Parents: It’s all teacher to me

Exposure to educational jargon begins early.

Spokane Public Schools Superintendent Brian Benzel explained to the school board this week how impressed he was by the kindergarten students at Grant Elementary.

The 5- and 6-year-olds sat on the floor together to listen when the teacher asked them all to practice their “listening rubric.”

Non-educators, like the authors of this story, might confuse a rubric with a Rubik’s Cube, the toy cube of shifting colors. But a rubric is a method of grading, and rubrics are infused throughout district lessons.

In education circles, a whole list of obtuse education terms weave through daily conversations among teachers and administrators.

Starting this week, thousands of area parents will find themselves in grade-school classrooms for the year’s first parent-teacher conferences. Education buzzwords, unfamiliar acronyms and phrases can slip into conversations.

“We (educators) are socialized to a whole set of acronyms,” said Randy Michaelis, who educates neophyte teachers at Whitworth College.

Most teachers really try to keep the jargon out of their talks with parents, Michaelis said.

“I don’t think the teacher is typically trying to speak in obscure acronyms. That’s the instrument they’ve been handed,” Michaelis said.

Further proof of the infusion of acronyms in education is an ice breaker used during an Education Service District 101 educator meeting that opened with a quiz of about 40 terms, from SEA (Spokane Education Association, the teachers union) to NEWASA, which is, um … hold on. Checking Google … Ah, here it is, Northeast Washington Association of School Administrators.

Try to instantly recall what each of these terms mean: OSPI, WASL, AYP, FTE, IEP, ELL, GLE and EALRs (pronounced eel-ers). Those are the basics.

Did you know the No Child Left Behind Act, NCLB, is often referred to as “Nickleby.”

Then there’s also talk about an “aligned curriculum,” “purposeful and intentional teaching,” and “guaranteed and viable curriculum.” These phrases refer to the schools’ best efforts to prepare students to do well on the state’s high-stakes test.

Michaelis admits that language of educators can be used as a parent buffer.

“Sometimes teachers can create some distance with some of that education-speak to create some self-protection,” Michaelis said, adding that public educators have long been easy targets for the general public.

Parent Julie Bongard never forgot her first conference several years ago when her son was in kindergarten.

“I remember thinking this was a big deal, that I better start growing up,” Bongard said.

The professional nutritionist recalled her own kindergarten days as full of milk and graham crackers. Now students are expected to acquire skills to become ready learners.

Bongard can’t define a GLE, a grade level expectation, a sort of road map issued by the state for teachers that breaks down subjects, telling teachers what students need to know and when. She also can’t explain an EALR, the essential academic learning requirements, which also help guide teachers.

Parents with younger children are often thrust into a new world of acronyms and state mandates. Over time it leaves them feeling overwhelmed.

“I remember feeling that way when my kids were smaller,” said Carol Mack, the mother of two Central Valley students. “But year after year,” it gets better.

Mack’s youngest son attends Bowdish Middle School, where teachers and students just finished conferences. The conferences at Bowdish are student-led, leaving most of the talking to the students.

And usually, the students aren’t talking about EALRs, GLEs or the NCLB.

“It was very good. It gives them an opportunity to have some experience in a speaking situation,” Mack said. “They wouldn’t normally talk that way with a parent.”

It’s important for parents to not feel thwarted by the lingo, said educators.

Christine Dotson, a first-grade teacher at Ponderosa Elementary School in Spokane Valley, said it’s important to her that parents feel comfortable during parent-teacher conferences, and that means not using language she called “Edunese.”

“It’s really important for parents and teachers to be partners in the child’s education,” Dotson said. “It’s important to me that parents know I am trying to support them.”

Dotson helps students put together a collection of work in a portfolio for parents to browse through during conferences.

“So I can show parents exactly what students are doing,” Dotson said.

She doesn’t use language like EALR and GLE to show that students are learning. Instead, parents see something tangible as proof of learning.

“It’s a really nice way for children to show their parents how they spend their day,” Dotson said.

Not that children don’t spend their day working on their rubrics and best utilizing intentional educational practices in an optimal learning environment.