EduShyster notes the convergence of three happenings:
1. The New York Daily News breaks the story of KIPP’s “padded cell” for disruptive children. KIPP officials declare they will continue using the padded cell–actually, a closet with a window–as a “calming” space.
2. Simultaneously, the New York Times writes an editorial praising KIPP for its successful methods in educating black and Hispanic children.
3. A new study from researchers at MIT and other universities concludes that higher scores on standardized tests do not predict the development of “fluid” intelligence, the higher-order thinking needed for the thinkers and innovators of the future.
This is one of EduShyster’s most powerful posts. Humorous, of course, but containing valuable information.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I bet the NY Times editorial writers’ kids don’t go to schools with padded cells. Arne Duncan’s kids probably don’t either.
I’m still trying to track down the full study described here: In addition to Gabrieli and Finn, co-authors on the research include Matthew A. Kraft of Brown University, Martin R. West of Harvard University, Julia A. Leonard and Rebecca E. Martin of MIT, Crystal E. Bish of the National Center on Time & Learning, Margaret A. Sheridan of Children’s Hospital Boston, and Christopher F. O. Gabrieli of Harvard Unviersity and the National Center on Time & Learning. This research was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (to J.D.E and C.F.O Gabrieli) and the National Institute of Health (NRSA to A.S.F).
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article “Cognitive Skills, Student Achievement Tests, and Schools” and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Anna Mikulak at 202-293-9300 oramikulak@psychologicalscience.org.
A new study from researchers at MIT and other universities concludes that higher scores on standardized tests do not predict the development of “fluid” intelligence, the higher-order thinking needed for the thinkers and innovators of the future.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
Just shows that Kaplan, way back in the 50s, was right, one can study test taking strategies and study for taking the test and increase one’s scores. What does it mean? Only that the student increased achievement-ha ha-in his/her test taking abilities.
This person is with Education Next (Fordham Institute) and I am suspect of EVERYTHING that comes out of that place; saying they worked with Brown and MIT doesnt help much for credibility when it is funded by GATES….
Martin West is Associate Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,Deputy Director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Education Policy andGovernance, and Executive Editor of Education Next, a journal of opinion and research oneducation policy. His research examines the effects of education policy choices on student achievement and non-cognitive skills, as well as the politics of American education. His current projects include afederally-funded randomized trial of the use of interim assessment data to improve instructionand studies of the causal effect of grade retention on educational attainment, charter schoolimpacts on cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and the views of teachers and the general publicon education policy. West is currently on leave to work as Senior Education Policy Advisor to the ranking member ofthe Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He has also taught at BrownUniversity and served as a research fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution,where he is now a Non-resident Senior Fellow. A 1998 graduate of Williams College, hereceived his M.Phil. in Economic and Social History from Oxford University in 2000 and hisPh.D. in Government and Social Policy from Harvard in 2006. Please note that this outfit will turn everything into a positive for charter schools. Also, they are the ones who bring you headlines like “teachers are pricey” and they are proposing revisions of all pension plans across the states. Are these the same people you want to provide you with “educational research”????? When the article says “other universities” be careful …..
3. A new study from researchers at MIT and other universities concludes that higher scores on standardized tests do not predict the development of “fluid” intelligence, the higher-order thinking needed for the thinkers and innovators of the future.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
Anyone interested on my take on Harvard and its PEPG from a few years ago can find it here: http://nyceducator.com/2010/09/Ivy-league-union-busters-then-and-now.html
Sadly, nothing has changed.
Reblogged this on Roy F. McCampbell's Blog.
What disturbs me about KIPP, and a central tenant of the accountability movement, is equating rigor with pain. Dewey, on the other hand, equated rigor with interest and curiosity. The ideology of race to the top and no excuses approach to schooling promotes a school environment where children vanish before the eyes of adults and “calming rooms” are somehow justified. No one in our educational or policy elite have read Dewey or for that matter appear to know anything about child psychology. Children do not learn well in environments where they are fearful and where their diverse talents, interests, and abilities are not respected. I just completed reading a biography of Steve Jobs and conclude that if he attended a KIPP school he would have spent his entire elementary career in a “calming space.”
You’re assuming they don’t understand. I guess I’m more cynical – I’m pretty sure they do.
Dienne: I can’t say you’re wrong, but I often feel that many of the leading charterites/privatizers simply don’t care how OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN are made to not only suffer the loss of the joy of learning, but literally – just – plain – suffer.
THEIR OWN CHILDREN? Sheesh. Padded cells, time-out rooms, junior gulags — call them what you will, I have never heard of KIPP-style isolation chambers in schools like Harpeth Hall or Cranbrook or U of Chicago Lab Schools or Lakeside School and the like.
If there are, I would appreciate someone documenting such on this blog.
😎
“Calming Room”?
Isolating a child in solitary confinement in a padded cell is
considered “punitive” use of Applied Behavior Analysis and this method is therefore considered child “abuse”.
This method can cause permanent psychological damage, especially to sensitive children. Where are the state agencies that are supposed to protect children and monitor abuse? This sounds like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”! Are these teachers “deranged”?
What does this mean (taken from Mathematica’s report)? “However, they also found that KIPP students reported no discernible increase in attitudes associated with success, and had an increased incidence of self-reported undesirable behaviors, including losing their temper, arguing with or lying to their parents, or giving their teachers a hard time.”
this report for NAEP Governing Board stated “do not cite” without permission but I am ignoring that statement …. There is going to be hype about the Gates Funded Gabrieli study that Edshyster cites ….. quote from Martin West’s study (Education Next/FordhamInstitute) participant in the Gabrieli study cited by Edshyster:
“November 2013 Draft – Please do not cite or circulate without permission. Abstract
We used surveys to gather information on a broad set of non-cognitive traits from 1,368 8th- grade students attending Boston public schools and linked this information to administrative data on their demographics and test scores. Scales measuring students’ Conscientiousness, Self-control and Grit are positively correlated with test-score growth between 4th- and 8th- grade. Yet students who attend over-subscribed charter schools with higher test-score growth score lower, on average, on these scales than students attending district schools. Exploiting admissions lotteries, we replicate previous findings indicating positive impacts of charter school attendance on math achievement but find negative impacts on these non- cognitive traits. We provide suggestive evidence that this paradoxical result is an artifact of reference bias, or the tendency for survey responses to be influenced by social context. Our results therefore highlight the importance of improved measurement of non-cognitive traits in order to capitalize on their promise as a tool for informing education practice and policy.”
——————–end of quote that I cited against their requirement of no citations—–
Wondering why they don’t want citations? Could be they just wanted to hold back the information until the full blown publication (the one Edshyter refers to)….
I am certain that others will want to critique the study when it is fully available. I just am very skeptical of anything that is Gates funded and Gates supports this Education Next group to push charter schools and common core.
I have always been a “plugger” and read all the “plugger cartoons”…. does that mean I am high on their “Grit scale”????
If this study didnot prove out what they had hoped are they leaning to “reference bias”???? I could have told them that an operational definition of non-cognitive traits is still experimental and theoretical (and, by the way expensive to pursue) but they will continue to push their agenda with NAEP. I have written to David Driscoll about 3 times now — sure could use some help ….
jean in Massachusetts
Easy for middle/upper class adults to bash KIPP when they have education choices for their children. A bit tougher for lower class families who see no hope in their poorly performing local public school, and have to balance the argument ‘against KIPP’ regarding militaristic discipline and high stakes test taking with the argument ‘for KIPP’ regarding empirical studies documenting statistically significant increases in KIPP alumni college graduation rates.
Seems that some statistics trump other statistics, and college graduation rate is one that carries greater weight for many poor families considering sending their kids to KIPP.
40% 4-year college completion rate — KIPP alumni
10% 4-year college completion rate — Low-income average
http://www.kipp.org/results/college-completion-report/2012-alumni-data-update
KIPP does offer more hours of supervision with its longer school day. Many young students in traditional schools are home alone after school. Regular public school districts would benefit students by offering this option. I recognize that most districts don’t have the money to offer these after school options. I agree that kipp is attractive to many families.
It would be worthwhile to parse what programs inside KIPP support college completion. Have you read about KIPP Through College? This aspect of KIPP’s plan is actually a wonderful wrap-around service that all low-income kids would benefit from if it were offered to them. KIPP Through College is a one-to-one advising program where KIPP HS graduates’ academic and social-emotional health is monitored through-out their college experience. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? It is. It’s also expensive. And it is privately funded for KIPP. There’s no comparing it to a public school program because public schools can’t afford this service. While you use the word choice, others refer to it as the creation of a two-tier system. KIPP isn’t scalable. It will never serve the 1.1 million children in NYC, nor does KIPP serve the most vulnerable children: Special Education and Newcomer English learners.
Also, the KIPP Through College program is VERY different from the “no excuses” approach of their middle schools, schools that have high attrition rates, particularly for African American boys. If KIPP middle schools were able to produce the college completion rates you praise here, the org would never have needed to create KIPP Through College. Additionally, in your comment, you don’t analyze which KIPP kids are counted in their study of those who graduate from college…certainly not the 40% on some campuses who leave the middle schools before reaching 8th grade.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/04/06/27kipp_ep-2.h30.html
I don’t disagree with much of what you’ve said…
“It would be worthwhile to parse what programs inside KIPP support college completion.”
— Agree. With some humility, public schools could take note of what innovative programs KIPP and other charters employ to support college completion.
“It’s [KIPP Through College] also expensive. And it is privately funded for KIPP. There’s no comparing it to a public school program because public schools can’t afford this service. KIPP isn’t scalable”
— Perhaps, but perhaps not. If the national narrative changes and school districts stop spending billions on testing, technology gimmicks, low performing charters, high turnover alternative certification programs, etc. and redirect those funds to traditional public schooling, a lot more funds would be available. Additionally, public/private partnerships may be needed to fund additional programs like KIPP Through College that may not be fundable through public funds alone. I think public school traditionalists are often times obtuse as to the willingness of the private sector to partner with public schools on innovative programs, as long as the programs have a record of success and the participating private entities feel there is competent leadership to utilize the donated funds.
“Nor does KIPP serve the most vulnerable children: Special Education and Newcomer English learners.”
— This is innacurate. Fewer, not “none”.
“[KIPP] schools that have high attrition rates, particularly for African American boys.”
— Agree. KIPP is actively working to identify how to improve in this area. Those that do stay through high school graduation are better off academically than if they had stayed in their local public school, so this is a mixed bag issue. You’ve helped some get better education, but not all.
My original post was to offer perspective on the tough decision highly segregated, highly impoverished communities have when a charter like KIPP with proven track record of increasing college attendance/graduation rates comes knocking. It’s not a black or white decision for those who’ve been provided lousy public education for decades. And when parents are aware of student disruptive behavior issues in public schools (see Diane’s post by resigned high school math teacher Dr. Rossiter), they may be willing to accept a tougher discipline approach. KIPP is oft characterized as the “boogey man” coming to town on this blog, when not all poor communities see it as such.
Is anyone listening? Stop whining and challenge the scores http://savingstudents-caplee.blogspot.com/2013/12/accountability-with-honor-and-yes-we.html
NY Public schools have a policy of sending children of special needs to the ER when they act up but that is not newsowrthy to mrs ravitch…
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303949504579260450578734862
But a padded room at one individual charter is. I get it.
It’s the junior equivalent to stop and frisk!
Padded cells? That is another example of the Draconian methods that have resulted from Medieval thinking by school policy makers who do not recognize “punitive” as psychologically harmful to children. In fact, they seem to have difficulty recognizing the difference between “punitive” and “positive”, as well as difficulty empathizing with children’s suffering from these punitive methods. Using “punitive” methods in schools is modeling “bullying” behavior for children. As an elementary school counselor, pointing this out to school administrators has been an ongoing issue in my own school. After being unsuccessful getting school administrators to recognize their “punitive” methods and behaviors as psychologically harmful to children, I wrote a report for the senator who chairs the Texas Health & Human Services Committee. It will take state and national coalitions of mental health organizations to bring this children’s mental health crisis to awareness and get needed intervention:
Google: cloakinginequity.com Children Psyhologically Imprisoned? Nov 14