Chapter 2 Summary

Summary:
Chapter 2: The Old World of School
Quick Summary of 7 Survival Skills
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination
Question: Are our most successful schools and students actually learning the 7 survival skills?
How did the author answer this question?
• He visited classrooms and takes us (the readers) along with him.
What types of schools did he visit?
• He visited 2 suburban schools and 1 Department of Defense School
o Suburban Schools are considered ‘high performing’ and are ranked among the best in the state that they are located.
o DoDEA school high graduation rate with high percentage of minority and low income students and showed a lowering of the achievement gap between low-income and middle class students with testing.
• Schools represent the teaching and learning experiences that college-bound students are receiving.
• Leaders of these schools (superintendents and principals) want to address any short-comings found and improve teaching and learning in their schools.
How did he evaluate what types of teaching and learning was happening in the classrooms?
• He did what he calls ‘Learning Walks’ through the classes.
o Spends ~10 minutes in 8 to 10 classrooms over a couple of hours.
o Gains a ‘snapshot’ view of the learning occurring in the school.
o Using class observations, homework assigned and student written work allows assessment of purpose of the lesson and skills students are learning.
o Observes a wide variety of grades and subject areas but all classes observed are considered to be ‘advanced’, ‘Honors’, AP or ‘college track’ classes.
o Tries to answer 2 questions during the Learning Walk:
 What is the difference between what I saw in this high school class versus what I’d see being taught in a 6th grade class? Are the students being progressively intellectually more challenged in the higher grades?
 What is my level of confidence that with the type of classes seen in the Learning Walk, the students will be adequately prepared for college or today’s workplace?
Learning Walk Conclusions:
o Students in all 3 schools being taught ‘subject content standards’ or ‘test-prep’ standards.
o For the most part students not being taught skills needed to succeed after high school whether in college or the work force.
• Summation:
o All 3 schools had school leaders that wanted to improve teaching and learning in their schools, yet none of them had any idea of how to make the weaker teachers better and help the stronger teachers to continue to improve.
 Why? Neither teachers nor principals are trained in this area.
 Need new ways, other than student test scores, to evaluate teaching and learning in schools.
What about the lower grade levels?
Instead of doing his Learning Walks in elementary and middle schools he summarized findings from University of Virginia’s study of elementary (1-5) classrooms. Even though the 7 survival skills should be introduced and taught at these lower levels they are not. Due to NCLB, time spent on ELA and Math basics has increased, while time for other subjects and reasoning and problem solving skills has decreased. In short, they have the same curriculum as the high schools…test prep.
What type of curriculum are global schools teaching?
• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sponsors the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA develops and administers assessments of reading, math and scientific literacy to 15 year olds in countries that participate in the program. In 2003 a new test was administered in 41 countries involved in the testing. This test measured the problem solving abilities in 3 areas: making decisions under constraints, evaluating and designing systems for a particular situation and trouble-shooting a malfunctioning device or system based on a set of symptoms. How did the US score compare to other OECD countries? Not well. The US scored below 28 other countries. Our students are not learning to be reflective, communicative problem solvers. What is the US good at in terms of the 7 survival skills? Innovation; a skill that involve curiosity and imagination. Probably due to the fact that we allow free speech and exchange of ideas. But as more countries move towards free expression will our advantage in this area last? US schools must move towards curriculums that develop problem-solving skills as well as contribute more towards our students capacity for creativity, imagination and innovation. This is the direction that other countries are taking while the US is pushing standard-based curriculum and basic knowledge. This is threatening America’s students from being able to compete on a global level.
Quote:
“The most significant impact of NCLB may be its contribution to the growing gap between what’s being taught and tested in even our better schools versus what today’s students will need to succeed and be productive citizens in the twenty-first century- the global achievement gap.”