I'm going on a bit of a rant today.
As I'm sure most of you know, I'll be taking maternity leave at the beginning of the school year, and so I will have to entrust my students' learning (and my pay since we are now paid 50% based on their scores) to a (hopefully) worthy replacement in the form of a substitute.
I am trying, very dutifully, to compile the lesson plans for all my classes/preps so that the sub has a clear-cut outline of my expectations and can, in turn, administer that to my students. Of course, this all goes to crap if he/she decided to just sleep all day, but I'm staying optimistic that the sub WILL care about the students' learning.
All of that background brings me to my point. As I've been researching for the new classes I'll be teaching this year, I've had to really try to assess the new Common Core standards our state has adopted in place of the Sunshine State Standards.
After reviewing them in their very inconvenient format on the official DOE website, I've determined that basically they've reworded our previous standards and amped them up to be more rigorous. Good; more will be expected of our students. However, how will advanced rigor prove effective with students who are, currently, not meeting the standards set forth?
The conundrum first became apparent when the state tried to raise the standards, in the middle of the school year, for FCAT Writes. They had to quickly recall those changes when 70% of students FAILED. Tell me, if this is a preview of the new standards, what hope do our teachers and students have?
After viewing with disbelief the expectations, I have been dutifully trying to figure out how my special diploma students fit into this plan. Will they be expected to adhere to these standards when many of them will graduate with the reading level of an elementary student? Should I be punished for my students doing the best they can?
In terms of language arts education, I've found that many of the books that have been religiously read by high schooler, myself included, have been deemed "well below the reading level" expected of students to determine their "college-readiness".
I found it unbelievable that To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, was marked with a 6th grade reading level. Forgive me, but as an english teacher and avid reader, I find this assessment to be a load of crap. Yes, the text itself is an easy read, but the ideas and themes are WAY above that of a middle school student. I've found that even now as I go back and re-read texts to share them with my students, I find more and more in them than I did as a young reader. Some of the best loved texts that are staples within secondary classrooms have been deemed, now, inappropriate based on their reading level.
What then are we supposed to be feeding the minds of these young adults? Non-fiction texts of course!
Don't these policy makers remember their own days in school? I read non-fiction constantly for science and history classes with english classes as my saving reprise and escape from that form of text. Sure, I made it through non-fiction texts, but I cannot imagine having to read that form of text in every class. If I had been subjected to a repertoire of non-fiction in english classes as well I think it may have, in all honesty, made me dislike my favorite subject.
Why do lawmakers and politicians want to make our students' dislike of reading increase? How will this raise scores in any way?
My perspective is that if we, as educators, can spark a love of reading within a student- even with a low-level book then they will be more likely to read at home and subsequently increase their reading fluency, comprehension, etc on their own! Imagine that!
I personally saw that take place this past year after I assigned The Hunger Games to a class of difficult juniors. Keep in mind this book has been marked at a 5th grade reading level and was almost not approved by my administrators. This class tried with every ounce of their being to not read or do anything assigned for the year. It was very difficult to engage them and much of the problem stemmed from the fact that more than half of the class were low readers and writers who had learned to hate english classes. As the end of the year drew near, I wanted to try to hook them one last time. We, surprisingly, acquired the funds for some books, and I ordered a class set of The Hunger Games. Imagine my surprise when students read ahead on their own and even bought the second and third books in the series to read on their own time!
They breezed through the assignments, and I could actually conduct class discussions about theme, characterization, mood, tone, etc.... All things that had been difficult to touch on with a class that would zone out through every other reading.
How then can I take this success and say that it "wasn't hard enough" for these kids? How can I force them to read even harder texts than the ones assigned this year, the readings that were already too hard for these low readers? I honestly just don't understand...
It's going to be a dance of difficulty and unfortunately one that I don't think will prove successful in the classroom. How many years will it take before they recall this set of ideals? By my thinking, if education has declined so steadily, why then haven't we reverted to what was previously working in the classroom?
I end this rant with a link to the study on this website which I found particularly humorous. All the best selling authors quoted state that kids/young adults should read what interests them. The one opposing opinion belongs to someone with a stake in testing/accountability...That's ironic is it not? Overall though I found it interesting to look at the supposed levels for popular texts. I even groaned to myself when reading the non-fiction recommendations by the gurus of Common Core. I remember hating to read those pieces and also subconsciously how I half-assed all the related assignments. I find it ironic that we are trying to raise a generation of readers by taking fiction, high-interest reads, graphic novels, and everything interesting out of language arts to be replaced by non-fiction texts. It's going to be an interesting year!
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