A Call to Action: Comprehensive Assessment for English Learners

By Sarah Ottow

As schools open this fall, our fastest growing population, English language learners (ELLs), experiences a severe achievement gap. Despite a migration of accountability from the feds to the states, the stakes remain high around big data and the issues around testing remain complex and controversial.  Attempts to remedy the situation via through English-only language policies in several states (California, Arizona and Massachusetts) have failed to prevent this gap from growing, and have actually set the work back.

Confianza: Educating for ELL Equity focuses on ELL issues, helping schools and districts get their heads around these complicated and costly challenges. What I tell them is that we need a more comprehensive assessment mindset and a set of teacher and district practices to round out the picture of what growth actually means for these culturally and linguistically diverse learners if we’re going to know how best to serve them and do what people are asking –to prepare them for life and employment in the U.S.

A once-a-year test is like a snapshot taken on one day at a given point in time.  This snapshot offers a report for outside stakeholders--the district, the state, parents, and community members- but as has often been said, no whole picture of the child, or of interim growth emerges, leaving schools with little quality information on what to do next with the student. By continuing to focus primarily on large-scale academic assessment, we get only more data on what we already know—that is, our ELLs are not yet proficient at English.  We need actionable data to drive instruction, curriculum and programming so we can not only close, but prevent, an achievement gap.

In a system laden with snapshots, I advise my clients to move towards a photo album approach and remind them the root word for “assess,” from the Latin word, “assidere,” means to sit beside.  If we’re truly “sitting beside” our students we can do a lot more to diagnose areas of improvement and give specific feedback to build awareness and autonomy of personal development. Let’s push for a balanced, comprehensive assessment system that promotes holistic, classroom-based interim and a big increase in formative measures. Many teachers are taught to believe that only summative tasks matter, and miss the obvious – good formative assessment is a learning tool.  Both in our teacher preparation and building-based professional learning, we need to do a better job of encouraging educators to look at the complexities of language acquisition in socio-cultural contexts and promote a focus on the strengths of our culturally and linguistically diverse learners.  School and district leaders need to be visible and forceful in promoting the idea of supporting students’ eagerness to succeed, to fit in, to be someone in the United States, to be someone for their families and for themselves

I remind teachers that English language development is an ongoing process, one that that requires time, support, and confidence building.  We need to provide meaningful, language-rich learning experiences and include structures like portfolios and student exhibitions, which showcase academic language development growth and promote student agency in the learning process. This is a tangible growth opportunity for most schools.

The good news is that we already have sound assessment measures like WIDA’s ACCESS to show annual progress in English proficiency.  But schools need to have more than one picture of academic language development for ELL students.  Ongoing, classroom-based interim and formative assessments can make visible the learning of our English learners.  Comprehensive assessment brings the focus back to students’ growth, not just proficiency, which is what learning is after all. 

Sarah Ottow has fifteen years of teaching, coaching and instructional leadership experience in the US and Puerto Rico focused on equitable outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse learners.  Sarah's Boston-based organization, Confianza: Educating for ELL Equity, provides practical and innovative technical support and professional learning that empowers educators with research-based tools and practices.

ERC Co-Founder Talks TED in New Mexico

I really like New Mexico. And especially, Albuquerque. I’ve been working out there for a while now. That’s why I was really pleased to get an invite from their energetic TED community to do a short talk about why we’re not progressing in public educations (it’s the design, people). I decided to add my heartfelt pitch that Albuquerque is just the kind of place to do the deeper kind of work required.
 

I have good friends in the Albuquerque schools and in the community. I’ve loved my work with their Center for School Leadership and the McCune portfolio. Somehow, it’s easier out there to think about what kids need, not what the adults stand for. There are not a lot of folks in NM competing to be the smartest guy in the room, heavy on top-down master planning and regulation (although the state education department can lean that way). If the technocrats stay back East, I think it’s a place where heritage, strong local roots, smart but humble people, and a Southwestern sense of wide-openness can do some of the transformative work we don’t glimpse elsewhere.

If you’ve got about six minutes to spare, please check out this link for my Albuquerque TED talk:

Thanks, and Happy Mid-Summer!

Larry
 
 
 

Steam Ahead NH

Since the summer of 2014, the Education Resources Consortium has had the pleasure of supporting the birth and development of STEAM-Ahead NH, located at Manchester High School West in New Hampshire’s Queen City. The idea originated when local business owners Jeremy Hitchcock of Dyn and Nick Soggu of SilverTech, both graduates of Manchester schools, were inspired to support the creation of a program focused on the STEM fields.  They were joined by Mayor Ted Gatsas who suggested including the Arts to include the creative thinking aspect often missing in STEM initiatives. The STEAM concept coincided with the arrival of new Manchester West Principal Christopher Motika, who helped to move quickly to fit the pieces together.  According to Motika, community partners around Manchester, including higher education players came together, and “bent the rules just enough” to begin the first cohort of STEAM-Ahead. 

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Fabrication Station

Motika says that the vision for West is to grow the program not only as a magnet for all students in the district interested in the STEAM fields, but also as a mechanism for transforming practices within the school.  STEAM Ahead-NH teachers are proving that inter-disciplinary project-based learning, and “un-leveling” classes not only motivates students (nearly 100% daily attendance in the program compared with 87% school-wide), but can improve learning outcomes.  Motika adds, “Our ideas would not have meant much if we didn’t have a solid team of teachers willing to take risks, change their practices, and try new things”. The program which began this year with a ninth grade cohort will expand next year to include new faculty members and a tenth grade. This year’s teaching team consists of Christine Aspinwall, Dan Colburn, Rachel Belmont, Sandra Ratliff, and Robin Henkle. According to Motika, this year’s group of STEAM Ahead teachers has proven to be great collaborators, sharing ideas openly with a constant eye on trying new things.  

One of the key reasons ERC opted to support STEAM Ahead is that unlike many "STEM" programs, STEAM-Ahead NH is open to all students, not just those who "test in" or bring prior high grades. When queried how and why that happened, and what have the results been, Motika responds in animated fashion: “When the collaboration began among community partners, higher education representatives and West HS educators, some people saw STEAM Ahead as a selective program.  But there was a small and persistent group who insisted that the program represent the whole school and the city in terms of its diversity --economic, English Language learners, students with special needs, and varying academic histories. It was also important that it be “un-leveled” because many ideas about students’ abilities are not based in learning science and limit their opportunities to grow. We wanted to show that good learning is possible in the more natural, heterogeneous settings we find in life and work.  Fortunately, many of the grants we applied for required that kind of inclusiveness, and so the program was designed to be open to all interested students. 

“Our results have proven that given the right environment, any student can succeed.  Our attendance rate alone impresses educators, politicians, and community partners –we’re doing something that is getting kids excited about coming to school.  Add a low failure rate, and the fact that students who did not perform well in middle school and were “tracked” into lower level classes have come into STEAM Ahead and now achieve at higher levels, and we have exciting results to bring to the larger faculty and the community. Words cannot express how proud I am of the teacher team and the way they embraced this project of making learning fun, exciting, and engaging for kids.”

STEAM Ahead NH Engineering Lab

Veteran science instructor Christine Aspinwall, herself a graduate of Manchester HS West, was looking for an opportunity to recharge herself and get away from the district’s “leveling” system. Aspinwall says, “Students understood that they had been placed in the ‘low’ levels, which is not helpful or motivating, to say the least, and often the “upper-level” students had an air of superiority that may or may not have been justified, but made for an unhelpful dynamic. I love the heterogeneous grouping, the dynamic is so different. I love the fact that I have seen students that were relatively unsuccessful in middle school, find their voice and grow. With the right learning opportunities, everyone learns and contributes, and everyone feels like part of our community”.

Aspinwall and Principal Motika have been enthusiastic about ERC as a partner due to its commitment to school re-design, not simply working within the boundaries of conventional school ideas and practices. As Aspinwall says, “I love the permission and support in breaking free from traditions that don’t work that well. As a biologist, I have an adapt-or-die outlook, and this fits right in for me.”

As things kicked off last fall, Lucy Weathers, a VISTA volunteer, was a fortunate find for the STEAM Team, working as college and career counselor but also as a development, public relations and community liaison for the program, helping to create real world connections to what the students are learning in STEAM classrooms. Weathers says that in-city partners like Dyn, SilverTech, and Admix have not only contributed financially but also continue to give time, effort, and experience to our students.

Currently operating without an art teacher assigned to the program, the team is help fulfill the “A” (arts) by creating a humanities aspect to all of its engineering projects, and to further the fine arts aspect STEAM has turned to the community for help. They have taken learning voyages to two well-known artistic outlets in Manchester, the Currier Museum of Art and the Palace Theatre. A search is currently under way for Artists-in-Residence -community members, students, and professionals- to get involved in any aspect of the arts; fine arts, dance, theatre, vocal music, etc. to infuse into instructional units. Says Weathers, “We’re excited to have anyone from the community –artists, business people, college students, volunteers- come in and get involved. Please be in touch with us if you have ideas and energy, whatever form that may take. Our commitment is to building and growing without boundaries”.

The Six Myths of Coaching New School Leaders

By Wayne Ogden

Myth # 1: Confidential coaching is the responsibility of the Superintendent

REALITY:  Most Superintendents do not have adequate time to effectively coach their new school leaders. Even if a Superintendent has time, there exists an inherent conflict in the roles of confidential coach and a boss who evaluates a new leader. Principals who are new to a district or new to the role need a dedicated, confidential coach from outside the organization who can be trusted to address a leader’s uncertainties, concerns and challenges in a new, intense and complicated environment.

Myth # 2: Our school district cannot afford to hire external coaches for our new school leaders

REALITY:  A Rand Corporation study reports that 20% of newly hired school leaders leave their position within two years of employment, with urban districts reporting principal “failure rates” of almost 50% within the first five years. Numerous national studies link principal turnover as “very strongly negatively related to student achievement”. (Napthali, Hoff, 2014) In New England, a typical three-year contract for a new school leader with salary and benefits ranges from $300,000 to more than $500,000. A typical one-year contract for an external coach is roughly $10,000, a modest sum to insure the success of a new principal, especially given the cost of a new search process and the impact on to student achievement and school culture.

Myth # 3: My School Board/Committee will never understand or support the idea of spending money on coaches for our new principals.

Reality: Increasingly sophisticated Board members know that from Fortune 500 companies to politics, from professional sports to the fine and performing arts, highly successful leaders use coaches to help them excel at what they do. Seasoned decision-makers make these strategic investments because they understand that organizations with new leaders perform better with high-quality, dedicated coaching.

Myth # 4: We already mentor our new leaders with an experienced principal in our district.  

REALITY:  Although colleague principals are invaluable for sharing the customs, routines & traditions of a district, they have a full time job and, frequently, on-going crisis and dilemmas of their own. Research and experience have also shown that the effectiveness of these relationships wanes because these “mentors” in most cases do not have adequate training to be a “thought partner” for a new building leader, nor the time for reading, analysis, problem-solving and deliberation.

Myth # 5: No new principal has the time to be sitting down regularly for “therapy sessions” with a coach.

REALITY:  High-quality coaching is not therapy nor does having a coach imply that a new principal has flaws or shortcomings. Good coaching provides customized opportunities for principals to think deeply about the many important decisions they must make. It allows time and opportunity for questioning and reflection. Furthermore, a skilled coach provides the opportunity for a new leader to process ideas as they develop and to obtain feedback from a trusted, expert confidant before an idea, initiative or piece of writing goes public. Time for the coaching relationship to prosper comes from time not wasted on mistakes and false starts.

Myth # 6: There is little that a coach who does not know our “system” can do to help a new school principal in our district.

REALITY: An external coach is a trained expert in both leadership and management. They are thought partners for new principals to help them reflect on the regular challenges of the job. While schools and districts may differ in some aspects, the critical requirements of the position are generally similar across all schools. Coaching can be customized to address a new leader’s needs by providing a menu of supports such as:

·      Entry planning

·      Co-observations of teachers

·      Feedback on writing (evaluations, newsletters, correspondence)

·      Learning walks, mini-observations or“rounds” visits

·      Conferencing skills/Having difficult conversations

·      Building leadership capacity for student achievement

·      Strategic goal setting and budget development

·      Facilitating opportunities for student voice

·      Leading successful meetings and teams

·      Community engagement strategies

Teacher at Obama’s childrens’ school critiques his Ed Policies - Paul Horton, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

http://education-curriculum-reform-government-schools.org/w/2013/07/teacher-at-chicago-school-attended-by-president-obamas-children-attacks-his-education-policies/

Common Core’s Testing Woes

Education Insiders: Common Core’s Testing Woes   

Fawn Johnson, National Journal

The Common Core State Standards for elementary and secondary schools weren't supposed to be controversial. They weren't supposed to incite active protests. They were supposed to be different from the unpopular, exacting tenets of No Child Left Behind. They were deliberately negotiated by consensus and carefully put together to stop the federal government from creeping in to the public school system. They carry with them a worthy goal that everyone can agree with: prepare our kids for real jobs in the real world with real skills.

So what's the problem? And why now? The answer to both questions is testing. Now that it's time for states to actually measure how their students are doing, it's a lot harder to gloss over the problems with feel-good talking points. Some states are going ahead with their first tests assessing how well students are learning under the new curriculum. Other states have dropped out of the testing, citing concerns about cost and effectiveness. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are questioning the Common Core, as this recent take from New Jersey illustrates. The tea party is mobilizing against it. Some parents are even pulling their kids from all standardized testing.

The backlash shouldn't be a surprise if you take a step back and think about it. Coming to agreement on the basic skills kids should learn is hard enough. Measuring the outcome in a meaningful way is even harder. No one wants to be the guinea pig. No one wants to be blamed for poor results.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been unapologetic about pushing for Common Core. "Yes, it's going to be a hard and sometimes rocky or bumpy transition to higher standards," he said in a recent interview with USA Today's Susan Page on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show. "I think I speak for most parents that, you know, you want more for your children, not less. And I tell you the one thing I absolutely don't want is I don't want to be lied to. I don't want people to tell me my children are ready for success when they're not in the game."

The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute's Richard Rothstein was also a guest on the show that day (as was I and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute's Mike Petrilli). Rothstein's criticism of Common Core, as with all student assessments, is that they tend to narrow the teaching. "Teachers have had incentives to narrow the curriculum to the things that are tested. Students have been trained to take tests rather than to learn the underlying curriculum," he said.

Petrilli, a conservative and a staunch advocate of Common Core, noted that the administration's enthusiasm for the standards can dampen conservatives' abilities to promote it on their end. But he also agrees with Duncan. "The goal with this effort is to dramatically raise the bar and say, look, if you really want to be on track for college or career, it's a very high standard. And unfortunately right now, we're giving parents the false impression that everything is fine when it's not."

So what's the final score? Now that most of the country has adopted the standards, is Common Core failing on its second lap around the field? Will we ever be able to test how our kids are doing? Will there be consensus on whether testing is worthwhile at all? How can the tests be crafted such that they are more like Advanced Placement exams rather than fill-in-the-bubble tests? Should parents have the right to yank their kids from these tests? How do we muddle through this mess?

Fawn Johnson is a correspondent for National Journal, covering a range of issues including immigration, transportation and education. Johnson is a long-time student of Washington policymaking, previously reporting for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal where she covered financial regulation and telecommunications. She is an alumnus of CongressDaily, where she covered health care, labor, and immigration. Johnson first covered Congress at BNA Inc., where she covered labor, welfare, immigration, and asbestos liability. She has an M.A. from the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Bates College.