Educational Leadership
December 2013/January 2014 | Volume 71 | Number 4
Getting Students to Mastery Pages 62-66
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec13/vol71/num04/Yes,-Everyone-Can-Be-CollegeReady.aspx
Yes, Everyone Can Be College Ready
Carol Corbett Burris and John Murphy
How a diverse suburban high school makes International Baccalaureate available for all.
Long before the Common Core State Standards were adopted by most U.S. states, leaders at our integrated suburban
high school wondered whether the enriched, challenging curriculum we gave our "best" students might be the best
curriculum for all our students. We believed that to develop the habits of mind that David Conley's (2003) research
identified as crucial to college success (analysis, synthesis, and the evaluation of sources), all students should
practice those skills throughout high school.
We also considered a fundamental question: Is it possible to have all students study an enriched curriculum, like the
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, and succeed? At South Side High School in Rockville Centre, New
York, we decided the answer to these questions was a resounding yes. Over the course of a decade, we've worked to
develop these skills and habits of mind through all our instructional practices and to provide an equitable learning
environment for everyone. As we did so, achievement rose for all.
Our Commitment to Detracking
South Side High School serves 1,130 students, 21 percent of whom are black or Latino. The majority of students
come from middle-class households, but 15 percent receive free or reduced-price lunch. In the late 1990s, we
realized that, like many districts, we had a noticeable gap between the achievement of our minority students
(predominantly from low-income households) and our majority students (mostly from more affluent homes). The
achievement gap was also reflected in a "track gap"—upper-track classes had few, if any, students of color, whereas
lower tracks were disproportionately filled with minority students.
Since 1998, we have methodically detracked classes at each grade level and in all subject areas. Because part of our
spur for detracking was to encourage more students to take International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, we transformed
our 9th and 10th grade programs so that all students take one course of study that prepares them for IB courses in
grades 11 and 12 (Burris, Welner, Wiley, & Murphy, 2007).
Because we accelerated all students in math, by 2000, more than 80 percent of our 11th grade students took one of
two IB math courses. Although nearly all 11th graders took IB English, with the introduction of the Common Core,
we decided to mandate IB English for all.
Beginning in September 2011, all our 11th graders took IB English Language and Literature and completed the
required IB assessments, including two formal oral presentations and two extensive papers. The results were
excellent. For the first time, 100 percent of our 11th graders passed the New York State Regents exam in English.
When we presented these results at Parent-Teacher Association and Board of Education meetings, community
members asked, "If IB English for all was so successful in grade 11, why don't we do the same thing in grade 12?"
In the 2012–13 academic year, we gave our 12th graders a choice to take either the second year of IB English
Language and Literature or regular English 12. Nearly all chose IB. This year, our second cohort of students who
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had IB English in 11th grade (during the 2012–13 academic year) are taking IB English Language and Literature as
12th graders.
We benchmarked our instructional program to IB because we believe this curriculum best prepares students for
college and career. We knew this from anecdotal reports of South Side graduates and phone surveys we conducted
with them, which revealed that if students took just two IB Diploma courses, IB English and IB mathematics, their
probability of graduating college in four years dramatically increased.
Two years later, we've found that our students can succeed in this college-preparatory curriculum—and that the
learning of our highest-achieving students isn't compromised. This is partly because of the support system we make
available. Any students taking IB English who need or want support in the course can enroll in an English language
arts (ELA) support class. We require students who score low on the state standardized test to attend this class.
Support is not remedial. Activities and lessons reinforce what students are learning in their IB English classes. For
instance, a teacher might show a film clip based on the novel students are reading to help them visualize the
characters' development. In addition, students might receive individualized assistance with their writing. Our special
education teachers attend IB training workshops so they can reinforce content with students with disabilities, who
also take IB courses.
IB, Common Core, and "Complexity"
The new International Baccalaureate curriculum for Language and Literature dovetails with many Common Core
standards. It includes the study of informational texts along with literature. But as South Side's educators began to
work with the Common Core ELA standards, we quickly realized that these standards would be little more than
statements about literacy and language unless they were tethered to diverse, challenging assessments and to student
work that reflected the skills needed for college success.
IB teacher training helped lay the groundwork for creating assignments that connect to these standards. Our 9th and
10th grade courses focus closely on reading complex texts, completing varied writing tasks, and making oral
presentations. These practices promote critical thinking and encourage students to examine texts from a variety of
perspectives. The two-year IB English Language and Literature course continues to address these aims, while
requiring students to experience a broader array of texts—from traditional literature to contemporary essays,
speeches, and blogs.
A bold move like IB for all always has its critics. Many people doubt that all students can engage in the complex,
higher-level thinking required by the International Baccalaureate; others fear that the inclusion of struggling learners
will dilute challenge for high achievers. We used to believe this, too. However, as we expanded the program, we've
learned that complexity and difficulty aren't the same. Learning can be difficult without necessarily being complex.
Likewise, learning experiences can be high in complexity but lower in difficulty (Burris & Garrity, 2012). When
teachers balance the two, increased student access doesn't have to come at the expense of critical thinking.
To illustrate this point, we use this example with our teachers: Suppose you have two assignments to choose from:
Memorize the 206 bones of the human body or Analyze the complexity level of a lesson you taught yesterday, using
Bloom's taxonomy. Most teachers would choose the second. The first assignment engages the learner in a lowcomplexity task. Because there are 206 items to memorize, it's highly difficult, which makes it less attractive. The
second assignment is quite complex, but given that most educators have knowledge of Bloom's taxonomy, it's not
very difficult. However, if we asked participants to analyze a colleague's unit using the taxonomy, the difficulty
would rise.
By manipulating the level of difficulty, teachers can make highly complex work more accessible to all students.
Further, by differentiating some readings and assignments, as well as the support we give students to complete those
tasks, teachers can ensure that all learners are challenged, including high achievers. Jigsaw assignments, in which
each student in a group completes a different part of an assignment, or open-ended questions for reading
assignments can further differentiation, while holding the curriculum and its goals steady for all learners.
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Differentiation in Action
Let's look at how South Side's teachers differentiate for learners of different levels of proficiency while maintaining
the complexity of tasks associated with a major assignment.
Over the course of two years, our IB English Language and Literature students complete at least four formal written
tasks of 800–1,000 words each that explore a key component of the text and material studied. For each task, students
choose the text and topic to investigate. A student might analyze a speech on the environment, investigating how the
writer uses scientific terminology to persuade, or discuss the use of religious imagery in a novel. At least one task
must be an essay, one must be based on a literary work, and one must answer one of six thought-provoking
"prescribed questions" that IB designates.
Teacher Bruce Hecker has his students write an essay responding to the question, "Which social groups are
marginalized, excluded, or silenced within the text?" Students can focus on one of three texts: James Joyce's
Dubliners, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Bruce guides them through this
task for several weeks, balancing complexity and difficulty in the way most helpful for each student.
At face value, this question isn't difficult. However, as Bruce unpacks the question in classroom discussions,
students see that there are myriad ways to interpret and respond to it. The assignment becomes more complex.
Students ponder such questions as, What do we mean by a "social group"? Is this defined by ethnicity, gender, age,
religion, or region? What are different ways a character can be silenced? Are marginalized and excluded the same
thing, and how will I define these terms in the context of this text?
Early in this assignment, Bruce holds individual conferences to help each student plan a response to the prescribed
question at his or her level. He prods kids who think deeply about literature to go beyond what's implicitly stated in
the text; for instance, to look beyond grouping characters into rich versus poor in The Great Gatsby. Any two
students' essays might each be factually accurate, interpret the question correctly, and support their claims with
references to the text, yet differ greatly in terms of maturity and awareness of complex meanings.
Bruce also differentiates in terms of the strategies he asks students to use as they study an informational text. For
instance, as they read Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech, one group looks for repetition of words
and phrases, one group considers why the president mentioned these specific freedoms, and a third group looks at
how Roosevelt's use of the words us and they progresses throughout the speech and ponders the effect of that
technique on listeners. All students master the skill of analyzing Roosevelt's language, but students in the third
group grapple with more abstract concepts.
IB for All and Common Core Assessments
Our belief that all students could succeed in IB English was borne out when we received the test scores of our first
cohort who all completed the two-year sequence of IB English. The students' mean score on the IB test at the end of
the course was 4.41, compared with an average score of 4.25 for the self-selected group of students who'd taken two
years of IB English in previous years. Eighty-nine percent of the students who completed the two-year sequence
under our IB-for-all policy scored a 4 or higher. These results show that schools can indeed create more equitable
programs without hurting the performance of their highest achievers.
Despite our success, we worry that the coming Common Core assessments and other aspects of the present reform
movement may affect not only our students' success, but also other schools' ability to implement policies that offer
enriched curriculum for all. If the Common Core State Standards Initiative is to realize its goal of making all
students college and career ready, educators must heed three big cautions.
1.
Avoid using test scores to label students "college ready." This practice is fraught with danger. The
standardized categories of student performance in the PARCC and Smarter Balance assessments could
produce "sort and select" practices if we aren't careful. Score labels are easily internalized. When a student
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2.
3.
hears that he or she is not on the road to college readiness, on the basis of a test score, that student—and his
or her family—may stop considering college. In contrast, with the International Baccalaureate system,
students don't see their scores on their final IB exam until after they've graduated from high school, by
which time postsecondary plans would have been made.
Be mindful of unintended consequences of assessments. As George Pook (2001), former assessment
director of the IB Program, observed, the primary consideration to keep in mind when creating assessments
is, "recognition of the enormous backwash effect that any assessment structure has on classroom teaching"
(p. 11). Dependence on multiple-choice exams and computer-scored essays as high-stakes assessment tools
will drive instruction away from the development of meaning ful college-readiness skills and toward a
narrow skill set. All teachers might consider working into their courses some of the assessment practices IB
uses—such as papers written over the course of two years and recorded analytical discussions with teachers
as part of summative assessments—and shaping their instruction with these practices in mind. The
assessment of more complex skills requires a more complex approach.
Don't make teachers risk averse—or shut them out of assessment. To implement these changes at South
Side, we needed teachers who were willing to take risks. Some current reforms, like evaluating teachers on
the basis of student test scores, discourage that quality. In an attempt to prevent adult "cheating" on how
high-stakes tests are being prepped for and given—and how scores are reported—teachers are being further
removed from the assessment process. We will better protect teachers' willing ness to take risks if we keep
them active participants in assessing students' learning, as IB does. 1 If we shut teachers out, we'll also lose
our ability to measure student learning across multiple dimensions.
Toward Great Things
Is college and career readiness an appropriate goal for all students? Yes—if schools have the right resources, enough
capacity, and the ability to monitor and adjust instructional programs. Narrow standardized assessments and punitive
policies based on test scores threaten to undermine progress toward this goal. But if educators focus on equitable
practices, risk taking, and a rich curriculum, we can accomplish great things.
References
Burris, C., Welner, K., Wiley, E., & Murphy, J. (2007). A world class curriculum for all. Educational Leadership,
64(7), 53–56.
Burris, C., & Garrity, D. T. (2012). Opening the Common Core: How to bring all students to college and career
readiness. Thousand Oakes, CA: Corwin.
Conley, D. T. (2003). Understanding university success. Eugene: Center for Educational Policy Research,
University of Oregon.
Pook, G. (2001, November). Assessment in the IB diploma. IB World, 29, 10–11.
Endnote
1
Teacher participation is integral to student assessment in the International Baccalaureate. For example, teachers
score their students' internal assessments and a moderator then evaluates a sampling to ensure that the assessment
criteria are used consistently across IB schools.
Carol Corbett Burris is principal and John Murphy is assistant principal and coordinator of the IB Program at South
Side High School in Rockville Centre, New York.
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