Do our Schools Exaggerate the Truth?

Escaping the Awesome Excellence of Hyperbole and Facing Reality

By Mark Kennedy

 

Have you noticed the popular use of hyperbole in describing common place things? For example the word “awesome” used to apply to that which inspired worshipful fear or wonder. Now people attach “awesome” to anything from a hamburger to a hairstyle when they really mean “delicious” or “attractive” or simply “acceptable”. 

Exaggeration isn’t just limited to superficial things.  In the last few years the hyperbolic buzz word in education has been “excellence”. Promotional literature in schools of every kind claims “This is a school of excellence”. That concerns me for several reasons. First it sounds a lot like boasting and I am not sure that boasting is a Christian virtue. It is one thing to say that a school is striving for excellence but quite another to claim that excellence has already been achieved.

Furthermore the word “Christian” in a school’s name does not guarantee academic quality .A few decades ago some people assumed that a Christian school would naturally have a strong academic program as well as an outstanding spiritual emphasis. After years of observation I have concluded that, in the word’s of Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, “It ain’t necessarily so!”

If a Christian school can’t supply objective empirical evidence for claims of excellence it is no more credible than a restaurateur who says his meatloaf is “exquisite” or a car salesman who says a second hand vehicle is ‘like new’ because it is on “Born Again Billie-Bob’s Used Car Lot”.

So once we escape from the fantasy world of awesome excellent hyperboles we need to look carefully at what student achievement test results can tell us about the quality of Christian school academics.

Every fall ACSI publishes Stanford Achievement Test results in our teachers’ convention programs. They show that member schools students perform better in language and mathematics than their public school counterparts. At first glance that seems to affirm our teaching effectiveness. But are we making a fair comparison considering:

1. many of our schools do not enroll students with serious academic problems and/or socio- economic handicaps - public schools have little choice in these matters,

2. a high percentage of ACSI school parents are actively involved in their children’s education and parental involvement is in itself a major influence in a student academic success ?

Our students had these 2 advantages when they first enrolled. Stanford does not show that we are doing a better job of teaching or that our students are doing a better job of learning .It shows that our students are ahead of public school students but it doesn’t explain why . And that is hardly the point anyway. The most valuable use of Stanford results is not to provide ammunition for any misguided battle against the public school system. The best use of any standardized testing is to show schools their academic weaknesses and strengths so they can make necessary improvements and so later they can evaluate the effectiveness of those improvements.

A more telling comparison appeared in the U.S. Department of Education’s 2003 National Assessment of Education Report that compared public and private school student achievement in grades 4, 8 , and 12 .It involved 700 public and 530 private schools .In an attempt to make a fair comparison the study’s authors tried to factor socio-economic considerations into their scoring – an unfortunately subjective and flawed approach that favored the public schools .The results for “conservative Christian schools” (like ACSI member schools) were alarming . In the critical subjects of language and mathematics Lutheran, Catholic and other private school students out performed both public and conservative Christian school students.

“For conservative Christian schools the average adjusted school mean in reading was not significantly different from public schools ……In mathematics the average adjusted school mean for conservative Christian schools was significantly lower than that of the public schools.” (National Assessment of Education Report, 2003, page 7). Even if we ignore the public school results, our students generally scored lower than students in other private school groups .And that is just in the United States .Although International academic tests do not isolate Conservative Christian Schools they consistently rank students from the United State in the bottom half of industrialized nations academically. So from a global perspective American students are barely mediocre academically and Christian school students are far from being the best of that mediocre group.

So what?

Why should we care? Isn’t it enough to give our students a solid grounding in the faith and, as a distant second benefit, to prepare graduates for good jobs and comfortable lives?

No, it is nowhere near enough!

We in Christian schools are not called to help students conform to a culture of “personal peace and affluence” as Francis Schaeffer puts it .We are called to help shape the future of individual students and consequently to transform the future of the church, of society and of the world. And the world, society and the church desperately need our graduates to be thoroughly and skillfully equipped in all aspects of their educational experience including their academics.

For that to happen at least 4 changes need to occur.

1. Academic improvement must become a much higher priority for Christian schools. Complacency in this matter will do a gross disservice to our students and to the future. So will making excuses for weak results on national and international standardized tests.

2. Selection of curriculum materials must be guided both by concern for moral content and by an intentional plan to develop higher level thinking and learning skills. In the past Christian schools have been prone to use learning materials that encouraged memorization and fact recall. According to Bloom’s “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives” that is the lowest of the 6 levels of planned educational outcomes, the lowest rung on the ladder of thinking skills development. We must seek something better.

3. We need to transform our teaching methods. When students in other countries are out performing our kids shouldn’t we find out what Asian and European teachers are doing right and learn to use their techniques? To that end I recommend 2 books :

The Learning Gap by Harold W. Stevenson and James W. Stigler

A Touchstone Book published by Simon and Shuster

The Teaching Gap by James W. Stigler and James Hiebert

Published by the Free Press, a division of Simon and Shuster

4. Christian schools must be actively involved in programs that emphasize

academic improvement and accountability .For that purpose ACSI offers the

STAR and School Accreditation programs (see www.acsi.org). Even more challenging is the International Baccalaureate program which requires schools to meet international academic standards from kindergarten to grade 12 ( see www.ibo.org ) .

Frankly it is a lot easier to ignore reality and return to the fantasy world of hyperbolic boasting where our schools are always the best of the best. But in the final analysis Christian schooling is about truth ,even if it reveals our shortcomings .That truth should humble and challenge us to genuinely pursue excellence both in our spiritual and academic programs – and that is no hyperbole !

Mark Kennedy , B.A.,OTC has been Regional Director for ACSI Eastern Canada for the past 19 years. He has written various CSE magazine articles ,was a contributing author for The Handbook for Christian Living and recently completed the manuscript for a book entitle Canoe trips into Thin Places.

 

Technorati Tags: Excellent,Christian School,Public School,Language,Truth,Exaggeration,Hyperbole

Click to read full article>>>

How to Teach and Tame the Digital Natives: Technology Integration Article II

Like generations before them our adolescent students have acne and raging hormones. They can be imprudent, impulsive, gangly, and temperamental. They are often funny, creative, daring, and insightful. In most respects the great tapestry of their lives is like every generation before them. They struggle with temptation and their hearts and minds are filled with dreams of marriage, family, and career.

They are also different--different in a very important and profound way. They are natives--digital natives. They are students who have grown up with digital technology and in a media saturated culture where special effects, rapid movement, vivid colors, surround sound, HD TV, social networks, and computers dominate their lives. Except when required in school, most of what they read is in electronic form and hypertexted. The authors of a recent Kaiser Family Foundation sponsored study (Rideout, Roberts, & Foehr, 2005) report that "young people today spend an average of nearly 6 ½ hours a day with media. Across the seven days of the week, that amount is the equivalent of a full-time job, with a few extra hours thrown in for overtime (44 1/2 hours a week)."

Unlike our students, most readers of this blog are digital immigrants. Digital immigrants are said to have a "thick accent". That is, the digital immigrant may be able to converse and conduct business in the new digital language but they do so with a "technology accent" that makes it obvious that the language is foreign.

The Language Gap

The difficulty arises when the immigrant is teaching the native. If you have ever been in a class, listened to a sermon, or heard a speech by someone with a heavy foreign accent you will appreciate how hard it can be to understand the speaker. They may have flawless English but the accent can make understanding (and interest) more difficult.

The immigrant teaches like he did in the "home country", with rows of digital natives passively listening to a teacher lecture, writing on a white board, and occasionally asking open-ended lower level questions. Although in the average K-12 school setting students have few choices but to passively endure the process, once in college things can change--dramatically. In a very interesting blog post titled Profs Compete for Students' Attention, Amy Tiemann writes:

Immersion in online technology and media has fundamentally changed the way our minds work, the way we gather information and split our attention. It may be harder than ever for educators to avoid coming across like the monotonous economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I taught high school 10 years ago, and in many ways I am thankful that I was teaching in the era before networked laptops.

I was a talented teacher, but let's face it, when you are trying to convince 16-year-olds that they really are interested in learning chemistry at 8:30 in the morning, it helps to have a captive audience. Now teachers face new pressures: competing for their students' attention inside the classroom, and presenting material in a way that resembles the variety of mass media that teens consume on average more than 40 hours a week...

Sheryl Grant what she's seeing as an information and library sciences graduate student at the University of North Carolina. Sheryl says, "The most shocking part of going back to school at this point in my life (in her 30s) is looking around and realizing that nobody is in the room. "The professor is just another open browser window,1 of 10." Students work much as they would at their desks at home, multitasking like crazy, even when they happen to be in the live lecture hall.

While most of our students do not carry laptops to class, they can and do tune out. College students may choose to multitask on their laptops, but too many of our students respond like those in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Two Wrong Responses

The temptation is to react rather than thoughtfully respond. One reaction is to excuse one's lack of vision and innovation by blaming lazy and apathetic students, irresponsible parents, or a culture gone crazy. "My job is to teach, it is the students' responsibility to learn." "I am not here to entertain my students, I am here to teach them." Understandable, if not helpful reactions.

The second reaction is to completely excuse the students and to fall into the technotainment trap. Jamie McKenzie, an expert on technology integration, defines technotainment as:

Technology activities heavily laced with entertainment but essentially lacking in rigor or value. Technotainment often stresses technology for technology’s sake without enhancing student reading, writing and reasoning skills.

The right response is to recognize that our students are different in important ways from generations before them, to acknowledge that we have a responsibility to help our teachers explore creative ways to effectively teach the digital native, and to appropriately and effectively leverage technology to engage students, enliven classrooms, and to teach students the 21st century skills of accessing, assessing, synthesizing, analyzing, and communicating information.

We cannot ban technology and we ignore its impact and potential at our peril. We can and should harness it to expand and enhance the qualify of classroom instruction and professional collaboration. In his response to the observation that "The professor is just another open browser window,1 of 10", John Martin observes:

If the professor is simply browser window 1 of 10, the question then becomes this: Is the professor allowing this to occur because he has not created and drawn his students into an actively engaged learning community? Consider the opportunities for learning we could create if we tap our students’ affinity for technology by challenging them in class to find and share appropriate and timely references, news briefs, videos or lectures on our subject matter. Imagine if we showed our students how technology can serve them, rather than the other way around. The 21st century treats knowledge and information as currency and those who can effectively acquire, process and synthesize that knowledge into actionable projects and tangible results will be far better prepared for the world they will enter. (Emphasis added)

But How?

Integrating technology is easier said than done! We will tackle this practical question in later posts--stay tuned!

References

Rideout, V., Roberts, D. F., & Foehr, U. G. (2005). Generation M: Media in the lives of 8-18 year-olds: Kaiser Family Foundation.

Digital Native cartoon by Jerry King and was posted to From Now On.

Technorati Tags: Digital Native,Digital Immigrant,Digital,Reform,21st century skills

Click to read full article>>>

Building a Team

By Jason Klohr (Covenant Day School)

 

Christian Education, like most organizations, depends on many different people, with many different perspectives and many different life-stories/backgrounds to work together as a team. For example, a Middle School will only be as good as the team of teachers who work together, are united in the mission, and strive for excellence as they instruct the students on a daily basis.

I am convinced that one of the most important tasks of a leader in an educational organization is to build a team that will work together and succeed together. This is a huge task…especially in our individualistic society – one in which the culture tells us that whatever is good for you is fine…and whatever is good for another is fine…and that no matter the differences, we can be what we are and not worry about the opinions/thoughts of others.

Key business leaders will openly admit that their businesses will not survive without a team-playing concept. I strongly believe that key educational leaders have the same philosophy. In Colossians 3:15-17, Paul tells us that we’re all members of one body (we’re all on the same team), that we should be teaching and admonishing each other (work together and hold each other accountable), and that we should be doing all things together for the Lord (have a united vision and work together to achieve the vision…which is ultimately to honor and glorify our Lord).

As I read and review various leadership strategies, I’ve come across what I believe are six characteristics that a successful educational team needs. If these ideas look familiar, it is because some of these ideas have come from key business leaders over the years (I’ve gleaned information from books such as “Good to Great” by Jim Collins and “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni). I firmly believe that Christian school leaders need to find the right people and get them “on the bus” (Jim Collins – Good to Great). As we build our team of educators, we need to be sure that we follow these six characteristics:

1. Trust: The team should openly admit weaknesses/mistakes to each other. The team members should feed-off of each other’s skills and experiences. Apologies, when needed, should be offered without hesitation.

1. Constructive Conflict: Faculty meetings and team-meetings should have true, authentic discussion. We should listen to ideas from all team members. There is no political game…and when there is an issue, we confront each other in a Christ-like manner. We should never let something fester inside....

1. Commitment: The entire team knows and understands the mission of the school. The entire team knows the vision (I personally believe that the leader should have an excitement for the vision and should be constantly finding ways to get the team excited and energized over the vision). The team is united in the cause…

1. Accountability: Team members should be helping each other improve in weak areas. There should be a genuine respect for each other…and the team should not be talking about a member behind his/her back…nor should they be ignoring a weak area. The team needs to hold each other to the standards delineated by the leadership. If a weak spot is noticed, the team comes alongside and develops a plan to help the team-member with that particular weakness. The team should ignore petty differences; never participate in “office politics”, etc. However, with important matters, accountability needs to occur.

1. Team Results: Educators can’t be individualistic. Although this can be tempting because teachers go into their classrooms and are somewhat isolated for the day. However, educational teams should enjoy success together and suffer failures together. TOGETHER. Allow me to give an example: If achievement test results come in and the students did remarkably well in the area of writing concepts…then the entire team celebrates this success (not just the LA teachers). Likewise, if the test results show that the students did not do remarkably well in mathematics (or vocabulary, etc., etc…), then the entire team pulls together, and develops a plan for how we can improve in this area…it would not just be the teacher of that particular subject area that would be “suffering” from that low score.

1. Christlikeness: Successful teams in Christian education must have a sincere and genuine Christ-like attitude. This would mean that there would be no gossip, no office politics, no inappropriate attitudes towards parents, etc. It would also mean that there is a genuine love and respect for everyone on the team and that there is an air of integrity that permeates the organization.

Over the years, I have found that the team a leader builds is tantamount to the success of the particular organization. As Jim Collins discusses in “Good to Great”, the leader truly needs to get the right people on the bus…and in the right seats. This also means that unfortunately, sometimes – the leader needs to ask people to get off the bus at the next stop (that’s information for another article…).

 

Technorati Tags: Team,Organizational Change,Leadership

Click to read full article>>>

Include Us

By Mitchell Salerno (Statesville Christian)

 

I just returned from the 2008 Inclusivity Conference sponsored by the Palmetto Association of Independent Schools.  It was a thought provoking day and a half.  Most of the attending schools were not ACSI schools and most did not espouse a biblical worldview.  I found myself asking questions about diversity and inclusivity, particularly those surrounding the Christian school response to these issues.  How do we (Christian schools) deal with issues relating to race, socio-economic status, learning disabilities, sexual orientation, etc.?  I can almost feel the cringe as you read those words (especially the last two).  Reflect a bit on your school, is it diverse?  Do you celebrate diversity?  Does your school mirror the community?  Is God glorified by your practices concerning inclusivity and diversity?  Are you intentional in your efforts to create diversity?

I found myself asking a far more profound and interesting question as I left this conference, however.  I wonder why it is easier for those that do not espouse a biblical worldview to discuss topics such as diversity and inclusivity.  I have been in Christian schools for most of my life and have never heard of a diversity conference.  In fact, most of us do not tolerate the word “tolerance.”  Perhaps rightly so…but our voice is largely absent from the public dialogue.  We are no longer salt and light because we do not communicate. 

One of the interesting experiences from this conference occurred on the first evening.  We were placed in groups with people that we did not know and were asked to dialogue.  After some pleasantries and friendly chatter, we had to reflect on a word that was placed under our chair.  We were told to share what the word meant to us in the context of our professional responsibility and diversity.  The words included faith, courage, love, vision, and patience. My word was compassion.  Remember, this was not a “Christian” conference!  Take a moment and reflect on those words, placing them in the context of diversity and inclusivity.  I think that you will find that we have something to share on the topic. 

One of the highlights of the conference was watching the students from a variety of schools interact and dialogue on diversity.  Students from the largest and most respected private schools in South Carolina and North Carolina were represented.  Unfortunately, I did not bring any of my students.  (Next year I will!)  I wonder how my students would have interacted and responded.  Would they have been able to boldly and confidently articulate a biblical worldview?  Would they have exhibited a Christ-like attitude? 

I will be reflecting on this conference for some time.  I am particularly interested in creating a Christian school community that is not afraid to enter into the public dialogue.  I pray that my school will equip its students to participate in future Inclusivity Conferences with intelligence, grace, wit, candor, and effectiveness such that our great God is glorified.  

 

Technorati Tags: Inclusivity,Diversity,Pluralism,Tolerance

Click to read full article>>>

Is the Good Worth Fighting For?

This is a great speech--one worth showing to students and asking:

• Is the good worth fighting for?
• Will the darkness of evil, war, disease and natural catastrophes pass and if so, how?
• How do we deal with the darkness now?
• Why is the darkness necessary?

Samwise Gamgee's speech from Lord of the Rings

Technorati Tags: Evil,suffering,worldview,Media literacy,Lord of the Rings

Click to read full article>>>

Leadership Succession (Joel Satterly)

I love college sports.  Growing up in Lexington, Kentucky means you live and breath college basketball – it is inescapable.  Recruiting of athletes is the lifeblood of big-time programs.  Coaches approach this process with different perspectives – some attempt to fill specific needs, others take the best available players regardless of position, and some look for particular skill sets.  In the end, however, a successful college coach needs players to fill certain roles and positions.  They need players year in and year out to perpetuate their programs.

Recently I was reading an article about the coaching trees of legendary coaches Henry Iba, Adolph Rupp and Bobby Knight, and current coaches like Rick Pitino and Bill Self.  One thing that stood out was a missing name from the list, perhaps the greatest college basketball coach – John Wooden.  While he built a dominant dynasty, winning multiple consecutive championships and coaching several of the greatest players, he didn’t perpetuate himself.  Only the former coach at Louisville, Denny Crum, is part of the Wooden legacy.

At the core of virtually all of our schools is the idea of raising the next generation.  We focus on training up children in the way they should go, of teaching worldview and embracing the kingdom of God.  This is mission critical for us.  And rightly so, yet something seems missing …

The best literature on leadership addresses leadership training.  Collins’ books really hammers this idea home.  Yet industry is facing a potentially paralyzing leadership crisis with the looming retirement of baby boomer era executives.  We face the same crisis in our industry.  Many of the best leaders are approaching the end of their careers and there are few prepared leaders to follow.

What I think is missing is this:  Training and mentoring future school leaders must be as critical to our mission as is the training of students; and to do that we need a new paradigm of leadership development.  Jeff Myers at Passing the Baton (www.passingthebaton.org) and Roger Erdvig at the Center for the Advancement of Christian Coaching (www.CACCoaching.com) have partnered to develop a new model of leadership development coined “Conversational Leadership.”  The training module is called Wisdom Trek.  It is a three-day conference that blends classroom experiences with dynamic and unique one-on-one sessions with a certified life coach.  Wisdom Trek helps attendees clarify their vision, strengthen their sense of mission, and break through the frustrating barriers that stop them from succeeding as leaders.

This opportunity is powerful.  I have been training by CACC and attended Wisdom Trek.  Conversational leadership has the potential to completely transform the way we lead, build teams, and empower people to realize and use their God-given gifts.

Technorati Tags: Leadership,training

Click to read full article>>>

Is Homework Accepted by Parents and Students?

Survey on Homework Reveals Acceptance, Despite Some Gripes

According to an article in Education Week, despite debates in the media over whether American students are academically overburdened, 85 percent of parents believe their children are doing the “right amount” or “too little” homework, and three-quarters of students say they have enough time to complete their assignments, according to a survey released this week. To read the entire article, click here.

Technorati Tags: Homework

Click to read full article>>>