SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Sunday at the Movies (Debate between Wendy Kopp and Diane Ravitch)

This video is long, 68 minutes, but very telling. Wendy Kopp is the founder of Teach for America, and she has a message of hope and inspiration about what can and should be done to offer all kids a decent education. Diane Ravitch is an education professor who recently changed her mind about school reform, and now advocates more of the same harder. I would be very interested in your opinion as to who wins the debate!

Better - not more - teacher training is needed

This is a guest editorial by Rod Clifton, SQE honorary patron and education professor at the University of Manitoba. 

Sometimes it is true.  Yes, sometimes, young people can read and understand the research literature better than older people, especially if they are professors of education at our major universities.  In this respect, on March 2, 2010, Elizabeth Green, a Spencer fellow in education journalism at Columbia University, published an excellent summary of the empirical evidence accumulated since the time of Aristotle on the characteristics of good teachers.  Her article, Building a Better Teacher, was published in the New York Times and it is definitely worth reading.

In very straight-forward prose, Ms. Green notes the following truths about education.

Most student teachers do not learn to be good teachers in ed schools.  Rather, young teachers discover the characteristics of good teaching—if they discover them at all—on their own usually after they have taught for 4 or 5 years.

In fact, Jonah Rockoff, an economist at Columbia, has reviewed the empirical literature on teacher effectiveness, and said, correctly, that there is no good empirical evidence showing that teacher education programs improve the teaching performances of teachers.  But, there also is no evidence that ed schools make teachers worse, which, I suppose, is a good thing except that the student teachers spend a lot of money and time on their courses. 

Nevertheless, there are substantial differences between good and bad teachers in terms of the learning of their students.  Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford, has shown that teachers in the top 5% are able to impart a year and a half’s worth of material to their students in one school year, while teachers in the bottom 5% are only able to impart half a year of material to their students in the same period.

As such, the potential impact of teachers is one of the most powerful variables in the educational literature.  This variable is, in fact, at least as powerful as the students SES.  In other words, excellent teachers can off-set the effect of SES for lower class students.

Not surprisingly, the rudiments of effective teaching are understood and they can be taught to students.

But, ed schools are not generally concerned about teaching their student teacher how to be effective teachers.  Rather, the curriculum in ed schools is often a confusing pastiche of courses and practices that make little or no sense to the brightest student teachers.  The reason for this is easy to understand.  The philosophy held by many professors of education is a form of relativism called constructivism, which means that students learn best what they already know.  Obviously, this is true, but it leaves little room for effective teaching to take students beyond what they already know. 

This point is fundamental for Elizabeth Green, and it should be fundamental for all thinking citizens. 

There are many other gems of knowledge in Ms. Green’s article, so I urge you to check it out on the New York Times website.  If you are engaged in the education wars, her words will give you some much-needed ammunition. 

If you are not engaged, you may be surprised to know that your future well-being depends on the outcome of the wars.  Specifically, the social programs you will need as you move into retirement depend upon a productive work-force, which is the product of an effective educational system.

For this self-interested reason, you need to become engaged.  Don’t delay. Do it now!

A chance to combine work and pleasure

If you're hankering for a winter escape this year, you might consider Fort Lauderdale in January. The Journal of School Choice (I have the honour of serving on its editorial board) is mounting its first annual school choice and reform academic conference there January 14-17. Looks like fun!

It shouldn’t be this hard

I've just finished an excellent book called The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction, which gives a nuts and bolts description of the awesome programs delivered at Seattle's Morningside Academy. One thing that jumps out at the reader is the tremendous amount of training and support provided to Morningside teachers. Another is the incredible results achieved by the school. And a third is the atmosphere of business-like professionalism.

After reading about the high stress levels and huge time commitment of teachers at beat-the-odds schools like the KIPP schools and Harlem Success Academy, with teachers burning out all over the place, it is a revelation to read about the Morningside calm. It suggests to me that schools like KIPP are achieving their good results basically despite their inferior teaching methods and materials - by going all out. It's true that you can accomplish much by working at a breakneck pace all the time, but it's not sustainable. 

Morningside Academy, on the other hand, has been in operation for more than 30 years and looks set to continue indefinitely.

Keep it simple, stupid

There was an interesting article in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago arguing that algebra, trig, and calculus are wasted on students with no aptitude for math, and they should instead be offered courses in "quantititative literacy - the ability to handle our own finances, understand percentages and probability and risk, and intelligently assess what 'experts' like banks and doctors and politicians tell us about the mathematics of real life".

I have a few quibbles (for example, I think basic algebra is useful for everyone, and I think the concept of math "aptitude" is highly suspect) but, on the whole, the notion makes a lot of sense to me. There's little point teaching quadratic equations to students who are still counting on their fingers! H/T to Chas

Men and materials are available…

It's back to school today, and here are a few words for the unlucky parents whose kid has drawn a lemon this year. First of all, this unfortunate state of affairs often manifests itself rather quickly in your child's demeanor. If he or she is anxious or reluctant on school mornings, this may be a red flag that you should start paying attention.

Regardless of the problem source (it could be poor teaching or inaction on bullying, for example), I suggest you send for my free book, How to get the right education for your child. It contains a wealth of information and a starting point for taking matters into your own hands (by, for example, availing yourself of our free remedial reading programs Stairway to Reading and Stairway to Math). 

No child should be left behind.

Time for a Labour Day Break

I've always felt like this was the start of a new year when the kids go off to school.  Many of you are probably preparing for the renewed hustle and bustle tomorrow morning.

 So in the spirit of the holiday, School For Thought will take a well-deserved day off.  On this last day of unofficial 'summerdom' enjoy what's left with your family and friends.

Happy New School Year tomorrow!  There will be lots more School for Thought as the days progress.

Sunday at the Movies (Fun with statistics)

This is not strictly-speaking to do with education but it's definitely educational - and very cool. (YouTube link)

The new New Orleans

You read it here first! Keep your eye on New Orleans. First a little history.

When Katrina hit in 2005, New Orleans had approximately 65,000 students and was recognized as the worst-performing school district in Louisiana and maybe even in the entire country (and that’s really saying something). With most of the school buildings in ruins and the school board out of the picture, the stage was set for a variety of innovative approaches, such as charter schools. Five years later, more than half of the city’s schools were charters and things had improved somewhat (more).

Now the state has appointed a new leader for the district, John White, a 35-year-old Teach for America alumnus who says: “A system that has moved from tremendous problems to providing an adequate education for many kids still needs to provide a great education for all kids.” (more)

Along with many other Teach for America alumni, like Michelle Rhee, KIPP founders Mike Feinberg and David Levin, Chris Barbic, and Cami Anderson, John White is a game changer. And New Orleans offers a particularly good playing field, having had many of the normal bureaucratic and legislative obstacles swept away by Katrina. An ill wind that is doing a whole lot of good!

When they say it’s not about the money….

A while back I wrote about the sudden conversion of Diane Ravitch from sensible education reformer to flaky supporter of the teachers’ unions (here). It’s always fun to speculate about the vagaries of human behaviour, and I have done my share of wondering what on earth was going on. Now comes a plausible hypothesis from my new hero and mystery solver Steven Brill (pp 304-305).

“From February 2010 through March 2011, Ravitch would make fifteen speeches across the country, according to a schedule found on her own website, to local, state, or national units of the teachers’ unions, plus nine to other groups - such as associations of local school boards or principals and a think tank founded by the NEA - that were also squarely in the anti-reform camp. During that time, Ravitch was listed by the Leading Authorities speakers bureau, which books speaking appearances, as charging a fee of $15,000 to $20,000 per speech, plus travel expenses.

“Asked if she charged the unions whose cause was given such a lift in her book, Ravitch said, ‘Don’t you charge for your speeches?’ (Answer: Not if it’s a group whose issues I am covering, or might cover, in any way as a writer.) Assuming that Ravitch didn’t get the sticker price for her speeches, but instead received an average of just $10,000 (which is what the Florida Education Association told me she was apid), that would mean more than $200,000 in little more than a year coming from the teachers’ unions and others opposed to reform.

“Ravitch told me in April 2011 that she had ‘an even fuller’ schedule of speeches slated for the reminder of the year, although she declined to say how many would be paid for by the teachers’ unions. ‘I was married to a wealthy man,’ she said, referring to Richard Ravitch, a successful construction company executive, real-estate developer, and banker, who served as New York’s lieutenant governor from 2009 to the end of 2010, and from whom she is divorced. ‘I live very comfortably. This is not about the money. I’m seventy-two and don’t need money. If I want to speak to a group I’ll do it for free or for a few thousand dollars if that’s all they can pay.’ (In an e-mail following this conversation, Ravitch told me that she was donating her speaking fees to a pediatric oncology program, dedicated in May 2011, in memory of her son, who had died of leukemia at age two.)”