According to the article in the Columbus, Ohio newspaper titled “Government teacher conducts class from home basement“,

With the support of Watterson administrators, class was in session live from Wilson’s basement.

The Web cam allowed Wilson to see, teach, and carry on discussion with his students from his basement, Winters said. They could see him on the projector screen, and he could see them on his computer.

“My students all have Tablet PCs, and our government classes are almost paperless,” Wilson said.

“We use the computers for everything, including testing online.”

“To be honest, this program has allowed me to continue to teach,” he said, adding the classes went well with minimal disruption.

“I could not have done this without the support of our technology department and individual staff members who were willing to sit in the classroom and take attendance for me.”

For liability purposes Wilson had an adult in the classroom at all times but I can certainly relate to being concerned that your students will not progress or lose direction whenever you out. Twenty years ago when I  first started teaching we were out of the classroom for staff development quite often. It was always difficult to pick up the pieces upon my return and leave meaningful instructional activities while I am out. Several times throughout my career, I have been asked to step in and take over a class while a teacher is ill or on maternity leave. A teacher cannot risk not having students adequately prepared for performance on high stakes tests and trust part of the preparatory work  be done by a substitute teacher. We all know good subs are out there although they are hard to find and keep for an extended period of time. The idea of using webcam to minimize a loss of instruction is a novel idea, although not brand new.

Teachers/trainers have been using webcam/videoconferencing equipment to provide distance education for a number of years. The number of virtual high schools is growing by leaps and bounds and the use of this technology greatly benefits small, rural districts that have limited funding and a lack of teachers specializing in the math/science content areas. I have become a huge fan and proponent of using this medium to enrich instruction and started a wiki to serve as a repository of resources, training and discussions at http://caisefiles.wikispaces.com. I would love the opportunity to teach or facilitate a class online – certification issues and not having a master’s degree have hindered me personally in this area but the opportunities are out there.

While Wilson finishes recuperating at home, his students are benefiting from the interactive technology he is  using to deliver his government lessons online. The success of this venture comes from the support of the administration, network infrastructure to facilitate this endeavor and the dedication of the teacher and students. A deficiency in any one of those areas will severely impact the project but when each piece comes together to provide interactive and quality instruction to students there is no finer instrument to provide distance education.

I was reading a post from Chris Lehmann’s blog, “Reasonable Actions for Unreasonable Times” that talked about the drudgery of state testing. I am not going to pontificate about the pros and cons of testing as we have all experienced state testing at its best and worst. What caught my attention was that this time the message was sent by students instead of teachers or administrators expressing disdain for testing. Of course their social studies teacher was to blame for concocting the hairbrained scheme that students think for themselves, adopt and develop their own political views, seek positive resolution to problems they face and demonstrate their independent thoughts in a social studies class. Now who in their right mind wants kids using common sense, thinking progressively and independently?

Chris uses this incident to make a fantastic point:

“The difference between the instance at IS 318 and the other two is that in this case, the kids had a choice and the students chose to send a message — not on the actual test, but on a practice test. Neither Daily News article mentions whether or not the kids were going to take the actual test. But, prima facie, it appears they chose to make their stand in an incredibly pragmatic and smart way — they wouldn’t waste their time on a practice test. In the words of Allen Iverson, we’re talking about practice.

As is often the case, the kids’ words speak powerfully:

“They’re saying Mr. Avella made us do this,” said Johnny Cruz, 15, another boycott leader. “They don’t think we have brains of our own, like we’re robots. We students wanted to make this statement. The school is oppressing us too much with all these tests.”

and

“Now they’ve taken away the teacher we love only a few weeks before our real state exam for social studies,” Tatiana Nelson said. “How does that help us?”

She asks the right question, and she does seem to suggest that the kids were planning on taking the real test. But even more simply, if we had to pick a class where we wanted kids to question the status quo, where we wanted kids to consider rational, reasonable political acts, wouldn’t it be in a social studies class?The difference between the instance at IS 318 and the other two is that in this case, the kids had a choice and the students chose to send a message — not on the actual test, but on a practice test. Neither Daily News article mentions whether or not the kids were going to take the actual test. But, prima facie, it appears they chose to make their stand in an incredibly pragmatic and smart way — they wouldn’t waste their time on a practice test. In the words of Allen Iverson, we’re talking about practice.”

I commend these students for their attempt to peacefully and thoughtfully send a message to their teachers, administrators and whomever else was involved in the development of the test preparation materials and procedures for this campus. When I see students putting into practice the things that I have taught them in class, I am richly rewarded and moved monumentally that the students heard what I was talking about and internalized the content presented. As a teacher, my sole goal is to make a positive difference in a student’s life and add value, information, knowledge and skills to their thought processes. If my students gathered together and collectively decided to stage a silent protest on a PRACTICE test, not the real test which shows they were using the higher levels of processing according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. To me, that is the epitome of teaching – seeing the learning in class put into practice.

So to the insanity that surrounds standardized state testing procedures, when you are asked to perform some absurd task related to testing, feel free to respond with, “You want fries with that?”.

Personally, I don’t see that a poster saying, “Be true to yourself” or the 55 Rules of Ron Clark to be testing aids of any kind but hey, you do what you gotta do. Trainings and simulations of TAKS assessments are drilled into us to prevent being notified of how to proceed in the event of a testing emergency.

The extent the educators go to that are mentioned in this fellow blogger’s post about protecting test booklets and materials is humorous. We laugh because we can relate to having to protect, monitor, count, check out, check in, lock up, pass out, collect, alphabetize and many other things that I didn’t name regarding the handling of the testing materials except looking at the test booklets.

If a student throws up or does the unforgivable thing of bending their answer document or even worse- spilling something on their booklet or answer document – all is lost and you are signing away your life on all kinds of forms to prove something bizarre happened and you weren’t just taking a peek at the content of the test. Don’t you know TEA just loves to receive answer documents or booklets inside of a sealed ziplock bag with vomit or other unknown bodily fluids dried to the pages of the student’s test booklet. I just hope the incident requiring the ziplock bag with the contaminated test materials was sealed before lunch…especially since it may be several weeks before TEA gets the special delivery of dried vomit on a test answer document. How fun is testing in Texas!?!

Don’t forget the bilingual tests: TELPAS and RPTE. Some students also take the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. If a students is recommended for the GT program they take additional tests to determine their level of ‘giftedness’. If a student is struggling additional tests are taken to determine if the student qualifies for additional instructional support or modifications. Students in third, fifth and eighth grade must pass the reading and/or math portions of TAKS in order to be promoted to the next grade.

In high school students take the end of course exams. If a students is in the IB programme even more assessments are required. If a student is taking an AP course, additional testing is required by the Advanced Placement Board.

To graduate students must pass the exit level of TAKS and take the TASP (don’t know this acronym) test to enter college. Test after test. No wonder we have low graduation rates at the high school level.

When my oldest niece was in the third grade two years she had just taken the first administration of the third grade TAKS reading test. At the third, fifth and eighth grades, students can take up to three administrations to pass the reading or math portions of TAKS. Anyway, she had recently taken the test and received commended status with the comment to me, “Aunt Kim, I am already sick of TAKS testing!” I hated to inform her that she had just crossed the threshold into the world of testing in Texas. It had only just begun. She said we take tons of practice tests in class, have tutoring, and all of our classwork is about getting ready for TAKS and she was tired of ‘…TAKS, TAKS, TAKS!” (her words although I agree with her sentiments.) I embraced her and said, “I know how you feel.” We nodded our heads in agreement and went on with our visit.

My niece continues to excel on classwork and TAKS but would really like to learn more about science and more challenging topics that aren’t as strictly confined and taxing as testing for TAKS (how about that alliteration English teachers!).

A friend of mine from SAISD, Greg Rodriguez shared with us through Diigo an article about a teacher in Washington state that refused to administer the state test to his students. Subsequently the teacher was suspended without pay and written up for insubordination that found its way up to the superintendent of the school district. While I concur with his feelings and admire his tenacity to stand strong and firm in his convictions, I am not sure that I would be that strong. Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not take things lying down and have been described as a ‘nonconformist’ at times for doing things ‘my way’. As another week of TAKS testing, training, administering approaches, I wonder if I will get to the place of the aforementioned educator and take a stance against administering the TAKS. What would you do? What would it take for you to stand on your convictions and go against the status quo?

There is a fabulous book that I usually read to my students the day before testing to lighten things up. The book titled, Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finch. After I read it to my students, regardless of the grade level, I follow up with a PPT of test taking skills entitled, “Testing Mrs. Caise” (see below), in honor of the book I just read them. Check it if you are ever looking for a humorous way to review test taking skills and take away some of the doldrums of TAKS preparation. And during this week, take a moment and think about Carl Chew in WA and ask yourself the question, “What would you do?”

Testing Mrs. Caise

When legislators and others that are not professional educators put policies and laws into effect regarding education and testing you have the proponents for disastrous results. When a student takes 4 to 6 benchmarks every 9 weeks, practice tests in class, progress monitoring from from TAKS release tests, tutoring and testing in tutoring, and testing in regular class sessions, how are teachers able to schedule high quality lessons and activities that are rigorous, relevant and demanding that students WANT to participate? The key here is that successful teachers that have the undefined “IT!” to motivate, encourage, support and teach students as such a high quality level despite the many, many days of testing are leaving the profession in droves.

To remedy the situation, efforts should be spent on recruiting and mentoring those teachers with fantastic induction programs with resources, time to plan and collaborate, and a principal actually serve as a leader that is competent, knowledgeable and able to lead their campus to high standards with high expectations. A little bit of appreciation for these type teachers goes a long way in securing the best and brightest. When you consistently have to pick candidates from the bottom of the barrel, instruction will not increase nor will the morale and momentum of the campus overall. It is a cycle that makes or breaks a campus. Until a principals recognizes this and accepts how damaging their comments and actions are the campus will not improve.

On the contrary, if the level of appreciation is evident and teachers feel it, believe in the sincerity of their principal, and the principal actually walks the walk and talks the talk then achievement levels can rise like never before. It is critical to pair competent principals with the teachers that have the ‘IT!’ factor to function, collaborate and plan as cohesive team and campus. Any disparity between these two factors and you will continue to fight an uphill battle with the possibility of having a principal threaten to kill colleagues when threatened with low student performance.

Has testing gone too far in Texas? Read the article and see if you agree. What are your takes or experiences?