Kids Need the Skills to Help Them Study

My report card for science had a glaring "D" marked offensively on the page, and I remember being as shocked as my mom, when I saw how poorly I did. It has stuck with me, so much, in fact, that I can remember the incident, clearly, even now, as an adult. The funny thing about it is that I had no idea I was doing poorly in science. It really came as an unpleasant surprise.

As a business owner of a tutoring company, and working with kids with their own studying habits, it comes as a bit of a shock that I didn't put my own experience together with what some of my students struggle with, at the present time. It did not take me long to figure out that almost as much as poor grades result from lacking the comprehension of a particular subject, another major factor in not achieving the highest grades in school is due to a lack of a structured environment at home, that consists of a schedule as regimented as the school day itself. No reason anyone should feel bad about this, as it takes discipline, even from the most Spartan of individuals, to daily plan out his days. However, keeping a few things in mind will help get your student on the right track (and most importantly, the right grade).

1. Students should always carry an agenda book with them, that not only are they responsible for, but that the parents and tutors are responsible for, too. Having teachers contact the parents and tutors about what's on the agenda for homework and major assignments is beneficial, especially when signatures are required from a parent or tutor. Having all the key players involved really makes it foolproof for the most lackadaisical student to go through her academic career with blindfolds on. It might not always take a village to raise a child, but having a few extra pair of eyes always keeps straying ones from roving too far from the academic objectives, at hand.
2. Parents or people that work closely with the student should help their student by creating a daily agenda, in which homework, time for major assignments, time for studying for tests, and even chunks of time that are planned for fun, are all written down on a weekly basis. This daily agenda can be written on a calendar, or even a makeshift one that the student creates himself. There are very few things that help a student internalize her responsibilities more - having her write what not only the things she's accountable for, but scheduling in free time, or activities that come as a reward, will also give the student the power over the academic reins, and that is what we want.
3. Students should have support not only from parents, but from teachers and tutors, as well. Teachers and tutors can supplement the child's knowledge with the content that they need, but also, with the knowledge of what is needed to pass the next test, or to earn the next "A" on the child's paper.
4. Giving students "tricks for the trade" also help tremendously with study skills. Making games out of vocabulary that will be on the test, testing students on the material that will be tested, and giving them an ample amount of practice with assignments that reinforce the academic objectives that are being taught, are all invaluable ways of ensuring success.

Lastly, maybe the most important thing to keep in mind is balance. I remember that after the upset with the science grade, I worked so hard to bring it up, that all of my other content areas fell behind. Everything in moderation!

Everyone Should Practice What He Preaches

In a commentary in Education Week, Joseph Renzulli passionately--and somewhat patronizingly--argues that "Engagement is the Answer." In fact, he maintains this so vehemently, it is the title of the commentary itself. Although there are some issues he raises that ring with some truth, the truth is only perceived with one angle. Two points of Renzuli's article will be introduced, and then examined.

Point One: Renzulli lists the implied evils of what education has done in the name of narrowing the chasm of achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students: smaller schools, year-round schools, single-sex classes, charter schools, merit pay for teachers, and a long list of other plans that imply failure. He states, "...these structural changes have focused too much on low-level, highly prescriptive pedagogy intended to improve standardized-test scores" (www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/07/16/43renzulli.h27.html?print=1).

There are at least two major problems with this argument. What Mr. Renzulli doesn't do when he implicitly states that public education, as a whole, is a failure, is list or research its successes. Research in the field of education is an evolving body of knowledge, and this evolving body of knowledge does give proof that year-round schools and single-sex classes do have positive, quantifiable research that offer benefit to why these types of schools and classes exist. And these are only two examples. Granted, it does not mean it is the only answer for narrowing the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, but to say that engagement is the only answer, too, is short-sighted.

The other problem is that this "prescriptive" pedagogy that Renzulli speaks of is not for the sole result of improving standardized testing. What schools and their districts are trying to do is not only improve testing scores, but show a quantifiable improvement in learning and comprehension. It is not solely the onus of public education that has made it the puppet of forces higher than it. Namely, the government. When state and national legislation involve themselves into things that are not in their field of expertise, public education has to bend itself to their latest demands and whims.

I am not, also, saying that public education is perfect. There are many fissures in its system, but being within that system for many years has shown me firsthand that schools are improving, and that student learning is occuring. Renzulli's use of the word "prescriptive" is almost said as if it were a curse word. It is insulting to true educators to have a word that is connected to the ideas of structure and method, which by the way, are connected to student success, to be bandied about like it is a taboo.

Point Two:
Mr. Renzulli states that alternative, even counterintuitive, approaches should be taken when talking about bridging the distance of achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students. He lists some of the following ideas as to what contributes to the bridging of the gap, but also, to how it relates to the idea of student engagement: monitor understanding and the need for additional information; identify patterns, relationships, and discrepancies; draw comparisons to other problems; transform factual information into usable knowledge; and finally, extend one's thinking (www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/07/16/43renzulli.h27.html?print=1).

It is ironic how listing these truly wonderful objectives are labeled by Renzulli as "counterintuitive," because, guess what? Any teacher who has been teaching in the public education system will tell you that the language and ideas he thinks are counterintuitive are found in the state standards, the standards by which districts, schools, and teachers form and monitor how students are taught!

Not only have I taught all of my years as a teacher with the standards in the forefront of my mind, but I have also performed contracting work aligning state objectives and the state standards. I have done this for several states, and all of these states are states in which I have not resided. I remember being proud that the standards were unified in idea, whether we were discussing North Carolina, Arkansas, or Arizona. And these unified ideas are inculcated into teachers in every teaching college across the nation. So, are the colleges producing teachers that are brainwashed and beaten, like Renzulli's idea of what today's students are, or are the ideas from public education that have been inveterate very similar to Renzulli's "counterintuitive" ones? I vote for the latter.

Mr. Renzulli does bring into light some valid concerns that our society is facing with the problems of public education. However, "engagement" is not solely the answer. Bridging the reality of today's classroom with the teachers and the teachers' support systems--parents and tutors, namely--are also key factors into what will bridge the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.

Tutoring - Education's Necessary Invention

"'Your job description is 'whatever needs to be done,'" stated Tom Meardon, a principal of a high school in Colorado. And he should know, as not only is he the principal, but he also serves as a coach for track, basketball, and he also serves as a sponsor to the school student council. In an article listed in Education Week, "Rural Schools Doing a Better Job with Fewer Resources," it states what will confound people. Even though the schools in this article are economically poor, with meager funding, the schools in question all have students meeting or exceeding the reading scores for their grade levels. And to put it succinctly, " ... a collection of small towns in this corner of Colorado's farm country are dodging the disadvantages of remoteness and poverty, thin resources and shrivelling economies to produce some of the state's best schools" (http://www.edweek.org/). And, as one can imagine, it will mystify anyone who has lost sight of what the true marks for a successful student are. Curious as to what they are? Well, read on ... the next paragraph is only underneath this very sentence.

So, if money isn't the issue and the solver of problems every single time, what are these clusters of schools doing that some other schools aren't? They are holding the students and parents accountable for student success, and it turns out not only is that the key to success, but key. Period. Education has always triumphed or suffered at the hands of whatever has come into vogue in the political educational world, and to be frank, the lack of success with education as of late does not have its biggest correlation tied to a lack of funding, or a lack of effort. As an English teacher of nine years, I was in the "trenches," and saw the effort that both teachers and schools put forth in order to gain success. What I have also seen, however, is a going away from the student seeing consequences for taking responsibility in his learning and behavior. I've seen coddling take place, in lieu of a firm hand. Luckily, this "firm hand" method has not gone by completely unnoticed. And it's not gone by unnoticed because people paid an exhorbitant amount of money to have a consultant tell them that a firm hand is needed; like the small communities these schools spring from, the staff of the school does not spare the educational "rod": "The students [who] had gotten D's and F's that morning ... earn[ed] them[selves] extra time with a teacher instead of the privilege of watching the junior high volleyball game" (http://www.edweek.org/). It's as simple as that, folks.

Since we know these particular schools in the rural part of Colorado absolutely make the students accountable, the other factor of success in this amazingly simple equation is the parent. It's stated in the article that the parents are expected to support the school--ideologically--and some parents, sadly, have moved their families away. But, when this happens, not only is the rod being spared, but the real factors of what makes successful students are being spoiled. Some times, it does take a whole village ... or community.

Excellence in Academics Tutoring, LLC. wholeheartedly believes in the idea of everyone being accountable for student success, and so that is why our mission with working with parents, so their children excel is so paramount to our success as a business, and your student's success in school.

The "rod" (the mental, not necessarily, the physical) that is used today will be the sceptre your child has gleaming by his side, as he sees his success grow commensurately, with his own accountability in learning.