Assessing Outcomes

We often say that one of the problems in Jewish education is that we can't assess outcomes until many years after the end of the programs we are attempting to evaluate.

This article, Generation Z appears in the on-line magazine Tablet. It describes the college years of several people whose names are familiar to us now, and I believe it also raises some interesting questions for us as educators:

• What was it about their college experiences that led to the ongoing involvement of these people in the Jewish world, and in Israel particularly?
• Beit Ephraim still exists, and has a website at which you can learn more about it. What do you think are its strengths? What might be its challenges?
• In your opinion, what kind of student might be attracted to a place like Beit Ephraim?
• What kind of prior Jewish educational experiences do you imagine might lead a college student to be interested in such a program?
• In what way are the curricula and programs of our Jewish educational systems geared toward building the kind of youth who are looking for serious Jewish involvement in their college years?
• How can we do our job better?

I'd love to hear your ideas about this.

Jewish Thoughts on War and Peace

It happens that this week's parasha, Parshat Shofetim, includes some guidelines for behaviors in war. The Israelites are given certain limits, including the requirement to invite a peaceful surrender before initiating battle, and restrictions on destruction of both people and, interestingly enough, of trees. You can read the text in Deuteronomy Chapter 20 at this link: Mechon-Mamre.

I found this particularly interesting in view of a speech President Obama gave recently, in which he referred to the war in Afghanistan as a necessary war. His words:

"This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity," Obama told the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars conference -- cautioning that the insurgency would not be defeated overnight. "Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which Al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans." (from the LA Times, reporting on a speech given Monday, August 17, 2009)

This speech can serve as a trigger for discussion of what those words - "war of necessity" - mean in the context of Jewish thinking.

Big Idea:

Jewish wisdom can be a way of understanding the world around us

Essential Questions:

1. Why does President Obama consider the war in Afghanistan a war of necessity?
2. In what way would Jewish wisdom support or not support his description?

Learning Activities:

1. Read Obama's speech. It is quite long, so you may want to divide it into sections for your students to read. Discuss what he said, focusing on his reasons for considering the war in Afghanistan a necessary war.
2. Read the articles at these links below.

• Maimonides on War
• War 101 in Jewish Thought

Compare and contrast Obama's thoughts on necessary war with those of the Jewish thinkers in the articles you read. Your students may choose to create a chart, have a debate, or express their understanding in another way. The important outcome is that they understand that they can apply Jewish thinking to the world in which they live.

The Challenge of Change

Reading yet again about the challenge of changing our health care system in the United States it occurred to me that there is a parallel to Jewish educational improvement here.

The health care system needs change.

The Jewish educational system needs change.

Change is difficult.

Systems resist changing.

Change is messy.

Meaningful change needs constituent buy-in.

And here is the BIG QUESTION!

CAN MEANINGFUL CHANGE OCCUR INCREMENTALLY, ONE ELEMENT AT A TIME, OR MUST IT BE SYSTEM-WIDE?

In the case of an educational system that exists within a fundamentally conservative setting, which I would suggest Judaism is, I believe that the necessary constituent buy-in is much more likely to support change that is incremental than that which is system-wide.

And I really believe that this incremental change can be meaningful in improving outcomes.

What can you change in preparing for the school year that can improve student learning outcomes?

What can you change about your teaching throughout the year to support improved learning outcomes?

What can you change about your class?

What can you change in your school?

Take a few minutes to reflect on these questions now, before the school year starts. You may find yourself on the way, one step at a time, to valuable change.

What are our students learning and why?

In general studies and in public schools we struggle to assess what our students actually learn. We convene committees to decide what they should learn, and why. In Jewish educational settings, what are the life skills we want our learners to have? Are we really teaching toward these skills?

The article at the link here discusses this question in terms of general education. What are the issues for our learners?

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/07/20/37oakes.h28.html?tkn=RRLF8OmkCO9%2BxzTyIQbkB9mhn96vnHkS6ICF&print=1