Achievement Gap Reflection

I chose to try to model the Achievement Gap. As it turns out it is a monster that keeps growing. Every time I investigate one idea there are more and more issues that turn up. Obviously there is no simple solution to the achievement gap or we would have solved it by now.

The problem that I have encountered is that every single element of the Achievement Gap intertwines and intersects with each other. You can’t isolate any one factor, it is a never-ending rabbit hole and where does it end? The more I tried to refine the list of factors the more that it grew. Pretty much everything is a factor in the achievement gap.

Below is the brainstorm of ideas that are part of the Achievement Gap problem:

Some, but not all of the factors include: gender, race, parents’ education, parents’ income, books in the house, prenatal care, birth weight, and access to technology both in and out of school. These are just some of the many factors that effect a child’s achievement.

As I started to collect data, I began to put the information into a spreadsheet to try to make some sense of all the information. The problem is; how do you categorize each piece of information? Much of the statistical data does not seem to fit with each other. It's a jumble of separate pieces of information that seemed to not fit into a nice neat spreadsheet.

I keep trying to make some sense of all this data. I know that I haven't even scratched the surface as to the causes or factors of the Achievement Gap. But with all of this data how can I use it in my classroom to help the students that are falling behind? I know that in my own classroom I see firsthand many of these types of students that are falling behind. As a teacher, I know that myself and my colleagues are doing everything we can to close the gap, but it is an uphill battle. Often we feel alone in the trenches. There are so many things that we cannot control and an infinite amount of obstacles that exist even before the child enters our classroom.

As we talked in class I was asked what is the most important factor in the Achievement Gap? It was hard to put a finger on just one aspect. After our discussion in class and thinking about what are the most important factors I rated what I thought were the most important factors:

1. Mother’s education

2. Income

3. Race

4. Gender

5. Prenatal care (birth weight)

6. Household make-up/stability

7. Motivation

My conclusion is that with No Child Left Behind and schools trying to make AYP everyone is blaming the teachers for all of the troubles of our students while not wanting to address any of the other reasons for the Achievement Gap. We blame the teachers because it is easy. No one wants to point a finger at any of the other variables because it is too hard. It is impossible to isolate all (or any) of these factors so everyone likes to point a finger at teachers and make them the scapegoat in the Achievement Gap crisis.

It is easy to blame the messenger rather than look into the mirror. No one wants to admit their failures.

Here are some of the sources that I used:

http://www.edtrust.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achievement_gap_in_the_United_States

http://www.edweek.org/rc/issues/achievement-gap/

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/variables.aspx

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2009/10/07/do-elite-private-colleges-discriminate-against-asian-students.html

http://www.educationequalityproject.org/what_we_stand_for/achievement_gap

http://www.ideapartnership.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=537:achievement-gap&catid=37:reports&Itemid=60

Problem-based lesson Reflection

As a 6th grade teacher of Language Arts and Reading I wanted the students to create an authentic model that would enhance their understanding of a problem. As part of our writing curriculum the students learn persuasive writing. The hardest part of persuasive writing for young students is to see both sides of the argument. A major problem in this kind of writing is anticipating the arguments of the “other side” and responding satisfactorily to those arguments.

To help with this process I have the students ask their parents for something that they would like; i.e. a cell phone, redecorating their room, or a later bedtime. The parents will give a list of every reason that their son or daughter cannot have what the want. The student will then try to refute every one of their parent’s objections through a letter written to their parents.

I have done this assignment in the past and have found the students have had some difficulty organizing their ideas and overcoming some of the objections. I chose to introduce a model near the beginning of the assignment to help the students “visualize” the problem.

“Visualization tools are normally used to support some kind of investigation or larger learning activity. They are not used, as are many Mindtools, to produce a final model. Rather, they are used to help learners interpret ideas of to represent ideas while conducting a study and investigation of a topic.” (Jonassen, 2006)

I chose the software Inspiration because I felt that is would be able to serve the purpose of creating a visual view of the student’s problems and as a district we have enough student licenses for all of the kids.

I teach three separate blocks of students and I first modeled an example that all of the students were familiar with; redecorating your room. We have been working with this idea since the beginning of the assignment. I modeled with each of the classes how to create an Inspiration model and how to organize their thoughts.

“To successfully solve virtually any kind of problem, the problem solver must mentally construct a problem space. A problem space is mentally constructed by selecting and mapping specific relations of the problem.” (McGuinness, 1986)

Initially, I thought that all three-class models would be the same since I was facilitating the discussion. But to my surprise each class made different choices as how to set up the model and what each objection represented.




I was pleasantly surprised at how the different classes “built” our collective model. Working as a whole class gave the students the support and scaffolding they needed to complete their own personal models to overcome their parents objections. I felt that the students were able to better conceptualize their parent’s objections. They were able to have a better understanding of how to approach their ultimate final goal of writing a letter to their parents overcoming the objections to get what they want.

Here are some student examples:




The students used their models to help construct their argument for their parents objections. Overall I felt that it did help the students have a better understanding as how to approach their argument. They were able to group and see how many of their parent's objections were very similar to each other.

TIE 512 Concept Map

My concept map is getting out of control. It has taken on a life of its own. I started it with the idea that I would put in the “major” concepts, but one idea led to another and next thing I knew it was a total mess. I know the point of the map is to organize my ideas but as I started to connect the boxes it began to look like a spider web. I have tried to make the major connections between the concepts.

The concept map made me think about the connection of the ideas that we have discussed in class and as a visual leaner I like doing maps to help me “see” the ideas. I do think though that at times less may be more. As the map grew I started to lose sight of some of the concepts and realized that most of them connect to each other. I am sure that I have left out parts that should be included; but as I have learned with my student’s concept maps that they are ever changing and growing according to new ideas and connections.

I have recently used a modeling/map with my students and it has helped many of them see the big picture and get their ideas organized. I am still working with a few students who get too caught up with too much map part and not enough concept part. I think with more practice and use the students will get better at the intent and goal of the maps. My concern is that there is not always enough computer time to map as much as we need. I would like to use a web-based program like Webspiration so that the students that can work out side of school have the opportunity. The concern is not to separate the haves and haves not. We want to close the gap not widen it.

http://www.mywebspiration.com/

20 Essential Questions

What are the traits of an essential question?

• The question probes a matter of considerable importance.
• The question requires movement beyond understanding and studying - some kind of
action or resolve - pointing toward the settlement of a challenge, the making of a choice or the forming of a decision.
• The question cannot be answered by a quick and simple “yes” or “no” answer.
• The question probably endures, shifts and evolves with time and changing conditions -offering a moving target in some respects.
• The question may be unanswerable in the ultimate sense.
• The question may frustrate the researcher, may prove arid rather than fertile and may evade the quest for clarity and understanding.

The above is from:
Learning to Question to Wonder to Learn by Jamie McKenzie

http://questioning.org/mar05/essential.html



My 6th grade book club is reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson and it has created some excellent essential questions:

1. What does it mean to be human?
2. What is a soul?
3. Should your family love you no matter what?
4. At what point do you think that scientists are using technology to play God?
5. What is trust?
6. What is a friend?
7. What happens when you die?
8. When do you die?
9. Is the future set or can it be changed?
10. Would you want to live no matter what the cost (financial or emotional)?

Standards
ISBE
2.A.3b Describe how the development of theme, character, plot and setting contribute to the overall impact of a piece of literature.
2.B.3a Respond to literary material from personal, creative and critical points of view.
2.B.3c Analyze how characters in literature deal with conflict, solve problems and relate to real-life situations.

SEL
2A.3b. Analyze how one’s behavior may affect others.

ISTE
2. a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
4. a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

Watch a preview of The Addoration of Jenna Fox

More Essential Questions:

1. Are grades important?
2. Does school teach the “right” lessons?
3. Why do the parents that don’t need to see the teacher are there all the time; and the parents that you NEED to see never come around?
4. Is No Child Left Behind working?
5. Who wants to leave children behind?
6. Why do politicians think that education can be run like a business model?
7. Is education equal?
8. What's going to happen when every school fails to meet AYP?
   

ISTE:
1.c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
4. a. Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation.

SEL:
1B.3b. Analyze how making use of school and community supports and opportunities can contribute to school and life success.
1C.3b. Analyze why one achieved or did not achieve a goal.


Personal Essential Questions:

1. Why is it that no matter what lane I am in the other lane is moving faster?
2. Coke or Pepsi?

Problems Arise Even When We Are Unaware

Two years ago I was faced with a problem that came to my attention that I was not aware of. It was brought to my attention by my principal and together we were faced with finding a solution. The problem stemmed from student test scores on a district assessment.

Let me first give some background information about the situation. My district gives a district wide assessment called the Fiction Common Assessment (FCA) in December or January to assess all of the students on their ability to read a short story, annotate it, analyze it and write two extended responses. Every 6th, 7th, and 8th grader takes the FCA and all scores are sent to the district office.

From my understanding was the FCA is a way to see where me students are at with extended response writing and what I needed to work on with them before the ISATs. For the three years I have been in the district I have used this test to assess my students and evaluate their needs.

The problem started when I was called into my principal’s office and asked why the big wigs at the district office were calling asking about my scores. This is the first time that I had heard anything about my scores. My principal reassured me that it was no big deal and not to worry about it. Obviously that didn’t happen and after a few conversations with my principal we decided to meet with the district office to see what the fuss was all about.

So this is where the problem became complex because we were not sure what “asking about my scores” meant. I tried to figure out and anticipate all of the possibilities of what the concerns could be. I went into the meeting with examples of student’s work, test scores, and lessons that backup my teaching strategies. I was not sure what this meeting was going to be about.

As the meeting began I was told that my students have had the lowest FCA scores for the last three years. This was the first time that this information was brought to my attention. I was a little taken aback, because if there was a concern with my scores then how come this was the first time that my principal and I were learning about it. I was told that we were meeting was nothing more than to discuss what I was doing to prepare my students for this test. The district has created a curriculum to be taught around the FCA.

During the meeting we discussed student work an analyzed the scores compared to the rubric that the district created. It became aware to my principal and me that I graded “harder” against the rubric them the rest of the teachers in the district. As we compared how I was grading my students it became obvious that when a students work was between two sections on the rubric that I downgraded the student rather than giving them the higher score. My principal made it a point to say that the rubric has some inconsistencies within the descriptions of what was required to meet each sections criterion. The district kept saying that it wasn’t about the rubric it was about the scores. We tried to point of that the two go hand-in-hand. It was hard to try to find a solution when we all didn’t agree on the same problem.

As the meeting went I the problem became clearer when it was stated that the FCA scores have been a good predictor of how the students will do in the ISATs. That is when I asked if my students scores for the ISATs were also the lowest in the district. I was told that my students were one of the top scorers in the district on the ISAT.

I realized at that point it was not the scores that were the concern for the district; it was that the district test was not conforming to their ideas that it is a good predictor of the ISATs. At that point I reevaluated what this meeting was ultimately about and defended the way that I was teaching and grading against the rubric.

My goal for the FCA was to see what my student could and should work on rather than giving the student the benefit of the doubt on the rubric. I believe that if you are going to give a pre-assessment then you look for what each student’s areas of strengths and weaknesses. I personally do not use the FCA for a student grade but rather to make a needs assessment plan of the students and then adjust my teaching to the needs of my students.

Ultimately this problem was solved, or at least come to an understanding, of what each of us were using the FCA for. The last two years I have graded the assessments with the district. Other teachers and I have worked on a new rubric to adequately evaluate the student’s work to better reflect what they know and where they still need to develop.

In dealing with this problem I was not immediately sure what all of the variables were when the problem was first introduced. I also wasn’t sure what the solution was or if there was an adequate solution. As I proceeded I was able to narrow down what was important and what wasn’t. From learning about the problem to finding a solution I had to move through the various stages of Bloom’s Taxonomies. Initially I had to define what the problem was (knowledge) and defend and explain my philosophy (comprehension). As the meeting went on I demonstrated what lessons were being used (application) and how that related to the construct of the FCA (analysis). Ultimately I was able to combine what the need of the district to my own needs and design a plan to implement those strategies into my curriculum (synthesis). Using the last two years worth of data and experience (evaluation) we created a new rubric to better serve the needs of the students, the teachers and the district.

The Problems We Face

I work on a three-person team teaching 6^th grade Language Arts and Reading. As part of our team we see 57 students for 74 minutes each day. Our day is divided into block schedules so that we see the students for two periods in a row. As a team we meet everyday to plan and discuss student needs. This is where the problem arises.

We have a couple of students on the team that do not follow many of our school rules and show an interest in learning. They are constantly interrupting the other students learning while they are not engaging in what is going on in the classroom. We have met with the parents and with our school’s social worker and psychologist and have tied to figure out how to get these students on track.

Our school and district have implemented the Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (PBIS) (http://www.pbisillinois.org) program to try to help solve some of these types of students and to create a framework and language for all the students to understand and follow. We have a PBIS team that helps with challenging students to plan ways to get these students on task.

My grade level team and the PBIS team along with the parents have tried to figure out what the factors are that create the situation where the student is not succeeding. We have looked at various models and tried to eliminate factors that we as educators can control and factors that we cannot control. We have also tried to look at what will motive these students.

Because PBIS is about positive behavioral interventions and not disciplinary measures we have implemented a check in/check out system with a point sheet working towards a goal. If the goal for the day and week are met the student is rewarded with an opportunity to be apart of something that they are interested in; for example extra computer time.

This plan has been in place for at least a month and the interesting thing is that for one of the students his behavior in the classroom has improved. He is no longer shouting out and yelling at other students (most of the time). But for the other student his behavior has stayed about the same. He has his good days and his bad days and reminding him about his point sheet does not seem to motivate him.

Part of our model and plan was that if we can take away some of the behavioral struggles these students would be able to start performing academically. The truth at this time is that they are not performing any better. Their effort in and out of class is still minimal. The student, whose behavior in class is better, has helped because he is not distracting the other students and not taking the teacher’s time away from teaching to redirect him.

In our team meeting we spend a lot of time discussing and planning for these couple of students and at times are neglecting some of the other 55 students in the grade. As we try to redefine and restructure our model the old adage comes to mind: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. No matter what the teacher, team, or parent does the student has to take some ownership in his or her own education. We need to be partners not adversaries.