Cheryl Jackson

Standardized testing: Pros, Cons and Alternatives

Fri, 06 Nov 09 18:53:17 GMT

EQAO. Ever heard of it? If you have kids in school, you have. Every May or June, all Ontario students in Grades 3,6, and 9 take these standardized tests in literacy and numeracy. The scores are published, by school, in newspapers and online. Each child is given his or her results several months later.

In my house, the tests have not been a big deal, because I see them more as a test of the system than of my children. In fact, I couldn't tell you exactly how they've done on them. I have always preferred to talk to their teachers about their progress. Still, they are a fact of life in Ontario, and after all these years, controversial.

The government says standardized tests are a valuable tool that helps to improve student achievement and that the results help direct resources. Those who agree say the system must be audited and measured, and that the public has a right to know the results of each school.

Critics say the test causes stress and focuses far too narrowly on literacy and numeracy without regard for the many other things a child learns at school, such as the arts, history, creativity, teamwork. They also say that teachers are forced to take time away from curriculum to "teach to the test", and that in the end, the whole thing offers no clear benefits for students. They also say parents use the scores to choose schools, when the scores may not be reflective of all the good work a school does.

So who's right?

We're going to debate the issue tomorrow, and I can't wait. I'm moderating the panel discussion "Testing: the pros, the cons, and the alternatives" at the People for Education conference in Toronto. Following that, we're taping a show on the topic, with the same guests, for TVO and tvoparents.com.
The guest line-up is stellar. Debating will be Joel Westheimer, University of Ottawa, author and winner of the CEA Whitworth Award for Educational Research; Marguerite Jackson, CEO, Education Quality and Accountability Office; David Johnson, CD Howe, University of Wilfred Laurier; and Kathleen Devlin, Director Policy and Public Affairs, Ontario Teachers' Federation. I've read their pre-interview notes and I can assure you, this will be a good debate.

We'll upload the show to the Your Voice site on Friday, and you can watch it on Sunday at 6 on TVO. Then you can decide for yourself what YOU think about standardized tests. Enjoy.

Two Cultures

Fri, 16 Oct 09 21:40:10 GMT

When you wonder who is caught between two cultures, your first thought might be immigrant children - kids who want to fit in to mainstream culture, but whose parents are still living their home culture in Canada. In fact, that's mainly who we spoke about during our discussion on Your Voice. Kids who have newly arrived in this country, or the Canadian-born children of immigrants are often caught. They live one life at home and another out in the world, and as you can imagine, this often leads to conflict within the family.

But here's something to think about. Our guest, Mehru Ali, said being caught between two cultures can affect children of all kinds, not just immigrants. All kids grow up in cultures defined by their socio-economic status, for instance, or even religion. They, too, can feel caught between the values and expectations of their families and close communities, and those of the mainstream, into which they so desperately want to fit.

So watch our show, but keep that in the back of your mind. We all have "cultures" that we must balance with the mainstream culture.

Free-range Kids

Fri, 09 Oct 09 16:53:01 GMT

You can be forgiven for thinking "free-range kids" or the "slow child movement" has something to do with food, chickens in particular. For some reason, this idea has adopted the language used to describe food and food culture, but the terms do make some sense, and I, for one, welcome them.

The slow-child movement is a backlash against the crazy, hectic schedules that exist for many families. If you have kids, you know what I mean. Rush home from work to drive daughter A to dance, back home, start dinner, back to pick up daughter A, hope son is home from school stage crew meeting and carpool driver has dropped off daughter B from choir rehearsal, so they can start homework before the piano teacher arrives. Parents, son and daughter A eat dinner quietly while daughter B takes piano lesson, followed by daughter A. Hopefully the homework gets done, and there might be time to chat about the day before everyone falls in to bed exhausted, planning for the next day which begins with a 7 am swim team practice for son at school, which is a 15-minute drive from home.

You get the picture. This is actually a snapshot from my life a few years ago when my kids were younger and I was crazier.

Last year, we made the big decision to slow down. We (and I say "we" because these activities affected everyone) quit dance and piano, and left only choir, and school-related extra-curriculars. I miss the sound of the piano music in our house, but I don't miss the nagging to practise. Other than that, our decision to calm our lives has been a great success. We now eat more leisurely dinners together, spend more time just "hanging out" together and with friends, and generally feel less stress and more freedom. This suits our family. I'm glad I gave my kids the opportunity to try new things, to pursue activities that interested them, but at some point I think we began to lose more than we gained.

Watch our show, and let me know what you think. Is too much structure bad for kids?

How Kids Learn to Read

Thu, 01 Oct 09 20:12:48 GMT

It's hard to remember exactly how I learned to read. It happened so long ago, and I was so young. I think it started in Grade One, because I don't remember being "taught" to read in Kindergarten. My Kindergarten teacher, who I loved, read stories to us, and we had these wonderful felt boards to create our own stories but that was it. It was in Grade One when I started to put it all together, to learn that certain letters and words had meaning when strung together. With big fat red pencils, I printed short sight words beside pictures and read Dick and Jane. By the time I was in Grade Three I was reading entire children's novels in a day.

Something made me love reading, but I'm not convinced it was school. I think it was my parents.

We always had lots of kid's books in our house, and my Mom read to us. But more importantly, my parents read their own books - all the time. For my mom, it was after dinner. While other mothers might have jumped up from the dinner table to start the dishes, my Mom would light a cigarette and crack open her book. The clean up would wait, or my brothers and I did it. My dad was an especially voracious reader - still is. He read westerns and science fiction, and would regularly go to the used book store and bring home a box of books, which he would read and return a couple of weeks later for a new box of books. And every weekend he would take my brothers and me to the big public library downtown. He would go upstairs to the "adult" section and my brothers and I would go downstairs to the "kids" section. I'm pretty sure we just ran around when we were very young, but as the years went by, we settled and eventually started doing our homework there. And we always came home with books.

So watch our show "How Do Kids Learn to Read", and then go make a cup of tea, open your novel, and read. And make sure your kids see you doing it. It may be the best thing you can do to get your kids reading.

The Honeymoon's Over

Mon, 14 Sep 09 17:03:46 GMT

Last week, my youngest child started high school. She was excited, happy, fairly confident. A week later, the apple has lost its shine, so to speak. She's had a couple of killer anxiety dreams, and in response, has set some goals for herself - to meet new kids, to work hard in math, and to get involved at school. I'm thrilled with the way she's responding to this stress in her life, but I wish she didn't have to feel it in the first place.

Starting school or changing schools is actually on the Holmes-Rahe Scale of Life Events, which measures stress in life. 'Beginning formal education' rates 27th and 'changing to a new school' rates 32nd on the list of 42 life events. Of course, they are far behind the major stressful events. 'Death of a spouse or child' is first on the list. 'Gaining a new family member' is 14th, 'a son or daughter leaving home' is 23rd. But still, school is on the list.

We can't deny the stress our children feel at this time of year. If they're starting kindergarten or Grade One, they have to be away from mom or dad or their caregiver for all or part of the day, they have to learn where the bathroom is, wait for their snack, play with kids they may not like. We have some tips for helping this age group get through the first month of school.

Older kids starting high school, like my daughter, must navigate more complicated social circles, become much more independent academically, and learn to scale three flights of stairs several times a day to get to class on time, without getting lost in the maze of classrooms.

A little empathy goes a long way right now. That and an early bedtime. Good luck to all of you.

First Day Anxiety

Tue, 08 Sep 09 19:29:20 GMT

Today has been like groundhog day around here. It's the first day of school, and the same conversation has been repeated over and over and over. It goes something like this:

"So, how'd it go this morning?"
"Well...Johnnie doesn't like his new teacher," or "Great, he marched right off," or "He's not with his friends, I hope that's okay," or "He's in a split. Not sure what I think about that."

My Facebook page reads the same way. The morning began with parents, including myself, marveling and worrying about kids who are now in grade one, two, starting at a new school, or entering high school. It doesn't seem to matter what the situation is - the first day is always traumatic. Now that lunch hour is over and parents have heard from their kids, my Facebook is filled with relief.

Parents are probably more anxious than their kids about the first day of school. We know it's a big day, whether the kids are starting full day school, or high school. And we know that we will have to face them later with soothing words, excitement, plans, advice. It can be a very emotional, and difficult day.

I'm not sure there's any surefire way to make the first day perfect. TVOParents has a few tips for you. In my house, we try to keep it positive. We talk about how great it will be, the opportunities that will arise to meet new friends, new teachers. We make sure everyone knows where to be, when. And I try never to talk about clothes or hair or any of that other stuff that can stop a teenager in her tracks.

It seems to have worked. Both my high schoolers had a great first day and say they can't wait for tomorrow. I'm relieved, and while I know there will be less-than-perfect days ahead, this was a good start.

The Summer I Grew Up

Mon, 31 Aug 09 19:32:06 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I thought this was the summer my daughter would grow up. But I have since come to realize it has been the summer I grew up.

My 16-year-old daughter has just returned from a month in Benin, Africa. She went with her school and Canada World Youth and lived with a family, whom she affectionately refers to as her Mom, Dad, sisters and brothers. (I'm over the slight twinge of jealousy that first brought on). She volunteered her labour in a pineapple juice plant, a soybean paste plant, and an orphanage, and she went to church and soccer games and other events with her family. She also did a bit of touring on the weekends, but the bulk of her time was spent in her community.

She wasn't allowed to take her cell phone or a laptop - there was no way to use them anyway. We did hear from a Canada World Youth liaison once a week, so we knew what the group was doing, but my husband and I were desperate to hear her voice. That finally happened when she called me at the office two weeks ago. It was SO good to hear her voice, to know she was safe. After we'd spoken, she called my husband. Then my husband called me. We were relieved, excited, and we both agreed that she sounded different - mature, more grown up, like an adult. It was astounding.

Since her return, we've been looking at her photos, listening to her stories, and have become more and more impressed by her courage and confidence.

And I have realized, now that I can breathe deeply again, that her journey was not just hers, it was ours, mine. We needed her to go so we'd know she could.

This will go down as the summer we all grew up.

I'm Global

Thu, 27 Aug 09 15:37:25 GMT

I finally understand why I prefer piles over files, and why I'd rather learn something new by trying it than reading the instructions. I also know now why I run from stores that are chaotic and messy, and prefer ones where items are lined up in neat rows, by colour, or function.

I'm a visual, global learner. This means I like to see what I'm learning, get distracted by too much visual stimulation, and listen better while doodling (my colleagues can attest to this). I'm also a big picture thinker, and tend to analyse the world in terms of relationships and connections rather than details. It's also why I'm not a heart surgeon or a pilot. You'd much rather have an analytical thinker in those positions.

I've learned this from the book I just read as research for our upcoming Your Voice episode, Why Do Some Kids Hate School? Titled "I Hate School", the book describes the factors at school that lead some kids to hate being there. It's based on learning styles, and while we've done a show on learning styles, and I've certainly read much about them, this book seemed to describe them in a way that was very clear to me. Interestingly, the author describes herself as a visual, global learner. Perhaps that's why it made so much sense to me.

And there's the point. If she were my teacher, and I her student, I'd get a lot more out of her class because she might understand me better. If she also knew that I prefer a cold room over a hot one, lights that are not too bright, and a rocking chair at the back of the class in which to read, I'd be her top student, and I would love school.

Of course, there's more to liking school than lights and chairs, but it's a start. We'll find out what else matters when we talk to the experts. We're posting this episode September 18, about the time you might hear your child say "I hate school!"

New Season

Thu, 20 Aug 09 21:09:18 GMT

You should have seen our Your Voice editorial meeting yesterday. The four of us had more ideas on the table than we could possibly tackle over the next couple of months, but believe me, we're going to try.

We've already started taping interviews on one of our favourite topics, "Teaching around the world." It's so interesting to hear how other countries, other cultures, teach their children. What are the commonalities? The differences? And what can we learn from these innovators?

Imagine, for instance, a school that has turned itself into a town with an elected mayor, a radio and tv station, a language cafe and a newspaper - all run by the children. That approach turned Grange Primary School in the UK around and within a few years it went from being one of Britain's worst schools to one of its most successful.

Imagine a school where children first walk through the doors at age 7, where a free hot lunch is served daily, where there are no marks or standardized tests and all teachers have at least a Masters degree. That's how it's done in Finland, where children consistently score at the top of international tests.

We'll post these interviews in October, and we'll continue to scour the world for stories of education innovation and success to share with you on Your Voice.

Keep checking back to see what we've found.

Onward

Mon, 17 Aug 09 16:26:51 GMT

I'm back in the saddle, so to speak, getting ready for a very interesting new season here at Your Voice, and reflecting on my summer of transition.

You know when you get that feeling that it's time to shake things up a bit?   Our family got that feeling big time this summer.   So we moved from our home of 13 years in a quiet, family neighbourhood to a new, fun neighbourhood downtown where our teenagers can explore and shop and eat with their friends.   We saw one child off to Africa, and watched as another took trips to New York and sailed the Georgian Bay with his friends.   Our youngest child is getting ready to start high school in September.   Whew! Nothing boring about this summer.

While exciting, however, it has been very challenging, especially for me.   I was ready for the move, but not for my kids taking off across the globe looking for adventure and meaning.   I have had to quell my anxiety for their sakes, although they would probably tell you I haven't done a very good job of it.

But honestly, what are our choices as parents?    Say no? First of all, they'd probably do it anyway. Secondly, they should. This has been our goal, right? We're supposed to set them up to be independent and brave, with ideas and friends and interests of their own.   So we parents have to take a deep breath and carry onward.

I had a nice chat the other day with the woman who runs the sailing school where my son teaches.   She's a real dynamo.   She said she had the same worries when her kids, and then her grandchildren took flight, and she coped by staying busy and making sure she pursued her own interests.   Good advice, Rhoda. Because they don't stay home forever.