While cleaning the house this morning I entered the living room to find all the work I had previously done completely undone. A duplo bucket of cards (don't ask) had been dumped all over the floor, along with a small grouping of plastic magnetic letters. Picking up the letters, I happened to notice that they were A, Y, and P. These three letters used to hold huge significance for me when I was a teacher. Adequate Yearly Progress is the educational jargon for making the cut. If your school fails to increase its test scores, you have not met AYP. If this happens two years in a row, your school could be on the receiving end of some rather serious interventions. It has been a long time since I thought about that acronym. I can't help but notice that as a mom nobody is monitoring my progress nearly as closely. And what would AYP look like for a three year old and a one year old anyway? I'm pretty sure that if anyone tried to measure Luke's progress with any sort of test, he would scream, "NO! I won't do it!" and run away. Paul would climb up on the table and throw anything he could get his hands on. Maybe this is why mom's don't have to make AYP. We would all be fired and then who would replace us? Or perhaps our progress is adequate if we make it through the year with fewer tantrums than our kids. Now that I have two kids, I would say that I can meet that standard. :-)
And on an even more controversial note: now that I'm a parent I feel even more strongly that teachers and administrators alone cannot be held solely responsible for student outcomes. What I do here everyday for the first four years of his life matters more than what Luke's kindergarten teacher will do in an entire year. The content of his character is formed here at home and that will have more influence on his academic achievement than any teacher, curriculum, or test. And that's the way I feel about that.
Okay, enough of my soap box. Here are some adorable pictures instead!
Paul in his natural habitat - anywhere that is higher than the ground.
The bus in the kitchen.
Basketball in the playroom.
Paul in his natural habitat - anywhere that is higher than the ground.
The bus in the kitchen.
Basketball in the playroom.
3 comments:
I would say that you AYP is outstanding!!! the boys are Alert, a Year older and Postively wonderful.
Hug, Lynne
I second Lynne thoughts...two happy bus drivers in your kitchen has to count for something.
Love, Oma
However, I would argue (as a case study), that the worth of one highly-invested teacher can't be underestimated. Based on my homelife alone, I don't know if I would have made it.
You and Erik were the first functional, happy couple I had ever seen. You also taught me that if you don't fart you're not alive, which went far beyond that into "don't take yourself too seriously" territory--something every junior high girl needs to hear. While Adequate Yearly Progress is a majorly skewed way of measuring a school or a teacher's worth, teachers truly do play a huge role in the outcome of an individual. You certainly did.
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