High Fidelity Teaching

High Fidelity Teaching: Fine-tuning for Engaging Learners in Mathematics

It's Math in Action time again! This year my presentation theme is High Fidelity Teaching: Fine-tuning for Engaging Learners in Mathematics and looks at Stereotype Threat and Mindset. The slide deck is at the bottom of this post. Here is a link to a Google Drive folder with resources:  http://bit.ly/MIA14-hft

We know engaging students with mathematics in the United States is difficult. According to Jo Boaler and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 50% of students are in 2 year colleges and 70% of those students are in remedial math classes, essentially repeating high school math. Only 1 in 10 complete those remedial math courses, the other 90% leave college.

We can't wait until college; we must engage students as early as possible!

How can we work to engage students at an early age with mathematics? My presentation addresses three topics that can help with "fine-tuning" instruction to impact student engagement:

1) Intentional teaching practices that work to develop positive mathematical dispositions, such as implementing the CCSS-M Standards for Mathematical Practice (developed from the NCTM Process Standards & Adding It Up--if you don't like the CCSS-M, use one of those sources);

2) Awareness and prevention of Stereotype Threat; and

3) Intentional teaching that promotes a Growth Mindset.

Click to view 

Keeping 3rd Graders Behind

(SEE UPDATES BELOW) In his Mlive article, Should third-grade students with reading trouble be held back? Take our poll, Brian Smith describes a proposal introduced on October 29, 2013 by Rep. Amanda Price, (R-District 89). The bill is now being considered by the education committee of the Michigan House of Representatives. House Bill 5111, creates a law that would prevent any student from enrolling in 4th grade who has not achieved a score of "proficient" on the 3rd grade Michigan reading assessment. This applies both to students currently enrolled in a public school or public school academy (charter school) as well as students new to that school. No exceptions.

This is an equity and social justice issue. Below, is the comment I posted in response:

Brian Smith--you've cited one study, I hope you will continue your research into this incredibly important issue. There are hundreds of studies that have been conducted on retention. Overall, they have found that retention is not an adequate solution, for example see this article in ASCD's, Education Leadership (March 2008) that analyzes the research literature on the subject of retention up to that date:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar08/vol65/num06/Grade-Retention.aspx

Not only do short-term gains quickly disappear, students who have been retained continue to struggle, have higher special education placements, are much more likely to drop out, and more than twice as likely to be minorities. The statistics show that "Black students are more than twice as likely to be held back as white students, and boys twice as likely as girls (National Center for Education Statistics, 2006)." The author concludes that "Although individual studies can be cited to support any conclusion, overall the preponderance of evidence argues that students who repeat a grade are no better off, and are sometimes worse off, than if they had been promoted with their classmates."

Other than for symbolic, political reasons, why would we do this to children when we know it doesn't adequately solve the problem? It seems to me that tax dollars that would be required to educate retained students for an additional year (that is, if they don't drop out first) would be much better spent on early interventions in Preschool to 3rd grade, where research has demonstrated it makes a real difference.

Research on early interventions/preschool:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/us/language-gap-study-bolsters-a-push-for-pre-k.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0  (Hat tip to @Kyle_Mayer1 Assistant Superintendent, Instructional Services, OAISD)

HighScope Perry Preschool longitudinal study

UPDATE 11-23-13: John Hattie's meta-analysis indicates a negative 'effect size' for retention of -0.16. Check out this graphic of 138 effect sizes that impact learning and student achievement, adapted from Hattie's (2009) Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement
Also, check out Hattie's 2012 book, Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning

UPDATE 12-4-13: Nancy Flanagan's blog post "The Third-Grade Crackdown Club".

UPDATE 1-20-14: Michigan lawmakers and educators continue to work on bill that would flunk 3rd graders via @MichiganRadio http://bit.ly/1e8Dclu

UPDATE 2-21-14: Oakland Schools blog post includes video with Dr. Joan Firestone: Intervention Beats Retention

Engaging Learning

Changing Paradigms: Engaging Students in New Learning Spaces & Contemporary Contexts

In our presentation at GVSU's Faculty Teaching and Learning Center's 19th Annual Fall Conference on Teaching and Learning, David Coffey and I explore the idea of engaging students in learning. Because engagement is an essential element for learning, we focus on three key questions:

What does engagement look like in our classes?

How do we support learners in engaging with our discipline?

What factors might interfere with learners' ability to engage?

Dave's part of the presentation addressed the first two key questions. Since he has blogged a number of times on engagement, I direct you to his previous blog posts, which can be accessed by clicking on this link.

I addressed the third key question, What factors might interfere with learners' ability to engage? You can find our PowerPoint presentation here, and also on FTLC Scholar Works website. I will provide links to resources throughout this post.

During fall semester 2012, I was teaching at GVSU as a visiting professor. I was teaching two math for elementary teachers courses (MTH 221 & MTH 222) and one remedial course, MTH 097, elementary algebra, for incoming freshman. The course for my doctoral program that semester, on diversity and social justice, started several weeks into the semester. Let me just say, I believe in serendipity.

I was surprised at the number of pre-service teachers in the math for elementary teachers classes who expressed their dislike for math, in fact some clearly had math anxiety. Even though I was challenging their paradigm for what it means to do, learn, and teach math, many were trying to engage with the learning. The students in the remedial algebra class, however, were down right hostile. Thankfully, in my grad class, I learned about several factors that were most likely contributing to what I was witnessing in my classes: stages of cognitive development, stereotype threat, and mindset.

The stages of cognitive development established by Piaget typically leave off at about age 12. In his seminal work during the 1960s, William Perry looked at the cognitive development of college students and identified additional stages that begin to develop around age 18. His stages distinguish students' attitudes toward knowledge (epistemology). The first stage in his scheme is defined as Dualism/Received Knowledge. Students in this stage exhibit dichotomous thinking, i.e., right or wrong, black or white, and are authority dependent.  Marcia Baxter Magolda (and others) have further refined Perry's work. This gave me some insight into my 097 students, but it was not sufficient.

Claude Steele's research on stereotype threat provided further insight. Stereotype threat is defined as the threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype, or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype. He documents his research and experience in his recent book, Whistling Vivaldi (you can also listen to an NPR podcast here). Anyone that is a member of a group for which negative stereotypes exist can be effected by stereotype threat. For example, minorities in all subject areas, women in math, and white men in sports. Minority women in math often experience double stereotype threat. My insights were expanding; my 097 class was predominantly minority women. Now I was really wishing I had known about these issues before the semester started.

That led me to the work of Carol Dweck on what she calls "mindset". People with a "fixed"mindset believe that their basic qualities, such as intelligence, are fixed and not malleable. On the other hand, people with a "growth" mindset, believe that those basic qualities, including intelligence, can be developed. Fortunately, a growth mindset can be taught and developed. Click here for an excellent graphic summarizing Dweck's mindset theory. Developing a growth mindset can help students (and adults) progress through the stages of cognitive development and significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the effects of stereotype threat. Carol Dweck's book Mindset is a must-read resource. You can listen to a brief interview of Carol Dweck here.

MindsetWorks.com and ReducingStereotypeThreat.org are excellent resources for those interested in learning more about these subjects.

I welcome your comments, shared experience, and suggestions. I will be writing more about all three of these topics in the next few weeks, so please check back for more.

MCTM 13 Playing with the Common Core

Wonderful, flexible participants!

This week I had the opportunity to revise my presentation "Playing with the Common Core", and present it at the Michigan Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference (MCTM) in Traverse City. One of those revisions was co-presenting with my husband and GVSU mathematics educator, David Coffey.

Other revisions included changing the schema activation, refining the focus on the Standards for Mathematical Practice from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, reducing the number of games during the activity, and adjusting the final organizing and integrating activity. And, since I just finished Thinking Collaborative's Adaptive Schools training, I added some things I learned about being a better facilitator.

Luckily, my worst fears--that no one would attend our session, the desks in the room would be the old fashioned slanted type, and that Dave would talk too long--did not come to pass. Instead, we planned for 30 participants and had 70+ in a room designed for about 32! We made some on-the-spot adjustments and were so thankful that our participants were all extremely flexible and understanding. I thank all of you again.

Here is the link to my Dropbox folder for this presentation. Directions for all three games are in the folder, as well as my PowerPoint slides, CCSSM Content Standards for K-2 and the CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice. Several of the game items used in the session are copyrighted and therefore are not in the folder. Links for additional games can be found in my original post Playing With the Common Core. If you have any questions about any of the games, please contact me directly via email.

Eye of the Beholder

Sandhill Cranes a few miles from my home

Not everyone gets as excited as I do in March and April when Sandhill Cranes and loons are migrating though West Michigan on their way north to their summer breeding grounds. For the past 20 years, at least one loon has stopped by for a week or so on Pettys Bayou near my home. A few days ago, my husband spotted a sizable flock of migrating Sandhill Cranes in a corn field nearby. I think they are beautiful birds and I'm fascinated by their prehistoric-sounding call. And, again, not everyone agrees with me.

You can't see the birds in the video below, but about halfway through, you can hear their call.

This got me thinking about the  "good teacher"/"bad teacher" discussions surrounding education reform. In particular, about the following quote: "Everyone knows a bad teacher." Each time I read it, I wonder, what exactly is a "bad teacher?"

The characteristics that define a "good teacher" or "bad teacher" are as subjective as those that define a "beautiful bird." However, I suspect that both definitions are in the eye of the beholder.

How do you define a "good teacher"? "bad teacher?"

4-3-11 Update: When You Have a Problem with a Mediocre Teacher . . . Hat tip to Terie Engelbrecht @mrsebiology -- Thank you!

The above article breaks down difficulties with problem teachers into three categories: committing an immoral act, insubordination, and incompetence. It makes sense to me as an educator. However, there seems to be a significant difference in how the general public makes these distinctions.

In today's local news, a high school teacher was arrested for an immoral act and placed on unpaid leave, yet a number of the comments from the public indicate some feel this doesn't make him a "bad teacher."

In another situation, a very competent teacher was considered a "bad teacher" by parents because the teacher held a student--their child--accountable for unacceptable behavior.

I don't have answers to this, but the disconnect is frustrating.