When we look at the state of our school facilities across California we find some are shiny and new while others were built 40-50 years ago with little renovations. Some schools are pouring money into patching up the current facilities and cutting the funding of arts programs. Other districts have even delayed new curriculum adoptions to address unexpected issues with facilities. Why are some public school districts in California able to renovate every 15-20 years while others are using bandaid solutions to keep the buildings from falling down? Many of California’s schools have suffered from funding deficits regarding improving facilities. It seems some affluent or highly populous areas are able to raise money through local measures and fundraising. These schools benefit from the ability of their communities to donate or pass bonds to fund school improvement efforts. Unfortunately, the smaller, highly impoverished areas have continued to fall into disrepair. Even if the community would
Does assessment support student learning? Absolutely! If we remember the purpose. The purpose of assessment is to gather evidence on student learning and use it to guide how to proceed in the learning process. It should not just be a measurement of where students are. People learn from mistakes, we need to let kids learn from mistakes. Assessments can be used as a tool for students to know where they are and how to improve. When they are not used this way students think that some people are better at guessing the right answer. Others begin to believe that some people are smart while others just aren't. Neither of these views is useful for learning or for life. Some teachers are worried that teaching to the test will inhibit student growth and learning. If we are testing what we teach, and we teach what is important it would be difficult not to 'teach to the test'. Building quality assessment practices that test the important skills and problem-solving techniques nee