Pay the People What They are Worth
By Dr. Edwin Weaver
January 26, 2009
We all want to be paid for all the work we do and when we are not paid, we feel cheated. When that happens, usually, we will avoid that type of work in the future. The same hold true in education.
What does your scoring say to the students? How you weight quizzes and exams marks sends a strong message to your students. You may think you are being fair and equal about everything, but is that how the student sees it.
At the university where I worked teaching English, the program director wanted the four main language skills weighted the same (reading, writing, language knowledge and listening). This sounded fair and correct, however the way that the university assessed these four skills were different.
To assess the language knowledge (vocabulary) the students received multiple-choice questions, outside of memory, not much work required. To assess listening, the student listens to a taped conversation and answered mostly multiple-choice and true/false questions. Even the assessment of the reading skill used multiple-choice questions.
Now, the writing is entirely different. The students had to write a 500-word essay. The essay was based on a question, which was related to the reading and listening component. Connecting the writing task to the listen and reading is great however, the students must write 500 words or more. This requires much more work than answering multiple-choice and true/false questions, not to mention you are incorporating the listening task and reading task.
Each section of the exam received the same amount of marks. The exam consisted of 20 questions from language knowledge, the 25 questions from reading, the 20 questions from listening, and the 500-word essay (with an outline). Each section, Language Knowledge, Listening, Reading and Writing all received the same amount of marks; 25% of the value of the mid-term or final exam (the final exam for Foundation year was 50% of their final grade and the mid-term was 25% of the final grade).
Here is the question to my fellow educators. How do you suppose this affects the students? Knowing that the amount of work required for writing an essay has no more value than answering multiple-choice and true/false questions, where would you devote you efforts.
Of course, the students concentrate on the first three sections and if time permits, they go to the writing section and write something. I have invigilated many of these exams and watched the students ignore the writing section and concentrate on the solving the multiple-choice questions. Afterwards they would spend 10 to 20 minutes writing something, often not even answering the question.
Their actions made a clear declaration that they did not value the writing section because it was not worth it. I followed up my theory by giving the students of my classes and two other classes a survey. The results showed that the students felt that 1) the writing took too much time, 2) they could score higher by focusing on the multiple-choice questions, and most importantly that 3) they would attempt to write the essay if it was worth more on the exam.
This attitude also affected their learning. Attempting to teach these students how to write well was very difficult. They did not see a need for it. They felt they could pass the course without learning how to write well.
Attempting to be fair, we have de-motivated the students in a particular skill. Looking at this true-life example may give you some insights on your own classes.
How do you weigh the different tasks the students perform? How do the students perceive the marking? In our case, we performed a survey to gather data on student's perception to the different tasks and the value of each of those tasks.
Assessing the impact of our assessments is very important for the continued success of our students. Take a look at how you assess your students, how you mark the assessments and the weight you assign to each task and ask yourself and your students if it is fair. You may be surprised at the answers you get.
The Good News about the Economic Crisis
By Dr. Edwin Weaver
January 23, 2009
People are worrying about their jobs and the next paycheck. Companies are closing stores and budgets cuts are happening everywhere. Banks are reeling, yet there is a bright side to this economic turmoil, especially for educators.
For years, many educators have been complaining about the standard of education. Countries around the world were pushing people through their educational system in the same manner as GM pushes cars through its assembly line. Often governments pushed people through who were not qualified in order to get people off the streets and enough warm bodies into the market. The end product was mediocre workers. That will change.
The competition for jobs will increase steadily for the next two to five years. Only the best, only the most qualified people will get jobs. Companies and governments cannot afford to spend money on bringing people up to speed or hiring two people to do the job of one. They need people who are qualified and ready to start work.
Governments will start demanding that everyone who exits an institution of higher education is 100% qualified. They will demand that their people are competitive in a global market. As the colleges and universities start turning down admission to students who are not ready to study at higher levels, governments will put pressure on the high schools to ensure the quality of their graduates.
This is where the benefit to the educator comes in. We have labored under antiquated systems. We have used meaningless curriculums, which would not produce the caliber of student, which today's world needs. We know of methods of teaching, which research has proven, but were unable to implement against the status quo. All of these things will change.
Governments and administrators will become receptive to improvements. They will implement new methods of teaching. They will listen to complaints about the weaknesses in curriculum. They will want to overhaul the educational system to produce world-class graduates. They must overhaul the system for their people to survive. They will listen.
Now is the time for educators to gather all their data, all the facts that prove a particular system does not function, as it should. Combine these facts with sound arguments, backed by research and present a plan for change. This is the hour of the educator. Do not allow this opportunity to slide by.
Is Your Assessment Valid?
By Dr. Edwin Weaver
January 2008
Recently, while working at a university, the rules changed for taking mid-term and final exams. Prior to this change each section of the exam was timed. Of course, everyone understands the importance of timed exams on producing assessments which are considered valid in the eyes of other institutes. The change was brought about due to the complaints of students that there was not enough time to complete the exam.
The original tests were designed to give the student, what is considered, the proper time to respond, provided that the student has a working knowledge of the information. To present an example; the old multiple choice section provided 1.1 minutes per question. Under the new system, there is no real time limit for the multiple choice section.
We are focusing on validity not reliability. Reliability has to do with the consistency of scoring between markers where as validity is focused on the consistency results when used in different groups of student (yet the same level), different schools, different school years, etc.
Mid-term and final exams are high stakes assessments. They determine whether a student proceeds to the next level or the next year in the university. High stakes assessments must be proven valid, especially if the university wants to be considered as a legitimate institute of education.
In order for an assessment to be considered valid there must be generalizability. In other words, "the degree to which evidence of validity based on test-criterion relations can be generalized to a new situation without further study of validity in that new situation." AERA et al (1999 p. 15). You can not get the same results in different areas because each person will dedicate a different amount of time to the task.
AERA et al (1999) report states that 'time period' or allotted time per item or section is an important aspect in measurement consistency. Without consistent measurements how can we properly evaluate the curriculum? Without consistent measurements how can we properly evaluate teacher efficiency? We use the 'timed' aspect to our exams otherwise our results will be skewed.
This skewing of results has occurred. In the latest exams, we had students who scored extremely high on the reading section, but very low on the vocabulary section and others who scored extremely high on writing, but failed the vocabulary and reading. Each student chose the area which they wanted to dedicate their time.
These skewed results make it impossible to evaluate the learning process and the educational program as a whole. It makes it impossible to find problem areas in the program or to make adjustments to the program. Exam validity is a cornerstone to our education system, no matter what the students may think.
As to the student's complaints of not enough time to produce good work, that complaint is but a myth. Kroll (1990) found that the timing really did not make a difference. Polio et al. (1998) came up with the same results. TESL did a study in 2006 and found basically the same results. They noted the only thing which will make a difference in the writing section is the use of technology, computers. Otherwise, giving the student more time to work on a task basically only helped in the spelling component.
Therefore, changing our allotted time scheme and allowing students to determine how much time they spend on each task will not permit us to have truly valid tests. We can not change to match the whims of the students. The student must learn to function under the dictates of the world around them. Yes, we should listen to their complaints and assess whether their points are valid, but to bow to the whims of the students is not acceptable.
These types of complaints are but one of the consequences of the assessment. There are consequences to every assessment; both good and bad consequence. That is part of assessment development. The consequence of students complaining about time restraint is to be expected and as AERA et al (1999) says these consequences do not invalidate the assessment.
If we are to assess the learning of our students, if we are to assess the programs we use to teach the students, all exams must be valid. The must produce accurate data to ensure the success of the students and the institution. If you are coming under fire about exams and are thinking about changing the exams, think twice. You may not be helping the students or the institution, you may be leading it into disaster.
References:
American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), & National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). (1999) Standards for educational and psychological testing.
Kroll, B. (1990). What does time buy? ESL student performance on home versus class compositions. In B. Kroll (Ed.), Second language writing: Research insights from the classroom (pp. 140-154).
Polio, C., Fleck, C., & Leder, N. (1998). "If I only had more time: ESL learners' changes in linguistic accuracy on essay revisions." Journal of Second Language Writing, 7(1), 43-68.
"Teaching English in Context"
'but culturally, what is the context'
by Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
Having worked in Asia, the Middle East and
In all of these countries, I have seen people who have been studying English for 10, even up to 15 years, who are still at upper-intermediate level English. After 10 or 15 years of studying a language, a student should be proficient at the language, they should be bilingual. Yet, we are not producing the desired results. I wish to address this problem and propose a solution to the problem.
In order to teach the students about English, 85% of the language programs use an off-the-shelf program; like Interchange or one of the other popular books. Those who use course material in English, use course books from the
Utilizing these off-the-shelf programs means the school does not need experienced course designers and most ESL teachers from many different parts of the world will be familiar with the material. This adds standardization to the program. It also allows for standardized tests to be prepared by authoritative, capable test preparers and ease for the teachers in planning and delivery. However, does this approach provide the student with all the right tools to learn English and become bilingual?
Content or subject matters taught in context have received a great deal of support from researchers (Brinton, Snow & Wesche, 1989; Chamot & O'Malley, 1987; Christian, Spanos, Crandall, Simich-Dudgeon, & Willets, 1990; Garcia 1990; Mohan 1986; Slavin, 1986; Snow, 1991). Schools and universities around the world are jumping on the band wagon and changing their system to bilingual education and some to education completely in English.
This would be a fantastic advancement of English and great aid to global communication if the desired result were always achieved. However, the English needed for schools and universities is not the off-the shelf English you find from most publishers, instead it is Academic English, which is much different than books like Interchange. Even the authentic course material is not sufficient to fully aid the student in acquiring bilingual status.
The off-the-shelf programs deal with communicative or social English and are written to the Western style of life. A student in
Even the subject content material has a
I have witnessed children who were straight "A" Math students fall to B and even C level students when the material was presented in English. True their English skills did improve, but at what cost? These students started to become disconnected in their Math classes because of their failures, though when placed in Math taught in Spanish, using local Math material, these students regained their advanced status once again.
The same has held true in Geography and to some extent the Social Sciences as a whole. The context of the content was US or Western in nature, leaving the student with little to connect to.
In order for our students to learn English and remain engaged we must provide material which matches the context of their culture, not ours or the Western idea of culture. Swain (1996) explained that we should not be so worried about imparting the Western idea of education and presenting material in a Western context. Instead we should allow the student to discover the language using their own culture as a peg. Roulet (1980) suggests that the learner must use his/her mother tongue in order to work out the organization of the second language in order to increase the competency of the learner. Working with a standardized, one program fits all, does not provide this opportunity.
Years ago, many of those who wished to learn English did so in order to travel to
When the reason was to travel or live in one of the English speaking countries, understanding the culture was very important. The off-the-shelf programs functioned well. However, with the change in emphasis, the material needs to be changed.
Our off-the-shelf programs are directed towards the Western idea of education, learning and culture. Granted, they use names and a few location which are not Western in nature, but this, in itself, does not constitute teaching the subject matter in context to culture. Students need to connect the words and ideas to something in their own culture and background. I have seen this around the world.
I worked in
The books had been written to use locations, names and dates familiar to the students. Those parts which were familiar to the students were learned quicker and with more enthusiasm than the parts which were wholly Western in nature. However, all the material had been written by Americans and British ESL teachers. As such the slant of the discourse and the focus of the themes were on the Western culture. It made some of the material more familiar to the students, but the concepts, ideas and culture were Western, which confused and de-motivated the students.
As Mosley-Howard (1995) warned, these practices can cause learning barriers and a feeling of discrimination. Responses to this situation are as varied as the perceptions of it: from dropping out of classes or lashing out at the institute or the authorities, to proactive and creative strategies for systemic change, to demonstrating exceptional academic success in the face of barriers. However, as educators, we owe it to our students to remove as many barriers as possible to ensure their success. Utilizing material with a particular cultural bias can place unneeded barriers in the path of our students. We must take into consideration the learner and his or her relationship to the material.
The Western culture with its individualism, form of democracy and other issues is often foreign to the student's understanding and the student's culture. The ideas are confusing to their way of thinking. We have not taken into consideration the learner's relationship to the material. We have used our relationship to the material and tried to impose that on the learner. This will cause most students to suffer, to varying degrees, a language gap between their native language (L1) and English (L2), as such we must aid them in bridging this gap.
Even our best subject content material when it is in our (Western) context does not aid in bridging this gap. The context we present in our English as a Second Language programs is the Western cultural context. We present ideas and concepts which at times are completely foreign or perhaps offensive to the student, which only enhances the gap instead of diminishing the gap.
An example of this can be found in most of the teaching books presently in use, for example the family. In the Western culture talking about the family is permissible and even encouraged, however some other cultures, like the Arab culture, talking about the family is a private matter and will only provoke the student to silence and perhaps dislike for the new language. As stated above, this causes a barrier to learning.
Have we impeded the learning of English by using the family as a theme or a way to teach words in context which is not acceptable to some learners? The context is fine in the west but in other cultures the context is offensive. If we have offended or confused the learner does not that hinder the student's ability to learn? It has affected the students mind set and this affects the ability to learn (Perkins 1987).
Have we designed the context correctly? Is our context acceptable to the culture? Does our subject matter context have the same meaning in the student's culture? Can't we develop Math books that teach Math, via English, in the same way that another culture is accustomed to learning? Can't we develop Social Science material, in English, which shows what is important in the student's country and culture? Have we provided an avenue to learn words and their meaning which will be acceptable and understandable to all?
If we wanted to teach the student about age and how to ask about age and that was a subject which is not normally used as 'public' discussion, could we not use the age of a car or a nation or some other context which would be acceptable to them? How old is your car? How old is your country? My car is two years old. Of course, words like cousin and other family relationships would have to be taught, but the activities could be changed so as not to obligate the student to confront a sensitive subject matter. This would allow the student to learn in a non-threatening manner and connect new words to their prior knowledge (Gordon, E. and Roberts, F., 1991).
The student needs to connect the words and means to something they have in their own language (L1). They need to be able to relate to concepts, ideas and feelings in both languages. In order to have truly bilingual people, they need to learn what the word or concept means in their own language. Without this peg, the new words are often meaningless and difficult to remember and learn.
Remember, English today is not for travel to the
The new words or concepts can even be misconceived; learning a Western concept, with Western values mixed in, can lead to confusion on the part of the student. In some cultures when you go to an office to talk to someone, you do not come directly to the point, which is considered rude or impolite. Instead you talk about the weather, the family or current events and then you get down to business. This is considered polite, however in the Western culture this is consider tedious, even annoying, but that is the context in which we teach this subject matter.
The students learning about interaction will become confused as to what is courteous and what is rude. The learner will have misconception about interacting with people. They have learned words, ideas and concepts, but are unsure of their correct use.
The student can learn words, ideas and concepts in the context of their own culture and become fully bilingual without the addition of the Western cultural context Schumann's (1986). The student needs to learn the new words or concepts in the context of their own culture, thereby providing a peg to hang the new knowledge. There are more than enough situations, in the person's culture, which can be presented to teach all the words, ideas and concepts which the person might need to become bilingual.
Another example would be the words we learn for socializing and the context in which we present these words again can be offensive and sometimes confusing. Not all cultures socialize in the same way as the west. We can teach the same words, but they must be presented in the context of the native culture. Only then will the student truly understand the words and use them correctly. Western culture can be taught after the student learns to handle the language.
Is not that the way in which we, as Westerners, usually learn a foreign language? We learn how to use the language and then we learn about the customs and culture of the people. Why should it be different for others to learn English?
When presenting words, concepts and/or ideas, we need to do so in the context in which the student is familiar. The activities and context we use must relate to the student's culture not ours (Banks 1988). In this way we encourage the learning of the new language. We provide pegs to hang the new knowledge on and we help the student understand the meaning and usage of the new words and concepts.
The use of the native culture to shape the context of the learning material is imperative to the student's ability to correctly understand the new language and to transfer present knowledge and experiences to the new language. Many researcher are in agreement that culture plays a big role in the acquisition of the new language and have suggested strategies to teach English to various cultures (e.g., Byram, 1997; Furstenberg, Levet, English & Maillet, 2001; Kramsch & Andersen, 1999; Liddicoat & Crozet, 2000; Lo Bianco, 2003; Lo Bianco & Crozet, 2003; O'Dowd, 2003).
Therefore, we need to evaluate the material we consider context. Is the material really in context to the learner? Will the context of the material aid the learning in connecting and transferring existing knowledge and experiences to the new language (English) or will it hinder or offend? These are important questions to ask when considering any teaching material.
It is for this very reason that we find so many students with misconceptions and errors in their English communication skills. In the lower levels the student mimicked the context which was given in the class and the teacher told them they were doing fine. During the initial learning levels the student only mimics the material present.
Later, when true communication was needed the ideas in the student's head did not match any of the contexts presented or the student misconceptualized the context with a concept in his/her own language, producing errors in relating in English. By the time the errors are discovered, they have become hardened habits, which are difficult to correct and break.
So where does that leave us? As educators and leaders of educational institutes we have an obligation to help our students to learn. We can produce truly bilingual students if we use the right material.
Using the right material does not mean that you have a Western ESL teacher prepare the material. Instead, you need a native, who is proficient in English, to prepare the material in the context of his/her own culture. You can use your Western ESL teachers to ensure that the grammar and syntax are correct, verifying all changes with the person who prepared the material.
This method will provide the students with material which is relevant to their understanding and culture, thus encouraging them to learn English. They will no longer consider that they are learning English as a second language, but learning something about their country, Math, Geography, History or culture in English. They will consider that they are learning about themselves and something that is important to them, the only difference being that the material is written in English.
This method encourages student to learn and understand English in all its forms. It motivates the student to become truly proficient in English. Through this method students become truly bilingual citizens who can thoroughly convey their thoughts and ideas to anyone in the world via the medium of English.
Once the student has learned enough English, if they so choose or if they need it, they can learn about the Western culture and the reason we say and do things the way we do. The primary goal is to make the student proficient in English so that they can transmit their knowledge, ideas and culture to others around the world via English and receive the knowledge, ideas and culture which are based solely in English and be able to move effortlessly between the two. This is producing truly bilingual students.
References:
Baldwin, J. R., Faulkner, S. L., & Hecht, M. L. (2006). A moving target: The illusive definition of culture. In J. R. Baldwin, S. L. Faulkner, M. L. Hecht, & S. L. Lindsley (Eds.), Redefining culture: Perspectives across the disciplines (pp. 3-26).
Banks, J.A. (1988). Multiethnic education: Theory and practice.
Bacon, Inc.
Brinton, D. S., Snow, M. A., & Wesche, M. B. (1989). Contentbased second language instruction.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence.
Chamot, A. U., & O'Malley, J. M. (1987). The cognitive academic language learning approach: A bridge to the mainstream. TESOL Quarterly, 21, 227-249.
Christian, D., Spanos, G., Crandall, J., Simich-Dudgeon, C. & Willetts, K. (1990). Combining language and content for second language students. In Padilla, A., Fairchild, H., & Valadez, C. (Eds.) Bilingual education: Issues and strategies (pp. 141-156).
Dutcher, N., in collaboration with Tucker, G.R. (1994). "The use of first and second languages in education: A review of educational experience."
Furstenberg, G., Levet, S., English, K., & Maillet, K. (2001). Giving a virtual voice to the silent language of culture: The Cultural project. Language. Learning and Technology, 5(1), 55-102.
Garcia, E. (1990). Instructional discourse in "effective" Hispanic classrooms. In Jacobson, R. & Faltis, D. (Eds.), Language distribution issues in bilingual schooling (pp. 104-132).
Gordon, E., & Roberts, F. (1991). Report of social studies syllabus review and development committee.
Hernandez, H. (1989). Multicultural education: A teacher's guide to content and process.
Kramsch, C., & Andersen, R.W. (1999). Teaching text and context through multimedia. Language Learning & Technology, 2(2), 31-42.
Lambert, W.E. (1974a). Culture and Language as Factors in Learning and Education. Fifth symposium of learning. 1974, 91-122
Lambert, W.E. (1981). Bilingualism and Language Acquisition. In H. Winitz (Ed.) Native Language and Foreign Language Acquisition.
Lewis, E.G. (1981). Bilingualism and bilingual education.
Liddicoat, A. J., & Crozet, C. (Eds.) (2000). Teaching languages, teaching cultures.
Lo Bianco, J. (2003). Culture: Visible, invisible and multiple. In J. Lo Bianco & C. Crozet (Eds.) Teaching invisible culture: Classroom practice and theory (pp. 11-38).
Lo Bianco, J., & Crozet, C. (Eds.) (2003). Teaching invisible culture: Classroom practice and theory.
Milk, R. D. (1985). The changing role of ESL in bilingual education. TESOL Quarterly, 19, (4), 657-672.
Mohan, B. A. (1986). Language and content.
Mosley-Howard, G. Susan (1995). "Best Practices in Considering the Role of Culture," in Alex Thomas and Jeff Grimes (Eds.) 1995. Best Practices in School Psychology III.
O'Dowd, R. (2003). Understanding the "other side": Intercultural learning in a Spanish-English e-mail exchange. Language Learning & Technology, 7(2), 118-144.
Perkins,D.(1986). Speech presented at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Conference on Thinking. Wi1liamsburg,VA.
Roulet, E. (1980). Langue Maternelle et Langues Secondes, vers une pedagogie integree. Paris Credif Hatier
Schumann, J. H. (1986). Research on the acculturation model for second language acquisition. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 7(5), 379-392.
Slavin, R. E. (1986, Summer). Learning together. American Educator, 6-13.
Snow, M. A. (1991). Teaching language through content. In Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.) Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 315-327).
Snow, M. A., Met, M., and
Spada, N. (1987). The relationship between instructional differences and learning outcomes: A process-product study of communicative language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 8, 137-161.
Swain, M. (1996). Discovering successful second language teaching strategies and practices: From program evaluation to classroom experimentation. "
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 17," 89-104.
Taylor, B. (1983). Teaching ESL: Incorporating a communicative, student-centered component. TESOL Quarterly 17, 1, 69-88.
The Art of Reflection
By Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
Input, input, input! I-Pod, I-Phone, Walkman, cable TV, cell phones, instant messages, CNN, high powered ad campaigns, internet and the list goes on; we are undulated with input. Everywhere you turn you are barraged with input, however there is no time to digest and evaluate the information.
Yes, we are in a world where the amount of information and knowledge doubles every 18 months. We live in a time where there are great discoveries and it seems that we will find the answers to everything. However, how much of the information we receive is really useful, how much is good, how much is leading us in the right direction? This is difficult to tell, especially without true reflection.
Many of our students are so accustomed to having constant input that they do not know how to evaluate what is good, what is helpful or what is correct. They do not know how to take the information they have received and turn it into solid abilities. They need to learn how to reflect on the information and turn it into something worthwhile, to turn it into true knowledge and not just memorization.
One of Dewey's (1933) basic assumptions was that learning improves to the degree that it arises out of the process of reflection. Therefore, Knowledge is constructed, in part, through reflection, e.g., ongoing active, persistent, and thoughtful consideration and participation in a situation (Canning, 1991).
In order to make good decisions, in order to make the right choices, we need to reflect on the information we receive. According to Mezirow (1990) reflection is used "to examine the justification for one's beliefs ... and to reassess the efficacy of the strategies and procedures used in problem solving" (p. xvi).
Even when a student arrives at the university, he/she does not have this ability. In many cases they have to learn how to reflect on what they have learned and turn their information in to concrete strategies and procedures. Teachers at the high school and elementary level have given the student volumes of information, knowledge, but the student has not had time to sort, categorize and process the information into usable knowledge and abilities.
Often, the student made errors during his/her time at school. These errors were corrected by the teacher giving the student the correct answer. However, the student did not have time to reflect on his/her mistakes and discard the faulty thinking which caused him/her to make the error in the first place.
This lack of reflection means that the student will probably continue to make the same mistakes. Students who have errors in their thinking process or misconnection with information need time to reflect on the information and sort out what is correct and what erroneous. They must connect the right information with the right outcomes; so that they will 'know' that the answer is correct.
Mezirow (1990) said that "reflection enables us to correct distortions in our beliefs and errors in problem solving. We must re-learn how to use reflection in our daily lives. We must teach our students that they need to take time out every day to reflect on the information which they have received during the day and discard that which is not useful or incorrect.
We have bombarded our students, our future hope, with volumes of information. We have given everything they need to succeed, except for the most important tool possible; reflection. The only way they can sort our this bombardment of information id by teaching them how to effectively reflect on the information to avoid errors.
Singer (1980) has said that the bombardment to the senses produces a series of orienting responses that interferes with cognition and reflection. Our students have more information in their head than most of us when we were their age, but with less ability to use this information correctly. The increased amount of input is actually causing our student to become less intelligent, less effective.
In an effort to ensure that our students learn and to combat what we believe is apathy or inability to learn in a specific manner, we as educators, have often turned to the visual aids and the media to help with the education process. In fact we may have been defeating ourselves and our ultimate goal. It has also been put forth that prolonged exposure to media reinforces a narrow view of reality, suggests children (Swan, Meskill & DeMaio, 1998) and adolescents (Huston & Alvarez, 1990; Signorielli, 1990, 1993; Wroblewski & Huston, 1987).
These added inputs may help to student learn or memorize some facts, but in the end it may hurt more than help. We may be causing our students to focus on a narrow point of view and a point of view which may be erroneous. If we want our students to break the mold and to overcome the errors we have made, we must help them to overcome the effects of this incredible amount of input.
This is not to say that we must stop or limit the amount of input. Instead of trying to stop or limit we must teach them how to properly reflect on this input to determine what is good and what is helpful, so that they can discard errors or the useless information. We must teach elementary and high school children how to correctly reflect on the input they receive and how to evaluate their own reflection.
Just talking about the information you have received or rehashing the information in your mind is not sufficient to engage the metacognitive level. In other words, you will not really learn from the information Marzano (2001). Marzano has researched and written much on the subject of learning and one point is clear, we need to do more than just present information. We need to teach our student how to reflect on what they have learned.
Every new piece of information must be compared to prior knowledge and or old idea. Connections must be made. Errors must be discovered. Truth must be reinforced and the student must proceed.
We are in the process of developing the future. this future will determine what happen to the human race, as we know it. Shouldn't we give them every possible opportunity to succeed? Shouldn't we give them every tool they might need? We teach them about every subject under the sun while they are in elementary and high school, just in case they need that information. Now, let's also give them the tool to evaluate, assimilate and use that information. Let us give them the gift of the Art of Reflection.
References:
Canning, C. (1991). What teachers say about reflection. "Educational Leadership," 48(6), 18-21. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ 422 848).
Dewey, J. (1933). "How we think."
Huston, A., & Alvarez, M. (1990). The socialization context of gender role development in early adolescence. In R. Montemayor (Ed.), From childhood to adolescence: A transitional period (pp. 156-179).
Marzano, R. J. (2001). Designing a new taxonomy of educational objectives.
Mezirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative and emancipatory learning.
Signorielli, N. (1990). Children, television, and gender roles: Messages and impact. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 11, 50-58.
Singer, J. L. (1980). "The Power and Limits of Television: A Cognitive-Affective Analysis," in The Entertainment Function of Television, edited by P.
Putnam, R.W. (1991). Recipes and reflective learning: "What should prevent you from saying it that way?" In D.A. Sch%n (Ed.), "The Reflective Turn: Case Studies in and on Educational Practice."
Swan, K., Meskill, C., & DeMaio, S. (1998). Social learning from broadcast television.
Vandewater, E. A. and Lee S. J. "Measuring Children's Media Use in the Digital Age: Issues and Challenges," American Behavioral Scientist (forthcoming).
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes.
Wroblewski, R., & Huston, A. C. (1987). Televised occupational stereotypes and their effects on early adolescence: Are they changing? Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, 283-297.
Note about the articles and Dr. Weaver:
These articles are not meant to be scholarly investigations, just the experiences, opinions and beliefs of Dr. Weaver.
Ever time I have run into a problem with my students or colleagues, I have looked for answers. I have read the research of others on the subject. I have performed my own research, whenever possible, to find the answers. I have taken time to reflect on the information and form my own opinion.
Afterwards, I have put into practice the information, as I see it. If it worked, I continued to use it. If it did not produce the desired effects, I went back to the drawing board.
What worked for me is what I have written about. I write these articles to others who may be experiencing similar difficulties in their career, in the hopes that something in these articles may help.
May you find the answer to your problems and find success in your live and promote success in the lives of those you teach.
Can You Speak English
A Look at What Fluency Really Means
By Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
How fluent are you at English? Almost every application for employment will ask the question, 'how fluent are you?', yet the relationship that fluency plays in proficiency is still unclear (Butler-Wall 1986; Hieke 1985). A person may be considered fluent, yet not proficient or via versa.
There is little understanding of what comprises fluency in nonnative speakers (Riggenbach 1989). For the most part fluency is defined as 'planned, smooth, effortless speech without numerous pauses' (Raupach 1989:268). It is easier to judge if a person is proficient at written English than to judge if they are fluent in speech.
We can give oral exams to assess the person and normally that is the way we determine their level of fluency in most institutions. However, the type of testing or the type of conversation will determine if the speech is considered fluent or not.
A person may be rated fluent in one type of test (dialogue, cued dialogue, monologue or cued monologue) yet not rated fluent in a different type of test. Additionally, different examiners focus on different parts; fluency in grammar, utterance, discourse, phonetic or sociolinguistic levels. The context and the examiner determine the rating. All of this adds to the confusion in determining if a person is fluent or not.
As an educator working with mainly ESL learners, I am always confronted with the task of determining if a person is fluent or not. There are so many aspects to look at when making this decision. I have had occasion to pronounce a person fluent and later informed that the person was not considered fluent.
As an administrator, I have outlined the criteria for assessing students for fluency. We, as an institution, have proclaimed that a student is fluent, yet the teacher disagreed with our ruling. There is always the other side of the coin, so to speak. I know many of my colleagues have faced the same difficulties.
For example; you are the teacher of a group of young learners. You give periodic exams, according to the institution where you work, and at the end of the course or term, write a report about the student. In this report you claim that the student is fluent at English. Later, the student has a planned oral exam in which he/she does poorly.
Were you wrong? Are you a poor instructor? Was the institution wrong? What happen?
That is easy to explain. In class, you work with the student in an atmosphere which is relaxed. The student knows you and has become accustomed to your way of teaching, habits, etc. The student feels confident talking to you. You have great conversations, but soon the student goes to take a formal exam.
When the student goes to an exam the student is stressed. He/she probably does not know the other examiners. He/she has no idea of how to act or react. Therefore, the formal exam will prove disastrous compared to the classroom conversation and this is normal. Students will perform their best in a situation in which there is the least amount of stress (Brown & Yule 1983).
Additionally, if the student is talking about a series of events instead of answering multiple questions, they will exhibit a higher degree of fluency. If you give the student a topic to plan a discussion, he/she will perform better than if you ask questions where they have to give shorter, unplanned answers. Of course, even with the planned discussion, you still need to apply sufficient cueing to provide structure to the discourse, otherwise the exam could be bias and the student will be evaluated as having less fluency that actual.
Another problem is culture, yes culture. As stated, fluency is defined as 'planned, smooth, effortless speech without numerous pauses'. Every culture has its own speech patterns. The pauses we consider numerous or long, may in fact be normal for the culture. The student will speak English in the same style in which he/she speaks their native tongue (Olynyk 1990). Often we will describe the person as having problems with fluency, when they are speaking properly for their culture.
There are so many variables when considering if a person is fluent, which can be confusing to student as well. Imagine the student who graduates from a course at one institute and enrolls for an advance course at another institute and is denied direct admission because he/she is not consider sufficiently fluent. The student thinks that the first institute did not complete their responsibility to him/her or if he/she has confidence in the first institute believes that the second institute is trying to get extra money from him/her.
Indeed, we as educators have great challenge before us. We must attempt evaluate every student fairly and correctly and at the same time take into account all the variables which may affect the outcome. Take into account the variables, judge fairly and if someone differs with your verdict, take it with a grain of salt. We are all trying to get the student to the same point, but we all look from our own point of view. After all, the other person may have seen something that you missed or something that will make the student a better speaker of English. By cooperating with each other we will succeed in helping the student.
References:
Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language: an approach based on analysis of conversational English.
Butler-Wall, B.A. (1986). The frequency of disfluencies in native and non-native conversational discourse. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Hieke, A.E. (1985). A componential approach to oral fluency evaluation. Modern Language Journal. 69(2), 135-142
Olynyk, M., D'Anglejan, A., Sankoff, D. (1990). A quantitative and qualitative analysis of speech markers in the native and second language speech of bilinguals. In C.R.Scarcella, E.S. Andersen, & S.D. Krashen (eds). Developing communicative competence in a second language.
Raupach, M. (1980). Temporal variables in first and second language production. In H.W. Dechert & M. Raupach (eds). Temporal variables in speech: Studies in honor of Frieda (Goldman-Eisler.
Riggenbach, H.R. (1989). Nonnative fluency in dialogue verse monologue speech: A microanalytic approach. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
Other material not quoted but used in consideration of this article;
ALDERSON, J. C., 2006. Diagnosing foreign language proficiency: the interface between assessment and learning.
BACHMAN, L. F. AND PALMER, A. S., 1996. Language testing in practice.
BACHMAN, L. F. AND SAVIGNON, S. J., 1986. The evaluation of communicative language proficiency: a critique of the ACTFL oral interview. Modern language journal, 70 (4), 380-390.
BROWN, H. D., 2004. Language assessment: principles and classroom practices.
DAVIES, A., 1992. Is proficiency always achievement?
©2005 Unique Leaders
The Need for Educational Leaders
By Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
The world in which we live is changing rapidly. Agriculture, as a way of life, is fading. Industry and technology are the number one employers and education is a must. We have more people entering schools than ever before in the history of mankind (Institution for Educational Leadership 2000). There is a teacher shortage, but more importantly, there is a shortage of leaders for the educational institutes (e.g., Jordan, 1994; Moore, 1999; Adams, 1999; ERS, 2000; O'Connell, 2001; Lord M. 2000).
Ten years ago, leaders (principals or directors) were not even on the list of 'needs' for urban schools. By 2005 leaders were number 7 on the needs list. Why are we seeing this shortage? The reason is simple, it takes a special type of person to lead a school to success and keep it there. It takes an extraordinary person to lead a school into success, keep it there and have it stay that way after he/she leaves (Effective School 2001). That, my friends, is exactly what we are running short of, extraordinary people; leaders.
You may say that the shortage of principals or directors is not that severe, but an estimated 40% of our current educational leaders will be retiring within the next 5 to 7 years. In 2005 school leaders were number 7 on the needs list for school. When 40% of our existing principal and directors leave, what will be left? What will that do to the market?
Remember, I am not talking about the paper shuffling manager type, which will not work in this new educational world. Just sending people through the university does not produce a leader. We live in time that demands true leaders and true leadership.
The advances in technology, the increase in knowledge and spread of information has created a new educational world. The students need to learn more than ever before and there is no more hours to add in the day to teach them. This demands changes in our educational system creating a new educational world.
The new educational world demands higher academic standards, the new educational world demands that everyone entering school leaves school competent. The new educational world is ever changing and full of challenges. The leader must know education in side and out. He or she must be charismatic to win over the team. The leader must have a vision for the future and a plan to get there. The new educational world demands great leadership.
These changes can not be made without a leader. These challenges can not be met without true leadership (Albritten 2004). The leader (principal or director) holds a very important position in the school (Drake 1992). If we are to educate and make students competent for the challenges of this rapidly changing world, we need special men and women guiding those efforts (Gimbel 2003).
We know what we need, so why do we have a shortage? Are there not enough men and women entering the universities to supply the needs? If the current leadership were to stay on board for another 10 or 20 years, yes we might have enough. However, as stated 40% are getting ready to retire and others are leaving the profession due to the immense stress involved. That will produce a huge shortage. There are two main reasons for the shortage; low pay (e.g., Whitaker, 1998;
The pay has to be equivalent to the amount of work involved. Remember the work involved is not just shuffling paper and sitting in meetings. The principal is responsible for the school, the teachers, the staff, the students and preparing those students to meet the challenges of the future. That is a lot of work and a lot of stress.
The stress involved in running a school is tremendous. Students must achieve the grades on standardized tests. The government is ever increasing the challenge to raise the academic standards. Every year there is something new to learn. And most importantly, for our futures, every student needs to be completely competent in all skills and knowledge. For that to happen, you need a leader, a guiding force.
The principal is the guiding force (Gene Bottoms and Kathy O'Neill 2001). Often, he or she is the reason that students are able to achieve the high standards (Bossert, Dwyer, Rowan, & Lee, 1982; Hallinger & Murphy, 1986; Andrews & Sober, 1987; Zigarelli, 1996). The interaction with teachers and even students, professional development of teachers, a vision for the future needs, analyzing data, planning ways to get there, reviewing the progress and making changes when needed, allocating recourses, managing curriculum, monitoring lesson plans and the general guidance can take a low performing school and transform it to a high performing school (Deborah King 2002). These are the abilities which the principal needs to bring to the job.
These abilities do not come with your Bachelor's degree, not even with your Master's. These abilities come through time, with guidance, experience, mentoring and coaching. This is where the training comes in.
Universities are attempting to prepare potential candidates for school leadership positions (National Policy Board for Educational Administration 2002), but more reading and case studies can not compete with experience and mentoring. Our leaders need more than book knowledge (Parkay and Rhodes 1992) or sitting around talking about how they would handle a situation and that is the key word; situation.
I have been training people for 25 years in education and in businesses. Yes, we use case studies, but only to measure the person's abilities and disposition. Case studies are a great tool for weeding out the one who won't make it. After the weeding out process, we get to work training.
We need to have potential educational leaders in the field training (Bottoms, Gene; O'Niel, Kathy; Fry, Betty; Hill, David 2003), before all our experienced leaders have retired. They need help to understand how to handle different situations. Talking about a situation and living through it are entirely different. The potential leader needs to be working hand in hand with a pro, a great leader until he or she is able to run the show on their own.
Even after the leader is place in a position by himself or herself, the mentor continues to meet with them and advise and mold them (also read "Principal Mentoring - An Update by Robert J. Malone. Research Roundup; V18, N2 WIN 2001 - 2002). The mentor helps the potential leader become a leader (Guiney 2001). When he or she is going through a tough time the mentor lends a helping hand. When the troubles come, the mentor gives ideas or verifies the ideas of the potential leader. The potential leader is molded into a true leader.
As you can see, we are at a perilous point in time. If we do not act soon, we will have a shortage of educational leaders and the ones who are in place will lack the experience and guidance to confront all the challenges which face them.
Take a look around. Can this world afford to make more errors? Can we afford to produce one or two generations of people who are not fully prepared to function in this world? We must get more people into the training mode and then pay them what they are worth. After all, how much is a good future worth to you?
Unique Leaders Educational Leadership Development works with schools around the world. We partner with schools to help them train teachers and develop future educational leaders.
Contact Unique Leaders for more information www.we-develop-leaders.com
References:
Adams, J. P. (1999). Good principals, good schools. Thrust for Educational Leadership 29(1), 8-11.
Andrews, R. L., & Soder, R. (1987). Principal leadership and student achievement. Educational Leadership 4, 9-11.
Bossert, S. T., Dwyer, D. C., Rowan, B., & Lee, G. V. (1982). The instructional management role of the principal. Educational Administration Quarterly 18(3), 34-64.
Bottoms, Gene, and Kathy O'Neill. Preparing a New Breed of School Principals: It's
Time for Action.
Bottoms, Gene; O'Niel, Kathy; Fry, Betty; Hill, David. Good Principals are the Key to
Drake, N. M. (1992). The association between principal influence on teachers and
student achievement (Doctoral dissertation, Washington State University, 1992).
UMIProQuest AAT 9321022
Education Research Service (ERS). (2000). The principal, keystone of a high-achieving school: Attracting and keeping the leaders we need.
Effective Schools Products, Ltd., (2001). Effective schools primer. Retrieved Dec. 10,
2005, from Revolutionary and Evolutionary: The Effective Schools Movement
Web site: http://www.effectiveschools.com.
Fennell, H. A. (1999). Planting seed for change: Fostering leadership. Planning and Changing 30(3/4), 175-197.
Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change.
Gimbel, P. (2003). Solutions for promoting principal-teacher trust.
Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Guiney, E. 2001. Coaching isn't just for athletes: the role of teacher leaders. Phi Delta Kappa, 82,10, 740-743
Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. (1986). Instructional leadership in effective schools.
Institution for Educational Leadership (2000). Leadership for student learning: Reinventing the principalship.
Jordan, D. (1994). The supply and demand trends of public school principals and administrators in
King, Deborah. "The Changing Shape of Leadership." Educational Leadership 59, 8
(May 2002): 61-63.
Lankford, H., O'Connell, R., &
Lord, M. Hello? Anyone there? School districts scramble to fill principals' chair.
U.S. News & World Report, 129 (6), 43
Moore, D. (1999). Where have all the principals gone?
National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Standards for Advanced
Programs in Educational Leadership.
O'Connell, R. (2001). The
Parkay, Forrest W., and John Rhodes. "Stress and the Beginning Principal." In Becoming a Principal: The Challenges of Beginning Leadership, edited by Forrest Parkay and Gene Hall. 103-22.
Sergiovanni, T. (1992). Moral leadership: getting to the heart of school improvement.
1st ed.
Whitaker, K. S. (1998). The changing landscape of the principalship: View from the inside. Planning and Changing 29(3), 130-150.
Zigarelli, M. (1996). An empirical test of conclusions from effective schools research. Journal of Educational Research 90(2), 103-110.
©2005 Unique Leaders
The Organizational Crisis
Students Lacking the Skills to Organize
By Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
Johnny comes into class, he is a likeable boy, pays attention, but his grades are poor. The teacher asks for the homework from last night. Johnny rummages through his backpack and after a few minutes, pulls out a crumpled piece of paper or answers that he can not find the homework or worse, that he did not do it.
We look at the crumpled paper and decide that Johnny does not care about the subject. In the case of the missing homework, sometimes we do not believe that he did the homework. If Johnny said that he did not do it, we are really upset and believe that he is lazy. However, all of these assumptions may be wrong. We may have a more serious problem which will affect Johnny's entire life.
Many children today suffer from the lack of study skills and organizational methods. To compound this problem, many teachers do not teach students how to be organized or to study; it is not part of the curriculum. We assume that the child should come to school with these abilities.
When you and I were children, one of our parents was usually in the house, normally Mom. Mom was always on our back; pick up your clothes, put that back where you found it, straighten your room, straighten your books, you have 15 minutes to finish your homework, you can't go out until your room is clean, the yard better be cleaned before I get back, etc. Mom was teaching us how to organize things. However the children today do not have that benefit, the norm is that both parents work and the child is alone or with siblings.
Children need that quality time with the parents. They need to be instructed in what to do, how to do it and when to do it. The children need to be nurtured, especially if you want the children to develop good study skills and organizational methods (
Without guidance the child will become increasing disorganized, with the result of failing on tests and perhaps the year. This in turn affects the child's self-esteem and adds a great deal of stress to the child's life (Williamson, 1997), which starts a vicious cycle of failure and often the child quits school and enters the workforce.
Entering the workforce is no advantage. Due to the lack of skills and education the person is ill-prepared and can experience many difficulties in his/her life. If the employer does not see that the person has been taught the basic skills, the person will not be hired (Hanson, 1995). As educators, we need to step up and help these children before it is too late.
Remember, "children are not alike in their ability to be organized. Some children have better organizational skills than others" (Gallagher, 2003, para. 3). Therefore we can not judge all children the same. We must help them to see and experience an organized life style. We must explain to them what organization means and teach them how to organize their time, books, etc.
This is not an easy task! Even if the parents are helpful, the child has a multitude of choices before him/her everyday. Did you realize that the average child spend only a half an hour in 'meaningful' conversation with his/her parents each week. What does the child do with the other hours? Many of our students choose technology, of which television is one example. Television and other technologies do not require organization; in fact they discourage it (Gale, 2006).
At one time you had to plan what you wanted to watch. Today, with cable, VCRs, DVDs, etc, there is no need to plan. You watch what you want when you want to. Planning and organizing has been lost. This is not the only consequence of technology.
Student spends an average of 28 hours per week in front of either the TV or computer verses 5.6 hours for homework. The amount of time participating in interaction with others or participating in events which will foster and reinforce organizational habits, such as reading, writing, cleaning or conversing, is seriously hampered. This dedication to the TV or computer leads to lower academic achievement and poor study and organizational skills. The home and technology are not the only culprits; we as teacher have some blame.
Often, we believe that we are doing our jobs correctly when we announce the assignment dates and important facts in the class. We assume that the student is able to understand, record, organize and recall the information at a future time. Later, like with our example Johnny, the assignment does not appear or is it not as we asked. We are disappointed and do not understand what happen. We say the child is not trying or that they child does nothing in class. We tell the parents that the child has the mental and physical capacity to perform the task, but he/she does not want to work; however, poor organizational skills have prevented them from completing such a task (Bryan & Burstein, 2004). So what can we do?
Lack of organization covers all grade levels. There is no one particular magic grade where you can change the student. We must devise plans for all grades. Students need different skills at different levels, grades or ages. Providing models and guidance can help.
Teachers can provide a set-up for how the inside of a school desk should look, monitor work areas, and provide a clean-up time at the end of each class, day, or week (Ito, 1996). Keep a clean classroom. When students see that the area is clean and organized, they start to model what they see. It seems that all research suggests that teachers need to provide students with time to make sure that their personal space at school is organized (Bakunas & Holley, 2001). Yet, we need to go further.
We need to explain what organization is, means and how to be organized. Just having the models will help, but the student needs more guidance and direction. Explain how to organize time, items and choices. Teaching the students how to organize will increase the academic achievement and produce a better student. Research demonstrates that intervention will raise test and homework scores (Bryan & Burstein, 2004).
We have many tools at our disposal; require the students to use assignment books, encourage organization of desk and or lockers and binders. With the binders, make sure you help the student to understand how to divide and organize the binder.
Using a daily agenda or planner will help. Have the students keep track of important items, events, tests, assignments or times. Once they are keeping these in the planner, have the students set a priority to each item. Be sure that as they complete items, they also check them off and the teacher should check the student's planners regularly (Bakunas & Holley, 2001).
Remember to provide positive feedback for the students. By providing a positive interaction with the student, the teacher will be boosting the student's self-esteem, which will lead to higher morale, and in turn, higher achievement (Wigley, 2004) and that is what we, as teachers, are aiming for; high scores and motivated learners.
If the school permits, add a life skills class to the schedule. Give the students one hour per week to learn about study skills, organizational skills, active listening, note taking and other life skills. Students should be directly taught study skills, from planning to actual location of studying. Students should make a list of steps or procedures at the end of every day. Providing classes in these skills proves beneficial (Wigley, 2004).
This article is written primarily for teacher in formal education. However, all that is equally applicable to non-formal settings, such as ESL classrooms. In fact, teachers in the ESL classes run into these problems more than teachers in formal education.
It may be wise and even profitable for language institutes to add classes in these life skills. They may want to require that student have the basic skills and if not the student must fist attend the training sessions.
References:
Bakunas, B., & Holley, W. (2001). Teaching organizational skills. Clearing House, 74 (3) 151-155.
Bryan, T., & Sullivan-Burstein, K. (2004). Improving homework completion and academic performance: Lessons from special education. Theory into Practice, 43 (3) 213-220.
Gale, T. (2006). Michael Ramsay and James Barton biography. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ow-Sh/Ramsay-Michael-and- Barton-James.html .
Gallagher, R. (2003). Organizational skills for school success. The Parent Letter,1(3), Retrieved November 30, 2006, from http://www.aboutourkids.org .
Hanson, B. (1995). Getting to know you: Multi-year teaching. Educational Leadership, 53 (3).
Isreal, G.D., & Beaulieu, L.J. (2001). The influence of family and community social capital on educational achievement. Rural Sociology, 66 (1). 43-68.
Ito, C. (1996). I think I did it, but I can't find it: Assisting students who lack organizational skills.
Williamson, R.D. (1997). Help me organize. Intervention in School and Clinic, 33 (1) 36-40.
©2005 Unique Leaders www.we-develop-leaders.com
Clear Goals, Clear Pathways, Clearly Better Results
By Dr. Edwin C. Weaver
The buzz word in the educational world is "improve grades". Every school in every country is attempting to raise the academic level of education. The
As I said, 'some form of' and this is the key word. (Arter 2003) Often teacher do not; clearly state the goals of the lesson(s), clearly state the 'learning pathway' to achieve these goals and have trouble designing assessment which will clearly state if the goals where reached and if not where on the pathway is the student weak.
Clearly stating the goals is a foundational part of student involvement. Arter, Chapius & Stiggins stated that if teachers do not start with clearly stated learning goals, they will not end up with sound assessments.
Checking to verify that the student understands the goals as the teacher intended them is important (Cown 2004). When students know and 'understand' exactly what is expected of them, they usually respond. In addition, with clearly stated goals the student knows when they are not on track and go to the teacher for help. So how does a student know if he/she is on track?
The teachers need to have a clear pathway to learning. To reach a goal a student must learn various items. Normally, you need to understand and be able to apply one piece of knowledge before you can effectively use another piece of knowledge. The teacher must map out this process for the students, so that they can participate in the learning process.
Moody and Shafer (2003) found that standards do not help teachers, students or parents to understand what is missing in the students understanding or abilities. A clear outline of each step in the learning process or 'learning pathway' must be given to the students. An example is the language arts teacher who is teaching the paragraph. Usually the stated goal or standard is "the student will be able to construct a 4 sentence descriptive paragraph." What does the student need to write a good paragraph?
- The first sentence is the topic sentence, it gives the main idea
- The other sentences support or give evidence to the topic sentence
Is this all that the student needs to know to write a paragraph? No, before the student can write a paragraph he/she needs to know how to write various types of sentences and questions. Additionally, before the student can write a sentence he/she needs to know the various parts of the sentence.
This is the 'learning pathway' for the student. Clearly stating this pathway enables both students and parents to understand at which point there is a gap in the understanding. This allows the student and/or the teacher to fill the gap or to fix the misunderstanding in the information. As you can see the 'learning pathway' is as equally important as setting the goals. When these two are combined with frequent (daily, bi-weekly or at most weekly) assessments, the students are empowered to learn.
Because proper assessments are so vital to measure where the student is, if there are any gaps and what the next step in the learning process is, teachers must be able to design good oral and written assessments. Research has proved that many of the teachers in our school at this moment have not had much training in setting benchmarks, designing standards or designing assessments for learning. In the university they learned to write tests to assess what the students had learned or summative assessment, but not the important assessment which will improve student learning.
In order for the whole process to work and work well, teachers need additional training in assessing the students. They must learn how to assess the students daily in conversation, bi-weekly or weekly in written or quiz form and end of lesson assessments. These assessments must be tied to the goals, standards and learning pathway set out at the beginning of the lesson(s).
The results of these assessments need to inform the teacher at what point in the pathway the student is stopped, what skill they need to acquire (or strengthen) and what the student needs to move to the next level (Talbot 1997).
Once the teacher is competent at all three parts, you will see an increase in the learning capacity of the students. If you are using a scale of 1 - 100 the students will experience anywhere from 10 to 30 points gain in their scores. This is a significant increase and well worth the time to train the teachers.
An added benefit is the increase in the motivation by students to learn (Peace, Mayo, and Watkins (2000)). Today we find the majority of secondary student apathetic to learning (Broadwater Hilker (1993)). When the student realizes that he/she can be competent and they understand what is required of them and how to get to that point, the apathy disappears and intrinsic motivation grows.
If you are reforming your educational system and want your students to be happy, competent students, design a plan to implement Formative Assessment and train your teachers. You will be glad you did and your students will thank you for it.
Unique Leaders Educational Leadership Development works with schools around the world to develop leadership and train teachers. For more information contact Unique Leaders at www.we-develop.leaders.com info@we-develop-leaders.com
© 2005 Unique Leaders www.uniqueleaders.org www.we-develop.leaders.com
References:
Arter, J. (2003). Assessment for learning: What it looks like in the classroom. Retrieved June 27, 2006, from http:www.adprima.com
Arter, J. A., Chappuis, J., Chappuis, S., Stiggins, R. J. (2004). Classroom assessment for student learning. Doing it right-using it well.
Cown, W. (2004, May 05). Boxes and Arrows. Retrieved June 22, 2006, from
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/
focus_on_the_student_how_to_use_learning_objectives_to_improve_learning
Hilker, J. B. (1993). Toward creating the intrinsically motivating classroom: can students' motivational orientations be changed? (Rep. No. Sp 034 606).
Peace, T. M., Mayo, K., & Watkins, R. (2000). Becoming consumers of our own research: What really makes a difference in improving learning? (Rep. No. SP 039 118).
Schafer, W., & Moody, M. (2003). Designing accountability assessments for teaching (Rep. No. TM 034 932).
Talbot, G. (1997). Can self-regulated learning be taught to college students? (Rep. No. SP 037 412).
