Moving forward together: Our thoughts on the US election 11-10

A Microsoft perspective from  Brad Smith Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer

Like so many people across the country, we woke up in Redmond, Washington this morning thinking about yesterday’s election. And like so many Americans, regardless of who we supported through our vote, we strongly share the view that this is a time for the nation to come together. Every president-elect deserves our congratulations, best wishes and support for the country as a whole. The peaceful transition of power has been an enduring and vital part of our democracy for over two centuries, and it remains so today. As a company, Microsoft joins many others in congratulating President-elect Donald J. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

As a company, we also look forward to working with the new administration and Congress on issues of common concern. As we think about the future, we know we don’t have all the answers, but four issues rise near the top as we think about the country and information technology.

First and foremost, the vote yesterday registered a strong concern about the plight of those who feel left out and left behind.

In important respects, this concern is understandable. In recent months we’ve been struck by a study from Georgetown University. It shows that a quarter-century of U.S. economic growth under Democrats and Republicans alike has added 35 million net new jobs. But the number of jobs held by Americans with only a high school diploma or less has fallen by 7.3 million. The disparity is striking. The country has experienced a doubling of jobs for Americans with a four-year college degree, while the number of jobs for those with a high school diploma or less has fallen by 13 percent.[1]

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We know we have a lot to learn, but we believe this makes one conclusion abundantly clear:  in a time of rapid change, we need to innovate to promote inclusive economic growth that helps everyone move forward.  This requires a shared responsibility among those in government, across the private sector, and by individuals themselves.

As we’ve had the opportunity to learn more, we’ve concluded that new technology tools can play an important role.  This was part of the conviction that led Microsoft to decide earlier this year to acquire LinkedIn, a deal that has already been cleared to close by regulators in the United States.  LinkedIn is a good example of what one increasingly sees among both tech companies and tech-based non-profit groups.  New technology services and tools help individuals develop new skills and connect with new jobs.

As we look to the future, these can better help more people develop so-called middle skills – the types of technical skills that can ensure that those with less than a college degree can not only learn valuable new skills, but obtain the certifications and credentials that will be valuable in the workplace.  And we believe that new data tools such as LinkedIn’s Economic Graph can serve even more cities and states to help those in government match their worker training and economic development resources with the strongest opportunities in the market.  These are but a few of the roles where new technology can help.

We also believe that these issues represent the next frontier for innovation in public policy.  We’re enthusiastic about new potential initiatives at the federal and state levels that can promote broader education and training, bring labor laws into the 21^st century, and ensure portable benefits and a stronger safety net for the tens of millions of Americans that are working part-time, acting as an independent worker, or participating in the expanding tech-based gig economy with companies such as Uber and Lyft.  In short, while the problem is clear, potential solutions are manifold and more than anything, we need to come together to pursue them.

Second, as a company that does business around the world, we believe there’s a clear opportunity to invest in infrastructure.  As the American Society of Civil Engineers concluded in 2013, our water pipes too often are too old, our highways too often are congested, and our bridges too often are deficient.  We don’t claim to be experts in the field, but we know a traffic jam when we see one, in part because most days around Seattle we sit in one.  It was encouraging to see both presidential nominees endorse new infrastructure investments, and we believe that new data analytics and cloud technologies can contribute to these improvements.  We especially appreciate the role that broadband and computing infrastructure can play in creating broader economic opportunities, perhaps especially in areas of higher rural unemployment.

Third, as we think societally about these new opportunities to address those who have been left behind, it’s critically important that we appreciate the continuing national strengths that serve the country so well.  We’ve benefited from the opportunity to see so much of this firsthand.  We invest over $12 billion a year in research and development, as much as any other company on the planet, and over 85 percent of this work is done in the United States.  Over a third of our engineers have come from other countries – 157 countries, in fact.  We have employees from every race, ethnic background and religion.  If there’s a language spoken on the planet, there’s a good chance that it’s spoken by an employee at Microsoft.  And we’re committed to promoting not just diversity among all the men and women who work here, but the type of inclusive culture that will enable people to do their best work and pursue rewarding careers.

We know that this is the only way we’ll fully succeed as a company.  And we believe it’s the only way we’ll fully succeed as a country.

So while we all need to do more to support those who haven’t moved forward in recent years, we share the conviction that this is a time to bring the entire nation together.  And that means everyone, with an appreciation for the spirit of generosity and mutual respect that has often represented the best of the American spirit.

Finally, it will remain important for those in government and the tech sector to continue to work together to strike a balance that protects privacy and public safety in what remains a dangerous time.  As this election demonstrated, technology now plays a ubiquitous role in our daily lives.  But people will not use technology they do not trust.

We’re committed to developing technology that is secure and trusted, both for Americans and for people around the world.  We literally have thousands of employees who make this their focus and priority.  And we know that we’ll benefit from stronger government policies as well.  That’s why we’ve not only advocated for clearer and more modern U.S. laws, but have filed lawsuits four times in the past three years against the current administration, standing up for what we believe are the vital rights of people both here and abroad.  As we’ve won the cases we’ve brought, we’ve been reminded of one of this country’s greatest strengths, its strong Constitution, independent judiciary, and the overarching rule of law.

Between now and Jan. 20, we’ll all participate in what is perhaps the most defining aspect of our democracy, the peaceful transition of power from one political party to another. Today is a day that finds some Americans celebrating and others commiserating about the electoral result.  But it’s also a day that reminds us of what makes the country special.  It’s a day that provides an opportunity to look beyond disagreements and divides, identify bold solutions to common problems, and find new ways to work together. It’s a good time for all of us to listen and to learn from each other.

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Four Key Questions about Grading 08-11

Four Key Questions about Grading

There's an excellent article on grading in a recent issue of Cell Biology Education-Life Sciences Education. It offers a brief history of grading (it hasn’t been around for all that long), and then looks to the literature for answers to four key questions.

Does grading provide feedback to help students understand and improve their deficiencies?

The grade itself is feedback, but generally it is accompanied with faculty comments that justify the grade and offer suggestions for improvement. Most of us know the problem here, "The grade trumps the comment," as one researcher cited says. Students tend not to read the comments; they look at the grade and get on with life. Not all research supports that conclusion. In some studies, students report that they do read the comments but often struggle to understand the feedback, and they don't always know how to fix what we identified as a problem. As a result, the same mistakes occur in subsequent assignments. Grading feedback is not as effective as we might hope.

Does grading motivate students to learn? 

Not really. More often, grading motivates students to focus on grades. If learning is part of the equation, it happens more by accident than design. Pass back an exam and everywhere you hear the question, "Whatcha get?" Nobody is asking, "Whatcha learn?" This analysis of grading and motivation offers an even bleaker conclusion. “Grades can dampen existing intrinsic motivation, give rise to extrinsic motivation, enhance the fear of failure, reduce interest, decrease enjoyment in the class work, increase anxiety, hamper performance on follow-up tasks, stimulate avoidance of challenging tasks, and heighten competitiveness.” (p. 161)

Is grading on a curve the fairest way to grade?

 The practice of doing so started in the early 20th century when it was discovered that IQ scores were distributed across the population in a normal curve. "Conforming grades to a curve held the promise of addressing some of the problems surrounding grading by making the process more scientific and consistent across classrooms." (p. 162) However, grading on the curve creates other inequities. 

If you have a bunch of really bright students in one section, some will end up getting C's while the same raw scores will be B's in the section where ability is more widely distributed. But most faculty don’t apply the curve all that rigidly. They adjust it, as needed, for a section or a set of exams which erodes the objectivity and consistency. The other problem with the curve system is that it creates competition in the classroom. When students are competing for points, it's not in their best interest to collaborate or contribute, which pretty much rules out students learning from and with each other. That works out okay for some students, but it's not fair for those who do learn well with others.

Do grades provide reliable information about student learning? 

This is the perennial question about what it is grades really measure and if they measure the same things consistently. The research cited in the paper documents inconsistency in grading by individual faculty members (two different grades for the same piece of work when it's graded at different times) and across individual graders. Rubrics help, but research still identifies unrelated factors that influence grading (like gender, ethnicity, and knowing who the student is, for example). That kind of inconsistency isn't a problem with objective exams, such as those with multiple-choice questions, but those exams have studentsselecting answers, which is significantly different than generating answers. That rounds us back to the question of what kind of learning grades really measure.

We grade students to give them feedback, to motivate their learning, to see how they compare with other students, and to measure their learning—all reasonable purposes. "However, much of the research literature [reviewed in this article] suggests that these goals are often not being achieved with our current grading practices." (p. 163) Yes, that's a pretty scathing critique, but it's well documented and our answers to questions this central need to be accurate.

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The Challenges and Glories of Home Schooling 03-04

The Challenges and Glories of Home Schooling

Home school families are an unusual and determined bunch. They are accordingly, unusually challenged and rewarded. The challenges are many, including issues of finance, governmental restrictions, time, method of study and what to study (curriculum), each of which we'll discuss below.

In the end, the reward home school families receive is revived control over the educational fate of their children. Home schooling restores control over the potential future of the student into the hands of those who care most about him or her.

Financial Concerns And Governmental Restrictions

One of the more obvious sets of challenges is financial. Forced to pay taxes that contribute to schools they do not use, home school families must also bear the expense of home school education. Families sending children to private schools face similar double expense, though home schoolers rarely pay as much as private school education requires. After all, home schoolers don't have an entire school to support, with administrators and janitors and what have you. The home school family has only the students in their house to support. However, the need to employ tutors can offset what may be otherwise inexpensive.

Thinking in long term solutions, one needed political movement would refund our educational tax dollars if we chose not to avail ourselves of traditional schools...a choice being made by thousands of new families every month, as the over 50% national drop out rate in the United States attests to. Confronting members of Congress with a united front might bring some attention to this inequity. And please note that there are millions of home schoolers in America alone! We can be a force and we can insist on our rights. I imagine similar movements may benefit many other nations. Money spent to support schools which home school families have no intention of using could be far better spent on terrific home school experiences under the control of the parent and student. After all, who knows your student and their needs better than you and your student?

Governments have proven almost universally awful at deciding how to best spend your money. However, they are far worse at establishing workable educational "standards" which produce good results with your money. The flood of illiteracy our schools have set loose on the world is hard to ignore or miss, but in the United States, the schools cannot seem to reverse the problem. No one seems to be worse at this business of education than government. Yet they insist they have the right to continue to take your educational dollars. Well, if the military made bombs that blew up in their own faces, would we keep funding them? If Fire Departments started fires, would we fund them or lock them up? Yet, we continue to fund public education as it leads a huge number of our children into educational oblivion. And if you don't think this will blow up in our civilization's face, please think again about the cost of supporting an undereducated generation or two. Numbers don't lie. Home school students almost universally outperform public school students in those dreadful "standardized" tests. And the majority of public school students in America...quit. They are certainly "undereducated", as they are not educated.

The control of educational dollars should have always rested in families who are, in the end, responsible for their children and their education. Surrendering this financial control has placed our children and their future in the hands of government. This is a mistake we should rectify.

Sadly, the problem goes far deeper than money. Government often acts, as the California State Legislature recently did, to limit home school rights, a move our governor is deeply opposed to, bless him.

Where does this bizarre governmental need to restrict home school come from? Is it really born of a concern over the home school child's welfare, when all the government's own tests clearly show that these children are educationally, culturally, and emotionally superior to their public school friends? Hmmm. After all, government does need to protect their considerable investment in public schooling. They can't admit that they have been failing our children after all these decades and all that expense, can they? This is a classic case of "throwing good money after bad", as well as placing the "wolf in charge of the hen house."

Education is a deeply personal and intimate thing. Governmental testing and educational "standards" can only depersonalize and make more inhuman a failed system and its products --our children. This has, in fact, been the result of governmental testing since it began. How can a government's standards or tests ever take into account your child's interests, creativity, strengths and needs? They cannot and they do not. They never will. These tests are another thing that need to go, and soon, if our civilization is to recover from this educational debacle.

Time

Another challenge facing home school families is one of time. It's easy and "time efficient" to turn Junior over to the local school for daytime care and some semblance of education. It's hard to take on those responsibilities yourself if you're a working parent or worse, a working single parent. One answer that has worked for many people is to form small home school "conglomerates", groups of parents who each agree to assist in specific ways and to share in the administration of as many as, say, 10 home school children in a group. I've done this personally, with great success, for over two years at a time.

By the way, as a system this only works well when taking full advantage of home schooling's strengths. These include the fact that each student is allowed to study his own studies at his own pace, and is not forced into a "classroom mold" where every student, quick, average or challenged, must be at the same place in their studies as is done in classrooms around the world. The fact that a student does not need to "keep up", or "get ahead", or be forced into a mold of any kind is one of the great potential strengths of home school.

On the issue of time commitment, it also helps to have the full agreement of your children to home school. Home schooling is a deeply responsible activity. In fact, the home school parent and student are saying that they will take full responsibility for the student's education. The home school parent is also taking responsibility for the child's safety, something too many schools have failed miserably at, and to great sorrow.

Home schooling is an act requiring a high degree of trust. The student trusts you to make certain he'll receive a full and effective education. But the parent must also trust the student to honestly and completely do the work which the parent has so laboriously scouted and vetted.

As a student matures, you have the right to expect him or her to carry a larger percentage of the load of their educational effort. But the student has the right to expect the parent or teacher to continuously support and challenge him, and failing this, the student has the right to express dissatisfaction. After all, we're asking the student to make a considerable investment of time and energy. It is in the student's behalf, true, but that is true only if the student is provided methods and study materials and an environment that improve him! Failing this, home school is just school again.

Keeping in this sort of agreement between the student and you (and a tutor, etc) will eventually turn over the bulk of the work to the student, preventing home school from becoming so time-intensive for the parent or tutor as to be unworkable. I've home schooled my son for over six years, and I have seen this to be so with him, and with other home school families.

Your point of view is important, too. You can consider this work, or drudgery; or quality time with your child. You pick.

Method Of Study And Curriculum

Taking education out of the hands of schools is one thing. Replacing schools with a real educational opportunity is another, and there awaits the rocks that many home school families founder on. After all, the parent thinks, what do I know? Don't the schools specialize in education?

No, actually, schools seem to specialize in being paid. When I worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District, I had a perfectly wonderful 17 year old student who was admirable in every respect, only he could neither read nor write. He signed his name with an "X". I had him in an English Elective course, and insisted he be held back and helped. I was told that in no uncertain terms, he would receive a passing grade (in a course all about reading) because if I failed him, the school would not be paid.

How can you, the parent, do a worse job than this for your child? You can't and you won't.

So, what can you offer a home school student? You can do as many parents do and piece together study materials from various sources. Many publishers offer "curriculum", and in nearly any area you'd care to study. But I believe a home school curricula should accomplish far more than the run-of-the-mill materials generally offered, often in poor imitation of the curricula offered in schools!

First, an agreement must be made with the student to study so many hours a week. This minimum is often established by law. But make the student understand that there will be no home work, as all his work IS homework. So the 3-5 hours or so of school done per day is it, and the student will have far more free and discretionary time than he did in school. This is based on honest, diligent study.

A workable home school curriculum would be contiguous, one course leading organically and logically into the next so that the student always knew his grasp of the subject was expanding. It would not leap arbitrarily back and forth through subjects, but semester by semester would penetrate steadily and deeper into the materials and subject, allowing the student to use what he increasingly knows and understands, and apply his growing awareness to new information.

A good curriculum would ask the student to challenge the information it taught. This would be done constantly, to assure that the student was not accepting info by rote, or because he's "supposed to", or to prepare to spit answers out for a test. We want students who learn to evaluate information on their own, and successfully. We want students who accept information because they've tested it and found it to be true. This is an invaluable life skill.

The information and the materials would be challenging, at a level considered "too difficult" for the age range doing it, but set up in such a way that they could successfully study it. You probably know that education has been severely "dumbed down"? There was a time, decades ago, when 10 year olds learned to read and speak not only English, but also Latin. Considering this sad reality, a good curriculum would provide a learning experience in excess of todays accepted range of experience for each age group.

In a good curriculum, the student would not merely read information, but ways would be found to have the student "experience" information for the sake of clarity and the student's own evaluation of the info. Such a curriculum would place a premium on creativity, both within the curricula and the student. It would also place the student in charge of his own thoughts and understandings.

A good curriculum for home school parents would be laid out so as to be easily used by student and tutor. Tests, answer guides and complete lesson plans would all be "tutor proof", so long as the step-by-step plan was followed. This would allow a tutor who knows little about a subject to continue to assist the student as a facilitator, as the course would be doing the actual teaching. (This works equally well in a classroom or group, by the way, so long as each student studies at their own pace.)

A good home school curriculum would fully replace school and what schools do with studies structured for the student to truly succeed, year after year. It would act like a river of study and learning that the student travels from the start to the finish of his or her educational journey. It would not force the parent or tutor to endlessly cobble together bits and pieces from a hundred sources, but would instead provide a comprehensive and coordinated set of studies, ready for use.

In the end, home school is a lot of work, and can be a frightening road to start down. But your child is the best reason to home school, and perhaps the most important result of home schooling is control over your child's fate restored into your hands, and your child's.

Who should have control over your child's future? The state, which does not and will never know your child's name, or you?

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