Sweet Sixteen Announced 03/06/2010
 March Madness usually refers to NCAA Basketball, office tournament bracket pools, the race to the Final Four and the highlight film which is called One Shining Moment. On March 4, the U.S. Department of Education announced that 15 states and the District of Columbia will advance as finalists for phase 1 of the Race to the Top competition. The Sweet Sixteen Includes: Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Unlike the NCAA Basketball Tournament, states not qualifying for the Sweet Sixteen are eligible to reapply for Race to The Top Funding. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, said "I salute all of the finalists for their hard work. And I encourage non-finalists to reapply for Phase 2 in June—along with the states that did not apply in the first Phase and the finalists who ultimately do not win." The sixteen finalists are not guaranteed funding, so it is too early to cut the nets and celebrate. While every college basketball coach creates a game plan for the next round of the tournament, the sixteen finalists will spend the upcoming weeks preparing for a team presentation in Washington, D.C. The finalists will be invited to DC in mid-March to present their proposals to the panel that reviewed their applications in depth during the initial stage, and to engage in Q&A discussions with the reviewers. The purpose of the finalist stage is to allow reviewers to ensure that each state has the understanding, knowledge, capacity, and the will to truly deliver on what is proposed. The presentations will be videotaped and posted for viewing on the Department's website at the end of Phase 1. Winners for phase 1 will be chosen from among the 16 finalists and announced in April. Applications for phase 2 will be due on June 1 of this year, with finalists announced in August and winners in September. The only states prohibited from applying in phase 2 are those that receive awards in phase 1. Click here to view Arne Duncan's official announcement of the Race to the Top Finalists (Sweet Sixteen). (Length: 48 seconds) Through Race to the Top, the U.S. Department of Education is asking States to advance reforms around four specific areas:
Teaching to the Test 02/13/2010
Teaching to the Test: Is it a best practice or education malpractice? Since the introduction of high-stakes testing, educators have attempted to weigh the benefits versus the consequences of teaching to the test. Some educators argue that teaching to the test is unethical. In most states, teachers can lose their teaching license if they are caught teaching to the test. However, if you are teaching in a standards-based education system (all 50 states in the U.S.), then teaching the standards could be viewed as teaching to the test. If teaching to the test means that students have been exposed to the standards and there are no surprises on the End-of-Grade or End-of-Course test, then this practice could be viewed as ethical. James Popham (2001) wrote an informative article titled, Teaching to the Test: High Crime, Misdemeanor, or Just Good Instruction. Popham suggested that educators should "immediately expunge the phrase 'teaching to the test' from our educational lexicon, forcing folks to say either 'teaching to the test's items' or 'teaching to the knowledge/skills' represented by the test." Common Problems with "Teaching to the Test": 1. Curricular Reductionism A narrow focus on the tested subjects or excluding certain skills and concepts because they cannot be measured on a multiple-choice test 2. Covering standards (a.k.a. "Coverage") Wiggins and McTighe (2005) discuss the Twin Sins of Curriculum Development and they call the twin sins coverage-focused teaching and activity-focused teaching. In today's high-stakes era of testing and accountability teachers feel pressure to 'cover' material, rather than teach for understanding. Covering material may indicate that a teacher has taught content or checked off each state standard, but it does not mean that student understanding took place. 3. Test Prep Activities In defense of classroom teachers, I have rarely met a teacher who enjoys "Drill and Kill" test prep for the final month of the school year. By looking at the faces of students, it appears that drill and kill lessons take the joy out of learning. If you have ever visited a low-performing school or a school that is focused on increasing test scores at all costs, then you have probably witnessed Test Prep Activities. Some Superintendents even praise principals who raise test scores using these practices. While test prep activities may increase scores, the activities rarely transfer to student understanding or transfer of learning. Conclusion: I could cite over 20 problems with "teaching to the test", but educators already understand the problems and know the solution to many of these problems. As Popham suggested, "teaching to the test" is a phrase with multiple meanings. As we enter the second semester of the 2009-2010 school year, I encourage educators to have this conversation in each school and each school district. What do we mean when we say "teaching to the test?" What are the 'benefits' of teaching to the test? Does "teaching to the test" help all students? Do we want to teach to the test or teach for student understanding? What are the consequences of spending the final month of school on test review and test prep activities? Is teaching to the test a best practice or education malpractice? Final Thought: "Whatever else Opportunity to Learn (OTL) may entail, it must surely encompass a consideration of the content taught. Students can scarcely be said to have had an opportunity to learn content they never encountered" (Moss, 2008, p. 19). If Teaching to the Test means that every student in a school district receives the state and local curriculum and that the curriculum is not reduced to tested subjects or tested items, then I favor teaching to the test. Student achievement should not be dictated by a zip code, student assignment, board policies, teaching practices, tracking, or school leadership. Please feel free to share your thoughts on testing and accountability, teaching to the test, and other thoughts you have on these important topics and policy issues. Civil Rights Movement 02/06/2010
 February 1, 2010, marked the fiftieth anniversary of the day the Greensboro Four held a sit-in at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. At 8:00 a.m. (EST), a ribbon cutting ceremony took place in Greensboro, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary and the grand opening of the International Civil Rights Museum. On February 1, I was able to tour the International Civil Rights Museum with my thirteen year old son. We saw exhibits which focused on segregated schools, lunch counters, movie theaters, churches, hotels, and public transportation. We took a tour through the Hall of Shame, which featured graphic photos and reminders of hate crimes that took place throughout our nation's history. The museum will serve as an learning laboratory for all ages. The Little Rock Nine were featured in the new museum, along with James Meredith's admission to the University of Mississippi. Revisiting the Civil Rights Movement reminds us of how far we have come as a nation, but it also reminds us how far we have to go. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the court stated, "Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society.....Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms." Opportunity to Learn Visiting the International Civil Rights Museum reminded me of our nation's commitment to provide free public education to all students. While we are delivering on the intent of Brown v. Board of Education, we must continue to increase each student's Opportunity to Learn (OTL). If educators agree that all students should be prepared for the next grade level and the goal is for 100% of our students to graduate, then we should develop a clear idea of how to support student achievement. Robert Marzano (2003) cited several factors which impact student achievement. He divided the factors into the following categories: School Level, Teacher Level, and Student Level. His thirty year meta-analysis revealed that the number one factor impacting student achievement is a 'guaranteed and viable curriculum.' In other words, according to Marzano's research, Opportunity to Learn is the number one factor impacting student achievement. Recently, Squires (2009) wrote, "It is of paramount importance to make sure students have the opportunity to learn more important content aligned with standards and assessments.....Further, school districts, through their curricula, have the tools at their disposal to control and ensure what students learn" (p. 133). Developing specific strategies which support Opportunity to Learn will impact student achievement. Over forty years of research supports that "access to curriculum opportunities is a more powerful determinant of achievement than initial achievement levels" (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 54). As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins and the courage of the Greensboro Four, we must act courageously to provide the opportunity to learn to each student in the United States and throughout the world. References: Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teacher's College Press. Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Squires, D.A. (2009). Curriculum alignment: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Right to Learn 02/05/2010
 According to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. W.E.B. DuBois provides us with a powerful reminder of the moral obligation of educators: "Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental....The freedom to learn....has been bought by bitter sacrifice. And whatever we may think of the curtailment of other civil rights, we should fight to the last ditch to keep open the right to learn, the right to have examined in our schools not only what we believe, but what we do not believe; not only what our leaders say, but what the leaders of other centuries have said. We must insist upon this to give our children the fairness of a start which will equip them with such an array of facts and such an attitude toward truth that they can have a real chance to judge what the world is and what its greater minds have thought it might be." - W.E.B. DuBois, The Freedom to Learn (1949) as cited in The Right to Learn: A Blueprint for Creating Schools That Work (Darling-Hammond, 1997) Conclusion: All students should receive a guaranteed and viable curriculum (Marzano). If the received curriculum varies from one class to the next, then it will be difficult for teachers at the next grade level to build on prior knowledge and understandings. One of the goals of teaching is to ensure close alignment between the intended, taught, assessed, and received curricula. Questions to Consider: 1. Does your school have a guaranteed and viable curriculum? 2. How is the intended curriculum different from the received curriculum? 3. Do teachers implement the written curriculum/intended curriculum or do teachers create curriculum in isolation? 4. Ask yourself, would I want my son or daughter to experience the watered-down curriculum and miss out on parts of the district's intended curriculum? What the best and wisest parent wants for his or her own child, that must the community want, for all of its children. John Dewey As cited by Gene Carter, Executive Director ASCD ASCD Education Update - December 2006, p. 2 Opportunity to Learn: School-Level Factors 01/30/2010
 Opportunity to Learn was introduced by John Carroll (1963), who asserted an individual cannot learn a task if he or she is not allowed enough time to do so. Since 1963, various national and international studies have been conducted in an effort to measure opportunity to learn. The IEA Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), English Language Learners and Math Achievement: A Study of Opportunity to Learn and Language Accomodation, the Education for All Global Monitoring Report(s), and the National Educational Longitudianl Survey of 1988, are among the surveys and research studies that have analyzed how Opportunity to Learn impacts student achievement. The purpose of this article is to focus on a few specific factors that impact Opportunity to Learn at the school level. If educators agree that all students should be prepared for the next grade level and the goal is for 100% of our students to graduate, then we should develop a clear idea of how to support student achievement. Robert Marzano (2003) cited several factors which impact student achievement. He divided the factors into the following categories: School Level, Teacher Level, and Student Level. His thirty year meta-analysis revealed that the number one factor impacting student achievement is a 'guaranteed and viable curriculum.' In other words, according to Marzano's research, Opportunity to Learn is the number one factor impacting student achievement. School Districts Can Increase Opportunity to Learn By: 1. Developing a Guranteed and Viable Curriculum Does our school district have a common curriculum? 2. Monitoring Student Achievement Does our school district administer common formative assessments or benchmarks to monitor student achievement results? 3. Differentiating Instruction Does our school district differentiate instruction while still providing every student with the Opportuntiy to Learn? 4. Identifying Common Student Misconceptions Does our school district provide teachers with time to focus on student misconceptions? Do teachers collaborate and share strategies for teaching the common curriculum to all students? Does our school district focus on 'coverage' of material or student understanding? 5. Developing and Revising Pacing Does our school district provide teachers with pacing guides, curriculum maps, online tools which allow for teacher collaboration, or other tools which assist in implementing a guaranteed and viable curriculum? If the pacing is not working, do teacher have a voice in modifying the district's pacing and curriculum maps? 6. Increasing the Number of Minority Students Enrolled in Advanced Courses Does our school district have strategic plans in place for identifying students who would benefit from advanced course offerings? Do Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors courses reflect the demographics of our student enrollment? 7. Identifying Instructional Strategies Which Will Support the Learning Styles of Today's Student's Will the instructional strategies used in our school district support student understanding of the district's guaranteed and viable curriculum? Will students receive challenging assignments and the opportunity to learn regardless of school assignment or teacher assignment? Are certain instructional strategies more effective than others? Too often teachers and administrators make the mistake of: 1. Celebrating success on the End-of-Grade or End-of-Course High-Stakes Assessments or 2. Becoming frustrated because student growth is decreasing annually according to High-Stakes Assessments Educators should celebrate their success. However, if we are only celebrating and not looking for patterns or identifying individual students who need academic support, then we may be missing the point. It is also understood by most teachers and administrators that waiting to measure students' knowledge of the common curriculum or state standards at the end of the grade or course is too late to provide students with timely intervention and support. Several educators also struggle with assessing student understanding using multiple choice exams. Do we help all students meet the district's learning outcomes when we use one high-stakes multiple choice test to determine student achievement? Recently, Squires (2009) wrote, "It is of paramount importance to make sure students have the opportunity to learn more important content aligned with standards and assessments....Further, school districts, through their curricula, have the tools at their disposal to control and ensure what students learn" (p. 133). Developing specific strategies which support Opportunity to Learn will impact student achievement. Over forty years of research supports that "access to curriculum opportunities is a more powerful determinant of achievement than initial achievement levels" (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p. 54). References: Carroll, J. B. (1963). A model of school learning. Teachers College Record, 64 (8), 723-733. Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The flat world and education: How America's commitment to equity will determine our future. New York: Teacher's College Press. Marzano, R. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Squires, D.A. (2009). Curriculum alignment: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Opportunity to Learn 01/22/2010
Opportunity to Learn is often overlooked in U.S. schools. Educators attend conferences and visit the exhibit hall looking for the next 'solution' to current problems. What does it mean to have the 'Opportunity to Learn'? If you ask three sixth grade science teachers this question would you receive a consistent answer? K-12 Curriculum Development seeks to answer the question, "Learn What?" Once we identify what each student should know and be able to do, we can begin developing course goals, enduring understandings, unit goals, essential questions, and common assessments. Some school districts have professional documents, but the district leadership becomes so focused on developing teacher-friendly documents that they forget to monitor curriculum implementation and student understanding. Recently, I discovered an article titled, Opportunity to Learn: A High Impact Strategy for Improving Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries. This article is a great introduction to "Opportunity to Learn." According to the article, "In the 1960’s, John Carroll wrote that equality of Opportunity to Learn required increasing the amount of instructional time for the least prepared students to enable them to master the curriculum. In the 1980’s, RAND developed a set of institutional quality indicators, including teacher qualification, curriculum, and spending indicators." The article cites Eight Factors Which Impact Opportunity to Learn. One example is "an OTL study in Ghana found that the overly ambitious curriculum was poorly aligned with teacher capability, so that less than half of the material was actually covered during the school year. However, the national examinations measured learning on the entire curriculum, so that the theoretical maximum score that most students could achieve would be 50 percent, even if they learned all of the material covered perfectly." For more resources and research on this topic, visit the Blog Archives at: Opportunity to Learn Feel free to share additional articles or resources related to "Opportunity to Learn." Martin Luther King Remembered 01/16/2010
 On January, 18, 2010, people across the United States and throughout the world will pause to remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). As a pastor, father, communicator, and community leader, Dr. King encouraged Americans to provide equal opportunities regardless of race. It took education nearly fifty years to make the transition from segregated schools to integrated schools. Dr. King's leadership and the efforts of countless others who believed in equal rights helped provide educational opportunities for all students. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled, "We conclude that the doctrine of 'seperate but equal' has no place. Seperate educational facilities are inherently unequal" (Chief Justice Earl Warren in Brown v. Board of Education). In Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This letter was written on April 16, 1963, approximatly nine years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Dr. King challenged seperate facilities for whites and blacks. He also emphasized that a quality education should not be denied to any child. The ongoing work of K-12 curriculum development focuses on reaching each child and supporting the priorities identified in state and local curriculum documents. Recently, I read a book written by Malcolm Gladwell titled, Outliers. Gladwell (2008) wrote, "Marita doesn't need a brand new school with acres of playing fields and gleaming facilities. She doesn't need a laptop, a smaller class, a teacher with a PhD, or a bigger apartment......All those things would be nice, of course. But they miss the point. Marita just needed a chance" (p. 268-269). As we remember the legacy of Dr. King, educators can focus on "Opportunity to Learn" in each school. Do African American students have access to advanced courses or do AP and Honors courses look like a school within a school (See Advancing Minority High Achievement, College Board, Feb. 2000)? Do teachers have beliefs about students which cause them to have lower expectations for some students? Do students receive a rigorous curriculum on both sides of town, or does a rigorous curriculum depend on school assignment or the neighborhood school? Does injustice still exist in our school district? How can injustice be addressed in our school district? Does the achievement gap (which is a nationwide dilemma - See Facts on Achievement Gap, Harvard University) cause us to evaluate our current teaching practices in an effort to reach more students? Do more African American students drop out of school? How can we make Martin Luther King Day a day to focus on improving education for all students? What other questions does our school district need to ask? "As June approaches, with its graduation ceremonies and speeches, a thought suggests itself...Whatever career you may choose for yourself--doctor, l awyer, teacher--let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it. Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights. Make it a central part of your life. It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher. It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man . Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. , 18th April, 1959 Resources for educators which address Brown v. Board of Education (1954) are available at: http://www.landmarkcases.org This site was developed to provide teachers with a full range of resources and activities to support the teaching of landmark Supreme Court cases, helping students explore the key issues of each case. These resources include photos, speeches, political cartoons, DBQ's, Questions to Consider, and additional primary sources. The following quote provides an opportunity for educators to discuss opportunity to learn, curriculum development, essential learnings, enduring understandings, the enacted curriculum, curriculum alignment and pacing. Additional resources on these topics may be found by clicking on the topics listed in the blog archives. This quote explains the complexity of K-12 curriculum development. “The enacted curriculum, the actual instruction delivered in the classroom, is ultimately controlled by the teacher, negotiated with a particular set of students at a particular time. In designing the enacted curriculum, teachers make content decisions about how much time to spend, what topics to cover within what time, which students are to study what content and to what standards of achievement. Collectively, these four teacher content decisions determine school provided opportunity to learn (Porter et al. 1988). As a result, there are substantial differences in the enacted curriculum provided by teachers teaching ostensibly the same course, even within the same school” (Porter, 1989). Questions for Discussion: 1. Does our school system have a process for curriculum development? 2. Does our school system use technology to support ongoing collaboration and professional conversations regarding K-12 curriculum decisions? 3. What is our current reality? In other words, what is the enacted curriculum? 4. What are the four teacher content decisions that determine school provided opportunity to learn? 5. How can this short quote help our staff improve our current K-12 curriculum development process? Reference: Porter, A. C. (1994). Standards and school improvement in the 1990's: Issues and Promise. American Journal of Education, 102(4), 421-449.  Curriculum is written by state government, local school districts, individual teachers, non-profit organizations, and other groups which offer lessons and academic materials for teachers and students. The written curriculum is designed to outline what students should know and be able to do and to support student achievement. Teachers and organizations have spent thousands of hours developing curriculum, only to have it sit on the shelf in a classroom or misinterpreted. What can teachers do to support student achievement? How can teachers and administrators monitor the written and taught curriculum to ensure alignment? The following curriculum types are important for teachers to understand as they reflect on curriculum, instruction and assessment. I. Intended The intended curriculum consists of the written curriculum or plans that have been predetermined prior to the class. II. Enriched The enriched curriculum is when teachers enhance the curriculum or develop opportunities for acceleration for students who have mastered the written curriculum. Enriched curriculum involves providing multiple opportunities for students to engage in key concepts and skills at their readiness level. III. Watered-Down Some teachers offer the enriched curriculum to the students who are prepared for acceleration and the watered-down curriculum to the students who have demonstrated low growth or who do not understand the key concepts and skills identified in the unit. IV. Received Many teachers and administrators fail to monitor the received curriculum. The received curriculum is what an individual student receives. If one student receives the enriched curriculum and another student receives the watered-down curriculum, then each student's chance for success will be drastically different. View Opportunity to Learn. Conclusion: All students should receive a guaranteed and viable curriculum (Marzano). If the received curriculum varies from one class to the next, then it will be difficult for teachers at the next grade level to build on prior knowledge and understandings. One of the goals of teaching is to ensure close alignment between the intended, taught, assessed, and received curricula. Questions to Consider: 1. Does your school have a guaranteed and viable curriculum? 2. How is the intended curriculum different from the received curriculum? 3. Do teachers implement the written curriculum/intended curriculum or do teachers create curriculum in isolation? 4. Ask yourself, would I want my son or daughter to experience the watered-down curriculum and miss out on parts of the district's intended curriculum? What the best and wisest parent wants for his or her own child, that must the community want, for all of its children. John Dewey As cited by Gene Carter, Executive Director ASCD ASCD Education Update - December 2006, p. 2 5. What mechanism does your school have in place to monitor the received curriculum? One of the tasks of curriculum leadership is to use the right methods to bring the written, the taught, the supported, and the tested curriculums into closer alignment, so that the learned curriculum is maximized. - Allan Glatthorn, Curriculum Renewal (1987), p. 4 Those Kids 08/28/2009
Have you ever sat in a meeting with teachers and administrators and heard the term "those kids." If you have heard someone utter, "those kids," then it is likely that you have also heard the following phrases: "That group"; "They have been that way since elementary school."; "That side of town"; "They don't act like the other students." As we begin the school year, I am frightened to think that a group of teachers would say "those kids" when referring to my own children. If it is inappropriate to say about my children, then it is inappropriate to voice about other people's children. In the book titled, Other People's Children, Lisa Delpit (1995) wrote, "If we do not have some knowledge of children's lives outside the realms of paper-and-pencil work, and even outside of their classrooms, then we cannot know their strengths. Not knowing students' strengths leads to our 'teaching down' to children from communities that are culturally different from that of the teachers in the school. Because teachers do not want to tax what they believe to be these students' lower abilities, they end up teaching less when, in actuality, these students need more of what school has to offer" (p. 173). Questions for Educators to Consider: 1. Do teachers in your school use the term, "Those Kids"? 2. Is it addressed by the team, or do we all secretly feel like that is the best we can expect from "those kids"? 3. Do students live up to the teachers' expectations? 4. Do our perceptions of students impact curriculum planning and instruction? 5. Do all students receive the (written curriculum) Key Concepts and Key Skills when teachers have lower expectations for one student or for a group of students? 6. If we treat "other people's children" like our own children, does it change our views towards the curriculum, instruction and learning goals? 7. How can we change our school culture to a culture where "those kids" become "our kids"? (See DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008). If teachers and principals believe the impetus for student learning remains outside of their influence and there is nothing they can do to overcome these external variables, the idea of school improvement will undoubtedly seem futile, if not downright ridiculous. (DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker, 2008, p. 59) Make a collective decision to eliminate the term "Those Kids". References: Delpti, L. (1995). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The New Press. DuFour, R., DuFour, R. & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. | AuthorSteven Weber is the Director of Secondary Instruction for Orange County Schools in Hillsborough, NC. Weber has served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, and state department of education consultant in Arkansas and North Carolina. He consults school systems in aligning their curriculum and in unpacking curriculum standards.  ArchivesMarch 2010 CategoriesAll |
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