Wow! That was depressing. Chaper 1-3 of The Flat World of Education by Linda Darling-Hammond was really upsetting and fascinating at the same time. The description of the Finland School System on pg. 5 was really interesting. It was compelling to me about using the tracking system from the high stakes testing to follow and place kids. I was thinking oh, it's good we don't do that, hey, wait a minute! We do! I had this moment a lot while reading the first few chapters. Some of the horrors of our educational system we participate in, right here in Napa. I participate in. That is a tough pill to swallow but as difficult as that may be, my eyes are a bit more open and that can only be a good thing. As the testing coordiantor for the last five years, I was intimately involved with all aspects of all tests for elementary that our district gave. I do believe in a lot of them and find use for them for sure. Are they perfect, no, not at all. (Especially after the online version of ELPAC for 5 year olds) but I do want the information from them. I want to know what our kids can do, I do want to see the gaps and address them as a system and a teacher. I also know that the tests can't be the end all, be all. My school is the lowest elementary school in Napa Unified. I did feel pressure to succeed because of that. There weren't "sanctions" but we needed to do something about it. We got more money with a ton of restrictions that it almost wasn't worth having but we are still working on that as COVID is here so we can't even use the money right now. The idea of the information doubling exponentially and that we can't teach the same way because there is so much information, we have to teach what to do with the information. That is certainly something that California schools are not completely set up to do. In looking at our standards, most of them are facts and not necessarily what to do with information. The statement about there being 12 years worth of information so there are 12 years of education, that is crazy to think about, that the limit came from that finite amount of information originally. How many years do we need? Another note that stuck with me was the lack of teacher education and teacher training as a widespread problem in the US. How wonderful, if we were taken care of like teachers in other developed nations. I feel like this is something that has bothered me from the beginning of my career. I felt woefully unprepared to teach when I got my credential, luckily, I had a mentor and wonderful team members at my school but I still remember vividly being like how do I teach guided reading? I had not one clue. I have sought out education all along, moved over on the pay scale quickly and maxed out. Now, I have no incentive nor am I paid to get more education so I didn't for years. However, I was an Academic Specialist and we had coaching and training but that program was suspended due to lack of funding so there are a bunch of us around with a lot of training, I am actually excited to try many new ideas with my class. I also did seek out becoming a Project GLAD trainer and I feel like that was a masters degree right there. Alas, that program won't continue due to lack of funding. I am seeing a pattern here. How do we manage our education dollars to meet the needs of our students, in Napa and beyond? I look forward to reading more about the solutions in the following chapters. As a person who likes to solve problems, I can't wait!
1 Comment
Dustin Green
9/9/2020 10:23:40 am
Erica,
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About the AuthorI teach 3rd grade in Napa Unified. Archives
December 2020
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