Jennifer, I never said we shouldn't have high standards, although I can see how my post sounded that way. What I rail against is the "requirement" that an intervention should bring a child up more than one grade level in one year. My objection to this is simply that 1. it might take more than one year to catch them up, and 2. what happens if you don't? Are you labeled an underperforming teacher, or what?
I absolutely believe in high standards and know that when you expect higher performance, you will get it. I also believe that all kids can learn so I'm sorry my post may have come off differently. I just don't think you grade level "mandates" are productive, but that's mostly because I am very suspicious of "grade level" categories. I also think a student who is two years "behind" who makes a one year gain should be celebrated, not punished with a "less than acceptable" grade or score of any kind. Maybe I am not making sense. Renee On Jul 22, 2007, at 10:41 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Renee > I have always admired your posts and understand your passion for > teaching > but I want to give you some food for thought. IF we measure growth > using not > just standardized tests but also classroom based assessments and > observations...we still HAVE to try to move the kids that are this far > behind, at least a > year and preferable more. If we don't at least make a year's progress > they get > further and further behind. Now, I would argue that we need to help > policy > makers understand how to measure that growth (measure it using a value > added > model that looks at a kid's growth from year to year rather than > whether or > not they have met an arbitrary grade level benchmark), but we as > teachers MUST > try to help our learning disabled kids reach the same standards or we > are > cheating them. > > Do you remember the story of the middle school teacher who got a class > list > and next to the names was a number....130, 158, 120 etc. She thought, > WOW, > these kids are so bright, I must have the gifted class. She taught > the class > like they were gifted and after the standardized test results came > back for the > year, the administration came to her, wondering what she had done to > get > this group of slow learners to achieve so well. Turns out the numbers > after the > names were locker numbers, not IQ scores! If we believe that because > kids are > in supplemental instruction that they can't learn, then they won't. > > I know you are passionate about good teaching and instruction. Just > think > about this a bit...my job as reading specialist is to run those > supplemental > programs. If I believed that my kids couldn't catch up, then what is > the point > of my job and what chance do they stand of ever starting to bridge > that gap??? > > While I HATE much of what NCLB does...and while I HATE the misuse of > testing > and accountability, the good thing is that at last, we can't ignore the > needs of these special learners. While we must go to great lengths to > help them > achieve...don't they deserve that from us? The best thing about the > comprehension strategies is that they require thinking at high > levels...ALL kids > deserve that, including those that are disabled or otherwise > low-achieving. > > Jennifer > Maryland > >> child's reading level up a year plus more..... as that is what the >> supplemental instruction was supposed to be providing.... > > This is absolutely, completely, utterly absurd. It comes from the > viewpoint that children are vessels to be filled, and if you just fill > the vessel faster, it will fill up sooner. That's not education. > That's > physics. > > If a student were able to progress like this, he/she wouldn't be > behind in the first place. > > Who thinks this stuff up, anyhow? > Renee > > > > > > > > ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new > AOL at > http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." ~ Voltaire _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
