One Size Doesn’t Fit All…

Policy Shifts of NCLB & RTTT

Dr. John McKennaDr. Walter Polka

NOT ALL PARADIGM SHIFTS ARE VALUABLE

Lucy sets the stage---again!

Child Centered Approach:• Individualized• Zone of Proximal

Development• Scaffold/Support• Move at own Pace• Pedagogical Reform

Model (Dewey)

Standardization Approach:• One size Fits All• Zone of Frustration• Race• Measure & Rank Order• Corporate Reform

Model (Taylor)

Shift to Standardization in Education

Animal School Metaphor

by Reavis (1937) over seventy-five years ago!

“Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by it’s ability to climb a tree, it will live it’s whole life believing it is stupid.”

Albert Einstein

Research Proven Theories on Child Development and Learning

• Dewey• Montessori• Piaget• Erickson• Vygotsky

John Dewey

“ The child’s own instinct and powers furnish the material and

give the starting point for all education”

1897

Theories of Childhood and Learning : Montessori

Montessori – Emphasized the importance of exploration and constructive play in learning. Every child learns in their own way. Multiple intelligence should be valued and fostered.

“Our care of the child should be governed not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavor always to keep within him that light which is called intelligence”

Theories of Childhood and Learning : Piaget

• Piaget – Stages of Cognitive Development

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Theories of Childhood and Learning :Vygotsky

Scaffolding

How are the Children ?

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Poverty and Social Conditions• POVERTY # 1 effect on test scores ( Berliner 2013) School factors account for about 20% of student achievement 0 to 20% poverty USA scores highest in world.

• 91-9 Rule (Procaccini 2013) Percentage of time children from birth to 18 spend in school. • Wisconsin Study : Poverty Influences Brain Development Parietal and frontal regions/less gray matter.

• Effects from poor nutrition and sleep…..

• Lack of books, technology, desks, shelter, clothing….

How are the children ?

FREDRICK TAYLORSCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

• enforced standardization of methods.• enforced adaption of working conditions.• enforced cooperation.

“The duty of enforcing . . .rests with management alone.“

Top Down/Autocratic Management based onRules, Regulations and Policies

Taylor, F. (1911) The principles of scientific management.

SCHOOLS AND THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY ECONOMY

We need workers. . .

• Who work without questioning authority.• Who work well ALONE.• Who are ON TIME.• Who have a high tolerance for boredom.• Who fear being fired

Callahan, R. E. (1964). Education and the cult of efficiency: A study of social forces that have shaped the administration of public schools. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Scientific Management Learning Organizations

1. Management 1. Learning

2. Hierarchy

3. Managers standardize practice

2. Flexibility/SDM

3. Teams seek options

SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT

Scientific Management Learning Organizations

4. Job descriptions & policy/Regulations

4. Student needs &Abilities

5. Conformity

6. Synchronicity –”one size for all”

5. Creativity

6. Asynchronous – “individualized”

Scientific Management Learning Organizations

7. Careful scrutiny and evaluation

8. Required isolation9. Info controlled

10. Specific materials & structure

7. Freedom and choice

8. Required teaming9. Open information

10. Great thinking and innovation

Common Core/Regents Reform Agenda : Coleman

• Standardized High Stakes Testing system/ One size For All• Common Core Standards/ One Size for All• Strict Teacher Evaluation system Tied to Testing Results/ VAM• Constant Ongoing Administrative Evaluations• Standardized Metrics to Quantify Student Learning and Teacher

Effectiveness. Students and Teachers are now #’s• Standardized Curriculum Modules/ Frustrational Content• Focus on Expository/Informational Text• Focused Writing Based on Text Details / No Narrative or Creative

Writing• SLO’s ( State Approved Vendors) • Start Standardized Process of College and Career Readiness in Pre K

Gardner’s Work

CCLS/Regents Reform Agenda

• Changes to GED and EDTPA impacts opportunities

• All Teachers must be “Teachers of the Core”

• All Children must be “Children of the Core”

CCLS Examples

Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader??

3 roads. B is three times longer than A. C is twice as long as B. Draw the roads. What fraction of the total length of the roads is the length of A? If Road B is 7 miles longer than Road A., what is the length of Road C?

b. After using some of the honey she collected for baking, Lila found that she only had gallon of honey left. How much honey did she use for baking? Explain your answer using a diagram, numbers, and words.

c. With the remaining gallon of honey, Lila decided to bake some loaves of bread and several batches of cookies for her school bake sale. The bread needed gallon of honey and the cookies needed gallon. How much honey was left over? Explain your answer using a diagram, numbers, and words.

d. Lila decided to make more baked goods for the bake sale. She used lb less flour to make bread than to make cookies. She used lb more flour to make cookies than to make brownies. If she used lb of flour to make the bread, how much flour did she use to make the brownies? Explain your answer using a diagram, numbers, and words.

By the end of this Domain, the students will be able to:

• Describe the basic principles of Hinduism and Buddhism

• Identify the holy texts of Hinduism and Buddhism

• Describe the teachings of Confucius• Describe the city-state Sparta and the Spartan

way of life• Explain what the Parthenon was• Explain the significance of the battles of

Marathon and Thermopylae

• Explain the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation

• Describe the significant contributions of Anton van Leeuwenhoek

• Identify important components of the excretory system and their functions

• Explain the importance of the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Describe the similarities among the methods of protest used by Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary McLeod Bethune, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks , Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Cesar Chavez

Effects and Concerns from Testing and Standardization (cont.)

• These practices resulted in massive failures, state-wide. • About 70% of all students, state-wide, scored below proficiency

level on the 2013 Math and ELA Assessment Exams in Spring 2013

• 95% of Special Needs students below• 85% of minorities below• 97% of ESL students below• 90% of students in poverty below

• No opportunity for thorough item analysis to inform our instructional practices

• Intellectual Discrimination/ Multiple Intelligence Discarded

“Practicing for the test was stressful….I was afraid that I would get a lot of answers wrong and be embarrassed…..When the teacher put the test in front of me and said, “You may begin,” I was stressed out, my stomach was jumping and I wanted to tear the test in half and run out of the room…..

…The people who made me take the test only got a little bit of information about me. I am more than a test score. All kids have special abilities and they should be shared. Teachers should know kids’ abilities, not just their test scores. I am a great writer, poet, and illustrator. I love learning. The tests don’t describe me. I am more than my test scores.”

Elizabeth Brantley, Age 9

Inconvenient Truth about High-stakes Testing (HST) Accountability

We need smart accountability but not HST-driven ….• Does it meet the standards of professional practice?No, it is not fully ready.

• Does it pass the test of efficacy (test score gains)?No, it is not very effective.

• Do high-performing nations rely more on it?No, it is not the reason for their high performance.

• Does it promote standards-based education reform?No, it rather undermines standards-based reform by narrowing

the curriculum and teaching to the test.

…A Narrow Road

Who Benefits from Standardization ?

• VENDORS• Corporate Reform Agenda• Government Empowered/Loss of

Local Control• Privateers

Work Smarter, Not Harder

• The 4 Cornerstones• Smarter Assessments• Smarter Evaluation• Smarter Professional Development• Smarter Data

SMART WAYS To Widen the Road For ALL

• Return to NYS Multiple Diplomas and Certifications of Achievement

• Smaller Class Sizes• Pre-School Education for ALL---3 year olds!• Provide $ for Enrichment Activities, After-School

Programs, and Summer Schools• Return Funding to Schools- No Gap Elimination

Adjustment• Scholarships for Advanced Vocational Training and

Higher Education based on talent.

Blueberries

“I believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings. Standardization is a great peril which threatens American culture”.

--Albert EinsteinSaturday Evening Post

October 26, 1929

The Road to Learning Should be Filled with Adventure and Wonder and a Return to a Love For School.