Schools to Reduce Reading Coaches

[mdd88jd]

SB,

I am not sure I can explain it either...and, had I not experienced it with my own eyes/ears, with dozens of students in the course of an academic year, I might not believe the problem exists either.

My school experience, many years before yours, was similar to yours. We were prepared in a general way, to pass the necessary tests...that seemed to be a by-product of our education...not the product. When we learned the material, it was fairly simple to pass a test on it.

I thought these students just had somehow slipped through and that they really didn't know the material and wouldn't be able to pass a test on it...I was wrong.

I gave them repeated standardized tests, to see where they were needing help--and they demonstrated on the test that they knew the material, but they can not write or punctuate properly...in an essay.

Maybe someone can explain it...I think it would make a very amazing doctoral study.

The lack of scholarly publication on the true effect of A plus for education, Florida's Accountability program, is truly staggering. There have been some feeble attempts, but, nothing really completely done. We do know that our standing relative to other states in reference to ACT and SAT scores has not improved since the implementation of the plan, but, there really has not been scholarly research on whether or not that is a result of the accountability (FCAT and school grades) program or something else.

 

[GoodWitch58]

To Scotterbug48's post re: concept vs application:

kinda like when the power goes off at the Mall and all the computers shut down...no one can buy anything, because the cashers' can't make change.

they know the concept is that if it costs $56 and they are handed a $100 bill, that the customer is due change, but they can't get from here to there...

scary, isn't it?

 

[scooterbug44]

To Scotterbug48's post re: concept vs application:

kinda like when the power goes off at the Mall and all the computers shut down...no one can buy anything, because the cashers' can't make change.

they know the concept is that if it costs $56 and they are handed a $100 bill, that the customer is due change, but they can't get from here to there...

scary, isn't it?

My teachers referred to this as "book smart and life dumb" and took away our calculators/computers on a regular basis. They said a chimpanzee can be taught how to use a computer program in less than 6 months, so if you learned HOW to do it with a pencil and piece of paper you were golden and could keep up with any technology..........provided you were smarter than a chimp.

So in that scenario, we would have given them 2 $20 bills and 4 $1 bills ............ after we had tested the $100 bill with the counterfeit pen.

 

[GoodWitch58]

Typically, although I won't opine "always," the kids that go through AP, IB or honors classes will learn those critical thinking skills. However, kids in the regular education course will not get those skills. It is truly an example of teaching to the test. The test is very specific in terms of what it is expected and that is what is generally taught. Remember, we are talking reading here. Many people equate "reading" with the literature classes they had in high school. Two very different animals.

Also, the writing part of the FCAT does not grade spelling, punctiation or syntax. It only grades organizing thoughts in response to a writing prompt.

We have tried in our district to avoid this teaching the test mentality. The results are varied to say the least and usually depends on the principals desires to score high on the FCAT grading system.

The coaches supplemental pay and the district's contribution to the officiating costs and the teams' travel costs comes out of the same pot as the other "academic" matters, such as teacher's pay, instructional materials, etc. Most, and in some cases, the all of the remaining athletic costs come from gate receipts and fundraising.

M

One of my most depressing days was the day I realized that one of the honor students I had been working with; and who wanted to go to Yaleyikes... was so deficient in writing.
She had been an honors student in high school; was in the honors program at community college; and had high hopes for her academic career...and yet, when it came to researching a subject and articulating a point of view, backed up by evidence...she was hopelessly lost. And, she kept making the same elementary mistakes, over and over again...paper after paper.
Finally, she decided she just couldn't do it--and lowered her expectations of herself--now, she is a good student, but she has lost all hope that she will be able to do what she wanted to do. I think she still has a shot--but, it will take a lot of hard work, and a lot of encouragement; and it is sad because it could have been different.

I think she, and many like her, needs to go through what the psychologists call "extinguishing."

She needs to unlearn the behavior she has learned and start over again.

 

[Alicia Leonard]

From someone who played a variety of sports from middle school through high school, I promise football and other team sports, when done right, teach more than sportsmanship. Goal setting, teamwork, discipline, leadership and many other character traits are learned in that unique environment.

Lest we also forget, a number of kids, probably too many for our taste, only go to school to play sports. As bad as our drop rate is right now, imagine what it would be like if we did not have quality sports programs for kids to particiate in while in school.

And, the opportunity for college assistance is pretty large. I know a kid that played football at Freeport that ended up with a full ride to college by working in the athletic department at the university. That opportunity would not have existed for him without athletics. My sister played two years of college basketball and then had a full ride to another university as a manager for the girls basketball program.

I love my football. Roll Tide.

But if you can throw a football at 20, cool. If you can't read at 20, you're screwed if you don't make it to the big leagues and that happens to a lot of kids that play sports really well. I have been a reading coach for more than a few at the college level to put myself through school.

I believe P.E., music, sports and all other activities outside of the three Rs are important, especially physical exercise and character building, but not at the expense of having the ability to teach or learn a basic skill like reading. If I have to choose where I would prefer my tax monies go, it would be towards reading before sports.

 

[Teresa]

I still don't understand this whole "teaching to the test" issue.

If they are "teaching to the test" doesn't that mean they are still somehow LEARNING what they are being tested on? I am just not understanding how you can prepare a student to pass a test, yet they don't know anything it tested them on. (Likewise I don't understand how you pass a skills test, yet do not possess those skills.)

Tests are nothing new - I had to take annual state standardized tests, take the PSAT, the SAT/ACT, and I took AP tests in various subjects. Our teachers prepared us for the tests, but they were teaching us general knowledge, background, and test taking skills because there was no way of knowing exactly what would be on the test.

The idea was that while they couldn't predict exactly what was on the test, they could give us enough knowledge and skills so that whatever we were tested on, we would do okay.

In the case of AP English, that meant we had to write at least one essay a week to practice and read a variety of books, plays, poems, etc. In the case of AP History, we had extra lectures and weekend study sessions. AP Calculus meant more homework and an accelerated pace so that we finished the entire textbook before the AP test.

And we all did this in addition to our various sports, extracurriculars, jobs, etc.

That is weird - my experience as a tutor was that they didn't know the concepts and so couldn't utilize them, but once you worked with them and had them practice, they learned it and (taking into account learning issues) could then pass quizzes and tests on it.

Sounds like they are being taught the concept and know it, but can't actually utilize it.

yep, being able to apply a learned skill is really critical and teaching a test doesn't quite get a student there.

no, test taking is not new - we all did standardized testing as a means for our good teachers to evaluate us children personally (not as a means to evaluate the teacher, the school, the district, and everything else). Testing was a tool for better teaching then. but basing your entire curriculum on a very narrow set of test skills is fairly new. I was in shock when I asked for the local public school elementary curriculum and was handed the FCAT handbook/desk reference. in SHOCK. and a guidance counselor handing it to me was also apologizing for it and in pain herself about how the test is what its all about now. this new way of educating students seriously hinders a good teacher's ability to teach all the good wonderful units of instruction and amazing things she should be teaching along with reading, writing, 'rithmatic!

 

[scooterbug44]

Can we get ahold of an FCAT? I would love to take it and see how I do.

Or at least this handbook/desk reference?

 

[lms47]

Tootsie has a point with this statement----being able to apply a learned skill is really critical and teaching a test doesn't quite get a student there. Speaking from experience with the Stanford 9 test I have administered in AL and was forced to teach the "skills" for successful test scores. None of the higher-thinking skills, like critical thinking and analyzation, are incorporated into the test. The Stanford 9 mostly test the lower end of the learning skills, --- recognition, repetition, simple problem solving, etc. I fear that the more these test are emphasize for measuring student performance and teacher accountablility, there will be a difinite decline in the education of our children at all levels.

 

[Cajunlady]

The Reading Coaches in Walton County have many important responsibilities. They oversee the entire reading program at the elementary schools. They provide materials, lesson plans, leveled readers, strategies, and professional development to all reading teachers. One of their most important roles is to place students in small differentiated reading groups that are always changing to meet the students' needs - whether struggling or above average. Their expertise is used to make instructional decisions based on the assessment data of each individual student. Interventions are developed for students in need of immediate intensive intervention. Teachers are given the support they need to provide these interventions by the reading coach. The progress of these students is monitored carefully, and changes are made when necessary.
Reading Coaches work carefully with the principals and the district office to provide the best reading instruction possible. Consultants from around the country work with the coaches and the teachers to enhance the reading program with the most up to date reading research-based strategies and programs.
Reading Coaches are very valuable to our school district. They are the heart of the reading program. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts they will be shared among several schools. The Reading teachers in our district are very knowledgable and will continue to work very diligently with all of our students, with less support from the Reading Coaches. Our children are in good hands.

 

[beachmouse]

I would caution against using ACT or SAT test results as a comparison with other states because there can be some really huge variations in the student populations that take the tests. I can remember someone here bringing up Alabama (or maybe it was Mississippi) students outscoring New Jersey students on SAT tests when New Jersey schools are regarded as some of the five best in the country.

The difference- only about 10% of Alabama/MS students took the SAT test compared to 65% of New Jersey students, and the average AL/MS test-taker reported not only better median grades than the typical NJ test taker, but also slightly higher SES markers even though NJ is a far more affluent state than AL/MS.

So you're comparing the cream of the crop in one state to the median in another state. And those tests are not going to be effective at determining state rankings until all students take the test, not just the ones who self-select for it.