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SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Out-Of-Field Teaching Assignments
Further to John's posting about the importance of teachers having a thorough mastery of their subjects, I thought I would raise the little-known problem of out-of-field assignment - whereby teachers are assigned to teach subjects in which they have little training or education. This happens much more than people realize, possibly stemming from a belief that teaching is teaching and as long as a teacher is good at teaching, he or she will be able to teach any subject. But this is like expecting a brain surgeon to be good at delivering babies or a real estate lawyer to be able to defend someone accused of murder.
Teachers themselves dislike out-of-field assignments and likely principals do too. But principals' hands are tied by the present rigidities in the system - the need to hire only certified teachers, the lack of control over who teaches at their school, the inability to hire part-time teachers, the lack of control over what courses are offered at the school, and so forth. I suspect that if principals were given the same management powers as, say, company CEOs, we would see far fewer out-of-field assignments - and far more student learning as a result (not to mention happier teachers and parents).
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Weighing a pig DOES fatten it!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
So what happens after we?ve got students ?engaged??
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
What the American Tea Party learned from Canadian Educators
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Your Child Left Behind
An article in the December issue of the Atlantic cites state-by-state research by Stanford economist Eric Hanushek to challenge many of the reasons given by educators for the poor showing of American students on international tests. It would be very interesting to see the Canadian results by province on the chart that illustrates the article. Hanushek also investigated how Massachusetts moved into first place among the states -- primarily by focusing on measuring and acting on outputs rather than inputs. Although things are better in Canada related to some of the issues mentioned, they all provide food for thought despite the impression left at the end of the article by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty that we have little to learn from the American situation.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Sunday at the Movies (Singing Science Teacher)
You know how you can often remember the words to a song almost effortlessly? Well, this science teacher has taken advantage of this quirk of the human brain and recorded 16 videos of himself singing important science concepts to the tune of popular songs like "Dancing Queen" and "Popular". This video explains the difference between heat and temperature.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
National School Choice Week is Coming
The Society for Quality Education has become a partner in National School Choice Week (January 23-28, 2011) Its purpose is to highlight effective education options for every child. This is a U.S. initiative, but we are the Canadian link. Click on the icon below the menu on the left as well to learn more.
SQE is the only organization devoted to quality education and school choice in Canada. Not a day goes by that we don't receive requests for Stairway to Reading, Stairway to Math, or for Malkin's updated How to Get the Right Education for Your Child. It is clear that there are lots of people who are dissatisfied with the education their children receive and are looking for alternatives. SQE continues to provide information on what works. Over the next few months you will learn more about new initiatives we are working on. (Hint: Keep the date of April 26th open!) In the meantime, check out the site for School Choice Week or our resources and information for parents and teachers, join us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter (@SQESocQualEd) We'd love to get your feedback. See you in the New Year!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Measuring Effectiveness
This article argues why student test scores can't measure teacher effectiveness. Hunh? The points the author makes sound a lot like the Ontario College of Teachers' Standards of Practice. She says that it's a teacher's heart - not head - that makes for effective teaching. Teachers should be committed to teaching, make relationships a priority, have an energetic personality, make learning like play. Excuse me? I read somewhere that if the only measure of a good teacher was to "like children", then the criterion for being a good surgeon would be to "like to cut things." Her last point is the most telling--teachers should reinvent themselves and use new pedagogy. My caveat to that is that the pedagogy should be proven effective practice - as opposed to some new fad that is the flavour of the month, but doesn't work.
Over the Christmas break, we will be posting less often. Merry Christmas, everyone!
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
Don’t Wait For Spring - Do It Now!
When the realization first strikes that things are not going well at school, many parents' initial reaction is to ask for changes at the school: asking for the teacher to do something different, asking for special education services, talking to the principal....... From what I can gather after talking to hundreds of such parents, this rarely works. The mindsets and culture of most schools are usually so well set and interlocking that nothing can budge.
Now comes a new study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that finds that the vast majority of 2,000 low-performing schools (both conventional and charter) did not improve over a five-year period despite strenuous turn-around efforts.
The message is clear. If you are the parent of a child who is struggling in school, don't waste time trying to get better services for your child at that school. Get your child out of there fast - before he or she falls so far behind that it's almost impossible to ever catch up.
Other school options, and how to go about evaluating them, are outlined in my free book How to get the right education for your child.
SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT
The Best Way to Help Students Who Are Slower
Our very own Stephen Hurley has his own blog. Who knew? Here's a link to his latest posting. Stephen writes about his son's skating lessons, and how his son's teachers are recommending that his son remain in level 2 and not progress to level 3 with most of the children in his original group. It seems the instructors are "firm and confident" in the need for children "to master certain basic skills before proceeding". They say that if kids are moved along too quickly, without proper mastery of the fundamentals, they will eventually hit a wall". Stephen agrees with this decision, and goes on to muse about the value of ability grouping in the primary grades.
Of course, the problem with ability grouping is that it encourages the achievement gap to widen, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The Swiss have a different solution, as described in this article from our archives. Essentially, it is to protect all of their students from failure by ensuring that all of the children progress at the same pace - even though it means that more able children progress more slowly than they might, at least at first.