Opting Out of State Assessments - Not What You Think

Image Source: Flickr.com dmolsen

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are solely mine and do not indicate any position of another organization or employer.  I am also a teacher in a non-tested grade in New York.

I felt it last week. Like a fog rolling in. I saw it, I cannot deny that. As it neared I saw its tendrils (Tweets, blog posts, news articles) reach out and eventually the entire bank rolled in. I attempted to respond in Tweets and in blog comments, but there just wasn't enough space (or at that moment, enough time). So in an attempt to dissipate the fog bank, I'm sharing my thoughts below.

Across our nation, schools are either already immersed in or preparing themselves to administer state assessments.  You can feel it...you can even see it, 'Prep' rallies, suggestions for student incentives (let's just call them what they are, 'rewards') for attending school on assessment days abound on listservs, the sprinkling of 'fairy dust' in classrooms (I'm still not sure about THAT connection), the list goes on and on and on.


But what makes this year different from other years? A call to 'opt out'. Parents deciding that enough is enough and making the decision to not send their child to school on days when state assessments are administered. Before reading further, please take a moment to read Will Richardson's post, 'Opt Out' and then head over to Lee Kolbert's response, 'Dear Will Richardson'. This will help provide you with an idea of the dialogues occurring online. And while you're there, consider leaving a comment to continue the conversations.

Before you pass judgement, realize that I am by no means advocating for the 'snapshot model' of state assessments that determine so many things in a district. But please stay with me a moment longer.

'Opt Out' websites are popping up like crazy (go ahead, enter 'opt out state assessments' into a Google search to see for yourself).


Here are my issues: (keep in mind I'm in New York, and no part of my writing should be taken as legal advice)
1. Some of these websites provide only the most rudimentary of information. I've seen some of these websites copy/paste just snippets of regulations, often taken out of context. To me 'information is power', however, 'lack of information' can be disabling. If you aren't getting the full story, are you getting the story at all?

2.  From what I've read, yes, a parent has a constitutional right to keep their child from taking the state assessments. And yes, state assessment scores for tested grades below High School aren't reported to colleges.

But here's what is rarely shared:
1. For schools/districts - if your reported participation scores go down, that will negatively impact the complex formula which determines a school's AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), most especially if those who 'opted out' might have scored a 3 or a 4).  From where I sit, that means that we'll see an increase in schools failing to meet AYP.  Oftentimes AYP is directly tied into funding.

2. For schools/districts - Negative publicity - An ensuing media frenzy of reporting of schools not meeting AYP, community members reading reports will assume the school and/or teachers are inept, ineffective and overall worthless. GREAT! Just what we need! More bad publicity for education.


3. For teachers - With the new APPR (teacher evaluations) being negotiated and with 20% of a teacher's evaluation based on the scores of state assessments, there will be a negative impact on whether a teacher is rated 'Highly Effective', 'Effective', 'Developing', or 'Ineffective'. (Opt out = lower rating) Do we really want a repeat of that media frenzy?

4. For students - Opting out could result in the student being placed in AIS (Academic Intervention Services) classes. And guess what?!? The parent MAY NOT have their child opt out of this!
Retrieved from:
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/part100/pages/ais-fieldmemo-final.html
"53. What is a district’s responsibility if a parent objects to having his/her child receive academic intervention services?
 Placement in educational programs during the regular school day, however, remains the responsibility of the district and school."
And in some districts, particularly at the Middle School level, with AIS being provided during the school day, due to scheduling, if a student requires AIS services they are unable to take Art (or another humanities class).

If you're so inclined, please consider leaving a comment. You can agree, respectfully disagree, provide links to more information, or perhaps you have an idea for a means by which we can change the state of testing in this country, without resulting in such negative results. 

And if I haven't taken up too much of your time, please consider filling out Diane Main's crowd-sourced form, 'Consequences of Opting Out of State Standardized Testing'.

Real Simple Magazine -- #FAIL!

As my husband can attest to, I have a thing for magazines.  I LOVE to purchase them, tear out things, pass them along, etc. I think that if we purchased one of those log makers we'd have enough fuel to get us through the winter (OK, OK, I know that the winter in the East has been mild, but still).

So I was on one of my frenzied shopping sprees this past weekend and picked up an issue of Real Simple.  I didn't pay any attention, just realized I didn't have that cover in my possession and assumed it was a new issue. Two shopping stops later I ran across another Real Simple whose cover image I also did not recall -- in to my shopping cart it went.

Imagine my ire when upon arriving home I noticed that BOTH Real Simple issues had the SAME date (February 2012) AND that the content was the same.

I've posted an image above for you to see what I am talking about.

Would you say that this is 'false advertising'?

When Is Enough Enough?

Let's face it, we have a limited resource -- 24 hours in a day and we need to decide how we want to allocate our time to meet our needs and wants. I've noticed that on a 'good day' I'm taking over 3-4 hours of my time to check all my e-mail accounts, look at Twitter, catch up on my Google Reader, check into Facebook and see what new and interesting links might have been shared in my Diigo account. It is becoming more and more like 'work' and I'm NOT liking it.....

I'm also experiencing 'information' overload in terms of all these new, free, 'gotta have/gotta use' apps.  I tend to grab the url and throw it into my Diigo account (with a tag of 'CIO', which stands for 'check it out') and just for good measure I also mark it in my 'Read It Later' application with the intention of weeding through it over the weekend.

The French had a saying, 'Les mals du 20eme siecle' which roughly translates to the ills imposed on individuals due to the times and circumstances (and supposed 'time saving' devices from the 20th century).  I'm convinced that we are facing the same in this digital age.  We have too much coming at us too fast and are, quite frankly, not able to keep up in a way that contributes positively to our health and well-being.  I see a new profession resulting from this -- Digital Psychologist.

My goal is to REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE in terms of my digital experiences.

I mean really, how many online photo-editing websites MUST I use? How many screen capture programs can I have?  How thin must I stretch myself over all the social networks I belong to?  And yes, I can already hear all the arguments about the wealth of knowledge that we are acquiring, but let's face it guys....it almost feels like we're running from fast food chain to fast food chain, gobbling everything down.  Frankly, I'd rather have dinner in front of the fire, with friends I can reach out and touch, and savor every last morsel, and swirl every last drop of wine, leisurely contemplating the wonders of the the grass just turning green as deer wander down towards the lake. Ahhhhhh.

And next time you're offered up a tantilizing new app, try saying 'I'll pass', then get up, go take a walk outside and let Mother Nature touch your soul......

And now I'm wondering if our students are feeling the same way......

My Ideal Tech Job

Image Source: Flickr.com AveLardo

Funny how you have something mulling over in your mind and then, a few days later, you discover that someone has blogged about it.

I've been thinking about what I would like as my next 'career'. Yes, it's one of those 'what do I want to be when I grow up' moments in my life right now. Might have something to do with the fact that I feel like I'm constantly trudging through muck and mire to get anything accomplished in my current professional life.

And I've decided that I would like to be a 'digital miner'. That's right....no, no, no...not the one with the hard hat and headlight! LOL But rather someone who is able to cull through all the digitial information out there and extract EXACTLY what the client wants.

The ComputerMajors blog did a post about the 10 hottest computer jobs and surprisingly mine wasn't on the list! Wonder why?

What are your thoughts on what a computer job in the near future might be? What would be your ideal job (unless you already have it!), what would it be called, and what would it entail?

Diigo Dumping

OK, before you read any further I want you to go into your Diigo (or whatever social bookmarking application you use) and tell me the number of items you have bookmarked.  Go ahead, I'll wait...

Now let me ask you this? How often do you actually go back and use those websites? Now I'm not talking about the ones that you use on a regular basis (in fact, you probably have those urls memorized -- as do I), no, I'm talking about those posts, articles, etc. that you bookmarked that will help you do x, y, and z should the a, b, or c situation arise and Mr., Mrs. or Ms. is not available to answer your question. Yeah, THOSE bookmarks!

If you're like me, when the aforementioned occurrences happen, I tend to either use Google to find my answer or I reach out to my PLN on Twitter.  So what exactly will happen to all of those bookmarked pages? They'll collect 'digital dust'.  And then the day arrives when I'm feeling particularly ambitious and decide to just dive into Diigo and hit 'delete'.  What about you?

"How to Steal..."

Yeah, I thought that might get your attention.  Actually the whole title is, 'How to Steal Like an Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me)". I ran across it in my Reader at 3 a.m. (the 3 a.m. part is a whole other story) and although I've been reading Austin Kleon's work for a couple of months now, I've never had the opportunity to read a post of his that was not blacked out. The post was part of his talk at Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York.

As I read through his points I kept thinking that my colleagues and students might actually benefit from some of the 'wisdom' Austin shares. So let's take a look at some of these (you should probably read his post before you read my commentary.  Go ahead....I'll wait.)

"All advice is autobiographical." - Smack me in my forehead! Of course it is! (For some reason a light bulb goes off.) When you give advice, it comes from (at least I hope) your own personal experience. Which means that if I get advice from others, it's based on their own experiences.  So if we continue seeking out those who are in our 'comfort zone' (which I assume most members of our PLNs are), then we are really just hearing the same ole, same ole.  And if we are looking to make changes in the educational climate, how can we best provide new experiences?

"Steal like an artist." - Why reinvent the wheel?  I'm sure if we look hard enough and ask enough people, we will see that our 'new & improved' is really not.  It's been done before.  BUT!!! That's OK! Take what works from that and move on to the next thing and take what's best from that and keep on moving on.

"Nothing is original." - Every 'new' idea is really a mashup of something old. But you know what? There's NOTHING wrong with that! As long as you have improved upon the original idea.

"The artist is a collector." - And so are educators.  We tend to collect ideas and movements (and what word am I looking for here?).  You know, all those workshops/seminars/PD days you attended on a variety of topics, such as Cooperative Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Reponsive Classroom, PBIS, Hunter, Bloom, and on, and on, and on.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out" - I'm still digesting this one, but feel free to expand upon it in the comment section.  I'm basically looking at it as program changes which administration demands of teachers that we feel (and some of us actually have research to back up our feelings) is just not the right thing to do.  So we implement the changes (garbage in) and we see the results in our students (garbage out).  I'd like to sit here and type that as educators we need to be more vocal, but the thing is, I think we already are.  So why is noone listening? Is it because we are preaching to the choir? If that's the case, how can we affect change? I don't know about you, but quite frankly, I'm tired of sitting on committees whose outcomes have already been determined before I even entered the room.

"Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things." - How many of us have thought that there were things we could not undertake because we had not yet been trained, or we didn't have just the right equipment, etc.  I believe I read somewhere about , 'go forth and ye shall receive'.  Maybe we need to stop making excuses for not taking action and just do it (I believe those last words come from Nike.)  Can our students afford to have us wait until everything is in place? Do what you can with what you have.

"Write the book you want to read." and "Write what you like." - WOW! I know, I know. We all have some sort of accountability built into our teaching, but do you see the power that I see in these two phrases if we were to share these with our students? I'm DEFINITELY writing these across my blackboard in school on Monday (yeah, that's another story too).

"Use your hands." and "Side projects and hobbies are important." - I think the Google 80/20 model has it right.  A percentage of your time is spent pursuing things that you are interested in. I think that we need to take a serious look at this and see if we can build it into our school day. (Don't fall into the "I have to wait until I can" trap. -- see 2 paragraphs above.) Start small. For most of us I'm sure we can find 15 minutes to spare. And if you don't know where to begin, let your students lead the way.

"Do good work and put it where people can see." - It's all about the PR folks! I know, I know. You're probably saying that you post your students' work on the blog, or the website, yada, yada, yada. It's all about being global.  Yes, that's true. HOWEVER! let's look to bring some of that back home. If you're a foodie, remember how it used to be about getting ingredients that were as exotic as could be? Now it's all about locally grown/harvested products? I think we can think the same about what we share out. Let's start letting our community know what is going on in our classrooms. Check out the corner gas station, they could probably use some new window displays. You have a fast food joint down the street, I'm sure they'd be happy to show support. GET IT OUT THERE!!!

The other side of this is to share what you have created, so that others might make it there own and make it better and in turn share with others (and perhaps even you!). Remember, what you've created probably isn't original anyway.

"Geography is no longer our master." - Chewing on this one as well. I believe in reaching out (as far as I can) to tap into the wisdom of the crowd. But I also feel strongly about forming bonds with those nearby.

"Be nice." - That should go without saying. And in this cyberage we try to teach our students that there is no such thing as a delete button online. There are times that I wish we would heed our own advice. Remember, if you don't have anything nice to say you should probably keep it to yourself. If you do share it digitally it will (eventually) come back to bite you.

It's That Time of Year...

(Disclaimer: If you're not interested in rants and raves, then I strongly suggest you stop reading this post right now. If not, then proceed at your own risk.)

And no, I'm not referring to the holidays, although those are upon us as well. I'm referring to 'List Time'. You know the ones, the 'Top 10 Must Have Tech Toys', the '39 Web 2.0 Tools You Can't Live Without', the '4,321 Blogs You Must Read'. Hmmmm, did I miss any? Oh, right....the 'Top Tech People You Need to [fill-in-the-blank] (follow/meet/greet/smell their feet....oops, getting off-track here)'. It seems everyone is getting in on the act, whether it's via a blog post, via Twitter, via Plurk, via memes (and what the heck is that word anyway???), or via a workshop presentation.

I'm sitting here wondering if other professions have this kind of frenzy as well. Do my dentists generate lists of top cavity fillers? Do my car mechanics put out lists of top ten tailpipe welders?

I used to read these various lists and quickly add the apps, purchase the latest, follow the hordes. Then I began to feel like I was following the Pied Piper and I started to feel like the rats and feared I would end up in the river (that is where they ended up, isn't it?).

Now I take the road less traveled, I've created another online identity for my Twitter and Plurk, I've cleaned out my blog reader (it feels great to look at it and see it register '0', though for how long I can't tell! LOL) and I'm creating a network of colleagues who have not yet made the interstate, but are taking the side roads as they explore the landscape of technology, education, students, and teaching. These are the travelers which I believe I will learn the most from, those that don't have the answers, yet are willing to discover solutions collaboratively.

Will I give up all of my network? Absolutely not! I will continue to follow those who have helped me become a better facilitator/teacher/learner; those who have made me question my beliefs and as a result, strengthened my convictions; and those who have engaged me.

And in case you're wondering...no, I will not be posting a 'list'! LOL

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nirak/331916210/

It's Not About the Tech

Last year I attended a conference where the underlying premise of the majority of the workshops I sat in on (unstated, but at times also stated) was that if you weren't using technology then you were a boring teacher and your class were unimaginative and your students weren't engaged. As I looked around me, I saw heads nodding in agreement, while I sat there with an incredulous look on my face. I began to wonder if indeed technology users had developed into some kind of new elite group and someone had failed to inform me. Instead of coming out of the conference refreshed, I came away dismayed.

On my drive home I began to reflect on this and it occured to me that perhaps one of the reasons that colleagues are loathe to attempt to integrate technology is that they don't feel part of the 'in crowd' (a misconception IMHO, but something believed by many). After conferences I tend to run around my school sharing tools and applications and ideas with anyone that has accidentally left their classroom doors open (meaning, everyone!LOL). I decided not to do that this time. Instead, I wandered from classroom to classroom, observing the wonderful things that teachers do day in and day out with the benefit of technology.

I realized I needed to step back a bit. Now 'Can I...', 'May I...', and 'Do you think we could...' are phrases I'm employing more and more in my interactions with colleagues. By 'knocking', I've enabled teachers to 'open the door' and enter of their own accord. In this new classroom, I've enabled more teachers to take the plunge and discover that sometimes technology can enhance what their students are doing and that they can become part of that transformation.

Little by little, I'm hoping to narrow the digital divide that occurs among teaching professionals.

I'll be attending another conference this weekend and I'm hoping that I won't be hearing any disparaging remarks about non-technology users. And if I do? This time I won't sit quitely by.....stay tune, News at 11!

Image Source: 'AC: Elite Modeling Chicago 25th Anniversary' www.flickr.com/photos/44787216@N00/968940068

Computers Decrease (My) Productivity

The major thing on my To-Do list today is to write a draft for a Visual Literacy course. Of course, this was also on my To-Do list yesterday as well.

I've got the house to myself (thanks to the opening of deer season), my dining room table is cleared off, my resources are spread out all around me, my dogs are laying at my feet, and by all accounts I should be motivated and raring to go. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Why? I turned on my computer!

First, I had to check all my e-mails, then I checked in to the two online courses I'm teaching. Then I justified a 'break' and logged into Twitter to see what my network was up to. Which lead me to click on a few links, which led me to another great resource to add to my list of free photo websites that I just 'had' to add to my wiki for the Visual Literacy workshop I'm presenting at NYSCATE on Saturday, which led me to check out the latest images on the fires in California, well, you get the idea. And if that wasn't enough of a detour, I had to check my Bloglines account to see if there's anything there I might be able to use, which led me to peruse through CogDog's images of his time in Iceland, which led me to play we some online photo editors, and there went another hour of my time. All that led me to sign-up for a couple of applications posted in Teach42's '30 Days To Be a Better Blogger' challenge, then of course I had to go back to my e-mail to 'verify' my registration. And since I signed up for the applications, I had to come into my Blogger account to add them to my blog. Phew...

I'm about ready to power down, and resort to my legal pad and various purple and green pens to get some serious work done on this course draft.

So I'm just curious...how do you get the work that needs to get done accomplished with so many distractions tempting you on the web?

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulworthington/

I've Fallen Off the Bandwagon

No, not THAT 'bandwagon'! LOL The bandwagon I normally jump on as soon as a new tool, application, website, toy, [you fill in the blank] crosses one of my networks. Be it within the 140 characters of a Tweet or embedded in a much longer post.

Recently http://www.mystudiyo.com/ (and what is it with the spelling of websites these days? First, we've got the ones who are dropping the last vowel - Flickr, Tumblr, etc. And now I'm seeing websites adding a letter to the end. Yeesh!) crossed my browser. Intrigued (as I'm ALWAYS known to be) I clicked, took an amusing, mindless quiz (all the while assuring myself it was for the purpose of evaluating the application's usefullness in an educational setting -- and no, honey, those aren't new shoes...these ol' things? I've had them forever! Yeah, right! LOL). Then more posts and tweets popped up (much like pimples on one's face the day of the Senior prom) regarding that very app. I religiously bookmarked the site into my bulging 'Tools' folder. Guaranteed, within two weeks the discussion of this app will have disappeared from the cybersphere (did I just coin something here?).

We complain that our students don't demonstrate 'stick-to-it-iveness'. I ask myself, 'Do we?'.

P.S. From now on I will take the same approach I take when catalogue shopping. Tear it out (in this case, bookmark it), file it away, revisit it in three months and if I still feel like I can't live without it -- go out and buy it...No regrets.

In the meantime, I'm creating a new folder in my bookmarking application (notice I didn't mention which one -- wouldn't want to add to your 'I MUST CHECK THIS OUT NOW' obsession!) called 'Check It Out --- LATER'.

Excuses for Not Posting

This post has been brewing in my mind for a while. Imagine my surprise when I ran across this article in the New York Times about the demise of some bloggers and the stressful 'working' conditions of others.

I've always been one that is only interested in the core content of the post (whatever that content may be). I'm NOT interested in WHY you haven't posted in a while, and quite frankly, I couldn't care less. I think we all realize that things happen in your real life that prevent you from posting, or that perhaps you didn't have anything to say and that when you do have something to say, you will indeed post again.

Don't worry, I won't delete you from my Bloglines account just because I haven't heard from you in a while. However, I WILL delete you from my Bloglines account if you share the myriad of reasons why you haven't post!

Review of Literature....I Mean, Blogs

If you've ever had to write a thesis you know there is a step called 'Review of Literature'. It's basically searching high and low for anything and everything that has ever been written on your topic. That's basically what I've been doing for the last month -- reviewing the literature...I mean, blogs. I wanted to see what was out there, how blog authors approached their topic, what topics were discussed, what their 'voice' was, how often they blogged, etc. I know that there have been posts written about the various types of blogs. I've even come across an informative SlideShare entitled 'The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging...'.

Here's what I've come to find:

On the minus side of my 'Review of Literature...I mean, blogs':

1. The blogger who has become extremely cynical of education and technology, showing little (if any) tolerance towards those who do not follow his/her beliefs. I believe these bloggers suffer from the 'Web Messiah Syndrome'.

2. The blogger who writes extensively (some might say 'ad nauseum') throughout the day. Makes me wonder if taxpayers know what these employees are up to. Guess their mantra is, 'Delegate, delegate, delegate'. I find that three-quarters of what is posted in their blogs is beyond my level of comprehension (though I hold two Masters and one Advanced Degree). Maybe it's just that my mind wanders after the first 3 sentences. Purpose of these blogs? Extolling the virtues of their self-worth while insulting the intelligence of the masses.

3. The blogger who regurgitates (read: copy/paste) information from other sites and passes them along. I call these bloggers the 'Wanna-Be RSS Feeders'.

4. The blogger who fills the blog with 1001 widgets. Don't they realize that it's human nature for the eye to wander everywhere EXCEPT where it's supposed to go. On these blogs my eyes drift to the 'live traffic feed' -- why does anyone need to know where the visitors are coming from and when other than the blogger who can get that data from an analytic website. Then there's the 'calendar'...what the reader doesn't have a hard copy calendar or a calendar on their computer? Totaly waste of space. Don't forget the 'Twitter Feeds' -- if a reader wants twits they should sign up for an account. Let's meander over to the 'Recenter Readers'...why would I care? Please explain that one to me. Oh, and my favorite, 'Subscribe by e-mail'? HUH?!? Haven't heard of RSS and Google Reader or Bloglines? Sheesh... By then I'm so exhausted looking at everything that I'm too pooped to read the post. There's 'Death by PowerPoint'...now there's 'Death by Widgets'.

5. The last one might actually be a fault of my feed aggregator, but why do I get, besides the posts which I want to read, the bloggers Del.icio.us links and Flickr photos? Although I must admit that I do cull some valuable information from the del.icio.us links, do I really need to see 50 pictures of a bird in a tree?

On the positive side of my 'Review of Literature...I mean, blogs':

1. The blogger who shares a website or application, but then goes beyond the 'call of duty' and actually tries out the website/application and offers insight as to how this website/application might be used to further our PPLN (Personal/Professional Learning Network) or enhance learning in our classrooms.

2. The blogger who challenges my 'comfort zone' and makes me re-think what I am doing or what I believe. I might not always agree, but I've reached some amazing discoveries as a result of these posts.

My goal? I want to review websites/applications that will directly impact students, give a lay person's/educator's (my) take on it, ponder it's uses in my PPLN/classroom, suggest possible uses and hopefully receive feedback from you, my readers (in the form of comments) on additional ways to use the website/application, thereby making this blog more collaborative. (Yes, I realize that this was a run-on sentence!) I will also occasionally post observations of what I'm seeing happening around me in education, technology, and ed-tech. Will I sometimes take you out of your comfort zone? I certainly hope so.

And remember, we are all in 'Perpetual Beta'.