EdTech & Innovation

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Peer Feedback: How Students Can Learn More while Saving Teachers Time

The best educational innovations are born of necessity. That’s exactly what happened with Peergrade creator David Kofoed Wind when he came up with the idea as a way to streamline the classes he taught.

As a computer science and data professor at Technical University of Denmark, Wind faced a time crunch when his popular Big Data course ballooned from 20 students to 150 students in just one semester’s time. Wind realized he would need a minimum of 2 to 3 hours daily just to glance over each student’s written work. The addition of helpful feedback would mean even more time buried in paperwork and less devoted to actual lesson and assignment creation.

So Wind took what he already knew about scaleable tasks and developed a system where students could receive feedback on assignments from three of their peers. From there, students could edit their work and have a thoroughly vetted assignment to turn in when it was due. Wind found that the input his students were giving to each other was informing their own work, elevating the performance of everyone.

When his colleagues showed interest in having a similar option for their courses, the idea for Peergrade was born.

“I built Peergrade for myself. The idea was instead of me providing all the feedback, the students could do some of it and also learn from reading each other’s work,” Wind said.

The intuitive feedback platform has been available for 18 months and institutions like Oxford University, Copenhagen Business School and Technical University of Denmark are already using it on a wide scale. The client list is mainly made up of higher education institutions but Wind said some high school teachers are also starting to implement it in courses.

 

So how does Peergrade work exactly? There are many levels of customization based on the course at hand, but essentially students upload their work, it is evaluated by peers and then the student can comment or ask questions about the feedback – all within the Peergrade interface. Teachers keep track of original assignments and which students are upholding the feedback portion of the course.

On average, 245 pages of feedback is available per course. That’s 245 pages of notes, comments, suggestions and critiques that come from other students. Having such a diversified way to provide feedback means higher quality assignments, more interactions among students and a better overall understanding of the material in the end.

Teachers can sign up for free individually or entire institutions can obtain a license.

Peergrade Features

Here is a snapshot of what to expect when you implement Peergrade:

  • Anonymous grading. Feedback defaults to an anonymous system – and instructors can decide if they want to make the person giving feedback known.
  • Fair evaluations. Students are able to mark feedback for moderation by the teacher if they feel it is unfair or without merit.
  • Analytics for teachers. Peergrade allows teachers to run a variety of reports that give quick insight into how students are doing in the course, where improvements are needed, and who is or isn’t providing valuable feedback.
  • Rubric quality. Teachers can see which questions or prompts were especially difficult for students so adjustments can be made for the future.
  • Weight assignment. Teachers can control how much of an impact each item has on the student’s overall grade.
  • Email notifications. Teachers can set up alerts related to upcoming deadlines and assignments. Teachers can also opt out of any notifications.
  • Easy integration. Peergrade integrates seamlessly with a variety of other grading and classroom management tools.

These are just some of the features that make Peergrade a smart fit for many courses. It makes sense to me that students get a better shot at really mastering material if they have initial feedback before the instructor gives it a final pass and grade. Peers can give plenty of insight into what may be missing from an assignment, what should be shifted around and what seems to be out of place. That outside feedback can really change the direction of an assignment for the better, resulting in higher comprehension of the material and a better grade, too.

Interested in learning more about Peergrade? Sign up for free on the Peergrade site.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch, OpEducation

Disengaged Students, Part 7: Too Much Information Access?

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

It’s no secret that we are living in an information age, one that has lifted data barriers across the world and opened up access to knowledge like never before seen in the history of modern humankind. On the surface, this access to information appears to be a democratization of knowledge – a way that more people can learn about more things in the fastest amount of time. In reality, though, the internet and all its interconnected technology has given rise to less effort put towards the pursuit of knowledge, and more energy focused on simply finding the quickest, easiest answer.

Is Shared Knowledge Best?

This growing challenge to intellectualism in contemporary America is grounded in a rapidly expanding access to information coupled with a complete lack of hierarchy based on expertise. Take sites like Wikipedia, for example. Such Internet sensations are victories for crowd-sourced knowledge that hypothetically offers more than one side to every argument, but they have bolstered the assumption that all knowledge is equal.

Wikipedia is known for allowing anyone, regardless of credentials, to post on its pages for the greater good of shared knowledge. Some other sites are less forthcoming about the credentials of their contributors. Businesses clamoring to improve their search engine rankings commission writing which is disguised as expert information but is actually designed to get consumers to their sites when a certain word or phrase is typed into a search bar.  The writers are more likely to have expertise in sales writing than in areas of knowledge relevant to the products and services they tout. Customer review sites give peers an idea of what to expect from a particular product or company.  In an ideal world these would offer balanced feedback, but in fact they tend to weigh heavy on the negative side; it is in human nature to warn others of danger, not to assure them that the path is safe.

More Info, Less Learning

While attempting to place more power at the fingertips of the people, the digital age is actually distorting the public’s sense of reality, blurring the lines between fact and fiction for many willfully ignorant participants. Just as the removal of limits on religious beliefs spawned many different denominations, some of which led followers completely astray, a limitless online community promotes misinformation on a regular basis. Even the information that is correct comes fraught with anti-intellectual challenges. The information that was once confined to textbooks, library visits or expensive encyclopedia sets is now just a click or brush of a touchscreen away. A child who is given everything from birth and never has to work for any of his possessions will inherently devalue those items. In the same way generations growing up with Internet access devalue knowledge.

While no one would argue against the convenience and knowledge that the Internet has provided on a global scale, ongoing use of its information predecessors is necessary in order to preserve intellectualism. At least some weight has to be given to information in order for the youngest learners to differentiate between well-researched, well-proven facts and the passionate ravings of people with no expertise or training on a particular subject.

If American children are to learn to think for themselves, they need more information than what can be found in a search engine, and they need tools with which to sort out and evaluate the information which they find. But what will make them want to take the long route to data when there are so many convenient shortcuts? That’s the question educators and parents have to broach if there is to be a semblance of any intellectualism when this generation graduates and starts contributing to American society.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Low Tech Lessons to Make Your Class Ready for the High Tech World

By Brian Cleary

Instructional Coach- Hearthwood Elementary

Evergreen School District

 

Underneath the flash and dazzle flowing into classrooms on the currents that feeds 21st-century technology is a newly important skill.  A singular skill made more important in the digital age but developed independently from the devices and digital tools that define it.  Fake news, media hyperbole, and the seeming end of simple answers have all contributed to the increased importance of all of us to ask better questions.

Questioning is perhaps the single most important skill we can teach our students.  It crosses all curriculum, it plays directly into the real world, and is not reliant on any type of software, or hardware to apply.

In a real sense, much of our history and success as humans has been built strictly on our ability to ask great questions and then search for their answers.  From the first wandering cave dweller to look at a coffee plant and ask his partner, “If we pick those berries, dry them out, cook them, crush them, then soak them in water do you think it will taste good? Or shall we use that tree bark instead?”   To “How do we land a man on the Moon?”  Good questions have moved us forward and rippled into every aspect of our lives. Good questions are what has gotten us where we are today.

Perhaps just as importantly it must be noted that not asking good questions, has also gotten us into many of the problems we face today. That we never bothered to ask if there was a smog we have been putting into the air since the industrial revolution would be bad, or that the brightest minds of the age never questioned if maybe splitting atoms could have complicating going forward does not speak well of us as a species.

Much of Creativity is rooted in questioning old patterns and paths, much more of science is grounded in our endless pursuit of curiosity.

As critical to 21st-century thinking as inquire is, it does not require a one to one classroom, special software or even bandwidth. Below are three example of lesson frames that do a great job of building an inquisitorial skill set, that require no technology at all.

  • Math without numbers:
    • This is simply taking the rich math question and pulling strategic data out of the problem before giving it to the kids in groups. The students’ then work together to figure out what questions will get them than information they need. The result is a demonstration of the student understanding of how the math they are learning applies to a problem they are working to solve. (a link to a web resource with rich math tasks)
  • Linear questions:
    • Some of us remember these as “trip fillers” from our childhood. Those mystery scenarios ask into the back seat during long road trips, (i.e.) A man escapes from a room with no windows or doors, how does he do it?  The back seat gets to ask only yes or no questions to work toward the solution, building off the collection of answers. The result a training session on refining and distilling questions to offer the greatest depth.  ( lists of good linear questions here)
  • 90% stories:
    • A bit more work from the teacher these coming in a varied of forms, but the foundations stay the same; a historical event, scientific discovery, or personal narrative that is “mostly true”, thus the 90%. The students then work, question, or research to find the lie. These stories are told by teachers as often as read.   (Examples of 90% stories here)

Here are 3 ½ more that can be done with one computer in a classroom.

  • Mystery Hangout / Mystery Skype
    • Both Goggle Hangouts and Skype, through Microsoft classroom, offer teachers and their students a chance to play 20 questions with classroom around the world. Just project one screen to the front of a room and have the student ready to try and figure out where their counterparts are from using yes or no questions
  • 3 Act Tasks
    • A small but growing movement in math education started by Dan Meyer, the idea is simple enough, use the classing structure of story to explore or use a mathematical practice. – Act 1 -Hook a class of students with a short video that leaves the audience hanging.      -Act 2- Mead out information to develop the story so that a path from cause to effect can be followed.                                                                                                                                         -Act 3- back to the video for the conclusion of the story to compare its outcome with that of the students.

This last offering is designed for whole class use, where everyone has a device, but with only the slightest of variations, it can be used on a singular machine or even phones.

  • M.I.L.E. Stanford Mobile Inquiry Learning Environment
    • The idea for this site seems too simple have come out of a genius farm like Stanford until you recognize the brilliance within its simplicity. Student go online, to create and answer each other’s questions, then rate the quality of that question. The depth of the questions is a reflection of students’ conceptual understanding of the subject as well as its application.

In his book, A More Beautiful Question Warren Berger says that kids come to us in kindergarten asking 100 questions a day, by middle school that number is down to almost zero.  Humans are curious animals, properly formed that inherent inquiry is the most important piece to our success both collectively and individually.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Policy & Reform

Ineffective assessments, part VI: More digital access needed

 Click here to read all of the articles in our Ineffective Assessments series.

All facets of education are being impacted by the rapid evolution of technology and assessments are not immune. Not only should educators be able to tap into digital resources for assessment preparation, but students should be able to take assessments using the technology that makes them most comfortable. In other words, we need to ditch the Scantron forms and No. 2 pencils and give our kids access to the right technology to make them the most comfortable with the tests they are taking and to streamline the process for scorers. I do think that there is value to the handwritten word, but I also know that this generation of K-12 students will not be handing in business reports or notes scribbled with pencil on college-ruled paper. Our kids should be typing early and using the wide array of technology at their fingertips for the learning process. Assessments should reflect that shift, too.

To those outside the educational community, the idea that students should be able to take tests through computers and other pieces of technology that make them comfortable is a no-brainer. Within the educational community, there is always some fret when it comes to anything related to technology, or change. For decades, classroom assessments have always been done in quiet classrooms with individual test packets and students filling in bubbles on scan sheets with sharpened pencils. In recent years, there have been added sections for free thought that exists outside of multiple choice responses, but the tests are virtually the same boring layout that they were when many of us took our standardized tests as K-12 students.

Changing the format of how these tests are delivered is a scary proposition for many lawmakers and administrators and certainly, one that does not come without a hefty price tag. When you add in the consortium (albeit a small one) of educators who are leery when it comes to any technology takeovers in classrooms, it isn’t difficult to see why there is so much hand-wringing when it comes to updating the way that assessments are delivered. I would challenge our educational community, from classroom teachers to those sitting on national education committees, to move beyond these fears though and find a financial way to make the technology of assessments possible.

There are a few schools of thought when it comes to what kids should be learning in our K-12 schools, particularly our public ones. Some believe all activities should be focused on getting students ready for the real world and should point to career-readiness programs. Why waste time in the classroom on lofty ideas or flighty benchmarks that have no adaptation to real life, and the ultimate goal of all Americans: a better economy and way of life. Other believe that there should be at least some inclusion of intellectual pursuits just for knowledge’s sake. Not everything learning in a K-12 classroom needs a direct relationship with something in the real world that will benefit our students monetarily down the road. Some learning is simply important to developing better humans who pass along that cultural knowledge to the next generations.

I’m not an anti-intellectualist by any means, but I do believe that where technology is concerned, educators should fully support the first school of thought. It is our job to ensure students have adequate access to and mastery of the technology that will be part of their everyday lives as adults. Wherever possible, technology should be incorporated into our lesson plans and used in our classrooms because it will make a difference in how well-versed this generation of students will be across subject dividing lines.

Consider the rapidly advancing technology of just the past few years. A Pew Research report found that 56 percent of Americans in 2013 owned smartphones – up from just 35 percent the year before. The rapid integration of smartphone culture into the Western world took only a few years, and with the dawn of smartwatches and augmented reality devices, it seems that two years from now, our technology norms will be completely changed once again.  Think ahead to the year 2027, when this year’s Kindergartners are crossing the stage to receive their high school diplomas. What will the technology look like then? Will we, as educators, have done everything within our power to get them career ready to use it?

Integrating higher levels of technology in assessments, whether the state-mandated versions or even just in-classroom ones, will have two positive results. The first is that they will reinforce students’ use of technology by asking them to implement it to take the actual tests. The second is that assessments will make more sense in the grand scheme of classroom learning, that is already much more interactive than the traditional test-taking process that is still used in standardized assessments. Students who take tests on computers or tablets will be more comfortable with the material at hand, and it will feel like more of an integrated process. To remain a world leader when it comes to the fast-pace of technology, we as educators need to insist that technology is part of not only the teaching process but also of assessment policy too.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Why science and engineering need to remind students of forgotten lessons from history

Muhammad H. Zaman, Boston University

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion highlighting the need for incorporating social sciences in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines in order to foster creativity, increase empathy and create a better understanding of the human condition among scientists.

Unfortunately, however, all this talk hasn’t changed the reality on the ground.

As a researcher and teacher in biomedical engineering, looking at the fundamental functions of the human body, I feel that we in engineering (as well as other sciences) have done a disservice to our students. We have failed to connect them to the history of science through stories of scientists.

Our students, these days, have little knowledge about the giants on whose shoulders we all stand.

And yet there is strong evidence that students are more likely to develop an interest in science and pursue science education when engaged through narratives that tell a story.

Research also shows that such stories enable students in STEM disciplines to better understand and apply their classroom knowledge in real-world settings.

Missing piece in science learning

In one of my engineering classes, I discuss how fluids, such as air and blood, flow in the human body. These processes are critical to our health and well-being.

As I do that, I also discuss the associated discoveries made by many leading scientists. The seminal work of scientists such as Joseph Fourier, Daniel Bernoulli and Isaac Newton has transformed our world and tremendously improved our quality of life.

What do students know about Newton? cea +, CC BY

However, beyond the most famous anecdote about the falling apple leading to the discovery of gravity, I find that students in my class know little about Newton’s contributions. While students in my class may have a rich understanding of the Fourier transform (a fundamental mathematical relationship that forms the basis of modern electrical engineering), they literally know nothing about who Fourier was.

Research suggests that context and history play a strong role in connecting science and engineering theory with practice.

But despite studies highlighting the importance of storytelling and historical case study approaches, impersonal PowerPoint presentations dominate classrooms. Historical perspectives and rich stories are missing in such presentations.

Why it matters

As educators, we face tremendous pressures to pack technical materials into our courses. So why should we include history in our lesson plans?

First, history provides a compelling perspective on the process of scientific discovery. We have known through research that historical references can help students clear up common misconceptions about scientific topics, ranging from planetary motion to evolution.

Looking at the story of science over centuries enables students to understand that research and discovery are continuous processes. They can then see that the laws and the equations that they use to solve problems were discovered through long and sometimes painful processes.

The findings they arrive at today, in other words, are the fruits of the hard work of real people who lived in real societies and had complex lives, just like the rest of us.

Second, a sense of history teaches students the all-important value of failure in science. It also highlights the persistence of the scientists who continued to push against the odds.

Recent research suggests that by discussing the struggles and failures of scientists, teachers are able to motivate students. Indeed, the discussion of struggles, obstacles, failures and persistence can lead to significant academic improvement of students, particularly for those who may be facing personal or financial difficulties or feeling discouraged by previous instructors and mentors.

Learning from history

This dose of inspiration is particularly valuable for STEM students who face barriers in their academic work, either due to lack of financial resources or due to their gender or race.

The stories of past scientists are a reminder to them that history is an opportunity. Not all great discoveries were made by people who were at the very top of the socioeconomic pyramid.

Connected to the process of discovery and innovation is the fundamental notion of the multidisciplinary approach.

Students need to understand that this approach is not a creation of the 21st century. People have used the multidisciplinary tools of their time for hundreds of years. Johannes Gutenberg, for example, combined the flexibility of a coin punch with the mechanical strength of the wine press to invent the printing press, which created a profound global impact in disseminating knowledge.

The Gutenberg Press replica.Casey Picker, CC BY-NC-ND

Finally, a fundamental goal of modern engineering education is to create socially conscious engineering practitioners who have a strong sense of ethics.

Following an engineering education, individuals could go on to develop medical technology for resource-constrained settings, or work on stem cells or genetic engineering. The importance of ethics in any of these areas cannot be underestimated.

Case studies and history could be immensely valuable in teaching ethics. History provides strong evidence of how the environment around scientists was equally important in shaping their lives and discoveries. Lessons from history could provide insights into how to make ethical choices related to technology or engineering principles.

History, heritage and a holistic view of learning

The goal, in the end, is not to compromise on the rigor, or to focus exclusively on history and personalities, but to make the material more accessible through story-telling and connection with our common heritage.

By making students realize that they are part of a grand tradition of learning, success and failure, we might find that the goals of retention, inspiration, access and rich engagement with the material are closer than we realize.

The Conversation

Muhammad H. Zaman, HHMI Professor of Biomedical Engineering and International Health, Boston University

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

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education News, Teachers

Helping Students to Develop Presentation Skills

Show and Tell

As a young mom I was not familiar with the concept of “show and tell”. My eldest son was 4 years old at the time and he had to take a toy to school and show it to the class, tell them a little bit about it and answer the eager audience’s questions. I thought this is such a great idea to introduce children to the world of public speaking and presentations! After all, public speaking is not necessarily a talent, but a skill, and the younger a child is when they begin to learn this skill, the better.

Apart from being mom, I am also a sixth form teacher and am too well-aware that some students genuinely struggle when asked to present information to a group. I can see that this may be a problem when students go on to tertiary education and also later in life. For personal and professional success, effective presentation skills delivered in a confident manner are vital.

That is why presentation skills need to be nurtured from a young age, before the student really has an awareness of being in the spotlight and possibly being faced with stage fright. Public speaking and presentation skills could be fostered, to such an extent that it becomes a natural skill. “Show and tell” helps a child to prepare a talk about an abstract object rather than a familiar one, it helps to create an awareness of vocal projection and most importantly, it helps to build confidence.

Spotlight 

By the time my second son had to do “show and tell”, we had perfected the practice! We progressed from showing (and telling about) favorite toys, to eventually using PowerPoint. By now, my sons were 8 and 10 and their confidence surprised their teachers. “Show and tell” helped to build their public speaking skills and helped them to feel comfortable with talking in front of a group of peers! However, they were also confident because every time that they were expected to present information to the class, they were well prepared. Confidence and preparation are crucial aspects for effective presentation!

My 7 year old daughter has to talk about her summer holidays in class soon. I know that if she is well prepared, she will feel confident and be able to do a good presentation. She was super excited when I suggested that she make a mysimpleshow video to introduce her holiday experience. Afterwards she will also show holiday photographs and talk about each of them. I know that if the presentation goes well, she will be more confident and keen to do a presentation when she gets her next spotlight topic.

Presentations

When asked about the basics of speech making, my advice to students and parents is simple:

  1. Prepare the speech/presentation very well – plan carefully what you’ll say and use speech cards with highlighted keywords
  2. Practice the presentation a few times – if possible, do it in front of a test audience, like your family
  3. Pay attention to proper posture – be mindful of weird mannerisms that may distract the audience
  4. Make eye contact
  5. Speak loudly and clearly
  6. Be confident! If the audience senses that you are nervous, they will also be nervous

My advice to teachers?

If you are teaching little ones:

  • Keep the “show and tell” and spotlight going from a young age. It does wonders to build confidence!

If you are teaching older students:

  • Regularly include short student presentations in your classes to emphasize the basics of speech making
  • Suggest various ways to make presentations more interesting to an audience, like the use of objects or the showing of short video clips as part of the presentation.

Educators play a vital role in helping students to learn and experience public speaking. Leadership in the community, business world or any organization demands effective presentation skills. Leaders are expected to be able to make presentations without any qualms. So, let’s foster great presentation skills from a young age and right through our students’ school careers, to ensure that they acquire a skill that will be very useful to them throughout their lives.    

LGW Irvine is a secondary school teacher specializing in history, performing arts and languages. With a keen interest in writing, she has published Teacher Planners and an AFL Teacher Handbook. Among her presentations include in-depth courses in study methods and essay writing, as she has a particular interest in helping others to reach their full potential in those areas. Her current projects include History Revision Guides as well as Study Methods workbooks.

Contact Information

Simpleshow gmbh

mysimpleshow.com

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Policy & Reform

When Trump proposed a wall and California tore one down

Prop 58 bilingual, dual-language programs improve education prospects for all kids. Next stop: finding teachers

This article was written by PATRICIA GÁNDARA

Kindergarten classes at Ernest R. Geddes Elementary School in Baldwin Park, Calif., are taught primarily in Spanish as part of the school’s bilingual program. Photo: Sarah Garland)

As the election results were rolling in across the country signaling that Donald Trump would become the 45th  president of the United States, nearly three-quarters of Californians had voted to restore bilingual education in California.

The Trump campaign had been overtly anti-immigrant, while the restoration of bilingual education was an affirmation of the valuing of the children of immigrants. How could California and the nation be at such great odds?

In 1976, California was one of the first states in the nation to pass legislation making it a requirement for schools to provide bilingual education to its English learners (ELs). The rationale for these programs was that such instruction would combat discrimination against immigrant children and support development of a stronger self- concept, in addition to providing instruction in a language the children could understand, thereby avoiding school failure.

Related: California voters overturn English-only instruction law

While there wasn’t a large body of research on any of this, it made intuitive as well as logical sense. This remained the policy in California until the passage of a voter initiative in 1998 entitled Proposition 227, or “English for the Children,” effectively prohibited bilingual instruction in most cases.

The seemingly slow acquisition of English and the low achievement of EL kids were blamed on bilingual education, even though no more than 30 percent of ELs were ever provided bilingual instruction, mostly because of a lack of credentialed bilingual teachers.

The solution was to immerse the students in a cold bath of English, eschewing instruction in a language they could actually understand.

The snake-oil salesman who convinced the voters in 1998 that with English-only instruction ELs would become proficient in English in one year and raise their academic performance at the same time was not unlike Donald Trump. Even at the time, there was sufficient research to suggest that the first of these promises was unlikely, and the second simply impossible.

Related: How can being bilingual be an asset for white students and a deficit for immigrants?

Ron Unz manufactured statistics that could never be verified: “The majority of English learners are in bilingual programs,” “hundreds of thousands of these students languish in classes where only Spanish is taught, not English.”

These remarks aren’t dissimilar to the claims of Donald Trump that Mexican immigrants are “rapists and criminals,” that he will build a wall to shut out our neighbors to the south, or that he will rescind the program that allows young “Dreamers” (young people brought to the U.S. as children) to go to college or work without fear of deportation — no verifiable facts, no specificity about how the proposals would actually work.

The ban on bilingual instruction passed with more than 60 percent of the vote – mostly by voters who had never seen a bilingual program (as was the case with Unz) or even understood how they worked. After five years, the state’s commissioned evaluation of the impact of Proposition 227 found no significant difference in outcomes for English learners as a result of the new law, but it did “conclude that Proposition 227 focused on the wrong issue.”

Bilingual education was not the problem. Nonetheless, California, home of more children of immigrants than any other state, continued to live with the virtual ban on bilingual instruction until this year.

Proposition 58, “The Multilingual Education Initiative,” lifted the ban and expands access to bilingual (usually targeted to English learners) and dual-language programs (that incorporate both English learners and English speakers wanting to learn a second language).

During the last 18 years, research has been conducted that shows significant benefits to multilingual instruction. Canadians have long been researching the cognitive benefits and concluding that learning in more than one language effectively made students “smarter” – they demonstrated a greater capacity for focused attention and avoidance of distractions. However, this research never had a major impact on policy in the U.S., perhaps because we have always considered our situation to be very different from Canada’s.

Related: English one day, Español the next: Dual language learning expands with a South Bronx school as a model

In recent years, longitudinal research – following the same children over their entire school career, from kindergarten to high school — comparing those in bilingual and dual-language programs to those in English-only classrooms, has concluded that while the bilinguals start slower, they end with superior outcomes in English, and Latino students perform better in both English and math when enrolled in bilingual programs.

Other research has shown that the children of immigrants who attain literacy in their home language actually earn more once in the workforce, and, again, in the case of Latinos go on to four-year universities at higher rates than those who lose that language ability.

Over the last two decades, too many children have been denied an education that could have conferred real benefits, and too many have been left behind. But perhaps equally important, California’s classrooms have been emptied of bilingual teachers. Although the demand for these programs continues to grow, less than one-third as many young people prepare to become bilingual teachers today as did in 1998. Why prepare for a job that doesn’t exist?

The dearth of prepared teachers will be a significant impediment to mounting these highly desired programs even as they have become once again legal.

Meantime, we have to hope that false promises and unverifiable claims made by presidential candidates do not tear at the fabric of this nation, a nation of immigrants.

Patricia Gándara is Research Professor and Co-Director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. She is also Chair of the Working Group on Education for the University of California-Mexico Initiative.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

Have You Hacked These Cognitive Tools?

Modern technology offers a plethora of cognitive tools for implementation in your classroom. You’re likely familiar with pedagogical tools and teaching resources, but you may also be wondering what exactly a “cognitive tool” is.

Cognitive tools are tools that, when used outside of the classroom, play a role in productivity. They include word-processing programs, spreadsheets, and e-mail programs. Applied to the classroom, these become cognitive tools, because they improve the learning process, enhancing thinking and understanding. Let’s look at some examples:

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are screens that are divided into rows and columns, and are supplied in programs that have mathematical and statistical computational capabilities. This information can also be used to generate graphical data from the numerical data. Spreadsheet analysis programs are provided with a wide range of formulas that allow many functions, some of which resemble low-level programming, while others are complex mathematical functions. Both of these functions can be used to assist students with learning. Spreadsheets require the prior collection of data, which may be obtained from various real-life or online sources. Real-life sources could be data from a student’s bank account showing how much money the student earned, received, or spent in a month. Or a group of students could collect data while conducting a study on how many cars come in and out of the school parking lot in a month. T

he data would need to be organized into a row- and-column format to make use of the analytical capabilities of the spreadsheet. This skill in itself is useful in showing students how to identify which data is important and how to arrange it. Analysis could be largely automated through familiarization with the various formulas available within the program. Further familiarization with the program would allow students to be able to take their data and convert it into a graphical or visual format, making it meaningful, relevant, and interesting to other students. This could also reduce the work required of the teacher, who could design the exercises so that the correct arrangement of data, formulas, or analysis is crucial in allowing the graphs to appear correctly, thus allowing them to quickly identify students who require additional assistance.

Databases

Another cognitive tool that’s very useful in statistical analysis is a database, which is a vastly more powerful tool than a spreadsheet. Databases are larger, more robust stores of data, but are generally built on a more advanced programming platform than spreadsheets. Whereas spreadsheets store single items of data, databases can store information regarding how the data has been changed, and can link items of data together to form data relationships. Databases allow much larger stores of information to be created, as well as allowing multiple students to access them and make changes over a period of time, keeping a history of those changes for future use.

Word-Processing Programs

These have many advantages over paper and pencil. Editing is a lot less tedious, as you can change the document while you work on it without having to erase and start over. Some word-processing programs offer students the option of group activities, so that the group can all work on the same document.

Desktop Publishing and Multimedia

These programs allow users to combine text elements with audiovisual information, such as graphics, videos, audio clips, animations, and other display and design elements. Students who learn with these options become competent in constructing and delivering a complete document that includes videos, audio, and graphic information as well as text.

Most of the programs mentioned here now come standard with laptops and desktop computer software. If you’re curious about how to best implement these cognitive tools in your classroom, read on in future articles about how to best apply technology to your curriculum.

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Matthew Lynch published in Ask An Expert, EdTech & Innovation, First Year Teachers, Parental Involvement, Special Education,

Here’s why kids fall behind in science

Paul Morgan, Pennsylvania State University

Globally, the U.S. is at risk of declining economic competitiveness due to its continuing lower levels of educational attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The U.S. currently ranks 44th according to the quality of its mathematics and science education.

A “leaky STEM pipeline” – in which factors such as lower expectations, discrimination, and a lack of interest make it less likely that racial or ethnic minorities, women or those from low-income families will pursue STEM careers – makes many adults less likely to be employed in these types of positions.

Yet STEM positions are often high-paying and provide greater economic well-being and employment stability, especially as the U.S. transitions to a knowledge-based economy.

Efforts that increase schoolchildren’s science achievement – particularly those from diverse, traditionally marginalized populations – could help provide children with greater future employment opportunities while ensuring that the U.S. remains economically competitive.

The question is, when should these efforts begin? That is, how early do leaks in the STEM pipeline begin to occur?

Science achievement gaps

My research seeks to understand why some groups of children are more likely to struggle academically in U.S. schools. To date, I have been reporting on factors that increase children’s risk for lower achievement in reading and mathematics.

Early on, racial and ethnic minorities fall behind in science. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, CC BY-NC-ND

Researchers have found that large science achievement gaps occur within the U.S. These gaps are very large by middle school, and they are disproportionately experienced by children who are racial or ethnic minorities, English Language Learners (ELLs), and those from lower-income families.

For example, 63 percent of U.S. eighth graders who are black display “below basic” (that is, less than partial mastery of knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work) levels of science achievement. The contrasting percentage for white children is 20 percent. While 52 percent of low-income children display below basic levels of science achievement, only 20 percent of higher-income children do so.

Yet why these science achievement gaps are occurring has been unclear.

Very few studies have examined children’s science achievement across time. Most studies have used samples of middle or high school students. As a result, when science achievement gaps begin to occur has not been well understood.

Here’s what our study shows

To better understand these science achievement gaps, we analyzed a nationally representative sample of U.S. schoolchildren as they entered kindergarten and then continued through elementary and middle school.

The data were collected by the U.S. Department of Education, and designed to be representative of the population of children who entered U.S. kindergarten classrooms in 1998-1999.

The data included children’s reading and mathematics achievement, their classroom behavior, and many characteristics of their families and schools. Such characteristics included the quality of the children’s parenting, their family’s income, and the racial segregation of their schools. From third grade to eighth grade, the surveys included a measure of children’s science achievement.

During kindergarten and first grade, the surveys assessed children’s general knowledge about their natural (e.g., the seasons, the lunar phases, erosion) and social worlds (e.g., what a fireman does, what planes and trains have in common).

Our analyses of these data yielded three surprising findings.

The gaps exist when kids enter kindergarten. PRONavy Hale Keiki School, CC BY

First, we found that very large gaps in general knowledge were already evident among children entering kindergarten classrooms in the U.S. For example, about 60 percent of black children scored in the bottom 25 percent on the general knowledge measure. The contrasting percentage for white children was 15 percent.

About 65 percent of low-income children entered kindergarten with low levels of general knowledge. Only 10 percent of high-income children did so. The general knowledge and science achievement gaps in kindergarten were even larger than the reading or mathematics achievement gaps.

In other words, leaks in the STEM pipeline were originating “close to the tap.”

The second surprising finding was that general knowledge gaps by kindergarten strongly predicted science achievement gaps by third grade. For example, of those whose general knowledge was in the lowest 25 percent during kindergarten, 62 percent, 60 percent and 54 percent had levels of science achievement in the lowest 25 percent at the end of third, fifth or eighth grade, respectively.

This suggests that children who are already struggling with low levels of general knowledge in kindergarten are likely to still be struggling in science throughout elementary and middle school.

Children’s general knowledge was a stronger predictor of third grade science achievement than race/ethnicity, reading or mathematics achievement, classroom behavior or family income.

Both the general knowledge and science achievement gaps were very stable over time.

Children who are racial or ethnic minorities, English Language Learners or from low-income households displayed lower levels of science achievement by third grade and typically continued to lag behind throughout elementary and middle school. Girls displayed relatively lower science achievement than boys in third grade.

Closing these gaps

Our third finding was more encouraging. We found that we could explain most of these general knowledge and science achievement gaps. And this could help inform efforts by parents, practitioners, and policymakers to close these gaps.

For example, we were able to explain 75 percent of the third grade science achievement gap between black and white children as well as 97 percent of the gap between low- and high-income children.

Early interventions could help.NASA HQ PHOTO, CC BY-NC-ND

Factors that helped explain science achievement gaps included children’s reading and mathematics achievement, their behavior and, most importantly, their general knowledge.

Helping young children to be more knowledgeable about their physical and social surroundings, as well as to be better at reading and mathematics, may increase their science achievement as they grow older.

Asking children questions about their surroundings while encouraging and extending their initial explorations could help them improve their general knowledge and science achievement.

Encouraging policies that lead to high-quality childcare for children most at risk could reduce these gaps. Policies that counter the racial segregation of U.S. schools might also be helpful.

It is never too late to help children grow to be successful. But if we are really serious about their as well as our nation’s future opportunities, we will do more to help all children begin kindergarten already knowledgeable about their natural and social worlds.

Collective, coordinated, and sustained efforts by parents, practitioners, and policymakers during children’s early school careers could make all the difference.

The Conversation

Paul Morgan, Associate Professor of Education, Pennsylvania State University

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

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, Teachers

St. Louis Public Schools Reduce Suspensions and Referrals; Expands Kickboard School Culture System From 5 to 25 Schools

NEW ORLEANS — Nov. 30, 2016 — After implementing the Kickboard school culture system in five schools and seeing dramatic reductions in suspensions and discipline referrals — and sizable increases in positive behaviors — St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) is expanding the use of Kickboard to 25 schools this fall.

Carver Elementary, Farragut Elementary, Lyon Academy at Blow Elementary, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, and Sigel Elementary began using the Kickboard school culture system to help teachers and administrators establish consistent behavior expectations; collect, analyze and act on real-time behavior data; address behavior issues; conduct responsive interventions; and create a more proactive, positive learning environment. The schools also participated in Kickboard’s Leadership Coaching to help leadership teams drive school-wide improvement.

“To maximize learning for every child, it’s essential to focus on academic rigor and school climate and culture,” said David Hardy, deputy superintendent of academics for SLPS. “Before we began working with Kickboard, we couldn’t pinpoint some of the key challenges our schools faced. Kickboard identified these missing data points to show our schools where they were struggling, and support them in creating action plans to transform their cultures. The Kickboard software and coaching are pushing our schools to think differently about what makes students and teachers successful, how they can create stronger cultures, and how they can sustain this improvement over time.”

During the 2015-16 school year, the pilot schools saw substantial improvements. For example, at Carver Elementary, the number of office referrals dropped from 250 per week to only 35 per week — an 86 percent decrease. Farragut Elementary recorded an 84 percent decline in recess detentions, and a 64 percent drop in suspensions. Lyon Academy saw a 79 percent decrease in referrals to the school’s reflection room. At Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, the number of suspensions fell from 48 in 2015 to only seven in 2016.

“Kickboard allows us to dive deeper to see what’s behind the numbers, so we can intervene before small problems become large. Our use of school culture data is changing the way we’re supporting our students to be successful,” said Hardy.

In addition, Kickboard enables school leaders to accurately measure the impact of positive culture programs, such as Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). For example, in 2015-16, Patrick Henry Downtown Academy recorded a 149 percent increase in the number of occurrences of “active learning” taking place in the classroom.

“With Kickboard, we have much greater insight into how to effectively use school culture data to improve student outcomes,” said Hardy. “Instead of looking only at suspension rates and attendance, we’re now looking at data such as the ratio of positive to negative behaviors in the classroom or in a school. Having that data available helps us align our thinking around the culture and the behaviors we want to see in our classrooms. It allows us to look at each child holistically, so we can provide targeted support to meet the needs of our students, teachers, leaders and schools. Our students and staff are truly invested in our partnership with Kickboard and in the results we’re achieving.”

About Kickboard

The Kickboard school culture system is a configurable, web-based platform used by K-12 educators to improve school culture through positive behavior reinforcement, intervention management, classroom management, and district-wide school culture analysis. This unique combination of features allows schools and districts to directly impact student achievement, attendance, discipline, and more. For information or to sign up for a free school trial, visit https://www.kickboardforschools.com.

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Contact:

[email protected]

314-965-1776

 

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