Obama’s Extended School Year Plan

You can read about Obama’s thoughts on extending the school year here from a recent Comcast.net News report.

“…the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom," says Obama.

I say the challenges of a new century demand better time in the classroom.

“Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

"Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).”

I say let’s stop counting and comparing hours or days in school and start concentrating on the quality of instruction here in our public and private schools. Let’s also stop trying to compete with other countries but focus on learning how to cooperate with and work with others both here and abroad to meet the demands of a new, global century.

NASA is a good example of a program that integrates great minds from different cultures to work on common goals. Right now if you Google the International Space Station, you can see who is on it -- crew members from Russia, the U.S, Belgium, and British Columbia. Ten people from different parts of the world all working together.

The international space station is one good example of what can be accomplished when people from different nations come together and work on a shared interest. I'd like to see more of this kind of cooperative learning in our classrooms. Learning that really promotes and encourages working in a team instead of competing against others. It's not easy to work in a team, but it's important that we teach our kids how to do it well if we want to live and thrive in a global world.

But teamwork isn't the only thing that needs to change in public education. I think President Obama should focus on redefining the quality of instruction, instead of focusing on the amount of time kids are in school. If he asked me, this is the list I’d give him to meet the challenges of a new century in our public schools. I call it the G.P.S. - Guidelines for Public Schools:

· Fewer rewards & punishments – get rid of the carrot & stick mentality

· Teacher as guide, not expert – the "Guide on the Side," not the "Sage on the Stage" idea

· Student-centered curriculum – student interests & choices before teacher & curriculum mandates (find student passions & explore them)

· Change short subject chunks of time into large projects & themes that involve all disciplines

· Minimize competition – get rid of awards & honors/advanced classes, no tracking – all abilities should be together (unless severely special ed)

· Promote true cooperation and sense of working together among students and teachers

· Mix age groups (to learn from each other)

· Homework is the exception, not the rule (and only when it is meaningful & turns the students on to learning)

· Grading doesn’t exist in elementary & middle school

· Standardized testing doesn’t begin until high school, and then only minimally

· Assessments are performance based and not standards based

· Give as much time & money to the arts as to the traditional subjects like math, science & history

· Incorporate vocational & technology training into high school years

· No federal mandates tied to money, just federal guidelines or suggestions

· Give parents more choice in where to send their children to school

Why do kids love summer so much? Because it’s more enjoyable than school! If school were as interesting and fun as summer, kids, parents and teachers wouldn’t mind a longer year. See my earlier post about summer camp learning.

Your thoughts on Obama’s longer school day? Take the "Diablo" Magazine poll at: http://www.diablomag.com/

Reaction to Obama's Speech

This editorial was taken from A.E.R.O (Alternative Education Resource Organization) Education Revolution e newsletter: http://www.educationrevolution.org/

Editorial in Newsday by Jerry Mintz (reaction to Obama's school speech)

To the Editor:
The message from President Obama as published in today’s Newsday is both ironic and self contradictory. He starts out by saying that every student has something they are good at and that they have a responsibility to pursue that. This sounds like he understands the learner-centered approach that innovative educators have found to work in a very powerful way. It implies that he understands that children are natural learners.

But then he immediately segues into the opposite paradigm, one that assumes that children are naturally lazy and need to be forced to learn. He refers to homework and doing what the teacher says to do and what HE expects.

He can’t have it both ways. But I already discovered the problem earlier this year at the Education Writers Association Conference when I asked newly appointed Education Secretary, Arnie Duncan, if the Obama administration would get rid of No Child Left Behind. I told him that alternative educators feel that it completely interferes with a learner-centered approach. After hemming and hawing he finally said, in an almost stream of consciousness, “Well, the name “No Child Left Behind” has become pretty toxic. We’ll probably change the name!”

It was a devastating admission but was not covered, that I know of, by any of the hundreds of reporters in the room. One reporter from the Boston Globe did congratulate me on getting him to admit his planned subterfuge.

And they DID, in fact, change the name but keep NCLB. What is it about the “Race to the Top” initiative that encourages students to follow their own dreams and develop their special talents? Nothing! It is not encouraging of an individualized, personalized approach. It encourages standardization and “teach to the test.”

If President Obama and his administration really believe that students should pursue and develop what they are good at, they would end NCLB and RTTT and find ways to give students and their schools and teachers the resources they need to truly follow their interests, their talents and their dreams.