Chapter 4: How to Succeed
1. College is no longer the instrument of social mobility and growing equality it once was.
2. Over the past few years, it has become clear that the U.S. does not so much have a problem of limited and unequal college access; it has a problem of limited and unequal college completion.
Do you agree with the theory (pg. 152) that two key reasons for such high college drop out are: (a) undermatching student ability to the college of choice, and (b) high school G.P.A.? Why/Why not? What evidence do you have to the contrary?
What if we could help large numbers of teenagers to develop precisely those mental skills and character strengths to graduate from college? Can this be done? What, then, does this mean for our classrooms? Our schools
Jeff Nelson, executive director of OneGoal (pg. 155): "The underperforming high-school students can relatively quickly transform themselves into highly successful college students--but that it is almost impossible for them to make that transition without the help of a highly effective teacher."
What support(s) and development are provided to teachers so they can help their underperforming students develop the nonacademic skills that would lead most directly to college success and that could compensate, relatively quickly, for the serious gap?
Do we know how to develop resourcefulness, resilience, ambition, professionalism, and integrity within our students? If so, share some strategies. If this isn't happening, let's brainstorm ways in which we can start doing this.
Tough compares Kewauna's journey to that of Mischel's marshmallow experiment, "Except in this case, the choice on offer was that she could have one marshmallow now or she could work really hard for four years, constantly scrimping and saving, staying up all night, struggling, sacrificing--and then get, not two marshmallows, but some kind of elegant French pastry she'd only vaguely heard of, like a Napoleon."
How can we take some of the strategies and principles of Jeff Nelson's OneGoal and apply these with our students . . . in our schools . . . so that, Like Kewauna, our underperforming students will persist with a similar conviction?
The importance of grit is indicated in this 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Education.
- A Review of Golden and Katz's Book: The Race Between Education and Technology
- "Minding the Inequality Gap"A New York Times article that draws on Goldin and Katz's findings from their book, The Race Between Education and Technology.
- Question 1: Response to these Facts
1. College is no longer the instrument of social mobility and growing equality it once was.
2. Over the past few years, it has become clear that the U.S. does not so much have a problem of limited and unequal college access; it has a problem of limited and unequal college completion.
- Question 2: Why Do So Many Drop Out of College?
Do you agree with the theory (pg. 152) that two key reasons for such high college drop out are: (a) undermatching student ability to the college of choice, and (b) high school G.P.A.? Why/Why not? What evidence do you have to the contrary?
- Question 3: Duckworth and Her Response to "Crossing the Finish Line" Findings"
What if we could help large numbers of teenagers to develop precisely those mental skills and character strengths to graduate from college? Can this be done? What, then, does this mean for our classrooms? Our schools
- One Goal: College graduation. Period.
- Question 4: The Highly Effective Teacher
Jeff Nelson, executive director of OneGoal (pg. 155): "The underperforming high-school students can relatively quickly transform themselves into highly successful college students--but that it is almost impossible for them to make that transition without the help of a highly effective teacher."
What support(s) and development are provided to teachers so they can help their underperforming students develop the nonacademic skills that would lead most directly to college success and that could compensate, relatively quickly, for the serious gap?
Do we know how to develop resourcefulness, resilience, ambition, professionalism, and integrity within our students? If so, share some strategies. If this isn't happening, let's brainstorm ways in which we can start doing this.
- Carol Dweck Learning and the Adolescent Mind
- Mindset Works The Science: The Growth Mindset
- The Effort Effect Learn to embrace the occasional tumble.
- Question 5: Malleable Destiny
- Dweck believes intelligence is malleable.
- Duckworth and Levin believe character is malleable.
- Michele Stefl, an English Teacher at ACE, believes that not just intelligence and character but her students' destinies are malleable.
Do your students have the mindset that they can get smarter--that they can do better? If so, what has fostered this? If not, what can you do to foster this belief? - Question 6: It All Comes Back to Grit
Tough compares Kewauna's journey to that of Mischel's marshmallow experiment, "Except in this case, the choice on offer was that she could have one marshmallow now or she could work really hard for four years, constantly scrimping and saving, staying up all night, struggling, sacrificing--and then get, not two marshmallows, but some kind of elegant French pastry she'd only vaguely heard of, like a Napoleon."
How can we take some of the strategies and principles of Jeff Nelson's OneGoal and apply these with our students . . . in our schools . . . so that, Like Kewauna, our underperforming students will persist with a similar conviction?
The importance of grit is indicated in this 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Education.