Ellen Berg/00-01/Diary Entry 2

Entry # 2: The temperature rises --
and so does the pressure to perform

St. Louis has been experiencing dangerously high temperatures coupled with excessive humidity. Temperatures have been in the high 90's with a heat index of 105 degrees or more. Since most of our schools do not have air conditioning, the superintendent delayed the opening of school until after Labor Day.

My work, however, goes on. Although the teachers were not required to report to school, I welcomed the extra time to plan for my children and put the finishing touches on my classroom especially since the sixth grade classrooms all have air conditioning, and I knew I wouldn't melt away.

Thursday evening as I was signing out in the main office, our instructional coordinator told me the academic committee would be convening an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the dismal MAP scores (Missouri Assessment Program -- our state accountability test) that had been delivered that day. We were to examine the data and begin to put together a plan for improvement.

The Missouri Assessment Program is a state performance-based test organized around the Missouri performance and knowledge standards and frameworks. Students only take the test in certain years. For example, the sixth grade usually takes the SAT-9 (switching to the Terra Nova for 2000-2001) while the seventh grade takes the science and communications arts MAP tests. Eighth graders take the social studies and mathematics portions of the MAP test.

Student scores are categorized in quintiles, from Step 1 to Advanced. We are under tremendous pressure as a school system and as a school to move more of our children from the bottom two levels into the top three.

In communication arts we have shown some improvement, but we still have 87% of our students in the bottom two levels. My close friend and colleague in the seventh grade communication arts classroom was in tears when she heard the news. We both know how hard she worked with her kids last year, and to have such a disappointing result was disheartening. However, as I pointed out to her, the problem wasn't created in a year, and it's going to take time to solve it.

I know the results of the test don't match what my children know and can do.

Late Thursday night I got on MIDDLE-L asking for advice from teachers who had been in schools where test scores had been brought up. A few of them suggested particular programs such as SRA, but many people made the point that whatever we did, everyone on the staff would have to commit to it, and carry it out in their own classrooms. In short, everyone should be united in their visions and efforts to help our children succeed.

Well, that's easy to say -- a deceptively simple solution. Take a group of teachers with diverse beliefs and experiences in education, and get them to all do the same things in their classroom.

Playing "Pass the Buck"

Not so easy here. I sat in the committee meeting as some members played the latest round of Pass the Buck. Yes, they agreed that we must all be using the same strategies, but in the end our children would never score as high as the kids in higher socio-economic areas. You see, "there's that teacher who will never do anything but what's in the book," or, "the test is biased against little city kids and their culture," and, "the parents don't understand what their kids are doing in school these days, so they won't help their kids study or even enforce a study time in the home."

All of these things are challenges I am aware of, but if I thought we couldn't work to eliminate these challenges, I wouldn't stay with kids who, in the beliefs of these naysayers, don't have a chance to succeed in life.

We did hammer out a few strategies during that meeting, despite the finger pointing. We agreed that since we all knew the format of the test primarily included open-ended questions that required a lot of writing and explanation, we should be using those types of activities at least two days a week. Students should receive weekly feedback and have the opportunity to discuss each activity.

All tests will have to be in the same format. Also, since a large part of the test requires students to be able to read and comprehend what the question is asking, all teachers will be required to use the reading strategies we have been learning from workshops in the past year. Finally, teachers with poor classroom management skills will receive additional training because if students are off task, no learning can take place.

Although many of these strategies were mandated during the last school year, I believe this year they will actually be enforced. We have a new principal who is serious about teachers doing their jobs and helping our children learn. This is one step in the right direction, but if teachers are following the letter and not the spirit of the law, can we really make a huge difference?

Hearts and minds first . . .

We can require teachers to use specific strategies with our kids, but we can not enforce a change of heart or belief. Without that change, there is still no unity. If I know my colleague doesn't believe in having students write in the content areas, how can we ever have a meaningful conversation about how to improve it across our team? If the teacher down the hall believes that most of our students will end up on welfare or in prison, can a behavior contract and monitoring system really work?

Unity of hearts, minds and vision is essential to a true renaissance in any building. I believe that most of my colleagues are well-intentioned, good-hearted people, so I know it is possible for them to eventually see the possibilities instead of the pitfalls. The question is how do we get there from here?

Entry # 2: The temperature rises -- and so does the pressure to perform

Entry # 2: The temperature rises --
and so does the pressure to perform