February is my anniversary: Twenty-three years ago this month, I was married to my calling as Principal Norm Higgs hired me to finish out the 1991-1992 school year in a self-contained Special Education classroom for students with emotional needs at Smiley Middle School. It was a job for which I was immensely unqualified and hugely unprepared, but we – the kids and me – made it through to May.
I learned much from those few months – most importantly that I don’t know much. But those months also provided two other important lessons: I love teaching, and education requires relationships. I’m still hanging around at Smiley and Escalante and am lucky that a surprising number of past students actually take a moment, out in the real world, to politely ignore my receding hairline and catch up instead of pretending they don’t see me.
This all came back to me in our staff training for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers this week. PARCC is the new standardized, summative test that Colorado has replaced TCAP with, which itself was a change from the CSAP tests that had replaced the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) which 9-R used to bubble test our kids with back in the ’90s. PARCC differs from the previous tests because it is completely computerized; but, it’s the same as the TCAP/CSAP tests in that you have to be trained to administer the thing.
Part of the training, arguably the most important part, was signing the security agreement, which said we couldn’t talk about PARCC. In fact, that was Rule No. 1 and No. 2 – nobody talks about the partnership. This agreement listing 18 specific directives and prohibitions for test administrators must be signed and retained by the district for three years. I have mixed feelings about sharing this information, as I’m not even sure if this is considered to be “talking about the PARCC,” but I think its OK because you can read the same manual and Security Agreement online at avocet.pearson.com. I figure if the largest for-profit education corporation in the world thinks it is OK to put it on the Internet, it must be safe to discuss; they are British after all.
Those 18 specific prohibitions include not talking about the content of the test and not coaching the testing kids. I’m not too worried about accidentally sharing what is on the test because we also agreed not to look at the actual test or the student’s responses. We also promised to actively monitor the testing environment for contraband, like inappropriate visual aids and unapproved electronic devices, and to not check our email. This should actually be easy for me since that is pretty much how I teach anyway, constantly wandering around not looking at my phone, staring at the floor and walls, ignoring what the kids are viewing or doing with their computers while making sure they don’t talk to each other or write something with a pencil. It should be easy street for those six-plus hours.
What this “training” reminded me of, though, was what I value in education: relationships. Education, by its very nature, is a social endeavor; it requires a teacher and a student. A good teacher knows the curriculum thoroughly, designs vigorous tasks exploring the course work and understands the student as a person and learner. This is necessary to support growth. More students mean more growth as we share our triumphs and challenges. But PARCC testing is predicated on isolation. Each student is sequestered from everyone else for data validity. They are on their own.
Our students are also engaged in another summative assessment, National History Day. NHD is a project that requires students to research any topic in history anywhere in the world and argue that it addresses an annual theme (Leadership and Legacy this year). We have collaborated in drafting provocative thesis statements that drive the examination of primary sources to locate evidence supporting their claims. Students have persevered through countless revisions transforming description into analysis and interpretation and refining design choices to make their work publishable for their final assessment. They will present their exhibits, papers, documentaries, performances and websites to judges representing Fort Lewis College, the Animas Museum, the Victorian Aid Society, the Daughters of the American Revolution and other interested community members. The judges will use rigorous criteria to locate worthy efforts to send to the state competition in May where some may earn their way to the national competition held in Baltimore in June.
The point is that these authentic products are the result of collaborative learning and formative assessments where students learn through creation, feedback and revision. This is the relationship I believe in. They work hard for a chance to publicly defend their creations before the assessors in their summative assessment, and you are cordially invited to see their work on display from 9:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, at Fort Lewis College in the Ballroom at the Student Union Building. It is open to the community, as all public education should be.
Unfortunately, I can’t invite you to the PARCC party. I signed an agreement to keep unauthorized visitors out of the testing environment. The kids will just have to celebrate that one all by themselves.
Happy anniversary.
John Hise is an instructional coach at Escalante Middle School. Reach him at jhise2@durango.k12.co.us.
