Interesting story of Florida teacher leaving the state

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/22/a-dear-john-letter-to-florida-from-2010-state-teacher-of-the-year/

[Unicorn.]

She lost me at number 4, when she mentioned that FL was pulling out of the common core, and would have their own standards.  If she supports the use of common core, she's an idiot.

[Jenny in Florida]

She lost me at number 4, when she mentioned that FL was pulling out of the common core, and would have their own standards.  If she supports the use of common core, she's an idiot.

 

It is actually possible to disagree with someone without hurling insults.

 

I don't think statements like this encourage anyone who might still be researching or thinking about the issue to come over to your side.

[Unicorn.]

It is actually possible to disagree with someone without hurling insults.

 

I don't think statements like this encourage anyone who might still be researching or thinking about the issue to come over to your side.

 

I wasn't trying to get anyone to come over to "my side".  I was just stating my personal opinion.  She is right that teachers are treated like garbage, however, common core adds to that treatment, by not allowing teachers to use their strengths and tailor the lessons to their students, so why would she support it? 

 

[Jane in NC]

One of the recent regional teachers of the year here in NC resigned after being given her honors.  The primary issue was teacher pay which has gone from bad to worse in my state.  My nephew has moved out of the classroom and into administration as a result.  Very sad.

[Hunter]

Although I am not a fan of Common Core, there are even worse scope and sequences a state can follow. Common Core evolved because there IS such a thing as  worse. Someone is not an idiot, to prefer Common Core over something worse, or something just plain harder to implement.

[LucyStoner]

She lost me at number 4, when she mentioned that FL was pulling out of the common core, and would have their own standards. If she supports the use of common core, she's an idiot.

She was a finalist for national teacher of the year and now is teaching at Mount Holyoke. I am certain that of the many things she is, idiot is not one of them.

[LucyStoner]

One of the recent regional teachers of the year here in NC resigned after being given her honors. The primary issue was teacher pay which has gone from bad to worse in my state. My nephew has moved out of the classroom and into administration as a result. Very sad.

Of my peers who started as teachers, the only one still teaching in a classroom is a music teacher. My other peer who has been an excellent science teacher is now working in science curriculum implementation and teacher training. Most have entered other professions entirely because the system is just too difficult to work within. I am only 33. The attrition rate is scary high for teachers.

[Caroline]

I wasn't trying to get anyone to come over to "my side". I was just stating my personal opinion. She is right that teachers are treated like garbage, however, common core adds to that treatment, by not allowing teachers to use their strengths and tailor the lessons to their students, so why would she support it?

 

That is not what Common Core does.

[Walking-Iris]

Quote from the article:

 

"Florida has been at the center of corporate-influenced school reform that uses standardized test scores to evaluate students, teachers, schools, etc."

 

 

And this is different from how public schools have always been....how?

[Critterfixer]

Sounds like a bad case of burn-out.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I just thought it was interesting and that there could be some Florida Hive members who could chime in with more information.  

My Usborne Director shared this link on FB and she has been awarded Teacher of the Year in another state before.

 

Personally I believe there is definitely more to this than meets the eye.  It is good to know what is going on now as HS is on the rise and being looked at with more scrutiny.

[Joker]

I have two dds in ps middle school in Florida (one will be in high school this fall). My understanding is not that FL is dropping Common Core, but they've tweaked it a bit (like making teaching cursive mandatory in elementary schools) and they are not using PARCC exams. They say it's due to the cost of those exams vs the bid they chose. The problem I'm hearing is that by using these other exams they will only be able to compare FL to FL instead of the other states also using Common Core. I honestly don't care about any of that.

 

My dds' teachers are not limited in what they do, in fact I've seen them all working together more since CC to allow learning across the subjects. Both dds have friends in other classes and they are not all doing the same things. Teachers do have flexibility. Maybe this teacher was in a district that didn't allow it, but that's not a FL statewide issue.

 

I have heard that teacher performance scores were made public and my understanding is anyone can view the scores if they request to do so. I haven't found the information floating around out there though. I've read there are many problems with how they are grading teachers and it sounds like a big mess. No teachers at our school seem to be affected but that's probably because we're one of the top in the state with current testing which is most of the score.

[zoobie]

Quote from the article:

 

"Florida has been at the center of corporate-influenced school reform that uses standardized test scores to evaluate students, teachers, schools, etc."

 

 

And this is different from how public schools have always been....how?

Florida is one of the pioneer states for big dollar standardized tests. You can google for more information; here's one article: http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/how-standardized-tests-are-affecting-public-schools/2012/05/17/gIQABH1NXU_blog.html

 

The testing contracts awarded by the states mean $$$ for testing companies. Politician friends and family work for these companies. More tests = more money!!! Which was pretty much the basis for NCLB. Same political machine was running FL when the FCAT got pushed through. Now it's being dumped for some other crazy expensive test.

[Dmmetler]

http://simoneryals.blogspot.com/2014/02/im-one-of-worst-teachers-in-my-state.html

 

Here's a blog written by a friend of mine, who teaches in Fort Lauderdale (and if we lived there, my DD would be going to school next year to be in her 5th grade class-and then home again for 6th. She's THAT good of a teacher). She's one of the most passionate, committed people I know, singlehanded lay convinced her school to put in self-contained GT/high performing classes instead of pullouts, does the most amazing field trips, leads multiple extra groups, and is just an amazing person.

 

She's not giving up yet-but she's very, very frustrated as well.

Quote from the article:

 

"Florida has been at the center of corporate-influenced school reform that uses standardized test scores to evaluate students, teachers, schools, etc."

 

 

And this is different from how public schools have always been....how?

 

Perhaps you are too young, but for those of us who went to public schools before NCLB, we had no standardized tests in elementary school, and none in middle school.  I _think_ we had one or two in high school for the whole four years, and it only covered Math, but I could be wrong.   We certainly didn't do any test prep, nor did we devote weeks to testing in any grade, nor did we have pep rallies for the tests, nor did people obsess over which school had one percent better scores this year than a neighboring school.

 

That is how public schools are very different from how they used to be.  Not that they were always perfect or even good, but it is specious to claim that the high-stake testing regimens have always existed.

[Dana]

Perhaps you are too young, but for those of us who went to public schools before NCLB, we had no standardized tests in elementary school, and none in middle school.  I _think_ we had one or two in high school for the whole four years, and it only covered Math, but I could be wrong.   We certainly didn't do any test prep, nor did we devote weeks to testing in any grade, nor did we have pep rallies for the tests, nor did people obsess over which school had one percent better scores this year than a neighboring school.

 

That is how public schools are very different from how they used to be.  Not that they were always perfect or even good, but it is specious to claim that the high-stake testing regimens have always existed.

 

I remember about a week of testing in elementary school in the 70s - well before NCLB :)

[kitten18]

I remember about a week of testing in elementary school in the 70s - well before NCLB :)

I agree. I remember taking Iowa tests and CAT tests in elementary school.

 

I was a teacher before NCLB and students were taking many standardized tests when I started teaching.

[T'smom]

NCLB is not THAT old. I graduated before it was enacted and we certainly had standardized tests in elementary. We took the Iowa Basics and state tests. Now, we didn't spend a lot of time on prep and no one made a big deal about them, but we certainly spend several days on them. I always LOVED it because I would finish quickly and got to read a book for the rest of the time and no one was bugging me to put my book down and do schoolwork!

 

In high school, I remember some new testing procedures where they had to give pretests and post tests for every unit and the teachers complained a LOT about how much time it was taking. I don't know if it was a district, state, or national thing.

[Jenny in Florida]

NCLB is not THAT old. I graduated before it was enacted and we certainly had standardized tests in elementary. We took the Iowa Basics and state tests. Now, we didn't spend a lot of time on prep and no one made a big deal about them, but we certainly spend several days on them. I always LOVED it because I would finish quickly and got to read a book for the rest of the time and no one was bugging me to put my book down and do schoolwork!

 

Yes, NCLB was passed in 2001. I was in elementary school three decades before that, and we took the CTBS every year. I have fond memories of the test booklets with cute animals on the front, and I, too, enjoyed testing week because it meant a break from the boredom of regular schoolwork and a chance to read in class.

 

I also remember recognizing/memorizing test questions that reappeared from grade to grade. Those tests were like a game, as far as I was concerned.

[momma2three]

Perhaps you are too young, but for those of us who went to public schools before NCLB, we had no standardized tests in elementary school, and none in middle school.  I _think_ we had one or two in high school for the whole four years, and it only covered Math, but I could be wrong.   We certainly didn't do any test prep, nor did we devote weeks to testing in any grade, nor did we have pep rallies for the tests, nor did people obsess over which school had one percent better scores this year than a neighboring school.

 

That is how public schools are very different from how they used to be.  Not that they were always perfect or even good, but it is specious to claim that the high-stake testing regimens have always existed.

 

We took the CATs every year when I was in elementary school, starting in kindergarten.  And we did test prep for them in class.

[Walking-Iris]

Standardized tests have been used to make comparisons about schools since the mid-60s!!!

 

I agree, the testing environment gets worse as time goes on.

 

But I went to elementary school in the 80s and I most certainly remember taking tests. So no I'm not too young, especially considering my oldest ds is 11 and NCLB is Bush era legislation.... :huh:

 

My point was that there has always been cooperate influences involved in school reform at some degree. And I'm not too bothered with Common Core, because it will simply become old news as some new standards will become some politician's darling in the future.

 

It's broken, and they can't fix it.

 

 

[In The Great White North]

I was in elementary school in the 60's and 70's and remember no testing at all.  

 

Testing may have existed in some states/districts, but certainly not all.

[Matryoshka]

We did Iowa tests every year back in the '70's, but there was no prep.  Just take the tests and done.

 

Interesting commentary from our German exchange student - she finds that we test here way more overall (not just the high stakes kind).  There she gets a test in a class once a quarter or so, and no incessant quizzing. They have to write longer, more complex papers (she's constantly amazed at how short the writing assignments are here and has trouble editing that short), but not so often so less for the teachers to grade (all the teachers I know are drowning in constant grading - doubt they have much time left over to lesson-plan!). Think of all the class time those assessments take up that could be used, oh, teaching and reinforcing the material!

[JustEm]

Yeah I think it had to do with where you lived prior to NCLB.  I was in high school when NCLB reared its ugly head and prior to that had never taken a standardized test and only took one after that since I refused to take them.

[LucyStoner]

Perhaps you are too young, but for those of us who went to public schools before NCLB, we had no standardized tests in elementary school, and none in middle school.  I _think_ we had one or two in high school for the whole four years, and it only covered Math, but I could be wrong.   We certainly didn't do any test prep, nor did we devote weeks to testing in any grade, nor did we have pep rallies for the tests, nor did people obsess over which school had one percent better scores this year than a neighboring school.

 

That is how public schools are very different from how they used to be.  Not that they were always perfect or even good, but it is specious to claim that the high-stake testing regimens have always existed.

 

NCLB passed after I graduated.  

 

I recall taking with the IBST or the CAT pretty much each and every year depending on where we lived.  We moved so often, I often ended up taking a test twice a year because different districts used different tests.  This was in a number of states and even more districts (I went to 1-3 schools per year from K-6).  There was one district that got in trouble for intentionally holding back a lot of students to up their scores.  I recall it was several days of testing usually and they often had snacks between test sections.  Nilla wafers, regardless of where we were it seemed.  In middle school for most of 7th and all of 8th, I homeschooled (really no schooled) and I went to the school each of those years to take a test.  I don't recall which one.  It was pre-WASL and pre-NCLB by a long shot. In high school, I didn't take tests but that is because I went to hippie liberal school.  

[SunnyDays]

http://simoneryals.blogspot.com/2014/02/im-one-of-worst-teachers-in-my-state.html

 

Here's a blog written by a friend of mine, who teaches in Fort Lauderdale (and if we lived there, my DD would be going to school next year to be in her 5th grade class-and then home again for 6th. She's THAT good of a teacher). She's one of the most passionate, committed people I know, singlehanded lay convinced her school to put in self-contained GT/high performing classes instead of pullouts, does the most amazing field trips, leads multiple extra groups, and is just an amazing person.

 

She's not giving up yet-but she's very, very frustrated as well.

The system she describes is revolting. She sounds like a fantastic teacher. And unfortunately, she, and others like her, will be pushed out of the one size fits all, numbers-are-everything system that's been created.

 

I fully support the *idea* of public schools. But the system is broken and needs serious examination.