Getting a great education that the tests can’t measure

December 11, 2009

As I sit with officials from the Texas Education Agency and the Dallas ISD discussing what goes on in our classrooms, I often reflect that the drive to testing frequently pushes education out of the classroom.

One of my favorite education blogs, the Living Classroom, comes out of a the West Seattle Community School where, many days — perhaps most days — education goes on in wonderful ways.  No test could ever capture the progress made.

Latest example:  This boy made this squid.  He had fun doing it.  He learned a lot.  Look at the excitement.

(Somebody get P. Z. Myers’ attention:  P. Z.!  Look at this squid!)

Asher and his amazing squid, The Living Classroom, West Seattle Community School

Asher and his amazing squid, The Living Classroom, West Seattle Community School

It’s pretty colorful, even for a squid, but I’ll wager the kid now knows more about squids than most Texas ninth grade biology students.  Of course, sewing squids is not among the list of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.  What Asher now knows . . . such learning would have to be smuggled into a Texas classroom.

When education is outlawed, only outlaws will have education.


U.S. Rhodes Scholars, 2009

November 23, 2009

Rhodes Trust’s American branch announced the 32 winners of Rhodes Scholarships in 2009’s competition.  List of winners and press release below — congratulations to the winners, and congratulations to all the finalists, each of whom probably deserved to win.

American Rhodes Scholars-elect for 2010
(Subject to ratification by the Rhodes Trustees after acceptance by one of the colleges of Oxford University)

District 1

Maine, Bowdoin College
Mr. William J. Oppenheim III
112 Rosebrook Road
New Canaan, Connecticut 06840

New Jersey, Brown University
Mr. Zohar Atkins
9 Melrose Place
Montclair, New Jersey 07042

District 2

Connecticut, Wesleyan University
Mr. Russell A. Perkins
1583 Ashland Avenue
Evanston, Illinois 60201

Massachusetts, Yale University
Mr. Matthew L. Baum
90 Jensen Road
Watertown, Massachusetts 02472

District 3

New York, Swarthmore College
Mr. Mark Dlugash
16 North Chatsworth Avenue, Apt. 210
Larchmont, New York 10538

New York, United States Military Academy
Ms. Alexandra P. Rosenberg
10 Liberty Street, Apt. 43B
New York, New York 10005

District 4

Delaware, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ms. Caroline J. Huang
10 Rising Road
Newark, Delaware 19711

Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Mr. Henry L. Spelman
10 Woodbrook Lane
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

District 5

Maryland/DC, University of Virginia
Mr. Tyler S. Spencer
3408 Dent Place, NW
Washington, DC 20007

North Carolina, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ms. Ugwechi W. Amadi
113 Tulip Tree Drive
Camden, North Carolina 27921

District 6

Georgia, Harvard College
Ms. Grace Tiao
5162 Sunset Trail
Marietta, Georgia 30068

Virginia, College of William and Mary
Ms. Kira C. Allman
5223 Blockade Reach
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

District 7

Alabama, Auburn University
Mr. Jordan D. Anderson
5602 Club Lane
Roanoke, Virginia 24018

Florida, Harvard College
Ms. Roxanne E. Bras
602 Trumpet Place
Celebration, Florida 34747

District 8

Texas, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Ms. Elizabeth B. Longino
3243 Greenbrier Drive
Dallas, Texas 75225

Texas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mr. Steven Mo
418 Chickory Wood Court
Pearland, Texas 77584

District 9

Indiana, Harvard College
Mr. Darryl W. Finkton
4335 Shady View Drive, Apt. 2C
Indianapolis, Indiana 46226

Kentucky, University of Louisville
Ms. Monica L. Marks
99 East Star Hill Road
Rush, Kentucky 41168

District 10

Illinois, Stanford University
Mr. Daniel D. Shih
2710 Yorkshire Court
Aurora, Illinois 60502

Michigan, Harvard College
Ms. Jean A. Junior
2303 Somerset Boulevard
Troy, Michigan 48084

District 11

Iowa, University of Chicago
Ms. Stephanie A. Bell
3725 Greenbranch Drive
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265

Wisconsin, Harvard College
Ms. Eva Z. Lam
935 North 31st Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208

District 12

Kansas, University of Pittsburgh
Ms. Eleanor M. Ott
1520 Crescent Road
Lawrence, Kansas 66044

Missouri, Truman State University
Mr. Andrew J. McCall
13204 Tablerock Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63122

District 13

Colorado, Regis University
Mr. William D. Gohl
5345 Whip Trail
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80917

New Mexico, University of Arizona
Ms. Justine O. Schluntz
9203 Night Sky Lane NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87122

District 14

Montana, Columbia University
Mr. Raphael J.C. Graybill
401 4th Avenue North
Great Falls, Montana 59401

Washington, United States Military Academy
Ms. Elizabeth A. Betterbed
933 Gway Drive
Fox Island, Washington 98333

District 15

California, Princeton University
Mr. Henry R. Barmeier
13499 Chalet Clotilde Drive
Saratoga, California 95070

California, Yale University
Mr. Geoffrey C. Shaw
460 Bella Vista
Belvedere, California 94920

District 16

California, University of California-Los Angeles
Ms. Elizaveta Fouksman
3821 Hamilton Way
Emerald Hills, California 94062

California, United States Air Force Academy
Ms. Brittany L. Morreale
4128 Via Nievel
Palos Verdes Estates, California 90274

The press release:

WASHINGTON, DC/November 21, 2009 – Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, today announced the names of the thirty-two American men and women chosen as Rhodes Scholars representing the United States. Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England, and may allow funding in some instances for four years. Mr. Gerson called the Rhodes Scholarships, “the oldest and best known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates.” They were created in 1902 by the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those elected today will enter Oxford in October 2010.

Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process. First, candidates must be endorsed by their college or university. Over 1500 students each year seek their institution’s endorsement; this year, 805 were endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities.

TRUSTEES
The Rt Hon Lord Waldegrave of North Hill (Chairman) The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG Miss Rosalind Hedley-Miller
The Rt Hon Lord Fellowes GCB GCVO QSO Mr Julian Ogilvie Thompson Professor John Bell
Mr Thomas W Seaman Professor Sir John Vickers Mr Michael McCaffery
WARDEN & SECRETARY TO THE TRUSTEES
Dr Donald Markwell

Committees of Selection in each of 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to appear before them for interview. Gerson said, “applicants are chosen on the basis of the criteria set down in the Will of Cecil Rhodes. These criteria are high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership, and physical vigor. These basic characteristics are directed at fulfilling Mr. Rhodes’s hopes that the Rhodes Scholars would make an effective and positive contribution throughout the world. In Rhodes’ words, his Scholars should ‘esteem the performance of public duties as their highest aim.'”

Applicants in the United States may apply either through the state where they are legally resident or where they have attended college for at least two years. The district committees met separately, on Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21, in cities across the country. Each district committee made a final selection of two Rhodes Scholars from the candidates of the state or states within the district. Two-hundred sixteen applicants from 97 different colleges and universities reached the final stage of the competition, including 16 that had never before had a student win a Rhodes Scholarship. Gerson also reported, “in most years, we elect a winner from a college that had never before had a Rhodes Scholar, even after more than a century. This year we are pleased to announce a first-time winner from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.”

The thirty-two Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international group of Scholars chosen from fourteen other jurisdictions around the world. In addition to the thirty-two Americans, Scholars are also selected from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the nations of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (South Africa, plus Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Approximately 80 Scholars are selected worldwide each year, including several non-U.S. Scholars who have attended American colleges and universities.

With the elections announced today, 3,196 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 310 colleges and universities. Since 1976, women have been eligible to apply and 424 American women have now won the coveted scholarship. More than 1,800 American Rhodes Scholars are living in all parts of the U. S. and abroad.

The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the academic field and the degree (B.A., master’s, doctoral) chosen. The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as during vacations, and transportation to and from England. Mr. Gerson estimates that the total value of the Scholarship averages approximately US$50,000 per year, or up to as much as US$175,000 for Scholars who remain in Oxford for four years.

The full list of the newly elected United States Rhodes Scholars, with the states from which they were chosen, their home addresses, and their American colleges or universities, follows. Brief biographies follow the list.

For further information, please contact:
Elliot F. Gerson
American Secretary
The Rhodes Trust
8229 Boone Boulevard, Suite 240
Vienna, Virginia 22182
(703) 821-5960

On Sunday, November 22, Mr. Gerson may be reached for press and other calls at 202-288-1195 or amsec@rhodesscholar.org, except between noon and 6:30 PM Eastern time. Joyce Knight of the American’s Secretary’s Office will be able to provide details on how to reach Scholars-elect, and may be reached Sunday at any time at 703-380-7980. Beginning Monday, November 23, questions can be directed to the Rhodes Trust office in Vienna, Virginia, at 703-821-5960, or to Mr. Gerson at amsec@rhodesscholar.org.

Short biographical sketches of each of the scholarship recipients can be found at the Rhodes Trust site.

WASHINGTON, DC/November 21, 2009 – Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the
Rhodes Trust, today announced the names of the thirty-two American men and women
chosen as Rhodes Scholars representing the United States. Rhodes Scholarships provide all
expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England, and may
allow funding in some instances for four years. Mr. Gerson called the Rhodes Scholarships,
“the oldest and best known award for international study, and arguably the most famous
academic award available to American college graduates.” They were created in 1902 by
the Will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The first class
of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those elected today will enter Oxford
in October 2010.
Rhodes Scholars are chosen in a two-stage process. First, candidates must be endorsed by
their college or university. Over 1500 students each year seek their institution’s
endorsement; this year, 805 were endorsed by 326 different colleges and universities.
TRUSTEES
The Rt Hon Lord Waldegrave of North Hill (Chairman) The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG Miss Rosalind Hedley-Miller
The Rt Hon Lord Fellowes GCB GCVO QSO Mr Julian Ogilvie Thompson Professor John Bell
Mr Thomas W Seaman Professor Sir John Vickers Mr Michael McCaffery
WARDEN & SECRETARY TO THE TRUSTEES
Dr Donald Markwell
NEWS RELEASE — THE RHODES TRUST — Page 2
Committees of Selection in each of 16 U.S. districts then invite the strongest applicants to
appear before them for interview. Gerson said, “applicants are chosen on the basis of the
criteria set down in the Will of Cecil Rhodes. These criteria are high academic achievement,
integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership,
and physical vigor. These basic characteristics are directed at fulfilling Mr. Rhodes’s hopes
that the Rhodes Scholars would make an effective and positive contribution throughout the
world. In Rhodes’ words, his Scholars should ‘esteem the performance of public duties as
their highest aim.'”
Applicants in the United States may apply either through the state where they are legally
resident or where they have attended college for at least two years. The district committees
met separately, on Friday and Saturday, November 20 and 21, in cities across the country.
Each district committee made a final selection of two Rhodes Scholars from the candidates
of the state or states within the district. Two-hundred sixteen applicants from 97 different
colleges and universities reached the final stage of the competition, including 16 that had
never before had a student win a Rhodes Scholarship. Gerson also reported, “in most years,
we elect a winner from a college that had never before had a Rhodes Scholar, even after
more than a century. This year we are pleased to announce a first-time winner from Truman
State University in Kirksville, Missouri.”
The thirty-two Rhodes Scholars chosen from the United States will join an international
group of Scholars chosen from fourteen other jurisdictions around the world. In addition to
the thirty-two Americans, Scholars are also selected from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the
nations of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya,
New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (South Africa, plus Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi,
Namibia and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Approximately 80 Scholars are selected
worldwide each year, including several non-U.S. Scholars who have attended American
colleges and universities.
NEWS RELEASE — THE RHODES TRUST — Page 3
With the elections announced today, 3,196 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships,
representing 310 colleges and universities. Since 1976, women have been eligible to apply
and 424 American women have now won the coveted scholarship. More than 1,800
American Rhodes Scholars are living in all parts of the U. S. and abroad.
The value of the Rhodes Scholarship varies depending on the academic field and the
degree (B.A., master’s, doctoral) chosen. The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university
fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as
during vacations, and transportation to and from England. Mr. Gerson estimates that the
total value of the Scholarship averages approximately US$50,000 per year, or up to as much
as US$175,000 for Scholars who remain in Oxford for four years.
The full list of the newly elected United States Rhodes Scholars, with the states from which
they were chosen, their home addresses, and their American colleges or universities,
follows. Brief biographies follow the list.
For further information, please contact:
Elliot F. Gerson
American Secretary
The Rhodes Trust
8229 Boone Boulevard, Suite 240
Vienna, Virginia 22182
(703) 821-5960
On Sunday, November 22, Mr. Gerson may be reached for press and other calls at 202-288-
1195 or amsec@rhodesscholar.org, except between noon and 6:30 PM Eastern time. Joyce
Knight of the American’s Secretary’s Office will be able to provide details on how to reach
Scholars-elect, and may be reached Sunday at any time at 703-380-7980. Beginning
Monday, November 23, questions can be directed to the Rhodes Trust office in Vienna,
Virginia, at 703-821-5960, or to Mr. Gerson at amsec@rhodesscholar.org.

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News flash: Dallas 5th graders not ready for college? How about middle school?

October 23, 2009

It’s not so much of a “Duh!” moment as you might think.

Studies by the Dallas Independent School District indicate that about half of all Dallas fifth grades students are not on the development arc they need to be on to be ready for college upon graduation seven years later.  Half of fifth graders are not even ready for middle school.

As Dallas schools focus on getting all students ready for college, they face a daunting challenge uncovered by a new district tracking system: Almost half of fifth-graders are not even ready for middle school.

Roughly 52 percent of the fifth-graders were considered “on track for middle school” at the end of their elementary years in 2008-09, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of data recently released by the school district.

That seriously impinges on my ability to teach them what they need to know when I get them.

Here’s the newspaper article from the Dallas Morning News.  Here’s school-by-school data.

I predict DISD will take hits for “failing” instead of getting plaudits for finding a root source of a much bigger problem that manifests later.  Stay tuned.

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When is a kid “grown up?”

October 14, 2009

Sometime commenter “Cassie” asks poignantly on her blog, Relaxed Politics: How do you know when  you’re grown up?

. . . I am asking because I will be 18 in a few weeks and everything in my life is changing. It seems like graduating from high school is the least of the changes, and the one I am most ready for.

The biggest change may be that I will be allowed to use my last name and my real photo on facebook, if I want, instead of the silly silhouettes I’ve been using for three years.

No, that’s just the change I am enjoying considering, even though I hate my senior portrait and will probably have it re-done.

There’s more at Cassie’s blog — click over there, you will be grateful.  I have more than 150 students this semester who ask the same question.  Got advice?

Cassie has more reason than most kids to ask, but I’ll wager that the answers are similar regardless the kid’s situation.


Nation’s best, but sub-par in Texas school ratings

September 18, 2009

In discussing the Broad Prize won yesterday by Aldine Independent School District (near Houston), William McKenzie, an editorial writer at the Dallas Morning News unintentionally summed up part of the problem with Texas’s testing-uber-alles school ratings, at the DMN’s blog site:

Like Brownsville last year, the state only recognized Aldine as an “acceptable” district, not a “recognized” or “exemplary” one. That could be for several reasons, but the best way to look at the difference between the state’s ranking and Aldine’s Broad Prize is that Aldine is showing substantial progress but still has a high mountain to climb before it’s on a par with suburban districts that do reach the exemplary level.

It doesn’t matter if your district has two of the top high schools in the nation on the Newsweek ratings, as Dallas ISD does.  It doesn’t matter if 85% of a high school’s kids go to great colleges with lots of scholarship money.  A school can get hammered by statistical flukes.

Too often teachers are pushed to focus on getting the subpar up to mediocre.  A school gets no additional credit, in state rankings, for championship performance in the top tier of its students — and so some of the best performing schools in Texas have rankings less than they should have.

It’s nice that Aldine ISD got the Broad Prize.  That prize recognizes outstanding achievement by students in many areas.  But it counts for absolutely nothing in the state’s rankings of schools and districts.

Remember, Texas is one of those states where International Baccalaureate programs come under fire for requiring kids to read “suspect” books, and study hard, and where AP-required course material is dismissed as wrong by members of the State Board of Education.

For teachers in Texas, daily floggings will continue until teacher morale improves enough to push scores up.  Or until someone in authority gets rid of the flogging (I was going to say “shoots the flogger,” but this is Texas; somebody might start shooting).


Broad Prize winner: Aldine ISD, near Houston

September 17, 2009

Aldine ISD, in the Houston metroplex, won the Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Earlier Texas winners are Houston ISD and Brownsville ISD.

From the press release from the Broad Foundation:

WASHINGTON – The Aldine Independent School District (AISD) outside Houston won the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education award in the country, and as a result will receive $1 million in college scholarships, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation announced today.  Aldine, where four out of five students qualify for free and reduced-priced school lunch, has shown some of the most consistent student achievement gains nationally in the last decade and has been recognized as one of the top five most improved urban American school systems in four of the last six years.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined philanthropist Eli Broad and members of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. to announce the winner. Aldine ISD was selected by a bipartisan jury of eight prominent American leaders from government, education, business and civic sectors, including three former U.S. secretaries of education.

The $2 million Broad (rhymes with “road”) Prize is an annual award that honors the five large urban school districts that demonstrate the strongest student achievement and improvement while narrowing achievement gaps between income and ethnic groups. The money goes directly to graduating high school seniors for college scholarships.

“Aldine shows us that it’s possible for a district facing tough circumstances to get excellent results,” said Secretary Arne Duncan, who opened up the envelope and announced the winner. “We need to highlight the success of Aldine and districts like it so that others can follow their examples and lift up all students.”

As the winner of The Broad Prize, the Aldine Independent School District will receive $1 million in college scholarships for graduating seniors next spring. The four finalists—Broward County Public Schools in southern Florida; Gwinnett County Public Schools outside Atlanta; the Long Beach Unified School District in California; and the Socorro Independent School District in Texas—will each receive $250,000 in college scholarships. Long Beach won the 2003 Broad Prize, and this marked the third year that the former winner returned as a finalist. Broward is a two-time finalist for the award, while this was Gwinnett’s and Socorro’s first year in the running.

How does that sit with us in Dallas?  Gossip at the Dallas Morning News blog, DallasISD:

I don’t know if you all have noticed but talk of DISD winning the Broad Prize for Urban Education by 2010 is nearly non-existent. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa used to always refer to the district’s goal to obtain the award, and he gave himself five years to do it shortly after his arrival in 2005. DISD has obviously made academic gains, but not much is uttered anymore about the “Road to Broad,” the district’s nickname for the roadmap to its reform effort.

Which is to say in other words, Dallas is concentrating on getting performance up, while cleaning up a few nasty administrative messes.  On the teacher level, the work towards excellence doesn’t change much whether Dallas administrators talk about the Broad Prize or not.

Congratulations to Aldine.  Teachers there worked their butts off.

Can anyone find any correlation between Aldine’s winning the award and anything Texas has done as a state?  Did performance pay help out in any way?  Have poor science standards and the assault on social studies standards helped, or hurt Aldine’s performance?

Who really wins the award?

Aldine parent Carlos Deleon, who has had three children educated in the district, attributed its success to “the community, the parent involvement and, of course, most important, the good teachers.”

“When I hear they’re awarded more scholarships,” Deleon said of the students, “wow, that’s great. These kids work so hard.”

Broad Prize winners from the past:  2002, Houston ISD; 2003, Long Beach Unified School District, California; 2004, Garden Grove Unified School District, California; 2005, Norfolk Public Schools; 2006, Boston Public Schools; 2007, New York City Department of Education; 2008, Brownsville ISD (Texas)

Resources:


June 9, 1902: Woodrow Wilson elected president . . .

June 9, 2009

107 years ago today  Woodrow Wilson was unanimously elected president, of Princeton University in New Jersey, on June 9, 1902.

Wilson’s history is remarkable.  He is not the only university president ever to have been elected president of the United States — Dwight Eisenhower and Charles James A. Garfield also served in that capacity (any others?) — but his election to the Princeton post marked an unusual rise in an essentially non-political career that would lead Wilson to the White House through the New Jersey governor’s mansion.

Wilson’s thinking, writing and thinking about how to make colleges and universities more democratic, and therefore more useful as fountains of leadership for the nation, propelled him forward.  This makes him unusually American in the way he worked for national service, and so was called to higher service.

All details courtesy the Library of Congress’s American Memory “Today in History” feature:

  • “On June 9, 1902, Woodrow Wilson was unanimously elected president of Princeton University, a position he held until he resigned in 1910 to run for governor of New Jersey. As university president, Wilson exhibited both the idealistic integrity and the occasional lack of political acumen that marked his tenure as the twenty-eighth president of the United States (1913-21).”
  • “Wilson served on the faculties of Bryn Mawr College and Wesleyan University before joining the Princeton faculty as professor of jurisprudence and political economy in 1890. A popular teacher and respected scholar, Wilson delivered an oration at Princeton’s sesquicentennial celebration (1896) entitled ‘Princeton in the Nation’s Service.’ In this famous speech, he outlined his vision of the university in a democratic nation, calling on institutions of higher learning ‘to illuminate duty by every lesson that can be drawn out of the past.'”
  • “Wilson began a fund-raising campaign to bolster the university corporation. The curriculum guidelines that he developed during his tenure as president of Princeton proved among the most important innovations in the field of higher education. He instituted the now common system of core requirements followed by two years of concentration in a selected area. When he attempted to curtail the influence of the elitist “social clubs,” however, Wilson met with resistance from trustees and potential donors. He believed that the system was smothering the intellectual and moral life of the undergraduates. Opposition from wealthy and powerful alumni further convinced Wilson of the undesirability of exclusiveness and moved him towards a more populist position in his politics.”
  • While attending a recent Lincoln celebration I asked myself if Lincoln would have been as serviceable to the people of this country had he been a college man, and I was obliged to say to myself that he would not. The process to which the college man is subjected does not render him serviceable to the country as a whole. It is for this reason that I have dedicated every power in me to a democratic regeneration.
    The American college must become saturated in the same sympathies as the common people. The colleges of this country must be reconstructed from the top to the bottom. The American people will tolerate nothing that savors of exclusiveness.
    Woodrow Wilson, president of Princeton University, “Address to Alumni,” April 16, 1910.
Woodrow Wilson, circa 1913 (in the Oval Office?) - Library of Congress image

Woodrow Wilson, circa 1913 (in the Oval Office?) - Library of Congress image


Black Sabbath – reward for boys’ achievements

April 14, 2009

So, if you’re not giving away distressed Black Sabbath t-shirts, how can you be sure you’re reaching the teenaged boys in your classroom?

Ms. Peña, a Disney researcher with a background in the casino industry, zeroed in on a ratty rock ’n’ roll T-shirt. Black Sabbath?

“Wearing it makes me feel like I’m going to an R-rated movie,” said Dean, a shy redhead whose parents asked that he be identified only by first name.

Jackpot.

Ms. Peña and her team of anthropologists have spent 18 months peering inside the heads of incommunicative boys in search of just that kind of psychological nugget. Disney is relying on her insights to create new entertainment for boys 6 to 14, a group that Disney used to own way back in the days of “Davy Crockett” but that has wandered in the age of more girl-friendly Disney fare like “Hannah Montana.”

What if you could make algebra 2 or world history feel like going to an R-rated movie?


Math: Language for a smarter planet

March 23, 2009

But will it inspire any kid?

Tip of the old scrub brush to P***ed Off Teacher.


Class size debate heats up; does size matter?

March 2, 2009

Several states tried to reduce class size, but generally class sizes have not been reduced and are increasing again.

So, does class size affect student achievement?

The New York Times featured a story about a week ago on class size creeping up in New York City; and now there are comments in the letters section.

At recent legislative hearings on whether to renew mayoral control of the New York City schools, lawmakers and parents alike have asked, again and again, why Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein have not done more to reduce class size. On Tuesday, the Education Department issued a report that found the average number of children per class increased in nearly every grade this school year.

“If you’re going to spend an extra dollar, personally, I would always rather spend it on the people that deliver the service,” Mr. Bloomberg said when asked about the report on Thursday, calling class size “an interesting number.”

“It’s the teacher looking a child in the eye, and teachers can look lots of children in the eye,” he added. “If you have to have smaller class size or better teachers, go with the better teachers every time.”

Is that even the issue?

Does class size matter?  Can a great teacher teach 40 students in a class, 200 students a day, better than a mediocre teacher can teach a smaller number?

How could we possibly know?


All study for the tests and no play makes Jack and Jill perform worse on standardized tests

February 26, 2009

Newark Star-Ledger file photo of kids at recess at Newton Street School. Patti Sapone photo

Newark Star-Ledger file photo of kids at recess at Newton Street School. Patti Sapone photo

The old classroom teachers knew it.  The new, test-the-hell-out-of-the-little-brats administrators need to learn it.

Kids need physical activity to be good students.

A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size.

The lead researcher, Dr. Romina M. Barros, a pediatrician and an assistant clinical professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said the findings were important because many schools did not view recess as essential to education.

The article in the science section of the New York Times put it well:

The best way to improve children’s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it.

A convicted murderer in prison gets an hour a day for exercise.  But our kids, the high-performing ones we depend on for our nation’s future?  We treat them worse than convicted felons?

Nota bene: Even just a little movement worksIt works for adults, too.

Resources:

  • PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 2 February 2009, pp. 431-436 (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-2825) (subscription required for full text),  “School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior,” Romina M. Barros, MD, Ellen J. Silver, PhD and Ruth E. K. Stein, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and Rose F. Kennedy Center, Bronx, New York

    OBJECTIVES. This study examines the amount of recess that children 8 to 9 years of age receive in the United States and compares the group classroom behavior of children receiving daily recess with that of children not receiving daily recess.

  • See this year-old post at The Elementary Educator
  • Post in agreement from the venerable Trust for Public Lands, one of the best and best respected non-profits in America

Two steps backward . . .

December 7, 2008

//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0  Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., scottmcleod.net/contact

Licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-share alike license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., scottmcleod.net/contact

Go read for yourself, solid commentary at Dangerously Irrelevant.

How well does your classroom incorporate technology that helps students learn better, or faster, and helps prepare them for the age into which they will graduate?

Tip of the old scrub brush to Edu-Nerd.


“Do you believe in me?” 5th grader Dalton Sherman inspires Dallas teachers

August 26, 2008

Update, September 19, 2008: Dalton was scheduled to appear on Ellen Degeneres’s program on Thursday, September 18; did you see it? What do you think?

Taylor Mali is one of my usual suspects for inspiring teachers. He does a great job, with just a tinge of profanity (appropriately placed, many teachers argue – if they ask for it, you have to give it to them).

This year’s inspiration for Dallas teachers comes from Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader at Charles Rice Learning Center. Here’s a YouTube video of the presentation about 20,000 of us watched last Wednesday, a small point that redeemed the annual “convocation” exercise, for 2008:

Sherman’s presentation rescued what had been shaping up as another day of rah-rah imprecations to teachers who badly wanted, and in my case needed, to be spending time putting classrooms together.

(By the way, at the start of his presentation, you can see several people leap to their feet in the first row — Mom, Dad, and older brother. Nice built-in cheering section.)

Staff at DISD headquarters put the speech together for Dalton to memorize, and he worked over the summer to get it down. This background is wonderfully encouraging.

First, it makes a statement that DISD officials learn from mistakes. Last year the keynote was given by a speaker out of central casting’s “classic motivational speaker” reserves. As one teacher described it to me before the fete last Wednesday, “It was a real beating.”

Second, DISD’s planning ahead to pull this off suggests someone is looking a little bit down the road. This was a four or five month exercise for a less-than-10 minute presentation. It’s nice to know someone’s looking ahead at all.

Third, the cynical teachers gave Dalton Sherman a warm standing ovation. That it was delivered by a 10-year-old kids from DISD made a strong symbol. But the content was what hooked the teachers. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa provided a death-by-PowerPoint presentation leading up to the speech, one that was probably not designed solely as contrasting lead in. In other words, Dalton Sherman’s speech demonstrated as nothing else the district has done lately that someone downtown understands that the teachers count, the foot soldiers in our war on ignorance and jihad for progress.

The kids came back Monday, bless ’em. School’s in session, to anyone paying attention.

Resources:

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Looking for a great college to launch your life?

August 19, 2008

High school seniors should be firming up their choices for colleges to apply to in the next couple of months — early decision applications will be due in November for some schools.

Students looking for a great college should consider looking at one or more of the 40 outstanding small colleges and universities that have banded together in a group known as Colleges that Change Lives. Each is an outstanding institution that has a reputation for taking good kids and helping them transform into great people.

There are more than a dozen events planned around the nation where a score or more of the colleges will show up in one location to talk to high school students and their parents. You really should consider attending one of these events if one is close by.

We attended an event in Houston last year. Our younger son, James, eventually chose Lawrence University, a school he knew almost nothing about before that afternoon.  (It appears Lawrence recovered its sanity after recruiting me to play football back in, uh, a few years ago.  I didn’t attend Lawrence, and I’m greatly amused that my son will.)

Here, stolen directly from CTCL’s website, is the list of cities where events are scheduled this fall, and an interactive map. Clicking on the hot links will take you to CTCL’s site with details about the meet ups.

Colleges That Change Lives, 2008 events

LOCATION INDEX:

Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL [2]
Columbus, OH
Denver, CO
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Kansas City, KS
Latin America
Los Angeles, CA
Minneapolis, MN
Nashville, TN
New York, NY [2]
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, OR
Raleigh-Durham, NC
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA [2]
Seattle, WA
St. Louis, MO
Tulsa, OK
Washington, D.C. [2]


Alligator bait: Louisiana science teachers, and school boards

August 18, 2008

Louisiana’s state legislature — the legislature that the Supreme Court slapped down in 1987 for trying to introduce religion into science classes in Edwards v. Aguillardrushed through a bill drafted by the deaf-to-the-law Discovery Institute which purports on its face to make it legal for Louisiana science teachers to teach creationism, intelligent design, tarot card reading, UFO-ism, or any other crank science that the teacher feels compelled to offer.

A Louisiana alligator used by c design proponetsist Denyse OLeary to illustrate a blog post about Louisianas litigation bait law on creationism in schools.  Without any appreciation of irony, or as a subtle warning, we cant say.  (photo from The Advocate?)

A Louisiana alligator used by c design proponetsist Denyse O'Leary to illustrate a blog post about Louisiana's litigation bait law on creationism in schools. Without any appreciation of th irony, or as a subtle warning, we can't say. (photo from The Advocate?)

Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-Mars, rushed to sign the brain-sucker into law, in his ambitious quest to get John McCain to name him as the nominee for vice president. It appears on the surface that Jindal’s national political aspirations will have to wait, but the law he signed requires Louisiana’s school districts to be ready when the students come back in the next few weeks, to do whatever it is they are going to do about creationism and other crank science.

Discovery Institute minions have been hawking creationism wares, and other creationists have offered to put Genesis into the science curriculum — but the law does not authorize those actions or wares itself. Instead, it passes the judgment to local school boards, sort of.

“Sort of.” Words that make a litigator’s heart flutter when talking about to-be-implemented laws! You’d think that, with all the money the Discovery Institute spends to entice legislators and school board members to poke their noses into matters they do not know, DI could spend a few thousands of dollars to get a competent legislative law drafter to draft a workable law. The cheapskates always pay more, Click and Clack say, and here’s another case to prove the point. It would have been difficult to intentionally write a law better intended to get local school boards sued.

A few of us noted the law does not indemnify local school districts against lawsuits if they goof and put religion into science classes. This is important, because the law requires local school districts to step up to the line and have a policy in place by the start of this school year. Which means, if the district doesn’t have the policy written out now, they’re late.

Tony Whitson at Curricublog spent time this summer pondering exactly how the law works, what it requires, and who it requires to act. His analysis — that the law is litigation bait just waiting to snare a local school board, a real “Dover Trap” — is cool, hard, and chilling. Go read it at his blog.

Whitson recommends that the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education get an opinion from the state’s attorney general. This will not comply with the impossible and punishing deadline the legislature established, but it’s a much wiser stewardship of local monies, to try to avoid litigation. Tony wrote:

Taking stock of the situation: To summarize where things now stand, in light of everything above:

The law is by no means so benign as its promoters pretend. It will unleash all manner of chaotic mischief. On the other hand, there is a method to this madness, making it predictable that the perpetrators’ strategy will be to insinuate Exploring Evolution into the state’s (and then other states’) public schools.

BESE and the school districts cannot comply with the statute, which commands that

The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and each city, parish, or other local public school board shall adopt and promulgate the rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Section prior to the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.

There are legal requirements (public notice, etc.) for adopting administrative rules for implementing legislation that make it impossible for that to be done by every state and district school board before the new school year begins.

So what can BESE do?

My suggestion is that BESE, at it’s meeting Tuesday, should move to request an opinion from the State Attorney General. They should ask him for an opion advising them, the district Boards of Education, and individual school principals, as to who will be responsible for the costs of defending against litigation for unconstitutional state promotion of religion in the use of supplemental materials. Presumably, if there’s a suit brought directly against BESE itself because of the substance of a text they have approved, then they would be defended by the AG’s office, on behalf of the state (like when the AG hired Wendell Bird as as special assistant for defending the state’s “Balanced Treatment” law). But will the AG commit his office to defending every district, every school, and every teacher whose use of “supplemental materials” is challenged for violation of the First Amendment?

Louisiana’s legislature set a trap for Louisiana science teachers and local school boards — whether intentionally or not is immaterial. Rather than authorize specific material for the curriculum, the new creationism law requires school boards to analyze materials to supplement the science curriculum. The law passes the buck to the local school boards.

So, Louisiana school board members now must become expert on science, and Constitutional law.

Rule of thumb: It costs a school board about $1 million every time they goof and put religion into science classrooms, in litigation costs alone. Louisiana’s legislature didn’t appropriate any money to compensate the school boards.

This law promises to entangle science educators and curriculum, and ensnare local school boards – all of which helps dumb down science achievement and prevent U.S. kids from getting the education they need to compete in a global economy. Alas.