A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 14)

In response to the 11/7/2010 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 1 & 2,” a reader writes:

There are many reasons why many educators are putting in long hours during this time of educational reform. What I have found is that many educators resisted change when it was introduced either thru a workshop or faculty meeting. I have observed many make comments such as, "I will close my door and do what I know is best" or "I have been teaching 20+ years and they don't know what they're talking about."

Then there are those that changed only while they were being monitored and quit doing the new practices to go back to their comfort zone once no one was watching. Consequently, a majority of educators didn't change and now America lags behind other nations in many subjects. Couple that issue with the preventable school dropouts that occur because typical teaching practices do not include activities for different learning styles and it seems that we just keep digging a deeper hole for ourselves.

Furthermore, Lead Your School would not have been founded unless there was a need for fundamental practices to be implemented to improve education for all of our students. I wish I had thought of it myself! Unfortunately, we are now being bombarded with changes that needed to be implemented long ago and many of us are overwhelmed. We cannot continue to resist change - the World is changing and we will be left behind!

SC Response

When it comes to changing teacher practice, there are a number of reasons why so many teachers are resistant and cynical. And in the defense of teachers, a lot of this came about honestly. Mandates with no training; training without follow-up and support; trainers and leaders with no credibility and/or practical knowledge; and decision makers that haven’t spent meaningful time in the classroom in years force teachers to embrace a bunker mentality just to function on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, when you are dealing with a veteran staff, if you expect them to welcome your agenda with open arms and proclaim that you are the answer to their all of their problems, that is naïve.

You have to make a compelling case, you have to communicate like a broken record, you have to monitor and support, and (here is the really important part) you have to do this day, after day, after day. Or you have to carry a big stick and not be afraid to use it (which is yet another reason why veteran teachers are often cynical and distrustful). My point being is that you can’t wish, hope or tell “change.” You have to lead and manage change.

Next, those of us who are no longer in classrooms need to take a step back and realize that what we are asking teachers to do now, none of us had to do ourselves. We may have taught like teachers today in short bursts (though I wouldn’t bet money on it), but we were not required to sustain the effort. Here was the instructional mandate I operated under when I was in the classroom.

1. Teach your content.

2. Use this textbook.

3. Call the parent before you give a student an “F.”

4. Know that we will think less of you if you send too many kids to the office.

Here’s the new instructional mandate:

1. Teach at mid to high rigor, daily for extended periods of time.

2. Teach at mid to high relevance, daily for extended periods of time.

3. Teach on a mandated, accelerated pace.

4. Ensure that all of your students are successful.

Teachers have shouldered the bulk of the change in the work of education. Which is why the systems where leadership is actually engaged in instruction have been much more successful in this new era, than systems where leadership works on administrivia and leaves the business of teaching to teachers alone.

I’ll close with this, in terms of American schools vs. the schools of other developed nations, the glass is either half-empty or half-full. The American school is expected to educate, at a high level, everyone who walks through the door (still a work in progress). The other developed nations do not attempt do this. If you are a pessimist, this is a glass half-empty situation. Educating only the motivated and prepared is an easier job. And the overall performance ceiling of the motivated and prepared always appears higher. But our requirement to educate everyone at a high level makes us better understand our craft. It forces us to work harder and smarter in order to succeed. Plus, it creates a populace with both a wider and deeper education base. I view this as a glass half-full situation. Which is why I never advocate slowing down. What we (the LYS Nation) are doing right now is much too important to take a day off.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 13)

In response to the post 11/3/2010 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long,” a teacher writes:

If you only spend 6 hours in meetings and could use the remaining time to grade and plan, I would agree with your post. But, when you add district initiatives that overlap, contradict and don't make sense then you have added much more on top of your plate. Furthermore, 60 hours is a guess. Lastly, to tell teachers that there are better ways to make a living with better pay is self-serving and arrogant. We are trying to attract quality people in education (an already arduous task) not repel them.

I think your tact is wrong, encouragement is a better tact than intimidation. What do you think?

SC Response

I like the way you lay out your concerns in your comment.

First of all, I admit that my "60 hours" number is an average, based on my observations of thousands of teachers on hundreds of campuses. Individual teachers may work either more efficiently or less efficiently to achieve the same results. Personally, when I was in the classroom, I was able to devote about 54 hours a week to the job, and outperform my peers. But the hours that I worked are no longer a relevant rubric and here is why. There are three factors to consider when examining the average number of hours that I worked as a classroom teacher.

A. Accountability was not the issue that it is today. So my job was easier.

B. The scope and sequence for the subject I taught was driven by the textbook. My job was to start with Chapter One and then try to finish the book at the end of the year. So my job was easier.

C. My math students were outperforming the students in all the other classes, so I wasn’t being pushed to catch anyone. So my job was easier. As such, it is my assumption that if I was in the classroom today, I would have to work more than the 54 hours a week I used to average.

Second, since I don’t know which district you work in, I can’t specifically address the overlapping district initiatives you are currently dealing with. But in general, there are always seemingly overlapping initiatives that impact the classroom. Special education procedures change without warning, bi-lingual requirements and programs evolve, the curriculum changes, software gets upgraded. It is an unfortunate fact of life. And the impact of this is magnified, the further behind you find a campus and/or district. If your district hasn’t embraced inclusion, isn’t meeting the needs of LEP students, hasn’t universally adopted a common scope and sequence, and is using computers built in the early 2000’s, then the district’s only option is to change everything at once. This exacts a considerable physical and emotional toll on teachers. This is why LYS focuses on Foundations, Fundamentals and Essentials. You have to simplify to survive in chaos and complexity.

Third, to ask someone to reflect on whether or not teaching is his or her vocation or avocation, as I did, would seem to be the exact opposite of self-serving and arrogant. Self-serving would be to tell teachers to suck it up and work harder, faster and longer, with no support. Arrogant would be to not engage in dialogue with campus based staff, because they refuse to see “the big picture.” Neither has ever been my intent or motivation.

Fourth, my agenda is not to attract or retain “warm-bodies” to the profession. Just as I don’t want a “warm-body” doctor, lawyer, CPA, or pilot, I have little use for a “warm-body” educator. The “warm-body” subtracts much more than he or she adds. In fact, on my campus, and later, my campuses, if you didn’t live and breathe improved student performance, it didn’t make you a bad person, it just made you a poor fit for my staff. A fact that became a source of staff pride as the performance of our students attracted international attention.

It has been my experience that you attract quality people by providing an honest assessment of the situation and providing a compelling mission and vision. I may not have as many takers, but day in and day out, the professionals that do accept the challenge will outperform everyone else.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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A Reader Asks... Grading Policy

A LYS reader asks:

In light of the new STAAR tests (upcoming Texas state accountability test), don't we need to look at grading policies. Maybe put more weight on assessment scores rather than teacher created daily work?

SC Response

Great question. STAAR test or not, we need to look at grading policies, or as I like to call it: Grades – The Biggest Source of Fiction in Education.

Recently, Dr. Jim Davis (aka: “The Big Easy”, or “The Smart One”) and I were discussing how to best fix this. Here is a thumbnail version of the Davis/Cain grading system, hereby to be referred to on most schools as, “Pure Crazy Talk.”

1. Look at the scope and sequence (the crazy talk begins).

2. Line out two weeks worth of work.

3. Do daily work and homework (as outlined by the scope and sequence).

4. Every two weeks, give a short quiz (and/or writing assignment) that is perfectly aligned to the scope and sequence.

5. At the end of six weeks. Average the daily work / home work grades. Average the quiz grades.

6. If the quiz grade average is higher than the daily grade average, use the quiz grade average for the final 6 weeks grade.

7. If the daily grade average is higher than the quiz average, count the daily grade average as a fourth quiz grade and then use that average as the final 6 weeks grade.

There you go, no muss, no fuss. Now you are assigning grades based on student mastery of the material and you are not unfairly penalizing the students who either took longer to understand the content or who are dealing with distracting life issues. Like I wrote above, “Pure Crazy Talk.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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A Reader Writes... (Yes, I Know the Hours are Long - Part 12)

In response to the 11/7/2010 post, “Yes, I Know the Hours are Long – Part 1 & 2,” a LYS Principal writes:

The posts of the last two days have been very interesting. The writer appears just a bit defensive. Just doesn’t get it.

SC Response

You do have a point. I think that some of the angry writers either didn’t read my post closely or missed the context. Some of them seemed to believe that either I meant that work is more important than family or that teachers do not work hard. Neither was the case. I was trying to point out that because to do the job well requires hard work and sacrifice that if you don’t love it, then please reflect on why you are doing it.

If the equation no longer balances, it’s time to move on. To do otherwise is to make everyone miserable, you, your family, your co-workers and your students. Do know that I am not advocating giving up with the going gets tough. My intent is to point out that working through the “tough” is easier when you embrace the commitment, near impossible when you do not.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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What Does the Data Show?

Over the holidays, I was asked to prepare an abstract for some significant, national education policy makers. The topic - the consistent tail-right performance of LYS schools.

Once the abstract has been circulated to the parties that requested it, I’ll post it on the LYS website. But this is what is crystal clear: Embrace the principles of LYS and your classroom, campus and/or district moves faster than those around you.

In peer-to-peer comparisons, LYS classrooms improve performance at a more rapid pace than non-LYS classrooms. LYS schools in districts improve performance at a more rapid pace than non-LYS schools in the same district. And LYS districts improve student performance at a more rapid pace than surrounding non-LYS districts.

To sum up why I believe the LYS’er is a consistent out-performer, I just wrote, “above all else, the educators that work with LYS have embraced the power of…

Think. Work. Achieve."

Your turn...

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