The Truth is Stranger than Fiction Alert

Bill would stop schools from paying union leaders
By Lisa Schencker, The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/education/ci_11770116
“In this time of budget cuts, Utah school districts should not spend money on local teacher union leaders, says one lawmaker…”




Really? This is standard practice? It seems that Utah school districts contribute to the salaries of teacher union leaders who no longer teach and do not work for the district. If I was a Utah taxpayer this would be the stick I would use to beat districts with every time the question of a tax increase came up.



Though I am not a proponent of unions, I am not opposed to them. But they exist to advocate for their members, and as such should be funded by members. Even more incredulously, a local union president defends the practice.



After reading the article, the wisdom of E. Don Brown once again rings true, “the only pure advocate in the system for students is the building principal. At even given time, everyone else in the system has a vested interest that can easily outweigh the needs of the kids.”


Your turn…

The Truth is Stranger than Fiction Alert

Teachers Could Be Charged for Staging Pot Sting
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29402700/

Yes, the headline says it all.

No, actually it doesn’t. The actual story is even more ridiculous than the headline. Teachers are not to be blamed for hatching this genius scheme. It was school administrators.

As a group, a principal, an assistant principal and a dean thought it would be a good idea to enlist a student to solicit undercover drug deals on their campus. Thankfully, these keystone cops were stopped before anybody was seriously hurt.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy.

Your turn...

Lone Finalist Named for Austin ISD (Texas)

The Austin ISD school board has announced that Dr. Meria Carstarphen has been named as the lone finalist for position of superintendent. Currently, she is the superintendent of St. Paul Public Schools (Minn.).

St. Paul Public Schools is the largest district in the state, serving a little more than 38,000 students.

More on RIF's

I recently read an opinion piece where the author was advocating for the continued use of seniority based systems (last hired, first fired) for making RIF (Reduction in Force) decisions, because she felt that it is too difficult to objectively evaluate teachers. That is patently not true. Here is the short course on objectively evaluating teachers.

1. Implement short-term common assessments

2. Disaggregate short-term and long term assessment data to showcase the performance of the most academically fragile students on the campus.

3. Over time, identify the teachers whose academically fragile students make either the biggest or most consistent gains. This is the pool of the most instructionally sound teachers on the campus.

4. Over time, identify the teachers whose academically fragile students make either the least or most inconsistent gains. This is the pool of the least instructionally sound teachers on the campus.

5. After analyzing the performance data of academically fragile students, then add some weight to the following staff performance criteria:

· Attendance

· Punctuality

· Student behavior

· Meeting deadlines

· Team collaboration

· Certifications

· Following proceedures

At this point, it should be clear who should be RIF’ed and who should remain. The decision still won’t be easy, but it will be based on what is best for the campus, the students and the remaining staff.

Your turn…

Improving Schools: Campus Based Degree of Difficulty

In my day job, I help districts and school improve performance, rapidly. By rapidly, I mean that we expect to see measurable results in one semester or less. And we have an extensive track record that shows that we are good at what we do. (For more information you can visit, www.r4group.org). I only mention my day job, to let you know that the following opinion is based on a lot of field experience in a lot of settings.

If you are a school leader that is trying to change adult practice on your campus to improve student performance, the current perceived performance of your campus can make your job easier or soul crushingly difficult. Here’s how it stacks up, in order of difficulty. I will use the Texas ranking system, only because it does a good job of creating distinct categories.

# 5 in Degree of Difficulty – The Unacceptable Campus: This campus is the easiest in which to effect change. There’s no question that it is broke and the staff realize that their jobs are at stake, so they are open to new ideas that show promise.

# 4 in Degree of Difficulty – The Campus That Just Had Its Rating Drop: This campus has pride on the line. Even if they are blaming the drop on external factors, the staff is generally open to trying something new.

# 3 in Degree of Difficulty – The Acceptable Campus: This campus isn’t considered broke, but the staff would like the breathing room and perks of being recognized.

# 2 in Degree of Difficulty – The Exemplary Campus: The top of the pyramid in Texas. The staff on this campus have a lot of pride, know how tenuous their position is and are generally willing to work to stay at the top of the heap.

# 1 in Degree of Difficulty – The Long Time Recognized Campus: This campus isn’t broke and the staff is generally very comfortable. This campus often engages in a lot of what I call “superstitious” activities. The staff doesn't know exactly what it is that they do that actually impacts their rating so they are unwilling to change anything. If the staff does believe in change, it usually revolves around some other teacher, grade or department changing, because they are obviously doing their part.

So there’s my list. What do you think?

Your turn…

Accountability is a Good Thing, However...

This post was inspired by:

Miss. House OKs bill aimed at improving schools - http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/1127873.html

JACKSON, Miss. -- Supporters say a bill that cleared the Mississippi House on Monday would force public schools to meet higher standards of accountability.

Here is my position in the accountability debate:

1) Accountability benefits children. When we as educators have to reflect on our practice in terms of improving student performance, that is a good thing. I can tell you from first hand observation and experience, the needs of poor and minority students are better met when jobs are at stake.

2) Accountability has to have a value added component. If it does not, then in practical terms there is a double standard. Without a value added component, schools and teachers that serve poor and minority students are forced to adapt and improve to survive. Schools and teachers that serve high SES students can choose to adapt if they want to. A fair system would ensure that every school is accountable for improvement.

3) Accountability without the tools and resources to make it happen is an almost impossible task. At the very minimum, schools and teachers must be provided with scope and sequence support, basic data disaggregation tools, and implementation time.

4) No matter what the accountability standard, the raw numbers don’t come close to telling the whole story. Look for the schools, principals and teachers who significantly out perform their peers. That’s where the real improvement lessons reside.

Your turn…

Over Age Elementary Students - Programs and Solutions

Recently I was meeting with an Assistant Superintendent in a large urban district, who has been a long time acquaintance. The issue we were discussing was academic solutions for over age elementary students, specifically – did I have any?

The off the cuff answer was "no". I was not aware of an off the shelf program that could correct this situation in a rapid fashion. However, this is not my area of expertise, so the “no” is not definitive. But there are some general practices that I have observed that will correct the situation over a relatively short period of time. This was the list we discussed:

1) Create vertical teams that have internal accountability. This means that each grade has standards that have to be met and students progress in grades level within the team. That way the receiving teacher knows exactly who taught her students. This internal accountability also lends itself to better collaboration.

2) Ensure that teachers are executing the scope and sequence at full speed and at complete fidelity.

3) Use short-term common assessments.

4) Use data to adapt instruction.

5) Hyper-monitor instruction.

6) Provide on-going, relevant training.

7) Hold teachers accountable for changing their instructional practices.

8) Hold leaders accountable for the performance of academically fragile students on their campuses.

Does this work? As a package, absolutely. In isolation, less so.

Here’s a working example. I provide some consulting support to a large (900+ students) and poor (70%+ economically disadvantaged) elementary school. By implementing the practices listed above, this campus has dramatically improved student performance, reduced retention rates and has dramatically reduced the number of students who require special education services. This campus, as a whole, works smarter and harder than does its peers. As a result, its students are better off and the staff is more enthused.

Your turn…

ASCD SmartBrief

If you don't already subscribe. you need to. It's easy to read, laid out in a logical manner and covers the entire gambit of school issues. It is relevant for every educator, regardless of setting, position or experience. And it is free! The link to sign up is: http://www.smartbrief.com/ascd/

Your turn...

No Teacher Left Behind

I have heard some chatter that talks up the idea that schools should operate under “NTLB” or “No Teacher Left Behind”. That if the concept works for children it should work for adults too. Unfortunately it does not. This does not mean that I advocate the wholesale removal of teachers - let me be clear - I do not. I believe that teachers have an incredibly tough job and are under enormous stress. In these conditions, teachers need proactive support; on-going relevant training; useful tools; relevant short-term data; and time to collaborate.

It is the responsibility of leadership to ensure that the above listed elements are provided. And if the items on the list are not provided then leadership must be called to task. That being said, once tools, training, support and time has been provided – teachers do not have the option of opting out of their use.

When I work with teachers and school leaders I remind them that the unforgivable sin in the realm of school improvement is not being coachable. It takes time to learn new skills and make new habits and as long as a honest effort is being made, time is allowed. But quit trying to improve and the equation becomes adult vs. student. This is a very simple equation to solve – side with the student, immediately.

So yes, all teachers can learn (duh). But that is not the issues. Some teachers actively engage in new and focused learning, which requires time and support. Some teachers actively refuse to learn, which requires administrative action.

Your turn…

Dual Credit Courses

I saw a headline that stated that the bad economy should increase the interest in dual credit classes. This is in-line with an on-going discussion that I have been having with E. Don Brown (The R4 Group) and some Texas high school principals. As much as we like AP and IB courses, it is getting harder and harder not to encourage enrollment in dual credit courses. This is especially true if the student plans on attending a state university.

In Texas, where I live, public universities have to accept the credit hours. This means that students are entering college with up to 30 credit hours. In fact, I have a nephew that entered Texas Tech as a sophomore. That’s equates to about a $12,000.00 savings for his parents.

So if you were not a proponent of the program before, this might be the time to re-think your position. Couple the economic situation that families are facing with the stimulus money that will be coming to campuses that can support distance learning and this becomes a chance to offer something life changing to your students.

Your turn…

Smaller Learning Communities (SLC's)

This post was inspired by:

CHEYENNE HIGH SCHOOL: Principal wants to create smaller learning communities
By James Haug, Las Vegas Review-Journal
http://www.lvrj.com/news/40074497.html


First of all, I am a proponent of Smaller Learning Communities (SLC’s), in general. In fact, I am a proponent for what I call a MLC or a Micro Learning Community, a concept that is built into a number of the improvement models that I have developed for districts and schools.

As a proponent, I know that most SLC’s (as they are actually implemented) are organized to meet adult needs. As such, unfortunately they have little impact on the academic needs of students. I also know that SLC's are not the silver bullet.

How do I know this? There are two reasons actually. First, lots of personal field based observations in multiple settings in multiple states. Second, if SLC’s were the silver bullet, then there would be very few struggling rural schools, and this is not the case.

However, if implemented properly, a SLC can be a very powerful tool. Here are some other things I know about SLC's:

They come in a variety of configurations – theme, horizontal, vertical, and ability based have made up the bulk of what I have observed. All have strengths and weaknesses. Here is how I rank them.

# 4: Ability Based – In my opinion, the weakest of the common SLC models. The idea is to put all the “smart” students in one group, the “slow” students in another group and the rest of the students in a middle group. The biggest proponents of this arrangement are the parents and teachers of the “smart” students. In the long run, this arrangement weakens the entire school. Performance issues are blamed on the “slow” group and changes in instructional practice are slow to occur because the “smart” group generally does well with any kind of instruction.

# 3: Horizontal – Can be useful if staffed correctly. The major problems are two-fold. First, if the staff for the lower grades are primarily the new and weak teachers, then you have created a situation where your weakest students receive the least enriched instruction. Second, if the staff doesn’t follow the students from grade to grade (even if it is for one year), then the relationship building benefits of the SCL are diminished.

# 2: Theme Based – Numerous successful examples. There are some significant issues that must be thought through and addressed before implementation. Some of these include: how many themes; how will the theme strands be staffed; how will unequal enrollment be dealt with; and can, how often and when can students change their mind and transfer to a different SLC. If you don’t have good answers to the proceeding questions, then you are setting your school up for failure.

#1: Vertical – My personal favorite and the model that I have used the most. I think it is the most flexible model, creates the most diverse micro educational environments and can be implemented almost immediately.

In closing, if your campus has more than 400 students then I highly recommend exploring the SLC concept. Done correctly, it will improve campus relationships, increase sense of purpose, increase personal accountability and improve student performance.

If your campus is considering SLC’s, feel free to contact me.

Your turn….

Thoughts on Economic Stimulus Money

There seems to be no question that there will be stimulus money heading towards schools. Here are some random thoughts to consider:

1. You don’t need more money to get better. Getting better starts with creating an environment conducive to education (clean, orderly and organized) and changing adult practices.

2. Don’t be held hostage by people saying they’ll do more when they are paid more. The people who say that aren’t there for the kids and even though educators aren’t the highest paid employees in the country, their jobs are still safer than most right now. Be grateful and get to work.


3. If and when the money shows up on your campus, don’t just automatically use it to hire more staff. Consider tools and training. Better teachers generally make a bigger impact on students than more teachers.

4. Fund the things that show promise, quit funding the things that don’t. For example, if you still offer a “typing” class, this is the time to cut it and move on.


5. Strive to make your campus self-reliant. When I was a principal, we took over our own landscaping and minor maintenance and repairs. We also did a lot of in-house training and book studies. We could do it all cheaper and faster. This meant that we did more than everyone else - for the same money. Being effective and efficient means having more control over your destiny.

6. The stimulus money may be a once in a career opportunity to do something spectacular to change the face of education. Don’t squander the chance.

Your turn…

Campus Improvement: Why is Changing Adult Practice Difficult (a reader's question)

After reading the 2/16/09 post, Campus Improvement: What is the Problem You are Trying to Solve

A reader asks:

"This sounds so simple, but I know you are spot on target. Where, when, and why, does this become such a hard concept?"

The concept I discussed was this, "...The problem that this principal is trying to solve is to the bridge the chasm between best instructional practices and current campus instructional practices. This disconnect is reflected in student performance" (Cain 2009)

I think the concept is hard because it makes us as adults accountable for something more than just showing up to work. Changing practice is difficult. Even when we know it is the right thing to do, it is uncomfortable and unpredictable. To hold yourself accountable to changing someone else's practice can be even more difficult. It forces you to have uncomfortable conversations, be brutally honest and sometimes be confrontational. None of which is fun. When I coach school leaders as they first embrace this concept, I tell them that way they are going to get through the initial stages is to focus on nothing but student performance. As soon as you give weight to adult issues, you are moving backwards.

Thanks reader!

Your turn....