Student Achievement Best Practices
By Jerry Cradduck, principal at Adelanto High School |
| image courtesy of heirborne.yolasite.com |
I have come across terms, better yet, phrases that piqued my interest to pursue their meaning, their underpinnings and to ask myself (and you) how to integrate this language into VVUHSD's teacher culture and classroom instructional development. The phrases are "improvement science" and "productive persistence."
1. What it comes down to, in simplistic terms, is, do YOU believe their is a science to improving student learning?
2. What about persistence - do YOU believe that students need to persist at solving a problem or finding the correct answer before looking for help or before YOU provide support?
3. And "if" you agree with this concept of productive persistence - qualified scientific research, at the community college ENTRY-level, has begun to validate that teams of math teachers, who believe -"in the struggle to solve math problems, there is PRODUCTIVITY" - if we (teachers) require, support and facilitate student persistence to solve problem(s) - BEFORE providing support – will there be math problem solving growth?
4. Moreover, it is a student's productive persistence that can lead MORE students to grow in math development and lead these same students toward completing higher levels of math - which could extend their confidence and perseverance toward college completion.
Think about this for a moment, please. From YOUR frame of reference, your learning, your teacher training, your education and your current teaching practice - do you believe that their IS improved learning when students or you persist at solving a problem? If we begin discussions on what's driving the problem of low success rates in mathematics - we "may" be able to determine how to influence those drivers. Productive persistence is NOT the answer, it is just one strategy, a way forward toward success. . .
From the above discussions and concepts - the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching - has begun to develop pathways for improved community college math learning and on January 24, 2012, Carnegie hosted a webinar to address the low success rate of students in developmental mathematics -
It’s Not Just the Curriculum: Developing Pathways for Student Success in Community Colleges
There is a growing belief that there should be alternatives to the current community college mathematical sequence and content. The Statway™ Network -http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/statway, which went live in fall 2011, is designed to take developmental math students to and through transferable college statistics in one year.
The Quantway™ Network - http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/quantway, which began in January 2012, provides an alternate and accelerated pathway with an innovative quantitative literacy focus in which students use mathematical skills and quantitative and algebraic reasoning to make sense of the world around them.
We are asking you, all of you, VVUHSD's teacher corps, to please take time to view the below video. We know it is over an hour long, and we are not asking you to view the whole video. We are asking you to consider, for a moment, PRODUCTIVE PERSISTENCE and if this concept interests you, the video will be of interest.
Please remember that our children are going to be expected to do more when completing an assessment – research, infer and provide evidence for their answers to test questions with the upcoming "Next Generation Assessments" - should we, the VVUHSD teacher corps, begin, now, with courageous conversations about how we teach and when students learn?
Video:
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/developmental-math/what-we-are-learning-about-productive-persistence
To download the slide presentation pdf go to:
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/sites/default/files/CFpathways_webinar_1.24.12.pdf
"if we BUILD it, they will COME and LEARN" - "click and learn" another component of Adelanto High School of Dreams WOW! marketing program. (Window of Wonders)
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