{"id":9022,"date":"2015-04-19T20:23:45","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T01:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9022"},"modified":"2015-04-19T20:23:45","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T01:23:45","slug":"book-review-delivering-on-the-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=9022","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Delivering on the Promise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Delivering-on-the-Promise-SMALL\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Delivering on the Promise<\/i><\/a> asks a lot of questions that need to be asked and prompts a lot of conversations that need to take place. \u00a0Do students understand why they are learning what they are learning? \u00a0Do students clearly know where they stand on mastering learning objectives in the classroom? \u00a0Have we created a culture of learning for the sake of learning rather than a place where you come for a set amount of time each day for a particular number of days before you receive your report card?<\/div>\n
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I don\u2019t agree with all of the points in this book, but there are several valid points related to standards based learning that focuses on mastery rather than a particular grade or assignment. \u00a0A shift to this way of thinking would require a commitment from students, parents, and teachers to understanding that grades hold a different purpose\u2026mastery is more important. \u00a0How do you reconcile that will college admissions and other items like scholarships and that type of thing? \u00a0The book also proposes doing away with grade levels or other categories related to age or number of years in school. \u00a0How do you interact with things like the state athletic association that says that a person has 4 years of eligibility that starts the moment they start 9th grade? \u00a0The PSAT is given to 10th and 11th graders. \u00a0Would they allow an advanced 12 year old to take it even if they aren\u2019t classified in those grade levels? \u00a0I\u2019m curious on how that would work in the college planning process with colleges and universities that are still pretty traditional in their thinking.<\/div>\n
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I appreciate the efforts in this book to put students, parents, and educators on the same side of the table with everyone playing a part in the learning process. I think that this book makes a case for a learning environment where more individual responsibility is placed on the student for their own learning\u2026but creates a situation where this is communicated, assessed, communicated, assessed, and on\u00a0and on in consistent\u00a0dialogue using terms that are easy for all to understand. \u00a0The main goal of this book seems to be to create a learning environment where students are truly learning what they need to be learning as they collect skills to be successful in life.<\/div>\n
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I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below…<\/div>\n
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  • Do you think that the assessments required by your state result in an accurate picture of student learning?<\/li>\n
  • One of the positive outcomes of No Child Left Behind is that for the first time, we as a nation are looking systematically at our schools, scrutinizing student achievement date, and evaluating how we do business in education. \u00a0Accountability, accountability, accountability.<\/li>\n
  • For the most part, the US Education system ill-equips its students to succeed in this highly competitive, constantly changing environment. \u00a0Although students leave high school armed with a \u00a0stock of basic content knowledge, they largely lack the ability to apply that content knowledge in real-world settings. \u00a0Today\u2019s students\u2014tomorrow\u2019s employees\u2014also need to learn and think on their feet, reason, creatively solve problems, and work in teams.<\/li>\n
  • The merging dynamics of global\u00a0competitiveness and an increasingly technology-driven world point to the need to prepare students differently, in short, to prepare students to succeed in a world that does not yet exist.<\/li>\n
  • We have tremendous ground to cover to attain the performance levels US citizens desire for all of their students\u2014to deliver on the promise of American education.<\/li>\n
  • The most fundamental difference between a traditional education\u00a0system and a RISC system\u2014one that translates into very practical differences\u2014is that in a traditional system, time is the constant and learning is the variable. \u00a0In a RISC system, the reverse is true: Learning is the constant and time is the variable<\/i>.<\/li>\n
  • What are the burning issues and opportunities for improvement in your school or district?<\/li>\n
  • Do the educators in your system have regular, open, school wide, and districtwide conversations about student achievement?<\/li>\n
  • We have an opportunity to draw on everything we know about how students learn, and what makes school effective, to create a system that ensures that every child succeeds in fulfilling his or her highest dreams and abilities. \u00a0The time is now.<\/li>\n
  • Are we making a difference? \u00a0Is what we are doing helping students to be successful?<\/li>\n
  • What would a perfect class look like? \u00a0What traits does an excellent teacher demonstrate? \u00a0What kinds of things does a successful student do? \u00a0How do you want to be treated? \u00a0How should you treat others? \u00a0What are the values and beliefs of a great classroom? \u00a0What strategies do you need to be a successful learner?<\/li>\n
  • Are students keeping track of their own progress on standards?<\/li>\n
  • The RISC Approach to Schooling is an integrated standards-based system of education that represents a synthesis of research and best practice about high-performing organizations, educational excellence, the characteristics of effective schools, and fundamentals of human learning, engagement, and motivation.<\/li>\n
  • Even at a young age, students are very visible partners and co-creators in getting the most out of their education.<\/li>\n
  • Teachers make sure students know\u00a0what they need to learn at each level, the kind of assessments that will be used, how they will be graded, and how their grades will be reported.<\/li>\n
  • Good teachers are always focused on how to do things better, reach students more effectively, and make learning more meaningful.<\/li>\n
  • Creating a vision of what is possible<\/i> pulls us toward the future.<\/li>\n
  • Like students, teachers should be encouraged to change their perspectives of success and failure.<\/li>\n
  • Create a culture of learning.<\/li>\n
  • The great value of clear, continuous improvement tools, used across the system, is that taking time to evaluate and correct is prioritized. \u00a0As educators, we typically plan and do, but rarely, if ever, take time to evaluate what we have done or make refinements. \u00a0By instilling a shared commitment to the process of continuous improvement, we give permission and mandate time to evaluate what we are doing for effectiveness and success.<\/li>\n
  • Do my students know what they must accomplish to move to the next level? \u00a0Is is clear to them what they need to learn? \u00a0Can they explain that to someone else?<\/li>\n
  • Are there clear roadmaps in my classroom that explain levels of proficiency?<\/li>\n
  • Can students articulate your education\u00a0system and their place in it?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Delivering on the Promise asks a lot of questions that need to be asked and prompts a lot of conversations that need to take place. \u00a0Do students understand why they are learning what they are learning? \u00a0Do students clearly know where they stand on mastering learning objectives in the classroom? \u00a0Have we created a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,25,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-education","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}