Parental [Dis]engagement

by Robert Pondiscio
October 31st, 2009

Posted in Parents, Teaching | 4 Comments »

Middle school teacher Mrs. Bluebird loves PowerSchool, her district’s online grading system.  It lets her update students’ grades from home, run progress reports and all kinds of other tricks.   “Parents can check grades any time of the night or day, see that work is missing, and can even get grade updates emailed to them,” she writes at her blog, Bluebird’s Classroom.  “Students hate it because parents can keep a really close eye on what they are, or more precisely, what they are not doing,” she says.

In other words, for home-school communications, it’s the greatest thing since the parent-teacher conference.  Well, maybe not.

The District folks did a survey of PowerSchool usage and discovered that only 20% of the families in the District have ever logged on to PowerSchool.  Let me repeat that…20%. That’s it. 89% supposedly have access to a computer but only 20% have made the effort to check their child’s grades.  That silence you hear is the sound of parent involvement, or, more precisely, the lack thereof.

In response, Bluebird’s principal continues to send home report cards, despite the district’s move to go paperless.  “My team sent home 97 report cards. I had 47 students fail science for this nine weeks. To date, I have not heard a peep. No email, no call requesting a conference, nothing,” she laments.  ”It’s like they don’t even care.  And we wonder why the kids don’t care either.”

[H/T: Blogboard]

The Slumdog Ate My Homework

by Robert Pondiscio
October 30th, 2009

Posted in Education News | No Comments »

The two child stars of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire are in danger of losing a trust fund set up by the movie’s producers because they’re not regularly attending school.  The parents of 10-year-old Rubina Ali and 11-year-old Azhar Mohammed Ismail blame the absences on deaths in the family and other problems.  But the two are reportedly skipping class to take advantage of endorsement deals and other opportunities to cash in on their celebrity. 

“Our love got a little bit tougher today,” Slumdog producer Christian Colson tells the Associated Press.  “We understand there are opportunities for both kids — and for the parents of both children — to cash in, in the short term, on their celebrity. We don’t have a problem with that. But if they want to benefit from the trust, they have to get those attendance rates up.” 

Colson and Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle arranged to have the kids attend a Mumbai school that helps disadvantaged children after the movie wrapped up.  However Azhar is reportedly showing up at the school only 37 percent of the time; Rubina only 27 percent.

I Am Shocked, SHOCKED, To Find Gambling Going On Here

by Robert Pondiscio
October 29th, 2009

Tags: ,
Posted in accountability, Research and Reports | 5 Comments »

Researchers at the National Center for Education Statistics have found evidence that “a majority of states may have lowered student-proficiency standards on state tests in recent years.”

One For the Price of Two

by Robert Pondiscio
October 29th, 2009

Posted in Teacher Training, Teaching | 2 Comments »

At Teacher Beat, Stephen Sawchuck highlights an intriguing study that shows Los Angeles students taught by Teach For America teachers “outperformed peers who were taught by other teachers—including veterans with many more years of experience.”  The study is another feather in TFA’s cap, but there is one aspect of the study that may unwittingly reinforce anti-TFA criticism.   Note how the methodology is described:

The study included 119 second-year or alumni Teach For America teachers who taught either reading or math in grades 2-12 during both 2005 and 2006 in 27 different LAUSD schools. As a control, the study also evaluated the impact of 1,190 non-Teach For America teachers who taught the same grade levels and subjects in the same schools as the Teach For America teachers.

I’m not surprised that high-achieving, driven and energetic TFA corps members are pretty decent teachers in Year Two, and alumni even moreso.  When you recruit top-shelf candidates, you expect them to move down the learning curve in short order.  But what about Year One?  Having worked with a significant number of first-year corp members, it’s fair to say most struggle.  That’s not a knock on TFA.  First year is a struggle for every new teacher. 

The study is dated December 2008, and Sawchuck notes there’s a reason it’s only coming out now:

Initially, the study was performed for internal purposes. Having provided quite a bundle of financial backing for TFA, Broad wanted to get a sense of how its investment was paying off in terms of stronger student learning. But officials for the group said they ultimately decided to make the study public given the growing national conversation about teacher effectiveness.

The proposition of TFA is that they’re better — or certainly no worse — on Day One than existing teachers.  If they’re solid in year two, but ineffective in year one, you’re essentially getting one good year for the price of two if they don’t stay past their two-year commitment.  I’m not sure that’s a message TFA wants to send. 

Core Knowledge Quiz: American Symbols and Icons

by Robert Pondiscio
October 28th, 2009

Posted in Core Knowledge, Core Knowledge Quiz | 6 Comments »

On this day in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland at a ceremony in New York harbor.  This week’s Core Knowledge Quiz is about the Statue of Liberty and other American symbols.  In schools usng the Core Knowledge Sequence, children begin to recognize and become familiar with the Statue of Liberty and other national symbols starting in kindergarten.

  1. How many rays are on the Statue of Liberty’s crown and what do they symbolize? 
  2. The Statue of Liberty holds a torch in one hand and a tablet in the other with the date July 4, 1776.  What lies at the statue’s feet and why? 
  3. Benjamin Franklin described this bird as “a much more respectable bird…and a true original Native of America” and favored it over the bald eagle as America’s national symbol.  What was it? 
  4. Construction of which monument began in 1848, but was stalled for over 20 years by, among other factors, lack of funds and the Civil War? 
  5. An upstate New York businessman who sold beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 was given a nickname that evolved into a symbol for the American government.  Which symbol? 
  6. The 50 stars on the American flag stand for the 50 states.  What do the stripes stand for? 
  7. True or false: The four Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore appear from left to right in the order in which they served as President.   
  8. On the Great Seal of the United States, what is the eagle clutching in its talons and what do they represent? 
  9. The reverse of the Great Seal, most commonly seen on the back of the one-dollar bill, shows an unfinished pyramid topped by an eye.  What is the eye called and what does it symbolize? 
  10. The bald eagle is the national bird.  The rose is the national flower.  Does the U.S. have a national tree?

  Answers below: Read the rest of this entry »

Not Either/Or…It’s AND

by Robert Pondiscio
October 28th, 2009

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Curriculum, Educational Policy | 2 Comments »

At Eduwonk, Andy Rotherham catches up to Russ Whitehurst’s paper, Don’t Forget Curriculum.  But he misses the boat when he writes, “I’m not sure when curriculum and reforms like choice, teacher quality, etc…became either/or.”   I’m not sure where Andy’s getting that message, but it’s not from Russ Whitehurst, who went out of his way NOT to say that.  Here’s the relevant quote from his paper:

This is not to say that curriculum reforms should be pursued instead of efforts to create more choice and competition through charters, or to reconstitute the teacher workforce towards higher levels of effectiveness, or to establish high quality, intensive, and targeted preschool programs, all of which have evidence of effectiveness. It is to say that leaving curriculum reform off the table or giving it a very small place makes no sense.

Over at the American Enterprise Institute’s blog, Charles Murray adds his voice to the curriculum choir.

The Best and Wisest Parent

by Robert Pondiscio
October 27th, 2009

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Educational Policy | 6 Comments »

Invoking John Dewey’s maxim that a community should want for all children what the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, Diane Ravitch wants small classes and the presence of the arts in schools that are physically attractive and well-maintained.  At Bridging Differences, she notes none of these ideas are driving education policy at present.

The president’s Department of Education will dispense nearly $5 billion, not to reduce class sizes, not to expand access to the arts, and not to improve the beauty and functionality of our public schools, but to incentivize the workforce with merit pay; to increase the privatization of struggling schools; and to compel teachers to teach to admittedly poor tests by tying teacher pay to students’ test scores.

If we’re making lists, I want my child to attend a school that sees itself as a place of learning first and foremost, with a rich, well-rounded curriculum; a view of reading as a means to academic achievement rather than an end in itself; and teachers and administrators who are not afraid to be grownups.

Trick or Tweet?

by Robert Pondiscio
October 27th, 2009

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Students, Teaching | 2 Comments »

Some months ago, I challenged teachers to give examples of good classroom uses of Twitter without using the term “engagement.”  In other words, is it possible to use the micro-blogging site to extend learning or create understanding in a superior way to other teaching methods?  It led to a lively discussion, but I’m not sure I ever heard a compelling answer.

Along comes a recent EdWeek look at classroom uses of Twitter, which describes how teachers “first found Twitter valuable for reaching out to colleagues and locating instructional resources. Now, they’re trying it out in the classroom as an efficient way to distribute assignments and to foster collaboration among students.”  Kathleen Kennedy Manzo’s piece also sounds a cautious and skeptical tone, noting the educational effectiveness of Twitter “or the implications those quick, short-form communications may have for students’ thinking and learning are not known.”

The piece reproduces a series of Tweets from an 11th grade history class in Virginia:

teacher From slavery 2 White House, Michelle Obama’s slave roots revealed. Comments please!
7:46 PM Oct 8th from web

student 1 @fhsush this is really shocking that they traced it back that far and found a tie it really just amazing
8:07 PM Oct 8th from web

student 2 @fhsush thats AMAZING. times have really changed. that is amazing that they can trace back that far.
8:11 PM Oct 8th from web in reply to fhsush

student 1 @fhsush WOW! i would have never guessed that. its awesome to see such a connections to slavery in our own White House. amazing
8:19 PM Oct 8th from web in reply to fhsush

I don’t wish to be unkind, but this is not exactly a riveting exchange for 11th graders, although to be fair, 140 characters is not a lot to work with unless you write headlines for the New York Post.   Lucas Ames, the history teacher in the above exchange apparently gives students the choice of “participating in the Twitter feed or writing an extra research paper.” (Somewhere Will Fitzhugh is clutching his chest and gasping for breath.)

“These students are not always sure about how to use the Internet to find and filter information, so this is forcing them to do that,” said Mr. Ames, who requires students to submit only school-related tweets. “It’s getting kids who aren’t necessarily engaged in class engaged in some sort of conversation.”

Manzo quotes Dan Willingham extensively in the piece.  His attitude seems more agnostic than skeptical. 

Like any other tool, the way we make it useful is to consider very carefully what this particular tool is very good at, rather than simply say, ‘I like Twitter, so how can I use it?’ ” said Mr. Willingham, who is the author of the new book, Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom.  “The medium is not enough,” he added. “People talk about the vital importance of Web 2.0 and 3.0, and that kids have got to acquire those skills. But we can’t all just be contributing to wikis and tweeting each other. Somebody’s got to create something worth tweeting.”

Having started out as a Twitter skeptic, I’ve warmed to it a little.  I’ve certainly found it helpful, as Manzo writes, as a way to share resources and keep up with what others are saying and reading.  But it’s not very satisfying for anything other than one-way communication—sending or receiving.   It’s the equivalent of scanning the headlines of the paper.  When something intrigues me, I need more than the headline offers.  Thus my challenge to describe a learning activity for which Twitter offers more than student engagement may be a fool’s errand.  In the end, that might be the alpha and omega of what Twitter is good at, per Willingham.  That’s not nothing.  But engagement isn’t learning–it’s a prerequisite to learning.

Farms, Field Trips and Test Scores

by Robert Pondiscio
October 26th, 2009

Posted in Assessment and Testing, Curriculum | 7 Comments »

The New York Times rode along with 75 Harlem kindergarteners last week on a field trip to the Queens County Farm Museum to  gaze at cows and sheep “not only for a glimpse of rural life, but to rack up extra points on standardized tests.”

New York State’s English and math exams include several questions each year about livestock, crops and the other staples of the rural experience that some educators say flummox city children, whose knowledge of nature might begin and end at Central Park. On the state English test this year, for instance, third graders were asked questions relating to chickens and eggs. In math, they had to count sheep and horses.

The Harlem Success Academy has “invented a form of test preparation,” in the Times’ telling. “The schools haul their students to a farm each year, hoping to expose them to the rural life and lift their scores.” 

Someone here may be doing a teeny bit of overselling.  If HSA has taken to heart the connection between their students’ background knowledge and reading comprehension, that’s terrific.   Broad general knowledge certainly correlates with reading ability, but the test of a school’s dedication to that proposition is best measured in its commitment to a rich, well-rounded curriculum day after day, not the occasional field trip.  Unfortunately, the Times story doesn’t shed any light on the school’s overall approach to building background knowledge apart from its ostensibly novel “field study” idea.

Mind you, I’m thrilled to see the Times point out that “prior knowledge of a subject can significantly improve a child’s performance on tests.” It’s a connection that can’t be made too often. It might have been more helpful however, had they substituted “reading comprehension” for “performance on tests” in that sentence.   Creating the impression that kids should see cow or pick a pumpkin because farming might come up on a test years later strikes me as a bit of a stretch (whether it’s on the part of the Times or the school is unclear).   Background knowledge and vocabulary move in mysterious ways, creating unexpected and unpredictable connections.  At the Early Ed Watch Blog, Lisa Guernsey offers a somewhat more nuanced take:

A child who has explored a pumpkin patch will have a much easier time in the future when he or she comes across paragraphs about vines and tendrils, maturing fruit and harvest time. And it’s not just children’s reading skills, of course, that can improve. Their grasp of science and social studies becomes more sophisticated too.

Indeed, if there’s anything that rankles about the Times account, it’s viewing a field trip through the simple—and simplistic—lens of testing.  “I want to do better on homework and tests,” five-year-old Julliana Jimenez tells the paper.  At the risk of being retrograde, it’s a bit dispiriting to hear a kindergartener expressing any concern at all about tests, which don’t start until 3rd grade in New York.  One wonders where she picked it up.  Build broad general knowledge in children.  That will lead to broad language competence.  Let the testing take care of itself.

Does Good Teaching Equal Good Test Scores?

by Robert Pondiscio
October 24th, 2009

Tags: , ,
Posted in Education News | 13 Comments »

In his New York  Times column praising the Obama administration’s “quiet revolution” on education, David Brooks writes ”there is clear evidence that good teachers produce consistently better student test scores.”   I ask this question not rhetorically, but in earnest: what is the “clear evidence” to which Brooks refers?   Is there a study that defines good teaching, identifies good teachers and THEN looks at the impact of those teachers on test scores?

If we define good teaching as the ability to raise tests scores, Brooks’ assertion is merely a tautology.

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