In 2009, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published a story alleging professional misconduct within the Atlanta Public School System. An analysis of CRCT scores showed a statistically improbably increase in performance in numerous schools. Further investigation revealed one of the largest cheating scandals seen in the US, where teachers had altered the students' answers to increase the school's overall scores. The motive was to avoid negative evaluations and to gain increased funding from the federal government.
Unfortunately, Atlanta is a microcosm for the United States. Further investigative journalism reports revealed scandals other cities.
Why is this happening? At the level of the individual teacher, there are some very easy to see answers. Many teachers said they were under an immense amount of pressure from the administration to improve their test scores or face termination. Raise test scores "at all costs." Others merely acted in a severely misguided and uttererly foolhardy attempt to improve their status and careers. At the administrative level, the false scores gave an improved status to the school; those with more ambition than sense viewed the scores as a way to apply for (and possibly win http://www.ajc.com/news/cheating-our-children-suspect-1427726.html) the Blue Ribbon Award. As previously mentioned, the schools and administrations would also benefit from the increased funding
The crux of the problem is that too much emphasis has been place on bottom lines. Funding, prestige, and employment all hang in the balance when the focus should be entirely on helping students succeed. High test scores may mean good things for the school in the short term, but when these cheated students are ready to enter the workforce they will be at a disadvantage compared to students who received adequate preparation from teachers who knew how to interpret test scores for their intended purpose.
K.I.D.S. Club
| By Annie Barber
K.I.D.S. Club was exactly what I would like to experience in on a daily basis.
Cells are a pretty common topic throughout school and at each level you delve deeper and deeper into the inner workings--in high school students build on the organelles by learning about the chemical reactions that turn sunlight or food into energy as well as the chemical components of DNA. In college an entire class is devoted to cell biology (aptly named Cell Biology) and students learn about the protein complexes that form the cell organelles, the intermediate steps in energy production, protein synthesis, and DNA duplication. Just because many students had already learned the material didn't mean they didn't need more exposure to such an important foundation in science. I also included descriptions of several organelles and concepts that may not have been covered in the fifth grade curriculum, but were not beyond the ability of young students to grasp.
I liked that students were eager to answer questions--if they knew something they wanted me to know they knew it. This actually gave me a lot of opportunities to acknowledge and affirm their new or prior knowledge. I purposefully applauded students for correct answers and was careful not to use very negative language for incorrect answers, choosing phrases such as "not quite" and "you're on the right track" instead which resulted in an atmosphere that encouraged participation and learning. I not so purposefully implied that there would be fun activities later in the class period. Although there were difficulties during activities with students wandering around, I feel like that was to be expected with the students having had a fair amount of sugar and quickly transferring between different activities (I hadn't yet read that such transitions can be difficult for students). In the future, I would focus on one activity with all of the students at the same time so that there would be more hands to man the decks to keep kids focused.
I liked that students were eager to answer questions--if they knew something they wanted me to know they knew it. This actually gave me a lot of opportunities to acknowledge and affirm their new or prior knowledge. I purposefully applauded students for correct answers and was careful not to use very negative language for incorrect answers, choosing phrases such as "not quite" and "you're on the right track" instead which resulted in an atmosphere that encouraged participation and learning. I not so purposefully implied that there would be fun activities later in the class period. Although there were difficulties during activities with students wandering around, I feel like that was to be expected with the students having had a fair amount of sugar and quickly transferring between different activities (I hadn't yet read that such transitions can be difficult for students). In the future, I would focus on one activity with all of the students at the same time so that there would be more hands to man the decks to keep kids focused.
I honestly didn't think about the lesson in very much detail. When I prepare diligently (such as for a presentation in class) and write an outline and practice, I generally do much poorly than when I give the presentation in an off the cuff manner. In other words, I do a much better job speaking extemporaneously than with a prepared speech. This habit gives me a lot more flexibility in public speaking situation and allows me to respond better to nonverbal cues I receive from my audience. Had I stuck to a script for the lesson, I might not have noticed when students became disinterested or I might even have omitted asking questions and receiving feedback entirely. Instead, I was able to feel my way through the lesson and adjust in ways that I felt would capture the students imaginations. An unfortunate side effect of this technique is that my lessons got better as they day progressed, which put earlier students at a disadvantage (although they had more options for their cookie cells--maybe that evens things out!). Perhaps in a a classroom this experience would carry over from year to year by taking careful notes at the end of each day to utilize the following year.
Andrew, being a computer scientist, knows very little about cells and I couldn't really incorporate him into the lesson itself. I've even recently asked him about some of the organelles we covered and he couldn't remember most of the names and functions! What I failed at, however, was, giving him more guidance about different ways to handle the cookie activity. For example, I had originally thought for students to include only two or three organelles since there wasn't very much room on the cookies, but I neglected to communicate that information with Andrew. I also feel like many students may have gotten caught up in decorating and not been adequately quizzed about what organelles they put in their cells to further facilitate learning and memory formation, but without being involved in that activity at all I'm not entirely sure if that was the case or not. I would probably concentrate on the cookie activity in the future--not only was it the least messy, but I also feel like students were more interested and had more opportunities to learn.
My favorite experience of the day was when one curious fourth grader asked what may seem like a silly question: “Are cells like amusement parks?” Rather than dismissing this notion as childish, I ran with it. The kids helped me compare the cell components to different rides and attractions: ribosomes built the park according to plans sent from the nucleus, the ER and golgi bodies were roller coasters while the mitochondria and chloroplast were hotdog and pretzel stands, and the cell membrane was the ticket booth! I have never had so much fun explaining such simple concepts before, and I would love to be able to do this on a daily basis.
Lincoln High School -- A Case Study on Effective Classroom Management
Thursday, May 3, 2012 | By Annie Barber
I had planned to write about a friend's experiences in a very well managed classroom where students are motivated to learn because the teacher shows them respect, cares about them, and doesn't sweat the small stuff. That's really cool and probably took him much of his career to perfect--and it reflects something that a lot of teachers should try to implement. Rather than explaining some of the things he does to be an efficient teacher (most of his demonstrations end up on youtube, which allows students who don't show up for class to participate, for example), I want to talk about a broader concept that deals with effective classroom management at the core: taking the time to understand the problems students are facing outside of class.
Lincoln High School's star principal Jim Sporleder was fed up after three years at the alternative school in his district. Rather than dismissing his students as irreparable he decided to do some research to find a way to help them. What he found was an astonishing wealth of new research into the effects of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Children can be rated on a scale according to ten types of stress they may dealing with (emotional/physical/sexual abuse, abuse of other family members, emotional/physical neglect, drug use/prison time/mental illness within the family, and missing parental figures are all part of the scale). Most individuals with high scores can expect to die 20 years earlier than their low scoring counterparts. An ACE score of 4 or greater is linked to increases in the likelihood of pulmonary lung disease (390%), hepatitis (240%), depression (460%), and suicide (1220%). At 6 points a person is 4600% more likely to become an IV drug user, and at 10 points most individuals are condemned to a life in prison or on the streets if they don't take their own life. If that wasn't bad enough, by the time these problems are identified irreversible damage in the form of stunted brain development has already happened.
Think about those numbers for a moment....
Read them again and imagine you're in a situation that can be rated on that scale. Do you need to read Shakespeare when your siblings need protecting from an abusive father? Is your time better spent doing homework or working to pay the bills because your mother is strung out on meth all day? How do you concentrate on an experiment when your step-father is molesting you every night? What if you had to deal with all of these things at the same time? And on top of that your teachers are mad at you for not finishing your work and dozing off in the middle of a lesson. And you just can't take it and everything you're feeling comes rushing out in a furious wave of emotion, anger, and sense of betrayal.
When situations like this happen, many teachers don't know what to do and often react in the wrong way and place all of the blame on the student without considering where he's coming from. Sporleder's approach to discipline was the result of a paradigm shift in the way he understood students, something that few educators are willing or able to do. His method requires a lot of patience and time, but the results are worthwhile. When students had behavior problems, asking them what was wrong and giving them a chance to talk about it produced greater results than blindly punishing everyone who acted out. Most students even realized they were taking out their frustrations on people that didn't deserve it and apologized.
The linked article tells the entire story, including details about the research and how Sporleder discovered a new way to handle would be disciplinary problems. Washington state appears to be ahead of the curve in this area and it only spells good things for the future of education.
Lincoln High School's star principal Jim Sporleder was fed up after three years at the alternative school in his district. Rather than dismissing his students as irreparable he decided to do some research to find a way to help them. What he found was an astonishing wealth of new research into the effects of toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Children can be rated on a scale according to ten types of stress they may dealing with (emotional/physical/sexual abuse, abuse of other family members, emotional/physical neglect, drug use/prison time/mental illness within the family, and missing parental figures are all part of the scale). Most individuals with high scores can expect to die 20 years earlier than their low scoring counterparts. An ACE score of 4 or greater is linked to increases in the likelihood of pulmonary lung disease (390%), hepatitis (240%), depression (460%), and suicide (1220%). At 6 points a person is 4600% more likely to become an IV drug user, and at 10 points most individuals are condemned to a life in prison or on the streets if they don't take their own life. If that wasn't bad enough, by the time these problems are identified irreversible damage in the form of stunted brain development has already happened.
Think about those numbers for a moment....
Read them again and imagine you're in a situation that can be rated on that scale. Do you need to read Shakespeare when your siblings need protecting from an abusive father? Is your time better spent doing homework or working to pay the bills because your mother is strung out on meth all day? How do you concentrate on an experiment when your step-father is molesting you every night? What if you had to deal with all of these things at the same time? And on top of that your teachers are mad at you for not finishing your work and dozing off in the middle of a lesson. And you just can't take it and everything you're feeling comes rushing out in a furious wave of emotion, anger, and sense of betrayal.
When situations like this happen, many teachers don't know what to do and often react in the wrong way and place all of the blame on the student without considering where he's coming from. Sporleder's approach to discipline was the result of a paradigm shift in the way he understood students, something that few educators are willing or able to do. His method requires a lot of patience and time, but the results are worthwhile. When students had behavior problems, asking them what was wrong and giving them a chance to talk about it produced greater results than blindly punishing everyone who acted out. Most students even realized they were taking out their frustrations on people that didn't deserve it and apologized.
The linked article tells the entire story, including details about the research and how Sporleder discovered a new way to handle would be disciplinary problems. Washington state appears to be ahead of the curve in this area and it only spells good things for the future of education.
A Model of Human Memory
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | By Annie Barber
Thoughts, ideas, and sensory input are represented by the flow of dots in this graphic illustrating how human memory works. Can't read it? Just click to open it in a new window for full size viewing!
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies and the Pygmalion Effect -- Motivation
| By Annie Barber
I’ve been away for a few months, but I haven’t stopped thinking about how all of the things I learn and experience can relate back to the classroom. Expect a whirlwind of posts in the next two weeks ranging from experiences to current events in the classroom—there will be about six in total including this one.
We always talk about how important it is to make a good impression on someone, as that will make them have a better opinion of us. What is really shocking is how the others person opinion can impact us.
In the early 70’s a psychology professor told teachers in multiple class that some of their students had scored highly on an intelligence exam, indicating they would learn and improve at a greater rate than their peers. Sure enough, these "gifted" students were achieving much better results than their peers at the end of the year. To be expected, right?
Well, no, actually. The high scores were complete fabrications; the high performers had essentially had their names drawn out of a hat. The teachers did not know this, and they went on to treat those students—consciously and subconsciously—as smarter individuals. The students responded to the positive expectations and performed better.
This phenomenon is referred to as the Pygmalion effect, or sometimes the Rosenthal effect after the principal author of the first highly publicized study on it. In essence, greater expectations produce greater results in people, especially in teacher/student, parent/child, and supervisor/employee relationships. It is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which individuals internalize a label and become what others think they are. Above all other motivational theories, I feel it is important for teachers to understand the psychology behind this phenomenon. If teachers can drastically effect student performance without even meaning to, imagine the results if teachers consciously treat every student like a genius.
We always talk about how important it is to make a good impression on someone, as that will make them have a better opinion of us. What is really shocking is how the others person opinion can impact us.
In the early 70’s a psychology professor told teachers in multiple class that some of their students had scored highly on an intelligence exam, indicating they would learn and improve at a greater rate than their peers. Sure enough, these "gifted" students were achieving much better results than their peers at the end of the year. To be expected, right?
Well, no, actually. The high scores were complete fabrications; the high performers had essentially had their names drawn out of a hat. The teachers did not know this, and they went on to treat those students—consciously and subconsciously—as smarter individuals. The students responded to the positive expectations and performed better.
This phenomenon is referred to as the Pygmalion effect, or sometimes the Rosenthal effect after the principal author of the first highly publicized study on it. In essence, greater expectations produce greater results in people, especially in teacher/student, parent/child, and supervisor/employee relationships. It is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which individuals internalize a label and become what others think they are. Above all other motivational theories, I feel it is important for teachers to understand the psychology behind this phenomenon. If teachers can drastically effect student performance without even meaning to, imagine the results if teachers consciously treat every student like a genius.
"Cognitive Views of Learning" - A Recap
Monday, February 13, 2012 | By Annie Barber
This will be the first of a type of blog post that reviews a chapter in the textbook. In these types of posts, I am expected to address the following questions:
Early neural development serves as the foundation upon which all other cognitive function will form. Without a properly built foundation, higher order thoughts and processes will not be possible. This idea is central to new ideas about developmental delays including the onset of autism. The same is true with learning higher order concepts. You can't compute limits until you know how the basics of algebra and trig and you can't explain why wars are fought until you understand the concepts of greed, power, and corruption. Without a basic understanding of the world, there is no foundation for learning.
I look forward to applying this concept in the classroom. I believe that in-class demonstrations, field trips, and hands on experiments can do far more to build knowledge than lectures and reading, both of which assume you have the pre-requisite knowledge to learn. There is something about seeing something in action that ignites learning. Even when a student does not know everything he needs to know to complete a task, the act of bringing a detailed process to the proper conclusion invites the student to ask the right kind of questions.
In my own experience with education, I can see this in action. When I started as a Freshman at Tech it became immediately clear that I was not fully prepared for both the rigor and depth of the content. My high school did not give me the foundation I needed to fully succeed. Now that I am approaching graduations, I have watched myself become more confident in my abilities because the courses I have finished have served as a basis for understanding everything else I learn.
As far as current issues are concerned, opportunities that I believe will provide experiences to facilitate learning are becoming more and more rare. As budgets are cut and education dollars are redirected towards other purposes, there is no way for schools to fund much more than the bare necessities, which leaves students without experiences of their own at a disadvantage in the classroom.
- What ideas in the chapter will be most useful or valuable to you in future teaching situations?
- How has the content of this chapter changed your view or teaching and learning?
- Are there any connections to current issues in education? What are your thoughts on this?
Early neural development serves as the foundation upon which all other cognitive function will form. Without a properly built foundation, higher order thoughts and processes will not be possible. This idea is central to new ideas about developmental delays including the onset of autism. The same is true with learning higher order concepts. You can't compute limits until you know how the basics of algebra and trig and you can't explain why wars are fought until you understand the concepts of greed, power, and corruption. Without a basic understanding of the world, there is no foundation for learning.
I look forward to applying this concept in the classroom. I believe that in-class demonstrations, field trips, and hands on experiments can do far more to build knowledge than lectures and reading, both of which assume you have the pre-requisite knowledge to learn. There is something about seeing something in action that ignites learning. Even when a student does not know everything he needs to know to complete a task, the act of bringing a detailed process to the proper conclusion invites the student to ask the right kind of questions.
In my own experience with education, I can see this in action. When I started as a Freshman at Tech it became immediately clear that I was not fully prepared for both the rigor and depth of the content. My high school did not give me the foundation I needed to fully succeed. Now that I am approaching graduations, I have watched myself become more confident in my abilities because the courses I have finished have served as a basis for understanding everything else I learn.
As far as current issues are concerned, opportunities that I believe will provide experiences to facilitate learning are becoming more and more rare. As budgets are cut and education dollars are redirected towards other purposes, there is no way for schools to fund much more than the bare necessities, which leaves students without experiences of their own at a disadvantage in the classroom.
Standard Fare won't provide a First Class education
Sunday, January 29, 2012 | By Annie Barber
What trends do you see in the future of standardized testing? Is the emphasis on standardized testing likely to increase or decrease in the next decade? Why do you think so?
First of all, there is a very big difference between what I actually see and what I want to see in the future of standardized testing. It is going to take tidal waves before anyone proposes a much needed change to the status quo. Even when those waves come there won't be immediate change. For months (maybe even years) politicians and businessmen will place the blame on someone else (probably educators). When a solution is finally drafted, I hope that it will redefine the meaning of success from passing tests to having the ability to succeed in life.
Education on almost every level is so tied up in bureaucracy that nobody is getting the education they deserve. The biggest culprit is high stakes standardized testing. Students don't always perform well under pressure and it is simply unfair to attach pay increases or even job retention to test scores that are ultimately a product of chance. It has been scientifically proven that stress can hinder the ability of the human brain to learn and recall information (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661306000453 -- This study says that only stress in the appropriate context can facilitate learning. In other words, pressure to do well on a test in April isn't going to help a student learn material any time of the year.). Placing both students and teachers under an entire year's worth of stress preparing for tests just isn't logical if you want to see positive results. Unfortunately as more and more people clamor for accountability in the classroom it is unlikely that teachers or students will have a break from standardized testing anytime soon.
Furthermore, by demanding that each and every student fit the exact same mold we are creating a generation of students without strengths and weaknesses... or creativity. Over and over in recent years employers have said that our schools are producing workers without enough creativity (http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-03/opinion/robinson.schools.stifle.creativity_1_talk-college-degrees-education?_s=PM:OPINION -- an article by Ken Robinson who gave a TED talk in June 2006 about how schools are actually killing creativity... the TED talk itself has been viewed over 8 million times and I'd invite you to check it out when you have about 20 minutes to spare). A society needs a workforce with a wide variety of skills. Working so hard to make sure everyone is the same is eventually going to backfire.
When the next wave of education reform takes place I would like to see teachers given the appropriate tools to provide a quality education. A test should be used as a diagnostic tool rather than a death sentence. Teachers could then use the test data to identify struggling students and give them exactly the attention they need in the areas they need it most. Likewise, test data should also be useful for identifying teaching strategies and lessons that should be reused, reworked, or replaced. Appropriate test data could also be used to coordinated teaching between schools. If students at one school achieve super high in one area, the surrounding schools should have the benefit of learning how that school is teaching that particular subject. By reviewing scores in all of these ways, teachers can be accountable to themselves and each other rather than testing companies or the government.
I also think students would benefit if standards were skewed to favor the skills and knowledge for which students have a passion. For example, many current tests expect a passing grade on every section for a student to be considered passing overall. What if instead of decent grades on every section a really good grade on one section was weighted in such a way that it made up for deficiencies on another section? Grading in this way would benefit students who are non-native English speakers, are on the verge of dropping out of school, and/or simply cannot get a handle on a subject that is particularly difficult.
There really is no ideal solution to the problems presented by standardized tests, but hopefully the best solution will be found soon. One thing that is for certain is standardized testing isn't going away anytime soon.
Future Blog Ideas:
Future Blog Ideas:
- Making school compulsory through high school (as heard in the President's State of the Union Address)
- Evolutionary basis for learning (based on an amazing book I read last semester)
- How does home environment affect learning
- The declining value of education (tuition is rising at a faster rate than income)
- Do you have any more suggestions?