Turn, Turn, Turn

     In the early 1960s my older brother Glen – 11 years – gave me an album by The Weavers, a folk group founded by Pete Seeger in 1950, the year I was born. Glen, who would eventually become the principal oboist for the Seattle Symphony until his retirement a few years ago, knew I was learning to play the guitar and I think he wanted to encourage me. I remembered that album when I heard that Pete Seeger had died on Monday.  I also must admit that I am surprised at the deep sense of loss I feel. I knew I admired Pete Seeger and I was aware of his musical influence on me, but I wasn’t paying attention to how often his music and his life touched me.

     The album I received from Glen included Pete Seeger at Carnegie Hall singing a song called “Ramblin’ Boy”.*  I remember loving the story of the song about two hobo friends, and being thrilled by Seeger’s ability to get the audience to sing along. At Carnegie Hall! It took me a while to learn “Ramblin’ Boy”, but I have been playing that song now for more than 50 years. It became a favorite of my friend Bob Morgan and I sang it at his funeral last summer. He didn’t know it, but Pete Seeger helped two old friends say goodbye.

     Then about a week ago, at a fund raising concert for the Janesville School District, I told the audience about Pete Seeger getting the folks at Carnegie Hall to sing along. “If Pete Seeger could do it at Carnegie Hall, we can do it in Janesville here tonight.” And they did. And I actually said “Eat your heart out Pete Seeger” while we sang up a storm. Pete Seeger didn’t know it, but he helped people come together in song and laughter on a snowy night in Janesville.

     And just last Friday, I was singing for the students of Jeanette’s school and we all sang along with “This Land Is Your Land”  and I helped them learn “If I Had a Hammer” and, right there, in the cafeteria of Parkview Primary School, Pete Seeger was present. He didn’t know it, but he was. He was telling these children that people are good and when we work together we can be better. I can’t think of a more important message for kids to hear.

     Pete Seeger has been the voice of our American conscience. His whole life has been a statement about living up to our vision of the American Dream. And his message has always been one of hope and optimism. In one of his last songs God’s Counting on Me, God’s Counting on You, when he sings, “Don’t give up, don’t give in, Work together and we can win” and “When we sing with younger folk, we can never give up hope,” he is speaking to all of us right now.

     Pete Seeger’s death has made the world a little darker, but his legacy will bring us to the light. When asked to define his songs Pete Seeger said, “I call them all love songs. They tell of love of man and woman, and parents and children, love of country, freedom, beauty, mankind, the world, love of searching for truth and other unknowns.”  Maybe Pete Seeger’s passing will remind us that we can change the world if we choose. As he said, “We can never give up hope."

*I learned later that Tom Paxton wrote the song, but Pete’s performance was amazing.

 

Quality

When students walked into my class at the start of the semester, they would see the question “What is Quality?” written on the board. (I never got a smart board installed in my room, so I used chalk.) Some of the 10^th graders were too shy to say anything, but lots of upper classmen would say things like, “Mr. D,  didn’t we answer that last year?” And I’d say, “Yes, we tried. Maybe things have changed?” They often laughed and joined their friends looking for a place to sit. I’m sure my students DID get tired of the conversation about quality, but by the end of my career, I believe it was the most important question we discussed in class. What IS quality?  I would often start the discussion by asking if anyone had recently purchased a pair of shoes. (Because so many sports stars market footwear, it was almost certain that someone had bought a pair.) I would ask, “How do you know when you are purchasing a quality pair of shoes?” And the conversation would begin. We would make lists about color and durability, price and purpose.  The discussion would reveal that individual people will have very different definitions of quality depending on the situation. (I still smile at the “robust” conversations about which sports star had the best sneaker.) Soon I would change the target of our discussion from shoes to something more complex, say a classroom. I would ask, “What makes a quality classroom?” “What has to happen in order for a class to be good?” This conversation would ultimately lead to the “Quality Contract”. This was a document posted in the classroom that listed the criteria everyone – including me - had agreed on to make our class a “good” class. Each student signed it before it went on the bulletin board. I had a number of upper classmen who knew what was coming if they took more than one class from me, but they often realized that time can affect how we think about quality also. Anyone could refer to the “Quality Contract” whenever class was not meeting his/her expectations. It kept us all on our toes.   

I was thinking about these quality conversations as I watched my youngest daughter prepare to take the PRAXIS test, so she can be admitted into her college program. She had review books from the library and sample test books. Go online and you will find a dozen or more books written to help prepare to take the Praxis. I also looked at some of the sample questions.  I suspect you can see where this is heading. The test is almost all multiple choice and the questions are unrelated and out of context.  The writing section is – how do I say this – maddening? When I read some of the questions, I found myself looking for the choice, “If I wrote like this I would shoot myself.” The writing sample is – of course - timed because everyone knows that the best writing occurs when you go fast. I urge you to go look for yourself. Then ask yourself, What does this test reveal about the quality of the knowledge and skills of the test taker? (By the way, you might review the punctuation in that last sentence. If you did, you would see that this is only ONE of the accepted ways to punctuate a question in a sentence. The “quality rules” can be slippery!)  Keep in mind that failing this test will keep a student from entering a college program. I submit that this standardized test – and most other similar tests – reveal little useful information about what a student knows and is able to do.  Our reliance on standardized tests to determine the quality of our schools and teachers is misguided.

Standardized tests like those used to comply with No Child Left Behind mandates do not reveal what is important in a child’s education. (We have been told that the new tests for the Common Core Standards are different and better, but that appears to be a myth. We shall see.) Numerous others have questioned the value of high stakes testing. Look here, here, and here.

Parents in Wisconsin need more information about the questionable value of these tests and the profound impact they may have on their children. In New York State, where the tests have been in use for some time, parents are not reacting as expected. Look here and below:

NY parents react in fury to Common Core and testing - NYC Public...nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/.../commission-john-king-disenga...‎

If all else fails, parents should know they may “opt out” of test taking. While this is extreme, it may be the only option available to have your voice heard.

There is also the demoralizing effect the use of these tests scores have on teachers.  In an attempt to claim improved accountability, teachers’ pay and job status are linked to student test scores. Keep in mind what has been said about the value of the tests. Teachers KNOW these tests distort the curriculum and diminish opportunities for QUALITY learning. They KNOW what is being left out. The best quality education comes when students are permitted to delve deeply into authentic tasks and find solutions to problems they discover. They are permitted to address problems the way adults do in real life. They often work in groups and they are able to search for information they don’t have. They know that time is important, but they also learn that the BEST work occurs if you don’t rush. They learn to share their understanding in various ways by talking to a group, creating a power point, or by writing an essay. They also learn the most important lesson of all. They learn to know when THEY are doing excellent work based on their own understanding of quality. The teacher becomes less of an instructor and more of a mentor. All this authentic learning takes time and creativity. It requires teachers to meet often and discuss problems. It makes them talk about quality in all its forms. It requires administrators to listen carefully to meet the needs of those in the classroom. Unfortunately, raising test scores seems to be the only thing that matters. We are caught up in “raising the bar” and the bar is only measured by a test score. When did education become a competition based on a superficial test?  How did we get to a place where whole school districts are defined in the press by standardized test scores? It is time for those genuinely concerned about education to challenge the standardized test mania and redefine what quality in education looks like.

PS: It is necessary for me to state that I am not opposed to the Common Core Standards as such. I oppose the incessant testing policy connected to the standards and how those tests drive the curriculum. I do believe that teachers know the best ways to achieve the standards and the best ways to assess them.  There is an anti Common Core clientele that simply needs to reject anything the government recommends, especially if the government has a President named Obama. This opposing group finds the notion of national standards dangerous while it believes local schools should teach intelligent design and that gays could be “normal” if only they wanted to.  I think it was Winston Churchill who said, “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.” While I think Mr. Churchill was  being a snob, he was pointing out how critical it is for the public to be informed. It is the responsibility of educational leaders and the news media to present the issues surrounding the Common Core and its testing protocols in a way that all can understand. The public has the right to know why this latest reform movement is not going as expected.

 

Green Mile

Our trip to have dinner with the grand kids was cut short by ice slicked roads. Two days ago it was 25 below zero and now it’s raining.  We settled in and decided to watch a movie that I have known about for a long time but never seen. The Green Mile is based on a book by Stephen King and, while I admire King as a writer, I have never been a big fan of the scary, supernatural stories he often writes. I had been told this movie was different, but I was skeptical. Any story that deals with prison and capital punishment must be depressing, right?  As is often the case, I was wrong.  The film is really a story about the nature of good and evil and our clumsy human attempts to understand and control those powerful forces. We live in a world that wants easy distinctions. We want to know if something is either good or bad, black or white, strong or weak. Only when we are confronted with our own problems do we understand how “good” can also be “bad” and vice versa.  How can it be bad to punish evil?  How much “bad” are you willing to do if you know it will produce something “good”? When are you compelled to do something “bad” to challenge “evil”?  Is it wrong to help somebody do something they think is right, but you don’t?  Is it possible that living too long is a “bad” thing?

Like many others, I want the world to be simple. I want it to be easy to know who is “bad” and who is “good”. I want it to be easy to know I am doing the right thing. The Green Mile revealed –in a way only the performing arts can - why there are no simple answers to the complicated questions of a life. All we can do is think deeply about what the “good” is and reach out to others to help make it so.  Good luck. 

Flying at Night

by Ted Kooser

Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.
Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies
like a snowflake falling on water. Below us,
some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death,
snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn
back into the little system of his care.
All night, the cities, like shimmering novas,
tug with bright streets at lonely lights like his.

Morale

When I graduated from college back when the earth was still cooling, Janesville Parker High School was the very first place I got an interview. When I was offered a job there, I felt excited and grateful. Over the years I have had the chance to work with some of the finest teachers I have ever known. Until I retired last June after 40 years, I got a chance to team with good people to meet the challenges of educating Janesville’s kids. We worked together to solve problems as a team. This is why I was troubled by a recent letter in the Janesville Gazette by our District Superintendent Dr. Karen Schulte. Dr. Schulte was writing to refute the claim that Janesville teachers are leaving the district because they are dissatisfied with their work environment. While I am not in a position to comment on teacher morale in all District schools, I can provide insight into the morale of the English Department at Parker High School.  As the Department Instructional Manager for the last 10 years, I was on the team that hired most of the 12 teachers in our department. We were a strong team of creative, dedicated, award-winning teachers determined to improve teaching and learning. Last year five –FIVE- of those teachers took jobs in different districts.  In her letter Dr. Schulte implied that teachers who leave the Janesville District are “underachievers” who can’t accept the “strict accountability” now in place. These teachers each have their own reasons for leaving, but NO ONE should suggest the District will be better off because they are gone. In her haste to assure the public that teacher morale is not a problem, Dr. Schulte has done a disservice to these teachers.

Dr. Schulte also suggests that District Surveys reveal no morale problem. I can’t speak for the surveys, but I can tell you - after long conversations and day to day contact – that the veteran teachers in Parker’s English Department are demoralized. They know the District has abandoned the Professional Learning Community Model and teachers have little significant policy input. They also realize that if they voice reservations or question the process, they risk being labeled a “troublemaker” or “not a team player”. These are excellent teachers, but it would be silly to think these issues don’t influence productivity. It also helps explain why the District Evaluation process might be flawed. I heard my colleagues worry that the computer evaluation system could trace negative comments to individual teachers. Is it any surprise that the District data might be wrong?

Dr. Schulte’s letter seems to suggest that the new normal in the Janesville School District is one of high accountability and “no excuses”.  I will assume she has read the reports about the explosive reaction by parents and educators in states like New York where the actual impacts of similar educational policies are being felt. I will also assume that Dr. Schulte is genuinely concerned about the education of Janesville’s children. The best teachers in the best schools feel empowered and trusted. They know what students need and they know how to provide it. They know that “data” has its place, but it is not – can not – be a substitute for the essential things that can’t be measured in easy ways. To place so much emphasis and celebration on test scores is misguided and counter productive.  They know that the most important skill of a good administrator is to listen and provide support. All these things create high morale, high productivity, and – most important – life changing experiences for children. The end of Dr. Schulte’s letter is most disturbing because it implies a “my way or the highway” mentality. The best school districts - like the best classrooms - seek to bring people together. The Superintendent’s letter in the Janesville Gazette helps clarify why there might be a morale problem among teachers in the Janesville School District.