Category Archives: Education Policy

Ready for Some Smiles?

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Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, High School, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Social Issues, Uncategorized | , ,

This week Chris Reykdal, Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, released a statement supporting removal of the mask mandate in our schools. Likewise, Governor Inslee announced upcoming changes in mask mandates statewide. With mask mandates being lifted all across the country, it seems like only a matter of time before it happens in our classrooms.

Locally, in my rural region of Southwest Washington, some conservative families have been staging protests against mask-wearing. They are still holding on to the tired old claims that masks are more harmful than COVID and that people who follow the governor’s rules are sheep.

Sigh.

My four-year old grandson, masked

Well, they are going to get what they want. The days of masks in school are numbered. And, how do I feel about that? A bit conflicted, actually.

This has been a wild ride. For two years, I have been in close contact with infected students countless times. The majority of my 139 students have been quarantined at least once, sidelining sports teams and filling up the absence list, leaving half the desks empty at times.

I have lost friends to the virus. I have heard of the suffering and near death experiences of others. I know how awful it can be.

Due to my high rate of exposure, I missed out on so much time with my family, not wanting to spread anything to vulnerable family members. I stressed out over any symptoms, took my temperature hundreds of times…

The funny thing is that I was less sick these last two years than I have been in all twenty years of teaching. Why? What was the difference?

The mask. I believe this, 100%.

Still, it’s time. The masks are coming off, and I predict that it will be like a collective sigh of relief being released in every classroom across the state. As much as we have relied on them for safety, their absence will bring back something we have truly missed- the faces of our students.

One of my favorite areas of research is trauma-informed teaching practices. Recently, everything I read about the effects of trauma on children seems to apply to all of my students these days. Collective trauma. Stress. All of us, and particularly young people with less agency in their lives, have been under a great strain. Part of that strain is the inability to read the faces around us. There is research on this aspect of mask wearing, and it is the only valid argument against masks that I have seen. It comes down to one big truth – you cannot build trusting relationships with people when you struggle to read their emotions. Masks complicate that process.

With our new focus on the emotional health of our students, we will definitely benefit from the ability to openly smile at them. And won’t we also benefit from their smiles? Meanwhile, all this time teaching in a mask has likely honed our ability to communicate more clearly with our eyes, our gestures, and our body language. I think we can look forward to some big gains in relationship building very soon!

My four-year old grandson, unmasked

So, while we may have some nervous moments when we take off those masks, let’s make the most of it and enjoy the smiles we are about to see.

As you sort through your own emotions about the possible lifting of the mask mandate, here is some suggested reading:

Reykdal’s Statement

Protests in Lewis County

Study on the Impact of Face Masks…

Do Masks Stunt Students’ Social and Emotional Development?

With Mask Restrictions Set to Lift, a Haze of Uncertainty Lingers

Doctors Warn Ending School Mask Mandates Will Lead to Rise in COVID Cases

The Freedom to Read

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Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Equity, High School, Literacy, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized | , ,

Censorship Gone Wild 

There have been a plethora of school library censorship and banned book stories lately. Unfortunately ,there are too many to list, but here are a few highlights that may have graced your news feeds. 

A school district in Tennessee banned the graphic novel Maus by Art Speiglman over concerns of profanity and female nudity. 

Another in removed Toni Morrison’s first novel, The Bluest Eye from library shelves for obscenity. 

Texas, perhaps unsurprisingly, has a whole host of books their officials want to ban, an overwhelming amount of which feature LGBTQ+ characters and themes. 

Librarians have been accused of poisoning young minds, buying pornography, and indoctrinating students. 

One of my favorite frequently banned books, Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, prominently placed in our library’s Black History Month display. 

In the midst of all of this, it would be easy for Washington educators and librarians to rest on our laurels, grateful not to be working in one of these states with high profile cases. After all, Washington is liberal and progressive, right? 

But, when a colleague sent me this article on Book Riot, “LGBTQ+ Books Quietly Pulled from Washington State Middle School” I was reminded that issues of intellectual freedom and censorship in school libraries are everywhere. Stories like this one that don’t make national headlines are even more unsettling for their insidiousness.

In Our Backyard 

In Kent, The Cedar Heights Middle School librarian, Gavin Downing, was deemed to have “sexually explicit” books on his shelves. The principal pulled books from the shelves, insisted that she monitor all future purchases, and created a council at school to advise Downing on “age appropriate material.” 

It all started with Jack of Hearts by L.C Rosen about an “unapologetically queer teen” who “celebrates the freedom to be oneself, especially in the face of adversity.” If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo, an award winning novel about a trans girl, and All Boys Aren’t Blue, a memoir by LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson, were also discussed at board meetings and removed. 

Kent has a board policy to “revolutionize school libraries” across the district but clearly,  censoring queer voices is out of alignment with the third phase of their plan which seeks to “reinforce equity and excellence.”

I can’t help but draw parallels to Texas where 59.95% of the 850 books on the governor’s banned list feature LGBTQ+ characters. 

In Defense of Libraries 

I am an English teacher, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that I take the freedom to read very seriously. I have also been unspoken about the fact that I think we need to update our curriculums to reflect a more accurate, diverse, and empathetic world view. 

Additionally, this year, I’ve been a librarian half the day, a move that has encouraged me to pursue my library media endorsement, with the hopes of becoming a full time school librarian.

In preparation for one of my classes, I researched Library Bill of Rights and the American Library Association makes it clear that the principles of the bill apply to school libraries. 

The American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.

The ALA has a series of interpretations of this bill and there are a few principles that stood out to me in regards to both local and national censorship. 

Intellectual Freedom: School librarians are leaders in promoting “the principles of intellectual freedom,” and must empower students with “critical thinking skills to empower them to pursue free inquiry responsibly and independently.” 

In the Cedar Heights Middle School case, the removal of books from library shelves limits free and independent inquiry. Remember, we aren’t talking curriculum here, but simply books that students have the freedom to read on their own time. 

Diverse Points of View:  Collection material should “represent diverse points of view on both current and historical issues” and “support the intellectual growth, personal development, individual interests, and recreational needs of students.” 

Representation matters. Books by and about the LGBTQ+ community can be powerful mirrors into students’ own experience or windows to foster empathy. I’d argue the titles that were removed from Cedar Heights could have played an integral role in students’ “intellectual growth” and “personal development.” 

Political Views: The resources in the library should not be constrained by “personal, political, social, or religious views” and school librarians should resist efforts of outside groups to “define what is appropriate for all students or teachers to read, view, hear, or access.” 

It’s no coincidence that the books banned in Kent were all written by and about members of the LGBTQ+ community. As long as those individuals continue to face discrimination, their existence and their stories will remain politically charged. 

Rights of Minors: “Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the right to receive information through the library” and equitable library access should not be abridged by “chronological age, apparent maturity, educational level, literacy skills…”

Librarians are tasked with using their expertise in areas of literacy and adolescent development to fill their shelves. They are uniquely positioned to help their patrons explore those materials and think critically. Students are exposed to more than ever before online, and libraries are a safe place for them to explore a variety of resources with the guidance of a caring adult.

Parental Responsibility “Parents and guardians have the right and the responsibility to determine their children’s—and only their children’s—access to library resources. Parents and guardians who do not want their children to have access to specific library services, materials, or facilities should advise their own children.” 

While I can see why some content might be deemed too mature for young readers, all of the books facing removal at Cedar Heights are highly vetted, award winning, and deemed important young adult texts. As an educator who has, at times during this pandemic, felt more like a babysitter than a teacher, I very much appreciate the focus on families’ individual choices. 

What’s Next? 

I wish I had answers during these “polarizing” and “unprecedented” times. Maybe, some day, we can live in a more harmonious political climate and experience some mundane, precedented news stories, though I’m not holding out hope. 

However, as an educator, English teacher, and aspiring school librarian, it’s clear to me that the challenges we’re facing around intellectual freedom warrant our full attention. 

So, pay attention to your school library and the books filling it’s shelves. Does your librarian curate a collection that is representative of your students’ needs? 

Tune into your local school board meetings and contact the members. (The Book Riot article has contact information for Kent board members if you want to help the situation in Cedar Heights ). 

Have conversations with your principal and colleagues. Where do they stand on issues of censorship and equity? 

Our students deserve the freedom to read and we should never stop fighting for that right.

Identifying Students for Highly Capable Programs

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Assessment, Education Policy, Equity | ,

It’s hard to identify students for gifted—or Highly Capable (HC)—programs.

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s 2009 book What the Dog Saw. One chapter was called “The New-Boy Network: What Do Job Interviews Really Tell Us?”

Gladwell explained that people can give a terrific interview and be bad at the job. Why? Because people’s traits and abilities are task-specific. Someone may have the characteristics of a great interviewee and the ability to answer interview questions well, but that same person may not have the temperament or personality or skills to perform well at the job. An interview and a job are different situations, and the person will respond differently to the two types of situations.

How does that apply to gifted identification? Imagine that a district limits itself to a single test. You may have a child who delights in that type of test question and who is comfortable with that type of testing situation. On the other hand, you may have a child who finds that kind of test question boring or who is distressed at the testing situation. If those same children have identical abilities, the first child is going to have a higher test score.

A psychologist in New York state gave a 4-year-old girl an individual IQ test that took over an hour. When the test was over, the psychologist came out and said the child missed the cut-off score by one point. However, he added, the score wasn’t valid because the girl got hungry halfway through the test.

He never gave her the chance to take a snack break.

In a district in North Carolina, the means of identification was single creativity test: “Draw a person.” Of course, the more detailed the drawing, the more creative the student. One child barely drew a stick figure, so was not identified as gifted. His mother said they should have had him draw a map. He would have been working on it for over an hour. 

He needed a different prompt.

In Washington state, districts are required to use multiple criteria for identification.

  • The more points of information, the better. Having just three items is ridiculously low, especially if two of them are subjective.
  • The more diverse kinds of information, the better.
  • The more familiar the setting for data collection, the better. Assessing kids in their own school during the school day is the best.
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Your Turn: 2021 in Education- Back to Normal?

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Current Affairs, Distance Learning, Education, Education Policy, Equity, High School, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Online Teaching, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized | , ,

Is going back to “normal” a valid goal? Or should we learn from our experience in order to grow and change?

The last year and a half has caused a lot of havoc in education. We had to learn new ways to deliver instruction, and we had to face important equity issues with a crisis igniting urgency. What did we learn from this?

We asked our bloggers these questions: We keep hearing “back to normal,” but is that what it is? Is that what we want? Here are their responses:

Gretchen Cruden

Going “back to normal” may be a comforting thought, but I hope we don’t—at least not completely. There have been some incredibly wonderful new changes that have arisen in education due to the pandemic. I am beyond thrilled that an emphasis on SEL is occurring across the state with…wait for it…actual money to support it!  We are starting every day with mindful breathing and stretches now. Life feels good!

“I am beyond thrilled that an emphasis on SEL is occurring across the state…”

I am also grateful for the opportunity for more educators to explore the ways in which technology can play a powerful in personalized instruction. And, shhhhh…but I am also over having my students sit in pods ever again. Short sets of direct instruction in rows with break outs for small group interactions will forever be my new norm, as I can see where this serves the learning brain the best.

Jan Kragen

One of the best parts of the day is Circle Time. We spread out our chairs in a big circle around the perimeter of the room. I have a karaoke machine, so I use the microphone as our talking stick. It’s so much easier to hear kids talk through their masks with an electronic boost!

This year every one of my students has a ChromeBook. That’s been a learning curve, just in terms of logistics. Every ChromeBook goes home every night and gets charged at home. They return to school every day, get out of backpacks, and into desks. I’ve worked much harder on helping kids keep their desks organized this year because I can’t have them stuffing things on top of their ChromeBooks!

“Now everything is in Google
Classroom…It’s paperless
and super easy.”

At the same time we’ve switched to Google. For decades I’ve taught students using all of Microsoft Office. Trouble is, not everyone had MS at home, so files would go home as MS files and return as RTF or OTD or PDF files–or even pictures of files. Sometimes I could do electronic comments and sometimes I couldn’t. Now everything is in Google Classroom. I post the assignment, kids hand it in, I add comments and a grade. It’s paperless and super easy. 

What I’m missing now is the ability to have lunch with small groups in my room. That’s been so useful in the past for small groups who want to have a writers group or who share another common interest.

Lynne Olmos

I often reminisce about the old days, back when I wasn’t shocked to see what a seventh-grade student looked like without their mask. That said, I think we unveiled issues concerning equity and emotional support over the last year and a half. 

We have seen the need to ensure access to technology for all; however, we started this year without seeing to that. I feel that the hope was that we would not have to get ChromeBooks and hotspots out to those who needed access. We have less capability to provide this access than we did last year! Hope of normalcy set us up for a possible disaster, should we have to go remote at some point.

“I won’t go back to normal, because normal wasn’t good enough for the kids.”

Some of us shifted our practice to take care of our vulnerable students during a time of crisis. Personally, I changed  my grading practice and relaxed a lot of traditional discipline and “classroom expectations” to meet kids where they were and give them a safe place to feel respected and supported. I won’t go back to normal, because normal wasn’t good enough for the kids.

Denisha Saucedo

NOPE, we did not learn. In fact we took three very LARGE steps backwards. Education may never be the same. This is not meant be be negative, but reality is that we as a society may never be the same.

“New habits were formed. Students and staff have new needs.”

From year to year we know that we teach the students in front of us. Well, those students had to do (or not) school online for over a year. It is said that you need to repeat something  66 times to create a new habit, well you can triple that. New habits were formed. Students and staff have new needs. Families and communities look different, therefore the education has to look different. Educators are also dealing with trauma and that in itself has caused them to grab onto bits and pieces of the way education “use to look.”  

Emma-Kate Schaake

I’d love to have seen a full scale reimagining of education after last year, but I know that kind of revolution needs to be more of a slow burn than a five alarm fire. What I have seen in our building is a dedicated focus on student mental health, systems of support, relationships, and community. 

“..education should look different going forward, to meet students where they are and provide what they need…

We seem to be coming in with a strong “kids over content” lens and I think that’s absolutely essential. Some students haven’t been in “real” school in a year and a half. Many have crippling social and academic anxiety. 

I fully believe that students didn’t “lose learning,” but we’ve all been changed by the last year and half. So, education should look different going forward to meet students where they are and provide what they need, academically, personally, and holistically.

Your Turn: Should we be trying to get “back to normal?”

In your opinion, what should education look like going forward? What changes should we embrace? What did we learn? What are the new priorities we need to acknowledge? Share your thoughts with us.

Joy Loss: Diagnose That

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Assessment, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Equity, High School, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Professional Development, Social Issues, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized

Despite the growing pushback against the term “learning loss,” it does not seem to be going away, and that is a problem. We have mandated diagnostic testing to make sure that we are addressing learning loss, meanwhile losing the time where we would be learning in our classrooms to excessive testing. Ironic? Yes, it is.

This obsession at the administrative level seems insane. I mean, no one is arguing that the last two school years were normal. Students lost time in the classroom, and we have not regained a so-called “normal” state in education since the pandemic struck. True. However, “learning loss” ignores two basic truths:

Truth #1: Our kids did not stop learning just because they were not in school. They learned a lot from these crazy times, i.e. how to navigate online learning, how to communicate digitally, how to avoid controversial topics with adults on social media, how to live through a pandemic… So many things.

Truth #2: We have ALWAYS met kids wherever they are academically. Some are at grade level, some beyond and some below. Always. They will still reach their potential. No need to panic. Honest.

Learning has happened, is happening, and will happen. But we HAVE lost many, many other things in the last year and a half- important, invaluable things: laughter, music, art, play, companionship, smiles, theater, dance, hugs, cupcakes…JOY.

Joy loss. Why are we not more concerned with joy loss?

I first saw this term on Twitter. Dr. Gholdy Muhammad tweeted: “The issue with the rhetoric of “learning loss” presumes that students were only at a loss during a pandemic, yet children and uniquely Black children have been at an educational loss (and identity & joy loss) since the inception of this country being colonized.”

Of course, her tweet is equity-focused, and it is devastatingly true. When I read it, I realized two things. First, there are always students who are marginalized, all the more reason to reform our practice. And, the second new learning: identity and joy are essential to success in school, for all children.

I am all in on this ideology. I believe that each child in my classroom needs to feel welcome, safe, acknowledged, valued, and happy. That is the only way that I can ensure that they will learn.

After stumbling on the idea of “joy loss,” I went Googling and found a blog on the ThinkLaw website. ThinkLaw is an organization founded by Colin Seale that creates curriculum to foster critical thinking skills. That was an interesting find on its own, but the blog had some great points. Check it out here.

One of many takeaways from this blog was the idea of a joy mandate. What if we cared so much about how our students felt at school that we mandated their joy? This is not to replace academics, but to enhance learning. What if every classroom was full of happy, engaged, and joyful children? Before you get too skeptical, consider this: Isn’t that just as achievable as every child meeting standard on a state assessment? Therefore, is it not a goal worth pursuing?

If you are unconvinced, if you feel like we need to seriously drill those skills and teach for those tests, think about educators and their joy loss, too. These are tough times for all of us. How will doubling down on testing and measuring learning create better school environments?

Stephen Merrill’s blog on Edutopia, “Too Much Focus on Learning Loss Will Be a Historic Mistake,” speaks so well to the problem. We actually know- according to research- what works best for kids, and we have the opportunity to reinvent public education while it is in this relatively broken state. Why aren’t we reimagining how to create a better way? Read the article here for an in depth discussion of the topic.

The “better way” is a more joyful way, full of student choice, student voice, and student passion. This is evident in my own practice. I teach three grade-levels of English and a drama class. Even with my evolving mindset for a more joyful classroom, I often get stuck in that old rut, teaching the same English lessons as I did years ago. I don’t always respond to the apathy and lack of engagement I am seeing these days as quickly as I should. I am trying to loosen up and let go of the things that don’t matter, but, in a core class, with mandated diagnostics hanging over your head, you tend to clamp down from time to time.

On the other hand, my drama class is a vibrant and playful space. We are creating art on a daily basis and learning and practicing a myriad of skills. One of my new drama students told me the other day that he learns the most in drama. He values the skills he is learning, and he is having a blast at the same time. It brought me back to my thoughts on joy loss. What if my English classes felt like my drama class? What if they were having a blast learning?

Imagine this mandate: Foster joy in your classroom. I know some educators are going to be uncomfortable if we place yet another expectation on them. I also know that it is harder than it sounds. However, wouldn’t some PD and admin support for mandated joy be nice?

We can all choose to suffer under the traditional mandates, or maybe we can ask for a new way, a better way, a joyful way to help our students learn.

Your Turn: Taboo Topics & Tough Conversations

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Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Equity, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Professional Development, Teacher Leadership, Uncategorized

You have most likely seen a lot of talk on the news or in social media about subjects that some parents and pundits believe should not be taught in school, i.e. Critical Race Theory. Many teachers are being instructed to steer clear of political conversations, an all too common policy.

We asked the Stories From School Bloggers some questions about the work they are doing in their classrooms. 1) How are so-called taboo topics handled by you and your administration? 2) Do you actively avoid controversy? 3) How do you help students learn to have tough conversations in a civil setting?

We start with less volatile, but engaging areas…


Gretchen: Building Critical Thinking Skills First
With hot topics, minds and hearts are already closed. Yelling mouths tends to be the only thing open. For me, there are far more effective ways to reach the same goal of helping students to engage in difficult conversations in a civil manner than hammering on hot spots. I use direct instruction to build critical thinking skills about far less “hot-button” topics with my students. We then apply them to real life.
For example, we do unit about how the Supreme Court decides cases and how every word of the Constitution is examined for historical and current meaning as it applies to the cases. We start with less volatile, but engaging areas -Love the Fourth Amendment!- and really dig into word definitions and logic (or logical fallacies) that may accompany the arguments. We then work our way into the big ones -…the First and Second Amendments!

Denisha: Holding Educators Accountable for the Learning

“…race, equity, and inclusion are just as important as Friday’s algebra lesson.”

The problem is that so many educators have the privilege to ignore the structural racism that is the foundation of the education system, and that continuously contributes to the oppression of the BIPOC community.

With this privilege, students are left to their own devices (social media) to stay current and to vocalize their thoughts on the current social unrest, or to weigh in on discussions around race, or gender identity.

I am fortunate to work in a building where everyone says they are willing and at least wants to learn more about how to engage in “tough conversations.” We have an equity team, we have daily announcements, and weekly lessons around equity, and we have staff  PD’s around race. None of this translates into actual conversations.

Some are doing the lessons, nothing more. Some are not doing the lessons. Some are skimming the lessons. Some are finding the right time to do the lessons. Either way, it’s not enough. If a teacher didn’t offer math lessons, it would be grounds for a low evaluation, and a growth plan would be put into action before termination.

We need to hold districts accountable for teachers engaging in the necessary PD’s to feel confident and competent. SEL and conversations around race, equity, and inclusion are just as important as Friday’s algebra lesson. These conversations will change lives, open minds, and heal hearts!

Jan: Educating Tomorrow’s Citizens

“It’s important for children to understand the good and the bad of history…”

I will be teaching the 20th century in social studies this year, but I started the year by reading a Tribal Acknowledgment; Suquamish Elementary sits on Suquamish land. My class had SO many questions, so the next several days I spent sharing Suquamish history from the earliest human habitation in the region to the Boarding Schools that continued into the 20th century.

While my students were appalled at how badly the Euro-American settlers treated the Suquamish, especially after they had helped them survive the first harsh winters here, they also were able to see that some of the abuses were no longer in effect. For example, the city of Seattle banned all Native Americans from the city limits, but my students said they had been to Native cultural events in the city. Clearly, things had changed.

Again, the stories about the Boarding Schools were heartbreaking. But the Suquamish children now go to Suquamish Elementary.

It’s important for children to understand the good and the bad of history, and it’s important for them to see that things can improve.

Finally, when I asked kids what they learned that was important, one answered, “I learned my country doesn’t always do the right thing.” Learning that our government–even with the best of intentions–still makes mistakes is a valuable lesson. Having an educated electorate means having citizens who pay attention and evaluate what their leaders are doing. The first step is letting kids know they might need to do that.

Lynne: Fostering a Safe Atmosphere for the Tough Topics

We don’t give our young people enough credit for how they can manage discourse…”


I believe that part of our problem as a society is our inability to participate in discourse when multiple viewpoints are present. As educators, we can impact our nation’s future rather directly by facilitating the skills young people need to navigate discourse.

Parents in my district tend to be wary of teachers touching on controversy. Although I am not reckless in my introduction of controversial topics, I do instruct my students on discussion protocol. Then I work diligently to foster a safe atmosphere for students to discuss more and more sensitive topics.

Generally, the students choose the topics, and I provide protocols, guiding questions, and mediation as needed. And, you know what? These kids are amazing! We don’t give our young people enough credit for how well they can manage discourse, like a good Socratic seminar or a debate. However, they are initially very leery of anything political, because they know what it is like on social media, and few kids really want to dive into that mess.

On a side note, the staff in our district are specifically forbidden by our administration to discuss the vaccine. No joke. We were told that there were to be absolutely no conversations about the vaccine in our school. One substitute teacher broke that rule, and they are no longer welcome in our district. And, with the sub shortage, you know that is serious!

“…it’s our job to teach critical thinking and dismantle systems that create barriers for students.”



Emma-Kate: Engaging Curiosity for the World around Us

I absolutely believe that teaching is political; it’s our job to teach critical thinking and dismantle systems that create barriers for students. My students read news articles every week, and we read literature outside the canon because I want them to engage with the world around them with curiosity and a critical eye. In many perspectives, what I teach would fall under the (falsely defined) CRT umbrella.

I’m fortunate that my principal believes in equity work, and stands behind me and my teaching philosophy. We’re wrestling with a lot this year: How do we meet our most equity reluctant colleagues where they are? In what ways can we change discipline and MTSS to ensure our system serves all students? How does our instruction center student agency and honor the dignity of our community?

We definitely don’t have answers, but we are constantly asking the right questions.

Your turn:

How is it going in your district? What are you doing to facilitate those tough conversations? Let us know in the comments.

Testing is Inequitable, What Else is New?

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Assessment, Education, Education Policy, Equity, High School, Teacher Leadership

Testing’s Back, Back Again 

Last year, when Washington decided to delay standardized testing, I was ecstatic. I wonder why we give students high stakes tests at all, let alone during a global pandemic. These tests’ measurement of student learning are suspect in the best of circumstances, so testing during a global pandemic seemed laughable. 

Plus, when we would have tested last spring, we were just starting hybrid learning and class time was a precious, rare commodity after a year of online learning. 

But, as promised, these tests came back with a vengeance this fall. As a part of my new part time role in the library, I was tasked with coordinating and administering these tests. I like a challenge, and I enjoy system level thinking, but as someone who fundamentally disagrees with high stakes tests as measurements of students’ ability, the irony was not lost on me. I felt like “the man.” 

To “make up” for last year, we ended up testing almost double what we’d normally do, taking care of delayed middle schoolers with our ninth graders and the skipped sophomores with our eleventh graders. 

To add insult to my personal injury, there are still graduation waivers in place (thankfully!), so these tests aren’t exactly necessary. At all. 

So when a student asked me “Is this graded? No? Oh, so, I could just click random buttons and get out of here?” it was hard to find a way to say something other than “Well, sort of. But still try your best. Please.” 

Inequities in our Systems

Because I have only administered tests in the past for my sophomore English students, coordinating across the whole school gave me real insights into the inequities baked into the tests themselves. 

For instance, most of the students who struggled even logging in were students of color. Several of our Black students have names with apostrophes or “non-standard” spacing and many of our Hispanic students have multiple first and last names. So, it became a guessing game to find which parts of their name the state recognizes as legitimate. 

One of these students with emerging English proficiency was doing his best to take three subject tests but the program didn’t even acknowledge his name. From step one, our “standardized” tests are telling them they don’t belong. 

Then, once we got the test rolling, the stress and utter bewilderment I saw, especially from students in IEP English and math, was heartbreaking.

One raised her hand and asked me, eyes wide, “What am I supposed to do? I have never seen this before and have no idea what to do. I haven’t been taught this.”

Students received the accommodations we’re legally required to give, but an “alternate testing space” is not going to make up for the content of the test themselves. That won’t alleviate the pressure they feel in a silent room, staring at a computer screen that is supposed to tell them how smart, or how behind they are compared to their peers.

Kindness Isn’t Enough

We have a lot of conversations in our building around equity and a lot of the pushback we regularly receive from staff is about kindness. Many believe that because they are kind to all their students, they don’t need to look at how racial, gender, sexuality, or ability identities impact their classrooms. 

Of course, kindness is an incredible value we should all practice. Our staff is loving and kind, but those traits alone can’t remedy the inequities in our system. 

Being kind does not increase the number of students of color who take AP courses.  Kindness does not diminish opportunity gaps that lead to graduation rates that are equitable across demographics.

My state testing experience this year has been illustrative of the need to use our equity lenses in every facet of our schools. 

One teacher can have an incredibly meaningful lesson plan, but what about the students across the hall, who aren’t in her class? If a student’s name isn’t recognized by a computer system, is it pronounced correctly by the adults in his life? Does that student in IEP math know what her strengths are and have hope for her future? 

Unless a mandatory, standardized test can do all those things, I’m not at all convinced we should use our precious time, resources, and brain power administering them. What if we channeled all of that energy into coming up with some sort of portfolio system to give the state and federal government its data? 

Even the inventor of standardized multiple choice tests, Frederick J Kelly said “These tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned.”

Based on my experience this year, I wholeheartedly agree with him. 

Your Turn: Back to School, 2021

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By the end of summer this year, most parents were anxious to see schools open up full time for all students. This was not just a local concern, but a hot topic nationwide. On August 18, President Biden issued a memorandum: Ensuring a Safe Return to In-Person School for the Nation’s Children. This memorandum called for “full-time, in-person school for our nation’s  children.” 

Washington educators answered the call and returned to their classrooms last month with full class sizes and somewhat relaxed safety precautions. We asked the Stories from School bloggers about their thoughts on this return. How are we ensuring the safety of our students and ourselves? Read their thoughts below; then we would love to hear from you in the comments. What is your experience with this year’s back-to-school season?

Gretchen Kruden: Grateful for the Protocols and Support

Having had two beloveds (one vaccinated and one not) contract Covid this year, I have had a front seat to the turbulence Covid causes in a home. It was awful to have felt such wringing worry for days on end.

That said, I am so grateful our school is following masking and handwashing protocols to a tee. We are also on the spot with kids going home and staying home who have any symptoms of Covid until they test negative. In addition, we will be rolling out an onsite testing program to help ease the financial burden of driving the 50-mile round-trip to get a Covid test for our families. The only additional layer of protection I hope the state will provide is a mandate for health districts to enforce that has schools pivot to distance learning when a certain number of Covid cases/100,000 people are active in the area. 

Emma-Kate Schaake: We All Need to Do Our Part

I feel grateful to be a teacher in Washington. I am friends with teachers in other parts of the country where even the very baseline practice of masking is essentially nonexistent. We’ve already had at least five positive cases in our first eight days of school, so I can’t imagine living and teaching elsewhere. 

That being said, that doesn’t mean our community universally accepts these truths. One of our school board members actually ceded his time with a piece of duct tape over his mouth to protest the mask mandate. 

We’re all pandemic weary, but I’m well aware that it’s a gift to be back to in person learning. I don’t want anything to jeopardize our time together, so we all need to do our part.

Leann Schumacher: Physical Distance with First-graders?

To echo Emma-Kate’s feelings, I feel so fortunate to live in Washington state. It is horrifying that other parts of the country are penalizing schools for trying to keep their teachers and students safe. Truthfully, I was very nervous about starting this school year. The dread was definitely not as intense as Fall 2020, but the anxiety was still there. Working with first graders, it has been a struggle to keep my physical distance as much as I should be. The little ones need proximity for guidance not to mention they struggle to fully comprehend directions as they can’t see my mouth. 

The students themselves are struggling to keep 3 feet of distance and I often see masks below noses. However, in general, my district has good systems in place to help keep staff and students safe but this is far from “normal” and I wish that we would be more open to acknowledging and accepting that fact.

Lynne Olmos: It’s Not Yet Time for Back to Normal

It was a stressful reopening for us in Mossyrock. Our numbers of Covid cases in our area were steadily climbing, and our community has been largely anti-mask and anti-vaccine. There was even a protest across the street from the school on our first day.

It is a struggle to follow the safety precautions when our students and our parents often see us as part of a system that they neither trust nor respect. The very first week, our entire volleyball team was quarantined after a player came down with the virus. This was a stark reminder that we are not over this yet, and we need to be prepared for the same sort of measures that we had to put in place last year, such as the possibility of remote learning or reduced cohort sizes. I am glad to have all my students with me, but this is stressful! Everyone wants it to be “normal,” but it just isn’t, not yet.

Denisha: It’s Worth It to Be Back, Despite the Cost

Teaching remotely was difficult; coming back into the building has been even more challenging. That saying, “be careful what you wish for” is 2021-2022 in a nutshell.

It is nostalgic, saying good morning, having someone respond in real time! Even though I would never ask to be back online, I don’t know that after a year and a half we understood what being back in buildings really meant. 

Shorter attention spans (adults too), kindergarten, first, and second graders with almost zero experience of how to “do school.” First, second, and even third year teachers, still really first year teachers. Modified recess, mask breaks, homesickness, substitute shortages, extended absences, anxiety, and most of all fear.

The issue? Systems. Every neighboring district is doing this version of school differently, which leaves everyone wondering, who is doing it right? 

The tears and anguish displayed daily on both students and teachers would make you wonder, why not go back online? In-person is still the right choice, but the cost is great.

Jan Kragen: Despite the Protocols, Covid Strikes

I’m happy that all the staff at school is fully vaccinated. Of course, I work at an elementary school, so the kids aren’t vaccinated. Yet. 

Everyone is wearing masks, but mask-wearing ranges from kids who double mask to those who–in fifth grade–can’t seem to keep one mask over their nose all day despite multiple reminders.

Our desks are spread out. We use hand sanitizer frequently. There’s a protocol for bathroom use, and kids are spaced out at lunch time.

Still, on September 16 I left school feeling sick. The next week I tested positive for Covid. So did enough kids that my whole classroom went into 14 days of quarantine. I haven’t been back to school yet.

Thank God I had a substitute who was able to work ALL the days I was out and who had two daughters in my room in years past. When my lesson plans were sketchy at best, she was able to fill in the blanks.

I’m going to try to teach in the afternoons next week. Here’s hoping I don’t relapse. The truth is, until we can get the kids vaccinated too, all the best protocols really aren’t enough.

What about you, readers? How was the first month of school in your district? Please leave us your comments below.

Being There: Teaching 2021

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In a time where every student needs a little more emotional support, we educators are uniquely qualified to fill that need. We are skilled in making the connections that keep kids curious, excited about the world around them, and engaged with their peers.

This is life-saving work these days.

Our children need schools to buoy them up in times of stress. They need to have hope and inspiration of the sort that teachers deal in on a daily basis, through literature, history, science… all areas of discovery and joyous participation. What a gift we teachers can give to the children in our classrooms!

And I see it every day. I see it in the lively classroom chats and the lessons that get kids thinking, talking, and laughing. I see it in the way our staff makes time for kids: a health teacher who gives up her lunch to chat with a shy student who needs a safe place to hang out; a math teacher who comes in early to help kids with homework; a paraprofessional who visits with junior high students in the hall about sports, fashion, celebrities, whatever interests them, even patiently listening to long-winded chats about Fortnite or TikTok celebrities!

Kids need this. After a year and a half of periodic isolation and loneliness, the students in our schools have the adults on high alert. We are vigilant. Are they eating? Do they seem too quiet? Have they stopped turning in work? Did they mention they were moving again? The worry is constant.

This is our most important job- being there for kids. It takes a lot of effort and energy to truly be there for kids, as an educator, a mentor, a caretaker and much more.

But, these days, do we have the time and energy to do that oh-so-important job well? I want to say yes. Yes, because it is important, that is what we will do. But, this is a complicated situation. Educators are feeling the strain. The entire system is strained.

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The Absence of COVID-19

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Current Affairs, Education, Education Policy, Elementary, Equity, High School, Life in the Classroom, Middle School, Online Teaching

The Washington State Department of Health issued guidelines for the 2021-2022 school year in regard to how schools may best mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities.  This document seems to put a tidy bow on the layered measures school can and should take to ensure student health. And yet, the bow is quickly unraveling through no fault of anyone. 

The state has worked hard to help reduce the number of absences students incur due to COVID-19. This makes sense as absences rates correlate greatly with student success. There are no longer such stringent requirements regarding actions surrounding “close-contacts” and healthy students are able to return more quickly to school if they test negative for COVID-19 during an imposed quarantine time. Many schools are even taking advantage of the Learn to Return program offered that allows for schools themselves to do COVID-19 testing onsite. All of this may have worked beautifully if the Delta variant had not hit and changed the playing field.

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