ASCD Inservice

Meep Learning Curve on Discipline

Zero-tolerance policies are often a last resort born out of frustration—the sort of scenario you can imagine resulted in the Danvers High principal recently deciding to ban the word "meep" from utterance on school grounds.

The problem is that zero-tolerance policies are a shoddy tool for changing student behavior. The meep kerfuffle in Massachusetts is going to live past its 15 seconds of fame in part due to reactions to the schoolwide ban.

But we're not here to bloggertunistically poke fun at the Danvers administration's headache—we're here to help. There's a moral to this meeping story, courtesy of authors Curwin, Curwin, & Mendler. From the 3rd edition of their best-selling ASCD book, Discipline with Dignity:

What to Do When More Than One Student Is Acting Out

Sometimes you may be faced with a group of students who are acting out at the same time or feeding off one another. The better you know the dynamics of your class, the more effective you will be in handling this type of situation.

The first step is to pick the one student in the acting-out group who is the one the other students respect the most, fear the most, or are amused by the most. Stopping the misbehavior of this student must come first. We call this strategy "The Leader of the Pack." At a separate time in a one-on-one moment, approach the leader of the pack to help you calm or quiet his crew. Appeal to the student's need for control. Often these students like the role of leader and fit naturally into it. You might say, "Rashid, there is too much talking going on while I am teaching. I need your help solving this problem because I notice that most other students look up to you. What do you think would work?" After suggestions are given, conclude with "I am counting on you to quiet your crew when I give you the signal. Thanks."

Fastest-Growing Facebook Demographic Is Over 55

Dude, your teacher totally has a Facebook account.

WaPo wonders what's next for social networking, we wonder if teachers are the fastest growing professional demographic on Facebook? There's a lot of talk about how social networking is shaping the profession, but how are educators shaping what's next in social networking?

Image source: National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2009

Do the Draft Standards Measure Up?

Wednesday, October 21 the comment period closes on the proposed Career and College Readiness Standards for English / Language Arts and Mathematics. This is your last chance to let the NGA and CCSSO know whether they achieved their objectives of fewer, clearer, higher standards, and whether content and cognitive skills are well matched.

Then at the end of the month, Scroll down after the jump, or check next week's issue of ASCD Express (free to all members) to read the full analysis of the proposed E/LA standards by our guest teacher-blogger, Dina Strasser.

Strasser gives the proposed standards credit for being fewer and clearer, but questions a definition of college and career readiness shaped primarily by corporate sources, with very little use of peer-reviewed education research sources, not to mention the exclusion of stakeholders like the National Council of Teachers of English. Her biggest criticism of the proposed ELA standards goes like this:

" . . . the primary aim of education is holistic. We are supposed to be helping our young people become both aware and expressive of their individuality, their general well-being, their talents and joys, their ethical code, their desire for life-long learning, their sense of place, their local and global communities, and their responsibilities as members of the human race. These are what ensure that students are healthy, functioning members of our society. They are certainly my ultimate goals as a teacher, with language—particularly aesthetic, creative, and reflective language—as the vehicle. Yet beyond cursory mentions of citizenship, no sentiments like these—not a drop—are in the current draft of the standards. Narrative, reflective, and creative communication receive related short-shrift in these standards, if they are included at all. All these things are included, notably, in other international standards of language, such as those of Finland—one of the highest performing nations on the planet." (Full article after the jump)

If you've read them, what's your impression of the draft standards?

Halving Dropout Rate Would Yield $45 Billion

With President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan seriously committed to high school reform, it's time federal policy focused on turning around high schools with abysmal achievement and dropout rates—according to presenters at a discussion on turning around high schools convened by the Alliance for Excellent Education September 25 ("Economic Imperative: Turning Around the Nation's Lowest-Performing High Schools").

Action is especially needed on the 2,000 or so "drop-out factories" that Robert Balfanz and associates at Johns Hopkins University identified as the home school of half of all high school dropouts in the United States.

Two common themes emerged throughout the briefing:

• The need for common standards, uniform throughout the United States, spelling out what competencies a high school graduate must have.
• The pressing need for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to be reauthorized in a way that provides funding for middle/high school reform and is deliberately designed to address the crisis of substandard high schools and the dropout rate.

The Alliance for Excellent Education has long called for federal action to establish uniform accountability measures in all states, with the goal of ensuring that four years in any high school will prepare students for success in college and careers. AEE President Bob Wise said the current approach of all 50 states setting their own standards and assessments--with the federal government stepping in only to impose "one-size-fits-all" remedies for failing schools--is ineffective: We need common college- and career-ready standards for all high school graduates in the nation.

Wise and AEE Director of Strategic Initiatives Lyndsay Pinkus presented data estimating the economic impact of the high U.S. dropout rate: If we could cut the dropout rate in half, $45 billion would be returned to the U.S. Treasury. This estimate comes from taxes recouped from high school graduates being employed at higher pay (rather than dropping out and into underemployment)  and savings in federal funding for remediating high school dropouts  who enter community college.

Zhao Stirs Debate Over Standards

ASCD author and Michigan State University professor Yong Zhao's opinions on global competitiveness, national standards, and accountability, among other education issues, have recently garnered coverage in the Washington Post, Education Week, and the Detroit Free Press: 

• Washington Post columnist Jay Mathews cites Zhao's book as evidence that the U.S. education system is still far ahead of the Chinese education system, especially in terms of producing creative thinkers.
  
• An Education Week article discusses a video in which Zhao argues that the current reforms in American education hamper creative and critical thinking.
  
• A blog post on Dangerously Irrelevant highlights important points Zhao made during a presentation at this year's School Administrators of Iowa Conference.
  
• In an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press, Zhao criticizes the K-12 national standards movement as potentially leading to "irreversible damage." (He also previously guest-blogged here at Inservice on the same topic.)

Zhao is the author of the ASCD book Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. Zhao is critical of a U.S. education reform agenda that he says

• Limits student talents to math and reading achievement.
• Stifles creativity and diversity of talents by instilling a single view of worthwhile knowledge.
• Discourages innovations in schools by forcing educators to focus only on the standards.

Have reforms produced similar effects in you school? 

The Role Neighborhoods Play in Social Mobility

Back at the beginning of the month, D.C.-based radio program The Kojo Nnamdi Show explored what role neighborhoods play in social mobility. More specifically, they looked at why children of middle-class black families who stay in urban, often low-income, neighborhoods tend to be worse off economically and socially as adults. For years researchers focused on the effects of the family, but guest Patrick Sharkey's report for the Economic Mobility Project focuses on neighborhood effects.

Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap looks at a number of issues that contribute to the downward mobility of black children, including disinvestment in the neighborhood, poor social services, high crime, little political power, and, of course, education.

When Nnamdi brought up a recent Washington Post article that discusses turning around troubled schools in Washington, D.C., and asked if poor-performing schools might play into this problem, I was expecting an in-depth conversation on the topic.

"Yes, you are exactly right," responded Sharkey. "A whole host of social problems and social issues come bundled together in the neighborhood, and school is a major one." To my surprise, that was pretty much it on the topic of education for the rest of the program except mentioning there should be more investment in education, among other services.

 

Did education get short shrift, or do charters and other school choice measures mean urban neighborhoods (and the kids in them) are a lot less bound to their schools?

Philly School About to Be Bossed Around

Tony Danza is one step away from becoming a high school English teacher in Philadelphia, and he's bringing the cameras along with him. Tomorrow, Philadelphia's School Reform Commission votes on whether "Teach," an A&E reality series starring Danza as 10th grade coteacher at Philadelphia's Northeast High, gets the green light. (Contact the SRC here.)

Philly Mayor Michael Nutter has given the show his blessing, citing potential boosts to teacher recruitment, as well as production internships for students. "I believe that 'Teach' represents a unique opportunity to highlight many of our city's dedicated teachers and administrators, and the talented students they serve," Nutter said.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky has expressed her displeasure in a scathing column accusing Danza of trying to restart his career at the expense of students.

It's hard to imagine what sort of teacher-quality precedent Danza would set. In fact, why involve Danza at all? If Nutter really means what he says, shouldn't the "stars" be the dedicated and talented real teachers, administrators, and students of public schools?

Summer Homework a Growing Trend

More and more schools are assigning homework during summer months to keep students mentally sharp and to prepare them to hit the ground running once classes resume. Teachers assign reading, math, and encourage keeping up with current events. Some schools even have a "welcome back" test to check that students kept up with their assignments. Summer homework naysayers say kids need a break and some schools assign way too much work, while proponents argue that students who do their homework perform better once school resumes.

This article from the Associated Press gives voice to the widely held sentiment that summer reading assignments especially benefits low-income elementary school students. "Poor kids fall behind in literacy two months in the summer, and they do not catch up," said Harvard professor Jimmy Kim. "These losses accumulate over time." Students need choice but some guidance, when selecting summer reading—books they'll want to read, but that also won't be too easy. Summer assignments meant to keep kids mentally active won't mean a thing if kids don't do them, or if they do them just to check off a list.

Did you assign work this summer, and if so, how did you make it meaningful without overburdening kids during their down time? How will summer work be incorporated into the new school year?

The Problem with Common Core Standards

Post submitted by Yong Zhao, author of the upcoming ASCD book Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization.

On Friday, Missouri became the latest state to join the common core standards initiative led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. It now seems inevitable that all states (except Alaska, Texas, and South Carolina) will have common standards for English language arts and mathematics. My concern is that this push for state standards is just the first break in the dam before the eventual acceptance of a national curriculum and national testing for these subjects.

For me, the problem is these standards arrive without open discussion. After Education Week's Sean Cavanagh wrote about the lack of transparency, the group released a preliminary draft of the standards (PDF) to the public late last week. But without a proper channel for such discussion, I am wary of the outcomes. Those groups leading the charge are nonprofit organizations, not government agencies, so they do not have to be held publicly accountable. As such, they do not have to accept any feedback on either the process or content of the standards. Although it seems that the project plans to invite public input, whether such input will be taken seriously is completely up to the project team.

The Obama administration, the nation's governors and top education officials in 50 states and territories are wagering that, for now, a standardized focus on math and English language arts will make American children globally competitive. Given the significance of such standards, the American people—whose children will be living the consequences—deserve to have some serious input. And the millions of educators who will be held accountable for implementing these standards should be involved in the process and be providing feedback along the way.

Yong Zhao is a university distinguished professor at Michigan State University. His book will be available in late September 2009.

Danke Schoen, John Hughes, 1950–2009

John Hughes's depictions of educators were far from flattering—see the terminally boring history teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and inept and often sadistic administrators in both Ferris and The Breakfast Club.

Still, Hughes's films have their teachable moments to the world of education. How many teachers can relate to Ben Stein's "Anyone, anyone?" when trying to engage students while covering a huge amount of content? And what about trying to create a cohesive school culture in the often factional high school climate of so-called jocks, brains, and weirdos?

Educators will probably be drawing analogies to Hughes's perspective on high school for quite some time—hopefully as a contrast to their motivated, inclusive classrooms. In that spirit, here are a couple items from our archives that give nod to dismantling the Bueller and Breakfast Club paradigms:

"Put Understanding First," by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe:

While lecturing to the vacant-eyed stares of many of his students, the veteran AP U.S. History teacher sometimes feels like the teacher in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, who answers his own dull questions. Yet there's so much material to cover to prepare for the upcoming AP exam. What else can he do? (Read the full article here.)

An issue of ASCD Express, our e-newsletter, on building a safe, welcoming school culture without homogenizing differences or the often-wonderful weirdness of individual students.

Race to the Top Guidelines Announced

In a press conference today, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made clear that if states and school districts want a slice of the $4.3 billion Race to the Top, they need to take four major grant criteria to heart.

Race to the Top applicants must demonstrate they're actively pursuing Duncan's "four assurances":

• Increase teacher effectiveness and address inequities in the distribution of highly qualified teachers.
• Establish and use preK-through-college and career data systems to track progress and foster continuous improvement.
• Make progress toward rigorous college- and career-ready standards and quality assessments.
• Support targeted, intensive support and effective interventions to turn around schools identified for corrective action and restructuring.   

To make these points clearer, Duncan brought out a group of speakers who laid the groundwork for the model Duncan wants schools to follow.

Hey Kid, Want to Play Soccer? Better Have Some Money

Everyone knows that school districts have been making cuts and sacrifices since the economy tanked. Jobs have been slashed, belts have been tightened, and frantic administrators are looking at every conceivable option to keep their schools running at an acceptable level. "Nonessential" programs such as art and history have been led to the guillotine one by one, but now sports programs may be sharing the same fate—or are they?

Many school districts, parents, and students feel so strongly about the importance of having kids participate in sports that they came up with another solution to save the programs when they were threatened with being cut from the budget: schools across the country are beginning to charge a fee for students to join softball or soccer teams, and parents don't seem to mind covering the costs.

"It may get expensive, but I would rather give up something myself than I would give up something for our child," said parent David Haase, who dropped $135 for his child to play soccer at her school. He also must provide cleats, shin guards, and a ball. "Those school activities are so important to a child's growth."

Saving sports may not be cheap, but around the country there seems to be a trend of parents willing to pay for their kids to play. A community on Long Island, N.Y., took it a step further and raised $650,000 through fundraisers and charity events so that sports would not be cut. An added bonus was that some of those "nonessential" classes, such as music and art, were also saved through this fundraising effort.

Although many communities aren't raising hundreds of thousand of dollars, they see the necessity of having sports in public schools. Children can learn character building, team work, and other essential aspects to shaping development through participating on a sports team.

"The educational value in school sports in incredible," said Robert Kanaby, director of the National Federation of State High School Associations. "We believe it's an important part of growing and maturing."

Are you willing to pay fees for your children to participate in sports at public schools?

Community Colleges May Get Much-Needed Boost

When students graduate from high school, they can choose from many options and paths. Some go straight into the workforce, while others decide to pursue higher education. Although many attend four-year colleges, millions each year opt to attend two-year colleges, better known as community colleges. Unfortunately, it seems like every time you hear about higher education funding, it's associated with big-name, four-year colleges, while community colleges get left in the dust. President Barack Obama has a plan to change this by allotting $12 billion for improvements in community colleges.

Obama plans to reverse the cycle of neglect that has plagued community colleges for years. The plan, known as the American Graduation Initiative, calls for improving academic programs and facilities, raising graduation rates, and providing funding for more online courses. According to an article in Edweek, Obama feels that after the economy turns around, many jobs will be created that do not necessarily require the skills of someone with a bachelor's degree but will require some skills that can be acquired with an associate's degree.

During the speech in which Obama proposed his plan, he said that jobs that require associate's degrees will grow at a much faster pace than those that require no degree whatsoever. Obama hopes that students will continue their education after community college by pursuing higher degrees but notes that, for the United States to stay competitive in the world, it is imperative that his vision become a reality and students at least finish their associate's degree.

"We will not fill those jobs, or keep those jobs on our shores, without the training offered by community colleges," Obama said during his speech in Warren, Mich.

There has been some criticism of this idea—do you think more funding for community colleges is beneficial to students and the economy? What programs would you like to see better funded at community colleges?

Why Buy Expensive Textbooks When You Can Rent Them?

While some teachers are getting rid of textbooks in the classroom, one fact of life remains once a person reaches college—very expensive textbooks. Anyone who has signed up for classes in college knows that a list of pricey textbooks awaits them. Students wander bookstores with a heavy wallet and leave with some change in their pockets. And when the time comes to sell the books back, all they get back is a little more change. 

So why not just rent textbooks? This idea seems like a win-win situation for everybody involved. A recent New York Times article reports that renting textbooks has become a reality and the company doing this, Chegg, has seen their revenue skyrocket this past year. It seems that college students would rather rent a textbook for $33 than buy it for $123. Win-win.

Citing Netflix as an inspiration, Chegg founders Osman Rashid and Aayush Phumbhra have seen their company gain steam as more students use their service. Venture capitalists have taken notice, and one company is investing $25 million in Chegg.

"Nobody likes paying for textbooks," said Arizona State University senior and Chegg user Alan Bradford. He's got that right. As I'm writing this post, I'm having horrific flashbacks of being one of those students wandering the campus bookstore with a long list of books to buy, knowing that, in a few minutes, my back pocket would be much lighter.

Summertime Jam: Read Whatever You Like

This week marks the close of the school year or a short break before summer intercession for a lot of schools. Over at E.L. Haynes Elementary in my D.C. neighborhood, it also marks the accomplishment of a huge milestone—collectively, students at E.L. Haynes have logged 5 million minutes of reading in the past year.

As part of the schoolwide celebration, the ridiculously talented and energetic teaching staff created and performed "Read Whatever You Like," a riff on T.I.'s hit song and roll call of some of the students' favorite young adult fiction. We're blastin' this from our laptops in honor of all the hardworking kids and educators—w00t!! Keep on readin'!

MP3: "Read Whatever You Like"

Add your proud moments from the school year in the comments! Read on for suggestions for getting books into students' hands over the summer.

The American Idol* of Education

Starting teacher salaries ($125,000! with $25,000 in potential bonuses!!) made headlines in yesterday's NYT article on NYC charter school The Equity Project (TEP), set to open in the Washington Heights neigborhood this September. 

TEP's investment in really excellent teachers (not class size, not a great principal, not genius computers from outer space) as the decider of a school's success raises questions like, what kind of teacher can you get if you pay them really well, and fundamentally, what makes a great teacher?

My fave line about lessons learned from the nationwide search for TEP's elite staff is that "a golden résumé and a well-run classroom are two different things." The tipping point in classroom visits for TEP teaching candidates? Respect from students, high levels of student engagement, contagious enthusiasm for content, and the ability to redirect or intercept potential disruptions.

After the jump, the résumé qualifications that'll get you in the gate at TEP.

*We prefer old-school Star Search.

TEP's investment in really excellent teachers (not class size, not a great principal, not genius computers from outer space) as the decider of a school's success raises questions like, what kind of teacher can you get if you pay them really well, and fundamentally, what makes a great teacher?

My fave line about lessons learned from the nationwide search for TEP's elite staff is that "a golden résumé and a well-run classroom are two different things." The tipping point in classroom visits for TEP teaching candidates? Respect from students, high levels of student engagement, contagious enthusiasm for content, and the ability to redirect or intercept potential disruptions.

After the jump, the résumé qualifications that'll get you in the gate at TEP.

*We prefer old-school Star Search.

A Cyber Chance for 21st Century Learning

More than 1,800 educators are participating in the Cyber Summit on 21st Century Skills, running June 1–12. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) is sponsoring free online discussions and live webinars leading up to their physical gathering on June 11–12 of influential leaders in Washington, D.C., to develop a national action agenda for 21st century education. ASCD has been actively involved as a board member at P21, especially in the creation of the 21st Century Implementation Guides available to Cyber Summit participants. More Cyber Summit features include videos from ASCD, including portions of the best-selling video 21st Century Skills: Promoting Creativity and Innovation in the Classroom.

Participants can

• Listen to video contributions from top education and business leaders, such as PBS, NEA, Sesame Workshop, Dell, and Intel.
• Engage in daily live webinars and events showcasing 21st century learning.
• Discuss the future of education with other educators nationwide, using social networks like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to further the discussion and follow leaders like P21 President Ken Kay.
• Watch classroom videos of 21st century skills in action.
• Help craft suggestions for P21's national action agenda.

How do you ensure 21st century learning opportunities for your students? Visit the Cyber Summit to join the discussion!

Death of a Tradition?

Technology is changing many of of the traditions we associate with school. Yearbooks, prom photos, and other traditional items high schoolers generally purchase are getting replaced by photos taken on iPhones and digital cameras. Can you blame students? The choice is $60 for a yearbook versus easily recording memories themselves in an album on Facebook for free, and in a matter of minutes. Yearbook publishers have taken note and are trying new ways to entice customers. Book/DVD combos and access to online materials are becoming more popular and keeping some students interested—for now.

I don't think memories should cost anything," Paul Tee, a senior at Liberty High School in Frisco, Texas, told the Dallas Morning News. Only half of his school's population shelled out money for a traditional yearbook. Tee plans on getting his photos from prom online from a friend.

"I have issues with kids saying they can't afford it and then buying a pair of $100 jeans," said Linda Drake of the Journalism Education Association. "I don't see the school spirit. I don't see the school camaraderie."

Does diminished interest in yearbooks and school photos signal a drop in school spirit, bad news for the yearbook club, and/or less revenue for school fundraising? How might schools take advantage of this evolution in school culture?

Discuss: Credit Recovery

"If credit recovery is the primary means for helping kids graduate, it defeats the purpose of giving kids a quality education versus moving them through the system." –Representative for Karl Dean, Mayor of Nashville

"For those reasons, I'm also skeptical about credit recovery." –John Bridgeland, CEO of Civics Enterprises

Comments taken from May 1, 2009 EWA panel, Dropping Out: Why Kids Leave and What Brings Them Back

Discuss online options for credit recovery at EdWeek's "Online Credit Recovery" chat, this Thursday, May 28, 2-3 p.m. (EST).

 

How Teacher Evals. Get Misused

Data from The Widget Effect, to be published in June 2009. Slide presented at today's SMHC Webinar on recruiting highly effective teachers in tough economic times. New Teacher Project President Tim Daly called for teacher evaluation systems that differentiate levels of performance, and tightly align with professional development. SMHC's Co-Director Allan Odden added that teacher performance ratings should be validated by student performance data.

Daly said the boldest use of "Race to the Top" stimulus funds would be to give us ways to measure teacher effectiveness that are usable for different things--i.e. teacher recruitment, career ladders, retention--and not just how teacher evaluation is currently used--to dismiss teachers.