A Place at the Table

"Gov. Haley Barbour says there's nothing wrong with encouraging some Mississippi high schoolers to aim for skill trade training instead of a university degree."

This is the opening sentence of a recent Associated Press article that got a lot of play last week and I'm wondering why this story is attracting national attention. I have a hunch some people take umbrage to the governor saying:

"When we tell kids they ought to go to universities who shouldn't, we set them up for failure."

There's reactive sort of bristling that asks, "What, do you think they can't cut it in college?" Well, the reality is while almost all students say they plan to go to college, only 28 percent of young adults currently hold a college degree and there has been little change in that number since 2000. It is unlikely that there will be a dramatic change in that number anytime soon. "And just who do you think shouldn't go?" you might be thinking. Well, actually, the answer is pretty simple. Probably any young person who can't clearly articulate why he or she wants to go to college, what he or she has expectations of accomplishing during a university education, and what they expect to have to show as a return on investment at the end of four years of college.

That may sound a little harsh. Shouldn't a young person take time to explore options? Isn't that what college is all about? Maybe---but if asked why they want to go to college, most young people will quickly reply, "Because I want a good job and in order to get a good job I need a good education." When asked how one defines a good job, I'd bet you my planning period that almost every single student would mention MONEY. And that's why Gov. Barbour is right.

I looked at the College Board's college cost calculator and the average cost of a year of a year of education at a four year in state college is $18,326. Assuming an increase of about 5% each year which is not out of line with the current trend, today's high school freshman can expect to spend just under $100,000 if he or she completes a degree in four years. So yes, when we tell young people they ought to go to college without helping them develop a clear idea of what they are going for, we do set them up for failure and for debt and for personal disillusionment. I can think of no other circumstances where adults encourage someone too young to rent a car to spend $100,000 without a clear understanding of what it is they are purchasing and how that purchase can benefit them.

Here's why Mississippi's career pathway program makes sense:

"Mississippi's relatively new high school redesign program lets students choose coursework based on their career interest. So far, the program is in 39 of the state's 152 school districts, said Mike Mulvihill, associate superintendent for vocational education and work force development at the state Department of Education."
Mulvihill said every student in the program gets a solid academic base. However, he said some students will take all academic courses during their high school career, while others will take a mix of academics and vocational courses. The pathway starts in the 7th-grade. Along the way, students build portfolios, take aptitude tests, and work with counselors to decide their route, he said.
"Some students will aim for professional careers that would require a college degree. Others may decide to become blue collar workers, such as auto mechanics, which would also require technical literacy," Mulvihill said.

I like the idea of a pathway. A path has a direction and a purpose, but, in my mind, a path is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. Unfortunately, far too many people seem to think of pure academics as the high road and anything career oriented as the low road. As one Mississippi representative and former teacher put it:

"Vocational training is for the ones that do not want to pursue careers that will require a degree, but they still need their basic education."

You know--those kids. There it is again: that mindset that implies that when learning is connected to production it is meets a minimal threshold of "basic education." But the career path framework that Mississippi is attempting to implement goes straight to the top of Bloom's Hierarchy as curriculum wraps around the analysis and synthesis. Research shows that learning that is linked solving real world problems results in increased motivation, comprehension, and retention. Learning to do simply makes more sense from a theoretical as well as a practical perspective.

But people take umbrage because, asone Mississippi principal points out,

Every parent says "I want my child to go to college."

That is what they say, but is that really what parents mean? Or do they really mean they want their child to have economic security? Would they still feel as strongly about college if they knew that of the 18 year olds who enroll in college less than half ever complete a degree program? Would research that indicates that students who are enrolled in a blend of CTE and academic courses tend to out perform those in either a straight CTE or a pure academic strand influence their thinking?

College versus Career and Technical Education is a straw man argument and we are doing our young people a disservice when imply that college is the only way to win. No student should be denied the access to an education that prepares them for college. Neither should a student be discouraged from seeking an education that prepares them to enter the workforce with marketable knowledge and skills. We limit their options and we stunt their opportunities when we make it an either/or situation. We owe it to give our young people both academic knowledge and workplace skills. It might be a little more work, and it might be a little more expensive, but it's a path worth pursuing.

Posted by Susan Graham at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On Friday I was reading The Washington Post, and although I don't usually spend much time in the sports section, this headline got my attention:

How to Measure $100 Million of Impact

Since my job is to impact student learning, I was intrigued by the idea of paying one person one hundred million dollars for his impact on playing a game. While I didn't know anything about Albert Haynesworth, he clearly represents a very big investment for the Washington Redskins. I was particularly interested when I discovered that Haynesworth is a defensive tackle.

Now if you didn't know anything about football, the fact that he's a defensive tackle might not mean anything to you. But if you know just a little bit, it may seem like a really bad idea because it is unlikely that Albert Haynesworth will ever score a single point during his entire football career. In fact, he's not even expected to help his team make forward progress, and everybody knows that you win the game by scoring points. So why is he the highest paid man on the field?

His teammate running back Clinton Portis, who does carry the ball and who does score touchdowns, says the other players don't have a problem with Haynesworth's pay, even though Rick Maese of The Washington Post writes, "...his true contribution will be difficult to measure with statistics."

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On Sunday I was reading The Washington Post and as I as reading the editorial section, this got my attention:

Old School in Virginia: Instead of making outdated promises, the gubernatorial candidates should be promoting education reform.

Since I'm pretty invested in promoting education reform myself, I was intrigued by the idea that both candidates seem to have almost identical education reform planks in their platforms. I have to admit that I thought maybe they had been listening to those of us who are out there on the front line, because they agree that Virginia teacher salaries ought to meet the national average.

The Post argued

"Much of the debate has focused on whether the state can afford to do so much and on which candidate would come up with the money. But they both have set the wrong goal. There are more effective ways to improve teacher quality..... Far better use of scarce public dollars is to encourage meaningful reforms, such as linking teacher pay to student test scores so that effective teachers are properly rewarded...."

That sounds sort of like saying, "Hey, we need to reward those guys in the offensive backfield because they're the ones who score points. Never mind about the offensive linemen or the defense because they don't bring in any high scores." When teacher compensation is tied to test scores, how does one "properly reward" the special education teacher who works with autistic children? How is the contribution of the band director who inspires and motivates students going to be measured? What about the vocational teacher whose students leave school with less than amazing GPAs and SATs, but who graduate with highly marketable skills and a job with benefits? Professional teachers, just like professional athletes, know that the contribution of a colleague isn't necessarily assessed by points scored.

The editorialist at The Post nails it when he says, "Low salaries discourage people from entering, and staying in teaching." But he fumbles when he claims "systems don't compete nationally for teachers." Yes, we do; Virginia school systems are forced to recruit all over the country because we do not produce enough teachers to fill our empty classrooms.

When professional sports teams invest enough to run a school system in a single player, they do so because they feel it is necessary to spend big bucks to recruit top talent. When Wall Street investment firms tanked, we were told that they still needed to pay huge salaries and breathtaking bonuses to retain "talent." Teachers don't expect to get rich, but they do expect to be able to support their families. Virginia ranks seventh or eighth in the nation in average income, but comes in 31st on the list of states' teacher pay. Isn't it a little disingenuous to say that money matters in recruitment and retention of talent when staffing the boardroom and the locker room, but isn't a factor in the classroom?

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On Monday I was reading The Washington Post and the front page headline got my attention:

The Season Starts, but the Questions Persist

The Redskins lost their season opener to the New York Giants 17-23. The offense didn't do so hot. Defense did okay and Haynesworth play solidly, but had no spectacular plays that were game changers.The Post says "The temptation can be to draw hard-and-fast conclusions about how a season will turn out based on one Sunday afternoon in September....." It sounds like a call to postpone accountability when adults play a game for stratospheric salaries. Armchair quarterbacks care about their team, give them the benefit of the doubt, and hold the players in high regard. I think most education pundits really do care about school; so I wonder why they are quick to draw hard-and-fast conclusions about our schools, and to be so dismissive of the teachers who commit their careers to children?

Before Sunday's game Albert Haynesworth said "I can't sit here and say we're going to win every game or whatever. What I can promise [is] that I can do my job, and I'm pretty good at what I do. They just expect me to play my game and play how I play and that's about it. That's all I can promise."

I know how you feel, Albert.

As the school year gets started I'm just saying, "As a teacher I can't say that all children will become proficient in all areas or whatever. What I can promise is that I can do my job and I'm pretty good at what I do. I wish they just expected me to teach the kids and to teach the way I think works best and that's about it. That's all I can promise."

Posted by Susan Graham at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Our neighborhood Labor Day picnic ended early because here in Virginia, the Tuesday following Labor Day is the first day of school. The teachers and the students and the parents all needed to get ready for tomorrow.

Meredith, Ophelia and I were talking about what to wear on the first day of school. Meredith is going into 2nd grade and that's easy. She'll wear pink because it's her absolute favorite. Ophelia will be starting her first day of middle school and she is sweet, smart, beautiful and nervous because not only will it be her first day of middle school, she'll be a new girl since her family arrived here in July. She has been planning The Outfit for weeks. That’s typical. Back to school outfits for middle school are sufficiently newsworthy to rate half a page of print and two full color photos in Saturday’s Washington Post because

Of all the challenges for girls entering the sixth or seventh grade -- new building, new kids, new rules -- there is none so daunting as The Outfit.

Sandra Markus, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York explains,

Fashion is not what defines a boy and doesn't define their pecking order in school. For girls -- I hate to say it -- it's all about what they are wearing.

Personal appearance is part of my curriculum, and I’m always fascinated with the response of sixth graders to a personal appearance activity we do. Working in groups, the students get a set of six pictures of age-group contemporaries gleaned from the back to school clothing ads. They also get six gender neutral names and six one- paragraph first person narratives.

Each narrative description mentions something about family; a hobby or sport; friends; some thoughts about school; other kids; what the teacher seems to think about them; and, finally, a goal. I set the timer and my students have five minutes to match the pictures, the narratives, and the names. The discussions are intense with kids up on their knees, pointing, grabbing, eye rolling, and that "huhhhh" sound of disgust that middle schoolers do so well.

Usually, when the timer goes off, the teams are pretty confident that they’ve got everyone sorted out correctly. I let groups offer their answers to who’s who, responding with nods and “Okays." Inevitably, there is is disagreement among the teams and consternation when I refuse to tell them right combination of image, narrative and name.

That’s when I ask, “So how did you know that the student in Picture 1 and the description of Student B were actually Morgan?”

“Well, because........” and then you can literally see the wheels turning in their heads as they begin to realize that they have assigned personality, school success, family relationships, friendships, outside interests, future goals, and even a name — all with no information other than an image. Is it fair? Of course not! Do we all do it? Absolutely!

Judging, sorting, and rejecting people based on appearance lies at the heart of the school uniform discussion. Do we change who we are by changing what we wear? Maybe. Some believe that conformity in dress will mitigate problems at school. That’s why in

Plainfield and Newark, districts that have long battled gang activity, low test scores and truancy, (school leaders) have latched onto the uniform idea, hoping to improve the academic and social climate in their public schools.

Does a polo shirt and khakis improve performance? School administrators and some parents believe that "The kids won't be focusing on clothing, they'll be focusing on their books."

Hummmm….maybe, but I wouldn’t put all my school improvement eggs in a polo shirt and khaki basket. Will a navy blue blazer and a four-in-hand tie turn a fifth grader into a future Ivy Leaguer? Certainly the prep school styling that some charter schools adopt is an compelling visual reminder of high expectations and the message that school is serious business. But at the end of the school day, when the blazer comes off, the weight of poverty, struggling families and competing pressures are going to still be sitting on the shoulders of some of those children.

But enough about the kids. I still have to make a final decision about my own outfit. I really like my black dress,but you know I’ve had that awhile and it would be nice not to show up in the same old same old. I have this cute new green dress, but it’s sort of more spring than fall looking. So maybe I’ll wear that new khaki outfit. Of course it could get hot and I’d be out there sweating on the bus ramp and that’s literally not cool. I think I'll stick with the black but with a big trendy necklace that sort of makes a statement. Which leaves one issue on the table: sandals or closed toe shoes? Maybe I ought to wait and see what the weather is going to be in the morning.

So many decisions and really, what difference does it make? Well, a lot actually. It matters because tomorrow, as I greet kids in the hall, they are going to form an opinion of me and my class and they will base it on how I look. And no matter how hard I try to remain neutral, I’ll be sizing them up based on their appearance as well. Like it or not, that first encounter will establish the baseline for our interaction.

You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

So I just hope I have a good hair day!

Posted by Susan Graham at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)