the best teacher in the world will still have to flunk a student whose parent doesn't enforce homework policies.
Homework shouldn't be a factor in grades for students who can make due without the homework. Recall my "no homework" policy. ^_~ I dared my teachers to fail me.
You got lucky. I nearly failed both 7th grade math and high school chemistry despite making As on all the tests because I refused to do busywork homework when I was already proficient with the material. Not all teachers are as flexible as yours apparently was.
The purpose of homework is not just to get you to do the practice...it's also to teach you how to jump through the hoops of the professional/corporate world. Apparently. I told the professional/corporate world to go fuck itself, and I still ended up graduating from college with almost a 4.0. The people in charge need to get their priorities straight when it comes to homework, but at the same time...how do you pick and choose which students are allowed to not do homework? You'll get complains about unfair treatment and then the teacher will likely be fired. It's much safer to simply require ALL students to complete the same assignments.
I think I mentioned this before, but I think it was 10th or 11th grade I chose to take a fun history course that happened to be taught by a cool young libertarian guy. Every Friday we played a current events game. It was pretty fun.
Anyway, one day during a lecture he told one of the other students, who was dozing off, to pay attention and take some notes. The student said "Scott isn't taking any notes". The teacher said "Scott gets As, so he doesn't need to take notes."
Even without stratifying the actual grades or classes, it's really easy to determine who has to take notes and do homework, and who doesn't. If I was a high school teacher today, I would probably setup a system something like this one I just made up right now.
There will be five tests that will each count for 20% of your grade. Between the tests there will be five homeworks that will each be worth 1% of your grade. If you get all As on the tests, doing the homework is a waste of time, and skipping it won't hurt you. If you do poorly on the tests, you're going to need to do homework to avoid getting a terrible grade.
I disagree with that idea Scott. I don't see a percentage value for the homework where it would be unnecessary for those who don't need it but essential for those who do. Your choice of 1% each simply isn't worth enough.
Here's a way that works better. There are two mark options, the one on the left and the one on the right. Both are calculated, and the higher value of the two is your grade. Tests: 80% / 100% Homework: 20% / 0%
I disagree with that idea Scott. I don't see a percentage value for the homework where it would be unnecessary for those who don't need it but essential for those who do. Your choice of 1% each simply isn't worth enough.
Here's a way that works better. There are two mark options, the one on the left and the one on the right. Both are calculated, and the higher value of the two is your grade. Tests: 80% / 100% Homework: 20% / 0%
It was a hypothetical system that I came up with in like 5 seconds. The specific details of the system are not the point. The point is that it is trivially easy to create a system whereby people who need to do homework will need to do it, and those who do not need to do homework will not be punished for ignoring it.
I still don't see how teachers will be graded for merit pay (or firings) to work.
Did YOU watch the Bill Gates TED talk?
Really, we can say it all in one sentence. Every public school should do exactly what those KIPP schools are doing. I'm sure those schools have some problems, and are not 100% perfect, but they are demonstrably orders of magnitude better than all the other schools. Those schools exist, and they work. Let's just have every public school copy them. End of story.
I still don't see how teachers will be graded for merit pay (or firings) to work.
How about as I said? Aggregated data over the years. Teachers get a salary plus standard cost-of-living raises every year. After five years, their bonuses or discretionary raises are dependent upon statistical differentiation from other teachers in similar situations. Extreme deviations would warrant either a rethinking of the classroom policies in general (in the case of a very high scoring teacher) or a review and possible dismissal (in the case of a very low scoring teacher).
The tech industry already does this sort of thing, at least in the smart companies. Raises are based solely on statistical data about comparable jobs in the same industry and cost-of-living data from the surrounding area. All performance-based pay is in the form of bonuses. My annual bonus comprises almost 20% of my total salary.
I could go into greater detail, but I believe that I could document workable solution on my own and within a couple of days. It's not a hard problem to solve: the solution is just difficult to implement due to incompetence, technological illiteracy, inertia, and cost. As a taxpayer, I'm more than willing to cover the cost. As for the rest, as Obama said, we need to radically rethink how we do things. The current system is failing with increasing speed.
If you do poorly on your tests, a 5% increase isn't going to help you at all.
As it should NOT. The tests are all that matters: the homework only exists such that you will excel in the tests. Too many teachers assign enough busy work such that even a very poor student can pull off a passing grade based solely on effort, even if they have not actually demonstrated any actual ability.
Effort is noteworthy, and should be rewarded, but grades should be a measure of competence alone. Otherwise, they are meaningless.
There will be five tests that will each count for 20% of your grade. Between the tests there will be five homeworks that will each be worth 1% of your grade. If you get all As on the tests, doing the homework is a waste of time, and skipping it won't hurt you. If you do poorly on the tests, you're going to need to do homework to avoid getting a terrible grade.
If you do bad on your tests, a 5% increase isn't going to help you at all. It'll at most life your grade up a level.
If you are so insistent on using this example, all he has to do is weight the homework differently in the grading program. My English teacher does it all the time. The other option that my English teacher also use is 'Participation' grades that he uses to buffer grades. If he likes you and you participate in his class you get your 'A' for the week and it pads, or raises your grade. I typically get a 'B' from him, by half-assing my essays and participating. I've made it very clear what I think about homework, and he says that if I don't do something he can't pass me.
Too many teachers assign enough busy work such that even a very poor student can pull off a passing grade based solely on effort, even if they have not actually demonstrated any actual ability.
...Which is how we get people in high school that cannot read competently. This system needs to be destroyed. It would help if being "held back" wasn't so stigmatized. Some people learn slower than others. It would be great if people who needed to take 2 years on a certain group of subject matter could do it without being humiliated and embarrassed. If a kid can't even master the meager curriculum our schools offer, then that kid needs to repeat the grade. Promoting him prematurely to the next grade is the TRUE way to "leave him behind."
...Which is how we get people in high school that cannot read competently. This system needs to be destroyed. It would help if being "held back" wasn't so stigmatized. Some people learn slower than others. It would be great if people who needed to take 2 years on a certain group of subject matter could do it without being humiliated and embarrassed. If a kid can't even master the meager curriculum our schools offer, then that kid needs to repeat the grade. Promoting him prematurely to the next grade is the TRUE way to "leave him behind."
The thing is that there shouldn't be any holding back. Why wait until the end of the year and then ahve someone do the same thing over again? Kids should be moved around immediately, and as necessary, into classes that meet the needs of their competency and learning style. Ability should determine everything, not age. See Azumanga Daioh. Chiyo should be a rule, not an exception. And Tomo should be sent back to Kindergarten.
The problem with homework is when the work is "busy" work. Stratified classes are necessary and should be providing course material that challenges students enough so that actual work is involved/needed. If an above-average student understands the concepts without the homework, then the concepts are too simple or the homework is busy work. Education should push children to be challenged and to meet that challenge - not just to coast through and be reprimanded for untidy notebooks and penalized for not completing busy work. Keep in mind that some student confuse repetitive exercise homework (like doing similar math problems) with busy work. The repetition solidifies the concepts and formulas and allows a student to retain that information longer.
The problem with homework is when the work is "busy" work. Stratified classes are necessary and should be providing course material that challenges students enough so that actual work is involved/needed. If an above-average student understands the concepts without the homework, then the concepts are too simple or the homework is busy work. Education should push children to be challenged and to meet that challenge - not just to coast through and be reprimanded for untidy notebooks and penalized for not completing busy work. Keep in mind that some student confuse repetitive exercise homework (like doing similar math problems) with busy work. The repetition solidifies the concepts and formulas and allows a student to retain that information longer.
Even in a stratified class, homework is still unnecessary for many students. Even in the RIT CS department, where the retention rate is very low, I graduated while ignoring all ungraded assignments. I also never took notes, ever. The vast majority of what I learned came from simply paying attention during lectures. To put me in a class hard enough to where I would have to take notes or do homework, it would have to be some incredibly specialized science or very high level maths.
To put me in a class hard enough to where I would have to take notes or do homework, it would have to be some incredibly specialized science or very high level maths.
Like what? What science or math would be sufficiently involved enough for you to need to take notes or homework? Optics? Electricity and Magnetism? Classical Mechanics? Multivariable Calculus? Partial Differential Equations? How about Organic Chemistry? Would you have to write something on paper in one of those courses or could you just do it all in your head?
BTW, I've taken all of those courses, and I'm not ashamed to say I really needed to take notes and do the homework.
@ Scott: Then you obviously weren't being challenged to fulfill your potential. b Your whole argument is based on students being pushed forward so that they can fulfill their potential - thus making an education as useful as possible.
For something like optics, electicity, or magnetism, I really only need an equation sheet. If I have that, then then I have no problem. I took organic chemistry "101" at RIT, and didn't need to take any notes. Paying attention in lecture and lab was sufficient. Though I am sure that in a higher level course, I might have trouble. The only class I probably would have benefited from doing homework for was Calculus 3, which I failed twice. Calculus 1 and 2 were jokes. People said that Calculus 4, which I was not required to take, was actually easier than Calculus 3, so I can't say anything about that.
This isn't something I can explain scientifically, so I'll just submit this anecdotally, but for me learning is all about the eureka moments. Sometimes it comes in one big eureka moment, like when I was learning systems programming. Sometimes it comes in lots of little ones, like when learning Japanese. Sometimes it doesn't come at all.
If I do have one of these moments where my brain figures out something, then homework and such become unnecessary. I've reached some level of understanding that allows me to learn very easily through lecture/reading and hands on experience. If I don't have these moments, then my brain seems to reject learning in that area until such a time that it "opens up". You might say trying to do homework in such an area might lead me to that point of understanding where my mind opens, but in my experience all it does is cause me to sit there, get frustrated, and accomplish nothing.
Would you have to write something on paper in one of those courses or could you just do it all in your head?
I took a few notes in DiffEq, and I took tons in Organic Chemistry once we got to sugars. Optics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Classical Mechanics were definitely note-free, since they were just algebra/calculus with a few special relationships to memorize.
As Mrs. MacRoss said, education needs to challenge one to one's maximum ability. In my personal case, at no point in my schooling was I seriously challenged.
The thing is that there shouldn't be any holding back. Why wait until the end of the year and then ahve someone do the same thing over again? Kids should be moved around immediately, and as necessary, into classes that meet the needs of their competency and learning style. Ability should determine everything, not age. See Azumanga Daioh. Chiyo should be a rule, not an exception. And Tomo should be sent back to Kindergarten.
With the limited supply of teachers that we have, it is impossible not to group people together at some level. Any grouping is going to have variation, and some kids are going to be more challenged than others within this grouping. Moving kids that are doing well into higher-level classes seems like a good idea. However, that leaves the average and below-average kids to deal with, at which point you run into another problem. You're essentially telling these kids that the overachievers are inherently better than them. The average kids aren't given the chance to tackle the challenging work.
Kate and I had a discussion about this at Moe's. If you group kids together by their apparent ability, then you may introduce an expectation bias. By putting a kid in a remedial class, he may believe that he cannot be better than remedial. This kid could have the potential to improve vastly, but not bother with the effort because it looks to him like there's no way he can achieve the improvement. So how do you take away this problem? I would be very interested to hear suggestions.
For something like optics, electicity, or magnetism, I really only need an equation sheet.
An equation sheet? What level Optics or E&M; are you talking about? I'm not talking about freshman/sophomre College Physics level courses where you can get through by memorizing some formulas.
I had a look at an RIT Calculus 3 syllabus. The Optics and E&M; courses I'm talking about REQUIRE what you call Calculus 3 as a prerequisite. This was my E&M; book and This was my Optics book. I defy you to work a problem out of either of these books using just an "equation sheet."
Maybe if you had taken some notes and worked some problems, you would've done better in Calculus 3.
Optics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Classical Mechanics were definitely note-free, since they were just algebra/calculus with a few special relationships to memorize.
If you think you can get through that with "just algebra/calculus with a few special relationships to memorize", you're probably talking about College Physics.
I'd like to share my anecdote with you all. You see, at my school, all we are 'graded' on is our homework. we get assignments which we have to complete and we have to learn how to do so ourselves during the assignment. We usually get between 4 and 6 which we should complete within a 10 week (not counting holidays) time period. The lectures are meant to compliment these assignments (at least in theory, they usually fall flat).
Now, this kind of teaching doesn't really work in middle/high school, but it could work in college. To bad our college (equivalent) sucks.
Now, this kind of teaching doesn't really work in middle/high school, but it could work in college. To bad our college (equivalent) sucks.
Ugh, I sympathize. I had a calculus teach in high school that thought it was a good idea to give us an assignment, take it up and grade it, and THEN teach us about the concepts and how to do it. I can see how doing that once would demonstrate the usefulness of calculus, but for every assignment? This woman was crazy. We all got terrible grades.
There are some schools in which teachers provide differing levels/types of homework based on each student's ability and need in a subject matter. Those schools require vast resources to provide small enough class sizes to make this viable. I am all for it, but it will increase educational costs exponentially.
Comments
The purpose of homework is not just to get you to do the practice...it's also to teach you how to jump through the hoops of the professional/corporate world. Apparently. I told the professional/corporate world to go fuck itself, and I still ended up graduating from college with almost a 4.0. The people in charge need to get their priorities straight when it comes to homework, but at the same time...how do you pick and choose which students are allowed to not do homework? You'll get complains about unfair treatment and then the teacher will likely be fired. It's much safer to simply require ALL students to complete the same assignments.
Anyway, one day during a lecture he told one of the other students, who was dozing off, to pay attention and take some notes. The student said "Scott isn't taking any notes". The teacher said "Scott gets As, so he doesn't need to take notes."
Even without stratifying the actual grades or classes, it's really easy to determine who has to take notes and do homework, and who doesn't. If I was a high school teacher today, I would probably setup a system something like this one I just made up right now.
There will be five tests that will each count for 20% of your grade. Between the tests there will be five homeworks that will each be worth 1% of your grade. If you get all As on the tests, doing the homework is a waste of time, and skipping it won't hurt you. If you do poorly on the tests, you're going to need to do homework to avoid getting a terrible grade.
Here's a way that works better. There are two mark options, the one on the left and the one on the right. Both are calculated, and the higher value of the two is your grade.
Tests: 80% / 100%
Homework: 20% / 0%
Really, we can say it all in one sentence. Every public school should do exactly what those KIPP schools are doing. I'm sure those schools have some problems, and are not 100% perfect, but they are demonstrably orders of magnitude better than all the other schools. Those schools exist, and they work. Let's just have every public school copy them. End of story.
The tech industry already does this sort of thing, at least in the smart companies. Raises are based solely on statistical data about comparable jobs in the same industry and cost-of-living data from the surrounding area. All performance-based pay is in the form of bonuses. My annual bonus comprises almost 20% of my total salary.
I could go into greater detail, but I believe that I could document workable solution on my own and within a couple of days. It's not a hard problem to solve: the solution is just difficult to implement due to incompetence, technological illiteracy, inertia, and cost. As a taxpayer, I'm more than willing to cover the cost. As for the rest, as Obama said, we need to radically rethink how we do things. The current system is failing with increasing speed.
Effort is noteworthy, and should be rewarded, but grades should be a measure of competence alone. Otherwise, they are meaningless.
BTW, I've taken all of those courses, and I'm not ashamed to say I really needed to take notes and do the homework.
This isn't something I can explain scientifically, so I'll just submit this anecdotally, but for me learning is all about the eureka moments. Sometimes it comes in one big eureka moment, like when I was learning systems programming. Sometimes it comes in lots of little ones, like when learning Japanese. Sometimes it doesn't come at all.
If I do have one of these moments where my brain figures out something, then homework and such become unnecessary. I've reached some level of understanding that allows me to learn very easily through lecture/reading and hands on experience. If I don't have these moments, then my brain seems to reject learning in that area until such a time that it "opens up". You might say trying to do homework in such an area might lead me to that point of understanding where my mind opens, but in my experience all it does is cause me to sit there, get frustrated, and accomplish nothing.
As Mrs. MacRoss said, education needs to challenge one to one's maximum ability. In my personal case, at no point in my schooling was I seriously challenged.
Kate and I had a discussion about this at Moe's. If you group kids together by their apparent ability, then you may introduce an expectation bias. By putting a kid in a remedial class, he may believe that he cannot be better than remedial. This kid could have the potential to improve vastly, but not bother with the effort because it looks to him like there's no way he can achieve the improvement. So how do you take away this problem? I would be very interested to hear suggestions.
I had a look at an RIT Calculus 3 syllabus. The Optics and E&M; courses I'm talking about REQUIRE what you call Calculus 3 as a prerequisite. This was my E&M; book and This was my Optics book. I defy you to work a problem out of either of these books using just an "equation sheet."
Maybe if you had taken some notes and worked some problems, you would've done better in Calculus 3. If you think you can get through that with "just algebra/calculus with a few special relationships to memorize", you're probably talking about College Physics.
Try doing this problem set with "just algebra/calculus with a few special relationships to memorize."
Now, this kind of teaching doesn't really work in middle/high school, but it could work in college. To bad our college (equivalent) sucks.