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SALT LAKE CITY — Years ago, Lily Eskelsen Garcia asked her class of fifth-graders to imagine a comet was on a collision course with Earth. They were among the lucky ones headed to a space colony far away and could choose three people and three items to bring with them.
In the essays Garcia got back, some students said they would bring their best friends and movie stars, along with items such as reprogrammable video games and hair products. No surprise.
But one student challenged the premise of the exercise:
"I live with my mom and dad and my two little brothers, and I could never leave one of them behind to die," the student wrote, "so I would give up my seat so they could all go and then I would hope that the scientists were wrong about the Earth being destroyed, then I would help them build a space laser and then I would blast the comet before it hit and then I would take the next space ship and then I would catch up with my family."
The technical response, Garcia said, would have been: "What a terrible run-on sentence." Instead, she found herself asking, "Where do I put the A+ in compassion?"
"I worry about what has happened to the world of education, where someone like this young man is not captured in terms of their special talents," said Garcia, president of the National Education Association and Utah's 1989 teacher of the year. "Those are the kinds of answers you cannot fit on a standardized test."
Garcia echoed messages from other educators Wednesday at a conference hosted by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, calling for a "transformation" of educational policy and practices, as well as giving teachers a stronger voice in adopting innovative practices that meet the needs of students.
Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, president of the Utah Education Association and Utah's 2009 teacher of the year, said a transformation that needs to take place in Utah is making teachers "credible messengers" to policymakers on what works in the classroom and what doesn't.
"I think that the message behind this conference is to transform teachers to become the voice of the experts in education," Gallagher-Fishbaugh said. "We've been given this opportunity and this platform as teachers of the year, but we need to use it to move the profession along. … The whole point is to empower educators to speak up for what they know, what they've lived, what they know is good for kids."
Mohsen Ghaffari, Utah's 2015 teacher of the year and a fifth-grade instructor at North Star Elementary in Salt Lake City, said the transformative focus he's taken has been to extend the learning process beyond the classroom.
"I have done a lot with the community and with the parents," Ghaffari said.
I think that the message behind this conference is to transform teachers to become the voice of the experts in education. We've been given this opportunity and this platform as teachers of the year, but we need to use it to move the profession along. … The whole point is to empower educators to speak up for what they know, what they've lived, what they know is good for kids.
–Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, Utah Education Association president
He noted that he shares research on the learning process with parents "so they also know that what their job is as far as continuing that education that I do in my classroom so they can do it at home. I think information is powerful for all of us."
Ghaffari said student collaboration and keeping an active learning environment could also be enhanced in schools throughout the state.
"I do very little teaching," he said. "But I help them become good students by knowing how to learn, so they learn from each other. Obviously, I teach in little chunks. But then the rest of it, they are so active in the classroom and working with each other, they've learned how to be a good student."
Part of the discussion Wednesday came in light of consideration by the U.S. Senate this week to replace No Child Left Behind, a controversial federal education law that some teachers say has led to excessive testing that offers little prescriptive guidance for teachers.
"We are about to see the transformation of everything if we can end this national nightmare of judging a whole and blessed child on nothing more than one standardized test on one day of their lives," Garcia said. "It's time to trust the professionals who know the names of those students to do what's right in their schools."
Gov. Gary Herbert spoke to the educators gathered from various states. He said better communication is needed between lawmakers and teachers "on the front lines" to determine how to "raise the bar."
Herbert noted Utah's bottom rank in per-pupil funding and said Utah teachers have been able to stretch limited education dollars further than other states.
"I applaud our teachers in Utah because, as some of you know, we have not given them a lot of resources. We're the most conservative state in America when it comes to the amount of funding we spend per pupil," the governor said. "It's not something I'm necessarily proud of, but I'm proud of the results that are coming out of that."
The governor also said states should continue to maintain their rights with regard to education policy, and that federal "overreach" continues to be a problem, such as through No Child Left Behind.
John King, senior adviser to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, acknowledged Herbert's remarks on states' leading roles in education but said the federal government also plays a role in maintaining the civil rights of students and ensuring that actions are taken to improve schools that are falling behind.
Those are responsibilities that Congress should remember as it deliberates on a way to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replace No Child Left Behind, King said.
"The message of 'just leave it all to the states' does not always serve the civil rights of Americans very well," King said. "That doesn't mean the federal government should prescribe the action; action can be defined by the states. But we need to maintain the federal role of protecting the rights of our students."
