Board of Ed Ignoring Danger in Rush to get High School Students Online

Ask any teacher and he will tell you every child learns in a slightly different way. I like to say this is due to the unique way each person is wired, which is why I leave it to professional educators to explain the science of learning. Let’s just say it does not take a PhD in education to understand that just because one student – or the majority of students, for that matter – finds success in a classroom environment where lectures, textbooks and repetition are the standard doesn’t mean all will.

Fortunately, we live in an age when technology can advance education in ways our grandparents could have never imagined. However, Iowans should be skeptical about the Iowa State Board of Education’s rush to expand a program that allows high school students to gain credit for online courses.

Online learning may be the newest, fastest growing educational paradigm, but not everything shiny and new proves to be effective. A little caution is prudent. Many of us remember the classrooms-without-walls schools built in the 1970’s that were supposed to stimulate teaching across classrooms. They turned out to be noisy places filled with distracted students and frustrated teachers. After spending millions of dollars retrofitting walls in buildings coast to coast, most of these environments do not exist today. Online courses, too, have shortcomings to be considered before they are adapted too widely.

I do not mean to diminish the important role online learning can play when it comes to meeting the needs of technologically savvy students. Online courses can provide students with more flexibility. Obviously, student success should be based on what is learned rather than how much time is spent in the classroom. But, academic rigor is all too often lost when a student participates in online classes. Many of these courses are more about completing assignments than helping students apply the subject in the constructive and meaningful way their counterparts in other educational environments are. Talk to students who have taken these courses and you come to understand online classes are more like checklists than they are comprehensive education.

I know a student who struggled with traditional high school Spanish. Yet, She was able to click off the online courses with little effort in a fraction of the time estimated in the course literature. She did not learn Spanish. She instead found a way to get credit in an unsupervised environment without mastering the subject. I recognize this example alone does not condemn online learning, but it illustrates why we should be skeptical about moving students out of the classroom and distancing them from the nurturing assistance of a teacher. Learning is a give and take that is hampered when educators and students separated by computer screens are both judged by the number of completed assignments as opposed to what the students learn.

Board of Education member Max Phillips summed up the Board’s concern about Iowa lagging behind other states when it comes to the number of high school students taking classes online. Phillips said, “Twenty-five other states have more students than we do in virtual learning. We need to learn, but we don’t need to go slow, because our students are already behind.”

Nope. Iowa should not chase Texas because the Lone Star State has more students enrolled online than Iowa does. Iowa needs to develop learning programs that help its students achieve. If another state is doing something to improve learning proficiency, Iowa should learn from it. Processing more students through an automated checklist is not worthy of emulation. Providing the best education for every student is, regardless of how they learn.

Online learning has many benefits especially when it comes to supplementing what is learned in a classroom under the guidance of a professionally trained teacher. However, there is a clear and present danger when Boards of Education rush to embrace a new educational theory like online learning because it is the hot new thing. Replacing the thoroughness of a comprehensive education with an all-too-automated online environment will do more harm than good.

The Iowa State Board of Education needs to focus more on results than expanding the number of students taking online courses for the sake of being in on a fad. Outsourcing learning in cyberspace holds certain risks for Iowa’s students. The Board needs to let teaching professionals drive the educational process by allowing them to utilize all the tools available. Regardless of how each of us is wired, teachers are the ones who are best able to guide students down the path of learning, whether in a classroom or with the aid of a computer. There is a difference between learning and giving students credit for jumping through online hoops.

Tim "I'm the Most Honest Guy I Know" Pawlenty Makes it Official by Preaching to Choir

Tim Pawlenty announced his campaign for President in Des Moines todayon the rooftop terrace of the State Historical Building.   The sun, wind, airplanes and traffic on the streets below cooperated, for the most part, as the domes of the Iowa Capitol gleamed in the background.   It was a good day for preaching to the choir.

Pawlenty drew a respectable crowd.  I’ll call it 150 to 175 spectators and a generous cadre of media.  His campaign gets points for staging and for making sure there were enough staff and volunteers on hand to capture the contact information of as many people in the crowd as possible.  The Iowa Caucuses are nothing if not an organization game.  It looks like the Pawlenty folks are well aware of this.

After clearly and for the record announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, the former Minnesota Governor launched into a speech written to reinforce he was not Barack Obama. ( I can’t believe many people get them confused, but they must.)

There was much talk of Obama’s failures and an equal number of references to Pawlenty’s own self identified honesty.   Apparently, Pawlenty is rather impressed with his special ability to tell the truth and he is convinced no one else in the race shares this trait.  Maybe I am alone, but whenever a person repeats how honest he is, I get a little suspicious.  But, Pawlenty was here to rally the troops and I suppose honesty polls well.

Healthcare: Pawlenty said his healthcare plan in Minnesota would be used as a model for what he would do as president and “my plan is the opposite of ‘Obamacare.’”  This, of course, begs a question. Since a main Pawlenty objection to the Obama plan is that Americans are “mandated” to buy health coverage, would the Pawlenty plan mandate Americans not be insured?  But, I digress.

Immigration: Pawlenty did not equivocate, “I am for legal immigration.” He talked about how the U.S. is based on the rule of law and that we must uphold immigration laws.  Whew.  That clears that up.

Ethanol: Pawlenty did show some courage by standing in Iowa and saying ethanol subsidies should be phased out.  He did this mostly to prove he was a man willing to say the unpopular (see speaking the truth above), but I will give him credit for saying what he meant in this case.

Education: When asked by Des Moines Roosevelt High School graduating senior Alex Patch about education, Pawlenty spent an odd few minutes summarizing the documentary film “Waiting for Superman” before concluding he was against the “government monopoly of public education” and for choice.  Parents should be “resourced” and given the choice to send their kids to the government monopoly schools (if they are silly enough to choose that), charter schools (if they want another public option), another monopoly school through open enrollment, private schools or home schools.

Pawlenty was most passionate about his education answer during the question and answer period, which made me think he might be running for the wrong position (note: I say “passion” with the caveat I may have been mistaken since passion is often hard to discern in Pawlenty without the aid of highly tuned computers).  Pawlenty had spent a major portion of his overall time today talking about how the federal government needs to scale back and stay out of Americans’ lives.  For instance, the federal government should stop administering Medicare and send the money to the states in a block grant.  This attitude seems to conflict with Pawlenty’s answer to Patch that the federal government should set policy to break up public education and teachers unions. One would think Pawlenty would want to leave such things to the people and their local and state governments.

All and all, Tim Pawlenty did not stumble, meaning his campaign can count today as a win.  Today’s sparkling May skies will eventually turn to January snow showers.  It gets harder from this point on, because the game turns on finding new supporters to add to the choir.  Pawlenty has a lot of work to do before then to inspire Iowans to trudge to their Caucus and stand up for him.  And, since he assured us many times he can be trusted to tell the truth, we know Pawlenty is in this to win.

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(In the ‘you have to appreciate the irony of the timing’ category is this story; Former Pawlenty staffer pleads guilty to public intoxication.  I am not suggesting this young man’s problems are humorous, or that Mr. Pawlenty should be held accountable for his staffer’s drunkenness.  I just found it ironic.)

Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.

Open Letter to Gov. Branstad, re: School Lunch

Dear Governor Branstad:

You asked Iowans for help as you begin your term as Governor.  This is an excellent idea.  Iowans are innovative and willing to do the hard work needed to get the job done.  Recently I submitted the first of a few ideas I feel are worthy of your consideration as you put together the state budget and perfect your blueprint for governing in the years to come.  I share another today.

As a former school board member, I know as well as any that school districts do much more than maintain school buildings and hire teachers.  Public schools run bus networks, manage countless social service and health care programs, and direct massive food service operations.  Some of these services are directly linked to education and others are provided at school because it is the one place where the children in need of these services gather.  It is time to help educators focus on improving education by taking some of these non-instructional items off of their plate.  The pun is intended; let’s start by taking food service out of the hands of educators.

We probably agree it makes sense to feed kids at school.  For many students, the breakfasts and lunches they receive at school are the best meals they receive all week.  However, we must acknowledge that these meals still fall short of what they should be as evidenced by theUnited States Department of Agriculture’s announcement last month that it was raising the standards for school lunches nationwide.  (The fact it will take a decade to implement these standards, meaning that no student in the system today excluding First Graders and Kindergartners will benefit, is disappointing; but I digress.)

We can improve the quality of food served, reduce costs and free educators to do the job we most want them to do if feeding children becomes a service provided in school as opposed to one provided by the school.

Before going further with this proposal, allow me to suggest three guiding principles.  First, federal, state and local government food oversight provide plenty of food safety controls.  Second, school boards and district administrations should be given the ability to assert local control and oversight to ensure the needs of local communities are met.   Third, feeding kids nutritious and affordable meals is the goal – this is not about busting unions or a power grab by one entity or another.

Possible alternatives to school run lunch programs include combining oversight to an agency jointly managed by multiple school districts, and/or county and state agencies with food service needs; outsourcing to private entities that submit to stringent oversight; or seeking other private and or public cooperative efforts.

Admittedly, this idea will induce swift knee-jerk reactions by the self-interested, the entrenched and those fearful of change.  But, it is worth the time and effort to find a solution.  Iowa could save money, children could eat better and our schools could improve because school administrators will have more time to focus on educating.  It is worth the battle.

There are numerous opportunities worthy of exploration.  As Governor, you have the unique ability to facilitate, if not orchestrate, how Iowa’s schools could go about this.  This issue is larger than any school district.  School districts need to focus on the classroom and the state can help them do this by helping them take a step away from the kitchen.  The economies of scale and the statewide impact of how to best move forward should be led by Iowa’s chief executive.

Thanks for listening, Governor.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.

Stand Up for Education, Stand Up for Teachers

Last night I went to the Callanan Middle School band concert. It, like all of the others I have attended over the last few years, made me marvel about the difference a good teacher can make. While I know better, it would be easy to believe Dana Andrews employs magical powers to transform these gangly, disorganized and often unfocused adolescents into musicians. I know many of the kids who were up on that stage and like them very much – one in particular. In fact, it is my familiarity with these kids that makes me appreciate Mr. Andrews all the more. In the hours and days he spends with his students, he teaches more than music. He weaves respect and discipline into the lessons, and leads theses hormone raging beings down a path of discovery that ends in a belief in themselves.

Mr. Andrews and his colleagues in classrooms across our District do something remarkable. They teach and, in doing so, they mold the future for thousands of students. Due to budget cuts, it is likely there will be 300 less teachers in Des Moines next year. This will mean fewer band performances and math competitions. More important, there will be fewer individual interactions between teacher and student. Many of the teachers will find other jobs, but how many magical, life transforming connections will be lost for the students they leave behind? Over-crowded classrooms and pared back curriculums will have a monetary and social impact that we cannot calculate.

During a Facebook discussion on Monday about the likely loss of teachers in Des Moines Public Schools next year, one of those commenting said something fuzzy about it being time we stop “throwing” money at schools until parents get more involved in raising their children. She said personal responsibility starts at home and went on about turning off the TV, silencing cell phones and reading books to kids. OK, American kids do watch too much TV and wonderful things happen when adults read to children, but could she really think this alone would balance the probable loss of more than 300 teachers in our schools next Fall? I hope she wasn’t serious.

My Facebook friend is a good person who volunteers her time and does good work for the community. And, adults need to play a role in helping children reach their potential. However, the funding crisis faced in Iowa schools will not be solved by a lecture on the importance of personal responsibility. Class size will go up, some subjects will be reduced or eliminated, and learning will suffer next year unless something is done.

After the concert, many of the parents gathered in the Callanan lunchroom to discuss what could be done to protect music, art and classroom teachers in these tough economic times. I heard frustration and anxiety in their voices. If you share this concern, I ask that you join us in doing something about it. Des Moines Schools Superintendent Nancy Sebring and the School Board face some terrible decisions. They should not make these without hearing from you. It is equally important for you to contact Governor Culver and members of the General Assembly. The most likely place to find dollars to fill the budget shortfall is at the state level. Without new money, the District has to decide where and, ultimately, which teachers to cut.

Please join us in letting school and state officials know how important teachers are to the education equation. The next School Board meeting is Tuesday, March 9 at 6:00 p.m. Attend, if you can. Watch the meeting on cable channel 12, if you cannot. Contact the officials below to tell them how you feel.

Contact Information
For a list school board members and their contact information click here.
To contact Des Moines School officials click here.
For a list of Iowa House members and Iowa Senators click here.
To contact Governor Chet Culver click here.

More Information
For a link to Des Moines Public Schools Board agenda that includes the proposed budget cuts click here.
Here is a list of the positions being cut at each Des Moines school

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.