Do you want simple or complicated? Part 2 of 2

Should K-12 educators teach the dispositions needed to be successful in college? Of course they should. Is this simple or complicated? According to an Education Week article, it’s complicated. Here is the headline: “Experts begin to identify nonacademic skills key to success.”

Here is the link:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/12/23/15aera.h30.html?tkn=MSNFLv2qkoQhwOKkkn1cdTQl9A0azUKZ%2F7h%2F&cmp=clp-edweek

Once again, the social science paradigm complicates what is simple.

Social Science Crap

The fourth and fifth paragraphs frame “college readiness” with the social science improvement paradigm:

More and more, research shows young people need the same cognitive and social-emotional skills to complete school and progress in the workplace, and, moreover, that those skills can be taught and tested like any other subject in school.

“The problem is college eligibility was what we focused on previously, not readiness; we haven’t really defined what ‘readiness’ means,” said Elena Silva, a senior policy analyst with Education Sector, a Washington think tank, at the Building a Better Student research seminar held here Dec. 8-10. “We focused on whether they have the course credits, the time spent … and that’s important, but we haven’t figured out if they have what they need to be really college-ready,” she said. Students are “getting through high school graduation and even then, they’re not ready.”

Researchers have not defined college “readiness,” but psychologists are recommending new approaches to teaching it. Are these simple enough to be used in K-12 classrooms? Or is “really college-ready” really complicated? Let’s look at what psychologists say.

. . . research also points to five key noncognitive indicators that a student will need to be able to complete college and become successfully employed, according to Paul R. Sackett, a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He was one of 21 researchers discussing the issue at the seminar. . .

Across education and industry, research by Mr. Sackett; Neal Schmitt, a psychology professor at Michigan State University in East Lansing; and others shows the biggest predictor of success is a student’s conscientiousness, as measured by such traits as dependability, perseverance through tasks, and work ethic. Agreeableness, including teamwork, and emotional stability were the next-best predictors of college achievement, followed by variations on extroversion and openness to new experiences, Mr. Sackett found.

So far, so good. Psychologists agree with me that K-12 schools ought to teach more than the first virtue of understanding. But how do they describe the “more?” They list “conscientiousness, as measured by such traits as dependability, perseverance through tasks, and work ethic. Agreeableness, including teamwork, and emotional stability . . . followed by variations on extroversion and openness to new experiences . . . ”

These traits are covered in the six-virtue definition of “educated,” so why don’t psychologists and researchers simply recommend that we adopt the six-virtue definition of the educated person? Then they can stop agonizing over what it means to be “really college-ready,” how to model it, and how to teach it.

But no–psychologists have to make things complicated. They can’t adopt the six-virtue definition of “educated” because that would be simple. Besides, they don’t know the six virtues of the educated person because “educated” is a philosophical concept, and they are psychologists, not philosophers.

Here is how they describe the complicated nature of college readiness:

“If you take a close look at these commercial tests [given during job interviews], they are compound traits of the top three traits” predicting post-high school success, he said, and the top three traits are also closely associated with a student’s ability to perform well on a task and avoid bad work behavior, such as theft or absenteeism.

Each student’s personality is different, of course, Mr. Sackett said, but, “we have to differentiate between that and behavior.”

“You can learn to behave contrary to your disposition,” he added. “You can learn to behave in dependable ways. For some people, it’s second nature, for others, it’s a real struggle.” Either way, he said, schools can teach and measure noncognitive, college-readiness skills just as they do reading or mathematics—and they may be just as important.

Most schools do not teach or measure nonacademic readiness indicators directly, though they do pop up through conduct reports, attendance, team-project evaluations, and other areas. However, several groups are developing more-comprehensive assessments they hope will help school administrators predict a student’s academic and social-emotional readiness trajectory.

It’s complicated because social scientists tie themselves in knots describing virtues and vices, and not calling them virtues and vices:

(1) “the top three traits are also closely associated with a student’s ability to perform well on a task and avoid bad work behavior, such as theft or absenteeism.”
(2) “You can learn to behave contrary to your disposition,” he added. “You can learn to behave in dependable ways. For some people, it’s second nature, for others, it’s a real struggle.”

Educators and philosophers who believe in the six-virtue definition of “educated” would say, “These comments describe the virtues of understanding and strong character expressed in imaginative, courageous actions.

Everything becomes simple when you start with an inspiring, useful definition of “educated.” It’s difficult to become an educated person, but it’s not complicated. When you fail to define what it means to be educated, everything is difficult and complicated.

Cut the Social Science Crap

If educators and policymakers would have adopted the six-virtue definition of “educated” 60 years ago, we would know what it means to be college-ready (what senior policy analysts still don’t know), and we would be helping students become college-ready by modeling and teaching the six virtues.

Do you want simple or complicated? The choice is yours.