Gems from General Sessions

Educational Leadership Staff

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Larry Bell: There are many reasons for the achievement gap in schools today; one key factor is that teachers often don't trust in their ability to "reach and teach" all their students, Bell observed. "There's a common notion that teachers are less intelligent" than other professionals, he said, and he believes it's his job to debunk that myth.

Bell told his educator audience that there is really no room for self-doubt because "somebody needs you." Some children face seemingly insurmountable challenges, he noted, and these children need more than "leisure teachers." These children, Bell maintained, need teachers who will help them overcome those challenges and "keep on keepin' on."

A Golden Nugget - 1

A Golden Nugget

From ASCD's 2003 Teaching and Learning Conference

It's important that teachers “reach and teach” all their students so they have the skills to be successful adults, asserted Larry Bell. Why? “Well, in America, it takes six people to support one person in retirement. I don't know about you, but I don't care what my six look like or where they come from. Just give my six a job.”

Linda Darling-Hammond: The problem—Prison enrollment increased by 300 percent in the last decade. This was a result, in part, of the huge divide between those who have access to education and those who do not, asserted Darling-Hammond. Without access to meaningful learning experiences, she said, too many children find themselves on roads that "lead almost directly to prison."

One answer—Teachers must use assessment to diagnose and meet the needs of struggling students. Teachers must also understand "how students learn—and how students learn differently," Darling-Hammond said. That knowledge can help educators determine which instructional approach is appropriate for each student. In doing so, suggested Darling-Hammond, teachers help ensure that all students gain the knowledge and the skills they need to be on the path to a positive future.

A Golden Nugget - 2

A Golden Nugget

From ASCD's 2003 Teaching and Learning Conference

Discouraged about the pace of education reform? You would do well to call upon the ghost of John Dewey, says Linda Darling-Hammond. Follow this link to hear an audio version of her comments, or read the transcript below:

A little story that I think about a lot these days is a story of a school reformer who had gotten discouraged about the progress of school reform. And his friends got really worried about him, because he was really about to give it up. They decided to get him some special help, so they took him to a séance.
They got to the séance and they tried to see if they could contact some higher power that would help them figure out how to handle the crisis that he was in, and they were thrilled to contact the ghost of John Dewey. And the reformer said, “Oh, Mr. Dewey, tell me what we must do to make our schools productive places for all our children.”
There was a long pause at the other end of the line. And finally, John Dewey said, “Well, that depends on whether you want to do it the ordinary way or the miraculous way.”
The reformer said, “I'm an ordinary guy, you better tell me the ordinary way.”
He said, “Well, the ordinary way would be to wait for legions of angels to descend upon the schools and turn them into temples of learning.”
And the reformer said, “Well, that's not very likely, you better tell me the miraculous way.” He said, “The miraculous way would be for the people to do it themselves.” And that's what you're doing, thank you.

Robert Marzano: There once was a marathon runner who wanted to lose weight, so he added an additional mile to his daily 15-mile run. When he didn't get the results he wanted, Marzano, for one, wasn't surprised. The runner, after all, was already conditioned to run great distances. Adding one mile to his workout, therefore, had a minimal effect.

This story is instructive for school leaders engaged in reform, Marzano noted. Too often, teachers and school leaders will choose to focus their efforts on "things they are already good at." The effect on student achievement, as a result, is minimal. Conversely, when educators focus on "the things they are not good at," the effect on student achievement can be great.

Marzano conceded that, indeed, schools could expect "some rough sledding ahead" when they take on their problem areas. Still, he urged school leaders to grapple with the tough challenges. Too often, Marzano asserted, educators initiate changes "that are more for our comfort than for the good for our students."

A Golden Nugget - 3

A Golden Nugget

From ASCD's 2003 Teaching and Learning Conference

Q: What is the effect on academic achievement if you grow up in poverty or near poverty?

A: Perhaps not surprisingly, the research shows that poor children don't achieve at the same levels as their socioeconomically advantaged peers. According to Robert Marzano, what the research reveals is shocking. Follow this link to listen, or read the transcript below:

First of all, what does poverty look like? Well, the poverty line for one person is about $9,400 a year. For two people, it's $12,000 a year. For a family of four, with two children, it's about $18,000 a year.
Now, if you look at that book I mentioned, The Consequences of Growing Up Poor, and aggregate that all together and ask the question, What effect does it have on your academic achievement if you grow up in poverty, or even near poverty? Here's what you find: Do you remember my example of giving all kids a test, which you expect half to pass and half to fail? Let's say we broke all the kids into two groups--those who grew up in or near poverty, and those who grew up not in or near poverty. Let's say you gave all of them a test of their academic achievement on which you'd normally expect half to pass and half to fail. Here's what you'd find: Of the group that grew up in or near poverty, only 37 percent of them would pass the test, and 63 percent would fail. Of the group that grew up not in or near poverty, you expect 63 percent to pass and 37 percent to fail.
Now, what's amazing about that number is that that's after controlling for ethnicity, the mother's education, and the type of home you grew up in. In other words, that's after making all students the same in terms of their mother's education, all the same ethnicity, and all the same family background that they came from. That's staggering, if you think about it. That's the raw impact of poverty on academic achievement. It's just staggering.

John Bransford: Metacognition is "a habit of mind that's hugely important to our society," asserted Bransford. Students need to understand how they think and must pay attention to the processes they use to solve problems. "Some teachers explain this to kids by saying, ‘You came without an instruction book, so let's figure out how your brain works.'"

Still, metacognition is "not simply individual awareness," but also an understanding of how one person's actions affect another, Bransford explained. Students need to see that any decision can be interpreted in many ways "by how different people are affected," he stated. Students must, therefore, be taught to seek a great "diversity of opinion" and consider the social effect before choosing a particular course of action. Only then can students make sound decisions, suggested Bransford.

A Golden Nugget - 4

A Golden Nugget

From ASCD's 2003 Teaching and Learning Conference

True innovation comes when we look at problems from many angles and various perspectives, said John Bransford. Follow this link to hear Bransford discuss an example—considering how to make a grocery store more customer–friendly—or read the transcript below:

A grocery store is losing customers because they've become annoyed with how long it takes to check out. There's no space to stand at the check-out lines. Something must be done. You're hired as a consultant to help the company. This is your first consultant job, and you want to establish a reputation as an effective and creative problem-solver. You're asked to present your thinking to the board of directors.
What solution would you suggest, and what would you do to convince the board that you've thoroughly examined the range of possibilities that exist? So, I'll have students work in teams and say, “We want you to make a presentation to the class.”
Inevitably, they'll come back with, “Okay, here's what you should be doing--you should train your checkout people better, or maybe you should get a better bar code reader.” Things like this.
If I sat there and said, “Well, what are you trying to do? What's the box you're working in? The problem space is ‘How do I make check-out more efficient?' ” And almost all their answers fall within that space.
But now if you get them to say back up just a step, and say, “What are some other goals you could set for yourself to break out of that space?” Well, one is, “How could I make it less annoying?” The problem is that they're annoyed, not necessarily that it's not as efficient as it should be. So that suggests a whole other set of things. Some people have TV cameras; that's where the people that hand out the free samples sometimes gather. There's all these things you can look at that they hope you buy.
Or, “How can I make the store less time-concentrated?” In other words, if I have a lot of people who come during the peak business hours even though they're retired, I could have blue light specials to have them space out during the day.
Or, “How do I make it unnecessary?” Now people are inventing these grocery carts that you put something in, and they automatically check things out at the register. So you just go through, and it's all added up, and you take it out. This is just an example of helping people realize [the preconceived notions] we all have, whether it's understanding or problem solving, and how we can work to try to break out of them.

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