Eduleadership
Justin Baeder on principal performance & productivity
Cancelling School for a “Sun” Day
Mar 26th
This story was reported in local media on Tuesday, and made the national rounds on Thursday. From Bellingham, Washington:
MELISSA BLOCK, host [NPR]:
You know how bad weather can wreak havoc on a school calendar. Well, the Bellingham Christian School in Bellingham, Washington, stood that on its head this week. Bob Sampson is the school principal, and Mr. Sampson, you canceled classes yesterday. Why’d you do it?
Mr. BOB SAMPSON (Principal, Bellingham Christian School): We canceled classes because of good weather, didn’t have any cancelations due to snow this winter. So we decided to cancel school due to good weather and have a great day.
BLOCK: Just let the kids go out and play.
Mr. SAMPSON: Yes.
Given the rarity of positive appearances of individual principals in national media, I must say this made my week. Listen to the whole story here.
Literacy Bridge Field-Tests Talking Book Device
Jul 6th
Literacy Bridge is a Seattle organization devoted to making a simple audio recording and playback device for the developing world. They recently field-tested the device in Ghana. The details are here, and are definitely worth reading.
Literacy Bridge (http://literacybridge.org), a non-profit technology startup, is using low-cost technology to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems: global poverty and disease. Through the development and application of a digital audio device, Literacy Bridge’s Talking Book Project is designed to make access to information available and affordable to those who have the fewest resources but the greatest need. This series of blogs summarizes the Talking Book Project and describes how it improves global literacy and access to information. Most importantly, this project demonstrates the power of combining community and appropriate technology to change the world.
Readers of this blog may not appreciate the ease at which they are able to acquire knowledge to improve their productivity. While one portion of the world takes for granted the electricity and literacy skills required to read publications like this one, another portion lacks these prerequisites, yet has an even stronger need for efficient access to information. Recognizing an opportunity to apply technology and open source principles to this inequity, Literacy Bridge launched the Talking Book Project.
The Talking Book Device is a digital audio player/recorder designed for the 2.6 billion people living on less than $2 per day. Most of these people have minimal literacy skills and live in rural areas without electricity or Internet access.
Unlike a common iPod or most other MP3 players, its power source is not dependent on grid electricity, and its audio content distribution is not dependent upon computers. This device also distinguishes itself with its rugged design, variable-speed playback, internal microphone and speaker, and an easily programmable user interface. link
Bookmarks for December 18th
Dec 18th
Maria Goodloe-Johnson Named Seattle Superintendent
Apr 13th
Maria Goodloe-Johnson has accepted an offer from the Seattle School Board to become the next superintendent of Washington’s largest school district. From the Seattle Times:
“There was a consistent message that they respected her and she inspired them to be better people, whether teachers or administrators or community members,” [board president Cheryl Chow] said. “And she always put the brutal facts on the table, but she always had solutions to address them.”
…
In Charleston Thursday evening, Goodloe-Johnson said she understands she’ll have to bring together a divided community. She said she has done it many times before and is confident she can do it here.“You have to pay attention and you have to be a good listener,” she said. “I believe that the people in Seattle have the same common goal of wanting an improved public education system. Having a common goal is a good place to start.” link
Goodloe-Johnson will replace outgoing superintendent Raj Manhas, who has served since Joseph Olchefske resigned in 2003. She is the first female superintendent Seattle has had since the late 1800s, and the first African American female to head a school district in the state of Washington.
Her plan for the first six months on the job is available here.
Alvin Toffler on the Future of Education
Feb 5th
In this article at Edutopia (also PDF), Alvin Toffler, ever forward-thinking, offers his radical vision for the future of education. He says, not surprisingly, that our system was created to prepare children for employment in the industrial age, an age that has long since passed.
While the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has discussed “personalizing education,” Toffler sees far more structural and systemic imperatives for personalizing education:
Toffler: New technologies make possible customization in a way that the old system — everybody reading the same textbook at the same time — did not offer.
Edutopia: You’re talking about customizing the educational experience.
Toffler: Exactly. Any form of diversity that we can introduce into the schools is a plus. Today, we have a big controversy about all the charter schools that are springing up. The school system people hate them because they’re taking money from them. I say we should radically multiply charter schools, because they begin to provide a degree of diversity in the system that has not been present. Diversify the system. link
Personalizing education, especially at the high school level and beyond, is a great idea. Ever the radical visionary, Toffler says we need to “shut down the public education system” in order to fix it. Logistically, however, Toffler’s proposals would require us to not only rethink public education, but the structure of life and work in our society. His vision of schooling:
- Open twenty-four hours a day
- Customized educational experience
- Kids arrive at different times
- Students begin their formalized schooling at different ages
- Curriculum is integrated across disciplines
- Nonteachers work with teachers
- Teachers alternate working in schools and in business world
- Local businesses have offices in the schools
- Increased number of charter schools
Proposals such as Toffler’s often fail to differentiate between reforms needed at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. For example, personalized paths to college and/or work may be a meaningful goal for high schools to pursue, but how would this benefit elementary students?
While it’s possible that more flexibility and freedom could result in better outcomes for students, it’s also possible that removing any of the standardizing forces (such as fixed arrival times and entry ages) would, in a system with 47.7 million students, lead to more chaos rather than personalization.
Mr. Toffler is correct that our education system was designed to serve an industrial-age society. As such, it is highly efficient, with relatively high student-to-teacher ratios. While affordable, these ratios do not correspond to norms in the world of work. Consider, for example, that a manager in corporate America would never be expected to have 150 people reporting directly to her – yet millions of middle and high school teachers have this many or more students for whom they are directly responsible each day.
Mr. Toffler is also correct that our schools are not working for a large number of students. However, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that they are working for many more. While we need many more alternative schools to help meet the needs of all students, we don’t need to remove the benefits of traditional schools from students who are thriving in our system.
Any radical restructuring of public education must take two mandates into consideration:
- The need to educate all children
- The need to operate on a realistic budget that society can sustainably provide
Making secondary schools more like colleges could help some students, while it would surely allow others to slip through the cracks. Making schools more like company offices could better prepare students for the world of work, but it would also be orders of magnitude more expensive.
Perhaps the question of funding will eventually resolve itself, if society comes to see the payoff of quality education.
Edutopia: You’re advocating for fundamental radical changes. Are you an optimist when it comes to public education?
Toffler: I just feel it’s inevitable that there will have to be change. The only question is whether we’re going to do it starting now, or whether we’re going to wait for catastrophe.
Read the full article at Edutopia
Governor Gregoire Releases “Washington Learns” Report
Nov 14th
Via email from Washington Governor Christine Gregoir comes this announcement about the release of the Washington Learns report:
Dear Washingtonian,
Education is the most important investment we can make in our economy, our state and our future. An essential part of The Next Washington plan, Washington Learns is a comprehensive review of our entire education system, from early learning through K-12, higher education and workforce training. The goal is to educate more Washingtonians to higher levels.
Since July 2005, the Washington Learns steering committee, which I personally chaired, and advisory committees, composed of 75 state and local leaders, educators, and business and community representatives, have been studying our education system. Today I am releasing a final report with strategies and recommendations for a ten-year plan to create a world-class, learner-focused, seamless education system for Washington. You can find the report at www.WashingtonLearns.wa.gov.
The final report focuses on five major initiatives: the early learning years, math and science, personalized learning, college and workforce training, and accountability. Washington Learns recommends that we invest in early learning so that children start off as lifelong learners; improve math and science teaching and learning so that our citizens have a competitive edge; personalize learning so that every student has the opportunity to succeed; offer college and workforce training for everyone; and hold ourselves accountable for results.
I understand the urgency of improving our education system if Washington is to remain competitive in the global economy. We have set forth a ten-year plan. Some recommendations can be acted upon immediately, some will need to be phased-in, and, for some, we will need to collect more information before fully implementing them. We will work to do as much as we can, based on sound evidence, as soon as we can. Our commitment is to deliver real results within a decade.
I’ve heard your voices and ideas on education. In September 2006, we received public testimony from nine communities on a draft report. Public hearings were held in Olympia (with live video links to Wenatchee, Grays Harbor and Yakima), Spokane, South Seattle, Vancouver, Mt. Vernon and Pasco. Over 1,500 people attended the six public hearings and we received over 1,000 written comments by mail or online. A telephone survey of 600 citizens statewide was also commissioned. All of this public input was considered in crafting the final report and I appreciate all of your time and interest in improving education for every Washingtonian.
I want to thank you for your dedication and hard work, for your contributions to your communities and for your commitment to our children and our state’s future. I look forward to working with you to create a world-class, learner-focused, seamless education system for Washington.
Sincerely,
Chris Gregoire
Governor
Seattle Superintendent Steps Down
Oct 23rd
Raj Manhas, Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, will be stepping down when his three-year contract expires in June 2007.
Manhas led the district through three school closure plans, only the second of which was ultimately approved. The district currently enrolls far fewer students than it did forty years ago, leaving excess capacity in many buildings. Manhas pursued school closures as a means of reducing operating and capital expenditures, a move supported by the teachers’ union. According to the Seattle Times,
Seattle Public Schools taught 97,267 students in 121 buildings in 1965. Now the district has half as many students but almost as many school buildings. It hasn’t closed a school in 19 years.
Keeping all those partly empty buildings open is expensive, and the district, based on an estimate of 11 schools and an average per-school operating cost, says closing schools would save about $4.8 million annually. link
However, the school closures were endlessly contentious, to the point that a fistfight broke out at the most recent school board meeting. Some are questioning whether the board should have given into public pressure, and whether the board will be capable of delivering decisions in the face of public opposition in the future. More closures are planned, though, as board members say they are still committed to the process.
In announcing his resignation, Manhas expressed satisfaction at the work he has accomplished during his tenure as school chief. He congratulated students, staff, the unions, and community partners for their hard work and success. He did not, however, mention the school board in any way, nor indicate that his resignation was related to the recent scrapping of his plan to consolidate four schools into two.
Manhas indicated that he is resigning both because his contract is up at the end of the current year, and because he accomplished what he intended to while in office. He also said that announcing his resignation now would give the district time to find a replacement for his post.
Manhas came into office from the Chief Operating Officer role in October 2003, after an expensive nationwide search yielded no outside candidates for the job. His predecessor, Joseph Olchefske, resigned after a multimillion dollar accounting error and other financial problems culminated in a $33 million budget shortfall. Manhas has since balanced the district budget and rebuilt $20 million in reserves, and test scores have gone up considerably on his watch.
Educating the Whole Child in a Standards-Based World
Sep 30th
There is no question that standards matter. After high school, students will be expected to know and be able to do certain things as responsible members of a democratic society. Every state has standards, and NCLB mandates regular testing to determine how many students are meeting those standards.
In our high-stakes era, test scores matter a great deal, probably far more than they should. If the tests are good predictors of future success, we can safely assume that higher test scores are good, and lower test scores are bad. But we want to develop many desirable traits in our students, only a handful of which are measurable.
Schools in Texas have taken a rather blunt approach to raising test scores: preparing students directly for the test through drills and direct exam-preparation activities. Texas has drawn a great deal of criticism for its narrow focus on tests, though some schools have also been hailed as successes for raising their scores.
But what if there were a better way to raise test scores (which matter), in a way that also develops other traits that matter (but can’t be measured by standardized tests)? Montessori schools are doing just that, according to a recent study:
Montessori education is characterized by multi-age classrooms, a special set of educational materials, student-chosen work in long time blocks, a collaborative environment with student mentors, no grades and tests, and individual and small group instruction in academic and social skills. More than 5,000 schools in the United States, including 300 public schools, use the Montessori method, according to background material for the study.
A Montessori education creates solid citizens who perform at least as well academically — and sometimes better — as their public school counterparts.
…Montessori children also responded much more positively to questions like “people at my school care about each other.” And they felt more positive about school and their peers, and about their school as a community.
In addition, all the Montessori children responded to social problems in a positive, assertive way, Lillard said. Take the example of a child cutting in front of another child in line. The Montessori-trained children were “more willing to confront positively compared with the public school children who were more likely to ignore it or engage in retaliatory behavior,” she said.
When tested on academics, the Montessori 5-year-olds scored better on early reading and math than did their counterparts, and the 12-year-olds did as well as the traditional school children. link
Pressure to improve performance can be a good thing. Principals and teachers can be motivated, to some extent, by accountability requirements like those in NCLB. But too much pressure can result in a shifting-the-burden dymanic, in which test scores are improved at the expense of other, more desirable student characteristics, such as enjoyment of literature and divergent critical thinking.
We need to see standardized tests as diagnostic tools that tell us what to work on, and look for broader measures of school performance. We need to develop tests that predict more than a student’s socioeconomic status – tests that are valid indicators of what a student knows and can do. Only when we have this kind of assessment and accountability system will we create the positive pressure that will drive the kind of education system we want our children to have.
Previously: “Bubble Kids” and Dilemmas of Accountability
School districts turn to paid readers for grading student essays
May 29th
According to the Seattle Times, several districts are hiring people to read English papers, greatly increasing the amount of writing on which students can receive feedback. Since the turnaround time for grading 200 or 300 pages of essays is so long, the meaningfulness of feedback students receive is minimal. With an outside reader, papers can be graded in a few days and returned quickly, whereas a full-time teacher might need several weeks to finish the essays.
Schools using outside readers say students are doing more writing and getting better feedback. The downside, though, is that the teacher does not have as much detailed information about individual students’ performance. To compensate for this, some districts require the teacher to personally read one in ten essays handed in, with the outside reader handling the rest.
Starting Confused: How Leaders Start When They Don’t Know Where to Start
May 6th
In this Phi Delta Kappan article, Barry C. Jentz and Jerome T. Murphy of Harvard explain how a new educational leader can “hit the ground learning” rather than “hit the ground running,” in order to become established as a leader and avoid making hasty decisions.
Starting Confused: How Leaders Start When They Don’t Know Where to Start
