Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 18

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EDUCATION WEEK JUNE 5, 2014
I
w "What message kids internalize
hen they struggle is an
absolutely essential part of
a great classroom climate."
DAVID LEVIN
Co-founder
Knowledge Is Power Program
Charter Network
Engineering teacher
Lenny Perez, standing,
helps 9th graders Greg
Bitzer, left, and Tommy
Ramirez, work on
a project using
computer-aideddesign
technology.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
cal concepts. In observations of the
classes, Mr. Kapur said teachers
"consistently underestimated" students'
ability to muddle through to
answers on their own.
Senior Savannah Letchworth
and a classmate work on an
elevator they built during an
engineering class at Da Vinci
Science High School.
Coping with failure can also
help students develop what noted
Stanford University psychologist
Carol S. Dweck calls a "growth
mindset"-in which a person believes
that intelligence or skill is
a product of effort, rather than
inherent, unchanging ability.
Such thinking has been shown
to improve a student's likelihood
of graduating from high school,
going on to college, and succeeding
in work and other life outcomes.
For example, in a 2012 study of
1,500 students at 13 high schools
across the country, Ms. Dweck and
David S. Yeager, an assistant professor
of developmental psychology
at the University of Texas at
Austin, found that low-performing
students who were given even one
lesson about growth mindsets
failed nearly 7 percentage points
fewer courses than students who
did not participate.
Growth in Action
Some schools, such as the 540-student
Da Vinci Science High School
in the Wiseburn district of the South
Bay community here, are starting to
see some of the benefits of focusing
on growth and productive failure.
Sixty percent of Da Vinci's students
qualify for free or reduced-price
meals, and Principal Steve Wallis
said the school includes roughly
equal proportions of white, black,
and Hispanic students, as well as
students from other racial and ethnic
groups. Da Vinci has based its
grading system on skills and content
mastery, rather than test proficiency.
Students demonstrate their
knowledge through projects and
oral presentations, not just tests,
and teachers work across subjects
to create weekslong interdisciplinary
projects that encourage students
to struggle and turn to one another
for help.
Junior Jessica J. Mankewitz
came to Da Vinci from Richard
Dana Henry Middle School, a relatively
high-performing traditional
school in Wiseburn.
"At Dana, all the smart kids would
talk, and the shy kids wouldn't, and
it was just accepted," she said, noting
that she has always been one of
the quiet bunch. "Here, I find myself
really participating in class. You're
not afraid to be wrong, but you need
to contribute."
Last fall, for instance, students
were asked to analyze how President
Theodore Roosevelt survived
being shot in the chest by a saloon
owner a century ago-and imagine
how the country's political
and economic history would have
changed had he died.
"What message kids internalize
when they struggle is an absolutely
essential part of a great classroom
climate," said David Levin, a cofounder
of the Knowledge Is Power
Program charter network, which is
not associated with Da Vinci but is
studying methods to measure student
motivation. "Things should be
hard, and when things are hard, it
should be fun. Teachers have to be
able to recognize and engage with
kids when they have the thought
that they got a math problem wrong
and it means, 'I'm a bad person.' "
Kevin Hidalgo, an 11th grader
at Da Vinci, said he procrastinated
a lot at his former school and grew
frustrated if he performed poorly
early in the year. "In my old
school, teachers tended to focus on
tests, and it was a one-shot thing,"
he said. "I always used to think
those who were good at math were
just good at math, and here I've
seen you aren't just born with it,
you have to work."
For example, Mr. Hidalgo said,
"The projects here tend to be
complex, and it takes time to do
it in a way that demonstrates
your mastery and gives you a
nice project. Here, you have to
learn to manage your time. It's
changed my motivations."
Part of persuading students to
move outside their comfort zone,
Mr. Wallis said, is making sure
they learn from mistakes but don't
see them as damaging in the long
term. Toward that end, the school
does not grade tests and other projects
using a letter or percentage
grade, but gives detailed feedback
on whether the student has fully,
partially, or not at all mastered
specific skills or content.
In addition, students are given
unusual options for recovering
from blowing a test or a project.
Students who want to improve
a particular grade can submit an
"error analysis," in which they
summarize the original question,
describe the thought process behind
their incorrect answer, and
then give the correct answer and
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