You’ve been busy developing and delivering awesome lesson plans, counseling and consoling upset or frustrated students, encouraging and inspiring overwhelmed and exhausted colleagues, and the thousands of other things you do, thinking you’ve got it all figured out. You are in the zone.

Then, WHAM! VAM (Value Added Model) scores are released. Some of you feel validated and redeemed, some of you are relieved, some of you are thrown through a loop, and some of you are ready to throw in the towel.

I wish I could answer all of your VAM related questions such as:

• How does a teacher who has had effective or highly effective VAM numbers dive to unsatisfactory, even though she uses the same best practices and even incorporates new strategies to fit her students’ needs?
• If VAM is 50% manager rating and 50% VAM calculations based on student achievement data, how does one receive a highly effective manager score but still get an overall VAM rating of unsatisfactory?
• Which kids “count,” and which test is being used to measure my effectiveness?

But, I am not answering any of your questions this week, partly because I am not a statistician who can understand the algorithm that calculates the magic number.  The other and more important part of the equation is that I don’t think any of these answers matter.  

What matters to me is that I am watching my highly esteemed (by students, teachers, and administration) colleagues and friends doubt themselves, question their proven practices, wonder why they entered the profession at all, and worst of all, contemplating leaving teaching.  

So, this week, YOU answer this question for ME:  How do you feel about VAM? 

I cannot wait to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

This is the current education mantra. We say we believe it, but do we really? At our core, do we actually have the conviction that 100% of all children can achieve proficiency levels as measured by standardized tests?

Before you write me off as a negative Nelly who doesn’t give students a fair shake, just humor me.

Is this a realistic expectation? Is it even humanly possible?

I have an issue with applying absolute terms to anything that involves human beings. But, this is exactly what education policy makers did with No Child Left Behind when they declared (mandated) 100% of the nation’s students would read on grade level by the 2013-2014 school year. Really? How did that work out? Since when does 100 percent of a population ever do anything? Someone in that administration needs a stats class…stat.

Then there’s Race To The Top (RTTT) and Arne Duncan’s expectation that even our kids with severe learning disabilities be assessed exactly the same way as everyone else. That’s certainly fair, right? The whole idea of Special Education is to provide students with and Individual Education Plan (IEP), so why wouldn’t it be reasonable to test them using a standardized test without any consideration to their learning difficulties? I have watched students with relatively mild learning disabilities struggle with these tests for years, so this ridiculously unrealistic demand makes my brain hurt, my blood boil, and my heartbreak.

Don’t get me wrong, it is absolutely my goal as an educator that the majority of my students will acquire skills and possess more knowledge at the end of a year with me. If they don’t, well, I just suck wind and need to seek employment in a different arena.

I would absolutely love it if I were given a group of students who have not been proficient in reading for years (if ever), and morph them into masters of the written word. I dream about it. Seriously. I have had fantasies about sitting around discussing Kafka’s Metamorphosis with my students (usually in a grassy meadow with a light breeze and the sun shining gently upon us) and then grading the follow-up literary analyses, stamping each one with a big ol’ “A” along with glowing comments about their fresh perspectives and deep insights.

But, alas, I am not Anne Sullivan. And, I certainly cannot sequester my students one at a time to work around the clock with them individually and without any interference from outside influences. As much as I would love to go down in history as a miracle worker, the realist in me knows it’s just not going to happen.

I don’t refuse much, but here is what I do refuse to do: I will not set myself, and more importantly, my students up for failure with ridiculous expectations.   I will not feed into the idea that not hitting a mark on a standardized test marks a kid as a failure.

In my classroom, we celebrate successes, no matter how miniscule. I don’t care if you increased one measly point from one assessment to the next. You’re getting some praise for that. You’d be amazed at how kids who have been made to feel like failures (purposely or not) stand up just a little taller when they get a little kudos from a teacher.

I’ll give you one example. Jorge (name changed to protect the innocent) rocks in math and is even in an Honors class. He is above proficient in that area. However, language barriers throw a monkey wrench in his ability to discern between figurative and literal language, and he struggles on many reading tasks. He is a meticulous and conscientious worker. In fact, his work ethic is a rarity for kids his age and, I would contend, even uncommon among adults. Yet, he looks so frustrated and beaten down on a daily basis, I just want to cry for him. But, he keeps pining away. And, guess what? He scores a 100 percent on a large unit test with three reading passages and some written responses. He is highly uncomfortable with public praise, so I quietly hand him a paper trophy on which I wrote some positive feedback and taped a roll of Smarties candy. At first, he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. Then, he smiles shyly and tucks the award away in his backpack. And, he smiles a little more now and doesn’t seem as irritated to be in an Intensive Reading class. Mission accomplished.

This makes me wonder why we can’t just measure improvement? Measure it on an individual basis. Because let’s face it, your improvement doesn’t look like mine; we started in different places and have different obstacles in our way.

I do believe that all kids in my room can improve. None of them have reached their full potential quite yet. But, improvement is just the redheaded step-child in education. Yeah, it’s alright. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not quite good enough. And, that is not right for our kids.

Let’s stop applying absolute terms in an uncertain world. Let’s celebrate successes, whether they meet some unrealistic and statistically impossible legislative goal or not. Let’s not give our kids the message that life isn’t all or nothing. They are many paths to success, and scoring proficient on 100% of all the tests you take is not one of them.

My high school student received a below average grade in one of his classes. I love that his teacher has her gradebook broken down into categories, but one of the categories is really bothering me: Practice. Not to mention, this practice category weighs in at a hefty 30% of the overall grade. 

Let me give you specifics:  There were three failing grades (30/100, 50/100 and another 50/100) for assignments labeled Cornell Notes Practice. Really?  I just don’t know what to do with that. 

Should practice be graded?  My feeling is that practice is just that: an opportunity to learn and hone the skills needed to show mastery.  Shouldn’t only mastery activities be graded?

Help!  I don’t want to sound uniformed or ignorant when I contact the teacher about this issue.

Sincerely,

It’s Just Practice

Dear It’s Just Practice,

It depends on who you ask. In the sports arena, practice is judged all the time. Kids earn or lose positions and the opportunity to start based on what coaches see in practice.  We expect that. We accept that. 

However,  in the classroom, I think it’s risky business to put a numerical value on practice. How do you determine what is fair?  What if one student needs more practice opportunities to demonstrate proficiency than the others?  Should that student face punitive consequences in the form of a bad grade?   If students cannot work on skills without fear of being issued a failing score, that is a problem when trying to create a safe and positive learning environment. 

Now, because I am a teacher, my first instinct is to defend other teachers. So, I am going to assume that the teacher has modeled the skill, allowed for whole group and then small group practice before grading independent practice. Or, maybe they just couldn’t think of a more appropriate name for the category. A better label may be classwork/homework. Some teachers give a grade for this, but do not penalize for wrong answers.  It also could be that the teacher has been told to have a specific number of grades in the gradebook and feels compelled to include practice to hit that quota. 

I would definitely schedule a conference with the teacher and perhaps have the Assistant Principal of Curriculum in the room.  Find out what kind of instructional model is employed and what supports are offered before practice is graded.  

It may just be practice, but practice can be a great formative tool. I just don’t feel that it should graded like a summative one. 

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

As an educator, the last week of the quarter was met with questions such as these:

“Miss! What can I do to bring my grade up?” 

“I’m gonna be gone the last day (week) of the quarter; can you give my work?”

“Why am I failing?” 

And, I am not the only one. I have spoken with many colleagues who voice the same frustration. What I want to say are things like:

“Get in your time machine, dial it back 9 weeks, and do all your work.”

“Are you actually going to do the work I am going to give you and hand it to me as soon as you return so I can get a grade change in on time for your report card?”

“Uh. I don’t know. Maybe because you slept through almost every period even though I attempted to wake you several times and refused to use the text during our open-book tests?”

I am not supposed to be sarcastic, so I bite my tongue. Almost clean off some days. How do I answer these questions without being facetious?  

Sincerely,

No Such Thing as a Dumb Question

Dear No Such Thing as a Dumb Question,

There may not be dumb questions (insert eye roll here), but there certainly are some pretty crazy demands placed on teachers and little willingness from some students to do their part. 

Disney World trip the last day of the quarter? Sure, why not?

Students asking for weeks upon weeks of “make-up” work the last few days of the quarter even though they were present and chose not to do the work. Yep.

Looks of pure bewilderment as students check their grades and see those F’s and D’s.  Seen them.

Personal responsibility seems to be a dying characteristic. Not to age myself, but back in the day, it wasn’t an option not to take full responsibility for my grades. Period. No excuses. No complaining about teachers (even if it was justified). No whining. So, I can empathize with you when students stomp their feet and expect you to accommodate situations they could have avoided with some pre-planning and a good work ethic. 

The question really isn’t how to answer these not dumb questions, but how to teach your students to take some responsibility for their own academic success.  Your expectations are allowed to be high, as long as they are not unreasonable or unattainable. Your classroom culture can be one that focuses on success, but still acknowledges that there will be little failures along the way.

You are allowed to require a certain level of self-motivation, but it will take some work up front from  you. 

Have students set goals, keep track of their own assignments, and chart their own progress. Force them to reflect on how they did and not only what contributed to success but also areas where improvements could be made.  

They will hate you for it. Temporarily. Then, a beautiful thing will happen:  Students will actually start to take responsibility, make better choices, and as a result, stop asking crazy questions that drive you mad. They will already know the answers.

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

Is sarcasm ever OK in the classroom?  I am a  sharp-witted secondary teacher who believes that the ability to use and understand sarcasm demonstrates intelligence. However, I have been told by professors, superiors, and colleagues that this is a major no-no.

I would never dream of using sarcasm to shame or degrade a student, but being snarky is just part of me!  What should I do?

Just wanted a 4th opinion!  

Sincerely,

No Dark Sarcasm

Dear No Dark Sarcasm,

Oh, I feel your pain.  

True story:  When my son was in 3rd grade, his teacher called me and ask if we used sarcasm at home. Uh-oh. I could have lied, but I was honest, totally expecting a scolding.  When I inquired why (thinking my child was being sarcastic with her), she admitted that to relieve stress, she sometimes made little sarcastic remarks, usually met with blank stares. Until my kid came along. She said she would look across the room to see him slapping his leg and shaking in a fit of laughter.  

More recently, he came home to report that his 11th grade teacher posed the question, “What language does your family speak?” He answered with, “Sarcasm!” Of course, knowing me well, she wasn’t surprised.

Sigh.

I will tell you that I have had to talk my way out of a pickle with a parent my second year of teaching because I upset her child with a snarky  remark. Lesson learned. Not everyone gets or appreciates my brand of humor. 

You didn’t say what you teach, but I am going to offer a suggestion that will hopefully satisfy your need for snark and help your students learn how to discern author attitude.  Consider teaching with a piece of writing that has a sarcastic tone, either literature or a  non-fiction piece such as an editorial or argumentative article.  

That way, you get to use sarcasm as a teaching tool, increase the intelligence of your possibly sensitive charges, and avoid uncomfortable conversations that require you to eat crow (it is not tasty at all).

I hope this helps!  But, if you slip up, pull the “Oh, I used a sarcastic tone on purpose to test you” line. Some of them may get it, but those are the ones who won’t mind anyway!

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

Although I am not a college professor, I have recently had two conversations with professors who are disgusted that they are dealing with discipline issues at a post-secondary level.

I thought maybe their expectations were too high, so I spoke with my college sophomore daughter. She concurs and is often appalled and dumbfounded by the stupidity of her peers.  

What is going on? It seems that if these young adults want to attend college, they would have enough common sense to act appropriately.

Sincerely,

Juvenile Behavior

Dear Juvenile Behavior,

Your last sentence says it all. 

First of all, not all young adults enrolled in college courses actually want to be there. Sometimes, it’s parental pressure, societal pressure, or the fear of not making enough bank to live their entitled lives that drives them to plop their disrespectful butts in those seats every week. 

No one bothers to tell them that they have a choice. Maybe if they were allowed to take a path that suits them better, behavior wouldn’t be an issue. After all, there are many ways to get an education, and not all happen in a classroom. Just sayin’. 

Furthermore, common sense as it was once known doesn’t seem to be so common anymore.  And, I will contend that values such as respect, a strong work ethic, and responsibility don’t come naturally. They are taught, hopefully by parents.

This brings up the issue of some parents doing so much for their precious pumpkins that they develop a learned helplessness. I swear that some of them have mothers waiting in the hallway ready to spoon feed and wipe them. Oops. Can you tell this is a hot-button issue for me?

College students will not behave as expected unless they are raised to live up to expectations.  It pisses me off that a professional at the college level has to deal with bad behavior. And, as a parent of a kid who follows the rules and wants to be there, it infuriates me that her learning is disrupted by idiotic issues that belong in a pre-school, not a college. 

Not everyone is ready for college right out of high school. Some are never ready for college.  Let’s stop forcing it on those people. 

Rant over.

Ed Inquiry

Do you think it is going to be necessary to extend the school day to fit in all the extra work that the new rigorous standards will entail?

Sincerely,

Longer Days Ahead

Dear Longer Days Ahead,

It would seem that extending the school day would offer our kids more opportunities to learn and the teachers more time to teach, and why wouldn’t that be a formula for success?

Here’s why: adding more of the same won’t solve the main issues education faces. 

Maybe you will find shiny, bright faces slanting forward in elementary school, eager to soak up every last ounce of information. Maybe.

However, taking classrooms full of unmotivated, tired, bored, and struggling learners and adding more time to their already tedious days is a recipe for disaster. 

What our kids need is not adding more time to their days. What our kids need is an educational system where individualism is celebrated, not just by the teachers (who usually do a bang up job of this, by the way), but by the entire system.  

Think of it this way, if you are not effective at your job, and your boss simply adds more hours without adding specific supports to help you hone your skills, are you likely to improve or grow frustrated to the point you give up?

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

I don’t see that you post a lot of questions from students, but I thought I’d write in any way.  

I have more of a complaint than a question really.  I am so pissed that after years and years of being told the last standardized tests for reading and writing I’d have to take would be in 10th grade, I find out I have to take the new test for the new standards in 11th grade. 

How much time and effort do you think I am going to put into this?  I will work hard on the EOCs since they could kill my grades, but this new test means nothing for my grades or graduation.  It’s a complete waste of my time.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Sincerely,

Broken Promises

Dear Broken Promises,

We can definitely feel your pain.

As educators, we worry about situations just like this. You see, you are taking this test in part to provide proof (or lack thereof) that we are good teachers.  

So, your going into the test upset and unmotivated is a real concern. 

Have you considered talking with your parents about opting out of this test?  You said it yourself: it doesn’t affect your grades or graduation as an 11th grader.

It would send a message from an important and often unheard group. 

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

I love to incorporate technology such as QR codes, Twitter, and online resources for research and word studies in my classroom. Yet, I am always disappointed in the level of excitement and engagement amongst my students. 

They seem to love technology for personal use, but not so much for educational purposes. How can I bridge the two, even if only a teeny tiny bit?

Thanks for your help!

Information Highway or Dead-End Street

Dear Information Highway or Dead-End Street,

We hear you loud and clear!  It is so frustrating to think you’re all cutting-edge only to have your students collectively roll their eyeballs at you like you’re some kind of prehistoric creature.  

While we applaud your incorporation of technology (too many try to ban it with horrible results), remember that even if you are young and hip, chances are they are one step ahead of you. Or two. Or one hundred.  It’s just really hard to impress today’s youth!

One way to increase engagement is to show them that social media isn’t just for personal communication. They need to see how it can connect them to community resources.  It can actually help form business relationships that will benefit them in their future endeavors. 

We will be hosting a free Twitter for the Classroom webinar in October, so check our website frequently for that announcement and link to sign up. 

Until then, consider asking the students how they would like to implement tech into the classroom.  Nine times out of ten, students have very innovative ideas about integrating this amazing tool into their education experience.  We’ve talked to students who use twitter chats, Facebook groups, Instagram and even Snap Chat.  But teachers and administrators have to be brave enough to implement these applications.

And since it is unlikely you will ever know more than the kids do regarding social media and tech, consulting students on all things tech would not only empower them to follow through, but you will probably learn a thing or two.  

Let us know how the marriage between high-tech and low-tech works out in your classroom. Remember, balance is essential, especially in today’s quick-changing world. 

Sincerely,

Ed Inquiry

I am no longer a new teacher with 7 years in, but for some reason, the cheating that goes on in my high school classes is just starting to really get under my skin. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten better at detecting it?

I know kids have always cheated, but it seems to have reached epidemic levels with the high achievers as well as the struggling students (I have both).

What gives?

Sincerely,

You’re Only Cheating Yourself

Dear You’re Only Cheating Yourself,

I’m with you!  Every year I have the cheating chat with my students. How I really need to see what they are capable of (besides copying) and how when they cheat, they are robbing themselves of opportunities to learn only to have it fall on deaf ears.

I have come to the conclusion that this is a symptom of a broken system and a product of an overly competitive society.  The idea that only the top dog gets the spoils permeates every aspect of our culture.  Any time the discussion arises, I end with “Smart kids cheat to compete and struggling kids cheat to survive.” 

But, don’t take my word for it. Inside Dateline addresses the issue in this interesting report.  Our kids are under extreme amounts of pressure to make the grade and pass the barrage of tests given to them.

A’s are no longer exceptional; parents and students expect them! However, failure is inevitable at some point in any endeavor, and we must acknowledge that and spin it positively. When our expectations are ridiculous and unreasonable, we create a culture of cheaters.  

Actually, the impulse to cheat isn’t unnatural; it’s innately human.  As educators, if we can recognize that, we should also see it as a cry for help, a chance to help a kid, not just dole out some punitive consequence. 

I found this little gem that I plan to use in my classroom to start the conversation about changing our classroom culture into one where we not only support each other and help each other, but also take responsibility for ourselves, including our shortcomings.  

I want my students to think outside the box instead of being worried about always having to get the right answer. I want more grappling, more questioning, more conversation, less emphasis on grades, and less testing.  In the long run, this is what it will take to reverse the epidemic in cheating. 

Ed Inquiry