Superman and Common Standards 101

I finally got a chance to see “Waiting for Superman.” Critics on both sides have discussed this film on radio, in blogs, newspapers, etc. After all the discussion, I wanted to see it for myself. When I told my kids how we were spending our Friday night, they couldn’t have been less excited to see “a movie on education.” I took them anyway. If I can pay and watch the Sponge Bob movie, then surely they could bear an education movie, I thought. (SpongeBob . . . . I still can’t believe I endured that movie!)

We all enjoyed the film and there was a lot of discussion afterwards. My son stomped me though, when he asked about the term “proficient.” It was interesting that he would pick up on that term out of all the facts cited in the film. I was stuck on a response because proficient is relative. If you live in Massachusetts, it’s defined differently than if you’re in Ohio or California. The students profiled in the film lived in DC, California, and New York, so the standards of proficiency varied.

Certainly in my consulting practice with students across state lines, I see a great deal of variance in the rigors of high school curricular requirements. For this reason, among others, states have begun to adopt Common Core Standards. This initiative, led by a conglomerate of supporters including Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), the National Parent Teacher Association, and College Board covers English and mathematics standards thus far. The majority of states have adopted these core standards. As parents are communicating with their teachers, they may want to consider how the curriculum for their child will be modified in these crucial areas, particularly if their child is still developing in skills and content.

How Parents Encourage Creativity in Kids

This Wall Street Journal article on creativity struck my fancy. An interesting fact cited in the article is that creativity scores for children kindergarten to 6th grade declined from 1990 to 2008. When you think about how the concept of “play” has changed over the years, this decline is not surprising.

When I was a kid, I had to “go outside” until the street light came on. We made up such games as “stick ball” and “can ball.” Almost any object could be used as a toy or for a game. When there was nothing around but the sounds of music, we would even create our own dances. Now that was creative, not to mention shameless. 🙂

Parent tips for Creativity

Today’s kids have a lot more entertaining diversions inside. Television and video games have certainly contributed to children expressing their creative even less. When the television and video game are turned off, parents have several options for stimulating creativity:

  • Invite your child to come up with ways to solve everyday problems
  • Ask open-ended questions and . . . get this . . . show interest in their responses 🙂
  • Refrain from judging your kids’ ideas
  • Emphasize effort over results

Unfortunately, our schools don’t always have the time to nurture creativity during the school day. Many K-12 programs have even cut their art classes. In these situations, parents may consider volunteering at school and presenting a project or event that will stimulate creativity. What creative activities have you introduced to your child’s classroom or school? Please share your ideas, especially if you have kids in middle or high school. Many parents may reduce their involvement when our kids are in middle and high school, but I encourage parents to step it up then. That’s when our kids need us even more.

Prep for Parent-Teacher Conferences

The research is clear that parent involvement is important for student achievement. Parent-teacher conferences demonstrate involvement and do play a role in student classroom performance. However, when I’ve spoken with parents about parent-teacher conferences, there’s often some mixed feelings about their value.

Many parents fear that these conferences can actually hurt, rather than help. Even when I recently went to my son’s school to meet with his teacher about a grade dispute, I was nervous about whether the teacher would be vengeful later. It was important enough of an issue that I felt the need to get involved and advocate for my son, anyway. Different from a typical parent-teacher meeting, my son also joined the discussion.

One of the more encouraging trends in parent-teacher conferences is student-led conferences. My middle-school sons have led their regular, twice-a-year conferences since 6th grade. I enjoy this style much better because it gives students a chance to hear what’s being said about them and encourages them to actively participate in their learning process. Communication with the teacher is part of that learning process. Likewise, the parents can model for students how to interact with their teacher.

For parents who are getting ready for upcoming conferences, Harvard Family Research has published a useful document for reference, in English and Spanish. It also includes preparation tips for principals and teachers, which shows that the conference should be two-way communication. Reviewing the roles of principals and teachers may help ease any parent uneasiness. The parent-teacher conference is still one of the most helpful ways for parents to be engaged in their student’s academic achievement.

What Race to the Top means for your Family

Education news wires were abuzz today with the announcement of the new winners of the Race to the Top, Round 2 funds. States are vying for these funds as they see other sources to support education reform have dwindled over the years. In the process of applying for this substantial award, states have invested considerable time and resources. The grant was already released with guidelines and limitations on the parameters for using the funds. The reforms may focus on one of these areas

  • Data systems
  • Standards and assessments
  • Effective teachers
  • School turnaround

Early this year in the first round, two states – Tennessee and Delaware – won $600M to implement new initiatives in their respective states. The Round 2 winners announced today were Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island. These states are splitting $3.4 billion to make education reforms.

If you attend school or have children who attend school in one of these winning states, please review your state’s application. There is a chance that these reforms may have an influence on your child’s classroom. Below are links to each state’s website where you can find more information about the reforms that will take place in your state.

With each of these applications, the next consideration is how these reforms will be implemented within the context of their districts and communities. For example, a new report was released this week about the state of education for African-American boys in school districts around the country. In NYC, only 9% of African American boys in 8th grade are reading at grade level. Scary. So, how will these RTT funds be used in the context of what these students’ needs are? (Things that make you go. . . “Hmmm.”)

If you have questions about the grants, reforms, or other, please don’t hesitate to send me an email.