Brilliant or Insane?: education

Saturday, April 26, 2014

More Trouble for Pearson and Common Core Tests

Big Brother is watching: Pearson places gag order on NY #teachers who discover #CCSS test errors. pic.twitter.com/YkiaaGlPcc
— Mark Barnes (@markbarnes19) April 25, 2014

Education publishing giant Pearson wants teachers to stop talking about its tests, designed to align to Common Core State Standards. The Common Core and its high stakes tests have been highly scrutinized, since their inception. In fact, some states that originally adopted the standards -- Indiana is one -- have recently opted out.

Now, educators are finding mistakes in the new tests, but they can't specify what those errors are, due to a gag order, which Pearson included in its contract with New York state, which is rolling out the publishers' examinations.

Pearson, the world's largest education company, is being paid $32 million to prepare Common Core tests for New York students. So, the tests finally arrive, and educators find errors.

Not only is this unforgivable, the problem is compounded by Pearson attempting to hide the issues.

Some believe this signals trouble for Pearson. Doubtful. Pearson will continue to churn out textbooks and other materials, and school administrators will continue to buy.

For the Common Cores and its advocates, however, the battle continues, and the casualties continue to mount.

Mark Barnes is an education author and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more aboutMark's work here. Follow him on Twitter here.

Friday, April 25, 2014

15 Success Quotes to Inspire Students and Athletes

Famous success quotes by some of history's most popular achievers will inspire you to reach a new level of success and personal greatness in your life. Success and greatness can both be yours. With consistent action and positive thinking - it is just...

Thursday, April 24, 2014

7 Characteristics of Quality Summative Assessments

By Reed Gillespie

via wikimedia.com

Recently, much of the talk in educational circles has been on formative assessment--and with good reason--but in the process we've lost focus on creating effective summative assessments.

Today the term "summative assessments" conjures up images of standardized tests, benchmarks, data collection, and exams. In many ways, these have been over-emphasized to the point that we've missed the true value of summative assessments. I need look no further than many of my own tests, which over-emphasized multiple choice questions in an attempt to mimic our state tests, as an example of what summative assessments should not be.

We must move away from summative assessments being synonymous with district, state and national tests. Summative assessments should play an integral part in our educational system.

And how about what summative assessments should be? These seven characteristics comprise a quality summative assessment:

Quality summative assessments should be pre-defined by a group of teachers and involve the students. So as tempting and time-saving as it is, we shouldn't sue pre-crafted rubrics or textbook created tests.
Assessments must provide students with the opportunities to demonstrate what they know.
Challenge students to transfer what they've learned to specific and real-life tasks.
All assessments should correspond with important learning targets and essential questions so they yield true information about student progress.
Summative assessments must provide meaningful feedback to both the student and teacher. By doing so, assessments help increase student motivation to learn. Nonjudgmental feedback motivates students for further effort, while using grades as rewards or punishments decreases student motivation.
Incorporate 21st century skills and content into assessments.
Summative assessments should not be limited to high-stakes tests.

The purpose of any summative assessment is to provide meaningful reports on students’ achievement, and effective summative assessments help students achieve to their highest abilities.

Reed Gillespie writes about education for Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Reed on our Team page. Follow Reed on Twitter here.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Is There Really a Difference Between an A Student and C Student?

By Mark Barnes

via flickr.com

When considering letter grades, most people believe there is a big difference between an A student and a C student. While these marks may suggest that students are excellent and average, respectively, I would argue that, in terms of achievement, the two students could be remarkably similar. Moreover, they might be reversed in their abilities – the C student being excellent and the A student being average. In reality, both measures are entirely subjective.

How is it possible, you may wonder, for grades to be subjective, if they are based on an accumulation of points and percentages? Consider this logic.

Most traditional grading systems work like this:

The teacher creates an activity. The teacher assigns an arbitrary point value to the activity (10, 20, 100 or even 1,000); these values are typically a derivative of the overall points a student can amass in a grading period, also prescribed by the teacher.
The teacher decides how points are acquired on particular tasks – a rubric, points per item within the activity, or gut feeling.
Based on step 3, the activity receives a final score.
The final score is translated to a percentage and a corresponding letter grade.

This seems like a fair, scientific approach to assessment, right? Actually, there are far too many variables in this formula to truly assess learning, if such a thing can ever really be accomplished.

Consider number 1. Was the student given the opportunity to select how she might demonstrate learning? There's plenty of research that suggests that people want to do things when they’re given choices.

Point values may seem fair – a student answers 8 our of 10 math problems, she scores 8/10 for a B. (Of course, in some systems, 80% is a B- or even a C+, another issue with grades.) The teacher chose to measure learning with 10 problems. The student missed two that are most likely quite similar to the other eight? Could it be that after 40 minutes of concentration, the student lost focus on the task and made two careless mistakes? Mental fatigue should never play a role in how we assess learning, yet teachers routinely create a state of fatigue with lengthy summative assessments that often take 45-90 minutes for students to complete.

When contemplating this math example, the subjectivity involved in grading activities in the social sciences is even more salient. No matter how specific a rubric may be, much of grading written work comes down to a teacher’s preconceived notions of the student and/or comparisons to other model papers, which, of course, the teacher selects as the “best” work samples within a group.

Any letter grade, A or C, based in full or in part on these elements is a poor assessment of a student’s abilities and one more in a long line of reasons that we need to eliminate traditional grades from school.

Mark Barnes is an education author and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark's work here. Follow him on Twitter here.

Monday, April 21, 2014

The Case for The Case Against Zeros

By Reed Gillespie

via vancouversun.com

Ten years ago, Douglas Reeves made a compelling case against zeros. Since then, many districts and schools have crafted No Zero policies (some admittedly miss the intended target), but these tend to be the exception. We cannot continue to use grades as punishments, to send "messages," and to "teach students a lesson."

Six Reasons for the Case Against Zeros

If it's worth assigning, it's worth requiring students to do it.
Work completion is often influenced by home life, learned behaviors, economic standing, etc. It's not fair to punish students for factors beyond their control.
Punishing students for failing to complete an assignment doesn't motivate them. In my experience, low grades are more likely to discourage students from making greater efforts.
Often a handful of zeros doom the student for the entire term, causing students to simply quit.
The students we most worry about losing (those who are often deemed lazy or are below grade-level are labeled at-risk) are most harmed by zeros.
Zeros distort final grades, which should be an indicator of mastery.

Critics of No Zero policies will claim that the penalty--a zero--is appropriate to instill proper values within students. This may be true for the highly motivated, mature student, but it's more likely that these students already possess the intrinsic motivation to be successful in school.

It's time for all educators to adopt a No Zero policy.

Reed Gillespie writes about education for Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Reed on our Team page. Follow Reed on Twitter here.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Is School Enough?

By Mark Barnes

via redefineschool.com

If you ask facilitator Monika Hardy and any student at the Innovation Lab in Loveland, Colorado about education, you'd certainly learn that school is not enough for the 21st-century learner.

Understanding that the confines of the traditional classroom, the constraints of a standard curriculum and high stakes testing inhibit the growth of both individuals and communities, Hardy and other leaders at the Thompson School District created something unique. The Innovation Lab is a place where students can spend entire days focusing on what matters to them.

The Innovation Lab is home to many students who are shaping their own education with community members, who act as mentors. So, instead of learning a craft only from a textbook and the direction of a teacher's interpretation of the related skills, the student finds her own path to knowledge with the help of Innovation Lab teachers and professionals in the field of interest.

Students like Jessi, in the video below, are making decisions about their learning and about their futures.

To learn more about the Innovation Lab and other creative alternatives to traditional education around the world, check out this amazing PBS video.

Meanwhile, tell us what kinds of innovative learning projects are taking place at your school.

Mark Barnes is an education author, consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

USedchat Is Powerful Forum for Education Reform

By Mark Barnes

Storify pic via @jennifer_hogan

A Twitter chat can be a daunting endeavor. When hundreds of people tweet at the same time to the same hashtag, the pace moves at what sometimes seems like Formula I speed.

When the tweets are aggregated by a third-party app, like Storify, they are saved for posterity, creating a fascinating record of often amazing content.

This Storify captures the USedchat, where I was one of four moderators, along with many other progressive-minded educators, discussing changes and trends in education.

Please add to the discussion in the comment section on this post.

Mark Barnes is an education author, consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Infographic Shows 7 Things to Remember About Feedback

By Mark Barnes

I've written widely about feedback for learning. In fact, I believe that narrative feedback should completely replace traditional number and letter grades.

This infographic contains 7 key takeaways from an issue of Educational Leadership, dedicated to feedback.

Each "thing to remember about feedback" in the graphic is from an expert on assessment. What are your thoughts about feedback, in general, and these takeaways, in particular?

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Noble Schools Discipline Policy Sure to Hurt Learning

By Mark Barnes

via photopin

If Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post's education blogger, was trying to incite her readers, she certainly succeeded, when she wrote about the Noble Charter School network in Chicago. Quoting a Chicago Tribune story, Strauss shares how students at Noble schools are suspended for things like talking out, not looking at the teacher and slouching.

School leaders say that the schools have high expectations. Noble Superintendent Michael Milkie told the Tribune that the schools use the "broken window" philosophy. "If you allow a lot of windows to be broken, that house is going to turn into one where lots of damage is going on."

Give an inch. . .

So, Milkie and his cronies, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel among them, believe that if the Noble School children are given the proverbial inch, they'll take the proverbial mile -- an archaic theory with little supporting research.

Not only would Milkie be hard pressed to produce anything valid to suggest that this rigid discipline style improves behavior, it's sure to make students hate learning. Many experts, Alfie Kohn and John Hattie among them, argue that rigor and meanness turn students, especially reluctant learners, against school.

So, Noble Schools may be filled with timely, quiet, frightened children. You're not likely to find many engaged, excited independent learners there, though.

What a shame.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

What if Parents Say No to Standardized Testing?

By Mark Barnes

via oaklandcc.edu

Teachers hate standardized testing, but there's little they can do to stop it. Last year, CNN did a story about two children whose parents opted them out of a year-end standardized test. The video showed the students engaged in other activities, while their peers filled in bubbles on the test.

The parents said they believed the tests to be a poor way to evaluate learning -- something the average teacher has been saying for more than a decade. Yet the tests keep coming.

With more protests, could testing be eliminated? If thousands, even millions, of parents like the ones in the CNN story take the lead and opt out their children from testing, wouldn't it have to stop?

Like anything in politics, eventually it's all about numbers. A couple of kids not taking a test makes news but is insignificant, in the long run. Let's put a video of an entire class of students not taking a state-mandated test on CNN and see what happens.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Friday, April 11, 2014

3 Things We Can Learn from Thomas Edison

Sometimes you are never quite sure where your next lesion in life will come from. The important part is to always have an open mind and the desire to learn from all of life's experiences. Learning from Thomas Edison's Spirit Today, I had...

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Bammy Awards: Give Me 4 Minutes to Make the World Change How We Teach

By Mark Barnes

via bammyawards.com

It's Bammy Awards time again. Last year, I made some fairly pointed comments against the Bammy Awards.

Although I'm not quite ready to recant those statements entirely, I am prepared to do something I would have never considered before -- attend this year's Bammys.

Give me a platform

I don't want an Oscars-type statue for being an educator (I haven't even been nominated, to my knowledge), but since Bam Radio, the event's sponsor, has rolled out its own TED-like talk, I'm eager to attend and share my own 4-minute speech.

I don't need recognition. What I want is a platform. The new Bammy 3iTalks will provide exactly what I need -- a stage with an audience of some of America's most influential educators.

For years, I've been saying that with one major shift in education philosophy, teaching and learning will be impacted like never before. Sadly, even though I've written widely on the subject -- books, blog posts and articles in national magazines -- school leaders and teachers still fear this remarkably simple, yet revolutionary, change.

Perhaps my Bammy 3iTalk can eliminate this fear, once and for all.

So, with this blog post, I implore the Bammy 3iTalk selection team and fellow educators, interested in making a difference, to send me to the Bammy Awards.

Give me just four minutes to make America, and maybe the world, rethink teaching and learning. Our kids deserve it.

Spread the word

Tweet this post to @BammyAwards

Contact the Bammy Awards here

Nominate someone for a Bammy Award here

And tell us what you think in the comment section below.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

The Media Has to Stop Giving Michelle Rhee a Platform

By Mark Barnes

via examiner.com

Haven't we heard enough of Michelle Rhee's rhetoric? Educators know full well what Rhee stands for: teacher accountability, standardization and high stakes testing.

Even though Rhee has touted her so-called reform to all major media outlets (there she is with Oprah in the picture to the left), some just won't leave well enough alone.

The Washington Post recently published yet another Michelle Rhee editorial. What does the anti-teacher have to say this time? No doubt you've guessed it -- more pro standardization and testing spin. It's all Rhee knows; she's like a Chatty Cathy doll, who sings the same boring refrain every time someone pulls her string. Wait, that's not fair; Chatty Cathy was much more creative than Rhee has ever been.

I'm tired of the media giving Rhee a platform. One might argue that we're doing it by writing about her. The difference here is I'm only ranting about media coverage. Brilliant or Insane would certainly never publish a Michelle Rhee editorial in its entirety.

Let's hear the other side

I was so angry at the Washington Post that I emailed their editorial department about the horrible decision to publish Rhee's drivel. Here's part of what I said:

Why don't you interview a veteran teacher (Rhee never taught in a real school, and she was never properly trained)? Your paper/site carries amazing credibility and thus has a powerful responsibility to present all sides of important issues like this one. Rhee has money and plenty of media clout. She also has all of the wrong answers, but the media continues to give her a platform, completely ignoring the people in the trenches -- real teachers.

It's reckless of you to publish her statistics about how Americans are so far behind other countries, without offering an opposing viewpoint to refute her haphazard research. She fails to mention anything about the impact of our country's indigent population. Many of the countries we're behind don't test all of their kids. Take the poor and disabled students out of our standardized tests, and suddenly we'll soar to the top.

Would I love to be the person to refute all of Michelle Rhee's misinformation? You bet I would.

Hopefully, some major media outlets will see this, and I'll get a call.

In the event that I get that chance, feel free to supply me with some more anti-Rhee ammo in the comment section below.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

President Obama's Biggest Failing in Two Terms: Hint, It's Not Health Care

By Mark Barnes

via Care 2 Make a Difference

"You lost a lot more than me," Mr. President. "You just lost my vote."

Annette Bening's perfectly-delivered line during a climactic moment in the movie, The American President, is one that should resonate with President Obama, as tens of thousands of angry teachers in around America continue to be outraged by published teacher rankings, based on standardized test results

I'm certain that I speak for many of my colleagues when I say that the blame for this must fall squarely at the feet of President Barack Obama. After all, a monstrous $5 billion of Obama's last education budget was intended to "tie teacher pay to performance." Don't assume for a second that "performance" means how well teachers actually teach. This is all about standardized testing -- something Obama suggested he'd fix, while campaigning the first time he ran for president.

Being kind, I'd say Obama has fallen short of his goal of fixing No Child Left Behind. Being accusatory, I'd say that Obama has flat-out lied.

If anything, during Obama's presidency, American education has gotten much worse than it was when he arrived. Not only are we still stuck with the monster that is high stakes testing, now teachers are being judged by this insidious data, which even most people outside of the profession realize is nothing short of illogical.

I proudly supported Barack Obama four years ago. I even campaigned for him. When things were going poorly his first couple of years in office, I defended him. Enough is finally enough. I can no longer support a president who has turned his back on education. I can't defend a purportedly-intelligent man, who wasn't smart enough to hire an educator to run his education department.

I can't stand by a leader who values numbers over people.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Monday, April 7, 2014

What's Your iPod?

By Mark Barnes

photo credit: scottwills via photopin cc

People I'm close to know I'm a huge fan of the late Steve Jobs. I recently watched the movie about his life, Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher in the lead role.

The biopic begins with a remarkable scene, in which Jobs delivers one of his epic speeches in 2001 at an Apple Town Hall meeting. In his textbook style, Jobs tells the mesmerized audience about a tool for the heart. "When you can touch someone's heart," Kutcher says, gracefully capturing Jobs' melodic voice, "that's limitless." He then reaches into his bluejeans' pocket and produces an iPod. The scene is a perfect beginning to a very entertaining story about a truly visionary man.

As the scene shifted, flashing back to Jobs' college days in the late 1970s, I considered the impact that the iPod and all devices beginning with "i" have had on the world. Jobs and Apple have touched my heart and the hearts of hundreds of millions of people, with revolutionary technologies.

Everyone can't be Steve Jobs. We can't all create the next life-altering device or write beautiful music or find the cure for AIDS. Still, can't every single person contribute something unique? Don't we all have our own special brand of "i"?

Consider what you might contribute -- whether it's the next great novel or a simple smile you give to a child in need.

What's your iPod? Be sure to touch someone's heart with it today.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Friday, April 4, 2014

10 Tips for Mobile Learning from an International Expert

By Mark Barnes

via Pewinternet.org

When I speak at education conferences, I often say, "Mobile learning is here to stay." Skeptical? Check out an array of recent studies on the PewResearchCenter website, and you'll see that kids between the ages of 12 and 18 are using mobile devices at a remarkable, always-increasing rate.

Unfortunately, in spite of the staggering statistics that Pew and other researchers provide, most teachers continue to shy away from using iPods, Kindles, Nooks and Smartphones in their classrooms. In all fairness, this is sometimes due to stringent, if archaic, school policies that require students to keep mobile devices in lockers or, worse, at home.

Embrace mobile learning

When top consultants, like Shelly Terrell, who produced this powerful slide show on using mobile devices to motivate learners, travel the world encouraging mobile learning in any classroom, it's obviously time for all educators to embrace mobile devices as teaching tools.

10+ Ideas for Using Mobile Devices Offline to Motivate Learners from Shelly Terrell

If you're concerned about students crossing boundaries with their devices, remember that they are kids, and they need constant coaching on appropriate use. The Golden Rule is always: devices on tabletops. Suspicious behavior typically means inappropriate activity.

When you are desperate for a mobile learning activity, even it you don't want to use the Internet, check out Shelly Terrell's "10 Ideas for Using Mobile Devices Offline to Motivate Learners." Then, trust your students to do the right thing, and amazing things might happen.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

SE2R Feedback Forever Changes How Teachers, Students Evaluate Learning

By Mark Barnes

photo credit: Ken Whytock via photopin cc

One of the keys to a successful student-centered, Results Only Learning Environment is the use of narrative feedback over grades. Although feedback isn't necessarily difficult to provide, a systematic approach can simplify the process.

A few years ago, when I was writing more feedback than ever before, I developed a system that I call the SE2R approach:

Summarize -- Provide a one- or two-sentence statement of what was accomplished.

Explain -- Give a detailed, objective explanation of what learning is demonstrated and/or what is missing, based on the activity's guidelines.

Redirect -- When learning outcomes are not demonstrated, redirect students to prior learning or to seek help from the teacher or a peer.

Resubmit -- Ask students to resubmit activities, projects or assessments, after they've returned to prior lessons and models and made changes to the work. This way the teacher can re-evaluate for mastery learning.

SE2R feedback in action: Here is an example of SE2R feedback for a student who wrote what we call a reflection letter about a book she read. Notice that there is no point or letter grade attached; this is crucial to the success of narrative feedback. Studies indicate that if you add a measure of any kind to the feedback, students do not read it, making your effort a complete waste of time.

Summarize

"You wrote a brief reflection on The Hunger Games, in which you mix plot details and your own personal connection."

Explain

"The summary information demonstrates comprehension of plot elements including characterization and conflict -- elements of fiction we recently learned. I think, however, that you misidentify the rising action. I like how you show empathy for Katniss and her plight, as she faces the prospect of killing Peeta (hint: what story element is this?). Elaborating on this part would improve your reflection."

Redirect

"Please review the presentation on rising action on our classroom web site linked here. Then, revise your reflection, reworking the part on rising action, in order to demonstrate understanding of the concept. Then, elaborate on your feelings about Katniss' tough decision near the end of the story.

Resubmit

When you have finished, e-mail me or send me a message on our private message board, telling me that you've done so."

What makes the SE2R approach integral to mastery learning is that it removes the kind of subjectivity present in grades and rubrics, while providing students with clear information about what they've accomplished and what they still need to do.

Most important, SE2R allows students to revisit activities and projects, so they can make corrections and resubmit for re-evaluation. This is what teaching and learning should look like but, sadly, is a part that is omitted in most traditional classrooms.

Are you using anything like SE2R? What advantages and problems do you see in this system of feedback?

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.