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I have always wanted to be a teacher. Not in the “I love kids!” way or the “I always played school when I was little!” way. I have always had a passion for learning — I find it exciting to be exposed to different, interesting things and I wanted to pass that love of learning on to others.
I have always found that helping others understand difficult topics is one of the most rewarding parts of my life, even when I was helping my little brother learn how to play the trombone (which I taught myself in order to help teach him).
I love it. I received my BS in Science Education from East Carolina University, the oldest (and some would consider the most prestigious) teaching college in North Carolina and when I saw my name on the door of room 175 at South Lenoir High School in 2008, I felt like a life’s worth of dreams had finally come true.
Over the past five years of teaching in the great state of North Carolina, I have had some of the brightest, most inquisitive, most hilarious, and most surprising kids walk through my door and find a seat. I have so enjoyed watching them grow and succeed, teaching them about the world and how their bodies worked and life, in general.
Up until this year, I have looked forward to my job every single day, despite increases in the cost of insurance, decreases in supplements, and a pay freeze that has me getting paid less as a current first year teacher (discounting the small increase I received for the two years of master’s work I did at East Carolina). I understand that over 50 percent of the state budget goes to education, and the budget must be balanced. The mismanagement of funds is the least of my concern.
This year, changes were made at all levels of education. Every single core subject adopted a new curriculum aligned with goals set up by the federal government (the Common Core and State Essential Standards), instead of just a few subjects making the change at a time (as has happened in years past). Math not only got a new curriculum, but the entire subject was changed from algebra, geometry, etc., to Math 1, Math 2, Math 3, leading to confusion across the board.
Courses that are tested with an End of Course test (or EOC) have a completely re-designed exam, all of which has to be done online (a logistical nightmare for a school like South Lenoir, which doesn’t have enough computers for testers), and non-EOC courses have new Measures of Student Learning, state tests designed to measure “teacher effectiveness” based on the student’s “growth,” as indicated by their test results.
The MSL is where my issue lies.
I understand the MSL was created with good intentions. I wish I could say every single teacher I have ever come across has been a pillar of professionalism and ethics. They haven’t all been. We do need to measure the effectiveness of teachers in their practice, yearly. However, there are several issues with the MSLs that need to be addressed;
- Rolling out state tests across the board in one year is a complete mess. Having the students suddenly accountable for studying for four different state tests in a year, when they were used to studying for 0-2 state tests per year, stresses out the students, teachers, and administrators at all levels. Additionally, all non-EOC (or VOCAT) courses will have an MSL next year, leading a student to have eight different state tests based on the Common Core and State Essential Standards each year starting in the fall of 2013.
- The Common Core and State Essential Standards are increasing the breadth of knowledge necessary for students and decreasing the depth of knowledge needed. Instead of the students becoming experts in a small area of study, they are supposed to have a general knowledge of several different concepts. This is leading to decreased interest and increased confusion in all topics.
Additionally, the standards are so broad, teachers have no idea where the 43 questions for the MSL will be pulled from, leading the students to be unsuccessful on the test.
- The MSL is supposed to be based on growth of students. In Lenoir County, we are using EVAAS data to do this. EVAAS is a program that uses students’ former scores on state tests to predict a score on future test. This sounds like a good idea, and is for many subjects that require a building of knowledge (such as English or math).
However, for science it makes absolutely no sense. The students in my ninth grade Earth/Environmental science course are having their growth based on subjects tested on the 8th grade science EOG, which covers topics completely unrelated to Earth/Environmental science. In physical science, they are having their growth based on topics learned in Environmental and Biology.
How does a student’s understanding of rocks and minerals translate to their understanding of electricity and stoichiometry? It doesn’t. If you want to evaluate a student based on growth, the best way to do that is with a pre-test and post-test comparison on topics directly related to the subject he is studying (which is not being done because it is too expensive and the teachers cannot be trusted to not “teach to the test” if they see it in pre-test form. Side note, teachers can’t be trusted).
- n As I stated before, I think measuring teacher effectiveness is completely necessary. However, as I write this blog, I am looking directly at a student who has taken 20 minutes to complete her MSL (which should take AT LEAST 90 minutes) and has put her head down. She may be having a bad day, she may just be tired, she may be sick, or she may not care about whether or not she passes her class. How can her (and many, many others’) apathy for a state test translate into my effectiveness as a teacher?
TEST ME! PLEASE!!
- n And this is my biggest pet peeve of all — If you’re going to roll out a state test, please … PLEASE edit it. Make sure that the grammar and spelling are correct, and all necessary graphics are complete and present. Come on, guys. Maybe someone should be evaluating YOUR effectiveness as test-givers.
This list of grievances may seem like an unnecessary diatribe, but anyone currently working in public education feels my pain. I haven’t even touched on the mess of inclusion classes (which have completely different curricula but are expected to be taught in the same classroom as a normal set of students), IEP meetings, SIOP, formative assessment, professional development, PEP paperwork, remediation, or the fact that my air conditioning isn’t working and there’s leaky ceilings in the halls, causing us to dodge renegade raindrops as we move from class to class.
I understood when I began teaching that being an educator meant more than standing in front of the class and imparting knowledge on the general masses. However, every year of the last 5 years, we have been expected to do “more with less” – more work with less money. All of these changes have caused a lot of unrest among public educators, and something HAS to change if you want to keep highly qualified teachers in North Carolina’s classrooms.
This is, unfortunately, why it is so easy for me to (paraphrasing LeBron James) take my talents to the Rocky Mountains.
Maggie Haberny has been a science teacher at SouthLenoirHigh Schoolfor five years. She will be teaching in Denvernext year. The opinions of the guest columnist are not necessarily those of The Free Press.