Standerized Testing in the Curriculum

Standardized testing is leads to a very controlled curriculum because it dictates what students must learn. I agree there are essential skills that students should learn, however, I do think some stuff is pushing it. In social studies, for instance, I think it is important to know about the make up the government or World War II, but standardized testing force schools to teach certain content because it will be on the exam. This creates a teacher centered learning environment that does not provide for a lot of time for students to explore things not covered in the textbook. Rather then a teacher centered approach, I think the students should have a voice in what they learn. If students learn about something that is interesting to them, it is easier to get more excited about it. For instance, my 7th grade students love studying ancient Egypt. If they love studying ancient Egypt, it would be a great time to do a PBL unit and let students explore. However, due to time constraints, there is not time to spend more then two weeks on Ancient Egypt because the curriculum demands they get through Medieval Europe this year. They get more of an overview, more then anything else and are forced to form generalizations. I would spend a little more time on the unit and design a way to put the learning in the student’s hands!

Standardization

As a future educator, I feel standardization is one of the inappropriate things in a public school. I have always found fault in standardized tests at instruments of intelligence because they are biased, reduce the scope and quantity course work, diminish the role of teachers and do not make students active learners.

Over the summer, in my class, we discussed how biased standardized tests are. They are culturally biased towards the dominate class, as evident in scores. Suburban schools do much better then inner city schools, generally, but you can not hold students to the same standards. Students have different experiences they bring the test, that affects performance. I do not like standardized tests because they are high stakes tests. The funding a school district gets is dependent on how well students do. This means teachers try to drill information into the students. This does not make students active learners, but rather passive learners. I think active learning is essential because it teaches students to solve problems. I think memorization servers a purpose, but how many of actually remember what we memorized in a high school class? I think problem solving solving and analysis is more important and it prepares students for the real world / college.

The other problem I have with standardization is that the state has a lot to do with it. State legislators write the standards and make the tests high stakes test. What does the politicians have to do with schools? They are not teachers, they do not know how to measure student performance. Most of they probably could not eve describe what scope and sequence is. Yet, buraracteric reforms are imposed on schools in the name of objectivity and and equality. I think educate should be authentic to the student, meaning to their experiences. Learning should be something the students should know and they get excited about.

PBL in Middle School

After watching the video and reading some information about Problem Based Learning, I have become a strong advocate of PBL because I think it teaches students to be Proactive Learners. Students become Proactive learners because rather then reading a textbook become in charge of their own learning. In the Virginia Lake School District in Palatine, IL Paula Bullis sixth grade class had the opportunity to participate in a PBL designed to improve scores on the Illinois Goal Assessment Program. Normally, when students hear about the IGAP they think it’s another boring test. However, students took more control of their learning.

The students divided themselves into five groups. One group figured out when and where students could practice for the IGAP. Two groups looked for resources and found math/reading books to help prepare. Another group designed questions to people familiar with the test. The same group interviewed the principal about regarding the scoring of the IGAP. The principal explained how the state decided who meets, does not meet and exceed state standards. The last group set up a tutoring program which focus was to help understand more about the test subjects on the IGAP. In the end, Paula Bullis sixth grade class spent 45 minutes preparing for the IGAP four times a week.

The method described above benefited the students in many ways. First, it helped make them proactive learners because they sought out information. This added to the maturity level of students because they felt as if they were in control of their own learning. Because students felt in control of their learning, they put a lot of effort into it. There was less goofing around and more ethical behavior. I think the PBL also taught the students to be good problem solvers, which is essential in today's world.

Model Minority Syndrome

As a future educator, I have begun to take note of of Social inequalities that exist in the school. Stereotypes foster false perceptions about students in schools. One of the most common stereotypes are based on race. For instance, many teachers many teachers view minority groups such as African Americans or Latinos as lazy and not working hard. They lower expectations. I think we have all talked about these stereotypes after going here at UW-Milwaukee. There are other types of stereotypes.

The Model Minority Stereotype is one that claims Asians are the model for how other minorities should act. Asians are viewed as highly educated hard working people who do not live in poverty. This is true of some Asians, but it is not true of all Asians. Lumping Asian Americans together is not fair because it silences the multiple voices of Asian Americans. This labels Asians as a homogeneous groups and deletes their culture, social class, ethnicity,religion, language, sexual and gender differences.

All of this leads to stereotypes that are not fact. For instance, Chinese Americans were viewed in a 1966 article as good citizens because the status quo viewed them as quiet people who did not challenge the system. After riots following the Rodney King trail, Korean Americans were viewed as "stand-ins" for white middle class Americans. There are plenty of other examples the books.

I think it is important for teacher to know about model minority syndrome because education can be used as a tool to eliminate stereotypes. The only way people will learn is through education. True multicultural educators hold the role of fighting stereotypes in an effort to promote equality. When teachers promote equality, it strives to create equal opportunities in the world.

Two High Schools

Chapter 18’s reading this week was quiet disturbing. It was about two schools, Groundview Technical High School and Mountainview Township High School. Groundview and Mountainview are both located near Chicago; however they are vastly different schools. Mountainview High caters to the needs of upper class. The surrounding community near Mountainview is surrounded by homes ranging from $500,000 to $1,000,000. Students in the school have a variety of freedom. They are allowed to non-descript jeans and designer clothes, while walking free and comfortably through the hallway. There are various wings in each the school and students may designate a “major.” If students are running late to class, they are told in hurry along and do not receive a detention slip. There is advanced technology including state of the art technology and audiovisual equipment. An entire wing is dedicated to fine arts and there are multiple gyms, swimming pools and an expensive library.

Groundview Technical High is vastly different. Upon entry into Groundview, there are metal detectors and security, which students must past through. Students are required to wear uniforms and carry pictures ideas with schedules. Students are not permitted to leave for lunch. The building is deteriorating due to a lack of funds. Security guards are present and assign detentions to late students. There is not a well equipped place for study of the humanities and the social sciences. There is a room full of woodshop and carpentry equipment that is kept locked because staff is not allowed to operate the equipment. There is not theater, pool, music area, exercise equipment and a few books which must be shared during class.

The most important thing I took from the descriptions was that schools are vastly different. Schools should provide equal access to all students, regardless of social status. It is not fair for a school, such as Groundview to suffer while students at Mountainview have the best opportunities possible. A country that is supposed to provide equal access to all is really alienating those who are not part of the dominant culture. Groundview is full students who come from the working class, who are not valued in mainstream society. As a result, they get a second class education. That is disgusting as a future educator!!

Emotions during Adolescence

For my portion of the group presentation, I have been researching the affects adolescence has on emotions. Thus far, I have broken my research in to four categories: individual emotions, dating, relationship with parents and the affect of peers. What I have found in regards to emotions is that they are fluctuation due to hormones. The hormones can cause students to have emotional outbursts. They are susceptible to be jealous, sad, angry, happy in a relatively short time. Self-Esteem is the lowest when students enter high middle school but increases throughout the Middle School experience. In addition, relationships with peers become very important. Adolescents have a need to be accepted by their peers. Having friends becomes as important as having friends. Dating also becomes very important. Adolescents begin to socially construct what dating and a relationship is. Relationships with parents become distant, as adolescents strive to achieve more independence.

This is some of the main points that I will touch on during my presentation, not all. However, the reason why these issues are important because they affect Middle School Teachers. Teachers must understand these changes in order to be sensitive and cater to the learning styles of students. There are specific strategies and methods which can be used to teacher Middle School Students, which other members in my group will touch on.

Middle School is different than Elementry and High School

The configuration of schooling has changed dramatically over the course of the United States. Traditionally, a K-8 school elementary school and a 9-12 high school was considered the norm. As time went on, teachers and members of the science community noted that around between fifth and seventh grade, students began to change. Students were going through something completely normal known as early adolescence in which behavioral changes began to change. For example, adolescents were subject to mood swings and experience a pattern of highs and lows. Many other adolescents tend to experience depression. Adding to these behavior changes are learning how to interact, socialize and date the opposite sex. Educators also noted the physical changes that occurred during this time period. Males and females experience growth spurts, genital regions growing and pubic hair begins to form. Male’s voices tend to get deeper and they experience wet dreams or ejaculation. Females begin to have enlarged breast and experience menstruation.

What is interesting is that Americans realized that adolescence is a normal process in life that everyone experiences; however, most states do not represent teaching middle school as a distinctive license. Elementary School Teachers are licensed through 8th grade and high school teachers are licensed to teach grades 6-12. This is an injustice because the techniques used to teach middle school students are different from high school and middle school. Teachers have to be sensitive and understand the need for middle school students to develop social skills, managing hygiene, rebellious nature, changing individual perceptions, redefining what is wrong and right and the development of intellectual operations. This transitional period starts and ends at different times. Children are at varying levels during this period, so it takes special training to teach middle school children. As a result, I think those who teach middle school should have to obtain a separate license or degree to learn how to teach early adolescents and not elementary or high school students.

The Media and its Unfair Treatment of Children

Chapter 7 was about how the media unfairly portrayed youth in the United States. Chapter 7 appealed to me because it proved that many Americans based their beliefs off of what the media says without any sound evidence. The chapter had sections termed “Media Myths” about various teenage sterotypes which counterevidence proved to not be true.

For instance, the media has developed the stereotype that teenage sex equates with “kids having kids. It is true that sometimes children do have children, but in the overwhelming majority of cases this is not the case. According to the United States Public Health Service, 71 Percent of all teenage parents have adult parents over 20 years old! Men over 20 years old are five times more likely to impregnated middle and high school girls! Yet, the media continues to focus on sexual irresponsibility of teenagers!

The myth about teenage violence is another example of an unjust stereotype the media presents. Newsweek has presented articles such as “Teen Violence: Wild in the Streets” and “Kids and Guns,” just to name a few. Articles tend to focus on fictionally information in regards to teen violence such as gun-toting, TV images, rap music and lenient youth court judges. The media’s rhetoric fails to mention that far more adults violently abuse children. According to the California Department of Justice 83 percent of all murdered children were killed by adults over 20 years old. FBI Reports sow that people 47 years old are twice as likely to commit murder on a 32 year old. The National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect reported that at least 350,000 children and teens were confirmed victims of sexual and violent abuse every year by adults.

The big question I am left to ask after a brief overview of the evidence, is what does the media have to gain from distorting the truth about teenagers? Does stereotyping children as violent or sexual beasts sound better than the media painting out that thousands or maybe millions of children are not safe because of adults in today’s world? That this is a failure of the government to protect innocent children who are our future in this country? Truth be told, I do not know what the media gains from these lies.

Puberty and Multicultural Educators

In chapter two this week, we read about the “Role of the Pubertal Process.” Puberty is the end of childhood and the beginning of adult hood. Lots of scary changes happen to adolescents during puberty. For instance, increasing amounts of public hair, menstruation, growth spurts and changes in the voice just to name a few. Due to the fact that we are going to be multicultural teachers in a diverse society, we need to examine the role puberty plays in different cultures!

In the mainstream white middle class society, for instance, many adult women reported they were upset by their first menarche. They were afraid to tell there mother and most never told their father about it. Many boys are just as uneasy talking to there parents. They do not inform their parents about their first ejaculation or wet dream. However, both boys and girls begin to develop an interest in the opposite sex. The bottom line is that this is a very scary time because the Endocrine system is causing all these changes. White-Middle Class mainstream culture is not the only culture that has to contend with the onset of puberty, all cultures and all people do! For instance, in Liberia puberty is viewed as a right of passage from childhood into adulthood. In New Guinea, the onset of puberty is viewed as a rite of passage with various celebrations that involve the community.

Multicultural educators need to understand children go through puberty and cultures have different ways of celebrating the changes. Studying adolescence shows that Middle School students must be treated differently; they are not quiet adults but not quiet children. They are going through a lot of changes, which teachers must be sensitive to. It can sometimes explain why students become so moody! We all go through things that scare us in life. Some children will be more open and embrace the experience. Others are scared while in some cultures the whole community celebrates puberty which teachers must learn to accept because no culture or person is the same in the world and it is the differences that must be embraced.

The "Other"

The article Toward a Theory of Anti-Oppressive Education was an interesting read. The article claimed students are oppressed in school because a group of victims (which Kumashiro called the "Other”) are treated in a harmful way. The beginning of the article grabbed my attention because counter evidence was provided to the myth there is not oppression in school. For instance, on page 27 Kumashiro claimed minority students were subject to dangerous infrastructures and insufficient resources. Kumashrio also claimed research suggested that racist and sexist prejudices and stereotypes affect how teachers treat their students. My big question that I do not feel was answered was how to teachers treat their students differently and to what extend? For instance, do the schools try to steer females away from taking sciences or automotives classes? Do Caucasian teachers treat their minority students like second class citizens? I know that Kumashiro’s information is true from information in my other classes, I just want more information.
I took one critical thing away from this reading: that curriculum, pedagogy and instruction harms the “Other.” Kumashiro argued that schools can increase prejudices and stereotypes against the “other” due to a lack of knowledge. Teachers do not attempt to help students to “unlearn” their prejudices and stereotypes. Outside of the school, students learn about the “other” through many outlets: the media, Internet, family, movies, television and friends, just to name a few. This spreads prejudices, stereotypes and myths a just society should attempt to distort through education in the schools.
Throughout the reading, I wondered how I could integrate content into my Social Studies classes to eliminate oppression of the “Other.” Kumashiro offered many suggestions such as including specific units on the other and attempting to integrate entire lessons about the “Other” into the entire curriculum. My big question is in what ways can I integrate lessons about the other? I want more ideas and techniques I could use to integrate the “Other” in my class. I want more ideas on how to integrate the curriculum. Integrating feminist movements or racism into one of my history classes would be easy, but what about the history of those with disabilities that are also oppressed?