Skip to content

Welcome to the Center for Teacher Effectiveness

We look forward to helping you in any way you need.  Please contact us with any questions, ideas, concerns, recommendations, feedback, compliments, ANYTHING!  We improve through working with great educators and administrators like yourself!    We are here to serve YOU!

Hit Us Up!

Email: info@timetoteach.com
Phone: 1-800-438-1808
Fax: 1-800-801-1872
Address: 220 East Avenue, PO Box 14001 PMB 469, Ketchum, ID 83340

Please Let us know if you have any questions!

Time To Teach

Technology for the purpose of WHAT?

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2022/10/technology-for-the-purpose-of-what.html

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

This year I am serving as both an ISTE Ambassador and an ISTE Community Leader (in addition to some other ISTE volunteer work). Recently I had the pleasure of publishing a post on ISTE’s blog titled Before Using School Technology, Know Your EdTech Purpose. In that post, I connected the ISTE Standards for Students and the 4 Shifts Protocol. Here’s an excerpt:

2022 ISTE blog post excerpt

Hope the post is useful to you. As always, please stay in touch as I can be of support to your instructional redesign, technology integration, and leadership/innovation needs.

Happy reading!

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

The 4 Shifts Protocol in Bismarck

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2022/11/the-4-shifts-protocol-in-bismarck.html

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

It’s always gratifying to see your resources being used by educators. I’ve worked with the Bismarck Public Schools multiple times on leadership, vision, and instructional design for deeper learning (and we featured Legacy High School in Leadership for Deeper Learning). They’ve got an amazing group of educators there and I always love to see what they’re up to… Thanks for sharing, Tanna!

2022 Bismarck

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

A federal judge calls student loan relief unlawful, deepening limbo for borrowers

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1135940851/student-debt-relief-biden-blocked-texas-district-court

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

The program to erase student loan debts for millions of borrowers hit a brick wall Thursday when it was blocked by a U.S. District Court judge. The administration quickly appealed the decision.

(Image credit: Evan Vucci/AP)

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

In one first-grade classroom, puppets teach children to 'shake out the yuck'

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1135217910/social-emotional-learning-puppets

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

First-grader Rylee plays with a puppet during class.

A new program being piloted in a handful of Connecticut classrooms, called Feel Your Best Self, is using the joy of puppetry to teach children how to manage their feelings and empathize with others.

(Image credit: Ryan T. Conaty for NPR)

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

11 Tools To Help Students Publish Their Writing

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: https://www.teachthought.com/technology/tools-to-help-students-publish-their-writing/

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

Tools to help students publish their writing must be matched with a writing assignment designed for publishing while keeping students safe.

The post 11 Tools To Help Students Publish Their Writing appeared first on TeachThought.

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

Podcast with Matt Rhoads

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2022/10/podcast-with-matt-rhoads.html

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

Navigating Education podcast with Matt RhoadsI had the pleasure recently of appearing on the Navigating Education podcast with Matt Rhoads. Episode 59 was titled Leadership and Instructional Design for Deeper Learning. Matt and I had a wide-ranging discussion about the design and leadership decisions that foster deeper learning by students.

Happy listening!

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

Start With You: How To Make Good Teaching More Sustainable

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/advice-for-teachers/

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

If we truly want a better world, we can't continue to mirror the worst parts of that world into our classrooms.

The post Start With You: How To Make Good Teaching More Sustainable appeared first on TeachThought.

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

Books I read in October 2022

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2022/11/books-i-read-in-october-2022.html

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

Not Impossible, Mick EbelingBooks I finished reading (or rereading) in October 2022…

Hope you’re reading something fun too!

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

As Harvard's endowment abandons fossil fuels, oil-rich University of Texas catches up

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1133554526/harvard-texas-endowment-oil-gas-billions-colleges-universities-fundraising

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

Harvard University has had the largest academic endowment since 1986.

Royalties on oil and natural gas, along with lease payments on millions of acres of land, are helping the University of Texas, which is in second place, narrow the gap with Harvard.

(Image credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more

Much ado about NAEP

We believe in thanking our sources! This post was sourced from the following blog/website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2022/10/much-ado-about-naep.html

The following is a new blog post related to education and teaching and relevant to our website visitors. The blog post is not based on the opinions or values of our company but is related to education and teaching, so we wanted to share it with YOU! If you ever have any questions please let us know. Now… on to the post!

Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are down after the pandemic. Surprise!

Four big thoughts on all of this…

1. Below is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) graph of daily COVID cases in the U.S. Note the huge spike in January 2022 due to the Omicron variant. Also note that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) chose to administer the NAEP tests in March 2022, during the downswing of that huge spike in cases and after two years of COVID trauma (six weeks later America hit the 1 million dead mark). How many kids, families, and educators were ill, recovering from being ill, or still traumatized from loved ones’ deaths, illnesses, or long recoveries? We’ll never know.

CDC COVID graph

2. Always remember that the labels for NAEP ‘proficiency’ levels are confusing. Journalists (and others) are failing us when they don’t report out what NAEP levels mean. For instance, the New York Times reported this graph today from NCES:

2022 10 24 NCES NAEP scores“Appalling,” right?! That’s what the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, said about these results. Just look at those low numbers in blue! 

BUT… ‘Proficient’ on NAEP doesn’t mean what most folks assume it does. NAEP itself says that ‘Proficient’ does not mean ‘at grade level.’ Instead, the label Proficient is more aspirational. Indeed, it’s so aspirational that most states are not trying to reach that level with their annual assessments. See the map below from NCES (or make your own), which shows that most states are trying for their children to achieve NAEP’s Basic level, not Proficient:

2019 Grade 4 Reading NAEP and state standards

Once again, in the words of Tom Loveless, former director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, “Proficient on NAEP does not mean grade level performance. It’s significantly above that.” So essentially the New York Times and others are reporting that “only one-fourth of 8th graders performed significantly above grade level in math.” Does that result surprise anyone?

Loveless noted in 2016 that:

Equating NAEP proficiency with grade level is bogus. Indeed, the validity of the achievement levels themselves is questionable. They immediately came under fire in reviews by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Education. The National Academy of Sciences report was particularly scathing, labeling NAEP’s achievement levels as “fundamentally flawed.”

Loveless also stated:

The National Center for Education Statistics warns that federal law requires that NAEP achievement levels be used on a trial basis until the Commissioner of Education Statistics determines that the achievement levels are “reasonable, valid, and informative to the public.” As the NCES website states, “So far, no Commissioner has made such a determination, and the achievement levels remain in a trial status. The achievement levels should continue to be interpreted and used with caution.”

 

Confounding NAEP proficient with grade-level is uninformed. Designating NAEP proficient as the achievement benchmark for accountability systems is certainly not cautious use. If high school students are required to meet NAEP proficient to graduate from high school, large numbers will fail. If middle and elementary school students are forced to repeat grades because they fall short of a standard anchored to NAEP proficient, vast numbers will repeat grades. [emphasis added]

In 2009, Gerald Bracey, one of our nation’s foremost experts on educational assessment, stated:

In its prescriptive aspect, the NAEP reports the percentage of students reaching various achievement levels—Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The achievement levels have been roundly criticized by many, including the U.S. Government Accounting Office (1993), the National Academy of Sciences (Pellegrino, Jones, & Mitchell, 1999); and the National Academy of Education (Shepard, 1993). These critiques point out that the methods for constructing the levels are flawed, that the levels demand unreasonably high performance, and that they yield results that are not corroborated by other measures.

 

In spite of the criticisms, the U.S. Department of Education permitted the flawed levels to be used until something better was developed. Unfortunately, no one has ever worked on developing anything better—perhaps because the apparently low student performance indicated by the small percentage of test-takers reaching Proficient has proven too politically useful to school critics.

 

For instance, education reformers and politicians have lamented that only about one-third of 8th graders read at the Proficient level. On the surface, this does seem awful. Yet, if students in other nations took the NAEP, only about one-third of them would also score Proficient—even in the nations scoring highest on international reading comparisons (Rothstein, Jacobsen, & Wilder, 2006).

Similarly, James Harvey, executive director of the National Superintendents Roundtable (he also helped write A Nation at Risk), noted:

The NAEP benchmarks might be more convincing if most students elsewhere could handily meet them. But that’s a hard case to make, judging by a 2007 analysis from Gary Phillips, former acting commissioner of NCES. Phillips set out to map NAEP benchmarks onto international assessments in science and mathematics.

 

Only Taipei and Singapore have a significantly higher percentage of “proficient” students in eighth grade science (by the NAEP benchmark) than the United States. In math, the average performance of eighth-grade students could be classified as “proficient” in [only] six jurisdictions: Singapore, Korea, Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, and Flemish Belgium. It seems that when average results by jurisdiction place typical students at the NAEP proficient level, the jurisdictions involved are typically wealthy.

We can argue whether the correct benchmark is Basic or we should be striving for Proficient, and we all can agree that more kids need more support to reach desired academic benchmarks. But let’s don’t pretend that ‘Proficient’ on NAEP aligns with most people’s common understandings of that term. We should be especially wary of those educational ‘reformers’ who use the NAEP Proficient benchmark to cudgel schools and educators.

3. Lest we think that these NAEP results are new and surprising, it should be noted that scores on NAEP already were stagnant. Achievement gaps already were widening. After nearly two decades of the No Child Left Behind Act and standards-based, testing-oriented educational reform – and almost 40 years after the A Nation at Risk report – the 2018 and 2019 NAEP results showed that the bifurcation of American student performance remained “stubbornly wide.” We continue to do the same things while expecting different results, instead of fundamentally rethinking how we do school.

4. The pundits already are chiming in on the 2022 NAEP results. They’re blaming overly-cautious superintendents and school boards, “woke” educators, teacher unions, parents, online learning, video games, social media, screen addiction, “kids these days who don’t want to work,” state governors, and anything else they can point a finger at. As I said yesterday, it’s fascinating how many people were prescient and omniscient during unprecedented times, when extremely challenging decisions needed to be made with little historical guidance, in an environment of conflicting opinions about what was right. Despite the massive swirl of disagreement about what should have occurred during the pandemic, many folks are righteously certain that they have the correct answer and everyone else is wrong. The lack of grace, understanding, and humility is staggering. 

Also, look again at the graph above. One way for journalists, commentators, and policymakers to frame those results is to call them ‘appalling.’ Another way is to say:

Scores are down but, even during a deadly global pandemic that shut down schools and traumatized families, the math and reading achievement of about two-thirds of our students stayed at grade level or above. How do we help the rest?

Always consider how an issue is framed and whose interests it serves to frame it that way (and why).

We can whirl ourselves into a tizzy of righteous finger-pointing, which is what many folks will do because it serves their agenda to do so. Or we can

I think that it’s unlikely that many states, schools, and communities will actually do this because of the fragility and brittleness of our school structures. But I’m pretty sure that the path forward is not simply doubling down on more math, reading, and testing, and it sure isn’t uncritically accepting NAEP results.

Your thoughts?

2022 10 23 mcleod tweet

Time To Teach reviews each blog post by our contributors but if you feel this is a blog post better suited for another page please let us know. Teachers and Educators are our heroes. We want to thank you for the work you do! Yours In Education! Time To Teach

Read more
Back To Top