Education, Poverty, Graduation, and Guilt.

If chronic absenteeism is highest in areas with the greatest concerns regarding graduation, then why is 93% attendance a key component of the state's "solution" to the grad crisis of 2018? And as long as I'm asking questions, what's the solution to the grad crisis of 2019? 2020?

So, last week I got to feeling guilty about a decision that I had to make. Truth be told, having been raised Catholic, my guilt comes around often. In this case, I had planned to attend the office hours of my State Senator, as well as attend a local school board meeting at a time that interfered with activities related to my son's birthday. I quickly recognized that I was in a lose - lose situation. 

I wanted to remind my Senator and the school board that there is still a graduation problem despite the fairly recent "fix" added to the budget bill for the class of 2018  The problem, as I've said enough times to make myself sick, is that the solution does nothing for the graduation problem of 2019, 2020, and beyond. Even worse, the solution may not solve anything as the easiest new paths to graduation are retaking all tests on which you've scored a 1or 2, earning a 2.5 GPA and maintaining a 93% attendance rate. These last two indicators could be difficult to satisfy, especially for students experiencing any economic hardship. Individuals living poverty are less likely to be able to seek medical attention for health issues, and more likely to have unresolvable transportation issues, food or home instability, increased responsibility in the home, and other issues which increase absenteeism. 

Even legislators who championed the so-called solution are not convinced it will work.

Having studied my sophomore's scores from the spring, I am becoming convinced that the class of 2019 is in the same situation as their predecessors. The state had estimated that 30% of those students statewide would not graduate. Because scores on standardized tests correlate with socio-economic status, it is reasonable to surmise that the percentages of non-graduates will be higher in districts with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students. In the district where I work, 59% of students are economically disadvantaged, so the graduation problem will impact these kids that I teach disproportionately. The state of Ohio has begun to formally study the impact of poverty on education, and admits the relationship. Despite this, Ohio educational policy continues to punish children for their academic performance in high school and otherwise, essentially punishing many children by denying a diploma, simply for being poor.

I'm not comfortable telling specific stories about students, even without a mention of names, because they're not my stories and I believe in confidentiality. The problem is that the kids aren't likely going to discuss their testing issues publicly. If you were a 16 year old who's taken 6 of your 7 assessments and only compiled 10 of the necessary 18 points, you'd not likely be eager to discuss the situation with your peers either, understanding as they may be. Unfortunately, many students are in this very situation, some better, some worse. My district aligned curriculum early, collaborated on methods, built common assessments, and now we're offering remediation to every student who needs it in order to prepare for retakes. And just like the state's solution for the class of 2018, I fear it will not help nearly enough students.

What I'm willing to say is this... Unless a permanent solution is crafted, over the coming years 1000's of students statewide (including many in my school), who are deserving of a diploma, will not graduate. Students are being made to feel like failures by an assessment system that says little about their accomplishments or potential. Regardless of their success in the classroom, on the field, in the arts, music, technologies or otherwise, they will be prevented from graduating by arbitrarily set cut scores on a narrow set of assessments.

Students who are leaders in their community, student government, in youth groups, churches, scouts, and otherwise are being told they're not deserving of a diploma. There are young people currently, successfully employed whose test scores claim that they are not fit for the workplace. Still other kids are successfully completing college courses while their assessments indicate that they're not college ready.

It is the absurd and disgusting nature of this high stakes assessment system which would even have me consider putting off my kid's birthday for the sake of promoting a solution. As it stands, I spent time with my son, and instead wrote my Senator & one of our board members. I'm guilty about it, but I've learned to live with that, the graduation problem I cannot.

I was a third grader too.

That's the third grade me. I wore that shirt for my fourth grade picture as well because I have absolutely no fashion sense. I was an introverted kid who worried about things, but I liked school largely because my teachers, Mrs. McKnight that year, were great. I had a sense that she and the other adults impacting my life were looking out for me.

I've been thinking a lot about third grade this week, and am growing increasingly despondent over the recent news regarding third grade retention associated with the reading guarantee. When I try to wrap my mind around how the 3rd grade me would respond, I find myself approaching a panic attack. As an Ohio teacher, I am sincerely ashamed that I am working within a profession that would allow these things to happen, however well intentioned.

If you've somehow missed the news, a few days ago the Ohio School Board had the opportunity to act, and did nothing, having been informed of some serious issues by the school districts of Akron, Canton, and Columbus. Apparently, mistakes in setting the cut scores on some alternative assessments are going to cause hundreds, if not thousands of students to be held back in 3rd grade for little justifiable reason. To be perfectly honest, I do not believe there is a justifiable reason to retain a child based on a standardized test score.

As with the Graduation problems I've written so much about, it appears that the adults have fouled things up while the students are left to suffer, and the adults refuse to admit their mistake.

And then today, the bad news got worse as the Cleveland Schools revealed that 50% more of their 3rd graders, 26% total, will be retained this year. 

As a teacher, I understand that all students come to school at different developmental levels, and that some of them likely need remediation in order to help bridge deficiencies. However, I also know that students develop at different rates, and especially in younger grades often catch up to their "accelerated" peers later, after third grade even. Now, I'm not an elementary teacher, nor am I an expert on literacy, but I believe these things are worth consideration, especially the latter. If we recognize that time for individual development is a legitimate factor, then retention becomes completely unnecessary (which it is). 

What is left, then, is to assure that attention is being paid to those students who need additional help. Many districts already provide this remediation as their limited resources will allow, but it is difficult to provide the individualized attention necessary when Ohio's schools are currently being funded far less than they were during the Great Recession.  We would be well served to divert resources from our excessive assessment system, and put them into literacy programs and/or fully funded universal early childhood programs statewide.

The Ohio Department of Education and state leaders claim to operate using data to fuel decision-making. If that is the case, then they should be made aware that data illustrates that retention has proven to be academically harmful, and that early childhood education has a positive impact on literacy. Unfortunately, what I'm finding is that many leaders are deaf to data that does not serve their beliefs.

This week, the Ohio School Board decided to take no action to help these 3rd graders adversely affected. They want further study. They want more data. I suspect that they want data that will support their retention policy. What's getting lost in this bullshit politicizing is the fact that these are children we're talking about, many of them worried introverts likely approaching something of a panic at having to go to 3rd grade again.

Isn't it time some adults stepped up and proved that we're looking out for these kids?

Graduation Problem: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over.

Much as I'd like to celebrate the inclusion of the Graduation Workgroup's recommendation in the biennial budget signed yesterday by Governor Kasich, I cannot. Until I'm able to look my students in the eye and say that the class of 2018 is being treated equitably in the face of an atrocious and volatile high stakes assessment system, I will not celebrate. Until I see an actual analysis of the probable impact of the recommendations based on real data from Ohio school districts, I refuse to claim a victory. Until I can speak to my students of last year, the class of 2019, and next year's sophomores in my American History classes, the class of 2020, and say that we've come to a legitimate long term solution to the graduation requirement that seeks to promote educational opportunities instead of punish students, I see little reason to celebrate.

As much as I am tired, and would like to call it over, it's not over. Because that is my belief, I am turning my attention to the Ohio School Board who meets July 10th and 11th, and has some influence on these things. If you feel the same way, then I encourage you to do the same. Below you will find the letter I penned this morning, and here is a link to their contact information.

Board Member

Despite the recent inclusion of the Graduation Workgroup’s recommendation in the biennial budget, there are still very real concerns regarding the high school requirement. First, there has been no study to indicate how many students will be positively impacted by the aforementioned action. Please demand a study by the Ohio Department of Education to provide a data driven, district to district analysis of graduation status after the spring tests for the classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020, as well as probable effects of the Workgroup’s plan for 2018. Second, please consider taking even more expansive action to protect the class of 2018 by providing a legitimate safe harbor or dramatically lowering the required points to graduate. Finally, please begin looking at a long term solution to the graduation problem. While I understand that an ultimate solution will take legislative action, the state board should be proactive and begin to reconsider the fact that Ohio is one of only 13 states to require assessments in order to graduate. Our requirement for high school kids is at least excessive and too reliant upon high stakes assessments, and in the minds of many educators like myself, completely unnecessary and without merit.

Thank you for your consideration and work on behalf of Ohio’s students.

Matthew T. Jablonski

If the Dumpster's on Fire, Put it Out. (On Solutions to the Graduation Crisis)

 

As someone who's devoted the better part of two years to promoting a solution to the graduation problem, this week was both disheartening and exciting. As in, I'm happy something is happening, even if it's not what I'd hoped. For those of us who have sat down or spoken with legislators to promote a functional safe harbor for the class of 2018, and a meaningful long term solution to a meaningless assessment system tied to graduation, the outcome of the Ohio Senate's budget proposal is unsatisfactory. 

Their budget proposal was unsatisfactory for most Ohioans I imagine, if you value adequate medical care, believe in the need for treatment for opioid abuse, rely on municipal services like police and fire, or value pre-school, educational services, and after-school programs, among many other things.

As a matter of fact, as I made calls to Senators earlier this week, I found it nearly absurd that my focus was on an educational amendment to the budget bill that would have allowed students in the class of 2018 to directly replace a score on a state test with grades from the corresponding subject. In short, a kid with a 1 on the Algebra assessment, but a B in the course would earn a 4 toward graduation.

A course grade measures a balance of things like mastery of content, time management, organizational management, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, etcetera, which is why a student's GPA is a far greater indication of their ability to succeed in college or a career. 

But still, why put something like this in the budget bill for goodness sake?

This is the nature of the system. The state legislature and the ODE have made such a mess of Ohio's education system that Superintendent DeMaria has convened separate committees to study the graduation requirement, assessments overall, and teacher evaluations. He's been forced to put off submission of the state's ESSA plan because of the public outcry regarding a lack of adherence to public input. The state's largest charter school has defrauded it of $60 million.

I have heard often, from legislators and citizens alike, that the budget bill is no place for laws on education (or anything not budget related). Here's the thing, I agree entirely. And if Ohio's assessment and accountability system weren't such an unholy mess, then none of this would be necessary. As it stands, the dumpster is on fire and we need to put it out.

Unfortunately, even though she is in some ways in agreement, Senator Lehner did not attempt to provide the course grade for test score protection we were promoting, but instead included the Graduation Workgroup's suggested alternative. From Wednesday's Dayton Daily News...

Senate Education Committee Chair Peggy Lehner said earning required course credits should outweigh test results, especially for this class, which has been through so much change.

“It takes several years for kids to become accustomed to a new test, and for teachers to know how to prepare students for it,” said Lehner, R-Kettering. “You’ll always see kids do worse at the beginning of new tests. … Because graduation is dependent on this, that’s pretty high stakes, so it seems only fair to give these kids in the beginning an opportunity.”

Course credits should outweigh test results, new assessments or old. So, why not swap course grades for test scores? My hypothesis is that it is simply not a politically viable option. Not enough legislators would support it. Despite it being widely accepted in education communities that GPA is a greater predictor of college success than standardized tests, policy makers still believe the tests determine college and career readiness. Despite the fact that only 13 states require the satisfaction of assessments in order to graduate, Ohio persists. Despite the fact that NAEP, ACT, and SAT scores have not improved through increasing state assessments, Ohio will test more and claim to be improving educational outcomes. 

There are some legislators who seem to get it, Senator Lehner among them. I would count Senators Schiavoni and Skindell as well because they introduced a grades for scores amendment to the budget bill, the one that was not accepted. Senator Manning has also expressed her concern, and promised to be responsive to issues going forward if the Workgroup's recommendation is not enough. Even among these I'm listing, I know I disagree by degrees with each of them on the value (or lack thereof) of standardized tests. Where I see none, they may see some, but we can find common ground. The problem is that there are not enough legislators willing to listen to common sense, often cost-saving solutions from teachers, and so the dumpster burns.

Even the Grad Workgroup's recommendation is not guaranteed to survive the process. According to the Dayton article, House Rep Antani said, "There’s no reason to change the (graduation) requirements until we see how their testing went this year." This is the same thinking of former State Board President Tom Gunlock who, after being complicit in creating this abysmal system, quit his position so he didn't have to fix it, and now for some reason keeps talking as if he's still in some sort of leadership position. In their minds there is an acceptable number of students to be refused a diploma because of standardized tests, so they want to see how the tests shake out. I wonder where their threshold lies? 35,000? 30,000? 25? 

Mr. Gunlock and those of his ilk also believe that a system of more confusing and convoluted tests equals high standards, and if students can't meet them, then they simply need reteaching or remediation. Because he sees it as an issue with unsatisfactory teachers, we should simply teach them again, except that the system doesn't even allow for this.

Scores from the spring tests are due to districts on June 27, 2017.

Student/Family results forms are due to districts by July 26th.

The summer testing window for retakes is July 17-28.

With all due respect to the former board President, when should we reteach an entire course for the retake? When do we remediate? Am I expected to develop time travel as well as teach the course?

Maybe you think that this is splitting hairs, and those kids can retake tests in the fall. Perhaps, but I would argue that this is only one symptom of the larger sickness within the state level education systems in Ohio. Why is no one in the ODE paying attention to these things? Why do legislators refuse to take the word of not only teachers and administrators, but parents and students as well?

We're running out of time. The 30% of next year's senior class in danger of not graduating cannot wait to make plans for their lives. We cannot come up with a solution next June and expect students to have fulfilled an expectation about which they were uninformed. That's exactly like the testing system we've ground them through. We also cannot ask districts to take on the cumbersome task of keeping track of additional pathways to graduation after the fact. As it stands, it's already going to be nearly impossible to keep track of these items if the Workgroup recommendation passes now.

The aforementioned scheduling of results release and testing amounts to a missed opportunity for each student impacted, just like the refusal to include a course grade for test score amendment in the budget bill is a missed opportunity. I do not think the Grad Workgroup's recommendation will be enough to fix the crisis for 2018, but I will support it because it's all we've got, and not to do so would be yet another missed opportunity.

And if it makes it out of Committee, I'll champion it in in the House. If by some miracle the amendment is accepted by the governor and he signs it into law, then I'll hope I'm wrong, and the recommendation is enough to get a significant amount of students to a diploma.

And then... onto the Grad Crisis of 2019, or a long term solution.

The dumpster fire rages.

 

The Day Some Senators, Teachers, and a Snake Oil Salesman Met at the Statehouse.

 

Between local school board meetings, writing the State School Board to do what's right, participation in a visioning process for new facilities in my district, and prepping for a recent visit to the state capitol, I'm left with the question lots of schoolteachers face when summer comes... "When does the break begin?"

The Class of 2018.

Our 2 hour drive to Columbus was taken on the occasion of a lobby day, set up by our friends at Ohio BATs. Beginning at 9am, we were scheduled to meet up, break into two groups, and meet with 10 or so state Senators who are currently working on the budget bill. Our first goal was to encourage them to support safe harbor language for the class of 2018, removing any connection between Ohio's volatile and convoluted system of standardized tests and their ability to graduate. These kids have seen the worst of an assessment system that has been awful for everyone.

Every Senator with whom I had the opportunity to speak believed that something needed to be done for the class of 2018. This would include my own Senator Gayle Manning, as well as Senate Education Committee Chair Peggy Lehner, candidate for Ohio Governor Senator Joe Schiavoni of Youngstown, and Senator Jordan. Even the young man, whose name I didn't catch, who was homeschooled in North Ridgeville and met with us in place of Senator Bacon seemed convinced of the unique inequity and instability in the assessment system as it relates to this group of students.

Right now, Senators Schiavoni and Skindell have requested to add an amendment to the Senate Budget Bill that would allow members of the class of 2018 to use their course grades in place of assessment scores in order to earn points toward graduation. The Republican majority in the Senate has the power to keep or discard this amendment. CALL THEM NOW, and tell them that "because Ohio's assessment system has been so volatile over the past 3 years, it is unfair to use it as a measure for graduation. In order to remedy an atrocious situation in which 38,000 students are in danger of not earning a diploma, it is necessary to put language in the budget bill that will allow for the use of course grades in place of test scores to earn points toward the 18 necessary to graduate." You'll find the Senate Republican contact info here.

Convening the Experts, and Then Ignoring Them.

Because of the widespread demand to decrease assessments in Ohio's ESSA study, and then his own failure to do what the research told him to do, Superintendent Paolo DeMaria created an Assessment Advisory Committee to study and make recommendations regarding streamlining (read limiting) Ohio's assessment system. It was serendipity that the Super presented the proposal to the state school board two days prior to our Columbus visit because our second goal was to encourage a dramatic reduction in testing.

DeMaria's group of experts and education leaders suggested moving to the federal minimum of required assessments which would involve the elimination of the following tests... 4th and 6th grade Social Studies, high school American History, American Government, 1 high school Math, high school ELA I, the fall 3rd grade ELA (if the retention policy is eliminated), the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (if the district assesses otherwise), the ACT/SAT requirement and/or the Work Keys. They also indicated that the high school End of Course test could be replaced with a single sitting general content exam.

While I would argue that the state should also look at decreasing the time spent on assessments that remain, this proposed plan sounds pretty good.

Unfortunately, while DeMaria decided to convene this committee of experts himself, as he has no actual experience working in a school, he is also choosing to essentially ignore their suggestions. At the state board meeting he proposed eliminating 4th grade Social Studies, ELA I, American Government, and the Work Keys. The phrase I heard from one Senator in Columbus to justify this rationale was "we can't just get rid of tests because of the federal minimum."

Well, perhaps not, but I'm guessing that the thinking of the educational leaders on the committee was not quite as simplistic. We can get rid of these assessments because they have done nothing, and will do nothing to improve educational quality in Ohio. There is very little actionable data that comes from our assessment system from the perspective of a student, teacher, school, or district. The assessments are often developmentally inappropriate and currently employ technology that has an impact on student performance. The unnecessary high stakes tied to assessments (3rd grade and high school) is not federally mandated and causes undue anxiety and some dire consequences in the lives of students. This is just off the top of my head.

On the up side, all of the Senators with whom I spoke, believe that our assessment system is too intrusive and needs to be scaled back. There is currently legislation in the works to eliminate the 4th and 6th grade Social Studies tests. This was referred to as "a beginning" in multiple meetings that I attended. Will we eventually move to the Assessment Advisory Committee's suggestions? I doubt that we will, but I do believe that we can do far better than the Superintendent's proposal. I think the Senators that we spoke to believe this as well.

Ignoring the Experts While Insisting You Are One (or The Face of Entitlement)

If there were a down side to our lobby day, it was our accidental opportunity to meet lobbyist and Educational Consultant, Lisa Gray, who arrived for a meeting with Senator Lehner as our meeting was concluding. The Senator introduced us and told Mrs. Gray the nature of our discussion, namely a solution for the class of 2018 and the minimization of assessments. In so many words, Gray, stern-faced and full of self belief and entitlement, told us that as a former teacher she believed that the assessment system and grad requirement were necessary because we need to set rigorous standards so that all of our students are career and college ready. 

When I tried to interject to remind her that cut scores on standardized assessments are set essentially arbitrarily and not based on mastery, and that a student's GPA is a better indicator of future success, she scolded me, then went on about educational quality being driven by assessments, and that she would only want these things for her kids. Gray was unwilling to concede to anything that myself or any other professional educator in the room had to say on the subject.

Only later did I find out that her entire soliloquy, and persona for that matter, were utter bullshit. Lisa Gray, Educational Consultant, has not seen the inside of a classroom for more than 25 years and never taught in Ohio (only Indiana). Her claim to be a former teacher is sketchy at best. The fact that she has made hundreds of thousands of dollars working for Philanthropy Ohio, the Fordham Foundation, Teach for America, and other organizations funded by millions of dollars from the Gates Foundation makes her "kindhearted former teacher, suburban mom looking out for the kids" bullshit even more disgusting. The fact that she would frame her children's educational needs with those of all of Ohio's kids is misinformed to the point of negligence. Her children's life in a community whose median income is $121,020 is only marginally comparable to the life of a kid in my city whose median income is $40,952, or those in Cleveland ($26,150). To ignore economic reality and its impact on education is misguided, and is worse than her insistence that standardized tests can improve education.

Lisa Gray is a paid lobbyist. Her opinions are informed by numbers, but not those that clearly prove that standardized testing is not improving educational outcomes... the NAEP scores that have stagnated since 2001's NCLB, SAT scores that declined between 2006 and 2014, ACT scores that have been flat. The numbers that inform Mrs. Gray's position are those printed on her paychecks.

I guess those who disagree with me would probably argue that I'm only advocating for the public schools that sign my check. The difference, obvious in my mind, is that I'm not getting paid for visits to the Senators. It's on my dime. I'm also actually interacting with real live students who impress upon me their concerns, chief among them are the excessive assessments and the high stakes attached to them. They're not stupid. They know that the state tests have little to do with a good education, and their parents, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders agree. 

Unfortunately, paid shills like Lisa Gray make their money by ignoring and talking louder than the real experts in the field, and they have an impact on policy makers. This makes it far more difficult, but not impossible, to have an impact on decision makers about what is truly right for kids. We gave it a go in Columbus, and we're moving in the right direction. I never get into a conversation with a politician, or anyone for that matter, thinking they'll see everything my way. I'm just hoping we might move a bit in one another's direction.

Thank goodness I've got all summer.

Bomb Threats and the Bittersweet End of the Year.

 

I've had a great school year, so it's disappointing to get to the end and see everyone just want to get the hell out, to a far greater degree than is customary. I understand, though, because when I say the year was great it is a commentary on my classroom and the young people I've been fortunate enough to teach.

If I were to dwell upon the grinding nature of state regulation, compliance to building and district improvement protocol, the albatross of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System, the insistence of elected officials that they're listening to educators as they promote policy that is contradictory to sound educational practice and research, then my assessment of the year would differ.

I spend a lot of time on this blog worrying aloud about the graduation crisis, the intrusive nature of state assessments, their inability to measure much beyond socio-economic status, and the absurdity of state official's insistence that a battery of tests can measure college and career readiness, or high stakes outcomes tied to those assessments somehow improve educational opportunity. These things are a threat to the well being of students, and the quality of their education. They make the task of providing a meaningful educational experience far more difficult.

On a very basic level, I am an Elyria kid who now has the good fortune to teach American History to Elyria kids, and these policy issues feel like an attack on all of us. I'm not cool with that or any other threat, and appreciate the opportunity to stand up for these kids that I have come to know, regardless of the circumstances. We help each other out. It's what you do.

Now if I add to these issues a few bomb threats in a few weeks and a short-term police occupation of my school, then it's easy to see why everyone has begun looking at their watches. I get it. It's been exhausting, and that's only my perspective, a teacher with a bit part. I can't imagine the toll this takes on administrators, police, and others who deal more directly with the threats, or the toll this takes on students, who often have enough going on in their own lives personally, economically, environmentally, or otherwise, to make school a challenge. 

So, admitting that I cannot fully understand the depth of another's experience, I'll speak for myself and perhaps you'll agree. I'm not going to let a few misguided individuals ruin my perception of an entire year, any more than I'm going to let a handful of misguided politicians ruin my career as a teacher.

It's been a more than a week since the lockdown at school, since a half dozen heavily armed officers entered my classroom looking for a student who was targeted for some absurd internet revenge. A kid who, a few moments prior, had told me he believed the whole thing was just a threat based on some information he'd received.

By that time we knew the building was occupied by local police, sheriffs, highway patrol, and 3 or 4 ambulances had assembled outside. Four officers with rifles had come to the door of my classroom with a student who'd been stranded in the hall. They had us let her in, and with all seriousness, instructed me to lock it back up.. Based on what we'd seen, along with info from student cell phones, one kid listening to the police scanner, online news, other hearsay and rumor, we believed there was the possibility of multiple gunmen. Preparations had been made for mass casualties. It was an unsettling situation to say the least.

Twenty minutes earlier the class was wrapping up a film on the counterculture, film footage of San Francisco circa 1967, Janis Joplin, peace love dope. We were supposed to be wrapping up the year tying the anti-war movement to these cultural elements. The next thing we knew, we're crowded out of the door's line of sight, standing around in pools of Monday afternoon sunlight, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It is easy in those situations to let your mind wander into a worst case scenario, and I know that there were many who went there. I guess those things crossed my mind, but as a teacher in the classroom I've experienced other stressful situations, and have felt more helpless than I did in that moment.

The bottom line was, we hadn't heard anything. That is to say, no gunshots, explosions, or otherwise. I kept thinking, let's not freak out until it is absolutely necessary. As a teacher I have learned that there are so many variables involved in a kid's education, you control what you can, provide support appropriate to the circumstances, then hope for the best. As for variables, this one was a mess, but it didn't change my approach to treating the people in my classroom as humanely as possible.

Naive as it is, I also kept thinking about how this couldn't possibly happen. We've got a week to go, man. These have been some of the best classes I've ever had, no bullshit (and no offense to previous years which were lovely in their own right). There is no way this is going down with some of the most pleasant people I've ever encountered. I know, my thought process was literally "bad things can't happen to good people." 

I'm an idiot. 

As my students and I hid in our classroom, one of the few 3rd floor rooms, I joked that no one, threat or not, wants to climb all those stairs. There is safety in isolation and elevation. We talked quietly about who had heard what, what news crews were on the scene, who had contacted their parents. We controlled our situation with small conversations. I told a few students about the time years ago when, in a lengthy practice lockdown during my study hall, two surly girls threatened to kick my ass if I didn't let them use the restroom. Ultimately the girls agreed to wait, and spared me the beating. I was a little afraid that humor might do a disservice to the gravity of our situation, but humor is often all I've got. 

When the cops came in to take our classmate, that most difficult moment when the crisis came to us, our seriousness returned. After which, everybody took a breath and responsibility for one another. Even having been there, I am unable to satisfactorily articulate the manner in which these young people, often without words, were able to maintain their composure and provide the actions appropriate to the situation. Like many achievements in education, these are impossible to objectively measure.

After several hours in all, we were released, everyone searched by police in the interest of our safety. Then we filed out into sunlight on Middle Avenue, and down 6th Street where our friends, parents, police, and the media waited. It was warm and strange and expansive to be outside. Everyone started to quietly tell their stories about being unsettled or afraid or inconvenienced, maybe all of the above, as they made sense of the situation. We'd learn later that there were no guns, no bombs, no threat at all. It was just as the quiet of the 3rd floor suggested, just as we had suspected all along.

I'm an Elyria kid who has the good fortune to teach Elyria kids. All in all I couldn't have dealt with this difficult situation with a better group of people.

The school year ends this week. My students and I will part ways. If anything, I find that more upsetting than the lockdown. Even though the end comes every year, it is always bittersweet.

If my students learned some American History, something that the state intends to attempt to measure as a determinant for their career and college readiness, I'm happy.

If they've learned something about the importance of empathy and compassion, the ability to communicate with people with whom they have differences, the medicinal value of humor, how to manage challenging situations, the importance of standing up for yourself, how to be a decent human being, or something new about their place in the world, and how they can act to better their community, so much the better.

As we walk out into a world that is often frightening, or strange and expansive, let's go with the knowledge that we've done it right. Though it has had its challenges, it's been a great year.

I Guess It Is All About Assessments.

 

"What these students deserve from our state, first and foremost, is an apology for the abysmal assessment system that they and their peers have been subjected to, a system that has only limited their educational opportunities, and not measured what state leaders claim. Then, they deserve a safe harbor for graduation, the elimination of any connection between Ohio's assessment system and their ability to graduate."

It's nearing the end of the school year.

Of course, many people operate under the assumption that it's already over because testing has ended. "The whole thing is about testing right, so why do anything after it's over."

Well, because it's not about testing, contrary to the message we've been given by nearly every significant piece of education legislation over the last 20 years. It's about education. It's about facilitating a safe and entertaining environment that develops curious, creative, critical thinking, compassionate human beings. Which is why I've still been showing up, shirt and tie, and putting on a show, much to the chagrin of many of my students who I'm sure have had just about enough of my bullshit.

To them, I apologize. I teach, it is what I do, and I've got only a few short weeks left to do it with this group of students. After that, we'll go our separate ways and I will want to believe that I've done everything that I could in their interest while I had the chance. Teaching in a building that covers two city blocks, there is no hyperbole in saying that I'll never see some of them again. This is what makes the time so vital.

For this year's juniors, 30% of whom will not graduate under the current grad requirements, time is especially vital. A few weeks ago, I emailed every member of the Ohio Legislature to argue the limitations implicit in a high stakes assessment system, and encourage them to fix the situation in the budget bill. I got a few emailed replies that were either vague or supportive, and fielded a phone call from House Education Committee Chair Andy Brenner. Rep Brenner was diplomatic in our conversation and believes that a fix could come via the Senate in the budget bill, through the state school board this summer, or from the Legislature by September. He is interested in seeing the results of the ACT's and retakes of state tests. I believe that students who score poorly on state tests are not going to earn remediation free scores on the ACT, and I'm not convinced that retakes will improve scores in enough cases to make a difference. I told Rep Brenner that when many people consider this issue, they consider the numbers, 30% or 30,000 students for example. I think of the kids who are in my class, young people for whom the waiting, anxiety, and frustration must be immense. I believe legislators would be well served to consider policy decisions in terms of people.

In the interest of facilitating a solution to the grad crisis sooner rather than later, I submitted testimony to the Senate Finance Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee this week, a group that I think sounds completely made-up. I would encourage you to contact your Senator (or all of them if you're motivated), to advocate for a safe harbor for the class of 2018. 

I guess it is all about assessments. Maybe the school year is over. 

My testimony is as follows...

Thank you members of the Senate Finance Primary and Secondary Education Subcommittee for allowing these thoughts to be heard.

With regard to the ongoing crisis related to Ohio's graduation requirement, I believe a safe harbor for the class of 2018 is the only equitable solution considering the 3 year assessment mess that created the situation. I would sincerely encourage the Senate to include language in the budget bill that disconnects assessments from the graduation requirement. This should be followed by a sincere move toward the minimization of assessments overall, and abandonment of high stakes measures associated with them, as has been recommended by stakeholders statewide.

When my wife and I first looked at the scores from the class of 2018's PARCC tests nearly two years ago, we were terribly alarmed. With 20-30% passing rates in some subjects in urban districts, we anticipated 40% graduation rates in those places. While this was speculation, and we hoped we were wrong, as a teacher I recognized that remediation and retesting would have a limited impact on both learning and scores. Teaching and living in one of Ohio's urban areas, Elyria, I became concerned for my students, my neighbors, and my community. My wife and I proceeded to contact decision makers at all levels, and were generally told to wait and see. The time for waiting is over.

Much has already been said, and is now widely accepted about the existing "Graduation Crisis," which the Ohio Department of Education admits will result in 30% of Ohio's students being prevented from receiving a diploma. As we had feared early on, in Ohio's urban centers the percentage of non-graduates could reach 60-70%. This year's juniors are the first graduating class required to satisfy the new requirements which demand earning a total of 18 points from 7 state assessments. The tests have changed vendor and/or form in each of their high school years.

As students and parents panic, and schools scramble to provide remediation for tens of thousands of retakes statewide, some facts have gotten lost in the discussion. Most important among these is the fact that there is absolutely no federal regulation that insists graduation be tied to standardized tests. Ohio is one of only 14 states with this requirement.

Advocates of the system insist that the assessments bring "increased rigor" that improves education. They argue that the assessments are necessary because students have been found lacking in work skills, and been in dire need of remediation when entering college. No evidence suggests that a change or increase in assessments can change student performance.

No Child Left Behind ushered in this test and punish mentality in 2001. During the time since, scores for high school students have stagnated on the NAEP, SAT scores declined between 2006 and 2014, and ACT scores have been flat. A generation of students tested has not resulted in any significant improvements and yet we persist with this philosophy.

As a long time teacher of American History, a tested subject linked to graduation in Ohio, I believe we should question the value of the assessments overall, and the data they provide. It is widely accepted that High School GPA remains the best predictor of college success. The assessments or other graduation pathways do nothing to promote student pursuit of vocational programs. Even when the ODE was forthcoming with data from state assessments, which they are not now, the only real purpose it served was to direct educators to help students be more successful on assessments.

If the concern is the development of work skills, a recent survey of business leaders by Forbes indicated the top 5 qualities of graduates: teamwork, decision making, communication skills, organizational management, and the ability to obtain information. Generally speaking, these are soft skills, not qualities that can be measured by a standardized assessment.

Ohio students will be prevented from graduating in order to provide data with little meaning, due to an assessment system that has not improved achievement by any measure, and cannot measure the soft skills needed to be successful in college and on the job, the very things the state claims we're measuring.

All ODE materials on the graduation requirement celebrate the options created through the Three Paths to graduation which include the WorkKeys and ACT remediation free routes. These are often framed as a solution to the problems created by the standardized assessment system. Unfortunately, even these "expanded" opportunities seem primed to result in far fewer graduates.

According to The Ohio Education Policy Institute, in analysis of 2014 state data, only 15.1% of students scored remediation free on the ACT in districts with greater than 90% economically disadvantaged students. In areas with high rates of poverty this is not a viable path to graduation. In districts with only 10% economically disadvantaged the percent of students scoring remediation free is only 69%. Not an assured solution in either case, the remediation free rate is 4.5 times greater in richer than in poorer districts. The premise that students who are scoring poorly on state standardized assessments will score remediation free on a college entrance exam seems contrary to conventional educational logic, especially when you consider past results on those exams. They simply will not graduate.

As for the vocational certification, a 2014 report by the Fordham Institute indicates that only one in four students in Ohio's Career and Technical Planning Districts earned an industry credential. Superintendent of Eastland-Fairfield Career Center, Bonnie Hopkins, told the Columbus Dispatch, "Not all programs have credentials to earn in high school, and other programs have industry credentials that aren't on the state's list," she said. These issues make the career path open to very few students.

State leaders have suggested that they anticipate graduation rates stabilizing over time. In an economy lagging behind average national growth, and the Governor himself warning of a localized recession, Ohio may not have that kind of time time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that high school graduates earn a median weekly income of $678, while non-graduates earn $493. If the current graduation requirements are not sufficiently remedied, state education leaders risk exacerbating economic issues as well.

If we are to move toward excellence in education, we should be more concerned with providing opportunities for students, as opposed to doling out punishments. In that, education on the whole needs to become less reliant on the weight of standardized test scores which have always, though especially recently, provided negligible data. If it is philosophically impossible to eliminate standardized tests as a determinant for graduation, again federal law does not require it, then they should at least be limited to something akin to the OGT. In combination with this, the point totals necessary for graduation should be lowered AND additional ways of earning points should be established. Standardized tests do not measure, nor do they promote, career or college readiness. They also do not begin to convey the level of work that is required of a student through the process of their education. Offering points for active participation in student groups, service organizations, taking on leadership roles, internships or employment, course grades, extracurriculars and otherwise should be considered.

It is, however, far too late to consider these things for the class of 2018. What these students deserve from our state, first and foremost, is an apology for the abysmal assessment system that they and their peers have been subjected to, a system that has only limited their educational opportunities, and not measured what state leaders claim. Then, they deserve a safe harbor for graduation, the elimination of any connection between Ohio's assessment system and their ability to graduate.

While I seriously question the need for an excessive testing system such as we have in Ohio, I understand, politically, that some testing will remain. However, the time for punishing students on the basis of standardized tests is over. Please consider a safe-harbor for the class of 2018. Then move forward toward the minimization of assessments overall, and abandonment of high stakes measures associated with them, according to the demands of stakeholders statewide.

If there is anything that I can do to be of assistance, please let me know.

On behalf of myself and my students, thank you for your time and service to the state of Ohio.

Yours in education,

Matthew T. Jablonski