Mark Siegel's Thinking About Education

Ed Week Headline: High School Redesign Gets Presidential Lift

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:15:23 EST

I just read an Education Week article with the headline High School Redesign Gets Presidential Lift. It cites President Obama's February 12 State of the Union Speech in which he said "[t]onight, I'm announcing a new challenge to redesign America's high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy." Great! Our high schools must be designed, shifting them from factory-model schools to proficiency-based schools!

The article says that "Recognition is widespread that high schools need to change to engage students and prepare them for the workforce of the future. That push goes back decades, but now momentum is accelerating, and talk is not of reform, but redesign." That is all I have been talking about shifting from factory-model time-based schools to proficiency-based schools.

Someone else agrees with me! "There is a realization that our high schools were designed for another time and era," said Joe DiMartino, the founder of the Center for Secondary School Redesign, based in West Warwick, R.I., and the author of Personalizing the High School Experience for Each Student. I love it!

If you read the article, you will learn more about personalized learning, project-based learning, proficiency and competency-based grading, and other efforts in the right direction. In the side-bar article, I read that "New Hampshire began to offer credit based on competency over seat time in 2008, and schools started phasing in the changes." Yippee. And in discussing one of the schools that switched, it said "the test scores are clear: Pittsfield has gone from being among the five lowest-performing high schools in the state to near the top in math, and reading is also improving."

There is more to glean from the article. DiMartino said, "For schools to truly be able to change, there needs to be a move away from seat time and testing to new approaches to engage students,..and to competency-based learning that uses a variety of assessment instruments, such as student exhibitions of their learning."

I am always learning more about the shift for proficiency, and I found that "[e]fforts to reinvent high schools date back decades. One of those was the NASSP's 1996 release of the "Breaking Ranks" framework for school improvement and an updated version of the initiative in 2003. It outlined three core areas that must be addressed for student performance to improve: collaborative leadership; personalization of the school environment; and curriculum, instruction, and assessment."

The article concludes with a discussion of common themes and principles, and I really liked two of them. One was "Personal connections and engagement: There has been a move away from large traditional high schools to smaller personalized ones (or at least teams within a big school) where students can feel a sense of belonging.". Other was "[l]everaging technology and data for individualized learning: Personalization in learning, through the use of technology, means students can move at their own pace and feel a sense of empowerment in their education."

I have been speaking about proficiency to both national and international audiences recently, and I've been asked (or allowed...[smile]) to give talks and workshops on this topic to school faculty as well as parents on this vital topic over the next year. The response is uniformly positive and I get invitations to speak in additional venues. I mention this because there is something that resonates with parents and students, teachers and administrators when I explain it. I thought it might be useful to summarize how I start my talks.

You and I probably went to an old school, where time was constant and learning was the variable. You know - 50 minutes of Algebra for 180 days. Some students got it some of the time - everyday some were bored and some were lost, but as a class we moved ahead regardless of our test scores from last week's test. But Delphian is a new school, where learning is the constant and time is the variable. We are all about personalized and individualized education where students proceed only when they reach proficiency on their current studies. This shift from seat-time Carnegie Units to progressing upon reaching high levels of proficiency or competency is happening all across the country and all around the world. It may be new to some, but we've been doing it for 39 years!

Hope you find it helpful.

Education Reimagined by Salman Khan

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:57:41 EST

I just got a copy of Salman Khan's new book The One World School House - Education Reimagined. He founded the Khan Academy and his TED video has been viewed by millions. I just started the book and wanted to share a few items from the first few pages to get you thinking about education and to buy/read his book! You may notice that the points I included here are points I've been taking up in my blogs and talks, but I really like his clear take on the entire subject!

On the lecture-model classroom, he writes:

"The old classroom model simply doesn't fit our changing needs. It's a fundamentally passive way of learning, while the world requires more and more active processing of information. The old model is based on pushing students together in age-group batches with one-pace-fits-all curricula and hoping they pick up something along the way. It isn't clear that this was the best model one hundred years ago; it certainly isn't anymore."

About change in the education system, he said:

"Between the old way of teaching and the new, there's a crack in the system, and kids around the globe are falling through it every day. The world is changing at an ever faster rate, yet systemic change, when it happens at all, moves glacially and often in the wrong direction; every day--every class period--the gap grows wider between the way kids are being taught and what they actually need to learn."

"But instead of acting, people just keep talking about incremental changes. Either for lack of imagination or fear of rocking the boat, the conversation generally stops well short of the kind of fundamental questioning that our educational malaise demands, focusing instead on a handful of familiar but misplaced obsessions like test scores and graduation rates. Those are by no means trivial concerns. Still, what really matters is whether the world will have an empowered, productive, fulfilled population in the generations to come, one that fully taps into its potential and can meaningfully uphold the responsibilities of real democracy."

And when it comes to thinking about education, he asks:

"How do people actually learn? Does the standard classroom model--broadcast lectures in school, solitary homework in the evening--still make sense in a digital age? Why do students forget so much of what they have supposedly "learned" as soon as an exam has been taken? Why do grown-ups sense such a disconnect between what they studied in school and what they do in the real world? These are the sorts of basic questions we should be asking. But even then, there is an enormous difference between bemoaning the state of education and actually doing something about it."

And that is why I am sharing this with you, hoping you will (or are) doing something about it. I hope I got you thinking about education, and interested in buying or reading his book! I may not agree with everything he says, as I haven't finished reading it, but so far I'm on his side. Put it on your shelf next to Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning by Schwahn & McGarvey and you'll have a lot to think about!

Breaking news on colleges using competency-based programs in which students learn at their own pace

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:31:15 EST

This just in! The US Dept of Ed just issued a press release "Education Department Releases Guidance on Providing Title IV Eligibility for Competency-Based Learned Programs".

The news is that colleges "that offer competency-based programs in which students learn at their own pace – but that currently do not offer federal student aid" can do so. [Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 provides federally funded financial aid, such as Perkins Loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans.]

The release notes that "[i]n recent years, some institutions have recognized the potential of innovative learning models and developed creative programs that allow students the flexibility to learn at the pace that makes sense for them, both in career-technical and degree programs. Students progress in these competency-based programs by demonstrating their achievement of specific skills or knowledge. Most competency-based programs fit into traditional learning models that measure progress in credit or clock hours, but an increasing number do not. Some of these programs would like to offer their students title IV aid – including Pell grants and federal student loans – but have been unable to do so."

Wow - some colleges are moving to competency (read "proficiency") where students demonstrate skills or knowledge (not seat time). Fantastic. They get it. Seat time doesn't benefit anyone! Proficiency does!

The problem has been that colleges that do competency-based education thought they couldn't offer federal student aid. Today's letter addresses their concerns and provides guidance on developing programs that are likely to be title IV eligible!!

Don't believe me? Here's what the US Dept of Ed press release says:

"This is a key step forward in expanding access to affordable higher education," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "We know many students and adult learners across the country need the flexibility to fit their education into their lives or work through a class on their own pace, and these competency-based programs offer those features – and they are often accessible to students anytime, anywhere. By being able to access title IV aid for these programs, many students may now be able to afford higher education."

The press release says the US Department of Education "notes the potential of competency-based approaches to shorten the time to degree completion and reduce costs, while providing an opportunity for students and workers to develop the knowledge and skills they need to compete for high-paying jobs or advance in the workplace. Going forward, the Department plans to collaborate with accrediting agencies and the broader higher education community to encourage innovative approaches, identify promising practices, and gather feedback to inform future policies."

Colleges are finally catching on! Now let's look for rapid adoption of proficiency-based (competency-based) teaching and learning in the public and private K-12 world!

The Urgent Need to Shift to Engaged, Personalized and Student-Centered Learning

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:52:05 EST

I stopped blogging for a while so I could step back and think about education newly. I wanted to re-orient myself and insure I was focusing on what was important. So I stepped back and read and thought and traveled and met and spoke, and thought some more. As things were starting to make sense, I had a plan about things I wanted to blog about.

But today I was jolted into blogging by an article in eSchool News that everyone should read . I was shocked (and I'm not easily shocked) by the report of the Consortium for School Networking's (CoSN) 2013 annual conference in San Diego last week. The theme was that "[t]ransforming schools from places that deliver traditional, factory-era models of instruction to institutions that support engaging, personalized, and student-centered learning requires bold, audacious leadership."

That means that we don't have engaged, personalized, and student-centered learning. That means we want engaged, personalized, and student-centered learning. It means it will take a lot of work to get there! This is serious! And we don't have audacious leadership!

From the article:

"We need disruptive, innovative leaders to move 21st-century education forward," said Jean Tower, CoSN board chair, in kicking off the conference March 12. Tower is also director of technology for the Northborough and Southborough Public Schools in Massachusetts."

OK, we've heard of this before. Anyone who's followed Clay Christensen's work on disruption, including his 2008 book Disrupting Class, Expanded Edition: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns will be familiar with this concept.

But how serious is the problem? One of the speakers, "Lord David Puttnam—who worked for Great Britain's Ministry of Education for several years and is now chancellor of the online Open University—said education in the Western world isn't at a "Sputnik" moment today, referring to the mobilization around science and math instruction that occurred in the 1950s when the Soviets launched a satellite into space.

"Instead, 'we are at a Pearl Harbor moment,' he said—suggesting the urgency to act is even greater now than in the 1950s...."

I think this is very strong language. Is this a wake-up call we've not heard before? After discussing the investment in education by other countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, Puttnam said those countries love to see "the dysfunction in the U.S. political system that's holding education back." Again, in very strong language, he noted "Napoleon once said, 'Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake.' That's how southeast Asia sees us."

Wow! I don't consider education systems at war, but if the US education system fails, there goes the US economy, and the US! We can't afford to fail. If Puttman is right, that means we need audacious leadership to move us to engaged, personalized, and student-centered learning. Hmmmmm...I think I may have mentioned this once or twice...

Want to read more shocking data! Read the full article!

What's Wrong With Education (Part 3): Proficiency Testing Is Not Proficiency-Based Teaching and Learning

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:36:01 EST

Many folks are confused when they hear that schools districts, states and even countries are now requiring students to pass proficiency tests in math, reading, English, etc. It is important to know that this is a separate topic from proficiency-based teaching and learning. In many cases they are unrelated. Proficiency tests are general tests usually administered to all students at one time for a few hours, to find their reading and math abilities (proficiencies). As is true of all tests, these have limited usefulness and accuracy.

The proficiency tests in the news are usually being given to public schools students in schools that still operate on the factory-model or still use the lecture method. Testing for proficiency does not mean teaching for proficiency. Don't think that if schools in your area are now administering proficiency tests, that proficiency-based teaching and learning has arrived to rescue your schools from the factory model. These are different topics.

Testing for proficiency is not teaching for proficiency. Tests don't address how students are taught. It is just testing - general testing at that!

Proficiency-based teaching and learning includes proficiency testing in some form to insure mastery before a student moves on. But proficiency-based teaching and learning is all about breaking away from the factory model to an approach to teaching and learning that makes sense! It is individualized and personalized, and is all about the student proceeding at a pace that makes sense for that student, not at a fixed pace for a fixed amount of time dictated by the Carnegie Unit.

Proficiency-based teaching and learning is a transformational shift away from factory-model schools and lecture-method schools to flipped classrooms (see my Khan Academy blog), to project-based learning, to schools with self-paced instruction, to schools where learning (not time) is the constant. (See my many blogs on this subject.) Proficiency-based teaching and learning means abandoning the factory-model school and moving into the 21st century.

I'm not against proficiency tests, but I oppose over-testing and I am upset that proficiency standards vary widely from state to state. If tests are used to help students and their families find out what students know and can do, and help determine the logical next steps in their education program - I'm OK with that! If they give honest useful data so families can monitor a student's educational progress and understand areas that need work, great!

If schools are now administering proficiency tests and this is something new, what were they testing in the past? Shouldn't all tests address proficiency. Yikes. Hopefully proficiency tests (knowing the limited usefulness of a few-hour snapshot) are an attempt to insure children really are prepared for their next educational step or the world of work, and to give an honest picture of what a student knows and can do. You'll have to see if the tests in your area are doing that.

I hope you can explain this to your friends so they won't confuse proficiency testing with proficiency-based teaching and learning. You could always tell them about my blog!!

Moving away from the factory model of schooling...and more!

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:14:32 EST

I think about education all the time. Today I found an article about education in Fast Company (an unlikely source) that knocked my socks off. You can stop here and read it. But here's my take and why I'm excited. (I don't think the author reads my blog, but the parallel thinking involved is incredible!)

The article is What Will The Ed Tech Revolution Look Like? Predictions for how the next 15 years are going to change how children learn, at school and at home. It was written by Tim Brady, a partner and co-founder of Imagine K12, an incubator for tech companies focused on serving the K-12 market, so he is seeing this through the eyes of an entrepreneur (which is a good thing).

He wrote: "In an increasingly competitive world, it is clear that our education system--as currently designed--isn't sustainable." That's what I've been saying - the model, the system itself, is inherently flawed. I keep saying that it's the model - not the people - that isn't working...but I do think that the people should have changed it on their own! More on that in another blog.

At school, Brady predicts that in the next 5 years we "will see teachers become more efficient in their jobs by adopting web-based tools." That is for sure. I see teachers with iPads, phones, and using programs to make things better and faster! I think this will happen much sooner.

At home, he says "[t]he Khan Academy has brought the notion of self-paced learning outside of the classroom to the mainstream". In a way he's right. But there have been other proficiency-based systems in place much earlier, such as Chugach School District in Alaska and others I've blogged about. Sal Khan was great, but there are others also making news on the self-paced learning front!

Although I think it has already happened, Brady says that the computer "will now also be seen as a device for learning inextricably tied to a child's education. This small but important change in perception about the computer at home is a precondition for the second wave." I think this is already true. Look at the educational software available, as well as the research tools and exciting resources available to children and young adults. Look at the smartphone revolution, the tablet revolution, the electronic reader revolution.

In 5-10 years, he says "[o]nce web-based software becomes commonplace in the classroom, new distribution channels for selling into schools become possible."...

While he is involved in this marketplace by bringing products to market, what he says is very important for all of us. This is a huge economic and power shift. Just as online shopping has changed the brick-and-mortar world to a click/click-and-mortar world, there is a change in the purchasing system that will mean great things for K-12 education.

Brady thinks that educational purchasing will experience what I call a "teacher as consumer revolution". Brady says that Instead of superintendents and folks at the top making purchases, "[w]hen dozens of teachers in a school district are using the free version of a web-based product, it's clear that the product is effective and necessary. The superintendent will no longer need to solicit teachers' input to know what they want and need."..."This new bottoms-up channel makes the their jobs easier and their teachers more productive. The best products, rather than the best sales forces, will begin to win the day."

Wow - the free market and consumer choice at work - getting better and less expensive products to market! Brady thinks that "superintendents will give individual teachers small online budgets (less than $500 per year) from which to purchase their own products and tools."

Incredible shift in economics, marketing and the rise of low cost, useful products being rapidly developed, improved and put to use.

In fifteen years (far too long for me), Brady says that "we will finally see widespread changes to our public school model. Schools will move toward...models that better support the needs of individual students and reflect the fiscal realities of today."

In his words: "More specifically, public schools will look to save money by moving away from their traditional age-based and grade-based system (i.e. the "factory model") toward one based on mastery. Kids will be able to test out of certain classes by proving competency. High schools, and maybe even middle schools, will begin to operate less like factories and more like colleges."

OK. One more advocate of moving from the factory model to proficiency-based teaching and learning! Great! Welcome aboard!

Brady shares my disappointment when he says that it will take fifteen years to see "substantial change. Fifteen years is an entire generation of students! It is difficult to accept the idea that change will take that long while we are failing so many students." That is for sure!

But who could disagree with his conclusion. "Most exciting to me in this revolution is the movement away from the factory model of education and towards something more individually customized to each student and more cost efficient...We will fail fewer students because they will be more engaged, and we will lose fewer teachers to frustration."

I agree. There is good news everywhere. Following up on last year's Oregon Proficiency Conference, (see my May 2 blog) the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators is making plans for another conference this year. I've been asked to speak about proficiency-based teaching and learning at an annual meeting this fall of private school adminstrators in Washington State.

Good news about the shift from the factory model is everywhere, and proficiency-based teaching and learning is working!

Fourth of July Message: The child is not the mere creature of the State!

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:37:21 EST

Tomorrow we celebrate the Fourth of July. On July 4, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, which begins with this important words:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These words are important! Very important! We celebrate our freedom and remind ourselves of our heritage every July 4.

Another important date was June 1, 1925. As I wrote in an earlier blog (February 4, 2010), in the Pierce case the US Supreme Court overturned an Oregon law that would have required all Oregon students to attend public school and punish parents by fine and imprisonment for each day they violated this law. This law would have put all Oregon private schools out of business forever. In overturning this law, the Supreme Court said:

"The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations"

That case has been referred to in many other Supreme Court and lower court decisions as a case standing for the supremacy of parental rights over the general power of the state. That decision prevents the state from forcing children to attend public school against the wishes of their parents, and allows more than 10% of the students in America to attend private schools!

As you celebrate the Fourth of July and the fireworks go off, do remember our Founding Fathers and the freedoms we enjoy because of their work. And take a moment to remember the great work of the Supreme Court in the Pierce case that gives parents the right to send their children to the schools of their choice, including private schools!

What's Wrong With Our Schools (Part 2): Senioritis

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:08:17 EST

[Note: My last blog talked about the agrarian school calendar. I missed the news that the Los Angeles Unified School district is cutting days from the existing school year. The Los Angeles Times wrote:

"A tentative agreement to shorten the school year for Los Angeles students — for the fourth consecutive year — is almost certain to weaken academic gains, and was driven, critics said, by expediency more than the best interests of students.

"The deal reached ...calls for canceling up to five instructional days from the 2012-13 school year.... All sides agree that the pact is bad for students but some insist it was unavoidable."]

This week, I attended an Education Week online chat "The Senior Slump: Strategies to Keep Students Motivated". They even posted my question "Isn't the heart of the problem the factory (time-based) system? Isn't the solution moving to a proficiency-based system (Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning)?" I read a related article in Education Week "Eradication of Senior Slump Remains Elusive: Some places using innovative tactics".

What is the problem? What are we talking about? We should define terms. Senioritis, Senior Slump, Senior-Year Slacking all refer to the same thing. Merriam-Webster online tells us it is "an ebbing of motivation and effort by school seniors as evidenced by tardiness, absences, and lower grades". Students, parents and educators all know the root cause.

Senioritis Logic: Once seniors are accepted into college, there is no need to do anything more than pass with the bare minimum, assuming colleges won't look at a student's final transcript. Better to spend time with friends you won't be seeing for a while, and take the earned break.

Researching any of the "senioritis" terms returns many articles on this "disease".

Wikipedia says this "is a colloquial term used in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers. "I have a bad case of senioritis"".

Former US Secretary of Education Richard Riley wrote "Creative leadership is certainly a requirement in overcoming the institutional inertia that allows so many high school students to waste their senior year. Seniors who have completed their mandatory course load or have been accepted to college through early admissions often check out."

Peterson's (the college prep company) has an online page about College Prep and the Perils of Senior Slump

A high school senior wrote:
"With fewer than two weeks of school left for the class of 2011, Senior Marissa Daftary explains what it means to fall victim to the senior slump and the ways it affects students.

"There's a sickness going around Wayland High School seniors, and it's unaffectionately entitled the "senior cough."

"Symptoms include lack of completed homework, lack of studying for tests or quizzes, and most importantly, lack of motivation for anything at all related to school or learning in the second semester of senior year.

"What's the official name for this illness?

"Why, it must be the senior slump! The senior slump is the #1 raging disease among teenagers ages 17-18 years old.

"The first sign of senior slump is feeling absolutely no obligation to do any school work."

I have two things to say.

One, I was the only person on the Ed Week chat who even suggested that the problem was caused by factory-model schooling, and the solution would be proficiency-based schools. Top educators and experts were in attendance, but this solution wasn't part of the discussion. It seemed to me that they were just trying to keep them busy. Hmm....

Two, senioritis NEVER happens here at the Delphian School because we have a proficiency-based program. Seniors who finish their high program always report that they've never worked harder in their lives up to the minute they finish the program! They finish any time of year, and when they finish they are done! Couldn't be simpler!

Big problem. Easy Solution.

What's wrong with our schools? Senioritis is just one of the flawed educational bricks in the out-moded factory model school. Stay tuned to learn more about the bricks!

What's Wrong With Our Schools (Part 1): The Agrarian Calendar

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:14:49 EST

In the US, the school year is based on the premise that students study in the winter and help farm in the summer. Duhhh! That may have been true in the past, but today most students don't live on farms anymore...and farms aren't what they used to be (smile).

If you search for "longer school days" you will see what the discussion is about. Of course, longer school days in bad/poor schooIs just makes more bad/poor schooling. But modern educators are realizing there is much more to learn and to do than can be done in a factory-model, agrarian-calendar school year. That school year makes no sense today!

As I blogged here on August 2, 2011, some schools are starting to extend the school year, including the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I also took up some of the issues related to extending the school year. As I said there, extended calendars in poorly-run "no fun" schools makes no sense. Schools where students are having fun learning and where learning is an adventure should be open longer. But no students should be in school earning seat time - that's more than old school! Students should only be in school as long as needed to become proficient in the subjects they are studying and to meet graduation requirements. If they need more time - great! If they get done sooner and can get on with their lives - that's even better!

In Off The Clock: Moving Education from TIME to COMPETENCY, the authors write:

"Let's start with the message that we send to our students when we start the school year around the beginning of September and end it in May or June. Do we inadvertently communicate that learning begins at the start of the school year and ends at the end of it? We communicate that summer is not for learning, that is, unless you've done a bad job during the school year and have to endure summer school."

Last September, the Washington Times reported:

"Students may not want to hear it, but schools that have experimented with extra periods and longer school years report higher graduation rates and higher test scores, according to a new report from the National Center on Time and Learning, a Boston-based nonprofit advocacy group."

At the National Center on Time and Learning site, they write:
"Unfortunately, our antiquated school calendar is too limiting to provide millions of children with the breadth and depth of educational experiences they will need to thrive. But schools that have broken from the bounds of the conventional calendar and schedule offer promising alternatives to the status quo. [The Center] has documented the practices of high-performing, high-poverty schools that have expanded time in order to...
Raise achievement...
Enrich education...
Empower teachers"

So now you know. What's wrong with our schools? The agrarian school year is just one of the flawed educational bricks in the out-moded factory model school. Stay tuned to learn more about the bricks!

The Factory-Model School Can't Be Reformed - It Must Be Transformed!

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 09:36:30 EST

Interesting side note: This week I had the honor of co-presenting a session about blogging at finalsite university in Hartford, Connecticut (finalsite hosts Delphian's website and provides our content management system). During the session I actually posted Wednesday's blog about Rudy Crew! Not many bloggers can say they posted their blog in front of a live audience!

Now on to the important topic of the day - why the factory model school can't be reformed - it must be transformed.

While many writers and thinkers have explained this well, Bill Gates made it very clear when he spoke to the National Governors Association in February of 2005. At their National Education Summit on High Schools, he said:

"When we looked at the millions of students that our high schools are not preparing for higher education – and we looked at the damaging impact that has on their lives – we came to a painful conclusion:

"America's high schools are obsolete.

"By obsolete, I don't just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points.

"By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they're working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today.

"Training the workforce of tomorrow with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about today's computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It's the wrong tool for the times.

"Our high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting – even ruining – the lives of millions of Americans every year."

Get it! The factory model school can't be reformed - it must be transformed!

In my June 3 blog, I quoted Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen: "Our legacy system was designed for a different century." In his words "[a]t long last, can we move away from the assembly-line, age-based grade level system we've endured for generations, and move to a system where students move upon demonstration of mastery?"

Get it! The factory model school can't be reformed - it must be transformed!

The authors of Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning say:

"Harsh Reality #2 We are Industrial Age organizations existing in an Information Age world."

"The graded, assembly-line organizational structure of schools used to make sense. It doesn't anymore!"

Get it! The factory model school can't be reformed - it must be transformed!

That's why I no longer talk or think about education reform. You shouldn't either. It is the wrong concept! We all need to think about school transformation.

This concept hurts to think about. Changing the school day, the school year, the lay of the land, the role of teachers, the nature of the curriculum, the role of the student,...everything! But that is the only way to address an obsolete system that Bill Gates tells us was "designed fifty years ago to meet the needs of another age"..."Its the wrong tool for the times." We need to transform our schools!

Despite the pain, we must think this through and then take action. If our schools are obsolete and must be transformed, where do we go from here and how fast can we get there? Hmmm...

Workplace Literacy - What a Great Idea!

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:07:00 EST

Oregon public education is changing in a major way. We no longer elect a Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Governor now wears that additional hat. Our last elected Superintendent is ending her term early (at the end of the June). The Governor has appointed his chief education officer to oversee the Oregon Department of Education, as well as the community college system and the system of higher education. All of this change has created quite a stir. The Governor has nominated Rudy Crew as his chief education officer, and this has added to the controversy. I'm not here to take sides or weigh in on this appointment.

But the Oregonian newspaper's website OregonLive.com ran an editorial by former head of the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries Jack Roberts that provoked my thinking. He quoted Mr. Crew, as follows:

"It is unacceptable for students not to know the rules of work: that there is a time and place for everything and that a work environment, interview, or formal setting requires a different attire from a mall, a ball game, or just hanging out. ... Teaching children about time and place is as important as teaching them about math and science. And if we don't teach them that, we're consigning them to a permanent place in the underclass of society."

Roberts goes on to list "some of the things Crew believes young people should know in order to possess this workplace literacy:

Basic financial realities and budgeting.
How to balance a checkbook.
How interest and credit work.
What to wear and how to conduct themselves in an interview.
How to write a proper and effective letter and email.
What general area of study or employment they want to head toward.
The fundamentals of how money works in our economy and government."

Again, I'm not weighing in for or against Mr. Crew's appointment. But I am glad to hear his viewpoint on what I consider a vital part of a high school education. I teach my business students much of this, and much much more. Workplace literacy is just one element of a good high school education, but an important one. I hope you agree!

Thoughts About Life from This Year's Commencement Speaker

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 16:52:36 EST

This year's Commencement speaker was Dr. Thomas Hellie, President of Linfield College. It was a great speech. He gave our graduates four main pieces of advice, with good examples and Shakespearian references:
1) Find a mentor and make a plan.
2) Find your passion and adjust your plan.
3) Find meaning in the service of others.
4) Don't forget the people you love (and who love you).

I couldn't agree more.

He added a fifth piece of advice that I wanted to share with you as well.

It came from Dr. Win Dolan, a Linfield College professor who lived to be 100. Four years ago, at the age of 99, Dr. Dolan gave the Linfield commencement address. At the end of his talk, Dr. Dolan said that the most important thing he had come to realize over his many years was the value of stopping for at least one moment each day and looking for beauty—in nature, in art, anywhere. Too often, he said, we charge through life without seeing how beautiful and precious it is.

Dr. Hellie invited (and urged) our graduates to choose a time each day to appreciate something beautiful—to savor the taste of food, to smell the aromas of life, to listen to beautiful sounds in nature or music, to look at art—or a bird or a flower or a tree. He urged them to stop and breathe and enjoy how good it feels to be alive. He said that all of their plans and goals and hopes are very important—but so is beauty, and so is love.

I thought this was a message well worth repeating.

We Don't Need School Reform, We Need School Transformation

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 11:23:34 EST

We Don't Need School Reform, We Need School Transformation

I just read a great article about a "cutting-edge education experiment at Gray-New Gloucester Middle School" in Maine, that "could become the norm in Maine if Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen has his way."

The story is about a switch to proficiency. One Maine teacher said "It used to be like, 'Oh well, they got a D,' and we moved them on anyway. Now the students get the help when they need it." Wow. This is fantastic.

What is going on in the classroom? "[S]tudents from as many as three grades can be found studying together... Instead of letter grades, student performance is based on a numbered system in which 4 means proficient and a 1 or 2 means the student has more work to do before moving on. And teachers who were used to pulling entire classes of students through the same lessons at the same speed now are responsible for monitoring each student's progress individually."

Wow! Hmmm. Where have I seen that before? Here at Delphian! I get excited when I see anyone freeing up the students (prisoners of time), and education focused on individual progress and demonstrated mastery.

Commissioner Stephen Bowen has a dream and a plan to make all of Maine's schools run like this. The news story tells about the shift in this new direction. Bowen's plan has a name:: "Education Evolving: Maine's Plan for Putting Learners First" and a goal "to transition Maine schools to a model in which students have more of a role in organizing their education and more choice in deciding how they master academic standards."

Last October he gave a fantastic speech, and he said there were three challenges:

Challenge 1: Our legacy system isn't getting the job done.

Challenge 2: Recent initiatives aren't helping
He said "We need to make some big changes. And this is not, in my mind, a case of nibbling around the edges. This isn't a situation where we need to adopt a new math curriculum or buy a bunch of interactive whiteboards or something

Challenge 3: Our legacy system was designed for a different century (read my next blog about this.)

Among Bowen's priorities, I liked Priority 3 the most.

Priority 3: Multiple pathways for student achievement

In his words "[a]t long last, can we move away from the assembly-line, age-based grade level system we've endured for generations, and move to a system where students move upon demonstration of mastery ? We can. It is happening in schools right here in Maine, right now.

"...Something that high performing systems do is establish gateways at certain critical points in a student's academic career, such as the transition from elementary school to middle school. As we build a proficiency-based system, we need to ensure that students are fully prepared to move on ahead in their learning.

"We also need more learning options for students. If we are building a system that puts the needs of students first, can we still cling to a model of schooling where the school the student attends is determined by the student's street address? ... Don't we need to maximize the use of every educational resource at our disposal — no matter which side of the town line those resources fall on — if we're going to meet the needs of all kids?

"We also live in an age of any time, anywhere learning, and if we are going to remain relevant in the lives of this generation of school children, we have to embrace new technologies such as digital learning. Schools can't be the one place where students are not allowed access to digital learning opportunities."

Wow! He gets it! He knows students all learn at different speeds, and this varies by subject. One teacher talked about teaching in a proficiency-based system "It's the hardest thing I've done, but it's also the best teaching I've done.... [B]ecause of this, [the students are] going to be more prepared. They need to know everything before they move on."

At Delphian, that's what we've been about from Day 1! I can't tell if the article is talking about Maine or Delphian, when it says "most classrooms ... are adorned with charts on the walls that mark each student's progress through milestones, whether it's earth science or long division... Each day starts with meetings between students and teachers...about what the students' goals are for that day. All of it is carefully tracked with software and individual assessment folders."

Hmm! This is great news! I couldn't have said it any better, and I can't wait until this becomes old news in all 50 states!

Another Proficiency Group - Competency Works!

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:43:04 EST

The first blog by a new proficiency education organization on its new site tells the same story about proficiency-based education I've been telling and retelling, and I've been sharing the similar story being told by others around the country. Proficiency-based education is often called proficiency-based teaching and learning, or competency-based learning; thus the site's title (and the new group name) Competency Works. I hope to post some blogs there, but I also thought I'd share part of a blog from Susan Patrick (President and CEO of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning):

"The policies around seat-time limit how and when a student can learn, allow students to move to the next grade level with huge gaps in their learning, and limit extended learning opportunities. Why should it matter whether a student learns in school, out of school, online, in the girl scouts or at a museum? What should matter is that teachers are involved in assessing students' mastery of learning at advanced levels. So, rather than measuring how empty the "bucket" of knowledge is – let's work on filling the bucket with world-class knowledge and skills to empower kids from all backgrounds for a lifetime of success. Competency education, not seat time, is a critical design requirement to enable next generation learning environments."

"...Our single biggest policy issue is moving away from seat-time toward competency models of learning any time, any place and any path for students. We are driven by a student-centered mission to give every student access to a world-class education...."

"Many of our young people have been passed on for years so they are dramatically behind in their learning as they enter high school. Many others have adult responsibilities that requires much more flexibility than the current system provides."

I think that my readers would have to agree that change is in the air of education. There are too many forces pushing us away from seat time and letter grades. Neither ever made any sense but now they are problem - a big problem. The good news is that the Delphian message about proficiency is now being shared by many others, and the prison walls of time are coming down!

Good Reading About Oregon's Proficiency-Based Education

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:34:58 EST

I've been speaking about proficiency-education on a regular basis these days, from the Oregon Indian Education Association's Annual Conference to the Sheridan Rotary Club, and I bring it up proficiency-education everywhere I go. There are still folks who aren't familiar with it, and they ask me to explain it in simple terms.

Readers of this blog know all about it, but for those who don't in addition to reading my blogs, there's an easy to read "white paper" about proficiency-based education in Oregon that I suggest you download. Although issued in March of 2009 and much has happened then, it is still worth reading to get a good feel for this topic. As the report says, "Proficiency-based instruction and assessment has the greatest potential to realize the best outcomes at the least cost, and it completes Oregon‟s long journey to achieve a standards-based education system."

You can find it at here, issued by the Oregon Business Council's Oregon Education Roundtable Report "Proficiency-Based Instruction and Assessment - A Promising Path to Higher Achievement In Oregon Education."

Based on all that I heard at the Oregon Proficiency Conference earlier this month (see my May 2 blog about this), it is indeed improving student achievement in Oregon! More and more educators are coming to the Delphian School to see what can be accomplished when a school is not time-based, but is all about student proficiency!

The Sad News Behind A Good News Headline

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:58:19 EST

You probably won't believe what I'm going to share with you, so be sure to check the resource yourself. The headline of summary of the story from Education News:

All L.A. Unified students must pass college-prep courses.

Sounds like good news. But the article says:

"The Los Angeles Board of Education votes to require grades of D or better in college-prep classes starting with incoming ninth-graders in the fall, raising requirements to a C for the Class of 2017."

What? What were they "requiring" before that? An F? How well prepared will these students be for life or college with a D. [Yes, I oppose the use of academic grades, but you get the point.]

The article says "The Board of Education approved a proposal Tuesday that also allows the students to pass those classes with a D — rather than the C needed for admission to either a Cal State or UC school."

What? Pass a class with a D, but that isn't good enough to get you into college? Again, I hate grades but a D probably means that the student probably doesn't know very much about the subject and doesn't know enough to do the next college-level courses. Many of us think there are sound reasons that a good college-prep curriculum is good for all students, preparing them for college, business or the work force. More on that in another blog. But...

I had to see if this was for real, so I went to the LA Times for the full story. I confirmed the summary report was accurate. The LA Times even quoted a school board member who opposed this decision, who said: ""Do I never finish high school because I finished geometry with a D?... "Walk me out of that. That means I would not finish high school."

So there you have it! For another 5 years, Los Angeles students can pass college-prep classes with a D!

Los Angeles - you need to switch to a proficiency-based system! Please - for the sake of your students!

Someone Else Thinks "It's Time for a New Kind of High School"!

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:52:54 EST

It's Time for a New Kind of High School is the title of a great Education Week commentary by Jerry Y. Diakiw. Diakiw (former superintendent of schools, York Region Board of Education, in Ontario, Canada, and now teaching in the faculty of education at York University, in Toronto). Pulling no punches, Diakiw tells what's wrong and what can and must be done to fix the modern high school. He observes:

"Our high schools are relics of the past. Based on an antiquated economic formula designed for the Industrial Revolution, high schools in the United States and Canada are ill-suited for the emotional and intellectual well-being of our young people and profoundly out of step with the needs of our contemporary economy."

He's not alone in his observation. Bill Gates said this at the Governors National Education Summit on High Schools in 2005. I blogged about this here on June 3, 2009, and quoted Bill when he said:

"By obsolete, I don't just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points.

"By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they're working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today."

Diakiw says:

"Despite what we now know about the power of learning through talking and doing, we persist in expecting students to learn by listening. The present disparity between teacher and student talk time is a profound hindrance to learning. Walking through the halls of high schools in both the United States and Canada, one invariably hears the steady drone of teachers' voices in room after room. The sound of boredom is deafening."

I can't tell you how many teachers tell me that in their colleges of education classes they were taught the relative ineffectiveness of the lecture method over all other forms of learning, but that they were lectured on the subject! In other words, they were "taught" using an ineffective model (by educators who should have known better), while being taught about how ineffective it was. Yikes!

Following up on my last blog about the book Inevitable, this article makes the same points with an even broader viewpoint as a Canadian. Diakiw speaks from experience, and he cites the works of others in a very readable and reasonable way. Please read the article and share it around. As he says, "The time has come to stop tinkering with an antiquated model."

I agree with him when he says, "It is not only an economic issue, but a moral one of providing the very best opportunities for our young at all socioeconomic levels to flourish in a rapidly changing world. Long live the new high school!"

New Book - Proficiency Education is Inevitable

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:38:11 EST

[NOTE: Many of you have asked how to know when I post a new blog. Our website company has made this easy. On my blog page is a little orange rectangle with a bell that says ALERTS. You can sign up to be notified whenever I post a new blog (or you can use the RSS Feed, if you know what that is all about).

It is easy to sign up for ALERT notification. Click on the ALERT bell. If you have an account on our site use your username and password and sign up for the alert. If you don't have an account, it will help you easily set an account up and then help you sign up for the alert. There is even a short video to help you do this.]

Now for the latest news. I found a book that I haven't barely begun reading (others keep borrowing it) that I want you all to read. The title says it all. "Inevitable: Mass Customized Learning" by Chuck Schwahn and Bea McGarvey. They have a great website (http://masscustomizedlearning.com/) and a new fieldbook coming out. ( I can't believe I never heard of it when it came out in November 2010, but neither had some of my "proficiency-education" friends.

A bit of the Amazon summary says it all:

"Meeting the individual learning needs of every learner, every hour, of every day although espoused by educators, has only been a dream.....an impossible dream for educators facing student-teacher ratios of 25 to 1. But, alas, it is now a reality....a reality that is hiding in plain sight. Inevitable: Mass Customizing Learning (MCL) describes a detailed vision of how schools can change from the present outdated Industrial Age, assembly line structure to a mass customized learning structure with the capacity to meet the individual learning needs of every learner.....that's every learner, not some, not most, but every learner."

Hmmmm.... Nothing new to my readers, but it is so great to hear so many others joining in the chorus of real education reform. The authors point out that mass customization is happening everywhere else in the world, and that it can work in the field of education! The result is personalized learning. If you've ever heard my talks on the subject, you know that I continue to point out that you can't teach a class to drive! Education that works is always personalized! Always!

I love the title - Inevitable. As I always say to anyone who will listen (and in many of my blogs) this is the game changer; the change from time-based to proficiency-based is inevitable. Existing schools that fail to change will fail to exist. It's inevitable! (Remember when you said you'd never use an ATM and you'd never need or use a cell phone?)

Enough said. You have to read this book! It's Inevitable!

Big News - Oregon's First Proficiency Education Conference

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:44:54 EST

As you may have read on the Delphian News page, on Monday, April 30, I attended a proficiency education conference that is another game-changer for Oregon education. This was a mainstream conference focused on proficiency-based education that was sponsored by the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators, the Oregon Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the Business Education Compact.

The conference title was The "Proficiency Moving Forward - It's About Time!". In case you missed it, "it's about time" is both 1) the subject of the conference (shifting from time-based systems to proficiency-based systems) and 2) a note that for the first time we are we changing a model that never worked well in the first place.

I have been talking about changing the model since I was a tutor in college (and thinking about it throughout my K-12 experience). From the start, Delphian's early efforts to convince folks that schools needed to shift from time-based models to proficiency-based models were met with extreme skepticism, to say the least. Although everyone agreed the current education model needed fixing, we were told that kind of change was either impossible or that it would never happen. I am happy to report that the critics were wrong, and now proficiency-based education is taking over and improving student's and teacher's lives when it does.

The conference was full of excitement as I joined 225 Oregon educators (superintendents, principals, and teachers) and we listened and learned and talked about the work going on around the state to move schools from factory time-based models to proficiency models. From the Tafts School District in Lincoln City to the news from Madras High School, we heard how many school leaders were moving their schools and districts away from time-based instruction to programs where students proceed only when they become proficient at various levels of study.

Keynote speaker Dave LaRose, Superintendent of the South Kitsap School District in Washington quoted the newly released book "It's About Time" when he told the enthusiastic group that "[I]t works on the base expectation that all students - given the right learning environment – can achieve the high standards of proficiency required for work citizenship and life."

This is a big change in the education landscape - a big change. No school has come close to the Delphian model, but any change in our direction is a good one for students and families!

As my readers know, Delphian has been proficiency-based from day one. No lecturing to large classes of inattentive students. No telling a student that he or she got a 62% on a weekly test, but "we have to move on and we hope you catch up and figure out what you missed". In many early blogs I talked about proficiency-based education, and over the next weeks I'll be sharing much more good news on how things are beginning to turn around across the country. Remember that the old model was that time was the constant and learning was the variable. Proficiency turns that around, making learning the constant and students moving ahead only when they obtain proficiency.

Governor Kitzhaber said "Oregon's vision for education is that every child achieves academic success. Proficiency-based education is vital to our efforts." I have many more educators coming to visit Delphian to see the oldest proficiency-based school in Oregon (for sure) and in the US (I'm pretty sure). We all want to free students from factory-model schools that were designed for a different age and that never worked well in the first place.

We want to see schools move from time-based to proficiency-based, to programs where all children can learn because they can proceed at their own optimum pace - something Delphian has been doing for 36 years as part of its unique and very successful program!

[Note: If you want to know more about the conference, click here, for the conference program and copies of handouts and presentations.]

I was on Oregon Public Broadcasting this morning.

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:39:07 EST

As noted in an earlier blog, I am the volunteer executive director of the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools. This morning, I was on Oregon Public Broadcasting's Think Out Loud on a forty-five minute segment "Choosing A School", asking why parents are choosing the private school option, etc. The site with links
(including a link to Delphian) and a podcast connection for listening
and downloading is at:
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/choosing-school/

This show created quite a buzz, with lots of comments being posted at
the website. Folks were really worked up about the state of their public schools, and opinions on the whole topic varied widely. The show's host said this is clearly a hot topic and one that may be the topic of future shows.

I would tell you more about it, but early Thursday morning I'm taking 32 students on a ten-day Business Seminar Field Trip to southern California and I have a few things to do before we go!

New Report says "Shift Away from 'Seat Time' on Display in States"

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:13:31 EST

From Education Week: "Thirty-six states have established policies that give districts and schools some degree of ability to award credits to students based on mastery of a subject, rather than "seat time," a new report says."

The report "State Strategies for Awarding Credit to Support Student Learning" is a great report, published by the National Governors Association. In the Executive Summary, it tells why state education reform efforts may not work:

"Reforms to increase student readiness for college and careers are hampered, in part, by an underlying education system that dictates inputs such as the amount of time students are required to complete a course (commonly known as "seat time"). States may not be able to realize the full potential of education reform until the system's focus shifts from time-based inputs to student learning outputs tied to the mastery of content and skills."

I read the report, and I would direct you to the excellent section "Why Crack the Carnegie Unit?", which is very well written. It explains "seat time" and the problems with such a time-based system, and that Carnegioe Units for seat time "do not to take into account the varied pace at which students learned. That is because the number of seat hours required to complete a course is standardized across schools without regard to an individual student's prerequisite knowledge and skills." Hmmmm....

Then the report goes right to the heart of the matter. ".. the basic level of proficiency required to earn credit for a course (often the grade of a "C" or higher) means that students may advance through the grades without learning critical content and skills and may later require remediation." Hmmm....

The report says that "In the current system, a student with a "C" average is promoted in the same manner as a student with an "A" or "B" average even though there is a significant difference in their levels of mastery of the course material." The report then goes on to discuss the high costs of remedial education for students who didn't master the material they studied. The report says that in 2010 "states spent roughly $3.7 billion on providing remedial education services to students."

Get this: "In a system that based student progression on mastery, students would be able to learn more rigorous material when it was clear they were prepared to do so." !!!!! I get it.

It is better to learn what you need to know and be able to do the first time around! Hmmm....

Read the report. Spread the word!!!

Mark

Headline - N.H. Schools Embrace Competency-Based Learning

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:11:02 EST

This just in - Education Week Headline - N.H. Schools Embrace Competency-Based Learning

You can read all about it here. The article says this is

"one of the most aggressive statewide efforts in the country to embrace competency-based learning. In New Hampshire, this means saying that accomplishment doesn't depend on how long students are in their seats, but whether they can demonstrate that they know their stuff.

"It means letting students learn academic content in new ways. It means agreeing on what constitutes mastery, and holding all students to it, instead of letting some earn diplomas with weak skills. It means figuring out multifaceted ways for students to show what they know, and, ideally, it means letting them progress toward mastery at their own pace"

What more can I say. Read the rest of the article and spread the word.

Mark

Delphian Hosts Proficiency Education Expert

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:40:33 EST

I may have mentioned that I am an advocate of proficiency-based education. You know, the shift from the old time-based approach (time is the constant, learning is the variable) to the new learning-based approach that is slowly changing the way we think about education. It is all I talk about, and what I emphasize in this blog.

On Tuesday, Feb 7, Tamra Busch-Johnson, the Executive Director of the Business Education Compact (becpdx.org) came to the Delphian School for an extended visit. The Business Education Compact is the organization that has been doing teacher workshops on proficiency-based education for many years. I attended one of them, and they are great!

I've served on two Oregon Department of Education task forces related to proficiency with her, and we co-presented on the topic of proficiency-based education at the Summer Institute of the Coalition of Essential Schools when they met in Portland. She is a national leader on the topic of proficiency-based teaching and learning. She loved what she saw here at Delphian. She is working hard to bring Oregon public schools up the proficiency ladder and expressed how far up on the ladder we already were.

She spent a lot of time interacting with students, looking into everything that was going on and loved the lack of stress she sensed in the students. Tamra observed that the students were all engaged in learning, having fun and were all articulate and comfortable talking to adults. She saw proficiency and project-based learning and loved it. She had nothing but good things to say about Delphian but cautioned there are many more challenges in implementing proficiency in large, comprehensive high schools.

I urge Oregon educators to find out more about the good work she and the Business Education Compact (BEC) are doing.

I'll share more news about proficiency in the news tomorrow!

Private School News on Oregon Public Radio

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:01:56 EST

When I'm not working hard as Delphian's Assistant Headmaster, I head up the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools. I've been working with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) radio on a news story about the condition of private schools in Oregon. You can read today's article by clicking here which quotes me a few times. This played on OPB radio this morning at 6:50, and at least one of my friends heard it!

More Good News - Educational Models Based on Proficiency, Personalization, and Individual Growth

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:25:48 EST

Oregon State Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo just sent out a report about recent state-wide test results. In her cover letter she wrote, "Education in Oregon, and around the country, has changed dramatically in the past ten years. We are increasing expectations from elementary through high school to ensure all of our students graduate ready for college and career...We are implementing educational models based on proficiency, personalization, and individual growth."

In my last blog, I discussed the new report calling for replacing seat time with competency. It outlined state efforts and state plans to bring proficiency-based education into more public school systems and expand it where it exists. It envisions "vibrant education system where all of our children experience the joys of learning."

The article about the report is worthy of note. "We are proposing what amounts to a vital change in current methods of instruction and measurement so that students can move ahead when they demonstrate knowledge," said Susan Patrick, co-author of the report... "Unfortunately, many states and school districts are still handcuffed by rigid regulations that prevent them from moving toward the student-centered, performance-based approach."

To repeat:

"Unfortunately, many states and school districts are still handcuffed by rigid regulations that prevent them from moving toward the student-centered, performance-based approach."

Later from the article:

"Successful implementation of competency-based standards not only will help students have a positive experience with learning, but also will "increase [the nation's] productivity" by decreasing the dropout rate and closing the achievement gap, the report argues.

"With approximately $600 billion spent annually in the U.S. on K-12 education, why wouldn't we want to create incentives for our schools so that every dollar going to fund education was based on students' outcomes, performance, and growth in learning toward world-class expectations, rather than on seat time?" the authors ask. "What would it take to unleash innovation to allow practitioners, educators, and administrators to create competency-based pathways of learning for each student, regardless of where or how long they sit?"

"As one participant in the ...forum expressed: "The problem is quite simple—we are measuring the wrong end of the student, related to learning."

Get it...(smile) [If not, just keep re-reading it!]

Replacing Seat Time with Competency - Now That's a Good Idea!

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:53:41 EST

In a recent blog, I mentioned two articles arriving in the same newsletter. Today I'll take up the second article "Replace 'seat time' with competency, reports says".

As must be apparent by now, I am an advocate of proficiency-based education, although these days it has many similar labels such as performance-based or competency-based or standards-based learning. When I started my advocacy almost 40 years ago, it was hard to get anyone to listen. Now there is so much is going on in the field of proficiency-based education that I can't keep up with it. The news in this article is very exciting! It discusses a new report "Cracking the Code: Synchronizing Policy and Practice for Performance-Based Learning " by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning...

Their site describes the report:

"The report sets a policy framework for advancing performance-based learning and builds on recommendations made during the 2011 Competency-Based Learning Summit ...earlier this year. The report recommends that states begin to transform policies from "rigid compliance" to "enabling policies," by offering seat-time waivers or "credit flex" policies that allow for the flexibility to offer competency-based learning in K-12..."

Wow! That is great!

The Executive Summary says the report's goal is "to loosen the regulatory environment that is
handcuffing the administrators and educators who are ready to move toward student-centered, competency-based models of learning."

Wow!

"At the Competency-Based Learning Summit, participants fine-tuned a working definition of
performance-based learning, described below:

ƒStudents advance upon mastery.
ƒCompetencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives that empower students.
ƒAssessment is meaningful and a positive learning experience for students.
ƒStudents receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.
ƒLearning outcomes emphasize competencies that include application and creation of knowledge along with the development of important skills and dispositions

"In partnership with seven states, CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers" has defined next generation learning as rooted in six critical attributes:

ƒ Personalizing learning
ƒ Comprehensive systems of learning supports
ƒ World-class knowledge and skills
ƒ Performance-based learning
ƒ Anytime, everywhere opportunities
ƒ Authentic student voice

Sorry, but this is music to my ears. This is the music of the education revolution!

This group has thought through the next set of emerging issues:

EMERGING ISSUE #1: Redefine the Carnegie Unit into Competencies
EMERGING ISSUE #2: Personalized Learning
EMERGING ISSUE #3: Student-Centered Accountability and Assessment Models
EMERGING ISSUE #4: Learning Empowered by Technology
EMERGING ISSUE #5: Supporting Educators in the Transition to a Competency-Based System
EMERGING ISSUE #6: Financing a Competency-Based System

Their conclusion is something to think about - over and over again!

"State leadership is increasing its mission to transform what is possible for education systems.

"Competency-based learning is essential to cracking the code, unleashing next generation learning, and positioning the United States to out-innovate global competitors. State policies that set high expectations for students and unleash creativity in designing personalized learning will dramatically accelerate student outcomes at rates never before thought possible. It is state leadership that will be in the position to be the conductors of this transformation—synchronizing the innovations and policies into a vibrant education system where all of our children experience the joys of learning."

Hmmm. Where have I heard about this approach before..... (smile)...

A Longer School Day, A Longer School Year - What a Timely Idea

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:38:10 EST

Just read an article claiming that the King School in Portland now has 183 school days, the most school days in an Oregon school, thanks to a federal grant. Parents of students attending KNOVA Learning in the Reynolds School District claim both longer school days (7:30-4:30) and an even longer school year of 200 days.

This isn't news to the private school world. The LA Times reported that this fall most elementary schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will go to 200 days by adding up to 20 days to their schedules.

Oregon's King School schedule of 183 days might shock some who think that is near the norm. The article says that "in Oregon this year, the typical school ended after just 170 days of class -- a result of the state's already low standards for what constitutes a full year, compounded by budget difficulties that prompted many districts to cut theirs even shorter." Some schools in Oregon have 162 to 164 days of class per year!

Longer school years are often discussed for a variety of reasons. Some claim that students forget too much over the summer and in the fall they have to go back and start over, rather than pick up where they left off. Others argue that our silly agrarian-based school calendar no longer makes sense, as rarely are children needed on the farm over the summer and they should stay in school.

Other points in opposition of extended school years include interfering with traditional family vacations and activities; institutions and enrichment activities that have grown up around summer vacation; and the fact that schools aren't the only place students should live their lives - that there is a world to experience that opens up during the summer. I hear parents say that their kids don't need a whole summer off and that a month is plenty. They say that the new American family where both parents work is far different than that when the current school year was put into place when most households had only one wage earner. Where schools aren't fun, more school days is more days of no fun. And no one could disagree that teachers need vacation time as well as time to prepare for a new school year.

A new issue on the table is that there is so much more to learn to stay competitive and be well-educated than there was even 50 years ago. More time is needed to teach all of this new "stuff". New subjects have emerged and been added to curricula, and other countries have longer school days. It is often argued that extended learning time is necessary to improve student achievement, especially in a global economy.

More than 40 national organizations support the federal proposal (TIME Act - H.R. 1636 & S. 851), which would provide federal funds to states to add at least 300 hours of study time by extending the school day and/or school year .

Extended calendars in poorly-run "no fun" schools makes no sense. Schools where students are having fun learning and where learning is an adventure should be open longer. But no students should be in school earning seat time - that's more than old school! Students should only be in school as long as needed to become proficient in the subjects they are studying and meet graduation requirements. If they need more time - great! If they get done sooner and can get on with their lives - that's even better!

Time's up! I'm out of here......(smile)...

Ending the Tyranny of the Lecture

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:07:39 EST

Today I read two articles in the same email newsletter. They were "hot"! In this blog, I'll discuss the first article - Ending the 'tyranny of the lecture'.

It features Harvard University physics professor Eric Mazur who thinks that "lecturing is an outdated—and largely ineffective—strategy for imparting knowledge." The article said that he asked his audience to think of a skill they were good at, then tell how they got good at it. Not surprising, the lecture method never came up.

He thinks that we need to get past the transfer of information, and that students actually have "to do something with this information to make it stick...to actually assimilate it and take ownership of it, so they can apply this knowledge in a different context. If students can't do that, he said, then they haven't really learned anything."

Hmm...this must sound familiar to anyone familiar with the Delphian School program. I love that others are catching on. This is very exciting.

Professor Mazur points out that schools and colleges focus on information transfer, "while leaving the critical second step—assimilation—to students outside of class". As you read in an earlier blog about the Khan Academy, the flipped classroom is one approach being tried by many teachers, led by Salman Khan.

Of course, we build the application into each step of the study process. That is the only way that makes sense.

Mazur correctly notes that when we didn't have the printing press making books widely available, "lecturing was an effective way to impart information to many people simultaneously." But those days are over because books are readily available, and we have all kinds of new media such as Khan Academy. Now Mazur says that data transfer can occur at home and the classroom time can be used to "ensure that students understand the material and can apply it in various contexts." That's right out of our material we use here at the Delphian School.

Although he doesn't have all of the educational tools and approach we use here, based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard, he is reporting good results by just focusing on giving questions in class that forces the students to think with the material and "apply it in a whole new way." This is followed by a class discussion, and more questions. The article gives much more information about his work.

But the important take-away - the thing to remember - is that there are others who agree with us that we must end the tyranny of the lecture!

The Scandal Behind The Testing Scandal - Teachers Flunked the Ethics and Integrity Test

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:45:56 EST

The Atlanta school test scandal is hot news, but some parts are hotter than others! You can read all about it in the news, and it is constantly unfolding, but here is the heart of the story and why you should care (even if you don't live in Atlanta).

On July 5, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal released an outline of findings from the state's investigation into the 2009 administration of the Atlanta Public Schools [APS] CRCT [Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests].

The findings included the following:

"Thousands of children were harmed by the 2009 CRCT cheating by being denied remedial education because of their inflated CRCT scores.
We found cheating in 44 of the 56 schools we examined (78.6%). There were 38 principals of those 56 schools (67.9%) found to be responsible for, or directly involved in, cheating.
"We determined that 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta Public Schools System cheated. Of the 178, 82 confessed to this misconduct. Six principals refused to answer our questions, and pled the Fifth Amendment, which, under civil law is an implied admission of wrongdoing. These principals, and 32 more, either were involved with, or should have known that, there was test cheating in their schools.
"We empathize with those educators who felt they were pressured to cheat and commend those who were willing to tell us the truth regarding their misconduct. However, this report is not meant to excuse their ethical failings, or exonerate them from their wrongdoings.
"Cheating occurred as early as 2001.
"There were warnings of cheating on CRCT as early as December 2005/January 2006. The warnings were significant and clear and were ignored.
"There was a major failure of leadership throughout APS with regard to the ethical administration of the 2009 CRCT.
"A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in APS, which created a conspiracy of silence and deniability with respect to standardized test misconduct.
"In addition to the 2009 CRCT cheating, we found other improper conduct: several open record act violations; instances of false statements; and instances of document destruction.

The Governor wrote: "Nothing is more important to the future of our state than ensuring that today's students receive a first-class education and integrity in testing is a necessary piece of the equation...When test results are falsified and students who have not mastered the necessary material are promoted, our students are harmed, parents lose sight of their child's true progress, and taxpayers are cheated."

I agree with the Governor. How can we allow districts, administistricts and staff to receive praise (and sometimes bonuses) by misleading the children, parents and community they served?

This testing scandal isn't about students who cheated the system. This scandal is about 178 teachers who cheated the students. Now both teachers and students are in serious trouble. The new superintendent said that "none of those educators will work in an Atlanta classroom again" and the district will "require ethics training for all employees", probably online training.

Why did the teachers and administrators do this? The CRCT is designed to measure how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), the high stakes annual testing done to show yearly progress. These tests are used to see if schools and districts meet No Child Left Behind requirements, because improved schools can receive federal money for their improvements. Schools receive praise, and bonus often follow. Students in need of help were allowed to advance even though they were struggling. The teacher cheating meant that students who needed help didn't get it because of their (false) scores.

Schools with poor test scores come under scrutiny as low performing schools, and schools that get good scores get awards and acknowledgement. Schools should be working to educate their students, and passing the test would reflect academic progress. But some teachers are forced to teach to the test at all cost. Some schools want certain students to stay home so those students don't bring down the averages. That's the story Erin Gruwell of Freedom Writers told about her first-year teaching experience, when my students and I heard hear speak at the Chick-Fil-A Leadercast in May.

USA Today says that's not the last we'll hear about teacher cheating. "USA TODAY last March examined standardized test scores at District of Columbia schools and found 103 public schools with high erasure rates on penciled-in answer sheets. An investigation is underway. "USA TODAY also found evidence of test tampering in six states besides Georgia and Maryland, including California, Florida and Ohio."

This scandal came to light when the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "reported that some scores were statistically improbable." After the story was published, "the state investigation was launched last August by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue who was upset over what he called a "woefully inadequate" probe by the district." More cheating!

The real scandal is that the teachers cheated their students forever. Life for the students changed forever, and it won't be the life that could have been if the system was properly informed of the students' current education level. Imagine being a student (or parent of a student) who is being moved ahead in the system because test scores incorrectly show the student is making adequate educational progress. But the student hasn't got it and isn't making adequate progress. The student is behind and needs help. Moving this student far ahead of his or her actual skills and abilities is a formula for student failure - big time!

This practice has been occuring in Atlanta since 2001, so many of the students affected are no longer in the system, and most of those that didn't drop out can't be doing well. The school system didn't know they needed help. This teacher cheating robbed us of their greatness and of the student potential they thwarted. For the students who were forced to drop out of the system, the teachers robbed them of bright futures, and in some case inflicted on society the cost of dropping out.

According to the Alliance for Excellent Education " if the students who dropped out of the class of 2007 [in the US] had graduated, the nation's economy would have benefited from an additional $329 billion in income over their lifetimes". Our economy could sure use that help. On the darker side, the CBS Evening News reports: "Dropouts cost taxpayers more than $8 billion annually in public assistance programs like food stamps. High school dropouts earn about $10 thousand less a year than workers with diplomas. That's $300 billion in lost earnings every year. They're more likely to be unemployed: 15 percent are out of work versus a national average of 9.4 percent. They also are more likely to be incarcerated. Almost 60 percent of federal inmates are high school drop outs. "

Ethics scandals aren't new. Students sometimes laugh at the Teapot Dome Scandal and the other scandals they study throughout history. They weren't around during the Watergate Scandal. We were all supposed to learn from these scandals. Didn't happen here! Requiring online ethics training doesn't make sense because these teachers knew they were cheating. Changing wrong answers to right answers for a student is cheating. My guess that these teachers would be very upset about student cheating in their classes, or if someone robbed them of their income-earning potential or of their ability to achieve their dreams..

If they don't get it, have them watch Freedom Writers or read Erin Gruwell's interview. Here are three important questions and Erin's answers that all teachers should study.

"What is the best lesson you have learned and from whom?

"The best lesson I ever learned was from Miep Gies, the humble and courageous woman who hid Anne Frank for two years, who told my students, "I simply did what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do." It is my hope that in the face of adversity that I can simply 'do what I had to do, because it was the right thing to do.'

"What is the best advice you can give a teacher?

"My best advice was given to me from a Holocaust survivor who became my teacher. After surviving Auschwitz and living to tell her story, Renee Firestone challenged my students that: "Evil prevails when good people do nothing." Therefore, as good people, we are compelled to do something.

"What do you think should change in the educational system?

I believe that teachers should teach to a kid and not to a test."

The Washington Post carried an article by US Secretary of Education about this scandal. He wrote, "cheating reflects a willingness to lie at children's expense to avoid accountability" He also noted that "several states, including my home state of Illinois, simply lowered their standards to claim "better" test scores as success—essentially lying to children and parents."

Teaching is a profession, and we expect high ethical standards in their professional behavior. Instead of caring about their students, the teachers and administrators involved in this scandal had other fish to fry and other agendas, including self-preservation and promotion.

Cheating never makes sense. Let's not try to make sense of it here. Just say no (cheating)!

Science News - Explore The Cosmos From Home Via Terapixal

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:43:56 EST

What a great way to start the day! It may be old news to some of you, but as reported in eSchool News, "Microsoft and NASA have teamed up to create what they say is the largest seamless, spherical map ever made of the night sky, as well as a true-color, high-resolution map of Mars that users can explore on their computers in 3D." Isn't this great!

Not only will this inspire students in science, we can all learn from students. The article said that, "[i]n studying photos of Mars taken by a NASA spacecraft, a group of seventh graders in California earlier this year discovered a previously unknown cave, as well as lava tubes that NASA scientists hadn't noticed." I love it! Students creating useful knowledge for others. In case you don't know the importance of lava tubes, according to the June issue of The Planetary Report, missions to Mars are considering using caves as human habitats to protect explorers from dangerous radiation and temperature extremes, and makes it easier to manage air filtration (because of the health dangers of Martian dust).

"Called Terapixel, the night sky project is now available for viewing with Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope, a free, web-based program that functions as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from ground and space-based telescopes to enable seamless, guided explorations of the universe...[i]t enables seamless panning and zooming across the night sky, blending terabytes of images, data, and stories from multiple sources over the internet into an immersive experience." You can click on this link to download it or use it via the Web. This is fantastic!

I can't think of a more exciting way to interest students in astronomy and astrophysics than using Terepixel. There is so much to do there, I encourage you to take some time and do a lot of clicking. You will learn a lot and you will love it!

Spread the word! And look up!

Oregon Public Schools Thinking About Proficiency

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:10:49 EST

The July 10 headline in the Oregonan blared "Oregon education reform bills aim to create more flexible, individualized public schools".

The front-page article notes "In the typical Oregon public school classroom, students of the same age work at achievement levels that often vary by two or three grades, sometimes more..." The Oregon legislature adopted a "bill pushed by Kitzhaber to create paths from pre-school through college on which students advance at their own paces." "Kitzhaber envisions ... using financial incentives to shift the focus of public education from what he calls "seat time" to learning." "This shift would make public schools".. a place "where students advance based on what they know and can do rather than on how much time they spend in school."

"A more individualized approach to education would be more efficient by allowing some students to advance faster while reducing needs for remediation, said Duncan Wyse, president of the Oregon Business Council who is helping Kitzhaber design a budget based on outcomes. It also fits the growing diversity of Oregon's school population and suits learning for the 21st Century better than the current system rooted in the 19th Century, he said."

Hmmm...this is a great new idea! Wished I'd thought of it......(smile).....

Flipping, Sal Khan & Khan Academy

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:13:14 EST

Sal Khan (and Bill Gates) get it. Lecturing classrooms of students from the front of the room is "old school" in every sense of the word! Students getting grades is "old school", and "C's" are unacceptable. You can learn about Khan's exciting work at www.khanacademy.org. I suggest starting with his March 2011 talk at ted.com (where you will also find a transcript). You won't be sorry!

You will find some parallels to the Delphian School program. Khan understands one basic of our program -- you don't go past a step until you've mastered it and you fully understand it. He doesn't mention the importance of mastering the meanings of words in what you read or hear, or the other elements of our approach, but it would certainly aid him in reaching and helping more students. He too objects to the current system of grades that leaves its students with an education filled with holes like Swiss cheese.

He advocates "removing the one-size-fits-all lecture from the classroom and letting students have a self-paced lecture at home". Students return to the classroom to do their work, with the teacher's help as needed, which is called "flipping" (doing your homework at school). He describes using technology to humanize the classroom, and actually having students interacting with each other. An environment familiar to Delphian students and parents, he describes a classroom where "every kid works at their own pace." He says, "When you talk about self-paced learning, it makes sense for everyone."

Readers who watch his video learn of the illogical things both Khan and Delphian see in the current system. Delphian students and families will see how our use of Mr. Hubbard's study technology addresses them more comprehensively than the Khan Academy does. Khan's students repeat a lecture until they get it, and redrill problems until mastered. He doesn't address the power of words and the effects of going past misunderstood words, nor the power of demonstrating what you study as you go along (not just after every 10 minute lecture). To his credit, he is doing fantastic things to help improve the education of the children of the world. Khan has great examples of illogical parts of the current system - such as going from bicycle riding to unicycle riding with a "C" in bicycle riding, and the system producing an education filled with holes like Swiss cheese.

I heartily agree with the his viewpoint on the problems students and families face, and I happily share the news of his success in overcoming some of these problems. Sure would like to have him visit Delphian!

Are you flipped?

It's Good News, But There Is Something More To Talk About

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:15:58 EST

The headline in the June 23 issue of eSchoolNews reads: " 'Instructional rounds' approach flips classroom evaluations: New method from Harvard researchers analyzes school-wide trends by looking at how instruction is being received". WOW - that a great idea!!! I wish I'd thought of it....(smile)!

The story explains that "a new way of evaluating instruction—one that shifts the focus from the teacher to the students—is emerging. Called "instructional rounds," the practice is based on the way doctors make their rounds in a teaching hospital, using facts rather than value judgments to determine the effectiveness of instruction." This approach "looks at how well kids are learning rather than how well the teacher is teaching", and it focuses on how teaching is received. Teachers like this approach.

Turns out that this approach has actually been used but not systematically or on a wide-scale basis. But more to the point, we should all be asking why these kinds of obvious improvements aren't more commonplace. Why is this story news? As I continue to ask, why aren't we doing what works and what makes sense? What are the barriers to real school improvement? Why do we keep foisting silly and unworkable new fads year after year onto our education system?

One way to find out is to visit a classroom and ask a teacher? The answers might surprise you.

Tying Your Shoes & Other Lessons

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:15:37 EST

(Re-sent/re-posted due to technical glitches - my apologies)
My students and I were exploring ted.com during science seminar and just had to watch the "Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes" video.

We learned that most of us did not know the correct way to tie our shoes and that we had something to learn. What a great lesson - to find out that we didn't know something. We were ignorant! Fantastic! We also figured out an even easier way to tie our shoes the right way for those of us who really learned it incorrectly. Hard to describe in writing, but I'll be glad to share our easy solution with you if you contact me. (And if you really want to learn something, go to YouTube and look for "How to Tie Your Shoelaces Really Fast" for even more on this important subject.)

While you may not be having shoe-tying problems, you may be like me and find out that there may be things that you don't know or that you have wrong. Ted.com is just one place to shed your ignorance! I love it, and if you care about education, I suggest you start by watching Sir Kenneth Robinson. In Changing Education Paradigms, Sir Ken Robinson lays out the link between 3 troubling trends: rising drop-out rates, schools' dwindling stake in the arts, and ADHD. Watching It might help you see why I am so worked up about proficiency-based education.

Terry Moore not only taught me how to tie my shoes, he said something I'd forgotten, and he said it better than I would have. He said, "sometimes a small advantage someplace in life can yield tremendous results someplace else." What a great lesson.

Maybe Al Boliska got it right when he said "Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight?".
What do you think?

The Question Was Better Than The Answer

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:48:31 EST

Recently eSchool News asked its readers, 'What's one question you'd like to ask U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan?' The U.S. Department of Education asked eSchool news to choose five reader questions for Secretary Duncan to address. The first question they published today was great!

"Why do we keep trying to solve the problems of public education by continuing to do what is contradictory to what we know about how children learn? Children all develop cognitively, as well as physically, at different rates of speed. Yet, in the classroom we insist that all children of a particular age should complete and learn skills and content for a grade level within a nine-month time frame. We would never expect them to all grow at the same rate physically and weigh the same and be the same height. Why do we expect them to all grow at the same rate cognitively? This basic foundation of public education is creating the problems and producing dropouts."

Do you have an answer?

The Power of Teachers Unions

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:48:17 EST

Many people ask me about the power and influence of teachers unions. My friend Ron Reynolds heads up the California Association of Private School Organizations. In this week's Mid-Week Mailer he discused the upcoming national six-day event - the National Education Association's Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly. Without further comment, I quote the following from his newsletter:

"To obtain some sense of the political muscle possessed by the NEA and its state affiliates, take a quick look at this table showing revenue and staff information for 2008-09. In that year, combined revenues received by the NEA and its affiliates amounted to a staggering $1.5 billion dollars. That billion, with a "B." NEA headquarters in Washington, DC, employed a staff of 676 people. By way of comparison, although 10 percent of all students in grades K-12 receive their education in private schools, the Council for American Private Education maintains a staff of two.

The NEA's California state affiliate, the California Teachers Association, received nearly $179 million in dues revenue in 2008-09, and employed a staff of 597." [The Oregon Education Association received more than $22 million in the same year.]

Find your state on the list and ask yourself the same question.

Should Parents Be In Charge of Their Children's Education? Mark Say Yes!

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:14:16 EST

We should all discuss who should decide how children are educated?

Who Should Decide How Children Are Educated? is a new booklet (free by downloading here) written by Jack Klenk, who worked for 27 years at the U.S. Department of Education, most recently as Director of the Office of Non-Public Education. (He worked under five presidents and eight secretaries of education.)

A short summary of his booklet appears in the April edition of Outlook published by the Council for American Private Education (I have served on its board for 17 years). Klenk contends that control of a child's schooling is a "fundamental question about education policy that faces the United States as it attempts to build educational institutions for the twenty-first century."

He attacks the notion that "the school is an agent of the state rather than an extension of the family" and questions why some would deny public funding for alternative schooling. Exploring the history of the common school movement in the United States, including "the attempt to compel parents to send their children exclusively to public schools," Klenk challenges the belief that "the public school system is an engine of progress and enlightenment whose schools, and only its schools, should receive public funding."

He concludes that if education is to be "authentically public, it must serve all parents without discrimination, parents from the whole public, not just those whose children attend one category of schools." That involves giving parents "access to a variety of schools, not just government schools." He urges everyone who is concerned about education "to think creatively and act courageously to empower parents to become more actively involved in the education of their children." It starts, he says, "with a determination to put parents first."

I highly recommend this booklet. As Klenk notes (and as I've been saying for many years), the 1922 Oregon law forcing children to attend public school was overturned by the US Supreme Court in the Pierce v. Society of Sisters case. The Supreme Court said that the Oregon law "unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control. ... The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations."

Are Congress and the US Dept of Education doing a job for children or education?

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:16:23 EST

Friday's (Jan 21, 2011) MinnPost.com's headline reads "Education Secretary Arne Duncan proves a 'tough grader' in assessing Minnesota's education programs."

Arne Duncan is the US Secretary of Education, and he came to Minnesota to speak to the state Chamber of Commerce. The article said "he particularly criticized complacency in Minnesota and in the nation's education system." Wow. Not in the book of how to get along with others. And he is appointed by the President of the United States, so you know his message is approved by the White House.

What did he say to these top business leaders of Minnesota? According to the article, "Duncan chided Minnesota leaders for not exhibiting a 'sense of urgency' about the trouble facing education. He urged business leaders at the event to continue steady investment in education and to get involved in shaping policy." Wow! That's pretty clear language.

The article said Duncan brought a sense of urgency and harsh honesty with him from Washington, quoting Duncan as he said, "The United States has a 25% high school dropout rate...and the number of people graduating from college has floundered while other countries have increased their rates monumentally."

The article referred to his work to "move the Education Department away from its history as a "large compliance-driven bureaucracy." Did he like the United States major "No Child Left Behind" reform efforts that were supported by both Democrats and Republicans when it was adopted? Nope. According to the article, "Duncan said the current structure is too top-heavy and punitive, where it should reward excellence and innovation. He called the act "fundamentally broken" and said certain provisions are "bad for children."

With all this criticism, was there anything useful we can take away from his talk? "We need to get Washington out of the way," Duncan said. The article ends with "That sentiment trickles down from the state to the district level as well. Republican lawmakers in the House support more local control for districts."

He was also harsh in speaking about the US Department of Education which he now heads. A headline article from Ed.gov covered the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) Project Directors' Meeting, where Secretary Duncan made a surprise address, saying, "The education sector has been slow to transform how we do education." He discussed the Department of Education's aspiration to be a powerful engine of innovation, rather than a compliance-driven bureaucracy. He acknowledged that Washington "doesn't have all of the answers, and that many of the best ideas will come from communities across the country."

He could be right. Private schools have to be doing something right. Parents wouldn't spend their money to send their children to private schools if their free government schools met their needs. School choice initiatives continue to be viable education reform efforts, and I'll be talking more about that in the weeks to come.

How to Create Innovators (hint: it's not with testing)

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:34:14 EST

Last Saturday's headline reads "Oregon teacher union hosts first-ever education summit with state leaders, teachers, Gov. John Kitzhaber." The article said the 125 education officials, teachers, business, non-profit and legislative leaders who attended agreed that Oregon's education system is in need of substantial change and not just more money.

What I wanted to share was the later part of the article, which takes up the keynote presentation by Yong Zhao, University of Oregon's College of Education new residential chair and Associate Dean for Global Education. Dr. Zhao is a familiar name because he was the keynote speaker at the 2010 Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) Fall Educators Conference, where he spoke about "Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization." His site bio lists his many accomplishments, including over twenty books and one hundred articles.

The article reported Dr. Zhao's opinion that the U.S. is moving to a national system that is relying too heavily on test score comparisons to other countries to determine how U.S education should change. He thinks that the gaps in both test scores and time spent on core subjects do not matter. "The higher test scores represented in the other countries," he argued, "do not correlate to increases in entrepreneurship, democracy, livability, creativity, patents or economic growth."

In fact, Dr. Zhao thinks our test-oriented reform efforts are heading in the wrong direction, because "other countries are shifting their focus to creating more well-rounded students, to adding more electives, to supporting more creative thinking skills." On his blog, he argues "when you spend all your time preparing for tests, and when students are selected based on their test-taking abilities, you get outstanding test scores."

In his PNAIS talk he cites studies that prove there is no correlation between high test scores and improved quality of life (it actually has negative effects), and no correlation to increased national economic growth or productivity. High test scores don't lead to increased productivity or predict individual or national success; there is no correlation. None.

The article concludes:

"He said U.S. education reform, and Oregon reform, needs to focus on preparing students to create jobs and to be innovators. That, he said, comes from fostering global knowledge, developing digital and technological competency and making learning more personalized, crafted to individual student needs."

In my Business Seminars and Science Seminars I've been talking to my students about becoming entrepreneurs and inventors. I've been writing and talking about personalization and individualization for years, and I'm not stopping. The Delphian School is all about personalization and individualization and has been from Day One. Technology has now made this possible for all schools in ways that couldn't be imagined just a few years ago (more on that later). Personalization and individualization (not testing) is the key to an improved educational system, and an improved economy and standard of living.

Pass it on!

Honoring Academic Achievement

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:28:05 EST

In The New York Times Opinion Pages on January 15, 2011, Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff argues that the real strategic challenge isn't Chinese fighter aircraft but China's focus on education. I won't go into the controversy about the latest international tests in which Shanghai and other Asian countries ranked at the top, along with Finland.

I took something different away from his piece. He's been visiting schools in China and Asia for more than 20 years, so he had a lot to say. Here's what stuck with me: He said, "[I]n China, school sports and gym just don't matter." Before you get the wrong idea, he later noted that "[I]n Chinese schools, teachers are much respected, and the most admired kid is often the brain rather than the jock or class clown." In other words, succeeding in school sports was kept in perspective, something you don't always see in our schools or communities.

Hey, what an idea—respecting teachers! Admiring the top students more than the top athletes. I've hated to see the horrible "My kid beat up the honor student" bumper stickers, and any form of making less of hard-working students. I know that is not a mainstream or widely-held idea, but it is nasty and shouldn't be tolerated. We've got to turn things around in a big way. Of course, Delphian is different and we are able to honor the academic achievement of all of our students. Check out one of our Graduation videos to see for yourself.

The truth is that when students do well in any academic field, we ought to be as excited as we are when our school sports team does well. Sports pages sell newspapers, but wouldn't it be great if there were also School Pages, where equal excitement was shared about student academic accomplishments? Wouldn't it be great to see what local students were being recruited into colleges because of their academic achievements? And wouldn't it be great to see more schools where all students can achieve their academic goals?

There are many good news stories about student achievement. They just don't quite make the same splash that sports makes. Apparently this is where China does a better job than America does.

On January 10, I took 29 Upper School students to Salem to see the opening of the Oregon Legislature and the inauguration of our Governor Kitzhaber. We heard him talk about education being his highest priority. He said "[E]ducated citizens are more likely to succeed in the workplace and less likely to need social support services or to become involved in the criminal justice system."

I think the least we can do is work on admiring and honoring academic achievement as much as we do athletic achievement. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Thinking About Education

Mon, 31 May 2010 11:43:10 EST

All education is individual.

As I often tell people, you can’t teach a "class" how to drive. Each student in the driver education class individually needs to learn to drive very well. Our lives depend on the driving skills of others, so we have a vested interest in good driver education classes.

Despite the fact that folks like to joke about motor vehicle departments, I think they have it right when it comes to the theory of driver testing. First, they ask potential drivers if they know the rules of the road and safe driving. If the potential drivers can pass the written test (now administered by computer in many states), they then have to show they can actually operate a car safely and correctly behind the wheel and in actual traffic. Only when they pass both tests is a potential driver licensed by the state. What a great model.

At the Delphian School, L. Ron Hubbard’s educational breakthroughs shape an even better model, elevating education to a whole new level. While driver license testing consists of passing a percentage of the written test questions (only 70% in Oregon!), and demonstrating a percentage of the required driving skills, Mr. Hubbard said knowing some of it is not enough. The licensed driver who didn’t get 100% on both tests never has to re-study what he missed (and therefore didn’t know and couldn’t apply). Yikes….watch out drivers! At Delphian, students re-study anything they missed, so they end up understanding and being able to apply all that they studied.

How many fewer accidents might there be if drivers had to re-study the questions that they missed and to learn to do correctly what they did incorrectly during the driving test? How much safer might we all be?

More to the point, you can’t teach a class to drive. What I mean by that is all education is individual. Having a classroom full of students all doing the same lesson at the same time doesn’t necessarily work. They don’t always all get it at the same speed. That’s why the 1994 Report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning Prisoners of Time was reissued by the Education Commission of the States in 2005.

The report noted that:

“Learning in America is a prisoner of time. For the past 150 years, American public schools have held time constant and let learning vary. The rule, only rarely voiced, is simple: learn what you can in the time we make available. It should surprise no one that some bright, hard-working students do reasonably well. Everyone else—from the typical student to the dropout—runs into trouble.”

“…. If experience, research, and common sense teach nothing else, they confirm the truism that people learn at different rates, and in different ways with different subjects. 
“By relying on time as the metric for school organization and curriculum, we have built a learning enterprise on a foundation of sand…”

Call students “Prisoners of Time” is very strong language. Calling our national K-12 education system a learning enterprise built on a “foundation of sand” is very strong language. But the fact is that most students are imprisoned in the system. Proficiency-based education is beginning to take hold in the K-12 arena, but not at the speed needed to address the huge problems we face in education.

Personalized, individualized education will change the education landscape, as it has changed the education of our Delphian students. It works here the Delphian School. It works in the Delphian School network. It works for all the schools in the Applied Scholastics network. It works to a lesser degree in schools that are adopting a proficiency-based approach. It works for licensing drivers, because the system doesn’t care where, when or how you learned it. The system only cares if you can show your knowledge and demonstrate your driving skills. Proficiency-based programs should be put into place in all K-12 environmentsm, and if each student used Mr. Hubbard’s Study Technology, each student could learn it all. If each teacher and administrator learned and applied Mr. Hubbard’s educational approach, the nation’s children would be much better educated, and many more of them that are prisoners of time would become freed by an education system that works. This would be far better than having students as prisoners in a system that doesn’t (and can’t) educate all students.

You can make a difference. You can have your children attend the “old school” and allow the old school model to persist – the one where time is the constant and learning is the variable. Or you can demand your children attend a “new school” and demand that the schools in this country become new schools, where learning is the constant and time is the variable.

CHILDREN ARE NOT MERE CREATURES OF THE STATE Part I

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:18:58 EST

Oregon Governor Kulongoski has proclaimed today, February 4, 2010, Oregon Private Schools Appreciation Day. In the midst of the latest money-based public school educational reform initiatives (fads), it is important to remember that there is not an educational crisis in our private schools. That is not to say that the private school community does not have problems, but because they operate on free-market principles, they are better able to address and remedy them efficiently to the satisfaction of the families that they serve.

Let’s step back and see how this all works. Our country was founded on the proposition that not only was freedom an inalienable right, but a free environment would actually improve the human condition. Over 200 years later we find this premise being proved in the field of education.

Almost 10 years ago, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research released a study which found that high levels of state support for parental choice in education correlates to strong performance on both the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the SAT, even after controlling for other demographic and policy factors. (The report, entitled The Education Freedom Index is available on the Web site of the Manhattan Institute.)

In that study, Oregon ranked fifth from the top for providing families with an environment of educational freedom. The bad news is that at one time Oregon had the distinction of being the only state in the union to outlaw any alternative to public school, making it mandatory for all children to attend public school.

June 1, 2010 will mark the 85th anniversary of an important Supreme Court decision, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which overturned Oregon’s 1922 Compulsory Education Act. That 1922 Oregon law was designed to destroy private schools in Oregon by requiring parents to send their children to public schools, and each day they failed to do so was a separate misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment.

Only the courage of the Society of Sisters and Hill Military Academy stopped efforts in Oregon and elsewhere to destroy the parental option of enrolling children in private schools. Together they successfully sued to stop the law from being enforced, with members of various religious faiths joining in briefs before the US Supreme Court including Episcopalians, Jews, Lutherans, and Seventh-day Adventists.

In my next blog, I’ll go over more of the arguments and “reasoning” that advocates brought before the Supreme Court. But the good news is that the Supreme Court threw out the Oregon law and the Court left its mark in the legal history of American private education when it declared, "The child is not the mere creature of the state."

Today we celebrate the living reversal of that oppressive law, and a formal recognition of all the good things that private schools bring to Oregon and to children and families throughout the world.

Readicide...

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:57:05 EST

I just found out about a new book (that I haven't read yet), Readicide How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It, by Kelly Gallagher. The publisher's site (Stenhouse) says it very well:

"Read-i-cide n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools.

"Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline — poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. In this provocative new book, Kelly Gallagher suggests, however, that it is time to recognize a new and significant contributor to the death of reading: our schools.

"In Readicide, Kelly argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading. Specifically, he contends that the standard instructional practices used in most schools are killing reading by:

valuing the development of test-takers over the development of lifelong readers;
mandating breadth over depth in instruction;
requiring students to read difficult texts without proper instructional support;
insisting that students focus solely on academic texts;
drowning great books with sticky notes, double-entry journals, and marginalia;
ignoring the importance of developing recreational reading;
and losing sight of authentic instruction in the shadow of political pressures."

I tutored my way through much of my college career, and I found that it was very hard NOT to teach someone to read. It takes work. With a little bit of time and commitment, all of my students learned to read or improved their ability to read.

Readicide doesn't happen at Delphi, but I've visited enough students and schools for many years to know that it does exist and this excerpt is an accurate summary of the way it is The NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Reports verify the problem of student illiteracy, and adult illiteracy is also well-documented.

Descartes said "The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries."

Abraham Lincoln said "A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others."

Frederick Douglass said "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free."

Let's stop the Readicide! Let's stop it now! Let's free the people!

Student Cheating In The News!!!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:19:36 EST

By way of reality check, I note the following story in eschoolnews (June 18, 2009):

"A new poll conducted by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media suggests that students are using cell phones and the Internet to cheat on school exams. What's surprising, however, is not just the alarming number of students who say they cheat, but also the number of students who think it's OK to do so...

"...more than a third of teens with cell phones (35 percent) admit to cheating at least once with them, and two-thirds of all teens (65 percent) say others in their school cheat with them.

"...Even more concerning is that many students do not consider this behavior as cheating. Only about half of students polled admit that cell phone use during tests is a serious cheating offense, and just 16 percent say calling or texting friends to warn them of a pop quiz is cheating; instead, they believe they're simply helping a friend."

Yikes! We have a big hill to climb, and we better get moving....!

Thoughts?

Mark Siegel

Provocative Reading, and More!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:15:36 EST

I'm back, and I'm worked up. I've just started Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto. Very provocative reading. Whether you agree with him or not, he gets you thinking at every turn of the page. He raises questions that you need to answer for yourself whether you are an educator, a parent or a "just" a citizen. Highly recommended. I'll blog further when I read further.

On a more cheerful side, Clay Jenkinson recently visited the school and portrayed Thomas Jefferson in speeches he gave to the Middle and Upper School. It was a fantastic visit. I've spent time on his site and listened to his radio shows (also available for free on iTunes). I recommend it highly. The site says that "[t]he goal of each of The Thomas Jefferson Hour® programs is to tease out the truth of each topic in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson - the founding father educated in Enlightenment ideals and considered by many to be the visionary of the founding of our nation."

Looking to the future, I always find the Map of Future Forces Affecting Education to be very provocative and useful. This is the product of the 2006-2016 KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Institute For The Future . It is hard to follow on the screen since you can only see a part at a time, and the printable downloadable may needs to be pasted together. I just have them send me a hard copy.

The section concerning the future of education (2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning) states:

" A Radically Different World

"If you think our future will require better schools, you're wrong.
The future of education calls for entirely new kinds of learning environments.

"If you think we will need better teachers, you're wrong.
Tomorrow’s learners will need guides who take on fundamentally different roles.

"As every dimension of our world evolves so rapidly, the education challenges of tomorrow will require solutions that go far beyond today’s answers."

Couldn't agree more!

Until I blog again,

Mark Siegel

Toward National Educational Standards

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:57:52 EST

Last week, forty-six states and territories, including the District of Columbia. announced their readiness to sign on to the development of a national body of curricular standards in reading and math for K-12 students (Common Core State Standards Initiative). The initiative, spearheaded by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers aspires to create a common set of learning benchmarks which, if attained, would ensure that high school graduates are "internationally competitive." Oregon is among the states pledging to participate; only Texas, Alaska, Missouri and South Carolina haven't signed on.

Supporting the initiative, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called the news "...a huge step in a direction that would have been unimaginable just a year or two ago." The Secretary criticized the current system, describing it as one that permits "...lying to children and their parents, because states have dumbed down their standards."

The project will begin by identifying high school graduate "readiness standards" in English and Math, and will then work down, grade level by grade level, to identify an integrated chain of learning expectations that will collectively enable the attainment of the 12th grade benchmarks. A group of thus-far unidentified experts is reported to already be engaged in drafting 12th grade readiness standards. According to a Washington Post article, "...a separate national 'validation' panel, made of up of experts nominated by the states, will review the proposal."

Once the process has been completed, it will remain for each state to make an individual adoption decision. That's when the proverbial rubber will hit the road.

Bill Gates

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:39:36 EST

Bill Gates gave a speech at the Governors National Education Summit on High Schools in 2005. Gates said:

"When we looked at the millions of students that our high schools are not preparing for higher education – and we looked at the damaging impact that has on their lives – we came to a painful conclusion:
"America’s high schools are obsolete.
"By obsolete, I don’t just mean that our high schools are broken, flawed, and under-funded – though a case could be made for every one of those points.
"By obsolete, I mean that our high schools – even when they’re working exactly as designed – cannot teach our kids what they need to know today."

He concluded: "If we keep the system as it is, millions of children will never get a chance to fulfill their promise because of their zip code, their skin color, or the income of their parents.
"That is offensive to our values, and it’s an insult to who we are.
"Every kid can graduate ready for college. Every kid should have the chance.
"Let’s redesign our schools to make it happen."

I agree!

Report: Free to Teach

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:13:25 EST

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released a report showing that private school teachers enjoy considerably greater career satisfaction than their public school counterparts, although salaries are higher in public schools. Free to Teach: What America's Teachers Say About Teaching in Public and Private Schools, draws upon a body of national data collected by the U.S. Department of Education.

Among other findings, the data show that private school teachers are much more likely than public school counterparts to:

say they will continue teaching as long as they are able;

have a great deal of control over selection of textbooks and instructional materials;

have a great deal of influence on performance standards for students;

strongly agree that they have all the textbooks and supplies they need.

The authors conclude: "Private school teachers consistently report having better working conditions than public school teachers across a wide variety of measurements. Most prominently, private schools provide teachers with more classroom autonomy, a more supportive school climate, and better student discipline." In short, as the title of the study implies, those providing instruction in private schools are more likely to be free to teach.

Condition of Education 2009 Report just released!

Sun, 31 May 2009 16:03:29 EST

This just in (publication date June 2009) from the US Department of Education! Reliable facts and figures about the condition of education in the US. No one I know argues with these facts.

You can read the full report. The Condition of Education 2009 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 46 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The 2009 print edition includes 46 indicators in five main areas: (1) participation in education; (2) learner outcomes; (3) student effort and educational progress; (4) the contexts of elementary and secondary education; and (5) the contexts of postsecondary education.

You can read a shorter version. The Condition of Education 2009 in Brief contains a summary of 12 of the 46 indicators in The Condition of Education 2009. The topics covered include: public and private enrollment in elementary/secondary education; projections of undergraduate enrollment; student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics; status dropout rates; immediate transition to college; educational attainment; expenditures for elementary and secondary education; and undergraduate fields of study.

Prisoners of Time - A Vital Report to Read

Sat, 30 May 2009 14:22:57 EST

Prisoners of Time is the title of the Report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, first issued in 1994 and Reprinted with a new introduction and examples by the Educational Commission of the States in 2005.

This is still one of the most vital documents in the education reform movement and a “must read” for anyone who cares about education. It is a very rich report, but perhaps this one excerpt will get you excited about reading it:

“If experience, research, and common sense teach nothing else, they confirm the truism that people learn at different rates, and in different ways with different subjects. But we have put the cart before the horse: our schools and the people involved with them—students, parents, teachers, administrators, and staff—are captives of clock and calendar. The boundaries of student growth are defined by schedules for bells, buses, and vacations instead of standards for students and learning."

School Choice - USA Today says yes!

Tue, 19 May 2009 09:44:33 EST

I recommend that everyone read this opinion piece in today's USA Today that outlines the reason that students in public schools should be given a range of educational options, including attending private schools, when they are otherwise forced to attend failing public schools. I'm interested in what you think of the article.

Have you read The Dumbest Generation?

Sun, 17 May 2009 18:08:42 EST

I heard a radio interview with Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation, and went to his site . He makes the very provocative argument that the digital tools predominately used by the young have actually made them less informed, less literate, and more self-absorbed than previous generations. Social networking tools focus teen attention on themselves and their friends. He cites numerous reports showing that most young people don't read literature, don't work reliably, don't visit cultural institutions, don't vote, etc. Certainly not true of Delphian students, but even they seem to be negatively affected when they spend too much time texting and tweeting.

Thoughts?

Facebook Privacy Settings - Important

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:26:14 EST

This is just one useful article I found re social media safety for Facebook. Dear readers, please send more tips/sites my way, so we can spread the word.

Thinking about Proficiency - Alaska

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:59:27 EST

You must go to edutopia's site and read about the Chugach School District in Alaska.

Education News - The Comprehensive Site

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:57:05 EST

If you want to get the latest news about education in the US and around the world, you must go to EducationNews.org. You can subscribe to a daily email newsletter that will keep you abreast of all education news! I do!)

Start Thinking About Proficiency - Oregon

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 08:48:52 EST

Here a great place to start (yes my name is in the back, but that's not why I want you to read it).

Taking Promising High School Practices to Scale: Challenges for Oregon in Service Delivery and Governance (PDF). Published by the Oregon Education Roundtable and Oregon Business Council, October 2008.

Thinking About Education

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:42:15 EST

Welcome to my new blog about education!

I'm a 60-year-old educator, and I think I've been an educator my whole life. But there is no arguing with the fact that I've spent more than 35 years on the front lines of education, both private and public.

I want to use this blog to help my friends (and soon-to-be-friends) by serving as the "one-stop shop" of information and links about education, learning and teaching, focusing on the burning issues that don't go away when the fads do!

I think it's easy to get side-tracked from the real issues (burning issues) in education, and I hope to guide my readers around the noise as well as learn from contributors along the way. It is easy to avoid the tough questions, but they don't go away if you do.

The biggest problem - the biggest by far - is education fads. A major product, report or "bright idea" comes out, noise follows with a mix of action, excitement and then inaction. The light fades as the next fad comes to the front. I will do my best to avoid this problem.

Fads are always exciting, while long-term burning issues aren't. Sorry about that. This leads to retelling "the same old story" - the long term one that we really can't ignore, even if some folks consider it boring. Well, that's the way it is, and that's what I'm all about - the burning issues that won't go away.

Add to that the fact that change is the new normal, and the ever-increasing pace of change is the new normal rate of change. More change, faster change - that's the new normal!

It all adds up to challenges to do what is right for kids, our kids. And to do it today!

Stay tuned (and let me know what you think of all this)!

Best,
Mark Siegel