Arts Education Seen as Common-Core Partner

Invited late to the party again, and only in support of Common-Core but at least not ignored entirely.
Arts Education Seen as Common-Core Partner

Learning or Earning?

Driving to work this morning I found myself thinking about what we are actually doing as teachers, is school about learning or earning?

Too often recently, I’ve listened to well meaning (I assume) people saying that some paths in education are better than others. In a time of belt tightening, as costs of education rise, the suggestion always seems to come up to cut out the “unnecessary”. Usually the speaker has an opinion as to what “unnecessary” means. Television pundits (usually not educators) regularly suggest that only those degrees that lead directly to (useful) jobs should be pursued or even offered. Even teachers often feel the need to justify their courses or curriculum and say things like “you’ll need this later”, “you’ll need this in college”. They may even begin to “teach” from that perspective, that what they are doing will only have value at some later date. To me, although certainly pragmatic, this seems pretty shortsighted. Many educational theorists, also trying to be pragmatic, are saying that we are actually in a situation where we cannot predict the kinds of jobs that will exist when our students enter the work force. That being the case, they argue, we should be offering a more expansive, skill based education that will ultimately allow our students to adapt to their future situations. But even then, some of the “what you will need” in the future seems overly distant and remote a reason for learning in the here and now.

I even find some of the language that our students and we teachers use in talking about grading troubling. “What did you get on the test?” “Why did you give me a B?” The language suggests that grades are concrete things to be acquired, or handed out or accumulated. Even when that is brought up both students and teachers will automatically adjust their verb use to earn. As if that makes a substantial difference. It still suggests that the work of school is to attain extrinsic rewards and that the work itself is merely a means to an end.

So if education is more about learning than about earning, what then do we teach, what then is there to learn? Some thoughts about that question in a future post.

Further Thoughts

I was thinking, after our meeting yesterday, that I had once thought that grades were as vital a part of the educational practice as the heart or liver might be to the human body. My trip to Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn has led be to believe that grades may, in fact, be more like tonsils or the appendix.

I was wondering, were we in the position to do so, what kind of argument might we make to a school like Saint Ann's that might convince them to use grades, rankings and measurements?

Also came across this spoken word piece. Worth watching/listening to."Why I Hate School But Love Education"

A Visit to Saint Ann's School

Friday, December 7th,  I travelled to Brooklyn to visit Saint Ann's School. Saint Ann's is a co-ed, independent, college-prep school sending kids to the kinds of colleges that Haverford does, but they do not use grades an any way. I have been interested in the efficacy of grades for a while now and am beginning to do some research. The following is a report I complied from my notes. There are links within the report to relevant materials. I am also including a link to an article that I think is worth reading, that appeared in Educational Leadership magazine. "The Case Against Grades,"  Food for thought I believe.

Visit to Saint Ann’s School, December 7, 2012

Report prepared from notes taken during the day. Quotes are a close as possible to actual statements.

9:30 Met by Sarah Craft (Assistant to the Dean of Faculty) who took me to meet with Bob Swacker, Dean of Faculty and a long time St. Ann’s teacher.

Asked him to answer some questions posed by Haverford faculty.

Asked about the rap that Saint Ann’s reports were only praise without any criticism. Bob said that the writing of the reports is an important task and that their founder admonished teachers to “be truthful”. That being said he reported that the school definitely sets out directions about report writing to help teachers avoid empty language. The school does emphasize the “glass is half full” philosophy in their report writing, so the impression that their reports lean towards the positive is true and intentional. Issues relating to student performance are first dealt with directly with the student. If after student and teacher conversations, behaviors continued they would be picked up with the aid of the division head and the parents. The report is not the first place that the student, division head or parent would learn of issues of not doing homework, tardiness to class, underperformance in class, etc. That being the case, were those actions insufficient to change a students behavior, then it would be documented in the reports. (see document “Writing Reports”) Here are a few bits of that document.

“”Remember that although we all strive to see the glass half full when considering and discussing a student’s performance, you must still deal with the half that is empty, when that is indeed the case. Writing with generosity of spirit and optimism should produce a report that encourages and supports a student and offers constructive suggestions while still outlining pertinent difficulties. Writing that obscures or whitewashes genuine problems, or writing that is sanctimonious or righteous doesn’t serve anyone well. Our parent body is generally a highly calibrated group and cannot be fed either oatmeal or pure sugar. Your goal should be to say what you have to say about a student’s mastery of the “stuff” of your course without making unnecessary judgments. Avoid unclear or trite phrase that are open to misinterpretation. Although each report form may look like a vast expanse to be filled as you contemplate writing seventy or more, remember you need to be concise, substantive, complete and truthful. Lyricism is welcome but not imperative, and quality trumps quantity every time.”

“The basic message we want you to understand about writing anecdotal reports is that they are meant to be descriptive by nature. Do not make judgments, but present the facts. Your primary goal should be to offer some insight into the following:

*how the student works

*what you are teaching and how you are teaching it

*how complete the student’s mastery is

*what he or she can do to improve (if anything)

*how well you know the student

Don’t get bogged down with the details of a student’s performance on a specific assignment to the detriment of a more global perspective. The anecdotal report is meant to represent the entire semester, not last week’s good or bad class. If a sixth grader can master all of the material in your course without ever taking a single note, and you think note-taking might be a valuable skill for this child down the road, urge note-taking practice for the future. However, do not attempt to berate that student for not doing something that is clearly not necessary to his or her understanding of the work.

We are dealing with individuals who learn in as many different ways as there are students. Think about your students, write about them in a compassionate, honest manner, give substantive and precise assessment of their progress, and offer direction for the future – and do it all in 159.9 word. No big deal”

In answer to Tom Stambaugh’s questions about minor assessments like a vocabulary quiz. Some teachers do quizzes and tests, and reading comprehension quizzes. Some may “mark” the quiz with a 12/16. But there is some disagreement at the school whether even that violates the school’s core value. Some teachers will mark individual questions on a quiz as correct or not, but won’t then create an overall grade for the assessment. Teachers would, though, engage in a review of that assessment within the classroom asking students to read from their answers, and then the “correctness” of their answer might be a topic of discussion in the class, until that student as well as the whole class had a common understanding of “the right answer” (if such a thing existed). (See notes from observation of a Middle School Latin class)

Also: Do they teach analytical writing. Yes, they do a lot of analytical writing related to the literature they are reading in their English classes, as they also do in History and Science classes.

In general conversation with Bob Swacker it is apparent that the vision of the school’s founder, Stanley Bosworth is still at work in the minds of the long-term faculty and is perceived at the core of the school’s value structure. New teachers are hired with that vision clearly stated, and so they are getting teachers who buy into that approach. Stanly Bosworh is quoted as saying, that core of education (and what they are asking of their students) is a “rich and subtle questioning of the world”.

Bob Swacker in speaking about the no grades approach felt that it allowed students to be greater risk takers. They didn’t see themselves as in a competition with other students where they might feel the need to “play it safe”. Students could look over each other’s shoulders to look at grades on papers. In a traditional competitive setting where students are pitted against other student, there is only room for a few “winners”. And even the winners can’t achieve more than an A+. The written narratives allows Saint Ann’s to comment on and document the things grades are used for, but maybe more importantly, to talk about “things for which there are no grades”.  “How can we measure and then grade a student’s enthusiasm for their work?” Saint Ann’s believes their reports are the best way for them to capture the “whole person”.

10:00 Meeting with Nick Fiori (Chair of Math Department)

Nick in speaking about the limiting factors of grades felt that they “limit the extraordinary”. “Grades and even poorly written reports that just become laundry lists of what a student accomplished and didn’t accomplish don’t do much to promote real learning. “

Saint Ann’s math department “challenges the commonly held notion that Mathematics is a strict sequential undertaking. The commonly held order is somewhat arbitrary, a single path towards calculus. in the process excluding some of the more interesting bits. Saint Ann’s seeks to expose students to more of the historically compelling problems faced by mathematicians. Things most folks wouldn’t encounter until graduate school” Students are certainly exposed to the “standard sequence of numerical ideas” but while being asked to explore and try on the shoes of a mathematician.

See this blog post by one Saint Ann’s Math teacher on the notion of standardized versus “differentiated” learning. http://lostinrecursion.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/standards-and-being-on-the-same-page/

Their high school program often has 6 groups of students in classes that are crafted by the math department. The sections might vary in pace but not by level or ability. The faster pace covers more topics but at the expense of depth. The slower pace class takes time to delve more deeply into the core topics their class covers at the expense of the number of topics covered. Because both classes cover the same essential material students are not stuck in tracks and can choose a different pace the next year without having gaps in their core knowledge. There also tends to be one section that deals much more with mathematical thinking taught by the mathematician Paul Lockheart. See documents related to P. Lockheart (http://www.maa.org/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf, http://www.amazon.com/Measurement-Paul-Lockhart/dp/0674057554/ref=lh_ni_t )

Nick Fieori went on to say that by letting go of external rewards it allows children’s’ internal desire to know to become the motivating force in their learning. This requires that Saint Ann’s seek out teachers who can work in this structure. It requires teachers to develop a relationship with their students, to show their students their own passion for their subject. When teachers are people who share with their students it creates a “truly authentic disciplinary experience”.  “The great thing about math is that there are many crucial problems vexing mathematicians that are shareable with even lower school students”.

10:25 – 12:00 Class Visits

Visit to a high school history class.

Lecture style, about 10 students sitting around the edge of a small classroom with the teacher at the end of the room with a chalkboard. Discussion of characters from Roman history and the naming conventions of Roman citizens. Gaius Julius Bassianis and his lineage. Students asking probing questions, asking for clarification.

Visit to an English class. 16 students, again sitting at desks arranged around the periphery of a small classroom, with teacher at the long end with a chalkboard.

Discussion of Madam Bovary and Flaubert. “Why was Flaubert’s childhood growing up in a hospital setting important?” Discussion ensues about dissections of characters, both actual and metaphorical. Student was asked to read a section. Teacher goes on “at the age of 23, out of law school, Flaubert had family money but was technically an invalid, his life fell apart…” Students jump in with questions and additions to the teacher’s comments.

Visit to a 7^th grade Latin class. Students around the edge of small windowless classroom. Teacher at the board. Class appears to be going over a quiz or homework assignment. Teacher has students giving their translations then engaging is discussing with the class about the translation offered analyzing the parts of speech used and the grammar. All students are on the edge of their seats trying to participate. Teacher knows exactly what the student had written, so when a student tried to improve on the translation when reading it the teacher asked for their original, and then allowed the student to explain their “improved version” and asked why they made the change. The teacher seemed to be able to have the students focused on really understanding the language. The teacher kept drawing out any student who was holding back rather than always going with the student who was jumping out of their seat with an answer. Amazing enthusiasm and engagement!

Visit to another English class, similar set up. Traditional lecture set up. Teacher discussing Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte. Exploring the idea of the effect of different religious beliefs on the characters and narrative. Calvinism versus Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. The notion of “predestination” in Calvinism and its effect on Jane, Rochester and St. John. This teacher seemed to require hands raised rather than students just jumping in.  At the close of class teacher reminds and points to assignment written on the board “for next class Bertha’s story – two pages, polished”.

Visit to a Middle School math class (Algebra 1?) taught by Paul Lockheart. Teacher was at a chalkboard with students again arranged around the edge of a small room with tall windows on the first floor of a brownstone across the street from the main school building. Teacher is leading the class though a discussion of some “problems” students had created. Teacher was discussing the idea of problems or puzzles being “well posed” but interesting. The need for controls or constraints so that the problem could be focused. Students were designing problems that would require the development of algebraic systems to solve them. The teacher used one student’s problem as an example, a large triangle that contains a circle and a square each touching each other. Teacher was asking students to explain the problem presented “how would you shape this?” “is the solution knowable?” “what linguistic conventions would you use to describe this?”

Using another example of two very similar diagrams he asked “are these the same” at first students all say yes but very quickly there are some saying no. Teacher says “yes, watch the jumping to conclusions”. After more discussion students are able to describe how the two situations are in fact different. Teacher in talking about the range of problems students had created and their relative level of complexity “as problem designers, it’s like we’re divers, we’re interested in sunken treasure not the seaweed floating on the surface or shallow depths”. He draws a picture of treasure chest below the surface of wavy water. Then goes on to use this diagram to ask “where does this problem exist?” Some being “deeper” and more interesting than others. He shows a problem from a past student that he said “shocked” him. It was “so awesomely brilliant”. He shows the diagram for the problem and gets the students to tease out the subtle challenge of the problem and to offer approaches to solving it. Different students offer strategies. He points to a small part of the diagram saying “the whole intrigue of this problem is right here”, calling it deep and interesting. As students struggle with different approaches to solving the problem he says “there’s no way to solve a math problem just like there’s no way to paint a masterpiece or write a poem, there’s only your creativity and you’re bound to be stuck in a painful place for a while”. One student begins their attempt to offer a solution by saying “this is a totally radical idea, I’m not sure if we can do this or not”.

Visit to a High School Math class. Students in a long arc facing a blackboard on the long side of another small rectangular classroom. Teacher at the board diagraming an ellipse. Discussion of foci, the distance formula. Often when a student answers a question teacher says “good idea” not right or correct and if the answer seemed off target he would say “not quite, what else could we do?”. Seemed intentionally drawing out the thinking not just the answers.

12:00 Lunch with a variety of faculty (one turned out to be a graduate of Baldwin)

12:30 quick tour of art studios. Very normal art studios. Painting, Sculpture, Digital, Architecture. All classes are electives. Many part-time teacher/artists. Part time possible because of fixed weekly schedule.

1:00 Meeting with Vince Tomkins, Head of School (formerly at Brown University). In his second year at Saint Ann’s. Hadn’t been looking to move out of higher Ed. but was intrigued by Saint Ann’s philosophy. Talked about school without grades. “Education is not a means to an end”, without grades the focus is on the learning for its own sake. Referencing  founder Stanly Bosworth’s belief that “grades didn’t actually measure anything worth measuring”. He spoke about how this structure is more challenging and demanding of teachers. Teachers have to be able to motivate by creating an enthusiasm, create interest on the part of students, as they can’t use the competition of grades as a motivator. Teachers must have the “capacity to engage and motivate from their own passion and interest and through really knowing each of their students”. Teachers must be able to find ways to engage each student in the work. Their teaching and assessments must be differentiated. Without grades “the end point of the journey does not get in the way of the journey”

Talking about the college placement issue. Colleges know Saint Ann’s and the quality of students they produce. Saint Ann’s has long standing relationships with the colleges students apply to. If there is interest in a new college Saint Ann’s takes the time to fully inform the college of how Saint Ann’s works. Saint Ann’s admission is very selective. In early grades Stanford-Binet testing is done and extensive interviews helps them to chose students they believe will do well in their system. The families they serve generally value education and the kind of educational opportunities Saint Ann’s offers. Older students joining the school are quickly caught up in an educational environment where students are motivated by the enthusiasm of the students around them. Saint Ann’s believes in “giving students challenging material, teaching as though they are gifted”. The expectation is that it is achievable. Second grade did a production based on Hamlet. In order to create this kind of environment he explained that the school seeks out a particular kind of teacher. He quotes founder Stanly Bosworth saying that Saint Ann’s encouraged an “unmediated relationship with teachers” in their students. Saint Ann’s students become accustomed to having ownership of their educational experience. Colleges “have come to expect Saint Ann’s students to arrive at college loving to learn and not burned out by the grind of a traditional grade and test driven college application process.” A Saint Ann’s student’s college application folder stands out because it is so think with written reports. Saint Ann’s give students experience with basic test taking skills and accommodates students taking AP exams or SAT II’s. Some teachers might do some extra sessions to help student prep. At one point they did use ERB’s but stopped several years ago. Saint Ann’s did have a rush of families a few years ago when the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/SB108085665347972031.htm) named Saint Ann’s as having the best college placement of any school in New York.

Met with Charles Luce, Art Department Chair

Although there is a lot of art integration, especially in Lower and Middle schools, and the number of art electives available in the Upper School, most of their classes meet only once, maybe twice for a double period each week. “No-grades” works easily for them as they are involved in portfolio assessment anyway.

Overall thoughts.

The most surprising thing about my visit to Saint Ann’s was how un-surprising it was. Saint Ann’s was not the extraordinary, unusual, wacky place of my imagination. It is a very ordinary (but good) independent school. The building and classrooms were like many other urban schools, making use of spaces not originally intended as classrooms. The broad curriculum is along very traditional lines with defined departments representing traditional disciplines. The teaching styles I observed seemed to be very traditional teacher led classes. Not that any of that was bad. What I saw seemed to be done well. Students (and teachers) were engaged, enthusiastic, and energetic and on task in the classes I observed. The work being done seemed to probe real understanding of the subject. Although students were not dressed in any uniform, they were all tidy and seemingly “dressed for school”, some boys in dress shirts and ties by choice. No sloppy jeans, sweatpants, t-shirts, hoodies or basketball shorts being worn. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but there was very little outside of the normal range for an independent, college-prep school. The only thing out of the ordinary is that they don't use grades or other measuring practices in their educational practice. They deliver a similar education as other college prep schools with as rigorous an academic core and with arguably a better-than-most college list.

Having read about their founder, Stanly Bosworth, it is easy to see him as an eccentric iconoclast, an Epicurus reincarnate in the 1960’s.  See http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/nyregion/stanley-bosworth-unconventional-founder-of-saint-anns-dies-at-83.html, http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/n_10337/,

http://www.brooklyndaily.com/stories/2011/43/dtg_bb_bosworthtribute_2011_10_28_bd.html,

I think I was expecting the school he founded to exhibit more of his idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. But Saint Ann’s seems to have only codified his passionate belief in keeping the focus of education and schools on developing a love of deep and meaningful learning in its students and to do so though an authentic, strong teacher/student relationship built on mutual trust and respect, but without focusing on extrinsic rewards, competition and measurements. But all the rest seems to by the traditional, independent, college prep school handbook.

I have requested a few samples of the kinds of reports Saint Ann’s writes for its students. I’ve requested a few examples of Upper School and Middle School students’ class schedules. I will be meeting with their college office after winter break to follow up on that process in more detail.