Classroom Applications and National Standards

A post on the Music Education Blog Collective shines some light on a possible revision of the National Standards for Music Education. The emphasis is on questions of how exactly do the national standards impact the music classroom and, specifically, what students are learning.

For me, I would say that the current national standards in their own form provide me a very beneficial framework with which to instruct my students. Unlike the standards of other subject matters, I find the music standards to be concrete and understandable. It helps me to focus more on teaching and learning in my classroom rather than just what to do to get through the next performance.

All too often, I believe, rote learning is emphasized in our music classrooms for the purpose of getting through the next concert. I believe the national standards help to keep us away from that trend, but, generally, only for those educators who have the forsight to do so. I do not think it is the "vagueness" of the music standards that are the problem. Rather, I believe it is the enforcement and accountability placed on those standards. At WEDJ, I am held accountable to those standards because that is what I grade on. If I haven't hit all of the standards, then I have nothing to give a student a grade for. This holds me true to my craft as a music educator and not just a choir director. In most schools students simply recieve one grade for music with no emphasis on evaluating the particular skills we are trying to assess.

I do not think that changes to the national standards are neccesary. However, I do think that administrators in schools, especially those that tout arts integration, should use the national standards as a template for the assessment of musical skills. Putting the national standards on the report card legitimizes music as a subject and hols us more accountable to the development of the skills we are supposed to be teaching.

Do Current Trends in Education and Politics Match What Universities and Employers Are Looking For?

Not neccesarily, says Education Week.

We all want results. I guess the definition of what results are is the real question.

I had to write a response to this article. Basically I said that administrators today have to balance compliance with federal mandates with making sure their students are getting the kind of education that will make them employable and able to succeed in college and beyond.

As I was writing my recommendations, what I found myself falling back on was a model not too disimilar to that of WEDJ. I really have a lot of faith in what we are and what we will accomplish at that school and I hope to be there through the best of it, which is certainly still to come.

Issues in Educational Administration

That is the title of my current class at GWU. I think this will be one of my favorite classes. This blog, more or less, is based around the gist of the syllabus. So, hopefully, in the near future, I'll have more to post about!

The Talk of the Town

Fenty has officially released his plan for the future of DC's Public Schools.

Predictably, not everybody is happy.

In asking questions regarding charter schools, some of what their role will play was explained.

The bill would... consolidate responsibility for all charter schools in the District -- which are overseen by two organizations -- under a sole entity, the D.C. Public Charter School Board. - From The Washington Post

This is a move that has been
long recommended by those who are directly involved in the charter school movement in DC.

It will be interesting to see what actually comes of all of this.

Paris and London

It's official.

I've never been to Europe and so I am making it a priority, this summer, to take a trip to Europe with my wife.

Our destination will be Paris and perhaps London as well.

Anyone have any advice for a first-time European traveller?

Any recommendations on places to stay? Things to see?

More Questions for Fenty

Mark Lerner posts some questions that newly inagurated Mayor Fenty will have to answer regarding his place for education.

Specifically, the questions asked are in regards to how these things will affect charter schools which are governed separately from those who fall under the umbrella of DCPS.

Public Praise for Teachers' Accomplishments

We need to do more of this.

I know that most people are going to skip right by this story. But, this is a teacher who has achieved something really special for her students. To recognize her publically like this must be such a thrill.

More of this should be happening.

Thank you Mr. Matthews and congratulations Ms. Suben for making a real difference in your students' lives!

Wow... just wow...

I have to be honest, I consider myself to be a pretty decent person,
but I never would have had the guts to do this.

Bravo Mr. Autrey. You are a real life hero.

Oprah's School

Here is one of the plethora of articles one can find on Oprah's new school in South Africa if you do a simple yahoo search.

It'll be interesting to see how this works out. The thing that gives me hope about this school is that Oprah seems to have high expectations for her students which is key.

I'd be curious to have a conversation with her regarding the state of education in the United States and what specific things she feels are causing the problems in our schools. She mentioned that, as Americans, we have a sense of entitlement about education that makes us appreciate it less. I would argue that if that is the culture we have to work with, then we need to find a way to reach that culture in our schools. Schools do need to change to best educate the population it serves just as my teaching methods change when in dealing with all different types of students. If this sense of entitlement is getting in the way of our students' education then it is our responsibility to get students to come back to education. We need to re-evaluate our methods and make decisions on how to get our students to appreciate what is truly a gift: that of a free education.

I don't have the answers. Only more questions to ponder...

Fenty to take over?

Found this in the Washington Post.

I have to be honest that in having known politicians for a good part of my life, I figured a lot of this talk about a school take over to be exactly that: just talk.

I guess we'll see what happens.

Killing Leads to More Killing

For those who do not know, there is one political stance that I will never waver on. I am completely and utterly against the death penalty. It accomplishes nothing that life without parole wouldn't accomplish and has an irreversable permanence to it that can lead to horrifying mistakes and regrets. My wife, a student of criminal justice, can quote the research that shows that it is not a crime deterrant and, in fact, I believe that when a government feels that it has the right to kill people, then the common citizen, almost rightfully, looks at it as a right and a veritable option for them to choose as well.

Case in point.

They're blaming the violence and outrage on how the execution was handled, but the truth is, how can you handle an execution in a humane manner? We have no right to take away a life. No government has the right to decide who lives and who dies. No person has a right to decide who lives and who dies. Under no circumstances is it ever right to kill... period.

When we start making exceptions to that rule, just like children, the general public will see the behavior modelled and will replicate it. Killing only results in more killing. The only way to stop it is to stop it ourselves.

I am not saying that Saddam Hussein did not deserve to be punished. I think he desrved to be punished to the highest extreme allowable. However, I believe that death should be beyond that allowable extreme.

The fact that we allow killing makes us no better than those who decide to kill.

As if to emphasize my point...

This post really struck a chord with me.

I used to live in Columbia Heights and I worked in Adams Morgan. Every day I would walk 10 minutes to work. I'd pass the same people on the sidewalk and oftentimes stop and chat with them. The woman at the grocery store knew me by name and would ask how things were going at Joseph's House, the residential hospice where I worked. I don't think I ever walked down the block without running into someone I knew. It felt very much like small-town America.

Quaint is it not?

DC: Quaint?

A couple of days ago, I made the comment that I thought that DC was a "quaint" city. This turned a few heads as people adamently disagreed with me that DC was quaint in any way.

But think about it.... look at the architecture in DC. The majority of the city is covered in cute little row houses causing a very historic and european look to it. There are all kind of little shops all over the city. Many of the streets in DC are tree-lined and, while it may be a metropolic of its own accord, the feeling is that it is a "small-town-big-city." And, of course, one of its nicknames is "America's Home Town."

One of those who disagreed with me said that when he thought of quaint he thought of cute little New England towns. Being from New England, I can tell you that those are actually fewer and far between than people think. Connecticut, at least, seems to be becoming a vast array of turnpikes and overcrowded highways littered with strip malls with Walmart anchor stores. Hardly quaint...

What do you all think? Is DC quaint? Or am I totally off my rocker?