But I digress, the reason for this entry is because I received this message from a fellow coach and I thought I would post it because we all need to let off a little steam. Before I post this message, I want to congratulate all of the hardworking teachers and coaches out there that put their heart and souls out for the students and got the pay off when they received awesome results this year with STAAR. But for those of you who got the wind knocked out of them when you got the results, this post is for you, because you, (and believe me I know how you feel) you are the witnesses to train wrecks that you see coming and can only watch and not intervene.
Dear Techscichick,
Today I got my results from the STAAR and I feel like screaming. I feel like screaming because I am a Science coach for a school that is a combined elementary and middle school (K-8.) We not only have a 5th grade Science test, we have the 8th grade too.
My school is low socio economic and has a high ELL and Sped population. 100% of our kids receive free lunch. But even though our kids have problems they are good kids, they get excited about learning and they really love science class. I know that because sometimes I model lessons for them and they eat up the concepts like captain crunch with crunch berries, chomping through the lessons, surprised at the sweet berry conclusions that they learn. Even the 8th grade kids, though more non-chalant, let on they love the science they are learning about, they might not tell me, but they will let on to other teachers or their friends.
You wouldn't know this if you looked at our STAAR results. Our kids did horribly, but I knew that was going to happen. I knew it from the very beginning of the year, but there was nothing that I could do about it. Nothing. I just had to sit and watch it happen because I am a coach and not an administrator. I am a coach and not the teacher of record. The people that have all of the control did not do their part and because they didn't, I could barely make a dent in what truly needed to get done.
I know I am preaching to the choir when writing to you because being my friend and colleague you know where I am coming from. I just need to vent. I feel like screaming. Here is what I want people to know why the train wrecked.
I am not the savior of the STAAR exam. I am a resource. You shouldn't use me to pinch hit for the school during review time hoping that I will save the game. I don't mind being part of a team of people that are trying to get them there, but don't throw this responsibility on one person's shoulders. That isn't fair.
This is a cumulative test, so that means everybody should have taught science from K-8. Unfortunately for us, that message didn't get to all the teachers. Some were allowed to do what they wanted, cut entire curriculums to beef up scores in reading, writing and math. You can't expect a 5th or 8th grade teacher to build content knowledge of 3-5 years into one year.
We have three beautiful well stocked labs to do science. We should have more to support all of the grade levels, but we don't. Of course we could convince the principal to create another lab in a portable if people were showing up for their lab times. Its hard to convince an administrator to support hands-on science when the lab doesn't get used.
Vocabulary development isn't just an ELL issue, its an issue with ALL kids, especially economically disadvantaged, which, hello? Our whole school is economically disadvantaged. At least a Spanish second language learner has cognates to help them transfer into a new language. We have kids whose parents don't talk to them much and the only people that can help turn that around is us. If we are going to explain how something works in kid language, we need to remember to ramp it back up to the vocabulary of the subject matter. Yes our kids understand the concept, we know you taught it, they can't decode the STAAR question because they never got a chance to use the academic vocabulary in class.
There are a bunch of teachers who truly care about these kids at our campus but they are working harder instead of smarter. I see their heartbreak when kids don't do well on unit tests and benchmarks. Some of them cry on my shoulder. I feel really bad for these teachers because they really want their kids to succeed, but they don't believe me that Test practice books aren't going to get them there. They also don't believe me that they need to get rid of all of the worksheets. It's okay to scaffold for a student, but eventually we need to let kids be independent. They need to organize their own thoughts, they need present, they need to create, they need to teach each other. These teachers have a problem relinquishing control. These teachers do all of the work while the kids watch and get bored.
Sometimes I wonder if I make a difference as a coach or if I would be better off back in the classroom. I miss the kids. I know what to do. I just wish that Science was important enough at my school to make it successful. It breaks my heart to see these kids and teachers receive their scores. Thanks for letting me vent.
-A member of Science Coach's anonymous.
Dear Science Coach anonymous member,
Hang in there kid, every year starts brand new with no mistakes in it. Maybe you can choose one or two teachers to concentrate upon to make a difference with and when they see that what you know works, that will get the wheels turning. Good Luck
-Techscichick