SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Picking Winners

This article in The Atlantic Wire tackles the question of what school boards should be looking for in new hires. At present, most teachers are paid more for extra educational qualifications and additional years of teaching experience, even though these attributes have little or no relationship to teaching effectiveness. (For a meta-analysis of studies with this finding, click here and scroll down to pages 10-12.) The Atlantic Wire article is on the long side, all of it interesting and thought-provoking, but the real meat of it is on the third page where it is revealed that the teacher candidates who are most likely to become effective teachers have the following attributes.

NO

• Additional degrees
• More than three years of teaching experience
• Additional qualifications

YES

• A track record of perseverance
• Satisfaction with their lives
• High grades
• Leadership achievement

The Mystery of Deteriorating Student Writing, Part II

In response to yesterday’s posting, a commenter advanced the theory that the reason that student writing has deteriorated in Canada is that, unlike many other countries Canada attempts to keep all of its students in school for the longest possible time, as opposed to having an élitist system that educates only its brightest and best to high levels.

However, the OECD’s Highlights from Education at a Glance 2009 suggests that this explanation is not correct. On page 19, the top graph ranks the OECD countries according to the percentage of young people graduating from upper secondary education. Canada falls just below the OECD average, with lower graduation rates than 16 other countries. The top graph on page 21 ranks the OECD countries according to the percentage of young people who are first-time graduates of university-level education. Here Canada ranks well below the OECD average, with lower graduation rates than 19 other countries.

This suggests that the non-élitist theory doesn’t adequately explain why student writing has deteriorated in Canada. Other theories are welcome.

The Cold, Blunt, Horrifying Truth

This column by a professor of English makes the case that the quality of writing in his classes is declining. He illustrates his point by reprinting several passages written by average grade 9 students in New York about 50 years ago. Here’s one example.

“At present I am learning the mechanics of the devices that handle the communications of this day and age. Later on the class will delve into a subject of much importance today, and in which I am especially interested - the atom. I hope to learn much in this unit. After that the class will go on to another topic that holds my interest, the prolongation of life or the conquest of disease.“

Ontario parents might find it interesting to compare this passage to an excerpt of student writing from last year’s grade 10 literacy test. This passage was ranked in the top (of six) category and is reproduced exactly as written.

“Part time-employment for students is a highly speculated and interesting topic. I feel every student should have a part-time job in highschool. To begin with it allows students to earn a type of income. Secondly it gives students a sense of independence to be out in the work force. Finally I feel it would be a good idea to earn work experience which will better their chances of getting a decent job in the future.“

Of course, nothing is proved by taking isolated passages like this and comparing them. Nor can we draw any conclusions from the spelling and grammar mistakes in the latter passage, as the former passage may well have been edited. Yet there is a qualitative difference between the two passages which we find very suggestive - the vocabulary, the tautness and complexity of sentence structure, and the awareness of the larger picture - all contribute to a more mature and literate writing style.

Here’s another example of grade 9 writing from the past.

“The drab clothing and scenery helped to set an unpleasant, solemn atmosphere and helped to annoy the captive audience a little bit more. Annoying the audience was probably what made this such a compelling moment in theater. With the lights, the sharp, harsh pounding of the gavel, and the drab atmosphere I began to realize I wasn’t being entertained and I wasn’t having a happy time of it, but rather I was being told the truth, the cold, blunt, horrifying truth.“

Private Public Schools

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute reports that there are 2,817 “private public” schools in the US - publicly-funded schools that serve hardly any low-income children. These private public schools are located in “wealthy urban enclaves or well-heeled suburbs”. And although their doors are effectively closed to poor children (because poor families can’t afford to buy a house in the schools’ catchment areas), these schools are fully funded by taxpayers.

While there are far fewer of such schools in Canada than in the US, there is no doubt that they exist here as well. So the next time you hear someone grumble about “exclusive” and “élite” private schools like Upper Canada College, you might point out that Canada’s private public schools are actually more selective than its private private schools, since most, if not all, of the truly private schools offer scholarship to dozens of low-income students. Why would anyone support public funding for private public schools - but not for private private schools?

John Stossel Show

The John Stossel Show tonight tackles school choice. It promises to be feisty!

Shooting Students in the Foot

You know the old joke about the man who murdered his parents and then begged for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan? In a similar vein, ten Ontario school boards are begging for money on the grounds that they have more and more students with special needs. As it happens, by far the greatest increase in special education students is in the category of “communication disorders”, which is sort of code for “learning-disabled”. The majority of these students might more appropriately be labelled “never-been-taught” or “teaching-disabled” or “victims of dysteachia”. If school boards started using proven teaching methods and materials, like systematic phonics and sequential math, the number of their “learning-disabled” students would be drastically reduced. 

The Ontario government would be foolish to give away even more money for special education, thereby encouraging its educators to generate even more students with special needs. Perhaps the Ministry should look at changing its incentive structure so that school boards that generate the fewest special needs students are rewarded with additional funding!

JUMP For Joy

JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies) is a Toronto organization that is demonstrating every day how all children can excel at math, even children who are failing math or are labeled slow learners. JUMP is holding a conference on March 5 in Toronto at the University of Toronto Fields Institute. There will be plenary sessions on math literacy and linking cognitive science with learning, as well as a number of workshops on topics such as the striking success of the JUMP programs and JUMP Math and the learning-disabled student. Click here for more information.

On Thick Ice

The latest news from England should give pause to educators who are teaching their impressionable students that global warming is underway and scary.

Phil Jones, until recently a key scientist on the climate change bandwagon, now admits that there has been no warming since 1995 and that temperatures may have been somewhat higher during the recent Medieval Period (warming obviously not caused by human activity).

In other words, Dr. Jones is quite lukewarm on this topic!

Give Your Child a Superior Mind

Click here to access the newly-abridged version of Give Your Child a Superior Mind by Siegfried Englemann. Explaining how children learn (and how to teach them) in a clear and interesting way, this book makes the case for teaching very young children formal lessons. At the end is a fairly detailed description of what and how to teach babies during their first 18 months.

Today’s Survey