The Washington Post - 06.04.2020

B2 eZ Re the washington post.monday, april 6 , 2020

education

“family feud,” “ Jeopardy” a nd

Halloween. At intervals the

students stopped to write down

answers to short quizzes. What

was happening? They enjoyed it

as much as their teacher, acting

as ringmaster of the small circus.

my grandson unleashed a funny

ad-lib, something I had never

seen him do before.

Holt told an interviewer in

1980 that “the human animal is a

learning animal; we like to learn;

we need to learn; we are good at

it; we don’t need to be shown

how or made to do it.”

There is some truth to that, but

my grandsons will welcome the

end of their unschooling

adventure. They will resume

griping about homework, but

that will be just a device to

disguise their relief at being back

in class with their friends and

their teachers.

[email protected]

They have always complained

about demanding assignments,

but on those few occasions when

I have seen them in their

classrooms, their fascination

with what was going on was

obvious.

There are amazing educators

at their school — and at nearly

every other school I have ever

visited, no matter the average test

scores. Just before the pandemic

hit, I saw the fifth-grader

participate in a class

reenactment of the American

revolution unlike any I had ever

seen. Each child was in costume

playing a role. my grandson was

Thomas Paine. They gave short

speeches. They dramatized

famous battles and debates. T hey

cheered lustily for their side in a

three-way battle between rebels,

loyalists and British troops.

It was a combination of choir

practice, summer camp skit,

success — that is not what

children miss most about school.

And it’s not what will make them

happy when they go back.

The truth is, most children are

addicted to the compelling

drama of interacting with other

children. my most vivid

memories of that time in my life

include competing with my

nerdy friends for grades and

breaking my arm in the 11th

grade when the tennis team

decided to show what men we

were by playing a game of tackle

football.

Like all of us, my grandsons

are tribal primates and love being

part of a group. To them that’s the

point of an education. At the

moment, seeing their friends is

too hard to schedule. When the

third-grader was asked what he

thought of his life without school,

he said, “Totally boring, 24-7.”

They also miss their teachers.

educational. The videos they

watched seemed more literate

and engaging than the black-and-

white television cartoons

lampooning 1930s movie stars I

watched for hours in the 1950s

when my parents weren’t home.

Some of the updated Looney

Tunes, with the exciting addition

of the Kristen Wiig-voiced

character Lola Bunny, were

terrific.

I am comforted by the fact that

the boys also read books and love

being read to. I have seen them

clumped around their mother as

she gives them big doses of J.K.

rowling.

But unlike Holt, I have always

thought most children needed a

classroom and a teacher. And

while some education writers like

me obsess over what is being

taught by that teacher — which

schools are now trying to

approximate online, with mixed

excitement Holt would have. Holt

and his disciples understood

there would be pain.

Unschooling advocate Pat

farenga defined the movement

“as allowing children as much

freedom to learn in the world as

their parents can comfortably

bear.”

I’ve witnessed a kind of

unschooling in my own home.

Until three weeks ago, my three

grandsons attended a public

elementary school a 10-minute

drive from the house where their

grandmother and I live.

Whenever they visited us before

the pandemic, they followed the

Holt model of doing pretty much

what they wanted. T hat meant

online games, most of them on

websites permitted by their

school district, and cartoon

videos.

Some of their activities at our

house were marginally

The
Unschooling
movement was
inspired by a
Phillips Exeter
graduate, World
War II submariner
and unhappy
elementary school
teacher named John Holt. In the
1970s, he decided that reforming
the American school system was
hopeless. He recommended
keeping children at home and
letting them decide what to learn
and when.
I thought Holt, although a
fascinating man, was divorced
from reality. Now I wish he were
still alive to see his idea being
tested across America, as the
traditional school system
shutters in response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
most parents are not greeting
this experiment with the

Unschooling Movement, growing by necessity, can’t replace classroom bonding

Jay
Mathews

LeBlanc and Board of Trustees

Chair Grace Speights to GWU fac-

ulty members, acknowledging

“concerns about the sufficiency of

the information and the data

shared by the administration.”

The letter a nnounced the c reation

of a future enrollment task f orce t o

help address concerns and share

information.

Some faculty leaders dispute

the idea that there is widespread

dissatisfaction with LeBlanc’s

leadership. Sylvia marotta-Wal-

ters, who chairs the faculty Sen-

ate’s executive committee, said in

an interview in march that the

faculty Association petition was

not r eflective of t he entire faculty.

“They have a right t o make their

opinions known, but I don’t think

it’s representative of what the ma-

jority of the faculty feel,” s he said.

marotta-Walters said that LeB-

lanc has admitted he and the ad-

ministration could have done a

better job of providing relevant

data, and that he has made a com-

mitment to start doing that.

reached Thursday, she said of the

faculty Association’s criticisms

that so much has changed at the

university because of the corona-

virus pandemic that “many of the

points they make are now moot in

the f ace of the crisis w e’re in.”

Harald W. Griesshammer, an

associate professor of physics,

didn’t sign the petition calling for

LeBlanc to resign. But he hopes

the president hears its message

that the faculty needs to be fully

involved in the university’s deci-

sion-making, particularly the p lan

to reduce enrollment.

What is needed, Griesshammer

said, is leadership that “listens

and inspires us to follow — not

because we must, but because we

are convinced it is the right thing

to do.”

LeBlanc should realize, Griess-

hammer said, that “stopping the

process and heeding advice is not

a sign of weak leadership. It is a

sign of strength. right n ow h e says

he is listening, b ut nothing a ctual-

ly changes.”

jo [email protected]

tives, that twice called on the ad-

ministration to be more forthcom-

ing with information.

“What I see is a coalescing

movement that’s saying, correctly,

after y ears o f complaining private-

ly or protesting politely, enough is

enough,” Zimmerman s aid. “We’ve

got to do something a bout this.”

In response to questions about

LeBlanc’s l eadership, N osal said in

a statement t hat LeBlanc “has act-

ed in good faith to respond to

questions and requests for infor-

mation from the faculty Senate

and faculty Assembly and will

continue to do so.”

Nosal a lso n oted a letter sent b y

ogy, said he signed the petition

because he was disheartened by

the failure of university leaders to

explain t heir actions.

“I’m not an agent provocateur,

but I’ve been at GW for 23 years

and I’ve never been as uncomfort-

able and I’ve never had so little

respect for the university leader-

ship,” he said i n an interview.

Andrew Zimmerman, a history

professor and the president of the

faculty Association, said the

school’s leadership isn’t working

in partnership with faculty mem-

bers. He pointed to resolutions by

the faculty Senate, which is made

up of elected faculty representa-

raised questions about funds

spent on a training initiative for

top university administrators run

by the Walt Disney Co.’s Disney

Institute.

In a l etter t o the u niversity com-

munity Thursday, LeBlanc said

that because of the disruptions

created by the coronavirus out-

break, the Board of Trustees has

approved his recommendation

that “we pause the strategic plan-

ning process for the foreseeable

future so we can focus on our

immediate needs.”

Bernard Wood, a professor in

the university’s Center for the Ad-

vanced Study o f Human Paleobiol-

bers say LeBlanc has ignored re-

peated requests to provide data

that justifies his goal of reducing

undergraduate enrollment at the

university by 20 percent — or

2,100 s tudents — over the next five

years, while increasing the per-

centage of students in STEm pro-

grams from 24 t o 30 p ercent.

Critics say LeBlanc’s plan will

dramatically reduce revenue and

decrease racial and socioeconom-

ic diversity. Some faculty mem-

bers also fear that a revenue cut

could lead t o cuts in teaching posi-

tions, though LeBlanc’s goals

don’t e xplicitly a ddress that. S epa-

rately, some faculty m embers h ave

spread of coronavirus, and the
subsequent transition toward on-
line educational continuity,
should not detract attention from
the institutional crisis that Presi-
dent LeBlanc has been creating
since his arrival on campus in
2017,” t he faculty members wrote.
The accusations of racism were
sparked by a february encounter
between LeBlanc and a first-year
student, who asked whether the
university would divest from fos-
sil-fuel holdings and close a re-
search center on campus if most
students approved of doing so.
“Doesn’t matter,” LeBlanc re-
sponded. “What if the majority of
the students agreed to shoot all
the black people here? Do I say,
‘A h, well, t he majority v oted?’ No.”
The exchange, captured on vid-
eo, prompted an outcry from stu-
dents and faculty members. LeB-
lanc apologized in a statement t he
next day.
“I attempted to emphasize a
point and used an insensitive ex-
ample that I realize could be hurt-
ful t o members of our c ommunity,”
he said. “The point I was making —
that majority rule should never
suppress the human rights of oth-
ers — was obscured by the exam-
ple I used. I regret my choice of
words and any harm I uninten-
tionally inflicted on a community
I value greatly.”
Since then, LeBlanc “has apolo-
gized in one-on-one meetings, in
group settings and in public fo-
rums, including at the open ses-
sion of the Board of Trustees,”
university spokeswoman Crystal
Nosal s aid in a statement.
Dissatisfaction with the presi-
dent has been building over the
past two years on several fronts,
and f aculty frustration w ith h im i s
widespread, according to inter-
views with several professors.
others disagree, however, saying
those views are not broadly held.
much of their frustration stems
from goals outlined by LeBlanc as
part of a strategic planning pro-
cess he’s leading. faculty mem-

gwu from B1

Faculty group again urges GWU president to resign, cites ‘institutional crisis’

Bonnie Jo Mount/the Washington Post

Thomas J. LeBlanc became president of george washington university in 20 17 ; a p etition from a small number of faculty accuses him of

racism and ignoring faculty feedback on the university’s five-year plan. Others disagree, however, saying those views are not broadly held.

BY NICK ANDERSON

They w ill be much shorter than
usual, just 45 minutes each. They
will be available to take online at
home, or at school if authorities
permit. And they will be moni-
tored through security measures
to deter cheating.
The Advanced Placement ex-
ams will go o n, through extraordi-
nary procedures announced last
week, even though the novel coro-
navirus pandemic has produced
education disruptions and chaos
nationwide.
more than 2.8 million students
took the tests last year in subjects
such as biology and world history.
Ty pically, the tests are two to
three hours long. Those who earn
scores of 3 or better on the 5-point
AP scale are often able to secure
college credit. But this year, it is
anyone’s guess how many will
participate.
Given the immense logistical
hurdles of testing in a pandemic,
the International Baccalaureate

organization recently canceled

exams this spring for the IB class-

es that many high school students

take.

Skeptics wonder how students

without access to reliable Inter-

net, computers or quiet work-

spaces will be able to study for AP

tests and get a fair shot at the

possibility of earning college

credit. The College Board, which

oversees the program, acknowl-

edged the challenge.

“We recognize that the digital

divide could prevent some

l ow-income and rural students

from participating,” t he nonprofit

testing organization said in a

statement. “Working with part-

ners, we’re investing so these stu-

dents have the tools and connec-

tivity they need to review AP con-

tent online and take the exam.”

But some educators and coun-

selors remain worried.

“I don’t want our children, es-

pecially first-generation

l ow-income students, to be intim-

idated about taking these tests,”

said Sanjay mitchell, coordinator

of college and alumni programs

for Thurgood marshall Academy

Public Charter School in the Dis-

trict. “I don’t want them to risk

their health and sanity just to be

able to take the tests, so they can

ultimately, maybe get some col-

lege credit.”

mitchell, whose school serves a

significant number of disadvan-

taged students in the nation’s c ap-

ital, viewed a College Board on-

line presentation on the testing

plan last week. “It heightened my

concerns,” mitchell said after-

ward in a text message. “A nd

made me more skeptical.”

Delonta Johnson, 17, a senior at

Thurgood marshall, is taking AP

classes in calculus, government

and computer science. He said he

doesn’t want to take the tests. “I

don’t have Internet connectivity

that’s stable enough,” he said.

other options are difficult, he

said, given the mandate for social

distancing.

Alexis Jones, 18, a classmate,

said the distractions are intense

as she hunkers down with family

in an apartment. “It’s just hard to

focus and find a place to be by

myself,” s aid Jones, who is taking

AP calculus and computer sci-

ence. “I don’t know how they

expect us to do an AP exam at

home.” (The computer science

principles class that Jones and

Johnson are taking does not have

a year-end exam, but the other

courses do.)

The College Board said it sur-

veyed 18,000 AP students and

found that most want to take the

exams. The survey was sent to a

representative, random sample of

domestic AP students, the College

Board said. The testing organiza-

tion said students who don’t w ant

to take the test can cancel at no

charge. refund policies are deter-

mined by schools and test centers,

the College Board said. The typi-

cal individual fee for a test is $94.

The College Board is making

free online classes and review

sessions available for AP students

through YouTube.

This week, the large and influ-

ential University of California sys-

tem gave a vote of confidence to

the College Board’s effort to res-

cue the AP exams. “UC recognizes

the effort that students have al-

ready applied in these challeng-

ing courses and will award UC

credit for 2020 AP exams com-

pleted with scores of 3, 4 or 5,

consistent with previous years,”

the university said Wednesday.

In a message to high schools

last week, the College Board

spelled out how exams will be

structured and held.

They will be given from may

11-22, with each subject taken on

the same day at the same time

worldwide.

There will be makeup sessions

for each test from June 1 -5.

most exams will have one or

two free-response questions, and

each question will be timed sepa-

rately. Students must submit an-

swers within the time allotted for

each question. There won’t b e any

multiple-choice questions.

Students will be able to take

exams on computers, tablets or

smartphones. They can either

type and upload responses or

write them by hand and submit a

photo via cellphone.

There will be special arrange-

ments for assessing students in

art, foreign language and certain

other subjects.

The College Board said the ex-

ams will be “open book/open

note,” but students will not be

allowed to consult others during

the test.

“We’ll take the necessary steps

to protect the integrity of each

exam administration, as we do

every year,” t he organization said.

“We’re confident that the vast m a-

jority of AP students will follow

the rules for taking the exams. for

the small number of students who

may try to gain an unfair advan-

tage, we have a comprehensive

and strict set of protocols in place

to prevent and detect cheating.”

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At home or at school, in May or in June, Advanced Placement exams will go on

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