Autumn means several things to me.
1. Fleece jackets
2. Pumpkin spice lattes
3. Round two refreshing the crayon/glue supply.
4. The satisfying "crunch" from stepping on a leaf.
5. FALL BREAK.
Finally, a blessed week away from my little angels. Today was spent marking report cards and deciding whether or not I really wanted to invite parents in for a conference. By noon, I was spent. Even though I was sitting in an empty classroom, lights off, door shut, I was exhausted. All morning, I reviewed what I had taught, how I had taught it, and forced myself to look at the results-- were my students learning anything? Yes, the majority seem to be. Several are flying through their sight word lists, adding numbers, and using academic vocabulary. Then there are the few sweet ones that sit quietly every day, and have perhaps spoken a total of 18 words throughout the entire nine weeks.
This past week I've been on a mental battleground with myself. Team School is how our district wants us to assess English learners. Team Me is how I feel I should assess them. For example, students are graded in regards to the standards. They receive a score of 3 (mastery), 2 (progressing), or 1 (needs improvement). General ed. students can receive any score, per their performance. According to the rules of Team School, EL students may not receive a score below 2. Ok, so... Cry-Baby, who has a comparatively solid grasp of English already, can put his head down, cry, and refuse to do his work... yet he's "progressing?" Progressing in what, learned helplessness? However, it's completely fine to give a student labeled "General Ed." a 1 or "needs improvement." A general ed. student may be developmentally behind or may have a language disorder... even so, it's fine to hand out the "Ns" and "1s" and hopefully alert the parent that something is not clicking. How do you explain to EL parents that their child isn't making progress, yet the teacher marked "progressing" on the report card?
Did I mention that ELs may not be retained? Why is it acceptable to retain general ed. children but not ELs? I've yet to receive a logical answer to this question.
I'm not trying to make excuses, but this is just one of many ridiculous policies that is supposed to create a better education system that will produce better citizens. So... a child can go through an entire year, mastering only twenty-five percent of the content, be promoted to the next grade, and build on the shaky foundation laid in the previous grade. And repeat. And repeat.
Some believe that any progress is good progress. It's hard to understand how we're setting these children up for success by passing and accepting mediocrity.
