A blog authored by Beth Schultz, a Maine Educator, working to inspire a mindset of empowered leadership.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Maine schools gear up for Common Core Standards
Even though it's still summer, school is right around the corner. Educators are gearing up for the implementation of the Common Core and its assessments. The Maine Sunday Telegram published a comprehensive and thoughtful article about the Common Core's potential to prepare students for the global workplace and to raise the bar for all students. Take a few moments to read the article, "Maine schools' shift to tougher standards will come with costs." Let me know what you think.
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Here's a graf from the story that I don't understand: "Maine state officials said they liked Smarter Balanced's online testing, which adjusts to a student's ability in real time. So if a seventh-grader is acing the seventh grade-level mathematics questions, the test starts feeding the student eighth-grade-level questions." Are they talking about the statewide assessment test? If so, no wonder they expect scores to go down!
ReplyDeleteGood question!
DeleteIt's my understanding that the purpose of computer adaptive testing (CAT) is to provide a more precise measurement of mastered skills. For example, if a student is smart and proficient in the knowledge and skills being assessed and takes a test/assessment that is too easy, the student will receive a high score. However, the inflated score (or grade) doesn't accurately reflect what the student can really do, or what the student needs to do to expand his or her learning. To use a coaching analogy, coaches are aware of the continuum of skills and what their players need to do next to improve. Coaches differentiate and motivate their players to stretch and reach their next target. On the Smarter Balanced's website, there is more information about computer adaptive tests. If you are interested, here's the link: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-assessments/computer-adaptive-testing/
Also, another purpose is to provide more immediate and helpful results, similar to the NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association) tests that many districts in Maine use to assess and monitor learning. For those of us who use NWEA's, we are familiar with its capability to adapt to how students respond to the questions. So, students who have mastered specific skills and knowledge receive a higher score.
Hope this helps to address your concerns.
"A big change for English classes, for example, is requiring more nonfiction or 'informational' reading material. By 12th grade, students should be reading 70 percent informational texts and 30 percent literature, according to the standards."
ReplyDeleteI believe that this 70 percent does not refer to English classes, but, instead, to ALL the reading that a student is assigned during 12th grade. The PPH remark serves to incense those who see the Common Core as the end of reading fine literature. in school.
Ahhh. I can see how this strikes at the heart of English teachers...and those of us who love to read fine literature. From my personal perspective, a great novel certainly inspires me much more than an operating manual!
DeleteThat said, I understand the rationale behind the shift to informational texts because students will experience that kind of reading in college and in the workplace. It's important to remember that informational texts also include non-fiction and primary source materials (like the Gettysburg Address) which are very rich and complex in meaning. Does the change have to be 30% literature and 70% informational? I'm not sure. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
Here's one of my favorite educational quotes. Ernest Boyer said: "In the end, our goal must be not only to prepare students for careers, but also to enable them to live with dignity and purpose; not only to give knowledge to the student, but also to channel knowledge to humane ends."
Thank you for your provocative comment!