Module Four Discussion Replies

Winston Gentle:

Winston,

I agree that standards are developed to ensure that practices and expectations for each

student are in place. The standards support learning and skill acquisition so each student is

prepared to move forward in the educational process. While having the standards is important,

many states have implemented new procedures to ensure that all students are attaining the

standards. Along with the new procedures is increased accountability for educators to ensure

that each student is making progress to learning the standards and skills set forth by new

legislation. Also, many states have started basing teacher evaluations on the scores of the

standardized tests, which has caused many concerns within the teaching community. Due to the

concerns and emphasis placed on the student scores of standardized testing, many educators have

started teaching more towards the test.

While teaching towards a standards based test with the new accountability and evaluation

processes enacted by many school districts is understandable, it can have negative impacts on

students with disabilities and struggling general education students as well. For these reasons, I

believe that it is imperative that teachers evaluate the standards and the educational needs of each

student to ensure that the most effective teaching practices are being put into place. Even if the

most effective teaching practices are not entirely geared toward explicit teaching of the standard,

I believe that supporting student development should be the primary goal of each teacher,

regardless if they are unable to solely teach the standard. An example of this is a student that is

in middle school that reads at a second grade level; should the teacher focus on the middle school

reading standards, or more on teaching the student the basic skills essential to read? While the
debate about standards will undoubtedly continue into the future, I believe that educators need to

evaluate each student based on their needs and current level of academic performance prior to

making decisions about the instructional processes.

Brent

Jamie Diefendorf:

Jamie,

Switching assessment types in my school has been a topic of conversation for the entire

second semester of this school year amongst our staff. The school that I work in is currently

using Edgenuity for secondary students, as this allows our students to complete necessary classes

while out of their home school. My school is a special day school (alternative school) for

students with severe behavioral and emotional concerns that impeding the learning for the

students and their peers in traditional classrooms. While some of our students are transitioning

back to their home schools, other students still attend my school all day. The reason why

assessments continues to be an ongoing issue in my building is that many students are getting

burned out using Edgenuity and need more authentic assessments that are engaging and

motivating.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges that my school faces is not having the certified staff

in each content area to modify and adapt the assessment methods. I am one of the few staff

members certified to teach a content area subject at the secondary level, and I have started the

process of using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to develop different assessments that are

authentic and engaging for the students. Even though I have started the process of changing the

assessments, it is challenging to do this for eight courses during the middle of the school year,

but I am confident that next year, I will have each history class for secondary grades 6-12 put
into a UDL format that is authentic and engaging for all students. I also agree that the big

question still remaining is how to prepare students for high-stakes testing, and I would say that it

depends on the student. Each student is different and considering their needs will continue to be

the guiding force in how we as teachers design, implement, and teach our students.

Brent