Acres of Diamonds in New York’s High Stakes Testing Environment;
Empowering Educators via the Internet
Steve Watson
The Jefferson Math Project as a Prototype
The Jefferson Math Project (JMAP) is grounded in the New York commencement level high school mathematics curriculum. It is a non-profit initiative of two New York City Teaching Fellows, who both began their teaching careers at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn in 2003. As we initially worked to develop our own subject matter and teaching expertise in mathematics, we began developing and refining a database and other resources for exploring and analyzing historical assessment practices in the Regents Math A/B curriculum. We soon found that we were looking at high stakes testing through a pragmatic new lens that facilitated the alignment of instruction with state assessment practices, and we also found that other teachers wanted the resources we were developing. We began giving away these resources through teacher training programs at Thomas Jefferson High School, Brooklyn College and City College. In March 2005, we presented JMAP at a symposium celebrating the fifth anniversary of the New York City Teaching Fellows, after which 2,500 copies of the JMAP 611 CD-ROM were created by the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and distributed to mathematics teachers throughout the City in September 2005.
JMAP also established a website (www.jmap.org) for mathematics teachers in March 2005, and provides lesson plans and teaching resources on all aspects of the New York Math A/B curriculum, as well as the new curriculum currently being implemented. These materials include over three gigabytes of JMAP books, workbooks, worksheets, solutions, grids, graphs, exams, etc., which are available in MS Word, Adobe pdf, and other electronic formats. JMAP materials are intended for the use of teachers in the classroom, but students and researchers are welcome to use JMAP’s resources as well. Several thousand visitors, mostly from the City and State of New York, regularly download lesson plans and teaching resources from the JMAP website. During Regents week in June 2007, the website averaged over 5,000 visitors each day.
JMAP is listed as a resource for teachers by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State, Math for America, the Drexel Math Forum, the New York Math Exchange, the Home School Math Network, NYLearns, and many other groups interested in mathematics education in New York State. JMAP is not affiliated with any publisher, school, or other corporate entity, though its co-founders are both high school math teachers employed by the NYCDOE and both have personal affiliations with either universities or publishers. As such, JMAP provides a prototype for a relatively low-cost lesson plan and resource management system with high potential for influencing teaching praxis.
A Vision of Technology Empowered Educators
The following diagram provides a high level overview of the major elements of a lesson plan and resource management system based on the JMAP model.
This vision for a new system involves user friendly, readily available software, which seamlessly integrates the following features:
- database management of static and dynamic resources;
- word processing; and
- desktop publishing.
Commercially available, integrated suites of software, such as Microsoft’s Office Suite and Adobe Acrobat/Reader, provide all required functionality in single integrated packages, and can serve as the central core of such a lesson plan and resource management system. A fundamental assumption behind this design specification is that teachers are more likely to invest the time and intellectual effort necessary for systems mastery when the lesson plan and resource management system is free of additional costs and grounded in pre-existing, user-friendly software with which the teacher is already familiar. If such a public domain lesson plan management system is created, curriculum specialists/website coordinators could then focus on the development and dissemination of databases and teaching resources that are consistent with a sponsoring organization’s topical and/or pedagogical agenda. Wikipedia style, refereed websites for the development and dissemination of model lesson plans in editable formats could be used to identify and disseminate best teaching practices.
The incremental costs of such an initiative would be limited to salaries or stipends for the curriculum specialists/website coordinator(s) plus the relatively low costs of maintaining a website. These curriculum specialists/website coordinators could be inside or outside the official bureaucracy of public education. (JMAP is an example of curriculum specialists/website coordinators who are outside the official bureaucracy.) These databases and resources, once developed, are easily shared with large numbers of teachers (and students), as evidenced by the JMAP statistics. To the extent that the lesson plans and resources thus developed and delivered via Internet are value adding, they will be sought out and used by teachers, thereby constituting a powerful means of communicating and influencing the implemented, as opposed to the stated, curriculum.
Existing Prototypes of Lesson Plan Management Systems and Their Weaknesses
Many textbook publishers produce some form of technology-based lesson plan and resource management systems on CD-ROMs, which typically accompany the teacher’s edition of the textbook. Examples include:
- Prentice Hall’s Resource Pro and Worksheet Builder;
- Saxon’s Test Generator; and
- McGraw Hill/Glencoe’s Teacher Works.
The above referenced programs are examples of proprietary programs belonging to “for-profit” publishers. Their contents are typically copyrighted, non-editable, and relatively unfriendly to users who wish to modify or adapt them to fit specific individual and/or classroom needs. Almost all resources in these programs are presented in difficult or impossible to manipulate formats, presumably and understandably to protect the proprietary interests of the publishers. Any teacher seeking to adapt or change such fixed-format resources for the benefit of a specific individual or classroom faces intentional technological impediments imposed by the publishers as well as potential copyright infringement issues.
Teachers frequently draw resources for a single lesson from several sources. Proprietary lesson plan management systems are typically not designed to facilitate the development of lesson plans from more than a single source, and are limited to that which is provided by the textbook publisher. This severely restricts teacher creativity in meeting the needs of students.
Although these resource and lesson plan management systems are promoted by textbook publishers as being user friendly, this writer can attest to numerous obstacles encountered while adding over 1500 Regents Math A and Math B questions to the databases, and in formatting and printing hundreds of resources from the enhanced databases. Such obstacles are simply overwhelming to the majority of teachers, thus preventing the realization of the potential of these database management systems. These obstacles are overcome through the JMAP prototype, in which responsibility for systems mastery, database management, and desktop publishing of ready-to-use, high quality teaching resources is concentrated in individuals who are motivated and competent in the associated technologies and academic content areas.
JMAP as a Prototype of a Lesson Plan Management System in the Public Domain
As a co-founder of JMAP, this writer attributes JMAP’s success to the integration of: 1) highly relevant databases of public domain resources (i.e. previously administered Regents questions); 2) highly relevant databases of dynamic proprietary resources that have, in essence, been allowed entry into the public domain through the generosity of their proprietary owners; 3) associated lesson plans and teaching resources in editable electronic formats; 4) Adobe portable document format (pdf) supplements; and 5) desktop publishing capabilities. All of the above resources are intended to provide individual teachers with the ability to quickly and easily access and adapt teaching resources for specific classrooms and individuals.
The major emphasis of JMAP is teacher empowerment through free resources with minimal emphasis on securing private property rights or serving economic self-interests. This orientation toward the public good without corresponding economic interest promotes open sharing of educational resources and is essential to JMAP’s vision of a viable lesson plan and resource management system.
The Need for An Improved Public Domain Technology Platform
While JMAP provides an effective prototype for the empowerment of teachers and the creation and distribution of high quality teaching resources, an improved public domain technology platform would overcome current obstacles and present additional educational opportunities. JMAP currently uses proprietary database management and desktop publishing software that is no longer being updated and improved. As time passes, the limitations of the JMAP technology platform will become more obvious. A new, public domain technology platform could facilitate improvements in JMAP as well as new initiatives based on the JMAP prototype in other academic areas. Furthermore, a public domain technology platform, which might conceivably take the form of enhanced templates and “wrap-around” programs for MS Access, could be developed at relatively low cost and widely disseminated via the Internet.
Facilitating the Attainment of Educational Goals in Several Areas
As mentioned previously, the envisioned lesson plan and resource management system will facilitate the attainment of educational goals in several areas, including: 1) teacher preparation and subject matter awareness; 2) aligning classroom instruction with state mandated assessments; 3) adapting lesson plans and learning materials to differentiated student and classroom needs; and 4) reducing new teacher stress and turnover. These advantages are further discussed in the following paragraphs.
Improving the Subject Matter Expertise of Teachers
The development and distribution of databases of Regents and related teaching resources promotes awareness and understanding of the intended curriculum. This is important because awareness and understanding of the intended curriculum is useful in the training and professional development of teachers. Research has shown that other factors being equal, people who know more math make better mathematics teachers than people who know less math (Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, & Gatlin, 2005)(Decker, Mayer, & Glazerman, 2004)(Hill, Rowan, & Ball, 2005). These findings are arguably applicable for all academic subject matter areas.
Aligning Instruction with Assessment
Historical assessment practices are important for understanding current and future assessment practices, even when assessment practices are changing. Despite appearances to the contrary, the curriculum changes slowly and incrementally. Accordingly, historical assessment practices will continue to inform teachers and students with respect to future assessment practices. With respect to mathematics, the new high school curriculum currently being implemented throughout New York shares much of its topical content with the current Math A/B curriculum. The differences are not so much in the area of what is taught, but rather in when a particular topic is taught and when it is assessed. This is not surprising, as there is evidence that the topics taught in mathematics have converged into a single common curriculum throughout the developed countries of the world (Baker & Letendre, 2005).
There exists an inevitable dualism between the achievement of goals as measured by high stakes testing and the roles of teachers in preparing students for examinations. This dualism between Regents examinations and instructional practices was noted by Dr. John E. Bradley, principal of Albany High School, approximately 130 years ago when he commented that "The salutary influence of the primary examinations in stimulating both teachers and pupils to thoroughness in the acquisition of the elementary branches suggested the extension of the system to academic studies.” The occasion of Dr. Bradley’s remarks was the extension of Regents examinations from the grade schools into the high schools of New York. (New York State Education Department).
The NCTM assessment principle argues the need for aligning assessment and instructional practices and asserts that
Good assessment can enhance students' learning in several ways. First, the tasks used in an assessment can convey a message to students about what kinds of mathematical knowledge and performance are valued. That message can in turn influence the decisions students make—for example, whether or where to apply effort in studying. Thus, it is important that assessment tasks be worthy of students' time and attention. Activities that are consistent with (and sometimes the same as) the activities used in instruction should be included….Assessment should reflect the mathematics that all students need to know and be able to do, and it should focus on students' understanding as well as their procedural skills. Teachers need to have a clear sense of what is to be taught and learned, and assessment should be aligned with their instructional goals (NCTM, 2000).
Numerous other studies suggest that alignment of curriculum and assessment practices is a practical concern of educators (Firestone, Schorr, & Monfils, 2004)( (Hamilton, 2003). JMAP’s position is that teacher awareness and understanding of historical patterns in assessment practices is an effective means through which awareness and understanding of state learning standards is acquired. Accordingly, curriculum alignment is good for both students and teachers.
Adapting Instructional Resources for Diverse Student Populations
Good teachers adapt their lessons and teaching resources to the needs and skill levels of their students (Dewey, 1915/2001)(Fosnot, 2005). Inherent within this idea is the premise that teachers add value to the generalized curriculum associated with textbooks and commercially available teaching resources. Teachers have long used scissors and glue, mimeograph machines and photocopiers, and pencil and paper to create and adapt teaching resources for their classes and individual students. As computers and technology have increasingly asserted a presence in our daily lives, a new generation of teachers has emerged that is willing and able to use the Internet and, to a lesser extent, database programs and the desktop publishing capabilities of personal computers, to replace scissors, glue, pencils and mimeograph machines. This new generation of teachers will arguably be more effective in adapting lesson plans and teaching resources to the diverse needs of their students if they are provided with Internet resources and technology that integrates rich collections of resources in user-friendly formats. The New York City Department of Education is among the most diversified public school systems in the world and there is no single lesson plan or textbook that can ever meet the needs of all students and all teachers. Thus, it seems reasonable that efforts be made to empower classroom teachers with high quality, manipulable resources accompanied by desktop publishing capabilities. JMAP is a prototype for such a system, and the JMAP prototype for teacher empowerment can easily be extended to other academic subjects.
Reducing Stress Levels and Burnout Rates in New Teachers
New teachers face challenges in many critical areas, including but not limited to: 1) developing subject matter expertise; 2) developing pedagogical expertise and classroom management skills; and 3) developing several hundred lesson plans during their first years of teaching, when they are arguably least capable of producing good lesson plans. Providing adequate resources and facilities to support teachers in instructional practice is a recommended practice for preventing and/or reducing teacher burnout (Wood & McCarthy, 2002). Although textbooks and teaching resources are readily available from numerous sources, most of these resources have serious limitations for New York’s teachers. These limitations include: 1) they are not grounded in the New York State learning standards, assessment practices, or urban school environments; 2) they are in formats that are not easily manipulable; and 3) they are disjointed and non-integrated from both topical and pedagogical perspectives. A comprehensive lesson plan and resource management system for each academic subject area could reduce the workload and stress levels of new teachers by giving them starter lesson plans in manipulable formats that can be adapted to a wide variety of classroom needs and pedagogical beliefs. Each lesson plan would be accompanied by a complete history of how the topic has previously been assessed on Regents examinations, and by additional teaching resources suitable for the topic of the lesson. By “lessening the load” on new teachers, such a lesson plan management system could conceivably influence both teacher retention and quality of instruction.
An Opportunity Within Our Reach
Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University in Philadelphia, was renowned for a series of lectures, sermons, and a book, all entitled “Acres of Diamonds,” in which he told the story of a Persian farmer named Ali Hafed (Conwell, 1915). Ali searched the world over for diamonds, never to learn that the farm he left as he began his quest would become the site of one of the world’s great diamond mines. The morals of the story are: 1) sometimes the best opportunities are in your own backyard; and 2) one should always look at the present situation when looking for a better opportunity. Such is the case with education in New York City.
All Regents examinations pass into the public domain immediately upon publication and administration, and this fact represents a diamond in our own back yard. These historical documents provide an excellent teaching resource that teachers can own and do with as they please. In this time of high stakes testing for all in New York, Regents questions constitute the best available representation of the intended curriculum embodied in the state’s learning standards for any given subject area, and as such, they have added significance for both students and educators. They are the gold standard for understanding what the state of New York thinks a student should know and understand, and they constitute a body of knowledge that can and should be at or near the center of any curriculum in our state.
Summary
JMAP has demonstrated the need for and efficacy of technology based lesson plan and resource management systems that empower teachers in the areas of subject matter expertise and adapting lesson plans to diverse student populations. The JMAP approach offers potential for reduced stress and turnover amongst new teachers as well as better alignment of instructions with learning standards and assessment practices. Furthermore, the JMAP approach is a low cost form of professional development with significant buy-in from teachers, and it can be replicated and expanded beyond its current focus in mathematics. An opportunity exists for a sea-change in teacher empowerment and educational publishing at a grass-roots level with minimal costs.
Additional Information and Questions
Feedback from educators, researchers, and others interested in the use of Internet-based technologies for the empowerment of teachers and the improvement of teaching practice in public education is encouraged. The opinions and vision expressed in this article are those of the writer. Questions and comments concerning this article and its contents may be directed to its author: The Jefferson Math Project is accessible at www.jmap.org.
REFERENCES
Baker, D.P., & Letendre, G.K. (2005). National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling (Chapter 10). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Conwell, R.H. (1915). Acres of Diamonds. United States: Harper and Brothers.
Darling-Hammond, L., Holtzman, D.J., & Gatlin, S.J. (2005). Does teacher preparation matter? Evidence about teacher certification, Teach for America, and teacher effectiveness (13, 42). Education Policy Analysis Archives.
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Dewey, J. (2001). The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc. (Original work published 1915)
Firestone, W.A., Schorr, R.Y., & Monfils, L.A. (Eds.). (2004). The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test: Standards, Assessment, and Educational Reform. Chapters 2, 3, 4. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Fosnot, C.T.,. (Ed.). (2005). Constructivism: Theories, Perspectives, and Practice. New York and London: Teachers College Press.
Hamilton, L. (2003). Assessment as a Policy Tool. In R.E. Floden (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol. 27, pp. 25-68). Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association.
Hill, H.C., Rowan, B., & Ball, D.L. (Summer 2005). Effects of teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching on student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 42, no. 2, 371-406.
NCTM (Ed.). (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
New York State Education Department. (November 24, 1987). History of Regents Examinations 1865 to 1987. In University of the State of New York State Education Department Website. Retrieved May 20, 2006, from http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/hsinfogen/hsinfogenarch/rehistory.htm:
Wood, T., & McCarthy, C. (2002, Dec). Understanding and Preventing Teacher Burnout. ERIC Digest. [Data File]. Washington DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher Education. Available from http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-1/burnout.htm
STEVE WATSON is a doctoral student in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He also teaches high school mathematics at the International High School @ Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, and he is an adjunct faculty member of the mathematics education department at Brooklyn College, where most of his students are New York City Teaching Fellows. Steve's general research interests are in mathematics education and the use of technology for teacher empowerment and new teacher orientation programs. After receiving an M.S. Ed. from Purdue University in 1973, Steve spent over twenty years as an executive with American General Corporation, a subsidiary of AIG, where he held positions including Senior Vice President for Government and Industry Relations, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, and board member of two insurance companies. He joined the New York City Teaching Fellows in 2003 and co-founded the Jefferson Math Project with Steve Sibol during his first year of teaching. E-mail author.
