tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post3253897185491384529..comments2024-03-13T21:26:03.011-07:00Comments on Right on the Left Coast: Views From a Conservative Teacher: Is The Teacher Teaching?Darrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-44510254489619465782007-02-16T18:56:00.000-08:002007-02-16T18:56:00.000-08:00Another excellent point, Nic.Another excellent point, Nic.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-39537942802430155952007-02-16T15:35:00.000-08:002007-02-16T15:35:00.000-08:00I teach foreign language, none of which are on our...I teach foreign language, none of which are on our state testing (which test reading, writing, and math, in English). I always wonder where exactly I (and the Gym teacher, the Health teacher, the Computer teacher, etc etc etc) fall in these schemes.Nichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11914867548686274842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-31945629283054212662007-02-15T18:27:00.000-08:002007-02-15T18:27:00.000-08:00What you've described is the fact that Texas has a...What you've described is the fact that Texas has a horrible testing instrument--which is a totally different problem than Washington's wanting to see that it's getting something for the federal dollars spent.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15730642770935985796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10348701.post-20494242730127876412007-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:002007-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00Dear Darren:Just a couple of problems here. How d...Dear Darren:<BR/><BR/>Just a couple of problems here. How does one teach to the test if one doesn't have the test? Easy. Move to Texas. While our annual TAKS tests are sheathed in a veil of secrecy that puts the CIA to shame, we do know the type of test items (and here I speak of the English tests) that will appear and the criteria that will be used for judging those items. The state also releases older tests from time to time.<BR/><BR/>And while everything on the tests can be said to adhere to the state standards (they're called TEKS in Texas), one must absolutely teach to the test if students are going to pass. There are indeed very specific tricks that must be used if a student is going to pass. If a student isn't taught very specific ways of writing on the various types of item--most of which do not translate to good writing practices in general--they can easily fail. I've seen some of the finest writers in school, some of the most intelligent kids extant, fail. By the same token, I've seen kids who could barely sign their names apply the tricks well and pass. Fortunately, our English department has correctly figured out the tricks and is quite successful at teaching them, but doing this is not compatible with good, general English teaching within the curriculum. We absolutely must take a month or so prior to the test to drill the kids.<BR/><BR/>That said, we come to another problem. Our English department commonly sees 95%+ of all kids passing the test. It would be awfully hard for us to improve much on that, particularly considering that from 12-15% of our school population is classified under special education. Under such rules, it's entirely likely that we could find ourselve not making adequate yearly progress/improvement.<BR/><BR/>But as I've asserted before, all of this is properly a local problem, solved locally, is it not?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com