The littlest things

The benefits and perils of tinkering

At some point, performance reaches a glass ceiling against optimal capacity. To reach even this point free of major operational burden is respectable – indeed, it is simply where most organizations tend to stop. The predicament is that all of one's problems have been solved. All of them, that is, except for the one pertaining to reaching optimal performance. At this point, achieving optimal performance is more of a matter of solutions than problems.

Much the same can be said about the education system. (Note not a contradiction, but optimal performance relative to the existing organizational structure.) Tinkering, much the same as one would do with their computer or car, done in the pursuit of revealing meaningful pockets of performance. The process gone about independently, while rather amusing to your correspondent, is impractical for large organizations with various considerations. These organizations are left to rely on the relatively few who embrace changes in structure as their inspiration and justification for change. The result is an unintended but effective system of research and development. Given sufficient results and the right amount of momentum, all that remains is a matter of scaling the changes to meet the bigger organization – with hope that the results will follow in equal measure.

In equal parts, wealth, activism, research, and accident have made for the education system's research and development labs. Most are erroneous, many laughable, and few with respectable promise. The most well-known proposal would have the school day pushed backed several hours for secondary students. The thinking is straight-forward: adolescents need a minimum of half an hour to two hours and a half more sleep than their parents. The trouble is the fact that their body clocks are programmed to be more conducive to late nights than their parents or younger siblings.[1] Waking up at six to catch the bus makes for the inevitable crunch of sleep deprivation.

As a result, many advocate delaying the school start time. Indeed, research has shown them out on the issue. Dr. Kyla Wahlstrom of the University of Michigan's research on the Minneapolis Public School District's 85 minute delay caused students to achieve an extra five hours of sleep each week. The result was an uptick in attendance, alertness, and reduced self-reported depression. Dr. Mary Carskadon's work would suggest better grades, reduced car crashes caused by sleepiness, and reduced metabolic and nutritional deficits.[2]

The obstacles to implementing the program are posted, unknown as to its benefit or not, by The National Sleep Foundation. Of the eight problems the foundation cites, outside of general resistance, include the problems inherent to transporting the students at a later time, and the effect of pushing back the release time, a problem for after-school activities and working students.[3]

The typical solution involves swapping start times for elementary and secondary students. More innovative, Denver's public schools have implemented a flexible schedule – keeping the regular start times but pushing back the release time. Students choose the time that works best for them. In the first year, 30% choose a later start time – a number the district expects to grow. Meanwhile, the district is planning to utilize the extra time to provide tutoring, preparatory courses, and expedite (or catch up with) graduation requirements.[4]

Mysteries and mayhem
Other districts similarly focused on health have looked to their lunch lines for change. In 1997, Appleton Central Alternative Charter School in Wisconsin eliminated its junk foods, replacing them with water coolers, 100 percent fruit juices, whole-grain breads and bagels, a salad bar, dark greens, and apple-sauce.

Teachers, author Morgan Spurlock writes, “were blown away by the improvements in the kids' behavior, their attentiveness in class and their general attitudes.” Six years later, the Board of Education enacted a similar plan for the district's 15,000 students. Even this pales in comparison to Lincoln Elementary in Washington state: In addition to the salad bar, the school features an organic garden and greenhouse managed by students.[5]

Another idea, (the article's title is Reading Out of The Idiot Box) has studied the impact of using same-language subtitling on television in India to combat illiteracy. The program showed “an incremental, but measurable” improvement in literacy over a six month period. While innovative, one doubts that Junior wouldn't mind having his cartoons obstructed by words.[6]

Yet another idea involves streamlining the alphabet for younger readers to enhance literacy.[7] The alphabet eliminates dissimilar upper and lower case symbols in the aim of reducing confusion. The idea dates back to 1949, when creator Brad Thompson noticed his son's ability to read “Run Pal,” while botching “see him run.” If the concept is news to the reader, it concisely sums up the lack of interest. Tinkering, it seems, has its limits.

[1] Sleep and Teens. National Sleep Foundation. http://tinyurl.com/3bnonw.
[2] A Look at the School Start Times Debate. National Sleep Foundation. http://tinyurl.com/22v2lq.
[3] Eight Major Obstacles to Delaying High School Start Times. National Sleep Foundation. http://tinyurl.com/2aawo6.
[4] Changing School Start Times: Denver, Colorado. National Sleep Foundation. http://tinyurl.com/2aaw06.
[5] Don’t Eat This Book. Morgan Spurlock. 2005.
[6] Reading Out of the ‘Idiot Box’: Same-Language Subtitling on Television in India. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Information Technologies and International Development. http:/mitpress.mit.edu/journals/pdf/ITID-2-1_23_0.pdf.
[7] Alphabet 26: A New Alphabet Concept. http://tinyurl.com/2yd5ix.