Pedagogue Blog

Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Study: College students feel unprepared for job market

In a startling new survey conducted by the Higher Education Authority, a significant amount of international college students “feel they are not learning job skills” — which clearly is the point of spending tens of thousands on earning a college degree.

Nearly 28,000 students from Ireland participated in the survey where they were asked about questions geared towards their college experience as well as future career outlook.

While many of students who participated DO feel unprepared, the vast majority state that they “felt they were gaining knowledge and skills that boosted their chances of getting a job.”

The study also reveals how students who major in certain disciplines feel about their job prospects post graduation.

“In general, scores for “work integrated learning” were lowest among students studying courses in the arts and humanities, which tend to be broader and may not include work placements.”

The study also found that students majoring in business administration and law, services, and “comm. techs” indexed higher scores when it came to career readiness. Each area seemingly has higher job placement than arts and humanities because the positions in those fields are far more static.

The Irish Times reports that “he survey was developed in response to a key aim of the national strategy for higher education to 2030” which may be to incorporate more of what students want into learning curriculum.

Compared to students in the United States, the findings are the same. Back in 2010, a study prepared by the York College in Pennsylvania found the same evidence: students in America “seem to be ill prepared for the demands of the workplace.”

Same goes for managers hiring students fresh out of college in America. According to Forbes.com, Harris Interactive found that “fewer than two in five managers believed college graduates were well-equipped for a job in their field of study.”

The study went on to find that many managers feel that new college graduates lack clear writing skills, can’t conduct a meeting, and cannot manage a project.

If anything this collection of studies abroad and domestically show that a college degree may be tangible and lead to a job post graduation, but skills learned in college may not help former students keep them.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform, Teachers

Survival Tip: Integrating Standardized Test Preparation into the Curriculum

In this age of accountability, teachers are responsible for ensuring that their students learn. In order to measure what students know and don’t know, states all over the country administer standardized tests. Most new teachers are usually clueless in terms of how to best prepare their students for these high stakes tests, and this in turn causes a lot of anxiety. Most are left with one simple question, “What can I do?” Experienced teachers will tell you that standardized test preparation should be part of the day-to-day curriculum, but you should not teach to the test. Below are some tips that will help you incorporate standardized test preparation as part of the regular day at school:

• Before you can help your students prepare for the standardized test, understand the components of the test yourself. Check the specific areas that the test emphasizes. If you have not received the test guidelines from the school administration, you can get the guidelines as well as older versions of the test from your state department of education’s website.
• When you know the areas that are covered on the standardized tests and the amount of emphasis that each section receives, you can ensure that you cover those areas well in advance.
• Do not spend time on a specific section just because it is a favorite of yours.
• Use the older versions of the standardized tests and incorporate typical questions into unit tests and weekly quizzes. This ensures that the students get used to the format and do not dread the unfamiliar format when it appears on the standardized test.
• A very typical aspect of the standardized test is the assessment of higher order thinking skills. If you teach your students to think critically, you can be sure that they will be able to handle any question that appears on a standardized test. Raise the bar by creating class discussions that allow them to evaluate, analyze, synthesize and apply what they have learned.
• Cross curriculum connections help the students learn information more authentically. You can use your language class to teach about historical personalities and more.

If you are able to integrate standardized test preparation into the daily curriculum, you can be sure that none of your students will be apprehensive or nervous about these once a year tests that are so feared otherwise. Good Luck!

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

Ask An Expert: Working with Homeless Students

Question: On yesterday, I received a new student in my classroom. His mother brought him to school on the first day and informed me that they were homeless. She said she doesn’t want her son’s education to suffer because of her family’s predicament. To my knowledge, I have never had a student in my room that was homeless. How can I support this child’s unique educational, behavioral and emotional needs, etc.? Kathy G.

Answer: Thank you for your question and for taking a proactive approach to this situation. Homelessness is another step down on the ladder of poverty and it is a very real problem faced by 1.5 million children in the United States. Many homeless families live in shelters in rural or urban areas. With one income, high rent and living expenses, many families are just one emergency away from disaster. As a result, even children who still have a home to go to could lose it in a heartbeat.

For instance, a single mother trying to make ends meet cannot go to work because her child gets sick. She must be with her child, as she has no one to help. On top of this, she has medical bills piling up. Even if she has a job to return to, she may not be able to afford her rent.

Homeless children still need to receive an education. Yet, when they get to school each morning, they are often hungry and tired. Like many children living in poverty, homeless children move frequently, and are exposed to drugs, violence, crime and more. Also, transportation might be an issue for some homeless children and they miss a great deal of school.

When they are able to attend school, they may be teased for the clothes they wear and the fact they fall asleep in class. They may have difficulty making friends or a fear of participating in an activity in front of the class. Although many homeless children are with their families, older homeless children may be runaways or may have been kicked out of their homes. Many have been abused sexually and/or physically.

Teachers who have homeless children in their classroom need to know how to help and support children without a permanent home. Homeless children may be needy emotionally and due to lack of access to bathtubs or showers and little food, they may be unclean and unfed. Teachers can be an anchor for homeless children by showing them compassion and understanding.

It may also be a challenge to communicate with parents who don’t have regular access to a phone. Of course, the most important thing for homeless children is that their families find a home. Teachers might be able to help by working with local agencies, children, and their families to find a solution to their problem.

Homeless children deserve a quality education just like all students. Teachers are the first line of defense but we all have to pitch in and do what we can to ensure that all of our country’s children have the chance to lead happy, healthy lives. If you implement the strategies that I have outlined in this column, you will have no problem working with homeless students and their families.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

Moving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged children

Paul Thomas, Furman University

The bi-partisan federal legislation in the US popularly known as “No Child Left Behind” was passed during George W Bush’s first term. It had two important goals: to increase scientifically based education research and to narrow the racial achievement gap. Both goals have proven to be elusive and complicated.

Scientifically based education research has been ignored repeatedly in the US. Instead, many ongoing school reforms continue despite limited evidence from the research base of their efficacy. These include reforms such as the “Common Core standards” (a national curriculum for all public school students), the widespread take-up of charter schools, and increasing support for the alternative (non-certification) teaching programme, Teach for America.

Current education policy has also increased debates about and efforts to address teacher quality. Now, a renewed interest in how teachers are assigned to particular schools appears to be gaining momentum. The US department of education is developing a 50-state strategy to equitably distribute the best teachers around the country.

Hard to identify a good teacher

Traditionally in the US, teacher quality has been rewarded based on years of experience and advanced degrees. But few efforts to identify what makes a good quality teacher have proven effective. More recently, policies that quantify teacher quality using value-added methods, combined with paying on merit, have replaced traditional teacher compensation and evaluation.

Value-added methods being adopted across the US involve students sitting pre- and post-tests and using that data in complex calculations that determine each teacher’s “value”, or impact on students’ test scores.

While linking teacher quality to student test scores has political and popular appeal, that process is less precise than advocates claim. Further reforms, aimed at determining teacher quality, are addressing how students are assigned to teachers.

A report for the Education Trust, a US not-for-profit, back in 2006, detailed the inequity of teacher assignment by social class and race across the US. It found that high poverty and high minority schools have a disproportionate number of un-certified and under-certified teachers, especially for subjects such as maths. These students were also disproportionately assigned to new teachers.

The study’s authors, Heather Peske and Kati Haycock, concluded: “Overall, the patterns are unequivocal. Regardless of how teacher quality is measured, poor and minority children get fewer than their fair share of high-quality teachers.”

Flawed move towards pay for results

Since teacher quality and assignment have historical and current patterns of inequity, many reform advocates promote greater use of value-added methods to address that gap. But as maths teacher and blogger Gary Rubinstein explains, trying to use these methods to close the teacher quality gap is also flawed.

He says there is a problem with the implication that those teachers who are rated as “effective” in one school with a wealthier population, will “still get that same ‘effective’ rating if they were to transfer to a poorer school”.

Identifying teacher quality is complex not only because different populations of students affect teacher quality but also because teacher quality contributes only a small percentage of measurable student achievement.

While states in the US are increasingly replacing traditional practices for evaluating and compensating teachers, Stanford University’s Edward H Haertel warns this can translate into “bias against those teachers working with the lowest-performing or the highest-performing classes”.

“Attempts to recruit and retain the best teachers where they are needed the most,” explains former UCLA lecturer Walt Gardner, “have largely been unsuccessful”. These earlier and even more recent efforts have focused on increasing teacher pay to attract high-quality teachers.

Repackaging incentives and bonuses will not retain experienced and effective teachers in high-needs schools and students. Gardner argues that instead:

If we want to create equitable distribution of teachers, we have to make conditions for teaching in schools serving poor and minority students so attractive that few will refuse the opportunity to teach there. I suggest starting with three periods a day, each containing a class of no more than 15 students. I’d then add a non-certificated adult to act as a teaching assistant for each teacher. This will be expensive, but if we’re serious about getting the best talent it’s the price we have to pay.

Getting the conditions right

For students living in impoverished homes, the conditions of living are powerful forces that overwhelm their ability to be successful at school. Since the conditions of learning at school tend to reflect those living conditions, students are further alienated from opportunities to learn.

For teachers, the conditions of teaching are also vital. The two original goals of “No Child Left Behind” are likely best served by addressing class size, teacher autonomy, facilities conditions, and schools as communities.

But attracting high quality teachers will have to do more than changing the teaching conditions in high poverty schools, which tend to reflect the same inequities found in the communities they serve.

As long as schools in the US allow children to be doubly disadvantaged by their home communities and their schools, teachers are unlikely to find either that community or that school a place to spend their career.

Policies addressing teacher quality and equitable teacher assignments must address inequity and poverty both in society and in schools. These commitments should prove to be far more effective than measuring teacher quality based on test scores or offering teachers increased salaries.

The Conversation

Paul Thomas, Associate Professor of Education, Furman University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

Respect for Teaching: Why is Education So Low on the Priority List?

By Matthew Lynch

Most patriotic Americans agree education should be the most important issue in the country. After all, a country that lacks knowledge lacks power…. right? Common tells us that in order to secure a thriving future for our nation’s children, we must become high achievers in the areas of math, reading and science. Unfortunately, the collective concern for education continues to wane. This may explain why education in the United States is considered average when compared to the rest of the world.

Often employed by public officials looking for a platform, the issue of education continues to make headlines, but very little actual progress is being made. In fact, teachers across the country continue to express their dissatisfaction with leadership, salary cuts and a lack of resources. Our children are in crisis; our future is in jeopardy and with each passing day, we become more vulnerable to the darkness of ignorance and unawareness.

According to the Pew Research Center, education ranks among the public’s top ten policy priorities, coming in at number six. At first glance, this may seem impressive, but Pew also reports that in general, Americans have a declining interest in education. Not surprisingly, the economy, job creation and terrorism are the public’s top three priorities, and there’s no question each would have grave consequences if not addressed. While most agree these topics should be focal points of interest, however, many argue the public has lost sight of what should matter most: education.

The reality is our country is guilty of becoming increasingly apathetic about education. As a rule, teachers are grossly undervalued; their significance is continually diminished and their contributions go highly underrated. The majority of school teachers love what they do and consider themselves blessed to be afforded the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child. Their profound impact on the world of academia, and their willingness to sacrifice high-paying salaries should be applauded. But at what point do we, as Americans, stand up and say that our treatment of teachers is simply unacceptable? When do we decide that a number six priority ranking for education is not good enough – and that our students and teachers mean more to our collective society than that?

Student Achievement, By the Numbers

Here are some facts you may find alarming: according to data collected by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the performance of American students as compared to their international equivalents is mediocre at best. PISA is an international study that evaluates education systems worldwide every three years. This involves testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in more than 70 participating countries/economies.

Scores from the 2009 PISA assessment reveal the U.S. performs about average in reading and science and below average in math. Some of the top performers on the PISA evaluation were Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Finland, Shanghai in China, Singapore and Canada. Out of 34 participating countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. These statistics are staggering.

As reported by the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation, a recent study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) suggests that if the U.S. could boost its average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years, it could lead to a gain of $41 trillion for the U.S. economy over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010. Therein lies the solution to every major problem facing the American people — including the economy, job creation and terrorism awareness.

Based on research provided by Dr. Steven Paine, a nationally renowned American educator, the OECD has offered a number of simple and practical lessons to the United States. According to Paine, money is not the answer to boosting our country’s international educational status, nor will it bring about a greater classroom experience. In studying the world’s highest achievers — Finland, Singapore and Ontario, Canada — Paine suggests our lack of respect for teachers is the nation’s number one enemy of education. “The major difference between those systems and the one in the U.S. had to do with how teachers are valued, trained and compensated,” he noted.

Paine stated in his report to the OECD, “In Finland, it is a tremendous honor to be a teacher, and teachers are afforded a status comparable to what doctors, lawyers and other highly regarded professionals enjoy in the U.S.” The report also suggested the teaching profession in Singapore “is competitive and highly selective, [a country] that works hard to build its own sense of professional conduct and meet high standards for skills development.” The study of Ontario revealed similar findings.

Paine insists, “The U.S. must restore the teaching profession to the level of respect and dignity it enjoyed only a few decades ago. This will not be easy, particularly in the current economic environment with states and localities strapped for funds. But improving the regard with which teachers are held is not principally about how much they are paid.”

Paine continued, “OECD countries that have been most successful in making teaching an attractive profession have often done so by offering teachers real career prospects and more responsibility as professionals — encouraging them to become leaders of educational reform. This requires teacher education that helps teachers to become innovators and researchers in education, not just deliverers of the curriculum.”

The report concluded that the U.S. has the resources and talent to compete more effectively and raise its level of educational achievement. This is contingent upon our willingness and ability to “demonstrate with action that it truly values education, display an understanding of the vital importance of having an educated workforce that can compete globally, and develop the political will to devote the necessary resources for educational reform.”

To make that happen, every American who cares about the economic future of our nation must come together and work to help make that plan a reality. It starts by giving our teachers the support, and financial compensation, they deserve.

We, the People, must take action to rightly place education where it belongs — as our number one concern. Get involved; make your voice heard and take a stand.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform

Allocating Resources to Improve Student Learning

Providing every child with an equal opportunity to learn has been a central challenge in public education. In fact, at its inception, universal public education in the United States was viewed as the “great equalizer.” Education was perceived, by some, as the vehicle through which individuals could rise above the social and economic circumstances which may have created longstanding barriers to reaching their potential as individuals and contributing citizens.

As the test of time has proven, education alone cannot address entrenched social problems; multiple institutions, policies and support systems are necessary to level the social and economic playing field. However, education is and will continue to be one of the primary means by which inequity can be addressed. Public funds will continue to be allocated in support of educational programs, and the rationale for these investments will likely continue to be that education creates social equity.

The purposeful and practical allocation of resources to support equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities, is a major component of education policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Leaders at all levels are charged with making decisions about how to effectively distribute and leverage resources to support teaching and learning.

Resource allocation consists of more than assigning dollar amounts to particular schools or programs. Equally, if not more important, is the examination of the ways in which those dollars are translated into actions that address expressed educational goals at various educational levels. In this respect, leaders are concerned not only with the level of resources and how they are distributed across districts, schools, and classrooms, but also with how these investments translate into improved learning.

It is critical for resource allocation practices to reflect an understanding of the imperative to eliminate existing inequities and close the achievement gap. All too often, children who are most in need of support and assistance attend schools that have higher staff turnover, less challenging curricula, less access to appropriate materials and technology, and poorer facilities.

Allocating and developing resources to support improvement in teaching and learning is critical to school reform efforts. Education policymakers must be informed about emerging resource practices and cognizant of the ways incentives can be used to create conditions that support teaching and learning.

Resource allocation in education does not take place in a vacuum. Instead, it often reflects policy conditions that form a context in which opportunities for effective leadership can be created. For example, effective leaders know how to use data strategically to inform resource allocation decisions and to provide insights about how productivity, efficiency, and equity are impacted by allocated resources.

The roles, responsibilities, and authority of leaders at each level of education also impacts whether and how they are able to allocate resources to particular districts, schools, programs, teachers, and students. Further, the type of governance structure that is in place also affects decisions about resources and incentives. Governance issues arise as leaders become involved in raising revenue and distributing educational resources. These activities involve multiple entities, including the voting public, state legislatures, local school boards, superintendents, principals, and teachers’ associations. Each of these connections can provide insights into how best to allocate resources and provide incentives that powerfully and equitably support learning, for both students and education professionals.

Resources necessary to operate a successful school or school district cannot be confined to dollars alone, however. Indeed, the resources needed to actively and fully support education are inherently complex and require an understanding that goes far beyond assessing the level of spending or how the dollars are distributed. Educational leaders must be able to examine the ways in which those dollars are translated into action by allocating time and people, developing human capital, and providing incentives and supports in productive ways.

Principals, district officials who oversee the allocation of resources, and state policymakers whose actions affect the resources the principal has to work with, are all concerned with three basic categories of resources:

1. Money. Activities at several levels of the system, typically occurring in annual cycles, determine both the amount of money that is available to support education and the purposes to which money can be allocated. No one level of the educational system has complete control over the flow, distribution, and expenditure of funds.

2. Human capital. People “purchased” with the allocated funds do the work of the educational system and bring differing levels of motivation and expertise developed over time through training and experience.

3. Time. People’s work happens within an agreed-upon structure of time (and assignment of people to tasks within time blocks) that allocates hours within the day and across the year to different functions, thereby creating more or less opportunity to accomplish goals.

These resources are thus intimately linked to one another. Each affects the other and even depends on the other to achieve its intended purpose. An abundance of money and time, for example, without the knowledge, motivation, and expertise of teachers (human capital) does little to maximize desired learning opportunities created for students.

Furthermore, an abundance of human capital without money or time to distribute it does little to alter practice in classrooms or to share expertise with others. From their position of influence over the acquisition, flow, and (intended) use of resources, educational leaders thereby undertake a massive attempt to coordinate, and render coherent, the relationships of the various resources to the goals they set out to achieve.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement

How to Choose the Right Childcare Center

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Anica Oaks

Leaving your child and going to work is one of the most difficult things that a parent must do. There are always horror stories of daycare centers and home care providers that don’t treat the children how they should. There are ways you can make sure that your child is in good hands by doing a bit of homework.

Ask Tons of Questions

Even if you are being a bit annoying, be sure to ask plenty of questions to the person in charge. Find out what their backup plan is when people call off work and request the child-to-adult ratio they use. It is not being nosy when your child is concerned. Be sure to ask them about the daily routine and what type of things they will be teaching. A daycare center that puts a child in front of a television set all day long is not good for the child’s development.

What Kind of Workers Do They Have?

All workers should be drug tested and have a background check performed before they can be around children. Make sure that the daycare center has this policy in force. Do they hire educated people or just anyone who is 18 years of age? Some centers, like Youthland Academy, only hire the best of the best to work with the children entrusted to their care. If the center doesn’t have a great group of employees, look elsewhere.

Don’t Make the Decision Based on Money

The old saying “you get what you pay for” certainly applies here. If you only care about the financial aspects of the center, you will miss the big picture. Sure, you need to be able to afford the daycare center’s rates, but you also would pay an extra $10 or $20 a week if it meant your child was safe from harm. While money is important, safety and good quality employees are even better.

Tour the Facility: Give the White Glove Test

Before making a decision on a daycare center, tour the facilities. Ask to see even the simple things like the diaper changing area. Look for safety violations and issues that might cause problems with the child’s safety. Don’t ever feel bad to question the health and safety of your child. Look at the restrooms, lunchroom, and the napping center. Make sure the toys are not broken and play areas are divided by age.

 

You want to make the right decision regarding a daycare center. While most of the centers are really good, there are still those certain few that make a bad name for everyone else. For the sake of your child, an investigation is warranted.

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Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. She was raised in a big family, so she’s used to putting things to a vote. Also, cartwheels are her specialty. You can connect with Anica here.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, EdTech & Innovation

Top Four Ways to Engage Millennials in Learning Environments

Note: Today’s guest post comes to us courtesy of Dr. Tina Rooks, who serves as Vice President and Chief Instructional Officer at Turning Technologies. With over 16 years of experience in education, she was instrumental in developing the educational consulting team and building the Turning Technologies school improvement initiative specifically for the K-12 market.

Whether you’re teaching a high school class or delivering a corporate training session, you’ll face a unique challenge when it comes to engaging millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000. It’s the largest generation in US history at almost 80 million strong, and, like the baby boomers and Gen Xers who preceded them, millennials have distinct generational characteristics. Since they grew up with the Internet and tend to be in constant communication with peers via social media, millennials as a rule are highly interactive. To engage this generation, instructors should keep millennials’ interactive nature and technology orientation in mind when designing lessons and defining the learning environment. Here are some tips that can help:

  1. Integrate response technology into the learning setting. PowerPoint is the go-to solution for many instructors, and it can be a great way to present concepts and messages. But with millennials, who are used to interactive learning, sitting through a PowerPoint presentation can be a challenge. Response technology can be the answer: With an integrated response technology solution, you can embed questions directly into your slides and allow students to answer with a keypad or smartphone. Then you can display their answers – in aggregate – right on the slide. This is a terrific way to keep an audience focused and involved in the learning process.
  2. Define objectives up front. Clearly outlining your goals for the session is a great tactic no matter who is in your audience, but millennials in particular tend to expect open, transparent communication. State your goals for the session, and periodically measure knowledge levels to see how students are progressing during the training to make sure they are meeting learning objectives. This will not only give students a greater sense of accountability, it will let you know when to spend more time on topics and when you can fast-forward through familiar issues for a personalized learning experience.
  3. Keep slides simple. Like a well-designed website, slides should be clean and simple. When you have a lot to say, it’s tough to resist the temptation to include as much information as you can on a slide, but remember that the bulk of the knowledge transfer will occur during the discussion about the topic, not from the slide itself. Keep that in mind as you’re designing your presentation, and make sure the messages are short and the slides are uncluttered. Millennial students tend to be video and image-focused, so if you have relevant material that fits into your presentation, by all means use it. But make sure it’s on point and doesn’t crowd the key messages.
  4. Keep your presentation interactive throughout. As digital natives who grew up with the Internet and in constant contact with friends, millennials expect a greater level of interactivity. Old school presenters tend to hold the floor throughout the presentation and only allow the audience to interact at the end during a question and answer session. You’ll have better luck with millennials if you keep the presentation interactive throughout, either by actively engaging students person-to-person or using response technology to allow them to give their input for discussion. You can design questions to measure students’ topic knowledge, or you can ask open-ended questions to spark discussion – both tactics can be highly engaging.

Like the generations that came before them, millennials have their own unique style and media consumption preferences. They are used to two-way conversations rather than top-down lectures, and unless they feel included in a personalized learning process, it’s a challenge to hold their attention. Fortunately, there are technology solutions and presentation techniques available that can help you engage millennials or students of any age. Use response technology to make your students a part of the action rather than passive audience members. Make sure your objectives for the course are clear and that you understand students’ progress. Keep slides clean and simple to promote clarity. And keep your presentation interactive from start to finish. By following these tips, you can ensure millennial students stay focused and engaged.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Teachers

When a school, a community, and the world are held together by a paperclip

By Judith A. Yates

A 1988 history lesson at Whitwell Middle School began simply. “Six million Jewish people were exterminated in the camps during the Holocaust,” teachers Sandra Roberts and David Smith explained. One student raised a hand and asked, “How many is six million?” And more than a history lesson began.

Whitwell is a town of 1,600 nestled in the Sequatchie Valley of the Tennessee Mountains. Ninety-four percent of the population is white, only 65% has a high school diploma; it is a Christian, blue-collar, rural area where education can be a privilege rather than a given. Whitwell is hardly a place where one would find a memorial to eleven million victims of the Holocaust. The Memorial location, Whitwell Middle School, is a most extraordinary school though.

With the permission of principal Linda M. Hooper, students researched something to collect that would represent “six million people” and give meaning to their project.  Paper clips seemed to be the answer. Norwegian Jew Joseph Valler invented the paper clip; Norwegians wore paper clips on their lapels to silently protest the Nazi occupation in WWII. Students began collecting the paper clips; each one representing a life lost in the Holocaust. They contacted famous people for paper clips, asking for a letter with a reason to share the paper clip. Now the project boasts over 30 thousand documents, books, letters, art pieces, and artifacts.  It is the responsibility of the students to count, catalogue, and maintain the items in the Children’s Holocaust Memorial Research Room at Whitwell Middle School. Students act as docents for the thousands of tours that arrive at the school. This is the only Memorial managed and designed by children.

A WWII German railroad car used to carry people to their deaths now sits in front of the school as part of the Memorial. It holds the 30 million donated paperclips (extended to represent not only Jews, but others exterminated in the death camps). When the car arrived, the town rallied and worked together, donating the materials and labor to build the cover and stairs for the car. Educators saw a development in the citizens. Whitwell’s people reported a change; bigotry and prejudice became things of the past for many.

According to the statistics at Whitwell Middle School, bullying (from name-calling to physical fights) decreased dramatically since the introduction of the Paper Clip Project. Linda M. Hooper, now the Volunteer Coordinator says, “A child learns name-calling in the cafeteria can lead to bigger things.” Students understand how Adolph Hitler’s campaign to exterminate people started out subtle, with “name-calling …we teach that it’s the little things you do can make you a better person, or not.” One student volunteer reports there is some teasing from a few who do not understand the project, but the overwhelming majority of students are proud the Paper Clip Project is at Whitwell.

A 2004 award winning documentary “Paper Clips” introduced the world to the project. A book was published in 2005, to include a turtleback school and library binding edition. The project has grown to an interactive service-learning program for 5th grade students and above.

And it all started with the raise of a student’s hand and a simple question.

For tour and Memorial information, here:
http://www.whitwellmiddleschool.org/?PageName=bc&n=69256

For information on the interactive service-learning program “One Clip at a Time”:
http://oneclipatatime.org

To purchase the documentary go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Paper-Clips-David-Smith/dp/B000CMNJF4

To purchase the book go here:
http://www.amazon.com/Six-Million-Paper-Clips-Childrens/dp/158013176X/ref=pd_sim_mov_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0M8ETVF7KR4EE4M6DXBB

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Judith A. Yates is currently completing a PhD in Criminal Justice. She has taught at several schools, within the field of law enforcement; has worked as trainer, attended classes across the country, and has been a mentor in several programs. Her website can be found at judithayates.com.

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform, Secondary Education

High School Dropouts: The Stats and Possible Solutions

While recent high school dropout rates appear to be on the decline, the numbers are still too high to stomach, especially with all of the alternative options high school students now have to finish their diplomas outside traditional classroom settings. At this juncture in U.S. K-12 progress, the dropout rate should be barely worth mentioning.  So, what does the typical high school dropout look like, and how can we address the situation?

The Numbers

Since the government started tracking the dropout rates specifically for Hispanic students in 1972, this group has consistently had the highest percentages of students who fail to complete a high school diploma. In 1972, over one-third of all Hispanic students dropped out. Today that number is down to 13.6 percent, but the group still leads all races and ethnicities when it comes to young people out of school with no diploma or G.E.D. Black students dropped out at a rate of 29 percent in 1967 (the first year the group was tracked) and that number is down to 7 percent (the same as the national average) today. White students have always held on to the lowest percentage of the dropout pie chart, even when their numbers represented a larger majority of total student populations. In 1967, 15 percent of white students dropped out of high school; today, just 5 percent do.

When it comes to gender, there has not been much differentiation when it comes to percentages in over 40 years.  As far as economic backgrounds, lower-income students have always been at a high school graduation disadvantage. In 2009, students from families in low-income brackets ran a risk of dropping out that was five times higher than high-income peers. Still, the future is not completely bleak for kids from disadvantaged economic environments; in 1975, low-income students dropped out at a rate of 16 percent but that number now sits comfortably under 10 percent.

One unchanging factor when it comes to the dropout rate is socioeconomic background. Since the National Center for Education Statistics first started tracking different groups of high school students in the late 1960s, the socioeconomic status of each pupil has impacted the graduation rate. Students from low-income families are 2.4 times more likely to drop out than middle-income kids, and over 10 times more likely than high-income peers to drop out.

Household income is the not the only disadvantage many dropouts have, though. Students with learning or physical disabilities drop out at a rate of 36 percent. Overall, a student who does not fit the traditional classroom mold, or who falls behind for some reason, is more likely to lose motivation when it comes to high school and decide to give up altogether.

One thing is certain, a high school diploma is the first step to a better life.  Therefore, that should be a starting point for focus.

So what can be done to increase the percentage of high school graduates?

One solution is increased involvement from the business community.  There is money to be made and an economic boost is possible – but only if these students stick around long enough to obtain a high school diploma, and potentially seek out college opportunities. Georgia is a great example of a state that has taken advantage of the business community to help improve graduation rates. Areas like Atlanta Metro have some of the strongest business leaders in the nation, and school officials have begun to call on them for guidance and funding when it comes to improving graduation rates.

Further support outside the classroom would also go a long way toward improving drop out statistics.

Since risk factors for dropouts include coming from low-income or single-parent families and teachers simply cannot address emotional needs of every student–programs need to be in place for students who are at risk for dropping out. A pilot program in San Antonio called Communities in Schools has set out to accomplish this through offering on-campus counseling services for students on the fence about dropping out. Of the students in the program in the 2012 – 2013 school year, 97 percent obtained a high school diploma instead of dropping out.

Finally, earlier education for all would address the problem before these teens reach the proverbial crossroads.  In truth, the learning and social experiences they have from birth influence their attitudes about education, society and their own lives. Perhaps the dip in dropout rates in the past four decades hinges on another statistic: from 1980 to 2000, the number of four-year-old children in the U.S. enrolled in preschool programs rose from half to over two-thirds.  It’s time to stop making the high school dropout issue something that is confronted in the moment; prevention, as early as pre-K learning, is a long-term solution.

What do you think? What is the solution to the high school dropout crisis?

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Internet Access is the “Toll Road to Equity”

By Lydia Dobyns

While access to technology and the internet are not silver bullets per se, the absence of these critical tools and resources present significant impediments to achieving “college and career readiness” for students.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said: “Most schools have about as much internet bandwidth as your house,” during a conference in Washington, D.C.   “We are denying our teachers and students the tools they need to be successful. That is educationally unsound and morally unacceptable.”

In my travels throughout the country, I’ve visited many schools where teachers are constrained in the resources they can provide their students. For these students, it’s not only about the lack of resources; this has the additional unintended consequences of impacting students’ abilities to conduct research instantaneously, collaborate easily with their peers and take advantage of learning opportunities outside the classroom day.

Here’s what I mean about powerful learning fueled by the use of technology and broadband access. At Columbus Signature Academy, a public district high school in Columbus, Indiana, a DNA project was launched in partnership with Professor John Cavaletto of the Purdue University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.  Professor Cavaletto not only helped initiate the project and stayed connected with students using online video tools, he also provided students access to a robust research database.  Students actually discovered a new strain of yeast, thanks in part to this embedded use of internet-based resources.

According to a policy brief from the National Education Association (NEA), researchers are finding a clear link between technology utilization, student achievement and student motivation.  There’s a significant difference between studying theory and learning first-hand what is relevant.  Motivating students with coursework that is real and relevant fosters the type of education where students are truly engaged ─ and engaged students succeed.  Freshmen and sophomores at Meridian Early College High School in Sanford, Michigan, worked with Merrill Technologies to produce a cart for use in manufacturing. The project combined science, technology, math and engineering to solve a challenging and complex ‘real-world’ problem. Merrill Technologies went on to produce this cart that now helps to solve a very real workplace challenge.

Investing in technology and access for students should not be viewed as discretionary spending.  We need state and federal funding mechanisms that recognize access to technology and broadband is fundamental to providing equal learning opportunities for all students.  Otherwise we risk perpetuating a “have” and “have not” educational system. We should want a better America. Our national aspiration ought to be that every student, regardless of zipcode, not just graduate from high school, but graduate “college and career ready.”

Access to technology and the internet in everyday educational experiences can be as transformative as Gutenberg’s printing press was when his mass-produced Bible marked the beginning of a shared knowledge revolution. How can we expect our students to compete globally when technology and internet literacy are considered basic “college and career” entry skills?  These days even so called “blue-collar” jobs require some “white-collar” skills.

Technology as an embedded part of a comprehensive education strategy just makes sense.  An iPad is not a cure-all, nor is the lack of technology the reason we fail to meet student needs. Successfully reinventing education calls for system-level response, and that response needs to include providing students and teachers with the resources that are found in today’s workplace.

 

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Lydia Dobyns halydia dobynss combined careers as a technology entrepreneur and executive, with education policy and non-profit service. She served two terms as a school board member, led an education foundation and directed replication strategies in the non-profit education sector. As President and CEO of New Tech Network, she directs strategy, new initiatives, product development, and school development services. Among the chief initiatives for New Tech are expanding its network of 160 schools, working with districts and communities for systemic change, further development of the learning management system, NTN Echo and expansion into K-12.

Her entrepreneurial and executive career featured work in the high technology, online services, consumer products and health care industries. Previous roles for Lydia included CEO of goodcompany.com, VP and General Manager for AOL and VP of Corporate Marketing for Ashton-Tate. She graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

4 Benefits of Virtual Labs

It seems that there is nothing that cannot be done online anymore. On a personal level, we do everything from paying bills to scheduling entire vacations in a matter of minutes because of online access. Think about it for a moment: What daily online activities do you do today that were not an option 10 years ago? Five years ago? Last year?

Now consider classroom technology and how it is also evolving rapidly. Implementation of technology in the classroom goes beyond Google searches and reading apps. It stretches into every area of learning, including the sciences. Virtual laboratories are popping up in school districts and online learning curriculum across the country and making it easier and less expensive for students to do experiments remotely. Here are some of the benefits of virtual labs:

  1. Flexible access.Perhaps the most often cited benefit of any online learning is that it can be done at the student’s convenience and when he or she learns best. The same is true of virtual laboratories if the experiments are on the student’s own time. In some cases, a virtual lab may be used during regular class time which narrows this benefit but still allows flexibility for the teacher who is not limited by using resources within a strict timeframe.
  1. Instant feedback.Students can redo experiments on the spot while they are still in a critical thinking mode. All the results are recorded, making communication between teachers and students more efficient too. Experiments no longer have a “one chance” option and students can analyze what went wrong immediately and give it another shot.
  1. Top-notch equipment.Schools and students that use virtual labs have access to cutting-edge technology when it comes to experimentation. Companies that build and maintain virtual labs must compete with each other to stay ahead of technology progression and that raises the quality of options for students. With a virtual lab, students do not have to settle on outdated, yet expensive, equipment because a school cannot afford to replace it consistently.
  1. Lower costs.There is a fee associated with using virtual labs but the capital and maintenance costs are drastically reduced. Instead of one school footing the bill for resources, the cost is split among the clients of the particular virtual lab. This allows school to provide a better learning experience for students at a fraction of the cost.

Higher efficiency, lower costs, better equipment – is there a downside to virtual labs? I’d say it is too early to really see the effects, positive or negative, of science through virtual experimentation, but a few red flags pop into my own mind. I remember many of my in-class science experiments vividly. The sights, smells and sounds of biology and chemistry reactions at my own hand cemented the lessons into memory. It was real for me because it was right in front of my face and I was the one controlling the outcomes (or so I thought).

I wonder how much of that wonder is lost in a digital format? I can’t imagine the next generation of scientists will fall in love with their fields from watching experiments on a computer screen but I could be wrong. Even with the in-person science experimentation I did in school, I had no desire to enter those fields. So perhaps those with a predisposition for the true sciences will not be deterred by virtual experimentation. Perhaps even more students will find a love for those fields because digital lessons allow for more repetition and instant feedback.

Like all classroom technology, virtual labs need to be scrutinized to ensure that behind the flashy capabilities, their true purpose is being met. That will take some time and testing, of course, but I think it is possible with the right combination of in-person and remote lessons.

Do you use a virtual lab in your classroom? What do you think about its potential for learning?

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