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The Global Search for Education: How to Support Your Education System
C. M. Rubin — Canada currently ranks in the top 10 countries in all the PISA test subjects, well ahead of the U. S.
“70% of the variation in student achievement is accounted for by factors outside of the control of schools.” -- Charles Ungerleider
Professor Charles Ungerleider tells me he wrote his book, Failing Our Kids – How we are Ruining Our Public Schools (McClelland & Stewart, 2004), after he completed a term as Deputy Minister of Education for British Columbia. For 40 years he had observed the Canadian education system from a variety of vantage points: as teacher, professor, trustee, parent, and deputy minister. During this period, he watched the largely successful Canadian educational system become so overburdened with increasing demands, he believed the system would ultimately collapse unless expectations were properly reconsidered.
Charles Ungerleider is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of British Columbia. He is also Director of Research and Managing Director of Directions, Evidence and Policy Research Group. This week in The Global Search for Education, he discusses our big picture questions and shares his views on how to nurture and support a successful education system. (Editor’s note: Canada currently ranks in the top 10 countries in all the PISA test subjects, well ahead of the U. S.)
What kind of educational system will permit a country to have the people skills needed to compete globally?
There is an inherent tension in education between its traditional mission of social development and nation building, and the post war development of human capital and international economic competition. The extreme post war emphasis on economic development is a burden on public schools because the ability to compete economically with other nations is not entirely, or even mostly, dependent upon the education system.
I bristle a little bit when people talk about global competitiveness, because I worry we’re focused on global economic competitiveness and sacrificing social and cultural development. Every society wrestles with the question of what kind of an educational system it will create to realize its vision of itself as a nation. I worry about an education system that cultivates its human capital to produce economically and ignores the social and cultural development of its people.
What are your views on standardized testing?
I am not an opponent of standardized testing, but I am an opponent of high stakes standardized testing. I am opposed to punishing schools and teachers on the basis of standardized testing results and depriving them of the resources they need to improve learning. Anyone who thinks about assessment will recognize that a child’s performance on any given assessment is the cumulative expression of all their prior learning, not just what happened that year or in that school. Moreover, 70% of the variation in student achievement is accounted for by factors outside of the control of schools. Only about 30% of the variance in student achievement is attributable to school related factors, and only about half of those are ones that we can explain.
Recognizing the 70/30 ratio has two important implications for those who wish to improve student achievement. First, assessment is the starting point, not the end point. What you have to be able to do is identify school factors amenable to policy influence that are capable of affecting change in student achievement. Second, you will maximize the benefits of the school’s efforts if they are complemented by policies to support families and communities, such as living wages, equal pay for work of equal value, generous maternity and parenting leaves, affordable day and after school care, and the like.
“I worry about an education system that cultivates its human capital to produce economically and ignores the social and cultural development of its people.” -- Charles Ungerleider
What is the biggest school factor that affects change in student achievement?
The most important thing is the teachers in the classroom. You are not going to do anything of any serious consequence to improve student achievement or accomplish any serious educational purpose without ensuring that you have well-educated, well-prepared professionals in the classroom. It is not the material or the way schools are organized, but the teacher who makes most of the difference in the school’s contribution to student achievement. Excellent teaching means recruiting people who have the requisite knowledge and dispositions to the tasks, and paying them well.
What are the main steps that must be taken to improve the caliber of teachers in the public education system?
The initial professional preparation that teachers receive, and the continuing professional education that occurs over the course of their careers, influence their performance. Despite improvement over time, the preparation that teachers receive is more guided by ideology than evidence, and is not commensurate with the challenges that teachers face. Teacher certification authorities could help by strengthening the standards by which applicants for initial certification are evaluated and by applying standards that ensure currency of professional knowledge and practice.
What can be done to better address the emotional well-being of kids today given the rise in competition and the pressure to achieve?
This is the first generation in the history of mental health statistics where the mental health of the kids is not superior to that of their seniors. It is much harder to grow up today. We had a more nurturing and respectful notion of child rearing in the past.
As a society, we are not as concerned about the young as we once were. The attention of the community has moved away from being nurturing and raising the young to how am I doing. Am I going to be all right? And, how does my child’s achievement reflect on me?
We need to equip kids with the dispositions and the knowledge that they need in order to thrive in a changing world. We also need to think about the dispositions that people need to live in community with others, to contribute socially and culturally to their communities. For this, a caring and nurturing environment is important.
Aside from addressing the family and economic issues of students in poverty, what are the main steps you would take to improve the academic capabilities of these students?
Students living in impoverished circumstances often exhibit inadequate school readiness. There are a number of policies that will help to address the problems.
- Equip kindergarten classrooms with toys and materials appropriate to learning numbers, colors, and shapes.
- Provide opportunities for students to develop fine motor skills.
- Encourage oral expression. Ensure that teachers answer students’ questions, listen to their speech, respond to their requests, and help them demonstrate some achievement. Provide an environment in which children are emotionally supported and teachers use complex vocabulary and sentences in their communication with them.
- Ensure that teachers take children out of school to explore the community and to visit neighborhood institutions.
- Ensure that teachers display the products of student school work in visible places within the school and in the community.
- Administer diagnostic assessments of (1) phonemic awareness, (2) vocabulary, (3) letter naming, and (4) single word reading; provide interventions to address identified deficits, and ensure that teachers concentrate on deficiencies in these areas, monitoring student progress until students consistently meet or exceed grade level expectations.
World Wisdom
- We should be concerned about an educational system that cultivates its human capital to produce economically and ignores the social and cultural development of its people.
- 70% of the variation in student achievement is attributable to factors outside of the control of schools. Successful education depends upon complementary social policies.
- The most important factor that affects student achievement is the teachers in the classroom.
- Professional preparation and ongoing education of teachers are essential factors in teacher performance.
Professor Charles Ungerleider and C. M. Rubin
(Photos are provided courtesy of the Dwight International School in Canada and Charles Ungerleider)
In The Global Search for Education, join C. M. Rubin and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Leon Botstein (US), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (US), Dr. Madhav Chavan (India), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (US), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Professor Ben Levin (Canada), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. David Shaffer (US), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (US), Yves Theze (Lycee Francais US), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (US), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
The Global Search for Education Community Page
C.M. Rubin has more than two decades of professional experience in development, marketing, and art direction for a diverse range of media businesses. She is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice In Wonderland.
Follow C. M. Rubin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@cmrubinworld
Tuesday
September 13th, 2011
Filed Under
C. M. Rubin Canadian Education Charles Ungerleider Education Reform The Global Search for Education
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Comments
I found Professor Ungerleider’s approach very insightful and supported by facts about the reality of what drives educational success. The importance of the quality of teachers shines thru as a significant action area for the U. S. Combined with the other excellent thought pieces in this series, our focus in the U. S. should be clear.
Makes a lot of sense, and is consistent with views of other leading educators.
Indeed, it is a well written account. The focus needs to be on a solid teacher training program which will have the knock on effect of producing better students
Spot on. If there are two things I’ve learned from this series it would be the sheer importance of quality teachers and a reduced reliance on standardized testing. They’re the two areas that really need to be focussed on.
Unparalleled accuracy, ueqnuivaocl clarity, and undeniable importance!
Conclusion: focus on the quality of the teaching corps in the U.S., which we know is one of the least paid professions and ranks way behind the countries with the leading educational systems.
Agree. Particularly important in the inner city schools, and poor country schools. Need to raise the level of teachers thru training, rather than terminating.
I wonder how many potential teachers are put off because of the poor pay. These are financially hard times at the moment and people need financial security more than ever.
Pretty much the same conclusion as a number of previous articles in the series. Listen up guys in Washington.
While there are countries with superior education systems that focus on developing well educated individuals, such as Finland and Canada, there are other countries having great academic success that are pushing math and science, such as China and South Korea. Canada and Finland’s definition of success may relate more to the health of individuals and communities, whereas in Asia, the definition of success is economic competitiveness, which most likely leads to greater wealth and power. And so it starts with a nation’s goals.
So who is to say which goals are better? There are those who believe in economic competitiveness, and those who believe in broad and satisfying lives thru family and community. Professor Ungerleider believes in the latter.
I’m surprised by the statistic that this is the first generation which has poorer emotional health than their predecessors. But then, there’s just so much competition these days. Take university places – every year I hear the same report, that there are more students applying for the same number of places than the previous year. It’s getting ridiculous.
It does not surprise me. Apparently, the average income of middle class families is at the same level as in 1997. That’s a generation of no progress.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of economic problems, which cause stress for all of us.
The admissions numbers have become overwhelming. And outside of school, the economy is a mess, the weather has brought big problems, our children are in regional wars…the stress is just much higher.
Also, standardized tests have become more competitive, with many people using special courses and tutors, and schools relying more and more on the numbers as the applicant pools have doubled in the last 5 years because of the “common application” which can be submitted online. Spells huge pressure.
I wonder if more should be invested on teacher training programs for teachers already in the profession, sort of like refresher courses to keep them up to date on the latest research on education and the latest strategies for effective teaching. Along with improved initial training, this double pronged attack would surely increase results.
I think that’s an area that can be the victim of being overlooked. It should most definitely be encouraged for teachers to continue their training on the job right through their careers.
I believe that there are three main areas when talking about teachers and investment.
1. Initial training
2. Training courses throughout their careers
3. Adequate compensation recognising the difficulty and importance of the job they do
Only when these three conditions have been met will I be content that we have “good” teachers in America. Incidentally, this is not to say that current teachers are bad, I know for a fact that there are some excellent teachers, what I’m referring to is the average quality of teachers, if you will.
I’ve been following this series closely and with great interest. I believe it was Professor Theo Wubbels who emphasised a similar importance of teachers. It’s clear that that is what is required as the bed stone of any education system. Perhaps increase investment in teacher training programs?
What I found of particular interest in this article was that notion of high risk standardized testing. I’m of the opinion that standardized testing done right is a valuable tool that can be used to help the student identify their strengths and weaknesses. When a students entire career boils down to achieving highly on 3 or 4 standardized tests, I think that is an invalid measure of a students ability and should be changed.
While teacher quality is critical we cannot ignore the systemic influence on teachers enculturated into operating with flawed practises.
I give the simplest of examples – accepting frequent external administrative interruptions to lessons. This was shown in the TIMSS video study to be detrimental to teaching, common place in the US and anathema in Japan. American teachers don’t even think twice about the damage this does to their efforts.
Just watched an interesting new documentary American Teacher. Recommended.
I agree with pretty much everything Charles has said but also consider this. Canada has much more advanced medicare and other social programs. There are poor people in Canada but with the exception of First Nations Canadians, 3.3% of the population, the gap between rich and poor is much smaller.
Canadian politics is dominated by Ontario and Quebec. This is like politics 2/3 dominated by NY state to Americans. The dominant ethos is liberal-social democrat. The social democratic party is now #2 in parliament and therefore the conservative government cannot go too far right.
In Canada in many cities, the poorer the school the more resources and the smaller the classes. Canadians are strong believers in compensatory education.
The crime rate in Canada is a tiny fraction of the USA rate and falling. It is much harder to get a gun. We don’t believe citizens have a “right to bear arms”.
Canadians look to Finland as a model to continue to close the gap. There is testing but it is increasingly unpopular and may not last.
There is an overwhelming political opinion that no public money should go to vouchers or charters although many big cities have “public alternative schools” but they are totally controlled by the school board.
In Canada, our Maritime and Atlantic provinces compare to New England but a little poorer. Ontario and Quebec compare economically with the north-east NY to Michigan industrial belt. Our 3 prairie provinces compare economically to Montana-the Dakotas. British Columbia is our California. We have no equivalent for the south.
Imagine the American political culture if there were no southern reps in H of R or the Senate. Toronto is our most racially complex city at 10% black but 25% asian.
The political demographics of Canada mitigate against the right so much that the centre left has 2 parties. We have a large conservative party but it is not nearly so far right as the Republicans. We have no “Tea Party”. We consider them to be political ‘crazies’.
education is very important.
1 simple reason Canada can do well compared to the United States: numbers of people.
Canada has far less people to educate than the US does.
I’m not saying this stops the United States from doing better, but it is a large difference in dynamics. The US cannot use Canada as an example. The US cannot use China as an example. The US has to figure it all out on its own.
Rob this is nonsense. Fewer people means everything is in proportion.
The USA to improve must first bring in universal single payer medicare, raise the minimum wage, get rid of RTW states, move tons of money from the burbs to the inner city and rural poor areas, focus far more on what the poor need to succeed.
The American rich middle class and even working class do as well as any country. It is the American poor kids who drag down the avg because everybody else does a better job with their poor kids.
If you don’t want to look to Canada, Finland or Korea, then look at your leading states, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, etc. They do as well as leading nations.
fewer people means everything is in proportion? Fewer mostly whites is the same proportion as many hispanics and blacks?