Fulfilling the Promise of Public Education

"Education must be increasingly concerned about the fullest development of all children and youth, and it will be the responsibility of the schools to seek learning conditions which will enable each individual to reach the highest level of learning possible." - Benjamin Bloom

Embedded into the language of the charter schools movement, we see references to a sense of "urgency" that should infuse quality education and challenge poor school performance. That sense of urgency is clearly reflected in the quote above from Benjamin Bloom which calls educators to enable the "highest level of learning possible" in order to maximize the growth and potential of all students.

But what does this call to raise the level of learning actually mean? Benjamin Bloom developed a Hierarchy of Learning Objectives, which you can see in the graphic to the right. When students learn, they must begin at the lower levels to acquire new material. This is basic education. Quality education happens when we extend students' learning up this pyramid and invite them to take a risk with their new knowledge, to bring together new ideas with their own experiences ... to become actively engaged critical thinkers and writers.

When students learn in school, their knowledge and comprehension of new material forms the foundation of their learning. Once students are able to recall information and state their understanding, they can move on to higher levels of learning where they apply their knowledge in a new context, analyze information by breaking it down into parts, synthesize information by making connections between ideas, personal experiences, lessons, or content areas, and evaluate information by making judgments based on evaluative criteria.

In my walks through Oracle's classrooms, I have been able to see students:

• demonstrate comprehension of chemical and physical changes,
  
• apply their understanding of perspective to original Boom Town drawings,
  
• analyze story structure using plot maps,
  
• synthesize their understanding of the presidential candidates' platforms and political issues through in-character debates,
  
• evaluate character and motive through a mock trial of the Big Bad Wolf.
  

It is this kind of learning that allows students to deepen and extend their knowledge and comprehension of a topic, and it is this kind of learning that we expect at Oracle Charter School. When we see students engaged in the kind of learning that challenges their thinking, brings them into the conversation about "big ideas," and gives them hands-on opportunities to work with real-world questions and problems, we know that good teaching is happening in the classroom!

Knowing the importance of education that pushes students to use higher-order thinking skills, please talk with your students at home about the kinds of work they are able to do in Oracle classrooms. Use the Bloom's Wheel below to ask about the kinds of activities and the kinds of work products their teachers are assigning, and talk to them about the big ideas that they're exploring in school!