From John Merrow’s new book “Addicted to Reform”:
FRIENDS,
“I want to make it easier for courageous school boards and superintendents to take on the challenge of transforming their schools. For them, I have reduced my book’s 12-Step program to just NINE steps. Here’s my thinking: Because the country has become addicted to superficial ‘reform,’ it must, like all addicts, own the problem and face up to the costs of addiction. In my book, those are the first three Steps. However, school leaders do not need to look backwards and point fingers. Why not just ask their communities, “Do you think we can improve our schools?” That (rhetorical) question will elicit a chorus of yes, yes, and yes, which provides a license for moving ahead.
And so, in the interests of encouraging school leaders to grasp the nettle, here are the NINE steps, in brief. (However, if you are not school leaders, I must insist that you to stop reading right now and go buy the book!)
1. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Our schools and their dominant pedagogy are inappropriate for the twenty-first century and have to be replaced. But what will replace them? The answers become clear when we ask the right question about each and every child.
Remember, today’s schools have evolved into a sorting mechanism to identify and label children from a very young age. Even though tracking has long since fallen out of favor, many (perhaps most) schools have subtle, or not-so-subtle, tracking systems. By third or fourth grade most kids know, deep down, whether the system sees them as “winners” bound for college or “losers” headed somewhere else. Economics reinforces tracking as well. Because school characteristics are nearly always a function of a community’s wealth, some of our schools are decrepit to the point of being unsafe, which has the effect of “tracking” those students downward. Schools in wealthy communities have modern facilities, the most experienced teachers, the latest technology, and perhaps even climbing walls in the gym. That is the track for “winners.”
Essentially, our current system examines each child and demands to know, in a variety of ways, “How intelligent are you?” Standardized, machine-scored tests are the “objective” instruments most commonly used to determine the answer to what is, today, the wrong question.
A new system of schools must ask a different question about each child: “How are you intelligent?” That may strike you as a steep hill to climb, but it’s my version of the questions that caring parents, teachers, and other adults ask about individual children. They phrase it differently: “What is Susan interested in?” “What turns George on?” “What motivates Juan?” or “What does Sharese care about?” Or one can pay attention to young children at play to find out what makes them tick; as Yogi Berra may have said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” Every child has interests, and those can be tapped and nurtured in schools that are designed to provide opportunities for children to succeed as they pursue paths of their own choosing. Giving children agency over their own education—with appropriate guidance and supervision—will produce a generation that is better equipped to cope with today’s changing world.
Like most of the changes required to remake public education, this shift—close to a 180-degree change—will not be easy. Some policies, procedures, and attitudes will have to change, and people who refuse to adapt will have to be moved out. The current education system works on a medical model, diagnosing what’s “wrong” with children and then putting them in one ward or another for “treatment.” The approach I put forth in this book is, by contrast, a health model, identifying children’s strengths and interests and then developing a course of action that builds on those assets while also taking care to see that children master basic skills such as literacy and numeracy.
2. MAKE CONNECTIONS
“Only connect,” urges one of E.M. Forster’s central characters in his novel Howard’s End. Forster wasn’t writing about adolescents and children, but he could have been. Because most children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, making connections with them is essential. Children need nurturing and support, and when they don’t feel connected to their school and the adults therein, they will look elsewhere. As Erika Christakis notes in The Importance of Being Little, “It’s really very simple: young children need to know and to be known.” Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, adds, “When adults demonstrate that they care and that they believe in you, much is possible.” Carol Dweck makes similar points in Mindset: The New Psychology of Growth.
As a practical matter, this step calls for schools that are small enough so that every student can be well known to at least a couple of adults in the building. That’s the critical piece often missing in public education, where teachers are sometimes responsible for 150 or more students. As the late educator Ted Sizer said, “That’s not teaching; that’s crowd control.” Those conditions make it extremely difficult for caring adults to connect with all the needy children they come in contact with on a daily basis.
Of course, a small school doesn’t guarantee connecting, because what matters far more is a caring attitude and philosophy. Adults need to learn to see the world from kids’ level, from the ground up and not from the top down. There is good news: lots of schools and communities are embracing this idea. Today, it’s usually under the label of “social and emotional learning.” The modern roots of this approach are in the work of Dr. James Comer, M.D., whose Comer School Development Program pioneered the idea that schools must nurture first and teach second.
3. START EARLY
Connecting early by creating appealing programs for children of preschool age is the next step in the process of transforming the way our children go to school. Here I suggest we follow the model of President Dwight Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Ike did not build one set of highways for luxury cars and another for cheap ones but instead made sure that every interstate highway was wide, safe, and well-constructed, suitable for military vehicles and luxury cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns but, of course, open to Volkswagens and other less expensive cars.
The Interstate Highway System was justified and paid for as part of our national defense effort, and we might be wise to take a similar approach to early childhood education and daycare programs. After all, if we believe that our children are the future and that our nation will always require a strong defense, shouldn’t we invest early in protecting our future?
I chose the interstate highway model because the record in social programs, including early childhood programs, is clear: when government creates programs just for poor people, it nearly always results in poor programs. Government-funded programs for the disadvantaged, such as Head Start, seem to be constantly scrounging for funds; to reduce staff costs, they often hire people with minimum qualifications; and the hours spent FRIENDS,
“I want to make it easier for courageous school boards and superintendents to take on the challenge of transforming their schools. For them, I have reduced my book’s 12-Step program to just NINE steps. Here’s my thinking: Because the country has become addicted to superficial ‘reform,’ it must, like all addicts, own the problem and face up to the costs of addiction. In my book, those are the first three Steps. However, school leaders do not need to look backwards and point fingers. Why not just ask their communities, “Do you think we can improve our schools?” That (rhetorical) question will elicit a chorus of yes, yes, and yes, which provides a license for moving ahead.
And so, in the interests of encouraging school leaders to grasp the nettle, here are the NINE steps, in brief. (However, if you are not school leaders, I must insist that you to stop reading right now and go buy the book!)
1. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Our schools and their dominant pedagogy are inappropriate for the twenty-first century and have to be replaced. But what will replace them? The answers become clear when we ask the right question about each and every child.
Remember, today’s schools have evolved into a sorting mechanism to identify and label children from a very young age. Even though tracking has long since fallen out of favor, many (perhaps most) schools have subtle, or not-so-subtle, tracking systems. By third or fourth grade most kids know, deep down, whether the system sees them as “winners” bound for college or “losers” headed somewhere else. Economics reinforces tracking as well. Because school characteristics are nearly always a function of a community’s wealth, some of our schools are decrepit to the point of being unsafe, which has the effect of “tracking” those students downward. Schools in wealthy communities have modern facilities, the most experienced teachers, the latest technology, and perhaps even climbing walls in the gym. That is the track for “winners.”
Essentially, our current system examines each child and demands to know, in a variety of ways, “How intelligent are you?” Standardized, machine-scored tests are the “objective” instruments most commonly used to determine the answer to what is, today, the wrong question.
A new system of schools must ask a different question about each child: “How are you intelligent?” That may strike you as a steep hill to climb, but it’s my version of the questions that caring parents, teachers, and other adults ask about individual children. They phrase it differently: “What is Susan interested in?” “What turns George on?” “What motivates Juan?” or “What does Sharese care about?” Or one can pay attention to young children at play to find out what makes them tick; as Yogi Berra may have said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” Every child has interests, and those can be tapped and nurtured in schools that are designed to provide opportunities for children to succeed as they pursue paths of their own choosing. Giving children agency over their own education—with appropriate guidance and supervision—will produce a generation that is better equipped to cope with today’s changing world.
Like most of the changes required to remake public education, this shift—close to a 180-degree change—will not be easy. Some policies, procedures, and attitudes will have to change, and people who refuse to adapt will have to be moved out. The current education system works on a medical model, diagnosing what’s “wrong” with children and then putting them in one ward or another for “treatment.” The approach I put forth in this book is, by contrast, a health model, identifying children’s strengths and interests and then developing a course of action that builds on those assets while also taking care to see that children master basic skills such as literacy and numeracy.
2. MAKE CONNECTIONS
“Only connect,” urges one of E.M. Forster’s central characters in his novel Howard’s End. Forster wasn’t writing about adolescents and children, but he could have been. Because most children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, making connections with them is essential. Children need nurturing and support, and when they don’t feel connected to their school and the adults therein, they will look elsewhere. As Erika Christakis notes in The Importance of Being Little, “It’s really very simple: young children need to know and to be known.” Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, adds, “When adults demonstrate that they care and that they believe in you, much is possible.” Carol Dweck makes similar points in Mindset: The New Psychology of Growth.
As a practical matter, this step calls for schools that are small enough so that every student can be well known to at least a couple of adults in the building. That’s the critical piece often missing in public education, where teachers are sometimes responsible for 150 or more students. As the late educator Ted Sizer said, “That’s not teaching; that’s crowd control.” Those conditions make it extremely difficult for caring adults to connect with all the needy children they come in contact with on a daily basis.
Of course, a small school doesn’t guarantee connecting, because what matters far more is a caring attitude and philosophy. Adults need to learn to see the world from kids’ level, from the ground up and not from the top down. There is good news: lots of schools and communities are embracing this idea. Today, it’s usually under the label of “social and emotional learning.” The modern roots of this approach are in the work of Dr. James Comer, M.D., whose Comer School Development Program pioneered the idea that schools must nurture first and teach second.
3. START EARLY
Connecting early by creating appealing programs for children of preschool age is the next step in the process of transforming the way our children go to school. Here I suggest we follow the model of President Dwight Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Ike did not build one set of highways for luxury cars and another for cheap ones but instead made sure that every interstate highway was wide, safe, and well-constructed, suitable for military vehicles and luxury cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns but, of course, open to Volkswagens and other less expensive cars.
The Interstate Highway System was justified and paid for as part of our national defense effort, and we might be wise to take a similar approach to early childhood education and daycare programs. After all, if we believe that our children are the future and that our nation will always require a strong defense, shouldn’t we invest early in protecting our future?
I chose the interstate highway model because the record in social programs, including early childhood programs, is clear: when government creates programs just for poor people, it nearly always results in poor programs. Government-funded programs for the disadvantaged, such as Head Start, seem to be constantly scrounging for funds; to reduce staff costs, they often hire people with minimum qualifications; and the hours spent filling in forms and meeting other requirements leaves little time for meeting the needs of children and families, let alone for staff development and “reflection.” To satisfy their communities, some programs give hiring preference to locals, qualified or not, leading to the common charge that these programs exist to provide jobs for adults, rather than to support the healthy development of children.
What is the right age? Is three too young? That’s up to parents. Effective preschool programs such as the Perry Preschool Project and the Chicago Child Parent Centers enroll both three- and four-year-olds. Some say that’s critical to success because so many low-income children are already significantly behind by age three.
A critical issue is what happens during the day. Is its focus academic? Beware of a pushed-down curriculum, because it is probably not developmentally appropriate. Play always matters, but it’s especially critical in the early years. It makes sense to me to think of Recess as ‘The 4th R,’ along with reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.’
It’s also important to figure out who is in charge. Non-educators who are not versed in child development shouldn’t be deciding how three- and four-year-olds spend their days. And FRIENDS,
“I want to make it easier for courageous school boards and superintendents to take on the challenge of transforming their schools. For them, I have reduced my book’s 12-Step program to just NINE steps. Here’s my thinking: Because the country has become addicted to superficial ‘reform,’ it must, like all addicts, own the problem and face up to the costs of addiction. In my book, those are the first three Steps. However, school leaders do not need to look backwards and point fingers. Why not just ask their communities, “Do you think we can improve our schools?” That (rhetorical) question will elicit a chorus of yes, yes, and yes, which provides a license for moving ahead.
And so, in the interests of encouraging school leaders to grasp the nettle, here are the NINE steps, in brief. (However, if you are not school leaders, I must insist that you to stop reading right now and go buy the book!)
1. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION
Our schools and their dominant pedagogy are inappropriate for the twenty-first century and have to be replaced. But what will replace them? The answers become clear when we ask the right question about each and every child.
Remember, today’s schools have evolved into a sorting mechanism to identify and label children from a very young age. Even though tracking has long since fallen out of favor, many (perhaps most) schools have subtle, or not-so-subtle, tracking systems. By third or fourth grade most kids know, deep down, whether the system sees them as “winners” bound for college or “losers” headed somewhere else. Economics reinforces tracking as well. Because school characteristics are nearly always a function of a community’s wealth, some of our schools are decrepit to the point of being unsafe, which has the effect of “tracking” those students downward. Schools in wealthy communities have modern facilities, the most experienced teachers, the latest technology, and perhaps even climbing walls in the gym. That is the track for “winners.”
Essentially, our current system examines each child and demands to know, in a variety of ways, “How intelligent are you?” Standardized, machine-scored tests are the “objective” instruments most commonly used to determine the answer to what is, today, the wrong question.
A new system of schools must ask a different question about each child: “How are you intelligent?” That may strike you as a steep hill to climb, but it’s my version of the questions that caring parents, teachers, and other adults ask about individual children. They phrase it differently: “What is Susan interested in?” “What turns George on?” “What motivates Juan?” or “What does Sharese care about?” Or one can pay attention to young children at play to find out what makes them tick; as Yogi Berra may have said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.” Every child has interests, and those can be tapped and nurtured in schools that are designed to provide opportunities for children to succeed as they pursue paths of their own choosing. Giving children agency over their own education—with appropriate guidance and supervision—will produce a generation that is better equipped to cope with today’s changing world.
Like most of the changes required to remake public education, this shift—close to a 180-degree change—will not be easy. Some policies, procedures, and attitudes will have to change, and people who refuse to adapt will have to be moved out. The current education system works on a medical model, diagnosing what’s “wrong” with children and then putting them in one ward or another for “treatment.” The approach I put forth in this book is, by contrast, a health model, identifying children’s strengths and interests and then developing a course of action that builds on those assets while also taking care to see that children master basic skills such as literacy and numeracy.
2. MAKE CONNECTIONS
“Only connect,” urges one of E.M. Forster’s central characters in his novel Howard’s End. Forster wasn’t writing about adolescents and children, but he could have been. Because most children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, making connections with them is essential. Children need nurturing and support, and when they don’t feel connected to their school and the adults therein, they will look elsewhere. As Erika Christakis notes in The Importance of Being Little, “It’s really very simple: young children need to know and to be known.” Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, adds, “When adults demonstrate that they care and that they believe in you, much is possible.” Carol Dweck makes similar points in Mindset: The New Psychology of Growth.
As a practical matter, this step calls for schools that are small enough so that every student can be well known to at least a couple of adults in the building. That’s the critical piece often missing in public education, where teachers are sometimes responsible for 150 or more students. As the late educator Ted Sizer said, “That’s not teaching; that’s crowd control.” Those conditions make it extremely difficult for caring adults to connect with all the needy children they come in contact with on a daily basis.
Of course, a small school doesn’t guarantee connecting, because what matters far more is a caring attitude and philosophy. Adults need to learn to see the world from kids’ level, from the ground up and not from the top down. There is good news: lots of schools and communities are embracing this idea. Today, it’s usually under the label of “social and emotional learning.” The modern roots of this approach are in the work of Dr. James Comer, M.D., whose Comer School Development Program pioneered the idea that schools must nurture first and teach second.
3. START EARLY
Connecting early by creating appealing programs for children of preschool age is the next step in the process of transforming the way our children go to school. Here I suggest we follow the model of President Dwight Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System. Ike did not build one set of highways for luxury cars and another for cheap ones but instead made sure that every interstate highway was wide, safe, and well-constructed, suitable for military vehicles and luxury cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns but, of course, open to Volkswagens and other less expensive cars.
The Interstate Highway System was justified and paid for as part of our national defense effort, and we might be wise to take a similar approach to early childhood education and daycare programs. After all, if we believe that our children are the future and that our nation will always require a strong defense, shouldn’t we invest early in protecting our future?
I chose the interstate highway model because the record in social programs, including early childhood programs, is clear: when government creates programs just for poor people, it nearly always results in poor programs. Government-funded programs for the disadvantaged, such as Head Start, seem to be constantly scrounging for funds; to reduce staff costs, they often hire people with minimum qualifications; and the hours spent filling in forms and meeting other requirements leaves little time for meeting the needs of children and families, let alone for staff development and “reflection.” To satisfy their communities, some programs give hiring preference to locals, qualified or not, leading to the common charge that these programs exist to provide jobs for adults, rather than to support the healthy development of children.
What is the right age? Is three too young? That’s up to parents. Effective preschool programs such as the Perry Preschool Project and the Chicago Child Parent Centers enroll both three- and four-year-olds. Some say that’s critical to success because so many low-income children are already significantly behind by age three.
A critical issue is what happens during the day. Is its focus academic? Beware of a pushed-down curriculum, because it is probably not developmentally appropriate. Play always matters, but it’s especially critical in the early years. It makes sense to me to think of Recess as ‘The 4th R,’ along with reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.’
It’s also important to figure out who is in charge. Non-educators who are not versed in child development shouldn’t be deciding how three- and four-year-olds spend their days. And under no circumstances should those days involve testing.
4. EXPECT MORE
Because children become what they repeatedly do, it’s essential that they do different things in school. However, it’s equally important that we do the right thing, which above all means expecting more from them………”
FOR THE REST OF THE STORY: https://themerrowreport.com/2018/01/09/transforming-public-schools-in-just-nine-steps/
AND I HOPE YOU WILL SHARE YOUR REACTIONS BY POSTING THEM ON THE BLOG
Thanks
John
John Merrow
former Education Correspondent,
PBS NewsHour, and founding President,
Learning Matters, Inc.
646.373.3034
My blog:
http://themerrowreport.com
Diane Ravitch's blog 
posted Merrow’s blog link. Transforming Public Schools In Just NINE Steps | The Merrow Report https://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Transforming-Public-School-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Public-Education_Public-Education_Public-Plan_Public-Schools-180127-661.html#comment687295
and added links with this comment , to how the corporate reform works.
Joanne Barkan has written several brilliant essays about the billionaires who use their philanthropies to undermine democracy and public education.Just a little from this wonderful essay about “Plutocrats at Work:”
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/plutocrats-at-work-how-big-philanthropy-undermines-democracy
“Each year big philanthropy channels about $1 billion to “ed reform.” This might look like a drop in the bucket compared to the $525 billion or so that taxpayers spend on K–12 education annually. But discretionary spending–spending beyond what covers ordinary running costs–is where policy is shaped and changed. The mega-foundations use their grants as leverage: they give money to grantees who agree to adopt the foundations’ pet policies. Resource-starved states and school districts feel compelled to say yes to millions of dollars even when many strings are attached or they consider the policies unwise. They are often in desperate straits.”
The corporate ‘reformers’ have made a fortune by selling their idea of reform . Mercedes Schneider writes here about a company that casts its nets widely to profit from money that was intended for instruction.
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I love it when people say things like our curriculum is inappropriate for the 21st century and needs to be replaced.
Here is an example of how this is working out in my local area:
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Holy COW!
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John Merrow is obviously privy to some new 21st century physics that the rest of us have not yet learned.
I can’t wait to find out what that might entail.
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When Alvarez and Marsal werebrought in to close dozens of schools in St Louis in 2003, Merrow did a PBS newshour piece that was critical of the parents resisting the mess they made. Unsure I could manage to overcome my disgust to read his writings, even though I acknoeledge he has disavowed some of his previous stands.
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Alvarez & Marsal made a mess and a profit in NYC. Under Joel Klein’s tenure, they got a $16 million no-bid contract to reorganize the bus schedules for hundreds of thousands of children. The new schedule was introduced on Jan 31, the coldest day of the year, and thousands of children had no bus pickups, stranded in the cold.
A&M charged $500 an hour to create chaos.
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The way I see this post is that we need to return teaching to those that understand child development and seek to do what is best for young people. I was reminded of a more halcyon era before education was monetized and politicized. With the exception of new technology, this is what our education looked like before NCLB, test and punish, data mining, corporate raiders, TFA, right wing Christians, charters, vouchers, union busting and other assorted misguided initiatives compliments of “reform.”
Teachers had some level of autonomy and respect. These were child centered classrooms where dedicated teachers served each student to the best of their ability in a a community of learners using a comprehensive curriculum. Testing was used to inform instruction, not track students, and lobbyists were few and far between. Yes, those were the days that were the most impactful for career educators!
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When I read what Merrow says about Head Start, I really wonder if he gets his information from legitimate sources or from the Libertarian Cato Institute, which has nothing good to say about Head Start.
Here’s Merrow:
“When government creates programs just for poor people, it nearly always results in poor programs. Government-funded programs for the disadvantaged, such as Head Start, seem to be constantly scrounging for funds; to reduce staff costs, they often hire people with minimum qualifications; and the hours spent filling in forms and meeting other requirements leaves little time for meeting the needs of children and families, let alone for staff development and “reflection. To satisfy their communities, some programs give hiring preference to locals, qualified or not, leading to the common charge that these programs exist to provide jobs for adults, rather than to support the healthy development of children.
// End of ignorant Merrow quote
The fact that Head Start is constantly scrounging for funds says more about the people we have in Congress than it does about Head Start.
And I guess it never occurred to Merrow that hiring from the community could have some positive effects
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“School leaders do not need to look backwards and point fingers” — John Merrow
Of course not. Because if they did they would be pointing directly at John Merrow! We can’t have that, now can we?
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I will focus on #8, even though I disagree with most of Merrow’s suggestions and rationales.
#8 Measure What Matters
“The maxim “Measure What Matters” (which is part of my developing line of bumper stickers) is unambiguous: first figure out what we care about in education, and then develop ways of measuring those skills. Right now most school systems do pretty much the opposite, valuing what’s easy (and inexpensive) to measure.”
Ay! ay! ay! ay! ay!
There is no measuring of what matters the most in education-the learning and teaching process. Because everything that is involved in that process is immeasurable.
By starting with the false premise of “measure what matters” one can only end up with a monstrosity of education malpractice.
The most misleading concept/term in education is “measuring student achievement” or “measuring student learning”. The concept has been misleading educators into deluding themselves that the teaching and learning process can be analyzed/assessed using “scientific” methods which are actually pseudo-scientific at best and at worst a complete bastardization of rationo-logical thinking and language usage.
There never has been and never will be any “measuring” of the teaching and learning process and what each individual student learns in their schooling. There is and always has been assessing, evaluating, judging of what students learn but never a true “measuring” of it.
Since there is no agreement on a standard unit of learning, there is no exemplar of that standard unit and there is no measuring device calibrated against said non-existent standard unit, how is it possible to “measure the nonobservable”?
THE TESTS MEASURE NOTHING for how is it possible to “measure” the nonobservable with a non-existing measuring device that is not calibrated against a non-existing standard unit of learning?????
PURE LOGICAL INSANITY!
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But he said “Measure what matters” is unambiguous.
Why do you want to introduce ambiguity into something that is unambiguous?
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Mainly because I’m just like that!
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Can we not imagine Michelangelo writing out his objectives and measurable outcomes before he painted the Sistine Chapel. My father made out such a list every morning before he went to the barn to milk.
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I downloaded and made some notes on the nine ideas that Merrow proposes. I am underwhelmed. He has plenty of “must do this now” assertions, leveraged by all too familiar stereotyping of public schools as a failed system.
He seems to have avoided the reality that many problems he attributes to the present school system are the direct result of federal and state mandates. I found a brief discussion of the issue of funding schools, coupled with the idea that educators must reach out to members of their communities who do not have school-age children. He proposes that this outreach enlist students in projects—with examples that strike me as naïve at several levels, and missing an important point: Corporate taxes that should fund schools are not there, nor is the political will.
Like many other reformers Merrow relies on and perpetuates stereotyped views of teaching as lecturing to a whole class with a one-size-fits all curriculum. He thinks small schools would be best–so did Bill Gates. He thinks that: “Right now teaching is a closed-door profession, just as it was when I taught high school in the mid-1960s. Most teachers can close their doors and operate as they see fit, with rare visits by colleagues or supervisors.”
That caricature is insulting to teachers who are routinely observed and evaluated by principals or designated instructional leaders. Merrow’s wish lists for teachers–smaller classes, shorter work hours, more time reserved for visiting and learning from colleagues–are not much more than wishful thinking.
Merrow is a fan of Duckworth’s grit and Dweck’s mindset projects. He credits current interest in social emotional learning (SEL) to the work of “Dr. James Comer, M.D. who pioneered the idea that schools must nurture first and teach second.” I gather that Morrow has not learned that SEL has become standardized, with expectations set for grade spans, and conceptualized as skill-sets for students to master. Some reformers have repackaged the SEL concept as Mindsets, Essential Skills, & Habits (MESH). The market value of MESH services and products is estimated to be $20 to $46 billion. see https://www.transformingeducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Inspire-Paper-Transforming-Ed-FINAL-2.pdf
I am underwhelmed by many of Merrow’s recommendations. I agree most with his desire to get rid of deficit thinking about students, especially as formalized in policies so that schools are constantly enlisted to provide interventions, remedial actions, and participate in gap-closing measures. Although I did not see a reference to Howard Gardner, Morrow supports his concept that varieties of intelligence should be nurtured.
Merrow says: “In our current system, teachers are seen as the workers, students as the product. No longer. In tomorrow’s schools, students are the workers, and knowledge is the product.”
I think that this statement ignores the actuality that students are now, and for a long time, have been viewed as workers. They do school work and they do homework. They are faulted for not being on time with assigned tasks and so on.
I think a case can be made that the knowledge of most worth produced by students does not flow from constructivist theory or practice. Students today are first and foremost producers of “data” for data-driven instruction ( and sales of tech).
Merrow sees ”the common #2 pencil and the most tricked-out smartphone” … as … “value-free, meaning that how they are used depends on the user.” He then says: “How technology is used depends on the values of the user.”
I think he is more wrong than right on this. Students are not yet writing the algorithms embedded in their devices or the platforms and software programs they use. Expert Cathy O’Neal reminds us that algorithms are opinions and values embedded in code.
Technology use in school and beyond is not neutral. Few people are able to grasp the value others attach to the data generated in schools or the complex systems of surveillance now in use and designed to find value in students’ biometrics —fingerprints, palm prints, facial features (3D), skin heat, skin moisture, lip motion, gait and more. The value attached to those markers of identity are being linked to biographic information—records pertaining to their own and family internet activity including purchases, and records of all sort bearing on school, health, legal and tax matters, banking, insurance, immigration, travel /visa/passports employment, police encounters, military service, memberships.
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I agree. Education was in a much better place before the self appointed “reformers” got involved. Teachers could enjoy teaching instead of being agents of data collection.
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Smaller schools? Grit? Higher expectations? Measuring aptitude? Connectivity? 180 degree changedy change? 21st century blah blah blah? That must be some strong Koolade Merrow drank. More water for president of the “Learning Matters” corporation, please. Flush out those toxins! Look, Mr. Merrow, the first step to Rheecovery, whether the 1st of 12 steps or 9, is admitting you have an addiction.
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Rheepent, my son!
Rheepent!
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He must Rheepent, or he will Rheep what he sows.
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And Rheevert to Mr Hyde
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And he must also Rheepent to Rheeclaim the moral high ground
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And Rheedeem himself
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Rheegression.
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But WE must be wary of Rheeoffense by Merrow — aka, Rheecidivism
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I think you and I might be in danger of getting Rheedundant.
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Still, it’s fun, this witty Rhepartee. We decorate the blog.
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Aka, Rheepeat offense
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You are probably right, but I think you meant Rheedumbdant
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I’ll get Rhee’s broom and sweep away all the bad apples in our Rheepudiation of her. Then, I’ll eat some hymenopterous insects and tape some 7 year-olds’ mouths shut.
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I can’t let this good material go to waste
“The nine step Rheecovery plan”
John Merrow’s Rheeborn
Rheedeemed and Rheepented
He’s Rheelly Rheeformed
Has self Rheeinvented
Rheegression has won
Rheeclaimed is the right
Rheedumbdancy done
Rheenewed is the fight
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I welcome all Rheepentants!
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In case you have missed Charles, please know that he is banned until he stops repeating himself. I have deleted dozens of repetitious comments.
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Rheepeating is indeed worthy of Rheestriction or even Rheemoval, which is why I never Rheepeat myself (Rheepeat myself)
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Speaking of missing
Where’s KrazyTA?
I thought for sure all this Rheeification would bring KrazyTA around
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Rheepentance is the theme and Diane is the model; just watch out for prheevarication.
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Perhaps KrazyTA is just Rheeclining, getting a bit of rest and Rheelaxation, Rhhecharging batteRhees, as it were.
Ok, I’ll stop now.
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Yes, and Rheeneging on a promise to change.
Ok, that’s it. I promise I won’t Rheeneg.
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I am in Shanghai and leaving for the USA early in the morning. I will write a post about it as soon as I escape the censorship. I can write comments but for some reason, cannot add new posts.
I was in Shanghai thirty years ago, and it was a poor city in a Third World country. Those days are gone forever. It is now high-rise, overrun with luxury shops, hotels, and restaurants. There are 25 Million people in the city of Shanghai. Mao would be shocked to see Shanghai now. It is luxury to the max. It is capitalism run amok.
More later.
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Noice!
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“Addicted to Rhee( form)” (with apologies to Robert Palmer, who had it easy, only being addicted to love)
Your lights are on, but you’re not home
Your mind is not your own
Your heart sweats, your body shakes
Another test is what it takes
You can’t sleep, you can’t eat
There’s no doubt, you’re in deep
Your throat is tight, you can’t breathe
Another score is all you need
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to Rhee
You see the signs, but you can’t Rheed
You’re running at a different speed
Your heart beats in double time
Another score and you’ll be fine, a one track mind
You can’t be saved
“VAM and fire” is all you crave
If there’s some left for you
You don’t mind if you do
Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to Rhee
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Rhee
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to tests
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to VAM
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to bucks
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to charters
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Sam
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Broad
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Gates
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to Tech
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to PARCC
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to CCRAP
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“Non-educators [like journalists?] who are not versed in child development shouldn’t be deciding how three- and four-year-olds spend their days”
…or, more generally, providing diagnosis of what (supposedly) ails our schools and prescriptions for making them better?
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First, how about we get rid of sports in schools. Maybe the reason kids feel segregated and left out is because if they don’t play/excel at sports, then they are left out. When the school district builds a new building, the majority of the new spending is on an Olympic size swimming pool and a new custom weight room. Heck, ask the kids and they will say their only ticket to success is sports.
Second, how do you make a kid feel wanted when they don’t feel wanted at home? Is it the job of the school and teachers to be parents to these kids? What happens when a Muslim math teacher has to counsel a Christian about life? Parents would go nuts (they wouldn’t even allow the teacher to be hired in the first place). So the parents would flip out about the teacher actually caring and then go back to not caring about their child.
Finally, what is the point of school? What is the benefit kids get by going to school? What, so they can goto college and rack up $100k in debt that will never go away? Again, kids feel their only purpose in school is to wait around until they are old enough to go to school (again). Then they hear that once they get to college, there are all these wonderful high paying jobs waiting for them out there. But according to their parents, those high paying jobs aren’t paying all the bills and having all the cool things that basketball players have.
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I have no interest in making America great again…but I will say this – education has become so complicated. It is overwhelming. There is too much that pulls yout away from actually teaching. It is a big mess of stuff- overdone curriculum and wasted time testing for higher ups. I grew up in LAUSD and things were more simple then. The curriculum was clear (that is before new math) so no I do not want to go back – but at elementary things could be simpler and not so stressful. We all seemed to learn back then…so minus the sexism and racism of those days – I think is would be wise to make the curriculum not so overbearing in the elementary grades…more and more is pushed down to the primary grades and it is too much for the students and the teachers.
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