Learning a Language

Students who struggle with reading and writing often find learning a foreign language to be an extraordinary challenge. Secondary schools are aware of this issue and will sometimes make exceptions to the foreign language requirement for some students who receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In New York City, for example, students are required to take a two credit (two semester) sequence in a foreign language to graduate from high school, but a student "identified as having a disability which adversely affects the ability to learn a language may be excused from this requirement if such student’s IEP indicates that such requirement is not appropriate. Such a student need not have sequence in a second language but must meet the 44 credit graduation requirement."

This sounds like it would be a great thing for students who struggle even with English, but families should be aware that it can have a down side, and should consider the impact of opting out of foreign language courses before seeking to add such an exemption to a student's IEP. The problem is that many colleges require that their applicants have several semesters of a foreign language in high school. Furthermore, whether or not a college requires that a student has a foreign language to be admitted, many colleges require that students take a certain number of foreign language credits as part of their degree requirements. Students who demonstrate mastery of a language, usually with an advanced placement test , may place out of a college language requirement.

So, what should parents and students do? First, start by considering whether it is really necessary for a high school student to be excused from taking a foreign language. Could the student manage to get through a course with some extra support? What about American Sign Language? This is taught in a growing number of high schools and the process for learning ASL is very different from French or Latin. It may be a good choice for some students. Next, think ahead about what colleges may be of interest to your child. We know it is early, but you can get a sense of requirements for entry and for graduation. Some colleges that have language requirements for entry or graduation will permit students to fill these requirements with courses on the culture of a particular country.

There is no one answer to the language dilemma. What is important is to be aware of your options and to consider what is best for each individual student.  

Paying for Student Performance

This past week's Time Magazine reports on the work of Harvard economist Roland Fryer Jr.and his colleagues at the Harvard Education Innovation Laboratory in looking at how monetary incentives can improve the performance of school children. An extensive controlled study involving students in four cities used different payment methods and different areas of academic competence to examine whether students would respond positively to payments for performance. One subgroup involved New York City elementary and middle school students, who were paid for higher scores on standardized tests. The results showed no real change in test scores or any other parameters. Chicago ninth graders who received payment for better grades did improve their grades a bit, but did no better on standardized tests.

Where improvement was seen was where students were rewarded for small actions that were within their control and which were not complicated for them to implement. These included Washington students who received payments for improving attendence and behavior, who showed changes in both of these areas, as well as improved reading skills. The greatest improvements were seen in Dallas students who substantially improved their reading comprehension scores when they were paid to read books and take a quiz showing they understood what they read.

One possible reason for these different results is that the tasks where payments were correlated with improvement were very specific. Those that were broader -- better grades, or better test scores -- may have been too hard for students to figure out how to achieve. Think about it. Even a motivated student might have trouble figuring out just what he has to do to get better test scores.

There are many issues to study further, and Dr. Fryer indicated that he intends to do so. But in schools where most students struggle, any information that helps adults understand what motivates students to do better is an important addition to the formula for improvement.

photo credit: borman818

The Four Sons - A Holiday Lesson

We've never been big fans of labels, although we recognize they are the key to receiving services under the IDEA and other laws. Still, they can be unfair to children and they are often insufficiently descriptive of what is really going on with any individual. We recently encountered a discussion of how labeling can be detrimental in a very unexpected context. Robert Dobrusin, a rabbi in Ann Arbor, Michigan, writes about how labels have unfairly limited the characters encountered in the traditional telling of the Passover story. The story of the exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt, a familiar part of the Old Testament, is told in a ritualized form as part of the Passover celebration. One key part of this ritual telling is the story of four sons, one wise, one wicked, one simple, and one who cannot even ask a question. Every year, at the Passover meal, families read about these same sons, and tell the story of the exodus to answer these children's questions.

Rabbi Doursin notes, "I am troubled by the fact that we don't let them change. Throughout history they will always be wise or rebellious or simple or unquestioning... How can we set them in stone the way we do? There is one simple reason. They don't change because they each have been given a name: wise, rebellious, simple, unquestioning...How much wiser it would have been [if these children had been described] as the one who asked a wise question, the one who asked a rebellious question, the one who asked a simple question, the one who did not ask at all?"

He goes on to explain that when we label individuals we can be too quick to jump to conclusions about their actions. Only when we eschew labels and keep open the possibility of change can we then open the door for individuals to move beyond the roles their labels describe to growth and change. Whatever our beliefs, and whatever holidays and traditions we celebrate, it is excellent advice. Indeed, there is strong evidence that labeling or defining children by their limitations can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, because they tend not to see past their label to the possibility of their own change and growth.