The Effect of Early Childhood Stress on Executive Function Ability: Do we need to shift what we are teaching?

          I have been reading Paul Tough’s book, Why Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Power of Character, lately and one chapter was particularly interesting, because it provided scientific insight to behaviors that we observe every day as teachers. The chapter spoke about the cognitive and social effects of growing up in poverty, due to the increase of stress in one’s life during early childhood. The following is a poignant quote that stood out to me as I read:

“The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the pre-frontal cortex, which is critical in self-regulatory activities of all kind, both emotional and cognitive. As a result, children who grow up in stressful environments generally find it harder to concentrate, harder to sit still, harder to rebound from disappointment, and harder to follow directions. And that has a direct effect on their performance in school” (Tough, 17).

As a teacher, I notice these behaviors every day, and, since I have only taught in Baltimore City, I often wonder whether my students are particularly bad at following directions or if following directions is a common issue across all students. Based on personal experience, the four actions presented that are “harder” for students who grew up in stressful environments resonated with me strongly as four issues I see consistently every day in my classroom.

It was both enlightening and frustrating that there was a scientific explanation for the difficulties my students face focusing in class – enlightening, because it confirmed my observations. It was frustrating, because I feel as though we never discuss the reasons why behind our students’ behavior and are seldom given concrete strategies to deal with students’ different behavior issues.

As I kept reading, the following quote also stood out because it isolates that stress, not poverty, is the real issue:

“It wasn’t poverty itself that was compromising the executive function ability of the poor kids. It was the stress that went along with it” (Tough, 20).   

Finally, this quote provides some interesting reflection on our work as teachers:

“The reason that researchers who care about the gap between rich and poor are so excited about executive functions is that these skills are quite malleable, much more so than other cognitive skills.”

The book explains that “executive function” has become the catchphrase for the ability to regulate emotions and make decisions when presented with unpredictable and confusing situations.

So, questions become: 

• How can I improve the executive function of my students in my classroom, if these are the skills that will lead them to greater success in life?
• What do I do on a daily basis that may actually hinder their ability improve their executive function abilities?
• What kind of support do schools and districts need to provide if we aim to equip teachers to improve executive functions of students, as opposed to solely deliver content?
• In the age of the Common Core State Standards and High-Stakes Testing, can we expect teachers to improve the cognitive level and abilities of their students as well as the executive functions?

If research is saying students’ executive function abilities are a stronger predictor of success in life, do we need to re-prioritize our goals for students?

Low-Income + High-Performing = Community College?

Last week, the New York Times reported on a new nationwide study that found that most high-achieving low-income students do not even apply to the nation's most selective colleges. In the study, "high-achieving" is defined as a student with at least an A- average and a score in the top 10% of students who took the ACT or SAT.

The study cites a lack of knowledge and misperceptions about the actual cost of attending a selective, out-of-state university as the major impediments to these students. It also emphasizes that graduation rates  and career choices for low-income students in selective colleges are much higher, due to better resources and support. Thinking back to my time at a selective college, I can see how the supports in place definitely helped students who were struggling in a new environment. From caring first-year deans who regularly hosted meals at their homes to free tutoring and career counseling, all kinds of support were readily available and many students took advantage of it. According to the article, the community colleges and local institutions attended by many low-income students have more of a sink-or-swim environment. The ticket price is substantially lower, but support programs are thin or nonexistent.

This article provides a stark contrast to a related article from December: "For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall." This story followed three low-income students who succeeded, in varying degrees, in getting out of their hard-luck town. All three ended up dropping out, even the one who headed to Emory University. In this article, all three students were held back by strong ties to people they'd left behind (families and boyfriends) as well as financial hardship. In their community there was a sense that students who "got out" were abandoning the people back home, creating a burden of guilt for those attending college. The student who attended Emory had a lot of financial aid, but she was overwhelmed by the paperwork and ended up losing her aid due to some errors on her FAFSA and missed deadlines. Forced to take on multiple jobs to pay her tuition, she ended up failing out with crippling debt. For this one student, attending a selective college wasn't enough. Clearly, the support systems did not help her. Although the statistics do show more success for low-income students at selective colleges, the question remains how those institutions can continue to attract -- and retain -- those students.

Lastly, I thought it was important to note that in this study, the group of students nationwide identified as "high-achieving, low-income" was 6% black, 8% Latino, 15% Asian-American, and 69% white. The clear racial gaps in this subset of poor, academically talented students was not a focus of the study, but certainly relevant to our work in Baltimore.

Better Colleges Failing to Lure Talented Poor

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/education/scholarly-poor-often-overlook-better-colleges.html?ref=education&_r=0

For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html

How Are the Children?

As education reformers, activists, change agents, (whatever you want to call us), we spend copious amounts of time discussing topics such as urban ed, schooling, curriculum, facilities, etc.  The debates are endless:  neighborhood schools or school choice? Six through eight or K-8? Common core. Uncommon schools. The list goes on. Amidst all of the questions that surround education in Baltimore city, I have only one: what about the children? 

I liken the current debates occurring in Baltimore City to those that take place between a married couple tunneling through the recesses of divorce. Each person is lobbying for what they want, with the children somewhere in the back of their minds; yet the concerns of those children not really determining the outcome of the settlement.  I imagine that the children are somewhere screaming “listen to me”!

How are we doing, Baltimore?  In the midst of our various discussions and decisions, are we listening to our children?  Are we exploring their concerns and considering their needs as we make choices that will ultimately affect their futures?

The Masai people of Kenya are considered to be a tribe of fearless, intelligent warriors who have conquered many a foe.  Yet in their fighting and fearlessness, they humble themselves enough to pass along this greeting: “Kasserian Inegra”, which translates, “how are the children?”

It is with this that I challenge you, fearless warriors, to pause, step back, and take time to consider: how are the children?

“El Sistema”… Could It Be Music To Our Ears?

Two years into my teaching career, my students are still constantly surprising me.  Sometimes with pleasant surprises, like bringing me the gluten-free cereal their parents accidentally bought (and they now absolutely refuse to eat), and sometimes with not so pleasant surprises, like writing the new Meek Mills lyrics all over my newly washed desks.   Last Friday, when I supervising my student wash up those very same lyrics after school, I had her listening to an old classical play list of mine from college, thinking that it would be some additional, subtle form of punishment.  Instead, she confided in me how much she had always wished that she knew how to play an instrument—growing up, she had never had the opportunity.

This experience made me flash back to a conversation I once was having with my musician-father, who was singing the praises of the semi-radical education reform movement in Venezuela, known as “El Sistema.”  Started back in the late 1970’s, early 80’s, this movement was started by the famous Venezuelan musician, Jose Antonio Abreu, with the mission to provide impoverished children in Venezuela with an after school alternative to the street life.  Now with almost 400,000 children in programs in Venezuela alone, El Sistema is a government-funded social program that gives these hundreds of thousands of children free musical instruction for three to four hours, six days a week after school.  These children have exposure to many potentially life changing opportunities, such as travelling globally and playing with the National Simon Bolivar Orchestra. 

Now, I know that it is not some revolutionary idea to say that music can have a positive impact on children’s lives, but I do find it truly inspiring to see a nation making such a huge investment in instilling music as a positive force in children’s lives.  I couldn’t help but wonder—what if the United States were willing to invest that much in Baltimore’s youth?

A 60 Minutes piece on El Sistema:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-4009335.html

Zoning, School Choice, and Urban Reform

In a recent New York Times article, No division Required in This School Problem, the problem of urban school zoning is discussed and a solution for Boston is proposed.  The problem is how to send children to good schools, relatively close to where they live, when few such schools exist.  Peng Shi, a 24 year old doctoral student with no ties to education, proposed that schools drop the ideas of zoning altogether and instead give families a list of six schools close to where they live, with the first two being the closest high-qaulity schools, and then the next two closest of at least medium quality. 

This article is pertinent for our class for a couple of extremely relevant reasons.  First, last class session we discussed the performance of urban schools in Baltimore, and examined what information is presented to families through the high school choice fair.  Baltimore has a fairly innovative school choice program, but I personally found the information regarding school performance and amenities remarkably misleading.  Shi’s solution may be a perfect happy-medium for providing student with the opportunity to attend the most convenient school of the highest caliber.  While Baltimore could still have entrance requirements for attending the best schools, students will have a better chance of knowing what they are signing up for prior to attending the school as a Freshman and then transferring.

Second, this idea was proposed by a gentleman with no educational experience or political agenda.  Could the future of urban educational reform come from educational outsiders with finely tuned data and statistical analysis skills?  Is this a good idea, or is education such an emotional and location specific  phenomenon that it is too dangerous to make decisions by turning students into numbers and data points.  What do you think?  Do you have any insight into the future of school choice or the reform of the urban educational system?

-          Josh Peace

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/education/no-division-required-in-this-school-problem.html?ref=education&_r=0

The Real Opportunity Gap: Technology and Its Role in Urban Education

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            When I began teaching in Baltimore City Public Schools, I was surprised to find that my school had no wireless internet access.  Additionally, my students visit  computer lab once per week for approximately 40 minutes.  They computers in our computer lab are iMac’s, the same computers I used when I was in 2^nd and 3^rd grade 12 or 13 years ago.   Most of my students do not have internet access at home, and there doesn’t seem to be a push, at least in elementary school, to help students learn basic computing skills. 

            The education reform movement so often focuses on the issues of teacher pay, evaluation, instruction, and achievement as measured by high stakes standardized tests.  But, what the movement fails to recognize is that the opportunity gap in this country is about much more than the outcomes on these tests—it’s also about skills.  I’m not talking about the skills that a student learns for a test- I’m talking about technological skills.  We can teach our students how to read and write and compute but if they leave the eighth grade, as so many of the eighth graders at the school where I teach do, unable to use the technological tools that they will have to use in any sort of higher education or career, then we are setting them up for failure.   Aren’t we doing a huge disservice to our students when we can’t provide them with the tools and teaching that will actually allow them to compete concretely with their middle class or upper middle class counterparts?

            As the education reform movement grows, I hope that we can have a larger conversation about the role that technology plays in changing access to opportunity, and I hope that we can begin to remove some of the structural barriers that prevent our students from acquiring the necessary skills to compete in an increasingly technologically driven world.