Wherever you are, Dr. Chapman, you were right.

In my very first education class, Dr. Chapman told us that if we were in education long enough, we would see all the old trends become new again.

I am officially there...and I'm only fifteen years in.  I am not sure I completely believed him on that day but as my academic career continued, I began to suspect that he was correct and the longer I taught, the more I began to recognize the approaching signs.

The déjà vu  started with the introduction of common assessments a few years ago. 

During my first year at my current school, I was introduced to something called QBA or quarterly based assessment.  The department developed a bank of multiple choice questions that assessed the curriculum outlined in the district approved skills continuum.  An administrator (I think) created a test using this bank--four times per year--and the students were assessed.

A new trend appeared and our test bank was thrown away.

When my young department head, who was still in high school when we were administering quarterly based assessments, extolled the brilliance of these new assessments, I turned to my senior colleague--one of the women who explained it all to me when I was a rookie---and remarked, "QBA?"  She nodded and mourned the loss of our old test bank.

Today cemented Dr. Chapman's claim.  I spent the day in meetings.  First was an all day departmental "retreat" in which we completely re-designed the English I curriculum map...again. The exciting new innovation was the exact same unit design that I used at the beginning of my career---the one that I used until very recently, the one that I surrendered reluctantly. My notes from this meeting are...."go back to what you used to do; go back to what worked."

I believe that's going to be my takeaway.

College & Career Ready?

As part of our RTI (Response to Intervention) plan, we have a 30 minute college & career readiness class.  However, it is really just a test prep class.

The freshmen work on improving their reading skills for the PLAN test that they will take in the fall of their sophomore year.   The sophomores prepare for the PLAN until the actual test in September and then they shift over to ACT prep.   The juniors prep for the ACT until the test date in March and they shift to EOC (End of Course) exam preparation because all juniors are required to take the U.S. History EOC.

The seniors...well, my poor seniors are a whole other thing.  The seniors must be "college &/or career ready".  Meaning they must have met arbitrary benchmarks on either the ACT, the COMPASS or Work Keys.  (Incidentally, all of these tests are ACT products.)  In recent weeks, even more testing acronyms have flooded my email inbox. 
 If the kiddos meet the ACT benchmark during their junior year, then they are placed in a study hall for their senior year.  If they do not meet the state established benchmarks for ACT reading, English and math, then they are placed--by score--in groups to prepare them for the COMPASS or the Work Keys.

It's stressful and frustrating for students and teachers alike...but we're in a box. A not so lovely accountability and assessment box thrust upon us by so-called education reformers.

If only I could make these politicians and their ilk take all the tests that they thrust upon my students...

New Term; Old Problems

Tomorrow is the first time of the new semester and per usual, I'm wide awake when I should be fast asleep.
It will be a short week and I know what my students will be doing but I'm still re-evaluating my teaching from last semester to tweak this term's instruction.  However, I keep running into the same ol' problems.
I'm already plotting out lessons and finding not enough instructional hours for the material that I need to cover.
On the flip side, we've pared down the curriculum to the bare bones...and in my opinion, we've oversimplified everything.
We're told to have a more rigorous curriculum and then in the next breath, we have to defend ourselves if students fail--even if the student in question has not upheld his/her end of the academic bargain because it reflects poorly on the school in terms of accountability.
We're in this "accountability" box that has zero to do with student learning and preparing them for the world outside of high school.
No wonder I can't sleep.

Beginning Again

I am finding myself increasing frustrated with the state of education today and while I may not be able to change things worldwide, I will continue to fight to control the quality of instruction in my classroom.  
Therefore, I'm attempting to begin again as a blogger because I need an outlet.   I am forever telling my students that it is cathartic to write; it is time to get back to practicing what I preach.