Hip, hip, hooray! I second your comment that we must teach kids to access information, learn to discern the merit and validity of the source - while also making a connection between the informattion and their own unique lives.

Have you been hanging around with many librarians?

I struggle with this in my work as a teacher librarian. I find that the classroom teachers are generally anxious and frustrated with bringing their students into the LRC to “do” the “research reports.” How do I convince teachers to spend precious time in the evaluation stage - the part where we talk about the information seeking process, which sources were most helpful, which were not, frustrations, new search strategies, etc…when the teachers need to move onto the next topic - ie “coverage?” and there are 3 more classes lined up on the schedule just to get in the library door?

Have you ever worked with the Big 6 model for information problem-solving? http://www.big6.com/

Kate: Great to see you using the tools. I have a 15 year old that dreads the process of research and I believe that it comes from the anxiety of the teachers sometimes. I’ll be interested to hear more. Keep blogging.

Lisa

Thank you Lisa.

I wonder how many people truly understand the� the research process. Many teachers have students conduct information gathering and informational report writing, not information problem-sloving or true research - thesis proving. The skills of a research process can be taught through fun and engaging activities -I am a personal fan of the probelm-solving model. I wonder if some classroom teachers are afraid to ask for help or if they don’t even know that they need help.� Perhaps it is simply my own fixation on “research” - what it is and what it isn’t. Little kids - elementary school-aged kids can conduct fun and exciting research reports! I am a big fan of the Big 6 http://www.big6.com/ - I highly recommend it! When I suggest that classroom teachers take a look at some of the Big 6 ativities they usually say, “I don’t have time for that!” They probably don’t.

No woder the ETS found that college students don’t know who to evaluate informational sources! ets.org/ictliteracy/prelimfindings.html

Just today a teacher was rather rude to me b/c I wanted to talk to her class during their first visit to the LRC so that I could show them some excellent databases and reliable sources to begin their information seeking.
A lot of the problems that we experience when trying to teach the kids the skills of research could be nipped before the project even begins if the classroom teacher would allow someone (library media specialist, or other specialist depending on the project) to help them design a model of instruction that is rigorous and engaging, yet fun and a different approach than notecards, notecards, notecards - write the report.

And it is my limitation that I don’t know how to help people find time to sit, plan, talk, listen, entertain new ideas, share, learn together� - I’ve hit a wall in my own professional growth and I am frustrated. The volume of what we all have to do is so great and I am wondering what I can do better to help people from the planning stages and sometimes I feel like I am just spread too thin that truly have an impact. � �

Kate

You bring up very sobering instances of why so many youngsters graduating from Lorain County public schools need remediation before they can be mainstreamed into the college experience. I was taught that middle and high school is an opportunity to teach students “how” to study rather than gathering information. I suspect the “No Child Left Untested” act has resulted in teachers scrambling to pour in information rather than focusing on things like how to conduct research, to gather thoughts and to communicate those thoughts.

Many teachers cite the lack of time to prepare their work activities for the day.

I think CLE and other organizations need to look more closely at developing curricular wiki’s - segmented by grade level and subject area that will enable teachers to collaborate to develop curriculum that shares the best of ideas. The use of wiki’s with appropriate links to resources embedded in them can help teachers understand their own research methods and in turn help their students to do the same. Unfortunately, too many teachers to not understand the power these new web-based tools can do for their own teaching and research.

Thanks for your suggestions to help teachers, John. Katie, I think we need to be congnizant of the pressures teachers have to stay on a timeline, follow curriculum maps, prepare for “the test” and understand (as you mentioned in an earlier post) that teachers are overwhelmed with the amount of curriculum, data and students they need to manage each and every day. As a media specialist you can play an essential role in designing and aligning resources for teachers prior to a project to enhance and enrich the learning opportunities for students. I was also a specialist teacher, and found that colleagues were more open to my ideas and assistance when I was offering ideas and support in advance, so that they knew what I had to offer during their planning phase. With the current curriculum maps, you, as a media specialist could distribute an electronic newsletter each month with ideas and information which you know will help them prepare and support their goals and objectives for that time period. As John suggested when we direct them to resources with embedded supports they soon will find that students become stronger and learning opportunities become more positive! Thanks for all you do.

I recommend the following article to all teachers and administrators in Lorain County. The article as well as embedded references are a topic for many conversations. The article is found at Innovate

The April/May issue of Innovate focuses on the Net Generation, a generation
that grew up with video games, computers, and the Internet. The
expectations, attitudes, and fluency with technology of this new generation
present both a challenge and an opportunity for educators. In this special
issue of Innovate, guest edited by Chris Davis, we examine how educators
and educational systems can respond to the challenge and leverage the
opportunity.

Kassandra Barnes, Raymond Marateo, and S. Pixy Ferris introduce the issue
by describing the learning styles and preference of Net Generation learners
and the implications of these attributes for educators. (See this page)

The technology that shapes these students’ lives can seem dangerous to
adults. Mark van ‘t Hooft explores the issue related to online social
networking and online communication tools by teenagers. While the first
reaction of many parents and schools is to limit access to these tools to
protect children, van ‘t Hooft argues that children can show adults
the use and benefits of the technology, while adults can develop
children’s understanding of the responsible use of technology. (See this page)

Because many higher education classrooms are a mix of students from
multiple generations, understanding the needs of all generations is key to
being effective, especially when using technology to support learning. To
meet this need, Paula Garcia and Jingjing Qin describe a research project
that analyzed the differences and similarities between traditional and
non-traditional students in regards to comfort with technology and
attitudes about learning. (See this page)

To understand the consequences of Web 2.0, Dana Wilber discusses her
ethnographic study of a Net Generation college student illustrating some of
the ways that online journals and social networking sites are used by
students and providing a window for educators to consider how these tools
can be used to support learning. (See this page)

Of course, technology continues to evolve in ways that shape education.
John Thompson describes the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and how this
affects learning and teaching. Where Web 1.0 provided access to massive
volumes of information, Web 2.0 provides users with the ability to become
producers as well as consumers of this information. This technology
transition puts pressure on education to also become more interactive and
enable learners to be producers as well as consumers. (See this page

The impact of the Net Generation reaches beyond the classroom. Holly
Peterson discusses how to engage alumni from this generation, using a case
study of one organization’s effort to establish an online alumni
community. This experience can guide anyone attempting to create an online
community; the lessons learned may apply to attempts to reach current
students as well as alumni. (See this page)

Finally, in his Places to Go feature, Stephen Downes discusses Google as
the site that most reflects the spirit and characteristics of the Net
Generation. Using the Google search results for “Net Generation,” Downes
reflects on how the Net Generation accesses, creates, and uses information.
Just as Google represents a dramatic change in managing information
compared to traditional forms of media, the Net Generation represents a
changing approach to media. (See this page.)

We hope that you enjoy this special issue of Innovate. Please explore our
discussion boards, live webcasts, and other features as well. And please
forward this announcement to colleagues who are interested in using
information technology in creative ways.

Verizon unveiled its new online portal for educators to access curriculum. Thinkinfinity.org is just one site that teachers and school administrators should check out as an example of how online curricular resources will become increasingly available in years to come. How will these tools be integrated with quality teaching by excellent teachers?

http://www.marcopolo-education.org/about/press_release_2007_03_27.aspx

MarcoPolo IS a great site and hase been used by educators for quite some time!

Perhaps I am wrong, but I do not think that colleges and universities are dwelling on remedial courses on research. I think the problem is more basic: they find that they must offer remedial courses on reading, writing, and mathematics. They also frequently demand that new students must take them.

At least that is true at the community colleges. For example, the table below shows some recent data:

Percent of first year students in remedial courses in two year colleges:

Public 2yr College Reading 20; Writing 25; Mathematics 34

Private 2yr College Reading 11; Writing 18; Mathematics 23

Source: Remedial Courses: Estimates of Student Participation and the Volume of Remediation in U.S. Community Colleges, By Hunter R. Boylan and D. Patrick Saxon, National Center for Developmental Education,
http://www.ncde.appstate.edu/reserve_reading/Remedial_Courses.htm

Once again, testing or no testing, the problem in elementary education and secondary education appears that it is much more that the students are not gaining a sufficient level of skills and general knowledge, whether or not they have “learned how to learn.” As for “thinking critically,” perhaps they can… as long as between 10 and 30% of them are not required to read, write or do math as part of their thinking.

Educators should remember that the push for testing that resulted in NCLB legislation was much more a result of the existence of a large percentage of unprepared primary and secondary students than it is a cause.

Cause or affect…NCLB legislation is clearly not the answer to the problem of underprepared students.

The stress, fear and anxiety associated with the stakes of the No Child Left Behind mandate are unhealthy and inappropriate conditions for anyone, especially children.

There is a people problem and the public school system is being used as the cure-all for the human problems of American Society.

Aside from using the public schools as means to solve all of the ailments of the human condition, perhaps your investigation needs further analysis.

Could it be that some of the 10-30% of college students enrolled in remedial college courses are first generation college students? If so, these students will have a different background experience (you spoke of background knowledge in a different post - background knowledge also applies to home life, upbringing and other human experiences). These first generation college students may not have had the luxury of a scholarly upbringing. Perhaps they are glad to enroll in a remedial course, just as long as they do not have to be a factory worker or farmer.

In no way am I criticizing people who did not attend college or children of blue collar families. I am also not lowering the bar of expectations. I am simply pointing out that the experiences of people whose parents attended college may be different from those who did not.

To elaborate, if I have a child, I will be able to offer her advice for mastering collegiate paperwork, entrance exams, financial aid forms, etc. Clearly she will have somewhat of an advantage over another student whose parents did not experience these activities and have no advice to offer on the expectations of the scholarly life or hoops through which to jump.

Here’s a story from NPR about first generation college students http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10089929�

In previous eras of American History college was for the elite, the wealthy, the ultra intelligent and those whose father’s could pay their way through Yale.

College has become the expectation for all when perhaps some students would be more successful (and happier) in other lines of work. There is nothing wrong with learning skills and trades. My cousin never attended college and he is a very successful HVAC contractor – he out earns me and I have two graduate degrees. The jobs and opportunities for him don’t stop coming! He’s always moving up, networking, participating in exciting projects, supported by his colleagues - he seems pretty satisfied with his work opportunities!

College isn’t for everyone. Lebron James wasn’t required to attend college and he enjoys a successful, not to mention profitable career.

Hi Joe:

Are you saying that a decline in the teaching of “skills and general knowledge” has resulted in increased need for remediation? After spending twenty years in and around public education, I can attest to the fact that the teaching of facts and general knowledge is alive and well.

Thank you Jeff and Kate.

I urge you all to check out the blog site of Dr. Michael Kirst, Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford Univesity.

http://thecollegepuzzle.blogspot.com/

A GREAT review of the issue of remediation and its definition can be found at Crosstalk

http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0107/voices0107-kirst.shtml

He addresses the issue of remediation and college preparedness in public schools by saying

College Success Begins in High School

More than 70% of high school graduates now go on to postsecondary education. Yet, a new study of high school student engagement reveals some major concerns about the level of college preparedness of those students.
See “Voices of Students on Engagement: A Report on the 2006 Survey of Student Engagement”.

Using a national sample of grades 9-12, the survey found that:

· Fewer than half of the students go to high school because of what happens within the classroom environment
· A great majority of students are bored every day, if not in every class
· 43% spend 0-1 hour doing written homework, 83% spend 5 hours or less
· 55% spend 0 or 1 hour per week reading and studying for class, 90% spend 5 hours or fewer
· Students want more active learning such as peer working groups and presentations
· Girls report being more engaged across all dimensions of high school engagement than boys. (Girls were 58% of 4 year college graduates in 2006).

Engagement within a high school context is about a student’s relationship with the school community (adults, peers, curriculum, facilities, etc). Importantly, however, I believe that this study should raise concerns that many of these high school students will become at-risk college students who will not experience college success for the very reason that they were not sufficiently engaged in high school.

posted by The College Puzzle at 4/01/2007

The report he cites can be found at

http://ceep.indiana.edu/hssse/pdf/HSSSE_2006_Report.pdf

His analysis makes our discussion one that every educator and leader needs to consider as we envision schools that will prepare students to succeed academically and intellectually in college.

I think that we’re all saying the same thing:

Students want and need engaging learning experiences, teachers need to employ a dynamic teaching style in order to engage students in learning, and our current public education system is not doing enough to prepare students for life after high school, be it work or college.

Do we all agree?

I think the next course of action is to get back to the topic begun by Tricia and talk about WHAT we can do and HOW we are going to address these problems of student preparedness.

In further reflection on some of the posts in this blog (including my own comments) I feel that it is not conducive to focus our attentions on the problems, limitations and shortcomings of the public school system.

We are all well aware that there are problems.

I think we need to refocus and reflect on our purpose - helping children and teachers to improve.

In other forums and threads we have talked about attracting teachers and other public school employees to the blog – fostering a meaningful dialogue amongst practicing professionals. Let’s be honest – it appears that this blog lacks what we most desire – meaningful conversations amongst practicing educators. It looks to me as if I am the only current full-time employee of a K-12 public school system waxing on this site. Please correct me if I am wrong. To be even more honest, I am growing tired of the negativity – my own and that of other bloggers.

We are not going to attract other professionals to the site if at first glance it appears that we are bashing the very difficult work that they do and focusing on the flaws of the system.

When I was trained in the Accelerated School Process the first thing they taught us for fostering change in a fractured environment was to focus on and celebrate the successes.

Perhaps this is something we should do here, now – focus on and celebrate the successes of our students, teachers and schools, rather than fostering a continuation of what they are already experiencing – criticism, frustration, and judgment.

I donno…I just think we’re getting off track. I want to be a part of the solution, not the problem. I want to help improve teaching and learning and something just doesn’t feel right about what we’re doing here. I think we could be doing a better service if we were finding and talking about the examples of success instead of loading our blog with examples of failures.

I know teachers and pointing out how they fall short doens’t work. We’re not going to attract other teachers if we keep this up. We need something GREAT to attract them and this just doesn’t feel like it - at least not in my opinion.

Thank you. Katie Bunsey

First of all, I think that we agree on things perhaps more than you expect.

For example, among other things, I believe the following:

1. College is not for everybody, and probably too many people feel compelled to get some college.

2. Public schools are being asked to play too many roles,

3. Learning how to solve problems is a good thing,

4. Learning how to work in groups successfully is a good and necessary skill, and

5. Children from stable families with rich intellectual environments generally have an advantage over those who are not.

It is not unusual for people to lay school achievement problems at the feet of bad or difficult parenting. No doubt some of that is true. But moving away from the anecdotes into the data we find that the general trend, when American schools are compared with their peers in other countries, shows a different result. According to a study by the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the longer the average American student is in school, the further behind he or she falls compared to peers in other countries.

In the fourth grade, the averages of American students is equal to or better than 88% of those in the tested other countries in science and 54% of math. As time goes on, so does the comparison. In the eight year of school the Americans outperform 59% of other countries tested in science and 13% in math. In the final year of secondary school, Americans fall to 24% in science and 14% in math. In the advanced category it fell to 6% in math and 6% in science. That means that of the average, American students out performed those of only six percent of the other countries participating. (See: “Highlights from TIMSS,” NCES 1999-081)

When children are in infancy, the family is the dominate influence. As time goes on and as the child enters and progresses in school, the family typically becomes less and less of an influence on the child’s education. The school becomes relatively more significant. This and the test scores cited above, strongly indicate that American families (when compared to those in other countries) are a relatively rich learning environment for their children. Conversely, the schools are a relatively poor environment. Given that the scores fell from an 80% level to a 6% level in eight short years, it appears that the school environment is so lacking that it is alarming.

Educators in public school systems tend to sound alike. The common refrain goes something like this: “We deemphasize the learning of mere facts. Rather, we teach the kids how to think critically, cooperate in group projects, and learn how to learn.” The test scores indicate that the kids had better “learn how to learn.” They have done so little learning in school, perhaps they can do some later.

Knowledge and skills are what is lacking. I see no way that any amount of “learning how to learn” or “critical thinking” is going to make up for this kind of deficit. At these levels, we are talking about ignorance. We’re talking about achievement and knowledge on a par with or worse than third world countries. These are countries where much of the populace still looks out for the “evil eye” and is on guard against “djinn” evil spirits.

My concern here, is not so much for the children in the college preparatory, or advanced academic programs. The schools tend to do reasonably well for these students. In many cases, they are smart enough and motivated enough to make up for institutional deficits on their own.

My concern is for the great middle. It is for those students whose cognitive abilities are at or near (no more than one standard deviation from) the population mean. These are children that during their elementary and secondary schooling, should be able to gain very respectable knowledge of the country, its history, its culture, its language, where it sits in the world and should have the skills necessary in expression to be a least respected in the wider world. I fear that many, if not most, of today’s graduates do not fit this description.

On another post, it has been pointed out that basic skills are not so important to a welder or a machinist. Really? I was a department head on a U.S. Navy destroyer. During my time there, one of my duties was to see to it that the enlisted men in my department developed in their specialties. They were the ship’s electricians, machinists, welders, ship-fitters, boiler tenders, engine operators, plumbers and fire fighters. In short, they kept the ship’s machinery operating. In order to understand their equipment, do their jobs and progress in their careers, they all had to read the manuals, solve the mechanical problems, keep the records and take and pass the written tests. All of this required the basic skills of which I write.

Other anecdotes can be instructive. For example, at a recent gathering, I was introduced to a teacher who had recently left her employment at a troubled public school to take up employment at a charter school (also a public school) oriented around serving those students who had been thrown out every other school they attempted. She went on and on about how happy she was that she made the change, how much more stimulating her new environment was, and how rewarding was the work. I pointed out to her, that socio-economically and achievement-wise, there was no material difference between the old group of students and the new one. She agreed.

One difference between the two schools was that in the first one neither teachers nor students chose to be there. In the second one, they both did. In the first school, there was a fifty percent dropout rate. The second school took students who dropped out or had been thrown out, put them back into school and graduated 90% of them. Those that graduated did so by passing the state’s educational assessment exam. In other words, they graduated because they earned it.

To a large extent, each and every public school must meet the needs of every kind of student, every level of talent, every type of behavior, every type of challenge and every type of attitude. This, together with society’s seemingly permissible attitude about school discipline, seems to me to yield a nearly impossible task. There are no opportunities for schools to differentiate and students or their parents to self organize, finding schools that meet their child’s needs. The only way that it is allowed under current practice is to move to another town. Choose your suburb well. Choose one that has schools that fit your child’s needs and interests.

To me, a better idea is to promote school choice. Let parents choose schools for their children. Let schools choose to admit or not admit students. Let the funds follow the student. Let schools be run by parent groups, school boards, contractors, or any or all of the above. Let them self-organize. Set standards and monitor performance. It will promote some level of specialization and competition within the system. It works nearly every place it’s tried.

Finally, I believe that many young people who continue their studies beyond high school do so because they are nearly unemployable unless they do. They cannot read well enough, write well enough, speak the common language in anything but slang, nor can they employ even simple logic or solve simple arithmetic problems. They are ignorant and they realize it. Happily, they do some critical thinking about the situation they are in and since they have learned how to learn, they, at last, go on to do some of it.

They do it at a school of their own choosing that in turn, chooses to admit them.

As far as volunteering, I think I will pass. I remember being at a meeting in Oberlin not too long ago, where a group proudly discussed the number of fourth graders in their volunteer tutoring program for reading. I did the math in my head (Oberlin schools taught you to do that when I went there). This indicated to me that they were admitting to two things: a) approximately 40% of Oberlin’s fourth graders were in tutoring programs, and b) relatively untrained volunteers could accomplish what self-proclaimed, highly trained professionals using the “latest, research based reading programs” could not: teach a kid how to read.

I note that surgeons (even pediatric surgeons) do not call for volunteers to help clear their backlog; nor do other professionals. I don’t think that teachers should either. They should do what they are paid to do and get it right. They should do so even if that means that they have to give up on some charming theories proffered by respected intellectuals, and do what works. (See: http://www.lewrockwell.com/taylor/taylor26.html, or for more depth: http://www.sopriswest.com/pdfs/whole_language_high_jinks.pdf)

Hi Kate
I am sorry you sense negativity in the blogs. It is true that you are the only K-12 teacher with regular commentary. I hope we begin to invite more. I think the criticism you talk about is meant more as critique and is meant to invite dicussion and find solutions. This is not easy and I can only imagine how frustrating it is for you and other great teachers who work so hard every day. As you say, there are many successes to be celebrated.

My posting of April 4th with the reference to Innovate http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php? and the article is only one source of HOW teachers can be invited to engage students more in the process. Other interesting sites are found at The George Lucas Funded program called Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/

The Nord Family Foundation has provided support for many years now to integrate Universal Design for Learining in schools, through the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) http://www.CAST.org CAST is active in North Ridveille Schools and others in the county. North Ridgeville has also introduced Co-teaching in their schools which is an innovative approach to teaching. I hope Larry Bowersox or Craig Phillips will provide some commentary on that great project at some point. Finally, there are great efforts underway with Knowledgeworks Foundation http://www.kwfdn.org/ They have worked in the Lorain and Elyria schools and making very positive change in those schools as well. They work closely with The Center for Leadership in Education in those efforts.

This site alone is a new experiment in communication among teachers. It is meant as a place where people can feel free to express their ideas, frustrations and hopes. We are still finding our way. I cannot thank you enough for the effort and time you take to post. I learn so much from your comments.

It is my hope this site can become a place where teachers can share those successes, frustrations and best practices. The task is to get more teachers talking!!

Wow. There are some strong opinions out there. Okay, I will throw myself out there with Katie in being one of the educators that responds to these blogs. I teach high school science. Look we can debate which system is better (public schools vs charter schools) and whether socio-economic issues impacts student performance more than the type of education a child receives, etc. We can analyze data until we are blue in the face. How does all this discussion effect ME? How can I affect change in my classroom with the tools that I have in my possession and under the rules that govern my world? Especially since I don’t see those “rules” changing any time soon. I guess I feel empowered rather than discouraged because for 48 minutes and 5 periods a day these kids are in my realm. In my realm they explore science facts, problem-solving skills, creativity, hands-on experiences, and successful learning. I dwell on things like how can I remove the barriers that will keep kids from learning in my class. I wonder how can I design lessons that will engage the reluctant learner as well as the gifted learner. I think about what labs I’m going to do and how I can design the lab to make it fun and engaging at the same time. I think about how can I satisfy the state standards and still make room for relevant and pertinent learning. I guess what my students choose to do with what I have taught them while they are under my “sphere of influence” is entirely up to them.

I’m sorry but I don’t have time to fix public policy. I don’t have time to debate the reasons for the remediation of incoming college freshman. I don’t have time to compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of public versus charter schools. I’m lucky to have time to sit here and blog during my spring break. I will say this. The “positives” of my job far outweigh the negativity that exists surrounding the education world.

I’ll leave you with this quote from one of my students who recently left my class to move to another state. She said to me “Mrs. Yox I have to give you PROPS (proper respect) for being the best science teacher I have ever had. You are way better than some of the other teachers I have had and I wish I could stay in this class.” It was a bitter sweet moment but it makes me believe that what I am doing is for all the right reasons.

I am VERY glad that Jody spoke up. Thanks Jody! I apologize for leaving you out.

I appreciate John’s concern. Thank you.

I like what Jody said, “How does this effect ME?”

“ME” being the most important factor in the classroom - the teacher. I am glad that Jody was able to help put some of these things into perspective and remind me of time management: take what you need, do what you can, use what works and leave the rest behind.

Thanks, Jody!

I have a little story for Joe:

Just yesterday I was at the one of the top 3 hospitals in the country, the Cleveland Clinic, which is home of the nations leading heart program. I had a map, so I was pretty confident we’d find where we were going – it is a very large institution. As we walked through the many different hallways, corridors and the skyway we were routinely greeted and asked if we needed assistance by, guess what…??? Volunteers and lots of them! These volunteers were not performing the very delicate procedure under which I went – nor would I want them to, but they were able to provide other valuable patient services – services that helped me to feel better in what can be an overwhelming experience.

Joe, in response to your comment, “I note that surgeons (even pediatric surgeons) do not call for volunteers to help clear their backlog; nor do other professionals. I don’t think that teachers should either.” I think that I can clarify where I was coming from with my invitation for you to volunteer.

My invitation for you to volunteer in one of the public schools in which I work was just that, an invitation to meet and participate with some of our students. I think that our students benefit when they receive live support from enthusiastic community members. The students like seeing and being seen. We have different programs to support community involvement. When I worked in the elementary schools we would invite community members to participate in special reading celebrations such as “Right to Read Week” and the kids loved meeting outside folks. I thought that perhaps you would like to get involved in a different fashion.

Rest assured Joe, that I would never ask a volunteer to do the special work that I am trained to do as a professional teacher and librarian. There are other simple, yet valuable roles that volunteers are able to fulfill. Some of these tasks include, stuffing envelopes, shelving books in the library, listening to students independently read books, deprocessong the cancelled library materials, laminating, coloring, cutting and assembling manipulative materials for special education students, cleaning tables and chairs, decorating bulletin boards, running copies and assisting in the lunchroom.

Surly a surgeon would never be asked to clean the tables in the hospital cafeteria. Perhaps you are not aware that classroom teachers are required to work in the school lunchrooms of many schools.

Joe, I apologize that you misunderstood my comment and assure you that I did not mean to imply that basic skills were not important to a welder or machinist. The point was that learning skills and trades is still a viable route for those who are interested. My point – which admittedly I was not being very clear or concise in Monday’s post - was also that there are many people who didn’t attend a 4-year college and sometimes those people out skill folks who did attend college and beyond. I was noting that college isn’t the end-all-be-all for everyone. I apologize that I my idea did not come across more clearly.

Joe, I think that you have some good points and I am glad that you participate here with us. For example, I think there are many teachers who are also concerned for “the great middle” and they would be glad to hear more on that topic.

At other times though your comments appear inflammatory and as if your intention is simply to criticize and argue. Your most recent comment, “These are countries where much of the populace still looks out for the ‘evil eye’ and is on guard against ‘djinn’ evil spirits” seems culturally insensitive and simply unnecessary.

Joe, I encourage you and all of the blog participants (me included) to focus on what is most important – supporting the efforts of GREAT TEACHERS and celebrating the successes of our students.

Good things spread – when others see the good things going on here, they too will want to participate.

Let’s look at some of the fundamentals of the task that (to a very large extent) public education has carved out for itself.

First of all, consider the concept that I have seen in the education literature that hopes that “every child will be taught by an excellent teacher.” I call this the “Lake Woebegone dream.” All children are not above average, and never will all teachers be excellent. There will be some that are excellent, some that are good, and some that are mediocre. How else would we know that the excellent ones are, in fact, excellent?

The real trick is to design a system where the average teacher can be successful and teachers that cannot or will not perform can move on.

There exists a similar issue with students. While I have only anecdotal (and experiential) evidence for the following, I confident that what I am about to describe is true.

A wise and experienced education consultant once told me that again and again, he would see excellent classes, filled with hard working and dedicated students fall into chaos once the population of students with behavior problems reached approximately 15% of the class.

He described what happened when classrooms or complete schools that would receive a relatively small number of students with disciplinary problems. He described how the new students would, in his words, “look around and see everybody else working. The peer pressure would cause most of them to knuckle down and do their best. But once the population of ‘cut-ups’ reached 15% or so, they would get the upper hand. They would feed on each other’s behavior, disrupt the class with near impunity, and the performance of everyone would plummet.” A tipping point had been reached.

Students have wide differences in cognitive ability. I know that Howard Gardner and his followers assert a theory of multiple intelligences, where individuals have varying abilities in various disciplines. Some go so far as to say that every child is gifted in at least one of these “intelligences.” No doubt some have better talents for arts, sports, socialization, politics, or any number of things than some others. Nevertheless, we are concerned here about the ability to absorb, understand and build on communications, problem solving, mathematics, science, history and the like. This is cognitive ability, roughly measured by IQ.

Like it or not, the IQ’s in the population of the United States is distributed in accordance with what is known in mathematics as the Gaussian or “normal” distribution. The mean of this distribution is 100, and it has a standard deviation of about 15.
(See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:IQ_curve.svg)

Lewis Terman (1916) developed the original notion of IQ and using very politically incorrect terms, proposed this scale for classifying IQ scores: a) Over 140 - Genius or near genius; b) 120 - 140 - Very superior intelligence; c) 110 - 119 - Superior intelligence; d) 90 - 109 - Normal or average intelligence; e) 80 - 89 – Dullness; f) 70 - 79 - Borderline deficiency; and g) Under 70 - Definite feeble-mindedness.

No doubt the names, perhaps even the classifications have changed, but it still remains that 90% of the population have an IQ of 80 points or above. It also means that if we have a random class of say 100 students, you can be confident that about 5 of them will an IQ of 125 or above and probably 1 will have an IQ of 135 or above. About 15 of them will have an IQ of 85 or below.

An Australian researcher, of whom I have lost track, estimated that typically an individual with an IQ of 85 will have to be introduced to any new concept that he is capable of grasping eight times in order to understand it. A person with an IQ of 135, needs be introduced to the same new concept only once. My life experience tells me that this research is at least close to being correct.

I do not understand how the same class, or perhaps even the same school can deal with this type of diversity in cognitive ability when everyone is grouped together. Either many will be bored or many will be confused. I see no other outcome. But that is what we do.

Suppose we design or educational system so that students with a reasonable level of diligence and motivation can be expected to do the following: a) IQ >85, graduate from high school, b) IQ> 107, capable of college work, c) IQ> 112, can complete college, and d) IQ > 125 capable of graduate degrees. I submit that is approximately what we do now.

Given these assumptions: approximately 15% will not graduate from high school, 23% will graduate from college and 5% will go on to get a graduate degree of some sort

The only way that we can assure that all students will graduate from high school is to make high school such a watered down experience as to make the degree meaningless.

It seems that we could predict that a school that tried to be all things to all students could soon be densely populated with bored students, angry students, confused students, and resentful students longing for a way out.

The only way to keep many of the students in such school is through some sort of societal coercion.

I ask if this does not sound familiar?

This is the world outside of Lake Woebegone, where not all children are above average and some children do get left behind. But all children are important and the education offered should be attuned to their abilities and to their needs.

What do we do about this?