Friday, September 14, 2018

STUDY SHOWS HEAVILY DECORATED CLASSROOMS DISTRACT STUDENTS

Teachers are continually micromanaged in so many schools. One of administrations' favorite themes often is to mandate that  teachers have elaborate decorations in their classrooms and fancy, detailed bulletin boards. New research shows these mandates are counterproductive.

This is from the Association for Psychological Science.

Psychology researchers Anna V. Fisher, Karrie E. Godwin and Howard Seltman of Carnegie Mellon University looked at whether classroom displays affected children’s ability to maintain focus during instruction and to learn the lesson content. They found that children in highly decorated classrooms were more distracted, spent more time off-task and demonstrated smaller learning gains than when the decorations were removed.

I am not at all surprised by these findings.

Class Size Matters Executive Director Leonie Haimson commented on Twitter on the study:

Teachers spend hours decorating their classrooms; not only is it a waste of time but distracts students!

When the Joel Klein-Carmen Farina bulletin board directives came down on us, many of us resisted at Jamaica High School. We told administration that kids couldn't care less about how the classroom is decorated. Our reward if I recall was we didn't get our own classrooms. Nice to see research at the elementary level backs up what I believed was true. I must admit, however,  I was wrong. I didn't think overly decorated rooms led to lower test scores. I just thought it didn't make a difference.

There is so much that is wrong in education that could easily be corrected if the powers that be would occasionally listen to teachers.



36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Years ago, a Chapter Leader told me that he said to the LIS (Local Instructional Superintendent), "I'm going to visit your office to see how you've decorated it. And then, I'll consider decorating my classroom!"

Anonymous said...

As and elementary classroom teacher for many, many, years I can tell you that the bulletin board bullshit goes as far back as the Rudy Crew days. The UFT finally stepped in and was able to to change the rule saying that teachers could "decorate" their bulletin boards however they wanted. (Before that we were told that we had to put rubrics and individual comments on all the work on the bulletin boards)

James Eterno said...

It didn't come to high schools until Klein-Farina. I never heard about classroom decorations until then.

Anonymous said...

It saddens me to see all the nonsense that is mandated in the NYC public school system. I think the stupidity it a pinnacle when we were told to hang all of the common core standards on the wall, in book form, in case the students wanted to look up the standards. It was bad enough when the teachers from my school, a high school, were asked to visit elementary schools so we would get ideas of how to decorate our rooms and bulletin boards.

We still have to hang so much crap on the wall, it really looks ridiculous but the administrators love it.

Anytime a teacher questions the stupidity, they are seen as a complainer or a troublemaker.

I have been a teacher for 30 years and have sadly lived through the steep decline in educational leadership in NYC. It would be humorous if it weren't a reality. There is a growing number of administrators who lack any kind of intellectual or leadership prowess.

The Emperor's New Clothes was written in the early nineteenth century, so with some perspective, stupidity and clueless leaders are nothing new.

Anonymous said...

There is very little learning going on in the vast majority of schools. The admins are all family and friends. No matter what they do, they get away with - NOT a PEEP from the UFT. Mulgrew has a deal with the CSA. Teachers are slaves.

Anonymous said...

I see on the DOE website that it says the September Open School is 4:30 PM until 8:00 PM. Don't you think that is a little, or a lot, ridiculous? We get there well before 8 AM, we work straight through until 3 PM or later, we have a few minutes to sit down, or prepare for the evening, and then we have 3 and a half hours straight? Really, this is the brainchild of whom? Where is the union on this? For all we know it could be 97 degrees that day, my school has very little AC...A 13-14 hour day?

Anonymous said...

And we’re not off for Veteran’s Day, which is commemorated on Nov 12th. My friends that are federal employees are off. Why aren’t we?

Anonymous said...

I believe, this year, the NYC public schools are closed on November 12 for Veterans' Day.

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-calendar-2018-2019

Anonymous said...

Yes, we got Vet Day..But the June Regents start a whole week later and kids came in a day earlier, so it seems like we have many more work days.

Anonymous said...

Last day last year was June 11, this years June 17 I believe, we got fucked bigtime, but kids still had to come in wednesday? And that Sept open school for almost 4 hours, at night, after a full day? More suffering...

Anonymous said...

No, we are not off Nov 12 - Nov 11 th is a Sunday. All Federal employees are off on the 12th.

Anonymous said...

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2017-18-school-year-calendar-english
Not off.

Anonymous said...

Yes we are

Anonymous said...

Thats 17-18.

Anonymous said...

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/school-calendar-2018-2019

Anonymous said...

right, school closed monday 11/12.

Anonymous said...

Closed 11-12- 18. Amen.

Anonymous said...

Good Stuff!Not-
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2018/09/14/controversial-former-brooklyn-principal-rehired-by-doe/amp/

Harris L. said...

‘Research-based Practice’ is for little people!’

Harris L. said...

BTW, is anyone able to stay on topic on this site?

ed notes online said...

This year 11/11/18 is the 100th anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars. When I was in school it was Armistice Day. And this year it is on a Sunday. I do not think we got a day off if it wasn't the 11th. So see this as a gift. If it comes out on a Saturday do you get the 13th off anyway?

TJL said...

Thank you James for pointing this out as well as the info on DI. This is a great pair of weapons to have in the arsenal for post-obs conferences or even AP and Principal e-mails.

"Actually, Mrs. Principal, extensive classroom decorations like bulletin boards DETRACT from student learning. You DO want the students to be engaged don't you?"

"Mr. AP, there may not be pages of administrivia in my lesson plan, but the lesson most certainly differentiated since..."

Anonymous said...

Many teachers have posters decorating their rooms in my school: Marx, Che, Mao, Fidel, etc., figure prominently.

Anonymous said...

What about President Trump? I saw many Obama pictures.

Anonymous said...

My school forces us to put up a rubric and individual comments on each bulletin board .

James Eterno said...

You can fight it 8:51. We give you the tools. You have to have real guts to use them. The best way usually is through the monthly consultations with Chapter Committee and Principal that are mandated in the contract.

Thanks TJL. Bring these things up for sure with administration. Use the ed research to make your point.

Harris, Even Norm went off topic here.

Anonymous said...

How about forced jupiter grades?

Anonymous said...

We need 180 days. If we get Veterans where would you like the day to come from. I agree we should honor the veterans and have the day but just name one day and send it up to the calendar makers.

To the fella that has friends that work for the Feds. Ask them if they get July and August off. Ask them if they get 3 Jewish days, 2 Moslem Day and 1 Asian Day.

We are negotiating with the public who think we hardly work. Who don’t understand not starting after Labor Day.

We don’t negotiate in a vacuum. The other side has other ideas. Some of them think we should be sweeping are own classroom floors and be available 24/7 for homework questions.

Every single thing we have (and I know we don’t have enough) we have to fight for.

Anonymous said...

And yes. We are off on the 12th for Veterans Day.

jr said...

Um, we got 10% over 7.4 years. And holding $50k for 11 years with no interest. No other company would
allow that.

James Eterno said...

Our comparison group is not other professions for the calendar but teachers in surrounding areas. Some districts have calendars that are more teacher friendly than ours here in NYC, although I agree that ours is better than many. Remember, we paid for starting after Labor Day by agreeing to save the city a couple of billion dollars by changing the interest rate on the fixed TDA from 8.25% to 7% in 2009. Before you tell me how great that 7% is and how nobody else has it, CSA and PSC (CUNY) still get 8.25%.

Anonymous said...

But keep paying dues? How do you propose we get back to 8.25, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAS?

Prehistoric pedagogue said...

The only time we lose veterans Day is when The 11th falls on a Saturday
This bulletin board nonsense goes back at least as far as chancellor Irving Anker. In other words, the Stone Age

James Eterno said...

Now we have research to say the bulletinboard mandate is counterproductive.

3:24,We won't ever get back to 8.25% if members quit the union, ever.

Anonymous said...

Wont get it back even if everyone stays. You dont seem to get it, we get bad deals with full membership, as that deal was with full membership.

James Eterno said...

Full membership that just takes it for the most part. If we got together and said no more, we would make gains.