Deeper Learning

What - 

Deeper learning is simply what highly effective educators have always provided: the delivery of rich core content to students in innovative ways that allow them to learn and then apply what they have learned. 

More -

Rigorous core content is at the heart of the learning process; true deeper learning is developing competencies that enable graduating high school students to be college and career ready and then make maximum use of their knowledge in life and work.

The basic concepts of deeper learning are not new to education; indeed, they are routine educational practice for many accomplished individual teachers and educators and some high-performing schools. These successful practices are now being confirmed by increasing bodies of evidence underscoring the necessity for deeper learning as an integral part of the education process.

Deeper learning prepares students to

• know and master core academic content;
• think critically and solve complex problems;
• work collaboratively;
• communicate effectively; and
• be self-directed and able to incorporate feedback.

Why -

Trends in the economy mean that the fastest-growing jobs are those that require problem solving and critical thinking, while those that require only routine manual skills will be in decline.

A 2012 report by the National Research Council concluded that deeper learning competencies—the ability to apply knowledge to new situations—are associated with better life and work outcomes. (source)

More information -

While economic data suggests that individuals will benefit from developing deeper learning abilities, the nation as a whole will only succeed if large numbers of individuals—particularly those from traditionally underserved groups—learn deeply. Making deeper learning opportunities more equitable is imperative from both a moral perspective and an economic perspective.

Read more about Deeper Learning.  

Creating a Better High School - Part 3

       This is the third in a three-part series that will look at the structures in place in our current high schools that don't make sense or are not needed anymore.  I want to think about the best way that students learn and create a high school that will serve these learners.  I also want to think about the true purpose of high schools in our time.  My goal isn't to imagine a "High School of the Future", but instead to consider what can realistically be done today.  As always, I encourage my readers to add their thoughts and ideas.  Together we can create the high school that our students want and need today.

Create a Better High School

Part 1 - Current school structures that aren't necessary anymore.

Part 2 - How students learn and how schools can react to these learners.

Part 3 - The purpose of high school

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The Purpose of High School

       This could be a short post because all I really want to say is that the purpose of high school is "Learning".  That's it.

       Indeed, the purpose of schooling in general is learning.  However sometimes it seems that the purpose of high schools is "getting-a-good-grade".  This can be stated in many ways:

• Getting a grade
• Doing what your told
• Compliance
• Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Test scores

But this is not the intention of high school.  The purpose of high school is learning.  We want students to learn.  In fact its more than that...We want students to learn how to learn.  Our current system is all about doing stuff to get a good grade.  Learning might take place; and we (as educators) certainly want learning to take place.  But many students are stuck in the rut that says, "I just have to do what I'm told to get the grade; to get the credit."  For many students, "Learning" comes in second or third place (if rated at all) in their list of priorities.

       So how do we create a better high school that emphasizes "Learning" over "getting-a-good-grade"?  We know that when students are interested and excited about what they are doing, they are more likely to try their best and more likely explore, to ask questions, and engage in the effort to complete the task.  Therefore, we need high school to include more project-based tasks.  We also need students to engage in tasks in small groups so that they have the chance to debate ideas with fellow students and allow their peers to evaluate their ideas and suggestions.

       I believe that we (also) need high school to include instructional techniques that encourage a growth mindset in our high school students.  Part of the reason that students sometimes show such a small amount of motivation is because they believe that no amount of effort will enable them to learn.  We want students to understand the value of effort.  Growth mindset teaching helps students to understand this.  But growth mindset is not well understood by our current teachers.

       Our better high school will evaluate learning in different ways.  Rubrics, peer evaluation, presentations, portfolios.  We already use a lot of these methods.  This is not futuristic; this is today.

       We have to separate the "Learning" of high school from the "Grading" of high school.

Creating a Better High School - Part 2

       This is the second in a three-part series that will look at the structures in place in our current high schools that don't make sense or are not needed anymore.  I want to think about the best way that students learn and create a high school that will serve these learners.  I also want to think about the true purpose of high schools in our time.  My goal isn't to imagine a "High School of the Future", but instead to consider what can realistically be done today.  As always, I encourage my readers to add their thoughts and ideas.  Together we can create the high school that our students want and need today.

Create a Better High School

Part 1 - Current school structures that aren't necessary anymore.

Part 2 - How students learn and how schools can react to these learners.

Part 3 - The purpose of high school

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How students learn and how schools can react to these learners

        When I think about creating a new high school, I'm really thinking about all of the traditional structures of our current high schools that don't respond to the way students learn.  The typical high school class still consists of a teacher in the front of the room who does most of the talking while students sit in rows facing the front of the room and take notes.  Students generally only talk to answer a question; to which the teacher confirms or denies its correctness.  This sort of learning (generally) falls in the "Lecture" category which is the least effective strategy for helping students to learn.

       The organization Jobs for the Future has recently published a series of papers titled Students at the Center.  In this series, they list four principles of student-centered learning.  These are:

• Learning is personalized
• Learning is competency based
• Learning takes place anytime, anywhere
• Students exert ownership over their learning

These four principals lead to deeper learning which is the sort of learning that gets students exited about what they are learning and encourages retention of their learning.  Deeper learning prepares students for both college and careers because it teaches them how to solve problems, how to work with other people, and how to think critically.

       The "changes" needed in our current high schools are changes that respond to these four principles and respond to the best ways that students learn.  This will require changes for teachers as well as changes in the expectations for schools from our parents.  Part of the struggle of changing high schools is that every adult has had the same basic schooling experience.  We are comfortable with it.  Teachers teach the way they were taught--they didn't devise these structures, they just mimic from their high school teachers and the only changes are additions of what they thought their teachers should have done and subtractions of what they thought their teachers did wrong.

       We need our high schools to be the places in which students are still learning to write and read and do math and understand history and make and appreciate art and learn about physical fitness.  But all of this has to be done in a way that encourages learning as opposed to encouraging "getting-a-good-grade" and encouraging competition with other students.  Students need to actually solve problems, to work with each other, to talk and learn how to argue their point.  The college-bound students should be able to master the beginnings of Physics and Calculus; but should also be to experience the work of the field they aspire to enter.  They should be able to more than just what they are told to do.  They should be thinkers and reasoners and creators and doers.  The career-bound students should master the art of expressing themselves in written and oral forms; they (too) should experience the workplace before leaving high school.  They should know how to build on the basic skills of any job and seek ways to make it better.

       We want students to learn; we want them to learn how to learn; and we want them to learn in abundance.  Because learning doesn't stop when you receive your high school diploma.

Creating a Better High School - Part 1

       This is the first in a three-part series that will look at the structures in place in our current high schools that don't make sense or are not needed anymore.  I want to think about the best way that students learn and create a high school that will serve these learners.  I also want to think about the true purpose of high schools in our time.  My goal isn't to imagine a "High School of the Future", but instead to consider what can realistically be done today.  As always, I encourage my readers to add their thoughts and ideas.  Together we can create the high school that our students want and need today.

Create a Better High School

Part 1 - Current school structures that aren't necessary anymore.

Part 2 - How students learn and how schools can react to these learners.

Part 3 - The purpose of high school

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Current School Structures that Aren't Necessary Anymore

       There's this "joke" about schools that educators don't find funny at all.  The joke says that Rip Van Winkle sleeps for 100 years.  When he wakes up, he walks around town and notices everything is different.  The grocery store, the cars, the roads, the clothes people wear,...everything.  Then he comes to a school and walks in and sees a classroom and he smiles and says, "Finally, something that looks familiar to me."  (Don't laugh.  Not funny.)

       People like "familiar".  People tend to resist change.  But do you really want a doctor who only uses medical knowledge from 1920?  Do you want an ice box instead of a refrigerator?  Do you want a rotary phone instead of a smart phone?  Why do we welcome these changes and resist changes to our schools?  

       Mr. Van Winkle recognized the student desks in neat rows and the teacher's desk in the front of the room.  He recognized the chalkboard on the front wall.  If he happened to visit while school was in session, he would see all students arrive at school at the same time and leave at the same time.  He might have recognized the students moving from class to class every 45 minutes; carrying textbooks and pencils and notebooks.  During classes, he might have recognized the teacher verbally teaching--doing most or all of the talking--while the students took notes and listened to the teacher.  If he stayed for a few days or a few weeks, he might see the teacher giving written tests and returning assignments with grades on them.  He would see report cards.

       I want to think about basic school structures and think about if they are still the best way to conduct a high school in the 21st century.  Here's my short list:

• Why does high school have to start at 7:30am?
• Why do all classrooms have a "front"?
• Why do teachers do most of the talking?
• Why are desks in rows and pointing in the same direction?
• Why do we use individual students desks?
• Why do we use grades to measure knowledge?
• Why do all students learn the same thing at the same time?
• Why do textbooks constitute the "primary source" of content?
• Why four years?

       Do these structures produce the results we want?  Do these structures "work" for most of our students?  It's not that I don't like structure.  We have a lot of students and a lot of instruction in a lot of content areas to provide to them.  Structure of some sort is probably necessary.  But does it have to be these structures--the same basic structures that we've had in high schools for a hundred years?  Is there a better way to use the tools of education that we have today to help our students of today to prepare for their futures of tomorrow?

       Most or all of the items on my list are not part of SOME high schools (or some classes in some high schools) today.  So this isn't a futuristic view of what high schools could be--these things are happening today in some small way in many of our high schools.  But should these structures change for all of our high schools?  And what will be the new structures for high schools?

Preparing Our Students for College and/or Careers

       "College and Career" has become the new buzzword in American high schools.  We want to prepare students to be ready for the social and academic demands of college; and--for students who go to college and don't go to college--we want to prepare our students for the demands of being in a working environment.  This has become a rallying cry for our P-12 school system because of so many surveys, studies (also see this study) and articles that have touted how unsuccessful our schools have been at accomplishing this goal.

       Certainly many recent high school graduates (and their parents) can speak from personal experience.  They completed high school and received their diploma, but they couldn't do the same in college.  Among students that began college in 2007, less than 40% completed their Bachelor's degree by 2011.  Even if you give them another two years the college graduation rate is still very low--59.4% (source).  Employment rates for high school graduates may (certainly) be affected by general conditions of employment in society, however employers often have serious concerns about the readiness that recent high school (and college) graduates have for the workplace.  So what should be done to better prepare students for college and careers?

       First let's define the problem that is faced by our public schools.  In a (very) broad sense, we need to be everything for everyone.  We need to prepare the rich kids and the poor kids, the learning disabled and the academic superstars, the sports kids and the theatre kids and the band kids.  And we need to prepare them for community college, for 4-year colleges, for selective and ivy-league colleges, as well as for certification in cosmetology and welding and mechanics.  Additionally, we want them to be able to express themselves in writing, verbally, and online.  We want them to know that it is important to be on-time, to be polite, to be a learner (for jobs and for college), to be wise with money and credit, to make good decisions.

       Hence, our public schools are tasks to develop rules and policies and requirements for everyone even though everyone isn't following the same path after high school.  So we have to find a balance between what's necessary for most or all students with what's probably really, really helpful for some of the students.  For instance, mathematics is important, but should we require all students to take and pass (and know) Algebra 2?  Financial Literacy is important, but do middle school students need to learn about home mortgages?  Finding the right balance can be tough.


       The other issue is that too many students (and parents) view high school as just a list of requirements to complete.  The idea of "learning" is too far removed from the idea of "getting-a-grade".  How do we help students to see the value of what they are learning in the midst of a system that constantly "rates" students with grades?  Too many people feel that school is merely another one of life's competitions in which there are few winners.  How does this prepare students for their life after high school.  Therefore, our P-12 schools are also tasked with helping students to appreciate the learning and to increase their understanding of their abilities to learn.

       Some of this can be done with requirements from school districts and from state education agencies.  But, it seems to me, that some of this requires a societal view of school as preparing students for after school.  We need parents to support this view; we need television to support this view; we need law-makers to support this view.  College and career readiness is a big job and it requires a big response from all of us.

Is Your Child Advanced in Mathematics?

       It seems that, more than in other subjects, the placement of students in advanced mathematics is often a contentious issue. Elementary schools have different policies about placing students in classes that teach math at grade levels that are above the student's current grade.  Middle schools often offer high school mathematics classes, but some stop at Algebra 1 and some go beyond Algebra 1.

       The ability of a school or school system to determine a student's math ability (or "advanced" math ability) can be hard to do with great accuracy--especially when we are trying to make this determination with eight and nine year old children.  It's not enough that they are getting good grades in their math work; math is more than mere calculation.  And higher-level math is all about reasoning and thinking and understanding.  The kid that is good at memorizing, isn't always good at (say) the abstraction that comes with manipulating variables and graphing a line.

      Yet, I think that (too often) we get a false impression of a student's math abilities from merely looking at their elementary grades on the report card.  Sometime students are placed in advanced classes and at some point in middle school they start to struggle because they were pushed to learn higher and higher levels of math too fast.  On the other hand, there are certainly students who are highly able in mathematics and they should be encouraged to take more challenging classes that are commensurate with their abilities. So goes the dilemma of trying to identify the truly highly-able students from those that only appear to be highly-able.

       One method that helps is using multiple data points.  When students breeze through their multiplication tables and get "A's" on their report cards, but do poorly on standardize tests or on unit tests, this should be a cause for concern.  Maybe this student is good at memorizing facts and procedures and not good at understanding concepts.  This student is successful at procedural assignments (such as long division with whole numbers), but may struggle with more abstract assignments (such as a math task with multiple answers).

       Of course, we know that it is OK for students to struggle as they learn new concepts (see previous blog post), but many students view this struggle as a sign that they aren't good at math; or a sign that the teacher is doing something wrong.  We don't want students to struggle because they have been inappropriately placed.  Truly able students (and Growth Mindset students) don't mind the struggle because they enjoy the journey toward learning.  Also they understand that it is OK if they don't get it the first time.  Continual effort will eventually pay off.  Students who never tried hard to do well in math and then are placed in an advanced math class and then are upset when they don't get it the first time...these may be the students that we are pushing too quickly.

       Is your child advanced in mathematics?  How do you know?

Reflecting on the School Year

       Did I do all I could to help my students to learn?
       Did I improve as an educator this year?
       Did I encourage my quietest students to participate?
       Did I emphasize "learning" over "getting-a-good-grade"?
       Did I communicate my expectations clearly?
       Did I establish good relationships with my students?
       Did I call on every students everyday?
       Did I help my reluctant learners to do their best?
       Did I work with parents to help my struggling learners?
       Did I push my highly-able students to do better?
       Did I model a growth mindset for my students?
       Did I provide appropriate and timely feedback?
       Did I demand the best from all of my students?
       Did I engage my students in their learning?
       Did I collaborate with my colleagues?
       Did I try something new in the classroom this year?
       Did I share my knowledge with other teachers?


       Teaching is an imperfect profession.  We get better every year; but we always have room to improve.  We connect with our students, but there are always some students that we can't reach.  We learn new strategies to address different learners, but we struggle to succeed with everyone.  Since we work with people (students) and not robots, every year is different--every day is different.  What worked last year doesn't work this year.  The lesson we spent two hours preparing usually leads to good student understanding, but not always and not with every student.

       The need to reflect on our practice and to improve every year is necessary.  Students change, principals change, resources change, the world changes.  We can't do the same thing for ten or twenty years.  We have to change too.  And when our results are less than we desire, we can't expect better results unless we change.  I often hear people say that there is no manual for being a good parent; the same is true for teachers.  But there are lots of books and courses and journals and EdCamps and conferences and colleagues for teachers to turn to get ideas and suggestions.  Experience helps; and our best teachers are those people who consistently seek to improve--those that reflect on their successes and failures of the past and yearn to improve.