The New Look Teacher Interview

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Greg Miller

If you’re an educator you’ve most likely been interviewed at some point in your career. The interview, of course, is designed to assist the hiring committee in determining whether or not a particular candidate is the best “fit” for the position being interviewed for. Give or take a few, a teacher has always been able to expect to see this traditional set of questions during an interview.

  • Tell me about yourself.
  • Why did you decide to become a teacher?
  • What is your teaching philosophy?
  • What type of classroom management structure would you implement?
  • How have you used, or how will you use, technology in the classroom?
  • Would you be interested in participating in after school activities?
  • Are you a positive and energetic person?
  • What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
  • Explain your assessment practices.
  • Describe your ability to work with others.

Picture_3_crop380w[1]

These are all good questions but if we really want to hire the kind of teachers needed today, I would like to suggest that we replace at least some of them with the questions listed below. I’ve included my thoughts on why we should ask each question.

Do you consider yourself to be a risk taker? (Give an example to back up your answer.)

We want teachers who are constantly trying new things and learning from their mistakes.

If I were your principal and we were setting goals for next year, what would they be?

We want teachers who are forward thinking and those who are able to articulate a vision of education in the 21st century.

What is the last educational book you read? Why that book?

We want teachers who are continually honing their craft, using a variety of professional resources to consider new approaches.

If you could create the ideal school, what would it be like?

We want teachers who can envision the schools of tomorrow, ones that align with more engaging and flexible learning environments.

How do you deal with failure? (Your own and that of your students)

We want teachers who are resilient and teachers who build resiliency and a growth mindset in their students.

How will 21st century competencies be developed in your students? (Provide examples both with and without technology)

We want teachers who will prepare students for the world they will enter, designing learning experiences to support the building of important 21st century competencies.

Have you built a Personal Learning Network (PLN)? Why or why not?

We want teachers who are broadening their perspective and learning from colleagues across the hall and throughout the world.

In what ways will you challenge your colleagues and the principals thinking?

We want teachers who are not afraid to challenge the status quo and able to stretch the thinking of others.

How will you differentiate instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners in your class?

We want teachers who can find ways to meet the ever growing diverse needs in todays classrooms.

Take 10 minutes to prepare yourself to lead the interview panel in a conversation about an emerging educational topic of your choosing.

We want teachers who are ever looking for way to improve the educational journey of their students and teachers who can support and defend their ideas with sound research and judgement.

My father always told me, “Be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.” As far as I’m concerned the teacher interview is a perfect place to start asking for and getting what we want.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share any other questions you think should be included.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, Capacity Building, Education Transformation | Tags: , , , , , | 6 Comments

Alberta’s New MO on Student Learning

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Greg Miller

On May 6, 2013, with little or no fanfare, ministerial order #001/2013 (Student Learning) was signed by Alberta Education Minister, Jeff Johnson; bringing into full force all aspects of Inspiring Education and repealing a very dated ministerial order #004/98 (Goals and Standards Applicable to the Provision of Basic Education in Alberta). It was last updated on February 10, 1998.

albertaeducation-705x340[1]

A ministerial order is a decision made by a minister that does not require the approval of cabinet, or the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The power to issue a MO is typically written into an individual piece of legislation, and the MO itself must make reference to the authorizing legislation. MOs have the force of law. Unlike orders in council, ministerial orders are not automatically made public in Alberta. It is not clear why: given that they have the force of law, it seems they should be.

So how many Albertans know this new ministerial order has come into effect? How many know that the goal of this ministerial order is to ensure that all students achieve an extensive list of outcomes that will enable them to be contributing members of 21st century society? How many know that this order is in stark contrast to what was previously expected of the educated Albertan? This is big and it seems to have slipped in virtually unnoticed.

For awhile now I’ve been urging my teachers to familiarize themselves with documents such as the Framework for Student Learning and this ATA Transformation Document – A Great School For All, both of which align with the new vision for our education system. I’ve even suggested that they would be positioning themselves well going forward by referring to these documents when planning, teaching, learning, and assessing. “You’ll be ahead of the wave”, I’ve told them, “if you start making small changes now.”

I wonder how ministerial order #001/2013 will play out in the weeks and months to come. It looks really good on paper. It’s easy to write it down on paper; a bit more difficult to infuse it into daily practice, especially when curriculum, PATs and DIPs remain the same.

What an exciting time to be involved in education.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Education Transformation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Placing Teacher Interns – Lets Get It Right

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Greg Miller

My school jurisdiction is lucky enough to be located near a university that houses one of the most highly regarded teacher training programs in the country. Throughout the year, on what seems like a continual basis, we welcome undergraduates into our school at various points on their road to becoming our next generation of teachers. Here is an overview of the internship program:

Education 2500 students receive an orientation to the teaching profession by spending 60 hours (20 mornings) in a classroom. During this they function in a role that is similar to a teacher assistant.

Professional Semester I (PS I) students begin their first official practicum after being admitted to the Faculty of Education and completing some required courses. In the PS I practicum interns are assigned to a classroom for approximately 125 hours (5 weeks).

Professional Semester II (PS II) students have completed more on-campus courses and are assigned to a classroom for approximately 150 hours (6 weeks).

Professional Semester III (PS III) students complete a final15-week full semester teaching internship that not only prepares them as a teacher, it helps them to begin nurturing the kind of professional relationships that will benefit them, their career and the students they will teach.

It’s comforting to know that our teacher training facilities are providing such a diverse offering of practicums for those who hope to undertake such important work. And most likely it is in the day-to-day experiences of each internship, and not during theory classes, that individuals discern whether or not teaching is for them. Over the years I’ve watched with great pride as young pre-service teachers polish skills and take flight. At the same time, I’ve had to be involved in the challenging and difficult work of steering struggling interns in a direction other than teaching. More often than not, the relationship between the mentor teacher and intern determines the success of the practium.

Here’s how intern teachers are assigned to mentors:

  1. In the spring interested teachers complete a Student Teacher/Intern Request and, if interested in a PSIII intern, are expected to include a professional development plan for the time they are not involved in teaching themselves.
  2. The form is passed onto the school principal for a signature.
  3. The form is forwarded to the Superintendent of Schools for a signature. (I’m happy to say that our superintendent expects to see first-rate PD plans or will send it back to be re-written)
  4. The form is sent to the Faculty of Education at the University to be reviewed at the time interns are being assigned.
  5. When a suitable match is identified, representatives of the Faculty of Education contact the school principal for approval.
  6. If approved by the school principal, the mentor teacher is contacted and a match is made.
  7. During the internship the mentor teacher and the intern carry out individual PD projects during their non-teaching time.

I’ve often wondered what, other than a certain amount of experience, qualifies a teacher to become a mentor. At times, the process ofimagesCAMIDX0I selection seems more like a right of passage than anything else. If you’ve been around the longest, you get the intern.

If we want our pre-service teachers to be prepared for teaching in the 21st century, shouldn’t we be matching them up with the most forward thinking, cutting edge teachers we can find? Perhaps interns should be assigned this way:

  1. School administrators should identify their most engaging and innovative 21st century teachers. (Years of experience should not be a factor)
  2. These teachers should be approached and encouraged to become mentors.
  3. Mentors and interns should work collaboratively to select an area of focus from this Framework for Student Learning.
  4. Collaborative action research on their area of focus should be carried out throughout the internship.
  5. As a team, the mentor and intern should apply their new learning in daily practice, engaging in ongoing reflection and professional conversation.

Transformation of our education system will not occur unless we place our teachers in the middle of the process. In my opinion, the mentor/intern relationship is a good place to start.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, Capacity Building, Education Transformation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I Went to Calgary and an EDCAMP Broke Out

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Greg Miller

This past Friday, along with 6 colleagues from my school division, I attended Calgary’s first ever EDCAMP. The day, which was conceived and organized by Matt Armstrong and Paul Genge, was a brave first step into the world of participant driven professional learning, a concept that had yet to take root in our area on this large of a scale. With over 300 participants in attendance it was definitely a litmus test on whether or not Southern Alberta was ready for this kind of learning.

5aMdeUN5VVeJDaLuprB_Dzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ[1]

I was honoured to have been asked to facilitate a conversation on a topic of my choosing and happily offered “Digital Learning Portfolios” as an area I felt would generate some interest. As the day got started I was anxious to see how this particular session would take shape. How many people would attend? Would those in attendance expect me to give a presentation on the topic? What would I do if no one wanted to share their thoughts?

Well, around 10:00 a.m., after some opening remarks from the organizing committee, I made my way to room 14 where about 30 educators stood around waiting to see what was going to happen next. For some reason there were no chairs in the room and when they finally arrived someone started arranging them in rows facing the front. I watched for a few seconds thinking “this is not going to happen” and that’s precisely when I started the session.

I asked that the chairs be arranged in a circle and invited everyone to sit down. Then I asked if anyone had experience with a day like this, and after not getting a response, took a minute to share the story of the EDCAMP we held at my school earlier this year. I think it was important for them to hear how my teachers responded so positively to the EDCAMP philosophy.

After that I got things going by explaining how my school is experimenting with blogs as digital portfolios; and that’s all it took. The knowledge in the room started coming out. It was amazing to watch as so many like minded educators engaged in professional dialogue with people they had never met before. Among other things,we talked about blogs, we talked about Weebly, we talked about ClassBadges. There was a lot of interest in how to use these methods as an alternative to traditional assessment. One individual even created a Google Doc so our group could share all the great ideas. Even after the announcement to move on to the next session came across the PA system, some in our group hung around for a few more minutes to exchange contact information.  It was exactly what I had hoped for.

Last Friday I went to Calgary not sure what to expect. As my colleagues and I made the trip home at the end of the day one thing was for certain.

An EDCAMP broke out that day. Let’s hope it grows from here.

Categories: 21st Century Learning, Capacity Building, Education Transformation | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

Try A Mystery Skype. Here’s Why.

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Greg Miller

If you’ve never tried a Mystery Skype with your class, you should. It’s a highly engaging way to build important competencies in your students. A Mystery Skype is just a simple guessing game at first sight, but it’s really so much more. Two classrooms arrange to connect with each other using Skype, and then take turns asking yes/no questions to try to discover each other’s exact location. It’s a great way to make an initial connection that may lead to further collaborative learning projects. Our students have participated in several Mystery Skypes this year, all of which have been easily arranged through my Twitter PLN. Here’s one from last month:


 

Take a look at the jobs students take on during a Mystery Skype. Then look at the competencies they are building and ask yourself why you shouldn’t give this a try. 

Greeters say hello and share cool facts about the class without giving away the location. (Leadership, Social Awareness, Cultural Awareness, Global Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Question Askers ask the questions and are the voice of the classroom. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Creativity, Cultural Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Question Answerers answer the questions after consulting with others. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Cultural Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Think Tank sits in a group and figures out the clues based on the information they receive. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Communication, Digital Literacy, Self-Direction)

Google Mappers use Google maps to piece together clues and narrow down the location. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Global Awareness, Communication, Digital Literacy, Self-Direction)

Atlas Mappers use atlases to assist the Google mappers. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Global Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Clue Keepers work closely with askers and answerers to help guide them in developing questions. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Global Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Runners run from group to group relaying important information. (Collaboration, Leadership, Decision Making, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Photographers take pictures during the call to share at a later date. (Leadership, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Communication, Digital Literacy, Self-Direction)

Tweeters share real-time play-by-play of the event on a class Twitter account. (Leadership, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Cultural Awareness, Communication, Digital Literacy, Self-Direction)

Videographers take video during the call to share at a later date. (Leadership, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Communication, Digital Literacy, Self-Direction)

Entertainers share jokes, songs, etc. during a lull in the action. (Collaboration, Leadership, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Cultural Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

Closers end the call in a nice manner after one class has guessed the location of the other. (Leadership, Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation, Social Awareness, Global Awareness, Cultural Awareness, Communication, Self-Direction)

21st-century-1entejd[1]

Enough said.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Community Engagement, Inclusive Education | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Principals – Try Team Teaching

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Greg Miller

“What better way to model learning and pedagogy than to actually teach?”

This quote comes from an excellent article written in 2010 by , a school principal in British Columbia and key member of my PLN. The article, titled Principals ARE Teachers, suggests that school leaders need to find ways to cut down on managerial type tasks and spend more time actually teaching. In his case, teaching also provided him with the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from the excellent teachers in his school. ”True leadership”, he says, ”happens in the classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds; management happens in our offices.”

I think most principals agree with this statement and would welcome the opportunity to spend more time as the instructional leader of their school. The problem, of course, is that increasing responsibilities and limited resourses stretches principals in many different directions, making it difficult to place an emphasis on any one aspect of their school leadership role. Below, for example, are the areas in which principals are expected to provide effective leadership in the province of Alberta.

Full version – principal quality standard 

1. Fostering Effective Relationships
2. Embodying Visionary Leadership
3. Leading a Learning Community
4. Providing Instructional Leadership
5. Developing and Facilitating Leadership
6. Managing School Operations and Resources
7. Understanding and Responding to the Larger Societal Context

Most princiapls who teach, I suspect, don’t really do so for the reasons Chris speaks of above. I have always taught since becoming a principal 14 years ago, but mostly as a budgetary measure in order to provide prep time for my teachers. I’ve enjoyed teaching subjects like Phys. Ed., Health, Religion, Library, and Guided Reading but have definitely fallen short in the areas of co-planning and collaboration. It always felt more like managing resources than it did instructional leadership.

Well this year things have changed. I’m team teaching. This, I think, is the best growth as an instructional leader I have ever experienced. Here’s how it works. Each class, along with their teacher, joins me in our Library/Media Centre for a 45 minute block of what I like to call “21st Century Learning Time.” I work with the teacher to plan, carry out and assess the projects completed in each block. Each project addresses learner outcomes from a variety of subject areas. The teacher and I both bring something to the table. I bring my passion for technology integration and 21st century competencies and they bring their expertise and knowledge of their grade level curriculum. It’s a win for me because I’m gaining a much better understanding of curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching styles. It’s a win for the teachers because they transfer many of the tools and strategies to their daily practice. And most importantly, it’s a win for the students because they are better engaged in their learning. Often, the 45 minute periods turn into an hour or more. Some of the Web 2.0 tools introduced includ iMovie, Storybird, Glogster, Tagxedo, Twitter, Voki, Audioboo, Kidblog, and Skype.

If you’re a principal reading this I’m sure you’re thinking about time. Teaching, and all the important activities that go along with it, takes time. Time that must be shared with all the other responsibilities required of a school administrator. Well, I’d ask you to consider this – how many of the 7 areas of effective leadership listed above do you think I’ve addressed by team teaching this year?

Categories: Capacity Building | Tags: , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Badges for Assessment – Why Not?

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Greg Miller

Ever since participating in a Blackboard Collaborate session with Doug Belshaw at ETMOOC 2013,  I’ve been wanting to learn more about badges as an authentic way for students to demonstrate and receive credit for their learning. With our province so heavily engaged in curriculum redesign, and with educators being called upon to consider new and innovative ways to plan, carry out and assess learning; I’m leaving no rock unturned in an effort to support them in their efforts. Badges, to me, looks like something worth exploring further.

Look here if you would like to gain a better understanding of the concept of badges. I encourage you to read the “Ten Things to Know About Badges.”

OPEN BADGES

I quickly became intrigued while looking through the Mozilla Open Badges platform, however it seemed as though most of the badges were designed for high school and adult learners, so, as an elementary principal I decided to see if there was anything out there for younger students, and in doing so, came across a free website called ClassBadges. I like this one because teachers can set up and manage a class account where each student has an individual login. Badges could be selected from an existing bank or customized for individual students or classes, and easily be aligned to academic goals, curriculum outcomes, or 21st century competencies. Teachers could work with students to identify areas of interest, then create criteria that would need to be met in order to earn that particular badge. The teacher would award badges electronically to students when they were satisfied the criteria had been met. Once awarded, the student would be given access to the badge, which could be displayed anywhere electronically.  Each badge, with its criteria could be added to the bank for other students who may be interested in earning that badge themselves. Can you see the possibilities here?

Sample Badge from

Sample Badge from ClassBadges Website

Sample Badge from ClassBadges Website

Sample Badge from ClassBadges Website

Badges, I think, could offer a way to document different types of authentic learning both inside and outside the school. Perhaps they could place an emphasis on important competencies such as global awareness, digital citizenship, collaboration, and creativity. Perhaps they could provide students with more control over their own learning and give a more complete picture of their abilities in relation to the program of study. Once earned, perhaps a digital portfolio (website, wiki, blog, etc.) could be used to house, display and share badges with others.

Sigh… there I go again with my pie in the sky thinking. It would be easy to list the many reasons why “badges” (and so many other forward thinking ideas) just won’t work, but to that I say, “If it’s important you’ll find a way; if it’s not you’ll find an excuse.”

I encourage you to explore badges and let me know what you think.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Education Transformation, ETMOOC | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

And So Test Prep Season Begins

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Greg Miller

This past week parent/teacher conferences were held at our school. It was an opportunity for teachers and students to share the many engaging learning experiences they’ve been involved in this year. This interactive timeline outlines some of them. I am so proud of my teachers for trying a variety of new approaches in order to engage our learners in a more relevant way. It’s exciting to walk around the school and see teaching and learning as I never have before.

Awhile back I wrote a post called Is Curriculum Thwarting Transformation? There, I argued that our provinces oversized curriculum is getting in the way of teachers trying to dig deeper into key learner outcomes through real world, authentic learning experiences. In order to get everything “covered” by the end of the year they have no choice but to skim the surface of important outcomes so students will at least have touched on everything. As we all know, that means staying at the lower end of Blooms Taxonomy. And if you’re a grade 3, 6 or 9 teacher with Provincial Achievement Tests staring you in the face, that ups the ante even more.

So with the final term underway at our elementary school, the grade 3 and 6 teachers are starting to prep for the test. Our superintendent @cdsmeaton has always told us that the PATs should not affect our teaching practice. “I am a staunch believer”, he tells us, “that a focus on excellent teaching will lead to excellent results, no matter how it’s measured.” I tell them the same thing. But it doesn’t quite play out that way in the mind of the individual teacher. PATs, existing as they are, leave teachers with a strong sense of responsibility to prepare their students to write them; and as long as the tests are administered in such a way that has very little to do with the type of learning teachers are being called upon to engage in, there will be a bit of an exit from engaging learning around this time every year.

Heres what I’m getting at:

Below is a question from the 2009 Grade 6 Social Studies PAT: (lower order Blooms and builds no competencies)

EquityThe assignment below took place earlier this year at my school, addressing the same learner outcome: (higher order Blooms and builds countless competencies)

Equity vs Equality

Teacher Blog Post to Students

Student Response

Student Response

And yet another project addressing the same learner outcome: (higher order Blooms and builds countless competencies)

Here is another question from the 2009 Grade 6 ELA Provincial Achievement Test: (lower order Blooms and builds no competencies)

Simile

The assignment below addressed the same learner outcome: (higher order Blooms and builds countless competencies)

Rachels Simile Post

Yet another question from the 2009 Grade 6 ELA Provincial Achievement Test: (lower order Blooms and builds no competencies)

Reading Response

The blog post below addressed the same learner outcome: (higher order Blooms and builds countless competencies)

Michelle Reading Response

Many would say that my teachers should continue with these engaging and authentic learning experiences and the PATS will take care of themselves. The problem is that it takes time; much more time than is left over once the curriculum gets “covered.” Time that will now be needed to skim the surface, to prep for the test, to write the test, and to deal with a great deal of unneeded stress.

Is it fair to ask teachers and students to do both?

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Community Engagement, Education Transformation | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Reflecting on Digital Literacy

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Greg Miller

In an effort to support my teachers in reflecting more deeply on their practice I’ve been using this teacher self-assessment tool since September. It is based on our provinces Teacher Quality Standard (TQS), which applies to teacher certification, professional development, supervision and evaluation, and which is supported by descriptors of selected knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs) appropriate to teachers at different stages of their careers. We believe the tool is an excellent reference point for teachers to self-assess, reflect on, and engage in a professional conversation about their practice. So we set time aside in our monthly staff meetings to do just that. In small groups, the month’s KSA and it’s elements are discussed and in doing so strengths and areas for growth are identified. As part of our school improvement plan, teams of teachers are then offered release time to complete capacity building projects and improve current practice. 

We focus on one KSA at a time, as to not make the process overwhelming for our teachers. I’m acutely aware of the many important responsibilities competing for their attention each and every day. But this is important. If teachers are going to be expected to keep pace with the ever-changing education landscape, they must be given the time to review, discuss, and reflect on their current practice. Reflection, in my opinion, is underrated; and when combined with safe, respectful professional conversation with peers, is the single most important activity in support of continual growth.

digital_literacy[1]

Looking at the TQS you will notice that the KSAs relate to competencies that have always been important in teaching. Things like the ability to plan effectively, an understanding of curriculum, solid classroom management, and relationship building. And, of course these will continue to be important in the future. What appears to be missing, unfortunately, is that whole area of digital literacy. The TQS, which guides teacher practice, has yet to be updated to include digital literacy.

So for the month of February our teachers have been reflecting on digital literacy and to what degree it’s been present in their daily practice. The tool below (click on it to see the entire tool) has been guiding their reflection. At next weeks staff meeting, when we come together for our monthly professional conversation, I hope my teachers identify the need to place a great deal of emphasis on this going forward. 

CLICK TO SEE COMPLETE TOOL

CLICK TO SEE COMPLETE TOOL

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Capacity Building, Education Transformation, ETMOOC | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Apparently My School Sucks

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Greg Miller

The annual Fraser Institute elementary school rankings were released over the weekend and my school placed 547th out of 649. On their 10 point rating scale we scored 4.3, which apparently means that we failed.

My school, which comprises a vibrant and culturally rich population of students, includes 15% English Language Learners, 26%  with supported learning programs, 25% with a First Nations Metis and Inuit background, and 47% in the French Immersion stream. We provide breakfast and lunch to about 50 students every day, waive school fees for a number of families, and regularly bring interpreters in for parent/teacher conferences.  

The Fraser Institute describes themselves as an organization that uses ”objective, publicly available data to rank and compare schools.” In other words, the schools with the highest average marks on our provinces Grade 3 and 6 Provincial Achievement Tests are ranked at the top. Although not supported by the Education Ministry, the results are heavily published and lure parents into believing that some schools are better than others merely because students did a superior job of completing a standardized bubble test.

Last October, like all schools in Alberta,  we received our Accountability Pillar Report Card and our PAT results were our best ever. Not only did we have a 100% participation rate (the province is around 90%) but 84.2% of tests written received the “acceptable standard.” The provincial average was 79.1%. For us, this was a huge accomplishment because first of all we never usually pay much attention to the PATs, and secondly we have never surpassed the provincial average, let alone by over 5 percentage points. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves right up until this past Saturday when we were quickly brought back to reality. The reason, by the way, why we come out so low on the Fraser Institute Report is because they rank based on average test score and not percentage of tests passed. Many of our students passed the test but not by a lot. It’s the Fraser Institutes spin on the numbers. You can take a look at our report card below:

Report Card

So what about all those “other things” that are not taken into consideration by the Fraser Institute? You know, things like providing a safe and caring learning environment where all students are cherished and achieve their potential. Things like parental involvement and citizenship. Things like continual school improvement and relevant student engagement. What about providing an inclucive learning environment that meets the needs of every student? My teachers work as an amazing collaborative team every day to not only teach the curriculum, but also to build in their students the qualities of ethical and active 21st century citizenship. It’s unfortunate that much of this goes unnoticed because of the work of right-libertarian think tanks like the Fraser Institute. 

This timeline and this short video outlines the many initiatives that make my school so amazing. I invite you to take a look. This stuff can’t be measured on a standardized test. If it could, I’m sure we’d be a bit better than 547th.  

So I want to say this to those who work so tirelessly to collect and disaggregate the PAT data in such a way that leaves out much of what really counts in our schools today. What sucks is the percieved importance placed on these tests and your reports.

Categories: 21st Century Competencies, 21st Century Learning, Education Transformation, Inclusive Education | Tags: , , , , , | 9 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com. Theme: Customized Adventure Journal by Contexture International.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 3,403 other followers