SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Help for Math - Lots of Practice

Some of the debate on a previous post was about Canada's slippage on international math tests.  This is supported by the same result in Ontario's EQAO testing.  It is something that, anecdotally, I've heard from parents as well over the past couple of decades.  And, who hasn't got a story to tell about some young person who can't figure out the simplest arithmetic or count change? 

SQE knows research indicates the best way to acquire more complex math skills is by acquiring automacy in fundamental arithmetic skills very early on.  It's a building block that is necessary for a solid foundation. (That's true for just about ANY skill, but I digress.) Here's a Globe and Mail article about a tool that one teacher uses to help that along--the simple abacus.    

          "Abacus classes are similar in that they offer a back-to-basics approach to math. Advocates say the fluency in calculation it teaches helps students in the classroom, enabling them to devote their attention to the broader mathematical concepts behind the lesson."

A research study is currently underway to examine the long-term implications.

Likely because they acknowledge the poor EQAO math results, the Ontario government now provides some free online tutoring for grades 7-10 students who need help with math. Homework Help is available during after school hours using live teachers one-on-one.  Here is a list of other resources as well. (Hmm online learning anyone?)

If younger students need some help, don't forget SQE's Stairway to Math teacher-designed worksheets that will help students practice basic math skills.

         "Arithmetic is not trivial math, and it certainly will not be 'discovered' by school children. It must be taught and practised." -- Dr. Ralph A. Raimi, professor emeritus of mathematics, U. of Rochester.

The people speak

Greetings from Naples, Fl where a story in the local paper promises to shed light on what people think about school choice once they have had a chance to check it out. In Lee County, FL, parents have been able to choose their children's schools for some time, and now the local school board is planning to survey local parents to see what they think about this. I'm pretty sure that approval ratings will be much higher here - compared to areas where voters are expressing their theoretical opinions, but we'll have to wait until April to get the verdict.

No doubt the local teachers' unions will be happy to go along with the verdict, whatever it is, since they apparently justify their policies on the basis of polling....

Go Gators!

Here I am in Everglades City, a tiny hamlet deep in the Everglades with a population of about 500. Amazingly, Everglades City has its own preK-12 school, with a population of only 154 students - but 19 teachers and 26 support/admin staff. I guess with class sizes like this they should do really well, eh Doug?

A provincial province?

Yesterday, the education conference wrapped up, and in the afternoon my husband and I took a very educational cruise along the Fort Lauderdale canal and intracoastal waterway system, learning all about the homes and yachts of the rich and famous, like Cher and Steven Spielberg and so forth. Today, we head into the Everglades. For today's blog, I thought I would tell you what I have learned about school systems around the world.

The bottom line is that most countries have some kind of school voucher program, with the government fully or partially funding non-government schools. Thailand, for example, has a universal voucher system. In Ireland, all of the elementary schools are privately operated, with the government fully funding them. Chile, Brazil, Australia, almost every European country - all encourage the private delivery of schooling. Even Finland has a small voucher program. This information is being compiled by the World Bank, and it will be released shortly.

We all tend to accept the way things are done locally as the norm and assume this is how it is done everywhere else too. I expect that most parents in Ontario assume that our set-up, with fully-funded Catholic and secular schools but no support for non-government schools, is the way most countries do education. Not so! We are the exception, not the rule.

Repeat After Me: School choice advocates are saints

So the school choice conference wraps up today. I unfortunately don't have any more scoops for you, so I thought I would just say a few words about how nice the people are at this conference. These are people who do what they do because they care about kids and want to help them. You might think that people who promote school choice are mistaken and that their policies will in fact hurt kids, whatever, but there is just no way that they are selfish, ruthless privatizers out to enrich themselves on the backs of children. Au contraire - many (most?) of them have chosen career paths that ensure they earn a modest living but which allow them to try to help kids - especially poor kids.

Vouching for school vouchers

You heard it here first! The University of Arkansas' longitudinal evaluation of the Milwaukee parental choice program, which to date has shown only modest benefits, will report much stronger effects when its fifth year results are published next month. 

Sunday at the Movies (School Choice Conference)

Your roving reporter is now in Fort Lauderdale to attend the school choice conference described in the clip. Stand by for breathless reporting of breaking news!

Choosing better schools in Florida

At the Palm Beach chamber of commerce I picked up a glossy 72-page magazine that lists all the schools in South Florida. Fronted by an endorsement by the state’s governor Rick Scott, the magazine gives 8-10 indicators for every public school, including scores on various state tests and the school’s overall grade in 2009 and 2010. Some schools were graded F. The charter schools tend to do better than the conventional public schools, although a few of them get a D or even an F.

All of the private schools are listed along with helpful information about such things as enrolment, tuition, and programs, although the results of testing are not given. There is also a page about alternative education in Florida, including homeschooling - and Florida is said to have one of the country’s largest home education movements with more than 55,000 registered students and an unknown, but significant, homeschooled students enrolled in non-traditional private schools that serve as an umbrella for the home-education prorgram. To help homeschoolers, the state has established the Florida Virtual School, a nationally recognized, accredited e-learning model for K-12, offering more than 100 courses. 

Clearly, many Florida parents use this magazine (and other similar resources) to choose their children’s schooling (there’s a full-page ad for a Miami realty company). Here’s Jay Greene on the effect of Florida’s policies on its student achievement scores. H/T BD

Methinks the lady doesn’t protest enough

Greetings from West Palm Beach, FL, and here’s an article in The Palm Beach Post about how hundreds of parents, some of them taking the day off work, lined up for hours so their kids could have a chance to audition for a public school of the arts. We’ve blogged about this sort of thing before - there’s a special public school of some kind with limited places and so parents in that area jump through hoops to get their kids into the school - and, amazingly, no one ever seems to complain or wonder why the school board doesn’t open a second campus to handle the overflow. In the Palm Beach story, one parent was quoted as saying she didn’t mind taking the time off work or waiting in line. Really?

Imagine if you owned a very popular restaurant that people had to line up for. Wouldn’t you think about expanding your capacity in some way - maybe putting on an addition or opening a second restaurant or creating franchises? I mean, think of all the extra money you could make!

Of course, there’s no extra money to be made in public enterprises, and no doubt that explains why school boards don’t think in terms of expanding the capacity of popular schools (in fact, in some cases, they regard popular schools as a pain in the neck and are motivated to close them, but that’s another story). But the lack of profit motive doesn’t explain why parents meekly accept the imaginary capacity limitations imposed by the school boards.

Teaching that really schmecks

So here I am in Florida. I’ll be here for two weeks and, during this time, I hope to be able to bring you Florida stories - since this is a happening state when it comes to school choice and educational improvement. But first, a story from Darlington County in South Carolina where the teachers are implementing Explicit Direct Instruction (explained in the video clip). If you think about it, this really shouldn’t create headlines - explicit direct instruction is really just a fancy way to say good teaching - but such are the times, everyone gets quite excited at the prospect of teachers who actually teach.