In 1917, J. Carleton Bell published an article in The Journal of Educational Psychology lamenting the low performance of US History students in remembering historical facts. 94 years ago.... 94 years ago, a researcher was testing male and female students about what they did and did not recall about US History AND the students failed the test in huge numbers. Over half of the students failed the test. Wow... sounds familiar, especially since I am researching the problem of low academic performance in US History students on a test where over half the students fail. Why have we not fixed the problem yet?
Maybe 94 years from now, some doctoral student will find my article and say... man, I sure am glad she figured it out. :) Back to researching.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Do I or Don't I?
Commitment is hard. You have to LOVE something or someone to stay totally committed for long periods of time. I'm already waivering on my dissertation topic, and this is not a good thing. Results are not looking good. Students are not happy. Parents are not happy. I am not happy. Even worse, when I explain what I am doing my dissertation on, I get responses that question whether or not this is something I am passionate about.
Maybe I should focus on vocabulary. Students seem to be really struggling on the assessments because they do not understand what the question is asking. They do not know basic historical words - cede, levy, defy. How do you reach 11th grade and not know the word defy? They don't. Student after student raised their hands and asked what the word meant... I use these words too when presenting new material, so did they not know the meaning when they wrote it down? Did they do the assessment activity without knowing the content? Why didn't they ask? What could I do to get them to ask? Is this the root of the low performance? If I choose this, would I be committed?
What about grouping? We currently have advanced placement and everyone else. The lower level students are lost. The honor students are bored. There is no happy medium. What if we implemented one? What if we grouped by ability which you are never supposed to do? Would scores come up? Would they ask then or is that lowering expectations and setting kids up to fail like the High Schools that Work program says when they suggest that we remove the groups. Was that a mistake? Do I have 500 pages of commitment to that?
I read an interesting article yesterday about the cost of testing and the impact on education. Is that more topical and less beat to death than plan old academic achievement? I have to commit to one idea and get started... Comittment is hard though...
Maybe I should focus on vocabulary. Students seem to be really struggling on the assessments because they do not understand what the question is asking. They do not know basic historical words - cede, levy, defy. How do you reach 11th grade and not know the word defy? They don't. Student after student raised their hands and asked what the word meant... I use these words too when presenting new material, so did they not know the meaning when they wrote it down? Did they do the assessment activity without knowing the content? Why didn't they ask? What could I do to get them to ask? Is this the root of the low performance? If I choose this, would I be committed?
What about grouping? We currently have advanced placement and everyone else. The lower level students are lost. The honor students are bored. There is no happy medium. What if we implemented one? What if we grouped by ability which you are never supposed to do? Would scores come up? Would they ask then or is that lowering expectations and setting kids up to fail like the High Schools that Work program says when they suggest that we remove the groups. Was that a mistake? Do I have 500 pages of commitment to that?
I read an interesting article yesterday about the cost of testing and the impact on education. Is that more topical and less beat to death than plan old academic achievement? I have to commit to one idea and get started... Comittment is hard though...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Lets Give Them Something to Talk About....
Dissertations are long... really, really long... Mainly because the researcher (that's ME!) has spent extensive time exploring a specific topic wherein a problem lies and then, implements a solution of some kind which may or may not work.
For my dissertation, the problem statement focuses on low standardized test scores. Students across my state fail these tests. Over 50% of the students who take the state-mandated end-of-course exam in US History fail. This is unacceptable. The exam counts 20% of their final grade for the course. Failing the exam causes students to fail the course in some cases. My dissertation will focus on a program implemented to address this issue. My problem statement is simple.
What do you think??
For my dissertation, the problem statement focuses on low standardized test scores. Students across my state fail these tests. Over 50% of the students who take the state-mandated end-of-course exam in US History fail. This is unacceptable. The exam counts 20% of their final grade for the course. Failing the exam causes students to fail the course in some cases. My dissertation will focus on a program implemented to address this issue. My problem statement is simple.
50% of 11th grade high school social studies students perform below required academic achievement levels as measured by high stakes standardized testing.
What do you think??
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