Lissa Pijanowski, Ed.D. August 2015 Innovate 2 Educate Accountability – The Wicked Witch of Education Standards, Instruction, Assessments, Oh My! Accountability has become the Wicked Witch of education. It has bullied its way into our institutions of learning and has, in some instances, taken away the joy of teaching. While I am not foolish enough to think that accountability will go away, I am advocating for the death of accountability in so much as it has killed creativity in our classrooms. In my experience, schools serving challenging student populations tend to focus on the basics in a very traditional manner. There is an emphasis on providing students that are below proficient with multiple opportunities to learn discrete standards. This lends itself to a “drill and kill” scenario many students could equate to the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz very scary and very predictable. Learning Experiences Ensuring that standards are “covered” will only result in shortterm success on lower level standardized, multiplechoice tests; whereas, teaching standards that are integrated or taught within an interdisciplinary unit of study allows students to go
Transcript
Lissa Pijanowski, Ed.D. August 2015 Innovate 2 Educate
Accountability – The Wicked Witch of Education
Standards, Instruction, Assessments, Oh My!
Accountability has become the Wicked Witch of education. It has bullied its way into
our institutions of learning and has, in some instances, taken away the joy of teaching.
While I am not foolish enough to think that accountability will go away, I am advocating
for the death of accountability in so much as it has killed creativity in our classrooms. In
my experience, schools serving challenging student populations tend to focus on the
basics in a very traditional manner. There is an emphasis on providing students that are
below proficient with multiple opportunities to learn discrete standards. This lends
itself to a “drill and kill” scenario many students could equate to the flying monkeys
from the Wizard of Oz -‐ very scary and very predictable.
Learning Experiences
Ensuring that standards are “covered” will only result in short-‐term success on lower
level standardized, multiple-‐choice tests; whereas, teaching standards that are
integrated or taught within an interdisciplinary unit of study allows students to go
Lissa Pijanowski, Ed.D. August 2015 Innovate 2 Educate
deeper into the content, to recognize the relevance for what they are learning, and to
attain higher levels of learning. With consideration of the national assessment
movement toward more performance-‐based measures and rigorous items, it would
seem this is the time to make a radical shift good for all students. Teaching should
include opportunities for project-‐based learning and inquiry while incorporating critical
thinking skills and problem solving. While there is a place for benchmark assessments
and a scope and sequence, we must empower teachers to veer from lock-‐step pacing
guides to integrate standards into real-‐world projects and learning experiences.
Teachers have shared with me concern over their students reading below grade level or
not having the numeracy skills required to complete these types of tasks. However, if
not given the opportunity to engage in meaningful work, we will lose them. Students
will become disengaged and we will lose something more precious than getting “off the
list”. We will lose our children, and I would venture to say, even more of our teachers.
These learning experiences hook our kids and increase the level of engagement while
making teaching more joyful.
Collaboration
Similar to the way Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man,
and Lion worked together in The Wizard of Oz,
teachers can leverage expertise and share the
workload when collaborative teams are
established. The profession of teaching has
changed dramatically in the last several years and
without a network of supportive individuals who
share the same mission, the work can be
daunting. We must create safe places, not only
for our students, but also for our teachers. We need to take risks, make mistakes, and
be free to learn, relearn, and unlearn. Professional practices that will transform
teaching and learning don’t come with a script. The schools that I have worked with
Lissa Pijanowski, Ed.D. August 2015 Innovate 2 Educate
that have made the greatest gains are those with teams of teachers that work
cohesively and with one singular mission.
Call to Action
Once Dorothy and her team arrive at the Emerald City, they were disappointed to find
the wizard was only a character brought to life by a man hiding behind a curtain, some
smoke and light effects. Disappointed? Yes. However, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion
soon found out that they had all they needed. It is simply unfortunate that we are in a
time in public education where our professional educators go to great lengths to seek
answers from the outside, similar to the wizard. I would argue that classroom teachers
and school leaders have the brains, the heart, and the courage to make magical things
happen for students across the nation. The Accountability Wicked Witch has frightened
us into believing we need to seek external programs and reforms – when quite frankly,
we need to focus on engaging instruction and invest in the teachers and leaders within
our own schools and districts.
• This is a call to action. Let’s set out to teach
standards, assess performance, and monitor
instruction in a way that fosters higher levels of
LEARNING.
• Leaders, give teachers permission to try new
things, think differently, advocate for their
children and bring back the JOY of TEACHING!
• Listen to your students – ask them how they
learn best as well as what interests them. Design
learning experiences that make them say, WOW!
Recall the lessons you have been taught in your lifetime that stand out for you. Were
they real-‐world, collaborative, challenging, or fun? Were they hands-‐on, creative, or
product/performance-‐oriented? Did someone model for you, provide extra guidance, or
Lissa Pijanowski, Ed.D. August 2015 Innovate 2 Educate
create a safe place for learning? Engagement shouldn’t be only for those that are
already proficient or above. It is key to developing creative learning cultures that result
in dramatic achievement gains – and graduates!
Now, put on those ruby slippers, close your eyes, click your heels three times and say:
“There’s nothing like engagement! There’s nothing like engagement! There’s nothing
