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JANINE WALKER CAFFREY - EDUCATION INNOVATION
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last bell

6/4/2016

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We are at that wonderful time of the “last bell” of the year. If you’re a parent or teacher, your world is shifting from a regimented routine to a more relaxed time. The days are longer, the air is warmer and there is no shortage of good times ahead. Anything feels possible right now. But don’t get too comfortable...we know from experience, summer is fleeting and we’ll soon be back to the grind. Anticipation of heading back to the classroom leads us toward education reflection. We think about what worked for our kids last year and what lies ahead for the next. For young elementary kids, our educational focus is usually on reading. Are they where they need to be? Will they pass state tests? Do they love to read? These questions run through your brain all summer as kids are reading for fun (fingers crossed) and completing (maybe) the dreaded summer packets. Here’s an overview of some common classroom practices to ponder as you ease into summer.

Leveled Libraries

These coded book collections (using letters, colors or numbers) are all the rage in many schools. The idea is for kids to find “just right” levels of books to read, based on an assessment from the teacher. For independent reading, we want kids to be able to read almost all the words without struggle. We usually push them one level higher during small group instruction when the teacher can support and assist. Some teachers do this in their individual classrooms and some schools have entire school libraries set up this way. If your reading program includes this approach, you may want to rethink it. There are question marks about this approach which may indicate it is actually holding our kids back. Perhaps we should instead focus on helping kids find books that are worth reading in their minds. Interest in a subject is a powerful thing. If you have ever seen kids fighting to read Harry Potter books, which could be way above their “just right” levels, you know what I mean. Maybe next year we might focus on helping our kids get excited about a book - any book - regardless of the level.

Explicit Phonics Instruction

The evidence has been clear for a long time on this topic. We need to include systematic, explicit phonics instruction in our K-2 classrooms. Older kids in need of remediation, special ed students and English language learners can benefit from phonics instruction during latter elementary school years and beyond. But here’s the problem. Many teachers only rely on the phonics built into a basal reader or simply have a “word study” or “working with words” center in their classrooms. If you have a basal series, you likely ignore much of the phonics instruction that is built into the lessons. AND, in many basal series, phonics instruction is spread out across all of the elementary years. Students don’t get the explicit instruction when they need it; during the critical time when they are just beginning to read. If you are using a “balanced literacy” approach you likely have a center in your room dedicated to phonics. But, you are not likely to provide systematic, explicit instruction in phonics. In all cases, you have probably not taught a critical phonics skill; syllabication. The omission of this skill in most phonics programs and approaches is startling. We have to teach kids how to break a newly encountered word into its parts because we can only decode one syllable at at time. This skill must be taught well if we want kids to get beyond a 2nd grade reading level.

Read Aloud
If we want kids to become great readers, we need to expose them to content they cannot yet read. For young elementary students, this means we have to incorporate listening into our curriculum. Think about read aloud time in your classroom. Are you strategic in your selections? Do you use this time to increase exposure to topics in science and social studies? Do you read complex text to students - more complex than they can read themselves? As teachers and parents, we often think about reading aloud to our kids as a fun activity. And it should be. But we should also use this precious time to share information about the world that will spark their imaginations, engage them in meaningful conversations, and introduce them to words and texts they would not otherwise know.

Reading Workshop

Reading workshops can be a great part of literacy instruction. Kids love this time when they discuss literature with their peers. Teachers love this time when kids can work independently so they can focus on small groups. But...if this is the only time kids are grappling with comprehension issues, it can lead to a suppression of text complexity. In order for students to stretch in their understanding of more and more complex texts, they need support from someone who can help them make sense of it. The biggest growth in comprehension comes when kids are supported in reading texts that are MUCH more complex than they could read independently. We have to make sure we are sharing texts with our kids that are worth reading and support them to engage successfully with the texts. This is how they become better readers.

Reflect, Reflect, Reflect

Is it working? How do we know? There seems to be way too much data that may or may not lead to improvement. How can we easily understand if kids are making good progress? Too many assessments sometimes complicate our understanding and rob us of instructional time. All we need to know is how much our kids are reading and what they are choosing to read. If they are choosing more complex texts (assuming we don’t confine them to levels) and enjoying them, they are making good progress. That is really all we need to know. We may want to consider focusing on reading logs and reading conferences more than other assessments to get at the heart of reading. This will help us understand if kids are becoming more confident and joyful readers.

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Teachers know best

11/21/2015

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It was great to finally read a story about someone who is offering a solution to our student assessment mess. We all lament about how broken the system is, about how much instructional time is being lost and about the damage we are causing to our students. However, there are seldom officials who offer a potential solution. Steve Luikart, Chairman of the Pasco County Board of Education in Florida wrote a position paper, providing suggestions. He says we should use teacher feedback on student performance to track student progress toward learning standards. How refreshing to hear that we should respect teachers enough to allow them to assess their own students. Steve should know. He was an educator for many years before serving on the Board of Education.


Steve suggests we utilize technology to monitor student progress; specifically, a tablet-based program that teachers could use for ease of documentation. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I have been working to create just such a system, called Classhopper. Our first app is now available in the iTunes App Store, and will expand to other platforms soon. This new app, called Bookmark by Classhopper allows teachers to evaluate student proficiency on reading comprehension standards (aligned for every state) based on students’ independent reading. Next, we will be developing software for in-class tracking of phonics and comprehension skills. This type of software can be utilized for all subject areas. The end result will be that we once again respect the expertise of our teachers, while making their jobs just a little easier. Most importantly, we will be eliminating the ridiculous testing practices that have overwhelmed our public schools and impeded learning. It is time to recognize that school time should be used for learning and that teachers really do know best.
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Rime Time

4/9/2015

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Phonemic awareness is part of a strong foundation that needs to be in place before children become successful readers. The word "phonemic" comes from the word "phone" which means sound. Think of the word "telephone" which means to send sounds. During the preschool and kindergarten years, parents, teachers and caregivers naturally work to build this foundation through songs, poems, stories and games. We do this constantly with children without even thinking about it. As each child moves closer to reading independently, we should intentionally teach phonemic awareness to ensure that each new reader will be able to transition seamlessly to connecting sounds to symbols.

In the video that follows, these kindergarten students are being introduced to the concept of rimes. A rime is a set of words that follow identical spelling patterns; think cat in a hat. All rimes rhyme, but not the other way around. Watch how I use the story to allow children to hear the similar sounds, and then connect the sounds to their symbols. Finally, I group examples of rimes for four separate vowels. A follow-up to this lesson would be for children to write examples of rimes themselves, and to read examples in other texts.
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My Thoughts on Assessment

3/15/2015

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As March Madness continues, here are my thoughts on student assessment:
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March Madness

3/2/2015

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We have come to know the term "March Madness" as a description of our national college basketball championships. But this year, the term may better describe standardized testing that is gripping public schools in much of the nation. Today is the first school day in March and the first day (outside of piloting done earlier) of PARCC testing in many states. There is much angst about our new standardized tests, which is supposed to measure student performance related to Common Core State Standards.

Many parents and educators are saying no to this test, and the other version called Smarter Balanced, for a variety of reasons. There is concern about the test itself and whether it truly measures the standards. There is concern that the standards are not developmentally appropriate. Some people believe the process used to develop the standards was flawed, making the standards themselves flawed. This is a high stakes test that will be factored into teacher evaluations and decisions regarding student placement, graduation, and the future of individual schools. And then there's the technology. Schools and districts have spent an tremendous amount of money upgrading their hardware and infrastructure just to be sure students will be able to take the test. There is fear that students' lack of basic computer skills or preparation for the test (which includes specific computer functions) may negatively impact scores.

If you have a child enrolled in public schools, are an educator or a taxpayer where these tests are being implemented, you need to know they are influencing just about everything related to public education. The debate is hot and heavy and likely will not let up any time soon. If you would like to know what all the fuss is about, go to the PARCC website and take a sample test. See if you agree these tests will help us prepare our kids for college and career, or if you agree with Louis CK who says it is nonsense with questions like, "
Bill has three goldfish. He buys two more. How many dogs live in London?"

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In Kindergarten, Comprehension Comes First

2/18/2015

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If you have been following the national conversation about the Common Core, you have probably heard how teachers of kindergarten students worry that too much is being expected of our youngest elementary kids. I DO agree that we need to allow kindergarten kids to move more and have a learning environment that more closely resembles an early childhood classroom. I just shudder when I walk into a classroom for five-year-olds that includes little desks and chairs. These kids should have activity centers full of great learning opportunities. They shouldn't be asked to face the front of the room as they sit in individual desks and hear a teacher lecture. They ABSOLUTELY should not be exposed to multiple choice tests.

However, when it comes to reading, I don't think the Common Core is asking too much. I have spent a great deal of time understanding the standards for reading, and believe they are appropriate and will provide students with a solid foundation for greater learning in the years to come. If anyone disagrees, I would love to better understand the issues of concern. If you wish to help me understand your concern(s) with the standards (not PARCC or teacher evaluation - that is a completely different issue), please cite the kindergarten reading standard, what you believe is inappropriate about it and why, in the comment box below. I hate that I have to say this, but PLEASE refrain from reducing our conversation to name-calling, irrational rants, or other non-productive practices.


The Common Core provides expectations of reading comprehension before students really learn to read. Although it may seem counter-intuitive, it actually makes perfect sense. I don't think anyone would argue that we should be reading to our kids from the time they are babies. We know from experience and from research that this practice improves oral language skills and, later, reading skills. In kindergarten, the teacher begins the year by reading stories TO students, with a strong focus on phonemic awareness and comprehension skills. Students can understand stories long before they can read them on their own, so she will spend most of her guided reading time helping children understand the story. During kindergarten, we are expecting students to transition to reading very simple stories independently. To illustrate what happens at the beginning of the kindergarten year, I am providing this video of our youngest students learning how to identify key ideas and details and character motivation. Please note the repeated use of the word "evidence" which lays the foundation for citing evidence in text as students develop greater competence. This lesson is less than 15 minutes long and is about the longest amount of time students of this age should be focused on this type of activity. The text and the learning objectives are consistent with Common Core expectations for this grade level.
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What is Assessment?

1/23/2015

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Assessment is Part of Instruction

1/20/2015

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Teachers do not need standardized tests to understand what their students know and still need to learn. Watch this guided reading lesson with first graders to see how the teacher weaves assessment throughout the lesson. In order to move our students toward proficiency on rigorous reading standards, we must support teachers in becoming skilled assessors throughout each lesson.
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Teachers are Superheroes

1/13/2015

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Teachers are superheroes. They have the power to help kids learn to listen to other points of view and communicate in a way that others will understand. We need more people in the world who can engage in meaningful dialogue. Teachers can use superheroes from literature to help their students improve the debating skills necessary to take part in discussions. Take a look at the newest Reading Teacher Tuesday video to see how kids can engage in discourse with one another through a conversation about superheroes.

When you are finished, you can answer the question, "Who is your favorite superhero?"
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Federal Attack on Teachers

1/4/2015

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Our federal government is now attempting to have us believe that the problem in our high poverty communities is our teachers. The US Department of Education is directing school districts to ensure equity in teacher assignment by adding a requirement for "state educator equity plans" to Title I grant applications. Each state that accepts the funding will be required to submit a plan that shows how it will ensure "poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers.” The theory of action that guides this mandate goes something like this. If we could just get better teachers to work in these places, the kids would learn more. Wow. I have worked in lots of different places, including some high poverty communities and I can tell you from experience, there are really GREAT teachers in these places. These teachers overcome what others see as insurmountable odds to reach their kids. In addition to tirelessly teaching every day and working to improve their own skills, they provide food, clothing and sometimes even shelter to kids in need. They work long hours in sometimes terrible conditions and have their hearts broken on a daily basis. The reason we have less experienced teachers in our tough schools is because this work is really hard. Most teachers know if they don't want to leave the profession, they will have to switch to schools where they won't get burnt out as quickly. So, after just a few years, that is what typically happens. If a teacher still wants to teach (many don't and leave the profession), she will move to a place where she can feel more supported and more readily see the results of her work. Stating that our problems in high poverty districts stem from less effective teachers is about the most insulting thing you could say about the teaching profession.

Secondly, simply looking at experience and credentials (the current proposal) does not tell the whole story. There are incredibly effective beginning teachers who only have bachelor's degrees. There are some amazing teachers who come into the field through alternative routes and others who do incredible work "out of field." Conversely, there are some teachers with more experience and traditional credentials who may not be as good. Since we still lack an accurate way to measure teacher effectiveness, we really don't know how to sort teachers in a way that tells us which teacher is more effective. This is the very heart of the current debate over standardized testing and teacher evaluation. 

The third flaw in this thinking is that you can somehow improve how local districts and schools select their teachers by making the process more complicated. This process is already cumbersome, filled with regulations, certifications, background checks, politics, school district policies and union rules. Adding yet another layer of complexity will just slow down the process and prevent high poverty districts from getting the teachers they need, when they need them. The result will be larger class sizes and more substitutes when schools are unable to move through the process and hire enough teachers.

If we want our kids in high poverty communities to do better academically, it is time we truly supported the teachers who work with them instead of insulting and blaming them for all of society's ills.

Beginning this week, I will be devoting every Tuesday to providing new content to support the teaching of reading. I hope you will join me in spreading the word of new, helpful tools designed to improve reading instruction, and make teachers' work easier.
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    Janine Walker Caffrey writes about reading, education and a few other topics related to happiness and life in general.

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