Since the subject of state testing came up in both interviews with educators (see here and here), this week’s blog will explore New York’s state requirements, particularly the Regents Exams. 

According to the website of the New York State Education Department, students are currently “required to pass five Regents exams in high school in order to graduate – one each in English, science, math, as well as the U.S History and the Global Studies and Geography exams.”  New regulations, however, have added a “4+1” option that “permits a student to take four Regents exams and a comparably rigorous technical, arts, or other assessment for the fifth examination required for graduation.”

Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said that these new regulations aim to “improve the state’s 74.9 percent graduation rate, increase the percentage of students who graduate prepared for college and careers (currently 37.2 percent), and help prepare more students for success in the 21st century economy.”

On the other hand, there is talk of additional new requirements such as “by 2022, students will not only have to pass five Regents Exams to graduate, they’ll have to score at least 75 percent on the English exam and 80 percent on the math exam.”

So, this begs the real question: will either of these rules, and the Regents in general, help students graduate and succeed?  Do these tests prepare all students for the paths they plan to pursue after school?

Teachers are speaking out on the contrary.  Eileen Riley-Hill, a New York English teacher, writes, “There’s nothing wrong with high standards or standardized tests — but our schools need to serve all kids, and becoming “college-ready” shouldn’t be the only way to graduate high school.” 

She points out the fact that the Regents Exams were originally designed for students who planned to attend college, while Regents Competency Tests were offered for those interested in “fields outside traditional academics: auto mechanics, culinary arts, cosmetology, business, health care and on.”  Hill concludes, “There are many ways to succeed in life; we must offer many ways to succeed in school.” 

I agree that these fields are important and can offer students a road less traveled to success.  In fact, two past blog posts of mine have explored non-traditional careers, including in the culinary arts (click here to read more). 

In my opinion, education is meant to provide students with the tools they need to succeed in their everyday lives as citizens and professionals, regardless of whether that means pursuing their formal education further.  While college can offer significant benefits to students, this does not mean that the Regents Exams should prevent others from graduating high school because they aren’t prepared for college, an environment they don’t even intend to join.  State tests also shouldn’t limit teachers in the classroom so that they aren’t able to inspire students to become involved in their own education, whether that is on a college campus or on their own.  

The Regents Exams seem to be going against their own stated goals and taking away from the ultimate goal of education.  For this reason, they need to be honestly evaluated based on the real impacts they are having on students’ lives and their attitudes towards education.

-Samantha Phillips

What are your opinions on the Regents Exams or state testing in general?

Sources:
New York State Education Department: Board Of Regents Approves New Graduation Options
New York Post: New York’s diplomas leave too many kids out

What are the responsibilities of a cook or chef? 

A cook is in charge of preparing, seasoning, and cooking the food.  They must check the freshness of ingredients and follow recipes.  They must tastefully arrange the food to be served.  Cleanliness of work area and equipment is key.  On top of these, a head chef will supervise the food preparation of others, create recipes, plan menus, manage inventory, and monitor sanitation and safety work practices. 

How much would you earn in this position?

In 2012, the median hourly wage for cooks was $9.88.  When breaking it down further, however, the range extended from $8.85 for fast-food cooks to $11.29 for private household cooks.  For chefs and head cooks, the median annual wage was $42,480 in the same year.  Those who earned the most were mainly located in upscale restaurants and luxury hotels in major cities and popular resort areas. 

Requirements:

Some skills that will help you to succeed in this career include team work, considering a group of people, each with a specialized task, will work in tandem to assemble dishes.  Additionally, being able to handle a variety of equipment, communicate, employ creativity, and manage your time will be assets.  For head cooks, leadership skills are also beneficial.  Familiarity with certain software might also be useful for scheduling and purchasing.  Furthermore, if you are interested in running your own catering business, basic business skills would be a necessity. 

As for education and experience requirements, experience is valued more in this field.  On-the-job -training is available if you have no formal education.  However, programs are available at culinary arts schools, community colleges, technical schools, and 4-year colleges.  These are all very hands on, which relates back to the emphasis on experience.  Other options include vocational and apprenticeship schools.  High school education is typically a requirement for these programs.   

Certifications are also not compulsory but available to offer an advantage.  Different levels exist, ranging from 6 months to 5 or more years of work experience. 

Work Conditions:

There are different types of cooks, mainly defined by their settings, including cafeteria, restaurant, short-order, fast-food, and personal cooks.  These type of positions demand long periods of standing in a fast-paced environment, which can lead to a pressured environment.  Hours range from early morning to late evenings, weekends, and holidays.  Twelve hour days are not unusual.  Depending on the setting, positions might not be available year-round, such as at a school or resort.   

-Samantha Phillips

What interests you about this career?  What other information would you like to know about it?

Sources:
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Food Preparation and Serving

There exists a relationship between the university, citizenship, and democracy.  The government passes laws which affect higher education, determining its goals and methods; citizens vote to elect the people who will represent their interests and beliefs in creating such laws; education is how voters become informed members of society who are capable of making such decisions.  This brief overview of the connections between these important topics reinforces why education is so important.  William Rainey Harper is one person who recognized this and within his lifetime made a significant impact on the higher education field.

Harper was a president of the University of Chicago.  His goal was to make the university into an institution that “focused on research and graduate training at the highest levels, but at the same time, was accessible to the most students” (PBS).  Harper was described by a Chicago journalist and professor as one of the “titans who had made [Chicago’s] history” and “the most unselfish of them all” (PBS).  In his book, The Trend in Higher Education, Harper wrote:

Although I agree with the overarching sentiment of this quote, I believe that it neglects a significant factor.  While the university does in fact proclaim the principles of democracy and investigate the past, it does so based on its own point of view, with its own motivations in mind.  Each university has a unique mission statement that it is trying to accomplish and an image it is hoping that its students will project once they leave the campus.  Each has its own culture and is trying to differentiate itself from competition.  With these realities in mind, I’m not sure that the university unites, reasons together, passes impartial judgments, or condemns corruption.  

Each individual university selects its community members based on criteria that it has put in place.  It wants to hire staff and faculty who will convey its message, and it accepts students who will be open to receiving the message.  Although universities are meant to welcome and encourage diversity of people and ideas, preserving a certain atmosphere requires that you are actually supporting some level of uniformity.  The university unites similar groups of people but alienates others, especially those who aren’t considered a good fit for any university community.  Furthermore, classes are formatted to evaluate students on how well they meet a professor’s expectations.  Although these expectations may be to challenge assumptions, oftentimes it works out to be how much you agree with a professor’s ideas instead.  

At the ideal level, the university would champion the best of democracy and instill in its members the tools to be a socially intelligent citizen, rather than molding students into the university’s own idea of the model citizen.  However, a system which does not allow everyone to study at a university and is a competitive business at its core could prove to be problematic.  As a generality, the university does remain an interpreter of democracy, though, which should attempt to produce more mature, intelligent citizens than they were when they entered the selective community.

-Samantha Phillips

Please share your views on the relationship between the university, citizenship, and democracy and/or William Rainey Harper's view.

Sources:
The Trend in Higher Education by William Rainey Harper
PBS: William Rainey Harper (1856-1906) and the University of Chicago

Philomena Reduzzi began her teaching career in 1986 at a regional college preparatory school of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania.  She taught grades 8 through 12 for 15 years.  She then began impacting the lives of students at a nearby public school in 2000.  During the course of her 15 years there, she taught grades 9 through 12, finally settling into 10th grade.  Below is an interview with Mrs. Reduzzi about her experiences in the education field. 

-Samantha Phillips

1. What motivated you to become an educator?

I want to be an educator to share my passion for literature.  Also, I genuinely care about the success of others, and want to help them succeed.  In my opinion, providing knowledge and sharing literature are the most important tools for success in life.  With knowledge, we are able to pursue the many different avenues in life and careers.  What motivates me to be an educator is for the “ah-ha” moment.  It’s that moment where a student makes the connection, and completely understands the lesson I am teaching.

2. Can you share a teaching moment of which you are particularly proud?

Many years ago I had a particular student who thought poetry was useless and made no sense to him. He felt it was a waste of his time. Then, we did a poetry unit; we read poems and discussed them and analyzed them. At the end of the unit, I had the class sit outside with their eyes closed and just listen. They then wrote their own poem based on what they heard and felt. The young man's poem was beautifully written and so very in tune with nature. We talked about the experience, and he said how he had come to view poetry in a totally different way. Those moments stay with a teacher a lifetime.

3. What changes have you seen develop over your career in the education field?

Honestly, there really aren't that many changes besides the focus on a Common Core and preparing the students to pass a standardized test. The way teachers teach and present information basically has stayed the same, just the "names" of the methodology have changed. We have gone from lecture and question and answering to direct instruction, the I do, we do, you do, and the Socratic method. We have gone from thick and thin questioning to the new Bloom's taxonomy and higher order thinking. It's just a change in terminology. We still focus on preparing students for the next level in their education and for the real world.  Also, we now adapt teaching to different student characteristics by using diverse methods of teaching. When I first started teaching, special education was conducted within its own self-contained classroom, and students did not have to score basic or proficient.

4. Have you personally noticed any systematic issues which limit or enhance learning in your classroom?

A few years ago, trying to adapt my teaching style to follow the "style of the month", I struggled to conform and felt I lost my way. I know I lost my passion for sharing the life-lesson literature has to offer. I was trying to conform in order to get my students to pass the standardized test. It just didn't work. My students did no better nor no worse, and the classroom environment lost its excitement.

5. In your own words, why is receiving an education important?

Education really isn't about solving mathematical equations or learning flawless speaking and writing of the language. It's about resourcefulness and problem-solving. Education gives us power and makes us capable of interpreting things rightly and applying the gathered information in real life scenarios.

6. What would you say to a student who has become disengaged with their education?

What I'd really like to say is get a clue...on the inside. Yet, I would ask why. Actually, I would probably badger incessantly, but I might start with..."Why don't you see the need to learn? If you give up on learning now, what will you do in the future? Education is a life-long experience and the second you stop learning, you stop living, truly."

Please share your reactions to these experiences of an educator.