It's the Literacy

A recent blog posting posed the following idea: "It can't be a good thing when your child's math homework requires more writing than use of numbers."

I'm not sure I agree.

If you have followed one of the bigger stories in reform these days - the successful turnaround of Brockton High School in Massachusetts - you might consider the impact of improved literacy on all classes. This teacher-led reform centered around the basic concept of literacy in all classrooms.

If literacy skills are low, nothing else matters. And too many teachers in the content areas simply assign reading rather than teach it. English teachers in lower grades teach how to decode, then read. After that it becomes about content. Thus, at the upper levels, they teach the kids how to read various genres. Social studies teachers should do the same. And same with math and science. Once students have memorized the times tables and the formulas for basic math, it's about problem solving. That's why story problems matter - it's application of the abstract concept.

There is much to consider in reforming schools, and no single issue or reform is the panacea. However, the importance of all teachers "teaching reading" in all classes is pretty high on my list.

Accountability

Parade Magazine this week features an interview with Bill Gates about education reform. Needless to say he offers a lot of condemnation of teachers - notably lacking any sense of student accountability or consideration of decreased student motivation in the stagnation of "test scores."

Parade also features a poll question: "Should teachers be judged on their students' test scores?"

Obviously, teachers shouldn't be absolved of any responsibility. Yet, most discussions of this idea outside of people in education ignore the responsibility of the students, parents, and communities.

In some test formats, such as AP and IB, it is certainly reasonable to consider teacher performance. The key is that the test must have buy-in and accountability for the students, as well as the teachers. That is often the key for charter school success as well. If the student has some incentive, or more importantly, something to lose, the test will certainly have greater validity.

Job Growth in the Last Three Years

I'm not entirely sold on the argument being made here; however, it seems like it has data that is definitely worth discussing, debating, considering, arguing, weighing, etc.



I'm not committed to anything that is going to exacerbate the debt or deficit. But, I am certainly not committed to any policies which fueled a decade of zero job growth and ballooning debt.

Oligarchy and MLB

It doesn't matter who the opponent is, I have to oppose the Yankees every year in the post-season because they simply aren't good for baseball. It's not enough to say the Yankees simply buy their championships - for in many ways, all teams are seeking the same goal. But the Yankees symbolize something far more serious, far more sinister.

The Yankees represent oligarchy - rule by a dominant, wealthy elite. They marginalize the common man, blue collar, raise-yourself-up by your bootstraps spirit that is integral to America's game. Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball." This man of the people would be nauseated by the undemocratic spirit of the game today.

Granted, success by smaller market/payroll teams like the Twins and the Rockies and the A's are testament to a degree of parity. And Michael Lewis effectively argued this in his excellent baseball treatise Moneyball. But they are the exceptions, not the rule. The Yankees' dominance is the rule, and the size of their market and their exclusive TV rights and their merchandizing and their payroll rule the post-season year after year.

MLB can and should learn a lot from the NFL, and I still can't fathom why the bottom 2/3 of MLB teams that never compete simply don't demand some parity and revenue sharing in a market that depends on them. It seems logical that the next time the contract comes up, the owners in Colorado and Kansas City and Toronto and Oakland and Pittsburgh and the others should simply say "No. We are not going forward and we will not play in a league where the Yankees can always outbid us for players we have brought up through effective farm systems and skilled management."

Let the Yankees go play with themselves.

Education Funding Silliness

Former Education Commissioner of Colorado William Maloney published an op-ed in the Denver Post in which he called for a review and change in the way public education is funded. As evidence he argued that parochial schools educate their students for 2/3 the cost of public schools and Asian schools cost about 80% of what American schools do. The following is my response, a shortened version of which was also published in the Post:

While William Maloney correctly asserts that Colorado needs to re-think the way it funds education, his reasoning behind the need for change is fundamentally flawed, and his naïve comparisons to private and foreign systems will produce no practical solutions. Certainly, there has been incredible growth in funding and staff in the past thirty years. Yet that mostly reveals expanded mandates and an increased efficiency in reaching under-served populations that were long neglected.

Mahoney notes that parochial systems operate on 2/3 of public school funding. However, he fails to mention that they do not provide any special education or English to non-native speakers. In fact, they use the public system to meet those needs, and the public schools are mandated to provide the services. Private schools don’t struggle with the same discipline and security needs as public schools, and they don’t require the cost-heavy administration that comes with meeting requirements under NCLB legislation. Additionally, parochial schools aren’t mandated to accept all students regardless of ability. Thus, you won’t find any Catholic schools educating many, or any, autistic children or mentally/physically disabled students. Parochial schools also aren’t required to assign caseworkers and establish specialized education programs for students of special needs. Thus, while Catholic schools are successful with the students they admit, there is much they don’t do.

Additionally, Maloney’s praise for the lower costs in Asia ignores the fact that foreign systems don’t compare to America’s in many areas. They do not have large immigrant populations, and thus do not have to provide any native language instruction. They do not provide special education on the level of the United States, and they are not under mandates to provide fair and equal access to all students. They do not optimistically seek to educate all students for college, and thus a considerable majority of their students are graduating and entering trades or vocational schools by the age of sixteen. Maloney also seems to target PERA pensions as a conflict for funding. Yet, he ignores the high taxes and retirement systems that are prevalent through the foreign systems he praises. Clearly, those systems provide more benefits, national health care among them, not less.

Most education researchers are acutely aware of the flaws of comparing the U.S. to foreign systems, and I would have expected Maloney’s tenure as education commissioner to provide him with a wider and more credible understanding of the problems. Perhaps having such misinformed people in charge is indicative of America’s problems. Yet, Maloney is correct in a need to review funding. Colorado should follow the lead of education reforming states like New Hampshire and Louisiana by allowing students to graduate at sixteen and enter vocational training or associate degree programs. In a state that has large numbers of students successfully completing college-level classes – AP and IB programs – state schools should expand dual credit courses to allow advanced students to begin college early and complete bachelor degrees in less than four years.

Clearly, the system has a considerable degree of cost inefficiency, and the reason is the public’s unrealistic and fragmented understanding of the goals of public education. We need to re-think our obsessive focus on “seat time” and a K-16 system that seeks bachelor degrees for all students regardless of interest or ability. Mandates for individual and specialized education and expensive accountability testing are not going to change. But Colorado can change its preconceived notions of what education means, and that can lead to a more cost-efficient, productive, and high quality system.

Ten Yards for Holding???

The NFL has to change the rule on holding.

Ten yards for holding is absolutely ridiculous. Always has been, always will be. Ten yards is an absolute drive killer, and it completely slows down and decreases enjoyment of the game. And I get that the O-line has the benefit of knowing the count. But defense has too much advantage these days when the offense can barely touch these incredibly big quick defensive players who are infinitely more athletic.

Certainly, defense wins games, and I love impressive defensive stops. But killing a drive on a holding call is not good defense. It's handicapping the excitement of the game, and it's just boring. Five yards is plenty. Or create two levels of holding. Five for the basic hold, and ten for the ridiculous tying up of opposing players.

And I'm not just saying this because Denver has had three drives killed - including a thirty-five yard pickup - today versus Baltimore for almost nothing.

No more Ds in School

Interestingly, a school district in Mt. Olive, New Jersey has decided to eliminate the grade of D in their system. They noted, "no one wants to be examined by a grade D doctor, no one wants to fly in the plane of a grade D pilot, and no one willingly chooses grade D restaurants." Thus, it seems rather inappropriate, if not unconscionable, to offer a diploma or endorsement of educational progress for students who do grade D work.

Thus, grades will now be A, B, C, and F. In the past, students could earn Ds for work that received between a 64-69%. Not anymore. Anything below a 70% is failing. However, the school is supporting academic interventions - any student who receives an F will have three days to improve the grade to passing, and the school will offer increased resources for remediation.

While I understand some criticisms of this plan, I have to say that my gut tells me this is a good thing.

Consumer Watchdog

Nearly ten years ago, I remember watching a Frontline episode about problems with banks, credit card companies, and corrupt corporate leaders. The show interviewed a rather soft-spoken but straightforward Harvard professor who articulated the problems and solutions far more succinctly than I had ever heard. I remember thinking, "Hey, yeah, everyone, and I mean everyone, listen to this woman.

That woman was Elizabeth Warren, the appointed watchdog for TARP funds, and the only logical nominee to lead the new consumer protection wing of the federal government. This issue is well explained in an LA Times profile.

Anyone who doesn't listen to this woman and endorse her for a regulatory role in the federal government is either an idiot, an ideologue blinded by naivete, or an immoral or amoral corporate shill.

Vocational Ed Gets the Ax in AZ

Apparently, a 2009 bill in the Arizona legislature cut $550 from the state's Department of Education. That included reducing funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) from $11 million down to $57,000 - a 99.9% reduction. This is truly sad, and it continues to reinforce how clueless Americans, and especially elected officials committed to low taxes/limited government, are when it comes to the actual needs of the education system and necessary reforms.

While schools and politicians continue to appease voters with increasing test scores and college admissions, ignoring college graduation rates and the needs of the workplace, the area that gets neglected is good, old-fashioned vocational education. This is the aspect of the system that needs the most focus and reform.

Just Showing Up and Living Deliberately

Recently, I had an interesting conversation with a friend who works in a supervisory position, and we discussed the absolute rarity of consistent self awareness and a reasonable work ethic. Occasionally, her employees will note how "things just seem to run so much more smoothly" when she is there. Amazingly, it is lost on these employees that the situation is true precisely because she actively makes it so.

Because there is a sales and customer service component to her job, we discussed how important it is to pay attention to detail. People, be they customers or colleagues, like to be acknowledged, and something as simple as using someone's name or creating comfort out of shared interests can be so important. This is something I learned growing up with a personnel director as a father, as well as working in restaurants. If I heard a customer's name mentioned in passing, I could use it when I delivered their food. If someone was wearing a Cardinal's shirt, I could comment on the game. It is simply called paying attention.

This was reinforced to me when I took the kids to a rock climbing gym the other day. The manager was so attentive to our needs, regularly using our names when she saw us. Of course, we go there regularly, but we also hand in our ID cards each time ... so she knows who we are, and she lets us know that she knows. It's a nice touch that is the sign of a well-run business. And, it's not only natural - though that helps - it comes from working hard at the job and "paying attention to details."

I try to impart similar lessons to students - for, regardless of our subject, effective teachers know that so much of what we do is imparting knowledge and skills on "how to live." Much of life is "showing up" and being self aware. Being organized and self motivated is so important. I tell my students what a special commodity they will be if they simply show up on time each day and do their jobs on a regular basis without having to be reminded. Surprisingly, that is so uncommon.

This extends to the concept of self awareness, paying attention to details, or what Henry David Thoreau liked to call "living deliberately." Early in the year, I have a variety of activities in class focused on teaching students to pay attention to details and become close readers. We look at visuals and key in on details before interpreting them. I encourage students doing research to spend copious amounts of time simply reading. That way they know what they are talking about before they sit down to write. This is what Bob Dylan meant when he wrote "know your song well before you start singing."

From reading literature to conducting research to performing computations to public speaking to interviewing to meeting new friends or asking a girl/boy out, kids need to be taught those basic skills that come from living deliberately.

Super Average Tuesday

In the forty years I've lived, Americans have preceded practically each national election with the mantra and pledge to "throw the bums out." This year the Tea Party hysteria was lauded as the force that would bring that "change." And while there have been a few notable upsets, the reality is that while America has contempt for "Congress" and "government," they don't really have a problem with "their congressman" or "their government." Most of the challenged incumbents retained their seats in the primaries, and the reality is that the country and the world is not nearly as terrible as the pundits claim.

Celtics-Lakers

I was happy to see the Celtics even the score on Sunday night because Kobe Bryant just whines way to much for me to hear about him winning his fifth ring. Kobe has definitely got game - but I'm not really interested in hearing the Jordan comparisons, or the Magic comparisons for that matter. So, as Augustana sings, "I think [we'll] go to Boston, I think [we'll] start a new life ..."

However, let's hope the referees learn to swallow their whistles. The excessive fouls and calls - especially the bumping off the ball - is really annoying, and it is killing the game. Garnett and Odom and Perkins and Gasol with three fouls in the first half? That was ridiculous. They're big boys - let them play.