Teaching Values Won't Close the Achievement Gap

The lack of achievement is a major issue in schools. DeVos is not clear here, but what she implying is that the low test scores in both Math and Reading. However, this is not the term used in education - the more common term is called the Achievement Gap.

The Achievement Gap is the gap between the highest achieving kids and the lowest achieving kids. There are many MANY reasons why this occurs:

Schools: low expectations, lack of rigor, unsafe environment, poor or undemanding curriculum
Community: lack of healthcare or social services, lack of access to cultural or educational centers (museums/libraries), lack of childcare
Teachers: uncertified or inexperienced teachers, lack of cultural sensitivity, inadequate materials
Background: income level, health during mom's pregnancy, diet/nutrition, primary language skills
Student-related factors: interest in school, level of effort, responsibility in their learning.
Family support: time/abilities of parents or family members to help students

The NEA has studied the achievement gap has not identified values (or lack there-of) as a cause of the achievement gap. What she may be describing is creating a more kind/supportive school environment.

However, many schools already teach values - private religious schools teach the Bible which is filled with a framework of values. Public schools teach anti-bullying and tolerance through supplemented curriculum.

DeVos' claim that the teaching of values will, alone, improve the achievement gap, is ignorant. There are many many reasons that a child is falling behind that need to be addressed first.

Comments

Parent/Teacher Connection: Give Positive Reinforcement

Classroom management is all about learning how to work with a large of group of diverse children in an organized and controlled manner. Like parents, a teacher needs to get through tasks that may not entertain the child at all times (parents have to grocery shop/teachers have to teach long division). The activity may not be inherently interesting to the child and therefore, behavior can become an issue as they try to entertain themselves. One skill that a teacher employs is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is an action that occurs after a positive behavior is shown. For example, if a child raises his hand instead of blurting, he gets a reward. Or, if a child says "please" and "thank you", they are rewarded. It gives treats to good behavior and therefore increases that chances that the behavior is done again. The child wants the reward, so they repeat that good behavior. There are many ways to do this in the classroom and at home: Nonverb...

Where is the Respect?: 3 Reasons Teaching Is Not Taken Seriously

Teachers are seen as some kind of martyrs in society. There is this odd amount of condescending respect for teachers. Most conversations go like this: Person: What do you do? Teacher: I'm a teacher Person: Aw...that's awesome. How fun... But this is the disconnect. The public appreciates teachers but sees them as simplistic service workers who have fun jobs. They remember their own teachers and recall the basics of a school day and extrapolate from that. How could teaching be that hard, my own teacher barely did anything. And there comes the disrespect in society. Teachers suddenly become this overprivileged group that is mocked in the public sphere for being greedy or lazy or both. There are three reasons for this disconnect in society: 1. A Typical Teacher's Work Load is Not Understood Most people have attended school and had a teacher. They know that their teacher stood at the front of the room, had them read from books, assigned homework and gave grades. It ...

DeVos Tweets #2

The rhetoric of "freedom" for teachers comes from the ignorance of what Common Core & standards are. Parents & non-teachers see the number of tests the kids have to take mixed with talk of Common Core and create a sense of imprisonment for teacher's creativity. Testing : Students take standardized testing as a way to gauge progress. This is done for funding, marketing or a combination of the two. Some schools do it 3x's a year, some 2, some more. It depends on the school. Tests gauge either proficiency or growth, depending on the test and the school. Proficiency show how a student is doing against grade level (is a 5th grader reading at a 5th grade reading level?) or growth (is the child/class improving through a year - from a 3.1 level to a 4.1 or better?) Common Core : Common Core is a series of standards for what to teach at each grade level. It's a framework for the school year. It is not specific lessons or textbooks, but just age-...

Beyond the Classroom Doors

Search This Blog