.
One thing is for sure:
in a teacher's life, there is no clear quitting time.
The last line ... yeah.
"... in a teacher's life, there is no clear quitting time"
The poem really captures the full, demanding reality of life as a teacher.
Kevin
Joseph (and others),
Thank you for posting the information about Save Our Schools, and for raising questions about our responsibility to stand up for the reputation of our profession in these very trying times.
Personally, I have been very thankful for the voices of reason and care provided by celebrities like Jon Stewart
(http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-teachers-wall-street-taxpayers-bailout-video-2011-3)
and Dave Eggers,
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html)--
two celebrities who have not drunk the "teachers are the problem with education" Kool Aid. I appreciate their willingness to question the ever more acceptable rhetorical strategy of blaming teachers, especially established teachers, especially teachers who have committed their life's work to public education, for a perceived failure of the public education system.
But it seems to me that we also have to organize ourselves to speak back to the picture of teachers as lazy people who get out of work at 2 PM, take their summers' off, and spend their working days just waiting to collect their big, fat pensions.
Maybe we should add a few lines to the Great Valley found poem above: In the summer I write OpEds to my local newspaper describing my work.
I recommend my colleague for an award she deserves. When I hear people disparage teachers, I speak up and speak out. I will not give up my profession without a fight.
What will you, individually or at your writing project, do to talk back to the negative view of teachers and public schools that has so captured the imagination of our country?
An open letter to Ed Secretary Arne Duncan
--
This was written by Carol Corbett Burris, the principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State.
Dear Mr. Duncan:
You have never been to my high school, but if you visited, you would be impressed. It is an integrated suburban public high school that meets AYP each year for all groups of children. We are on all of the top 100 lists - U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek and The Washington Post. Over 80% of our students graduate having passed the state exam in Algebra 2/Trigonometry and over 60% graduate with AP Calculus under their belt. We do a good job by the students we serve, some of whom have difficult life circumstances. I doubt that you will ever visit - we are not a KIPP or other charter school likely to attract your attention. I think you should know, though, something about the teachers who work with me.
As I walked into my high school the last week of school, I met Thom, arriving early to give one last extra-help session to his physics students. On the previous Saturday, Matt made the trip in to prepare his students for their math exam. He used Saturday because his colleague, Kaitlyn, was coaching some of the same kids for the Global Regents exam after school on Friday. Such generosity on the part of teachers has been part of the school culture for years.
As principal, I am so grateful for the commitment our teachers make to their students. I have seen faculty reach deep into their pockets to help out kids in need, take kids to community college to register, or sit for hours in a hospital emergency room until a parent arrives.
I am certain that you know that there are many educators across this nation who quietly and generously go above and beyond each day for their students. Some work in very difficult circumstances in schools that are overwhelmed by poverty and truly do not have the resources to serve their students well. Others, like me, are lucky enough to work in well-resourced districts with more limited numbers of students who have great need. I know that you would not want to deliberately harm the work that we do.
However, the punitive evaluation policies that New York State has adopted (and that many other states have adopted) due to the Race to the Top competition are doing just that. It is a dangerous gamble that might score political points but it will hinder what you and I and so many others want-better schools for our kids. We already know from research that reforms based on high stakes testing do not improve long-term learning.
This June, New York's teachers and students felt the first effects of rating teachers by student test scores. Across the state we received a clear message along with our Regents exam packets - Albany does not trust the people who educate New York's students. We will now be 'scored' based on our students' Regents exam scores, and because of these new high stakes the state education department is 'teacher proofing' students' answer sheets.
Both students and teachers feel the brunt of this distrust. Here are some examples. Students can no longer use pencils on the new scantrons that must be scanned and then sent to a remote location for scoring. Only ink is allowed. If a student's pen bleeds through the scan sheet, additional complications arise. Because they cannot erase, students need to follow elaborate procedures of circles and Xs to correct their answers if they decide to change them. The rules for corrections nearly brought one nervous student at my school to tears.
On the back of every student scantron, a teacher must now print her name if she is a rater, and then bubble in a code for each question she grades. Imagine writing your name on 300, 400, or even 500 scantrons (depending upon the number of students taking the exam). While the days when students had to write "I must not cheat" 300 times on the blackboard are gone, their teachers now have to do the equivalent so that the New York State Education Department can monitor how they score student answers. It wasted literally hours of our teachers' time, and they felt angry and humiliated.
During the early days of No Child Left Behind, the New York State Education Department turned the Regents into high-stakes graduation tests. On exams in math and science, we were required to double grade every student paper in the range slightly above or below a 65. When a student failed the exam, I could tell a parent that many eyes had looked at it. If any doubt remained, another teacher would review the exam. The score rarely changed, but at least I could reassure a distraught parent that we were fair and accurate.
As of this spring, I can no longer give that reassurance. Principals are now forbidden to re-score a paper once a computer assigns the score. An elaborate process involving the district superintendent and the state Education Department is triggered to change a student's score.
Apparently principals, who will also be evaluated by scores, are assumed to be 'cheaters' as well. Angry parents are now insisting that I send their child's exam to Albany for review. The state Education Department says that the review will take two to three months. Can you imagine being a hopeful graduate waiting that long for a test that you failed by one point to be reviewed?
This is the legacy of the policies that were rushed into place by states to get the federal Race to the Top money. We now have testing systems based on the mistrust of schools and the professionals who work in them. It will severely damage the relationship between students and teachers even as it is destroying the relationship between the state Education Department and educators across New York state. Perhaps all these mistrustful new rules and procedures are necessary if we accept the premise that student tests should also be high stakes for educators.
We've started down the slippery slope and we'll necessarily gather up these unintended consequences along the way - unless policymakers restore some sanity to the system.
I am in my final years of a career that I have loved and in which, I believe, I have made a difference. I certainly do not fear for my job security. I do worry for my young teachers and my students. I worry for my grandchildren. I worry, also, for our nation. As John Dewey said so long ago in his Pedagogic Creed:
I believe that all reforms which rest simply upon the enactment of law, or the threatening of certain penalties, or upon changes in mechanical or outward arrangements, are transitory and futile.
I hope you are not annoyed that this is an open letter, but it seemed to be the best way to get someone to read it. I took the time last month to write a detailed, four-page letter to President Obama, but I did not get even a boilerplate email in response. Funny thing: during the campaign when I regularly sent contributions I always got a thank you. Now when I get a solicitation from his re-election campaign, I make a contribution to Save our Schools (SOS) instead.
Perhaps I will see you when I march with others in Washington D.C. on July 30. My husband and I will be there, rain or shine. Because we will likely not have an opportunity to speak with you that day, let me leave you with this final thought. After a heartbreaking loss, my friend who coaches was furious with his team. After he had vented, I offered my advice. "You can't win the game if there is anger and mistrust between you and the kids. You have to work together to build something big." That coach got it. Right now the ball is in your court, Mr. Duncan.
Diane Ravitch will be appearing at the next Save Our Schools Teach-in, scheduled for 8 pm Eastern, Thursday, July 21st. As Anthony Cody reminds us, SOS does not have any big corporate donors so they are going to do a day-long fundraiser for the Save Our Schools March - which is just around the corner. You can register for free - and slots will be reserved for those willing to organize house parties of five or more to participate. Sign up here .
Hi, Elyse and all.
Laura Schiller and I are planning to attend the Save Our Schools march. (Laura is a NBPTS-certified teacher and we both direct the Oakland (MI) Writing Project.) We're glad that teachers, parents, and other community activists are beginning to mobilize. We're also beyond frustrated by the drumbeat of negativity about teachers as the "cause" of our nation's unwillingness to invest in its youth. Let's heed the argument made by Bob Moses, civil rights organizer and founder of the Algebra Project: "Let us use the Preamble of the Constitution as an organizing tool with which to assemble a twenty-first century people's insurgency, for a substantive constitutional right to a quality public school education for every child in the nation."
Wanted to add that if you're on Twitter, you might consider following #sosmarch - educators are tweeting in support of the Save Our Schools march and marchers and using this hashtag to collect their tweets.
Looking forward to hearing reports back from those of you, like Laura Roop and Laura Schiller, who are able to attend and advocate for teachers.