Thursday, June 16, 2016

WHY CURRICULUM MATTERS, Take 3: Do you know what your children are being taught?

A Review of the StudySync ELA (English Language Arts) Curriculum Resource

U-46 Board Policy 6.210 states that “The Board of Education is legally responsible for the selection of instructional materials and delegates to…the District the authority for the selection. Instructional materials [should]…4) present opposing sides of controversial issues to encourage critical analysis of all media.”

Last July I expressed my objections to the “StudySync” resource for English Language Arts (ELA), as there was a pervasive one-sided view presented. This year the proposal is to expand StudySync as the resource for all students in grades 11-12 (there will be a vote on Monday June 20 at the 7 pm BOE meeting – 355 East Chicago Street, Elgin).  I have reviewed this resource again, and again come to the same conclusion. In short, there are pervasive leftist views and factual inaccuracies presented regarding the meaning of liberty and our country’s founding documents, government entitlements, gender differences, socialism,  leftist social causes, evolution, and global warming.

Here are a just a few of my objections:

Re: Understanding Liberty/2nd Amendment/Founding Documents:
·         An article entitled, “Liberty and Justice for All” presents the far left SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) and ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) as organizations that “fight for people who lack the power to fight for themselves” and “make sure that the United States adequately protects the civil liberties of all its citizens” (Apparently that doesn’t include Christians).
·         An article entitled, “Inalienable Rights” focuses on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR (with a passing mention of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence), with no mention that “Inalienable Rights” come from God, and no discussion of from whose hand the laundry list of rights in the UDHR (which include free health care and the right to leisure time) are supposed to come.
·         An article entitled “Reading Between the Lines”, asks, “How literally should we interpret and follow the foundational documents of the United States?”, subtly leading students to the conclusion that times have changed and so should the interpretation of the Constitution.
·         An article entitle, “Three-Dimensional World” quotes Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer  and questions the value of 3-D printing because guns can be 3-D printed.
·         Articles entitled “Apple vs. the FBI” and “Keeping Tabs” ask how much privacy we are willing to sacrifice for security. There is no discussion of whether giving up privacy can keep us safe; the issue is framed so as to present either security or privacy but not both.
Re: Gender Differences
·         An article entitled “On Edge” praises California public schools which “allow students to play on the sports teams of the gender they identify with”(no discussion of the “fairness” of allowing someone who is biologically male to compete in sports with someone who is biologically female). The article also presents the bogus statistic that “between 2 and 5% of the population is transgender”, when in fact it is 0.3%. Another article entitled “Gender Power” states that “a Colorado school district was found to have discriminated against a first grader who wanted to use the girl’s bathroom because she was born a biological boy”. Let me say that again for emphasis: “SHE was born a biological BOY.” That sentence is an implicit denial of reality. Furthermore, to encourage a first grade boy to believe he is a girl and to treat him as such is child abuse.
·         An article entitled “Girls, Boys, and Toys? How do toys influence behavior” laments the fact that boys and girls play with different toys (as if there are no appropriate differences between boys and girls).
·         An article entitled “Making Change” states that : “among all the currency circulated in America, women have only been featured on three coins—and only on rarely used ones, like the silver dollar. Both women and African-Americans have been treated as lesser citizens in American history.” It’s factually inaccurate that women have only been on coins in America. In the 1800’s, Martha Washington was on the $1 bill.  

Re: Glorifying Socialism and Leftist Social Causes:
·         An article entitled, “Labor Leader” praises Dolores Huerta, a known socialist (see link provided for the counterpoint). The questions asked of students in the article are one-sided and leading, without considering an opposing view: “What do you think? Had you heard of Dolores Huerta before? Do you think she deserves more attention for her work? Have any of her contributions affected your own life? How has Dolores Huerta fought for people’s rights?” Notice there are no questions engaging students to think critically about unionization.
·         Articles entitled “Wage Woes” and “Wage War” debate higher or lower minimum wages but leave out the possibility that government should not be in the business of setting wages. What could be presented (but isn’t) is the comparison between the free market and government regulated wages: In North Dakota’s oil boom, McDonalds workers were receiving over $20 an hour absent any government mandates on wages.

Re: Factual inaccuracies about the theory of evolution:
·         An article entitled “Fascinating Fossils” claims that Archaeopteryx is the link in the fossil record between birds and reptiles. There is much debate about this even among evolutionists (see here and here for opposing views). The article further claims that birds are reptiles. This is factually inaccurate. Birds are NOT reptiles (they are not cold blooded) and neither are they mammals (no mammary glands) but instead belong to a group all their own. (The five groups of vertebrates include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). 

Re: Lack of understanding concerning the role of government/global warming propaganda:
·         An article entitled, “Stay Cool” presents the assumption that it is the role of government to help people pay their cooling bills (oh, and by the way, “scientists have shown temperatures are going to continue to rise”. The weather can scarcely be predicted from day to day and yet scientists somehow know that temperatures are going to continue to rise). 

In summary, as last year, I cannot support the StudySync resource and will be voting no because of the pervasive leftist bias regarding the meaning of liberty and our country’s founding documents, government entitlements, gender differences, socialism,  leftist social causes, evolution, and global warming. 

Sunday, May 15, 2016

WHY CURRICULUM MATTERS, Take 2: Do you know what your children are being taught?

WHY CURRICULUM MATTERS, Take 2: Do you know what your children are being taught?

Statement on Cengage, NewsELA, and Encyclopedia Britannica Resources

The May 16 U-46 BOE meeting will be held at 7 pm at 355 East Chicago Street, Elgin, IL.

I am posting this because U-46 parents and citizens have a right and a duty to know what is planned for instruction of their children before it is approved by the BOE (Board of Education).

One of the three resources (NewsELA) on which the U-46 Board of Education will be voting on May 16 (and which were discussed/presented to the board on May 2) contains factual inaccuracies and a predominant leftist slant.  One is more balanced (Cengage), and one (Britannica) has problems I see, but they are not as overarching.

U-46 Board Policy 6.210 states that instructional materials are to“present opposing sides of controversial issues to encourage critical analysis of all media.”

I will cover each resource in turn:

1.     Cengage: I am impressed with this resource. It includes opposing viewpoints, referencing news sources such as “Spectator” and “National Review”, and “Christianity Today” in addition to “Newsweek”, and “The Economist”, “The New Yorker”, “The New York Times”, and “The New American”. Providing opposing viewpoints allows student to form their own opinions and allows freedom of thought. This is the kind of balanced resource I can support.

2.     NewsELA:
a.     I voted YES for this resource last year because at that time I was of the opinion that it was more balanced. I am not sure whether my review was incomplete, or the resource has changed since last year, but I have major objections this year. A teacher who is using this resource also feels that this resource is predominately slanted toward the left.

b.     An article entitled, “Rude Political Candidates Conflict with School Anti-Bullying Rules” asserts that “Democrats do not spend their time insulting each other”, while Republican candidates do. No mention of the endless insults Democrats generally hurl at Republicans. I guess they forgot about Sarah Palin.

c.      An article entitled “Chicago teens confronted with new wave of Islamophobia speak up” includes stories from three Muslim students. Although the students are obviously not terrorists, and are saddened that people fear Islam, no discussion of the content of the Qur’an, wherein Muslims are told to kill “people of the book” (i.e., Jews and Christians), or other passages that teach that it is the duty of Muslims to wage jihad warfare until Islam and Shari’a law are supreme over the entire world, is attempted. There is no discussion that the predominance of terrorist attacks worldwide are made by radical Muslims, or the tendency that when Muslims become more devout, they tend to become more violent. Other titles on this subject include, “President visits US Mosque in an effort to increase religious tolerance”, “After Paris massacre, American Muslims come under attack”, “After attacks, headscarves mark Muslim women as targets”, and “Court favors freedom of faith in ruling over Muslim job seeker’s headscarf” (too bad Christians don’t enjoy the same freedom not to bake cakes).

d.     An article for eighth graders in Spanish only (I used Google Translate) pictures a transgender young man putting on makeup with the following caption: “Cassidy Lynn Campbell , 16 , looks in the mirror while she makes up in her room in Huntington Beach , California on September 15 , 2013. Cassidy a transgender student at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, is one of the 10 finalists for the title of prom queen in her class.” The article goes on, “Sitting in the kitchen of her home and while stroking her hair, she said: "This year, I'm a girl every day".Cassidy has made a strong campaign on social networks to try to win the [prom queen] crown...so she has joined the group, growing but still small, of teenage transgenders seeking opportunity to revolutionize gender norms by participating in a typical competition of the United States that has long been marked by tradition and segregation of the sexes.”  I think many U-46 parents might be  uncomfortable with their 8th grader learning about this topic. Other headlines along similar vein include, “Apple CEO announces he is gay and says that this does not define his work (in Spanish only)”, “NBA player says he is gay, breaking major US sports barrier”,“NJ’s governor signs bill banning conversion therapy for gay children”, and “Supreme Court’s same sex marriage ruling cheered by many nationwide”. An article on the controversy in North Carolina opens with, “North Carolina has been criticized for a state law that discriminates against gay and transgender people.”

e.     Although on article on minimum wage presents pros and cons of raising minimum wage, there is no presentation of the view that government should not be involved in setting minimum wage at all. Other headlines along this vein include, “Fast food workers accuse some employers of wage theft”,  and “Obama takes on income inequality in State of the Union Address”

3.     Britannica
a.     Britannica does include links to primary sources, like The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Federalist Papers. It does provide opposing viewpoints on many issues. Parents should pay attention to this resource and discuss with their children closely. I do have some major concerns though, as outlined in the next few points.

b.     Britannica defines abortion as “is the termination of a pregnancy before the infant can survive outside the uterus” and states further “The removal of a developing embryo or fetus from the uterus is called an abortion. When performed by medical doctors, abortions are safe for the woman and relatively simple.” The fact is that abortions often occur AFTER the time when an infant can survive outside the uterus. Stating that “abortions are safe and relatively simple” is propaganda and not medical fact. Are we selling abortion to our children?

c.      Further on this topic, Britannica states “Until the 19th century birth control information was available to few persons. Pioneers of birth control faced hostile laws and often were imprisoned for merely advocating birth control. In the United States Margaret Sanger began in 1912 her crusade against restrictive birth control laws by publicly encouraging women to practice contraception. …In 1921 Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, a forerunner of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, established in 1942.” Notice the equivalence painted between abortion and birth control. This also paints a rather rosy picture of Margaret Sanger, who was a racist who believed in eugenics and using abortion as a tool to limit black population growth.

d.     Britannica presents the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes such rights as:
                                                              i.      “the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay” (Article 24), and “the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.” (Article 25) — Does “all children” include the preborn? There is no discussion in this Britannica article of at whose expense all these “rights” are granted…


I will be voting “no” on NewsELA, and Britannica and “yes” on Cengage. 

Thursday, April 21, 2016

WHY CURRICULUM MATTERS: Do you know what your children are being taught?

Proposed Social Studies Electives Texts/Resources:

I am posting this because U-46 parents and citizens have a right and a duty to know what is planned for instruction of their children before it is approved by the BOE (Board of Education). There are six (seven if Law and Law II are counted as two courses) High School Social Studies Electives courses, the resources/textbooks on which the U-46 BOE will be voting on MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016 AT 7 PM, AT 355 EAST CHICAGO STREET IN ELGIN. There are numerous issues in the proposed texts/resources, including an overarching and pervasive politically left bias, a love-affair with Karl Marx, factual inaccuracies about the history of Islam and Israel, global warming pseudo-science without opposing viewpoint (except in World Geography), anti-American bias, anti-traditional family bias, anti-war dogma with no opposing viewpoint, and profound moral relativism, among other issues . I will cover each of the texts/resources one at a time. There is no way I could cover the majority of the material in the texts (and this review is over 2500 words), but the problems I did find are enough that I will not voting for any of these texts/resources.

The proposed texts/resources include:

1.       Into to Psychology (Textbook: “Thinking About Psychology”): This is publicly available (a simple Google  search for this text returns it as the first result) and can be viewed here.
2.       Sociology (Textbook: “Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach”, 12th edition)
3.       Intro to Law and Law II (Textbook: “Street Law”, 9th Edition)
4.       International Relations (Textbook/Resource: “Current Issues Series”, Brown University, publicly available)
5.       World History (Textbook: “World History”, Pearson Publishing, 2016 Edition)
6.       World Geography (Textbook: “Geography: The Human and Physical World”, McGraw Hill)

Problematic portions of the texts/resources are below:

1.       Intro to Psychology (publicly available)
a)      A lesson entitled “The Psychology of Culture and Gender” includes links to an article on “Ethnocentrism” which cites the International Declaration of Human rights as a starting point for evaluating cultures, but asserts that “there are few absolute answers”.  The same article changes the definition of relativism to “not judging others' ways and accepting them as equal to our own”. Actually, relativism is the belief that there is no absolute truth (except the absolute truth that there is no absolute truth…).
b)      The same lesson includes a link to a Tolerance.org (a “Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center” – a hard left organization proclaiming itself to be a watchdog on hate groups and hate crimes)  page where students can “test [their] hidden bias”

2.       Sociology (Textbook:  “Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach”, 12th edition)
a)      On the Table of Contents page a note “To the Students…from the Author” states, “From how people become homeless to how they become presidents, from why people commit suicide to why women are discriminated against in every society around the world – are all part of sociology”. Painting the whole world as discriminating to women with a broad brush like this is irresponsible and misleading.
b)      Chapter 1, Quiz: The male/female wage gap myth is propagated with the statement “Over the years, the wage gap has narrowed, but only slightly. On average, full-time working women earn about 72% of what full-time working men earn. This low figure is actually an improvement over earlier years.” No opposing viewpoint is presented. Here is one, from a Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin. Goldin spoke to Stephen Dubner, the journalist behind the popular podcast “Freakanomics,” in a segment about what really causes the gap. Goldin concludes that the gap is due mostly to choices men and women make in their careers and not discrimination.
c)       In a section entitled, “Karl Marx and Conflict Theory” (page 27), a rosy picture of Karl Marx and communism is painted. Communism =  good, capitalism = bad. Employers are evil people who will not give workers’ rights unless forced to do so:
“Karl Marx, the founder of conflict theory, witnessed the Industrial Revolution that transformed Europe. ..he concluded that the key to human history is ‘class conflict’. In each society, some small group controls the means of production and exploits those who are not in control. In industrialized societies, the struggle is between the ‘bourgeoisie’, the small group of capitalists who own the means to produce wealth, and the ‘proletariat’, the mass of workers who are exploited by the bourgeoisie. The capitalists control the legal and political system. If the workers rebel, the capitalists call on the power of the state to subdue them.
“When Marx made his observations, capitalism was in its infancy and workers were at the mercy of their employers…Marx’s analysis reminds us that [worker benefits] came not from generous hearts but from workers forcing concessions by their employers.”
d)      “Ethnocentrism” and “Cultural Relativsm”, pages 36-39. The idea is presented that there is no good and bad, only differences in cultures. No one culture is better than any other culture.
e)      In a lesson headlined, “Values in US Society”, a list of 10 values ends with:
 “’Group superiority’. Although it contradicts the values of freedom, democracy, and equality, Americans regard some groups more highly than others and have done so throughout their history. The denial of the vote to women, the slaughter of Native Americans, and the enslavement of Africans are a few examples of how the groups considered superior have denied equality and freedom to others”.
There is no mention of the fact that Americans were the ones who fought for women’s right to vote, that countries around the world practiced slavery (and some still do), that Americans fought a civil war to end slavery, and that it was often Africans who sold fellow Africans into slavery in the first place.
f)       In a lesson entitled, “Socialization into Gender” (pages 74 and 75) the idea is presented that the children of Gay and Lesbian parents “show less gender stereotyping”. Traditional families, by inference, teach their children to stereotype.
g)      There are many, many other examples, too many to cover here. Suffice it to say that many U-46 parents would find this textbook extremely objectionable.

3.       Intro to Law and Law II (Textbook: “Street Law”, 9th Edition)
a)      Chapter 1: “What is Law: Human Rights”, introduces the UN Declaration of Human Rights as the standard for what Human Rights are (not the US Bill of Rights, not the US Declaration of Independence). It states, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a statement of basic human rights and standards for government that has been agreed to by almost every country in the world…The UDHR is not a binding treaty. However, the UN has established a system of international treaties and other legal mechanisms to enforce human rights. These include...the right to adequate education, food, housing, health care, protection of property, and employment in safe conditions at an adequate salary.”
If a textbook on Law in the United States cannot ascertain and explain to students that food, housing, health care, employment, and an adequate salary are not rights, but must be earned, and that people have no right to the labor of others without remuneration (which is theft), then there is no hope for this textbook.

Furthermore, UDHR does not set out any agreed upon standard for all peoples and nations.  The Declaration of Independence in its opening sets the standard for human rights in the US : “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….”

Notice that rights come from God.

4.       International Relations (Textbook/Resource: “Current Issues Series”, Brown University, publicly available)
a)      The most frequently cited news sources throughout this resource are those which lean left, e.g., “The New York Times” , “The Huffington Post”, CNN
b)      The lesson “Negotiating Climate Change: Paris 2015” is completely one-sided. The top objective of this lesson is “examine the need for, and challenges associated with, creating an international agreement on climate change”. (It is apparently established fact that climate change needs to be combated). One video provided explains the utter chaos the world will face, including the wiping out of whole societies, if climate change is not stopped. In the handout, students are asked: “Write a one- or two-sentence summary on why the Conference is important” and “How do you think the global crisis will continue to play out?” There is no presentation of the fact that many prominent scientists disagree about climate change, or of the scandal (Climate Gate) where scientists cooked the data to make it appear that the earth was warming when it was not.
c)       The “Resource Guide on the Terrorist Attacks in Paris” includes a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Debunking Stereotypes about Muslims and Islam”. As stated previously, the SPLC is a hard left organization.
d)      The lessons “Refugee Stories: Mapping a Crisis” and “The Iraqi Refugee Crisis” paint a very sympathetic view of refugees without exploring the consequences for taking in refugees and how to insure refugees are not terrorists looking for an easy path into the US. In the Iraqi lesson under the heading “Considering U.S. Policy” are two videos from a professor who states “The U.S. government has a responsibility to do much more than what it is doing now.” Although students are asked whether they “agree with this statement? Why or why not?” they are not provided with videos presenting the opposing view.
e)      The lesson “The Costs of War” presentsone-sided anti-war biased information without discussion of the merits of any war and includes no discussion of why war may be necessary. (It also refers to America’s political system as a ‘democracy’; it is not. It is a Republic).
f)       The lesson “Human Rights” cites international underpinnings for human rights but the Declaration of Independence and the US Bill of Rights is conspicuously absent:
Students trace the origins and history of international human rights, exploring the effects of events such as World War II and the Nuremberg Trials, the birth of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Cold War, and decolonization. They also consider human rights in practice today, exploring how different actors—such as national governments, the UN, international courts, NGOs, and individuals—influence human rights around the world. Students consider current challenges in human rights, and also examine five case studies that highlight major controversies.”

5.       World History (textbook:“World History”, Pearson Publishing, 2016 Edition): This text has numerous pervasive factual problems and biases, including (a detailed account compiled by “Truth in Texas Textbooks” can be found here. It is based on the 2014 edition but based on the responses of the publisher the criticisms still apply):
a)      The mischaracterization that Muslims were the original occupants of the Holy Land and that Christians invaded it
b)      Failure to mention the expulsion and/or slaughter of Jews who did not wish to convert to Islam, instead claiming that Muhammad “brought peace among the clans of Medina”
c)       Mischaracterization of what the Qur’an says, claiming “The Quran teaches about what Muslims believe to be God’s will and provides a guide to life. Its ethical standards emphasize honesty, generosity, and social justice,” while omitting the fact that other passages in the Qur’an teach that it is the duty of Muslims to wage jihad warfare until Islam and Shari’a law are supreme over the entire world.
d)      The fallacy that Muslims believe that Christians, Jews, and Muslims serve the same God and that Christians and Jews enjoyed religious freedom under Muslim rule
e)      The mischaracterization of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) as having renounced terrorism, while its charter calls for the destruction of Israel
f)       Mischaracterization of the 1948 Arab/Israeli war by omission of the fact that Israel did not create the refugee problem and that the Arabs who fled from Israel in 1948-49 did so in obedience to their own leaders. It is also omitted that those who stayed were not forced out and are now free citizens of Israel.

6.       World Geography: (textbook: “Geography: The Human and Physical World”, McGraw Hill)
a)      Of the texts examined, this one gave the opposing argument for man-made global warming. In a Lesson entitled, “The Global Warming Debate”, “Arguments to Refute Climate Change” are presented alongside “Arguments to Support Climate Change”. Kudos.
b)      “Truth in Texas Textbooks” has produced a helpful review of this text (albeit from the 2014 edition. Some of their comments are still applicable to the 2016 edition). Their applicable findings show a pervasive anti-Israel bias.
                                                         i.            Chapter 16: The Eastern Mediterranean: Lesson 1: The Physical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, states, “Syria, the northernmost country in the Eastern Mediterranean, is bordered by Turkey on the north, Iraq on the east, Jordan on the south, and Lebanon and Israel on the southwest. To the southwest of Syria is a territory called the Golan Heights. This territory consists of a rocky plateau that is officially part of Syria, but most of it has been occupied by Israel since 1967 (emphasis mine).

To quote “Truth in Texas Textbooks”, “The wording of UN Resolution 242 clearly reflects the contention that none of the territories were occupied territories  taken by force in an unjust war. Because the Arabs were clearly the aggressors, nowhere in UN Security Council Resolutions 242 is Israel branded as an invader or unlawful occupier of the territories.

                                                       ii.            Chapter 16: The Eastern Mediterranean: Lesson 2: The Physical Geography of the Eastern Mediterranean, states, “Due to military conflicts and resettlement programs, many Palestinians were displaced beginning with the war following Israel’s declaration of independence. They relocated to refugee settlements in neighboring Arab countries. In 2012 the UN reported that there were 4,797,723 registered Palestinian refugees living in 58 camps in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. These include several generations of descendants of the original refugees. This has been a serious humanitarian issue that hampers peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.”

This again shows an anti-Israel bias. Again quoting “Truth in Texas Textbooks”, “This statement is propaganda with very little truth and few historical facts. Arab leaders ordered the Palestinians to flee. Palestinians were told to vacate their villages and that they would be allowed to return after the ‘Zionists’ were defeated.

“In addition students are not told that the Arab nations refused to take in the Palestinians; that they chose instead to use them and to exploit their suffering for purposes of discrediting and delegitimizing Israel. Although some camps were set up in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, those countries refused to allow the refugees into their societies.”


In conclusion, the numerous issues in the above proposed texts/resources, including an overarching and pervasive politically left bias, a love-affair with Karl Marx, factual inaccuracies about the history of Islam and Israel, global warming pseudo-science without opposing viewpoint (except in World Geography), anti-American bias, anti-traditional family bias, anti-war dogma with no opposing viewpoint, and profound moral relativism, among other issues, prevent me from voting yes for any of these resources. 

Monday, October 20, 2014

Standards Based Grading – Its effect on students and my position on it

Regarding Standards-Based Grading (SBG), an article by Joy Pullmann entitled “Common Core Even Affects Letter Grades reveals:

 “Teachers have used standards-based grading almost as long as U.S. schools have been required to conform to centrally determined standards, or for approximately 20 years. But the practice—in which teachers give students not the familiar A-F letter grades or 0-100 percentile grades, but numbers or letters like 1 through 4 or S, M, P—has ticked upwards since 46 states adopted national standards in 2010, says said Ken O’Connor, a Canadian consultant who has worked with hundreds of schools across North America on this topic.”

…O’Connor also said that “In a pure standards-based system you would have only two levels: proficient and not proficient.”

Another educator dubbed it “UNgrading”.

In her October 6, 2014 comments to the U-46 school board, parent Colleen Ottens described a teacher who supported SBG, who observed that “In his traditional method of grading, he had some of grades from As to Fs. When he changed to SBG, his grades all tended toward the mean. While he got rid of his Fs, he also got rid of all As and most Bs, with most students receiving Cs.”

The tendency for SBG to push all students to the middle, or average, is a well recognized drawback of SBG. With its tendency toward egalitarianism, it is no wonder why so many high performing U-46 students, including U-46 student board member Megha Bhattacharya, find it objectionable. Megha’s peers at other U-46 schools also voiced their objections. Streamwood Senior Hunter Roark came to the board representing 200 of his fellow classmates, with similar comments. Further, as reported by Dave Gathman at The Courier News,

“South Elgin High sophomore Allie Dunsing complained to the board at its last meeting that “with the new system, it’s almost impossible to get A’s.” 
“… Jordan Stibal, a Streamwood High senior, complained that she recently finished one assignment, got zero items wrong on it, but still earned only a “3” grade on it because the teacher said that a “4” would indicate a mastery of the entire course content.
“Being in the top 10 (of her graduating class) means the world to me. But this grading system has made it impossible to get 4’s,” Stibal said. “This is making my life an utter mess.”
Nick Del Giudice of Streamwood High said the system will hurt U46 students trying to get into desirable colleges because they will be competing against students from schools where A’s apparently are easier to earn.”
Students at U-46 and across the country (here is an example in a Minnesota school district) rightly complain that it is harder to achieve high grades, not because they are not willing to work hard, but because of how the system is set up. And this in turn is affecting them at a time in their lives when they are trying to get their lives launched by getting into the colleges of their choice. One parent posted a letter from the University of Kentucky she received regarding the important of un-weighted GPA in college admissions, indicating that U-46 students receiving lower SGB grades will be competing with students across the country NOT having to deal with them.

Despite the objections voiced, board members Amy Kerber, Traci O’Neal Ellis and Jennifer Shroder re-affirmed their support of SBG at the September 29, 2016 U-46 board meeting. Interestingly, one local superintendent told me that his district ISN’T implementing SBG, and that SBG ISN’T required to meet Common Core standards.  

I haven’t even gone into depth regarding other objections to SBG, that it discounts homework (I was told by one U-46 teacher that next year, it is likely in U-46 that homework will not count toward student grades at all), that kids and parents don’t understand what the grades mean, that, like the previous short-lived 50% grade for zero effort system, it also arbitrarily pulls up students who are not performing. (One student commented that his peers could basically turn in “anything” and get a “1”).

But my biggest objection to the way SBG has been implemented here is its tendency to pull student grades to the “average” or middle, to make everyone the same, more or less. This kills incentive on both ends - the high performing and the low performing. It’s like everyone getting the same prize when finishing a race, even though everyone knows who came in first and who came in last. There is no incentive to reach for anything.

The old system of percentages and A, B, C, D, F grades wasn’t perfect. It was unequally implemented (like SBG!). But high performance was usually rewarded. Non-performance was usually penalized. And when those outcomes didn’t happen, parents and educators had a common ground on which to converse. Given the collateral damage to students in this district, especially highly motivated, highly performing ones, I believe a temporary or perhaps permanent return to traditional grading is in order - if not permanent, at least for long enough for proper change management to be implemented by a competent board.