Student Responsibility

Lately, I've been questioning whether given the choice, I would want students to become better learners or teachers to become better educators. True, in an ideal world, both would be optimal, but it seems that for much of the history of education, we have operated on the principle of "the greatest good for the greatest number of people". Such a principle might work well in society or in government, but is it really the best principle for education?I would argue that it is not.

History has shown us that there are always students who lag behind, those that need additional help whether out of lack of motivation or something else. And, if educators continue to follow the fads of finding the next best way to educate, I fear we will continue to cause detriment to students.

The most popular teaching methods of late are those that teach to a particular learning style. Whether using Dunn's PEPS assessment, Myer's-Briggs Temperament Inventory, or Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, teachers are instructed to look for the common denominator and teach their classes according to that common denominator. What they fail to realize, I believe, is that there is no one common denominator. The PEPS assessment, for one, provides analysis for 18 different factors including for example, whether a student prefers auditory instruction or whether a student prefers to work in groups. Knowing that a result of this one assessment can produce a myriad of characteristics for just one student makes me hesitant to believe that a teacher can find a group of factors that holds true for the majority of one class.

Perhaps instead of bringing new instructional methods to teachers, we instead focus on helping students be better learners. It has been said that finding a student's learning style strength is nothing more than finding what the student believes is the most comfortable way he knows to learn or perhaps the only learning environment to which he has been exposed. One might argue then that learning style assessments are not reliable for that one reason. However, I would disagree. If a student has discovered a way in which he can learn, why not capitalize on that: not on teaching to the student according to the way in which he learns, but in providing further strategies to the student so that he can continue to learn regardless of the environment.

Because so much research on learning styles has been focussed on aiding the teacher, new research needs to be done on finding assessments designed to help the student. One such assessment is the TIPP Learning Styles and Temperament assessment. This tool has been used successfully and extensively with older students; however, it has not yet been proven reliable with younger students. The first step is to test its validity and reliability with younger students, and then allow further research to prove or disprove that students who know how to learn are better than teachers who try to teach to the majority.

Toastmaster Ramblings

I joined toastmasters approximately five months ago, not really because I needed assistance with public speaking, but because I wanted to branch out and meet new people, and I wanted to relearn organizing my thoughts. So far, it has been very beneficial. I have met some wonderful people from all walks of life, and probably the most important thing is that it has encouraged me to wake up earlier on Thursdays!

This morning, however, there were only three of us, and instead of conducting a regular meeting, we got into a discussion on education and financial aid -- two of my specialties! Perhaps the one thing that struck me as the most important topic of discussion was education's financial support.

Now it isn't news to me that communities are often asked to vote to support or reject an educational levy, but one thing I hadn't stopped consider is that people's vote on any referendum is subjective. I know for me, I don't often vote for transportation levies simply because the majority of them don't serve my neighborhood. If it doesn't benefit me, why vote for it? But do people actually do the same thing when it comes to education? The common sense answer is yes. Unless you have a vested interest in the public education system (i.e., you have a child or grandchild in school, or like me you are an educator, educational administrator, or educational researcher), why would you vote to pay more of your money for education?

The more I thought about that idea, the more I considered the fact that some schools are very well financed whereas others are not. Sometimes it is because the community cannot financially support its school system. But sometimes it's because the community is not interested. In this discussion was one lady who was born and raised in Germany. She explained to us that the government and not the individuals controls the education. There are no referendums to vote for, no levies to support or reject. As far as teachers' pay and students' supplies are concerned, there is never a real need or complaints over the differences between schools.

It makes me wonder if we wouldn't be better served with such a standardized system of education. Now, I know "No Child Left Behind" has been a dismal failure, and I'm not suggesting it be revisited or that it be my definition of a standardized system of education. You cannot require schools to meet the same specific standards and then not provide them similar means of reaching those standards. But, what if all schools were provided the same amount of resources? I know there will be those who will argue with me about the amount of taxes we may have to pay nationwide for such an endeavor, but let me also present this argument:

Educational researchers are constantly faced with debates and rebuttals about their research. What works for one school doesn't work for another. Subjectivity is one bias that plagues all researchers; however, how can one educational researcher be expected to generalize his research to other educational environments when other educational institutions are not on an even plain? To provide one example, what if bilingual education succeeds in one school and not another because of variances in teacher pay, student supplies, and the amount of financial support given to one school and not another? Demographics vary by location, indeed, but resources ought not.

Just food for thought.

Let's Get This

Those closest to me know that I am a devoted supporter of the New Kids on the Block. If I have an opportunity to bring my favorite band and education together, I will definitely share that here with you at Acquiring Excellence. Thanks to Joe McIntyre, I have that chance.

In May 2009, Joey McIntyre started his "Let's Get This" Foundation, started principally for people coming together to learn how, in even the smallest ways, we can make the world a better place.

The first goal of this foundation is literacy, and in meeting that goal, the Let's Get This foundation has partnered with First Book and New Kids on the Block fans to organize a book drive. In one of Joey McIntyre's blogs about this endeavor, he explains, "There is an enormous lack of age appropriate reading material for the kids". I completely agree that early reading is so incredibly crucial.

As a New Kids on the Block fan, I intend to set up a collection spot for brand new childrens' books at my local library, Key Center Library during the next two weeks, but for those readers who are not local to me, I would encourage you to make a donation of $5 or more at Let's Get This' First Book site. You can make a donation with a credit card or paypal, and for each $2 you donate, one brand new children's book is purchased.

Even if you are not able to support First Book, I would encourage you to seek out your local library and ask how you can best support early literacy!

Thank you!

Gaining Confidence

I have completed reading the problem statement and the literature review of the dissertation listed below. I attempted to find an email address of the author, but so far I haven't been able to find any contact information. In my defense, the dissertation was written in 2002, and here we are 7 years later. I can't be sure if she is still in Florida or has moved somewhere else. A search for the author's name and "school psychologist" resulted in quite a few school psychologists with her name. So, at this point I'm going to consider this author as someone I won't be able to contact.

My concerns are again that she only included fifth graders in a study of English and Math while she indicates that math becomes a lower interest subject in later grades. She could have said more about the Flow theory. She does touch on engagement and even lists Csikszentmihalyi as a reference, but I think more could be said, and it might even redirect the focus of my dissertation.

I have researched the Peninsula School District for all elementary and middle school students. What is troublesome is I have population data accurate for February 2009; however, the demographic data is only accurate up to 2005. In 2005, it appears that there were more students enrolled, and obviously ethnicity can change in a span of four years. For now, I can only consider what I guess could be said the average ethnicity percentages of the students I want to study.

I'm also concerned about my sample size. The dissertation I'm reading only sampled 150 students. I'm looking at over 2000 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders in this school district. Based on a sample size calculator, it appears I should sample 241 fifth graders, 252 sixth graders, and 248 seventh graders for a total of 741 students. That's a lot of data and considerably more than this original dissertation upon which I would like to base my study. Of course, these numbers are based on a confidence level of 95% and a confidence interval of +/- 5. I'm not clear on the confidence interval, so I may have selected too low of an interval.

I have requested articles and books on the Flow Theory, and I have saved other articles based on motivation and elementary school students. It is my hope that I will have my MRF completed soon.

Thinking Out Loud

I've decided to take on this "muddling through the dissertation" phase in chunks. It is just too overwhelming if I don't. In recent weeks I was pondering doing either a dissertation on trauma and learning theories or one on learning strategies and motivation. I'm leaning more toward the second idea incorporating the theories of Flow and Achievement Goal. I did post on my classroom's site my interest in this second idea and that I'm moving slower than I first intended.

I'm a third of the way through the dissertation which first sparked my interest:
Watson, M. L. (2002). Role of social academic goals in relationships among fifth-graders' interest, achievement goals, and academic outcomes. Dissertation Abstracts International, 63(6), 2138. (UMI No. 3056794)

Her study involves only 5th grade students as she explains that 5th graders are reliable participants based on past research, it is the first time that students' interest in reading begins to diminish, and adaptive learning strategies become more apparent. However, she also mentions further in her problem statement and literature review that while interest in reading diminishes in 4th and 5th grade, interest in math doesn't show a decrease until the 6th and 7th grades. I intend to ask this author why she didn't include 6th, and 7th graders, but in the meantime, I'm considering my own study to include 5th through 7th graders.

So far, after reading a third of this dissertation, I have written down a few articles to look up (Wentzel, 1998, Wigfield 1997, Alexander 1997, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1994, Pintrich & De Groot, 1990, Scheifele, 1991, Scheifele & Csikszentmihalyi, 1995, and Midgley, 1993). I have also found information on the populations of area schools and whether they are considered urban or rural schools. In total, there are eleven elementary and middle schools in the area which comprise of 2129 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. Urban schools comprise of 1141 of these students while the rural schools comprise of 988 of the total. 2000 is a lot of students. Even if I were to get 50% of the population, I would still be looking at 1000. I think I need to investigate further the average response for these studies and whether 1000 students are too many for my dissertation study.

My next step is to find these articles and to request a couple of books by Csikszentmihalyi on the Flow theory. It is my belief that when I better understand the Flow Theory and the Achievement Goal Theory I will be prepared to begin my MRF.

Sigh...

I suppose it is a good thing that I never truly completed my methodology review form. After posting on my class's page about the idea below, I found a dissertation that I really love. Of course I haven't read through the whole thing yet. One thing I learned at my last colloquium is to read the abstract, and if you like it, read the implications for further research. I've read both, and I'm very interested. I should also mention that the author of the dissertation was also in an educational psychology program, which means I can be assured that any ideas I glean from her study would probably be approved by my department.

What I like most about her study is that it keeps with my interest of learning strategies. My only considerations would be the age group and my measure. For the dissertation I'm reading, the author used a standardized test, and there I am at a loss. I did look at the Washington superintendent of school's website and read about his changes to the standardized testing in Washington. It appears that this will be the last year the WASL is used, and it will only be for this spring. Obviously, I have no hope of being prepared to conduct a study that soon, and even if I did, the test is only being offered once. The new test will be offered in the spring of 2010. I could potentially use the new test that is being offered to either 3rd through 8th graders or the high school proficiency test offered to high school seniors.

The dissertation that I found was conducted with urban fifth graders. I know for a fact that my students would be rural, so that in itself could be interesting for comparison. Her study was also done in Florida, so opposing sides of the country could also prove interesting.

I would just really need to clarify my measure. The author speaks in her dissertation that for most researchers looking at learning strategies, they use GPA, so there's always that. For right now, I really just need to read through her 100+ pages to see exactly what she did. Then I think I will ask around to figure out what age group I should use, and if her implications for future study are feasible and beneficial for my purposes.

I might have found a new dissertation idea

Now I follow blogs everywhere, but most of my friends are either on blogger or live journal. I had joined live journal after a conversation with a friend a few years back, but it's mostly foolishness for a better word of what I type over there. At any rate, in all my foolishness, I joined groups related to educational psychology among others and somehow ended up communicating with another woman who was also studying at Capella. We finally met in person at my track three colloquium in Chicago in 2008. While she isn't specializing in educational psychology, she still seems pretty connected to all fields in psychology. She recently finished all of her coursework and will be starting her comprehensive exams, so I've been able to provide her feedback on my experiences.

We hadn't spoken in a while. In fact, it had almost been a year since either she or I blogged on livejournal. But about two weeks ago, I saw a blog from her commiserating on her job search. We got back in touch, and I told her about my tribulations over the past six or so months, including my recent lack of a dissertation idea.

And, she gave me a fabulous one to pursue. I suppose I should say I'm glad we're not in the same specialization. We can offer advice to one another without fear that one might steal the other's idea!

At any rate, her idea was to do a study on high school students who are currently enrolled in self-directed transformative education. How do their perceptions and maybe actions change due to a trauma that occurs in their life? Now, there would be a lot of work involved with this topic. I have contacted two virtual academies approved to offer public education in Washington state. But the more I think about it, my study could encompass any state that allows for public virtual education. I would simply need to mail them information, and it may take a bit longer to do my study, but it would give me a greater pool of participants and perhaps be more interesting to see how students in different environments react.

Right now, though, I need to do some research on why a student would pursue self-directed education in the first place. Both schools that I contacted offer this self-directed education to students as young as five years old. Certainly, they are not the ones who make the choice. It could mean, then, that some students who are currently enrolled in these high schools have been conditioned from an early age to embrace virtual education. I would need to find out how long virtual education has been sanctioned in a particular state.

I will update soon.