Tools for Success as a School Leader

I've often been intrigued when a successful person has attained their goals and achievements. They possess the characteristics of success that are unparalleled with others. I found this wonderful slide presentation that summarizes these attributes. I hope you find it interesting:

Best wishes for your success...

21st Century School Leader Gazette

Today's edition of the 21st Century School Leader Gazette is out for your professional reading.

Standardized Madness

A friend of mine in Florida wanted to become a real estate agent. He followed all the directions from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations. This included taking a 60 hour course in real estate law, practices and procedures. He had his fingerprints cleared and approved and all he needed to do to be certified was take a state exam. The state exam was created by the Pearsonvue corporation under the approval of the Florida legislature. After taking the test, and failing miserably, he was undaunted, studied harder, and tried again.  In fact, after 5 attempts at taking the test, he has decided that the exam has defeated him, and he will not become a realtor, after all. 

After speaking with him in depth, he described the fact that he knew the material, inside and out. He practically memorized, verbatim, the Florida real estate laws, and still, he was unable to pass test. Probing further, I asked what the test was like. His description was of a standardized, norm referenced examination of a multiple choice variety. He felt the answer choices for each question were like different shades of white. The clear choice for the answer was not even close to what the presumed correct answer was. Thus the problem of standardized testing, that one size does not fit all, and the only people benefiting from the exam are the test makers, themselves.

I have never been a big fan of this type of testing. It forces people to think within a box of information only, and not out of the box. It negates the hands-on practical application of experiential learning in favor of one possible answer only to a question. The anxiety and frustration experienced by my friend was evident, but he was in his 60’s. Can you imagine the torment and pain an 8 or 9 year old deals with?

It is great to hear that some schools are attempting to stand up to the test makers, and the government groups demanding this kind of accountability. Actions across the country are showing this movement getting stronger. Children should not be placed in this type of educational experience for any reason, whatsoever.

“Are standardized tests capable of measuring anything more than how well one is able to pass that particular standardized test? Might it not make more sense to test the student using the same medium in which the student will be required to perform? After all, the test required for one to obtain their driver’s license is a test where they get in a car and actually drive. The United States Air Force has flight simulators at its disposal which provide a sufficient likeness to actually flying a plane to train the pilots-to-be.” 

Edcuation discussion: The history and evolution of standardized testing. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/rd0WR

The Saturday, April 6, 2013 edition of the 21st Century School Leader's Gazette is now online: http://goo.gl/cpwtZ

21st Century School Leaders Gazette April 4, 2013

The new edition of the 21st Century School Leader Gazette is out for Thursday, April 4, 2013. Check it out goo.gl/cpwtZ

21stCenturySchoolLeaders: The Three Little Pigs... Why Standardized Testing ...

21stCenturySchoolLeaders: The Three Little Pigs... Why Standardized Testing ...: "Once upon a time there were three little pigs…" I sometimes wonder if the example of these three pigs is an accurate analo...

The Three Little Pigs... Why Standardized Testing is a Scam

"Once upon a time there were three little pigs…"

I sometimes wonder if the example of these three pigs is an accurate analogy of the debacle of standardized testing. While we live through the tragic downfall of well-meaning educators in the Atlanta Public Schools, it begs to ask these facetious questions of absurdity and allegorical aggrandizement.

We have three pigs with limited resources and each has an opportunity to build a domicile for their well being.  One pig builds with straw, one with sticks, and the other with bricks. We all know how the story ends. The last pig. building with bricks, is most successful in developing a home that will endure despite the hot air from the wind-blowing wolf (Federal and State Government?).

I see this allegory as a convenient representation of the standardized testing situation in this country. You have three types of schools, with varying levels of economic support and need. The school district of straw (big urban centers such as Atlanta with huge populations of underprivileged children and great levels of poverty). These districts collapse under the pressure from many different corners of society, while fighting to maintain a quality of educational support. 

The school districts of sticks are not as bad off as the straw districts but eventually succumb to the pressures from outside the educational community seeking change and reformation.

And finally, the you have the districts of brick, the wealthy, affluent populations that will weather the abuse of outside mandates requiring testing and reform. No matter what happens, they will survive. 

The sad part of this story is the inequity that exists, and the increasing mandates for change that only 1/3 of the school districts in this world can hope to meet. 

The moral of the story is biased against many children. And, as we are learning from the Atlanta Public Schools, it is a virus that will consume our nation if we do not put the brakes on this test focus culture, above everything else. 

"The primary corrupting agent in the actual education process is the standardized test. It is the collateralized debt obligation of the education "reform" scam. Using standardized testing to measure anything, let alone using it as a basis for whether or not people can keep their jobs or not, is an open invitation to chicanery of all kinds, but especially that which involved massaging the numbers."  (Pierce, 2013)

Pierce, C. (2013, April 01). Yet another education reform scam. Esquire, Retrieved from http://goo.gl/6ki4F