Tom Roger’s of WILL interviews Unit4 interim Super Dr. Malito

On the Unit 4 Facebook page a link was made to the WILL interview of Dr. Malito. It is short (3:55) – for me, it serves as a teaser since I wanted to hear more.

 

Dr. Malito identified three points of interests, three questions:

1. What to do with the two highschools?
2. What to do with the three middle schools?
3. How to increase academic “rigor”?

 

He mentioned that he had read “Tipping Point“, a book about “How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”. Having read that (along with “How We Decide“, which I found to have a surprising amount of conceptual overlap), I had a fair amount of appreciation for how Dr. Malito is concerned about the public’s perception of Unit 4 (particularly, the Board and the Administration). He stated that he wants to rebuild/increase relationships and improve communications with the community, citing a “lack of confidence” and in some cases, “a little lack of trust”. He recognizes the need of Unit 4 to earn that trust. I particularly found it interesting that “the Board” emphasized this point to him. I can only imagine that Sue Grey is behind that emphasis, and I am glad for it. Note also how this point of building trust and relationships is not in the top three, however…. I found that a bit odd. Which is why I wanted to hear more. The “Top Three” were not talked about much, and the one topic that received the most attention (in the short just-shy-of 4 minutes) is not in the top three.

 

Go listen to it yourself and tell me what you think. And hopefully we will hear more about this as Dr. Malito engages in more talks.

 

 

In other news, the Unit 4 superintendent search page has not been updated for a while. On June 17th I asked the Board about specific timelines for goals identified on the search page, and I was given a vague “progress has been made”, but no specific dates or items of what that progress was. I was told that progress was difficult because the Board had not met over the summer. But they met on July 17th…. and I am not seeing what they did. Sue Grey gave me a copy of the “Champaign Search Calendar“, and again, I am not finding that on the Unit 4 website.

 

I confess, I am chomping at the bit – I am anxious, eager. I want to see things happen! My observation is that:

1. Folks get excited when change is in the air. Sometimes that is good excitement, sometimes that is bad.
2. I personally, and several others, are excited in a good way about a new superintendent and have sincere hopes that good change is coming soon
3. However. When the wheels of bureaucracy move this slow, excitement dies. The Board says they want feedback and they want to dialog with the community.  I have no doubt that individual members of the Board are meeting with lots of different people (I have met with several myself, and know they are very busy talking).
4. I am not seeing a public accounting of how the Board is meeting the goals they have put forth on the search page. I grant that perhaps I am simply missing it. Maybe.

 

It is not my intent to poke holes and make the Board look bad. Rather, I really really want them to look good. So I am trying to hold them accountable to the things they said they are going to do. Sometimes it comes across as pestering or nagging, which means I need to work on my presentation. *grin* If they want to earn trust, in my opinion they need to go an extra mile and start walking the walk. Again, I fully acknowledge that various members are doing an awesome job as individuals. Kudos to them! Now let’s make it happen for the Board as an entity.

Better data browsing (better presentation of Lottery data)

This will be quick – working on a new prototype for the kindergarten lottery. This is merely a prototype, but I would like to collect comments from you all:

http://sacrophyte.com/test_graph.html

More about Standardized Tests

The StudentsFirst blog features an article about Michael Loeb lauding the advantages of a good Standardized Test. I am not going to spend much time talking about that particular blog post; it is an interesting read that gives a fairly balanced, if personal, account from one teacher’s perspective. However, I do want to focus a little more on one of the main subjects of the article, Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

 

CCSS at least makes for a good sell; the site is attractive enough, got some flashy things going on, talks in generalized, “who wouldn’t want this” kind of air. The “Key Points” sound great, like this quote from the Mathematics page:

The standards stress not only procedural skill but also conceptual understanding, to make sure students are learning and absorbing the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels – rather than the current practices by which many students learn enough to get by on the next test, but forget it shortly thereafter, only to review again the following year.

 

So where does the rubber meet the road? How exactly are they going to do this through “standards”?

 

What raised the red flag for me was from the FAQ (you do read those, right? *grin*):

Q. Why is the Common Core State Standards Initiative important?

A. We want to make sure that every child across the country is given the tools they need to succeed. High standards that are consistent across states provide teachers, parents, and students with a set of clear expectations that everyone can work toward together. This will ensure that we maintain America’s competitive edge, so that all of our students are well prepared with the skills and knowledge necessary to compete with not only their peers here at home, but with students from around the world.

[emphasis mine]

 

The first part of that Answer is dead on, I love it! Give people high, clearly-defined expectations and get ready to be amazed. But then the author(s) completely threw away any good sentiment with that last sentence. Instead of going through every word of that statement and ripping it apart, let me summarize by saying that I am utterly saddened that our leaders want us (and our children) to focus on beating everyone else, being the top dog, the Big Kahuna. Why?!? Not only am I not convinced that the price is worth it, I am rather convinced that the price is not worth it. Why would we want to turn our society into mathematic wizards?

 

At the risk of beating a dead horse, I personally would want to see us focus on life skills that allow people (not merely individuals, but individuals who function in a way that benefits the whole) to flourish in society as a part of society. So now we have Johnny TwoShoes who can bring home 6-digit bacon but doesn’t have a clue why the poor get poorer, nor could he care less. All he cares about is getting what he “deserves” and taking care of his own.

 

Is that really what you want?

Illinois drops writing from standardized exam

re: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/education/2011-07-06/illinois-drops-writing-standardized-exam.html

re: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-no-writing-test-20110706,0,4488733.story

 

I have been way behind on writing anything, so on a whim and out of intrigue, this very short article caught my eye. Trying to find the original Trib article, I came up with another interesting hit:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-07-18/news/ct-met-writing-test-suspended-20100716_1_exam-matt-vanover-reading-and-math

 

 

But back to the original article. One quote I have to focus on is:

Writing tests are neither required nor funded under federal education law. Without a state assessment, advocates worry educators may shift the focus instead to high-stakes reading and math exams — the two subjects by which public schools are measured under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

 

The Feds fund tests and education??!? I must have missed that. Last I heard, the State was woefully behind on payments to the education system.

 

The irony is very thick here. At least in my opinion. We have this “No Child Left Behind” purple elephant still doing its dance in the china shop – I know there are good intentions buried in there, but the implementation has left a majority of those I talk to with a bitter aftertaste. But I digress. Under NCLB, we have a ton of testing and tracking going on. How has that helped us? Where is the concrete proof that NCLB has made progress on its goals? From what little I know, it seems NCLB has buried us under a mountain of politics and deficits. Perhaps the most positive thing to come out of this brouhaha is what we gain from hindsight, learning what NOT to do.

 

Being a not-fan of standardized testing, I am quite curious what new sort of standardized tests they have in mind:

Education officials expect to revive writing assessments in 2014, when the state debuts its new standardized testing plan that calls for students to take online tests periodically through the academic year, Koch said.

 

Because I hate to cast stones and not offer an alternative, here is my naive stab in that direction. Instead of concentrating so heavily on being “academically competitive” (my phrase) and trying to “keep up” with international neighbors, why not focus on life-skills? Can we not get back to teaching our young children about conflict resolution, the value of setting and pursuing goals, the importance of community? Our teachers try hard to squeeze these valuable lessons into an already packed schedule as they prepare students on how to fill in little ovals with #2 pencils. Surely filling in ovals is very important.

 

Applications for Real Life Role Models are accepted within.