Reflecting on Year One of the Test-less Classroom

At the beginning of this academic year I decided to eliminate testing from my high school music classes.  This was not an easy decision – I was wading in new territory.  Simultaneously I removed any connection between attendance/participation and student grades.  Certainly I did not play this up with my students – my attendance would have plummeted.  In order to keep attendance high I focused on developing a curriculum that was both challenging and sequential – one that would require students to be practicing everyday in order to earn the grades they desired.

I am quite pleased with how the year played out.  There is still much room for improvement, but the general model seems quite sound.  Below I will briefly detail the observations that these test-less classrooms have had on my students. 

Attendance

There has been no discernable difference in attendance from years past.  There are students who are motivated to attend everyday, and others that are not.  The only noticeable improvement was amongst students with averages between 55-60 – a very important group to reach.  Students in this grade range usually have few problems with the work; however, attendance issues prevent them from completing all of it.  The fact that tests were replaced by class work, and that I allowed all class work to be made up for full credit during any point of the year, allowed some students to catch up in just a few short weeks. 

Academic Achievement

In an end-of-the-year reflective paper, a sophomore in my concert band class observed, “Music is different because you have to work hard every day to succeed—you can’t skip class and then cram for a test like you can in other classes.”  This idea was part of my motivation to attempt implementation of this model.  In previous years many students earned high grades on tests, but had few skills at the culmination of the year to show for it.  This year, every student has reached a proficient level (especially in guitar class.) 

Acquisition of Skills

After I modeled skills over the first few months, students were more and more able to self-direct their own learning.  I did not place a limit on how many times a certain class assignment could be attempted.  This allowed students to prepare for assessment, self-assess their performance, and continue to practice any elements that were performed incorrectly the first time. 

Classroom Management

The only grade that I would use more a more formal structure with in the future is freshmen.  The freedom to work on their own or in small groups sometimes quickly got out of hand (dancing, yelling, and banging drumsticks on furniture sometimes followed.)  For all of the upper classmen, the relaxed atmosphere led to a respectful, and generally conflict-free classroom. 

Thank You and an Interesting Read

Thank you so much to all of you who continue to support my blog!  Today I received my 5,000th hit in just under seven months, from over 40 countries!

The New York Times has a must-read article today about the sad reality of segregation in NYC schools:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/education/at-explore-charter-school-a-portrait-of-segregated-education.html?_r=1&hp

What's in a Name?

The NYCDOE recently announced the new names of the 24 schools undergoing turnaround status this summer.

After being such a vocal critic of the Bloomberg administration, I have come around to see that, "maybe they did something right!".  Many of these new names use words such as "Academy" "Career" or allude to progressive thinking (see "21st Century" in Queens.). This will most likely inspire students who were truant for the past three years to start attending.  At best, the remaining lazy teachers will feel more respected working at an academy instead of merely a high school.

My school, for instance, will now be known as: Rupert B. Thomas Academy at Flushing High School Campus.

Rolls right off the tongue.

We will finally be replacing the oft-hard-to-remember abbreviation FHS with the much easier RBTAFHSC.  I imagine this will look great on next year's football jerseys.

Aside from the work done on this project by the DOE, I was working on my own to develop new names for the schools.  Sadly, I missed the deadline.  However, I would like to share them with you now.  Please keep in mind, these names could be used for any of the 24 turnarounds--none of the names are specific to a certain school:

-The Academy of 34 Students Per Class
-Overcrowded and Underfunded Academy of Excellence And Achievement
-We Haven't Fixed Any of the Real Problems High School
-High School of Grade Inflation and Credit Recovery
-The Michael Bloomberg Academy of Closing Schools Splitting Up Neighborhoods and Total Indifference

Flushing High School: 1875-2012

This past Thursday, April 26th, the NYC PEP ended 137 years of history at Flushing High School. 

A faculty of nearly 200 is now updating their resumes and preparing for interviews and high-performing students are filling out transfer forms to other high schools--they do not believe that the "new school" will be better, as the DOE continuously suggests.


Here are some facts that the DOE and PEP have never mentioned during this entire process:

1. No member of the PEP had visited our school or met with our students, teachers or parents.  Yet they felt they had enough information to close the school.

2. The "proposed principal" of the "proposed new school" was introduced to the staff several weeks before the closure vote and introduced to students and parents one day before the vote.  The DOE claims that no decisions had been made in advance.

3. The DOE has consistently used rhetoric to suggest that it is the fault of the faculty that students are not achieving.  However, here are the conditions imposed by the DOE at the same time that they claimed to be "helping" struggling schools:
a. Two of out attendance personnel were re-located this year.  They were responsible for the increased attendance over the past few years--they literally knocked on students' doors and got them to return to school.
b.  The students roster has increased by about 500 students over the past 3-4 years.
c. There will be more students in the "new school" next year when the current roster is already over 100% capacity
d. The budget for deans was cut, meaning less safety agents/deans per pupil.
e. There are still classes being taught in rooms where students have no desks!
f. When our school was receiving the SIG monies, most of the funds were not going to students.  Instead, private PD providers were flown in from all over the country on a weekly basis to provide
guidance to teachers on differentiation and lesson planning.  Some had only two years of teaching experience in suburban districts.
4. Not ONE parent, student or teacher spoke in favor of turnaround at our public hearing.
5. When the plans for turnaround were initially unveiled, the DOE did not provide letters to parents in any language other than English.  However, a large percentage of our parents speak Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, etc.  Within the week the mayor's spokeswoman stated that letters in other languages would be forthcoming.  It never happened!  This was a concerted effort to leave parents out of the process.  If the UFT or NAACP has any grounds for a lawsuit, this may be their strongest case.
6. The day after the closure vote (this past Friday), when staff and student morale was at its lowest, the DOE had a representative making unannounced observations of teachers.  THIS IS CLASSLESS AND INSULTING!

Everyone at Flushing, as well as the other 23 schools that were unfairly closed, have always known that we had no chance, yet we kept fighting and tried to remain optimistic.

There are many explanations for the DOE's actions:
"They are trying to bust the union" (true) 
"They want to put money in the hands of private companies" (true)

Unfortunately, there is something much more sinister at hand.  95% of Flushing's student body is non-Caucasian and 75% qualify for reduced lunch.  Would the unjust treatment of Flushing HS ever be allowed to happen if:

There was a higher Caucasian population? (no)
Students' parents made more money? (no)
More parents spoke English? (no)

Would members of the DOE or PEP ever send their children to a school with over 3,00 students where classes are filled to capacity (34 in most, up to 50 in P.E. and music!) and there is a lack of basic materials (desks, paper, etc.)?

The answer is no.