Creating+a+Focus+1

** Consider the dilemma faced by Principal Mathers in light of the reading selection on pages 55, 56, & 57, where should she start? What affect would developing and using common assessments have for the teachers and students at this grade level? **

H aving common assessments will help teachers pin point the exact area a student is having trouble. If a particular student has a strength in the same area as the student that needs additional support, peer tutoring would be beneficial. (J.Haynes) Developing common assessments would encourage a collegial spirit at each grade level with all teachers, new or experienced, having a definite stake in sharing methods and ideas for students gaining competence in meeting the objectives. When I was a new teacher in those dark ages of hand cranked mimeographs, this would have encouraged and helped me. Students would know they were being assessed on common ground, so fewer students would feel intimidated by assessments. Parents might stop comparing teachers to teachers. (E. Hodgen) This could be also beneficial if common assessments were utilized within all schools. Not only would this promote sharing within a grade level, but also within the system. Not only would there be less "comparing of students, but also of schools". (Lane Hampton). Common assessments would also be beneficial as students move among schools withing a system. The receiving teacher would know exactly where the student is functioning and collaboration with teaching peers would be more beneficial. (B. Self). Using common assessments would be beneficial to the students as well as the teachers. But, obviously, this group of teachers needs some serious guidance in collaborative teaching first before the development of common assessments will succeed. And if they can’t successfully work together as a team, then maybe the teachers need to be reassigned to other grades where they can have a “fresh start.” (Julie Hall) Expectations within the school and within the grade level for collaborative teaching must be high. Sometimes changing old independent teaching habits can be like getting a tooth pulled but the benefits to the parents, students, and teachers alike can be great. This principal might want to raise of a model group of teacher who do work well together and have them discuss to the faculty the benefits they have found from collaborating and discuss how they manage the time issues needed to discuss and plan. Using similar materials and scope and sequence would be necessary too. (P.Roy) Principal Mathers should start by gathering data from her teachers to see the exact items that are taken for grades and how they are weighed, and then find out if there are any common asessments that are in place at the moment. Having common assessments would help teachers better understand and communicate their grading system to parents. It would also give teachers a chance to discuss areas of improvement with colleagues. (H. Witt) I agree with Hannah on the grading system. If I am reading her correctly, it would benefit grade levels to decide what they are taking grades on, how much they weigh and so forth. This would be a way to build up the communication and also cut down on "Ms. So and So takes a grade on this and it counts this much, but Ms. So and So doesn't" and that is not fair. I think more collaboration amoung teachers would defiantly help cut down "talk" between parents.(A.Shirey) I believe that Principal Mathers needs to begin by having the third grade teachers develop a pacing guide so that they would all be working on the same skills at the same time. Their teaching styles may differ but they should find common ground by developing a guide together that they all would be required to follow. Then I believe they also need to agree on some common assessments based on the skills being taught. Finally, would be a good idea to develop a pool of well designed assignments that the teachers could pick and choose from. It would probably be a good idea to agree on the number of assignments to be given each week. (A.Land) Common assessments - particularly frequent formative assessments are the way to go. This measures just a few areas at a time. Most subjects taught in elementary school are like building blocks - you must have a firm foundation or everything falls apart. By frequently testing you can make sure the children understand before you move on to the next item of study. HCS worked on a pacing guide this summer so that all teachers would be on the same page at the same time. We also adopted the same reading series. I think both of these were a step in the right direction. This does not mean that every teacher must teach the same way but just that each teacher is covering the same material. So of course we should use common assessments - why not? This would just make it easier on the teachers. If you find a great test, you can share it. I f your children don't do well and someone else's children did well - you can share ideas on how you taught it. It allows for much more working together, pooling ideas, and making"our" children stronger because of it. (M. Matson) I agree. At our last Data Meeting we discussed how our first graders did on the last Unit Test. It was very interesting to hear how many children missed a particular question. It gave us some insight into not only how our children did compared to the others, but also if we thought that particular question was fair or not. This gave us a better picture of how our children where doing overall. (L.Shelton) Let me begin by saying that Principal Mathers' dilemma is one of the many reasons why Susan Hayes' job is safe with me! What you would want to do as principal with these four teachers and what you could actually do is two different things. This would be very difficult to handle! However, I am certain this situation is common place with all principals. Common assessments across the board seems like a logical answer. Just as we do in RS, we could move into these common assessments in other subject areas. The benefits would be having equal accountability on test data, being able to meet very specifically with results, and grouping and teaching explicitly according to the latest data. As far as the other teacher qualities...some things you just can't teach! When I was at Athens, they called it "with-it-ness". I am not sure how you teach that. A strong mentoring program may be something to consider. ??? (C.Hagemann) I think a strong mentoring program for new teachers and/or teachers new to the system would be great. Everyone should not assume that just because a peoson has taught before they will know how it is done in HCS. As we all know, all states do things differently and have a different way of how procedures are followed. Think about how different it is between the 3 systems in Morgan County alone. (A. Shirey) Back to the assessments....I think that part of the common assessments issue is curriculum as well. How can you have a common assessment for students if what is being taught is not common as well? I am thinking of our new reading series. This opinion is one that has come over time, but I love our new reading series! I feel like it makes me a better teacher in exactly this way. I know that if I am teaching what it says to teach, I am teaching the things my kids need to learn. I can assess formatively each week and summatively at the end of the unit. I like the high frequency of the formative assessments that are built in. I can see right away what a student is having trouble with and give immediate help. Not that we all need to be robots teaching the same thing at the exact same time, but there needs to be a "common curriculum" before there can truly be common assessments. (J. Thomas) Alright J. Thomas, I'm with you on that. I understand the rationale behind "common assessments" and am a proponent of the idea. However, do you think this robs us of some decision making with our assessments? Do we stick with the "common assessment" if data dictates us to "step out". Will we (me) feel comfortable "stepping out" and using another type of assessment if the data tells me to when everyone else has "moved on"?(JMWaynick) Alright JMWaynick, Yes, I do think that we lose some of our decision making by using this type of assessment and you know I don't like that much. BUT, we do need this type of assessment AND then personal judgment. That's what makes a good teacher - knowing when to step out and do whatever it takes to help a student succeed. I hope we never get where we feel like we can't use other forms of assessment when needed. I wasn't implying that I(or anyone) should only use the "canned" assessments! (JThomas) Much time and money is involved in selecting textbooks and adhering to the course of study. Students should assessed by the same standards at the same grade level. If you are assessing teachers, however, the potential of the students needs to be considered. Teachers do not have time to meet to develope tests. Isn't that the responsibility of the textbook company, who has been paid so well? Quality teaching demands much time. Teachers need the opportunity to focus on the students. In my opinion, teacher are expected to do the work of others.(I. Fisher) I feel that at this point teachers are doing all they can possibly do to assess the children in every way. In the past teachers have basically "done their own thing" and to be honest I think what the child learned was based on whatever teacher they had. I know teachers go by the AL Course of Study but in the past teachers have pretty much done what they wanted to the extent that they wanted to do it. I do feel that as a grade level teachers need to be more unified. I do feel that the new RS series has accomplised that. I feel that formative assessments are needed to guide the teacher's next lesson to make sure all students are understanding and learning the skill. I also agree with having summative assessments at different points to see the performance of all students across the board on a standardized test. However, I do not think teachers are paid enough to also take on preparing and creating the actual tests. Textbook companies and other sources are paid for this and I don't think that should also be the clasroom teacher's responsibiity. We have enough different responsibilities as it is. (K.Powell) Principals have a difficult job! Common assessments could be a step in the right directions, but you also have to look at the type of instruction going on in the classroom. Just because everyone has a particular test to give does not mean that each teacher will provide the same instruction. I welcome any opportunity to agree on common assessments to help relive the pressure from parents. Comparing teachers will never disappear, but having a unified approach to grading can certainly curb some of the criticism. (JPenrod) After hearing so much positive feedback from the RS series, I believe that using common assessments across the board would be very beneficial to our students and teachers. However, I also believe they should be balanced with other types of tests as determined by teachers in that grade level.(T.Bates) Having common assessments is a wonderful idea, but I do have to agree with Penrod on the fact that just because we have a common assessment does not mean we will have common instruction. The assessments will be a whole lot easier to create and implement than changing a teacher's approach to instruction. Each teacher is going to have strengths and weaknesses or even subject areas they love more others, and that may affect their students' scores on assessments.(MWard) I agree that common asessments would be a great idea, but every teacher teaches differently. I think we should have common assessments, but I think every grade level should be able to use a balance of assessments.(S.Lett) With our new reading series, it is great that we are able to assess students across the board, throughout the system. This is good, in the fact it makes teachers accountable in teaching the material. This is not so good, in the fact that if a teacher has a class that "can't catch on," it makes the teacher look like she's isn't doing her job. (B. Helton) It is difficult to make all classes even and sometimes teachers do get the "hard to manage or slow class". Data should be taken over years instead of one year. I don't know that there is anything that can be done to make these teachers the same. Do we want everyone the same? We can give the same tests and the same material. We can narrow the gaps, but in the end teachers and students are individuals and there will be some differences. We can look at teachers and students as individuals and try to place students with the best teacher for them. Some need more love and attention, some need a firm hand, some need other things from their teachers. We do much more than teach material.(E. Lee) Common systematic assessments enable teachers to respond to struggling students. (Thrasher) Common assessments would enable teachers to compare and find areas of strengths and weaknesses in both selves and others in their grade level in order to utilize those strengths and employ the activities that are being proven to work. (proy) I agree with E. Lee sometimes it is the teacher and student's interaction with each other that determines if the students will be successful. (LWren) Having common assessments sets a goal for the teachers to keep them "in sync". Reaching these goals will be different for each teacher depending on the type of class they have. Every year is different, so therefore, teaching the same skill may be taught in a different manner in order to reach the students they have. (A. Robinson)