The graphic below, from the University of Southern California, provides a nice comparison of US spending and academic performance as compared to other countries.
A quick social studies teacher note: this figure shows total annual spending and not percentage of GDP or spending in relation to population, etc. Although the US spends way more than Finland I would be interested to see what this looks like in comparison to GDP or spending per pupil.
In any education debate, there are always two positions on education spending: 1) throwing money at the problem isn’t making things any better and 2) money is essential for underperforming schools – especially those in poor areas – to succeed. Last week the non-profit group State Budget Solutions released a report with title that left no doubt as to where they stand on the issue: “Throwing Money at Education Isn’t Working.” Below is a graph of state expenditures as percentage of total budget.
The report shows education budgets have doubled since 1970 and yet the achievement gap by race and social class is still wide while US test scores have failed keep up with those in others countries. It then recommends control over education spending should happen on a local level rather than at a state or national level. This is an interesting argument at a time of Common Core implementation around the country.
As a teacher who has taught in schools where money is tight I have to really scratch my head at this report. I have had class rosters over 40 and not a single textbook in my room because of budget difficulties at public schools – and all of this in the state of Texas which spends near the top in terms of percentage of budget dedicated to education. Here is a look at how the spending per pupil has increased in Texas just since 1998:
To read the full report from State Budget Solutions click here or if you want a snappy little summary check out this article from Education Week.
What do you think about the role of money in education?
You think school is hard? What if you were blind AND deaf? Hellen Kellen was the first blind/deaf person to earn a Bachelor degree – from Radcliffe no less!
I have read in numerous places about the importance of young people having role models – who look like them and who they related to – who help them see a path towards their goals. Throughout the year, I like to take the time to introduce my students to a person who achieved despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The moral of these character studies is always really clear: if you work hard, you can achieve your dreams regardless of potential challenges.
I like like to teach these mini-lessons by either having students read a synopsis of the person’s life, or reading aloud a children’s book about the person or even watching a quick video clip from a movie about the person. Then I show students a quote from the individual that underscores the importance of continuing to work hard regardless of the difficulties. At that point, ask students to connect with the individual on a personal level by journaling either about the quote or about current difficulties in their own lives. Finally, I create some kind of classroom display to help us remember the lesson we learned from the historical figure’s life. Below is a list of people I have covered in the past as well as resources I have used to teach their lives:
The key with really leveraging role models in your classroom is not just to teach them once and then forget about them but to keep refering to the lesson you learned through that individual (ex. “You can write this research paper! Hellen Keller did this without being able to hear or see!” or “I know this is hard but think about what Muhammad Ali said . . .”) Doing these mini-lessons doesn’t need to take a long time but the impact can be huge in terms of student investment and motivation in your classroom.
What role models have y’all used in your classrooms?
I am so honored to be heading to New York next week as a part of my fellowship with America Achieves to participate in NBC’s Education Nation at the downtown Public Library. One of the most exciting events of the conference is the Teacher Town Hall where hundreds of teachers come together and engage a discussion with education leaders. There is always an open mike for questions . . . anyone have ideas about questions I should be asking?
YouTube is looking to promote what they call “the next generation of online educators” who post online lessons or educational content like the well-know math YouTube channel Khan Academy or the Crash Course in World History videos (posted above). The contest begins today and ends in January when judges will select 10 winners and give them a cash reward as well as videography equipement to help them make more videos. Click here for more details.
Want to hear why teachers in Chicago are striking from a veteran Chicago teacher? Read Lindsey Rohwer’s moving argument in support of the strike here.
It’s been a few weeks since I last sang the praises of a particular office supply (the Moleskine, read the post here) so today I thought I’d tackle the ubiquitous and versatile post-it note. Here are my top 5 ways to use that cute little slip of sticky paper:
How do you use post-its in your classroom?
Teachers say “I don’t do this for the money” so often it has become almost a descriptor of a good teacher. Teachers don’t actually need our salaries to survive, we live on the sheer beauty of our jobs. As if we could cash in the “I love you” cards from our students or, through osmosis, eat their high grades and test scores.
But money does matter. As much as I love teaching I also have financial obligations and responsibilities – like my two daughters – that require a salary. There is an interesting opinion piece at The New York Times about a new report released by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that compares salaries and hours worked by teachers in developed countries. The statistics are fascinating and provide insight into yet another aspect of why Chicago teachers are on strike. Click here to read more.
Does money matter to teachers?
My daughter and I with my retro version of an amazing book. This particular copy is older than I am.
Reading How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish did more than make me a better teacher – it made me a better person. The book was written primarily as a parenting guide for younger children however I have found it to be an invaluable guide for interactions with high school students all the way through 12th grade and even, at times, my adult relationships. Faber and Mazlish give plenty of examples and write in a clear, non-preachy tone that make their concepts easy to apply. They cover topics from “helping children deal with their feelings” to “alternatives to punishment” to “giving praise.” Here is an example of their advice on encouraging autonomy in children:
- Let children make choices
- Show respect for a child’s struggle
- Don’t ask too many questions
- Don’t rush to answer questions
- Encourage children to use sources outside the home [or for our purposes, the teacher]
- Don’t take away hope [or allow for a wide range of possibilities/outcomes]
I personally took this list, photocopied it and kept in on my little podium at the front of my classroom to guide my actions when students worked in groups. This book is full of little such gems. Another amazing aspect of How To Talk is that much of it is written in cartoon format.
As teachers we don’t have very much time to read – but we can probably all swing what is essentially a comic book! The one cavat here is don’t be put off by the parent/young child format of the cartoons. Read the cartoons thinking “teacher/teenager” and the advice is still extremely aplicable. For example, to give effective praise instead of evaluating, describe what you see. “I see a clean floor and books neatly lined up on the shelf,” you might say. Then describe what you feel: “It is a pleasure to be in our classroom right now!” Finally, label the child’s praiseworthy behavior with one word, “You cleaned the floor and sorted the books. This is what I call organization!”
The chapter that most influenced my teaching is called “Freeing Children from Playing Roles.” Children are often “assigned roles” by well-meaning parents and teachers at a very young age such as shy, clumsy, or bossy. By the time we reach puberty, these labels have worked themselves into the essential fiber of our self-concepts. As educators, we should empower children to choose their own identities rather than accept other’s definitions of themselves. Below is a quick list of steps Faber and Mazlish advocate for accomplishing this task. The steps are the authors but I’ve written different examples to better fit our teaching context.
To Free Children from Playing Roles
- Look for opportunities to show the child a new picture of himself or herself. “What do you mean you’re bad a math?!? You just made a 100 on this quiz! You’re really good at math!”
- Put children in situations where they can see themselves differently. “Juan, would you please welcome our visitors and explain to them what we are doing in class today?”
- Let children overhear you say something positive about them. “Sarah worked silently during our reading time.”
- Model the behavior you’d like to see. “I find the language in this poem really frustrating and outdated but I’m not giving up. Ok, let me see if I can use context clues to figure out what glib means.”
- Be a storehouse for your [students’] special moments. “I remember the time we went on the field trip to San Antonio . . .”
- When the child acts according to the old label, state your feelings and/or expectations. “Hearing from you is really important to me. Despite your reluctance to talk, I expect you to participate in our discussion. Would you like to speak now or should we come back to you later?”
Anyone else a fan of How to Talk?
As a teacher in the very non-union state of Texas I have had to stay on top of the Chicago developments (via the news as well as some friends who teach in that city) in order to understand what everyone is so worked up about. Here is an over simplification: the strike isn’t about salary, it’s about not having 50% teacher evaluations linked to student performance on standardized tests and getting laid off teachers re-hired (if you want a more information, checkout this article at the New York Times or the extensive coverage at the Chicago Tribune as well as the Washington Post’s summary here).
What is really interesting about this strike is it pits traditionally Democratic labor unions against a Democratic Chicago mayor with best-friend ties to the president. Opposition to the Chicago teacher’s union strike may be the one issue both Obama and Romney agree on! It is easy to look at this strike and quickly conclude these teachers are ridiculous. What on earth is wrong with firing bad teachers?!? And, if you’re doing your job, why worry about linking standardized tests scores to your performance evaluation? I’ve heard super-lefty education reformers AND Rush Limbaugh both make snide, dismissive remarks about Chicago teachers that make us picture our own worst teachers (you know, the one that played movies, joked around with the popular kids, and put you in detention when you called him out for being wrong?) holding a poster that says “Give me what I deserve!” and yelling populist chants as copious spit sprays from his wide-open mouth. Ok. Wipe the imaginary spittle off your face, surpress your high-school angst and let’s take a closer look.
Teachers are public sector employees who’s salaries are paid by tax payers and so they should be held accountable for what happens, or does not happen, in their classrooms. Period. That being said, figuring out how to measure teacher quality has proven to be exceptionally difficult. Currently, the popular means of doing this look like various rubrics that act as checklists which put teachers in a spectrum ranging from unacceptable to excellent. The Obama administration, through programs like Race to the Top and the NCLB wavers, has incentivized attaching standardized test scores to these rubrics. But why use a generic measure for what is a very specific, individualized performance?
Teachers are not NFL quarterbacks whose performance can be measured anywhere and anytime with the same tool (i.e. yards thrown, run, touch downs, etc.). In fact, a truly excellent teacher is differentiating her instruction on a minute by minute basis for every single student depending on his or her needs. Standardized tests measure a students performance on on a single day on a small number of questions that are often sadly lacking. As a social studies teacher, these questions hardly get at the essential knowledge of my course and often don’t even touch on the skills foundational to understanding history (understanding bias in primary sources and defending a thesis). Check out the question below from the Texas 10th grade World History exam for an example of what I’m talking about:
And what if you teach art? Or PE or music . . . well you’ve most likely been fired given the current obsession with STEM and literacy to the exclusion of all other subjects so don’t sweat it. The truth is standardized testing results are not the products of teachers. Students who are more knowledgeable, skillful, and better equipped for citizenship are the products of teachers.
In a democracy, the role of public education is to provide a citizenry that will sustain the republic via informed voting, tax-paying, and activism. While the ability to take multiple choice test is necessary at times (SAT, GRE, LSAT, various professional accrediting exams, etc.) when was the last time you saw a job description that included the line “Must be a strong multiple choice test taker?” Additionally, teachers help children learn to cooperate with others as well as problem solve when interpersonal conflicts arise. Teachers also foster creativity and critical thinking – the cornerstones of what makes the US so innovative. Add to that character and value development (like a strong work ethic and empathy) and teachers are literally holding up our civil society. The impossibility of measuring these products through a standardized test is at the heart of what is bringing teachers to the streets in Chicago.
I would argue the people best suited to evaluating a teachers performance are the parents of our students. They are the tax payers and it is their children’s future on the line. This could look like a situation where parent evaluations where 50% of teacher evaluations but parents might lose the right to evaluate their child’s teacher if they did not attend a set number of parent-teacher conferences or volunteer for various classroom support roles. Every teacher I know would gladly put their job on the line if it meant guaranteed increased parent involvement. Studies show over 80% of parents are satisfied with their children’s teachers so I doubt such a move would result in massive teacher lay-offs (the link is about satisfaction with local schools but I’ve seen the same numbers for individual teachers, anyone out there know the study I’m thinking about?). Standardized tests could make up 20 – 30% of a teacher’s evaluation but the majority should rest with those who have the most to lose or gain from a teacher’s performance.
I worry the fight in Chicago is a nice way for Republicans to brush aside unions that play an important role in protecting labor rights while Democrats delude themselves into thinking they’ve found a solution for the achievement gap (teacher quality evaluation) that rest in the hands of the government rather than the people. In the United States our country’s physical size and extensive diversity makes individual participation in our democracy complex but teacher evaluation seems like the ideal place for a tax payer and parent to have a direct say.
*the official answer to the history question above is “A. camels” . . . don’t ask me to explain it, I’m just a history teacher
The Sacred Profession 