The Stonecutter's Dilemma - Assumptions of Linearity

There I sat with all of the parents staring at their six and seven year old children. The same place I sat for the past two years with this child. Little boys in bright blue uniforms and neon uniforms dashing before me. Some of them are mini all-stars in the minds of their minds and their parents minds. Future Pele's, Reynaldos, Maradonas, and Messis. And there's mine, standing there, observing all that happens. Not moving. Year three of this. Last year, at times he wouldn't get on the field because he was afraid of weeds.

So, as any reasonable parent or educator, you ask why do this? Why put your child on the field? Why put yourself through the agony of watching your child suffer? The answer is simple. When I ask him if he wants to go, he says yes. He gladly grabs his uniform, proudly puts on his cleats, grabs a drink and runs to the car.

As I watch the game, my stomach churns. My first child wasn't like this. He at least ran, not always in the right direction, but he ran.

We assume, as we support kids through learning, as they work towards the 10,000 hours of mastery mentioned in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, that the line of improvement is relatively linear. That's why AIMSweb produces the best-fit rate of improvement line. The black line places a linear improvement goal based on target, the red line demonstrating their best-fit slope of improvement. As we look at the same child early in the year and late in the year, what do these graphs really say?

Has the child made their goal? Is the increased intensity of the intervention making a difference? Is the AIMSweb giving an accurate picture of this child's reading development?

I look back at my child, now having completed the first quarter. He moved some. I yelled his name a few times, come on, get into the game. You go. I remind myself to smile as he walks back to the sides. He is smiling. He says he had fun. I wonder how. He proudly drinks his gatorade. He laughs as he knows he has created a blue moustache. I laugh, he really is enjoying this. And then after watch a quarter of future superstars in dance on the field it is his turn again. I think to myself, "Oh no, they are switching sides and switching positions." 

It begins again. He stands, he stares. And then, suddenly he runs. For several minutes, he has decided what to do and quickly takes path as a defender to intercept the ball. He is far from perfect. He is far from equal to the other ones. But, after 2 fall seasons, 2 spring seasons, and 1 painful quarter, my son is in the game.

As I watch, I think back to college swimming and the inspirational quotes that Coach Kent put on the wall. I remind myself of the Jacob Austin Riis stonecutter dilemma that he posted:

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

The connections come as I proudly watch my son get in the game. Perhaps learning isn't linear, perhaps the graph looks more like a phase change diagram:

With the rises and plateaus as time is impacted by engaged learning, meaningful differentiation, and adult & student energy. Or perhaps the graph looks more like monitoring the energy levels of an endothermic reaction:

As we look at achievement increases over time, it is possible that our catalysts for learning are small group instruction, quality resources, and technology accelerants. 

In either possibility, learning is no longer linear. A great deal of energy is put in, and then, the light bulb goes on. The miracle happens. The child gets it. I think back to teaching swimming, chemistry, and political science. I see faces flash through my mind. Connections to students who put in the energy, needed more than the 6 or 12 weeks of RTI. The switch flipped and they got it. Stephen Krashen & Jeff McQuillan make the case for Late Intervention. They look at what excites learners and how children and adults can become readers. They talk about how the learners interest with the right content and context helps develop quality reading. Donalyn Miller makes similar connections with student growth in her book, the Book Whisperer. 

As parents and educators its time for us to questions the assumptions of linearity. These are real learners with real opportunities. Instead, we need to continue to support, advocate, and search for the right catalysts to hit the necessary activation energy to make it click. It may not happen as a function of the best fit line, but instead as a product of time, energy and interest.