Reflections On Teaching And Leading Within A Testing Culture: Remember, You Don’t Have To Become One Of “Them.”

1. Buffalo State State University of New York Reflections On Teaching And Leading Within A Testing Culture: Remember, You Don’t Have To Become One Of “Them.” A PDS Retreat Presentation by: Richard Edward Jetter, Ph.D. October 1, 2010

2. Buffalo State State University of New York “We are making progress towards creating seriousness about testing within our school culture. We had a wonderful test “pep” assembly last year to gear up the kids to get psyched about beating the test and doing well. We hired a motivational speaker to come in for our assembly and afterwards we made a big chain of construction paper bands—like the ones that kids use to countdown the days to Christmas—for a countdown to the BIG DAY. Then, some parents and all of the students signed a pledge that they would get serious to do our best on the ELA. It is posted in our school foyer. Oh, and don’t forget, we had an ice-cream party at the end of this awesome afternoon celebration.” --Sarah, Dawson Elementary School Building Principal

3. Buffalo State State University of New York “I’ve realized that I have become the principal that I never wanted to become.” --“Albert,” Elementary Principal “This whole place feels like all we do is focus on the test.” --“Janet,” Grade 4 Teacher “No one really (100%) knows what to do to get kids ready for the test and I never thought things would be like this.” --“Jonathan,” Grade 6 Teacher

4. Buffalo State State University of New York WHAT IS “AT-STAKE”? --Principals evaluated on Business First rankings. --Teachers evaluated on NY State Assessment results. --25% Evaluation Measures--now approaching 40% of an evaluation. --Business First--Removal of Principal and 50% of staff--one example of turnaround model. --Race to the Top funds.

5. Buffalo State State University of New York Research Accountability Culture “MUSTS” Trider & Leithwood (1988): Emphasizes the need for central office support within accountability culture (principals). Egley & Jones (2005), Barth (1991), Purkey & Siegel (2003), Jones & Egley (2004): Motivation, climate, job satisfaction, caring attributes, human relationships focusing on support, removing factors that destroy potential of organization (teachers). Reitzug, West, & Angel (2008): Pride in work, positive self-concept for learning, not testing (teachers and students).

6. Buffalo State State University of New York Research—contd. Accountability Culture “MUSTS” O’Donnell & Wite (2005): 325 teachers and principals = laser-like professional development, visibility of principal, principal coaching and cheerleading, trust, focus on achievement, not tests and external instructional tactics for meeting test demands. Demoss (2002) & Bass (1985): Active leadership, intentional participation, focus on relationships.

7. Buffalo State State University of New York "Professional development and the topic of high-stakes testing are not easy topics to uncover. It isn’t clear cut unless you work with your teachers to discuss explicitly what you believe, where you want to go, what attitude towards these assessments you want to have, and what the plan of attack is going to be. For example, I, point-blank, told my teachers that I do not believe in test-prep or drill and skill tactics. I told them that I was going to ban all purchases that this school used to make to the big publishers. That’s it. Test-prep books were banned. A few teachers rebelled, but we laughed with each other about it and talked about getting rid of that comfort zone of using these books to drive instruction. I believe that the test format is a genre that we should teach, but not over a long period of time, even. It is something that needs to be treated as a genre study—just like poetry or non-fiction. Then, we looked at research on test-prep and formulaic writing and found that these methods gleaned no better results than having classrooms that focused on creative writing and critical thinking skills. We talked about activities that elicit student-centered writing based on their oral language skills. Some teachers even went to workshops on linking oral language with authentic writing. We had a game plan!" --Peter, Rosewood Intermediate School Building Principal

8. Buffalo State State University of New York Research—contd. What is Important? Nichols & Berliner (2008, 2007), Hughes & Bailey (2002): Test “pep” assemblies, ice-cream parties, raffles, slogans, posters, etc.--no link to increased achievement and test performance. Noonan & Renihan (2006): Assessment Leadership, Assessment Literacy, and explicit conversations about beliefs. Calkins (1998), Hillocks (2002): Test-as-Genre vs. Test Prep. Hess & Kelly (2007): 56 Syllabi—13% focus on accountability leadership & assessments.

9. Buffalo State State University of New York Historical Underpinnings of Testing—Carried out from field of Psychology into Education Galton: Eugenics—sorting racial differences through mental differences. Binet: IQ Test Goddard: Used Binet’s framework to spill into schools. Sorting of students. Terman: Achievement standardized tests, tracking, industrial model.

10. Buffalo State State University of New York Underpinnings—contd. Thorndike: Intelligence is related to race and class. Science, truth is fixed and genetic. Scales and tests--Stupid = Industry, Smart = Schooling. Brought about a more commercialized aspect of testing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dewey: Scientific inquiry, life experiences, and social environment.

11. Buffalo State State University of New York • Action Plan • Explicitly have conversations about what you believe about assessments with all stakeholders. Include historical underpinnings of testing within this training. • 2. Train BOE members, community members, parents, and staff about these beliefs—while creating a buy-in & ownership of the literacy program, the assessment literacy model, and measurement tools to be used. • Discount measuring humans on test outcomes and STICK WITH THIS PHILOSOPHY.

12. Buffalo State State University of New York • Action Plan—contd. • Maintain positive identity and demonstrate an intentional leadership agency for bringing about change within the politics of education. • 5. Treat tests as tools and study tests through a test-as-genre instructional tactic. Use test data as only one small element in literacy program. • 6. Colleges and Universities must look at increasing time devoted to accountability leadership best practices.

13. Buffalo State State University of New York And most of all . . . DON’T BECOME ONE OF THEM

14. Buffalo State State University of New York REFERENCES Barth, R. (1991). Improving schools from within. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press. Calkins, L. (1998) A teacher’s guide to standardized reading tests. Portsmouth: Heinemann. Demoss, K. (2002). Leadership styles and high-stakes testing: Principals make a difference. Education and Urban Society, 35, (1), 111-132. Egley, R. J., & Jones, B. D. (2005). Principals’ inviting leadership behaviors in a time of test-based accountability. Scholar Practitioner Quarterly, 3, (1), 13-24.

15. Buffalo State State University of New York REFERENCES Hess., F. M., & Kelly, A. P. (2007). Learning to lead: What gets taught in principal preparation programs. Teachers College Record, 109, (1), 244- 274. Hillocks, G. (2002). The testing trap: How state writing assessments control learning. New York: Teachers College Press. Hughes, S., & Bailey, J. (2002). What students think about high-stakes \ testing. Educational Leadership, 59 (4), 74-76. Jones, B. D., & Egley, R. J. (2004). Voices from the frontlines: Teachers’ perceptions of high-stakes testing. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 12, (39). Retrieved from http://www.epaa.asu.edu/cpaa/v12n39/.

16. Buffalo State State University of New York REFERENCES Nichols, S. & Berliner, D. (2007). Collateral damage: How high-stakes testing corrupts America’s schools. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Nichols, S. & Berliner, D. (2008). Testing the joy out of learning. Educational Leadership, 65, (6), 14-18. Noonan, B., & Renihan, P. (2006). Demystifying assessment leadership. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration, 56, (1), 1-21.

17. Buffalo State State University of New York REFERENCES O’Donnell, R. J., & Wite, G. P. (2005). Within the accountability era: Principals’ instructional leadership behaviors and student achievement. NASSP Bulletin, 89, 56-71. Reitzug, D. L., West, D., & Angel, R. (2008). Conceptualizing instructional leadership: The voices of principals. Education and Urban Society, 40, (6), 694-714. Trider, D. M., & Leithwood, K. A. (1988). Exploring the influences on principal behavior. Curriculum Inquiry, 18, (3), 289-311.

18. Buffalo State State University of New York • Richard E. Jetter, Ph.D. • rejetter@aol.com • 716-807-3853 • Training for BOE members • Training for Administrators and Central Office Staff • 3. Educational Hiring Tools