Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Numeracy

Anyone that knows me knows that I struggled in virtually every single math class I have ever taken in both public and post-secondary schools. As a matter a fact, its probably the reason why I scored so poorly on my GRE and has put a major pause on my attempt to obtain a PhD, but I digress. So its no wonder why I am both passionate and dedicated to not only reform traditional schooling but in particular math education in this country. Its probably safe to say that I am not alone in my disdain for solving binomials or finding the area of a triangle, but its also frustrating as a grown man that many of the math skills that I use and have used into adulthood have absolutely nothing with what I was taught in school. In this effort this post is dedicated to not focusing on problems or even revisiting national debates on whether Algebra I is the "gold standard" for determining whether or not students can successfully matriculate onto post secondary studies, as I have mentioned in my previous post, but rather on a declaration promoting our schools focus on promoting a culture of numeracy. We defined numeracy as "the capacity to bridge the gap between ‘mathematics’ and ‘the real world’, to use in-school mathematics out-of-school” and consider people to be more or less numerate based on “how well they choose and use the mathematical skills they have in the service of things other than mathematics” (Willis 1998, p.37) To this end, we developed a set of seven Numeracy Principles that schools and educators can begin to adopt so that we create more informed and empowered young people in this world and bring an end to useless content that many of us will never use on a day-to-day basis: 

     

• Numeracy is everybody’s business and pervades a school’s culture.
• All students can and must develop numeracy skills and dispositions and become powerfully numerate.
• Numeracy cannot be developed solely by learning mathematical procedures; these must be embedded in guided, open quests, explorations, and investigations.
• Numeracy connotes a familiarity and confidence with notions of change, chance, quantity, shape, and dimension.
• Real-world relevance and connections—both cross-discipline and within mathematics— are the cornerstones to developing numeracy skills.
• Numeracy requires effective communication, both written and oral.                                         
• Numeracy, along with literacy, is a co-equal building block of human intellectual prowess.

Just as literacy is the foundation in which all other reading and writing skills will begin to flourish and grow, we believe that numeracy provides the very foundation in which all other math constructs can rest upon and create a more informed and empowered youth. As other organizations such as the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, are working towards a more just and equitable platform in which math instruction can take place: the question ultimately becomes: How do we get our kids to think of themselves as mathematicians and simply not doing, math like a hopeless drone. 

Want to Solve Education? Partner Passion and Students in Communities!

The work that we did at University Prep High School was not only incredibly powerful because we accomplished our goals of graduating over ninety percent of our students and over ninety percent of those students matriculated onto college or post-secondary education (based on the Big Picture Learning Model) but powerful because of the way that we connected students into the community to design and to take control of their learning. Each one of my seventeen students (don't let the small size fool you this was the hardest work I've ever done in my life)  who were a part of my advisory, a  who stayed with me for all four years so we could bond and connect as a family, were required as part of their learning plan to identify their interests or passions and then be connected with a mentor in the community in which they would learn from. Additionally, students would develop a value-added project that would better help the organization or business operate: Learning Through Internship. One of my students, La-Sainte had a sincere and genuine interest in early childhood education. She completed a shadow day at a local day care and then after a brief meeting with her and her mentor she officially began her internship the following week near a gritty neighborhood on Detroit's westside.  Because our school required internships and projects rooted in the community La-Sainte did not have to attend "school" on Tuesdays and Thursdays which freed her and other students to do real learning based on specific interests. One of the first things we require students to do is to complete an internship anthropology which works as a way for students to really look and observe the way in which a specific organization operates. Questions such as "what kinds of people work here? is there a diverse population? is the work space clean? are people treated with respect? why or why not?" help to improve students writing skills as well as to begin to develop an awareness about work spaces and students role within them.

More importantly, these and other questions help students to begin to identify specific gaps within the organization and to think about what projects they can work on. For La-Sainte, she really became interested in the role of play in childhood development and the degree and quality to which it was and was not occurring at her internship. So after generating her essential questions, drafting and writing a research paper and project proposal, and building on her previous projects on DNA and human and brain development, she decided that as part of her Senior Project she would organized and facilitate what would later be called a Family Fun Day in which children, parents, family and friends would be welcomed to visit the day care for a day filled with fun activities all aimed at developing healthy and happy children. La-Sainte raised nearly $1,200 dollars for the event and had organized the facility to accommodate activities ranging from kids cartoon characters to local karate mentors providing free instruction to a mini-train complete with tracks in the parking lot and plenty of food and beverages to boot. La-Sainte was required to design and implement surveys to determine the effectiveness of her work in this area as well as well as draft a reflection paper and a rubric in which she would give herself a grade on the project. Its through this work with communities and mentors and organizations in which students can begin to see themselves as not only as agents of change but also realize that each and everyone has power to transform. For me, if we are to truly change education for all people not just black and hispanic folk but for all races and countries, we must began to build meaningful and lasting partnerships with communities that place youth in the position of designers and specialists in solving and identifying areas of needs. If you are interested in designing similar learning experiences for your students, please check out the following resources or feel free to drop me a line for ways in which you might want to develop aspects of this work in your own communities:

www.bigpicturelearning.org
www.hightechhigh.org
http://schoolsweneed.wikispaces.com/Real+World+Learning

Lessons From a Freedom Fighter: In Honor of Nelson

Yesterday marked the death of an amazing human being and educator, yes, educator, prophet and beautiful soul, Nelson Mandela. We mark the end of his life on earth but the life he lived, people he touched, and nation and world that he changed will forever live on in our conversations and interactions that we have with each other. Perhaps, whats most remarkable about Mandela  was his dedication to his own personal development through education. "Education is the most powerful weapon to which you can change the world," Nelson stated and for over three decades imprisoned he spent he spent his time reading and learning about himself and his adversaries. He went onto say that "Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do." Its a love for what you do and seeing that you do have the power to change and overcome. 

Teach Less, Learn More: International Perspective on Teaching and Learning

Recent coverage on PISA scores has led many to draw attention to Singapore's most recent test data, ranking this small Asian country at the very top of international educational systems. I am always leery of making too big a deal of these scores because comparing countries is a bit like comparing night and day; there are just too many other factors such as history, demographics, economies, politics and geography that must be considered when exploring educational outcomes. What I feel like we miss is the simple fact that rather than discourage exploration and innovation, Singapore actually encourages this way of thinking. Instead of rote memorization and the typical stand and deliver method that groups like KIPP and other outdated systems of education tend to promote, the 522 school districts in Singapore believe that learning in depth is the reason for their success, not a hindrance to. In our test-driven American educational system, we tend to believe that this is exactly what contributes to success when in reality its quite the opposite. In fact Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong, in advocating for more in-depth learning launched a country wide campaign entitled, "Teach Less, Learn More" in a response to the narrowing of curriculum and teachers only focusing on skills out of concept. 

So perhaps, instead of us trying to copy exactly what another country is doing, lets get to the good work of allowing students to explore concepts, provide ample opportunities for student transfer of knowledge and skills, and plenty of real-world application. These are the cornerstones of excelling not only on standardized test scores such as PISA but in life in general. 

Design Thinking is a Mindset, Not a Research Paper

A few days ago I had the honor of facilitating a district wide workshop on Design Thinking in Grand Rapids, Michigan with about 30+ educators. The session began with teachers introducing themselves and I dove into describing the Design Thinking Framework that originated in Stanford, California by David Kelly.  As we went through describing concepts such as "developing empathy for your end user" and sharing a Back Pack Design Challenge by some savvy kids in Texas all seemed to be going relatively well with rich conversations taking place here and there. However, there is one question (usually always one) that caused me to stumble a bit in answering. Perhaps, because it has been a while since I have dedicated any real time to designing and crafting a workshop centered around Creative Confidence, or perhaps, it has more to do with that I was blessed with facilitating this workshop with only about 10 days to prepare. Nevertheless, it was one of those times where I wish I had responded a with a bit more eloquence but alas. I should have known the question would come from her as her body language and energy were not receiving the presentation up to this point. Its no wonder she raised her hand and said, "Well, this Design Thinking stuff, how is it different than action research?"  I noticed as a facilitator I must remain neutral as I felt a streak of being defensiveness rise up in me. I had to return to my heart center and remind myself that my role as a facilitator is to acknowledge great questions when they arise and place them in the proper context. It's also about helping the entire group move forward towards your desired results of the workshop. Both of these ideas seemed to be a bit lost however, upon reflection here are a few key points that I believe distinguishes Design Thinking and Action Research.

1. Design Thinking is a mindset whereas action research is a framework that follows a set script and procedure. 

2. Action Research produces just that a research paper; Design Thinking produces a product that is actually "tested" and receives proper feedback.
3. In action research, the researchers are the primary consumers of the data whereas in Design Thinking the end-user is the primary focus.
4. Action research requires one to begin analyzing data rather than encourage folks to begin to brainstorm on possible solutions.
5.  "Fail early and fail often" is the mantra of the Designer because the more one fails the closer one can get to being more in touch with what the user needs; there is no such mantra in this idea of action research until the conclusion of the process.

Thank you to those who challenge my thinking in honest attempts to discover new truths. Lets design our thinking to ensure that we are constantly growing growing learning and thriving as people and particularly as educators. It is in this spirit of innovation that we can build better places to learn.

Because I Know The Power of a Question!

Why is it so challenging to only ask questions and not answer? Why does it seem that most of us want to answer questions more than pose them? I had the priviledge of facilitating workshops in Toledo with teachers and with students in Detroit where we had both groups exercise the practice of only asking questions. The teachers in Toledo were instructed to read a brief article and at the conclusion of the reading were to only pose questions for the group. The students in Detroit stood and formed a circle in which they could only ask questions of one another. It was quite the exercise in both cases.

The results of how each group were as different as two sides of the same coin. The teachers began modestly asking questions but somewhere about half-way through the exercise a teacher asked a question which was followed by a 4-5 minute diatribe on his beliefs about education, parenthood, and why he didn't like the article (insert yawn, here). However, with our students their commitment and play within this area of questioning was completely different. Now, let me make a quick disclaimer. The activity that we did with the students was one in which we stood in a circle and asked each other arbitrary questions; however, nonetheless, our students were all about asking each other questions to the point where they were battling and posing great questions to each other right to the very end. By the conclusion of this activity (in which yours truly was truly outperformed by his students, insert smile here) we were all laughing and felt completely energized. I didn't quite have the same sense of energy when we finished with this exercise with our teachers. One may argue that the dynamics of each exercise were completely different and for this I completely concur. Nonetheless, I think there are some important distinctions to make here.

Our students were certainly more willing and able to pose questions almost in rapid succession without hesitation whereas our teachers were in someways very hesitant to only ask the questions. It was as if we had stumped our teachers ability to continue on with their very way of life - consistenly answering questions rather than posing them. If our adults are hesitant or are challenged by asking questions, then how open are these classrooms? How inclusive can a teacher be when much of what is given are simply the answers? I believe this idea is almost synomous with giving students technology in the classroom with hopes that it will magically result in student achievement. "Just giving people devices," says Bill Gates, "has a really horrible track record." Yup and so does just bombarding our students with facts with little or no opportunities to make connections, share their ideas, assess their own thinking (with a nod to professor and researcher John Hattie) and to listen to others.

I've written about this before in one of my prior posts; Grant Wiggins as usual has provided some powerful dialogue and methodology around asking and implementing questioning in the classroom. How can we design our classrooms, schools, communities and relationships to be places where we withhold our egos from answers and direct our energies to exercising thoughtful and curious questions? Questions that hold power. Questions that hold promise. Questions that pose hope and playfulness. Questions that genuinely are designed to spark creativity. Think about it. We are not usually rewarded for asking questions. Sometimes even as a parent I find myself answering questions more quickly than I would like. One part of our training that I appreciated was posing the a question during three different times throughout the day (i.e., How might we inspire growth in our students?) to see how participants thinking had changed throughout the day. 

Do you have any questions that you'd like to ask? Go for it and encourage others to do the same and try hard as you can to delay trying to answer your own or others questions. Watch, listen and observe.

Knowledge is Power Program Comes Under Fire

KIPP progams have shown results in raising acheivement for low-income students and closing the so-called achievement gap between white and their African American counterparts; but not so fast says the research. Although this research from Western Michigan University was released nearly two years ago, this idea about the failures of solely  preparing students for high-stakes testing is as relevant than as it is today. In what was perhaps the most comprehensive, third party evaluation of it's highly touted school model, the Knowledge is Power Program, also known as KIPP, was questioned on several key areas most notably: school attrition, school finance and long term effects of its programming. Perhaps, what is most startling is that nearly 40 percent of African American males leave KIPP schools within two years of enrolling and while competeting districts receive an average of $6500 per pupil KIPP programs receive nearly triple that amount. Is there power in only one kind of knowledge? Lets honor value for more than just filling in a bubble on a sheet and teach empathy, curiosity, and leadership and measure these factors. Lets consider the research of Dr. William Sedlacek who has conducted decades of research on the admission factors that determine college success. How might we align our teacher preparation programs to ensure that current and future educators build these competencies in our young people? 

Bigotry of Low Expectations

Quoting former President George W. Bush is usually reserved for late night comedy and his educational policies, particularly his infamous No Child Left Behind policies, did more harm than good in so many of our urban and inner city schools; however, if there is a silver lining in his work it's one particular quote that seems to resonate so deeply with me as I build with others exemplary schools in urbanized areas. In his run for the 2000 candidacy, President Bush published a 300+ page manifesto entitled, "Renewing America's Purpose: Policy Address of George W. Bush, July 1999 - July 2000" in which he spells out his vision for building on his so-called success in his home state of Texas where as Governor he claims to have raised student achievement across race and class. Rather than read the entire document let me share with you what is perhaps the most poignant excerpt from his manifesto. Justifying his push to develop rigorous standars, words that are far too overused in todays discourse, the former President states:

"Some say it is unfair to hold disadvantaged children to rigorous standards. I say it is discrimination to require anything less. The soft bigotry of low expectations. Some say that schools can't be expected to teach, because there are too many broken families, too many immigrants, too much diversity. I say that pigment and poverty need not determine performance. That myth is disproved by good schools every day. Excuse-making must end before learning can begin." (Bush, G. "Renewing America's Purpose, p. 205, July 1999).

What Bush fails to address is the stark reality that many folks living in urbanized areas homes do have REAL challenges that go well beyond this notion of low expectations. Many teachers simply dont believe that African American and Latino students can succeed. Many of those same students have never experienced success in school and neither have any of their family members. Education in many places is seen as being something that "white people do" and if one really wants to make real money that the street corner and serving crack cocaine and marijuana to their own people is a much more realistic endeavor to pursue rather than learning a subject as meaningless as Algebra (my apologies to all the math teachers out there).  Furthermore, our culture in American society is enamored with everyone believing that one can gain celebrity status in our instant gratification give it to me now world that we live in. What I do appreciate about this excerpt however, is that given these and so many other real-life obstacles (i.e., our school systems are completely outdated and not equipped to provide students the wrap around services) we can and believe in our students doing great things in our classroom, but how do we get to those space? Great teaching? Sure. Developing compassionate and caring relationships with our students? Even more essential.