New Ways to Help Our Kids Document Learning

Measuring Academic Progress series, Part 2 of 3

Parents can help children track their progress through alternative assessments. This is an effective way to help our children document their learning during these challenging times as well as when children do not attend a “brick and mortar” school during extended vacations. Alternative or authentic assessments rely on a foundation of learned knowledge and skills that learners integrate in their understanding and evidence of mastery. Alternative assessments ask the student to use what they have learned for a purpose rather than simply reiterating it.

Examples of Authentic Performances and Displays of Learning

PRODUCTS: Puzzles, games, timelines, simulations, primary research, experiments

WRITING/PUBLISHING: Scripts, stories, headlines, catalogs, press releases, marketing plan

ORIGINAL DESIGNS: Artwork, music, cartoons, book covers, illustrations, models, graphic designs

DEMONSTRATIONS/PRESENTATIONS: Show/explain how it works, teach another, simulation, lab experiment

PERSUASIONS: Debate, defense, advocacy, advice, editorial, soapbox, urge to action

MULTIMEDIA: Visual/auditory/digital products such as an infographic, video, storyboard, e-zine, newscast

How to Document Performance

Performances and displays require comparisons and alignment with the purposes of learning. For example, if you were learning to play tennis, the coach would watch your movements and make recommendations for improvement. If you were writing a press release or a summary, it would be fact-checked and assessed for organization and persuasiveness.

For more information, you can also order the newly released Student-Engaged Assessment book by Laura Greenstein and Mary Ann Burke with a 20% discount until 12/31/20 by using promo code RLEGEN20 from Roman and Littlefield at https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475857825/Student-Engaged-Assessment-Strategies-to-Empower-All-Learners.

May your children’s alternative assessment documentation reflect how they have accomplished progress towards specific goals or by achieving mastery of learning objectives.

Laura

Responding to Your Kids’ Challenging Behaviors at Home

Our children’s misbehaviors can be addressed through preventive strategies, modifying the environment, and by teaching them alternative behaviors. When trying to resolve a child’s challenging behavior, parents can try the following approach:

Identify the problem and agree on what behavior is going to be addressed.
Brainstorm solutions to understand what function the behavior is serving.
Make a plan involving an acceptable solution that allows the child to achieve the function being served by the challenging behavior. That is, if the function is also acceptable.
Implement the plan consistently and across settings.
Evaluate the outcome to determine next steps.
Develop alternative solutions for various family members or situations.

During the brainstorming session, you can:

Describe what the behavior looks like or sounds like (i.e. frequency, duration, intensity).
Determine when does the behavior occur and what happens right before the behavior. (What sets off the behavior?)
What happens right after the behavior? (What is the child achieving from the behavior?)
Is there a function for the behavior or is the child trying to communicate something, avoid something, get attention, or express anger and frustration?
Work toward developing acceptable alternatives that achieve the function.

Remember, any challenging behavior that persists over time is “working” and rewarding to your child. Relish the serenity you have achieved with quality family play!

Ruth

Preparing for High School and Beyond

This summer, my oldest is preparing to enter her 8^th grade year of school. While it is certainly a milestone year and we will celebrate the end of the middle school years, we don’t want high school to arrive and then be caught off guard that we weren’t prepared! So, even while one stage in life ends, we are looking forward to the next. This summer, we are getting her prepared to know what to expect for high school and beyond.

Remediation

Our first step is to look back and think about her weaknesses. Looking at her educational path, are there areas that may need more review or support? Will she need more repetition in an academic area so she doesn’t lose skills over the summer and be a victim of the “summer slide”?

One simple and cost-effective way to keep up with skills review is to purchase a workbook for self-study. It will require a bit of self-discipline to do daily exercises, but we figure it’s more relaxing to do something self-paced that does not require technology. Yes, we need a break from online distance learning!

We are also open to finding online classes that will offer more support that we cannot offer at home. Added bonuses are that she will broaden her horizons by learning from an instructor outside of her local school and be able to connect with new friends in an online class format. These experiences are still valuable.

Preparation

Since high school will be a new experience for her, one thing we can do to take the fear out of the unknown is to have her research what high school will be like. We will have her explore her local high school’s website so she can be introduced to the school staff, academic programs, and student services and clubs. She’ll be able to take note of programs, clubs, and sports in which she might want to participate. We’ll have her look at graduation requirements and options for electives. She can also ask her high school friends for their personal experiences or ask friends with high school siblings for their opinions about high school life. While we’re at it, we might have her take a look at colleges online too.

Expectation

In order for our daughter to have a clear vision of where she’s going, we are going to have her write down a few goals she wants to achieve by the end of 8^th grade and a few goals she wants to achieve by the end of high school. Each of those goals should include a couple of action items. These may be general goals now, but there’s always the opportunity to refine them periodically as we go along her academic journey.

Here’s an example:

Goal: Make the 8^th Grade basketball team

Action Items: jog or jump rope to maintain stamina, look up Youtube videos and do daily practice drills, etc.

Goal: Get into veterinary school

Action Items: volunteer at a local animal shelter, take more science elective classes in high school, maintain a 3.5 GPA, etc.

These plans aren’t set in stone, so to speak, but it will help set some expectations that she needs to put some thought and effort into to accomplish her goals. What are some things you and your family do to prepare your kids for the future?

Cheers,

Jaime

Education and COVID-19: Pressing the “Pause Button”

As I write this blog entry, we are about a couple months into shelter in place due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Even as we are ending the school year and planning what our family’s summer will look like, there are still many uncertainties and undecided factors surrounding what the re-opening of schools will look like in the fall. I wish there could be a “pause button” so we could evaluate some of the issues and consider the best way to move forward. On top of the obvious health risks with opening up schools and increasing exposure, here are some of the issues that I have been thinking about, and maybe you have, too.

Racial Tension

For the first time in a long while, people of Chinese descent have been targets of xenophobia as related to COVID-19. Even though I have not experienced any of the racially-based anger directed personally at me, I am saddened that it still happens. On a more global level, it troubles me immensely that racial inequalities still exist in marginalized communities! What implications do racial issues have for school-aged children when they return to school when it opens? Will they have picked up misinformation from the press? Or will they hang on to the message of kindness and hope, of doing what is right in the face of injustice like so many of my fellow teachers have taught?

Social Emotional Needs

One of the big concerns that schools have been addressing are the social emotional needs of children. Especially after such a traumatic event like this pandemic where everyone’s lives have been disrupted, students will need a safe place to process all of their pent-up emotions. Will schools be equipped to provide enough counseling services? Will teachers be trained to support students’ emotional needs? How can social emotional needs be addressed along with academic needs?

Digital Divide

Even before the corona virus reared its ugly head, the digital divide was a problem lurking in the background. While students had access to technology when they were in school, they might not have had the same access once they returned home. Sure enough, the shift to distance learning proved just how great the need is for access to technology. Even as schools were providing Chromebooks to use, students’ homes still needed WiFi to operate. And it’s not just the equipment, it’s people, too. Not all teachers were well prepared to move their teaching to an online platform. Will there be ongoing tech support for families who receive school-issued computers? Will there be ongoing professional development for teachers to learn how to teach online effectively?

Opportunity Gap

You may have heard of the term “achievement gap” to refer to the disparity in academic outcomes, but there is also this notion of the “opportunity gap,” the idea that students are not provided the same level of opportunity to achieve to the best of their potential. Whatever racial, socioeconomic, or systemic inequalities which existed pre-COVID-19 have now been exacerbated for all students. When considering the continuing deep budget cuts to education, more and more programs may be streamlined or eliminated. This means that fewer students will have access to programs and educational support personnel like teachers, librarians, or academic counselors who help students navigate the system that will bring them success. Will the state or federal system invest in America’s future? Will parents rise up and make their concerns known and voices heard on behalf of their children?

If these thoughts echo your own sentiments, I encourage you to reach out to your child’s school administrators and communicate your concerns with them.

Wishing you well,

Jaime

What Can Educators with Families Do to Fight Institutional Racism and Civil Rights Injustices?

What Can Educators with Families Do to Fight Institutional Black Racism and Civil Rights Injustices?

As an educator for over 30 years, I am committed to supporting the healthy development and academic successes of students and their families. As a white-women raised in Oakland in the 1960s, I am a social justice advocate and educator. I initially volunteered for nonprofit agencies who helped immigrant families access social services. As a parent education teacher, I created parenting classes that taught parents how to partner with schools. And then I worked at United Way and taught nonprofits how to partner with schools to leverage significant educational resources. As a doctoral student, I partnered with culturally diverse community partners to create community-empowered schools. Some of these schools became part of a VISTA project and later best practices were featured at a National Title I Conference and at a National Association of Bilingual Education Conference. We continue to write our program strategies in www.GenParenting.com blogs and through teacher and parent education publications.

Racially Sensitive Community Building

Community building is my passion. I am not effective without the guidance of my sisterhood of culturally diverse educators and colleagues that represent many different cultural and economic backgrounds. I am continually reminded that as a person of privilege, I may accidently misspeak or be racially insensitive due to my white entitlement blindness. Most folks trust my sincerity, forgive my misdeeds, and encourage me to continue the journey of social action change.

10 Tenets for Civil Rights and Social Action Change

Our culturally and economically diverse colleagues have inspired our team to collaborate and deliver educational services to families by using the following 10 tenets:

We must speak with our hearts. We are sincere, honest, spiritually supportive, and most importantly understand that we are not the experts and that the communities that we are representing are the experts for civil rights and social action change.
Stakeholders must act with integrity with timely follow-through. They must provide their best services, resources, and provide collaborative partners as needed.
Partners understand that we do not have all of the answers. Some may fail forward to support civil rights and social action changes.
We must collaboratively assure community members that we can only write a grant or create program documentation that is competitive. The service providers must own the program to ensure success.
Education is the answer to overcome black racism, civil rights injustices, and inspire social action change. It is imperative that we educate ourselves with the key stakeholders who will provide and receive program services. We must read research from culturally and economically diverse partners. All must participate in culturally and economically diverse stakeholder conferences. And we must socialize and become friends with our diverse colleagues and acquaintances.
Many will not trust our intentions or motivations. And that is ok.
Not everyone will want our help.
When community members become open to change, there may be disfunction and chaos before the community is ready to sit down, talk, collaborate, problem solve and make essential societal changes.
Pain, grief, and despair are essential for change because it is difficult and hard work. Folks do not want to change just because it is a good idea. They may experience fear and pain to make essential changes. Status quo is not acceptable. Communities must equalize the playing field for all.
Finally, we must ensure that our children and youth understand what has gone wrong in our society for generations. How we teach them, how we treat them, and how we care for them will make a difference in each child’s life. Many times, educators and community volunteers are the lifeline for many children who come from overwhelmed families. We are the future for our students and children in our community.

Case Study

When I review these tenets, I remember a time that I spent weeks working on a community building grant for a school community. The nonprofit agency partners desperately wanted the services, but they did not want the local school district to serve as the grant’s fiscal agent. The grant proposal and program design were competitive and probably would have received significant funding, but the community partners did not trust the partnership with the school district and the grant program would not have been successful. In the end, we did not submit the grant to the funder. Walking away from this multi-million-dollar grant was painful, but it was the right thing to do at that time.

How to Develop Trust

As our communities get ready for social action change to eliminate black racism and develop civil rights services, we must consider the institutional lack of trust from critical community partners. Reflect on the tenets listed above and acknowledge which conditions exist in our communities and partnerships. Create an action plan and share it with others so you can be held accountable for your commitments. Then we must honestly walk our talk, act with heart, and be spiritually supportive each day of our lives.

Black lives matter and civil rights for all!

Mary Ann with Yvette