My Experience with PARCC 😢

     Ugggghhhh! Where do I start?  This blog could go on forever..... My first experience giving PARCC was a few years ago as a Title 1 Reading teacher.  I was to administer the test to a small group of students who had that modification in their IEP.  The students arrived and things went well to start.  Then, about ten minutes in, tears from one.  "Mrs. Tremblay I don't know a lot of these words so it doesn't make sense, can I use a dictionary?"  "But Miss, that's one of the strategies you taught us to use when context clues don't help you."  "Please Miss, how about just two words?"  "But I can't do this" she mutters and sits, eyes glossy, still fighting the tears.  Another one sits and clicks through the test, clearly faster than he could possibly read it.  As I approach, he says "I'm just tired of doing these tests we've been doing it everyday for three weeks!"  I tell him to "Please try your best." Then I notice as the students get to the question which requires a typed response, they sit and look at it not knowing where to begin.  "I forget how to make capital letters, can you help me?" asks one.  Others struggle to think of what they want to say and then have to type it by finding one letter at a time in each word, talk about frustrating and time consuming.  Many of them answered with a few words and some a sentence or two.  The question really needed several sentences to be answered completely, but the struggle to get there was just too much for them.  The frustration, anger, disappointment, sadness, self doubt, was more than I could take.  When the 90 minutes were up, I tried to reassure them that they did a great job and gave them candy for persevering through the test.  They went back to their classrooms and I sat at the table and reflected on the whole experience although I wanted to cry.  This was day one, five more test days to go and I dreaded it more than the students!
     My first talking point comes up right away.  "However, as far back as 1974, it was clear that tracking student achievement data, including standardized test results, had negligible effects on improving education, especially for underserved students (Hall, 2015).  So we know these tests have done nothing to help and they are clearly bias toward minority and low income students, yet we keep throwing money away at the test makers and continue to not change the system?  Is this the reason bad schools don't improve?  Is this why a school like Normandy can remain on probation for fifteen years?
     The section on the educator perspectives begins by stating how "current educational policies in Rhode Island disregard teacher perspectives".  That is what really makes me the most crazy about our educational institution, why is it those least involved in actually educating anyone are the one's who make the decisions.  Clearly, those of us on the front line, in the classrooms, educating the students, learning about their lives, helping them to develop skills, ideas, and ways to solve problems, while encouraging them to explore the world around them, what would we know?  How could we possibly tell more about a child than test results that come a year later and you can never know what you got right or wrong, just how you did compared to others.  I remember as a fifth grade teacher getting the test scores the morning of parent-teacher conferences with a note to hand them out to parents.  Most of my students' parents could not understand the results and I felt horrible explaining that the student was below grade level but what did this mean?  I wasn't offering help, just trying to not make things so negative, and it felt awful.
     As I reflected on my first experience with PARCC, I did make some decisions for my classroom directly because of it.  First, was vocabulary.  I decided I was going to try to expose my students to lots and lots of vocabulary.  I make connections with the vocabulary and incorporated the website vocabulary.com into my station rotation as it allows for self-paced work with words.  I make opportunities for students to talk about words and work together to figure out meaning.  We've even used thesauruses to find better words for words we use too much.  I also have a reading program that I really spend time on setting up and reward them for reading.  Students get to "prove" what they read about in many different ways and they really seem to enjoy it.  They learn and share things that might not ever come up in the curriculum but they are all teachers and learners.  
     The second thing I did was start a keyboarding program on the chromebooks for my students.  Students completed a game-type program that taught keyboarding skills, but again self paced, and I offered incentives.  Students could earn a variety of things from lunch with the teacher, to homework passes, or the teacher chair at your desk for the day.  They loved it and learned an invaluable skill at the same time.
     Finally, I decided I was not going to do PARCC practice only in the weeks just before the test.  I was going to use the "forced" PARCC practice of the released items once a month, for one week of morning work and give it a fun name (Suggestions welcome).  I will use it as a teaching tool to get students used to the set up of the test and to go over different types of problems, but not make it as boring and miserable as it has been.  I will even use the computerized PARCC practice but only to give them every opportunity I can, to be as successful as they can.
     Some of the comments I found especially important include "This means that the large majority of students were required to take the computer-based option regardless of readiness".  (p. 5)  My students were clearly not "ready" to type.  "The time wasted on this test could have been netter spent working to boost their skills!"  (p.7)  Yes, 9 1/2 to 11 hours is too much time spent on a test that hasn't proven to "close the gap".  "This raises validity concerns.  If students are not understanding the test, how can accurate inferences be drawn from the results?"  And they aren't even allowed to use strategies they know will help them!  The one that most hits home for next year, when I will be forced to administer the PARCC to my fifth grade ESL class, "time with my ELLs is precious... I want to spend time with my ELLs teaching them valuable skills and lessons they need; not how to navigate through a computer-based test".  (p. 10-11)  The gap between ELLs and their English speaking peers continues to be our biggest problem in Central Falls, standardized test don't change that.

PS. I also found out Bill Ashton is from Pawtucket, R.I. (News article attached)

Validating LGBT Population Through Educaton

     As I read through "Safe Spaces" by August, Kennedy, and Vaccaro I am reminded of Armstrong and Wildman article "Colorblind is the New Racism".  "LGBT students need advocacy and protection, not neutrality" (p. 84), just as those without privilege and power need those with it to make change come about.  I was again shown where simple assumptions are made and without even knowing it, a teacher may be sending a very different message than the one he or she actually wants to portray, whether intentional or not.  The example of the student in Spanish class who used the correct feminine form of the word but got it marked incorrect because the "norm" would have a female with a male not another female.  In this case, I don't blame the Spanish teacher but I always tell my students to see me to talk about anything they didn't understand or they are still no sure why it was wrong.  I would have liked to speak with this student and absolutely given her the points for a correct answer after the conversation.  
     In the discussion about "Postcards from Buster",I felt it was an awesome way to incorporate so many different ideas and topics in creative ways that can really connect children to the fact that people are different, live different, and believe different.... and it's a good thing, it's diversity.  But like most things, someone with power didn't like the challenging views so put an end to it.  This part I could connect to, as I had two "Arthur" and Marc Brown loving children.  However, the next part I'm embarrassed to say I had no experience with at all.  First, Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" and then "resistance at Stonewall" or the "Stonewall Riots" had not been anything I had heard of, which shows the lack of communication about the LGBT community while I was growing up.  The only connection I could make to learning anything about this was the HIV/AIDS discussion in health where we found out it was a disease that affected mostly gays, lesbians, and drug users who shared needles.  Like white privilege that I had grown up with and didn't notice, I also grew up with implications that heterosexuality is the norm and although lesbians and gays were discussed (although not positively but as different and outside the norm) bisexual and transgender must have been too taboo to bring up as I was not exposed to either in school. 

"Bigotry is a heat-seeking missile- it will find it's target" (p. 84)

     Another thing that struck me was "Many, perhaps most, teachers pretend not to hear anti-gay comments.  (The message youth receive is not that your hearing is compromised- it is either you agree with the prejudicial sentiment or lack the courage to address it)".  I wonder how many teachers dismiss these comments because they are uncomfortable addressing them or because it's just easier to ignore.  Do they see the importance of having the conversation and setting things straight or is it no big deal because they don't see any direct connection?  Whatever the case, I see too many people be bystanders in too many situations.  I've seen teachers, administrators, and other school support staff ignore comments and even physical attacks of some sort in hallways and just outside of the school building, just because they could.  We need to not only get people to talk about these issues but there needs to be supportive actions taken as well.  Be willing to use the words and have the uncomfortable, difficult discussion as Armstrong, Wildman, and Johnson already explained.

     Fortunately, today I do feel that LGBT people are becoming a little more represented in our society with famous actress and actors coming out as part of this group and encouraging support.  From Ellen, Lily Tomlin, and Jodie Foster to Neil Patrick Harris, Ricky Martin, and John Glover these stars can bring some normalcy to others.  There are more television shows and movies with characters representing this population such as "Modern Family", "How I Met Your Mother", "Heroes" and "The Walking Dead" to name a few.  I was most excited to find out there are tons of great literature that can be easily tied to any curriculum.  The Rainbow Book lists will be an invaluable resource to help with including diversity among read-a-louds and small group reading instruction in my fifth grade classroom.  I enjoyed the GLSEN website and although I knew June is LGBT pride month (thanks to Providence's Pridefest) I had no idea October is LGBT history month although the topic should be addressed year round.  I was also thrilled to learn that author, Rick Riordan, addresses LGBT issues in his books (and received the Stonewall award for) "The Hidden Oracle" and "Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor" as he was a favorite among my sixth grade students with the Percy Jackson series.  Another fascinating find on GLSEN is that their are graphic novels available as well like "Princess Princess Ever After".  I am excited to see how I can tie some of these books to my curriculum and encourage my colleagues in fifth grade to try it as well.

Reactions to "Aria" and "Teaching Multilingual Children"

     As I read Richard Rodriguez's "Aria", I felt sad.  I just kept thinking of how the parents must feel.  I felt like they were somewhat forced to give up their own identities by those in power, for the "good of their children".  It's sad to me that they had to give up so much of their own language for the Americanization of their children.  The part I felt most heartbroken about was Rodriguez's statement "After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents".  It seems sad to me that he no longer could even use the names he had uttered since he was able to and the American words were "unsuitable" for his parents.  The silence at home is what really made me feel sad.  When parents and children are no longer communicating on a deeper level because of a language barrier that developed within the family.  I had a student in my fifth grade class who's parents decided to only speak English at home starting when he went to second grade.  In three years, he is no longer able to communicate with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  When he told me about it, he was upset.  He couldn't believe that not using Spanish really made him lose it quite quickly.  He explained that his parents want him to go to college and get a good job, and because he doesn't look American (he's of Mexican decent) he needs to sound American.
     In thinking about his last paragraph and his idea that there are two ways a person is individualized he says (to bilingualists) "So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality".  In his story, his public individuality is most important to his success but he still had feelings about his Spanish past.  My daughter's boyfriend is Guatemalan and his parents speak limited English.  He often will not speak in Spanish to them in front of my daughter or other English speaking friends.  He and his sister communicate strictly in English with each other and their friends even at home.  He often will leave the room if he needs to speak in Spanish to them on the phone.  He avoids them being around English speakers as he is embarrassed by their broken English.  Is there anyway to keep the family more united?  Would it help if parents also learned English?

     From "Teaching Multilingual Children" Abridged from chapters by Virginia Collier the seven guidelines are super helpful for my upcoming grade 5 ESL position in the fall.  Keeping in mind her idea "Most importantly, your goal is to help your students master the language used in formal schooling (academic language proficiency) and at the same time give your students language tools for use in all contexts in the outside world".  This made me think of Lisa Delpit and teaching the codes of power.  The codes of power includes when its appropriate to use different forms of language, like using slang is fine in conversation at the park with friends, but not when presenting to the class.  I also thought about "correcting" my students speech.  I explain the correction as formal English and what would be expected in college or a professional community.  Students understand and don't feel as judged or wrong.  I try to use lots of my students work and edit together, allowing students to help each other find a "better way to say something" and we give ideas and examples and the student who's piece we are editing decides.  Referring to these tips will also help me as the ESL teacher.
     The thing that struck me most from this article was the paragraph about how lack of "home language in literacy development instantly places immigrant children at risk".  This is what I see as the BIG problem in Central Falls.  Many of our students come in with little formal schooling and only speaking Spanish.  Because they come in speaking Spanish it is assumed they can read and write in Spanish, but often times they can not.  Most of their parents can't read and write the language any better.  Many aren't literate in any language, so imagine the difficulties they face.  In research by Collier "English reading skills of fourth graders who were not literate in their home language, were three years behind fourth graders who had received three years of schooling in their home language before arriving in the U.S."  In C.F. our school is working to close the achievement gap of our English Language Learners (ELL's) as it has become an increasing problem over the years.  Maybe we need to look at things from another perspective?  This article also state the importance of all four aspects of language together (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) which I truly believe is important.  Research also shows that the listening and speaking will precede reading and writing, yet using Access data we "pass" students out of the ESL program even if all four areas are not met because it goes by the average score of the areas.  I believe this is another factor that hurts my ESL students, as they are weakest in writing and barely on level in reading, but by passing this test they are no longer eligible for ESL support from an ESL teacher.  This happens all too often and the student's continue to struggle and the gap widens.   
     

Good Stuff on the Rethinking Schools Website

     "Spend an hour on the Rethinking Schools Website".....I can do that now, I have an hour before I need to make dinner.  As I peruse the site I am immediately struck by the "Planning to Change the World Plan book"  This plan book actually has pages to tell you historical events or important happenings each day and each month.  There are shareable quotes on each page and monthly themes and connections.  As I looked it over, I though there's a way to get some of these tough conversations started with our students.  As I continue through the site I find some great magazine articles and read a few.  I try the search bar and type in urban schools and am bombarded with articles.  My husband appears, "hey, are we having dinner? It's almost 7pm?"  Out for pizza it is and I decide to come back to it later.  I had left it open on my chromebook so I was able to come back to it however, now I am unable to access the site.  I keep getting a message that my user name and email don't exist....so I've contacted them by phone and email but haven't heard back yet.

     One of the several magazine articles I read (while I still had access) that really made think was "What Do You Mean When You Say Urban?  Speaking honestly about race and students" by Dyan Watson.  Urban means having to do with the city so urban students are students who live and attend school in the city, right?  He discusses his city of Portland, Oregon.  In that city he compares two schools, Lincoln, located in downtown Portland and another school, Jefferson, across the river in North Portland.  Immediately I thought of Normandy and Francis Howell and how those thirty miles were a world away.  At the school in Lincoln the makeup of the students was 75% white, 4.5% black, 8.6% Latino with 10.5% receiving free or reduced lunch and no Title 1 services are provided.  In stark contrast, Jefferson is 59% black, 8% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 17% Latino with 70% eligible for free or reduced lunch and does have Title 1 services.  As he discusses peoples' perception of Urban it's quite interesting that the word has become a "code for race" and it really means poor black and Latino children to many.  In a discussion of Urban Education, a teacher, Ruth remarks "To me, Urban students come from an environment where they can't see the value of education.  They can't see why it matters, because everyone that they know, everything that they do, has nothing to do with having an education".  Which is exactly the problem that Finn explains in showing that the each "class" just keeps producing more of the same and for the working and middle class it will never be enough to get them ahead.  Isn't it our job as educators to show them what else exists and that their futures are as bright as anyone else's.  I think Delpit would say this is exactly why we need to teach the codes of power to those without privilege.  In teaching the codes Delpit explains "They must be encouraged to understand the value of the code they already possess as well as to understand the power realities in this country".  (p. 40)
     After finishing the article, I did some research on the schools since then.  It is interesting to note "Starting in fall 2011, Jefferson High was transformed into Jefferson High School Middle College For Advanced Studies, a magnet school with a model that provided students with extra resources and the option to take college courses." which tells me much like Normandy, it never got better it just changed.  

     Another piece that I really enjoyed while I had access to the site was "Unfolding Hope in a Chicago School" by Gregory Michie.  The connection began right away in his disappointment about the Trump election.  His statement "And I feared his frightening campaign promises would soon land brutally on people's lives- including the lives of my students".  In the months preceding the election we had watched a couple CNN student news reports and discussed it a bit, but I was the Librarian this year so the interactions were limited.  On the morning after the election I got ready for school and had my plans prepared and ready.  My first period class was seventh and eighth graders, who I welcomed cheerfully at the door like every morning, but the students were sad and dejected.  I hadn't even gotten attendance entered when the questions and hostile comments began.  "Can he really send everyone back, even if they don't want to go?"  "What's going to happen to my mom, she stays home all day, are they going to find her?"  "What about my brother, he was born in the D.R.?"  The questions endless....my answers....uncertainty.  The words his students used to describe their feelings "Angry, Worried, Afraid, Disappointed" all the same feelings my students were sharing.  He goes on to explain that his students are not "naive" or "jaded" when it comes to injustice and hypocrisies because they are exposed to them and live with them in daily life.  So that day, my plans went out the window and instead I let the conversations and questions the students needed to have take up our 55 minutes together.
     Tears rolled down my cheeks as I read the section of Michie's article when he discusses the death of one of his seventh grade students.  The tears continue as he relates a second grade classroom who decides to do something about the boy's death.  The second graders made cards that carried a message of "Don't Lose Hope" and they presented them to the seventh grade students.  Michie explains it is just what his students needed.  And they did move on and more learning was done once they were able to have some closure to the horrific experience they all endured.  My emotions went to anger in reading the words asked to Michie, and I'm sure asked in the deaths of many other young, black men "Was he in a gang?"  As if it validated the death of his student.  "Asking if they were gang members seems little more than a pretext for concluding that their deaths were justified, or at least undeserving of sympathy. It’s the same line of thinking, in reverse, that prompts journalists to alert readers that a murdered teen was an “honor student”—as if a kid who failed a class or had a C average is somehow expendable." How sad the way our society can value or devalue a life. At the end of the article he mentions that in these violent cities there are also kids playing youth sports, religious celebrations, family and community gatherings and many innocent, beautiful lives who deserve as much as the next. Don't let the negative define the city or it's people. His challenge in the end "Day by day, piece by piece, unfold hope. Together". So as Finn requests "People can become conscious of injustice and inequity, and through disciplined, focused, and strategic action, they can bring about change". It's that keyword "together" that will bring about change. Delpit would totally agree "But both sides do need to be able to listen, and I contend that it is those with thee most power, those in the majority, who must take the greater responsibility for initiating the process". Allan Johnson would also be a proponent for this "if people in privileged groups don't include themselves in the solution, the default is to leave it to blacks and women and Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, lesbians, gay men, and lower and working classes to do it on there own. But these groups can't do it on there own, because they don't have the power to change entrenched systems of privilege by themselves". It's s vicious cycle as this leads us back to those in power often don't want to loose it or are just oblivious to it and their privilege.