Monday, November 21, 2011
Community Animosity and Teacher Efficacy
This post could be REALLY long, but I am only going to focus on one small aspect of this broad and explosive topic. I usually tend to avoid polemic issues, but the contrarian view of teachers by the general public has become seemingly overwhelming in the last few years. There are countless journal articles, books, and blog posts that dissect and analyze this issue, yet no resolution has become apparent while a dichotomy of values continues to exist between educators and the community. This problem will likely require years more of analysis and serious policy level changes. The contention between the teacher's unions and the community is rife with political, economic, and philosophical issues that have proven nearly impossible to resolve. Teacher union and school board negotiations often resemble the disputes between Democrats and Republicans, frequently making no ground towards successful resolutions. The question is how does this animosity and dissonance impact teachers? For some it may have little or no emotional affect, while others may become overtly angry. The majority of teachers it seems become disheartened and begin to lose faith in the value of their profession. Teacher efficacy, the confidence in one's ability to promote learning, can have significant impacts on student achievement. If individual teacher efficacy is compromised, the collective ability to provide students with quality instruction and support will decline. I do not claim to know or understand the emotions of the majority of educators in the United States, but pulling from my own experiences and those around me I have found the former to be true. Most teachers care deeply about student success and they work tirelessly to meet federal, state, and local demands, not to mention their own individual expectations. This is not a conscious decision, but a subconscious consequence of not feeling valued. The greater implications of teacher efficacy should be taken into consideration in order to improve the greater education system.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Group Learning Theory and Classroom Management
In order to better understand why students act the way they do at different times during the year, one must consider various group development theories. Individuals placed in new situations go through an identifiable process that can be observed in many environments from classrooms to wilderness expeditions. Understanding the dynamics of this process can be useful to educators, so as to inform instruction and classroom management practices. Depending on the time of year and individual student dispositions, teachers can tune their activities according to how well their class works together. A commonly referenced model of group development, often used in outdoor leadership settings, includes the following stages: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Important to this model of development is the fact that it may not occur in this order and groups may even go backwards in the process (i.e., performing back to storming). Teachers may notice that in October, classroom management issues increase and school wide behavior infraction numbers begin to rise as well. It is around this time that many student groups are "storming" and are thus more comfortable with their settings and many begin to question authority. As a teacher, if you knew your students were storming, it may be useful to be transparent about this process and spend time helping students learn to collaborate effectively. Using this knowledge, educators can better meet the needs of their students and gain a more insightful understanding into how groups develop in their ability to operate efficiently and cooperatively.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Meaningful Accountability in Education
A hot button issue in education reform today is that of measuring teacher effectiveness and subsequently connecting this to compensation. This method, called value-added measurement, is a staple in the rhetoric of education discourse. The clear dichotomy of this highly debated topic creates tension and ultimately slows any sort of progress toward a compromise. It is safe to assume that many teachers do not believe that this kind of accountability is effective because it places too much emphasis on standardized test scores, which some argue do not accurately reflect a teacher’s overall impact on students. Value-added measures win few allies from the trenches of education since much of the time the individuals touting the benefits of this method are often far removed from education. Economists are usually associated with supporting value-added measurement and are also the ones who develop the formulas (like the one below) that are used to measure teacher effectiveness or their “value-added”. Few would argue that accountability in education is a bad idea, but it is the method used that is the area of contention for many. Pundits from both sides recognize that there are limitations to strictly using standardized tests for accountability purposes, thus other data is necessary in measuring teacher effectiveness. A recent article in EducationNext describes that using classroom observations is a useful and meaningful method for evaluating teachers. When used with other measurements, such as standardized tests, it is possible to equitably evaluate teacher effectiveness. I take a more progressive approach to this issue and am supportive of teacher accountability. I have no qualms with being assessed, as long as the measurement is equitable and relevant. Value-added measures must incorporate a variety of data sources if accountability is to gain any foothold. This issue will not be resolved soon, but accountability is necessary if the school system is to begin its "road to recovery".
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Maslow and Student Achievement
Growing numbers of students are entering classrooms without their most basic needs being met. How is a student expected to learn about the rock cycle or the Great Schism if they haven’t eaten breakfast and they are worried about going home after school? On the other end, how are teachers to educate these students who are clearly not in the mindset to learn? Fortunately most schools have a variety of support teams, counseling services, and the like to provide assistance to struggling students, but the challenge remains in how to provide the necessary assistance to help these students succeed. Students must have several needs met in order to be motivated and capable to learn. These motivations, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are: Physiological, Security, Social, and Ego/Esteem which if met, allow growth to occur in the final stage of Self-Actualization. If any of the subordinate needs are not met, it can be extremely difficult to make any progress. Until it is fully recognized that what happens at home is inextricably linked to success at school, teachers will continue to be faced with the daunting task of trying to teach to students who are more focused on their own dilemmas than the goals of the school. This is nothing new, but I think it is essential for all educators to consistently keep a fresh perspective in their practice.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Literature Review Brief: The Global Achievement Gap
Recently I read The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner (2008) and was enlightened to the importance the education system plays in the economic security of our nation. Wagner is a respected education consultant who heads the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University. This book begins with Wagner's suggestion for school curriculum reform and goes on to review the old system (i.e., what schools are doing now). Wagner proposes that more so than any other achievement gap in the United States (economic, racial, etc.), that the global gap is the most serious issue. In order for our economy and nation to survive, we must prepare our students to be effective global workers. Wagner poignantly states that "The United States is not developing its intellectual capital like other countries are." which brings to light that the U.S. is not the leader in education as it once was. When looking at the international rankings of student assessments, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the U.S. is not near the top, but is below dozens of other countries. The issue, Wagner argues, is that in the age of international companies, how are American citizens to compete with the countless other countries that are outperforming us academically? Tony Wagner provides suggestions for ways in which the system can be improved, with a special focus on his "Seven Survival Skills". This book is a wake up call to why education reform is so important to the success and survival of the United States in a global era.
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