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    The Elephant in the Classroom: How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed
    The Elephant in the Classroom: How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed
    The Elephant in the Classroom: How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed
    Ebook208 pages1 hour

    The Elephant in the Classroom: How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed

    By Mack Hicks

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    About this ebook

    What Would True Educational Reform Accomplish?

    •world-class achievement test scores
    •fewer discipline problems and less drug use
    •an end to failing and dropouts
    •reduction in community crime
    •no more teaching to the test
    •lowered incidence of attention deficit disorder
    •three year university graduation

    Too good to be true?

    This scientific and non-political analysis doesn’t criticize school boards, teachers unions, administrators, parents, students, vouchers or charter schools. No, the problem is in the system itself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMack Hicks
    Release dateNov 18, 2014
    ISBN9780971258730
    The Elephant in the Classroom: How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed
    Author

    Mack Hicks

    Mack R. Hicks, Ph.D. has more than thirty years’ experience in research and practice in the field of psychology. Dr. Hicks holds a Master’s degree and a PhD in clinical psychology. In addition, he holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and advertising.His training at the University of Florida and fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Medical School gave him the expertise and credentials to become one of the first clinical psychologists in independent private practice in the United States. He became a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and was one of the founding members of the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology,In 1968, he founded the not-for-profit Developmental Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, and in 1974 he founded the first school for dyslexic children in the United Kingdom. Because of his pioneer work in British education, he was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art and Commerce (FRSA). He is also founder and chairperson of the board of Lincoln Learning Labs, Inc., which operates fourteen CENTER ACADEMY schools for children and adolescents who have special academic needs. Dr. Hicks has presented research at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and was named a lead research scientist on a major grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

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      Book preview

      The Elephant in the Classroom - Mack Hicks

      The Elephant in the Classroom

      (How Our Fear of the Truth Hurts Kids and How Every Student Can Succeed)

      Mack R. Hicks Ph.D.

      Copyright 2014 by Mack R Hicks, PhD

      Cover design: Create Space, Inc.

      ISBN: 978-0-9712587-1-6

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, including electronic, mechanical, or any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in 1976 copyright act, or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to:

      Splenium House Publishers, LLC

      6710 86th Avenue N.

      Pinellas Park, Florida, 33782

      Dedication

      A salute to our hardworking public school teachers, administrators, and school board members, who are asked to do a difficult if not impossible job.

      Acknowledgements

      Many generous people took time to look over these pages and give me feedback on concept, writing, and organization. My deepest thanks and appreciation to all of you.

      The following persons gave me the courtesy of their time as well as much needed background information: Terry Boehm, Jeff Eversole, Frank Fuller, John Leones, and Jon and Betsy Reynolds,

      A special thanks to neuropsychologist Andy Hicks, PhD, CEO of Center Academy Schools, who supplied much psychological and educational insight and who helped analyze research data and statistics. His input formed the basis of many of the questions and solutions put forth in this book.

      Steve Keteltas brought rigorous line editing, poetic insight and critical analysis to this book. Thanks, Steve.

      Readers and constructive critics gave me valuable feedback and insight: Margaret Dawson, Stephanie Graham, Eric Larson, Ph.D. and Sheri Watson. Doug Hicks shared some critical right-brain reactions. Professor Philip Hicks, Ph.D. did not spare the rod when he offered helpful criticism. I think he gave me a poor grade but his professor’s eye helped turn the book around.

      Jim and Sharon Moorhead (Moorhead, Inc.) gave me valuable feedback and helped me with Psychology Today Magazine web articles so that I could concentrate on the Elephant.

      Susan Hicks was the number one researcher, digging up pertinent news and journal articles hither and yon.

      I am grateful to all of you. The Elephant thanks you. Emily and Jaylen thank you. I thank you.

      Author’s Note

      This book is based on the experiences of the author and reflects his perception of the past, present and future. The personalities, events, actions and conversations portrayed within this text have been taken from memories, interviews, research studies, letters, personal papers and media-related articles and features. The Elephant in the Classroom is based on extensive personal interviews, research and insights from the author. Certain names have been changed and recognizable characteristics disguised except for those of contributing experts.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction: Blindsided.

      Chapter 1: How selection and creaming creates killing fields.

      Chapter 2: The solution: The elephant-in-the-classroom-plan.

      Chapter 3: The first great myth: All children have the same academic potential.

      Chapter 4: The second great myth: All kids are pretty much the same.

      Chapter 5: The third great myth: All kids should go to college.

      Chapter 6: Crisis in American Education.

      Chapter 7: MAGIC: How seeing the elephant changes everything.

      Chapter 8: What about other opinions and reforms?

      Chapter 9: How the elephant’s plan changes things.

      Chapter 10: Marketing the elephant.

      Chapter 11: What will the elephant’s plan cost?

      Chapter 12: Why do we refuse to see the elephant?

      To Contact the Author

      Appendix 1: Crisis in American Education.

      Appendix 2: Career Offerings.

      Appendix 3: The Career Test.

      Appendix 4: The College Test.

      Appendix 5: Non-College Grads.

      Appendix 6: Help your child – now!

      About the Author

      Introduction: Blindsided.

      The kids who wanted to be somebody. This is the story of a girl named Emily and her friend Jaylen. It’s a story that begins in school classrooms all across our country. What happens there often leads to discouragement, unhappiness, and an unfulfilled life. Emily (not her real name) is a good girl. Good, because of her strength, integrity, and emotional warmth. She didn’t know her father, but her mother sometimes showed her pictures of a man with a broken body playing a piano in a dingy barroom. Her mother also kept the Purple Heart he had received in the Afghanistan war. She told Emily that her father was somebody. Emily always wanted to be somebody too –– just like her father.

      Emily started school with a smile on her face. Teachers at her church-school liked her, and she did well in public kindergarten and first grade. But she had reading problems in the second grade, and her smile started to fade. Emily tried to pay attention, obeyed her teachers’ rules, and studied harder than most of the kids in her class. Her mother wanted more than anything for Emily to attend college, because no one in the family had made it that far.

      Emily kept plugging away in elementary school, spending two hours studying every day, even on Saturdays. Her mother helped her with reading when she got time off from her job as a waitress. Emily managed to attain a 2.5 grade point average, but when she encountered classes in biology and chemistry in middle school, her grades plummeted. World history wasn’t easy, either.

      Nice counselor.

      The counselor at her school suggested that Emily might enjoy some career options such as studying to be a veterinarian’s assistant or an assistant nurse working in a hospital. This excited Emily because she loved animals and enjoyed babysitting for the little girls down the street. She hoped she could get good grades again –– and be somebody. Her mother was unsure about career studies, because she was set on Julie going to college but knew Emily was unhappy. Perhaps these courses would put that beautiful smile back on her face. Emily could think about college later.

      Emily signed up for the veterinarian and nursing courses, but then something unfortunate happened. Emily and her mother were informed that Emily’s academic grades weren’t high enough for acceptance into the career programs. That didn’t make sense to Emily and her mother, but the counselor said it was a state law and Emily would need to improve her grades and pass the world history exam before she would have sufficient time to take career courses. Emily had failed the world history test five times and just couldn’t seem to remember the dates and events from so long ago.

      When Emily was in the 11th grade, the counselor discovered a new program that would accept her, even if she couldn’t pass the world history exam. This career program was part-time at another school across town and that school would be happy to give her a chance. Emily was excited and her mother saw an immediate, positive change in her personality. The school system did not provide transportation to the new program, however, and Emily’s mother couldn’t afford a car, so Emily couldn’t go. She kept trying and studied even harder but still got poor grades. Emily eventually gave up and dropped out of school. She found someone who thought she was special and became pregnant.

      Without hope.

      Emily is still a good girl, only now she’s a young adult without much hope for the future and is a burden to society. Emily’s story is not unique. She represents the majority of school children in our public schools. You see, Emily was never cut out for college. Her mother didn’t read to her as a young child and she didn’t like academics. Emily’s working memory was poor and she suffered from a short attention span.

      We are facing enormous problems in this country. The purpose of this book is to expose a great American myth and help us find the elephant in the classroom. The myth is that all Americans are equal in terms of talent and skills. The best thing about this myth is that it represents a great American Dream. In America, anyone can make it to the top with sacrifice and hard work.

      Yes, we Americans are a nervy lot. We can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. In this way, it’s a good myth. A myth that gives us hope. A myth that makes us proud. Who says everyone can’t be a Harvard PhD? Who says everyone can’t be an astronaut? Who says everyone can’t win the Nobel Peace Prize? Who says everyone can’t win a gold medal at the Olympics? And who says not everyone should go to college?

      I do.

      And once most Americans think this through, they will agree that the odds of accomplishing any of these things are pretty daunting, including college, or at least real colleges that haven’t lowered their standards. The universal desire to reach the summit of a college education reminds me of General George Pickett’s infantry charge at Gettysburg, an action that hastened the end of the United States Civil War. Amassing troops and sending them up a hill into murderous gunfire, without a special plan, led to horrendous casualties. Yes, the Confederate general, Robert E. Lee, was the war’s greatest tactician, but he made a tragic mistake at Gettysburg.

      And what about Emily’s friend, Jaylen (not his real name)? Should he have attended college? His parents and teachers thought so. Jaylen earned high scores on achievement tests and carried a 4.0 grade average into his senior year in high school. This sounded well and good, but when the average grade for all students was 3.6, and student grades didn’t rank him against classmates, and achievement tests didn’t compare him to national norms, it was difficult to know just where he stood academically.

      Not all of his classes were challenging either, and he shared several classes with Emily, who he occasionally helped with her homework. He wanted to please his parents, who had not attended college, and he knew they were hurt and disappointed when Jaylen’s older brother dropped out of school.

      As it turns out, Jaylen had all four of the elephant’s sturdy legs that are necessary for college: academic ability, motivation, self-control, and the ability to focus. He was vice-president of the student council and was named to the National Honor Society. His grades and honors led him to an academic scholarship at a small liberal arts college.

      But when he got to college that fall, something shocking happened. Jaylen was told that he lacked basic skills in writing and mathematics. As a result, counselors enrolled him in remedial classes. Jaylen’s parents were dismayed. An honors student needed special help? This created additional financial burdens for his parents, and it took Jaylen five years to graduate from college.

      How would recognizing the elephant change things? Students such as Jaylen, who are capable of abstract academic learning, would operate in a much more challenging and competitive environment, leading to satisfactory college preparation without leaving their neighborhood school. Students such as Emily would begin full-time career courses in middle school or high school without concern about high-stakes state or federal achievement testing. They would study and train in a rich, creative environment where they would earn occupational certificates, nationally-recognized industry certifications, and apprenticeships. Career training that would lead to well-paying positions in the workforce.

      This realization would also affect other areas such as dropout rates, school testing, bullying, and behavior problems, etc.

      Those who ignore the elephant do so at their own peril. This is especially true of our elephant. While she seems destined to breaking up furniture, she’d really like to get out of the room and help us out. She is closest to the action and she may give us advice from time-to-time.

      Without including this reality in any formulation of education and learning, we distort our perception of what is true, real, and important. We must render the elephant visible in order to rescue Emily, Jaylen, and other vulnerable students; young Americans with hopes and dreams and special talents.

      That is what this

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