ASCD Inservice

High Schools at the Tipping Point

Are U.S. high schools failing us?

In "High Schools at the Tipping Point," Bob Wise states that U.S. high schools are failing because they were "never designed to meet today's moral and economic demands of graduating all students." Despite these changing demands, Wise notes that the typical high school education has remained virtually unchanged since the current system was developed in the early 20th century.

The May issue of EL looks at Reshaping High Schools from several angles. Bob Wise points to three approaches to reform that have emerged from successful schools' experiences and calls for a "Sputnik-like" federal response to the dropout crisis and the challenges of job and college readiness.

Wise suggests that schools needs to align their expectations with those of college and the workplace, take a more individualized approach to education, and make better use of data and of technology. Do you believe these recommendations would make schools more effective? What other changes would you make to the current system?

Most-Clicked: Is Smaller Better?

Budget cuts in California will mean fewer teachers and bigger class sizes for many. Last weeks most-clicked SmartBrief news story asked whether smaller class sizes really make a different in academic achievement and pointed to studies that showed mixed responses. While early research pointed to the effectiveness of a lower teacher-to-student ratio, later studies were less conclusive.

The benefits of smaller class sizes seem like a no-brainer, but critics contend that staffing smaller classes often means hiring uncredentialed teachers to work in the highest-need schools and that small classes benefit high achievers more than low-achieving students.

We've got a whole issue of Educational Leadership magazine debating class size, with most authors favoring smaller, but what's your take on this debate?

Perspectives: The High School Scene

Critics of traditional high school systems call for more relevance and rigor in how we prepare students for college and careers. And then there are the nearly one in three U.S. high school critics who vote with their feet--the students who drop out.

The May issue of EL looks at reform models, policy changes, and ways to improve high schools both systemically and incrementally. Throughout the month, we'll be talking about the articles in this issue and the questions they raise about how best to reshape high schools.

Listen to the full article, "Perspectives: The High School Scene" (MP3, 6 mins. 55 secs.)

Nine Powerful Practices

Ruby Payne notes that, "Students from families with little formal education often learn rules about how to speak, behave, and acquire knowledge that conflict with how learning happens in school." To that end, she suggests "Nine Powerful Practices" for raising achievement for low-income students.

• Build relationships of respect
• Make beginning learning relational
• Teach students to speak in formal register
• Assess each student's resources
• Teach the hidden rules of the school
• Monitor progress and plan interventions
• Translate the concrete into the abstract
• Teach students how to ask questions
• Forge relationships with parents.

Do you think the rules and norms that help some of your students survive at home differ from those that help them advance at school?

The Myth of the "Culture of Poverty"

Are we willing to tackle the classism in our own schools and classrooms?

In "The Myth of the 'Culture of Poverty'," author Paul Gorski takes on the damaging myth that people living in poverty share a consistent and observable "culture." The culture of poverty myth, claims Gorski, leads even the most well-intentioned teacher to have low expectations for low-income students and "fear their most powerless students." It "diverts attention from what people in poverty do have in common: inequitable access to basic human rights."

Gorski cites data that show, "Regardless of how much students in poverty value education, they must overcome tremendous inequities to learn." He suggests not only some comprehensive, wide-scale changes in social welfare and education, but also an agenda for what teachers and administrators can do in the meantime to thwart a culture of classism in their schools.

Do you agree with Gorski's stance? How do class biases play out in classrooms today?

Closing the Teacher Quality Gap

Teachers are "hugely important" in determining student achievement, say Kati Haycock and Candace Crawford in "Closing the Teacher Quality Gap." So, the authors ask, how do we address the fact that "no matter how you measure quality, good teachers are not evenly distributed across all kinds of schools and students"? How do schools get high-quality teachers to the students who need them most?

Read the article to see how schools in Chattanooga, New York City, Boston, Chicago, and two systems in Colorado are working to close the teacher quality gap, and let us know what you think:

If you were to switch to teaching in a high-poverty school, what might you gain or lose? What incentives would it take to get you to voluntarily make such a move? How does or how could teacher training better prepare candidates to teach in high-poverty schools?

Whose Problem is Poverty?

Richard Rothstein ("Whose Problem is Poverty?") asserts that when we focus solely on school reforms as the cure for the achievement gap, we suppress discussion—and even awareness—of how the physical and social deprivations of poverty limit achievement. He notes:

"Teachers see for themselves how poor health or family economic stress impedes students' learning. Teachers may nowadays be intimidated from acknowledging these realities aloud and may, in groupthink obedience, repeat the mantra that 'all children can learn.' But nobody is fooled. Teachers still know that although all children can learn, some learn less well because of poorer health or less-secure homes."

Do you think closing the achievement gap is within teachers' and administrators' control—or is this a myth, as Rothstein believes? If you believe that educators can't completely close the gap even through stellar practice, what keeps you striving to do your best?

Where Have All My Students Gone?

A teacher in Charlotte, N.C., loses two-thirds of her class roster to mobility driven by socioeconomic factors. In "Where Have All My Students Gone?" Laura Hoeing relates

"As they repeatedly lose contact with the students to whom they dedicate themselves, teachers who work with our most vulnerable students may begin to view their job as a high-risk emotional investment. Frequent mobility can create a cycle of withdrawal, damaging the morale of students and teachers as well."

What has your school done to address the problem of student mobility? How do you personally cope with the problem?  To learn about one school district's successful efforts to reduce the harmful effects of student mobility, read "When Mobility Disrupts Learning," by Jean Louise M. Smith, Hank Fien, and Stan C. Paine, in the April 2008 issue of Educational Leadership.

How Do You Motivate the Reluctant Learner?

"All of us have probably, at one time or other, assumed the role of reluctant responder to someone who was trying to influence our actions. Being on the receiving end of another's well-intentioned but unwanted campaign to change our behavior should set a powerful example of tactics to avoid in influencing learners."

In her March EL article, "Sustaining the Fire," Barbara Bartholomew asks how we set the conditions to sustain the "lasting fire" of student motivation. In addition to her response, several prominent educators share their approaches to motivation. We'd like to add your suggestions to our expert discussion.

How do you motivate the reluctant learner?

Turning On the Lights

In "Turning On the Lights," Marc Prensky argues that many students today learn more from their technological devices than from teachers who rely on traditional methods. He encourages schools to use technology to engage students in learning and to help them connect with the world.

Do you agree with Prensky's notion that requiring students to "power down" in school actually impedes their learning?

Testing the Joy Out of Learning

In "Testing the Joy Out of Learning," Sharon L. Nichols and David C. Berliner describe how schools' efforts to help students succeed on mandated high-stakes tests have often backfired, causing more learners to become disengaged.

Critics of high-stakes testing have said that schools often focus on students who are "on the bubble," ignoring the needs of students who will pass without help and dismissing the needs of students who are unlikely to pass as hopeless cases. Nichols and Berliner share the example of an Alabama district that "dropped" more than 500 low-scoring students from its rolls shortly before testing.

Do you believe that most schools dismiss the needs of some students? What types of accountability measures might be most effective in ensuring that all schools and students meet challenging, but realistic, standards?

Perspectives: Educating Jonathan

Jonathan is that student who disengages from school, despite ability and support. Why do some students tune out? Can educators help these students see school as worth the effort?

The March issue of Educational Leadership on "Reaching the Reluctant Learner" looks at many different ways educators can make schools a more successful experience for the Jonathans.

Listen to the full article, "Educating Jonathan."

My Back Pages: An Army of Thinkers

What are the 7th graders in your district discussing? In October 1944, Educational Leadership published the transcript of a radio broadcast featuring 7th graders from Pittsburgh who were debating the question,

Should we have compulsory military training for all youth after the war?

Read the article: Young People Speak Up  (PDF)

All Our Students Thinking

"Thinking cannot be formulated as a lesson objective--as something to teach, learn, and evaluate on Thursday morning," Nel Noddings argues in her article "All Our Students Thinking."

Noddings believes that any subject can be taught in intellectually stimulating and challenging ways. Opportunities to think are underwritten by pedagogy that is open-ended, encourages critical thought, and finds organic connections to other subjects and to real-world applications.

To advocate thoughtful teaching and learning, Noddings adds that teachers must also be encouraged to think critically about what and how they are encouraged to teach. "If teachers want students to think, they must think about what they themselves are doing." How important is Noddings's statement to your personal teaching philosophy?

Thinking About Patriotism

Patriotism is highly contested territory, and nowhere is that more evident than in public schools, says Joel Westheimer in his article in the February issue of Educational Leadership.

Despite the potential controversy, Westheimer believes public schools have a civic duty to "provide students with opportunities to think deeply about issues of public importance." In his article, he asks us to consider,

What and how should we teach students about patriotism? In a democratic society, how are lessons on patriotism different from those in totalitarian regimes?

Read the full article after the jump.

Teaching Students to Think

How do we teach students to be skillful thinkers?

The February 2008 issue of Educational Leadership looks at educators who have harnessed content knowledge and instructional expertise, to engage students and guide them in exploring both the "why" and the "how" of what they're learning.

Read or listen to "Perspectives/The Thinking Teacher"

A good teacher creates opportunities for students to think on their own, but a good teacher also models his or her own thinking. We hope the variety of models for teaching deep thinking in this issue of EL will get you thinking and talking about how you teach students to think.

My Back Pages: Schools Know Best

Ever wonder if parents' attitudes toward education have changed over the years? In the February 1950 issue of Educational Leadership, ASCD President Bess Goodykoontz pulls together a number of surveys from the late '40s in an effort to figure out what parents want, whether or not schools are delivering, and how they see their own role in the education process.

Read the article"Parents Know What They Want for Their Children" (PDF) and see how your experience with parental involvement today compares to attitudes from half a century ago.

Assessing What Matters

In "Assessing What Matters," Robert J. Sternberg asserts that assessments should go beyond academics to assess wisdom and creativity.

Sternberg reflects, "When I look at the skills and concepts I have needed to succeed in my own field, I find a number that are crucial: creativity, common sense, wisdom, ethics, dedication, honesty, teamwork, hard work, knowing how to win and how to lose, a sense of fair play, and lifelong learning. But memorizing books is certainly not one of them."

Do you currently assess wisdom and creativity? If not, how might you go about incorporating those skills into your assessments? Is this something teachers should be doing?

Go to the December 2007 / January 2008 issue of Educational Leadership magazine to read more articles on Informative Assessment. ASCD members log in to read the full text of "Assessing What Matters."

Do Tests Really Improve Achievement?

Question: I recently estimated that all the tests that the state, district, and school oblige me to administer eat up a full month's worth of teaching time. Does all this testing really improve student achievement?

—Lorraine Schmitt-Pugaczewski, Christa McAuliffe Middle School, Elizabeth, New Jersey

Read W. James Popham's response in this month's "Ask About Accountability" column. Submit your own question about assessments and accountability at AskPopham@ascd.org.

Go to the December 2007 / January 2008 issue of Educational Leadership magazine to read more articles on Informative Assessment.

Learning to Love Assessment

In "Learning to Love Assessment," Carol Ann Tomlinson talks about her journey from "seeing assessment as judging performance, then as informing teaching, and finally as informing learning." All of these perspectives work together to shape Tomlinson's picture of assessment as learning, for students and teachers.

How has your attitude toward assessment changed since you began your career? If you're a beginning teacher, how has your perspective changed since you were a student?

Go to the December 2007 / January 2008 issue of Educational Leadership magazine to read more articles on Informative Assessment.