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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1998)
Page A3 FEB. 25, 1998 (Cljc P ortlan ò (Obstruer Making Learning Rewarding B y C atherine P aglin “Son, I will give you a dollar for every A on your report card.” “Your choice o f adjectives is ex cellent. I can tell you worked hard to make your writing more descriptive.” “Congratulations on the algebra test. Y ou’re lucky you inherit your math genes from my side o f the fam ily ” “Since everyone turned in a book report we will have an extra recess today.” Rewards for learning take many forms-praise, gold stars, candy, field trips. W hether such rewards motivate more learning, discourage learning or have no effect at all is the subject o f debate. Research reviewed by the North west Regional Educational Labora tory gives parents and teachers guid ance on this subject. Praise is the most commonly used reward or rein forcer in the classroom. It turns out that not all praise is created equal. In the language o f praise a whisper speaks louder than a shout. A quiet, "Anthony, 1 noticeyou’vebeen work ing hard on the story problems." will spark greater achievement gains than “Class, I want to announce that A n thony got all the story problems right today.” Praise is also more effective in motivating learning when the teacher compares the student’s present per formance to that o f the past, rather than to the performance o f class mates: “ Emily, your science report is excellent; you chose a more diffi cult topic than last time and gave a more organized presentation," rather than “Emily, your science report was the best in the class. You are one o f the few who understands what re search is all about.” Effective praise is specific and informative. “The interesting ex amples you chose help show the dif ference between the book and the movie versions o f Jane Eyre,” rather than “Good essay.” If a little praise is good, is more better? No. Teachers who are care ful with giving praise are more effec tive than those who gush over a cor rect answer. “Yes, that’s right,” is sufficient praise o f a student’s con tribution to a discussion. “Fantastic, you’re a genius,” is overdoing it. Praise encourages learning when it is sincere and believable. E ffective praise focuses on a student’s effort and ability; ineffec tive praise attributes a student’s suc cess to ability alone and factors out side the student’s control such as luck, heredity, or getting an easy assignment. Aside from praise focuses on a student's effort and ability; ineffec tive praise attributes a student’s suc cess to ability alone and factors outside the student’s control such as luck, heredity, or getting an easy assignment. A year ago... Oregonians Gauge Education Trends O re g o n c itiz e n s h a v e g iv e n a glimpse of their thinking about 12 tre n d s in p u b lic e d u c a tio n . T he trends were identified by the North west Regional Educational Labora to ry th ro u g h a n a ly s e s o f m a jo r reports and com m ents voiced by educators. Then Oregonians, as part of a larger study, were surveyed by telephone. Here are the trends, in descending order, followed by what citizens said: Trend I — Increasingly unstable and un p red icta b le stru c tu re s f a r decisionmaking and resource allo cation. Forty percent of Oregonians think that frequently changing state and federal education policies and budgets are making it difficult for schools to plan for the future. Trend 2— Renewed fo cu s on cur riculum a n d in stru ctio n , on how students learn and what they know and can do. O regonians are essen tially unanimous in rating “teaching basic skills” as the most important em phasis o f ed u catio n , alth o u g h they see other learning skills, such as decisionm aking and the ability to use computers, as important too. Trend 3— In creasing em phasis on stand a rd s a n d a cco u n ta b ility. M ost O regonians (61 percent) are optimistic that O regon’s education al sta n d a rd s to im p ro v e stu d e n t learning can be successfully imple mented. Trend 4— Persistent a nd increas ingly severe resource d isp a ritie s among school communities. Orego nians have mixed opinions on this: 34 p e rc e n t stro n g ly b e lie v e that school funding is not d istrib u ted equitably; 6 percent are quite sure it is e q u ita b le ; and 25 p ercen t ju st don’t know. Trend 5— Increasing enrollments and concentrations o f poor, minori ty, and special-needs students. Thir ty-six percent o f O reg o n ian s say that poor, m in o rity , and sp ecial- needs students have increased a lot in their schools locally. T re n d 6 — I n c r e a s in g s ta te involvem ent in local im provem ent decisions a nd efforts. Forty-three percent of Oregonians feel that tne state’s involvement in local school affairs is too great. Trend 7— D eclin in g resources force competition fo r public funds. Seventy-nine percent o f O regoni ans believe education should rank as a top funding priority. T re n d 8 — C h a n g in g ro le f o r individual school com m unities in decisionm aking. T hirty-eight p er cent of Oregonians say they would like to be more involved in school decisionmaking. Trend 9— Increasing integration o f se rv ic e s to su p p o rt c h ild re n . Many O regonians agree that more support services should be provided at sc h o o ls, a lth o u g h th ey d o n ’t regard all services as equally neces sary. First on the list of onsite ser vices is child care and after school recreation programs, next is mental health counseling, and then onsite drug and alcohol treatment. he was i buried debt. 'ing. ss ¿.■♦J h is wife But Problem gambling Is an Illness. But there is a cure. If you know someone with a gambling problem, do them a favor. Make the call. 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