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What Works in Schools
Trib editorial board member Stephen Chapman takes an important step
away from the paper's traditional drum-beating for charters, vouchers,
and other forms of privatization by openly acknowledging the solid
evidence that these strategies aren't work.
Of course, he immediately states that the other side's reforms (he lists lower class size and increased funding) haven't worked either. You know, "Well, we were both wrong." But I'll let that pass and bask in the hope that this new enlightenment will take root across the page -- I expect to see Tribune board editorials any day retracting their support for Sen. Meeks' voucher bill (they loved it as recently as two weeks ago), slamming the Advance Illinois agenda for our state's Race to the Top proposal (they just came out for more charters and test-driven teacher evaluation) and demanding more accountability from charter schools (here's just one example le of the double of the double standard they have been using). Chapman does something even better than admitting that the Trib has been wrong -- he admits that we don't know enough about what works in education and why, and cautions that imposing one-size-fits-all solutions "such as those offered by the Obama administration" is the wrong approach. But we do know some things. There are models of success in our own back yard, such as the local school council-based reforms of the 1990's detailed in Designs for Change's The Big Picture, the wholistic approach described in the Consortium on Chicago School Research's new study, Organizing Schools for Improvement, and the parent- and teacher-centered programs of Strtegic Learning Initiatives. And we need to stop wasting time on all the mandates and top-down "fixes" that don't work and get busy doing a better job expanding some of the things that do work. Answers to four key questions about improving schools.
pure | What Works in Schools | 17 February, 3:05pm
These are the references used to support PURE's proposal to CPS to stop flunking students and use other, more effective strategies.
Sacks, Peter. 1999. Standardized Minds. Perseus Books, Cambridge, MA.
House, Ernest R. 1998. The Predictable Failure of Chicago's Student RetentionProgram. Presentation at “Rethinking Retention” conference, 1998.Published by Designs for Change.
Nagaoka, Jenny, and Melisa Roderick. 2004. Ending Social Promotion: The Effects of Retention. Chicago: The Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Allensworth, Elaine. 2004. Ending Social Promotion: Dropout Rates in Chicago after Implementation of the Eighth-Grade Promotion Gate. Chicago: The Consortium on Chicago School Research.
PURE complaint to the U. S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. October 21, 1999.
Jacobs, Robin Tepper, Susan Stoner, Melissa Roderick. 2004. Ending Social Promotion: The Response of Teachers and Students. Chicago: The Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Commission on Improving Classroom-based Assessment. 2003. Enhancing Teaching and Improving Learning: A Proposed System of Curriculum-Based Assessment for the Chicago Public Schools.
American Psychological Association on appropriate use of assessments, 2001, at http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/testing.html.
U. S. Department of Education, “Taking Responsibility for Ending Social Promotion.” 1999. http://www.ed.gov/PDFDocs/socialprom.pdf
National Research Council, High Stakes: Testing for Tracking,
Promotion and Graduation. 1999. Washington D. C.
Still Left Behind: Student Learning in the Chicago Public Schools. 2009. Chicago: Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago. Available at http://www.civiccommittee.org/Still%20Left%20Behind%20v2.pdf
Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. October 2004.
"The Benefits of Smaller Classes,” by Class Size Matters, 2008.
“What Works Clearinghouse,” from U. S. Department of Education.
Levin, Henry, Teachers College, Columbia University, and Clive Belfield, Queens College, City University of New York; Peter Muennig, M.D., Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health; and Cecilia Rouse, Princeton University. 2007. “The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for America’s Children.” New York: Teachers College Press.
Early, Diane et al. North Carolina Early Grade Retention in the Age of Accountability. A report by the Kindergarten Readiness Issues Group of the Partners in Research Forum.
Reynolds, A. J. Success in Early Intervention: The Chicago Child-Parent Centers. 2000. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
pure | What Works in Schools | 13 August, 9:30am
I have long thought that there is a good way to end standardized tests misuse – we just need to put an end to graded classrooms. Lots of people seem to agree with me; 79% of people responding to this poll on Parade.com favor the idea. Putting students in a room based on their age alone is an archaic idea. Flunking them when their age and progress level don't match some arbitrary standard is ridiculous and cruel. People learn at different rates – why is the school system set up to punish the ones who learn a little slower and hold back (and bore) the faster learners? Closing schools and firing staff when some percentage of students in a building are not meeting that absurd standard is a criminal waste of human and financial resources. Radical tampering with schools? I know that people, especially parents, can freak out over any kind of tampering with school the way they experienced it. Report cards are supposed to have letter grades, children are supposed to move up from one grade to the next every year, classmates are supposed to go to a senior prom and graduate together. Non-graded classrooms would be too radical a change for many. But schools are already being radically tampered with. Standardized testing's iron fist has a chokehold on U. S. public education. We are seeing massive student retention, higher dropout rates at earlier ages, and loss of school subjects like civics and art, which we all took for granted. The tests have enabled the growing disaster of school privatization which is beginning to force parents to “shop” for schools, and to allow privatized schools to pick and choose their students. Meanwhile, some schools and districts have started non-graded classrooms and like the results as Parade Magazine reported this week. What are non-graded classrooms? Here are some details from a good overview in the ERIC digest: “Nongraded education is the practice of teaching children of different ages and ability levels together, without dividing them (or the curriculum) into steps labeled by grade designations. Children move from easier to more difficult material at their own pace, making continuous progress rather than being promoted once per year." “Graded education assumes that students who are the same age are at basically the same level of cognitive development, can be taught in the same way, and will progress at the same rate. Intellectual development is assumed to be the goal, and the division of curriculum into discrete skills and subjects to be the most effective organization. Research has discredited all these assumptions.... “In its influential position statement, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (Bredekamp1987) summarized this accumulated knowledge of child development and described appropriate teaching practices for primary-age children. Its list of developmentally appropriate practices closely matches the components of nongraded education. The inappropriate practices it lists are typical of traditional graded education.”
pure | PURE Thoughts, | What Works in Schools | 31 March, 11:36am
This recently-updated position paper focuses on the disparities in funding and resources within the state and within the Chicago system. The paper proposes remedies for this irresponsible situation.
pure | Archives, | What Works in Schools | 18 September, 9:31am
The Home-School Journal is a model developed by PURE as one tool for effective communication between teachers and families, especially where internet access is less common. What are some of the most effective school improvement strategies? Research in Chicago indicates the following:
pure | Chicago news, | What Works in Schools | 5 January, 4:34pm
pure | What Works in Schools | 2 December, 7:40pm
High-quality instruction includes a mix of teaching styles. However, students learn more when they experience frequent interactive instruction.
pure | What Works in Schools | 2 December, 6:30pm
Student portfolios are collections of student work that can give a better picture of student progress than standardized test scores.
pure | What Works in Schools | 2 December, 6:20pm
What can go into a student portfolios?
pure | What Works in Schools | 2 December, 6:13pm
What is the parents’ role in Looking at Schools? The No Child Left Behind Act encourages parents to observe in their children's classrooms to become better informed about the curriculum and to help contribute to school improvement planning. Click here for tips and ideas to make the most of classroom observation. Research is showing that LSCs are effective school reform agents. Recent Chicago-based research says that improved student achievement is tied to strong academic “press” or expectation for student success combined with increased emphasis on building trusting relationships within a school community.
pure | Tipsheets & Fact Sheets, | What Works in Schools | 12 November, 6:16pm
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Was it a meteor? A UFO? Or just the light of reason dawning at the Tribune (