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Chapter 8- School Performance

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            When parents imagine their ideal family the children are wonderful students, earning straight A’s easily and with no assistance from their parents.  They independently complete their homework on time, study for tests and flawlessly remember all that they are taught.  Unfortunately, the number of students who really fit into this dream is very small.  Some children come to this world with an innate knowledge of how to achieve in school and have the drive to do so, but this is the exception, not the rule.  Most public schools are run on the assumption that children all have the skills and desire to learn in a traditional classroom setting.  The teacher teaches, students complete and turn in assignments, then pass tests to show their knowledge retained.  The sad reality, however, is that only a small percentage of school aged children learn this way without a great deal of adult prompting and training.  All children have skills and talents, but not all skills and talents are evident in a traditional classroom.  Alternative schools of all different types have been experimented with, achieving varying degrees of success.  However, by and large most children in this country are educated in a traditional public school.  As imperfect as this system is, it does have a long history of giving the large majority of our population the basics they need in reading and math and the basic values of our society.  Good or bad, public education in its present form is probably here to stay for a good long time, so it behooves parents to make the best of what is available.

            I have been on all sides of the school performance issue as a parent, a teacher and an administrator in private and public schools.  As a parent I have had children for whom achieving high grades came naturally, and I have had children who struggled greatly at all levels.  As a teacher and administrator I have worked with children in private schools who have been given all the advantages, and I have worked with children in public schools for whom all the cards seemed stacked against them.  There is no surefire way to make sure that children learn and are successful academically, however there are many strategies that can help.  By and large the best way to help children be successful is to build a partnership between parent and educator.  Let your school administrators and teachers get to know you.  Volunteer in the classroom, and show up to open houses and parent conferences.  You would be surprised at how differently teachers look at children just based on how well they know the parents.  Teachers try to be impartial; however as human beings they constantly make judgments and decisions.  A good relationship with parents will often tip the scales in favor of a teacher giving a child extra help or extra consideration on timelines and grading.

            In addition to getting to know teachers, parents should also develop open communication between home and school.  This can be difficult on both sides as teachers and parents both have busy lives, but there are some tricks to achieve this.  In the following paragraphs you will find some strategies that I have used, or seen used, to establish and keep the lines of communication open.  In addition, you will find strategies to help your child learn to be organized and be responsible for himself.  Remember, your ultimate goal is to raise a responsible, independent adult.  The ideas below will help guide your child toward this goal.

The Backpack- The First Line of Communication

Backpacks are almost universally used by children today to carry belongings to and from school.  Plan to use your child’s backpack as a way to find out what is going on and to communicate with your child’s teacher.  You should also use the backpack as a tool to help your child learn to get and keep organized. 

The first day of school you will probably fill your child’s backpack with all of the items that your child needs to be successful from the start.  This starts your child off with an expectation of organization, and some simple steps can help continue this expectation.  The next step you should take it to look through the backpack every day after school.  Some children are born organized and will dutifully bring you important papers and notices, but most are not.  It is simply amazing what you can find in a child’s backpack.  Children who are not required to organize and take care of their belongings develop their own unique way of coping with all of the items they amass in a school year.  Children who do not have a natural talent for organization usually fall into one of two categories, “stuffers” (they just keep stuffing things in the backpack until no more will fit) or “tossers” (they throw everything away).  Stuffers cannot find anything because it is in a mangled mess at the bottom of the backpack, and tossers don’t have anything to find.  If you will take the few minutes to go through your child’s backpack and take out the items that need to stay at home and fill it with the items needed for the next day you will ensure better home-school communication and help your child learn to be organized.  As your child matures you should gradually have her take over the job of backpack management.  The goal is to teach your child to clean out the backpack each day, and get it ready for the next as part of their evening routine.  This will require adult instruction and modeling, however if these are done at an early age your child will learn to be organized and give you important communications from school.

The Planner

Today many schools provide a planner for their students.  If yours does not, buy one and require that your child use it.  If you purchase a planner get one that is specifically made for the age of your child.  It should include a section to organize daily assignments and have a place for periods for middle and high school students.  It should also include a monthly calendar and a place to keep a to-do list.  Young children can use individual pages to use as a weekly planner, but children in the middle to upper grades should have a school year planner.  Children need to learn what to write in a planner and how to use it properly.  They need to understand that a planner is more than a list of homework due, it is a way to keep track of all that is going on in class and will be an ongoing record of past assignments.  I require my own children and students to write in their planner every day for each class that they have.  If they are assigned homework they write what the assignment is and when it is due.  If no homework is assigned they are to write a brief note of what they did in class.  Teach your child that the planner pages should not be ripped out or destroyed after the days have passed.  Sometimes valuable information can be gained from past planner pages if assignments were missed or not turned in.

The planner can also be used as a great communication tool.  Teachers and parents can use this tool to communicate about student assignments and behavior.  One of the nice things about using the planner is that the communications are automatically dated and they are saved in a place that is accessible to all.  This assures clear communication between home and school and it makes it clear to the child that communication will continue between home and school.

The planner can also be used to help your child with long-term planning.  Many planners come with a school calendar printed at the front.  Go through the dates and make sure that important dates, such as school holidays and semester, trimester or quarter beginning and ending dates are written on the planner pages.  When your child receives an assignment that will need to be done over a long period of time help him break it into smaller parts and determine goals for completing each part.  Have him write these “due dates” into the planner, and work toward completing each part of the project in a timely manner.

Of course a planner is of no use if it is “lost” or adults do not look at it or read it.  Your child should be responsible for her own planner, however associate its use to privileges at home.  My children were required to show me their planner fully filled out each day as part of their daily jobs.  We would talk about what they did in each class that day, what assignments they needed to work on or study and then make a plan for using their time wisely.  Require that your child get a teacher signature if you send a note in the planner.  If your child’s teacher knows you use this tool it will encourage him to use it also.

Electronic Communication

            Today’s fast paced society has made it difficult for parents and teachers to touch base and keep in touch, however many schools try to keep pace with the newest technology to help open the lines of communication.  Voice mail, e-mail and on-line attendance and grading programs make it possible for parents and teachers to keep in touch without meeting face-to-face.  Find out what resources are available at your child’s school and take advantage of them.

Notes and Weekly Progress Reports

Sometimes you will find it necessary to communicate with your child’s teacher the old fashioned way, with a handwritten note.  If possible, use your child’s planner to communicate, however if a more formal note is needed feel free to write or type a message.  Try to be clear, specific and through in your notes, and always assume the teacher has your child’s best interest at heart.  Most do, and you are more likely to help your child if you and the teacher are a team and not adversaries.  Have someone else read the note to make sure it makes sense, and make sure the words are spelled correctly.  If you are unsure of your spelling or have messy handwriting use a word processor.  If you send the note to school with your child ask that the teacher sign it and return it so you know it was received.  With older children and teens be sure to explain clearly what the problem is and give the teacher plenty of time to look into and deal with the issue.  Remember that middle and high school teachers may have a hundred plus students in their classes, so they may need time to deal with your child’s issue.

            When children have difficulty keeping their grades at an acceptable level a weekly progress report can be a good tool (see Appendix E for example).  Schools usually send failure notices to parents if children are not making adequate progress, however often by the time the notice arrives children are hopelessly behind on assignments.  A weekly progress report can help with this problem.  One day a week should be designated as the day to bring home the report.  I liked to use Friday with my family so that I could tie privileges over the weekend to grades.  I required the report to be taken to school by children that had any classes with a grade lower than C.  It was their responsibility to take the progress report, give it to each teacher and make sure the teacher gave it back.  It is helpful to let the teachers know beforehand that you will be doing this.  If the teacher listed any missing assignments the child was required to bring home materials to complete any missing work.  Sometimes teachers, especially in middle and high school, do not allow students to turn in missing assignments.  In my family children are required to complete and turn in all assignments, even if no credit is given.  This was their ticket to family privileges.  An improved grade was simply a bonus.  I made sure to communicate to teachers my goal to teach my children responsibility.  I am yet to find a teacher who did not support me in this tactic.   

Responsibility

Parents need to understand their responsibility in educating their child. It is easy for parents to assume that the school will fully educate their child, however parents are ultimately responsible for the education of their children.  As a teacher I have 20 to 30 students in my class.  I do my best to educate each one, however there is a limit to the amount of time my students spend in my room and the influence I have over them.  Also, next year I will have a whole new classroom of students.  I will be the parents of my own children forever, and have legal responsibility for them for 18 years.  My influence as a parent far outweighs the influence that any one teacher will have on my child.  Do not assume that the school will adequately teach your child all he needs to know; take an active role in being your child’s main educator.  This not only includes seeing to it that your child attends school and completes his homework; it also includes educating your child in areas that the school does not adequately teach.  This may include teaching your family’s moral values and religious education as well as teaching your child about sports, music or other hobbies.

            You are also responsible to teach your child to be responsible.  School work and assignments give you an excellent opportunity to help your child learn how to complete assignments outside of the home.  Most children will need you to be an active participant in order to learn this important trait.  One common misconception is that you teach children to be responsible by leaving themselves to their own devices.  I have worked with teachers who believe that they are teaching children to be responsible by not allowing them to turn in missing work.  The threat of failure is only a motivating factor if the child cares enough about success.  Many children learn to not care about grades and school because they see no link between their actions and the grades.  Students often think that grades are a gift from their teachers and that their grades reflect how well a teacher likes them more than how well they performed.  A child who learns to not care about grades will show little effort in school.  For this child the threat from a teacher that no late work will be accepted is a reward.  If the child does not complete the assignment on-time then he will not need to do it.  Why do it if no credit is given?  Children are taught to be responsible by requiring them to complete any and all assignments.  Make it a family rule that all assignments in school will be completed, and then give your child the help and tools that she needs to complete them.

Help, Don’t “do for”

            It is important to help your children to complete and turn in homework and assignments, however some parents have a difficult time differentiating between helping the child and doing the work for him.  The first thing that parents need to understand is that homework should be extra practice, not learning a new skill.  Research has shown that children do benefit from homework, but only if the homework is extra practice on a skill that the child has already learned.  Most teachers are aware of this and try to assign assignments based on this principle, however sometimes things go awry.  Teachers may give assignments that are not closely aligned to classwork, may overly rely on preplanned lessons that do not match the skills of the students or they may overestimate their students’ proficiency in the subject matter.  Sometimes teachers do an outstanding job of teaching a skill and aligning the homework to the lesson, however the students are still not able to complete the assignment.  Students may have difficulty applying the practice that took place in class to the homework or they just may not have paid attention during the lesson or may have missed instruction due to illness. 

If your child brings home an assignment that he cannot complete make an attempt at reviewing what was learned if you can, but do not do the work for your child.  Usually textbooks or worksheets will have brief instructions that explain how an assignment is to be done.  Use these tools to help your child go over the instructions to see if you can help him complete the assignment.  Teachers use scaffolding to help their students learn a new skill.  When parents learn this skill they can be excellent tutors as the child has one on one help.  Start by modeling one or two problems for your child.  If many similar problems were assigned you can do this with the first couple, otherwise use the examples in the book or make up your own similar problems.  As you model how to complete the problems “talk through” each step and explain why you are doing each thing.  After modeling a few have your child complete a few problems while you guide each step.  Slowly back off your guidance, and have your child begin to explain the steps.  When your child appears to understand the process have him complete some problems independently, and then check to be sure that they are done correctly. 

If you or your child are still struggling with the assignment write a note to the teacher and explain the problem.  Try to frame the problem from your point of view and refrain from blaming the teacher for not teaching your child.  Ask the teacher to give your child extra instruction or time to complete the assignment.  Be sure to follow up on the assignment and be sure your child received the help needed.

One of the biggest temptations for parents to do an assignment for their child is on large projects and reports.  Many students do have difficulty organizing and completing large assignments on their own, but teachers do expect their students to do their own work.  Parents are excellent resources to help their children plan all of the parts of a large project, gather information and materials and put everything together into a presentable form.  Do remember, however, that the report or project should look and sound as if a child produced it.  This does not mean that you should not teach your child how to put together a polished project.  However, it should be clear that this is your child’s work and not yours.

Set the bar high, but not impossibly high

            We all want our children to be successful, and school performance is no exception.  Let your children know that you expect them to do well in school, however be realistic.  Remember that you are raising children.  Children learn through doing and trial and error.  Children also need to have variety in their life.  If it takes a child all of her time to be a straight ‘A’ student it may not be the best use of her time.  She needs to have time to play and explore different activities.  Well rounded children tend to grow into more successful and happier adults.  Even the most focused and successful children rarely receive high grades on all assignments, and should not be expected to.  If your child performs on an assignment or in a class at a level lower than is the norm for that child treat it as a learning experience.  Ask him what the problem is and ask what he could do better next time.

            Be careful about how you respond to report card grades.  Children should be praised for the work they did do.  In some families ‘A’s are the expectation, ‘B’s are okay and ‘C’s are totally unacceptable.  Children who grow up in families such as these often believe that they could never be good enough.  ‘C’ is an average, and there is nothing wrong with being average in some areas.  In my family we regarded ‘C’s as acceptable, however improvement could be made.  ‘B’s were very good, ’A’s were outstanding and ‘D’s and ‘F’s were unacceptable.  It is also important to take into account personal differences.  What may be a low grade for one child may be an excellent grade for another.

            Be careful, also, about how you reward report card grades.  Some families give monetary rewards, some quite large, for high marks.  While rewards for good grades can be motivating, children who are constantly rewarded with large rewards lose the sense of value for the actual grade. In addition, in families with multiple children monetary often pit one child against another.  Also, for young children a quarter or semester grade is often too long of a time period for the child to really feel that he has control over the outcome.  Try giving smaller, more frequent rewards or just praise your child.  When report cards do come, recognize your children who displayed good effort with a small reward or night out.

Beyond the Norm

We all want to think that our child is just a normal kid, but many children have learning difficulties.  Learning difficulties can show up at any time and have many different causes.  They can be caused by learning disabilities, developmental delays, emotional difficulties, social problems, problems at home or normal developmental stages.  The treatments for learning difficulties are as varied as the causes.  If you have taken all of the steps outlined above and your child still struggles you may suspect that your child needs more help than you can provide.  The first place to look for extra help is through your child’s school.  Some private and church schools offer resources for extra tutoring and all public schools are required to provide help for students who are not adequately progressing.  Speak with your child’s teacher first.  Explain the problem, and be specific about when it began, how long it has persisted and the severity of it.  Also share your insights as to what you believe is causing the problem.  Most parents are not well versed in learning difficulties, but they are familiar with their own child.  Even if your diagnosis of the problem is not correct your insights will be valuable to help find the problem.

If you do not get the help you need from your child’s teacher contact the school administration.  Express your concerns and ask what resources are available.  Ask about extra help during school and outside of school hours, extra help that you can give at home and resource personnel that can assist you.  Try to be patient with the school as some things take time, but do not just assume the problem will resolve itself.  Stay on top of the steps your child’s school is taking and your child’s progress. 

If adequate progress is still not seen go back to the school and report that more help is needed.  Remember that the goal is to build a partnership with the school.  Your child will benefit the most if all adults work together.  There are times, however, when schools do not provide students with the necessary help.  Public schools are required to provide help to all students and to find ways to help every child learn.  If your school does not take the steps necessary to help your child do not be afraid to demand an evaluation of your child’s progress.  Public schools usually have a team of teachers and administrators who look for specific ways to help students be more successful.  If your child has not made adequate progress you can ask the neighborhood public school, whether or not your child is a student at the school, to look at your child’s progress and make recommendations.  Make your request respectfully and in writing.  Federal law specifies a timeline for the school to respond to your request so date your request and look for a reply within a few weeks.

While you are working on getting help from your child’s school look at outside resources.  Remember that you are ultimately responsible for educating your child.  The school has a much more limited number of resources available than parents do.  For some children medical solutions are successful.  For others behavioral avenues work better.  Counseling, outside tutoring or training and medication have all been successful to help some children be more successful in school.  Be open-minded but reasonable when looking for a solution.  Work with your medical professional to get referrals to reputable professionals.  If a recommended treatment seems unusual or untested ask for studies that show effectiveness and referrals to others who have tried the treatment.

Any time a treatment is tried with your child careful data should be taken to find out its effectiveness.  If your doctor does not provide tracking sheets then use the sample from Appendix B.  All treatments, whether medicinal or not, have some placebo effect.  Some people will show improvement from any ailment, even if they are only given a sugar pill.  In addition, parents and teachers often observe an improvement in a child’s behavior, just because an improvement is expected.  This makes it difficult to determine the effectiveness of a treatment.  Daily charting of behaviors will help mitigate this problem. 

To track behavior with the tracking sheets behavior should first be charted before the treatment is tried.  Ideally, parents, the teacher and the child will all fill out their own report, usually for about a week.  After the initial charting period the treatment is begun and charting of behavior continues.  Some medications take several weeks to begin to work in the child’s system, and all behavior systems take a while to show improvement. For these reasons behavior should be charted with the treatment in place for several weeks.  Behavior can also be charted during an optional third period with the treatment discontinued.  Ideally, each step would be done with behavior reporters not knowing when the child is receiving the treatment.  Sometimes this can be done with one parent administering the medication and the other charting behavior, but this is not always possible.  Charts are then compared from before, during and after treatment to see if the child really did show improvement with the treatment.  If one treatment does not prove effective try another.  Seldom is a first medication type and dosage or treatment effective.

If you have a child with learning difficulties please know that parental involvement makes all the difference.  Children with learning difficulties that are left to their own devices will usually turn to inappropriate ways to feel successful and important.  These children are at high risk for antisocial behaviors, committing crimes resulting in imprisonment, drug use, early experimentation with sexuality and teen pregnancy.  There are children who will just not be successful academically even with all the help in the world.  These children need supportive parents who will help them find skills in other areas and assure them that they are important and loved.  If your child has difficulty in school help him find something he can excel in.  Require your child to join a church or scout group, a sports team or musical group or pick up a hobby.  All children have talents and it is important for children, especially children who struggle in school, to find and develop their talents.  Help your child to become responsible, teach her to treat others with respect and help her become self-sufficient in other areas.  You may also need to focus less on school success and failure with this child.  See to it that your child is learning essential skills, such as reading and basic math computation, and lighten-up about the rest.  On these children you may need to change or ease up on the rules you would normally set for a child about homework or task completion.  Remember the goal is to raise a responsible adult, and adjust as necessary.  When your child is an adult no one will ever ask her what grade she received in 7th grade, so don’t put too much emphasis on grades.  People will notice if your child is responsible and respectful.  Your child will learn these things if you make family guidelines clear and reasonable and set and reinforce limits.

Education, Parenting Advice, School Advice

Sorry Parents, but Common Core is probably not going away for a good, long time.

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In my previous posts I talked about how we were doing Common Core wrong, and what teachers could do to make the transition easier.  Here is part 3, the part where I have some advice for parents.  Now parents, before you start to think I don’t get you because I am a teacher you need to understand.  I was a parent before I was a public school teacher.  Long before I held a parent teacher conference or consulted with parents as a teacher I was on the other side of the table.  I know that a lot of teachers have kids, but a large majority of them were teachers first, and parents second.  Trust me, it is different.  And, I had kids who struggled, so it required me to be pretty involved to get them through school.  And, that involvement was not always smooth and easy.  So, I totally get you.  I get how sometimes schools, teachers and parents don’t see eye to eye.  But here is the thing, now that I have been on the teacher side of the table, I get them too.  It puts me in the unique position to give advice, that I think is valid, to both teachers and parents.

So, parents, when it comes to Common Core I have three pieces of advice:

  • Realize Common Core isn’t going anywhere for a good long time.
  • Ask how you can help, before you complain. And, when you feel you must complain, know your facts, and be specific about the problem.
  • If you don’t get the homework, or your child can’t do the homework, feel free to send it back with a note.

#1- Realize Common Core isn’t going anywhere for a good long time

Surely, if we put up enough fuss, if we make our voices heard and if we complain to our representatives we will get rid of it, right?  Well, probably not.  True, there are some states that backed down from Common Core, but these states did not go back to the previous standards.  They adopted new standards, and most of the new standards are very similar to Common Core.  So, like it or not, these standards, or something very much like them, are here to stay for a good long time.  To help you better understand why this is true I would like to define a few things, and explain a few things that parents and the general public may not understand just because they don’t deal with the inner workings of public education.

What are standards?  Educational standards define the knowledge and skills students ideally should possess at critical points in their educational development. “Standards serve as a basis of educational reform across the nation as educators and policy makers respond to the call for a clear definition of desired outcomes of schooling and a way to measure student success in terms of these outcomes” (National Research Council 2001).  Let’s liken standards to developmental milestones.  Most parents are familiar with these milestones because when you visit your pediatrician for a well-child check up your doctor will ask you, is your child crawling yet, can he roll over, can she sit up on her own or can he say 10 words.  These milestones are based on the average age at which children typically acquire these skills.  So if your child is significantly behind other children at her age it signals to your pediatrician that there may be a developmental delay or health issue.

Educational standards are a bit like this.  They list the grade at which students should have the identified skills and knowledge.  There are some differences, however.  The first major difference is that standards are tied to grade level, not to student age.  The obvious problem of this is that students at any given grade level will represent a sizable range in age, as well as developmental level.  Of course the nature of our public school system requires this age range, but this fact makes it difficult to say that a child that does not attain a certain standard is behind other students when he or she may simply be younger or slower to develop than other students at that grade level.  The next major difference between standards and developmental benchmarks is that given a supportive and healthy environment and typical developmental abilities young children will automatically acquire the milestones.  Educational standards, however, represent skills and knowledge that students must be taught, not that they will acquire on their own.   So, the problem with judging children based on these standards is that attainment requires just the right mix of quality teaching and educational readiness, as well as student engagement.  The third major difference between developmental milestones and standards is that milestones are based on what the typical child has been shown to master.  Standards, on the other hand, are more arbitrary.  They are not necessarily developed with the typical development of children in mind.  In my opinion, this was one of the major problems with the previous set of standards in the state of California.  They did not seem to match what is known about child development.  The jury is still out on how well the Common Core standards fit developmental levels, but I do believe that one area that better fits development levels is in the area of 8th grade math.  The previous California standards required every 8th grade student to learn algebra.  This requirement in no way took into account the developmental level of the typical 13 year old and caused much frustration among parent and students, as well as teachers.

How did Standards across the nation Come to Be?  During most of the history of public education state and local agencies set standards of what would be taught when, but these guidelines were often very loose and unregulated.  So it was not uncommon for individual teachers to teach what they wanted, when they wanted.  In 1989 George W. Bush met with many of the nation’s governors at the Charlottesville Education Summit and developed educational goals.  Goals centered around targets to measure educational improvement that asked states to give up some of their autonomy to provide for more educational excellence nation-wide.  “There is a growing recognition that an essential next step for education reform is establishing consensus around a set of national goals for education improvement, stated in terms of the results and outcomes we as a nation need for the education system.”  From this summit sprang “No Child Left Behind” and the required standards and high stakes testing that states began to adopt.  The plan was for each state to determine what a “proficient” student looked like and how to assess it.  Seemed like a good idea to ensure autonomy of the states, while moving closer to accounting for what they taught, but in practice this plan did not work well.  Some states, for instance Georgia, Oklahoma and Tennessee, set their standards so low that a large majority of their students scored proficient on their state tests, while independent tests showed that their students were genuinely nowhere near the proficiency that their scores would indicate.

So the deal was this, every year states would be required to increase the number of students who scored proficient.  Little by little, we would give students the skills they needed to all reach proficiency.  2014 was the year this was supposed to happen.  Every student was supposed to be proficient across the nation.  Yep, every kids 100%.  Do you see a problem with this plan?  Well, there were many.  First, in order to get 100% of any group of people anywhere to be proficient at anything is a bit problematic.  I can’t think of a single skill that everyone on this earth is capable of showing complete proficiency in, not even breathing.  At any one time there is a sizable number of the population that needs a machine to breathe, so even something as essential as breathing, cannot show 100% proficiency.  And, this was 100% of the population enrolled in public school, yep, even students with severe learning problems.  The last major flaw in this plan was the disparity of standards.  Some states did reach or come very close to that 100% level, but their standards were set so low when compared to other measures they were really quite meaningless.  As the number of students required to be at proficient increased, and more and more schools and districts were unable to reach the standard it became increasingly clear that the plan was just not working.

This is the environment in which Common Core Standards were born.  Didn’t it make a lot more sense to measure the whole nation with similar standards instead of widely varied one?  A lot of people thought so, which is what spurred the spread of the new standards.

How is curriculum different from standards?  There seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding on the difference between curriculum and standards.  I often hear and see people refer to books or specific curriculum and insinuate that those items are synonymous with the Common Core Standards.  Even many websites designed for teachers provide activities and worksheets labeled as “Common Core Curriculum.”  In reality, there is no such thing.  Standards are like a list of things that student should learn; curriculum is how it will be taught.  For instance, if I want to teach you touch typing I can use many methods, such as on-line games or programs, or yours mother’s old typing class materials.  Touch typing would be like the standard, what will be learned.  The method is like the curriculum, how it will be taught.

No matter how good or bad standards are, they are not designed to teach students anything.  What teaches are good teachers and good curriculum.  Great standards can be completely unsuccessful with poor teaching and/or curriculum.  And, by the same token, good curriculum and teachers can often mitigate the problems with poor standards.

Can we get rid of Common Core?  When I hear people talk about getting rid of Common Core I often wonder if they know what this really entails.  As an illustration, let’s think about the direction that public education is headed as a long freight train moving down the track.  It takes an awful lot to get it moving forward, and once it does it takes an awful lot to stop it or change its path.  You see, new standards take years and years to create.  Once they are created they need to be adopted and then synthesized into a usable state.  The standards must then be disseminated to districts, schools, administrators and finally to teachers.  Once everyone knows the new standards, how it will be taught must be decided.  People start creating curriculum and publishers begin to develop materials.  Adoption of new materials can take years, and often early curriculum does not do a very good job of teaching the new standards.  We are in the midst of this process of change.  It took a long time, a considerable amount of money and a great deal of effort to get this train moving down the Common Core track.  Some states are a bit further down the track than the State of California which is in the very early stages of adopting curriculum (publishers have developed and distributed transitionary materials only for schools to use until state adopted curriculum are available).  But the standards and especially the curriculum that would supporting teaching of those standards are still in their infancy.  States are unlikely to abandon something that has absorbed so many resources to implement, especially when you consider that it is way too early to determine the value of the standards or the efficacy of the curriculum.  That is also why states that have moved away from Common Core have adopted standards so similar.  The freight train has just picked up speed and it is difficult, and probably ill-advised, to stop or change the direction of that train.  States that have moved away from Common Core have just moved to a parallel track moving in the same direction.

#2- •      Ask how you can help, before you complain.  And, when you feel you must complain, know your facts, and be specific about the problem.

There was a time when parents had a lot of power over public education.  They hired the teachers, set the standards and determined a school calendar that fit the needs of their family life.  Although the days are long gone when parents have this much influence over schools, parents do need to understand that they continue to wield a good deal of power.  Many decisions are made based on the views of the public and the desires of parents.  However, parents also need to understand that there is a way to wield that power that is successful and builds collaborative relationships, and there is a way to wield that power that can be very unsuccessful and may build roadblocks to schools and parents working together.  The most important thing that parents can do to influence change in their local schools is to gain credibility in the sights of teachers and administers.  There are several things that parents can do to gain credibility and be able to influence decision making, but the most important thing is to make yourself known in a positive manner.  I cannot say enough about the benefits of parents becoming involved in their public schools by working with parent groups and committees, volunteering in the classroom or making themselves available to assist with school and extra-curricular activities.  Once you make yourself visible and helpful you are no longer just someone’s parent, you are a known, valued member of the school community.

It is quite unlikely that your child will make it through their years of public education without something that you need to complain about.  It is not uncommon for actions, policies and procedures to violate what parents feel are in the best interest of their child.  At those times parents should speak up and they can wield quite a bit of power.  However, public school policies are designed to keep the power in the hands of administrators.  They will not easily allow parents to come in and start directing how things should be run.  But if parents take the time to make themselves credible to school personal, it will increase the likelihood that their voice will be heard.  The first step is to become involved.  This should be done long before a problem arises so that the school sees you as a helpful asset, not as someone who is only helping because of ulterior motives.  The next step is to do your homework.  Whether you are complaining about standards, curriculum, a policy or an altercation your child had with an adult or another student gather as many credible facts as you can.  I cannot tell you how many meetings I have been in with parents that were very upset about something, only for the parents to find out that they completely misunderstood the situation.  Once these steps have been taken, be sure you present your concerns in a calm, coherent, specific manner.  Complaints such as, “We need to get rid of Common Core,” does not build credibility for your case at all.  What about the standards are you concerned about, and what do you think needs to change?  While it is unlikely that states will entirely abandon Common Core or standards that are very similar, there is a lot of room for input on how the standards will be implemented and what the adopted curriculum will look like.

#3- If you don’t get the homework, or your child can’t do the homework, feel free to send the HW back with a note

Changing standards and curriculum is a big deal and a long and difficult process.  One of the primary complaints of parents with the shift in standards is that they don’t understand the homework, and neither does their child.  Be assured, your child’s teacher is pretty frustrated by this too.  Not only is it difficult to learn and teach new materials in a new manner, but as I mentioned before curriculum has not even been fully developed, and many of the transitional materials are not very good.  This makes for a frustrating situation for everyone involved.  It is a bit like learning to drive a new car, when the car is only half built, and pieces are being added on as you drive.

But here’s the thing parents, remember the power you wield?   Here’s one place you can really exercise it, homework.  Parents, you are ultimately responsible for your children and for what goes on in the hours between the end of school one day, and the beginning of the next.  While teachers would love it if each and every child would complete the homework that were assigned each day, the fact of the matter is that it often does not happen.  Sometimes it gets forgotten, or there are other family obligations or emergencies and yes, sometimes they just don’t understand what to do.  And you know what, as earthshaking as this may seem, if the homework does not get done some of the time, life goes on.  Of course, it is a problem if your child never does their homework.  But, what would happen if when you and your child don’t understand the homework you just wrote a note explaining the problem and told your child we won’t be doing this tonight?  If you have already taken the time to build that relationship earlier with your school and your child’s teacher they would probably understand and find a better way to communicate with you and/ or your child what should be done.

In conclusion, I would just like to share some Common Core successes.  Teaching in a California school for the first year of full Common Core adoption has been frustrating and an awful lot of work.  But I am starting to see some of the benefits of being able to delve a bit deeper into topics instead of skimming the surface as our last set of standards required.  The old standards moved so quickly that students had no time to really master anything, especially in math.  So the 6th grade math teacher that I work with and I slowed down even a bit more for the class that I support because they struggle in math.  We took a bit more time to really understand some number concepts and how the whole system works, especially when it relates to fractional concepts.  And, you know what?  When we came back around later in the year to using those fractional concepts, for the first time in a long time I did not get blank stares when I asked what .5 meant.  They had actually learned it, and I had students who could tell me that .5 was the same as one half.  That may seem like a small victory, and they certainly don’t all “get it” but I can’t tell you how many times I have dealt with whole groups of students who had no idea that .5 is the same as one half.  I feel that Common Core math, at least at the level I am dealing with, will be much more successful in preparing our students for actually using numbers in real life.

Lastly, I would like to share an example, pulled from the pages of my Facebook Newsfeed.  These comments came from a post of a mom who felt frustrated about how her child was being taught math, and both she and her daughter were struggling.  Interestingly, this mom lives in a state that did not adopt Common Core, however their standards are quite similar.  These posts are from friends from several different states, in various stages of teaching math differently.  Names were omitted.

  • Responder 1 – I’ve been trying to teach myself a lot of these new algorithms that my kids have been learning….and my first reaction is to reject them as hippy dippy nonsense, then after doing it for half an hour, I wish they taught us this stuff when I was a kid.
  • Original Poster- For my daughter math has been a struggle. When they teach so many different ways to do the same thing it confuses her more- doesn’t help.
  • Responder 1-I also struggled with math so much as a kid and it wasn’t until I was teaching “new math” that I really got it and watched soooo many kids really begin to understand how math works instead of just regurgitating facts. I know it can be hard as a parent to watch but honestly, sometimes the brightest students will struggle with these methods at first but they come out so much more fluid and flexible in their mathematical reasoning skills.
  • Original Poster- I hope so!
  • Responder 2- Going through this from 1st to 3rd grade with my daughter was the real struggle. Now that she’s in 4th grade, it makes a lot more sense to me, and looking back, the 1st-3rd grade stuff was doing a good job leading up to what comes after. I think the hardest thing was that the instruction didn’t make sense, and that’s probably due to it being new to everybody, including a lot of the teachers.

So there you go folks, to take us back to our train analogy the ride may be long and bumpy, but eventually I think it will get us to our destination much better than our older standards were doing.  Of course, you are welcome to your own point of view; varying points of view are one of the things that make this country great.  However, I would admonish you to take my advice and realize that Common Core is probably not going anywhere, know when and how to complain and feel free to let teachers know when the homework just doesn’t work.  Parents, you can wield a lot of power, but doing it the right was will be much more successful.

School Advice

7 Suggestions to be part of the Solution

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Are you part of the solution or part of the problem?  That was the question I asked in my previous blog post, along with a call for those who wanted to be a part of the solution to step forward.  After my open letter to the Westminster School District a few of my friends did indeed step forward to tell me they did want to be part of the solution.  I also received a call from the district superintendent, Dr. Marian Kim Phelps.  Dr. Phelps wanted me, and also everyone else who read my message, to know that she was on board.  She wants to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and hopes the steps she has been taking are the right ones to do that.  She also explained that she did not want to be a part of that revolving door that has become our district administration in recent years.  Her hope is to lead the district for many years, and to retire from this district.  I found her candor and desire to be a long-term fixture to be refreshing and promising.  Unfortunately, it will take a lot more to turn things around than the efforts of a few of my friends and possibly even more than Dr. Phelps’ concerted effort.  It took many years and many people to drive us into the state where we now find ourselves, and it will take time and many people to improve things.

So, what is the secret?  How can we turn things around?  In my opinion there is one important key, communication.  It may sound trite and simplistic, but in my experience many problems can be solved, and potential problems can be alleviated through full, open, continuing 2-way communication.  Here are 7 ways that we can all be a part of the solution, instead of the problem, through communication.

#1- Administrators, please explain Yourself– Public education has had a theory for many years.  It goes something like this, “We are the experts; we have had years of training and education and we use research to back up our methods so we know how to do this; we know what we are doing, and we know best how to educate the masses; you don’t know anything about how to best educate children, so we won’t bother you with the details; and, if you try to get in our way we will put up all kinds of roadblocks to keep you out of our business.”

I come to public education from a little bit different avenue than the average teacher.  Before I was a teacher in the public system, I was a parent.  And, I was a parent who was involved in different sorts of ways.  I worked as a volunteer.  I was involved with PTA.  And, I had children with special needs who did not fit the mold of what a student in a public school “should look like.”  The journey to help those children, as well as my other parental experiences, gave me many opportunities to interface with administrators, and often see the way they communicate with parents and the community.  Through all of these involvements, as well as subsequent involvements as a teacher and a grandparent, I came across this attitude in multiple ways, at multiple times, at all levels of education and in multiple school districts.

Administrators, if you think you can just go about your business of doing your job and not communicate how and why you are doing it you are sorely mistaken.  The day is far past when the public will just trust that you know what you are doing.  The day is gone when parents put their full trust in your expertise.  The day is gone when teachers just follow along and believe that all of the latest (method, curriculum, program, etc.), is always the greatest.  We have seen the pendulum swing too many times, and too far to believe that this will be the time when the true way to fully educate children comes out.  We need good and strong administrators, but we also need administrators who will let us know what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how they are doing it.

Here is a piece of information about human nature that many people forget.  If you do not communicate with others, they will use their imagination to fill in the gaps.  And guess what, people have great imaginations, so when they fill in the gaps they usually do it in an overly dramatic manner.  And, people will often tell their exaggerated or contrived form of the truth to others, and eventually it becomes the accepted “truth.”  The best way to stop a rumor is to communicate the real truth before rumors have a chance to start in an honest, open and transparent manner.  Most news, usually even bad news, is best conveyed straight from the source.

Let me give you an example: Common Core Standards.  They are all over the news today, and being touted as too hard, too easy, a way for the government to get information on us, etc.  Do you remember when the last standards come into being in the state of California?  Me neither.  I mean, I remember hearing about them, standardizing what we teach kids and all.  But, it was not all over the news, it just happened.  No one voted on them, no one questioned them.  Well, educational administrators made an error this time.  They thought it was business as usual, and that they could just bring in new standards and the public would say, “Oh we have new standards.”  Not so.  Public schools have been under more and more scrutiny of late, so people from all walks of life and with all types of agendas started their own educational campaigns about the new standards.  Instead of educators telling the public, and in some cases teachers, what the standards were, what they contained, and why they were important, people were educated by the media.  Who knows how differently this may have gone if educators themselves would have shared their views first rather than letting the media dictate what Common Core Standards are and are not?

And one more piece of advice to administrators.  Remember, I said real communication is two way so you need to listen also.   While it really helps us to know what is going through your mind, and why you do what you do, if you don’t really listen to our input, you may miss some of the important things you need to know.  Because, while all of those degrees you hold give you a lot of book learning, there is a whole lot of learning going on out there that is not taught in a university.  As the old adage goes, we were all given 2 ears and only 1 mouth, so we should try listening twice as much as we speak.

#2- Teachers, don’t keep it to Yourself– Just as administrators need to communicate what they are doing and why, we teachers also need to explain what we are doing and why.  Part of my job as a Resource Specialist requires me to meet with many parents, and often these parents are unhappy because their children are struggling educationally or behaviorally.  It is not uncommon for me to go into a meeting with a parent who is very unhappy, even angry, and to come out with a parent who is satisfied.  This does not always occur because sometimes people’s views are so far apart that they cannot be reconciled or, just face it, some people are just difficult to please.  However, I have found that, more often than not, when I fully communicate, and I mean listen, not just speak, we can come to a consensus.  You see, some of us have forgotten the goal.  The goal of public education is to educate children.  And, when I communicate that this is my desire to parents, and when I listen to their concerns, I can share my expertise in a way to help us come up with strategies to bring us all closer to the goal.  In turn the parents, as the expert on their own child, often can give me insights I could not have gained without the parents’ input.

However, teachers are in a sticky situation.  Not only must they communicate with parents, they are also the middle men and must communicate with administration.  Teachers need to let administrators know what is going on in the trenches.  They need to pass on their difficulties, as well as their successes.  Of course all of this is easier when districts have administrators who have instilled a policy of open communication.  However, teachers need to continue to share upwards, even if it seems futile, difficult or even scary.  Sometimes it can feel as if sharing things can put your job at risk or make it more difficult.  However, when we only share and complain with our colleagues and friends, we become part of the problem and not part of the solution.

#3- The School Board should be the Ultimate Listener- I would like to speak for a moment to our school board members, our elected officials who represent our community.  Yes, that is what we elected you for, to represent us.  The school board member should be the voice of the community.  As much as the community would love to be involved in what makes our school system tick, face it, we just don’t have time.  Life is busy, and we have a lot going on.  What the community really wants is to elect people they trust to be a watchdog over the district, and then trust that you do a good job.  Are you doing that?  Are you really doing things based on the best interest of the community’s children?  If you think you are, how do you know this?

I submit that if you don’t really listen then you don’t know.  The temptation for school board members is to gravitate toward communication with administrators in the district.  It is good for school boards and administrators to have good working relationships with each other, but I submit that if you spend the majority of your time interfacing with administration you don’t really know what is going on.  If you don’t talk to teachers, parents and community members you have a very narrow view.  If you don’t really listen, and make sure you fully understand, you are just a rubber stamp.

In addition, I think it is important to let the public know what you really believe, what your goals are and what you stand for.  In preparation for the upcoming elections I did some research to find out what the candidates for the school board stood for, believed and wanted to work for.  Information was greatly lacking, and some candidates had no information at all listed.  How can the voters make an informed decision without information out there?

#4- Parents, know your Audience– Parents, here is some advice.  Your local public school really does employ teachers and administrators who are highly trained and often very experienced.  Before you throw out your opinion you may want to listen first.  I know your kid is the best and brightest in your world, but schools have hundreds of students who look a lot like your kid and while it is true no two are exactly alike, there are some typical developmental stages that they all go through.  There is not a lot that educators have not heard before, and they may even be able to share some insights with you.  That being said, everyone needs to realize that all of that expertise can only go so far.  It is not that uncommon for educators to be a bit off the mark, and many times they are just plain wrong.  But, here is the thing, if you treat those educators with respect and really listen to their point of view they are not normally unreasonable.  There are exceptions, and I have seen examples of that myself, but if you go in with an idea of facilitating open communication, more times than not the outcome can be positive.

The other important thing that parents must remember is that really, they wield all of the power.  It is not uncommon in our society today for public schools and teachers to be depicted as the ones totally responsible for educating children.  But really, this is not true at all.  Parents are children’s first teachers.  In addition, much goes on in the home and family that has so much effect on student learning.  In addition, while school attendance is compulsory in our society for children, it is up to parents to choose the local public school or an alternate place to educate their child.  Ultimately, parents not only have the most power in their child’s education, they also have the most responsibility.  Be careful how you wield that power, and how you take on that responsibility.

#5- Share, and listen, Open Mindedly– Many of us love to share.  We share our thoughts with our friends, we share out status with our Facebook friends, and we share our opinions with whoever will listen.  One thing many of us are not as good at is listening.  According to Stephan Covey, most of us spend most of conversational time preparing our answer, not really listening to our counterpart.  What a different world this would be if we all learned, and actually practiced, communication as a 2 way process: listening with real intent, and sharing your views only after you fully understand.  Covey calls this process, Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  If educators at all levels, parents and the public really took the time to do this I think all would be better edified and many typical problems could be alleviated.

In recent years I tried an experiment and started to really listen to others point of view.  Of course today’s social media makes that a little easier, as so many want to tell everyone exactly what they think.  Often we want to gravitate to those who share our opinions, but I made an effort to really read and try to understand the opinion of those who did not agree with me.  While I still enjoy hearing the opinions of those who agree with me, I have found the process of really studying the views of those who disagreed to be highly informative and interesting.  I have come to feel more respect for the opinions of those with whom I disagree, and having a better understanding of where those points of view come from.  At the same time, I have strengthened my own opinions and developed good arguments as to why I believe the way I do on many issues.

I submit that this process of really listening, studying and trying to understand could lead all of us to better understanding and more collaborative efforts at all levels.

#6- Understand Bias- When I talk about bias I don’t mean prejudice against certain groups of people, and I am not talking about the fact that you think your kid is the best kid in the world.  I am talking about the bias that we all have due to certain life experiences we have had.

Let me give you an example.  Because I have 2 children of my own with special needs and because I work with many students who struggle academically I have a real bias for the underdog, the underperforming and the under achieving.  Put me in a group of kids and I tend to be unimpressed by the best and the brightest, I look for the poor little guy hanging out in the corner.  I gravitate toward the awkward, the misunderstood and the struggling.

So what does this have to do with communication in a public school setting?  We all have biases.  We all have our own little piece of the world where we believe more is needed.  We all have our own friends, family members and co-workers who we are more willing to give attention to.  The problem is not bias, as much as not paying attention to bias.  First, we need to know and understand our own bias.  What motivates me to do the things I do?  I am only willing to help those I am drawn to, or do I take steps to give equal attention to all?  Second, we need to be aware of, and pay attention to other’s biases.  People involved in public education at all levels should be watching for unchecked biases.  Unchecked biases, I believe, are one of the biggest downfalls to all sorts of organizations, and especially to public education.  We all need to be vigilant to keep the focus on educating all students, not personal biases based on a personal agenda, furthering someone’s career or someone’s pet project.

And here is one interesting thing about bias and communication; it colors not only our actions but our perception.  When we listen, we listen with our biases fully intact and operating.  That means when someone speaks, what they say is filtered through our understanding, our experiences, our own ideas on how the world is and should be.  Do you take the time to really understand what others are saying?  Sometimes that means extra questioning, and takes way longer than most conversations.  However, if we don’t take the time to do this, especially when people don’t agree, when stakes are high, or when tempers are really charged, miscommunication will ensue.

#7- Be a good Citizen– Elections are coming up.  Will you be voting?  I know will be.  But just voting isn’t enough.  Do your homework.  Read all you can about the candidates.  Here is a website that lists information about the candidates running for the Westminster School Board.  http://ballotpedia.org/Westminster_Elementary_School_District_elections_(2014)

While it can be hard to get valid and detailed information about candidates, especially local ones, voting based just on what you glean from ads and hearsay does not constitute really being a part of the solution.  Do your homework, talk to people who know and have worked with the candidates, look for those with promising backgrounds and good values.  Then, use your best judgment to make your best choice.

What I am recommending is not easy.  It takes a lot of work to fully communicate with others, to really listen, to monitor the biases of yourself and others and to do your research and vote responsibly.  However, those who sit by and do nothing are part of the problem.  As the old adage goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”  Step up and be part of the solution.