You drive a half-hour to score 11th grade writing portfolios at 6:30 in the morning after a weekend blizzard.
Seriously.
And the entire way I smiled and grew excited. Since leaving Kentucky I have not entered schools where writing processes are encouraged and where a school, through investment of administrators, parents, and teachers, require portfolio. In addition, students are expected to aspire to a particular rating before they can graduate - the expectations are so much higher than the tests required by the state to analyze comprehension and formulaic writing alone. In fact, even the superintendent of the district participated. It was a throwback to the system I knew for so long in Louisville and the products were extremely worthwhile. We learn so much more about what students can do from a collection of their written work and reflections on why they submit them. Although I did not meet a single writer in person, I became part of their community through the words they composed.
This is what I miss about teaching K-12....sadly, I know what I once had was wiped away by a change in state policies.
It is a matter of two hands. On one hand, our schools are preparing kids for life after high school with few writing expectations other than a reliance on nearsighted standardized tests. On the other hand, we have a school here that is embracing writing, 9th - 12th, and requiring students to write in multiple genres that demonstrate their idea development, sense of audience, purpose, mechanics, sentence structure and voice. Which graduates are better prepared for the writing they will encounter after graduation? Hmmm. Easy answer. The students who attend school where writing is the norm.
I kept telling the English teachers that it brings amazing joy to know that their district leaders continue to invest in them and their students. They are a high performing school, I'd argue, because they create their own professional development and their best practices arrive from listening to other teachers who are masters of the practice. In today's climate, this is remarkable.
Educators across the U.S. should want what this school has created. Each and every portfolio I scored today (work at many levels) offered so many windows into the practice of why written communication matters. I drove away thinking, "Man, what a shame that students in other schools do not have this sort of support and advocacy. What an inequitable country we live in."
Extremely inequitable.
I am returning tomorrow for another day of scoring where I will soak up how one district invests so much time in helping young people to find their voice. Where are politicians and their policies at schools like this? This needs to be replicated! This should be the norm!
And the entire way I smiled and grew excited. Since leaving Kentucky I have not entered schools where writing processes are encouraged and where a school, through investment of administrators, parents, and teachers, require portfolio. In addition, students are expected to aspire to a particular rating before they can graduate - the expectations are so much higher than the tests required by the state to analyze comprehension and formulaic writing alone. In fact, even the superintendent of the district participated. It was a throwback to the system I knew for so long in Louisville and the products were extremely worthwhile. We learn so much more about what students can do from a collection of their written work and reflections on why they submit them. Although I did not meet a single writer in person, I became part of their community through the words they composed.
This is what I miss about teaching K-12....sadly, I know what I once had was wiped away by a change in state policies.
It is a matter of two hands. On one hand, our schools are preparing kids for life after high school with few writing expectations other than a reliance on nearsighted standardized tests. On the other hand, we have a school here that is embracing writing, 9th - 12th, and requiring students to write in multiple genres that demonstrate their idea development, sense of audience, purpose, mechanics, sentence structure and voice. Which graduates are better prepared for the writing they will encounter after graduation? Hmmm. Easy answer. The students who attend school where writing is the norm.
I kept telling the English teachers that it brings amazing joy to know that their district leaders continue to invest in them and their students. They are a high performing school, I'd argue, because they create their own professional development and their best practices arrive from listening to other teachers who are masters of the practice. In today's climate, this is remarkable.
Educators across the U.S. should want what this school has created. Each and every portfolio I scored today (work at many levels) offered so many windows into the practice of why written communication matters. I drove away thinking, "Man, what a shame that students in other schools do not have this sort of support and advocacy. What an inequitable country we live in."
Extremely inequitable.
I am returning tomorrow for another day of scoring where I will soak up how one district invests so much time in helping young people to find their voice. Where are politicians and their policies at schools like this? This needs to be replicated! This should be the norm!
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