Mind The Gap

1.      In Diane Ravitch’s book The Death and Life of the Great American School System, she states that, “In the decade following my stint in the federal government, I argued that certain managerial and structural changes-that is, choice, charters, merit pay, and accountability-would help to reform our schools. With such changes, teachers and schools would be judged by their performance; this was a basic principle in the business world. Schools that failed to perform would be closed, just as a corporation would close a branch office that continually produced poor returns” (pg. 8). As I read this part of the first chapter I tried to keep an open mind of what I know they use to judge accountability. Knowing that the way they hold teachers accountable is the test scores their students produce does not give me a sense that teachers are being judged fairly. Furthermore the fact that she states the schools are judged on this as a whole and that if the school failed to perform well on these tests then they are closed, seems unjust. I do believe that teachers and schools need to be held accountable for their performance but I also believe that the judgment should not be based solely on their test scores. I believe that student improvement should be one part of the equation. I realize that Ravitch goes on to say that she did realize this was not the best plan for education, but reading this fact resonated with me because this is still the way schools are being assessed and as a teacher I think there needs to be more to it.

Ravitch later states that, “It is time, I think, for those who want to improve our schools to focus on the essentials of education. We must make sure that our schools have a strong, coherent, explicit curriculum that is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, with plenty of opportunity for children to engage in activities and projects that make learning lively…” (pg. 13). I do agree with what Ravitch says here. Reforming the American school system cannot focus on one thing, such as testing. I believe, like most people, the focus needs to be on making education the best it can be for the students. This can be achieved by reforming schools in the manner that Ravitch states here, and goes on to talk about. Reforming the school system by creating this well rounded curriculum and holding schools, as well as, teachers accountable by more than just testing may not happen anytime soon, but in my opinion would be a better system then what is occurring in today’s schools.

2.         According to Ravitch “A well educated person has a well furnished mind, shaped by reading and thinking about history, science, literature, the arts, and politics. The well educated person has learned how to explain ideas and listen respectfully to others” (pg. 16). A agree with this statement. A well educated person is someone who continuously reads and thinks about all academic subjects. A well educated person who can hold a conversation with others, sharing their ideas and objectively listen and be open to others ideas as well. In today’s world a well educated person needs to be aware of new theories, be open to new ideas, and actively pursue leaning new content in all educational fields.  

3. The part of the class discussion that stood out to me the most was the part of what teachers are being held accountable and how they are being assessed on such things. Right now the way accountability is being measured is through standards and state testing. As I said in class I believe that teachers need to be held accountable through more than just testing. Elementary students go through many assessments throughout the year in order to show improvement and growth in multiple subjects. This needs to be taken into consideration when measuring a teacher’s accountability. In my opinion I do think that testing can be one way to measure the improvement of students but not the only way. Some students do not test well, they get nervous, or don’t take it seriously, which can make it difficult to measure a teacher’s success accurately. Test scores with the combination of seeing improvement in students work is a better way to judge this success.

4. The subject area I looked into was English Language Arts, specifically Writing. The areas that I feel I have a gap in knowledge about are…

1.2 Identify subjects and verbs that are in agreement and identify and use pronouns, adjectives, compound words, and articles correctly in writing and speaking.

1.4 Identify and use subjects and verbs correctly in speaking and writing simple sentences.

I feel like I need improvement in ways to teach these specific topics of writing, I have a general understanding of the content but not enough to give the students a truly deep understanding.

I searched for information to help me fill this gap, I found one website, one book, and one article, that I believe will help me achieve this. These are…

Website:

http://www.k12reader.com/subject-verb-agreement/

Book:

Weaver, Constance. Teaching Grammar in Context. Boynton/Cook (February 26, 1996).

Journal:

Weaver, Constance ; Bush, Jonathan ; Anderson, Jeff ; Bills, Patricia (2006). Grammar Intertwined throughout the Writing Process: An "Inch Wide and a Mile Deep. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v5 n1 p77-101 May 2006. 25 pp.

I believe the book will be the most resourceful when teaching me more about this content as well as giving me the best understanding of how to teach this content to my future students. This book provides teaching ideas to teach grammar in the context of writing instead of as an isolated subject matter. This is the type of learning that I want to encourage my students to take part in and think will help me the most in understanding the content myself.

5. Below are two of the resources I have found thus far that I believe will help with my future resource, the annotation written help to explain what I have learned and what I believe to be helpful to my research:

McGrail, E., Davis, A., (2011) The Influence of Classroom Blogging on Elementary Student Writing. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 25, 415-437.

•The influence of Classroom Blogging on Elementary Student Writing states that, although the use of blogs are used in educational settings, it is primarily used at the secondary or college leels. This case study research explores how blogging can influence the development of writing at the elementary level. Through this study the researchers found that through blogging the students felt more mindful of and connected to the audience in which they are writing to.

•This article directly ties in with what I believe I want to research for my capstone project which is developing young students writing through a technological tool. This article has given me the insight to what research is already out there and what can help me narrow down what my future research will focus on.

Erdogan, Ozge (2011) Relationship between the Phonological Awareness Skills and Writing Skills of the First Year Students at Primary School. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 11(3), 1506-1510.

•This study focused on determining the relationship between the phonological awareness skills and writing skills of the first year students at primary schools. The results of this study showed that phonological awareness skills tied to students writing skills at the beginning of the year but not at the end of the year.

•This study may help with my research because it gives me the information about where young primary school students are in regards to writing before introducing any technology. This background knowledge is important in thinking about what ways I will implement technology into writing lessons within my future classroom.

I responded to...

Betsy Varellas, Heather Porch, and Dayana Albornoz