http://edge.ascd.org/service/getFeed.kickAction?quantity=25 New blogs from Elliott_Seif on ASCD EDge Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:37:32 GMT Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:37:32 GMT website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) KickApps Feed Builder 2013-06-15T15:37:32Z 39 http://edge.ascd.org/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=127586&sortType=recent&tags=null 0 http://edge.ascd.org/_What-Does-This-Poem-Say-About-Education-Today/blog/6535242/127586.html The Calf-Path by Sam Walter Foss : One day, through the primeval wood, 
A calf walked home, as good calves should; 
But made a trail all bent askew, 
A crooked trail as all calves do. 

 Since then two hundred years have fled, 
And, I infer, the calf is dead. 
 But still he left behind his trail, 
And thereby hangs my moral tale. 

The trail was taken up next day 
By a lone dog that passed that way; 
And then a wise bell-wether sheep 
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep, 
And drew the flock behind him, too, 
As good bell-wethers always do. 

And from that day, o’er hill and glade, Through those old woods a path was made; 
 And many men wound in and out, 
And dodged, and turned, and bent about 
 And uttered words of righteous wrath 
Because ‘twas such a crooked path. 
 But still they followed -- do not laugh -- 
The first migrations of that calf, 
And through this winding wood-way stalked, 
Because he wobbled when he walked. 

This forest path became a lane, 
That bent, and turned, and turned again; 
This crooked lane became a road, 
Where many a poor horse with his load 
 Toiled on beneath the burning sun, And traveled some three miles in one. 
 And thus a century and a half They trod the footsteps of that calf. 
 The years passed on in swiftness fleet, 
The road became a village street, 
 And this, before men were aware, 
A city’s crowded thoroughfare; 
 And soon the central street was this 
Of a renowned metropolis; 
And men two centuries and a half 
Trod in the footsteps of that calf. 

Each day a hundred thousand rout 
Followed the zigzag calf about; 
 And o’er his crooked journey went 
The traffic of a continent. 
 A hundred thousand men were led By one calf near three centuries dead. 
They followed still his crooked way, 
And lost one hundred years a day; 
 For thus such reverence is lent 
To well-established precedent. 

 A moral lesson this might teach, 
Were I ordained and called to preach; 
For men are prone to go it blind 
Along the calf-paths of the mind, 
 And work away from sun to sun 
To do what other men have done. 
They follow in the beaten track, 
And out and in, and forth and back, 
 And still their devious course pursue, 
To keep the path that others do. 

 But how the wise old wood-gods laugh, 
Who saw the first primeval calf! 
 Ah! many things this tale might teach -- 
But I am not ordained to preach. The Calf-Path by Sam Walter Foss : One day, through the primeval wood, 
A calf walked home, as good calves should; 
But made a trail all bent askew, 
A crooked trail as all calves do. 

 Since then two hundred years have fled, 
And, I infer, the calf is dead. 
 But still he left behind his trail, 
And thereby hangs my moral tale. 

The trail was taken up next day 
By a lone dog that passed that way; 
And then a wise bell-wether sheep 
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep, 
And drew the flock behind him, too, 
As good bell-wethers always do. 

And from that day, o’er hill and glade, Through those old woods a path was made; 
 And many men wound in and out, 
And dodged, and turned, and bent about 
 And uttered words of righteous wrath 
Because ‘twas such a crooked path. 
 But still they followed -- do not laugh -- 
The first migrations of that calf, 
And through this winding wood-way stalked, 
Because he wobbled when he walked. 

This forest path became a lane, 
That bent, and turned, and turned again; 
This crooked lane became a road, 
Where many a poor horse with his load 
 Toiled on beneath the burning sun, And traveled some three miles in one. 
 And thus a century and a half They trod the footsteps of that calf. 
 The years passed on in swiftness fleet, 
The road became a village street, 
 And this, before men were aware, 
A city’s crowded thoroughfare; 
 And soon the central street was this 
Of a renowned metropolis; 
And men two centuries and a half 
Trod in the footsteps of that calf. 

Each day a hundred thousand rout 
Followed the zigzag calf about; 
 And o’er his crooked journey went 
The traffic of a continent. 
 A hundred thousand men were led By one calf near three centuries dead. 
They followed still his crooked way, 
And lost one hundred years a day; 
 For thus such reverence is lent 
To well-established precedent. 

 A moral lesson this might teach, 
Were I ordained and called to preach; 
For men are prone to go it blind 
Along the calf-paths of the mind, 
 And work away from sun to sun 
To do what other men have done. 
They follow in the beaten track, 
And out and in, and forth and back, 
 And still their devious course pursue, 
To keep the path that others do. 

 But how the wise old wood-gods laugh, 
Who saw the first primeval calf! 
 Ah! many things this tale might teach -- 
But I am not ordained to preach. Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:37:32 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_What-Does-This-Poem-Say-About-Education-Today/blog/6535242/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-06-15T15:37:32Z ASCD EDge The Calf-Path by Sam Walter Foss : One day, through the primeval wood, 
A calf walked home, as good calves should; 
But made a trail all bent askew, 
A crooked trail as all calves do. 

 Since then two hundred years have fled, 
And, I infer, the calf is dead. 
 But still he left behind his trail, 
And thereby hangs my moral tale. 

The trail was taken up next day 
By a lone dog that passed that way; 
And then a wise bell-wether sheep 
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep, 
And drew the flock behind him, too, 
As good bell-wethers always do. 

And from that day, o’er hill and glade, Through those old woods a path was made; 
 And many men wound in and out, 
And dodged, and turned, and bent about 
 And uttered words of righteous wrath 
Because ‘twas such a crooked path. 
 But still they followed -- do not laugh -- 
The first migrations of that calf, 
And through this winding wood-way stalked, 
Because he wobbled when he walked. 

This forest path became a lane, 
That bent, and turned, and turned again; 
This crooked lane became a road, 
Where many a poor horse with his load 
 Toiled on beneath the burning sun, And traveled some three miles in one. 
 And thus a century and a half They trod the footsteps of that calf. 
 The years passed on in swiftness fleet, 
The road became a village street, 
 And this, before men were aware, 
A city’s crowded thoroughfare; 
 And soon the central street was this 
Of a renowned metropolis; 
And men two centuries and a half 
Trod in the footsteps of that calf. 

Each day a hundred thousand rout 
Followed the zigzag calf about; 
 And o’er his crooked journey went 
The traffic of a continent. 
 A hundred thousand men were led By one calf near three centuries dead. 
They followed still his crooked way, 
And lost one hundred years a day; 
 For thus such reverence is lent 
To well-established precedent. 

 A moral lesson this might teach, 
Were I ordained and called to preach; 
For men are prone to go it blind 
Along the calf-paths of the mind, 
 And work away from sun to sun 
To do what other men have done. 
They follow in the beaten track, 
And out and in, and forth and back, 
 And still their devious course pursue, 
To keep the path that others do. 

 But how the wise old wood-gods laugh, 
Who saw the first primeval calf! 
 Ah! many things this tale might teach -- 
But I am not ordained to preach. nonadult false What Does This Poem Say, About Education Today... text blog 63 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6535242 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Reflect-on-Your-School-Year-With-the-Following-Questions/blog/6535110/127586.html Here are some questions you might use for reflecting on the year past, on how you might productively use your summer respite, and how you might plan for changes that you might wish to make to your teaching next year:   What are the core goals of my curriculum? Are they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? Am I clear about the distinction between my core curriculum and my supplemental curriculum? What were the most important goals that most of my students accomplished this year? Were they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? What stands out as my most important accomplishment this year? What stands out as the most important thing I could improve upon in the coming year? What am I most proud of in my teaching this year? What might I improve on in the future? What were my most powerful instructional activities and strategies? Least powerful? Why? Which students did I help the most to improve their learning? Help the least? Why? How did I measure the “success” of my students this year? How would I like to measure their success in the future? What do I wish I could improve upon next year? If I could change one thing about my teaching, my classroom, what would it be? Whom did I inspire? Whom did I motivate? Whom did I involve? What can I learn from this reflection? What new thoughts and ideas did I learn from others this year that I might want to explore this summer and incorporate into my teaching?  These are only some of the questions that you might ask yourself. Don't hesitate to add to, modify, or change these.    Once you have answered these questions, here are some things to think about over the summer and the coming year: What might I examine and explore this summer to identify new ideas and rethink my teaching and student learning? What might I work on this summer to improve my teaching and my students' learning?   I hope you had a productive and rewarding school year, that you have a restful, relaxing, rewarding, and productive summer that also provides you with an opportunity to learn and grow from your current year, and that you use some of your time to learn about and find new ways to become a better teacher in the future. ---------------------- Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, and volunteer in a number of Philadelphia public schools. He is a former social studies teacher, Professor of Education at Temple University and Curriculum Director for an Educational Service agency in Bucks County. You might find his website, www.era3learning.org of interest as a follow-up to your answers to these questions. Here are some questions you might use for reflecting on the year past, on how you might productively use your summer respite, and how you might plan for changes that you might wish to make to your teaching next year:   What are the core goals of my curriculum? Are they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? Am I clear about the distinction between my core curriculum and my supplemental curriculum? What were the most important goals that most of my students accomplished this year? Were they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? What stands out as my most important accomplishment this year? What stands out as the most important thing I could improve upon in the coming year? What am I most proud of in my teaching this year? What might I improve on in the future? What were my most powerful instructional activities and strategies? Least powerful? Why? Which students did I help the most to improve their learning? Help the least? Why? How did I measure the “success” of my students this year? How would I like to measure their success in the future? What do I wish I could improve upon next year? If I could change one thing about my teaching, my classroom, what would it be? Whom did I inspire? Whom did I motivate? Whom did I involve? What can I learn from this reflection? What new thoughts and ideas did I learn from others this year that I might want to explore this summer and incorporate into my teaching?  These are only some of the questions that you might ask yourself. Don't hesitate to add to, modify, or change these.    Once you have answered these questions, here are some things to think about over the summer and the coming year: What might I examine and explore this summer to identify new ideas and rethink my teaching and student learning? What might I work on this summer to improve my teaching and my students' learning?   I hope you had a productive and rewarding school year, that you have a restful, relaxing, rewarding, and productive summer that also provides you with an opportunity to learn and grow from your current year, and that you use some of your time to learn about and find new ways to become a better teacher in the future. ---------------------- Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, and volunteer in a number of Philadelphia public schools. He is a former social studies teacher, Professor of Education at Temple University and Curriculum Director for an Educational Service agency in Bucks County. You might find his website, www.era3learning.org of interest as a follow-up to your answers to these questions. Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:39:30 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Reflect-on-Your-School-Year-With-the-Following-Questions/blog/6535110/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-06-14T17:39:30Z ASCD EDge Here are some questions you might use for reflecting on the year past, on how you might productively use your summer respite, and how you might plan for changes that you might wish to make to your teaching next year:   What are the core goals of my curriculum? Are they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? Am I clear about the distinction between my core curriculum and my supplemental curriculum? What were the most important goals that most of my students accomplished this year? Were they the “right” goals for a 21st century world? What stands out as my most important accomplishment this year? What stands out as the most important thing I could improve upon in the coming year? What am I most proud of in my teaching this year? What might I improve on in the future? What were my most powerful instructional activities and strategies? Least powerful? Why? Which students did I help the most to improve their learning? Help the least? Why? How did I measure the “success” of my students this year? How would I like to measure their success in the future? What do I wish I could improve upon next year? If I could change one thing about my teaching, my classroom, what would it be? Whom did I inspire? Whom did I motivate? Whom did I involve? What can I learn from this reflection? What new thoughts and ideas did I learn from others this year that I might want to explore this summer and incorporate into my teaching?  These are only some of the questions that you might ask yourself. Don't hesitate to add to, modify, or change these.    Once you have answered these questions, here are some things to think about over the summer and the coming year: What might I examine and explore this summer to identify new ideas and rethink my teaching and student learning? What might I work on this summer to improve my teaching and my students' learning?   I hope you had a productive and rewarding school year, that you have a restful, relaxing, rewarding, and productive summer that also provides you with an opportunity to learn and grow from your current year, and that you use some of your time to learn about and find new ways to become a better teacher in the future. ---------------------- Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, and volunteer in a number of Philadelphia public schools. He is a former social studies teacher, Professor of Education at Temple University and Curriculum Director for an Educational Service agency in Bucks County. You might find his website, www.era3learning.org of interest as a follow-up to your answers to these questions. nonadult false Reflect on Your School Year With the Following Questions… text blog 117 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6535110 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Some-Summer-Reading-And-Resource-Browsing/blog/6533496/127586.html Are you a summer reader? Looking for books that not only are educationally relevant but also interesting, thought-provoking, and easy to read? Looking for books that might change your way of thinking about schools and classrooms? Here are a few to put on your list to buy or get from the library:   Will Richardson, Why School? This book is only available as an e-read for $1.99 (as my young nephew once said to my wife: “It’s a new world, my friend”). Provides an excellent discussion of what schooling should be about and how schools should be different in this new 21st century age we live in, with information abundance, new forms of communication, etc. Both an easy read and full of quotes and information that make the read insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and challenging.   Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. This book focuses on the how to create schools and educational experiences that nurture varied forms of talent, interests, intelligence and creativity that need to be developed within each of us. An excellent and easy read, with lots of examples and humor. A companion book is Finding Your Element: How To Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life.   Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character Paul Tough believes that we don’t place enough emphasis in schools on developing “character traits”, such as perseverance, resilience, curiosity, optimism, self-control. He makes a very strong case that, in the long run, these traits are as significant as, and perhaps more significant than academic skills. His solutions are novel, including significant forms of early intervention in the lives of some children.   Alice E. Ginsberg, Embracing Risk in Urban Education Alice Ginsberg argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book provides case studies of four Philadelphia urban schools and teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), teach children how to inquire and collaborate; teach them how to foster social justice; and help them build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students This relatively short, well written, powerful book, by an elementary teacher in New Hampshire and an educational presenter and speaker, shows us a way to think about excellence and educational practice that is very different from the test score mentality that exists in today’s educational world. His is a focus on, among other things, a framework that builds community, creates an ethic of excellence, focuses on excellence and craftsmanship in student work, and sees teaching as a calling. A very worthwhile book and a good read.   Dennis Littky, The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business This book not only influenced my way of thinking about education, but also has influenced the thinking of thousands of educators who are struggling to motivate students in a 21st century world. Starting with “the real goals of education”, Littky provides a very different way of viewing education, personalizing it, and getting students to be passionate about learning. A very powerful and different way to approach education that has been implemented in “Big Picture” schools across the country, and has proven to be successful with thousands of students.   Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap This wonderful and important book examines the world of the 21st century and its implications for the future of work, teaching and learning.  Wagner’s “seven survival skills” are not even touched upon in most schools (a scary thought). The book also highlights a number of schools that are meeting the challenges of the post-industrial world with a different approach to education.   Summer is also a good time for exploration and browsing! You might also want to explore my website: www.era3learning.org. There you will find many articles and readings about 21st century educational practice, examples of instructional strategies, curriculum materials, and assessment approaches for this new era, links to many other websites, commentaries and blogs from many different sources, and much more.   ENJOY!!!   Are you a summer reader? Looking for books that not only are educationally relevant but also interesting, thought-provoking, and easy to read? Looking for books that might change your way of thinking about schools and classrooms? Here are a few to put on your list to buy or get from the library:   Will Richardson, Why School? This book is only available as an e-read for $1.99 (as my young nephew once said to my wife: “It’s a new world, my friend”). Provides an excellent discussion of what schooling should be about and how schools should be different in this new 21st century age we live in, with information abundance, new forms of communication, etc. Both an easy read and full of quotes and information that make the read insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and challenging.   Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. This book focuses on the how to create schools and educational experiences that nurture varied forms of talent, interests, intelligence and creativity that need to be developed within each of us. An excellent and easy read, with lots of examples and humor. A companion book is Finding Your Element: How To Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life.   Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character Paul Tough believes that we don’t place enough emphasis in schools on developing “character traits”, such as perseverance, resilience, curiosity, optimism, self-control. He makes a very strong case that, in the long run, these traits are as significant as, and perhaps more significant than academic skills. His solutions are novel, including significant forms of early intervention in the lives of some children.   Alice E. Ginsberg, Embracing Risk in Urban Education Alice Ginsberg argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book provides case studies of four Philadelphia urban schools and teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), teach children how to inquire and collaborate; teach them how to foster social justice; and help them build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students This relatively short, well written, powerful book, by an elementary teacher in New Hampshire and an educational presenter and speaker, shows us a way to think about excellence and educational practice that is very different from the test score mentality that exists in today’s educational world. His is a focus on, among other things, a framework that builds community, creates an ethic of excellence, focuses on excellence and craftsmanship in student work, and sees teaching as a calling. A very worthwhile book and a good read.   Dennis Littky, The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business This book not only influenced my way of thinking about education, but also has influenced the thinking of thousands of educators who are struggling to motivate students in a 21st century world. Starting with “the real goals of education”, Littky provides a very different way of viewing education, personalizing it, and getting students to be passionate about learning. A very powerful and different way to approach education that has been implemented in “Big Picture” schools across the country, and has proven to be successful with thousands of students.   Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap This wonderful and important book examines the world of the 21st century and its implications for the future of work, teaching and learning.  Wagner’s “seven survival skills” are not even touched upon in most schools (a scary thought). The book also highlights a number of schools that are meeting the challenges of the post-industrial world with a different approach to education.   Summer is also a good time for exploration and browsing! You might also want to explore my website: www.era3learning.org. There you will find many articles and readings about 21st century educational practice, examples of instructional strategies, curriculum materials, and assessment approaches for this new era, links to many other websites, commentaries and blogs from many different sources, and much more.   ENJOY!!!   Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:26:41 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Some-Summer-Reading-And-Resource-Browsing/blog/6533496/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-06-02T13:26:41Z ASCD EDge Are you a summer reader? Looking for books that not only are educationally relevant but also interesting, thought-provoking, and easy to read? Looking for books that might change your way of thinking about schools and classrooms? Here are a few to put on your list to buy or get from the library:   Will Richardson, Why School? This book is only available as an e-read for $1.99 (as my young nephew once said to my wife: “It’s a new world, my friend”). Provides an excellent discussion of what schooling should be about and how schools should be different in this new 21st century age we live in, with information abundance, new forms of communication, etc. Both an easy read and full of quotes and information that make the read insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and challenging.   Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. This book focuses on the how to create schools and educational experiences that nurture varied forms of talent, interests, intelligence and creativity that need to be developed within each of us. An excellent and easy read, with lots of examples and humor. A companion book is Finding Your Element: How To Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life.   Paul Tough, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character Paul Tough believes that we don’t place enough emphasis in schools on developing “character traits”, such as perseverance, resilience, curiosity, optimism, self-control. He makes a very strong case that, in the long run, these traits are as significant as, and perhaps more significant than academic skills. His solutions are novel, including significant forms of early intervention in the lives of some children.   Alice E. Ginsberg, Embracing Risk in Urban Education Alice Ginsberg argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book provides case studies of four Philadelphia urban schools and teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), teach children how to inquire and collaborate; teach them how to foster social justice; and help them build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   Ron Berger, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students This relatively short, well written, powerful book, by an elementary teacher in New Hampshire and an educational presenter and speaker, shows us a way to think about excellence and educational practice that is very different from the test score mentality that exists in today’s educational world. His is a focus on, among other things, a framework that builds community, creates an ethic of excellence, focuses on excellence and craftsmanship in student work, and sees teaching as a calling. A very worthwhile book and a good read.   Dennis Littky, The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business This book not only influenced my way of thinking about education, but also has influenced the thinking of thousands of educators who are struggling to motivate students in a 21st century world. Starting with “the real goals of education”, Littky provides a very different way of viewing education, personalizing it, and getting students to be passionate about learning. A very powerful and different way to approach education that has been implemented in “Big Picture” schools across the country, and has proven to be successful with thousands of students.   Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap This wonderful and important book examines the world of the 21st century and its implications for the future of work, teaching and learning.  Wagner’s “seven survival skills” are not even touched upon in most schools (a scary thought). The book also highlights a number of schools that are meeting the challenges of the post-industrial world with a different approach to education.   Summer is also a good time for exploration and browsing! You might also want to explore my website: www.era3learning.org. There you will find many articles and readings about 21st century educational practice, examples of instructional strategies, curriculum materials, and assessment approaches for this new era, links to many other websites, commentaries and blogs from many different sources, and much more.   ENJOY!!!   nonadult false Some Summer Reading And Resource Browsing text blog 142 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6533496 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Strengthening-Curriculum-and-Instruction-in-a-21st-century-world/blog/6523696/127586.html This commentary examines criteria for selecting effective curricula and instructional models in a 21st century world, and also provides eight examples of relatively unknown yet powerful curricula-instructional programs that should be considered for adoption.   In the same way that it is hard to build a building without an architectural blueprint, so too it is hard for a teacher to be effective without strong curricula-instructional frameworks. Curricula/instructional frameworks lay out the goals, methods, strategies, approaches, assessments, and resources needed for successful teaching and learning. The better the framework, the more likely will be the sturdiness of the foundation and the effectiveness of instruction. The more that curricular-instructional models available to teachers are consistent with the goals and practices of the teacher and school, and the needs of students, the more likely it is that teaching will have good results.   Just imagine how an architectural blueprint influences and affects the construction of a building. Building construction based on a poor design may make it difficult to walk from one part of the building to another, make communication among building occupants difficult, make furniture arrangements impossible, make lighting too dark or too light, make the building safe or unsafe. In the same vein, a poorly designed curriculum may lead to too many unclear, vague goals that do not match student needs, include too much to teach, limit “deeper understanding” of a subject, teach the wrong skills, provide few connections between its different parts, have little meaning for learners, foster passive learning, and make alignment of content among teachers and grade levels difficult. When teachers work from poorly designed curricula and instructional frameworks, they have to work very hard to redo the curricular and instructional practices encouraged by these frameworks, and many times powerful learning is difficult if not impossible to create within the given framework.   What are the components of successful curriculum/instructional frameworks for teaching in a 21st century world? Some framework characteristics might include: Meaningful, worthwhile core goals focused around essential questions, big ideas, understandings and key 21st century skills; An emphasis on developing student understanding, concepts, and content relationships and connections over time; A focus on important skills, attitudes and values, such as positive attitudes towards learning, the importance of effort, research and study skills, openness to new thoughts and ideas, scientific experimentation, curiosity, self-reflection, thoughtfulness, creativity, application and transfer, multiple forms of communication, and conflict resolution/collaboration; The use of multiple types of readings and resources that foster the development of literacy skills and can be integrated into instruction; “Deeper” learning instructional strategies that go well beyond coverage and superficial textbook learning, “drill down” to promote understanding and thoughtfulness, encourage effective writing and discussion, and promote student interest, motivation, inquiry, research, and active engagement; Multiple types of both formative and summative assessments, including authentic performance tasks, teacher observations, self-reflections, writing of all types, and on-going feedback strategies designed to improve student work; A framework organization that is clear and coherent; Appropriate and realistic use of technology as a helpful tool for reaching goals; Realistic learning time frames that distinguish between core and supplemental learning; Support and enrichment activities; Alignment among goals, materials, strategies, and assessments; Links with goals, curricula and instructional approaches across grade levels and subjects.   Teachers, schools and districts need to regularly review their curricular programs in order to update them and create programs more attuned to this new age that we live in. Ultimately, this will make a huge difference for children in this new age.   -------------------   The following curricula and instructional models exemplify powerful “21st century” program elements built around many or most these criteria. You are probably unfamiliar with most or all of them. They, and programs like them, should become familiar to educators and achieve greater use throughout the educational community. NOTE: Many of their descriptions are adapted from the program’s website.   1. LITERACY DEVELOPMENT   SERP-Word Generation for the Middle School SERP - Word Generation is a research-based, highly motivating “vocabulary” development program for middle school students designed to teach words through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. The program consists of weekly units, each of which introduces 5 high-utility target words through brief passages describing controversies currently under debate in this country. The paragraphs are intended to help students join ongoing "national conversations" by sparking active examination and discussion of contemporary issues. The target words are relevant to a range of settings and subject areas. The cross-content focus on a small number of words each week will enable students to understand the variety of ways in which words are related, and the multiple exposures to words will provide ample opportunities for deeper understanding. The Word Generation program is designed to build academic vocabulary, i.e., words that students are likely to encounter in textbooks and on tests, but not in spoken language. Interpret, prohibit, vary, function, and hypothesis are examples. Academic vocabulary includes words that refer to thinking and communicating, like infer and deny, and words that are common across subjects, but hold different meaning depending on the subject, like element and factor. Both types of academic vocabulary are likely to cause problems with comprehension unless students have been taught how to deal with them.   For more information, go to: http://wg.serpmedia.org For information about other SERP programs in development, go to: http://www.serpinstitute.org/2013/   Other literacy development programs you might want to examine: Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) http://www.cliontheweb.org Reading and Writing Workshop: http://readingandwritingproject.com/about/overview.html 100 Book Challenge: http://www.americanreading.com/products/100bc/ Touchstones discussion Project: http://www.touchstones.org Jr Great Books Program:   http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior/ Educurious http://educurious.org   2. CREATIVE THINKING   Design Thinking Design Thinking is a structured approach to generate and develop new ways to solve difficult problems and challenges. Design Thinking starts with a challenge, and then works through a series of steps to help find creative solutions to the challenge, such as empathy, interpretation, brainstorming and choosing alternatives, building models, and planning for implementation. The process can be used to help solve school challenges or world-wide challenges. It includes learning additional skills such as finding reliable information, developing surveys and questionnaires, and building interview skills. It can be adapted to be used with students at all ages.   Other creative thinking programs you might want to explore: Creative Problem Solving: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org The Future Problem Solving Program: http://www.fpspi.org   3. POSITIVE ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS   Champions of Caring: Journey of a Champion Middle and High School Programs The Journey of a Champion Middle Grades curriculum is a year-long course of study divided into 4 modules. It promotes academic excellence, character development, service-learning and citizenship. The curriculum is a catalyst for encouraging caring, thoughtfulness and good judgment through service and civic participation.  Students gain civic engagement skills as they design community and school service projects. Civic skills developed include: 
 Designing and implementing community interviews and surveys Service-learning/community project development and assessment Self-reflection Public speaking Persuasive writing skills Conflict resolution and problem solving Leadership and team building Professional etiquette and work readiness Building a personal portfolio   The Journey of a Champion High School Program is a character education and service-learning curriculum for students in grades 9-12. Through this program, students learn how to act as responsible, caring and involved citizens who respect themselves and others and succeed academically. Journey of a Champion invites students to learn about and reflect on the challenges they and their contemporaries face. It places those challenges in a historical context and leads students to develop strategies and skills that will help them confront those challenges. The journey "destination" is students creating and planning sustainable service and civic participation. The curriculum affects positive change in students by:
 Developing character through community involvement Engaging students in active learning that demonstrates the relevance and importance of academic work for their life experiences and career choices Increasing awareness of past and current social issues Broadening and deepening perspectives of diversity issues, causes and solutions to conflicts, respect for self and others in their communities Enhancing critical thinking skills, with particular emphasis on conflict resolution, decision-making, and problem solving.   For more information, go to: http://www.championsofcaring.org   Other programs to look at: Second Step: http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step.aspx   4. ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP   Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Entrepreneurship education is a tool that can equip young people to not only start businesses and create jobs, but also to be opportunity-focused, flexible employees ready to fill existing jobs. NFTE fosters the creation of entrepreneurship skills, businesses and the development of an adaptable, driven and opportunity-focused workforce that ultimately promotes economic stability.  External research has shown that NFTE graduates start and maintain businesses at substantially higher rates than their peers. Other research findings indicate that students develop: Increased interest in attending college Greater occupational aspirations Improved scores in independent reading   Working with schools in low-income communities where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, NFTE targets young people who are at risk of dropping out of school, and helps them graduate with their own personal plans for success. The program, Highly Academic, is a semester or year-long class with a NFTE-certified teacher who guides students through one of the curricula: Entrepreneurship: Owning Your Future  or Exploring Careers for the 21st Century. Lessons include the concepts of competitive advantage, ownership, opportunity recognition, marketing, finance, and product development - and all tie back to core math and literacy skills. Lessons include field trips, games and experiential activities. Classes regularly have guest speakers. Students are paired with coaches who help students work on their business plans, and business plan competitions are judges by local entrepreneurs and business people.   Each young person who takes a NFTE class works toward completing a business plan, then goes on to present and defend it in a classroom competition. The winners of these competitions go on to compete in citywide or regional competitions, with the hopes of reaching our annual national competition.   For more information, go to: http://www.nfte.com   Other Economic-Entrepreneurial Programs: General information about entrepreneurial education programs can be found at: http://www.entre-ed.org Information about Economic and Financial Education resources can be found at: http://www.councilforeconed.org   5. INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE   Full Options Science System (FOSS) Science is an active enterprise, made active by our human capacity to think and “search for the truth”. Scientists value open communication, investigation, and good evidence for drawing conclusions. Scientific knowledge advances when scientists observe objects and events, think about how they relate to what is known, test their ideas in logical ways, and generate explanations that integrate the new information into the established order. Thus the scientific enterprise is both what we know (content) and how we come to know it (process). The best way for students to appreciate the scientific enterprise, learn important scientific concepts, and develop the ability to think critically is to actively construct ideas through their own inquiries, investigations, and analyses.   The FOSS program was created to engage students in these processes as they explore the natural world. FOSS program materials are designed to meet the challenge of providing meaningful science education for all students in diverse American classrooms and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. Development of the FOSS program was, and continues to be, guided by advances in the understanding of how youngsters think and learn.   FOSS K–6 is a complete program consisting of 26 modules for self-contained elementary classrooms. The components exclusive to K–6 are Teacher guides for K–6 Equipment kits for K–6 Teacher preparation videos for K–6 FOSS Science Stories and Spanish Editions   FOSS Middle School components consist of nine units for students and their teachers in departmental science grades 6–8. Each unit requires 9–12 weeks to teach. The Middle School program includes the following five interconnected components: Teacher guides for middle school courses Equipment kits for middle school courses Lab Notebooks for students Resources books for students CD-ROM for middle school courses.   Two components that apply to both FOSS K–6 and FOSS Middle School are the FOSS Assessment System and FOSSweb.com.   For more information, go to: http://www.fossweb.com   Other programs to consider: Active Physics: (high school): http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html GEMS (K-8): http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/programs_for_schools/programs/gems   6. CONCEPTUALLY-ORIENTED MATHEMATICS   Cognitively Guided Instruction Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a professional development program that increases teachers’ understanding of the knowledge that students bring to the math learning process and how they can connect that knowledge with formal concepts and operations. The program is based on the premise that children throughout the elementary grades are capable of learning powerful unifying ideas of mathematics that are the foundation of both arithmetic and algebra. Learning and articulating these ideas enhance children's understanding of arithmetic and provide a foundation for extending their knowledge of arithmetic to the learning of algebra.

   CGI is guided by two major ideas. The first is that children bring an intuitive knowledge of mathematics to school with them and that this knowledge should serve as the basis for developing formal mathematics instruction. This idea leads to an emphasis on working with the processes that students use to solve problems. The second key idea is that math instruction should be based on the relationship between computational skills and problem solving, which leads to an emphasis on problem solving in the classroom instead of the repetition of number facts, such as practicing the rules of addition and subtraction.   With the CGI approach, teachers focus on what students know and help them build future understanding based on present knowledge. The program aims to improve children's mathematical skills by increasing teachers' knowledge of students' thinking, by changing teachers' beliefs regarding how children learn, and by ultimately changing teaching practice. In 1996, CGI was extended into the upper elementary school levels to assist first through sixth grade teachers in integrating the major principles of algebra into arithmetic instruction.   There is no set curriculum. Teachers use the CGI framework with existing curriculum materials, or they use CGI principles to help develop their own math curriculum.   For more information, go to: http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?programid=114#programinfo   Other math programs that might be considered: Project Seed: http://projectseed.org Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP)(High School): http://mathimp.org/general_info/intro.html   7. SOCIAL STUDIES/CIVICS PROGRAMS   Social Studies School Service Social Studies School Service offers teachers, K-12, a variety of alternative and unique materials, programs, and curricula for social studies at all levels. The materials have been developed for the many aspects of social studies – government, history, geography, and civics – and often are interdisciplinary, incorporate conceptual understanding, develop research skills, big ideas and essential questions, and use data-based test questions (DBQ’s), performance tasks, and multiple readings. Catalogues of available materials are frequently sent out and shared.   For further information, go to: www.socialstudies.com   Other social studies/civics programs to consider: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute social studies programs: www.teachtci.com Center for Civic Education: http://new.civiced.org Zinn Education: http://zinnedproject.org                                             A History of US: http://www.joyhakim.com/works.htm The Choices Program (Middle and High School): http://www.choices.edu   8. STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS) PROGRAMS   Engineering is Elementary EIE consists currently of twenty STEM units designed for the elementary grades. Each EIE unit ties in with an elementary science topic and is meant to be taught either concurrently or after students learn the appropriate science content in life science, earth and space science and physical science areas. Each unit has five “lessons” (lessons can be more than one day). The units attempt to combine learning in a science area with engineering concepts. Engineering projects integrate other disciplines. Engaging students in hands-on, real-world engineering experiences can enliven math and science and other content areas. Engineering projects can motivate students to learn math and science concepts by illustrating relevant applications. They foster problem-solving skills, including problem formulation, iteration, testing of alternative solutions, and evaluation of data to guide decisions. Learning about engineering increases students' awareness of and access to scientific and technical careers. The number of American citizens pursuing engineering is decreasing. Early introduction to engineering can encourage many capable students, especially girls and minorities, to consider it as a career and enroll in the necessary science and math courses in high school.   For more information, go to: http://www.eie.org/   Other STEM examples: Engineer Your World: http://www.engineeryourworld.org (high school) Project Lead the Way: http://www.pltw.org (high school)     Some Final Thoughts   Every school and district should have some mechanism to help staff members regularly review the many available potential curriculum and instructional programs and approaches, and to select those that provide students with opportunities based on the criteria suggested at the beginning of this commentary, such as focused, meaningful goals; targeted key skills, attitudes and values; multiple formative and summative assessment options; a focus on deeper learning; and active student engagement and inquiry.[i]   The programs listed above are only some examples of the many powerful curricula and instructional options that are often neglected and put into place too infrequently in schools and classrooms.[ii] Many others that meet the criteria cited above and match 21st century goals should be considered. Through continual review and renewal, every District should move towards having a set of powerful curricula and instructional programs, tied to appropriate staff development training, that help prepare students to live in a 21st century world.   We also now have the technology to develop curriculum review websites, comparable to Amazon’s book service and reviews or TripAdvisor’s travel site that rates hotels and bed and breakfasts in all parts of the world.  The website should include a comprehensive set of curriculum programs, all reviewed by experts and rated by users. Such a site would provide educators with data that would be helpful in a curriculum review and renewal process.   [i] For additional information about curriculum renewal criteria and strategies, go to www.era3learning.org, then to resources, then to curriculum renewal, and then to the article by Elliott Seif, Reconfiguring Learning Through Curriculum Renewal (unpublished). [ii] For more information about curriculum selection criteria and additional alternative curricular and instructional programs in many subject areas, go to: www.era3learning.org, then to the resource page, then to the meaningful curriculum section. This commentary examines criteria for selecting effective curricula and instructional models in a 21st century world, and also provides eight examples of relatively unknown yet powerful curricula-instructional programs that should be considered for adoption.   In the same way that it is hard to build a building without an architectural blueprint, so too it is hard for a teacher to be effective without strong curricula-instructional frameworks. Curricula/instructional frameworks lay out the goals, methods, strategies, approaches, assessments, and resources needed for successful teaching and learning. The better the framework, the more likely will be the sturdiness of the foundation and the effectiveness of instruction. The more that curricular-instructional models available to teachers are consistent with the goals and practices of the teacher and school, and the needs of students, the more likely it is that teaching will have good results.   Just imagine how an architectural blueprint influences and affects the construction of a building. Building construction based on a poor design may make it difficult to walk from one part of the building to another, make communication among building occupants difficult, make furniture arrangements impossible, make lighting too dark or too light, make the building safe or unsafe. In the same vein, a poorly designed curriculum may lead to too many unclear, vague goals that do not match student needs, include too much to teach, limit “deeper understanding” of a subject, teach the wrong skills, provide few connections between its different parts, have little meaning for learners, foster passive learning, and make alignment of content among teachers and grade levels difficult. When teachers work from poorly designed curricula and instructional frameworks, they have to work very hard to redo the curricular and instructional practices encouraged by these frameworks, and many times powerful learning is difficult if not impossible to create within the given framework.   What are the components of successful curriculum/instructional frameworks for teaching in a 21st century world? Some framework characteristics might include: Meaningful, worthwhile core goals focused around essential questions, big ideas, understandings and key 21st century skills; An emphasis on developing student understanding, concepts, and content relationships and connections over time; A focus on important skills, attitudes and values, such as positive attitudes towards learning, the importance of effort, research and study skills, openness to new thoughts and ideas, scientific experimentation, curiosity, self-reflection, thoughtfulness, creativity, application and transfer, multiple forms of communication, and conflict resolution/collaboration; The use of multiple types of readings and resources that foster the development of literacy skills and can be integrated into instruction; “Deeper” learning instructional strategies that go well beyond coverage and superficial textbook learning, “drill down” to promote understanding and thoughtfulness, encourage effective writing and discussion, and promote student interest, motivation, inquiry, research, and active engagement; Multiple types of both formative and summative assessments, including authentic performance tasks, teacher observations, self-reflections, writing of all types, and on-going feedback strategies designed to improve student work; A framework organization that is clear and coherent; Appropriate and realistic use of technology as a helpful tool for reaching goals; Realistic learning time frames that distinguish between core and supplemental learning; Support and enrichment activities; Alignment among goals, materials, strategies, and assessments; Links with goals, curricula and instructional approaches across grade levels and subjects.   Teachers, schools and districts need to regularly review their curricular programs in order to update them and create programs more attuned to this new age that we live in. Ultimately, this will make a huge difference for children in this new age.   -------------------   The following curricula and instructional models exemplify powerful “21st century” program elements built around many or most these criteria. You are probably unfamiliar with most or all of them. They, and programs like them, should become familiar to educators and achieve greater use throughout the educational community. NOTE: Many of their descriptions are adapted from the program’s website.   1. LITERACY DEVELOPMENT   SERP-Word Generation for the Middle School SERP - Word Generation is a research-based, highly motivating “vocabulary” development program for middle school students designed to teach words through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. The program consists of weekly units, each of which introduces 5 high-utility target words through brief passages describing controversies currently under debate in this country. The paragraphs are intended to help students join ongoing "national conversations" by sparking active examination and discussion of contemporary issues. The target words are relevant to a range of settings and subject areas. The cross-content focus on a small number of words each week will enable students to understand the variety of ways in which words are related, and the multiple exposures to words will provide ample opportunities for deeper understanding. The Word Generation program is designed to build academic vocabulary, i.e., words that students are likely to encounter in textbooks and on tests, but not in spoken language. Interpret, prohibit, vary, function, and hypothesis are examples. Academic vocabulary includes words that refer to thinking and communicating, like infer and deny, and words that are common across subjects, but hold different meaning depending on the subject, like element and factor. Both types of academic vocabulary are likely to cause problems with comprehension unless students have been taught how to deal with them.   For more information, go to: http://wg.serpmedia.org For information about other SERP programs in development, go to: http://www.serpinstitute.org/2013/   Other literacy development programs you might want to examine: Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) http://www.cliontheweb.org Reading and Writing Workshop: http://readingandwritingproject.com/about/overview.html 100 Book Challenge: http://www.americanreading.com/products/100bc/ Touchstones discussion Project: http://www.touchstones.org Jr Great Books Program:   http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior/ Educurious http://educurious.org   2. CREATIVE THINKING   Design Thinking Design Thinking is a structured approach to generate and develop new ways to solve difficult problems and challenges. Design Thinking starts with a challenge, and then works through a series of steps to help find creative solutions to the challenge, such as empathy, interpretation, brainstorming and choosing alternatives, building models, and planning for implementation. The process can be used to help solve school challenges or world-wide challenges. It includes learning additional skills such as finding reliable information, developing surveys and questionnaires, and building interview skills. It can be adapted to be used with students at all ages.   Other creative thinking programs you might want to explore: Creative Problem Solving: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org The Future Problem Solving Program: http://www.fpspi.org   3. POSITIVE ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS   Champions of Caring: Journey of a Champion Middle and High School Programs The Journey of a Champion Middle Grades curriculum is a year-long course of study divided into 4 modules. It promotes academic excellence, character development, service-learning and citizenship. The curriculum is a catalyst for encouraging caring, thoughtfulness and good judgment through service and civic participation.  Students gain civic engagement skills as they design community and school service projects. Civic skills developed include: 
 Designing and implementing community interviews and surveys Service-learning/community project development and assessment Self-reflection Public speaking Persuasive writing skills Conflict resolution and problem solving Leadership and team building Professional etiquette and work readiness Building a personal portfolio   The Journey of a Champion High School Program is a character education and service-learning curriculum for students in grades 9-12. Through this program, students learn how to act as responsible, caring and involved citizens who respect themselves and others and succeed academically. Journey of a Champion invites students to learn about and reflect on the challenges they and their contemporaries face. It places those challenges in a historical context and leads students to develop strategies and skills that will help them confront those challenges. The journey "destination" is students creating and planning sustainable service and civic participation. The curriculum affects positive change in students by:
 Developing character through community involvement Engaging students in active learning that demonstrates the relevance and importance of academic work for their life experiences and career choices Increasing awareness of past and current social issues Broadening and deepening perspectives of diversity issues, causes and solutions to conflicts, respect for self and others in their communities Enhancing critical thinking skills, with particular emphasis on conflict resolution, decision-making, and problem solving.   For more information, go to: http://www.championsofcaring.org   Other programs to look at: Second Step: http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step.aspx   4. ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP   Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Entrepreneurship education is a tool that can equip young people to not only start businesses and create jobs, but also to be opportunity-focused, flexible employees ready to fill existing jobs. NFTE fosters the creation of entrepreneurship skills, businesses and the development of an adaptable, driven and opportunity-focused workforce that ultimately promotes economic stability.  External research has shown that NFTE graduates start and maintain businesses at substantially higher rates than their peers. Other research findings indicate that students develop: Increased interest in attending college Greater occupational aspirations Improved scores in independent reading   Working with schools in low-income communities where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, NFTE targets young people who are at risk of dropping out of school, and helps them graduate with their own personal plans for success. The program, Highly Academic, is a semester or year-long class with a NFTE-certified teacher who guides students through one of the curricula: Entrepreneurship: Owning Your Future  or Exploring Careers for the 21st Century. Lessons include the concepts of competitive advantage, ownership, opportunity recognition, marketing, finance, and product development - and all tie back to core math and literacy skills. Lessons include field trips, games and experiential activities. Classes regularly have guest speakers. Students are paired with coaches who help students work on their business plans, and business plan competitions are judges by local entrepreneurs and business people.   Each young person who takes a NFTE class works toward completing a business plan, then goes on to present and defend it in a classroom competition. The winners of these competitions go on to compete in citywide or regional competitions, with the hopes of reaching our annual national competition.   For more information, go to: http://www.nfte.com   Other Economic-Entrepreneurial Programs: General information about entrepreneurial education programs can be found at: http://www.entre-ed.org Information about Economic and Financial Education resources can be found at: http://www.councilforeconed.org   5. INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE   Full Options Science System (FOSS) Science is an active enterprise, made active by our human capacity to think and “search for the truth”. Scientists value open communication, investigation, and good evidence for drawing conclusions. Scientific knowledge advances when scientists observe objects and events, think about how they relate to what is known, test their ideas in logical ways, and generate explanations that integrate the new information into the established order. Thus the scientific enterprise is both what we know (content) and how we come to know it (process). The best way for students to appreciate the scientific enterprise, learn important scientific concepts, and develop the ability to think critically is to actively construct ideas through their own inquiries, investigations, and analyses.   The FOSS program was created to engage students in these processes as they explore the natural world. FOSS program materials are designed to meet the challenge of providing meaningful science education for all students in diverse American classrooms and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. Development of the FOSS program was, and continues to be, guided by advances in the understanding of how youngsters think and learn.   FOSS K–6 is a complete program consisting of 26 modules for self-contained elementary classrooms. The components exclusive to K–6 are Teacher guides for K–6 Equipment kits for K–6 Teacher preparation videos for K–6 FOSS Science Stories and Spanish Editions   FOSS Middle School components consist of nine units for students and their teachers in departmental science grades 6–8. Each unit requires 9–12 weeks to teach. The Middle School program includes the following five interconnected components: Teacher guides for middle school courses Equipment kits for middle school courses Lab Notebooks for students Resources books for students CD-ROM for middle school courses.   Two components that apply to both FOSS K–6 and FOSS Middle School are the FOSS Assessment System and FOSSweb.com.   For more information, go to: http://www.fossweb.com   Other programs to consider: Active Physics: (high school): http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html GEMS (K-8): http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/programs_for_schools/programs/gems   6. CONCEPTUALLY-ORIENTED MATHEMATICS   Cognitively Guided Instruction Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a professional development program that increases teachers’ understanding of the knowledge that students bring to the math learning process and how they can connect that knowledge with formal concepts and operations. The program is based on the premise that children throughout the elementary grades are capable of learning powerful unifying ideas of mathematics that are the foundation of both arithmetic and algebra. Learning and articulating these ideas enhance children's understanding of arithmetic and provide a foundation for extending their knowledge of arithmetic to the learning of algebra.

   CGI is guided by two major ideas. The first is that children bring an intuitive knowledge of mathematics to school with them and that this knowledge should serve as the basis for developing formal mathematics instruction. This idea leads to an emphasis on working with the processes that students use to solve problems. The second key idea is that math instruction should be based on the relationship between computational skills and problem solving, which leads to an emphasis on problem solving in the classroom instead of the repetition of number facts, such as practicing the rules of addition and subtraction.   With the CGI approach, teachers focus on what students know and help them build future understanding based on present knowledge. The program aims to improve children's mathematical skills by increasing teachers' knowledge of students' thinking, by changing teachers' beliefs regarding how children learn, and by ultimately changing teaching practice. In 1996, CGI was extended into the upper elementary school levels to assist first through sixth grade teachers in integrating the major principles of algebra into arithmetic instruction.   There is no set curriculum. Teachers use the CGI framework with existing curriculum materials, or they use CGI principles to help develop their own math curriculum.   For more information, go to: http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?programid=114#programinfo   Other math programs that might be considered: Project Seed: http://projectseed.org Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP)(High School): http://mathimp.org/general_info/intro.html   7. SOCIAL STUDIES/CIVICS PROGRAMS   Social Studies School Service Social Studies School Service offers teachers, K-12, a variety of alternative and unique materials, programs, and curricula for social studies at all levels. The materials have been developed for the many aspects of social studies – government, history, geography, and civics – and often are interdisciplinary, incorporate conceptual understanding, develop research skills, big ideas and essential questions, and use data-based test questions (DBQ’s), performance tasks, and multiple readings. Catalogues of available materials are frequently sent out and shared.   For further information, go to: www.socialstudies.com   Other social studies/civics programs to consider: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute social studies programs: www.teachtci.com Center for Civic Education: http://new.civiced.org Zinn Education: http://zinnedproject.org                                             A History of US: http://www.joyhakim.com/works.htm The Choices Program (Middle and High School): http://www.choices.edu   8. STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS) PROGRAMS   Engineering is Elementary EIE consists currently of twenty STEM units designed for the elementary grades. Each EIE unit ties in with an elementary science topic and is meant to be taught either concurrently or after students learn the appropriate science content in life science, earth and space science and physical science areas. Each unit has five “lessons” (lessons can be more than one day). The units attempt to combine learning in a science area with engineering concepts. Engineering projects integrate other disciplines. Engaging students in hands-on, real-world engineering experiences can enliven math and science and other content areas. Engineering projects can motivate students to learn math and science concepts by illustrating relevant applications. They foster problem-solving skills, including problem formulation, iteration, testing of alternative solutions, and evaluation of data to guide decisions. Learning about engineering increases students' awareness of and access to scientific and technical careers. The number of American citizens pursuing engineering is decreasing. Early introduction to engineering can encourage many capable students, especially girls and minorities, to consider it as a career and enroll in the necessary science and math courses in high school.   For more information, go to: http://www.eie.org/   Other STEM examples: Engineer Your World: http://www.engineeryourworld.org (high school) Project Lead the Way: http://www.pltw.org (high school)     Some Final Thoughts   Every school and district should have some mechanism to help staff members regularly review the many available potential curriculum and instructional programs and approaches, and to select those that provide students with opportunities based on the criteria suggested at the beginning of this commentary, such as focused, meaningful goals; targeted key skills, attitudes and values; multiple formative and summative assessment options; a focus on deeper learning; and active student engagement and inquiry.[i]   The programs listed above are only some examples of the many powerful curricula and instructional options that are often neglected and put into place too infrequently in schools and classrooms.[ii] Many others that meet the criteria cited above and match 21st century goals should be considered. Through continual review and renewal, every District should move towards having a set of powerful curricula and instructional programs, tied to appropriate staff development training, that help prepare students to live in a 21st century world.   We also now have the technology to develop curriculum review websites, comparable to Amazon’s book service and reviews or TripAdvisor’s travel site that rates hotels and bed and breakfasts in all parts of the world.  The website should include a comprehensive set of curriculum programs, all reviewed by experts and rated by users. Such a site would provide educators with data that would be helpful in a curriculum review and renewal process.   [i] For additional information about curriculum renewal criteria and strategies, go to www.era3learning.org, then to resources, then to curriculum renewal, and then to the article by Elliott Seif, Reconfiguring Learning Through Curriculum Renewal (unpublished). [ii] For more information about curriculum selection criteria and additional alternative curricular and instructional programs in many subject areas, go to: www.era3learning.org, then to the resource page, then to the meaningful curriculum section. Thu, 09 May 2013 15:56:40 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Strengthening-Curriculum-and-Instruction-in-a-21st-century-world/blog/6523696/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-05-09T15:56:40Z ASCD EDge This commentary examines criteria for selecting effective curricula and instructional models in a 21st century world, and also provides eight examples of relatively unknown yet powerful curricula-instructional programs that should be considered for adoption.   In the same way that it is hard to build a building without an architectural blueprint, so too it is hard for a teacher to be effective without strong curricula-instructional frameworks. Curricula/instructional frameworks lay out the goals, methods, strategies, approaches, assessments, and resources needed for successful teaching and learning. The better the framework, the more likely will be the sturdiness of the foundation and the effectiveness of instruction. The more that curricular-instructional models available to teachers are consistent with the goals and practices of the teacher and school, and the needs of students, the more likely it is that teaching will have good results.   Just imagine how an architectural blueprint influences and affects the construction of a building. Building construction based on a poor design may make it difficult to walk from one part of the building to another, make communication among building occupants difficult, make furniture arrangements impossible, make lighting too dark or too light, make the building safe or unsafe. In the same vein, a poorly designed curriculum may lead to too many unclear, vague goals that do not match student needs, include too much to teach, limit “deeper understanding” of a subject, teach the wrong skills, provide few connections between its different parts, have little meaning for learners, foster passive learning, and make alignment of content among teachers and grade levels difficult. When teachers work from poorly designed curricula and instructional frameworks, they have to work very hard to redo the curricular and instructional practices encouraged by these frameworks, and many times powerful learning is difficult if not impossible to create within the given framework.   What are the components of successful curriculum/instructional frameworks for teaching in a 21st century world? Some framework characteristics might include: Meaningful, worthwhile core goals focused around essential questions, big ideas, understandings and key 21st century skills; An emphasis on developing student understanding, concepts, and content relationships and connections over time; A focus on important skills, attitudes and values, such as positive attitudes towards learning, the importance of effort, research and study skills, openness to new thoughts and ideas, scientific experimentation, curiosity, self-reflection, thoughtfulness, creativity, application and transfer, multiple forms of communication, and conflict resolution/collaboration; The use of multiple types of readings and resources that foster the development of literacy skills and can be integrated into instruction; “Deeper” learning instructional strategies that go well beyond coverage and superficial textbook learning, “drill down” to promote understanding and thoughtfulness, encourage effective writing and discussion, and promote student interest, motivation, inquiry, research, and active engagement; Multiple types of both formative and summative assessments, including authentic performance tasks, teacher observations, self-reflections, writing of all types, and on-going feedback strategies designed to improve student work; A framework organization that is clear and coherent; Appropriate and realistic use of technology as a helpful tool for reaching goals; Realistic learning time frames that distinguish between core and supplemental learning; Support and enrichment activities; Alignment among goals, materials, strategies, and assessments; Links with goals, curricula and instructional approaches across grade levels and subjects.   Teachers, schools and districts need to regularly review their curricular programs in order to update them and create programs more attuned to this new age that we live in. Ultimately, this will make a huge difference for children in this new age.   -------------------   The following curricula and instructional models exemplify powerful “21st century” program elements built around many or most these criteria. You are probably unfamiliar with most or all of them. They, and programs like them, should become familiar to educators and achieve greater use throughout the educational community. NOTE: Many of their descriptions are adapted from the program’s website.   1. LITERACY DEVELOPMENT   SERP-Word Generation for the Middle School SERP - Word Generation is a research-based, highly motivating “vocabulary” development program for middle school students designed to teach words through language arts, math, science, and social studies classes. The program consists of weekly units, each of which introduces 5 high-utility target words through brief passages describing controversies currently under debate in this country. The paragraphs are intended to help students join ongoing "national conversations" by sparking active examination and discussion of contemporary issues. The target words are relevant to a range of settings and subject areas. The cross-content focus on a small number of words each week will enable students to understand the variety of ways in which words are related, and the multiple exposures to words will provide ample opportunities for deeper understanding. The Word Generation program is designed to build academic vocabulary, i.e., words that students are likely to encounter in textbooks and on tests, but not in spoken language. Interpret, prohibit, vary, function, and hypothesis are examples. Academic vocabulary includes words that refer to thinking and communicating, like infer and deny, and words that are common across subjects, but hold different meaning depending on the subject, like element and factor. Both types of academic vocabulary are likely to cause problems with comprehension unless students have been taught how to deal with them.   For more information, go to: http://wg.serpmedia.org For information about other SERP programs in development, go to: http://www.serpinstitute.org/2013/   Other literacy development programs you might want to examine: Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) http://www.cliontheweb.org Reading and Writing Workshop: http://readingandwritingproject.com/about/overview.html 100 Book Challenge: http://www.americanreading.com/products/100bc/ Touchstones discussion Project: http://www.touchstones.org Jr Great Books Program:   http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior/ Educurious http://educurious.org   2. CREATIVE THINKING   Design Thinking Design Thinking is a structured approach to generate and develop new ways to solve difficult problems and challenges. Design Thinking starts with a challenge, and then works through a series of steps to help find creative solutions to the challenge, such as empathy, interpretation, brainstorming and choosing alternatives, building models, and planning for implementation. The process can be used to help solve school challenges or world-wide challenges. It includes learning additional skills such as finding reliable information, developing surveys and questionnaires, and building interview skills. It can be adapted to be used with students at all ages.   Other creative thinking programs you might want to explore: Creative Problem Solving: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org The Future Problem Solving Program: http://www.fpspi.org   3. POSITIVE ATTITUDES, VALUES, AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS   Champions of Caring: Journey of a Champion Middle and High School Programs The Journey of a Champion Middle Grades curriculum is a year-long course of study divided into 4 modules. It promotes academic excellence, character development, service-learning and citizenship. The curriculum is a catalyst for encouraging caring, thoughtfulness and good judgment through service and civic participation.  Students gain civic engagement skills as they design community and school service projects. Civic skills developed include: 
 Designing and implementing community interviews and surveys Service-learning/community project development and assessment Self-reflection Public speaking Persuasive writing skills Conflict resolution and problem solving Leadership and team building Professional etiquette and work readiness Building a personal portfolio   The Journey of a Champion High School Program is a character education and service-learning curriculum for students in grades 9-12. Through this program, students learn how to act as responsible, caring and involved citizens who respect themselves and others and succeed academically. Journey of a Champion invites students to learn about and reflect on the challenges they and their contemporaries face. It places those challenges in a historical context and leads students to develop strategies and skills that will help them confront those challenges. The journey "destination" is students creating and planning sustainable service and civic participation. The curriculum affects positive change in students by:
 Developing character through community involvement Engaging students in active learning that demonstrates the relevance and importance of academic work for their life experiences and career choices Increasing awareness of past and current social issues Broadening and deepening perspectives of diversity issues, causes and solutions to conflicts, respect for self and others in their communities Enhancing critical thinking skills, with particular emphasis on conflict resolution, decision-making, and problem solving.   For more information, go to: http://www.championsofcaring.org   Other programs to look at: Second Step: http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step.aspx   4. ECONOMICS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP   Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Entrepreneurship education is a tool that can equip young people to not only start businesses and create jobs, but also to be opportunity-focused, flexible employees ready to fill existing jobs. NFTE fosters the creation of entrepreneurship skills, businesses and the development of an adaptable, driven and opportunity-focused workforce that ultimately promotes economic stability.  External research has shown that NFTE graduates start and maintain businesses at substantially higher rates than their peers. Other research findings indicate that students develop: Increased interest in attending college Greater occupational aspirations Improved scores in independent reading   Working with schools in low-income communities where at least 50% of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, NFTE targets young people who are at risk of dropping out of school, and helps them graduate with their own personal plans for success. The program, Highly Academic, is a semester or year-long class with a NFTE-certified teacher who guides students through one of the curricula: Entrepreneurship: Owning Your Future  or Exploring Careers for the 21st Century. Lessons include the concepts of competitive advantage, ownership, opportunity recognition, marketing, finance, and product development - and all tie back to core math and literacy skills. Lessons include field trips, games and experiential activities. Classes regularly have guest speakers. Students are paired with coaches who help students work on their business plans, and business plan competitions are judges by local entrepreneurs and business people.   Each young person who takes a NFTE class works toward completing a business plan, then goes on to present and defend it in a classroom competition. The winners of these competitions go on to compete in citywide or regional competitions, with the hopes of reaching our annual national competition.   For more information, go to: http://www.nfte.com   Other Economic-Entrepreneurial Programs: General information about entrepreneurial education programs can be found at: http://www.entre-ed.org Information about Economic and Financial Education resources can be found at: http://www.councilforeconed.org   5. INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE   Full Options Science System (FOSS) Science is an active enterprise, made active by our human capacity to think and “search for the truth”. Scientists value open communication, investigation, and good evidence for drawing conclusions. Scientific knowledge advances when scientists observe objects and events, think about how they relate to what is known, test their ideas in logical ways, and generate explanations that integrate the new information into the established order. Thus the scientific enterprise is both what we know (content) and how we come to know it (process). The best way for students to appreciate the scientific enterprise, learn important scientific concepts, and develop the ability to think critically is to actively construct ideas through their own inquiries, investigations, and analyses.   The FOSS program was created to engage students in these processes as they explore the natural world. FOSS program materials are designed to meet the challenge of providing meaningful science education for all students in diverse American classrooms and to prepare them for life in the 21st century. Development of the FOSS program was, and continues to be, guided by advances in the understanding of how youngsters think and learn.   FOSS K–6 is a complete program consisting of 26 modules for self-contained elementary classrooms. The components exclusive to K–6 are Teacher guides for K–6 Equipment kits for K–6 Teacher preparation videos for K–6 FOSS Science Stories and Spanish Editions   FOSS Middle School components consist of nine units for students and their teachers in departmental science grades 6–8. Each unit requires 9–12 weeks to teach. The Middle School program includes the following five interconnected components: Teacher guides for middle school courses Equipment kits for middle school courses Lab Notebooks for students Resources books for students CD-ROM for middle school courses.   Two components that apply to both FOSS K–6 and FOSS Middle School are the FOSS Assessment System and FOSSweb.com.   For more information, go to: http://www.fossweb.com   Other programs to consider: Active Physics: (high school): http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html GEMS (K-8): http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/programs_for_schools/programs/gems   6. CONCEPTUALLY-ORIENTED MATHEMATICS   Cognitively Guided Instruction Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a professional development program that increases teachers’ understanding of the knowledge that students bring to the math learning process and how they can connect that knowledge with formal concepts and operations. The program is based on the premise that children throughout the elementary grades are capable of learning powerful unifying ideas of mathematics that are the foundation of both arithmetic and algebra. Learning and articulating these ideas enhance children's understanding of arithmetic and provide a foundation for extending their knowledge of arithmetic to the learning of algebra.

   CGI is guided by two major ideas. The first is that children bring an intuitive knowledge of mathematics to school with them and that this knowledge should serve as the basis for developing formal mathematics instruction. This idea leads to an emphasis on working with the processes that students use to solve problems. The second key idea is that math instruction should be based on the relationship between computational skills and problem solving, which leads to an emphasis on problem solving in the classroom instead of the repetition of number facts, such as practicing the rules of addition and subtraction.   With the CGI approach, teachers focus on what students know and help them build future understanding based on present knowledge. The program aims to improve children's mathematical skills by increasing teachers' knowledge of students' thinking, by changing teachers' beliefs regarding how children learn, and by ultimately changing teaching practice. In 1996, CGI was extended into the upper elementary school levels to assist first through sixth grade teachers in integrating the major principles of algebra into arithmetic instruction.   There is no set curriculum. Teachers use the CGI framework with existing curriculum materials, or they use CGI principles to help develop their own math curriculum.   For more information, go to: http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?programid=114#programinfo   Other math programs that might be considered: Project Seed: http://projectseed.org Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP)(High School): http://mathimp.org/general_info/intro.html   7. SOCIAL STUDIES/CIVICS PROGRAMS   Social Studies School Service Social Studies School Service offers teachers, K-12, a variety of alternative and unique materials, programs, and curricula for social studies at all levels. The materials have been developed for the many aspects of social studies – government, history, geography, and civics – and often are interdisciplinary, incorporate conceptual understanding, develop research skills, big ideas and essential questions, and use data-based test questions (DBQ’s), performance tasks, and multiple readings. Catalogues of available materials are frequently sent out and shared.   For further information, go to: www.socialstudies.com   Other social studies/civics programs to consider: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute social studies programs: www.teachtci.com Center for Civic Education: http://new.civiced.org Zinn Education: http://zinnedproject.org                                             A History of US: http://www.joyhakim.com/works.htm The Choices Program (Middle and High School): http://www.choices.edu   8. STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS) PROGRAMS   Engineering is Elementary EIE consists currently of twenty STEM units designed for the elementary grades. Each EIE unit ties in with an elementary science topic and is meant to be taught either concurrently or after students learn the appropriate science content in life science, earth and space science and physical science areas. Each unit has five “lessons” (lessons can be more than one day). The units attempt to combine learning in a science area with engineering concepts. Engineering projects integrate other disciplines. Engaging students in hands-on, real-world engineering experiences can enliven math and science and other content areas. Engineering projects can motivate students to learn math and science concepts by illustrating relevant applications. They foster problem-solving skills, including problem formulation, iteration, testing of alternative solutions, and evaluation of data to guide decisions. Learning about engineering increases students' awareness of and access to scientific and technical careers. The number of American citizens pursuing engineering is decreasing. Early introduction to engineering can encourage many capable students, especially girls and minorities, to consider it as a career and enroll in the necessary science and math courses in high school.   For more information, go to: http://www.eie.org/   Other STEM examples: Engineer Your World: http://www.engineeryourworld.org (high school) Project Lead the Way: http://www.pltw.org (high school)     Some Final Thoughts   Every school and district should have some mechanism to help staff members regularly review the many available potential curriculum and instructional programs and approaches, and to select those that provide students with opportunities based on the criteria suggested at the beginning of this commentary, such as focused, meaningful goals; targeted key skills, attitudes and values; multiple formative and summative assessment options; a focus on deeper learning; and active student engagement and inquiry.[i]   The programs listed above are only some examples of the many powerful curricula and instructional options that are often neglected and put into place too infrequently in schools and classrooms.[ii] Many others that meet the criteria cited above and match 21st century goals should be considered. Through continual review and renewal, every District should move towards having a set of powerful curricula and instructional programs, tied to appropriate staff development training, that help prepare students to live in a 21st century world.   We also now have the technology to develop curriculum review websites, comparable to Amazon’s book service and reviews or TripAdvisor’s travel site that rates hotels and bed and breakfasts in all parts of the world.  The website should include a comprehensive set of curriculum programs, all reviewed by experts and rated by users. Such a site would provide educators with data that would be helpful in a curriculum review and renewal process.   [i] For additional information about curriculum renewal criteria and strategies, go to www.era3learning.org, then to resources, then to curriculum renewal, and then to the article by Elliott Seif, Reconfiguring Learning Through Curriculum Renewal (unpublished). [ii] For more information about curriculum selection criteria and additional alternative curricular and instructional programs in many subject areas, go to: www.era3learning.org, then to the resource page, then to the meaningful curriculum section. 21st, century, curriculum, education, frameworks, instruction, programs nonadult false Strengthening Curriculum and Instruction in a 21st century world text blog 21st,century,curriculum,education,frameworks,instruction,programs 383 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6523696 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Learning-Centered-Checklist-for-21st-Century-Classrooms-Schools-and-Districts/blog/6520602/127586.html The current requirement that public and charter school students demonstrate their proficiency through standardized, top down tests has in many schools narrowed the curriculum, increased sterile test-prep classroom activities, and focused the public measurement of school and student success narrowly and imperfectly around a few traditional tests. This “test-centered” focus makes it more difficult for many schools to educate and assess students so that they are prepared for a world with exploding amounts of knowledge, fundamental changes in technology, and the new skill sets required for successful careers.   By contrast, a “learning-centered” focus starts with establishing meaningful, purposeful educational outcomes for a 21st century world, such as preparing students for both lifelong learning and citizenship, focusing on the development of key skills for a new era, and customizing learning in order to develop each student’s talents, interests and abilities.   Based on the above learning centered outcomes, here is a checklist of potential characteristics and qualities that we might expect to observe in classrooms, schools and districts:   √ A conscious effort to develop positive learning attitudes and values, such as curiosity, wonder, responsibility, motivation, persistence, effort makes a difference, and collaboration.   √A “deeper learning” curriculum in all subject areas, including the arts and social studies, that help students build focused networks of core background knowledge and understandings about the world around them.   √Inquiry based learning approaches that engage students in learning and support the development of critical learning skills, such as questioning and problem finding; reading for understanding; processing information and data; many types of writing; research and study skills; logical, inductive and creative thinking; discussion and presentation skills.   √Preparation for citizenship through rigorous, engaging, interactive history, geography, current events, and service-learning experiences.   √Customized learning opportunities that develop individual interests, talents and strengths, as when students can choose from an extensive array of classroom, school, curricular and extra-curricular activities and electives[i].   √ Research projects, field trips and other experiences that help students connect to “real world” events, activities, and individuals.   √ Internships and Internet course options for high school students that expand student horizons.   √An accountability system that uses multiple types of assessments to determine student progress and success[ii], such as writing of all kinds, research projects and performance tasks, essay tests, self-reflections, and plans for the future. Traditional tests are only a small part of the assessment process. Student portfolios – collections of student work - become part of a multi-faceted growth and evaluation process.   √Technology in the service of all of the above that supports students as they conduct research, process information, develop and write papers, collect work in electronic portfolios, create on-line presentations, conduct simulations, contact outside experts, and the like.   -------------------   Does your classroom, school or district have a test-centered or a learning-centered approach to teaching and learning? Are the above components in place in your classroom-school-district? Not all of the checklist may be appropriate for your own situation, so feel free to adapt, change and add as necessary. Use this guide and checklist as a catalyst for your own thinking, discussion, and planning.   Many will say that these ideas are unrealistic in light of the current emphasis on standardized tests, state standards, and the Common Core standards. My view is that a systematic learning-centered education will provide a long-term vision of a good 21st century education that will be a framework for educating students for many years to come. With a meaningful and purposeful learning-centered framework, students will be well prepared for standardized tests, programs will satisfy Common Core standards requirements, and we will be ready for any other regulations and changes that come down the pike!   We can only hope that, instead of a test-centered approach, “learning-centeredness” -defining and implementing a set of 21st century student learning outcomes, assessments, and practices - will become the predominant educational focus for governments at all levels, the educational community, and the public at large in order to think about, define and plan for educational excellence in the future. -------------------------------   Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author, school volunteer, and Understanding by Design trainer. You can read more about this learning centered approach to education in a new age at his website: www.era3learning.org     [i] Thematic schools, such as schools for the arts, sciences, engineering, business, culinary arts, and the like, would be likely to customize according to their themes. [ii] This broadened accountability system suggests a different way for individual classrooms, schools and districts to judge success and achievement. For example, school superintendents might present a more complex picture of accountability to the public and school board by providing examples of the types of student work completed at different levels (average, excellent, and poor, with percentages of each), examples of books read by students at different levels, sample self-reflections, student survey data, research paper examples, and student presentations. The same broad-based data might also be presented by schools and individual teachers. While this data may be harder to collect and summarize, they should give a much better picture of student success and achievement. The current requirement that public and charter school students demonstrate their proficiency through standardized, top down tests has in many schools narrowed the curriculum, increased sterile test-prep classroom activities, and focused the public measurement of school and student success narrowly and imperfectly around a few traditional tests. This “test-centered” focus makes it more difficult for many schools to educate and assess students so that they are prepared for a world with exploding amounts of knowledge, fundamental changes in technology, and the new skill sets required for successful careers.   By contrast, a “learning-centered” focus starts with establishing meaningful, purposeful educational outcomes for a 21st century world, such as preparing students for both lifelong learning and citizenship, focusing on the development of key skills for a new era, and customizing learning in order to develop each student’s talents, interests and abilities.   Based on the above learning centered outcomes, here is a checklist of potential characteristics and qualities that we might expect to observe in classrooms, schools and districts:   √ A conscious effort to develop positive learning attitudes and values, such as curiosity, wonder, responsibility, motivation, persistence, effort makes a difference, and collaboration.   √A “deeper learning” curriculum in all subject areas, including the arts and social studies, that help students build focused networks of core background knowledge and understandings about the world around them.   √Inquiry based learning approaches that engage students in learning and support the development of critical learning skills, such as questioning and problem finding; reading for understanding; processing information and data; many types of writing; research and study skills; logical, inductive and creative thinking; discussion and presentation skills.   √Preparation for citizenship through rigorous, engaging, interactive history, geography, current events, and service-learning experiences.   √Customized learning opportunities that develop individual interests, talents and strengths, as when students can choose from an extensive array of classroom, school, curricular and extra-curricular activities and electives[i].   √ Research projects, field trips and other experiences that help students connect to “real world” events, activities, and individuals.   √ Internships and Internet course options for high school students that expand student horizons.   √An accountability system that uses multiple types of assessments to determine student progress and success[ii], such as writing of all kinds, research projects and performance tasks, essay tests, self-reflections, and plans for the future. Traditional tests are only a small part of the assessment process. Student portfolios – collections of student work - become part of a multi-faceted growth and evaluation process.   √Technology in the service of all of the above that supports students as they conduct research, process information, develop and write papers, collect work in electronic portfolios, create on-line presentations, conduct simulations, contact outside experts, and the like.   -------------------   Does your classroom, school or district have a test-centered or a learning-centered approach to teaching and learning? Are the above components in place in your classroom-school-district? Not all of the checklist may be appropriate for your own situation, so feel free to adapt, change and add as necessary. Use this guide and checklist as a catalyst for your own thinking, discussion, and planning.   Many will say that these ideas are unrealistic in light of the current emphasis on standardized tests, state standards, and the Common Core standards. My view is that a systematic learning-centered education will provide a long-term vision of a good 21st century education that will be a framework for educating students for many years to come. With a meaningful and purposeful learning-centered framework, students will be well prepared for standardized tests, programs will satisfy Common Core standards requirements, and we will be ready for any other regulations and changes that come down the pike!   We can only hope that, instead of a test-centered approach, “learning-centeredness” -defining and implementing a set of 21st century student learning outcomes, assessments, and practices - will become the predominant educational focus for governments at all levels, the educational community, and the public at large in order to think about, define and plan for educational excellence in the future. -------------------------------   Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author, school volunteer, and Understanding by Design trainer. You can read more about this learning centered approach to education in a new age at his website: www.era3learning.org     [i] Thematic schools, such as schools for the arts, sciences, engineering, business, culinary arts, and the like, would be likely to customize according to their themes. [ii] This broadened accountability system suggests a different way for individual classrooms, schools and districts to judge success and achievement. For example, school superintendents might present a more complex picture of accountability to the public and school board by providing examples of the types of student work completed at different levels (average, excellent, and poor, with percentages of each), examples of books read by students at different levels, sample self-reflections, student survey data, research paper examples, and student presentations. The same broad-based data might also be presented by schools and individual teachers. While this data may be harder to collect and summarize, they should give a much better picture of student success and achievement. Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:15:11 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Learning-Centered-Checklist-for-21st-Century-Classrooms-Schools-and-Districts/blog/6520602/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-04-18T17:15:11Z ASCD EDge The current requirement that public and charter school students demonstrate their proficiency through standardized, top down tests has in many schools narrowed the curriculum, increased sterile test-prep classroom activities, and focused the public measurement of school and student success narrowly and imperfectly around a few traditional tests. This “test-centered” focus makes it more difficult for many schools to educate and assess students so that they are prepared for a world with exploding amounts of knowledge, fundamental changes in technology, and the new skill sets required for successful careers.   By contrast, a “learning-centered” focus starts with establishing meaningful, purposeful educational outcomes for a 21st century world, such as preparing students for both lifelong learning and citizenship, focusing on the development of key skills for a new era, and customizing learning in order to develop each student’s talents, interests and abilities.   Based on the above learning centered outcomes, here is a checklist of potential characteristics and qualities that we might expect to observe in classrooms, schools and districts:   √ A conscious effort to develop positive learning attitudes and values, such as curiosity, wonder, responsibility, motivation, persistence, effort makes a difference, and collaboration.   √A “deeper learning” curriculum in all subject areas, including the arts and social studies, that help students build focused networks of core background knowledge and understandings about the world around them.   √Inquiry based learning approaches that engage students in learning and support the development of critical learning skills, such as questioning and problem finding; reading for understanding; processing information and data; many types of writing; research and study skills; logical, inductive and creative thinking; discussion and presentation skills.   √Preparation for citizenship through rigorous, engaging, interactive history, geography, current events, and service-learning experiences.   √Customized learning opportunities that develop individual interests, talents and strengths, as when students can choose from an extensive array of classroom, school, curricular and extra-curricular activities and electives[i].   √ Research projects, field trips and other experiences that help students connect to “real world” events, activities, and individuals.   √ Internships and Internet course options for high school students that expand student horizons.   √An accountability system that uses multiple types of assessments to determine student progress and success[ii], such as writing of all kinds, research projects and performance tasks, essay tests, self-reflections, and plans for the future. Traditional tests are only a small part of the assessment process. Student portfolios – collections of student work - become part of a multi-faceted growth and evaluation process.   √Technology in the service of all of the above that supports students as they conduct research, process information, develop and write papers, collect work in electronic portfolios, create on-line presentations, conduct simulations, contact outside experts, and the like.   -------------------   Does your classroom, school or district have a test-centered or a learning-centered approach to teaching and learning? Are the above components in place in your classroom-school-district? Not all of the checklist may be appropriate for your own situation, so feel free to adapt, change and add as necessary. Use this guide and checklist as a catalyst for your own thinking, discussion, and planning.   Many will say that these ideas are unrealistic in light of the current emphasis on standardized tests, state standards, and the Common Core standards. My view is that a systematic learning-centered education will provide a long-term vision of a good 21st century education that will be a framework for educating students for many years to come. With a meaningful and purposeful learning-centered framework, students will be well prepared for standardized tests, programs will satisfy Common Core standards requirements, and we will be ready for any other regulations and changes that come down the pike!   We can only hope that, instead of a test-centered approach, “learning-centeredness” -defining and implementing a set of 21st century student learning outcomes, assessments, and practices - will become the predominant educational focus for governments at all levels, the educational community, and the public at large in order to think about, define and plan for educational excellence in the future. -------------------------------   Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author, school volunteer, and Understanding by Design trainer. You can read more about this learning centered approach to education in a new age at his website: www.era3learning.org     [i] Thematic schools, such as schools for the arts, sciences, engineering, business, culinary arts, and the like, would be likely to customize according to their themes. [ii] This broadened accountability system suggests a different way for individual classrooms, schools and districts to judge success and achievement. For example, school superintendents might present a more complex picture of accountability to the public and school board by providing examples of the types of student work completed at different levels (average, excellent, and poor, with percentages of each), examples of books read by students at different levels, sample self-reflections, student survey data, research paper examples, and student presentations. The same broad-based data might also be presented by schools and individual teachers. While this data may be harder to collect and summarize, they should give a much better picture of student success and achievement. 21st, centered, century, education, learning, model, standardized, testing nonadult false A Learning-Centered Checklist for 21st Century Classrooms, Schools and Districts text blog 21st,centered,century,education,learning,model,standardized,testing 3799 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6520602 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Thirteen-Ways-to-Build-Positive-Learning-Attitudes-a-Key-to-Successful-Teaching/blog/6520096/127586.html NOTE: I recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge (co-authored with Jay McTighe) identifying ten research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. #7 was: Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it. ------------------------------  In America, especially during the progressive education era and the “open education” years, building positive attitudes towards learning, motivating students, creating interest in learning, making learning relevant, and yes, even promoting the joy of learning were important aspects of educational planning, development and practice. The belief during these time periods was that building curiosity, expanding student interests, and making learning relevant and interesting would promote active student inquiry, build on a natural human inclination to learn, and help create an educational environment in which students would WANT to learn.   Unfortunately, this emphasis has been mostly lost, even negated, in the push for teaching “the basics”, often through worksheets and drills, and then with the more recent focus on passing high risk standardized tests, teaching skill based reading and math, and cutting back on “frills”, such as the arts and social studies. Today, it is hard to find schools where curiosity, interest in learning, being motivated to learn, and making learning joyful are as important as doing well on standardized tests, taking four years of English, or passing AP courses. These goals are also missing from any meaningful discussion about what we want to accomplish with our students, what we will assess, and what kind of learner we want to graduate.   Yet, if we really want to encourage students to learn, grow, succeed and achieve in a 21st century world, if we truly want them to be lifelong learners in a world of rapid change, social media, access to technology, and transformative job development, we will need to create a new and different kind of approach, one that puts curiosity, motivation, interest, and joy back into the learning equation. What primarily distinguishes our country from the rest of the world, what makes us unique, is not how well we take tests, but the unusual amount of curiosity, individual talent, creativity, ingenuity, and interest in learning and growing that comes from so many Americans and is developed in so many different ways. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were unusual not only because of their drive, but also because they were curious about how things worked and how they were able to learn about things they were passionately interested in. Bill Gates became interested in computers in part because the opportunity to work with computers was presented to him in high school outside of his regular courses. Steve Jobs created the diverse calligraphies found on the Apple computer because he took a calligraphy course that interested him after he had left the formal college world. Their natural leadership inclinations happened because they were curious about and interested in computers, and because they knew that, in order to keep pace with others, they needed to grow, adapt and change.   Unfortunately, due to the pressures to do well on standardized tests, to time spent on practicing for these tests, to the need to “get through” multiple topics required by coverage based standards, to the emphasis on getting more students to take AP courses, and so on, millions of children are lacking the kinds of positive learning experiences that support lifelong learning, increase curiosity, build individual talent, and make learning interesting, rewarding and just plain fun!   How do we promote a focus on developing the positive learning attitudes and values identified in this commentary? A good place for an individual teacher or a faculty to start is to first examine and explore the following questions: What motivated you in school? What did you enjoy doing? What interested you? What types of activities piqued your curiosity? Spurred you to continue learning and growing? My guess is that many teachers would say that they enjoyed learning because they were good and successful at it! They were rewarded for what they did. They did well on tests. They were encouraged to build on their strengths. They liked hands on activities and projects. They were given choices. Few would say that they enjoyed being reminded of their failures, that they liked taking multiple-choice tests or doing worksheets, that they liked reading textbooks, that they found enjoyment in doing an activity that they didn’t understand or was so far above their abilities that they had no chance at success. Most probably had mentors and supporters in times of difficulty. Most had at least a few teachers who encouraged them who were good at explaining difficult concepts or who helped them “learn how to learn”. The list of answers might be expanded through reading articles and books on how to build curiosity, motivation, individual talents, and interest in learning.   Once a list of answers is developed, then the following questions might be examined: What am I/are we currently doing that builds curiosity, interest, relevance, enjoyment, and the kinds of “learning to learn” skills and competencies that our students will need in the future? How do I/we implement and expand programs, approaches and activities in schools and classrooms that motivate and interest students in learning and create enjoyment?   Based on my own informal research and discussions of this topic with teachers and others, here are thirteen suggestions as food for thought:  Reduce the emphasis on traditional testing as the key assessment tool, and focus on more “natural” and diverse assessment approaches such as essays and papers, reflective journals, oral presentations, and other demonstrations of their learning Create the expectation that effort makes a difference in learning. Help students understand that when someone works hard, they are more likely to succeed. Give students more opportunities to put effort into areas that interest them and that they enjoy. Include narratives on report cards that focus on individual strengths and interests. Where possible, instead of or in addition to reading textbooks, find and have students read and choose books that are interesting to them, that open them up to the world around them, that make them think! Focus primarily on student strengths and student success. For each student, consider “the glass as half full” rather than “the glass as half empty”. Encourage students as much as possible. Understand that not all students will be strong in all areas, and that it is important to help each student find his or her strengths and interests and to build on them. Also, see “failure” as an opportunity for student growth. Make it clear to students that not doing well is a cause for looking inside yourself to see how you can do something better (and that you will do the same). Give students more specific feedback, along with opportunities to redo their work and improve it. Provide mentors and tutors and other help and support for students who need it. Be willing to “slow down the learning process”. Focus learning on what you think is important. Figure out ways to teach an idea differently, and work on something for a longer period than you normally do if your students are not “getting it”. Figure out alternative ways to teach something if your approach isn’t working. Focus a good deal of your teaching on “learning how to learn” skill development. Read up on how to teach study skills, learning to learn skills, research skills, inquiry skills. Make sure that your students grow both in terms of content they learn and the “learning to learn” skills they need to develop in order to learn well in the future. Make “asking questions” central to your teaching and to your learning environment and school culture. Write course descriptions around key questions. Use essential questions to focus units, or have students develop essential questions as the focus for learning. As you teach, encourage students to ask clarifying and elaborative questions. Make it clear to students that no question is too small or too silly. Build open time for students to ask questions on the topics they are studying. Use “wait time” when you are asking for questions. Teach students study strategies such as SQ3R[i] that encourage students to turn statements (such as text headings) into questions.,  Give students more choices and options – in the classroom, by offering many electives, through multiple extra-curricular options. Choices/options should give students opportunities to develop and expand their interests, see connections and relevance in what they are learning, and expand their talents. Use inquiry strategies, research skill building activities, interactive learning and projects as critical parts of teaching. Incorporate more interest based projects into your curriculum. Where possible, make learning experiences more “authentic”. For example, consider how learning about the American Revolution might be tied to a current event happening in the world. Visit the area surrounding the school to demonstrate how math might be used for everyday activity. Through surveys, encourage students to provide feedback on whether they feel that their learning is interesting, motivating, and relevant, and whether they are being encouraged to develop their talents and interests. Conduct student surveys to determine what types of school and classroom activities are most motivating and interesting. Create activities and experiences that enable students to get outside the school and learn from the outside world and perform community service. Create more ways to integrate learning across the curriculum and consider ways to redesign the curriculum. Use themes to create more interdisciplinary units. Connect separate subject areas, such as by teaching American history and literature in tandem so that history topics and specific literature that touch on similar time periods or themes are taught at the same time. When redesigning or renewing the curriculum, examine whether curriculum materials or programs have a significant component built around developing curiosity, motivation, relevance and interest. See yourself as helping students build “pathways to adult success”. How can your subject, your grade level, your school contribute to making these pathways smoother? How can you provide students with a concrete understanding of their future options? Can you take field trips to different places of business? Colleges and universities? Bring in speakers?   In sum, a focus on how to create positive attitudes such as curiosity, interest, motivation and relevance leads to a very different way of thinking about school and classroom missions, outcomes, the learning environment, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. For example, instead of a focus on standardized tests passed by everyone, a portfolio assessment approach helps students focus on their individual strengths and reflect on what they have learned. Teachers concentrate on building student strengths rather than dwelling on their failures. Students are provided with opportunities to improve their work before they are graded. More choices and options are given to students in the form of classroom choices, electives, and enrichment activities. Some learning, such as research projects, is built around student interests. Many types of questions become more central to the learning experience. “Learning to learn” skills become a critical part of the classroom experience. There are more opportunities for students to make connections to the outside world in order to raise expectations and build motivation.   These ideas are just some of the starting points for your own discussion on how to develop positive attitudes towards learning and build the individual curiosity, skills, talents, and interests that will propel our students towards a better life, towards continued learning, and towards “pathways to student success” in a 21st century world. While this way of thinking might lead to a wide variety of suggestions and ideas, please remember: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.     [i] SQ3R is a study guide model that is focused around: Surveying what you are reading; Questions: Turn chapter and section headings, titles, subheadings into questions; Read for the answers to each question; Recite your answers after each section – orally ask yourself the questions and summarize your answers; Review what you have learned.   ------------------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional and related teaching and learning topics in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org       NOTE: I recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge (co-authored with Jay McTighe) identifying ten research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. #7 was: Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it. ------------------------------  In America, especially during the progressive education era and the “open education” years, building positive attitudes towards learning, motivating students, creating interest in learning, making learning relevant, and yes, even promoting the joy of learning were important aspects of educational planning, development and practice. The belief during these time periods was that building curiosity, expanding student interests, and making learning relevant and interesting would promote active student inquiry, build on a natural human inclination to learn, and help create an educational environment in which students would WANT to learn.   Unfortunately, this emphasis has been mostly lost, even negated, in the push for teaching “the basics”, often through worksheets and drills, and then with the more recent focus on passing high risk standardized tests, teaching skill based reading and math, and cutting back on “frills”, such as the arts and social studies. Today, it is hard to find schools where curiosity, interest in learning, being motivated to learn, and making learning joyful are as important as doing well on standardized tests, taking four years of English, or passing AP courses. These goals are also missing from any meaningful discussion about what we want to accomplish with our students, what we will assess, and what kind of learner we want to graduate.   Yet, if we really want to encourage students to learn, grow, succeed and achieve in a 21st century world, if we truly want them to be lifelong learners in a world of rapid change, social media, access to technology, and transformative job development, we will need to create a new and different kind of approach, one that puts curiosity, motivation, interest, and joy back into the learning equation. What primarily distinguishes our country from the rest of the world, what makes us unique, is not how well we take tests, but the unusual amount of curiosity, individual talent, creativity, ingenuity, and interest in learning and growing that comes from so many Americans and is developed in so many different ways. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were unusual not only because of their drive, but also because they were curious about how things worked and how they were able to learn about things they were passionately interested in. Bill Gates became interested in computers in part because the opportunity to work with computers was presented to him in high school outside of his regular courses. Steve Jobs created the diverse calligraphies found on the Apple computer because he took a calligraphy course that interested him after he had left the formal college world. Their natural leadership inclinations happened because they were curious about and interested in computers, and because they knew that, in order to keep pace with others, they needed to grow, adapt and change.   Unfortunately, due to the pressures to do well on standardized tests, to time spent on practicing for these tests, to the need to “get through” multiple topics required by coverage based standards, to the emphasis on getting more students to take AP courses, and so on, millions of children are lacking the kinds of positive learning experiences that support lifelong learning, increase curiosity, build individual talent, and make learning interesting, rewarding and just plain fun!   How do we promote a focus on developing the positive learning attitudes and values identified in this commentary? A good place for an individual teacher or a faculty to start is to first examine and explore the following questions: What motivated you in school? What did you enjoy doing? What interested you? What types of activities piqued your curiosity? Spurred you to continue learning and growing? My guess is that many teachers would say that they enjoyed learning because they were good and successful at it! They were rewarded for what they did. They did well on tests. They were encouraged to build on their strengths. They liked hands on activities and projects. They were given choices. Few would say that they enjoyed being reminded of their failures, that they liked taking multiple-choice tests or doing worksheets, that they liked reading textbooks, that they found enjoyment in doing an activity that they didn’t understand or was so far above their abilities that they had no chance at success. Most probably had mentors and supporters in times of difficulty. Most had at least a few teachers who encouraged them who were good at explaining difficult concepts or who helped them “learn how to learn”. The list of answers might be expanded through reading articles and books on how to build curiosity, motivation, individual talents, and interest in learning.   Once a list of answers is developed, then the following questions might be examined: What am I/are we currently doing that builds curiosity, interest, relevance, enjoyment, and the kinds of “learning to learn” skills and competencies that our students will need in the future? How do I/we implement and expand programs, approaches and activities in schools and classrooms that motivate and interest students in learning and create enjoyment?   Based on my own informal research and discussions of this topic with teachers and others, here are thirteen suggestions as food for thought:  Reduce the emphasis on traditional testing as the key assessment tool, and focus on more “natural” and diverse assessment approaches such as essays and papers, reflective journals, oral presentations, and other demonstrations of their learning Create the expectation that effort makes a difference in learning. Help students understand that when someone works hard, they are more likely to succeed. Give students more opportunities to put effort into areas that interest them and that they enjoy. Include narratives on report cards that focus on individual strengths and interests. Where possible, instead of or in addition to reading textbooks, find and have students read and choose books that are interesting to them, that open them up to the world around them, that make them think! Focus primarily on student strengths and student success. For each student, consider “the glass as half full” rather than “the glass as half empty”. Encourage students as much as possible. Understand that not all students will be strong in all areas, and that it is important to help each student find his or her strengths and interests and to build on them. Also, see “failure” as an opportunity for student growth. Make it clear to students that not doing well is a cause for looking inside yourself to see how you can do something better (and that you will do the same). Give students more specific feedback, along with opportunities to redo their work and improve it. Provide mentors and tutors and other help and support for students who need it. Be willing to “slow down the learning process”. Focus learning on what you think is important. Figure out ways to teach an idea differently, and work on something for a longer period than you normally do if your students are not “getting it”. Figure out alternative ways to teach something if your approach isn’t working. Focus a good deal of your teaching on “learning how to learn” skill development. Read up on how to teach study skills, learning to learn skills, research skills, inquiry skills. Make sure that your students grow both in terms of content they learn and the “learning to learn” skills they need to develop in order to learn well in the future. Make “asking questions” central to your teaching and to your learning environment and school culture. Write course descriptions around key questions. Use essential questions to focus units, or have students develop essential questions as the focus for learning. As you teach, encourage students to ask clarifying and elaborative questions. Make it clear to students that no question is too small or too silly. Build open time for students to ask questions on the topics they are studying. Use “wait time” when you are asking for questions. Teach students study strategies such as SQ3R[i] that encourage students to turn statements (such as text headings) into questions.,  Give students more choices and options – in the classroom, by offering many electives, through multiple extra-curricular options. Choices/options should give students opportunities to develop and expand their interests, see connections and relevance in what they are learning, and expand their talents. Use inquiry strategies, research skill building activities, interactive learning and projects as critical parts of teaching. Incorporate more interest based projects into your curriculum. Where possible, make learning experiences more “authentic”. For example, consider how learning about the American Revolution might be tied to a current event happening in the world. Visit the area surrounding the school to demonstrate how math might be used for everyday activity. Through surveys, encourage students to provide feedback on whether they feel that their learning is interesting, motivating, and relevant, and whether they are being encouraged to develop their talents and interests. Conduct student surveys to determine what types of school and classroom activities are most motivating and interesting. Create activities and experiences that enable students to get outside the school and learn from the outside world and perform community service. Create more ways to integrate learning across the curriculum and consider ways to redesign the curriculum. Use themes to create more interdisciplinary units. Connect separate subject areas, such as by teaching American history and literature in tandem so that history topics and specific literature that touch on similar time periods or themes are taught at the same time. When redesigning or renewing the curriculum, examine whether curriculum materials or programs have a significant component built around developing curiosity, motivation, relevance and interest. See yourself as helping students build “pathways to adult success”. How can your subject, your grade level, your school contribute to making these pathways smoother? How can you provide students with a concrete understanding of their future options? Can you take field trips to different places of business? Colleges and universities? Bring in speakers?   In sum, a focus on how to create positive attitudes such as curiosity, interest, motivation and relevance leads to a very different way of thinking about school and classroom missions, outcomes, the learning environment, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. For example, instead of a focus on standardized tests passed by everyone, a portfolio assessment approach helps students focus on their individual strengths and reflect on what they have learned. Teachers concentrate on building student strengths rather than dwelling on their failures. Students are provided with opportunities to improve their work before they are graded. More choices and options are given to students in the form of classroom choices, electives, and enrichment activities. Some learning, such as research projects, is built around student interests. Many types of questions become more central to the learning experience. “Learning to learn” skills become a critical part of the classroom experience. There are more opportunities for students to make connections to the outside world in order to raise expectations and build motivation.   These ideas are just some of the starting points for your own discussion on how to develop positive attitudes towards learning and build the individual curiosity, skills, talents, and interests that will propel our students towards a better life, towards continued learning, and towards “pathways to student success” in a 21st century world. While this way of thinking might lead to a wide variety of suggestions and ideas, please remember: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.     [i] SQ3R is a study guide model that is focused around: Surveying what you are reading; Questions: Turn chapter and section headings, titles, subheadings into questions; Read for the answers to each question; Recite your answers after each section – orally ask yourself the questions and summarize your answers; Review what you have learned.   ------------------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional and related teaching and learning topics in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org       Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:17:59 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Thirteen-Ways-to-Build-Positive-Learning-Attitudes-a-Key-to-Successful-Teaching/blog/6520096/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-04-14T13:17:59Z ASCD EDge NOTE: I recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge (co-authored with Jay McTighe) identifying ten research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. #7 was: Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it. ------------------------------  In America, especially during the progressive education era and the “open education” years, building positive attitudes towards learning, motivating students, creating interest in learning, making learning relevant, and yes, even promoting the joy of learning were important aspects of educational planning, development and practice. The belief during these time periods was that building curiosity, expanding student interests, and making learning relevant and interesting would promote active student inquiry, build on a natural human inclination to learn, and help create an educational environment in which students would WANT to learn.   Unfortunately, this emphasis has been mostly lost, even negated, in the push for teaching “the basics”, often through worksheets and drills, and then with the more recent focus on passing high risk standardized tests, teaching skill based reading and math, and cutting back on “frills”, such as the arts and social studies. Today, it is hard to find schools where curiosity, interest in learning, being motivated to learn, and making learning joyful are as important as doing well on standardized tests, taking four years of English, or passing AP courses. These goals are also missing from any meaningful discussion about what we want to accomplish with our students, what we will assess, and what kind of learner we want to graduate.   Yet, if we really want to encourage students to learn, grow, succeed and achieve in a 21st century world, if we truly want them to be lifelong learners in a world of rapid change, social media, access to technology, and transformative job development, we will need to create a new and different kind of approach, one that puts curiosity, motivation, interest, and joy back into the learning equation. What primarily distinguishes our country from the rest of the world, what makes us unique, is not how well we take tests, but the unusual amount of curiosity, individual talent, creativity, ingenuity, and interest in learning and growing that comes from so many Americans and is developed in so many different ways. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were unusual not only because of their drive, but also because they were curious about how things worked and how they were able to learn about things they were passionately interested in. Bill Gates became interested in computers in part because the opportunity to work with computers was presented to him in high school outside of his regular courses. Steve Jobs created the diverse calligraphies found on the Apple computer because he took a calligraphy course that interested him after he had left the formal college world. Their natural leadership inclinations happened because they were curious about and interested in computers, and because they knew that, in order to keep pace with others, they needed to grow, adapt and change.   Unfortunately, due to the pressures to do well on standardized tests, to time spent on practicing for these tests, to the need to “get through” multiple topics required by coverage based standards, to the emphasis on getting more students to take AP courses, and so on, millions of children are lacking the kinds of positive learning experiences that support lifelong learning, increase curiosity, build individual talent, and make learning interesting, rewarding and just plain fun!   How do we promote a focus on developing the positive learning attitudes and values identified in this commentary? A good place for an individual teacher or a faculty to start is to first examine and explore the following questions: What motivated you in school? What did you enjoy doing? What interested you? What types of activities piqued your curiosity? Spurred you to continue learning and growing? My guess is that many teachers would say that they enjoyed learning because they were good and successful at it! They were rewarded for what they did. They did well on tests. They were encouraged to build on their strengths. They liked hands on activities and projects. They were given choices. Few would say that they enjoyed being reminded of their failures, that they liked taking multiple-choice tests or doing worksheets, that they liked reading textbooks, that they found enjoyment in doing an activity that they didn’t understand or was so far above their abilities that they had no chance at success. Most probably had mentors and supporters in times of difficulty. Most had at least a few teachers who encouraged them who were good at explaining difficult concepts or who helped them “learn how to learn”. The list of answers might be expanded through reading articles and books on how to build curiosity, motivation, individual talents, and interest in learning.   Once a list of answers is developed, then the following questions might be examined: What am I/are we currently doing that builds curiosity, interest, relevance, enjoyment, and the kinds of “learning to learn” skills and competencies that our students will need in the future? How do I/we implement and expand programs, approaches and activities in schools and classrooms that motivate and interest students in learning and create enjoyment?   Based on my own informal research and discussions of this topic with teachers and others, here are thirteen suggestions as food for thought:  Reduce the emphasis on traditional testing as the key assessment tool, and focus on more “natural” and diverse assessment approaches such as essays and papers, reflective journals, oral presentations, and other demonstrations of their learning Create the expectation that effort makes a difference in learning. Help students understand that when someone works hard, they are more likely to succeed. Give students more opportunities to put effort into areas that interest them and that they enjoy. Include narratives on report cards that focus on individual strengths and interests. Where possible, instead of or in addition to reading textbooks, find and have students read and choose books that are interesting to them, that open them up to the world around them, that make them think! Focus primarily on student strengths and student success. For each student, consider “the glass as half full” rather than “the glass as half empty”. Encourage students as much as possible. Understand that not all students will be strong in all areas, and that it is important to help each student find his or her strengths and interests and to build on them. Also, see “failure” as an opportunity for student growth. Make it clear to students that not doing well is a cause for looking inside yourself to see how you can do something better (and that you will do the same). Give students more specific feedback, along with opportunities to redo their work and improve it. Provide mentors and tutors and other help and support for students who need it. Be willing to “slow down the learning process”. Focus learning on what you think is important. Figure out ways to teach an idea differently, and work on something for a longer period than you normally do if your students are not “getting it”. Figure out alternative ways to teach something if your approach isn’t working. Focus a good deal of your teaching on “learning how to learn” skill development. Read up on how to teach study skills, learning to learn skills, research skills, inquiry skills. Make sure that your students grow both in terms of content they learn and the “learning to learn” skills they need to develop in order to learn well in the future. Make “asking questions” central to your teaching and to your learning environment and school culture. Write course descriptions around key questions. Use essential questions to focus units, or have students develop essential questions as the focus for learning. As you teach, encourage students to ask clarifying and elaborative questions. Make it clear to students that no question is too small or too silly. Build open time for students to ask questions on the topics they are studying. Use “wait time” when you are asking for questions. Teach students study strategies such as SQ3R[i] that encourage students to turn statements (such as text headings) into questions.,  Give students more choices and options – in the classroom, by offering many electives, through multiple extra-curricular options. Choices/options should give students opportunities to develop and expand their interests, see connections and relevance in what they are learning, and expand their talents. Use inquiry strategies, research skill building activities, interactive learning and projects as critical parts of teaching. Incorporate more interest based projects into your curriculum. Where possible, make learning experiences more “authentic”. For example, consider how learning about the American Revolution might be tied to a current event happening in the world. Visit the area surrounding the school to demonstrate how math might be used for everyday activity. Through surveys, encourage students to provide feedback on whether they feel that their learning is interesting, motivating, and relevant, and whether they are being encouraged to develop their talents and interests. Conduct student surveys to determine what types of school and classroom activities are most motivating and interesting. Create activities and experiences that enable students to get outside the school and learn from the outside world and perform community service. Create more ways to integrate learning across the curriculum and consider ways to redesign the curriculum. Use themes to create more interdisciplinary units. Connect separate subject areas, such as by teaching American history and literature in tandem so that history topics and specific literature that touch on similar time periods or themes are taught at the same time. When redesigning or renewing the curriculum, examine whether curriculum materials or programs have a significant component built around developing curiosity, motivation, relevance and interest. See yourself as helping students build “pathways to adult success”. How can your subject, your grade level, your school contribute to making these pathways smoother? How can you provide students with a concrete understanding of their future options? Can you take field trips to different places of business? Colleges and universities? Bring in speakers?   In sum, a focus on how to create positive attitudes such as curiosity, interest, motivation and relevance leads to a very different way of thinking about school and classroom missions, outcomes, the learning environment, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. For example, instead of a focus on standardized tests passed by everyone, a portfolio assessment approach helps students focus on their individual strengths and reflect on what they have learned. Teachers concentrate on building student strengths rather than dwelling on their failures. Students are provided with opportunities to improve their work before they are graded. More choices and options are given to students in the form of classroom choices, electives, and enrichment activities. Some learning, such as research projects, is built around student interests. Many types of questions become more central to the learning experience. “Learning to learn” skills become a critical part of the classroom experience. There are more opportunities for students to make connections to the outside world in order to raise expectations and build motivation.   These ideas are just some of the starting points for your own discussion on how to develop positive attitudes towards learning and build the individual curiosity, skills, talents, and interests that will propel our students towards a better life, towards continued learning, and towards “pathways to student success” in a 21st century world. While this way of thinking might lead to a wide variety of suggestions and ideas, please remember: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.     [i] SQ3R is a study guide model that is focused around: Surveying what you are reading; Questions: Turn chapter and section headings, titles, subheadings into questions; Read for the answers to each question; Recite your answers after each section – orally ask yourself the questions and summarize your answers; Review what you have learned.   ------------------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional and related teaching and learning topics in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org       achievement, curiosity, interest, motivation, positivelearning, positivelearningattitudes, relevance, success nonadult false Thirteen Ways to Build Positive Learning Attitudes: a Key to Successful Teaching text blog achievement,curiosity,interest,motivation,positivelearning,positivelearningattitudes,relevance,success 536 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6520096 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Make-Meaning-and-Purpose-Key-Elements-of-Teaching-and-Learning/blog/6518582/127586.html  I (with Jay Mctighe) recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge about research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. The first one was: Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn. To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it.   Do you ever wonder why history facts that students have learned are not remembered after they are taught? Why many recent graduates can’t make change when they work at McDonalds? Why so many students remember so little from their previous grade level and courses?   Powerful learning is purposeful, meaningful, and contextual to the learner! We are more likely to remember the times tables when we use it to find an area, or quickly figure out how much six of any one item will cost us. Addition and subtraction skills are more likely remembered when they frequently help us make and get change. Historical facts stay with us when they help us examine an issue in history and think about present day issues. Writing skills are less likely to atrophy if they help us communicate a powerful story or communicate a coherent and well thought out point of view that is acknowledged by others.   Unfortunately, much of the time math and writing skills and historical facts are learned without enough application, without context, or without personal meaning. Math skills are learned as repetitious algorithms, sometimes with 25 similar problems at a time. Writing is boiled down to the five-paragraph essay formula. Historical facts are memorized in order to do well on the multiple-choice test. So why would our students remember facts and be able to apply skills? Why would they become good writers and use their voice to create meaningful communication?   Standardized tests only compound the problem. Almost all standardized test questions are “decontextualized” through isolated multiple choice, matching, or fill-in-the-blank questions, short, artificial reading passages, decontextualized problems, and short essays that are mostly designed to see if students remember isolated facts or use low level thinking skills. Even tests of writing skills use artificial, formulaic rubrics to rate students on how well they did in their writing, sometimes scored by computers!   While there are some people who are good at remembering isolated facts and figures, for most of us information and data fade away unless we integrate and connect them to previous learning or figure out how to use them in meaningful ways. Only when we find some use for our learning, some purpose, and use what we learn frequently in different contexts do we store it in a place for ready recall. When this doesn’t happen, students are more likely to do poorly on tests that measure knowledge or apply skills that have been taught and supposedly learned over time.   What makes learning purposeful and contextual? My next door neighbor’s daughter, age 7, is constantly coming into our house with math mysteries -- giving us math problems to solve on the calculator. She loves to do that. She’s practicing her math skills on us! When my daughter was younger, she and a cousin would go around the house measuring the area of everything. The well-known math teacher, Kay Toliver, has created a series of materials and DVD’s that demonstrate her engaging teaching strategies, and in one of them she takes walks around the local school community with her students to discover how the math that she is teaching can be used to figure out the price of an item in a store, or to measure the area of a playground[i].   Unfortunately, much of today’s commercial curricula and curriculum standards are focused on covering too much knowledge and teaching too many skills learned in too short a period of time! In Philadelphia, where I live, the social studies curriculum standards are chock full of so much content, taught is such short periods of time, that it is virtually impossible to teach social studies with any meaning and purpose. Over the years, I’ve examined too many curriculum guides and standards, observed too many teachers, watched too much passivity among students, and read too many traditional tests that emphasize the learning of too many inconsequential facts, trivial skills, and/or global generalities. For some reason, in a world of search engines that enable us to find large amounts of knowledge instantaneously, many still think that the more knowledge students are taught, the more educated they are. We’ve got to come around to the idea that meaningful learning puts greater emphasis on asking good questions, learning how to inquire, focusing on a relatively few core ideas and powerful learning to learn skills, giving students something important to think about, applying learning to new and novel situations, communicating well, giving them a reason to learn something, and slowing down the learning process.   We as educators need to concentrate on and share ways to make learning more purposeful and meaningful for our students. We need to develop good reasons for students to learn what we think is important, put more learning in a larger context, help students make connections and develop networks of learning, and provide more opportunities to apply learning. Purpose and meaning can come in very different forms. Poetry or art education classes might include a discussion of the meaning of a poem or artwork, a comparison of poems or artwork from the same author or artist, and an opportunity for students to write their own poems or create their own artwork in the style of the author or artist. A history teacher might discuss what it was like to live in a different time and place and then explore the question: which time period would you rather live in? A statistics teacher might ask a group of students to create and conduct a survey, and then to tabulate reliable and valid survey data. Sometimes meaning and purpose is created simply by emphasizing the fun of solving mysteries and puzzles, of conducting a research project on something of interest, or of being hooked by a good story.   The current emphasis on “standards” and standardized tests that promote out of context learning, without connections, without motivation and engagement, and without meaningful inquiry is one of the most serious problem in education today. The emphasis in many high schools on taking Advanced Placement tests that include too much knowledge and not enough meaningful and purposeful activity only exacerbates the problem. In place of AP classes, high schools need to offer in-depth elective seminars on a variety of topics that broaden student’s critical and creative thinking and interests, promote discussion, and offer opportunities for research into questions of interest. We need to increase the emphasis at all levels on implementing performance tasks and research projects that help students apply learning and see connections to the outside world. And we need to offer more opportunities for students to interact with the world outside classrooms and schools.   There are ways to do this, and some are already available. Understanding by Design, published by ASCD, has at its core a planning process that promotes the development of unit based essential questions, big ideas that isolate critical knowledge and skills, performance tasks, and interactive, engaging instruction.  Project and problem-based design models, such as the project design approach developed by Buck Institute (www.bie.org) also promote meaningful, purposeful learning. Curricula already exist that focus on clarity of purpose, relevance, depth, contextual and meaningful learning[ii].   Until teachers, schools and districts spend more time finding ways to make learning more purposeful, and to engage students in more meaningful learning, we will be teaching too much decontextualized information, ideas and skills that are hard to remember and limited in their usefulness. In a world of so much information and the technology that enables people to find information quickly, literally in the blink of an eye, some purposeless, sterile, decontextualized learning is bound to be part of the educational experience. But without a long-term focus on creating a more meaningful curriculum, too many educational experiences will be built around a traditional learning model that doesn’t provide enough children with purposeful, context driven, and motivating learning experiences.   Let’s hope that we all come to our senses soon and make meaning and purpose a much larger focus of educational planning and practical implementation in a 21st century world. ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional related topics, along with ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.orgwww.era3learning.org/resources/curriculum   [i] For further information on her materials, search Kay Toliver or go to: http://www.fasenet.org/store/kay_toliver/# [ii] For examples of purpose and meaning based curriculum materials, go to: .        I (with Jay Mctighe) recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge about research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. The first one was: Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn. To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it.   Do you ever wonder why history facts that students have learned are not remembered after they are taught? Why many recent graduates can’t make change when they work at McDonalds? Why so many students remember so little from their previous grade level and courses?   Powerful learning is purposeful, meaningful, and contextual to the learner! We are more likely to remember the times tables when we use it to find an area, or quickly figure out how much six of any one item will cost us. Addition and subtraction skills are more likely remembered when they frequently help us make and get change. Historical facts stay with us when they help us examine an issue in history and think about present day issues. Writing skills are less likely to atrophy if they help us communicate a powerful story or communicate a coherent and well thought out point of view that is acknowledged by others.   Unfortunately, much of the time math and writing skills and historical facts are learned without enough application, without context, or without personal meaning. Math skills are learned as repetitious algorithms, sometimes with 25 similar problems at a time. Writing is boiled down to the five-paragraph essay formula. Historical facts are memorized in order to do well on the multiple-choice test. So why would our students remember facts and be able to apply skills? Why would they become good writers and use their voice to create meaningful communication?   Standardized tests only compound the problem. Almost all standardized test questions are “decontextualized” through isolated multiple choice, matching, or fill-in-the-blank questions, short, artificial reading passages, decontextualized problems, and short essays that are mostly designed to see if students remember isolated facts or use low level thinking skills. Even tests of writing skills use artificial, formulaic rubrics to rate students on how well they did in their writing, sometimes scored by computers!   While there are some people who are good at remembering isolated facts and figures, for most of us information and data fade away unless we integrate and connect them to previous learning or figure out how to use them in meaningful ways. Only when we find some use for our learning, some purpose, and use what we learn frequently in different contexts do we store it in a place for ready recall. When this doesn’t happen, students are more likely to do poorly on tests that measure knowledge or apply skills that have been taught and supposedly learned over time.   What makes learning purposeful and contextual? My next door neighbor’s daughter, age 7, is constantly coming into our house with math mysteries -- giving us math problems to solve on the calculator. She loves to do that. She’s practicing her math skills on us! When my daughter was younger, she and a cousin would go around the house measuring the area of everything. The well-known math teacher, Kay Toliver, has created a series of materials and DVD’s that demonstrate her engaging teaching strategies, and in one of them she takes walks around the local school community with her students to discover how the math that she is teaching can be used to figure out the price of an item in a store, or to measure the area of a playground[i].   Unfortunately, much of today’s commercial curricula and curriculum standards are focused on covering too much knowledge and teaching too many skills learned in too short a period of time! In Philadelphia, where I live, the social studies curriculum standards are chock full of so much content, taught is such short periods of time, that it is virtually impossible to teach social studies with any meaning and purpose. Over the years, I’ve examined too many curriculum guides and standards, observed too many teachers, watched too much passivity among students, and read too many traditional tests that emphasize the learning of too many inconsequential facts, trivial skills, and/or global generalities. For some reason, in a world of search engines that enable us to find large amounts of knowledge instantaneously, many still think that the more knowledge students are taught, the more educated they are. We’ve got to come around to the idea that meaningful learning puts greater emphasis on asking good questions, learning how to inquire, focusing on a relatively few core ideas and powerful learning to learn skills, giving students something important to think about, applying learning to new and novel situations, communicating well, giving them a reason to learn something, and slowing down the learning process.   We as educators need to concentrate on and share ways to make learning more purposeful and meaningful for our students. We need to develop good reasons for students to learn what we think is important, put more learning in a larger context, help students make connections and develop networks of learning, and provide more opportunities to apply learning. Purpose and meaning can come in very different forms. Poetry or art education classes might include a discussion of the meaning of a poem or artwork, a comparison of poems or artwork from the same author or artist, and an opportunity for students to write their own poems or create their own artwork in the style of the author or artist. A history teacher might discuss what it was like to live in a different time and place and then explore the question: which time period would you rather live in? A statistics teacher might ask a group of students to create and conduct a survey, and then to tabulate reliable and valid survey data. Sometimes meaning and purpose is created simply by emphasizing the fun of solving mysteries and puzzles, of conducting a research project on something of interest, or of being hooked by a good story.   The current emphasis on “standards” and standardized tests that promote out of context learning, without connections, without motivation and engagement, and without meaningful inquiry is one of the most serious problem in education today. The emphasis in many high schools on taking Advanced Placement tests that include too much knowledge and not enough meaningful and purposeful activity only exacerbates the problem. In place of AP classes, high schools need to offer in-depth elective seminars on a variety of topics that broaden student’s critical and creative thinking and interests, promote discussion, and offer opportunities for research into questions of interest. We need to increase the emphasis at all levels on implementing performance tasks and research projects that help students apply learning and see connections to the outside world. And we need to offer more opportunities for students to interact with the world outside classrooms and schools.   There are ways to do this, and some are already available. Understanding by Design, published by ASCD, has at its core a planning process that promotes the development of unit based essential questions, big ideas that isolate critical knowledge and skills, performance tasks, and interactive, engaging instruction.  Project and problem-based design models, such as the project design approach developed by Buck Institute (www.bie.org) also promote meaningful, purposeful learning. Curricula already exist that focus on clarity of purpose, relevance, depth, contextual and meaningful learning[ii].   Until teachers, schools and districts spend more time finding ways to make learning more purposeful, and to engage students in more meaningful learning, we will be teaching too much decontextualized information, ideas and skills that are hard to remember and limited in their usefulness. In a world of so much information and the technology that enables people to find information quickly, literally in the blink of an eye, some purposeless, sterile, decontextualized learning is bound to be part of the educational experience. But without a long-term focus on creating a more meaningful curriculum, too many educational experiences will be built around a traditional learning model that doesn’t provide enough children with purposeful, context driven, and motivating learning experiences.   Let’s hope that we all come to our senses soon and make meaning and purpose a much larger focus of educational planning and practical implementation in a 21st century world. ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional related topics, along with ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.orgwww.era3learning.org/resources/curriculum   [i] For further information on her materials, search Kay Toliver or go to: http://www.fasenet.org/store/kay_toliver/# [ii] For examples of purpose and meaning based curriculum materials, go to: .       Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:39:23 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Make-Meaning-and-Purpose-Key-Elements-of-Teaching-and-Learning/blog/6518582/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-04-01T22:39:23Z ASCD EDge  I (with Jay Mctighe) recently posted a commentary on ASCD Edge about research-based beliefs about teaching and learning and their implications. The first one was: Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn. To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies. This commentary elaborates on that belief, suggests its importance, and describes more ways to implement it.   Do you ever wonder why history facts that students have learned are not remembered after they are taught? Why many recent graduates can’t make change when they work at McDonalds? Why so many students remember so little from their previous grade level and courses?   Powerful learning is purposeful, meaningful, and contextual to the learner! We are more likely to remember the times tables when we use it to find an area, or quickly figure out how much six of any one item will cost us. Addition and subtraction skills are more likely remembered when they frequently help us make and get change. Historical facts stay with us when they help us examine an issue in history and think about present day issues. Writing skills are less likely to atrophy if they help us communicate a powerful story or communicate a coherent and well thought out point of view that is acknowledged by others.   Unfortunately, much of the time math and writing skills and historical facts are learned without enough application, without context, or without personal meaning. Math skills are learned as repetitious algorithms, sometimes with 25 similar problems at a time. Writing is boiled down to the five-paragraph essay formula. Historical facts are memorized in order to do well on the multiple-choice test. So why would our students remember facts and be able to apply skills? Why would they become good writers and use their voice to create meaningful communication?   Standardized tests only compound the problem. Almost all standardized test questions are “decontextualized” through isolated multiple choice, matching, or fill-in-the-blank questions, short, artificial reading passages, decontextualized problems, and short essays that are mostly designed to see if students remember isolated facts or use low level thinking skills. Even tests of writing skills use artificial, formulaic rubrics to rate students on how well they did in their writing, sometimes scored by computers!   While there are some people who are good at remembering isolated facts and figures, for most of us information and data fade away unless we integrate and connect them to previous learning or figure out how to use them in meaningful ways. Only when we find some use for our learning, some purpose, and use what we learn frequently in different contexts do we store it in a place for ready recall. When this doesn’t happen, students are more likely to do poorly on tests that measure knowledge or apply skills that have been taught and supposedly learned over time.   What makes learning purposeful and contextual? My next door neighbor’s daughter, age 7, is constantly coming into our house with math mysteries -- giving us math problems to solve on the calculator. She loves to do that. She’s practicing her math skills on us! When my daughter was younger, she and a cousin would go around the house measuring the area of everything. The well-known math teacher, Kay Toliver, has created a series of materials and DVD’s that demonstrate her engaging teaching strategies, and in one of them she takes walks around the local school community with her students to discover how the math that she is teaching can be used to figure out the price of an item in a store, or to measure the area of a playground[i].   Unfortunately, much of today’s commercial curricula and curriculum standards are focused on covering too much knowledge and teaching too many skills learned in too short a period of time! In Philadelphia, where I live, the social studies curriculum standards are chock full of so much content, taught is such short periods of time, that it is virtually impossible to teach social studies with any meaning and purpose. Over the years, I’ve examined too many curriculum guides and standards, observed too many teachers, watched too much passivity among students, and read too many traditional tests that emphasize the learning of too many inconsequential facts, trivial skills, and/or global generalities. For some reason, in a world of search engines that enable us to find large amounts of knowledge instantaneously, many still think that the more knowledge students are taught, the more educated they are. We’ve got to come around to the idea that meaningful learning puts greater emphasis on asking good questions, learning how to inquire, focusing on a relatively few core ideas and powerful learning to learn skills, giving students something important to think about, applying learning to new and novel situations, communicating well, giving them a reason to learn something, and slowing down the learning process.   We as educators need to concentrate on and share ways to make learning more purposeful and meaningful for our students. We need to develop good reasons for students to learn what we think is important, put more learning in a larger context, help students make connections and develop networks of learning, and provide more opportunities to apply learning. Purpose and meaning can come in very different forms. Poetry or art education classes might include a discussion of the meaning of a poem or artwork, a comparison of poems or artwork from the same author or artist, and an opportunity for students to write their own poems or create their own artwork in the style of the author or artist. A history teacher might discuss what it was like to live in a different time and place and then explore the question: which time period would you rather live in? A statistics teacher might ask a group of students to create and conduct a survey, and then to tabulate reliable and valid survey data. Sometimes meaning and purpose is created simply by emphasizing the fun of solving mysteries and puzzles, of conducting a research project on something of interest, or of being hooked by a good story.   The current emphasis on “standards” and standardized tests that promote out of context learning, without connections, without motivation and engagement, and without meaningful inquiry is one of the most serious problem in education today. The emphasis in many high schools on taking Advanced Placement tests that include too much knowledge and not enough meaningful and purposeful activity only exacerbates the problem. In place of AP classes, high schools need to offer in-depth elective seminars on a variety of topics that broaden student’s critical and creative thinking and interests, promote discussion, and offer opportunities for research into questions of interest. We need to increase the emphasis at all levels on implementing performance tasks and research projects that help students apply learning and see connections to the outside world. And we need to offer more opportunities for students to interact with the world outside classrooms and schools.   There are ways to do this, and some are already available. Understanding by Design, published by ASCD, has at its core a planning process that promotes the development of unit based essential questions, big ideas that isolate critical knowledge and skills, performance tasks, and interactive, engaging instruction.  Project and problem-based design models, such as the project design approach developed by Buck Institute (www.bie.org) also promote meaningful, purposeful learning. Curricula already exist that focus on clarity of purpose, relevance, depth, contextual and meaningful learning[ii].   Until teachers, schools and districts spend more time finding ways to make learning more purposeful, and to engage students in more meaningful learning, we will be teaching too much decontextualized information, ideas and skills that are hard to remember and limited in their usefulness. In a world of so much information and the technology that enables people to find information quickly, literally in the blink of an eye, some purposeless, sterile, decontextualized learning is bound to be part of the educational experience. But without a long-term focus on creating a more meaningful curriculum, too many educational experiences will be built around a traditional learning model that doesn’t provide enough children with purposeful, context driven, and motivating learning experiences.   Let’s hope that we all come to our senses soon and make meaning and purpose a much larger focus of educational planning and practical implementation in a 21st century world. ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, teacher, college professor, curriculum director, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional related topics, along with ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.orgwww.era3learning.org/resources/curriculum   [i] For further information on her materials, search Kay Toliver or go to: http://www.fasenet.org/store/kay_toliver/# [ii] For examples of purpose and meaning based curriculum materials, go to: .       nonadult false Make Meaning and Purpose Key Elements of Teaching and Learning text blog 493 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6518582 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Increasing-Learning-With-Traditional-Tests/blog/6518104/127586.html Using traditional tests as formative assessments to improve learning and give feedback can be difficult at best. But here’s a simple and powerful way to use traditional summative tests to increase learning and thinking.   When I was teaching middle and high school social studies, like most teachers, I often gave a traditional summative test (multiple choice questions, matching, short essays, etc.) at the end of a unit. But then, after I graded the test, I handed it back to the students and we did the following activity:   For multiple-choice, matching, or fill in the blank questions, we went over the questions one by one, and for each question one student was called on to tell everyone the right answer and explain why it was the right answer (of course, anything that was just recall or fact was explained that way). But there was an additional rule – for any question, if a student could show me that another answer was correct, and could justify it, I would accept it as right and change my grades for all those who marked that answer as correct!   This process led to some fascinating discussions and some interesting insights into student thinking. It also highlighted the difficulty of creating right answer questions that had only one right answer!   For short essay questions, I would indicate what I was looking for in their answers (criteria) and students would review their answers in pairs. Then anyone could challenge my grading if they could justify why they thought their answers did meet my criteria, or if they could even suggest additional criteria that indicated their essay better demonstrated their learning or gave a better answer to the question.   After all this happened, students wrote a “self-reflection” on what they had learned in this process, and how they might improve their test scores on future tests.   All this was done publicly, so the entire class benefited from our discussions, challenges, and justifications. We all had a good time in the process. The learning and relearning that took place was enormous. And many students figured out ways to improve their study habits and their work in the future.   ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org Using traditional tests as formative assessments to improve learning and give feedback can be difficult at best. But here’s a simple and powerful way to use traditional summative tests to increase learning and thinking.   When I was teaching middle and high school social studies, like most teachers, I often gave a traditional summative test (multiple choice questions, matching, short essays, etc.) at the end of a unit. But then, after I graded the test, I handed it back to the students and we did the following activity:   For multiple-choice, matching, or fill in the blank questions, we went over the questions one by one, and for each question one student was called on to tell everyone the right answer and explain why it was the right answer (of course, anything that was just recall or fact was explained that way). But there was an additional rule – for any question, if a student could show me that another answer was correct, and could justify it, I would accept it as right and change my grades for all those who marked that answer as correct!   This process led to some fascinating discussions and some interesting insights into student thinking. It also highlighted the difficulty of creating right answer questions that had only one right answer!   For short essay questions, I would indicate what I was looking for in their answers (criteria) and students would review their answers in pairs. Then anyone could challenge my grading if they could justify why they thought their answers did meet my criteria, or if they could even suggest additional criteria that indicated their essay better demonstrated their learning or gave a better answer to the question.   After all this happened, students wrote a “self-reflection” on what they had learned in this process, and how they might improve their test scores on future tests.   All this was done publicly, so the entire class benefited from our discussions, challenges, and justifications. We all had a good time in the process. The learning and relearning that took place was enormous. And many students figured out ways to improve their study habits and their work in the future.   ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:02:05 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Increasing-Learning-With-Traditional-Tests/blog/6518104/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-03-28T16:02:05Z ASCD EDge Using traditional tests as formative assessments to improve learning and give feedback can be difficult at best. But here’s a simple and powerful way to use traditional summative tests to increase learning and thinking.   When I was teaching middle and high school social studies, like most teachers, I often gave a traditional summative test (multiple choice questions, matching, short essays, etc.) at the end of a unit. But then, after I graded the test, I handed it back to the students and we did the following activity:   For multiple-choice, matching, or fill in the blank questions, we went over the questions one by one, and for each question one student was called on to tell everyone the right answer and explain why it was the right answer (of course, anything that was just recall or fact was explained that way). But there was an additional rule – for any question, if a student could show me that another answer was correct, and could justify it, I would accept it as right and change my grades for all those who marked that answer as correct!   This process led to some fascinating discussions and some interesting insights into student thinking. It also highlighted the difficulty of creating right answer questions that had only one right answer!   For short essay questions, I would indicate what I was looking for in their answers (criteria) and students would review their answers in pairs. Then anyone could challenge my grading if they could justify why they thought their answers did meet my criteria, or if they could even suggest additional criteria that indicated their essay better demonstrated their learning or gave a better answer to the question.   After all this happened, students wrote a “self-reflection” on what they had learned in this process, and how they might improve their test scores on future tests.   All this was done publicly, so the entire class benefited from our discussions, challenges, and justifications. We all had a good time in the process. The learning and relearning that took place was enormous. And many students figured out ways to improve their study habits and their work in the future.   ---------------- Elliott Seif is a long time educator, ASCD author and Understanding by Design trainer. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org nonadult false Increasing Learning With Traditional Tests text blog 284 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6518104 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Beliefs-about-Learning-and-their-implications-for-teaching-and-learning/blog/6514179/127586.html   This commentary is co-authored by Elliott Seif and Jay McTighe Over the past twenty years, research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience has significantly expanded our understanding of how people learn[i]. Yet educational practice has not always kept pace with this new knowledge. The ten statements below are an attempt to synthesize the latest research about learning. The statements, along with their suggested implications (in italics) for sound educational practice, provide a framework for developing a research-based learning framework[ii] These learning principles and their implications can be used to start a discussion of what “research-based” learning principles should be adopted by teachers, schools, and districts in a 21st century world. A commitment to the principles and a focus on their implications might also lead to significant changes in curriculum, assessment and instructional practice. Once in place, they provide a conceptual foundation for all classroom and school reform initiatives. As a means of better aligning theory and practice, teachers, schools and districts should develop or adopt a set of learning principles based on research and best practices. As you read these principles and their implications, ask yourself: How would we adapt these principles to conform to what we believe are current learning principles? What changes do they suggest for schools and /or classrooms? What would it take to make student learning consistent with these principles?   Ten Research-Based Principles About Learning and Their Implications   1. Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn.To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies.   2. Experts organize or chunk their knowledge around transferable, core concepts (“big ideas”) that guide their thinking and help them to integrate new knowledge. Therefore, content should be “chunked” and instruction framed around core ideas and transferable processes, and not learned as separate, discrete facts and skills. 3. Learning is mediated and enhanced through different types of thinking, such as explanation, classification and categorization, inferential reasoning, analysis, synthesis, creativity and metacognition. Therefore, students should continually be engaged in complex thinking activities to help them deepen learning. 4. Understanding is revealed and demonstrated when learners can apply/transfer/adapt their learning to new and novel situations and problems. Therefore, students should have multiple opportunities to apply their learning in meaningful and varied contexts.   5. New learning is built on prior knowledge. Learners use their experiences and background knowledge to actively construct meaning about themselves and the world around them. Therefore, students must be helped to actively connect new information and ideas to what they already know and build on current understanding and skill development. 6. Learning is social. Therefore, teachers should provide opportunities for interactive learning in a supportive environment. 7. Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. 8. Learning is non-linear; it develops and deepens over time. Therefore, students should revisit, refine, and revise core ideas and skills in order to develop more sophisticated and complex learning and understanding over time. 9. Feedback enhances learning and performance. Therefore, on-going assessments should provide learners with regular, timely, and user-friendly feedback, along with the opportunity to use it to improve learning. 10. Learning is enhanced when a learner’s preferred learning style, prior knowledge and interests are effectively accommodated. Therefore, teachers should pre-assess to find out students’ prior knowledge, learning preference and interests. They should customize instruction to address the significant differences they discover, and promote individualization through choice and options. *Note: To read more about Learning Principles, see Chapter 4 of Wiggins and McTighe, Schooling by Design (ASCD, 2007)   [i] For example, see Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Washington, D.C. National Academy Press; also Willis, Judy, 2006, Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Alexandria, VA: ASCD. [ii] Adapted from ten learning principles originally published in Jay McTighe and Elliott Seif, An Implementation Framework to Support 21st Century Skills, in Bellanca and Brandt (2010).  21stCentury skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (Solution Tree Press), Chapter 7, p. 153.   Jay McTighe is an educational consultant and the author and coauthor of ten books and numerous articles, including the best-sellingUnderstanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. His website can be found at: www.jaymctighe.com. Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, and consultant. His website can be found at: www.era3learning.org      This commentary is co-authored by Elliott Seif and Jay McTighe Over the past twenty years, research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience has significantly expanded our understanding of how people learn[i]. Yet educational practice has not always kept pace with this new knowledge. The ten statements below are an attempt to synthesize the latest research about learning. The statements, along with their suggested implications (in italics) for sound educational practice, provide a framework for developing a research-based learning framework[ii] These learning principles and their implications can be used to start a discussion of what “research-based” learning principles should be adopted by teachers, schools, and districts in a 21st century world. A commitment to the principles and a focus on their implications might also lead to significant changes in curriculum, assessment and instructional practice. Once in place, they provide a conceptual foundation for all classroom and school reform initiatives. As a means of better aligning theory and practice, teachers, schools and districts should develop or adopt a set of learning principles based on research and best practices. As you read these principles and their implications, ask yourself: How would we adapt these principles to conform to what we believe are current learning principles? What changes do they suggest for schools and /or classrooms? What would it take to make student learning consistent with these principles?   Ten Research-Based Principles About Learning and Their Implications   1. Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn.To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies.   2. Experts organize or chunk their knowledge around transferable, core concepts (“big ideas”) that guide their thinking and help them to integrate new knowledge. Therefore, content should be “chunked” and instruction framed around core ideas and transferable processes, and not learned as separate, discrete facts and skills. 3. Learning is mediated and enhanced through different types of thinking, such as explanation, classification and categorization, inferential reasoning, analysis, synthesis, creativity and metacognition. Therefore, students should continually be engaged in complex thinking activities to help them deepen learning. 4. Understanding is revealed and demonstrated when learners can apply/transfer/adapt their learning to new and novel situations and problems. Therefore, students should have multiple opportunities to apply their learning in meaningful and varied contexts.   5. New learning is built on prior knowledge. Learners use their experiences and background knowledge to actively construct meaning about themselves and the world around them. Therefore, students must be helped to actively connect new information and ideas to what they already know and build on current understanding and skill development. 6. Learning is social. Therefore, teachers should provide opportunities for interactive learning in a supportive environment. 7. Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. 8. Learning is non-linear; it develops and deepens over time. Therefore, students should revisit, refine, and revise core ideas and skills in order to develop more sophisticated and complex learning and understanding over time. 9. Feedback enhances learning and performance. Therefore, on-going assessments should provide learners with regular, timely, and user-friendly feedback, along with the opportunity to use it to improve learning. 10. Learning is enhanced when a learner’s preferred learning style, prior knowledge and interests are effectively accommodated. Therefore, teachers should pre-assess to find out students’ prior knowledge, learning preference and interests. They should customize instruction to address the significant differences they discover, and promote individualization through choice and options. *Note: To read more about Learning Principles, see Chapter 4 of Wiggins and McTighe, Schooling by Design (ASCD, 2007)   [i] For example, see Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Washington, D.C. National Academy Press; also Willis, Judy, 2006, Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Alexandria, VA: ASCD. [ii] Adapted from ten learning principles originally published in Jay McTighe and Elliott Seif, An Implementation Framework to Support 21st Century Skills, in Bellanca and Brandt (2010).  21stCentury skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (Solution Tree Press), Chapter 7, p. 153.   Jay McTighe is an educational consultant and the author and coauthor of ten books and numerous articles, including the best-sellingUnderstanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. His website can be found at: www.jaymctighe.com. Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, and consultant. His website can be found at: www.era3learning.org    Thu, 28 Feb 2013 19:10:12 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Beliefs-about-Learning-and-their-implications-for-teaching-and-learning/blog/6514179/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-02-28T19:10:12Z ASCD EDge   This commentary is co-authored by Elliott Seif and Jay McTighe Over the past twenty years, research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience has significantly expanded our understanding of how people learn[i]. Yet educational practice has not always kept pace with this new knowledge. The ten statements below are an attempt to synthesize the latest research about learning. The statements, along with their suggested implications (in italics) for sound educational practice, provide a framework for developing a research-based learning framework[ii] These learning principles and their implications can be used to start a discussion of what “research-based” learning principles should be adopted by teachers, schools, and districts in a 21st century world. A commitment to the principles and a focus on their implications might also lead to significant changes in curriculum, assessment and instructional practice. Once in place, they provide a conceptual foundation for all classroom and school reform initiatives. As a means of better aligning theory and practice, teachers, schools and districts should develop or adopt a set of learning principles based on research and best practices. As you read these principles and their implications, ask yourself: How would we adapt these principles to conform to what we believe are current learning principles? What changes do they suggest for schools and /or classrooms? What would it take to make student learning consistent with these principles?   Ten Research-Based Principles About Learning and Their Implications   1. Learning is purposeful and contextual. Therefore, students should be able to see the purpose in what they are asked to learn.To create purpose, pose relevant and “essential” questions, create meaningful challenges, conduct investigations, and/or use inquiry/problem-based learning strategies.   2. Experts organize or chunk their knowledge around transferable, core concepts (“big ideas”) that guide their thinking and help them to integrate new knowledge. Therefore, content should be “chunked” and instruction framed around core ideas and transferable processes, and not learned as separate, discrete facts and skills. 3. Learning is mediated and enhanced through different types of thinking, such as explanation, classification and categorization, inferential reasoning, analysis, synthesis, creativity and metacognition. Therefore, students should continually be engaged in complex thinking activities to help them deepen learning. 4. Understanding is revealed and demonstrated when learners can apply/transfer/adapt their learning to new and novel situations and problems. Therefore, students should have multiple opportunities to apply their learning in meaningful and varied contexts.   5. New learning is built on prior knowledge. Learners use their experiences and background knowledge to actively construct meaning about themselves and the world around them. Therefore, students must be helped to actively connect new information and ideas to what they already know and build on current understanding and skill development. 6. Learning is social. Therefore, teachers should provide opportunities for interactive learning in a supportive environment. 7. Attitudes and values mediate learning by filtering experiences and perceptions. Therefore, teachers should understand how student attitudes and values influence learning and help students build positive attitudes towards learning. 8. Learning is non-linear; it develops and deepens over time. Therefore, students should revisit, refine, and revise core ideas and skills in order to develop more sophisticated and complex learning and understanding over time. 9. Feedback enhances learning and performance. Therefore, on-going assessments should provide learners with regular, timely, and user-friendly feedback, along with the opportunity to use it to improve learning. 10. Learning is enhanced when a learner’s preferred learning style, prior knowledge and interests are effectively accommodated. Therefore, teachers should pre-assess to find out students’ prior knowledge, learning preference and interests. They should customize instruction to address the significant differences they discover, and promote individualization through choice and options. *Note: To read more about Learning Principles, see Chapter 4 of Wiggins and McTighe, Schooling by Design (ASCD, 2007)   [i] For example, see Bransford, Brown and Cocking, 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Washington, D.C. National Academy Press; also Willis, Judy, 2006, Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Alexandria, VA: ASCD. [ii] Adapted from ten learning principles originally published in Jay McTighe and Elliott Seif, An Implementation Framework to Support 21st Century Skills, in Bellanca and Brandt (2010).  21stCentury skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (Solution Tree Press), Chapter 7, p. 153.   Jay McTighe is an educational consultant and the author and coauthor of ten books and numerous articles, including the best-sellingUnderstanding by Design series with Grant Wiggins. His website can be found at: www.jaymctighe.com. Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, and consultant. His website can be found at: www.era3learning.org    nonadult false Beliefs about Learning and their implications for teaching and learning text blog 245 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6514179 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Dozen-Reasons-Why-We-Need-High-Quality-Science-Teaching-and-Learning-in-a-21st-Century-World/blog/6505025/127586.html Because of the requirements of No Child Left Behind and the current emphasis on implementing the Common Core standards, reading and math are given priority time and attention in many, if not most public schools and Districts. Due to these circumstances, there is relatively little priority given to teaching and learning science. We frequently read in the media about the importance of science in today’s 21st century world, yet there is little emphasis on creating comprehensive, high quality science programs at all levels, pre-school through high school. It is rare to find coherent, active learning, inquiry based science programs at the pre-school and primary grade levels. Many teachers at the elementary level indicate that they have limited time to include science activities in the curriculum. High quality science programs emphasize active learning through inquiry strategies, investigation, hypothesis testing, experimentation, and science projects, but in too many middle and high school science classes, the key science program ingredients are the use of textbooks as the primary science resource, coverage driven teaching and learning, and traditional multiple-choice, short essay tests. Other priorities, time limitations, lack of attention, fragmentation, a traditional coverage based focus – all conspire to reduce the effectiveness and excellence of science programs in most schools and Districts.  Here are one dozen reasons why we must counter these trends and find ways to implement high quality science teaching and learning for all our children at all educational levels:   1.     Science is interesting, important, meaningful, and motivating. Science questions provoke interest in the mysteries and wonders of the natural world. Students learn to think about important questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? How does life exist? Why do things grow? Learning science provides students with an understanding of its massive contributions to everyday living and the comforts of life. Science programs provide an important avenue for helping students to develop a passion for inquiry and a better understanding of the world around us.  2.     Science career opportunities will be important in the future. High quality science education experiences develop scientific talents and interests. Good science programs interest, motivate and encourage students to prepare to work in the growing science-related professions, as scientists, health care professionals, technicians, and other science-related fields.  3.     Science promotes democratic thinking and values. Science teaches children to be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking in order to resolve problems.  Conflicts in science are resolved peacefully through discussion, argument, further investigation and the collection of evidence. Scientists learn to “disagree without being disagreeable”. Thoughtful criticism is the norm, not the exception. The expectation is that, as Einstein once said, “critical comments should be taken in a friendly spirit”.  4.     Science builds positive lifelong learning habits, behaviors and attitudes. Good science programs emphasize the value of inquiry, encourage curiosity, and reward persistence and patience.  Students learn to focus on science as a series of mysteries. They learn how to develop and explore interesting questions. They learn to solve problems and answer questions by taking small steps, being persistent, having patience, and overcoming adversity. They learn that finding “truth” is often messy and inconclusive. Students learn that successful achievement and learning often require trial and error, making mistakes, even failure. In other words, science teaches habits, behaviors and attitudes that support self-directed, autonomous, lifelong learning.  5.     Science enhances creativity and imagination, tolerance for and adaptation to change High quality science programs encourage students to ask “what if…?”. Students learn to explore open-ended questions, to consider alternatives that are “outside the box”, to invent and test creative solutions, and to try to solve problems in different and unusual ways. Science teaches students that change and adaptation is part of the nature of learning and growing by testing new ideas and adapting to changing circumstances.  6.     Science teaches that knowledge is “tentative” and that knowledge, theory and explanation are all part of the learning process. Too many students come away from school thinking that that knowledge is fixed and immutable (especially if it comes from a textbook) – that there is always a right answer. A study of Galileo’s or Einstein’s discoveries help students to see that what once was thought to be “correct” turned out to be wrong, that scientific knowledge needs to be tested, studies need replication, and theory is only an empty idea until there is data to support and explain it. Good science programs teach students that knowledge is frequently tentative and changing.  7.     Science develops critical intellectual skills. Science fosters the development of critical thinking skills that carry over to learning other subjects and daily living. Through science, children learn to carefully observe (What do you see happening to this plant as it grows?) interpret and hypothesize (Why do you think this is happening?) conduct experiments (How can we prove it?), see different perspectives and points of view (What are different points of view about why this happened?) analyze (What are its component parts?) synthesize (How does this all fit together into a pattern? What are the connections and relationships?) and draw conclusions (What are our results? Conclusions? Why?) Students learn how to create an argument with supporting evidence to justify a point of view, to question opinions that have little backing to support them.  8.     Science builds reading and “learning to learn” skills. Good science programs build strong reading skills! As students investigate physical forces, chemical reactions, biological growth, or the solar system, they also learn how to read a variety of science resources, understand new concepts, build vocabulary and background knowledge, and learn the language of science and science inquiry. The investigation skills they learn – defining problems and challenges, searching for and processing information, thinking critically and creatively, drawing conclusions and applying learning, and communicating with others and explaining results - are a significant part of the “learning to learn” skills they will need for college and future careers.  9.     Science helps students to learn and apply mathematical thinking. Math is the language of science. As students learn science, they learn that mathematics is an important tool to help solve real problems and questions.  Measurement, number manipulation, and proportional thinking are critical tools of science. As students “do” science, they learn how to collect and analyze data, form patterns, develop spatial and geometric relationships, and apply many of the higher level and complex math systems to scientific problem solving.  10.   Science enriches learning in other subjects. All subject areas benefit when a student understands science concepts and ideas. For example, science concepts are helpful for understanding historical forces, technological and social changes over time, and current issues and concerns such as global warming. Science problems can be used to help students understand and apply statistical analysis.  The arts are integrated into science through graphic designs and drawings that complement learning about scientific and technological principles and innovations and provide visual demonstrations of learning. Science concepts are intertwined with understanding healthy living habits and good nutrition.  11.  Science develops teamwork skills. Through science, children learn how to work together to investigate, test hypotheses, interpret data, and draw conclusions. As they work together, they learn to understand and tolerate difference and diversity. They learn how teamwork contributes to significant learning. Science can also contribute to making schools safer and more peaceful by teaching students how to work together and resolve conflicts.  12.  Scientific understanding is critical for good citizenship in a 21st century world. An understanding of science, science concepts, how science arrives at results, and science research is critical if students are to become intelligent citizens in a democratic society.  An understanding of today’s complex issues, concerns, challenges and problems require an understanding of scientific principles, concepts and ideas. Global warming is the most obvious, but others include what to do about atomic waste, how to get clean water, agriculture and food issues, health and illness, hurricane damage prevention, energy issues, automation and robotics.   Conclusion   High quality, inquiry based science programs motivate children and provide them with intellectual skills and positive attitudes and values that help them to succeed in school and in life. Science learning raises and examines critical questions and promotes understanding about the natural and physical world, and provides students with inquiry and investigation skills that will encourage a lifetime of learning. They increase interest in a subject that is of considerable importance to the development of highly educated citizens who understand critical issues for the future and to student preparation for well-paying science-related careers.  Good science programs help students learn to work together and to learn methods that help them resolve conflicts peacefully. Teachers, Boards of Education, superintendents, principals, the community at large, and governments at all levels – all need to make a commitment to support and develop high quality science programs at all levels, including pre-school. There are many ways to do this – for example, to widely share and discuss these dozen reasons on why it is critical to develop strong science programs, to adopt high quality science curricula at all levels[i], to develop teachers’ science knowledge and skills, to train teachers on how to incorporate high quality science experiences into their classrooms, to involve local science organizations in promoting and fostering high quality programs, to apply for funds to implement and support high quality science programs at all levels, and, ultimately, to develop competent science educators in every school and at all levels.  Every child should have the opportunity to participate in a strong, coherent science program. It should be priority for a 21st century world education. Science education can have a powerful impact on children and learning, and it can make a significant difference in the lives of children. What it takes is understanding, commitment, dedication, passion, persistence, and hard work over time.   [i] Curricular programs that meet the high quality test include active, kit based elementary science programs such as FOSS (http://lhsfoss.org), secondary programs such as Active Physics (http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html), and the adoption of teaching methods that promote active learning and support science understanding, such as those created by Eric Mazur at Harvard University (http://mazur.harvard.edu/education/educationmenu.php).     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching,  learning, and curriculum in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org     Because of the requirements of No Child Left Behind and the current emphasis on implementing the Common Core standards, reading and math are given priority time and attention in many, if not most public schools and Districts. Due to these circumstances, there is relatively little priority given to teaching and learning science. We frequently read in the media about the importance of science in today’s 21st century world, yet there is little emphasis on creating comprehensive, high quality science programs at all levels, pre-school through high school. It is rare to find coherent, active learning, inquiry based science programs at the pre-school and primary grade levels. Many teachers at the elementary level indicate that they have limited time to include science activities in the curriculum. High quality science programs emphasize active learning through inquiry strategies, investigation, hypothesis testing, experimentation, and science projects, but in too many middle and high school science classes, the key science program ingredients are the use of textbooks as the primary science resource, coverage driven teaching and learning, and traditional multiple-choice, short essay tests. Other priorities, time limitations, lack of attention, fragmentation, a traditional coverage based focus – all conspire to reduce the effectiveness and excellence of science programs in most schools and Districts.  Here are one dozen reasons why we must counter these trends and find ways to implement high quality science teaching and learning for all our children at all educational levels:   1.     Science is interesting, important, meaningful, and motivating. Science questions provoke interest in the mysteries and wonders of the natural world. Students learn to think about important questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? How does life exist? Why do things grow? Learning science provides students with an understanding of its massive contributions to everyday living and the comforts of life. Science programs provide an important avenue for helping students to develop a passion for inquiry and a better understanding of the world around us.  2.     Science career opportunities will be important in the future. High quality science education experiences develop scientific talents and interests. Good science programs interest, motivate and encourage students to prepare to work in the growing science-related professions, as scientists, health care professionals, technicians, and other science-related fields.  3.     Science promotes democratic thinking and values. Science teaches children to be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking in order to resolve problems.  Conflicts in science are resolved peacefully through discussion, argument, further investigation and the collection of evidence. Scientists learn to “disagree without being disagreeable”. Thoughtful criticism is the norm, not the exception. The expectation is that, as Einstein once said, “critical comments should be taken in a friendly spirit”.  4.     Science builds positive lifelong learning habits, behaviors and attitudes. Good science programs emphasize the value of inquiry, encourage curiosity, and reward persistence and patience.  Students learn to focus on science as a series of mysteries. They learn how to develop and explore interesting questions. They learn to solve problems and answer questions by taking small steps, being persistent, having patience, and overcoming adversity. They learn that finding “truth” is often messy and inconclusive. Students learn that successful achievement and learning often require trial and error, making mistakes, even failure. In other words, science teaches habits, behaviors and attitudes that support self-directed, autonomous, lifelong learning.  5.     Science enhances creativity and imagination, tolerance for and adaptation to change High quality science programs encourage students to ask “what if…?”. Students learn to explore open-ended questions, to consider alternatives that are “outside the box”, to invent and test creative solutions, and to try to solve problems in different and unusual ways. Science teaches students that change and adaptation is part of the nature of learning and growing by testing new ideas and adapting to changing circumstances.  6.     Science teaches that knowledge is “tentative” and that knowledge, theory and explanation are all part of the learning process. Too many students come away from school thinking that that knowledge is fixed and immutable (especially if it comes from a textbook) – that there is always a right answer. A study of Galileo’s or Einstein’s discoveries help students to see that what once was thought to be “correct” turned out to be wrong, that scientific knowledge needs to be tested, studies need replication, and theory is only an empty idea until there is data to support and explain it. Good science programs teach students that knowledge is frequently tentative and changing.  7.     Science develops critical intellectual skills. Science fosters the development of critical thinking skills that carry over to learning other subjects and daily living. Through science, children learn to carefully observe (What do you see happening to this plant as it grows?) interpret and hypothesize (Why do you think this is happening?) conduct experiments (How can we prove it?), see different perspectives and points of view (What are different points of view about why this happened?) analyze (What are its component parts?) synthesize (How does this all fit together into a pattern? What are the connections and relationships?) and draw conclusions (What are our results? Conclusions? Why?) Students learn how to create an argument with supporting evidence to justify a point of view, to question opinions that have little backing to support them.  8.     Science builds reading and “learning to learn” skills. Good science programs build strong reading skills! As students investigate physical forces, chemical reactions, biological growth, or the solar system, they also learn how to read a variety of science resources, understand new concepts, build vocabulary and background knowledge, and learn the language of science and science inquiry. The investigation skills they learn – defining problems and challenges, searching for and processing information, thinking critically and creatively, drawing conclusions and applying learning, and communicating with others and explaining results - are a significant part of the “learning to learn” skills they will need for college and future careers.  9.     Science helps students to learn and apply mathematical thinking. Math is the language of science. As students learn science, they learn that mathematics is an important tool to help solve real problems and questions.  Measurement, number manipulation, and proportional thinking are critical tools of science. As students “do” science, they learn how to collect and analyze data, form patterns, develop spatial and geometric relationships, and apply many of the higher level and complex math systems to scientific problem solving.  10.   Science enriches learning in other subjects. All subject areas benefit when a student understands science concepts and ideas. For example, science concepts are helpful for understanding historical forces, technological and social changes over time, and current issues and concerns such as global warming. Science problems can be used to help students understand and apply statistical analysis.  The arts are integrated into science through graphic designs and drawings that complement learning about scientific and technological principles and innovations and provide visual demonstrations of learning. Science concepts are intertwined with understanding healthy living habits and good nutrition.  11.  Science develops teamwork skills. Through science, children learn how to work together to investigate, test hypotheses, interpret data, and draw conclusions. As they work together, they learn to understand and tolerate difference and diversity. They learn how teamwork contributes to significant learning. Science can also contribute to making schools safer and more peaceful by teaching students how to work together and resolve conflicts.  12.  Scientific understanding is critical for good citizenship in a 21st century world. An understanding of science, science concepts, how science arrives at results, and science research is critical if students are to become intelligent citizens in a democratic society.  An understanding of today’s complex issues, concerns, challenges and problems require an understanding of scientific principles, concepts and ideas. Global warming is the most obvious, but others include what to do about atomic waste, how to get clean water, agriculture and food issues, health and illness, hurricane damage prevention, energy issues, automation and robotics.   Conclusion   High quality, inquiry based science programs motivate children and provide them with intellectual skills and positive attitudes and values that help them to succeed in school and in life. Science learning raises and examines critical questions and promotes understanding about the natural and physical world, and provides students with inquiry and investigation skills that will encourage a lifetime of learning. They increase interest in a subject that is of considerable importance to the development of highly educated citizens who understand critical issues for the future and to student preparation for well-paying science-related careers.  Good science programs help students learn to work together and to learn methods that help them resolve conflicts peacefully. Teachers, Boards of Education, superintendents, principals, the community at large, and governments at all levels – all need to make a commitment to support and develop high quality science programs at all levels, including pre-school. There are many ways to do this – for example, to widely share and discuss these dozen reasons on why it is critical to develop strong science programs, to adopt high quality science curricula at all levels[i], to develop teachers’ science knowledge and skills, to train teachers on how to incorporate high quality science experiences into their classrooms, to involve local science organizations in promoting and fostering high quality programs, to apply for funds to implement and support high quality science programs at all levels, and, ultimately, to develop competent science educators in every school and at all levels.  Every child should have the opportunity to participate in a strong, coherent science program. It should be priority for a 21st century world education. Science education can have a powerful impact on children and learning, and it can make a significant difference in the lives of children. What it takes is understanding, commitment, dedication, passion, persistence, and hard work over time.   [i] Curricular programs that meet the high quality test include active, kit based elementary science programs such as FOSS (http://lhsfoss.org), secondary programs such as Active Physics (http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html), and the adoption of teaching methods that promote active learning and support science understanding, such as those created by Eric Mazur at Harvard University (http://mazur.harvard.edu/education/educationmenu.php).     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching,  learning, and curriculum in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org     Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:27:17 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Dozen-Reasons-Why-We-Need-High-Quality-Science-Teaching-and-Learning-in-a-21st-Century-World/blog/6505025/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-01-25T18:11:56Z ASCD EDge Because of the requirements of No Child Left Behind and the current emphasis on implementing the Common Core standards, reading and math are given priority time and attention in many, if not most public schools and Districts. Due to these circumstances, there is relatively little priority given to teaching and learning science. We frequently read in the media about the importance of science in today’s 21st century world, yet there is little emphasis on creating comprehensive, high quality science programs at all levels, pre-school through high school. It is rare to find coherent, active learning, inquiry based science programs at the pre-school and primary grade levels. Many teachers at the elementary level indicate that they have limited time to include science activities in the curriculum. High quality science programs emphasize active learning through inquiry strategies, investigation, hypothesis testing, experimentation, and science projects, but in too many middle and high school science classes, the key science program ingredients are the use of textbooks as the primary science resource, coverage driven teaching and learning, and traditional multiple-choice, short essay tests. Other priorities, time limitations, lack of attention, fragmentation, a traditional coverage based focus – all conspire to reduce the effectiveness and excellence of science programs in most schools and Districts.  Here are one dozen reasons why we must counter these trends and find ways to implement high quality science teaching and learning for all our children at all educational levels:   1.     Science is interesting, important, meaningful, and motivating. Science questions provoke interest in the mysteries and wonders of the natural world. Students learn to think about important questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? How does life exist? Why do things grow? Learning science provides students with an understanding of its massive contributions to everyday living and the comforts of life. Science programs provide an important avenue for helping students to develop a passion for inquiry and a better understanding of the world around us.  2.     Science career opportunities will be important in the future. High quality science education experiences develop scientific talents and interests. Good science programs interest, motivate and encourage students to prepare to work in the growing science-related professions, as scientists, health care professionals, technicians, and other science-related fields.  3.     Science promotes democratic thinking and values. Science teaches children to be open to new ideas and new ways of thinking in order to resolve problems.  Conflicts in science are resolved peacefully through discussion, argument, further investigation and the collection of evidence. Scientists learn to “disagree without being disagreeable”. Thoughtful criticism is the norm, not the exception. The expectation is that, as Einstein once said, “critical comments should be taken in a friendly spirit”.  4.     Science builds positive lifelong learning habits, behaviors and attitudes. Good science programs emphasize the value of inquiry, encourage curiosity, and reward persistence and patience.  Students learn to focus on science as a series of mysteries. They learn how to develop and explore interesting questions. They learn to solve problems and answer questions by taking small steps, being persistent, having patience, and overcoming adversity. They learn that finding “truth” is often messy and inconclusive. Students learn that successful achievement and learning often require trial and error, making mistakes, even failure. In other words, science teaches habits, behaviors and attitudes that support self-directed, autonomous, lifelong learning.  5.     Science enhances creativity and imagination, tolerance for and adaptation to change High quality science programs encourage students to ask “what if…?”. Students learn to explore open-ended questions, to consider alternatives that are “outside the box”, to invent and test creative solutions, and to try to solve problems in different and unusual ways. Science teaches students that change and adaptation is part of the nature of learning and growing by testing new ideas and adapting to changing circumstances.  6.     Science teaches that knowledge is “tentative” and that knowledge, theory and explanation are all part of the learning process. Too many students come away from school thinking that that knowledge is fixed and immutable (especially if it comes from a textbook) – that there is always a right answer. A study of Galileo’s or Einstein’s discoveries help students to see that what once was thought to be “correct” turned out to be wrong, that scientific knowledge needs to be tested, studies need replication, and theory is only an empty idea until there is data to support and explain it. Good science programs teach students that knowledge is frequently tentative and changing.  7.     Science develops critical intellectual skills. Science fosters the development of critical thinking skills that carry over to learning other subjects and daily living. Through science, children learn to carefully observe (What do you see happening to this plant as it grows?) interpret and hypothesize (Why do you think this is happening?) conduct experiments (How can we prove it?), see different perspectives and points of view (What are different points of view about why this happened?) analyze (What are its component parts?) synthesize (How does this all fit together into a pattern? What are the connections and relationships?) and draw conclusions (What are our results? Conclusions? Why?) Students learn how to create an argument with supporting evidence to justify a point of view, to question opinions that have little backing to support them.  8.     Science builds reading and “learning to learn” skills. Good science programs build strong reading skills! As students investigate physical forces, chemical reactions, biological growth, or the solar system, they also learn how to read a variety of science resources, understand new concepts, build vocabulary and background knowledge, and learn the language of science and science inquiry. The investigation skills they learn – defining problems and challenges, searching for and processing information, thinking critically and creatively, drawing conclusions and applying learning, and communicating with others and explaining results - are a significant part of the “learning to learn” skills they will need for college and future careers.  9.     Science helps students to learn and apply mathematical thinking. Math is the language of science. As students learn science, they learn that mathematics is an important tool to help solve real problems and questions.  Measurement, number manipulation, and proportional thinking are critical tools of science. As students “do” science, they learn how to collect and analyze data, form patterns, develop spatial and geometric relationships, and apply many of the higher level and complex math systems to scientific problem solving.  10.   Science enriches learning in other subjects. All subject areas benefit when a student understands science concepts and ideas. For example, science concepts are helpful for understanding historical forces, technological and social changes over time, and current issues and concerns such as global warming. Science problems can be used to help students understand and apply statistical analysis.  The arts are integrated into science through graphic designs and drawings that complement learning about scientific and technological principles and innovations and provide visual demonstrations of learning. Science concepts are intertwined with understanding healthy living habits and good nutrition.  11.  Science develops teamwork skills. Through science, children learn how to work together to investigate, test hypotheses, interpret data, and draw conclusions. As they work together, they learn to understand and tolerate difference and diversity. They learn how teamwork contributes to significant learning. Science can also contribute to making schools safer and more peaceful by teaching students how to work together and resolve conflicts.  12.  Scientific understanding is critical for good citizenship in a 21st century world. An understanding of science, science concepts, how science arrives at results, and science research is critical if students are to become intelligent citizens in a democratic society.  An understanding of today’s complex issues, concerns, challenges and problems require an understanding of scientific principles, concepts and ideas. Global warming is the most obvious, but others include what to do about atomic waste, how to get clean water, agriculture and food issues, health and illness, hurricane damage prevention, energy issues, automation and robotics.   Conclusion   High quality, inquiry based science programs motivate children and provide them with intellectual skills and positive attitudes and values that help them to succeed in school and in life. Science learning raises and examines critical questions and promotes understanding about the natural and physical world, and provides students with inquiry and investigation skills that will encourage a lifetime of learning. They increase interest in a subject that is of considerable importance to the development of highly educated citizens who understand critical issues for the future and to student preparation for well-paying science-related careers.  Good science programs help students learn to work together and to learn methods that help them resolve conflicts peacefully. Teachers, Boards of Education, superintendents, principals, the community at large, and governments at all levels – all need to make a commitment to support and develop high quality science programs at all levels, including pre-school. There are many ways to do this – for example, to widely share and discuss these dozen reasons on why it is critical to develop strong science programs, to adopt high quality science curricula at all levels[i], to develop teachers’ science knowledge and skills, to train teachers on how to incorporate high quality science experiences into their classrooms, to involve local science organizations in promoting and fostering high quality programs, to apply for funds to implement and support high quality science programs at all levels, and, ultimately, to develop competent science educators in every school and at all levels.  Every child should have the opportunity to participate in a strong, coherent science program. It should be priority for a 21st century world education. Science education can have a powerful impact on children and learning, and it can make a significant difference in the lives of children. What it takes is understanding, commitment, dedication, passion, persistence, and hard work over time.   [i] Curricular programs that meet the high quality test include active, kit based elementary science programs such as FOSS (http://lhsfoss.org), secondary programs such as Active Physics (http://its-about-time.com/htmls/ap.html), and the adoption of teaching methods that promote active learning and support science understanding, such as those created by Eric Mazur at Harvard University (http://mazur.harvard.edu/education/educationmenu.php).     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching,  learning, and curriculum in order to help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org     nonadult false A Dozen Reasons Why We Need High Quality Science Teaching and Learning in a 21st Century World text blog 444 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6505025 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Customized-Versus-Standardized-Assessments-A-Fairy-Tale/blog/6496729/127586.html Once upon a time there was rapidly changing democratic country with many, many highly educated, resourceful and creative people. Its mass education system was the envy of the world, but a “new age” economy, new technologies, changing values, and many new and changing careers prompted a need for updating. Prophets and preachers roamed this vast land, calling for a new type of education to match the new age needs. There were many names for this new type of education – Progressive, Standards-Based, New Standards, Outcomes Based - but one thing that most of the gurus, preachers and prophets had in common was a new way of looking at accountability. They mainly called for a system of multiple types of assessments put into collections that represented individual student success and achievement. Many named this a “portfolio” system, similar to a portfolio of artwork collected by artists. Collections of multiple types of student work, consisting of such things as written work, performance tasks and projects, self-reflections, tests, would be put into an individual portfolio that would enable students to show off their work and growth, identify and share their talents and interests, demonstrate their personal strengths and weaknesses, and plan for their future. In effect, this system of assessment allowed for students to develop customized, multiple pathways for demonstrating academic and personal success, along with individual growth, self-analysis, and planning opportunities. New technologies helped to support the development of this approach, and digital portfolios seemed to be the wave of the future.   A number of schools and districts adopted this model, and added other touches – performance task graduation requirements, senior year presentations of portfolios to teachers and outside community members, internships as part of graduation, and the like. And all was moving well along towards a new form of education and assessment that matched the needs of students and accountability in this new era.   But the rulers of this vast and great country had other ideas. They believed that the only important way to measure educational success was through a few “standardized” tests, scored by computers, that demonstrated that all students could do a few academic things well (like reading and math). They believed that every student should take these tests at specific times to show that their schools and students were “on track”. They believed that this was the best way to improve the schools of this great land. So they created a law for every public school in the country to obey, to make sure that everyone did these few things well and “no child was left behind”. Their intentions were very noble and regal!   Unfortunately, this new law stopped the new approaches to education and accountability gurus in their tracks! While there were still many people who preached the good word, arguing for a new type of multiple assessment-portfolio accountability system, their ideas were now just “blowing in the wind”. Only a small group of people were listening to them, while everyone else complied with the new law, spent countless hours preparing students for the new standardized tests, and tried to insure that their students did well on these few major assessments.   This new law of the land has now been in existence for a very long time. It has stifled new approaches to accountability that better demonstrate preparedness for this new age we live in and better measure the achievements of each individual student. It has narrowed the curriculum and hindered the implementation of new age goals – promoting rich learning experiences in all subject areas, fostering high levels of thinking, learning how to do research, figuring out how to develop curiosity, promoting multiple forms of writing, learning how to do projects, and helping students find their own strengths and interests and develop their individual talents.   Now the rulers are again reconsidering this law of the land. Even with a new look at assessments going on in the land, it seems as if a few narrow, computer based, traditional assessments will continue to be focus of assessment and accountability.   Perhaps some sanity will rule and we will get back to promoting a sensible and holistic vision of accountability, assessment, and educational excellence that promotes a customized, not standardized education in the new age that we live in. But “happily ever after” right now seems to be a pipe dream.      Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining suggestions for  improving teaching and learning and helping to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org Once upon a time there was rapidly changing democratic country with many, many highly educated, resourceful and creative people. Its mass education system was the envy of the world, but a “new age” economy, new technologies, changing values, and many new and changing careers prompted a need for updating. Prophets and preachers roamed this vast land, calling for a new type of education to match the new age needs. There were many names for this new type of education – Progressive, Standards-Based, New Standards, Outcomes Based - but one thing that most of the gurus, preachers and prophets had in common was a new way of looking at accountability. They mainly called for a system of multiple types of assessments put into collections that represented individual student success and achievement. Many named this a “portfolio” system, similar to a portfolio of artwork collected by artists. Collections of multiple types of student work, consisting of such things as written work, performance tasks and projects, self-reflections, tests, would be put into an individual portfolio that would enable students to show off their work and growth, identify and share their talents and interests, demonstrate their personal strengths and weaknesses, and plan for their future. In effect, this system of assessment allowed for students to develop customized, multiple pathways for demonstrating academic and personal success, along with individual growth, self-analysis, and planning opportunities. New technologies helped to support the development of this approach, and digital portfolios seemed to be the wave of the future.   A number of schools and districts adopted this model, and added other touches – performance task graduation requirements, senior year presentations of portfolios to teachers and outside community members, internships as part of graduation, and the like. And all was moving well along towards a new form of education and assessment that matched the needs of students and accountability in this new era.   But the rulers of this vast and great country had other ideas. They believed that the only important way to measure educational success was through a few “standardized” tests, scored by computers, that demonstrated that all students could do a few academic things well (like reading and math). They believed that every student should take these tests at specific times to show that their schools and students were “on track”. They believed that this was the best way to improve the schools of this great land. So they created a law for every public school in the country to obey, to make sure that everyone did these few things well and “no child was left behind”. Their intentions were very noble and regal!   Unfortunately, this new law stopped the new approaches to education and accountability gurus in their tracks! While there were still many people who preached the good word, arguing for a new type of multiple assessment-portfolio accountability system, their ideas were now just “blowing in the wind”. Only a small group of people were listening to them, while everyone else complied with the new law, spent countless hours preparing students for the new standardized tests, and tried to insure that their students did well on these few major assessments.   This new law of the land has now been in existence for a very long time. It has stifled new approaches to accountability that better demonstrate preparedness for this new age we live in and better measure the achievements of each individual student. It has narrowed the curriculum and hindered the implementation of new age goals – promoting rich learning experiences in all subject areas, fostering high levels of thinking, learning how to do research, figuring out how to develop curiosity, promoting multiple forms of writing, learning how to do projects, and helping students find their own strengths and interests and develop their individual talents.   Now the rulers are again reconsidering this law of the land. Even with a new look at assessments going on in the land, it seems as if a few narrow, computer based, traditional assessments will continue to be focus of assessment and accountability.   Perhaps some sanity will rule and we will get back to promoting a sensible and holistic vision of accountability, assessment, and educational excellence that promotes a customized, not standardized education in the new age that we live in. But “happily ever after” right now seems to be a pipe dream.      Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining suggestions for  improving teaching and learning and helping to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:51:36 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Customized-Versus-Standardized-Assessments-A-Fairy-Tale/blog/6496729/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2013-01-07T00:05:50Z ASCD EDge Once upon a time there was rapidly changing democratic country with many, many highly educated, resourceful and creative people. Its mass education system was the envy of the world, but a “new age” economy, new technologies, changing values, and many new and changing careers prompted a need for updating. Prophets and preachers roamed this vast land, calling for a new type of education to match the new age needs. There were many names for this new type of education – Progressive, Standards-Based, New Standards, Outcomes Based - but one thing that most of the gurus, preachers and prophets had in common was a new way of looking at accountability. They mainly called for a system of multiple types of assessments put into collections that represented individual student success and achievement. Many named this a “portfolio” system, similar to a portfolio of artwork collected by artists. Collections of multiple types of student work, consisting of such things as written work, performance tasks and projects, self-reflections, tests, would be put into an individual portfolio that would enable students to show off their work and growth, identify and share their talents and interests, demonstrate their personal strengths and weaknesses, and plan for their future. In effect, this system of assessment allowed for students to develop customized, multiple pathways for demonstrating academic and personal success, along with individual growth, self-analysis, and planning opportunities. New technologies helped to support the development of this approach, and digital portfolios seemed to be the wave of the future.   A number of schools and districts adopted this model, and added other touches – performance task graduation requirements, senior year presentations of portfolios to teachers and outside community members, internships as part of graduation, and the like. And all was moving well along towards a new form of education and assessment that matched the needs of students and accountability in this new era.   But the rulers of this vast and great country had other ideas. They believed that the only important way to measure educational success was through a few “standardized” tests, scored by computers, that demonstrated that all students could do a few academic things well (like reading and math). They believed that every student should take these tests at specific times to show that their schools and students were “on track”. They believed that this was the best way to improve the schools of this great land. So they created a law for every public school in the country to obey, to make sure that everyone did these few things well and “no child was left behind”. Their intentions were very noble and regal!   Unfortunately, this new law stopped the new approaches to education and accountability gurus in their tracks! While there were still many people who preached the good word, arguing for a new type of multiple assessment-portfolio accountability system, their ideas were now just “blowing in the wind”. Only a small group of people were listening to them, while everyone else complied with the new law, spent countless hours preparing students for the new standardized tests, and tried to insure that their students did well on these few major assessments.   This new law of the land has now been in existence for a very long time. It has stifled new approaches to accountability that better demonstrate preparedness for this new age we live in and better measure the achievements of each individual student. It has narrowed the curriculum and hindered the implementation of new age goals – promoting rich learning experiences in all subject areas, fostering high levels of thinking, learning how to do research, figuring out how to develop curiosity, promoting multiple forms of writing, learning how to do projects, and helping students find their own strengths and interests and develop their individual talents.   Now the rulers are again reconsidering this law of the land. Even with a new look at assessments going on in the land, it seems as if a few narrow, computer based, traditional assessments will continue to be focus of assessment and accountability.   Perhaps some sanity will rule and we will get back to promoting a sensible and holistic vision of accountability, assessment, and educational excellence that promotes a customized, not standardized education in the new age that we live in. But “happily ever after” right now seems to be a pipe dream.      Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining suggestions for  improving teaching and learning and helping to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org nonadult false Customized Versus Standardized Assessments: A Fairy Tale text blog 281 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6496729 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_A-new-book-that-helps-all-of-us-examine-teaching-and-learning-in-a-21st-century-world/blog/6464863/127586.html  One of the joys of my retirement years is the ability to pick and choose schools that I decide to consult with and work in as a volunteer.  Since I live in Philadelphia, I also feel as if I am helping to support public schools that work with urban children who often live in difficult circumstances. Two of these schools, the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice and the Science Leadership Academy, are very special schools, both dedicated to helping students learn and grow around an important theme, and providing multiple opportunities to promote their themes in engaging ways.   Imagine how surprised I was to learn that a new and wonderful book, Embracing Risk in Urban Education, by Alice E. Ginsberg (2012: Bowman and Littlefield Education) features these two schools, along with two other Philadelphia schools.   Why is “Embracing Risk” in the title? In an interesting twist, Alice Ginsberg turns the concept of risk on its head. She argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book then describes four Philadelphia urban schools and sample teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), to learn how to inquire, collaborate, foster social justice, and build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   What is special about these four schools? Briefly, Science Leadership Academy is a public high school committed to inquiry, creativity, project based learning, and experimentation. It has gained national attention for its willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning, its emphasis on five core values, and its commitment to authentic learning. The Folkarts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS) is a K-8 Charter School in Philadelphia’s Chinatown that embraces the cultural values, identities, knowledge, wisdom and languages that students bring to the school and incorporates these into all learning. The Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice is a public high school that promotes peaceful methods of solving problems, and emphasizes conflict resolution, social development, ethical behavior, citizenship, service, and leadership.  Finally, the Wissahickon Charter School is a K-8 school that promotes a ‘discovery approach’ to all learning, and has an environmental focus that includes a working garden, a healthy lunch program, and student access to environments such as woods, lakes and mountains that are not ordinarily accessible to urban students.   In short, these schools have unique and common features that “embrace risk”, such as purposeful, meaningful, thoughtful missions and goals, open-ended inquiry and project based learning, student reflection, relevance, empathy, experiential learning, community connections, literacy in a broader sense than just the ability to read and decode, and multi-faceted assessments that go well beyond the traditional multiple choice, right answer standardized test.   Although the book is ostensibly about urban education, all educators can learn from its key ideas, school and teaching examples. I urge anyone who is interested in further understanding the core concepts embedded in the book, the nature and character of these schools and model teaching examples, and what they imply for a 21st century education, to read this book. You will not be disappointed. The concept of “embracing risk” that is explored on many different levels; the lessons from, characteristics, and distinct qualities of these four schools; and the personal qualities exemplified by students who graduate from these schools need to be thoughtfully examined and considered by all educators as we prepare our children for the challenging, complex, confusing, and risky world of the future.   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership.        One of the joys of my retirement years is the ability to pick and choose schools that I decide to consult with and work in as a volunteer.  Since I live in Philadelphia, I also feel as if I am helping to support public schools that work with urban children who often live in difficult circumstances. Two of these schools, the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice and the Science Leadership Academy, are very special schools, both dedicated to helping students learn and grow around an important theme, and providing multiple opportunities to promote their themes in engaging ways.   Imagine how surprised I was to learn that a new and wonderful book, Embracing Risk in Urban Education, by Alice E. Ginsberg (2012: Bowman and Littlefield Education) features these two schools, along with two other Philadelphia schools.   Why is “Embracing Risk” in the title? In an interesting twist, Alice Ginsberg turns the concept of risk on its head. She argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book then describes four Philadelphia urban schools and sample teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), to learn how to inquire, collaborate, foster social justice, and build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   What is special about these four schools? Briefly, Science Leadership Academy is a public high school committed to inquiry, creativity, project based learning, and experimentation. It has gained national attention for its willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning, its emphasis on five core values, and its commitment to authentic learning. The Folkarts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS) is a K-8 Charter School in Philadelphia’s Chinatown that embraces the cultural values, identities, knowledge, wisdom and languages that students bring to the school and incorporates these into all learning. The Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice is a public high school that promotes peaceful methods of solving problems, and emphasizes conflict resolution, social development, ethical behavior, citizenship, service, and leadership.  Finally, the Wissahickon Charter School is a K-8 school that promotes a ‘discovery approach’ to all learning, and has an environmental focus that includes a working garden, a healthy lunch program, and student access to environments such as woods, lakes and mountains that are not ordinarily accessible to urban students.   In short, these schools have unique and common features that “embrace risk”, such as purposeful, meaningful, thoughtful missions and goals, open-ended inquiry and project based learning, student reflection, relevance, empathy, experiential learning, community connections, literacy in a broader sense than just the ability to read and decode, and multi-faceted assessments that go well beyond the traditional multiple choice, right answer standardized test.   Although the book is ostensibly about urban education, all educators can learn from its key ideas, school and teaching examples. I urge anyone who is interested in further understanding the core concepts embedded in the book, the nature and character of these schools and model teaching examples, and what they imply for a 21st century education, to read this book. You will not be disappointed. The concept of “embracing risk” that is explored on many different levels; the lessons from, characteristics, and distinct qualities of these four schools; and the personal qualities exemplified by students who graduate from these schools need to be thoughtfully examined and considered by all educators as we prepare our children for the challenging, complex, confusing, and risky world of the future.   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership.       Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:59:00 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_A-new-book-that-helps-all-of-us-examine-teaching-and-learning-in-a-21st-century-world/blog/6464863/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-11-14T20:59:00Z ASCD EDge  One of the joys of my retirement years is the ability to pick and choose schools that I decide to consult with and work in as a volunteer.  Since I live in Philadelphia, I also feel as if I am helping to support public schools that work with urban children who often live in difficult circumstances. Two of these schools, the Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice and the Science Leadership Academy, are very special schools, both dedicated to helping students learn and grow around an important theme, and providing multiple opportunities to promote their themes in engaging ways.   Imagine how surprised I was to learn that a new and wonderful book, Embracing Risk in Urban Education, by Alice E. Ginsberg (2012: Bowman and Littlefield Education) features these two schools, along with two other Philadelphia schools.   Why is “Embracing Risk” in the title? In an interesting twist, Alice Ginsberg turns the concept of risk on its head. She argues that, instead of eliminating risk from schools by “regulating, standardizing, scripting, and quantifying” what we do in schools, we should try to develop schools that embrace risk by enabling students to “…experiment, disagree, … assert their individuality, test assumptions and question data”, essential qualities for a 21st century world and a democratic society (p. 3). The book then describes four Philadelphia urban schools and sample teaching examples that, in her view, “make space for children to explore the unknown” (p. 4), to learn how to inquire, collaborate, foster social justice, and build patience, sustained commitment, and cooperative, responsible leadership (p. 10).   What is special about these four schools? Briefly, Science Leadership Academy is a public high school committed to inquiry, creativity, project based learning, and experimentation. It has gained national attention for its willingness to try new approaches to teaching and learning, its emphasis on five core values, and its commitment to authentic learning. The Folkarts Cultural Treasures School (FACTS) is a K-8 Charter School in Philadelphia’s Chinatown that embraces the cultural values, identities, knowledge, wisdom and languages that students bring to the school and incorporates these into all learning. The Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice is a public high school that promotes peaceful methods of solving problems, and emphasizes conflict resolution, social development, ethical behavior, citizenship, service, and leadership.  Finally, the Wissahickon Charter School is a K-8 school that promotes a ‘discovery approach’ to all learning, and has an environmental focus that includes a working garden, a healthy lunch program, and student access to environments such as woods, lakes and mountains that are not ordinarily accessible to urban students.   In short, these schools have unique and common features that “embrace risk”, such as purposeful, meaningful, thoughtful missions and goals, open-ended inquiry and project based learning, student reflection, relevance, empathy, experiential learning, community connections, literacy in a broader sense than just the ability to read and decode, and multi-faceted assessments that go well beyond the traditional multiple choice, right answer standardized test.   Although the book is ostensibly about urban education, all educators can learn from its key ideas, school and teaching examples. I urge anyone who is interested in further understanding the core concepts embedded in the book, the nature and character of these schools and model teaching examples, and what they imply for a 21st century education, to read this book. You will not be disappointed. The concept of “embracing risk” that is explored on many different levels; the lessons from, characteristics, and distinct qualities of these four schools; and the personal qualities exemplified by students who graduate from these schools need to be thoughtfully examined and considered by all educators as we prepare our children for the challenging, complex, confusing, and risky world of the future.   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership.       21st, and, based, century, education, embracing, inquiry, learning, risk, teaching, urban, world nonadult false A new book that helps all of us examine teaching and learning in a 21st century world text blog 21st,and,based,century,education,embracing,inquiry,learning,risk,teaching,urban,world 580 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6464863 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-Simple-Strategies-For-Teaching-21st-Century-Skills/blog/6451365/127586.html In an earlier blog, I described five skill sets that I believe are critical for living in a 21st century world[i]. These five sets of skills provide students with basic competencies they need for success in college, career, and beyond. They are the following:   Curiosity. In today’s rapidly changing world, curiosity – interest in and willingness to learn new things – is critically important. Most educators realize that the curiosity of young children seems to lessen as they go through school. Curiosity manifests itself through students demonstrating an interest in and a willingness to try new things and learn new ideas, ask questions, and pose and define problems and challenges.   Information-Data Literacy. New technologies that give us instantaneous access to huge amounts of information and data make information and data literacy skills imperative.  Our students need to be able to use many approaches, including technology, to search for information and data effectively and efficiently, sort through large amounts to find the most useful, and determine the most reliable and valid information and data. Search engine results require the ability to read and digest multiple information and data genres and formats.   Thoughtfulness. All students need to have the ability to think deeply and flexibly in today’s rapidly changing world, and be prepared to take their place as 21st century citizens. They need opportunities to compare and contrast, analyze and interpret, and develop unique relationships among information, data, and ideas. They need to be able to translate information into visual and quantitative data. They need to “think outside the box” and solve problems creatively.   Application. With so much information, the ability to “pull together” and synthesize information and ideas, form educated opinions backed by argument and evidence, solve complex problems, and determine ways to apply information and ideas to the “outside” world become critical. Summarizing, synthesizing, drawing conclusions, and applying learning to new, novel, and “authentic” situations are all critical for living in a 21st century world.   Communication. Effective communication becomes more important in a world of e-mail, twitter, Facebook, cellphones, Skype, and authentic projects. Students need opportunities to practice communicating effectively in many different ways – through all types of writing, explaining ideas, diverse representations, effectively participating in discussions, and giving oral presentations.   ------------------------------   Given the importance of these five skills sets, one would think that they would be front and center in our educational discussions. Unfortunately, in today’s educational climate, many of these take a back seat to a relatively narrow group of skills useful for doing well on standardized tests – namely, the ability to distinguish correct answers in multiple choice questions or to write short pieces coherently. So, in this commentary, I am suggesting ten simple and easy to use strategies – two for each skill set – that can make a big difference in the ability of students to learn and apply these skills.   Curiosity – Question Census. Ask students to brainstorm questions that they would like to explore for at least one unit of study. Together develop categories for the questions and then select questions or categories of questions that are the most challenging, interesting, or focused around big ideas. Use these questions to focus student learning and study the unit at hand. Student developed challenges-problems. Find someplace in the curriculum where students can develop their own challenges or problems to give to others. Give students a chance to develop puzzles, games, historic or current challenges, math problems, or other challenges and problems, and then have them share these with the rest of the class and see if other students can solve the problems or challenges.     Information-Data Literacy – Readings-Data search. Either as a homework or in-class assignment in a computer lab, ask students to find one or more readings or data sources that supplement current learning. Help students learn how to use search engines and find and use helpful search terms. Work with students to help them determine which sources of information and data are reliable, then how to read and interpret these meaningfully. If several readings or data sources are found, help students figure out ways to compare and contrast them and find the essential information, ideas, or data in each. Close reading.  The Common Core Reading Standards advocate that students do more of the work of reading and teachers do less.  “Close reading” means that students read more deeply as part of their daily activities. Instead of providing answers and “feeding” students, students are asked “text-dependent” questions. Text dependent questions forces students to go to the text to give opinions and justify them through the text. Students are asked to “read like a detective”; to read text more than once; to analyze paragraphs sentence by sentence, to consider the nuances of a text, to analyze data sources. “Text” reading becomes much more significant as part of the learning process[ii]. This type of reading should be encouraged, but takes time. If we are to foster information and data literacy, students, as often as possible, should be asked to do close reading.   Thoughtfulness: Deep and Flexible thinking - Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a good way to promote deeper and more flexible thinking. Through a visual analysis, they help students take learning apart (analysis), organize information and data for decision-making, or weave a web of information and ideas. Use graphic organizers to help students extend and deepen student thinking[iii]. Brainstorming A brainstorming strategy is a good way to help students learn to “think outside the box”. Students are provided with an open-ended problem or challenge that has the potential to have many different types of solutions. They are asked to discover as many alternative ways to solve the problem as they can, and are given four rules around the acronym DOVE to help them with coming up with alternative possibilities: Defer Judgment, Offbeat Ideas encouraged, Vast number of ideas sought, Expand on other people’s ideas. Ask students to work in small groups to come up with as many ideas as they can, with one person acting as the recorder of all the ideas. After the brainstorm, students share the ideas and make the list as long as possible. They may also be asked to indicate which five ideas are the most logical, the most unusual, the most interesting, and/or the best. Several ideas might be used to try to solve the problem and consider what would happen if the idea were put into practice.   Application: Draw Conclusions, Apply Learning - 3-2-1 Reflection. A 3-2-1 Reflection activity is often given at the end of a lesson or specific time period, such as a week, two weeks, or at the end of a unit. You can use this activity to ask students many different questions to discover what they learned and to uncover their thoughts about other aspects of the class: for example, to determine what main ideas students have learned, what questions they still have (good for stimulating curiosity), and what they most enjoyed. In this case, the activity works like this: Ask students to write down 3 things (ideas, facts, principles) that they learned, 2 conclusions that they can draw from the learning, and one way they can apply their learning to the outside world[iv].   No multiple-choice question test. For at least one time period, abandon the traditional multiple-choice short answer test for a test that requires students to draw conclusions about what they have learned and asks them to apply their learning to a new and novel situation. Performance tasks are good alternatives, as are exams that require essays. Consider open book essay exams and exams where students take home three questions to prepare, and one of them is given as an in-class exam[v].   Communication: Five minute explanations. For this activity, students are asked to explain a concept, big idea, understanding, or principle in their own words. They may do it in pairs, giving explanations to each other, or as a writing assignment. This activity may be completed after all or part of a lecture, when a teacher has shared a new understanding and wants to determine if students understand what has been presented. A corollary to this activity is that students use an active listening approach – as they work in pairs, one student provides an explanation and the other has to repeat the essence of the explanation in his or her own words. They then switch, and the other student provides an explanation while the first repeats the essence of it in his or her own words. Persuasive arguments. In this activity, students are asked to create a persuasive argument in support of a point of view – an opinion about something they are studying. They need to state or write their point of view and provide arguments and evidence that support it. Once they state or write their argument, they can share it with others, either in small groups or in the total class. Persuasive essays are also good ways to introduce debate skills.   ------------------------   There are many additional activities that can be used or adapted to promote the learning of these five skill sets – developing questions for conducting interviews or for going on field trips, wait time to encourage deeper thinking, research projects based on student interests and related to a topic under study, oral presentations, creative problem solving strategies, individual book reflections, on-going, multiple types of writing activities, thinking skill activities, and choice of activities and courses.   But the point of this commentary is that teachers who have limited time for developing some or all of these five sets of skills can do short, relatively easy to implement activities, even occasionally, that can make a big difference in 21st century skill development. These types of activities, represented by the ten examples above, can be especially significant if everyone in the school supports the development of these sets of skills and institutes instructional activities designed to help students learn and refine these skills.   If you are convinced that these skills are important for students to develop, chances are you will think of other activities that you can implement or adapt to promote the learning of these skills. Once you accept the importance of these skills and start thinking about how you can help students develop them, the sky’s the limit. Ironically, teaching these skills can also help students to perform better on the more traditional tests that are currently so important for measuring classroom and school success.     ENDNOTES   [i] See Elliott Seif, Teaching the Right skills for a New Age: Inquiry Based Instruction, at ASCD Edge, http://edge.ascd.org/_Teaching-the-Right-Skills-For-a-New-Age-Inquiry-Based-Instruction/blog/5476234/127586.htm. Other relevant commentaries on ASCD Edge include Seven Principles for Teaching the Right Skills in a New Age and Eight Types of Instructional Strategies That Improve Learning in a 21st Century World. More information about the five skill sets and their relevance for 21st century education can be found at www.era3learning.org/. [ii] For further insight into text-dependent, close reading based on the Common Core Standards, see Christina Hank, Defining “Deep Reading” and “text-Dependent Questions”, at Turn On Your Brain, http://turnonyourbrain.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/defining-deep-reading-and-text-dependent-questions/ [iii] There are many sources of information on graphic organizers. One resource is by Vicki Urquhart and Dana Frazee, Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? 3rd Edition (2012), Chapter 12. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. [iv] Many resources are available to help you develop 3-2-1 reflections. One can be found at http://www.facing.org/resources/strategies/3-2-1. [v] As a student, the use of take home questions was my favorite way of being assessed, because I could really take the time to prepare and learn. It changed the nature of assessment from “mystery” to “mastery”.     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, social studies teacher,  former Professor of Education at Temple University, and Curriculum Director in Bucks County, PA. If you are interested in further examining these five skill sets and ways to implement them, as well as other dimensions of a 21st century education, go to his website at  www.era3learning.org   In an earlier blog, I described five skill sets that I believe are critical for living in a 21st century world[i]. These five sets of skills provide students with basic competencies they need for success in college, career, and beyond. They are the following:   Curiosity. In today’s rapidly changing world, curiosity – interest in and willingness to learn new things – is critically important. Most educators realize that the curiosity of young children seems to lessen as they go through school. Curiosity manifests itself through students demonstrating an interest in and a willingness to try new things and learn new ideas, ask questions, and pose and define problems and challenges.   Information-Data Literacy. New technologies that give us instantaneous access to huge amounts of information and data make information and data literacy skills imperative.  Our students need to be able to use many approaches, including technology, to search for information and data effectively and efficiently, sort through large amounts to find the most useful, and determine the most reliable and valid information and data. Search engine results require the ability to read and digest multiple information and data genres and formats.   Thoughtfulness. All students need to have the ability to think deeply and flexibly in today’s rapidly changing world, and be prepared to take their place as 21st century citizens. They need opportunities to compare and contrast, analyze and interpret, and develop unique relationships among information, data, and ideas. They need to be able to translate information into visual and quantitative data. They need to “think outside the box” and solve problems creatively.   Application. With so much information, the ability to “pull together” and synthesize information and ideas, form educated opinions backed by argument and evidence, solve complex problems, and determine ways to apply information and ideas to the “outside” world become critical. Summarizing, synthesizing, drawing conclusions, and applying learning to new, novel, and “authentic” situations are all critical for living in a 21st century world.   Communication. Effective communication becomes more important in a world of e-mail, twitter, Facebook, cellphones, Skype, and authentic projects. Students need opportunities to practice communicating effectively in many different ways – through all types of writing, explaining ideas, diverse representations, effectively participating in discussions, and giving oral presentations.   ------------------------------   Given the importance of these five skills sets, one would think that they would be front and center in our educational discussions. Unfortunately, in today’s educational climate, many of these take a back seat to a relatively narrow group of skills useful for doing well on standardized tests – namely, the ability to distinguish correct answers in multiple choice questions or to write short pieces coherently. So, in this commentary, I am suggesting ten simple and easy to use strategies – two for each skill set – that can make a big difference in the ability of students to learn and apply these skills.   Curiosity – Question Census. Ask students to brainstorm questions that they would like to explore for at least one unit of study. Together develop categories for the questions and then select questions or categories of questions that are the most challenging, interesting, or focused around big ideas. Use these questions to focus student learning and study the unit at hand. Student developed challenges-problems. Find someplace in the curriculum where students can develop their own challenges or problems to give to others. Give students a chance to develop puzzles, games, historic or current challenges, math problems, or other challenges and problems, and then have them share these with the rest of the class and see if other students can solve the problems or challenges.     Information-Data Literacy – Readings-Data search. Either as a homework or in-class assignment in a computer lab, ask students to find one or more readings or data sources that supplement current learning. Help students learn how to use search engines and find and use helpful search terms. Work with students to help them determine which sources of information and data are reliable, then how to read and interpret these meaningfully. If several readings or data sources are found, help students figure out ways to compare and contrast them and find the essential information, ideas, or data in each. Close reading.  The Common Core Reading Standards advocate that students do more of the work of reading and teachers do less.  “Close reading” means that students read more deeply as part of their daily activities. Instead of providing answers and “feeding” students, students are asked “text-dependent” questions. Text dependent questions forces students to go to the text to give opinions and justify them through the text. Students are asked to “read like a detective”; to read text more than once; to analyze paragraphs sentence by sentence, to consider the nuances of a text, to analyze data sources. “Text” reading becomes much more significant as part of the learning process[ii]. This type of reading should be encouraged, but takes time. If we are to foster information and data literacy, students, as often as possible, should be asked to do close reading.   Thoughtfulness: Deep and Flexible thinking - Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a good way to promote deeper and more flexible thinking. Through a visual analysis, they help students take learning apart (analysis), organize information and data for decision-making, or weave a web of information and ideas. Use graphic organizers to help students extend and deepen student thinking[iii]. Brainstorming A brainstorming strategy is a good way to help students learn to “think outside the box”. Students are provided with an open-ended problem or challenge that has the potential to have many different types of solutions. They are asked to discover as many alternative ways to solve the problem as they can, and are given four rules around the acronym DOVE to help them with coming up with alternative possibilities: Defer Judgment, Offbeat Ideas encouraged, Vast number of ideas sought, Expand on other people’s ideas. Ask students to work in small groups to come up with as many ideas as they can, with one person acting as the recorder of all the ideas. After the brainstorm, students share the ideas and make the list as long as possible. They may also be asked to indicate which five ideas are the most logical, the most unusual, the most interesting, and/or the best. Several ideas might be used to try to solve the problem and consider what would happen if the idea were put into practice.   Application: Draw Conclusions, Apply Learning - 3-2-1 Reflection. A 3-2-1 Reflection activity is often given at the end of a lesson or specific time period, such as a week, two weeks, or at the end of a unit. You can use this activity to ask students many different questions to discover what they learned and to uncover their thoughts about other aspects of the class: for example, to determine what main ideas students have learned, what questions they still have (good for stimulating curiosity), and what they most enjoyed. In this case, the activity works like this: Ask students to write down 3 things (ideas, facts, principles) that they learned, 2 conclusions that they can draw from the learning, and one way they can apply their learning to the outside world[iv].   No multiple-choice question test. For at least one time period, abandon the traditional multiple-choice short answer test for a test that requires students to draw conclusions about what they have learned and asks them to apply their learning to a new and novel situation. Performance tasks are good alternatives, as are exams that require essays. Consider open book essay exams and exams where students take home three questions to prepare, and one of them is given as an in-class exam[v].   Communication: Five minute explanations. For this activity, students are asked to explain a concept, big idea, understanding, or principle in their own words. They may do it in pairs, giving explanations to each other, or as a writing assignment. This activity may be completed after all or part of a lecture, when a teacher has shared a new understanding and wants to determine if students understand what has been presented. A corollary to this activity is that students use an active listening approach – as they work in pairs, one student provides an explanation and the other has to repeat the essence of the explanation in his or her own words. They then switch, and the other student provides an explanation while the first repeats the essence of it in his or her own words. Persuasive arguments. In this activity, students are asked to create a persuasive argument in support of a point of view – an opinion about something they are studying. They need to state or write their point of view and provide arguments and evidence that support it. Once they state or write their argument, they can share it with others, either in small groups or in the total class. Persuasive essays are also good ways to introduce debate skills.   ------------------------   There are many additional activities that can be used or adapted to promote the learning of these five skill sets – developing questions for conducting interviews or for going on field trips, wait time to encourage deeper thinking, research projects based on student interests and related to a topic under study, oral presentations, creative problem solving strategies, individual book reflections, on-going, multiple types of writing activities, thinking skill activities, and choice of activities and courses.   But the point of this commentary is that teachers who have limited time for developing some or all of these five sets of skills can do short, relatively easy to implement activities, even occasionally, that can make a big difference in 21st century skill development. These types of activities, represented by the ten examples above, can be especially significant if everyone in the school supports the development of these sets of skills and institutes instructional activities designed to help students learn and refine these skills.   If you are convinced that these skills are important for students to develop, chances are you will think of other activities that you can implement or adapt to promote the learning of these skills. Once you accept the importance of these skills and start thinking about how you can help students develop them, the sky’s the limit. Ironically, teaching these skills can also help students to perform better on the more traditional tests that are currently so important for measuring classroom and school success.     ENDNOTES   [i] See Elliott Seif, Teaching the Right skills for a New Age: Inquiry Based Instruction, at ASCD Edge, http://edge.ascd.org/_Teaching-the-Right-Skills-For-a-New-Age-Inquiry-Based-Instruction/blog/5476234/127586.htm. Other relevant commentaries on ASCD Edge include Seven Principles for Teaching the Right Skills in a New Age and Eight Types of Instructional Strategies That Improve Learning in a 21st Century World. More information about the five skill sets and their relevance for 21st century education can be found at www.era3learning.org/. [ii] For further insight into text-dependent, close reading based on the Common Core Standards, see Christina Hank, Defining “Deep Reading” and “text-Dependent Questions”, at Turn On Your Brain, http://turnonyourbrain.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/defining-deep-reading-and-text-dependent-questions/ [iii] There are many sources of information on graphic organizers. One resource is by Vicki Urquhart and Dana Frazee, Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? 3rd Edition (2012), Chapter 12. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. [iv] Many resources are available to help you develop 3-2-1 reflections. One can be found at http://www.facing.org/resources/strategies/3-2-1. [v] As a student, the use of take home questions was my favorite way of being assessed, because I could really take the time to prepare and learn. It changed the nature of assessment from “mystery” to “mastery”.     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, social studies teacher,  former Professor of Education at Temple University, and Curriculum Director in Bucks County, PA. If you are interested in further examining these five skill sets and ways to implement them, as well as other dimensions of a 21st century education, go to his website at  www.era3learning.org   Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:24:36 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-Simple-Strategies-For-Teaching-21st-Century-Skills/blog/6451365/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-11-07T14:24:36Z ASCD EDge In an earlier blog, I described five skill sets that I believe are critical for living in a 21st century world[i]. These five sets of skills provide students with basic competencies they need for success in college, career, and beyond. They are the following:   Curiosity. In today’s rapidly changing world, curiosity – interest in and willingness to learn new things – is critically important. Most educators realize that the curiosity of young children seems to lessen as they go through school. Curiosity manifests itself through students demonstrating an interest in and a willingness to try new things and learn new ideas, ask questions, and pose and define problems and challenges.   Information-Data Literacy. New technologies that give us instantaneous access to huge amounts of information and data make information and data literacy skills imperative.  Our students need to be able to use many approaches, including technology, to search for information and data effectively and efficiently, sort through large amounts to find the most useful, and determine the most reliable and valid information and data. Search engine results require the ability to read and digest multiple information and data genres and formats.   Thoughtfulness. All students need to have the ability to think deeply and flexibly in today’s rapidly changing world, and be prepared to take their place as 21st century citizens. They need opportunities to compare and contrast, analyze and interpret, and develop unique relationships among information, data, and ideas. They need to be able to translate information into visual and quantitative data. They need to “think outside the box” and solve problems creatively.   Application. With so much information, the ability to “pull together” and synthesize information and ideas, form educated opinions backed by argument and evidence, solve complex problems, and determine ways to apply information and ideas to the “outside” world become critical. Summarizing, synthesizing, drawing conclusions, and applying learning to new, novel, and “authentic” situations are all critical for living in a 21st century world.   Communication. Effective communication becomes more important in a world of e-mail, twitter, Facebook, cellphones, Skype, and authentic projects. Students need opportunities to practice communicating effectively in many different ways – through all types of writing, explaining ideas, diverse representations, effectively participating in discussions, and giving oral presentations.   ------------------------------   Given the importance of these five skills sets, one would think that they would be front and center in our educational discussions. Unfortunately, in today’s educational climate, many of these take a back seat to a relatively narrow group of skills useful for doing well on standardized tests – namely, the ability to distinguish correct answers in multiple choice questions or to write short pieces coherently. So, in this commentary, I am suggesting ten simple and easy to use strategies – two for each skill set – that can make a big difference in the ability of students to learn and apply these skills.   Curiosity – Question Census. Ask students to brainstorm questions that they would like to explore for at least one unit of study. Together develop categories for the questions and then select questions or categories of questions that are the most challenging, interesting, or focused around big ideas. Use these questions to focus student learning and study the unit at hand. Student developed challenges-problems. Find someplace in the curriculum where students can develop their own challenges or problems to give to others. Give students a chance to develop puzzles, games, historic or current challenges, math problems, or other challenges and problems, and then have them share these with the rest of the class and see if other students can solve the problems or challenges.     Information-Data Literacy – Readings-Data search. Either as a homework or in-class assignment in a computer lab, ask students to find one or more readings or data sources that supplement current learning. Help students learn how to use search engines and find and use helpful search terms. Work with students to help them determine which sources of information and data are reliable, then how to read and interpret these meaningfully. If several readings or data sources are found, help students figure out ways to compare and contrast them and find the essential information, ideas, or data in each. Close reading.  The Common Core Reading Standards advocate that students do more of the work of reading and teachers do less.  “Close reading” means that students read more deeply as part of their daily activities. Instead of providing answers and “feeding” students, students are asked “text-dependent” questions. Text dependent questions forces students to go to the text to give opinions and justify them through the text. Students are asked to “read like a detective”; to read text more than once; to analyze paragraphs sentence by sentence, to consider the nuances of a text, to analyze data sources. “Text” reading becomes much more significant as part of the learning process[ii]. This type of reading should be encouraged, but takes time. If we are to foster information and data literacy, students, as often as possible, should be asked to do close reading.   Thoughtfulness: Deep and Flexible thinking - Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a good way to promote deeper and more flexible thinking. Through a visual analysis, they help students take learning apart (analysis), organize information and data for decision-making, or weave a web of information and ideas. Use graphic organizers to help students extend and deepen student thinking[iii]. Brainstorming A brainstorming strategy is a good way to help students learn to “think outside the box”. Students are provided with an open-ended problem or challenge that has the potential to have many different types of solutions. They are asked to discover as many alternative ways to solve the problem as they can, and are given four rules around the acronym DOVE to help them with coming up with alternative possibilities: Defer Judgment, Offbeat Ideas encouraged, Vast number of ideas sought, Expand on other people’s ideas. Ask students to work in small groups to come up with as many ideas as they can, with one person acting as the recorder of all the ideas. After the brainstorm, students share the ideas and make the list as long as possible. They may also be asked to indicate which five ideas are the most logical, the most unusual, the most interesting, and/or the best. Several ideas might be used to try to solve the problem and consider what would happen if the idea were put into practice.   Application: Draw Conclusions, Apply Learning - 3-2-1 Reflection. A 3-2-1 Reflection activity is often given at the end of a lesson or specific time period, such as a week, two weeks, or at the end of a unit. You can use this activity to ask students many different questions to discover what they learned and to uncover their thoughts about other aspects of the class: for example, to determine what main ideas students have learned, what questions they still have (good for stimulating curiosity), and what they most enjoyed. In this case, the activity works like this: Ask students to write down 3 things (ideas, facts, principles) that they learned, 2 conclusions that they can draw from the learning, and one way they can apply their learning to the outside world[iv].   No multiple-choice question test. For at least one time period, abandon the traditional multiple-choice short answer test for a test that requires students to draw conclusions about what they have learned and asks them to apply their learning to a new and novel situation. Performance tasks are good alternatives, as are exams that require essays. Consider open book essay exams and exams where students take home three questions to prepare, and one of them is given as an in-class exam[v].   Communication: Five minute explanations. For this activity, students are asked to explain a concept, big idea, understanding, or principle in their own words. They may do it in pairs, giving explanations to each other, or as a writing assignment. This activity may be completed after all or part of a lecture, when a teacher has shared a new understanding and wants to determine if students understand what has been presented. A corollary to this activity is that students use an active listening approach – as they work in pairs, one student provides an explanation and the other has to repeat the essence of the explanation in his or her own words. They then switch, and the other student provides an explanation while the first repeats the essence of it in his or her own words. Persuasive arguments. In this activity, students are asked to create a persuasive argument in support of a point of view – an opinion about something they are studying. They need to state or write their point of view and provide arguments and evidence that support it. Once they state or write their argument, they can share it with others, either in small groups or in the total class. Persuasive essays are also good ways to introduce debate skills.   ------------------------   There are many additional activities that can be used or adapted to promote the learning of these five skill sets – developing questions for conducting interviews or for going on field trips, wait time to encourage deeper thinking, research projects based on student interests and related to a topic under study, oral presentations, creative problem solving strategies, individual book reflections, on-going, multiple types of writing activities, thinking skill activities, and choice of activities and courses.   But the point of this commentary is that teachers who have limited time for developing some or all of these five sets of skills can do short, relatively easy to implement activities, even occasionally, that can make a big difference in 21st century skill development. These types of activities, represented by the ten examples above, can be especially significant if everyone in the school supports the development of these sets of skills and institutes instructional activities designed to help students learn and refine these skills.   If you are convinced that these skills are important for students to develop, chances are you will think of other activities that you can implement or adapt to promote the learning of these skills. Once you accept the importance of these skills and start thinking about how you can help students develop them, the sky’s the limit. Ironically, teaching these skills can also help students to perform better on the more traditional tests that are currently so important for measuring classroom and school success.     ENDNOTES   [i] See Elliott Seif, Teaching the Right skills for a New Age: Inquiry Based Instruction, at ASCD Edge, http://edge.ascd.org/_Teaching-the-Right-Skills-For-a-New-Age-Inquiry-Based-Instruction/blog/5476234/127586.htm. Other relevant commentaries on ASCD Edge include Seven Principles for Teaching the Right Skills in a New Age and Eight Types of Instructional Strategies That Improve Learning in a 21st Century World. More information about the five skill sets and their relevance for 21st century education can be found at www.era3learning.org/. [ii] For further insight into text-dependent, close reading based on the Common Core Standards, see Christina Hank, Defining “Deep Reading” and “text-Dependent Questions”, at Turn On Your Brain, http://turnonyourbrain.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/defining-deep-reading-and-text-dependent-questions/ [iii] There are many sources of information on graphic organizers. One resource is by Vicki Urquhart and Dana Frazee, Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? 3rd Edition (2012), Chapter 12. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. [iv] Many resources are available to help you develop 3-2-1 reflections. One can be found at http://www.facing.org/resources/strategies/3-2-1. [v] As a student, the use of take home questions was my favorite way of being assessed, because I could really take the time to prepare and learn. It changed the nature of assessment from “mystery” to “mastery”.     Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, social studies teacher,  former Professor of Education at Temple University, and Curriculum Director in Bucks County, PA. If you are interested in further examining these five skill sets and ways to implement them, as well as other dimensions of a 21st century education, go to his website at  www.era3learning.org   nonadult false Ten Simple Strategies For Teaching 21st Century Skills text blog 1342 11 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6451365 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Promoting-STEM-in-a-21st-century-World/blog/6433281/127586.html Many experts and commentators who write about career changes suggest that STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are growth opportunities for the future. There is a concern on the part of these experts and commentators that we are not training enough of our students in these fields, and that we will need to continue to hire talented individuals who live outside our country in order to maintain our leadership in these fields.   One would think that there would be a strong priority on promoting these areas through changes to the curriculum, teacher training, career exploration and the like. Yet it is hard to see when this will happen when so much national and state energy and effort are focused around decontextualized reading strategies, traditional mathematics, reading and math common core standards, teacher evaluation, and so on.   We will all know that there will be a renewed emphasis on STEM school programs and in STEM career incentives when:   The Federal government and the states lead to way in promoting strong STEM programs, courses, curricula in all schools…   Strong incentives are created to build a teaching force at all levels that has significant expertise in STEM fields…   A strong hands-on, minds-on STEM curriculum is taught in the morning in all pre-K and elementary grade levels…   Second grade students shout in unison that what they like best in school are doing science investigations, solving interesting math problems, and working on interesting “authentic” technology challenges…   Students at all levels agree that STEM subjects are motivating, fun, enjoyable…   The best high school teachers are asked to teach two new required courses: a STEM course, and a science and society[i] course…   From an early age, students are introduced to, explore, and develop projects around the ten grand engineering challenges[ii]…   There is a big push to promote interdisciplinary STEM programs at all school levels…   Television ads are developed that demonstrate the appeal of STEM careers…   Colleges are flooded with applications from high school students who want to focus on STEM subjects…   -----------------------------   Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see any of these ten things happen anytime soon. But those of you who read this can consider the following: How can I as a teacher, as an administrator, as a community member, create ways to encourage my students to consider STEM careers? How can I strengthen my own teaching or school program so that students become more interested in and motivated towards these fields?   This is a very worthwhile goal in a 21st century world.   [i] To examine the most important science policy questions of our time, go to: http://notes.nap.edu/science-debate-2012/?utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The%20National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=Science+Debate+2012&utm_content=web%20updates&utm_term=#.UI60kY4Qh0g   [ii] To discover the ten grand challenges of engineering, go to http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further exploring ways to help prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to:  www.era3learning.org Many experts and commentators who write about career changes suggest that STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are growth opportunities for the future. There is a concern on the part of these experts and commentators that we are not training enough of our students in these fields, and that we will need to continue to hire talented individuals who live outside our country in order to maintain our leadership in these fields.   One would think that there would be a strong priority on promoting these areas through changes to the curriculum, teacher training, career exploration and the like. Yet it is hard to see when this will happen when so much national and state energy and effort are focused around decontextualized reading strategies, traditional mathematics, reading and math common core standards, teacher evaluation, and so on.   We will all know that there will be a renewed emphasis on STEM school programs and in STEM career incentives when:   The Federal government and the states lead to way in promoting strong STEM programs, courses, curricula in all schools…   Strong incentives are created to build a teaching force at all levels that has significant expertise in STEM fields…   A strong hands-on, minds-on STEM curriculum is taught in the morning in all pre-K and elementary grade levels…   Second grade students shout in unison that what they like best in school are doing science investigations, solving interesting math problems, and working on interesting “authentic” technology challenges…   Students at all levels agree that STEM subjects are motivating, fun, enjoyable…   The best high school teachers are asked to teach two new required courses: a STEM course, and a science and society[i] course…   From an early age, students are introduced to, explore, and develop projects around the ten grand engineering challenges[ii]…   There is a big push to promote interdisciplinary STEM programs at all school levels…   Television ads are developed that demonstrate the appeal of STEM careers…   Colleges are flooded with applications from high school students who want to focus on STEM subjects…   -----------------------------   Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see any of these ten things happen anytime soon. But those of you who read this can consider the following: How can I as a teacher, as an administrator, as a community member, create ways to encourage my students to consider STEM careers? How can I strengthen my own teaching or school program so that students become more interested in and motivated towards these fields?   This is a very worthwhile goal in a 21st century world.   [i] To examine the most important science policy questions of our time, go to: http://notes.nap.edu/science-debate-2012/?utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The%20National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=Science+Debate+2012&utm_content=web%20updates&utm_term=#.UI60kY4Qh0g   [ii] To discover the ten grand challenges of engineering, go to http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further exploring ways to help prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to:  www.era3learning.org Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:50:53 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Promoting-STEM-in-a-21st-century-World/blog/6433281/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-10-29T17:50:53Z ASCD EDge Many experts and commentators who write about career changes suggest that STEM careers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are growth opportunities for the future. There is a concern on the part of these experts and commentators that we are not training enough of our students in these fields, and that we will need to continue to hire talented individuals who live outside our country in order to maintain our leadership in these fields.   One would think that there would be a strong priority on promoting these areas through changes to the curriculum, teacher training, career exploration and the like. Yet it is hard to see when this will happen when so much national and state energy and effort are focused around decontextualized reading strategies, traditional mathematics, reading and math common core standards, teacher evaluation, and so on.   We will all know that there will be a renewed emphasis on STEM school programs and in STEM career incentives when:   The Federal government and the states lead to way in promoting strong STEM programs, courses, curricula in all schools…   Strong incentives are created to build a teaching force at all levels that has significant expertise in STEM fields…   A strong hands-on, minds-on STEM curriculum is taught in the morning in all pre-K and elementary grade levels…   Second grade students shout in unison that what they like best in school are doing science investigations, solving interesting math problems, and working on interesting “authentic” technology challenges…   Students at all levels agree that STEM subjects are motivating, fun, enjoyable…   The best high school teachers are asked to teach two new required courses: a STEM course, and a science and society[i] course…   From an early age, students are introduced to, explore, and develop projects around the ten grand engineering challenges[ii]…   There is a big push to promote interdisciplinary STEM programs at all school levels…   Television ads are developed that demonstrate the appeal of STEM careers…   Colleges are flooded with applications from high school students who want to focus on STEM subjects…   -----------------------------   Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see any of these ten things happen anytime soon. But those of you who read this can consider the following: How can I as a teacher, as an administrator, as a community member, create ways to encourage my students to consider STEM careers? How can I strengthen my own teaching or school program so that students become more interested in and motivated towards these fields?   This is a very worthwhile goal in a 21st century world.   [i] To examine the most important science policy questions of our time, go to: http://notes.nap.edu/science-debate-2012/?utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The%20National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=Science+Debate+2012&utm_content=web%20updates&utm_term=#.UI60kY4Qh0g   [ii] To discover the ten grand challenges of engineering, go to http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further exploring ways to help prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to:  www.era3learning.org 21st, century, engineering, learning, mathematics, science, stem, technology nonadult false Promoting STEM in a 21st century World text blog 21st,century,engineering,learning,mathematics,science,stem,technology 428 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6433281 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Power-of-Teacher-Collaboration-The-Integrated-Skill-Development-Process-ISDP/blog/6415185/127586.html Introduction   The Common Core Standards are the latest examples of a vision of knowledge and skill development that makes sense, but are unlikely to be implemented without a model for integrating the skills across the curriculum. The creation of an integrated curriculum, one in which multiple teachers work together to build student knowledge and skills, is not an easy task. Often there is a basic need on the part of many teachers to emphasize excellence in their own subject area or at their own grade level. School cultures tend to emphasize the individual nature of teaching. Many teachers like the independence and autonomy of working alone, unencumbered by the time it takes to work through common issues and goals. Yet the design of an integrated curriculum and shared curriculum vision, along with a consensus on key learnings and outcomes across the curriculum, increases the power of each individual teacher and ultimately strengthens student learning for all!   Because there is likely to be an underlying, implicit school-wide consensus that the teaching of skills is important, skill instruction can often provide the best framework for curriculum integration. For example, at the elementary level, there is usually an implicit assumption that every elementary teacher is a teacher of reading. All teachers are together working to improve reading skills. But this is not the case for most other skills, like research, problem solving, thinking, or even writing. However, if we are to get greater skill development integration at all levels, it must originate from the collective insights and beliefs of the school staff, as they develop consensus and agreement on key skills to be taught and learned, and on how best to teach towards integration. It cannot be imposed from the top down!   The Integrated Skill Development Process (heretofore referred to as ISDP) is an effort to help school district staff together form a consensus as to the key skills that students must master for living in today's and tomorrow's world. Representatives of staff and key administrators form a group that dialogues, debates and draws conclusions about key skills, with ongoing input from the rest of the faculty. Once the skills are developed and shared, the process enables the staff to create projects and programs that facilitate the development of these skills across the curriculum. The result is a powerful school-based process that fosters clarity of outcomes, analyses of school practice, and curriculum integration. The process also fosters collaborative, interconnected approaches to curriculum development, and may ultimately lead to strengthened, articulated, interdisciplinary curricular approaches at all levels.   The process calls for teams of key school personnel to meet regularly, from five to seven afternoons each year. Generally, during the first year, the group builds a shared consensus on a highly selective set of skills that become key school outcomes. The skills are continually reviewed by all staff and revised based on their input. Once selected, recommendations for implementing an integrated approach in many subject areas are developed, along with plans for gradual curricular implementation. Gradually, over the next several years, an integrated approach to skill development is instituted based on these recommendations. Over many years, the skills are refined, some deleted, and some added as the school becomes more adept at coordinating skill development across teachers and subjects.   In the past, the ISDP process has been used by a small group of schools and districts to better coordinate and integrate skill development. Some examples of the results of this process are provided below.   The ISDP Process   Phase I: Exploration Of Skills   During this phase of the project, the ISDP group members explore their views of skill development, read articles and other materials that help to define critical skills in a 21st century world, and then brainstorm and define key skills to be given priority in the school. Materials such as Standards documents, the Common Core materials, and books defining core skills for a 21st century world are extremely helpful during this phase. Discussion and dialogue are intense during these initial meetings. Group members compare and contrast their views on these issues, and to begin to explore the need for a cumulative, integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   The above discussions determine whether there is general agreement among the group members on the importance of prioritizing skills instruction across the curriculum, and for their integration into everyone’s teaching. If there is agreement to continue, then the group members begin a new task - to brainstorm a list of skills that they believe students should be able to perform when they leave their school or district. As they work in small groups, their task is to make the list as long as possible, without comment or judgments. Lists are then combined into one long list and examined for duplication. Readings and resources are referred to and/or provided when questions arise and clarification is needed.   Phase II: Selecting Kev Skills   In order to provide a smaller, more critical list of significant skills, participants are then asked to categorize the skills into five to ten key skill areas (no more). As the lists are categorized, the key skill areas are defined and analyzed. The resulting lists are continually refined and shared with other faculty members for their review and input. The outcome of the groups' efforts should be to develop and describe a small list of clear and highly sophisticated set of priority skill sets for school wide development, with a possible focus on such areas as reading comprehension, thinking, inquiry, problem solving, research, information literacy, organization and study, writing, interpretation, life skills, or oral communication, to name a few. The categories should also include a description of the specific skills to be taught and learned in greater detail.   Phase III: Comparing Ideal Visions and Actual Practice   Once the priority, critical list of core skills are developed, school-wide data on current instruction for each skill area are collected, and the group develops a data-based analysis of skill instruction for the selected skills. For example, a high school team might analyze at which grade levels, and in which subjects, research skills were being taught and utilized. At the same time, the group develops an ideal vision for the teaching of each skill area in their school, such as the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports at an ever more sophisticated level through the high school grades. These two, placed side by side, help the group to further refine their understanding of the skill areas and prepares them to make recommendations for implementing an integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   Phase IV: Recommendations For Change   Based on the group's perceptions of the gaps between ideal visions and actual practice, each school develops a set of practical recommendations for changing the curriculum to promote skill integration. Recommendations are also shared with the entire faculty in the school for comments and reactions. Recommendations can be very varied. They might range from the development of a school wide thematic unit in an elementary school to a plan for coordinating the teaching of study skills, or writing process skills, or both, for seventh grade students. The recommendations might also include a series of staff development sessions for the entire faculty around the identified skill areas.   Phase V: Implementation, Refinement, and Adaptation   Once there is general agreement on recommendations, efforts are made to begin implementing them. In past years, the results of ISDP have been diverse and in some cases, quite far reaching. One elementary team designed a school-wide thematic unit called "Folklore and Legends". Representatives from the ISDP committee met with teachers at every grade level and together they designed thematic projects and activities that integrated the key skills. Several school wide events also occurred, including a folksong assembly and a daylong thematic writing fair.   A second elementary ISDP project revolved around the teaching of study skills. The elementary team continued to refine and identify key study skills, culminating in the selection of four study skills - time and materials management, organization and memory, research and test taking skills - for integration into the K-6 curriculum. The group created examples of implementation activities at each grade level, and the language arts curriculum was analyzed to determine where the teaching of these skills took place, and where were the gaps, so that these gaps could be addressed.   In one middle school, the representatives of the ISDP group were formed into a team by the principal to work with the same group of seventh grade students. Their key skill outcomes formed a common bond among team members and they immediately used their planning time to design ways to integrate study skills across the seventh grade curriculum.   In another school district, the integrated skills committee consisted of several faculty members chosen to teach in a newly built middle school. The development of a shared set of common skills helped the school design ways to teach a core set of skills to all students during an activity period, with the skills to be reinforced in each of the subject areas and through interdisciplinary units.   Finally, a high school staff focused on the collaboration of ninth grade social studies and English teachers in the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports.     Implications and Conclusions   The Integrated Skill Development Process (ISDP) is designed to promote a shared school or district vision on key skills for 21st century living, along with a plan for integrating these skills across the curriculum. While lip service is frequently given to the coordinated teaching of skills in many schools, the reality is often more like a mosaic patchwork of ill-defined, discrete skills taught separately by different teachers. Thus, many students miss the power of continuous instructional approaches that create significant skill development over time. The ISDP process is designed to help schools develop a skills consensus so as to focus skill instruction on key skills across the content areas and grade levels. When teachers of many disciplines and/or grade levels concentrate on the mastery of a selected set of key skills, such as those found in the Common Core Standards, students are able to see connections and relationships across subjects and grade levels. The articulation of key skills across the curriculum enables students to develop the "learning to learn" skills so necessary for future learning. Finally, most teachers develop an implicit understanding of the importance of developing critical skills in students in tandem with other teachers, and to learn how to work collaboratively, increasing their willingness to create content and grade level interdisciplinary approaches in the future.                                                                       ----------------------- 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find information about ISDP, along with numerous other resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org Introduction   The Common Core Standards are the latest examples of a vision of knowledge and skill development that makes sense, but are unlikely to be implemented without a model for integrating the skills across the curriculum. The creation of an integrated curriculum, one in which multiple teachers work together to build student knowledge and skills, is not an easy task. Often there is a basic need on the part of many teachers to emphasize excellence in their own subject area or at their own grade level. School cultures tend to emphasize the individual nature of teaching. Many teachers like the independence and autonomy of working alone, unencumbered by the time it takes to work through common issues and goals. Yet the design of an integrated curriculum and shared curriculum vision, along with a consensus on key learnings and outcomes across the curriculum, increases the power of each individual teacher and ultimately strengthens student learning for all!   Because there is likely to be an underlying, implicit school-wide consensus that the teaching of skills is important, skill instruction can often provide the best framework for curriculum integration. For example, at the elementary level, there is usually an implicit assumption that every elementary teacher is a teacher of reading. All teachers are together working to improve reading skills. But this is not the case for most other skills, like research, problem solving, thinking, or even writing. However, if we are to get greater skill development integration at all levels, it must originate from the collective insights and beliefs of the school staff, as they develop consensus and agreement on key skills to be taught and learned, and on how best to teach towards integration. It cannot be imposed from the top down!   The Integrated Skill Development Process (heretofore referred to as ISDP) is an effort to help school district staff together form a consensus as to the key skills that students must master for living in today's and tomorrow's world. Representatives of staff and key administrators form a group that dialogues, debates and draws conclusions about key skills, with ongoing input from the rest of the faculty. Once the skills are developed and shared, the process enables the staff to create projects and programs that facilitate the development of these skills across the curriculum. The result is a powerful school-based process that fosters clarity of outcomes, analyses of school practice, and curriculum integration. The process also fosters collaborative, interconnected approaches to curriculum development, and may ultimately lead to strengthened, articulated, interdisciplinary curricular approaches at all levels.   The process calls for teams of key school personnel to meet regularly, from five to seven afternoons each year. Generally, during the first year, the group builds a shared consensus on a highly selective set of skills that become key school outcomes. The skills are continually reviewed by all staff and revised based on their input. Once selected, recommendations for implementing an integrated approach in many subject areas are developed, along with plans for gradual curricular implementation. Gradually, over the next several years, an integrated approach to skill development is instituted based on these recommendations. Over many years, the skills are refined, some deleted, and some added as the school becomes more adept at coordinating skill development across teachers and subjects.   In the past, the ISDP process has been used by a small group of schools and districts to better coordinate and integrate skill development. Some examples of the results of this process are provided below.   The ISDP Process   Phase I: Exploration Of Skills   During this phase of the project, the ISDP group members explore their views of skill development, read articles and other materials that help to define critical skills in a 21st century world, and then brainstorm and define key skills to be given priority in the school. Materials such as Standards documents, the Common Core materials, and books defining core skills for a 21st century world are extremely helpful during this phase. Discussion and dialogue are intense during these initial meetings. Group members compare and contrast their views on these issues, and to begin to explore the need for a cumulative, integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   The above discussions determine whether there is general agreement among the group members on the importance of prioritizing skills instruction across the curriculum, and for their integration into everyone’s teaching. If there is agreement to continue, then the group members begin a new task - to brainstorm a list of skills that they believe students should be able to perform when they leave their school or district. As they work in small groups, their task is to make the list as long as possible, without comment or judgments. Lists are then combined into one long list and examined for duplication. Readings and resources are referred to and/or provided when questions arise and clarification is needed.   Phase II: Selecting Kev Skills   In order to provide a smaller, more critical list of significant skills, participants are then asked to categorize the skills into five to ten key skill areas (no more). As the lists are categorized, the key skill areas are defined and analyzed. The resulting lists are continually refined and shared with other faculty members for their review and input. The outcome of the groups' efforts should be to develop and describe a small list of clear and highly sophisticated set of priority skill sets for school wide development, with a possible focus on such areas as reading comprehension, thinking, inquiry, problem solving, research, information literacy, organization and study, writing, interpretation, life skills, or oral communication, to name a few. The categories should also include a description of the specific skills to be taught and learned in greater detail.   Phase III: Comparing Ideal Visions and Actual Practice   Once the priority, critical list of core skills are developed, school-wide data on current instruction for each skill area are collected, and the group develops a data-based analysis of skill instruction for the selected skills. For example, a high school team might analyze at which grade levels, and in which subjects, research skills were being taught and utilized. At the same time, the group develops an ideal vision for the teaching of each skill area in their school, such as the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports at an ever more sophisticated level through the high school grades. These two, placed side by side, help the group to further refine their understanding of the skill areas and prepares them to make recommendations for implementing an integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   Phase IV: Recommendations For Change   Based on the group's perceptions of the gaps between ideal visions and actual practice, each school develops a set of practical recommendations for changing the curriculum to promote skill integration. Recommendations are also shared with the entire faculty in the school for comments and reactions. Recommendations can be very varied. They might range from the development of a school wide thematic unit in an elementary school to a plan for coordinating the teaching of study skills, or writing process skills, or both, for seventh grade students. The recommendations might also include a series of staff development sessions for the entire faculty around the identified skill areas.   Phase V: Implementation, Refinement, and Adaptation   Once there is general agreement on recommendations, efforts are made to begin implementing them. In past years, the results of ISDP have been diverse and in some cases, quite far reaching. One elementary team designed a school-wide thematic unit called "Folklore and Legends". Representatives from the ISDP committee met with teachers at every grade level and together they designed thematic projects and activities that integrated the key skills. Several school wide events also occurred, including a folksong assembly and a daylong thematic writing fair.   A second elementary ISDP project revolved around the teaching of study skills. The elementary team continued to refine and identify key study skills, culminating in the selection of four study skills - time and materials management, organization and memory, research and test taking skills - for integration into the K-6 curriculum. The group created examples of implementation activities at each grade level, and the language arts curriculum was analyzed to determine where the teaching of these skills took place, and where were the gaps, so that these gaps could be addressed.   In one middle school, the representatives of the ISDP group were formed into a team by the principal to work with the same group of seventh grade students. Their key skill outcomes formed a common bond among team members and they immediately used their planning time to design ways to integrate study skills across the seventh grade curriculum.   In another school district, the integrated skills committee consisted of several faculty members chosen to teach in a newly built middle school. The development of a shared set of common skills helped the school design ways to teach a core set of skills to all students during an activity period, with the skills to be reinforced in each of the subject areas and through interdisciplinary units.   Finally, a high school staff focused on the collaboration of ninth grade social studies and English teachers in the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports.     Implications and Conclusions   The Integrated Skill Development Process (ISDP) is designed to promote a shared school or district vision on key skills for 21st century living, along with a plan for integrating these skills across the curriculum. While lip service is frequently given to the coordinated teaching of skills in many schools, the reality is often more like a mosaic patchwork of ill-defined, discrete skills taught separately by different teachers. Thus, many students miss the power of continuous instructional approaches that create significant skill development over time. The ISDP process is designed to help schools develop a skills consensus so as to focus skill instruction on key skills across the content areas and grade levels. When teachers of many disciplines and/or grade levels concentrate on the mastery of a selected set of key skills, such as those found in the Common Core Standards, students are able to see connections and relationships across subjects and grade levels. The articulation of key skills across the curriculum enables students to develop the "learning to learn" skills so necessary for future learning. Finally, most teachers develop an implicit understanding of the importance of developing critical skills in students in tandem with other teachers, and to learn how to work collaboratively, increasing their willingness to create content and grade level interdisciplinary approaches in the future.                                                                       ----------------------- 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find information about ISDP, along with numerous other resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:50:49 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_The-Power-of-Teacher-Collaboration-The-Integrated-Skill-Development-Process-ISDP/blog/6415185/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-10-22T00:50:49Z ASCD EDge Introduction   The Common Core Standards are the latest examples of a vision of knowledge and skill development that makes sense, but are unlikely to be implemented without a model for integrating the skills across the curriculum. The creation of an integrated curriculum, one in which multiple teachers work together to build student knowledge and skills, is not an easy task. Often there is a basic need on the part of many teachers to emphasize excellence in their own subject area or at their own grade level. School cultures tend to emphasize the individual nature of teaching. Many teachers like the independence and autonomy of working alone, unencumbered by the time it takes to work through common issues and goals. Yet the design of an integrated curriculum and shared curriculum vision, along with a consensus on key learnings and outcomes across the curriculum, increases the power of each individual teacher and ultimately strengthens student learning for all!   Because there is likely to be an underlying, implicit school-wide consensus that the teaching of skills is important, skill instruction can often provide the best framework for curriculum integration. For example, at the elementary level, there is usually an implicit assumption that every elementary teacher is a teacher of reading. All teachers are together working to improve reading skills. But this is not the case for most other skills, like research, problem solving, thinking, or even writing. However, if we are to get greater skill development integration at all levels, it must originate from the collective insights and beliefs of the school staff, as they develop consensus and agreement on key skills to be taught and learned, and on how best to teach towards integration. It cannot be imposed from the top down!   The Integrated Skill Development Process (heretofore referred to as ISDP) is an effort to help school district staff together form a consensus as to the key skills that students must master for living in today's and tomorrow's world. Representatives of staff and key administrators form a group that dialogues, debates and draws conclusions about key skills, with ongoing input from the rest of the faculty. Once the skills are developed and shared, the process enables the staff to create projects and programs that facilitate the development of these skills across the curriculum. The result is a powerful school-based process that fosters clarity of outcomes, analyses of school practice, and curriculum integration. The process also fosters collaborative, interconnected approaches to curriculum development, and may ultimately lead to strengthened, articulated, interdisciplinary curricular approaches at all levels.   The process calls for teams of key school personnel to meet regularly, from five to seven afternoons each year. Generally, during the first year, the group builds a shared consensus on a highly selective set of skills that become key school outcomes. The skills are continually reviewed by all staff and revised based on their input. Once selected, recommendations for implementing an integrated approach in many subject areas are developed, along with plans for gradual curricular implementation. Gradually, over the next several years, an integrated approach to skill development is instituted based on these recommendations. Over many years, the skills are refined, some deleted, and some added as the school becomes more adept at coordinating skill development across teachers and subjects.   In the past, the ISDP process has been used by a small group of schools and districts to better coordinate and integrate skill development. Some examples of the results of this process are provided below.   The ISDP Process   Phase I: Exploration Of Skills   During this phase of the project, the ISDP group members explore their views of skill development, read articles and other materials that help to define critical skills in a 21st century world, and then brainstorm and define key skills to be given priority in the school. Materials such as Standards documents, the Common Core materials, and books defining core skills for a 21st century world are extremely helpful during this phase. Discussion and dialogue are intense during these initial meetings. Group members compare and contrast their views on these issues, and to begin to explore the need for a cumulative, integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   The above discussions determine whether there is general agreement among the group members on the importance of prioritizing skills instruction across the curriculum, and for their integration into everyone’s teaching. If there is agreement to continue, then the group members begin a new task - to brainstorm a list of skills that they believe students should be able to perform when they leave their school or district. As they work in small groups, their task is to make the list as long as possible, without comment or judgments. Lists are then combined into one long list and examined for duplication. Readings and resources are referred to and/or provided when questions arise and clarification is needed.   Phase II: Selecting Kev Skills   In order to provide a smaller, more critical list of significant skills, participants are then asked to categorize the skills into five to ten key skill areas (no more). As the lists are categorized, the key skill areas are defined and analyzed. The resulting lists are continually refined and shared with other faculty members for their review and input. The outcome of the groups' efforts should be to develop and describe a small list of clear and highly sophisticated set of priority skill sets for school wide development, with a possible focus on such areas as reading comprehension, thinking, inquiry, problem solving, research, information literacy, organization and study, writing, interpretation, life skills, or oral communication, to name a few. The categories should also include a description of the specific skills to be taught and learned in greater detail.   Phase III: Comparing Ideal Visions and Actual Practice   Once the priority, critical list of core skills are developed, school-wide data on current instruction for each skill area are collected, and the group develops a data-based analysis of skill instruction for the selected skills. For example, a high school team might analyze at which grade levels, and in which subjects, research skills were being taught and utilized. At the same time, the group develops an ideal vision for the teaching of each skill area in their school, such as the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports at an ever more sophisticated level through the high school grades. These two, placed side by side, help the group to further refine their understanding of the skill areas and prepares them to make recommendations for implementing an integrated approach to the teaching of skills.   Phase IV: Recommendations For Change   Based on the group's perceptions of the gaps between ideal visions and actual practice, each school develops a set of practical recommendations for changing the curriculum to promote skill integration. Recommendations are also shared with the entire faculty in the school for comments and reactions. Recommendations can be very varied. They might range from the development of a school wide thematic unit in an elementary school to a plan for coordinating the teaching of study skills, or writing process skills, or both, for seventh grade students. The recommendations might also include a series of staff development sessions for the entire faculty around the identified skill areas.   Phase V: Implementation, Refinement, and Adaptation   Once there is general agreement on recommendations, efforts are made to begin implementing them. In past years, the results of ISDP have been diverse and in some cases, quite far reaching. One elementary team designed a school-wide thematic unit called "Folklore and Legends". Representatives from the ISDP committee met with teachers at every grade level and together they designed thematic projects and activities that integrated the key skills. Several school wide events also occurred, including a folksong assembly and a daylong thematic writing fair.   A second elementary ISDP project revolved around the teaching of study skills. The elementary team continued to refine and identify key study skills, culminating in the selection of four study skills - time and materials management, organization and memory, research and test taking skills - for integration into the K-6 curriculum. The group created examples of implementation activities at each grade level, and the language arts curriculum was analyzed to determine where the teaching of these skills took place, and where were the gaps, so that these gaps could be addressed.   In one middle school, the representatives of the ISDP group were formed into a team by the principal to work with the same group of seventh grade students. Their key skill outcomes formed a common bond among team members and they immediately used their planning time to design ways to integrate study skills across the seventh grade curriculum.   In another school district, the integrated skills committee consisted of several faculty members chosen to teach in a newly built middle school. The development of a shared set of common skills helped the school design ways to teach a core set of skills to all students during an activity period, with the skills to be reinforced in each of the subject areas and through interdisciplinary units.   Finally, a high school staff focused on the collaboration of ninth grade social studies and English teachers in the teaching of research skills and the writing of research reports.     Implications and Conclusions   The Integrated Skill Development Process (ISDP) is designed to promote a shared school or district vision on key skills for 21st century living, along with a plan for integrating these skills across the curriculum. While lip service is frequently given to the coordinated teaching of skills in many schools, the reality is often more like a mosaic patchwork of ill-defined, discrete skills taught separately by different teachers. Thus, many students miss the power of continuous instructional approaches that create significant skill development over time. The ISDP process is designed to help schools develop a skills consensus so as to focus skill instruction on key skills across the content areas and grade levels. When teachers of many disciplines and/or grade levels concentrate on the mastery of a selected set of key skills, such as those found in the Common Core Standards, students are able to see connections and relationships across subjects and grade levels. The articulation of key skills across the curriculum enables students to develop the "learning to learn" skills so necessary for future learning. Finally, most teachers develop an implicit understanding of the importance of developing critical skills in students in tandem with other teachers, and to learn how to work collaboratively, increasing their willingness to create content and grade level interdisciplinary approaches in the future.                                                                       ----------------------- 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find information about ISDP, along with numerous other resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org nonadult false The Power of Teacher Collaboration: The Integrated Skill Development Process (ISDP) text blog 769 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6415185 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Six-ways-to-build-greater-curiosity-in-students/blog/6396005/127586.html Of the many “habits of mind” that students need to develop in a 21st century world, one of the least developed is curiosity. Curiosity becomes an important attribute in a 21st century America where uncertainty and rapid change is the rule, knowledge explosion and search engines provide us with a vast array of knowledge instantly, and invention, innovation, and creativity are rewarded and encouraged in all fields of endeavor.   Unfortunately, experts and lay people often comment on the curiosity differences between young children and those that have attended school for a while. Pre-school children tend to be curious about everything, ask many questions, are willing to try new things, and in general are eager learners. However, as children age in school, they tend to become less and less curious. How does that happen? Aging may have something to do with it, but one can argue that the types of school activities foisted on children deadens the urge to be curious – that sitting in seats, raising hands, completing worksheets, being lectured at, and having less time to ask and answer questions all deaden curiosity.   So how can schools support a habit of mind that many say is extremely critical to the success of the United States in the future? Here are six suggestions for improving curiosity:   Focus learning around essential, driving questions. “If the textbook has the answers, then what were the questions?”  The development of essential questions as the starting points for units, and the development of driving questions as the starting points for projects, are both good ways to encourage students to see questions as the starting points for learning. Using Understanding by Design[i] and Project Based Learning[ii] curriculum design models encourages this approach.   Use wait time and pauses to ask for questions from students. When teachers use strategies such as lectures and recitations, they should pause often and give students many opportunities to ask clarifying questions, make comments, or give opinions. At the end of a class period, give students time to write down three questions that come to mind as a result of the period’s lesson, and start the next class session by examining those questions.   Give students more choices and options. Let students choose a book to read from among a number of options. Periodically give students the opportunity to read any book of their choosing. Develop an elective program with interesting options chosen by the students at the middle and high school level. Encourage students to search for, find, and bring to class interesting and relevant sources and resources related to a topic under study. Encourage students to choose from a number of enrichment programs that take place both during and after school.   Increase the number of non- graded assignments. Grades often get in the way of curiosity. Periodically develop interesting assignments both for the classroom and as homework that promote curiosity and interest in learning but don’t count as part of grades. Presenting interesting puzzles, 20 questions games, and similar activities to students often support curiosity and interest in problem solving.   Give students the opportunity to choose interest-based projects. Offer students at all levels the opportunity to do research projects that are based on their own interests, whether or not they are related to the curriculum. Help them develop their own questions, conduct research on the topic, and do a presentation of their own choosing for other students.   Use multiple strategies that support curiosity and creativity. Give students the opportunity to brainstorm and then select their own essential questions that they wish to explore at the beginning of a unit; Use Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions[iii] to encourage students to ask and respond to powerful questions; Use creative problem solving strategies[iv] that start with a “messy” situation; define challenges, brainstorm alternatives, develop solutions, and create implementation plans; Offer hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based science programs[v] that promote active learning around science questions and challenges; Use problem- based learning strategies[vi]; Find out about and use the design thinking model[vii] that promotes the creation of innovative solutions to authentic, “real life” problems.   ---------------------------   These six recommendations are just a few of those that might be used to foster curiosity. One hopes that these six will serve as a catalyst for brainstorming more strategies, and encourage teachers and schools to think about how, and to implement ways, to stimulate greater curiosity among students.   Given this important goal of building curiosity, every teacher can develop their own ways to increase student questions and foster curiosity, important goals both for the country and for individual students. The likely side effects of increased curiosity are a greater interest in school and learning and a more creative and innovative society.                                                                                                  ENDNOTES [i] For Understanding by Design  resources  at ASCD, go to: http://www.ascd.org/research-a-topic/understanding-by-design-resources.aspx [ii] See Buck Institute, Project Based Learning model, http://www.bie.org [iii] Two sources for Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions are Touchstones and the Jr Great Books program: http://www.touchstones.org/ http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior.html [iv] For information about Creative Problem Solving strategies, go to: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/our-process/what-is-cps [v] For one such program, go to: http://www.fossweb.com/ [vi] For more information about problem based learning, go to: http://pbln.imsa.edu/model/intro/ [vii] More about the design thinking model can be found at: http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/   About the Author Elliott Seif is a long time teacher, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in exploring additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   Of the many “habits of mind” that students need to develop in a 21st century world, one of the least developed is curiosity. Curiosity becomes an important attribute in a 21st century America where uncertainty and rapid change is the rule, knowledge explosion and search engines provide us with a vast array of knowledge instantly, and invention, innovation, and creativity are rewarded and encouraged in all fields of endeavor.   Unfortunately, experts and lay people often comment on the curiosity differences between young children and those that have attended school for a while. Pre-school children tend to be curious about everything, ask many questions, are willing to try new things, and in general are eager learners. However, as children age in school, they tend to become less and less curious. How does that happen? Aging may have something to do with it, but one can argue that the types of school activities foisted on children deadens the urge to be curious – that sitting in seats, raising hands, completing worksheets, being lectured at, and having less time to ask and answer questions all deaden curiosity.   So how can schools support a habit of mind that many say is extremely critical to the success of the United States in the future? Here are six suggestions for improving curiosity:   Focus learning around essential, driving questions. “If the textbook has the answers, then what were the questions?”  The development of essential questions as the starting points for units, and the development of driving questions as the starting points for projects, are both good ways to encourage students to see questions as the starting points for learning. Using Understanding by Design[i] and Project Based Learning[ii] curriculum design models encourages this approach.   Use wait time and pauses to ask for questions from students. When teachers use strategies such as lectures and recitations, they should pause often and give students many opportunities to ask clarifying questions, make comments, or give opinions. At the end of a class period, give students time to write down three questions that come to mind as a result of the period’s lesson, and start the next class session by examining those questions.   Give students more choices and options. Let students choose a book to read from among a number of options. Periodically give students the opportunity to read any book of their choosing. Develop an elective program with interesting options chosen by the students at the middle and high school level. Encourage students to search for, find, and bring to class interesting and relevant sources and resources related to a topic under study. Encourage students to choose from a number of enrichment programs that take place both during and after school.   Increase the number of non- graded assignments. Grades often get in the way of curiosity. Periodically develop interesting assignments both for the classroom and as homework that promote curiosity and interest in learning but don’t count as part of grades. Presenting interesting puzzles, 20 questions games, and similar activities to students often support curiosity and interest in problem solving.   Give students the opportunity to choose interest-based projects. Offer students at all levels the opportunity to do research projects that are based on their own interests, whether or not they are related to the curriculum. Help them develop their own questions, conduct research on the topic, and do a presentation of their own choosing for other students.   Use multiple strategies that support curiosity and creativity. Give students the opportunity to brainstorm and then select their own essential questions that they wish to explore at the beginning of a unit; Use Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions[iii] to encourage students to ask and respond to powerful questions; Use creative problem solving strategies[iv] that start with a “messy” situation; define challenges, brainstorm alternatives, develop solutions, and create implementation plans; Offer hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based science programs[v] that promote active learning around science questions and challenges; Use problem- based learning strategies[vi]; Find out about and use the design thinking model[vii] that promotes the creation of innovative solutions to authentic, “real life” problems.   ---------------------------   These six recommendations are just a few of those that might be used to foster curiosity. One hopes that these six will serve as a catalyst for brainstorming more strategies, and encourage teachers and schools to think about how, and to implement ways, to stimulate greater curiosity among students.   Given this important goal of building curiosity, every teacher can develop their own ways to increase student questions and foster curiosity, important goals both for the country and for individual students. The likely side effects of increased curiosity are a greater interest in school and learning and a more creative and innovative society.                                                                                                  ENDNOTES [i] For Understanding by Design  resources  at ASCD, go to: http://www.ascd.org/research-a-topic/understanding-by-design-resources.aspx [ii] See Buck Institute, Project Based Learning model, http://www.bie.org [iii] Two sources for Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions are Touchstones and the Jr Great Books program: http://www.touchstones.org/ http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior.html [iv] For information about Creative Problem Solving strategies, go to: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/our-process/what-is-cps [v] For one such program, go to: http://www.fossweb.com/ [vi] For more information about problem based learning, go to: http://pbln.imsa.edu/model/intro/ [vii] More about the design thinking model can be found at: http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/   About the Author Elliott Seif is a long time teacher, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in exploring additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:55:50 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Six-ways-to-build-greater-curiosity-in-students/blog/6396005/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-10-12T18:55:50Z ASCD EDge Of the many “habits of mind” that students need to develop in a 21st century world, one of the least developed is curiosity. Curiosity becomes an important attribute in a 21st century America where uncertainty and rapid change is the rule, knowledge explosion and search engines provide us with a vast array of knowledge instantly, and invention, innovation, and creativity are rewarded and encouraged in all fields of endeavor.   Unfortunately, experts and lay people often comment on the curiosity differences between young children and those that have attended school for a while. Pre-school children tend to be curious about everything, ask many questions, are willing to try new things, and in general are eager learners. However, as children age in school, they tend to become less and less curious. How does that happen? Aging may have something to do with it, but one can argue that the types of school activities foisted on children deadens the urge to be curious – that sitting in seats, raising hands, completing worksheets, being lectured at, and having less time to ask and answer questions all deaden curiosity.   So how can schools support a habit of mind that many say is extremely critical to the success of the United States in the future? Here are six suggestions for improving curiosity:   Focus learning around essential, driving questions. “If the textbook has the answers, then what were the questions?”  The development of essential questions as the starting points for units, and the development of driving questions as the starting points for projects, are both good ways to encourage students to see questions as the starting points for learning. Using Understanding by Design[i] and Project Based Learning[ii] curriculum design models encourages this approach.   Use wait time and pauses to ask for questions from students. When teachers use strategies such as lectures and recitations, they should pause often and give students many opportunities to ask clarifying questions, make comments, or give opinions. At the end of a class period, give students time to write down three questions that come to mind as a result of the period’s lesson, and start the next class session by examining those questions.   Give students more choices and options. Let students choose a book to read from among a number of options. Periodically give students the opportunity to read any book of their choosing. Develop an elective program with interesting options chosen by the students at the middle and high school level. Encourage students to search for, find, and bring to class interesting and relevant sources and resources related to a topic under study. Encourage students to choose from a number of enrichment programs that take place both during and after school.   Increase the number of non- graded assignments. Grades often get in the way of curiosity. Periodically develop interesting assignments both for the classroom and as homework that promote curiosity and interest in learning but don’t count as part of grades. Presenting interesting puzzles, 20 questions games, and similar activities to students often support curiosity and interest in problem solving.   Give students the opportunity to choose interest-based projects. Offer students at all levels the opportunity to do research projects that are based on their own interests, whether or not they are related to the curriculum. Help them develop their own questions, conduct research on the topic, and do a presentation of their own choosing for other students.   Use multiple strategies that support curiosity and creativity. Give students the opportunity to brainstorm and then select their own essential questions that they wish to explore at the beginning of a unit; Use Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions[iii] to encourage students to ask and respond to powerful questions; Use creative problem solving strategies[iv] that start with a “messy” situation; define challenges, brainstorm alternatives, develop solutions, and create implementation plans; Offer hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based science programs[v] that promote active learning around science questions and challenges; Use problem- based learning strategies[vi]; Find out about and use the design thinking model[vii] that promotes the creation of innovative solutions to authentic, “real life” problems.   ---------------------------   These six recommendations are just a few of those that might be used to foster curiosity. One hopes that these six will serve as a catalyst for brainstorming more strategies, and encourage teachers and schools to think about how, and to implement ways, to stimulate greater curiosity among students.   Given this important goal of building curiosity, every teacher can develop their own ways to increase student questions and foster curiosity, important goals both for the country and for individual students. The likely side effects of increased curiosity are a greater interest in school and learning and a more creative and innovative society.                                                                                                  ENDNOTES [i] For Understanding by Design  resources  at ASCD, go to: http://www.ascd.org/research-a-topic/understanding-by-design-resources.aspx [ii] See Buck Institute, Project Based Learning model, http://www.bie.org [iii] Two sources for Socratic questioning and interpretive discussions are Touchstones and the Jr Great Books program: http://www.touchstones.org/ http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior.html [iv] For information about Creative Problem Solving strategies, go to: http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/our-process/what-is-cps [v] For one such program, go to: http://www.fossweb.com/ [vi] For more information about problem based learning, go to: http://pbln.imsa.edu/model/intro/ [vii] More about the design thinking model can be found at: http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/   About the Author Elliott Seif is a long time teacher, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in exploring additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   nonadult false Six ways to build greater curiosity in students text blog 2280 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6396005 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Use-portfolios-the-best-tool-for-assessing-21st-century-skills/blog/6386185/127586.html Introduction: Is good art measured by multiple choice tests?  “Art Portfolios are a powerful tool for artists to showcase and improve their work.  It’s hard to imagine what we would do without them.”   Imagine if, in art school, students took multiple choice-short answer tests to assess their knowledge of art instead of having student artwork showcased through portfolios and critiquing the actual work of artists in order to improve their work. Would that make sense? Of course not. Artists would leave schools like that in droves, because traditional tests would not be helpful in assessing the quality of their artwork or in helping artists become better at their craft.   In the same way, much if not most of what we are trying to accomplish with students today cannot be assessed by traditional tests. Do traditional tests help us evaluate how well students are able to write coherent papers?  Do research? Complete projects? Think creatively?   This commentary argues that, in today’s world, there is a critical need to shift from a “traditional” test model of measuring student success to a portfolio model built primarily around real student work, designed to assess whether students have developed competence in learning and using critical 21st century skills.   Why we need an alternative assessment model The most commonly used assessment tool in the United States today is the “traditional test” (TT), consisting primarily of multiple choice, short answer and short essay questions. TT type questions are still the core components of State and National standardized tests, which are often used as a high stakes requirement for high school graduation or admission into college. Results on these tests are the scores that get published in the newspaper, and are often the only measures used by the public to judge student proficiency and school success. Middle and high school teachers primarily use traditional tests as the main method for determining their students’ classroom success.   Unfortunately, TT’s have limited value in assessing important knowledge and skills necessary for 21st century living. They are good for determining whether students can recognize facts and identify information correctly, but not whether they can define and describe key concepts and explain them, organize their thoughts coherently, and build connections and relationships among diverse sets of information and ideas. They are good for measuring whether students can find information from a text and make low-level inferences, but not whether they can read a long story or informational text and synthesize information and ideas on their own. They can measure whether students are able to write short essays, but not whether they can put together persuasive arguments, write an analysis of historical events, write long and interesting narratives, or write long, coherent essays and “term” papers. They can measure a student’s ability to apply learning to new situations, but with significant limitations. They are generally easy to grade, but the limitations of computerized grading systems prevent complex analyses of student work.   How and what we assess determines what is the primary focus of our teaching! An emphasis on TT’s guarantees that our primary educational focus will be on remembering and recognizing key facts and information, on developing low-level inference skills, and on producing simple written products. But a major problem with the use of TT’s is that many of the key, critical “learning to learn” skills and personal development characteristics necessary for living in a 21st century world often get short shrift. They just are not considered important enough to be measure by assessments that “count”.   Assessing for lifelong learning  In this changing, confusing, complex world, with information overload and a rapidly changing job market, all students need the critical skills necessary for continuing their learning after high school. More students will be heading off to some form of a college education in order to take their place in the job market of the future. Most good jobs will require (and even today require) continuous learning and retraining. Citizenship in this politically charged, complex democratic society will more and more require a conceptual understanding of global as well as national issues, and the ability to continually find, evaluate, and thoughtfully analyze information about current events.   In other words, high school graduation should be thought of as the beginning of learning, not the end. When students graduate from high school, they should be prepared for lifelong learning by demonstrating their competence in using five lifelong learning skill sets:        Ask good questions, define problems and challenges (curiosity);      Search for and process information and data (informationand data literacy);      Think logically and creatively (thoughtfulness),      Draw conclusions and apply learning to new situations (application),      Communicate effectively (communication). In addition, given the complexity of the 21st century world and the bewildering array of options and choices confronting each individual, students need to begin to discover their individual talents, strengths, interests, and goals.   TT’s don’t adequately assess lifelong learning skills   Unfortunately, these five key skill goals, along with the self-development goal described above, can’t be adequately measured by TT’s.  For example, the ability to ask good questions is best assessed by observing how well students can develop “driving” questions for projects[i], brainstorm and choose essential questions at the beginning of a unit, or ask good questions during a class discussion or recitation that help to clarify a concept or extend understanding.   Thorough assessment of information and data literacy skills is often determined by observing students as they search for information and data, asking students to compare and contrast multiple types of information in a venn diagram, having them explain why some resources are better than others, and by asking them to summarize and synthesize multiple sources of information and data. Extensive research projects are a good way to both teach and assess information and data literacy skills.   “Thoughtfulness” is often measured by how well students can perform  in pro and con discussions and debates, participate in interpretative discussions, write persuasive arguments in favor of a point of view, develop “academic” papers on a topic, and demonstrate their ability to use creative thinking strategies to solve problems.   Performance and complex problem solving tasks, project products and presentations, self-reflections that provide students with the opportunity to summarize learning in their own words, and written essays are the best assessments of a student’s ability to draw conclusions and apply learning.   Assessing writing and more writing, speaking and more speaking, and non-verbal communication opportunities are the best ways to measure effective communication. Discussion, oral presentation, and writing rubrics are the most common methods used to assess communication skills.   And, finally, assessing whether students are developing their own interests, talents, strengths, and goals requires continual self-reflection on the part of the student, observations of individual progress, and the creation of individualized goals and plans for the future. Projects and activities that demonstrate the development of student talents and strengths are a critical part of this learning, and some schools enable students to develop interests through the use of “passion projects” and/or senior projects in which students develop research projects, field experiences, and presentations around major topics of interest.    Building a portfolio assessment system    In order to demonstrate progress and success in achieving the lifelong learning skills cited above, every teacher, every school, should create student portfolios that include multiple types of assessments –discussion observations, many types of written work, performance tasks, oral presentations, self-reflections, and even TT’s. Self-reflections also help to determine whether each student is learning about his or her passions, interests, talents, and goals.    Students also need periodic opportunities to share portfolios with adults from outside the school who listen to their explanations and analyses, ask clarifying questions, and help them to better understand their progress, goals and future directions.   Beginning the process Some of you may already be using portfolios extensively. But odds are that most of you are using portfolios only occasionally or not at all.   If you’re not using multiple assessment portfolios, it’s easier to get started than you think. If you are, consider how you can enhance and expand their use. What student writing are you already collecting from students that might be placed in portfolios? What other forms of student work? Are there results of projects that might be included? Written reports? How might you better observe your students during discussions and write a quick summary of student participation? Do your students place frequent self-reflections on both learning and personal reflections Do you already have folders of student work that might become collections that illustrate growth over time? That showcase the best of every student’s work? How can you use the five skill sets and self-development framework as a way of building significant portfolio assessment collections?   Much of the work of both collecting and sorting portfolio work can be placed into the hands of students. Students can form the habit of placing their work into portfolios. At designated times, students can be asked to purge their portfolios and showcase only their best work. Periodic self-reflections can also be placed into the portfolios that indicate how students feel about the progress they have made and goals for the future. This way of handling portfolios also supports the development of self-management and self-reflection skills.    In today’s digital age, it also becomes easier and easier to find and create the appropriate tools that enable students to build customized portfolios K-12. A good multiple page scanner that costs about $400 is a beginning. Many websites are available to get you started[ii].   What’s critical is that, as an individual teacher or educational leader at a school or district, you organize your classroom, school or district to start or extend the use of portfolios as a way of assessing critical 21st century skills and personal development goals. It requires the will to do it, rather than any special skills.   If portfolios of student work can be collected by many teachers at the same grade level or teaching the same subjects, then teams of teachers together might spend some time together reviewing the work and agreeing on sample models of excellent, good and poor work. These models can be shared with students and also analyzed to determine the characteristics of work at each level. Such time is well spent and adds rigor to the process of collecting and improving student work!    Also, if you are a principal or superintendent, consider how you might collect and share portfolio assessment data and examples of student work at Board meetings and with the general public, to begin to wean the community away from solely using test scores as the instruments to best measure school and district success!   You may also be surprised at the results – many of your students might actually improve their standardized test scores because of their higher level of academic work, rigorous training, self-management, and critical skill development!    In conclusion… Portfolio collections of multiple types of assessments and self-reflections, not standardized, traditional measures of achievement, are the true determinants as to whether our students are ready for future challenges in a 21st century world. Once in place, they can be used to assure that our students are prepared with the critical knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary for living and learning in today’s and tomorrow’s world.   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org                                                                                           ENDNOTES [i] For further information about driving questions, examine the resources and materials found at the Buck Institute on project based learning: http://www.bie.org/ [ii] See for example: http://www.pgcps.org/~elc/portfolio.html         Introduction: Is good art measured by multiple choice tests?  “Art Portfolios are a powerful tool for artists to showcase and improve their work.  It’s hard to imagine what we would do without them.”   Imagine if, in art school, students took multiple choice-short answer tests to assess their knowledge of art instead of having student artwork showcased through portfolios and critiquing the actual work of artists in order to improve their work. Would that make sense? Of course not. Artists would leave schools like that in droves, because traditional tests would not be helpful in assessing the quality of their artwork or in helping artists become better at their craft.   In the same way, much if not most of what we are trying to accomplish with students today cannot be assessed by traditional tests. Do traditional tests help us evaluate how well students are able to write coherent papers?  Do research? Complete projects? Think creatively?   This commentary argues that, in today’s world, there is a critical need to shift from a “traditional” test model of measuring student success to a portfolio model built primarily around real student work, designed to assess whether students have developed competence in learning and using critical 21st century skills.   Why we need an alternative assessment model The most commonly used assessment tool in the United States today is the “traditional test” (TT), consisting primarily of multiple choice, short answer and short essay questions. TT type questions are still the core components of State and National standardized tests, which are often used as a high stakes requirement for high school graduation or admission into college. Results on these tests are the scores that get published in the newspaper, and are often the only measures used by the public to judge student proficiency and school success. Middle and high school teachers primarily use traditional tests as the main method for determining their students’ classroom success.   Unfortunately, TT’s have limited value in assessing important knowledge and skills necessary for 21st century living. They are good for determining whether students can recognize facts and identify information correctly, but not whether they can define and describe key concepts and explain them, organize their thoughts coherently, and build connections and relationships among diverse sets of information and ideas. They are good for measuring whether students can find information from a text and make low-level inferences, but not whether they can read a long story or informational text and synthesize information and ideas on their own. They can measure whether students are able to write short essays, but not whether they can put together persuasive arguments, write an analysis of historical events, write long and interesting narratives, or write long, coherent essays and “term” papers. They can measure a student’s ability to apply learning to new situations, but with significant limitations. They are generally easy to grade, but the limitations of computerized grading systems prevent complex analyses of student work.   How and what we assess determines what is the primary focus of our teaching! An emphasis on TT’s guarantees that our primary educational focus will be on remembering and recognizing key facts and information, on developing low-level inference skills, and on producing simple written products. But a major problem with the use of TT’s is that many of the key, critical “learning to learn” skills and personal development characteristics necessary for living in a 21st century world often get short shrift. They just are not considered important enough to be measure by assessments that “count”.   Assessing for lifelong learning  In this changing, confusing, complex world, with information overload and a rapidly changing job market, all students need the critical skills necessary for continuing their learning after high school. More students will be heading off to some form of a college education in order to take their place in the job market of the future. Most good jobs will require (and even today require) continuous learning and retraining. Citizenship in this politically charged, complex democratic society will more and more require a conceptual understanding of global as well as national issues, and the ability to continually find, evaluate, and thoughtfully analyze information about current events.   In other words, high school graduation should be thought of as the beginning of learning, not the end. When students graduate from high school, they should be prepared for lifelong learning by demonstrating their competence in using five lifelong learning skill sets:        Ask good questions, define problems and challenges (curiosity);      Search for and process information and data (informationand data literacy);      Think logically and creatively (thoughtfulness),      Draw conclusions and apply learning to new situations (application),      Communicate effectively (communication). In addition, given the complexity of the 21st century world and the bewildering array of options and choices confronting each individual, students need to begin to discover their individual talents, strengths, interests, and goals.   TT’s don’t adequately assess lifelong learning skills   Unfortunately, these five key skill goals, along with the self-development goal described above, can’t be adequately measured by TT’s.  For example, the ability to ask good questions is best assessed by observing how well students can develop “driving” questions for projects[i], brainstorm and choose essential questions at the beginning of a unit, or ask good questions during a class discussion or recitation that help to clarify a concept or extend understanding.   Thorough assessment of information and data literacy skills is often determined by observing students as they search for information and data, asking students to compare and contrast multiple types of information in a venn diagram, having them explain why some resources are better than others, and by asking them to summarize and synthesize multiple sources of information and data. Extensive research projects are a good way to both teach and assess information and data literacy skills.   “Thoughtfulness” is often measured by how well students can perform  in pro and con discussions and debates, participate in interpretative discussions, write persuasive arguments in favor of a point of view, develop “academic” papers on a topic, and demonstrate their ability to use creative thinking strategies to solve problems.   Performance and complex problem solving tasks, project products and presentations, self-reflections that provide students with the opportunity to summarize learning in their own words, and written essays are the best assessments of a student’s ability to draw conclusions and apply learning.   Assessing writing and more writing, speaking and more speaking, and non-verbal communication opportunities are the best ways to measure effective communication. Discussion, oral presentation, and writing rubrics are the most common methods used to assess communication skills.   And, finally, assessing whether students are developing their own interests, talents, strengths, and goals requires continual self-reflection on the part of the student, observations of individual progress, and the creation of individualized goals and plans for the future. Projects and activities that demonstrate the development of student talents and strengths are a critical part of this learning, and some schools enable students to develop interests through the use of “passion projects” and/or senior projects in which students develop research projects, field experiences, and presentations around major topics of interest.    Building a portfolio assessment system    In order to demonstrate progress and success in achieving the lifelong learning skills cited above, every teacher, every school, should create student portfolios that include multiple types of assessments –discussion observations, many types of written work, performance tasks, oral presentations, self-reflections, and even TT’s. Self-reflections also help to determine whether each student is learning about his or her passions, interests, talents, and goals.    Students also need periodic opportunities to share portfolios with adults from outside the school who listen to their explanations and analyses, ask clarifying questions, and help them to better understand their progress, goals and future directions.   Beginning the process Some of you may already be using portfolios extensively. But odds are that most of you are using portfolios only occasionally or not at all.   If you’re not using multiple assessment portfolios, it’s easier to get started than you think. If you are, consider how you can enhance and expand their use. What student writing are you already collecting from students that might be placed in portfolios? What other forms of student work? Are there results of projects that might be included? Written reports? How might you better observe your students during discussions and write a quick summary of student participation? Do your students place frequent self-reflections on both learning and personal reflections Do you already have folders of student work that might become collections that illustrate growth over time? That showcase the best of every student’s work? How can you use the five skill sets and self-development framework as a way of building significant portfolio assessment collections?   Much of the work of both collecting and sorting portfolio work can be placed into the hands of students. Students can form the habit of placing their work into portfolios. At designated times, students can be asked to purge their portfolios and showcase only their best work. Periodic self-reflections can also be placed into the portfolios that indicate how students feel about the progress they have made and goals for the future. This way of handling portfolios also supports the development of self-management and self-reflection skills.    In today’s digital age, it also becomes easier and easier to find and create the appropriate tools that enable students to build customized portfolios K-12. A good multiple page scanner that costs about $400 is a beginning. Many websites are available to get you started[ii].   What’s critical is that, as an individual teacher or educational leader at a school or district, you organize your classroom, school or district to start or extend the use of portfolios as a way of assessing critical 21st century skills and personal development goals. It requires the will to do it, rather than any special skills.   If portfolios of student work can be collected by many teachers at the same grade level or teaching the same subjects, then teams of teachers together might spend some time together reviewing the work and agreeing on sample models of excellent, good and poor work. These models can be shared with students and also analyzed to determine the characteristics of work at each level. Such time is well spent and adds rigor to the process of collecting and improving student work!    Also, if you are a principal or superintendent, consider how you might collect and share portfolio assessment data and examples of student work at Board meetings and with the general public, to begin to wean the community away from solely using test scores as the instruments to best measure school and district success!   You may also be surprised at the results – many of your students might actually improve their standardized test scores because of their higher level of academic work, rigorous training, self-management, and critical skill development!    In conclusion… Portfolio collections of multiple types of assessments and self-reflections, not standardized, traditional measures of achievement, are the true determinants as to whether our students are ready for future challenges in a 21st century world. Once in place, they can be used to assure that our students are prepared with the critical knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary for living and learning in today’s and tomorrow’s world.   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org                                                                                           ENDNOTES [i] For further information about driving questions, examine the resources and materials found at the Buck Institute on project based learning: http://www.bie.org/ [ii] See for example: http://www.pgcps.org/~elc/portfolio.html         Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:11:27 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Use-portfolios-the-best-tool-for-assessing-21st-century-skills/blog/6386185/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-10-07T20:11:27Z ASCD EDge Introduction: Is good art measured by multiple choice tests?  “Art Portfolios are a powerful tool for artists to showcase and improve their work.  It’s hard to imagine what we would do without them.”   Imagine if, in art school, students took multiple choice-short answer tests to assess their knowledge of art instead of having student artwork showcased through portfolios and critiquing the actual work of artists in order to improve their work. Would that make sense? Of course not. Artists would leave schools like that in droves, because traditional tests would not be helpful in assessing the quality of their artwork or in helping artists become better at their craft.   In the same way, much if not most of what we are trying to accomplish with students today cannot be assessed by traditional tests. Do traditional tests help us evaluate how well students are able to write coherent papers?  Do research? Complete projects? Think creatively?   This commentary argues that, in today’s world, there is a critical need to shift from a “traditional” test model of measuring student success to a portfolio model built primarily around real student work, designed to assess whether students have developed competence in learning and using critical 21st century skills.   Why we need an alternative assessment model The most commonly used assessment tool in the United States today is the “traditional test” (TT), consisting primarily of multiple choice, short answer and short essay questions. TT type questions are still the core components of State and National standardized tests, which are often used as a high stakes requirement for high school graduation or admission into college. Results on these tests are the scores that get published in the newspaper, and are often the only measures used by the public to judge student proficiency and school success. Middle and high school teachers primarily use traditional tests as the main method for determining their students’ classroom success.   Unfortunately, TT’s have limited value in assessing important knowledge and skills necessary for 21st century living. They are good for determining whether students can recognize facts and identify information correctly, but not whether they can define and describe key concepts and explain them, organize their thoughts coherently, and build connections and relationships among diverse sets of information and ideas. They are good for measuring whether students can find information from a text and make low-level inferences, but not whether they can read a long story or informational text and synthesize information and ideas on their own. They can measure whether students are able to write short essays, but not whether they can put together persuasive arguments, write an analysis of historical events, write long and interesting narratives, or write long, coherent essays and “term” papers. They can measure a student’s ability to apply learning to new situations, but with significant limitations. They are generally easy to grade, but the limitations of computerized grading systems prevent complex analyses of student work.   How and what we assess determines what is the primary focus of our teaching! An emphasis on TT’s guarantees that our primary educational focus will be on remembering and recognizing key facts and information, on developing low-level inference skills, and on producing simple written products. But a major problem with the use of TT’s is that many of the key, critical “learning to learn” skills and personal development characteristics necessary for living in a 21st century world often get short shrift. They just are not considered important enough to be measure by assessments that “count”.   Assessing for lifelong learning  In this changing, confusing, complex world, with information overload and a rapidly changing job market, all students need the critical skills necessary for continuing their learning after high school. More students will be heading off to some form of a college education in order to take their place in the job market of the future. Most good jobs will require (and even today require) continuous learning and retraining. Citizenship in this politically charged, complex democratic society will more and more require a conceptual understanding of global as well as national issues, and the ability to continually find, evaluate, and thoughtfully analyze information about current events.   In other words, high school graduation should be thought of as the beginning of learning, not the end. When students graduate from high school, they should be prepared for lifelong learning by demonstrating their competence in using five lifelong learning skill sets:        Ask good questions, define problems and challenges (curiosity);      Search for and process information and data (informationand data literacy);      Think logically and creatively (thoughtfulness),      Draw conclusions and apply learning to new situations (application),      Communicate effectively (communication). In addition, given the complexity of the 21st century world and the bewildering array of options and choices confronting each individual, students need to begin to discover their individual talents, strengths, interests, and goals.   TT’s don’t adequately assess lifelong learning skills   Unfortunately, these five key skill goals, along with the self-development goal described above, can’t be adequately measured by TT’s.  For example, the ability to ask good questions is best assessed by observing how well students can develop “driving” questions for projects[i], brainstorm and choose essential questions at the beginning of a unit, or ask good questions during a class discussion or recitation that help to clarify a concept or extend understanding.   Thorough assessment of information and data literacy skills is often determined by observing students as they search for information and data, asking students to compare and contrast multiple types of information in a venn diagram, having them explain why some resources are better than others, and by asking them to summarize and synthesize multiple sources of information and data. Extensive research projects are a good way to both teach and assess information and data literacy skills.   “Thoughtfulness” is often measured by how well students can perform  in pro and con discussions and debates, participate in interpretative discussions, write persuasive arguments in favor of a point of view, develop “academic” papers on a topic, and demonstrate their ability to use creative thinking strategies to solve problems.   Performance and complex problem solving tasks, project products and presentations, self-reflections that provide students with the opportunity to summarize learning in their own words, and written essays are the best assessments of a student’s ability to draw conclusions and apply learning.   Assessing writing and more writing, speaking and more speaking, and non-verbal communication opportunities are the best ways to measure effective communication. Discussion, oral presentation, and writing rubrics are the most common methods used to assess communication skills.   And, finally, assessing whether students are developing their own interests, talents, strengths, and goals requires continual self-reflection on the part of the student, observations of individual progress, and the creation of individualized goals and plans for the future. Projects and activities that demonstrate the development of student talents and strengths are a critical part of this learning, and some schools enable students to develop interests through the use of “passion projects” and/or senior projects in which students develop research projects, field experiences, and presentations around major topics of interest.    Building a portfolio assessment system    In order to demonstrate progress and success in achieving the lifelong learning skills cited above, every teacher, every school, should create student portfolios that include multiple types of assessments –discussion observations, many types of written work, performance tasks, oral presentations, self-reflections, and even TT’s. Self-reflections also help to determine whether each student is learning about his or her passions, interests, talents, and goals.    Students also need periodic opportunities to share portfolios with adults from outside the school who listen to their explanations and analyses, ask clarifying questions, and help them to better understand their progress, goals and future directions.   Beginning the process Some of you may already be using portfolios extensively. But odds are that most of you are using portfolios only occasionally or not at all.   If you’re not using multiple assessment portfolios, it’s easier to get started than you think. If you are, consider how you can enhance and expand their use. What student writing are you already collecting from students that might be placed in portfolios? What other forms of student work? Are there results of projects that might be included? Written reports? How might you better observe your students during discussions and write a quick summary of student participation? Do your students place frequent self-reflections on both learning and personal reflections Do you already have folders of student work that might become collections that illustrate growth over time? That showcase the best of every student’s work? How can you use the five skill sets and self-development framework as a way of building significant portfolio assessment collections?   Much of the work of both collecting and sorting portfolio work can be placed into the hands of students. Students can form the habit of placing their work into portfolios. At designated times, students can be asked to purge their portfolios and showcase only their best work. Periodic self-reflections can also be placed into the portfolios that indicate how students feel about the progress they have made and goals for the future. This way of handling portfolios also supports the development of self-management and self-reflection skills.    In today’s digital age, it also becomes easier and easier to find and create the appropriate tools that enable students to build customized portfolios K-12. A good multiple page scanner that costs about $400 is a beginning. Many websites are available to get you started[ii].   What’s critical is that, as an individual teacher or educational leader at a school or district, you organize your classroom, school or district to start or extend the use of portfolios as a way of assessing critical 21st century skills and personal development goals. It requires the will to do it, rather than any special skills.   If portfolios of student work can be collected by many teachers at the same grade level or teaching the same subjects, then teams of teachers together might spend some time together reviewing the work and agreeing on sample models of excellent, good and poor work. These models can be shared with students and also analyzed to determine the characteristics of work at each level. Such time is well spent and adds rigor to the process of collecting and improving student work!    Also, if you are a principal or superintendent, consider how you might collect and share portfolio assessment data and examples of student work at Board meetings and with the general public, to begin to wean the community away from solely using test scores as the instruments to best measure school and district success!   You may also be surprised at the results – many of your students might actually improve their standardized test scores because of their higher level of academic work, rigorous training, self-management, and critical skill development!    In conclusion… Portfolio collections of multiple types of assessments and self-reflections, not standardized, traditional measures of achievement, are the true determinants as to whether our students are ready for future challenges in a 21st century world. Once in place, they can be used to assure that our students are prepared with the critical knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary for living and learning in today’s and tomorrow’s world.   ---------------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org                                                                                           ENDNOTES [i] For further information about driving questions, examine the resources and materials found at the Buck Institute on project based learning: http://www.bie.org/ [ii] See for example: http://www.pgcps.org/~elc/portfolio.html         nonadult false Use portfolios -- the best tool for assessing 21st century skills text blog 937 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6386185 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Five-Powerful-Feedback-Principles-That-Improve-Student-Learning/blog/6378153/127586.html The September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership had some excellent articles about feedback for learning (the theme of the issue). One article that struck a special chord with me is a short two-page essay by Carol Ann Tomlinson (the same Carol Ann Tomlinson who is the differentiation guru!)[i]. Because of its location (towards the back of the issue) and size, you might have missed it!  Two aspects of this article are extremely powerful. One is how the author took her failure to improve student writing to heart and, as a result, developed a powerful set of student feedback and improvement principles and practices. The second important result is the development of a concept called “teacher learning moments” -- i.e. the ability of a teacher to take a negative teaching experience and use it as a catalyst to develop improved instructional approaches. Let’s look at these one at a time.  Improving student learning through feedback  In the article, Dr. Tomlinson (from now on called Dr. T) recalls a student in one of her English classes, Heather, who was a good writer. Dr. T. worked hard to provide her with helpful feedback and praise that would make her an even better writer, and thought she was really helping her to improve her writing. But, after Heather had graduated and gone on to college, Dr. T. met her mother in a local store and asked her whether Heather was doing writing in college that she enjoyed. In response, her mother said “Last week she (Heather) told me that for the first time in her life she was learning to become a better writer”.  This comment was “a punch in the stomach” to Dr. T., but she used this negative experience to try to figure out why Heather (and probably the other students in the class) didn’t feel that her writing had improved. Dr. T. realized that she had praised what Heather had written, but she “had no mechanism for helping her get better”.  Due to this insight, Dr. T. spent some time rethinking her teaching of writing. A few years later, in an “advanced seminar on education issues” college level course, she implemented the following five feedback principles to improve the writing abilities of her students:[ii]   Develop and share core target goals. The first step in improving learning is to develop a clear focus, a clear target for improvement, and to share that target with students. What is it that you really want your students to improve? What is your focus? Without a clear target, how can you know if you are helping your students improve? Unfortunately, many teachers often do not have a focused, targeted goal for improvement. And often, even when there is clarity, it is not shared with students. Thus, Dr. T. made it a point to explain to her college students that her target was to help them develop their power as writers and thinkers.  Clarify and share the key elements of excellence for the targeted goals, along with progressions for growth for each element. In order to “turn good writers into stellar ones – and adequate writers into good ones”, Dr. T. had to determine what poor, good and excellent writing look like. What are the characteristics of each? And how do you create a road map leading from poor to good and good to excellent writing? Dr. T. shared the key elements of writing excellence with students in a rubric format, along with a progression of growth for each criterion.  Give precise feedback and suggest specific ways for students to improve their work. Two key words here are “precise” and “specific”. Given the current level of student work, what precise feedback and specific suggestions for next steps will help students make improvements? The clarity of good writing elements and the development of a writing improvement process helped to transform her formerly vague and general feedback into useful, precise feedback and specific, helpful suggestions. Thus, Dr. T. gave her students precise and specific feedback on the results of their writing assignments.  Ask students to consider which components of your feedback are useful and which are not, and why, and ask them to develop plans for improvement. After receiving precise feedback, students wrote notes to Dr. T. indicating “which elements of the feedback seemed useful to them and which elements seemed off target”. They also wrote a brief plan for how they would use the helpful feedback to improve their writing. When there were misunderstandings in interpreting her feedback, Dr. T. met with the student briefly after class. This changed the improvement process from one that was being done to students to one that was being done with students! It also “customized” (differentiated) the learning process so that students developed their own unique plan and “owned” the result. And, finally, it gave her students a chance to learn how to analyze their own writing strengths and weaknesses, increasing the possibility of significant long-term results.  Don’t grade students through the improvement process!  Dr. T. realized that her early grading of writing got in the way of student improvement. As she puts it: “…many [students] were so focused on getting the right answer that actual learning was a sidebar”. So she decided not to grade any writing until near the end of the semester! The upshot was that, during the early part of the semester, the students developed a true learning community that helped them all improve their writing. ---------------------- After reflecting on Dr. T’s principles for improving student learning, I realized how often, as a social studies middle and high school teacher, I violated and ignored these principles and practices. Sometimes I taught without having a clear, focused, targeted improvement goal, thereby making it virtually impossible for my students to improve their learning. Sometimes I was clear about my improvement goals, but spent little time clarifying the elements of excellence and providing precise feedback. Only rarely was I clear about a targeted improvement goal (such as helping my students categorize and create generalizations from historical knowledge), and then shared the elements of excellence, provided precise feedback, and visibly improved my students’ learning.  I also realized that these five principles, taken together, create a powerful process that all teachers can use to improve student learning for many different learning targets – for example, research skills, science investigation, long term projects, problem solving skills, critical or creative thinking, information literacy, reading for understanding, and other major goals teachers may want to work on with their students. The five principles can be adapted to all grade levels and all subjects.  Teacher Learning Moments  While a major result of Dr. T.’s analysis of her teaching is the five principles of feedback, another important insight she also offers us is her basic attitude towards failure and improvement. We know that all teachers make mistakes, have problems with classroom teaching and individual students, and need support and help. But one major difference among teachers is how they deal with these challenges. Instead of using mistakes, errors, and failures to improve teaching, too many hide instructional problems behind the closed door of the classroom. Many teachers are ashamed of their weaknesses. Some schools and districts understand that evaluations create opportunities for feedback, improvement, and new learning, but, in many cases, teaching problems are equated with failure, and the typical teacher evaluation process often deals with problems and mistakes through a negative judgment lens, rather than treating them as learning moments. This ultimately reinforces the desire to hide mistakes, failures, and problems, so that little or no progress is made in rectifying the situation!  As a profession, we need to take Dr. T.’s personal attitude towards improving her teaching to heart. Simply put, teaching problems, failures, and mistakes should be continually used to improve and refine teaching! In fact, the five feedback principles cited above can also be used to improve teaching experiences. Let’s use “teacher learning moments”, garnered through teacher self-evaluations and teacher observations, to set teacher growth targets, clarify what excellence and progress means, observe and give specific, precise feedback, and ask teachers to evaluate feedback and develop plans for change. Let’s develop non-threatening, non-judgmental environments so that teachers can work on improving their craft in a comfortable environment. This too is an important lesson we can learn from Dr. T.’s experience.  ------------------  Learning occurs in many ways, and we can’t, nor should we, always target the exact learning that will occur with our students. But one aspect of our teaching responsibility is to be clear about those things that we think are important for our students to learn and improve. Once we clarify core learning targets, how do we insure that our students improve their learning in these areas? The principles and practices described by Dr. T. provide us with an explicit process for improving targeted student learning. And they are also invaluable in helping teachers grow and become more competent over time. These insights make me wish that I were back in the classroom again, so I could use these principles to target student growth in key areas and analyze my own teacher learning moments so as to dramatically improve my own teaching!   [i] For more details and greater insight into both improvement principles and teacher learning moments, read Carol Ann Tomlinson’s short but powerful article in the September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership, What Heather Taught Me, pp. 88-89. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/What-Heather-Taught-Me.aspx [ii] These five principles have been somewhat interpreted and adapted by the blog author, but the author has attempted to remain true to the essential features of the five principles developed by Dr. T.    Some Additional Resources on This Topic Colvin, Geoff (2008). Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. New York: Penguin Group. Especially the chapters on deliberate practice and their application.  Paul Tough (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers. Especially Chapter 3, How to Think.  ----------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   The September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership had some excellent articles about feedback for learning (the theme of the issue). One article that struck a special chord with me is a short two-page essay by Carol Ann Tomlinson (the same Carol Ann Tomlinson who is the differentiation guru!)[i]. Because of its location (towards the back of the issue) and size, you might have missed it!  Two aspects of this article are extremely powerful. One is how the author took her failure to improve student writing to heart and, as a result, developed a powerful set of student feedback and improvement principles and practices. The second important result is the development of a concept called “teacher learning moments” -- i.e. the ability of a teacher to take a negative teaching experience and use it as a catalyst to develop improved instructional approaches. Let’s look at these one at a time.  Improving student learning through feedback  In the article, Dr. Tomlinson (from now on called Dr. T) recalls a student in one of her English classes, Heather, who was a good writer. Dr. T. worked hard to provide her with helpful feedback and praise that would make her an even better writer, and thought she was really helping her to improve her writing. But, after Heather had graduated and gone on to college, Dr. T. met her mother in a local store and asked her whether Heather was doing writing in college that she enjoyed. In response, her mother said “Last week she (Heather) told me that for the first time in her life she was learning to become a better writer”.  This comment was “a punch in the stomach” to Dr. T., but she used this negative experience to try to figure out why Heather (and probably the other students in the class) didn’t feel that her writing had improved. Dr. T. realized that she had praised what Heather had written, but she “had no mechanism for helping her get better”.  Due to this insight, Dr. T. spent some time rethinking her teaching of writing. A few years later, in an “advanced seminar on education issues” college level course, she implemented the following five feedback principles to improve the writing abilities of her students:[ii]   Develop and share core target goals. The first step in improving learning is to develop a clear focus, a clear target for improvement, and to share that target with students. What is it that you really want your students to improve? What is your focus? Without a clear target, how can you know if you are helping your students improve? Unfortunately, many teachers often do not have a focused, targeted goal for improvement. And often, even when there is clarity, it is not shared with students. Thus, Dr. T. made it a point to explain to her college students that her target was to help them develop their power as writers and thinkers.  Clarify and share the key elements of excellence for the targeted goals, along with progressions for growth for each element. In order to “turn good writers into stellar ones – and adequate writers into good ones”, Dr. T. had to determine what poor, good and excellent writing look like. What are the characteristics of each? And how do you create a road map leading from poor to good and good to excellent writing? Dr. T. shared the key elements of writing excellence with students in a rubric format, along with a progression of growth for each criterion.  Give precise feedback and suggest specific ways for students to improve their work. Two key words here are “precise” and “specific”. Given the current level of student work, what precise feedback and specific suggestions for next steps will help students make improvements? The clarity of good writing elements and the development of a writing improvement process helped to transform her formerly vague and general feedback into useful, precise feedback and specific, helpful suggestions. Thus, Dr. T. gave her students precise and specific feedback on the results of their writing assignments.  Ask students to consider which components of your feedback are useful and which are not, and why, and ask them to develop plans for improvement. After receiving precise feedback, students wrote notes to Dr. T. indicating “which elements of the feedback seemed useful to them and which elements seemed off target”. They also wrote a brief plan for how they would use the helpful feedback to improve their writing. When there were misunderstandings in interpreting her feedback, Dr. T. met with the student briefly after class. This changed the improvement process from one that was being done to students to one that was being done with students! It also “customized” (differentiated) the learning process so that students developed their own unique plan and “owned” the result. And, finally, it gave her students a chance to learn how to analyze their own writing strengths and weaknesses, increasing the possibility of significant long-term results.  Don’t grade students through the improvement process!  Dr. T. realized that her early grading of writing got in the way of student improvement. As she puts it: “…many [students] were so focused on getting the right answer that actual learning was a sidebar”. So she decided not to grade any writing until near the end of the semester! The upshot was that, during the early part of the semester, the students developed a true learning community that helped them all improve their writing. ---------------------- After reflecting on Dr. T’s principles for improving student learning, I realized how often, as a social studies middle and high school teacher, I violated and ignored these principles and practices. Sometimes I taught without having a clear, focused, targeted improvement goal, thereby making it virtually impossible for my students to improve their learning. Sometimes I was clear about my improvement goals, but spent little time clarifying the elements of excellence and providing precise feedback. Only rarely was I clear about a targeted improvement goal (such as helping my students categorize and create generalizations from historical knowledge), and then shared the elements of excellence, provided precise feedback, and visibly improved my students’ learning.  I also realized that these five principles, taken together, create a powerful process that all teachers can use to improve student learning for many different learning targets – for example, research skills, science investigation, long term projects, problem solving skills, critical or creative thinking, information literacy, reading for understanding, and other major goals teachers may want to work on with their students. The five principles can be adapted to all grade levels and all subjects.  Teacher Learning Moments  While a major result of Dr. T.’s analysis of her teaching is the five principles of feedback, another important insight she also offers us is her basic attitude towards failure and improvement. We know that all teachers make mistakes, have problems with classroom teaching and individual students, and need support and help. But one major difference among teachers is how they deal with these challenges. Instead of using mistakes, errors, and failures to improve teaching, too many hide instructional problems behind the closed door of the classroom. Many teachers are ashamed of their weaknesses. Some schools and districts understand that evaluations create opportunities for feedback, improvement, and new learning, but, in many cases, teaching problems are equated with failure, and the typical teacher evaluation process often deals with problems and mistakes through a negative judgment lens, rather than treating them as learning moments. This ultimately reinforces the desire to hide mistakes, failures, and problems, so that little or no progress is made in rectifying the situation!  As a profession, we need to take Dr. T.’s personal attitude towards improving her teaching to heart. Simply put, teaching problems, failures, and mistakes should be continually used to improve and refine teaching! In fact, the five feedback principles cited above can also be used to improve teaching experiences. Let’s use “teacher learning moments”, garnered through teacher self-evaluations and teacher observations, to set teacher growth targets, clarify what excellence and progress means, observe and give specific, precise feedback, and ask teachers to evaluate feedback and develop plans for change. Let’s develop non-threatening, non-judgmental environments so that teachers can work on improving their craft in a comfortable environment. This too is an important lesson we can learn from Dr. T.’s experience.  ------------------  Learning occurs in many ways, and we can’t, nor should we, always target the exact learning that will occur with our students. But one aspect of our teaching responsibility is to be clear about those things that we think are important for our students to learn and improve. Once we clarify core learning targets, how do we insure that our students improve their learning in these areas? The principles and practices described by Dr. T. provide us with an explicit process for improving targeted student learning. And they are also invaluable in helping teachers grow and become more competent over time. These insights make me wish that I were back in the classroom again, so I could use these principles to target student growth in key areas and analyze my own teacher learning moments so as to dramatically improve my own teaching!   [i] For more details and greater insight into both improvement principles and teacher learning moments, read Carol Ann Tomlinson’s short but powerful article in the September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership, What Heather Taught Me, pp. 88-89. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/What-Heather-Taught-Me.aspx [ii] These five principles have been somewhat interpreted and adapted by the blog author, but the author has attempted to remain true to the essential features of the five principles developed by Dr. T.    Some Additional Resources on This Topic Colvin, Geoff (2008). Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. New York: Penguin Group. Especially the chapters on deliberate practice and their application.  Paul Tough (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers. Especially Chapter 3, How to Think.  ----------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:40:47 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Five-Powerful-Feedback-Principles-That-Improve-Student-Learning/blog/6378153/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-10-01T16:40:47Z ASCD EDge The September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership had some excellent articles about feedback for learning (the theme of the issue). One article that struck a special chord with me is a short two-page essay by Carol Ann Tomlinson (the same Carol Ann Tomlinson who is the differentiation guru!)[i]. Because of its location (towards the back of the issue) and size, you might have missed it!  Two aspects of this article are extremely powerful. One is how the author took her failure to improve student writing to heart and, as a result, developed a powerful set of student feedback and improvement principles and practices. The second important result is the development of a concept called “teacher learning moments” -- i.e. the ability of a teacher to take a negative teaching experience and use it as a catalyst to develop improved instructional approaches. Let’s look at these one at a time.  Improving student learning through feedback  In the article, Dr. Tomlinson (from now on called Dr. T) recalls a student in one of her English classes, Heather, who was a good writer. Dr. T. worked hard to provide her with helpful feedback and praise that would make her an even better writer, and thought she was really helping her to improve her writing. But, after Heather had graduated and gone on to college, Dr. T. met her mother in a local store and asked her whether Heather was doing writing in college that she enjoyed. In response, her mother said “Last week she (Heather) told me that for the first time in her life she was learning to become a better writer”.  This comment was “a punch in the stomach” to Dr. T., but she used this negative experience to try to figure out why Heather (and probably the other students in the class) didn’t feel that her writing had improved. Dr. T. realized that she had praised what Heather had written, but she “had no mechanism for helping her get better”.  Due to this insight, Dr. T. spent some time rethinking her teaching of writing. A few years later, in an “advanced seminar on education issues” college level course, she implemented the following five feedback principles to improve the writing abilities of her students:[ii]   Develop and share core target goals. The first step in improving learning is to develop a clear focus, a clear target for improvement, and to share that target with students. What is it that you really want your students to improve? What is your focus? Without a clear target, how can you know if you are helping your students improve? Unfortunately, many teachers often do not have a focused, targeted goal for improvement. And often, even when there is clarity, it is not shared with students. Thus, Dr. T. made it a point to explain to her college students that her target was to help them develop their power as writers and thinkers.  Clarify and share the key elements of excellence for the targeted goals, along with progressions for growth for each element. In order to “turn good writers into stellar ones – and adequate writers into good ones”, Dr. T. had to determine what poor, good and excellent writing look like. What are the characteristics of each? And how do you create a road map leading from poor to good and good to excellent writing? Dr. T. shared the key elements of writing excellence with students in a rubric format, along with a progression of growth for each criterion.  Give precise feedback and suggest specific ways for students to improve their work. Two key words here are “precise” and “specific”. Given the current level of student work, what precise feedback and specific suggestions for next steps will help students make improvements? The clarity of good writing elements and the development of a writing improvement process helped to transform her formerly vague and general feedback into useful, precise feedback and specific, helpful suggestions. Thus, Dr. T. gave her students precise and specific feedback on the results of their writing assignments.  Ask students to consider which components of your feedback are useful and which are not, and why, and ask them to develop plans for improvement. After receiving precise feedback, students wrote notes to Dr. T. indicating “which elements of the feedback seemed useful to them and which elements seemed off target”. They also wrote a brief plan for how they would use the helpful feedback to improve their writing. When there were misunderstandings in interpreting her feedback, Dr. T. met with the student briefly after class. This changed the improvement process from one that was being done to students to one that was being done with students! It also “customized” (differentiated) the learning process so that students developed their own unique plan and “owned” the result. And, finally, it gave her students a chance to learn how to analyze their own writing strengths and weaknesses, increasing the possibility of significant long-term results.  Don’t grade students through the improvement process!  Dr. T. realized that her early grading of writing got in the way of student improvement. As she puts it: “…many [students] were so focused on getting the right answer that actual learning was a sidebar”. So she decided not to grade any writing until near the end of the semester! The upshot was that, during the early part of the semester, the students developed a true learning community that helped them all improve their writing. ---------------------- After reflecting on Dr. T’s principles for improving student learning, I realized how often, as a social studies middle and high school teacher, I violated and ignored these principles and practices. Sometimes I taught without having a clear, focused, targeted improvement goal, thereby making it virtually impossible for my students to improve their learning. Sometimes I was clear about my improvement goals, but spent little time clarifying the elements of excellence and providing precise feedback. Only rarely was I clear about a targeted improvement goal (such as helping my students categorize and create generalizations from historical knowledge), and then shared the elements of excellence, provided precise feedback, and visibly improved my students’ learning.  I also realized that these five principles, taken together, create a powerful process that all teachers can use to improve student learning for many different learning targets – for example, research skills, science investigation, long term projects, problem solving skills, critical or creative thinking, information literacy, reading for understanding, and other major goals teachers may want to work on with their students. The five principles can be adapted to all grade levels and all subjects.  Teacher Learning Moments  While a major result of Dr. T.’s analysis of her teaching is the five principles of feedback, another important insight she also offers us is her basic attitude towards failure and improvement. We know that all teachers make mistakes, have problems with classroom teaching and individual students, and need support and help. But one major difference among teachers is how they deal with these challenges. Instead of using mistakes, errors, and failures to improve teaching, too many hide instructional problems behind the closed door of the classroom. Many teachers are ashamed of their weaknesses. Some schools and districts understand that evaluations create opportunities for feedback, improvement, and new learning, but, in many cases, teaching problems are equated with failure, and the typical teacher evaluation process often deals with problems and mistakes through a negative judgment lens, rather than treating them as learning moments. This ultimately reinforces the desire to hide mistakes, failures, and problems, so that little or no progress is made in rectifying the situation!  As a profession, we need to take Dr. T.’s personal attitude towards improving her teaching to heart. Simply put, teaching problems, failures, and mistakes should be continually used to improve and refine teaching! In fact, the five feedback principles cited above can also be used to improve teaching experiences. Let’s use “teacher learning moments”, garnered through teacher self-evaluations and teacher observations, to set teacher growth targets, clarify what excellence and progress means, observe and give specific, precise feedback, and ask teachers to evaluate feedback and develop plans for change. Let’s develop non-threatening, non-judgmental environments so that teachers can work on improving their craft in a comfortable environment. This too is an important lesson we can learn from Dr. T.’s experience.  ------------------  Learning occurs in many ways, and we can’t, nor should we, always target the exact learning that will occur with our students. But one aspect of our teaching responsibility is to be clear about those things that we think are important for our students to learn and improve. Once we clarify core learning targets, how do we insure that our students improve their learning in these areas? The principles and practices described by Dr. T. provide us with an explicit process for improving targeted student learning. And they are also invaluable in helping teachers grow and become more competent over time. These insights make me wish that I were back in the classroom again, so I could use these principles to target student growth in key areas and analyze my own teacher learning moments so as to dramatically improve my own teaching!   [i] For more details and greater insight into both improvement principles and teacher learning moments, read Carol Ann Tomlinson’s short but powerful article in the September, 2012 issue of Educational Leadership, What Heather Taught Me, pp. 88-89. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/What-Heather-Taught-Me.aspx [ii] These five principles have been somewhat interpreted and adapted by the blog author, but the author has attempted to remain true to the essential features of the five principles developed by Dr. T.    Some Additional Resources on This Topic Colvin, Geoff (2008). Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. New York: Penguin Group. Especially the chapters on deliberate practice and their application.  Paul Tough (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers. Especially Chapter 3, How to Think.  ----------------------  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, former Professor of Education at Temple University, and former Director, Curriculum/Instruction Services for the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. If you are interested in examining additional ways to improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   development, feedback, improving, instruction, learning, professional, student nonadult false Five Powerful Feedback Principles That Improve Student Learning text blog development,feedback,improving,instruction,learning,professional,student 2367 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6378153 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Bridging-the-Opportunity-Gap-Improving-Early-Childhood-and-Primary-Grade-Education/blog/6301221/127586.html Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1940’s and 50’s, I came from a home where both my parents had a limited education (some high school). Neither were readers. We did not have the current torrent of technologies to distract us (television didn’t come to our family until the 1950’s), so books, toys, games, sports, and some radio were what we primarily used for entertainment and leisure time. I remember that I read some books over and over again at a very early age, and reading became a strong habit in my early years. The local public library became a second home, and books became an essential feature of my young life.   As I observe and spend time with children growing up today who do well in school, I notice that they also are generally immersed in books and educational activities of all kinds. Their parents spend a lot of time reading to them, talking with them, answering their questions, and generally surrounding them with books and literature.  Some love to do artwork. They go to museums and the zoo on a regular basis. Some have had significant experiences with the theater, going to several children’s plays a year. Television and other diversions are limited and monitored by parents. As these children enter school, they generally have a large vocabulary, have traveled and visited many local, regional, and, for some, other countries, tend to be curious, and like to read on their own. Some of my “surrogate grandchildren”, whom my wife and I sit for occasionally, are now eight and thirteen, and they all are read to and/or silently read in bed before they go to sleep.   These observations, as well as many studies by experts, lead me to believe that, if we are to bridge the “opportunity gap” and foster a society that truly supports equal opportunity, children who do not have an upbringing such as the one described above need strong educational experiences at a very early age. An essential feature of early childhood and elementary classrooms for these children is what I call “content and skills immersion”. Play by itself at this young age is important, but so is play AND learning through educational games and content area experiences in areas such as social studies, science, the arts, and mathematics. Unfortunately, the current early childhood and primary grade emphasis on reading and math skills often shortchanges the richness of learning through the content areas and immersion into scientific questions/investigation, inquiry into history and geography, and exploration with and involvement in the arts. Libraries of books from all subjects, not just fiction, need to permeate early childhood and elementary classrooms. Children often need to be able to interact and engage with their environment through asking and answering questions, meaningful field trips, “research” and inquiry activities, discussions, learning new vocabulary, classifying, conceptualizing and analyzing, drawing conclusions, and communicating orally, through visual means, and through writing dictation and writing on their own.   For example, young children can plant seeds and grow and observe plants while learning science vocabulary. In the visual arts, they can observe, discuss, and analyze artworks of famous artists, learn vocabulary such as impressionism and abstract art, and create art in the style of these artists. Children, with their teachers, can read and discuss books for their age group about historical figures and the times in which they lived. Children should have a quiet, sustained time to select and read many different types of books on their own (even if they just look at the pictures). They need to begin to conduct “research” by asking questions, finding books and other resources about a topic of interest with the help of their teachers and others in the school, having these books read to them (or figure them out on their own), discussing the books with an adult, asking questions when they don’t understand something, and dictating or writing summaries and stories about what they are learning. They can take field trips into the local neighborhood – to stores, historical sites, churches, and the like. They can even begin to make presentations to other children in order to share what they have learned!   Content and skill immersion can be enhanced by today’s technologies. Many books for young children are on line, and are orally presented as well as in written form. Adventure and historical stories can be shared on line. Children can begin to write by using computers. Tablets and other devices can help bring many engaging, interactive curricular programs right into the classroom!   “Unequal opportunity” is a serious problem in America today. Many less affluent children start with smaller vocabularies, fewer opportunities to read and discuss ideas with many adults, and fewer learning experiences that prepare students for school. Strengthening their core abilities and background knowledge at an early age, in interesting ways, should be a high priority. Content and skills immersion in all subject areas and through interdisciplinary themes is a key framework for improving the early childhood-primary grades education years. Small class sizes, coupled with strong immersion activities, will help to bridge this gap and create a learning foundation for future success. It will make a significant difference in the educational lives of children, better prepare them for successful academic work, and begin the process of giving them the “life” skills they will need as they move up through the grade levels and prepare for living in a 21st century world. Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1940’s and 50’s, I came from a home where both my parents had a limited education (some high school). Neither were readers. We did not have the current torrent of technologies to distract us (television didn’t come to our family until the 1950’s), so books, toys, games, sports, and some radio were what we primarily used for entertainment and leisure time. I remember that I read some books over and over again at a very early age, and reading became a strong habit in my early years. The local public library became a second home, and books became an essential feature of my young life.   As I observe and spend time with children growing up today who do well in school, I notice that they also are generally immersed in books and educational activities of all kinds. Their parents spend a lot of time reading to them, talking with them, answering their questions, and generally surrounding them with books and literature.  Some love to do artwork. They go to museums and the zoo on a regular basis. Some have had significant experiences with the theater, going to several children’s plays a year. Television and other diversions are limited and monitored by parents. As these children enter school, they generally have a large vocabulary, have traveled and visited many local, regional, and, for some, other countries, tend to be curious, and like to read on their own. Some of my “surrogate grandchildren”, whom my wife and I sit for occasionally, are now eight and thirteen, and they all are read to and/or silently read in bed before they go to sleep.   These observations, as well as many studies by experts, lead me to believe that, if we are to bridge the “opportunity gap” and foster a society that truly supports equal opportunity, children who do not have an upbringing such as the one described above need strong educational experiences at a very early age. An essential feature of early childhood and elementary classrooms for these children is what I call “content and skills immersion”. Play by itself at this young age is important, but so is play AND learning through educational games and content area experiences in areas such as social studies, science, the arts, and mathematics. Unfortunately, the current early childhood and primary grade emphasis on reading and math skills often shortchanges the richness of learning through the content areas and immersion into scientific questions/investigation, inquiry into history and geography, and exploration with and involvement in the arts. Libraries of books from all subjects, not just fiction, need to permeate early childhood and elementary classrooms. Children often need to be able to interact and engage with their environment through asking and answering questions, meaningful field trips, “research” and inquiry activities, discussions, learning new vocabulary, classifying, conceptualizing and analyzing, drawing conclusions, and communicating orally, through visual means, and through writing dictation and writing on their own.   For example, young children can plant seeds and grow and observe plants while learning science vocabulary. In the visual arts, they can observe, discuss, and analyze artworks of famous artists, learn vocabulary such as impressionism and abstract art, and create art in the style of these artists. Children, with their teachers, can read and discuss books for their age group about historical figures and the times in which they lived. Children should have a quiet, sustained time to select and read many different types of books on their own (even if they just look at the pictures). They need to begin to conduct “research” by asking questions, finding books and other resources about a topic of interest with the help of their teachers and others in the school, having these books read to them (or figure them out on their own), discussing the books with an adult, asking questions when they don’t understand something, and dictating or writing summaries and stories about what they are learning. They can take field trips into the local neighborhood – to stores, historical sites, churches, and the like. They can even begin to make presentations to other children in order to share what they have learned!   Content and skill immersion can be enhanced by today’s technologies. Many books for young children are on line, and are orally presented as well as in written form. Adventure and historical stories can be shared on line. Children can begin to write by using computers. Tablets and other devices can help bring many engaging, interactive curricular programs right into the classroom!   “Unequal opportunity” is a serious problem in America today. Many less affluent children start with smaller vocabularies, fewer opportunities to read and discuss ideas with many adults, and fewer learning experiences that prepare students for school. Strengthening their core abilities and background knowledge at an early age, in interesting ways, should be a high priority. Content and skills immersion in all subject areas and through interdisciplinary themes is a key framework for improving the early childhood-primary grades education years. Small class sizes, coupled with strong immersion activities, will help to bridge this gap and create a learning foundation for future success. It will make a significant difference in the educational lives of children, better prepare them for successful academic work, and begin the process of giving them the “life” skills they will need as they move up through the grade levels and prepare for living in a 21st century world. Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:14:22 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Bridging-the-Opportunity-Gap-Improving-Early-Childhood-and-Primary-Grade-Education/blog/6301221/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-08-27T01:14:22Z ASCD EDge Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1940’s and 50’s, I came from a home where both my parents had a limited education (some high school). Neither were readers. We did not have the current torrent of technologies to distract us (television didn’t come to our family until the 1950’s), so books, toys, games, sports, and some radio were what we primarily used for entertainment and leisure time. I remember that I read some books over and over again at a very early age, and reading became a strong habit in my early years. The local public library became a second home, and books became an essential feature of my young life.   As I observe and spend time with children growing up today who do well in school, I notice that they also are generally immersed in books and educational activities of all kinds. Their parents spend a lot of time reading to them, talking with them, answering their questions, and generally surrounding them with books and literature.  Some love to do artwork. They go to museums and the zoo on a regular basis. Some have had significant experiences with the theater, going to several children’s plays a year. Television and other diversions are limited and monitored by parents. As these children enter school, they generally have a large vocabulary, have traveled and visited many local, regional, and, for some, other countries, tend to be curious, and like to read on their own. Some of my “surrogate grandchildren”, whom my wife and I sit for occasionally, are now eight and thirteen, and they all are read to and/or silently read in bed before they go to sleep.   These observations, as well as many studies by experts, lead me to believe that, if we are to bridge the “opportunity gap” and foster a society that truly supports equal opportunity, children who do not have an upbringing such as the one described above need strong educational experiences at a very early age. An essential feature of early childhood and elementary classrooms for these children is what I call “content and skills immersion”. Play by itself at this young age is important, but so is play AND learning through educational games and content area experiences in areas such as social studies, science, the arts, and mathematics. Unfortunately, the current early childhood and primary grade emphasis on reading and math skills often shortchanges the richness of learning through the content areas and immersion into scientific questions/investigation, inquiry into history and geography, and exploration with and involvement in the arts. Libraries of books from all subjects, not just fiction, need to permeate early childhood and elementary classrooms. Children often need to be able to interact and engage with their environment through asking and answering questions, meaningful field trips, “research” and inquiry activities, discussions, learning new vocabulary, classifying, conceptualizing and analyzing, drawing conclusions, and communicating orally, through visual means, and through writing dictation and writing on their own.   For example, young children can plant seeds and grow and observe plants while learning science vocabulary. In the visual arts, they can observe, discuss, and analyze artworks of famous artists, learn vocabulary such as impressionism and abstract art, and create art in the style of these artists. Children, with their teachers, can read and discuss books for their age group about historical figures and the times in which they lived. Children should have a quiet, sustained time to select and read many different types of books on their own (even if they just look at the pictures). They need to begin to conduct “research” by asking questions, finding books and other resources about a topic of interest with the help of their teachers and others in the school, having these books read to them (or figure them out on their own), discussing the books with an adult, asking questions when they don’t understand something, and dictating or writing summaries and stories about what they are learning. They can take field trips into the local neighborhood – to stores, historical sites, churches, and the like. They can even begin to make presentations to other children in order to share what they have learned!   Content and skill immersion can be enhanced by today’s technologies. Many books for young children are on line, and are orally presented as well as in written form. Adventure and historical stories can be shared on line. Children can begin to write by using computers. Tablets and other devices can help bring many engaging, interactive curricular programs right into the classroom!   “Unequal opportunity” is a serious problem in America today. Many less affluent children start with smaller vocabularies, fewer opportunities to read and discuss ideas with many adults, and fewer learning experiences that prepare students for school. Strengthening their core abilities and background knowledge at an early age, in interesting ways, should be a high priority. Content and skills immersion in all subject areas and through interdisciplinary themes is a key framework for improving the early childhood-primary grades education years. Small class sizes, coupled with strong immersion activities, will help to bridge this gap and create a learning foundation for future success. It will make a significant difference in the educational lives of children, better prepare them for successful academic work, and begin the process of giving them the “life” skills they will need as they move up through the grade levels and prepare for living in a 21st century world. nonadult false Bridging the Opportunity Gap: Improving Early Childhood and Primary Grade Education text blog 798 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6301221 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Do-You-Teach-Creative-Thinking-You-Should-if-You-Dont/blog/6294749/127586.html “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”   “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education”                                                             Albert Einstein     In my recent work, I have identified five skill sets that I think are critical for all students to develop in a 21st century world – the ability to:   Ask questions, define problems and challenges Search for and process information and data Think deeply and flexibly Apply Learning and Draw Conclusions Communicate Effectively   This commentary examines one part of one of those skill sets: think flexibly. Flexible, creative thinking (heretofore known as creative thinking) is often considered one of the major strengths of the United States culture and society. Many say that creative thinking is a key quality and characteristic of our free society that made a major contribution to our past and present successes. Think of the many inventions, discoveries, and ideas that contribute to our well-being and economic development. Our founding fathers (and mothers), through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other writings, creatively developed the underlying principles and laws of this great nation. Many well-known Americans, such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, and Jonas Salk, as well as countless others who discovered new ideas and found new ways of doing things, helped to build this great nation and its dynamic economy.   Today, in this challenging 21st century world, America needs creative thinkers to improve the work of organizations, discover new medical treatments, create new industries, design new living and working spaces, develop new ways to solve political issues, design new technologies, and in general “think outside the box” in order to solve the multiple problems and challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s world.   If creative thinking is so important to our past, current and future lives and success, why does it play such a minor role in our educational system? Schools and teachers are encouraged to teach from standards that place little or no emphasis on creative thinking. Standardized tests are used to judge school success, rather than whether or not schools and teachers help students to become curious, creative thinkers and flexible problem solvers. Little if any of today’s curricula include activities that foster creative thinking skills. Very little training in creative thinking occurs with either pre-service or in-service teachers. One might even argue that most schools and teachers are discouraged from teaching creativity due to a general lack of concern for or interest in whether schools teach creative thinking and whether students become more creative as a result of their schooling.   Activities That Encourage Creative Thinking   The premise of this commentary is that all teachers and all schools should incorporate creative thinking into their educational programs and practices. There are many avenues and many different ways. One method is to implement some specific creative thinking activities, continually applied on a regular basis. Another is the use of more systematic approaches that come from the creative problem solving process, needs-based, entrepreneurial design thinking, and special programs and competitions designed to encourage creative thinking.  A third method is through an emphasis on creative arts education. Let’s take these one at a time:   Specific Creative Thinking Activities   Ambiguous Assignments   Bob Samples coined the term Ambiguous Assignments in several articles published in the 1980’s.[i] Ambiguous assignments are those that don’t have a single right answer, ones that allow students to develop their own original approach, process, and/or product. For example, here’s an activity that demonstrates how to develop an ambiguous assignment from a more specific one. Imagine asking students to solve this problem:   Divide seven cookies equally among four partygoers.   The problem could be used to make sure that students understand the division algorithm and can literally divide the seven cookies: 7 divided by 4 = 7/4 = 1 ¾. This approach leaves one right answer as the end result.   However, imagine that we change the way we define the problem and add these words: Explain your answer. Show your work. Then we give students the opportunity to be creative, define and solve the problem in a way that makes sense to them, and come up with an answer that works well in the real world. They also might work in small groups to solve this problem and come up with many different solutions. When the problem is “opened up” in this way, it can lead to all kinds of processes and answers. One of the most unusual is to grind up the cookies and weigh out equal amounts so that all students get the same weighed amount!   Ambiguous assignments are designed to open up new ways of thinking about problems and challenges, allowing for alternative possibilities and options, and enabling students to be innovative, create unusual options, and “think outside the box”. Allowing students to develop their own types of presentations and products after completing a project, developing their own interpretive artwork or musical composition, writing a original essay or reflective piece in a format and style of their own choosing, expressing their final thoughts and reflections on a unit topic in unusual ways – all of these stimulate student creativity and originality.   Brainstorming   Brainstorming is a way to get students to “think outside the box” about questions, problems, challenges, and alternative solutions. Groups work together to come up with a large number of different questions, ideas, alternatives, or plans. The rules of brainstorming include the following DOVE acronym:   Defer Judgment-don’t judge any of the ideas as they are being suggested; Offbeat-reach for unusual or strange ideas that might also stimulate other ideas; Vast Amount-come up with as many ideas as you can; Expand on other people’s ideas-piggyback or add on to other people’s ideas.   Two ways to use brainstorming are the following: Question Census Brainstorming: Brainstorming questions provides students with an opportunity to both learn how to brainstorm and to formulate interesting questions around a topic of study. Once many questions are developed, the class can together group and classify the questions, decide on which ones are the most interesting and worthwhile, and thus develop ownership of the topic being studied. Alternatives Brainstorming: Brainstorming alternative solutions to problems is a typical way of using this technique.   The Creative Problem Solving Approach   Creative Problem Solving is a holistic framework designed to help students to: Think divergently Increase fluency, flexibility, and originality of thinking; Learn the stages of creative problem solving: problem sensitivity, fact-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding.   Creative Problem Solving generally begins with a “mess” that needs exploration and has no one right answer. The goal is for students to learn how to identify needs and problems, and to do so teachers begin by identifying challenges and problems so that students learn the creative problem solving process. For example, the following “messy situation” is adapted from the writings of Donald Treffinger, one of the leading figures in developing educational materials for teaching creative problem solving:[ii]                           “Let’s assume that your family has one television set, but there                         are five people (you, your mother, your father, and one                         brother and sister) who like to watch television. Everyone’s                         always arguing about who’s going to be able to watch the TV                         and which programs to watch. Not even a VCR-DVR can                         record five different programs at the same time! It would be                         too expensive (and not very likely, anyway) for every member                         of the family to have his or her own TV set. But, you are really                         tired of missing some of the programs that you like the most,                         because other family members want to watch other things at                         the same time that your program is on. You’ve tried sharing                         times by making a schedule for everyone, but that never seems                         to work very well.                                                 So your challenge is to devise a really creative new plan that will                         enable you and your family members to enjoy watching TV without                         so much conflict about whose time or turn it is.” (p. 59)   This problem, and others in Treffinger’s book, are designed to help students use a messy situation to learn and apply the stages of the creative problem solving process in order to clarify the problem, find information that may be helpful to its solution, brainstorm alternatives, develop criteria to apply to the multiple solutions, develop a “best” solution, and figure out a way to implement it.   Many additional resources are available to help implement creative problem solving activities[iii].   Design Thinking   Design thinking, originally developed by the d.school at Stanford University[iv], is a process of creative thinking that focuses on dealing with real world problems in an interdisciplinary fashion. The process emphasizes a number of stages of problem solving – empathy (understanding the people for whom you are designing); define (creating a meaningful challenge); ideate (idea generation); prototype (creating a physical form of a solution); and test (refine and improve solutions). There is much more to this process, with many suggestions and activities for each stage, that make this a worthwhile set of activities and strategies for solving real world/authentic problems creatively.     Challenge Based Learning   Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is a program developed by Apple in conjunction with educators across the country. The challenge based learning website describes CBL this way: “Challenge Based Learning is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems through efforts in their homes, schools and communities.”[v] The website also contains examples of many different challenges; big ideas, essential questions, guiding questions, and sample activities for each; and many other resources for helping to implement challenge based learning in schools and classrooms.   Edward DeBono’s Creativity Methods   Edward DeBono has been a prolific writer and designer of creative thinking ideas and approaches. His book, Lateral Thinking, was a seminal work on creativity and thinking[vi]. One significant aspect of his work is the creative thinking lessons he developed for schools, called CORT thinking. These excellent materials break thinking down into a number of different, separate components, each taught separately in different lessons.  Another set of materials, created especially for young children, is called the Six Thinking Hats.   His wealth of creative thinking materials are available through the following website: http://www.edwdebono.com   Creative Thinking Competitions   There are many educational competitions that emphasize the development of creative thinking, including the following:   The Future Problem Solving Program (http://www.fpspi.org/) Odyssey of the Mind (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/) Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/education/isef/index.htm) National History Day (http://www.nhd.org/) Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (http://www.nfte.com/) Creativity and the Arts   There is an obvious way to increase the development of creative thinking in American schools – strengthen arts education. The arts promote creativity – after all, all artists, such as visual artists, composers, playwrights, songwriters, choreographers, use creativity in their work. Yet somehow the creative arts – visual art, music, dance, theater, improvisation – has fallen by the wayside in many American schools, due to budget cuts and a lack of emphasis and support. Strengthening arts programs, and emphasizing creative thinking in these programs, is an excellent way to develop creative thinking skills and foster creative expression.   Conclusions   Today’s America, with its rapid changes and uncertainties, needs creative thinkers as never before. Every teacher can be a teacher of creative thinking, in both little and big ways. Schools and teachers can make creative thinking a priority, and integrate creative thinking skills into the curriculum.   There are many ways to incorporate creative thinking into the school and classroom: integrate a few activities and creative challenges into curriculum units and projects, integrate a full-blown program such as creative problem solving, design or CORT thinking, adopt and work with creative competitions either as part of the curriculum or through extra-curricular programs, and/or strengthen and emphasize creative thinking through the arts.   Colleges of education need to find ways to integrate creative thinking development into their teacher training programs. School leaders need to find ways to include creative thinking development into their priority outcomes and professional development programs. Arts education training programs need to emphasize the need for creative thinking and train arts educators on how to foster creativity through the arts. And our National and State education missions and standards should create incentives to foster creative thinking and creative problem solving into all school programs across the country!   It takes some imagination, goal-setting, professional development at all levels, and a willingness to buck the current educational reward system to foster the development of creative thinking skills and competencies in schools and classrooms. To do so will serve our children and our country well in the future.     [i] See Bob Samples, Are Your Assignments Clear and Precise?  in Learning Magazine, April/May 1984, and Bob Samples, Reflections on Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching, in Educational Leadership, April, 1984. [ii] Donald Treffinger, Practice Problems for Creative Problem Solving (2000). Fourth edition. Prufrock Press, p. 59 (slightly adapted for this commentary). [iii]Two creative problem solving resources include:             •The Center for Creative Learning (http://www.creativelearning.com/); and             •The Creative Education Foundation (http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/) [iv] http://dschool.stanford.edu [v] Quoted from the Challenge Based Learning website, http://www.challengebasedlearning.org/pages/about-cbl [vi] Edward DeBono (1970). Lateral Thinking. New York: Harper and Row. “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”   “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education”                                                             Albert Einstein     In my recent work, I have identified five skill sets that I think are critical for all students to develop in a 21st century world – the ability to:   Ask questions, define problems and challenges Search for and process information and data Think deeply and flexibly Apply Learning and Draw Conclusions Communicate Effectively   This commentary examines one part of one of those skill sets: think flexibly. Flexible, creative thinking (heretofore known as creative thinking) is often considered one of the major strengths of the United States culture and society. Many say that creative thinking is a key quality and characteristic of our free society that made a major contribution to our past and present successes. Think of the many inventions, discoveries, and ideas that contribute to our well-being and economic development. Our founding fathers (and mothers), through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other writings, creatively developed the underlying principles and laws of this great nation. Many well-known Americans, such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, and Jonas Salk, as well as countless others who discovered new ideas and found new ways of doing things, helped to build this great nation and its dynamic economy.   Today, in this challenging 21st century world, America needs creative thinkers to improve the work of organizations, discover new medical treatments, create new industries, design new living and working spaces, develop new ways to solve political issues, design new technologies, and in general “think outside the box” in order to solve the multiple problems and challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s world.   If creative thinking is so important to our past, current and future lives and success, why does it play such a minor role in our educational system? Schools and teachers are encouraged to teach from standards that place little or no emphasis on creative thinking. Standardized tests are used to judge school success, rather than whether or not schools and teachers help students to become curious, creative thinkers and flexible problem solvers. Little if any of today’s curricula include activities that foster creative thinking skills. Very little training in creative thinking occurs with either pre-service or in-service teachers. One might even argue that most schools and teachers are discouraged from teaching creativity due to a general lack of concern for or interest in whether schools teach creative thinking and whether students become more creative as a result of their schooling.   Activities That Encourage Creative Thinking   The premise of this commentary is that all teachers and all schools should incorporate creative thinking into their educational programs and practices. There are many avenues and many different ways. One method is to implement some specific creative thinking activities, continually applied on a regular basis. Another is the use of more systematic approaches that come from the creative problem solving process, needs-based, entrepreneurial design thinking, and special programs and competitions designed to encourage creative thinking.  A third method is through an emphasis on creative arts education. Let’s take these one at a time:   Specific Creative Thinking Activities   Ambiguous Assignments   Bob Samples coined the term Ambiguous Assignments in several articles published in the 1980’s.[i] Ambiguous assignments are those that don’t have a single right answer, ones that allow students to develop their own original approach, process, and/or product. For example, here’s an activity that demonstrates how to develop an ambiguous assignment from a more specific one. Imagine asking students to solve this problem:   Divide seven cookies equally among four partygoers.   The problem could be used to make sure that students understand the division algorithm and can literally divide the seven cookies: 7 divided by 4 = 7/4 = 1 ¾. This approach leaves one right answer as the end result.   However, imagine that we change the way we define the problem and add these words: Explain your answer. Show your work. Then we give students the opportunity to be creative, define and solve the problem in a way that makes sense to them, and come up with an answer that works well in the real world. They also might work in small groups to solve this problem and come up with many different solutions. When the problem is “opened up” in this way, it can lead to all kinds of processes and answers. One of the most unusual is to grind up the cookies and weigh out equal amounts so that all students get the same weighed amount!   Ambiguous assignments are designed to open up new ways of thinking about problems and challenges, allowing for alternative possibilities and options, and enabling students to be innovative, create unusual options, and “think outside the box”. Allowing students to develop their own types of presentations and products after completing a project, developing their own interpretive artwork or musical composition, writing a original essay or reflective piece in a format and style of their own choosing, expressing their final thoughts and reflections on a unit topic in unusual ways – all of these stimulate student creativity and originality.   Brainstorming   Brainstorming is a way to get students to “think outside the box” about questions, problems, challenges, and alternative solutions. Groups work together to come up with a large number of different questions, ideas, alternatives, or plans. The rules of brainstorming include the following DOVE acronym:   Defer Judgment-don’t judge any of the ideas as they are being suggested; Offbeat-reach for unusual or strange ideas that might also stimulate other ideas; Vast Amount-come up with as many ideas as you can; Expand on other people’s ideas-piggyback or add on to other people’s ideas.   Two ways to use brainstorming are the following: Question Census Brainstorming: Brainstorming questions provides students with an opportunity to both learn how to brainstorm and to formulate interesting questions around a topic of study. Once many questions are developed, the class can together group and classify the questions, decide on which ones are the most interesting and worthwhile, and thus develop ownership of the topic being studied. Alternatives Brainstorming: Brainstorming alternative solutions to problems is a typical way of using this technique.   The Creative Problem Solving Approach   Creative Problem Solving is a holistic framework designed to help students to: Think divergently Increase fluency, flexibility, and originality of thinking; Learn the stages of creative problem solving: problem sensitivity, fact-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding.   Creative Problem Solving generally begins with a “mess” that needs exploration and has no one right answer. The goal is for students to learn how to identify needs and problems, and to do so teachers begin by identifying challenges and problems so that students learn the creative problem solving process. For example, the following “messy situation” is adapted from the writings of Donald Treffinger, one of the leading figures in developing educational materials for teaching creative problem solving:[ii]                           “Let’s assume that your family has one television set, but there                         are five people (you, your mother, your father, and one                         brother and sister) who like to watch television. Everyone’s                         always arguing about who’s going to be able to watch the TV                         and which programs to watch. Not even a VCR-DVR can                         record five different programs at the same time! It would be                         too expensive (and not very likely, anyway) for every member                         of the family to have his or her own TV set. But, you are really                         tired of missing some of the programs that you like the most,                         because other family members want to watch other things at                         the same time that your program is on. You’ve tried sharing                         times by making a schedule for everyone, but that never seems                         to work very well.                                                 So your challenge is to devise a really creative new plan that will                         enable you and your family members to enjoy watching TV without                         so much conflict about whose time or turn it is.” (p. 59)   This problem, and others in Treffinger’s book, are designed to help students use a messy situation to learn and apply the stages of the creative problem solving process in order to clarify the problem, find information that may be helpful to its solution, brainstorm alternatives, develop criteria to apply to the multiple solutions, develop a “best” solution, and figure out a way to implement it.   Many additional resources are available to help implement creative problem solving activities[iii].   Design Thinking   Design thinking, originally developed by the d.school at Stanford University[iv], is a process of creative thinking that focuses on dealing with real world problems in an interdisciplinary fashion. The process emphasizes a number of stages of problem solving – empathy (understanding the people for whom you are designing); define (creating a meaningful challenge); ideate (idea generation); prototype (creating a physical form of a solution); and test (refine and improve solutions). There is much more to this process, with many suggestions and activities for each stage, that make this a worthwhile set of activities and strategies for solving real world/authentic problems creatively.     Challenge Based Learning   Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is a program developed by Apple in conjunction with educators across the country. The challenge based learning website describes CBL this way: “Challenge Based Learning is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems through efforts in their homes, schools and communities.”[v] The website also contains examples of many different challenges; big ideas, essential questions, guiding questions, and sample activities for each; and many other resources for helping to implement challenge based learning in schools and classrooms.   Edward DeBono’s Creativity Methods   Edward DeBono has been a prolific writer and designer of creative thinking ideas and approaches. His book, Lateral Thinking, was a seminal work on creativity and thinking[vi]. One significant aspect of his work is the creative thinking lessons he developed for schools, called CORT thinking. These excellent materials break thinking down into a number of different, separate components, each taught separately in different lessons.  Another set of materials, created especially for young children, is called the Six Thinking Hats.   His wealth of creative thinking materials are available through the following website: http://www.edwdebono.com   Creative Thinking Competitions   There are many educational competitions that emphasize the development of creative thinking, including the following:   The Future Problem Solving Program (http://www.fpspi.org/) Odyssey of the Mind (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/) Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/education/isef/index.htm) National History Day (http://www.nhd.org/) Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (http://www.nfte.com/) Creativity and the Arts   There is an obvious way to increase the development of creative thinking in American schools – strengthen arts education. The arts promote creativity – after all, all artists, such as visual artists, composers, playwrights, songwriters, choreographers, use creativity in their work. Yet somehow the creative arts – visual art, music, dance, theater, improvisation – has fallen by the wayside in many American schools, due to budget cuts and a lack of emphasis and support. Strengthening arts programs, and emphasizing creative thinking in these programs, is an excellent way to develop creative thinking skills and foster creative expression.   Conclusions   Today’s America, with its rapid changes and uncertainties, needs creative thinkers as never before. Every teacher can be a teacher of creative thinking, in both little and big ways. Schools and teachers can make creative thinking a priority, and integrate creative thinking skills into the curriculum.   There are many ways to incorporate creative thinking into the school and classroom: integrate a few activities and creative challenges into curriculum units and projects, integrate a full-blown program such as creative problem solving, design or CORT thinking, adopt and work with creative competitions either as part of the curriculum or through extra-curricular programs, and/or strengthen and emphasize creative thinking through the arts.   Colleges of education need to find ways to integrate creative thinking development into their teacher training programs. School leaders need to find ways to include creative thinking development into their priority outcomes and professional development programs. Arts education training programs need to emphasize the need for creative thinking and train arts educators on how to foster creativity through the arts. And our National and State education missions and standards should create incentives to foster creative thinking and creative problem solving into all school programs across the country!   It takes some imagination, goal-setting, professional development at all levels, and a willingness to buck the current educational reward system to foster the development of creative thinking skills and competencies in schools and classrooms. To do so will serve our children and our country well in the future.     [i] See Bob Samples, Are Your Assignments Clear and Precise?  in Learning Magazine, April/May 1984, and Bob Samples, Reflections on Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching, in Educational Leadership, April, 1984. [ii] Donald Treffinger, Practice Problems for Creative Problem Solving (2000). Fourth edition. Prufrock Press, p. 59 (slightly adapted for this commentary). [iii]Two creative problem solving resources include:             •The Center for Creative Learning (http://www.creativelearning.com/); and             •The Creative Education Foundation (http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/) [iv] http://dschool.stanford.edu [v] Quoted from the Challenge Based Learning website, http://www.challengebasedlearning.org/pages/about-cbl [vi] Edward DeBono (1970). Lateral Thinking. New York: Harper and Row. Wed, 22 Aug 2012 21:07:11 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Do-You-Teach-Creative-Thinking-You-Should-if-You-Dont/blog/6294749/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-08-22T21:06:22Z ASCD EDge “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”   “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education”                                                             Albert Einstein     In my recent work, I have identified five skill sets that I think are critical for all students to develop in a 21st century world – the ability to:   Ask questions, define problems and challenges Search for and process information and data Think deeply and flexibly Apply Learning and Draw Conclusions Communicate Effectively   This commentary examines one part of one of those skill sets: think flexibly. Flexible, creative thinking (heretofore known as creative thinking) is often considered one of the major strengths of the United States culture and society. Many say that creative thinking is a key quality and characteristic of our free society that made a major contribution to our past and present successes. Think of the many inventions, discoveries, and ideas that contribute to our well-being and economic development. Our founding fathers (and mothers), through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other writings, creatively developed the underlying principles and laws of this great nation. Many well-known Americans, such as Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, and Jonas Salk, as well as countless others who discovered new ideas and found new ways of doing things, helped to build this great nation and its dynamic economy.   Today, in this challenging 21st century world, America needs creative thinkers to improve the work of organizations, discover new medical treatments, create new industries, design new living and working spaces, develop new ways to solve political issues, design new technologies, and in general “think outside the box” in order to solve the multiple problems and challenges of today’s and tomorrow’s world.   If creative thinking is so important to our past, current and future lives and success, why does it play such a minor role in our educational system? Schools and teachers are encouraged to teach from standards that place little or no emphasis on creative thinking. Standardized tests are used to judge school success, rather than whether or not schools and teachers help students to become curious, creative thinkers and flexible problem solvers. Little if any of today’s curricula include activities that foster creative thinking skills. Very little training in creative thinking occurs with either pre-service or in-service teachers. One might even argue that most schools and teachers are discouraged from teaching creativity due to a general lack of concern for or interest in whether schools teach creative thinking and whether students become more creative as a result of their schooling.   Activities That Encourage Creative Thinking   The premise of this commentary is that all teachers and all schools should incorporate creative thinking into their educational programs and practices. There are many avenues and many different ways. One method is to implement some specific creative thinking activities, continually applied on a regular basis. Another is the use of more systematic approaches that come from the creative problem solving process, needs-based, entrepreneurial design thinking, and special programs and competitions designed to encourage creative thinking.  A third method is through an emphasis on creative arts education. Let’s take these one at a time:   Specific Creative Thinking Activities   Ambiguous Assignments   Bob Samples coined the term Ambiguous Assignments in several articles published in the 1980’s.[i] Ambiguous assignments are those that don’t have a single right answer, ones that allow students to develop their own original approach, process, and/or product. For example, here’s an activity that demonstrates how to develop an ambiguous assignment from a more specific one. Imagine asking students to solve this problem:   Divide seven cookies equally among four partygoers.   The problem could be used to make sure that students understand the division algorithm and can literally divide the seven cookies: 7 divided by 4 = 7/4 = 1 ¾. This approach leaves one right answer as the end result.   However, imagine that we change the way we define the problem and add these words: Explain your answer. Show your work. Then we give students the opportunity to be creative, define and solve the problem in a way that makes sense to them, and come up with an answer that works well in the real world. They also might work in small groups to solve this problem and come up with many different solutions. When the problem is “opened up” in this way, it can lead to all kinds of processes and answers. One of the most unusual is to grind up the cookies and weigh out equal amounts so that all students get the same weighed amount!   Ambiguous assignments are designed to open up new ways of thinking about problems and challenges, allowing for alternative possibilities and options, and enabling students to be innovative, create unusual options, and “think outside the box”. Allowing students to develop their own types of presentations and products after completing a project, developing their own interpretive artwork or musical composition, writing a original essay or reflective piece in a format and style of their own choosing, expressing their final thoughts and reflections on a unit topic in unusual ways – all of these stimulate student creativity and originality.   Brainstorming   Brainstorming is a way to get students to “think outside the box” about questions, problems, challenges, and alternative solutions. Groups work together to come up with a large number of different questions, ideas, alternatives, or plans. The rules of brainstorming include the following DOVE acronym:   Defer Judgment-don’t judge any of the ideas as they are being suggested; Offbeat-reach for unusual or strange ideas that might also stimulate other ideas; Vast Amount-come up with as many ideas as you can; Expand on other people’s ideas-piggyback or add on to other people’s ideas.   Two ways to use brainstorming are the following: Question Census Brainstorming: Brainstorming questions provides students with an opportunity to both learn how to brainstorm and to formulate interesting questions around a topic of study. Once many questions are developed, the class can together group and classify the questions, decide on which ones are the most interesting and worthwhile, and thus develop ownership of the topic being studied. Alternatives Brainstorming: Brainstorming alternative solutions to problems is a typical way of using this technique.   The Creative Problem Solving Approach   Creative Problem Solving is a holistic framework designed to help students to: Think divergently Increase fluency, flexibility, and originality of thinking; Learn the stages of creative problem solving: problem sensitivity, fact-finding, problem-finding, idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding.   Creative Problem Solving generally begins with a “mess” that needs exploration and has no one right answer. The goal is for students to learn how to identify needs and problems, and to do so teachers begin by identifying challenges and problems so that students learn the creative problem solving process. For example, the following “messy situation” is adapted from the writings of Donald Treffinger, one of the leading figures in developing educational materials for teaching creative problem solving:[ii]                           “Let’s assume that your family has one television set, but there                         are five people (you, your mother, your father, and one                         brother and sister) who like to watch television. Everyone’s                         always arguing about who’s going to be able to watch the TV                         and which programs to watch. Not even a VCR-DVR can                         record five different programs at the same time! It would be                         too expensive (and not very likely, anyway) for every member                         of the family to have his or her own TV set. But, you are really                         tired of missing some of the programs that you like the most,                         because other family members want to watch other things at                         the same time that your program is on. You’ve tried sharing                         times by making a schedule for everyone, but that never seems                         to work very well.                                                 So your challenge is to devise a really creative new plan that will                         enable you and your family members to enjoy watching TV without                         so much conflict about whose time or turn it is.” (p. 59)   This problem, and others in Treffinger’s book, are designed to help students use a messy situation to learn and apply the stages of the creative problem solving process in order to clarify the problem, find information that may be helpful to its solution, brainstorm alternatives, develop criteria to apply to the multiple solutions, develop a “best” solution, and figure out a way to implement it.   Many additional resources are available to help implement creative problem solving activities[iii].   Design Thinking   Design thinking, originally developed by the d.school at Stanford University[iv], is a process of creative thinking that focuses on dealing with real world problems in an interdisciplinary fashion. The process emphasizes a number of stages of problem solving – empathy (understanding the people for whom you are designing); define (creating a meaningful challenge); ideate (idea generation); prototype (creating a physical form of a solution); and test (refine and improve solutions). There is much more to this process, with many suggestions and activities for each stage, that make this a worthwhile set of activities and strategies for solving real world/authentic problems creatively.     Challenge Based Learning   Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is a program developed by Apple in conjunction with educators across the country. The challenge based learning website describes CBL this way: “Challenge Based Learning is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems through efforts in their homes, schools and communities.”[v] The website also contains examples of many different challenges; big ideas, essential questions, guiding questions, and sample activities for each; and many other resources for helping to implement challenge based learning in schools and classrooms.   Edward DeBono’s Creativity Methods   Edward DeBono has been a prolific writer and designer of creative thinking ideas and approaches. His book, Lateral Thinking, was a seminal work on creativity and thinking[vi]. One significant aspect of his work is the creative thinking lessons he developed for schools, called CORT thinking. These excellent materials break thinking down into a number of different, separate components, each taught separately in different lessons.  Another set of materials, created especially for young children, is called the Six Thinking Hats.   His wealth of creative thinking materials are available through the following website: http://www.edwdebono.com   Creative Thinking Competitions   There are many educational competitions that emphasize the development of creative thinking, including the following:   The Future Problem Solving Program (http://www.fpspi.org/) Odyssey of the Mind (http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/) Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (http://www.intel.com/about/corporateresponsibility/education/isef/index.htm) National History Day (http://www.nhd.org/) Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (http://www.nfte.com/) Creativity and the Arts   There is an obvious way to increase the development of creative thinking in American schools – strengthen arts education. The arts promote creativity – after all, all artists, such as visual artists, composers, playwrights, songwriters, choreographers, use creativity in their work. Yet somehow the creative arts – visual art, music, dance, theater, improvisation – has fallen by the wayside in many American schools, due to budget cuts and a lack of emphasis and support. Strengthening arts programs, and emphasizing creative thinking in these programs, is an excellent way to develop creative thinking skills and foster creative expression.   Conclusions   Today’s America, with its rapid changes and uncertainties, needs creative thinkers as never before. Every teacher can be a teacher of creative thinking, in both little and big ways. Schools and teachers can make creative thinking a priority, and integrate creative thinking skills into the curriculum.   There are many ways to incorporate creative thinking into the school and classroom: integrate a few activities and creative challenges into curriculum units and projects, integrate a full-blown program such as creative problem solving, design or CORT thinking, adopt and work with creative competitions either as part of the curriculum or through extra-curricular programs, and/or strengthen and emphasize creative thinking through the arts.   Colleges of education need to find ways to integrate creative thinking development into their teacher training programs. School leaders need to find ways to include creative thinking development into their priority outcomes and professional development programs. Arts education training programs need to emphasize the need for creative thinking and train arts educators on how to foster creativity through the arts. And our National and State education missions and standards should create incentives to foster creative thinking and creative problem solving into all school programs across the country!   It takes some imagination, goal-setting, professional development at all levels, and a willingness to buck the current educational reward system to foster the development of creative thinking skills and competencies in schools and classrooms. To do so will serve our children and our country well in the future.     [i] See Bob Samples, Are Your Assignments Clear and Precise?  in Learning Magazine, April/May 1984, and Bob Samples, Reflections on Curriculum, Teachers and Teaching, in Educational Leadership, April, 1984. [ii] Donald Treffinger, Practice Problems for Creative Problem Solving (2000). Fourth edition. Prufrock Press, p. 59 (slightly adapted for this commentary). [iii]Two creative problem solving resources include:             •The Center for Creative Learning (http://www.creativelearning.com/); and             •The Creative Education Foundation (http://www.creativeeducationfoundation.org/) [iv] http://dschool.stanford.edu [v] Quoted from the Challenge Based Learning website, http://www.challengebasedlearning.org/pages/about-cbl [vi] Edward DeBono (1970). Lateral Thinking. New York: Harper and Row. 21st, century, creative, creativity, curriculum, entrepreneurship, learning, problem, solving, thinking nonadult false Do You Teach Creative Thinking? You Should if You Don’t! text blog 21st,century,creative,creativity,curriculum,entrepreneurship,learning,problem,solving,thinking 961 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6294749 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_What-is-your-core-mission/blog/6273307/127586.html In my work over the years with hundreds, perhaps thousands of teachers at all levels, one of my greatest surprises is how often I come across teachers who have difficulty articulating their primary, key, essential, core goals/outcomes for their students to achieve. I have also often found that principals and superintendents have trouble articulating the core outcomes for students at their school or in their district. This is surprising in light of the obvious need for teachers, schools and districts to be clear about what they want to accomplish with their students, why the outcomes are important, and how they will go about insuring that the expected learnings are met and measured. In some districts, due to No Child Left Behind, core outcomes are stated as having students do well on standardized tests, as opposed to core learning goals reflecting the needs of students in the new 21st century culture and environment!   It is my belief that, without a clear purpose for teaching and outcomes for learning, teaching is likely to drift, become diffuse, be difficult to assess, and even become ineffective. The strongest teachers often are passionate about their goals for students. They see themselves on a mission - to create a love of history, mathematics, or science; to help their students become the best mathematical problem solvers; to foster critical thinking; to open students’ minds to different perspectives; to build artistic talent; to create effective readers and writers; to spark creativity, and the like. These teachers not only have a core mission, but spend much of their time figuring out how to put their core teaching goals into practice and assure student learning and growth.   So, here’s the obvious implication - every teacher should have a core mission that drives his or her teaching and learning. Teachers at all levels, in all grades, and in all subjects, should be clear about their outcomes and expectancies for ALL their students.  If you are a teacher reading this commentary, here’s your chance to consider this important question -- What is your core mission?  While you may have many goals for your students, we start by asking you to identify ONE really important outcome that you expect all your students to grow towards and/or achieve while they are your students. Perhaps it is one major understanding that all your students should learn and be able to express. Or maybe it’s an important skill or skill set that every student in your class should improve. Or it might be a “habit of mind”, a “soft skill” that you would like all of your students to improve on and grow. Or it might be some combination of these. So -- what is one core outcome that is at the heart of your teaching and your student’s learning? Take a minute to jot it down somewhere. You might even consider doing this in a small group so that you can share the results!   Once you have identified this one core outcome, here are some sub-questions to examine and help you to make sure that you want to stick with it: Significance - What is the outcome’s significance? Is it a powerful goal, one that will make a significant difference in the lives of your students? Does the outcome help students to live in a rapidly changing 21st century world? Is it too specific? Too broad? If you can’t really justify it, go back and rethink it.  Impact - If your students accomplished or made progress on this outcome, what would be its impact? On the student? On his or her future? On the world outside of school?  Outcome in Practice - Can you operationalize it? Define it? Describe it in detail? Describe it in practice? Describe what it looks like when students make progress towards it?  “Get there”?  Measures of Success - How would you know if your students accomplished it? What would you look for? What kind of work would students produce? What observations of your students would suggest progress and success? Consider many sources of assessment – tests and quizzes, performances, checks for understanding, inquiry tasks, scientific investigations, observations of discussions, writing results, student self-reflections, results of projects, general student observations, or others. Making Progress - How will you know if students are making progress towards the outcome? What would you look for? What kinds of feedback would you give students to help them improve? Engagement and motivation –What are the key strategic actions you might take (or currently take) to foster success? How would you engage students in accomplishing your core mission? Motivate students to achieve it?  How would students be involved? What types of activities are best used to help students make progress and succeed?  Unique or Collaborative - Is this core mission unique to you, or is it also part of your school’s explicit mission? Your district’s explicit mission? Is it something that others in your school can help you to accomplish?  Do you and others work together to make this happen? Does it make sense for you to work together with others in your school or district so that all of you contribute to insuring that the core mission is met? New Approaches - What might you do differently to make sure that your core outcome is accomplished? What could you do to work with others to insure success? To share your core outcome with others? To learn how to better help your students make progress towards your mission?   Once you have completed this analysis, and thought carefully about this one core outcome and its implications for teaching and learning, you might want to identify several additional outcomes. While you don’t want to have too many core outcomes that make it impossible to be successful, many good teachers might have two or three that they work on all year with all their students. Or you might decide that you need different core outcomes for different classes. If you are moving from first grade to third grade, your core mission might change.    If you decide that you have additional outcomes as part of your core mission, go through the same process with them as you did with the first outcome, determining significance, impact, outcome in practice, etc. Another useful activity is to try to distinguish between core and ancillary outcomes.  You might want to distinguish between the “must” outcomes that you work on throughout the year for all students, versus “nice to accomplish” outcomes that are secondary, not as important to accomplish, or not appropriate for every student.   And, finally, with a clear core mission and an understanding of its significance, impact, measures of success, and other factors, you will have a chance to concentrate on improving your ability to influence your students and put your mission into practice.   ------------------   In the best of all possible worlds, a teacher’s core outcomes coincide with the core mission of a school or district, so everyone is working together towards a common set of goals. Therefore it is important for a school or district to explicitly determine, share and work towards the implementation of its core mission. I work with a number of schools that are powerful because they have a strong core mission and teachers that work together to implement the core student outcomes.   So, if you an educational leader - a principal or superintendent, curriculum director – it is important for you to also go through the same set of questions. What is the school or district’s core mission for all its students, what is its significance, impact, outcomes in practice, and so on. Do all the various school and district constituencies know about and understand the core mission? Agree that the core mission is important and should guide teaching and learning? How should the core mission influence the policies and practices of the school or district? And how can you improve upon the implementation of the core mission and the assessment of the core mission’s success?    ------------------   In sum, a clear core mission focus can help you as a teacher or educational leader in many ways. It helps teachers to focus teaching and student learning on what you think is really important. It helps each teacher work on improving their skills over time to better assure that students are engaged, motivated, and assessed on core outcomes. It helps schools and districts make explicit what is important about teaching, learning, and education, and to build collaborative networks so that many teachers can work together on the same important outcomes.  And, in general, it makes teachers more passionate about their work and teaching much more meaningful, and promotes the type of learning that students need in order to be successful in a 21st century world.    Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in examining a central, core educational mission that prepares students to live in a 21st century world, along with related articles, readings, resources, weblinks, and blogs, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   In my work over the years with hundreds, perhaps thousands of teachers at all levels, one of my greatest surprises is how often I come across teachers who have difficulty articulating their primary, key, essential, core goals/outcomes for their students to achieve. I have also often found that principals and superintendents have trouble articulating the core outcomes for students at their school or in their district. This is surprising in light of the obvious need for teachers, schools and districts to be clear about what they want to accomplish with their students, why the outcomes are important, and how they will go about insuring that the expected learnings are met and measured. In some districts, due to No Child Left Behind, core outcomes are stated as having students do well on standardized tests, as opposed to core learning goals reflecting the needs of students in the new 21st century culture and environment!   It is my belief that, without a clear purpose for teaching and outcomes for learning, teaching is likely to drift, become diffuse, be difficult to assess, and even become ineffective. The strongest teachers often are passionate about their goals for students. They see themselves on a mission - to create a love of history, mathematics, or science; to help their students become the best mathematical problem solvers; to foster critical thinking; to open students’ minds to different perspectives; to build artistic talent; to create effective readers and writers; to spark creativity, and the like. These teachers not only have a core mission, but spend much of their time figuring out how to put their core teaching goals into practice and assure student learning and growth.   So, here’s the obvious implication - every teacher should have a core mission that drives his or her teaching and learning. Teachers at all levels, in all grades, and in all subjects, should be clear about their outcomes and expectancies for ALL their students.  If you are a teacher reading this commentary, here’s your chance to consider this important question -- What is your core mission?  While you may have many goals for your students, we start by asking you to identify ONE really important outcome that you expect all your students to grow towards and/or achieve while they are your students. Perhaps it is one major understanding that all your students should learn and be able to express. Or maybe it’s an important skill or skill set that every student in your class should improve. Or it might be a “habit of mind”, a “soft skill” that you would like all of your students to improve on and grow. Or it might be some combination of these. So -- what is one core outcome that is at the heart of your teaching and your student’s learning? Take a minute to jot it down somewhere. You might even consider doing this in a small group so that you can share the results!   Once you have identified this one core outcome, here are some sub-questions to examine and help you to make sure that you want to stick with it: Significance - What is the outcome’s significance? Is it a powerful goal, one that will make a significant difference in the lives of your students? Does the outcome help students to live in a rapidly changing 21st century world? Is it too specific? Too broad? If you can’t really justify it, go back and rethink it.  Impact - If your students accomplished or made progress on this outcome, what would be its impact? On the student? On his or her future? On the world outside of school?  Outcome in Practice - Can you operationalize it? Define it? Describe it in detail? Describe it in practice? Describe what it looks like when students make progress towards it?  “Get there”?  Measures of Success - How would you know if your students accomplished it? What would you look for? What kind of work would students produce? What observations of your students would suggest progress and success? Consider many sources of assessment – tests and quizzes, performances, checks for understanding, inquiry tasks, scientific investigations, observations of discussions, writing results, student self-reflections, results of projects, general student observations, or others. Making Progress - How will you know if students are making progress towards the outcome? What would you look for? What kinds of feedback would you give students to help them improve? Engagement and motivation –What are the key strategic actions you might take (or currently take) to foster success? How would you engage students in accomplishing your core mission? Motivate students to achieve it?  How would students be involved? What types of activities are best used to help students make progress and succeed?  Unique or Collaborative - Is this core mission unique to you, or is it also part of your school’s explicit mission? Your district’s explicit mission? Is it something that others in your school can help you to accomplish?  Do you and others work together to make this happen? Does it make sense for you to work together with others in your school or district so that all of you contribute to insuring that the core mission is met? New Approaches - What might you do differently to make sure that your core outcome is accomplished? What could you do to work with others to insure success? To share your core outcome with others? To learn how to better help your students make progress towards your mission?   Once you have completed this analysis, and thought carefully about this one core outcome and its implications for teaching and learning, you might want to identify several additional outcomes. While you don’t want to have too many core outcomes that make it impossible to be successful, many good teachers might have two or three that they work on all year with all their students. Or you might decide that you need different core outcomes for different classes. If you are moving from first grade to third grade, your core mission might change.    If you decide that you have additional outcomes as part of your core mission, go through the same process with them as you did with the first outcome, determining significance, impact, outcome in practice, etc. Another useful activity is to try to distinguish between core and ancillary outcomes.  You might want to distinguish between the “must” outcomes that you work on throughout the year for all students, versus “nice to accomplish” outcomes that are secondary, not as important to accomplish, or not appropriate for every student.   And, finally, with a clear core mission and an understanding of its significance, impact, measures of success, and other factors, you will have a chance to concentrate on improving your ability to influence your students and put your mission into practice.   ------------------   In the best of all possible worlds, a teacher’s core outcomes coincide with the core mission of a school or district, so everyone is working together towards a common set of goals. Therefore it is important for a school or district to explicitly determine, share and work towards the implementation of its core mission. I work with a number of schools that are powerful because they have a strong core mission and teachers that work together to implement the core student outcomes.   So, if you an educational leader - a principal or superintendent, curriculum director – it is important for you to also go through the same set of questions. What is the school or district’s core mission for all its students, what is its significance, impact, outcomes in practice, and so on. Do all the various school and district constituencies know about and understand the core mission? Agree that the core mission is important and should guide teaching and learning? How should the core mission influence the policies and practices of the school or district? And how can you improve upon the implementation of the core mission and the assessment of the core mission’s success?    ------------------   In sum, a clear core mission focus can help you as a teacher or educational leader in many ways. It helps teachers to focus teaching and student learning on what you think is really important. It helps each teacher work on improving their skills over time to better assure that students are engaged, motivated, and assessed on core outcomes. It helps schools and districts make explicit what is important about teaching, learning, and education, and to build collaborative networks so that many teachers can work together on the same important outcomes.  And, in general, it makes teachers more passionate about their work and teaching much more meaningful, and promotes the type of learning that students need in order to be successful in a 21st century world.    Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in examining a central, core educational mission that prepares students to live in a 21st century world, along with related articles, readings, resources, weblinks, and blogs, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   Sun, 12 Aug 2012 13:57:16 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_What-is-your-core-mission/blog/6273307/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-08-12T13:57:16Z ASCD EDge In my work over the years with hundreds, perhaps thousands of teachers at all levels, one of my greatest surprises is how often I come across teachers who have difficulty articulating their primary, key, essential, core goals/outcomes for their students to achieve. I have also often found that principals and superintendents have trouble articulating the core outcomes for students at their school or in their district. This is surprising in light of the obvious need for teachers, schools and districts to be clear about what they want to accomplish with their students, why the outcomes are important, and how they will go about insuring that the expected learnings are met and measured. In some districts, due to No Child Left Behind, core outcomes are stated as having students do well on standardized tests, as opposed to core learning goals reflecting the needs of students in the new 21st century culture and environment!   It is my belief that, without a clear purpose for teaching and outcomes for learning, teaching is likely to drift, become diffuse, be difficult to assess, and even become ineffective. The strongest teachers often are passionate about their goals for students. They see themselves on a mission - to create a love of history, mathematics, or science; to help their students become the best mathematical problem solvers; to foster critical thinking; to open students’ minds to different perspectives; to build artistic talent; to create effective readers and writers; to spark creativity, and the like. These teachers not only have a core mission, but spend much of their time figuring out how to put their core teaching goals into practice and assure student learning and growth.   So, here’s the obvious implication - every teacher should have a core mission that drives his or her teaching and learning. Teachers at all levels, in all grades, and in all subjects, should be clear about their outcomes and expectancies for ALL their students.  If you are a teacher reading this commentary, here’s your chance to consider this important question -- What is your core mission?  While you may have many goals for your students, we start by asking you to identify ONE really important outcome that you expect all your students to grow towards and/or achieve while they are your students. Perhaps it is one major understanding that all your students should learn and be able to express. Or maybe it’s an important skill or skill set that every student in your class should improve. Or it might be a “habit of mind”, a “soft skill” that you would like all of your students to improve on and grow. Or it might be some combination of these. So -- what is one core outcome that is at the heart of your teaching and your student’s learning? Take a minute to jot it down somewhere. You might even consider doing this in a small group so that you can share the results!   Once you have identified this one core outcome, here are some sub-questions to examine and help you to make sure that you want to stick with it: Significance - What is the outcome’s significance? Is it a powerful goal, one that will make a significant difference in the lives of your students? Does the outcome help students to live in a rapidly changing 21st century world? Is it too specific? Too broad? If you can’t really justify it, go back and rethink it.  Impact - If your students accomplished or made progress on this outcome, what would be its impact? On the student? On his or her future? On the world outside of school?  Outcome in Practice - Can you operationalize it? Define it? Describe it in detail? Describe it in practice? Describe what it looks like when students make progress towards it?  “Get there”?  Measures of Success - How would you know if your students accomplished it? What would you look for? What kind of work would students produce? What observations of your students would suggest progress and success? Consider many sources of assessment – tests and quizzes, performances, checks for understanding, inquiry tasks, scientific investigations, observations of discussions, writing results, student self-reflections, results of projects, general student observations, or others. Making Progress - How will you know if students are making progress towards the outcome? What would you look for? What kinds of feedback would you give students to help them improve? Engagement and motivation –What are the key strategic actions you might take (or currently take) to foster success? How would you engage students in accomplishing your core mission? Motivate students to achieve it?  How would students be involved? What types of activities are best used to help students make progress and succeed?  Unique or Collaborative - Is this core mission unique to you, or is it also part of your school’s explicit mission? Your district’s explicit mission? Is it something that others in your school can help you to accomplish?  Do you and others work together to make this happen? Does it make sense for you to work together with others in your school or district so that all of you contribute to insuring that the core mission is met? New Approaches - What might you do differently to make sure that your core outcome is accomplished? What could you do to work with others to insure success? To share your core outcome with others? To learn how to better help your students make progress towards your mission?   Once you have completed this analysis, and thought carefully about this one core outcome and its implications for teaching and learning, you might want to identify several additional outcomes. While you don’t want to have too many core outcomes that make it impossible to be successful, many good teachers might have two or three that they work on all year with all their students. Or you might decide that you need different core outcomes for different classes. If you are moving from first grade to third grade, your core mission might change.    If you decide that you have additional outcomes as part of your core mission, go through the same process with them as you did with the first outcome, determining significance, impact, outcome in practice, etc. Another useful activity is to try to distinguish between core and ancillary outcomes.  You might want to distinguish between the “must” outcomes that you work on throughout the year for all students, versus “nice to accomplish” outcomes that are secondary, not as important to accomplish, or not appropriate for every student.   And, finally, with a clear core mission and an understanding of its significance, impact, measures of success, and other factors, you will have a chance to concentrate on improving your ability to influence your students and put your mission into practice.   ------------------   In the best of all possible worlds, a teacher’s core outcomes coincide with the core mission of a school or district, so everyone is working together towards a common set of goals. Therefore it is important for a school or district to explicitly determine, share and work towards the implementation of its core mission. I work with a number of schools that are powerful because they have a strong core mission and teachers that work together to implement the core student outcomes.   So, if you an educational leader - a principal or superintendent, curriculum director – it is important for you to also go through the same set of questions. What is the school or district’s core mission for all its students, what is its significance, impact, outcomes in practice, and so on. Do all the various school and district constituencies know about and understand the core mission? Agree that the core mission is important and should guide teaching and learning? How should the core mission influence the policies and practices of the school or district? And how can you improve upon the implementation of the core mission and the assessment of the core mission’s success?    ------------------   In sum, a clear core mission focus can help you as a teacher or educational leader in many ways. It helps teachers to focus teaching and student learning on what you think is really important. It helps each teacher work on improving their skills over time to better assure that students are engaged, motivated, and assessed on core outcomes. It helps schools and districts make explicit what is important about teaching, learning, and education, and to build collaborative networks so that many teachers can work together on the same important outcomes.  And, in general, it makes teachers more passionate about their work and teaching much more meaningful, and promotes the type of learning that students need in order to be successful in a 21st century world.    Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in examining a central, core educational mission that prepares students to live in a 21st century world, along with related articles, readings, resources, weblinks, and blogs, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org   nonadult false What is your core mission? text blog 1337 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 1 0 6273307 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-questions-that-will-improve-your-teaching-school-or-district/blog/6258749/127586.html How do we create a classroom and school program consistent with the needs of students in a 21st century world? How do we build strong educational programs that meet student needs in this new age of knowledge and data explosion, search engines, social media, technological progress, domestic and global uncertainty, new roles for citizens, and complex, changing jobs and careers? How do we develop programs that are relevant, motivating and customized to each student’s needs? Here are ten sets of questions to consider to help you assess your classroom, school or district, and to decide on what you might begin to do differently in the future.   1.   MISSION AND BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING Every classroom, school, and district should have a clear mission, learning goals and outcomes that derive from students’ educational needs in a 21st century world. Every teacher needs to identify the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes that he or she is trying to develop with students. A school or district should explicitly state its mission and be able to define, describe and operationalize its educational goals so that all staff members understand how they can contribute to achieving them. Questions to consider: Is my/our mission consistent with what students need to know, be able to do, and have the “habits of mind” that will enable them to live effectively in a 21st century world? Are the mission and learning goals coherent, clear, and measurable?    2. POSITIVE CULTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Many schools have created new and different cultures and organizational structures to support 21st century learning. These cultures and organizations often focus on promoting and emphasizing student success and growth rather than failure. They provide multiple enrichment activities and enable students to complete long-term projects. They break down disciplinary walls and encourage integrated, interdisciplinary learning. Students have multiple opportunities to connect their learning to real world experiences. Performance tasks, projects, multiple types of student work and portfolios are often the key avenues to judge success and progress.  Questions to consider: Does my/our organizational structure/school environment provide positive support for students and encourage their success and achievement? Does my/our organizational structure facilitate collaborative, coherent, 21st century learning? Break down the walls of separate learning compartments? Encourage the development of “seamless” learning environments? Build connections to the outside world? Support long term projects?    3. CURRICULUM Empirical evidence points to a coherent core curriculum as a key factor in high levels of student achievement[i]. Standards are often cited as important documents for improving curriculum and instruction, but it is actually the daily, weekly, monthly, yearly curriculum -- goals, questions, activities, assessments -- that, taken together over a long period of time, make a significant difference in how students are educated and their levels of success and achievement.  Questions to consider: Does the curriculum at every level support the development of key, core knowledge, understandings, skills, attitudes and values as defined by our mission? Am I/are we working with a coherent curriculum that stresses meaningful, understanding-based learning through all the content areas? Does my/our curriculum encourage interdisciplinary, integrated learning rather than rigidly organized separate subjects?   4. SKILL DEVELOPMENT Teachers and schools need to make careful, intentional decisions as to  which skills will be emphasized, taught and learned, and to what degree at what levels. I have stated elsewhere that I believe that there are five key skill sets that are important for students to learn in a 21st century world -- how to: Ask questions, define problems and challenges; Search for and process information and data; Think deeply and flexibly; Draw conclusions and apply learning; and Communicate effectively.  Schools with strong 21st century programs have defined their own key skill goals, such as the ability to develop concepts, inquire, conduct research, solve problems effectively, think critically and creatively, and communicate effectively. They make sure that students develop and grow critically identified skills over time, both within and across subjects.  Questions to consider: Am I/are we clear about which skills are important to develop in order to help students achieve success in a 21st century world. Am I/are we embedding the learning of identified skills into ongoing curricular and instructional practice? Do we work hard to improve the development of identified skills over time, both within classrooms and across grade levels?   5. ASSESSMENT Traditional exams, quizzes and standardized tests, with multiple choice-short answer questions, are the most frequent types of measures used to determine achievement, due to the No Child Left Behind law, past practices, and ease of implementation. Unfortunately, in a 21st century world, these types of assessments have limited ability to assess, among other things, student writing ability, communication coherence, research skills, problem finding and question asking, application of learning to new situations, scientific investigation skills, and creative thinking. Assessments more in line with 21st century achievement goals include performance tasks, research projects and papers, the results of creative thinking, and self-reflections, organized into collections of student work (portfolios) that provide evidence of understanding, skill development, and strengths and interests. Often these assessments together become culminating portfolios that are used to demonstrate the expected level of student work for graduation. Questions to consider: Do I/we assess students using multiple  types of assessments that go beyond traditional exams and quizzes, including written products, research results, science experiments, problem solving tasks, original creations, presentations, self-reflections, and authentic tasks? Does our school/district require students to develop collections of student work into portfolios, including a final, culminating portfolio of student work that is used to help determine individual achievement upon graduation?   6. INSTRUCTION Much instruction today is focused around discrete skill development, often in the form of worksheets; passive learning; recitation and lecture; coverage of content; and textbook driven learning. Some schools emphasize alternative forms of instruction better suited to learning key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world, such as concept based learning and thinking strategies; inquiry, research, problem and project based learning activities; creative problem solving activities, interactive, collaborate learning strategies; the use of understanding based notebooks; and application of learning strategies. The use of technology can enhance instruction, but only if it is used as a tool towards more efficient and effective mission based learning. Technology can easily get in the way of effective teaching and learning, such as when students use technology to fill out more sophisticated worksheets, or when technology increases the glitziness of a poor lecture. On the other hand, technology can be a powerful tool for improving the ability to inquire, for information searches, for improving writing, for simulations, for improving student presentations, or for increasing connections to the outside world.  Questions to consider: Is my/our instruction designed to facilitate the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does my/our learning enable students to “dig deeper” into their learning? Is my/our instruction interactive, engaging, and motivating? Does my/our instruction provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning to real world situations?  Is technology being used to enhance instruction that supports the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does technology improve my/our ability to reach powerful learning goals? Is technology used as a tool that fosters more active/interactive learning? Greater connections to the outside world? Deeper learning of subject matter? Project based learning?   7. STUDENT OPTIONS AND CHOICES The increasing variety and complexity of career, education, and leisure options and choices makes it increasingly important for students to discover and develop their interests, to broaden and reflect on their experiences, and to develop their talents and skills. In order to help students self-develop, grow, and understand themselves, the preK-12 educational program should give students the opportunity to choose areas of interest and enable them to practice using and growing their diverse talents. Teachers and schools should support student self-development through classroom choice, elective courses and programs, multiple enrichment activities, and support systems.  Questions to consider: Are my/our students provided with many choices and options during class and after school, or is the program rigid, standardized and required, with few extra-curricular options? Do many activities and programs exist in both individual classrooms and throughout the grade levels that help students discover, develop, and apply their talents and interests?    8. HELP AND SUPPORT Many students today live in a world of personal change and uncertainty. They often require help, support, counseling, mentoring, tutoring and other services to help them deal with the social, emotional and academic problems and challenges that they face. Questions to consider: Is student help and support available when needed? Do classrooms and schools have both professional and voluntary support personnel to handle the demands of student social, emotional and cognitive support needs?    9. OUTSIDE CONNECTIONS In this complex 21st century world that we live in, students need to see the connections between their schoolwork and the “real” world outside of school and classroom. Too frequently, the world of K-12 schools and the outside world are kept separate, divorced from each other. Many activities can help students make these connections, such as interviews with people with diverse job experiences, internships, field trips, visits to colleges and universities, authentic performance tasks, and service learning experiences.  Questions to consider: Are there many opportunities for students to make connections from their learning to the outside world, such as through internships, service-learning options, outside speakers, field trips, technological connections, and special programs? Are there many opportunities for students to apply their learning to authentic situations and tasks?    10. PROFESSIONAL GROWTH AND CHANGE   Too frequently, individual teachers, schools, and districts are not prepared to continually adapt educational programs and activities to a changing 21st century world. Sometimes changes are mandated that are not seen by staff as relevant or important, require too much time and effort to implement, or place additional burdens on an already overworked and crowded program. In too many instances, “This year’s new thing” replaces “last year’s new thing”. There is little continuity between new changes and previously developed programs and activities. And changes and adaptations are not developed out of a consensus on what problems need to be solved to increase learning and achievement and move classroom and school programs into the 21st century.  Questions to consider: Is continuous and meaningful professional growth part of my/our educational equation? Do I/my school or district frequently find and adapt new and meaningful ways to meet 21st century goals, enrich our students, teach meaningful content and skills? Do professional development programs arise out of the need to solve identified problems of teaching and learning and move our program forward into the 21st century?   ---------------------------   By providing you with sets of questions about these ten areas, I hope you will be able to better assess your current situation, either as an individual teacher or as a school or district leader. Your answers to these questions should help you reflect on the issues that promote student success and achievement. These questions may also be useful as a collaborative teacher, school or district exercise.  One simple method of analysis is to rate each of your answers on a scale from 1 to 4 (4 is the highest). Which answers indicate a high level? Which are low? What is your overall score? Does a simple scoring system help you to more easily analyze your strengths and challenges?  An analysis of the answers to these questions should help you to decide on what needs to be done to improve classroom, school or district programs. Does the school mission/classroom goals need to be more explicit and outcomes-based? Are there outcomes that need greater emphasis, such as innovative thinking, writing, reading for understanding, meaningful learning in all subjects? Do current beliefs about learning match the latest thinking and research about how children learn? Do I/we need to adapt the current classroom or school curricular structure to a 21st century world? Do I/we need to learn and implement new instructional strategies that will make a difference to learning and achievement? Do I/we need to provide students with more choices, options and connections to the outside world?  What’s working well? What needs change? Where can you begin both as an individual and/or as an organization to make key changes that will make a difference? If there a number of things you think need changing, don’t try to do it all – begin with what might make the most difference, what will be easiest to implement, what will work best. Be proactive! Small changes can often make a big difference. Think about the cumulative effect of changes over a long period of time.  You might want to examine multiple resources in areas that need work to help decide on what to do differently. In particular, the resources on my website, www.era3learning.org might be helpful. They include articles, readings, lists of excellent books and resources, links to websites, commentaries-blogs, and examples of model schools.   And remember what Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Have a good year!!!   [i] See Robert Marzano (2003) What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), pp. 22-34.  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining these questions that improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org How do we create a classroom and school program consistent with the needs of students in a 21st century world? How do we build strong educational programs that meet student needs in this new age of knowledge and data explosion, search engines, social media, technological progress, domestic and global uncertainty, new roles for citizens, and complex, changing jobs and careers? How do we develop programs that are relevant, motivating and customized to each student’s needs? Here are ten sets of questions to consider to help you assess your classroom, school or district, and to decide on what you might begin to do differently in the future.   1.   MISSION AND BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING Every classroom, school, and district should have a clear mission, learning goals and outcomes that derive from students’ educational needs in a 21st century world. Every teacher needs to identify the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes that he or she is trying to develop with students. A school or district should explicitly state its mission and be able to define, describe and operationalize its educational goals so that all staff members understand how they can contribute to achieving them. Questions to consider: Is my/our mission consistent with what students need to know, be able to do, and have the “habits of mind” that will enable them to live effectively in a 21st century world? Are the mission and learning goals coherent, clear, and measurable?    2. POSITIVE CULTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Many schools have created new and different cultures and organizational structures to support 21st century learning. These cultures and organizations often focus on promoting and emphasizing student success and growth rather than failure. They provide multiple enrichment activities and enable students to complete long-term projects. They break down disciplinary walls and encourage integrated, interdisciplinary learning. Students have multiple opportunities to connect their learning to real world experiences. Performance tasks, projects, multiple types of student work and portfolios are often the key avenues to judge success and progress.  Questions to consider: Does my/our organizational structure/school environment provide positive support for students and encourage their success and achievement? Does my/our organizational structure facilitate collaborative, coherent, 21st century learning? Break down the walls of separate learning compartments? Encourage the development of “seamless” learning environments? Build connections to the outside world? Support long term projects?    3. CURRICULUM Empirical evidence points to a coherent core curriculum as a key factor in high levels of student achievement[i]. Standards are often cited as important documents for improving curriculum and instruction, but it is actually the daily, weekly, monthly, yearly curriculum -- goals, questions, activities, assessments -- that, taken together over a long period of time, make a significant difference in how students are educated and their levels of success and achievement.  Questions to consider: Does the curriculum at every level support the development of key, core knowledge, understandings, skills, attitudes and values as defined by our mission? Am I/are we working with a coherent curriculum that stresses meaningful, understanding-based learning through all the content areas? Does my/our curriculum encourage interdisciplinary, integrated learning rather than rigidly organized separate subjects?   4. SKILL DEVELOPMENT Teachers and schools need to make careful, intentional decisions as to  which skills will be emphasized, taught and learned, and to what degree at what levels. I have stated elsewhere that I believe that there are five key skill sets that are important for students to learn in a 21st century world -- how to: Ask questions, define problems and challenges; Search for and process information and data; Think deeply and flexibly; Draw conclusions and apply learning; and Communicate effectively.  Schools with strong 21st century programs have defined their own key skill goals, such as the ability to develop concepts, inquire, conduct research, solve problems effectively, think critically and creatively, and communicate effectively. They make sure that students develop and grow critically identified skills over time, both within and across subjects.  Questions to consider: Am I/are we clear about which skills are important to develop in order to help students achieve success in a 21st century world. Am I/are we embedding the learning of identified skills into ongoing curricular and instructional practice? Do we work hard to improve the development of identified skills over time, both within classrooms and across grade levels?   5. ASSESSMENT Traditional exams, quizzes and standardized tests, with multiple choice-short answer questions, are the most frequent types of measures used to determine achievement, due to the No Child Left Behind law, past practices, and ease of implementation. Unfortunately, in a 21st century world, these types of assessments have limited ability to assess, among other things, student writing ability, communication coherence, research skills, problem finding and question asking, application of learning to new situations, scientific investigation skills, and creative thinking. Assessments more in line with 21st century achievement goals include performance tasks, research projects and papers, the results of creative thinking, and self-reflections, organized into collections of student work (portfolios) that provide evidence of understanding, skill development, and strengths and interests. Often these assessments together become culminating portfolios that are used to demonstrate the expected level of student work for graduation. Questions to consider: Do I/we assess students using multiple  types of assessments that go beyond traditional exams and quizzes, including written products, research results, science experiments, problem solving tasks, original creations, presentations, self-reflections, and authentic tasks? Does our school/district require students to develop collections of student work into portfolios, including a final, culminating portfolio of student work that is used to help determine individual achievement upon graduation?   6. INSTRUCTION Much instruction today is focused around discrete skill development, often in the form of worksheets; passive learning; recitation and lecture; coverage of content; and textbook driven learning. Some schools emphasize alternative forms of instruction better suited to learning key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world, such as concept based learning and thinking strategies; inquiry, research, problem and project based learning activities; creative problem solving activities, interactive, collaborate learning strategies; the use of understanding based notebooks; and application of learning strategies. The use of technology can enhance instruction, but only if it is used as a tool towards more efficient and effective mission based learning. Technology can easily get in the way of effective teaching and learning, such as when students use technology to fill out more sophisticated worksheets, or when technology increases the glitziness of a poor lecture. On the other hand, technology can be a powerful tool for improving the ability to inquire, for information searches, for improving writing, for simulations, for improving student presentations, or for increasing connections to the outside world.  Questions to consider: Is my/our instruction designed to facilitate the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does my/our learning enable students to “dig deeper” into their learning? Is my/our instruction interactive, engaging, and motivating? Does my/our instruction provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning to real world situations?  Is technology being used to enhance instruction that supports the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does technology improve my/our ability to reach powerful learning goals? Is technology used as a tool that fosters more active/interactive learning? Greater connections to the outside world? Deeper learning of subject matter? Project based learning?   7. STUDENT OPTIONS AND CHOICES The increasing variety and complexity of career, education, and leisure options and choices makes it increasingly important for students to discover and develop their interests, to broaden and reflect on their experiences, and to develop their talents and skills. In order to help students self-develop, grow, and understand themselves, the preK-12 educational program should give students the opportunity to choose areas of interest and enable them to practice using and growing their diverse talents. Teachers and schools should support student self-development through classroom choice, elective courses and programs, multiple enrichment activities, and support systems.  Questions to consider: Are my/our students provided with many choices and options during class and after school, or is the program rigid, standardized and required, with few extra-curricular options? Do many activities and programs exist in both individual classrooms and throughout the grade levels that help students discover, develop, and apply their talents and interests?    8. HELP AND SUPPORT Many students today live in a world of personal change and uncertainty. They often require help, support, counseling, mentoring, tutoring and other services to help them deal with the social, emotional and academic problems and challenges that they face. Questions to consider: Is student help and support available when needed? Do classrooms and schools have both professional and voluntary support personnel to handle the demands of student social, emotional and cognitive support needs?    9. OUTSIDE CONNECTIONS In this complex 21st century world that we live in, students need to see the connections between their schoolwork and the “real” world outside of school and classroom. Too frequently, the world of K-12 schools and the outside world are kept separate, divorced from each other. Many activities can help students make these connections, such as interviews with people with diverse job experiences, internships, field trips, visits to colleges and universities, authentic performance tasks, and service learning experiences.  Questions to consider: Are there many opportunities for students to make connections from their learning to the outside world, such as through internships, service-learning options, outside speakers, field trips, technological connections, and special programs? Are there many opportunities for students to apply their learning to authentic situations and tasks?    10. PROFESSIONAL GROWTH AND CHANGE   Too frequently, individual teachers, schools, and districts are not prepared to continually adapt educational programs and activities to a changing 21st century world. Sometimes changes are mandated that are not seen by staff as relevant or important, require too much time and effort to implement, or place additional burdens on an already overworked and crowded program. In too many instances, “This year’s new thing” replaces “last year’s new thing”. There is little continuity between new changes and previously developed programs and activities. And changes and adaptations are not developed out of a consensus on what problems need to be solved to increase learning and achievement and move classroom and school programs into the 21st century.  Questions to consider: Is continuous and meaningful professional growth part of my/our educational equation? Do I/my school or district frequently find and adapt new and meaningful ways to meet 21st century goals, enrich our students, teach meaningful content and skills? Do professional development programs arise out of the need to solve identified problems of teaching and learning and move our program forward into the 21st century?   ---------------------------   By providing you with sets of questions about these ten areas, I hope you will be able to better assess your current situation, either as an individual teacher or as a school or district leader. Your answers to these questions should help you reflect on the issues that promote student success and achievement. These questions may also be useful as a collaborative teacher, school or district exercise.  One simple method of analysis is to rate each of your answers on a scale from 1 to 4 (4 is the highest). Which answers indicate a high level? Which are low? What is your overall score? Does a simple scoring system help you to more easily analyze your strengths and challenges?  An analysis of the answers to these questions should help you to decide on what needs to be done to improve classroom, school or district programs. Does the school mission/classroom goals need to be more explicit and outcomes-based? Are there outcomes that need greater emphasis, such as innovative thinking, writing, reading for understanding, meaningful learning in all subjects? Do current beliefs about learning match the latest thinking and research about how children learn? Do I/we need to adapt the current classroom or school curricular structure to a 21st century world? Do I/we need to learn and implement new instructional strategies that will make a difference to learning and achievement? Do I/we need to provide students with more choices, options and connections to the outside world?  What’s working well? What needs change? Where can you begin both as an individual and/or as an organization to make key changes that will make a difference? If there a number of things you think need changing, don’t try to do it all – begin with what might make the most difference, what will be easiest to implement, what will work best. Be proactive! Small changes can often make a big difference. Think about the cumulative effect of changes over a long period of time.  You might want to examine multiple resources in areas that need work to help decide on what to do differently. In particular, the resources on my website, www.era3learning.org might be helpful. They include articles, readings, lists of excellent books and resources, links to websites, commentaries-blogs, and examples of model schools.   And remember what Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Have a good year!!!   [i] See Robert Marzano (2003) What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), pp. 22-34.  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining these questions that improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org Fri, 03 Aug 2012 16:09:35 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-questions-that-will-improve-your-teaching-school-or-district/blog/6258749/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-08-03T16:09:35Z ASCD EDge How do we create a classroom and school program consistent with the needs of students in a 21st century world? How do we build strong educational programs that meet student needs in this new age of knowledge and data explosion, search engines, social media, technological progress, domestic and global uncertainty, new roles for citizens, and complex, changing jobs and careers? How do we develop programs that are relevant, motivating and customized to each student’s needs? Here are ten sets of questions to consider to help you assess your classroom, school or district, and to decide on what you might begin to do differently in the future.   1.   MISSION AND BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING Every classroom, school, and district should have a clear mission, learning goals and outcomes that derive from students’ educational needs in a 21st century world. Every teacher needs to identify the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes that he or she is trying to develop with students. A school or district should explicitly state its mission and be able to define, describe and operationalize its educational goals so that all staff members understand how they can contribute to achieving them. Questions to consider: Is my/our mission consistent with what students need to know, be able to do, and have the “habits of mind” that will enable them to live effectively in a 21st century world? Are the mission and learning goals coherent, clear, and measurable?    2. POSITIVE CULTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Many schools have created new and different cultures and organizational structures to support 21st century learning. These cultures and organizations often focus on promoting and emphasizing student success and growth rather than failure. They provide multiple enrichment activities and enable students to complete long-term projects. They break down disciplinary walls and encourage integrated, interdisciplinary learning. Students have multiple opportunities to connect their learning to real world experiences. Performance tasks, projects, multiple types of student work and portfolios are often the key avenues to judge success and progress.  Questions to consider: Does my/our organizational structure/school environment provide positive support for students and encourage their success and achievement? Does my/our organizational structure facilitate collaborative, coherent, 21st century learning? Break down the walls of separate learning compartments? Encourage the development of “seamless” learning environments? Build connections to the outside world? Support long term projects?    3. CURRICULUM Empirical evidence points to a coherent core curriculum as a key factor in high levels of student achievement[i]. Standards are often cited as important documents for improving curriculum and instruction, but it is actually the daily, weekly, monthly, yearly curriculum -- goals, questions, activities, assessments -- that, taken together over a long period of time, make a significant difference in how students are educated and their levels of success and achievement.  Questions to consider: Does the curriculum at every level support the development of key, core knowledge, understandings, skills, attitudes and values as defined by our mission? Am I/are we working with a coherent curriculum that stresses meaningful, understanding-based learning through all the content areas? Does my/our curriculum encourage interdisciplinary, integrated learning rather than rigidly organized separate subjects?   4. SKILL DEVELOPMENT Teachers and schools need to make careful, intentional decisions as to  which skills will be emphasized, taught and learned, and to what degree at what levels. I have stated elsewhere that I believe that there are five key skill sets that are important for students to learn in a 21st century world -- how to: Ask questions, define problems and challenges; Search for and process information and data; Think deeply and flexibly; Draw conclusions and apply learning; and Communicate effectively.  Schools with strong 21st century programs have defined their own key skill goals, such as the ability to develop concepts, inquire, conduct research, solve problems effectively, think critically and creatively, and communicate effectively. They make sure that students develop and grow critically identified skills over time, both within and across subjects.  Questions to consider: Am I/are we clear about which skills are important to develop in order to help students achieve success in a 21st century world. Am I/are we embedding the learning of identified skills into ongoing curricular and instructional practice? Do we work hard to improve the development of identified skills over time, both within classrooms and across grade levels?   5. ASSESSMENT Traditional exams, quizzes and standardized tests, with multiple choice-short answer questions, are the most frequent types of measures used to determine achievement, due to the No Child Left Behind law, past practices, and ease of implementation. Unfortunately, in a 21st century world, these types of assessments have limited ability to assess, among other things, student writing ability, communication coherence, research skills, problem finding and question asking, application of learning to new situations, scientific investigation skills, and creative thinking. Assessments more in line with 21st century achievement goals include performance tasks, research projects and papers, the results of creative thinking, and self-reflections, organized into collections of student work (portfolios) that provide evidence of understanding, skill development, and strengths and interests. Often these assessments together become culminating portfolios that are used to demonstrate the expected level of student work for graduation. Questions to consider: Do I/we assess students using multiple  types of assessments that go beyond traditional exams and quizzes, including written products, research results, science experiments, problem solving tasks, original creations, presentations, self-reflections, and authentic tasks? Does our school/district require students to develop collections of student work into portfolios, including a final, culminating portfolio of student work that is used to help determine individual achievement upon graduation?   6. INSTRUCTION Much instruction today is focused around discrete skill development, often in the form of worksheets; passive learning; recitation and lecture; coverage of content; and textbook driven learning. Some schools emphasize alternative forms of instruction better suited to learning key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world, such as concept based learning and thinking strategies; inquiry, research, problem and project based learning activities; creative problem solving activities, interactive, collaborate learning strategies; the use of understanding based notebooks; and application of learning strategies. The use of technology can enhance instruction, but only if it is used as a tool towards more efficient and effective mission based learning. Technology can easily get in the way of effective teaching and learning, such as when students use technology to fill out more sophisticated worksheets, or when technology increases the glitziness of a poor lecture. On the other hand, technology can be a powerful tool for improving the ability to inquire, for information searches, for improving writing, for simulations, for improving student presentations, or for increasing connections to the outside world.  Questions to consider: Is my/our instruction designed to facilitate the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does my/our learning enable students to “dig deeper” into their learning? Is my/our instruction interactive, engaging, and motivating? Does my/our instruction provide students with the opportunity to apply their learning to real world situations?  Is technology being used to enhance instruction that supports the learning of key knowledge and skills for a 21st century world? Does technology improve my/our ability to reach powerful learning goals? Is technology used as a tool that fosters more active/interactive learning? Greater connections to the outside world? Deeper learning of subject matter? Project based learning?   7. STUDENT OPTIONS AND CHOICES The increasing variety and complexity of career, education, and leisure options and choices makes it increasingly important for students to discover and develop their interests, to broaden and reflect on their experiences, and to develop their talents and skills. In order to help students self-develop, grow, and understand themselves, the preK-12 educational program should give students the opportunity to choose areas of interest and enable them to practice using and growing their diverse talents. Teachers and schools should support student self-development through classroom choice, elective courses and programs, multiple enrichment activities, and support systems.  Questions to consider: Are my/our students provided with many choices and options during class and after school, or is the program rigid, standardized and required, with few extra-curricular options? Do many activities and programs exist in both individual classrooms and throughout the grade levels that help students discover, develop, and apply their talents and interests?    8. HELP AND SUPPORT Many students today live in a world of personal change and uncertainty. They often require help, support, counseling, mentoring, tutoring and other services to help them deal with the social, emotional and academic problems and challenges that they face. Questions to consider: Is student help and support available when needed? Do classrooms and schools have both professional and voluntary support personnel to handle the demands of student social, emotional and cognitive support needs?    9. OUTSIDE CONNECTIONS In this complex 21st century world that we live in, students need to see the connections between their schoolwork and the “real” world outside of school and classroom. Too frequently, the world of K-12 schools and the outside world are kept separate, divorced from each other. Many activities can help students make these connections, such as interviews with people with diverse job experiences, internships, field trips, visits to colleges and universities, authentic performance tasks, and service learning experiences.  Questions to consider: Are there many opportunities for students to make connections from their learning to the outside world, such as through internships, service-learning options, outside speakers, field trips, technological connections, and special programs? Are there many opportunities for students to apply their learning to authentic situations and tasks?    10. PROFESSIONAL GROWTH AND CHANGE   Too frequently, individual teachers, schools, and districts are not prepared to continually adapt educational programs and activities to a changing 21st century world. Sometimes changes are mandated that are not seen by staff as relevant or important, require too much time and effort to implement, or place additional burdens on an already overworked and crowded program. In too many instances, “This year’s new thing” replaces “last year’s new thing”. There is little continuity between new changes and previously developed programs and activities. And changes and adaptations are not developed out of a consensus on what problems need to be solved to increase learning and achievement and move classroom and school programs into the 21st century.  Questions to consider: Is continuous and meaningful professional growth part of my/our educational equation? Do I/my school or district frequently find and adapt new and meaningful ways to meet 21st century goals, enrich our students, teach meaningful content and skills? Do professional development programs arise out of the need to solve identified problems of teaching and learning and move our program forward into the 21st century?   ---------------------------   By providing you with sets of questions about these ten areas, I hope you will be able to better assess your current situation, either as an individual teacher or as a school or district leader. Your answers to these questions should help you reflect on the issues that promote student success and achievement. These questions may also be useful as a collaborative teacher, school or district exercise.  One simple method of analysis is to rate each of your answers on a scale from 1 to 4 (4 is the highest). Which answers indicate a high level? Which are low? What is your overall score? Does a simple scoring system help you to more easily analyze your strengths and challenges?  An analysis of the answers to these questions should help you to decide on what needs to be done to improve classroom, school or district programs. Does the school mission/classroom goals need to be more explicit and outcomes-based? Are there outcomes that need greater emphasis, such as innovative thinking, writing, reading for understanding, meaningful learning in all subjects? Do current beliefs about learning match the latest thinking and research about how children learn? Do I/we need to adapt the current classroom or school curricular structure to a 21st century world? Do I/we need to learn and implement new instructional strategies that will make a difference to learning and achievement? Do I/we need to provide students with more choices, options and connections to the outside world?  What’s working well? What needs change? Where can you begin both as an individual and/or as an organization to make key changes that will make a difference? If there a number of things you think need changing, don’t try to do it all – begin with what might make the most difference, what will be easiest to implement, what will work best. Be proactive! Small changes can often make a big difference. Think about the cumulative effect of changes over a long period of time.  You might want to examine multiple resources in areas that need work to help decide on what to do differently. In particular, the resources on my website, www.era3learning.org might be helpful. They include articles, readings, lists of excellent books and resources, links to websites, commentaries-blogs, and examples of model schools.   And remember what Albert Einstein said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Have a good year!!!   [i] See Robert Marzano (2003) What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), pp. 22-34.  Elliott Seif is a long time educator, Understanding by Design trainer, author, consultant, and former Professor of Education at Temple University. If you are interested in further examining these questions that improve teaching and learning, and help to prepare students to live in a 21st century world, go to his website at:  www.era3learning.org nonadult false Ten questions that will improve your teaching, school or district text blog 4271 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 1 0 6258749 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-Possibilities-for-Summer-Professional-Development/blog/6195613/127586.html Ongoing professional development is critical in today’s world, with its new technologies, new practices for teaching and learning, the need for students to learn new skills and the importance of continuous curriculum development and renewal.  As never before, all students need to be highly educated for college, career, and citizenship, and teachers need to continually improve on how they can help students get there.   Given the need for continuous improvement and lifelong professional growth, it is unfortunate that “summers off” is still thought of as sacrosanct in most school districts and by most teachers. Most school contracts still call for teachers to have the entire summer off. Extra pay incentives seem like the only way to get teachers to be part of a professional development program in the summer, but extra pay for summer work becomes less and less likely in today’s fiscal climate. Yet the summer is the only period of time during the year when teachers can explore new ideas, new approaches, and new practices without interruption.   In Philadelphia, where I live, many schools have serious problems, issues and challenges that require rethinking of teaching strategies, new approaches to motivating students to learn, and new ways to use technology. Yet the teachers’ contract calls for no professional development during the summer!   So I would like to call for a profound change in thinking about the summer, and hope that, sometime in the near future, as part of their regular contract, all teachers will agree to devote several weeks of professional development during the summer in order to help them to be better teachers during the school year. The several weeks need not be firmly fixed in time and place. Teachers might commit to two-three weeks of professional development during the summer and fulfill their commitment in many different ways.   Here are ten powerful ways that teachers might devote time in the summer in order to improve teaching and learning:   The entire staff works on one or more district goals. Let’s say that the district, in concert with its teachers, decides that improving thinking is a worthy district goal. Or in-depth learning in each subject area. Or project based learning. The entire staff then works together to find the best ways to develop the goal at all levels, to develop a plan for realistic implementation. Teach summer school using new approaches and strategies. When I was teaching middle school social studies, we had an experimental summer school for students who needed extra support. We team-taught, more experienced and less experienced teachers together, using literature, field experiences, everyday reflective writing, and project based learning to provide students with more motivating learning experiences to help them improve their learning. This “experimentation” helped to improve my teaching, supported young teachers, and led to new instructional approaches shared with many teachers. Examine student work. Teachers might spend time examining the work that students did during the school year, along with other teachers at the same grade level or who teach the same subjects. What were models of excellent student work? Poor student work? What fell in between? And how can you improve the level of student work? Bring new ideas back to the district. Interested in new curriculum design models? New instructional approaches? New ways to use technology? New ideas for urban schools? Some teachers might attend a variety of professional development sessions and be asked to present these new ideas to fellow teachers. The goal is not to provide all teachers with the level of professional development that they attended (an impossible task), but rather to briefly share the essential features of the new ideas and make a recommendation as to whether or not the district should pursue these ideas further. Redesign lessons and units from the past year. Improving on what was done in previous years is always challenging and worthwhile. Part of this redesign might be to use new lesson and unit design approaches, such as curriculum mapping and Understanding by Design, and lesson study.[i] Examine technology. Technology is always changing, and what is available as part of technology is always expanding. Finding new ways to use technology, new technology resources, and new technology approaches (such as “flipping”) is a useful summer exercise. Read and discuss books and articles, watch and discuss videos in small groups. There are a large number of wonderful books, articles, videos that can be examined and explored in small groups. There are many excellent education books, but some books can be selected that relate to a teacher’s discipline. For examples of books and articles that might be selected, see my website www.era3learning.org. Other websites, such as www.jaymctighe.com, also have examples of readings that might be used for professional development in small groups. Videos from “The Great Courses”, a company that records lectures from college professors in various fields of study, can be purchased at reasonable prices and shown to teachers in a specific discipline to update them in their subject areas. Take part in a curriculum renewal process. Summer is a good time to go through the stages of curriculum renewal: conducting research, formulating goals, reviewing a variety of curricula programs, evaluating the current curriculum. Some teachers might also examine a specific curriculum model, such as one that is developed through National standards[ii], or the P21 model[iii], for new curricular ideas. Hone in on one specific instructional strategy. Some teachers might want to examine a specific type of instructional strategy or program, such as graphic organizers, project or problem based learning, creative problem solving, History Day. The results might be shared with the rest of the faculty. View and discuss instructional videos from the previous year. Videos from volunteer teachers can be collected from the previous year. The videos can be analyzed by small groups of teachers for strengths, and suggestions made for improvement. Because volunteering for this might be considered “risky”, volunteers for this can be rewarded with extra pay incentives and special kudos from administrators.   These are just some ideas of activities that might be including in summer professional development.  Let’s hope that, sometime in the near future, summer professional development will be the norm, not the exception.   ---------------- (Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org) [i] Lesson study is a professional development process designed to systematically examine and improve teaching practice. Teachers work collaboratively on a small number of "study lessons" in order to plan, teach, observe, and critique the lessons. For more information, go to: http://www.lessonstudy.net/ [ii] For example, see A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Cocepts, and Core Ideas, available through the National Academies Press, at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165 [iii] For more information on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) model, go to: http://www.p21.org/     Ongoing professional development is critical in today’s world, with its new technologies, new practices for teaching and learning, the need for students to learn new skills and the importance of continuous curriculum development and renewal.  As never before, all students need to be highly educated for college, career, and citizenship, and teachers need to continually improve on how they can help students get there.   Given the need for continuous improvement and lifelong professional growth, it is unfortunate that “summers off” is still thought of as sacrosanct in most school districts and by most teachers. Most school contracts still call for teachers to have the entire summer off. Extra pay incentives seem like the only way to get teachers to be part of a professional development program in the summer, but extra pay for summer work becomes less and less likely in today’s fiscal climate. Yet the summer is the only period of time during the year when teachers can explore new ideas, new approaches, and new practices without interruption.   In Philadelphia, where I live, many schools have serious problems, issues and challenges that require rethinking of teaching strategies, new approaches to motivating students to learn, and new ways to use technology. Yet the teachers’ contract calls for no professional development during the summer!   So I would like to call for a profound change in thinking about the summer, and hope that, sometime in the near future, as part of their regular contract, all teachers will agree to devote several weeks of professional development during the summer in order to help them to be better teachers during the school year. The several weeks need not be firmly fixed in time and place. Teachers might commit to two-three weeks of professional development during the summer and fulfill their commitment in many different ways.   Here are ten powerful ways that teachers might devote time in the summer in order to improve teaching and learning:   The entire staff works on one or more district goals. Let’s say that the district, in concert with its teachers, decides that improving thinking is a worthy district goal. Or in-depth learning in each subject area. Or project based learning. The entire staff then works together to find the best ways to develop the goal at all levels, to develop a plan for realistic implementation. Teach summer school using new approaches and strategies. When I was teaching middle school social studies, we had an experimental summer school for students who needed extra support. We team-taught, more experienced and less experienced teachers together, using literature, field experiences, everyday reflective writing, and project based learning to provide students with more motivating learning experiences to help them improve their learning. This “experimentation” helped to improve my teaching, supported young teachers, and led to new instructional approaches shared with many teachers. Examine student work. Teachers might spend time examining the work that students did during the school year, along with other teachers at the same grade level or who teach the same subjects. What were models of excellent student work? Poor student work? What fell in between? And how can you improve the level of student work? Bring new ideas back to the district. Interested in new curriculum design models? New instructional approaches? New ways to use technology? New ideas for urban schools? Some teachers might attend a variety of professional development sessions and be asked to present these new ideas to fellow teachers. The goal is not to provide all teachers with the level of professional development that they attended (an impossible task), but rather to briefly share the essential features of the new ideas and make a recommendation as to whether or not the district should pursue these ideas further. Redesign lessons and units from the past year. Improving on what was done in previous years is always challenging and worthwhile. Part of this redesign might be to use new lesson and unit design approaches, such as curriculum mapping and Understanding by Design, and lesson study.[i] Examine technology. Technology is always changing, and what is available as part of technology is always expanding. Finding new ways to use technology, new technology resources, and new technology approaches (such as “flipping”) is a useful summer exercise. Read and discuss books and articles, watch and discuss videos in small groups. There are a large number of wonderful books, articles, videos that can be examined and explored in small groups. There are many excellent education books, but some books can be selected that relate to a teacher’s discipline. For examples of books and articles that might be selected, see my website www.era3learning.org. Other websites, such as www.jaymctighe.com, also have examples of readings that might be used for professional development in small groups. Videos from “The Great Courses”, a company that records lectures from college professors in various fields of study, can be purchased at reasonable prices and shown to teachers in a specific discipline to update them in their subject areas. Take part in a curriculum renewal process. Summer is a good time to go through the stages of curriculum renewal: conducting research, formulating goals, reviewing a variety of curricula programs, evaluating the current curriculum. Some teachers might also examine a specific curriculum model, such as one that is developed through National standards[ii], or the P21 model[iii], for new curricular ideas. Hone in on one specific instructional strategy. Some teachers might want to examine a specific type of instructional strategy or program, such as graphic organizers, project or problem based learning, creative problem solving, History Day. The results might be shared with the rest of the faculty. View and discuss instructional videos from the previous year. Videos from volunteer teachers can be collected from the previous year. The videos can be analyzed by small groups of teachers for strengths, and suggestions made for improvement. Because volunteering for this might be considered “risky”, volunteers for this can be rewarded with extra pay incentives and special kudos from administrators.   These are just some ideas of activities that might be including in summer professional development.  Let’s hope that, sometime in the near future, summer professional development will be the norm, not the exception.   ---------------- (Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org) [i] Lesson study is a professional development process designed to systematically examine and improve teaching practice. Teachers work collaboratively on a small number of "study lessons" in order to plan, teach, observe, and critique the lessons. For more information, go to: http://www.lessonstudy.net/ [ii] For example, see A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Cocepts, and Core Ideas, available through the National Academies Press, at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165 [iii] For more information on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) model, go to: http://www.p21.org/     Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:47:15 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Ten-Possibilities-for-Summer-Professional-Development/blog/6195613/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-06-27T16:47:15Z ASCD EDge Ongoing professional development is critical in today’s world, with its new technologies, new practices for teaching and learning, the need for students to learn new skills and the importance of continuous curriculum development and renewal.  As never before, all students need to be highly educated for college, career, and citizenship, and teachers need to continually improve on how they can help students get there.   Given the need for continuous improvement and lifelong professional growth, it is unfortunate that “summers off” is still thought of as sacrosanct in most school districts and by most teachers. Most school contracts still call for teachers to have the entire summer off. Extra pay incentives seem like the only way to get teachers to be part of a professional development program in the summer, but extra pay for summer work becomes less and less likely in today’s fiscal climate. Yet the summer is the only period of time during the year when teachers can explore new ideas, new approaches, and new practices without interruption.   In Philadelphia, where I live, many schools have serious problems, issues and challenges that require rethinking of teaching strategies, new approaches to motivating students to learn, and new ways to use technology. Yet the teachers’ contract calls for no professional development during the summer!   So I would like to call for a profound change in thinking about the summer, and hope that, sometime in the near future, as part of their regular contract, all teachers will agree to devote several weeks of professional development during the summer in order to help them to be better teachers during the school year. The several weeks need not be firmly fixed in time and place. Teachers might commit to two-three weeks of professional development during the summer and fulfill their commitment in many different ways.   Here are ten powerful ways that teachers might devote time in the summer in order to improve teaching and learning:   The entire staff works on one or more district goals. Let’s say that the district, in concert with its teachers, decides that improving thinking is a worthy district goal. Or in-depth learning in each subject area. Or project based learning. The entire staff then works together to find the best ways to develop the goal at all levels, to develop a plan for realistic implementation. Teach summer school using new approaches and strategies. When I was teaching middle school social studies, we had an experimental summer school for students who needed extra support. We team-taught, more experienced and less experienced teachers together, using literature, field experiences, everyday reflective writing, and project based learning to provide students with more motivating learning experiences to help them improve their learning. This “experimentation” helped to improve my teaching, supported young teachers, and led to new instructional approaches shared with many teachers. Examine student work. Teachers might spend time examining the work that students did during the school year, along with other teachers at the same grade level or who teach the same subjects. What were models of excellent student work? Poor student work? What fell in between? And how can you improve the level of student work? Bring new ideas back to the district. Interested in new curriculum design models? New instructional approaches? New ways to use technology? New ideas for urban schools? Some teachers might attend a variety of professional development sessions and be asked to present these new ideas to fellow teachers. The goal is not to provide all teachers with the level of professional development that they attended (an impossible task), but rather to briefly share the essential features of the new ideas and make a recommendation as to whether or not the district should pursue these ideas further. Redesign lessons and units from the past year. Improving on what was done in previous years is always challenging and worthwhile. Part of this redesign might be to use new lesson and unit design approaches, such as curriculum mapping and Understanding by Design, and lesson study.[i] Examine technology. Technology is always changing, and what is available as part of technology is always expanding. Finding new ways to use technology, new technology resources, and new technology approaches (such as “flipping”) is a useful summer exercise. Read and discuss books and articles, watch and discuss videos in small groups. There are a large number of wonderful books, articles, videos that can be examined and explored in small groups. There are many excellent education books, but some books can be selected that relate to a teacher’s discipline. For examples of books and articles that might be selected, see my website www.era3learning.org. Other websites, such as www.jaymctighe.com, also have examples of readings that might be used for professional development in small groups. Videos from “The Great Courses”, a company that records lectures from college professors in various fields of study, can be purchased at reasonable prices and shown to teachers in a specific discipline to update them in their subject areas. Take part in a curriculum renewal process. Summer is a good time to go through the stages of curriculum renewal: conducting research, formulating goals, reviewing a variety of curricula programs, evaluating the current curriculum. Some teachers might also examine a specific curriculum model, such as one that is developed through National standards[ii], or the P21 model[iii], for new curricular ideas. Hone in on one specific instructional strategy. Some teachers might want to examine a specific type of instructional strategy or program, such as graphic organizers, project or problem based learning, creative problem solving, History Day. The results might be shared with the rest of the faculty. View and discuss instructional videos from the previous year. Videos from volunteer teachers can be collected from the previous year. The videos can be analyzed by small groups of teachers for strengths, and suggestions made for improvement. Because volunteering for this might be considered “risky”, volunteers for this can be rewarded with extra pay incentives and special kudos from administrators.   These are just some ideas of activities that might be including in summer professional development.  Let’s hope that, sometime in the near future, summer professional development will be the norm, not the exception.   ---------------- (Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org) [i] Lesson study is a professional development process designed to systematically examine and improve teaching practice. Teachers work collaboratively on a small number of "study lessons" in order to plan, teach, observe, and critique the lessons. For more information, go to: http://www.lessonstudy.net/ [ii] For example, see A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Cocepts, and Core Ideas, available through the National Academies Press, at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165 [iii] For more information on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) model, go to: http://www.p21.org/     nonadult false Ten Possibilities for Summer Professional Development text blog 533 11 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6195613 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Four-Activities-To-Help-You-Become-a-Better-Teacher-and-Leader/blog/6174895/127586.html   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org --------------------------- Jim Collins is one of the best organizational development/leadership gurus, frequently writing about what makes organizations great.  His well-researched books about what it takes to become good and great organizations have a wealth of tips and strategies to help make all organizations great. All educators – superintendents, principals, teachers, even Board members-- can learn a lot from his most recent book Great By Choice[i]. Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen, compared seven businesses that are very successful with seven failed businesses in the same fields, in order to discover the reasons for success or failure. These included the Southwest Airlines (successful) and PSA (unsuccessful); bio-engineering companies Amgen (successful) and Genentech (unsuccessful); and insurance companies Progressive (successful) and Safeco (unsuccessful). This is a book well worth reading – here I will just summarize some of the major points, suggest how they might apply to schools and teachers, and also suggest four activities that educators might do to move teaching, schools, districts towards greatness over time. Surprisingly, Collins and Hansen did not find that successful businesses and their leaders are more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, blessed by luck, risk seeking, heroic, or prone to making big, bold moves (p. 18). What they did find is the following:   Great businesses have “level 5 ambition”  coupled with fanatic discipline.  The leaders and people in the highly successful businesses translate their high ambitions, egos, self-images, and intensity into creating “something larger and more enduring than themselves” (p. 31). Translated into educational terms, great educational leaders,  teachers, and organizations have lofty aims – to educate all children for success in a 21st century world, to make sure that every child can read well by the end of the year (first grade teacher), to prepare every child for citizenship in a democratic society (social studies department, district), and so on. But what helps to translate this high, “level 5” ambition into reality, what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful companies, is not their goals but their fanatic devotion to the implementation of their SMaC (Specific, Methodical, and Consistent) recipe –a set of “durable operating practices that create a replicable and consistent success formula” for implementing their goals. SMaC is the “operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics” (p. 128). In simple terms, the SMaC recipe are the key organizational “ingredients” that will get them to their goals. They also include “not to do” practices. Once established and understood, they are pursued with consistent, fanatic intensity and devotion over time. Changes to the recipe occur only when it is clear that the specific ingredient does not help lead to the implementation of goals. In the book, the authors include a number of examples of SMaC recipes from successful companies, well worth examining as models and samples.  Unfortunately, very few schools, districts and teachers develop clear, explicit outcomes and SMaC recipe ingredients that they consistently, day in and day out, devote their energies to implementing. One that does is High Tech High, a charter school in San Diego, California. The school has developed a clear set of goals and a SMaC recipe that it implements it with fanatic discipline built around four design principles – personalization, adult world connection, common intellectual mission, and teacher as designer. As the school says on its website: “The design principles permeate every aspect of life at High Tech High…”.    Another school with lofty goals and a SMaC recipe for success is Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school adheres to five core values – inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, reflection, and a set of specific ingredients to help get there, such as flexible schedules, the use of “Understanding by Design” as a planning tool, project and performance based learning in all classes, continuous professional development, authentic connections to outside resources and organizations, and a graduation capstone project focused around the five core values and a strong interest of the student.  My own thinking about a vision and a SMaC recipe for a 21st century world education focuses on three broad outcomes – preparation for lifelong, continuous learning; citizenship; and the development of each student’s interests and talents. The specific recipe for implementing these includes the development of a rigorous, meaningful curricula in all subjects, devotion to teaching five core skill sets; a focus on student work as a key assessment tool; continually assessing student growth and progress; teaching using interactive, project and problem based learning; customizing learning through many learning choices and options within and after school; creating service learning opportunities;  and applying learning to real life situations and contexts. I would also include: don’t pay much attention to standardized test results – they don’t really help you improve your school![ii]   Activity #1: becoming a level 5 ambition - SMaC recipe educator! What are you devoted to? What are the your key, enduring goals and learning outcomes that will make a significant difference in your students’ lives? What are the characteristics, qualities, and “ingredients” of your classroom, school, district that will help you to implement your goals? Together with others in your school or teaching teammates, create a set of high, far reaching goals and an SMaC recipe for yourself! If you lead a school, bring people together to create clear, explicit goals and ten specific qualities-features-characteristics that will promote excellence. If you are a teacher, bring together your co-teachers to develop a set of clear and explicit student learning outcomes and a SMaC recipe based on those outcomes. Commit to working on making these happen and improving how these occur in your school, district, or classroom over time. Great, highly successful businesses implement a “20 mile march” approach to success.  Successful companies discipline themselves to pursue their goals and core values-recipes for the long haul. Through good times and bad, they worked to make sure that their goals and recipes for success stayed in place, got better, improved. The focus on these goals and recipes were long term, and often stressed the discipline not only of learning how to deal with difficulties and downturns, but also of making sure that there was a gradual movement towards improvement. For example, these businesses did not “sprint” towards the finish line, but marched a mile at a time towards improvement and success.  Collins and Hansen use two attempts to be the first to reach the South Pole to illustrate the 20-mile march approach to success.. Both Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott began their trek to the South Pole at about the same time.  Amundsen adhered to a regimen of traveling 15-20 miles a day, in both good and bad weather. (sometimes not traveling if the weather was particularly bad). In other words, even on really good days, his team only went 17 miles in order to avoid exhaustion, and on bad days, they still tried to travel 15-20 miles unless the weather was extremely bad and made travel impossible. Scott, by contrast, would drive his team as far as they could go on good days, and complain about the weather on bad days. “According to Roland Huntford’s account in The Last Pace on Earth, Scott faced 6 days of gale-force winds and traveled on none, whereas Amundsen faced 15 and traveled on 8. Amundsen clocked in at the South Pole right on pace, having averaged 15.5 miles per day” (p. 82). It took Scott a month longer to reach the South Pole than Amundsen!  In educational terms, the 20-mile march analogy to highly successful schools and classrooms means that they don’t suddenly become great.  They work to get there slowly and gradually-- one step, one mile at a time. Sometimes they may be forced to move back one step, or to move forward more slowly, but then they resume their gradual march towards the finish line 20 miles down the road. The deeper the crisis, the more gradual they must move towards success.  They also don’t rush to get there fast, knowing that the mile sprint is a recipe for disaster.  For example, some years ago, a comprehensive inner city high school in Philadelphia, known for its chaotic school culture and climate, got a new principal. Over a period of several years, this principal gradually changed the culture of the school, creating a more positive and much less violent culture. The next step was to use this positive culture to improve learning and achievement among its students. Unfortunately, the district administrators did not understand the need for gradual improvements and the 20-mile march in order to reach achievement goals. They replaced the principal because the school wasn’t moving fast enough towards higher test scores! Needless to say, this considerably set back the school and its march towards success.  The KIPP (knowledge is Power Program) charter schools primarily operate in urban cities across the nation. KIPP has five pillars that are their “core set of operating principles”: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results (their SMaC recipe). What KIPP seems to also have is a commitment to the 20-mile march. KIPP schools are constantly working to improve what they do. They have annual conferences to share successful programs and approaches. In Philadelphia, where I live, the KIPP data are “transparent”, so as to allow everyone to see their results and to understand the challenges they are facing. One of the reasons KIPP has grown so large and successful is their 20-mile march approach to success.   Activity#2: Become a 20-mile march educator! Is your school-district-classroom on a 20-mile march towards improvement? Or does it operate with “sprints” towards the finish line? Do you constantly think about ways to get better results, and make small changes to help you get there? Or do you introduce big new ideas and approaches every year? Do you struggle to implement better teaching and learning through collaboration and sharing of good ideas, or each year introduce big staff development programs with whole new ways of teaching and learning? Is the curriculum improved through systematic curriculum renewal processes that regularly refine and improve the curriculum?  How can you plan for a 20-mile march towards your goals and learning outcomes? What steps can you take to make gradual, cumulative improvements? How can you learn more about what steps are appropriate over time? And how can you avoid getting sidetracked, giving in to the distractions that take you away from moving towards your goals.   Great businesses are empirically creative, first firing bullets, then cannonballs.  Another difference between businesses that failed and those that succeeded was that failed businesses tended to latch onto new ideas and immediately put them into practice without gaining evidence as to their promise or considering how to implement them with precision and accuracy. They often grew too quickly. They were too ambitious! For example, they often tried to implement too many new ideas at one time, or to implement an idea without taking into account the necessary organizational changes to make it work. They often took on too much debt by buying businesses that ultimately failed; put a new innovation on the market too quickly; expanded into other markets without the expertise to make it work. On the other hand, successful businesses, when they learned of a new idea, tended to pilot it; try it out in a number of settings to determine if it was workable, hold back until there was some data to support its promise, develop the internal organization to put it on the market successfully and with high quality. Successful businesses tended to try out (fire bullets) in a number of directions before deciding on one or more to “go big with” (fire cannonballs). They reduced the risk of implementing new ideas and made it more likely that they would be successful.  Unfortunately, educators often fire cannonballs without first firing bullets. “This year’s new thing” is often a common cry among teachers, and “this too shall pass” a common refrain. Instead of piloting a number of different programs and options, determining which seem to be successful in a particular setting, taking the time to implement it over a period of years until it’s done right, sticking with an innovation long enough to determine if it works or not, districts and schools often latch on to “This Year’s New Thing”, asking everyone to use it, even if it doesn’t fit into a teacher’s approach or even if a teacher has an already successful program, expecting its successful implementation in a short period of time, and then moving on to the next “This Year’s New Thing”.   Activity#3: Become a “firing bullets, then cannonball” innovator! Given your goals as a district, school, or teacher, what practical approaches are working for you? What results are you getting from your program? What’s out there that MIGHT improve student learning with the context of what you already do? (bullets to try). What are others doing that seems to be working? What might you (and others) pilot? How will you know if your pilot improves learning? What evidence would help you decide?  After pilots and trials, the collection of empirical data, what should you choose to “run with” (the cannonballs) and work on for a long period of time that you think will truly make a difference in outcomes? Great Businesses have “productive paranoia”. Imagine that you go to the beach on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. But, while you are enjoying lying in the sun, here’s what you are thinking: What if it gets cold? What if thunderstorms appear on the horizon? How will you handle these possibilities? Are you prepared?  Great businesses think this way. They have what Collins and Hansen call “productive paranoia”. They are always considering the negative possibilities, the risks and challenges that might occur, even in good times. They tend to keep more dollars in reserve, take fewer risks (at least risks that don’t have some empirical evidence to support the risk), prepare for down markets, consider all the negative things that might happen along the way, and take these into account as they attempt to move forward. They avoid moving in a direction that has too many possible negative outcomes, puts too much on the line, unless they are prepared for a negative result.  Similarly, great schools and teachers also worry about negative possibilities: what to do if some students are not learning using traditional methods; how to make sure students learn the really important skills; how to handle the negative effects of implementing a new and expensive innovation; what to do if the community decides not to support higher tax assessments; how to reduce the budget in good as well as bad times; how to make sure that schools, teachers, and students get what they need to improve learning. They don’t spend a lot of money on expensive ideas unless there is considerable evidence that they will pay off. They consider as many negative factors as they can when faced with a possible opportunity that seems too good to be true!   Activity#4: Become productively paranoic! What can go wrong? How can you prepare for it? Think about the things that can go wrong as an educator. How can you prepare to make sure that, if these things occur, they will minimally disrupt your school or classroom program? Conclusion  According to Collins and Hansen, what does it take to build a great, enduring organization? The answers are surprising. It takes a clear vision, clarity on the ingredients that will operationalize the vision, the discipline of a consistent march towards implementing the ingredients, trying out and testing many new ideas before implementing a few, and always looking over your shoulder at what might go wrong in order to be prepared for negative consequences and outcomes. It takes a slow and gradual accumulation of many successful actions, inputs, and activities to create successful organizations, schools, districts, and classrooms.  The four activities described above should help schools, districts and individual teachers and leaders take stock of their goals, daily operations, innovative approaches, and strategies for improvement that should help all to improve on what they do over time. Read the book Great by Choice and the other books by Jim Collins to find out even more ways to be better at what you do.   ENDNOTES [i] Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (2011), Great By choice. New York, NY: Harper Collins publishers. [ii]  For more information about these goals and recipe ingredients, go to:  www.era3learning.org     Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org --------------------------- Jim Collins is one of the best organizational development/leadership gurus, frequently writing about what makes organizations great.  His well-researched books about what it takes to become good and great organizations have a wealth of tips and strategies to help make all organizations great. All educators – superintendents, principals, teachers, even Board members-- can learn a lot from his most recent book Great By Choice[i]. Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen, compared seven businesses that are very successful with seven failed businesses in the same fields, in order to discover the reasons for success or failure. These included the Southwest Airlines (successful) and PSA (unsuccessful); bio-engineering companies Amgen (successful) and Genentech (unsuccessful); and insurance companies Progressive (successful) and Safeco (unsuccessful). This is a book well worth reading – here I will just summarize some of the major points, suggest how they might apply to schools and teachers, and also suggest four activities that educators might do to move teaching, schools, districts towards greatness over time. Surprisingly, Collins and Hansen did not find that successful businesses and their leaders are more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, blessed by luck, risk seeking, heroic, or prone to making big, bold moves (p. 18). What they did find is the following:   Great businesses have “level 5 ambition”  coupled with fanatic discipline.  The leaders and people in the highly successful businesses translate their high ambitions, egos, self-images, and intensity into creating “something larger and more enduring than themselves” (p. 31). Translated into educational terms, great educational leaders,  teachers, and organizations have lofty aims – to educate all children for success in a 21st century world, to make sure that every child can read well by the end of the year (first grade teacher), to prepare every child for citizenship in a democratic society (social studies department, district), and so on. But what helps to translate this high, “level 5” ambition into reality, what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful companies, is not their goals but their fanatic devotion to the implementation of their SMaC (Specific, Methodical, and Consistent) recipe –a set of “durable operating practices that create a replicable and consistent success formula” for implementing their goals. SMaC is the “operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics” (p. 128). In simple terms, the SMaC recipe are the key organizational “ingredients” that will get them to their goals. They also include “not to do” practices. Once established and understood, they are pursued with consistent, fanatic intensity and devotion over time. Changes to the recipe occur only when it is clear that the specific ingredient does not help lead to the implementation of goals. In the book, the authors include a number of examples of SMaC recipes from successful companies, well worth examining as models and samples.  Unfortunately, very few schools, districts and teachers develop clear, explicit outcomes and SMaC recipe ingredients that they consistently, day in and day out, devote their energies to implementing. One that does is High Tech High, a charter school in San Diego, California. The school has developed a clear set of goals and a SMaC recipe that it implements it with fanatic discipline built around four design principles – personalization, adult world connection, common intellectual mission, and teacher as designer. As the school says on its website: “The design principles permeate every aspect of life at High Tech High…”.    Another school with lofty goals and a SMaC recipe for success is Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school adheres to five core values – inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, reflection, and a set of specific ingredients to help get there, such as flexible schedules, the use of “Understanding by Design” as a planning tool, project and performance based learning in all classes, continuous professional development, authentic connections to outside resources and organizations, and a graduation capstone project focused around the five core values and a strong interest of the student.  My own thinking about a vision and a SMaC recipe for a 21st century world education focuses on three broad outcomes – preparation for lifelong, continuous learning; citizenship; and the development of each student’s interests and talents. The specific recipe for implementing these includes the development of a rigorous, meaningful curricula in all subjects, devotion to teaching five core skill sets; a focus on student work as a key assessment tool; continually assessing student growth and progress; teaching using interactive, project and problem based learning; customizing learning through many learning choices and options within and after school; creating service learning opportunities;  and applying learning to real life situations and contexts. I would also include: don’t pay much attention to standardized test results – they don’t really help you improve your school![ii]   Activity #1: becoming a level 5 ambition - SMaC recipe educator! What are you devoted to? What are the your key, enduring goals and learning outcomes that will make a significant difference in your students’ lives? What are the characteristics, qualities, and “ingredients” of your classroom, school, district that will help you to implement your goals? Together with others in your school or teaching teammates, create a set of high, far reaching goals and an SMaC recipe for yourself! If you lead a school, bring people together to create clear, explicit goals and ten specific qualities-features-characteristics that will promote excellence. If you are a teacher, bring together your co-teachers to develop a set of clear and explicit student learning outcomes and a SMaC recipe based on those outcomes. Commit to working on making these happen and improving how these occur in your school, district, or classroom over time. Great, highly successful businesses implement a “20 mile march” approach to success.  Successful companies discipline themselves to pursue their goals and core values-recipes for the long haul. Through good times and bad, they worked to make sure that their goals and recipes for success stayed in place, got better, improved. The focus on these goals and recipes were long term, and often stressed the discipline not only of learning how to deal with difficulties and downturns, but also of making sure that there was a gradual movement towards improvement. For example, these businesses did not “sprint” towards the finish line, but marched a mile at a time towards improvement and success.  Collins and Hansen use two attempts to be the first to reach the South Pole to illustrate the 20-mile march approach to success.. Both Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott began their trek to the South Pole at about the same time.  Amundsen adhered to a regimen of traveling 15-20 miles a day, in both good and bad weather. (sometimes not traveling if the weather was particularly bad). In other words, even on really good days, his team only went 17 miles in order to avoid exhaustion, and on bad days, they still tried to travel 15-20 miles unless the weather was extremely bad and made travel impossible. Scott, by contrast, would drive his team as far as they could go on good days, and complain about the weather on bad days. “According to Roland Huntford’s account in The Last Pace on Earth, Scott faced 6 days of gale-force winds and traveled on none, whereas Amundsen faced 15 and traveled on 8. Amundsen clocked in at the South Pole right on pace, having averaged 15.5 miles per day” (p. 82). It took Scott a month longer to reach the South Pole than Amundsen!  In educational terms, the 20-mile march analogy to highly successful schools and classrooms means that they don’t suddenly become great.  They work to get there slowly and gradually-- one step, one mile at a time. Sometimes they may be forced to move back one step, or to move forward more slowly, but then they resume their gradual march towards the finish line 20 miles down the road. The deeper the crisis, the more gradual they must move towards success.  They also don’t rush to get there fast, knowing that the mile sprint is a recipe for disaster.  For example, some years ago, a comprehensive inner city high school in Philadelphia, known for its chaotic school culture and climate, got a new principal. Over a period of several years, this principal gradually changed the culture of the school, creating a more positive and much less violent culture. The next step was to use this positive culture to improve learning and achievement among its students. Unfortunately, the district administrators did not understand the need for gradual improvements and the 20-mile march in order to reach achievement goals. They replaced the principal because the school wasn’t moving fast enough towards higher test scores! Needless to say, this considerably set back the school and its march towards success.  The KIPP (knowledge is Power Program) charter schools primarily operate in urban cities across the nation. KIPP has five pillars that are their “core set of operating principles”: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results (their SMaC recipe). What KIPP seems to also have is a commitment to the 20-mile march. KIPP schools are constantly working to improve what they do. They have annual conferences to share successful programs and approaches. In Philadelphia, where I live, the KIPP data are “transparent”, so as to allow everyone to see their results and to understand the challenges they are facing. One of the reasons KIPP has grown so large and successful is their 20-mile march approach to success.   Activity#2: Become a 20-mile march educator! Is your school-district-classroom on a 20-mile march towards improvement? Or does it operate with “sprints” towards the finish line? Do you constantly think about ways to get better results, and make small changes to help you get there? Or do you introduce big new ideas and approaches every year? Do you struggle to implement better teaching and learning through collaboration and sharing of good ideas, or each year introduce big staff development programs with whole new ways of teaching and learning? Is the curriculum improved through systematic curriculum renewal processes that regularly refine and improve the curriculum?  How can you plan for a 20-mile march towards your goals and learning outcomes? What steps can you take to make gradual, cumulative improvements? How can you learn more about what steps are appropriate over time? And how can you avoid getting sidetracked, giving in to the distractions that take you away from moving towards your goals.   Great businesses are empirically creative, first firing bullets, then cannonballs.  Another difference between businesses that failed and those that succeeded was that failed businesses tended to latch onto new ideas and immediately put them into practice without gaining evidence as to their promise or considering how to implement them with precision and accuracy. They often grew too quickly. They were too ambitious! For example, they often tried to implement too many new ideas at one time, or to implement an idea without taking into account the necessary organizational changes to make it work. They often took on too much debt by buying businesses that ultimately failed; put a new innovation on the market too quickly; expanded into other markets without the expertise to make it work. On the other hand, successful businesses, when they learned of a new idea, tended to pilot it; try it out in a number of settings to determine if it was workable, hold back until there was some data to support its promise, develop the internal organization to put it on the market successfully and with high quality. Successful businesses tended to try out (fire bullets) in a number of directions before deciding on one or more to “go big with” (fire cannonballs). They reduced the risk of implementing new ideas and made it more likely that they would be successful.  Unfortunately, educators often fire cannonballs without first firing bullets. “This year’s new thing” is often a common cry among teachers, and “this too shall pass” a common refrain. Instead of piloting a number of different programs and options, determining which seem to be successful in a particular setting, taking the time to implement it over a period of years until it’s done right, sticking with an innovation long enough to determine if it works or not, districts and schools often latch on to “This Year’s New Thing”, asking everyone to use it, even if it doesn’t fit into a teacher’s approach or even if a teacher has an already successful program, expecting its successful implementation in a short period of time, and then moving on to the next “This Year’s New Thing”.   Activity#3: Become a “firing bullets, then cannonball” innovator! Given your goals as a district, school, or teacher, what practical approaches are working for you? What results are you getting from your program? What’s out there that MIGHT improve student learning with the context of what you already do? (bullets to try). What are others doing that seems to be working? What might you (and others) pilot? How will you know if your pilot improves learning? What evidence would help you decide?  After pilots and trials, the collection of empirical data, what should you choose to “run with” (the cannonballs) and work on for a long period of time that you think will truly make a difference in outcomes? Great Businesses have “productive paranoia”. Imagine that you go to the beach on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. But, while you are enjoying lying in the sun, here’s what you are thinking: What if it gets cold? What if thunderstorms appear on the horizon? How will you handle these possibilities? Are you prepared?  Great businesses think this way. They have what Collins and Hansen call “productive paranoia”. They are always considering the negative possibilities, the risks and challenges that might occur, even in good times. They tend to keep more dollars in reserve, take fewer risks (at least risks that don’t have some empirical evidence to support the risk), prepare for down markets, consider all the negative things that might happen along the way, and take these into account as they attempt to move forward. They avoid moving in a direction that has too many possible negative outcomes, puts too much on the line, unless they are prepared for a negative result.  Similarly, great schools and teachers also worry about negative possibilities: what to do if some students are not learning using traditional methods; how to make sure students learn the really important skills; how to handle the negative effects of implementing a new and expensive innovation; what to do if the community decides not to support higher tax assessments; how to reduce the budget in good as well as bad times; how to make sure that schools, teachers, and students get what they need to improve learning. They don’t spend a lot of money on expensive ideas unless there is considerable evidence that they will pay off. They consider as many negative factors as they can when faced with a possible opportunity that seems too good to be true!   Activity#4: Become productively paranoic! What can go wrong? How can you prepare for it? Think about the things that can go wrong as an educator. How can you prepare to make sure that, if these things occur, they will minimally disrupt your school or classroom program? Conclusion  According to Collins and Hansen, what does it take to build a great, enduring organization? The answers are surprising. It takes a clear vision, clarity on the ingredients that will operationalize the vision, the discipline of a consistent march towards implementing the ingredients, trying out and testing many new ideas before implementing a few, and always looking over your shoulder at what might go wrong in order to be prepared for negative consequences and outcomes. It takes a slow and gradual accumulation of many successful actions, inputs, and activities to create successful organizations, schools, districts, and classrooms.  The four activities described above should help schools, districts and individual teachers and leaders take stock of their goals, daily operations, innovative approaches, and strategies for improvement that should help all to improve on what they do over time. Read the book Great by Choice and the other books by Jim Collins to find out even more ways to be better at what you do.   ENDNOTES [i] Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (2011), Great By choice. New York, NY: Harper Collins publishers. [ii]  For more information about these goals and recipe ingredients, go to:  www.era3learning.org   Sat, 16 Jun 2012 02:18:04 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Four-Activities-To-Help-You-Become-a-Better-Teacher-and-Leader/blog/6174895/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-06-16T02:18:04Z ASCD EDge   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org --------------------------- Jim Collins is one of the best organizational development/leadership gurus, frequently writing about what makes organizations great.  His well-researched books about what it takes to become good and great organizations have a wealth of tips and strategies to help make all organizations great. All educators – superintendents, principals, teachers, even Board members-- can learn a lot from his most recent book Great By Choice[i]. Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen, compared seven businesses that are very successful with seven failed businesses in the same fields, in order to discover the reasons for success or failure. These included the Southwest Airlines (successful) and PSA (unsuccessful); bio-engineering companies Amgen (successful) and Genentech (unsuccessful); and insurance companies Progressive (successful) and Safeco (unsuccessful). This is a book well worth reading – here I will just summarize some of the major points, suggest how they might apply to schools and teachers, and also suggest four activities that educators might do to move teaching, schools, districts towards greatness over time. Surprisingly, Collins and Hansen did not find that successful businesses and their leaders are more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, blessed by luck, risk seeking, heroic, or prone to making big, bold moves (p. 18). What they did find is the following:   Great businesses have “level 5 ambition”  coupled with fanatic discipline.  The leaders and people in the highly successful businesses translate their high ambitions, egos, self-images, and intensity into creating “something larger and more enduring than themselves” (p. 31). Translated into educational terms, great educational leaders,  teachers, and organizations have lofty aims – to educate all children for success in a 21st century world, to make sure that every child can read well by the end of the year (first grade teacher), to prepare every child for citizenship in a democratic society (social studies department, district), and so on. But what helps to translate this high, “level 5” ambition into reality, what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful companies, is not their goals but their fanatic devotion to the implementation of their SMaC (Specific, Methodical, and Consistent) recipe –a set of “durable operating practices that create a replicable and consistent success formula” for implementing their goals. SMaC is the “operating code for turning strategic concepts into reality, a set of practices more enduring than mere tactics” (p. 128). In simple terms, the SMaC recipe are the key organizational “ingredients” that will get them to their goals. They also include “not to do” practices. Once established and understood, they are pursued with consistent, fanatic intensity and devotion over time. Changes to the recipe occur only when it is clear that the specific ingredient does not help lead to the implementation of goals. In the book, the authors include a number of examples of SMaC recipes from successful companies, well worth examining as models and samples.  Unfortunately, very few schools, districts and teachers develop clear, explicit outcomes and SMaC recipe ingredients that they consistently, day in and day out, devote their energies to implementing. One that does is High Tech High, a charter school in San Diego, California. The school has developed a clear set of goals and a SMaC recipe that it implements it with fanatic discipline built around four design principles – personalization, adult world connection, common intellectual mission, and teacher as designer. As the school says on its website: “The design principles permeate every aspect of life at High Tech High…”.    Another school with lofty goals and a SMaC recipe for success is Science Leadership Academy, a public high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school adheres to five core values – inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, reflection, and a set of specific ingredients to help get there, such as flexible schedules, the use of “Understanding by Design” as a planning tool, project and performance based learning in all classes, continuous professional development, authentic connections to outside resources and organizations, and a graduation capstone project focused around the five core values and a strong interest of the student.  My own thinking about a vision and a SMaC recipe for a 21st century world education focuses on three broad outcomes – preparation for lifelong, continuous learning; citizenship; and the development of each student’s interests and talents. The specific recipe for implementing these includes the development of a rigorous, meaningful curricula in all subjects, devotion to teaching five core skill sets; a focus on student work as a key assessment tool; continually assessing student growth and progress; teaching using interactive, project and problem based learning; customizing learning through many learning choices and options within and after school; creating service learning opportunities;  and applying learning to real life situations and contexts. I would also include: don’t pay much attention to standardized test results – they don’t really help you improve your school![ii]   Activity #1: becoming a level 5 ambition - SMaC recipe educator! What are you devoted to? What are the your key, enduring goals and learning outcomes that will make a significant difference in your students’ lives? What are the characteristics, qualities, and “ingredients” of your classroom, school, district that will help you to implement your goals? Together with others in your school or teaching teammates, create a set of high, far reaching goals and an SMaC recipe for yourself! If you lead a school, bring people together to create clear, explicit goals and ten specific qualities-features-characteristics that will promote excellence. If you are a teacher, bring together your co-teachers to develop a set of clear and explicit student learning outcomes and a SMaC recipe based on those outcomes. Commit to working on making these happen and improving how these occur in your school, district, or classroom over time. Great, highly successful businesses implement a “20 mile march” approach to success.  Successful companies discipline themselves to pursue their goals and core values-recipes for the long haul. Through good times and bad, they worked to make sure that their goals and recipes for success stayed in place, got better, improved. The focus on these goals and recipes were long term, and often stressed the discipline not only of learning how to deal with difficulties and downturns, but also of making sure that there was a gradual movement towards improvement. For example, these businesses did not “sprint” towards the finish line, but marched a mile at a time towards improvement and success.  Collins and Hansen use two attempts to be the first to reach the South Pole to illustrate the 20-mile march approach to success.. Both Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott began their trek to the South Pole at about the same time.  Amundsen adhered to a regimen of traveling 15-20 miles a day, in both good and bad weather. (sometimes not traveling if the weather was particularly bad). In other words, even on really good days, his team only went 17 miles in order to avoid exhaustion, and on bad days, they still tried to travel 15-20 miles unless the weather was extremely bad and made travel impossible. Scott, by contrast, would drive his team as far as they could go on good days, and complain about the weather on bad days. “According to Roland Huntford’s account in The Last Pace on Earth, Scott faced 6 days of gale-force winds and traveled on none, whereas Amundsen faced 15 and traveled on 8. Amundsen clocked in at the South Pole right on pace, having averaged 15.5 miles per day” (p. 82). It took Scott a month longer to reach the South Pole than Amundsen!  In educational terms, the 20-mile march analogy to highly successful schools and classrooms means that they don’t suddenly become great.  They work to get there slowly and gradually-- one step, one mile at a time. Sometimes they may be forced to move back one step, or to move forward more slowly, but then they resume their gradual march towards the finish line 20 miles down the road. The deeper the crisis, the more gradual they must move towards success.  They also don’t rush to get there fast, knowing that the mile sprint is a recipe for disaster.  For example, some years ago, a comprehensive inner city high school in Philadelphia, known for its chaotic school culture and climate, got a new principal. Over a period of several years, this principal gradually changed the culture of the school, creating a more positive and much less violent culture. The next step was to use this positive culture to improve learning and achievement among its students. Unfortunately, the district administrators did not understand the need for gradual improvements and the 20-mile march in order to reach achievement goals. They replaced the principal because the school wasn’t moving fast enough towards higher test scores! Needless to say, this considerably set back the school and its march towards success.  The KIPP (knowledge is Power Program) charter schools primarily operate in urban cities across the nation. KIPP has five pillars that are their “core set of operating principles”: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results (their SMaC recipe). What KIPP seems to also have is a commitment to the 20-mile march. KIPP schools are constantly working to improve what they do. They have annual conferences to share successful programs and approaches. In Philadelphia, where I live, the KIPP data are “transparent”, so as to allow everyone to see their results and to understand the challenges they are facing. One of the reasons KIPP has grown so large and successful is their 20-mile march approach to success.   Activity#2: Become a 20-mile march educator! Is your school-district-classroom on a 20-mile march towards improvement? Or does it operate with “sprints” towards the finish line? Do you constantly think about ways to get better results, and make small changes to help you get there? Or do you introduce big new ideas and approaches every year? Do you struggle to implement better teaching and learning through collaboration and sharing of good ideas, or each year introduce big staff development programs with whole new ways of teaching and learning? Is the curriculum improved through systematic curriculum renewal processes that regularly refine and improve the curriculum?  How can you plan for a 20-mile march towards your goals and learning outcomes? What steps can you take to make gradual, cumulative improvements? How can you learn more about what steps are appropriate over time? And how can you avoid getting sidetracked, giving in to the distractions that take you away from moving towards your goals.   Great businesses are empirically creative, first firing bullets, then cannonballs.  Another difference between businesses that failed and those that succeeded was that failed businesses tended to latch onto new ideas and immediately put them into practice without gaining evidence as to their promise or considering how to implement them with precision and accuracy. They often grew too quickly. They were too ambitious! For example, they often tried to implement too many new ideas at one time, or to implement an idea without taking into account the necessary organizational changes to make it work. They often took on too much debt by buying businesses that ultimately failed; put a new innovation on the market too quickly; expanded into other markets without the expertise to make it work. On the other hand, successful businesses, when they learned of a new idea, tended to pilot it; try it out in a number of settings to determine if it was workable, hold back until there was some data to support its promise, develop the internal organization to put it on the market successfully and with high quality. Successful businesses tended to try out (fire bullets) in a number of directions before deciding on one or more to “go big with” (fire cannonballs). They reduced the risk of implementing new ideas and made it more likely that they would be successful.  Unfortunately, educators often fire cannonballs without first firing bullets. “This year’s new thing” is often a common cry among teachers, and “this too shall pass” a common refrain. Instead of piloting a number of different programs and options, determining which seem to be successful in a particular setting, taking the time to implement it over a period of years until it’s done right, sticking with an innovation long enough to determine if it works or not, districts and schools often latch on to “This Year’s New Thing”, asking everyone to use it, even if it doesn’t fit into a teacher’s approach or even if a teacher has an already successful program, expecting its successful implementation in a short period of time, and then moving on to the next “This Year’s New Thing”.   Activity#3: Become a “firing bullets, then cannonball” innovator! Given your goals as a district, school, or teacher, what practical approaches are working for you? What results are you getting from your program? What’s out there that MIGHT improve student learning with the context of what you already do? (bullets to try). What are others doing that seems to be working? What might you (and others) pilot? How will you know if your pilot improves learning? What evidence would help you decide?  After pilots and trials, the collection of empirical data, what should you choose to “run with” (the cannonballs) and work on for a long period of time that you think will truly make a difference in outcomes? Great Businesses have “productive paranoia”. Imagine that you go to the beach on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. But, while you are enjoying lying in the sun, here’s what you are thinking: What if it gets cold? What if thunderstorms appear on the horizon? How will you handle these possibilities? Are you prepared?  Great businesses think this way. They have what Collins and Hansen call “productive paranoia”. They are always considering the negative possibilities, the risks and challenges that might occur, even in good times. They tend to keep more dollars in reserve, take fewer risks (at least risks that don’t have some empirical evidence to support the risk), prepare for down markets, consider all the negative things that might happen along the way, and take these into account as they attempt to move forward. They avoid moving in a direction that has too many possible negative outcomes, puts too much on the line, unless they are prepared for a negative result.  Similarly, great schools and teachers also worry about negative possibilities: what to do if some students are not learning using traditional methods; how to make sure students learn the really important skills; how to handle the negative effects of implementing a new and expensive innovation; what to do if the community decides not to support higher tax assessments; how to reduce the budget in good as well as bad times; how to make sure that schools, teachers, and students get what they need to improve learning. They don’t spend a lot of money on expensive ideas unless there is considerable evidence that they will pay off. They consider as many negative factors as they can when faced with a possible opportunity that seems too good to be true!   Activity#4: Become productively paranoic! What can go wrong? How can you prepare for it? Think about the things that can go wrong as an educator. How can you prepare to make sure that, if these things occur, they will minimally disrupt your school or classroom program? Conclusion  According to Collins and Hansen, what does it take to build a great, enduring organization? The answers are surprising. It takes a clear vision, clarity on the ingredients that will operationalize the vision, the discipline of a consistent march towards implementing the ingredients, trying out and testing many new ideas before implementing a few, and always looking over your shoulder at what might go wrong in order to be prepared for negative consequences and outcomes. It takes a slow and gradual accumulation of many successful actions, inputs, and activities to create successful organizations, schools, districts, and classrooms.  The four activities described above should help schools, districts and individual teachers and leaders take stock of their goals, daily operations, innovative approaches, and strategies for improvement that should help all to improve on what they do over time. Read the book Great by Choice and the other books by Jim Collins to find out even more ways to be better at what you do.   ENDNOTES [i] Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen (2011), Great By choice. New York, NY: Harper Collins publishers. [ii]  For more information about these goals and recipe ingredients, go to:  www.era3learning.org   nonadult false Four Activities To Help You Become a Better Teacher and Leader… text blog 5300 11 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6174895 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305 http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-we-need-strong-science-programs-K-12/blog/6147483/127586.html Every so often, a columnist in a major newspaper or magazine writes an expose about the lack of American science/engineering majors. A good percentage of science and engineering majors in American graduate schools are from foreign countries, and the shortage of American scientists and engineers causes National angst and concern, especially since science and engineering jobs are usually well paying and a ticket to a good future in a knowledge and science based 21st century.   Most writers speculate that two key causes are the unwillingness of American students to put in the hard work that is required in these fields, and/or the lack of financial incentives for the best and brightest to go into these fields. While these may be important contributors, I think there is a more basic reason – the lack of interesting, motivating, interactive science-engineering curricula programs in many, if not most, early childhood-elementary school (and middle and high school) programs in America!   Here’s one example. My nephew, a bright and curious twelve year old, is in the fifth grade in a good school system just outside Los Angeles. I recently spoke to him about his science program. He has science classes just two times a week, each class for about 50 minutes. Most of the class time is spent with the teacher lecturing about science vocabulary (which he says is boring). Sometimes the class reads the textbook together. Once a month, students do some type of experiment that actively involves him in the learning process (he likes this when it happens).   My nephew had a limited grasp of the scientific method (he didn’t know what the term meant!), nor did he have a good grasp of science investigation and inquiry strategies. And, of course, there were no opportunities for him to encounter engineering challenges and problems (e.g. STEM programs[i]) that would integrate science, mathematics, and other disciplines through interdisciplinary problem solving.   This example of a “weak” science education experience is probably common to many, if not most students at the early childhood and elementary level. Instead of creating strong, hands-on/minds-on science education programs, much of the early childhood and elementary day is devoted to the usual priorities – reading, mathematics, and language arts. Why is this the case? There are probably a host of reasons for this situation, but a major one is that there are no incentives for schools or teachers to implement and support high quality, motivating science and engineering programs into our elementary and secondary schools.  The No Child Left Behind high stakes focus on reading and mathematics tests, and the limited budgets of many schools, have kept early childhood and elementary science programs to a minimum. Strong, interactive elementary programs, such as FOSS[ii] require funding to support the purchase and restocking of science kits, on-going teacher training, and frequent and reasonable amounts of  instructional time. Why bother implementing strong science and engineering programs when there are so few rewards and many downsides?   Secondary science programs also have their problems. Many middle and high school science teachers use textbooks to “cover” science material using traditional instructional methods, and limit lab opportunities because of the associated costs, and because the typical 48 minute schedules make it hard to have labs that require a significant amount of time to set up and complete experiments.   And forget engineering! While STEM programs are now frequently discussed in the education literature, it’s hard to find interdisciplinary, problem based engineering challenges as part of the actual curriculum at any level.   No wonder our students have so little interest in or love for science and engineering!   There are some obvious changes that could significantly improve this situation. Greater efforts can be made by individual schools and teachers to incorporate hands-on science activities that promote interest in science at an early age. For example, early childhood teachers can grow plants and have students determine which plants grow better in different light and soils. Animals and fish can be observed, compared, and classfied. The causes for changes in daily temperature readings and the seasons can be discussed. Weather maps can introduce children to how weather forecasts are determined. Inexpensive microscopes can be used so that children can enjoy microscopically examining leaves, plants, bugs and so on. Books can be read to students about science.   At the elementary level, special efforts can be made to purchase and regularly use curriculum materials that support interactive learning, experiments, and focused, sustained learning around key science concepts and scientific investigation over time. Key skills such as writing and reading for understanding can be incorporated into science study.   Secondary schools and teachers can make greater efforts to give priority to laboratory experiences, doing experiments, and the use of science classroom materials that promote interactive learning, scientific inquiry, conceptual understanding, problem based learning, and general interest in science and engineering.  In addition to (or instead of) separate courses in biology, chemistry and physics, a focus on exploring interdisciplinary science and engineering challenges should be encouraged[iii]. Scheduling changes, such as the introduction of block scheduling, can go a long way to supporting in-depth science learning,  laboratory experiences, and interdisciplinary problem-based learning.   Also, State and Federal incentives and funding should be used to encourage schools to make the implementation of strong K-12 science programs a priority goal. The  No Child Left Behind emphasis on reading, mathematics and standardized tests should be rethought and instead be used to support ways to promote successful science and engineering programs. Instead of spending so much Federal money on creating and implementing teacher evaluations and other similar programs, rigorous, motivating, hands-on science programs at early childhood and elementary levels, with commensurate professional development should be supported. Also, financial incentives that support the development and use of strong, motivating science lab experiences and interactive, inquiry and project based learning in secondary school science classrooms would be helpful. Success might be measured by how many schools improve science programs and science instruction, create greater interest in and more positive attitudes towards science, and increase student understanding of key science concepts and of the scientific method. Federal monies could also support and encourage schools to implement STEM programs at every level, sharing their programs with others through a National clearinghouse. This priority shift might also include the integration of reading, mathematics and writing concepts and skills into the science curriculum, strengthening these areas as well!   In sum, a key step towards motivating students to strongly consider science and engineering careers would be for schools and teachers to prioritize the need for interesting, interactive hands-on and minds-on science and engineering curricula at all levels. Exemplary science programs currently exist, but providing financial and other incentives that would enable schools to implement such programs could have a profound effect on their actual implementation.   How do we encourage more of our students to become interested in science and engineering careers? Let’s implement the curricula programs that will not only interest students in these fields, but cause them to love science and motivate them to want to do more of it. Let’s be sure that our science and engineering curricula prepare many more students for careers in science, and interest them in solving 21st century science and technology challenges. Let’s begin to put America on a better educational track and more students on a strong career path in a 21st century America.   --------------------   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org    ENDNOTES [i] STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs, generally thought of as problem-based learning around interesting,   interdisciplinary design challenges. [ii] FOSS (Full Options Science Program), developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science, is a K-8 science program that stresses active science learning through inquiry, investigation, and analysis. More information can be found about this program at http://lhsfoss.org/index.html [iii] For examples of the “grand challenges” of engineering today, go to the National Academy of Engineering website: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996.aspx Every so often, a columnist in a major newspaper or magazine writes an expose about the lack of American science/engineering majors. A good percentage of science and engineering majors in American graduate schools are from foreign countries, and the shortage of American scientists and engineers causes National angst and concern, especially since science and engineering jobs are usually well paying and a ticket to a good future in a knowledge and science based 21st century.   Most writers speculate that two key causes are the unwillingness of American students to put in the hard work that is required in these fields, and/or the lack of financial incentives for the best and brightest to go into these fields. While these may be important contributors, I think there is a more basic reason – the lack of interesting, motivating, interactive science-engineering curricula programs in many, if not most, early childhood-elementary school (and middle and high school) programs in America!   Here’s one example. My nephew, a bright and curious twelve year old, is in the fifth grade in a good school system just outside Los Angeles. I recently spoke to him about his science program. He has science classes just two times a week, each class for about 50 minutes. Most of the class time is spent with the teacher lecturing about science vocabulary (which he says is boring). Sometimes the class reads the textbook together. Once a month, students do some type of experiment that actively involves him in the learning process (he likes this when it happens).   My nephew had a limited grasp of the scientific method (he didn’t know what the term meant!), nor did he have a good grasp of science investigation and inquiry strategies. And, of course, there were no opportunities for him to encounter engineering challenges and problems (e.g. STEM programs[i]) that would integrate science, mathematics, and other disciplines through interdisciplinary problem solving.   This example of a “weak” science education experience is probably common to many, if not most students at the early childhood and elementary level. Instead of creating strong, hands-on/minds-on science education programs, much of the early childhood and elementary day is devoted to the usual priorities – reading, mathematics, and language arts. Why is this the case? There are probably a host of reasons for this situation, but a major one is that there are no incentives for schools or teachers to implement and support high quality, motivating science and engineering programs into our elementary and secondary schools.  The No Child Left Behind high stakes focus on reading and mathematics tests, and the limited budgets of many schools, have kept early childhood and elementary science programs to a minimum. Strong, interactive elementary programs, such as FOSS[ii] require funding to support the purchase and restocking of science kits, on-going teacher training, and frequent and reasonable amounts of  instructional time. Why bother implementing strong science and engineering programs when there are so few rewards and many downsides?   Secondary science programs also have their problems. Many middle and high school science teachers use textbooks to “cover” science material using traditional instructional methods, and limit lab opportunities because of the associated costs, and because the typical 48 minute schedules make it hard to have labs that require a significant amount of time to set up and complete experiments.   And forget engineering! While STEM programs are now frequently discussed in the education literature, it’s hard to find interdisciplinary, problem based engineering challenges as part of the actual curriculum at any level.   No wonder our students have so little interest in or love for science and engineering!   There are some obvious changes that could significantly improve this situation. Greater efforts can be made by individual schools and teachers to incorporate hands-on science activities that promote interest in science at an early age. For example, early childhood teachers can grow plants and have students determine which plants grow better in different light and soils. Animals and fish can be observed, compared, and classfied. The causes for changes in daily temperature readings and the seasons can be discussed. Weather maps can introduce children to how weather forecasts are determined. Inexpensive microscopes can be used so that children can enjoy microscopically examining leaves, plants, bugs and so on. Books can be read to students about science.   At the elementary level, special efforts can be made to purchase and regularly use curriculum materials that support interactive learning, experiments, and focused, sustained learning around key science concepts and scientific investigation over time. Key skills such as writing and reading for understanding can be incorporated into science study.   Secondary schools and teachers can make greater efforts to give priority to laboratory experiences, doing experiments, and the use of science classroom materials that promote interactive learning, scientific inquiry, conceptual understanding, problem based learning, and general interest in science and engineering.  In addition to (or instead of) separate courses in biology, chemistry and physics, a focus on exploring interdisciplinary science and engineering challenges should be encouraged[iii]. Scheduling changes, such as the introduction of block scheduling, can go a long way to supporting in-depth science learning,  laboratory experiences, and interdisciplinary problem-based learning.   Also, State and Federal incentives and funding should be used to encourage schools to make the implementation of strong K-12 science programs a priority goal. The  No Child Left Behind emphasis on reading, mathematics and standardized tests should be rethought and instead be used to support ways to promote successful science and engineering programs. Instead of spending so much Federal money on creating and implementing teacher evaluations and other similar programs, rigorous, motivating, hands-on science programs at early childhood and elementary levels, with commensurate professional development should be supported. Also, financial incentives that support the development and use of strong, motivating science lab experiences and interactive, inquiry and project based learning in secondary school science classrooms would be helpful. Success might be measured by how many schools improve science programs and science instruction, create greater interest in and more positive attitudes towards science, and increase student understanding of key science concepts and of the scientific method. Federal monies could also support and encourage schools to implement STEM programs at every level, sharing their programs with others through a National clearinghouse. This priority shift might also include the integration of reading, mathematics and writing concepts and skills into the science curriculum, strengthening these areas as well!   In sum, a key step towards motivating students to strongly consider science and engineering careers would be for schools and teachers to prioritize the need for interesting, interactive hands-on and minds-on science and engineering curricula at all levels. Exemplary science programs currently exist, but providing financial and other incentives that would enable schools to implement such programs could have a profound effect on their actual implementation.   How do we encourage more of our students to become interested in science and engineering careers? Let’s implement the curricula programs that will not only interest students in these fields, but cause them to love science and motivate them to want to do more of it. Let’s be sure that our science and engineering curricula prepare many more students for careers in science, and interest them in solving 21st century science and technology challenges. Let’s begin to put America on a better educational track and more students on a strong career path in a 21st century America.   --------------------   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org    ENDNOTES [i] STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs, generally thought of as problem-based learning around interesting,   interdisciplinary design challenges. [ii] FOSS (Full Options Science Program), developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science, is a K-8 science program that stresses active science learning through inquiry, investigation, and analysis. More information can be found about this program at http://lhsfoss.org/index.html [iii] For examples of the “grand challenges” of engineering today, go to the National Academy of Engineering website: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996.aspx Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:38:43 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-we-need-strong-science-programs-K-12/blog/6147483/127586.html Elliott_Seif 2012-06-05T23:38:43Z ASCD EDge Every so often, a columnist in a major newspaper or magazine writes an expose about the lack of American science/engineering majors. A good percentage of science and engineering majors in American graduate schools are from foreign countries, and the shortage of American scientists and engineers causes National angst and concern, especially since science and engineering jobs are usually well paying and a ticket to a good future in a knowledge and science based 21st century.   Most writers speculate that two key causes are the unwillingness of American students to put in the hard work that is required in these fields, and/or the lack of financial incentives for the best and brightest to go into these fields. While these may be important contributors, I think there is a more basic reason – the lack of interesting, motivating, interactive science-engineering curricula programs in many, if not most, early childhood-elementary school (and middle and high school) programs in America!   Here’s one example. My nephew, a bright and curious twelve year old, is in the fifth grade in a good school system just outside Los Angeles. I recently spoke to him about his science program. He has science classes just two times a week, each class for about 50 minutes. Most of the class time is spent with the teacher lecturing about science vocabulary (which he says is boring). Sometimes the class reads the textbook together. Once a month, students do some type of experiment that actively involves him in the learning process (he likes this when it happens).   My nephew had a limited grasp of the scientific method (he didn’t know what the term meant!), nor did he have a good grasp of science investigation and inquiry strategies. And, of course, there were no opportunities for him to encounter engineering challenges and problems (e.g. STEM programs[i]) that would integrate science, mathematics, and other disciplines through interdisciplinary problem solving.   This example of a “weak” science education experience is probably common to many, if not most students at the early childhood and elementary level. Instead of creating strong, hands-on/minds-on science education programs, much of the early childhood and elementary day is devoted to the usual priorities – reading, mathematics, and language arts. Why is this the case? There are probably a host of reasons for this situation, but a major one is that there are no incentives for schools or teachers to implement and support high quality, motivating science and engineering programs into our elementary and secondary schools.  The No Child Left Behind high stakes focus on reading and mathematics tests, and the limited budgets of many schools, have kept early childhood and elementary science programs to a minimum. Strong, interactive elementary programs, such as FOSS[ii] require funding to support the purchase and restocking of science kits, on-going teacher training, and frequent and reasonable amounts of  instructional time. Why bother implementing strong science and engineering programs when there are so few rewards and many downsides?   Secondary science programs also have their problems. Many middle and high school science teachers use textbooks to “cover” science material using traditional instructional methods, and limit lab opportunities because of the associated costs, and because the typical 48 minute schedules make it hard to have labs that require a significant amount of time to set up and complete experiments.   And forget engineering! While STEM programs are now frequently discussed in the education literature, it’s hard to find interdisciplinary, problem based engineering challenges as part of the actual curriculum at any level.   No wonder our students have so little interest in or love for science and engineering!   There are some obvious changes that could significantly improve this situation. Greater efforts can be made by individual schools and teachers to incorporate hands-on science activities that promote interest in science at an early age. For example, early childhood teachers can grow plants and have students determine which plants grow better in different light and soils. Animals and fish can be observed, compared, and classfied. The causes for changes in daily temperature readings and the seasons can be discussed. Weather maps can introduce children to how weather forecasts are determined. Inexpensive microscopes can be used so that children can enjoy microscopically examining leaves, plants, bugs and so on. Books can be read to students about science.   At the elementary level, special efforts can be made to purchase and regularly use curriculum materials that support interactive learning, experiments, and focused, sustained learning around key science concepts and scientific investigation over time. Key skills such as writing and reading for understanding can be incorporated into science study.   Secondary schools and teachers can make greater efforts to give priority to laboratory experiences, doing experiments, and the use of science classroom materials that promote interactive learning, scientific inquiry, conceptual understanding, problem based learning, and general interest in science and engineering.  In addition to (or instead of) separate courses in biology, chemistry and physics, a focus on exploring interdisciplinary science and engineering challenges should be encouraged[iii]. Scheduling changes, such as the introduction of block scheduling, can go a long way to supporting in-depth science learning,  laboratory experiences, and interdisciplinary problem-based learning.   Also, State and Federal incentives and funding should be used to encourage schools to make the implementation of strong K-12 science programs a priority goal. The  No Child Left Behind emphasis on reading, mathematics and standardized tests should be rethought and instead be used to support ways to promote successful science and engineering programs. Instead of spending so much Federal money on creating and implementing teacher evaluations and other similar programs, rigorous, motivating, hands-on science programs at early childhood and elementary levels, with commensurate professional development should be supported. Also, financial incentives that support the development and use of strong, motivating science lab experiences and interactive, inquiry and project based learning in secondary school science classrooms would be helpful. Success might be measured by how many schools improve science programs and science instruction, create greater interest in and more positive attitudes towards science, and increase student understanding of key science concepts and of the scientific method. Federal monies could also support and encourage schools to implement STEM programs at every level, sharing their programs with others through a National clearinghouse. This priority shift might also include the integration of reading, mathematics and writing concepts and skills into the science curriculum, strengthening these areas as well!   In sum, a key step towards motivating students to strongly consider science and engineering careers would be for schools and teachers to prioritize the need for interesting, interactive hands-on and minds-on science and engineering curricula at all levels. Exemplary science programs currently exist, but providing financial and other incentives that would enable schools to implement such programs could have a profound effect on their actual implementation.   How do we encourage more of our students to become interested in science and engineering careers? Let’s implement the curricula programs that will not only interest students in these fields, but cause them to love science and motivate them to want to do more of it. Let’s be sure that our science and engineering curricula prepare many more students for careers in science, and interest them in solving 21st century science and technology challenges. Let’s begin to put America on a better educational track and more students on a strong career path in a 21st century America.   --------------------   Elliott Seif is an educational consultant, author, member of the Understanding by Design cadre and the ASCD faculty, and a contributor to Educational Leadership. You can find this blog and others, along with numerous resources and weblinks that promote a forward looking, 21st century educational approach, at:  www.era3learning.org    ENDNOTES [i] STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs, generally thought of as problem-based learning around interesting,   interdisciplinary design challenges. [ii] FOSS (Full Options Science Program), developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science, is a K-8 science program that stresses active science learning through inquiry, investigation, and analysis. More information can be found about this program at http://lhsfoss.org/index.html [iii] For examples of the “grand challenges” of engineering today, go to the National Academy of Engineering website: http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996.aspx education, inquiry, learning, motivation, science, stem nonadult false Why we need strong science programs, K-12! text blog education,inquiry,learning,motivation,science,stem 623 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=20415209&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_13690899_127586_20415209_ap_160X120.jpg false United States PA Philadelphia 0 0 6147483 20415209 ASCD EDge Member 305