Greenhaus Education and Other "Effects"

I read this article yesterday by Andrew Ujifusa entitled New Tests Put States on Hot Seat as Scores Plunge . Basically, states that have implemented new standardized tests to address revised academic standards, such as the Common Core State Standards, have seen a drop in student scores, so panic has ensued. What I want to know is: has no one ever heard about the implementation dip? Whenever you try to implement something new, there is going to be a period of adjustment, scores will go down if we are talking tests, classroom behaviors will change and achievement will go down if new teaching strategies are being implemented - in short, any time you try something new, it is NOT going to go exactly as planned!  Mistakes will happen, things will be bad before they get better - it's part of the whole change process.  Which is why we need to be implementing changes slowly, early, and over time so that things that go wrong can be adjusted. Image from images.google.com What ...

I am suffering a horrible sinus infection these past couple of days so the thought of writing and thinking is not a pleasant thought right now. So...I was looking at my previous blogs for inspiration, which were both private and course related, so only my professors saw my writings.  I thought perhaps I had said something that might be worthy of sharing in this more public arena.  What I found was that I definitely still have the same convictions I had previously.  I wanted to share a piece a wrote from my 'Advanced Instructional Strategies' course two years ago as it seems very relevant these days as well. The book being referenced here is Joyce, B., Weil, M. & Calhoun, E. (2009). Models of Teaching, 8th Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Reflections On Sustaining Teacher Change         Teachers are often asked to adopt new teaching models or new curriculum that requires change and the learning of new skills. The discomfor...