Monday, December 13, 2010
Cinderella: Great Beginnings
With over 170 people in attendance on two nights, the first drama production at Bios was a unanimous success. The encouraging attitude and theater skills of first year drama teacher, Mrs. Dominguez, were very evident throughout the evening. Enthusiasm, well rehearsed lines, and entertaining acting from her students brought for all who attended a great time. Beginning with Cinderella and the troupe from the Bios Drama Club then completing the night with three ten minute shorts, or "Duos", played by the high school drama class, the plays exemplified the teamwork and diligence of all on stage. We all look forward to the second semester show. Thank you to everyone for their support.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Mr. Klein and Education Reform
"Finally, we need to innovate, as every successful sector of our economy does. The classroom model we have used since the nineteenth century, in which one teacher stands in front of a room of 20-30 students, is obsolete. We should make the most of new technology and programs that help teachers deliver personalized instruction and allow students to learn at their own pace." So wrote Joe Klein, the outgoing chancellor for the New York City public schools.
Mr. Klein, in his letter written for the Wall Street Journal last Saturday, discussed his goals for changing the schools and his basic reasons supporting them. Ideas that should be taught to every aspiring teacher in education colleges. Like the notion that poverty and family circumstances are no excuse for limiting educational potential. Or student outcomes and teacher accountability go hand-in-hand. And he had more to say about the challenges he faced to make the improvements needed. It is a great article to read. But it leaves out a very important part of a successful education, character development.
Many years ago, a friend and I went to the YMCA to see if we could start a team in their elementary age basketball league for our school kids. And since we did not have enough players from our own school to provide for a complete team, we needed to allow players from outside our school on the team. That was fine for us. It meant more players to win with. But when we mentioned to the league supervisor that we would be praying with our players during practices and games, we were told prayer was not allowed because kids from different religions were in the league. When we pointed out that they advertised Christian values, the supervisors answer was that while it was true they held to Christian values, those values excluded prayer, but included behaviors such as treating others with kindness and so on.
The point to the above story is that the YMCA lost their focus - their commitment to Christ. Christianity separates itself from the world because our focus is not on behaviors. No, our focus is on God and our relationship to his son. Our behaviors are a result of that faith and our desire to please him. Without a clear moral compass, gyms and education serve little purpose but self-seeking betterment.
Though Mr. Klein has excellent goals for a successful educational program, its success is hindered just as the potential success of the local YMCA is using general cultural norms for behavior. The YMCA behavior expectations have little effect on people because their grounding is based on a cultural consensus not the solid truths of their creator.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Bios and Senior Year Academic Rigor
There is no option of reducing the class load and the subject difficulty for the senior class of Bios Christian Academy. Graduating early or learning with less than a full load of classes is not allowed for our fourth year high school students. Having such expectations of our students produces students who stand out from the rest of their freshman college class in skills, confidence, and preparedness. And we are not alone in this concept.
In a press release dated 9/13/10, the CollegeBoard had this to say about college preparedness. "Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond."
CollegeBoard, the publishers of the SAT college readiness test, is referring to their analysis of the test results of almost 1.6 million students. The article goes on to explain more about rigorous courses.
"Students in the class of 2010 who reported completing a core curriculum — defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of mathematics, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history — scored, on average, 151 points higher on the SAT than those who did not complete a core curriculum."
Notice the even higher difference exemplified by the Bios students. Those are big differences from a school which does not screen students for academic ability.
From our experience, the four years of math, four years of science, four years of English, and four years Bible, along with three years of history, support our students greatly in not only being prepared for college but in completing four years of college successfully.
The Bios difference is because of our excellent instructors, differentiated instruction, clear individualized goals, and four full years of a rigorous high school education.
In a press release dated 9/13/10, the CollegeBoard had this to say about college preparedness. "Engaging students with more rigorous course work and demanding higher standards are critical in providing America's students with an education that will prepare them to compete in the 21st-century economy," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "This report confirms that there are no tricks and there are no shortcuts to college readiness. Students who take more rigorous courses in high school are more prepared to succeed in college and beyond."
CollegeBoard, the publishers of the SAT college readiness test, is referring to their analysis of the test results of almost 1.6 million students. The article goes on to explain more about rigorous courses.
"Students in the class of 2010 who reported completing a core curriculum — defined as four or more years of English, three or more years of mathematics, three or more years of natural science, and three or more years of social science and history — scored, on average, 151 points higher on the SAT than those who did not complete a core curriculum."
| All SAT Takers | Critical Reading | Mathematics | Writing |
| Core Curriculum | 518 | 531 | 509 |
| Non-Core Curriculum | 467 | 481 | 459 |
| Difference | +51 | +50 | +50 |
| Bios | 583.3 | 570 | 568.3 |
| Bios Difference | +116.3 | +89 | +109.3 |
Notice the even higher difference exemplified by the Bios students. Those are big differences from a school which does not screen students for academic ability.
From our experience, the four years of math, four years of science, four years of English, and four years Bible, along with three years of history, support our students greatly in not only being prepared for college but in completing four years of college successfully.
The Bios difference is because of our excellent instructors, differentiated instruction, clear individualized goals, and four full years of a rigorous high school education.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Bios Homestay Families Wanted
Bios Christian Academy is looking for host families to house students from other countries who will be attending our school. We will be allowing up to five full-time students to attend from other countries beginning the second semester of this year.
The list of responsibilities of the host family are common sense and essentially what a family would do for their own kids. These responsibilities include:
· Providing a warm, accepting, safe, and comfortable environment for the student.
· Providing a comfortable room for the student with bed, dresser, desk, closet, etc.
· Providing meals for the student.
· Monitoring the student's after-school activities as you would your own children.
· Fostering the student's spiritual growth.
· There are more responsibilities, but the general theme is treat the student as your own.
The criteria for being a Bios Homestay Family are:
1. Both parents must be evangelical Christians.
2. You must be a member of a local evangelical Christian church and attend regularly.
3. You must be able to meet the responsibilities of host families.
4. The Bios Homestay Host Family Application is submitted.
After the application is returned, an interview will be conducted by the principal and/or the Bios Homestay Coordinator. You will be notified of the results of the application process soon after the interview.
If all is successful, you will be contacted when a student that matches your expectations arrives. An interview will then be set up to make sure everyone is comfortable.
Our goals for including students from foreign countries into our Bios community include the opportunity to encourage those who are Christians, witness to those who do not hold dear the truths of the Bible, provide a superior college prep education, and to help them be a part of our community.
Each host family will receive $600 per month a student is with them.
Please pray about this opportunity. Any questions contact me.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Bios Fall Sports
The end of another season of sports came upon us this past Saturday. As with all seasons, some goals were achieved and others were not. For example, the junior high volleyball team may have lost in the second round of the tournament, but as individual players and as a team they greatly improved.
The AIA ref in the junior high boys' last tournament game reflected the attitude of many coaches from opposing teams when he asked them during a break in the action if they were also a club team. Of course the answer was no. It was just a well coached and disciplined team of junior high boys playing in a high school league. Throughout the season the boys showed skill and courage as they played.
Finishing fourth in the same league, the ninth through twelfth grade boys also had two players earn all-state honors. It was a good year for the team.
Cross country performed well in their inaugural season. The junior high boys finished sixth, the high school boys were fourth, and the high school girls third in the state tournament.
And our high school girls won their first volleyball championship in two quick sets. One player earned all-state honors.
Two stories I wanted to share from the week of competition are as follows.
During the third set of the first round of high school volleyball, in what should have been an easy victory, our girls were down 22-18. Victory for the other team and a quick exit from the tournament were only three points away. On top of that some players were beginning to snap and blame each other for their predicament. In a quick meeting after another point lost, one of the girls shouted to the others to stop the bickering and to trust God in this. Whether they had lost this instead of the win, it was a great moment of leadership and trust.
The second story involved one of our girls on the cross country team. A freshman, she consistently came in one of the top three places in our meets during the regular season. During the championships this past weekend she was running neck and neck with another girl for first place for most of the race. With the finish line in sight, the other girl said she felt faint. Our freshman said we'll cross together. So, holding hands, the two crossed together over the finish line. The officials at the meet didn't like this and told the girls someone had to be the winner. Our freshman immediately said for her competitor to be named the winner and she would take second place. And that is how it ended.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Preparation or Protection
by Staci Fletcher, JH/HS Math and Science Teacher and Core Member
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6: 10 – 13
As a teacher and a parent of two teens at Bios, I have the challenging task of wearing many hats on the campus. Just because I am a teacher on the campus does not exclude me from having challenges as a parent while my children are growing up. With one such challenge this past school year God was able to use it for me to hear some very wise and sound words via another gracious parent on the campus. The parent’s words addressed directly the verses written above. Those words resoundingly brought me back to my purpose for having my children at Bios. Those words have caused me to recognize my pride and what I think I can do for my kids and in turn, given them back to God.
Many would say my teens only attend Bios because I am just protecting them from the “real world.” And with that, I am only delaying the inevitable challenges that my teens will have to face when they do leave the “sheltered” community and I won’t be around to help them through them. Prior to this past year, I too would struggle with such thoughts that danced around in my head and had questions along those same lines I would occasionally ask myself. “Should I be protecting my teens this way? Shouldn’t I have them face all of the challenges and atrocities that 95% of other teens in our world face? Am I “protecting” my teens by keeping them at Bios? How will they ever learn how to face life on their own if I don’t let them face that life while I am here to help?”
Today, due to the wise words brought to me by the gracious parent, during a time of struggle with one of my teens, I can confidently say that Bios is NOT a place of protection for my teens, but more importantly, a place of preparation for my teens; preparation for the atrocities that they will inevitably have to face as young adults and beyond. My teens attend Bios because they are preparing for the unseen war that they will soon have to face on their own. My teens attend Bios because only the full armor of God can prepare them to fight the spiritual warfare which will be in full force once they graduate from high school. My teens attend Bios because they need preparation NOT because they need protection. Just like Moses and his 40 years in the desert, just like Joseph and his many years in Egypt before becoming a great ruler next to Pharaoh, just like Jesus and his 30 years of training prior to his ministry. We all need preparation for our fight “… against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Today, after working through that challenge, I am confident and am sure as a Bios teacher and as a Bios parent, my teens are being prepared for their fight and I am confident that God is behind all of those preparations every day of their lives and He is the one protecting them; not I.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Boys and Learning: Common Myths
"Boys are just not as ready as girls are for success in kindergarten". Or "Boys are just more active than girls, that is why they can't sit still". Those are two of the more common myths about boys I have heard from parents and teachers over the years. I have seen no truth to either myth. For the past year's class of kindergarten students, the boys scored a respectable average of 87% on the SAT test given in the spring. While the girls earned an average of 80%. I know this is not a scientific study, but the scores are indicative of past performances at my earlier school. Both boys and girls score well on achievement tests in kindergarten. Sometimes the girls score higher and other years the boys score higher.
In an article written by Molly Mann for The Apple, she comments on how she thought it was a biased view that girls stick to their studies better than boys, then she writes, "but now research shows that now girls do in fact score better than boys on standardized tests". She also cited statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Two items mentioned were that boys were three times more likely to drop out of school and four times as likely to be labeled as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.
In Richard Whitmire's book, Why Boys Fail, he cites these statistics. Boys are twice as likely to be suspended and three times as likely to be expelled as girls. Among whites, women receive 57% of the bachelor's degrees and 62% of the master's. Among black women it is 66% and 72% respectively. Clearly boys are being hurt in acquiring the skills needed to further their education.
There are many reasons why a great education is important for boys. One is job security. Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that the unemployment rate for workers 25- and-older with a bachelor's degree or higher was 4.6% in August. This compared to a 10.3% rate for workers with only a high school diploma. The article compared this 5.7% gap with a gap of only 2.5% when the recession began. A college degree helps workers keep their jobs.
There are many theories on why boys are struggling in school. Of course, I have my own thoughts.
You could easily blame it on the fact that over seventy percent of the K-6 teachers are female. Though there may be something to that, all of our K-6 teachers are female at Bios and all of our boys are excelling in their classes. So while it would be nice to have male teachers in the earlier grades, the fact that they are not has not been reflected in our boy's achievement.
Blaming learning materials because they don't fit into what our culture thinks boys should like isn't correct. As one writer for the New York Times did who suggested that boys may do better in school if they read "lowbrow, adventure, or even gross-out books that disproportionately appeal to boys." This isn't an answer. All our boys excel in both their reading and writing skills even though they have to read the identical books our girls read. Books like "Ann of Green Gables", The Secret Garden, and Jayne Eyre. While the boys may not as a rule enjoy the books, they can and do read these books as part of their literature assignments. The boys also read along with the girls books that may interest them more such as The Three Musketeers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Lord of the Rings. The use of materials which do not catch the assumed special interests of boys do not hold to the fact that our boys succeed reading a variety of books. The fact that all of our boys excel in their language skills according to SAT results, AIMS results and daily work prove otherwise.
Another writer suggests boys are bored in school because they are taught in sedate ways and then act out. Again our boys are taught in "sedate" ways and don't act out. They excel.
So how do boys (and girls) excel in our school? Well, using the methods of Bios Christian Academy. Class sizes are important. Kindergarten and junior high/high school math are as low as ten students in a math class to as high as 21 in our music classes. Each class size is designed to be the maximum a Bios teacher is able to maintain our unique individual and differentiated approach while keeping tuition cost down.
Clear, measurable, daily , and individualized goals for each student help the teachers and students to know clearly what is expected for each class. A key component of this are the check sheets that every student has for every subject. At first almost all of the check sheets were designed by me. And now most of the new check sheets are designed by experienced teachers who have many years using our methods. The check sheets for each subject provide for teachers and students the measurable goals needed to be accomplished that day or period in class. In addition, check sheets provide an intrinsic reward aspect for the students. Everyday, right there in front of the student, their check sheet, is an immediate feedback on what they have accomplished. It is a very subtle, but powerful reinforcement of progress toward a goal.
Excellent teachers are key to an excellent education. In an article written on The Core Knowledge Blog by Robert Pondiscio titled "The $320,000 Kindergarten Teacher", two studies were focused on, one in Tennessee and the other with black Americans. Both had very similar conclusions. Excellent teachers in the early years provide long term differences in income, college education, success at marriage, retirement savings, discipline manners, and perseverance. We hire and train all of our teachers to be those excellent teachers. How do we train them you may ask? The same way as our students. Individual goals and clear expectations in a system with the simple name of "Continuous Training". Through out the year a trainer or myself will observe or teach the class with a follow-up conference soon after to discuss what went well and allowing for no more than two goals to be worked on by the teacher.
To give conclusion, the myths on boys not being able to learn or that they require special materials to learn new skills are proven wrong daily at Bios. All they need is a safe environment, with excellent teachers, using clear goals, and treating them as the unique creation God has made them to be.
In an article written by Molly Mann for The Apple, she comments on how she thought it was a biased view that girls stick to their studies better than boys, then she writes, "but now research shows that now girls do in fact score better than boys on standardized tests". She also cited statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics. Two items mentioned were that boys were three times more likely to drop out of school and four times as likely to be labeled as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.
In Richard Whitmire's book, Why Boys Fail, he cites these statistics. Boys are twice as likely to be suspended and three times as likely to be expelled as girls. Among whites, women receive 57% of the bachelor's degrees and 62% of the master's. Among black women it is 66% and 72% respectively. Clearly boys are being hurt in acquiring the skills needed to further their education.
There are many reasons why a great education is important for boys. One is job security. Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, it was reported that the unemployment rate for workers 25- and-older with a bachelor's degree or higher was 4.6% in August. This compared to a 10.3% rate for workers with only a high school diploma. The article compared this 5.7% gap with a gap of only 2.5% when the recession began. A college degree helps workers keep their jobs.
There are many theories on why boys are struggling in school. Of course, I have my own thoughts.
You could easily blame it on the fact that over seventy percent of the K-6 teachers are female. Though there may be something to that, all of our K-6 teachers are female at Bios and all of our boys are excelling in their classes. So while it would be nice to have male teachers in the earlier grades, the fact that they are not has not been reflected in our boy's achievement.
Blaming learning materials because they don't fit into what our culture thinks boys should like isn't correct. As one writer for the New York Times did who suggested that boys may do better in school if they read "lowbrow, adventure, or even gross-out books that disproportionately appeal to boys." This isn't an answer. All our boys excel in both their reading and writing skills even though they have to read the identical books our girls read. Books like "Ann of Green Gables", The Secret Garden, and Jayne Eyre. While the boys may not as a rule enjoy the books, they can and do read these books as part of their literature assignments. The boys also read along with the girls books that may interest them more such as The Three Musketeers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Lord of the Rings. The use of materials which do not catch the assumed special interests of boys do not hold to the fact that our boys succeed reading a variety of books. The fact that all of our boys excel in their language skills according to SAT results, AIMS results and daily work prove otherwise.
Another writer suggests boys are bored in school because they are taught in sedate ways and then act out. Again our boys are taught in "sedate" ways and don't act out. They excel.
So how do boys (and girls) excel in our school? Well, using the methods of Bios Christian Academy. Class sizes are important. Kindergarten and junior high/high school math are as low as ten students in a math class to as high as 21 in our music classes. Each class size is designed to be the maximum a Bios teacher is able to maintain our unique individual and differentiated approach while keeping tuition cost down.
Clear, measurable, daily , and individualized goals for each student help the teachers and students to know clearly what is expected for each class. A key component of this are the check sheets that every student has for every subject. At first almost all of the check sheets were designed by me. And now most of the new check sheets are designed by experienced teachers who have many years using our methods. The check sheets for each subject provide for teachers and students the measurable goals needed to be accomplished that day or period in class. In addition, check sheets provide an intrinsic reward aspect for the students. Everyday, right there in front of the student, their check sheet, is an immediate feedback on what they have accomplished. It is a very subtle, but powerful reinforcement of progress toward a goal.
Excellent teachers are key to an excellent education. In an article written on The Core Knowledge Blog by Robert Pondiscio titled "The $320,000 Kindergarten Teacher", two studies were focused on, one in Tennessee and the other with black Americans. Both had very similar conclusions. Excellent teachers in the early years provide long term differences in income, college education, success at marriage, retirement savings, discipline manners, and perseverance. We hire and train all of our teachers to be those excellent teachers. How do we train them you may ask? The same way as our students. Individual goals and clear expectations in a system with the simple name of "Continuous Training". Through out the year a trainer or myself will observe or teach the class with a follow-up conference soon after to discuss what went well and allowing for no more than two goals to be worked on by the teacher.
To give conclusion, the myths on boys not being able to learn or that they require special materials to learn new skills are proven wrong daily at Bios. All they need is a safe environment, with excellent teachers, using clear goals, and treating them as the unique creation God has made them to be.
Why Bios Does Not Hold Students Back
Pamela Powell Ed. D. most probably doesn't even know who Bios Christian Academy is, but in her recent article for eJournal of Education Policy titled "A Perilous Policy Path: Grade Retention in the Age of NCLB", she does an excellent job of describing our school and in addition putting forth a good chunk of our argument for not retaining our students.
Some interesting items are provided by Dr. Powell which do not support the retaining of students. One major research supported thought is that student retention is a strong predictor of high school drop out. Students who are retained have high school drop out rates of two to eleven times greater than the rest of the population. Another study showed that retention helped 21 percent of the students who were retained and hurt 39 percent. Retention is not a very reliable method of assisting students.
Dr. Powell makes another profound case against retaining students. She writes, "When we engage in this type of thinking regarding children, we are blaming the victim." Later she adds, "Furthermore, we are usurping a year of the child's life. This equates to year of earning power, a year of life outside the institution of education, and a year of being overage in a school system."
The really exciting part of her article, her answer to retaining students, describes the educational ideas we hold dear to at Bios. The following are four of her ideas of "shifting the paradigm".
* All children develop as individuals. Children are always "ready to learn", they are always learning.
* Children would be better served through a system which meets individual needs.
* Instead of comparing children with each other, compare the child with the child.
* All children have assets.
Dr. Powell had more good ideas you can check out at the web site. But I wanted to finish with how this all applies to Bios.
At Bios Christian Academy, our main method of instruction is not based around teacher lecture. It is built on a structure of student's studying, working on projects, and/or verbally convincing their teacher their understanding of a concept. A baseline set of goals have been created for all academic subjects. From this baseline all students have individual goals monitored from their individual check sheets. There are many checks within this instructional system for teachers to be able to double student expectations or cut their goals in half. There are even provisions in each subject for students who arrive with very low skills to not use our baseline set of goals and instead the teacher creates for the student their own individual program until their skills allow them to progress at school expectations.
Another basic premise when assessing students is to observe what skills the student has instead of what the student is not able to do. For example, when told a student new to the school is a poor reader, we look at some basic skills. Can he recognize different faces? If yes, can he recognize shapes and letters? For younger students who have reading issues, we don't care if they can name letters. If the student earns a yes to the above questions and there are no physical reasons to prevent reading, then he can read. We then teach him how easy it is to read using a sight word program. After there has been success in reading in the sight word program we teach the phonics behind it. This simple method has worked on students who are not able to read from first to ninth grade 100% of the time. Then improvement in reading is a matter of time until vocabulary and comprehension are at grade level. We achieve these results consistently across all subjects and skills because of the ability to individualize each students goals. Plus from experience we know that all students can learn.
This instructional method works very well with skilled students. Many students come to us at far below their potential because of their prior instruction. Again because of our school wide baselines for each subject, students can be placed so as to plug in missing skills to allow for a greater learning pace in the future.
Also in our instructional model, the proverbial buck of student learning stops at the teacher.
We would agree with Dr. Powell, that when you retain a child you are blaming the victim. The teacher should be responsible for student learning. The present system of allowing a teacher to only spend one school year with a student allows for teachers to pass off on to the next teacher the unmet educational needs of the student. In addition, the consistency of instruction and the trust developed between the teacher and the student and parents in a multigrade instructional model is invaluable for student success.
To finish, retaining a student makes little sense because: 1) It doesn't usually work in benefitting the student, 2) It is punishing the student when he should have had a better teacher, 3) Students mature at different rates, and 4) The quality of the teacher from the previous year is probably a major factor in the child's success, so again why are we punishing the victim of an educational system which fails to meet each student's needs. Retention is a poor idea that should not be used.
Some interesting items are provided by Dr. Powell which do not support the retaining of students. One major research supported thought is that student retention is a strong predictor of high school drop out. Students who are retained have high school drop out rates of two to eleven times greater than the rest of the population. Another study showed that retention helped 21 percent of the students who were retained and hurt 39 percent. Retention is not a very reliable method of assisting students.
Dr. Powell makes another profound case against retaining students. She writes, "When we engage in this type of thinking regarding children, we are blaming the victim." Later she adds, "Furthermore, we are usurping a year of the child's life. This equates to year of earning power, a year of life outside the institution of education, and a year of being overage in a school system."
The really exciting part of her article, her answer to retaining students, describes the educational ideas we hold dear to at Bios. The following are four of her ideas of "shifting the paradigm".
* All children develop as individuals. Children are always "ready to learn", they are always learning.
* Children would be better served through a system which meets individual needs.
* Instead of comparing children with each other, compare the child with the child.
* All children have assets.
Dr. Powell had more good ideas you can check out at the web site. But I wanted to finish with how this all applies to Bios.
At Bios Christian Academy, our main method of instruction is not based around teacher lecture. It is built on a structure of student's studying, working on projects, and/or verbally convincing their teacher their understanding of a concept. A baseline set of goals have been created for all academic subjects. From this baseline all students have individual goals monitored from their individual check sheets. There are many checks within this instructional system for teachers to be able to double student expectations or cut their goals in half. There are even provisions in each subject for students who arrive with very low skills to not use our baseline set of goals and instead the teacher creates for the student their own individual program until their skills allow them to progress at school expectations.
Another basic premise when assessing students is to observe what skills the student has instead of what the student is not able to do. For example, when told a student new to the school is a poor reader, we look at some basic skills. Can he recognize different faces? If yes, can he recognize shapes and letters? For younger students who have reading issues, we don't care if they can name letters. If the student earns a yes to the above questions and there are no physical reasons to prevent reading, then he can read. We then teach him how easy it is to read using a sight word program. After there has been success in reading in the sight word program we teach the phonics behind it. This simple method has worked on students who are not able to read from first to ninth grade 100% of the time. Then improvement in reading is a matter of time until vocabulary and comprehension are at grade level. We achieve these results consistently across all subjects and skills because of the ability to individualize each students goals. Plus from experience we know that all students can learn.
This instructional method works very well with skilled students. Many students come to us at far below their potential because of their prior instruction. Again because of our school wide baselines for each subject, students can be placed so as to plug in missing skills to allow for a greater learning pace in the future.
Also in our instructional model, the proverbial buck of student learning stops at the teacher.
We would agree with Dr. Powell, that when you retain a child you are blaming the victim. The teacher should be responsible for student learning. The present system of allowing a teacher to only spend one school year with a student allows for teachers to pass off on to the next teacher the unmet educational needs of the student. In addition, the consistency of instruction and the trust developed between the teacher and the student and parents in a multigrade instructional model is invaluable for student success.
To finish, retaining a student makes little sense because: 1) It doesn't usually work in benefitting the student, 2) It is punishing the student when he should have had a better teacher, 3) Students mature at different rates, and 4) The quality of the teacher from the previous year is probably a major factor in the child's success, so again why are we punishing the victim of an educational system which fails to meet each student's needs. Retention is a poor idea that should not be used.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Why Bios? #1 It works.
As a proud father, teacher, and principal, Bios did an excellent job of educating my three children. My daughter graduated with honors with her under graduate degree in agriculture. She enjoyed a scholarship that covered the costs of all four years. This December she will complete her master's in agricultural business. In the midst of his second year of med school, my oldest son enjoyed a full ride for his first four years of education at a small private college. And finishing the last year of his master's degree, my youngest son begins to ready himself for the string of exams required to be a certified architect. They all acquired many advanced skills to prepare them for their future lives.
Why Bios? It works. Not only for my own children, but for the almost 170 students who we have the privilege to teach everyday. It would be tough to find a better overall math, reading, or writing program for college preparation in the state.
This is exemplified through each students daily progress, the 50% of our senior class that has exceeded all three tests of the state AIMS exam, and the SAT scores which are at least 40 points above national averages in all three subjects.
All of this is a waste of time if we don't ground our students in the solid foundation of the Bible. Everyday, all of our students, K-12, spend at least forty minutes in the Word. Reading, listening, and memorizing our guiding light. It gives purpose to the education so diligently worked on.
Why Bios? It works. Not only for my own children, but for the almost 170 students who we have the privilege to teach everyday. It would be tough to find a better overall math, reading, or writing program for college preparation in the state.
This is exemplified through each students daily progress, the 50% of our senior class that has exceeded all three tests of the state AIMS exam, and the SAT scores which are at least 40 points above national averages in all three subjects.
All of this is a waste of time if we don't ground our students in the solid foundation of the Bible. Everyday, all of our students, K-12, spend at least forty minutes in the Word. Reading, listening, and memorizing our guiding light. It gives purpose to the education so diligently worked on.
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