[House Hearing, 109 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: HOW INNOVATIVE
EDUCATORS ARE INTEGRATING SUBJECT
MATTERS TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
AND THE WORKFORCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
May 18, 2006
__________
Serial No. 109-41
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and the Workforce
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/
house
or
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______
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COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
HOWARD P. ``BUCK'' McKEON, California, Chairman
Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin, Vice George Miller, California,
Chairman Ranking Minority Member
Michael N. Castle, Delaware Dale E. Kildee, Michigan
Sam Johnson, Texas Major R. Owens, New York
Mark E. Souder, Indiana Donald M. Payne, New Jersey
Charlie Norwood, Georgia Robert E. Andrews, New Jersey
Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan Robert C. Scott, Virginia
Judy Biggert, Illinois Lynn C. Woolsey, California
Todd Russell Platts, Pennsylvania Ruben Hinojosa, Texas
Patrick J. Tiberi, Ohio Carolyn McCarthy, New York
Ric Keller, Florida John F. Tierney, Massachusetts
Tom Osborne, Nebraska Ron Kind, Wisconsin
Joe Wilson, South Carolina Dennis J. Kucinich, Ohio
Jon C. Porter, Nevada David Wu, Oregon
John Kline, Minnesota Rush D. Holt, New Jersey
Marilyn N. Musgrave, Colorado Susan A. Davis, California
Bob Inglis, South Carolina Betty McCollum, Minnesota
Cathy McMorris, Washington Danny K. Davis, Illinois
Kenny Marchant, Texas Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona
Tom Price, Georgia Chris Van Hollen, Maryland
Luis G. Fortuno, Puerto Rico Tim Ryan, Ohio
Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Timothy H. Bishop, New York
Charles W. Boustany, Jr., Louisiana [Vacancy]
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
Thelma D. Drake, Virginia
John R. ``Randy'' Kuhl, Jr., New
York
[Vacancy]
Vic Klatt, Staff Director
Mark Zuckerman, Minority Staff Director, General Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on May 18, 2006..................................... 1
Statement of Members:
Castle, Hon. Michael N., a Representative in Congress from
the State of Delaware, prepared statement of............... 47
McKeon, Hon. Howard P. ``Buck,'' Chairman, Committee on
Education and the Workforce................................ 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Miller, Hon. George, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on
Education and the Workforce................................ 3
Prepared statement of.................................... 5
Norwood, Hon. Charlie, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Georgia, prepared statement of.................... 48
Porter, Hon. Jon, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Nevada, prepared statement of........................... 49
Statement of Witnesses:
Ablott, Elizabeth, science resource teacher, Arlington Public
Schools, Virginia.......................................... 25
Prepared statement of.................................... 28
Garrison, Mickey, principal of Fullerton IV Elementary
School, Oregon............................................. 15
Prepared statement of.................................... 18
Holt, Frederick G., principal, Lewiston Elementary/Middle
School, Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools, Michigan....... 20
Prepared statement of.................................... 23
Lydic, Garrett W., 2006 state teacher of the year, North
Laurel Elementary School, Delaware......................... 10
Prepared statement of.................................... 11
Zeigler, Ray, fine arts specialist, Maryland State Department
of Education............................................... 31
Prepared statement of.................................... 32
Additional Testimony Submitted:
The National Council for the Social Studies, letter and
prepared statement......................................... 49
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND:
HOW INNOVATIVE EDUCATORS ARE
INTEGRATING SUBJECT MATTER TO
IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
----------
Thursday, May 18, 2006
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Education and the Workforce
Washington, DC
----------
The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in room
2175, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Howard McKeon
[chairman of the committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives McKeon, Castle, Ehlers, Biggert,
Osborne, Wilson, Porter, Kline, Inglis, Fortuno, Foxx, Miller,
Kildee, Scott, Woolsey, McCarthy, Tierney, Kind, Holt, Davis of
California, McCollum, Grijalva, and Bishop.
Staff present: James Bergeron, Counselor to the Chairman;
Amanda Farris, Professional Staff Member; Ray Grangoff,
Legislative Assistant; Jessica Gross, Press Assistant; Richard
Hoar, Professional Staff Member; Kimberly Ketchel, Deputy Press
Secretary; Lindsey Mask, Press Secretary; Chad Miller,
Coalitions Director for Education Policy; Deborah L. Emerson
Samantar, Committee Clerk/Intern Coordinator; Toyin Alli, Staff
Assistant; Alice Cain, Legislative Associate/Education; Denise
Forte, Legislative Associate/Education; Lauren Gibbs,
Legislative Associate/Education; Lloyd Horwich, Legislative
Associate/Education; Joe Novotny, Legislative Assistant/
Education; and Mark Zuckerman, Staff Director/General Counsel.
Chairman McKeon [presiding]. A quorum being present, the
Committee on Education and the Workforce will come to order.
We are holding this hearing today to hear testimony on ``No
Child Left Behind: How Innovative Educators Are Integrating
Subject Matter to Improve Student Achievement.''
With that, I ask unanimous consent for the hearing record
to remain open 14 days to allow member statements and other
extraneous material referred to during the hearing to be
submitted in the official hearing record. Without objection, so
ordered.
Good morning. I thank my colleagues for joining me at the
first in our new series of hearings on the landmark No Child
Left Behind Act. Over the past several years, our panel has
held numerous hearings on the implementation and impact of this
historic reform law. Those hearings have proven essential for
this committee in the early years of the No Child Left Behind
era, and we learned a great deal from them.
Today, we are launching a fresh, bipartisan effort during
which we will examine many critical aspects of the law. These
hearings will focus on the four essential pillars of education
reform: accountability, flexibility and local control, funding
for what works, and expanded parental options. And because next
year's reauthorization of No Child Left Behind may be the most
important law we will ever see, I am confident these
discussions will prove valuable for all of us.
I am especially eager to work with and listen to each of my
committee colleagues during this effort, including our
committee's senior Democrat, Mr. Miller; the Education Reform
Subcommittee's chairman, Mr. Castle; and the ranking member on
that panel, Mrs. Woolsey. I am pleased they are joining me in
spearheading these hearings.
Today's hearing will examine the impact of No Child Left
Behind's focus on reading and math instruction, as well as what
creative educators are doing to incorporate a wide variety of
subjects into their classroom instruction.
Initial results show No Child Left Behind is working to
improve student achievement and reduce the achievement gap
between disadvantaged students and their more fortunate peers.
Long-term trend data released last summer reveals significant
improvements in overall student achievement, with noteworthy
gains among minority students. And according to data presented
to Congress by the Council of the Great City Schools, urban
students have posted higher math and reading scores on state
tests since No Child Left Behind was signed into law.
Some have raised concerns that our initial success in
improving achievement in math and reading has narrowed the
curriculum in many of our nation's schools. I disagree.
First, math and reading comprise the foundation for any
sort of academic success, regardless of subject matter. But
more importantly, there are scores of men and women across the
country using innovative methods to teach reading and math,
while also maintaining a rich curriculum in other areas. Some
of those men and women are here today, and I am eager to hear
about their efforts, some of which will be on display this
morning.
I believe today's hearing will be an example of the
deliberate, responsible examination of the facts that we will
see in the remaining hearings in this series. At the outset, we
know this: after decades of failed reform efforts, coupled with
hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars spent with little or
no success in closing the achievement gap, the impact of No
Child Left Behind has been dramatic and a positive step forward
for students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers. We can't and
won't take a step back.
Mr. Miller has been a real leader in this effort, and he
has had to take some very courageous stands against some of his
natural constituents. He has been on this committee a lot
longer than I have, and he has seen the money that has been
spent. I know in a lot of meetings we had and the hearings and
all the things we did in writing this law, it was a real
pleasure working with him. I am really excited about it as we
go forward in the reauthorization. I look forward to our
discussion. I am eager to hear thoughts from our witnesses.
With that, I yield to Mr. Miller for his opening statement.
[The opening statement of Chairman McKeon follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, Chairman,
Committee on Education and the Workforce
Good morning. I thank my colleagues for joining me at the first in
our new series of hearings on the landmark No Child Left Behind Act.
Over the past several years, our panel has held numerous hearings on
the implementation and impact of this historic education reform law.
Those hearings have proven essential for this Committee in the early
years of the No Child Left Behind era, and we learned a great deal from
them.
Today, we are launching a fresh, bipartisan effort during which we
will examine many critical aspects of the law. These hearings will
focus on the four essential pillars of education reform:
accountability, flexibility and local control, funding for what works,
and expanded parental options. And because next year's reauthorization
of No Child Left Behind may be the most important the law will ever
see, I am confident these discussions will prove valuable for all of
us.
I am especially eager to work with and listen to each of my
committee colleagues during this effort, including our Committee's
senior Democrat, Mr. Miller; the Education Reform Subcommittee's
Chairman, Mr. Castle; and the ranking Member on that panel, Mrs.
Woolsey. I'm pleased they are joining me in spearheading these
hearings.
Today's hearing will examine the impact of No Child Left Behind's
focus on reading and math instruction, as well as what creative
educators are doing to incorporate a wide variety of subjects into
their classroom instruction.
Initial results show No Child Left Behind is working to improve
student achievement and reduce the achievement gap between
disadvantaged students and their more fortunate peers. Long-term trend
data released last summer reveals significant improvements in overall
student achievement, with noteworthy gains among minority students. And
according to data presented to Congress by the Council of the Great
City Schools, urban students have posted higher math and reading scores
on state tests since No Child Left Behind was signed into law.
Some have raised concerns that our initial success in improving
achievement in math and reading has narrowed the curriculum in many of
our nation's schools. I disagree.
First, math and reading comprise the foundation for any sort of
academic success, regardless of subject matter. But more importantly,
there are scores of men and women across the country using innovative
methods to teach reading and math while also maintaining a rich
curriculum in other areas. Some of those men and women are here today,
and I am eager to hear about their efforts, some of which will be on
display this morning.
I believe today's hearing will be an example of the deliberate,
responsible examination of the facts that we'll see in the remaining
hearings in this series. At the outset, we know this: after decades of
failed reform efforts, coupled with hundreds of billions of taxpayer
dollars spent with little or no success in closing the achievement gap,
the impact of No Child Left Behind has been dramatic--and a positive
step forward for students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers. We can't--
and won't--take a step back. I look forward to this hearing and our
entire series, and I yield to my friend Mr. Miller for his opening
statement.
______
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you so much for beginning this series of hearings
in advance of the reauthorization next year. I think it is
important. I think it gives us an opportunity and the time to
hear from those people who are on the frontlines trying to make
No Child Left Behind work, and also those who are having
difficulty with it, and some of that for very sound reasons. We
should pay attention to all of these comments.
As one of the original co-authors of No Child Left Behind,
I get asked a lot about NCLB's future. Our challenge with
reauthorization next year will be to maintain the core values
of the law, that is closing the achievement gap, helping all
children become proficient in the knowledge and the skills that
they need at grade-level and to graduate, and making sure that
they have a highly qualified teacher in their classrooms, while
still being responsive to the legitimate concerns that have
been raised.
No Child Left Behind is making a difference. School
districts across the country that have taken the goals of this
law to heart and are working to improve the academic
achievement of their children. The achievement gap is closing
between African American and white children, between Hispanic
and white children, between high-and low-income children, and
we are making progress in many school districts.
However, we can do better. The criticisms we hear are valid
in many instances. I look forward to hearing from teachers and
parents, students and principals, and superintendents and
others on how we can address them. One of the criticisms that
we hear about No Child Left Behind is that it focuses on
reading and math for accountability purposes, and that leads
educators to narrow the curriculum focusing on these subjects
at the expense of others.
I have visited a number of schools, however, where this
concern has been raised, including most recently schools in
South Dakota, in Pine Ridge on the Rosebud Reservation. I also
saw educators who were integrating curriculum in exciting ways,
such as the ones the teachers and students were using media and
video and movies to learn important math concepts in the
process.
I was pleased that the National Indian Education
Association has provided written testimony for today's hearing
and thank them for reminding the committee and the members and
the stakeholders that NCLB explicitly recognizes the unique
educational and culturally related academic needs of Native
American children. There is a great interest in hearings on the
impact of NCLB on Native American children. I look forward to
taking a closer look at that issue during reauthorization.
It is important for us to acknowledge that NCLB has put
pressure on educators to re-think their curriculum and to
sometimes make tough choices. If a child is not proficient in
reading, I think we would all agree that it is urgently
important and in the best interest of that child for his or her
school to prioritize reading and do whatever it takes to make
sure that he or she learns this most basic skill.
Without mastering reading, the child will be hard-pressed
to understand their social studies text and other subjects.
They will be hampered in numerous ways throughout life. Most
would agree, however, that we do not want this increased focus
on reading to come at the expense of history, social studies,
arts and other subjects that add balance and richness to the
learning experience.
We also need to acknowledge that the creative and
innovative educators across this country, who are represented
on this panel today, are thinking creatively and finding ways
to make sure that it is not an either/or proposition for
students, not reading or history or math or music. These
educators are finding innovative ways to make sure that their
students get the best of all subjects and their achievements
are soaring in these schools.
One thing in particular that I will be listening for today
is what we in Congress can do during the reauthorization is how
we avoid that either/or choice. And I would hope that our
panelists would be able to explain to us how they have been
able to do that. We have to think how we can encourage and make
this more feasible for educators to think in creative,
innovative and successful approaches to follow what we will
hear today.
And, Mr. Chairman, I want to say that I think this is a
very positive beginning to the reauthorization process, that we
will hear those who have been successful in the process, those
who are struggling, and those who are making attempts but
haven't quite figured it out yet, so that we can make sure that
this law works for all of the districts and certainly for all
of our children.
Thank you very much.
Prepared Statement of Hon. George Miller, Ranking Minority Member,
Committee on Education and the Workforce
Good morning. I want to thank Chairman McKeon for scheduling
today's hearing and starting the process of reviewing No Child Left
Behind. It has been over four years since we enacted this law and I am
eager to hear from our panelists about how it has worked for them and,
most importantly, for their students.
As one of the original authors of No Child Left Behind, I get asked
a lot about NCLB's future. Our challenge with reauthorization next year
will be to maintain the core values of the law--closing the achievement
gap and helping all children become proficient in the knowledge and
skills they need to graduate--while still being responsive to
legitimate concerns.
No Child Left Behind is making a difference. School districts
across the country have taken the goals of this law to heart and are
working to improve academic achievement for their students.
The achievement gap is closing between African American and white
children, between Hispanic and white children, and between high- and
low-income children. We are making progress in many school districts.
However, we can do better. The criticisms we hear are valid in many
instances and I look forward to hearing from teachers, parents,
students, principals, superintendents, and others about how we can
address them.
One of the criticisms that we hear about NCLB is that its focus on
reading and math for accountability purposes leads educators to narrow
the curriculum, focusing on these subjects at the expense of others. I
have visited a number of schools where this concern has been raised
including, most recently, schools in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge and
Rosebud Indian Reservations.
But I also saw educators there who were integrating curriculum in
exciting ways--such as one teacher whose students were making their own
movies, and learning important math concepts in the process.
I am pleased that the National Indian Education Association has
provided written testimony for today's hearing and thank them for
reminding committee Members and stakeholders that NCLB explicitly
recognizes the unique educational and culturally-related academic needs
of Native American children. There is great interest in hearings on the
impact of NCLB on Native American children and I look forward to taking
a close look at this issue during reauthorization.
It is important for us to acknowledge that NCLB has put pressure on
educators to rethink their curriculum and to sometimes make tough
choices. If a child is not proficient in reading, I think we would all
agree that it is urgently important--and in the best interest of that
child--for his or her school to prioritize reading and do whatever it
takes to make sure he or she learns this most basic of skills.
Without mastering reading, a child will be hard-pressed to
understand their social studies text, or other subjects--and they will
be hampered in numerous ways throughout life. Most would agree,
however, that we do not want this increased focus on reading to come at
the expense of history, social studies, the arts, or other subjects
that add balance and richness to the learning experience.
We also need to acknowledge the creative and innovative educators
across the country--who are represented by our panel today--who are
thinking creatively and finding ways to make sure that it's not an
``either-or'' proposition for their students--not reading or history,
or math or music.
These educators are finding innovative ways to make sure their
students get the best of all subjects and their achievement is soaring
at these schools.
One thing in particular that I will be listening for today is what
we in Congress can do during the reauthorization to prevent schools
from feeling that they must choose the ``either-or'' approach.
We must also think about how we can encourage--and make it more
feasible--for more educators to take creative, innovative, and
successful approaches like those we will hear about today.
Nothing we will do on this committee is more important than
ensuring that we live up to No Child Left Behind's promise of
opportunity and a quality education for every child.
I appreciate all that each of our panelists are doing to make this
a reality and look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
______
Chairman McKeon. Thank you. I am happy to hear you talk
about visiting Pine Ridge and Rosebud, South Dakota, North
Dakota, those areas where my younger brother years ago was a
missionary for our church, and he served in that area. I
remember him telling me stories about the problems they had. He
has since passed away a few years ago. I wish he were still
here. I wish he could talk to you about some of those things.
Mr. Miller. A lot of challenges, but there are some
fascinating things going on in some of those isolated small
schools.
Chairman McKeon. That is great.
I yield now to my good friend, the chairman of the
Subcommittee on Education Reform, Mr. Castle.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am also excited to be here this morning for the first of
our upcoming hearings on No Child Left Behind. Let me clarify
that, because we have had I think about 10 hearings on the
implementation of No Child Left Behind. We are now entering
into a stage of preparing for the reauthorization of No Child
Left Behind with a series of hearings which we have announced.
I am also excited to hear from all of our witnesses, all of
whom have done exemplary things in education and who took time
out of their schedules to be with us today. We thank you.
Over the course of the past several years, I have often
argued that we are encountering one of the most exciting times
in education. I have said this and continue to say this for a
couple of reasons. First, we are all engaged as a country on
closing the achievement gap. This conversation is happening at
all levels of government, among parents, academics and
especially in our school systems. This dialog and support is
key and provides necessary momentum.
Second, which will be highlighted today, is the fact that
our educators are not shying away from the demands of No Child
Left Behind. Over the course of my visits to schools and in
almost every press report, I hear about a teacher,
administrator or parent who has done something to raise the
achievement level of students in their lives. We must all
remember that ultimately the point of No Child Left Behind is
the needs of our students.
One of my visits took me to Laurel, Delaware, where I met
Garrett Lydic, who is here to testify before us today. I do not
want to give away any of his testimony, but as soon as I saw
him in the classroom with the students, I knew that I wanted to
share what I saw with my colleagues.
Quickly, I learned that innovative teaching methods and
integration are happening in many schools across the country.
What is interesting, and we sometimes don't think about in
education, is that in our everyday lives we integrate various
subject areas. Think about your day and you will notice that it
is rare that you ever sit down to a task and focus solely on
math or history of whatever. Not only is integration realistic
and yet another way to make learning fun, but it defies those
who believe that No Child Left Behind narrows curriculum.
I look forward to hearing from all of you and thank you for
being with us today. After years of implementation, we have
reached a point where we are able to both discuss
implementation of No Child Left Behind, as well as the
impending reauthorization. I want to thank Chairman McKeon for
working with me when deciding our list of hearings. I look
forward to working under your chairmanship in highlighting No
Child Left Behind successes and identifying ways in which we
may be able to improve the law. Because one thing is for sure,
it is here to stay.
Finally, I would like to recognize Ranking Member Miller's
staunch support of the law. I very much look forward to our
continued partnership.
I yield back.
Chairman McKeon. Thank you.
I now recognize my fellow Californian and the ranking
member on the subcommittee, Ms. Woolsey.
Ms. Woolsey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
beginning this series of hearings on next year's
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
I also want to thank Ranking Member Miller and subcommittee
chairman, Mr. Castle, because I look forward to working with
all of you in recognizing what needs to be rewritten in the No
Child Left Behind law and keeping what is working absolutely as
solid as we can.
We must ensure that each child receives a world-class
education and we know that that is the right thing to do for
every single child in this country. We know that it is an
investment in our country's future.
The president and the Congress, however, have underinvested
in the No Child Left Behind Act by more than $40 billion. In
fact, the only thing about No Child Left Behind funding that
has increased every year is the gap between what the president
and the Congress promised our children and what they have
provided our children.
So we need to keep ourselves accountable and keep our
promise to fully fund No Child Left Behind. But we also have to
ask hard questions about the law itself. We all agree with the
law's goal of closing the achievement gap and the increased
public focus on that issue has been extremely positive
throughout the nation. But we must ask whether beyond
highlighting the problems, this law is helping schools to fix
the problems.
I look forward to hearing testimony today and in the coming
months from students, parents, teachers, principals,
administrators, those who actually deal with this every single
day of their lives. I have spoken extensively with parents and
educators in my district, people who are dedicated to the
success of every student. Many of them tell me that No Child
Left Behind has become a tool to label schools, not always
accurately, instead of a tool to help them help their students.
I know that those concerns are not limited to my district.
That is why I believe this reauthorization is so very critical.
My priorities for reauthorization are a law that is fair,
flexible and fully funded, and the result of a process that
includes all perspectives, both on current law and on how best
to educate our children, ideas and thoughts that will give the
law the credibility it needs from all participants in our
children's education in order to succeed.
Mr. Chairman, I believe that today can mark the beginning
of this process. I also wanted to thank you for making arts
education one of today's topics. A recent report suggests that
in many schools, No Child Left Behind has resulted in more time
for math and reading and less for arts and history, and that
these trends may be more pronounced in high-minority schools. I
have heard this from my district as well.
Representative Castle and I recently encouraged the
Department of Education to conduct a survey on the extent of
arts education in our public schools. This is not about
minimizing the importance of math and reading, which we all
know to be essential, but about ensuring that every child has
access to a well-rounded education and educating the whole
child.
So I look forward to hearing our witnesses. I want to hear
what your experiences are. I am particularly interested in
integration of arts education and other subjects throughout the
curriculum.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman McKeon. We have a distinguished panel of witnesses
here today. I would like to begin by welcoming them and
introducing them.
I would like to ask Mr. Castle if he would introduce Mr.
Lydic.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lydic is a physical education teacher in grades 2
through 4 at North Laurel Elementary School in Laurel,
Delaware. He has recently been chosen as Delaware's teacher of
the year for 2006. As a teacher, Mr. Lydic has excelled in
integrating academic subjects into his physical education
curriculum.
Also joining Mr. Lydic are some of his students: Alissa
Gibbons, Gaby Colver, Shanda Mann, Alexa Thuddy, Natalie Savan,
and J.T. Tindall. If I omitted anybody, I hope you will
introduce them too, Mr. Lydic.
His wife Leslie is also here. I saw the two of them
teaching together, as a matter of fact, when I was down
visiting the school. She is also obviously a phys-ed teacher in
the same district. And Cristy Greaves, the principal, is also
here. We welcome them and perhaps some parents who are here as
well.
So we welcome Mr. Lydic here. I yield back for the other
introductions.
Chairman McKeon. Mr. Miller, would you please introduce Dr.
Garrison?
Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Mickey Garrison and I met over a cup of coffee at a
math summit that was called by the filmmaker George Lucas. Many
know of George Lucas because of Star Wars and American Graffiti
and so many great films, but he has been passionate about
education, and the George Lucas Education Foundation put
together a math summit for teachers and professors of math and
researchers from all over the country.
Dr. Garrison and her partner there, Tammy, were picked out,
and they had a video that they showed about how they
incorporate math, and some of that will be in her testimony. We
won't be able to see the whole video, but she rocked that hall.
So it was her video against George Lucas's, and she was winning
in that hall with those math teachers about the excitement in
that school.
I want to thank you very much for inviting them to
participate.
Chairman McKeon. We get to visit lots of schools, and we
get to see some exciting things happening. You hear all the
negatives, but one of the good things about being on this
committee is we get to visit schools and see a lot of exciting
things happening.
I am glad that we have a couple of principals here today.
Rightly so, there is a lot of talk about teachers and their
importance. We don't talk enough about parents and their
importance. We don't talk enough about principals and their
importance.
I can walk on a campus, and I can tell if that is a good
school. It is a feeling you feel right away. And that is set by
the principal, and then it funnels down through every teacher
and through the students.
We have another principal here this morning, Mr. Rick Holt.
He spent the last 8 years as principal of the Lewiston K-8
School in rural Lewiston, Michigan, where he has seen his
school of 350 students go from being labeled as chronically
under-performing to a school of excellence, receiving an ``A''
from the Michigan Department of Education. Prior to his work at
Lewiston, Mr. Holt worked in the Atlanta community in Michigan,
where he spent 5 years as principal of approximately 300
students in a pre-K-6 school.
Next, we have Mrs. Betsy Ablott, a teacher at Arlington
Science Focus School in Arlington, Virginia. At the Science
Focus School, Ms. Ablott has been an instructional leader,
having served as the lead science teacher and also a mentor
teacher for her fellow faculty. Ms. Ablott has been a classroom
teacher since 1998 and is currently working to obtain her Ph.D.
at George Mason University School of Education.
Mr. Ray Zeigler is a fine arts specialist for the Maryland
State Department of Education, where one of his principal
responsibilities is directing the Maryland Artist-Teacher
Institute, a professional development program for integrating
the arts at the elementary and middle school levels. For 3
years, Mr. Zeigler functioned as a coordinator for the Maryland
Music Curriculum Task Force and later chaired the Maryland Fine
Arts Task Force, which developed the essential learner outcomes
in the fine arts.
We are really happy to have you here and really look
forward to the things you are going to talk about. This is
going to be a little different than many hearings where we have
the panelists tell us things. They are also going to show us
some things and are going to involve some of their students
here, so it should be a very exciting hearing.
On a point of personal privilege, I have in the audience my
cousin of many years--I won't say how old she is, but she is
younger than I am--and her husband, Becky Dorsh, her husband
Peter, and their son. So I am happy to have them here.
Now, we will hear from Mr. Lydic.
STATEMENT OF GARRETT W. LYDIC, 2006 STATE TEACHER OF THE YEAR,
NORTH LAUREL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Mr. Lydic. Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Miller and other
distinguished members of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce, good morning and thank you for the opportunity to
testify before you today about something so near and dear to my
heart.
My name is Garrett Lydic, and I teach approximately 550
2nd-, 3rd-and 4th-grade students, with physical education as my
discipline, at North Laurel Elementary School in Laurel,
Delaware. This past year, I was awarded Delaware's teacher of
the year for 2006. Two days during our school's 6-day cycle, I
have the privilege of working alongside of my wife Leslie, also
a physical educator within the Laurel School District.
The main goal of our program is to hook our students on
physical activity by exposing them to a variety of movement
opportunities that are fun, stimulating and that allow each of
them to experience their own personal level of success. We have
discovered through our experience over the last 10 years that
physical education is an ideal vehicle for reinforcing the
academic standards that students are learning within their
classrooms.
During many of our physical activities, students apply the
concept they are learning in areas such as math, science,
writing and reading to achieve a goal. We have discovered that
our students get exciting about learning academic content
standards in this manner because they are performing physical
activities, rather than the typical classroom activities where
students are seated at their desks.
The success of our program is directly related to the
support that we have received from our community, as well as
from our administration. For example, 5 years ago I wrote and
received a grant from MBNA, a company recently acquired by Bank
of America, to purchase a 60-foot Discovery Climbing Wall
system that enables our students to enable all the physical,
emotional and social benefits associated with climbing, while
also applying the academic content standards.
Without the support of MBNA, it is highly unlikely that our
district could have purchased this $13,000 climbing wall
system. The Discovery Wall surface is similar to a blackboard,
allowing participants to write with chalk and attach magnets.
As part of the grant, we obtained additional funding to
purchase a variety of educational magnets, including numbers,
math problems, letters, words, money and symbols. In our
lessons, climbers traverse or climb sideways along the wall and
always have a helper who acts as their spotter.
Just a few of the many activities that we do on the
Discovery Wall to integrate other curriculum areas include
climbing while searching for matches to math problems; climbing
using only odd-and even-numbered handholds and footholds;
climbing while searching for all the letters to a spelling
word; and climbing using only verb, noun or adverb hand-and
footholds.
Another MBNA grant that we received was for Speed Stacks
equipment. Sport Stacking is an exciting individual and team
sport where participants stack and unstack 12 specifically
designed plastic cups in predetermined sequences. Sport
Stacking is a cross-lateral activity, meaning that students
cross the midline of their body, thereby making use of both
sides of their brain. Research suggests that cross-lateral
activities assist with brain function, thus improving learning
capabilities for children.
Our students really enjoy performing stacking activities,
as you will see today, especially those that incorporate math
skills. By using a stack mat with a timer, students can attain
a time for any of the stacking patterns that they are
practicing. These times are then used to solve math problems,
including ordering, addition, obtaining a median, or grouping
of numbers.
I would like to show a short video at this time. And while
the video clip wasn't really intended for this purpose, I
believe it will help better illustrate these climbing and
stacking activities.
[Videotape played.]
Mr. Lydic. It is important that children be given
opportunities to make conceptual connections to real-world
experiences, so they see their studies as something meaningful
and relevant. While I am convinced that the physical
environment is ideal for providing such opportunities, it is
also important to note that research clearly shows achievement
increases for children whose teachers introduce kinesthetic or
movement experiences within the classrooms.
Thank you again, Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Miller and
other distinguished members of the Committee on Education and
the Workforce, for your leadership and commitment to providing
quality public education in our great country. Thank you also
for providing me with this opportunity to share some of my
experiences with you.
I brought a group of students with me today who are
prepared and eager to share their experiences within you upon
request.
I have also brought Speed Stacks cups for the members of
your committee, courtesy of Bob Fox, owner of Speed Stacks,
Incorporated.
Thank you again, and I look forward to answering any
questions you have about our program.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lydic follows:]
Prepared Statement of Garrett W. Lydic, 2006 State Teacher of the Year,
North Laurel Elementary School, Delaware
Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Miller and other distinguished
members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce: Good morning
and thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today about
something near and dear to my heart. I am pleased to be able to provide
information today about integrating core content subject areas
including math, science, and reading into physical education and also
integrating movement into the classroom environment to assist student
learning.
My name is Garrett Lydic and I teach approximately 550 second,
third, and fourth grade students with physical education as my
discipline at North Laurel Elementary School, in Laurel, Delaware. This
past year I was awarded Delaware's Teacher of the Year for 2006. I have
been teaching physical education in this capacity for 5 years and my
wife, Leslie, also a physical educator within the Laurel School
District, has been teaching since the mid 90s. We actually teach
together at North Laurel Elementary School two days during our six-day
cycle.
The main goal of our program is to hook our students on physical
activity by exposing them to a variety of movement opportunities that
are fun, stimulating, and that allow each of them to experience their
own personal level of success. We are committed to integrating other
content areas and learning into our lessons. We feel that concepts and
skills that children are currently studying in math, reading, science,
and social studies can easily and effectively be incorporated into
their physical education lessons. Our approach to teaching correlates
with John Dewey's belief that many children are able to demonstrate
greater cognitive improvements when lessons emphasize activities and
processes where children interact with their environment (Ornstein,
1997). Additionally, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget learned that when
interacting with and manipulating their physical environments, children
are better able to develop an understanding of abstract ideas such as
cause-effect relationships and physical characteristics such as weight
and volume (Ormrod, 2000).
We have discovered through our experience over the last 10 years
that physical education is an ideal vehicle for reinforcing the
academic standards that students are learning within their classrooms.
During many of our physical activities, students apply the concepts
they are learning in areas such as math, science, writing, reading, and
social studies to achieve a goal. We have observed that our students
get excited about learning math, spelling, and other academic content
standards in this manner because they are performing physical
activities rather than the typical classroom activities where students
are seated at their desks. This also enables children to see how
concepts learned in one venue are transferred to other venues and to
life's challenges.
The success of our program is directly related to the support that
we have received from the community and from our administration. For
example, five years ago I wrote and received a grant from MBNA to
purchase a 60-foot discovery climbing wall system that enables our
students to experience all the physical, emotional, and social benefits
associated with climbing while also applying concepts learned in math,
writing, spelling, and science. Without the support of MBNA, recently
acquired by Bank of America, it is highly unlikely that our district
would have been able to purchase this $13,000 climbing wall system.
Projects such as these are extremely difficult to fund so we feel
fortunate that MBNA recognized the potential of our Discovery Wall
project. The Discovery Wall surface is similar to a blackboard,
allowing participants to write with chalk and attach magnets. As part
of the grant, we obtained additional funding to purchase a variety of
educational magnets including numbers, math problems, letters, words,
money, and symbols. In our lessons, climbers traverse (climb sideways)
along the wall and always have a partner who acts as their spotter.
Spotters are trained to offer motivational, navigational, and/or
physical support only when absolutely necessary or when the partner who
is climbing requests such help. Just a few of the many activities we
can do on the Discovery Wall to integrate other curriculum areas
include climbing while searching for matches to math problems, climbing
using only odd or even numbered hand and/or footholds, climbing while
searching for all the letters to spelling words, and climbing using
only verb, noun, or adverb hand and/or footholds. Again, these are just
a few of the many activities that are possible with the discovery wall
system.
Another MBNA grant that we received was for Speed Stacks equipment.
When I was introduced to Sport Stacking two years ago I knew instantly
that this was an activity that my students would just love. Sport
stacking is an exciting individual and team sport where participants
stack and unstack 12 specially designed plastic cups in pre-determined
sequences.
Individual stackers race against the clock for fastest or best
times. Stackers also compete on a relay team racing against another
team in head-to-head competition. With practice, a person can stack at
lightning speed that has to be seen to be believed. Sport Stacking can
be individualized, allowing each student to work to success at his/her
own level. It is also geared to include students of all ability levels,
allowing every student to succeed, while still challenging the more fit
and athletic students. Students learn not only how to be physically
active, but why; and how to take personal responsibility for this
critical aspect of their lives.
Sport stacking is also a ``cross lateral'' activity meaning that
students cross the midline of their body, thereby making use of both
sides of their brain. Research suggests that cross-lateral activities
assist with brain function, thus improving learning capabilities for
children. Increasing bilateral proficiency (equal performance on both
sides of the body) develops a greater percentage of the right side of
the brain which houses awareness, focus, creativity and rhythm.
When one crosses the midline, the brain begins to make new
connections and the right and left hemispheres begin to work together.
This communication process organizes the brain for better concentration
and problem solving. Crossing the midline integrates brain hemispheres
to enable the brain to organize itself. When students perform cross
lateral activities, blood flow is increased in all parts of the brain,
making it more alert and energized for stronger, more cohesive
learning. Movements that cross the midline unify the cognitive and
motor regions of the brain: the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and corpus
callosum while stimulating the production of neurotrophins that
increase the number of synaptic connections (Dennison, Hannaford).
In addition to the countless activities designed to improve their
stacking skills, our students perform stacking activities that
incorporate math skills. By using a Stack Mat with a timer, stackers
can obtain a time for any of the stacking patterns they are practicing.
These times are then used to solve math problems including ordering,
addition, obtaining a median and grouping of numbers.
I'd like to show a 1-minute video at this time that is likely to
give you a better illustration of students performing these types of
climbing and stacking activities. Please note the smiles on the
students' faces as well as their level of engagement.
It is important that children be given opportunities to make
conceptual connections to real-world experiences so that they see their
studies as something meaningful and relevant. While the physical
environment has proven to me to be ideal for providing such
opportunities for students, research clearly shows achievement
increases for children in classrooms where teachers introduce
kinesthetic or movement experiences within their lessons.
Einstein so succinctly pointed out, ``learning is experience, and
everything else is just information.'' There is ample data that clearly
supports the importance of movement at every age, from the toddler to
the adult. We know that apathy in the classroom dissipates as sensory
activation and hands-on learning are increased. As educators
incorporate more physical activity and less lecture, all of our
students, not just the kinesthetic learners or those lacking social
skills, will experience increased intrinsic motivation, improved
attitudes, more bonding, and yes, even more brain cells. In fact, when
it comes down to it, most of our problems can be solved through
purposeful integration of active learning (Jensen, E).
The scope of movement activities these researchers are referring to
includes recess, dance, play, theater, games, energizers, and physical
education. They add that movement experiences such as these elicit a
different kind of learning referred to as implicit or one that is
centered in the body. Explicit learning, which is much more common in
our schools, includes lecture, textbooks, research, video, and
discussion (Jensen, E). Let me give you an example that may better
illustrate the potential of implicit learning through movement. Let's
say that while in grade school, you learned how to ride a bicycle and
that the capital of Uzbekistan was Tashkent. In five years, would you
still be able to ride a bicycle without any further practice or would
you remember the capital of Uzbekistan without any further application
of that information? The likely answer to riding the bicycle is yes,
which represents implicit learning, and no to remembering the capital
of Uzbekistan, which represents explicit learning.
Allowing students to move away from their desks or computers and
interact with classmates in some form of activity or exercise leads to
incidental learning which is just as important to total overall growth
and development, as is content learning. As implicit learning
activities are incorporated into the classroom, research clearly shows
achievement increases for all levels of students.
It is important that all educators become advocates for movement
and activity, with teachers and administrators ensuring that more
movement and kinesthetic teaching strategies are incorporated into
their lessons and school-wide activities, thereby reaching a greater
percentage of students. Research suggests that eighty-five percent of
school-aged children are natural kinesthetic learners. Movement
activities tend to be cross-cultural, resulting in robust effects
across the entire range of human cultures. At-risk students thrive when
provided with movement or hands-on activities enabling them to
experience learning and apply the concepts being learned while
answering real-life questions. While gifted children discover a new way
to learn, the slower learners quickly become actively engaged and
successful, and non-English speaking students are able to understand
the curriculum through a more nonverbal approach. Brain-based research
suggests the best learning occurs when students learn new content for
10-15 minutes and break for at least 2 minutes-a perfect time for a
movement activity (Bevel, K). Bringing movement into the classroom not
only increases learning, but also makes the classroom a healthier,
happier place to learn and teach.
While certainly not commonplace, there are many physical educators
who regularly integrate content into their physical education lessons.
For example, Jerry Thornton, the Missouri State Teacher of the Year has
his students perform a ``quarter, nickel, or dime's worth of certain
activities (for example a dime's worth of push-ups would be 10 push-
ups). He also holds money relay races to help his young students better
understand the concepts of money.
Thank you again, Chairman McKeon and Ranking Member Miller and
other distinguished members of the Committee on Education and the
Workforce, for your leadership and commitment to providing quality
public education in our great country. Thank you also for providing me
with this opportunity to share some of my experiences with you. I have
brought a group of students with me today who are prepared and eager to
share their sport stacking talents with you upon request. I have also
brought a set of Speed Stacks cups for each of the 20 members of your
subcommittee courtesy of Bob Fox, owner of Speed Stacks Inc. Thank you
again and I look forward to answering any questions you might have
about our program.
______
Chairman McKeon. I think we would all like to see the
students do a little demonstration.
Mr. Lydic. Is that right? I think they would be glad to
come on out. Thank you. I thought it was a great opportunity
for them and for you all to see it.
Chairman McKeon. Just don't ask any of us to do it.
Mr. Lydic. Excellent idea.
[Laughter.]
By the way, this was Mr. Castle's idea to bring the
students.
[Laughter.]
Whenever you are ready, ladies.
They are doing what is called a cycle stack. It combines
three separate stacking patterns. They just did a 3-6-3. Now,
they are going to work on a 6-6, and will follow up with a 1-
10-1, and then finish up with a 3-6-3 down-stack.
[Applause.]
If you would entertain four more students, that would be
wonderful.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Castle. Could Chairman McKeon come down there and do it
with the kids?
[Laughter.]
Do you think that would be possible? And maybe Mr. Miller?
Mr. Lydic. This is Gaby and Shanda. That is called a
fumble, when they fall off the table. We call those fumbles.
They keep going, and they don't stop.
[Applause.]
This is J.T. and Alissa Gibbons. You saw Alissa on the
video at the very end.
[Applause.]
Very nice. Very nice. Wonderful.
[Applause.]
Thank you very much.
Chairman McKeon. Wow.
[Laughter.]
Can you do that, too?
Mr. Lydic. Not like that, I can't.
[Laughter.]
Chairman McKeon. That was great.
Dr. Garrison?
STATEMENT OF MICKEY GARRISON, PRINCIPAL, FULLERTON IV
ELEMENTARY
Dr. Garrison. Well, thank you for the honor for us to share
what we do at our school.
And I just want to comment that we also do cup-stacking,
and so now we have a link to the East Coast.
We are very proud to share our integrated approach to what
we do with mathematics as a focus. However, all of our
curriculum is integrated.
We have a PowerPoint that I think we are going to just let
go of. You hopefully have copies. And thank you so much for the
invitation. I think what we will do instead is have you have an
opportunity to see what we do at our school.
Coming from Oregon, we weren't able to bring our students
with us, so we captured some of what we do on film, and this
was done as a result of a math achievement award that we
received through the Scholastic Intel Program. And the filming
is done through the George Lucas Education Foundation.
And so, if we could look at Fullerton IV and what we do in
math.
[Begin videotape.]
Teacher in Classroom. Today is what date?
Students in Classroom. 10/4/05.
Narrator. It begins in the first 5 minutes of first period.
Teacher in Classroom. What kind of a number do I have? Is
it a composite number, a fine number or a square number?
Students in Classroom. Square.
Narrator. It continues throughout the day.
History class----
Teacher in Classroom. We are going to measure the length of
Titanica's side.
Narrator [continuing]. Art class----
Teacher in Classroom. Whatever you make has to be cut out--
--
Students in Classroom. Symmetrically.
Narrator [continuing]. Computer lab----
Teacher in Classroom. And the next one?
Students in Classroom. Forty-four.
Narrator [continuing]. And it ends in last-period music
class.
Teacher in Classroom. We are going to take the math idea of
below a zero and turn it into music.
Narrator. It is part of most everything that happens at
Fullerton IV. A K-5 school in Roseburg, Oregon, it is the magic
of math.
Teacher in Classroom. You are absolutely correct.
Dr. Garrison. To me, math is not a subject. It really
allows kids to learn how to reason and problem-solve and learn
how to effectively communicate.
Teacher in Classroom. Now, music is sound. So what would be
the opposite of sound?
Student in Classroom. Silence?
Teacher in Classroom. Silence.
Dr. Garrison. And if they can think conceptually, it opens
up not just math, it opens up thinking. It makes connections
for them in the real world.
Teacher in Classroom. Now, remember to put some silence in
your patterns.
Dr. Garrison. It allows them to explore music and art. And
so, math is really the foundation.
Teacher in Classroom. Oh, I see some really wonderful
positive negatives, just like those math numbers. Great.
Narrator. With all the engaging ways to learn here, it is
not surprising most Fullerton students say----
Student. And my favorite subject is math.
Student. Doing math.
Student. Probably math.
Student. Math.
Student. I like math a lot.
Student. It is probably soccer.
Student. Probably reading and math.
Student. I just like to add and subtract.
Interviewer. What is your second-favorite subject?
Student. Playing with friends.
Student. I like division the most.
Student. Math.
Interviewer. What do you like to do in a classroom?
Student. Probably math.
Student. My favorite subject is actually math.
Interviewer. How come?
Student. I just like it.
Narrator. Fullerton's math curriculum is based on a
continuous review of best practices and delivered by highly
trained teachers, beginning in kindergarten.
Teacher in Classroom. Tell me about green, blue, green,
blue.
Student in Classroom. It is a pattern.
Teacher in Classroom. It is a pattern.
Teacher. The kids will look for me oftentimes for the
answer. And I can give the correct answer every time, but what
I want them to do is to talk their way through the problem.
Teacher in Classroom. Whisper to your neighbor what you
notice about them.
Teacher. We use a word at our school called ``discourse.''
And it is the ability for kids to communicate back and forth
between each other, so that they can start to understand that
problem or communicate it to me.
Teacher in Classroom. Do you think this is still a pattern?
Student in Classroom. No. If you just took this part off
and put the green in the middle and then the blue on the top,
it would be a pattern.
Teacher in Classroom. This would be a pattern.
Narrator. Since the new math curriculum was institute in
2000, math test scores have soared. Now 98 percent of 3rd-grade
students score at or above grade level. This despite the fact
that the number of students on free and reduced lunch has also
climbed to 60 percent.
Dr. Garrison. When you look at children that have personal
life struggles, too often adults make excuses and minimize
their ability to learn. And one of the things----
[End videotape.]
Dr. Garrison. It played a little longer than we intended,
and I guess my time is up. OK, I will slip in just another
word.
Although you were looking at math, what I want to share
with you is the fact that it is not just math where achievement
is up. Our reading scores are up and I know the emphasis on
reading and math is a concern. What I am going to say is that
by integrating curriculum, it makes much more sense for student
learning. Consequently, we are reaching all of our kids and
they aren't being shorted in any way.
What is hurting us is the lack of adequate and stable
funding. So if you were to address anything, that would be one
thing that I would hope you would look at because I can say
that we work very hard at what we do. The model that Mr. Miller
caught on to when we met at the ranch in our district is
whatever it takes.
I can tell you that I do that personally every day and my
teachers live it every day. The way we make our school work is
by having a strong community engagement component, and we have
a connection with businesses. We also do a lot of grant writing
in order to get our needs met because with our current budget,
we can't do that. It doesn't allow for it.
We also have high expectations and part of that is a result
of NCLB. In addition, I am going to say it is the standards
that my staff set, as well as I have. I consulted nationally
and I can tell you that I have been in almost every state in
the union, prior to going back home to Roseburg and looking at
being a building principal. I learned a lot within those
travels.
One of the things that I learned is that if we give
teachers the tools that they actually need and give them the
support by allowing them to do things like peer-to-peer
observation and principals playing a role in going into
classrooms to provide coverage, that you can look at effective
programs with best practice, but it needs to be supported with
actual research within the classroom. You can tie-in curriculum
so that you have links so that you are empowering learners
tremendously, and they are taking charge of their own learning.
I want to just say that because of the population of
students that we have, our families our very poor and their
needs are great. However, their involvement in our school is
huge. Back-to-school night is something that we celebrate with
98 percent return of having our parents be there for us and for
their children.
We also feature some fun events like all schools do, but we
have Fiesta Salsa Math Night where you get to actually learn to
dance and learn a lot about math. We have Computer Tech Night.
We have a read-in where we wear our pajamas, which is much more
comfortable.
[Laughter.]
One of the keys to all of what we do is being creative with
scheduling. I can tell you that we spend a lot of time in
thinking outside the box and looking at how we utilize
resources, educational assistance as well as teacher time.
Tammy Rasmussen, a teacher who is here with me today, that you
also saw in the video, is an amazing teacher who has
rescheduled her life to meet children's needs. Her workday is
supposedly not supposed to start with student contact until
8:45 a.m.
However, she starts a reading group at 8 o'clock in the
morning so that we can integrate what is happening for kids,
and that they can get the boosters that they need in order to
have the foundational skills so that they can enjoy and
celebrate the arts and enjoy music, and understand it even
better.
One of the things that I am going to again ask you to
please look at is stable funding. It is very unpredictable in
our state, and I can tell you our district does an amazing job
of trying to distribute that money. But without adequate and
stable funding, I can tell you that even though I write a lot
of grants in every waking moment, I still can't get the needs
met, although we are doing better than most.
One of the key considerations that you alluded to in the
intro was leadership. I am going to say that it is critical
that administrators are the educational leaders within their
schools, and that they are decisionmakers and sometimes make
hard decisions.
If you have ever read a great book called ``First, Break
All the Rules,'' I think it was written about me. So if you
look at success and you look at how to actually meet students'
needs and support staff at the same time, you have to break the
rules. That means that you have to step outside the box.
We do a lot of extensive professional learning within our
school and within our district. Within our school, we utilize
staff meeting time for staff development. I empower my teachers
to actually use that development time in teaching each other.
If you are not familiar with peer-to-peer coaching, I would
encourage you to look at it because it is truly the best way
for teachers to learn about their profession from each other,
and more importantly, for them to support each other and to
have high-fidelity of implementation of programs within
classrooms, which is beneficial to all learners, as well as to
teachers professionally.
In closing, we have received a lot of awards and a lot of
achievements in the last 3 years since I have been at
Fullerton, not just in math, but across the board. I ask that
you look at our achievements and celebrate those with us, but
also I ask that you look at what you can do to ensure that the
struggles as far as funding can be minimized and maybe even
reduced.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Garrison follows:]
Prepared Statement of Mickey Garrison, Principal of Fullerton IV
Elementary School, Oregon
School Overview
Fullerton IV Elementary School takes pride in its reputation as
innovative neighborhood school that has surmounted formidable economic
and societal challenges to provide an optimal learning environment for
its students. We do that by actively engaging our parents, students and
teachers in programs that reach far outside the traditional curriculum.
Our school is located in rural Douglas County, a county with one of
the highest unemployment rates in the state. Students' families are
typically low-income with limited employment opportunities in the
immediate area. More than half (65%) of our students participate in the
free and reduced lunch program. Fullerton IV also has a
disproportionate number of special-needs children; current district
figures put the number at 13%. Our school has the highest concentration
of mentally challenged children in the district. In addition, we house
the elementary behavior program for students with emotional and social
challenges within our district.
Oregon's distressed school funding system means that very few
financial resources are available for supplemental programs and
initiatives to help our students. We at Fullerton IV have chosen to
find our own solutions, and we're doing that by building on our
reputation as an innovative neighborhood school.
Community Engagement
At the heart of our success is an outstanding record of school
involvement by parents. When budget cuts eliminated many classroom aide
positions, parents stepped in to fill the gap. When our business office
did not have the personnel to perform many functions, volunteers signed
up to answer phones, run the copy machine and man the front desk. The
numbers tell the story--our Back-to-School Night for the past two years
drew representatives from 98% of our students' families, and we expect
the same level of participation at the Technology Night and Math Fiesta
Night we schedule each year.
Our students are active in the community and we feel that has a
direct effect on their academic success. Students work on a wide range
of projects that directly benefit the community, such as a landscaping
project undertaken by our Student Council at the local baseball field.
Our school also has structured community service activities that
benefit fellow students. Peer tutors in our immediate grades, for
example, tutor primary-level students in reading and math. Student
``valets'' help others get into cars safely at our after-school pick-up
site.
Common Threads
Innovative programs are another key to our success. These range
from the complex, such as our before-school program aimed at ensuring
the success of more challenged students, to the simple, such as the
``Music Minute,'' where students and teachers together listen to a
daily dose of classical music that is integrated in art and math.
We integrate our curriculum by effectively linking subjects like
math, science, music, art reading, writing, and social studies to
encourage learning within a known context. The challenge of teaching an
integrated curriculum is structuring properly so as to teach the
desired skill set. Shoemaker defines an integrated curriculum as
education that is organized in such a way that it cuts across subject-
matter lines, bringing together various aspects of curriculum into
meaningful association to focus upon broad areas of study. It views
learning and teaching in a holistic way and reflects the real world,
which is interactive (1989, p.5).
Effective Programs and Our Successes
The success our programs have enjoyed has been recognized outside
our school. Fullerton IV has been a demonstration site for schools in
our district, state and out-of-state districts for our math program.
Our math achievement won us the Schools of Distinction award, sponsored
by Intel & Scholastic, in 2005. Fullerton IV also is Southern Oregon's
demonstration site for an English program used in our classrooms,
``Step-up-to-Writing.''
These are just a taste of the programs and activities that have
helped Fullerton IV become known throughout the district and state as a
school that solves problems, and in doing so, creates a rich learning
environment for its students.
Improving the math performance of our students became a priority
for Fullerton IV two years ago, after students' math scores
consistently showed no improvement in state reports. In an effort to
improve performance, we implemented several initiatives and programs
that have never been done in our district before. Based on internal
observations, parent involvement and teacher's comments, we felt we
were successful.
That observation was initially validated by the state of Oregon's
2003-2004 School Report Card, which showed a marked improvement in all
categories of math and reading test scores. Overall, Fullerton IV moved
from a ``Satisfactory'' rating to a ``Strong'' rating. In the two math
categories, knowledge and Skills and Problem Solving, our school
outperformed comparison schools, district schools and state schools.
Our achievement for 2004-2005 was an ``Exceptional'' rating and the
same is true in 2005-2006. More specifically, our recent testing, which
was just completed for 2006, reflects the following results: reading
performance for 3rd graders was 96%, 4th 100%, and 5th grade scored a
percentage of 94%. In mathematics, 3rd graders achieved 95%, 4th grade
98% and 5th grade achieved 95%. In science our fifth graders overall
performance was at 94%.
At the heart of our effort is the before-school program we
initiated with federal grant support. The program offers students an
extra half-hour of academic support in the morning, before regularly
scheduled school begins. The math portion consists of the computer-
based program PLATO Math Expeditions, an interactive and very popular
program where learners become members of expeditions in which math
concepts are connected to science, social studies, geography and
history. This same approach is used in the reading portion of our
program that consists primarily of Read Naturally and Earobics. Read
Naturally focuses on fluency while Earobics emphasizes phonemic
awareness.
The school also has begun emphasizing technology programs that help
with math learning, such as Math Facts in a Flash. This program allows
students to assure mastery of math facts and computational fluency by
allowing them to work at their own levels.
Each grade levels has access to a Smart Board and Einstruction pads
both of which encourage high student engagement and formative teacher
assessment of student performance. The immediate performance feedback
allows teachers to modify and adjusts instruction in split seconds.
Another integral part of our success lies with family
participation. We believe that involving parents is the key to our
students' success. To that end, we have increased the opportunities
parents have to become involved in their child's math education. At
this year's Back-to-School Night, for example, we offered 15-minute
mini-sessions that introduced parents to our integrated curriculum. The
response was so enthusiastic--we had a 98% participation rate--that we
are planning a series of ``Tech Nights'' to begin in early 2005 and
2006, where families can explore the computer-based programs used in
our efforts.
And none of this could be accomplished without the enthusiastic
participation of our teachers. We make a special effort to support our
teachers as they try to improve their students' performance in the face
of dwindling resources. Our staff meetings have become staff
development opportunities, where teachers share observations and
practices. These are put into practice in the classroom. The principal
frequently covers classes so teachers can observe and coach each other.
All of these efforts combined have turned the math program and
overall student learning around at Fullerton IV, and resulted in a
productive environment that, with the support of family, nurtures our
students' learning ability.
Awards and Achievements
We have much to be proud of beyond our ``Exceptional'' state
achievement ratings. In 2005 we received the Mathematics Achievement
Award through the Schools of Distinction (Intel & Scholastic Program)
and also an Honorary Mention for our reading achievement through the
Oregon Reading Association.
2004 the National Citizenship Education Teacher Award--Fifth-grade
teacher Linda Dwight won district-level recognition from the VFW for
excellence in instruction. Her creative curriculum focuses on
activities that explore our country's history and traditions, as well
as on civic responsibility.
2003 Distinguished Public Service Award--This annual award, granted
by the City of Roseburg, recognizes the many community service
activities of our students throughout the year. Student activities that
contributed to this award include: the renovation of a room by our
student council of a room in a community homeless shelter, landscaping
of two city park areas, and yard care for the elderly in our school
community.
2002 Distinguished Public Service Award--This annual award, granted
by the City of Roseburg, recognizes the many community service
activities of our students throughout the year. Fullerton students
received this award for adopting and maintaining the cleanliness of the
streets immediately around our school and for landscaping a city park
area.
First place, Battle of the Book, 2002--Schools from throughout the
Roseburg School District participates in this highly competitive
contest. Battle of the Books requires students to spend many outside
hours reading from a prescribed list of books. The competition
culminates in a district-wide question-and-answer contest that
determines the winner.
KEY REFERENCES
Caine, R. ``Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain.''
Association for Supervision and Curriculum development (1992).
Shoemaker, B. ``Integrative Education: A Curriculum for the Twenty-
First Century.'' Oregon School Study Council 33/2 (1989).
______
Chairman McKeon. Thank you.
Mr. Holt?
STATEMENT OF FREDERICK G. HOLT, PRINCIPAL, LEWISTON K-8 SCHOOL
Mr. Holt. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the
committee. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here
this morning to speak with you. It is a tremendous honor to be
here this morning, especially since I didn't realize I was
coming until Monday, so it has been quite a whirlwind of
activity and excitement.
And, again, it is an honor. I feel I am representing my
school, my community and my entire state here this morning. And
hopefully I can communicate with you some of what we have been
through.
I am the principal of a small school in rural northern
lower Michigan that just a few years ago was designated a
failing school. And currently today, we are designated an ``A''
school. It has been quite a journey to get from there to where
we are now, and hopefully I can bring some of that to you here
this morning.
The Lewiston Elementary-Middle School is the only school
located in the town of Lewiston. We are about 200 miles north
of Detroit. Very limited employment opportunities in our area,
and currently the unemployment rate is about 11.5 percent. Our
school houses about 350 students in grades kindergarten through
8. Our district is a consolidated district. We have joined with
a neighboring town, Johannesburg, and we serve a total area of
about 310 square miles, for a total of 875 kids in grades K-12.
Now, going back a little bit to the mid-1990's, our school
was designated by the state of Michigan as a chronically low-
and under-performing school. And when that long and almost
poetic-sounding label was attached to us, it took a little bit
of thought and thinking before we realized what it really
meant, and it wasn't good.
It really, really, in a positive way, brought out the best
in my staff, because it wasn't long before we decided enough is
enough. We are not chronically low-or under-performing. The
people in our building, the students, the people in our
community are too good for that. So that was kind of a
beginning for us, a catalyst to really, really bring about some
change.
As I said, right now in 2006, we have a rating of ``A'' for
our elementary grades and a rating of ``A'' also for our middle
school grades. And there is a lot of pride in our building and
in our community over that.
Our journey from chronically low-and under-performing
really began with a real, real purposeful and systematic look
at student performance data; a real, real deep analysis as to
how our students were doing in the different subject areas, all
the subject areas. As we did this, it became very obvious to us
that reading was an area that we absolutely had to improve upon
if our students were going to have a chance to do well in
anything else.
The problem or the challenge at that point was how we would
take our passion, our desire, our energy, our motivation and
turn it into effective change in instructional practice. Well,
progress got moving and it got moving along slowly. At the
district level, we formed a district-wide school improvement
committee. We formed a community-wide group which we called the
stakeholders, which has a large number of community members,
community leaders, about 70 people. That group still meets
today.
Progress really began. Our state test scores were still
low. We were still having problems, but by the year 2000, we
received an award from the state of Michigan called the Golden
Apple Award for being among the most improved schools in the
state on the state test scores. We still weren't anywhere near
the best. We weren't anywhere near where we felt we needed to
be, but we were among the most improved.
With that award also came a state investment of $50,000
from the state of Michigan to put toward school improvement.
That is when things really got rolling. Our staff, at this time
we were absolutely committed to the systematic and regular
review of student performance data. We got together as a team,
as a unit and built the school improvement plan around
professional development, around making ourselves better
teachers, making ourselves better at what we do each and every
day.
So we developed a school improvement plan around
professional development, sent out RFPs to all the major
universities, the intermediate school districts in the area,
anybody that we knew that could possibly come in and work with
us to make us better at what we do.
We heard back from some of those, and drew up contracts
with the best of them and designed a program where professional
development was brought into our building. We didn't send
people out to conferences once a year to go and maybe listen to
some good speakers and hear what they had to say, and then come
back and eventually end up doing what they had always done in
the classroom. We brought the professional development to us.
Through this whole process, again the test is always how
well the students are doing. We are always going back to the
data. Is it impacting student performance? Because if it is
not, we are going to do something else. If it is, we are going
to do it and we are going to do more of it.
Our work on quantifying, refining, and improving our
teaching and learning has not been at the expense of other
areas of the curriculum besides reading and math. I mentioned
reading as a glaring area of need. We have been able to do
other things in our district as well.
We offer our kids a fully rounded program including
physical education, health, music, art, library and computer
classes for the kids in kindergarten through 8th grade. I have
to add also we just put a climbing wall in our building too, of
which we are really proud. I may put my P.E. teacher in touch
with you about things to do with it, so a little connection
here.
Our students are offered a lot of opportunities to attend
field trips in different areas. At our local community college,
they go to theatrical productions. They take an annual trip
down to Lansing every year to see the state capitol, and we
take our 8th-graders up to Lake Superior State University in
Sault Ste. Marie for a little taste of college life.
Our turnaround and our success in Lewiston have only been
possible with the support, belief and financial investment of
the Johannesburg-Lewiston area schools, the state of Michigan,
and also the Federal Government as well. But here we are now, a
few years into our program, and it is really time, as Dr.
Garrison mentioned, for the peer-to-peer observations and some
of the other things now. The impetus really falls on us and the
building staff to continue this process.
What I didn't mention a few years ago was in addition to
the $50,000 investment from the state, we received a
comprehensive school reform grant, which is a Federal grant,
which brought in a lot of professional development into our
building. It really, really took off. That is a 3-year grant,
and we are in year 3. It is all done, so now it is up to us.
So what we are doing right now is setting up a program so
that the professional development, the momentum, the energy,
the improvement continues, but it has to continue within the
building, within our staff, and the power that we have
developed through our years of training.
I want to again conclude by thanking you, Mr. Chairman and
members of the committee, for the opportunity to share my
passion for education, and also for my school, with you this
morning. I hope I was able to in some small way paint a picture
of the journey that we have been through and the value of high-
quality, data-driven onsite professional development that has
been a huge, huge difference in our building.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Holt follows:]
Prepared Statement of Frederick G. Holt, Principal, Lewiston
Elementary/Middle School, Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools, Michigan
Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. Thank you
for affording me the opportunity to speak with you this morning. It is
indeed a tremendous honor to represent my school, my community and my
state before you in this hearing. I hope to describe for you some of
the things I have experienced as the principal of a small, rural school
in northern Lower Michigan. I believe we have been successful at
developing and delivering a program to our students that is focused on
meeting standards without sacrificing the fine arts or co-curricular
activities. Over the past several years, we have journeyed from being
labeled a ``failing school'' to being designated as an ``A'' school. I
hope I can effectively describe some of that journey for you this
morning.
School and Community Information
The Lewiston Elementary-Middle School is the only school located in
the small town of Lewiston, Michigan. Lewiston is located approximately
200 miles north of Detroit. Employment opportunities include some light
manufacturing, logging, oil and gas exploration, and service industries
catering to tourism. Currently, the unemployment rate in Montmorency
County, where Lewiston is located, is 11.5%.
The Lewiston School houses approximately 350 students in grades k
through 8. After the conclusion of the 8th grade, Lewiston students go
to the neighboring town of Johannesburg, 16 miles away, for high
school. The Johannesburg School is a k-12 building which houses
Lewiston's sister school, the Johannesburg Elementary-Middle School,
and the Johannesburg-Lewiston High School. The communities of
Johannesburg and Lewiston consolidated in the mid-1960's to form the
Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools. The Johannesburg-Lewiston Area
Schools district covers approximately 310 square miles and provides for
the education of approximately 875 students k-12.
Background Information
In the mid-1990's the Lewiston School was designated a
``chronically low and under performing school'' by the Michigan
Department of Education. Student performance on the Michigan
Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) was inconsistent at best, with
some subject areas finding only single digits in the percentage of
students meeting the state standards. In addition to the poor
performance on the state assessments, student grade point averages were
low and the number of referrals for student discipline incidents was
extremely high.
Lewiston School in 2006
Currently, the Lewiston School has a Michigan Department of
Education rating of ``A'' for its elementary grades and ``A'' for its
middle school grades. Additionally, there is a renewed sense of pride
in the community and within the building. Other measures of success
include receipt of the state's Golden Apple Award in the year 2000, and
an invitation for a team of staff members to present at the state's
Comprehensive School Reform conference this past winter. Adding to the
feeling of pride and success in the Lewiston School is the number of
students from neighboring communities attending school in Lewiston as
``school of choice'' students. None of these measures of success seemed
possible in the mid 1990's.
Our Journey
The journey from ``chronically low and under performing'' to
success began with the teaching staff. After reviewing student
performance data in the core subject areas, particularly reading, it
became obvious to everyone on the staff that the responsibility for the
current state and the responsibility for change laid within us. This
acceptance of responsibility by the staff was coupled with a passionate
desire to improve and accept nothing less than excellence. The
challenge at that point was to move the staff's passion, energy and
motivation into real and effective change in instructional practice.
Progress began to build slowly at the district level in 1997 with
the formation of a district wide school improvement committee comprised
of school staff, parents and community leaders. The District School
Improvement Committee was born of a ``stakeholders'' meeting where a
large number of community leaders gathered, brainstormed and
established goals for the district's schools. Approximately 70
community members participated in that first stakeholders meeting. The
stakeholders continue to meet annually each winter to review the
district's progress.
Although MEAP scores were inconsistent and low, by the year 2000
they were beginning to show signs of improvement. The improvement
reached a point high enough for the school to be designated a ``Golden
Apple Award'' winner in the year 2000. The award was for improvement on
the MEAP tests and it came with an investment of $50,000.00 from the
State of Michigan. That investment was to be put toward school
improvement, and so it was.
Through the regular and systematic review of student performance
data, areas of need as well as areas of progress became apparent.
Reading still stood out as a glaring area of need. The building school
improvement team, comprised of approximately 50% of the teaching staff,
developed a professional development plan centered on the entire
teaching staff being trained, on-site, by the best professional
development providers available. RFP's were sent to several major
universities, intermediate school districts and other potential
professional development providers. Several experts in the area of
literacy and curriculum development responded and contracts were made
with the best of them. Crucial to the professional development plan was
the use of student performance data as our measure of success and the
ultimate tool of accountability. The professional development providers
were to be held accountable just as we were holding ourselves
accountable.
Shortly after the professional development plan was put into
effect, the Lewiston School received another boost in the form of the
Comprehensive School Reform Grant. The CSR Grant, a federal grant
administered by the Michigan Department of Education, increased the
investment into the Lewiston School to over $80,000 annually for three
years to be put toward professional development. The grant allowed the
professional development of the teaching staff to move into high gear
through the formation of a partnership with Michigan Middle Start.
Michigan Middle Start provided on site training for all teachers in
literacy and mathematics, as well as the development of higher order
thinking skills on the part of the students. The literacy training has
included the use of reading comprehension strategies for all content
areas including science, social studies and math. There has been a
building wide effort to encourage the students to write in mathematics
as well as in the language arts. The training with Middle Start has
included a big push toward the development of a professional learning
community, where the school staff takes the initiative and
responsibility for their own learning. This aspect of our growth is of
particular importance as we wind down the third and final year of our
CSR experience. It is now our responsibility to continue the growth and
development we have experienced the last several years. It is our
responsibility to mentor and challenge new teachers who join our team.
We are a building made up of people committed to success. There are no
independent contractors; there are no ``one room school houses'' in our
school. Our continued growth and development will be monitored, as
always, through the lense of student performance.
Our attempts to purposefully quantify, refine and improve teaching
and learning have not been at the expense of other, broader areas of
the curriculum. Due to the support of our local Board of Education and
superintendent Jim Hilgendorf, we have been able to offer our students
a well rounded educational program which includes physical education,
health, music, art, library and computer classes for all students in
kindergarten through eighth grade. Additionally, an advisory program
has recently been added to our middle school. Modeled after a long-time
successful advisory program in the Johannesburg Middle School, our
advisory program brings students together in groups of varying ages and
abilities. Advisory classes meet weekly for activities that are
designed to create a community within the student body and to inject a
little bit of fun in to the school lives of our middle school
youngsters. The advisory program involves projects and activities that
sometimes enlist the help of parents and community volunteers. Just
last week we completed a program that gave the students the chance to
participate with teachers and community volunteers in activities such
as painting, jewelry making, cooking, dance, team sports, and guitar
playing. We also are able to offer our students a variety of field
trips despite the distance involved in most cases. Students are offered
opportunities to attend theatrical productions at a not too far away
community college, to visit the state capitol in Lansing, and to get a
taste of college on an annual trip to Lake Superior State University
for our eighth graders. I hope I don't sound too much like I'm trying
to sell my school, but I'm very proud of my students, staff and
community.
Our turnaround and success at the Lewiston School has only been
possible with the support, belief and financial investment of the
Johannesburg-Lewiston Area Schools Board of Education, the State of
Michigan and federal government.
What's Next
As I mentioned earlier, it is now our challenge to continue our
track towards academic excellence without the level of support we've
had the last three years through the Comprehensive School Reform Grant
and Middle Start. Our current focus is on the sustainability of the
momentum we've generated. Our goal is to remain on a trajectory that
will allow us to meet the challenges of rising student performance
standards presented by ``No Child Left Behind.'' Our plan is to use the
expertise that we have developed within our building with the help of
Middle Start and other professional development providers with whom we
have worked. Our professional learning community of teachers will now
be faced with the task of passing on the knowledge and skills they have
gained to the new teachers who join us in the years to come. As has
been the case since the beginning of our journey, we will hold
ourselves accountable through the close examination of our student
performance data, and we will accept nothing less than excellence out
of ourselves.
Conclusion
I want to conclude by again thanking you Mr. Chairman and members
of the Committee for the opportunity to share my passion for education
and for my school with you this morning. I hope I was able to convey to
you my firm belief in the value of high quality, data driven, on-site
professional development. I also want to close by reinforcing the
importance of our staff's buy-in and active participation in our school
improvement efforts. As a principal I am extremely fortunate to work
with a talented and motivated staff that has been given sufficient
time, resources and support to achieve what a few years ago seemed
impossible.
Again, thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee.
______
Chairman McKeon. Thank you.
Ms. Ablott?
STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH ABLOTT, TEACHER, ARLINGTON SCIENCE FOCUS
SCHOOL
Ms. Ablott. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, it is
an honor to appear before you today to share my experiences
with you as a science resource teacher in Arlington Public
Schools in Virginia. Weare right across the river, and we would
love to invite you to come over and visit us during the
implementation of No Child Left Behind.
I have been in elementary education for 8 years, currently
teaching at Arlington Science Focus School, which has a diverse
student population with children from five different
continents; 41.1 percent of our students are non-Caucasian and
27.8 percent receive free and reduced lunches. We are one of 14
schools where parents apply to have their children attend our
school in order to receive more science education.
While we are a public school and held accountable to all of
No Child Left Behind guidelines, we do center our teaching and
apply science learning throughout the school day and across all
curricula. It seems that under the requirements of NCLB, many
schools have focused on reading and math instruction because
that is where the testing is required by NCLB.
My experience, however, has not been so dramatically skewed
and perhaps that is because I work at a science focus school.
We have embraced the concept of children as scientists and
engineers from our opening in 1994. Virginia, especially
Northern Virginia, has always valued science instruction and in
fact the standards of learning in state assessments in science
have been in place for years.
I am fortunate to work in a school district that believes
in a strong framework, while allowing the individual teachers
and schools flexibility in curricula selection and instruction,
as long as it meets the state standards. A good example of this
can be found in the Children's Engineering Program that we have
at Arlington Science Focus School.
This program uses design briefs to create problem-based
learning opportunities for students. This open-ended
explorations encourage inquiry learning. They take advantage of
what we know about the cognitive process, allowing the students
to own their knowledge.
There is a great deal of discussion these days about the
importance of innovation and the need for creative thinking. I
know of no better way to encourage those skills than through
the student-directed learning environments of children's
engineering where students problem-solve on a daily basis
across all curricula.
Many would tell you that this is all fine, but we have no
time in our daily schedules to teach science, let alone teach
it in an inquiry-based manner. To be sure, the demands of NCLB
and the need to meet annual targets in student achievement take
their toll on our weekly lesson plans. But I have found through
my own personal experience that science is a powerful motivator
for students.
It is through integrated curricula that we are able to
bring science into the everyday world. We are able to expand
science, not shrink it. We are able to encourage students'
curiosity, not stifle it. And we are able to raise student
achievement, not slow it down.
I recently introduced my teachers in my school to
Engineering Is Elementary. This is a series of storybooks
developed by the National Center for Technological Literacy at
the Museum of Science in Boston, featuring children from around
the world that encounter real problems that are solved with the
assistance of an adult engineer in their community.
These books are not add-ons, but add-ins to our curricula,
where each unit is aligned with commonly taught science topics
and kits. Through the use of this literature, the classroom
community is able to share the vocabulary and concept to build
background knowledge to further understand science concepts.
The series provides accompanying lesson plans that are
multi-disciplinary, including literacy lessons, exposure to new
cultures, the engineering design process, science data
collection, and application of game knowledge in developing
their own solutions to the problems encountered by the
storybook character. This is one example of interdisciplinary
learning that provides relevance to science and mathematical
concepts with which students will often struggle.
When we became a science focus school in 1994, we developed
a core program called Science City. Every Wednesday morning,
every teacher in the school, including reading, music, physical
education, special ed, and librarians, teach science to a small
group of students. The teachers plan four lessons on a concept
outlined by the Virginia standards of learning and appropriate
for each grade level.
The students then spend a year rotating through the seven
Science City groups in 4-week cycles. In this manner, the
students observe, experience and value the fact that every
teacher teaches science, and science is important to the staff.
Science isn't just my job; it is every teacher's job.
Another example of creative integration is our music
program led by Mr. Puzzo. He collaboratively works with all the
grade levels to provide science instruction musically to our
students. One example is the 2nd-grade program entitled ``We
Matter.''
We planned with the grade-level teachers how to integrate
the science concepts of the states of matter across the
curriculum into the music program, the science resource room,
investigation station where I teach, and the science lessons
taught in the homeroom classroom. The students have come away
from the program singing the songs and understanding the
concepts, and some of them years after the program have come
back singing the songs.
While I recognize that there are districts that suffer from
low scores in math and reading, and they feel the need to focus
solely on these topics in order to meet the requirements of
annual yearly progress, they do so to the detriment of other
critical subjects. Doing this is sort of an academic rob Peter
to pay Paul.
A typical view of education is one of a series of subjects
taught sequentially in 40-minute blocks, and then on to the
next subject. Under that paradigm, I see it is easy to see that
adding time to one subject reduces time for another. We spoke
to this earlier, and how our life is not segregated into math
and science and language arts. It is an integrated program in
our life and we need to integrate our curricula to go with
that.
This type of curricula is wonderful for children with
limited English language skills. They can participate and
demonstrate their understanding, even if their oral and written
skills are not proficient. What is more, students are able to
build a sense of scientific literacy about the world in which
they live and the way in which humans affect that world.
Speaking of literacy, in order to integrate science into
every classroom, my colleagues often use non-fiction books,
primarily science, to lead their guided reading instruction.
Every classroom library has equal numbers of science books,
fairy tales, social studies books and picture books. The
students use these nonfiction topics, often science-oriented,
in their monthly writing prompts.
Subconsciously, children learn to value the content that
the teachers value because they see that the teachers believe
science is important enough to become woven throughout the
school day. They recognize that science must be important to
them.
A thought for you to consider in regards to the
reauthorization of NCLB: If science literacy is a key to the
future success of America, if keeping the United States
competitive is critical to our national economy, then science,
along with technology, engineering and mathematics, it must be
treated as a core subject.
I was pleased to learn that the NAEP Science 2009 framework
will include questions relating to technological literacy, as
outlined in the NRC's national science education standards. As
states revise their science assessments, I think it would be
wise to similarly measure technological design skills. These
are the skills we need to foster in our students if we want
them to become innovators and solve problems, to create new
frontiers of science and technology.
As you begin the process of reauthorizing the NCLB, you
will be confronted with the emerging needs of science. Reading
may have been first and math is now, but science is coming. The
U.S. Department of Education and states are beginning to zero
in on science because NCLB will require science to be tested in
the 2007-2008 school year. This is surely a good thing.
While many districts and states already have state
assessments in place, my concern is that there is no measure of
progress required, as with the AYP in reading and math. While I
may work at a school in a district where science is valued, I
worry that administrators and many educators will not invest
enough effort in science achievement if there are no incentives
or consequences attached to the assessments.
In closing, let me leave you with this thought. Is
innovation necessary in America? Absolutely. Is innovation
necessary in the elementary classroom? Absolutely. Teachers are
by necessity innovators, looking for ways to teach reading,
math, science and social studies in real-world situations to
help our students grasp the learning. Using science as a medium
provides children a platform where we can open their eyes to
learning that makes sense.
I feel fortunate that I am able to share my excitement and
enthusiasm about science with the students of my school.
Integrating science across the curriculum has shown my
colleagues and me that given the right environment, we can open
eyes and minds of our students to the possibilities of a bright
and challenging future.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ablott follows:]
Prepared Statement of Elizabeth Ablott, Science Resource Teacher,
Arlington Public Schools, Virginia
Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, it is an honor to appear
before you today to share my experiences with you as a science resource
teacher in the Arlington Public Schools, in Virginia, during the
implementation of No Child Left Behind. I have been in elementary
education for eight years, currently teaching at Arlington Science
Focus School, which has a diverse student population including children
from five continents. 41.1% of our students are non-Caucasian and
27.80% receive free and reduced meals. We are one of four team schools
where parents apply to have their children attend our school, to
receive more science instruction. While we are a public school and held
accountable to all of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) guidelines, we do
center our teaching and apply science learning throughout our school
day and across all curricula.
It seems that under the requirements of NCLB, many schools have
focused on reading and math instruction because that is where the
testing is required by NCLB. My experience, however, has not been so
dramatically skewed, perhaps because I work at a science focus school.
We have embraced the concept of children as scientists and engineers
from our opening in 1994. Virginia, especially Northern Virginia, has
always valued science instruction and, in fact, the Standards of
Learning and state assessments in science have been in place for years.
I am fortunate to work in a school district that provides a strong
framework while allowing the individual teachers and schools
flexibility in curricula selection and instruction as long as it meets
our state standards. A good example of this can be found in the
Children's Engineering program at Arlington Science Focus School. This
program uses ``design briefs'' to create problem based learning
opportunities for students. These open-ended explorations encourage
inquiry learning. They take advantage of what we know about the
cognitive process allowing the students to ``own'' their knowledge.
There is a great deal of discussion these days about the importance of
innovation and the need for creative thinking and I know of no better
way to encourage those skills, than through the student directed
learning environments of Children's Engineering where students problem
solve on a daily basis across all curricula.
Many would tell you that this is all fine but we have no time in
our daily schedules to teach science, let alone teach it in an inquiry
based manner. To be sure, the demands of NCLB and the need to meet
annual targets in student achievement take their toll on our weekly
lesson plans. But, I have found through my personal experiences that
science is a powerful motivator for students. It is through integrated
curricula that we are able to bring science into the everyday world: we
are able to expand science not shrink it, we are able to encourage
students' curiosity, not stifle it, and we are able to raise student
achievement, not slow it down. I recently introduced teachers in my
school to ``Engineering is Elementary.'' This is a series of storybooks
developed by the National Center for Technological Literacy at the
Museum of Science, Boston, featuring children from around the world
that encounter real problems that are solved with the assistance of an
adult engineer in their community. These books are not add-ons but
rather add-ins to our curricula where each unit is aligned with
commonly taught science topics and kits. Through the use of literature,
the classroom community is able to share the vocabulary and concepts to
build background knowledge to further understand science concepts. The
series provides accompanying lesson plans that are multi-disciplinary
and include literacy lessons, exposure to new cultures, the engineering
design process, science data collection, and application of gained
knowledge in developing their own solution to the problem encountered
by the storybook character. This is one example of interdisciplinary
learning that provides relevance to science and mathematical concepts
with which students so often struggle.
When we became a science focus school in 1994, we developed a core
program called ``Science City''. Every Wednesday morning, every teacher
(including reading, music, physical education, special education, and
all other resource teachers) teach science to a small group of
students. The teachers plan four lessons on a concept outlined by the
Virginia Standards of Learning and appropriate for each grade level.
The students then spend the year rotating through the seven Science
City groups, in four week cycles. In this manner, the students observe,
experience, and value the fact that every teacher teaches science and
science is important to the staff. Science isn't just my job, it is
every teacher's job.
Another example of creative integration in order to teach the
science content in a timely and meaningful manner, is our music program
led by Mr. Joe Puzzo. Mr. Puzzo works collaboratively with all grade
levels to provide science instruction, musically, to students. One
example is the second grade program entitled, ``We Matter''. Mr. Puzzo
and I planned with the grade level teachers how best to integrate the
science concept of states of matter across the curriculum, into the
music program, the science resource room (called Investigation Station
where I teach), and the science lessons taught in the homeroom
classroom. The students have come away from the program, singing and
recalling the concepts, years later. He has provided other musicals for
multiple grade levels: third grade recently performed one on simple
machines, kindergarten on animals using literature from author Leo
Lionni as the basis for the program, and we will develop a program this
summer for fifth grade on sound and light.
While I recognize that there are districts that suffer from low
scores in math and reading, and they feel the need to focus solely on
those topics in order to meet the achievement goals of Annual Yearly
Progress (AYP), they do so to the detriment of others critical
subjects. Doing this is a sort of academic ``robbing of Peter to pay
Paul''. The typical view of education is one of a series of subjects
taught sequentially, in 40 or 50 minute blocks and then on to the next
subject. Under that paradigm it is easy to see that adding time to one
subject reduces the time for another. I don't believe that education
is, or should be, a zero sum game where the subjects are separate and
distinct and have to be learned in some form of artificially
partitioned blocks of time. Life very seldom comes to us that way. We
use math, science, language arts, civics every day and rarely are they
distinctly separate blocks of our day. That is why I believe a more
integrated curricula is a better model. By tying math and science
together with relevant hands-on activities in real-world situations,
children will absorb and retain the concepts better. This type of
curricula is also wonderful for kids with limited English language
skills. They can easily participate and demonstrate their
understanding, even if their oral and written skills are not
proficient. And what's more, students are able to build a sense of
scientific literacy about the world in which they live and the way in
which humans affect that world.
Speaking of literacy, in order to integrate science into every
classroom, my colleagues often use non-fiction books, primarily
science, to lead their guided reading instruction. Each classroom
library has equal numbers of science books, fairy tales, social studies
books, and picture books. The students use non-fiction topics (often
science oriented) in their monthly writing prompts. Subconsciously,
children learn to value the content that the teachers value. Because
they see that the teachers believe science is important enough to
become woven throughout their school day, they recognize that science
must be important to learn.
A thought for you to consider in regards to the reauthorization of
NCLB: if science literacy is a key to the future success of America; if
keeping the United States competitive is critical to our national
economy, then science along with technology engineering and mathematics
must be treated as core subjects. I was pleased to learn that the NAEP
Science 2009 framework will include questions relating to technological
literacy, as outlined in the NRC's National Science Education
Standards. As states revise their science assessments, I would think it
would be wise to similarly measure technological design skills. These
are the skills we need to foster in our students if we want them to
become innovators, to solve problems, to create the new frontiers of
science and technology.
As you begin the process of reauthorizing the NCLB you will be
confronted with the emerging needs of science. Reading may have been
first and math might be now, but science is coming. The U.S. Department
of Education and the states are beginning to zero in on science because
NCLB will require science to be tested in the 2007-08 school year. This
is surely a good thing. And while many districts and states already
have science assessments in place, my concern is that there is no
measure of progress required of the science assessments, as with (AYP)
in reading and math. While I may work at a school and in a district
where science is valued, I worry that administrators, and many
educators, will not invest enough effort in science achievement if
there are no incentives or consequences attached to the assessments.
Finally, with respect to teacher preparation, certification and
professional development, please don't forget the elementary teachers,
who, by the nature of their classroom, must be masters of integrated
curricula. Elementary teachers need extensive professional development,
particularly in the field of science. Often these teachers are hesitant
to teach science because of lack of confidence in the content areas.
While our students score well on international tests in the elementary
grades, imagine where they would fall if our teachers had a deeper
understanding of the content areas.
In closing let me leave you with this thought. Is innovation
necessary in America? Absolutely! Is innovation necessary in the
elementary classroom? Absolutely! Teachers are by necessity innovators
looking for ways to teach reading, math, science, and social studies in
real world situations to help our students grasp the learning. Using
science as the medium provides a platform from which we can open the
eyes of students to learning that makes sense. I feel fortunate that I
am able to share my excitement and enthusiasm about science with the
students of my school. Integrating science across the curriculum has
shown my colleagues and me that given the right environment we can open
the eyes and minds of our students to the possibilities of a bright and
challenging future.
______
Chairman McKeon. Thank you.
Mr. Zeigler?
STATEMENT OF RAY ZEIGLER, CO-DIRECTOR, MARYLAND ARTIST/TEACHER
INSTITUTE, MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Mr. Zeigler. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the
committee. My heart was warmed to hear so many people mention
the arts, because that is what I am going to talk about,
integrating the arts into the curriculum.
At the Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute, MATI, elementary
and middle school teachers and administrators come together in
school teams to experience dance, music, theater, the visual
arts, poetry, puppetry, playwriting and other forms of artistic
expression. Teachers who previously thought they had no
artistic abilities find the joy of expressing themselves in
ways they had never tried before.
Through the use of trained artists and facilitators, they
explore the natural connections among the arts and other
subject areas which they teach, whether they be math, science,
physical education, social studies or any other content area.
MATI empowers educators to use the natural connections
among the arts and other academic disciplines to enhance
learning. Every child is engaged in learning. The key word is
``engaged.''
Some examples: Over the past 2 years, we have been using
literacy as a focus. The artists choose a book that is used in
many schools and teachers learn ways to explore that book
through the arts. We recently produced a 15-minute DVD, which
there isn't time to show, but I will leave copies that I hope
you will have a chance to look at, that shows what this program
does.
The company went out into schools. They interviewed
students, parents, administrators and teachers. We think it is
pretty powerful and we got Charles Osgood to narrate it. One
parent commented on here that the teacher was having difficulty
teaching her 4th-grade child the angles until she though, ``Oh,
I went to MATI; we are going to dance.'' And they got them out
of their chairs and they choreographed a dance around angles.
And she said, ``They remembered it.''
Many of our schools produce operas. Elementary students
under the guidance of teachers learn how to write a script,
build the sets using math; design lighting, principles of
electricity; write and perform the music; design the costumes;
design and sell tickets, art and math. The children learn to
cooperate and compromise as necessary for the good of the
whole. In doing so, their communications skills are enhanced.
In other words, they are involved in all phases of
producing a stage work that not only incorporates all of the
fine arts, it includes related content and life skills as well.
One 4th-grader said, ``For opera, you need a lot of writing
skills and you learn a lot of new vocabulary.''
These are just a few examples of who the arts motivate
people to learn. In a recent publication by the Arts Education
Partnership, ``Third Space: When Learning Matters,'' I would
like to read just a short quote: ``School district officials in
Tucson and teachers at Peter Howell Elementary credit the
school's integrated arts programs for the improved scores of
students on Arizona standardized tests, including improvement
in reading and mathematics. District officials commissioned an
evaluation that shows the Opening the Minds Through the Arts
Program used at Peter Howell has had similar effects at other
schools in the district. Based on these results, the program is
being considered for adoption statewide.''
In Montgomery County, Maryland, Congressman Van Hollen's
district, we have three arts-focused schools, and one of the
principals of one of those schools, John Shashini, is featured
on this DVD. He right now is in Taiwan sharing what we do with
arts integration in the state of Maryland.
Other schools in Maryland are increasing their use of the
arts because they have experienced the positive effects the
arts provide their students. Educators learn the impact of
integrating the arts into their curricula on student
achievement, self-esteem, school climate, school attendance,
and teacher retention, based on evidence revealed in recent
research and are own formal evaluations.
Integration also recognizes the diversity of learning
styles in children. The arts can open new pathways that
correspond to individual learning styles and make it possible
for the teacher to engage every child in active learning. All
of this comes together to improve student achievement. Research
by Catterall, Capleau, and Iwanga has shown that low-income
students who have opportunities to regularly participate in the
arts, fared better in other academic areas than those who were
low-participators in the arts.
Another study by Heath and Roach showed that low-income
youth fared better across a wide range of variables from
academic achievement to developing leadership skills when the
arts were a part of their lives. The arts develop skills and
talents that foster imagination, critical thought, and
teamwork.
These skills are transferable to the workplace. In 1999, a
study of 91 school districts in 42 states found that the arts
contribute significantly to the creation of the flexible and
adaptable workers that businesses demand to compete in today's
world economy.
In April, 42 of our participants traveled to Milan for a 1-
week experience to experience the arts of Italy. In July, MATI
will serve almost 200 Maryland teachers, and we are going to
have to turn a lot away, and administrators, and an additional
25 from Italy, through an agreement with the Italian Cultural
Society of Washington, D.C.
Compartmentalization of academics prevents students from
seeing the natural connection among content areas. After all,
life is an integrated experience. A truly rich educational
experience will help provide connections to enrich the life of
every child.
I want to thank the committee for your interest and for
providing this opportunity. Through using best practices in
arts education and integration, we will help to ensure that no
child is left behind.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Zeigler follows:]
Prepared Statement of Ray Zeigler, Fine Arts Specialist, Maryland State
Department of Education
Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee. Thank you
for this opportunity to focus on the integration of subject matter in
our schools in order to improve student achievement. My focus will be
on integrating the arts into other content areas.
At the Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute (MATI), elementary and
middle school teachers and administrators come together in school teams
to demystify and experience dance, music, theatre, the visual arts,
poetry, puppetry, playwriting, and other forms of artistic endeavors.
Teachers who previously thought they had no artistic abilities find the
joy of expressing themselves in ways they had never tried before.
Through the use of trained artists and facilitators they explore
natural connections among the arts and the other subjects they teach
whether they are math, science, physical education, social studies, or
any other content area. MATI empowers educators to use the natural
connections among the arts and other academic areas to enhance
learning. Most of them leave motivated to try new approaches that they
find engage their students in the total classroom experience. Using
national, state, and local standards, they find authentic ways to
incorporate the arts into their classrooms. Arts specialists serve new
roles in their schools as resources for ideas as well as helping to
maintain the integrity of the art forms.
Educators learn the impact of integrating the arts into their
curricula on student achievement, self-efficacy, self-esteem, school
climate, student attendance, and teacher retention based on evidence
revealed in recent research and our own formal evaluations. Integration
recognizes the diversity of learning styles in children. The teacher
must use multiple teaching strategies. The arts can open new pathways
that correspond to individual learning styles and make it possible for
the teacher to engage every child in active learning. All of these
techniques and strategies come together to improve student achievement.
Research by Catterall, Capleau, and Iwanga has shown that low-
income students who have opportunities to regularly participate in the
arts fared better in other academic areas than those who were low
participators in the arts. Another study by Heath and Roach showed that
low-income youth fared better across a wide range of variables from
academic achievement to developing leadership skills when the arts were
a part of their lives. The arts develop skills and talents that foster
imagination, critical thought and teamwork; skills that are
transferable to the workplace. In a 1999 study of 91 school districts
in 42 states and directed by the Arts Education Partnership and the
President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, evaluators found that
the arts contribute significantly to the creation of the flexible and
adaptable workers that businesses demand to compete in today's economy.
In April, 42 of our Maryland participants traveled to Milan for one
week to experience the arts of Italy. In July, we will serve almost two
hundred Maryland teachers and administrators and an additional twenty-
five from Italy through an agreement with the Italian Cultural Society
of Washington, D.C. The significance of this work is now being
recognized internationally. Compartmentalization of academics prevents
students from seeing the natural connections among content areas. Life
itself is integrated. A truly rich education experience will help
provide connections to enrich the life of every child. I want to thank
the committee for your interest and for providing this opportunity to
share our experiences and methods.
Background on the Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute
We are fortunate in Maryland to have a Superintendent, Dr. Nancy S.
Grasmick, and a State Board of Education who recognize the value of the
arts in children's lives. Through the vision of James L. Tucker,
Coordinator of Fine Arts, and Mary Ann Mears, Chair of the Board of
Arts In Education in Maryland Schools Alliance, a partnership was
formed twelve years ago between the Maryland State Department of
Education and the Maryland State Arts Council that has culminated in an
institute that is making changes in the lives of students, educators
and administrators. In other words, schools that take the work
seriously are succeeding in exciting ways.
The Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute is an intensive staff
development program conducted by master teachers, artists, and artist-
educators in residential settings. Through demonstrations, seminars,
and workshops, teachers are provided opportunities to enhance their
knowledge of the relationships among content areas and of ways that the
arts can be used to integrate curriculum, content, processes, and
skills. Cross-disciplinary teams examine various models for integrating
the arts into the school curriculum. The teams also participate in
hands-on workshops to become more familiar with creative processes and
to develop understanding of the continuous interaction that occurs
among the arts and other content areas.
Various models for integrating the arts are explored in order to
determine which models best meet the needs of the schools. School
designs are developed that focus on raising expectations and standards
for student performance. They include aggressive, site-based campaigns
to enhance student achievement and self-esteem by infusing the arts
across the curricular core of the school. It is not considered merely
an arts program, but rather, the goal is an education program based on
the disciplined application of the arts across the entire curriculum.
This institute provides opportunities for school-based teams to
develop innovative educational programs that enable students to not
only study the arts but also learn through and about them while
improving achievement and performance in other content areas. A major
challenge is developing and implementing an instructional plan that
provides effective teaching for learning opportunities in the arts and
that are useful within the variables of the situation--school
organization, people, and resources. Within this context, the institute
focuses on developing exemplars that embrace innovative teaching for
learning strategies, in and out of school collaborations, and
alternative ways of assessing student success.
The work of the Maryland Artist/Teacher is based on research as
reported in a number of sources. They include, Putting the arts in the
picture, edited by Rabkin and Redmond, Champions of change: The impact
of the arts on learning, edited by Fiske, Critical links: Learning in
the arts and student academic and social development, edited by Deasy,
and Third space: When learning matters, by Deasy& Stevenson in which
ten elementary, middle, and high schools serving economically
disadvantaged students in urban and rural regions of the country were
observed over three years. This research report describes how the arts
created the optimal conditions to engage students actively in learning
that matters to them. ``The research suggests that educational reform
can emerge from the bottom up, when the student becomes the epicenter
of school transformation.''
Timeline
The Institute is conducted in residential settings. Participants
are involved in an intensive instructional program 8 hours daily for
one week in July. A one-week second session is offered for those who
wish to return. In that session, educators experience longer workshops
with different artists in order to take them to a higher level of
expertise.
During the school year they implement an action plan, developed
during the summer institute, in their schools with the support of
mentors, teachers, and artists.
Performance Outcomes
1. Participants will design and implement an integrated, arts-
centered educational program that creates an exciting and dynamic
environment for learning. The environment places learners at the center
of activity and the teachers in diverse roles as instructor, coach, and
mentor.
2. Participants will design and implement a coordinated, arts-
centered curriculum. The curriculum integrates and embeds the arts as a
teaching and empowering tool throughout the entire curriculum while
providing fine arts experiences in each arts discipline. The curriculum
provides alternative ways for students to acquire knowledge and skills
and to experience personal and group success. It provides insight into
the uniqueness of others while promoting understanding of diverse
cultures.
3. Participants will design and implement instructional strategies
that prepare students for the work place. Strategies designed include
teaching creative/critical thinking skills required for practical
problem solving and decision making, opportunities to develop personal
responsibility, and to collaborate and function as team members.
4. Participants will design performance assessment strategies that
measure student achievement of standards in the arts and other
disciplines. Assessment strategies are an integral part of the teaching
for learning process and include demonstrations, performances, and
portfolios.
Evaluation
Participants will have successfully completed the requirements of
the program when they fulfill the summer institute's requirements and
all post-institute assignments. Post institute assignments are
submitted in written or video formats and include a minimum of two
integrated instructional units, evidence of staff and artists
collaborations, and documentation of implementation activities.
Evidence of completion must be presented at the end of the academic
year.
1. School teams will develop an action plan for implementing an
arts-centered educational program in their schools during the school
year. Successful plans will include goals, objectives, implementation
strategies, and appropriate benchmarks for measuring progress.
2. School teams and individual participants will demonstrate
understanding of ways to integrate the arts across the curriculum by
developing and implementing integrated, performance-based curricular
units in their classrooms during the school year.
3. School teams and individual participants will demonstrate ways
of implementing skills for success strategies during peer coaching and
mentoring interactions during the school year.
4. School teams and individuals will present evidence of
implementation of a variety of performance assessment strategies in
narrative year-end reports, photo documentation, and video formats.
Conclusion
There is solid research measuring how the arts boost achievement in
math and science. Students who took four years of arts coursework
outperformed their peers who had one-half year or less of arts
coursework by 38 points on the math portion of the SAT. Students who
include the arts in their studies are 4 times more likely to be
recognized for academic achievement and 4 times more likely to
participate in a math or science fair.
However, study of the arts is intrinsically important. The arts not
only are a primary transmitter of history and culture, they contribute
to a higher quality of life that is available in no other way. As
stated in Critical Evidence: How the arts benefit student achievement
recently published by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and
the Arts Education Partnership, learning in the arts is academic,
basic, and comprehensive. Through providing effective instruction in
the arts, both as discrete subjects and through integration into other
content areas, we enrich the lives of our students through higher
levels of academic achievement in general, we aid in the development of
more positive social skills, we increase motivation to learn, and we
help to create a more positive school environment. The body of research
supporting these notions is becoming increasingly more compelling.
Through using best practices in arts education and integration, we will
ensure that no child is left behind.
______
Mr. Castle [presiding]. Thank you very much, Mr. Zeigler.
We have had a coup since you started speaking. Mr. McKeon
had other business. We are going to have votes here in about 15
or 20 minutes perhaps, so I have to take a break for that.
So what we are going to enter into now is each member
asking questions of you. We are all allotted 5 minutes. I am
going to try to enforce that fairly strictly because of the
need to break for votes and trying to keep somewhat on
schedule.
And I am going to violate everything by asking a question I
am going to ask each of you to answer, but when we get to the
5th minute, I am going to have to shorten it. I have already
taken about 40 seconds doing this, so you have about a minute
each to answer this.
My general question--and I will start with Mr. Lydic and go
across: Is there any measurement of the academic achievement by
the integration process that you all have discussed here, the
innovation and the integration which you are doing?
To me, seeing it and hearing what you are saying, it seems
to me that these students are improving and some of your
overall test scores in schools have improved. Mr. Holt sort of
talked more generally about that. But my interest is whether or
not there is a measurable way we can say that this integration
is working.
And then the second part of this, you can answer either
part, maybe not both if you don't have time, is: Are other
educators with whom you come into contact, that is teachers and
principals, as enthused as all of you are? I would like to
transfer all of you to the classrooms all over the country, but
I am not sure they are all that enthused about it. Some think
that is ridiculous, ``I teach English, nothing else,'' or
whatever it may be.
So I am sort of curious about that. So if you could discuss
either of those questions. We will start with you, Mr. Lydic,
and work as long as we can for 5 minutes.
Mr. Lydic. OK. I will address the first question.
As far as a measurement tool, to see how what I am doing in
my classroom is impacting on our state test scores, there is
nothing in place as such at our school at this point. I
certainly would be open to that.
I think that would be something that would be worthwhile
because I think the better measurement tool we could have for
that would put a spotlight on physical education and get
children moving and to get more physical educators to
incorporate academic content standards within their curricula.
Like I had mentioned in my testimony, it is a wonderful
environment to incorporate and to integrate. It is very
difficult, I think though, to come up with that tool to
measure, and I am certainly open to suggestions for that
because I would love to see a connection between what I am
doing in my classroom and students achieving. It would help me
and it would help me further develop my program, additional
funding for my program.
To address your second question, I have been very lucky
this year as a state teacher of the year to meet 50 other state
teachers of the year, to see the enthusiasm. We meet four times
a year for about a week each time, and we just walk away just
extremely, I mean, we are already enthusiastic to begin with,
but it is just a powerful opportunity.
We were talking about it on the way here that it would be
really a neat opportunity for you to have government officials
come and see some of the things we are doing in that program,
as well as other teachers around the country. But to that
particular program, I feel I walk away with more enthusiasm and
energy than any other professional development that I have ever
done.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Lydic. Maybe we should have them
all in here at once, all 50 of them.
Dr. Garrison?
Dr. Garrison. I am not familiar with any research that has
looked an integrated curriculum. However, I am going to use our
school as a test site in that before we started being very
intentional about integrating curriculum, our test scores were
not what they are today.
In the summary that I submitted, it is pretty powerful
information that when you start looking at 3rd-graders, 4th-
graders, and 5th-graders that across the board our lowest
percentage of achievement is 94 percent, and that is science in
5th grade.
So unfortunately, I can't reference anything, and I am not
sure how you can measure it unless you did something like an
AB-design to determine pre-and post-impact, but I am sure
somebody else can think through that one when they have a
little bit more time.
In thinking about the enthusiasm, I am going to say that
without passion you shouldn't be in education. And so in
addition to having a passion for making a difference in
children's lives, I am going to also suggest that success
breeds enthusiasm. Based on everything I have heard here, it
could be contagious in that we have seen a lot of success and
overcome many hurdles.
And so helping other schools actually figure out how to get
that success rate I think is wonderful. I would be happy to
replicate this anywhere else, just to prove the fact that it
can be done in a rural school or in an urban school.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Dr. Garrison.
Mr. Holt, you may have to be the last one because the
lights are coming on.
Mr. Holt. I will be quick.
As far as specifically measuring the effectiveness of
integration across the subject areas, I don't know that I could
specifically speak to that, but I can tell you, again if I
talked about our journey from a failing school to an ``A''
school, I can say that integrating the subject matters has been
a part of that journey. If you just look at our overall test
scores, they have improved dramatically.
I will comment on one strategy that we used to integrate
the subject areas, and it is a program that our teachers are
currently being trained in. It is called ``Real Reading in the
Middle.'' What it does is it teaches the teacher specific
reading strategies that they can use anywhere, anytime, not
just in reading class.
The specific strategies are taught in social studies and in
science. They could be taught in physical education. They can
be taught in art class. They can be taught anywhere. That is a
program that was brought to us by a group that we are working
with called ``Michigan Middle Start.'' I have some information
available for you here today. It has been a real, real
effective tool in getting us to push reading across all areas
of curriculum.
Just real quickly on the matter of enthusiasm, in my
building, you will find people a lot more enthusiastic than I
am. Success breeds success. We have tasted it, and we are never
going back to the way things were before.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Holt.
I think I had better call a halt if I am going to enforce
this 5-minute rule.
I turn to Mr. Miller now.
Mr. Miller. Thank you. I will be very quick.
If I might, Dr. Garrison, you mentioned the transition from
2003 to today and the really high levels of performance on the
Oregon achievement exams of your students. I would just like
again for you to outline where your students are coming from,
the community and the unemployment and the income and the rest
of that.
Dr. Garrison. Our community has one of the highest
unemployment rates in the state. Our increase of students that
are economically disadvantaged keeps growing. So at this point,
we are 67 percent free and reduced lunch. So our children are
coming with a lot of challenges. We have a lot of students who
are homeless. I am going to also suggest that some of them,
their basic needs are not met on a daily basis.
So when you look at achievement and what we have done, one
of the things that I have repeatedly just reminded staff and
they are aware of is that socioeconomics does not put a cap on
learning.
Although we don't have the mix of students that you would
find in schools locally in your area, I am going to suggest
that really the dividing rod in our country is socioeconomics.
It is not skin color. It is not language. It is money. That is
a common thread that many of our schools are challenged with.
Mr. Miller. Thank you.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Miller.
Mr. Osborne is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. Osborne. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you for being here today. I appreciate it very much.
I do appreciate your observation on socioeconomics being the
great divider. I saw that so clearly myself.
I think obviously all of you are very talented and very
creative people, and have some great ideas. But in terms of
policy, we are charged with the task of trying to make No Child
Left Behind work. So what I am really interested in are your
thoughts on whether testing every year in grades 3 through 8 is
essential; whether it is working; whether it is onerous,
because we hear both sides of it. We hear teachers say, ``You
know, I am spending all my time testing, and this gets in the
way.''
The evaluation also is very burdensome to some teachers and
maybe somewhat threatening to some superintendents and
principals as well. And then we are also hearing complaints
about funding, that it is an unfunded mandate, that we are
putting all this on the schools and we are not providing the
funds.
So those are the things I would be interested in hearing
from you about testing, whether you think it is adequate;
whether it is too burdensome; the evaluation, the annual yearly
progress, whether those things need to be improved; and then
last on the funding issue.
I guess if each one of you would want to take a shot at any
one of those three. Obviously, all of you can't talk about all
three, but if there is one of those issues that is of
particular interest to you, I would be happy to get your views
on it. In any order, I am not going to single anybody out.
Mr. Lydic. I guess we start with me and go down the line
again.
To address the question of do I think the testing is
appropriate or do I think it is a good idea, I think it is
always a great idea to take a hard look at how things are
doing, and testing is certainly I think one of the best ways to
do that.
Can the tests be improved? Certainly it can be improved.
When you take a hard look at yourself, what is happening, and
what I have seen in the last 5 years is that educators are
talking more and more about how we can get better. I think that
getting better in any profession at anything is what we strive
to do, and education shouldn't be any different.
What I do see is I see the testing, and maybe an unintended
consequence possibly in a lot of different areas, not
specifically my area, to be graphic anyway, is that certain
programs, physical programs, movement programs, arts, are being
cut because the priority is getting those test scores up. In
doing so, I think the limited scope of the focus is on math,
reading and science, rather than integrating and rather than
developing the whole child.
So I think that may be my concern about it, but I still
think that it is a positive tool.
Dr. Garrison. I think testing is part of teaching. So when
you look at some of the informative information, you don't know
if what you have taught is going to make a difference for the
learner. I don't feel, however, that one test point or one
data-point is indicative of what a student has learned over
time.
One of the things that I would encourage you to look at is
growth, because we receive many students that are from migrant
families that have been in several different schools before
they ever reach our school. When they get to us, sometimes it
could be the day before we actually do assessments. What I
would rather look at is the growth that that child makes versus
what their performance is on one single day.
I would also encourage you to look at, and let me back up
for just a minute. I am supportive of the assessment, and I
don't feel that we teach to a test, and I don't feel that we
spend time teaching to a test. I also am going to suggest that
we do very much what you have done, and that is we look at that
data ongoing and we use professional learning teams to make
decisions and to assess what we are doing, because you can't
teach in a vacuum. You have to look at if your students are
getting the message that you hope that they are getting.
One of the other areas I would encourage you to look at are
the subgroups, because when you start looking at students with
special needs, I am going to again say growth is more important
than just looking at what they should achieve, and 100 percent
performance would suggest that they don't have special needs,
and they do have special needs. That may mean linking it back
to a student's IEP and looking at growth over a year would be a
wonderful way to determine if a student with special needs is
actually learning or not.
Mr. Holt. I am going to build on what Dr. Garrison just
said in talking about the subgroups. That is an issue that
really does need to be examined carefully, and especially in
the relation of when you are talking about students with
special needs. It really should be looked at closely and
analyzed before any changes are made or in the context of
possibly making changes.
Getting to the broader question of testing are we testing
too much, that is difficult to say. Of course, I hear that
charge, too, but my attitude is, here it is. The law has been
passed. The tests are there. That is our challenge and we need
to do everything we can to meet those challenges.
It is not done too much if you use the information in a
useful way. If the tests are valid measures of what the kids
are learning, if the schools are using the information to
modify and change their instruction and then continue to
evaluate, then it can be a positive thing. But the key is that
they are used in the proper way.
Mr. Castle. Let me cutoff this answer now so we can go on
to others. Perhaps I would suggest that we start with Mr.
Zeigler next time so that he has an opportunity to say
something here as well.
I turn to Mr. Kildee for 5 minutes.
Mr. Kildee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Many people have expressed concern about the narrowing of
the curriculum because of No Child Left Behind, the emphasis on
math and reading. I am particularly concerned about that as co-
chair of the Native American Caucus, and Title VII, because the
Department of Education wrote to schools in St. Paul, who have
a number of Title VII schools, saying that we accept your
program this year, but next year we want a shift from history
and culture to reading and math.
That is the strong arm of the U.S. Department of Education
reaching into the local schools, talking about curriculum. When
the Department of Education was set up, and I was here, I think
my 1st year in Congress in 1977, we were forbidden to set a
national curriculum. But when you do have the long arm reaching
in and telling them to move and shift their emphasis, I do
worry about that.
I have been encouraged, though, by what all of you have
said, how you are trying to, while emphasizing the importance
of reading and math, that you are really trying to integrate
these programs into all of the education. It is encouraging,
but could you extrapolate on that some, and give some examples
where you are not neglecting the other areas of education, the
history and culture and these matters?
I am going to start with you, Mr. Zeigler.
Mr. Zeigler. Our fine arts standards, in the first place,
do speak to all of that. We are finding that more and more
throughout the state that in schools particularly involved in
integration of academic content areas, they are able to reach
the standards, the state standards, and we use the national
standards as well, by new methods and new means.
By the way, I would just like to add there is a wonderful
compendium of research, ``Critical Links: Learning in the Arts
and Student Academic and Social Development.'' This is a
compendium of over 60 studies, very thoroughly researched
studies, that is available. It was printed here in Washington.
It does show the connections.
As I had said earlier, I think the more we
compartmentalize, the more we tend to alienate students. As
someone said to me recently, ``If someone is doing poorly in
math and they don't like math and you double the amount of math
they have, they will hate it twice as much.'' And there are
other ways to get to it. And we have heard a lot of testimony
today of ways it can be done. I think we are opening some
wonderful new opportunities for students here to reach all of
the content areas in new ways.
Ms. Ablott. What our school for science focuses on, we have
an investigation station, which is the science resource room.
The students rotate through there. We use literacy to present
information to them. The students write in their science
journals. In our ``Science City Weekly,'' the students will
write each day, they journal in what they have learned that
day, so that we integrate the scientific writing, as well as
just journaling, so that that is part of their daily life as
well.
We use a lot of questioning with the students so that they
develop their own learning. I model that style of teaching. The
teachers stay in the classroom with me and we work
collaboratively, so that we can work across the curriculum. The
students, in their morning time have their science books that
they are learning about the silkworms that we are observing in
the investigation station, and they are doing math to measure
them.
It is funny. The students, when it is time for math, and
sometimes the investigation station, will come up with, OK, we
need to measure and how do we make a graph out of this data
that we have collected. And we will say, ``Well, that's math.''
And unfortunately, even in our school when we try to cross the
curriculum that way, they still compartmentalize themselves. So
we work constantly to say, well, math is part of science, it is
part of our life, this is what you need to do. We don't just do
that during math class.
We also use literacy in all area contents in order to make
the students know that. In social studies, we use ``History
Alive,'' which is a journaling. They draw pictures. So they
write about it. They act it out.
We move around as much as we can. In music, in P.E., we
also integrate. She teaches math skills, science skills, they
use grouping. So we use all the concept areas, all the teachers
are familiar with the standards of learning for all grade
levels. And we work collaboratively as a team. We have team
priority time every day so that we can work together in order
to bring skills up that interest them, bringing the students to
a higher level.
Mr. Kildee. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Kildee.
Let me just make this announcement. We have our votes here
shortly, and we are talking about 10 or 12 more minutes in
which we can continue to answer questions. Because it is three
votes, it is going to be very hard to bring everybody back, so
hopefully the members can cooperate, and we need to keep
everything relatively brief, so we can try to fit everybody in.
I recognize Mrs. Biggert for her comments for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Biggert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am so impressed with all of the testimony today and how
much you are doing to integrate. I think I hear more from so
many educators who are in my district that are not able to do
the other things besides reading and math and science. And here
you have this program that brings in all of them. They say,
what happened to the gifted program? What happened to the art
program? What happened to the music program? We don't have
time.
I think that you all have really been able to really move
ahead and provide a real balanced curriculum to your students,
as well as further the learning by integrating it. So I would
like to know, when you find ways of linking the curriculum, how
are you spreading that information to other teachers in your
school or in your district, or to other surrounding districts?
Is there a way that you do that?
Ms. Ablott?
Ms. Ablott. We have a collaborative team planning time so
each grade level can plan together. On Wednesday afternoons, we
have early dismissal, so we have a time when all the
specialists, like I as science, the music and reading teacher,
we can meet with the grade-level teams as well, to work
collaboratively to share the learning.
We have professional development that we as a group decide
that we need to work on our reading skills, so that we will
have the speakers come to our school and the county requires
that we attend two in-services each year to extend our learning
as well.
We have lead teacher meetings, where each building has a
science, reading, math and social studies lead teacher. We meet
three times a year where we share ideas. We have professional
development there that we take back to our buildings, and
things to share with the teachers. And so we can commute
between buildings.
We have, of course, the email system. The county can set
questions for the staff, for the lead teachers, and we can
discuss it online and get back to each other. We have a
blackboard where we can have a discussion board and discuss
things as well, so there are a variety of ways.
Mrs. Biggert. Are there ever any teachers that say, you
know, ``I am a traditionalist. I teach math, and that is all I
am going to do. I don't want to be bothered with bringing P.E.
in there and everything''? Do any of you have any problems with
that? And how do you solve it?
Mr. Holt?
Mr. Holt. There is kind of an old saying, ``You plow around
the stumps.'' And that is what it gets down to. As we said
earlier, success builds success, and you find things that work,
and when people see that you are having success and people see
that things are working, pretty soon they are on board.
To get to your first question about sharing, everything we
do in my building is done together. It is not a collection of a
bunch of one-room schoolhouses or independent contractors. We
are a team. We work together. We found that has been what has
worked, so when folks see that, they want to be a part of that.
As far as sharing it with other districts and other places,
that is difficult to do, and that gets to the area of funding
that Dr. Garrison talked about. In Michigan, it is different
than Virginia, and a lot of places where you guys are from. In
Michigan, every community almost is its own separate school
district, as opposed to Virginia where each county has a
district.
So you may have a district like where I am in Johannesburg-
Lewiston that is relatively healthy financially, right next
door to one that is not, and they simply can't do the things
that we are doing. The funding is just not there. So there are
other challenges for some of the folks that we are not faced
with.
Mrs. Biggert. Dr. Garrison?
Dr. Garrison. We get the word out within our school, and
actually throughout our state. We do a pretty good job, and
sometimes we cross state lines. Within our schools, we have
ladder team meetings, so our teachers meet K through 5, because
as Mr. Holt was saying, to have an independent contractor work
in isolation means that nobody is learning from each other.
More importantly, our students are not benefiting. So they
talk about strategies and approaches, and apply what they have
analyzed within their data. We also work really hard at having
teachers be leaders within our school so that they are in fact
leading the development. I have a lot of experts who are
incredibly knowledgeable. So they definitely take the bull by
the horns and take that on.
We have become onsite within our district because we take a
lot of risks, and so far we have been lucky with the risks we
have taken. So we have become a model school where other
schools come and visit and get ideas and observe in our
classrooms.
I also continue to consult because it generates revenue,
and the money goes back to my school. That consulting means
that the word gets out within Oregon because I do a lot of
contracts within our state, and also I cross state lines. So I
am able to share some of what we do.
Mrs. Biggert. Thank you.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mrs. Biggert.
Mrs. Davis?
Mrs. Davis of California. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you all for being here.
One of the things that No Child Left Behind didn't focus on
was principals, and the quality of principals. We focused so
much on the quality of teachers. While we have you here, and we
can't clone you, that is not an option, could you talk a little
bit about what you think might be appropriate in
reauthorization as it relates to principals?
That may be difficult for you to go there, but you
obviously have been doing a lot of what you were doing before
No Child Left Behind, meaning that the attitude of working
together, the collegiality with the schools, and perhaps even
those of you, not necessarily principals, but obviously you
have experience with instructional leaders that make that
happen. What could you offer us, what would you like to share
that you think might be an improvement, and might be a real
value-added as we go into reauthorization?
Mr. Holt. I really don't know how you would address that
through legislation. Just to speak in general terms, the
principal's job is the best job in the world 99 days out of
100. There is that other day that comes up every now and again,
but I am sure we all have had those in our professions in what
we do.
Simply encouraging our best and our brightest and our most
energetic teachers to step forward and to take on the
challenges of becoming principals, to me that is key in really
developing the profession and helping schools achieve at the
levels that we want them to. One of my professors in college
once said, ``A great principal can't take a bad school and make
it excellent, but a terrible principal can take an excellent
school and put it in the tank pretty quickly.''
So the point being that a principal really brings out the
best in the people around him, he or she, if they do their jobs
and they do them effectively, and teachers know all about that.
So if we can just encourage our best and our brightest teachers
to step forward, I think we would be doing a service.
Dr. Garrison. I am not sure how you address it either, but
there are some things that I see that I think make a huge
difference. In several districts that I work in as a
consultant, administrators change too often, and that change is
not necessarily in the best interests of staff or students. I
don't know how you make, I guess you do, make a law that says
no, it needs to be much more stable for effective change to
actually take place.
So from my perspective, if you have a good administrator,
sometimes they get moved up the ladder, so to speak, and that
is not necessarily in the school's best interest or in the
staff's best interest.
Mr. Lydic. I would like to give a plug to my
administration. I agree with both Mr. Holt and Dr. Garrison
that the leadership is the most important, I think, for a
school to achieve. When you have an administrator who gets out
of the way and lets you teach and facilitates and gives you the
encouragement and the support that you need, it encouraged me
to open up my vision to see what opportunities I can do, and it
kind of fueled my enthusiasm to kind of integrate and to build
my program.
So I agree with them, that an encouraging, supportive
administrator, who also can make tough decisions, is what we
are looking for if we are going to put anything in legislation.
Mr. Castle. Ms. Davis, can we move on to others? We are
trying to finish the hearing in the next 8 minutes, if we
possibly could. I don't mean to cut you off.
Mrs. Davis of California. It is OK.
Mr. Castle. Sorry.
Mr. Ehlers is recognized for as little time as he possibly
can use.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Ehlers. I will try to hold it down to 15 minutes.
[Laughter.]
First of all, several comments. I think, Ms. Ablott, you
were the one who mentioned the need for including science in
the measure of AYP. That was the original intent when we passed
the bill, and we inserted science to be assessed. But because
very few schools were doing it, we postponed it, but clearly it
should become part of the AYP.
On the general topic here, what I have heard is wonderful,
but to me not surprising. I think what we really need to learn
more about, and what you are doing experimental work in, is how
to integrate information and knowledge. I don't think we
understand that nearly well enough. The educational psychology
of it has stimulated a lot of questions in my mind, and I think
we need to have those questions answered.
As an example, and I should mention I am a nuclear
physicist, but I have had a lot of involvement in elementary
schools as well. Mr. Zeigler, it is absolutely no surprise to
me that integrating the arts helps in teaching math and
science. As a physics professor, the students that we had that
I lost from physics majors almost invariably went into either
music or arts. They were good physics students, but there is
something about the way the mind works that combines those
things.
Geography is a wonderful subject to integrate a lot of math
and science. Unfortunately, many schools have dropped
geography. I just commend you for what you are doing. It is
just really good work, and your testimony has been extremely
helpful to us. The Federal Government cannot set the
curriculum, but we have to set standards which can help. If
they are done properly, it is very important to leading people
in the direction of the things you have been doing.
I think, Dr. Garrison, you talked about ``teaching to the
test.'' That phrase has always irritated me because if the test
is done properly and the teaching is done properly according to
the standards set, you automatically teach to the test without
even trying to. I commend you for bringing that out in your
testimony.
I really don't have any questions, except that one: How can
we better learn how the brain integrates information? Do any of
you have any ideas for just 1 minute?
Mr. Castle. We have to make a decision here about whether
we are going to come back or not. We can't get everybody in if
we start going in to questions.
Would it be possible to abort the question and go on to the
others and let them make a brief statement? People can't come
back.
Mr. Ehlers. That is fine.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
Mr. Ehlers. Perhaps you can let me know later. I will stick
around.
Mr. Castle. And by the way, we can submit written
questions, which you may want to answer. That can happen as the
process proceeds.
Mr. Kind is recognized.
Mr. Kind. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank the panelists for an excellent presentation
today. It does give us some hope and encouragement about No
Child Left Behind. It has, needless to say, been very
controversial in its implementation. I think a lot of the
teachers still have huge question marks about the value of No
Child Left Behind. I think it is because teaching is such a
personal profession. Teachers want to maintain control and
flexibility and creativity in their classroom.
When they see the mandates of mandatory testing 3 through 8
and the pressure and the high-stakes test, they feel they are
using that kind of creativity. That is why it has been fun
listening to your testimony, trying to seize on the moment and
use your innovation to make the best of this legislation. It is
going to be an important reauthorization coming up.
Dr. Garrison, I do take to heart your testimony that we
need to have adequate and stable funding streams for this, yet
this hearing is being held in the shadow of a budget resolution
that passed last night at 1:30 in the morning that is $15
billion below the authorized level for funding No Child Left
Behind.
That actually goes backward in the Federal support for
special education funding, from 17.7 percent down to 17
percent, when there has been a bipartisan goal to get to a 40
percent Federal cost share for special education. So in effect,
we are going to continue to pit students against students for
the limitation of resources in the classroom. That is not the
right way to support you all, and our local schools, with the
tools you need to do the job.
Mr. Lydic, what I wanted to do is shift back to you,
because one of the things I am hoping to get accomplished in
the reauthorization is with physical education. Right now, it
is not one of the core academic subjects. It is real neat
hearing of your integration of the curriculum with P.E. If you
do a survey nationwide, and studies are coming in, it is a
hodge-podge out there. Some schools are dropping P.E.
In fact, there was a national report the other day that
showed that some elementary schools are even dropping recess
because of the high-stakes tests that are going on. I think
that is a mistake, given childhood obesity, Type II juvenile
diabetes, the whole healthy body/healthy mind concept that we
have to embrace as well. I think your approach is very novel. I
would like to follow-up with you in particular to see what we
can do to try to turn this around in time for reauthorization.
I am also disturbed as a father of two little boys seeing
more studies coming back that our boys in classes are starting
to under-perform at all levels. I think one of the ways of
reaching them is through physical activity and integrating a
lot of these subjects with physical activity, because a lot of
them are not wired.
I know as a kid growing up I didn't like to sit still in
class for a long period of time and do my class assignments. So
I think there are a lot of different opportunities and the
value of having a focus on P.E. education and how we can
integrate the various lesson plans in it.
I am not going to ask a question because I know the others
want to go on, but thank you, Mr. Chairman, today.
Thank you all.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, sir.
Ms. Woolsey is recognized.
Ms. Woolsey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We had a breakfast this morning about how important
principals are and how important teachers are. You are a panel
that proves that point. You are excellent and I thank you.
There are two things I would have asked, and maybe we can
have the answers in writing. The first one is, based on your
experience, what are the factors in addition to math and
reading, which are tested now and required by No Child Left
Behind, what are the other factors that schools can look at to
measure student progress or AYP as it is called under the law,
so that we would not just have one measure? I am preaching to
the choir here, it sounds like.
Then each of you spoke eloquently about reforms that you
have implemented. Can you tell us what can we do in
reauthorizing the law that would encourage more innovation? So
what is getting in the way of innovation? Not you, because
obviously you go ahead with it anyway.
Thank you, thank you very much.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Ms. Woolsey.
I see you are writing. If you would submit those, we can do
it formally, but if you could informally submit to the
committee your answers, that would be helpful.
Mr. Holt has been kind enough to wait, but I want to give
him a minute to say whatever he feels needs to be stated.
Mr. Holt of New Jersey. I would appreciate your comments on
Mr. Ehlers's assertion that science should be included in the
adequate yearly progress measurement. I guess what I take from
your testimony is that it is a lot more important what sort of
teacher professional development we have and what sort of
school supervision and coordination we have, than exactly what
curriculum we have.
So I guess I would like to know, you have kind of touched
on this, but really what I would like to know is what policy we
need so that everything you have talked about this morning will
seem not the least bit out of the ordinary.
Mr. Ehlers said he is not surprised that arts experience
improves the integration of the other subjects, and so forth.
Sure, but not every school is doing that. The question is, how
do we do that? No Child Left Behind was trying to do this in
reading and math, but how do we get that integration from a
policy perspective?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Holt.
Let me thank all the members. I apologize to those who we
had to rush here at the end.
Mr. Ehlers. Mr. Chairman, may I just make one quick
comment?
Mr. Castle. Certainly.
Mr. Ehlers. I just wanted to say that 30 years ago we
learned that teaching science improves the learning of reading.
We have never pursued that, but just recently a report came out
which verified that in much stronger terms. I just wanted to
get that statement on the record.
Thank you.
Mr. Castle. If you haven't figured it out, these two
gentlemen are scientists. They talk about science a great deal.
Let me thank you all. We are going to have to rush off and
vote. I apologize to those who are from Delaware. I won't be
able to say good-bye because I have to rush quickly to the
vote. But let me thank you all very much.
I do want to apologize to the members whom we had to sort
of short-change a little bit here, but once the votes begin, it
is very hard to continue these hearings.
And let me thank the kids, who were just remarkably well-
behaved for a 2-hour session. We thank them.
It has been fascinating. You have been great, and thank you
very much.
With that, we stand adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:46 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]
[The prepared statement of Mr. Castle follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Michael N. Castle, a Representative in
Congress From the State of Delaware
I am excited to be here this morning for the first of our upcoming
hearings on No Child Left Behind, and to hear from all of the witnesses
who have taken time out of their schedules to share their various
teaching methods with us.
Over the course of the past several years, I have often argued that
we are encountering one of the most exciting times in education. I have
said this, and continue to say this, for a couple of reasons. First, we
are all engaged, as a country, on closing the achievement gap. This
conversation is happening at all levels of government, amongst parents,
academics and especially in our school systems. This dialogue and
support is key, and provides necessary momentum. Second, which will be
highlighted today, is the fact that our educators are not shying away
from the demands of No Child Left Behind. Over the course of my visits
to schools, and in almost every press report, I hear about a teacher,
administrator, or parent who has done something to raise the
achievement level of the students in their lives. We must all remember
that ultimately the point of No Child Left Behind is the needs of our
students.
One of my visits took me to Laurel Delaware, where I met Garrett
Lydic--who is here to testify before us today. I do not want to give
away any of his testimony, but as soon as I saw him in the classroom
with his students, I knew that I wanted to share what I saw with my
colleagues. Quickly, I learned that innovative teaching methods, and
integration like his are happening in many schools across the country.
What is interesting, and we sometimes don't think about in
education, is that in our everyday lives we integrate various subject
areas. Think about your day, and you'll notice that it is rare that you
ever sit down to a task and focus solely on math or history or
whatever. Not only is integration realistic, and yet another way to
make learning fun, but it defeats those skeptics who believe that No
Child Left Behind ``narrows curriculum.'' I look forward to hearing
from all of you, and thank you for being with us today.
After years of implementation, we have reached a point where we are
able to both discuss implementation of No Child Left Behind, as well as
the impending reauthorization. I want to thank Chairman McKeon for
working with me when deciding our list of hearings--I look forward to
working under your Chairmanship in highlighting No Child Left Behind's
successes, and identifying ways in which we will be able to improve the
law. Because one thing is for sure, it is here to stay. Finally, I'd
like to recognize Ranking Member Miller's staunch support of the law. I
very much look forward to our continued partnership.
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Garrett Lydic--Mr. Lydic is a Physical Education teacher in
grades 2 through 4 at North Laurel Elementary School in Laurel,
Delaware. He has recently been chosen as Delaware's Teacher of the Year
for 2006. As a teacher Mr. Lydic has excelled in integrating academic
subjects into his physical education curriculum. Also joining Mr. Lydic
are some of his students; Alyssa Givens, Gaby Culver, Shanda Mann,
Alexa Fetty, Natalie Sava, and J.T. Tyndall.
______
[The prepared statement of Mr. Norwood follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Charlie Norwood, a Representative in
Congress From the State of Georgia
Mr. Chairman, I thank you for hosting today's hearing. In the four
years since Congress passed and the President signed the No Child Left
Behind Act into law, a sea change in American elementary and secondary
education has taken place. For the first time in many years, American
schools are being held accountable for achieving results, the federal
government is spending money on programs that actually work, and
students are not simply falling through the cracks of the public
education system.
In short, our schools are finally making progress after years of
plummeting student performance in core reading and math skills. That is
obviously a good thing, and the most critical elements of the No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB) are responsible for this transformation.
NCLB put in place an invaluable national testing regime that gauges
student performance on year-by-year basis, along with a ``report card''
for parents that grades school achievement levels.
Without the information generated from the report cards and the
annual testing, parents would still be in the dark regarding their
kids' school performance, and they would have little-to-no idea how
their children stack up against their peers throughout the state.
Parents need that information in order to make informed decisions about
the children's education, and they are using the new information to
take control of their children's future.
The NCLB legislation also mandates improved teacher quality
requirements that ensure all students are being taught by a highly
qualified teacher. This is also a good thing. After all, how can
American children expect to compete with their Chinese peers if their
teachers are not qualified to properly teach critical math and science
skills that form the building block of knowledge-economy jobs?
These accolades are not political talking points. They are simply
the facts that are clearly visible in long-term trend data released by
the National Association of Education Progress (NAEP) that reveals
significant improvement in student achievement since the NCLB laws went
into effect. Reading and math scores are up across the board--most
notably in minority communities--and many states are beginning to make
real headway in placing a qualified teacher in every classroom.
Now this does not mean that we here in Congress can slap each other
on the back and congratulate ourselves on a job well done. In fact, we
still have a long way to go in order to ensure that every school can
make adequate yearly progress in reading and math scores. We must also
continue to push the states who are not working hard enough to put a
qualified teacher in every class-room.
Some critics believe that the federal law's particular focus on
math and reading assessment causes school districts to ignore other
important subjects. In my own home state, I hear from folks that
believe NCLB forces teachers to ``teach to the test,'' which distracts
their attention from more creative and comprehensive educational
pursuits. If this is the case, and I'm not sure that it is throughout
the majority of the schools in Georgia, we ought to pay close attention
to the testimony of our witnesses here today. After all, a rich and
varied curriculum is critically important to the development of our
young people.
Our Committee has a responsibility to fully investigate this issue,
fix what needs to be fixed, and continue examining NCLB to improve
federal education policy. This hearing is a good first step in our
effort to fulfill that goal.
I thank you for the time Mr. Chairman, and respectfully yield back.
______
[The prepared statement of Mr. Porter follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jon Porter, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Nevada
Good Morning, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased that the committee is
holding today's hearing on the impact of No Child Left Behind's
expanded focus on reading and math. I appreciate our panel of witnesses
for joining us today and the diverse perspectives that they can provide
us on this important issue.
One of the building blocks of our nation's success throughout our
history has been the ingenuity and invention which allow us to
continually overcome the challenges we face and fill the needs that we
have. This ability has traditionally been the product of a free-
thinking and open society, in concert with the excellence of the
education available to us. As our dynamic economy continues to grow, we
must continue to rely on this ingenuity and vitality of thought.
Excellence in the fields of math and science must be a priority for
this to occur, as our increasingly technological society requires
increased research and scientific engagement.
The basis for these abilities lies firmly in the ability of our
elementary and secondary schools to provide the highest quality math
and science education available. To ensure that this education is of
the finest quality, Congress, in concert with States, local education
agencies, and institutions of higher education, must strive to provide
the necessary incentives to bring our best and brightest math and
science teachers into the classroom.
In my own school district, we hire approximately 3000 new teachers
per year. A significant portion of these slots are teachers of math and
science. Our tremendous growth has brought significant challenges in
recruiting the finest teachers. We can all work together to engender
greater interest in these fields, so that we can continue our strong
tradition of technological advancement.
Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing today on
this most important issue. I look forward to the testimony of our
witnesses and am hopeful that we can work together to provide
excellence in math and science education to all of our students.
______
[Additional statement from the National Council for the
Social Studies follows:]
National Council for the Social Studies,
May 25, 2006.
Hon. Buck McKeon,
Chairman, Education and the Workforce Committee, 2181 Rayburn House
Office Building, Washington, DC.
Hon. George Miller,
Ranking Member, Education and the Workforce Committee, 2101 Rayburn
House Office Building, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman McKeon and Representative Miller: Thank you for the
opportunity to submit this testimony and to convey the conviction of
the National Council for the Social Studies' (NCSS) more than 26,000
members-around the nation and the world-that social studies is an
invaluable discipline that should be included in conversations about
federal priorities and investments in education-especially during the
upcoming debate around the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind
Act (NCLB).
The mission of the Council is to provide leadership, service and
support for all social studies educators. Social studies educators give
students the content knowledge, intellectual skills and civic values
they need to fulfill the duties of citizenship in a participatory
democracy.
We look forward to working with you and your staff in the coming
months on this important work.
Thank you again for this opportunity.
Sincerely,
Susan Griffin,
Executive Director.
Jeff Passe,
President.
______
Prepared Statement of the National Council for the Social Studies
``The United States and its democratic system of government are
constantly evolving. No one can predict with certainty what may be
needed from its citizens to preserve and protect it fifty years from
now. For social studies to perform its mission of promoting civic
competence, students must learn not only a body of knowledge but [also]
how to think and how to be flexible in using many resources to resolve
civic issues. It is not overstating the case to say that America's
future depends on it.'' (Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. NCSS,
1994, xvi)
The mission of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
is to provide leadership, service and support for all social studies
educators. Social studies educators give students the content
knowledge, intellectual skills and civic values they need to fulfill
the duties of citizenship in a participatory democracy. The Council
welcomes the opportunity to submit this testimony and to convey the
conviction of the Council's more than 26,000 members-around the nation
and the world-that social studies is an invaluable discipline that
should be included in conversations about federal priorities and
investments in education-especially during the upcoming debate around
the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
NCSS defines social studies as ``the integrated study of the social
sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.'' Within the
school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study
drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics,
geography, history, law, philosophy, political science, psychology,
religion, and sociology, as well as appropriate content from the
humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. In essence, social
studies promotes knowledge of and involvement in civic affairs. And
because civic issues--such as health care, crime, immigration, and
foreign policy--are multidisciplinary in nature, understanding these
issues and developing resolutions to them require social studies
education. These characteristics are the key defining aspects of social
studies.
Powerful social studies teaching helps students develop social
understanding and civic efficacy. Social understanding is integrated
knowledge of social aspects of the human condition: how they have
evolved over time, the variations that occur in various physical
environments and cultural settings, and the emerging trends that appear
likely to shape the future. Civic efficacy-the readiness and
willingness to assume citizenship responsibilities-is rooted in social
studies knowledge and skills, along with related values (such as
concern for the common good) and attitudes (such as an orientation
toward participation in civic affairs). The nation depends on a well-
informed and civic-minded citizenry to sustain its democratic
traditions, especially now as it adjusts to its own heterogeneous
society and its shifting roles in an increasingly interdependent and
changing world in the 21st Century.
Recently, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills
(www.21stcenturyskills.org) has emerged as the leading advocacy
organization focused on infusing ``21st century skills'' into
education. The organization brings together the business community,
education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for
21st century education and to ensure that students emerge from our
schools with the skills needed to be effective citizens, workers and
leaders in the 21st century. A recent report from the partnership,
``Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform''
outlines a compelling framework for 21st century learning that focuses
on the results that matter for today's high school graduates and
suggests that the vision for 21st century learning embrace the
following elements:
1. A continued focus on English, math, science, foreign languages,
civics, government, economics, arts, history and geography;
2. The incorporation of 21st century content into the curriculum,
such as global awareness, civic literacy, health awareness, and
financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy;
3. Teaching of learning and thinking skills;
4. Teaching of information and communications technology;
5. Teaching of life skills, such as ethics and personal
responsibility; and,
6. The proliferation of 21st century assessments in education.
In order for any of this to occur, there must be assurances that:
the curriculum for social studies is required in all
schools, and at all grade levels on a regular basis;
the human and financial resources required to provide this
social studies programming are available to all schools; and,
there are accountability measures for social studies in
place at the school, district, state and national levels.
The National Council for the Social Studies strongly supports these
findings and recommendations, and urges the Committee to consider both.
That is why we paid particular attention to a report released by
the Center on Education Policy (CEP) on March 28, 2006 which focused on
the implementation of NCLB. ``From the Capital to the Classroom: Year 4
of the No Child Left Behind Act,'' is a comprehensive analysis of how
the law is being implemented at the state, district and local levels.
Based on a survey of 50 states, 299 school districts and 38 case
studies of school districts, the report provides the most up-to-date
information about the law's implementation and shares the opportunities
and challenges that it has presented for states and districts.
While the report found that implementation of No Child Left Behind
has brought positive results to schools nationwide, NCSS is troubled by
one finding: One-third (33 percent) of school districts reported
reducing time for social studies ``somewhat or to a great extent'' to
make time for reading and math, while 29 percent said they had reduced
time for science and 22 percent for art and music. This is clearly an
unintended result of NCLB that must be addressed.
While we are familiar with Secretary of Education Margaret
Spellings' assertion that ``what gets measured gets done,'' we believe
this attitude shortchanges our youth as teachers and administrators
focus almost exclusively on achievement results in math and reading.
The gradual elimination of social studies from the school day would
adversely affect social studies educators, students, families,
communities and citizens.
NCSS firmly believes that by incorporating a social studies
curriculum into the school day, the reading and math skills of the
students will actually be enhanced. For example, ``Review of Social
Studies Research and Literature, 1995-2005'' (April 18, 2005), which
was completed for a state social studies task force, highlights several
key findings relative to instruction in the social studies that are
worthy of note, and that those charged with formulating federal
education policy should keep in mind:
Young learners, in the elementary years, are capable of
learning foundation knowledge and processes that are also needed for
learning in middle and high school social studies.
Using informational texts as a means to develop reading
abilities is important for young readers, and encouraging older
students to read a variety of texts * * * leads to greater achievement.
* * * [A]ll national standards documents assert that
effective programs must help students learn important content and
processes, beginning in primary school grades and building civic
competence within each grade, K-12.
Assessments, especially those driven by accountability,
determine to a large extent which studies receive time and emphasis in
classrooms, what is taught to students, and which areas receive funding
for materials and professional development.
These findings suggest that an emphasis on reading knowledge alone
ignores the value of important content and analysis. Rigorous and
relevant social studies curriculum can-and does-teach reading skills
while imparting important knowledge and skills.
The District Facilitator of Social Studies in District 11 in
Colorado Springs, CO recently analyzed data for elementary schools in
this district of nearly 30,000. She noted a close correlation between
high scores on state assessments in reading and those for the Terra
Nova test, contracted through CTB-McGraw Hill, in Social Studies. This
is an indicator that instruction in social studies, emphasizing
vocabulary and reading skills, can lead to achievement in tested
subjects-in particular, reading.
One state in which rigorous and relevant social studies high school
curriculum has become a reality is Michigan. ``To ensure Michigan's
students have the skills and knowledge needed for the jobs of the 21st
Century global economy, on April 20, 2006, Governor Jennifer M.
Granholm signed into law a rigorous new set of statewide graduation
requirements that are among the best in the nation.'' (http://
michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-38924---,00.html). Where once there was a
requirement for 0.5 credits in civics, there is now required 3 credits
of social studies--0.5 credit in civics; 0.5 credit in economics; and
two others between U.S. history and geography and world history and
geography. The state is also completing a revision of Grade Level
Content Expectations for social studies, beginning with Kindergarten,
to be presented to the state Board of Education in August.
As evidenced by the findings of the recent report from the Center
for Educational Policy, NCSS knows that this emphasis is not present in
all schools, districts or states. The report points to a widespread
reduction in the amount of time spent on social studies. Such cuts are
illogical when contrasted with research showing that exemplary
elementary teachers have their students do more social studies and
science reading than students in less effective classrooms
(www.readingrockets.org/articles/96, p 2-3 of 10 ).
Further, the role social studies plays in encouraging responsible
civic participation is irrefutable. Recently, the Civic Mission of
Schools identified Six Promising approaches to civic education
(www.civicmissionofschools.org). The very first approach, based on
research, shows that schools can help to develop competent and
responsible citizens when they:
``Provide instruction in government, history, law, and democracy.
Formal instruction in U.S. government, history, and democracy increases
civic knowledge. This is a valuable goal in itself and may also
contribute to young people's tendency to engage in civic and political
activities over the long term. However, schools should avoid teaching
only rote facts about dry procedures, which is unlikely to benefit
students and may actually alienate them from politics.''
It is obvious that the potential narrowing of the curriculum as an
inadvertent consequence of the implementation of No Child Left Behind
warrants the attention of educators and policymakers across the nation.
Powerful social studies teaching begins with a clear understanding
of the subject's unique purposes and goals. NCSS's believes citizenship
education is the primary purpose of K-12 social studies. Noting that
concern for the common good and citizen participation in public life
are essential to the health of our democratic system, it states that
effective social studies programs prepare young people to identify,
understand, and work to solve the problems facing our diverse nation in
an increasingly interdependent world. Such programs:
foster individual and cultural identity along with
understanding of the forces that hold society together or pull it
apart;
include observation of and participation in the school and
community;
address critical issues and the world as it is;
prepare students to make decisions based on democratic
principles; and
lead to citizen participation in public affairs.
Provide deep content knowledge as a basis for each of the
preceding skills.
Clearly, these programs are also important tools for imparting math
and reading knowledge and skills. Social studies is a discipline that
facilitates the teaching of a number of subjects and arms young people
with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective and responsible
citizens. The National Council for the Social Studies looks forward to
working with you in the coming months on the important effort of
reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act.