Society for Quality Education

Volume 18, Number 1. March 2009

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Our newsletter always features interesting and useful information about your child's education. In this issue, we have lots of fascinating letters from our readers; helpful advice regarding a child who is struggling with reading; tips on how to study; a web-site that teaches math; and much more more.

If there is a topic that you would like covered in the next newsletter or if you would like to write a letter to the editor, please drop me a line.

If you no longer wish to subscribe to our newsletter, click here.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any of your friends or relations who might be interested.

Regards, Malkin

ATTENTION STAIRWAY TO READING USERS

The Society is pleased to announce that we have succeeded in making a special arrangement with a Montreal company to give you free access to their on-line computer games (called Frolicking with Phonics) that practise the Stairway to Reading lessons. The games include such things as pretty Petals, Sensational Spelling, Brainy Bouncing Ball,, Slippery Selections, and Magical Matching. The free access will last for up to one month and will allow your child to play games that practise the first 14 lessons of Stairway to Reading. The Society has no financial interest in this arrangement. To find out how to access these games, click here.

MAIL BAG

Nothing Changes

My heart breaks thinking of all the money that has been poured into education over the years, and yet nothing has changed for students - unless they were fortunate enough to attend a private school. The worst part is that most parents have no idea that their children's problems are the result of poor teaching methods, thinking instead that their child has a "learning disability". It truly is the crime of the century! Oakville, ON

Good University

I want to tell your readers about a wonderful new liberal arts and science private university in BC. Quest University Canada has a different approach to academics, in that it offers three-and-a-half week block courses. Some of the courses are Astronomy, History of Math, World Literature, World Religions, and Neuroscience. It is a wonderful education, and there is some financial help available. Owen Sound, ON

Hope in North Carolina

My husband and I took our children to North Carolina last summer for an intensive program there based on Direct Instruction/Precision Teaching and Arthur Whimbey's TAPS. They all leapt ahead. Our eight-year-old son, who arrived recognizing only one letter (his initial) was reading at a grade 2 level at the end of 80 hours of one-on-one instruction. We tried everything possible to bring in a pilot program to the local public schools, but got the big brush-off. We wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole now. We had been planning to risk a move to North Carolina, but the great financial market debacle and the large loss in the value of the Canadian dollar is keeping us here for another year. Ottawa, ON

Dumbed Down Post-Secondary Testing

I am a math instructor at an Ontario post-secondary institution. I have probably 50-60 students in my classes. Last semester, the final was on a Friday and I had to have the marks in by Monday. So, naturally, multiple choice questions. Sandford, ON

Teachers' Unions

I am a recently-retired teacher. It is beyond me why we take some of our best teachers and pay them more NOT to teach. We have built a pyramid with far too many steps to the top - teacher, lead teacher, department head, consultant, co-ordinator, vice-principal, principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and finally director. It's the teachers who do all of the work in actually educating students, yet they get paid the lowest salary of the hierarchy! Sault Ste Marie, ON

Good News About Phonics

After attending workshops for 20 years by different boards who grab onto the latest educational fad and run with it, I was very happy and surprised by today's reading workshop on solid reading research, based largely on the findings of the National Reading Panel. One of their main suggestions was that schools introduce a program of systematic phonics instruction. Unfortunately, however, this is being advocated only for the children who have fallen behind the rest of the class. The claim is that some kids don't need systematic phonics, and the idea is that teachers are to use differentiated instruction. Mississauga, ON

Calculus Woes

My daughter and her fellow grade 12 graduates got a reality check in their first-year calculus course at Western. Every single one of them has had to get help. The fellow with the highest math marks at graduation has had to get a tutor. The university has set up two help classes for the first-year calculus students, and the kids have formed their own support group on Facebook. My daughter is dropping calculus next semester. Goderich, ON

Phonics Works

Last year, every child in senior kindergarten at Children's Garden School in Toronto was reading and spelling at a grade 2 level. This year, the children are soaring in grade 1. Of course, the Garden School uses systematic phonics. The Reading War is being played out at the cost of children's well being. Toronto, ON

Math Gaps

How many times have you heard otherwise sensible, articulate, successful, welladjusted adults say "I'm not a math person"? I have tutored a number of high school students who end up quitting math because they "aren't math persons", but I am here to tell you that the reason for their problems with math were the huge gaps in their skills and knowledge. I find this very sad, as dropping math means that so many doors slam shut for these students. Acton, ON

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Bribing Parents with Their Children's Money

The Premier of Ontario is betting the ranch that Ontario voters really hate teachers' strikes. He is so sure of this that his government has promised to give eye-poppingly generous raises to the province's teachers. Most teachers will receive a 12.5 per cent raise over four years for 21 hours of instruction a week. When the elementary teachers walked away from this offer, the Minister of Education twice extended the deadline, saying that it was important to avert teachers' strikes. The new deal means that most teachers will be earning an extra $10,000 after four years. This may seem like a generous raise to most folks, especially given the fact that teachers get 12 weeks of vacation a year and have secure jobs.

Add to this the fact that the province's manufacturers have been hit hard by the global economic crisis and Ontario is now officially a have-not province. With the province contemplating a deficit of something like 15 billion dollars over the next two years, the teachers' raises are going to hurt a lot. But clearly the premier thinks it's worth the sticker shock. He has effectively bought labour peace until after the next election. No teachers' strikes.

In a way, it's kind of strange that the Premier puts such a premium on keeping students in school. After all, more than a third of Ontario elementary students fail the provincial tests each year, a statistic that is actually getting worse. More than a quarter of the province's grade 10 students fail its easy literacy test, another statistic that is getting worse. On the latest iteration of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Ontario students lost ground.

One wonders why the Premier is so eager to keep students at their desks, given the fact that it doesn't appear to be doing them much good. It's almost as if the premier thinks that the province's parents care more about the baby-sitting service provided by the schools than their instructional service. A cynic would think he's right.

ASK AUNT MALKIN

A veteran of the school wars herself, with the scars to prove it, Malkin Dare has lots of advice to offer. If you want some been-there-done-that advice from Aunt Malkin, call her at 519-884-3166 or e-mail her.

Question

My grade 1 son is struggling with reading. His teacher is using the Balanced Literacy method, and it is not working for my son (and many other children in the class, from what I can see). When I try to raise this issue with my son's teacher, he is polite but clearly has no intention of changing his program. What can I do? Angela, Mississauga

Answer

It sounds to me as if your son's teacher is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Over the years, I have talked to many parents who tried to convince their child's teacher to change his or her program. I can't recall even one case where a parent was successful. Chances are, your son's teacher lacks the necessary know-how to teach systematic, sequential phonics, which is what your son needs. It may not be a question of his being unwilling to change his program as opposed to a case of his being unable to change his program. I strongly suggest that you stop wasting your (and, non incidentally, your son's) time. The time has come to go outside the school system to find the necessary teaching.

If you are willing to do the job yourself, I suggest that you use my free remedial reading program, Stairway to Reading. I would be more than happy to provide support as you proceed. This is the most rewarding part of my education reform activities! If you decide to have someone else do the job, make sure that this tutor uses systematic phonics. Before you hire a tutor, ask to see his or her success rate data and get the names of the parents of a few of his or her students. After all, your son is already discouraged by his reading failure at school. The last thing he needs is another failed attempt.

By the way, it's going to be hard enough on your son to cope with two different teaching approaches simultaneously. Please resist the temptation to throw in a little extra teaching on the side, just for insurance. It will only confuse your son.

WHAT'S NEW?

More Private Schools = Better Public Schools

An international study of 29 countries shows that competition from private schools improves student achievement, appearing to do so for public school as well as private school students. And it produces these benefits while decreasing the amount of money spent on education. more

Helping Aboriginal Students

A new study by the C. D. Howe Institute identifies some BC school districts that are getting significantly better results for their Aboriginal students. These schools emphasize Aboriginal student success as a long-term priority, involve Aboriginal leaders and the broader community, use standardized tests to formulate policy, and follow through on policy implementation. more

Good Spellers Don't Memorize

A recent article in the magazine of the American Federation of Teaching reports on recent studies which do not support the notion that visual memory is the key to good spelling. Rote visual memory for letter strings is limited to two or three letters in a word. Instead, spelling is a task that requires knowledge of sounds, word origins, meaningful parts of words, and letter patterns. more

Information About Ontario Teachers

Ontario parents can learn more about their child's teacher by visiting the web-site of the Ontario College of Teachers. more

Milwaukee Voucher Program Saves Money

An analysis by the University of Arkansas has found that Milwaukee's voucher program, which now serves 18,500 students, has saved taxpayers money every year since 2000, with estimated savings reaching $31.9 million in 2008. more

The Smart Way to Study

Researchers at University of California at San Diego report that the retention of new learning is significantly increased by a longer wait between study sessions - by up to a 50 per cent increase in the likelihood that the new information would be remembered in the final session. "If you want to remember information for just a week, it is probably best if study sessions are spaced out over a day or two. If you want to remember information for a year, it is best for learning to be spaced out over about a month." more

Certified Teachers Aren't Superior

Forty-seven US states allow certain teachers to teach even though they haven't attended a faculty of education. The states with the most flexibility enjoy more minority teachers and their students achieve better academic progress on national tests than do the students in the other states. more

BOOK REVIEWS

Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell

Most people think the only way you can be outstanding at something like music or hockey is by being born with a gift that few people are granted. According to Malcolm Gladwell, the problem with this belief is that "the closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play". Researchers now universally accept that even the most talented individuals have to invest a minimum of 10,000 hours of purposeful practice before they can attain the status of world-class expert. Mr. Gladwell, having himself put in the requisite 10,000 hours improving his own writing skills, has produced a fascinating book which argues that a third element (besides talent and practice) is necessary for success. "Superstar lawyers and math whizzes and software entrepreneurs appear at first blush to lie outside ordinary experience. But they don't. They are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some just plain lucky."

Excerpt (pp. 228-230)

"In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don't. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fifteen. Similarly, we have forty and sixty, which sounds like the words they are related to (four and six). But we also say fifty and thirty and twenty, which sort of sound like five and three and two, but not really. And, for that matter, for numbers above twenty, we put the 'decade' first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), whereas for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.

"That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to forty. American children at that age can count only to fifteen, and most don't reach forty until they're five. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills.

"The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to convert the words to numbers (27 + 22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 plus 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation is right there, embedded in the sentence. No number translation is necesary: It's five-tens-nine."

Real Education: Four simple truths for bringing America's schools back to reality - Charles Murray

Dr. Murray's four simple truths are: ability varies; half of children are below average; too many people are going to college; and America's future depends on how we educate the academically-gifted. Undergirding each of his truths is the premise that people's ability is basically fixed - such that low-ability students are incapable of much improvement, despite heroic efforts. Much of what Dr. Murray writes is sensible and worthy of consideration. However, if one doesn't accept his fundamental premise - and the achievement of schools like the 66 KIPP schools seriously challenges it - then Dr. Murray's four simple truths are more like four simple half-truths.

Excerpt (p. 66)

"No one wants to be education's Grinch, especially when we are talking about children who have gotten the short end of the stick through no fault of their own. The impulse to romanticism is overwhelming. But it has led us to do things to children who are below average in academic ability that are not in their best interests. The notion that we know how to make more than modest improvements in their math and reading performance has no factual basis. In assessing the state of American education, and what can be accomplished for the lower half of the distribution by any of the reforms proposed by either left or right, it is time to recognize that even the best schools under the best conditions cannot overcome the limits on achievement set by limits on academic ability.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

The Khan Academy, a not-for-profit private institution whose mission is to provide free high-quality math instruction, has posted more than 700 short videos to YouTube that clearly explain everything from basic arithmetic operations to differential equations, trigonometry, algebra, physics, and finance. more