Boston First Responders

First responders rushed toward danger at 4 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds after the beginning of the Boston Marathon on a much celebrated Patriots Day.

The bombers had detonated two vicious devices designed to maim human beings and, indeed, what medical personnel from local hospitals found was carnage unseen since their days in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Theirs is the courage not merely of a profession, a badge, a uniform, but of character, of strong moral courage and dedication to protecting all of us who sometimes take their service for granted.

But there were other immediate responders.  The managers, wait staff and bartenders of a new restaurant to Boylston Street, Forum, were at what we now call “ground zero.”  One of the staff was looking out the window toward the green mail box and, without hearing anything, saw a ball of orange/yellow flame and his mouth was soon filled with the grit of devastation.

All Forum employees did what professional first responders do, they went to the danger, to the devastation, toward those in terrible need.  When told by local police to evacuate, they refused and proceeded to tend to the wounded, some of whom had been sitting out on their patio for a bird’s eye view of those strong, determined, goal-driven men and women who were finishing perhaps their first marathon, the dream of a life-time.

The crew of the restaurant as well as others who were ambulatory after the blast rushed to help, taking off belts to act as tourniquets which, in many cases probably saved people from bleeding to death.  Nearby Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lingzhi Lu lay wounded and dying.  

It’s hard for those of us who watched story unfold on television to imagine what these first responders saw and the bravery they showed in the face of these terrorist acts.   As so many of us thought following 9/11, maybe there are other bombs to be set off?

But, almost mindless of their own safety, these men and women of Boston (police, fire, EMS, medics) gathered about the sick, the severely injured and the dying to offer comfort and assistance as we hope that we would were we on the spot. 

They held victims in their hands, stroking faces, smoothing their hair and telling them, as best they could with all the hope they could muster, that they would survive to live another day, to enjoy Spring as it continued to bloom in all its effulgence.

The warmth of a hand, face and body is that human touch that forever binds us one to another.  This is the blessing of community, of togetherness of our humanity.  These are the relationships that say we are of one family.

We must, in this day and age of world-wide terrorism be prepared to do what all the professionals, bystanders and men and women of Forum restaurant did--go to the carnage and be a human presence of comfort and care for people who might very well be facing their last moments on earth, who might be taking their final breaths, who might be taking a last few seconds glance at the great blue sky above, usually so representative of the infinite possibilities of life in America.

Atlanta Outrage

Two years ago while working in an Atlanta suburban elementary school to foster inquiry-based instruction and curricula, I heard stories about cheating on standardized test within the city school system.  There was no proof, only rumors at that time.

Now, according to Michael Winerip in The New York Times (3/30/13) 35 school personnel have been indicted for doing just that: cheating on standardized test scores.

What were clues?  “. . .extraordinary increases in test scores from one year to the next, along with a high number of erasures on answering sheets from wrong to right.” (p. A13)

Here’s how it worked.  Students in elementary and middle schools took the high stakes tests in reading and math.  Some did well and others posted enough wrong answers to indicate sub-par achievement.  These scores were subsequently changed to indicate performances at norm or above.

How?  Teachers closeted themselves in rooms without windows and erased the incorrect responses and penciled in the correct answers.  All the while school administrators were standing guard at the door.  Principals even wore gloves while handling the test papers.

Results?  Many schools posted scores that met or exceeding given norms, showing their students to be proficient when they were not.

Principals were rewarded. Teachers received tenure and bonuses. Those whose schools failed suffered consequences, many losing their jobs.  “Low score---out the door,” noted one involved teacher.  You can imagine the psychological pressures on teachers and administrators. 

How did this happen?  The allegations are that leadership, including the Superintendent, so insisted upon superior performance, with “no excuses,” that cheating proliferated.

 The practice supposedly began in 2004.  Said one involved teacher, “The cheating had been going on so long, we considered it part of our job.”  That was the norm, test score sheets, erasers, closed doors and protective gloves.

What’s sad is that the district took these means to boost students’ performance,  giving all a false sense of achievement, especially the students.

The outrage is that district leadership has thereby cheated its students out of the instructional work needed to learn how to read, write and compute satisfactorily.

The further outrage is that these leaders and teachers garnered for themselves all of the kudos, while their children suffered.  “Look at us!” they proclaimed.  “Our students performed at or above their grade levels!  They’ve improved so dramatically!  We must be doing something right!”  NOT.

They cheated the kids out of their anticipated growth had the district taught them the basics as they should have done.  The leadership gave up on the kids and said to themselves, “The only way to get these children to succeed is to cheat!”

Shame on them!

High expectations are splendid and they certainly are what we need in order to ensure that all students, regardless of SES, talent, learning abilities and the like, succeed. 

Honest educators about the land are working with determination, skill, art, research and persistence to ensure that all children succeed to the best of their ability.  The record of KIPP schools and others (P21 districts, for example) attest to our successes with all students.

We want all kids to grow up to be curious, and to pursue meaningful inquiries in all their classes.  But we’ll never get there so long as high stakes tests are the measurement for teachers’ and administrators’ performance.

In some districts standardized tests are counting 50% of a teacher’s evaluation.  Here in NYC it may be 20%.  State legislators might take a lesson from Atlanta about the over-riding impact of high stakes testing and their detrimental effects on some of our students.

Leaders should foster amongst all educators the alternative means of observing students’ growth in 21st century skills: inquiry, problem solving, critical/creative thinking.  We do see such growth in kindergarten teachers observing and tracking students’ growth in asking good questions; sixth and eighth grade teachers monitoring students’ abilities to think critically; and high school teachers who challenge students to create their own math problems, and  to analyze data in literature and physics classes.  (See How Do We Know They’re Getting Better? Assessment for 21st Century Minds, K-8: www.morecuriousminds.com) 

Students need to be able to ask good questions, think analytically and creatively, to be entrepreneurs and innovators.  In order to achieve these goals we need to buckle down and ensure that all our children can read, write and compute skillfully.

Newtown, Our Town

Newtown,  Our Town

Newtown, Connecticut is all America.

We grieve for our lost children and their teachers.

But in those first grade classrooms, we see what America can mean, not in death, but in the lives of joy and hope reflected here. 

Robbie Parker spoke of his daughter Emilie as “bright, creative and very loving, adding “I am proud to be her father.”

Donna Soto, mother of Vicki, told us she expected Vicki would do exactly as she did, shield her first graders from the gunman, telling him that they were in the gym.  For that she lost her life.

Dawn Hochsprung, the principal, ran out of her office attempting to tackle the shooter.  She lost her life together with five other educators, all women.

Mr. Parker urged us not to let this tragedy “turn into something that defines us.”

And how do we wish to be defined, we Americans who suffer with all of Newtown and who are appalled at the loss of life?

We shall be defined by the courage of the educators who gave their lives for the sake of their children.

“Greater love has no one than this, that she lay down her life for others.”

And we can be defined by the children.  President Obama quoted Jesus’ saying, “Let the little children come to me. . .For such belong to the Kingdom of Heaven.”

This is the essence of Heaven, the bright, creative,  loving and innocent spirits of Emilie and her classmates--the joy of being alive, having fun on the playground swooping down the turning slides,  playing Hide ‘n Seek, house, school and being fearless astronauts on Mars.

Noted theologian Reinhold Neibuhr once observed that “The individual faces the eternal in every moment and in every action of his life.”  

And what is this “eternal” if not the life reflected in the playfulness of children, their eagerness to explore, to discover and to find out? We see the “eternal” in every child’s curiosity about new stories, colorful, strange rocks or animals, and wondrous displays on an iPad.  We see the “eternal” in their holding hands with each other as they faced danger, being together with playmates, then and now.

What is the “eternal” if not the dedication, love, sacrifice and courage of adults who serve others, who work tirelessly so that they can grow, develop into their fullest potential? 

And we see the “eternal” in every parent’s loving her children, leading them off on a new adventure, to explore, discover and continue to wonder.

In our sorrow, we can remember Emilie, all her playmates, Vicki, and Dawn and learn from them, learn to see newer worlds of hope, faith and love in their lives.

Poet William Blake challenged us 

“To see a World in a grain of sand,

And Heaven in a wild flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

The Eternal is reflected in the wild flower and the grain of sand just as it is in Emilie’s joyfulness and Vicki’s total love and devotion to those she called her children.

Yes, Newtown is Our Town.

Lincoln, Language and Liberty

Go see “Lincoln.”

You will view superb actors bringing to life one of the most monumental struggles in American history--that concerning the abolition of slavery.

Daniel Day-Lewis exemplifies the almost severe gravity of having to lead a country during the worst war in our history--a civil war-- all the while showing his humanity in the prosecution thereof.

Sally Field, according to an NPR interview with Bob Edwards, noted that during the filming all major characters stayed within character during the entire shoot.  And she is heart-wrenching at times fighting for the life of her oldest child, Robert.

A real surprise is James Spader, unrecognizable from “Boston Legal,” as the head lobbyist, the one who dashes from the House of Representatives floor to the White House with a most consequential note to the President during the day of the vote.  We surely see how lobbying became the all-entrenched force it is today on K Street with votes back in 1865 being bought, and needed Democratic (!) supporters being bribed for a good cause.

But the character that stands out in my mind is one Thaddeus Stevens, he a congressman and long-time abolitionist, played superbly by Tommy Lee Jones.  Stevens had long advocated full rights for Negroes prior to the vote, but on that date i Lincoln needed him to be full-throated in his advocacy of equal rights under existing law.  Almost to deny that he advocated that ultimately blacks would have the right to vote as citizens.  Remember that privilege was reserved at the time for white men.

In a most dramatic moment you can see Stevens mulling over the conflict in his mind--between full rights as citizens or only those within current law.  His final pronouncement leads to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment by Congress and, subsequently, ratification by three quarters of the states.

Upon reflection I am struck by  the overwhelming power of language in our country to guarantee, or to secure for generations, the liberty so necessary for the welfare of the country, for the preservation of the union.

The Thirteenth Amendment reads, in part, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Here we see the power of language for what did “slavery” and “involuntary servitude” mean in 1865?  Surely they referred to the condition experienced by those brought unwillingly to our shores, many of whom fought during this conflict.

But today do these words have any bearing on us, as citizens, as educators?

You might be as surprised as I was to learn that in 1996 a high school student in Rye Neck School District (NY) filed suit claiming that the school’s requirement to perform 40 hours of community service constituted “involuntary servitude.”  The plaintiff also claimed, using the Fourteenth Amendment, that such service violated his parents’ right to educate him in accordance with their own philosophy and priorities.

How would you have ruled on that decision? (http://csl.sog.unc.edu/node/1238)

Notice also how many famous Supreme Court cases come down to interpretations of language:  “separate but equal. . . corporation/person. . . speech. . . regulate interstate commerce. . .the right to bear arms. . .to  peaceably assemble. . .the establishment of religion” and so on.

What Thaddeus Stevens could not articulate in order to get the amendment through the House was his very strong belief in the rights of  all men to vote and to establish relationships of their choosing.

Notice that in our last election how that right to vote was challenged in many states with laws requiring voter identification and other means.  In other words, we cannot take our liberties for granted.

What Lincoln, Stevens and the others portrayed in this film is the sometimes sausage-making process necessary to pursue lofty ideals, the right of all men and women to live lives of self-determination toward the pursuit of happiness.

Tommy Lee Jones said about his role:  “Politics and government was conducted with language through oratory. People had to speak their minds rather than insinuate them.”

Language matters deeply and we see it during election cycles when words are carelessly and mindlessly hurled around and toward various candidates in order to persuade, often words or claims without any basis in fact whatsoever.

Words matter as they affect people’s well-being and, perhaps, their survival.

Go see the movie. 

Teacher Evaluation and Students' Progress

Teachers in Chicago, Newark (NJ)  and all across America are being asked to accept new systems of evaluation.  Here in New York City the use of standardized tests for this purpose will constitute forty percent of their total evaluation, with principal observations and other data comprising the remaining sixty percent.

Part of the impetus for such use of these kinds of measures stems from President Obama’s Race-to-the-Top competitions where there have been certain criteria specified in order to succeed in this process, one of them including a most appropriate emphasis on improving education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM programs.  Another criterion has been the desire to show how we will hold teachers (and I trust administrators) accountable for their work. 

Teachers are not protesting the need nor logic for their being held accountable.  No, they justly protest having from twenty-five to forty percent of their professional evaluation based upon measures scored with a one-time, bubble-test or Scantron sheet.  Why?

These tests were not designed for the purposes assessing teacher competence. They are all-too brief snapshots of students’ knowledge at one moment.

And, what they measure is important but it’s not the be all and end all.

No, what we should be looking at are ways of assessing students long-term growth in what schools say they are all about.  Each school mission statement contains statements like these:

“We hold high academic standards for all students and expect each will become a responsible citizen of our American democracy.

We want all students to dream, achieve and contribute to a global society.”

On a more specific basis there is one school district (Greenwich, CT)  that paints a portrait of the graduate that calls for her, assuming content knowledge, “to pose and pursue substantive questions” and then engage in the problem solving, critical thinking and ethical behavior required.

To become responsible, active contributors to our society we need students to exhibit what we now call 21st century skills and capacities--inquiry, problem solving, critical/creative, reflective thought, leadership, collaborative skills and skillful use of technology.  

Also within the Race-to-the-Top program Secretary Duncan is his much needed call for alternative means of assessing students’ growth, ones that do not rely upon standardized tests.

Isn’t it reasonable that we should as educators develop these alternative means of observing, monitoring and drawing conclusions about students’ getting better at posing good questions, engaging in scientific reasoning, thinking critically and creatively and using technology?    Knowing Newton’s three laws of motion, themes within Charlotte’s Web and how to prove triangles congruent are important, but we need more than this kind of declarative and skill knowledge to become responsible citizens who can think, discern fact from fiction and create a plan for their own and others’ improvement.

How do we do this?

We use all of the long term, reliable and direct means available through teacher observations; students’ journals posted on  Google Docs, Groups/Plus, Moodle, Edmodo, wikis; performance tests; traditional assessments, interviews and metacognitive reflections.

We can observe Lorraine Radford’s kindergarten students in West Vancouver, BC, growing from making statements about fish--”That’s a clown fish”--in September to asking in April during a unit of The Oceans--”Do you think that anglerfish think humans are fish sometimes?”   Notice the growth from observing and stating facts (as most kindergartners do) to being able to ask a question that puts the questioner into the mind of the anglerfish.  Lorraine monitors students’ asking more and increasingly complex questions using tried and true means of keeping accurate notes during class and posting them to each student’s spread sheet on her computer.

We can observe eighth grade students in Catalina Foothills (AZ) growing from being what their teacher Patricia Burrows calls a “Cookie Cutter A” student, one who recites what the teacher wants to hear, to one who can critique  Animal Farm using analogical reasoning in written essays by comparing Napoleon in the story to Stalin and Hitler.  Critical thinking involves this kind of reasoning together with asking good questions about sources, evidence, definitions and bias.

Educators across the land know how to do this by using their own and district frameworks like those within Project 21 schools (like Catalina Foothills), focused as they are upon critical thinking as one element in educating for 21st century skills. (See CFSD  rubrics:  http://www.cfsd16.org/public/_century/centMain.aspx)

The key will be to convince educators that these skills are indeed necessary, that we can observe and monitor students’ performance progress therein and then communicate such results to parents, use them for our own teacher inquiry study groups and for our own professional development .

Having background knowledge about plate tectonics, the Civil War and Shakespeare’s major characters is important.  But students need to know how to apply such information in our globalized world that changes with ever increasing acceleration.  And we need to know how well they are doing at becoming active, responsible citizens who can contribute to our American democracy and the globalized society.

There is, indeed, “value added” in being able to establish alternative, reliable and valid ways of assessing students’ development and academic progress.

John Barell

Author: How Do We Know They’re Getting Better?  Assessment for 21st Century Minds, K-8.

Bernstein, Sousa and Jefferson

On Independence Day, Nancy and I enjoyed celebratory music offered by the New York Philharmonic and the Hellcats and Jazz Knights from the West Point Band.

The conductor, Bramwell Tovey,  leapt to the podium, pointed his baton at the Philharmonic snare drummer and we were instantly on our feet for “The Star Spangled Banner.”  We attempted to sing, but were caught up in the emotions of the moment reflecting the history of this anthem.

Familiar tunes from On the Town and Candide roused the audience as a packed house settled into the coolness of Lincoln Center, avoiding the intense heat of New York City outside.

The West Point Hellcats and Jazz Knights offered stirring renditions of  “America the Beautiful,”  Glen Miller’s “In the Mood,” and several military marches, including Sousa’s “Liberty Bell.”   


There can be few scenes that stir the soul of a former military person than the sight and sound of a precision drum and bugle corps blaring forth from bright silver horns and philharmonic field drums very strong cadences that reminded me of my favorite march of all time, “The Guadalcanal March” from Richard Roger’s World War II suite, Victory at Sea.

Following these selections conductor Army Lt. Colonel Jim Keene invited all current and past service personnel and their families to stand during the playing of their respective anthems, “Semper Paratus (Coast Guard), Anchors Aweigh,  The Marine Hymn, The Caisson Song (Army) and The Wild Blue Yonder (Air Force).”  Men and women, young and old, stood in silent attention at their seats as the corps musicians in crisp blue uniforms brought all of us to memories of having served this great nation,  and of those who paid the last full measure.

All during these emotionally-charged performances I recalled having read the Declaration of Independence in the morning’s New York Times.  There were the words that laid the foundation for our country,  “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands which have connected them with another. . . We, therefore. . .declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States. . .”

Most memorable, perhaps, are the words that each of us is endowed by our “Creator with certain unalienable rights, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”   Derived from writings of John Locke--who championed the pursuit of Life, Liberty and Property--Jefferson changed Property to Happiness, a word for which he then invoked civic virtues of courage,  justice and, perhaps, service.

Another thing that struck me was that “imposing taxes without our consent” was listed by Jefferson in the middle of a much longer list of grievances, commencing with “He—[King George III]—has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. . .” and ending with references to “Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. . . suspending our own Legislatures. . . excited domestic insurrections amongst us” and caused the impressment of our sailors at sea.

What I remember from high school US History are the grievances about taxes, the Stamp tax, Tea Party and the like.  How time has faded our memories of original causes.

The most stirring tune on Independence Day was, of course, John Philip Sousa’s magnificent “Stars and Stripes Forever;”  its cadences sent our hearts to marching inwardly in ways that would be reflected that evening by seeing James Cagney as George M. Cohan, creator of  “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Over There,”  strut, march, parade  himself across the stage in his own inimitable fashion.  For these two hymns Franklin Roosevelt awarded Cohan the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

We were reminded once again that freedom comes with high costs; that thousands have given their lives that we might breathe free and speak our own minds.  A little sign on the walker of a WWII veteran and friend of my mother’s says it all, “If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you’re reading it in English, thank a GI."

Every year we need to be reminded of how we came together to establish this great country on the ideas of Liberty, Equality and the Happiness of those civic virtues--courage, justice and public service.  And how on so many occasions our parents and grandparents sacrificed as necessary on all fronts--abroad and at home--to preserve, protect defend these rights. 

21st Century Skills--Critical Thinking

Recently, a US Federal District Judge, Sam Haddon in Helena, MT threw out a case brought by four readers of Greg Mortenson’s famed Three Cups of Tea.  The plaintiffs claimed that Mortenson had distorted the truth in order to build his reputation and sell more books.  For this they charged him with “fraud and racketeering.”

Judge Haddon dismissed these charges as “flimsy and speculative. . .” claiming that their racketeering charges “are fraught with shortcomings.”

My first response was delight that Mortenson, who is responsible for bringing education to thousands of Afghanis and Pakistanis, was relieved of yet another burden.  (If you have yet to read his books, please do so.)

A second response was Hurray! for critical thinking.  Judge Haddon found no credible evidence to support plaintiffs charges.

Too often we find people in the public eye making claims they just cannot support with reliable evidence.  That’s what the Common Core Standards in Language Arts repeatedly call for students to be able to do, support claims with good evidence.  

This is one aspect of critical thinking.

How often do we hear “The economy (or my economic plan) will do this or that” without any supporting documentation, given nor asked for?  

Another aspect of critical thinking is too often seen by its absence: asking good questions about claims.

Recently, on one of the cable news channels, I watched as five people discussed and debated the merits of this claim: “The war on terror is over.”

During the discussion about effects of this claim no one bothered to raise any of the following essential questions:

Who said it?  To whom? When? Under what circumstances?

And, why was it said?  What  was the speaker’s or writer’s motivation?

These would seem to be quite basic questions.  The claim was made that this assertion came from “an administration spokesperson.”  But who?  A fifth ranked member of a branch of the State Department or Director of Central Intelligence?  Was it said the day before the program or in a leaked memo  directly after the killing of Osama bin Laden?

Other questions would include this one: What was said directly before this claim and after?  Even the Bible says, “There is no God.”  But we know that what precedes this claim is “The fool has said in his heart.” (Psalm 14: 1-3)   Context can be king.

How to foster critical thinking in humanities ought to be obvious.  We present students with challenges to analyze and evaluate actions and ideas in literature and history.  Students arrive at conclusions with supporting evidence.  We begin educating for logical thinking at a very young age.

For example, John Selkirk teaches first grade in Ottawa and one of his goals is to challenge students to think critically by  interpreting human emotions in pictures.  “How’s she feeling?”  Sad.   Students quickly learn to ask their friends, “What makes you say that?” What’s the evidence in the picture telling you she feels sad?

Pat Burrows in Catalina Foothills (AZ) challenges her students to think analogically about Napoleon in Orwell’s Animal Farm: compare him to other historical figures and support your conclusions.  We do the same when we claim “This conflict is just like---”  Again, what are the reasons with what kinds of evidence?

In math, we can strive for students always getting the right answer.  Or, we could educate them to think analytically by asking good, critical questions: “What am I asked to do?  What’s the key information?  How is this problem like others?  Can I draw a picture?  What are important assumptions?  Can I break it into smaller parts?” and once solved “How might I have solved it another way?”

We can foster critical thinking in sciences where we inquire, suggest testable hypotheses, analyze data, draw conclusions and provide evidence.  We can also ask good questions about problematic situations and claims.  A good way to diagnose students’ scientific reasoning is to present them with a complex problem in September and record the kinds of questions they can ask about it.  Then compare this throughout the year.

As Jacob Bronowski, noted scientist and poet observed, “That is the essence of science: ask an impertinent question and you are on the way to a pertinent answer.”

Critical thinking is analyzing situations, and using available evidence to arrive at conclusions.  It also means possessing that certain skepticism that leads to asking impertinent questions.  Skeptics are not negative. 

As Thomas Merton noted in his Secular Journal (1969): “. . . the true skeptic doubts in order that he may know.”