Based on recent posts we have all been involved in a great deal of professional development over the summer. All much needed in light of the myriad changes coming down the pike between Common Core Standards,New Teacher Evaluation, and in some cases, like my building, piloting Standards Based Grading and Reporting. I am excited about each of these new "initiatives" (for lack of a better catch-all word). Each holds tremendous potential improving the depth and outcome of student learning, actionable professional growth and development for teachers, and clear communication with families about student learning and achievement. I am also terrified. Taking on all three in a single year feels like drinking from a fire hose. Each one asks us to reconsider and re-evaluate what we do each day in classrooms: how we impart skill and content knowledge to students, how we communicate their journey to mastery, how we assess our own performance. Not terribly unlike going through National Boards. Yet it seems so much more rides on how we adapt to implement these changes. Not just becuase it is an election year, but because we are reaching the tipping point were the industrial revolution model of educating people is no longer serving us. It is time to change.
So today began a four day Teaching and Learning Institute offered by my district and area ESD. We are unpacking Common Core across content areas, diving into Marzano's framework, figuring out how to report standars-based grades in power teacher, exploring blended learning through classroom blogs and podcasts. It was amazing to see how many teachers came to engage in learning about the changes we need to emabrace.
It was reassuring and thought provoking to listen as others voiced their hopes, fears and questions as we take on these changes. Many teachers voiced their concern about trying to adopt so many new "initiatives" at once. Especially in regard to how Common Core could/would impact New Teacher Evaluation. Another concern was the time and effort being put into moving to standards based grading at the secondary level before Common Core is fully implemented. All valid concerns that will need addressing. I am confident though, given the turnout and quality of conversation we had today, that the teachers in my district, with the support of our new adminstration, can find ways to address those concerns. Look for updates on our progress here throughout the year.
I’m not convinced that all of these changes are really as good as we want to believe they are. If raising standards was going to raise achievement, we should have been able to see that on the NAEP over the years (this isn’t the first time we’ve seen new standards), but those numbers have been relatively stable.
I certainly wouldn’t say standards are a bad idea, and I love the idea of more consistency across the nation given how mobile the population is, but just having new standards isn’t going to make the difference.
We need to know the standards, and we need to know how to use them effectively in curriculum design and delivery. A few days of training in August aren’t enough to make the difference. I think that’s part of why we feel overwhelmed with the initiatives. They get dropped down from on high without the time to really work them into our instruction. Doing it on the fly ensures that it will be done part-way. Is that good enough? Are there plans for on-going collaboration with our grade-level colleagues to continue creating lessons that use the new standards in meaningful ways? Or will the standards just be pretty ribbons tied to the top of our old lessons?
I hear you, Tamara. There’s a lot changing right now. Most of it for the good, but too much change at once is, well. .. Too much! I wish we’d take our time.
The tipping point reference is what is resonating with me right now. We are in the midst of some very unsettling (in a good way) and necessary paradigm shifts into unfamiliar territory.
Maren, you questions are exactly the hallway conversations that are occurring. You are correct, all of these things need to be implemented at once. Yet there is a real sense of “putting the cart before the horse” when so much of this work is dependent on Common Core being in place.
Thatt is a lot of initiatives to be implementing in one year! I think, however, that not only *can* they be implemented together, they almost *must* be implemented together.
Standards Based Grading and Common Core standards? Well, if you are going to be using standards based grading, those standards must come from somewhere, and using the Common Core standards makes much more sense than creating a new grading system based on state standards in math and language arts which are scheduled to become obsolete.
Teacher evaluation and Common Core Standards? Several of the 8 criteria clearly depend on a set of academic learning standards, for example: Criterion 1: Centering instruction on high expectations for student achievement. Criterion 4: Providing clear and intentional focus on subject matter content and curriculum. Criterion 6: Using multiple student data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning.
So if Common Core Standards are so central to these other initiatives, where does that leave those of us who do not teach math or English/Language Arts? Wait for the Next Generation Science Standards? Incorporate the Common Core deeply into our classes? What about our current state standards that students are currently tested on?