When the United States decided to create a public school system, we decided that local entities were the best to control the curriculum and general operations of the schools.  Local communities could create the schools however they saw fit.  Create a local base of support, hoping that the whole community would become involved.  And to finance the schools, local money (first in general taxes and donations and later through local property taxes).  A good idea… Thankfully Congress knew that managing schools would be too much of a hassle when it was concerned with nationwide business.  Likewise states had larger business.

Now it seems we are at a crossroads.  Many entities and groups pushing for a larger federal government, taking over areas that for years have been reserved for the states.  For example, the issue over same-sex marriage.  Marriage has always been a defined legal contract from the state.  Now people are pushing for a national amendment.  Why? When many of those same people are decrying the expansion of the federal government.  Lesson #1: read the Constitution.  If we all did that, many of the jurisdiction issues were disappear.

On to education…

The passage of No Child Let Behind allowed the federal government to have some control over traditionally local controlled school districts.  Schools are assessed for AYP (Annual Yearly Progress).  If progress has not been reached, school are given a warning.  After 4 years on warning, schools are subject to a complete overhaul.  I am not going to get involved with the ins and outs of NCLB as the legislation is extremely complicated and riddled with problems.  Rather I would like to focus on the current issues in my state, Indiana.

Our school superintendent of public education, Tony Bennett has taken the passage of Public Law 221 (state school accountability) in 1999 and brought the issue of year progress to the forefront.  Under PL221 schools are assessed as “exemplary,” “commendable,” “academic watch,” or “academic probation.”  After the fourth year on academic probation, schools are subject to state sanctions.

First of all the state is now taking over schools without asking or being invited. Isn’t this a clear violation of the concept of federalism?  If not, then I think some people need to reread the Constitution.

Second, the school sanctions are wide reaching.  When applied, schools have to give up control of districting, hiring of teachers, placement, evaluation of teachers, and compensation of teachers.  The state superintendent has even proposed that 51% of teacher evaluations would be based on student test scores.  And it goes without saying that sanctions would involve a decrease in funds.

Third, the state still insists that the local districts must be the ones to submit an improvement plan.  Two of our local districts created elaborate improvement plans complete with curriculum overhauls and concessions from the teacher union of hiring and firing processes and benefits.  Yet still our districts were given failing marks from the Department of Education and funds were withheld.

Finally, the state has decided the best was to fix the situation is to cut $300 million from the education budget which Mr. Bennett insists is a plan to “hit the reset button.”

Overall where does this get anyone?  It leaves local school districts without control, but also without any guarantee of financial help from the states.  It leaves teachers vulnerable to yet another arbitrary evaluation system.  It leaves local citizens wondering where their property taxes are going.  It leaves parents without a guarantee that the local school district will even be around to education their students.  And it leave students caught in the middle of a game of political tug-o-war in which they will most certainly get trampled by one side or the other.

It makes me so depressed to see what is happening to education in this country.  Pretty soon we will no longer be a rich nation in any sense of the word.  We will be a nation of bumbling idiots so focused on control that in reality no one has control.  It reminds me of a quote that started a Facebook war the other day, but nevertheless a good quote.

“Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army.” — Edward Everett

So what’s a parent to do with all this turmoil?  Where are we to send our children for a good education?  Well I see two options: homeschooling or charter schools (exempt from PL221).  What a bind!  I neither have the time or patience for home schooling or the monetary resources for private or charter schools.  So my kids will be attending the public schools and hopefully their school will remain in the “exemplary” or “commendable” categories for the year.  At any rate we will be moving states in December.  Hopefully the new state is not in the same tug-of-war as here, but I won’t hold my breath.

I get like this at the end of every quarter.  I have a love/hate relationship with our letter grade system.  At times I think it’s an accurate representation of student work and accomplishments and other times it’s a pain in the neck that doesn’t reflect students at all.  So for all you that feel the same way as me, here’s a list of pros and cons to the letter grade system:

Pros:

• Easy to compare: I can see the entire scope of the course and the relative standing of students within that course.  At least within my class, it seems to be fairly accurate.
• Easy to translate across curriculum: We have a standard system to put on report cards.  I can look at a student’s transcript and just read letter grades, no dissertations from teachers and the like.
• Look pretty on papers: There’s nothing like a pretty A+ on a paper to make a student feel good about their accomplishments.
• Students relate to the system well: I don’t even know of a time when we didn’t use letter grades.  They are familiar, easy to recognize, work across time and space.  There’s something to be said for tradition’s sake.

Cons:

• Not an accurate whole picture: Many things go into a student’s performance and letter grades don’t necessarily give you the whole picture.  Have students truly learned whatever was being taught, or just memorized the information for the test.  In that case, was the assessment process valid and reliable, or not?
• Doesn’t include attitude: I have many a student that I would love to fail on principle.  Their attitude of disrespect toward the class and me make me very angry.  Unfortunately letter grades don’t show those types of activities, only the written/oral work. 
• Doesn’t necessarily show improvement: Not all students come to my class on the same pages.  Some already know my subject, others have taken it before, some are naturally interested.  And then they are others who are deficient in some way.  With an end grade, we cannot tell where the student began and then where the student ended.  Different scales would be a more accurate representation.
• Pain in the butt to finalize: As evidenced by today, I had translating every assignment into a standardized letter grade.  I have to pay attention to categories of assignments, weighting assignments, and the overall picture.  It gets complicated, confusing, and downright tedious. 

So, does anyone have a easier and more accurate depiction of accomplishments of students?  If yes, please tell me.  It would definitely help days like today go better and not give me a headache.

I am sure other teachers have the same problems with reviewing and tests.   My general philosophy about tests is that they should be an assessment of the high/important points from the chapter.  I try to make my tests hard, but not too hard.  Give them a challenge, but not focus on the nit picky details.  During note time, I tend to tell side stories or trivia facts about the topic.  To me those make the class interesting and for those students really interested in the topic learn a bit more than just the basic facts.  But I hardly ever test on those things.  I want to make sure my students focus on the big ideas, the whys, not necessarily focus on the asides. 

Once we get close to test day, I usually pass out a study guide consisting of the big terms, people, events.  It usually only takes up a half sheet of paper with two columns of words.  the idea is for the student to go home and be able to say something important about each word on the study guide.  I don’t require students to turn in a completed study guide or outline notes.  To me that’s just busy work for juniors and seniors.  Does that help anybody?  I see it as more grading work for me with no benefit for the students. 

The day before the test, we play jeopardy review.  Students play individually but for teams with the winning team earning candy.  I find Jeopardy to be a great way to hit many of the high points for the upcoming test and students like the review, but especially the candy part.  Students usually get to use their study guides for Jeopardy and many jot down answers or questions while we play.  I have had many tell me the process works for them to narrow their focus from the chapter.

Unfortunately at least once a Jeopardy session, I ask someone a questions and they respond with “but that’s not on the study guide.”  I never claimed that everything they needed to know appears on the study guide.  It’s meant as a guide, not an answer key.  What makes some of these students think that I am there to give them the answers?  I am here to facilitate their learning; guide them on the path to their own discoveries.  If they just want the answers, they can look in the textbook.  I an not interested in that type of education.

At some point, students need to wake up and understand the purpose of review sessions.  Until then I will continue to use Jeopardy and those students who understand will continue to benefit.  The rest will say “but that’s not on the study guide” and I will just give them a silent look.  They all tell me I’m good at the look, but I guess I will continue to get practice at perfecting the look.