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GPAs Are Still Among the Best Predictors of College Success

A recent study by ACT, the nonprofit producers of the popular college entrance exam, documents inflationary increases in grade point averages over the past decade. The implication is that GPAs may not be an accurate reflection of students’ actual performance. Of course, GPAs also receive criticism on other fronts. Some people point to variations in the levels of rigor and expectations from school to school. Still others complain that GPAs are difficult to understand because some schools offer additional grade weights and multipliers for honors and advanced placement courses. Others argue that comparing GPAs ignores the level and challenging nature of courses one students takes versus another. Certainly, these criticisms have merit, but do they mean that GPAs have no value and do not reflect the achievement and potential of students? Quite the opposite. A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago reinforces the importance of GPAs and their ability to predict subsequent success in college. The study involved more than 55,000 students who enrolled directly into college following graduation from high schools in Chicago. Despite the inflationary trends and criticism, the study found GPAs to be five times more accurate at predicting success in college than the ACT. The findings are particularly interesting considering the criticism leveled against GPA inflation comes from ACT. Importantly, the results were consistent across schools that have histories of high performance and schools that have traditionally posted low test scores. Additionally, the researchers found no correlation between ACT scores and later college graduation at some colleges and universities and even a negative correlation at others. The research calls into question the generally held assumption that standardized tests such as the ACT are objective, reliable, and neutral predictors of college success. The findings seem exceptionally important in light of the traditional weight given to college entrance exams and the time, attention, expense, and stress associated with preparing for and taking these exams. It’s true that college admissions typically take additional factors into account when making admissions decisions. Yet, this information appears to validate the growing number of colleges and universities that have decided to make college entrance exams optional or have eliminated them in the admissions process. So, why might it be that GPAs have much stronger predictive power than college entrance exams such as the ACT? The reasons are fairly obvious. Despite the shortcomings of GPAs, they capture a variety of elements that correlate closely with academic success. GPAs reflect effort, consistency, and performance related to a variety of learning-related activities. GPAs reflect learning in a variety of settings. They include multiple academic and non-academic courses. Equally important, GPAs capture performance over time, not in a single testing setting. The bottom line: The current movement to rethink our dependence on standardized exams as a driving factor in college entrance decisions makes sense. The stress, expense, and time demanded to prepare for and take these exams appear to outweigh any benefits on which we can depend. When we have evidence that other collectible information provides a better picture and makes a stronger predication, it’s time to change.

June 06, 2022

A Powerful but Often Untapped Source of Motivation

Student motivation seems more difficult to generate today than in the past. At least in part, we can blame the pandemic. Students found it easier to disengage and become less motivated when they were learning at a distance in makeshift space at home. Many students have brought the habits and routines they adopted at home back into the classroom with them.

Yet, learning is heavily dependent on motivation. Motivation – commonly defined as interest, readiness, and inclination to learn – is a necessary element for engaging successfully in the learning process. We cannot make students learn. We cannot learn for them. For learning to occur, students must be motivated.

It’s also true that we play a role in influencing the level and direction of the motivation of our students. We can create conditions that make it more likely that students will choose to be motivated. At times we design experiences that are inherently attractive, so students are more interested and inclined to learn. At other times, we may create conditions that make not learning unattractive, whether by threatening negative consequences that are influential with students or offering rewards that students value enough to do what we want them to do. Of course, there are significant downsides to the use of threats and rewards related to learning in terms of their diminishing effectiveness over time and messaging that learning is not important or valuable enough to invest in without extrinsic influences.

While efforts to stimulate student interest and readiness for learning are often necessary at the beginning of teaching and learning cycles, if we retain full responsibility for stimulating student motivation, we can leave them dependent on us to get ready to learn. We risk students being unprepared for a world in which they can ill afford to depend on others to stimulate and direct their motivation for learning and work.

We can tap a far more effective and lasting approach by nurturing the self-motivation of students. Our efforts need to extend beyond our motivating students, to a focus on nurturing their skills and strategies to motivate themselves. When we instill in learners the ability to generate and direct their motivation, we give them a gift that opens a world of potential learning and life success.

We can start the journey of transforming waiting-to-be-motivated students into self-motivated learners by helping them see that motivation is a choice. Certainly, at times motivation comes easily. When they encounter something that is inherently interesting, becoming motivated is easy to choose.

However, they can also choose to find something interesting or engaging about issues and tasks that are less inherently compelling. As examples, by connecting a less compelling learning task to an important goal they can transform their attitude from reluctance to commitment. Additionally, they might engage a friend or colleague to learn with them and transform what may have seemed like drudgery into a pleasant social experience.

Most students do not realize or appreciate the power they possess to motivate themselves. Fortunately, self-motivation – like other skills – can be taught. However, it requires our commitment and support to nurture its development and application. Here are ten ideas to get started:

Coach students to set and pursue learning goals.
Coach students to focus on the value of learning over obsessing about grades.
Focus student feedback on factors they control such as effort, strategy, progress, and achievement.
Encourage, stimulate, and nurture student curiosity.
Encourage and support students to celebrate their learning accomplishments.
Provide students with meaningful and authentic choices about how they will engage in learning tasks.
Give students choices about who they will work with on learning tasks.
Coach students to look for connections between new learning tasks and what is interesting to them.
Coach students to explore why they find some tasks inherently more interesting and how they can transfer or leverage that interest to other activities.
Remind students of their power to make choices about their motivation, regardless of circumstance or challenge.

When students learn to motivate themselves, they tap limitless power to control the level and direction of their energy. Even better, they can summon their motivation on demand. In short, we give them a lifelong, success-generating tool that never wears out.

May 27, 2022

Guided Play: An Effective Complement to Direct Instruction

Direct instruction has been the go to teaching strategy for generations. It’s an efficient and often effective way to communicate information, focus attention, and guide learning. Direct instruction can be especially useful when students come with little or no background knowledge to apply to new learning. Of course, direct instruction is not the only way to teach. It’s also not the best instructional strategy for all students or in all areas of learning. For many students, more experience-based approaches or a combination of strategies will be more effective. Experience-based learning appears to be especially effective for younger learners, but also offers important benefits to learners of all ages. We might think of play as important to child development, but we may not be as likely to see play as an effective way to build academic concepts and skills. However, a review of seventeen studies, published in the journal Child Development, documented some surprising and important learning gains through a particular type of play called guided play. Guided play is designed around a learning goal and an activity featuring limited adult direction and interaction. For example, students may practice addition and subtraction using an oversized number line on which students move forward and backward as they randomly draw slips of paper with addition and subtraction numbers on them. The collection of studies pointed to progress in literacy, numeracy, and executive functioning skills. Importantly, the progress students demonstrated was equal to or greater than progress typically demonstrated in response to direct instruction. The researchers pointed to several aspects of guided play that offer important learning support:

New learning becomes more concrete as students experience content and skills rather than listening while someone explains them.
Learning is active.
New learning is immediately applied within the context of interesting and fun activities.
Mistakes can be quickly corrected within the context of play.
Collaboration and social skills are nurtured within the activity.

There are also some guidelines and cautions for educators when designing and supporting guided play:

Establish a clear and accomplishable learning goal.
Design for a combination of fun and learning.
Avoid over structuring the activity to the point where students may not engage.
Resist over-guiding students during the activity to the extent that they lose ownership and interest.

The cluster of studies reviewed in this research focused on young learners. However, many of the elements of guided play hold promise for older learners, too. The activities may need to be adjusted to match the physical, emotional, and learning development of students, but experiencing learning within the context of application, fun, and social interaction can be attractive and effective at any age.

May 26, 2022

What Priority Should We Give to Recess?

The pressure to put students back on track academically and raise test scores has led many schools to reduce the frequency and duration of unstructured recess time. Meanwhile, the challenge of dealing with increasing incidents of misbehavior have led some educators and administrators to withhold recess as a consequence for off-task and unacceptable behaviors. In fact, in a recent survey more that 80% of educators reported reducing or withholding recess as punishment for misbehavior or academic performance. Among the underlying assumptions driving these decisions is that recess, while useful to help students drain off some excess energy and connect with friends, is not important enough to be a priority over academics and behavior management. The thought is that academically focused time is likely to pay better dividends than allowing students to run and play with friends and classmates. And the threat of missing recess will be enough to influence behavior choices. Yet, giving students breaks from learning and time to refocus on activities that are not planned and structured by adults offer some surprising learning and life benefits. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes several important outcomes associated with what we have traditionally called recess. First, children and even adolescents are best able to focus on learning when they have periodic mental breaks to focus on non-academic topics and activities. Other countries and cultures have long embraced schedules with intense focus followed by mental and physical breaks. For example, young students in Japanese schools are typically given ten-to-fifteen-minute breaks each hour. Second, while shifting focus from one academic activity to another can offer some advantages, the most significant benefits appear to come from breaks that allow students to choose and are free from tight structure. Following breaks, students are typically better ready to re-engage and focus on additional academic learning. Even though recess is not typically a part of school schedules for adolescents, they still need mental and physical breaks. The same is true for adults. Third, unstructured, but safe and supervised recess provides students with opportunities to develop important interpersonal skills such as resolving conflicts, negotiating priorities, forming relationships, developing perseverance, and sharing resources. These skills are important building blocks for social success that often can be by-passed when adults are immediately available to enforce rules, render judgments and direct behavior. A recent study by professors at the University of Colorado and University of Denver further reinforces the benefits of less-structured and unstructured activities in another aspect of student development. Researchers found that students who spent more time in free play appeared to develop greater executive functioning: the ability to plan, make decisions, use information with purpose, successfully switch between tasks, and manage thoughts and feelings. Obviously, there is a connection between strong executive functioning and academic success. Students with well-developed executive functioning capacity tend to be less dependent on adults to manage their behavior and focus on important tasks. Of course, time spent during recess running, chasing, and in active play also contributes to the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity each day. As a result, recess time can help to combat obesity and sedentary life styles that contribute to health problems later in life. It can also take the edge off of energy that leads some students to fidget, squirm, and engage in other off-task behaviors. Importantly, recess should not be confused with or seen as interchangeable with physical education. Physical education is intended to be a formal learning environment in which students learn skills and activities that can help them make good life choices, engage in formal physical activities, and develop a healthy, active life style. Physical education is an important part of the education of young people. It can also contribute to the total minutes of activity in which students engage daily, but recess and physical education have different purposes and need to play separate roles in learning. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers several recommendations regarding recess including:

Consider recess students’ free time. Resist over-structuring the time or withholding recess for academic or punitive reasons.
Schedule breaks of sufficient length for students to mentally decompress and be ready to re-engage.
Treat recess as a complement to physical education, not an alternative or replacement.
Provide adequate supervision during recess, but avoid unnecessary structuring of activities.

A final thought: Opportunities to decompress and refocus are not just for young people. We need to make breaks and exercise a part of our routines if we hope to do our best work and be fully present and ready to support students as they learn.

May 23, 2022

Closing the Year with a Message to Our Students

In the waning weeks and days of the school year, we can feel as though our students are slipping away. They are beginning to look forward to summer and anticipating the adventures of next year. Of course, we have invested the past months guiding, coaching, and preparing them for this time. We have watched as their competence and confidence have grown. We hope that we have done what is necessary to prepare them for what is next and what lies beyond as their lives unfold. While we are excited to send them on their way, we may also feel some regret. There is never enough time to teach everything we would like our students to know. Yet, it’s amazing to see how far they have come. Now as the end of the year approaches, we have one final opportunity to give our students some advice to reflect and rely upon in the months and years ahead. Each of our students is unique and will hear our advice in a different way. Regardless, this is a time when we want to instill hope and build their confidence. As we think about our “closing message,” here are some ideas and insights to consider passing along. First, we can remind our students to regularly recall and recount their successes. Confidence grows as students feel successful, and success builds on success. When students remember, recount, and relive their successes they can counter negative, confidence-undermining narratives. We can remind students of the many successful experiences and occasions worthy of recalling and recounting from the past year. Second, we can discourage students from comparing themselves and their performance to others. Comparisons to others who may be moving faster or doing better can undermine confidence even though another student may be in a very different situation. What matters most is for students to concentrate on their own learning and progress. It is also the only element students can control. Our students’ long-term success will be determined by what they do, how they continue to grow and learn, and what they do with their unique talents and skills. Third, we can remind students that effort and occasional struggle are important to their learning. In fact, learning that comes easy is often forgotten just as easily. We can remind them that when they must concentrate and make multiple attempts before succeeding, they are building learning skills that will serve them for a lifetime. Fourth, we can point out to our students that it’s never too late to get better. Life continues to present lessons until they are learned. No matter how well our students did this year or how much they may have struggled, there are always opportunities to get better. Life is all about growth. Fifth, we can remind our students that school will end, but learning is lifelong. We can urge our students to continue to find and practice learning approaches that work for them. Sometimes their learning approach will not align with how they are taught. That doesn’t mean that they are not good learners. We can urge students to find the ways in which they learn best and embrace them. It can make all the difference. Sixth, we can advise our students that what matters most is not who approves of them. What matters and will count the most is their own approval, acceptance, and confidence. To chase the approval and acceptance of others is folly. We can urge our students to live lives they can be proud of and people who count will approve of and accept them. Seventh, we can assure our students that we see in them the potential for greatness. They have gifts and talents they may not be aware of yet. Each student has their own unique combination of special potential. Further, we can remind students that it’s not the A’s they received in school that will matter most, it will be the actions they take in life. It will not be the B’s they earned in school that will determine their future. It will be what they choose to become. And it’s not the C’s that will matter most. It will be what they are willing to commit. Eighth, we can urge our students to take life as it comes. There is no need or benefit to hurrying life. We can remind students that every stage of life will have its gifts and delights and its challenges and heartaches. Trying to accelerate life beyond their years risks their missing important lessons and experiences that will make them more satisfied and successful people. We can remind them to live each day with purpose and to make each day count. If they always try to do the right thing, then they will live a life with few regrets. Our end-of-year message is an opportunity to remind students one last time of the experience of the past year and it is a gift to take with them as they depart our classroom and school. Our best hope is that when they encounter life’s challenges and navigate life’s dilemmas they will be able to fall back on what they have learned and experienced in their time with us.

May 16, 2022

Ways to Prevent Unacceptable Behavior in the Final Weeks

This has been a difficult year for everyone. As we approach the end, we can anticipate that some behaviors with which we have been dealing will increase in frequency. We may also encounter new behaviors from students whom we would not necessarily expect to act out. Our challenge is to anticipate, head off, and prevent as many acts of misbehavior as we can so that the final weeks are productive for learning and a positive experience for students. We need to remember that behaviors are purposeful. They send a message. They meet a need. The better our communication with students, the less they may feel the need to send us a message. The better we can anticipate and meet student needs, the more successful we both will be. For some students the end of the year signals significant changes in their lives. The structure of school may be going away. The assurance of regular food and consistent adult contact may be about to end. Regular connections with friends may be at risk. These and other worries can lead to defiance, inattentiveness, unresponsiveness, and other forms of unacceptable behavior. In this context we are wise to avoid overreacting and making unnecessary behavioral demands or immediately directing that a behavior must stop. When we respond too forcefully, we can unintentionally stimulate repetition of behavior. People do not like to be told what to do, especially when they are stressed. They may resist or find other ways to engage in behavior that we have taken from them. Even students who otherwise might be cooperative can react negatively and become passively or actively resistant. Here are some other tips and ideas for avoiding the occurrence and escalation of unacceptable behavior in the final weeks of the year:

Presume positive intentions and behavior. Lack of trust can be a fast track to misbehavior. Rather than calling overt attention to misbehavior such as side conversations or poking another student, our raised eyebrows and eye contact that conveys confused disapproval can be all that is needed. Unfortunately, calling out small infractions and publicly admonishing students for small incidents of misbehavior can quickly escalate the situation and waste precious class time at a key point in the year.
Offer an observational statement. Rather than directing students to comply with a previously given direction make a statement such as, “Several of you have yet to put away your materials.” Then give students time to follow through. For students who still do not comply, the subtle reminder of pointing to what needs to be done as we walk past can be enough to stimulate action. Calling students out and risking embarrassment in front of classmates may be a stimulus for escalation if the student is in the mood to defy authority.
Make a presumptive observation such as, “You know what to do.” When well-practiced routines are involved, resist telling students to do things they already know they should do. When students already know what to do, they don’t need to be retold. If students need a subtle reminder we might modify the statement to the question, “What should you do?” However, repeatedly restating the obvious can lead to inattention, resistance, and even mocking.
Consider the larger context of student behavior. Watch students’ interactions with peers. Tensions, arguments, even boisterous teasing can be signs that relationships are fraying and misbehavior may be about to escalate. Waiting and hoping that the situation will resolve itself may not be a good bet. It may be that all that is needed is a conversation with key actors. Or it may be time to engage someone to investigate and de-escalate the situation. Interactions with peers can be early signs that problems are percolating.
Be inquisitive not accusatory. We might say, “I have noticed that your behavior has shifted. Is there something I did or need to know to understand what is happening?” Ask questions, communicate curiosity, and seek to understand. Use “I” statements.
Be clear and stay consistent in routines and expectations. Shifts in attention and follow through late in the year can be misread as routines and expectations no longer being important or needing to be followed. Students may believe that expectations we used to hold no longer apply and previously unacceptable behavior now is permitted.
Give students who may be inclined to act out plenty of attention. Their acting out can be a strategy to gain attention. If we give attention to them before they choose to demand our attention, we may avoid the need to intervene and correct.

The final weeks of school offer the opportunity to finish the work we have done with students throughout the year. It can also be a time of uncertainty, anxiety, and disruption. We need to do all we can to help students to stay focused, supported, and successful as we navigate the final weeks.

May 09, 2022

Share Your Tips & Stories

Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.

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Five Powerful Learning Drivers to Make ESSER Investments Pay

The availability of ESSER funds has presented new opportunities for administrators and educators to spend money on new initiatives such as adding time, purchasing new technology, and investing in other tools. The availability of new funds presents a crucial opportunity to improve learning outcomes. Yet, research and history point to the likelihood of disappointing results, if the bet is that expenditures for time, technology, and tools alone will improve student achievement to a level that “catches students up” academically. The research of Hattie, Marzano, Petty, and others points to an important and inescapable conclusion: Unless we change the learning experience and shift the relationship students have with learning, we cannot expect to see changes in learning outcomes. A longer school year by itself tends not to work because students who are not engaged and finding success are not helped by increased exposure to the same experience. Technology that is used to shift traditional instructional practices from paper to digital without changing the fundamental learning experience holds little hope to improve learning. And new textbooks and related tools inserted in traditional lessons and class routines hold little potential to transform learning experiences. What really influences learning outcomes is more fundamental and depends less on structures and resources than on learning relationships and experiences. This statement is not to imply that structures and resources do not matter. They can offer expanded and enhanced opportunities, but they have not been shown by themselves to be strong drivers of learning. So, what are effective drivers of learning we can employ to make ESSER investments pay off? Here are five of the most powerful learning support strategies with a strong base of research and experiential support. First, shift the experience of students from being passive listeners and responders to adult talk and direction to becoming active participants in their learning with adult guidance, coaching, and encouragement. Second, encourage students to invest in their learning by providing frequent, authentic choices about what and how they will learn. Provide support to them to set goals for their learning rather than providing students with goals set on their behalf. Third, focus on the purpose and benefits of learning rather than treating the experience as a compliance activity in service of vague, far into the future benefits. Purpose is the strongest driver of learning in life. We may as well leverage it. Fourth, invite students to co-monitor their progress rather than expecting them to consistently default to the judgment of adults. Seeing progress can be a great encourager of hope for success and builder of confidence and motivation. Fifth, focus attention on building learning skills over superficial and temporal information and content. Development of skills directly benefits the learner, while information and content is often seen by students as serving the agenda of adults. Further, it is learning skills that will prepare students for life success, not simple recall of names, dates, and events. Academic content needs to be the context for learning skills, not the opposite. To be clear, this argument is not against providing time, technology, and tools for learning that are rich, varied, and accessible. Rather, it is a reminder that learners and their learning experiences are what drives improved learning outcomes. We need to advocate for and commit to resources and structures to assist learning, but we must be careful not to confuse them with what matters most.

May 09, 2022

Five College-Level Study Tips to Share with Your Students Now

This is the time of year when students often face the challenge of preparing for major exams; exams that ask them to synthesize various concepts, recall a wide range of information, and demonstrate competency with a variety of skills. We have coached students throughout the year to develop learning strategies to assist them to absorb, retain, and retrieve important content. Now, they will be asked to pull everything together in preparation for important end-of-year assessments. Of course, the task students face is not new. Students have faced this annual challenge for generations. However, it can be motivating to students to expand their repertoire of study techniques by incorporating some tips often shared with college-level learners by their professors as these advanced learners prepare for high-stakes career preparation and licensing assessments. The good news is that the tips work equally well for younger students. Here are five time-tested and research-based tips you can share. First, encourage students to choose or create a focus-supportive environment. The ability to focus is among the most important elements contributing to successful study. The exact conditions optimal to support mental focus may vary from person to person. Some people focus best when they experience complete silence. Others may find music in the background to assist with focus. Some people may benefit from a view of the outdoors. Others may focus best without visual stimulation beyond what they are studying. Some people do their best when isolated from people. Others may benefit from some movement around them such as they might experience in a coffee shop. However, there is wide agreement that cellphones and social media turned off and out of sight contributes to the ability to focus. The key is for the student to find the optimum focus-supportive environment for their needs. Second, advise students to take frequent breaks – at least every thirty minutes – to think about what they are studying and how best to organize it for storage in their minds. Interestingly, researchers have found that learning breaks to synthesize and organize content and skills can play as important a role in learning as practicing preset processes and completing problem sets. Third, encourage students to move from one position or location to another occasionally, especially as they move from one element or aspect of study to another. The shift may be as little as repositioning at a desk or table, or as significant as moving to a different room or new location. As we study, our brains absorb more information than we may be aware. While we are focusing, our brains note objects around us, noises we hear, and movements that cross our vision. This information can help to “anchor” memories and assist recall of content connected to the experience. As a result, our attempts to recall what we have studied can be enhanced by memories of where we were when we encountered information, developed a new insight, or reached a conclusion. Shifting locations can ground memories in the environment where they occurred. Fourth, share with students the benefits of pausing occasionally to explain or summarize what they just read or reviewed. Research indicates that explaining to yourself can be enough to make a difference. Explaining to a “study buddy” can be even more beneficial. The process of explaining organizes information and prepares the brain for storage. This technique can also surface elements and aspects of what is being studied that are not clear and need more attention and clarification. Fifth, encourage students to draw pictures or create maps to depict connections and relationships among items and elements they are studying. Images are often easier to recall than lists of words or highlighted text. The process of drawing and positioning information also provides opportunities to interact more deeply with content and helps to place information in a more complete context. Later, when attempting recall key concepts and information in isolation, graphics can offer a memory shortcut to information that has been placed in a retrievable format. Of course, each of these tips require a level of effort and discipline. However, they can make studying more interesting as they add variety and novelty to the process. They also can be motivating because they work.

April 22, 2022

Is More Time the Answer to Unfinished Learning?

One of the most popular responses to the disruption of learning due to COVID is to increase the students’ time in school. Many educational leaders are betting that when students are in person with teachers for more minutes and hours every week, learning that did not happen during the pandemic can be made up and students will be back on track. However, pre-pandemic research calls this bet into question. Consider a 2019 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a respected international source for information regarding education around the world. The report documented that American students spend on average 8,884 hours in school during their elementary and secondary years. By comparison, the average time in school for students in other countries is closer to 7,500 hours. It is true that some countries have longer school years, but the total number of hours students spend in school in the United States generally far exceeds their international counterparts. The difference represents more than a full school year of additional time for students in the United States. Yet, international academic comparisons show American students generally perform in the middle ranks. It is also true that American teachers traditionally spend a larger portion of their days and more total time instructing than the international average. The general assumption in the United States has been that time spent in front of students is the most valuable time, and teachers should spend as much of their time in front of students as possible. The obvious questions are: If American students are spending a full year of additional time in school during their elementary and secondary school years, and teachers are spending a larger portion of their days teaching, why are we not already out performing our international counterparts? And is adding more time in school now to make up for unfinished learning during the pandemic the solution? The answer to both questions is that what matters most is not how much time, but how time is used. Our assumption has been that if students spend more time being taught, they will learn more. This notion seems reasonable, but it misses an important point: It is not time or teaching that matters most, it is learning. We have been so preoccupied with how much teaching is happening – measuring productivity as teacher time in the classroom – that we have missed the key point that learning needs to be the organizing element. What is most important is what is learned, not what is taught. Many countries provide teachers with much more preparation time to ensure that each moment in the classroom is leveraged to ensure maximum learning. Some countries give students more time and opportunities for inquiry and discovery and less time subjecting them to “telling.” Still others engage students in longer term projects focused on deeper learning and problem solving. The point is that how the time we have with learners is used is even more important than the amount of time invested. Adding days and hours to the school year will provide little benefit unless the time is used to increase learning opportunities and outcomes, not just more teaching. The question we need to ask is how we can change learning experiences to improve outcomes. The answer to this question will tell us how to design experiences and support to improve learning results. Of course, instruction will be a part of this formula. But, so will a more active role for learners, leading to more investment in and ownership of their learning. Learning grows when learners find the experience purposeful, meaningful, and worthwhile.

April 07, 2022

Three Ways to Capture Important but Often Hidden Learning

We know that not all the learning students gain is the result of our instruction. Some students make connections beyond our lessons. Other students become interested in topics of study that stimulate learning beyond the scope of study we plan. Still other students will learn what we offer deeply and build knowledge and skills beyond what our assessments may capture. Yet, these dimensions of learning are often ignored when grades are assigned. Rarely is learning not captured on assessments noted and honored as important to the learning profile of students. Still, the learning is real and worthy of notice and respect. So, how might we capture learning that is outside and beyond our instruction? Further, how can we honor and reward this learning? We can start by recognizing its existence in our interactions with students. Discussing the insights student develop is a good place to start. However, there is more that we can do. We can invite students to reflect on and share the additional learning they have gained. For example, following administration of a summative assessment we might give students the option of responding to one or more of three questions. First, what did you learn during this unit that I did not teach you? Responses to this question can provide information about connections students made as they reflected on what they were asked to learn. We may hear about family discussions related to what students were learning that extended beyond the scope of our instruction. We may also find that projects and tasks we assigned students led to further insights and understandings beyond our intentions. Second, what did you learn about this topic or skill that was not measured on the test? This question gives us access to what students believed was important as they prepared for the test. It also speaks to the breadth of knowledge and understanding the student possesses, even though the assessment grade may not reflect it. Third, what do you know now that you did not know before studying this topic or skill? This question invites students to reflect on what they have learned, not just information for which they are accountable. By asking this question we invite students to engage in a process that helps them recognize and organize what they have learned. Importantly, this type of reflection has also been shown to increase understanding and extend recall, two important goals of our instruction. At first, students are likely to find these questions to be curious, as their learning is typically assumed to have been demonstrated through their performance on the test. Yet, the information can be crucial to understanding the full scope of learning students have gained. One way to incent students to take these questions seriously and invest time in formulating responses is to offer additional credit for responses that are substantiative and reflect important learning extensions. This step also allows us to recognize the full scope of the learning gained. Some of us may question the wisdom of giving extra credit. We know that awarding extra credit for activities that are non-learning related is problematic because it contaminates the information grades are to articulate: learning progress. When bringing supplies to the classroom, covering textbooks, and other non-learning related activities are given weight, grades no longer represent what they are intended to communicate. Yet, awarding additional credit that will be reflected in students’ grades in this context captures important learning. It may be incidental and unplanned. It may be beyond the scope of our instructional intentions. Yet, it reflects legitimate academic progress. It is worthy of respect and reflects value. It also represents the type of learning that our students will need in the future as they confront novel learning challenges, are asked to solve complex problems featuring unknown factors, and make connections where they have not been previously known.

March 31, 2022

We’re In Your Corner!

We might think that working long hours is the best way to be productive, but cognitive science paints a different picture.

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