We speak with Adam Grumbach, social studies program coordinator of the New York Performance Standards Consortium, and Naseem Haamid, a law student who attended Fannie Lou Hamer High School. We discuss inquiry based learning, Performance Based Assessment Tests, Habits of Mind, and self-directed, interdisciplinary portfolios, as alternatives to standardized-test driven curricula.
Overview
00:00-00:54 Intros
00:54-02:04 NYS Performance Standards Consortium
02:04-03:54 Potential effect on Consortium of elimination of Regents exams as graduation requirement
03:54-05:09 Inquiry- and literacy-based education
05:09-06:27 Creation of curricula
06:27-07:39 Students’ input into what they focus on
07:39-10:54 Naseem’s transition from a test-oriented school to Fannie Lou Hamer HS (FLH HS)
10:54-10:39 The most valuable things about FLH HS for Naseem
10:39-14:31 Transition from FLH HS to more traditional college and law school classes
14:31-17:21 Performance based assessment tests (PBATs) and other assessments
17:21-19:26 Rubrics
19:26-20:09 Grading of PBATs
20:09-24:45 Portfolios
24:45-28:25 College and career planning
28:25-32:56 Selecting and supporting teachers
32:56-35:35 Lessons for teachers elsewhere from the Consortium
35:35:36:31 “This is what education should be like”
36:31-38:15 Distinctive way Consortium approaches introduction to post-secondary careers
38:15- Outro
Transcript
Click here to see the full transcription of this episode.
References
Soundtrack by Poddington Bear
Drs. Katherine Norris and Kathryn Wiley, colleagues at Howard University’s School of Education, speak about obstacles to recruiting and retaining teachers and increasing diversity....
We speak with Dr. Anne Smith, longtime music teacher in Northern Virginia, about accommodating cultural differences. Dr. Smith created an alternate curriculum for students...
We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led...
