AERA-L: Politics and Policy in Education Forum
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ABSTRACT: Frank Noschese pointed to a report
"Google donates $1 million to local schools"
[Veronin (2012a) at <http://bit.ly/LXOcrY>].
Veronin wrote (paraphrasing): "The bulk of that
money was used to set up the 'Explicit Direct
Instruction' program. The district paid DataWORKS
<http://www.dataworks-ed.com/> for the program
which is designed to keep students engaged
through a variety of methods - including the use
of individual white boards and peer-to-peer
quick-study sessions -- while simultaneously
allowing teachers to quickly identify those
students who are having trouble with the material
as well as those who have a grasp on concepts, so
that they can spend time with those children who
need extra help and let the faster kids move
ahead. Efficiency is the name of the game with
EDI."
Concerning DataWORKS, Kate Rosok pointed to
"Research Supporting EDI" [DataWORKS (2012) at
<http://bit.ly/LetW5m>] which states
(paraphrasing): "We aren't the only ones who feel
that direct instruction is effective for
students. Extensive research studies and
meta-analyses have come to the same conclusion:
Teacher-centered direct instruction is more
effective and efficient, especially for
struggling students. In fact, there is
overwhelming research supporting teacher-centered
instruction in lesson design and lesson delivery
where teachers directly teach their students
specific concepts and skills usually taken
directly from the state content standards. . . .
. A survey of six thousand students in
introductory physics courses found that students
in courses involving interactive engagement made
substantial gains in problem solving abilities as
well as the learning of physics [Hake (1998a) at
<http://bit.ly/9484DG>]."
Evidently DataWORKS didn't bother to scan Hake
(1998a), because it strongly suggests that the
"Direct Explicit Instruction" advocated by
DataWORKS! doesn't work near as well at
"interactive engagement" in promoting conceptual
understanding and problem-solving ability.
BTW, Gene Glass (2012 at <http://bit.ly/KcWqIs>)
has an insightful essay "High Button Shoes and
Education Reform" regarding support of education
by organizations such as Google and the Gates
Foundation, which seem to have more money than
knowledge of education.
***********************************************
Frank Noschese, on the Modeling discussion list
post titled "Explicit Direct Instruction," called
attention to a report "Google donates $1 million
to local schools" by Nick Veronin (2012a).
Veronin wrote [bracketed by lines "VVVVV. . . .".
my insert at ". . . . .[[insert]]. . . ."]:
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Even as California's primary and secondary
schools are facing a best-case scenario of no
funding increase next year, and a worst-case
possibility of $2.4 billion in spending
reductions, officials with the Mountain View
Whisman School District. . . . [[MVWSD]]. . . .
found cause for celebration Thursday, June 14, as
Google announced it would once again give $1
million to local elementary and middle schools.
"The grant - earmarked to support the
implementation of a program known as "Explicit
Direct Instruction" . . . . [[EDI (2012)]]. . .
.," or EDI, and the introduction of high-tech
teaching methods to help socioeconomically
challenged students -- is the second $1 million
donation the locally based search giant has
awarded the district in as many years, and comes
in response to the success of last year's grant,
a Google official said.
"I was really blown away by the engagement of the
teachers and the students," said Heather Spain,
Google's manager of community affairs, referring
to the time she spent touring MVWSD classes
implementing the EDI method. "It seemed like a
really successful program that we want to
continue to support."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Last April, the Internet and mobile technology
giant awarded its first $1 million grant. . .
.[[Veronin (2011)]]. . . to the district. A
Google representative said the grant was the
largest monetary contribution the company had
ever given to a single school district.__
The bulk of that money was used to set up the
"Explicit Direct Instruction" program. . . .
.[[Veronin (2012b)]]. . . The district paid
DataWORKS. . .
.[[<http://www.dataworks-ed.com/>]]. . . . ., a
Fowler, Calif.-based company, to teach MVWSD
teachers the instructional system, which is
designed to keep students engaged through a
variety of methods -- including the use of
individual white boards and peer-to-peer
quick-study sessions -- while simultaneously
allowing teachers to quickly identify those
students who are having trouble with the material
as well as those who have a grasp on concepts, so
that they can spend time with those children who
need extra help and let the faster kids move
ahead. Efficiency is the name of the game with
EDI.__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The grant will also be used to continue to
explore ways in which the district can
incorporate technology into the classroom,
Goldman said. There is no word yet on exactly how
that will pan out, but Spain said officials with
her company were pleased to see the work some
teachers at MVWSD schools were doing with the
Mountain View-based producer of education
software and YouTube tutorials, Kahn Academy.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Concerning DataWORKS, a Kate Rosok (2012) pointed
to "Research Supporting EDI" [DataWORKS (2012)]
which states:
"We aren't the only ones who feel that direct
instruction is effective for students. Extensive
research studies and meta-analysis studies
(analysis of multiple research studies) have come
to the same conclusion: Teacher-centered direct
instruction is more effective and efficient,
especially for struggling students. In fact,
there is overwhelming research supporting
teacher-centered instruction in lesson design and
lesson delivery where teachers directly teach
their students specific concepts and skills
usually taken directly from the state content
standards. . . . . A survey of six thousand
students in introductory physics courses found
that students in courses involving interactive
engagement made substantial gains in problem
solving abilities as well as the learning of
physics (Hake, R. 1992). "
DataWORKS fails to give references but "Hake, R.
1992" should evidently be "Interactive-engagement
vs traditional methods: A six-thousand-student
survey of mechanics test data for introductory
physics courses" [Hake (1998a)] - see the
REFERENCE list below. Evidently DataWORKS didn't
bother to scan the article whose abstract reads,
in part:
"Fourteen "traditional" (T) courses (N = 2084)
which made little or no use of
interactive-engagement (IE) methods achieved an
average gain <g>T-ave = 0.23 ± 0.04(std dev). In
sharp contrast, forty-eight courses (N = 4458)
which made substantial use of IE methods achieved
an average gain <g>IE-ave = 0.48 ± 0.14 (std
dev), almost two standard deviations of <g>IE-ave
above that of the traditional courses. Results
for 30(N = 3259) of the above 62 courses on the
problem-solving Mechanics Baseline test of
Hestenes-Wells imply that IE strategies enhance
problem-solving ability. The conceptual and
problem-solving test results strongly suggest
that the classroom use of IE methods can increase
mechanics-course effectiveness well beyond that
obtained in traditional practice."
Here "IE" courses are defined *operationally* as
those "designed at least in part to promote
conceptual understanding through the active
engagement of students in heads-on (always) and
hands-on (usually) activities that yield
immediate feedback through discussion with peers
and/or instructors,}" and "T" courses are defined
*operationally* as those that "make little or no
use of IE methods, relying primarily on
passive-student lectures, recipe laboratories,
and algorithmic problem examinations."
Thus Hake (1998a) strongly suggests that the
"Direct Explicit Instruction" advocated by
DataWORKS! doesn't work as well at "interactive
engagement" in promoting conceptual understanding
and problem-solving ability.
BTW, Gene Glass (2012) has an insightful essay
"High Button Shoes and Education Reform"
regarding support of education by organizations
such as Google and the Gates Foundation, which
have more money than knowledge of education.
Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
Links to SDI Labs: <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
Twitter <http://bit.ly/juvd52>
GooglePlus: <http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE>
"I point to the following unwelcome truth: much
as we might dislike the implications, research is
showing that didactic exposition of abstract
ideas and lines of reasoning (however engaging
and lucid we might try to make them) to passive
listeners yields pathetically thin results in
learning and understanding - except in the very
small percentage of students who are specially
gifted in the field."
- Arnold Arons in "Teaching Introductory Physics" (p. vii, 1997)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by
<http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 17 June 2012.]
Arons, A.B. 1997. "Teaching Introductory Physics.
Wiley, publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/jBcyBU>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/nIiPGh>.
DataWORKS. 2012. "Research Supporting EDI," onlne
at <http://bit.ly/LetW5m>. See also Hollingworth
& Ybarra (2008).
EDI. 2012. Explicit Direct Instruction; online at
<http://bit.ly/MHclz6>: "Explicit Direct
Instruction, usually shortened to EDI, is a
strategic collection of instructional practices
combined together to help teachers design and
deliver well-crafted lessons that explicitly
teach content, especially grade-level content, to
all students. EDI is based on teacher-centered,
direct instruction philosophy. EDI is an approach
that encompasses our goal of improving learning
for all students and especially for
low-performing students."
Glass, G.V. 2012. "High Button Shoes and
Education Reform," Glass' blog "Education in Two
Worlds," 29 March, online at
<http://bit.ly/KcWqIs>.
Hake, R.R. 1998a. "Interactive-engagement vs
traditional methods: A six-thousand-student
survey of mechanics test data for introductory
physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66: 64-74; online
as an 84 kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/9484DG> . See
also the crucial but generally ignored companion
paper Hake (1998b).
Hake, R.R. 1998b. "Interactive-engagement methods
in introductory mechanics courses," online as a
108 kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/aH2JQN>. A crucial
companion paper to Hake (1998a). Submitted on
6/19/98 to the "Physics Education Research
Supplement" (PERS) of the American Journal of
Physics, but rejected by its editor on the
grounds that the very transparent, well
organized, and crystal clear Physical-Review-type
data tables were "impenetrable"!
Hollingsworth, J.R. & S.E. Ybarra. 2008.
"Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI): The Power of
the Well-Crafted, Well-Taught Lesson." Corwin
Press, publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/N64pM0>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/L6osLF>, note the "Look Inside"
feature. Amazon states: "John Hollingsworth is
president of DataWORKS Educational Research, a
company that uses real data to improve student
achievement."
Noschese, F. 2012. "Explicit Direct Instruction,"
Modeling Workshop Teachers, 14 June. I'm unaware
as to whether or not that discussion list
provides archives. I thank Jane Jackson for
informing me of this post.
Rosok, K. 2012. "Google's $1M grant for Explicit
Direct Instruction," Modeling Workshop Teachers,
16 June. I'm unaware as to whether or not that
discussion list provides archives. I thank Jane
Jackson for informing me of this post.
Veronin, N. 2012a. "Google donates $1 million to
local schools," Mountain View Voice, 14 June;
online at <http://bit.ly/LXOcrY>.
Veronin, N. 2012b. "New teaching system a hit,"
Mountain View Voice, 20 March; online at
<http://bit.ly/LSvhh2>.
Veronin, N. 2011. "Google gives $1 million to
local schools: Grant aimed at helping district's
neediest students improve math skills," Mountain
View Voice, 7 April; online at
<http://bit.ly/LStHM1>.
AERA Division L: Politics and Policy in Education
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