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What's the difference?

Thoughts on making a real difference in the lives of learners...

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This is way exams end - not with a bang but a whimper!

5/27/2016

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​Yesterday, British Columbia lumbered out of the past and, reflecting the more flexible and inquiry-based design of the new curriculum, put the myth of the necessity of standardized provincial examinations quietly to rest. For our high school students, this was welcome news. High stakes, recall based testing are perhaps the most difficult for students with learning challenges, and are the least indicative of their actual knowledge and abilities. However, in spite of the rightness of the decision, there will still be a chorus of voices decrying the inevitable "decline" in standards resulting from the move. A few years ago, the Globe and Mail ran an opinion piece entitled. Exams will stop grade inflation! The author, a product of the old "departmental" examinations which ended in Ontario in the late 1960s, decried the decline in standards that was his perceived outcome of the end of these rigorous tests of student "knowledge". He stated:

With no external standards, it is impossible to compare the marks of students in different schools, and universities are flying blind when it comes to admissions. The result is that many woefully-unprepared students gain university admittance only to flunk out by Christmas or to see their first-year marks drop by more than 10 per cent. Not only is this hard on the students financially, it also crushes their spirits. 

Now, before I go further, I must confess that Departmental Exams were abolished in Ontario when I was in Grade 11 . Two years later when I was accepted at the University of Toronto, there was no "objective" measure of my level of achievement, they simply had to believe my school. Two undergraduate, and two post-graduate degrees later I thought that I was safe, until I was "outed" in the Globe as a charter member of that slacker cohort who skated on into university without my appropriate baptism by fire.

We have come a long way in educating students in the more than four decades that have passed since I graduated from high school. Today's learners exhibit higher level thinking and problem-solving skills than my peers ever did, they are masters at sifting through a variety of data and viewpoints (not just memorizing the approved textbook), and they are risk takers and innovative thinkers. Our assessment techniques are varied and reflect the strengths and skills of our students. Exams are still a part of the mix, but just a part.

Is there some grade inflation without the great leveller of standardized exams? Of course there is. Does it matter? Not really. Grades have become a debased currency. Everyone knows it.  So what about the vast majority of post-secondary institutions? How can they protect themselves against the hordes of "unprepared" students who are pounding at their gates? To begin with, let's remember that it is not the job of high schools to do admissions screening for post-secondary institutions. They have a much broader and more meaningful mandate. It is up to the universities and colleges to identify students who are a good fit with their programmes and services. Complaining that the current high school grading system isn't working for them, is a cop-out and one that sometimes masks the fact that universities over-enrol with an expectation that a certain percentage of students will fail and drop out. The institutions complain, but it is the students who suffer. There are better ways to try to predict student success. That is why innovative institutions ask for portfolios, conduct student interviews, check references and move beyond numbers in their admissions processes. It takes time, and effort, and it is more than worth it, but so far these schools are the exceptions, not the rule.

Let's face it. We all know what exams really are. They are not particularly accurate ways to demonstrate knowledge or skills, they are hurdles to be jumped. In the second decade of the 21st century, we know that standardized exams are just a simple screening device. Those who are good at them, get through; and, those who have a different learning style or skill set, don't.

So this week, the province turned a big corner. Student anxiety will go down and teacher creativity will ramp up as they scramble to develop new strategies to keep students engaged without the looming stick of the "provincials" over their heads. My only lament in this whole process, is the timing of the Ministry announcement. Today there are thousands of students across the province waking up to the knowledge that they will be the last cohort to have to face provincial exams. Not the most helpful news when you are trying to gear yourself up to write.

Couldn't they just have waited until July to let us know?





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Self-Regulation: More than just spin bikes!

5/1/2016

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This past week, my old friend and colleague Dr. Paul Bennett published an article in The Globe and Mail entitled: "Stationary bikes in the classroom. Are we spinning out of control?". In it, he referred to the concept of "self-regulation" as a New Age approach to classroom management. According to him:

Frustrated, fidgety kids and stressed-out parents are driving many teachers crazy – and they are grasping for life preservers in today’s classrooms. Enter stationary bikes, the latest wave in the North American self-regulation movement.

I must confess, we do have a spin bike or two at the school, and wiggle pads, thera-bands on chair legs, hokki stools, sit balls and even a punching bag! Many of our students have fidgets and we spend a considerable amount of time in our SEL classes working on "zones of regulation" or using strategies such as MindUp to help our kids work on their understanding of self, and regulation of their emotions. These are not "life preservers" but rather pro-active interventions to help our students concentrate more effectively in the classroom and to enhance their interpersonal relationships with their peers.

In actual fact, far from being a New Age gimmick - the importance of self-regulation has been demonstrated in a host of research studies to be a key component of effective executive functioning in students. One 2012 summary of current research states that 
 "the development and effective measurement of behavioural regulation, or “executive function in context,” [has established] that behavioural regulation contributes significant, unique variance to children’s academic achievement and growth trajectories between preschool years, elementary, middle school, and even to high school." In other words, it is an essential component of the student learning process.

Basically the research supports what common sense tells us, namely that strong, negative emotional reactions (often brought about by anxiety or frustration) impede a child's ability to regulate their own behaviour in a classroom setting and will often result in them being unable to concentrate and focus on essential tasks or miss key instructions or verbal cues. Consequently, strategies that help students to manage these strong feelings are bound to have a positive impact on their ability to complete tasks and develop persistence in the face of challenges.

The traditional alternative to self-regulation has been to address the behaviour and not its root cause. Strategies such as "time outs", isolation rooms, staying in at recess, or suspensions/expulsions have proven to be counter-productive. A 2008 study on the impact of dealing with behaviour challenges by the American Psychological Association (APA) concluded that: 

Rather than reducing the likelihood of disruption...school suspension in general appears to predict higher future rates of misbehaviour and suspension among those students who are suspended. 

In other words, suspending a child simply reinforces the notion that she or he does not belong at school. Rather than feeling remorse about their actions, suspended students feel resentful and angry. The result, as noted above, is that they will act out these emotions at school the next time that they get a chance and become the "chronic behaviour problem" that educators love to complain about.

It is far more productive, and beneficial in the long term, to work on helping students to develop self-regulation strategies that will enable them to break this cycle and have a more productive and successful school experience. If this means a few more spin bikes around the school, it is a small price to pay!







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    Dr. Jim Christopher is recently retired Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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