Holiday hiatus
As the school year winds down, JIS Topics is going into winter hybernation....
Wishing everyone a healthy, happy and restful holiday break. And hoping for peace on earth, and good will for all.
A blogspot for parents, teachers and administrators to commune on the Jakarta International School. How can we make the school better? What role do each of us play in creating a true learning community? What should inform our opinions? This is a place to discuss our school....
As the school year winds down, JIS Topics is going into winter hybernation....
Want to read the best of the edu-blog world but don't have time to wade through the masses of postings?
The vT's indo-internet went haywire last Wednesday, but that doesn't mean the education world slowed down. Lots of news lately, so here's a quick round-up:
COLUMBUS, OH--Backed by olfactory-education experts, parents of nasal learners are demanding that U.S. public schools provide odor-based curricula for their academically struggling children.
"Despite the proliferation of countless scholastic tests intended to identify children with special needs, the challenges facing nasal learners continue to be ignored," said Delia Weber, president of Parents Of Nasal Learners, at the group's annual conference. "Every day, I witness firsthand my son Austin's struggle to succeed in a school environment that recognizes the needs of visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic learners but not him."
Weber said she was at her "wit's end" trying to understand why her son was floundering in school when, in May 1997, another parent referred her to the Nasal Learning Research Institute in Columbus. Tested for odor-based information-acquisition aptitude, Austin scored in the 99th percentile. (Click the link above to read on.)
John Dewey, the anonymous ed-school student who's been submitting funny and thought-provoking updates on his experience to Edspresso.com, drops another entry into the edusphere with his latest posting: "Glasnost, Perestroika, and Graphing Calculators."
With some elementary math text books topping 700 pages, and state math standards specifying that students learn and master upwards of 40 topics each year, perhaps it's time to scale back and focus on the math skills that really matter.
As the Jakarta International School searches to fill two principal positions (at the high school and one of our two elementary campuses), it's a good time to examine the qualities that make for great leadership in education.
"Kathleen M. Cashin is responsible for some of the roughest territory in the New York City school system — vast stretches of poverty and desolation from Ocean Hill-Brownsville and East New York in Brooklyn to Far Rockaway in Queens, all part of Region 5, where she is superintendent. [snip]
Since 2003, her elementary and middle schools have consistently posted the best total gains on annual reading and math tests, outpacing other regions with similar legacies of low achievement. [snip]
'It’s not a job, it’s a lifework,” she often tells her staff. “You are saving children’s lives.'”
Sunday's New York Times carried an article that's particularly relevant for a school like JIS, which enjoys several significant national groups among its student body: "Surge in Asian Enrollment Alters Schools," by Winnie Hu.
"School officials, teachers and parents say the expanding Asian population has strengthened their schools, not only by raising test scores but also by promoting diversity and tolerance," according to Hu. One superintendent notes that "....the impact can be seen in everyday classroom discussions that have grown deeper, richer and more personal as students from other countries share their experiences. “Whether it’s a piece of artwork or a piece of literature,” he said, “you all gain something from seeing it from different perspectives.”
"To help address such concerns, [one] school’s guidance department sponsors a 'Mix It Up' day every month, when students are required at lunch to sit outside their usual cliques, whether that means Koreans, jocks or neighborhood youths. 'We’re telling them, "These are kids in your grade, get to know them,"' said [the school's] principal."
Proving once again that improving students' academic performance isn't so mysterious, here's an article from the Anchorage Daily News (in Alaska) that examines the factors that have worked dramatically at public schools in that state:
"All of the things we are doing with our educational system regarding accountability in the US are great. We have put metrics, testing, and assessment systems and structures in place that are making a difference. But, while these things are making a difference, I do not think they go far enough. In a way these things are more inspection oriented versus a means for changing the culture of our educational system. We need to start teaching principles and behaviors for how our administrators, teachers, support staffs, and students can truly act accountably in all that they do. Instilling these key principles and behaviors will change the culture of our educational system and lead to sustainable advantage."
Do you have a student at home who's thinking of attending university in the United States?
Here's an article from Scientific American that's sure to depress many students: "Testing Improves Retention -- Even of Material Not on Exam." (via JoanneJacobs.com)
"Teachers who give tests on a daily or weekly basis--often at the expense of their popularity--can take solace in a new study out of Washington University in St. Louis. Researchers found that tests help students remember what they've been taught--including the material that doesn't appear on the exam. The findings appear in the November issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General."
Finland is home to reindeers, great rally and Formula I drivers (Mika Hakinen, Kimi Raikonen, Ari Vatanen, and Marcus Gronholm), and the improbable winners of 2006's Eurovision Song Contest, Lordi (this is a must-click link if you need a laugh).
'It’s basically, you cover everything, everywhere, because somehow, somebody will learn something somewhere,' Mr. Schmidt told conference-goers.
More recently, his analyses have also shown that the high-performing countries teach math in a sequence that mathematicians see as more coherent, and that may be even more influential in promoting students’ understanding."
Two interesting articles popped up in today's ACSD SmartBrief (click here to sign up):
Conventional wisdom holds that smaller class sizes will yield higher academic performance. But is that CW based on reality?
"The 25 highest-scoring schools in CPS [Chicago Public Schools] average roughly seven more kids in their primary classrooms than the 25 highest-scoring suburban schools, or about 27 kids vs. 20, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of state public school data indicates.That's seven more kids in a CPS room just as children are learning everything from how to read to how to sit quietly at a desk and do classwork. Compared with the statewide primary average, it's roughly six more kids."
Just got a note from Barry Garelick, whose article, "Two Countries, One School District," is available now at the Nonpartisan Education Review*. Hurray!
JIS is only an hour away from
It's interesting (and depressing) to peek inside the debate and decision-making process within a US school district as its schools choose -- and ultimately reject -- the Singapore Math program. If you're confused about the "math wars" and the recent barrage of news coverage on the National Council of Teachers of Math's new math curriculum recommendations, this article is a great explanation of the issues involved, and why they matter to students.
*The Nonpartisan Education Review "provides a forum for those interested in education issues but put off by the education policy groups affiliated with the two major [
Yesterday we looked at the conumdrum of students who pass their classes -- sometimes with flying colors -- yet fail the high-stakes tests established to measure educational success across an entire state. Something's obviously wrong with the situation. Either:
"Sylvia James hardly considers herself clueless in mathematics. After all, she finished sixth grade with a B-plus in the subject and made the Honor Roll, which she saw as a victory in a challenging year of fraction conversion and decimal placement.
But what happened when she took the state math test? She flunked it."
Many students in the Washington region [and one assumes other parts of the US as well - ed.] are suffering from academic split personalities. Driven by the federal No Child Left Behind law and tougher state diploma standards, the testing blitz has left these students in a curious limbo: They pass their classes with B's and C's yet fail the state exams.
These cases surface frequently, with one local high school reporting, for example, that a quarter of students in beginning algebra passed the course but failed the state test.
So what's happening in schools that could create a situation where a child can pass the classes, but fail the test developed to determine whether or not students have mastered the material and skills deemed necessary? According to the WaPo:
"Students and teachers offer an array of explanations for why test scores sometimes fail to match up with grades. Some students don't take the exams seriously. Some freeze up. Still others trip over unfamiliar language. And teachers sometimes are not prepped in what the exams cover, especially when the tests are new. Occasionally, some school officials suspect, classes aren't rigorous enough to prepare students adequately."Ken DeRosa (on a white-hot streak of excellent posts in D-Ed Reckoning) thinks the problem is much larger, and he lets it fly in "You've Been Flim-Flammed:"
"Sylvia dear, I have bad news, you've been lied to. Bamboozled. Your well-meaning teachers are pretending to teach you sixth grade math, but they're not. They're teaching you fourth grade math, maybe even third grade. They're probably not even doing a very good job either. Worse still, they're covering their incompetence by giving you high grades. It's a scam from top to bottom."
"It's a complicated issue and the story doesn't do it justice. Of course there are going to be students who don't test well, that's a pretty minor issue that garners headlines but is dealt with relatively easily in public policy through a meaningful appeals system that takes into account multiple measures. Hardly front page news.
Where Shapira falls down is by not engaging on the larger question about whether teacher grades are the best indicator of student learning. He's got anecdotes, but on this one there is also data. Grades are surely one important indicator, but the best or only one?
The question of grades versus test scores really boils down to that question, what sort of external benchmarks do we want in a public system like ours? Right now, standardized tests, which help provide information...are the worst way to do that, except for all the others.
"The only mystery here is why everyone in the article is being so circumspect about something that should be pretty obvious: states create standardized tests because local schools, when left to their own devices, don't always hold students to high enough academic standards...
...How do we know this? Because every measure of what students who have graduated from public schools actually know and can do shows deep deficiencies. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress only 59% of seventeen year-olds can perform "moderately complex" procedures in math. 40% of all college students are forced to enroll in at least one remedial--that is, high school-level--course. 43% of all adults score at only the "Basic" level or below on a test of literacy. Etc., etc."
In today's EduWonk.com, guest blogger Jal Mehta wonders if the school choice debate in the United States is focused on the wrong thing:
"[T]here is another side to the choice debate that is under-appreciated, which is the way that choice can afford greater school-level autonomy by providing an accountability metric that is less centered on tests and more on parents." (emphasis added - ed.)
"If teachers' main complaint is that they are over-regulated from above, then choice can provide an opportunity to establish an educational identity at the school level, as teachers are accountable to parents rather than the state as a whole. It also provides for greater educational pluralism, which should be attractive to students, parents and teachers alike. This is the genius of charters, and it is frustrating that it has not been more widely embraced by exactly the people--teachers, principals, and the unions that represent them--who could benefit from the increased autonomy and discretion it could potentially afford."
Yesterday our 8th grader cooked our family dinner as part of her health class homework. She planned the menu, shopped, prepared, served and cleaned up. Woo-hoo! Then she had to write about the experience -- using specific content knowledge. It wasn't all touchy-feelie reflecting. Woo-hoo number two! Now there's a school project I can embrace with open arms (and widening belt).
"Recently, while rummaging through my son's 20-pound backpack, I found a note from the literature teacher: "Class, please sew together a stuffed animal representing a character from the Dr. Dolittle novel we read in class. It doesn't have to be elaborate, simply use any old scraps you have around the house. And, please, whatever you do, DON'T INVOLVE YOUR PARENTS!"Oh yeah, sure. They always say that. Who, may I ask, is going to drive to the fabric store and run the sewing machine? Who will buy the stuffing, find buttons for the eyes, and sew on the cute whiskers? Certainly not the 9-year-old boy who is busy playing a Star Wars game on the computer.
But wait, it gets worse. Beware the dreaded "group project." Three or four kids clad in old Halloween costumes might reenact the battle of Agincourt for a home video. Or if your child is studying ancient civilizations, you might need to throw together a few Babylonian ziggurats for a backdrop."
Bo Schembechler, ex-football coach at University of Michigan, has died on the eve of an epic battle between his beloved Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. A seven-time Big Ten coach of the year and member of the National Football Hall of Fame, Schembechler never had a losing season in his 29 years of coaching. According to Associated Press sports writer Larry Lage,
"In the end, Michigan vs. Ohio State may have been too much for Bo Schembechler's failing heart. The man with half-century-old roots to The Game died at age 77 Friday on the eve of perhaps the biggest matchup in the storied rivalry's history, No 1 vs. No. 2, and his doctor said it might have been because of all the excitement."
Several years ago the wife of one of our dear friends (and a good friend, herself) died of breast cancer. She was too young, too beautiful, too much the great wife and mother. It was horrifying, and Robert and I promised ourselves that from that moment on, we would concentrate only on what truly mattered. We swore a earnest vow to celebrate all the great things -- both the monumental and the seemingly insignificant -- that life had to offer. No more sweating the small stuff.
"...this high school sophomore who struggled so mightily and tried so hard in your class had his chest ripped up, his liver lacerated, a wound that required 25 metal staples to close, and wiped the kid's short-term memory clean in a flurry of repression, laying there in a hospital bed at the end of the hall, too weak to grip your hand, or the hand of the two other teachers who have come, struggling to speak against the tube down his throat."
My favorite curriculum policy guru, Barry Garelick, just sent me a link to his latest article, "Two Countries, One School District." You may remember his article in Education Next, "Miracle Math," which looked at the Singapore Math program.
The article comes at a time when math is on front burner in education debate, spurred on by the National Council of Teachers of Math's new curriculum guidelines. Here's a sampling of what people are saying about the subject lately:
Dr. Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate economist, died yesterday at 94. It's a sad day.
America has lost a true visionary and advocate for human freedom. And I have lost a great friend.
Milton’s passion for freedom and liberty has influenced more lives than he ever could possibly know. His writings and ideas have transformed the minds of U.S. Presidents, world leaders, entrepreneurs and freshmen economic majors alike. The loss of his passion, incisive mind and dedication to freedom are all national treasures that we mourn for today.
Milton never chose to slow down; even at 94 he kept fighting to bring educational equality to all of America’s children. And it’s this vision, this drive for educational liberty that the Friedman Foundation will continue to bring to families throughout America.
His impact on my life over the last 33 years was significant. His impact on the world was momentous. Without a doubt, few people have done more to advance civil and economic liberties throughout the world during their lifetime than Dr. Milton Friedman.
In one of the most thoughtful postings I've read lately, Brett Pawlowski from the DeHavilland blog asks, "If we can see the problem [in education], why can't we fix it?" (via this week's Carnival of Education, hosted by What It's Like on the Inside).
"We’ve known for some time that there are serious issues in education – NAEP scores for 17-year olds haven’t budged in decades (reading and math), there’s a large disparity in academic achievement between whites and non-Asian minorities, and the dropout rate is unacceptably high. Until NCLB, we were only able to see those problems in the aggregate – national statistics that allowed us to believe our own schools were fine, thankyouverymuch, and it’s the other guy’s school that’s the problem.
Thanks to local accountability provisions with disaggregated data, however, we can now see exactly what’s going on in our own schools, and it turns out that most of us see those national problems reflected in our hometown schools and districts.
By identifying the problems, the thinking goes, we’re supposed to be compelled to address them. But here’s the rub: the people who are running and teaching in all these schools are the same ones being charged with the mission of substantially improving them, and they’re left to their own devices to do so.
I’m not trying to impugn these administrators, principals, and teachers in any way. I believe that, as a rule, educators are passionate and committed people who earnestly want to hand the keys to the kingdom to their kids. They know education is the key to success, and they would like nothing better than to watch their kids leave school with the knowledge, skills, and motivation needed to succeed in life.
But the fact is, they were working really hard before we identified these problems, and there’s no reason to expect that they can materially change course now. Why? Because we’re not giving them the tools they need to succeed.
I’m not talking about new funding here: I’m talking about the knowledge and tools they need to improve instruction in substantive ways. Like proven and replicable models from both inside and outside education. Like real authority over budget, personnel, scheduling, discipline, and curriculum issues. Like access to research, free from agenda, that points to successful practices – and the authority to implement despite ideological opposition (consider the reading wars as an example). Like the intellectual freedom to explore new thinking and ideas that would allow them to question existing practices and try new things.
Instead, we box them in with rules and restrictions that deny them the opportunity to change (i.e., you have to use this curriculum, you can’t hire/fire according to needs, you can’t kick out the kids who don’t want to be there, you can’t pay people different amounts based on scarcity or capability, etc.), and we leave all conventional thinking in place. No models of success; no focus on research; faulty beliefs on effective teaching courtesy of education schools (see here and here); and confinement within the walls of the system, restricting access to new thinking.
So what we end up with is this: do what you’ve been doing, but work harder at it. And since the means and the opportunity to truly change are not available to them, here are the kinds of responses they’re left to choose from:
- Kill the messenger – question the value or validity of the assessments
- Cheat on the assessments
- Lower the bar (usually done at the state level with easier assessments or lower standards)
- Call for more resources – money, volunteers, etc.
- Spend more time - double reading/math classes, start clubs, hold study sessions – using the same faulty materials
- Reform around the edges, such as professional development that reinforces existing thinking
- Hold pep rallies (yes, this really happens)
And when none of this works over the course of a few years, the state moves in – and, since the folks from the state don’t have the tools mentioned above either, they shift staff, make some cosmetic changes (like converting to a charter school with no attendant changes), and restart the AYP clock.
Want to change this cycle? It all comes down to a stunningly simple idea: If what you’re doing isn’t working, you need to change what you’re doing.
Eduwonk follows up with this:Everyone likes to say that we know what works, money, class size, choice, private management, etc...but that's BS. "Turn-arounds" are complicated and hit or miss and that's not all that surprising, it's a human endeavor.
A lot of people do claim to have the answers, acting mostly on beliefs rather than data. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We do have some reliable data now on effective instruction, and in areas where we don’t, we can start to gather it by trying some truly different things and doing rigorous and objective evaluations to see what happens. But it’s going to take fresh thinking, the freedom to act in new ways, and new blood from outside the industry, and it doesn’t matter whether that work happens in public schools, charters, or private schools as long as it happens and can be shared across the industry.
It’s true that you can’t improve what you don’t measure, which is the thinking behind NCLB. But it’s also true that you can’t improve on what’s not working by doing more of the same. We need to give our schools new options, new models, and new voices at the table – and we need to do it now."