Madison Man Stunned After Father Hospitalized During Encounter With Police

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Ron Wolk: A tale of two states, Rhode Island and New Hampshire

Published: February 09, 2015 01:00 AM

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BY RON WOLK

For as long as anyone can remember, American students have worked their way through public schools by listening to teachers talk in classrooms, then repeating in quizzes and standardized tests as much as they could remember.

About a decade ago, education officials in Rhode Island and New Hampshire decided students would try harder and learn more if they had to demonstrate that they had actually mastered the requisite skills and knowledge in order to advance. So they moved from an obsolete, time-based system to competency-based education (CBE). Students would no longer get credit for just sitting in classrooms and regurgitating information; instead, they would have to show that they had actually learned the material and could apply what they learned.

Instead of relying on standardized tests to assess students, both states required students to demonstrate their learning through exhibitions, portfolios of work, performance and end-of-year tests. Scores on New Hampshire’s standardized tests would not count toward promotion or graduation. In Rhode Island they would count for no more than 10 percent of the credits toward graduation.

Students in both states would still be required to take and pass courses in core academic subjects aligned with state standards, but courses would be redesigned from content-heavy and traditional top-down instruction to instead be competency-based. New Hampshire would develop specific competencies for each course. Rhode Island would require students to be proficient in six core areas: English, math, science, social studies, the arts and technology. In addition, students would have to demonstrate proficiency in such applied-learning skills as critical thinking and problem solving, decision making, research and analytic reasoning, and personal or social responsibility.

Both states endorsed personalizing education to address the specific learning styles, interests, strengths and needs of the individual student. Rhode Island students were to be encouraged to “pursue their interests and passions both inside and outside of school.” New Hampshire went further and mandated “extended learning opportunities” whereby students could earn course credit for supervised internships, projects and work in the community.

In short, well ahead of the rest of the nation, both Rhode Island and New Hampshire rejected the belief that all students should receive the same education in classrooms at the same time and in the same way. Instead, they subscribed to the idea that learning can happen in any place in any way and at any time. Student achievement should be assessed and credited not by standardized tests but by students actually demonstrating and applying what they learn.

As the years passed, Rhode Island marched in place for a while and then retreated when most schools continued with business as usual. The commitment to multiple measures was never fully accepted, and state officials steadily increased the 10 percent limit on New England Common Assessment Program scores until a “passing score” was deemed necessary for a student to graduate. Today, the state remains mired in a system where time is the constant and learning is the variable, and where the “learning” is largely “delivered” through classroom instruction.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire has stuck with its vision, working at ground level with principals, teachers, parents and students to make CBE successful. Much work remains to be done, but progress is steady. More students are earning credit for supervised internships and projects in communities. Research shows significant declines in dropouts, school failures and disciplinary problems. Student engagement and learning have increased. Students say their work is more challenging and their interactions with teachers are more rewarding.

New Hampshire now ranks second in the nation on the 13 indicators that make up Education Week’s “Chance for Success Index” that captures lifelong learning opportunities, from early childhood through K-12 and higher education and work. Rhode Island ranks 24{+t}{+h} — behind every one of its New England neighbors.

New Hampshire’s progress has positioned it, perhaps better than any other state, to implement the controversial Common Core successfully. It has translated the new standards into course competencies that are more compatible with the Common Core’s emphasis on problem solving and analytical reasoning. And the new computer-based tests will not be used to assess individual students. Rhode Island is implementing the Common Core and has delayed until 2017 the consequences of the statewide standardized test.

It should be clear by now that there is no “one grand solution” to the problems of American education. But competency-based education can be a crucial first step toward a much-needed redesign of the nation’s faltering public education system.

Rhode Island should try again, beginning with the selection of a new education commissioner who has the vision and courage to blaze new trails.

Ron Wolk is a former vice president of Brown University and a member of the Performance Assessment Board that is working to move 13 New England high schools toward personalization and performance-based assessment.

from Providence Journal

After reading Delpit,"Will It Help the Sheep?" and Hill and Johnston. "In the Future, Diverse Approaches to Schooling," what are your thoughts about what happened in these 2 states? I look forward to discussing this in class. 

Thinking About Power, Privilege and Difference

To facilitate our discussion of Johnson and S.C.W.A.M.P. I am starting our discussion and thinking on line since the snowstorms have made our meeting together complicated. Listed below are some ideas from your think pieces about Johnson. As you read these, discuss your response with one another or comment below. 

1. One part of the reading I really found enjoyable was the part pertaining to the paradox of privilege. For instance, when it stated that "race privilege is more about white people than it is about white people." I  it found rather intriguing because it had to do with the idea that in today's world people are more concerned over the fact that you are a certain color rather than being concerned over the type of person you actually are. 
2. Another thing I really liked about these readings is the part where James Baldwin's idea that no one is black or white before coming to America is mentioned.
3. A good point Johnson brought up that I have realized before is that people are afraid of the unknown only because of things they do not know.
4. Racism and judgment is not something people are born with. 
5. I completely agree with another statement Johnson said that we can't overcome these negative attitudes until we answer the question as to why we feel the way we do toward others. Personally, I believe that this is a matter of what our parents, grandparents, or other older relatives have exposed to us...
6. A powerful point Johnson makes which really grabbed my attention and wholeheartedly agree with is "we are not prisoners to some natural order that pits us hopelessly and endlessly against one another. We are prisoners to something, but it's closer to our own making than we realize, and we, therefore, are far from helpless to change it and ourselves. 
7. I have worked as a cashier and I find that there are much better ways to judge a person on first meeting than color of skin they happened to be born with. Clothing, posture, hygiene all come to mind as factors I use to assess people the first time I meet them. 
8. We have been taught in schools ever since elementary levels that the term "racism" is a term only of the past. It does not exist anymore because of the FEW that chose to stand up for what is right. But in reality, racism is still alive in the hearts and souls of many people that can't come to terms with diversity. Not everyone has the same point of view, but is important to society that we can look at things in a different way that everyone can agree on. 

After doing S.C.W.A.M.P. and reading Johnson, your awareness of power privilege and difference in our everyday lives and society is heightened. Do you have an example of power privilege and difference to share from your own experience or current events or just from our environment?