Classwide Peer Tutoring

Maheady, L. & Gard, J. (2010). Classwide Peer Tutoring: Practice, theory, research, and personal narrative. Intervention in School and Clinic 46 (2), 71-78.

Summary--
The article focused on classwide peer tutoring strategies for the elementary school classroom. The author worked closely with an elementary school teacher who modeled a spelling list peer tutoring strategy. In the article, the author provides an introduction for the need of different strategies in the classroom to support student learning other than direct-teacher instruction. In this area, the author raises the concerns that proponents of classwide peer tutoring and provides academic research to support the importance of engaging students in teaching one another. The article then provides a very clear description of the peer tutoring strategy in the context of the spelling lesson. The teacher who implemented the strategy, writes a narrative describing the path to this strategy and the different ways the teacher has utilized the strategy in successful ways in the classroom. The article closes with a description of more evidence in support of classwide peer tutoring, and references other articles that discuss this practice in different classrooms throughout the various levels of education.

Reflection for Practice--
While I do not think I will use this strategy for teaching specific concepts as the article discusses using this as a game and competition to re-enforce material already taught, I do see the value in establishing groups of students that can support one another through their education. The article also discusses the variety of ways that that students develop socially and emotionally through the peer tutoring groups that teachers establish. A particular part that stands out to me, and I will make sure to remember in my practice is that students must have opportunities to respond to curriculum and teacher instruction. Without this opportunity to respond and interact with material, students will not be able to engage with their learning and maximize their success.
“CWPT essentially harnesses these instructional variables into a game format that actively engages all pupils simultaneously, provides immediate positive and corrective feedback, and offers contingent rewards for improved academic performance.” p. 75
“Finally, developmental theorists argue that collaborative activities among children promote growth because individuals work within one another’s proximal zones of development and model collaborative group behaviors slightly above their own.” p. 76
“Research findings indicated that CWPT (a) significantly improved student academic performance on both curriculum-specific and strandardized measures of achievement, (b) reduced disruptive behavior, and © enhanced interpersonal interactions among students from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds as well as between children with disabilities and their normally developing peers. p. 76

Real Men Don’t Ask For Directions

Wright, R. R. (2003). Real Men Don’t Ask For Directions: Male student attitudes toward peer tutoring. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 34 (1), 61-75.

Summary--
This article focused on college students and their attitudes towards requesting help from a math tutoring session. The researcher interviewed students of both genders and asked them why and when they asked for help. The author also probed them as to why they asked for help when they did. Not only did she interview students who were looking for peer tutoring, but she also interviewed tutors about the way they interact with students. The study focused on the effectiveness of peer tutoring at the collegiate level for mathematics, but also addressed some of the gender stereotypes that exist in our culture and how those may lead to males asking for help less often than females. While the study only interviewed ten clients of each group (30 total), the responses she received can serve to remind us as educators the way we interact with students must be different for each student.

Reflection for Practice--
While this article focused on math and the gender bias that exists for males being stronger math students, it reminded me to be aware of not only how this gender bias hurts females, but males as well. Even though it is unfortunate that gender bias and stereotypes make its way into our classrooms, as a male educator, I must be constantly reminded of the perceptions others (specifically students) have of me because I am male. When I was reading through the narrative of how peer tutors interact with their students, I saw how important the relationship is you develop with the student requesting help. Also, the article touches upon how men, more so than women, will engage in, as the article states “self-handicapping labels” instead of assigning themselves the stigma of “being intellectually inadequate.” When working with young men and women, it is important to recognize when these “trigger” words are being used and provide a space to support students through these trigger words to help them find the best way to support themselves. This article just reminded me of how you need to always be “on” and always listening to the tone and the words students use to describe themselves.

• “... women were less likely to see the act of needing help as a bending of their pride--a sign of weakness.” p. 66
• “Four of the five AARC clients had failed the class at least one time before they felt compelled to request a tutor. When they were asked why they were enrolled in the class and doing poorly, they initially responded with the same excuses as those students who had never requested a tutor: laziness and pride.” p. 65
• “Women ‘feel their power is enhanced if they can be of help. Even more, if they are focusing on connection rather than indepedence and self-relience, they feel stronger when the community is strong.’ Men, however, tend to equate self-reliance with status and power.” p. 68

The Great Sorting

Lehman, Nicholas. "The Great Sorting." The Atlantic Monthly; September, 1995. Volume volume 276, No. 3; pages 84-100. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/95sep/ets/grtsort2.htm

Summary and reflection forthcoming.

Interim Assessments: A User’s Guide

Marshall, Kim. (2011, May 31). Interim Assessments: A User’s Guide. Phi Delta Kappan September 2008. Retrieved from http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/143110127103415203/lib/143110127103415203/Interim_Assessments_-_A_Users_Guide_(Marshall_9-08).pdf

Summary and reflection forthcoming.

Panel Finds Few Learning Gains from Testing Movement

Sparks, S.D. (2011, May 26). Panel finds few learning gains from testing movement. Education Week,30(33), Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/05/26/33academy.h30.html?tkn=RQRFcUFQMtIHhrdq6WdmhBEHayfORwF4Y5sr&cmp=clp-edweek


The author summarizes a study by the National Academies of Science concerning the impact of the current testing craze on student learning.  The title sums up what educators already knew.  "Nearly a decade of America's test-based accountability systems, from AYP to high school exit exams, has shown little to no positive effect overall on learning and insufficient safeguards against gaming the system."


The study examined and found these testing measures "too narrow to accurately measure progress on program goals."  


"For example, New York's requirement that all high school seniors pass the Regents exam before graduating high school led to more students passing the Regents test, but the scores on the lower stakes National Assessment of Educational Progress, which was testing the same subjects, didn't budge during the same time period."


The author calls for the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to "incorporate more diverse measures of student achievement."


If you are looking for a short piece on what's wrong with the current standardized testing system, here you go.  If you want to read the full report, it will set you back $35 at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12521

On Rhetorical Battleground, 'Reform' Proves Potent Weapon

Citation: Cavanagh, S. (2011). On Rhetorical Battleground, 'Reform' Proves Potent Weapon. Education Week, 30, 1-25.

Summary: This article specifically focuses on the rhetoric that we are using in education around 4 key words: reform, status quo, putting children first, educational bureaucracy. This examines the use of these words from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as from a wide range of people within education. It examines how this particular rhetoric used in education today is dangerous because it is very divisive. By labeling a status quo or something as progressive, it puts people into two categories: those who favor reform and those who don't. The article continues to focus on how the buzzwords in education today are then thrown around without any real consensus on what the words could mean. There is also some discussion of labeling something as the status quo being dangerous, because as people examine issues in education, they feel that they are unable to look at a model that already exists. There might be portions of the status quo that need to be considered keeping to improve the education system. The article continues to show how there is a political motive also behind separating people into an us and them category. For example, they reference Michelle Rhee (DC Schools) quite a bit. When she said, "The defenders of the status quo are very strong, they're very organized, they're very strategic," this is an example of a vague 'them' that is being alluded to.

Reflection: I really liked that the article focused specifically on this issue as a bipartisan issue. There are always trends in education, and it highlights how these trends are often started with buzz words and outsiders (non-educators) using them. I'm hoping to use sections of this as I plan what I hope to say to parents of new parents coming into our school. A 2008 study from Education Week showed that 60% parents are unclear on what a charter school is. 37% said that they thought it was a private school or a religious school. As I am beginning my research, I think it's going to be important to think about the rhetoric I use with parents. I need to be careful to speak in specifics and explain the more vague words without assuming that we are all working from the same definitions (project-based learning, charter school, etc.)

Quotes:

"Mr. Whitehurst, a senior fellow and the director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, served as the director of the Institute of Educations Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, during the second Bush administration. He believes some of today's policies dubbed "reforms" may have merit, though he considers the research supporting them weak, compared with the evidence supporting other approaches, such as improving curriculum. He says that assigning labels, particularly those such as "status quo," to policies comes at a cost. "That kind of labeling exercise hardens positions and makes people defensive. We need to be able to consider anything out there, including what is considered the status quo." page 2

"The rhetoric of education today tends to divide the world in two; between those who favor "reform" and those who don't." - page 1

In the quotes sections showing the rhetoric:

"Democrats have shown their true priorities, jumping at the chance to discard educations reform to salvage an unpopular bailout for the education establishment." Rep. Kline

Enhancing Parent Leadership Through Building Social and Intellectual Capital

Citation: Bolivar, J.M. & Chrispeels, J.H. (2010). Enhancing Parent Leadership Through Building Social and Intellectual Capital. American Educational Research Journal, 48, 4-38.

Summary: This article was written by a UCSD professor and UCSD Doctoral student. They both have a shared interest in community building and school-family relationships. This article focuses on ways that parents, specifically low-income and limited-English-proficient-families, can become empowered to effect change within their children's school. The authors examined a 12-week parent leadership program carried out in Los Angeles through the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Parent School Partnership. In this program, parents were taught about school rights for parents and ways of communicating with their children's schools. In addition, they were encouraged to take action and become catalysts for change. There were 12 weekly sessions that lasted 2 hours each. The authors observed classes as well as conducted interviews with the parents in this program (in Spanish). This article provides multiple excerpts from interviews that highlight the qualitative success of this program. They additionally cross-referenced all videos of the interviews and classes to look for common themes.

There was one section of the article that gives background and focuses on social capital. The authors reference research that shows that middle and low-income white families do not use their social networks or resources to tap into resources like affluent families do. The same correlation can be seen in families with limited English fluency. The three things necessary to have social capital are: 1) trust 2) access to information channels that provide a basis for action 3) norms and sanctions within a community that promote common good over self-interest. The leadership program being studied attempted to build on social capital of low-income families by developing a social network and bringing in new information to these parents.

The other section focuses on intellectual capital. This is defined as the "knowledge and capabilities of a collective with potential for collaborative joint action". Creating intellectual capital stems from exchanging individuals' knowledge in a social setting and coming up with new knowledge. The article examined how the leadership classes were able to lead to joint action as well. There were a few examples cited such as one group of parents who created a center at an elementary school called Cuenta Conmigo. This center offers parenting classes, community health fairs and other community-building activities. From the article it seems that the leadership class had positive outcomes on parent relationships with the school.

Evaluation:

A lot of the research in this article is qualitative, which I think is the most helpful for me. It is difficult to measure social and intellectual capital, and the article's strength is found in the excerpts from interviews or explaining collective action that had been taken as a result of the leadership classes. There are additionally 2 helpful tables that compare the results of the different parent groups participating in the study.

There are some areas in which an educator might feel defensive, however. Some of the action that parents were inspired to take was collective action against teachers and specific schools. I wonder how the LA schools that were participating reacted to this outcome. At one point, through collective action agains one particular teacher who wasn't communicating with families, the advice given by the School Board was to: "look for another teacher to communicate with. So if you have a problem with Mr. Hernandez, then let's ask Mr. Castro to come and try to help." That approach of parents/teacher v. a colleague seemed strange to me, and I wonder if that was the type of result the schools participating in the research was looking for.

Reflection:

The approach taken towards forming the leadership group is going to prove helpful to me. I am looking for ways to increase parents' understanding of project-based learning and specifically our school. Additionally, I want to work on helping parents understand appropriate ways of communicating with the school with concerns. One thing that they stressed about the leadership group was that they were self-selected. The students took a flyer home to their parents who then could choose to participate. 35 came to the first session and 20 continued throughout. I'm wondering how I could get more of an impact without requiring this sort of parent education for all new parents at the school. I really liked following the process with the interviews though. I am thinking I might want to have a couple of case studies now for my research as well.