ASCD Express Calls for Submissions

ASCD Express is looking for short, 600–1,000-word essays on the theme "Science on the Bleeding Edge." The theme description is below, and guidelines for submissions are here. Send us your submissions by April 14, 2009.

Considering that the space age began with the launch of Sputnik just over 50 years ago, what should a "post-space age" science curriculum look like? As students hone their 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, and innovation, how are they being prepared to use them in the crucible where science, technology, society, and economics meet in the world beyond school? How are schools exploring the challenges of science and society, and are these spurring innovations in how science is being taught? What role are private and public organizations playing in improving and influencing school science to prepare students to lead and live with science and technology in the years ahead?

Ed. Headlines from Chicago Discography: Look Away

How do you plan to define charter schools, and how do you plan to define effective teachers?, Bonnie Breeze, 15-year veteran English teacher at Overbrook (public) High School in Philadelpia, PA asked President Obama in Thursday's online town hall meeting. (Her question begins at the 60:00 minute mark in the video.)

Toward the end of his response to the latter, Obama noted that, if we've done everything to improve teacher pay, training, and development, and there are still teachers that don't belong in the classroom; it can't be impossible to remove "bad" teachers from the profession.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend NCTQ's "Help or Hindrance: The Impact of Teacher Rules, Roles, and Rights on Teacher Quality." When asked whether teacher rules, roles, and rights helped or hindered teacher quality, DCPS Chancellor Rhee responded:

Duncan Wants Reform in Return for Stimulus Money

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said this week that he wants the first wave of education funding in the economic recovery package to do more than prevent teacher layoffs and fill budget gaps. He called on states to use the resources for significant education reform in four areas: standards, data systems, teacher effectiveness, and interventions for low-performing schools.

According to the Department of Education, states must commit to improving student achievement through at least one of the following criteria:

• Making progress toward rigorous college- and career-ready standards and high-quality assessments that are valid and reliable for all students, including English language learners and students with disabilities.

• Establishing pre-K to college and career data systems that track progress and foster continuous improvement.

• Making improvements in teacher effectiveness and in the equitable distribution of qualified teachers for all students, particularly students who are most in need.

• Providing intensive support and effective interventions for the lowest-performing schools.

The Demographic Imperative

Recently, D.C.-area schools voted to abandon the check-one-box system for identifying student race and ethnicity ("Multiracial Pupils to Be Counted in A New Way"). Although the policy change allows for a more accurate portrait of classrooms transformed by immigration and interracial marriage, changing labels will make it harder to monitor progress of groups that have trailed in school, including black and Hispanic students, according to the Washington Post.

The concern is that a flood of demographic data will complicate schools' ability to make policy and program decisions to serve groups facing education challenges. "This will make our whole education system look different, and nobody will know whether we are going forward or backward," said Gary Orfield, codirector of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California in Los Angeles (to the Post).

"The Demographic Imperative," in the April issue of Educational Leadership on English language learners, clarifies the varied means for determining who ELL students are and how their individual paths to U.S. classrooms might influence their achievement, and it offers some brief reflections on research, policy, and practice that support ELL students. 

How might ELL students be helped or hindered by more nuanced student demographic data?

White House Town Hall Draws Thousands of Ed. Questions

Today at 11:30 a.m., President Obama will be answering questions submitted by everyday citizens in an online town hall discussion. The questions cover a wide range of topics with education being one of the most popular subjects. Here are just some of the many questions pertaining to education that may be asked:

• "Mr President What are you going to do about local public schools cutting enrichment programs (arts, science, PE) due to the budget issues? While we need to increase our education levels, yet we see less dollars for schools"
• "No Child Left Behind had some good ideas behind it, but a lot of bad ideas as well. If given the opportunity to change the law, what would you change about NCLB and what would you keep?"
• "Is there a plan to shift the focus of education away from standardized testing? It has taken the fun out of school for both students and teachers."
• "I'm a high school senior and have worked hard all 4 years of high school to keep a 4.0 GPA and am now realizing my dream college chances are limited by money. Will there be any help to middle class families whose scholarship aids are being cut?"

As you can see, there is a wide variety of questions relating to different issues in education. Students, parents, and educators are worried about loans, teacher pay, NCLB, and budget cuts among other topics. If you had the chance to ask President Obama a question, what would you ask?

Chapter 2: The Art & Science of Teaching

Summary:

After identifying key learning goals, the teacher must then figure out the activities or network of activities—what Marzano calls critical input experiences—students need to achieve those goals. Marzano suggests the general framework of the following:

• previewing;

• division of students into groups;

• chunking information in ways that require students to describe, discuss, and make predictions;

• asking inferential questions;

• recording information in various forms of notes; and

• reflecting on the learning.

Stuck in My Head: The Power of Narrative

Figure 2.1 on page 32 says it all, doesn't it?

Effects of Different Types of Learning Experiences in Nuthall's Research

Type of Experience	Percent of Information Recalled One Year After Completion of Unit
Visual Instruction	77
Dramatic Instruction	57
Verbal Instruction	53
Source: Data from Nuthall, 1999; Nuthall & Alton-Lee, 1995.

I've got a thing for narrative as an English teacher, of course, and so this tidbit isn’t enough for me. Check out Daniel Willingham's column on the neuroscience behind the power of narrative. I give this link to almost everyone I talk to eventually—no kidding. I'm also kicking around researching something along these lines for a doctorate someday.

Playing It Out:

I'd like to focus here on a central concept of the chapter: group work.

My Back Pages: Mass Media Literacy (1971)

As today's students are inundated with more information than ever before, are schools adequately teaching media literacy? In 1971, Castelle G. Gentry and Margaret Shallcross, of the University of Toledo, Ohio, share their concerns about the increasing amount of mass media—in particular, the considerable time children spend watching television—and what they feel is schools' lack of attention to information literacy.

Read the article: Mass Media Instruction: A Missing Link? (PDF)

"We still operate as if the school, the church, and the home are the only sources of information and values," Gentry and Shallcross write. In ominous italics, they warn that except for a few schools, "no one in education is attempting to train children or adults to interpret the mass media." 

Music and Arts Education: Is It Truly More of the Same?

An article from the Dallas Morning News, featured in last Thursday’s ASCD SmartBrief, has stirred up debate among music and art educators. The article cites a recent government report that reveals 90 percent of elementary teachers surveyed stated art and music curriculum remained the same from 2004 to 2007.

The article fails to emphasize that teachers at schools identified as needing improvement and those with higher percentages of minority students were more likely to report a reduction in music and arts instruction time. Even more, some principals have replaced music and arts instruction during the school day with after-school options, while still others have allowed students to be pulled from arts classes for remediation. These practices deny students—especially those who might particularly benefit from arts education—the opportunity to learn in different ways.

How has music and art instruction changed in your school?

Music Classes Help Develop Reading Skills

According to a study published by the Psychology of Music journal, student who take take music courses that focus on complex rhythms and tones are more likely to develop cognitive skills in reading. Two elementary schools, one that offers music classes and one that does not, were studied as part of the experiment.

Students at the school where music is taught received piano lessons that became increasingly more difficult over three successive years. The study reports that students who took the piano lessons performed better on vocabulary and verbal sequencing assessments when compared to the students that had no musical training.

There have been past studies that have suggested that music can help students develop certain skills in math, linguistics, and other areas, and the new study may reinforce the importance of music classes for children. However, questions arose because the music-studying students had been taking piano lessons for nearly two years prior to the experiment and their reading skills did not rise significantly during that period. Some theories to as why this may have occurred include that the students' brains began developing at a more rapid rate during the experiment and that the music–reading connection takes years to show results.

Do you think music classes and lessons can help improve a child's performance in school?

Go Data!

At a conference held March 11 by the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), education leaders and experts weighed in on the importance of collecting data from school systems and using them to better student performance. DQC, which began its project three years ago, encourages states to collect and share data based on 10 essential elements. Collection and sharing, or lack thereof, were the primary topics of the discussion. With the unprecedented amount of funding that the economic stimulus package offers for education and the coming reforms, experts agreed that this is a prime opportunity to improve the use of data. "We can't blow this opportunity," said Dane Linn, education division director of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.

"The more facts and data we get, the better it is," said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. "It's children's lives at stake here."

Plagiarism 2.0

Who doesn't care about plagiarism?

Among educators, the answer is surely no one. From that point of agreement, though, we all seem to diverge: Some of us carefully teach citation practices; some enact strict punishments; some establish sound institutional policies for dealing fairly with all students suspected of plagiarism; some advocate honor codes to raise moral awareness and responsibility in our institutions.

In our article "Plagiarism in the Internet Age" in the March 2009 issue of Educational Leadership, Laura J. Davies and I recommend yet another set of responses to craft pedagogy that teaches students how to read their sources critically and work from them rhetorically. Students' skills in critical reading and writing, we believe, are integral to their being able to write without plagiarizing.

Our article offers some suggestions for how critical reading and writing can be taught, but the possibilities are as endless as are the number of teachers who hope their students will be able to write responsibly.

What have you done with your own students to help them engage with source texts?

Posted by Rebecca Moore Howard, 2008-2009 Dean's Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, Binghamton University (on leave from Syracuse University).

ASCD Unveils Its 2009 Legislative Agenda

ASCD unveiled its 2009 Legislative Agenda at Annual Conference this past weekend.

This agenda comes at an especially critical time because President Obama and his new administration are about to transform the nation’s education system through a variety of policy initiatives, most notably the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. ASCD will use the agenda to influence the policy discussions and decisions that shape federal education legislation and reforms at the state and local levels.

The 2009 agenda calls for

• Equitable educational opportunities so that all students have access to great teachers, engaging and rigorous coursework, and relevant educational technology and career and technical programs.
• Highly effective educators who elicit growth in student achievement and receive comprehensive support at all stages of their careers, from preparation and induction to ongoing professional development.
• Innovative educational redesign that is research-based and ensures that young children are well prepared for school, students successfully transition from the elementary to secondary grades, and high school graduates are ready for success in a global society.
• Comprehensive and accurate measurement of school success that incorporates multiple indicators and analyzes student growth over time.

In his March column about the agenda, ASCD Executive Director Gene Carter said, “ASCD needs the help of educators nationwide to advocate on behalf of these principles. Our legislative agenda is only as good as the ASCD members and educators who give it voice.”

Do you have local experiences or stories that affirm the need for these core principles? What would you tell your local or state policymakers when talking about them?

Black Males’ Perceptions of School

A crucial “conversation about race” got started—but, of course, nowhere near finished—at the African American Critical Issues Network meeting at ASCD's Annual Conference. Charles Willis, a middle school principal in Birmingham, Alabama, was talking about how administrators can inspire black males' intellectual pursuits. He mentioned the need for high expectations for the kids who may have adopted "alternate personas" to defend themselves against the negative images and obstacles they face.

When a white educator from the audience mentioned she faced opposition from her fellow teachers when she tried to teach Shakespeare to students, the conversation got passionate. An African-American educator wondered whether Shakespeare was really the "pinnacle experience." She thought what students might really need was to learn reading skills and have wider reading opportunities. After further comments, it seems both speakers were closer to being on the same page than they first realized—they both wanted to raise the bar for students and they both thought connecting with students was a priority. How to do those things effectively and without racial bias remains a big question.

One of the founders of the network spoke eloquently: "Low expectations keep us from realizing our dreams." Presenter Charles Willis urged, "Even if criticized, keep on raising the bar."

Would Your Admins Embrace MySpace?

When I think of schools embracing MySpace, as Glenn Moses advocated in his Saturday session, I think about the awkward sort of hugs common to weddings, reunions, and work parties. But Moses gives three convincing arguments for giving students broader Internet access in school:

1. Students are already using it.
2. If we block it, they'll get around it.
3. If we don't teach our students how to use social networking appropriately, who will?

To argument one, Moses points out that every kid with a cell phone has Google (via text message to 46645) in their pockets. As David Warlick has asked, "What are we going to ask on our tests when kids are walking in with Google in their pocket? Are they going to be better questions than we ask today?"

But what about safety?

Thoughts from a School Board Trustee

Mike Falick, a trustee on the Spring Branch Independent School District School Board in Texas, shares some of the ups and downs of his position on his blog. One recent bright spot was a picture of two huge flip-chart pages containing a message of thanks personally written by prekindergarten students following a vote by the board to fully fund the district's prekindergarten centers.

But perhaps what makes the blog so popular is that Falick expands the blog's reach well beyond the day-to-day of his job. He frequently shares links to useful online tools and resources, such as sites that let you create printable calendars and sources of online college lectures. And his regular tracking of education-related legislation making its way through the Texas legislature is a great tool for citizens of the state who care about education.

Creating a Consortium in Early Education Initiatives

Susan D’Alessandro, of the Ronald L. Meinders Primary Learning Center, came to present her "Creating a Consortium in Early Education Initiatives" Annual Conference session with a goal in mind: "I want you to understand that partnership is possible."

Describing the creation of the Southern Ocean County Initiatives in Education Consortium in New Jersey, D’Alessandro took attendees on a journey that began in 2004. Seeking collaboration, she began working with a local car dealer to fund a series of workshops for parents of preschoolers and a free series of professional development workshops for early childhood educators.

Since its creation, the consortium has provided 43 hours of workshops and reached 602 people. D’Alessandro advised attendees to look for the hot topic in their district and work with groups to create solutions. She also encouraged educators to not be afraid to ask for funding, speakers, or donations, especially from retail stores, car dealerships, banks, foundations, hospital community relations directors, and retired teachers' union members.

Has your district sought support from businesses or foundations for professional development for your school community? What's worked? What hasn't?

Teaching the At-Risk Teenage Brain

Sheryl Feinstein is an assistant professor of education at Augustina College in South Dakota, where she teaches courses in educational psychology and adolescent development. Her Annual Conference presentation, "Teaching the At-Risk Teenage Brain," explored the functions of the teenage brain and how these processes explain teens' sometimes erratic behavior.

Feinstein defines the at-risk teenager as one in danger of emotional or academic problems or both, including crime, violence, and substance abuse. Factors that put teens at risk include poverty, academic failure, and delinquent friends, among others. According to Feinstein, who has conducted boundless research and written two books on the subject, the adolescent brain differs from the adult brain in three primary ways:

• Overproduction of dendrites (greater propensity for learning new things).
• Pruning, or loss of dendrites not being used, occurring more rapidly.
• Decision-making process governed by the amygdala, making teens emotionally-driven.

Primary use of the amygdala is also the cause of misunderstandings, incendiary language, and bad decision making. Understanding the cerebral functions that cause certain behaviors is a big step toward knowing how to effectively teach teenagers and defuse any possible confrontations.

Are there certain teaching practices and school policies you recommend for supporting the teen brain?

Transforming Preschool for Inner-City Children

After 12 years researching the Chicago Commons Project, Daniel and Sandra Scheinfeld provided their Annual Conference audience with background and case studies about the revolutionary approach. Modeled after the approach that originated in Reggio Emilia, Italy, the Chicago Commons Project eliminates the need for a set curriculum and instead employs trained teachers who pose challenging questions to the children and inspire understanding of the world around them.

The Reggio Emilia approach emphasizes the need to listen to the preschoolers, their desires, their interests, and their curiosities, which are then translated into a naturally flowing curriculum. According to Scheinfeld and Scheinfeld, this process is the co-construction of ideas and understandings through dialogue, motivated by the learners' shared interests and curiosities. This collaborative process of learning applies to all of the participants; children, teachers, other staff, and parents. In this approach, everyone is considered a learner and a researcher.

What approach do you find most effective in early childhood education?

ASCD Express Calls for Submissions

ASCD Express is looking for short, 600–1,000-word essays on the theme "Questioning Strategies." The theme description is below, and guidelines for submissions are here. Send us your submissions by March 30, 2009.

There is an art to asking good questions and understanding the purpose for each question. How can teachers use questioning techniques to engage students, assess what they know, challenge them to go deeper into content, or strengthen their grasp of a concept by seeing it in a new light? This issue will offer strategies and techniques for asking good questions that solicit solid answers, whether written and oral, so that those students convey what they know and better understand what they still need to find out.

Let’s Get Personal: Tips to Humanize Online Learning

In their session, "Let's Get Virtual: Tips to Humanize Online Learning," University of South Dakota Professors Doreen Gosmire, Marcia Morrison, and Joanne Van Osdel presented one of the upsides to online learning.

"Online discussion allows (and ensures) everyone is responding. If you were sitting in class, some would not contribute,” they said. Introverted students are more prone to come forth in online discussions to express their understanding of and interest in the subject.

Online group discussions provide social interaction, promote reflection, and humanize technology. After all, online learning has real students analyzing, writing, and collaborating. In discussions, for instance, the professor is moderator, providing challenging and thought-provoking questions that inspire students to provide substantive responses, quite often in real time.

Being consistently available is also vital in creating rapport with students and establishing credibility for yourself. Online discussions, assignments, and quizzes or tests are some of these great tools, but can be lost in a virtual world if educators don't provide adequate reminders. Give students the same information over and over. Use e-mail, online scheduling and syllabus, and instructor's notes via wiki to remind them, advises Gosmire.

If you've taught online, how did you humanize the learning exchange?