Peg Cagle & Max Ray-Riek Teachers As Activists Peg Cagle & Max Ray-Riek

Disclaimer The views here are entirely our own and don’t necessarily represent the views of NCTM.   What does it mean to listen Keep this in your mind throughout our work today, but also think about helping your students to understand what it means to listen-otherwise all the discourse moves in the world aresignificantly diminished

Listen to a Story The Rosa Parks way to tell the story: Mallory Clarke refused to administer the exam, and a nation was galvanized, and they won some stuff. A better way to tell the story: teachers identified a lot of specific problems with the MAP tests, like the time it took away from teaching, the mismatch between the content in the curriculum and the tests, and fact that the margin of error of scores was high enough that it was bigger than predicted gains. One day, testing coordinator Kris McBride said, “you know, you can refuse to give the test,” to Mallory Clarke. That exclamation became something they considered seriously. They went to the literacy and math departments and got agreement, and then went to the whole staff, and then to the Parent-Teacher-Student Association and the student government. They presented their case, asked questions, heard concerns, and asked for statements of support. Only then did they actually plan to boycott the tests, at which point they sent a letter to the superintendent, held a press conference and sought local and national attention. In the meantime, they consistently explained their demands, researched other assessment options, formed a teacher assessment study group, and pushed for the superintendent to agree to make MAP testing optional and replace MAP tests with a portfolio-based authentic assessment system.

Questions What worked? What’s different than the “Rosa Parks” version? What can we learn from this?

Questions 2 What’s something you’d like to change? Who might be your people and your allies in making changes?

Who are your people? Classroom practitioners? School based support personnel? School based administrators? District/county personnel? Higher education? Others… Rural? Urban? Suburban? Public? Charter? Independent? Religious? PreK-5? 6-8? 9-12? Post-secondary? Adult education?

What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without? Questions 3 Who is your target – who can make the decision that gets the change done? Needs assessment- list everything you think it will take-then prioritize them as already have, truly need, can substitute/work around identify any untapped potential, what might you be able to turn into an asset What will it take? What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without?

What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without? Group Task Get in a group of 3 Read the strategy chart for one campaign Read the tactics What are some actions you might recommend the group take? Needs assessment- list everything you think it will take-then prioritize them as already have, truly need, can substitute/work around identify any untapped potential, what might you be able to turn into an asset What will it take? What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without?

What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without? Questions 4 How did the strategy chart help you think about which tactics might make sense? Needs assessment- list everything you think it will take-then prioritize them as already have, truly need, can substitute/work around identify any untapped potential, what might you be able to turn into an asset What will it take? What do you have, what do you need & what can you do without?

Teach to Lead Initiative from National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, ASCD & the Department of Education Teachers apply in teams to propose a project to address an issue in k-12 education Selected teams come together for a 2-day summit with a range of support personnel to help build action plans Support is provided throughout the execution phase to ensure success Need to make a plug for PCMI Profoundly shaped who I am in every aspect of my professional work- as well as providing me some life long friends