Since the introduction of NCLB in 2001 and now
the Common Core Standards (both of which were handed down to the states from the
national level and both of which focus on basic knowledge that students need to
know as they prepare for college and their careers) how much of your ability to
cater to your students’ varying learning styles and interests has been taken
away because of this move to "standardize" American education? If
"teaching to the test" has, in fact, lessened your ability to teach
the other important aspects of a well-rounded curriculum, in what ways has this
affected your students’ learning?
At
the same time, I have noticed that many high school
students come in as ninth-graders woefully unprepared in terms of writing
structure, namely: spelling,
grammar, and basic syntax skills.
The long time professionals with whom I work have told me that these
skills were, indeed, present in most students just ten years ago. What steps do
you believe elementary schools in your districts are taking in order to ensure
that these skills are being addressed? Is lack of spelling, grammar and basic
writing skills an issue where you teach? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I can only imagine the state of a freshman coming into high school with horrendous spelling and lack of grammar. In my fifth grade classroom students come in with lack of spelling and grammar from the elementary schools. In my district the spelling program is changed so frequently that the lack of consistency and create poor spelling students. In addition to this, spelling is not a factor in state testing scores therefore there is not a whole lot of emphasis on correct spelling in the lower grades. Grammar is a large part of my language arts classes however, there is little to no grammar work done in grades 1-4. Therefore I spend a good amount of time teaching nouns, verbs, subjects and predicates. If students are starting the grammar basics in 5th grade there is not going to be any impressive grammar wizards entering freshman year.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the lack of both spelling and grammar are because both are not tested in the NJ ASK.
Mike, I can understand your concerns because if I was teaching a higher grade, I would feel the same way that “teaching to the test” is done a little too much. I’m a strong believer in preparing students for college, of course. However, it has to start in elementary school where the teachers build a foundation for their students. It’s like building a house. You need the foundation on the ground first before you can work yourself to build the rest of the house. Now, the foundation is like your basics-which is simple reading and writing skills that need to be met in order to move on to the next grade level so the student can begin applying their skills. I can relate this to my own school district. The elementary schools are really on top of things. We have a Language Arts program called Treasures and it’s intense. We do all our whole group lessons through a system called Connect Ed which allows us to have the Treasures program up on the Active Board. My children as early as kindergarten are introduced to the strategy of the week such as “Making and Confirming Predictions” and the students will be applying them all week. This will take place every week in kindergarten along with all their letter recognition and high frequency words they must know. By the end of kindergarten, they must know 108 words. They strongly enforce this in our elementary schools. We have enrichment classes throughout our district for students to gain more knowledge in certain areas. Now, I feel by the time students get to middle school, their foundation is there, certain skills have already been applied and students are writing full on paragraphs. Oh but now wait, what happens to the child that did not receive that elementary school experience we discussed? They are behind the other children and the effects of this can be very critical. I’ve seen some of this at the highschool when I was permanent sub there years ago when I first go out of college.I was amazed to see how many hs students that couldn’t read. I felt so bad for them, because it seem like they wanted to know how its done.
ReplyDeleteThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB] is a United States Act of Congress that is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. NCLB supports the standards-based education reform and states that the setting high standards and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. This act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. To receive federal school funding, States must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. These tests can be the NJASK for students who qualify to take the regular state testing or APA which is given to student who are not capable of taking the state test. Each state develops its own standards for education under this act. NCLB expanded the federal role in public education through annual testing, annual academic progress, report cards, teacher qualifications, and funding changes. It gave the states more responsibility for the students it is educating.
ReplyDeleteAs a special education teacher this law impacts my classroom in various ways. First, I have students on all different academic levels in al different subjects. Last year, some of my students took the NJASK math test and some were qualified to take APA. I had to teach to the NJASK for my 5th graders while administering and teaching to the goals get for my 6th and 7th graders taking APA. I had the same situation in Language Arts as some of my students took the NJASK and some APA. I had to teach all the concepts of LA to my NJASK students while teaching the APA concepts. APA requires s pre-test on each standard then proof of work, teaching, and growth over the next 3 months. At the end of the data collection period, a post-test in administered and the students must score an 80% or above to pass through the state. Each student has to have their own portfolio crested by the teacher showing al tests and assignments and proof of growth. This is a long and tedious process for any teacher. I had 7 APA students last year and it was a tough job. The state requires these assessments to make sure the funding for special education is being used efficiently and that these students are learning. My students that took the NJASK for math in some cases took the APA for LA. This makes it hard as well because the state expects a student to take the NJASK math that cannot read the questions. I proctored the exam and they all did well with the concepts that I had taught for math but I think it is overwhelming for these students to have to state test just because they have average math scores from the year before. It is a long test and my students had a hard time staying on task and were getting upset they had to sit for so long even though they were given snacks and breaks. These tests are hard on the students and the teachers.
As a fifth grade teacher, I am often surprised to see how poorly students are with their spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I agree with Amy that part of the problem lies with the fact that the school district is changing programs too frequently. If teachers are not familiar or confident with the new program, then student learning will suffer. In my case, I believe part of the problem lies with my subject. Students keep what they learn strictly limited to reading and language arts. For some reason, they do not apply this to their other subjects. In order to help minimize this, the reading teacher, language arts teacher, and myself have been trying to cross collaborate more frequently so they can understand that it is important to apply their knowledge across subjects.
ReplyDeleteAs a middle school teacher, I agree with Mike that there is a lack of reading, writing, and even spelling skills. Amy brought up a good point that spelling is not on the NJ ASK so there is less emphasis on it. I have gone to several workshops that teach literacy through history. So by using primary source documents such as letters, poems, written laws, constitutions, etc to teach students to read, while teaching history, I have found to be very effective.
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