A decline in reading?

Submitted to the Washington Post, Feb. 27
In my published review of the research, I concluded that there is no evidence that teenagers are reading less than teenagers of the past. ("If you want kids to read more, don't treat reading like a boring obligation," Feb. 25.) They do just as much book reading as teenagers did 65 years ago, and are more involved in reading and writing in general when computer use is included in the analysis.
There have been complaints about American teenagers' low levels of literacy and knowledge for over the last 100 years. Harvard complained about poor writing on entrance exams in 1874 and 1894. Thomas Biggs of Teachers College, in 1930, wrote that high school English classes resulted in written English that was often  "shocking in their evidence of inadequate achievement." Ravitch and Finn, in 1987, asked What Do Our 17-Year Olds Know, and concluded that they didn't know much about history or literature.
If we believe these reports, our high school students were terrible in 1874 and have been getting worse ever since. Another interpretation is that there has been no decline; we have always been expecting too much, and are, for some reason, over-eager to scold teen-agers and their schools.
Stephen Krashen

Krashen, S. 2011. Why We Should Stop Scolding Teenagers and Their Schools: Frequency of Leisure Reading.  Language Magazine 11 (4): 18-21, 2011.  (posted at http://sdkrashen.com/articles.php?cat=2 - scroll down)
original article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/02/25/if-you-want-teens-to-read-more-dont-treat-reading-like-a-boring-obligation/

More micromanagement than ever

Sent to The Hill, Feb. 26.
In " Lawmakers push officials on No Child Left Behind rewrite," Feb. 25) Congressman John Kline praises the new education law, saying that “If we learned anything throughout the process to replace No Child Left Behind, it’s that the American people are tired of Washington micromanaging their classrooms."
It looks like there will be more micromanagement than ever before. The new law, in sections 1201 and 1204, provides grants for the development of "innovative assessments" based on competency-based education.
Competency-based education (CBE) replaces regular instruction with online "modules" that students work through on their own. Students take tests in order to move to the next module. It is supported by the National Governor's Association, Pearson and now federal law without consulting educators and, admittedly, without a proper research base. 
It appears that the huge testing burden of the common core will be replaced with a perpetual cycle of working through packaged programs. It is possible that we will now have testing every day.

Stephen Krashen

original article: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/270795-lawmakers-push-officials-to-implement-education-reform-law

Computer coding fever in Florida

Sent to the Miami Herald, Feb 26.

Sen. Ring thinks that knowledge of computer coding is needed for "everything we are going to do." ("Florida Senate endorses making computer coding a foreign language," Feb. 24).
This is not true. What is needed is knowing how to use a computer. Very few professions require knowing how to program and design software.  Driving a car does not require a deep knowledge of auto mechanics. 
My daughter has pointed out to me that to learn how to use many programs, all you need is a good friend to show you how.

Stephen Krashen

original article: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article62291447.html#storylink=cpy

Is first language use in the foreign language classroom good or bad? It depends.

 International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2(1): 9. 2006

Stephen Krashen

Contrary to semi-popular opinion, the Comprehension Hypothesis does not forbid the use of the first language in the second language classroom. It does, however, provide guidelines. It predicts that the use of the first language will help second language development if it results in more comprehensible input, and will hurt second language development when it results in less comprehensible input.

Providing Background Knowledge

The first language helps when it provides background knowledge that functions to make second language input more comprehensible. This can happen in several ways:

It happens when the first language is used to provide background knowledge through discussion or reading. When teachers know that a topic
needs to be discussed in class that is unusually complex or unfamiliar, a short presentation or set of readings in the first
language can be of great help. A few minutes or
a page or two on relevant aspects of the history of Mexico, for example, can transform a discussion of Cortez from one that is opaque to one that is transparent. This kind of background is, of course, most useful when teachers know that all or nearly all students will require it.

Bilingual education relies on the same principle: In bilingual programs, students are given background knowledge in the first language in order to make subsequent instruction delivered in the second language more comprehensible (Krashen, 1996).

The first language can also help when it is used during a lesson as a quick explanation. Comprehension difficulties can arise in unpredictable places
and students differ in their need for background knowledge. The first language can be used as needed for quick explanations in the middle of discussions when some students are having trouble, and when it is not easy to paraphrase and use other means of providing context.

There is also nothing wrong with providing a quick translation for a problematic word that is central to a discussion. Providing the translation may or may not contribute very much to the acquisition of the meaning of the translated word, but it can help make the entire discussion more comprehensible.

The first language is misused when teachers provide so much information that there is no reason to continue the discussion in the second language.

It is also misused when teachers provide so many brief explanations and translations that it is difficult to keep track of the message. If this intervention is considered to be necessary, the topic may not be right. It has been hypothesized that the acquirer needs to be so interested in the message (or “lost in the book”) that he or she temporarily “forgets” that the message is in another language. When translations are excessive, the spell is broken.

Krashen, S. 1996. An overview of bilingual education. Bilingual Basics. Winter/Spring: 1-5.

Is there a lack of skilled science and technology workers?

Sent to the New York Times
"A Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding," (Feb. 21) repeats the claim that there is a "lack of skilled workers" in science and technology but does not mention the considerable amount of research concluding that this shortage does not exist.  In fact, several reports suggest that there is be a surplus.
In addition to published reports in scientific journals and books, articles describing this research have appeared regularly in the media. 
Readers may want to start with Michael Teitelbaum's thoroughly researched book,  Falling Behind? Boom, Bust, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent, and Hal Salzman's journal paper, "What Shortages? The Real Evidence About the STEM Workforce," Issues in Science and Technology, volume 29(3), 2013. (http://issues.org/29-4/what-shortages-the-real-evidence-about-the-stem-workforce/)
Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

Original article: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/business/a-rising-call-to-promote-stem-education-and-cut-liberal-arts-funding.html?_r=0

The cure for too much homework.

Teens can aim for better time management: South China Morning Post, Feb. 21.

Nowadays, teenagers are under a lot of pressure. It can be pressure from parents or from school where they are bombarded with too much homework.

Some parents will closely monitor the academic progress of their teenage sons and daughters.

If the pressure is too great, then these teens may dread going back home after the school day. This pressure ­damages family relationships.

With such a heavy workload, some youngsters may have trouble sleeping. They then go to school tired and have trouble concentrating. This can lead to them losing interest in their studies and becoming depressed. In extreme cases, they may take their own lives.

Teens must learn to help themselves and aim for better time management. It is also vital to do regular exercises.

Yoyo Sin Lok-yiu, Cheung Sha Wan

My comment, posted.

Re: Teens can aim for better time management.

How about reducing the pressure? How about reducing the amount of homework? There is no evidence that massive amounts of homework and high pressure produce better learning. See eg Alfie Kohn's book: The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing (2007)

Comment posted at: http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1914129/letters-editor-february-21-2016?comment-sort=all#comment-286462

Doubts over standardized testing are valid; students under pressure in Hong Kong

Published in South China Morning Post, Feb. 19, 2016

http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1914115/letters-editor-february-19-2016

Doubts over standardised tests are valid

Lovelyn Wong (“Assessment serves useful purpose”, ­February 16) advises parents not to be too hasty in calling for an end to the Primary Three Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA).

Ms Wong argues that tests help reveal students’ weaknesses and helps teachers improve their instruction.

This argument has been used to justify increased testing in the US as well.

There is no ­evidence that it is true; in fact, studies done at the secondary school level comparing grades teachers give students and standardised tests show that grades are an excellent predictor of future academic success, and standardised tests do not add additional information.

There are, in addition, plausible reasons to think that ­teacher evaluation of students is ­better than standardised tests.

The repeated judgments of professionals who are with ­students every day is probably more valid than a test created by distant strangers and given only once.

Moreover, teacher evaluations of students are “multiple measures”, done by different teachers in different years, are closely aligned to the curriculum, and cover all subjects.

Arguments for giving ­students a standardised test must be accompanied by ­evidence showing that they do a better job than grades alone.

Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus, University of Southern California

Students put under a lot of pressure in HK

Students at local primary and secondary schools all have an enormous amount of homework to do and often have to stay up till late at night to finish it.

­Those secondary school students who have to study so late will ­often turn up to school feeling tired and will have difficulty concentrating on what their teacher is saying in class.

Many also have to attend ­tutorial classes and extracurricular activities which put them under pressure.

Also, with such a heavy workload, many of them do not have time to relax. They have to deal with this exhaustive ­schedule because they want to get a coveted place at a local ­university.

They see this as the means to having a good career, which will earn them a good salary and ­enable them to buy a home and take care of their parents.

Our youngsters are not ­robots. They should be allowed to spend more time relaxing.

I hope in future generations in Hong Kong, children will be ­allowed to grow up in a happier environment.

Jocelyn Fung, Tai Po

Should we make high school exit tests harder?

Comment on: Many who pass state high school graduation tests show up to college unprepared.
Posted at: http://hechingerreport.org/many-who-pass-state-high-school-graduation-tests-show-up-to-college-unprepared/  (2/19/2016)

   Research supports Bob Schaeffer's statement that grades are better predictor of college success than standardized tests:
Bowen, W., Chingos, M., and McPherson, M. 2009. Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Universities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Geiser, S. and Santelices, M.V., 2007. Validity of high-school grades in predicting student success beyond the freshman year: High-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes. Research and Occasional Papers Series: CSHE 6.07, University of California, Berkeley. http://cshe.berkeley.edu
   In addition, a review done by researchers at the University of Texas in 2010 concluded that high school exit exams do not lead to more college attendance, do not result in increased student learning and do not result in higher employment: Holme, J., Richards, M., Jimerson, J., and Cohen, R. 2010. Assessing the effects of high school exit examinations. Review of Educational Research 80 (4): 476-526.
   Research does not support the idea that harder tests based on the common core (PARCC) will be good predictors. In fact, there is no research I know of that even investigates whether mastery of the common core standards leads to any kind of success, nor to my knowledge has any research on this kind even been considered.

Grades versus standardized tests

Sent to the South China Morning Post, Feb 18, 2016

Lovelyn Wong ("Assessment serves useful purpose," Feb 15) advises parents not to  be too hasty in calling for an end to the Primary Three-Territory Wide System Assessment. Ms.Wong argues that tests help reveal students' weaknesses and help teachers improve their instruction.

This argument has been used to justify increased testing in the United States as well. There is no evidence that it is true; in fact studies done at the secondary school level comparing grades teachers give students and standardized tests show that grades are an excellent predictor of future academic success, and standardized tests do not add additional information. 

There are, in addition,  plausible reasons to think that teacher evaluation of students is better than standardized tests. The repeated judgments of professionals who are with students every day is probably more valid than a test created by distant strangers and given only once.

Moreover, teacher evaluations of students are “multiple measures," done by different teachers in different years, are closely aligned to the curriculum, and cover all subjects.

Arguments for giving students a standardized test must be accompanied by evidence showing that they do a better job than grades alone.

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California


original letter:  Assessment serves useful purpose
Fewer primary schools will be subject to the Primary Three Territory-wide System Assessment test.
This has been done in order to deal with the anger felt by ­parents and the pressure pupils face from the TSA.
One of the problems faced by students connected with the TSA test is that they are forced to do too much drilling.
Schools do this because heads feel the schools themselves are being tested and so they want children to ­improve their scores. The ­Education Bureau has tried to allay these concerns by saying only students’ standards will be tested.
Another criticism has been that in the past the test questions were too difficult. I am glad to learn that this is being dealt with and the questions will be modified. If it is still felt the bureau is still putting too much pressure on pupils and teachers, it must make whatever modifications are necessary.
Despite the bureau’s adjustments, many parents still want to see the TSA abolished, ­however, I do not think there is a need to do so.
The assessment has its value as it can judge students’ levels. And this gives teachers clues about how to improve their teaching methods based on whatever weaknesses the ­students had. If it is scrapped, ­officials will probably come up with another assessment mechanism and it will have its own problems.
I hope the bureau decides not to cancel the assessment.
Lovelyn Wong, Tsing Yi

Slower developing readers need better libraries, not supplemental instruction.

Posted at http://www.idahoednews.org/news/literacy-proposal-hits-resistance-in-house-committee/#.Vr7k3lLdz-A
Literacy Proposal hits Resistance in House Committee
Feb 12, 2016

The proposal in Idaho is to provide supplemental literacy instruction for students who score below grade-level benchmarks in kindergarten through third grade.

I posted the following:
These facts might be of interest to the discussion:
1. There is nothing magic about grade 3. Reading ability at any age is related to reading ability at older grades. 
2. BUT students can improve dramatically in reading at any age, including adulthood, if they are exposed to interesting and comprehensible  reading material.
3. The cure for slow reading development is not intensive instruction. It is self-selected reading of books of great interest.
4. The biggest obstacle to improvement in reading is lack of access to interesting reading material. For children of poverty, who typically do poorly on reading tests, their only source of books is the library.

I suggest Idaho invest in libraries and librarians, and not “early intervention.”



Some Sources: Krashen, S. and McQuillan, J. 2007. Late intervention. Educational Leadership 65 (2): 68-73.; Krashen, S. 2009. Does Intensive Decoding Instruction Contribute to Reading Comprehension? Knowledge Quest 37 (4): 72-74, 2009; Krashen, S 2004. The Power of Reading. Heinemann and Libraries Unlimited; Sullivan, A. & Brown, M. 2014. Vocabulary from Adolescence to Middle Age. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University of London

What should replace the STARR test? Nothing.

Sent to the Austin-American Statesman,. Feb 10.

Are those charged with deciding on a new test ("What should replace the STARR test?" Feb. 10) aware of research suggesting that teacher evaluations of students (grades) are an excellent measure of student achievement: high school grades in college prep courses are a very good predictor of college success. Standardized test scores (the SAT) do not provide much more information than grades alone.
There are good reasons to think teacher evaluation of students is better than a standardized test. The repeated judgments of professionals who are with students every day is probably more valid than a test created by distant strangers and given only once. Moreover, teacher evaluations of students are “multiple measures," done by different teachers in different subjects in different years, are closely aligned to the curriculum, and cover all subjects.
Any test proposed must be shown to do a better job than grades alone.

Original article: https://shar.es/146IQY

Note (from Wikipedia): The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, commonly referred to as its acronym STAAR (star), are a series of state-mandated standardized tests used in Texas public primary and secondary schools to assess a student's achievements and knowledge learned in the grade level. It tests curriculum taught from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, which in turn is taught by public schools. The test is developed by Pearson Education every school year, along with the close supervision of the Texas Education Agency.

Sources
Bowen, W., Chingos, M., and McPherson, M. 2009. Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Universities. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Geiser, S. and Santelices, M.V., 2007. Validity of high-school grades in predicting student success beyond the freshman year: High-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes. Research and Occasional Papers Series: CSHE 6.07, University of California, Berkeley. http://cshe.berkeley.edu

Coming soon: More testing than ever

Sent to USA Today, Feb. 8
   Former testing enthusiast John King now joins the chorus of born-again critics of over-testing, a clear reaction to the success of the United Opt-Out movement.  ("Acting Ed. Secretary: Educators 'unfairly blamed' for schools' challenges," Feb 8):  In King's home state of New York, 20% of students who were to be tested opted out last year. 
   Secretary King does not mention that the "well-intentioned" so-called reformers plan to replace end-of-year standardized tests with what could be daily testing. The core of education will consist of module after module of programmed instruction that students will work through online and be tested on, which will drastically diminish the role of teachers and increase profits of technology companies.  The new education law announced grants for the development of these teach and test machines (sections 1201 and 1204).
   The pro-common core National Governor's Association admitted that there is little evidence supporting this major shift, but nevertheless enthusiastically supports it. 
   So much for the "olive branch" to teachers.

Stephen Krashen

Sources:
United Opt-Out: http://unitedoptout.com/
20% opt out in NY State: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/nyregion/new-york-state-students-standardized-tests.html?_r=0
National Governor's Association: "Although an emerging research base suggests that CBE is a promising model, it includes only a few rigorous evaluations and analyses of current and ongoing CBE pilots and similar programs" (p. 6).  From:  "Expanding Student Success: A Primer on Competency-Based Education from Kindergarten Through Higher Education.  www.nga.org. 

Additional sources:
McDermott, M. 2015a. Reading between The Lines: Obama’s “Testing Action Plan”  http://educationalchemy.com/2015/10/25/reading-between-the-lines-obamas-testing-action-plan/
McDermott, M. 2015b. Common core and corporate colonization: the big picture. http://educationalchemy.com/2015/10/30/common-core-and-corporate-colonization-the-big-picture/
Robertson, P. 2015a. U.S. Dept. of Ed. and Educational Warfare. http://www.pegwithpen.com/2015/10/us-dept-of-ed-and-educational-warfare.html
Robertson, P. 2015b. Opt out revolution: the next wave. http://www.pegwithpen.com/2015/10/opt-out-revolution-next-wave.html
Talmage, E. 2015a. Dear Mark. http://emilytalmage.com/2015/11/14/dear-mark/
Talmage, E. 2015b. What is proficiency-based learning? http://emilytalmage.com/2015/04/26/save-maine-schools/