Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Summing Up a Bit

Note: This week was my turn to be profiled in a free candicacy announcement in the Plaindealer. Since it was my first chance to do this in that publication, it seemed wise to sum up the campaign so far. The article that ran in the Plaindealer on July 24th appears below.

Bob Mamrak has announced his candidacy for the office of Superintendent of Schools. He will be running in the Republican primary on August 7th. Mamrak has been an educator in the Choctaw County school system for 20 years. He is also in his 20th year pastoring New Zion Baptist Church. He calls those 20 years one of his most pleasing accomplishments since the longest any one man ever served the 165 year-old church was seven years. Mamrak has been married to his wife Anna for 36 years. They have two grown children and one grandchild.

Mamrak’s academic qualifications are impressive. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in public relations. He has a master’s degree in educational leadership. He has finished the coursework for a doctorate in educational leadership and is completing his PhD dissertation on Mississippi school reform. Mamrak is a nationally certified English teacher, and is certified by the state of Mississippi in English, art, journalism, and administration. He has successfully competed for national grants that he used to study the school systems in both Japan and Germany.

Mamrak has said that his intent from the start has been to run a campaign that focused on the issues facing our schools. He feels that A serious discussion of the issues cannot take place in small advertisements, on yard signs, or on business cards. Therefore, he helped organize a public panel discussion where all the candidates for superintendent had the opportunity to explain their positions and answer the public’s questions. All but one candidate attended. In addition, Mamrak has posted all of his positions and proposals on the Internet (http://bobmamrak.blogspot.com) so voters can evaluate them carefully and thoughtfully.

Mamrak feels there are many problems facing our schools. “There’s a bunch of them,” he said, “but most stem from one over-riding problem: the public has lost control of our public schools. For too long our schools have been run like a private business. We say we want parental involvement when in reality we only want parental approval. We say we want to hire the best certified educators available when in reality we don’t recruit beyond our friends and families. We allow public educators, paid with our hard earned tax dollars, to make decisions behind closed doors and without our input: decisions that will determine our children’s futures. Maybe it’s acceptable to run a privately owned candy store this way, but not schools established to serve the public. It’s got to stop. It is time to take back our schools.”

Mamrak has listed eight changes he would make to begin the work of fixing our schools: 1. Begin aggressive and wide recruitment for certified personnel and then involve parents and teachers in the hiring process in order to put a stop to administrators hiring less qualified “insiders.” 2. Work with each school’s PTO to make them organizations that help parents help their kids succeed, rather than the fund-raising groups they have become. 3. Work with principals and teachers to improve test scores by instituting proven teaching methods like problem-based learning, curriculum integration, and other student-centered techniques. 4. Make the decision making process in the school system transparent, so that taxpayers can hold administrators responsible for the decisions that effect their children’s futures. 5. Utilize the expertise and experience of classroom teachers by empowering them to be involved in policy and program decisions. 6. Ensure the safety of our students by securing the school buildings on every campus. 7. Get directly involved in the evaluation of teachers and administrators in order to acknowledge excellence and formulate plans to help those who are ineffective improve. 8. Hire an unemployed Choctaw Countian at minimum wage to cut grass on our campuses so that administrators making over $50,000 a year can get off riding lawnmowers and get back to running our schools.

Joking about not running on good looks or personality Mamrak said, “If that were the case, I’d be lucky to get my wife and myself to vote for me. I’m hoping there are enough people in Choctaw County who care enough about our schools to vote for someone who recognizes our problems and knows how to fix them.”

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Improving Classroom Instruction

Last week’s article responded to feedback I’ve gotten from parents concerned about the high-stakes testing required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Generally speaking, I’m in favor of the intent of the tests: holding schools accountable for the quality of education they provide. As you can probably tell, however, I’m no fan of NCLB.

Research has already revealed several unintended negative results of high-stakes testing. Most obvious is that schools are focusing most of their efforts on improving test scores, or as teachers like to say, “teaching the test.” This causes a narrowing of curriculum. Schools tend to stop teaching the whole child. Subjects that are not tested are neglected. This fosters a two-class society. Children from more affluent families are exposed to the arts and other aesthetic aspects of American culture at home, but the children of less affluent parents, children who used to discover these things at school, are indeed “left behind.”

Perhaps the most distressing unintended result of NCLB is what researchers call “educational triage.” Until hurricane Katrina I’d never even heard the word triage. I learned it’s a medical term that doctors use in emergency rooms, on battlefields, etc. to see which patient should be given priority. Basically, doctors separate patients into three groups: those that are not in too bad shape and don’t need priority treatment, those that can be saved if given top priority, and those who are so far gone that treatment wouldn’t save them anyway.

Because of NCLB high-stakes testing our schools are beginning to triage students. Teachers are told to classify students into three groups: those whose grades are high enough that they don’t need any help in passing the tests, those whose grades are on the borderline and will likely pass the test if they are given top priority, and those whose grades are so bad that they have little chance of passing the test no matter what a teacher does. The logic is that by concentrating on the middle group, schools can get a higher percentage of students passing the test and improve the school’s state performance level rating. Educational triage may improve a school’s rating, but it strikes me at best as contrary to the purpose of public schools. At worst it is un-American and bordering on immoral. Our best students are not challenged to excel and our most needy students are “left behind.” Our goal should not be to raise test scores. Our goal should be to provide the best possible education we can to all of our children regardless of their God-given ability.

Another unintended result of NCLB high-stakes testing is the detrimental effect it has had on teacher morale. Good, resourceful, creative teachers resent being told to abandon what they know are good instructional techniques in order to “teach the test.” Researchers have found that more teachers are leaving the profession, fewer top college students are entering the profession, and many who are persevering in classrooms report higher levels of job dissatisfaction.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Schools around the world, across America, and right here in Mississippi are experiencing high levels of student achievement (evidenced by high test scores) without “teaching the test.” A few years ago I was lucky enough to win a Fullbright Fellowship to travel to Japan and study their school system first hand. Japanese schools are widely regarded among the world’s best. Their test scores go through the roof. Like most people, I suspected they were obsessed with test scores and made their students drill, drill, DRILL! I was wrong. Their philosophy is to teach the whole child. They concentrate on curriculum integration, problem-based learning, classroom projects, and other student-centered learning strategies.
These strategies work because they make learning relevant to students’ lives and (more importantly from the kids’ perspective) fun. Let me give some specific examples.

The year that I returned from Japan I used what I had learned to design a school-wide, curriculum-integrated project: a Medieval Fair. In August I presented the plan to my principal and got permission to hold the fair nine months later in May. I should note that I got my administrator’s permission, not support. There were no school funds allocated to buy materials, there was no directive to other teachers to participate, there was no anything except a verbal, “Sure, do whatever you want.” In fact, when the event which was scheduled nine months in advance took place, the principal failed to attend citing another commitment.

Over the next eight months I planned and worked. I talked up the project to other teachers and parents. I spent every penny of my own classroom money to buy resources other teachers could use. I got the PTO to kick in $100 for supplies. In the end about half the staff came onboard. The event was held on the playground. Mrs. Wright had math students build a display on Medieval mathematicians and their accomplishments. Mrs. Coleman had Weir and Ackerman students use puppets to stage Medieval morality plays. Mrs. Weeks had her music classes perform Medieval songs. There were re-enactments of the King Arthur legends, architectural displays of Gothic cathedrals, a display of Medieval illuminated manuscripts, performing court jesters, innumerable booths featuring medieval foods and more. One parent gave lessons in calligraphy. The fair was a tremendous educational success. In addition to local newspaper coverage we were featured on the Columbus television station’s evening news.

Elaborate events like this are not the only way to go. Problem-based learning is a technique that is very effective. As always the teacher begins by checking the state framework for the standards and objectives to be taught in that particular area of study. The teacher then thinks of a problem or project whose completion will require learning those standards and objectives. Student achievement is not measured solely with a typical multiple choice and true/false test at the end of a unit. Tests of this type tend to find out more of what a child didn’t learn than what he did learn. Instead, the project becomes the evaluation, providing a learning experience that takes place throughout the unit.

For example, in an English class we studied Shakespeare for nine weeks. I split the class up into five groups and had each pretend to be an entertainment promotions company. They were told that a touring company was coming to Choctaw County to put on a play. Each group had to pick a Shakespeare play and devise a plan for staging the play at a profit. They had to write and produce newspaper, television, and radio ads. They had to find suitable locations and dates. They had to design and produce playbills. They had to set ticket prices, estimate attendance, and predict profit margins. In short, they had to do real life activities in an educational setting. During this one unit we covered nearly every standard and objective in my state framework.

Good, experienced teachers (and new or struggling teachers with good instructional leaders helping them) can come up with problem-based instruction for almost any unit of study. When my kids studied the King Arthur legend, groups acted as advertising agencies hired to create a multi-leveled campaign to recruit knights for the Round Table. When we studied the Diary of Anne Frank student groups had to come up with a complete plan to successfully hide and sustain a family like the Frank’s somewhere in Choctaw County. At the end of one year of English literature I had student groups act as travel agencies that put together a “Literary Tour of England” that included sites relevant to all the authors we studied. They created maps showing the logic of their itinerary. They submitted detailed budgets covering food, lodging, transportation, and admission fees. Moreover, they used advanced thinking skills while researching and completing a complicated, relevant, real-life project.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m the only local teacher who uses these effective instructional strategies. For years Carol Wright, one of the finest teachers I’ve known, had her math classes build scale models of their bedrooms. At Ackerman Elementary students have used higher-level thinking skills to solve a mystery after investigating a “crime scene” that teachers set up. Over the years I have seen many good teachers go the extra mile to design lessons that are effective, student-centered, and fun.

My point is that this type of teaching should be the rule rather than the exception. Unfortunately, as school districts feel increasing pressure to improve test scores these strategies are being neglected in favor of worksheets and drills, drills, drills. No wonder kids don’t like school.

I am currently finishing my doctorate in Educational Leadership with a dissertation studying the Pierce Street School in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Pierce Street School focuses on curriculum integration, problem-based learning, and other student-centered classroom instruction. Pierce Street’s state performance level rating has been a level five every year since Mississippi adopted the rating system. I believe our kids are every bit as smart as Tupelo’s kids. If we will teach them using the best available instructional strategies their test scores will be as high as any in Mississippi.

If you’re supporting other candidates ask them what they will do to improve test scores. If they intend to keep on doing what we’re doing now, it’s time to look for another candidate.

Until next time, may God bless you and your children.
Bob Mamrak

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

High-Stakes Testing

In last week’s article I asked for feedback and input on the educational issues that have, and as of yet have not, been addressed during this campaign. I appreciate all the feedback I’ve gotten and I continue to encourage you to let me know what other educational issues you are concerned about. Call, write, or email me for straight answers (my number and address are in the previous article). I firmly believe that the parents and taxpayers of Choctaw County need to know where each candidate stands. Simply saying, “ I love kids,” “we must put students first,” and “the children are our future” is not enough. We need to elect a superintendent that has the courage to identify problems in our schools and has the expertise to fix them.

The feedback I’ve gotten so far makes it clear that people are concerned about the high-stakes testing our kids are subjected to as part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation that comes out of Washington. As I said in a previous article, the premise behind the testing is reasonable: since the federal government provides local school districts with federal tax dollars, the federal government tries to hold local schools accountable. Simply put, the feds require us to test our kids to prove we’re using all that money to provide the public with effective schools.

The problem is that our concern with test scores has come to define how we do school. We have become so obsessed with improving test scores that most of what we do revolves around that end. In effect, the test that was intended to measure how we are doing has become what we are doing. That’s crazy! Testing cannot improve student achievement anymore than weighing a hog more frequently will fatten him up better.

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) is America’s best means for evaluating education across the nation. The NAEP tests students from all over the country so we can get a national report card. Their data for 2002-2005 showed that reading scores for fourth graders were unchanged and actually went down markedly for eighth graders despite all these tests. Worse yet, the testing required by the NCLB legislation has led states to construct charades of window dressing to make unsuccessful schools look successful. The legislation allows states to set their own standard for success. A Rand Corporation study showed that there is a huge gap between state test scores and NAEP scores. In other words, states are making their tests easier so the scores will make it look like their schools are doing better than they really are.

For instance, the Rand study showed that our 50 states reported that fourth graders required to take subject area tests passed at a rate of 21% in the lowest state and 90% in the highest state. When you look at the NAEP’s unbiased national scores, however, the lowest state’s fourth graders passed at a 10% rate and the highest state’s kids passed at a 43% rate. The gap between state reported scores and NAEP scores was highest in Texas, Georgia, and Mississippi. Unfortunately, Mississippi’s gap was the largest at about 68%.

No Child Left Behind is here and we have to deal with it, but our strategy of making improved test scores the highest priority is misguided at best. That strategy misses the point. The goal is not to improve test scores. The goal is to improve education. When that occurs, test scores will go up. Instructional techniques that accompany high-stakes, one size fits all testing programs undermine rather than improve the quality of education.

So what do we do? We improve instruction. We use instructional strategies that have been proven to work elsewhere: instructional strategies that motivate children and make their studies relevant. We do what successful schools are already doing. We concentrate on curriculum integration, problem-based learning, classroom projects, and other student-centered learning strategies.

In next week’s article I will explain how to do that and give specific examples of these proven instructional strategies. Fixing our schools is not easy. It takes more than saying, “ I love kids,” “we must put students first,” and “the children are our future.” Fixing our schools requires taking specific action to improve instruction. If you’re supporting other candidates ask them exactly how they intend to fix our schools. If they can’t give you specific, workable answers, find another candidate.

Until next time, may God bless you and your children.
Bob Mamrak

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Fourth of July Lull

Happy Fourth of July! You may have noticed that I didn’t run any political advertisements in this week’s papers. My intention was to take this week off to recover from a whirlwind month. My wife Anna and I spent two weeks in London visiting more historic sites than we could count. We returned to teach Vacation Bible School during the third week, and we had a great summer revival at New Zion in week four. Today Anna and I are celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary and babysitting our grand daughter, and tomorrow the rest of the clan is coming over for a July 4th cookout.

I thought all that was excuse enough not to post anything this week, but then I got a phone call from a supporter who was disappointed that I hadn’t written a new article. Well, I wouldn’t want to let anyone down so here I am at the keyboard.

The Fourth of July is traditionally when many Choctaw Countians decide whom they will vote for in August. At the family cookout, over ribs and burgers, talk just naturally turns to the election around the corner. A lot of people vote for friends, family, or whoever put up the most signs and shook the most hands. In the superintendent election, I hope you won’t do that. The superintendent of schools could be the most important position being voted on. The results will have a very direct bearing on our children’s futures.

That’s why I have tried to make this election about the educational issues facing our schools. That’s why week after week I have written an article that addresses one of those issues that gives specific, detailed solutions to problems that must be solved. No other candidate has done that; not now or in the previous five superintendent elections I’ve seen in the 20 years I’ve served the Choctaw County School System. (To give credit where credit is due, however, Donna Nail has addressed issues, albeit with less specific solutions.)

Now I need you to do something. I need feedback. I need to know if you think I am on the right track. I need to know what other educational concerns you have so I can address them this month. To that end I’m asking you to contact me by phone, mail, or email. Write to me at 2385 Weir-Salem Road, Weir, MS 39772. Call me at (662) 285-3633. Email me at churchart@excite.com. I appreciate the calls and emails I’ve received so far, but I need to hear from more citizens who truly care about our schools.

In closing, let me say how much I appreciate the many kind and supportive comments I’ve received during my campaign. One thing I’ve heard over and over is that you wish more people could read my articles, people who don’t have the internet or, like me, are stuck with a dial-up connection that makes it difficult to download what I’ve written. Therefore, I encourage you to talk about these things to people you meet. Better yet, print them out and hand them a copy. Also, if you contact me I’ll be happy to mail anyone a copy of every one of the articles.

Until next time, may God bless you and your children.
Bob Mamrak