ABC Blog

Professional Development Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:39:00 +0000

I sometimes run into a debate about professional development for teachers that takes the form of content vs. pedagogy. As with any debate, the lines are usually too sharply drawn and the arguments pro and con typically too simplistic. Should schools spend time and money on helping teachers learn more about and stay up to date with content in their field? The latest in genetics for biology teachers. Cutting edge social science for the social studies department. Review and analysis of the latest and greatest in literature for those entrusted with teaching our students to read and write. Or would resources be better spent on teachers learning to deliver content they already know in ever more effective, more creative, and more 21st century modes? I have known teachers who know everything there is to know about a particular field and are not that great at communicating what they know to young people. I have also met creative, student-centered teachers who seem to barely grasp what they are teaching. With increasingly limited resources, how should schools spend their PD resources?

Clearly outstanding teaching involves both: compelling up to date content combined with effective teaching strategies. However, I do believe that the ground has shifted. Once content was king and pedagogy played a subservient role. Good teachers could get away with engaging lectures, checking for understanding with Q &A, and ultimately testing to assess whether content had been mastered. But now that the latest content is generally accessible to anyone with an internet connection, do teachers really need to be the master's of content?

If the answer to that question is "no," PD priority should be given to pedagogy. In other words, schools should spend what available resources they have in time and money teaching all teachers a contemporary framework for learning--sound and, let's say, multi-media methods for educating (not just instructing) students. Teachers should be in the vanguard of social networking, not breathlessly behind. Schools should be on the cutting edge of mobile computing, app development, and cloud use not banning smart phones. PD time should be devoted to technologies that help teachers with podcasting, screen casting, video editing, etc. not to reviewing (yet again) test-prep strategies. Once content was everything, now it's everywhere. Have we taken that difference seriously in our classrooms?

There really is no debate.

On Tears and Tests

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:02:00 +0000

I spoke to a teacher recently and she told me this story:

One of the better students in her AP English class approached her desk teary-eyed and accompanied by a close friend. The girl said, "I am leaving school. My mother is moving us closer to the boyfriend"--the last two words dripping with distaste. The teacher admitted regrettably that her first words in response were: "But we need your test score!" She recovered with "I am so sorry to hear that" and other words of consolation and support. But she was shocked and dismayed at how co-opted she had become by a mindset that puts tests results ahead of students.

I firmly believe that no teacher ever got into teaching to raise standardized test scores--given once a year--as high as possible. I firmly believe that teachers were and are called into this profession and remain in this profession for an incredibly rich constellation of factors that include everything from passion for a subject to love for young people and a desire to help them reach their full potential. And I firmly believe that teachers, like the one with whom I spoke, recognizing that they have been co-opted can and will make choices in words and actions that express that calling.

Composting Lessons

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:06:00 +0000

How about this for a parent child exchange? A friend of mine related a conversation he had with his fifth grade daughter after school.

Bill: What did you do in school?
Emily: Oh, we didn't do any work.
Bill: No work? What do you mean? What did you do?
Emily: Some friends and I spent most of the day learning how to compost. We built this compost box. And they gave us this list of everything you can compost. We asked some middle school kids for help and got their ideas. We wrote all these down on some paper and are starting to figure out how we can get more stuff to compost from maybe restaurants and stores. Then we had to go to the library and I checked out these books on composting.

So no "work" just a whole lot of learning. One key to student engagement is to blur the line between the work of learning and what creates Fun & Excitement for students. Finding lessons and activities during which students lose track of time and consider the day to have been work-free helps develop a joy and passion for learning that can be lifelong.

Nearly 7 out of 10 (69%) students on the recently released National My Voice survey agree that learning can be fun. While this is a clear majority of students, it should makes us wonder if the 31% of students who could not agree think learning is only work and drudgery. Learning does take effort, but that effort need not be a dull affair. Learning that is hands on, interactive, has an everyday life application, and makes a difference engages students in a way that makes effort seem easy. How can you compost lessons you know need recycling into something rich, useful, and nurturing for your students?

By the way, my friend Bill reports they are now saving egg shells and coffee grinds.

Study Period Period

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:38:00 +0000

I can't tell you the number of study periods I have observed in which studying was scarce. I have seen study periods held in traditional classrooms, in cafeterias, in libraries, and in the bleachers of a gymnasium while phys. ed. class was in session. I have seen study periods with 6 students and a few with over 50. Inevitably one or two students seem to be studying, another couple are doing homework, and the majority are sleeping, listening to an iPod, or quietly chatting. The adult at the front of the room rarely seems to mind. In one study period the teacher and some likeminded students were watching a video about dirt bikes that the teacher had brought in (I am not at all against teachers and students sharing common interests in this way!) In one urban high school, we were told that some seniors had 3 study periods a day because they only need a few classes to graduate. Disruptions seem to be the only unallowable.

I want to make a bold recommendation: Study Period full stop. Let's get rid of it. Let's start by being honest and admit that in most schools it has decayed into a glorified teenager-sitting session (I really can't use "baby-sitting"). The students who are "studying" are either doing homework (which I suppose is fine; that's when my 2 kids said they did their homework) or cramming for a test they have later that day. So much for "home" work and "studying" for tests. But for most kids it is the idlest part of the day. And if kids need idle time let's keep it, but let's not pretend it's anything other than recess for high school students.

What if we trusted kids? What if we said: You are going to have this free period every once in awhile in your schedule and here are some options: You can go to the library to study or read. You can go to the media center to watch an educational video (TED talks!) or look up something you are struggling with in a class (Kahn Academy!). You can go to the computer lab and do anything educational online. You can go to a teacher for extra help. You can form a club. You can help out a secretary, or the librarian, or the media center coordinator, or the cafeteria staff, or the bookstore staff, or the custodian. No; you don't get paid; it's your school, too. You can take a nap. You can listen to music.

What if instead of pretend study periods we had IEP (Individualized Education Plan) Periods for every student? Every student makes a plan for something they want to learn during that time and are held accountable to learning it. What if instead of mock study periods we had Portfolio Periods during which each and every student and to work with an advisor on building a portfolio on interests and skills that could be used as part of a college or job entry process?

What if we stopped pretending and ended study periods period?

Akron to Sidney

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:17:00 +0000

Last week I was in schools in Akron, Ohio (population 199,000) and this week I was in a school in Sidney, Montana (population 5100). Whether inner city or rural as they come, we seem to be facing the same puzzle. Teachers who care and students who don't perceive that care. Teachers wanting to engage students and students who are not engaged. Teachers who believe education is the key to the future and students who don't quite get the connection between what they are doing in school today and what they will be doing in the real world tomorrow.

The more I see and study our country's schools the more I believe that those who see either teachers (lazy, inadequately trained, etc.) or students (lazy, over stimulated, ill-mannered, etc.) as the problem are misguided. I suppose if one only looked at test scores and saw them stagnate or falling, one would be inclined to blame one of the two parties involved in producing those scores. And if the whole system is set up with those test scores as the only indicator of success and it was becoming clear "success" was unattainable, you would have to grant waivers or else admit you had set schools up for failure.

But if you talk to teachers and to students, it becomes clear quickly that the very rules of the game are a cause of its own inability to produce a successful outcome. Imagine a baseball game that required touchdowns from each team to declare a winner. Who would you blame for a baseball team's inability to produce touchdowns? The players? The coaches? The umpires? Or the one's who set up the game that way?

Teachers seem not to care when students think they care more about them as students (i.e., test takers) than they do about them as persons. Teachers find it impossible to be engaging when pacing guides keep them relentlessly driving toward various pre-test markers. And when schools have become nothing more than test taking factories, it's no wonder students don't see the connection between being successful test takers and the real world in their future. So let me ask (a rhetorical question): Are students more likely to succeed academically in a school they believe is caring, engaging, and relevant or one that is so "ridiculously focused on the state test"--as one student put it--so as to inspire only effective test taking?

Role and Goal Confusion

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:30:00 +0000

One thing I have noticed in schools is something referred to as "Role and Goal Confusion." The more I talk with school staff, the more I see it as a cause of tension and even disrespect. Consider this thought experiment (or try it for real): Have teachers write a job description for themselves, including their goals as professionals. Have administrators write a job description for themselves, including their professional goals. Now have the teachers write a job description for and the goals of administrators. And have the administrators write the job description for and goals of a teacher. Finally, compare notes.

One thing I see frequently is that the lists do not match. Sometimes the differences are dramatic. "No wonder I don't think you are doing your job!" What do we do when a cause of tension or disrespect is my thinking you are not doing what I think your job is? Or when you think I am not doing what you think my job is?

This confusion is not limited to those in different positions (e.g., teachers and administrators, support staff and teachers, etc.). It can creep in among teachers themselves. Sometimes it breaks down along department lines (in high schools) or grade level lines (in middle schools still struggling between junior high and middle school philosophies) or even along "old school" "new school" lines. We can converse with trusted colleagues in the parking lot about how other people are not doing their job. Or we can clear up the confusion face to face, colleague to colleague, and learn how we are each doing our job as we understand it to the best of our ability.

Silent Voices

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:43:00 +0000

"They're never this quiet!" --a first ring Cleveland teacher commenting on the behavior of the 220 students sitting in an auditorium taking a My Voice survey.

The set up was the same as in Akron a few weeks ago. More arm wrestling. More encouragement to think win-win in school with teachers. Only this time instead of sharing My Voice results with students, we were administering the My Voice survey. This school had opted for the paper version and the silent seriousness with which students took the survey was impressive. All 1500 of them in 200+ installments. No one had to shush them. No one had to ask them to be respectful to the guests. No one had to pull a student out for horsing around. We simply showed up, told the students we wanted to hear from them, and their desire to be heard, paradoxically, kept them quiet for the fifteen minutes it takes to complete the survey.

I am more and more convinced that this is how we must move forward in improving our schools. Not in conference rooms with committees of overworked teachers and administrators trying to decide what is best for the students, but with students themselves as our partners. In these assemblies I keep saying teachers and students want the same thing: Students don't want to be bored and teachers don't want to be boring, students do not enter high school so they can drop out and no teacher wants students to drop out, students do not want to be ignorant and teachers do not want their students to be ignorant. Why then have we been stuck for the past ten years with the same amount of students saying they are bored, the same dropout rate, the same amount of ignorance and, by the way, fairly stagnant test scores?

I don't know the answer. I do know that if we start listening to students more they will help us find them. I know that if we ask the right questions in all seriousness they will answer in all seriousness. I know the way forward is with the students, not simply on our own, even if on their behalf.

Arm Wrestling 101

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:07:00 +0000

Last week I arm wrestled 14 of the biggest students in Akron, Ohio. In 14 separate assemblies in 4 high schools in Akron, I had the task of sharing with the students results of their My Voice survey and asking for their assistance interpreting those numbers and helping the school improve. Borrowing from Stephen Covey, at the start of each assembly I made a lot of noise about growing up in New York City (close: Jersey City), being an arm wrestling champion in high school (I was in theater), of setting up intramural arm wrestling at Boston College (I helped found a performing arts council), and of knowing that I could pin any student 20 times in 30 seconds. "The only question," talking the best smack my acting background could muster, "was whether any student in the auditorium thought they could pin me 20 times in 30 seconds." The testosterone that filled half the assembly hall took care of the rest.

So each time I brought up one of the biggest students in the room. Each time I flexed a bicep and gave him a chance to back out. Each time I told him there were two candy bars at stake for 20 pins in 30 seconds. And each time we started the timer, I looked the student in the eye and said, "I want you to win" and put up no fight the first three times. Pin. Pin. Pin. Then I stopped and fought and started the object lesson. "Look at the timer ticking down. There is no way you can pin me 20 times without my help. Let's cooperate. You pin me 20 (I let him win again...4) and you let me pin you 20. Let's cooperate. There is no way this can happen unless we do that." Some of the kids pinned me 5 or 6 times. One young man pinned me 18 times (remember 4 were freebies!) but not 20, not without my help.

About half of the young men got it. They put aside ego and picked up two candy bars. The other half could not get there and if they couldn't pin me those one or two times more, it was a stalemate and they walked away empty handed. They understood what I was asking them to do, but could not make the switch from a Win-Lose mindset to a Win-Win mindset. After the fun, teaching the lesson about how high school was like a ticking clock and that they and their teachers would likely stay stuck...same drop out rate, same amount of boredom, same amount of respect for one another...if they didn't start working together was easy. When teachers and students start thinking Win-Win with each other, beginning by listening to the voice of students and taking their point of view seriously, amazing things can happen.

Got Homework?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:01:00 +0000

Every few weeks or so an article pops up in the news about homework. Yesterday, the Boston Globe (which I won't link too because they are starting a pay for use program on their website) had one discussing some new and, as ever, inconclusive evidence. For math, yes; for english and social studies, no. Or something like that. The disappointment was that the study used data from 1988. "Anyone working in schools think homework has changed much since 1988?" he asked, on a blog, using the internet.

More helpful are articles like the one last week in the New York Times reporting about the usefulness of "spaced repetition." Or learning about the school district in Los Altos that is using Khan Academy to flip its math classrooms: learn the material at home on Khan Academy and come to school to do homework type activities when a teachers assistance would be most helpful.

Most of the articles, the Globe included set up a false dichotomy between kids who hate homework on the one hands and parents and teachers who like homework on the other. But this is false. Kids don't hate doing extra academic type work at home. They hate busy work. Work that doesn't contribute to their learning. I know a third grader who spent a great deal of free time for months collecting shark teeth and researching sharks on the internet. I know a fifth grader who, having learned about Pangea in school wrote a movie script about a group of kids who time traveled back to see if the theory was accurate.--not for homework, but for fun. I know many, many students who read books outside of those assigned in school.

The question is not whether homework works or not. Student can, do, and want to learn outside of the classroom. The question is: How do we assign homework that students actually want do do?

Fall Out

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:13:00 +0000

I have a five year old friend who has been in school for about a week now. When I asked him how school is going, he reported, "I had a great day today. I learned something which I forget, and had outdoor recess." He captures it, doesn't he? Not just the one day, but the entire experience. When I look back at my entire educational experience, like Tom, I can say honestly, "I had a great educational experience, I learned somethings which I have forgotten, and had outdoor recess"--I played with friends at sports and in co-curricular activities, we ate animated lunches together discussing the latest liaisons, we receded from the academic grind into crisp fall days, and slushy New York winters, and bright spring afternoons.

Undoubtedly there is an accumulation of learning and knowledge which persist despite the memory gaps in the particulars of every math or science or history class. What I think Tom's response calls attention to is the fact that from the student's side of the school experience, as distinct from the adult's side, the real energy, the part that sticks with you, is what happens "outside" explicit learning experiences--in the interactions between teachers and students, over lunch with some students, inside a football or soccer stadium when students see their teachers supporting something they love to do. In a sense, everything not directly curricular is co-curricular and has the potential to engage students in meaningful ways. This is the "fall out" of having the privilege of interacting with young people for six or seven hours every day.

When you consider your busy week ahead, what time can you give to a recess outside--literally and figuratively?

What's New?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

And so begins another school year. In the past three weeks, I have participated in one way or another in opening events in 6 school districts. In one I was an opening day keynoter, in another I had students helping me deliver professional development via a systems game to their teachers, and in the others it was straight out pre-student arrival PD about Aspirations. By all accounts, schools have never been busier. It wouldn't be too big a stretch to say that before a single student sat at a desk, administrators and teachers were already feeling behind. They were excited, eager, and energetic and wondering how they had already been lapped when the official starting pistol had yet to be fired.

This year the new entry seems to be 21st Century Skills. But schools are not adopting that effort as a replacement to improving literacy or numeracy--or just coming online science and/or social studies testing. They are not side-lining common core standards or dropping their new anti-bullying program to work on Innovation and Collaboration. 21st Century Skills, the PD associated with it, the time committed to it in classrooms, the effort to assess whether the skills are being taught or not is not being done in lieu of the dozens of other initiatives schools have adopted over the years. It is just being added--some might say "piled"--on.

The big question is: Is this sustainable? All the programs are good programs. All the skills--from traditional literacy skills to the more avant guarde communication--seem critical to teach if our students are to be successful. But where will already breathless educators find the stamina to keep up this pace? One answer is from the students themselves. Not just as inspiration for doing whatever it takes, but also as partners in the effort. That's a goal I have for this year: Helping the schools I support develop deeper and fuller partnerships between teachers and students.

What's new at your school?

Creativity Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:44:00 +0000

This is a committee I worked on to help promote and assess creativity in schools. It is the one thing we need more of in education and the one thing that gets squeezed out by shrinking budgets and growing standardization. Please check it out and spread the word!

Announcing the EdSteps Student Work Contest!

The EdSteps Student Work Contest has officially launched. To win, submit work from March 14- May 14th 2011 in the areas of Creativity or Problem Solving. For a chance at one of two $1,000 gift cards, all you must do is submit student work in the areas of Creativity or Problem Solving at www.edsteps.org. For each piece of student work that you submit, you will receive one entry for the contest. For example, if you submit 500 pieces of student work, you will receive 500 entries to the contest. There are no limits on the number of entries that one may have. Winners will be contacted on May 15, 2011. If you have any questions, please feel free to email info@edsteps.org.

To find out more information about the contest visit www.edsteps.org.

Is Cheating Becoming Standard?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Interesting article in USA Today Yesterday about teachers and administrators who have been caught cheating on high stakes standardized tests. The crib notes version is that after a particular set of students' tests get flagged for showing an unusually big increase from one year to the next followed by an equally suspicious drop to normal the following year, an investigation is conducted. The uptick frequently turns out to be a teacher who gave students the answers ahead of time. Another way a set of tests can get flagged is by a software program that keeps track of erasures and blows the whistle when there are a lot of erasures that have been changed from incorrect to correct answers. The culprit there can be a teacher or an administrator with a number two pencil post-test.

This is inevitable right? The problem with standardized testing is not with the tests. Nor is it with wanting to hold schools and teachers accountable for making sure their students are able to meet certain standards. The problem is when the stakes that are tied to the tests impact the financial bottom line--whether that's someone's personal bank account or a school's ability to get government money. Doping came into sports when big money came into sports. People who are in the upper echelons of the tax bracket seek loopholes. White collar crime is rarely for chump change. Cheaters do prosper provided they don't get caught.

We need a less fiscally pressured approach to accountability in schools. It's a corruption of the learning process to tie its outcomes to dollar signs. That corruption in turn corrupts people who probably did not get into education to cheat their students out of a realistic assessment of their progress.

Friday Video: Grammar Love Song

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:59:00 +0000

Student creativity on display.

Double Dipping "Double Dipping"

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:38:00 +0000

A few more thoughts on yesterday's blog about Timmy's teacher taxing parents to tutor her own students in test taking for upcoming standardized tests. Besides collecting "overtime" for work that a teacher should be doing as part of her regular education program, consider:

What happens to those students from low income families who, perhaps struggling the most, are least able to afford the cost of extra help. Why is such an offering acceptable within a public system?

Do you recall the part of the teacher's email that offered to help students learn to "reduce anxiety" when taking a test? Where does that anxiety come from? Might the teacher herself be a source of it? I am going to overstate it to make a point, but: "Ok, boys and girls, this test that is coming up is really important. Whether or not our school is successful or not depends a lot on how well you do on this test. We are all going to have to work very hard because if we don't our principal will get in trouble. Oh and be sure to remind your parents that if they want you to come to my extra help session on how to reduce stress when you take a test, that the money is due tomorrow."

Finally, how authentic is an assessment that can be meaningfully affected by test taking tips? Do these tests measure what students have actually learned or do they measure how well students take tests? I think we all know the answer is the latter, which makes charging extra for improving the skills that actually get measured even more questionable.

Friday Video: Spot On

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Ken Robinson. Spot on as usual.

What Are We Learning in Social Studies This Week?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:00:00 +0000

This week in many schools most students will sit in two or three or maybe even five social studies classes. What will they be studying? U.S. History? Ancient civilizations? The Western World?

Last week the entire world witnessed history unfold in real time as the thirty-year "emergency" rule of Hosni Mubarak came to an end in Egypt. Those seeking reform were unswayed by promises of accommodations and concessions. They wanted democracy starting now and, although the Egyptian people have a long way to go, they are on a path toward greater freedom and liberty.

There are social studies lessons here for every grade level--from the simple lesson of people wanting to have a say in their government, to the critical role of the military in revolutions, to the complexities of international relationships and how they effect internal affairs. That the Egyptian demonstrators used FaceBook to organize is a lesson in how technology is playing a role in important social movements.

The question is whether Egypt will be studied this week for any other reason than a coincidence of current events with a chapter on the Pyramids? What a crime it would be if students in the United States were robbed of the opportunity to learn from living history because it is not in the book or because it won't be on the test. The tyranny of an increasingly standardized curriculum, in part, is causing a lack of relevance in our school systems. When teachers are not free to seize a "teachable moment" of this magnitude and relevance, the system proves as stubborn as Mr. Mubarak did last week. Our students are already using social networks to rebel. What will you teach this week?

Video Friday: Imagination

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:33:00 +0000

A little long (4 minutes) but worth every minute on the Cute scale and every second on the Creativity scale. How do schools encourage our natural tendency to be creative and innovative?

Turnaround School

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:28:00 +0000

You may recall that during his State of the Union address, President Obama lauded the efforts of Bruce Randolph School in Denver, Colorado. He said, "Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their family to go to college.” He was holding this school up as an example of how "reform isn’t just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals; school boards and communities."

Not part of the President's remarks was that Bruce Randolph dramatically improved by gaining "innovation" status under a Colorado law that allowed it autonomy from district and union rules. All forty teachers were asked to reapply. Only six made the cut and were re-hired. This approach is similar to one of four options--the Turnaround model--touted by the federal government for helping a failing school improve. You get money mandated from the top for choosing such an approach. Three years after making such a move, Bruce Randolph was prime time from the House chamber.

Why is this blog-worthy on Research Thursday? First, you didn't get all the facts if you left the SOTU simply being impressed by a school that somehow went from worst to first from the grass roots up. There is value in digging deeper. Second, many researchers are telling us that good teaching makes an enormous difference. Malcom Gladwell goes so far as to say that if you were forced to put your child in an excellent school with a bad teacher or a bad school with an excellent teacher, choose the latter. We call them Heroes. Lastly, the Department of Education will soon release an interim report on schools that selected the Turnaround option. Following that they will conduct case studies in 60 schools. Here's the interesting part, according the the article: "Researchers will not collect testing data, but will look at leading indicators such as changes in school climate and principal leadership strategies that could signal a successful turnaround." I find the idea that a school's success can be measured in ways other than achievement data a turnaround worth celebrating.

Double Dipping

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:11:00 +0000

If you're wondering, I have been avoiding comment on the whole debate emanating from Wisconsin and not limited to that state's borders. In part because the media is rife with both sides. This video defending teachers is making the rounds: The Truth About Teachers. And so are stories like the one in last week's New York Post.

I have met a lot of teachers and been in a lot of schools all across the country. I believe that the vast majority of teachers are like those in the video and that a handful (less than 5%?) are like those in the Post article. I think from the lay point of view (and that includes the student point of view), what is confusing is why the effective teachers put up with and even defend the ineffective teachers.

A friend of mine sent me this email from his son's teacher:

Our state standardized testing week is fast approaching.

Beginning the first week of March, I will be offering a "Test Prep" session after school on Thursdays from 3:00-4:00. This will last 5 weeks and end just before testing week. We will work on test-taking tricks, reducing anxiety, and time management strategies.

I will only be able to take 6 students. The cost is $50. This can be paid each week or all at once.

Please email your confirmation at your earliest convenience if you are interested in this for your son or daughter. Thank you!

My friend commented in the email: "Excuse me??? Why isn't Timmy's teacher covering this stuff as part of her regular teaching responsibilities? Wouldn't this be like me charging my boss overtime for something I should have gotten done during regular working hours? If I don't give in to the extortion, does my kid do less well on the test? It's one thing for a teacher to tutor on the side....other kids! from other grades!! or other schools!!! Isn't there a conflict of interests here that someone should be paying attention to??" Besides his venting to me, he said he was going to write a letter to the school board.

This would not be an issue if the administrator of Timmy's school or the other educators there made the thought of sending out such an email completely unthinkable.

When the Chain Pops Off

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:11:00 +0000

I have thought for a long time that politics and education were uneasy allies at best and unhealthy partners at worst. One way to put this is that education is on a long cycle--it takes years and years to build a foundation, see growth, weather backslides, deal with the fits and starts that are a natural part of learning--whereas, politics is on a short cycle--politicians need to get elected every two years or four or, at most, six. And because the short cycle provides the motive power (money) for the long cycle, the effect can be a lot like riding a bike in the wrong gear where the chain keeps popping and slipping.

Nowhere is this gearing issue more evidently problematic than in the relationship between a superintendent and a school board. In Wayne Township, Indiana it has surfaced that a retiring superintendent had, four years ago, pedaled quite the sunset ride for himself to his school board. According to the article, Dr. Terry Thompson was an effective, well respected administrator who just last year was named Indiana Superintendent of the Year by his peers. Now he is collecting his $225k a year base pay, a $200K "emeritus" payout for 150 days of transition work, and a $15K "retirement planning" stipend. Total payout: $1M+.

Leaving aside the ethical, but personal, issue of a school superintendent weaving a golden parachute for himself at a time when his district was making cutbacks and freezing administrators pay, what I want to highlight is the political issue of an inept school board now back pedaling on a contract they previously approved. One of the structural problems with our educational system is that school boards composed of mostly well-meaning, but lay members of the community are incapable of effectively governing our schools. Five of the current seven Wayne Township County School Board members were on the board in 2007 when Dr. Thompson's contract was okay-ed. What else are school boards not reading, or reading and not understanding, and approving?

Collaboration Abomination

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Corso) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:10:00 +0000

Let's mix together three Conditions today--Belonging, Sense of Accomplishment, and Fun & Excitement. One of the 21st Century Skills that schools are asked to work on is Collaboration. This is very Aspirations-friendly as working together towards a common goal creates Belonging and many students say it helps inject Fun & Excitement into learning. When done correctly it can create a wonderful group Sense of Accomplishment.

Asking students to collaborate is not new. I remember group projects--working with another student or two to produce some history presentation or science project. One of the "good" students, I recall being frustrated that we were graded in a clump and not everyone was doing their share. Most of this team work was in elementary school; I recall going it alone for much of my late 20th Century high school experience.

But I am not talking about collaboration, I am talking about Collaboration. Working together as a skill, not just as a way of shaking up the pedagogy. How do you effectively communicate your ideas? How do you listen attentively? How do you respect and accept others' ideas even when you do not fully agree? How do you create consensus? How do you rebuild trust when someone has broken trust? Some of this can be learned in the school of hard knocks, but in the 21st Century something more is expected. Collaboration can and should be deliberately taught. And there are plenty of resources for doing just that.

A friend of mine mentioned that his somewhat shy fifth grade daughter was asked to work on an assignment with a boy in her class. My friend had no problem with this as he thinks she could use some work on the social skills a partnered project would teach her. The problem was that no such skills were actually taught. The teacher, if she made a conscious decision at all, went for "figure it out yourselves." The young boy his daughter was assigned had no interest in working with her or seemingly on the project itself. She wound up doing all the work with her Dad's help, disliking group work more, and being told, by her father (regrettably, he says), "To just get through it." Nor was there any assessment of the collaboration itself.

My friend asked, "You're an educator, right? Are you getting this? Collaboration is a skill they are supposed to be teaching in schools. We got a handout about it. But no Collaboration skills were taught. And Collaboration was not graded. What was the point?" My friend was as frustrated as I was way back when. So in the end, no Belonging, no Sense of Accomplishment, and instead of Fun & Excitement, Anxiety & Frustration. Is your school teaching Collaboration?

Competing Contrast

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Corso, Ph.D.) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:20:00 +0000

Last night I went to see "Race to Nowhere". I highly recommend it. Yes, it's another documentary about our troubled school systems, but this one was made by a mother, not an Academy Award winning director. The focus is on the stress engendered by a system that is more about competing and test-taking than it is about understanding and learning. The consequences on kids range from depression to drop-out to suicide. One line from the movie that sums it up comes from a student who, after she passed her AP French test, said, "Good. Now I never have to speak French again." Another sentiment that captures the film's major gripe was that high school has become more about the college application than college.

I asked my high school senior to come along so I could get her take on the film. She clapped long and hard at the end and was in major agreement with the film. She thought the movie could have spent more time on college guidance counselors as the pressure point for all this. That is somewhat autobiographical for her--she chose not to take Art instead of AP History against her counselor's advice that she needed the AP class to get into a top tier school. My daughter wants to be a pastry chef and has already been accepted to her school of choice.

On the way home we turned on the radio to hear the precise part of the State of the Union address when the President was discussing education. He was touting his administration's Race to the Top initiative, which the movie's title subtly mocks. He talked about being in competition with the rest of the world. He talked about the importance of high performance (which in the movie doesn't necessarily correlate with high learning...the students call it "doing school"). My daughter chuckled.

Friday Video: Confidence and Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Corso, Ph.D.) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Confidence to Take Action - performer and attendees!

Snow Day: Anticipating Excitement

noreply@blogger.com (Michael J. Corso, Ph.D.) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:28:00 +0000

We are having a snow day here in the the Northeast and students from New Jersey to Maine are rejoicing as if Christmas had come again. Maybe teachers, too. Having been both a student and a teacher, I understand the sense of excitement that winter weather can bring. As someone who thinks a lot about schools and education, however, I can't help but wish there comes a time when a snow day brings disappointment, instead of delight. I know... keep dreaming. :)

Yesterday I was thinking about how the notification system has changed. When we were kids much of the excitement was listening to the radio anchor read through seemingly endless lists of schools and anticipating your own. When I was teaching, and later when I had children, we covered all the bases with the radio on and the scroll at the bottom of the TV. There was always the problem of tuning in to just past the letter in the alphabet of your school and having to channel surf or wait it out. Has anyone besides me chased the alphabet around their three local stations? It was a major breakthrough when they figured out how to keep the scroll going through commercials.

With my youngest a senior in high school, the announcement yesterday that school was closed today came via email, text message, and automated phone call. There was no going to sleep in anxious anticipation and waking up early so she could go back to sleep. There was only going to sleep happy to have an extra day to edit an end-of-term video project and study for next week's exams. Though it's 10 am as I write this and she is still asleep.

The system for notifying us that school has closed has changed a lot in the last twenty years. The excitement that school has closed has not.