Category: Assessments

The Most Wonderful Time of the [School] Year

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A teacher LIT ME UP today and it was unnecessary and so awkward.

It’s the most wonderful time of the school year.  All of us are so exhausted and tired and overwhelmed and…testy.  Everyone’s on edge because of the stress of closing out the first semester that we lose our patience with each other.

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I can only assume that this teacher was also tired and on edge and because of that she took out her frustration on me.  While this was a really negative interaction, that I do hope we can get past, I did learn a few things about myself.

To explain, let me share what happened:

Last year our district decided that we were going to move towards common assessments in lieu of benchmarks.  As teachers, we were thrilled at the idea that we wouldn’t have to give up class time to administer these extra standardized tests.

Well, it’s final exam season and as a Lead teacher I am responsible for working with my team to finalize the semester 1 final exam.  After discussing with everyone, and going back and forth with edits via email, we finalized the final exam.

The day before we were to administer the test one of our teachers asked if she could change one of the problems, just for her test, because she felt her students needed a different version of the problem.  She assured me it would cover the same standards as the original question.

I was quick to answer.  As she was explaining it to me it all sounded good.  It sounded logical;  she would be covering the same standard on her assessment as the original.  The math would be the same.  No big deal, right?

Me:  “Sure, that sounds fine.  No big deal.”

Teacher:  “Okay, are you sure?  You’re fine with me changing it?”

Me:  “Yeah, you’re covering the same math so it’s fine.  Go ahead!”

This conversation probably took a whole of 3 minutes.  When I got off the phone I immediately had a weird feeling about my decision.  While it all sounded very logical I started replaying other conversations I had the previous week, about this exact final exam, with our assistant principal (AP) that supervises the math department.

I remembered that our AP was not happy that our assessments were not the same.  You see, we had to write a separate final for another teacher on our team that is a chapter and a half behind the rest of us.  Even though it was obviously necessary for that teacher to have a different final, our AP was still not happy about it.  I realized that I probably spoke too soon and maybe it wasn’t the best idea to have authorized now technically a third version of the final exam.

So, I called the teacher back and explained all of this.  I explained that the intent is for us to have common assessments and if we continue to allow each other exceptions to the rule, however minor they are, we will never get to where the department is trying to go.  And because we had so much back and forth about this particular final with our AP, I expressed that we should run it by our AP first before she changed the final.

It did not go over well and that’s when our conversation went south (like, really south.)  I should note that this isn’t like her;  we have a great working relationship and I was floored by all of this.  Maybe it’s because she didn’t get her way, maybe it’s because I changed my mind and came across indecisive, maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with me or maybe it has everything to do with me.  In any case, that’s how it went and it was awkward.

So, what did I learn from all of this?

  1.  I’m so grateful to be a Lead teacher.  It’s a low-stakes, little leadership role in our department;  it’s a great opportunity for me to take risks and make mistakes, so that I can learn and grow.
  2.  I want my yes’s to mean yes and my no’s to mean no.  I don’t want to come across indecisive or give the impression that I’m not certain of the decisions that I make.  When I had to call back to change my mind, I wonder if it seemed like someone else influenced me after the fact and if that makes me appear to be easily persuaded.  I want to communicate that I’m confident in my decisions.
  3. I’m a people pleaser and, “yes,” sits on the tip of my tongue all the time.  For me, saying “no” feels like I’m shutting someone down.  I want to encourage creative ideas and make people feel validated.  I can accomplish that same thing, but also make confident and solid decisions, by saying the phrase, “Let me think about it and get back to you,” instead of an immediate, “Yes!”  I’m pretty good about looking at situations from all angles;  saying this phrase buys me the time I need to analyze something completely to make a sound decision.  I’m going to practice saying it so that phrase sits on the tip of my tongue at all times.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt had it right and I’ve got a lot to learn.

~PV~

This isn’t working

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I teach Integrated Math 2 classes that are specifically populated with students that have traditionally struggled in math and would benefit from a class environment that includes additional supports and opportunities for success.  

I was approached by our department chair today and, because of the data, asked if this model was working.  She hinted that our administration was considering dissolving these specific classes because students appear to not be successful.  She told me to think about it but we needed to come up with a plan soon because the process for registering for next year’s classes would begin in a few weeks.  

This isn’t working.

How is this being measured?  By semester grades of course.  The data looks bad;  too many of our students are earning D’s and F’s on their semester report cards.  I didn’t realize I was contributing to this trend until I sat down and looked at my own data.

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I was recently in an IEP meeting for Ashley, a student of mine that has a learning disability.  I described her as hard-working, open minded, and a good communicator.  I shared with her parents that in our cooperative learning environment their daughter works well in teams and is a great self-advocate.  Her parents were very surprised to hear that she is often the first one in her team to understand a concept and demonstrate mastery.  She grasps concepts quickly and is able to articulate what she’s learned or what she needs help with.  

But she’s getting a D in my class.

How can I describe this student as, basically, doing well in class when my records show she is earning a D?! She often demonstrates learning and sometimes even mastery of concepts in class.  Where she struggles, as is the case with many of my students, is on the formal, written assessments…like, Chapter Tests.  Oh, and by the way, Chapter Tests make up 80% of their grade.

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Wait a minute…didn’t I just say that I teach classes that are specifically populated with students that have traditionally struggled in math and would benefit from a class environment that includes additional supports and opportunities for success?

This isn’t working.  But, not because the model is wrong;  it’s because I’ve failed at providing opportunities for my students to be successful.  

I have spent most of my time setting high standards for my students because I didn’t want them to feel labeled or have any excuse for not putting in the effort to be successful.  I wanted them to believe that they could do well in class, just like everybody else.  I worried about my grading practices and wanted to make sure they aligned with my desire for student grades to reflect what they learned and not what they did.  So, I grade on a rubric because I want to honor levels of mastery in my students.  I thought this was enough but after looking at my data, I realize it’s not.  I have not created enough opportunities for success.

This CAN work!

Here are some ways I plan to make some real changes in my classroom to honor my students’ learning:

  1. Remember that assessments don’t always mean formal, written tests.  If I’m looking for mastery of certain concepts, then I need to be flexible in the way I assess that.  Maybe that means looking for students to do that in class while practicing.  I envision myself walking around my classroom and observing student work;  as I see a student successfully demonstrate mastery I check it off a list of goals I’ve created for the chapter.
  2. Give students a choice on how they will be assessed.  Loving the idea of Choose Your Own Assessment.  Maybe students want to create a video, or a poster to demonstrate mastery.  Maybe students want to just take a good old fashioned test.  Either way, I want to give students the choice so that they can create something or do something they can be proud of.
  3. Make assessments that are formal tests, but students get to choose the problems they complete.  Definitely pulling my inspiration from The Classroom Chef on this one.  It would be kind of like a menu of different courses to choose from.  I envision a test with sections for each of the major concepts being tested.  Within each section are three problems to choose from, each with increasing DOK level or difficulty level.  Students get to pick 1, 2, or all 3 problems in each section to complete and they’ll only be graded on what they attempt.

Questions I have:

  1. How important is it that students are able to pass a formal, written test?
  2. Is demonstrating mastery in non-traditional, non- test-like ways as valid an assessment as a formal, written test?
  3. Our school is moving towards common assessments.  The rationale is that our students should all have the same skills by the end of the course.  How important is it to participate in this?
  4. What are some other ways to create opportunities for success?

My hope is for my students to have more success in math that’s not just reflected in their overall grades but in their attitudes about math.  I am so grateful for this eye opening experience because it’s helped me to grow as a teacher to meet the needs of my students.

This CAN work.  It’s going to work.  I’m going to make it work.

~PV~

What if tests were just easier?

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The wheels were turning after a brief conversation with Matt Vaudrey.

What if tests were just easier?

What if we just made tests easier?  What if on test day they walked in peaceful, knowing it wasn’t going to be that bad?  What if they went home feeling more confident about math because of the test?  What if students left class, after a test, feeling awesome?

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What if this was a happy day instead of the dreaded test day?

Does it have to be bad?  Does it have to be hard?  What if tests were more straight forward, clear, direct?  What if I saved the complex, interesting, real world problems that synthesized information for in-class activities instead of tests?  What if we did all that cool stuff  together?  Where more meaningful discussions could happen?  Where opportunities for students to learn collaboratively was possible?  Where I could monitor student progress more closely, in real time?

What if testing them meant something different?  What if we changed the intent of the test?  What if testing didn’t mean giving them a set of problems to complete just to spend hours grading, for it to only give me assessment data that I already know?  What if tests weren’t only used as indicators of what students know and what they don’t know?  What if we used math tests differently?  What if we used tests for a different purpose?  What if math tests had additional purpose?  Do you know your test’s purpose?  Does your test have a purpose?

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Maybe learning stops when a test score is issued?  What if tests didn’t have grades?  What if we just highlighted mistakes to fix?  Maybe learning would continue?  (Stay tuned, I just did this…I’ll blog about the results soon!)

What if tests were used to build math confidence instead of beating that confidence down?  What if tests were used to positively reinforce being brave, taking risks, and flexing those problem solving skills we so desperately try to develop in them?  What if we used other forms of assessments to test knowledge in addition to tests?  What if we used other assessments INSTEAD of tests?

What if we stopped testing students to see if they take that amazing problem, make the right connections on a paper/pencil test that we grade right/wrong and then give them points, update the grade online, give the test back, and then MOVE ON to the next chapter NEVER to talk to them about how freaking awesome that problem was?!  I mean…

What if?

Maybe my students would feel more confident about their math skills?  Maybe my students would focus on learning and not on point gathering?  Maybe my students would feel empowered in a math classroom instead of discouraged?  Maybe it would change their attitudes about math?  Maybe their parents’ attitudes would change too?  Maybe they would all stop saying, “I’m just not a math person”?  Maybe they would all stop forgiving themselves for not being good at math and start trying to be good at math?  Maybe my students would enjoy math more?

Maybe my students would take more risks?  Maybe the increased confidence will make them brave when given a problem they’ve never seen before?  Maybe it would make them fearless mathematicians?!  Ooooohhhhh, FEARLESS MATHEMATICIANS!  Maybe it would make them better problem solvers?  Maybe their performance would be stronger because they would be more willing to perform?  And maybe, just maybe, we’d see that translate into something measurable, in something valued by education…like standardized test scores?

Maybe it’s worth a shot to just make the test easier?