I'll be gone until about July 10. I'm visiting family out of state as well as taking two different classes.

I'll be back, hopefully refreshed.

Kids need mothers and they need fathers. I'm not writing about abusive parents or the exceptions. I'm being general. Mothers and fathers bring different things to their children. The balance of two different parents produce healthy children.

What brings this to mind is that today is Father's Day. I was a little depressed that I could not find a suitable card for my own father. Too many were insulting. They seemed to play with the idea that "father" was inept, a clutz, or stupid. There were a few really sappy ones that were supposed to be from daughters. Since I'm male and I'm not sappy, I wasn't going to send one of those! I finally broke down and bought a blank card on Saturday (after the post office closed) and I'll write my own material into that, a bit late.

What I want to talk about today is the importance of fathers in raising children. This is not to denigrate mothers. Rather, it is to emphasize the importance of fathers.

Independence

Watch most small children when they hurt themselves or they struggle. They tend to respond with cries of "Mommy!" Mommy responds with hugs and kisses and lots of attention. Daddy is more likely to respond with, "Well, no bones broken." Though this is a bit of a stereotype, it does illustrate what fathers bring to the raising of children.

Fathers have a tendency to let children fight their own battles. As a teacher, I deal far more with mothers than with fathers. This does not mean that fathers care less. It means that they view problems differently. Fathers are good at teaching children how to take care of themselves. This is an important part of adulthood. Adults take care of themselves and only learn to do so by taking care of themselves. Sometimes, at the beginning, they fall flat on their faces. This teaches them what they did wrong and gives them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

Fathers teach children how to take care of themselves and how to rely on themselves.

Protection

Mothers can be quite protective of their children. While the father may say, "Well, the kid needs to study," the mother is more likely to say, "Our child is smart. That teacher is an old grouch." However, the father will protect his children when it really matters. We've all heard of the overprotective father when his daughter begins to date. However, remember that this comes from true protectiveness.

The father knows that sometimes people cannot take care of themselves. Sometimes they're too weak. It's important for children to know that someone is there to protect them.

Love

Much is made of a mother's love. We forget that fathers love as well. Fathers teach their children about one side of love. (Mothers teach the other side.) Fathers teach the type of love that involves loving someone enough to let them go. Fathers love their children so much that they allow them to fail so that they can learn. Sometimes, it takes true love to allow a person to suffer the consequences of his own choices.

Two Parents

Sometimes a father's love expects too much. Sometimes a child isn't ready. That is why a child really does need both a mother and a father. Soon I need to write about the importance of a mother's love.

I've noted before that junior and senior year should include college-level courses for some students. I see these two years as a transition to adulthood. Other students are doing apprenticeships. Anyway, the goal is to get them ready for adulthood.

Years ago, schools recognized that they had students who needed coursework that was more challenging than what was given to regular students. These were the students who would go on to college. The courses that resulted were called "Honors." The result was that some students took "Honors Chemistry" or "Honors English." In times of budget crunch, schools asked the reasonable question as to what the advantage of honors was. These courses would then be cut. A few years later, when the cash was there, they would be brought back.

The thing is, too many of these courses were little different from the regular version. At some schools, the teacher moved through the material faster. At others, the teacher might go into topics in more depth. However, there was no agreement as to what "honors" meant. Furthermore, the students who did not take the honors courses could go to the same colleges as those who did.

Then, some high schools started down the road to my dream school. Some offered "dual-credit" courses. These were courses that offered both college and high school credit. Schools fortunate enough to share a town with a college might bus their students over to the college for certain courses. Other schools brought in either AP or IB courses. These were courses with a recognized curriculum and an end-of-course exam. A high enough score on the exam resulted in college credit.

The result is that honors courses are disappearing. I like the concept, somewhat, at the junior high level, but, really, why take an honors course? The Washington Post recently examined this trend. If I were a high school student I'd much rather take the course that will help me in college. It makes sense. College should not be a brutal shock to students. High school needs to do a better job to transition them to college-level work.

Honors meant very little because it was not defined. AP and IB are well defined. Even dual credit is somewhat defined.

In short, this is a trend I support. It's moving education closer to my "dream school."

My dream classroom won't happen in the near future. Teachers' unions will fight it because it requires fewer teachers. Schools will fight it because it means risk. Students will fight it because it means responsibility and change. I'm not a fan of sudden, radical change anyway. We need to get the culture of education ready.

North Dakota is in a GREAT Position

I am fortunate enough to live in North Dakota. We are facing some serious changes whether we like it or not. By some estimates, over a third of our teaching force will retire in the next 5 years. There are not enough new teachers coming up to replace them. This will force consolidation of schools and will bring in a generational change.

It will also create school districts like mine which cover a massive land area. We're over 1000 square miles, and we're not the largest district in the state. We're bringing in kids from extremely rural places on roads which are of dubious quality. These are kids who could really benefit from an online component to their coursework. I've used online course software with dial-up internet. It's slow, but perfectly doable. As transport prices stay up and it becomes difficult to fill classrooms, many changes I proposed will become more appealing.

Your Classroom (and Mine)

My classroom needs a lot of change. Yours may as well. How much time do you waste? Are you teaching efficiently? Are you teaching or are you merely conveying information? There are a lot of changes we can make in our classrooms even if we're stuck with traditional measures of "seat time."

• Don't read the book to students!

Seriously, your students are intelligent. They can read. Don't spend class time conveying "notes."  Spend the time using the material. Sometimes it would be an activity. Sometimes it would be a "template" for them to fill in their own notes. It might be discussion. There are many USEFUL ways to spend class time. Summarizing the book for them is a waste of their time.

• Lecture on the difficult or obscure.

There are things that are difficult for students. Unless you're a new teacher, you know what they are. If you're a new teacher, I'm afraid textbooks don't help much, so you'll need the experience. Still, the solution is the same. Spend your lectures demonstrating how to do things. Spend your lectures explaining what kids don't understand. (Mine never make the like between Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment and what it says about atomic structure.) Keep these lectures short. Kids have a short attention span.

• Focus on Individuals
  

Some kids need help. While kids are doing these activities instead of taking notes from your lecture, you should be circulating. Help kids. Don't use the time to sit at your desk and catch up on your work. You can provide the targeted extra instruction to students who need it. Maybe you can offer a tutoring session.

• Focus your Curriculum

Your textbook is a nice resource, but it's not a curriculum. Figure out what you're trying to teach from your national and state standards. Create textbook assignments from there. Recognize that just because it's in the book that does not mean it's important. It may even be important, but perhaps not worth teaching.

• Skills, not Facts

A certain body of facts is inevitable in any course. For example, I really do believe kids should know about the parts of an atom. However, too many facts become trivia. Many will be forgotten. What is important is the skills students develop. Can they balance a chemical equation? Can they explain the causes of the Civil War? If you know the skills you want them to take away, this will help inform your choice of facts they must learn.

• Differentiate?

This is a tough one. I have a real problem calling a course "Physics" when it is a different thing for different students. I want students to have the freedom to work at their own pace. At the same time, I teach some lazy students and I teach some students who are not capable. When I put "Physics" on their report card with my name, others who read that should have a good idea what that student learned. This is tough and I don't have a good answer for it yet.

• Don't accept substandard work!

Some students will do just enough to get by. They will turn in papers littered with spelling and grammar errors as well as other serious faults. As long as they get a grade, it's "good enough." It's time for teachers to stand up. Rather than mark off points (which aren't hurting them), insist that they do the work properly. INSIST on good work. This is tough, especially in the face of apathy. Hold your ground and they will do better.

I should note that I'm not a fan of this on tests. When I collect tests, I do look for blank answers and insist that students at least try. However, the danger of redoing tests is that students may see the first one as only a "practice." Possibly you can allow students one retest per quarter or semester. Tests, though, should be a measure of what has been learned. I would much rather see students receive tutoring or extra practice on those parts of the test where they struggled.

Not much of what I proposed today is revolutionary. However, it's amazing how few teachers actually do it. This will be a great in between step on the way to my "dream school."

Previously, I noted that the current structure of schools holds a lot of kids back, directs a lot of kids in a direction that doesn't apply to them, and leaves too many kids behind. I suggested a few innovations, among them:

• Alternative forms of class (online, ITV)
• More options (which goes along with the alternative forms)
• A rigorous course of study for those students not college bound that includes apprenticeships.

I want to look at what such a school would look like. This is my dream-world post. My next post will be about how to implement my dream in a real classroom.

Seat Time

States have requirements of "seat time." Every year, I fill out papers that tell the state exactly how many minutes I spend teaching each course, eating lunch, and as a "prep hour." This is something states can easily measure. It forces a certain minimum, and it makes for nice graphs. The idea is based on the turn of the early 20th century Carnegie Units. Unfortunately, just because a student is in the room, this does not mean he's learning. Karin Chenoweth recently described substandard teaching in an article that was supposed to be about NCLB.

Any reader can recall teachers who wasted some or a lot of class time. In other words, seat time is not a measure of education. I can recall plenty of classes where I just sat there while the teacher read the book. I've even been guilty of being that teacher. I try not to be, but it happens. Seat time requirements hold students back. These requirements also leave some students behind.

In its current structure, schools are stuck with these requirements, but what if they weren't? What if a student could access my syllabus online? What if that student could read the assignments, do the work, and come to the school a few days a week to do labs, get targeted assistance, and to take tests. The school could save money on transport (and classroom space), and the student could move at his own pace. A recent article on Accelerated Math explores how this could work.

My dream school would eliminate measures of seat time altogether. My dream school would measure student education by a combination of course and project grades as well as a standardized test.

Responsibility

In the end, the person responsible for education is the student. I can't make a student learn. However, if the work can be appropriately paced with appropriate amounts of practice, a student is more likely to learn. Some require lots of practice and more time, some require very little practice and a lot less time.

At the same time, these students will be working in the "real world" someday. School needs to prepare them to be self-motivated and responsible. A structure such as I describe would require responsibility at a young age. As I noted before, the junior high and elementary students would still be in regular classes, and hopefully learning about setting goals and deadlines as they prepare for a more independent style of learning later.

My suggestions would require fewer teachers. If I'm not in school every day to write notes on the board for my students to copy down, I could offer more courses. I could also teach at 2 or more schools. I might spend 2 days doing the tutoring and labs at my current school, 2 days at the school 45 miles east, and maybe another day I could teach over ITV to all my students. In less rural areas, it would work out even better!

Class Time

Seat time is not a measure of learning. Nevertheless, I noted that students do need time in class, even in my dream world. Currently, too much instruction (including my own) is retelling the book to the students. This is "lecture" or "sage on a stage." While lecture has its place, it is of only limited utility. Lecture is good for things like explaining a piece of equipment, explaining an obscure or difficult concept, or explaining a particular skill.

Most of class time should involve students DOING the subject. Students in Physics should be doing Physics. This might be labs, it might be solving a problem, or it might be getting some help from me on a difficult concept. When I say "problem" I don't mean doing the homework problems where they practice application of momentum. I mean a more complex problem that involves truly understanding and applying the concept.

Benefits

• Reduced transport costs: students don't have to be delivered to school every day.
• Reduced energy costs: with less students in school, fewer and smaller facilities are required.
• Reduced staffing costs: I can teach more classes by using technology and by using time more efficiently.
• Responsibility: students would be more responsible for their own education.
• Responsibility: teachers would be held accountable for what their students learn rather than the amount of time they spend in the classroom
• Buy-in: students who are not held back or rushed ahead by their classmates are more likely to have a favorable opinion of school. Furthermore, if education is more applicable to their plans, they are more likely to buy into it.
• Targeting: instead of lecturing large groups, teachers can spend the time on difficult concepts and on the instruction individual students need. Student A may need to spend more time to get through Chemistry than Student B.

As a close, I want to relate something about me. I once worked in a fast food restaurant. I was terrible at making soft ice cream cones. Where most people learned the skill in a few days, I took months. I eventually learned it and became quite good at it. By the time I quit the job, my ability to make soft ice cream cones was as good as or better than anyone else there. I just needed more time to develop the skill.

I'm the same way in math. I like math. I can even teach math. It just doesn't come quickly to me. Slow does not mean "stupid." It means slow. Just like fast doesn't mean "smart." We want people in the workforce who are good at their jobs. We don't really care how they got to be good. In grad school, I would turn in proofs that were nothing like those produced by the true math majors in the room. Mine were right, just really different. I look at math differently. Many students do as well, but we've convinced ourselves (and them) that they're less capable.

My dream school allows anyone who desires it to succeed and learn.

Some "children" leave themselves behind. This is a simple truth. I really believe that all children can learn, but not all children will learn. As I've noted before, some schools and teachers move children into this latter category because of their practices or structure. The solution (for most children) is almost magical in its simplicity. Implementation is more difficult. That solution is: choices.

Choices in Education

Not all students will go to college. Not all students will work with their hands. I live in a very rural area, but not all of my students plan to be ranchers. School needs to be structured so that these students can pursue interests based on career choice. At the same time, schools need to retain the flexibility for students to change their minds as they mature and their interests change.

The only way to truly accomplish this is flexibility. Some school districts are large enough to provide this "in house." Many, like mine, are not. My district covers over 1000 square miles and contains only 450 students. We can't offer the choices of a Bismarck or Fargo.

This brings up the other part of flexibility. Not all schools need to hire a teacher of every subject. ITV is one way to deliver courses. Another is online coursework. Neither quite replaces having an actual instructor in the room. However, they provide options. The students in my school can take German through ITV. We will never offer German ourselves. We're too small to employ a full time instructor.

Schools would be able to share teachers, hire specialized teachers, and give students choices. My students are shut out of AP courses right now because we don't have the population to justify AP courses. Online courses would change that.

While we need choices, we also need to set some limits. I would make the junior and senior years the time when students truly branch out and focus. This would also be the time for apprenticeships, internships, and other real work experience. It might also be a time to start taking some college courses.

A few electives would be appropriate at the sophomore and freshman level, but these students are really still figuring out who they are. They aren't ready to specialize.

A Base

We are all citizens of a great nation. Citizens should all have certain things in common. We should all have the ability to better ourselves. We should share certain cultural elements. We should all share certain skills and knowledge. Because of this, students should master certain skills.

Up until the 8th grade, students should share a common curriculum. Now I don't want to hold any student back. I want them to be able to work faster. However, there are certain skills and bodies of knowledge that all should master. Individual students should be able to move beyond this base, but all should have that base. I would only make exceptions for those who are mentally incapable of understanding the base.

For some examples of a common curriculum, look at the standards of Project 2061. This is a good example of a base in science. Science majors and the college bound should move beyond it. Skilled workers will likely move beyond it. However, everyone should have that base.

Conclusion

I recognize that this whole series rambled a bit. In some ways, this blog helps me organize my own thoughts. Let me sum up my main points. In other entries, not in this series, I will try to look at specific issues of implementation.

• Students need choices. A one-size-fits-all curriculum does not serve the needs of all students.
• Students need a base curriculum. There are certain skills and areas of knowledge that we should all share.
• Junior and senior years should start serious specialization. This would include true apprenticeships, college coursework, and various specialized courses.
• School should not lock students into a particular "track". Students are still maturing and deciding who they are.
• No choice should be the "easy" choice.
• ITV and online courses should be expanded so that teachers can specialized.
• Even small rural schools can offer more options.
• The current definition of a school day is out of date. Schools should be measure by results, not "seat time."
• Some students will choose to be "left behind" no matter what the school does.
  

National education standards are out of local control. Some would argue that that is the point. Fordham Foundation has spent a lot of time proving that state standards are weak. I won't argue that point. It's true.

The danger with national standards is that the "little people" like my readers and me don't have any control over them. They are too far away and too removed. Only large or powerful groups will have any influence.

There is no guarantee that the national standards will be any better than what the states have created. Witness the controversy over the national standards created for math by NCTM. The difference will be that the standards would have teeth and none of us will be able to do a thing about them.

This brings back the other danger of national standards. The little people can't influence them, but powerful or determined groups can. California is a case in point. Textbooks are subjected to a laundry list of requirements. Diane Ravitch did a better job than I can in describing this phenomena in California and many other states in her book The Language Police.

What caused me to post this today is a spate of bills in the California legislature. These are bills inspired by special interest groups. They are bills that require special attention to various ethnic groups be put into history books. This includes the Hmong, which is already law, Italians, American Indians, and who knows how many others. Now, in California, this is rather hard to fight. I know because three cowards refused to vote against legislation they opposed. Instead, they abstained.

At the national level, it would be impossible to fight this legislation. The curriculum could become so stuffed with special interest legislation that it would be a mockery.

At the state level, the little people can still control legislation. At the federal level, we lose any control. NCLB was a step in this direction. Let's resist any further steps.

Tomorrow I'll finish up with what schools should look like.

A professor from a northeastern college has described for us what happens to the student who is pushed into college without preparation. Not everyone is ready for college work. Some will never be ready. Students need options. This has been the thrust of my short series on leaving no child behind. Not all students can or even want to go to college.

Why School?

We send students to school to prepare them to be successful adults. School isn't about creating happy children. It isn't about job training. It is about teaching basic knowledge and culture so that students can join America as citizens. It is also about teaching the skills needed to succeed in life and to improve one's condition if desired.

Slave owners in America's south kept their slaves from learning to read. By keeping the slaves ignorant it was possible to keep them from bettering themselves and thus easier to control. This is a desirable goal for slave owners or dictators or other such situations. We might imagine a place where the "peasants" are not taught to read. The peasant cleaning my floor can operate equipment from pictures. By that argument, how much education would really be needed. Such a school is depicted very well in the movie Fahrenheit 451. (The book did not depict the school so well.) In this school we listen to children parroting empty phrases. We teach children to read so that they can learn things for themselves.

America is a land of "free men, not slaves," to quote the old song. We trust our citizens. In return, we expect responsibility from them. Knowledge is needed to be responsible. History, literature, science, math, and art are all part of that knowledge. Until our own experience can teach us, we must rely on the experience and the knowledge of others. I still do. I have no experience with city life. I rely on other people's experience to understand city life as they write about it or make movies about it.

School Structure

My vision for a school is, in many ways, quite traditional. In some ways quite revolutionary. I will outline it today and flesh it out later.

• As Kelly Flynn points out, students are responsible for their own education. This is where the rubber hits the road. There are things schools can do to help students to take responsibility, but ultimately, this is the area schools cannot touch.
• Up to about 8th grade, I believe in a common education. This goes all the way back to the one-room schoolhouse. This is also the time when students who are behind or weak need to be pulled into additional tutoring to catch them up. Negative feelings toward school often stem from a lack of ability.
• Beginning with freshman year, students should be given more choice. This is where they may start taking some vocational courses or some more advanced courses. However, these students are also immature and likely to change their minds. This age is too early to lock them into a career.
• Beginning with junior year, students should be making real choices. Some will choose the academic curriculum as a foundation for college. Others will choose practical work experience. A student who wants to be a mechanic should start some real work experience. He may still be taking academic courses, but a structured internship would be much more useful that filling the day with "fluff" courses.
  

I'll flesh all of this out in my next entry.

Previously, I raised the question of whether it was possible to truly leave no child behind. My answer is "NO." This is a disturbing answer when it comes from an educator and it reeks of elitism or worse. So let me explain.

Goals

Different kids have different goals. This is one of the weaknesses of No Child Left Behind. Currently, education seems focused on college. The truth is that not everyone will go to college. This is not an intelligence issue. It is a personality issue. It is also a practical issue. Not all careers require a college education.

Some sort of post-secondary education should be in most students' plans, but it may take a lot of different forms. Some are very practical: welding, machining, wiring. Others are more theoretical or bookish.

As a culture, we seem to have decided that those who don't go to college are somehow less intelligent or less ambitious. This is not true. Thomas Stanley's book The Millionaire Next Door noted that a surprising number of first generation millionaires do not have college educations. These are people who were successful because they were ambitious, did not give up, could face failure, could take risks, and because they found something they were passionate about. Don Aslett turned a college job as a janitor into a multi-million dollar janitorial service.

Our schools are only serving one segment of their population. NCLB only measures the performance on the goals of that one segment.

Environment

We aren't all privileged to grow up with middle class values. These are values of hard work, self-reliance, and the value of education. Some children are brought up to believe that they are victims of external forces. I have these children in my classes as well as other types.

I teach students who really believe that the grade they get in my class comes from how I feel about them. I've had parents tell me with a straight face that teachers are out to get their family. Apparently the teachers get together at the beginning of the year to choose which kids we're going to pick on for the year. (And you wondered why teachers go back to school before students!)

How does one reach this type of student? It can be done, but it's difficult. I've reached a few. I've also failed. Because of the home environment and other factors, there are students who will not be reached. We try, but they won't.

These students will not buy into our school's mission. In severe cases, such as the inner city or the reservations, these students will resist any attempt to improve in any way. Any change in culture will take a generation or two. Schools rarely plan like that.

Students will be left behind in our current system if they don't have a college focus or if they come from a background that is hostile to education or even success. Naturally, I can't leave it here without proposing solutions. Stay tuned!

This year my school failed to make AYP. This means that I teach in a failing school. Now, before everyone piles on to condemn my school, let me point out why we didn't make AYP. We have a small subgroup that didn't make AYP: special ed students in the elementary school at one campus. (Our district runs 2 elementary schools in order to accomodate the enourmous land area we cover.)

We are not a failing school. We may be failing in regards to this one population, but not overall. That is one of the problems with the notion of AYP and No Child Left Behind. It is a blunt, broad brush that paints an entire school district. What it should do is target.

All of this begs a larger question: what should the goal of education actually be? Some say that all students should be prepared for college. Some say it should prepare kids to work. Perhaps nationalistic induction? Perhaps liberal induction? I could go on and get political, but this does point out a major weakness. As a society we aren't totally on the same page. How then do we agree on what a successful school is?

Certain features of a successful school are commonly accepted:

• Students should be able to read, write, and communicate.
• Students should be able to use math.
• Students should understand how the world works.

Each of these can be controversial. Maybe you don't need to know how to read in some jobs. Maybe the nice lady who cleans motel rooms can get by with pictures. Maybe calculators have supplanted the need for mathematical computation. Maybe the world is a seething mass of white domination. Maybe science has all the answers.

Over the next few days, I'll spend some time exploring what schools should be. It will include some educational heresy.

Some background reading (that led to this short series) would include the following articles:

The Age of Educational Romanticism
Districts Want In On Tech School
Advanced Placement Diplomas Considered
Honors Courses Give Way to AP Rigor
Wimping Out on Standards?
College is Not For Everyone, But Success Can Be

I have to leave for graduation in about 15 minutes, so I thought I'd kill time by continuing my end of the year cleanup series.

My classroom is about 40 years old. It boasts its original furniture and fixtures. In the chemical room there are two faucets  and a gas jet. Due to their proximity to interesting chemicals, they have become quite caked with corrosion and a thick layer of...something.

I put my chemistry knowledge to work and took a tip from Kim and Aggie (two ladies I stumbled across on Youtube). I soaked some paper towels with vinegar, wrapped them around the fixtures, and then put plastic bags over this mess. I then proceeded with some other cleaning and filing (topics that are coming up). At the end of the day, I pulled off the sodden mass of paper towel and plastic bag.

With a quick wipe, the faucets were revealed in their almost gleaming glory. I say "almost" because the action of 40 years of fumes have pitted the fixtures. The pits are still there, but everything around them is gleaming and wonderful. If I'd been thinking, I'd have done before and after pictures.

I noticed some similar faucets in my basement, so we'll see....

Why did it work? Why not just use steel wool? It worked because of the acetic acid in vinegar. The acetic acid cut through any oils and also attacked the corrosion. This then wiped off with a damp sponge. Steel wool would have been bad because the damage to the metal would leave it even more open to future corrosion. Besides, it would have been too much elbow grease. A few minutes of applying paper towels and wiping and I was done.

Remember, chemicals are your friends!

All this recent talk of cheating on tests got me thinking about tests in general. This post really isn't about my cheating adventure. It is more about testing and evaluation. I'll get this out of my system today and then go back to my "end of the year" advice.

Test Question Types

This can be a controversial topic and seems to be invested with much emotion. I know because I've been the emotional one at times. For a long time I was attached to short essay tests. They usually had about 16 questions or problems. I got so they were 1/2 open notes and 1/2 closed notes. I liked them because kids had to explain themselves and think through things. I also had the belief that other question types couldn't involve thinking. For reasons I'll get to below, my tests are now a mix of problems, short essay, and multiple choice. First, though, I just want to give a partial idea of question types that are out there.

• True/False: essentially a "right/wrong" type test. The student evaluates the truth of a statement. One weakness is that this sometimes involves one minor detail in the sentence such a a number in a date. Another weakness is that the student has a 50-50 chance of guessing correctly on each question.
• Multiple Choice: student selects a correct answer from a list of possible answers. Some questions may have more that one right answer. These can be factual/detail type questions or more in depth.
• Fill in the Blank: these are questions where the student supplies missing information to a sentence. Often this is a test of facts, terms, or dates.
• Short Answer: these are questions that can be answered by, at most, a sentence.
• Short Essay: these are questions that require several sentences of answer. Despite the requirement for writing, these can actually be just factual questions.
• Essay: these are much longer questions that require several paragraphs of explanation. Usually these require integration of several ideas and application of knowledge. They can, however, be recall. For example, one may recall a process such as the path of blood through the heart and lungs.
• Matching: This involves matching an item in one list with an item in another list.
• Problem solving: this involves solving a problem; common in math and science courses
• Ordering: putting a set of items in order

Writing a Test

I always feel that a test should evaluate what students know and can do. I have a problem with test questions that attempt to trick a student or which cover things that have not been taught. At the same time, students are human beings with real brains and were made in the image of God. They are not machines to simply remember and regurgitate facts. Students should be asked to apply their knowledge in age-appropriate ways.

I write my own tests as a mix of multiple choice and short essay. I reserve essays for assignments that they may take home. Multiple choice provide me with an objective measure. Short essay allow students to explain what they know and to show me their reasoning. Problems also fit here. Unless a problem is simple (what is the pH of a chemical whose hydronium ion concentration is...) I prefer to see their math. Sometimes a student simply hits the wrong button on a calculator.

In my recent round of cheating, I had students cheating on both types of question. The multiple choice were clear, and so were the short essay and problems. Why do a titration solution with sulfuric acid when the question is about hydrochloric acid? Aha! The other test asked the same question about sulfuric acid.

Students think with both types of question. For example, I can describe a situation. It involves sex-linked traits but I simply describe how the trait was passed through the family, who has it, and so on. Then I ask from whom was the trait inherited. Students have to think through how sex-linked traits work to understand it.

This is a bit more in depth than your stereotypical multiple choice  where one might ask "what type of trait is related to gender?" and have sex-linked as a choice.

I have helped write the state assessment for science, I've been involved with the ACT test, and I helped with the Praxis test for new science teachers. What is interesting about all of these tests is that they are multiple choice and yet require little memorization of facts. Some facts are needed, but more important are the things the kids can do. They are expected to read and interpret graphs, understand experiments, and apply natural laws. While they could certainly be better, I am impressed with their quality. These are good tests.

Later this summer, after I get done with my series on wrapping up the year, I'll revisit test-writing and test-taking.

No parent is happy to get a call from his child's teacher that goes along the lines of..."Your child cheated on a test." The ones whose grades dipped down to failing because of this choice were even less pleased.

I really am fortunate, though. I live in an area where families teach right and wrong to their children. When children make the wrong choice, most parents do not support them or try to cover up for them.

That was my experience when I called my long, long, long list of parents. One was angry at me. One wanted to see the evidence but agreed that his child had chosen to do something that was wrong. The rest agreed that their child should suffer the consequences of their actions. None were happy about it, but what parent would be?

Here is the thing: for a few of these students (the ones who ended up with failing grades for the course) have suffered quite badly. The point has been made to all of these students that society cares about right and wrong and that decent people stand up for it. More to the point, this lesson has been sent to other students who watched this occur and wondered why they didn't take the short cut. This will help solidify their morals at a time when they are still somewhat flexible.

Finally, perhaps these students will remember this painful lesson when another choice of this sort presents itself later in life. It may be something with more serious consequences. My hope is that they will remember Chemistry and make the right choice later on when it matters.

One third of the students in one of my classes recently cheated on a test. They were caught because I had 2 different versions of the test. Because of this, I'm soliciting advice from teachers in larger schools.

The Events

Here is what I believe occurred: several students were going to be missing on the day of the test. They took it early, but I only had one version of the test run off at that point. These students took it in study hall. The next day, the rest of the students took the test, but this time both versions were run off and mixed together.

What I believe happened was that one of the students who took it early photographed the test with his cell phone (or he wrote down answers, but I really do suspect the former). He then sent it to all of his friends. Cell phones are now so small that it's easy for kids to palm one while they do this, particularly in a study hall.

Consequences and Concerns

My school has a good policy on cheating and a good administration that believes in holding students accountable for their actions. According to policy, these students will receive zeroes on the test. This means several will not pass the course. I absolutely will stand my ground on this kind of issue. No student or parent will intimidate me into backing down.

I do have several concerns:

1. I cannot prove that the student photographed his test, though I know he did. Errors are the same on all the tests and match his own.
   
2. I cannot do anything about those who had the same version.
   
3. Most importantly, I want to ensure that this doesn't happen in the future. Do I write entirely different tests for make-up work? Is there another option?

As I noted in another post, I am a problem solver. While I've been angry about this and probably done a bit of whining, I want to solve the problem. Part of that is looking for advice. As cell phones and other devices get smaller and more prevalent, this problem will grow. Schools need a solution.

The Moral Dimension

There is an additional dimension to all of this: morality. There is a right and a wrong. While we could argue, as one parent did, that "everyone cheats," this is not moral. There is a clear right and wrong. When students do this, they have done something wrong. The concern should not be that they were caught. It should be that they did something wrong.

I am frustrated. I tend to be trusting and I liked most of these kids. That they would lie and blame me for being caught in that lie suggests that their sense of right and wrong is not entirely developed. I hope that it will become more fully developed before they get out into the real world. I also hope that the decent majority of students will recognize that the school and society will take a stand for what is right.

No politics or controversy today: just a continuation of some ideas I started in "When in doubt, throw it out."

If you teach Chemistry or Biology, you deal with glassware. Physics teachers don't have so much. I'm lucky enough to teach them all as well as some others besides. At this point in the year, the glassware starts to get ahead of the cleaning.

Cleaning without (much) Scrubbing

Here are some ideas. Clean glassware is a Chemistry teacher's friend. There's nothing quite like the reaction starting before the kids add water! (Sorry, someone last year forgot to clean it out.) We ask our students to clean up, but a teen's idea of clean glassware is not the same as his teacher's idea. I've come to see my students' cleaning as a pre-soak.

What I do is set the glassware into hot, soapy water doused liberally with white vinegar. Then I go away. The benefit is that the vinegar will remove most of what is on the glass and the soap will remove the rest. Some will have to be scrubbed, but it will be manageable and quick. I then rinse the glassware with tap water and do a second rinse with distilled water. Depending on the water quality in your town, you might not need to do the distilled water rinse, though I recommend it. If you live in my town, you MUST do the distilled water rinse.

Stubborn Filth

You will find that some of your equipment is too dirty. Scrubbing and the soak just weren't enough. Time to bring on the "big dogs." I like to use leftover acid. Do you remember that 1-M sulfuric acid you didn't use up? Here's your chance. While wearing goggles, use it to attack more stubborn materials and then rinse it down the sink with plenty of water. You may even be able to use it on several stubborn items. I don't like to save my acid solutions because their concentrations seem to change over the summer.

Storage

After the glassware has dried, store it upside down to keep the dust out of it. If other glassware has not had this treatment, move it to the front of the shelf and put your properly washed stuff in the back. This may even be a prime time to organize the glassware. In a year or two you will have a cabinet full of fresh, clean glassware ready for a lab.

One last note: cracked, chipped, and scratched glassware will break, usually at the worst possible moment. Don't save money by keeping it. Don't set it in your cabinet as "spare." Throw it out!

Clean glassware will reward you next year when you start doing labs. You'll have it organized and it will just WORK!