Saturday, March 26, 2011

The significance of the context

As I was going through this reading, I found that I was continually asking why. Why are students that we already know are disadvantaged getting access to the fewest resources? Why are their teachers getting less time to prepare and less professional development? Why are their class sizes the largest? I realize that the purpose of this article is not to address these questions, but that was my reaction over and over again.
It also made me reflect more critically on my own teaching practice. I wonder where I am on the spectrum of traditional and reform teaching and what I can do to move further toward what I know is the best for students.
When we looked last week as large scale assessment, we briefly discussed teacher pressure to teach to the test. The major difference between Ontario and the Classroom B context is that the EQAO is based on the Ontario curriculum, which means that by teaching the curriculum, teachers are preparing their students for the test and by preparing them for the test, they are teaching them the curriculum. I also agree that there are different pressures in different contexts about how important test results are and that this can change how willing teachers are to take risks with new teaching methods, even if they have research backing.
I also had some personal conflict with the content in this article because I teach at an independent school where my students come with significant economic and social advantages. I also have more preparation time, smaller classes, no standardized tests, access to many resources and weekly teacher development. I realize that in some ways, this is how the world works – those who have money, will pay for the best. At the same time, I wonder what can be done so that all students have teachers with the same support. Rather than stop independent school from providing this, I think that public schools should also have the resources and support that I get (although that might put me out of a job!)

3 comments:

  1. Beth, it's interesting that you felt a conflict because you teach at an independent school with the resources and time that the article states is necessary for teachers to implement reform curriculum...I felt guilty because I teach in the public school system and I'm definitely more like Teacher B! My school is a young child though (a little more than 5 years old) so in terms of resources we are luckier than many other, older schools...however, I definitely nodded in agreement at the parts about time constraint and class sizes affecting how much reform mathematics is practiced, especially when it comes time to preparing students for large-scale assessments such as EQAO.

    What's interesting to me (and what was missing from the article) is how the students feel about the way they are being taught (or the way they learn) mathematics...usually students like practice quizzes and tests that "look similar" to the real thing. Did the students of Teacher A feel like they were adequately prepared for the test? I guess the test scores would answer that question...

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  2. Hi Vivian,

    I think you brought up a great point about students appreciating quizzes and tests that represent the large-scale assessments such as EQAO or what could be called high-stakes exams like IB exams. I too know that my students feel that taking tests that are similar to the IB exams in both style and difficulties gives them confidence.

    It would have been interesting to see how the students felt from Teacher A's class, but it sounded like they were doing well so I think they would have been okay. Perhaps in the end what we can learn from this is that if students are doing investigative, problem solving group & individual work, they will be successful even on tests they are not being specifically prepared for. However, I would have to say that I would feel uncomfortable without my 'usual' tests as well.

    In the end, balance would be best??

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  3. The idea of students wanting practice quizzes and tests that look similar to the real thing is an important point to consider. What does the real thing really look like? We all have an idea of what tests and quizzes look like from when we were in school, but the curriculum has changed since then and assessment should reflect this. We’ve seen studies where collaborative work was used as a tool for assessment, and we’ve spoken about how the EQAO assessment does not reflect the curriculum expectations, but my guess is that most of our assessments look more like the EQAO test than they do the studies and videos we have seen (I know mine do). It is a tall order to ask that we drastically change our assessment strategies (and of course we don’t want to get rid of the good), but I think the first step is to recognize that testing can look different. Change will follow after that.

    Beth, you spoke about how teaching at an independent school affords you more resources than you might get otherwise. Where I teach, for the most part, we have no math resources (I am lucky enough to have access to technology but that is part of a research project and is definitely not the norm). Our lack of resources is not due to a lack of funding, it is due to a lack of importance placed on such objects. We have state of the art biology and chemistry labs, but the general opinion seems to be that you don’t need resources to teach math – pen and paper will suffice. This was the same in my undergraduate education. I find it interesting that as we move higher in grade level, fewer resources are available to teachers. When it comes to teaching the most difficult concepts, we fail to provide students with the resources that will help them succeed.

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