For the first time since 2003, 4th graders failed to make any progress in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Why improvement before and none since? The push with NCLB (No Child Left Behind) raised the concept of accountability, measuring and providing consequences for not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress. What this suggests to me is that simply paying attention drives some progress (low hanging fruit) but what’s been going on in education hasn’t gotten at the root cause of our most challenging populations.
Imagine an athlete on the field who breaks a leg. Not a coach alive would admonish the player and demand that they get up and run down the field. The coach, the trainer, the doctors, the parents gather around and figure out how to mend that broken leg and to rehabilitate it to the point where the athlete can perform as before, or better.
Our classrooms are filled with athletes with broken legs. Read More Now
Mr. Stark,
I am very passionate about my education work with children and families. I hope you excuse the length of this response yet find it to be quite relevant.
You make some great points where you state that our children come to the classroom with the skills needed to learn. You point out that children have the skills and the potential and may need the classroom to strengthen them a bit to be reachable and exceed across the curriculum.
I work with many parents who have had to take on the burden of strengthening their child’s ability to learn. When I communicate with their child’s teachers and school principal, the knowledge about cognitive skills and how they relate to learning sometimes is not prevalent.
I wanted to point out that when I went for my Master’s Degree is Special Education, I did not learn about cognitive skills and their impact in the classroom relative to learning. I did learn, as all teachers do, about Bloom’s Taxonomy and Gardner’s Theory of Intelligences.
It may be helpful for teachers that are reading this to understand that what you are referring to, I believe, is that for a teacher to be successful via a Bloom’s or Gardner’s approach, the children in the classroom need strong cognitive skills to begin this journey and succeed.
It will not help the student nor the teacher if communication attempts are made at the chronological age of the student yet the student is resonating with the ability to learn 2-3 years below said age level.
A teacher’s students must be able to analyze, comprehend, evaluate, apply and so on to work their way through Bloom’s. If they do not have the cognitive ability to do so, they will not be successful and the teacher will not show success for Bloom’s.
Same for Gardner’s Theory of Intelligences. There are student’s that may not show success in any area of visual-spatial, logical, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic or tactile if their cognitive skill set is weak. We use whole brain all the time. If one skill is weak, our learning ability is weakened.
On the other hand, trying to reach a child where they are strong has been the basis for many schools. It is what you are taught when going to school to become a teacher. You learn what are the necessary steps to learn to read, write and do arithmetic. If the child is unable to progress on their own, the teachers are taught how to help the child compensate through their strengths.
Although compensatory teaching is not a bad thing, may limit the student’s ability to reach full potential. Long-term consequences may result and show themselves in limited career and employment opportunities down the road. More importantly, I believe schools need to listen and recognize that there options today when there were limited options years ago.
You make relevant and important points about having the schools wake-up and recognize the important role that neuroplasticity and brain training will play in the classroom. It is a win-win for everyone – especially our country.
There is no need for a child to struggle to learn anymore. Research has even found proven methods to help a child with Dyslexia learn to read!
I can only suffice it to say that the teachers and administrative decision makers do not understand the benefits and values of a product like BrainWare Safari.
While schools easily fit in a computer program as the student’s 12 week special, why on earth would they think twice about using a product like BrainWare Safari as a special for 12 weeks.
This small investment will reap huge rewards for both the schools and the students – they will really be changing the lives of students – which will impact the students choices – it is a chain reaction for good.
I support your efforts in trying to shift our education paradigm. I can only hope the shift occurs sooner than later.
Kindest Regards,
Colleen Bain, M.A.
Special and General Educator in NJ
Licensed Cognitive Brain Trainer
Creator of The Student Transformation System