Learning Styles and Student Achievement

According to William Watson Purkey and John M. Novak, in order to teach a student, you have to be able to reach the student. They do not mean ‘reach’ in the physical sense, as in touching the student, but rather making a mental or emotional connection between the teacher and the student (Purkey, 1984).

Opening up to students is very important for teachers. While it is obviously not appropriate for a teacher to confide intimate personal details to the class, or gossip about others to try to be more accepted, there are ways that a teacher can seem more ‘real’ to the students. For example, crying over something very sad or letting the students know when the teacher is getting angry with their misbehavior goes a long way toward having students see teachers as real people. Children in the second and third grades often react very positively to this behavior, but there are ways to reach high schoolers and older students as well.

Once students see teachers as real people, they begin to feel they can talk to them, and will often open themselves up to all kinds of suggestions, including an interest in books, if the teacher suggests a book that they feel the student will really enjoy. Until the teacher has the trust of the student, it is very difficult to get the student to accept anything the teacher says as something they might enjoy (Purkey, 1984). Some of this comes from the ‘realness’ of a teacher acting like a ‘normal’ person, and some of it comes from the idea that students all have different ways for learning about different things. If teachers are aware of this, they can go a long way toward helping their students succeed.

Another way to get students more interested in school and learning is through writing exercises. Reading and writing are addressed here based on the idea that vocabulary words were the main concern in the study. These exercises have to be made enjoyable, however, or the students will not take much interest in them. Incentives are also a good way to keep these students interested in learning. One idea for a good writing exercise is the keeping of a journal. This journal can be something that only the teacher sees, or it can be something that the student will be required to share with the class. If it’s going to be shared with the class, the students should be made aware of that before they begin writing, to avoid embarrassment and other problems later on (Purkey, 1984).

Allowing students some time each week to read each other’s journals could spark an interest in reading in some of the students in the classroom. While not everyone’s journal will be interesting or exciting, the students may find bits of stories, pieces of poetry, or almost anything else in those pages. The mystery of the unknown will create some interest in reading among the students, and may also help them to feel closer to each other as they share their experiences and realize that they are not all that different from one another. In younger children, journal writing needs to be simplified somewhat so that seven to ten-year-olds are not expected to write several pages each day. A few paragraphs might be more appropriate. In order for the teacher to remain a real person to the students, the teacher should keep a journal too, and be willing to share it with the class (Purkey, 1984).

Brophy and Evertson report that a systematic pattern is also a good way to help underachieving students. In a systematic pattern, each student is called upon to read, but there is no random choosing. Students read in order, and each one knows when their turn is coming. This can help them determine what passage they may have to read and look it over before they read it, reducing the anxiety that many poor or uninterested readers have when they are required to read in public. Systematic patterns are especially helpful with the second and third grade age group, because they still need a lot of structure in their school day to make the most of their learning experience (Brophy & Evertson, 1976). For the high school student, however, a less structured environment that employs different kinds of learning styles would likely be a better choice.

According to the work done for this study, high school students that are allowed to have different learning styles in the classroom and different activities performed much better as an overall class than did students that were only taught in the traditional way. The following tables will indicate that information. First, the students were observed five different times during activities. The observation checklists 1-5 are below, in part, to indicate what was seen as it relates to these students.

Observation Checklist 1

1. Class Organization

How are students working?

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Students:

First observation

Introduction of new vocabulary terms working alone working in pairs small groups whole class off task

2. Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process)

Students are adapting to how the new vocabulary words relate to the content. Some students had difficulty understanding the new terms.

A somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators – Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Hands-on Work

Tied Into Interest & Made Interesting

Students Given Choices

Give 1 to Get 1 activity gave students choices when deciding on which vocabulary terms to write out first.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to relate new vocabulary terms to chapter problems.

Students started working independently earlier into the lesson without the assistance of the teacher.

Observation Checklist 2

1. Class Organization

How are students working?

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Students:

Game: Vocabulary Monday

Family Feud working alone working in pairs small groups whole class off task

2. Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process) somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Students were able to work in teams using various learning styles

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators – Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Hands-on Work

Tied Into Interest & Made Interesting

Students Given Choices

Students were allowed to make choices about their teams when playing Vocabulary Monday – Family Feud. They were allowed to choice the order of answering questions.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to work in teams. Team members were able to assist other students with new vocabulary terms.

Observation Checklist 3

1. Class Organization

How are students working?

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Students:

Second observation of new vocabulary terms working alone working in pairs small groups whole class off task

2. Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process)

Students are spending more time working independently.

A somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators – Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Students Given Choices

Give 1 to Get 1 activity gave students choices when deciding on which vocabulary terms to write out first.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to relate new vocabulary terms to chapter problems.

Students working independently

Observation Checklist 4

1. Class Organization

How are students working?

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Students:

Game: Vocabulary Monday

Family Feud working alone working in pairs small groups whole class off task

2. Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process) somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Less time spent on instructions

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators – Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Students Given Choices

Students were allowed to make choices about their teams when playing Vocabulary Monday – Family Feud. They were allowed to choice the order of answering questions.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to work in teams. Team members were able to assist other students with new vocabulary terms.

Observation Checklist 5

1. Class Organization

How are students working?

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Students:

Third observation of new vocabulary terms working alone working in pairs small groups whole class off task

2. Students level of skills

How students are relating to vocabulary usage

Time segments in minutes

Notes need help (more than 20% are unable to process)

Students are spending more time working independently. Fewer students need assistance from teacher.

A somewhat skilled (10-20% need some assistance from teacher) working independently (fewer than 10% need assistance from teacher

Learning Styles used

Time segments in minutes

Notes

Verbal/Linguistic

Visual/Spatial

Body/Kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Musical

Naturalistic

Student Engagement Indicators – Make notes of overall impression of the lesson:

Students Given Choices

Give 1 to Get 1 activity gave students choices when deciding on which vocabulary terms to write out first.

Learning Put in Context

Students were able to relate new vocabulary terms to chapter problems.

Students working independently

As can be seen from the observation checklists examined above, the students used many different learning styles as the times of the activities increased, thereby indicating that they preferred these learning styles once they understood what the material was and became comfortable with it. Other ways of learning were quickly introduced, however, and these were not necessarily chosen by the teacher to occur at any specific period of time but instead happened spontaneously as the students found new ways to deal with problems or as they responded to instructions that the teacher supplied them with for information that they needed. This allowed the students to use some techniques for learning that have been suspected for some time to be effective but that did not necessarily work for all students or that had not been tried yet in this type of setting.

The students that were in the class where different types of learning were allowed performed better overall than students in a traditional class, as the following tables will strongly indicate.

Assignment Progress Summary (Class with Different Learning Styles):

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Student 6

Student 7

Student 8

Student 9

Student 10

Student 11

Student 12

Student 13

Student 14

The overall class average for this class was 85%. Now, this must be compared with the second class, which was the class that had only standard instruction. There were no creative learning styles used within that second class, represented below.

Assignment Progress Summary (Class without Different Learning Styles):

Student 1

Student 2

Student 3

Student 4

Student 5

Student 6

Student 7

Student 8

Student 9

Student 10

Student 11

Student 12

Student 13

Student 14

Student 15

Student 16

Student 17

The average for this class was only 60%, which is obviously much less than the first class. From this, it would seem as though the chance to learn things in different ways and employ different techniques would affect how well a high school student retained the information he or she was given and therefore how well that same student performed on tests regarding that material. The stress levels for high school students likely go down when they see that they can learn in some different ways and remember the information that they were given by their teacher.

Helping to reduce stress among students is important in that students who are more relaxed are more receptive to a learning environment. Students who spend their time worrying about what’s coming next, or if the teacher is going to call on them, or if they are going to be able to learn the material, often do not pay much attention to anything but their own worry. Because of this they miss many important things that go on in the classroom, and may be even more anxious if they are called upon to read or answer questions, especially if they are not good readers, if English is their second language, or if they are otherwise uncomfortable with the classroom environment (Brophy & Evertson, 1976).

In looking at language skills and learning styles in the classroom, Pamela Cooper and Lea Stewart discuss the acquisition of language and its importance. While there is no complete consensus on how students acquire language, it is believed that there are three factors — biological forces, interaction with others, and natural curiosity. Those same forces are there in learning to read as well, and they are likely what made these students have a continued interest in the vocabulary words that they had to learn. Reading and vocabulary is simply an extension of using language. It is using written language instead of verbal, but the ways people learn it are basically the same, based on their learning styles.

Biological forces come into play in that genetics often play a part in a student’s academic career. If parents were good students and high achievers in the area of reading and vocabulary, and continue to make reading part of their daily lives, it is likely that the student will have much more interest in reading than a student whose parents do nothing in the evening but watch television. Interaction with adults ties into the equation at this point, as well. Students who are read to by their parents or other adults from a young age are much more likely to want to read to themselves and will be more interested in words when they get older. Students whose parents do not show any interest in reading and do not keep books around the house are likely going to feel that books, reading, vocabulary, learning, and related matters are not very important.

The third part of the equation, natural curiosity, can also determine how much interest a person has in learning. Some students are much more curious than others, and those students who have a heightened sense of curiosity in the world around them will be more apt to learn to read and discover more words so they can find out about that world. Curiosity in students should be encouraged, especially when it comes to the world of books and words.

Cooper and Stewart agree with Purkey on one important point: teachers must be good listeners. A student’s language development is greatly enhanced by a good listener who encourages them to talk and asks them questions to teach them to be more descriptive. The same is true of reading. As stated, reading is an extension of language development, and an adult, whether teacher, parent, or someone else, who is willing to listen to a student read will help that student out a great deal. Again, this is especially true of younger students who have already learned how to read somewhat but are at that crucial age where a love of books can be born, but it also applies to high school students that can still find enjoyment in the learning of words and the reasons behind them. Much of this relates to the way that they learn the words and the chances that they get to discover more and use different styles of learning.

Technology is becoming one of the most important issues when it comes to learning styles today, and so should also be addressed here, especially where rural and smaller schools are concerned and students are struggling to learn and to graduate. One option for schools is for the states to offer strong financial incentives to those that are qualified and that are willing to teach in areas where there is a teacher shortage, or to increase the ability that financially disadvantaged districts have in order to help them pay for highly qualified teachers for their district (U.S. Department of Education, 2000; National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 1997).

Distance learning has also been proposed as a good strategy to help alleviate many problems that schools are facing when it comes to the providing of a comprehensive curriculum and in the training of teachers (Reeves, 2003). This distance learning also allows the smaller schools to offer more comprehensive curricula without the requirement of hiring more staff. Distance learning, therefore, also helps to make it possible for schools that are geographically isolated to be able to provide more professional development for teachers without having to take on the high costs that are associated with traveling for continuing education credits or certification (Reeves, 2003). However, it is still very important for these school districts to remember that the idea of distance learning encompasses many technologies, and not all of them are exceedingly effective.

At one end of the line are the online courses that are much like correspondence courses. These students are allowed to work at their natural pace and they have very little interaction with instructors or any other students. At the other end of the line, however, is interactive I-TV technology, which provides a classroom-like environment. With I-TV, the teachers and the students are able to use technology so that they can interact in ‘real time’ (Reeves, 2003).

Years of research have indicated that students generally learn more and perform better when they are taught in an environment that is structured and that allows for a more regular interaction, not only with teachers, but with peers as well (Reeves, 2003). This has also been seen to be true of teachers that are taking part in professional development or continuing education courses (Reeves, 2003). This training is shown to be more effective if it is both prolonged and hands-on. Because of this, I-TV allows these teachers and their students to be fully involved in the programs that provide both hands-on and prolonged interaction with one another (Reeves, 2003).

Thus, the use of interactive technology is able to help schools connect if they are not able to afford the hiring of teachers in many of the more advanced areas. Schools can then create a consortium that is built on I-TV networks, and all of the schools within that network would be able to both send courses and receive them (Reeves, 2003). For example, a teacher of physics that was located in school a would be able to send her courses to both schools B. And C, as well as other schools. A teacher of French that was located in school B. would be able to send his courses to both schools a and C, as well as other schools, and so on (Reeves, 2003).

This would provide all of these schools with a way that they could capitalize on assets that are often seen in small school environments while being able to also do away with some of the deficiencies that are seen (Reeves, 2003). This would help to bring up the AYP of these schools to make them more in line with what is being required by the No Child Left Behind Act, but this type of networking is also very expensive, and it is not something that can be done overnight (Reeves, 2003). It is merely one suggestion that could be used to help alleviate some of the problems and allow for some different learning styles to be utilized.

The idea of interactive technology has potential for an increase in the professional development opportunities that are available to many teachers, as well. Instead of being required to drive 50 to 100 miles to get training, teachers that use the interactive technology would be able to fully participate in interactive training sessions without ever being required to leave the school at which they were teaching (Reeves, 2003). Through the use of I-TV, these rural teachers would also be able to interact with other teachers from all over the country so that they could improve both their knowledge and their skills.

Once again, however, whether these schools could take advantage of this interactive technology would depend on how much access they have to needed resources. In a case such as this, they would need access to both a high-speed Internet connection and resources that are necessary to support and to maintain this kind of networks (Reeves, 2003). This poses many problems, both financial and otherwise, for smaller, more rural schools. To be able to use these interactive technologies, the school would need to have, at a minimum, a T1 line or “broadband” access for the Internet, and a connection that could transmit large amounts of both video and data in both directions (Reeves, 2003). Rural schools have very limited access to broadband Internet service, and cost is often a serious concern.

The E-rate has seen some impact in terms of cost when it comes to Internet access. Schools can generally receive discounted rates on their telecommunications service (Reeves, 2003). However, the discount does not usually impact whatever the starting price is, which can be up to $3,000 each month in some very rural areas. (Reeves, 2003) in addition in this, there are some communities that are simply are too remote to be served at all. If the service cannot get to them then the discount is completely useless. (Reeves, 2003) the more sparsely populated rural areas of the country also do not have a customer base that is large enough and wealthy enough to attract the telecommunications companies. Therefore, there is no real profit incentive for these companies to provide any kind of service within those areas.

In more recent years, there have been many initiatives that have been aimed at the enticing of telecommunications companies to expand their broadband services in areas that are very rural, and these initiatives have even been introduced in Congress (Reeves, 2003). Federal proposals that include loans and/or grants as well as other initiatives that have been modeled after the Rural Electrification Act that actually brought electricity to rural parts of America have all been discussed (Reeves, 2003).

While all of these proposals have been stalled in Congress, there have been a few states that have implemented programs which work to take advantage of the bulk buying power that they have to provide an infrastructure for broadband service in the more remote areas. The state of Missouri provides a good example of this. MOREnet (Missouri Research and Education Network) has encouraged the state’s telecommunications providers to work to construct a high-speed network throughout all of the state, including the rural areas that were not previously considered when it came to telecommunications and broadband access (Reeves, 2003).

Through the use of this network, MOREnet can provide high-speed Internet access to the public sector in Missouri’s, including the schools (Reeves, 2003). In addition, GreaterNET, which is a not-for-profit and member-based organization, brokers the I-TV courses throughout that state and also provides support services for schools that choose to participate in it (Reeves, 2003). GreaterNET is seen to be part of the idea of rural Education Renewal Zones (ERZ) in Missouri, which are designed to improve both the rural education and the teacher preparation by using technology (Reeves, 2003). The ERZ collaboration includes two different teacher-training institutions, a technical college, a state agency for education, and many organizations that offer technical support.

Broadband access, however, is only a first step in the building of effective and interactive networks (Reeves, 2003). First, the schools and the districts that are interested in doing this must have an adequate knowledge of the technology that they will be working with, the capabilities that it has, and the most important and effective ways to incorporate that technology into the instruction of students (Reeves, 2003). In other words, not all of the technology that could be offered is created equally.

Both schools and the districts that they are in have to be able to evaluate the technology and the service providers so that they can determine the quality and the appropriateness for the school, the teachers, and the students (Reeves, 2003). After that, for the technology to truly be the most effective that it can be, the teachers and the students must be trained to use the new technology; a process which takes some time. Those people that are using the new technology have to be knowledgeable of the way to properly operate the equipment and also knowledgeable of the ways that they can use the technology maximize learning (Reeves, 2003).

Further, these schools have to be able to provide both support and maintenance for the technology that they have. Many of these more rural schools are not able to afford to employ an on-site coordinator to provide the support that is needed for the technology (Reeves, 2003). Once again, the most significant obstacle that is facing the rural school districts is the lack of access to the resources that they need. Under the current funding formulas that are used, there are many rural districts that do not have the access to financial resources that they need in order to be able to take advantage of the latest and greatest in technology (Reeves, 2003). Programs like the one that is offered in Missouri are one step closer to helping many rural schools to address the problems that are often associated with being both small, rural, and dealing with the No Child Left Behind Act.

Graduation rates are another issue for consideration when it comes to learning styles and what teachers in various schools are able to provide for their students. The literature about graduation rates, specifically when it comes to minority students, deals mostly with whether the statistical data that has been presented in various studies is correct, or whether there are discrepancies in what has been presented and what is actually occurring throughout the country when it comes to minority high school graduation rates. Some believe that teachers that are of minority races will help to improve the performance of minority students (United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1973; Wilkerson, 1970; Finn, 1991; Alexander & Miller, 1989; Adair, 1984).

Unfortunately, there is little evidence to support any of this, and it is largely speculation (King, Keohane, & Verbs, 1994). Most of the research that has been done into this issue focuses on Latinos and does not look at African-American students or how the graduation rates differ within these groups (King, Keohane, & Verbs, 1994). Instead, it generally looks at only minority teachers and how they seem to be more sympathetic toward minority students (King, Keohane, & Verbs, 1994).

In this way, it is argued that some of the reasons that minority students cannot perform as well and graduate high school in as high of rates as Caucasian students is that Caucasian teachers have little sympathy for minority students (Meier & Stewart, 1991). It is also indicated that they cannot relate to them well so they do not make the effort to help them as much as they do with Caucasian students (Meier & Stewart, 1991).

Whether or not this is completely accurate is somewhat a matter of speculation and often difficult to prove (Meier & Stewart, 1991). It implies that many Caucasian teachers are racist and this would not generally appear to be the case (Meier & Stewart, 1991). The reasons that it is so difficult to determine whether the race of a teacher really has anything to do with the graduation rate for minorities in high school has to do with the fact that many schools report their graduation numbers differently (Meier & Stewart, 1991). This is part of what makes this type of study so problematic (Meier & Stewart, 1991).

Some school districts report the percentage of students that entered as freshmen and graduated within four years (Davidson & Lang, 1960; Cannell, 1987). Others report the amount of seniors who actually completed their fourth year of school (Orfield & Ashkinaze, 1991). Other school districts also looked at individuals who had quit school, then returned, then quit again (Ladson-Billings, 1992). These were often logged as the failure of a student to graduate, which would make sense, but they were counted twice (Ladson-Billings, 1992) (Ladson-Billings, 1992).

An additional concern was that many of the school districts considered and looked at in many different studies did not actually discuss or detail how they obtained the figures that they used for their data for graduation (Ladson-Billings, 1992). Some of these schools use only high school diplomas while others look at GEDs and other equivalency issues when considering whether or not a student was deemed to have graduated high school (Ladson-Billings, 1992; Lieberman, 1993).

Test data and other issues become very problematic when they are studied in this way and because of this determining how many students actually graduated and how great the gap is between minority students and Caucasian students is increasingly difficult to decide (Meier, 1993). Most believe that over half of the minority students in the United States are getting left behind in many ways in their classes and therefore many of them are not graduating (King, 1993). It is also believed that there is a great deal of inaccurate and misleading information that is reported regarding graduation rates and dropout rates for many schools in the country (Foster, 1990).

Some reports indicate that only 75% of white students graduated high school in the year 2001, and that only 50% of African-American students successfully completed high school (Study, 2004). When males and females were separated out and the graduation rate examined in this way, minority males had a lower graduation rate than any other individual group (Study, 2004). The graduation rate gap for high school individuals is around 25% for all minority groups (Study, 2004). Several states have very large ranges, and while the ranges in other states are closer, all states have at least some type of gap between Caucasian and minority students when it comes to high school graduation (Study, 2004).

According to some of the data that has been collected, there are 10 states in this country that are overall the worst for minority graduation (Study, 2004). These are: New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio (Study, 2004). These are states that have the largest gap in the graduation rate as defined by the difference between the number of Caucasians and the number of minorities that graduated high school (Study, 2004). Many see this as very tragic and see that high school graduation today in this country is only a 50-50 proposition for those who are not Caucasian (Study, 2004). There are many concerns about what might be the root of this problem and there are differing opinions on this issue (Study, 2004).

Unfortunately, most of the data that is used today about high school dropouts shows to the public that many of the students who attend high school are actually earning diplomas (Stewart, Meier, & England, 1989). In reality, there is very little federal and state oversight of the graduation rates and dropout rates reports for accuracy (Study, 2004). There are states that are reporting a dropout rate for African-Americans of only 5% but actually only half of the African-Americans in that data group are graduating high school with a diploma (Study, 2004). Many wonder how this is possible but it appears to have much to do with the fact that only nine states have built-in accountability issues for minority graduation rates, and the other states can largely figure these rates however they choose to, which can lead to extreme inaccuracy (Study, 2004).

The United States has no actual specifics for graduation rates that have to be met by schools (Study, 2004). For example, the state of California has a goal of a 100% graduation rate but actually acknowledges progress in reaching its goal for any type of improvement (Study, 2004). Even 1/10 of a percentage point is significant enough to be considered progress in the eyes of that particular state (Study, 2004). Given many of the graduation rates for minorities in California, achieving the 100% graduation goal would take slightly over 500 years (Study, 2004). There are many implications of this issue and it is somewhat of a hidden crisis because most Americans do not see what is actually going on (Study, 2004).

Much of it has to do with the media and also with the way schools manipulate particular issues and reports in order to make it appear as though more minority individuals are graduating (Clarke, & Agne, 1997). It is devastating not only to the individuals who did not graduate but to their communities and the entire economy of the United States (Clarke, & Agne, 1997). Most individuals that drop out of high school are much less likely to have gainful employment, and they are also more likely to live in poverty and to be imprisoned at some point in their life (Clarke, & Agne, 1997). There are many studies that estimate that there will also be significant losses in taxes and earnings and that these issues will have societal and economic effects that could last for many generations to come (Clarke, & Agne, 1997).

A report that has come out about how many minorities are actually being left behind by the crisis in graduation rates helps to expose many of the official data that is believed to be misleading and inaccurate (Clarke, & Agne, 1997). It suggests many statistical methods that are sounder and should be utilized for calculating high school graduation rates across his country (Clarke, & Agne, 1997). The key findings of this report are very important and according to it and other studies the Department of Education in this country has apparently taken steps that have actually weakened the accountability provisions for graduation rates for schools (Clarke, & Agne, 1997).

School districts are allowed to basically eliminate the graduation rate accountability that they previously had for minority groups (Study, 2004). As a result, there are 39 states in this country that are setting adequate yearly progress goals for graduation rates that are considered to be soft (Study, 2004). This means that they can avoid any type of a sanction simply by showing that they have made any type of improvement from one year to the next year (Study, 2004). This goes back to California and its 1/10 of a percent increase, which it believes to be acceptable (Study, 2004).

There are only nine states in his country that hold the districts and the schools accountable for minority graduation rates for their students (Study, 2004). If a minimum requirement for graduation rate was set at 66% and the proper approach discussed in the report was utilized, the District of Columbia as well as 46 states would fail to meet this market for educating its student population as a group or for at least educating one major ethnic or racial student group (Study, 2004).

Both of the commonly used measures to determine official graduation rates are believed to be rather inaccurate (Study, 2004). One of these deals with the population survey by the Census Bureau and the other deals with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) (NCES, 1994). It is believed that both of these produce data that greatly underestimates the amount of children who leave high school without receiving a diploma (Study, 2004).

Most of the graduation rates for states are calculated by the NCES but many students that leave high school and do not obtain a diploma are often unaccounted for or are left out of many of these calculations (Study, 2004). Some states exclude those who have enrolled in GED classes from the graduation rate calculations and treat them as though they had never actually enrolled in high school (Study, 2004). This inflates the diploma or completion rate for that state and makes it look as though more individuals actually graduated than what really did (Study, 2004).

All areas of the United States have low graduation rates for minorities (Study, 2004). Many of them are seen in the South, but there are also Midwestern and other states that have difficulties with graduation rates (Study, 2004). While Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi seem to be on the list of schools that are not doing well to ensure that minorities graduate, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Nevada are also on the list (Study, 2004). Another problem for graduation rates is segregation (Study, 2004). While schools are no longer required to be segregated it does appear that there is still a separation between whites and blacks and other minority groups at many schools (Study, 2004).

Chapter Five

There are many lessons to be learned from the past. The ways students learn to read and write have changed dramatically in the past fifty years or so. Even so, students and their ability to learn has not changed, so the change in teaching must mean that teachers have learned nearly as much as their students. No matter how much research is done about how students learn, and the best ways to teach them, the students should have a say in it. Unfortunately, the idea of being able to make changes based on student learning styles is something that may dwindle because of the No Child Left Behind Act and the structure that it often requires. It is important to address that concern here.

The No Child Left Behind Act says that all states have to develop Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) objectives that are designed to show improvements in achievement for all students, and also for specific subgroups (such as those that are economically disadvantaged, the major racial and ethnic groups, students that have disabilities, and students that have limited proficiency in English). These AYP objectives are assessed at the school level and then they must be reported for each subgroup separately (Reeves, 2003). The states have some flexibility in the defining of what AYP is, and also in the setting of the number of students that are required in order to form a subgroup that is statistically valid.

The smaller schools, many of them rural schools, are in the most danger of being mislabeled as being “in need of improvement” than are the larger schools. This is due to the somewhat more volatile nature of the school-level reporting from one year to the next year (Figlio, 2002; Kane & Staiger, 2002; Linn et al., 2002). If there are less than 100 students that are tested for each grade, the averages that are seen for that grade could fluctuate a significant amount from one year to the next year for many reasons, most of which are not related to the overall performance of the school. The volatility of these test scores generally comes from two specific sources (Linn et al., 2002).

First, there is a variation in many of the groups of students that are being tested for each year, and that can cause some fluctuations. The contributing factors for this can include both the attitudes and the abilities of the students within each cohort, the mobility of students, and/or a strong influx of various immigrants. Secondly, there are one-time factors like the turnover rate for teachers, an epidemic of flu, or noise from nearby construction that takes place on the testing day that can also affect the scores (Linn et al., 2002). In schools that have very small populations of students, having these differences often cause some dramatic fluctuations in the average annual test scores that are seen in these smaller, generally rural, schools.

One of the ways that can be used to reduce volatility in test scores at the school level is by averaging these test scores across several years, which is a remedy that is allowed under the No Child Left Behind Act (Reeves, 2003). A study that was conducted by David Figlio (2002) showed that there were stabilizing benefits of three-year averages and that these benefits were greatest where the smaller schools were concerned. In an analysis that was conducted of the school level data from two districts in Florida, Figlio (2002) also found that, for the smallest schools, going from using a one-year average to using a three-year average actually reduced the number of what were deemed “unstable” schools (which were schools that appeared to improve in one year and then fall back in the next year, or vice versa) from around 63% to only 27%. Even for the largest of the schools, the number of “unstable” schools was reduced, but not as strongly as were the smaller schools.

Kane and Staiger (2002) agreed that using a multiple-year average would improve the standing of the school as opposed to using one-year averages, but they also claimed that there were more efficient ways with which to measure the performance of a school. Kane and Staiger (2002) proposed the idea of placing a higher weight on the more recent scores that were seen for the larger schools, and placing a more equal amount of weight on several years’ worth of the scores that were seen in the smaller schools. The flexibility that is built into the No Child Left Behind Act allows all states to explore various alternatives like this for their ways of measuring of AYP (Reeves, 2003).

Smaller schools face a high likelihood of mislabeling when it comes to performance, but this is not their only concern. They also face many other obstacles when it comes to the implementation of the sanctions that do apply when their school is identified as being “in need of improvement.” Under the No Child Left Behind Act, the schools that fail to have AYP over a period of time find that they are facing interventions that are increasingly more severe (Reeves, 2003). Schools that are not able to make their AYP for two years in a row will get some technical assistance from their school district, they must work to develop an improvement plan for their school, and they also have to provide their students with options for other public schools. The schools that are not able to meet their AYP for three years in a row must provide a form of supplemental education to their low-achieving and their low-income students (Reeves, 2003).

There are three challenges seen when providing parents with a choice of schools where rural school districts are concerned. The first challenge is that many of the rural school districts have either one-building districts or they have only one school that operates at a certain grade level (Reeves, 2003). For example, of the 692 school districts in the state of Nebraska, there are only around 50 that include more than one school at a specific grade level. For districts like these, there are no alternatives for a school choice that is still within the district.

Second, the idea of transportation is already difficult in many rural districts, and No Child Left Behind, through the requirement for school choice, will only exacerbate the problems that are already associated with the transporting of students over long distances (Reeves, 2003). The rural school districts are already spending too much on the services that they use to transport students. In a recent study, it was reported that schools in rural areas are seen to spend over twice the amount that urban districts spend on transportation for their students (Killeen & Sipple, 2000).

Rural districts spend around six to eight percent of the budget that they have on the transportation of students, and the non-rural school districts only spend around four percent of their budgets for that same issue (Reeves, 2003). In West Virginia, which is, overall, a rural state, more of the education dollars are spent on transportation than in any other state; nearly seven percent of the education budget in that state (Eyre & Finn, 2002). Four of the counties in West Virginia spend over 10% of the budgets that they have just to bus their students to and from school. This may not actually seem like that much money, but when one compares 10% of budget of $900,000 to four percent of a budget of $9 million, it can be seen that this is a very dramatic difference (Reeves, 2003).

The longer bus rides that are required in rural areas also affect other areas besides the school district’s budget. A year-long investigation, done by the Charleston Gazette-Mail, recently uncovered some very upsetting data that pertains to the bus rides that are seen in rural West Virginia (Eyre & Finn, 2002). During the 2002-2003 school year, there were more than half of all of the bus routes that were used by students in rural areas of West Virginia that were seen to exceed “reasonable” distances under the guidelines that the district had. The elementary children that rode the bus to school spent more than one hour each way on over 300 bus routes that were seen in 34 out of the state’s 35 counties that are deemed to be the most rural (Reeves, 2003).

In addition to this, the elementary school children rode with many high school students in almost every one of the rural West Virginia counties, which could pose a danger to these younger students (Reeves, 2003). Students that had long bus rides also reported that they were more often stressed and tired, that many of their grades dropped, that they did not participate in many after-school activities, and that they had to spend a lot less time with their families because of their time spent on traveling (Reeves, 2003). The parents of children that attended school far away from home also attended fewer of the scheduled parent-teacher meetings, volunteered to help in the classroom less often, and did not attend as many of the extra-curricular activities that were offered at or held at the school (Reeves, 2003).

Finally, the more rural schools are also very concerned regarding public relations problems that are associated with the requirements of school choice seen by the No Child Left Behind Act (Reeves, 2003). The districts are required to inform the parents that, under the new federal law, if the school “needs improvement” the parents can send children to a different school that performs on a higher level (Reeves, 2003). At that time, however, they must also inform the parents that there is currently no alternative school that is located within that same school district. Under circumstances like that one, there is a strong potential for confusion and dissatisfaction in the community.

Theoretically, the students of schools that appear to be struggling would be able to attend school in one of the a neighboring districts, but this is not often a viable option, since the transportation issues that were outlined above are very upsetting for many individuals (Reeves, 2003). One of the possible solutions to this issue in the more rural areas is encouraging the districts to offer more supplemental services instead of alternatives for school choices. While these supplemental services are not actually required until a particular school fails to make AYP for three years in a row, the offering of these supplemental services much earlier would help to provide parents much-needed assistance in order to help students meet the state standards (Reeves, 2003).

The provision of many of the supplemental services that are offered in rural areas also presents many important challenges for school districts (Reeves, 2003). However, with guidance and assistance that could be offered from state agencies for education, these problems could be addressed much more easily than the problems that pertain to a choice of schools.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all states must give to the parents of students in schools that are “in need of improvement” a list of service providers that are approved by the state (Reeves, 2003). In more recent months, some states have also been requesting many proposals from various organizations that are hoping to be allowed to provide these supplemental services in that state. As the states collect those proposals and review them, there are many challenges that have arisen which concern the providing of services in the more rural areas of many states (Reeves, 2003).

In some states, proposals received came only from the larger companies like Sylvan Learning Centers, or from online companies (Reeves, 2003). These proposals and the companies that provide them can pose many problems for the more rural school districts. First, the providers are not required to agree to a provision of services within every school district in a particular state. Because of this, both urban and suburban schools have an advantage in being able to attract more supplemental services because they can create a much more lucrative market for these providers on the basis of their economics of scale.

In addition to this, many companies that are applying to provide services for these school districts have no facilities that are operating in more rural areas (Reeves, 2003). It is unclear as to whether the No Child Left Behind Act will be able to provide enough of an incentive for the providers to want to offer services in the more rural areas and the small towns that are found in so many states. With these kinds of difficulties, the rural districts will most likely have to examine various alternative means in order to provide enough supplemental services for their students (Reeves, 2003).

When they are first examined, the online providers would appear to offer a very viable alternative for schools that are located in the more rural areas of the country. Iowa, for example, which is one of the predominantly rural states, actually received many of the supplemental services proposals that were sent out from these online companies (Reeves, 2003). After they were thoroughly reviewed by the state, the process was reopened to other proposals because there were limitations that were associated with having online service and online service providers.

As an example of this, it is seen that the online programs often require a degree of maturity and a skill level that is not always seen in the student. The student that works with the online program must be not only computer literate but most also be able to work on a more independent basis for the computer-based program to be effective (Reeves, 2003). Because of this, many of the online providers are only able to offer programs to students that are in the higher grades, with some providers allowing for middle-school students, as well. The online providers that were willing to respond to Iowa’s request for service providers can only work with students that are in grades 5 through 12.

In Iowa, most of the schools that need improvement are in the elementary school category, so they are not helped by these online programs (Reeves, 2003). Another one of the problems that is associated with these online providers is that the schools would have to allow the students enough time to do the work there at school. There could not be any homework because many of these students do not have access to computers at their homes, and therefore would have to complete all of their work during class times. Not only would the school have to ensure that it allowed this, but there would need to be extra staff hired to keep an eye on the computers and the students that were using them, which would cost rural school districts and small school districts money that they do not have (Reeves, 2003).

Another concern for the more rural school districts is that they need to see that there is a high level of quality from online or distance-learning providers. Unfortunately, the No Child Left Behind Act does not have any guidelines for schools to use to help determine and monitor what kind of quality supplemental providers actually have (Reeves, 2003). Because the options in the rural areas of the country are so limited, the rural schools would have to accept what they could get and they would have very little, or possibly no, assurance regarding the quality of services, particularly for those providers that offer online services.

To ensure that students in rural schools are able to access the supplemental services, state agencies might be willing to work with these rural districts in order to help with the development of more creative solutions that could be used to solve the problem (Reeves, 2003). The states could then work with rural school districts to help identify the potential providers that would be available to the community, such as service centers that are available on a regional level, local community colleges, some of the more prominent after-school programs, local libraries, or many faith-based organizations that are in the local or regional area (Reeves, 2003). What is more important, however, is that states could provide more guidelines to both the schools and the districts in order to help with the identification of quality providers for supplemental services. Also, state agencies that deal with education would be able to work with the rural schools in order to develop virtual high schools and other opportunities that involve learning online (Reeves, 2003).

For example, Kentucky’s Virtual High School (KVHS) is very trendsetting, and one that provides a model for other schools to follow. KVHS was originally developed to provide an expanded curriculum to students from all across the state (Reeves, 2003). KVHS also provides many advanced placement courses and courses in foreign language, as well as instructional support for students that are considered to be at-risk, and programs for adult education (Reeves, 2003). In addition, there are many opportunities for professional development that are available to educators across the state.

The program is designed to be part of a technology plan that was developed by the Kentucky Education Reform Act in 1990 in order to establish a network of technology across the state so that it could be used, mostly, to improve the access to a higher-level curriculum and support programs in many of the smaller schools (Reeves, 2003). This virtual high school also provides ways of addressing the multiple challenges that are currently being faced by the more rural schools, which includes providing supplemental services to students.

The No Child Left Behind Act also required that states make sure all teachers of the core academic subjects are what is considered to be “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-2006 school year (Reeves, 2003). The core academic subjects generally include English, a reading or a language arts class, mathematics, science, foreign language, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography (Reeves, 2003). The law states that a “highly qualified” teacher is one that is licensed or certified by the state to teach a particular subject.

In addition to the licensing or certifying requirement, these teachers must also demonstrate that they have a competency within their subject. In order to demonstrate this competency, elementary school teachers must be able to pass a test given by the state that demonstrates both their subject knowledge and their teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics and any other areas of basic curriculum for elementary school students (Reeves, 2003). Middle or higher level teachers are able to demonstrate their competency in three different ways: 1.) they can pass a test given by the state; 2.) they can complete an academic major, a graduate degree, or an advanced certification; or 3.) they can meet the requirements of the state evaluation standard that is used to judge their competency (Reeves, 2003). Given that there are already so many current problems seen in the more rural schools, there are many potential obstacles that are facing these rural schools and the rural school districts when it comes to being able to meet the requirements.

Many schools in rural areas already have problems with recruiting and retaining many teachers, particularly those that have credentials in specific subject areas, those that work with special education students, those that teach a foreign language, and those that teach either LEP and/or bilingual programs (Reeves, 2003). The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act will exacerbate many of the problems that already exist, because this law increases demand for teachers that are “highly qualified.” The increased demand could then result in having higher levels of competitive salaries, but it could also stop the teachers that are doing what they can for their students in the form of different learning styles from being able to do that.

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