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?

Not Such Good News

From Connecticut:

Results from the 2008 ACT college admission test show that many Connecticut high school seniors are "appallingly" unprepared for college-level work, according to a state report.

Of the 8,159 students who took the test, 35 percent of white seniors, 18 percent of Hispanics and 9 percent of African Americans were ready for college-level work.

"It's an appalling figure to look at," said Frank W. Ridley, chairman of the Board of Governors for Higher Education. "Basically it says that, at the very best, only one-third of our students are succeeding." Ridley said he was disgusted by the low numbers, which were included in a state report about racial and ethnic diversity in higher education. He said the disparity in the scores of whites and minorities underscores the state's struggle to close the stubborn "achievement gap."

Ridley says that the scores mean that "only one-third of our students are succeeding." Maybe the scores indicate dismal performance on the part of the schools. Or maybe the scores indicate that they are inadequately funded:

A Connecticut school finance lawsuit, filed more than four years ago with the high expectations of 12 towns that were challenging the way the state hands out education dollars, may not even make it to trial.
. . .
The case, Johnson v. Rowland, began in the spring of 1998, when the suit was filed on behalf of seven students and a coalition of the 12 towns. The plaintiffs have contended that the state has not contributed its fair share of education funding, and that poorer communities, like those that sued, are left with hefty tax burdens to pay for K-12 education.

A School of My Own

A few years ago, someone approached me about starting a charter school. Although I was on board with the idea, quite frankly, I was horrified at the possibility of being the person who executed it. Me, a principal? I could not see it.

Still feel that way. I'm more of a supporting role actor. But I saw this article yesterday, via the ASCD newsletter, and it got me daydreaming about school.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2009) — Children exposed to a multi-year programme of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music.

It's old news that studying the arts helps children do better in other areas. And yet, and yet, we keep pushing art and music and literature aside in a sort of shortsighted devotion to Gradgrindian ideals.

Wouldn't it be great to teach students in a lively, interesting way that would make them want to learn? To include not only studies of content, but teach them how to do things--play music, build stuff, make art, grow plants, sew a placemat, knit a hat--so they could gain that beautiful confidence that always comes from competence? At this dream school, the curriculum would be integrated, let's say, so that kids would see that everything is connected, that there's math in music and biology in the garden and reading is everywhere, and so the skills and knowledge would not have this artificial demarcation, but would seep into real life.

P.S. Besides, pretty much any kind of intervention improves student achievement in reading. You can sit with a kid for thirty minutes a week and just give him your undivided attention, talk about basketball or video games or whatever, and his scores on reading tests will probably improve.