Please Contact Your Legislators

Look, it only takes a few moments. Google "contact your legislators name", go to their handy plug in the info screen and be done. I know the EOY testing window is already open. We're going to have to grind through this one too, but if we want things to change sooner rather than later, then we must continue to apply pressure.

Below is my message to my Senator, Gayle Manning. It's no better (and possibly worse) than the message you can articulate in the interest of the change you seek. I also contacted my Rep, Gayle's son Nathan. We're a one family political district 'round here. Which is cool, as long as they agree with me. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

Senator Manning, 

I trust that your return to Columbus in the last week has been positive and productive. Since you saw me speak at the education forum in Elyria, I have been working diligently in the interest of my Elyria High students' success in American History, on the OGT and otherwise. I have also been continuing my efforts to raise awareness regarding our new testing system and it's terribly intrusive, and technologically and academically inappropriate nature. I have spoken at forums in North Ridgeville as well as Vermilion. 

Once again, I would like to thank you for protecting school funding in the wake of increasing opt-outs. I would also like to know what work has been done to remedy the testing system. I have heard about the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing and its survey, which told us that most stakeholders oppose the new system (which I think we knew). What I'd like to assure is that there is legislation in the works, that it seeks to eliminate the practice of testing all spring in two windows through PARCC and PARCC-like assessments created by AIR. I know that your time is limited because of another sizable legislative break prior to next school year, so I hope legitimate progress is being made. 

Thank you for your efforts in the interest of your constituents, and thank you in advance for a response to this message. 

Matt Jablonski 
Social Studies Teacher 
Elyria High School

The Window Has Reopened. Prepare Your Bribes.

A neighborhood kid, on a short break from dodgeball in our front yard, complained that he didn't get a ticket after the PARCC test yesterday. "I tried my hardest," he complained, "and that's what you have to do, and take your time. Then I can trade my ticket for a Snickers. But they never gave me one."

At this point I joked with my son, very inappropriately, that I'd buy him 2 Snickers if he told his teacher the test is bullshit. They'll let anyone be a parent.

But this is what I'm thinking...my kid doesn't get a Snickers because he isn't taking the tests. We've refused for many reasons. They are academically inappropriate, far too lengthy, intrusive, and offer students and teachers nothing meaningful except undue stress or perhaps an ulcer.

What does a candy bar have to do with the pursuit of an education anyway? Unless these tests have very little to do with education.

I sat on a panel a week ago, the day before the window reopened, and listened to a state legislator and a state school board member essentially advise parents to refuse the tests. They were of the mindset that it would take a "storm" to motivate change. And so a parent uprising, an opt-out movement (but you better say refuse), a teacher revolt, and onward...

In the meantime the tests continue, and I'm angry that my friend didn't get his ticket. He took your test. He's never going to see any detailed results. Why the hell else was he taking the test?

I have to go. I need to go to the store for a Snickers. I have to write my State Representative.

Senate Advisory Committee on Testing

The Senate Advisory Committee on Testing is seeking input regarding how they should move forward following this year's roll-out of of the Next Generation Assessments. The passage below is what I submitted. I had more to say, but their system has a word limit. I still believe that I was able to squeeze in some valid points. Check it out, and then give them a piece of your mind here...   

http://sact.ohiosenate.gov

     I am a 16th year American History teacher at Elyria High School in Elyria, Ohio. For the last 10 years I have spent my career as an educator preparing students for the Ohio Graduation Test according to the mandates in No Child Left Behind. The law was designed to provide data to assure success by all children through school improvement, and bridge the so-called "Achievement Gap." Like most standardized tests, they have been most successful at indicating the economic standing of the student being tested. Furthermore, the "Achievement Gap" has not been bridged, and the test scores have been used to shut down schools in poor communities in favor of charter schools that have been, in many cases, less effective. Ohio had implemented more assessments than necessary under NCLB, and now with 10 years of proof that a system of standardized testing is not working, we have begun the process of implementing a far more intrusive, academically inappropriate system of assessments through PARCC and AIR. I am guessing that the logic here reads something like "if the previous testing didn't resolve the issues, then certainly more testing will do the trick."  As an educator, I disagree, and believe that this new system does a great disservice to our children.

     When legislators hear an educator come out in opposition to standardized tests, the assumption is that the educator must oppose being held accountable for their work. I would like to assure the committee that this is not the case. As a professional, I welcome my administrators and others into my classroom, and am open to discussion of my teaching process, and through analysis and reflection I am also open to my development as a teacher. If your belief holds that the only true measure of a teacher's ability is a standardized test (which statisticians and other experts in the field of education and assessment completely disagree with), then you can check Ohio's data for my students on the Social Studies OGT and see that they have been very successful.

     The reality here is that even having found success within this system of assessments, I have consistently disagreed with that system. While the OGT/OAA is far less intrusive and time consuming than the atrocious new model, it still created a culture of assessment in our schools. What I mean here is that in any grade assessed, in a high stakes situation or not, the tests themselves have driven classroom practice. Essay writing cannot be thoughtful and expansive, it has to be modeled after state test assessments to assure success. Classroom resources are not chosen by teachers for their appropriateness or ability to spark student interest, nor for their relevance to their community. They're chosen for the degree to which they reflect the resources students will encounter on a standardized test. Review of sample questions is an ongoing process, that overwhelms the weeks just prior to the assessments. "Just teaching" students is impossible as non-proficient students need to be made proficient, and those proficient need to rate at the higher levels of accelerated and advanced in order to satisfy the state report cards.  These are but a few examples of the manner in which the former system sucked the life out of the school day. Schools and teachers have struggled to motivate students and spark interest and connections to content because the system of assessments came to dictate all decisions. Ultimately, students have suffered the most, seeing their natural curiosity stifled, and losing a sense of the fun that is learning.

     And now we have undertaken a system that is far more intrusive, far more time consuming, and overall far more developmentally inappropriate. In schools across Ohio the Performance Based Assessment testing window spanned February and March. Schools implemented weeks of late arrival for some students, or integrated testing in the school day, removing students randomly from instruction time to complete assessments. One AP History teacher I spoke to said that she didn't even see one of her class periods for 2 weeks. Upon our return from spring break, the End of Year or End of Course testing window will open, spanning the better part of April and most of May. Again, students will be removed from instruction in order to be assessed. This is not just an issue with PARCC, as most current legislation has attempted to address. The issue also involves, or will involve, the Social Studies and Science tests created to be "PARCC-like" assessments by the American Institutes for Research. Whether it is PARCC or AIR, this system of a double testing window is far too intrusive and time consuming. It forces two periods of test review, instead of one, and its scheduling disrupts instruction time from February through May, essentially the entire second semester. The former system lasted a week in most cases. If you'd like students to learn, then give us more time to teach. Thank you for your consideration.

It's over. It's not over. A Few Thoughts from a Few Weeks in the Life of a Test Administrator (I mean teacher).

When we finished OGT week there was little relief. Students had been told that the following week (this week) they'd complete their Student Growth Measures, more tests, this time linked to the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System.

In what can only be described as a sick joke, in the middle of last week during the Graduation Tests all teachers received next year's schedule of testing windows. A series of follow-up emails clarify the windows, and assure us that we needn't panic. I wasn't panicked, violently morose would be a more apt description of my state of mind.

On Monday the sunrise was brilliant out windows at the back of my classroom. I introduce the Semester Two Independent Study to much excitement. Student topics range from James Dean to the AIDS epidemic, Vietnam to the Challenger explosion. 

By Tuesday the latest wave of assessment has taken its toll. Student involvement ranges from lethargy, to distraction, to outright agitation. We're accomplishing very little. My attempts at humor, motivation, and interest go largely unrecognized even among the most motivated of students.

At soccer practice Tuesday night one of my players, an 11 year old, asks me, Do you know my favorite thing about the PARCC? I mistakenly think he's asking about a place with trees and birds and swing sets. He laughs, corrects me, and says, I don't have to take them. He and his parents have refused the tests.

Thursday night we attend Family Night at my son's school. We all have a blast playing math and reading games, attending the book fair, catching up with neighbors and friends, having some snacks. I am very impressed that all of the teachers make the scene, however beaten down by a burdensome teacher evaluation and assessment system. In a newsletter the following day, we're informed that the testing window re-opens in a few weeks, right after spring break.

Friday marked the conclusion of completion of the SGM's and make-up OGT's. Relief is short lived, however, when an email arrives spelling out the End of Year testing window which spans April and May. Again, I am instructed not to panic, so I decide I will simply feel defeated instead.

In a moment of excitement, I learn on Friday afternoon that the Ohio State Senate has passed SB3 in order to remedy excessive testing. Then I remember that SB3 does very little (read next to nothing) to remedy excessive testing. (See this blog from 2/13/15).

This week is over. Nothing is over.

Wish Us Luck.

I walked into my classroom yesterday morning to prepare for a last day of review prior to the Social Studies Ohio Graduation Test. The students were to take the Science test in a two and a half hour block before attending all classes in an abbreviated schedule where each period is 17 to 30 minutes. They said the Science test went well enough. We were careful not to talk too much about it for test security, though they indicated it was the most difficult so far.

I was ready to goof about economics, taxes, and the Federal Reserve one last time prior to the Social Studies test, before giving a motivational speech. Unfortunately, it just didn't play out well this year. The classes were beat down and generally uninterested. They've taken the American History AIR PBA this month, now four 2.5 hour OGTs, and next week the Student Growth Measure in most classes, a post-test that is administered by state law according to the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System.

Honestly, it has always been difficult to get the students motivated for my test, the Social Studies OGT, last one of the week. I'm asking for their best effort. They just want to be done. Never has this been more problematic.

I'm not sure how much longer I can hold onto the role I'm playing as their motivated teacher. I have always maintained a siege mentality, it is us against them. Up until this point, it has been a good motivator (for me and my students), but everyone is so tired. For awhile now I've been asking for legislators to change this system. I'm trying to build bridges, but I'm not sure if anyone listening. 

I'm leaving for school in half an hour. The Social Studies Test is today. Wish us luck. 

We've all had enough.

Call it PARCC, or AIR, it's too much testing.

State Senator Larry Obhof, Medina Republican, had some things to say in the Plain Dealer today, including the idea that Ohioans don't have a problem with the American History and American Government tests at the High School level. He indicated that the public confuses them for PARCC tests (they are written by the American Institutes for Research), but then he said the same public only has issues with PARCC tests, not AIR. Obviously, this is quite inconsistent if they believe they are PARCC tests and Obhof himself says the public opposes PARCC tests. He doesn't see it that way, and claims the A.H. and A.G. tests are not a part of our issues with over-testing. I humbly disagree. They are a part of the new double window testing system requiring two testing sessions in an incredibly disruptive and unnecessary process.

The article also features Obhof praising himself for his very patriotic "Founding Fathers Bill" SB165 which requires the teaching of American Historic Documents (like the Federalist Papers, Constitution, Northwest Ordinance, and Ohio Constitution) at multiple grade levels in the Ohio curriculum, tested at multiple levels (I assume still not a part of our over-testing problem). I have no issue with Ohio students learning historic documents, but I do take issue with the redundant nature of re-teaching them at multiple levels. I also take issue with their inclusion in the 10th grade American History curriculum completely out of context. The course curriculum, created in Ohio, spans 1865 through the present, while the documents are all from far earlier. They are also required by the American Government curriculum in 11th grade.

If you're interested in the article featuring Senator Obhof, copy and paste this

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/03/some_high_school_students_opt_out_of_new_tests_on_americas_founding_fathers_and_documents.html#incart_river

The following is the email I sent to the good Senator. I hope he is willing to consider my point of view.

Senator Obhof,

I am a history teacher at Elyria High School writing to address comments you made in an article today in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. First, stakeholders in education, administrators, parents, students and teachers ARE in fact concerned about the AIR tests in American History and American Government. You said yourself in the article that people use the term PARCC for all of the tests. While we know this is inaccurate, it does indicate that there are issues with ALL tests. Yes, some complaints are PARCC specific regarding inappropriate common core standards and reading levels on the tests. The issue you are choosing to ignore that includes the social studies tests is that they were designed to be PARCC-like. They use the same faulty technology, have the same issues with multiple source questions, and force testing in two windows, Feb/Mar and Apr/May. Contrary to your comments in the PD, this is still too much testing. I have been, and will remain active in the political process to limit testing to the former, OAA/OGT, system, if not something even less intrusive than that. You and your colleagues have created an assessment mess in Ohio that needs to be fixed. I do not seek, however, to place blame, only to facilitate positive change. 

I realize that this testing shift was not created by your SB165. That bill, however, is problematic in itself. While I appreciate your patriotism and dedication to these historic documents, I believe that requiring them at multiple grade levels is a bit redundant, and has them taught outside of their historic context in American History. The A.H. curriculum in grade 10, as I'm sure you are aware, deals with content between 1865 and the present. The documents are all relative to events prior. Now, as professional educators we are actively looking for ways to meaningfully include the documents in this odd context. I would, however, argue that they are better suited for the government curriculum in which they also appear.

Chief Assessment: OGT day one.

The high school where I work achieved an "A" last year in its indicators, meaning we accomplished a passing rating according to the state of Ohio (a high enough percentage of students passed) for 9 out of 10 assessments. This is not uncommon, but something of an accomplishment for an urban district with economic and demographic characteristics such as ours. This is to say that typically minority students and/or students from a low socioeconomic level tend to find less success on standardized tests. I'm not trying to be crass. Many researchers would agree that what these tests do best is to measure economic well-being.

With that said, I should be somewhat proud of the "A." The thing is, I'm pretty sure (and you'll forgive my language) that I was busting my ass and doing exemplary work when my school rated lower. I'm also quite certain that there are many other teachers in my district, and elsewhere, working in buildings with lower ratings who are killing it. They are working diligently to convey academic skills and content knowledge while inspiring their students to greatness. On the flip side, I'm guessing that there are teachers in well rated (read affluent) districts simply phoning it in. Now before you get terribly irate out there in Beachwood or the village of Indian Hill, I'm sure that you have your share of quality teachers too. My point is that we are using a ridiculously ineffective means to measure or grade students, teachers, buildings, and districts.

My students took the Reading OGT today. They will take the test in my content area on Friday. The furthest thing from my mind will be the rating of my school. I am concerned for the well being of my students, their levels of stress and confidence, and their ability to pass the test for the sake of their own graduation. My urban high school is currently beating a system under which it was not expected to be successful, and as that relates to students I am proud. However, regardless of the state of Ohio's A, B, or C, I am confident in the quality of work that my students and I are doing, and that's my chief assessment.

Incidentally, if you don't buy my allegations that standardized tests measure household income, then check out the information that follows. These are the top ten Ohio School Districts based on the state's Performance Index Ranking (from an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer 9/12/14). The dollar amount that follows is their Median Household Income 2009-2013 from the US Census Bureau.

         1) Wyoming City.                                 $106,912

         2) Madeira City.                                   $87,750

         3) Solon City.                                      $97,181

         4) Oakwood City.                                $99,975

         5) Rocky River.                                    $67,926

         6) Indian Hill Exempted Village.           $207,069

         7) Ottawa Hills.                                   $111,364

         8) Beachwood.                                   $79,722

         9) Mason.                                           $85,679

        10) Chagrin Falls.                                 $57,434

For comparison's sake, I teach in Elyria. Our rank is 548 on that list. Our median income: $41,600. Our neighbor to the north, Lorain, ranks 602 with a median income of $33,610. Finally, Cleveland is ranked 607 on that list and has a median income of $26,217.

Perhaps you'd still argue that this is merely a coincidence.  You're a skeptic. I like that. Well, do some more research on the correlation between test scores and income, test scores and poverty, rates of free lunches, whatever angle you want to take. What are we measuring?