I hope the day comes when I will never again type the four-letter word G-R-I-T.
But that day has not yet arrived.
Here is a meta-analysis of everything that scholars have written about grit. Yes, there actually is a “Grit Literature.”
Personally I prefer grits. But this is serious. The National Assessment of Educational Progress has been stampeded into assessing grit on national tests.
Surely there are now programs and consultants selling their advice about how to incorporate grit into school lessons.
So maybe you might want to look over the meta-analysis, so you can discuss grit in the faculty lounge or at home.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
ONE WORD: THIS IS NUTS! Grit? What new FAD is this? Did the yahoos see a TED Talks show about GRIT? I did and thought it was rather nuts.
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“The National Assessment of Educational Progress has been stampeded into assessing grit on national tests.”
Which shows the all-engulfing political nature of all standardized tests. Those tests purporting to be “objective and scientific” when in reality they are political beasts like most everything dealing with public education policies and practices. (Not to mention the inherent errors, falsehoods and psychometric, or is that psychometry, fudges that permeate all standards and testing regimes that render any results COMPLETELY INVALID.)
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Speaking of grit, everyone in Ohio should thank our local newspapers for providing oversight on ed reform:
“The latest revelations about Ohio’s controversy-ridden charter-school industry come as no surprise.
What is surprising, however, is the federal government’s continued support for a system that has become a national embarrassment.
But as we argued in an editorial last December, the administration of President Barack Obama has a responsibility to the taxpayers to ensure that the money will not be squandered in this failed experiment of an alternative to public education in Ohio.
Here’s what we said in the editorial:
“But before the Obama administration releases the $71 million, the largest single award, officials should answer this overarching question: Why aren’t the publicly funded but privately operated charters governed by the same statutory rules, regulations and oversight that apply to public schools?”
– See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2016/may/31/feds-must-rethink-funding-for-ohios-char/#sthash.yFkuBBAH.dpuf
They aren’t dropping it. I hope they keep it up when the Presidential candidates parachute into Ohio. Obama didn’t run on any of this, but Trump and Clinton won’t be able to avoid it.
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They will talk about ABC: Anything But Charters
This article in Campbell Brown’s “The 74” refers to New Orleans and the Tennessee Achievement School District as the success stories of reform.
https://www.the74million.org/article/persistently-struggling-lovely-warren-plans-to-rescue-the-distressed-schools-of-rochester
But readers of this blog and of Gary Rubinstein’s blog know that NOLA’s “success” is dubious, and the TN ASD is a failure. The ASD was supposed to lift the state’s lowest performing schools (the lowest 5%) into the top 25%. It hasn’t happened. Vanderbilt researchers found no significant improvement; the state’s own data found that the ASD schools were still in the bottom 5%. One made it to the bottom 6%
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“Surely there are now programs and consultants selling their advice about how to incorporate grit into school lessons.”
You can bet on it. When the self-esteem fad raced across the country like a wildfire back in the 1980s, an entire industry was born overnight churning out loads of material on how self esteem could be taught.
What a total scam and curse that was. Decades later studies confirmed that all that happened was that we now had almost an entire generation of extreme narcissists instead of well balanced young adults. In fact, The Donald is one of those extreme narcissists.
In fact, Psychology Today reported “Why is Narcissism Increasing Among Young Americans?”
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201401/why-is-narcissism-increasing-among-young-americans
The worse thing that might come of of the self-esteem movement is The Donald as president of the U.S.
What will GRIT create for the current generation of children? Will they all grow up to be no nonsense tyrants?
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OMG, Lloyd, my kids were in school when they started the “self-esteem” BS, including pulling kids out of regular classroom instruction to teach them “self-esteem.”
They sent home a questionnaire eventually for the parents, asking what we thought about the whole program.
Needless to say, I was not very flattering about it. I pointed out that, if children were learning, if they were challenged in the classroom and supported so they could learn from their mistakes and improve, they would naturally develop actual self-esteem. Not some airy “oh, you’re all great” stuff. Plus, taking away classroom time for this bilge was totally counter-productive.
Not to mention the fact that this whole thing was totally inappropriate for the kids I was teaching at the time- I’m talking severely and profoundly developmentally disabled and emotionally disturbed. We were too busy teaching them necessary tasks of daily living, communication skills, pre-work skills (where appropriate), and how to stop physically abusing themselves and others, etc.
I’m just glad I retired before the whole “standardize test all kids, including the severely disabled” mantra began.
And “grit”? My students showed plenty of “grit” just getting up in the morning and getting through the day. I just wish I had half as much “grit” as many of them had.
{{Sigh}}
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When I was still teaching years before I retired, at one staff meeting a VP told us to stop correcting student work with red ink because it might injure their self esteem. On the way home later that evening, I stopped and bought several boxes of red pens to make sure I wouldn’t run out.
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Perhaps those who tout the value of grit ought to explore what real grit is. Grit is what one finds on sandpaper. Grit is what helps chickens grind their food. Grit is what gets between ones toes, causing blisters when walking. It’s what gets into bathing suits and rubs into the cracks of our behind. Grit is truly a pain in the butt. Take these idiots to the beach. Fill their butt cracks and socks and shoes with sand. Let them see how long they endure the grit.
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Better yet, forget about the beach, and dump them inside a cement truck with a turning tank of ready wet cement so they can experience real grit in action before it is poured and hardens to a solid chunk of lifeless cement with them in it.
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Aside from the obvious definition of grit a geologist would use, this current use of the term reminds me of the “grit” that gets caught in your eye, and is an annoying and somewhat painful experience.
You want to get rid of it.
Fast.
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Gritology is the study of duck poop.
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“Mending Reform” (with apologies to Robert Frost, “Mending Wall’)
Something there is that doesn’t love Reform,
That sends the testing opt-out under it
And spoils the data-diddlers fun,
And makes data gaps even statistricksians can’t bridge.
The work of Diane Ravitch is another thing:
I have come after her and made repair
Where she has left not one stone unturned,
But she would have the billionaires out of hiding,
To please the yelping teachers . The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring testing-time we find them there.
I let my fellow school board member know beyond the school;
And on the school-board meeting day we meet to talk
And set Reform between us once again.
We keep Reform between us as we go.
To rescue the tests that have fallen to Opt-out.
And some test are bad and some so nearly criminal
We have to use lies and censorship to make them palatable
“Stay hidden until the parents’ backs are turned!”
We make our consciences guilty with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of political game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need Reform
Though I am all Chrome and he is all Apple
Neither Chromebooks nor iPads will ever be able to replace teachers
And give life-lessons like compassion and cooperation , I tell him.
He only says, “Good testing makes good schools.”
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why does it make good schools? Isn’t it
Where there are cash cows? But schools are not cash cows.
Before I supported Reform I’d ask to know
What I was favoring and throwing out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love Reform,
That wants it gone.” I could say “Diane Ravitch” to him,
But it’s not Diane Ravitch exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there,
Bringing a study by Raj Chetty
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind Arne Duncan’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, “Good testing makes good schools.”
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Excellent! This one captures the spirit of misguided reform. You should send to Obama and John King!
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Thanks, but unfortunately, Obama and King
move in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
They will not go behind Arne Duncan’s saying,
And they like having thought of it so well
They say again, “Good testing makes good schools.
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BTW, one of the things that never ceases to amaze me about Robert Frost’s poems is that they are so universal in their applicability.
…which makes them very easy to change like I did above.
In my opinion, that is one of the things that makes Frost such a master.
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😎
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” In aggregate our results suggest that interventions designed to enhance grit may only have weak effects on performance and success, that the construct validity of grit is in question, and that the primary utility of the grit construct may lie in the perseverance facet.” The abstract says it all. There is not much there there.
Never mind these conclusions. This word grit is a marketable brand, title of a book by Duckworth, also a TED talk, a subject of interest to business, especially when linked to the words performance, success, and utility.
The underlying ethic is this: Keep trying (whatever) and you will succeed. Get the right mindset, suck it up, etc. Grit is an easy way to address character education. You can see that Duckworth operates a Character Lab, develops products for teaching grit and the like.
I think that NAEP has been infected by too many buzz-word people, including some who were instrumental in marketing the common core. I think the gritty thingy in NAEP is parallel to the OECD interest in cultural, social, and emotional correlations with high test scores–the international tests that everyone is learning to hate. Some of the same folks who are pushing grit also push formal instruction in standards-based “social/emotional” learning, with grade specific tests. Check out the CASEL website.
Notice also how the term intervention has become an excuse to eliminate any discussion of the role of teachers, parents, and human beings in just about any matter related to education.
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What is most damaging about that meta-analysis is that it shows that the ‘science” of Gritology was founded on Duckworth’s gross misunderstandings.
“Another one bites the Grit (with apologies to Queen)
Angela walks down the street
With the brim pulled way down low
Ain’t no sound but the sound of her feet
A debunk ready to go
Are you ready? Hey are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway reality rips
To the sound of the beat
Another one bites the grit
Another one bites the grit
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the grit
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the grit
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dianeravitch
May 31, 2016 at 11:54 am
They will talk about ABC: Anything But Charters
This article in Campbell Brown’s “The 74” refers to New Orleans and the Tennessee Achievement School District as the success stories of reform.”
Which would be okay if we were also permitted to talk about the “failure stories” of reform, like Chicago, or the entire states of Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Is ed reform a success in Ohio? No, it’s not. Not by any measure- charter schools OR public schools.
Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania is a big area to carefully exclude. How do they get away with this? My God, it’s tens of millions of people.
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This is the “Third Way” of education the federal government just endorsed at a conference:
“Can education reform work? Can it deliver the goods in a meaningful way and make the lives of children appreciably better?
New Orleans embarked on the nation’s greatest education experiment in over a century after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. They reimagined the structure of their schools and replaced it with a system that is almost 100% public charter schools. The results…? Stunning. Better grades, higher scores, more graduates, clearer paths to college.
This report, authored by David Osborne—the father of Reinventing Government—explains what happened in New Orleans and how it could be a model for the rest of the nation.”
I mean, please. How is this different than what the Obama Administration has been pushing for 8 years?
It’s New Orleans. It’s a completely privatized system.
Why can’t they just sell this honestly? How about this approach? If the Best and the Brightest want to privatize US public schools, have the courage to RUN ON THAT.
Then we could have a public debate on WHETHER to privatize. Denying that this is the plan makes a debate impossible. If they want to plunk down New Orleans in every state in the country then just say so! Why is that so hard?
They just keep re-branding the same thing. They must think we’re absolute idiots.
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This is Angela Duckworth’s response to this researcher finding flaws in her analysis.
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/05/25/479172868/angela-duckworth-responds-to-a-new-critique-of-grit
“Here are the key claims in Crede’s paper:
Effect sizes in one of Duckworth’s major papers on grit were described incorrectly to sound misleadingly large.
The impact of grit is exaggerated, especially when looking at broader populations of people — not just the high achievers in Duckworth’s initial studies.
Grit is nearly identical to conscientiousness, which has been known to psychologists for decades as a major dimension of personality. It is not something that’s necessarily open to change, especially in adults, whereas Duckworth in her writings suggests that grit is.”
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If even Gates-funded NPR is throwing in the towel, you know things are looking bleak for Gritology.
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Here’s all you need to know. This one’s pretty simple.
Persistence can be very helpful. It should be encouraged, situationally. In context.
“Grit” is the de-contextualization of persistence — essentially stating that it is always a good thing — and serves to draw attention away from harmful policies, practices, and structures that could/should be challenged.
With grit, you can always blame the individual. That’s perfect for those in power, or once again, those who aren’t actually in the field of education/childcare. As Duane mentioned, this ends up functioning as a political tool for controlling students, teachers, and the entire population.
Since this is supposed to be a democratic society, we should unilaterally reject this idea.
Verdict = B.F.S. (Bad For Students/Society)
[Case Closed]
E.D.
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Perfectly said and all we need to know about this sudden focus upon “grit.” With grit, you can always blame the individual.
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My preschoolers have grit.Wonder where they got it…I don’t remember teaching it…
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They prolly got it in the sand box
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I think that they really mean compliance. What they call “grit” is really “compliance”. If you think about it those students that usually do well in your classroom are usually those that will comply to the teacher’s instruction and follows those instructions very well. The reformers want to call it “grit” because that won’t cause the out rage that they’d receive if they called it “compliance”. Everything that the reformers come up with is designed for everyone to be compliant about their education, job, and even live. They want us to just accept that they know what’s best for everyone, (can you say “Best Practice”), and that we are to comply. The testing, the Danielson rubric, and teacher evals are all geared around being compliant to their wishes. The only way to defeat this is to do what they did in the movie “War Games” is to not play the game. As long as we are compliant we are playing the “game”.
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Here is Duckworth’s response to Crede’s critique via Anya Kamenetz ::
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/05/25/479172868/angela-duckworth-responds-to-a-new-critique-of-grit
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Wait! Are the “reformers” now in charge of NAEP, too? My teeth are getting sore from being “grit!”
Marcia
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NAEP (David Driscoll) had this presentation on “grit” in 2013 … it is now going to be tested by NAEP … Please note the lead author is Marty West (Fordham Institute and Education Next). These are boards that are interlocking; you wash my back I’ll wash yours.
November 2013
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
*****************************************
They were trying to show that the kids in the charter schools in Boston were “grittier” (better; more deserving) … but they had really poorly constructed questionnaires (even though they claim validity for their measures)… This is personality theory (fuzzy concepts) with no sound measurements (no reliability or validity again which we already know about the experimental math and reading tests ). Using questionnaires with college students and then trying to rewrite them for junior high — they just totally don’t understand the development of our students and the identity issues and how you can gain any kinds of valid information from students of that age asking them to be self-reflective. So they pull out of the hat “self-reference” bias to explain their results. It will take me two posts to get the pdf site posted here. For those who have seen me post this for 3 years now, please forgive the redundancy. For those who are seriously wanting to study students of this age in Boston schools, Deborah Waber’s study and research at Boston Children’s Hospital is a much better resource.
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“Wait! Are the “reformers” now in charge of NAEP, too? My teeth are getting sore from being “grit!”” Marcia, this came out of Fordham Institute/Education Next (Petrilli, Marty West et al) and they tested thousands of kids in Boston using questionnaires (not appropriate for our students) based on the Duckworth “grit” theory… The people on the BOARD: David DRISCOLL…. — an interlocking directorate — so he marches right over to the NAEP Board to get “grit” more widely measured on NAEP…. There is a lot of overlap in these board members… Marty West was the one who wrote up the study on “grit” in Boston and you can get a PDF of his presentation to NAEP Governing Board if you want to see the results. The questionnaires were poor; then they drew conclusions about the students when they didn’t get the results they wanted and said the kids had “self reference bias” and were judging themselves incorrectly or “lying” or some other interpretation.
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source: https://www.nagb.org/content/nagb/assets/documents/what-we-do/quarterly-board-meeting-materials/2013-12/tab09-panel-presentation-assessing-learning-and-innovation-skills.pdf please note other authors cited including Gabrieli who is the one who got most of the national press on this work.
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http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2016/06/09-soft-skills-time-to-flit-the-grit-whitehurst
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