What does success look like in school?
Richard Andrew
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“Improve your students' test scores!”
Apparently, this is supposed to be the?#1?aim of teachers everywhere. At least, this is what the GERM movement would have us believe (GERM = Global Educational Reform Movement [Pasi Sahlberg])
But could we be shooting ourselves in the foot by adopting ‘Raise the test scores’ as our?#1?mantra??
What does success in school look like?
I’ve got a simple, thought-provoking task for you. The setup is hypothetical, but is key to exploring the 'what does success look like?' question.
Let’s assume we have observed all students in the three classes (below) for twelve months.
Let’s also assume we can accurately rate each student on the following six criteria.?
Again, this is hypothetical because the most important categories are the most difficult to measure.
The six success categories:
Your (fun) task - in a nutshell ...
Class One, Teacher One (12-month summary):?
Standardised test results:?(7-10 out of 10) Good to excellent.?
Desire to be in lessons:?(4-6 out of 10) Students are OK with being in lessons but are not overly enthused.?
Level of agency over learning:?(1-3 out of 10) Poor. The students are capable but mostly display a ‘Show me what to do but don’t try to get me to think’ attitude. They mostly believe that gaining good scores is their teacher’s responsibility. Some mathematics teachers trialled student-centred investigations during the first half of the year but abandoned the approach due to resistance from the students. There were even complaints from some parents. Consequently, the teacher reverted to spoon-feeding in the way the students wanted.
On the same page as the teacher:?0-2 out of 10 for any work that requires students to think or investigate; 5-7 out of 10 for ’normal’ activities (students replicating teachers' instructions) where students lacked enthusiasm but were compliant.
Willingness to help create a positive learning environment:?(4-6 out of 10) Very few students contribute to discussions, and there is little desire to collaborate. The student vibe is ‘Let’s do the bare minimum to get decent results and then get out of here’.
Level of rapport/respect:?(4-6 out of 10) There are almost zero behaviour issues. The students are compliant, but there is little spark in the room and very little enthusiasm. Average in terms of rapport and respect for the teacher.?
Summary comment:?The class ended the year the same way it started and is viewed by traditional teachers and parents as ‘a reasonably good class’ due to their good scores. However, it is difficult to determine the students' true potential because they are so resistant to deep, investigative thinking. Very few students are interested in exploring activities that are not directly related to ‘the test’.
Class Two, Teacher Two (12-month summary):?
Standardised test results:?(3-5 out of 10) Poor to average.
Desire to be in lessons:?(0-3 out of 10) Most students don’t want to be in lessons. Some are happier to be removed from a lesson through poor behaviour than to endure more of the lesson.
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Level of agency over learning:?(0-1 out of 10) Most students take zero responsibility for their learning, and many have learned next to nothing for the year.?
On the same page as the teacher:?(0-1 out of 10) Students on a different page altogether. The teacher has battled all year with poor behaviour and has made very little progress.
Willingness to help create a positive learning environment:?(0-1 out of 10) Unwilling.
Level of rapport/respect:?(0-3) Very poor on all counts. It is obvious to any observer - and to the students - that the teacher strongly dislikes the students in this class ... and vice-versa.
Summary comment:?This class has proved to be Teacher Two's stereotypical ’nightmare’ class. However, a teacher more skilled in turning around off-task classes could have made significant progress.
Class Three, Teacher Three (12-month summary):?
Standardised test results:?(6-7 out of 10) Reasonable results.
Most students are performing to their potential, although some students’ level of understanding is not reflected in test scores due to assessment anxiety.?
Desire to be in lessons:?(9-10 out of 10) The students love lessons.
Level of agency over learning:?(8-10 out of 10) All students take at least reasonable responsibility for their learning, many at an exceptional level - by asking deep questions, displaying a strong desire to understand and striving to do their best.
On the same page as the teacher:?(9-10 out of 10) The students and the teacher are one cohesive unit exploring and investigating their way through the syllabus. The teacher prioritises students understanding the concepts that underpin the mathematics they are tackling in any given lesson.
Willingness to help create a positive learning environment:?(8-10 out of 10) Students are supportive of each other and of the teacher to gain the most from each lesson. Behavioural issues are rare.
Level of rapport/respect:?(9-10 out of 10) Excellent rapport and mutual respect.
Summary comment:?This class began the year ‘average-ish’ in most categories, but Teacher Three was able to steer them to the current ratings within six months. Regarding mathematics lessons, many students stated they are somewhat perplexed re never having liked maths in the past yet, despite ’not being good at maths’ - they really enjoy mathematics lessons.?
Your turn …?
Which situation do you think demonstrates the greatest amount of success? My pick is Class Three (obviously), yet Class One achieved the highest scores.
The point of this article.
There is a lot more to success in teaching than test scores.??
I’d argue that fostering positive attitudes in students
Furthermore, I’d suggest that by having ‘Raise the test scores’ as our?#1?mantra, we run the risk of:
But that’s just me. What about you?
Did this article cause you to resonate? Or react? Do tell ...
Educator | Academic & Life Coach| Speaker| Author... I EmPower driven women to strategically position themselves, their families and their communities for true life success.
2 年I agree with your points Richard Andrew. The challenge now is to get even ourselves as math educators to accept the low to average scores even when all of the factors you pointed out that make for a successful math class are present. I mean, we became math educators because we love the subject and because more often than not, we got good to great grades in it.
Founder | CEO | Teacher | EdTech Specialist | Learner | Lover of Mathematics
2 年Some great ideas here. You could add others: - Students' willingness to take risks - Students' willingness to persevere in problems - Students' willingness to critically reflect Big picture, we need to reframe our definition of success to be around 'learning' and not 'performance'.
CEO at Linked VA
2 年As we all know, numbers and test results do not define our students' intelligence. They are, instead, an imperfect reflection of how much students have learned in various courses, how eager they are to learn, and how teachers can determine where to support their students' participation, particularly in math.
CEO at The Expert Project
2 年This is a great read, Richard. Mathematics is not about grades; it's all about learning. Grades are just numbers, and learning is an achievement.
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2 年I learned a lot from this article, Richard. I'm hoping more students will develop these criteria and classes that you mentioned, and will put in the time and effort necessary to ensure becoming successful.