A Reader Writes... (I got a Royal Flush - Part 3)

In response to the post, “I Got a Royal Flush,” a reader writes:

“I completely agree. We did earn ours through TPM, but like you said, there's not a lot we can do about it because the state gives it to us regardless. We know where we fell short and have already made plans to try to remedy that.”

SC Response

Good, but I’m not worried about you (nor most of the LYS Nation). My fear is for the campus that convinces itself that success with wild cards is the same as success without wild cards. It is not. If your urgency and pace is impacted by that lack of understanding, it leads to a rough day of reckoning and a lot of finger pointing. If on the other hand, you recognize that the wild card rating simply reduces some externally generated stress as you continue to work to improve at full speed, then you are on the right track.

The bottom line is the recognition of two brutal truths:

1. Your campus rating is real or your campus rating is augmented.

2. Real or not, it doesn’t matter now. It’s a brand new year, with only 177 days of instruction. So you need to make every one of them count.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Quick Hitters from the Coach

Blog Post: Quick Hitters from the Coach

I’m moving these two comments to the front of the rotation, which I don’t normally do. But when the writer is both an avid member of the LYS Nation and one of the most successful head coaches in Texas football history, you have to make exceptions.

From the post, “I Got A Royal Flush – Part 1,” Coach writes:

“Very true, but it takes 2 to tango.

Coach”

SC Response

Come on Coach, that’s not what you taught us. Your teams didn’t win all those games because every year you had the most talented and motivated athletes. You took whatever the community sent you each year and coached those boys up so they thought they could beat the World. Your boys + you = success. Your boys + another coach = less success. Year in and year out, you and your coaching staff were the critical variable.

From the post, “Start at Full Speed,” Coach writes:

“A picture is worth a thousand words.

Coach”

SC Response

Absolutely. When E. Don Brown says that to a person, the effort and passion of the teachers that we worked with this summer exceeded his expectations, you know that something special was happening right in front of our eyes.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (I Got a Royal Flush - Part 2)

In response to the post, "I Got a Royal Flush!" an old school LYS Principal writes:

"TPM is based upon the idea of a growth model. In general, the idea of a growth model for students is not only acceptable, but is desirable. TPM is flawed in its implementation, but it is a step in the right direction. You should be a fan of the 70% solution that TPM is. Now let's work to make it more acceptable."

SC Response
I am a fan of growth models, when they are appropriately administered. Unfortunately, in my opinion, TPM is driven more by a political agenda than the desire to objectively measure the performance of schools. But I digress. You suggested that I try to make the current system better. Here’s what I suggested when I was affiliated with the Agency (I was politely ignored):

1. Keep the 'Required Improvement' formula and rule. But, let it only impact campuses that are working towards Acceptable. Do not allow it to be used to ramp up a campus to Recognized or Exemplary. This would recognize student performance growth in tough situations.

2. Keep the 'One Time Exception' rule. But again, let it only impact campuses that need it to remain Acceptable. Do not allow to to be used to ramp up a campus to Recognized or Exemplary. This would allow a campus that is facing enrollment growth, changing demographics, or system revision issues the chance to self correct.

3. Use a sliding scale, commended performance requirement, based on the percentage of at-risk and economically disadvantaged students that are enrolled at the school. The less at-risk and less poor your students, the greater percentage of commended students that would be required for Recognized and Exemplary status. This would encourage schools in less difficult situations to continue to push the student performance envelope.

I do recognize that a "one size fits all" system is inheriently unfair. Remember the saying "sameness isn't fairness." It defininitely applies in this case. The more at-risk your setting, the tougher your row is to hoe.

My agenda (see, I admit to having one) is to objectively measure both the performance of the campus and the degree of difficulty faced by that campus. Also, what seems to have been forgotten by darn near everybody (from the Governor, to the classroom, to the man on the street) is that passing the TAKS is supposed to be the floor. Meeting minimal passing requirements should not be the end all. And regardless, that was last year; this year is a brand new ball game.

When all is said and done, here’s what I do know; if your campus defines its success by what outsiders dictate, you are leaving student success on the table.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Comments from LYS Trainings, Camps, and Presentations

Throughout this summer, by conservative estimates, the LYS Coaching Staff trained over 5,500 teachers, school administrators and school board members. It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with everyone, especially when one considers that the majority of the training participants were attending voluntarily (off contract). As I have written before, the great ones show up when they don’t have to.

We also received 100’s of positive comments from the audiences. I would like to share a small, representative sample of those comments.

“After hearing the ‘buzz words’ tossed around for years, not only did you explain what they really meant, you taught me what to do to easily make it happen in my class.”

“Today I learned that my instruction needs to be centered on my students’ world, not mine.”

“Thank you. The opportunity to work with the staffs of other schools was invigorating.”

“Finally, training that focuses more on application and less on pointing out what I do wrong.”

“Until today, I never could figure out why you are in my district. Now I see how important your ideas are to the success of my students.”

“I’ve changed my mind about LYS. I’ve gone from viewing it as just another program that will go away with the Superintendent, to practices and skills that will improve my teaching, long term. No matter where I am.”

Again, I would like to thank every educator that worked with the LYS Team this summer. Now it’s up to you to make it happen this year.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Start at Full Speed

For many of the readers out there, today is the first day of school for students. For members of the LYS Nation, I know that you are prepared and will begin the day teaching at full speed. After all, how you start has a tremendous bearing on how you finish. On that note, here are some pictures from last Friday. While many schools spend the last day of teacher preparation unloading boxes brought from home, this was not the case in this LYS district. Here you see teachers (from multiple campuses), campus administrators and central office curriculum staff working together to map out the delivery of the first ten lessons of the year. Exceptional instruction does not occur by accident. Make this year your most successful yet.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...