Learning and Life Skills

Ratings of New York City Teachers to Be Released

The New York City Department of Education will release today the Teacher Data Reports, which attempt to measure and report how much progress their students have made using standardized tests scores.  The results, part of a pilot program, are important in the City's efforts to improve instruction.  The scores have been factored into yearly teacher evaluations and tenure decisions, and now they will be public for all to peruse.   

Chancellor Dennis Walcott was quoted:

“The reports gave teachers and principals one useful perspective on how well teachers were doing in their most important job: helping students learn,” he said. “However, these reports were never intended to be public or to be used in isolation.” (emphasis added).

“Although we can’t control how reporters use this information,” he added, “we will work hard to make sure parents and the public understand how to interpret the Teacher Data Reports.”

Now, that is going to be interesting!  Teacher unions, not unexpectedly, are up in arms over the release of the scores, having sued to stop their publication. 

Recognizing Spatial Intelligence a necessity for talent assessment

 
Ninety years ago, Stanford psychologist Lewis Terman began an ambitious search for the brightest kids in California, administering IQ tests to several thousand of children across the state. Those scoring above an IQ of 135 (approximately the top 1 percent of scores) were tracked for further study. There were two young boys, Luis Alvarez and William Shockley, who were among the many who took Terman’s tests but missed the cutoff score. Despite their exclusion from a study of young “geniuses,” both went on to study physics, earn PhDs, and win the Nobel prize. 

via www.scientificamerican.com

Just as many young people who have grown up on farms, handling equipment and solving various and sundry problems that arise as they complete their chores, have gone on to be successful engineers.  Their abilities were developed and enhanced through their daily work with objects and the mechanics of equipment used on the farm.  These skills, while not included in 'gifted' testing, are spot on in terms of 21 century skills and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).   Another testament to the futility of determining the futures of our children based on a 'one-point-in-time' assessment. 

Parents must take the bull by the horns and engage their children in learning and developing skills that will serve them for a lifetime - regardless of the specialized programs the school systems will permit or not permit them to participate in.

Find resources for developing creativity, problem solving, critical reading and reasoning skills through my website: ThinkingToLearn.com. 

 

 

 

 

Thousands of school teachers 'lack subject expertise' - what's a parent to do?

    “It is very concerning that a lot of our young people are not being introduced to subjects by teachers with the necessary expertise in them,” he said.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

I found this quite interesting given that the frequent objection raised by teachers to parents who homeschool is, "Do you have a teaching certificate?"  They hold the belief that in order to teach your own children a parent needs special training and a piece of paper 'certifying' the ability to do so.  Seems, though, that the school systems are quilty of committing the same offense - utilizing non-subject experts to teach.   Knowing that this is occurring both in the UK and US education system, how do parent who have students in the system, deal with this? 

Based on my conversations with parents I advise as they search for supplemental and core academic resources, parents have taken to schooling in the after-school hours.  While not formally recognized as 'homeschooling', because the child is counted on the public school's roster, my impression is that this is an increasingly common occurrence.  I'd love to see research that accumulates the number of hours parents spend teaching or re-teaching content their child is supposed to be mastering at school.  Anyone know of research that looks into this?  

What concerns me is that the children never seem to come first.   Shouldn't parents be encouraged and taught how to be effective in supporting and, yes - even teaching - academic content?  What if we trained parents in techniques for tutoring their own?  Granted, many take the position that they are paying for the school system to educate their child, so why should they need to?  Those are not the parents I'm thinking of.  I work daily with parents who are desperate to find ways to help their child, and because the 'system' carries a belief that the parent isn't 'qualified' to teach, they don't engage them in the education process involved with the transfer of academic knowledge.  Yet, that same system staffs math and science classes with individuals who have no more, and frequenly less, education in those subjects than the parents.

If you are a parent interested in learning more about how to support your child's academic success, including identifying worthwhile resources for use at home, contact me directly if you'd like to begin to benefit by being coached by a 15 yr veteran homeschooler and parenting coach.  Visit our Thinking To Learn website to explore educational resources in use by parents at home and homeschoolers.

Post a comment to share links to other websites that you've identified as carrying good resources for your children and why you think they are good.

Let me know whether you are a parent who schools in the afterhours, how many hours you do so, and what subjects you teach.   I look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

New York City... and the saga continues as "Parents Fret as Kids Seek 'Gifted' Status"

The number of incoming kindergartners who took the test to qualify for gifted programs in New York public schools shot up 13% this year over last, according to data released by the Department of Education Thursday.

It is no small thing to feel as if there is only one alternative for your child getting what he/she needs - the gifted program - and realizing that the one high-stakes test determines it all.   Parents need access to additional resources to use at home to help their children develop crucial 21 Century skills and cognitive abilities - like critical thinking and critical reading - regardless of whether those skills are taught at school.

What are you doing to ensure that your child stays challenged and growing in his/her learning?  Have you considered how to develop and build key skills - creativity, collaboration, critical thinking outside the school system?  If so, how are you making it work?

 

A homeschool approach at school - school teaches by ability not grade

"Don't Fail Me: Education in America " examines the crisis in our public education system and why America's financial future is at risk if our students can't excel math and science.via www.cnn.com

"Every single student is getting an individualized education," said Hodgkins Principal Sarah Gould, who helped usher in the reform at her school two years ago. "We are giving our kids exactly what they need when they need it." 

Isn't this the same proposition that homeschooling parents make when they talk about why they homeschool?  Is this a game-changer, ultimately, as we look at the future of our education system?  An individualized education... make sense to me.  How about you?  Have you been frustrated by the one size fits all approach to educating your children?  How do you overcome that at home?