Princeton Review's formative assessment arm

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

What is "I did not study effectively for tests" meant to mean?

Or how can a kid tell if they're coming to class "prepared to learn" or not? And if they're not, what can they do to make sure they are?

"Completed all assignments" is clear about what happened. And if it's something you didn't do, then it's clear what you need to do to fix it. But some other reasons on this list are too vague. Especially for what, by my calculations, are 12 year-olds.

What happens to a kid who brings home one of these to parents who are not steeped in middle management speak themselves?

-- TracyW - 02 Dec 2005

Speaking as a lower-manager, I think "I did not study effectively for tests" means "I played Xbox / watched TV / surfed the Internet instead of studying." I mean, not the way Christopher has filled it out, but maybe that's what the teacher meant. And BTW, it's probably not the teacher's fault. It's probably some crazy mandate from the school's administration.

-- KtmGuest - 02 Dec 2005

hey, wait a minute.
he did and did not complete all assignments.
what's up with that?

-- VlorbikDotCom - 02 Dec 2005

It is the teacher's fault!

He has a study skills class in which the teacher has not uttered a word about how to study for tests.

Not

One

Word

Before Thanksgiving they made paper turkeys for the homeless.

They also wrote thank you letters to their favorite teachers.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

The 'I didn't complete all assignments' is erased.

You can see we have a CATASTROPHIC handwriting situation around here.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

Sorry, by "it's not the teacher's fault" I meant the existence of the form, not his test failure. Existence of the form and requirement to get it signed are probably mandates from admin.

Re handwriting -- it's universal, and is probably directly related to the presence of keyboarding instruction in first grade instead of penmanship lessons. When my niece (now in 11th grade) was in 8th grade, I was appalled to see that her writing looked like what I would expect from a six-year-old. It's gotten much better in the last few years.

-- KtmGuest - 02 Dec 2005

I don't see why he couldn't be given some help on how to study for tests.

I don't remember how to study for tests, and I've never read/memorized any of the systems for doing so.

If you're going to give a course called "Study Skills," then teach the kids how to study.

Take them through a textbook, show them how to find the key points, teach them how to test themselves using index cards, notes, etc.

TEACH STUDY SKILLS

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

Sorry, by "it's not the teacher's fault" I meant the existence of the form, not his test failure. Existence of the form and requirement to get it signed are probably mandates from admin.

Oh, yeah, I know.

Still, I doubt the administration came up with these forms. The principal is brand new; this is his second year.

Teachers have quite a bit of leeway to find their own materials....

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

Re handwriting -- it's universal, and is probably directly related to the presence of keyboarding instruction in first grade instead of penmanship lessons. When my niece (now in 11th grade) was in 8th grade, I was appalled to see that her writing looked like what I would expect from a six-year-old. It's gotten much better in the last few years.

The last generation of kids with good handwriting is my parents' generation. They had KUMON for handwriting in grade school, systematic, progressive practice making all the various shapes.

I used a handwriting program with Christopher two summers ago, and it helped, but his handwriting is deteriorating like crazy now.

His 5th grade teacher, the BRILLIANT Ms. Duque, gave them a lot of help & instruction in handwriting, and he did much better last year.

She was incredible. She had core common sense.

She could go on a rant about how kids couldn't line up numerals because they never learned handwriting.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

There are districts on Long Island that have completely stopped teaching either cursive or printing, I forget which.

Cursive, I guess.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

So, if they don't teach cursive, do they at least teach the kids enough to sign their names?

Looking at how Christopher signed the form, I'm guessing the answer is No.

-- KtmGuest - 02 Dec 2005

Our district has all kindergarten children writing "stories" beginning the first day. They are writing before receiving any instruction in letter formation or phonics. They call this "balanced literacy" but it is whole language all the way. The mess this makes is unbelievable. Children never learn to form print letters correctly, cursive is barely taught, spelling is horrible and difficult to remediate once bad habits are in place. To top if off they use a spelling program called Rebecca Sitton. My friends 7th grade son came home with these words (among others) the first weeks of 7th grade: met, wheel, none, hill, and televison!!!

-- LoneRanger - 02 Dec 2005

Our district has all kindergarten children writing "stories" beginning the first day

Welcome to the dreaded Kid Writing.

Its research base consists of:

1. stuff they just made up
2. a blurry magazine article
3. what they learned from watching daytime tv
4. half a chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ok, I'm kidding. Its research base is really an out of print book, a doctoral thesis, and "studies" of components of other successful instructional programs. This time I'm not kidding -- see the difference.

This last bit of "research" is the most dangerous and very typical of Ed research. Here's the syllogism: successful reading programs, like DI, include phonics; our reading program also includes phonics. Therefore, our reading program will also be successful.

-- KDeRosa - 02 Dec 2005

"The school district needs to do what Engelmann did. Work backwards. Start with the college level goals the students should reach by senior year. They could use the AP course guidelines as a starting point. Then they work backwards, specifiy each year's goals until they get back to K."

I agree. This is for the principal. He/she has to show how the K-8 content and skills match up with the honors track classes in high school. A detailed curriculum needs to be included listing all books, systems, homework requirements, tests, projects, and grading method. (This is a very simple requirement of all college classes.) All tracks, phases, TAG/GATE programs, enrichment, and/or acceleration pull-outs need to be defined. A detailed explanation of how they decide wheter a student is passed along to the next grade must be provided. All of this needs to be posted on the school's web site. A copy of this will also be submitted and graded by the appropriate high school teachers.

-- SteveH - 02 Dec 2005

"Wellness Committee"

Next comes the "Lifestyle Committee".

-- SteveH - 02 Dec 2005

Sorry, by "it's not the teacher's fault" I meant the existence of the form, not his test failure. Existence of the form and requirement to get it signed are probably mandates from admin.

I could never, never make it as a teacher.

Too many stupid mandates from above, all rolling downhill at once.

-- CarolynJohnston - 02 Dec 2005

So, if Ben:

1. didn't complete all assignments 2. turned in some assignments late 3. came to school and daydreamed quietly 4. contributed little to discussions 5. but studied effectively and aced his tests,

what grade does he get?

The first four points on the contract Ben brought home are meant to convey the importance of how to learn content, in which case the last point is redundant, or should reference more affective behaviors that would serve to improve his review of content the night before a test.

So anyway, his grade is based on nominal respect for classroom authority, and the ability to appear willing to discuss content in a way that sounds like he's "constructing meaning" in situ.

oops sorry this comment does not follow, because I didn't realize the teacher is not homeroom/quantitative. writing is different.

-- BeckyC - 02 Dec 2005

Does anyone else find the 37 at the bottom of the page to be noteworthy? Makes it seem like this form was xeroxed out some Teacher Resource Manual.

-- RudbeckiaHirta - 02 Dec 2005

"Before Thanksgiving they made paper turkeys for the homeless."

Huh?

Why on earth would you make PAPER turkeys? If a school wanted to get the students to do something for the homeless, couldn't they get them to do something useful, like collect blankets or bake real turkeys? Talk about time wasting!

-- SamanthaRawson - 02 Dec 2005

OMG.

I would at make a paper airplane out of this "contract" so there would be a legitimate use for the killing of trees. Or perhaps you could have Ben make a paper turkey out of it?

NicksMama^?

-- NicksMama - 02 Dec 2005

This is for the principal. He/she has to show how the K-8 content and skills match up with the honors track classes in high school.

Which principal? There are at least three, possibly up to six, "head" principals (we won't get into the 4-10 AsstPrs^? per school) a student might encounter during his K-12 tenure, even if the student never moves, the school boundaries never change, and the principals don't move:

• Pre-K / K "Early Readiness Center"
• 1 - 4 "Elementary"
• 5 - 6 "Intermediate"
• 7 - 8 "Middle School"
• 9 "Ninth Grade Campus" -- because they've figured out that 9 - 12 makes too big of a school and the 9th graders (a) aren't ready for high school and (b) get pounded on by the bigger kids -- so why not move them back down to "junior high" like we had?
• 10 - 12 "High School"

I'm not saying all districts are like this, or even all areas within a district, but in my Very Large Urban School District, a kid could possibly end up attending all of these.

And, of course, none of the principals talk to each other; there are over 200,000 students in the district, and probably hundreds of schools.

Does anyone else find the 37 at the bottom of the page to be noteworthy? Makes it seem like this form was xeroxed out some Teacher Resource Manual.

Oh, good eye!

-- KtmGuest - 02 Dec 2005

Does anyone else find the 37 at the bottom of the page to be noteworthy? Makes it seem like this form was xeroxed out some Teacher Resource Manual.

You are HILARIOUS!

I did notice that, but I was so AGGRAVATED I just roared past it.

Yes, of course, she's pulled this thing out of some obnoxious book.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

So, if they don't teach cursive, do they at least teach the kids enough to sign their names?

Looking at how Christopher signed the form, I'm guessing the answer is No.

HIS HANDWRITING IS A DISASTER!!!!!!

AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH

He just told me tonight that his social studies yells at him about his handwriting.

I said GOOD.

Now there is a teacher yelling at my kid about something important. (I'm serious.)

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

My sister-in-law told me IL is now requiring Kindergarteners to produce complete paragraphs, I think it was.

Horrifying.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

I know, the paper turkeys for the homeless especially got to me.

I mean, if I were homeless, I think I'd look askance at some rich snooty school giving me PAPER.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

Here's the syllogism: successful reading programs, like DI, include phonics; our reading program also includes phonics. Therefore, our reading program will also be successful.

I really wasn't aware of this until Engelmann hammered the point.

-- CatherineJohnson - 02 Dec 2005

My sister-in-law told me IL is now requiring Kindergarteners to produce complete paragraphs, I think it was.

It won't be anything recognizable, but it will be indented.

It's also leading up to the 4-6 paragraph essay they're required to write for the state tests by the 3rd grade.

It will also be lacking such things as punctuation and/or decent spelling, but will for sure have paragraph lead-offs such as, "In addition to.." and "In conclusion.."

It's the natural extension of their years of journaling and invented spelling.

-- SusanS - 03 Dec 2005

It won't be anything recognizable, but it will be indented

LOL!

-- CatherineJohnson - 03 Dec 2005

-- EdWonk - 03 Dec 2005

A great post. We've linked it over at The Education Wonks.

-- EdWonk - 03 Dec 2005

oh, thanks!

-- CatherineJohnson - 03 Dec 2005

I'm still mulling how to respond.

My latest plan, suggested by my mother, is to correct the grammar and punctuation and send it back.

At the moment, that's what I intend to do, unless I think better of it.

-- CatherineJohnson - 03 Dec 2005