Assessing Assessments

Warning: Be ready to answer a few questions about this article when it is over.

From time immemorial, teachers have been accused of being out of touch with the trials and tribulations of studenthood. Truth be told, many teachers have been out of the classroom for decades and as the divide grows, so does the list of rules and regulations that students must adhere to. Empathetic teachers respond to the outcries of students by reconsidering these policies. However, they often find it challenging to discern between genuine feedback and, without being over-simplistic, whining!

There is another way for teachers to stay in touch with the challenges of student life – become one. Of the myriad benefits of formal continued education such experiences allow the teacher to remember times long gone. Teacher-students are given an opportunity to grapple with some basic pedagogical questions. How long can one comfortably sit and listen to frontal lecture? How celebrated is an activity that requires your active participation? How easy is it to give your mind over to nonsense texting and/or internet surfing?

Over the past two years, I have been blessed with such an opportunity in the most extreme form. As part of an educator’s fellowship, I spent two full weeks in class from early morning until evening. Sitting in class all day gave me first hand opportunity to reminisce of the many years I spent as a student. Of the many lessons that I gleaned from that time, there is one particle practice that has had a dramatic impact on my teaching. That is the power of regular assessments.

One of the presenters at the program had a habit of stopping every once in a while and asking the group a number of basic question on what we had studied. These questions have had such a positive impact on my learning that I have slowly introduced them into my classroom and have found them to be very helpful.

This practice has evolved to be a regular part of a lesson. After a presentation, I distribute blank index cards and write five questions on the board. The questions should represent a range of difficulty and a sampling of the material covered on that day. After the students have answered the questions, I go over each question and answer any specific questions raised by the students. The students mark and grade the cards themselves and then pass them up to me. This data is not used in assessing the report card grade.

Here are some of the benefits of having regular mini-assessments:

Active participation – Anything a teacher can do to personally involve all students in the learning will enhance the student’s experience. These assessments engage every student in an active and personal way. Every student takes the assessment and every student hands it in.

Practice makes perfect – Answering these questions serves as a way to practice what has been learned. More immediate practice will help the information stay with the students longer.

Motivation – Knowing that they will be asked questions at the end of the presentation motivates some students to pay better attention. Even though the grade doesn’t “count” towards the final grade, most student want to make a good impression.

Check for understanding – This feedback gives the students and teacher immediate feedback about how the lesson was absorbed by the students. If there is a part of the lesson that needs to be retaught or clarified, the teacher is made aware of this and can address the issue either individually or for the entire class.

Data driven decisions – Having regular data about the student’s achievement in class gives the teacher a tremendous amount of data on which to base decision, about individual and class progress and needs. A teacher can easily identify changes in a specific student’s achievement and inquire as to the cause. The teacher can also see class trends and hwo the presentation style may impact achievement.

In addition to my positive anecdotal experience with increasing assessments, I have recently come across research data that supports its significant value. Robert Marzano (The Art and Science of Teaching page 13) brings a study by Bangrt-Drowns, Kulik, &Kilik, 1991, that found that the more assessments that take place within a given 15 weeks increases achievement by up to 30%. In light of the few benefits I gave outlined here, these findings are not surprising.

Please answer these questions without looking back.

1. List three benefits of giving regular assessments?
2. How do assessments affect motivation?
3. Which benefit resonated most with you and why?
4. What impact, if any, has your answering these questions had on your learning of the information?

Personality Match

Over the summer we were blessed with a new addition to our family. Shalom Uri was born about three weeks before the start of school. Having a baby during the summer vacation is exponentially more convenient than any other time. One does not feel the pressure of being torn between the needs of family and students. When the school year actually began, I found myself simultaneously getting to know our new son and a new class. I have found some remarkable similarities in both these experiences.

Within the first few days and weeks that we have brought a new baby home, my wife began to share aspects of his personality. Is he easy going or more particular? Is he more sensitive? Does he seem alert and aware of his world? While many of these predictions do actualize over the next few years, a unique personality beings to blossom from the very beginning. By the time a child is two or three we are all aware of the unique aspects of the child’s interaction with the world. Each child has his/her own unique style, along with strengths and challenges. These identifying characteristics with probably stay with each person for the rest of their lives.

There is no easy way to explain why a particular family will have a child with a particular personality. There are times in which some traits can be traced back through generations, but there are also times when there is no explanation for a behavior or attitude. I like to believe that parents would not be given a challenge that they cannot handle. There can be very difficult children but some way parents can learn how to respond best. Obviously there are exceptions, but generally speaking parents must feel that they are capable to raise each child “according to his way”. To put in spiritual terms – there is Hashgacha that brings children and parents together. Somehow this is also an expression of the Hand of G-d.

Every group has its own unique dynamic. Dr. Irvin Yalom and many other psychiatrists have studied the personality of groups. Just has individual personality are the mosaic of many specific elements within each person a group follows the same model. Each group has a unique mosaic of personalities that plays into the development of the culture of the group. This culture can be detected early on. It is not uncommon for me to discuss a 9^th grade class with that class's kindergarten teacher and find that not too much has changed since kindergarten.

As the school year marches on, I begin to learn about the unique personality of my class. In the role of rebbe, I try to mimic my view as a parent and find the strengths in the class personality. As parents we hope to recognize strength and acknowledge challenge in order to properly parent. As a rebbe, we follow a similar approach and embrace the strengths while seeking to improve areas of difficulty that a class may possess. Having clarity in this area will give the rebbe a frame of reference for many of the experiences he will encounter during the year. In the end, as in every area of life, we accept the hand of Hashem and see each biological and spiritual child as an opportunity for personal growth.

School Savior

How much impact does a school really have on the development of a child? Is the life of my child different because he goes to one school or another? Certainly as an educator I believe the answers to these questions are clear but never did I see the impact of a school more than this past year.

First a bit of history:

My oldest son, Yaakov, was a very happy baby. He seemed to always be laughing and smiling. One time while he was sleeping we heard odd sounds from his crib and upon further inspection found him laughing in his sleep. After that stage he became a major talker and would engage anyone willing to talk with him. We were thrilled with his progress and excited for his future

Then he began school.

From the time he started until first grade, there was a slow progression of dysfunction. It started with a strong desire to stay home and when his pleas stopped being effective, he began developing unexplained physical issues. At this time he began chewing his clothes. At first it was just the bottom of his sleeve, but it slowly developed to a point when he would return from school with his entire shirt drenched in saliva! He began acting out when he was with his friends and was becoming a class clown. On field trips he was “paired” with students who had significant developmental delays. In retrospect these signs of distress are abundantly clear, but as it happened, it was harder to see how much difficulty he was having. At my wife’s suggestion, we took Yaakov to a psychologist for a full round of educational testing.

The results were life altering.

Dr. Lori Wilson found that Yaakov had an IQ that was shocking. His scores put him in 99.7th percentile in intellectual abilities for children in his age range. She also found that he had significant weaknesses in performance tests. In many areas, there was a 40 point differential between his IQ and performance scores (in his reading ability, there was actually a 70 point differential!) These results indicated a significant learning disorder, specifically in the area of reading. In other words, he was dyslexic. She suggested a number of options. I remember leaving her office with mixed emotions. On one hand we found out that our child had an IQ that was off the charts but at the same time he was now labeled as dyslexic. What does that mean? What happens to child with dyslexia? Would he have to leave our Jewish school? After reflection, professional consultation and rabbinic direction, we signed our son up to enter The Schenck School, a local private school for dyslexics.

This changed our son Yaakov’s life.

His new school celebrated his strengths and assisted him with his weaknesses. Over the next three years, a metamorphosis took place. He went from a timid, scared and insecure person to a confident, engaged and capable learner. His reading test scores went from being in the 2^nd percentile to the 98^th! Slowly he stopped chewing his shirt and he reengaged his old friends in a normal and healthy way. I shutter when I think of what would have happened to him if we would have kept him where he was. Who can imagine what ways (both consciously and otherwise) he would have found to compensate for the immense pain he would have experienced? How could we have ever built a solid Judaic identity on such a faulty emotional foundation?

We learned so much from this experience.

We learned about the profound impact of a learning disability. We learned how important it is to detect and intervene on behalf of a child struggling. We learned what a major difference a good school and teacher can have on a child. We learned that, in our case, Yaakov’s positive self concept translated into a positive and strong Jewish identity. Most of all, we are beginning to learn Yaakov’s wonderful potential in every area of life. Taking the difficult step of switching him from the comfortable Torah Day School to The Schenck School has helped Yaakov blossom into a young man with great dreams and the confidence to pursue those dreams.

For us a school had made quite a difference – it was a personal savior!

The Memory Factory

It is hard to believe we are almost there. The school year’s end is upon us and the finish line is rapidly approaching. Both teachers and students are filled with the bittersweet feelings of anticipating the freedom summer brings while leaving the friendly classroom environment with the uncertainty of what next year’s class will bring. As a Rebbe, the end of the year is an extremely important time that requires thought and planning.

Recently, I viewed a lecture by Nobel Prize winning professor Dr. Daniel Kahneman regarding the role of memory on our feelings about an event or place. His studies have demonstrated that a person's positive or negative associations with a previous experience relates directly to how they remember the experience, not the reality of the positive or negative occurrences during that experience. A classic example would be to imagine a situation in which a person spent an amazing summer in Paris. They stayed in the most wonderful hotels, ate in the best restaurants and saw the magnificent sites. Unfortunately, as they were walking home one night they were mugged and their passport was stolen. It was quite scary and a pain to find the US consulate to replace it. How do you think they will remember the trip ten years later, positively or negatively? One could easily imagine that although the trip was filled with many positive aspects, all that will remain of the trip would be that one memory of terror and fear. This memory has defined the trip as a bad one.

What defines our perception of life experiences is how we remember them, not the reality of what has taken place. How does your average Jewish male feel about his bris? Most of us do not have any feelings about this painful and momentous day. This is because we have no working memory of it. It is our memory of the event, not the event itself, which matters most.

Dr. Kahneman brings a study that was run in the 1990’s in which two patients underwent a painful medical procedure. The participants were asked to report on their pain every 60 seconds. The two patients had similar procedures but patient A’s was a shorter and less involved procedure and he reported less pain every 60 seconds during the procedure itself. The surprise was that patient A had a mush worse memory of the procedure than Patient B. The reason was that although A had an easier experience it ended in more pain than patient B did. It was the level of pain at the end of the procedure that defined experience most. "Endings are very, very important and in this case, the ending dominated the memory."

Here is a link to the lecture;

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html

This information is quite important for a Rebbe as the year ends. Regardless of the success or challenges a talmid has throughout the year, if the Rebbe can find a way to highlight the positive experiences in the talmid’s memory, which will define the year. More important than the specific grades and achievements that a Talmid has throughout the school year is the way he perceives the year. My aim is for my Talmidim to walk away from the year energized and positive about their academic ability, with enthusiasm for learning and for the Yeshiva experience. To this end, I attempt to find ways to focus their thinking on very specific and positive memories. I do this in primarily two ways.

1. We have an end of year final in which we review each page of Gemara we covered. After we review the amud we write up approximately ten facts that they must memorize. Throughout the weeks in which this review is taking place, we review multiple times. By the end the boys have close to 10 basic facts about the mesechta that they have committed to memory and take a final with over fifty questions. We focus on the importance of this review and the magnitude of the number of facts and information each talmid has. So far every talmid has risen to the occasion and succeeded on this defining test. My hope is that this huge sense of success will overshadow any less positive academic memories from the year.

2. My class sizes are generally under ten and therefore I am able to write a short paragraph to each talmid about how much I appreciate them and highlight some of their accomplishments and talents. These notes are given inside a small Tehilim. This note serves a number of important purposes. Among them is the ability to solidify the talmid’s memory of their rebbe in a positive light. My hope is that they will remember the positive words of encouragement and associate them with our relationship for the future.

These are two of the ways I attempt to focus my talmidim on the positive aspects of the year and hope that as they move on in their education this positive energy will define the experience.

A Simple Equation

If I had to list the five most talked about subjects at the Torah Umesorah convention over the past years there is little doubt that cell phone use in Yeshivos would rank. I am exhausted by the energy and thought that has gone into this subject but the issue will just not go away. At this past convention, the topic was brought up again and again. Can a Yeshiva permanently confiscate a cell phone that is found? Can a mechanech look at text messages on a phone? Can a school make a rule forbidding the bringing of a phone when parents perceive the need as an issue of safety? These are just a sampling of the questions raised about this wireless wonder.

I had a number of personal conversations at this year’s convention that have me thinking.

Thursday Night

It started Thursday night with a very rational question raised by a mechanach who is starting a new Yeshiva. He asked me about our policy and was quite surprised when I explained that although we have a rule that forbids phone - many bachurim have them. "Aren’t you being mechanech them to break the rules if you have made a rule you know they are breaking and have no way to really enforce?" I reflected for a moment about this valid point and moved on to the next conversation.

Friday Morning

With this question still on my mind, I found my next conversation about this on Friday morning. I met an expert mechanech who runs a nontraditional out-of-town Yeshiva. His response shocked me. “I require ever bachor to have a cell phone – how else will I know where they are if I need them?” That was quite a different perspective. Is it possible to have a yeshiva with such a policy?

Shabbos Morning

Shabbos morning after davening I had a chance encounter with an assistant menahel from a well known Yeshiva who has a similar policy. He explained that he could not make a rule that he knew would be broken so blatantly. This yeshiva allows phone and even iPods but requires that the bachurim do not watch movies on the iPod. His response to the obvious question regarding the breaking of this rule was that he was confident that most bachurim did not have movies on their ipods. He also shared that when he returns to yeshiva he will work on keeping phones off when in the Bais Medrash or shiur. I respect his creative attempt at this and his deep seated desire to trust his bachurim.

This interaction reminded me of an idea that Rav Simcha Cook of Mechinas Ner Yisreal shared with me years ago. It turns out he is a prophet in addition to being an excellent mechanech. Every rule sets up a “dune” that slows the issue being addressed. This would be a classic example. If a yeshiva has a rule forbidding cell phones, even if there are many bachurim breaking the rule, it keeps all phones out of sight, limits the usage of the cell phones to private moments and places, and allows the rule followers good reason to avoid the cell phone. When a Yeshiva allows cell phones, even in a limited way, they show up everywhere, even in the bais medrash. When making any rules one must assume that it will be broken but the rule will mitigate the behavior of those breaking it none-the-less.

Motzei Shabbos

On Motzei Shabbos, I introduced myself to a well known Menahel of a major, main-stream Yeshiva . He shared with me a practice he used in his Yeshiva. He had many phone lines installed in his dorm as he began to enforce the cell phone rules more vigilantly. He felt that the expense of the many phones and lines was worth it, as he gave the bachurim opportunity to use the phones, in place of their soon-to-be confiscated cell phones. Although I am not sure how much practical impact this effort had on cell phone use, this approach shows respect and empathy for the bachurim.

Sunday Morning

My last encounter with this issue took place Sunday morning. A menahel was giving a talk about interacting with teenagers. He stressed how important giving the teenagers a sense of trust is. When asked about the use of cell phones, he responded that his yeshiva allows “kosher” cell phones in the dorm but not in the main Yeshiva building. He did not think this policy was destroying the yeshiva.

I left the convention unsure of many things.

Here are things I am pretty confident of:

1. Cell phones are part of the life of a modern teenager. It can be compared to a wristwatch of ancient (15 years ago) times

2. A high percentage of bachurim break the electronics rules at some point.

3. There is no real way to enforce rules against the use of cell phones and iPods on any regular basis.

4. Cell phones and iPods with web access can totally undermine serious growth in Torah and Yiras Shamayim.

So now the simple equation –

What does one plus two plus three plus four equal?

TU Convention Recollections 5770

Here are a number of recollections from the convention, anything you have a hard time believing didn’t happen… I must be recalling incorrectly.

Rabbi Frand gave two drashos, one on erev Shabbos about what it takes to be a great teacher and another on Shabbos afternoon about honesty. They were both memorable speeches. The speech on Shabbos afternoon was significant because although the conference theme was Raising Erlecha Yidin, there were few drashos directly on that theme. Rabbi Frand talked about the importance of honesty and how dishonesty has become part of our daily living to the point that we don’t even recognize it at times. He told a humorous story of two meshulachim in Baltimore, one was having trouble getting money from a specific gveer. The meshulach that had been more successful said he would tell the secret to getting money if the meshulach gave him 1/3 of the money he received. After they agreed he was told the key to the gveer’s heart. “Tell him your grandparents were from a specific city in Europe”. And so it was. He was happy to share 1/3 of the “profits” and they went different ways. The next year they both returned to the city and once again the meshulach employed his new trick and received a handsome donation but his year he refused to share any part of it. He claimed that the agreement was only for one year. When they couldn’t resolve the conflict they did what any decent Yid would do…they went to the Baltimore Bais Din of Rabbi Moshe Heineman. He was shocked at their blatant dishonesty and pointed out their need to return the money to the gveer calling them Gazlanim. Rabbi Frand reminded the crowd to be sensitive to the dishonesty that has become common place to the point that we cannot see it.
In continuing the theme of honesty there were two other discussions that related to this topic that come to mind.

At the “Ask the Godal” session on Thursday night a question was asked regarding the reading of text messages on a cell phone that has been confiscated. Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky and Rav Avraham Chaim Levine both strongly discouraged such behavior. They said that although in situations of great need perhaps it could be allowed but as a general practice it should be avoided. Rav Ahron Feldman stated that he had talked to Rav Eliyashiv about this very topic and he stated clearly that a mechanech can check the messages.

Another similar question was asked at the Motzie Shabbos session with Rav Avraham Chaim Levine. Can a menahel lie about a Talmid in order to get him into a Yeshiva? Once again Rav Levine said that one should avoid doing such because you do not want others to do it to you and you will lose credibility. After a discussion from the crowd, Rav Strauss of Lakewood NJ (who does placement) said that when he went to Rav Shtienman he was told that he can lie if he is confident that the bachor will succeed in the new Yeshiva. He also added that if it was a question he can lie because it is considered safek nefashos. Rabbi Strauss was very clear that he is always honest because he knows he must be to be taken seriously.

Another interesting question that was asked on Thursday night was regarding a Morah who has a big family and comes late to class. Can/should the menahel deduct money from her much needed salary. The reaction of the gedolim was swift and strong. Rav Shmuel said that after explaining the expectation to come on time such a teacher should be let go. Rav Feldman added that it could even be done mid-year. He quoted a story with a godal in Eretz Yisrael who when asked how a Rebbe who was let go would have money for food responded “I understand he needs money to eat bread but we do not have to let him eat children instead!”

Modern (Non-) Judaism

Our Yeshiva has a group of students who participated in a JCC sponsored basketball league. Their team made the championship and many members of the Yeshiva went to the final game to cheer them on. The competition was quite good and our players were rattled by their speed and skill. It was a close and competitive game until our team started to get called on travelling and fouls. Although no official count was made it seemed that more penalties were called on the team which sported Yarmulkas and Tzitzis. The second half slowly tipped toward to other team and we eventually lost the game. Complaining about the referees was not surprising, as such behavior is expected from any teenager (or adult children) who loses a game with a lot of such calls by the referee. What surprised me was the sentiment that it was anti-Semitism which motivated the poor calls. Although the majority of players accepted the loss with valor, there was an undercurrent of attitude from some that the officials objected more to their faith than to their walking while carrying the ball. Leaving aside the fact this game was played in the JCC, where one would assume both teams are Jewish and equally subject to bias, this response is worthy of consideration.

It is not hard to find how such a predisposition has developed. The Jewish people have suffered anti- Semitism from before that word was crafted. Every child is taught about the painful history of oppression we have suffered. Additionally, there are a number of Chazals that focus on the continual threat of anti-Semitism. On the seder night as we recall our suffering at the hands of the Egyptians. We say, “in every generation, they will stand up to destroy us but You will save us from their hands”. Any basic Chumash lesson will focus on the eternal hatred that Aisav has for Yaakov. These, and many other words of Chazel, set up a culture aimed at viewing the Non-Jew as suspect at best, and even outright criminal in some cases.

We can find a similar trend in our contemporary news. It is rare to read about an Orthodox criminal who takes full responsibility for the crime and punishment they have been convicted of. Even when those facts are given the thrust of Orthodox Jewish press seems to focus more on the aspects of the case which are seen as unfair, and not on the elements of guilt and remorse. This can be seen starting with the case of Jonathon Pollard whose unprecedented prison term has been explained as blatant anti-Semitism. Over the years the only aspect of Mr. Pollard’s case I have encountered has been regarding the “unfair system” and “anti-Semitism” that surrounds his case. The recent case of Sholom Rubashkin is probably too sensitive an issue to highlight but it seems to follow a similar trend, in which a life sentence has been sought, has also been pinned as anti-Semitism. These are two of the more notorious examples but there are many more that follow a similar pattern. I am not assessing whether the allegations of anti-Semitism are true and to what extent, I am simply pointing out the messages these cases convey. The message of these news stories are that anti-Semitism is alive, well, and part of the establishment.

There is no doubt that anti-Semitism exists. On numerous occasions I have personally had the unpleasant experience of being screamed at while walking home from shul. We can none-the-less overlook the unique status of Jews in our modern world. The Jewish people have freedoms that are unprecedented in world history. There was perhaps no greater demonstration of this than the close election that took place in 2000 in which a publicly Orthodox Jew was nearly elected to the second highest office in United States of America!

The question that needs to be addressed is what message should we be communicating to our children? Should our message be impacted as a result of our modern predicament? Are we communicating a overly strong sense of fear and similarly an assumption that the average non-Jew has an intrinsic hatred of us? Was the reaction of our basketball team an indication that we may need to refocus our message and attitudes regarding Non-Jews in the modern world?

Like many similar questions there is no clear answer but the conversation itself may lead us closer to the proper approach.