Strategies for Empowering New Students to Think Critically in the Humanities

GENERATION NO CHILD LEFT

BEHIND

LaTricea Adams, Ed.S. Tennessee State University Doctoral Candidate Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools Assessment & Data Specialist

How can we build the cognitive stamina of students who came through the wave of No Child Left Behind?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

Self-evaluate on the current level of critical thinking of students as evident by current pedagogy (pre- and post survey).

Build the framework for facilitating close reading and Socratic questioning (Socratic Seminar) and incorporating authentic intellectual performance tasks into instructional time.

SESSION OUTCOMES

Mini-Segment Description Time Allotted

NCLB…The Saga of “Education Reform”

5 minutes

Self-Assessment 5 minutes

Intellectual Standards 5 Minutes

Close Reading 10 minutes

Authentic Intellectual Performance Task 10 minutes

Socratic Seminar 10 minutes

Next Steps to Moving Pedagogical Practice (Post Self-Assessment)

5 minutes

AGENDA

No Child Left Behind…The Saga of

“Education Reform”

TRANSITION

In August of 1981, the National Commission on Excellence in Education was chartered under the authority of 20 U.S.C. 1233a.

Their goal was to review & synthesize the data on the quality of learning & teaching in the nation's schools, colleges, and universities, both public and private.

The National Commission on Excellence published a report:

A Nation at Risk, which found that the American school system was falling behind compared to education institutions around the world.

The notion of equal education for all regardless of race or class or economic status had not been met.

NCLB…THE SAGA OF “EDUCATION REFORM”

1994Improving America’s

Schools Act (IASA)

1994-2000The Rise of

Assessments, Data &

Accountability

2001

No Child Left Behind Act

(NCLB)

2010

NCLB Reform/ESEA

Flexibility

NCLB…THE SAGA OF “EDUCATION REFORM”

In 2013, we graduated our first cohort of American students who went K-12 under NCLB…

What are some deficits in your students’ critical thinking abilities?

How do you think No Child Left Behind affected your students’ level of critical thinking?

DISCUSSION

TRANSITION

TRANSITION

DISCUSSION

How does allowing students to do the heavy “intellectual lifting” look?

What are some common instructional practices for establishing this type of learning environment?

INTELLECTUAL STANDARDS

METACOGNITION

INTELLECTUAL STANDARDS

TRANSITION

Paraphrasing the Text Sentence by Sentence

Explicating the Thesis of a Paragraph

Analyzing the logic of what we’re reading

Assessing the logic of what we’re reading

Speaking in the Voice of an Author

CLOSE READING

CLOSE READING

EXCERPT FROM INVISIBLE MAN BY RALPH ELLISON “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am l one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids – and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination – indeed, everything and anything except me.”

CLOSE READINGPARAPHRASING

CLOSE READINGEXPLICATING

SState the main point of the paragraph in 1-2 sentences.

EElaborate on what you have paraphrased.

EExemplify meaning by tying it to concrete situations in the real world.

I Illustrate with metaphors, analogies, pictures, or diagrams of the basic thesis to connect it to other meanings you already understand.

1. What is the key question the author is trying to answer?

2. What is the author’s fundamental purpose?

3. What is the author’s point of view with respect to the issue?

4. What assumptions is the author making in his/her reasoning?

5. What are the implications of the author’s reasoning?

6. What information does the author use in reasoning through this issue?

7. What are the most fundamental inferences or conclusions in the text?

8. What are the author’s most basic concepts?

CLOSE READINGANALYZING THE LOGIC OF WHAT

WE ARE READING

ASSESSING THE LOGIC OF WHAT WE’RE READING

CLOSE READING SPEAKING IN THE VOICE OF THE AUTHOR

AUTHENTIC INTELLECTUAL PERFORMANCE TASK

EXAMPLES OF MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN SOCIETY

Below are examples of groups that have been unseen and unheard in different ways throughout history or, in the words of Ralph Ellison, “constantly bumped against by those of poor vision.”

1. Women 2. Native Americans

3. People with Disabilities

4. Workers/Laborers

5. Immigrants

6. Religious Minorities

TRANSITION

DISCUSSION

What are some concerns with facilitating a classroom around Socratic Questioning?

How can these concerns be addressed (organization of the process)?

SOCRATIC SEMINARWhat puzzles me is… I’d like to talk with people about… I’m confused about… Don’t you think this is similar to… Do you agree that the big ideas seem to be… I have questions about… Another point of view is… I think it means…Do you think…What does it mean when the author says…Do you agree that…

CREATE YOUR OWN…

• Close Reading Activity (be explicit about the type of thinking/expectations for each level and how to incorporate time for students to “Think about their Thinking”)

• Socratic Seminar framework

• Authentic Intellectual Performance Task

TRANSITION

Next Steps to Moving Pedagogical Practice (Post Self-Assessment)

Brookhart , S . (2010) . How to Assess H igher-Order Th ink ing Ski l ls in Your C lassroom. A lexandr ia , VA: ASCD. 17-39.

Education Week (2011) . No Chi ld Left Behind. Retr ieved f rom http: / /www.edweek.org/ew/ issues/no -ch i ld- le ft behind/ .

K ing, F. , Goodson, L . , Rohani , L . (1997) . H igher Order Th ink ing Ski l ls : Definit ion, Teaching Strategies, and Assessments. Educat iona l Service Programs. 1.

Newmann, F. , Bryk, A. , Nagaoka, J . (2001) . Authent ic Inte l lectua l Work and StandardizedTests : Conflict or Coexistence. Consort ium on Chicago School Research. 10-11.

Partnersh ip for Assessment of Readiness for Col lege and Careers . (2011) . PARCC modelcontent f rameworks: Engl ish language arts/ l i teracy grades 3–11. Retr ieved f romwww.parcconl ine.org/s i tes /parcc/fi les/PARCCMCFELALiteracyAugust2012_FINAL pdf

Paul , R. , & Elder , L . (2008) . How to read a paragraph: The art of c lose reading. Di l lonBeach, CA: Foundat ion for Cr i t ica l Th ink ing Press.

Paul , R. & Elder , L . (2007) . The Art of Socrat ic Quest ion ing. D i l lon Beach, CA: Foundat ion for Cr i t ica l Th ink ing Press.

Wiggins , G. & McTighe, J . (2005) . Understanding by Design. A lexandr ia , VA: ASCD.

REFERENCES