By
Stephen Witt
While the jury is still out
among the city's public school
teachers regarding several
federal and city initiatives,
about 90 percent gave a thumbs
down to incre standardized
testing.
The findings were reported
at a Teachers Network (TN)
policy breakfast held last
week at RS. 261, 314 Pacific
Street.
30 teaching fellows from the
TN's Policy Institute took
part in the survey.
"This is a representative
group of teacers who are from.
kindergarten to 12 th grade," said
Meyers, adding that they came
from all subject areas throughout
the city, and run the gamut
from new teachers to 30-year
veterans.
The group was asked to voice
opinions on two Department
of Education (DOE) initiatives,
system wide curriculums and
parent coordinators.
Additionally, they were asked
about two federal mandates
under the No Child Left Behind
Act tutoring and more standardized
testing.
Under the system-wide curriculum,
teachers surveyed were equally
divided as to the merits of
the policy, with 28 percent
saying it is positive and 28
percent saying it is negative.
Forty-four percent of those
polled said system-wide curriculums
have no affect.
Meyers said that, generally,
those teachers, favoring system-wide
curriculums came from lower
performing schools, where such
a curriculum allows for more
structured teaching.
Teachers from higher performing
schools found it more negative,
because it takes way from innovative
teaching, Meyers, said. |
Under the DOE policy of hiring
parent coordinators at each
school, 39 percent of teachers
polled said this is positive,
33 percent said it was negative
and 28 percent said parent
coordinators have no effect.
Ben Iddings, a TN program
associate, said teachers saying
parent coordinators had little
input generally came from schools
where the parent coordinator
was not performing their job
as a liaison between parents
and the school. Other teachers
reported it was hard for parents
to get hold of the coordinator
on the phone.
Conversely, teachers who found
parent coordinators as a positive
development worked at schools
that previously had little
communication between the school
and parents, and the coordinators
were able to do more outreach.
The 28 percent who said the
parent coordinators had no
effect generally came from
schools where there is already
good communication between
the institution and parents,
Iddlings said.
Fifty percent of teachers
polled said that additional
tutoring was a positive development,
especially those working at
schools with many students
working at below grade level.
"These teachers said
it helped because they have
a whole lot to do with limited
resources and appreciate any
help they can get," said
Iddings. "It gives teachers
more energy and time to meet
standards instead of catching
up."
Forty-four percent said the
tutoring had no effect and
only six percent said tutoring
had a negative effect.
Iddings said these teachers
came from schools performing
at or above grade level.
However, the main discrepancy
between teacher's opinions
and federal guidelines came
on the issue of more standardized
testing, with 90 percent of
the teachers saying it has
a negative impact. |
Iddings said utilizing these
tests as a benchmark to determine
how well students are learning
is wrong because some students
are, just good test takers,
while others are not.
"It's a simple answer.
Grading teachers by kids '
taking test is like grading
a dentist by how many cavities
their patients have," Iddings
said.
Meyers and Iddings said nobody
is against standardized tests,
but against high stakes standardized
tests.
Meyer also noted the tests
are only in math and reading,
which make some teachers and
schools drop entire portions
of social studies and science
to concentrate on the tests.
Among the alternatives to
using standardized testing
as a benchmark, secording to
the TN, is the idea of grading
children on projects and having
their resulting portfolios
evaluated.
Iddings noted that preparing
students for standardized tests
also forces less emphasis on
music and the arts, and in
some cases these programs have
been cut.
'Studies show that arts and
music translates to increased
achievement. Standardized tests
narrow the field where kids
can find talents," said
Iddings.
|