I sat down, wrote to Regent Bennet the following letter:
Dear Regent. Bennet,
I teach at a charter high school in Buffalo, NY. My class population consists of city kids and the accompanying issues. I do not mention that as an excuse, but merely to paint a picture. My students come out of the same feeder schools that ultimately earn a 47% graduation rate according to the latest data released by Buffalo Public Schools. My students, however, are special. Not that they come from a different place, but they have arrived at a different mindset since attending our school.
For the past two years our school has been adopting the Common Core Standards in English. All of my lessons are aligned to the core--and my students are receiving a rigorous education. We read classics by Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and performed plays by August Wilson and William Shakespeare. Our students have not taken the easy route, but rather have been asked to perform higher level cognitive tasks from the first day. In the weeks leading up to the exam I stressed their ability read and think analytically, but the importance of also being prepared for specific tasks associated with the test. They were already familiar with the format, as we have all of our Juniors take the English Regents in January. My kids, who are all invested, jumped into the task. We reviewed the grading rubrics, discussed what a “well-developed paragraph” looked like, and analyzed the sample essays and paragraphs from the January exam. Afterwhich, the entire Junior class graded the Practice Papers and were successfully trained in assessing student work.
Why am I spending this much time explaining our exam prep? Simply to showcase the fact that our students were prepared for the exam as we knew it. Imagine my disappointment when I received the rating package after the exam on the 11th and realized that the goal posts had been moved. Not only had the opportunities to pass, according to the conversion chart, shrunk from 70 in 2012 to 57 this year, but the exemplar papers showed an enormous jump from what was considered a 1 and a 2. My students knew the exam. They were made aware of the expectations, but somehow these expectations have changed. I’m left to explain to kids who “bought in” to the fairness of the test that they were not successful because they did not meet the expectations. They, of course, will suspect something is amiss, especially since they were intimately aware of what they had to do, and for the most part, did it.
I am not a rabble-rouser. I have felt throughout my entire teaching career, which spans two states and two countries, that the powers that be are working in the best interest of the students. Now, after 13 years of teaching, I am beginning to doubt that is the case. If I am wrong in my thinking, please explain. My students and I are waiting.
Most Sincerely,
Melinda Callihan
Humanities Department Chair
I did not receive a response. But, perhaps my own was more important. I sat down to reflect. What I decided upon has changed my practice. I can't wait to share with you all the journey my students and I are beginning.
For the past two years our school has been adopting the Common Core Standards in English. All of my lessons are aligned to the core--and my students are receiving a rigorous education. We read classics by Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and performed plays by August Wilson and William Shakespeare. Our students have not taken the easy route, but rather have been asked to perform higher level cognitive tasks from the first day. In the weeks leading up to the exam I stressed their ability read and think analytically, but the importance of also being prepared for specific tasks associated with the test. They were already familiar with the format, as we have all of our Juniors take the English Regents in January. My kids, who are all invested, jumped into the task. We reviewed the grading rubrics, discussed what a “well-developed paragraph” looked like, and analyzed the sample essays and paragraphs from the January exam. Afterwhich, the entire Junior class graded the Practice Papers and were successfully trained in assessing student work.
Why am I spending this much time explaining our exam prep? Simply to showcase the fact that our students were prepared for the exam as we knew it. Imagine my disappointment when I received the rating package after the exam on the 11th and realized that the goal posts had been moved. Not only had the opportunities to pass, according to the conversion chart, shrunk from 70 in 2012 to 57 this year, but the exemplar papers showed an enormous jump from what was considered a 1 and a 2. My students knew the exam. They were made aware of the expectations, but somehow these expectations have changed. I’m left to explain to kids who “bought in” to the fairness of the test that they were not successful because they did not meet the expectations. They, of course, will suspect something is amiss, especially since they were intimately aware of what they had to do, and for the most part, did it.
I am not a rabble-rouser. I have felt throughout my entire teaching career, which spans two states and two countries, that the powers that be are working in the best interest of the students. Now, after 13 years of teaching, I am beginning to doubt that is the case. If I am wrong in my thinking, please explain. My students and I are waiting.
Most Sincerely,
Melinda Callihan
Humanities Department Chair
I did not receive a response. But, perhaps my own was more important. I sat down to reflect. What I decided upon has changed my practice. I can't wait to share with you all the journey my students and I are beginning.
