HIGH SCHOOLS and MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN AMERICA AND KANSAS

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HIGH SCHOOLS and MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN AMERICAAND
KANSAS
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Learning for a New Age

• About half of our students, perhaps two-thirds,
  flourish
• The other one-third to one-half of our students
  flounder
• The key difference between the two groups is the
  level and quality of education available to them

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The Case for Raising Standards

• In a Public Agenda poll,
• Only 32 percent of employers and 39 percent of
  college professors said high school graduates
  have the skills needed to succeed in the work
  world/college
• Only 31 percent of employers and 16 percent of
  professors rated their basic math skills as
  excellent or good
• Public Agenda, 1999

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High Schools as Sorting Machines

• Every year hundreds of thousands of 9th graders
  make a decision (or have the decision made for
  them) that sorts them for years
• They decide not to take Algebra I.
• This decision, made at the age of 14, lowers
  their chances of attending college and raises
  their risk of forfeiting the future.

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In the Classroom

• Students report that what they learned in high
  school left them ill-equipped for the challenges
  of college, work, and the adult world.
• Many students report that for them, the senior
  year was a waste of time.
• A number of students report that, far from being
  challenged by their high school curriculum, they
  find high school to be pointless and boring.
• Many viewed high school as primarily a social
  venue.

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Change in Mission

• From
• What the school and teachers do
• To
• How the students learn
• From
• Time as constant and learning as variable
• To
• Learning as constant and time as variable

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Millennials

• Consumers- 150 billion annually
• Digital Media Users - 6 hrs daily
• Multi-taskers
• Hyper communicators
• Gamers
• Less violence, drugs and alcohol
• Interested in college
• More socially/civically conscious
• Optimistic

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• Children are native to cyberspace, and we, as
  adults, are immigrants.
• - Douglas Rushkoff

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Different World

• Industrial workers were measured by their
  efficiency
• Knowledge workers are
• measured by their effectiveness

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What they do online
Source TBWA/Chiat/Day Research, 2000

• Send e-mail
• Surfing around/seeing what is out there
• Looking up musical groups and artists
• Chatting with friends online
• Doing homework or research
• Listening to music
• Using instant messaging
• Checking movies, TV, or concert listings
• Reading the news or magazines online
• Playing online games
• Meeting people who share interests
• Watching streaming videos
• Exchanging own creative work with friends
• Buying stuff
• Participating in online auctions

• 100
• 98
• 95
• 93
• 92
• 90
• 89
• 84
• 81
• 80
• 77
• 70
• 69
• 61
• 38

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Seniors Interest in School Waning
Percentage of 12th graders expressing opinions
on
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What Do We Know About Student Achievement?

• 12th grade achievement in math and science are up
• 12th grade achievement in reading is down
• Earlier progress in narrowing gaps was lost in
  the 90s
• Students made more growth in grades 4 to 8 than
  in 8 to 12

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What Do We Know About Student Achievement?

• 12th grade achievement in math and science are up
• 12th grade achievement in reading is down
• Earlier progress in narrowing gaps was lost in
  the 90s
• Students made more growth in grades 4 to 8 than
  in 8 to 12

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Math and Science NAEP
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress.
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Reading and Writing NAEP
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NAEP 12th Grade Reading
Source USDOE, NCES, National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP)
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What Do We Know About Student Achievement?

• 12th grade achievement in math and science are up
• 12th grade achievement in reading is down
• Earlier progress in narrowing gaps was lost in
  the 90s
• Students made more growth in grades 4 to 8 than
  in 8 to 12

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Reading Gaps Narrow Then Widen
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Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999
Trends in Academic Progress (p. 107),
Washington, DC US Department of Education,
August 2000
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KS Reading Gap Narrows By
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Math Gaps Narrow then Steady or Widen
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20
Source US Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends
in Academic Progress (p. 108) Washington, DC US
Department of Education, August 2000
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KS Mathematics Gap Narrows By
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Academic GrowthGrades 4-8, 8-12
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Value Added Declining in High School Math...
Age 13-17 Growth
Source NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress
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Reading Students Entering Better Prepared, But
Leaving Worse
Source NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress
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Each Year, One of Every Twenty High School
Students Leaves School
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One Year Dropout Rates by Race, Grades 10-12
Source NCES Drop-out Rates in U.S. 1998 (1999)
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Students Complete High School At Different Rates,
2000
Age 18-24
Source US Bureau of Census, Current Population
Reports, Educational Attainment in the United
States March 2000, Detailed Tables No. 2
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Inevitable?
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No. Around the country, there are

• classrooms
• schools
• districts and,
• even entire states where studentsespecially poor
  and minority studentsare performing at much
  higher levels.

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What Questions Do We Need to Answer?

• Should there be a single, overarching goal for
  high school that will give clearer purpose and
  focus to our reform efforts?
• Is it clear that student success--in college, on
  assessments, and in gaining access to decent
  jobs--depends on completing a rigorous, college
  prep-level curriculum?
• Do we need to organize time and staff in
  different ways in pursuit of different outcomes?
• Are there better ways to accelerate our top
  students?

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Education Pays Annual Earnings of 25-34 Year
Olds
Source US bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau
of the Census, Current Population Survey, March
2002
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Kids and Parents are Clear Their Goal is
College
SourceMetropolitan Life, Survey of the American
Teacher 2000 Are We Preparing Students for the
21st Century?, September 2000.
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Indeed, Most High School Grads Do Go On To
Postsecondary Within 2 Years
Source NELS 88, Second (1992) and Third (1994)
Follow up in, USDOE, NCES, Access to
Postsecondary Education for the 1992 High School
Graduates, 1998, Table 2.
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College Freshmen Who Do Not Return for Sophomore
Year
Source Tom Mortensen, Postsecondary Opportunity,
No. 89, November 1999
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Why? At Least In Part Because Their Teachers Had
Other Ideas About Their Plans
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I told (the staff) my vision. That our
expectations are going to be high and will
inspire maximum involvement in all studentsWere
building a cooperative school and community
(where) the individual student is first and
foremost.PSJA Memorial Principal
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Should there be a single, overarching goal for
high school that will give clearer purpose and
focus to our reform efforts?

• EX
• ALL students must graduate from high school ready
  for postsecondary education.

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Math Acceleration for AllBurris, Heubert
Levin, EL

• Studying advanced math in high school influences
  whether or not a student enrolls in a 4-year
  college and earns a bachelors degree
• Students whose parents never attended college
  more than doubled their chances of enrolling in
  4-year colleges if they took high school math
  courses beyond Algebra 2

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Math Acceleration for AllBurris, Heubert
Levin, EL

• A U.S. Department of Education study found that
  taking advanced math in high school was more
  strongly associated with successful completion of
  college than any other factor including grade
  point average and SES
• Tracking contributes to low level math
  performance
• All students benefited from being in
  heterogeneously grouped accelerated math classes
  and took more math courses beyond Algebra 2 in
  high school
• Accelerated math courses should be made
  accessible and available to all

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So What Can We Do?

• Should there be a single, overarching goal for
  high school that will give clearer purpose and
  focus to our reform efforts?
• Is it clear that student success--in college, on
  assessments, and in gaining access to decent
  jobs--depends on completing a rigorous, college
  prep-level curriculum?
• Do we need to organize time and staff in
  different ways in pursuit of different outcomes?
• Are there better ways to accelerate our top
  students?

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Transcript Study The single biggest predictor of
college success was
Quality and intensity of high school curriculum

• Cliff Adelman, Answers in the Tool Box, U.S.
  Department of Education.

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Assign Intellectually Stimulating Work

• Relevance beyond school
• Disciplined Inquiry
• Knowledge Construction

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Quality of Assignment Counts
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Millennials Want to Learn

• With technology
• With one another
• Online
• In their own time
• In their own place
• Doing things that matter

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Students can do no better than the assignments
they are given...
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Grade 10 Writing Assignment
A frequent theme in literature is the conflict
between the individual and society. From
literature you have read, select a character who
struggled with society. In a well-developed
essay, identify the character and explain why
this characters conflict with society is
important.
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Grade 10 Writing Assignment
Write a composition of at least 4 paragraphs on
Martin Luther Kings most important contribution
to this society. Illustrate your work with a
neat cover page. Neatness counts.
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The Networked ClassroomRoschelle, Penuel
Abrahamson, EL

• Classrooms that integrate dynamic software
  environments with connectivity can dramatically
  enhance students engagement with core
  mathematics beyond what we thought possible.

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The Networked Classroom The ResearchRoschelle,
Penuel Abrahamson, EL

• Greater student engagement (16 studies)
• Increased student understanding of complex
  subject matter (11 studies)
• Increased student interest and enjoyment (7
  studies)
• Heightened discussion and interactivity (6
  studies)
• Increased student awareness of individual levels
  of comprehension (5 studies)
• Increased teacher insight into student
  difficulties (4 studies)

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So What Can We Do?

• Should there be a single, overarching goal for
  high school that will give clearer purpose and
  focus to our reform efforts?
• Is it clear that student success--in college, on
  assessments, and in gaining access to decent
  jobs--depends on completing a rigorous, college
  prep-level curriculum?
• Do we need to organize time and staff in
  different ways in pursuit of different outcomes?
• Are there better ways to accelerate our top
  students?

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Classes in High Poverty High Schools More Often
Taught by Underqualified Teachers
Teachers who lack a major or minor in the
field Source National Commission on Teaching and
Americas Future, What Matters Most Teaching for
Americas Future (p.16) 1996.
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Time
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The Full Year Calendar
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Less Summer Vacation
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Less Weekends, Holidays, Summer Vacation
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Less Professional Development Days Early
Dismissal/Parent Conferences
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Less Class Picnic, Class Trip, Thanksgiving
Feast, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Awards,
Assembles, Concerts
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Less State and District Testing
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Bottom Line

• Roughly 13-15 Eight-Hour Days, Per Subject, Per
  Year

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So What Can We Do?

• Should there be a single, overarching goal for
  high school that will give clearer purpose and
  focus to our reform efforts?
• Is it clear that student success--in college, on
  assessments, and in gaining access to decent
  jobs--depends on completing a rigorous, college
  prep-level curriculum?
• Do we need to organize time and staff in
  different ways in pursuit of different outcomes?
• Are there better ways to accelerate our top
  students?

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What is the fastest growing part of the high
school curriculum?
AP/IB (college-level) courses
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What is the fastest growing part of the college
curriculum?
Remedial (high school level) courses.
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Alternatives?
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A Vision for MathematicsWilliam H. Schmidt, EL

• A common, coherent and challenging curriculum
• A curriculum specified by grade level
• Algebra offered in middle school
• Teachers knowledgeable about their subject matter
• To a lesser extent, teachers pedagogical knowledge

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Improving Mathematics Teaching (Not
Teachers)Stigler and Hiebert, EL

• Spending time on problems that use procedures and
  make connections
• Implementing making connections problems as
  making connections problems, not using procedures
  
• Moving away from a focus on the organization,
  tools, and textbooks to ways in which the teacher
  and students interact about the subject
• Spending time analyzing classroom practice
  including when learning does not occur
• Injecting new knowledge into teaching e.g.,
  theories, empirical research, examples

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What is High Quality Instruction?Weiss and
Pasley, EL

• Mathematics and science content that is
• Significant and worthwhile
• At an appropriate developmental level
• Accurate
• Paced appropriately
• Rigorous
• Students interacting purposefully and deeply with
  the content
• Adjusting instruction to the students level of
  understanding
• Using effective questioning that helps students
  make connections
• Encouraging and valuing active student
  participation including student questions, ideas,
  conjectures and/or propositions

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What Interventions Are Needed?Weiss and Pasley,
EL

• Opportunities to analyze a variety of lessons in
  comparison to the elements of high quality
  instruction
• Materials that clearly identify
• the learning goals for each activity
• the research on cognitive level
• the questions and tasks used to monitor
  understanding
• an outline of the key points to be emphasized
• Professional development that reflects the
  elements of high quality instruction
• Coherence among preservice, curriculum,
  assessment, professional development and teacher
  evaluation

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What is Learning?

• Mastering an existing body of knowledge
• To reproduce it
• To use it in new contexts (transfer)
• Solving problems with unknown answers or creating
  new knowledge
• Unschooled learning
• Expert problem solving/research

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Example from How Students Learn Math

• Dominance of whole number reasoning
• Multiplication always increases values
• Division always decreases values
• ½ 1/3 2/5
• 1/8 gt ¼
• .4 lt .059

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What is Learning?

• Mastering an existing body of knowledge
• To reproduce it
• To use it in new contexts (transfer)
• Solving problems with unknown answers or creating
  new knowledge
• Unschooled learning
• Expert problem solving/research

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Opening Doors Promising Lessons from Five Texas
High Schools
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Opening Doors Promising Lessons from Five Texas
High Schools
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Opening Doors Promising Lessons from Five Texas
High Schools

• Set clear goals and established high expectations
  for student achievement
• Used data to guide instruction
• Focused on improving instruction and individual
  learning
• Supported teachers and worked to enhance
  collaboration around the academic goals of the
  campus
• Fostered an environment of respect and affection
  for students

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Set clear goals and established high expectations
for student achievement

• All students graduate from high school
• All students leave school fully prepared to
  succeed in college
• Aimed for an exemplary rating in the state
  accountability system (90 of the students passed
  all core subject areas including 90 of ethnic
  groups and disadvantaged)
• Mastery of curriculum as measured by
  end-of-course exams
• Improved quality and quantity of AP course
  offerings

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We take the adage all kids can learn
seriously. Its not just words, (we) believe it.
You have to accept it. You can have all the
goals in the world and theyre just words unless
somebody internalizes them, and this school
did.Brazosport teacher
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Used data to guide instruction

• Analyzed and used data to guide instruction
• Some conducted assessments every six weeks or
  nine weeks
• Received training in the Eight-Step Process for
  continuous assessment (program developed by
  school staff)
• Ensured the timely collection, analysis and
  dissemination of student assessment data
• Looked at data for an entire class
• Linked it to instructional targets

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I have a roadmap now for each of my students. I
know where theyre at, and I know where I need to
take them. And with the data thats provided me,
now I know the most efficient way to get
there.Brazosport testing coordinator
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Focused on instruction and individual learning

• Provided the extra time some students needed
• Included small group
• Included one-on-one
• Within the school day
• Before or after school
• Actively encouraged students to participate in
  more rigorous classes
• Provided individualized approach to learning
• Addressed a variety of needs

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Focused on instruction and individual learning

• Expanded the number of AP courses, dual credit
  courses, and distance learning courses
• Improved their curriculum
• Aligned their curriculum
• Attended professional development
• Changed to real-life applications
• Modified their course schedules

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Supported teachers and enhanced collaboration

• Provided daily support to teachers
• Principals monitored the halls
• Made time and resources available for training
• Provided structured time for teachers to meet in
  departmental and cross-departmental teams
• Departments together developed a syllabus for
  every course
• Used their site-based teams to make budgetary,
  curricular and policy decisions
• Built strategic community partnerships

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Many times people think at this age group
theyre too old, too mature for kindness and
love, but thats not true. They all still need
someone to say, Youre a good kid. Keep it
up.Brazosport assistant principal
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Fostered an environment of respect and affection
for students

• All staff demonstrated great respect and
  affection for their students
• Students described their campuses as places where
  they felt cared about, recognized, supported and
  involved
• High expectations are viewed as an expression of
  caring

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Fostered an environment of respect and affection
for students

• Staff encouraged students to take more
  challenging courses
• Built strong lines of communication with students
• One school created a program in which each staff
  member advised 20 students throughout their
  entire high school career
• Staff meet once a month to discuss grades,
  academics and career plans

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The teachers, if they notice you need help,
theyre here before school, theyre here after
school, during lunch, during the SAT class.
There is always help. Thats what makes us
better because there is no way you cant pass,
because there is always help.Mountain View
student
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Fostered an environment of respect and affection
for students

• Recognized and celebrated student successes
• Created numerous school ceremonies
• Every teacher would contact parents at least once
  a semester to share something positive about the
  student
• Encouraged involvement in extracurricular
  activities
• Teachers and administrators all attend sporting
  events and plays, band and choir concerts and
  community service activities

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We teach students we dont teach
classes.Uvalde High School teacher
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Dispelling the Myth Revisited Preliminary
Findings from a National Analysis of
High-Flying Schools

• 4,577 schools nationwide met the following
  criteria
• Students reading and/or math performance was in
  the top third among all schools in their state
• The percentage of low-income students in the
  schools was at least 50 or the percentage of
  African American and Latino students in the
  school was at least 50

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Dispelling the Myth Revisited Preliminary
Findings from a National Analysis of
High-Flying Schools

• 366 top scoring schools tended to
• Use state standards extensively to design
  curriculum and instruction, assess student work,
  and evaluate teachers
• Increase instructional time in reading and math
  in order to help students meet standards
• Devote a larger proportion of funds to support
  professional development focused on changing
  instructional practice

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Dispelling the Myth Revisited Preliminary
Findings from a National Analysis of
High-Flying Schools

• Implement comprehensive systems to monitor
  student progress and provide extra support to
  students as needed
• Focus their efforts to involve parents on helping
  students meet standards
• Have state or district accountability systems in
  place that have real consequences for adults in
  school

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You never arrive you are always looking to
improve.Brazosport teacher
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