Society for Quality Education

Volume 18, Number 2. June 2009. ISSN-1201-215

FROM THE PRESIDENT

We have something for everyone in this issue!

We have items about topics that include free on-line courses and games, the value of assistive technology, high school graduation rates, the nature of genius, the shortcomings of EQAO testing, and how to get smarter. And that's not all, by any means.

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Regards, Malkin

MAIL BAG

Online Courses

In BC, more than 40 schools have placed their on-line offerings on a single portal - www.learnnowbc.ca . There are over 2500 courses and programs available , all taught by BC teachers, with well over 50,000 students. The site is en route to 13 million hits this year. With almost eight percent of BC's student population using on-line education, there is clearly an appetite for choice. Some elementary students are taking and passing courses in grades 10 and 11; some adults are back in school picking up a course needed for a post-secondary program; some schools have their students taking on-line courses to free up classroom time for creative activities like movie-making; and some parents are taking language courses with their children in preparation for travel or overseas postings. None of this represents a rejection of traditional schools, since the vast majority of students are also enrolled in regular classes. Victoria, BC

Student Ability is Fixed

In your review of Charles Murray's book, you questioned his assumption that people's ability is basically fixed. I sense he argues that scores of students' academic attainment inevitably will fall into the form of the classic bell-shaped curve. All students will profit from effective teaching. However, that does not change the above assumption, I am convinced. I realize that some of Murray's negative critics accuse him of being a racist and/or an élitist. I view him as a realist, which is not popular nowadays in public education circles. San Diego, CA

Politicized Teachers' Unions

The annual general meetings of my teachers' union spend a lot of time on political issues. Almost all of the teachers who attend these meetings are sponsored by their unions. The meetings happen over March Break and the teachers who attend are housed and fed at a very nice downtown Toronto hotel - all expenses paid. This year, my annual union dues were well over $1,000. I'm getting tired of being forced to fund a teachers' union (political party) I don't believe in. I know I could attend the meetings myself and voice my opposition. The reality is - I'd first have to be invited. Then, I'd have to speak out against all those teachers' union supporters who have been specially selected to attend. Even I don't have that kind of courage! Toronto, ON

Stairway to Reading Works

I homeschool my boys, both of whom are struggling learners. When he was between the ages of four and six, my older son was told over and over again that he would never learn to read. I started homeschooling him at Christmas of his grade 1 year. Now he is 15 and working towards his high school diploma at the Virtual Learning Centre here in Ontario, getting straight A's. My younger son seems to be following the same path. Your Stairway to Reading remedial reading program has given him the tools he needs to read successfully. Welland, ON

Student Work Ethic

Even though I assign readings to my undergraduate class, I realize that few of the students will bother with them. Instead, many of my students simply turn up for class with the expectation that they will be entertained. To help with the interaction aspect of our discussions, I have incorporated a class participation grade. This has helped, since the students are extremely grade conscious, but for the most part they expect to get high grades without working hard. Within 15 minutes of my submitting their final grades last week, I received e-mails from three different students asking me to raise their marks - even though I make a statement at the beginning of the course that it is my policy never to change grades. London, ON

Ontario Literacy Secretariat

The Ontario Literacy Secretariat is the only advisory body in the world that does not defer to the research on systematic phonics. For proof, read their recommendations for parents. The Secretariat has an annual budget of $25 million and flies all over Ontario to "help" at-risk schools. Imagine if this money were given to the parents of struggling students instead! Toronto, ON

ASK AUNT MALKIN

A veteran of the school wars herself, with the scars to prove it, malkin Dare has lots of advice ot offer. If you want some been-there-done-that advice from Aunt Malkin, call her at 519-884-3166 or e-mail her.

Question

I'm having a lot of trouble getting my grade 4 son's school to provide him with the assistive technology recommended in his educational assessment. Even though my son's graphomotor skills are in the 5th percentile, we've been told that he must share the classroom's one Neo with four other children. So now I'm in the middle of going after the school to put in an application for a dedicated personal computer. Help! Suki, Mississauga.

Answer

I am not a proponent of "assistive technology" like dedicated personal computers or tape recorders or even extensive use of calculators. Unless, of course, you're planning to have a computer surgically attached? My point is that people need to be able to function without these things. They have to be able to make grocery lists and fill in application forms and copy down instructions on the spur of the moment. They have to be able to estimate the correct change from a ten dollar bill and calculate gas mileage. Assistive technology is a crutch that invites permanent disability. It also encourages kids to think they're so defective that there's no point in making an effort to overcome their areas of weakness.

Instead, I advocate tackling areas of difficulty head on. So your son is lousy at writing things down? Well, he's not going to get any better as long as he has a handy crutch. In fact, he'll probably get worse! If it were my kid, I'd immediately start working on his penmanship skills, perhaps 15 minutes a day, starting with really easy stuff and gradually building from there. If his pencil grip is poor, I would try to switch him over to a tripod grip. Then, I'd focus on accurate letter formation, ensuring that he forms his letters from left to right and from top to bottom. My emphasis would be on accuracy, as opposed to speed, since students start speeding up on their own once they can form the letters automatically (without conscious thought). Once my son had learned all of the letters to automaticity, I would start him copying down easy words, like "cat" and "dog" and so forth, making sure that he continues to form his letters properly. Gradually, the difficulty of the words would increase, and then I would ask him to start copying short sentences. Please note that I would not ask him to generate the spelling of these words, as the demand on working memory might be too great. It is important to focus on only one skill at a time. It helps some kids to print with pencil crayons, as they find the extra resistance helpful.

Slow penmanship is not a permanent or inevitable condition, although acceptance of its intractability can make it permanent.

I have used penmanship as my example, but the same principle extends to every area of difficulty - for example, spelling or singing or drawing or hopscotch. Hard work and purposeful practice will work seeming miracles.

Regards, Malkin

PS You can also improve your own teaching skills if you work at them. Teaching is a learnable skill just like driving a car or doing book-keeping. Click here for more information.

SOCIETY ACTIVITIES

Thank you!

The Society often receives anonymous donations via CanadaHelps, PayPal, or the United Way. If you are one of our secret guardian angels, please be assured that we are most heartily grateful and really appreciate your thoughtfulness and generosity. We couldn't manage without the financial contributions of our supporters.

New Services in the Works

We have been busy! We are proud to announce the availability of Stairway to Math, a series of 28 very ingenious math worksheets created for us by David Harris. We are also proud to introduce School for Thought, our brand-new blog. A little while after that, we will be launching Sunshine on Schools, a useful feature that will allow the public to access, track and compare information about Ontario school boards' spending and achievement performance. We will notify you when Stairway becomes available.

Free On-Line Games

If you are using our free remedial reading program Stairway to Reading, we can provide you with a code that will give you up to one month of free access to on-line computer games that practise the lessons. To get the code, click here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Improving Statistics But Not Students

An Ottawa high school teacher has started a petition appealing Ontario government policies that prevent teachers from penalizing students who hand in late assignments or who cheat. Other teachers are questioning new programs, like U-Turn, Salem, and Credit Recovery, that make it ridiculously easy for students to graduate from high school. The President of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations notes that the Ontario government has been applauding itself for increasing high school graduation rates but that more and more of Ontario high school graduates are inadequately prepared for university.

In response, Ontario's Acting Deputy Minister of Education has published a four-page letter defending his government against accusations that it is lowering standards so that more students can graduate from high school. Wethinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

We applaud the Ontario government's desire to increase the province's high school graduation rate; however, this should not be attempted by means of making it easier for students to graduate but rather by bringing more students up to the standard. There is a great deal of evidence that the the government is attempting to lower standards - but very little evidence of attempts to raise achievement. For example, there has been no exploration of better teacher training or better teaching materials. The curriculum has been dumbed down. There have been no meaningful efforts to involve parents in their children's education and no support for specialized programs and schools. Exit examinations are apparently not contemplated.

It is important to keep in mind that a high school graduation diploma is not a magical talisman that will assure future success. The magic comes from the possession of the skills and knowledge that a diploma is supposed to guarantee. Students who graduate from high school with inadequate skills and knowledge are really no better off than if they failed to graduate. A cruel awakening awaits, as their expectations of doing well in a good job or at a post-secondary institution are dashed.

A narrow focus on higher graduation rates cheats students and society alike.

WHAT'S NEW?

Illiterate University Graduates

The Canadian Council on Learning reports that in 2006 20% of Canadian university graduates in 2006 were below the minimum literacy level necessary for coping in today's society. Furthermore, it predicts that the percentage of such graduates will increase to 24% by 2031. The corresponding percentages for non-university high school graduates are 38% in 2006, with a predicted increase to 45% by 2031.

Creating A Good School Just Got Easier

The School Chain Showcase is an easy-to-use interactive web-site that serves as an international year-round trade show profiling innovative school chains from around the world. At present, there is only one chain operating in Canada (De La Salle Brothers of the Christian Schools), but there are others that would be interested in expanding their operations into Canada.

Perspiration, Not Inspiration

Here's an interesting article that suggests that there is no such thing as genius. Rather, greatness depends on the ability to develop a deliberate, strenuous, and boring practice routine.

Vouchers Improve Public Schools

"A Win-Win Solution: The Empirical Evidence on How Vouchers Affect Public Schools" collects the evidence of 17 studies which examined the impact of vouchers on academic achievement in public schools. All but one found that vouchers improved public schools and none found that vouchers harm public schools.

Information About Ontario Schools

The Ontario government has created a web-site that provides information about every public school in the province. The site provides information about such things as student achievement, class sizes, enrolment, and demographics.

BOOKS OF INTEREST

Measuring Up: What educational testing really tells us - Daniel Koretz

You would think it's a pretty straight-forward task to test how much students have learned, but once you have read this book you will never again take test results at face value. Of course, some tests are better than others, and the author, a Harvard professor, discusses the pros and cons of the various types of tests. One of the worst types of testing is "performance standards testing", the type of testing that is probably used in your local school. This is what Ontario uses, and it results in students being classified as achieving a level of proficiency that ranges from Level 1 to Level 4. The excerpt deals with one of the problems of performance standards testing - the question of how to decide what the levels actually mean.

Excerpt (pp. 183-184)

"Let's start with how performance standards are set. Reporting student achievement in terms of a few performance standards requires one to decide just how much achievement is enough to make the grade. A typical achievement test provides many possible scores. At what score should a student abruptly change from 'not proficient' to 'proficient'? From merely 'proficient' to 'advanced'? How are these decisions - the choice of where the performance standards are placed - actually made?

"The procedures most often used to set the standards are complex and arcane, and this leads some users of the standards to assume that the process is 'scientific' and therefore trustworthy. The impression I often get when listening to people describe performance standards - that is, people who don't know the details of how standards are set - is that they almost always believe there is some underlying truth about performance, some real but hidden level of achievement that constitutes being 'proficient', that is somehow revealed by the complex methods used to set standards. Or, at the very least, that the standards set clearly break the continuum of performance into unambiguous categories....

"A closer look at the process, however, shows us otherwise. The old joke holds that there are two things no one should see being made, laws and sausages. I would add performance standards."

The Talent Code: Greatness isn't born. It's grown. Here's how. - Daniel Coyle

This fascinating book convincingly argues that there is no such thing as "geniuses" or "savants". Rather, world-class performance - in any sphere, from music to sports to math - is the result of a huge amount of dedicated, purposeful practice. Filled with interesting anecdotes and stories, the book painlessly conveys important information about the learning process - information that every teacher and coach should know. Far from depending on developmental readiness and innate talent, proficiency flows from three key elements: personal motivation; good teaching; and purposeful practice. The excerpt discusses Michelangelo's path to greatness.

Excerpt (p. 65)

"Consider Michelangelo. From ages six to ten he lived with a stonecutter and his family, learning how to handle a hammer and chisel before he could read and write. After a brief, unhappy attempt at schooling, he apprenticed to the great Ghirlandaio. He worked on blockbuster commissions, sketching, copying, and preparing frescoes in one of Florence's largest churches. He was then taught by master sculptor Bertoldo and tutored by other luminaries at the home of Lorenzo de' Medici, where Michelangelo lived until he was seventeen. He was a promising but little-known artist until he produced the Pietà at age twenty-four. People called the Pietà pure genius, but its creator begged to differ. 'If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery,' Michelangelo later said, 'it would not seem so wonderful at all.'"

Why Don't Students Like School? A cognitive scientist answers questions about how the mind works and what it means for the classroom - Daniel T. Willingham

Written in an engaging and entertaining style, filled with interesting examples and quizzes, this book illustrates nine princples of cognitive science that, if applied, will improve teaching significantly. Although the book is aimed primarily at classroom teachers (and should be on every teacher's desk), parents will find it interesting and informative as well. The excerpt leads into an explanation of the use of chunking to overcome one of the main built-in limitations of the human brain.

Excerpt (p. 83)

"You could dream up lots of ways that your cognitive system could be improved - more accurate memory, more focused attention, sharper vision, and so on - but if a genie comes out of a lamp and offers you one way to improve your mind, ask for more working memory capacity. People with more capacity are better thinkers, at least for the type of thinking that's done in school. There is a great deal of evidence that this conclusion is true, and most of it follows a very simple logic: Take one hundred people, measure their working memory capacity, then measure their reasoning ability, and see whether their scores on each test tend to be the same. To a surprising degree, scoring well on a working-memory test predicts scoring well on a reasoning test, and a poor working-memory score predicts a poor reasoning score (although working memory is not everything - recall that in Chapter Two I emphasized the importance of background knowledge).

"Well, you're not going to get more working-memory capacity from a genie. And because this chapter is about practice, you might think I'm going to suggest that students do exercises that will improve their working memory. Sadly, such exercises don't exist. As far as anyone knows, working memory is more or less fixed - you get what you get, and practice does not change it.

"There are, however, ways to cheat this limitation."

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

At FREE RICE, children can earn grains of rice that will be distributed to the world's poor through the United Nations World Food Program. To do this, they must correctly answer questions on a variety of topics - from world capitals to math questions to vocabulary to foreign languages to chemistry to English grammar. Try it yourself. It's addictive!