Just discovered...

I was poking around the Anchorage School District website, and discovered that the ASD just adopted Everyday Math 2007, Third Edition. It will be mandatory for all ASD schools within two years. It was done with little controversy and no protests.

Saxson math lost out because it scored poorly on the rubric they used to evaluate the different programs.

Here is the "Student Lens" part of the rubric:

I. Student Lens

The materials provides the following for the needs/rights
of students:

a. The purpose of learning, including objectives, standards,
goals, criteria and evaluation rubrics are clear for students

b. Students can choose from a variety of strategies to
explore, solve, and communicate math concepts

c. Students are engaged through a variety of activities
which may include independent projects, cooperative
learning, manipulatives, technology, collaborative work, etc.

d. Students have opportunities for self-monitoring and
self-reflection

e. Materials make connections to real life applications

f. There is support for individual learning levels

Is it just me, or does anyone else get the feeling the evaluation was rigged?

I am so glad my kids are going to get "opportunities for ... self-reflection" in math class. I was afraid I was going to have to sign them up for yoga class.

Should I be worried?

p.s. Anchorage and Alaska are awesome. I am taking the summer off of school so I will be blogging again.

(crossposted at parentalcation)

What we are up against

Math isn't what it used to be

This isn't an article it's an advertisement for Everyday Mathematics. There isn't even a single mention in the article of the possibility that some parents, teachers, and schools might not like it.

Some selected quotes:

The curriculum is designed to integrate strategies such as algebra, probability, geometry and statistics into the lessons for students as young as kindergarten and first grade. Also through the lessons, students are taught several different techniques to solve problems, while traditionally, students were only taught one way.
...
Fremgen said another benefit is that most of the math ideas spiral through the curriculum throughout the year, so if students don't understand a method or concept the first time, it will come around several other times for them to try again.
...
The program's success also may be because of the curriculum's real-life applications that allow students to use what they learn in everyday experiences, Fremgen said.

This reporter didn't even need to get out of bed to write this article. All she had to do was have the textbook creators fax in the article to her editor.

Real math on the sly...

Shhhhhh,

My 7th graders math teacher brought out some antique math text books from 1991 to supplement the assigned, district bought, "new integrated math" text books.

My 7th grader was told that they would be using the old school textbook most of the time.

The books are on the their last legs (16 years of abuse), but they are light years better than the new books.

The school that isn't

Local News No assignments. No tests. No grades. It's "no problem" for Bothell school. Seattle Times Newspaper:

I wasn't going to blog it. I wasn't really, but it's to easy.

Clearwater is one of about 30 schools that follow the philosophy of the Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts. Such schools are sometimes called "free" and "democratic" schools, where students are responsible for their own learning and have a significant role in governing the school. They also have many parallels with "unschooling," a movement embraced by some homeschooling families who don't follow a set curriculum.
...
When asked what they like best about their school, Clearwater students say the freedom to do what they want, when they want. Even if that means they might not learn everything students at other schools do.

"I won't say I'm amazingly good at advanced calculus," said Josh Pidcock, 19, who's been at Clearwater since he was 12. "I'm not the most studied reader either. I'm OK with that. I figure I can learn that in a college atmosphere much better.(because college is the place to learn how to read)
...
Two of the graduates are now attending community college, and one is enrolled at Earlham College in Indiana. Two others are working. One student left without graduating, Sarantos said, and is in a job-training program.

Three more are set to graduate this year. So far, Campbell has been accepted at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Before he applied, he organized a math class at school to prepare for the SAT and studied on his own.

But Clearwater doesn't measure success by college acceptances. (Thank God for that.)

Almost there.

Memphis Commercial Appeal - Memphis' Source for News and Information: Education:

'If only the parents did what they were supposed to do, I could teach these children.'

Donna Ford has heard teachers say that countless times, and she's not buying it. Most of the problem, she says, is with the schools, not the homes.

Educators have to stop making excuses for the achievement gaps that plague the nation's schools and roll up their sleeves, the Vanderbilt University professor said Friday at a conference at the University of Memphis.

This article gets it right here, but a little later on...

School districts can institute all the new programs and curricula they want, but it will all be for naught if they don't address the most practical needs of students, said Pat Cooper, superintendent of the McComb, Miss., school system.

"If we don't do our job in the school, then there's not one group in the community that can work," he said. "We can't wait for somebody to wave the magic wand and get rid of all of the poor children."

Using the same curriculum for more than a decade, his school district was able to raise the reading scores for all of its students, who are mostly poor and minority, from the low double digits to the high 90s. (link is mine)

Even when schools do well, the media still doesn't mention which curriculum the school used.

For those who are curious, it was Success for All.

blatant bias

How is this for bias in Educations Weeks Talkback section:

What do you think? Does the current approach to school reform favor the regurgitation of random facts over the development of critical and creative thinking?

Interesting terminology... 'regurgitation of random facts'... no prejudice here.

I suppose I could ask...

Does the current approach to education reform favor the the lowering of standards over the mastery of subject matter domain knowledge over ?

This is the kind of thing that makes it hard to take the education establishment seriously.

lucky find

I love free stuff... here is a with a lot of "di" stuff, including training videos. I think it's directed at HS level teachers, but work won't let me view the videos to confirm.

There are even some sample lesson plans for various subjects including 7th grade geometry.

SUHSD - Explicit Direct Instruction

Update:

Via Dickey45:

Tulsa Schools SRA Direct Instruction Site

Lots of links and materials... very good videos.

I frickin hate whole language!

Today, one of my 1st graders homework assignments was to write her spelling words four times each.

Before she writes them, I insist that she reads them to me first, so I know that she can read them, and isn't just memorizing letter combinations.

I point to the first word [say].

"say", she repeats back to me

Great, I think. She has it.

I point to the next word [pay], thinking it should be easy as well.

"near" she says.

I realize that she is going from memory by now, since the word "near" is word number 3 on her list.

"near??? try again" I say, "sound it out this time."

"pppppppp ...... aaaaaaaaa ....... yyyyyyyy(not the vowel sound)... near."

"Skye, the word is not near... sound it out again, and this time put the sounds together"

"OK, daddy. ppppppppp... aaaaaaaaaa... yyyyyyyyyy........ ppppp... aaaaaa... yyyyy... pair."

After a few seconds of this, I start to feel sorry for her, as well as feel a little frustrated, so I decide to help her out a bit.

"'ay', makes an "ay" sound... like in the word 'say'. What sound does an 'a' 'y' make?"

"ay" she yells.

"Excellent!"

I point to the "p" while covering up the "ay".

"pppppp" she says hesitantly.

I point to the "ay"

"ay" she says.

"OK, put them together this time."

She tries again... "pppppp ay... p ay... pay"

"Awesome!" I exclaim, "lets do another one."

I decide to skip the word [near] and point to word #4 [May].

"Number three is near" she says with confidence and a big smile on her cute little face.

Did I mention how much I frickin hate sight reading and whole language?

this article is the schnizzell

D-Ed Reckoning: Schemo gets pwned

D-Ed, performs a smackdown on a NYT article about Madison, Wi schools.

To complicated to explain, except it involves deception, statistics, nation standards, more deception, lying, and deception.

Curious aren't you?

code words

Hard recovery for failed US schools csmonitor.com

The Christian Science monitor has an article up on schools that have to go under administration for failing AYP. One of the examples they use is Sobrante Park Elementary School in Oakland Unified School District. The conclusion is that one reform doesn't work. Successfully transformation of schools has to include several reforms including changing the staff, revamping the curriculum, and other revisions.

They cited Sobrante Park as one school that was able to completely transform itself. Of course in the article, they never do tell us exactly how they managed to make the transformation, but they did give one hint.

The teachers adopted a more scripted and uniform curriculum, making it easier for them to collaborate and for the principal to evaluate them.

Sounds suspiciously like they adopted direct instruction.

The results: The school kicked ass in almost every grade, scoring above average compared to the state scores, despite being predominantly poor and minority.

You think all these media organizations would start to notice the trend.

education quotes

Today I am going to do something different. Here are some quotes from around the education blogosphere.

"Today, educators are better at making excuses and inventing phony disabilities than they are at making educated students." D-EdReckoning

"If we, as teachers, explore the notion of letting go the past and our fear of lost autonomy - in a profession which just might be clinging too tightly to the ideal of individuality for employees over the general welfare/benefit of its consumers - what might we accomplish?" RedKudu

"Public education: Turning our kids into babbling idiots, one by one." Right Wing Professor

"After having done the work to earn a Masters a few years ago, and never hearing about Direct Instruction once during that process, while having some other stuff thrown at me that was pure crap, this makes me a little angry." Dennis Fermoyle

"It’s hard to build on your knowledge if you don’t know much." Joanne Jacobs

"Constructivism is to education what creationism is to science." Instructivist

Illinois is holding back kids

From a comment over at my blog parentalcation.

Illinois law now requires Algebra, Geometry, and an additional year of high school math for high school graduation (previous requirement was 2 years of math, courses not specified).

Sounds good - until the Illinois State Board of Education changed their policy so that students are not allowed to earn credit towards high school graduation before 9th grade.

Net effect: No one can take Algebra before 9th grade.

and

There are students who have completed Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II/Pre-Calculus before 9th grade. Under Illinois law and ISBE policy they have had those three years of high school honors math credits and grades stripped from their Academic Records and High School transcripts. They have exhausted the High School math curriculum through AP Calculus BC by 10th grade, leaving them short of the three years of H.S. math credits required for H.S. graduation - and their GPAs and Class Ranks are now below those of students who have completed H.S. math only through Algebra II.

The ISBE has refused to revise their policy for cases like these, effectively placing a limit on the high end of the achievement spectrum and effectively punishing those students for achieving to the best of their ability.

School policy usually reads something like this example: *No high school credit will be awarded to elementary or middle school students concurrently enrolled in high school courses.* These kids have taken high school courses at the high school, taken the same quizzes, tests, and finals as their high school classmates, but are then informed that their work and effort do not count (and will actually count against them) because they took those classes before they were in 9th grade.

Now they are openly penalizing smart kids.

fantasy vs reality

Dave over at Joannes posted this example of "creative" teaching:

4th grade classroom, students have demonstrated mastery of basic multiplication facts and some conceptual understanding of multiplication as arrays and repeated addition.On the board, the teacher writes a column of 15’s (there are ten in all)151515…15——She instructs students to find the sum mentally but not to raise their hands with any answers at that moment. After a minute, she directs students to discuss their ideas in small groups of 3-4. She tells them to compare their results, not just the sum but HOW they did this. After 2 minutes, she leads a discussion, inviting students from each group to share their ideas. She comments and adds other ways, insuring that students see at least 4 methods. She asks, “Which method is easiest for you? Why?” etc… This does not take more than 15 minutes in all.”

The way it really works:

4th grade classroom, students have demonstrated mastery of basic multiplication facts and some conceptual understanding of multiplication as arrays and repeated addition. On the board, the teacher writes a column of 15’s (there are ten in all) 151515…15——She instructs students to find the sum mentally but not to raise their hands with any answers at that moment. Most of the students breathe a sigh of relief, because they have no idea of the answer. After a minute, she directs students to discuss their ideas in small groups of 3-4. She tells them to compare their results, not just the sum but HOW they did this. The kids form groups and immediately start goofing around. Luckily most of the groups end up with at least one kid who can figure out the problem because their parents tutor them at home. After 2 minutes, she leads a discussion, inviting students from each group to share their ideas. No one answers at first, but she calls on a kid anyway. He mumbles something about doing it in his head. She comments and adds other ways, insuring that students see at least 4 methods. The students furiously copy what she is doing on the board, but not quite sure what she is talking about. She asks, “Which method is easiest for you? Why?” etc… This does not take more than 15 minutes in all. Most of the kids didn’t quite understand the lesson, but that's OK… they will spiral through the curriculum and hit it up several more times over the next year. Eventually by 8th grade 20% of the kids will master the concept. The majority of them will still be adding up the numbers the long way.

Meanwhile over in Sir Zigs class across town. Zig has demonstrated to his students that that if you have the same list of numbers, you can count up how many numbers there are and its the same as a multiplication problem. The kids quickly calculate 10 x 15. Upon Zigs signal, in unison they shout out the answer. Zig gives them several other similar problems, to test their mastery. After 5 minutes, he is sure that they understand. All the kids seem to get it, and he compliments them on how smart they are. It seems like they can spit out the answer almost as fast as he can write problems. This has not taken more 15 minutes. Now that 100% of the kids have mastered this concept, he can move on to something else. He makes a mental note to revisit this concept tomorrow morning, to reinforce it. Eventually, 90+% of his kids will go on to pass the state proficiency exam.

fun with numbers

Janese Heavin writes in the Columbia Tribune:

Coutts said higher scores on assessment tests indicate the Investigations program works. Within two years of implementing the curriculum, Benton Elementary saw a 23 percent increase in the number of fourth-graders scoring proficient or above on the math portion of the Missouri Assessment Program, according to TERC’s 2004 assessment of its curriculum. Since all Columbia elementary classes began using the program in 2003, the number of fourth-graders scoring proficient or above has increased by 5.1 percent.

A little research shows us something different.

From 2002 to 2003 when Columbia school district implemented TERC, the number of students scoring proficient and advanced dropped by 4.9%

Since 2002, the number of 4th graders scoring advanced has decreased by 2.7%.

8th graders, the last group to go through Elementary school without being influenced by TERC are have approximately 9 percentage points more advanced math students than the 7th graders below them.

So what have I proven? Absolutely nothing, I just cherry picked numbers to contradict the supposed miraculous progress made by implementation of TERC.

Here is what we don't know.

How many teachers decided to supplement TERC after implementation?

How many more parents enrolled their students in tutoring programs after implementation of TERC?

How will Investigations affect students when they need mastery of basic math facts to survive in Algebra?

Who killed JFK?

All these questions are unknown, but who cares. As long as I have a lot of numbers and statistics to cherry pick choose from, I am sure that I can prove whatever I want. It's called math-iness.

P.S. Another School District bites the dust.

blogging frenzy

I have to admit, I am taking a small part of satisfaction at the blogging frenzy that I had a small part in starting off.

Dennis asked me if I knew of any teachers who had implemented DI.

It must of started him wondering, because he decided to ask his readers about it.

As I indicated earlier, it is hard to find anyone who is more critical of American education than KDerosa, and much of his criticism is centered around his belief that we are using the wrong teaching methods, especially at the elementary level. I would love to hear from any elementary school teachers who know more about Direct Instruction than I do. I'd especially like to hear from teachers who have used Direct Instruction after using other methods. I would also love to hear from teachers or administrators who know why so few elementary schools use this method. It is a mystery to me why I've heard so much about Direct Instruction from parents, like KDerosa and Rory, and so little about it from teachers.

After that it snowballed. Joanne wonders about the same thing as Dennis.

RedKudu notes that the education system is biased against DI. (I just discovered RedKudu, but it is an excellent blog).

This is how I was taught I should be suspicious of direct instruction styles, and why I believe many teachers may not be aware of what direct instruction is, especially if they're getting the same information I did. The teacher-centered classroom, I was told, is also sometimes called "direct instruction." Did the presenter have a grudge or some bias? Probably. Was the info misused, or misinterpreted at the meeting I attended? Possibly. But the school latched onto it, we were told to latch onto it, and two schools later, three grades higher, we're still being told this is the way to go even as grades slump, kids drop out, and the minimum skills expectations are lowered every year to make up for the achievement gap.

Liz over at I Speak of Dreams also wonders about DI.

Meanwhile, in the comments of Dennis and Joanne's original posts, debates take place, questions are asked, and everyone comes out a little bit smarter.

Some highlights from the Trenches:

The Guru KEdRosa says: "Here's my theory. The powers that be in education and schools of education are in ignore mode when it comes to DI. At first they tried criticising it and that didn't work so well because it has a large research base with thousands of students showing that it does work better than what the ed schools were peddling. So now they're resigned to just pretending it doesn't exist."

Amen Brother!

ElementaryHistoryTeacher notes that teachers secretly use "di" without permission.

Dennis starts to get pissed off: "After having done the work to earn a Masters a few years ago, and never hearing about Direct Instruction once during that process, while having some other stuff thrown at me that was pure crap, this makes me a little angry."

Ms. BlueBird notes the obvious: "So, if I'm to understand this correctly, for DI to work the class must be at the same level. Yet at the same time, ability grouping is frowned upon big time."

Ms Teacher from California Live Wire, finally acknowledges she is ultimately responsible for everything, and updates her readers on her experiences with DI.

Like a typical teacher she bemoans that it takes away from her creativity, but acknowledges:

So, overall I've been impressed with the growth I've seen in most of my students. Like I said before, some of them used to hate to read and now, they enjoy it. They understand what they are reading and are able to apply it. Much of my criticism has nothing to do with the program itself; rather it has to do with my District's reluctance to do what they promised to do.

Mean while over at Joannes:

Winston Smith says that his students are begging for explicit instruction.

Anna sums up the argument nicely.

I have used Reading Mastery, Engelman’s DI program for teaching reading. At first I did not like it because I did not enjoy teaching from a script. I became a convert when I saw how effectively it taught students how to read. I think sometimes we forget that things which are boring for teachers are exciting for little kids. It would have been more fun for me to work with storybooks and whole language, no question, but I had to remember that the lesson aim wasn’t to entertain me as a teacher — it was to teach students how to read.

Anna... if you read this... start blogging.

Larry Strauss thinks teachers should see themselves as artists. (Funny me. I thought teachers wanted to be considered professionals.)

Dave is all up on Larry Strauss and spouts the usual gobbly gook, and then manages to do the Vulcan mind meld on DI and Discovery Learning.

If DI includes all of rhese components and allows children to explore at times and tackle unstructured open-ended questions for which there is no clear blueprint for solution, then I applaud DI and I guess I’ve been using it all along. If ‘Discovery Learning’ includes all of these components, then I guess I’ve been using it all along and I applaud that too.

Larry seems to get a bit mixed up about what DI really is, but luckily Ken sets him straight.

Larry thanks Ken and asks some questions. Kens answers them.

Coincidentally, this blogosphere conversation happens at the same time as Zig Englemann releases the 5th chapter of his book on Project Follow Through. Zig describes how despite evidence to the contrary, the education establishment does everything in its power to maintain the status quo and repress DI. See D-EdReckoning for a review and summary.

Crossposted at my humble blog.

Update: Catherine is smack on the Project Follow Through conspiracy two posts below.

Fridays education quotes

Educated parents are usually smart enough not rely on the education system to educate their kids.

Homework helps reinforce what the kids didn't learn in school.

Good schools are a bridge to success, bad schools are an obstacle course.

"Harvard is the storehouse of knowledge because the freshman bring so much in and the graduates take so little out." Charles Eliot

"In the first place God made idiots. That was for practice; then he made school boards." Mark Twain

more education quotes

Enrichment is the speed bump of education. It slows down the fast learners just enough for everyone else to catch up.

Our school system ensures that half the kids learn half the material half the time.

The only true accountability in education is at roll call.

Lowering standards is more cost effective than raising performance.

Entry from the Educators Thesaurus:

Main Entry: research
Part of Speech: noun
Synonyms: opinion, conjecture, assumption, imagining, wishful thinking

Education schools scientific method:

1. Draw conclusion
2. Perform experiment
3. Analyze data
4. Eliminate contradicting data
5. Reanalyze data
6. Eliminate the rest of the data
7. Invent data
8. Publish conclusion

Note: Steps 2 - 7 are optional

If we really wanted No Child Left Behind, we would stop teaching everyone.

Diversity ensures that everyone is different in the same way.

excellent schools

I curse the person who invented disaggregated data.

Today we define excellent schools as ones that suck the least.

An improving school is one that can limit the drop off in performance in students as they get older the most.

A good teacher is one who can get their kids' parents to do the most teaching.

If the education system was a corporation, it would be Enron.

If the education reform was a soft drink, it would be New Coke.

parentalcation: the bomb or just bombing?

parentalcation: The Bomb or just Bombing?

Why you can't trust schools. They will play with stats, take credit for their students successes, and claim cosmetic changes are curriculum changes.

instruction versus exploration in science learning

Instruction versus exploration in science learning

I came across this article on the APA website.

This question may be answered by David Klahr, PhD, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Milena Nigam, a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Biomedical Informatics. They have new evidence that "direct instruction"--explicit teaching about how to design unconfounded experiments--most effectively helps elementary school students transfer their mastery of this important aspect of the scientific method from one experiment to another.

...

Klahr saw three main reasons to challenge discovery learning. First, most of what students, teachers and scientists know about science was taught, not discovered, he says. Second, teacher-centered methods (in which teachers actively teach, as opposed to observe or facilitate) for direct instruction have been very effective for procedures that are typically harder for students to discover on their own, such as algebra and computer programming. Third, he adds, only vague theory backed the predicted superiority of discovery methods--and what there is clashes with data on learning and memory. For example, discovery learning can include mixed or missing feedback, encoding errors, causal misattributions and more, which could actually cause frustration and set a learner back, says Klahr.

Yet discovery learning has persisted, he says, partly because of a lingering notion that direct instruction would not only be ineffective in the short run, but also damaging in the long run. Piaget thought interfering with discovery blocked complete understanding. More recent cognitive research, says Klahr, shows that "this is just plain wrong."

Study after study disproves the current "inquiry" approach to education, yet if you mention direct instruction among a significant portion of educators you might as well just call yourself a martian.