I am a freak about vocabulary. I will sit motionless at the keyboard waiting for my foggy mind to clear so that the exact word I want to use will occur to me. Sometimes I cheat and use a – a – oh yeah I remember – a thesaurus.

I am also a semi-retired teacher so here is a test: Which of these two words – ensure, insure, would you put in each blank of this sentence?

Before you ________ that for a great deal of money you should first _______ that it is valuable.

Knowing which word is correct greatly effects the meaning of the sentence.

Or is it ‘affects’?

I think we are in a similar situation in education right now. Much effort is being put into insuring that our children are being well educated. But to adequately insure something implies that it is lost or destroyed and it must be replaced, possibly at great expense. And in replacing something there is no guarantee that we will get one as good as the one we had.

There is a prevalent opinion that our whole public education system must be replaced because children keep failing the tests we give them. In an article in AlterNet, Paul Thomas says it is not that simple, in fact it may be much more insidious. 1) He believes that the “No-Excuses” focus merely serves to short change those less privileged that others and gives data driven researchers a ready response that is mis-informed and scapegoat that is undeserving the label.

While I am not necessarily a proponent of a conspiracy theory of educational reform, I do believe that we are incorrectly confusing ‘insure’ and ‘ensure’.

American public education was originally an idea from the New England colonies. It was adapted from this to include the entire nation over a slow process of aggregation. The basic principle was that in a republic, universal education is a right and a necessity that must be maintained in order to have an informed participant population.

Since the sixties we have instituted standardized testing to insure that our education system is working properly. It is like the expiration date on a milk carton. Seeing it has passed and we still drink the milk to see if it has gone bad rather than buying a new carton. The problem is if it is bad you get a nasty mouthful of sour milk. In the case of education it is a much more egregious mistake. To test and find out that a student is not prepared is to mean that our work must be done all over again through remediation. It would be much better to ensure their education.

So how do we do that?

Simply, first we establish rigorous standards that are consistent across the nation. You know kind of like a Common Core. Then we write those standards so they do not simply check for memorization and drill but actually encourage thoughtful response. You know kind of like a Common Core. Next we maintain INDIVIDUAL records on each student, recording what standards they have completed and which ones they are still working on. Not mass produced, group tests that shame and denigrate one class over another but simply portfolios of work that demonstrate proficiency. Periodically we might even go back and check previously learned skills.

Finally, and this might be the hardest one to enact, we judge growth not by years of age but objectives completed. We do not recognize failure, we celebrate success. After all these are our children we are talking about.

Oh, and one more thing, we fully fund this process, not just in materials, but for teachers and support personnel. We recognize excellence in the profession by the effort of the professional to expedite this system, by their study of their craft and by their knowledge of the relevant material. Simply, we stop short-changing our future.

1) http://www.alternet.org/education/no-excuses-and-culture-shame-miseducation-our-nations-children

As an OpEd writer I spend an inordinate amount of time reading what others say about education. This evening I previewed a book called Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. It features an interesting contention that I happen to agree with. He cites data to indicate that our current reliance on standardized tests is destroying the desire to read in our students:

. . . Kelly argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading—specifically, he contends, through the standard instructional practices used in most schools. Kelly doesn’t settle for identifying only the problems. Readicide provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading — steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers. 1)

It is not my intent to get you to go out and buy the book, though if you are an educator I think you would find it fascinating reading. Rather I am interested in furthering my own agenda: that we should return to teaching through developmentally recognized practices and relegate standardized testing to where it actually belongs; as one of many tools that are available in a teacher’s arsenal.

That’s right, you heard me, I am not against standized testing, I am against it being used to drive curriculum. To support my equally radical idea that there is considerable value in tests I cite another article by Ama Nyameke published in EdWeek “A Teacher Finds Good in Testing”:

When I “depoliticized” the test, I found a useful and flawed ally. The exam excelled where I struggled, offering comprehensive and standards-based assessments. I thrived where the test fell short, designing creative, performance-based projects. Together, we were strategic partners. 2)

Nyameke rightly asserts that like other good teaching practices there is a place for testing. Teachers must assess growth and check to see that their instruction is effective. I use a variety of tools to accomplish this; portfolios, pointed questioning during discussions, self evaluation (you’d be amazed how many second graders think they are GREAT students), written responses to lessons to check for understanding and yes, tests.

But I believe Gallagher is also correct in pointing out that we are making reading a tiresome procedure that is goal based rather than a pleasurable activity. I read to my class, I read in front of my class and given the opportunity I cite reading as one of my favorite hobbies whenever I can. Still children must find that spark that lights the fire of their own desire to become readers. Right now there are several books that have grabbed the popular imagination and are disappearing from library shelves more rapidly than free bagels in the teacher’s lounge. For example, with my second graders, Diary of  Wimpy Kid offers entertaining pictures to go with an interesting story line so that even my emergent readers enjoy it.

Today we made our first visit to the school library. Like many schools we no longer have a real librarian but we have a staff member who works several hours a week to allow our students to check out books. As part of my regular curriculum I read to my students every day. I had just completed a book that I have read to my class every year that I have taught in the primary grades. The book is by Betty McDonald, who was also the author of The Egg and I, a rather famous piece of true experience literature that was made into a movie. I think the star was Claudette Colbert. But the book of hers that I read is called Mrs. Piggle -Wiggle. Often I make this the first book I read aloud to my class because it describes a bygone time in our country when people ate meals prepared at home and evening entertainment was everyone gathered around the radio. It is a sweet little book that all children seem to love.

When we arrived at the library one of my students asked where the “Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle” books were? I looked at the shelves and indicated the ones labeled “M” for McDonald. The stampede was on! Six Piggle-Wiggles, the entire collection contained in our school library were quickly snatched up and several children continued to scour the vicinity of the “M” shelves hoping to find one that had been mis-shelved.

I was encouraged by their gusto. It was a revelatory experience. True, my class had listened well while I read the book aloud to them over the last two weeks but to have it be so powerful that they would literally (and literately) ransack the shelves for copies was surprising. I warned our library helper that I was reading The Boxcar Children next and she might want to stock up on copies. Maybe there is still time to reverse the trend predicted by Gallagher and instill in a new generation a true love of reading, even if it is eventually on a Kindle.

1) http://www.stenhouse.com/

2) http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/08/31/02nyamekye