What is a "good teacher"?

How should teachers be held accountable for the teaching they do each year?  What makes a teacher a “good teacher” versus a “bad teacher”?  In recent years, education and teacher accountability has changed due to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law that was signed in January 2002.  With this law, schools are now looked at as being a “good school” or “bad school” from the standardized tests that the students take.  Are we only worried about test scores now?  What message are we sending our students…that only Reading and Math matter because they are the tested subjects?  Because the arts, history and science are not tested, they do not matter and should not be valued?  Students, teachers, principals and schools are to this day judged based on the test scores because of NCLB.  Is this fair?  Is this reforming education? 

The media, politicians and general public like this idea of evaluating teachers based on test scores as it seems very practical to them.  They do not see and understand that many children are living in terrible conditions, being abused, are surrounded by drugs and gangs each day and are going hungry. As a result, these children are not capable of performing on the tests and yet it becomes the teacher’s responsibility and problem.  Reform is a slow process.  In the Diane Ravitch video, she mentions that in order for reform to happen there are certain “things” that schools need.  She says that “schools need a rich and balanced curriculum, a good environment for teaching and learning, activities (the arts) for students, a stable and experienced teaching staff, good teachers, able leadership, willing students and the freedom to use tests diagnostically to help students and teachers rather than to give out bonuses and punishments for the standardized test scores”.   All too often these standardized tests have become “the curriculum” at many schools because teachers are feeling the pressure to have their students perform each year.  There are too many classrooms where the environment and learning is all “test preparation” and as a result, fear has been instilled in the students’ minds. 

So, what is a “good teacher”?  Is a “good teacher” one who has soaring test scores or is a “good teacher” one who instills lifelong learning into students?  As an eighth grade teacher, my personal goal for my students is that they all become lifelong readers through independent reading.    I spend much of my time as a teacher writing grants so that I have an extensive classroom library where students cannot wait to read the latest and greatest young adult novels. 

A love of reading is cherished and eventually spreads to all the students during the school year.  As a teacher, there is no better sight than having a box of books arrive and students begging to open up the box to check out the new books.   I have never once had a student not read for me in my four years of teaching.  Many of them come into eighth grade saying they hate reading and will never read a whole book, but they all eventually have a shift in thinking as they spend more time in my room.  Recently, the eighth graders were asked to write about their greatest achievement in 8^th grade or what they are most proud of.  Out of 96 students, 18 students chose to write about reading being their greatest achievement this year.  Keep in mind, I teach in a school where books are not in the homes, many students have never read “for fun”, and most of my students are far below grade level in reading.  Also, that 8^th graders are very hard to please J  Read some of their responses:

·         “My best achievement in 8^th grade is learning how to love reading.  It made me realize that I can open up a different world and I can imagine and can be creative.  It can help me in life because it changed my attitude about reading.  It was a good influence on me because finally a teacher did not stop believing in me.  Ms. S—she kept pushing me and I started to get into reading.” RC

·         “My greatest achievement in 8^th grade is reading.  I think it’s awesome because I’ve never read a book in my life.  Every time I see a book and it looks good on the front, I read it and it’s really boring.  This year really changed the way I pick out books and read books.  I will change the way I read forever—it probably changed my life.” RR

·         “My greatest achievement in 8^th grade is improving my reading.  I improved my reading by choosing different genres and harder adult books.  I used to read books that were too easy, but now I read books at my lexile level.  I have Ms. S to thank for that.  Hopefully when I get older or graduate, I will keep improving my reading and never stop.” VG

·         “One of my greatest achievements in 8^th grade is that I actually read books.  I have never really enjoyed reading until 8^th grade but I think that’s because I never had somebody show me such a wide variety of books like Ms. S and I really like her and her class.  I don’t just fake read, I really read them.  That’s what I used to do—fake read because I wasn’t into my books.  Now I’m always 100% into all the books.” AB

·         “I’m most proud that in 8^th grade I was able to find a teacher that loved reading as much as me  Ms. S’s library was a dream come true.  I love her books.  She showed me authors and books I would never in my life read.  It has opened my eyes to many things.” SD

What makes a teacher a “good teacher”?  Is a “good teacher” one who helps children love school and love reading, or is it the teacher who drills the students and has high test scores?   Am I a “bad teacher” because my test scores are nothing to celebrate?  Or, am I a “good teacher” because I’ve helped change the opinions of many teenagers regarding school and reading?

Ms. S

What are Students Learning?

Being a preschool teacher I am fortunate that I have quite a bit of freedom in my classroom. I feel that it’s necessary to develop the whole child. I need to facilitate growth physically, socially, academically, and emotionally. I have the freedom to do this though projects and activities in the classroom that integrate all areas of learning. I have the luxury of including art, music, social studies, science, health, and physical education along with reading and math activities in my classroom. Even though I have regular observations from my principal and vice principal they are not accompanied with the same scrutiny and critical eye that my fellow colleagues receive. The other teachers in my school shoulder the burden of producing good test scores. This drastically reduces their ability to provide students with a broad and rich curriculum.

This year especially I have felt stress and frustration throughout the entire school. You must produce a class with good test scores or else the school may be put on probation, you may lose your job, you will be labeled a bad teacher, the school will be closed. These are all threats that teachers and principals are faced with on a daily basis. The tension in our school was strong; it could be felt by the parents, teachers, administrators, and students. Topics of discussions in staff meetings all revolved around the need to prepare students for the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). It was the only focus.

Teachers were expected to follow very strict curriculum maps that would keep the children on track to learn all the information necessary to produce good results on the test. If an administrator found that you were deviating from the plan you must explain why. How was this helping the students to prepare for the ISAT test? If students had difficulty understanding some of the concepts there was little time to stop and re-teach. You must move on otherwise you would not cover everything that would be on the test. Many of my colleagues struggled with this. They knew what they were forced to do was not in the best interest of the students. It was not good teaching. However, refusing to do so would cause friction between themselves and administration and may cost them their job.

In Diane Ravitch’s book, Death and Life of the Great American School System How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, she discusses the negative aspects of the accountability movement. She puts into perspective the repercussions of focusing only on the test.

“The consequence of all this practice is that students may be able to pass the state test yet unable to pass a test of precisely the same subjects for which they did not practice. They master test-taking methods, but not the subject itself. In the new world of accountability students’ acquisition of the skills and knowledge they need for further education and for the workplace is secondary. What matters most is for, the school, the district, and the state to be able to say that more students have reached 'proficiency'."

When we simply teach to the test are we helping the student’s in any way? They may be able to pass the state test, but have they truly mastered the content in that test? To look even further, is this test going to create a student that has the knowledge to achieve at the next grade level, in the workforce, or in college?

I feel that these tests have their place in education. They can provide teachers, administrators, and school districts with valuable information; however, it should not account for the students entire curriculum focus. It should be one tool among many used to determine the students understanding. These tests have drastically narrowed the curriculum. Physical education, art, music, social studies, health, and science are given little to no attention in the classroom. Reading and math are the only focus. Students need a broad and rich curriculum that prepares them to be unique and creative thinkers.

Mrs. J

Diane Ravitch...someone you should know!

A book Ms. S and Mrs. J are currently reading

One book that we will be referencing throughout our blog is The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch, which we are both currently reading.  Diane Ravitch is a former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. and is quick to admit to her change of mind during her career. Once a supporter of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), she now looks at educational reform in a new light.  Ravitch is critical of high-stakes testing, using the business-model to run schools, accountability, teacher pay, race to the top, charter schools and privatization.  Ravitch has over 40 years of research and experience in education.  Ravitch makes educational reform topics and ideas accessible to both teachers and non-teachers alike. 

Diane Ravitch

Want to see Diane Ravitch speak?  Watch the video below!  We highly recommend it.

“Taking Back School Reform”

http://frontrow.bc.edu/program/ravitch/

Approximately 68 minutes long

FYI: you may need to download “Real Player” in order to view the video.  The download is free and quick.

What are your thoughts and opinions after watching?  We want to hear from you!

Ms. S and Mrs. J



Meet Mrs. J

Hello I am Mrs. J and I am currently a preschool teacher in Chicago Public schools. I have a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education and am currently completing my Masters degree in curriculum and instruction with an ESL endorsement. This masters program has prompted me and a fellow classmate to begin this blog. As a teacher I often feel that I have a strong influence and voice in my classroom, and I have some influence in my school; however, outside of that I feel like my voice can evoke little change. I was forced to confront this idea when assigned a paper called a “Challenge to Act”. This paper forced me to think of ways I could begin to make a difference within the education profession. How could I get my voice heard? How could I begin to inform other educators about current issues in education? Because of this the idea of a blog was born.

Education Reform is in the forefront of my mind. Changes are happening everywhere and especially in Chicago. Throughout this blog I will be discussing the ways in which education reform is affecting me and my school. We will look at reform through our eyes, those of a current teacher, and through the ideas of educational theorists and researchers. Before I begin to touch on the ideas of reform and their effects on education it is important that I share a little background with you. This will give you a glimpse into my history as an educator and will allow you to understand a little more about where my ideas and thoughts come from.

I have been teaching for seven years within three different school districts. I began my teaching career in Arizona where I taught Kindergarten for two years. This was a small district serving a little over 6,000 students. Our school had a very high population of Spanish speaking students. About fifty percent of the students in my classroom were English Language Learners. I greatly enjoyed this teaching position and often think back fondly to the sense of community the school had between administration, students, parents, and teachers. This position helped to open my eyes to the struggles of ELL students and their families. It led to my interest in learning more about how to better meet these student’s needs and to understand their obstacles in the classroom and in their community.

After spending two years in Arizona I was ready to move back to the Midwest to be closer to my family. I moved to Milwaukee and taught first grade for one year. It was a high poverty neighborhood school where about 94 percent of the children received free and reduced lunch. I enjoyed the experience of working with children in the primary level however, was excited when I received a position in Chicago the next school year. I have been teaching preschool in CPS for the last four years. The school I teach at is a neighborhood school that also has a high percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch and is comprised of 98 percent African American children. I teach children ages 3 to 5 years and work to develop the whole child. Teaching in Milwaukee and Chicago gave me the opportunity to learn about a new culture. It provided me with knowledge about the challenges the students in my classroom face and how it affects their behavior and progress in the classroom. I enjoy working in CPS and am constantly amazed by the students and parents that I come in contact with. Their resilience and ability to overcome obstacles is inspiring.

Upon looking at the current issues of Education reform within CPS including: charter schools and privatization, standardized tests and data driven instruction, merit pay, school closings, and the new CEO Brizard to name a few. I wonder if these ideas are what’s best for the children. What effects are these changes having on the education of the children in CPS?

I look forward to discussing these ideas throughout the course of this blog, and I hope that the topics evoke conversation, understanding, and possibly action.

Mrs. J

All About Ms. S...

Hello I’m Ms. S, an 8^th grade Language Arts teacher in the Chicago Public Schools.   My students, unfortunately, have to deal with gangs, drugs and violence in their neighborhood and daily environment.  I am in my 4^th year at the same school and in the same position as when I started in 2007.  I’m about to finish my Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an ESL endorsement and have benefited greatly from the courses.  The program has pushed my thinking, even prompting a colleague and me to start this blog in order to bring forward different issues in education, more specifically issues that surround educational reform. 

As a teacher at a school that currently has a performance rating of “low academic standing” and has an “on probation” status, educational reform greatly affects me and my students on a daily and yearly basis.  Our blog will highlight questions that we each have, with some of my questions being: Should my school’s success be solely based on student standardized test scores from one particular day?  Am I considered a “bad teacher” if I do not have a certain percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on standardized tests?  Should I be paid based on my student’s performance on theses high-stakes tests (merit pay)?  These issues and ideas have become more relevant and important to me in the past few years and I have made it a point to become and stay more informed and aware.  A lot of times I feel like I do not have a voice outside my classroom or school, so hopefully this blog will serve that purpose. 



This is my classroom...

  Ms. S