Part+5+26-29


 * Gardner, David. Confronting the Achievement Gap. **

Deanna: This article was about the achievement gap and how much of a difference it makes whether a school is an affluent, white school or an urban school. It is no surprise to me that studies have shown that the affluent white schools have a higher success rate than the urban schools. We’ve all heard about how bad inner-city schools are and yet there have not been the drastic changes needed to change this. Gardner talks about the need for teachers to make this change individually. He emphasizes the need for teachers to set high standards for their students, believe in them, help them achieve the goals set out for them and also to make learning fun. I strongly believe that we need to set high standards for our students and to set the same high standards for all our students. We need to make sure our students know that we believe in them because that attitude will rub off on them and they will start to believe in themselves. We also need to make sure that students are active and engaged in their education because when we make it fun for them, they are more likely to come and to be engaged and participate, which ultimately leads to their learning and understanding of the material.

Dustin: As one might expect simply from the title, this article was about the achievement gap between affluent white students and inner-city minority students. The author claims to have worked in schools with both populations and expresses the same concern over this problem that we have all heard many times. He suggest the reasons for this lie with the fact that minority students possess an external locus of control. Thus, they blame (not always wrongfully) everything that goes wrong for them on something other than themselves. Gardner then backs this claim with what some research has shown. He also says that long-term effects of racism, poverty, and the schooling experiences of students' parents also play a role in creating the achievement gap. He says that the answer to this is to become more individually aware of what we are doing as citizens and teachers in order make sure we aren't encouraging this gap. Overall, I really didn't think this article provided much insight on a common issue apart from the concept of minority students dealing with an external locus of control. I think this is an interesting concept, and would like to see more research done on this.

Becca: This article discussed the drastic achievement gap that exists in this country and several of the causes of this gap. Gardner suggests that things like poverty, home life, and parents' attitudes towards school contributes to this gap. He also explains that low minority students (typically the low achieving students) have a external locus of control, meaning that they attribute success to luck or how well they are liked. Gardner presents several reasons for this achievement gap, but also looks at ways to close it. He claims that the root of mending this gap rests in the schools and teacher. While this responsibility extends to the public and society, teachers certainly play a major role. Teachers must set high expectations for students, help students understand that failure is a means to success, and make learning enjoyable for students. Gardner presents several compelling ideas in the essay that make a lot of sense. I respect this essay's approach to solving the achievement gap crises. While Gardner proposes that schools and teachers need to make a change in instruction and expectations, he also holds society and citizens responsible for closing this gap. While teachers and schools systems certainly make a difference, this issue is a cultural one and Gardner approaches it by looking at all aspects of the issue.

Lauren I loved reading about the achievement gap; this is a huge issue for all of us whether we are teaching in an affluent school or not. For me, this has a lot to do with equal rights in our country, and it often gets overlooked. Gardner shed a lot of light on reasons for the achievement gap, such as inadequate nourishment, few resources, and resentment. Gardner says poor children rarely get a healthy, nourishing meal that will help their developing brains and bodies, and I know this is true for my students. The vast majority of my students get free breakfast and lunch, and my CT said that’s often the only meals they get in a day. Looking at the school food, it’s easy to see how my students could be malnourished. Also, one student wrote in his class journal that he often goes to bed hungry and knows what it feels like to go without food. It’s devastating. Gardner also writes about the “locus of control,” which I found fascinating. HE writes, “many people of color have an external locus of control,” which attributes success and failure to outside factors e.g. luck, fate, etc. I see this daily in my students, as they are always blaming the teacher, other students, the administration, //someone// for their lack of success. My CT and I try to get students to see the direct results of their actions in order to aid in this disparity of the achievement gap.

Luke: To address the point that teachers don’t believe in the academic success of students of color is extremely important. While many people argue that overt racism is dead, the socio-economic discrimination still exists. Racism is just one factor hidden among this issue. Many teachers, parents and communities give up on children of color if they are poor more so than white children. I believe that this is because of the decades of poverty and lack of opportunities for children of color. Since minorities receive external rewards slower than the majority, I think that inside of the classroom a teacher must be acutely aware of this discrepancy and mentally adjust for it. It is important to teach students that failure is acceptable but only in a learning sense. I think it is important to teach all students that failure is a means to success and that the poor and less of the majority one is, the more times he/she will fail.

** Marzano, Robert J. and Marzano, Jana S. The Key to Classroom Management. **

Deanna: I enjoyed this article because it talked about the connection between classroom management and developing relationships with your students. I believe that developing relationships with students is a key to successful teaching because the more your students believe that you care about them and they more connections you make to their lives, the more likely they are to listen to you, respect you and be engaged in what they are learning. There are many “little” things that you can do to develop these relationships and show kids that you care, including greeting them at the door upon entering your room, making eye contact with them, greeting them outside of class, and taking an interest in their interests. Getting to know your students can also help you design a curriculum that the students will be interested in. Also important is the necessity for teachers to help high-needs students. These students are often the ones who need our attention and support, more so than other students. Identifying their problem areas and helping them overcome those and succeed will benefit them in many ways. Once students and teacher are on the same page and are respecting of each other, there can be cooperation in the classroom which will aide in classroom management and decrease behavior problems.

Dustin: This article was about classroom management, and argued that creating high quality teacher-student relationships is essential to the success of classroom management. The key components of establishing this are: having and using appropriate levels of dominance, establishing clear expectations and consequences that are followed through, establishing clear learning goals, exhibiting assertive behavior, implementing appropriate levels of cooperation, providing students with flexible learning goals, taking a personal interest in students, using equitable and positive classroom behaviors, and having a high-awareness of high-needs students. I enjoyed this article because it really connected well with the Classroom Management class that I am taking right now as part of the College of Education. However, I felt as if everything was more reinforcing what I had already learned. There wasn't really a single thing in the article that I disagreed with.

Becca: This article continues to echo what we've hear time and time again in the college of education, the key the classroom management is establishing a relationship with students. While the article presents several key ideas for classroom management, I especially identified with the establishment of clear expectation and consequences and taking a personal interest in students. In terms of clear expectations and consequences, teachers need to develop clear rules and provide consequences for student behavior. I think that this is key. Students must know and understand what is expected of them, and if they fail to live up to these expectations then they face the consequences. Clearly stated behavioral expectations and holding students accountable creates a safe classroom environment where positive behavior is expected. In addition, teacher need to take a personal interest in students. It goes back to that saying "They don't care until they know how much you care." Strategies that a teacher can use include talking with students before and after class, greeting students as they walk into class, and showing students you are aware of individual achievements and successes. Personal relationships with students remain crucial is students are to behave and succeed in class. They kids need to know we pay attention and care. Overall, all of the classroom management ideas listed in this essay are necessary, but the two stated above stood out to me.

Lauren

While the Marzanos have done their research, and I agree with the majority of what they have said, I must say I scoffed at much of the article based on personal experience. I agree with the Marzanos that teachers must have clear expectations (that hopefully the students can help to come up with), establish clear learning goals and objectives, and make adaptations for students with high-needs. However, the principles they have discussed regarding class cues and group responsibility are questionable to me. Let me be clear, I think the strategies discussed by the Marzanos are helpful, but they aren’t always. For instance, my CT has tried the technique of “give me 5,” “clap if you can hear me,” etc. in order to get the class’ attention and focus on the activity. Nothing has worked. The only thing that currently works for my students is when my CT yells at them consistently. Also, I am having a hard time with holding the entire class responsible for classroom disruptions. There are several students in my 2nd hour class who are angels, and they are constantly punished because of this rule. I disagree, and feel there should be exceptions in these cases.

Luke: For good classroom management, being aware of high need students is important but not essential. Often times I think it is important to be aware of all students and not focus merely on the high needs ones. I believe that every student can fall into the categories that this text lists. I feel that a better way is to take a personal interest in the students, like what the previous paragraph says. The text states that, “school may be the only place where many students who face extreme challenges can get their needs addressed.” While this is true, sometimes it can be advantageous to view the students as a blank slate without any pre-conceived notions. The difficulty with awareness with high needs students, often times teachers treat students differently which reinforces the students to behave as if they are high needs. When you treat a man like a dog, he acts like a dog.

** Clifford, Margaret M. Students Need Challenge, Not Easy Success. **

Deanna: “The term //dropout// may not be adequate to convey the disastrous consequences of the abandonment of school by children and adolescents; //educational suicide// may be a far more appropriate label.” I love this line because it is so true. Kids who drop out are not only dropping out of school, but dropping out of life. Once a student drops out of school, the return rate is extremely low and usually the student never returns to any educational institute to further their knowledge. Therefore, the term “educational suicide” is highly appropriate because they are killing their education. Students who do not complete school are more likely to live a life of poverty and crime so it is highly important for educators to do everything in our power to prevent students from dropping out. Clifford writes about the need to provide students with risk-taking opportunities and to give prompt, meaningful feedback whenever possible. Also important, is the need to make risk-taking opportunities fun and in situations that are tolerant of mistakes and where a student feels comfortable making a mistake. When one makes an error, they learn the most when they correct the error. Therefore, in order for our students to learn we need to provide them with opportunities to, in essence, “fail” so that they can learn from their mistakes and have a deeper understanding of the material.

Dustin: I found this article extremely interesting, however I had a major problem with it right off the bat. It was covering a subject that I am not too familiar with, and really caught my attention when the author, Margaret Clifford, substituted the term "dropout" for "academic suicide". I thought that was a great hook and really makes the problem of dropouts sound a lot more significant. However, Clifford then simply writes, "To address these questions, we must acknowledge that educational suicide is primarily a motivational problem--not a physical, intellectual, financial, technological, cultural, or staffing problem." The main problem with this is there is no research provided to back this statement up. It comes out of nowhere and just moves on. While I liked what the author had to say about it being a motivational problem, I just don't see how it can so quickly be ruled out that it is not also one of the many other problems she ever-so-briefly dismissed. As for the actual meat of the article, I found myself agreeing quite a bit in terms of how students are affected by motivation. In the section about external constraints, I also found myself going back to the idea from a previous article about external locus of control.

Becca: This article focused on several ideas for challenging students in the classroom and getting them to challenge themselves. Between the need specific and timely feedback to to the damage caused by external constraints, which I am not sure I agree with, this essay presents several methods for challenging students. Specifically, I really liked the articles focus on risk taking in the classroom. The article claims that challenges students, becomes addictive, and motivates students to take more challenging academic risks. Unfortunately, schools fail to present students with these opportunities for success. Clifford states, "In today's education world, however, there are few opportunities for students to engage in academic risk taking and not incentives to do so." So then I started asking myself, as a teacher, what can I do to present this opportunity to students. Then it hit me, Blooms Taxonomy and layered instruction allow for this academic risk taking. Through layered/tiered instruction students work their way up the Bloom's pyramid getting more creative and analytical with each tier. Students can choose how far up they go and with each layer the talk becomes more challenging. When looking at the components of ensuring success with risk taking, this from of instruction fits into 1) Freedom of selection and activities that vary in difficulty 2) As difficulty increases payoffs do as well (the higher the level the better the grade) 3) Environment that accepts and welcomes errors (the whole premise of Bloom's taxonomy. Overall, I think that risk taking is an important component of learning and layered instruction might be one way to promote risk taking in the classroom.

Lauren

I read this article in a time of need! I have been so discouraged with my students’ grades lately, and have had no idea what to do. Though I can attribute most of this to general lack of motivation for school, in my personal classroom I can see how the assignments we’ve graded lack the challenge Clifford writes of in her article. She claims success at moderately difficult or truly challenging tasks is what raises pride, competence, persistence, and determination. Because the schools provide total dominance over students (what they learn, when, and how), I can understand how students are resentful and less intrigued to learn. However, there needs to be criteria set by our government to ensure each students is receiving the same education. In terms of feedback, Clifford writes specific and prompt feedback “enhances learning, performance, and motivation.” I have //almost// seen this firsthand. We were so behind in our grading, so I finally passed everything back and my students didn’t seem to care about their poor grades. The next week, I returned assignments to students //within the hour// and I could see their strong reactions to their poor grades. At least at this point I know they care a teeny bit, and I have been working to provide specific, constructive feedback. I agree with Clifford; when we give students “error-free” assignments, we are doing them a disservice. We need to always give feedback, always give comments, always help them improve.

Luke: I find the idea of rewards as a constraint counterintuitive. My entire life I have been told that rewards are a good thing and reinforce good behaviors. This new look on rewards suggests that they create negative consequences on the intended behavior. I believe that this research is right- that rewards make the behavior or task more insignificant. I do not know how to place more importance or active thinking on the behavior or tasks without rewards. I agree with the rest of the article but wish that there was something concrete to replace the rewards system. I also loved the comment about prompt feedback- how often have we as college students hated professors who never gave us back our assignments/papers on time.

** McTighe, Jay and O’Connor, Ken. Seven Practices for Effective Learning. **

Deanna: It is imperative that we motivate our students to learn. If they do not care and do not want to learn, then they will not. In order to motivate our students we need to do several things, which the authors have listed: Use summative assessments to frame meaningful performance goals, show criteria and models in advance, assess before teaching, offer appropriate choices, provide feedback early and often, encourage self-assessment and goal setting, and allow new evidence of achievement to replace old evidence. The ones that stick out the most to me or had the most effect on me were encouraging self-assessment and goal setting, allowing new evidence of achievement to replace old evidence and offering appropriate choices. I love the rubric example on page 178 because it allows the student to assess themselves and the teacher to assess the student on the same page and we can clearly see where the discrepancies lie. We can then address areas where opinions are different and really help the students see why they receive the grade they did. Allowing students to be re-assessed if they are dissatisfied with the grade they receive is a great motivator. This may be may work for teachers because we would need to either design a new test or an assignment they must complete before reevaluating in order for students to demonstrate their new understanding. However, I think that the work will be worth it because the overall goal is to have all of our students succeed. Finally, choice is a great motivator, so allowing students to choose how they will be assessed (when appropriate) will get them even more motivated to complete the work and give them a sense of confidence because they can demonstrate their understanding in a way that shines. This was by far my favorite article and was a good one to end on.

Dustin: This article discussed the how important it is to make sure that students are effectively learning material as opposed to just simply teaching them the material and expecting it to click with the students. The first practice for effective learning was using summative assessment to frame meaningful performance goals, which means telling students how they are going to be assessed and why they are going to be assessed in that manner. The second practice ties in with the first: showing criteria and models in advance. Both of these help students recognize what they are expected to learn from the material. The third practice is to assess before teaching, which is important so that teachers know what their students need work on and what they already are capable of doing. The fourth practice is offering appropriate choices as it is essential for students to make choices about their material in order to be more engaged with the material. The fifth practice is to provide feedback early and often so that students can learn what they need to work on and then make the necessary changes. The sixth practice is encouraging self-assessment and goal setting which will help students develop intrinsic motivation. Finally, the seventh practice is allowing new evidence of achievement to replace older evidence. This helps students who master material on a second (or later) attempt get graded for that as opposed the to the first assessment. This was the one practice that I feel isn't always applicable as I believe there are many situations in which assessments should be averaged such as if it is obvious that students simply didn't put forth the effort that is expected of them.

Lauren McTighe and O’Connor, in this article, lay out seven practices for effective learning, and I can confidently say I agree with each principle. Using summative assessments allows students to move past Bloom’s first level of knowledge. Instead, with this principle we ask students to engage in authentic application, which we know is critical for retention. Showing criteria and models in advance is something I have seen used effectively in my classroom currently. At the beginning of the unit we have shown students what their end product will look like. Not only does this give them direction for the future, but it shows them how much they are going to learn in order to complete the assignment. They are able to look at what the expectations are, and assess themselves to figure out what they need to learn in order to achieve this. I am also a fan of providing feedback quickly, as I have seen it be somewhat effective so far in my class. Simply writing “good job” on a paper is confusing; we need to tell students exactly how they are doing great so they know what to keep consistent for their next assignment. Conversely, writing “needs improvement” is vague—how can we expect students to improve without direct, guided feedback?