Abstract:

Ellen Berg discusses a situation in which reforms in her district created more paperwork and limited ability to adapt her teaching to get students ready for state tests. She asks, "if I can no longer make a difference
and my health and emotional state are suffering, what, exactly,
is the point of staying?"

Berg, E. (2004). I see only a dark future of paperwork and low-level instruction.  Teacher Leaders Network diaries. Retrieved from the Teacher Leaders Network 10 Apr 2008. Link: http://www.teacherleaders.org/old_site/diaries04_05/EB09_04_05.html

Full Text:

I See Only a Dark Future of Paperwork and Low-Level Instruction

                    Heaven ain't close in a place like this
                    Anything goes but don't blink you might miss...
                    Ready? Let's roll onto something new

                    – from "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers

Everything old is new again. Suddenly feathered hair a la Farrah Fawcett is back in fashion, new music on the radio sounds more like Erasure and Duran Duran in a nod to 80s alternative rock, and micro-mini skirts have reappeared in malls across the nation.

Some of these things give me great pleasure, the music for example. Rather than being a direct copy of what came before, it takes the best of the 80s and reinvents it. The Killers, the band from my opening quote, for example have done this. They have all of those wonderful synthesizers and imploring, longing vocals of the 80s, but they have also integrated driving guitars and percussion.

I think borrowing from the past is a fantastic idea so long as we look to take what is best from it and improve upon it. Just because something is old does not mean it is irrelevant.

My district does not seem to be falling into that category right now. After nine years in my school, I think the end is finally nearing.

People who know the population I teach ask, "Is it the kids?" or make comments like, "You'll be happier when you are teaching an easier group of kids." They mean well, but I have to set them straight when they make comments like that. Sure, my kids can be difficult. They have pushed me to tears, given me headaches, and even made me doubt my ability to teach, but they have also made me laugh, celebrate, learn how to be a better teacher for them, and, most importantly, love them. If all I had to do was teach my kids and learn along with them, life would be bliss.

Until this year I had a lot of hope because things seemed to be improving. Our staff seemed to be coming together, my principal was growing into her position, and everyone seemed to be on the same page. Through the assistance of Co-nect, a company focused on teaching schools and teachers to examine data and student work, we were making great strides.

We have not made AYP yet. The assumption by the district seems to be that teachers are incompetent or lazy. It could not be that we have not had a certified teacher in the tested grade for two years running and the year before that the pregnant teacher had to miss school frequently because of severe high blood pressure, eventually leaving just before testing for bedrest. Test scores also had nothing to do with budget cuts and cramming 30 seventh graders into classrooms meant to hold 20 or 25.

In response, the district created the "MAPattack" program designed to hold teachers accountable and make instruction transparent. Teachers would now have to submit lesson plans weekly that would be posted on the Web, participate in extensive professional development, and keep student and teacher portfolios that were directly aligned. In theory, these are wonderful things, but the devil is in the details as they say. Or, perhaps more accurately, in the intentions.

We have very much felt as if we are doing this to prove our worthiness and competence. I have no worries about my competence to teach, but I do resent having to complete a lot of paperwork that, in the end, is proof of nothing except being able to do paperwork well. I would prefer having a camera in my classroom recording everything I do with my kids that anyone who was interested could access. For a global thinker like myself, paperwork is daunting and overwhelming, especially when I receive different parts of the whole at separate times, sometimes in a memo, sometimes orally, and sometimes through email. I was already at the meltdown point, begging for assistance from trusted colleagues before the latest wave of insanity hit.

Just before I left for the National Middle School Association convention in Minneapolis, we were told that we would no longer complete weekly lesson plans. Now, it seems, five-week lesson plans are supposed to be the best to impact student achievement. I was very excited by this development until I realized the requirements:

    1. Five-week lesson plan with objectives and activities; two pages.

    2. One constructed response question template for each week that equals ten total pages (each template = 2 pages x 5 weeks).

    3. One performance task template for each week that equals twenty-five total pages (each template = 5 pages x 5 weeks).

That makes for a 37-page lesson plan every five weeks that really changes nothing about the way I teach my kids. Busy work. And that's not all.

In the airport on the way to Minneapolis, I ran into our Co-nect facilitator. She told me then (and I later confirmed) that the district was going to mandate SRA's Corrective Reading, a direct instruction program, for all of the district's middle schools. The new Chief Academic Officer, Lynn Spampanato, made the decision after three weeks in the district.

I was floored. Direct instruction, from what I can figure out, is designed to teach kids the mechanics of reading. In short, it's for kids who cannot read. While we do have kids in the sixth grade that fall into that category, I would say that it's only 10-15% tops. According to the preassessment I administered at the beginning of the school year – written in the style of our state test – the problem my kids have is not so much comprehending grade level text as it is understanding what the question is asking them. I could see from their answers that they completely understood what was happening in the reading passages, but they did not know what the question was asking.

Is this a reading problem or a vocabulary problem? In my mind, it was a testing vocabulary problem. I decided to use the testing vocabulary and test style in my daily instruction so it would not be such a surprise when they came to the test.

However, our Chief Academic Officer made this decision after three weeks of looking at data, apparently neglecting the four years of data accumulated at several schools in our district that had used direct instruction and actually lost ground on the state test. We are stupid, and she knows what is best.

Our state test is incredibly challenging, and it requires students to read and write on high levels. How is this program in any way related to what they have to do on the test?

I am frustrated, and I feel powerless. I have remained in my district and school as long as I have because I believed I had the power to make a difference with my kids. Now I see only a dark future of paperwork and low level instruction, and I feel nothing but despair.

I had planned to go through the National Board Certification process with a colleague next year, but at this point I do not see any hope for that. How can I pass National Board if I cannot be prescriptive in my teaching? I had promised my colleague I would stay for an additional year, but at this point I do not feel able to do that.

In the end I feel a little selfish for planning to leave. It is scary to leave trusted colleagues and the kids and community I have grown to love. However, if I can no longer make a difference and my health and emotional state are suffering, what, exactly, is the point of staying? I think it is finally time to roll on out of here. I have decided to avoid a final decision until after the holidays, but unless things change drastically, I think you know what is going to happen.

Anyone know of an open position in the San Diego area?

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