Education
Episode 048: Knowledge Party with Natalie WexlerToday on Vrain Waves we have an exciting and somewhat earth shaking interview from Natalie Wexler, education journalist and author of The Knowledge Gap. She walks us through the contributing research and education history that led her to write the book, and some strategies for schools to set the foundation for student success. From her website: “Education journalist Natalie Wexler focuses on two ideas that have solid evidence behind them but have been mostly overlooked by schools and reformers: immersing children from less-educated families in knowledge about the world, and linking that knowledge to writing instruction.”Connect with Natalie WexlerWebsite: nataliewexler.com | Twitter: @natwexler | Books: The Knowledge Gap, The Writing RevolutionConnect with Vrain WavesWebsite: vrainwaves.com | Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb Intro (00:58)4 times less likely to graduate if not reading on grade level by 3rd gradeNYT Article: Reading Scores on National Exam Decline in Half the StatesTypical time spent in 3rd grade on reading: 2 hours; 16 min on social studies, 19 min on science (2012)Reading comprehension cannot be broken down into discrete skillsDaisy Christodoulou - Books; (bonus: Check out her stuff on Comparative Judgment for assessment!)Natalie Wexler’s view on the Promise of Public Education (5:25)Functioning democracy needs a citizenry that can understand events and how to edit and fact check the information that they’re exposed toWhat is The Knowledge Gap (06:55)We’ve treated reading like it’s a set of discrete skills while letting content knowledge take a back seatMost important factor for successful reading comprehension: how much background knowledge and vocabulary you already haveThe Baseball Study and reading comprehension (09:42)2 Parts of Reading: Decoding and Comprehension (11:27)Cognitive Scientists and Teachers have come to opposite conclusions - decoding needs direct and explicit instruction and comprehension will come along with more exposure to contentLanguage at the Speed of Sight, 271–274Dan Willingham (Vrain Waves Episode with Dr. Willingham)Whose knowledge? (16:13)Common core history and content knowledge (18:32)Supplemental materials language on content in common coreUnderestimating student ability and having high expectations (22:10)Student choice (24:13)Behavior and content knowledge (26:01)The Matthew Effect in ReadingCognitive Load theory - novices and experts - Slides from Daniel Braithwaite“Leveled texts lead to leveled lives.” - Alfred TatumHistory of the role of content in reading instruction (28:35)Alternatives to leveled groupings (31:08)Listening comprehension exceeds reading comprehensionWritten language is more complex than spoken languageThe importance of exposing struggling readers to grade level texts (34:07)The importance of facts and knowledge in the age of Google (36:42)Burden on working memory (see cognitive load theory)The Curse of Knowledge (38:19)Doug Lemov: “Those of us on the privileged side of the knowledge gap have no idea how we got here.”Importance of pre-assessmentMisinterpretation of Bloom’s Taxonomy (40:35)Taxonomy, not a hierarchySkipping lower levels is not appropriateQuote from the book: “That graphic has led many educators to conclude that the ‘lower-order’ tasks should be passed over as quickly as possible, or even eliminated, because they’re inferior to those at the top. In fact, Bloom meant that knowledge and comprehension are prerequisites for higher-order thinking, and that teachers should never ask students to start analyzing or evaluating a topic until first ensuring they have a solid understanding of it.”The Writing Revolution (42:33)Writing builds and solidifies knowledge as well as demonstrating knowledgeRetrieval Practice / The Testing EffectThe Protege EffectKnowledge is like velcroSentence frames with ending conjunctions for promptsBalance between free writing & content-based writing (47:40)Judith Hochman - The Hochman MethodRole of the teacher in the modern classroom, PD (48:54)Delivering curriculum instead of creating curriculumOngoing PD around content delivery, not skills in isolationProvide information and then guide them through thinking about that information with opportunities for desirable difficultyClosing & Take Aways (53:00)NatalieWexler.com / Forbes.com contributorQuote: “It’s not so much that particular bits of information are vital in and of themselves—although some certainly are. It’s more that people need to have enough facts in their heads to have what one commentator has called ‘a knowledge party’—a bunch of accumulated associations that will enable them to absorb, retain, and analyze new information. Education certainly shouldn’t end with facts. But if it doesn’t begin there, many students will never acquire the knowledge and analytical abilities they need to thrive both in school and in life.”Other Resources as well as some relevant citations from The Knowledge Gap:Amplify Science of Reading PodcastShanahan: Should We Teach Students at their Reading Level Why Minimally Guided Techniques Do Not Work, Kirschner et alTeaching Content is Teaching Reading - YouTube Video, Dan Willingham