Lameness in Action

Cranky alert. Consider yourself warned.

In my daughters' geometry textbooks are several questions that result in answers that have double meanings. You know the ones. 420. That other two-digit number that would make a room of high school students smirk. Last year, in a different textbook, there was another number that made my daughters' middle-school math teacher burst out laughing, but they couldn't remember what it was.

Years ago, a math writer thought it would be funny to tuck a reference to Mary Kay Letourneau into a test question.

The writers must think it's funny. Maybe they are grandiose in their thinking and consider themselves subversive. It just seems immature to me.

Tell Me Something Good

. . . in the immortal words of Chaka Khan.

More than 2.5 million students in New York City, Charleston, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Jersey City, and Los Angeles have benefited from the Overcoming Obstacles Life Skills Program. The program is designed to help educators teach communication, decision making and goal setting skills, aimed at giving middle and high school students the skills to be successful in life.

More here. By B.A. Birch at Education News. Overcoming Obstacles offers free lesson plans for middle school and high school.

Happy Friday.

The Beautiful and the Confused

California is like the shockingly gorgeous woman at a party who desperately wants people to think she's not just a pretty face with cleavage a lovely landscape and so is always coming out with the polysyllabic words (the production of which seems almost painful) in the hopes that someone will finally take her seriously and stop staring at her cleavage Sierra foothills.

Someone needs to tell her that she really doesn't need to try so hard. Although maybe it is time she figure out the difference between correlation and causation.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was the self-esteem campaign with a task force and everything. (You can read the full report here.) Even though all the other states like to make fun of California and New York (she being so pretty and he being so cool and rebellious), as they go, so goeth the nation. The promotion of self-esteem in children snowballed into almost a religion. Praise became as constant and unrelenting as it was--I'm sure--meaningless to the intended beneficiaries.

As with any method of symptom-mowing, that didn't quite work out as anticipated:

The long-term impact of this rah-rah mentality is already apparent. In 2004, according to Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me, 70 percent of American college freshmen reported their academic ability as “above average.” But, once ego-inflated students get to college, they’re more likely to drop out, says Twenge, when their skewed sense of self and overconfidence affects their ability to make decisions.

Because they got it backwards. Although self-esteem and high student achievement may be correlated, the cause-and-effect sequence is more likely to be that high student achievement promotes self-esteem, rather than the reverse. *Oops. Dang. How much did we spend on that report again?*


(Oddly enough, in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon six-degrees-of-separation kind of coincidence, just when this self-esteem campaign was a little sparkly idea glimmering on the horizon, I was working as a secretary at an automobile repair shop that was owned by John Vasconcellos's brother. There simmered family tensions, is all I have to say about that. Also, such work did not enhance my self-esteem, as the owner's wife was in the habit of remarking that how interesting that I was a college graduate--she had never attended college--and yet I didn't know how to load paper into a printer. I didn't blame her; no amount of praise could have convinced me I was even a minimally adequate secretary. I was a terrible secretary, maybe the world's worst secretary, with deplorable office skills that were on a par with my knowledge of auto repair. One of my duties was to translate the mechanics' notes on the service orders into descriptions of labor  for the customers' bills. Once, after replacing a part, a mechanic scribbled "lower radiator hose" on the service order. I wrote "lowered radiator hose" on the final bill, which ignorance sort of rendered everyone, from the high school kid who pushed a broom around to the owner, speechless. )

I would like to point out that it's antithetical to serious intellectual inquiry to hijack such a discussion by misrepresenting the "basic premise" in order to promote a political and social agenda:

The basic premise is that racism and discrimination cause minorities to feel bad about themselves, and that this low self-image translates into women avoiding "hard" fields like engineering and blacks and Hispanics doing poorly in school.

Well, no, not exactly. The basic premise is that people--and let's leave race and gender out of it, shall we, because neither has much to do with the main point--who feel bad about themselves for whatever reason, tend to self-destruct--and take others with them--which can only have negative effects on not just society, but the economy, so how might it be possible to kill the snake when it is young address this problem in children so that they are able to become self-sufficient adults who are well-equipped to function and thrive, which will mean less crime, fewer teen-age pregnancies, less substance abuse, and more productivity, which will mean more money for big companies and the local and federal governments that tax them. The means may have been ill-advised, but the goal seems like one we could all get on board with to some degree of enthusiasm, if indeed it be based in fact.

Similarly, the motivation driving the California Department of Education (and those of Michigan and Oklahoma and others) to dissect creativity in order to figure out how it works and thus build it into school curriculum has to do with money business productivity. This isn't a new idea:

The world community recognizes that progress in the arts, in the professions, and in science and technology relies exquisitely on the creativity of people in these professions.

This came from Carl A. Leopold (Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York), who went on to suggest

. . . the art of scientific thinking be taught by allowing students to experience all the thrills--and missteps--of an actual science program or research.

Which indicates that independent exploration and direct experience and willingness to fail are essential to creativity. It's an orientation from which to teach, rather than a framework for a curriculum.

Once creativity is allowed in, students may gain mastery, thus building self-esteem without anyone heaping on piles of praise--praise that the students are surely smart enough to recognize as false. Everything is everything.

Why Not Offer Miracles If You Can?

Miracles

WHY! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,	5
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,	10
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen, farmers,	15
Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,	20
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring—yet each distinct, and in its place.
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,	25
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that concerns them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;	30
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships, with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?                                                   Walt Whitman

"To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle." To me, this poem is a miracle.


I could spend hours looking out the window and thinking about this. I did spend hours thinking about the poem at night as I walked my dog in the canyon and looked up at the stars and heard the breeze brush through the palms and in the morning as I took my daughters to school and we crested the hill and caught sight of the ocean and the islands and in the evening as I took out the trash and saw the sunset so garish that if it were a painting, you'd make fun of the artist.


I came across this poem because recently I had the great good fortune of having the opportunity to think about how to bring the American Romantics into certain high school classrooms in a certain state (intentional vagueness required by both professional courtesy and the stipulations of the non-disclosure agreement that is part of my contract).


For a week, I read Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Emerson ("To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius"), Whitman, Dickinson, Dunbar. Leaving out Thoreau wasn't intentional; it's just that I started with Emerson, but once I was in the thick of the poetry, decided to stay there and tackle the essays another time.


This work was pure pleasure. Poetry and grade 11 are a match made in heaven. All those emotions, for one thing. And there's a poet for everyone. Baudelaire was the original Emo:

Dark one, I am torn
By your savage ways,
Then, soft as the moon, your gaze
Sees my tortured heart reborn.

                                      --from "Afternoon Song"

Not the least of the pleasure was my thinking about the students. Maybe there would be one or two who for whom these poems might be a signpost to the onramp to the highway that leads to this gorgeous world of poetry and self-knowledge.


Last week, I went to hear a friend and fellow alumnus from the College of Creative Studies at UCSB  speak about literature and read from his writing. He told the students about how, when he graduated, he had this sense of having a gift, a talent, that was bigger than he knew what to do with.


It was true of all of us, I think. I'll go further and say that it may be true of everyone, but maybe everyone is not lucky enough to understand that he has a gift, or not lucky enough to land in a place where he has the room and space and encouragement to find and exercise his gift.


My daughters sweetly and patiently listen when I talk about my work and endlessly quote from my readings. They have more than a passing familiarity with Emerson by now. Erin, my eldest, showed me what her social studies textbook says about Emerson and Thoreau.


The targeted standard is to read the writings of the American Transcendentalists. The means employed by the textbook writer to address this standard was to write one spare paragraph about these two in which Thoreau is described as someone who was jailed because he refused to pay a one-dollar federal tax and Emerson is described as someone who didn't want to go to jail and so he paid the tax. That's it. Thus summing up the philosophies and values of American Transcendentalism. There was no context, no real biographical information, there were no excerpts from the essays.

Why in the name of all that is holy would a writer (or a publisher, as surely it was not solely the writer's decision--as a writer, I often bump into the decisions of editors and publishers) pass up the opportunity to offer more?

In the immortal words of Emily Dickinson (see below), the brain is wider than the sky. Even at 14. I'm sure their brains could not only accommodate bushels, nay, truckloads of real information, rather than a dismissive tag line. Why not offer the miracles and let the students sort them out?

CXXVI THE BRAIN is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease, and you beside. The brain is deeper than the sea, For, hold them, blue to blue, The one the other will absorb, As sponges, buckets do. The brain is just the weight of God, For, lift them, pound for pound, And they will differ, if they do, As syllable from sound.

UPDATE: Fixed link to College of Creative Studies at UCSB.

High Jumper Opportunity

If you happen to know anyone who is a math/science teacher or designer of math/science curriculum and assessments, here's what looks to be a fantastic opportunity at Leapfrog.

The job responsibilities include:

• Write learning goals and content to align with product interactions for early childhood learning, with special focus on math and science.
• Advise producers, game designers, product designers, web developers and others on appropriate content, pedagogy and assessment strategies
• Review materials and product prototypes and make design recommendations.
• Collaborate with internal research deparment and external scholars on assessments of learning processes and outcomes, some grant writing likely.
• Maintain a library of learning resources, and external consultants.
• Stay current with trends in early childhood education; math-science teaching, learning, and assessment.

I went to Leapfrog HQ once for an exploratory meeting. Although we didn't end up collaborating on that venture, I came away with a solidly positive impression of the Leapfrog universe and the smart, pleasant inhabitants.

My Dream Project

Sometimes I amuse myself by thinking of fun little work projects I would like to do. My dream projects.

A few years ago, I read about a study in Florida which got me thinking about developing some kind of pre-testing curriculum. (Testing isn't going to go away. Nor should it, entirely. Whenever anyone waves the anti-testing flag in my face, I think about how none of us would like to the patient in an operation performed by a surgeon who had never undergone any tests of his medical knowledge. We wouldn't even want our cars repaired by technicians who hadn't ever been tested and certified. However, let us all agree there is room for reform in state and district testing, and leave it at that.)

So whenever we administer these tests, these tests on which some children score disproportionately lower than others, why not find better ways to prepare them? Not with test prep products, but with lesson plans that tell about the brain and how it works, and how we--we, all of us, all humans--gather and store and use information. Thereby making sure that the students understand that all humans have the same kinds of brains, brains that work the same way, and no one group has brains that are inherently better or less able to function than those of another group.

We could add a little writing exercise to the lesson plan:

ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2009) — In a follow-up to a 2006 study, a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher and his colleagues found that an in-class writing assignment designed to reinforce students' sense of identity and personal integrity increased the grade-point averages of African-American middle school students over a two-year period, and reduced the rate at which these students were held back or placed in remediation.

This follow-up just confirms the results of the 2006 study. This kind of writing exercise clearly has a positive effect on student performance. Why is it not common practice yet?

More than a Check

Sometimes I approach my work sort of like the way doctors approach theirs: Above all, do no harm.

Tests are hard enough for students without our setting up unnecessary roadblocks. I like to think about writing tests that are transparent--that give a straightforward view of student performance. No obstacles. Which means sticking to all the item writing rules and writing simply and clearly.

But last week, I received an email message that reminded me that some of the work that I do--writing curriculum and assessment materials for intervention with struggling readers-- actually helps kids in a significant way, and that was a very welcome message.

To be a tiny part of a second chance for a kid who's at risk for dropping out of school, to be one of many people working on materials that will help this child become a competent reader--maybe help this child experience some rare success in a setting where he has only failed before--to just do that much is to do good. It's important to feel that one's work has meaning.

Get a Job

In the ASCD newsletter, there is a posting for this job (complete job description is reprinted at the end of this post). It's a good job for someone with the required qualifications. Back in my CTB days, when I was a program manager, I worked with the Department of Defense Education Activity, and I must say that everyone there was lovely to work with. Anyway, I hate to see a good job going to waste, especially one with a reasonable salary and excellent benefits, so please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

News of jobs do often come round my way, so I'll make it a habit to post'em as I get'em. If you hear of a job that's not right for you, but that is too good to let slip away, send it in.

SUPERVISORY DEPUTY CURRICULUM ADMINISTRATOR
Additional Duty Location Info: 1 vacancy - Arlington, VA
MAJOR DUTIES:
- Provides authoritative advice and guidance to DoDEA senior officials on all matters related to development, planning and implementation of the program areas to which assigned.
- Plans, organizes, and conducts a wide variety of studies and analyses designed to identify needs, develop justifications, and prepare implementation procedures for general and specific educational program requirements, usually of a critical nature.
- Formulates plans and provides managerial expertise regarding all aspects of staff operations.
- Provides program evaluation and analysis services for new, proposed or existing initiatives.
- Through subordinate supervisors and program managers who also exercise leadership responsibilities, plans, prioritizes, and prepares schedules for the completion of work.
- Identifies, facilitates, and monitors the resolution of problems, concerns, and issues involving education services provided by headquarters and a variety of other providers.
- Through subordinate supervisors and program managers who also exercise leadership responsibilities, plans, prioritizes, and prepares schedules for the completion of work.
- Develops, coordinates, and integrates educational programs, goals and other activities within and among the branches of the Education Directorate.
- In coordination with subordinates, develops goals, benchmarks, strategies, and a framework for the assigned program areas including those that support the National Education Goals and the Department of Education's Career pathways.
- Approved as a Contractor Officer's Representative (COR). Monitors the quality of program services to ensure compliance with professional quality assurance standards.
-Performs a full range of supervisory duties for both intermediate supervisors and non supervisory employees.