Just today I read a Mathematics 10 Provincial Exam Study Guide written by two Canadian educators (one from BC and the other from Alberta) published by a large, well known, publishing company.
In the section titled "To the Student", there is an explanation of and rationale for provincial exams. It states:
Most provincial exams are designed to evaluate a students proficiency in the curriculum at different levels. In some jurisdictions, for example, a mark of 50% denotes competence, and mark above 80% is considered to indicate excellence.
It is expected that students will demonstrate different levels of competence. In fact, most jurisdictions design exams so that:
20% of of students who write exam do not pass (score less than 50%)
60% of students who write the exam score between 50% and 80%
only 20% of students who write the exam demonstrate excellence (score above 80%)
For this reason it is important for individual students to set personal goals and use this goal to help them decide which questions are within their ability. For example, if you expect to score at the 70% level, then 30% of the questions on the exam or test are not written for you.
This is disgraceful.
Where do I begin?
So much for standards based grading. The bell curve is alive and well. Somehow engineering what success looks like is good for students, teachers and the discipline of mathematics
Assessment for Learning? Forget it. We use assessment to label students - 20% of them as failures and 20% as winners.
The growth mindset? What's the point - some students will forever "decide" their ability in Math. Some of you will always be failures
I could go on - but I'm afraid I might write something I will regret.
And we wonder why so many students struggle with and "hate" Math.
I am not aware of the design standards for the Mathematics 10 exam in BC but I hope that the above design elements are NOT used here.
IF these are the design standards for the Math 10 Exam - please stop - our students and teacher deserve better.
As some of you may know, I have accepted a two year secondment as an Associate Superintendent for the Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese.
I am going to miss the parents, teachers and students of St. Patrick Regional immensely. I've been blessed to work in such a caring, hardworking and inspired school community.
At our year end assembly I was showered with many kind words of appreciation and gifts.
The most sentimental (yes, I tear up every time I watch it) and enduring gift came from the staff and students in the form of this video (below).
I am so lucky to have been apart of this school community.
There are no good byes, only good memories.....
Some have asked that I provide a copy of the closing remarks I gave to the school community . I have attached a copy of the text below....
For the next two years I will have a different job. I will still be connected to St. Pat’s and you will see me from time to time at the school.
Nonetheless, I think it is important that I say a few words to you the parents, teachers and students
To the teachers:
You are one of the reasons St. Pat’s is the school that it is. Your service to your students is incredible.
You care for you students as if they were your own children. You love them as your own.
You don’t just teach courses or learning outcomes. You seek to transform the individual hearts, minds and souls of your precious students
You push your students to new heights – to places they are not even aware they could go. Most importantly you provide a path of support to get them there!
You provide your students learning experiences that last a lifetime.
Your knowledge, expertise and passion is inspiring.
Your love of Jesus radiates out from you - with more than just words – to transforms our students
You have reminded me that the quality of school is proportionate to the quality men and women who work within them
Remain soulful and steadfast in your service to the students.
To the parents
8 years ago you trusted a 34 year old inexperienced rookie to be your principal.
Thank you for that trust in me. Thank you for being patient with me. Thank you for supporting me.
Your dedication, commitment, sacrifice and love that you extend to your children and this school has been a great source of inspiration to me.
To Reverend Father Vince
I have seen and experienced Jesus through your pastoral compassion and generosity. Thank you for all you have done for this school these students – often quietly and in the background.
I have been blessed to work with you and this school is blessed to have you.
To Mrs. Nannery
You are a master teacher. Your understanding of curriculum, assessment and literacy runs deep down to your core as a professional
Your care for students - for their learning and their overall well-being radiates from you
Thank you for being a mentor and inspiration both in the area of pedagogy and in my life as father to my own children.
To Mr. Donnici
You are one of the corner stones of this community.
Next to your own family – your love and care for this school, the teachers and students is awe-inspiring
You've been a confident and trusted adviser.
More than that - you've become a friend and a bit of an older brother.
Of course I am looking forward to beating you on the golf course
To both Mrs Nannery, Mr. Donnici, and Mrs Jaffe, Mr. Laurless, and Mrs Kerin:
I want the world to know that whatever accolades or promotions I have received in connection to my principal-ship here at St. Pat’s - you deserve them more than me.
Your tireless work in the “day to day” running of the school - in service of the students - has been monumental.
Your exemplary service has allowed me to do the work that I've done.
I've appreciate your wisdom, advice and even our disagreements.
Please know that I could not have done this job without your unwavering support and faith in me.
I am eternally grateful to all of you.
And finally to you, the students:
You are my saints and heroes
You've made me angry, laugh and cry. Your genius and your joy has been the greatest source of inspiration.
Your faith, support and care for each other has allowed be to see Jesus with more clarity and purpose.
Your commitment to your work, each other, your community and this school has driven and inspired me to come to work full of joy each day.
Your intelligence, athleticism, service, leadership, creativity and your faith has made me a better teacher, father and Catholic Christian
Teaching, at its core, is about being of service to others.
As a teacher, you give in service, not expecting anything in return.
I stand before you feeling a little guilty because in truth, I feel that I have received more from you than I have given you.
I leave you with with a wish....
Eight years ago, in my first week as principal, while talking to a student - they referred to St. Pat’s as sort of “second class” school. I've never forgotten that conversation. And it has motivated me these past eight years.
Let me be clear and to the point.
There is nothing second class about this school, its parents, its teachers or it’s students and the WORLD is hearing about it!
Just last week I was invited by the Ministry of Education here in BC - to speak to all ministry staff about the wonderful things happening right here at your school - St. Pat’s .
The "world" sees this school as a "1st class" school for British Columbia
So my wish? Always be proud to call yourselves Celtics - Be proud of your school for it is a world class, 1st class Catholic School
Some new and exciting ideas are taking hold at St. Patrick Regional next year.
In a previous post I spelled our school's Digital Literacy goals and initiatives for 2013-2014.
In a future post I will also high light a new High Performance Program. The program will formalizes our current practice of individualizing and accommodating student schedules and timetables to meet their out of school, passion driven, competitive needs. We are seeing a growing need from parents and students to bridge the gap between school life and participation in high performance athletic or artistic community based endeavors.
Next year a working group of teachers will explore how an integrated, cross-curricular approach to curriculum delivery - incorporating “student inquiry”/problem based learning - will "look like" at St. Patrick Regional. This working group of teachers will explore the “ how and what” of this initiative and look to implement a trial program for September 2014.
Why?
We are living in different times. “Do I have to learn it if I can Google it?” is a legitimate question.
We are living in a time of information abundance. Teachers no longer need to control the flow of information. We do, however, need to worry about the scarcity at the table of information abundance
The Ministry of Education for BC is transforming curriculum to reflect some of these changes – placing a focus on competencies, skills, enduring understandings and yes, some content.
Learners today are demanding that their learning be “real”. Not pretend.
Who?
This year, one of our Building Experts teams spent time learning about Problem Based Learning. Teachers experimented with PBL in their own classes. They faced many challenges, but in the end, teachers came to realize the trans formative potential of PBL for students
The team also came to realize the power of PBL was limited by the curricular silos that exist in our school.
This, in combination, with the proposed curriculum transformation happening in BC, the team decided that this would be the perfect time to THINK BIG!
The main recommendation from team to the school? Remove curricular silos and create an integrated, cross-curricular approach to delivering curriculum through a problem based (inquiry based) pedagogy.
The team will consist of this year’s members in addition to others who are interested in joining this task force
What & How
The team’s mandate is to determine how our school can best implement this initiative - beginning at the Grade 8 level.
Other questions they must consider:
Will this involve all Grade 8 students? Or just a cohort?
How will inquires or “problems for exploration” be generated? What role will students and teachers have in this process?
How will assessment and grading be handled? What will report cards look like?
What are the scheduling and timetabling implications of this initiative? How can the school create a timetable that allows for both student and teacher collaboration and exploration.
How will parents be included and informed?
The goal is to have a a trial program in place prior to the start of school in September of 2014.
Some other thoughts:
Despite moving into a different role next year, I intend to support this team in developing this initiative. It is important.
We don’t want “paralysis through analysis”. Although there are lots of important questions that need to be answered, we should not think that we need to get it perfect.
Let's "real" student learning at the center of what we are doing. More to the point- we should judge our efforts by the artifacts of learning our students will leave behind as a result of this program.
I like common sense. Let’s keep our thoughts simple and intuitive. I have seen too many good ideas fail because the focus was too broad based. We are not going to change the “system” in one year. Let’s keep our focus on individual students and the artifacts of learning.
As look to shift some of our practices and systems, I am excited for what the future may hold for our teachers and students
I contend that there is a Pedagogy-Public Opinion Gap in education. For the sake of this post, I would define this Pedagogy-Public Opinion "gap" as:
The gap in understanding between what professional educators and researchers, who work with students on a daily basis, see as "best practice" in education (teaching, learning and schooling) and those "outside" the world of professional education - whose ideas, understanding and opinions about teaching (pedagogy), learning and school are formed, primarily, from their own personal experiences and memories.
I also wonder if this "gap" is widening.
I invite you to read some of these examples and draw your own conclusions:
The "No Zeros" Debate - check out these articles and comments - here and here
Check out these public opinion comments on the Homework Debate?
Should we stop giving grades to students when reporting learning? Check this on-line "vote" and comments on the CBC website
Awards in School? Check out the hundreds of comments related to the story of a high school principal who wanted cancel academic honours awards.
My recent post on "unpacking" of academic excellence was prompted, in part, by this perceived "gap".
It is my contention that one of the causes of this gap is the presence of "Edu-Blah." In a previous post on this topic I wrote that:
We do ourselves, as educators, a huge a disservice when we use "Edu Blah" to communicate with our students, parents and greater communities. We lose them. And if we, as educators (and schools), can't communicate our own "story" effectively, we run the risk of creating a communication void or vacuum- leaving it to someone else to potentially distort or misrepresent
So how do we bridge this "pedagogy-public opinion gap"? I offer the following suggestions (and I certainly welcome others to offer their own suggestions)
Individual Students at the Heart of the Matter
Keeping individual students at the heart of our practice and decisions will provide greater understanding and clarity. For example, our school has a Grading Policy & Guideline. The policy provides teachers direction for dealing with students who struggle to meet deadlines. It recognizes that, in most cases, the students who struggle to meet deadlines are our most vulnerable students. It provides support to students who need to learn the value of meeting deadlines and setting priorities. With this in mind we place a heavier focus on our junior students (gr. 8-10) in a effort to identify and support students with challenges long before they become senior students and graduate. Research Rooted Practitioners
Whether it's brain based learning, assessment practices, student motivation, instructional practices or technology integration - as educators we have a professional and ethical obligation to be "up to speed" with what the researchers are discovering. Books like John Hattie's "Visible Learning" provide "evidence-based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning."
Mission & Vision to Set Priorities
"It is far better to do a few things well than to undertake many good works and leave them half done." St. Francis De Sales
There is no shortage of initiatives that we can direct our energies. To do any of them the proper justice they deserve, we have to determine what students and communities need and prioritize accordingly. I have found that revisiting your mission, vision and values as a school community or teacher can help with establishing priorities.
It's all about Communication
There are many aspects to an effective communications plan. I am certainly not an expert in this area. What I have found, however, is that any communications plan is as effective as the quality of the one on one conversations we have within our communities. It's about responding to questions, providing exemplars, painting a vivid picture of the preferred future, explaining our "why", deep listening, admitting our mistakes, documenting our struggles, successes and doubts - these, I would argue, are the enduring and effective aspects of communications.
These are a few ideas that may help us close the Pedagogy-Public Opinion Gap. At the end of the day, our children deserve what's best....
Regular readers of this blog will know that our school is on a 21st Century Learning journey that, among other things, calls for a re-visioning of our school library, and the adoption of a BYOD approach to technology integration.
Related to this larger plan and thanks to the good work of our "tech-brarian" and many others, we now have a specific Digital Literacy Curriculum and Technology Integration plan for St. Patrick Regional. This year's achievements and future goals are listed below.
Special thanks thanks to our tech-brarian", Jill Belanger , for overseeing this plan and making much of it come to life!
Digital Literacy and Technology Integration
Achievements in 2012-13 & Goals for 2013-14
In the areas of digital literacy and
technology integration, we have:
Developed a
curriculum for Digital Literacy:
·Created 3 broad standards or objectives for the
2013-14 school year (Note: The Ministry of Education for BC has created draft digital literacy standards . Our school has chosen to focus on 3 of these standards - Research Fluency, Digital Citizenship , and Technology Operations)
oEach of the 3 standards are broken down into
more specific skills. (One exciting example is the creation of a 21st Century Research Guide by our Social Studies Department - which will form the foundation of our Research Fluency Standard!)
oEach of the skills identifies an expected entry
and exit point: expected competency level in grade 8 and grade 12
·Developed a plan for integrating digital
literacy throughout the subject areas and the school in the 2013-14 school year:
oIntro to Technology Operations Basics at St.
Pat’s: All grade 8s in September
oIntegration of digital literacy skills
development that are grade-level appropriate into English classes - co-taught
and/or supported by the techbrarian
oDigital Citizenship integrated into grade level
workshops / retreats
oStaff supported by the techbrarian to integrate
digital literacy skills development into all subject areas
·Formed a team of teachers and administrators to
collaborate in the planning of a digital literacy curriculum
·Provided Digital Literacy professional
development for staff
oShared information about digital literacy and
plans for integrating the curriculum as part of our Building Experts Sharing
Day Supported teachers
and students:
·Created a database of resources about digital
literacy to share with teachers
·Implemented a framework for Techbrarian support
in class that can vary depending on the needs of the class:
oTask-based: Students develop digital literacy
skills specifically as it relates to the task at hand
oSubject-based: Students develop digital literacy
skills in general and related to the subject
·Provided support to teachers with regard to
technology integration, with regular meetings for those whose professional
development focus was on technology integration
Continue to develop
the Digital Literacy Curriculum:
·Collaborate with the Problem Based Learning Team
as they develop a cross-curricular approach for the 2014-15 school year –
assist in integrating Digital Literacy
·Review the existing 3 digital literacy standards
and associated specific skills that we have focused on this year and consider additions/revisions
·Assess the existing opportunities available to
students to learn about and practice digital literacy skills:
oIdentify gaps
oSearch for ways to further integrate digital
literacy
oConsider how to track the learning opportunities
to ensure that all standards are being addressed
Continue to support
teachers and students:
·Develop an online/interactive version of the
Research Guide to the MRC website and introduce school-wide as a resource for
digital literacy
·Review LMS options and consider how an LMS might
support technology integration and digital literacy skills development among the
students and staff
·Develop and deliver workshops for students about
digital citizenship
·Continue to assist teachers in integrating
technology and search for new ways to expand technology integration through
teacher support
I get a little skeptical and wary of schools (and those that work within them - including myself sometimes) that espouse "academic excellence" as an organizational value.
I wonder if the "academic excellence" mantra has become the equivalent to the "good job" or "excellent effort" of teacher feedback to students. Nice words that mean nothing or worse yet, different things to different people.
Don't get me wrong, schools and teachers NEED to be "academically excellent", but what does the ideal look like?
What are the distinguishing features of academically excellent schools or classrooms? Are the only valid features of "academically excellent" schools those that are common to all to schools? Can we or should we personalize our understanding of "academically excellent" schools?
For example:
When you walk through "academically excellent" schools what are the teachers and students actually doing? Who's is doing the talking? Who's is doing the learning? What are students producing? Is it a problem if the teacher is doing most of the talking, all the time? Are the students engaged in relevant work that engages their mind in innovative and creative ways? Is the work that is expected from students done with a simple "Google" search? Are we merely preparing students to score well on a test?
I worry that the "academic excellence" mantra, if not unpacked properly, can serve to the narrow the vision of what schools need to be for our diverse group of learners.
Do we confine learning to classroom only?
I am the first one to equate our 100% Graduation Rate as a "mark" of academic excellence? Is that a fair mark for all schools in all circumstances?
What are schools, teachers, parents and students using, as data, to label themselves "academically excellent"? Are they only using those markers that are easy to measure?
For example:
Do we rely on standardized test results to label ourselves as "academically excellent" schools? There may be some merit to these tests for providing instructional and systemic feedback. However, when those test are misused to rank schools against each other it only serves to alienate our most vulnerable students and many hard working teaching professionals.
Are schools taking the "long view" when it comes to measuring academic excellence? There is nothing quite so rewarding as a teacher than when I run into former students engaged in the "real world" as successful, articulate, respectful contributing members of society - from doctors to chefs to teachers to entrepreneurs to parents to religious.
These are big questions that require organizational and school wide attention and conversations.
Perhaps the time has come for us to intentionally unpack our assumptions about what constitutes "academic excellence" in schools.
A few weeks ago our Grade 12 students participated in our annual "exit interview" from St. Patrick Regional Secondary (special thanks to @maricelignacio for organizing this event)
This is a formal and structured time when every staff member (including non-teaching staff) is assigned a handful of Gr. 12 students to meet and listen to as they share their Graduation Transition Plan
The plan usually covers short and long term goals as well as future aspirations including post secondary schooling plans and/or possible career plans. Students are also asked to reflect and consider such things as financial plans and healthy living plans (food, nutrition, exercise etc.) as they move into adulthood.
A further reflection point for students is in the area of meta-cognition. Students are asked to reflect on themselves as learners and to showcase examples of strengths and challenges.
Since we adopted this "exit interview" model, a few positives have emerged:
Having students present to a audience in a formal setting has given more meaning to the interviews
It has broadened the circle of insight regarding our students' successes, challenges and talents - which only makes our community better.
Speaking for myself, it has created a meaningful opportunity to ask students about their high school experience and gather information that can make our school better.
This year, for the first time, one of the students in my group decided to use digital media to assist him with his interview.
He didn't have to. He chose to. Which fits nicely within our BYOD approach to technology. For this student, the use of this technology was an appropriate amplifier of his message.
I have added his 4 minute video presentation below (with permission) - it is worth the watch
I am always really proud and amazed by the variety of talents and interests our students display. The exit interview has been a wonderful vehicle for students and staff to gain inspirational insights regarding the passions and talents of our students.
