Class+06+-+Mar+2

=** Class 6 **= **Class Notes** :

Lecture Notes 3-2-10

Dr. Sonia Nieto – Retired Professor of University of Massachusetts Amherst & Acclaimed Writer Finding Joy in Teaching Students of Diverse Backgrounds

Poverty is linked to 4 aspects: -Lack of Resources- in home & school -Poor Infrastructures- in schools & society -Racism and Personal and Institutional Biases- testing, poor outreach to some and too much outreach to others, lack of involvement - Unfair bureaucratic policies and practices

Teachers can make a huge difference in a child’s education and Dr. Nieto’s lecture talked about how, but she also put out the disclaimer that teachers can’t do it all and that other things like funding and regulations need to change as well.

__Social Justice__- These words are written in the standards and walls of almost every school Dr. Nieto has visit but what does social justice really mean and is it present?

Characteristics of Highly Qualified Teachers: -what aspects other than test scores, certification, and subject content knowledge make a “highly qualified” teacher · A sense of mission · Solidarity and empathy for your students · The courage to question mainstream knowledge and conventional wisdom · Improvisation- much like jazz where a structured rhythm is played softly below a improvisational solo that connects to the rhythm

Goals to Beginning Faculty Student Conversation · Creating a “safe” but not “comfortable” space · Engaging in “dangerous” discourse- this may occasionally make a classroom uncomfortable bt only to excite learning and growth · Sharing experiences through collaborative reading, discussions, and research

__What is Social Justice?__ · Equality in resources -Material resources- books, curriculum, financial support -emotional rescources- belief in students ability, worth, and care- have and set high expectations for your students · Drawing on the resources, talent, and strengths that students bring to their education- respecting a student’s personal development before he/she enters the classroom Highly qualified teachers? I believe the teachers that are considered to be highly qualified teachers are teachers that connect and motivate their students. It seems like there is a shortage of highly qualified students that are not motivating their students to challenge themselves and set benchmarks for them. Teachers should also have detailed lesson plans and be able to think on their feet to be constantly changing their curriculum when alterations are needed to be made in the classroom. Teachers with a lot of background experience, such as substitution and student teach are more apt to make proper decision when problems need to be addressed. There are also many teachers out there that are very educated but lack the basic fundamentals and the teaching cues to really move their students in ways other teachers can’t. (Greg Grochowski)

__Lessons on Social Justice and Solidarity through Dr. Nieto’s Work with Boston Teachers__ · Social Justice as Advocacy- Dr. Nieto talked about a teacher who taught the civil rights movement by direct connection to the governmentally controversial battle for bilingual education in Boston - Young people have rights to: their identities, and their languages · Social Justice as Socio-cultural Mediation · Solidarity as High Expectations · Solidarity as Trust- Stresses the importance of gaining trust with your students · Solidarity as Humility- Dr. Nieto spoke here of Teacher and Writer of such greats as “Black Ants and Buddhists” by Mary Cowhey and how as a teacher she gain humility, respect, and understanding of her students by meeting with their family at their own home the month before school began

· Solidarity as deep Connection with students’ identities- here Dr. Nieto stressed the benefits of going through the process of learning a new language and the benefits it has of not only being able to physically understand a ELL student more but understanding their struggle and gaining respect for them as they gain more respect for you

__What can we Learn from the Teachers?__ · Question Current Reform · Go Beyond the Templates, tests and standards · Sitting around and talking about what you’re doing in the classroom with other teachers is a hugely important and effective way to both grow as a teacher and continue have a passion and commitment for the job · The relationships we form with those we teach is crucial- admiration and respect __Notes on after lecture Questions and Conversation with Dr. Love__ · With relation to with recently happened with a school in Rhode Island and the involvement of CCSU faculty in the New Britain Board of Education, Dr. Nieto encourage that more teachers get involved with town and educational politics · Dr. Neito stressed how important small class size is to productive teaching and how that it must be on the agenda of educational reform · Dr. Love conclude with saying we must ask ourselves what can we do that we really does matter in the classroom, and how do we advocate it and keep it going? Things like: - Trust - Being Human – Fair Discipline (Chris Kyle- P.S. I didn't know I was going to be the Note Taker so I did the best I could with what I had wrote down. Feel Free to add/adjust according to your notes.)

//__**Notes continued from Dr. Love’s Lecture 3/2/10-**__ (Tara Gleason)// Bilingual Education- Teachers are with the same students in own classroom for about 1 ½ to 2 years. Here the focus is on English language, grammar, phonemic and phonological awareness. ELL classes- specialized team that works with students. ELL is different in every district. -TEAM- replaces the BEST program/portfolio. ( A change in the system) -Dr. Sonia Nieto- said that language will be done for if we don’t do, then nothing will be done, rely on what will be done. -What we’re doing now isn’t the best approach. Why it’s bad? How can it be changed? -NCLB- is a local decision. Arnie Duncan. -Other civilized countries. There is a notion of local government, vast majority, of what should be taught. A state curriculum, with state tests, and CT standards. This is mirrored in state tests and common testing. -Children/teachers are fearful of failing. There isn’t an official state curriculum, but there is still a lot of decisions that need to be made as a group. -There is also a gap that hasn’t closed. There is a dent in it, we have made small wiggles. Yes, there are many levels of injustice and an achievement gap that is equal to the socio-economic gap. -Taking for instance the city of New Britain, there is a lot of issues going on. What are they? -Even in Hartford, it’s a strong society, but with a 30% poverty rate. -There are arguments that we are putting out. -There’re so many thing that we can do, that do matter in a classroom, but how can you advocate them? -How do you create meaningful learning, and how well can you articulate it? -What type of education is working in classrooms now? The way to start is by having good relationships, being compassionate with children and families.
 * __Issues around language-__ **
 * In California- 35 million- cut the ELL programs. Why do you think this is?
 * __Engaging towards high-quality performance-__ **
 * __Some questions to consider and put into perspective…__**

**Clarifications for the class notes this week** :

**Clarifications, points, and questions work pursuing for future weeks (Extend the discussion from this week's class):** I was really intrigued with Dr. Nieto's point of engaging in what she called "dangerous discourse" by having the students in engage in material or questions that are temporarily outside the personal comfort zone. I feel this is such an important step in making a learning experience memorable and more powerful. By putting your students in these uncomfortable environments, in the words of Piaget they will strive to form equilibrium and will be forced to adapt to the changes and either accommodate or assimilate to the new information, ultimately growing beyond themselves. Not to be a brown noser, but I can see these same strategies being played out in the discourse and syllabus of EDF 415; and I feel it directly correlates to the effectiveness of the learning experience. (Chris Kyle)

Another thing that we discussed after the lecture was the amount of teacher's being fired from schools when they aren't doing as well as they "should be." I cannot understand why anyone would think that firing these teachers would make anything better. First of all, these teachers have developed a community within the school and many have great bonds with their students. I think that outsiders are so quick to blame the teachers that they forget where these issues stem from. It is not the teachers (generally speaking), it is society. In addition to this breaking up the school community and spirit, it is also costing schools a lot of money to fire and rehire these new teachers; money that would be much better served on enhancing the students education. Sonia was very passionate about her ideas and it was clear to me that even though she is retired there is still a bright spark in her that shows in her feelings about children and education. Sometimes I feel bitter about the state of our educational system but hearing Sonia's words reminded me that there are so many people that are ready and willing to make a change. (Sarah Rousseau)

I also really enjoyed the lecture by Sonia Nieto on Tuesday. I completely agreed with her when she said everyone should be exposed to diversity and different cultures at one point or another. It is essential for teachers to experience this, too, before teaching a classroom full of students from different backgrounds. I liked her response to Dr. Clark's question, that possible interview questions for the Education Program should be "Do you have any experience working with people from different backgrounds and are you willing to work with students of diverse backgrounds?" I also liked her idea of whenever someone was absent in her classes, she would have that student go into a situation where he was the minority and write about it. She also said that people and teachers are "too comfortable" today. Another professor of mine, Dr. Clark, really encourages being pushed outside our comfort zone, and that is what Sonia's comment reminded me of. We need to be put in different situations so we are not surprised and prepared to face anything that comes our way as future teachers. (Katya Lagun)

I feel the lecture by Sonia Nieto was inspiring. I think that cultural exposure is a very important and significant part of life. Teachers and educators need to be aware of their surroundings and know that everyone comes from different kinds of life. It is hard to think about but needs need to be totally aware of any biases they may hold or any type of subconscious prejudices they may have. If all teachers are completely exposed this at one point then they will know how to respond. She seemed to be passionate and this helped me to connect to her through this experience. I agree with Sarah when she said that it remind her that there are people out there to change the way things are going and there are people out there who are this compassionate. We need to all take this iniative and maybe it will make a difference in the world. (Allie Beardsworth)

I think it was interesting that there are 4 aspects to which poverty is linked to. A lack of resources, poor infrastructures, racism and personal and institutional biases, and unfair bureaucratic policies and practices. As future teachers we are able to see this lack of resources. Not having the resources at home to help the child learn and practice hinders them when they walk into their first day of school. They may not have the computer access, books, or English speaking parents which are all resources needed at home to help learn. It is also then seen in schools in poverty stricken areas. They do not have the materials students need in order to learn to their full potential. I agree with what Dr. Nieto is saying that in order to change this we need a change in funding and regulations. Just is interesting to me that if we know what is holding these students back, and we know where we should start to make changes, why haven't we? (Kristie Fergusson)

I thought the speech given by Sonia Nieto sparked alot of interesting points especially about social justice and solidarity. The importance of being able to recognize that teachers alone simply cannot make the changes that are so much needed in school systems today was stressed by Dr. Nieto and I think that this emphasis should certainly be voiced all over because people just aren't getting it! Collaborating with the community, other teachers, parents, students, and so on is key for being able to put together any kind of reforming in schools, and especially with helping to give students the most they can have for their education. I also agreed with Dr. Nieto about teachers or future teachers being more comfortable with and exposed to diversity. In today's society, there is alot of diversity and I can see where she is coming from when posed a question of concern regarding "how ready teachers are" to be involved with such a diverse group of students. Going beyond ones familiarities and broadening ones horizons is really what teachers need to do as well as be open minded and accepting. The only way to move forward is to leave behind the biases and realize the real prolems we are facing. (Mandy Lucente)

I enjoyed the speach given by Sonia Nieto, I think she brought up a number of points that are very important. One of her ideas that really stood out to me was being exposed to the different types of communities. It is important for a teacher to go outside of his or her comfort zone and experience the different levels of diversity. One of the individuals she brought up in her speech was Mary Cowhey. I'm reading her book __Black Ants and Buddhists__ for Dr. Clark's EDTE class. Before each school year begins, Mary schedules times with each of the families of the students in her class where she goes to visit them at their homes. This is an example of going outside of one's comfort zone and building relationships within the community. In this situation, Mary is venturing out of her comfort zone to learn more about the students and get a better understanding of where they come from. She is able to meet the student's parent(s) early on which allows for an open line of communication at the start of the school year. Dr. Nieto also brought up the point of how important social justice is. I also agree that this is an important factor in education, however it is a money issue. Children across the nation are not receiving the same educational materials, which I think plays into the quality of the education they are getting. I think this is a difficult aspect to achieve with the way money is being distributed. The final point that Dr. Nieto brought up that stood out was how teachers alone cannot make changes. I believe this statement is very true and I think it shows how important it is that everyone including teachers, parents, community members, board members, ecetera works together in order to do what is best for the students. (Allie French)

I was unable to attend Dr. Sonia Nieto's talk last week so I appreciate the detailed notes both Chris and Tara provided. I guess I have one question and perhaps someone who attended the talk could provide me with more information. In the beginning of the notes it states that Dr. Nieto lists 4 links to poverty I am curious about her 3rd reason when she claims that there is a lack of involvement. I wonder where this lack of involvement is coming from. I would imagine that there are several factors in this but does she mean lack of involvement in general or specifically in schools? If she is talking about schools, is it lack of involvement on the school's part or the family's part, the teacher's part or the student's? I sure there could be many answers to this and based on the notes it seems at though she touched upon many different issues, social, political, in education, but the lack of involvement piece made me think and perhaps someone has further information. (Laura Vagnini)

In response to Sarah R.'s post, I also think that the firing of teachers within schools is probably the most ridiculous thing that has happened and that is still continuing to happen today. If teachers are not meeting certain standards and their students are not either, why should the blame be placed on these teachers who are trying to make an effort to help the children gain success in their education? What if the same thing happens when new teachers are rehired? Will they be fired as well and this vicious cycle just keeps on continuing until what is defined as "success" is reached by all children? I believe that this firing and rehiring of teachers is only hurting students' education even more because it probably takes a toll on them when they need to see a teacher who they made bonds with in a classroom community, as Sarah had mentioned, leave. Are students just supposed to keep being placed in those situations where the teacher is taken out of the picture each time because of their "faults." In response to Sonia Nieto's visit, I think she is an extremely passionate woman about teaching and can inspire many to make significant changes in our schools today. Just when many of us may think all hope is lost, we can listen to Sonia and realize that there is hope in our schools; when we think that there are many people who are not yet stepping up to make changes, there are just that same amount of people that ARE ready! (Danielle Velodota)

I was not able to attend the presentation, but I think the note takers did a great job of summarizing the class. I was reflecting on the part that addressed what makes a highly qualified teacher, and I was wondering how I could shape myself to be better qualified. . · A sense of mission · Solidarity and empathy for your students · The courage to question mainstream knowledge and conventional wisdom · Improvisation- much like jazz where a structured rhythm is played softly below a improvisational solo that connects to the rhythm These are great aspects to improve on, but then again I believe they are fundamental and if we did not all embody some of these qualities we would not want to be educators. (Elisabeth dos Santos)

Highly qualified teacher? I believe the teachers that are considered to be highly qualified teachers are teachers that connect and motivate their students. It seems like there is a shortage of highly qualified students that are not motivating their students to challenge themselves and set benchmarks for them. Teachers should also have detailed lesson plans and be able to think on their feet to be constantly changing their curriculum when alterations are needed to be made in the classroom. Teachers with a lot of background experience, such as substitution and student teach are more apt to make proper decision when problems need to be addressed. There are also many teachers out there that are very educated but lack the basic fundamentals and the teaching cues to really move their students in ways other teachers can’t.

I was not able to attend the speaker's presentation however through the notes that my classmates took I was able to get a understanding of what was discussed. I liked the point that was made in the class notes, "Teachers can make a huge difference in a child’s education and Dr. Nieto’s lecture talked about how, but she also put out the disclaimer that teachers can’t do it all and that other things like funding and regulations need to change as well ". I think it shows how much of an impact teachers have on student's lives but also that there is a lot that needs to come from the higher powers. Teaching is a very important career because of the influence you have on so many young children and adults but it needs to be emphasized that teacher's cannot do everything. Help needs to be given in state funding and regulations because these things do make a big difference! (Emily Hungerford)

I agree with Sarah, I do no understand how individuals think that firing teachers would make the situation at hand any better. The society should take responsibility and stop blaming teachers.These people are in denial and they blame others to make themselves feel better. The teachers are not the issue. I also think it is important for future teacher to be exposed to diversity prior to teaching. While I was observing a physical education class last semester there was a Jewish boy in the class who was very religious and was wearing a yarmulke, a small hat on top of his head. The teacher not realizing the importance of his hat or his culture asked the boy to remove it, telling him that it is very inappropriate for physical education class. Without realizing it, this teacher greatly offended the student. For situations like this I think it is important for teachers to gain as much multicultural experience as possible prior to teaching. This will allow teachers to better relate to and understand their students. (Kari M)

I just wanted to reiterate what I grasped from the video lecture of Dr. Nieto. What defines a highly qualified teacher?/ Why good teachers stay teaching for so long: "Sense of mission; Sense of vocation; Sense of empathy, caring about the students; Courage to question mainstream knowledge; Expanded horizons/ Social networks; Structure within Improvisation (engage through conversation); Students remember their relationships with teachers over the lessons; Passion for social justice; Create Safe Environment, however, also make the classroom uncomfortable sometimes to push students and face fears (engage in dangerous discourse), and make them look within themselves. Collaboration with peers and co-workers." -I really wanted to just reiterate this part of the lecture because it had the greatest impact on me. Especially the part about creating an uncomfortable, safe classroom environment. You always here about creating a safe environment, but rarely are we told to create an uncomfortable one. But she's right, in order to get students to look within themselves, appreciate what they have, and open their own horizons we need to bring up discourse and have them face their fears. (Jessica Roberts)

I really liked and agreed with when Sonia Nieto said that everyone should be exposed to diversity sometime throughout their life. I feel that experiencing diversity is important to everyone especially teachers. Teachers should experience other cultures before they step into their very diverse classroom in a very diverse school. Having prior exposure to different diverse cultures can be really beneficial to teachers because they will not be as unprepared when they step into their classroom for the first time. I was also intrigued by the conversation that we had in class about firing teachers that are not getting test scores up. I agree with Sarah and also feel that firing these teachers will not fix anything. These teachers have already formed a relationship with the students, the community and the families of the students in her classroom. If we fire all of the teachers that cannot get their test scores up just to higher new teachers to fill their place it will cause a change in the classroom environment and the teacher will have to get used to new students and the students will have to get used to a new teacher. I feel that firing the teachers is not the answer to the problem that schools are having. The schools need to find a better solution to their problems that does not included firing all of their teachers. (Jessica Morneault)

"Another thing that we discussed after the lecture was the amount of teacher's being fired from schools when they aren't doing as well as they "should be." I cannot understand why anyone would think that firing these teachers would make anything better." I would like to add opn to this statement that was elaborated upon already by one ofmy classmates. It is tough to say whether or not these teachers should be fired or not. We aren't in these districts and actually seeing these teachers teach first hand. But are the ones doing the fireing seeing the teaching first hand either? Or are they makeing their decisions of whether or not these teachers have jobs soley on test results? There is so much more than meets the eye in these particular situations it seems. Administrators, in fear of keeping their own jobs, seem to be installing blame on the teachers for progress and feeding this information to the media in hopes of keeping the light off of their own backs. The problems in most cases are nearly impossible for teachers to solve and are put in these situations by adminastration themselevs. With issues from overpopulated schools to insentive pay enforced by Obama, teachers are scrambling for order. It just appears to be unfair for all of this blame to be set forth on teachers when in most cases, aren't eqquipped with proper funds or resources to effectively teach a class full of diverse students. Let alone if these classrooms are overpopulated. I am guessing that in this day in age, chances are that they are. (Nick C.)


 * Responses to the "Bridging Differences" Blog found at : [] Be sure to clearly state which posting you are referring to.** ** Just as a reminder, everyone needs to post something in this category as well as at least one in the one of the above categories. ** ** You should have two postings total this week. **

I would like to highlight and reflect on Deborah's Febuary 25 blog, "Divided We Fail". After talking about President Obama's trip to South Korea which hardened his feelings on the Reach to the Top program and education for the global market, Deborah reacted by saying that a better way to motivate the young is by incorporating and setting more standards. I was under the assumption that the push toward standards and high stakes test was a part of the horrors of NCLB and was confused to read Deborah saying she was for there place in education. Mabye I am misunderstanding her point or mabye she is talking about standards in regards to changing the current standards to something that makes for assesing knowledge and student performance on a different level than tests. Standards are an important way of creating equality in the overall education of children within a district or state but too many and the creativity of the teacher, the discourse and the students growth can be hindered or capped. Can anyone react to my thoughts on what Deborah said? (Chris Kyle)

My response is to the March 2nd post entitled, "Today Is Publication Day". I was ecstatic when Diane brought up the fact that teachers should not receive all the blame if the school is performing poorly. I have brought it up in my blogs and other posts that teachers have so much pressure on them from the school board, the principal, the parents, the community and the list goes on. All they're trying to do is keep their jobs and be with the kids! Kozol even mentions this in his book and the teachers he quotes is further proof. Most of those teachers don't agree with what's happening in their school and think it's awful and should be changed, but who is there to listen to them? No one. They are in such a dilemma because either they teach to the test like their principal and the school board asks them and they in turn go against and abandon everything they believe that teaching should be, OR they stay true to their own beliefs about teaching and they get fired for not cooperating and "going against the system" and trying to help the kids instead of torturing them. Diane is absolutely correct in saying that by placing all the blame on the teachers, we're letting everyone else off the hook and saying that parents, media, and society don't play a role in the children's education. That is why so many schools are being shut down; because people are forgetting all the other factors which contribute to the children's life and education and ONLY blaming the teachers. This needs to stop and people need to take responsibility, but of course it's always easier to blame someone else instead of yourself. (Katya Lagun)

My response is to the March 2nd post titled, "Today is Publication Day". Like Katya I was happy to see that Diane mentioned that teacher's should not be receiving all of the blame for the low test scores in school. I think that looking at how school's have turned their curriculums into "teaching for the test" is sad. What happened to the creativity in the classroom, what happened to making connections to ideas that children could relate to in order for them to learn through experience? Teacher's have so much pressure on them because the fingers are being pointed at them too often that they are forgetting who they are when they teach. An important part of having so many different teachers in a school system is that they all bring something different to the curriculum. When so many of them are scared to lose their jobs by not comforming to teaching for the test, what is left? The students are being punished for low test scores by having business like curriculums. These things need to change. (Emily Hungerford)

In response to the post titled "Today is Publication Day" I feel so strongly that Diane is right about test scores affecting people's outlook on educators and schools and that teachers should not get all the blame for poorly performing schools. I feel that, and I have mentioned this so many times before, all the authorities and people who hold the finances are pushing teachers to teach for the test. Like Emily said, we need some change in the curriculum. We can teach what the standards state we should teach but in some ways we should be able to teach it the way we want to teach it. I feel that students will learn the best if the teachers teaching to the best of their ability and how can we do this when all the pressure is to teach the way they want us to teach. The low test scores can be because of these reasons. And who's fault is this? Is this the teachers faults or the authorities fault like the principals or the person above them. I feel that instead of blaming the teachers or the students for the scores, maybe everyone needs to look at the bigger picture of things. (Allie Beardsworth)

My response is the the March 2, 2010 post titled, "Today Is Publication Day" by Diane. Overall, I think the book is going to get mixed reviews. For those individuals who believe that testing is the best way to go, I think they are going to negatively critacize the book. I personally think that Diane is mentioning a number of important issues. I am in agreeance with Diane when she says that she doesn't believe that there are as many terrible teachers in the school system as people make it out to be. I will say that I think there are some individuals who should have found other professions, but I think there are a number of teachers out there who are where they should be. When people who are not involved in the education system call teachers "terrible", I do not think they realize how restricted they are. Teachers have to abide by a certain curriculum and focus on meeting a certain score for standardized tests. I think there are a number of teachers that would teach other things and with different strategies had they not have to worry about stupid test scores. Today, teachers are under a great deal of pressure, and I think they're the first to be criticized. This idea also relates to the most recent firing of all the teachers at the school in Rhode Island. I find it hard to believe that the entire teaching staff in that school was filled with terrible teachers who just weren't doing their job effectively. I also have to agree with Diane and Katya that teachers are the first to be blamed. Many people do not take into account the number of other individuals also involved in the education system. I think teachers become the major target because they are the easiest to blame. I think it is important for people to not point fingers unless they know their hands are clean, and in many situations there a number of different people to blame. Even when something is not a teacher's fault, they are most likely to be blamed anyway. (Allie French)

Reflections from the Feb 25 - Deborah - "Divided We Fail" entry. "Parents, teachers, and kids are fighting each other over who is invading whose turf, who belongs, who is an insider vs. an outsider." Also debates about the efforts to improve teacher quality and expanding schools... where should the spending go? All this revolves around competition. The U.S. apparently is competing with Korea, or at least Korea wants to out-compete American children in education. But American corporations poor their money into Korea and China which aids them in their competition, so American corporations don't really care who comes out on top. Teacher's, therefore, should not just focus on the standards, but teach children good traits and good work that they can be proud of and be successful doing. Although I think Deborah wants to base achievement on test scores, they may be a convenient way to compare educational success against other countries, but not necessarily the success of a student, in my opinion. I like at the end of the article how she brings up comparing our past with present, and how even though we all share a common goal, to improve education in America, but that it should not dismiss the importance of competition and argumentation, because these are actually critical and useful for progression and change. (Jessica Roberts)

My response is to Feb. 23, The Problem with Charters. Diane explains that there is an existing school up with 46% graduate from this school. They are now so willing to replace this school with a new charter. What I think is wrong, and I agree with Diane, is that they should start by trying to help this existing school instead of taking it down and replacing it with a school that could potentially do worse. There is so little known about this school with data because it is so new, so we dont know if this charter will do better than the school it is replacing. This school has a rate of almost half of its students graduating, which I feel can be improved with just a few changes. This other school is involved in other scandels and will probably just end up coasting more money and problems. I just feel that there is no need to rush and take down one school before trying to fix the problems and improve it. There is no need to replace it with another school that we dont know as much about and can cause more problems. The differences with these two schools is a lot too. The school they want to take down is getting these students ready for jobs while this other will, "use the building trades as an academic theme, discussing architecture in global history class and asking students to write essays about opportunities in construction." I agree with Diane that these charters may cause more harm than help. (Kristie Fergusson)

This week I decided to read Deb’s response, “It’s Not Too Late…Probably” to Diane’s new book. What struck me most in the first few paragraphs was what she said about the history of education. Often we think that education has taken a turn for the worst. I find myself thinking this at times, especially when I hear horror stories about the “Best Program”, standardized testing, etc. Deb has reminded me that, in reality, education has come a very long way. Even though there are still some atrocities that are ever present in our schools, the aura surrounding school grows. I think that more and more people are beginning to respect teachers and appreciate what they do on a day to day basis. Teaching is not a profession that you leave on the door step when you come home at night; it is a life’s mission and quite a serious commitment. I have started to go off on a tangent but I really liked that Deb put this into perspective. I also liked that she said that parents, teachers and students must all have a voice in order for schools to be successful. I absolutely agree that this may be the only way to get education back on track. The response was hopeful and every so often it is nice to know that there are so many others out there that care about education and are ready and willing to make a difference. (Sarah Rousseau)

I read in Diane and Deborah's blog, Today Is Publication Day from March 2nd, 2010. Here Diane is writing to Deborah about the book that she is publishing and mentions about “accountability and choice are now the official strategies for school reform, as they have been since the passage of No Child Left Behind.” I agree with her when she reveals her stance that “we are on the wrong track”. I see it in my field experience, I see the lowered standards. I see the skill-and-drill teaching and learning. I see what this has created. I liked the visual that Diane also put into her blog for her readers. How schools are “turning over public school children to private managers who may use screening mechanisms to skim the best students and/or get rid of the weakest, and then trumpet their results”. I thought about Spring’s book that we have been reading because really how are we improving American education? What are we setting them up for, well I can say one thing we aren’t setting them up for success, and we aren’t promoting any “real” learning. (Tara Gleason)

In response to the March 4th post I agree with the statement that the public and private schools have failed to provide what they have promised. The original purpose of education was to provide intellectual, social, and political power to "the people" that good education should, but it did not. Why not what went wrong? And should that really be the purpose of education? I believe the new purpose of education is to provide students with the education and tools they need to succeed… And maybe their goal is to be in power but that is for the students to decide. (Elisabeth dos Santos)

I really like Sarah R. comment on Deb's response to Diane's new book. I too read the article and then followed down to Diane's "Today is Publication Day" (March 2,2010). Its as if I finally understood the title of the blog "Bridging Differences", as much as these ladies are on opposite sides of the spectrums they both can agree with one another on certain topics. The maturity Diane explores when she states that she used to be a hardcore conservative and can now look back and reflect is very insperational. If only so many politicians and parents could go back and remember their child hood and their education I believe the finger wouldn't be so directed toward teachers. How ever Diane put it so well when she said "blaming the teachers lets everyone off the hook." As a soon to be teacher I feel look forward to the "ah ha" moment when everyone will be on the same page. Through the help of "Bridging Differences" anything is possible we just can't wait for someone to make us do it we need to do it ourselves with out being asked.(Tim Walczak)

In response to what Tim is saying, and responding to Diane’s post on March 2, 2010, one of her comments strikes me as profoundly depressing. She says, “The emphasis on accountability is leading to lowered standards (which inflate results), dumbed-down tests (which inflate results), gaming the system (which inflates results), and cheating.” This makes me think of the class discussion from a few weeks ago when we were discussing the Physical Education test in schools today and how those standards have been lowered drastically. Students could not meet the requirements and therefore they had to do less and less because it looked better for the school and district. Now, a huge push in schools and particularly P.E., is reversing childhood obesity. I am not saying that the lowered standards are what caused or lead to childhood obesity but are they correlated? I would say so. Now this makes me think what will the future for these students look like who have gone through this process of ‘dumbed-down’ tests? When are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot? (Laura Vagnini)

The main part of the blog from the March 4th posting "It's Not Too Late....Probably" that really grabbed my attention, was the notion of putting a great amount of responsibility and relying heavily on strictly faculty within the school system to find ways to best serve the students. So is this implying that teachers simply are the ones to blame? When test scores aren't at the levels they need to be at, or when one particular school turns out as a "failing" school, is this all the teachers fault? The impression I get from this response is that no matter how unmotivated students might be, no matter how uninvolved or absent parents or the community might be, and no matter how reluctant the government or officials are to disperse funds equally. it's still comes down to the teachers. I completely disagree with this assumption that everything lies in the hands of the faculty. I also thought it was somewhat humorous as to how easy she was making it sound to solve all the problems education faces. "Holding faculty responsible as a community to put together strategies that would help the actual students in front of them solve the acutal problems facing them".To me. the major problem with this ever so easy seeming solution is the question of whether or not individuals can honestly say they even know the problems which are present? I feel like all the people who are putting the blame on teachers move too quick beyond their own thoughts to come to an absurb solution that isn't really a solution, it is simply more pressure and guilt that teachers have to carry when they are all of a sudden labeled as "bad" or "ineffective" teachers when something goes wrong. (Mandy Lucente)

Also responding to the March 4th post by Deb, my attention was caught by a paragraph she wrote about standardized testing. Deb mentions how students and schools are defined by these tests. all year is focused on these few weeks of testing, yet the teachers don't get the tests til the day they have to give them and the results take months to get back. Many of the students have already moved on before the results come in. I can't see how this is productive. Teachers are trying to focus their lessons for this testing but ow can you when you can only guess what is on the test. You have no control of what they ask or how they ask it, and that is the problem. hat happens to the students that can explain the concept verbally and put it to use but can't answer a multiple choice question. We have to fit to these standards because money for the school and reputations depend on it. I hope that in the future there won't be as much pressure for the tests. I understand we want to make sure that all students are getting the right knowledge and are able to learn at their level, but take some of the pressure of by taking away the threats of money and and resources because the schools that don;t hav them need them the most. (Kelly Bates)

In responding to My response is to "Today is Publication Day" which is dated March 2, 2010. In this blog between Deborah and Diane, Diane talks of a book she has just recently published. An important quote that I took from what Diane had to say was, "Accountability and choice are now the official strategies for school reform, as they have been since the passage of No Child Left Behind. I look at the evidence for their effectiveness and conclude that we are on the wrong track. The emphasis on accountability is leading to lowered standards (which inflate results), dumbed-down tests (which inflate results), gaming the system (which inflates results), and cheating (ditto)." This quote reminds me of my experience in my field site from last semester. Students really aren't given high standards to meet anymore; it seems as though all that matters is that as long as tests are passed and teachers "look good," then that is all that matters. I never thought much about this before but after seeing how this is really true it makes me wonder why does students' educations need to consist of this? Why must the standards be lowered? I truly believe it now when Diane mentions how we are on the "wrong track." It seems as though this "track" is going to continue forever in circles unless American education is strengthened. How can students' knowledge in school be creatively measured if the educational system is being cheated? In order to succeed in the real world, children need to be actively challenged in their daily lives at school. If the educational system is not providing this for them, then who will? (Danielle Velodota)

My response is to the March 2nd post titled, "Today is Publication Day". This issue is one that has been brought up multiple times. I have read about it in our books, listened to speakers and am not reading blogs about this issue. I do not understand why no one seems to be listening to this on going issue. What do we as teachers need to do in order for this to be terminated? This is ultimately affecting the students, they are going to be great test takers but only know a limited amount of material. I believe school systems are too focused on their reputation and statistics. If they lower the standards and more students are able to pass then the society tends to be happier because more students passed thinking, the teachers must be doing something right even if the same students received the same exact scores the year before. It makes no since to me how this is acceptable. (Kari M)

My response is to the March 2nd post that is titled "Today is Publication Day" that was written by Diane. I agree with Diane when she wrote that accountability is "leading to lower standards dumbed-down tests, gaming the system, and cheating". I also agree that accountability and choice are pointing us down the wrong track. I think this book will be beneficial for teachers and other educators to read because her hope for the book "is that it will provoke a counteroffensive against misguided policies". I feel this book would also be interesting to read because Diane says that the goal of her book "is to discredit the current knee-jerk reaction of editorialists and public officials, who blame teachers for everything that goes wrong in the schools". (Jessica Morneault)

"Also responding to the March 4th post by Deb, my attention was caught by a paragraph she wrote about standardized testing. Deb mentions how students and schools are defined by these tests. all year is focused on these few weeks of testing, yet the teachers don't get the tests til the day they have to give them and the results take months to get back." In responce to this post, I would have to say that a test does not define someone. Espeacially in middle or elementary school. These tests are solely for the media and show very little abouta students cognitive worth rather than the ability to actually take the test itself. It is quite obvious about the purpose of these tests. Lets just take the constant lowering of standards for instance. This is being done so that more students can pass so that a school can have higher statistics to put in the newspaper. It may seem like schools are doing better but in fact, the standards were just lowered and kids could be doing worse. But it doesnt APPEAR that way. Are students really getting smarter? Or is administration makeing it easier, so that they can look like the heroes? (Nick C)