Teaching+in+an+Era+of+Reform


 * Adopt-A-Book **


 * I. Introduction: **

Teaching practices and student learning are affected by a plethora of factors. Often policies and high stakes assessments stifle the academic freedom of teachers to individualize instruction to meet students’ needs. Effective instruction requires teachers’ attentiveness in order to identify a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The language and interactions between teachers and students may also affect student achievement, either beneficially or negatively. These effects often have results that can influence a student’s academic experiences permanently. High stakes assessments may lead to a narrowing of curriculum, a shift from student-centered and project-centered learning to teacher-centered instruction and create a general sense of anxiety or fear amongst teachers and students. Effective teachers must be supported by federal policies, instead of restricted by such, and reforms should be tailored to meet the individualized needs of teachers and students.


 * II. Subtopics: **


 * 1. How do we improve teaching? By: Gillian **

Teachers must be willing to put themselves in the shoes of their students, in order to teach to the students’ abilities. Attentive teaching is seen when “teachers attend closely to their demonstrations and discussions with students and consider and reconsider instruction” (Cohen, 2011, p.31). Attentive teaching is getting to know your students, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, and using that knowledge to inform instruction.

Bridging the gap between teaching and learning occurs in three different terrains, through attentive and/or conventional instruction.

1. The knowledge that teachers extend to students, and how they extend it.

2. The organization of instructional discourse.

3. The teachers’ acquaintance with students’ knowledge.

“When teachers treat knowledge as the outcome of a practice of inquiry, they open up uncertainty… [which] is essential to deep understanding, but it increases the difficulty and risks of instruction because students and teachers must operate in less clearly defined terrain and produce much more complex performances” (Cohen, 2011).

As a result of this:
 * Students have more to learn and must work harder to learn
 * Students must learn to live with intellectual uncertainty and make disciplined use of it
 * Teachers cannot navigate such terrain well without deep knowledge of the material AND a broad range of perspectives on it.
 * Teachers must be able to find many ways through the material and change direction rapidly


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Language of Learning: How can interactions between teachers and students create or destroy the drive for education? By: Brianna **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Olson discusses the influence that early experiences in school between students and teachers can affect how the student will view school as well as their interest in continuing education. Every child whether intentionally or not is given a label in education. Many students fly under the radar and are considered “average learners” where others need more attention because they were the “troublesome learner”; and then on the opposite end of the spectrum there are “accelerated learners” that receive attention for their advanced knowledge. Olson breaks down the wounds felt by students into seven different categories with a common wound felt by most students from school.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. **wounds of creativity** a. too weird, or to far fetched, b. everything we do has to make something useful or extraordinary. c. denying the inner understanding of what is valuable. a. understanding that obeying the rule is the only way for approval b. fear that punishment will be the result if you stand out. c. rely on external rewards to motivate. a. rebel to protect themselves b. cannot view another individuals point of view. a. loss of feeling towards learning b. zoned out. Detached just going through day to day motions. a. not fully seen b. denial of access due to assumptions of ability by teacher c. So many say I cant achieve so it must be true. a. what is done in school is never enough b. failure is catastrophic. c. no risks are taken for fear of messing up. d. no pleasure from learning only concerned about outcome. a. only capable of so much. b. no amount of effort will change their abilities c. unseen and low expectations d. lost interest in themselves.
 * 2. wounds of compliance**
 * 3.** **wounds of rebelliousness**
 * 4. wounds of numbness**
 * 5. wounds of underestimation**
 * 6. wounds of perfectionism**
 * 7. wounds of the average**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These are the wounds made by schools who are ignorant to the difference in children at the cognitive emotional and identity level. As well as schools who create feelings of dissapoint and embarrassment for being different. There is also the pressure to adjust to the changes in the school environment, and finally create the sense of distance from the individual as a learner. Just as with our activity feeling rushed can create a sense of anxiety, children who are naturally anxious will often shut down and give up. Many teachers have taken the problems that they witness their kids having as a child who is only trying to start trouble. This can create a different relationship between the teacher and student; where the teacher tries to make a joke out of the students behavior or make them feel embarrassed for their actions often causing a disconnect between the drive for education and the drive to disappear. As we saw with the activity the attitude of the teacher towards the students learning can highly affect the outcome and effort of the child in the classroom. When children are treated as average how can we expect them to be anything more than average, if we respond to a child as if they are never going to achieve how can we expect them to feel differently. Teachers have an influence in a child's life beyond teaching them math writing and science; teachers help children to learn about themselves and what they can be and what they can achieve in their life outside of school.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. What policy structure needs be in place to provide teachers with the power and support needed to be effective for all students? By: Joy **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Based on our activity, we can see that teaching is not “one-size fits all”. Teachers must have the ability to promote the needs of individual students in conjunction with meeting professional standards of practice. The teacher in our activity is concerned about the student taking and passing the test. Instead, the focus of teaching should be on meaningful learning that will “develop the potential and personalities of our students”.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My book was The Flat World and Education - How America’s Commitment to Equity will Determine Our Future by Linda Darling-Hammond. The focus of her book was on eliminating the inequities in education so that we can compete on a global level. To achieve this goal, we need to establish national and state-level policies which provide the educational system with top-down support and allow bottom-up reform. With these policies in place, the teacher in our activity could be much more effective and meet the needs of the students.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Top down support at the FEDERAL level includes:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meaningful learning goals
 * provide research, development and expert resources to support development of standards, curriculum, and assessments at the state-level
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Intelligent, reciprocal accountability systems
 * provide the means to evaluate and continually improve curriculum, teaching, and school capacity; strategies would be informed by multiple measures of student learning, school practices, and school performance
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Equitable and adequate resources
 * require that state systems provide comparable per pupil funding, adjusted for differentials in cost of living and pupil needs
 * address the supply of well-prepared educators to all students in all communities
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Strong professional standards and supports for all educators
 * fully subsidized, high-quality preparation, mentoring, and professional development throughout a teacher’s career
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Schools organized for student and teacher learning
 * promote teams of professionals working together with time to plan and learn

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">States, School Districts, Schools, and Teachers and other staff would have a system of shared responsibility which include:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">STATES
 * continue to be responsible for standards, curriculum, and assessments.
 * provide sufficient and equitable resources
 * ensure well-qualified personnel
 * adopt standards for student learning
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SCHOOL DISTRICTS
 * distribute school resources equitably
 * hire and support well-qualified teachers and administrators (and remove those who are not competent)
 * encourage practices that support high-quality teaching and learning
 * manage improvement (instead of managing compliance)
 * diagnose, address problems, and invest in resources to improve failing schools
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
 * create a productive environment for learning
 * assess the effectiveness of their practices
 * help staff and parents communicate with and learn from one another
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">TEACHERS AND OTHER STAFF
 * identify and promote the needs of individual students
 * meet professional standards of practice
 * assess and revise strategies with their colleagues to better meet the needs of students

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If NCLB is to be successful, “we need a policy strategy that creates a 21st century curriculum to all students and supports it with thoughtful assessments, access to knowledgeable, well-supported teachers, and equal access to school resources.” (p.327)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Darling-Hammond, Linda. (2010) The Flat World and Education - How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Has high-stakes testing fundamentally changed classroom practices? By: Melissa **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Policy makers have much to consider when determining educational reforms. Often there are unforeseen consequences associated with these policies which may affect their longevity and effectiveness. In recent years there has existed much debate over high-stakes assessments and its value in education. Author Larry Cuban argues in “Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice” that few reforms have had many long-lasting impacts on classroom practices. Such reforms include increased use of technology in the classroom and those ideas set forth by the National Education Association’s (NEA) Committee of Ten and The Cardinal Principles of Education.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is Cuban's belief that policies stated in No Child Left Behind, including high-stakes assessment for high school graduation and data-driven accountability have some effect on classroom practices. Some changes include an emphasis on English language arts and mathematics and less classroom time spent in other subjects like science, social studies, history, foreign language and electives. A narrowing of the curriculum is a negative, unforeseen consequence of high stakes assessment. Another notable change in classroom practice is the shift from student and project-centered learning to teacher-centered instruction. Some teachers and students even describe anxiety and fear regarding the results from these high-stakes assessments. Cuban states that it is still too early to determine whether or not these changes will have longevity and if there are any unforeseen negative consequences.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The activities performed in the Adopt-A-Book Teach-In will exemplify the effects that high-stakes testing have on classroom practices. This group attempts to recreate a classroom in which a target is given. The impending success of meeting this target is subject to high-stakes consequences, academic failure. Failure is hypothetical in this activity but meant to simulate real-life consequences facing many secondary students today. The goal is to determine what effects, if any, these high-stake consequences will have on teaching practices and student sentiment.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Conclusions: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Without common framework to make valid judgments about students’ work and no common vocabulary to with which to identify, investigate, discuss, and solve problems of teaching and learning, there is little common knowledge that could be systematized for use in education of teachers. Public education has not developed the means to turn teachers’ individual knowledge and skill into common knowledge, let alone determined a way to remember it, improve it, and make it available to novices. “Success of the Common Core will require much more capable state agencies, much less local control, and perhaps the creation of regional systems within or among states” (Cohen, 2011, p.204).


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">III. Links: **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching and Its Predicaments: Gillian **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wounded By School: Brianna **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Flat World and Education: Joy **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Melissa **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">IV. Teach-In Activities: **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our group's Teach-In activity is meant to demonstrate and visualize in a hypothetical setting the interactions between teachers and students. There are two activities that involve the simple task of tying a knot but include two different methods of instruction. During the first activity the teacher is provided simple written instructions in conjunction with a visual aid. The teachers are previously instructed to behave negatively and inattentively. Both teacher and student are informed that that the results are high stakes and if they are unsuccessful, failure will occur. During the second activity the teacher and student are allowed to collaborate in order to successfully tie the knot. All restrictions are removed, including the high stakes potential for failure, any time limits and methods of instruct