Civility in Civic Discourse

So many political commentators have registered their moral outrage at the civic discourse in the presidential primaries over the past six months that I fear you may exit this blog as soon as you read this first sentence.  Please give me a chance to share to the future and the essential role of our schools so that we can move beyond this current political climate. 

After reading numerous comments by editors and listening to an endless number of political commentators, one could easily conclude that this crude discourse in the presidential race is different from the more acceptable civic discourse in the past.  This conclusion would be erroneous.  While I was completing my doctorate at Texas A&M University-Commerce, I taught as an adjunct American history instructor at Collin County Community College.  One of my favorite stories from 19th Century America is the election of Andrew Jackson as president.  Jackson married the love of his life, Rachel Donelson, before he ran for president.  Rachel had married Lewis Robards when she was 18, but her relatives accused Robards of abuse. Rachel later thought she and Robards were legally divorced; however, this divorce had not taken place.  Jackson’s political opponents seized on this issue and unleased a vicious moral attack on Jackson but especially on Rachel.  Their language was vulgar and straight from the moral sewer.  Rachel was so crushed by these moral attacks that she died after the election but before Jackson was inaugurated as president.  Some of Jackson’s closest friends and advisors feared that he would resign before serving a day as president.  As you know, he did serve, but never forgave his political opponents for the death of Rachel. This is one example of dirty politics among many that could be cited from past presidential elections in the United States.  

However, I do not share this example in order to condone the quality of the debates in the current presidential race.  After each debate the political commentators from the news media try to tell us who won.  It seems to boil down to which candidate had the best one-line zinger to which the other candidate(s) failed to respond.  A one-line zinger should have little or nothing to do with winning a debate. 

Many high school students and most college freshmen are introduced (it is to be hoped) to logical fallacies as they study argumentative writing and debating.  Logical fallacies are common errors on reasoning that will undermine the logic of one’s argument.  As I share four fallacies, think back over the presidential debates thus far and see if you can recall examples of each.   

First, ad hominem fallacy is an attack on the character (looks, personality, or attitude) of a person rather than his/her opinions or arguments of the topic being debated.  Did not many of the debates begin with this very fallacy? 

Second, genetic fallacy is the claim that an idea, product, or person must be untrustworthy because of its (his/her) racial, geographic, or ethnic origin. How many of the verbal exchanges between candidates have centered around this very fallacy? 

Third, hasty generalization is that one’s conclusion is based on insufficient or biased evidence.  In other words, one is rushing to a conclusion before one has all the relevant facts.  However, in our current presidential debates, facts don’t seem to matter anymore.   

Fourth, the straw man fallacy oversimplifies an opponent’s viewpoint and then attacks that shallow argument.  What grade would you give most of the candidates in these debates thus far?  My grade would be an “F”. 

At this point in the history of the United States, it is imperative that we seriously engage in moral and civic discourse regarding the complex issues we face as a nation.  Nonetheless, I am weary of listening to the vulgar language of our politicians.  Moreover, I do not want my grandchildren to hear it.  Neither do I want them to aspire to political leadership if they have to pattern their behavior after our current presidential candidates.  I am weary of attempting to listen to political pundits as they try to yell louder than the other pundits in their group.  Being louder than everyone around you and constantly interrupting others as they speak should not mean you win.  It simply means you are rude and obnoxious.  The current political climate is bringing out the evil angels rather than the better angels in each of us.  

It is up to our schools to produce a new generation of citizens that demands something better from our political leaders.  Since we are backing away from a total emphasis on standard test scores in our schools (thank God), may we turn our attention to civility in civic discourse.  I call upon Governor Haslam, the Tennessee Legislature, Education Commissioner McQueen, the Tennessee State Department of Education, local school boards, directors of education, principals, and teachers to commit to this goal.  If we do not teach our children how to participate in a democracy in a civil manner, who will be their teachers?
 
Reference:  Simpson, T.L.  “Model for Integrating Moral Discourse into the Classroom.”
Image Source: http://www.civication.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/civil-discourse-civility.jpg

Bless you my children,

Terry L. Simpson

Read to be Ready

A few years ago, I was listening to NPR as I often do in the mornings while driving to campus.  A report about reading was the focus of this particular news item.  For developing reading skills, 3rd grade seems to be the essential grade level.  If a child is not reading on grade level at 3rd grade, in most cases, that child will never read well enough to be successful in school.  Then came the most startling statement that I had heard in many years.  The states of California and Arizona were estimating the number of prison beds they would need in the future by the percentage of 3rd graders in their states not reading on grade level. 

I was so shocked that I almost wrecked on HWY 321.  What is wrong with this picture?  We can get the millions of dollars needed to put more and more teens and young adults in prison, which has no redeeming value, but we cannot put the same amount of money in teaching all of our children to read.  Let’s not blame the politicians.  They want to be re-elected, so they do what the voters want.  Why has there not been a public outcry?  This is nothing short of immoral. 

However, the TN Department of Education is attacking this reading crisis in Tennessee in full force.  On Wednesday, February 17, I attended the public announcement of our new educational emphasis Read to be Ready.  If you want detailed information about this program, go to ReadToBeReadyTN.com.  Why reading?  Reading is the key that unlocks the door to academic success, and we have a problem in Tennessee. In 2015, only 45% of 4th grade students performed on grade level on the English Language Arts (ELA) TCAP exam. However, on the NAEP exams (exams administered by the United States Department of Education) only 33% of Tennessee students demonstrated proficiency (I addressed this discrepancy in a previous blog).  The ambitious (but many believe attainable) goal set by the Tennessee Department of Education is that 75% of 3rd graders will be proficient in reading by 2025.  I commend Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen for her leadership in this endeavor.  We need a significant but focused goal to achieve in a critical area that will make a difference in the lives of our students. 

The Department of Education realizes that schools and teachers alone cannot achieve this goal with our children; therefore, our leaders in the Tennessee Department of Education are trying to bring parents, businesses, community members, and non-profit & faith-based organizations together as equal partners in this initiative.  It should be noted that at the public announcement of the program, Dollar General Store Corporation presented Commissioner McQueen a check for $1,000,000 dedicated to this reading initiative. 

As we implement this reading program, my concern remains the academic achievement of boys in our elementary schools. Developmentally, boys are often far behind girls in the elementary and middle school grades.  When specific reading skills are introduced in the elementary grades, many boys may not be developmentally ready to master those skills.  They fall behind academically and often never catch up.  The report on this initiative correctly identifies what teachers must do; that is, teachers must be able to differentiate instruction so that our boys will not be left behind.  Differentiating instruction is seldom employed by teachers, and when attempted, is often done poorly.  I believe differentiating instruction must become a priority of our teacher licensure programs in our colleges and universities and in-service programs in our school districts.  

We must consciously choose more stories/books in the older elementary and middle school grades that boys like to read.  I have shared this concern with numerous teachers and administrators over the years, and most agree.  If we differentiate instruction, the essential reading skills could be taught with the stories/books that appeal to different students.  I attended Davis Elementary School in grades 1-8 (4 teachers with each teacher teaching all subjects in two grades in the same room), and to this day, I remember the first stories that captured my total attention.  First, the short stories by Jesse Stuart about daily life in homes and schools in rural eastern Kentucky fascinated me.  These were stories that were like my family and friends in East Tennessee, and it gave my daily life a sense of worth that could be told to others.  Second, any story about the Civil War always caught my complete attention as a young man in the south.  I realize these topics may not be of interest to boys today, but it is critical that we identify stories/books of interest to young boys.  It may be super heroes, famous athletes, Harry Potter, or a myriad of other topics.  The failure to address this issue may result in the collapse of this critically important reading initiative. 

Additionally, we must stop assigning classes filled with low performing students to weak and/or inexperienced teachers.  These students need our best teachers in order to be successful.  When our best teachers are assigned these students, the teachers must be recognized and rewarded rather than believing they are being punished by the administrators. 

Finally, to Commissioner McQueen and the Tennessee Department of Education—Maryville College is totally supportive of this initiative, and the faculty in our teacher licensure program will do everything within our power to help our schools and students achieve this important goal.  

Bless you my children,
Terry L. Simpson  
 

School Vouchers: We Must Be Very Careful

During this legislative year in Tennessee, the legislature may very well pass its first school voucher bill.  It’s being guided though the TN House of Representatives by our friend, Representative Bill Dunn of Knoxville.  Representative Dunn is a good and honorable public servant, and I have no doubt but that he wants the best possible education for all the children of Tennessee.  

When a new educational program is being considered by the Tennessee Legislation or the State Department of Education, I always ask one crucial question: Will this new program help enhance the educational achievement of children from poor families?  Middle/upper class parents have the financial ability to live in the best school zones, or they supplement the education their children receive from the local school.  Children from poor families are doomed to attend the public school for which they are zoned regardless of the quality of education the children receive. 

I’ve been a teacher for 43 years and a teacher educator for 26 years, and we have been trying to “fix” urban and poor rural schools for all these years, and basically we have failed.  Teach for America and KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Public Charter Schools have a positive track record with poor urban children, but their schools are usually small, because they pick from the most motivated parents and students.  We have not been able to replicate their success on a mass scale, and their programs are nonexistent in poor rural areas. 
This situation brings us back to the issue of finding better schools for those children who live in poverty and are trapped in ineffective schools.  But I have a concern with the voucher approach.  I have never examined a voucher program where the amount of the voucher would actually pay for full tuition to a private school.  This reality brings us to a very important question: Which students will the voucher really help? 

The reading of the Tennessee voucher bill indicates that most of the students eligible for the voucher will be students of color in failing, poor, urban schools, which brings up yet another significant question: Will private schools actually accept the urban poor students into their schools?  Many parents sacrifice financially to send their children to schools that not only educate them better, but also shield them from the culture and social ills of urban poverty. 

Finally, will all private religious schools be able to participate in this voucher program?  I believe in religious freedom and that this freedom is not limited to Christian religious groups.  However, there are specific religious groups in this state that, although I would march in the street for their right to worship their God as they choose, I do not want my tax money to be used for their private religious schools.  The ability of all religious groups to get these voucher funds for their private schools could turn into a civil nightmare which could ignite a serious reaction against religious liberty. 

I am not begrudging the success of Teach for America and KIPP; several of our Maryville College graduates have been employed by Teach for America and KIPP.  The criticisms of these programs center on the fact that they tend to hire young, recently licensed teachers, but in their programs the hours are long, and the work week often extends beyond five days.  This work load is not sustainable; consequently, teachers often burn out early and leave the teaching profession.  For this reason, I do not believe Teach for America and KIPP have the long-term answer. 

My final warning to those whose motive is pure, in that they want all our children to have access to effective teachers and schools, is this:   We need to be very careful before we go down this road. 

Bless you my children...


(photo credit: TNReport.com News Service)

Aspirations and Ideals...

I am sitting in the living room of my home on Saturday evening looking at what is left of the snow that fell last night.  This coming Monday will be the first day of student teaching for the 2015/16 class.  A few years back, one of our student teachers came to my office several months before her student teaching began, and asked, “Dr. Simpson, when I think about student teaching, I am scared out of my mind.  Is that normal?”  My response was, “Everyone is scared; you are willing to admit it.”  By the way, this student teacher was chosen Outstanding Secondary Student Teacher of the Year.

I understand the pressure placed on our student teachers and their fear of failure.  Maybe we expect them to be too perfect.  The past Tuesday afternoon I shared with this class of student teachers and many of their public school cooperating classroom teachers three ideals we expect them to demonstrate.  However, it is important to make the distinction between being idealistic and holding well-defined ideals.  If I am idealistic, it usually means I have little to no understanding of the real world.  However, idealism relates to those ideals we aspire to as a people.  If idealism dies, we will never reach beyond the status quo.

The first ideal I shared was efficacy.  We want our student teachers to believe they understand teaching and learning, and their students will learn.  They can and will make a difference in the lives of their students.  We believe in them and we want them to believe in themselves.  They understand state standards and the connection of these standards to daily instructional objectives, instruction, formative assessment, and summative assessment.  Now is the time to just do it.

The second ideal was compassion, and by compassion, I do not mean pity.  Each semester most of our student teachers are shocked by the home situations of so many of their students.  If they have pity for these students, they will not expect them to excel in their classes.  But, if I have compassion, I will meet my students at their current academic and social level and push them to achieve higher because it is the only way I can help them rise out of their current state of existence.

The third ideal I shared was enthusiasm.  By enthusiasm I mean the satisfaction I feel by being a teacher.  Teaching is my niche, my calling, and I could never imagine doing anything else in my life.  With enthusiasm the teacher plans lessons that come alive, and the students realize they are special in the eyes of their teacher.

I have just finished teaching the January Term course, Philosophical and Theological Foundations of Ethical Thought, in a class filled with our senior teacher licensure students.  One of my students, K.F., described the struggle her parents went through before she was finally conceived.  They experienced two miscarriages over a two-year span and decided to try one more time before they finally gave up.  It worked!  K.F. wrote…

              “I almost was a “was not”….I am meant to be alive.  It might have been difficult for me to get here.  I might have been a last try, but I know I am here for a purpose.  I fully believe that my purpose is to be a teacher and love every student, but especially the ones who seem toughest around the edges.”

Yes, K.F. will make a difference in the lives of her students.

Bless you my children...

Preparing for 2016

As we approach the end of this calendar year and look to 2016 and the presidential election, I am keenly aware of the coming political change. A 

new president means a new secretary of education and new ideas concerning the role of the federal government in education. However, change at the federal level is already well underway, and our own Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander has provided leadership in this rewrite of the federal role in education. 

This legislation eliminates the federal mandate that teacher evaluations be tied to student performance on statewide tests, although states will be able to link these scores to teacher performance reviews. Second, the rewrite also says the federal government may not mandate or give states incentives to adopt any particular set of academic standards, such as the Common Core. Third, states and districts will now be responsible for coming up with their own goals for schools, designing their own measures of achievement and progress, and deciding independently how to turn around struggling schools (Jennifer C. Kerr, The Associated Press, 2015). This is a fundamental shift from a broad constructionist view of the United States Constitution regarding education to a strict constructionist view, which leaves the governance of education solely to the states. 

The death of a federally mandated Common Core has not come as a surprise to those invested in educational policy. These standards have been attacked by those on the political right and left. False statements about the Common Core Standards, which range from their origin to their relationship to the Obama Administration, have trended regularly on social media. 

As a result of the rewrite of this educational legislation, the states and local school districts must step up and maintain rigorous standards for our schools and students. We must not return to the previous system where the state-determined proficiency levels on state tests were so low that being proficient was a joke--our own state of TN was part of that system. I am afraid the real losers in this retreat to the previous state of affairs may be our children and the future competitiveness of our nation. 

As these coming changes swirl around in my mind, three issues come to the forefront. First, the one emphasis we must keep is the essential importance of formative assessment. During the past several years, school districts trained data coaches, and teachers built data walls to visualize the academic achievement of their students and identified the standards to be addressed during instruction. This process has opened the eyes of many teachers and given them the clear direction on where to direct subsequent instruction. 

Second, we must devote more of our energy and time on the top performing students. We have bored these students to death with the endless practice of taking standardized tests and by the constant drill in basic skills. No Child Left Behind focused on the students in the bottom half of the achievement range. I n 2008-2012, I directed a NSF Math and Science Partnership Grant during which we worked with three school districts on math and science instruction. Some of the highest growth in achievement was seen in students who were in the top third of the academic achievement range, but no one at the Tennessee State Department of Education seemed to be interested. All the pressure was on the improvement of students in the lower third of the achievement range. As my current and former students will confirm, my heart is with students living in poverty in our region of Southern Appalachia. However, the next generation of engineers, scientists, inventors, and leaders will come from the top performing students. We continue to neglect them at our own peril. 

Third, I want to address my colleagues in teacher education. We sat back and let individuals in other fields (politicians, business leaders, and philanthropists), who may or may not understand the complexity of teaching and learning, take control of education. We go to our conferences and write journal articles for each other, but we need to be communicating with the shoppers at Walmart. Furthermore, we must change the reputation of “education courses” as fluff. Robert Munday, the chair of my doctoral committee at Texas A&M University- Commerce, told me that as teacher educators we have brought this criticism on ourselves. Our courses have lacked substance, been void of rigor, and are seen as not applicable to the public school classroom. Our courses should always be relevant to the public school classroom, and we should have the reputation as some of the best teachers on campus. 

We are entering a new day in education. As teacher educators we must seize the initiative.

Bless You My Children,

Terry L. Simpson

Reference 

Jennifer C, Kerr, The Associated Press, December 10, 2015

Photo Credit

http://lyk-empa-paf.schools.ac.cy/

A Day of Thanksgiving for Teachers and Teacher Educators

Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving and praise in 1863 by order of Abraham Lincoln. It was proclaimed during the midst of the American Civil War which would eventually claim 620,000 American lives. I have often wondered how anyone could be thankful during such a divisive and brutal war, but somehow as Americans we seem to find the attitude of thanksgiving deep within our souls even in the darkest of times.

Like most of you, I am first and foremost thankful for my family and especially my wife, Deborah, who has been more than patient as we worked to build the reputation of our teacher licensure program. At times I have spent too many hours at work. We are especially thankful for our children and grandchildren. My daughter is Jennifer, and Deborah’s daughters are Anna, Meg and Trisha. The fathers of our grandchildren are Jeffery Mowdy and David Weaver, and our grandchildren are Savannah, Daniel, Isabella, and Victoria. Each of our grandchildren is unique in his/her own special way. We are blessed.

I am thankful we live in a country where we are not afraid to send our daughters and granddaughters to school simply because they are girls. We are not concerned that a radical religious fundamentalist will drive by on a motorbike and throw acid in their faces. Neither are we fearful that their teachers will be murdered during the night as they sleep in their homes. Our girls can dream of being a doctor, engineer, scientist, or president… just like the boys.

I am thankful that the administrators and teachers in our public schools do not have the authority to indoctrinate our children in religious dogma to which parents do not adhere. A few words taken from the Abington School District v. Schempp Supreme Court ruling in 1963 have a powerful meaning,

      

The place of religion in our society is an exalted one, achieved through a long tradition of reliance on the home, the church and the inviolable citadel of the individual heart and mind….

In relationship between man and religion, the State is firmly committed to a position of neutrality.  Consequently, we are not ruled by those who want to impose their intolerant religious dogma on everyone in our society.

I am thankful for our teachers who, in the midst of No Child Left Behind, Common Core and the political vicissitudes surrounding educational policy, have maintained their focus on the essential needs of their students. They have had the foresight to take beneficial elements from each new program and strategy that comes down from on high.

I am thankful for the young men and women who serve in the armed forces and defend this liberal democracy and our belief in freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and all the other freedoms we often take for granted. They defend our country and our values where pluralism is a virtue and strength.

I am thankful for the alumni of the Maryville College Teacher Licensure Program who enter their classrooms or administrative offices each day with a fresh commitment to meeting the needs of our children. They deserve all the credit for building the reputation of Maryville College and this Teacher Licensure Program.

I am thankful that I can go to work every day. I live in a state of perpetual grace.

Finally, I am thankful for Dr. Alesia Orren, Dr. Rebecca Lucas, Dr. Jill Mertz, and Ms. Bonnie West. They do all the work; I just get the credit.

Bless You My Children,
Terry L. Simpson

What Do Our Children Learn While Playing Sports?

It is the video that challenged everything we believe our children learn while playing on a sports team. Over six million viewers watched as two San Antonio Jay High School football players waylaid a referee during the fourth quarter of a game. The students claimed that the referee made bad calls and used racial slurs during the game. Furthermore, the students claimed an assistant coach told them to do what they did.

The Washington Post published an article by Kevin Blackistone entitled Sports Don’t Build Character so Much as They Expose It in which he argued that sports don’t build character so much as they expose it. He went on to write that the “character-building mantra about sports has always been more of a lofty goal than a reality.” Much of what we believe participation in sports teaches our children is “mere romanticism.”

I have thought about these issues for many years. I played basketball from the 5th grade through high school. I also refereed high school basketball in two different states (TN and Texas). I vividly remember one of my high school coaches stating during half time, “Sportsmanship trophies are a dime a dozen, and we don’t want one.” I was playing in a high school game when an adult came out of the stands and hit one of our players on the court during the game. I’ve been escorted to the dressing room by police escorts on numerous occasions after refereeing a basketball game. I finally got to the point that I never wanted my daughter to play sports unless I could choose the coach. I was thankful that her extracurricular life centered around choral music and playing in the band.

After watching this event on the football field and examining my attitude about coaches, I realized that I remembered no more than five coaches who were in my opinion unethical. I have been a teacher educator at Maryville College for more than 25 years. I have lost count of the teachers and coaches who have graduated from our teacher licensure program. Most of these men and women have impeccable character, and I would trust my children and grandchildren to their influence. 

Let me make one thing perfectly clear. To blame the lack of sportsmanship solely on coaches is a cheap shot. Schools, except in a few cases, usually do not impose values on society; rather, schools reflect the values of the society in which they are located. Most coaches in the major team sports know that at the end of the day sportsmanship and academic achievement will not save your job if you are not winning. You will be fired or forced out.

It starts with the values of the community. The members of the community elect members of the school board who reflect the same values. The school board hires the administrators who hire the coaches. The community usually gets coaches with the same values. If the values being instilled in our children are unethical and sportsmanship is sacrificed for winning, then the community needs to rise up and press the school board for a change.

I will concede the point that in most cases winning trumps character building and sportsmanship. However, I believe that being on a sports team does build one character trait that is essential for success in most professions as well as in life—teamwork. Team members learn how to sacrifice individual goals for team goals. They learn how to support and encourage rather than criticize each other. Finally, effective coaches use the teamwork motif as a critical factor in motivation. Math, English, history, and science teachers should take note.

As I look back on my experiences in school, many of my most vivid memories come from playing on the basketball team. For others those memories may be playing in the band, singing in the chorus, acting in a play, displaying work in an art gallery, or participating in other extracurricular activities. These activities are worth our support. 

Bless You My Children,

Terry L. Simpson