Friday, May 20, 2011

A Reader Submits... PLCs

A LYS Principal submits:

After attending DuFour's presentation, it is clear to me how ground breaking the entire concept of PLCs are. E. Don Brown was working on “Breaking Ranks,” DuFour was tinkering with early versions of the PLC concept, both in an early attempt to improve schools. But in some ways education is like theoretical physics. The work Newton did is not invalid, indeed, it is pure genius and will continue to be taught for centuries. However, Einstein's work does a better job of explaining and predicting physical processes while still predicting the same results that Newton's ideas did. In theoretical physics this is called Bohr's Correspondence Principle, don't ask me how I know.

Let's look at the sum of DuFour's work: common formative assessments, improving instructional models, and the understanding that we must monitor what we want to improve. Those ideas were in DuFour's presentation, although the three were not brought together and emphasized. Do they sound familiar? As in Cain’s Foundation Trinity?

Now we look at the PLC model. DuFour uses common formative assessments to determine if students are learning. If the data shows that students in Room 1 are doing better than the students in Room 4, then the teacher in Room 4 will benefit from talking professionally with the teacher in Room 1. Which, of course, makes perfect sense. HOWEVER, we no longer need to talk about instruction in order to discover what good teachers are doing. Good teachers are using individual elements of the Fundamental Five, and always have. Having teachers meet in a PLC format, using discovery learning techniques to improve instruction is effective, but inefficient given our current level of knowledge. Accountability is moving too fast, our students are too far behind, and we must abandon the traditional PLC model, IF the purpose of the PLC is to improve instructional delivery and student outcomes. The Foundation Trinity and the Fundamental Five will give us those answers just as effectively and much more efficiently than DuFour's PLC model.

This is not to say the PLC model is dead, indeed far from it. But we must refer to another principle of science, Occam's Razor: the most succinct solution is the preferable solution. We simply need to focus the PLC on what we know: the most effective and efficient way to improve student outcomes is to better implement Foundation Trinity and the Fundamental Five.

To paraphrase Isaac Newton, if we have seen farther, it is because we have stood on the shoulder of giants. Dr. DuFour and E. Don Brown are truly giants, but with Foundation Trinity and the Fundamental Five, we now have the ability to see further.

SC Response

First, thank you very much for the kind words. I really don’t know how to respond to such praise. So I will just acknowledge it and we’ll move on.

Second, there are two inter-related factors at work that have a significant impact on both the understanding and implementation of PLCs. Both of which Brown and DuFour did not have to deal with when they were making their breakthroughs. The work that I did and continue to do was based on how to implement their ideas while working around, under, over and through those factors.

The first factor is the issue of leading in emergency and crisis situations. Effective leadership is situational and follows a continuum. At one end of the continuum is emergency leadership and at the other end is capacity building leadership. The leadership styles at both ends of the continuum are more dissimilar than similar. Emergency leadership requires almost dictatorial control with little opportunity for reflection and second guessing. Picture Churchill. Capacity building leadership requires collaboration, shared inquiry, discussion, compromise and consensus. Picture Chamberlin. Those gifted in leading at one end of the continuum, often struggle (and fail) when forced to lead in situations at the other end of the continuum. Again, picture Churchill and Chamberlin.

Now, I was familiar with the work of Brown, DuFour, et al. But I was also aware that the setting in which their work was incubated was at the capacity building side of the continuum. My job was to translate the tenor of their work in an environment with no time for collaboration, no room for error and no energy for wasted steps. That meant we were editing out every act and practice that wasn’t mission critical. And this is the most important part, we had a discretionary budget that was unprecedented, a Petri dish of schools that had never before been made available and tools that until that point had yet to be invented.

The second factor was punitive accountability. This was new. There had been accountability before but there was no penalty for failure. In fact, the only accountability that mattered was internal and personal accountability. This is what made the Brown’s, DuFour’s, and their ilk special and unique. They pushed the envelope and created new knowledge due to their unparalleled personal drive and conviction. But without punitive accountability it allowed everyone to believe that every school operated at the capacity building end of the continuum. So every schools leadership model was designed around this flawed assumption. Punitive accountability stripped away this facade and threw schools into emergency and crisis mode. The leaders operating in this new environment were ill prepared to deal with this reality. And those not in this new environment were unable to provide any meaningful support (no experience base). Quickly recognizing that the issue was a system problem not a personnel problem, we realized we had to streamline and rebuild the system. Which is what we did. The big surprise for us, was not that we figured it out (after all, as your pointed out, we were standing on the shoulders of giants), it was what we developed worked all across the continuum.

The hard part of the job is convincing educators that have been focused on adult comfort and that they need to shift their focus to student performance. As you are so well aware.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Now Available on Amazon.com! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out)

June 16 (TASSP) – Book Release Event, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”

June 16 (TASSP) - Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Vouchers - It's Only "Choice"

If you are a regular reader, I know that I am preaching to the choir. But sometimes you have to vent to the only people who seem to be listening...

As I have written before, vouchers are nothing more than a tax break for the rich - masquerading as a benefit to the poor. I don’t think that the masses want vouchers, I think they just don’t care. And it is this lack of caring that plays into the hands of those who want to tear down public education. So for those of us who are public school advocates, the following is the real voucher agenda.

“I’m rich and I want to select the peer group of my children. After all, I don’t want any poor, black or brown to rub off on them. So instead of sending my kids to a public school, I’m going to send them to a private school. This is well within my rights.

But now I realize that on top of my $25,000+ private school tuition, I am still paying public school taxes. Why should I pay for the maid’s kids to go to school? That’s her responsibility, not mine. Oh the injustice, woe is me!

What would be fair would be for the state to give me back some of my school taxes so I could use it cover some of the cost of my kids’ exclusive private school. But how to I make this palatable to the masses?

I know, we will call it a "choice" option. Anybody can use the voucher to make any private school more affordable. The fact that it will take more than the voucher amount to cover tuition is not my problem. What's important is that I’ll get mine.

And if that poor, black or brown kid is a really good athlete, we could give them a scholarship to make up the difference. And so what if it hurts the public schools, it not like my kids were ever going to attend there.”

Now, here are two dirty little secrets about school vouchers (actually, they are only secrets if one chooses to remain ignorant). First, providing a subsidy to allow someone to pay for admission to an exclusionary organization is no guarantee that they will be accepted into the organization. The best and most appropriate examples of this are fraternities and sororities. Just because your daddy provides you with the money to pay the fraternity dues doesn’t mean that you will be allowed to pledge (especially, if you have the wrong daddy). Fraternities, like private school, are exclusionary for a reason. They exist because their constituents have rejected some or all of the public.

Second, the overall economic costs of a service with a subsidy are more than the overall economic costs of a service without a subsidy. The economic term is called “deadweight cost.” It is the entity that provides the subsidy that absorbs the extra (deadwood) costs. Now our reformist, voucher proponents are not stupid people. Therefore for them to support vouchers means they are either for:

1. Inefficient government spending;

2. Supporting exclusionary organizations;

3. Providing tax breaks for the rich;

4. Dismantling public schools;

5. Some form of personal gain; or

6. They are ill advised.

And that’s why voucher proponents are not listening to reason nor are they playing fair. Because for them, it has absolutely nothing to do with reason and fair. So who are you voting for in the next election?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Now Available on Amazon.com! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out)

June 16 (TASSP) – Book Release Event, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”

June 16 (TASSP) - Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Blog and E-mail: A Review of Functions

Some of you have seen a version of this post before, but since I wrote it, we have added close to 100 new members to the LYS Nation. Therefore, I thought a refresher might be in order. The following is my attempt to explain the features that are embedded in the blog site and the e-mail updates.

Note: This section relates to the blog site (not the e-mail updates).

On the left side of the page, E-Mail Updates: If you enter your e-mail address in the subscribe box, you will get a daily e-mail update of all the postings within the last 24 hours, after you respond to the confirmation e-mail (a spam preventative).

On the left side of the page, under the E-Mail Updates area: UpTweet – If you like a post, click UpTweet and it takes you to your twitter account so you can post a link on your timeline.

On the left side of the page, under the UpTweet area: Lead Your School Resources and Tools - Links to the Lead Your School campus support site, the PowerWalks site, and the Amazon.com page for “The Fundamental Five: The Formula for Quality Instruction”

On the left side of the page, under the Lead Your School Resources and Tools area: Twitter Updates – A running list of the last ten posts to the LYS Nation Twitter account.

On the left side of the page, under the Twitter Updates area: Current School News - Click on any of the four key words and the most current news stories that relate to that key word will be displayed.

On the left side of the page, under the Current School News area: Popular Posts – Shows the three most viewed blog posts from the last thirty days.

On the left side of the page, under the Popular Post area: RSS Feeds - I don't have a clue. The tech guys just said it needed to be there. Can anyone out there explain it?

On the left side of the page, under RSS Feeds: Followers - Again, no clue (just following tech guy instructions). Some of you do this, care to explain it to the rest of us?

At the bottom of the blog page, under the last post of the week: Blog Archives - Click on a week, and all the posts from that week will be displayed.

Note: This section relates to the actual posts (on the blog site).

If you click on a post title, it will pull up a comment box at the end of the post. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

At the bottom of each post, click "comment" and you can leave a comment or read comments others have left. However, the majority of the comments, I post under the heading, "A Reader Writes."

At the bottom of each post, click the envelope if you want to e-mail that post to another person.

At the bottom of each post, if you click a "Label" word, it will pull up all the other posts that have the same label words.

At the bottom of the post, there are reaction boxes. You get to rate the post.

Note: This section relates to the E-mail updates.

If you click on "Lead Your School", it will take you to the blog site.

If you click on a post title, it will take you to the post and there will be a comment box at the bottom of the screen. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

Note: This section relates to Reader Comments.

This is how all comments are handled:

Your comments, opinions and question are welcomed and encouraged. Keep them coming.

All comments opinions and questions are reviewed by me.

Comments, opinions and questions, where it is asked that the information not be shared, receive a private response from me.

One liners and comments that do not require a response are just posted as a comment.

Comments, opinions and questions of merit are posted as, “A Reader Writes…” They are posted in a first come, first serve fashion. So sometimes it takes a while to get to yours.

I don’t know if it is proper blog etiquette or not, but I spell and grammar check comments before I post them.

Comments are handled with a modified FERPA procedure. I will and do mask the identities of some writers, their schools and their districts. This is to protect the writer and who or what they are writing about.

Post format:

Text in italics is the comment of the reader.

Your turn… This is your invitation to weigh in and join the conversation.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Now Available on Amazon.com! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

State of the Blog - The Last 100 Posts (800 and Counting)

Hello, LYS Nation. This is the 800th post to the column, so as has become a tradition, we will review our progress.

First, the review:

The 1st post was on Monday, February 16, 2009.

The 100th post was on April 14, 2009.

The 200th post was on June 10, 2009

The 300th post was on September 2, 2009

The 400th post was on December 16, 2009

The 500th post was on April 7, 2010

The 600th post was on August 2, 2010

The 700th post was on December 17, 2010

The 800th post is on today, May 17, 2011

The 800 posts represent more than 700 pages of single spaced text. This is the equivalent of about a 2,800 page book.

The top 7 key words have been: Leadership (248); Teachers (149); Principals (142); Robert “Bob” Brezina (108); E. Don Brown (100); LYS Nation (87); Instruction (80); Campus / School Improvement (79)

The top 10 posts, in terms of distribution, have been: 1 – Crunch Time Common Assessments (2/11/2011); 2 - A TAKS Reminder From the LYS Elementary Coaching Team (4/19/2011); 3- A Reader Asks... Grading Policy (1/12/2011); 4 – Readers Ask... More Assessment Questions (11/5/2010); 5 – Top LYS Tweets from the Week of March 20, 2011 (3/28/2011); 6 – A Reader Submits… Instructional Strategies (10/19/2010); 7 – It’s Finally Here! The Fundamental 5 (5/11/2011); 8 - More of the LYS Nation in the News (11/23/2010); 9 – Start at Full Speed (8/23/2010); 10 – The Texas School Finance Situation (3/24/2011)

There have been over 27,750 site hits.

There are 785 e-mail subscribers. Thank you!

There are now international readers and e-mail subscribers, with the following 9 countries represented: Australia, Canada, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand; United Kingdom, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands,

All of this is incredibly exciting; especially when you consider that not too long ago ago, every number was 0.

A Little Blatant Self Promotion:

First, if you like the blog and you haven’t signed up for the e-mail subscription, please do so. I find that it’s easier to write to people than it is to write to web hits.

Second, if you like the blog and find it useful, tell three other people. This blog is a much more powerful resource for school improvement when it is a dialogue.

Third, if you have not sent in a comment yet, please do so. Education research points out that the act of critical writing actually makes the learner smarter. Let the blog assist you in sharpening your saw.

Finally,

Thank you so much for reading and responding. This network which started out as a way for just a handful of principals to stay connected has turned into a small nation of board members, central office administrators, campus leaders, and teachers who are focused on redefining what students are capable of. Who knows what we will discuss in the next 100 posts.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Now Available on Amazon.com! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Monday, May 16, 2011

Top LYS Tweets from the Week of May 8, 2011

Last night, we were at a neighbor’s house visiting. They had just purchased new I-Pads and were giving their old ones to their grandchildren. They were going on and on about how easy they are to use, how much they use them, and the different things they use them for. Their question to me was did I know of any good education apps and how would their grandkids be able to use the passed down I-pads in school.

When I told then that in all likelihood they would not be allowed to take them to school, much less use them, they were flabbergasted. Then granddad, an engineer, said something profound, “It’s like when slide rules were made obsolete by calculators. There were those that thought that knowing how to use the slide rule was the important thing. They were wrong. The important thing is solving enough little problems fast enough so you can actually make the big thing.”

In your classroom or on your campus, what’s more important – mucking through facts or building knowledge and understanding. For these last few days of the school year, why not call a moratorium on movies (a “learning activity” that is observed entirely too often) and challenge teachers and students to bring their smart phones and tablets to school and figure out ways to use them in class. Call it “Innovate Instead of Vegetate Week.”

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of May 8, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse.

1. A great LYS Principal Quote: Anyone can write a "Vision" on a dusty piece of paper. The issue is do you have what it takes to make it happen.

2. Trust me on this one. Due to bootleg technology the school library, as we now know it, will not exist in 10 years.

3. Tonight’s run thought: Stress and adversity reveal true character. It's easy to be a decent person when times are good.

4. Just read an article bemoaning the impact of the lack of "tradition" technology on instruction. Completely missed the solution of bootleg technology!

5. I don't know which is more exciting. LYS is now part of the Hutto ISD family or Hutto ISD just joined the LYS Nation!

6. An angry letter writer referred to me as "The LYS Chief Motivator." I like it, but I have yet to meet a LYSer that needs to be "motivated."

7. Tonight' run thought: The most overlooked personal quality when dealing with change - Courage.

8. Just because one has seen the plan and can understand the plan doesn't mean that he has the capability and discipline to execute the plan.

9. Starting to wonder if the current Texas school finance issues will have to be solved in the courts. Edgewood IV anyone?

10. Tonight’s run thought: For every variable that "they" say can't be controlled, a LYS Principal either controls it or nullifies it.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Now Available on Amazon.com! "The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction" http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Upcoming Event / Presentation Schedule

June 11 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!

June 15 (TASSP) - Improve Now!

June 16 (TASSP) - Conference Breakfast, hosted by E. Don Brown (LYS travel tumblers for the first 1000 attendees, last year we ran out)

June 16 (TASSP) – Book Release Event, “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction”

June 16 (TASSP) - Fundamental Five; Tech Tools for the 2.0 Principal

June 17 (TASSP) - PowerWalks

June 18 (TASB) - The Fundamental Five; Improve Now!