by Brian

This summer I was able to go to China on a trip sponsored by the NEA Foundation and the Pearson Foundation.  The trip was part of an Award for Teaching Excellence, given by the NEA Foundation to a teacher from each state who is nominated by their NEA affiliate.  I was chosen by the Washington Education Association to be the 2011 nominee.  Cara Haney from Kent, WA, is the 2012 nominee, and the NEA Foundation is planning another trip for Cara and her colleagues next summer. (Tom White, one of the contributors for Stories from School is a previous ATE recipient.)

We travelled to the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and were able to visit schools in each city.  We also did tourist things, like visit the Forbidden City and the Great Wall (it really is pretty great, especially with vendors with coolers selling cold drinks on hot days.)

Now I'm trying to figure out what to say when people ask me:  "How was China?"  The only answer that works is inadequate, but true: China is amazing.

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by Brian

Benefits for teachers and other public employees have been in the news lately.  The perception seems to be that they are better than those for workers in the private sector.  In Washington State the Auditor’s Office published a Performance Review of K-12 Employee Health Benefits in February of this year.  In it they report that 51% of K-12 employees cover themselves only, and pay on average about 5% ($27/month) of their premium cost.  Most of them select Premera Plan 1 or 5, rich plans that have lower deductibles and co-pays as well.  That does sound pretty extravagant.

 But it’s not the whole story.  Teachers who cover their families represent about 12% of all employees, and they pay an average of 39% of their premium out-of-pocket, about $500 per month on average. 

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by Brian

In the comments to my recent post I suggested that charter schools might be part of the solution to the perceived shortcomings of our educational system.  There were some good, challenging  questions to that position.  

I am not a champion for charter schools, but I have found one, and he is persuasive, at least to me.  Not to say I'm persuaded, but he made me think more deeply about their potential.

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by Brian

It's almost March and time for the Madness to begin,  No, Tom, I'm not talking about the NCAA basketball tournaments, I'm talking about the Washington State SPRING 2011 HSPE/WAAS/EOC/MSP TESTING WINDOWS.  It starts in March with the HSPEs in Writing and Reading for grades 10-12.  In April it's the Science HSPE, since the promised EOC isn't ready this year.  Then in May it's the tykes' turn as the MSPs take over for grades 3-8.  In June math gets its turn as the high-schoolers get their first crack at the Algebra 1/Integrated Math 1 EOC and the Geometry/Integrated Math 2 EOC.  Those "Must be administered within three weeks before end of course". (BTW, if you give a 14 year-old student an End Of Course Exam 3 weeks before the end of the school year, how are you going to keep him in his seat for the last 12 days?)  Oh, and for students who have previously taken those courses: they can take the EOC Makeup Exams. That's a lot of tests. You should watch this if you are confused.  (Even if you're not, it's fun.)

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by Brian

I am opposed to high stakes tests as a graduation requirement.  The current law in our state requires students to pass 5 of them, beginning this year.  I am certain that at least 50% of the students who take those tests this spring will not pass at least one of them.  People in favor of high stakes tests often refer to the New York Regents exams, pointing out that those tests have been in place for a long time and that students there are managing to pass them.  I admit I have been curious about that argument.  How do they get their students to pass, when it is so difficult here?  Well, apparently they cheat.

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by Brian

After I read Tom's pungent post about the bill that proposes to change Reduction in Force criteria from seniority to evaluation, I spent Friday at a workshop sponsored by ESD 114 and WEA-Olympic Uniserv thinking about how to create the new evaluation system (mandated by last year's SB 6696 and to be in place statewide by 2013-2014) that will put a number to an evaluation. Tom's post sparked a lively debate, but to debate seniority vs. effectiveness we first have to agree that we could even come up with a number from a teacher's evaluation.  That is a huge assumption that requires some critical thinking. And we have to think about what we want the purpose of an evaluation system to be. If we want the system to promote growth, instead of just verifying compliance with state law, will applying numbers help?

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by Brian

On Monday I’m going to Olympia as a math teacher and a member of the Washington Education Association to try to educate the Senate Education Committee about End of Course math exams.  Again.  I went to Olympia last year too, and urged them to support a bill delaying the use of the End of Course math exams as a graduation requirement.  That bill died in committee, and we started this school year knowing that our students would have to take the tests, but not knowing what the tests would be like because the tests hadn’t been written.  They still haven’t. 

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by Brian

I recently read an article that actually defends the U.S. education system rather than attacks it (a pleasant change).  Vivek Wadhwa says: U.S. Schools Are Still Ahead—Way Ahead.  It's a good read, but what really caught my interest was a link he had to another article:  Why Chinese Mothers are Superior by Amy Chua.

There is a lot of concern about achievement gaps for many groups of students, but one demographic that no one is worried about is Asian-American kids.  They do well.  Amy Chua says that for Chinese children it's not some genetic advantage, or good schools and teachers; it's due to Chinese mothers like her.  As I read her description of some of her expectations and tactics, I was taken aback.   She effectively dismisses most of what I believe to be good parenting.  But in this era of high stakes testing, maybe she's right.

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by Brian

This is the 27th January of my career, and I think all of them were happier than this one.  Tomorrow school will begin again, and there are 4 weeks left in the first semester.  I was in my classroom today, getting ready for my students, but also preparing for an important meeting.  In less than 2 weeks the State Legislature will convene, and begin to negotiate a budget that will surely cause serious problems for educators in our state.  So tomorrow my department has invited our Representatives to visit our school and hear our concerns.

Here's a few of them:

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by Brian

Several of us have written about the inclusion of students' test scores in teacher evaluations.  

Here's a new wrinkle. My friend Bonnie, who teaches in the Alaska bush sent me a link to the website for the Fairbanks School District that provides forms for parents and community members to provide feedback to principals which can be used on teacher evaluations.  

Here is what the form states (in red; my comments in black):

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