A New Model of Storytelling: Transmedia by: Laura Fleming

As a School Library Media Specialist, storytelling is at the core of what I do each and every day. Over the years, I have seen many children who struggle with reading because of a lack of engagement with traditional books and stories. The new media that surrounds educators and learners forced me to rethink the concept of storytelling for our 21st-century learners. After some experimenting within my classes, I found a way to successfully engage and capture the attention of all of my students. As a result of this, a new model of storytelling emerged for me: Transmedia.

What is Transmedia?

There are two components that must be present in transmedia storytelling. 1) Critical parts of the story must be told across multiple story spaces, and 2) there must be active participation on the part of the readers. The roots of transmedia lie in pop culture and in the creation of media franchises. In education, these same techniques can be used to create a powerful connection with curricular content. Transmedia storytelling speaks to learners in a way that they inherently understand, and when purposefully designed, it can be an effective tool for all age groups and in all learning environments.

An Example of Transmedia

The leading example of this transmedia in education phenomenon is the born-digital storyInanimate Alice. Written by award-winning author Kate Pullinger, directed by digital artist Chris Joseph, and produced by Ian Harper, this transmedia story introduces us to Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her digital imaginary friend, Brad. "Born digitally," Inanimate Alice was conceived, written and created entirely within the digital domain. The multimedia episodes are interactive and use a combination of text, sound, images, and games to tell the story of her life. The media itself becomes a part of the story when Alice herself becomes a video game animator, and the reader is immersed into the story by playing games and solving puzzles to progress the story.

Free Resources for Educators

Through a free downloadable iTeach education resource pack, Inanimate Alice is supported by lessons, which include making connections with the story and the medium. Their vibrant Facebook community allows for educators to share their success stories as well as to find opportunities for collaboration globally. In addition, teachers now have available to them interactive whiteboard lessons that are hands-on and address the needs of all learners. Because of their immersion into a storyworld, participants in transmedia narratives are inspired to repurpose the content and generate their own; thus encouraging creativity and innovation. With Inanimate Alice, it is the inspiration of her story that motivates students to want to create next episodes of the series.

21st Century Literature = Engagement

Developing a narrative over multiple platforms while interweaving learning outcomes creates transformational learning experiences. Participants engage, inform, inspire, connect and collaborate over content. It is this interconnectedness that fosters a dialogue which connects learners around the world. This global interconnectivity allow for the collaborative sharing and proliferation of knowledge. Transmedia storytelling exemplifies learning in the 21st century.

If you like this, you might also like

• A Primer on Interactive Books by Laura Fleming
• Digital Is National Writing Project Transmedia Collection
• Connecting Meaning and Learning Through Storytelling by Laura Fleming (Huffington Post)

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/transmedia-digital-media-storytelling-laura-fleming

Advice for New Teachers by:Anna J. Small Roseboro, NBCT

Many English language arts leaders also teach classes themselves and are absorbed with the demands any classroom teacher faces at the start of a new school year. Consequently, during these first decisive days, even the most conscientious department chair may postpone the one-on-one meetings with the new or novice teachers until a week or two into the term. As an English department chair, I am often asked by beginning teachers to quickly tell them what they need to know to get a good start in their first year of full-time teaching. The answer is usually, “No, I can’t tell you quickly. But, here are a few things you can be doing now and some ideas to think about. We can meet in a week or so and talk more then.” By that time, those teachers already may be feeling swamped and discouraged.

To help prevent this demoralizing experience, I want to share some of the responses and advice I’ve learned to offer these new and novice teachers. While the comments probably relate to most secondary English language arts teachers, I’ve directed them to those who also may be teaching in the middle school because their issues can differ from high school teachers. For ease in reading, I’ve organized my remarks around the journalism format of Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

 Who Will I Be Teaching, Really?

 One of the more important tasks of teachers is to get to know their students quickly. You see, teaching is more than dispensing information. Teaching is cyclical; it is not complete until learning takes place. So during the first few days of school, successful teachers use a variety of strategies to discover what students already know and are able to do, and then adapting their lessons for a wide range of students (Tchudi & Tchudi, 1999). The sooner teachers know their students—not just their names—the sooner real teaching and learning begin.

 Teachers, especially new ones, seldom have much say about whom they will teach, and the students who walk into the room arrive with varying degrees of commitment to learning. More than once I was assigned to teach three different grades requiring as many different preparations. I learned quickly that the more skillful you become at getting to know your students and assessing their specific needs, the more students you will reach and teach successfully.

 The primary challenges in teaching adolescents are the physical, emotional, and social issues that can overwhelm them in uneven waves from day to day and that distract them from learning (Caught in the Middle, 1987). Emotionally, with the hormone changes, both the girls and the boys can be manically mischievous one day and dismally depressed the next—from belle of the ball to ostracized pariah, from big man on campus to bait for the bully. Still, we must teach them.

In addition to these unavoidable issues, you may be working among a cultural population very new to you. It will be important for you to remain open to what you can learn from them that will help you make the understanding and application of the English language arts relevant to them and create a classroom environment that nurtures and respects them while building on their prior knowledge and experience. And with different cultures come different languages (see Shafer, 2001) and code switching (where students alternate from one form of English to another; see Wheeler & Swords, 2006). In any case, one key to a successful school year is your getting to know the students you teach and adapting what you learn from and about them to what you know about effective English language arts instruction.

 What Must I Teach?

 It’s more than reading and writing. If you’ll take a look at the English language arts standards published by your school, district, or state, you’ll find that they include both content skills and habits of mind. We ELA teachers are charged with presenting lessons in which students experience— read, talk about, write about—an array of literature, both print and non-print, fiction and nonfiction (Standards, 1996 ), and use a variety of resources: technology and library. With the new Common Core Standards that many states are adopting, the challenge heightens even for veteran educators(Common Core, 2010).  Ultimately, our common goal is to help our students expand their understanding of themselves and other, learn to appreciate how reading and writing, speaking and listening, viewing and representing visually can make them independent and productive members of society (Jackson and Davis, 2000), and to use technology skillfully and responsibly. Of course, we’re also expected to assess student learning and report these observations in a variety of formats to a variety of people—parents, other teachers, counselors, etc. A big task, but a manageable one.

 When in the School Year?

 Students in the middle and high school grades are expected to learn to read increasingly more demanding literature in a variety of genres and to write for a wider range of purposes and audiences (Parents’Guide, 2006). Your task is to determine what the students know already and then to move them along as efficiently as possible through the curriculum you’re given. But how do you use preparation and class time to achieve these goals? When should certain skills be taught?

 First, do your best to understand what you’re expected to achieve by the end of the school year, and then work backwards (Wiggins and Mc-Tighe, 2005). What kinds of lessons will allow you to meet your requirements? What literature and modes of writing must you teach? What resources are available to you? Which professionals in your school setting are available to assist you? You’ll want to block out the semester and then subdivide these blocks into units and lessons. Be sure to take into consideration the school calendar—assemblies, concerts, sports events, holidays, and vacations will impact the time you’ll have available to teach. Keep in mind that the time before and after these events will drain emotional energy from your students. Athletes and their fans may be totally consumed with thoughts of “the big game” or the post-season chances, so you, the skillful teacher, will plan class activities that make the most of your time with each class; some days, that will mean designing lessons that use physical activity to channel pent-up energy, while other days will focus on more cerebral activity.

 Where Will I Be Teaching?

 Believe it or not, the physical space in which you teach and how you organize it will have an impact on how well you teach . . . and feel. Few new teachers have much choice about the room to which they are assigned, but you can make the space work for you.

 If you will be sharing space, get to know your “roommates” and talk about access to desks, storage, and display space; determine which resources you’ll be sharing and which you must supply yourself. For instance, if those using the room are teaching the same grades or courses, you may be able to coordinate units so you can leave in the classroom those resources and supplies you share. When I’ve shared rooms, my colleagues and I usually split the bulletin board space, often designating a common space to post general notices we both want in view all the time. Reutzel and Cooter (2003) say, “classroom displays are intended to immerse students . . . in an environment of interesting and functional print” (p. 89). Surprisingly, we found that both the older and younger students enjoyed seeing what the others were doing. The older ones would reflect on what they’d done in earlier grades, and younger students would project to the future when they would have those more sophisticated assignments. Colleagues would see what the other had done and get ideas for expanding or modifying our own lessons. All can benefit when sharing rooms.

 You’ll also want to have an efficient way of storing and moving your materials from place to place. A two-shelf rolling cart worked well for me. On it would be a set of hanging files that I’d want to have in the room during classes and in the office during prep time—grade book, seating charts, lesson plans, textbooks, and other resources (dictionary, USB drive, etc.). I’d also have any supplies or handouts for the day’s (or week’s) lessons. Some teachers also kept a box of extra office supplies, such as pencils, staplers, scissors, tape and even a box of tissues.

Determine whether or not your room will have stationary or movable seats. Desks? Tables and chairs? What size tables? How easy to move? The more flexible the seating, the more configurations available for different lessons. Teach your students how to move the furniture quickly— explain it precisely or draw it on the board—and then give them until the count of ten to move the seats, reseat themselves, and give you their attention.

 How accessible is technology?  Do you have a smart classroom, already set up for high-tech instruction?  Are computer labs available?  Still using laptops on carts?  Are students assigned laptops?  Do they bring their own cell phones through which they can access the internet?

 If you know what have, what you want, and plan ahead, your clear expectations will usually get results. Of course, if things don’t work well the first time, simply rethink them, get advice, and try again. Also keep in mind the needs of the next class; I used a kitchen timer to go off seven or eight minutes before the end of class, allowing just enough time to reorganize seating, review the lesson for the day, and remind the students of the homework assignment. Just remember: Anticipate. Plan. Execute. The Golden Rule doesn’t hurt, either.

 Why Must I Teach a Certain Way? 

 Why plan multiple ways to teach the same lesson? First, because people learn and demonstrate understanding in different ways (Cunningham & Allington, 2006; Jackson & Davis, 2000; Tchudi & Tchudi, 1999). Second,  flexibility creates interest for the students and you. It is as important for you to enjoy teaching as it is for students to enjoy learning. Teaching is your job, but it also can be fun devising clever and effective ways to share your knowledge and love of the English language arts. Third, the new Common Core Standards are best taught that way.

You know that young adolescents have short attention spans (Developing Adolescents, 2003), are easily bored, and seek instant diversion. “. . . remember that we now have several generations limited to a thirty second attention span as maximum. If you don’t have their interest in the first five seconds, they are gone!” (State of Victoria, 2006). Many students are accustomed to controlling what they experience through television, DVDs, the Internet, ipods, and smart phones, etc. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that few teens are willing to give anyone or anything their sustained attention for more than 12 or 13 minutes. We, teachers, therefore, must develop lessons that address different learning styles and accommodate the attention span of contemporary teenage students as well as maximize their skill with a range of technology.

Consider, too, the work of Dr. Howard Gardner of Harvard University who has published research in which he proposes the “multiple intelligences” theory (Gardner, 1985). Try developing lessons that take into account the numerous ways that young people can be taught and assessed based on their specific age, maturation, and individual learning style (Gardner, 2000). That variety will interest them . . . and you. I thoroughly enjoy learning from my students and find that each time I offer them options to demonstrate their understanding of literature; I gain a greater insight into the topics, themes, or literary works we’re studying as well as a deeper understanding of the students and their ways of looking at literature and life.

 It is from the work of Louise Rosenblatt and Fran Claggett that you can draw inspiration to incorporate assignments that accommodate many of the multiple intelligences described in Howard Gardner’s work. The recent publications about incorporating twenty-first century literacies (Roseboro, 2010) also provide a wealth of knowledge for adapting lessons you developed as pre-service teachers and in your other school settings.

 First, Louise Rosenblatt (1938/1996) encourages us to rely on students’ prior knowledge to help them make sense of the literature. This approach can free you of the burden of “knowing what the book means” and will give you permission to let the literary works (fiction, non-fiction, graphic, video) speak to the students and to trust their responses about what it says to them. You may design lessons that encourage students to use art, other graphics (Claggett, 1992), as well as  technology to represent what they’ve learned but you’ll want to encourage them to ground their responses in the text to keep them from straying too far afield during oral or written discussion. Although digressions may sometimes yield relevant lessons, as a new teacher, it is important to keep your eyes on the curriculum goals so that you (or an observer) are confident that you are in control, even while permitting student choice.

How Can I Become an Effective Teacher?

 The truth is, you may not do it your first year. And maybe not even the second. But here are a few tips that will give you an excellent start:

• Learn ways to use prep and class time effectively.
• As you observe experienced teachers, ask questions so you can begin to understand why they do what they do and what makes their strategies work so well. Asking questions and listening carefully to good teachers will be  key to your early and continued success and satisfaction as a professional educator.
• Join a professional organization, like NCTE or one of its local affiliates and attend as many of their conferences and workshops as you can. Funds to attend conferences and workshops are available from a variety of sources. But, be prepared to pay the majority of the expenses yourself.  You’ll find that the financial outlays are worth the investment primarily because the people you meet and the friends you make will be crucial to your growth and development as a successful and satisfied educator.
• NCTE also has several online options through their Connected Community and Pathways Professional Development Program  that connect teachers who are interested in collaborating electronically.
• Stay connected with the professors you’ve had in college. Many are willing to maintain electronic communication with you or to direct you to retired teachers who would be thrilled to share their storehouse of knowledge and experience.
• Most of all, give yourself time and use that time wisely.

Every year of your career, students will look to you to provide engaging and enjoyable experiences while they develop the skills and gain the knowledge needed to be successful. Read the works and view the videos from the authors mentioned; mull over the ideas offered here—both will give you a running start as you assemble your own cache of strategies, activities, and develop professional wisdom for a lifetime of teaching well.

http://teachinglanguagearts.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/department-chairs-and-new-teachers/

Debunking Those Pesky Classroom Myths by Ben Johnson

We have all heard the following classroom myths: If you want discipline to go well, don’t smile until Christmas, and, if you want to have good classroom management, never turn your back to the students.

On campuses across the country you can hear such myths and others repeated over and over again. They demonstrate an attitude of pessimism that does not belong in American schools.

So, let’s tackle some of those misnomers from the teachers’ lounge:

• Don’t smile until Christmas. Harry Wong says to start the school year with a celebration and that the very first days of school set the tone for the rest of the year. I learned this to be true. The worst thing to do the first day of school is to go over the rules, ad infinitum. The very first day of school, I wanted my students to be able to tell their parents that they learned something useful. Students are all quiet and subdued the first day of school anyway. Minimal discipline is often necessary. We can go over the rules later the first week. Why not give the students a reason to want to stay in your class and learn the very first day? In her book, If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They’ll Eat the Students, Neila A. Connors says, “Don’t ever stop playing and laughing, and that day without laughter is also a day not fully lived. There is so much to smile about in our business; and we know that we don’t stop playing because we grow old -- we grow old because we stop playing.”
• Never turn your back to the students. Building trust is the first thing a teacher should do beginning a school year. How do you build trust? According to Flip Flippen, founder of Capturing Kids’ Hearts, trust is built by getting to know the students a bit, and letting them get to know you. He maintains that in order to build a high performance learning team, commitments must be made and kept alive. In the course of instruction and learning, the students have to know that the teacher cares enough about them to pull them back to the commitment that was made the first week of class when they stray out of line and the students can also do the same with the teacher.
• Teachers know best. We teachers should know best, but that is not the point. The point is that students know best also, after all, they know when a lesson goes well and when it flops. They know when the teacher is prepared and when the teacher is shooting from the hip. They are an untapped resource for professional development. Getting feedback from students has made me a better teacher. I learn from the perspective of the student and the students appreciate the opportunity to share. They might not be able to tell me how to fix the problem, but knowing there is a problem is more than half the battle.
• Students aren’t interested in learning. They just want to have fun. I asked my daughter, Mercedes, about this and she said that students are not necessarily averse to working hard, they just don’t appreciate work that is too hard, or above their skill or confidence level. It is not that students won’t do homework, it’s just not a priority in their lives. How does a teacher make homework a priority in their lives? Simple. Give a reason to do the homework that motivates them. Grades, and other threats, do little to motivate students. Rewards and bribery are temporary measures that work, but ultimately are not enough for the long term. The best way to motivate students to do homework is to make it an extension of exciting and engaging learning that begins in the classroom.
• Students hate school. Students don’t hate school, they hate what happens in the classrooms at school. In his book, Why Don’t Students Like School, cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains that the way students learn is not the way most teachers teach. He gives examples of how teachers expect drilled, isolated facts and figures to stick in the student’s brain. Ask a student what he had for dinner last night, or even better, ask him the plot and the story line of the movie he watched in the theaters last week. Without rehearsal or repetition, he will be able to tell you. We simply need to align our teaching better to how students really learn and they will feel success and remember what we taught them. My favorite quote from his book? “Memory is the residue of thought.”
Perhaps the biggest myth of all is: I believe every student can learn. You will find this noncommittal statement in nearly every school mission statement from Texas to Alaska, but it avoids the acceptance of responsibility. It should read, “I believe every student will learn in my class.” The great challenge and fun of being a teacher is making that happen.
Life in schools is hard enough but a great teacher can make all the difference. Thanks for being teachers and debunking all of those myths.
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/debunking-classroom-myths-ben-johnson

Why Don't More Boys Read YA? By: Mike Mullin

The #YAlitchat on Twitter tonight was about men who write YA, but it quickly evolved into a discussion of why more male teens don't read young adult. It's almost impossible to have a nuanced discussion in 140 character snippets, so here's my take:

1) Boys and girls develop differently. Duh, you say, but did you know that the areas of the brain involved in language mature in girls SIX YEARS earlier than in boys on average? Yes, really. So when we feed boys and girls the same books and teach them the same way, what do you think is going to happen? That's right, boys get frustrated and turned off to reading. To be motivating, tasks must be both difficult and achievable. Reading that motivates the average girl to read more will cause the average boy to give up on reading, possibly forever.

2) Because girls' language skills mature faster, and they become more voracious readers (on average), the YA publishing industry caters to them. Don't believe me? Maybe literary agent Mary Kole's opinion will carry more weight. The key bit? "When I’ve gone on submission with boy YA and boy main characters in YA, I have literally heard from editors, 'Oh, we’ve already filled our slot.' That’s right. A single slot. Some houses usually do one or two boy-centric YA books per season and that’s it." I'm not saying this bias is wrong--it makes sense from a business standpoint. Heck, if I were working in a big six publishing house (or is it big five now, I can't keep up), I'd look for YA books geared to girls, too. I've got three cats to feed here, dontchaknow. But it is a vicious cycle. Teen guys don't read, so we don't publish books geared toward them, so there's even less for them to read . . . you get the idea.

3) What happens when the average teen guy doesn't like reading? The strongest force in the universe kicks in--the need to conform. I can't demonstrate the effect that has on guys any better than Shaun David Hutchinson already did. Here's his conclusion: "I was careful not to read anything that could get me ridiculed. It's possible that if I hadn't already loved reading as much as I did, that I would have given it up completely. I know guys who did."

4) Schools are contributing to the problem. (I'm generalizing here. No need to drive up from Floyd's Knob to yell at me, Mr. Hankins. I know not all classrooms are the same.) Many elementary classrooms have been doing student-selected reading for years, first in the guise of whole language, now via readers' workshop. This allows girls and boys to read books that fit their current interests and abilities, books they can feel successful reading, which in turn inspires them to read more. In my wife's 4th grade classroom this year, for example, there were kids reading Nate the Great and one reading Eragon. (While the 24 kids in her classroom fit the general rule that girls develop language faster than boys, they also showed that exceptions exist. The kid reading Eragon? A boy.)

In high school, most classrooms do teacher-selected reading. So what happens when the kid who read Nate the Great in 4th suddenly hits The Brothers Karamazov in 9th? I don't have to spell this out, do I? Saundra Mitchell pointed out this problem in the top tweet of the discussion tonight, "Girls already read tons of books written by men from men's POVs. It's called 'every English literature class ever.'" Girls are more likely to be ready for the classics than guys, regardless of who wrote them. Thus girls usually don't give up reading when forced to read stuff that might turn anyone off to it. Guys don't fare as well, despite the fact that most "classics" are written by and about men.

So, boys get turned off to reading. How do we solve the problem? I think publishing houses such as Tanglewood Press that are explicitly looking to publish great boy-centric books are part of the solution. As are high school teachers such as Mr. Hankins who are introducing more student-chosen reading into their curriculum. What do you think will help? Let me know in the comments, please.


http://mikemullin.blogspot.com/2011/06/why-dont-more-boys-read-ya.html

What I Love About Teaching by: Heather Wolpert-Gawron

There's a lot I love about being a teacher. Teaching is one of those rare professions that keeps your brain young, allowing you to continue your own journey as a student and a lifelong learner. We as educators speak often about creating lifelong learners, but if we aren't buying into it ourselves, then our students don't stand a chance.

Michelle Pfeiffer once said that being an actor allows her, with every new character, to learn something new, immersing herself in a distinct universe with each project. Being a teacher is that and so much more.

Keeping It Real

Each school year brings new people into your life. Each unit and lesson brings new perspectives. Each failure, when looked at formatively, can help you solve new problems. Each success, when used reflectively, can be even greater the next time.

Sharing oneself, thinking aloud, and being honest about what's working and what isn't is not about making the environment "softer." It's about creating a classroom in which students are at their best in attitude and character. It's about classroom management being better because students want to be there, learning from a teacher who is also willing to learn from them. "The one who does the teaching is the one who's doing the learning," as they say.

Teaching is a job that encourages your own growth because to do it well requires your own continuous education. Some might say that's a bad thing, but growth is about facing your demons -- or just your imps -- and dueling yourself for greater knowledge.

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

I believe true growth as a person can happen only by challenging yourself with situations that are not familiar to you. Throwing yourself into a job in which you can encounter people of different ethnicities and religions and with different philosophies, learning styles, and backgrounds can only cause you to grow as a person, and public education provides that environment.

And you never know how that will eventually translate. For some, it will mean a growth in empathy. For others, the fact that your brain learns something new every day becomes a means to fight old age. Remember those nuns from Wales featured in Time magazine a few years back? This group of long-lived nuns had theories about their own longevity as it related to their active brain activities. Learning, they believed, kept Alzheimer's at bay and helped their minds stay intact even while their bodies aged.

Whatever your beliefs are, the fact is that a good teacher continues to be a student. This could mean you continue to be a student in a graduate class, or you could simply be a student of your own school community.

In my ten years of teaching, I learned more from other teachers, my students, and their parents than I learned from any class in my teacher-credential program. (True, that's not difficult to do -- but that's another post.) In turn, when they saw my own enthusiasm for learning, students were more inclined to learn from me. And that's how my own happiness and growth has translated into the success of my students.

What impact has a passion for lifelong learning had on your teaching? Please share your thoughts.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-lifelong-learner

Analysis Finds Graduation Rates Moving Up by: Christopher B. Swanson

For more than two years, average Americans have followed reports on unemployment, the housing market, commodity prices, consumer confidence, and the daily fluctuations of the markets for signals that the economy has finally, and firmly, entered a period of renewed growth and stability. So too have education-watchers been on the lookout, for the better part of a decade, for signs of an educational recovery.

At the heart of the reform agenda lie commitments to combat the U.S. dropout crisis and propel the nation’s schools and its economy at full speed into the 21st century, by ensuring that all students have a chance to earn a meaningful diploma that prepares them for further education and training and a successful adult life. The administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama have espoused such goals, as have major philanthropies, leading nonprofit organizations, prominent business leaders, and state and district policymakers from coast to coast. Even with this high-profile attention and a host of new policy efforts, gaining traction on graduation has been frustratingly difficult.

That is, perhaps, until now.A new analysis of high school completion from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that the national graduation rate stands at 71.7 percent for the class of 2008, the most recent year for which data are available. The highest level of graduation for the nation’s public high schools since the 1980s, this result also marks a significant turnaround following two consecutive years of declines and stagnation.

The research center calculates graduation rates for the nation, states, and every public school district in the country using the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI) method and data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data.

Despite such clear indications of progress, the fact is that too many students continue to fall through the cracks of America’s high schools. We project that, nearly 1.2 million students from this year’s high school class will fail to graduate with a diploma. That amounts to 6,400 students lost each day of the year, or one student every 27 seconds.

A Class Portrait

A detailed snapshot of results reveals two patterns that speak as much to public education’s past as its future. The graduation-rate recovery evident in the broadest national statistics is shared widely, across demographic groups. Even those substantial strides, however, have done little to close the historical disparities that define graduation gaps along the lines of race, gender, and geography.

The overall graduation rate for public high school students jumped nearly 3 percentage points from 2007 to 2008, more than offsetting the nationwide declines of the previous two years. Each major racial and ethnic group also posted gains of at least 2 percentage points, with African-American students improving most rapidly.

The nation’s graduation rate rose by 6.1 percentage points over all of the past decade. During the same period, the black-white graduation gap narrowed by 2 points, owing to the more rapid progress made by African-Americans. Because improvement for whites outpaced that of other groups, though, the gaps between Native Americans and whites and between Latinos and whites have widened somewhat since 1999.

Asian-Americans and whites remain the nation’s highest-performing groups, posting graduation rates of 83 percent and 78 percent, respectively, for the class of 2008.

Gaps a Concern

Although the rates for key historically underserved groups have improved over time, they remain a cause for concern. Among Latinos in the class of 2008, 58 percent finished high school with a diploma, while 57 percent of African-Americans and 54 percent of Native Americans graduated. On average, 68 percent of male students earn a diploma compared with 75 percent of female students, a 7-percentage-point gender gap that has remained virtually unchanged for years. High school completion rates for minority males consistently fall near or below the 50 percent mark.

Suburban districts graduate considerably more students on average than do those serving urban communities, 76 percent vs. 64 percent. Regardless of location, graduation rates in districts characterized by heightened levels of poverty or racial or socioeconomic segregation fall well below the national average, typically ranging from 58 percent to 63 percent.

In addition, the 44-percentage-point chasm separating the highest- and lowest-performing states remains alarming. The national leaders—New Jersey, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin—each graduate more than 80 percent of their high school students. At the other extreme of the rankings, fewer than six in 10 students finish high school in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, and South Carolina. Overall, graduation rates in about half the states fall within 5 points of the national average of 72 percent.

Graduation rates have also risen in a large majority of states during the past decade. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have posted gains ranging from a fraction of a percent to 20 percentage points over that time span. Among the states that have lost ground, all but one of the declines were on the order of 5 percentage points or less.

Perspectives On Performance

For the past several years, Diplomas Count has assessed district performance using measures that move beyond such conventional metrics as making comparisons against national or state averages. In the 2009 and 2010 editions of the report, for example, the EPE Research Center identified several dozen “overachieving” school system—large, urban districts with graduation rates much higher than would be expected, based on a detailed profile comprising 10 distinct characteristics, including size, location, poverty level, and structural features.

This year, the center performs a similar statistical analysis for the nation’s 50 largest school districts, a group that includes big inner-city school districts as well as large countywide school systems.Urban districts, perhaps predictably, occupy the lowest spots on the rankings, often graduating no more than half their students and as few as one-third. Montgomery County, Md., and Fairfax County, Va., respectively, rank first and second among the nation’s largest districts, with graduation rates topping 85 percent, more than 50 percentage points higher than Detroit, the lowest-ranked district.

Graduation rates are below the national average in 39 of the 50 largest districts. But even though they fall short of that benchmark, many of those school systems fare more favorably when compared against similarly situated districts. For example, Long Beach, Calif., posts a graduation rate of 71.4 percent for the class of 2008. Just shy of the U.S. average, that rate is actually 6 percentage points higher than expected for a district with a comparable size and sociodemographic profile. Top-ranked Montgomery County beats expectations (by 10 points), while graduation rates in Detroit are 15 points lower than expected.

Diplomas, Degrees, And Dollars

Policymakers and reform leaders increasingly make the case for aggressive measures to improve schools, particularly at the secondary level, in both economic and educational terms. A more educated population, the argument goes, leads to a workforce that is better prepared for the rapidly escalating and shifting skill demands of a 21st-century global economy.

The observation that more schooling is economically beneficial is so widely accepted that it prompts little further reflection. Long-term labor-market trends, for example, show a dual pattern of increasing educational attainment among workers, coupled with steadily rising financial returns to a postsecondary education over time. And indeed, each successive level of education completed or credential acquired does ratchet up earnings.overlap across income distributions, particularly for those with a four-year degree and a lesser amount of postsecondary education.

To further explore these dynamics, the EPE Research Center conducted an original analysis of data from the American Community Survey, which collects information on 3 million individuals every year. The ACS offers a valuable opportunity to draw connections between educational histories, labor-market experiences, and career backgrounds.So, in many ways, the attention now being placed on college readiness makes perfect sense as a way both to provide students with a high-quality education and to place the economy on a firmer footing for the future. But, as explored throughout Diplomas Count 2011, some critics have raised concerns that the “college” in the phrase “college readiness” has too often been interpreted as a call specifically to promote four-year degrees. The danger of such a narrow working definition of a college education, it is argued, lies in potentially devaluing forms of postsecondary education and training short of a baccalaureate degree that may provide substantial benefits to individuals and the larger economy.

Thirty-nine percent of the prime working-age population (ages 25 to 54) has completed no more than a high school education, compared with roughly equal proportions of workers with at least a bachelor’s degree and with a subbaccalaureate postsecondary education (at 31 and 30 percent, respectively). The 39 million Americans who constitute the latter category include recipients of associate degrees and those with some postsecondary experience but no degree.

Income data from 2009 show that annual earnings increase significantly as workers acquire progressively higher levels of education. Median earnings for adults who have not completed high school stand at only $12,000. Acquiring a high school diploma generates an additional $10,000 of earnings on average, with any amount of subbaccalaureate postsecondary education (including an associate degree) raising income an additional $8,000 a year, to almost $30,000. The typical four-year degree-holder earns about $50,000 a year.

1.2 Million Students Fail to Graduate

The EPE Research Center projected the number of graduates and nongraduates for the class of 2011 by multiplying the 2007-08 graduation rate by the number of 9th graders enrolled that year. The areas of the circles are proportional to the number of students failing to graduate.

Nationally, 1.2 million members of this year’s graduating class will not earn diplomas. This represents 143,500 fewer dropouts than the previous year. A member of the class of 2011 will leave school every 27 seconds.

SOURCE: EPE Research Center, 2011

Focusing just on average returns to schooling, however, overlooks the substantial overlap between the earnings distributions for workers with different levels of educational attainment. For instance, more than a quarter of adults with an associate degree have incomes at or above the median level of four-year college graduates. Put another way, substantial numbers of less-than-B.A. workers enjoy economic benefits comparable to those with a four-year college degree.

One factor contributing to these overlapping economic returns is the inexact relationship between credentials and occupations. Yes, practicing lawyers must hold J.D.s, and physicians require M.D.s. But more often than not, educational requirements for particular jobs are not so well-defined or clear-cut. In public education, for example, K-12 teacher licensure now typically requires at least a bachelor’s degree (although this does not apply to the private sector). But some jobs may place a greater emphasis on demonstrated skills and experience than on formal education and credentials.

Using ACS data, the EPE Research Center characterized 469 distinct occupations based on the educational level of typical job-holders. Relatively few occupations displayed the tight educational requirements of the traditional professions. In fact, nearly 30 percent of all occupations did not yield a dominant educational profile. But the analysis did identify 50 occupations in which the majority of workers had a subbaccalaureate level of schooling.

Median income levels within that segment of the labor market vary dramatically. Massage therapists, for example, typically earn only $18,000 a year, somewhat below the income of the average high school graduate. At the other end of that range are annual earnings of $73,000 for managers in the firefighting and fire-prevention field. Although most of those workers do not hold bachelor’s degrees, they out-earn the typical graduate of a four-year college by a margin of $23,000 per year.

To borrow a phrase from the world of product promotions and disclaimers: Those results may not be typical. On average, more education tends to produce more-desirable economic outcomes.

That said, the labor-force experiences of bachelor’s-degree holders and those with less postsecondary education are both quite diverse and, more to the point, can be quite similar to one another. That suggests it’s wise to guard against the tendency to define a meaningful “college” experience in overly narrow or prescriptive terms.

Progress on Policy

Every year, Diplomas Count assesses the status of state policies that may affect graduation. An original survey of the 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the EPE Research Center tracks activity on 18 policy indicators in three broad areas: college- and work-readiness definitions, high school completion credentials, and high school exit exams.

For the first time, a majority of states (33) report having established definitions of college readiness that capture the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in entry-level college courses. That number represents a large increase over the 23 states defining college readiness last year. Such a quantum leap likely reflects a convergence of such factors as increasing emphasis on readiness in national policy forums, the accelerating influence of the common-standards movement, and the culmination of pre-existing state-led efforts to improve students’ college readiness.

Thirty-three states also have comparable frameworks for work readiness in place. As with definitions of college readiness, states typically articulate those expectations in terms of coursetaking recommendations, academic standards, minimum scores on standardized tests, or sets of applicable skills.

Beyond the domain of college and work readiness, Diplomas Count finds relatively little state-policy movement during the past year in areas related to high school graduation. Course requirements for earning a standard diploma held steady at 21 credits, with half the states also linking that credential to a high school exit exam. Twenty-six states issue advanced diplomas or recognitions for exceeding the basic expectations for graduation, while 29 offer alternative certificates for those who do not complete the standard requirements.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/06/09/34analysis.h30.html?tkn=YSZFhXAO4tWMq3rANR0k/2xj5fxXOF3m4TXE&cmp=clp-sb-ascd