A Blueprint for Reform

The U.S. Department of Education released its Blueprint for Reform which is the department's re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. After reading through the 45 page document, I arrived at the following conclusions:

The document begins to explain the standards of reform. The first standard is to raise the standards for all students. Housed inside the standard is this sentence,

"Every student should graduate from high school ready for college and a career, regardless of their income, race, ethnic or language background, or disability status."

While this is certainly is an admirable goal, it is also an unrealistic goal and impossible for several reasons. First, there are many factors required in graduating from any high school. The school and its factors are only one of many. Family, income, demographics, and motivation are all factors and are all outside of governmental control. The cold hard fact is that once a student reaches high school these factors matter much more than the school and its factors. Second, statistically speaking, every student will not improve and will not graduate. It just will not happen, and to actually have it as an achievable goal is short-sighted.
And, finally, no matter how much money is spent, the playing field will never be level.

Another section of the report focuses on greater equity. The following language is found there.

"To give every student a fair chance to succeed, and give principals and teachers the resources to support student success, we will call on school districts and states to take steps to ensure equity, by such means as moving toward comparability in resources between high- and low-poverty schools."

What does this actually mean? How will states foster this move "toward comparability" between all school and different performing schools?

The report goes on to suggest that the federal government will support "public school choice" and promote a "culture of college readiness and success." Public school choice is no choice at all if the choice excludes independent and faith-based school choice. A culture of college readiness and success will not begin to take place unless factors outside the school also change.

There is much more to read in the report; it expounds on many of the standards presented earlier in the report. There are some goals worthy of pursuing, but, for the most part, the report is one filled with ambiguous language and generalities difficult to interpret and even more difficult to apply.

Real educational change will take place when there becomes an open market for educational choice that includes independent and faith-based schools as well as public schools. Parents must be given the right to educate their children in the school of their choice. Competition, real competition not limited competition, will again push U.S. schools back to the top where they belong if it is fostered and allowed to exist. If we want to be excellent once again, we must not use our schools and our students for political purposes. You would have thought we were past this with all that we have "supposedly learned," but the future is often full of the past, even in education. Blessings!

Tens...

Here is another list of tens. This is a list of my favorite enjoyed sporting venues. Each holds several special memories for me. Enjoy!

10. Van Dyke Stadium on our Westminster campus (finest 2A football stadium in AL).
9. Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves)
8. Williams-Brice Stadium (My Alma mater and home of the USC Gamecocks)
7. The Superdome (Home of the Saints and times gone by)
6. The Boston Garden (Gone, but the memories are not.)
5. Old Yankee Stadium (Hate the Yanks but loved their home with all its history)
4. Memorial Stadium (Home of the Clemson Tigers. Don't like them but love their home.)
3. Sanford Stadium (Home of the Georgia Bulldogs. Best venue for college football.)
2. The Augusta National (There is no better golf course in the world.)
1. Fenway Park (The single best baseball venue in the world. You don't watch a game at Fenway... you experience the game there.)

What is Excellence?

The semantics of the word “excellence” are rooted in the idea of excelling or possessing good qualities in the highest of degrees, at least according to most of the definitions I’ve read. Something is called excellent only if it has been deemed good or is possessive of outstanding quality or superior merit. But, what of this idea of qualitative versus quantitative excellence, which is best?

To discern the difference, one must first define both terms. We begin with the term “quality.” What do we mean when we say something is of high quality? Quality is a functional unity of an object’s essential properties, its internal and external definiteness, its relative stability, its distinctive form and resemblance to other objects like itself as an example of the higher end of those objects like itself. The quality of an object is revealed in the object’s interactions with other like objects and in comparisons with the other like objects in ways that recognize the object that is in comparison with the other like objects as one of the very best of all of the objects being compared.

As for quantity, every group of homogeneous objects is a set. Quantity expresses the external, formal relation of objects, their parts, their properties, their connections and all other dimensions as part of that specific set. They are a member of that set by possession of all traits required of the set. Quantity is expressed by number, volume or any other form of measurement in ways that increase or decrease in a mathematical way membership of a certain set. It does not recognize any range in the set that is high or low; it only recognizes membership in the specific chosen set.

When we talk about excellence in quantitative terms we are talking about membership of a certain set of items and manipulation of the set by either addition or subtraction. When we talk of qualitative excellence we talk of excellence that is rooted in the essence of traits that are found in the higher end of the homogeneous set. Qualitative excellence rests in the top tier of the chosen set while quantity just recognizes membership in the chosen set.

Therefore, it makes sense for those of us in education to seek excellence that is qualitative and not merely quantitative. Unfortunately, we live in a time when qualitative and quantitative are confused terms and thought to be synonymous when in reality, they are more likely antonyms than anything. By definition, excellence has more traits in common with those things of quality than those things of quantity. Quantity can be deemed excellent but only in relationship with quality, and when it is one of those traits that marks something as high quality, but quality is always deemed excellent or at the very least good even without quantity. You would never deem something as having quality unless it was first deemed good or excellent. What is excellence? It is that which is, first, recognized for its high quality and almost never considered only for its quantity. Blessings!

Cognitive Dissonance and Learning

Look at the image above these words and try to follow the instructions. Is it as simple as you thought? I will wager that it was harder than you originally thought, yes? This is an example of cognitive dissonance.

In 1956 the U.S. psychologist Leon Festinger introduced a new concept in social psychology: the theory of cognitive dissonance. When two simultaneously held cognitions are inconsistent, this will produce a state of cognitive dissonance. Because the experience of dissonance is unpleasant, the person will strive to reduce it by changing their beliefs. It is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes when one holds two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time. According to most learning theorists, the basic idea behind cognitive dissonance theory is that people do not like to have dissonant cognitions (cognitions are simple bits of knowledge). In fact, many argue that the desire to have consonant cognitions is as strong as our basic desires for food and shelter. I would argue differently, but as a result of these beliefs, many believe that when someone does experience two or more dissonant cognitions (or conflicting thoughts), they will attempt to do away with the dissonance. They will strive towards consistency of thought in many different ways.

There are several ways most of us overcome, or eliminate, cognitive dissonance according to the theory. One is by ignoring or eliminating the dissonant cognitions. For example, if you have a vice that is not healthy you may justify it by believing it is not as bad as people say. Smoking is one example of cognitive dissonance as many have been told the dangers of smoking but continue to justify its use.

Another way to overcome cognitive dissonance is to alter the importance (or lack thereof) of certain cognitions. If one of the dissonant cognitions outweighs the other in importance, your mind has less trouble dealing with the dissonance -- justifying the vice that is not healthy.

Yet another way that people respond to cognitive dissonance is by adding or creating new cognitions. Creating or emphasizing new cognitions, allows one to overwhelm the fact that a certain vice is unhealthy. These new cognitions actually lessen dissonance by adding more options on top of the one unhealthy option thus justifying its continued use. The idea is that one has many more healthy options than the one unhealthy option thus outweighing the unhealthy one.

The most common and most effective way people deal with cognitive dissonance is to prevent it. If someone is presented with information that is dissonant from what they already know, the simplest way for the mind to deal with this new information is to just ignore it, refuse to accept it, or avoid that type of information all together.

As Christians, we deal with cognitive dissonance all day long. Our beliefs are very different than the current beliefs being promoted as reality. As one tries to live out one's faith consistently, one will experience cognitive dissonance as the world promotes and pushes a worldview and a mindset polar opposite to the one held by most Christians.

Cognitive dissonance is also a tool used in education. Creating dissonance can induce behavior or attitude change. By creating cognitive dissonance, your teacher forced you, as a student, to respond and react. A student will be encouraged to learn when the teacher creates dissonance between what a student thinks they know entering the classroom and what the student actually does know.

Teaching creates dissonance and in a learning environment, where it is done in every classroom all day long, a student's attitude and behavior will change because that student will strive for consistency of thought, and the most consistent thought in a student's day are those of the student's teachers, administration and peers. This is yet another example of the power of education and why Christian education is so very important. Blessings!

Tens...

Here are my ten favorite movies, as of today.


10. The Sound of Music (Yes, you read correctly!)
9. The Sting (My favorite Paul Newman/Robert Redford movie.)
8. The Natural (My favorite sports movie.)
7. Pale Rider (One of Clint Eastwood's best.)
6. Mister Roberts ( Henry Fonda and Jack Lemon with James Cagney... can't get much better.)
5. The Bridge on the River Kwai (William Holden and Alec Guinness at their best.)
4. Saving Private Ryan (Tom Hanks is outstanding, and the special effects are amazing.)
3. Toy Story ( The most creativity I have ever seen.)
2. Remember the Titans ( I love Denzel Washington, and this is his best.)
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy ( You must watch them all to appreciate any one of them.)