Lecture 6 –

Lesson Element .1: A Defining Mobility

• Why is Mobility a Barrier to Effective Education?
• 20% of students in the U.S. move each year.
• This includes both moves within the same school district as well as moves to another school district.
• Even if the move takes place within the same district, the student may end up in another school
• The mobility between school districts and in particular between states, makes a big difference in creating the barrier.
• Typically five or six students out of each class of thirty will be new to the school.
• Some areas, particularly those with military base presences, have a higher rate than 5 or 6 per year, of new kids to the school.
• In some schools the influx rate of new kids is more stable, but the mobility barrier can kick in even there.
• The teacher faces a dilemma because of mobility.
• Do you ignore the differences in the learning levels of the new kids to the old kids, or do you conduct a review for everyone? Most teachers opt to conduct the review.
• The average teacher is forced to spend up to six weeks reviewing at the beginning of the school year.
• This is a waste of 15% of the curriculum time available just to get everyone on the same wavelength.
• Causes boredom for the kids who really don't need the review.
• The educational system is badly affected by having kids appear from nowhere, with uncertain levels of knowledge.
• All socio-economic levels move about.
• In some parts of the country, this is skewed one direction or another.
• In the midwest, South, or far west most of the mobility comes from migrant workers.
• This is the worst type of mobility.
• The workers and their kids appear and disappear in four to six week cycles.

Lesson Element .2: A A National Curriculum

• Mobility Cuts Across All Socio-Economic Levels.
• In the military it includes all levels from junior enlisted to senior officer corps.
• In the private sector it includes senior corporate executives climbing the corporate ladder, to sales people who simply grow bored with their jobs and move on.
• It also includes deadbeat Dads and Moms who cross state line to avoid child-support payments.
• Fairly recent state and federal legislation is making a dent in this problem.
• The mobility problem is a growing one.
• Bottom Line: Bad Education in Any State or Community Will Affect the Entire Nation.
• Kids with a bad education in Mississippi may move to Virginia. Virginia then has to deal with the consequences of the bad education.
• Likewise, kids from Virginia may move to New York. Then New York has to deal with the differences in educational levels.
• The Answer to the Problem of Mobility is a National Curriculum.
• We already have a hidden national curriculum with all of the disadvantages of a national curriculum and none of the advantages.
• The Problem is that Nobody Can Change the Current Curriculum Which is Out of Control.
• Theories which propose a national curriculum are popular, but when we try to decide what to teach, we seem to be unable achieve an agreement.
• Goes to the elemental question of who you trust and who you don't trust.
• Most everyone seems to have a private agenda for their proposed curriculum.
• Dr. Allen was a strong proponent of having the national goals that came out of the 1989 Charlotesville, VA, conference called by President Busch.
• Finally people were talking about national standards. This was a big step forward.
• The concept that all the state governors would sign on to the standards was a step in the right direction.
• Unfortunately, the goals they came up with were horrible.
• Dr. Allen still would vote for them, but only for the reason that it is a first step and puts the foot in the door for future, more realistic and effective goals.

Lesson Element .3: A Hitches to a National Curriculum

• All the Issues of Mobility Affect Not Just the U.S., But Are Issues in the Entire World.
• Standardized curriculum is affected by both critical and mundane issues.
• Dealing with units of measurement, Feet vs. Meters.
• Differing languages to express the same ideas.
• Perception of what curriculums should include changes from one geographic location to another.
• Perception is based upon local concerns, religious or cultural traditions, etc.
• The Issue of Mobility is Not Going to Simply Go Away. It Actually Will Grow to Be More of a Problem.
• People will still move and there will be more diverse populations to deal with the issues.
• This further drives the need for a standardized curriculum.
• Once a National Standard Is Agreed Upon, it Is Only the Beginning of the Process.
• The first steps at Charlottesville produced terrible results. But it was a start from which to modify the curriculum to a more productive one.
• Its unlikely that we will ever achieve an ideal curriculum.
• Too many people have differing ideas over what is right or wrong for inclusion.
• Example: The national history curriculum efforts fell apart over the omission of information about Thomas Edison.
• Some contended that by including Edison we would be teaching lies.
• We never talk about the negative side of Edison. How nasty of a man he was in many ways. How he stole credit for inventions he didn't create.
• Although he was a brilliant man in many ways, we were unable to come to a consensus as to include or exclude him.
• Dr. Allen has no objection to including Edison as long as we don't mythologize him.
• Another Problem With the Initial Attempt at National Curriculum is that Many People Haven't Really Read the Proposed Standards.
• Too often these people support national standards but are also ready to support the concept that everything we as Americans do, must be right.
• National Math Standards are a good example of flawed standards.
• People who think the NCTM's are great haven't really analyzed what they say.
• They call for no ability grouping at all in math through grade eight.
• Although heterogenous classes can be effective, with a marginal teacher they fall apart.
• Homogeneous grouping is much easier and the results more predictable, although the result may not be a beneficial as heterogeneous grouping.
• The standards also permit the use of calculators at any time. If the student prefers to use a calculator rather than learn the basics by hand, it's alright?!

Lesson Element .4: A The Real Nature of Mobility

• Mobility Becomes the Scapegoat for Our Lack of Standards.
• Leads to a discussion of national standards.
• Real consequences to a mobile nation if you don't have standards.
• Society has the right to expect certain levels of knowledge.
• If you don't have those levels, you become a burden to society.
• If you are mis-educated in one area of the country and move to another area, then the new area must bear the costs of reeducating you or supporting you on welfare.
• How Should We Design Schools?
• Do we design schools for those who stay or for those who move?
• Traditional model: Same locale education from Kindergarten through sixth grade.
• Not realistic anymore. Little expanding realms of consciousness has given way to a random order of mixed elements.
• Children incoming into the system have entirely different perspectives, experiences and degrees of education from those who were educated locally.
• We Must Ensure that Education is Realistic and Not Rooted in a Mythic Notion of what it Should be Like.
• Theoretically, you could move each year and either have U.S. History twelve times or no times.

Lesson Element .5: A National Curriculum Examples: History

• The Way in Which We Teach History is Fragmented.
• We teach about Columbus in the fifth, eighth and eleventh grades.
• Dr. Allen believes it would be better to have a two year sequence in U.S. History.
• Could be taught anywhere along the line as long as it wasn't fragmented.
• Would be more powerful than the current method we use.
• The Current System is Predicated on Outmoded Concepts.
• History is taught in the eighth grade based on the fact that in days long past, many students would finish eighth grade and then enter the work force.
• State examinations are built on the fact the eighth grade examination will have history in it.
• Obviously, most 8 th grade students no longer enter the work force. But we still plan our curriculum around that concept.
• By combining the history into a two year block we can compact the curriculum, save a year and be much more effective.
• The Reason the System Hasn't Changed is Because there is No One in Charge.
• Mobility makes the agenda more powerful and more difficult to monitor achievement.
• Should teachers be held accountable for the knowledge base of incoming students?
• School Curricula Should not be One Hundred Percent National.
• Dr. Allen would like to see if be two-thirds national and one-third local.
• This is the paradox. The change would actually give more local control.
• If the local board knew they were already meeting the national standards, they would have the confidence to do the remaining one-third their own way.
• This would give more accountability and local control.
• Becomes a matter of trust.
• One of the Biggest Effects of Mobility is that it has Watered Down the Curriculum.
• James Conan, President of Harvard University in the 1950's stated forty years ago:
• AThe only reason U.S. education hasn't failed given the high rate of mobility is it's been so watered down.
• The rate of mobility has increased since the 1950's and mobility has caused further watering down of the curriculum and is a major barrier to effective education.

Lesson Element .6: A Intro to Obsolescence

• Review of the Barriers to Effective Education.
• The first barrier was lack of equity.
• Remember: Equality is not desirable nor achievable. Equity and fairness is.
• We need to make schools appropriate to the populations they serve.
• The second barrier was lack of accountability.
• We aren't paying attention to the results of our schools and rewarding or penalizing those results accordingly.
• The third barrier was mobility.
• Without a national curriculum, the mobility creates great problems for the educational system.
• We spend up to 20% of curricular time in review simply because of mobility.
• The Fourth Barrier to Effective Education is Obsolescence.
• Contrast of the world we live in today to that of the past:
• The New England Primer was published in 1690.
• It went for one hundred years without revision.
• Today, a textbook that is 3 or 4 years old is viewed as out-of-date.
• The World Today is Different from the Past, But the Educational Practices We Have are Pretty Much the Same Ones as in 1790.
• The format of education and the presumptions of education remain the same.
• The New England Primer is a bench mark that suggests the world has changed and education has not.

Lesson Element .7: A The Half-Life of Knowledge

• The Concept of a Half-Life of Knowledge is Borrowed From the Natural Sciences.
• Same principle as the half-life of radioactive elements.
• Half-life:How long it takes a half of a radioactive element to decay from one form of the element to another form of the element.
• This half-life varies widely from a few milliseconds to thousands of years.
• You can have vast changes in terms of the elemental transformation from the original element.
• The Half-Life of Knowledge is How Long it is Before Half of the Knowledge is Obsolete.
• Example: Our knowledge of the human brain.
• Using 1970 as a baseline for our knowledge, how much did we know?
• How much knowledge did we accumulate in the following ten years?
• Ninety percent of what we know about the human brain in 1980 was learned since 1970.
• By 1985, ninety-five percent of what we knew had been discovered since 1980.
• What we knew in 1980 now only made up 5 percent of the knowledge present in 1985.
• In 1970 we pictured the brain as an esoteric glob to difficult to understand, but then we discovered new ways of studying it. By 1985 we had learned that women think in different parts of their brains than men do.

Lesson Element .8: A Brains

• One Facet Learned in the 1970's Was the Principle of Right and Left Brain.
• Although the facts were primitive, we discovered that we have two hemispheres in our brain, and each hemisphere is used for different kinds of things.
• The left hemisphere is the organized part.
• The right hemisphere is the more visually and ideologically creative part.
• Today's Knowledge Has Advanced Through the Use of CAT Scans.
• Allows us to find specific places in the brain to help us understand specific kinds of things.
• Sophisticated equipment can measure the brain area's responses to visual stimuli.
• Shows that different parts of the brain are used for different parts of the thinking process.
• We have also learned that there is a real relationship between the right and left brain.
• If you learn things precisely in the left brain, this helps you learn things in terms of artistic and emotional pursuits in the right brain.
• Likewise, if you learn things artistically and emotionally, it helps you with scientific and rational reasoning and verbal skills.
• The relationship is synergistic.
• This logically leads to the conclusion that if you want to train topnotch scientists, then you need to give them more art, music and drama.
• We Have Not Taken Full Advantage of Our New Knowledge of the Brain in Our Education System.
• Instead of encouraging arts, drama and music as a means to stimulate scientific thought, we have encourage the public to think of those subjects as frills in the educational curriculum.
• We have never fully informed the public about the synergistic relationship.
• This is an example of how knowledge fails to become connected to education.
• Happy brains learn better than sad brains, but schools don't pay much attention to creating happy brains. Even though we know scientifically that the learning curve is much more effective.
• Applying the Concept of Brains to that Of Philosophical Position:
• Your philosophical position has a real impact on the way you treat the knowledge about the brain.
• Progressivist would argue that we as educators have the responsibility of helping kids learn and that if we know happy brains learn better, then we should accept the responsibility to help kids have happy brains.
• The Essentialist would argue that happy brains are interesting in theory, but that our duty is to present the information and the students responsibility is to use it. We have no obligation to worry about happy brains.

Lesson Element .9: A New Knowledge

• How Schools Deal With Changes in Knowledge.
• First: Knowledge becomes known.
• However, it isn't obvious when knowledge becomes known.
• December 1903 the Wright Brothers made their first flight.
• Momentous event, but at the time nobody noticed or understood that this was the beginning of some very important new things.
• New knowledge is often controversial.
• Second: New knowledge is not immediately accepted.
• Long process from the time something becomes known until it is agreed upon as new knowledge.
• Third: Once it is agreed upon as new knowledge it must be disseminated.
• Fourth: Once it is disseminated, we have to agree to accept it for schools.
• The more controversial the knowledge, the longer the period before acceptance.
• Example: China.
• The most populous nation on the Earth is barely covered in school.
• We can't come to agreement about what to teach about it except in the most cursory fashion.
• The knowledge is there, it has been agreed upon, accepted, but we have yet to agree to accept it for schools.

Lesson Element .10: A Textbooks and Knowledge

• The Process of Accepting Knowledge in Schools is a Difficult Process.
• Out biggest problem is that we really don't have a cohesive process.
• There is no way to decide whether something is acceptable for the schools or not.
• It actually happens more by chance than by design.
• There is no one to tell the textbook publishers what to put in the textbooks.
• They make a best guess and let the number of textbooks sold be their guide to the correctness of their guess.
• You have to generate a public interest and enthusiasm in something before many things can be added, and the public is very fickle.
• Textbooks are often written by committees.
• Causes long debates about what gets in and what doesn't.
• Have to consider political correctness and balance numbers of pictures of women, minorities, etc.
• Massive projects which take up tremendous amounts of time.
• Once written they still must be adopted by schools.
• Once adopted by schools that have to be put in classrooms and teachers trained to use them.
• The Entire Process Takes Ten to Twenty-Five Years From Inception to Adoption.
• Only very rarely does it take less than ten years.

Lesson Element .11: A New Systems

• The System of Writing Textbooks Requires the Schools to Be Obsolete.
• The half-life of knowledge depending on the subject is from six months to five year.
• The textbooks require ten to twenty-five years in process before appearing in schools.
• By default, the knowledge in the new textbook is already partially obsolete.
• Example: We still have textbooks which show the Soviet Union as a current political entity. It dissolved as that, over five years ago.
• A Whole New Curriculum Process is Needed.
• A new process of dissemination and implementation is required.
• The old model: Teach the textbook and amplify it only slightly. The textbook remains the essentials of the body of knowledge you need to know.
• The new model: Teachers have the responsibility to go beyond the textbook.
• Danger: Teachers may be at risk if they teach something new. Never know if community or local school board will back introduction of the new material.
• We Must Find Ways to Add or Revise or Discard Curriculum Elements with Ease.
• We currently do not have a means to accomplish this.
• Curriculum elements simply stay there and on state exams even if the information is incorrect.
• We Can Take Advantage of Computers, Video Tapes, the Internet, or a Weekly Reader to Ensure as Current a Curriculum as Possible.
• A weekly or monthly fifteen or thirty minute update program for various subjects could be easily made available in the media center.
• The teachers would have an immediate source of current information to revise their lesson plans.
• Some of the new systems could be initially costly. One problem is who would pay for the update services or new technology?
• New Technology Can Introduce New Concerns.
• At what point to you allow use of new technology by the students?
• Should 5 th graders be allowed to use laptop computers all the time in school?
• Spell checkers?
• Dr. Allen would not allow elementary students to use laptops, but he would allow high school students to use them all the time.
• It would make the existing inequities more obvious. If they are more obvious, the greater the chance we have to change them.
• If some students have technology and others don't, it puts pressure on the system to find the resources to provide equity for all students.
• Ten years ago many English professors in universities refused to allow the use of spell checkers for submitted student papers.
• It took awhile for such foolishness to die.
• The same paradox exists for the use of laptop computers in high school and college courses.
• New Technology is Gradually Becoming a Necessity Even in Middle Schools.
• Consider that to take this course you had to have access to a computer.
• If you didn't have a home computer and modem you would have to fight for space in the ODU computer lab.
• Not equitable, but can't help prop up an obsolete system simply because we can't bring everyone along together simultaneously.
• Some math problems in middle school require the use of a graphing calculator.
• The NCTM recommendations include that students at all grade levels should be allowed to use calculators whenever they choose including tests.
• Times are changing and we must prepare our educational system to change with them.