The California Distinguished School Award: Not Showing M-A’s Brightest Side
Photo Credit: Joseph Rabinovitsj
Plaque celebrating M-A's California Distinguished School status
The California Distinguished School Award is given out every two years, and since 1987, M-A has received this honor.
Schools with California Distinguished status must have growth in their Academic Performance Index (API), which is primarily determined based on standardized test scores, in the ninetieth percentile for the state. After analyzing and approving a school’s API, delegates from the California Department of Education (CDE) come to the candidate school to observe classes and confirm the appointment of California Distinguished status.
Tuesday February 26, delegates from the CDE came to observe M-A and finalize the school’s California Distinguished status.
With hopes to impress observers, teachers ‘took out the china,’ altering their usual routine and trying to teach to what they believe the CDE is looking for. This includes methods taught by Direct Interactive Instruction (DII), the program that M-A has chosen to use for their professional development this year. DII methods include clearly stating objectives in the class, teaching to state standards, creating an interactive class experience (as opposed to just lectures), and the use of equity cards.
However, on a regular school day, teachers often do not teach in strict adherence to DII methods, but instead they tailor their class structure to the material taught, their personal teaching style, and the personality of the class. This tailoring gives each class a unique flavor, making students excited about different subjects for differing reasons.
When the CDE delegates came to M-A this past Tuesday, the experience of most classes became homogenized, losing their individual flavors. Although CDE delegates observed teachers succeeding in conducting their classes to the standards of DII, for which they most likely gave M-A high marks, they did not see the uniqueness of classes that really make the experience of attending M-A great. In other words, although M-A is most likely going to receive California Distinguished status this year, they will not be receiving the award for the qualities that actually make M-A a great school.
In our minds, the qualities of the academic experience at M-A that make M-A a great school (i.e. the uniqueness of classes) should be the basis upon which M-A is appointed California Distinguished status, not the homogeneity of DII standards. Thus, it seems that as it stands, California Distinguished status reflects very little upon the actual quality of a school, but rather upon the ability of teachers to homogenize their classrooms for a day, conform to a checklist of tactics, and ultimately depersonalize the education experience.
With regards to the award of California Distinguished School status, M-A is quite fortunate considering that it reaps the benefit of prestige that comes with having California Distinguished status and it has high-quality and engaging classes. However, for other schools, it seems as though the California Distinguished School award has the potential to do more harm than good. For example, a school that has engaging, rigorous, and high-quality classes could be deprived of its well-deserved prestige and state funding simply because it either fails to teach by homogeneous means or lacks high standardized test scores.
M-A certainly is not lacking in unique classes and teaching methods. While I’m not sure any of my classes were drastically altered, I am always shocked by the constantly growing disconnect between education officials and the students who are subject to their decisions. It’s a pity that schools like M-A have found it easier to brown nose than speak in unison with the vast number of other schools that face a similar dilemma.
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Will Hanley Reply:
March 1st, 2013 at 9:25 am
I feel like if every teacher taught the same way, school would be much less entertaining than it already is. And while that’s not the goal, I know the administration wants students to be engaged in class everyday. Good and fun teachers are a good way to keep kids focused in class while still learning material.
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i wish that the distinguished school award would not be so limited in its scope of requirements. Arts and high grades do not equal quality
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I do agree that the classes become a bit homogenized with all of the structure forced on the classes by the DII. Interesting article– would be interesting to hear from a teacher’s perspective!
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I agree. These standards, the “chalkboard objectives,” etc. are put on for show and are usually ignored the rest of the year, and they don’t even necessitate a higher quality education. Higher quality education should encourage students to look beyond the chalkboard and its short-term objectives, and see the long-term applications of what they are learning; which cannot be easily encompassed in a one-sentence, formulaic objective.
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While I agree with the sentiment of this editorial, that education is more that test scores and meeting standards, I feel a need to defend DII and, to a lesser extent, our increased API scores. Although API scores are not necessarily indicative of “good” teaching, for students can be taught to take tests well without having far more important critical thinking skills, in M-A’s case I do believe that our increased API scores, specifically in certain subgroups, are a result of strong teaching and student achievement and are a good thing for our school. I can welcome increased API scores with a clear conscience, because I know for a fact that many M-A teachers refuse to teach to the test and sometimes choose to teach what will most help students, even when it will hurt standardized test scores. I trust our teachers to find a balance and I believe they have.
I also feel a need to defend DII practices, because this editorial seems to assume that any class that uses them ceases to involve any creativity on the part of the teacher. This is simply not true. While you are correct that teachers must teach to state standards, this is not unique to DII, but rather to being a public school teacher, for teachers must always cover them to the best of their abilities. DII does homogenize classes to a certain extent, but to an extent that is often a good thing. I recognize that perhaps it seems silly to have “What, Why, How” on the whiteboard in your AP US History class, in which students don’t need much structure provided them, but such a practice might not seem so ridiculous in Intervention English. DII does not force teachers to be robots, all it does is provide additional methods by which teachers can reach their students. Is DII perfect? No. Does DII replace good teachers? Absolutely not. But DII can, when combined with strong teaching in whatever form it may come, make for a more productive classroom. It should also be noted that DII is not something “that M-A has chosen to use for their professional development this year,” but was rather a decision made at the district level as part of a contract with Action Learning Systems.
Finally, I would like to note that while I’m sure the CDE was pleased with DII being used by M-A and considered it as part of the selection process for the California Distinguished Schools designation, the M-A administration emphasized programs like the Academy and AVID, elective and intervention classes, the arts, and Student Support Services on the day of the visit. It is likely those same things will be emphasized when WASC visitations happen in a few weeks. Aren’t those some of the “qualities of the academic experience at M-A that make M-A a great school?”
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It’s interesting that teachers need to be careful when the WASC or CDE evaluators stop by. Many of the teaching methods that DII promotes are generally unnecessary. Are Cornell notes, the textbook, and everyday objectives really that helpful? Though they might be backed by “research,” I think the teachers, who interact with students on a daily basis and see firsthand the effects of their teaching, should be the ones to determine their own teaching methods.
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i think this is a very interesting position to take…but would love to hear maybe from people who may have seen how this has affected the school over time and some teachers as well?
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It’s odd to see that the teachers try to completely change their strategy when they’re observed. The WASC people must know about that, right? But I really don’t like that the teachers are essentially putting on a mask to please people.
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The methods introduced by DII are absolutely ridiculous. Students cannot take them seriously because of their incredibly rudimentary nature. The fact that California schools are based on these unnecessary classroom techniques is quite frightening.
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