Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Talent Is Overrated

From Talent Is Overrated by Geoff Colvin

"And what we discovered so far is not what makes some people excel but rather what doesn't. Specifically:

  • It isn't (years of) experience.
  • It isn't specific inborn abilities.
  • It isn't general abilities such as intelligence and memory.
...the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain."

Monday, November 19, 2012

From "Elements of Grading" by Doug Reeves

"Certainly, Hattie is not the first scholar to recognize the importance of feedback on student achievement. His findings are completely consistent with Robert Marzano's conclusions that accurate, specific, and timely feedback is linked to student learning. Thanks to Hattie's research, however, we can now be more precise than ever about how important it is. We can say, based on the preponderance of the evidence from multiple studies and many cultural settings, that feedback is not only more important than most other instructional interventions, it is also more important than socioeconomic status, drug use, nutrition, exercise, anxiety, family structure, and a host of other factors that many people have claimed are overwhelming. Indeed, when it comes to evaluating the relative impact of what teachers and educational leaders do, the combined use of formative evaluation and feedback is the most powerful combination that we have."

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Have We Lost Our Stomach for Democracy?

The elections are over. Winners have been declared. But as I think back, I recall the local and national outcry against the rancor and divisiveness and bitterness of the political debates as they unfolded throughout the campaigns. Frankly, I couldn't disagree more. As a confessed political junkie (it's actually one of my hobbies!) I found great value in hearing one candidate versus another candidate express passionately his or her opinions about their position and attempting to refute the validity of their opponent's argument. This is how ideas are tested. This is how good ideas are developed. This is how good ideas in a democracy become implemented. For we as a nation to have "lost our stomach" for the vigorous exchange of ideas is concerning. To avoid this necessary testing of ideas in order to maintain a peaceful atmosphere is to lose the very process by which our ideas become better. As role models for our young people, I truly believe that we in education need to model this kind of necessary and respectful--but at times oppositional--dialogue. We must be respectful and considerate, of course, but to abandon our passions for the sake of a false sense of civility makes for very little progress, indeed.