STAAR – What do you think?

State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) the new assessment program for the state of Texas and one of the most talked about issues in Texas education. From our understanding the STAAR assessment testing will include the end-of course (EOC) testing as well. The new assessment will cover the same core subjects in grades 3-8 and EOC of STAAR’s will cover the core content areas at the high school level as the TAKS did. The high school EOC will be a series of 12 assessments. The EOC testing is going to slowly be phased into the graduation requirements. Students starting 9th grade in the 2011-2012 school year will be required to pass the assessment to graduate. For grades 3-8, STAAR’s testing will begin this year.

The STAAR assessment is different from the TAKS assessment in that the STAAR assessment will be aligned within a content area across courses. Information for the assessment will also be gathered from other states, national assessments and international assessments. It is proposed that the majority of the test cover what is learned that year in the classroom, so that they can better align what is taught and tested. The STAAR will focus on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Readiness standards taken from the TEKS will be emphasized. The following are the proposed readiness standards:

• Preparedness for the next grade or course.
• Support college and career readiness.
• Necessitate in-depth instruction.
• Address broad and deep ideas.

*This information is from Proposed New Assessment Model pdf found on the TEA website.

Not too much is confirmed about the STAAR testing. This month (December) a detailed plan with the transition from TAKS to STAAR will be posted on the TEA website by the Texas legislature.
For more information on the STAAR testing, please visit the TEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/.

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
1. How do you feel about the new STAAR testing?
2. Have you heard any more details about this assessment?
3. How do you think this new assessment will effect students and teachers?

Electronic Textbooks

What is your school/district doing about electronic textbooks? This past month at the Texas ASCD Annual Conference, it seemed like the buzz was around electronic textbooks both in sessions and in the exhibit hall. When you have come across electronic textbooks, has it just been in a portable document format (a PDF) or has the textbook been interactive? Is it really worth the money to go digital if you are just reading the same print on a screen instead of in a book? Shouldn’t these textbooks be offering more?

Digital (or Electronic) Textbooks as defined by Wikipedia is “… core textbooks for students, with which students can learn contents that are tailored to their abilities and interests. Digital textbooks offer various interactive functions, and provide the learner with a combination of textbooks, reference books, workbooks, dictionaries and multimedia contents such as video clips, animations, and virtual reality, both at school and at home, without the constraints of time and space. In other words, digital textbooks are alive and in motion, and as such are literally “living and moving” textbooks that construct and create the knowledge not only of individual learners, but also the community, and support and manage the teaching and learning activities of teachers and learners.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Textbook). There is a ton of different companies that offer electronic textbooks and after reading the definition above, why wouldn’t you start looking into this for your textbook option.

Colleges are also starting to jump on board with this idea of electronic textbooks. As you already know, a college student can spend up to $1,000 or more in one semester on textbooks. Bellevue College has won a federal grant for electronic textbooks. They have managed to lower the cost for students to $35 a semester that will include a netbook and classroom materials. Would your school and/or district be able to see the same savings? To read more about Bellevue College’s grant click here: http://www.seattlepi.com/sound/429066_sound105682338.html.

An article in Forbes Magazine states, “While some students may be using notebooks or their more portable cousins, netbooks, to read textbooks, some experts predict that within the next 10 years, most U.S. college students--and many high-school and elementary-school students as well--will probably be reading course materials on an electronic device instead of in a paper book. And, that will have a broad impact on students and teachers, not to mention the $9.9 billion textbook-publishing business.” The article titled, Electronic Textbooks? You Bet, also talks about the Apple iPad being a great alternative to the paper textbooks schools are currently using. To read more of this article, please visit: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/05/electronic-textbooks-ipad-entrepreneurs-technology-wharton.html.

Electronic textbooks - we know they are in our future. Have you started to look into getting them for your school or district?

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
1. Are you currently using electronic textbooks?
2. What companies have you researched for electronic textbooks?
3. What is your take on electronic textbooks? Should we be getting them for our schools?

Another Change to Textbooks in Texas and Across the US

The Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) has passed another resolution for our children’s textbooks. The most recent resolution from Friday, September 24th was for the Social Studies textbooks. The SBOE passed a resolution on the balanced treatment of religious groups in textbooks (as stated on the official agenda). The minutes of this meeting have not been posted on the TEA website, but you can listen to the meeting by visiting http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=3876.

You can also read this resolution that was approved 7-6 by the board members, by clicking here, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=2147487178&libID=2147487176.

The resolution states instances where Islam is mentioned more times in the text than Christianity. Also, it talks about the wording used to describe events in history.

On the ABC News website, Gail Lowe, President of the Texas Board of Education: “…said she's been told that the textbooks treat other religions, such as Judaism, Confucianism, Sikhism and Buddhism, in the same light as Islam, but only Christianity seems to be demonized. The resolution however, does not mention any other religions besides Islam.” Lowe also commented: "’Possibly, since 9/11 people are very nervous about terrorist groups. Regrettably, most of those individuals came from Muslim countries," she said. "But I think that textbooks show that the bias existed before 9/11.’" You can read more of this article at http://abcnews.go.com/US/textbooks-pro-islam-anti-christian-texas-state-education/story?id=11697738.

What is the role of our SBOE? This is the second time this year, they have passes a resolution dealing with curriculum content in the textbooks. The Texas SBOE website states the duties of the board:

Establishing policy and providing leadership for the Texas public school system are the responsibilities of the State Board of Education. By adopting policies and setting standards for educational programs, the Board provides the direction necessary to enable Texas public schools to prepare today’s schoolchildren for a successful future.

Feel free to answer the questions below:
1. What do you think, should the Texas SBOE be able to decide what goes in textbooks?
2. Is the SBOE role to change curriculum?

Poverty and Education

The school year has begun, and slowly we are getting to know the children that pass us in the hallways. We are starting to notice the children that are tired, malnourished, scared, mad, and with low self-esteems. According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a website that tracts children’s statuses in each state, states that 23% of our children here in Texas are living in poverty. (http://www.cppp.org/category.php?cid=10)

Poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau is if a family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold. The family threshold is based on the actual family unit. This number is dependent on the number of people in a family and their ages. In 2008, the census shows 13.2% of Americans, which works out to be 39.8 million people, were living in poverty.

While researching poverty and education, I came across a website called Open Education. On this website they had a video that talks about a little boy named Tiberius, who attends public school in Green Bay. If you get a chance, you should really visit this website and view this video. You can see what one school is doing to help the children and their families through this hard time. (http://www.openeducation.net/2009/04/01/poverty-and-education-the-challenge-of-improving-schools/) The United States is facing a time of change. Shouldn’t we be helping our children through this?

In January, the Houston Chronicle did a story titled “Poverty Growing in Public Schools.” You can read this article at: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6795211.html. The article talks about the advantages of securing more money into early education and trying to close the gap in learning. With such high numbers of poverty in schools, we definitely need to do something for these children.

Dr. Eric Jensen, will be talking about “Teaching with Poverty in Mind,” at the 2010 Texas ASCD Annual Conference. Join us as he discusses how kids who come from poverty families are different, and what we can do to help them succeed.

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
What percentage of the children in your district/school/classroom living in poverty?
What are you doing to help them succeed?

Back-to-School – Are you prepared?

When we say back-to-school preparation, we aren’t talking about the tax-free weekend on August 20-22, 2010 here in Texas. We are talking about classrooms/offices straight and in-order, lesson plans/schedules up-to-date, goals set for the year, and pure excitement. Are you prepared?

One way to be prepared is to start out with a plan and what better way to set a plan then to consult with your mentor? How many of us are mentors or have one? No matter the years of experience you have in education, it is always a good idea to be involved in a mentor-ship. The word mentor, as described by the on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor), is a “trusted counselor or guide.” Now, who doesn’t need a guide? When we think of educational mentors, most of us think of new teacher mentors. In many schools, a new teacher mentor is someone on staff at the same school that will work with a brand new teacher for a semester or maybe a year. This is great for brand new teachers, but it would also be great for teachers who have been teaching for a while, and even administrators. Creating morale and building teamwork could only help schools/districts. How else are newer teachers able to learn tried and true best practices? How are teachers who have been teaching for 15+ years going to learn from newer (younger) teachers about how 21st Century students are learning through technology? Mentor-ships are great for both the mentor and the mentee. In this setting everyone is learning.

On a website called BNet (http://www.bnet.com/article/how-to-start-a-mentorship-program/212133), is an article called “How to Start a Mentor-ship Program.” While the website is meant for businesses, I think we can get a lot out of the information provided. For example they state: “People who mentor often are more productive, better socialized, and less stressed, Scandura says. They also tend to develop a loyal network of supporters, gather valuable perspective from younger employees, and gain insight into other parts of the business.” Does this sound like something that would be good in schools and districts? The website goes on to list the key elements of a mentor-ship:

1. Decide what goals you have for the program – what results you are looking for.
2. The essential aspects of a program like this.
3. The pairing process of a mentor and mentee.
4. Tips.
5. Setting Rules.
6. Receive updates on program so you can change and alter the program to meet everyone’s needs.

As the school bell rings to begin school for most of us towards the end of the month, are we prepared? Now is the time to prepare our teachers/administrators for a successful year.

We hope your 2010-2011 school year is wonderful!


Please feel free to answer the following questions:

1. Does your school/district currently have a mentoring program?
2. If your school or district has a mentoring program, is it just for new teachers?
3. Are your mentoring programs being monitored?

Standardized Testing - Where did it come from and is it right for our students?

In order to understand standardized testing, you must see how it has evolved.

The timeline below is a composition of information from the following websites:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1947019,00.html,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/13/AR2006111301007.html,
https://www.msu.edu/~youngka7/history.html, and
http://www.essortment.com/all/standardizedtes_riyw.htm.

• Standardized testing dates back to around the 7th Century A.D. in China. To apply for a government or civil service jobs, you had to take knowledge-based tests.
• Greece in the 5th and 4th Century B.C. Socrates started to test his students verbally.
• In 1803, written exams were prevalent in Europe.
• In the United States, 1845 started the written test phenomenon.
• By 1905, Alfred Binet developed the test of intelligence (IQ).
• Frederick J. Kelly created the first multiple-choice test in 1914.
• During WWI the U.S. Army had its cadets take IQ tests.
• The first Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was given in 1926.
• The auto test scanner was invented in 1936.
• In 1957, due to the Russians launch of Sputnik, American started to question U.S. education.
• In 1959, the first American College Testing (ACT) was given.
• 1969 brought with it the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) the assessment for all of education.

Now to the point of whether or not students should be tested in this way. The website http://www.essortment.com/all/standardizedtes_riyw.htm states:

“Just how reliable are Standardized tests? As long as the same test conditions as the original test group sample is maintained, the test should be reliable.” The website goes on to state, “Many states have begun to develop standardized testing to meet state standards. Arguments in support claim that there needs to be some proficiency that a student should demonstrate after a year of education. The student, teacher and school need to be accountable for test results. Opponents of standardized testing claim that a single assessment will reduce the quality and levels of learning. They say that students will be trained to take a test because teachers will be forced to ‘teach the test.’” Essortment.com also says, “The question of fairness in comparing is a factor to be considered...Opponents point to the great discrepancies between wealthy school districts that have vast resources and poor districts that can barely maintain their buildings.”

So, what do you think, should students be tested by standardized testing? Should States be developing their own state tests? In the 21st Century, where we are talking about competing globally, is there another way to ensure our students are up to the tasks that lay ahead?

Join us at the 2010 Texas ASCD Annual Conference as Andrew Hargreaves discusses, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus and 21st Century Skills are on Mercury: Leadership and Change in School Reform.”

21st Century Readiness

21st Century Skills…now where have we heard this? It seems to be the new catch phrase in education…really this phrase is used in the workforce as well. Everyone across the U.S. is trying to gear up and prepare for our future as a nation and everyone as individuals. Now is the time to enhance our skills to keep up with the rest of the world.

You know this and we know this, so why is Texas ASCD writing a blog entry about 21st Century Skills? Well, one reason is the theme for the 2010 Texas ASCD conference is “Designing Boundless Futures for 21st Century Learners,” and secondly, do we really understand the skills and know how to prepare our youth to use these skills? Ken Kay with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) will be presenting a keynote session at the annual conference on “21st Century Readiness for Every Student.” So what are these 21st Century Skills he will be discussing? If you visit the P21 website: http://www.p21.org/index.php, you will be able to view framework that Ken Kay will be basing his session on. During this presentation he will be going into details on the 3 R’s (Readin’, writin’, and ‘rithmetic) and the 4 C’s (communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity) of these skills. The P21 group believes that it is very important for us to fuse these skills together to be able to compete globally.

While doing some research about 21st Century Skills on the Internet, I came across a blog entry titled, “21st Century Workforce Readiness.” (http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog/2009/02/newport-news-public-schools-is-moving-quickly-to-address--learning-in-the-21st-century-its-barriers-and-its-possibilities.html) The author of this blog participated in a focus group made up of business, education, political and community leaders. The reason I found this blog entry interesting is because, not only did they discuss skills and barriers of 21st century skills, but they also came up with recommendations on what we can do as educators to prepare the students and ourselves. I have highlighted a few of their suggestions below:

• Put together on-line learning communities for leadership. This system can be used to discuss problems and barriers collaboratively. As a school or district you can address needs and how others are able to help (provide ideas). This community should be available for administrators, staff, teachers, students and business leaders.
• Use technology whenever you can. Discuss global connections with current events.
• Allow and teach educators how to build their own online personal learning networks. They should know the importance of this online community and how allowing students to communicate this way would prepare them for the workforce.
• Look at the technology skills you have on your campuses/districts. Have teachers teach other teachers what they know and how they are using technology in their classrooms. Don’t reinvent the wheel; just modify it to address gaps in the curriculum.
• Don’t be afraid to ask students to show you how they are using technology. Let them help you develop skills and tools they are familiar with.

Please feel free to respond to the questions below:

1. What do you think of the suggestions above?
2. Is your school/district doing something else to meet these needs?

Integration of Technology into Your Curriculum

Integrating technology into your curriculum seems to be the new buzz saying in education, but what does this really mean? We hear that students are spending countless hours on their cell phones, computers and iPods at home while multi-tasking but what are we doing in the classrooms to keep their attention and preparing them for the work of tomorrow? If you have not viewed the YouTube videos titled: “A Vision of Students Today,” or “A Vision of K-12 Students Today,” please do so, you will find it very enlightening.

Integrating technology into your curriculum no longer means to have a separate classroom dedicated to typing and computer skills. This means you need to enhance the learning going on in the classroom by adding new ways to research, explore, engage, participate, interact, and assess your lessons. On Edutopia’s website,http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction , it states; “Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes. Yet most schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to explore the true potential tech offers for teaching and learning. Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy.” Is your curriculum currently helping students to acquire these skills? Technology should not solely be your curriculum but it should contribute to the already great teaching and learning that is going on. A great website about integrating technology in curriculum is http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/antifaiff/antifaiff.htm.

Texas ASCD is offering a new summer conference titled, Integration of 21st Century Skills Across the Curriculum, to be held in Dallas on June 28^th-30^th. We hope you can join us for 21st Century skills on the web, aligning technology to curriculum through rigorous and motivating assignments in core areas, and collaborative tools for sustainable improvement. To find out more information on our conference, visit our website at http://www.txascd.org/development/index.html.

In closing, I ask these questions:

Why not? What would technology do to our learning? What are we afraid of?

The Impact Texas Textbooks Have on America

Textbooks across the country:

America currently doesn’t have a nation-wide standard for what is taught in schools across the United States. For this reason, each state has its own set of curricula. In order for textbook companies to make the best profit possible, they do not make a different textbook for each individual state. Instead they base their books off of the curriculum their biggest clients are using. So the smaller clients (or states in this matter) purchase textbooks based off of the bigger states curriculum.

Current Uproar in Texas (and across the country):

At the beginning of March, the Texas State Board of Education met to vote on what curriculum would be for the Social Studies Textbooks. The criteria that was discussed during the March meeting passed in a vote 10 to 5 in favor of all the changes. A final vote will take place in May. Many newspapers and news sources have eluted to what was discussed in the sessions.

To find out more, visit:

MSMBC - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35839979/:

“Hostilities flared and prompted a walkout Thursday by one of the board's most prominent Democrats, Mary Helen Berlanga of Corpus Christi, who accused her colleagues of "whitewashing" curriculum standards.

By late Thursday night, three other Democrats seemed to sense their futility and left, leaving Republicans to easily push through amendments heralding "American exceptionalism" and the U.S. free enterprise system, suggesting it thrives best absent excessive government intervention.

"Some board members themselves acknowledged this morning that the process for revising curriculum standards in Texas is seriously broken, with politics and personal agendas dominating just about every decision," said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom."

Click the link above to read more.

New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html:

“After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday approved a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.”

Click the link above to read more.

If you are interested in influencing the Texas State Board of Education, contact them at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index3.aspx?id=1156 or contact your district State Board of Education Representative. Let your voice be heard.

Please feel free to respond to these questions:
1. Is your school or district using textbooks as a resource for your curriculum or are you working with curriculum on the web?
2. How will the new state standards affect your school or district?

Advocacy and You

A presentation was given to the Texas ASCD Board of Directors last week about The New Advocacy: Technical & Adaptive Approaches. During this presentation, we were given some legislative basics/guidelines to follow when advocating. Below are informal notes taken at the meeting, which we would like to share with you:

Knowledge:

• Know the process - know how committee meetings and legislative meetings are run, and how a bill becomes law.
• Know key players - know your legislators, their staff, and what committees the legislator is a member of.
• Know your message - know how your message is perceived, know the facts, and who else supports/rejects your cause.

Relationships:

• Get to know your legislator. Make those connections early, so they will turn to your for your opinions in times of need. Going by and visiting your legislator’s staff is also a good idea. They are the key to getting the information you are interested in relaying to the proper person.
• When your legislator does something you like or supports you, let them know what that means to you and thank them for what they do.
• Relate your cause to a story. Don’t just set-up a meeting with your legislator and go over facts and figures. Relate the data to stories. They need to remember what you are telling them and be able to convince others to join your cause. The best way is to relate your issues to a story they will remember.

Time Frame:

• The best time to contact your legislator is during their non-legislative season, which is now. If you wait until the legislative session, then it is too late. Legislators are in and out of their offices at this time, and there are many people trying to get in touch with them. If you start your relationship with them early-on and an issue comes up during the session, they are more willing to hear what you have to say and even call you up to ask your opinion.
• Re-election time is very vital to legislators. If you can spare some time to help with their re-elections, then legislators are more willing to build that relationship with you.

Attend:

• Before you go to testify at a hearing, you need to attend the committee meetings first, so you will be apprised of the protocol. These meetings are very different than what one would expect.
• Pay attention to the meetings and look for, distractions, verbal attacks and any additional tactics they can use to get what they want accomplished during the meeting. Be aware of these.

Above are just a few basics in advocating. For more information on advocating and stimulus money updates, come to the Critical Issues Influence Institute in Austin. Contact the Texas ASCD office for more information and to RSVP.

Presentation by Dr. Dawson Orr, February 24, 2010

Please feel free to answer the following questions:

1. Are you currently involved in advocating? If so, what do you do to connect with your legislator?
2. What other useful information would you give to educators who are interested in having their voice heard from our governmental officials?

Designing Boundless Futures for 21st Century Learners

The Texas ASCD’s Local Arrangements Committee for the 2010 conference met in December to begin planning for the annual conference. After much discussion on expectations, wants and needs of the conference, the committee came up with the following theme:

Designing Boundless Futures for 21st Century Learners.

What does this mean to you?

First as educators, we need to focus on the student. This aspect was glaringly obvious. When a student leaves high school there are many paths they can choose from. Wouldn’t it behoove us, not only as educators but also as citizens, to prepare each student for whichever path they may want to select? The committee then decided that we needed not only to focus on the student, but to also focus on the educator. To be successful in the 21st Century, we all need to be learners. With the world changing constantly, where will we all be if we don’t move and change with it? With this said, the committee choose the focus (or strands) of the conference. The strands of the 2010 conference will be:

• Curriculum and Technology Integration
• Curriculum Design
• Addressing Challenges and Change
• Multiple Measures of Assessment
• Instructional Coaching and Leadership
• Building Community
• College and Career Readiness

Please feel free to comment/answer the questions below:

1. What does designing boundless futures mean to you?
2. What kinds of 21st Century skills have you learned as an educator in the past 10 years?

Texas ASCD would like to invite you to join us October 24-26, 2010 at the Westin Galleria in Houston, for three days of learning.

Are you ready for the next technology leap?

Texas Instruments (TI) is a global analog and digital semiconductor IC design and manufacturing company. TI develops analog, digital signal processing, RF and DLP® semiconductor technologies that help customers deliver consumer and industrial electronics products with greater performance, increased power efficiency, higher precision, more mobility and better quality.

You are probably telling yourself: “I thought this was an education blog.” Well it is. Texas Instruments invited the Texas ASCD Board of Directors to do a site tour of its latest display technology to enhance the learning environment in the classroom. Basically, TI wanted to show us the DLP 3-D ready projectors, along with many of their other inventions. The main focus of the tour was the use of 3-D ready projectors, and staying up with technology that is soon to be released. (If there is such a thing as staying up with technology.)

For many of us, technology and those developing the equipment for technology are always one step ahead of us. Once we decide what we need, we have to get bids, approval and finally apply for a purchase order. Once this process is completed, the technology guru’s have already developed the next new item we need. Well TI, is trying to help us. 3-D ready products are just now starting to come out and will be the state-of-the-art for now.

You can get a LCD projector for approximately the same price as a 3-D ready projector. The only difference is that the LCD projector will soon be outdated. TI uses tiny digital mirrors, microscopes, and light to create these images. The new 3-D ready projectors can be used for regular projection (just like the Infocus projectors) and when/if you get the software for 3-D the projectors will be set and ready to go. One only has to see the 3-D projected software to know that students can receive so much more in their learning experience. This same technology is starting to be used in televisions. Soon all of our home TV’s will have the ability to do 3-D images.

For more information on this type of projector, please visit: http://www.dlp.com/projectors/find_dlp_3d_projector.aspx

Also, Texas Instruments is doing a pilot program with these projectors with a few different schools around the country. To view a blog from one of these programs visit: http://bvsd.org/iteach/BlogCentral/Lists/Categories/Category.aspx?Name=Future%20Talk
Len Scrogan with Boulder ISD gives a lot of definitions and explanations on the different aspects of the 3-D projectors. He also writes about the future of these projectors along with the content. If you are interested at all in these new projectors, make sure you visit this blog.

Please feel free to answer the following questions:
1. Does your school/district have 3-D ready projectors?
2. Is there any other technology updates that you know of that are about to hit the market?
3. What kinds of new technologies are you using in the schools?