Data-Driven Decision-Making Kills Crickets!

“Diana Virgo, a math teacher at the Loudoun Academy of Science in Virginia, gives students a more real-world experience with functions. She brings in a bunch of chirping crickets into the classroom and poses a question:” So begins a story related in the book “Made to Stick” by Chip and Dan Heath. They applaud the teacher for providing a concrete lesson to understand the notion of a mathematical “function.”

I learned a different lesson altogether from this story. After gathering all the data relating to chirp rates and temperature, the students plug the information into a software package and--- AHA! The hotter it is, the faster crickets chirp and even better, IT’S PREDICTABLE! Now students have a concrete example of what a function is and what it does. Next comes the point where the story grabs me. The Heath brothers mention (in parenthesis no less, even calling it a side note, as if this isn’t the main point) that “Virgo also warns her students that human judgment is always indispensible.” For example, if you plug the temperature 1000 degrees into the function, you will discover that crickets chirp really fast when it is that hot.

The moral of the story is this: Data-driven decision-making kills crickets!

Unfortunately, it can also kill good instruction. Recently while attending a district-wide work-session on Professional Learning Communities, a nationally recognized consultant suggested reasons why teachers at a small middle school without colleagues in the same subject should collaborate with teachers from other schools in the same subject. He suggested that when these inter-school teams see that one teacher has better data in a given area, the others could learn what that teacher is doing to get such good results.

I’m not against this type of collaboration, but could it be possible that a teacher from one school whose student testing results (data) are not so good is still better than a teacher in a different school with excellent data? For example, might the data at school A look better than school B because students are getting better support at home. Perhaps school B spends more time making sure students are fed and clothed before concentrating on the job of instruction. What if school A has stronger leadership and teacher performance reflects teacher moral, support, or professional development?

Teachers must collaborate and share stories relating to instruction that works, but if student test-data is the only metric used to evaluate effectiveness we are essentially determining that crickets chirp very fast at 1000 degrees. There is a better choice than “data-driven.” Next week I’ll share my thoughts on this alternative and together we can strive to “save the crickets.”

Follow-up Post: Why Data-Informed Trumps Data-Driven

Education Reform Lessons from Egypt

History teachers live for a time like this.  The "Jasmine Revolution" blooms.  Following popular demonstrations and protests in Tunisia, the news of Egypt has captured the world, and we wait to see what will happen in Yemen, Algeria, and Jordan.  Remember 1989, across Europe, oppressive governments crumbled and the world changed seemingly overnight.  I wonder if the world is about to change again.

Across the nation, people are calling for a revolution in the way we do education even if they stop short of using the word revolution.  Many people are taking the opportunity in light of the recent resignation of Hosni Mubarak to point out that Egypt has achieved the beginning of democratic reforms in just eighteen days, contrasted with sustained efforts to create democratic reforms in other countries in the world despite millions of dollars and years of effort.  Are there lessons from these developments that could serve our quest to lead improvements in education?

First, the "social media" impact on the Egyptian protests may be overstated, but clearly, openness and communication were vital in the spread of ideas and the linking of like-minded individuals able to make a difference in the nation.  Social media didn't spark this revolution, but it certainly facilitated.  Some of the primary work needed to facilitate revolution in education will occur when teachers become more connected and find ways to effectively spread their ideas; more than just "lessons that work" but deep ideas on how we educate our students.  That is part of the inspiration for this blog, and the reason we try to encourage comments and feedback from readers.

Second, in the media we are hearing many comparisons with efforts at democratic reform in Iraq to the popular movements underway int the middle east.  Whether one agrees or disagrees with U.S. involvement in Iraq, the shift toward democracy has been long, expensive, and difficult.  In Iraq, the democratic reform has the appearance of coming from the top down, or perhaps even imposed rather than grown.  Imposed reform is not organic.  It is too disconnected from the reality of the people.  When I cast my vote for legislators in Washington to represent my interests, the reality on the ground in a nation thousands of miles away is vastly different.  The gulf between classroom reality and the thoughtful minds of those who believe they have the ideas to reform has grown too deep.

From WikiLeaks to the Jasmine Revolution, the lesson of the 21st century is becoming increasingly clear.  Meaningful change and reform is no longer vertical.  Thomas Friedman noted that "The World is Flat."  The longer this fact is resisted in education the longer it will take for our American education system to move out of the 20th century.

Image: http://images.wikia.com/simpsons/images/c/c9/OrigianlChalkboardS1E06.png

Free Speech and the Ultimate Education Taboo

Freedom

At least some of the nation is familiar by now with the case of Natalie Munroe.  Munroe stands to lose her job as a teacher because of the comments made on her blog.  The blog has been removed, but the last page cached by Google can still be viewed.  I've read reports of the comments in other news stories and while the comments reflect poor judgement and attitude in general, it does not appear that any of them were directed at a student in general.  Should she lose her job for engaging in this type of free speech?

I have certainly made efforts to skirt some of the major issues and problems facing my school district when writing on this blog for fear that it could lead to negative outcomes, but I have never felt the urge to publicly vent my frustrations regarding students.  Munroe expressed that this blog was a personal blog, never intended for student or administrator viewing.  I believe that lesson number one for all of us is that we give up the right to choose our audience when content is posted online in any forum.  Just this year, students began to discover another blog that I maintain which has become an expression of my religious faith.  When they ask me about it or comment on it at school I start to get a little anxious about what kind of repercussions this could have in my teaching profession.

So how much freedom do teachers have to express themselves and their personal opinons online?  Perhaps a good standard would be that if it is acceptable in public it should be acceptable online.  I cannot pass judgement on this particular case without really seeing not only the comments, but the context of Munroe's musings, but this information is not currently available.  Many teachers have chosen to go the route of sarcasm and parody to anonymously bemoan and complain about difficulties of teaching.  (A prime example being Mr. Teachbad -- be warned, this content is not always G-rated quality)  Even if we draw the line at student directed criticism, how far can a teacher go in criticising the institutions which employ them?

I have frequently resisted the urge to use this forum to raise issues pertaining to my high school and school division, but sometimes I want to open the window on our school to the public and help them see what day-to-day life in the school looks like so they can better understand the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Is that appropriate?

Taboo 

The second issue raised by the "Natalie Munroe Blog Scandal" is that of student motivation and accountability.  Increasingly, this has become the taboo topic for discussion in the public policy forums of education.  I have been lucky to teach mostly seniors in elective Psychology classes for the last six or seven years.  With a few exceptions, they are capable and eager to learn.  But I can vividly remember some of the classes that were not.  My third year of teaching I had already decided that a career change was in order if things did not improve the next.  They did, but as much a result of my students as my effort. 

In responding to the Munroe story, one commenter urged her to get out of the profession anyway because part of the job of a teacher is to motivate these students to learn.  If more people outside of the classroom understood how much of a struggle this can be, the impression of teachers in America would greatly change.  Increasingly, accountability drops in the lap of teachers at the exclusion of all else.  One argument takes the analogy of production.  If a company builds a defective product, the product isn't blamed for coming out flawed.  I've yet to meet a "product" that plays a role in its own development, possessing the autonomy and ability to respond to or rebel against the process which creates it.

I never want to be the teacher, and I would never support a teacher who attempts to make students shoulder the entire responsibility of their own education, but questioning the ability, motivation, or effort of students has become the taboo topic of education.  If nothing else, I hope this event opens the door to looking holistically at how we promote student achievement.  Accountability for administrators in providing solid leadership, accountability for teachers in providing quality instruction, and accountability from students in taking ownership of their learning and achievement.

My thoughts on all of this could change over time, but I believe it really opens the doors for discussion that could benefit our profession and the individuals in it.  What are the limits to teachers' free speech online?  and Is it time that we break the taboo of questioning student responsibility and accountability for their own education?

Image: http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/internet-social-networking-computer-monitor-privacy-monitoring-300x200.jpg

Innovation in Education: The Missing Link

I predict that “innovation” will soon become the newest addition to the famous Lake Superior State U list of “Banished Words.”  So confident that I just submitted it on their website and I encourage you to as well.  I do not oppose the idea, indeed I embrace it, but I think we’ve exhausted the word's usefulness to our lexicon.

Despite my misgivings, I must use the word here to describe why in education, true innovation is so rare.  A recent TED Talk by TED Curator, Chris Anderson helped me gain a better appreciation for innovation and led me to think about why this sort of innovation is so elusive in the world of education.

Anderson coined the phrase “crowd accelerated innovation,” but in his talk he argues that innovation has always been a group process.  The difference today lies in the internet’s ability to ramp up the group process to a level never before achieved.  So for Anderson, innovation requires three elements—a crowd, light, and desire.  The crowd is a community of individuals with a shared interest or purpose.  Light refers to the need for each member of the community to be visible, to see what every other member is up to.  Finally, without desire, no motivation exists for creativity or moving forward rather than taking satisfaction in the status quo.

On the surface, all of these elements appear to be in place within the world of education.  We have no shortage of community, countless parents, teachers, administrators, and even business leaders are committed to elevating the level of education in the community and the nation.  A ready supply of desire exists few causes more noble than preparing young minds to reach their full potential in life.  I contend that light is the missing link in true innovation of our profession.

Light requires individual connection and the visibility of all members of the crowd.  We have a façade of light in the world of education, but we still lack the true connection and visibility required for effective innovation.  In Anderson’s talk he gives several examples of how internet video has sped innovation in several areas. 

One example refers to a Unicyclist.  Today, a unicyclist may watch his or her community of cyclists perform various tricks and stunts on YouTube.  Rather than passively watching, the cyclist may then take the ideas seen in the video, practice them, make them better, then share the innovation with the community where other cyclists may repeat the pattern, thus accelerating the rate of innovation among Unicyclists worldwide. 

A more sober example refers to scientific procedures caught on video which serve to make replication of such procedures easier and more accurate versus the traditional method of pouring through pages of text and making assumptions in order to confirm scientific findings.

In both cases, the practitioners of the discipline openly share their ideas and practices with the community.  This open sharing facilitates crowdsourcing as everyone in the community is now free to take these ideas, shape them into something new, and share the results back to the community.

So what’s stopping this from happening in education.  First is the drive toward standardization.  We have standardized tests from common standards leading to a common curriculum.  The myth that arises from this is that we can have standardized instruction.  With other types of innovation, the crowd is free to adopt what works, adapt it to their situation, and share successes or failures.  The more we expect standardized instruction from teachers, the less freedom they will enjoy to experiment with what works and what doesn't in their classrooms. 

We bemoan the effect of teaching silos, but when innovation is more top down than lateral, innovation is not really innovation.  It is a manager with an idea expecting his or her employees to make it work.  Teachers do have opportunities to avail themselves of each others expertise in order to benefit from crowd accelerated innovation, but it gets harder by the day.

Time has become a great issue.  Under the auspices of economy, teacher workloads have increased across the nation.  I suspect though that economy is the scapegoat for this action.  Political and educational leaders alike pay lip service to teachers with general statements about their hard work and ability, but their policies and agendas treat them more like assembly line workers than artists.  School districts must provide teachers with the space for reflection and innovation rather than working them non-stop while expecting others outside of the classroom to be the innovation minded.

Just in the last three days, I've been able to watch my fifth grade son engage with his classmates on "Edmodo."  At lunch I shared the story with a colleague.  By the end of the day he was showing me how he had begun to integrate it into one of his electives and the useful features that I hadn't even noticed while watching my son work.  While showing me this, I talked about some ways that I had been using my blog to supplement some of our class activities and he explained how certain features were more suited to the "wiki" spaces that he had set up for another project.  Later, over this weekend I showed my wife how to create a Prezi presentation for a grad school project.  I got the idea when another teacher sent several links to resources that she had used successfully in her US Government classes.

All of this took place with no more than one hour of interaction at the most.  I would love to take all of these resources-- the blog, edmodo, wikispaces, and prezi-- for the next month and really integrate them into instruction to find out what works, what doesn't, and what is worth pushing on to my colleagues as we collaboratively engage in the process of innovation.  As a teacher, I will take all of the isolated minutes that I can scrap to engage in the collaborative process of innovation.  I would ask from the public, politicians, and especially the educational leaders who directly make decisions to protect this space for classroom teachers, and facilitate innovation in education by allowing us to become a greater part of this process.

Images: 

http://www.cooltownstudios.com/images/crowdsourcing-cartoon.jpg
http://www.extremeunicycles.com/Unicycles.jpg