A recent newsletter from International Renewal Institute in the Chicago area, an Authorized Training Center for Instrumental Enrichment, has a worthwhile lead article by Falik and Bellanca on Learning Resistance. A good analysis of the problem of students who resist learning and how mediated learning experiences can successfully address this misunderstood situation in children, the article makes relevant reading for anyone who has experience with or interest in cognitive modifiability; click here to access the article and the newsletter.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Closing the Educational Achievement Gap
WHY HAVE THE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
GAPS NOT BEEN ELIMINATED IN
AMERICAN SCHOOLS?
FOUR KEY FACTORS THAT
HAVE LIMITED THE LEARNING PROCESS, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY
For those of
us who are concerned with the direction of education reforms, which include
lack of academic progress within many school populations, the factors below are
especially true in many urban areas.
There has been little or no academic improvement in so-called “turn-around
“schools, after thirty-plus years of school reform.
Many
“charter” schools indicate that they have made remarkable academic achievements
with their students. It should be noted
that these schools have selected their students by lottery and/or interviews. Our U.S. schools have always had students who
have done “very well” in public community schools and would do the same in all
educational environments, whether they be public, charter, secular, private, or
religious schools. At the present time,
many students, particularly minorities, have been left behind.
The authors
of this document have identified four major reasons why many of our children
are underachievers. These are: (1)
Poverty, (2) Corruption, (3) Misuse of Education Funds, (4) Lack of Research
which would benefit Classroom Teachers.
1. Poverty: Related areas could include dysfunctional
families; limited horizons for children; and a host of other factors related to
poverty. Results: Low academic
performance of students within the classroom.
2. Corruption: The media (radio, TV, newspapers,
etc.) have focused on school districts: Washington, D.C. Public Schools (June, 2014,
Education Week),Chicago Public Schools (June, 2014 Education Week), Hartford, CT.
Public Schools (June, July, 2014) Hartford Courant, Jonathan Pelto’s Blogs, and
other school districts. Results:
Redirection of taxpayer monies to corporations and individuals rather than
public schools.
3. Misuse of education funds obtained
from local, state, and federal funding. Results: Funds are redirected to charter, magnet
schools, and voucher plans. There is NO
ACCOUNTABILITY to public input, with seriously reduced funds for instructional
materials, programs, special needs, etc.
4. Lack of research that
would benefit the classroom teacher. Results: Ignoring of what has already been
researched by educational institutions to improve classroom learning. Teachers therefore have a limited range of
strategies for use in the classroom.
The combination of the
above-mentioned factors have an overall negative effect on teachers, students,
and parents.
Solutions:
The
retraining of teachers as well as all support staff to become more effectively
trained in cognitive education as the real foundation across all subject
matter, increasing both understanding and retention:
1.
Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment Program (FIE), a cognitive-development
curriculum, developed by the late Professor Reuven Feuerstein, an Israeli
cognitive psychologist.
2. Research-based
program used in 70 countries; published in 18 languages; over 1000 research
studies completed, over more than 60 years, indicating that this program
dramatically improves learning.
3. Specific
Learning Outcomes from the FIE Program for Students, Teachers, and Parents, found
in THE THINKING ACADEMY book.
4. THE THINKING ACADEMY also provides a
concrete plan to turn around failing schools and the procedural approach to do
so. These schools then become “Thinking
Communities” with a strong foundation of cognitive skills for all areas of
school, life, and a potential bright beyond.
Co-authors:
David S. Martin, Ph.D., Irv Schein, MA
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