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Education Policy & Practice Position Statements

As an author and podcast host who is active on social media, I encounter a wide variety of ideas about education policies and practices.

While I cannot take a position on every issue, I want to clarify my current stances on the following policies and practices. These stances will change over time as I encounter new evidence.

I claim no particular expertise on these issues, but I strive to use my training as an education researcher to critically review the evidence and find trustworthy sources of guidance for policy and practice.

You will notice a trend in these positions: I tend to reject many recent fads, because the evidence for them tends to be poor, and the enthusiasm for them tends to run far ahead of it. This frequently results in widespread implementation of poor policies—a trend I am eager to reverse.

If you have input, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

—Justin Baeder, Director, The Principal Center

Last updated: September 18, 2024

Cell Phone Use By Students

Position Summary:

  • Cell phones are a significant distraction from learning and a major contributor to bullying and violence
  • Any learning value cell phones may offer as tools is far outweighed by their drawbacks
  • Students cannot be "taught" to use phones appropriately during school; the ideal way to use them during school is not at all.
  • Teachers cannot plan lessons more engaging than the distractions offered by phones, and should not be expected to compete with them.
  • Students should not be allowed to use their phones between classes or at lunch, as this hampers in-person socialization and contributes to bullying and violence.
  • Confiscating and storing student phones for the day is one solution, but is probably not worth the hassle, and parents are unsettled by the possibility of being unable to reach their children in an emergency
  • Off and away for the day in backpacks is the best solution. Inexpensive RF detectors can be used to spot-check and enforce the off-and-away policy.

Recommended Reading:

The Anxious Generation, by Jonathan Haidt

Cognitive Load Theory

Position Summary:

  • I find Cognitive Load Theory generally persuasive
  • I am skeptical of claims that "richness" or "complex tasks" make learning easier for students

Recommended Reading:

Corporal Punishment

Position Summary:

  • I am strongly opposed to corporal punishment on ethical grounds
  • While there is likely strong evidence against corporal punishment, it is worth rejecting corporal punishment on ethical grounds alone, so I have not made an effort to review the evidence
  • All states should ban corporal punishment, but even if they do not, all educators should refuse to administer corporal punishment on ethical grounds

Discipline

Position Summary:

  • Schools must have systems in place to ensure a safe, orderly learning environment
  • Students need clear, predictable consequences that are applied consistently
  • Progressive Discipline is the approach schools have used successfully for decades to match consequences with behaviors in a reasonable, proportionate, and effective way
  • See also: Suspension

Recommended Reading:

Grading

Position Summary:

  • There are a wide variety of minor, ineffective grading practices that should be abandoned, such as giving extra credit for bringing in supplies; however, these practices should not undermine our understanding of the core role grading plays in holding students accountable
  • Grades are not pure measures of learning; they have always reflected effort and other behaviors and traits that lead to learning.
  • Most grading reforms are unnecessary, and many undermine student accountability and reduce learning.
  • Traditional grades are widely understood by students, parents, and other stakeholders. The benefits of alternative grading schemes, such as standards-based grading (SBG), must be weighed against the potential for confusion.
  • Traditional grades serve an under-appreciated accountability function: the possibility of earning a zero holds students accountable for doing their work in a timely fashion.
  • Various grading reforms often suggest non-grade ways of holding students accountable, e.g. by reporting a separate "work habits" grade. However, this creates the problem of having multiple "accountabilities." If students are to truly be held accountable for more than one type of grade, this creates the potential for a scenario in which a student masters the content but fails the course due to poor work habits. Such scenarios reveal that there is no actual accountability for non-mastery grades; they serve a purely informational function.
  • In traditional grading, measures of learning are combined with effort and other behaviors to produce the overall grade, and teachers can balance the relative weights of these factors in ways that make sense for their courses.

Recommended Reading:

Knowledge-Building Curriculum

Position Summary:

  • Most reading "skills" such as comprehension or finding the main idea are not generalized skills that can be taught in a content-agnostic way; they are functions of content knowledge
  • Schools should explicitly teach background knowledge via knowledge-building curriculum
  • Test-prep-style exercises in which students are given a random passage are of limited value; most of the "skills" they purport to build do not actually exist.
  • Students should be taught rich units that systematically build their content knowledge.

Recommended Reading:

Math Anxiety

Position Summary:

  • Math anxiety is a real thing, but it is caused primarily by a lack of math skills
  • There is no evidence that timed tests (such as multiplication drills) cause math anxiety
  • The causes of math anxiety are not well-established, but originate outside of the classroom

Recommended Reading:

Math Facts & Timed Drills

Position Summary:

  • It is extremely important for students to master their basic math facts, so they can more quickly use them in higher-level math with lower cognitive load
  • Practicing these facts—which is often derided as "rote memorization"—is essential for fluency, and is not harmful in any way
  • Because these are foundational facts, there is no value in using more interesting or higher-order activities to teach them (though these activities may have other value); timed tests, flashcards, and similar practice activities are likely most efficient
  • Despite claims by Jo Boaler and others, there is no evidence that teaching math facts with timed drills contributes to anxiety

Recommended Reading:

Mental Health in Schools

Position Summary:

  • The primary mission of schools—and the training of school staff—is educational, not medical
  • Mental health matters, and some students suffer from severe mental health issues
  • Students struggling with their mental health should receive expert help from qualified professionals
  • While universal SEL programs initially appeared promising, years of implementation have yielded poor results, and there are some indications these efforts have a net negative impact
  • Pop psychology should be distinguished from medical practice by licensed professionals, and schools should resist the temptation to engage in pop or amateur psychology
  • The best way for educators to support students' mental health is by providing excellent teaching in a safe environment of high expectations

Recommended Reading:

Phonics

Position Summary:

  • Explicitly teaching phonics is extremely important for ensuring that all students learn to read in elementary school
  • Many students will learn to read without explicit phonics instruction, but about 1/3 will not, and this justifies universal explicit phonics instruction

Recommended Reading

Seclusion & Restraint

Position Summary:

  • The use of physical restraint and seclusion in schools is highly controversial, and for good reason—there seems to be significant disagreement in the field about their appropriate use
  • This issue seems to be dominated by edge cases, with a handful of students and programs representing the great majority of uses
  • Reporting and appropriate alternatives seem to be major challenges
  • I recognize the need to prevent students from injuring themselves or others, as Freddie DeBoer articulates in the article linked below—the reality of physical danger seems to be downplayed in much of the discourse opposed to all seclusion & restraint
  • It seems to me that these tactics are sometimes necessary, but in individual cases often overused or used inappropriately
  • I can empathize with both the staff in these programs and the students and their parents, and recognize that there are no easy answers

Recommended Reading:

Suspension

Position Summary:

  • Schools should strive to reduce unnecessary out-of-school suspensions
  • Suspension is often necessary for maintaining safety and order
  • Suspension has not been shown to be harmful to suspended students, though a large body of correlational research has unsuccessfully attempted to demonstrate a causal link
  • Suspension is a fairly strong, but not decisive, predictor of negative outcomes, but correlation is not causation, and it should not be inferred that suspension causes these outcomes. It is far more likely that behavior (and underlying factors that contribute to it) is the common determinant of both suspension and poor outcomes in life.
  • Suspension is highly effective at protecting the learning environment from behaviors incompatible with learning
  • Students with disabilities have specific rights under IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) in the US, but this should not mean they can hurt others with impunity.

Recommended Reading: