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Blind Spots: Why Students Fail and the Science That Can Save Them
In the United States, a majority of students graduate below proficiency in all academic subjects. Parents of struggling students feel overwhelmed and confused about how to help their children simply survive school, let alone succeed. Various school reform efforts have been tried and all have failed. But all hope is not lost. A science exists that allows children to learn as individuals even though at school they are educated in groups. One that avoids senseless labels that sentence children to lifetimes of failure and mediocrity.
Dr. Kimberly Berens and a team of scientists have spent the last 20 years perfecting a powerful system of instruction based on the learning, behavioral, and cognitive sciences that they call Fit Learning. This method of teaching has been proven to markedly improve how students understand and achieve, even for children who have been told they have learning disabilities or other disorders that interfere with their ability to learn.
Blind Spots reveals the history of our broken education system and shows that by using this teaching system in the classroom, we can unlock the vast potential hidden within every child.
Dr. Kimberly Berens and a team of scientists have spent the last 20 years perfecting a powerful system of instruction based on the learning, behavioral, and cognitive sciences that they call Fit Learning. This method of teaching has been proven to markedly improve how students understand and achieve, even for children who have been told they have learning disabilities or other disorders that interfere with their ability to learn.
Blind Spots reveals the history of our broken education system and shows that by using this teaching system in the classroom, we can unlock the vast potential hidden within every child.
232 pages, Paperback
Published October 27, 2020
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1449 people want to read
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July 17, 2021
I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER IN A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY MAGAZINE GIVEAWAY. THANK YOU.
My Review: There is a class of non-fiction book, driven by an agenda (usually religious or economic), that breaks me out in giant urticaria. People who feel, intensely, that Their Way Is Correct, aren't usually interesting to me. When I received this book, I worried that the problem would be especially strong here because Dr. Berens is a proselytizer for an educational system of her own devising.
The problem sounds obvious, doesn't it....damn near inescapable, really. Not so fast....
Yes, there is a lot here that is self-promotional, and that does indeed make me very uncomfortable. I was willing to keep going because the issue Dr. Berens is attempting to fix is one about which I am passionate as well: EDUCATE MY GRANDCHILDREN don't teach them how to take a damn test. We have forty years of lousy learners whose reading skills are such that comic books and audiobooks and podcasts are literary genres. I am, frankly, appalled by this...you need someone to read a book to you? You need lovely art to look at to make all those dull words come alive?! Is there no silence for you, someone must always be talking, talking, talking? When do you ever *think*?
Such are my concerns...Dr. Berens doesn't address them, but she does address the sad and worsening situation that teachers and students are enmeshed in. The first four chapters of the book clock in at 108 pages. They are the case-making chapters, the ones where we're informed of how we got here. I found them depressing and hard to motivate myself to read because honestly, seeing what's happened to the young people I know, there is such an immense wrong that's been done to them in the name of education that I want to weep.
My Review: There is a class of non-fiction book, driven by an agenda (usually religious or economic), that breaks me out in giant urticaria. People who feel, intensely, that Their Way Is Correct, aren't usually interesting to me. When I received this book, I worried that the problem would be especially strong here because Dr. Berens is a proselytizer for an educational system of her own devising.
The problem sounds obvious, doesn't it....damn near inescapable, really. Not so fast....
Yes, there is a lot here that is self-promotional, and that does indeed make me very uncomfortable. I was willing to keep going because the issue Dr. Berens is attempting to fix is one about which I am passionate as well: EDUCATE MY GRANDCHILDREN don't teach them how to take a damn test. We have forty years of lousy learners whose reading skills are such that comic books and audiobooks and podcasts are literary genres. I am, frankly, appalled by this...you need someone to read a book to you? You need lovely art to look at to make all those dull words come alive?! Is there no silence for you, someone must always be talking, talking, talking? When do you ever *think*?
Such are my concerns...Dr. Berens doesn't address them, but she does address the sad and worsening situation that teachers and students are enmeshed in. The first four chapters of the book clock in at 108 pages. They are the case-making chapters, the ones where we're informed of how we got here. I found them depressing and hard to motivate myself to read because honestly, seeing what's happened to the young people I know, there is such an immense wrong that's been done to them in the name of education that I want to weep.
The establishment sets an arbitrary timeline that teachers and students are expected to follow. Thus, students spend a predetermined amount of time on a particular lesson, get tested on that lesson, receive a grade of some sort, and are pushed on to the next lesson—regardless of the grade received. Grades are viewed as an evaluation of the student, not an evaluation of instruction. Students are expected to raise their hands, sit quietly and attentively in class, and make good grades. When students fail to do these things, that failure is attributed to problems inherent in the student.
...I'm hoping that uncovering your blind spots regarding how learning actually occurs might be the tipping point {to cause action}. ... Educational practices should be based on how learning actually occurs, not on how the establishment believes learning occurs.
Having spent the preceding hundred-plus pages bringing the fallacies and unsupported assumptions to your attention, the next chapter (five, for the detail-oriented) explodes nine myths about learning:
All Kids Learn Differently
We Should Teach to A Child's Strengths
They're Just Not Ready Yet
They're Just Not Good at It
Curriculum Materials Must Capture Student Interest
It's All About Self-Esteem
But They're The Experts!
Learning and Behavioral Problems are Medical and Often Require Medication
It's All About the Brain
...that's pretty comprehensive, isn't it...and the simplest thing about it is the number of times you've nodded your head, and thought (or said out loud, don't front!) "yeah, _____ said that when..." you've interacted with The System. Any parent has, and has heard those very ideas expressed with great confidence. And, it turns out, surprisingly circular intellectual justifications. (That's those first four chapters I had to make myself read.)
Chapter five, then, is about preparing you for chapter six: The Solution. Isn't that a reassuring title? You've made me all verschmekeled about the problem, yes, but here is The Solution. Thirty pages of assertions that I myownself think sound like they can't miss...but, says the Voice of Doubt, what makes these ideas better than the ones we're living the failure of? Chapter seven: The Evidence.
Yep. The structure of the book is a well-designed version of the solution it presents. I'm borderline panicked at the middle-aged people who, during this pandemic, have taken no lessons away from their experience of being forced to be their kids' teachers except "teachers aren't paid enough" (which, true enough, they aren't). The way your own kid looks at you as you're trying to explain a lesson shouldn't fill you with dismay and embarrassment. It should make you goddamned good and mad. This is what school means to them! It's not (just) you, it's the bloody awful things we've done to kids for forty years and called education!
So...do I think you should buy this book and read it? Yes. Yes, I do. I know you won't necessarily like the experience but the information makes me want to urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to read it and share it widely...parent, grandparent, or just citizen of the world these schoolchildren will make for you.
December 10, 2020
Book Review of Why Students Fail…and the Science That Can Save Them by Nicole Harmon
Title: Why Students Fail…and the Science That Can Save Them
Author: Kimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D.
Publisher: The Collective Book Studio
Publish Date: October 27, 2020
Buy Link: https://amzn.to/39UALuF
Rating: 5 stars
Book Blurb: “Educational traditions arise from blind spots regarding how learning actually occurs.” P 93
This book is based on one women’s experience with education in today’s world. She saw first- hand what the education system was like and what it missed with her own eyes. Take for instance her own experience with Alex-his teacher stated that he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to because the teacher didn’t make him. And the mother’s response who is the author as well if you don’t make him do it he will never do it. If you let him just sit in class and not do the work he will never excel. As such his grades were failing. She said her husband and her would fix it. Over the course of the next few weeks, her son improved and that issue was put to bed.
Kimberly Berens is a doctor who has spent time over the years listening to others talk about teaching their students and saying that they aren’t doing what they should be. She has seen how students perform when tested by teachers, herself, and during class participation. Her take was that the education system that we had was failing. It was failing to educate our children, particularly black and brown children. Statistics she shows in her novel consistently show the difference in learning between black and brown children. This is consistent with the Asian population as well. Kimberly Berens wanted to change that.
She talks of her frustration with being told that the students just weren’t smart enough. That the students just would never excel. She talks of frustration when the teachers themselves taught for memorization, for the tests, and then said later that the kids still weren’t progressing properly.
So she studied to find what would work. In comes Fit Learning. In comes Precision Teaching. (PT). In comes Direct Instruction. (DT) In comes Curriculum-Based Measurement. (CBM). In comes the National Assessment of Educational Progress. (NAEP). All of this Kimberly states will help improve your child’s learning capability exponentially. Do you think that many people thought it would work? How they probably asked. Show me they probably said. And so she did.
For over 20 years she perfected this style of teaching. If you give her 40 hours she will double your child’s learning ability to make it as close to fluent as possible to be fluent by years’ end. You’re asking me why I say that. If you read the book she will state that your child will be fluent. I state that your child will be that by years’ end. No, I am not the teacher who went to school just the teacher who comes in to cover your class. When you are not there your student will falter sometimes. They will act completely flummoxed and other times they are completely clueless. So fluency is a term when used with your child depends on your child and the day but by years’ end if you were just to walk up to certain students you will get the answer you seek and others will still need time. By the time they hit adulthood that will as she says be ingrained but with Fit Learning, you can show them and teach them to be quicker in their responses because they will have learned it in a way that it is always retained.
I recommend reading this book. As I read I thought of my experience as a student and as a teacher. I thought of me listening to the parents of the children I had charge of that day and what I witnessed of their learning ability. Any distractions are bad but what I saw most was when that teacher was gone the child tended to be at a loss. Some worried that the teacher would never return because the teacher would die. (First time I had that question I didn’t know what to do) Some students missed their teacher because the teacher promised them something that only the teacher could give them to the student. I could but it wasn’t the same. One student literally cried because the teacher wasn’t there. But the children still learned their lesson. Here are the kicker-I know some only did it because I promised free playtime. I know that because the lesson would be done with alacrity. I bet you the next day the teacher was like what did you do for some and for others it was business as usual. It wasn’t that I didn’t do my job it was that I had to bribe some of the children to get the lesson done. Here is part of the reason she wrote the book. Teaching methods. We do what works but sometimes what works isn’t what’s best. So, I want you to buy this book because you care- care about race relations, care about education, care about learning- and most importantly because you care about the teachers and the students they teach and the institutions they teach in. Show them that they matter. Buy this book!
Title: Why Students Fail…and the Science That Can Save Them
Author: Kimberly Nix Berens, Ph.D.
Publisher: The Collective Book Studio
Publish Date: October 27, 2020
Buy Link: https://amzn.to/39UALuF
Rating: 5 stars
Book Blurb: “Educational traditions arise from blind spots regarding how learning actually occurs.” P 93
This book is based on one women’s experience with education in today’s world. She saw first- hand what the education system was like and what it missed with her own eyes. Take for instance her own experience with Alex-his teacher stated that he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to because the teacher didn’t make him. And the mother’s response who is the author as well if you don’t make him do it he will never do it. If you let him just sit in class and not do the work he will never excel. As such his grades were failing. She said her husband and her would fix it. Over the course of the next few weeks, her son improved and that issue was put to bed.
Kimberly Berens is a doctor who has spent time over the years listening to others talk about teaching their students and saying that they aren’t doing what they should be. She has seen how students perform when tested by teachers, herself, and during class participation. Her take was that the education system that we had was failing. It was failing to educate our children, particularly black and brown children. Statistics she shows in her novel consistently show the difference in learning between black and brown children. This is consistent with the Asian population as well. Kimberly Berens wanted to change that.
She talks of her frustration with being told that the students just weren’t smart enough. That the students just would never excel. She talks of frustration when the teachers themselves taught for memorization, for the tests, and then said later that the kids still weren’t progressing properly.
So she studied to find what would work. In comes Fit Learning. In comes Precision Teaching. (PT). In comes Direct Instruction. (DT) In comes Curriculum-Based Measurement. (CBM). In comes the National Assessment of Educational Progress. (NAEP). All of this Kimberly states will help improve your child’s learning capability exponentially. Do you think that many people thought it would work? How they probably asked. Show me they probably said. And so she did.
For over 20 years she perfected this style of teaching. If you give her 40 hours she will double your child’s learning ability to make it as close to fluent as possible to be fluent by years’ end. You’re asking me why I say that. If you read the book she will state that your child will be fluent. I state that your child will be that by years’ end. No, I am not the teacher who went to school just the teacher who comes in to cover your class. When you are not there your student will falter sometimes. They will act completely flummoxed and other times they are completely clueless. So fluency is a term when used with your child depends on your child and the day but by years’ end if you were just to walk up to certain students you will get the answer you seek and others will still need time. By the time they hit adulthood that will as she says be ingrained but with Fit Learning, you can show them and teach them to be quicker in their responses because they will have learned it in a way that it is always retained.
I recommend reading this book. As I read I thought of my experience as a student and as a teacher. I thought of me listening to the parents of the children I had charge of that day and what I witnessed of their learning ability. Any distractions are bad but what I saw most was when that teacher was gone the child tended to be at a loss. Some worried that the teacher would never return because the teacher would die. (First time I had that question I didn’t know what to do) Some students missed their teacher because the teacher promised them something that only the teacher could give them to the student. I could but it wasn’t the same. One student literally cried because the teacher wasn’t there. But the children still learned their lesson. Here are the kicker-I know some only did it because I promised free playtime. I know that because the lesson would be done with alacrity. I bet you the next day the teacher was like what did you do for some and for others it was business as usual. It wasn’t that I didn’t do my job it was that I had to bribe some of the children to get the lesson done. Here is part of the reason she wrote the book. Teaching methods. We do what works but sometimes what works isn’t what’s best. So, I want you to buy this book because you care- care about race relations, care about education, care about learning- and most importantly because you care about the teachers and the students they teach and the institutions they teach in. Show them that they matter. Buy this book!
February 5, 2021
2/3/2021 3.5 stars rounded up. Compelling but not without its flaws. Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.
2/5/2021 As someone who grew up studying under the American, British and (the absurdly simplistic) Malaysian New Curriculum systems, as well as a mom to kids with special needs, I found this book endlessly fascinating in how it interrogates mainstream educational thought and offers solutions to the continuing problem of falling student standards. With primarily an American focus -- understandably given Kimberly Nix Berens' background in this country's educational system -- it turns a critical eye on the history of schooling in America and why it hasn't uniformly improved the lives of its students since perhaps the initial Golden Age when mandatory K-12 freed kids from limiting and often dangerous labor practices.
It's widely known that America is falling behind the rest of the world's leading countries/regions in educational standards while, perhaps less well known, still spending far more than our counterparts. Dr Berens convincingly lays out why this is happening, while also suggesting what to do about it. Granted, what to do about it happens to be a plug for her own institutions/models of learning, but this shallow vein of capitalization is ultimately superseded by the fact that she's putting her money where her mouth is and has the science to back it up.
For Dr Berens is a behavioral scientist, and she strongly believes that the greatest problem with the American system of education is its dogmatic refusal to look at results in favor of a philosophy-affirming feel-good fuzziness that ultimately fails both students and teachers. She's critical of the quickness with which children are labeled Learning Disabled, as well as of the idea that students fail to learn because of inherent deficiencies in themselves instead of in the system.
As a former corporate trainer who strongly believes that if a willing learner is unable to understand something I'm teaching, the onus is on me to communicate effectively; and as a mom who is often frustrated at the way certain educators I know think autism is some sort of socio-educational curse instead of an opportunity to explore different methods of teaching; and as a lifelong learner with firsthand experience of wildly different methods of teaching, who also strongly believes in the ability of behavioral science to help people sort themselves out for the better, I found Dr Berens' analysis compelling and reasonable, even if I thought her description of standard American education used far worse examples than I've ever seen myself...
And then I googled whether America teaches phonics and I am absolutely astounded, no, horrified by the results. This article from 2019 explains the horrors of the three-cueing system prevalent in American education since the 1980s. I cannot believe this country thought (and still thinks in far too many places!) that teaching kids to read by having them guess words based on accompanying pictures or "sentence context" is a sound basis for developing competent readers! The actual fuck happened to looking words up in a dictionary?! And how on earth can you expect kids to competently read, much less enjoy reading, or to connect words on the page with the context of words as they're spoken in the real world around them, when they don't understand the basics of what sounds the alphabetic letters can make?! Encouraging kids to guess a/o skip unknown words instead of examining them closely and looking for immediate, correct answers is how we encourage a nation of deeply uncritical, overconfident thinkers (who may or may not be more susceptible to conspiracy theories where they're expected to "connect the dots" and "educate themselves" instead of just interrogating the facts on the page like a logical human being. Ahem.)
Fortunately, Dr Berens offers scientific solutions based on rate and celerity to help kids master the basics of both reading and math. Unfortunately, most parents don't have time to do that kind of thing at home. Fortunately, she has affiliated learning institutions world-wide! I definitely looked up the closest one to me and am strongly considering enrolling at least some of my kids come summer; definitely when the pandemic's over! I love my twins' teachers but the Asian-parent-who-grew-up-on-a-rigorous-British-education in me really doesn't think they expect enough of my kids sometimes, and it's my own fault, too, for not holding the little demons to a stricter standard. Parenting, in or out of a pandemic, is exhausting and I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I'm extremely grateful for all the help I can get.
One (very minor) thing I disagree with Dr Berens on, however, is the Socratic method, which she disparages. While I do agree that children don't innately know the fundamentals of reading, I also believe that applying the Socratic method to basic facts is a nonsense. People don't Socratically know names, places and dates either, but they do have an understanding of scientific/philosophical concepts via lived experience, even if they can't necessarily name them or measure them. I agree with Dr Berens that it's a waste of time trying to coax intelligence out of kids instead of laying out information for them to process first, but I do think that leading learners to their a-ha! moments is an extremely effective, if definitely not universally applicable, teaching tool.
Anyway, this was an extremely eye-opening book and I need to go lie down and think about what I can do for my kids to help make up for the unnecessary hurdles in their education. I'm just flummoxed still by the idea that a solid mastery of actually reading words could be waved aside in favor of context. This is why kids fail in school. Literacy is so fundamental to learning, to studying, to exams, to absorption and display of academic knowledge: to not ensure our children's mastery in it is like expecting them to build their entire academic future on a basis of quicksand. It is absolutely bananas that the American system of education has used this as its own firmament for so long, and honestly a testament to the American people that our results aren't even worse than they currently are.
Blind Spots: Why Students Fail And The Science That Can Save Them by Kimberly Nix Berens was published October 27th 2020 by The Collective Book Studio and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!. Want it now? For the Kindle version, click here.
2/5/2021 As someone who grew up studying under the American, British and (the absurdly simplistic) Malaysian New Curriculum systems, as well as a mom to kids with special needs, I found this book endlessly fascinating in how it interrogates mainstream educational thought and offers solutions to the continuing problem of falling student standards. With primarily an American focus -- understandably given Kimberly Nix Berens' background in this country's educational system -- it turns a critical eye on the history of schooling in America and why it hasn't uniformly improved the lives of its students since perhaps the initial Golden Age when mandatory K-12 freed kids from limiting and often dangerous labor practices.
It's widely known that America is falling behind the rest of the world's leading countries/regions in educational standards while, perhaps less well known, still spending far more than our counterparts. Dr Berens convincingly lays out why this is happening, while also suggesting what to do about it. Granted, what to do about it happens to be a plug for her own institutions/models of learning, but this shallow vein of capitalization is ultimately superseded by the fact that she's putting her money where her mouth is and has the science to back it up.
For Dr Berens is a behavioral scientist, and she strongly believes that the greatest problem with the American system of education is its dogmatic refusal to look at results in favor of a philosophy-affirming feel-good fuzziness that ultimately fails both students and teachers. She's critical of the quickness with which children are labeled Learning Disabled, as well as of the idea that students fail to learn because of inherent deficiencies in themselves instead of in the system.
As a former corporate trainer who strongly believes that if a willing learner is unable to understand something I'm teaching, the onus is on me to communicate effectively; and as a mom who is often frustrated at the way certain educators I know think autism is some sort of socio-educational curse instead of an opportunity to explore different methods of teaching; and as a lifelong learner with firsthand experience of wildly different methods of teaching, who also strongly believes in the ability of behavioral science to help people sort themselves out for the better, I found Dr Berens' analysis compelling and reasonable, even if I thought her description of standard American education used far worse examples than I've ever seen myself...
And then I googled whether America teaches phonics and I am absolutely astounded, no, horrified by the results. This article from 2019 explains the horrors of the three-cueing system prevalent in American education since the 1980s. I cannot believe this country thought (and still thinks in far too many places!) that teaching kids to read by having them guess words based on accompanying pictures or "sentence context" is a sound basis for developing competent readers! The actual fuck happened to looking words up in a dictionary?! And how on earth can you expect kids to competently read, much less enjoy reading, or to connect words on the page with the context of words as they're spoken in the real world around them, when they don't understand the basics of what sounds the alphabetic letters can make?! Encouraging kids to guess a/o skip unknown words instead of examining them closely and looking for immediate, correct answers is how we encourage a nation of deeply uncritical, overconfident thinkers (who may or may not be more susceptible to conspiracy theories where they're expected to "connect the dots" and "educate themselves" instead of just interrogating the facts on the page like a logical human being. Ahem.)
Fortunately, Dr Berens offers scientific solutions based on rate and celerity to help kids master the basics of both reading and math. Unfortunately, most parents don't have time to do that kind of thing at home. Fortunately, she has affiliated learning institutions world-wide! I definitely looked up the closest one to me and am strongly considering enrolling at least some of my kids come summer; definitely when the pandemic's over! I love my twins' teachers but the Asian-parent-who-grew-up-on-a-rigorous-British-education in me really doesn't think they expect enough of my kids sometimes, and it's my own fault, too, for not holding the little demons to a stricter standard. Parenting, in or out of a pandemic, is exhausting and I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I'm extremely grateful for all the help I can get.
One (very minor) thing I disagree with Dr Berens on, however, is the Socratic method, which she disparages. While I do agree that children don't innately know the fundamentals of reading, I also believe that applying the Socratic method to basic facts is a nonsense. People don't Socratically know names, places and dates either, but they do have an understanding of scientific/philosophical concepts via lived experience, even if they can't necessarily name them or measure them. I agree with Dr Berens that it's a waste of time trying to coax intelligence out of kids instead of laying out information for them to process first, but I do think that leading learners to their a-ha! moments is an extremely effective, if definitely not universally applicable, teaching tool.
Anyway, this was an extremely eye-opening book and I need to go lie down and think about what I can do for my kids to help make up for the unnecessary hurdles in their education. I'm just flummoxed still by the idea that a solid mastery of actually reading words could be waved aside in favor of context. This is why kids fail in school. Literacy is so fundamental to learning, to studying, to exams, to absorption and display of academic knowledge: to not ensure our children's mastery in it is like expecting them to build their entire academic future on a basis of quicksand. It is absolutely bananas that the American system of education has used this as its own firmament for so long, and honestly a testament to the American people that our results aren't even worse than they currently are.
Blind Spots: Why Students Fail And The Science That Can Save Them by Kimberly Nix Berens was published October 27th 2020 by The Collective Book Studio and is available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!. Want it now? For the Kindle version, click here.
February 3, 2021
Thank you to the author and The Collective Book studio for the complimentary review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
This book is about a 3.5 star rating for me. There's a great deal of good information presented and it will be very helpful to educators, but much of it is a bit too theoretical and not practical enough for parents and everyday advocates for children.
I did find the information about the history of problems with education and the myths and wrong focuses to be fascinating. I can see how that years of teaching in a particular way and believing a particular thing can be detrimental to child learning. I did want to see more about what Fit Learning (the author's program) practically looks like and how it can be implemented with students. The examples she did give were very informative and eye opening, I just wanted more.
This is a book I will pass along to my educator friends and hopefully their classrooms will benefit from the information.
This book is about a 3.5 star rating for me. There's a great deal of good information presented and it will be very helpful to educators, but much of it is a bit too theoretical and not practical enough for parents and everyday advocates for children.
I did find the information about the history of problems with education and the myths and wrong focuses to be fascinating. I can see how that years of teaching in a particular way and believing a particular thing can be detrimental to child learning. I did want to see more about what Fit Learning (the author's program) practically looks like and how it can be implemented with students. The examples she did give were very informative and eye opening, I just wanted more.
This is a book I will pass along to my educator friends and hopefully their classrooms will benefit from the information.
February 5, 2021
I had to literally scream into my pillow when I finished the last page. This is everything I have ever felt and thought as a student and as an educator. This is the radical solution to education. The entire model blasts through equality to get us to equity. I am enraged because I think we all know these issues while we’re in school and it just gets worse when you’re on the other side. We’ve known how to fix schools since the 1960’s yet here we are. What are we doing? Why are we stifling the ability to create the most educated generation known in our history? Just go read the book I have to scream again.
November 30, 2023
I won this book from a publishers weekly giveaway and was excited to read it because I have two boys in public schools. One is a gifted 3rd grader and the other is a 1st grader who is struggling to read. So this was an important topic to me. But I don’t think this was the book for me. I was hoping to get some useful knowledge and ideas on how to better prepare my kids for the future and to help them thrive in education. Instead, the first half of the book was trash talking public education and saying kids with learning disabilities just need to sign up for her business. It all felt like an ad for the business she started and how she can do things better than school systems. Anyway, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I did find a few good tips and things from the book but overall, it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
March 19, 2021
Makes a strong case for behavior science based teaching. It is quite US-centric in ways that I cannot comment, not living in the US. I do think some attacks on other paradigms like brain science or developmental studies are against straw man versions; Steven C Hayes has pointed out that these paradigms can be integrated as having different 'root metaphors'.
Still, these problems aside, the ideas of constant measurement (not grading), feedback and breaking curriculum down to component skills are absolutely great. Were I a US citizen, this would be a 4 out of 5 stars.
Still, these problems aside, the ideas of constant measurement (not grading), feedback and breaking curriculum down to component skills are absolutely great. Were I a US citizen, this would be a 4 out of 5 stars.
October 28, 2020
Dr. Berens has been educated in behavioral assessments and for many years has been helping students using a novel approach of finding small and measurable actions and then applying behavioral scientific techniques to change these actions. She and her husband have created a system that is used in multiple institutions to apply the techniques to struggling students. This book is an attempt to state the case for this approach doing a better job than our traditional educational system.
The book is not written as an engaging and fun read but more as a treatise on the American educational establishment and almost as a dissertation arguing for behavioral scientific approaches being superior to every other educational approach. My background is as a psychology major in college and now working in the medical profession with the most challenging cases of developmental disabilities or mental health issues in an institutional setting. I have a similar background to the author but I am on the medical side of the picture. We work closely with our behavior specialists to help eliminate or promote specific behaviors. I have seen the techniques used and how effective they are. It is reasonable that these same techniques should also be able to affect change on our struggling students who have learned habits that interfere with their learning.
Overall, I found the premise of this book to be intriguing and fascinating. It would be fantastic to apply "behavioral support plans" that are individualized to each learner. I would agree that this should show measurable success in most or all cases. I agree with many of the author's points regarding what ails our educational system. I would love for there to be a universally applicable system that we could use across the board and problem solved. I don't think its that easy. I too, as a clinician and mother, have had my share of grievances with education. I would have liked to see more actual case plans and how these data were used to improve a student's experience. The few data involving individual students shown struck me as the sort of programmatic approach to learning that is quite dull if that's what you had to do all day.
I loved the ideas. I loved the simplicity of a group response (choral responding) in the classroom so that everyone is engaged and involved and receiving real time feedback. I agree with her statements of immediate feedback, and I would suggest, full feedback, to students on assignments can be a great teaching tool. Instead our students turn assignments into the teacher and don't see a response for weeks and even then it does nothing more than grade their performance rather than show them what they still need to master. I love the teaching to mastery approach rather than moving on with "a passing grade". The current method only encourages teachers to pass children without mastery and then creates a roadblock to learning more complex ideas. This is the same approach that drives "Khan Academy". Meet the student where they are, fill in the gaps with instruction and practice and then move on with instruction of complex topics.
Some of my critiques are:
1) Too much of what ails the system and the argument that its almost a century of failure. How did we produce some of the best in their fields during this time if all is bad with the system? Just through the good fortune of their learning techniques? I would like to see a plan to implement the Fit Teaching on a broader scale, with real results and examples.
2) While I definitely depend on behavior specialists and respect their different expertise from my own, I think overstating the issues in behavioral terms would equate to me overstating someone's actions in medical terms only. It is too simplistic of an approach. There is also zero reason to belittle any of our differently trained colleagues. I don't find this helpful. She stated that it is "unethical" for a physician to treat with medication based on a history and physical rather than gathering scientific data. I would argue that while I have not been trained in behavioral analysis and leave it to the experts, the same should be true for the author stating how or why physicians are choosing a treatment plan. She wasn't trained in the medical field but opines about how they should do their jobs.
3) For as many behavior plans as I have utilized in my own work, I would point out that in patients, these behavioral approaches are requested by physicians and then studied, often for weeks to months before a plan is in place. Then it requires the buy-in from every single person interacting with the individual. How is this efficient? It maybe necessary but it is not efficient. Can we expect that a behavioral, scientific approach to all learners would be equally slow to happen? It could make all the difference or not depending upon adherence to the plan. Maybe a discussion of the learners who failed to show progress would strengthen the argument for this approach.
4) I would like to know more about what is actually in place at the learning facilities already running. Even on the website the data are scant. There are overall descriptions but no concrete information. I feel like an overview of what they provide now would show the successes and weaknesses they have encountered and be helpful to understanding the usefulness of this approach.
In conclusion, overall I found that there are many great ideas and criticisms throughout this work. Many of the criticisms are examples that I have seen as well. If this is written for parents, it needs more ideas as to what they can do for their struggling learners. Many Americans do not live near a center, so another way to access the information is needed. If the book is written for educators or policy makers, it is likely to be found as somewhat insulting and too technical for the purpose it could serve. While I see the point in the historical recounting of psychological theories, it brought me back to the part of my first psychology class that I hated.
I think that if these ideas can be validated as useful throughout a school system or the educational system in total, then wouldn't it be great to include our behavioral specialists in the education policy process. Bring in these experts and allow them to take part in the discussion. This can only improve our system.
The book is not written as an engaging and fun read but more as a treatise on the American educational establishment and almost as a dissertation arguing for behavioral scientific approaches being superior to every other educational approach. My background is as a psychology major in college and now working in the medical profession with the most challenging cases of developmental disabilities or mental health issues in an institutional setting. I have a similar background to the author but I am on the medical side of the picture. We work closely with our behavior specialists to help eliminate or promote specific behaviors. I have seen the techniques used and how effective they are. It is reasonable that these same techniques should also be able to affect change on our struggling students who have learned habits that interfere with their learning.
Overall, I found the premise of this book to be intriguing and fascinating. It would be fantastic to apply "behavioral support plans" that are individualized to each learner. I would agree that this should show measurable success in most or all cases. I agree with many of the author's points regarding what ails our educational system. I would love for there to be a universally applicable system that we could use across the board and problem solved. I don't think its that easy. I too, as a clinician and mother, have had my share of grievances with education. I would have liked to see more actual case plans and how these data were used to improve a student's experience. The few data involving individual students shown struck me as the sort of programmatic approach to learning that is quite dull if that's what you had to do all day.
I loved the ideas. I loved the simplicity of a group response (choral responding) in the classroom so that everyone is engaged and involved and receiving real time feedback. I agree with her statements of immediate feedback, and I would suggest, full feedback, to students on assignments can be a great teaching tool. Instead our students turn assignments into the teacher and don't see a response for weeks and even then it does nothing more than grade their performance rather than show them what they still need to master. I love the teaching to mastery approach rather than moving on with "a passing grade". The current method only encourages teachers to pass children without mastery and then creates a roadblock to learning more complex ideas. This is the same approach that drives "Khan Academy". Meet the student where they are, fill in the gaps with instruction and practice and then move on with instruction of complex topics.
Some of my critiques are:
1) Too much of what ails the system and the argument that its almost a century of failure. How did we produce some of the best in their fields during this time if all is bad with the system? Just through the good fortune of their learning techniques? I would like to see a plan to implement the Fit Teaching on a broader scale, with real results and examples.
2) While I definitely depend on behavior specialists and respect their different expertise from my own, I think overstating the issues in behavioral terms would equate to me overstating someone's actions in medical terms only. It is too simplistic of an approach. There is also zero reason to belittle any of our differently trained colleagues. I don't find this helpful. She stated that it is "unethical" for a physician to treat with medication based on a history and physical rather than gathering scientific data. I would argue that while I have not been trained in behavioral analysis and leave it to the experts, the same should be true for the author stating how or why physicians are choosing a treatment plan. She wasn't trained in the medical field but opines about how they should do their jobs.
3) For as many behavior plans as I have utilized in my own work, I would point out that in patients, these behavioral approaches are requested by physicians and then studied, often for weeks to months before a plan is in place. Then it requires the buy-in from every single person interacting with the individual. How is this efficient? It maybe necessary but it is not efficient. Can we expect that a behavioral, scientific approach to all learners would be equally slow to happen? It could make all the difference or not depending upon adherence to the plan. Maybe a discussion of the learners who failed to show progress would strengthen the argument for this approach.
4) I would like to know more about what is actually in place at the learning facilities already running. Even on the website the data are scant. There are overall descriptions but no concrete information. I feel like an overview of what they provide now would show the successes and weaknesses they have encountered and be helpful to understanding the usefulness of this approach.
In conclusion, overall I found that there are many great ideas and criticisms throughout this work. Many of the criticisms are examples that I have seen as well. If this is written for parents, it needs more ideas as to what they can do for their struggling learners. Many Americans do not live near a center, so another way to access the information is needed. If the book is written for educators or policy makers, it is likely to be found as somewhat insulting and too technical for the purpose it could serve. While I see the point in the historical recounting of psychological theories, it brought me back to the part of my first psychology class that I hated.
I think that if these ideas can be validated as useful throughout a school system or the educational system in total, then wouldn't it be great to include our behavioral specialists in the education policy process. Bring in these experts and allow them to take part in the discussion. This can only improve our system.
May 25, 2021
[I won a copy of this book from the publisher]
2.5 stars = Mostly solid to solid, some issues but able to finish
I was intrigued by the concepts here, but the content was abrasive and unfairly critical at times. I would have liked more of an emphasis on solutions and the better methods advertised. Most of the book (130 out of 190 pages) was focused on what's wrong with the current state of education. As both a former educator and a parent, I didn't finish this feeling much hope for my ability to make any significant impact on the powers that be that the author criticizes. I would have also liked the book to have more anecdotes and examples of real kids, real families, and real examples of her methods.
2.5 stars = Mostly solid to solid, some issues but able to finish
I was intrigued by the concepts here, but the content was abrasive and unfairly critical at times. I would have liked more of an emphasis on solutions and the better methods advertised. Most of the book (130 out of 190 pages) was focused on what's wrong with the current state of education. As both a former educator and a parent, I didn't finish this feeling much hope for my ability to make any significant impact on the powers that be that the author criticizes. I would have also liked the book to have more anecdotes and examples of real kids, real families, and real examples of her methods.
November 17, 2024
Overall this is a really important book. Sometimes it veers too extreme toward behaviorism, but that fault is forgivable given all the important information it covers.
I am a teacher and a parent. I had a strong background in behavioral science before getting my teaching degree and I 100% agree that teacher education is based in myth and ideology and not the science of learning. The same can be said for the curricula used in schools, especially math as this field has not had its own “science of” movement, like in reading.
Students do not get enough practice in order to master basic skills. They are pushed on to the next grade whether or not they are ready. Effective strategies, like the standard algorithms in math, are purposefully withheld from students in the hope that they might discover them themselves. For example, my school’s math curriculum does not want teachers to show students the standard algorithm for basic addition and subtraction until 4th grade. The justification for this is that the standard algorithm supposedly harms students understanding of place value. But this is fantasy, not fact; the standard algorithm depends on an understanding of place value and is an efficient way to add any numbers! It took humanity centuries to develop, but someone each child is expected to invent it themselves. Instead of using algorithms, teachers are supposed to expose students to numerous methods of simplifying problems that most students cannot understand and are not helpful because these students don’t know their basic math facts.
In addition, assessments are uninformative and underutilized. The result is students in 5th grade and above who cannot read simple texts, or do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
I’m also convinced that the increase in behavior problems in schools is directly related to the increase in ineffective teaching methods. Who are the students most likely to destroy classrooms and cause evacuations? Those with the lowest academic skills! But teachers have to expose all students to more and more complex topics when they haven’t mastered years worth of foundational skills that are required for them to understand the grade-level topics. The hope is that they just learn through exposure? Where is the research base for this practice?
I recommend reading this book, giving it to others, going to school board meetings and help change our education system for the better. I went through public schools as a child and they helped me move up the socioeconomic ladder. I teach kids every day who are being failed by this same system that was so beneficial for me.
I am a teacher and a parent. I had a strong background in behavioral science before getting my teaching degree and I 100% agree that teacher education is based in myth and ideology and not the science of learning. The same can be said for the curricula used in schools, especially math as this field has not had its own “science of” movement, like in reading.
Students do not get enough practice in order to master basic skills. They are pushed on to the next grade whether or not they are ready. Effective strategies, like the standard algorithms in math, are purposefully withheld from students in the hope that they might discover them themselves. For example, my school’s math curriculum does not want teachers to show students the standard algorithm for basic addition and subtraction until 4th grade. The justification for this is that the standard algorithm supposedly harms students understanding of place value. But this is fantasy, not fact; the standard algorithm depends on an understanding of place value and is an efficient way to add any numbers! It took humanity centuries to develop, but someone each child is expected to invent it themselves. Instead of using algorithms, teachers are supposed to expose students to numerous methods of simplifying problems that most students cannot understand and are not helpful because these students don’t know their basic math facts.
In addition, assessments are uninformative and underutilized. The result is students in 5th grade and above who cannot read simple texts, or do simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
I’m also convinced that the increase in behavior problems in schools is directly related to the increase in ineffective teaching methods. Who are the students most likely to destroy classrooms and cause evacuations? Those with the lowest academic skills! But teachers have to expose all students to more and more complex topics when they haven’t mastered years worth of foundational skills that are required for them to understand the grade-level topics. The hope is that they just learn through exposure? Where is the research base for this practice?
I recommend reading this book, giving it to others, going to school board meetings and help change our education system for the better. I went through public schools as a child and they helped me move up the socioeconomic ladder. I teach kids every day who are being failed by this same system that was so beneficial for me.
January 26, 2021
Rating: 📚📚📚📚
A science exists that allows children to learn as individuals even though they must be educated in groups. A science exists that avoids senseless labels that sentence children to lifetimes of failure and mediocrity.
The opening, the Introduction, hit me on a personal level. In the beginning, Berens talks about a child diagnosed with dyslexia and still failing with the adjusted teaching methods. I had recently had a parent-teacher conference discussing my child’s academic progress. My daughter, the six-year-old troublemaker who can’t focus on one thing for too long, struggles in school. Her teacher said something about if she doesn’t improve over the next few weeks, they are going to test her for any learning disabilities. So, I connected to the book instantly.
Students often get misdiagnosed from using the methods the teacher taught them. Sometimes it’s not that the student can’t do/learn something; they just haven’t learned the essential skill of what they are trying to learn. Berens's research shows that if a student can acquire the necessary skill in a particular subject, then the rest will follow, not exactly that simple, but you get it.
Fit Learning, created by Berens, is a program that uses behavioral sciences to accelerate the core academic and cognitive skills of learners. Students can master the necessary skills in less than two days, using repetition and intense tutoring. The program helps people discover their blind spots.
When we realize something that we did not know we did not know. In other words, we discover something that I like to call blind spots. Imagine going through your entire life thinking that vanilla is the most delicious flavor of ice cream because you didn’t know chocolate existed. Suddenly someone hands you a chocolate ice cream cone.
The book explains why our educational systems have failed us and show us other alternatives that can be applied. Some traditional methods do work on the majority, but I also think when the conventional methods aren’t working, it’s time to try something else. Most of us are creatures of habit, so our defense comes out when our old habits become challenged or questioned.
This book is an excellent read for parents, teachers, and students. It will teach readers to be more open in trying a different approach with students who aren’t getting or retaining the information as quickly as their peers. Before you label a child, seek and try other things to see what sticks.
A science exists that allows children to learn as individuals even though they must be educated in groups. A science exists that avoids senseless labels that sentence children to lifetimes of failure and mediocrity.
The opening, the Introduction, hit me on a personal level. In the beginning, Berens talks about a child diagnosed with dyslexia and still failing with the adjusted teaching methods. I had recently had a parent-teacher conference discussing my child’s academic progress. My daughter, the six-year-old troublemaker who can’t focus on one thing for too long, struggles in school. Her teacher said something about if she doesn’t improve over the next few weeks, they are going to test her for any learning disabilities. So, I connected to the book instantly.
Students often get misdiagnosed from using the methods the teacher taught them. Sometimes it’s not that the student can’t do/learn something; they just haven’t learned the essential skill of what they are trying to learn. Berens's research shows that if a student can acquire the necessary skill in a particular subject, then the rest will follow, not exactly that simple, but you get it.
Fit Learning, created by Berens, is a program that uses behavioral sciences to accelerate the core academic and cognitive skills of learners. Students can master the necessary skills in less than two days, using repetition and intense tutoring. The program helps people discover their blind spots.
When we realize something that we did not know we did not know. In other words, we discover something that I like to call blind spots. Imagine going through your entire life thinking that vanilla is the most delicious flavor of ice cream because you didn’t know chocolate existed. Suddenly someone hands you a chocolate ice cream cone.
The book explains why our educational systems have failed us and show us other alternatives that can be applied. Some traditional methods do work on the majority, but I also think when the conventional methods aren’t working, it’s time to try something else. Most of us are creatures of habit, so our defense comes out when our old habits become challenged or questioned.
This book is an excellent read for parents, teachers, and students. It will teach readers to be more open in trying a different approach with students who aren’t getting or retaining the information as quickly as their peers. Before you label a child, seek and try other things to see what sticks.
October 9, 2020
An interesting study of how educational programs, particularly how reading, math, and science is taught are failing our children. Berens, using behavioral and cognitive sciences demonstrates that children with misdiagnosed with learning disabilities that ultimately lead to failures in reading, math, and science. She describes how her program "Fit Learning" uses intensive one on one tutoring to teach children to read and do simple math quickly and with great confidence.
Reading like a long academic article, "Blind Spots" discusses incorrect diagnoses of cognitive disabilities and the ways her educational tutoring system "fixes" the problems with reading and math comprehension. Using her science based instruction which combines rote, recitation, and intensive tutoring, students master the basic skills of math and science and reading within 40 hours.
For the layman, there's lots of statistics in the final chapter or two that are Berens' proofs. There are lots of anecdotal stories used to prove her science based approach works.
As I read through this behavioral and cognitive science study of working with students in public, private, and parochial (Catholic) schools, I wondered if students in Montessori schools did any better with reading and math skills.
The lessons Berens puts forth could be applied to students at all grade levels, even college. One of her main complaints is that teachers assume students know how to do something but have never been taught the rudiments. The study focuses on kindergartners, fourth and eighth graders and their reading and math skills. I wondered if the premise could be applied to students who are being asked to analyze some study and fail to do so because they aren't taught how since grade school focuses on quantitative testing rather than qualitative analysis. This is a common college professor complaint.
Written in 2019, there's hope for more positive outcomes. It would be interesting to know from Berens how students who are going to school from home and are being taught using both interactive (synchronous) and recorded video education, particularly those students who are just beginning to read, will fare this fall and over the next year or two.
Reading like a long academic article, "Blind Spots" discusses incorrect diagnoses of cognitive disabilities and the ways her educational tutoring system "fixes" the problems with reading and math comprehension. Using her science based instruction which combines rote, recitation, and intensive tutoring, students master the basic skills of math and science and reading within 40 hours.
For the layman, there's lots of statistics in the final chapter or two that are Berens' proofs. There are lots of anecdotal stories used to prove her science based approach works.
As I read through this behavioral and cognitive science study of working with students in public, private, and parochial (Catholic) schools, I wondered if students in Montessori schools did any better with reading and math skills.
The lessons Berens puts forth could be applied to students at all grade levels, even college. One of her main complaints is that teachers assume students know how to do something but have never been taught the rudiments. The study focuses on kindergartners, fourth and eighth graders and their reading and math skills. I wondered if the premise could be applied to students who are being asked to analyze some study and fail to do so because they aren't taught how since grade school focuses on quantitative testing rather than qualitative analysis. This is a common college professor complaint.
Written in 2019, there's hope for more positive outcomes. It would be interesting to know from Berens how students who are going to school from home and are being taught using both interactive (synchronous) and recorded video education, particularly those students who are just beginning to read, will fare this fall and over the next year or two.
October 26, 2020
Is the education system in the USA causing you frustration? Do you have a child who finds it hard to read, do math etc? Have they now been 'labelled' with a disability/learning difficulty? The author of this book created a science-based instructional program that can unlock the potential in most children. Think you don't have any blind spots? Think again! This book is written for both parents and teachers. Get ready to be challenged.
The above sounds like this book is going to be a really intriguing read, right? That's what I thought when I started it. Alas by the end I was falling asleep! I get that the education system in this country is in a mess but I didn't need to read it over and over and over and over again! Talk about laboring the point! It is inferred that most of us are in error in our thinking. Whilst I do agree that the education system here in the USA is in a mess, I don't agree that science lauds all the answers and is always right. History has proven that scientific statements have not always been correct and in many incidents new knowledge has been discovered to disprove the original findings! I also think there is more to a child's learning than the school environment. Parents can't and shouldn't send their kids to school expecting the teacher to do it all! Goodness, if I had left learning to read for our now 30 year old to the school teachers her would never have succeeded. He was stubborn and wanted to be out playing rather than taking time to learn!
LOVE "When an undesirable behavior has a long history of reinforcement it is going to get worse before it gets better. It takes time to get rid of old habits and replace them with new ones."
I totally agree with the over medicated part in the myths section but also think that there is a lot of 'splitting of hairs' in there too. The author created a program called Fit Learning in 1998 and whilst it is eluded to constantly the reader is still over halfway through the book with no knowledge of what this program really entails.
SO not the most exciting of reads BUT it could well be helpful to some so not going to totally discount it. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. Thanks, Liz
The above sounds like this book is going to be a really intriguing read, right? That's what I thought when I started it. Alas by the end I was falling asleep! I get that the education system in this country is in a mess but I didn't need to read it over and over and over and over again! Talk about laboring the point! It is inferred that most of us are in error in our thinking. Whilst I do agree that the education system here in the USA is in a mess, I don't agree that science lauds all the answers and is always right. History has proven that scientific statements have not always been correct and in many incidents new knowledge has been discovered to disprove the original findings! I also think there is more to a child's learning than the school environment. Parents can't and shouldn't send their kids to school expecting the teacher to do it all! Goodness, if I had left learning to read for our now 30 year old to the school teachers her would never have succeeded. He was stubborn and wanted to be out playing rather than taking time to learn!
LOVE "When an undesirable behavior has a long history of reinforcement it is going to get worse before it gets better. It takes time to get rid of old habits and replace them with new ones."
I totally agree with the over medicated part in the myths section but also think that there is a lot of 'splitting of hairs' in there too. The author created a program called Fit Learning in 1998 and whilst it is eluded to constantly the reader is still over halfway through the book with no knowledge of what this program really entails.
SO not the most exciting of reads BUT it could well be helpful to some so not going to totally discount it. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. Thanks, Liz
October 27, 2020
“The learning process is the same regardless of age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, or classification. We learn through a very specific process: the repeated reinforcement of our behavior over time until it becomes neurologically permanent. All children learn this way.” – p. 21
Blind Spots provides readers a critical look at the current educational system, both public and private. While focused in the United States, the problems persist far beyond our national borders. Author, Kimberly Nix Berens asks readers to re-evaluate the preconceived ideas surrounding our existing system. She succeeds in pointing out the blind spots that persist and failed measurement systems in place.
As a scientist, Berens provides evidence and apt references, delivering a strong basis for the claims she makes within. Using data and science, Berens opens educators and parents’ eyes to the atrocities of our educational system. Pointing out how we are being led to believe our systems are “superior” and “adequate,” while so many students are failing and/or being diagnosed with learning disorders. Rather than evaluating the overall educational structure, Berens suggests we are blaming the very students being left behind.
Overall, Blind Spots places heavy blame on the foundation of education in the United States. While captivating facts are cited, and the scientific process is adhered to, this book is not a leisurely read. However, the statements within and solutions provided are compelling. As for parents with kids labelled by our system as having a “learning disorder” or falling below our standardized measures of learning, this book gives a reassuring view of the truth and achievable solutions to obtain success.
*Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Blind Spots provides readers a critical look at the current educational system, both public and private. While focused in the United States, the problems persist far beyond our national borders. Author, Kimberly Nix Berens asks readers to re-evaluate the preconceived ideas surrounding our existing system. She succeeds in pointing out the blind spots that persist and failed measurement systems in place.
As a scientist, Berens provides evidence and apt references, delivering a strong basis for the claims she makes within. Using data and science, Berens opens educators and parents’ eyes to the atrocities of our educational system. Pointing out how we are being led to believe our systems are “superior” and “adequate,” while so many students are failing and/or being diagnosed with learning disorders. Rather than evaluating the overall educational structure, Berens suggests we are blaming the very students being left behind.
Overall, Blind Spots places heavy blame on the foundation of education in the United States. While captivating facts are cited, and the scientific process is adhered to, this book is not a leisurely read. However, the statements within and solutions provided are compelling. As for parents with kids labelled by our system as having a “learning disorder” or falling below our standardized measures of learning, this book gives a reassuring view of the truth and achievable solutions to obtain success.
*Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
March 13, 2023
The book is really a long advertisement for Dr. Kimberly Nix Beren’s system of teaching – Learning Fit. It goes as far as having a list of places using the system that she founded as well as ways to get training yourself. With that being said, much of her critique of the current education system is valid and some of her suggestions for how to improve it should be taken seriously.
Beren’s arguments can be summarized by saying that the top-down management style of education is not efficient and that true change needs to come from bottom up. She does admit that there needs to be top-down changes to support those of us at the bottom. She argues for the ability to teach with an open mind, and to follow the science to help determine our teaching methods. She says that those methods should be Direction Instruction and Precision Teaching. The rest of the book does not convince me that DI and PT are the best methods for teaching all student as she tries to argue. I do believe that is a place for them in my teaching, but they are tools to be selected when called for to go along with independent work, collaborative learning, learning by experimentation, etc. The one immediate take away I am taking from the book is the usefulness of chorale answering. I do it at times, but I could use it more efficiently and more intentionally. The book was an interesting read, and I am glad that I read it, but it does not convince me of its main argument.
Beren’s arguments can be summarized by saying that the top-down management style of education is not efficient and that true change needs to come from bottom up. She does admit that there needs to be top-down changes to support those of us at the bottom. She argues for the ability to teach with an open mind, and to follow the science to help determine our teaching methods. She says that those methods should be Direction Instruction and Precision Teaching. The rest of the book does not convince me that DI and PT are the best methods for teaching all student as she tries to argue. I do believe that is a place for them in my teaching, but they are tools to be selected when called for to go along with independent work, collaborative learning, learning by experimentation, etc. The one immediate take away I am taking from the book is the usefulness of chorale answering. I do it at times, but I could use it more efficiently and more intentionally. The book was an interesting read, and I am glad that I read it, but it does not convince me of its main argument.
February 23, 2021
Look at the other reviews & you’ll see why I wanted to edit the heck out of this. Academicians still need to learn to write for intelligent lay audiences. There’s a lot of important information here, but it’s not presented in the right language or format to achieve anything other than a plug for the author’s schools. Which, if you have the money, go for it, and if you’re a teacher, you might enjoy it if the pay is enough. There’s a potential for rigidity here, but overall this is a great, measurable approach to K-8 education & students taught this way will have a solid foundation for high school & college. I would’ve led with more information from the Teaching Precision Project and Project Follow Through, buried in the back of the book.
It’s a bit telling that though parents are addressed throughout, the only resources offered to them in the back of the book are the author’s schools. There are several more resources for teachers.
Not a wasted read by any means, but not the system-changing call to action it purports to be.
It’s a bit telling that though parents are addressed throughout, the only resources offered to them in the back of the book are the author’s schools. There are several more resources for teachers.
Not a wasted read by any means, but not the system-changing call to action it purports to be.
November 22, 2021
I have to say that I wasn't as impressed as I hoped to be with the book. I think it highlighted the theory behind why student's fail... but then I felt like it just bashed schools with little helpful feedback. As an educator of 14 years, YES, schools need change. As a mother of a student who struggles in school, YES, schools need change. Yes, I agreed with so much of her data on the problems... but this felt more like a journal article than a book to inspire change. I wanted more information on how she implements change and could realistically help educators and schools now. This is where the book fell incredibly short for me.
October 24, 2023
This book was excellent. It gave me a lot to think about. I’m a former middle school teacher, and I wished I had read this book while I was teaching. Much of the data in this book backed up with what I had seen while I was in the classroom. Though I agree with other reviewers who have pointed out that this book focuses more on the problems than on the solution, I actually felt I benefitted more from a detailed breakdown of why the current system isn’t working for students (particularly those labeled as having learning disabilities), teachers, parents, and this country as a whole. I think anyone connected with the U.S. education system could benefit from reading this book.
January 1, 2021
In a few days' time the book Blind Spots: Why Students Fail and the Science That Can Save Them will be released. I think many of us know students who can become withdrawn or anxious about learning or about attending school. We also may know some students whose bad choices have an effect on their learning.
I appreciate that in an engaging and real-world way Berens teaches problems can be identified, understood, and solved and you can help every child.
I received a copy of this book from Media Relations Consultant Alana Cowan
I appreciate that in an engaging and real-world way Berens teaches problems can be identified, understood, and solved and you can help every child.
I received a copy of this book from Media Relations Consultant Alana Cowan
June 17, 2023
A behaviorist perspective on the educational establishment. We need to move education in a scientific direction and she does a great job explaining why and how. Everything she says about the establishments are so true! I'm a school psychologist with a behaviorist background and I was so surprised how much of my job turned out to be precision guesswork rather than based on scientifically measurable outcomes. It might be a difficult read for some educators who are rooted in the establishment think but if you can have an open mind you can unlock the way for real change.
April 19, 2023
I'm glad I listened and it gave me information to think about and apply to the other Science of Learning materials I've been reading. However, I question some of the messages about ADHD and Autism within this book, respectfully. Clarity in instruction and some othwr suggestions seem like good ideas, however this book has an argument against the current education establishment that is very apparent. At times it reads more like a persuasive essay.
May 23, 2021
Teachers and especially administrators need to read this book. I know from experience how frustrating it is to constantly be stonewalled when speaking about or attempting to implement practices, effective research-based practices, that go against the prevailing educational ideologies. This book shows that there are other scientist educators fighting the same fight; it gives me hope.
April 17, 2024
Not sure how I had this on my TBR read pile, but a very interesting application of behavioral science to education. I agree on principle, that, looking just at the $ spent/results, public education is a failure. And I liked that she focused not on the teachers or students but the actually pedagogy of teaching in this country.
October 7, 2023
I really liked this book; lots of things struck me as true, other things I wanted to debate. Makes me think abt rhetoric and priority in argument: hits me diff depending on how much I’m identifying as a parent or as a teacher
Want to read
February 13, 2021—
I received a complementary review copy of this book from Edelweiss+
I received a complementary review copy of this book from Edelweiss+
March 9, 2021
Very Useful book for Parents and Students.
March 30, 2022
Outstanding! A call to urgent action. Our children and schools are being held hostage by a redundant ideology.
April 30, 2023
Decent ideas. Writing often feels redundant, and can come across like a sales pitch.
November 2, 2020
I couldn’t put this book down. I’ve worked in education for fifteen years and was blown away by the outcomes achieved by Fit Learning when I first heard Dr. Berens speak on a behavior analysis podcast in 2018. I quickly laid plans to open Missouri’s first Fit Learning lab. The outcomes we are achieving using the technologies described in the book--precision teaching, direct instruction, and curriculum-based measurement-- have brought many parents to tears in the lab. In the book, Dr. Berens explains why the most efficacious approaches haven’t been adopted by the education establishments and debunks popular education myths. I’m most excited for parents of children with diagnosed learning disabilities to read the book and discover the promise for their children’s futures.
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