In the debate over current school budgets the "average class size" statistic has become increasingly significant. The statistic is misused and covers some disturbing trends that directly affect the quality of what I am able to do.
Admittedly most concrete data and studies indicating benefits of smaller class sizes exists at the lower grade levels but class size matters( See: http://www.heros-inc.org/star.htm or http://www.heros-inc.org/factsheet.htm ). At higher grade levels class size clearly impacts instruction and learning as well. Yes kids can learn in a big lecture style class and they can also learn in a small hands on interactive class. But as a teacher it is more difficult, sometime impossible, to operate as effectively when student loads continue to grow. Am I complaining? Yes.
It is imperative that we work to keep classes with at risk, special education and similarly challenged students small. This is as much for behavioral reasons as it is academic. That means that core classes with "typical" kids are forced to grow. Not being a math teacher that simply means I must devote less attention to each student.
In an educational landscape dominated by hard choice decisions distanced from the classroom, increasing average class size seems an enticing way to increase efficiency. Having more students jeopardizes many of the more engaging and perhaps rigorous activities. Quality feedback and interaction with the teacher declines. This is not good. Can we still teach and kids still learn, yes. But simply put, one can only grade so many essays or homework effectively. That reality somehow gets lost between the desktop and the budget.
We all agree better teaching can mean better learning. While adding students might save money the true cost can never be measured in dollars.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
True Reform Cuts Too Deep
My Psychology class has just finished learning about the theories of Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis. An underlying principle of these theories is that some things are too painful or hard to deal with so we protect our ego through defense mechanisms. I'm not sure if it is just the leadership of our school systems, or American Society in general, but I believe that public education bashing has become a communal defense mechanism to displace the blame of our national problems.
Just over a decade ago, states across the nation began moving toward accountability through standardized testing. From my observations in Virginia, schools largely rose to the challenge. Virginia SOLs viewed as a minimum standard became a benchmark for certain under-performing schools, and a starting point for others. If the Virginia Standards of Learning are quality measures of student performance and school success, our students are doing well. Statewide results can be found here.
After looking at statewide results for all students, with the exception of one category at 83%, every other category shows pass rates of 86% or higher. We can do better, but we're not doing bad. In my classes, when less than three-quarters of my class performs up to par, I question my overall approach. When ten to twenty percent of my students aren't getting it I question my approach to those students. Public schools in the United States are not failing the majority of our students. Our political and educational leaders continue to look "outside" for the answers and demand greater measures of accountability to drive improvement.
Perhaps the answers to "fixing" our system of education can be found within the system itself. What stops us from looking at the qualities of schools, teachers, and students who find success in and through school? For one, I realize that part of the problem is that a "one-size-fits-all" system of education cannot work. That is one reason that some students succeed while others struggle, we use the success of the majority to justify our methods to educate the population. However, I also think that we are somewhat afraid of asking that question because of what we would find.
Two recent articles illuminate part of the answer to this question. The United States ranking in the international results of the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) administration has renewed criticism of the efficacy of American Public education. In a Washington Post op-ed piece, Robert Samuelson states "what we face is not an engineering problem; it's overcoming the legacy of history and culture." In another piece regarding the reform agenda of Michelle Rhee, the media's infatuation with her ideas, and the results of PISA, we get this comment: In large part, the answer is drawn from our brutal history, a history “reformers” don’t like to discuss.
The American public education system is exemplary. We have long realized the necessity of making every effort to guarantee an education to all children within the borders of our land regardless of race, parentage, disability, or attitude. In the drive toward accountability and the results of subsequent testing (whether this is valid or not would require more treatment than available here) we realized that we were doing well in educating the populace, but we are certainly falling short with some.
Now that we know which students are failing, we continue to do our best in the classroom to reach those at risk of being left behind. I can't take credit for all of my successes in the classroom. I've had great mentors, helpful peers, and most importantly some excellent students who sometimes perform well despite my efforts rather than because of them. Likewise, I cannot bear complete responsibility for the failures of my students. Critics of our system(s) of education from within or without do a disservice to our nation's children by leveling the blame on "failing schools" and "under-performing teachers." I agree that those problems should be addressed, but I will candidly admit, we can't do it alone.
Education reform that simply introduces new technologies and instructional strategies won't get us there. Calls for greater accountability and greater testing won't move us forward, they will simply continue to illuminate the problem that we all know exists. Privatization and business models will sell to the public and make someone rich, but won't get us where we need to be.
Any honest discussion of education reform must address the societal issues that impact the students we serve and their varied needs from community to community. That's hard work and requires us to think about more than just changing the way schools do business, but changing the fabric of our communities.
Just over a decade ago, states across the nation began moving toward accountability through standardized testing. From my observations in Virginia, schools largely rose to the challenge. Virginia SOLs viewed as a minimum standard became a benchmark for certain under-performing schools, and a starting point for others. If the Virginia Standards of Learning are quality measures of student performance and school success, our students are doing well. Statewide results can be found here.
After looking at statewide results for all students, with the exception of one category at 83%, every other category shows pass rates of 86% or higher. We can do better, but we're not doing bad. In my classes, when less than three-quarters of my class performs up to par, I question my overall approach. When ten to twenty percent of my students aren't getting it I question my approach to those students. Public schools in the United States are not failing the majority of our students. Our political and educational leaders continue to look "outside" for the answers and demand greater measures of accountability to drive improvement.
Perhaps the answers to "fixing" our system of education can be found within the system itself. What stops us from looking at the qualities of schools, teachers, and students who find success in and through school? For one, I realize that part of the problem is that a "one-size-fits-all" system of education cannot work. That is one reason that some students succeed while others struggle, we use the success of the majority to justify our methods to educate the population. However, I also think that we are somewhat afraid of asking that question because of what we would find.
Two recent articles illuminate part of the answer to this question. The United States ranking in the international results of the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) administration has renewed criticism of the efficacy of American Public education. In a Washington Post op-ed piece, Robert Samuelson states "what we face is not an engineering problem; it's overcoming the legacy of history and culture." In another piece regarding the reform agenda of Michelle Rhee, the media's infatuation with her ideas, and the results of PISA, we get this comment: In large part, the answer is drawn from our brutal history, a history “reformers” don’t like to discuss.
The American public education system is exemplary. We have long realized the necessity of making every effort to guarantee an education to all children within the borders of our land regardless of race, parentage, disability, or attitude. In the drive toward accountability and the results of subsequent testing (whether this is valid or not would require more treatment than available here) we realized that we were doing well in educating the populace, but we are certainly falling short with some.
Now that we know which students are failing, we continue to do our best in the classroom to reach those at risk of being left behind. I can't take credit for all of my successes in the classroom. I've had great mentors, helpful peers, and most importantly some excellent students who sometimes perform well despite my efforts rather than because of them. Likewise, I cannot bear complete responsibility for the failures of my students. Critics of our system(s) of education from within or without do a disservice to our nation's children by leveling the blame on "failing schools" and "under-performing teachers." I agree that those problems should be addressed, but I will candidly admit, we can't do it alone.
Education reform that simply introduces new technologies and instructional strategies won't get us there. Calls for greater accountability and greater testing won't move us forward, they will simply continue to illuminate the problem that we all know exists. Privatization and business models will sell to the public and make someone rich, but won't get us where we need to be.
Any honest discussion of education reform must address the societal issues that impact the students we serve and their varied needs from community to community. That's hard work and requires us to think about more than just changing the way schools do business, but changing the fabric of our communities.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Wishes for the Educational New Year
Start by appointing a really smart, non-partisan, experienced and plain speaking classroom teacher to lead the charge and settle things down(I know many). They'd work with the systems already in place to fix what needs fixing and build on what is working well. This position could be at the national or more appropriately the local level.
We should seek to promote a mentality that fosters pride in our schools and respect for learning. Since international comparisons are all the rage, follow Finland’s lead- http://www.publicpolicyblogger.com/2010/10/linda-darling-hammond-what-we-can-learn.html - Let's make proposals where leaders develop a set of ideals and a framework for success rather than passing strict and inflexible laws and rules that are unproven and stifle and demoralize. Move a little slower in case we are heading in the wrong direction. Immediately stop bashing our schools systems. Build them up instead of blaming them for all the ills of society. Stop ceding control of our community schools to corporations and businesses who are mainly engaged for their own bottom line. Stop allowing economic and political forces to use our schools for personal gain.
Here is my 5 point plan
-Hire better people
-Reduce Bureaucracy-make EVERYONE work directly with kids and in a school building
-Allow teachers to become leaders(give them power to make decisions without leaving the classroom)
-Establish high expectations for students and teachers
-Find Transformational Leaders
-Throw some money at schools with no strings(apparently like we did with Wall Street)
We should seek to promote a mentality that fosters pride in our schools and respect for learning. Since international comparisons are all the rage, follow Finland’s lead- http://www.publicpolicyblogger.com/2010/10/linda-darling-hammond-what-we-can-learn.html - Let's make proposals where leaders develop a set of ideals and a framework for success rather than passing strict and inflexible laws and rules that are unproven and stifle and demoralize. Move a little slower in case we are heading in the wrong direction. Immediately stop bashing our schools systems. Build them up instead of blaming them for all the ills of society. Stop ceding control of our community schools to corporations and businesses who are mainly engaged for their own bottom line. Stop allowing economic and political forces to use our schools for personal gain.
Here is my 5 point plan
-Hire better people
-Reduce Bureaucracy-make EVERYONE work directly with kids and in a school building
-Allow teachers to become leaders(give them power to make decisions without leaving the classroom)
-Establish high expectations for students and teachers
-Find Transformational Leaders
-Throw some money at schools with no strings(apparently like we did with Wall Street)
Friday, December 24, 2010
An Edutalk Happy Holidays
This year we have worked to mesh our outcome-based schemas to innovate proactive relationships. As we extend our peer-based dialogue to the greater community, our hopes for you this season is that you would embrace over-arching objectives in order to re-contextualize school-to-work niches. We believe we've done a good job of reinventing metacognitive interfaces to engineer impactful systems. So may you envision dynamic processes and engage critical competencies.
If you understood anything that I just said, then you need a holiday. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope that you can at least find a day of rest and enjoy a break if not tomorrow, sometime over this break. And if you have nothing else to do, play with the "Educational Jargon Generator" and create your own masterpiece like the one above.
If you understood anything that I just said, then you need a holiday. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope that you can at least find a day of rest and enjoy a break if not tomorrow, sometime over this break. And if you have nothing else to do, play with the "Educational Jargon Generator" and create your own masterpiece like the one above.
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