If the reader has followed this blog in any regard, he has noted the author's disdain for the school reform movement. Briefly, most reformers are well-trained and versed, and their ideas are generally usable and defensible in some regard. However, the reform/testing/accountability model has proven to be costly in terms of money and time. One could easily make the case that the current budgetary mess is directly caused by the high performing school reform movement.
Before I go further, I am going to provide a link to an article that anyone with serious interest must read. It is not very long, but it highlights in an effective way the statistics and correlative reasoning behind most of the premises of this article. Heres the link: http://nasspblogs.org/principaldifference/2010/12/pisa_its_poverty_not_stupid_1.html. This blog format will not allow me to make the URL a hyperlink, so you will need to copy and paste it into your browser.
The school reform movement was born around 1980, with the Chicken Little response to "A Nation at Risk." That study alerted leaders to serious deficiencies in American schools, and it took a good twenty years before enough traction was gained to have the Federal government intervene and make the mess even worse.
The article referenced above DOES NOT maintain that American schools are doing great and that all the initiatives are unnecessary. Rather, the author's conclusion is that all of the worries about American competitiveness are genuine and worrisome. However, the focus of the article is the manner in which school leaders misinterpret the statistics - I think purposefully.
Simply put, the gap between the US and the rest of the world is misleading in some ways. For a long time, the US education model was internationally successful. However, as the rest of the world has closed the socioeconomic gap, US aggregate superiority has evaporated. ALL of our students do not perform as well as the best on the world stage. Again, if you think I am trotting out the same old teaching community excuses and defenses, please read the article.
When socioeconomic parallels are drawn, US students outperform the world in many, if not all, areas and subgroups.
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I believe that the reformers have been, and will continue to be, misleading on purpose. If the data says that the most crucial way to improve our global competitiveness is to improve our economic status, so that we do not have such a high percentage of students below the poverty level, then the sundry reform initiatives don't command such attention - and so many dollars.
School leaders NEED for the public to believe that their proposals will make a difference, because they need to justify their existence. Reform gurus need to tout their ideas, and to convince school boards to spend money on them, or they cannot capitalize on the millions of dollars to be spent.
The truth is that schools need to continue to work toward improvement, in their own self-monitored and intiated ways. I maintain that no local school will benefit from a reform initiative as much as they might benefit from internally generated improvement. Researching and devising ideas is necessary, but adopting the plans that have worked for others, in vastly different cultures and communities, is foolish, expensive, and doomed to less effectiveness, in my opinion.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
School Taxes? To Capitulate or Not to Capitulate.
I just read another news article about a budget proposal that includes cutting middle school athletics, much of the arts and music programs, and an assortment of other 'non-essential' courses. However, what struck me was a subsequent comment on the website that carried the article: essentially the citizen called agreement to a tax increase 'capitualtion' to the spendthrift, irresponsive school board.
In the interest of brevity, I sanction capitulation. Currently, most external sources report that our students in the US are inadequately prepared to compete on the world stage. Nevertheless, the US is one of the prime importers of students who are trained in our universities. These two pieces of information seem contradictory, right?
US students are reportedly still superior in only one regard - creativity and ingenuity in tackling problems. If you don't believe me, please check out Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat. Despite our academic failures, many cultures are trying to replicate American creativity and ingenuity in their educational plans. They are having rousing success in teaching upper level science and math, and their students' appreciation of social studies' issues are likewise impressive. What they are having trouble with is teaching students to think outside the box.
I say capitulate - and keep the one and only feature of American education that is currently thriving. The loss of the 'non-essential' courses, such as music and the arts, will directly affect the only strategic advantage that our students currently have. Similarly, I contend that some/much of that ingenuity is nurtured by our competitiveness, thereby endorsing the continued investment in sports activities and band competitions.
Capitulate, capitulate, capitulate! If we strip our ineffective educational program down to the essentials - math, English, science, and social studies - programs that we know are lagging behind our international competitors, then we are consciously choosing to give up any hope we have of staying competitive while we fix those programs.
How have I reached the conclusions I have reached, you might ask. Logic. The significant difference between the American educational experience and that of most other countries is our investment in a wide assortment of experiences, from music to art, to technology, to athletics. Additionally, our obsession with competition, especially on the athletic fields, represents the other most notable difference.
If we are falling behind - and we are - and the divergence of opportunity is the one thing keeping us in the race at all, then cutting the educational program is long term idiocy.
I am all for frugality, and for cost-cutting, and for financial oversight. What is happening to our schools in the face of the current budget crisis, however, stands to cripple our chances of staying in the game while we address the funding issues.
Capitulate, because failure to do so may very well help the sky to fall. No kidding. The situation is that serious.
In the interest of brevity, I sanction capitulation. Currently, most external sources report that our students in the US are inadequately prepared to compete on the world stage. Nevertheless, the US is one of the prime importers of students who are trained in our universities. These two pieces of information seem contradictory, right?
US students are reportedly still superior in only one regard - creativity and ingenuity in tackling problems. If you don't believe me, please check out Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat. Despite our academic failures, many cultures are trying to replicate American creativity and ingenuity in their educational plans. They are having rousing success in teaching upper level science and math, and their students' appreciation of social studies' issues are likewise impressive. What they are having trouble with is teaching students to think outside the box.
I say capitulate - and keep the one and only feature of American education that is currently thriving. The loss of the 'non-essential' courses, such as music and the arts, will directly affect the only strategic advantage that our students currently have. Similarly, I contend that some/much of that ingenuity is nurtured by our competitiveness, thereby endorsing the continued investment in sports activities and band competitions.
Capitulate, capitulate, capitulate! If we strip our ineffective educational program down to the essentials - math, English, science, and social studies - programs that we know are lagging behind our international competitors, then we are consciously choosing to give up any hope we have of staying competitive while we fix those programs.
How have I reached the conclusions I have reached, you might ask. Logic. The significant difference between the American educational experience and that of most other countries is our investment in a wide assortment of experiences, from music to art, to technology, to athletics. Additionally, our obsession with competition, especially on the athletic fields, represents the other most notable difference.
If we are falling behind - and we are - and the divergence of opportunity is the one thing keeping us in the race at all, then cutting the educational program is long term idiocy.
I am all for frugality, and for cost-cutting, and for financial oversight. What is happening to our schools in the face of the current budget crisis, however, stands to cripple our chances of staying in the game while we address the funding issues.
Capitulate, because failure to do so may very well help the sky to fall. No kidding. The situation is that serious.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The School Budget Crisis
The following is a difficult and painful commentary for me, a career-long public educator. Therefore, before I begin, I will say a few things that objectors will forget in just a few paragraphs. I believe in the importance of extracurricular programs as a means to prepare our next generation of students. Though I was a coach, of four different sports, over twenty-five years, I do not value athletics over the other extracurricular programs. Yes, I have a soft spot in my heart for sports, but my heart is not driving the commentary that follows.
In many districts in the area in which I live, school boads are planning to severely curtail extracurricular programs, and to severely reduce teaching, support, and facilities staffs to try to balance their respective budgets. Naturally, the music boosters, or the sports boosters, or one support group or another is descending upon board meetings to wax lyrical about the importance of one program or another.
My unpopular question is this: honestly, what do you want the various boards to do? In many places, the deficit is in the millions. Millions of dollars are not easily trimmed in any district.
Cut administrators, some will say. Okay, let's suggest for argument's sake that a central office can trim four administrative jobs, at a savings of 250,000 dollars per employee. We just saved a million dollars, right? The respective duties can be divvied up among the administraotrs being retained, and the jobs will get done somehow.
Now the deficit is down to 4 or 5 million, depending on which local district is being considered. We can raise taxes next. Most districts, at their current millage, can close the deficit by a million or two using the tax increase approach.
What's next? Well, programs, personnel, and programs and personnel. You see, the problem is that even if the popular cuts are made, and the unpopular tax increase is adopted, a large deficit remains. The reduction in expenditures is going to undermine programs one way or another.
One must also consider that my hypothetical situation presumed that central adminstration had four positions to cut, and that each of those expendable postitions are very costly. The hypothetical also presumed that a tax increase is manageable. In some districts, assigning higher taxes won't result in revenues if the people can't come up with the money. Projected revenues will suggest a balanced budget that will never materialize. Where will the money come from then?
A certain population of students necessitates a certain number of teachers, and management of facilities necessitates a certain number of people to run them.
Cuts must be made. Is band more important than wrestling? Are business courses more important than art courses? I don't want a fully funded music program if it means we will have no arts. I don't want a fully funded athletic program if it means we will have no business courses.
Local boards need to make provisions for next year, and the next. Large tax increases year after year aren't the answer. I don't know an easy fix, but i know that states had better try to work with local education agencies to devise a long term management approach.
Even if the economy rebounds quickly, though that isn't likely, the increased revenues will not benefit many districts that are burdened with limited tax bases. Love of music, sports, the arts, or a full day kndergarten are well and good, but hearts are not going to solve this problem. Reason is needed at this time, not emotion.
In many districts in the area in which I live, school boads are planning to severely curtail extracurricular programs, and to severely reduce teaching, support, and facilities staffs to try to balance their respective budgets. Naturally, the music boosters, or the sports boosters, or one support group or another is descending upon board meetings to wax lyrical about the importance of one program or another.
My unpopular question is this: honestly, what do you want the various boards to do? In many places, the deficit is in the millions. Millions of dollars are not easily trimmed in any district.
Cut administrators, some will say. Okay, let's suggest for argument's sake that a central office can trim four administrative jobs, at a savings of 250,000 dollars per employee. We just saved a million dollars, right? The respective duties can be divvied up among the administraotrs being retained, and the jobs will get done somehow.
Now the deficit is down to 4 or 5 million, depending on which local district is being considered. We can raise taxes next. Most districts, at their current millage, can close the deficit by a million or two using the tax increase approach.
What's next? Well, programs, personnel, and programs and personnel. You see, the problem is that even if the popular cuts are made, and the unpopular tax increase is adopted, a large deficit remains. The reduction in expenditures is going to undermine programs one way or another.
One must also consider that my hypothetical situation presumed that central adminstration had four positions to cut, and that each of those expendable postitions are very costly. The hypothetical also presumed that a tax increase is manageable. In some districts, assigning higher taxes won't result in revenues if the people can't come up with the money. Projected revenues will suggest a balanced budget that will never materialize. Where will the money come from then?
A certain population of students necessitates a certain number of teachers, and management of facilities necessitates a certain number of people to run them.
Cuts must be made. Is band more important than wrestling? Are business courses more important than art courses? I don't want a fully funded music program if it means we will have no arts. I don't want a fully funded athletic program if it means we will have no business courses.
Local boards need to make provisions for next year, and the next. Large tax increases year after year aren't the answer. I don't know an easy fix, but i know that states had better try to work with local education agencies to devise a long term management approach.
Even if the economy rebounds quickly, though that isn't likely, the increased revenues will not benefit many districts that are burdened with limited tax bases. Love of music, sports, the arts, or a full day kndergarten are well and good, but hearts are not going to solve this problem. Reason is needed at this time, not emotion.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Twelve Column Inches: A Valediction
The format is altered by the limitations of the blog, but I hope the words themselves do their job without the formatting help.
Can’t help but think a life
IS MORE
Than 12 column inches,
Give or take –
Especially when the giving
Lingered long.
The pens and inkwells
Treasured up –
NO LESS
Than fascination with the craft -
The stylus scraping paper
Cast a spell almost as strong
As any sullen art.
Perhaps it is fitting –
AFTER ALL
A foot of copy
Fashioned for the press -
He prized conciseness and reduced
In verse, his observations.
A ruler length is also apt-
A schoolroom symbol channeling
(A trolley ride through Green Town?)
SO, GIVEN
The tenure – teaching –
Maybe a dozen column inches
Can serve as fitting tribute.
For what is absent in the post
IS NOT
the quirky combinations –
Marine – and – poet
Thespian, director, mentor, leader.
All-in-one
What the ones who knew him feel
IS MISSING
Is the part they carry still.
For me? The charge to rise beyond –
And find what made me tick
OR TOCK.
Advice, suggestions, reprimands
Invariably garnished
With respect and affirmation.
IN THE END
“…faithful and just, to me”
He did not “go gentle” everywhere,
(And some say Anywhere)
But now, in retrospect -
A vantage point he loved
BY THE WAY –
This verse can pay a debt.
Since part of who I am took seed
In stilted conversations
That obliquely lit the way.
Can’t help but think a life
IS MORE
Than 12 column inches,
Give or take –
Especially when the giving
Lingered long.
The pens and inkwells
Treasured up –
NO LESS
Than fascination with the craft -
The stylus scraping paper
Cast a spell almost as strong
As any sullen art.
Perhaps it is fitting –
AFTER ALL
A foot of copy
Fashioned for the press -
He prized conciseness and reduced
In verse, his observations.
A ruler length is also apt-
A schoolroom symbol channeling
(A trolley ride through Green Town?)
SO, GIVEN
The tenure – teaching –
Maybe a dozen column inches
Can serve as fitting tribute.
For what is absent in the post
IS NOT
the quirky combinations –
Marine – and – poet
Thespian, director, mentor, leader.
All-in-one
What the ones who knew him feel
IS MISSING
Is the part they carry still.
For me? The charge to rise beyond –
And find what made me tick
OR TOCK.
Advice, suggestions, reprimands
Invariably garnished
With respect and affirmation.
IN THE END
“…faithful and just, to me”
He did not “go gentle” everywhere,
(And some say Anywhere)
But now, in retrospect -
A vantage point he loved
BY THE WAY –
This verse can pay a debt.
Since part of who I am took seed
In stilted conversations
That obliquely lit the way.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Pluralism etc. - What Happens in 9th grade...?
During 9th grade, students will have the opportunity to choose an area of concentration, anticipating the source of their post-secondary training. For instance, a student who is committed to the liberal arts program referenced earlier, and who wishes to pursue a B.A. or B.S. at a traditional four year college, will pursue 9th grade course that lead in that direction. A student who prefers to pursue a trade will begin his specialization. Those who are interested in technology will have a course to follow, as will those who lean toward a certification program, such as the ones offered at community colleges and technical schools.
The curriculum for these four tracks will be very similar in 9th grade, but they will become very different during each year of school subsequently. For instance, all 9th graders will have some brand of algebra, most likely. The exceptions would be students whose track through middle school has allowed thme to advance further. The other end of the spectrum will be those whose math skills will not support intense study of algebra. They will take a lower level course that sill supports the development of algebra skills.
The same concept will drive the science curriculum. Most 9th graders will take earth and spece science, but advanced students may opt for biology. Even the less interested will need to ultimately pass a biology course, but they may also do so in 10th grade.
Social studies will be comprised of a World History course in 9th grade, and an American government course in 10th grade. Four year degree students will have access to courses in Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, American History, during 11th and 12th grades, but those who wish to pursue other post-secondary education will need no other social studies credits after their 10th grade year.
The same is true for the math and science tracks mentioned above. After students have demonstrated facility with algebra and biology, they will not need to schedule further math or science courses.
The English curriculum will follow the same pattern. The 4 year college bound student will follow a track that is similar to the current one. Those who look to alternative post-secondary training will take a ninth grade course that includes training in writing, speaking, and reading comprehension. The reading comprehension component will use materials that run the full gamut from literature, to periodicals, to e-texts, blogs, news forums, etc. The key component here is that after 10th grade, students who do not plan to pursue a traditional four year degree will not be forced into literature driven courses.
If one follows the pattern set, 11th and 12th grade will provide students will time to pursue specific areas of interest. Without math, science, English, and social studies requirements in those two grades, artists and musicians will have room for intensive study of those fields. Likewise, the student who is interested in a business track, like accounting, for example, will have time to fit in a number of business courses.
Furthermore, the student who doesn't plan to pursue a four year degree will have the option of finishing school early, after he or she demonstrates competency in the math, science, English, and social studies courses mentioned above. The student who has not demonstrated competency in those areas will have two years to do so, in courses that are specifically designed for those who have struggled in a specific area.
To be clear, a student who does not make the grade in Algebra in ninth or tenth grade will have 11th and 12th grade to tackle the subject. The same will hold true for the other disciplines.
I believe that Career Pathways are Bunk, as currently conceived and implemented in many of our schools. However, the idea that the last two years of high school can be used to train students in a specific, interest and desire driven area is desirable.
I am throwing out numbers here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are accurate. 60-70% of students don't need to know a lick of trigonometry, chemistry, physics, calculus, or any higher level lit. They don't need to know about European History or Sociology.
Imagine the success level for chemistry students if their classes are populated solely by students who are interested in those courses. Imagine the success rate for Trig and Calc classes where few are enrolled because they need the math credit.
The curriculum for these four tracks will be very similar in 9th grade, but they will become very different during each year of school subsequently. For instance, all 9th graders will have some brand of algebra, most likely. The exceptions would be students whose track through middle school has allowed thme to advance further. The other end of the spectrum will be those whose math skills will not support intense study of algebra. They will take a lower level course that sill supports the development of algebra skills.
The same concept will drive the science curriculum. Most 9th graders will take earth and spece science, but advanced students may opt for biology. Even the less interested will need to ultimately pass a biology course, but they may also do so in 10th grade.
Social studies will be comprised of a World History course in 9th grade, and an American government course in 10th grade. Four year degree students will have access to courses in Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, American History, during 11th and 12th grades, but those who wish to pursue other post-secondary education will need no other social studies credits after their 10th grade year.
The same is true for the math and science tracks mentioned above. After students have demonstrated facility with algebra and biology, they will not need to schedule further math or science courses.
The English curriculum will follow the same pattern. The 4 year college bound student will follow a track that is similar to the current one. Those who look to alternative post-secondary training will take a ninth grade course that includes training in writing, speaking, and reading comprehension. The reading comprehension component will use materials that run the full gamut from literature, to periodicals, to e-texts, blogs, news forums, etc. The key component here is that after 10th grade, students who do not plan to pursue a traditional four year degree will not be forced into literature driven courses.
If one follows the pattern set, 11th and 12th grade will provide students will time to pursue specific areas of interest. Without math, science, English, and social studies requirements in those two grades, artists and musicians will have room for intensive study of those fields. Likewise, the student who is interested in a business track, like accounting, for example, will have time to fit in a number of business courses.
Furthermore, the student who doesn't plan to pursue a four year degree will have the option of finishing school early, after he or she demonstrates competency in the math, science, English, and social studies courses mentioned above. The student who has not demonstrated competency in those areas will have two years to do so, in courses that are specifically designed for those who have struggled in a specific area.
To be clear, a student who does not make the grade in Algebra in ninth or tenth grade will have 11th and 12th grade to tackle the subject. The same will hold true for the other disciplines.
I believe that Career Pathways are Bunk, as currently conceived and implemented in many of our schools. However, the idea that the last two years of high school can be used to train students in a specific, interest and desire driven area is desirable.
I am throwing out numbers here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are accurate. 60-70% of students don't need to know a lick of trigonometry, chemistry, physics, calculus, or any higher level lit. They don't need to know about European History or Sociology.
Imagine the success level for chemistry students if their classes are populated solely by students who are interested in those courses. Imagine the success rate for Trig and Calc classes where few are enrolled because they need the math credit.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Pluralism and Egalitarianism in Education
People aren't equal. It seems to me that the first thing that has to happen, should American education wish to improve dramatically, is acceptance and embracing of the first statement in this piece. Because people aren't equal, the primary directive of education must be to stop adhering to the fallacy that all people are capable of the same degree of development and production.
Let's suppose, briefly, that people were born and endowed with congruent capacities. Even if this were true, so long as humans have free will, and personal taste and interests, a simple fact of life is that each person follows his drives and ambitions, and that those ambitions are diverse and often elusive. Consequently, building an educational process that pretends to level the playing field, or to equal the opportunities for all, is destined to relative failure.
Before the reader jumps the gun and presumes that I will be advocating the adoption of a European system of education, let me state definitively that I am not. Neither am I opposed to such a program. If we tend in that direction, I am supportive of the approach, but only if we rethink what we want our schools to do.
Most schools are currently constituted, whether they admit it or not, to a standard belief in liberal arts education, even through K-12, though we use the term primarily in regard to college. What I mean is that the program of studies from primary to secondary school is built upon a set of values that says all students need exposure to quality literature, higher math, and serious science. I don't believe they do.
Here's the problem with my own theory: children haven't developed their minds, their tastes, and their genuine preferences until sometime in late middle school or early high school. Thus the problem is how to maintain a wealth of exposures and experiences that will help them know how to make their individual paths?
What I propose is as follows. K-8th grade should be comprised of less formalized study of any discipline. Since my background is in English, I will look first at the language arts curriculum.
Currently, 4th through 8th graders spend a great deal of time trying to grasp the principles of grammar, the rudimentary concepts of literature, and a working understanding of how to express themselves in writing. The system I propose will have students, based on their working understanding of language, avoiding the mention of a an infinitve, subject/verb agreement, or even proper nouns. Instead, their study of grammar will focus solely on learning a multitude of ways to say the same thing. They will learn usage and grammar through experimentation with language.
Their study of literature will be similarly delivered. No child will hear about Freytag's Pyramid. They will learn some of the jargon of lterary study, but the objective will not be deliberately built upon application of any of those terms. Instead, they will be asked to propose causes and effect of various choices, devices, and/or purposes. They will be asked to make inferences, distinguish fact from opinion, and generally connect the texts to what they already know. The acquisition of vocabulary and literary language will be a secondary effect, not a primary purpose.
The same concepts will hold true in other disciplines. Before high school, working with the material ought to be the aim. Hypothesizing, proposing, noticing, and responding to information will be the activity, since those things will support all of the standards and benchmarks as currently written. Take a look at the standards and see if you can make the connection. Not one standard specifies that anyone know the 'rules' of the short story, or the particulars of a verse form, or name an author or character from a story.
I don't think the social studies curriculum should change dramatically through these grade levels. As it stands, social studies in 4th through 8th is focused on acquisition of knowledge, and the management of information is also a skill that needs to be given some play. Let social studies be in charge of the focus on that skill.
Math creates a headache, and probably requires the largest change. Having reached middle age, I can attest to the relative lack of importance of higher math skills for me and a majority of people. By higher math skill, I mean calculus and the far end of trigonometry.
The current Pennsylvania test of math proficiency suggests that dexterity with algebra is the end game of math instruction. Consequently, schools should "require" no math instruction after a student has acquired algebra facility. Understaning of higher level math is a valuable thing for a good many people, but the school program should be set up to accommodate only those people who are interested and driven. Even four year colleges have changed their math requirements. Thirty years ago, my college demanded that I tackle calculus, along with all my peers. I have had no use for it since. In fact, when I have been in contact with calculus in the interim, I remember almost nothing. That forgetfulness has not been to my detriment.
The same can be said for science. Let's demand scientific acumen only for those who are inclined in that direction. lord knows that our world needs chemists and physicists, and multitudes of engineers. The point is that those needs may be met, and more progress made, if we rid the chem and physics classrooms of the undermotivated and disinterested.
The next installment will discuss how schools can channel students into tracks or paths that suit their needs.
Let's suppose, briefly, that people were born and endowed with congruent capacities. Even if this were true, so long as humans have free will, and personal taste and interests, a simple fact of life is that each person follows his drives and ambitions, and that those ambitions are diverse and often elusive. Consequently, building an educational process that pretends to level the playing field, or to equal the opportunities for all, is destined to relative failure.
Before the reader jumps the gun and presumes that I will be advocating the adoption of a European system of education, let me state definitively that I am not. Neither am I opposed to such a program. If we tend in that direction, I am supportive of the approach, but only if we rethink what we want our schools to do.
Most schools are currently constituted, whether they admit it or not, to a standard belief in liberal arts education, even through K-12, though we use the term primarily in regard to college. What I mean is that the program of studies from primary to secondary school is built upon a set of values that says all students need exposure to quality literature, higher math, and serious science. I don't believe they do.
Here's the problem with my own theory: children haven't developed their minds, their tastes, and their genuine preferences until sometime in late middle school or early high school. Thus the problem is how to maintain a wealth of exposures and experiences that will help them know how to make their individual paths?
What I propose is as follows. K-8th grade should be comprised of less formalized study of any discipline. Since my background is in English, I will look first at the language arts curriculum.
Currently, 4th through 8th graders spend a great deal of time trying to grasp the principles of grammar, the rudimentary concepts of literature, and a working understanding of how to express themselves in writing. The system I propose will have students, based on their working understanding of language, avoiding the mention of a an infinitve, subject/verb agreement, or even proper nouns. Instead, their study of grammar will focus solely on learning a multitude of ways to say the same thing. They will learn usage and grammar through experimentation with language.
Their study of literature will be similarly delivered. No child will hear about Freytag's Pyramid. They will learn some of the jargon of lterary study, but the objective will not be deliberately built upon application of any of those terms. Instead, they will be asked to propose causes and effect of various choices, devices, and/or purposes. They will be asked to make inferences, distinguish fact from opinion, and generally connect the texts to what they already know. The acquisition of vocabulary and literary language will be a secondary effect, not a primary purpose.
The same concepts will hold true in other disciplines. Before high school, working with the material ought to be the aim. Hypothesizing, proposing, noticing, and responding to information will be the activity, since those things will support all of the standards and benchmarks as currently written. Take a look at the standards and see if you can make the connection. Not one standard specifies that anyone know the 'rules' of the short story, or the particulars of a verse form, or name an author or character from a story.
I don't think the social studies curriculum should change dramatically through these grade levels. As it stands, social studies in 4th through 8th is focused on acquisition of knowledge, and the management of information is also a skill that needs to be given some play. Let social studies be in charge of the focus on that skill.
Math creates a headache, and probably requires the largest change. Having reached middle age, I can attest to the relative lack of importance of higher math skills for me and a majority of people. By higher math skill, I mean calculus and the far end of trigonometry.
The current Pennsylvania test of math proficiency suggests that dexterity with algebra is the end game of math instruction. Consequently, schools should "require" no math instruction after a student has acquired algebra facility. Understaning of higher level math is a valuable thing for a good many people, but the school program should be set up to accommodate only those people who are interested and driven. Even four year colleges have changed their math requirements. Thirty years ago, my college demanded that I tackle calculus, along with all my peers. I have had no use for it since. In fact, when I have been in contact with calculus in the interim, I remember almost nothing. That forgetfulness has not been to my detriment.
The same can be said for science. Let's demand scientific acumen only for those who are inclined in that direction. lord knows that our world needs chemists and physicists, and multitudes of engineers. The point is that those needs may be met, and more progress made, if we rid the chem and physics classrooms of the undermotivated and disinterested.
The next installment will discuss how schools can channel students into tracks or paths that suit their needs.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Career Pathways are Bunk
I like to start off with a qualifier, when appropriate - especially when the headline is one that can not be taken as anyting other than an attack on a theory, program, or plan. So, here goes.
The theory that people ought to be enabled to pursue a career path that will help them to pursue a profession or vocation that is in their interest spectrum is obviously a great idea. However, and again, the implementation model or pattern is critical. Most current models of career pathways ask students in middle school, ages 12-14, to make astute judgments about their future. You should see the ridiculousness of this already. Yet that provocation or investigation is actually defensible. The error commences when the decision made is so particular that a change of course becomes problematic.
If your own 12 year old chooses a set of courses that is supposed to lead to a career in , let's say, medical support services and related fields, and he or she discovers an aversion to math and science might serve as a bit of a deterrent, can s/he change course without losing credit or status in the replacement program?
To be specific, the young man or woman has entered a course or sequence that leads to trigonometry in 11th grade, and to chemistry in 10th grade. The change of course though, can make a move to a communications program unwieldy. You see, the new program places less emphasis on math and science, so while the completed courses may still carry weight and credit toward graduation, the student has no way to return and to take the classes s/he missed during the enrollment in medical professions investigation. The original course was designed to emphasize science and math, and even though the student completed the required courses, he or she has no way to take the courses that are needed for the current track. The barrier is that all courses cannot be taught at all levels and in all programs. Consequently the number of credits earned may be adequate, but jumping into an upper level course in another arena will cause problems, since the foundation for that particular sequence has not been set.
Some schools solve that problem by making the sequences almost the same, so that Career Pathways exist in name or theory only. They give lip service to career exploration, but the 'training' specific to a chosen course doesn't exist.
The next post will suggest what schools can do to meet the needs for career specific training more effectively.
The theory that people ought to be enabled to pursue a career path that will help them to pursue a profession or vocation that is in their interest spectrum is obviously a great idea. However, and again, the implementation model or pattern is critical. Most current models of career pathways ask students in middle school, ages 12-14, to make astute judgments about their future. You should see the ridiculousness of this already. Yet that provocation or investigation is actually defensible. The error commences when the decision made is so particular that a change of course becomes problematic.
If your own 12 year old chooses a set of courses that is supposed to lead to a career in , let's say, medical support services and related fields, and he or she discovers an aversion to math and science might serve as a bit of a deterrent, can s/he change course without losing credit or status in the replacement program?
To be specific, the young man or woman has entered a course or sequence that leads to trigonometry in 11th grade, and to chemistry in 10th grade. The change of course though, can make a move to a communications program unwieldy. You see, the new program places less emphasis on math and science, so while the completed courses may still carry weight and credit toward graduation, the student has no way to return and to take the classes s/he missed during the enrollment in medical professions investigation. The original course was designed to emphasize science and math, and even though the student completed the required courses, he or she has no way to take the courses that are needed for the current track. The barrier is that all courses cannot be taught at all levels and in all programs. Consequently the number of credits earned may be adequate, but jumping into an upper level course in another arena will cause problems, since the foundation for that particular sequence has not been set.
Some schools solve that problem by making the sequences almost the same, so that Career Pathways exist in name or theory only. They give lip service to career exploration, but the 'training' specific to a chosen course doesn't exist.
The next post will suggest what schools can do to meet the needs for career specific training more effectively.
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