Comments on April Griffin Blog: SpringBoard or is it SpringBored?

I teach 8th and 9th grade English in Nevada, and I...

2010-06-02T15:33:18.165-04:00

I teach 8th and 9th grade English in Nevada, and I am blown away to stumble on your blog. Reading through the comments and descriptions of SpringBoard implementation are nearly identical to the ones I'm hearing out here.

I have tried to be open-minded about this "new" curriculum since we were asked to use it two years ago. I have yet to be impressed and I sorely miss the days of my own lessons. I recently sat through a professional development workshop (administrator mandated) on reading strategies, the whole time thinking, I'm not going to be able to use any of this because I have to teach SpringBoard.

Never before have I seen an issue cause so much derision amongst the faculty, administration, school board, and students. It is very disheartening!

I am a student who is pinned down by the force of ...

2010-05-11T17:56:39.627-04:00

I am a student who is pinned down by the force of springboard, i am in a diffrent school ditrict and plan to petition, I can't take another 2 more years of this crap, and I hate that my little sister will soon be exposed to this garbage.if you have any tips on how to go about this with logic and maturity I would really love it thanks!

We have been on the SB train for years. This year...

2010-03-03T19:43:30.925-05:00

We have been on the SB train for years. This year we were mandated to teach in 90% of the time with little or no supplementation. We got on the SB site and blogged our troubles and finally admin allowed us to supplement and told us we were mistaken before that they never told us we couldn't. Our Super - I guess that is what you would call him threatened us with our jobs if we didn't teach it with "fidelity." The level 3 book is a horrible guide with disconnected lessons. It was written by several people who never even talked to each other. Not to mention, its research and articles were written in 1998 and 2003. It has been revised so many times you would think they would have updated the research material. We are highly frustrated and feel bullied, micro-managed, and mindless. Today we got an e-mail from our SB coordinator that asked when we teach our literary terms. What an idiot? We are to teach the SB lessons, plan more instruction because it is lacking substance, and now, we are to try to incorporate the information the SB book is missing into the lessons it already has because it isn't sufficient as a curriculum.

I can tell you one thing that is a fact. Our districts sophomores could not pass the state's writing test last year and they are our SB babies who got it from 7th grade on up. Only 1/3 of our students passed.

That is SpringBoard!

We recently had a visit by collegeboard to our sch...

2009-10-27T07:15:36.189-04:00

We recently had a visit by collegeboard to our school. Surprisingly,the reps spent virtually no time in LA or Math classes. Where did the go? Science. This will be collegeboard's next big push. I'm guessing science teachers will soon have the joy of saying :"Take out your Springboard books."

Hello, I teach math at an inner city High School, ...

2009-10-24T14:57:32.396-04:00

Hello,
I teach math at an inner city High School, primarily grades 10-12 and I have to say I DO think that the intentions were good, both by the people who contributed to the conception of SpringBoard as well as those people in the district who really want our students to thrive academically, but I will tell you that it is just NOT THE CASE!
It should be noted that I teach within my subject area and am very enthusiastic. My students know it, and usually, I can get even the worst students to work hard for me, but when I mention a SpringBoard lesson or activity, the feedback is negative. The kids tell me they don't 'get' it. ‘Why do we have to do this?’, ‘This sucks!’ They become frustrated, I become frustrated and then I have to re-teach the entire lesson again. Learning styles is something that needs consideration here. Not all students learn the same way and while a few might benefit from SpringBoard, the majority would not. Implementation has proven to be a BIG waste time for both myself and my students.
The district need starts focusing on Academics rather than the Almighty Dollar and realize that NOT EVERY STUDENT IS CUT OUT FOR OR WANTS TO GO TO COLLEGE. If it were true, then from the beginning of time, we would have nothing but an educated class of people in our society. Everyone would be a professional and that has never happened nor will it ever.
The responsibility of learning MUST fall on the student. Our society blames student failure on everything EXCEPT the student. Take a look at the latest 'curve' in math for district tests...25% is passing? When I saw that I almost fell off my chair. Are you kidding me???? This is absolutely pathetic and I would even go as far as to say criminal because those kids will be passed to the next math level and STILL not have a clue as to what is going on and then fail the next class. This is the ONE that the student cannot be blamed for and yet, the teachers hear about it in faculty meetings that we are not doing our jobs! In addition, students are walking around with GROSSLY overinflated GPA's. One of my AP students was very proud to inform me that I could NOT give him a D for the quarter because he has had a 5.6 GPA since the 9th grade, and administration would think there was something wrong with ME! Yet this boy, a senior, had not even pass his FCAT math test and I have to accept him in AP so he gains experience. Fair enough, but for my evaluation, I was questioned on ‘why’ the AP students did not do so well on the AP exam! It’s sickening!
Continued decreased expectations in student standards is the major cause. It sends students the wrong signal and let's just say that kids will be kids. They will take it and run with it if you give it to them. By creating generations of lazy, disrespectful children, you are effectively decreasing the morale of some very good teachers, me included. If this continues, this district will suffer the loss of good, QUALIFIED teachers (teaching in subject area, but that's for another blog).

At present, fewer students are choosing teaching as a profession. Who can blame them? It's the only profession that I know of where you spend about $40k+ for a formal education and then find a job where you make very little money in comparison to other professionals, are mistreated by students, and constantly interrupted and interrogated by administrators.
Why am I still here? I ask myself that question every day and the answer is because I LOVE TO TEACH and I feel that I can make a difference in the lives of sadly, just a few of my students.
Please HELP US the teachers do their jobs by LETTING us do our jobs! Help us revamp the mentality of the students by enforcing some consequences and rules. STOP lowering the academic standards and STOP implementing these bright ideas that just don't work…SpringBoard!

Hello, I teach math at an inner city High School, ...

2009-10-24T14:49:41.003-04:00

Hello, I am from Indy and they we have used Spring...

2009-07-13T15:29:32.492-04:00

Hello, I am from Indy and they we have used SpringBoard for the last 4 years. It is the worst thing I have ever used. What is worst, my school district says it is the offical Pre-AP Curriculum. I did not know AP Literature was focused on so much use of markers and drawing on the test. I dislike the use of this so called curriculum that it is shameful to even touch the book.

I am a student in 9th grade at Middleton High Scho...

2009-05-23T13:28:56.183-04:00

I am a student in 9th grade at Middleton High School, where SpringBored has robbed us of any hope of a decent English curriculum. Forget the fact that roughly half of my honours class can barely read. (I'm not even talking about reading at grade level.) I find the excessive use of idiotic worksheets an exercise in futility. I can (and have) filled out page after page with Beatles lyrics and received top grades for completion. I get 100%s on essays because I have a mother who taught me grammar when I was learning to talk, not because of anything I've been "taught" this year. I spend the whole class doodling, so at least WaterBoard has improved my drawing skills. Yes, WaterBoard - this is intellectual torture, a veritable drowning in bureaucratic stupidity. Next year I'm going to try to take English online because FLVS doesn't use this fecal matter.

At this point, my colleagues do as little of the l...

2009-03-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

At this point, my colleagues do as little of the lesson as possible to call it SpringBoard. We are required to do so many different lessons. The thinking is, if I do one or two questions from this sheet, then I have met the objectives and can do what I need.

Here is the true question... You read post after post about how teachers hate it and kids are not being challenged, but you don't hear anything about changing it. Can someone tell me what is happening with that? Or are we going to keep sailing on this sinking ship?

I have been teaching English for over twenty years...

2009-01-31T10:56:00.000-05:00

I have been teaching English for over twenty years. We go through fads every couple of years. I told my Principal, "Do not bring the Springboard people to my classroom unless you want to see some fireworks," and he was smart enough to keep them away from me. I am not teaching that crap and I dare them to try to make me. I think the older, very respected teachers are on the point of rebellion. I've found that most administrators are generally cowards, and somehow related to higher ranking officals. The downtown thiefs are afraid of competent, honest teachers, and they certainly will not let competent, honest administrators into their little club. I don't know how they sleep at night. Most likely, Springboard will go when Elia goes, hopefully soon. College Board will hire her and we will get on with the next fad. And those of us who really teach will continue to be able to look in the mirror with pride.

I am not from your state but I have witnessed some...

2009-01-22T22:55:00.000-05:00

I am not from your state but I have witnessed some of the worst teaching material ever taught. I was subbing for resource where I occasionally have to sit in class and track lessons for resource class students. The story that was presented in the springbrook was vulgar (using bowl movements as a subject), it spoke of students showing disrespect for the teacher and ended by the parent spanking the child, after the child had finally told the truth about his actions. The class had to rescript the ending as a assignment. Well without telling all the gory details you can imagine how 7th grade boys would rescript the lesson. It became more vulgar and disrespectful and of course the punishment became brutal. The teacher looked completely embarrassed. The other resource teacher was shocked, and I was speechless. As a regular citizen with nothing to loose would it help if I complained? I feel with "change" our moto this year why can't a few brave souls say something about this? When I found out from the head of Resource that teachers are forced to teach Springboard weather they liked it or not It made me angry.

concerned Lady from another State.

As a student I highly dislike springboard because ...

2009-01-15T23:47:00.000-05:00

As a student I highly dislike springboard because it consumes a lot of my time for an honors class. I am a senior and I take seven classes. Three are AP's(Chem,Physics,Calculus), two are honors(Econ,Engl) and the other two are for my own enjoyment. For AP classes alone I expect 1-2 hours a night per class if its not a night before a test.I also have prior commitments I have to fulfill like band which includes about one rehearsal a week from 3-5 and I must be prepared for more unexpected. I have yet to recieve anything challenging in economics. However I can not say the same for english. I am not saying my teacher sucks. she is probably one of the best english teachers I have ever had. Its what she has to teach. The material is a joke and if its not a joke its extremely confusing and unclear. Although she has added her own lessons and assignments, which are great, its just more added work in my eyes and if she were to only just follow springboard I think I would need to bring a pillow to class. The tests written for springboard contain errors, are too vague, and too specific. I can not recall learning anything that will help me in the future but learn how to do busy work. The homework load I have to do in that class alone(including group work and projects)makes me feel like the only class I have or should have is english.
To be continued. Students need sleep too.

And so I've been attempting to grade an Embedded A...

2008-12-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

And so I've been attempting to grade an Embedded Assessment for Level IV: Researching and Presenting a Poet. Hmmm, I'm having trouble trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to base my grade on, so I Googled my topic. Yes, we're given a "Scoring Criteria" rubric, but it's pretty sketchy. (Springboard, Collegeboard didn't have any recommendations either, so...) One of the hits from Google was your blog, April. How about that? Apparently you know more about Springboard than most hits on the search engine. What I've learned here is that I'm as disappointed and disillusioned as the rest of the letter writers. I still don't have a clue how I'm going to grade these things, all I know is they all have to pass with flying colors after they all bombed the poorly created exam given to all ninth graders in the county.
I spent two hours combing this exam two weeks before giving it and recommended several changes, as it contained numerous grammatical errors, vague questions, and some questions which BEGGED for an answer where none existed. Did anyone listen to my complaints? Sure--NOT.
The question I have for you is, how do I fit my 50% instruction into my curriculum (as "promised") when I've only been able to insert two of my own lessons so far THIS YEAR?
Yet another unhappy customer

My experiences have been similar. It's frightening...

2008-11-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

My experiences have been similar. It's frightening the amount of skills that Springboard does NOT teach. I can't see test scores going anywhere but down,and you know they will then blame us. The cry will be:"The teachers didn't implement the program correctly." I thought the program was supposed to be rigorous;It's all I can do to try to find any individual grades. I've got parents who know the score contacting me to find out why the kid is not learning anything,and I have to tap dance. Also,theprogram sucks up time. I can't find any time to supplement it in a meaningful way. I can barely face the kids.

I would like to share what it is like at my school...

2008-10-30T19:57:00.000-04:00

I would like to share what it is like at my school regarding springboard. We have all been admonished that we are to plan together and stay together. We have been told that when someone from downtown and/or the college board comes to our classroom to see what we are doing, we had better be on the correct lesson. Then we are thrown obstacles as if planning these outdated springboard lessons were not enough. We are required to stop all lessons once a week and throw in a "mini lesson" prescribed by administration. When given this mandate, we reminded administration that it is against the law to take classroom instruction time and devote it to FCAT preparation. The solution - the book of mandated mini lessons is for all test prep: sat, act, and fcat. What a load of.... Each page lists the strand. Hm. An FCAT strand??? Of course it is. And there is accountability. Someone comes around with a preprinted form and takes notes about what we are doing for our mini lessons. It doesn't matter to them if the mini lesson has nothing to do with the springboard lesson being presented. Talk about confusing the students!! Then every other Friday all lessons in the English classes come to a screeching halt so that we can administer a writing test. If something happens and we don't get the writing test to the assigned teacher in charge of grading it (they are being paid from some undisclosed fund), then we were told it becomes our responsibility to grade all of them. I am just not going to grade something that I didn't assign. It is hard enough to grade what I do assign!! When I am not doing that on Friday, I am administering a reading test. Shouldn't this occur in the reading classes that all of them are enrolled in?? So are we all on the same page in springboard?? What a joke! Even if it was beneficial to the students, the interruptions negate any meaningful learning.

And I am tired of being threatened by the supposed springboard visitors. We have been told to make sure we are using the right kind of paper for posters on the walls and other ridiculous things. Well, my school "lost" the springboard funds. No one seems to know where the money went for the supplies we were supposed to get. Even more disturbing, know one seems to be looking for it. But yet, I am held accountable.

Finally, I have heard that Elia receives a bonus based on the amount of students on springboard. Didn't she get a bonus for the number of students in AP? That was a joke. We have students in AP who cannot even put together a coherent sentence. But as we all know: "Call a student an AP student and miraculously they will become one"! Why is she getting rewarded for things happening in our classrooms. If anyone deserves bonuses, it is the faculty in this county who are busting our butts carrying out her hidden agendas.

We definitely need some changes made to the school board. We need more people like Ms. Griffin who will stand up for the students and stop allowing the superintendent to profit while students flounder.

Teach124You have found the flaw in Springboard. We...

2008-10-09T18:54:00.000-04:00

Teach124
You have found the flaw in Springboard. We are paying millions for a curriculum that is outdated. Yes, there are valid lessons and strategies (none of which are new to those who have been around a while and can you say CRISS?), but you had to go outside the curriculum to find something that your students can relate to. We were told that it is a relevant, engaging curriculum. The texts are not relevant to our students and therefore Springboard is not engaging. We should not have to seek alternative lessons.That is not time efficient.

Had teachers been allowed to see the curriculum and the books before it was forced upon us, we could have told Elia that the district should wait until the curriculum had been updated. But in a dictatorship, you don't ask others' opinions and you don't ever admit you made a mistake, especially one this costly.

Well I seem to always be going against the "norm" ...

2008-10-08T00:14:00.000-04:00

Well I seem to always be going against the "norm" but here it goes. I love the concept behind Springboard. My students enjoy the debates and strategies. I haven't heard any complaints yet. Now I am not going to to necessarily say that I follow the curriculum verbatim, but it is a wonderful guide for teaching a more rigorous curriiculum. However, these concepts of rigor & critical views and arguments are new to many students, especially the ones I teach. It is certainly possible that all students can attain the greatest levels of thinking, learning, acquiring, and assessing but they need plenty of practice to be successful. For example in level 3 Unit 1 (8th grade) there is a SOAPStone strategy using the lyrics from the song HEROES by David Bowie. I knew this would be initially a difficult lesson because my students have no idea who David Bowie is and the Berlin Wall was not front page news in their lifetime. So with this in mind I taught WIDE AWAKE by Audioslave prior. It is a song about Hurricane Katrina. My students had that background knowledge. For homework, one student drew a powerful picture depicting an African-American man holding an infant in waist deep water with helicopters in the air. They could connect to the message. A few days after this lesson, I proceeded into the Berlin Wall and David Bowie's historical message. They enjoyed learning about history and they were much more confident with the SOAPSTONE strategy. The problem with Springboard is how it has pigeon-holed educators into thinking it is the only resource. I believe that many teachers need Springboard to become comfortable with a new approach to learning. There are many teachers like myself who have been using similar techniques and researching their own meaningful resources to ensure that their population of students truly connect with wonderful concepts such self-relient thinking and cooperation. I just hope that if a Springboard evaluator walks into my classroom and sees me teaching TP-CASTT or Reader's Theatre using a different song or play than provided by the workbooks, I will not be criticized. That is truly my only concern. I know that I am behind on getting my point across but I just found this page tonight and couldn't help but respond. This is going to take time and patience, but I agree that it is a shame that TEACHERS did not have a voice in this matter. We are trying to teach students to be more democratic, but with an dictatorial approach.

April,My comments are really intended for Elia and...

2008-09-28T19:15:00.000-04:00

April,

My comments are really intended for Elia and the board as a whole.

How is it that each school seems to be handling SpringBoard in a different way? It seems that some schools are finding their way around it and doing what they know is best for the kids, whereas other schools, as someone wrote, are treating it like it's a religion or the Bible of the English classroom. If SpringBoard really is inherently superior to what was being taught across the nation since the birth and development of education, then why did the district only train the teachers for four days and then cherry-pick less than half the lessons from the workbook, leaving major gaps and inconsistencies? Why did the district, like so many other times, lack transparency? Why is the adoption unaligned with the teacher contract? Why are we the first county in the NATION so bold as to adopt a curriculum that only touts superiority, but does not prove it? If it is worth all the millions and is better than a human being with a college education and certification, then why are teachers being forced, in their exceedingly limited time, due to the SpringBoard and the 6/7, to modify, adapt, mold, supplement, and redevelop the lessons? Shouldn’t the lessons and literature (or rap or songs or movies) be excellent on their own? Shouldn’t there be a separate workbook for English Regular, English Honors, ELL, IEP, and the Gifted? Shouldn’t there be built-in formal assessment in the form of quizzes, tests, and exams, and not just “embedded assessments” that ask kids to make a soundtrack and a scrapbook? This goes against EVERYTHING in education, and it makes me sick with fear and disappointment that people didn't fight to stop this or inform the community. Teachers KNOW it isn't good, and the kids will pay.

This year is lost, but how can we, as a community, ensure that next year won’t be? Are we destined to ruin our children in the English classroom with this garbage for three years or more? What will they do when they get to college? This is a VERY important question that needs answering. I am afraid too many people are “benefiting” from this adoption, and it isn’t the kids or the teachers. I also believe that College Board shouldn’t have a monopoly over our children as they do among AVID, SpringBoard, PSAT, SAT, and AP. “Name brand” won’t make our kids get to college and stay in college. SpringBoard doesn’t fix a darn thing; it merely is a CYA, a band-aid, and a gimmick, all wrapped up in shiny paper with a big dollar sign on top for our superintendent.

Ms. GriffinYou are right. We cant let anyone divi...

2008-09-27T14:55:00.000-04:00

Ms. Griffin

You are right. We cant let anyone divide us. The person who characterized me as a "loose canon" made some good points. I have less to lose and I have a tendency to get on my high horse. :)

I do not teach the Springboard curriculum. So far, Social Studies is not a part of it. I can only comment on what I have heard from my school about how it is going in language arts and math.

I should not have responded to the person who criticized me. I apologize for making it personal.

This is a very valuable place. To have the ear of someone who can really change things is so important.

Thanks for having this place where we can talk to you.

Tom

The math springboard only required 4 lessons or on...

2008-09-27T13:50:00.000-04:00

The math springboard only required 4 lessons or one per quarter. I did "Riddle Me This" in my two Honors Geometry classes, but in the middle of my lessons the administration took my classes away from me due to unit loss. I was notified of the changes on Tuesday and had my schedule changed on Wednesday. An example of how the emphasis on improved communication advocated by our Superintendent has trickled down through the district. Tuesday was the first day of "Riddle me This." So I don't know how the kids liked it or even how they did. I do know that the gaining teachers did not finish it up. But then why should I care, my teaching was not important enough to avoid the schedule change.

I am stepping in at this point to bring the discus...

2008-09-27T11:31:00.000-04:00

I am stepping in at this point to bring the discussion back on topic.

Please stick to the question and help enlighten me and others and not get caught up in battling each other losing sight of what this is all about...the kids and what is best for their current and future success.

I believe we are all in this for the same reason...to help all children succeed. Remembering that success means different things to different people. That's why I am so concerned about this cookie cutter approach that we are taking.

Remember one of the best ways to distract people is to divide and conquer.

Let’s focus.

April

9:15Invested in the job? What are you talking abo...

2008-09-26T22:59:00.000-04:00

9:15

Invested in the job? What are you talking about?

Bet you I have been doing it longer than you. I have no problem with you being anonymous.

Loose canon? LOL...I have been called worse. Maybe I am.

You are certainly right about not having a family relying on me and your p[oint is well taken.

How do I dial back the bravo? :)

It would be nice if you would contribute something to the discussion instead of casting aspersions.

I will work on "dialing back my bravo".

I neglected to sign my name to that last post.

Thomas Vaughan

I am named after my father.

"I may be punished for speaking out, I just don't ...

2008-09-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

"I may be punished for speaking out, I just don't care."

Obviously not invested in the job and/or no family relying on you. Loose canon?

"If I work for an organization what stifles dissent, they can do without me."

You do and they will. Fools rush in? Dial back the bravo "ggtw".

Who were you named after?

September 23, 6:03PMWhy dont you continue to teac...

2008-09-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

September 23, 6:03PM

Why dont you continue to teach your OWN lessons? The district calls you a "professional" when they want you to give away your time.

One of the real characteristics of a professional is the ability to exercise your own judgment.

Why dont you sign your own name? This is a School Board Members blog.

What you are all afraid of? Dont you think April Griffin takes her share of heat by having this non-anonymous blog?

Ms. Griffin, dont you think it odd that professionals who post on your blog are afraid to give their names, even when posting answers to your own thoughtful questions.

Doesn't this fear speak volumes about the culture of fear that pervades the place you govern?

I may be punished for speaking out, I just don't care. If I work for an organization what stifles dissent, they can do without me.

I'm with you Ms. Griffin. We need Gorham on the board. I applaud your courage. I am sad that my fellow teachers dont.

As an educator in middle school the feedback I get...

2008-09-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

As an educator in middle school the feedback I get from kids is that it is either confusing or too easy (this being particularly from the gifted students). From my own child's point of view (high school honors freshman) the feedback I get include comments such as "lame" "stupid" and "just a bunch of busy work" which tells me he hasn't been inspired yet.