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AUTHOR Gordon, David T., Ed. TITLE Harvard Education Letter, 2000. INSTITUTION Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education. ISSN ISSN-8755-3716 PUB DATE 2000-00-00 NOTE 50p.; Published bimonthly. For 1999 issues, see ED 444 742. AVAILABLE FROM Harvard Education Letter, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752 ($34 for individuals; $44 for institutions; $46 for Canada/Mexico; $56 other foreign; single copies, $7) .Tel: 800-513-0763 (Toll-Free); Tel: 617-495-3432; Fax: 617-496-3584. PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT Harvard Education Letter; v16 n1-6 2000 EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Cheating; Child Health; *Cooperative Learning; Curriculum; Educational Resources; *Elementary Secondary Education; Grade Inflation; Grades (Scholastic); Newsletters; Physical Education; Principals; Research Papers (Students); School Policy; *Standardized Tests; Standards; State Standards; *Student Evaluation; Violence; World Wide Web

ABSTRACT This document is comprised of the six issues in volume 16 of the Harvard Education Letter, a bimonthly newsletter addressing current issues in elementary and secondary education. Articles in this volume include the following:(1) January-February--"Grade Inflation: What's Really behind All Those A's?" (Birk) and "Every Friday was Fight Day" (Farber);(2) March-April--"Successful School Reform Efforts Share Common Features" (Downs) and "Mining for Gold in a Mountain of Online Resources" (Tally and Burns); (3) May-June--"Putting Cooperative Learning to the Test" (Walters) and "Schools Need To Pay More Attention to 'Intelligence in the Wild'" (Perkins); (4) July-August--"Shakespeare vs. Teletubbies: Is There a Role for Pop Culture in the Classroom?" (Amster), "View from the Classroom: Student Writers Hone Their Skills," "Would More Phys Ed Curb Kids' Weight Gain?" and "Online Term-Paper Mills Produce a New Crop of Cheaters" (Ditman); (5) September-October--"Are High-Stakes Tests Worth the Wager?" (Sadowski), and "Portrait of the 'Super Principal'" (Pierce); and (6) November-December--"Getting a Jump on Good Health" (Amster) and "Will New Standards Bring Peace to the Math Wars?" (Downs) .Regular features include editorial statements and summaries of recent research. (KB)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Harvard Education Letter, 2000.

David T. Gordon, Editor

Volume 16 Numbers 1-6

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laMinor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy.

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BEST COPY AVAILABLE January/February 2000 Itallnallalpublished by tfie Har\',arci Graduate School of Educa6on Volume 16, Number I

INSIDE

'Every Friday Was Fight Day' The growing problem of girls and violence Grade Inflation: 3 interview What's Really Behind All Those A's? Nan Stein on Sexual Teachers are using one blunt instrumentgradesto do the job of many Harassment in Schools tools. What are the alternatives? 6 By Lisa Birk insights Whenever Carin Aquiline sat down to grade a ers on student performancefinding a consensus on Pros and Cons of stack of papers, she wondered what grades what criteria to use for grading is a different story. Zero Tolerance Should Aquiline have rewarded the D student for her ef- really meant. She even wondered whether they Charles Patrick Ewing of conveyed useful information to anybodyto students, fort and bumped her grade to a C, which may have SUNY-Buffalo and Joan First parents, or teachers. caused her parents to interpret the grade as a signal that of the National Coalition of "I had a student with low skills, who plodded through their daughter's work was adequate rather than barely Advocates for Students her work," says Aquiline, a former llth-grade English passing? Or should Aquiline have risked discouraging take different sides on teacher who now works in professional development in the her student by giving her the D her academic work war- harsh measures. Boston public schools. "After a lot of hard work and time, ranted? And what grade should the underachieving stu- she demonstrated the proficiencies dent have received? An F for lack 8 to earn D's. And she was trying. I of effort? The failing grade might 1111111111E111111111 had another student who was capa- have prodded him to work harder, ble of doing B work when he put "What do grades tell us but would it have accurately re- flected the real quality of his work? his mind to it, but he very rarely about students, and do they Please visit our website: did the work. His average grade www.edletter.org came out to an F." give us useful information What's in a Grade? Those experiences and count- Grades are often based on a mish- Currently on the web: about student learning?" less others in Aquiline's eight years mash of conflicting criteria, accord- The Research Feature of teaching raise familiar questions MIMI= ing to a 1997 survey by H. Parker This month, the focus is on about how to assess student work. Blount of Georgia State University. grade inflation, with online "What is it that we end up measur- For 86 percent of the teachers ques- links and other resources. ing by grades?" she asks. "What do gades tell us about stu-tioned, student effort was a factor in their grading. The Forum Feature dents, and do they give us useful information about student Eighty-two percent said they used grades to motivate stu- Aconversation with Frank learning?" dents. Said one teacher in Blount's study: "It isn't be- Wilson, neurologist and Practitioners face such questions almost daily. Re- cause I believe that grades evaluate a student's knowl- author of Tone Deaf and All Thumbs and The Hand, about searchers have been more reluctant to take them on because edge. It's because the grades motivate the students to hands-on experience and without commonly accepted yardsticks for student achieve- work hard. I believe that if we were on a pass/fail system education. ment, assessing the relative value and effectiveness of most students would do the bare minimum to pass." Also visit our past research grades is so difficult. Opinions about what teachers do eval- Blount explains the psychology of the carrot-and-stick features, including those on uate with grades often conflict with those about what teach- motivational system: "[O]ne promising student with a the arts in education, high ers should evaluate. sagging self-concept is rewarded with a grade. Another school reading programs, and While most would agree on the general purpose of promising student who is off-track is threatened and ca- retention. gradingto provide feedback to students, parents, and oth- joled with a grade."

3 In neither case does the grade reflect Parents are especially eager to get low- and high-poverty schools get A's, but content mastered. And since at most more information from grades, according their achievement diverges dramatically as schools there is no single grading policy, to an as yet unpublished survey of nearly measured by 8th graders' scores on the teachers tend to give grades for many dif- 500 K-12 parents conducted by Dennis National Education Longitudinal Study of ferent reasons: to measure content mas- Munk of Northern Illinois University. In Harvard 1988 (NELS:88) standardized tests. Education Letter tery, to chart progress, to motivate stu- that survey, parents identified up to 10 dif- In high-poverty schools (where more dents, and to provide information to a EDITORIAL DIRECTOR ferent purposes they wished grades than 75 percent of students receive free or Kelly Graves-Desai variety of audiences from students to par- served. According to Munk's preliminary reduced-price lunch), students who got A's ASSOCIATE EDITOR ents to college admissions boards. Mean- analysis of the data, the top three purposes in English scored roughly the same on the DavidT. Gordon while, parents are left to determine for parents identified were to "communicate PRODUCTION EDITOR reading test as those who got C's or D's in Dody Riggs themselves exactly what those grades progress on individual goals and mastery the most affluent schools, according to a EDITORIAL ASSISTANT reflect. of specific content, communicate child's 1994 U.S. Department of Education study. lzumi Doi Part of the problem may be in the eval- MARKETING AND effort and work habits, and communicate The study, by researcher Judith Anderson, WEB MANAGER uation method itself. A grade does not child's strengths and needs and provide Joan Gorman found the discrepancies in math even

FACULTY EDITOR communicate all that many teachers want feedback on how to improve." But can a worse. The "A" students in high-poverty Richard F. Elmore to say. As researchers Jeanne H. Hubel- single grade communicate three data schools received test scores similar to EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD bank of Pine Manor College and Peter W. Milli Blackman, Director, Principals' points? Perhaps it's not surprising that those of the "D" students in the most af- Center, HGSE; Katherine C. Boles, Airasian of Boston College pointed out in "[the majority of parents] felt that grades fluent schools. Neither Anderson nor the Lecturer, HGSE; Linda Darling- Hammond, Professor, Columbia a 1997 article for the American School were not very effective," says Munk. College Board's Camara would speculate Teachers College; Sally Dias, Super. intendentWatertown (MA) Public Board Journal, teachers they studied on why there is the discrepancy. Schools; Harold Howe II, Lecturer "wanted to say much more than their re- Emeritus, HGSE; Susan Moore Johnson, Professor and Academic port cards allowed. They were more inter- The Trouble with Grades Dean, HGSE, Robert Kegan, Profes- ested in describing how a child [was] sor, HGSE; Peggy Kemp, Office of Grades have become Teachers, it turns out, are using one blunt School Partnerships, HGSE; Marya learning than what level she had attained." Levenson, Superintendent, North instrumentgradesto do the job of Colonie Central School District, English teacher Charles Kamar of a medium of exchange many tools. Consequently, grades may Newtonville, NY; Deborah Meier, Principal, Mission Hill School, Newton (MA) North High School sees create misunderstanding. Parents and stu- Boston, MA; John Merrow, Presi- that students cash in for dent,The Merrow Report; Jerome that phenomenon at work in his own dents may read a student's A or a B as T. Murphy, Professor and Dean, school. While Kamar reports that he has HGSE; Arthur J. Rosenthal, Publish- recognition, college high achievement, when the teacher may ing Consultant Catherine Snow, felt little pressure to inflate grades, he has mean solid effort and success relative to Professor, HGSE Jay Sugarman, admittance, and Teacher, Runkle School, Brookline, seen colleagues deal out A's and B's on his low-achieving peers. As a result, that MAAriadneValsamis, Director of papers that he would not have given such Public Information, HGSE scholarship money. student may never get the help he needs.

Harvard Education Letter (ISSN high grades. He wonders if those teachers Some believe that the trouble with 8755-3716) is published bimonthly are trying to judge something other than by Harvard Graduate School grades is deeper, more insidious. "When of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cam- content mastered. "There might have been students are focused on getting good bridge, MA 02138-3752. Second- class postage paid at Boston, MA a huge improvement in the student's grades, three things tend to happen: their and additional mailing offices. Post- work," he speculates. "The teacher might master:Send address change(s) to Why Are Grades Going Up? interest in what they are learning declines, Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian have been giving an incentive." Whatever it is that grades represent, more the quality of their thinking drops, and Nhy, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. While using grades for motivational students are getting A's than ever before. Signed articles in Harvard Education they tend to prefer the easiest possible Letter represent the views of the purposes is common, say Hubelbank and In 1984, 28 percent of all students taking task," says education writer Alfie Kohn, a authors.Address editorial corre- spondence to editors, Harvard Airasian, the danger is that an A, B, or the SAT reported an A average, according critic of the carrot-and-stick approach to Education Letter, Gutman Library, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA Cthe teacher's "message" to the stu- to Wayne Camara of the College Board. grading. "We shouldn't be worried that 02138-3752; phone 617-495-3432', dentmay have no clearly defined mean- In 1999, Camara says, 39 percent of SAT- too many kids are getting A's," says Kohn. fax 617-496-3584; email: editor@edletterorg, ing. An A might mean 100 percent of ma- taking students reported an A average, an "We should be worried that too many kids web: www.edletter.org. terial mastered, or it might mean the 11 percent increase over 15 years. think that the point of school is to get A's." ©1999 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. student tried hardor something else al- Could it be that this year's crop of col- Blount lays some of the blame for this Published as a non-profit service. together. All rights reserved. Special permis- lege-bound students are smarter than their inflated grade economy on extra-credit as- sion is required to reproduce in When it comes to grading, teachers 1984 counterparts? Not according to their signments that routinely allow students to any manner, in whole or in part, the material herein contained. face a variety of pressures, from adminis- SAT scores. Scores on both the math and raise their grades "[E]xtra credit raises Call 617-495-3432 for reprint permission information. trators who want to make their schools verbal portions have fluctuated only about grades but generally does not augment

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE look good in district studies to parents 20 points over the last 23 yearsbetween learning," he writes. The result: "Learning Send $32 for individuals, $39 for institutions ($40 for CanadaMex- whose kids' GPAs may affect college and 490 and 510 on a test where 800 repre- is not the fundamental goal; improving ico, $49 other foreign, in U.S. funds financial aid applications. As Blount sents a perfect score. Yet despite no grades seems to be the main objective." only) to Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge MA points out, grades, like money, have be- demonstrable improvement on the SAT Kohn believes that many if not all of 02138-3752; or call us at 617-495- 3432 in Massachusetts or 800-513- come a medium of exchange. He writes: since 1976, students continue to report the pitfalls of grading can be avoided by 0763 outside Massachusetts. Sub- "Students can exchange grades for recog- more A's. scription prices subject to change replacing grades with qualitative assess- without notice. Single copies, $5.00. nition, awards, scholarships, and admit- One troubling aspect of grade inflation ments such as narrative descriptions of Back issues and bulk subscriptions available at special reduced rates; tance to prestigious colleges and is that it masks the failure of many impov- students' work, parent-teacher confer- call 803-513-0763. universities." erished schools. Many students in both ences, etc. Qualitative assessments offer

Harvard Education LetterJanuary/February 2000 4 some advantages: they allow teachers to into a system that includes other measures evaluate student achievement with a grade describe, with complexity and nuance, a of performance. In New York, for in- and every other aspect of the learner with stance, some schools are displaying scores a narrative. student's learning process, and therefore For further offer parents and students more insight from the state Regents Exams on report Headmaster Linda Nathan describes information into the student's progress. Of course, cards next to the grades in corresponding how a narrative for "Kelly," who will there is a downside. Writing narrative de- courses. never get A's but works hard, might read: scriptions for 100 or 150 students is a Anderson of the Department of Educa-"There have been 16 assignments, and Kelly has completed 10, four of high qual- J. Anderson. U.S. Department of time-consuming proposition. And, for bet- tion suggests that schools provide an an- Education, Room 5W119, 400 ter or worse, college admissions boards nual report card with data including drop- ity. She worked really hard on this particu- Maryland Ave., SW,Washington, DC and employers often prefer grades and out rates, average SAT and AP scores, and lar piece, and she's just beginning to grap- 20202;202-401-3944. numbers over narratives. percentage of seniors matriculating to ple with this year's question: What makes HP. Blount."The Keepers of Numbers:Teachers' Perspectives on post-secondary schools. She believes that us human?" Grades." The Educational Forum 61, What to Do? kind of information will help parents and This system allows teachers to com- no. 4 (Summer 1997): 329-334.

Any solution to grade inflation will be, students of high-poverty schools make municate student achievement, effort, and Wayne Camara, College Board, 45 like the problem, multifaceted. The first better sense of grades conduct without diluting the grade or Columbus Ave., NewYork, NY 10023; 212-713-8069. step is to define the problem. The stan- Clearly, conveying an accurate portrait quashing student self-esteem, says [email protected] of students as learners is a complex task. Nathan. "Teaching is both an art and a dards-based reform movement has no J.H. Hubelbank and P.W Airasian. doubt created some urgency to clarify ex- Perhaps the most promising approaches science," she says. "It's the science that "Teachers Say Grades Aren't actly what grades meana discussion thatare those that separate achievement from grades and compares. It's the art that looks Enough." American School Board Journal 184, no. 12 (December has been happening in higher education effort from ranking. The Boston Arts at the human side."0 1997): 31. for years. With state-mandated tests and Academy, a pilot school in Boston, MA, Lisa Birk is a freelance writer living in Cam- A. Kohn. The Schools Our Children curricula, grading may now need to fit has done just that. Twice a year, teachers bridge, Massachusetts. Deserve:Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards." Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. www.alfiekohn.org

Dennis Munk, Department of Teacher Education, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115; 815-753-8443. 'Every FridayWas Fight Dayf [email protected] Violence involving girls is a growing problem that gets little attention.ut a few Linda Nathan, Headmaster, Boston Arts Academy, 174 Ipswich St., researchers are looking at why girls fightand how to help them stop. Boston, MA 02215; 617-635-6470. httpartsacad.boston.k12.ma.us By Peggy J. Farber National Center for Educational Statistics, 555 New Jersey Avenue, Geoffrey Canada, director of they did 25 years ago. Yet there has been There are other indicators that girls' NW,Washington, DC 20208; 202-219-1777. Rheedlen Centers for Children almost no increase in the number of stud- violence is increasing. In a recent article http://nces.ed.gov

and Families in New York City, ies and services devoted to girls and vio- entitled "Girls and Violence," Chesney- "What Do Grades Mean?" A holds his hands out in front of his lence. Lind, who is with the Social Science report by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (0ER1), chest, patting the air tentatively. "This Instead, researchers say, people are Research Institute at the University of U.S. Department of Education, 555 , is how people approached a fight be- typically confused by and reluctant to Hawaii, writes that 34 percent of girls sur- New Jersey Ave., NW, Room 6100, confront girls' violence. "We either deny veyed for a 1995 U.S Department of Washington, DC 20208-5648. tween girls," he says. "They would say, www.ed.gov/pubs/0111Research 'Come on, you all.' They just wouldn't it exists entirely, or we demonize it," says Health study reported fighting at least Rptslgrades.html intervene." Meda Chesney-Lind, a leading researcher once during the previous year. Nine per- Canada describes how teachers he on criminally violent adolescent girls. cent had been in four or more fights dur- supervised when he was principal of an What research there is on female adoles- ing the year. A second national study inner-city Boston high school seemed cent violence focuses almost exclusively done that same year by the Centers for hesitant and confused when approaching on girls in the criminal justice system, Disease Control reported nearly identical fights between girls. "I spent particular leaving questions about school-based vio- results. time training men and women to break up lence largely unanswered. A few researchers are paying more at- a fight between girls," he says. "Even af- tention to violence involving girls, though ter we went through it, they wouldn't do Disturbing Trends their output is dwarfed by research on it. They just wouldn't do it." In 1973, girls accounted for 15 percent of boys. When the staff of the Harvard Canada could have been describing adolescents arrested for aggravated as- School of Public Health's (HSPH) Vio- the reaction of society at large to girls' vi- sault, the most serious violent offense lence Prevention Programs decided to de- olence, say experts in juvenile justice and other than murder or rape. In 1998, that sign a program in 1998 for inner-city violence-prevention programs. U.S. De- figure had risen to 22 percentthis de- girls, they found a dearth of data and ma- partment of Justice statistics show that spite a nationwide drop in crime rates, terials, says Marci Feldman, a project co- girls account for a significantly larger pro- according to U.S. Department of Justice ordinator at HSPH. 'There's a scarcity of portion of violent juvenile offenses than statistics. information about girls and violence. Al-

5 Harvard Education Letter January/February 2000 most all studies and programs have been dilemma.I really think we have to de- Artz did an ethnographic study of six girls geared to boys." velop an understanding about the differ- who had been identified as fighters by Without a comprehensive understand- ences between a young woman's adoles- counselors, classmates, and the girls them- ing of which girls engage in violence, whatcence and a young man's," he says. "I selves. The girls were white, aged 13 to kinds of violent acts they commit, and the kind of struggle along trying to figure out 16, and lived in two-parent homes in circumstances that lead them to violence, ways of handling it." which both parents worked, mostly at community leaders find it hard to address blue-collar jobs. Only one of the six lived the problem effectively. Violence in Schools with a stepfather; mothers and fathers of Soon after New York State began tryingLishone Bowsky's story may suggest a the others had been married for between violent 13- to 15-year-old children as wider, unreported world of violence, one 16 and 26 years. None of the families was adults in criminal court, Judge Michael that especially affects schoolkids. Bowsky,affluent, but each had enough income to Corriero of the Supreme Court, New York now 19, remembers a weekly ritual just own a home and two cars. County, created a special courtroom to de- outside the front door of her middle When she began interviewing, Artz termine which youngsters, if any, should school in Brooklyn, NY. "Every Friday was startled by each girl's limited under- be sent to community-based programs in- was fight day," she says. By unwritten standing of women's opportunities. "The stead of prison. rule, the girls evened thing I least expected Judge Corriero says he has seen a sharp up that week's scores. EVIAWITE was how locked into increase over the last two years in the num- "You couldn't leave stereotypical notions ber of girls in his courtroom. Because of the building on Friday At a timewhen kids of gender these girls the lack of research on girls' violence and without fighting. Any are turning to violence were:' Artz said. possible solutions, he doesn't always know little thing that came "They really had trou- what to do with them. "They are a up during the week to settle even petty ble envisioning any was settled on Friday." other way to be." The Dr. Sibylle Artz, disputes, teasing can be girls had traditional as- Corrections director of the School dangerous. pirations for them- Two references were omitted of Child and Youth selves. They planned from "The Arts Step Out from Care at the University to marry and have the Wings" (November/Decem- of Victoria, works on children soon, despite ber I999).They are: a Canadian team studying school-based the family turmoil they experienced day- M. Goldberg. Arts and Learning:An In- violence in Vancouver. The team's study to-day. None had plans or goals for educa- tegrated Approach to Teaching and covers 5,400 students in 16 schools and tion beyond high school. Learning in Multicultural and Multilin- includes surveys of students, teachers, and Conventional gender roles were up- gual Settings. New York: Longman, 1997. parents; an ethnography; and evaluations held in these girls' homes despite the fact M.R. Goldberg and A. Phillips, eds. of prevention programs. In every phase of that all of the mothers held jobs outside Arts As Education (Harvard Educa- the project, Artz and her colleagues in- the home. The mothers depicted them- tional Review Reprint Series, No. clude an investigation of gender differ- selves as powerless and invisible. "One 24). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educa- ences. The team began the project in 1995 woman talked about getting up each tional Review, 1992. after the Vancouver Island School District morning, fighting with her husband for a In that same article, the name of asked for help with what appeared to be sense of power, losing, and trying again Project Zero's founder should an alarming increase in the number of the next day," Artz says. "Another found have been Nelson Goodman. girls involved in all forms of violence. herself not talking much, and what she did In "Johnny Still Can't Read?" "Girls were being cornered by other with that time instead was clean:' Artz (July/August 1999), the name of girls in the bathroom, turned upside down, says her team's surveys of children and Christine Cziko, the teacher and dunked in the toilet:' Artz says. who proposed and helped de- parents found a strong correlation between velop the "Academic Literacy" "There was one incident where a girl was stereotypical notions of gender and ag- course at San Francisco's Thur- ambushed at a party, and her hair was set gressive attitudes. good Marshall Academic High on fire. It was difficult for us to establish School, was omitted. For more whether there was really an increase in in- The Abuse Factor details on their work, see: cidents, but it felt like a crisis to the dis- Another factor linked the girls' experi- R. Schoenbach, C. Greenleaf, trict because of the type of violence in- ences: they were victims of violence at the C. Cziko, and L. Hurwitz. Reading volved." hands of family members or friends. All for Understanding:A Guide to Im- six of the girls reported they had been proving ReadinginMiddle and Locked into Conventional screamed at, pushed, and/or punched by High School Classrooms. San Roles their fathers. Four had been sexually Francisco: Jossey-Bass, I 999. hi order to develop a comprehensive por- abused by older male relatives (other than trait of the "life-worlds" of violent girls, their fathers) or family friends. The study

Harvard Education Letter January/February 2000 concluded that the primary determinant they would tease me, I would fight them." Hopeful Signs of violent behavior was the child herself Some girls who are teased about their If girls act violently for different reasons appearance are simply too busy to get than boys, the good news is that they may being the victim of an assault. For further Victimization is a key factor in many ready for school, says Marci Feldman of respond better to antiviolence programs, information studies of incarcerated women and ado- the HSPH. Feldman initiated a small vio- according to researchers. For instance, lescent girls. In a 1999 study of girls in lence-prevention program for girls at Artz and her colleagues working with the the southern California juvenile justice Brighton (MA) High School in 1998. The Vancouver Island School District meas- system, Leslie Acoca of the National after-school program targeted 10 junior ured pm- and post-program attitudes J. Aber, J. Brown, and C.Hen rich. Teaching Conflict Resolution:An Council on Crime and Delinquency and senior girls identified by school offi- among boys and girls in three middle Effective School-Based Approach to found that 92 percent of the girls she in- cials as physically aggressive. Feldman schools. They found that after children Violence Prevention. NewYork National Center for Children in terviewed had been the victim of some and co-researcher Anne Bishop, the high had participated in their school's antivio- Poverty, 1999; 212-304-7100. form of emotional, physical, and/or sex- school's health coordinator, launched the lence programs, boys were less likely www.nccp.org ual abuse. An earlier study by Acoca of program with a personal survey in which than girls to adopt the programs' antivio- LAcoca."Investing in Girls:A 2Ist- the girls revealed that they were shoulder- lence messages. Century Strategy:' Juvenile Justice 6, adult female prisoners showed that over no. 1 (October 1999): 3-13. two-thirds of the study participants had ing substantial wage-earning and child- Asked to explain the results, Artz www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubsinew.html been exposed to violence as children. The care responsibilities at home. says, "The girls actually like the process S.Artz."Where Have All the University of Hawaii's Chesney-Lind also "They had to take an average of three exercises. They seemed to gravitate to so- School Girls Gone? Violent Girls in the School yard." Child and Youth has found that girl gangmembers reported buses to get to school," says Feldman. cial activism. They flocked to take on Care Forum 27, no. 2 (April 1998): very high levels of physical abuse. "They got up at 5 o'clock in the morning. leadership roles." 77-109.

They had to share one bathroom with an A second study, released in 1999 by S. Artz."What, So What,Then The Trouble with Teasing average of three other people. They were the National Center for Children in What? The Gender Gap in School- Based Violence and Its Implications Research suggests that less dramatic in charge of siblings after school and on Poverty (NCCP), found that girls re- for Child and Youth Care Practice." events than abuse can also spark violence weekends, and they all had jobs." sponded better than boys to a popular Child AndYouth Care Forum 26, no. 4 (August 1997): 291-303. in girls. Many students experience daily Canada says the girls in his school antiviolence program in New York teasing about grooming and appearance. differed from boys in City. The study eval- M. Chesney-Lind."Girls and Violence:An Overview" in Youth At a time when kids are turning to vio- that the girls rarely uated the impact of Violence:Prevention, Intervention, and lence to settle even petty disputes, such committed random the Resolving Con- Social Policy, ed. D.C. Flannery and CR. Huff.Washington, DC: harassment can be dangerous, says Geof- acts of bullying or Girls rarely commit flicts Creatively Pro- American Psychiatric Press, 1998. frey Canada, though he cautions that his violence. 'They were gram, which teaches random actsof bullying National Center for Children in observations are anecdotal. not bullies who children to mediate Poverty, Joseph L Mailman School 'The toughest girls I knew were the would just go over, disputes, on 5,000 of Public Health, Columbia Univer- or violence, sity, 154 Haven Ave., New York, NY least [well-]kept girls. Other girls would and pick on kids, take children in 15 New 10032; 212-304-7100. start picking on them when they were six their stuff," he recalls. researchers say. York City public [email protected] httpd/cpmcnet.columbia.edul or seven, and it was clear that these chil- "If you insulted them, schools. According to deptMccp/ 1 dren couldn't do anything about it. They if you teased them, if Joshua Brown, a re- E. Poe-Yamagata and J. Butts. couldn't fix their own hair. You could tell you disrespected search associate at Female Offenders in the Juvenile them, they would beat you up." Girls' the NCCP, "There was still a strong Justice System. Pittsburgh:National there was no parent at home who was Center for Juvenile Justice, 1996. taking care of them, making sure their fights also resulted in many more injuries pattern of results for boys, just not as www.ncjrs.orgljjgen.htm stuff was washed." than boys' because adults failed to react strong as it was for girls." Rheedlen Centers for Children The pain of handling harsh comments as swiftly. Of course, girls can only respond and Families, 2770 Broadway, New York, NY 10025; 212-866-0700. about clothes and appearance was also a Adds Sibylle Artz: "Boys and girls act positively to offers of help if it is avail- theme in the lives of the girls Sibyl le Artz out differently. That has to do with social- able. In community centers and F. Weiss, H. Nicholson, and M. Cretella. Prevention and Parity:Girls studied. "It all came down to your fmger- ization. Boys are more likely to engage in schools, Canada says violence preven- in Juvenile Justice.NewYorIc Girls nails, your hair, how thin you were, your more random violence. Girls base their tion still focuses on boys. "Girls are on Incorporated, 1996; 212-698-3700. rings, your clothes," says Artz. anger on personal relationships. Boys the fringes," he adds. Hopefully, it Lishone Bowsky, who stopped fight- tend to make a statement that will draw won't take still higher rates of girls' ing only recently, seconded that observa- attention to them. The girls are interested violence to stem that trend. 0 tion: "I was teased a lot because I was in making a statement, but they're also in- Peggy J. Farber is an education reporter based skinny and tall. kids are mean. When terested in revenge." in New York City.

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT,AND CIRCULATION (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1.Title of publication:The Harvard Education Letter. 2. Publication no. 8755-3716. 3. Date of filing. December 22, 1999. 4. Frequency of issue: bimonthly. 5. No. of issues published annually: 6. 6.Annual subscription price: $32.00. 7-8. Mailing address of known office ofpublication/publisher: Gutman 349, 6 Appian Way, Cam- bridge, MA 02138-3752.9. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Longfellow Hall, Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138; Editor: Kelly Graves-Desai, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Gutman 349,6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. 10. Owner: President and Fellows of Harvard College, Neil L Rudenstine, President, Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138-1423. I I. Known bondholders,mortagagees, or other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of che total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: none. I 2.The purpose, function,and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication name: Harvard Education Letter. 14. Issue date for circulationdata below: SeptJOct. Issue, Sept 13, 1999. 15. Extent and nature of circulation (average no. of copies each issue during preceding 12 months/actual no. of copies of single issue published nearest tofiling date): a. Total no. copies (13,000/13,000). b. Paid and/or requested circulation:I . Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales (115/1). 2. Paid or requested mail subscriptions (9,260/9,127). c. Total paid andlor requestedcirculation (9,26019,127). d. Free distribution by mail (400/400). e. Fre; distribution outside the mail (200/200). f.Total free distribution (600/600) g.Total distribution (13,000/13,000). h. Copies not distributed:I. Office use, leftovers, spoiled (3,140/3,273). 2. Return from news agents (0/0). i.Total (13,000/13,000). I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. /s/Kelly Graves-Desai, Editorial Director. 7 'Sexual Harassment Erodes the Notion That School Is a Safe Place'

For further In recent years, a number of highly on your lap, and don't give neck rubs and Yes, even with little pranks. When boys information publicized lawsuits and incidents back massages. You can say to a little are mooning girls and girls then decide to have heightened awareness of sexual child, "You get to sit next to me today." moon them backand I'm not endorsing harassment in schools. In the newly pub- But you don't have to put a kid on your mooning herethe girls get a much more lap. They can sit close by and still feel severe punishment, because the act of N. Stein. Classrooms and Court- lished Classrooms and Courtrooms: Fac- rooms:Fadng Sexual Harassment ing Sexual Harassment in K-12 Schools, special. mooning is seen as especially inappropri- in K-I2 Schools. NewYorIc Nan Stein examines the roots of sexual ate for their gender. When a girl wears a Teachers College Press, 1999. What's the difference between sexual harassmentand how to uproot it from raunchy T-shirt with some sexual innu- N.Stein."Sexual Harassment in harassment and bullying? schools. A senior researcher and project endo"naked coed whatever"it's seen School:The Public Performance Bullying involves repeated harassment, of Gendered Violence!' Harvard director at Wellesley College's Center for as unladylike. For boys it's taken as Educational Review 65, No. 2 either physical or verbal, of someone who Research on Women in Wellesley, MA, locker-room behavior. It's tolerated. (Summer 1995): 145-162. is weaker. It can be sexual in nature but it Stein is also a former middle school doesn't have to be. Bullying that is sexual Is it helpful for schools to post their teacher in naturesexual harassment, in other sexual harassment policies? wordsis illegal. But other kinds of bul- Not unless they put [such policies] into What responses to sexual harassment lying aren't necessarily illegal, taunting or user-friendly words for the kids and really do you find especially problematic? name-calling that aren't sexual, for in- talk about what [the policies] mean. A One of the worst, I think, is making the stance. Exclusion is a way of bullying sexual harassment policy might say, "No subject of the harassment confront the ha- that you see with girls a lot. They'll say, unwanted physical contact." But what rasser. That should be an option, but it "You can't play with me" or "I'm not go- does that mean to an 8th grader? Even should never be a requirement. That puts ing to be your best friend anymore." That more explicit language is not always the burden of changing the harasser's be- isn't sexual harassment, and it's not ille- enough. A policy can say, "No pinching, havior on the kid who was the target of gal. But it's a kind of bullying. patting, or grabbing," and kids will go the harassment. The burden has to be on I use the framework of bullying as a around kneeing each other in the butt be- the grownups. For that same reason, I am way to address sexual harassment with cause, well, kneeing is not pinching. Kids not in favor of students mediating without younger kids without having to use the are always pushing the envelope. So you an adult around. I'm not sure that student expression "sexual harassment," which really have to have a conversation about mediators can be immune from peer pres- they might not understand. It really has it, and include it in the curriculum. That sure. To think that kids can ignore those more to do with what's appropriate for gives the grownups the advantage of pressures is a little foolhardy. their age. That's not to say you can't have learning from kids. They may regard Are bans on mutual touching between litigation with younger kids on sexual ha- certain behavior as harassment that we students too draconian? rassment. hadn't thought of. It's time-consuming but worth it. Sexual harassment doesn't cover mutual, At what point does verbal taunting wanted sexual contact, so mutual displays turn into harassment? What should schools do when kids use of affection are usually not covered by a For something [verbal] to be sexual ha- the First Amendment to justify offen- sexual harassment policy. A lot of touch rassment, it has to be severe, or persistent, sive T-shirts or offensive speech? is affectionate, joyful, or consoling. And or pervasivesomething that takes on a Kids do that all the time. That's where I schools ought to encourage that. life of its own and affects a kid's work think we need to have the conversation What about teacher-student inter- and concentration. In one famous case, and let kids at least understand 'why deci- action? 15 boys harassed this one girl verbally, sions are made. I'm all for letting the I'm in favor of teachers being able to mooing like cows whenever they saw her First Amendment flourish, but that does- have appropriate physical contact with and talking about the size of her breasts. n't mean anything goes. We have to teach kids. I was a very touchy teacher. A lot of They did this outside of school, in school, kids to be participants in the democracy, kids feel like contaminated goods if on the way to school. Other kids heard it to live in the marketplace of ideas. Some grownups don't touch them. They read and saw it. Teachers and custodians told of those ideas you're not going to like. something very negative into that, like, the administrator, who kept saying, "It's Some of them you'll embrace. We have "You don't want to touch me because I'm not a big deal." It became disruptive. Sex- to live out the Bill of Rights and live out dirty." Women have more license to ual harassment erodes the notion that the Constitution in schools. 0 touch, quite frankly, because our touch is school is a safe place to be. not held in suspicion.... I only have two Do you find that schools often deal For a complete transcript of this interview, go to www.edletter.org. rules about touch, and I've come to these with boys and girls differently in terms from reading lawsuits: don't put any kid of sexual harassment?

Harvard Education LetterJanuary/February 2000 Charles Patrick Ewing dertaken, but only after this concern for provides school and law enforcement au- continued from page 8 the safety of other students is given para- thorities the time to conduct a thorough mount importance. assessment of the threat and to make an Under most Zero Tolerance policies, Beyond immediate safety concerns, informed decision regarding the needs of each of these students would be sus- however, this application of Zero Toler- the school and community, as well as pended from school. Any further action ance appropriately denounces violent stu- those of the threatening student. Charles Patrick Ewing is against them would likely depend on the dent behavior in no uncertain terms and Finally, as for the so-called "joking" professor of law and psy- facts of the case, including any mitigating serves as a deterrent to such behavior in threats that are also raised by some critics chology at the State Univer- evidence. In my view, having spent more the future by sending a clear message that of Zero Tolerance, it should first be noted sity of New York at Buffalo, where he has taught criminal than two decades researching juvenile vi- acts which physically harm or endanger that it is often not easy to determine law, evidence, juvenile law, olence and evaluating its perpetrators, this others will not be permitted at school un- whether a student is joking or serious and psychology, psychiatry is the right approach. der any circumstances. when making a threat. School officials and law since 1983. Dr Sensible application of a Zero Toler- More difficult is the application of who attempt to make that distinction do Ewing is the author of five ance policy in all schools is warranted for Zero Tolerance to cases in which violence so at their own risk, as well as the risk of books, including When Chil- a number of reasons. First and foremost is has been threatened but not carried out. others. Airline passengers have long had dren Kill: The Dynamics of the need to at least temporarily separate a Here, as well, both safety and deterrence to accept the fact that they cannot even Juvenile Homicide. He is also senior editor of the dangerous or potentially dangerous stu- warrant at least a brief suspension from joke about violence when passing through journal Behavioral Sciences dent from the rest of the school popula- school, with any additional action to be airport security. The same should be true and the Law. tion. Where a student has acted in a vio- determined later. While the vast majority of students, for in both cases the stakes lent manner, as in assaulting another or of student threats prove to be idle, in vir- are too high to require officials to quickly canying a truly dangerous weapon to tually all jurisdictions even threatening to guess who is serious and who is not. I be- school, removal of the offender from the harm another person is a crime. Beyond lieve that even where it appears likely that school setting is necessary for the physi- the law, however, common sense dictates a student's threat has been made in jest, at cal protection of other students. An as- that all student threats must be taken seri- least a brief suspension from school is sessment of the offending student, the rea- ously and investigated so as to protect the wan-anted in order to teach that violence sons for the infraction, and the need for safety of others in the school environ- is no joking matter. 0 additional sanctions, if any, should be un- ment. Suspending a threatening student

Joan First A 1999 report by the Student Advo- by severity, and provide for appropriate continued from page 8 cacy Center of Michigan (SAC) backs consequences. this prediction. In 17 Michigan school Most of all, schools need a return to down.... We want quality more than quan- districts surveyed, the average African wise adult decisionmaking. I am haunted tity. If that means removing dead weight, American population is 39.8 percent, by the case of the student who was ex- Joan M. First is executive then we will remove dead weight." while African American students account pelled for helping his suicidal friend, and director of the National U.S. schools have always excluded for 64 percent of expulsions. Reflecting by his mother who said, "I am proud of Coalition of Advocates for many students for disciplinary reasons. upon 100 expulsion cases SAC handled in him. He did everything right." Why Students (NCAS) and author And data reveal that school exclusion is 1999, Executive Director Ruth Zweifler couldn't the adults at school see that? of several publications on school reform and related consistently about race. U.S. Department notes, "We have chosen as a society to What was missing? A teacher who knew issues, including The Good of Education Office for Civil Rights identify every child as potentially danger- him. A caring adult who, once the gun Common School: Making (OCR) data show that, during the 1976-77 ous. This is destructive to the children and was safely secured, said, "Tell me what the Vision Work for All Chil- school year, 15 percent of all U.S. public to our national future. [Zero Tolerance] happened." An adult who listened and dren and New Voices: Immi- school students were black and 75 percent punishes children who are often fright- concluded, "Thank goodness you were grant Students in U.S. Public were white. Yet blacks received 30 per- ened, sometimes thoughtless, rarely dan- there! Don't worry. We will see that your Schools. She has been a uni- cent of suspensions and expulsions, while gerous, but now clearly endangered." friend gets help." In short, an adult who versity-based school deseg- regation specialist, an edu- whites received just 64 percent. By 1997- Although school crime rates declined saw something of his or her own son in cation reporter for daily 98, 17 percent of the public school stu- sharply between 1993 and 1997, the num- this young man, rather than an instant en- newspapers, and editor of a dents were black and 64 percent were ber of multiple homicides in schools in- emy and a likely killer. preschool education journal. white, but blacks received 32 percent of creased from one event in 1994-95 to five Our schools desperately need adults suspensions, whites just 51 percent. In the in 1997-98, according to the 1999 Annual who are willing to talk with students. Oth- interim, OCR had stopped collecting ex- Report on School Safety of the U.S. De- erwise, intolerable burdens are placed pulsion data. However, partly in response partments of Education and Justice. That upon children. Surely we have ample data to the Zero Tolerance movement, OCR suggests a continued need for laws that to conclude that adults who "check out" resumed collecting it in 1998. These data keep guns out of the hands of children. of teaching children about justice and will be released this spring and are ex- These should be accompanied by state compassion encourage the very kind of pected to document increased racial dis- and local school codes that describe types behavior they seek to end. 0 parity. of student misbehavior, categorize them

9 Harvard Education LetterJanuary/February 2000 The Pros and Cons of Zero Tolerance Several recent incidents, such as the expulsion of seven students in Decatur, IL, for fighting, has led educa- tors and policymakers to question the aims and limits of Zero Tolerance discipline policies. HEL asked Charles Patrick Ewing of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Joan First of the National Coali- tion of Advocates for Students to outline their positions on Zero Tolerance.

Sensible ZeroTolerance Protection forWhom? Protects Students AtWhat Price? Coming By Charles Patrick Ewing By Joan First soon... /n recent years, approximately one out of every 200 The school reform movement is rife with unantici- American children has been the victim of a serious or pated consequences. Zero Tolerance school disci- Standards-Based potentially serious crime of violence at school. While pline policies are a prime example. In 1994, to bol- Reform the vast majority of these incidents have involved physical ster school safety and ensure orderly learning environments, assaults without a weapon, 10 percent of all public schools Congress passed the Gun Free School Act which require Helping Special have experienced one or more serious violent crimes, in- states that receive federal funds to mandate expulsion from Needs Kids with cluding murder, rape, sexual battery, or assault with a school for at least one year for any student who brings a New Technologies weapon. At the same time, a growing number of teachers weapon to school. and other school officials have been threatened or assaulted, Soon startling stories about the irrational removal of stu- Is the Charter and many schools have been besieged with bomb threats dents from public schools began to appear: and other attempts to disrupt educational activity. School Experiment A little boy kisses a girl on the cheek. Although this is de- In an effort to stem this rising tide of school violence, Working? velopmentally appropriate behavior for a five year old, he is many school districts have implemented Zero Tolerance suspended from school. policies. These policies vary widely, but most are based A Florida 1st grader who recently witnessed street vio- on the principle that violence or even a threat of violence lence panics when a uniformed "Officer Friendly" enters her has no place whatsoever in schools and will not be toler- classroom. The frightened girl tries to run away and a ated in any form. Under such policies, students who teacher restrains her. The child strikes the teacher. The girl is threaten or commit acts of violence have been punished, taken to a police station until her parents arrive. We welcome often suspended from school, and sometimes expelled. A male high school student learns that a suicidal friend your comments In a small percentage of these cases, school-based sanc- has a weapon. He persuades her to give it to him. When he tions have been followed by juvenile or criminal court hands it to school authorities, he is expelled. Write or email us: prosecutions. Harvard Education Letter Are Zero Tolerance policies in U.S. schools knee-jerk Is this what Congress had in mind? I don't think so. The Gutman Library 6 Appian Way reactions to the recent high-profile school shootings or use- sound idea that guns don't belong in schools has gone awry. Cambridge MA 02138 ful tools in the broader effort to prevent school violence? Student intent no longer matters, and harmless pranks are editor@edlettenorg The answer depends on what is meant by Zero Tolerance. now crimes. As Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman re- Critics point to a handful of cases in which Zero Toler- cently wrote: " Zero Tolerance for misbehavior evolved into ance has led to absurd results, including elementary school Zero Tolerance for kids themselves.... We are in a time of children suspended for carrying nail clippers or bringing general crackdowna tough love without the love." plastic knives to school to cut the fruit in their lunches. If Expulsion is particularly destructive because many this is what is meant by Zero Tolerance, the critics are right; schools lack alternative programs, and those that do exist of- some schools have wildly overreacted. ten offer inferior instruction. The respected newsletter Cata- But what about the more common applications of Zero lyst: Voices of Chicago School Reform reports that expul- Tolerance? An elementary school student carries a loaded sions from Chicago public schools rose from 21 in 1994-95 gun to school, shows it to a friend, and then turns it over to a to 668 in 1997-98. Paradoxically, alternative school seats teacher. A middle school student brags to peers about having dwindled from 582 in 1997-98 to 350 in 1999-2000. a gun in his locker and planning to use it at school; school In addition, an estimated 700 students over age 16 with officials search the locker and find no weapon. A high 20 days of unexcused absence were dropped from district school student punches a classmate in the face. Another stu- rolls. These students cannot return to a regular Chicago high dent passes a note containing reference to killing the school. Orr High School administrator David Meegan told school's principal; a teacher intercepts the note, and the stu- Catalyst, "What we have found is that those kids who are dent explains that he was "just joking." , missing 20 days are the ones that drag your test scores

continued on page 7 continued on page 7 10

Harvard Education Letter January/February 2000 March/April 2000 Eacc0 Edueation Volume16, Number 2

HARV nucATIN LETT INSIDE

One Urban school's Adventures in Reform 2

Mining for Gold in a Mountain of Online Successful School Reform Efforts Share Resources Common Features 6

Schools big and small show that standards-based reform doesn't have to mean insights standardization. But it does require building "a culture of excellence." Why Current By Andreae Downs Assessments Don't Measure lip Almost every public school teacher and administra- confront classroom teachers. "In some districts there are As we help students reach tor has had to grapple with the issue of standards so many different 'standards' that teachers attend to none higher standards, let's not and improving student performance. How should or simply to the loudest or most familiar standard in that settle for inadequate standards be defined? At what level should they be set? context," he writes. "The fact is that it is very difficult, if assessments. By Marya R. Levenson Who should set them? While such questions will continue not impossible, to simultaneously attend to district stan- to be debated, the topic of whether higher standards are dards, state standards, and national standards, especially 8 needed comes up much less frequently since 49 states have if they are at odds with each other." adopted some type of standards. Those schools that successfully raise standards for all Instead, the issue of how to implement new standards students generally have narrowed their goals down to im- has taken center stage, and a consensus seems to be emerg- proving some aspect of students' work. The area of focus ing among school researchers can vary, as long as it is manage- about what kinds of reforms work able and measurable. For instance, best. Several successful models of New York City's District 2 initially Please visit our website: standards-based reform in both "This is not about chose literacy as its primary curric- www.edlletter.org large school systems and individ- ular focus since the ability to read is standardizing children; ual schools demonstrate the com- so fundamental to achievement in Currently on the web: mon elements of what one educa- other areas. The district, which is it's about forming a clear idea The Research Feature tion researcher calls a "culture of comprised of elementary and mid- This month, the focus is on excellence." of what excellence is." dle schools, has also paid close at- standards-based reform, tention to screening new hires and with online links and other 1 1 Focus for Success to the kind of professional develop- resources. Mike Schmoker and Robert J. ment it provides teachers. The Forum Feature Marzano, researchers for the Mid-continent Regional Edu- Marguerite Straus, principal at District 2's PS 1 in A conversation with educator and author Alfie Kohn on cational Laboratory, a research group focusing on stan- Chinatown, describes her elementary school's response "The Deadly Effects ofTougher dards, identify the first important characteristic common to to the district's 10-year-long literacy drive. "Literacy is Standards." schools and districts successful in raising standards: focus. always our first priority. We look at everything we do in Also visit our past research "The success of any organization is contingent upon clear, the buildingevery new program has to focus on liter- features, including those on commonly defined goals," they write in Educational Lead- acy. Everyone knows the focus is on getting children to the arts in education, high ership. work better." At PS 116, a District 2 elementary school in school reading programs, Mark St. John, president of the independent educational midtown Manhattan, principal Anna Marie Canino re- and grade inflation. research group Inverness Research Associates, agrees. He calls that when she arrived at the school nine years ago, notes the dizzying array of standards documents that can only 55 percent of students were reading at grade level. 1 After an intense focus on increasing liter- lesson plans, says Anne Lewis, author of Strong Leaders Build acy in all grades, 80 percent now do, she Figuring It Out: Standards-Based Re- Cornmunity says. forms in Urban Middle Grades. For in- Research on District 2 by Harvard's At the Francis W. Parker Charter stance, the Parker School has given up Richard Elmore and Deanna Bumey of Essential School (grades 7-12) in mral Harvard survey courses. "You don't get 'coverage' the Camden, NJ, schools also demon- Education Letter Devens, MA, teachers have developed a here," says Merriam. "We go deeply into a strates the importance of strong leadership

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR basic set of performance goals for studentsfew things. But the reality is that most that builds a sense of community among Kelly Graves-Desai based on state standards, as well as guide- kids in traditional survey courses won't staff. In a district where most student ASSOCIATE EDITOR lines so students know exactly what is remember much of it." work in reading and math has improved, David T. Gordon

PRODUCTION EDITOR expected of themand when. Having Such single-mindedness can, in fact, principals and teachers take part in pro- Dody Riggs defined what skills kids need to graduate, also free up resources and let teachers fessional development, select training EDITORIAL ASSISTANT teachers then organize their content each concentrate on doing a few things well, programs, and read materials. lzumi Doi

MARKETING AND year around this agreed-upon core, ac- according to Theodore Sizer, founder of In the spirit of teamwork, administra- WEB MANAGER cording to Deb Merriam, an arts and Joan Rauante the Coalition of Essential Schools. "In tors provide the support and structure the

FACULTY EDITOR humanities teacher. One year, kids may most high schools, there is one teacher or staff needs in order to focus on improving Richard F. Elmore learn to write persuasive essays and do administrator for every 14 kids, and the student work. They carefully screen new EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Milli Blackman, Director, Principals' in-depth research as part of a unit on the curriculum is so fractured that the meat hires, taking only those who demonstrate Center, HGSE; Katherine C. Boles, philosophies of ancient China; the next and potatoes are carried by very few commitment to the district's reform goals. Lecturer, HGSE, Linda Darling- Hammond, Professor, Stanford year, teaching essay writing and research teachers. A teacher of freshman English And they give teachers and principals the University, Sally Dias, Superinten- dent,Watertown (MA) Public skills will continue, though the unit may can end up responsible for the work of time to reflect on the work of students or Schools; Harold Howe 11 Lecturer focus on the nature of revolution. Emeritus, HGSE; Susan Moore 145 students," he says. "So you need to teachers. The sense of community is en- Johnson, Professor, HGSE; Robert This may require teachers to adjust. simplify, to focus on the central tasks. hanced by establishing clear goals that are Kegan, Professor, HGSE; Pegg Kemp, Office of School Partner- They may have to trade extracurricular ac- This is hard to do, but the results are won- informed and shared by students, teachers, ships, HGSffi Marya Levenson, Superintendent, North Colonie tivities for more training, or they may be derful. Kids don't drop out. They stay the and administrators. Central School District, New- asked to revise or eliminate their favorite course, they go to college." tonville, NY; Deborah Meier, Prin- St. John agrees that this kind of leader- cipal, Mission Hill School, Boston, MkJohn Merrow, President,The Merrow Report; Jerome T. Murphy, Professor and Dean, HGSE; kthur J. Rosenthal, Publishing Consubnc Catherine Snow, Professor, HGSE; Jay Sugarman,Teacher, Runlde One Urban School's Adventures in Reform School, Brooldine, MA;Ariadne Valsamis, Director of Public Infor- With the help of an innovative program, King Middle school became an award-winner mation, HGSE

Harnstd Education Letter (ISSN By Andreae Downs 8755-3716) is published bimonthly by Harvard Graduate School of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cam- In 1987, when Mike McCarthy became long-term explorations of single go to the shore for exploration one day, bridge, MA 02138-3752. Second- class postage paid at Boston, MA, the principal of the King Middle themes, such as civil rights or local do library research the next, and do and additional mailing offices. Post- master:Send address change(s) to School in Portland, Maine, he knew the ecology, that engage students in multi- more traditional class work on other Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian school was in a slump. "This was a disciplinary projects, fieldwork, and days. Tracking, or grouping students by Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3751 school no one would want to go to," Signed articles in Harvard Education community service. Students are asked ability, is eliminated, and students stay Letter represent the views of the says McCarthy. The traditional teach- to reflect on and critique their own with a teacher or a team of teachers for authors.Address editorial corre- spondence to editors, Harvard ing methods weren't helping the urban work and that of others. All of this is more than one year (i.e., multiyear Education Letter, Gutman Library, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA school's 600 students very much. The meant to make learning relevant, to an- looping). 02138-3752; phone 617-495-3432; diverse student body scored poorly on swer the question often heard by bored fax 617-496-3584; The school has been scaling new email: editor@edlettecorz state tests. In 1992, McCarthy pro- or frustrated students: What's the peaks ever since. King is a richly di- web: www.edletter.org. posed that the school adopt what was point? verse school. Its students speak 26 lan- 02000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. then a brand-new reform model: Teachers design fun and challenging guages; 22 percent come from new im- Published as a non-profit service. All rights reserved.Special permis- Expeditionary Learning Outward learning expeditions that will also pre- migrant or refugee families; 60 percent sion is required to reproduce in Bound (ELOB). Figuring there was pare students to meet state and district qualify for free lunch. Stereotypes any manner, in whole or in part, the material herein contained. nothing to lose, the staff approved the standards. In addition, ELOB schools might suggest that such a school would Call 617-495-3432 for reprint permission information. decision. invite members of their communities to not perform as well as wealthier, subur- HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Based on the team-building ap- help define standards for students. A ban schools on standardized tests. But Send $32 for Individuals, $39 for institutions ($40 for Canada/Mex- proach of Outward Bound, the adven- carpenter or a banker might visit to talk in the past few years, King's scores on ico, $49 other foreign, in U.S. funds ture-and-service-based educational pro- about what skills are needed for those the Maine Educational Assessment only) to Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian Alay, Cambridge MA gram, ELOB encourages students to jobs. Students also venture into the have risen to above average, even as the 02138-3752; or call us at 617-495- 3432 in Massachusetts or 800-513- view learning as a mission that requires community to do fieldwork. To accom- assessment itself has been made more 0763 outside Massachusetts. Sub- scription prices subject to change teamwork, commitment to the commu- modate the expeditions, which last six difficult. without notice. Single copies, $6.00. nity, and an ability to solve real-world to eight weeks, the school gives teach- Team spirit is evident among King's Back issues and bulk subscriptions available at special reduced rates; problems. Learning expeditions involve ers flexible schedules so there is time to faculty now. McCarthy was named the call 800-513-0763. 12 2 Harvard Education LetterMarch/April 2000 ship is crucial to keeping teachers in- dination are less difficult. curriculum. "Teachers observe teachers, volved in and enthusiastic about reform Even a large organization like District and reflect and talk about their work," measures. Where such leadership is lack- 2 has shown that it's possible to build a says Carrillo. "Continuous dialogue is an ing, "teachers may just close the door and common culture. Richard Elmore points integral part of how we work." Principals continue teaching as before, in the hopes out that the district's administrators found in District 2 also visit each others' schools that 'this, too, shall pass," he says. Edu- that the most effective professional and classrooms, and exchange informa- cation writer Anne Wheelock adds that developmentand possibly the fastest tion about administrative issues. successful standards-based reform is happens right where the teachers are: in The Parker School, which is part of marked by a sense of collegial commu- classrooms. The district hires adjunct Sizer's Essential Schools network, uses nity, a feeling that everyone in the school teachers, freeing up classroom teachers to surprisingly little formal professional de- community is invested in making student visit more experienced teachers, who may velopment, but it places the same strong work better. She calls this "building a cul- also be freed from regular classroom emphasis on collegiality as District 2. ture of excellence." duties in order to spend time in a more Teachers share their skills through fre- Getting teachers and administrators to junior colleague's classroom. quent discussions about students and their talk to each other about learning and At PS 116, teachers meet with Princi- work. "Staff development is built into the teaching is an important step to achieving pal Carrillo at the beginning of the year to structure of the school," says teacher Deb excellence. Talking about student work discuss areas of their work they would like Merriam. "The collaboration among accomplishes important things: it breaks to improve. She then arranges visits with teachers is part of the daily meeting and down teachers' isolation, and it enables master teachers, or she arranges their planning time. We're constantly talking principals and teachers to continually as- schedules so they can visit other teachers' about the work of the school." sess their own progress, articulate what classrooms. Teachers augment training the standards are (e.g., what an "A" really and personal research with regular conver-Knowing Every Child means), work on issues together, and ask sations among themselves about their Besides building community, teacher for help. This is clearly easier in smaller practice, and they have formed study mentors and staff discussions have the schools, where communication and coor- groups focusing on various areas of the added benefit of focusing more adult

national "Principal of the Year" in 1997; cane Island, which McCarthy says public performance or presentation is he won the state award in both 1996 helped teachers to stop viewing profes- an integral part of the Expeditionary and 1997. According to the Portland sional development as something to be Learning design. Expeditions, which Press Herald, McCarthy was recog- endured. are chosen by teachers based on the nized for "his willingness to take risks The staff takes part in a school re- state or district standards, are to be pur- to help students, his ability to anticipate view annually, and ELOB sends in other poseful, have a service component, and and solve problems, and his success in teachers and principals for a "peer re- have a real audience, she says. improving the school's learning envi- view" of each school every four years or In addition, every student has to ronment." McCarthy modestly points so. With each cycle of assessment, the demonstrate what he or she has learned back to his staff, saying he has just staff looks at what they have done and in a "published" form such as a book or helped his faculty apply the principles sets goals for the next years' improve- model. One year, students studied an of ELOB to the fullest. ment. This kind of continuous reflection aquarium proposal for the city, building Professional development plays a and improvement allows staff to be re- their own models and explaining them. key role in the ELOB model. At King, sponsive to new standards, to raise stan- "Their jury was actual architects:' Mc- a "school improvement team" pulls to- dards as children's performance im- Carthy says. Later, 16 students worked gether the academic and teaching skills proves, and to react quickly to any with the city selection committee and information that teachers say they difficulties encountered in new programs critiqued the architects' plans. "If they need. For instance, they create rubrics or expeditions. What comes across hated something, they said so right that teachers can use to assess their clearly is staff excitement about kids and away," says McCarthy, adding that their own lesson plans according to state what they can do when challenged. "We insights drew praise from the profes- standards and the faculty's own teach- have high expectations for all students," sionals as incisive and honest. ing goals. The team provides mentor- McCarthy says. McCarthy proudly displays some ing and moderates discussion about Students also display their achieve- of the students' work in his office. They teaching strategies, too. ments in public presentations. Commu- include a guide to shore life of Casco In addition, the staff participates in nity and family members attend final Bay and a collection of immigration expeditions of its own as a way to foster exhibitions of student work, review stu- stories all biographies of students. teamwork and enthusiasm. They have dent portfolios, and contribute to the They are just some of the real-world gone together on an Outward Bound process of assessment. Meg Campbell, achievements of King Middle School's wilderness survival program on Hurri- executive director of ELOB, says that students. 0

1 3 Harvard Education LetterMarch/April2000 For further attention on students' individual learning speak English at home. Teachers at PS treating the intensive classes as "plum" information styles and on how they are learning. "You 116 show parents how to use neighbor- electives rather than remedial classes, Bal- have to know each child well enough to hood libraries and bookstore reading areas fanz notes. The fact that struggling stu- adapt to how that child learns," says Sizer. so that their children get more exposure to dents had extra help made teachers feel

Meg Campbell, Expeditionary Elmore agrees: "In District 2, you don'tbooks. Parents come to the school on al- they could push all of their students to do Learning Outward Bound, 122 talk about groups of low-performing kids, ternate Fridays to act as reading buddies better. "When teachers feel that the Mt. Auburn St, Cambridge, MA 02138; 617-576-1260; email: you talk about individual kids. The princi- with their children. They also attend "pub- weaker students are being 'taken care of' [email protected] pal knows every child at risk, the teacher lication parties" at school to celebrate the in terms of getting extra help with basic www.ELOB.org knows every child in the classroom. Suc- final, bound drafts of children's stories. skills, they themselves feel they can move Coalition of Essential Schools, cess depends on whether you have a plan "Parents can watch the teacher interact forward with the thinking skills cunicu- CES Nationa1,1814 Franklin St., Suite 700, Oakland, CA 94612; for that child:' with their children, and learn how to help lum without worrying about kids who 510-433-1451 Many in policy circles forget that work-children with reading difficulties:' Princi- might not be 'getting it," says Balfanz. www.essentialschools.org ing schools are human communities, says pal Carrillo says. "And then more parents R.E Elmore and D. Burney."Con- Wheelock, and quality work can't be are informed about what we are trying tinuous Improvement in Com- Quality Assessment munity District #2, New York achieved if "standards" is construed to to do." Ensuring that all students are learning ac- City." Paper for the High Perfor- mean standardization. In schools where cording to standards requires regular, if mance Learning Communities Project at the Learning Research every child is known well by at least one not constant, assessment, Carrillo and and Development Center, Uni- adult, she says, no student is allowed to fall other educators say. Assessment can be versity of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA:December 1998. through the cracks. Some techniques for part of regular conversations with students achieving this include giving children time "The real test is R.F. Elmore and D. Burney. about their work, or it can take the form of "Investing in Teacher Learning: every day to talk with an adult about their understanding. Can a evaluating student work through portfo- Staff Development and Instruc- work, reducing class size, and looping. tional Improvement in Commu- lios, quizzes, tests, and other performance nity School District #2, New At Parker and PS 116, students are en- youngster take what measures. York City:' National Commission couraged to talk about their work and what At the Parker School, assessment of on Teaching & America's Future, he's learned and apply it Teachers College, Box 117, they are learning every day. At Parker, stu- student work is part of daily conversations Columbia University, NewYork, dents also prepare for biannual parent- powerfully?That's how it is among teachers as well as between teach- NY 10027; August, 1997. www.tc.columbia.edu/ teacher conferences at which they present in the real world." ers and students. Teachers and parents %7Eteachcomm/order.htm and talk about their work in the context of meet to look at examples of student work R.F. Elmore and D. Burney. the school's guidelines for excellence. and to decide what meets the school's "School Variation and Systemic "This is not about standardizing children; standards. Teachers meet regularly about Instructional Improvement in Community School District #2, it's about forming a clear idea of what ex- the curriculum and to assess whether their New York City. High Perfor- cellence is. How can we get an excellent Sizer says that in Essential Schools ideas of good enough work are roughly mance Learning Communites Project" Pittsburgh:University of piece of 4th-fgade work from a typical teachers are never responsible for more equivalent. "You get fascinating discus- Pittsburgh, October 1997. nine-year old?" asks Kathleen Cushman, a than 50 kids, which not only allows them sions on what is good enough, what and www.Irdc.pittedulhplc/hplc. html member of the Parker School's board. One to know how each child learns, but also how to teach:' says board member Cush- structure Parker uses to foster discussion is permits closer contact with parents. "If I J.P Heubert and R.M. Hauser, eds. man. A critical cultural element, Cushman High Stakes: Testing for Tracking student-teacher advisories. Every adult in have 50 kids, it is not unreasonable for me notes, is that such conversations leave Promotion, and Graduation. the schoolsecretaries and gym teachers to meet all the parents and guardians of "everyone with a feeling of having com- Committee on Appropriate Test Use.Washington, DC:National includedis assigned a small group of stu-the kids who are in some kind of trouble," mon standards." Academy Press, 1999. dents with whom they discuss all kinds of he notes. As a result of regular conversations httpilbooks.nap.edulcatalog/ 6336.html issues, including student work. At Parker, PS 1, and PS 116, kids are about student learning at PS 116, Carrillo At PS 1, where 80 percent of students A.C. Lewis,"Figuring It Out not grouped by abilities. Each student is and her teachers are constantly raising Standards-based Reforms in come from households where English is given the extra help he needs to learn whatstandards to reflect student improvements. Urban Middle Grades:' Available not the primary language, teachers and ad- the school has defined as the standard for from The Program for Student For example, Carrillo knows that, accord- Achievement,The Edna ministrators started a series of programs to that grade. District 2 offers children ex- ing to national reading standards, her McConnell Clark Foundation, get parents more involved in their chil- tended day, extended year, and Saturday kindergartners should be reading at a par- 250 Park Ave., New York, NY 10177-0026; 212-551-9100. dren's learning. Students write letters to classes so they can get extra coaching in ticular level of difficulty by the year's end. http:Ilmiddleweb.comIEMCF. their parents about what they are learning, areas they have trouble understanding. But because of District 2's focus on liter- html and parents are asked to bring their chil- Robert Balfanz of the Johns Hopkins acy, most teachers report that by mid-year dren with them for parent-teacher confer- University's Talent Development Program their students have reached those levels ences. "It's important that we plan together found that intensive, individualized mathe-and met the city's goal of having kids read for the next step," says PS 1 's principal, matics classes for under-performing stu- 25 books per school year. By being aware Marguerite Straus. dents at Central East Middle School in of their students' progress in relation to PS 116 students face many of the same Philadelphia buoyed the performance of standards, teachers can raise the bar ac- challenges as do PS l'ssome live in tem-other students in those math classes, as cordingly. porary housing or shelters, 50 percent well. Central Fast, which has high num- Teachers also assess themselves in a qualify for free lunches, and many don't bers of at-risk students, boosted morale by similar way, says Carrillo. "We're always 14 Harvard Education LetterMarch/April 2000 measuring ourselves against what's there, vance of student work, says Meg Camp- believes the Texas state tests are forcing For further and teachers are always looking at each bell, executive director of ELOB. "Hav- schools there to focus on student achieve-information other's work and measuring themselves ing a real audience is a way of taking the ment, though there is considerable dis- against each other. This can only happen children seriously." agreement in the educational community about whether Texas is a good model. in a truly open work environment that is In most cases, the result is a product King Middle School, 92 Deering truly risk-free." that future studentsand others in the District 2, Parker, and King have done Ave., Portland, ME 04102; 207-874-8145. Sizer argues that children's assess- communitycan use as a reference. For well on state and national standardized ments should mirror the kinds of demon- instance, King students studied the shore tests though none of the schools does Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), strations of ability required in the real life of Maine's Casco Bay for a year. specific test preparation. Instead, they all 2550 S. Parker Road, Suite 500, world. Says Sizer: 'The real test is under- Their final project included beautiful focus on improving classroom instruction Aurora, CO 80014; 303-337-0990. http://www.mcrel.org standing. Can a youngster take what he's student-drawn illustrations and accurate and view standardized tests as useful in- learned and apply it powerfully? That's scientific descriptions of the plants and dicators of progress, not goals in them- Parker Charter Essential School, PO. Box 2129, Devens, MA 01432; how it is in the real world where you have animals found there. It went through sev- selves. 978-772-3293. to apply knowledge in an unfamiliar situ- eral drafts for completeness, style, and These schools are also subject to regu- www.parker.org ation. The real world isn't about being scientific and visual accuracy. The book lar outside evaluation, where they have to Performance Assessment Links in can be used by parents and children on a demonstrate that they are implementing Science (PALS). An on-line, tested on something specific you've just standards-based resource bank of learned." walk on the shore and has been distrib- reforms that benefit their students. In science performance-assessment Wheelock says the successful schools uted to all the Portland libraries for just most cases, teachers and administrators tasks indexed to the National Science Education Standards she has observed communicate clearly to such use. say they appreciate such outside assess- (NSES). Includes examples of students what quality of work is expected Parker School students, too, learn that ment, which usually augments a regular student work. http://pals.sri.cond usually in written statements and some- "everything has to be revised," says Sizer. internal review of their progress. The Parker School has state-mandated Mark St John, Inverness Research times with examples of previous students' "For many youngsters, standards have no Associates, PO Box 313, Inver- work. This gives teachers a concrete way body to them. But when you watch your inspections as well as school-initiated re- ness, CA 94937; 415-669-7156. to discuss students' work with them later. older friend explain and discuss her work, views by outsiders. "Inspections are won- www.inverness-research.org it's a real eye-opener. You can connect derfur says Sizer. "They make you pull M. Schmoker and R.J.Marzano. "Realizing the Promise of Benefits of Revision your work to the real world." At Essential your socks up and be clear about what Standards-Based Educatioe Quality assessment should also include Schools, students produce books that are you are about." Parker keeps all student Educational Leadership 56, no. 6 (Mar 1999): 17-21. constant revision, Wheelock says. Typi- work in portfolios for such inspections cally, revision entails a student's teacher and for students and parents to review. Standards and Assessment Resource Site. A helpful website or peers reviewing a completed draft of an "Portfolios send a signal that what each supporting of standards-based assignment and making comments and student does is important, so important education from the Colorado By inviting parents State Department of Education. suggestions. The student is then expected that the public can view it," says Sizer. www.cde.state.co.uslcdesarb/ to incorporate this feedback into a new and other community In District 2, the expectation of teach- default.htm draft and present it for further review. ing excellence also extends to principals. Talent Development Middle stakeholders to assess Schooldohns Hopkins University, Requiring revision communicates "the Students aren't the only school workers Center for Social Organization of message that success depends more on student work, schools can expected to be thoughtful and reflective; Schools, 3003 North Charles St., students' effort than ability and that stu- teachers and administrators also reflect on Suite 200, Baltimore, MD 21218; 410-516-8800. dents have control over the quality of build political support for their work and some are asked to keep http://scov.csos.jhu.edulcrespar/ Reportsireport2lentire.htm their work," says Wheelock. quality work. portfolios of their work. Teachers are During a visit to one middle school, asked to continually improve instruction, M.S.Tucker and J.B. Codding. Wheelock asked kids when they knew it to seek out the best professional develop- Standards for Our Schools:How to SetThem, Measure Them, and Reach was time to stop revising. She found that ment and curricula they can find. Super- Them. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, they had a variety of ways, from asking intendents schedule regular and surprise 1998. peers for suggestions until they ran out of "published" and brought home. They also visits to check on principals' progress, A.Wheelock, Safe to be Smart. and groups of principals tour and evaluate Building a Cuiture for Standards- ideas to comparing their work to that of present their research on a topic before Based Reform in the Middle Grades, adult professionals. Such frequent assess- panels of parents and any experts in that each others' schools. Columbus, OH:National Middle In the end, of course, the greatest test School Association, 1998. ment of draft work allows teachers to field whom parents or teachers have been www.nmsa.org catch student difficulties early on and get able to corral for that purpose. Harvard's of standards-based reform is what attitude help to those that need it, Wheelock says. Richard Elmore points out an additional children develop toward learning. 'The At King Middle School in Portland, benefit of this practice: By inviting par- kids love coming to school," Principal ME, and other Expeditionary Learning ents and other stakeholders of the com- Carrillo says. "It's a delight to see them so Outward Bound (ELOB) schools, stu- munity to weigh in, the school is building happy to be here. They cry at the start of dents' final revisionswhich incorporate a political base of support for quality summer vacation. I don't ever remember suggestions from teachers, students, and work. doing that." outside evaluators such as parents or local When done right, testing, too, can Andreae Downs, a Massachusetts-based reporter, expertsare publicly presented, or "pub- play an important role in measuring stu- writes frequently about education. lished." This strategy increases the rele- dent achievement, says Elmore. He

15 Harvard Education Letter March/April 2000 z

1 Mining for Gold ina Mountain of Online Resources A\ Library of Congress project shows what the Web can add to history class

By Bill Tally and Melissa Burns

At Dow High School in Midland, more than 40 primary-source archives, primary-source collections. IvII, students in Michael Feder- each including thousands of documents, The program has three phases. During spiel's social studies class pore photographs, pamphlets, films, and audio a six-week online orientation in late over congressional transcripts from a recordings from U.S. history and culture. spring, Fellows get to know one another, 1913 water rights hearing involving An abundance, even an anarchy, of and the digital collections, through Web- Yosemite National Park. At Williamsburg sources and material are now available on based activities and discussions. At the Middle School in Arlington, VA, students the Web, and teachers and students need week-long AMF Summer Institute in analyze dozens of Civil War photographs whole new sets of skills to use the mate- Washington, DC, in July, Fellows im- by Matthew Brady. And at University rial in meaningful ways. To help teachers merse themselves in the collections, Library High in Champaign, IL, students and librarians use these new resources explore methods of inquiry using primary examine oral histories of Depression-era effectively, the Education Development documents, and design their own humani- immigrants. Center (EDC) and the Library of Con- ties lesson. During the following school Thanks to the American Memory col- gress have developed the American year, the Fellows test and revise the les- lections, the Library of Congress's new Memory Fellows Program (AMF), a sons in their own classrooms. Through the online archive (http://memory.loc.gov), national staff development project. The use of electronic portfolios, they share and students from all parts of the country and program brings together 25 teams of reflect on their developing expertise with at all grade levels are working with the middle and high school educators each colleagues online. raw material of U.S. history right at their year to develop, test, and publish innova- The project emerged from classroom desktops. American Memory comprises tive classroom activities that use online research in which we at EDC found that

Other Valuable Nuggets...

These online resources can give a boost to humanities teach- archive contains thousands of primary resources documenting ing and learning: two Shenandoah Valley communities on opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Ideal for student documentary research, EDSITEment (www.edsitement.neh.gov/), the "gateway" the site offers census records, newspapers, photographs, gov- site of the National Endowment for the Humanities, offers ernment papers, letters, and diaries, as well as overview docu- valuable online resources for teaching English, history, art ments. Includes online lesson plans. history, and foreign languages, along with lesson plans and The federally-sponsored AskERIC (http://ericir.sunsite. in-school activities. The 49 websites are rich in content and syr.edu/) has a virtual library of more than 1,200 lesson plans the lesson plans are well-written. Educators can also sign up for teachers on a range of K-12 topics, from language arts les- to participate in in-school activities that aid learning through sons such as spelling and phonics to social studies topics such the Internet using the EDSITEment resources. Good parent as Oregon Trail and the U.S. Postal Service. In addition, the activities as well. AskERIC Q&A service promises to answer teacher questions History Matters (wwwlistorymatters.gmu.edub is indis- about educational theory or practice within 48 hours using a pensable for high school and college teachers of U.S. history nationwide network of experts and databases of the latest survey courses. It offers resotures such as first-person pri- research. mary documents that focus on ordinary lives and require stu- K-12 teachers will find a rich variety of arts-related dents to actively analyze and interpret evidence. Created by lesson plans, curriculum units, and activities at the Kennedy scholars at the City University of New York and George Center's ArtsEdge Curriculum Studio (http://artsedge. Mason University, the site mostly covers the period of 1876- kennedy-center. org/cs/cover.html). Elementary lessons 1946, though more materials are added regularly. include teaching traditional Japanese songs and learning the The Valley of the Shadow (http://jefferson.village. history and art of making African masks. One high school virginia.edukshadow2/) is an excellent resource for Civil curriculum unit explores the theme of monsters in literature, War study. Developed at the University of Virginia, the music, and drama. 0

16

6 Harvard Education Letter March/April 2000 students who use primary sources exhibit more of the traits we associate with good historical thinking: they pose questions, 1),3Metall C[lassroom observe details, and speculate about con- How Technology Is Changing the Way textabout what was going on behind We Teach and Learn the documents. For both teachers and students, the Web broadened access to A new publication from the Harvard Education Letter primary sources enormously. But we also available April 2000 discovered that using digital archives poses new problems. In the past, experts Digital technologies are reshaping the way education is practiced, raising many such as librarians, textbook publishers, questions: How can we better prepare teachers for the challenges of high-tech and professional historians filtered out classrooms? How can teachers use the vast resources of the Internet to improve bad, irrelevant material. The new media science, math, and humanities learning? What can be done to close the "digital have done an end-run around the experts. divide?" The result is a wider, richer, and more The Digital Classroom addresses these and other questions about the impact varied universe of informationoral his- of new technologies in the classroom. Topics.include: tories of the Depression, discussions of Howard Gardner on technology and multiple intelligences theory Toni Morrison's novelsbut also dubious Using technology to reshape the professional culture of teaching offerings of cultural trivia, advertising, How the Net connects students around the globe and sex. More than ever, teachers and stu- Innovations to benefit special-needs students dents need help sorting out which online Myths and realities of digital education material is relevant, how to locate and What the future may hold for high-tech classrooms evaluate useful texts, and how to apply what they have found to their questions or In keeping with the Harvard Education Letter's mission, The Digital Classroom problems. offers clear, concise analysis of research and innovative K-12 practice, high- Working with American Memory, lighting the concerns of practitioners, scholars, policymakers and parents. teachers learn that the criteria for valuable To order a copy ($16.95), see the insert with this issue or call 800-513-0763. humanities resources include authenticity and open-endedness. Do the resources give students access to voices, perspec- tives, and conflicts that can deepen their nalistic coverage we now expect. They do a critical eye. For further understanding of a historical or cultural find plenty of pictures of the aftermath of As teachers develop information liter- information phenomenon? Do they encourage stu- battle, including famous images of Con- acy, they become able to do some filtering dents to be active interpreters and mean- federate dead at Gettysburg, Antietam, by assembling well-chosen sets of materi- ing-makers? Yet even when digital re- and elsewhere, with captions like "Bodies als to suit their pedagogical aims. For ex- American Memory Fellows sources are authentic and open-ended, of Confederate dead gathered for burial." ample, at Pleasant Valley High School in Program, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE, like those in American Memory's primary What do these images say about the war Chico, CA, social science teacher Brett Washington, DC 20540; 202- source archives, their sheer volume and and how it was fought? Again, students Silva has set up a historical role-play for 707-5000 http:llmemory.loc.gov/ variety require new skills. must consult the background information his students involving a provocative set of One of AIVIF's goals is to build "infor- to discover that most of the photos were primary sources from the 19th century. Teaching units created by American Memory Fellows can mation literacy." First, Fellows learn how taken by photographers sympathetic to The students are asked to mediate a Texas be viewed at to navigate the Web to find materialsto the Union cause. Thus, while the pictures land dispute between Native Americans http://mernory.loc.govl arnmemindlpedulindex.html use search engines to find relevant docu- faithfully portray battlefield details (dress, and white settlers. The primary source ments. Second, they practice evaluation weaponry, landscape), students see that documents present the issue from an In- skills: Where did this document come they also narrate a particular perspec- dian perspective, a white perspective, and from? Can I rely on it? How useful is it to tivethat Confederate soldiers died in a 19th-century Quaker perspective. Brett my purposes? vain. uses Web resources to help his students Teachers can bring those skills back to Evaluation skills are especially impor- understand that human history reflects their classrooms. For example, middle tant when teachers and students deal with multiple points of view. He invites his stu- school students often approach Civil War historical archives. Often unedited, they dents to see how the world wasand photos looking for images of life and let students see the ugly side of U.S. his- how it might have been different.0 death on the battlefield. They are often tory, including racist and sexist language Bill Tally is a media researcher and designer surprised to find the battlefields are in political pamphlets and newspapers, with the Manhattan-based Center for Children strangely empty. Why? Linking to back- for example. Many teachers are not adept and Technology, a division of the Education ground information on the collection, they at talking about these sensitive issues in Development Center (EDC). Melissa Burns is learn that Matthew Brady's cameras were class. So they need skills for teaching stu- a writer-researcher at EDC's headquarters in Newton, MA. too cumbersome to allow the kind of jour- dents ways to approach this material with

17 Harvard Education Letter March/April 2000 sllshffs

Why Current Assessments Don't Measure Up By Marya R. Levenson

New statewide standards that emphasize accountabil- feel they do not have time to develop creative, in-depth per- ity for all students have forced educators to look formance assessments in these and other subjects. Moreover, more closely at student data to see who is learning because of the pressure caused by the tests as well as numer- and who is struggling to learn. However, what administrators ous articles and editorials comparing school and district and teachers are discovering is that mandating high stan- results, many students have been made to believe they are dards does not, by itself, raise achievement. Furthermore, failures because of initial poor test results. Some 4th graders Coming current assessments such as standardized tests are not ade- are even being retained, despite the fact that these new as- quate for measuring those new standards. sessments were originally implemented to alert schools and soon... Given the skills our students will need to compete in to- families about which students may need more support in day's economy, many of us can appreciate the need for order to pass the Regents exams years later in high school. Cooperative higher graduation requirements for all students. For too The New York state plan to rank and compare each school Learning many years, educators and parents have not had high enough according to how students perform on the 4th- and 8th-grade expectations for urban and poor rural students, or even for tests may accelerate these pressures. Looping some students in affluent suburbs. Still, there is concern that In the North Colonie School District in New York, we some students may not be able to reach those new learning understand that there is a role for standardized tests. They David Perkins standards on the tight timetables set by many stateseven provide a good snapshot of how our students and our disuict on Intelligence where transitional safety nets such as lower passing scores perform compared to others in the state and the nation. But in the Wild are temporarily in place. we do not look at a student's performance on such tests as Students come into schools with very different back- the only measure of achievement or criterion for placement grounds and preparation. Some face incredible hardship as in a program. After all, the student may not have tested well they and their families grapple with poverty, illness, or other on that particular day. We consider class work, including per- problems. Some do not learn well within traditional class- formance assessments such as writing portfolios, teachers' We welcome rooms. Others need alternative approaches, more individual observations, and data from various standardized and state your comments attention, or more time to master a subject. tests. As schools have developed different instructional pro- At a time when there appears to be increasing national Write or email us: grams to teach students who don't do as well in traditional pressure to use new state standardized tests as the only crite- Harvard Education Letter classrooms, we have learned that many students are capable ria for judging schools and students, educators should advo- Gutman Library 349 of achieving much more than we had believed.* Such pro- cate for multiple measures to assess whether a student has 6 Appian Way grams, however, require extra time and resources so that fac- Cambridge, MA 02138 truly met the learning standards. [email protected] ulty members working in smaller classes can develop and One final cautionary note: As schools focus on helping modify new curricula and instruction to produce good learn- students who were previously allowed to "get by," we need ing as well as acceptable results on new state exams. to maintain appropriate standards and assessments for stu- Some who are advocating higher standards have not been dents at the top of the spectrum. It would be truly ironic if so quick to call for the additional resources needed, espe- implementing the "higher" state standards ends up diluting cially in urban and poor rural districts, to support staff and the educational experiences of students who already meet program development. Nor have they understood that the and exceed the standards. current standardized assessments are not adequate for meas- Creating and implementing high educational standards uring the learning standards. is an essential challenge. Never before in our country's history have we attempted to have all high school students Multiple Measures Are Needed attain such a high level of literacy and other skills. Imple- State departments of education understandably want to have menting new standards incorrectly or too quickly can harm "foolproof' assessments of how schools are meeting the new our children and our schools. As schools work to meet standards, ones that can withstand challenges by angry par- these ambitious standards, incremental accomplishments ents or state legislators when many children fail to pass. should be recognized. And since teachers understandably States also place a premium on standardization so that focus what they teach on how their students will be as- schools can be compared to each other. As a result, rich and sessed, let's make the assessments worthy measures of the complex learning standards are often being measured only new learning standards.0

by high-pressure standardized tests. Marya R. Levenson is superintendent of the North Colonie (NY) schools.

In New York State, teachers have become so focused on *See wwwncolonie.org for information about Shaker High School's preparing 4th- and 8th-grade students for publisher-devel- Integrated Regents Program, an interdisciplinary program for students oped English-language arts and mathematics tests that most who learn better through problem-solving. 1 s Harvard Education LetterMarch/April 2000 May/June 2000 V RI - a ** Volume 16, Number 3

A 10

INSIDE

Building a Bridge between Research and Practice 2

Four Leading Models Putting Cooperative Learning of Cooperative Learning to theTest 5

While studies link cooperative learning with higher achievement, insights defining the term and implementing the concept is a challenge Schools Need to By Laurel Shaper Walters Pay More Attention to "Intelligence /n Terry Anderson's 3rd-grade classroom, nobody has In effect, cooperative learning redefines teaching and in the Wild" an assigned seat. During the school day, the 23 students the role of the educator. With students working together As we focus more on facts move from the carpet to a computer station or scatter to in groups, the teacher often functions as a facilitator and figures, let's not forget to teach street smarts, says work at three small tables around the room. The arrange- rather than a lecturer. Students are encouraged to dis- Project Zero's co-director. ment works well, reports Anderson, a teacher at Robinson cover information together and to help one another learn. Elementary School in Kirkwood, MO. "Anywhere the kids By David N. Perkins want to settle in during their reading and writing time is Two Key Components 8 fine," she says. "And this way there are more places for kidsThe cooperative learning concept is a mature one with a to work in groups. They're usually all over the floor." solid research base accumulated over several decades. In schools across the county, This body of work has led to agree- (:T( teachers are putting down their ment about two components that chalk and moving away from the must be present for cooperative front of the class. They are rear- learning to lead to significant gains "There's a huge difference Please visit our website: ranging students into groups and in achievement. www.edletter.org encouraging a steady hum of between changing a seating The first key component is voices sharing ideas. Pods of desks promoting interdependence within Currently on the web: are replacing neat rows as the land- arrangement and changing groupsfostering the perception The Research Feature scape of the American classroom the way the students among group members that they This month, the focus is on shifts to accommodate more team- must work together to accomplish cooperative learning, with work. Much of this activity is interact with each other the goal. "There has to be a recog- online links and other resources. based on the principles of coopera- as theylearn." nition that you're in a sink-or-swim tive learning, in which the tradi- relationship:' Johnson notes. "That The Forum Feature tional competitive, teacher-driven 11521111=11111 you can't be successful unless your A discussion with Nicholas Lemann,Ted Sizer, Linda approach is transformed by stu- partners are as well, and they can't Nathan, and Angela Valenzuela dents' working together. be successful without you. That's on "Testing Mania: Good '"But there's a huge difference between changing a seat- the essence of a cooperative relationship." Intentions Gone Awry:' ing arrangement and changing the way the students interact Cooperative learning is most likely to go wrong Alsovisit our past research with each other as they learn," cautions Roger T. Johnson, when one of the students does all the work while others features, including those on co-director of the Cooperative Learning Center at the Uni- watch. Each of the established models of cooperative standards, discipline, and versity of Minnesota and one of the leading researchers in learning recommends strategies for avoiding this prob- grade inflation. this field. Johnson and his brother David have developed lem. Some popular strategies for fostering interdepend- one of the most-used models of cooperative learning (see ence within groups include assigning a single product for sidebar, p. 5). the group, asking students to take on different roles 19 (recorder, facilitator, researcher, presenter, may be held responsible for their individ- Fishing and Professional Development, miffobilti and so on), and assigning one student in ual contributions to the goal. Alternatively, which last year trained more than 20,000 each group to become an "expert" in one teachers may randomly choose one stu- teachers in cooperative learning through particular area and report back to the dent to represent the group in an oral or workshops and conferences. "We are very others. Harvard written quiz. clear with teachers that they should make Education Letter The second key component is holding Beyond these two agreed-on compo- cooperative learning part of any lesson:'

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR students individually accountable for nents, various models emphasize different Kagan says. "Ours is an integrated ap- Kelly Graves-Desai demonstrating their understanding of the additional elements, and researchers dis- proach rather than a replacement ap- INTERIM EDITOR material. While students should be ex- agree about how teachers should imple- proach." David T. Gordon

PRODUCTION EDITOR pected to teach one another and learn ma- ment cooperative learning. Some believe it For example, Kagan instructs teachers Dody Riggs terial as a group, proving their own under- can be used within an existing curriculum to use a 'Timed Pair Share" structure. In EDITORIAL ASSISTANT standing must be done individually. "Each as long as certain basic principles are fol- lzumi Doi this exercise, the teacher divides the class

MARKETING AND person in the group should get up and lowed. Others are weaving the concept into pairs of students and poses a question. WEB MANAGER Joan Ranante walk away enriched and having learned into a comprehensive reform program, Within each pair, Student A talks about his something," Johnson says. "If you have embedding cooperative learning in a new or her answer for one minute, then FACULTY EDITOR Richard F. Elmore 'hitchhiking' within the group, it's not yet curriculum. And some advocate providing Student B does the same. "In the same EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD a cooperative group." exercises or "structures" that introduce amount of time that you could have had Milli Blackman, Director, Principals' Center, HGSE; Katherine C. Boles, One strategy for achieving this compo- cooperative learning into an existing two students respond, you have every stu- Lecturer, HGSE; Linda Darling- nent is to have students teach what they Hammond, Professor, Stanford program. dent in the class respond to the question:' University, Sally Dias, Superinten- have learned to someone else in their One proponent of such structures is Kagan notes. dentWatertown (MA) Public Schools; Harold Howe II, Lecturer group. In project work, group members Spencer Kagan, director of Kagan Pub- The more than 100 structures devel- Emeritus, HGSE; Susan Moore Johnson, Professor, HGSE; Robert Kegan, Professor, HGSE; Peggy Kemp, Office of School Partner- ships, HGSE; Marya Levenson, Superintendent, North Colonie Central School District, New- tonville, NY; Deborah Meier, Prin- Building a Bridge Between Research and Practice cipal, Mission Hill School, Boston, MA; John Merrow, President,The By Laurel Shaper Walters Merrow Report; Jerome T. Murphy, Professor and Dean, HGSE;Arthur (. Rosenthal, Publishing Consultant Catherine Snow, Professor, HGSE; At Parkway South High School in sub- help prepare each other for a vocabu- ting back and other group members Jay Sugarman,Teacher, Runkle urban St. Louis, students in Karen Bet- lary quiz. A seating chart shows each School, Brookline, MAAriadne tend to do more work." Valsamis, Director of Public Infor- tis's French classes come prepared to student's current partner for pair work Getting students to talk to each mation, HGSE work together. Since the school went to and a pod of three for group work. "I other in group work is essential to rein- Harvard Education Letter (ISSN 8755-3716) is published bimonthly a block schedule of 90-minute classes put these groups together very carefully, forcing their learning, Bettis argues. by Harvard Graduate School of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cam- last year, Bettis has been able to use spending a lot of time making sure they "When I say group work, that doesn't bridge, MA 02138-3752. Second- group work in nearly every class. "I like class postage paid at Boston, MA mean students sit there in a circle writ- and additional mailing offices. Post- working with groups because I see the ing down answers. The expectation is master:Send address change(s) to 1 Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian positive benefits," she says. that they talk through the answers." To Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. During her 24-year teaching career, make sure that happens, Bettis circu- Signed articles in Harvard Education "Learning is social, Letter represent the views of the Bettis has attended several workshops lates throughout the room during group authors.Address editorial corre- on cooperative learning, yet she doesn't and the best way for kids spondence to editors, Harvard work, answering questions and prod- Education Letter, Gutman Library, use any specific model of cooperative ding students to challenge each other. 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA to learn is by being 02138-3752; phone 617-495-3432; learning. "I know I don't follow all the "You really have to pay attention to fax 617-496-3584; rules of cooperative-learning activities," email: [email protected]; actively involved with how they're doing:' she says. web: www.edletter.org. she says. "I choose what will work for ©2000 by the President and my class." Defining the "rules" of coop- each other." Fellows of Harvard College. Window into Published as a non-profit service. erative learning can be confusing, espe- Students' Minds All rights reserved. Special permis- sion is required to reproduce in cially when researchers disagree about Having teachers listen during group any manner, in whole or in part, what works best. Meanwhile, teachers the material herein contained. work is vital to cooperative learning's Call 617-495-3432 for reprint like Bettis are taking the basic concepts are heterogeneous," Bettis says. She re- success, says Roger T. Johnson, co- permission information. behind cooperative learning and experi- organizes the groups every several HOW TO SUBSCRIBE director of the Cooperative Learning Send $32 for individuals, $39 for menting with ways to apply them in the weeks but keeps the number of students Center at the University of Minnesota. institutions ($42 for Canada/Mex- ico, $54 other foreign, in U.S. funds classroom. to three for group work. "I think it's im- "The key to cooperative learning from only) to Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge MA In a recent French II class, Bettis in- portant for them to learn to work with a the teacher's point of view is to be able 02138-3752; or call us at 6 17-495- troduces new material and then has stu- variety of people, but I have also found to hear students as they're working, as 3432 in Massachusetts or 800-513- 0763 outside Massachusetts. Sub- dents work in pairs to review it. They that when you do group work with they're thinking:' he says. "You might scription prices subject to change without notice. Single copies, $6.00. later reassemble in groups of three to more than three, someone ends up sit- describe it as a window into the Back issues and bulk subscriptions available at special reduced rates; call 800-513-0763. 20 Harvard Education Letter May/June 2000 oped by Kagan incorporate the basic prin- But narrower, in-depth studies have other and put together a product. I was ciples of cooperative learning. "So when found that teachers' definitions of cooper- hoping I could use it full-blown all the teachers are using one of these structures:' ative learning vary widely, so it is hard to time and learned that's not realistic." he says, "they're doing good cooperative tell what teachers mean when they claim learning." Kagan developed this idea to use it in their classrooms. In a 1998 A Great Success Story about 10 years ago after growing frus- study by researchers at the University of Nevertheless, researchers consider coop- trated with more complex and comprehen-Washington in Seattle that surveyed teach- erative learning one of the great success sive cooperative learning programs. "The ers from six Washington State elementary stories in educational research. "In terms message was: 'Stop what you're doing schools, 93 percent said they used cooper- of something that actually leaped across now. We've found a better mousetrap. Do ative learning regularly. And yet, the re- that bridge from theory to research to cooperative learning instead.' With that ap-searchers found, these teachers "eschewed practice, it's hard to think of many better proach, you get resistance." cooperative learning models that dominateexamples," says Robert E. Slavin, co- Determining exactly how many teach- the research literature." director of the Johns Hopkins University ers are using cooperative learning is diffi- As one teacher explained: "When I Center for Research on the Education of cult. Few national studies have been done. was trained in cooperative learning, it Students Placed at Risk, who has devel- The best national data date back to the sounded so wonderful but so complex the oped several well-known models of coop- congressionally mandated "Prospects" way they laid it out Every kid had to have erative learning. study of 1993, in which 79 percent of ele- a job, and they were so prescriptive. Hundreds of studies over more than mentary teachers and 62 percent of mid- Through my teaching, I've learned that three decades show a positive correlation dle-school teachers reported making some cooperative learning, for me, is just to between cooperative learning and achieve- sustained use of cooperative learning. have the kids discuss things with each ment. Research has been done in every

students' minds. You can hear them Anderson tries various grouping approach to the problem and outlines thinking out loud as they're talking methods to create working groups of the next step in the project. "Now you to each other." three or four students. "If I let them know how to get started tomorrow," That's exactly what Terry Anderson, choose their groups, they end up with Anderson says. a 3rd-grade teacher at Robinson Ele- the same people all the time:' she says. The basic concepts of cooperative mentary School in Kirkwood, MO, ex- Sometimes she will assign students to learning are responsible for many pects to gain from using cooperative groups, other times she might allow stu- changes in U.S. classrooms. The wide- learning in her classroom. "The way dents to choose a partner and then com- spread acceptance of this approach one child thinks brings another child's bine two pairs to make a foursome. The means students like Anderson's are no thinking along in certain ways:' says goal is to get students talking and work- longer lined up in rows of individual the 20-year veteran teacher. Anderson is ing together. She is convinced that her desks. Yet there is a yawning chasm be- in constant demand when her students students are better off working in tween current practice and recent re- are working in groups. She keeps them groups, even if the classroom is louder search about how to use cooperative on task, clarifies expectations, and and more chaotic. "Learning is social," learning most successfully. For these pushes them to ask the right questions. Anderson says, "and the best way for two teachers, much of the research on For example, after a math investiga- kids to learn is by being actively in- what constitutes successful cooperative tion about dividing submarine sand- volved with each other." learning is beyond the scope of day-to- wiches equally, she rings a wind chime day classroom practice. to get everyone's attention. A group re- Preparing Tomorrow's What the teachers classify as "coop- turns from working in the hall, and they Lessons erative learning" some experts would all reassemble on the carpet. One mem- Anderson builds her lessons around label mere group work. While most re- ber of each group holds a large piece of what she hears the groups talking about. searchers reject the notion of assigning paper showing their answers and the For example, during the group activity group grades to students, for example, process they went through to solve the about dividing sandwiches, Anderson Bettis has experimented with the idea problem. Anderson sits in a rocking gains clues about which aspects of frac- after hearing talk of it at various confer- chair and asks each group to come for- tions most students understand and ences. These teachersand the re- ward and explain their strategies. Some which areas require further explanation. search shows they are not aloneseem used trial-and-error, others estimated As math time ends and the school day to view full implementation of any one and then checked their work. The goal, winds down, Anderson makes a mental cooperative learning program as too she says, is to scaffold their solutions, note of what to stress in tomorrow's limiting or impractical. The bridge be- saving the best for last. "But the main math lesson on fractions. She reviews tween practitioners and researchers in thing is reaching a consensus:' she says. what they've learned from each group's this area is still under construction. 0

21 Harvard Education LetterMay/June2000 subject, at all grade levels, in all kinds of components of successful cooperative key elements as the core of cooperative schools. And there is widespread consen- learning, these components are not always learning, others urge educators to include sus that students benefit when they can understood or used by teachers. In Terry several more components. "We're more help one another learn instead of having to Anderson's 3rd-grade class, for example, demanding, if you will," Kagan says. His work apart fromor againstone another. students work in groups frequently. "But training includes two more basic princi- The concept of cooperative learning we don't do formal cooperative learning ples. The first is "equal participation," appeals to contemporary educators on sev- where everybody has a role:' Anderson re-which pushes teachers to Ove every stu- eral levels. For teachers dealing with in- ports. "I just kind of make my own pro- dent an opportunity to contribute. For ex- creasingly diverse classrooms, it easily gram. I see what works and what doesn't." ample, a teacher following this principle accommodates individual differences in And one teacher told the Washington Statewould never ask students simply to make achievement. Most models of cooperative researchers: "I don't use cooperative a list with a partner on their own. "Suzy learning advocate heterogeneous groups of learning in the sense that I'm assigning could grab a pencil and make the list three or four students at various levels of roles in the groups. I do group work." while Johnny sits and watches." Instead, achievement. But not all group work is cooperative Kagan recommends a "rally table" at learning, researchers insist, and defining which Student A writes one item on the Other Incentives the term is difficult for many educators. list, then Student B adds something. The Other issues commonly viewed as nega- In the hands of poorly trained teachers, other principle Kagan emphasizes is "si- tives, such as peer pressure, can be turned cooperative learning can dissolve into lit- multaneous interaction:' which encour- to the teacher's advantage as students focustle more than loud, chaotic classrooms. ages teachers to actively involve as many on a group goal. At the same time, cooper- "If you stop with just putting the students students as possible at any one moment. ative learning encourages social and inter- Other models emphasize additional el- personal development as students learn ements. For example, Johnson and John- how to work together and to appreciate di- son's Learning Together model includes versity. In fact, many studies credit the ap- One study suggests work on team-building skills. "Many stu- proach with improving cooperative atti- that students do better dents need to be taught the behaviors or tudes outside the classroom and increasing skills necessary to be a good partner and cross-racial friendships. when they are directed work together cooperatively," says Roger Cooperative learning also garners toward strategies for Johnson. This model also includes regular praise from the business community, group discussion to evaluate the effective- which is looking for a future work force understanding rather than ness of student groups. "When the work is with strong teamwork skills. Many teach- done, the processing starts as you set it ers recognize this as an incentive for using toward strategies for aside and ask: 'How well did we do as a the approach. "In addition to just teaching performing better team?' and 'What can we do next time to academic subjects, we also have a role in be more effective with each other?" helping kids learn how to work in a group on quizzes. To test the usefulness of such process- better, because jobs in the future are going ing, a University of Minnesota study of to require this," says Karen Bettis, a French 3rd-graders compared groups of students teacher at Parkway South High School in provided with a structured time and for- St. Louis, who uses cooperative-learning in a group:' Johnson warns, you may not mat for group processing with students strategies. get the positive effects of cooperative working cooperatively but not allowed this But widespread acceptance does not learning. time for reevaluation. "We expected that automatically translate into consistent, ef- The research has provided ample evi- we'd find better relationships and more fective implementation. In fact, despite the dence about those positive effects. Models skillful people in the processing group, strong interest in cooperative learning, of cooperative learning that promote its which we did:' Johnson says. "But we many practitioners are not implementing two key componentsinterdependent also found that the group that was using the concept effectively. work and individual accountabilityare processing had higher achievement." His "Cooperative learning has become so consistently found to lead to gains in conclusion: The more skillful students are standard that sometimes it's honored in the achievement. According to a 1996 review at cooperating, the better the product. breach," Slavin notes. "Everybody's heard of the literature by Slavin, 37 of 44 studies of it, and they all had a course on it or comparing traditional instruction with co- Strategy or some mention of it in their preservice. So operative-learning methods, including Group Rewards? they just use it from time to time. It's not these two elements, found significantly There is also some evidence that careful seen as a big-deal innovation anymore. In positive effects for cooperative learning; structuring of activities in cooperative some ways that undermines both the qual- only 4 of 23 studies of cooperative-learn- groups can be effective. For example, a ity of implementation and the likelihood ing methods lacking group goals and indi- 1992 study compared students working in that people really understand what they're vidual accountability found positive ef- two cooperative situations. In one group, doing." fects on student achievement. students were taught specific strategies for While researchers agree on the key While some researchers view the two reading comprehension (such as predic- 22 Harvard Education Letter May/June 2000 Four Leading Models

By Laurel Shaper Walters

Research on specific methods of coop- writing instruction in grades 3-5. teams who have studied the same sec- erative learning began in the early Contact: Robert Slavin, Center for tions meet in "expert groups" to dis- 1970s. Most of that research has been Research on the Education of Students cuss their sections. Then students sustained over time and focuses on the Placed at Risk, Johns Hopkins Univer- return to their own teams and take four major models described below. sity, 3505 N. Charles St., Baltimore, turns teaching their teammates about The models differ in how much stmc- MD 21218; 410-516-8000. their section. Jigsaw El is a modifica- ture is provided, what kinds of rewards www.csos.jhu.edu tion designed at Johns Hopkins Uni- are offered, methods for holding stu- versity in which all students read a dents individually accountable, and the Learning Together common narrative but individuals meet use of group competition. Developed by David Johnson and and become "experts" on assigned Roger Johnson at the University of topics. Primarily used in social studies Student Team Learning Minnesota. Students work in four- or and other subjects where learning from (STL) five-member heterogeneous groups on text is important. Contact: Elliot Aron- Developed at Johns Hopkins University. a group assignment sheet. A single son, Department of Psychology, Uni- The focus of a large number of studies, product is turned in, and the group re- versity of California at Santa Cruz, led by creator Robert E. Slavin. Empha- ceives rewards together. Emphasis on 271 Clark Kerr Hall, Santa Cruz, CA sis on team goals and team success. team-building activities and regular dis- 95064; 408-459-2470; e-mail: Teams earn certificates or other team cussions within groups about how well [email protected]. rewards if they achieve above a desig- they are working together. Contact: nated standard. Students are rewarded Cooperative Learning Center at the Group Investigation for improving on their own perform- University of Minnesota, 60 Peik Hall, Developed by Shlomo Sharan and Yael ances, and team scores are important University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Sharan at Tel Aviv University. In this motivators. This method includes four MN 55455; 612-624-7031. general classroom organization plan, separate programs. Two are general www.cicrc.com students form their own two- to six- cooperative-learning methods for use in member groups, choose subtopics from most subjects and grade levels: Student Jigsaw a classwide unit, and produce group re- Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) Originally designed by Elliot Aronson ports. Each group then makes a presen- and Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT). and his colleagues at the University of tation or display to share its findings Two others are comprehensive curri- California at Santa Cruz. Students are with the entire class. Contact: Shlomo culums: Team Assisted Individualiza- assigned to six-member teams to work Sharan, Tel Aviv University School of tion (TAD for math in grades 3-6 and on segmented academic material. Each Education, P.O.B. 39040, Ramat-Aviv, Cooperative Integrated Reading and team member reads an assigned sec- Tel Aviv, Israel 69978; e-mail: Composition (CIRC) for reading and tion, and then members from different [email protected] 0

tion or summarization) and given "think cate or other recognition if all group The parents go ballistic, as they, frankly, sheets" to help them remember to use the members improve their performance on should." This is why Slavin favors keep- strategies. The other group earned team quizzes or other individual evaluations. In ing grades separate from group rewards: scores if their members improved on his review of the literature, Slavin docu- 'The grading system should be com- weekly quizzes. Students in both coopera- mented positive effects on student pletely based on your own personal per- tive groups showed a high level of en- achievement in 50 of 64 studies of coop- formance, whereas the group recognition gagement with the material. But the strat- erative-learning methods that included or rewards can be parallel to that." egy group made significantly greater group rewards, while studies of methods In her high school French classes, gains on a reading-comprehension test, providing no group rewards or based on a Bettis makes a concerted effort not to let suggesting that students do better when single group product found few positive group work jeopardize her students' they are directed toward strategies for un- effects. grades. When she asks students to review derstanding rather than toward strategies "A lot of the opposition to cooperative material together before taking a quiz and for performing better on quizzes. learning has been because an A student then randomly chooses one student's quiz Slavin, however, is a strong promoter comes home with a C," Slavin points out. to represent the group, she emphasizes of the group-rewards concept. His coop- "When the parents ask what happened, that the quiz will not be worth many erative-learning programs include oppor- the kids say there's another student in points. "If I happen to choose a group tunities for students to earn a team certifi- their group who keeps making trouble. member who is not very strong, it's not f . .4 23 Harvard Education LetterMay/June 2000 For further information going to wreck the grade of the kid who really did know it," she explains. "The idea is to just put a little bit more pressure B4s5taA ChIssrocom on the kids to help each other learn when How Technology Is Changing the Way LR.Antil, J.R. Jenkins, S.K.Wayne, they are working on the review together?' and P.F.Vadasy."Cooperative WeTeach and Learn Learning Prevalence, Conceptual- izations, and the Relation Between Who Benefits? Research and Practice:' American A new publication from the Harvard Education Letter Educational Research Journal 35, no. A number of studies have looked at the 3 (Fall 1998): 419-454. question of which students gain the most Digital technologies are reshaping the way education is practiced, raising many Cooperative Learning Center at from cooperative learning. While the re- questions: How can we better prepare teachers for the challenges of high-tech the University of Minnesota, search shows that cooperative learning is classrooms? How can teachers use the vast resources of the Internet to improve 60 Peik Hall, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN effective with students across grade lev- science, math, and humanities learning? What can be done to close the "digital 55455; 612-624-7031. els, the concept has been more readily ac- divide?" www.cicrc.com cepted by elementary teachers. Yet inter- The Digital Classroom addresses these and other questions about the impact of R.M. Gillies and A.F.Ashman. est is growing rapidly in middle and high "Behavior and Interactions of new technologies in the classroom. Topics include: Children in Cooperative Groups schools. One reason is the shift toward in Lower and Middle Elementary block scheduling in high schools. "High Howard Gardner on technology and multiple intelligences theory Grades."Joumal of Educational Psychology 90, no. 4 (December school teachers are becoming aware that Using technology to reshape the professional culture of teaching 1998): 746-757. you can't just lecture at kids for 90 min- How the Internet connects students around the globe Kagan Publishing and Professional utes and hold their attention:' Kagan Innovations to benefit special-needs students Development, P.O. Box 72008, San Myths and realities of digital education Clemente, CA 92674-9208; 800- says. Two years ago, high school teachers 933-2667. outnumbered elementary attendees at What the future may hold for high-tech classrooms www.kagancooplearn.com Kagan's summer training institutes. In keeping with the Harvard Education Letter's mission, The Digital Classroom M.S. Meloth and P.D. Deering."The Advocates of cooperative learning ar- offers clear, concise analysis of research and innovative K-12 practice, high- Effects of Two Cooperative Condi- tions on Peer Group Discussions, gue that it benefits students at all achieve- lighting the concerns of practitioners, scholars, policy-makers and parents. Reading Comprehension, and ment levels as well. A few studies have Metacognition:' Contemporary To order a copy at the special introductory price of $16.95, call 800-513-0763. Educational Psychology 17, no. 2 found better outcomes for high achievers (April 1992): 175-193. than for low-achieving students, and a

M.J. Puma et al. Prospects: The few have found low achievers gaining Congressionally Mandated Study of more. Most studies, however, have found deal more to be done in terms of develop- rooms and pick out the parts that they Educational Growth and Opportunity. The Interim Report Bethesda, MD: equal benefits for high, average, and low ment of replicable strategies," Slavin like." Most teachers are not likely to im- Abt Associates,Inc., July 1993. achievers, Slavin reports. says. Much of the cunent research fo- plement true cooperative learning under Available from the Eric Clearing- house (Document ED362466). The most vocal skeptics about cooper- cuses on comparing existing cooperative- those conditions, he argues, and will end See www.edrs.com ative learning are advocates for gifted stu- learning models and examining the inter- up not getting its full benefits. or call 1-800-443-ER1C. dents, who worry that bright students will nal dynamics of cooperative learning to Kagan strongly disagrees. "Coopera- A. Robinson."Cooperation or be held back by the limits of the group. determine what specific skills are needed tive learning, when viewed as a curricu- Exploitation? The Argument Against Cooperative Learning for The existing research provides little evi- to make it work. lum reform, gets into all kinds of trou- Talented Students:'Journal for the dence that gifted students are short- As cooperative learning continues to ble:' he maintains. "Instead it should be Education of the Gifted 14, no. 3 (Fall 1990): 9-27,31-36. changed in cooperative-learning settings. mature, advocates are trying various tac- introduced as a tool in the teacher's tool But, then, there has been very little re- tics to persuade practitioners to imple- R.E.Slavin."Synthesis of Research box that can be used in any lesson." on Cooperative Learning:' Edu- search focused on the tmly gifted. And ment it fully and successfully. Slavin sees On both sides of such disputes, advo- cational Leadership 48, no. 5 some gifted students do express frustra- great promise in the idea of weaving co- cates of cooperative learning are relying (February 1991): 71-82. tion with group projects. "When you ex- operative learning into innovative materi- on research to continue to provide insight R.E.Slavin."Research on Coopera- tive Learning and Achievement plain it, you want to do it real fast be- als. "My guess is that when people get a into what makes it work best And there's What We Know,What We Need cause you're bored or something:' says a quality cooperative-learning experience no evidence, Slavin says, that teachers are to Know:' Contemporary Educa- gifted middle-schooler from a wealthy tional Psychology 21, no. 1 (January these days it's more likely to be because doing any damage when implementing 1996): 43-69. suburban district Marian Matthews, an they think they're using a math innova- their own versions of cooperative learn- assistant professor at Eastern New Mex- tion:' he says. In fact, many new pro- ingalthough this sort of casual use may ico University who interviewed gifted grams are using cooperative learning not offer all the achievement benefits. 6th- and 8th-graders, concluded that these without making an issue of it. It's simply "There's some evidence that even poorly students benefit most when working in part of a well-planned curriculum. For ex- organized cooperative learning is proba- homogeneous groups with other gifted ample, the 1,500 schools implementing bly improving things like race relations students. Slavin's Success For All program are and attitudes toward mainstreamed kids. built around cooperative learning. They're just missing out on a lot of the More to Study Slavin is pessimistic about "how potential:' 0 Despite the extensive research on cooper- much you can accomplish when it's just Laurel Shaper Walters is an education writer ative learning, today's researchers see done in a Saturday afternoon workshop living in St. Louis, MO. much more to be studied. 'There's a great and then teachers go back to their class- 2 4

Harvard Education LetterMay/Junel 2000 Intelligence in the Wild school or university level, internships provide similar experiences in the wild. continued from page 8 Intelligence in the wild can play out very effectively in col- But is problem detection just another face of laboratoiy intel- laborative environments. The wild does not connote the solo ex- ligence? Maybe, but our research argues otherwise. As part of plorer at all. In the wild, people function collaboratively. In typi- our method, we also use measures of laboratory intelligence cal academic settings, one spends a lot more time functioning sometimes short-form IQ tests and sometimes other indicators. solo than in typical settings outside the academic context. One is Our measures of problem detection do not correlate very supposed to show one's mettle and display one's skill as an indi- strongly with these measures of laboratory intelligence, which vidual. The notion of grading a team or giving a team a degree is tend to be based on solving clearly defined problems. In some of completely alien. I am not saying that we should start giving de- our studies, the correlation is zero, in others quite low. So the grees to teams, but I am saying that many academic settings offer wild side of intelligence appears to be a different kind of beast. too few opportunities for collaborative work. This connects to another interesting pattern of results. In At-risk kids often are thought of as slow learners because research on intelligence, creativity, school they are not particularly in tune with aca- performance, and professional achievement demic expectations. But they may have within a field, professional achievement "street smarts" for which there is no turns out to be not highly correlated with In the wild, people function measure or reward in a typical academic school performance or IQ. Suppose, for ex- environment. Some people have strengths ample, that you are studying physics. With- collaboratively. In typical that only show up when the rules of the out a doctoral degree and an IQ high game are changed. Suddenly you find academic settings, one enough to help you do the academic work people who didn't look so smart before to get it, you're probably not going to be- spends a lot more time looking smarter, and vice versa. It's rela- come a professional physicist. But once tively commonplace in school settings to you get the degree, how well does your functioning solo. discover that when you make learning grade point average or your IQ predict your more open-ended, when you begin to use professional success as a physicist? Not case-based learning or hands-on activi- very well. The correlations are around zero. ties, different students come to the fore, In other words, while IQ contributes to mastering relevant aca- ones you weren't noticing so much before. demic knowledge and while credentialing is an important way to By acknowledging intelligence in the wild and its impor- filter out those who just can't hack the physics, how high your tance, we can legitimately hope to find a connection with some IQ is or how well you did academically is not very predictive of youngsters who haven't been relating, responding, or learning your success as a creative professional physicist. The same ap- well in the traditional academic mode. For others who are al- pears to apply to other fieldsdoctor, business person, teacher. ready doing fine in school, making them aware of the need to In short, the traits and abilities that may have served you well cultivate this other side of intelligence may help them to cope academicallyor not so well, if you didn't perform superbly better today with their nonacademic lives and prevent a rude don't seem to matter as much in the wild. The wild side of intel- awakening later when they live and work in the wilds of "the ligence has been neglected, both in psychological studies and in real world." 0 many patterns of schooling, and we do youngsters a disservice Since 1971, David N. Perkins has served as co-director of Project Zero, a by neglecting it in our conceptions of intelligence and in our research and development group at Harvard Graduate School of Education school practices. Very bright students who have done extremely concerned with learning, intelligence, creativity, and understanding in child well in conventional academic settings will sometimes be and adult contexts. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics and artificial intel- shocked to face life outside of those settings with much less ligence from the Massachusetts Institutute of Technology in 1970. He has published and spoken widely. success. Schools at all levels, including universities, can do things to be more attentive to the wild side of intelligence. Certain methodologies can help. For instance, case-based learning can CORRECTION bring students closer to the wild than reading about somebody's theories in a textbook. Simulations also give a sharper sense of In the article, "One Urban School's Adventures in the wild and let students demonstrate their coping strategies and Reform" (March/April 2000), we mistakenly reported where they might need help. One can use assignments and activ- that Mike McCarthy was the 1997 Principal of the Year. ities that create a lot of space for problem detection; in other While he was one of three finalists, Doris Alvarez, then words, ill-defined problems are better than well-defined prob- principal of Hoover High School in San Diego, CA, lems for helping people get the knack of coping with the received that honor. murky wild. The murk is good; it is more authentic. At the high

25 Harvard Education LetterMay/June 2000 Schools Need to Pay More Attention to "Intelligence in theWild"

By David N. Perkins

Traditional schools usually emphasize the kind of with clearly defined problems. However, life is more con- intelligence students need to solve clearly defined fusing and complicated than that. Often the greatest chal- problems. By stressing this kind of "laboratory intel- lenge is just discerning whether there is a problem or what ligence," schools typically ask students to engage in focused, the problem is. You have to muck around and puzzle out Coming systematic tasks that have unambiguous goals and a clear what you want or need to do and where to invest your ef- choice of answers: learn this list of words and how to spell forts. That's intelligence in the wild. soon... them, learn who the presidents were. The tasks may be chal- For a number of years, we have done research at Project lenging, but they are challenging in a predictable way. The Zero on thinking dispositions in an attempt to measure peo- Looping attention paid to standards and assessments often works to ple's ability to detect the problems in situations. We usually increase the emphasis on this laboratory intelligence. use scenarios where reasoning goes awryfor instance, Principal What's missing is an appreciation for where somebody makes a decision Leadership what I like to call "intelligence in the 11111=RIBEI without considering a range of op- wild." The phrase may conjure up tions. Here's an example from our You have tomuck around Teaching images of someone trekking through actual research: Mrs. Sanchez lives Writing through the jungle, but it actually refers to in- and puzzle out what you want with her daughter in Chicago and Journalism telligence as it is used to get along in works for Company A. Company A the world, to handle gritty situations or need to do and where to decides to relocate to Memphis. in smart ways. For example, "the invest your efforts.That's Mrs. Sanchez doesn't mind moving, wild" might be a classroom or the but her daughter, who is in her last street or even a used-car lot. It might intelligence in the wild. year of high school, wants to finish We welcome involve running a corporation or the school year with her friends. EMITEMIE your comments managing a scout troop. Intelligence Mrs. Sanchez says, "You know, we in the wild includes the ability to rec- really don't have any choice. I need Write or email us: ognize problems hidden in messy situations and the motiva- the job. I need to follow the company." So they move, and Harvard Education Letter tion and good sense to choose which problems (because the daughter is disappointed. Gutman Library 349 there are always too many!) are worth the time and energy it We measure how participants in our studiesmostly 6 Appian Way Cambridge, MA 02138 will take to solve them. children in the latter half of elementary schoolrespond to [email protected] How does intelligence in the wild differ from laboratory stories like this. When they hear the story of Mrs. Sanchez, intelligence? The two are certainly related. However, our re- do they recognize that Mrs. Sanchez certainly has more search at Project Zero has shown that one of the most impor- choices than she thinks she does? She could refuse to go tant aspects of intelligence in the wild is what's called think- with the company and shop around for a similar job; she ing dispositions. Everyday terms like open-mindedness, could move and let her daughter stay with a relative for the curiosity, and skepticisim refer to thinking dispositions. rest of the school year; she could negotiate with her company Thinking dispositions have to do with 1) sensitivity to situa- to move three months later. Interestingly, our findings show tions that call for thinking and learning and 2) the motivation that once people realize that Mrs. Sanchez really does have to invest in thinking and learning. options, they're pretty good at thinking of what some options Everyday decision-making offers a good example. What- might be. The bottleneck lies in recognizing that Mrs. ever situation I find myself inteaching a class, fixing a car, Sanchez has jumped to her conclusion. pushing along an internet start-up, out on a dateit is im- What's true of the story of Mrs. Sanchez is true of most portant to be sensitive to when the situation invites a deci- of our findings. The principal roadblock to thinking well is sion. If I do recognize that I'm facing a decision, then I have usually detecting the problem in the first place and then car- to ask whether it's worth the bother to make the decision ing enough to invest effort, not in following through. People thoughtfully. Many decisions aren't that important. Finally, if tend to be much better at solving problems than detecting I do want to invest in a thoughtful decision, I have a fairly them. Although schooling and conventional intelligence tests well-defined problem to figure out. emphasize solving well-defined problems, the greater chal- That "figure out" part is the most like laboratory intelli- lenge in the wild is problem detection. gence. Schools often begin there, teaching kids how to deal continued on page 7 26

Harvard Education Letter May/June 2000 July/August 2000 a I . Volume 16, Number 4

A IIIalIL

new and noteworthy Would More Phys Ed Curb Kids'Weight Gain? 5 Shakespeare vs.Teletubbies:IsThere a for discussion OnlineTerm-Paper Role for Pop Culturein the Classroom? Mills Produce a New Some say tapping kids' interest inmovies,TV shows, and games through Crop of Cheaters student journalism is a good way to improveliteracy and critical thinking. 6 Critics aren't so sure. insights By Sara-Ellen Amster Innovative Teachers Hindered by the was that mysterious place where human Diego (UCSD), takes the journalism idea one step fur- ther. It tries to improve literacy by tapping into students' Green-Eyed Monster Whatskulls stared at passersby through the plate- vast knowledge about popular culturefrom X-Men and Professional jealousy glass window? Mary and Gloria Navarro undermines efforts to use asked themselves that question each day as they walked Pokemon to movies and talk shows, from TV news to the Internet. This wider classroom use of the media can be effective new strategies, by a shop called "Mama Roots" on Adams Avenue in writes Julie M.Wood. Normal Heights, a working-class section of San Diego. controversial because of the great lengths many teachers When the 10-year-old twin sisters joined an after-school go to to keep such cultural products, often laden with 8 program aimed at building literacy violence, consumerism, or stereo- skills, it gave them a reason to find types, out of the classroom. Yet some researchers counter that out about those skulls. The girls interviewed the shop "If you want to children are going to use the media manager, John Lee, about magic and anywayto learn, to construct their ghosts and witches. They then wrote build on what children own identities, to situate themselves Please visit our website: within particular groupsgiving www.edletter.org a story about the shop and shared it know, then you have with their classmates. After receiving teachers an opportunity to make use Currently on the web: suggestions to improve the piece, to pay attention to of students' attention to the media for Mary and Gloria rewrote the story educational purposes. "There is a The Research Feature (see sidebar). It turned out much bet- the media." need for adult monitoring, of course, This month the focus is on student learning, with online ter the second time, Mary says. but it does no good to pretend chil- 11111111111111111111 links and other resources.. cg) The Adams Avenue Newspaper dren have not seen what they've seen or heard what they've heard," says The Forum Feature Project teaches grade-school students discussion with Academy Anne Haas Dyson, a professor of language, literacy, and A to explore their community as if they were reporters. Awardwinning actress Jane While journalism programs have long been used at the culture at the School of Education at the University of Fonda about the impotiance secondary-school level, studies show that they can also California, Berkeley. "If you want to build on what chil- of global edueition for girls benefit the teaching and learning of younger students. dren know, then you have to pay attention to media." and women. Editing workshops that teach students to critique each Dyson's ethnographic study of how grade-school Also visit our past research :. other's work, special guest speakers from local media, children adapt superhero stories to everyday life is de- features, including those on and and instruction in computerized newspaper design all scribed in her 1997 book, Writing Superheroes: Contem- : standards, discipline, grade inflation. help enrich the students' journalistic efforts. porary Childhood Popular Culture and Classroom liter- The program, which was developed and is run by acy. She shows ways that students can be taught to faculty and students at the University of California, San reconstruct superhero narratives to promote broader 27 definitions of what it means to be strong, films as purely violent, students may have violence, so it is not enough to say no to include less stereotypical behavior by a more complex understanding of them violence should be tolerated. A more con- girls and boys, and to avoid violence. and the cultural references they invoke. structive approach would be to ask when Teachers may have children make their They may see humorous moments and violence is necessary to a story and when own videos, tape interviews with family even be able to mock thegenre inways it becomes mere gore. A legitimate topic Harvard when discussing horror films may be the Education Letter members, or produce a newspaper, she that adults wouldn't. says. Newkirk, who has been interviewing use of suspense and anticipation in writ- INTERIM EDITOR David T. Gordon Dyson is now researching additional 4th and 5th graders at four southern New ing, Newkirk says. PRODUCTION EDITOR ways teachers can use children's familiar- Hampshire schools for a book on this However, some scholars remain skep- Dody Riggs ity with media genres. She is "interested subject, says he watches Teletubbies on tical about allowing popular media in ED1TOFUAL ASSISTANT lzumi Doi in the knowledge that simply surfaces in TV and has no idea what's going on. But the classroom. Many forms of media are MARKETING AND children's response to school activities." two- and three-year olds know exactly. "A corrupted not only by violence and WEB MANAGER Joan Ranante The same composition skills that girls lot of times we are snobs," he says. "We stereotypes, but by commercialism, mak- ing it difficult even for adults, let alone FACULTY EDITOR might employ on the playground when see ourselves as special, protecting our Richard F Elmore . they pretend to be soul singen or DJs can own forms of literacy and protecting liter- children, to tell good from bad, says edu- EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ature. We miss a connection with kids if cation policy analyst Edward Miller. Chil- Milli Blackman. Director, Principals' be tapped for collaborative poetry reading Center, HGSE Katherine C. Boles, we dismiss movies and TV. Kids sense dren are better off avoiding the imitation Lecturer. HOE Linda Darfmg- and writing, Dyson says. Children often Hammond, Professor, Stanford . appropriate diverse media including radio, the disapproval. You want them to ac- of popular shows in their writing; they Unkrsity, Sally Dias. Sumincten- should learn to do their own creative dent,Watertown (MA) television, videos, and sports shows dur- knowledge your world, but you also have Sthools Harold Howe II, Lecorer to acknowledge theirs." work, he says. "Teachers probably should Emeritus, HGSe Susan Moore ing open-ended writing activities and Johnson, Professor. HGSE Roben when they present and explain their work at least be aware of what's out there and Kegan, Prokssor,HGSt Pew what kids are looking at, but many teach- Kemp Office of School Partner- in class, Dyson says. "In one class I ob- =MINI ships, HGS. Marya Levenson. ers dismiss popular media because they Superintendent. North Colonie served, embedded in the children's sports Cenral School District New- Obviously, teachers sense that these things don't have a lot of tonville NY: Deborah Meier, Prin- talk was nascent knowledge about geog- cipal, Mission Hill School. Boston, raphythe names of teams' cities and value. And I think their instincts are MA: John Merrow,President.The can't ignore the violence right," says Miller, a former editor of the Merrow Report Jerome T Murphy, statesas well as gender and power ide- Professor and Dean, HGSArthur Harvard Education Letter J. Rosenthal. Publishing Consultant ologies just itching for organization and and sexual degradation Catherine Snow, Professor. HGSE critical discussion in the official world." Jay Sugarman.Teacher. RunIde in horror films. But they BrooWlne.MAMadne In drawing football fields and writing From Consumers to Director of Pubk Infor. Producers ation. HGSE sports reports, children may demonstrate can make it a point for Harvard Educadon Letter (ISSN mathematical knowledge (two-digit num- In a society saturated with media mes- 8755-3716) is pubfished bimonthly discussion. sages, how can schools negotiate this un- by Harvard Graduate School bers, counting by tens). Ideological issues of Education. 6 Appbn Way. Cam- may also come up: for example, Dyson easy relationship with popular culture? bridge. MA 02138-3752. 11111111111111111 class postage paid at Boston, MA, examined football pictures drawn by girls The use of journalism offers a good solu- and additional marmg offices. Post. tion, says Miller, because it teaches skills master Send address change(s) to that included skimpily clad cheerleaders. Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian That's not to say everything is fair of inquiry and critical thinking while at Way, Cambridge, MA 01138.3752. The teacher Dyson observed asked the game in the classroom, but teachers the same time connecting them to the out- Signed articles in Harvard acation students who liked football (not all boys, LEW represent the 'news of the as students thought) and who didn't (not should have good reasons for not allow- side world. Children learn how to judge authors.Address eckorial corre. spondence to ears, Harvard all girls) and who was supposed to play ing something in, he says. "Movies have fact from opinion, gauge the accuracy of Education Letter Gutman Lbw detail, dialoguethe elements of the nar- information sources, and tell balance and 6 Appian Way. Cambridge, MA the game (a popular children's movie had 02138-3752. phone 617.495-3432. a co-ed team). Female athletes were in- rative are thereand the kids are at- fairness from bias, he says. This not only fax 617-496-3584: emelt editor@edletterorg vited to talk to the class about their own tracted to them," he says. "If they can has academic benefits, but it may also web: www.edletter.org. limited opportunities to play sports as write a summary of a long movie, you make students better citizens. ©2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. children. "Children don't need to be foot- can teach sequencing, description, narrat- Studies dating from the 1970s and Published as a non-profit service. 1980s by such researchers as Roy Peter Aft rights reserved. Special perrnis- ball fans, popular music fans, or movie ing, tension and resolution, and the kids sion a required to reproduce in might have the basis for discussing more Clark at the Poynter Institute for Media any manner, in whole or in part, . buffs to become literate in school, but the material herein contained. they do need respectful teachers with the realistic fiction later." Such discussions Studies and Donald Graves at the Univer- Cat/ 617-495-3432 for reprint sity of New Hampshire have already permission information. imagination to see possibilities for re- can also improve students' writing, he 14OWTO SUBSCRIBE sources in the lives of diverse, contempo- adds. shown that journalistic techniques can Send $32 for Individuals, $39 for foster children's critical thinking skills ludo/dons ($42 for CanadalPtec. rary children," Dyson says. Teachers who know popular culture ko, $S4 other bv.Wis U.S. funds Tom Newkirk, a professor of English know students' reference points and have and sense of ownership in their work as only) to Harvard Educadon Letter. , 6 Appian Way, Cambridge MA at the University of New Hampshire in a bridge to their world when discussing they pursue practical aims as writers. 02138.3752. or all wit 617-495- The knowledge that their work will cul- 3432 in Massachusetts or 800.513- Durham, also sees a clash of cultures in traditional texts. Obviously, teachers can't 0763 outside Ms:admen ignore the violence and sexual degrada- minate in a publication to be read by 1ucrtioap&essubeatodssnge schools where traditional "great works" vinhout not/m.54e copies, $03. of literature are emphasized more than the tion in, say, the horror genre. However, others provides students with a natural *Issues and bulk SUbsCripd.0113 Able at speed raked rem popular media materials children often ty rather than simply condemning violence imperative to write clearly and the moti- call 800-513-0763. . to bring into the classroom. For example, in films, they should make it a point for vation to meet deadlines and work hard. while teachers may see certain horror discussion. Even Shakespeare contains As they solve basic obstacles to mak- continued on page 4

11nrv2rd Education Letter lulv/Aueust 2000 View from the Classroom: StudentWriters HoneTheir Skills

The following drafts were written by Mary and Gloria 3512 Adams Avenue. We asked him why he liked to work Navarro, 10-year-old twin sisters in the after-school jour- in there and he said he "just loves it," it was his dream to nalism program in Normal Heights, CA. After interviewing work in a magic shop. Mr. Lee started reading Tarot cards the manager of a magic shop, they wrote a first draft and and Wiccan literature when he was a kid. Mr. Lee was a submitted it to their class for critique. Once the girls had preschool and elementary school teacher before he began received feedback from their classmates, they drafted new managing Mama Roots and practicing magic. His favorite questions to clear up confising points and returned to the customer is a girl named Phoenix who would like to work magic shop with a teaching assistant for a second inter- at the store. view. "The hard thing was to get [the magic shop man- Mr. Lee says that magic is neither good nor bad. Ac- ager] to sometimes confess some things," said Mary, "and cording to Mr. Lee, the nile of Wicca is that you must "do sometimes he talks too much and we were like, 'wait, wait, what you will as long as it harms no one." He told us spells could you repeat that?" work because you want them to. During Valentine's Day, Mary says she was nervous at first about what her the most popular spell is a love spell. When we were tak- classmates would say, but that they had many positive ing pictures for this article, Mr Lee sthd we shouldn't take comments and she learned a lot through the process. She a picture of a spell book or it would cause bad luck. also says she would prepare better questions for fiiture in- Mr. Lee says that his favorite defmition of m4c comes terviews, keeping in mind that readers often need more in- from the book, Granny's Luck, written by Kris Kissner of formation than writers may think and that quotations have Del Mar. Kissner writes: "Magic is opening your heart to to be exact. (She learned, for instance, that a person would imagine something for someone other than yourself. Magic not normally refer to himself as "he.") is a manifestation of love. Magic is a result of selfless car- ing. Magic can be as simple as a friendly hello or as com- Version One: plex as raising a child. Magic can be wishful thinking. You We went to interview the manager of the magic shop, John can make anything magical. Prayer is magic." Lee. We asked him why he liked to work here. He said, Mr. Lee says that a spell can backfire if the person cast- "He doesn't know, but he just loves it." What item do you ing the spell is not acting out of love. He says that Wiccans sell the most? we asked. Love potions, because it is almost believe in the laws of Karmathat what you do comes Valentine's Day. This was John's dream to work in a magic back to you. When witches send out something bad it shop. He has a favorite customer named Phoenix, who comes back to them times three. He also said that if you would like to work in the store. He told us spells work don't know what you are doing with magic bad things will because you want them to. He wants to work at the store happen. We asked Mr. Lee if he had ever been visited by a because it is fun and it is the best place to work at. We ghost. He said yes, it was his grandmother when he was asked has a ghost ever visited him? He said, "Yes, it was eight. She came to him as a ghost just after she died. He my grandmother when I was eight. My grandmother told told his dad and his dad got mad. But the next day they got me that she was going to die soon. I got in trouble with my a phone call informing them that she had really died. dad for saying that. Then, in the middle of the night they We asked him if anyone had ever cast a spell on him. got a call that my grandmother had really died." He said yes, but it happened when he was younger. Now I asked has anyone cast a spell on you? He said yes, he is a witch and it doesn't happen anymore. Mr. Lee is a when he was younger but not anymore, because he is a good witch. witch. All types of people come to the store, including Mr. Lee believes there is an increase in interest in the witches. Mostly people buy candles at the store. John is a metaphysical, which is why shows like The Others, Buffy good witch. When witches send something bad out it the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, comes back to them times three. John introduces people to and Angel are on television right now. He also said that the magic to make them interested in the subject and come movies Practical Magic and Craft were sort of good exam- there more often. You should not take a picture of a spell ples of magic, although a little bit off in some ways. book because it will cause you bad luck. If you do not All types of people come into the store, including know what you are doing with magic, bad things will hap- witches. Mama Roots is owned by a high-priestess named pen, like when playing with a Ouija board. 1-Star. She sells books, candles, incense, Tarot cards, spells, woods, oils, crystals, pictures, and other things VersionTwo: Mostly people buy candles at the store. Mr. Lee introduces We interviewed John Lee, the manager of Mama Roots people to magic to make them interested in the subject and Traditional and Urban Magic, a magic store located at come there more often. 29 Harvard Education Letter July/August 2000 -11 Tips forTeachingWriting specifi- Roy Peter Clark, senior scholar at thePoyntner Institute fellow writers, ask good questions, and articulate cally what works for them in a story. for Media Studies and a longtime writingcoach, offers the For further Let students discover some of their own writing ideas. following advice: information Students need to see their world as a well of storyideas and they can't do that if they get all their writing prompts Free students to write every day, far morethan any teacher could grade. The idea is to givestudents enough from teachers. D. Bucicingham and J. Sefton- Emphasize writing based on real life. Children havewrit- Green. Cultural Studies Goes to practice in writing to improve significantly. from seeing a ten wonderful fiction about places they'vevisited, and it School: Reading and Teaching Write with and for students. They benefit Popular Media. London:Taylor & tends to be much more detailed and the qualityof writing teacher work through a problem orchallenge presented by Francis, 1994. tends to be much better than when they just sit thereand writing. R.P. Clark Free to Write:A four- Demystify the writing process for children.Teach writing think something up. nalistTeachesYoungWriters. Publish the best work of every student. There aredozens Portsmouth,NH:Heinemann, as a craft, letting studentsknow that they all can take steps 1987. of ways to make a writing public, from reading italoud to to improve their work. putting it in a class booklet to putting it on a website. A.H. Dyson. Writing Superheroes: Confer with students and get them to talkabout their Contemporary Childhood, Popular Teach mechanics in the context of writing. There's no writing. Talking about reading andwriting provides them Culture and Classroom Literacy. reason to learn how to spell or use correct grammarunless NewYorfc Teachers College with the tools they need to grow. Press, 1997. it's to help communicate a message or to make ameaning Give students support and encouragement.Never use M. Gillespie. Television, Ethnkity writing as a form of punishment and neverwrite anything clear and powerful. and Cultural Change. New YorIc willing to write Don't forget to teach the kinds of writing that arefor Routledge,1995. negative on a student's paper if you are not learning and discovery, such as notetaking andoutlining, something positive. D. Graves. A Fresh Look otWriting. which are valuable in all parts of the curriculum. Portsmouth. NH: Heinemann. Teach students to rewrite. It may be morehelpful for stu- 1994. dents to revise one story five timesthan for them to work Says Clark: "We write to remember, to highlight, to P McLure and T. Newkirk. on five different stories. Listening In: Children Talk about things, and learn from play, to discover, to inventory, to give names to Books (and Other Things). Create an environment in which students can so we should be teaching tools forthese purposes." 0 Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, each other. It's important to train students tosupport their 1994.

E. Seiter. Television and New Media Audiences. NewYorIc Oxford University Press, 1999. sociation, reaching 17,000 readers inthe continued from page 2 where most students are Mexican Ameri- E. Seiter. Hero TV San Diego: qualify for working-class neighborhood. South Moon Press, I998.This ing their work understandable, children can and 90 percent of students The idea of producing a newspaper CD for parents and children absorb lessons that have application in free lunches. A $16,000 grant from the offers lessons about the media Price-Weingard Fund paid for 14 comput- seems "very important to thekids," who and the superhero genre. their regular schoolwork. Like their news- Available at no charge from are especially interestedin getting their paper stories, student writingassignments ers and two digital cameras. www.southmoon.com. names in the paper, saysSeiter. "The fo- also must have a focus, engaging intro- Students like Mary Navarro interview cus on the end product hasreally moti- ductions, smooth transitions, and satisfy- local shopkeepers and take photos of the community. The community comes to vated them in terms of self-representation, ing endings. Grammatical problemsoften and they do like being reporters." journalis- them, too. After a guest lecture by George are solved along the way in the writing Lipsitz, a music critic and professor of In addition to building kids' tic process and are seen as more interest- spark ethnic studies at UCSD, students wrote skills, the program also aims to ing because finding solutions is necessary They about what kinds of music they enjoy. their interest in reading newspapers. to make writing readable to anaudience. their They then agreed to write about the Back- learn to think of their own families, favorite "Kids Like Being Reporters" street Boys. with girls and boys taking own churches, and their own restaurants as places that arenewsworthy. All this happens twice a week at the opposite points of view. Another collabo- rative project that followed a talk by a lo- says Seiter. For 10-year-oldMary Adams Elementary School annex in San be work- calDJand blues artist had them writing a Navarro, the strategy seems to Diego, when 15-25 children gather to in reading group story. with each studentcontribut- ing: "It's making me interested discuss story ideas, write, and learn desk- 'Mama, ing two comments. the newspaper. Sometimes I say, top publishing skills as part of a newspa- to go Seiter, who has studied children's use could you get me 35 cents? I want per project organized byEllen Seiter, a 'Sure?' of the media for some 20 years, and grad- buy the newspaper,' and she says, professor of communication at UCSD. both me- uate students from UCSD help students By teaching kids to become Because the University of California the edit the paper, worIcing as a group to spot dia producers and media consumers, seeks to get faculty involved in urban the ma( and place- Adams Avenue project promotes K-12 educadon, Seiter received $15,000 errors and determine story size ing, writing, and critical thinkingskills in seed money from UC's Urban Com- ment. The paper is then distributed as an necessary to succeed at thecollege level. munity School Collaborative Grant to insert to a community newspaper pub- Seiter says. That's especiallyimportant launch the program at Adams Elementary, lished by the Adams Avenue Business As- 3 0 for at-risk students, she adds, because Clark's writing classes do not start with children's actual construction of meaning while "they may know a lot about TV or lessons on sentence or paragraph struc- so that "it has some reference to the pur- movies or video games, kids don't get ture. Instead, he assumes kids are ready to poses you are striving for." Student re- points in school for just being media liter- tell stories from the moment they walk porters learn to observe their surround- ate. In fact, it tends to get you labeled as into the classroom, and he gives each stu- ings and their culture, ask good questions, someone who is media-saturated and not dent a reporter's notebook. "That sends a and pursue answers to those questions, he growing up in a healthy environment." signal that writing is not about sitting still says. In other words, they learn to be Roy Peter Clark started using journal- and making things up. It's about going learners. ism to teach writing decades ago after out and searching, gathering, collecting, Sara-Ellen Amster, a former assistant editor seeing start-up newspapers created by ele- and selecting. Making judgments about of the Harvard Education Letter, is a graduate mentary school childrenentrepreneurial what's most interesting and important." student at UCSD. She has supervised several efforts by 4th and 5th graders who distrib- Grammar is important, Clark says, but student newspapers and advised Ellen Seiter's project. uted their work in their neighborhoods. it needs to be taught in the context of the new and noteworthy

Would More Phys Ed Curb Kids' Weight Gain?

Should schools increase the number once a week to be highly active. Those but not taller than they were two decades For further of mandatory physical education who had PE 1 to 4 times per week (6.7 % ago. The chartsa revised version of the information classes? One group of researchers of the sample) were 44 percent more original 1977 standards used by pediatii- at the University of North Carolina says likely to be highly active. African Ameri- cians, nurses, and nutritionists to monitor yes. In a nationwide study of adolescent can and Hispanic adolescents, and espe- kids' growthreflect a population of P. Gordon-Larsen, R.G. McMurray young people that is more culturally and and B.M.Popkin."Determinants c physical activity published in the June Adolescent Physical Activity and issue of the journal Pediatrics, researchers racially diverse than it was 20 years ago. Inactivity Patterns." Pediatrics l05 at UNC's Carolina Population Center The new charts include an important new no.6 Oune 2000). Available on the Web at argued that American kids, especially "Obesity is difficult toolan assessment for body mass index www.pediatrics.orgfcgilcontr minority girls, don't get enough exercise, (BMI)that will help identify weight ntlfullf I 051E483. contributing to the "major U.S. health to treat in children, so problems early on in children. CDC Growth CharcrUnited States. Washington, DC: US. Departmer problem" of adolescent obesity. They The charts are based on the National prevention is key." of Health and Human Services, concluded that one answer may be to in- Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Centers for Disease Control, (NHANES), which collects data from ac- National Center for Health Stair crease the number of hours per week of tics, Division of Data Services, mandatory physical education in schools tual physical examinations on a cross-sec- Hyattsville, MD 20762-2003;301 tion of U.S. children. The survey shows 458-4636. Report and accompa- and to improve access to after-school nying data available on the Web a recreadonal centers. The researchers also cially girls, were more likely to be inac- that in the past two decades the number of www.cdc.gov/growthcharts. called on parents to curb TV watching tive, the report says. Also, inactivity overweight children and adolescents has and video-game playing to encourage increased with age so that highschoolers doubled. In addition, it showed that over healthier habits among sedentary engaged in less physical activity than one-half of all American adults are over- youngsters. middle school students. According to the weight and that the number of obese The report, drawn from an analysis of authors: "The national push away from adults has doubled. the 1996 National Longitudinal Study of comprehensive PE in U.S. schools is re- "Obesity is a condition that is difficult Adolescent Health of 17,766 middle and markable. Our results indicate that PE to treat clinically in children, so preven- high school students, showed that only classes may represent the only opportu- tion is key," said Jeffrey P. Koplan, direc- 21.3 percent of all adolescents reported nity for many adolescents to engage in tor of the Centers for Disease Control, in participating in phys ed classes at least weekly physical activity." announcing the new charts. "These new once a week. Those who had PE class That report coincided with the release CDC charts are an important new tool to five times a week (14.6 % of the total in June by federal health officials of new identify growth problems at an early age sample) were more than twice as likely growth charts for children showing that, so we can better prevent excess weight than those who did not have PE at least in general, today's children are heavier gain." 31 Harvard Edimation Letter July/Augusi 2000 OnlineTerm-Paper Mills Produce a New Crop of Cheaters TheWeb makes plagiarism easierand more temptingthan ever. What can teachers do to discourage cheating?

By Orit Ditman

john" sits at his computer working en- Papers typically cost from $7 to $35. Ross has found that surprisingly few ergetically on a term paper, a model of Term-paper mills generate income by high school teachers are aware of the ex- the diligent studentor so it seems. selling papers and also by selling adver- tent of online temptations facing their stu- In reality, John is browsing an online tising to firms eager to reach the student dents, and teachers seldom get formal "term-paper mill," looking to make a pur- market. Many of the sites link to others of training in how to detect or deter online chase. He may choose a paper that's al- potential interest to students, including plagiarism. ready written. Or, he may splurge and or- those about music, sports, even pornogra- The quality of the papers offered on der a customized paper tailored to his phy, as well as other term-paper sites. these sites tends to be poor, and this may teacher's specific assignment. All he has Some of the more popular online actually help students avoid suspicion of to do is make his choice and punch in a term-paper sites are: ACI Net Guide to plagiarism, according to New Jersey high credit-card number, and he will have Term Papers (www.aci-plus.com), school teacher Monica Terry: "The fact "completed" his assignment with just a JunglePage (www.junglepage.com), that these papers are so full of spelling few clicks of the mouse. Cheater.com (www.cheater.com), Cheat and grammatical errors makes it hard to While plagiarizing and purchasing pa- Factory (http://cheatfactory.hypermart. suspect that they were actually taken fron pers have long been academic problems, net), A+ Papers (www.schoolpaper.com), another source." For example, of the the advent of the Internet, with its sprawl BigNerds.com (www.bignerds.com), Ge- School Sucks site, Terry says, "I don't sec of information, has made cheating easier nius Papers (www.geniuspapers.com), much value in using their papers as study for dishonest students to doand harder Professor Kom (www.serve.com/doctor/), guides. The thoughts are too basic and of- for teachers to catch. More than 70 Inter- Evil House of Cheat (www.cheathouse. ten incoherent. A paper on A Midsummer net sites offer research papers, disserta- corn), and School Sucks (www.school- Night's Dream, a text considered suitable tions, and college entrance essays for sale. sucks.com). for 9th or 10th graders, was written at a They're so prevalent that many students level far below that of a high school stu- practically stumble onto them in the Just a Resource? dent." course of legitimate web searches. Many sites are produced by high school, Jessica Corr-Bolender, an English High school and college students are college, or graduate students; some even teacher at St. George's School in New- visiting online paper mills at an alarming claim to be managed by professors (e.g., port, RI, spot-checks some of the popular rate. According to the 1998 Survey of ACI Papers). Most include a disclaimer online sites when she suspects a paper ha High Achievers conducted by Who's that says the site is just a study resource; been plagiarized. "It would be stupid for Who Among American High School Stu- others give papers away, drawing income student to take a paper off the Internet. I dents, four out of five teens at the top of from ads. For example, School Sucks at- can find it," she insists. their classes claim to have cheated in tracts advertising because it claims to For a price, teachers can get help spot some way, the highest proportion in the have received more than 3 million hits. ting "digital plagiarism" through sites 29-year history of the survey. As more Why do students risk embarrassment, such as www.plagiarism.org, developed cheating resources are offered on the In- failure, and even expulsion by download- by a group of researchers and alumni of ternet, those numbers are likely to in- ing a paper? Aside from the obvious rea- the University of California, Berkeley. A crease. sons such as laziness, the anonymity of the site, teachers have papers "fmger- "We know the problem has ballooned, the Internet attracts students who might printed" or checked against a database ol not because students have been caught, otherwise be too embarrassed to ask for manuscripts from schools, universities, but because the web sites boast about the help, according to Kathleen Ross, who and other sources. Teachers receive an number of hits they get and the money trains teachers and students in educational e-mailed "Originality Report" that show. made off the sale of papers," says Peter technology at private and public schools what percentage of a paper appears to Wood, associate provost at Boston Uni- in Boston. 'Me Internet is so much easier have come from other sources and links versity, which sued eight online com- to turn to for help than another person, to those sources. The method is notfool- panies in 1998 in an effort to stop the who might make a judgment," Ross ex- proof: since it relies on matching key- sale of papers. plains. words, it can flag a legitimate paper due 32

I 1111111 to the high recurrence of keywords throughout the Web. The Digital Classroom In one sense, any tool for detecting How Technology Is Changing the Way plagiarism could be considered a failure, We Teach and Learn in that it is just a Band-Aid for the larger problem. In order to truly combat digital A new publication from the Harvard Education Letter or other kinds of plagiarism, teachers Digital technologies are reshaping the way education is practiced, raising many need to find ways to help students avoid questions: How can we better prepare teachers for the challenges of high-tech the temptation to cheat. classrooms? How can teachers use the vast resources of the Internet to improve Teachers who assign papers on the science, math, and humanities learning? What can be done to close the "digital same topics each year, who assign pa- divide"? pers with unrealistic deadlines, or who The Digital Classrootn addresses these and other questions about the impact don't provide enough preparation and of new technologies in the classroom. Topics include: information to make students comfort- able writing a paper increase the likeli- Howard Gardner on technology and multiple intelligences theory hood that their students will cheat, says Using technology to reshape the professional culture of teaching Oliver Woshinsky, professor of political How the Internet connects students around the globe science at the University of Maine. "I Innovations to benefit special-needs students make assignments as specific as possi- Myths and realities of digital education ble and require tie-ins with classwork What the future may hold for high-tech classrooms and course texts," he explains. Woshin- In keeping with the Harvard Education Letter's mission, The Digital Classroom sky's strategy is one that many teachers offers clear, concise analysis of research and innovative K-12 practice, high- may want to copy. lighting the concerns of practitioners, scholars, policymakers and parents. Orit Ditman is a Boston-based writer and former 184 pp. $21.95. To order a copy, call 800-513-0763 or visit us on the Web at elementary schoolteacher www.edletter.orgldc.

Green-Eyed Monster idate her, but in their flat-out rejection of implementing new techniques; and ample continued from page 8 what she was trying to achieve through opportunities to network with colleagues educational technology. beyond their own school through gradu- their own knowledge and level of innova- The issue of collegial jealousy and ate-level courses, technology groups, and tion, they were not ready to "publicly" how it can become a barrier to innovative professional conferences. Studies also share with other teachers their cutting- teaching may be one of the most impor- show they need first-hand exposure to edge techniquessuch as conversing tant challenges we educators face. Most successful models of teaching using new with parents via e-mail or using interest- teachers value teamwork and want to be technologieswhich is unlikely to hap- ing Internet sites in classes. accepted by their peers; they do not want pen in a school where even subtle forms The third teacher felt more comfort- to appear to be playing a game of oneups- of professional jealousy can interfere with able in her role as an innovator and, with manship when demonstrating their tech- the sharing of technological expertise. the support of her principal, talked openly nological achievements. Yet what they At the same time, Id suggest we need about the changes taking place in her have to share about the effective use of to seriously consider ways to support per- classroom. Because this teacher was com- new technologies can have important ben- sonal development along with profes- fortable sharing her methods and show- efits for other teachers, and, especially, for sional development. This combination casing her students' activities, she was in their students. Students who are knowl- would help teachers become innovators a position to improve, expand, and use edgeable about ways to use computers to without threatening their colleagues in the her experiences to teach other teachers aid their own learning will be better pre- highly collaborative elementary school how to integrate these new technologies pared for the types of jobs they will en- culture and thereby evoking the green- into their classrooms. Interestingly, she counter in the 21st century. eyed monster. worked in a district where administrators Throughout the past decade, studies Julie M. Wood is a lecturer in the Technology in stressed the need to "hothouse" innova- have shown that for technology to be suc- Education program at the Harvard Graduate tive practices. She was given permission cessfully integrated into classrooms, School of Education and director of the America to develop her own personal agencyto teachers need release time to experiment Reads program at the Massachusetts Institute of become a star, in other words. Profes- with computer software, the Internet and Technology.. She wrote about literacy and tech- nology in The Digital Classroom, a new book sional jealousy in this case revealed itself other innovations away from pressures of from the Harvard Education Letter. not in only other teachers' trying to intim- the classroom; follow-up support when

3 3 I-larvarelFriiirmtinn I atfor 11,1./Annuet 111(111 InnovativeTeachers Hindered by the "Green-Eyed Monster"

By Julie M. Wood

0! Beware, my lord, of jealousy; chological processes that teachers undergo when some be- It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock come innovators and change agents and others do not. By The meat it feeds on ... merging these bodies of knowledge, we can better help Othello,William Shakespeare teachers cope with the problem of coll4a1 jealousy that can Coming derail innovative initiatives in schools. As an elementaly schoolteacher in suburban Boston, Harvard's Robert Kegan, an expert in adult development, soon... Michelle Jacobson talked enthusiastically to indi- suggests in his constructive-developmental personality theory vidual colleagues during lunch breaks about her stu- that one salient characteristic of adults is their dependence on The Math Wars dents' successful electronic slide show creations and about others for a sense of selfthat "one's self definitions, pur- how such innovative technology had invigorated the learning poses, and preoccupying concerns are essentially co-defmed, Principal of her 1st- and 2nd-grade students. But she knew better than co-determined, and co-experienced." Normally, adults will Leadership to talk that way to a group of teachers. She had heard other eventually move into another, more autonomous stage in colleagues be criticized for such -showing off' and, even which the self determines its own standards, morals, and Home Schooling without bragging, felt shunned herself by some teachers for belief systemsone in which being liked is no longer a pre- introducing new practices into the classroom. occupation. Yet there remains a powerful yearning for both While studying primary schoolteachers who use innova- community and personal agencythat is, while generally tive technologies for my doctoral dissertation. I was struck by people want to contribute to the overall welfare of others, an unexpected finding: pioneers like Michelle sometimes they also desire recognition for their unique qualities and ac- We welcome downplay their expertise or novel teach- complishmentsand many people toggle your comments ing strategies rather than risk evoking 131M1222913 between the two stages. jealousy from their peers. In other words, According to Kegan, institutions do Techno-savvy teachers Write or email us: they go underground. In the typical "all not typically serve our longing for both Harvard Education Letter for one, one for all" elementary school may downplay effective community and agency well. Elementary Gutman Library 349 culture, drawing too much attention to schools, for example, place a greater em- 6 Appian Way new resources and Cambridge, MA 02138 oneself is seen as showing off and invites phasis on community, where collaboration [email protected] a hostile response. It can also contribute techniques. and sharing are highly valued forms of be- to a gowing uneasiness among tradi- haviormore valued perhaps than indi- tional teachers that their hard-won teach- vidual innovation. As Dan C. Lortie has ing style is rapidly becoming obsolete written: "The traditions of teaching make and so are they. This highlights a distressinz paradox: people who seek money, prestige, or power somewhat sus- although most teachers support student achievement, they are pect: the characteristic style in public education is to mute often ambivalent about, or even hostile toward, the success of personal ambition." their peers. Thus, in a typical school, innovative teachers may bend Despite the contention by experts such as Seymour Papert over backwards to avoid threatening the school's sense of and Jan Hawkins that early technology training should logi- community, so that in trying to achieve a balance between cally begin with young children, and despite the fact that sharing their expertise and oveipowering others, they down- young children spend much of their school day learning to play potentially effective new resources and techniques. read and write, many administrators and practitioners don't During the 1996-97 school year, I examined the practice have a good understanding of strategies for using technology of three primary-grade teachers and their strategies for inte- to support early literacy instruction. Couple this with colle- grating new technologies into reading and language aits cur- gial jealousy of those who do use media-enhanced teaching ricula. Although the findings are limited to these three case practices, and the classrooms of techno-savvy teachers can studies and therefore are not generalizable, the fact that these easily become pockets of innovation that fail to engender teacheis attempted to develop their vision without threatening schoolwide change. their peers has important implications for other practitioners In considering the implementation of technology, experts who stand poised at the vanguard of school change. have focused mainly on issues associated with teacher train- What happens when a teacher ties to bring innovation ing (e.g., hardware, software, and technical support) and the into the classroom? That depends on how that person deals cultural issues associated with teacher-generated change. with collegial envy and jealousy. In my study, two of the However, they have paid scant attention to the complex psy- teachers (one was Michelle) felt that, while comfortable with 3 4 continued on page 7 September/October 2000 1,E RI A O I . ** Volume16, Number 5

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What the AERA Says About H igh-Stakes Tests 4 Are High-StakesTestsWorth theWager? for discussion Portrait of the Amid reports of test-score gains, researchers ask some tough questions "Super Principal" about the consequences for Latino and African American students. By Milli Pierce By Michael Sadowski 6

Choose the best answer to complete the following school diplomas, and this number continues to grow as insights additional states phase in such requirements. sentence: Standardized tests that are linked to We Need a Better graduation, promotion, and other high-stakes Such assessments appear to be popularand becom- Understanding of outcomes are ... ing more sowith the majority of Americans: in a 1999 Inquiry in Instruction poll by the ICR Survey Research Group, 93 percent of a) a good idea because they create incentives for stu- Inquiry is more than just respondents agreed with "making students meet adequate dents, teachers, and schools to meet high achievement asking questions, says Temple academic standards to be promoted or graduated." Taken standards. University senior scholar in the light of a 1994 poll by Public Agenda that found Frank X. Sutman. b) a good idea because they help to ensure that all stu- that 80 percent of adults believed students should have to dents will graduate with at least a basic foundation of pass standardized tests in order to graduate from high -8 academic skills. school, those results suggest that public c) a bad idea because they stigmatize support for more student accountability students who do poorly and ex- is growing. acerbate educational inequities "Test construction Why are testing programs so attrac- along socioeconomic, racial, and tive to the general public? In part be- ttzo ethnic lines. is a social and political Please visit our website: cause they have a largely unquestioned d) a bad idea because they encourage www.edletter.org *."- process.We cannot reputation for objectivity, says Aaron a curriculum driven by fact memo- M. Pallas, professor of sociology and Currentlyon the web: rization and test-taking "tricks" in- afford to lose sight of education at Teachers College, Colum- 0.1 stead of critical thinking and other The Research Feature bia University, and co-author of a re- Thismonth, the focus is on higher-order skills. that fact." port on high-stakes testing for the Civil high-stakes testing, with Poll the staff of any elementary, mid- MINIM Rights Project at Harvard University. online links and other resources. dle, or high school and you will prob- "Most standardized tests are viewed by ably get the full range of responses to this question in the public at large as objective, which means several The Forum Feature Aconversation with school equal numbers. Similarly, education researchers are far things: there are right and wrong ansWers to the test ques- reform pioneerand HEL from reaching a consensus about whether testing students tions; unlike grades, which are awarded at the 'whim' of editorial board member for high-stakes outcomes actually improves learning. a teacher, standardized tests are standardizedscores Deborah Meier on "Will While some researchers seem to focus primarily on the don't depend on who is performing the assessment; tests Standards Save Education?" potential and others on the pitfalls, many seem to agree yield numerical scores, which are precise measures of Alsovisit our past research that some key questions are not being asked in the cur- performance; and, like a laboratory measurement, test features, including those on rent nrsh toward high-stakes testing. According to the lat- scores are reliable. Testing experts acknowledge that student journalism, the arts in est figures released by the Education Commission of the some of these assumptions are questionable," says Pallas. education, and cooperative learning. States, a bipartisan policy group, 24 states now require "Test construction is a social and political process, and students to pass exit tests before they receive their high we cannot afford to lose sight of that fact." continued on page 2 35 Indeed, policymakers and political the highest achievement gains in the scores on the NAEP or the TAAS, Neill is candidates have responded toif not country among all racial, socioeconomic, quick to add that these kinds of tests are partly createdthe public appetite for and family backgrounds." hardly adequate measures of what.stu- high-stakes testing as more and more of However, some researchers contend dents should know and be able to do: them propose accountability programs that the rise in TAAS scores may be noth- "Though they are very hard to track, we Harvard Education Letter modeled after those already established in ing more than that: an improvement in should be asking ourselves instead what

EDITOR other states. Two of the most extensively students' ability to perform well on that our schools do that makes a difference in David'''. Gordon studiedand controversialof these pro- particular test. "Texas has made much of terms of real-world outcomes." PRODUCTION EDITOR grams are those in Texas and Chicago. its claims of narrowing test-score gaps, Other researchers have also suggested Dody Riggs

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT but there is a lack of evidence of im- that the passing rates tell only half the lzumi Doi Texas Miracle or Mirage? provement except for the tests taught to," story. The other half, they say, is told by MARKETING AND WEB MANAGER Education is the single most important says Monty Neill, executive director of dropout and retention statistics for Texas Joan Ranante issue to voters in this year's presidential the National Center for Fair and Open students. In a recent report for The Na- FACULTY EDITOR election, according to a July Gallup Poll, Testing (FairTest) in Cambridge, MA. As tional Board on Educational Testing and Richard F. Elmore so Texas governor George W. Bush's bid for the RAND report, Neill says it paints Public Policy at Boston College, authors EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Milli 'fierce, Director, Principals' for the White House has turned all eyes an incomplete picture because, as RAND Marguerite Clarke, Walter Haney, and Center, HGSE; Katherine C. Boles, Lecturer, HGSE; Linda Darling- to the Lone Star State's schoolsand acknowledges, it does not include 1998 George Madaus note that high school Hammond, Professor, Stanford helped turn high-stakes testing into one of dropout rates in Texas, particularly among Universitr,Sally Dias, Superinten- dent Watertown (MA) Public this year's big issues. The Texas Assess- minority students, are considerably higher Schools; Harold Howe II, Lecturer Emeritus, HGSE; Susan Moore ment of Academic Skills (TAAS), a than they were before the TAAS, and they Johnson, Professor, HGSE; Robert Researcher Lauren speculate that there may be some connec- Kegan, Professor, HGSE; Peggy group of tests required for graduation and Kemp, Office of School Partner- used diagnostically in the lower grades, tion between the attrition figures and the ships, HGSE; Marya Levenson, Resnick suggests that Superintendent, North Colonie has both strong supporters and detractors. high-stakes assessments. The researchers Central School District, New- testing offers a kind of tonville, NY; Deborah Meier, Prin- Proponents of the TAAS, some of cite previous research by Haney that cipal, Mission Hill School, Boston, whom have referred to the tests as the showed minor fluctuations in dropout MA; John Merrow,President,The structure and coherence Merrow Report Jerome T. Murphy, "Texas miracle," point to the rise in test rates through the late 1970s and 1980s, Professor and Dean, HGSE;Arthur J. Rosenthal, Publishing Consultant scores as evidence that the system is that is lacking in some but a sudden, sharp decline in the 1990 Catherine Snow, Professor, HGSE, working. According to data released this 1991 school year, the first year the TAAS Jay Sugarman,Teacher, Runkle teachers' classrooms, School, Brookline, MA;Ariadne year by the Texas Education Agency, stu- was required for graduation. Dropouts Valsamis, Director of Public Infor- mation, HGSE dents in that state set their seventh straight especially those teaching among black and Hispanic students were Harvand Education Letter (ISSN record-high passing rate on the TAAS. about 50 percent greater than among 8755-3716) is published bimonthly in poorly funded by Harvard Graduate School Preliminary results show that 80 percent whites. According to Haney's findings, of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cam- of all students tested in grades three which are based on Texas Education bridge, MA 02 138-3752. Second- schools. class postage paid at Boston, MA, through ten passed the English version of Agency statistics, about 60 percent of all and additional mailing offices. Post- master:Send address change(s) to the TAAS this past spring, a rise of two black and Hispanic 9th-graders in Texas Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. percentage points over last year and 27 went on to complete high school on

Signed articles in Harvard Education percentage points over the 1994 pass rate data and is heavily weighted toward schedule through most of the late 1970s Letter represent the views of the authors.Address editorial corre- of 53 percent. In addition, the score gap mathematics. While RAND produced its and early 1980s, but in the years under spondence to editors, Harvard has narrowed between white youth and rankings based on five NAEP math scores TAAS, the numbers for each group hov- Education Letter, Gutman Library, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA African American and Latino students in three testing years (1990, 1992, and ered around 50 percent or slightly lower. 02138-3752; phone 617-495-3432; fax 617-496-3584; since the tests were first implemented in 1996), only two grade-four reading tests White students graduated on schedule at a email: editor@edlettenorg 1989. Between 1996 and 1998 alone, pass for 1992 and 1994 were included in the rate of about 70 percent in 1998 (the last web: www.edletter.org.

512000 by the President and rates for African American students rose analysis. year for which data were available), down Fellows of Harvard College. from 76 to 82 percent, for Latino students "If you look at 1998 reading data, you slightly from the 72-78 percent range of Published as a non-profit service. All rights reserved. Special permis- from 76 to 83 percent, and for white stu- see that Texas has not had a statistically figures seen in the late 1970s and early sion is required to reproduce in any manner, in whole or in part, dents from 92 to 94 percent. significant gain in reading on the NAEP," 1980s. the material herein contained. In July, Texas education officials re- Neill says. He adds that the NAEP read- Also significant, the researchers say, Call 617-495-3432 for reprint permission information. ceived more good news when a report by ing score gap between African American are retention statistics for 9th grade, the HOW TO SUBSCRIBE the RAND research organization ranked and white students in Texas widened be- year before students are required to take Send $34 for individuals, $44 for institutions ($46 for CanadalMex- the state second (only to North Carolina) tween 1992 and 1998, and reading scores the exit-level TAAS. According to a Texas ico, $56 other foreign, in U.S. funds only) to Harvard Education Letter, among 44 states for its score gains on the for African American students actually Education Agency report, 18 percent of 6 Appian Way, Cambridge MA National Assessment of Educational went down. "One has to be careful of all 9th-graders in Texas were retained at 02138-3752; or call us at 617-495- 3432 in Massachusetts or 800-513- Progress (NAEP). Laura Bush, wife of these kinds of analyses when they leave that level in 1997, and roughly one in four 0763 outside Massachusetts. Sub- scription prices subject to change the presidential candidate, cited the out reading," Neill says. "The data cer- African American and Latino students without notice. Single copies, $7.00. Back issues and bulk subscriptions RAND report in her speech at the Repub- tainly suggest that the vaunted gains the were held back. This 9th-grade retention available at special reduced rates; lican National Convention in Philadel- TAAS is supposed to be having on learn- rate has been dramatically higher than the call 800-513-0761 phia, saying it showed "that education re- ing do not show up elsewhere, except rate for all other grade levels through forms in Texas have resulted in some of possibly in math." Whatever students' most of the 1990s. By contrast, only 3 6 Harvard Education LetterSeptember/October 2000 2 percent of 8th-graders, 8 percent of 10th-graders, 5 percent of 1 lth-graders, and 4 percent of 12th-graders were re- From the Editor tained in Texas schools in 1997. While it Listen this autumn as ViCe President Al Gore and Texas governor George W. is difficult to draw conclusions about the Bush promise to energize U.S. education with more parental choice, stricter reasons for the high 9th-grade retention accountability measures, character and civics education, improved school rate, some have suggested that the TAAS safety, and better access to educational technology. Listen closelythe same is a major contributing factor. words from different candidates may have very different meaningsand At a recent Harvard Graduate School celebrate the fact that after decades as a backburner issue in national politics, of Education forum on high-stakes test- the education and future of our children is finally a topic of prime-time debate. ing, Angela Valenzuela, a research associ- ate at the University of Texas at Austin, With education at the top of this election year's agenda, what better suggested that there may be strong reason time to take advantage of the many resources offered on our website, to believe that some weaker students are www.edletter.org?You'll find back issues, research features, transcripts of being held at the 9th-grade level so that forum discussions from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and more. they will not lower their schools' average Since 1985, the nonprofit Harvard Education Letter has provided school TAAS scores. "The state's accountability practitioners, policymakers, education researchers, and parents with thoughtful, system was originally designed to hold jargon-free articles about new research, helpful resources, and innovative school administrators and teachers ac- practice in K-12 education. countable, but the main people who are As the new editor of the Harvard Education Letter, I'd like to offer a spe- being punished here are the children," cial word of thanks to Kelly Graves-Desai, outgoing editorial director, for her Valenzuela said. many years of dedicated service to the Letter. And I assure you we will con- Displacement and tinue to do our best to give you the information you need to help improve our Distortion nation's schools. David T Gordon Some researchers are also documenting what they consider to be the detrimental effects of the Texas tests on curriculum. Linda M. McNeil, professor of education affecting poor and minority youth the ing to the test" is not the most effective and director of the Center for Education most, says McNeil, since many of them approach to instruction, Resnick suggests at Rice University, has studied the effects attend schools where scores are lowest that testing offers a kind of structure and of TAAS on Texas schools and sees in her and the pressure to raise them is greatest. coherence that is lacking in some teach- case studies a pattern of "displacement "[Students of color] are not getting the ers' classrooms, especially those teaching and distortion" of curriculum to make same educational experience as kids in in poorly funded schools. 'Mere are cer- way for TAAS preparation. "There are suburban schools," she says. tainly some places where the curriculum classrooms where children read no prose Finally, the TAAS poses special chal- is being dramatically narrowed to what- from September to February," she says. lenges to the large number of Latino stu- ever types of items are on the test," Instead, McNeil adds, students read short, dents in Texas for whom English is their Resnick says. There are also places that disconnected passages and answer ques- second language. Catherine E. Snow, a five years ago were hardly teaching kids tions about them in patterns similar to professor at the Harvard Graduate School at all, especially poor kids. So now at those seen on the TAAS exam. "They of Education and president of the Ameri- least they're teaching them something, study information they are meant to for- can Educational Research Association and it appears this is coming in the wake get. It's all artificial content to raise test (AERA), says tests like the TAAS pose a of high-stakes testing." scores." difficult conundrum regarding the inclu- Under a new measure against social Curriculum changes, McNeil says, sion of these second-language students: promotion passed by the Texas legisla- when superintendents and school boards "We can't ask questions about how these ture, the TAAS will soon affect more than respond to political pressure to raise tests tests affect language-minority kids unless just lah-graders seeking the state's per- scores by passing that pressure on to we include them, but how do we do this mission to graduate: 3rd-, 5th-, and 8th- teachers and building-level administra- without bringing negatiVe consequences graders will also be required to pass tors. A recent study by James V. Hoffman, down on them?" TAAS exams in order to advance to the Julie Pennington, and Lori Assaf of the Despite such complications, however, next grade. University of Texas at Austin and Scott G. some researchers contend that a test- Paris of the University of Michigan sup- driven curriculum is better than no real Chicago Hope? ports this finding. In their survey of 200 curriculum at all. Lauren Resnick, direc- A similar promotional testing requirement Texas teachers, 85 percent agreed that tor of the Center on Education at the Uni- has been in place in the Chicago Public areas not directly tested on the TAAS "re- versity of Pittsburgh, has done extensive Schools since the 1996-1997 school year, ceive less and less attention in the curricu- work in the areas of standards and ac- and research results are in on its first two lum." The modification of curriculum is countability. While agreeing that "teach- years of implementation. Under the pol-

3 7 Harvard Education LetterSeptember/October2000 icy, Chicago 3rd-, 6th-, and 8th-grade stu- What the AERA Says About dents mutSt achieve a certain cut score on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (fIBS) in High-Stakes Testing reading and mathematics to advance to the next grade. Because of low baseline Pressure to raise test scores can force state- and district-level officials to make decisions that test scores among Chicago students, may run contraiy to what's best for students, education researchers say. In an effort to pro- school officials set the score requirements vide research-based guidelines to policymakers, test publishers, and school personnel, the for promotion at one year below grade American Educational Research Association (AERA) has issued a position statement on the level for grade three, 1.5 years below use of high-stakes testing in pre-K-12 education. According to its authors, the statement grade level for grade six, and 1.8 years presents "a set of conditions essential to sound implementation of high-stakes testing pro- below grade level for grade eight. Stu- grams." The conditions, summarized here, include: dents who do not meet the required score Protection Against High-Stakes Decisions Based on a Single Test are required to attend a six-week program "Decisions that affect individual students' life chances or educational opportunities should called Summer Bridge and repeat the test not be made on the basis of test scores alone .. ." At the very least, the AERA recommends at the end of the summer. If they fail the that students be given multiple opportunities to pass high-stakes tests and that alternative test again, they are retained in grade for forms of assessment be provided where there is "credible evidence" that a test may not that year. Students can also attend an ex- measure a child's true level of proficiency. tended-day remediation program called Lighthouse. School officials have made Adequate Resources and Opportunity to Learn exceptions to the policy for students par- Before students, schools, and districts can be "passed" or "failed" by high-stakes tests, they ticipating in bilingual and special educa- must have access to the materials, curriculum, and instruction to enable them to succeed on tion programs. such assessments: "When content standards and associated tests are introduced as a reform In a study called "Ending Social Pro- to change and thereby improve current practice, opportunities to access appropriate materi- motion: Results from the First Two als and retraining consistent with the intended changes should be provided before schools, Years," researchers from the Consortium teachers, or students are sanctioned for failing to meet the new standards." on Chicago School Research have re- Validation for Each Separate Intended Use ported some encouraging preliminary results. The data show that ITBS scores Tests must only be used for the purposes for which they are valid, and each use of a particu- have improved significantly under just lar test must be subject to "a separate evaluation of the strengths and limitations of both the two years of the policy, with 20 percent testing program and the test itself." more 6th-graders and 21 percent more Full Disclosure of Likely Negative Consequences 8th-graders reaching the minimum cut "Where credible scientific evidence suggests that a given type of testing program is likely score in 1997 than in 1995 (before the to have negative side effects, test developers and users should make a serious effort to ex- scores were used as promotion criteria). plain these possible effects to policymakers," recommends the AERA. The evidence suggests that the high stakes of the tests and the remediation Alignment Between the Test and the Curriculum programs are in some way combining to The test should reflect the curriculum in both its content and the cognitive process involved: help students raise their scores, the re- "High-stakes tests should not be limited to that portion of the relevant curriculum that is searchers say. They also note that the pos- easiest to measure." To avoid the problem of "teaching to the test," die AERA recommends itive news about test scores has brought a using multiple test forms "to avoid a narrowing of the curriculum toward just the content great deal of attention to the Chicago pol- sampled on a particular form." icy, including this mention in President Opportunities for Meaningful Remediation Clinton's 1999 State of the Union ad- dress: "When we promote a child from Students who fail a high-stakes test should be given a second chance, and "remediation grade to grade who hasn't mastered the should focus on the knowledge and skills the test is intended to address, not just the test work, we do that child no favors. It is performance itself." time to end social promotion in America's schools. Last year in Chicago, they made Additional conditions for sound testing implementation outlined in the statement include: that decision.. .. I propose to help other setting valid and appropriate passing levels; taking into consideration language differences communities follow Chicago's lead." among examinees; paying appropriate attention to students with disabilities; and perform- Some educational researchers, how- ing ongoing evaluations of the intended and unintended effects of high-stakes testing. ever, are less eager to call for an end to "These are all criteria that we believe have to be put in place in order for testing to be fair," social promotion based on these findings. says AERA president Catherine Snow. "Right now, there's not a state in the union that's JayP.Heubert, associate professor of ed- abiding by all of them." The full text of the AERA position statement is available online at ucation at Teachers College, reports that www.aera.net. 0 M. S. the news,we get from research about re- tention is alinost all bad: "Nearly all of the research on retention shows that it has

Harvard Education Letter September/October 2000 38 strong negative effects on kids," he says. "the picture is mixed on whether getting summer school, and students get three Heubert and Robert M. Hauser, a sociol- students up to a test-score cutoff in one chances to retake the test, with remedia- ogy professor at the University of Wis- year allows them to do better the next tion in between, before promotion deci- For further consin at Madison, cite numerous studies year." Test-score increases for students sions are made. There's no evidence our information on the effects of retention in a 1999 participating in the Summer Bridge pro- promotion policy doesn't work, but those National Research Council report they gram, for example, were not followed by who are philosophically opposed to stan- edited, entitled High Stakes: Testing for improved performance during the subse- dardized tests will blast anything we do." M. Clarke,W Haney, and G. Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation. quent school year and may be the result Madaus."High Stakes Testing and The preponderance of studies, they note, of "testing effects versus learning gains," New Guidelines High School Completion?' Boston: Boston College, National link retention to such negative student the researchers say. Even those researchers who are holding Board on Educational Testing and outcomes as lower levels of academic and high-stakes testing programs up to the Public Policy, January 2000. social success and much higher risk of closest scrutiny insist they are not against R.E Elmore and R. Rothman, eds. dropping out. (See "Retention vs. Social testing; they simply want a more critical Testing,Teaching, and Learning: The numbers of those A Guide fsr States and School Promotion: Schools Search for Alterna- review of its results and a more careful Districts. Washington, DC: tives," HEL, January/February 1999.) who pass the tests may tell consideration of all its consequences. National Research Council, 1999. The Chicago consortium's findings, "Used properly, tests can be very helpful. J.P.Heubert and R.M. Hauser, eds. only half the story. High Stakes:TestingforTracking, though impressive in terms of test scores, Used poorly, they can do considerable Promotion, and Graduation. Wash- also seem to suggest that retention may harm," says Heubert. ington, DC: National Research The other half is told by Council, 1999. be having a detrimental effect on stu- To provide guidance to educators and dents. Under the promotion test policy, dropout and retention policymakers on the fair and appropriate LM. McNeil."Creating New Inequalities: Contradictions of the researchers note, "only one-fourth of rates. use of testing, the AERA issued a position Reform." Phi Delta Kappan 81, no. retained 8th-graders and one-third of re- statement this past summer outlining a set 10 (June 2000): 729-734. tained 3rd- and 6th-graders in 1997 made of conditions that should be met by any G. Natriello and A.M. Pallas."The 'normal' progress during the following educational testing program (see sidebar, Development and Impact of High- Stakes Testing." Paper presented school year, meaning that they stayed in Finally, Heubert notes that the pub- page 4). These include using more than a at High Stakes KI 2 Testing Con- the school system, were again subject to lishers of the ITBS, Riverside Publishing, single test for making high-stakes deci- ference sponsored by The Civil Rights Project, Harvard Univer- the policy, and passed the test cutoff the have said that the tests are invalid for re- sions about students, the provision of ade- sity, December 1998. Revised next May." tention and promotion decisions. Heubert quate resources and opportunities to learn, November I 999.Available online: www.law.harvard.edul Like the rise in TAAS scores, the says, "Chicago is failing tens of thou- the alignment of tests with curriculum, civilrights/conferences/ Chicago students' higher scores on the sands of kids each year, almost all minor- and the full disclosure of the likely nega- testing98.drafts/ natriello99.html ITBS have also led some researchers to ity and almost all likely dropouts. And the tive consequences of testing. The U.S. wonder if they represent real gains in aca- top brass knows the test they're using Department of Education's Office for M. Neill et al. Testing OurChildren: A Report CardonState Assessment demic skill or just improved test-taking isn't even valid." Philip Hansen, chief Civil Rights is also preparing a resource Systems. Cambridge, MA: FairTest, ability. The data are inconclusive, but accountability officer for the Chicago guide on the use of high-stakes testing for 1997. lend some support to the latter hypothesis. Public Schools, disputes that claim: "The educators and policymakers. It will focus M. Roderick,A.S. Bryk, BA Jacob, on considerations for appropriate test use J.Q. Easton, and E.Allensworth. According to the consortium's report, tests are used to determine who goes to "Ending Social Promotion: and the legal ramifications of high-stakes Results from the First Two Years." testing, especially those affecting second- Consortium on Chicago School Research, December 1999. language learners and students with dis- Available online: ihe MOW Oessroom abilities. www.consortium-chicago.org "Tests can be a valuable part of a U.S. Department of Education, How Technology Is Changing the Way Office for Civil Rights."The Use student's education," says Marguerite We Teach and Learn of Tests When Making High- Clarke, associate director of the National Stakes Decisions for Students: A new publication from the Harvard Education Letter Board on Educational Testing and Public A Resource Guide for Educators and Policymakers" (draft). July 6, Policy and assistant professor of research 2000. Digital technologies are reshaping the way education is practiced, raising many at Boston College. "But when they be- questions: How can we better prepare teachers for the challenges of high-tech come the driving force behind educa- classrooms? How can teachers use the vast resources of the Internet to improve tional reform, they can become corrupted. science, math, and humanities learning? What can be done to close the "digital In this kind of environment, attention fo- divide"? The Digital Classroom addresses these and other questions about the cuses almost exclusively on the test at the impact of new technologies in the classroom. expense of other aspects of the education In keeping with the Harvard Education Letter's mission, The Digital Classroom system. High-stakes testing can then lead offers clear, concise analysis of research and innovative K-12 practice, high- to low-level learning." That's an outcome lighting the concerns of practitioners, scholars, policymakers and parents. a public hungry for accountability may 184 pp. $21.95. To order a copy, call 800-513-0763 or visit us on the Web at not be able to stomach. 0 www.edkfter.orgldr. Michael Sadowski, formerHELassistant editor, is a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

3 9 Harvard Education Letter September/October 2000 Portrait of the 'Super Principal' After a tumultuous decade of reform, principals work longer hours, have more stress, and get less thanks. Os there any way to make this job more attractive?

By Milli Pierce

According to a 1998 report pub- cipals can be easily consumed by every- ranked "long working hours" as their pri- lished by the National Associa- day "urgent but unimportant" matters. mary source of stress. No wonder. The tion of Elementary School Prin- Their quandary is whether to learn to typical elementary school principal works cipals (NAESP), the typical elementary carve out time to supervise and coach between 50 and 70 hours a week, includ- school principal a decade ago was a 45- teachers and work with them on profes- ing evenings and weekends. When I men- year-old white male who worked 40 sional development plans that support real tioned this fact to a group of suburban hours a week with most of the summer school improvement, or to risk leading a high school principals, they said, "Yeah, off, had authority for 17 percent of his disaffected, low-performing school com- those are our hours on a slow week." No budget, and belonged to a principal's as- munity. wonder that school districts seeking prin- sociation or union. He spent little time in No longer are schools seff-contained cipals advertise nationally and come up the classroom, functioning more as a institutions where outsiders come in only empty-handed. manager, and aspired to ascend the career when they are invited. Many contempo- Performance-based funding has added ladder. rary schools are truly community facili- to increasing pressure on principals. On a Today's principal works longer hours, ties, offering before- and after-school recent visit to a large urban district, I is less appreciated, has greater accounta- noted how disingenuous local leaders bility, and has little time to learn or think managed to quietly shift district funds about how to manage competing de- from low- to high-performing schools. The wall between school mands and constituencies, according to Some low-performing schools do not the NAESP report. While still white and and community has come have enough books for children to take male, the typical principal is now 50 years home to complete homework assign- old, with an annual salary of $61,000. He tumbling down."Out ments. Others have no access to technol- works ten hours a day at school and an- there" is now "in here." ogy, and some struggle to implement cen- other eight hours on weekends or tral officemandated curricula. Such evenings. He controls 26 percent of the heavy-handed administrative practices school's budget. Most of his time is spent fail to include the very people who are ul- in three areas: staff supervision, interac- care, along with a host of other social timately held responsible for school im- tion with students, and discipline/student services. Many such schools offer com- provement: principals. management. This principal can retire at munity education programs four nights a age 57 andeager to be relieved of work week, ending only at 11 o'clock. Though Musical Chairs that was once rewardingprobably will. these programs have appointed coordina- The preferred school improvement strat- The widespread demand to improve tors, most principals in these settings feel egy of too many central offices involves a student performance is at a fever pitch. compelled to be at die school during game of "principal musical chairs." Often Forty-nine states now have mandated cur- most, if not all, of its hours of operation. principals are removed before the school riculum standards. Charter schools, home As one New York principal says, "I'm has a chance to show improvement in test schooling, vouchers, and other alterna- here until almost midnight. I am responsi- scores. Recently I met an urban principal, tives to traditional public schools have ble for this school, so I am the last one to the seventh in four years at her school, provoked new pressures no principal leave each night." who remarked about the difficulties of could have anticipated 15 years ago. As Michael Fullan of the University trying to get teachers to take their teach- In this era of accountability and high- of Toronto has noted, the metaphorical ing seriously. Teachers who stubbornly stakes testing, raising achievement scores walls of the school have come tumbling refuse to change feel they can and will is just one of the challenges confronting down. "Out there" is now "in here," as wait her out, she says. In the 1980s, today's "super principals." Facing multi- govermnent policy, parent and commu- teachers and principals engaged in collec- ple instructional priorities with layered nity demands, corporate interests, and tive bargaining. Today, principals are of- administrative tasks, principals spend ubiquitous technology have all stormed ten stuck with a one-year contract while time on teaching and learning, ensuring the walls of the school. The relentless teachers remain tenured. that teachers have the support necessary pressures of today's complex environ- The contemporary principal must also to do their work, while at the same time ments have intensified the workload for have a skill set that encompasses technol- making sure the cafeteria and grounds are principals. ogy and its many uses. Discussions about safe and orderly. Creating a learning com- In a study conducted by the Montana the number of computers in a class is si- munity requires planned pursuit, yet prin- School Board Association, principals lenced by more substantive issues such as Harvard Education LetterSeptember/October 2000 4 0 how to plan for technology that will im- welcome the opportunity to select faculty deep, reflective practice based on unam- prove classroom instruction and relieve for their school. Indeed, in schools where biguous learning outcomes. The principal administration functions. Keeping up with principals do get to choose faculty mem- teacher would be accountable for student For further advancements is a beastly burden. Couple bers, they have a higher level of satisfac- achievement, curriculum, and technology, information this with securing the resources to outfit a tion and sense of balance between re- and have authority to hire and fire. school with hardware and software and a sponsibility and authority in the role. Meanwhile, the principal administra- principal can be overwhelmed. While the What can be done to improve the lot tor's responsibilities would focus on plant J.L. Doud and ER Keller. A Ten- tasks of a technology coordinator could of today's "super principals" and to attract management, including capital improve- Year Study:The K-8 Principal in and probably should belong to someone new talent to the profession? First, it's ments, transportation, food, secretaries 1998. Alexandria,VA: National Association of Elementary School else, data suggest principals are assuming worth noting that, in spite of the rapid and custodians, scheduling, data collec- Principals, 1998. this responsibility, too, according to the changes in the profession, many princi- tion, and parent involvement. This person Educational Research Service 1998 NAESP report. Technology is, after pals love their work. A focus group con- would be accountable to the principal (ERS), 2000 Clarendon Blvd., all, part of the school curriculum plan re- ducted by the Maine Leadership Acad- teacher. Since student achievement would Arlington,VA 22201; tel: 800-791- 9308; fax 800-791-9309. quired of the principal. emy on problems associated with eclipse all else in the school, the principal www.ers.org

In a study of principals and their per- changing leadership exposed long hours, administrator's role would be to support M. Fullan."Leadership for the 2Ist ceptions of their changing roles, "in- stress, lack of suitable compensation, and that effort. Century: Breaking the Bonds of Dependency." Educational Leader- creased responsibilities" were reported in Embedded in the call for improve- ship 55, no. 7 (April 1998): 6-10. 11 job-related areas. Seventy percent ment of the principal's lot is also a call for A. Hargreaves and M. Fullan. noted increased marketing responsibili- more diverse leadership. At a time when What's Worth Fighting for Out ties. Seventy-six percent of urban princi- Many mistakenly we have more people of color and There? NewYork:Teachers College Press, 1998. pals noted increased responsibility for believe that people of women with advanced degrees, too few site-based professional development. The are being appointed to leadership posi- National Association of Elemen- tary School Principals (NAESP), irony is that principals with responsibility color are role models tions. While women have made notable 1615 Duke St.,Alexandria,VA for site-based professional development gains, educators of color who ascend to 22314-3483; tel: 800-38-NAESP only for the children who [800-386-2377]. are often bound by collective bargaining school leadership posts almost exclu- www. naesp.org rules. In many districts, professional de- look like them. sively serve in minority and/or poor National Association of velopment time varies from one hour a school communities. Many mistakenly Secondary School Principals week to one hour a month. believe that people of color are role mod- (NASSP), 1904 Association Dr., Reston,VA 20191-1537; Almost all principals (92 percent) els only for the children who look like tel: 800-253-7746. have sole responsibility for supervising relationship problems as key reasons why them. But, if diversity is to be taught and www.nassp.org and evaluating staff. The remainder share principals are dissatisfied. Despite these modeled, children of all colors must see The Principal Keystone of a High- Achieving School:Attracting and this responsibility with others within the concerns, the panel participants acknowl- teachers and leaders of all colors. Keeping the LeadersWe Need. school's departments or with central of- edged their own feelings of deep satisfac- While many principals feel the sand Arlington,VA: ERS, 2000. This 85- fice directors/supervisors. In schools with tion with the leadership role inherent in page report can be purchased shifting under their feet during this time from ERS, NAESR or NASSR $12. more than 600 students, principals typi- the principalship. of reform, the men and women who take The Principals' Center, Harvard cally delegate some of this responsibility They also feel that their colleagues on the role of principal do so because Graduate School of Education, to assistant principals. According to the should understand that schools are chang- they believe they can make a difference 8 Story St., Lower Level, Cam- bridge, MA 02138; tel: 617-495- NAESP report, principals are also now re- ing institutions in our society, and that for childrenand most believe they are 1825; fax:617-495-5900; e-mail: sponsible for teacher involvement in in- paramount to establishing reasonable doing just that. Still, many principals ex- [email protected]. www.gse.harvard.edul-principals/ structional improvement, and for structur- leadership responsibilities is the need to press concerns for the future of the princi- ing opportunities for creative scheduling, clarify the principal's role and improve palship. Longer hours, increased stresses, teaming, and project-based learning, so preparation for that changing role accord- and inadequate compensation will not that teachers can work together during the ingly. Creating a job description that clari- make the position attractive to the best of school day to improve instruction. fies the expectations and responsibilities the best. There are 93,000 principals in of principals, including districts' expecta- the United States. As retirement looms for Who Hires? tions, would help principals establish and at least half of those currently practicing, Yet many principals do not have a say in fulfill realistic priorities. the key to recruiting and retaining the best which teachers get hired. In too many of the best lies in how we define the posi- cases the central office is solely responsi- Two-Leader Approach tion and support new recruits. ble for hiring. In urban school districts There are other potential solutions to this Well-articulated goals, accountability where teacher selection could play a sig- conundrum. For example, perhaps two with authority, support from superintend- nificant role in student achievement, prin- leaders are needed in every school: a prin- ents, protection from political interfer- cipals have far less authority than their cipal teacher and a principal administra- ence, and a critical look at teacher tenure suburban and rural counterparts. Since a tor. The principal teacher would have a might make the difference for those who majority of principals surveyed have re- well-established teaching history rooted want to pick up the mantle but are reluc- sponsibility for supervision and evalua- in strong instructional practice. This per- tant to lose a limb in the process. 0 tion, it is reasonable to expect that they son would spend the year supervising Milli Pierce is director of the Principals' have a choice in who will deliver the teaching teams, coaching, giving feed- Center at the Harvard Graduate School of services they must evaluate. Principals back, and teaching teachers to engage in Education.

41 Harvard Education Letter September/October 2000 We Need a Better Understanding of Inquiry in Instruction

By Frank X. Sutman

tany national and state science education instruc- students for the real world of work. Even when varied re- ional documents propose inquiry as a standard for sources are available, teachers tend to be impatient and to use Mearning without saying what it really means. For their time to cover a great deal of content rather than to un- instance, the National Research Council's recently released cover concepts and principles. In doing so, teachers may ask Coming report, Inquiry and the National Science Education Stan- students so many questions that there is little time for stu- dards, presents examples of inquiry practices, particularly in dents to ask their own questions or to inquire. soon... science classrooms, but no clear definition. While hands-on laboratory experiences can and should Yet studies conducted by this author and his students play a central role in offering students the opportunity to Charter Schools through Temple University's Center for Science Laboratory practice inquiry/discovery processes, such experiences in Studies, as well as research reported by M. D. Herron (see themselves do not assure that student inquiry/discovery will Math Wars his 1979 article, "The Nature of Scientific Enquiry," in The occur. Hands-on experiences work only when they are the School Review) and later reports reveal that providing exam- central component of well-planned sequences of lessons de- Violence ples alone does not increase teachers' ability to understand signed to explore problems, develop procedures for address- Prevention this approach to instruction. While in- ing problems, carry out agreed-upon structional materials can update content 11111111111 procedures that provide answers to stu- and involve students in more hands-on dent inquiries, and allow follow-up dis- experiences, they do not necessarily In covering content, cussion. foster opportunities for students to prac- teachers may ask students Students who are given an opportu- We welcome tice inquiry in instruction when it is de- nity to experience higher levels of in- your comments fined simply as the single process of so many questions that quiry/discovery in instruction surpass students asking relevant questions there is little time for those who experience didactically ori- Write or email us: about issues to which they do not pos- ented instruction, not only in learning Harvard Education Letter sess predetermined answers. students to inquire. content but also in the development of Gutman Library 349 Student discovery is key to effective 6 Appian Way first- and second-language skills. And Cambridge, MA 02138 inquiry, in that students must become when the inquiry/discovety approach is [email protected] involved in processes that, when prac- emphasizedfor instance, in subjects ticed, allow them to discover the answers to their inquiries. like science that naturally encompass mathematics and lan- Examples of such "discovery" processes include mathemati- guagethese skills are also enhanced. cal manipulation of data, searching appropriate websites for Our research also indicates that science teachers in grades interpretations, etc. The questions students ask and the oppor- 7-12 and in the early postsecondary years spend 90 percent tunity they have to discover the answer are closely linked. of their time during laboratory-based instruction responding Our studies have produced the following findings that can to students' procedural questions, leaving little or no time for help provide a better understanding of students' practice of students to practice and develop skills associated with in- inquity/discovery: quiry. Couple this with the pressure to cover a great amount of content, and one can see why the present overcrowded Inquiry/discovery-oriented instruction can be viewed as ex- curriculum has been blamed for the unacceptable perform- isting at one end of an instructional continuum with didactic ance of American students on the Third International Mathe- instruction at the opposite end. Yet it is possible to carry out matics and Science Study (TI1VISS) assessment. instruction that offers students an opportunity to practice in- quiry/discovery processes at various levels along this contin- Inquiry/discovery in instruction has also been referred uum. The role of discussion in instruction is almost always to by terms such as "student centered, "progressive," and incorrectly associated by educators with the didactic end of "constructivist," thus creating confusion among teachers and the continuum, but discussion is a natural outgrowth of in- other educators about a non-didactic approach to instruction. quiry/discovery processes. We have proposed that this approach be referred to as in- Students' efforts toward discovery depend upon readily quiry/discovery and that it be simply and functionally de- available and varied sources of information, such as appropri- fined. This is a necessary first step in assuring that reform in ate textbooks, handbooks, field guides, websites, CD ROMs, instruction occurs and that the reform becomes widespread and contact with knowledgeable professionals. Teachers who and lasting. M

limit sources of information to a single textbookand to the Frank X. Sutman is a senior scholar in education at Temple University teachers' own answers to student questionsdon't prepare and director of Rowan University's Curriculum Development Council. Harvard Education LetterSeptember/October 2000 4 2 November/December 2000 the;Harval:d GraduateiSchool.offEducaudro , a - Volume 16, Number 6.

INSIDE

Will New Standards Quiet the [Math Wars? 4

new and noteworthy Getting a Jump on Good Health A Portrait of Kindergartners As obesity rises and activity levels fall, many schools are trying new phys ed curricula that aim to teach students healthy practices that will last a lifetime 7

By Sara-Ellen Amster insights Why Huck Finn Belongs Rememberhow discouraging it was in gym class less active than boys, and their participation in PE drops in Classrooms to always get stuck out in right field during soft- off once they hit middle school, according to a nation- Twain's work sparks discus- ball games or to be the first one eliminated in wide study of adolescent physical activity published in sions we needand fearto dodge ball? Remember the embarrassment of futilely try- the June 2000 issue of the journal Pediatrics. In the have, writes Harvard scholar ing to do chinups or climb a rope in front of 30 other study, researchers at UNC's Carolina Population Center Jocelyn Chadwick kids? For many adults, attitudes about physical fitness argue that American kids, especially minority girls, don't and health were shaped by demoralizing experiences in get enough exercise. Drawn from an analysis of the 1996 8 physical education (PE) classa factor that may in part National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health of help explain that while athletes and models are idealized 17,766 middle and high school students, the study shows in the popular press, obesity and inac- that only 21.3 percent of all adolescents tivity among the general population participate in PE classes at least once a persist. week. Now some schools are working In a country of couch These trends come at a time when with education and health researchers PE programs are easy targets for budget potatoes, teaching kids to implement new PE programs that cuts, as schools divert resources from Please visit our website: are more engaging and exciting for all the value of exercise classes and activities deemed www.edletter.org children. This development is fueled "nonessential" toward more obvious by a spate of recent studies showing is essential. needs, such as technology purchases Currently on the web: that an increasing number of young and preparation for standardized tests. The Research Feature people spend their free time gulping Only Illinois requires a daily PE class This month's focus is on new snacks or fast foods, watching TV, lis- for all K-12 public-school students. physical education programs, tening to CDs, surfing the Internet, and playing video Yet in a country of couch potatoes where heart dis- with online links and other games, rather than playing outdoors with friends. ease, hypertension, and adult-onset diabetes are rampant, resources. The percentage of overweight young people-14 teaching kids the value of exercise is essential, says The Forum Feature The Great Homework percent of children aged 6 to 11 and 12 percent of those Howell Wechsler, a researcher in the CDC's division of Debate, featuring Etta adolescent and school health who specializes in PE. "I aged 12 to 17has more than doubled in the past 30 Kralovec and John Buell, the years. From 1991 to 1997, daily participation in physical think a lot of people are starting to understand the reality authors of The End of education dropped from 42 to 27 percent, according to of the childhood obesity problem, which has grave con- Homework, and others the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Less than 20 per- sequences if it's not reversed. Policymakers must start Also visit our past research cent of students who live within a mile of school walk realizing you just can't ignore this. Something must be features, including those on there. In fact, almost half of young people aged 12 to 21 done." student journalism, the arts in and more than one-third of high school students get no The CDC is supplying seed money to school projects education, and cooperative vigorous exercise on a regular basis, says the CDC. in 20 states and two citiesMilwaukee and New York learning. Girlsand especially minority girlsare on average in an effort to boost physical activity, improve nutrition,

4 3 and reduce tobacco use among young place in the curriculum, particularly if that good at sports and sometimes that people, says Wechsler. These programs children request them. would slow down the kids who did want aim to demonstrate how schools can put "We need more sports where every- to participate. I'd say the best thing we into practice the CDC's 1997 "Guidelines one can play," says Susan Wooley, execu- could do for them is give [disinterested for School and Community Programs to tive director of the American School Harvard students] more attention and find the Education Letter Promote Lifelong Physical Activity Health Association (ASHA). "For the ath- things they like to do."

EDITOR Among Young People," which encour- letically inclined, interscholastic sports David T. Gordon ages teaching physical fitness skills and are great, but the kid who is obese and An 'Alphabet of Movement' PRODUCTION EDITOR habits kids can take with them into adult- Dody Riggs uncoordinated is not going to get picked SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recre-

ASSISTANT EDITOR hood. and will sit on the bench." In addition, ation for Kids) is one innovative K-6 Michael Sadowski In September, the National Institutes research shows that team sports do not in- PE program currently being used in 700 MARKETING AND WEB MANAGER of Health (NIH) began a new study of terest girls as much as individual and dual schools across 16 states. The program Joan Razzante adolescent girls, especially minorities, activities, according to the NIH's Stone. emphasizes using small teams to help FACULTY EDITOR Richard F. Elmore that seeks to uncover ways both inside Schools that teach mainly team sports build both athletic and social skills. For EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD and out of school that will make girls do not adequately prepare students for example, in a SPARK softball game, Katherine C. Boles, Lecturer, HGSE; Laura A. Cooper,Asst more interested in physical activity and iihysical fitness as adults, says James Sal- teams are made up of just five players. Superintendent, Evanston Township fitness. Researchers will experiment with (IL) High School; Linda Darling- lis, a San Diego State University psychol- When a batter hits the ball, fielders must Hammond, Professor, Stanford PE programs at 30 schools, tying to toss it to every player before the batter University; Sally Dias, Superinten- dentWatertown (MA) Public make them more interesting to students E74,47-MR.DAA reaches home. This keeps everyone in- Schools; Harold Howe II, Lecturer Emeritus, HGSE; Susan Moore and link the programs to community volved and active in the game, and leads Johnson, Professor, HGSE; Robert agencies. After analyzing the interven- Unlike traditional gym to less goofing off, say teachers who use Kegan, Professor, HGSE; Peggy KemR Office of School Partner- tions, researchers hope to learn whether the program. Soccer is different, too, ships, HGSE; Marya Levenson, class, the new PE is Superintendent, North Colonie physical activity levels increased and played on mini-fields by teams of three. Central School District, New- what connection, if any, that would have tonville, NY; Deborah Meier, Prin- designed to help each SPARK aims to teach kids self-control cipal, Mission Hill School, Boston, to academic performance, says Elaine and an acceptance of personal differ- MA; John Merrow,President,The student develop a personal Men:ow Report Jerome T. Murphy, Stone, a health science administrator at encesconcepts that can benefit class- Professor and Dean, HGSE; Milli the NIH. "We hope to turn this decline [in Pierce, Director, Principals' Center, lifetime fitness program. room management in other subjects, says FIGSE;Arthur J. Rosenthal, Publish- children's health] around, so that later on executive director Paul Rosengard. ing Consultant Catherine Snow, Professor, HGSE; fay Sugarman, there's less obesity and sedentary behav- Perhaps SPARK's most successful Teacher, Runkle School, Brookline, MA;AriadneValsamis, Director of ior and lower health-care costs." project is found in the Memphis schools, Public Information, HGSE ogist who researches physical education. which contain all of the ingredients of a Harvard Education Letter (ISSN 8755-3716) is published bimonthly The New PE "High schools focus on football, basket- large urban district (with 102 elementary by Harvard Graduate School The NTH is not alone in its judgment that ball, soccer, and other team sports, but the schools serving 66,000 students, 86 per- of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cam- bridge, MA 02138-37S2. Second- in order to improve children's health we percentage of adults who do those kinds cent of them African American). Phyllis class postage paid at Boston, MA, and additional mailing offices. Post- need to change the way PE classes are of things is in the single digits. It's better Richie of the University of Tennessee master:Send address change(s) to structured. Across the country, educators to teach jogging, tennis, and brisk walk- Harvard Education Letter, 6 Appian studied SPARK in 19 public and private Way, Cambridge, MA 02138-3752. and researchers are experimenting with ing. Why couldn't a high school gym schools in the Memphis area for two Signed articles in Harvard Education ways to make physical education more look more like a fitness center?" In addi- years. Students in the SPARK program Letter represent the views of the authors.Address editorial corre- relevant to students' lives, so that students tion, many schools have too little or inad- were far more active in gym classin spondence to editors, Harvard Education Letter, Gutrnan Library, learn that exercise can be an enjoyable equate sports equipment. Teaching 30 motion at least 50 percent of the time 6 1\oplan Way, Cambridge, MA and satisfying part of life. 02138-3752; phone: 617-495-3432; students to play basketball with three than students in the control schools taking fa;c 617-496-3584; email: The new PE makes fitness fun and balls is like "trying to teach reading to a traditional gym classes. Encouraged by [email protected] web: www.edletter.org. leaves no one on the bench. In most class of 30 with three books," says Sallis. the findings, the city school board plans ©2000 by the President and cases, that means doing away with highly George Graham, a professor of physical to hire 250 physical education specialists Fellows of Harvard College. Published as a non-profit service. competitive team sports that leave many education at Virginia Tech University, over the next four years and increase PE All rights reserved. Special permis- kids on the margins of gym class and sion is required to reproduce in adds, "Kids are better off without some classes for K-6 students to a mandatory any manner, in whole or in part, those dreaded fitness tests (chinups, physical education programs. They turn four days a week. the material herein contained. Call 617-495-3432 for reprint situps, laps on the track, etc.) that can kids off to physical activity and convince Another well-studied project is permission information. publicly humiliate many students. them they are no good [at exercise]. CATCH PE, which is used in more than HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Send $34 for individuals, $44 for It means adding a greater variety of You go into a gym and see a few kids 1,000 schools in 30 states. CATCH PE, institutions ($46 for Canada/Mex- games and activities, especially those for playing basketball and many sitting in the ico, $56 other foreign, in U.S. funds like SPARK, sprang from research sup- only) to Harvard Education Letter, small groups, so that all students will en- bleachers." ported by the NIFI's National Heart, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge MA 02138-3752; or call us at 617-495- joy PE, not just athletes. The best pro- That rings a bell with Sean Gardner, Lung, and Blood Institute. In a three-year 3432 in Massachusetts or 800-513- 0763 outside Massachusetts. Sub- grams, say researchers, emphasize coop- 17, a recent graduate of Hamilton High trial at 96 elementary schools, CATCH scription prices subject to change eration and fair play while making sure School in Los Angeles, where PE was re- PE was employed to improve children's without notice. Single copies, $7.00. Back issues and bulk subscriptions everyone gets an equal chance to partici- quired daily through sophomore year. He health, especially cholesterol levels, by available at special reduced rates; call 800-513-0763. pate. Nontraditional sports such as skate- says some of his classmates balked at PE. reducing saturated fat in school lunches boarding, handball, and dance may find a "A lot of kids were lazy or they weren't and increasing time spent engaged in

Harvard Education Letter November/December 2000: 4 4 moderate to vigorous activity during PE. Cribb, and the University of Texas has tion. We could pay a playground supervi- For further Many of the physical education concepts trained staff at 300 of them. A study of sor to do that." information of CATCH, now known as the Coordi- CATCH by the NIH has found that its les- Linda Brown, a physical education nated Approach to Child Health, are simi- sons persisted into early adolescence for teacher for 27 years, says she was appre- lar to SPARK. But this program also has self-reported dietary and physical activi- hensive about using the program, but that American School Health Associa- a "substantial classroom component" fo- ties. That's important because middle it improved her effectiveness by teaching tion, Susan Wooley, Executive Director, PO Box 708, Kent, OH cused on family intervention, smoking school is seen as the next critical step for her how to keep all the kids active at once 44240; 330-678-1601; fax: prevention, and nutrition, says Thomas physical education, the place where many and give students instruction on physical 330-678-4526; email: [email protected]. McKenzie, a professor of physical educa- children begin to opt out of exercise. movement in basic steps. The kids get tion at San Diego State University who The Exemplary Physical Education homework assignments just as they do in CATCH PE, Peter Cribb, Director, Center for Health Promotion helped develop both CATCH and Curriculum (EPEC) features more basic academic subjects, says Brown. They Research and Development 7320 SPARK. lessons geared toward elementary may have to throw a ball the correct way North Mopac, Suite 204,Austin, TX 78731; 512-346-6163; CATCH teaches instructors to reduce schools. It is used in 10 states, most against a wall 10 times or teach a family fax: 512-346-6802. the time needed for set-up and to reject prominently in Michigan, where 700 PE member to skip. www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/catch elimination games, which can make some teachers use the program in half of the Center for the Advancement of kids disinterested by sidelining them, says state's districts. EPEC has been adapted Lifetime Fitness Health, 2000 Florida Ave., NW, Suite 210,Washington, DC Peter Cribb, CATCH project director for and extended to middle schools for the Many high schools are also experiment- 20009-1231; 202-387-2829; the University of Texas Health Science current school year, and will be further ing with new types of physical education. fax: 202-387-2857; email: [email protected]. Center. For example, instead of sitting adapted for high schools. One such programFitness for Life, Per- www.cfah.org Students learn how to set up a per- sonal Fitness, and Conceptual Physical down on the bleachers, children who are C.B. Corbin. Fitness for Life. declared "out" in a game of tag are given sonal exercise program and monitor their Educationis used by schools for de- Reading, MA: Addison Wesley reentry tasks, such as jumping rope, be- progress, says Glenna Deiong, developer pendents of U.S. military personnel and Longman, 1993. fore they can rejoin the game, he says. of the nonprofit program. EPEC teaches by high schools in seven states. Unlike Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum Project, Michigan "The CATCH curriculum reflects a fun- students "an alphabet of movement" that traditional physical education programs Fitness Foundation, PO Box damental change in what our goals are," prepares them for a variety of fitness ac- that may focus on team sports, these pro- 27187, Lansing, MI 48909; 517- grams are designed to help each student 347-789 I ; toll-free:877-464-3732. says Cribb. Experts who once urged PE tivities, she says. She adds that EPEC www.mkhiganfitness.org teachers to "test, test, test" now say PE emphasizes social skills, including com- develop a personal lifetime fitness pro- P. Gordon-Larsen, R.G. McMurray, testing is less important than inspiring passion, putting forth the best effort possi- gram, says Charles B. Corbin of Arizona and B.M. Popkin."Determinants of children to choose activities they enjoy ble, being responsible, and being flexible. State University, Tempe. Corbin co-au- Adolescent Physical Activity and Inactivity Patterns." Pediatrics 105, and to remain physically active, he says. "We hold teachers and students account- thored a textbook that is commonly used no. 6 (June 2000): e83.Available More than 650 elementary schools in able," she says. "We don't believe just in such courses, and also co-authored the online only at www.pediatrics.orgIcgil Texas have adopted CATCH PE, says running kids around is physical educa- 1998 Physical Activity Guidelines for contentlfull/ I 0516/e83 continued on page 7 J.J. Kronenfeld. Schools and the Health of Our Children:Protecting Our Future.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000.

A PE Checklist National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 1900 Some of the CDC's recommendations for improving physical education and promoting healthy living include: Association Dr., Reston,VA 20191;800-213-7193 ext. 410; PE CurriculaEmphasize fun activities and help students develop the knowledge, attitudes, motor and behavioral fax: 703-476-8316; email: [email protected]. skills, and confidence they need to adopt and maintain physically active lifestyles. Make sure there's something for every- www.aahperd.org/naspe/ one by providing programs that meet the needs and interests of all students. Emphasize skills needed for lifelong activi- naspe-main.html ties (e.g., dance, strength training, swimming, bicycling, jogging, and hiking) rather than those for competitive sports. And PE Central, a website with lots of don't forget to teach kids important behavorial skills like self-assessment, self-monitoring, and goal-setting. useful resources and information, can be accessed at Daily ExerciseRequire daily PE classes that allow students to be physically active for at least 50 percent of the www.pecentral.org

class time. J.F. Sallis,T.L McKenzie et al. ResourcesProvide adequate equipment and the physical and social environments needed to encourage all students "Effects of Health-Related Physical Education on Academic Achieve- to take part in safe and enjoyable physical activities.This includes ensuring a student-teacher ratio comparable to those ment Project SPARK." Research in other subjects. Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 70, no. 2 Oune 1999): 127-134. .1 ParentsDevelop extracurricular sports and recreation programs that parents and students can share. Teacher TrainingNot just anybody can teach PE. Make sure teachers have the training and professional develop- SPARK Physical Education, Paul Rosengard, Executive Director, ment they need to instruct students in healthy living. 6363 Alvarado Ct., Suite 250, San Health ServicesAssess physical activity patterns among young people and refer them to appropriate programs. Diego, CA 92120; toll-free: 800-SPARK PE (800-722-7573). EvaluationRegularly look for ways to improve school and community PE instruction, programs, and facilities. www.foundation.sdsu.edul projects/sparkfindex.html Adapted from "Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote Lifelong Physical Activity Among Young People?' written by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For a free copy, write to: CDC, MMWR MS(C-08),Atlanta, GA 30333; 800-843-6356.0r read it on the Web at http://wonder.cdc.govIwonder/ prevguid/m0046823/entire.htm

4 5 Harvard Education LetterNovember/December2000 Will New Standards Bring Peace to the Math Wars? After a decade of controversy, the RICTM issues new guidelines that continue to favor problem solving while giving a nod to basic skills

By Andreae Downs

For further n a rainy May Tuesday, Monica Grassroots Ruckus uation Standards for School Mathematics information Matrisciano's 5th-grade math Not everyone would agree. Across the in 1989. In developing new standards for 0class is tackling fractions. For United States, dramatic changes in mathe- learning, teaching, and testing mathemat- these 19 preteens there are no worksheets, matics curricula during the past decade ics, the NCTM aimed to make math more

R.Askey."Good Intentions no rules or procedures to learn. Instead, have sparked an intense political and ped- engaging for all students by emphasizing Are Not Enough!' Paper they work on a word problemhow to agogical debate about what should be practical, problem-solving activities in presented at the conference, "Curriculum Wars:Alternative convert a recipe for 20 medium-sized taughtand how. Anxious parents look real-life contexts, rather than just arith- Approaches to Reading and brownies into a recipe that will feed 240 askance at wordy math books. University metic. Mathematics! Harvard Univer- kids at snack time. In groups of three or sity, October 21-22,1999. professors complain that incoming stu- The NCTM's new guidelines, Princi- four, the students first figure out how dents can't tally a column of figures or ples and Standards for School Mathemat- M. Clayton."Flaws in the Evalu- ation Process." Christian Science many brownies they will need, and then move a decimal point correctly. Conserv- ics, issued earlier this year, place a greater Monitor, May 30, 2000:15. work on multiplying the ingredients by a ative pundits scoff at "fuzzy" problem- emphasis on the importance of basic Curriculum and Evaluation factor of 12. They have no problem figur- solving and critical-thinking lessons that skills such as computation, provide a set Standards for School Mathe- ing out how many eggs and how many seem to say that two plus two isn't as of 10 standards to be applied across the matics. Reston,VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathe- cans of condensed milk they will need simple as all that. For years now, parent- grades, and offer more detail for the ap- matics, 1989. (12 of each). led grassroots groups have raised a ruckus plication of standards in the elementary L Darling-Hammond."Teacher Trouble comes with the floura cup and middle grades. The document also Quality and Student Achieve- and a quarterand other measurements ment:A Review of State Policy makes corrections to the 1989 frame- Evidence!' Education Policy that involve fractions. Since they have not works, in which some areas of math were Analysis Archives 8, no. I (January been taught how to multiply fractions, The new NCTM overlooked and, incredibly, a few sample 1, 2000).Available only online at they have to figure out a method them- http://epaa.asu.edulepaa/ guidelines put more problems had incorrect solutions. v8nIl selves. They all struggle. Some kids add Some of the same mathematicians "An Informal Study of Curricu- the fractions 12 times. Others convert emphasis on basic skills who criticized the earlier standards were lum Use in Top Scoring Massa- fractions to decimals, multiply, then con- chusetts School Districts, consulted on the new version. Already the March 1999." Compiled by vert back into fractions. Matrisciano such as computation and changes have won praise from critics ARC, 57 Bedford St., Suite 210, points out that in this exercise estimation such as R. James Milgram, a Stanford Lexington, MA 02420; toll-free: offer more detail for the 800-772-6627. is not an optiontoo much or too little of University mathematician who is aligned www.arccenter.comap.com any one ingredient could ruin the whole application of standards. with Mathematically Correct, an organi- M. Huntley et al."Effects of batch.. zation of parents and mathematicians op- Standards-Based Mathematics Education:A Study of the Core- This is not the kind of math class Ma- posed to NCTM-based curricula imple- Plus Mathematics Project trisciano or her students' parents would mented in California. Milgrim says the Algebra and Functions Strand!' have experienced. Gone are the multipli- about California's 1992 state frameworks Journal for Research in Mathe- new standards acknowledge that getting matics Education 31, no. 3 (May cation tables, the drill-and-practice long for math reform. Similar squabbles have the right answer and learning standard al- 2000): 328-361. division. In this Massachusetts public erupted in states like Texas, Iowa, and gorithms are important, something he D. Klein."Math Problems:Why school where a so-called "reform curricu- Michigan. In Massachusetts, education says the original standards failed to do. the U.S. Department of Education's Recommended lum" is used, Matrisciano aims to help officials recently passed a controversial "[The NCTM] realized that most students Math Programs Don't Add Up." students develop skills of reasoning, in- curriculum that was the result of a pro- regard the subject as a total tedious bore," American School Board Joumal quiry, and discovery, and to understand 187, no.4 (April 2000): 52-57. tracted battle with reform-minded educa- he says. "It takes a good deal of maturity math concepts and principles. She doesn't tors who say the document is still too fo- to realize that goals worth achieving usu- L Ma. Knowing andleaching Ele- mentary Mathematics. Mahwah, give them the answers, or even show cused on computation. ally require a huge amount of developed NJ: Erlbaum, 1999. them what methods to use. "I want them Like most reform controversies, these foundational skills and preparation." to synthesize what they knew before and Math Wars find their origins in A Nation apply it to a situation that is like one they at Risk, the 1983 presidential commission Clarification or Correction? would meet in the real world," she says. report that warned, among other things, The NCTM regards the revisiodas a clar- Although it is tempting to tell them what that U.S. kids were not keeping up with ification, not a correction, of the 1989 methods to use to find the solution, she their overseas counterparts on standard- standards. It points to gains on the 1996 says, "every time I do, they don't get as ized math tests. In response, the National National Assessment of Educational much out of it. This is much more Council of Teachers of Mathematics Progress (NAEP) and in SAT math scores thoughtful." (NCTM) issued its Curriculum and Eval- as evidence that the earlier guidelines

Harvard Education Letter November/December 2000 4 6 were successful, if sometimes unclear. math at a higher rate than did those in tra- the standards' effects on student learning. For example, between 1990 and 1996, ditional algebra course sequences. Of For every success story, critics of the student performance on the NAEP math high achievers in both groups, those who 1989 standards can cite as many exam- component improved about one grade took IMP on average had higher GPAs ples of "failing" reforms throughout the level. States like Connecticut, Michigan, and scored higher on the SAT mathemat- country. They note that the interpretation and North Carolina, which have adopted ics section than those who took algebra. of the standards varies in each curricu- standards-based curricula and assess- Four studies showed that students in lum, not to mention each district and each ments, made the most significant gains. Investigations in Number, Data, and classroom. Errors in new materials are Meanwhile, average SAT math scores in- Space, a K-5 curriculum, did more men- common, the quality of teacher prepara- creased nationwide from 500 in 1991 to tal arithmetic than students in traditional tion differs, and the amount of time each For further 512 in 1998. Although the NCTM ac- math classrooms, outperformed them on district has spent educating parents and information knowledges that these gains could possi- word problems, and did better in "basic the community has varied widely. bly be attributed to other factors, such as skills," making more accurate calcula- school reform, it insists that they provide tions. Questionable Research important evidence that math reform is Research by Mark Hoover of the Then there's the question of how trust- D.S. Macnab."Forces for Change in Mathematics Education:The succeeding. University of Michigan and others worthy the pro-reform research really is. Case of TIMSS:' Education Policy Other statistics would seem to support showed middle school students in the For instance, Christian Science Monitor Analysis Archives 8, no. 15 (Feb- ruary 2000). Available online at the NCTM position. For instance, in Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) education correspondent Mark Clayton http://olam.ed.asu.edu/ 1999, the 35 Massachusetts districts that scored better than traditionally schooled reported last May that two reform curric- epaah8n I 5.html scored highest on the 4th-grade state ulaCore-Plus and CMPgot favorable Mathematically Correct, reviews from the U.S. Department of PO Box 22083, San Diego, CA math test were using standards-based cur- 92192-2083; email: math@ ricula, according to the Alternatives for Fast Facts Education based on research by people mathematicallycorrect.com. Rebuilding Curricula (ARC) Center in affiliated with the curricula's developers. http://rnathematicallycorrect COM Lexington, MA, a math project funded What Do Students Think About Math? "Nobody, including research ethicists, J.R. Milgram."A Preliminary by the National Science Foundation. In ' Grade-school students like math argues that [the Core-Plus study is] in- Analysis of SAT-I Mathematics the Los Angeles Unified School District, and their performance in itmore valid," Clayton wrote, but he rightly Data for IMP Schools in noted that an independent review should California." Unpublished Paper, the number of African American students than middle and high schoolers. available online at who completed the first mathematics col- have been required to shore up the http://math.stantord.edu/publ lege-prep course with a C or higher in- study's credibility. papers/milgram creased by 73 percent between 1995 and In fact, much of the research on stan- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1906 Association 1998, while the scores of Latino students dards-based curricula is done by people Dr., Reston,VA 20191-9988; 703- rose 49 percent, according to district data with institutional ties to the curricula, and 620-9840; fax:703-476-2970. www.nctm.org cited by the Achievement Council. peer-reviewed publications such as the Supporters of the NCTM standards NCTM's Journal for Research in Mathe- Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston,VA: National say the most convincing evidence comes matics Education are just starting to pub- Council of Teachers of Mathemat- from studies of reform-based programs, lish these materials. Norman Webb, a ics, 2000 such as Everyday Math and the Interac- professor of education at the University D. Resek"Evaluation of the Inter- ri I like math tive Mathematics Program. Highlights of of Wisconsin, says peer review often has active Mathematics Prograre Paper presented at the annual I am good at math these studies include the following: not been done due to a lack of funding meeting of the American Educa- Researchers Karen Fuson of North- for third-party research. When an institu- tional Research Association,April, Source:National Center for Education Statistics, 2000. western University and William Carroll U.S. Dept of Education; National Assessment of tion pays for research, they own it, he httpd/www.mathimp.org/ of the University of Chicago's School Educational Progress (NAEP). 1990, 1992,1996. says, so researchers may not be able to AERkpaper.html Mathematics Project compared test and submit their findings for independent re- interview results for 5th graders in the view and publication. U.S., Taiwan, and Japan. Though the students on both the Iowa Test of Basic Katherine Merseth, executive director Taiwanese and Japanese students Skills and in Balanced Assessment, which of the Harvard Project on Schooling and outscored all U.S. students on math prob- is weighted more toward problem-solving. Children, agrees. "It is always best to lems, those Americans enrolled in Every- A study of the Core-Plus Mathemat- have some procedures in place for peer day Mathematics, a K-4 curriculum, did ics Project, a high school program, found review/bias control. Having said that, I do much better than U.S. students in tradi- that its students did better at solving alge- think the studies that have been done are tional math classes, better than the Tai- braic problems in realistic contexts, espe- by and large done fairly well. It's pretty wanese in some cases, and, on average, cially when they were allowed to use hard to fudge data about student achieve- only slightly worse than the Japanese. graphing calculators, than,students in tra- ment. What gets hard is the more murky. A study by the Wisconsin Center for ditional algebra classes. They did less area of 'problem-solving,"attitude to-

I Educational Research of students from well than traditionally schooled students ward math,' and whether these alternative three high schools noted that students in at manipulating symbolic expressions. approaches will really lead to greater the Interactive Mathematics Program Despite such apparent success, it may mathematical understanding. You can de- (IMP) enrolled in college-preparatory be too early to make grand claims about fine 'math understanding' in many ways."

4 7 Harvard Education Letter November/December 2000 What About Algorithms? researcher Liping Ma trumpets the impor- just adopting new textbooks, says Peg That question of how to define math is at tance of teachers understanding the stan- Bondorew, associate director for mathe- the heart of the Math Wars, and is the rea- dard algorithm as well as alternatives matics at Northeastern University's Cen- son they are unlikely to end just yet. Al- and to know why the standard one has ter for the Enhancement of Science and though the 2000 NCTM standards may been accepted as the most efficientso Mathematics Education. "One of the most mollify some critics, contentious issues that they can communicate this under- important components of a successful im- remain, especially about the need for so- standing to students. plementation is in the professional devel- called "basic skills." Richard Askey of Many elementary-grade standards- opment and support for the teachers." the University of Wisconsin writes that based curricula encourage the use of ma- Unfortunately, she says, many school sys- the 1989 standards were based on the nipulativesbeans, sticks, figures, tems still think a day's training should "naive notion that one can teach concep- blocksto help children understand the suffice. In fact, says Bondorew, "most tual understanding without developing ideas behind arithmetic before giving elementary teachers have to relearn to technical skills [at the same time].... The them paper-and-pencil problems to solve. teach arithmetic, since they only know a idea that one can teach conceptual under- Ma, who studied the differences in math few rules, and don't really understand the standing without being able to do some- teaching and teacher understanding in the mathematics behind them." thing really means that the level of the U.S. and China (whose students outscore The research of Stanford University's concept one asks students to learn is far Americans in math), found that in many Linda Darling-Hammond suggests that too weak." U.S. classrooms the use of manipulatives training should include not only instruc- What about teaching algorithms such was not always firmly tied to math con- tion in math but also in math education. as long division and other commonly cepts. She also found weaknesses in U.S. Darling-Hammond's work shows that used ways to solve a problem? Partly in elementary schoolteachers' understanding students learn more from teachers who response to such criticism, the new of fundamental arithmetic. take university courses in math education NCTM standards highlight the impor- than from those who simply take more tance of memorizing basic addition and high-level math coursesin other words, ESSM8Wil multiplication tables, as well as their that knowing how to teach math is more counterparts for subtraction and division; For every success story, important than simply knowing mathe- they also point to the need to become matics. "Sometimes very bright people "fluent" by spending more time practic- critics of the 1989 standards who are not taught to teach are very poor ing computations with pencil and paper. can cite as many examples teachers because they don't know what it Some teachers and curriculum coordi- is to struggle to learn, and haven't thought nators using curricula based on the 1989 of failing reforms through- much about how people learn," she says. standards have already been supplement- out the country. "Content is important, but it isn't ing those programs with more paper-and- enough." pencil work. William Kendall, math cur- 321EMEIM Teachers' ability to adapt curricula to riculum coordinator for public schools in the needs of each student is crucial to im- Braintree, MA, says when standards- proved instruction in any curriculum, she based curricula do not provide enough Ma examines the differences in says. According to Darling-Hammond's practice, his teachers simply add work- teacher knowledge of elementary mathe- research, the better trained the teacher, the sheets to their lessons. "It's often good to matics in China and in the U.S., as well as more likely he or she will be able to be blend curricula," says Kendall. "Kids how that is manifested in the classroom. flexible in meeting the learning needs of need practice. It's not enough just to get "To lead a thoughtful discussion... a each student. the big idea and move on, you need prac- teacher needs a thorough comprehension In many respects, the Math Wars tice before you get it right." of [the] topic. He or she should know have generated more heat than light, but In another Massachusetts case, these various solutions of the problem, there are clearly areas in which propo- Tammy Tardie, math curriculum coordi- know how and why students came up nents and opponents of standards-based nator of the Rashi School, a private Re- with them, know the relationship between curricula agree: the need for rigorous form Jewish Day School, chose a stan- the nonstandard ways and the standard math education and improvement of the dards-based curriculum, but way, and know the single conception un- traditional curricula, and the need for supplemented it with practice sheets and derlying all the different ways," she better teacher training in math are two other materials. "There's no one math writes. Ma suggests that to improve math- cases in point. What remains to be seen is program that encompasses everything," ematics instruction in the U.S., more at- whether the two sides will see the new she says. "We added computation be- tention must be paid to preservice teacher NCTM standards as a fresh opportunity cause there has to be some drill, even if training, teacher preparation time, and to cool the rhetoric and work together it's games so the kids don't realize its professional development. to improve math education for all chil- drill." Principles and Standards clearly artic- dren.El

In her book Knowing and Teaching ulates the need for teacher training, a fac- Andreae Downs, a Massachusetts-based reporter, Elementary Mathematics: Teachers' tor too easily overlooked. School depart- writes frequently about education. She wrote Understanding of Fundamental Mathe- ments often don't realize that changing to about standards-based reform for the MarcW matics in China and the United States, standards-based math requires more than April 2000 issue of theHarvard Education Letter. Harvard Education Letter November/December 2000 48 Huck Finn In no way am I asserting that this self-management skills, learning to eat continued from page 8 novel is the ultimate answer to discussing well, exercising to manage stress, and race relations in this county or even in building consumer skills such as selecting budgetary or other reasons do not have the English/language arts classroom. a fitness club or evaluating a fitness access to many novels by African Ameri- What I am asserting is that change begins, video. Computer fitness programs aid cans who were Twain's contemporaries. must begin, with one individual. And both teachers and students in the course. But even if a district does have a budget while that one individual who connects A lifetime of good health begins with that allows it to purchase class sets of with someone else will not cauterize the a few small steps, say proponents of this Frances Harper's Iola Leroy, for example, racial chasm, the connection does create a new PE. With the release of increasingly it is still important to include a Twain ripple in the great racial ocean that contin- bleak studies of children's health, schools novel, especially Adventures of Huckle- ues concentrically. By questioning racism may need to sharpen their dual focus on berry Finn, in the curriculum. in his own time and provoking discussion developing students' minds and bodies. Through the controversy surrounding in ours, Twain provides just such a con- "If we can't keep children healthy and this book alone, Twain brings into schools nection for many students. 0 well and resistant to disease, then they are what all of us in this country desperately Jocelyn Chadwick is assistant professor at the not going to be able to realize the aca- need, yet fear, most: discussionsfrank Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is demic successes that they've had," says discussionsabout race, race relations, the author of The Jim Dilemma: Reading Race in Judy Young, executive director of the Na- interracial relations, race language, racial Huckleberry Finn. tional Association for Sport and Physical stereotypes and profiling, and, ultimately, Education. While making a connection true and unadulterated racial equality. between physical fitness and academic Does he ask all the pertinent questions achievement is dubiousis it even neces- and provide effective and lasting solu- Physical Education sary to do so?few would dispute the tions? No. How could he? How could continued from page 3 worthiness of teaching students to make African American writers such as William physical fitness a lifetime aim. 0

Wells Brown, Frances Ellen Watkins Children, published by the National Asso- Sara-Ellen Amster, a former assistant editor of Harper, Ralph Ellison, George Schuyler, ciation for Sport and Physical Education. the Harvard Education Letter, is a graduate stu- or even the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Students learn to adopt a holistic ap- dent at UCSD. She wrote about teaching writing Jr. do the same? proach to physical fitness, focusing on through pop culture in the July/August 2000 issue.

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Kindergartners: WhereThey're Coming From

What are typical kindergarteners In math, most first-timers (94 percent) younger peers, according to the study: For further like and what do they know? can recognize single-digit numerals, iden- they are closer to being able to read and information The knowledge, skills, and tify geometric figures likes circles and do arithmetic; know more about nature, behaviors of new students are addressed squares, and count to 10. A smaller ma- science, and society; are less prone to in an essay found in this year's edition of jority (58 percent) can count beyond 10, problem behaviors; and show more per- N. Zill and J.West."Entering The Condition of Education, published by though only 20 percent can read double- sistence in their work. Kindergarten:A Portrait of the National Center for Education Statis- digit numerals or identify something's or- Nearly half of all kindergartners (47 American Children When They Begin School" in The Condition of tics. According to the report, "Entering dinal position (e.g., fifth cupcake in a row percent)and two-thirds of those from Education 2000.Washington, DC: Kindergarten," a typical kindergartner of cupcakes). The essay is based on data urban areascome from families with National Center for Education (66 percent) can recognize letters of the gathered through the US Department of one or more risk factors: that is, their Statistics, 2000: xvixlvii. alphabet by name and has a basic grasp of Education's Early Childhood Longitudi- mothers have less than a high school edu- Available at no charge.Ask for publication 2000-062. Education how written English should look on pa- nal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 cation, they come from families that re- Publications Center, NCES, PO perthat it is read left to right, top to bot- 1999a study of 19,000 children in 940 ceive federal assistance, come from sin- Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794- I 398; toll-free: 877-433-7827. tom. Twenty-nine percent know the be- public and private schools throughout the gle-parent homes, or they have parents http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch ginning sounds of words, and 17 percent nation. Assessors will continue to track whose primary language is not English. know the ending sounds. Just 2 percent the children's progress through the 5th According to the report, kindergartners read basic words by sight and just 1 per- grade. from multiple-risk families have a less cent read words in context. Girls enter The average kindergartner is 5fi years positive approach to learning than those school slightly ahead of boys in reading, old. Those who begin school at or near from single- or no-risk backgrounds. 0 on average. the age of six have advantages over their 49 Harvard Education Letter November/December2000 Why Huck Finn Bebngs in Cbssrooms Twain's work sparks the kind of frank discussions about race and race relations that we needand fearto have

By Jocelyn Chadwick

n the American Library Association's recently published concernabout race. In this novel Twain turns on its prover- list of the 100 most frequently challenged books of the bial ear the misconception of racial inferiority as evidenced /1990s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ranked fifth. In through language acquisition. Roxy, a slave woman who Coming fact, Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain had the dubious distinc- gives birth to a child sired by the slave master, switches her tion of having written two of the only three pretwentieth- baby with that of the slave master's wife to avoid having her soon... century books on the list. (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer son sold down South. Both children grow up adapting per- was number 83, and Helen Bannerman's blatantly racist The fectly to their environments. Through the strength of Roxy's Violence Story of Little Black Sambo was number 90.) Clearly, much character and the results of her actions, Twain makes clear Prevention controversy remains about whether Mark Twain had racist that racial inferiority is not inherent (as many in his time be- attitudes and whether he displayed those attitudes in his lieved) and that voice and language can be acquired by any- Charter Schools works, especially Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. one who is put in the right environmental circumstances. Stereotypes in his portrayal of the character Jim, exces- Social justice sive use of the racial slur "nigger," and a paternalistic attitude Consider the Context Curricula toward African Americans are among the charges made Twain's views and depictions of African Americans must against Twain by his would-be banners. Are these charges also be considered in the context of African Americans' valid, and if so, do they implicate Mark changing notions of themselves be-

Twain as a racist? Twain scholar Lou ik7.41M tween 1835 and 1910. We know con- Budd has asserted that Twain had "con- cretely through African American peri- flicting, conflicted attitudes' about the If the African American odicals published during the period and We welcome racial issues of his time. And while I ofTwain's time could through slave narratives published both your comments acknowledge the likely truth in Budd's during the period and during the early assertion, I would also argue that, given recognize the extra- 1930s through the WPA project that Write or email us: the time in which Twain wrote, this can African Americans viewed themselves ordinariness of whites Harvard Education Letter be seen as a minor indictment of and their place in the North and South Gutman Library 349 Clemens the man and an even lesser in varying ways. But one constant that 6 Appian Way who dared question the Cambridge, MA 02138 one of Twain the writer. emerges over and over againfrom the [email protected] As an African American, I know prevailing social structures,precise and articulate periodicals such that I would rather be in a room with a can't we as contemporary as The Elevator to the narratives tran- person who is working through his po- scribed in heavy Southern dialectis sition on race and inequality than with readers do the same? the desire to be understood and appreci- an incorrigible racist. Certainly racist ated as a thinking individual. This is a attitudes of any kind, even if they stem view of African Americans that Twain, from "conflicting, conflicted attitudes" especially in Pudd'nhead Wilson, de- and membership in a culture steeped in racial oppression, are picted strongly. Paralleling this view, too, was an abiding and unacceptable. But what are essential and substantial are the deep appreciation among African Americans for any white decisions we make and the concomitant actions we take as a person who displayed a scintilla of concern, let alone a pro- result of our attitudes. We cannot, therefore, overlook the clivity for voicing or displaying that concern. If the African works of Twain that do address the issues of race and stereo- Americans of Twain's time could recognize the extraordinari- type. Clearly, Twain used his writing to work through issues ness of whites who dared question the prevailing social struc- of race for himself and his society, and when I read Twain's tures, can't we as contemporary readers do the same? satires, I feel that he "gets it." Despite the culture surround- By now, I'm sure it's clear that I believe Adventures of ing him, Twain understood deeply that racism is wrong. For Huckleberry Finn must remain in classrooms throughout the Twain to have depicted in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a country. It is educative not only for African Americans, but young hero who questioned racial inequality and an African for anyone sitting in an American literature survey course. American who was caring, compassionate, and strongly Does it stand in lieu of a good, substantive American history committed to his freedom was revolutionary indeed. class that addresses African Americans' experiences under Moreover, The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson more than slavery? Of course not, but it certainly rounds out that ex- nods at Twain's interest or, rather more appropriately, his perience. This is especially true in school districts that for 50 continued on page 7 Harvard Education Letter November/December 2000 U.S. Department of Education Officeof Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) National Library of Education (NLE) ERIC Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)

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