Why school administrators won't listen

Why administrators don't listen

It has come to my attention that the public educational system not only holds children back in reading, but in math as well. I just have to post this article from Laurie Rogers in its entirety. She is brilliant with the problems in public math instruction.

Friday, July 3, 2009
Why administrators don't listen

“In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”
-- Leo Tolstoy, author of “War and Peace”

A common complaint among math advocates is that the education establishment continually rejects pertinent data and valid research on how reform mathematics curricula are deeply, fatally flawed.

“It’s like watching a completely preventable traffic accident,” I’ve said. “How do they not see it? Why won't they listen to reason?”

No advocate has the answer, although there are suspicions. Some of the possibilities I’ve heard include these:

Kickbacks from publishers
Overly friendly relationships with publishers
Ignorance
Stupidity
Herd mentality
Indoctrination
Ego
Habit
Personal comfort
Political philosophy
Ennui

Spokane Public Schools persists with its reform math curricula despite all contrary evidence from the district, state and nation – and despite distressing results (a scary, black hole of dropouts, remediation and failed tests). The district must have some very compelling research on its side - research that math advocates haven’t seen.

In April and May, I asked district administrators for the research and data that support their continued use of reform curricula. Despite several formal requests for public information and a friendly phone call, I’ve received no data and no research. I was told that supporting research was tossed with yesterday’s meatloaf. No, I was actually told it wasn’t kept on hand. (The meatloaf is still there.) I don’t know why the research wouldn’t be kept because administrators keep referring to it (as in “research shows” and “according to the research”).

Instead, I was given the names of three organizations and two types of tests, and I was invited to the central office to look over their “great number of materials on the subject of effective instruction in mathematics.” Technically, this is not “data” or “research.” Technically, I think this is called “skating.”

You’d think they’d at least try to have a good excuse. I would give points for creativity, like: “It’s lost in the Bermuda Triangle.” “It was destroyed by a magic bullet from a grassy knoll.” “Jimmy Hoffa had it with him when he disappeared.” “We were hoping Geraldo Rivera would find it in Al Capone’s vault.”

If the data and research don’t support these curricula, and the entire nation has found that a steady diet of reform leads to math incompetence and cataracts in laboratory rats … what is the real reason for their continued use? Could it be aliens? Think about it. If aliens came to Earth and wanted to take down America without firing a shot, this would be the ticket: Infiltrate public education, teach the children to think conceptually about nothing, and then pretend to fret as the country falls to its knees. It’s the perfect crime.

Look, I’m just saying it’s a possibility. Otherwise … well, choose your preferred explanation.

Leo Tolstoy reportedly said this about people who refuse to listen:

“I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.”
(Well, OK, but I still think some of them might be aliens.)

Meanwhile, we math advocates manage to keep each other going. We disagree about many things, but our dissent is generally friendly and respectful. It helps to keep us honest and thoughtful. We agree on one major point: American public-school math instruction is a blight upon the land. It’s a crater, a crime, a sin against the children.

It takes a strong stomach to know the truth of how bad it is, and still speak politely with administrators who keep saying the most ridiculous things. It’s tough to keep pushing, to keep trying, and to somehow avoid sinking into despair. When we talk with district decision-makers, we often find their eyes are glassy. They’ve breathed in the smoke and mirrors and can’t seem to hear anything but the twaddle from curriculum coordinators.

Tolstoy also reportedly said this:

“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him.”

Education’s decision-makers appear to be “firmly persuaded” – many will do whatever curriculum coordinators tell them to do. So we troop over to the curriculum coordinators, and we find they’re certain, too. They don’t care what we bring to the table, even if it’s the best information, the most pertinent research and the most brilliant arguments. It’s their table – not ours – and they’ll decide (thank you very much), what happens with it. Our evidence is swept off the table onto the floor. They walk over it on their way out. Later, it’s disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

Sitting through certain interviews and meetings, listening to the idiocy that passes for argument (for example, “How do we know a 45% pass rate isn’t good? It all depends on where that group began”), I develop headaches, jaw aches and an upset stomach. I’ve had dark moments where I felt that nothing would ever improve, administrators would never listen, and parents should just grab their babies and run for the hills, as far away from the aliens as possible.

The obliviousness of the education establishment is impressive. The deceit and the covering up of the children’s reality are immoral, if not technically criminal. I’ve sat at my computer and blanched at the cheerful destruction of so many children’s futures.

Meanwhile, since 1989, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) happily became “relevant” as they pushed their national standards. Across the country, school districts happily spent truckloads of taxpayer dollars chasing after every mangy, stray-dog program, and Texas Instruments (TI) and textbook publishers happily made enough money to wallpaper the moon at least twice in pretty thousand-dollar bills.

It’s all happening again. The National Governors’ Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) are the “new black,” pushing for new national standards (because it worked so well the last time). TI continues to deliver fancy calculators to wee tots, and textbook publishers and the College Board pant and salivate at being in on the ground floor of new national curricula and assessments.

Math advocates weren’t invited to this table, either, but who cares? I could sit at that table, lie down on that table, take off my clothes and dance the fandango on that table, and all of the deals would still be made – right next to my sweaty feet.

Math advocate Mike Miller said: “A culture that embraces purposeful perversion will be more resistant to both exposure and change.”

What if the purposeful perversion affects children’s futures and the stability of the country? At what point does it become evil?

Maybe the public-education establishment is already there. Maybe if we look up from our work long enough, we’ll see this for what it really is: An ongoing bloodless takeover by aliens.

Mark my words.

Please note: The information in this post is copyrighted. The proper citation is:
Rogers, Laurie. (July, 2009). "Why administrators don't listen."
Retrieved (8 Jul 2009) from the Betrayed Web site: http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/
This article also was published July 5, 2009, on Education News at http://ednews.org/articles/why-administrators-dont-listen-.html.

Increase your child's IQ with the Godfrey Method

Did you know that Americans tend to believe that their children’s intelligence is either genetic or comes from what they learn in school? But guess what, that isn’t true. “Children’s intelligence levels can change in response to some types of environmental influences… In other words, one arrives in the world not with a fixed IQ but with intelligence that can be damaged or enhanced, primarily by one's parents and mainly during the pre-school years.”

A book based on a study from George Mason University professor- David J. Armor- shows that intelligence is plastic or changeable. The book, Maximizing Intelligence, gives ten key factors in a child’s life that shape her intelligence. Only about half of IQ may be genetically determined, which means that half or more can be improved by the environment in which a child is raised. This is great news!
The key years for developing IQ are birth to 5 years old. The most important factors that influence intelligence are the parenting behaviors of breast-feeding, cognitive stimulation, and emotional support.

Breast-feeding studies have long proven that it raises intelligence by several points and is the best start for a child, if possible. If medically impossible, babies should always be held while being bottle-fed, even after they are old enough to hold the bottle themselves. And it should never be propped in their mouths. Proper nutrition is also important throughout a young child’s brain development.

Cognitive stimulation includes providing a learning environment at home with time for instruction, time for interaction and attention, and money spent on educational outings, reading materials, toys, and other educational materials. Such cognitive stimulation activities have a significant correlation to a child’s test scores and intelligence.

Emotional support is the other part of important parenting behaviors that increase a child’s intelligence. Children with emotional support at home have significantly higher test scores, on average.

That leads Armor to conclude that the best way to maximize children's intelligence is through their parents and that the appropriate tools include strengthening parents and families and mitigating the adverse "risk factors."

It is important for parents to be more involved in early childhood learning, not less. More pre-school is not the best answer. Teaching parents to teach their children to read before kindergarten, in a nurturing environment, is much better.

The author of A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette lives in a suburb of Kansas City, MO, and is available to help any parents of young children learn how to give them cognitive stimulation and emotional support through The Godfrey Method. Contact her at (816) 886-7904, http://godfreymethod.com/default.aspx, and shannahbgodfrey@gmail.com

Why teach your child to read early?

1. Why should parents teach their children to read before kindergarten?

There are many good reasons, such as:

To increase their child’s IQ, by catching the child’s optimum developmental window for reading, as proven by Dr. Glenn Doman and Dr. Michael Merzenich.
This will increase their capacity for learning for the rest of their lives.

To prevent dyslexia and other learning problems, because prevention is much better than remediation.
Yes, gifted children can have hidden learning disabilities.

To reverse the downward educational trend, because parents are their child’s best teacher, as proven by Dr. Glenn Doman and Ms. Glynne Sutcliffe, M.A. Dip. Ed. Only parents doing something at home can reverse the whole language fiasco of public education.

To feel confident and have a good self-esteem at school, by staying ahead of the class.

To create a joyful bedtime routine, giving children the 2 most crucial things they need – parent time and reading skills.

To help children excel in the technology workforce of the future, because reading is the foundation of everything else.

2. Why should parents teach phonics instead of sight-reading?

Phonics wires a child’s brain properly for reading. Phonics is the only proven cure for dyslexia.

Sight-reading limits a child’s vocabulary and can cause reading problems later in life. Sight-reading requires memorizing the shape of about 4,000 words, while phonics only requires memorizing 42 sounds.

Phonics allows a child to decode an unfamiliar word, avoiding embarrassment as an adult.

3. How is the Godfrey Method different?

The Godfrey Method, as found in A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette, helps all children learn easier and faster.

And it helps those who are struggling to come up to speed.

TGM connects the letters to their sounds in a child’s mind in a way that makes sense to her.

TGM has two important components: picture-letter phonics cards and the way to teach them properly.

TGM allows children to learn phonics at younger ages.

TGM easily fits into any busy family schedule, and makes a great bedtime routine.

TGM is affordable, and costs less than you’ll spend at the convenience store next week.

TGM purposely does not use electronics or video to teach- since television, video, and radio noise can be precursors to autism and dyslexia in young children. Its book and cards help parents give their children the one-on-one attention they need.

TGM, as found in APGWAB, provides both the phonics tools and the method to teach them properly.

TGM guidelines are easy to understand and fit on only one page.

Anyone can do this. You don’t need a teaching certificate to teach your child to read.