Education Week 2/9/2011 issue

‘College for All’ Confronted:  Harvard Report Proposes Diverse Academic Paths, p.1

Leaders of a group project called “Pathways to Prosperity” at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have called for changing the education system for those students who are not planning on pursuing bachelor’s degrees.   They contend that the “college for all” model is not working for many students, who instead need solid preparation for other occupations.  They note that by their mid- twenties, 60% of Americans have not earned associate’s or bachelor’s degrees.  At the same time, half the new jobs in the next decade will be in “middle skills” occupations that will require vocational or technical training.  They propose presenting career options to students in middle school and then identifying the course work and training required for these middle-skill careers.  They suggest having employers help define the skills necessary and also having them provide internships linked to students’ courses of study, similar to what is being done in Europe.  Early career counseling for students is another suggestion, which is largely absent today.

Members of the group acknowledge that their proposals raise familiar concerns about “tracking” students, however, where the less-capable students, often disadvantaged students, would be channeled into less-demanding programs with more limited prospects for the future.  Critics point out that when multiple tracks with different standards are created, a disproportionate number of poor students and students of color of end up going down the lesser track.  The group contends, however, that they simply want to change the system so that students have will have real choices to make when they turn 16, with their parents’ help.  They point to some exemplary career and technical education programs in California as examples of choices that may be good options for many students.

[My thoughts:  I believe that there are students being ill-served by a system predicated on a college-for-all model.  Vocational training and academic courses appropriate to these vocations are not much in evidence in many high schools.  Many students have to wait to get such training in community colleges, if they get that far.

I have reservations about having students make career choices at age 16, however, when many are still pretty immature and when most haven’t found their calling yet.  There is something to be said for getting a taste of the world before deciding what you want to do with your life.  But for those who are ready to make such a decision, there should be a vocational channel with appropriate resources available.]

Study Finds Academic Payoffs in Teaching Students Social Skills, p.8

Researchers have found that students who took part in social and emotional learning (SEL) not only improved their behavior but also improved academically, improving their grades and standardized test scores by 11 percentile points.  The aim of SEL is to provide a foundation for academic learning by teaching students skills in self-awareness, self-management, getting along with others, and decision-making.  For the study, researchers focused on SEL programs that taught broad universal social skills, rather than targeting specific students with specific behavior issues.  The students in these programs demonstrated improved social skills, less emotional distress and better attitudes, fewer conduct problems, and more frequent positive behaviors such as cooperating with or helping other students.  One SEL expert suggested that these improvements in social skills helped the students academically as well because their teachers could teach more effectively by staying on task with these calmer, more cooperative students.  A report in 2003 found that teachers lost as much as 30% of their instructional time dealing with behavior issues in class.

One surprise from the study:  simple teacher-led SEL programs were more effective than multifaceted programs that involved school-wide activities and parental involvement.  This may be due to the difficulty of coordinating the implementation of these more complex programs, however.

[My thoughts:  This study provides a strong argument for the importance of social skills training, and it did not even look at social skills training for specific behavioral issues such as bullying.  Not only did behavior improve, but also academic performance.  If the academic improvement by these students did indeed result from a more peaceful classroom, then all students benefited, not jus the students whose behavior was in need of correction.]