Education Language Explained

So every area in academia and politics has specific language and jargon.  Sometimes this helps aid the clarity of those who work in such fields, like education.  However, sometimes it's used to get support for things that people wouldn't support.  So here's an explanation of various educational terms (with a slightly comedic interpretation).

Accommodation = Changes in teaching practices and assessments/tests that allow for equality for children with differing abilities (disabilities) or who speak English as a second language. As I've said elsewhere, they don't go far enough.

Accountability = TESTING!!!!  All the tests ever!!!  Whether they're talking about teacher, student, or school accountability they really mean high stakes test that decide student advancement, teacher and principle pay and employment, and school funding.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) = How schools do on the high stakes tests.  It's the minimum amount of achievement needed to meet NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and get Title I funding.

Alignment = How well curriculum, assessment, instruction, and tools (like text books) meet and reinforce the goals of the educational program or government.  In practice it often means teaching to the test so that teachers and principles keep their jobs and the school doesn't lose funding.

Assessment = A way to see if students have actually learned what they were taught. It can involve essays, portfolios, and various forms, currently it means TESTS!!!!

Benchmarks = Detailed descriptions of what students should know and be able to do at specific ages, grades, and/or development levels.

Categorical Aid = Federal and State funds that go to schools to help them in specific areas, such as making accommodation for kids with special needs, transportation, class size reduction.  Money must be spent on the area if was granted for.

Comparable Growth = certain subgroups of children (like English as a second language, or kids with special needs) within a school who have different requirements for standardized tests. Generally expected to achieve 80% of the predominate group, generally only 10-15% of the students in any school can be in comparable growth subgroups, which is a big old problem when 20% of students have some type of special need, and in some areas almost half of the students are ESL (English as a Second Language).

Core/Common Core - The new tests address these over the previous NCLB tests and standards.  Always includes English and Math, along with Science and History/Social Studies for older students.

Differentiation = Used mainly in academics, haven't seen this term in politics yet.  It means class curriculum and assignments being geared towards the differing abilities of the students within one class.

Disaggragated Data = Comparing students and their stats within their subgroups, instead of the entire school population. Generally segments include students with special needs, living below of near poverty, are a racial or ethnic minority, and are ESL.

ESL/ English as a Second Language - Extra classes or aids to help children who comes from countries or homes where English is not spoken.  Children have only two years of ESL classes before they are expected to take high stakes tests in English without any accommodation or inclusion in a comparable growth subgroup.

Enrichment = Additional courses and programs outside of what is needed for graduation or the high stakes testing. What I do, and because it's not about TESTING! it's severally underfunded, and generally left to after school and outside volunteer groups to perform.

GATE/ Gifted And Talented Education = Program that provides enrichment, differentiated lessons, and supplemental instruction for children that are identified as intellectually gifted and talented and thus test/achieve academically above the majority of children in their grade.

High Priority = Schools/students/what have you that test in the lower half, generally the bottom 10% based on state and school standards.

Inclusion = Also known as mainstreaming.  Kids with special needs are in the standard classrooms instead of a Special Ed. classroom.

IEP / Individual Educational Plan = Plans made to meet the various needs of students with differing abilities.  Designed between the student's parents, teacher, the school special education specialist, and school administrators.  The participation levels of the student depend on their age and abilities.

Integrated Curriculum = Involves using one theme to teach a variety of subjects and skills.  English teachers using Health and biology to teach reading and essays while the students are also learning about the human body is an example.

Intervention = Refers to funds schools get to meet the needs of students who are not achieving at grade level.  Cannot be used as schools general funds, but specifically for the needs of the students its allocated for, so a type of Categorical Aid.

Magnet School = School that focuses on a specific discipline like science, technology, the arts, etc and it recruits students from other parts of the school district.

NCLB/ No Child Left Behind - The educational reforms that became law under George W. Bush in 2002.  Brought the TESTING! mania to the national level.  Has since been reformed with Race to the Top and the idea of the common core.

Proficiency = Ability to do something at grade level.  Determined by high states standardized tests.

Pull Out = Students who need special assistance are pulled out of class for small group activities/learning.  Unlike the sex kind of pull out, these programs are effective.

Rubric = A set scoring or grading system that is supposed to set criteria and the quality for those criteria.

Standards = These really mean state and federally crafted standards that are often created and/or influenced by politicians are opposed to educators. Because politicians are experts on everything!

Dr. Seuss and Read Across America

Dr. Seuss is a beloved and prolific children's author whose books remain immensely popular decades after they were first written and have resulted in 11 TV specials, 4 movies, a Broadway Musical, and 4 TV series. His stories entertain, inspire, and educate children (and adults).  And because of all of this Dr. Seuss' birthday has been adopted as the date for National Read Across America.

Read Across America was developed by the National Education Association and works to encourage literacy and education among children and teens. They have an annual Oh, The Places You'll Go College Scholarship for art, which was Dr. Seuss' passion. This year they're also having The Lorax Project to help raise awareness about conservation and the rain forest.  

Which is one of the wonderful things about Dr. Seuss, his stories often framed complex social issues in a way children can understand.  (Granted, not everyone was excited about his children's books involving social commentary.  Loggers were especially upset about The Lorax).  Which makes it unsurprising that in 1941 Dr. Seuss took a break from writing his Horton books and turned to WWII propaganda.

This combined with his wonderful illustrations, and desire to write interesting stories to help children learn to read (Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham use 250 and 50 words respectively and were written as answers to the boring Dick and Jane books that were used to teach children how to read) makes Dr. Seuss the perfect author to combined with Read Across America.

I hope everyone takes some time today to read some Dr. Seuss.

In Their Words

There's been a six word essay writing contests where students write what they think it means to be a great teacher.

You can see the submissions and vote for a winner here.  Today is the last day to vote!

John Stewart and Education.

Nothing could make me happier than John Stewart talking about teachers and education.  His mother is a teacher, he knows a variety of teachers, and whenever Stewart talks about education he makes sure to address what teachers say, instead of only focusing on political officials or lobbying groups.

Yesterday he had Arne Duncan, the current Secretary of Education, and again, he made sure to stand up for teachers and what they say. You can see the video of the interview here on Hulu.

Book List - Black History Month

I did this Book List last year as well.  It's Black History Month in the US (and some other countries) so in honor of that here is a new list of books with black authors and/or prominent black characters.  Like always, books I have personally read are marked with an *.  Also this list will be updated over the course of the month.

Pre-K and Kindergarten
* The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1963 Caldecott Medal winner. The beautifully illustrated story of a  boy playing in a snow draped city.  This book is one of the first popular children's books to focus on a black child.)

Grades 1 - 2
Max Found Two Sticks by Brian Pinkey ( Max doesn't like talking much, so he uses his drunk sticks (twigs) to make music that expresses his feelings.)

Grades 3 - 5
J.T. by Jane Wagner (J.T's a kid on a bad track, until he befriends an injured cat and learns how to express the love he has a hard time showing other humans.)

Young Adult
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Various characters in this book and series are people of color.  However, often the race isn't explicitness mentioned but implied through comments about hair type, eyes, and skin shade.  Some people see Katniss as mixed race. Read my review.)

* The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan (The last book in the Demon's Lexicon series is told from the perspective of Sin, a bi-racial demon dancer

Mildred B Taylor (Especially famous for her Logan family books, about a black sharcropping family in the deep south right from the 1930s to the Civil Rights movement.  Some of her books are young adult, such as The Road to Memphis and Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry others, like Mississippi Bridgeand The Friendship are appropriate for Grades 3 and up.)
Walter Dean Myers ( Preeminent writer for children and young adults.  Writes fiction, nonfiction and poetry.  Famous books include Monster,Scorpions, Hoops, 145th Street: Short Stories, The Blues of Flat Town and Countless others.)

Awesome Resources

I'll be adding these to my links page, but I wanted to make sure to highlight these new internet sites I've found.

ReadWriteThink
This link goes to the after school/parent resource page.  The site explains why different types of learning and learning all year long are so important.

"As adults, we know how important reading and writing are in all parts of our lives. We also know that a passion for reading and writing can help children and teens find ways to understand not only different cultures and worlds but also themselves.  And writing can help them find ways to work through and communicate their hopes, fears, and dreams." (I especially like how they make use of the oxford comma!)
"Research tells us that children and teens who don't read and write outside of, especially during long breaks such as summer vacation, face a big loss in their literacy growth compared to those who continue learning all year long.   This means the summer months and other breaks from school offer wonderful opportunities for families, caregivers, and out-of-school educators to help improve reading and writing."
 - From the Read Write Think printable flyer

ReadWhiteThink breaks their after school and parent resources down by resource types (games, tools and tips, activities and projects), grade, learning objective, and theme (arts, community, careers).  They seem to have about 20-30 activities per grade section (2nd and 3rd grade are together for example) and about 10 tips for parents/teachers on how the help children (some of these are applicable for all grades and others are more specific).  They also have a Podcast Chatting About Books  with series for grades K - 6, and a Podcast for older students, Text Messages which seems to be about research and now to use non-fiction texts.

The Multicultural Toybox
This site is dedicated to helping parents and educators find multicultural resources so that children see themselves, and other cultures/experiences, represented in their toys and books.  The Multicultural Toybox provides recommendations, but also discusses/provides information about why multicultural toys,characters, and stories are represented to all children.  Recently they discussed Sesame Street and Fox News attack of their "liberal" message of acceptance.

You can go straight to their Toy, Game, Craft, & Book Guide, but I really recommend going through and reading the blog entries that also discuss the importance of these types of toys and books.  The Multicultural Toybox is written and managed by Dr. Leslie Madsen-Brooks.  

Teacher Union Comic

And I'm getting a bit political again.  But really politics and education are so connected I'm finding it hard not to.

Fairies Are So Hot Right Now

Now I've seen children and YA books with and about fairies for the last several years (and of course there's the centuries old popularity of fairy tales), but recently they really seem to have taken off.  All of my girls between the ages of 6 and 10 are into the Never Fairies and Rainbow Fairies series and some authors are trying to increase the range by writing and illustrating fairy books that are more gender neutral or geared towards boys.  So here's a post on fairy books, part Book List and part Review.

First for the younger kids there's the picture books by Bobbie Hinman. The most popular of these is the Fart Fairy. Which I'm not surprised appeals to kids, but personally I like to steer them away from bathroom humor.  There's also The Belly Button Fairy, The Knot Fairy, and The Sock Fairy.  Bobbie Hinman was an elementary school teacher, so she knows how to appeal to young kids.  All four stories are written in simple rhyme and have adorable and fun illustrations.  They're meant to appeal to boys and girls and children from a broad age range.  You can read them allowed to a 3 year old, with an emergent reader, or have a 7 or 8 year old read it to themselves.   If you buy them new they come with a read along CD, which can be great.

The Rainbow Fairies is a series about seven sister fairies who bring color to Fairyland, and the two human girls, Rachel and Kristy, who help the fairy sisters when they show up in our world.  These books fall into the easier reading range of chapter books.  The chapters are short, there are a fair amount of illustrations, and the stories not to long.  However, there aren't so many pictures that 3rd graders would scorn the books as "babyish".  I'd recommend this series for early Fluent readers (often 2nd and 3rd graders), it's the most popular series among my own students at the moment.  These books have been out for two or so years so the first part of the series should be available in libraries and used book stores.

The Never Fairies of Pixie Hollow is a Disney franchise about Tinkerbell and her pixie friends.  There's movies and books and games and the general Disney characteristic of trying to get you to buy more, but the actual book series Tales from Pixie Hollow is pretty good.  They have good messages about friendship, working together, gaining new skills, the growing and changing of  a person, and other wonderful things.  The fairies all have different skills and professions, Tinkerbell's a blacksmith, and the illustrations portray them as different races (though they all have the same general body shape).  I'd recommend the series for fluent readers (it's a bit harder then the Rainbow Fairies series) so about the 3rd grade level.  However, I know a lot of older girls who also enjoy this series so they're good for older kids for an easier read or those who might have a lower reading level but don't want to look "babyish". Also, since the first books in the series came out a couple years ago they're easy to find at used books shops or in the library!

I've already reviewed Justine Larbalestier's How to Ditch Your Fairy which is Young Adult and a light read with an interesting world, great female friendships, queer characters, and a good message about working for what you want.  However, I was a little disappointed that the protagonist, Charlie, didn't seem to learn that lesson as well as her friends did.

And of course there are the traditional fairy tales and their more modern retellings. I'm sure many people remember Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.  It was published in 1998 and has won a Trophy Newbery and had a movie remake starring Anne Hathaway.  Levine has also retold the story of Snow White in Fairest and written her own fairy tales in The Tale of Two Castles and The Two Princesses of Bamarre.  I've only read Ella Enchanted and Fairest, and I preferred Ella Enchanted, but all the books are YA in regards to reading level and appropriate story wise for younger children.