“What US schools do wrong” is the title of an article I read this week about a simple reality of the teaching environment that could be easily corrected. I wrote a blog last week on the success of American military schools in teaching the basics of education, when viewed against the backdrop of the American public school system where results have been declining for decades. The conclusion of that blog was that the military schools success is based on consistency in curriculum and the lack of arbitrary, and biased, inputs from school boards and politicians.
The previous blog also cited the results of the international testing system, called PISA, which ranks over 70 countries educational results. The US, after leaving the system because of its own embarrassing results, re-entered, but still ranks well below where it should be. As a result, experts have been searching for additional secrets behind these bad US performance results, aside from the school board and political issues. The article I read found another possible contribution.
In North Carolina, economists examined data on several million elementary school students. They discovered a common pattern across about 7,000 classrooms that achieved significant gains in math and reading performance. Those students didn’t have better teachers. They just happened to have the same teacher at least twice in different grades. A separate team of economists replicated the study with nearly a million elementary and middle schoolers in Indiana — and found the same results.
Every child has hidden potential. It’s easy to spot the ones who are already sparkling, but many students are uncut gems. When teachers stay with their students longer, they can see beyond the surface, and recognize the brilliance beneath. Instead of teaching a new cohort of students each year, teachers who practice “looping” (they move up grades with their students) achieve significantly better results. It can be a powerful tool. And unlike many other educational reforms, looping doesn’t cost a dime.
With more time to get to know each student personally, teachers gain a deeper grasp of the kids’ strengths and challenges. The teachers have more opportunities to tailor their instructional and emotional support to help all the students in the class reach their potential. They’re able to identify growth not only in the peaks reached, but also in obstacles overcome. The nuanced knowledge they acquire about each student isn’t lost in the handoff to the next year’s teacher.
It is interesting to note that the countries that excel in the PISA international testing system, deliberately use a form of looping – the teachers stay with the same group of students as they move up through the grades, or their country’s equivalent advancement system. In Finland and Estonia (two of the top performers in PISA), for example, it’s common for elementary schoolers to have the same teacher not just for two years in a row, but sometimes for up to six straight years. Instead of just specializing in their subjects, teachers also get to specialize in their students. Their role evolves from instructor to coach and mentor.
Most parents see the benefit of keeping their kids with the same coaches in sports, music, and many other extra-curricular activities, for more than a year. Yet the American education system fails to do this with teachers, the most important coaches of all. Critics have long worried that following their students through a range of grades will prevent teachers from developing specialized skills appropriate to specific grade levels. Parents fret about rolling the dice on the same teacher more than once. What if my kid gets stuck with Mr. Snape or Miss Viola Swamp? But in the data, looping actually had the greatest upsides for less effective teachers — and lower-achieving students. Building an extended relationship gave them the opportunity to grow together.
Looping isn’t the only practice that makes a difference. Both Finland and Estonia have professionalized education systems — they often require master’s degrees for teachers, training them in evidence-based education practices, and methods for interpreting ongoing research in the field. And teachers are entrusted with a great deal of autonomy. Whereas American kindergarten has become more like first grade, with more emphasis on spelling, writing and math, Finland and Estonia make learning fun with a play-based curriculum. Elementary schoolers typically get 15 minutes of recess for every 45 minutes of instruction. Teachers don’t have to waste time teaching to the test. And, over the years, if students start to struggle, instead of labelling them as remedial, or forcing them to repeat grades, schools in both countries offer early interventions focused on individual tutoring and extra support. That helps students get up to speed without being pulled off track.
Over the years, American students have consistently lagged behind two to three dozen countries on the PISA. A major factor in our lack-luster results is the huge gap between our highest- and lowest-performing students. The U.S. education system is built around a culture of winner take all. Students who win the wealth lottery get to attend the best schools with the best teachers. Great education systems create cultures of opportunity for all. They don’t settle for no child left behind; they strive to help every child get ahead. As the education expert Pasi Sahlberg writes, success is when “all students perform beyond expectations.”
Finnish and Estonian schools don’t just invest in students who show early signs of high ability — they invest in every student, regardless of apparent ability. And there are few better ways to do that than to keep students with teachers who have the time to get to know their abilities.
My conclusion from both of the blogs, last week and this week, is that “looping” costs nothing and would be easy to implement. Unfortunately, getting rid of school boards as well as political input in curriculum, will require a major cultural shift that seems almost impossible to achieve. Implementing both changes, however, could result in a major improvement in the U.S. public education system which, given the PISA results is very badly needed.
