Teaching with Fidelity

Right now I'm analyzing some achievement data, and noticed a discrepancy between what I thought the data would tell me and what it actually did tell me. I started racking my brain to think of why the numbers didn't turn out quite the way I thought they would, and then I remembered the particular year in question was the first year of a new textbook adoption, and as anyone who analyzes data knows (say it with me, everyone) "first year implementations always show a decrease in performance."

I remembered a conversation I had with an administrator that same year, who said that we should see gains in achievement as long as we implement the new program with fidelity.

Now here's where I'm going to get on the soapbox. Seeing the implementation of programs that have attributed to major gains in performance, and as the creator of professional development programs, I absolutely agree. We definitely want the teacher that is guiding and providing instruction to be upholding rigorous demands. We know that's what is right to make a difference in our students' lives.

But, shouldn't we just be teaching with fidelity? Why are we saying that we need to uphold the fidelity of a particular program when maybe more importantly, we need to uphold the fidelity of rigorous instruction? Our world is changing, and with that change brings the need of a creative class, moving away from the agrarian and factory model that most of school has been based on.

Obviously, "teaching with fidelity" has room for interpretation. The definition of fidelity even suggests that by using this phrase, there is an exact formula for teaching, when in fact, we need to consider the needs of our students in order to personalize learning. Fidelity doesn't mean working hard. Teaching with fidelity is about having high expectations for our students, challenging and pushing them, not allowing failure or even second best. It's about changing the lesson plans every year because no two groups of students are the same. It's about personalizing learning for every student, making the curriculum relevant to today's (and tomorrow's world) and making assessments authentic. It's about no two end products looking alike.

Let's make a fidelity scale. It might look like this:

I would say first and foremost, there are many, many more indicators that belong on this scale. School and learning are not about one single thing. The idea of learning encompasses everything from relationships to curriculum to assessment to strategies to delivery. As a teacher, I have thought about all the "things they didn't tell us in college," like the parent meetings, paperwork, curriculum writing, grading, mini counseling sessions, and so on. Similar to this, learning, a legitimate deep understanding, encompasses a collection of essentials that have to come together for one outcome. This outcome is that information is not only retained, but is used to analyze other ideas, considered critically from an alternate point of view, or used as a foundation to build an entirely new idea.

Teaching like this, in the upper end of Bloom's scale, encompassing real and relevant learning opportunities, using multiple resources and teaching students to consider the validity of resources, presenting information to authentic audiences, and creating, is teaching with fidelity. Take a look at the above scale. Additionally, consider how your students are thinking critically, if they're creating original works, and how you are personalizing the education of all your students. Where does your teaching fall on the fidelity scale?

Our world is changing. Information is growing. We have to raise kids up in a different way than we did in the past. Teaching kids to function in reading, writing, and math is no longer the end goal. Teaching them a skill set of persuasion, analysis, synthesis, evaluative decision making, collaborative teamwork, and problem solving is just the beginning for today's generation. We have to teach with fidelity to make a difference for our kids.

Think about it - what does fidelity encompass? How can we, as a whole, change so that we are teaching with fidelity? How can we measure it? This is what we need to consider when we're planning for our next year. This is how we can ensure that our students are truly learning and engaging rather than simply jumping through the hoops of school. This is what we need to do to teach with fidelity.

Thinking Different

What is real life creativity? Let's start with your commute to the office. If you're like many people I know, you will stop by the coffee shop on your way in and purchase a $4 designer cup of sugar, cream, and flavoring. Even if your coffee of choice is not the frothy blend, chances are your coffee shop has considered the season and availability of various coffees and will offer you coffee black, with anything from a light blend to a robust, nutty dark brew with a fancy name. More than likely, the coffee shop will have some type of advertisement displaying the new blend or the return of an old favorite with some catchy slogan. 

This is creativity. And this is just a trip to the coffee shop. Imagine the creativity that you will encounter in every other part of your day. When you read a new article in your publication of choice, when you take in a commercial on the radio or TV, or even when you go to your local department store.

These are all examples of creativity. Someone had to decide what creativity was going to look like in each of those examples. It's someone's job to invent the coffee flavor, design the advertisements, write the piece that catches your eye, and design the store displays that will make you take notice. And we need to recognize that none of these examples are limited to "the artsy ones," the ones that can draw really well, or maybe are really good at crafts or something like that. They're not Martha Stewart. They're the ones that realize that the next big move or the next thing driving their business is dependent upon being different, innovating, or standing out. Because why else would you spend $4 on coffee? 

I'm thinking about Apple's Think Different campaign from back in the late 90's. 

How often do we allow ourselves to think different? And are we teaching kids to think different? Or are we still expecting every student to turn out the same product? Being creative is being different. Our world depends on creativity- solving unique problems, challenging "because we've always done it that way."  We have to innovate, we have to inspire. We can't be afraid to stand out and be different. Because if we do, all we've done is create an unrealistic world. One without problem solving, one in which we make poor decisions because we have been spoon fed. Our world is anything but monotonous. We have to prepare students for uncertainty, and we have to prepare them to continue innovating.

By the way, this year's seniors were born in 1997, the same year Apple launched the Think Different campaign. Has their education been about thinking different or has it simply been replicating previous decades?