Bronwyn Harris, Author

Very interesting piece (thanks, Brandon) about teacher blaming.  Now, I am going to start this with saying that at times the teachers' unions certainly do not act in the best interests of students or teachers.  And that I have worked with people who use their tenure as an excuse to not teach.  But those teachers (the lazy "dead wood" are certainly not the ones stepping up with ideas on how to save education.  They can't even be bothered to teach.  I've been in meetings with them - they aren't spending extra energy trying to fix the system.  They're just waiting to retire.  Teachers who are writing letters to the editor, who are serving on committees, and who are trying to make life better for kids are not trying to make their own lives easier.  They're trying to help students. I thought it ironic that our schools were judged inadequate by people who haven’t set foot in them, so I wrote a letter to my local newspaper. Predictably, my letter...

Wow, am I glad I don't have to deal with this anymore. Thursday, May 25, 2006 Time Travel and Foolproof Logic The District has reached a new low in logic. For the last few years, we’ve had these things called “Buy-Back Days.” They are professional development days but because of the contract or because the district is cheap or something, they’ve been optional, and only the people who go to them get paid. Then the people who want more money can go, some of us can sleep in, and the district doesn’t have to pay for everyone. Then, to make things a little more confusing, our school is in the “intensive Support Network" and we have three more optional professional development days. For most of these days less than half of our staff showed up, not because we don’t want the extra money, but because we’re generally exhausted. I went to two of them, but I don’t know if they were district-wide or particular to our school. Now things get interesting. We just got a new ...

The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries. please read. Four years ago: Tired

People always ask me why teachers don't like standardized tests.  They seem surprised that we "don't want accountability.  That's not it.  Here's an excellent example of why many teachers do not like standardized tests. It's well worth a read. Three years ago: A Tip for New Parents Four years ago: Scientific Proof for my Burnout                         Too Many Children Five years ago: Move Over, George Washington!

This is a guest blog graciously written by Nealey, who is a secondary school teacher.  She brings up some excellent points.  None of us want the standardized tests to matter, but the fact is that they do in many ways. I hope she'll write more posts in the future! Parents: Don’t tell your children that the standardized tests don’t matter. Standardized tests do matter, but unfortunately the system is flawed.   One of the problems with the tests is that s tudents are not held accountable for their test scores.   In an ideal world, all students would do their best because of the intrinsic value in doing one’s best.  If every student actually did their best then the tests might be a valuable way to judge teachers, schools, and educational programs.  However, we don't live in an ideal world. During testing, some student try their best, other students half-heartedly try, and some students don't try at all.  I have seen students bubble in patterns,...

Although the name of this school always makes me want to call the school next to it "Commodities," it has come very very very far since it started.  All but one teacher got a layoff notice. There's a video here .  Two years ago: More Education News Four years ago: From Mystery to Medicine

I've had several people ask me the same basic question about the previous post.   Some variation of this (which I just copied and pasted from the latest email from a friend): I thought it was typically part of the agreements that school districts have with the teachers' unions that required the "last hired, first fired" approach to layoffs.  Is that true?  If so, is it not expected that the layoffs would hit a brand new school like Futures?  Why should I think something different should happen?  Is this not what the teachers have negotiated with the schools? Excellent question.  I answered, but then I ran  my answer by an anonymous teacher friend who helped me edit.  Here is our answer: this part mostly from me, augmented by anonymous friend: You're correct that typically unions have policies of last hired, first fired. The union in this district is no different. In practice, because this is a highly segregated district, teachers wit...

An email from a teacher at the school I used to work at: I apologize for the mass e-mail, but I wanted to get in touch with you about something that is currently very close to my heart.  I have spoken with many of you about the situation that is unfolding at my school, but I'll just summarize for those of you who haven't had the full story.  Our school is in danger of being dismantled and all the gains we have made in the last four years are in danger of being lost as ALL but one of our classroom teachers will receive lay off notices on March 15th.  This is unfairly affecting communities like ours in traditionally 'hard to staff' schools serving low income communities of color.  We are making a video to document this struggle and advocate for our cause and we need YOUR help!  Please visit our site at  http://www.indiegogo.com/Save-Futures-Elementary-School make a donation and support us in raising awareness and telling our story. Here is a s...

I wrote this four years ago, but if anything has changed, it's been to add more hoops. Hoops to Jump Through It's gotten worse since I was getting my credential. Now, in addition to doing your coursework, you have to: take the CBEST test ($41, not hard) take the CSET test ($222, really hard, many people retake it and pay again) take the RICA test ($140, don't remember how hard) take a CPR class ($) BTSA (two year long mentorship program) CLAD certification (extra classes and $$) Student teaching (unpaid and virtually or completely full-time) Tasks 1-4 (see below) Clear credential (extra classes and $$) Fingerprints ($) Certain number of hours of classes or professional development (I forget how many) each 5 years to renew your credential. ($) Oh, by the way, the prospective teacher has to pay for all of this. According to this website, the median salary for an elementary school teacher is $38,175, so we don't exactly make it back in a hu...

Another old one.  I really would have appreciated an answer to this, even if it was "You're right and there's nothing we can do." Speaking the Truth.. ...whether or not anyone's listening. My letter (also known as career suicide) to the people in charge of "Research, Assessment, and Accountability" in my district. Also known as the department that makes my kids take so many tests. (They're not responsible for the state testing, only for the mountains of district testing heaped on top of the state testing). I may be blacklisted now, but there are some times that - even if it's just for my own sake - I need to say what I know to be true. Dear XXX, I am a 3rd grade teacher in this district. I have just finished giving my students the mid-year math assessment and mid-year language arts assessment and I have a number of concerns that I hope you can address for me. First, this is the second math assessment this year which ...

I've been wanting to get a part-time teaching job, because I'm not ready to go back to teaching full-time (I got awfully burned out - well, really I puked my guts out and then had sort of a seizure-ish reaction to the anti-emetic drugs and got big bruises from the IVs, etc).  So, I was pretty excited when a friend told me about a 33% position at a middle school nearby.  I decided to apply, even though I don't have the right credential.  More on that later.  I am happy to say that I got the job, and was even informed that there were more qualified candidates than me (since I don't have the right credential) and I got it because I interviewed so well. The job will be two hours each morning through the end of the school year. This district is right next to but very different than the one I used to work at.  The difference really is astounding in how people treat others and are treated.  The credential issue is frustrating however, and entirely due to No ...

... the people scoring it. Please read this.  I'm going to order the book and would be happy to share it.  I'm not surprised by this, but I wish I were: Farley tells of test scorers who arrived each morning hung-over, and didn’t make much progress on their daily quotas until they had taken several “fortified” coffee breaks, test scorers who were far more interested in studying for the bar exam than in carefully reading the papers they were scoring, and foreign-born scorers who could not understand simple English. These stories are funny until one realizes that students’ fates hung in the balance. The results of some of these tests, like the California High School Exit Exam, may determine a young person’s future. Others, like the fourth and seventh grade writing samples of the California Standards Tests, may help decide which schools are closed and which stay open..... Several years ago one of the largest high schools in the Oakland was moved to a more punitive level o...

...three steps back. For the last 5-7 years, this district has had a major focus on "new small schools."  These small schools were going to totally transform the district (and may have done that if they had been given a chance) by offering smaller classes and schools with more parent-teacher-child interactions, less room to fall through the cracks, more ability and special programs to meet students' needs, etc.  Sometimes it felt like small schools were being pushed and rewarded at the expense of us larger, more traditional schools.  It was hard to hear the district administrators say that they didn't have money for whatever particular program/supplies we needed when I knew they were spending a lot more to start these new small schools.  Many larger schools were divided up into small schools since that was considered to be the best model. Now the district has decided that small schools cost too much money . According to staff’s calculations, the minimum n...

I'm going through about four years of writing and making sure links still work, editing, etc. Only, it's really slow going because I didn't realize how emotional is would still be for me. Some of it I really miss. I miss beautiful, funny, intelligent students who are just starting to think critically like this girl . I miss funny stories with deeper meanings about how the kids think I'm black. I miss their amazing descriptive writing - how do you beat "My dog smells like junk"? Oh, and crackers sound like rocks when they break; have you ever noticed? I miss students being able to come into my classroom in fourth and fifth grade to visit. Or coming to visit from middle school or high school. I miss the incredible relationships that can happen with students' families regardless of all socioeconomic and racial differences only after they really really get that I love their kids. Some of it is a relief. I'm not tired all the time . (Well, I a...

I've been watching some old Weeds episodes (don't question my taste in shows, it's entertaining) and I had to share this quote: Uncle: Now, what do they teach you in school? Kid: How to pass the weekly standardized tests to get the school more funding? Oh, I wish that wasn't so funny for being true.

...than I can write about. So I'm not going to try - just going to let those who already did it show off their work. As with many, many districts around the state, my old district is handing out pink slips . (By the way, teachers, if any of you feel like sending me a copy (electronically or otherwise) of your pink slip/March 15 letter, I'd love to see them. My former district sent really mean ones and I'd like to see if that is the norm. The district hasn't really known how much money it has had for some time now. This started about 6 years ago maybe, when they switched financial software and all of a sudden couldn't find tens of millions of dollars. There are a few good schools in this district and everyone wants their kids enrolled. A very interesting blog post about NCLB and the Corridor of Shame. Adult illiteracy. Phasing out schools - often the same schools the district spent a ton of money on starting, when they were on their "new small schools...

A little light reading for you from my district (or, Things I Have Been Meaning to Post About But I Went to Cajun Country Instead) Budgets for various schools Schools where black students are "thriving" Closing schools with poor attendance The Reading First Program might not be great Exclusive "hill" schools

There is a famous (or infamous) reading program that my district adopted about 7 years ago, that is supposed to be the best for "urban" (ghetto) kids. It has its good and bad sides, just like any reading program. It doesn't give you much room for creativity, which bothers many people, but sadly, some teachers abuse room for creativity and use it to not teach, so it's a tough call. And it's true that before this particular reading program came into the district, we used a strange mishmash of materials. However, the company used our district to make a commercial basically for them, and it's fairly interesting... leans toward the propaganda-ish side. Some of what they're saying is very true, some is true in very specific situations, and some I don't know how anyone could believe. For example, the statement someone made that "Two years ago, we were the highest performing urban district in the country." What? Seriously? Highest performi...

I'm not going to spend too much of my time in New Orleans writing on a blog, but I had to say a quick something about the one-woman show No Child that a friend and I went to last week. The woman performing the show, Nilaja Sun, was (might still be for part of the year) a "teaching artist" teaching theater in a Bronx high school. I won't review it because it has already been reviewed eloquently in many places, including the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle . If you have the chance to see it - anywhere - do so. It is the best portrayal of teaching in the inner-city that I have ever seen/heard/read. A few similarities between third graders in the East Bay and tenth graders in the Bronx: The curious phrasing of questions: "What time it is?" "What page it's on?"** Kids kicking over chairs because they have no outlet for their feelings and their feelings are too overwhelming Surprise expressed when a student mentions having a fath...

Apparently one way to prepare for standardized tests is to racially segregate kids and hold rallies that way? I don't know about that...