Your 6-step STAAR Preparation Strategy

Drill and kill was very effective as a preparation strategy for TAAS. Even though it was a less effective strategy for TAKS, educators were unwilling to let it go.  For STAAR the strategy will simply ensure that students will fail, en masse.  Yet sadly, at campus after campus I visit, test remediation is the same as it ever was. Which begs the question, “What should we be doing for STAAR preparation?”

I’m glad you asked.  If it were my campus and my students I would start with the following 6-step plan.

Step 1: Start now! What the heck are you waiting for? The longer you wait the more accurately I can predict the STAAR results for your campus, and the prediction isn’t comforting.

Step 2: Tackle the deepest holes first!  You can’t fix everything, for everyone.  So you have to be strategic.  Work to fill the two deepest holes in student understanding.  When a hole is filled, move to the next deepest hole.  The beauty of this step is that less deep holes are often filled in the process without devoting time and energy towards them.

Step 3: Focus on fluency! Don’t kill your students by having them do practice problem after practice problem.  Instead do fewer problems during a short time period. Assessment stamina is not the skill set you are trying to build.  You want to build assessment fluency.  You want your students to: 

A. Quickly identify the pertinent information in a problem. 

B. Quickly decide which strategy to use to solve the problem. 

C. Answer quickly, with confidence. 

D. Move to the next problem

Step 4: Use process questions. The only “facts in isolation” tests that students take are teacher made.  Our accountability tests are rigorous and process driven.  Remediation must reflect this reality. 

Step 5: Force cognition.  Remediation sessions should be heavily skewed towards hands on activities (application), discussion and critical writing (analysis, synthesis and evaluation). Knowledge and comprehension based activities, even in content, only give the illusion of teaching to a standard. Avoid the trap of wasting the effort of teachers and students.   

Step 6: Harness the power of teamwork. Let students work in small teams on their remediation assignments. The results will astonish you.  Here are some reasons why this works.

1. The students all have deficits, but not the same deficit. When students work together, they fill in each other’s gaps in knowledge faster than we can identify them.

2. It forces the students to engage in academic conversations, which lend themselves to deeper understandings.

3. It’s more difficult to quit on your partner than on yourself.  Which means that the power of sweat equity actually comes into play. 

4. Every time I help my partner solve something, I become a little more confident and feel a little smarter.

Now all you have to do is remember this, “A poor plan executed with conviction will always be better that a perfect plan never executed.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Superintendent Responds... Pretty Lies and Powerful Truths - Part 7

In response to the 10/31/2012 post, “Pretty Lies and Powerful Truths – Part 3,” a reader writes:

SC,

Certainly Milton Friedman is a brilliant economist.  I would point out two things in regard to Friedman:  one, being brilliant does not automatically equate to being right.  Two, it is quite possible Friedman's ideas have been hijacked and twisted by a far right agenda. 

I am not necessarily anti-voucher, but I think we need a true discussion of the intended and unintended outcomes.  I for one am tired of the legislature passing bills to see what is in them.  Bill Hammond recently stated that if public dollars in the form of vouchers go to private schools then the private schools should be held to state accountability standards.  Of course one could see that one coming from a mile a way.  So what is the effect? 

Well, one could argue that private schools would begin to operate much like public schools do today, with a much increased emphasis on high stakes testing.  Indeed the introduction of the voucher into the private education setting acts like an infectious disease, altering the function and structure of private education.  Interestingly in such a scenario the introduction of the voucher then ultimately limits choice as government restrictions and bureaucracy forces private education into a mirror image of public education.  Interesting ideas discussed here: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-269.html years ago.

As to higher education, we should contrast some similarities and differences with K-12 education.  One, we have no constitutional right to a higher education.  Two, choice cuts both ways in higher education: students pick their school, but more importantly institutions of higher education get to pick their students. Three, we should look real carefully at government money and its effect on higher education.  For example, what has the infusion of Pell Grants accomplished in higher education?  Certainly the cost has not gone down.  Universities simply raised tuition knowing full well that students could afford it because they had "free" money.  The government's response has been to raise Pell Grant amounts.  The universities’ response: raise tuition even more. 

In this way grants and vouchers are similar: if vouchers can be used in private schools, does anyone really believe the private schools won't raise tuition?  After all it is simple supply and demand: if demand goes up because people have a voucher in their hands seemingly putting private education within their reach, that does not change the fact that there are only so many seats in private schools, therefore tuition goes up.

Interesting discussions.  One thing I love about the LYS Nation is that it keeps forces me to think and rethink.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A LYS Principal Asks... Clarify Your Testing and Homework Comments

A LYS Principal asks,

SC,

I need some clarification on one of your recent tweets, you wrote, “Want a quick way to make your school effective?  Implement a content-based testing and homework schedule.” 

Ok, how?

SC Response

Here is what I meant, you should set up your campus’ testing and schedule in advance.  For example:

Any Middle School Testing Schedule

Monday: Social Studies

Tuesday: English / Reading

Wednesday: Science

Thursday: Math

Friday: Other Subjects

Then do the same for homework.  Same example school:

Any Middle School Homework Schedule

Monday: Science

Tuesday: Math

Wednesday: Other Subjects

Thursday: Social Studies

Friday: English / Reading

Now, overlay these two schedules and here is what you get.

Day	Homework Subject	Test or Quiz Subject
Monday	Science	Social Studies
Tuesday	Math	English / Reading
Wednesday	Other Subjects	Science
Thursday	Social Studies	Math
Friday	English / Reading	Other Subjects

With a set schedule, students (and parents) know in advance what to expect on any given day.  And students are not overwhelmed with both homework and studying. Now, for the first time in their academic career, their workload is realistic, predictable and manageable.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Readers Write... The Hidden Agenda of Choice - Part 4

In response to the post, “The Hidden Agenda of Choice – Part 1” a number of LYS readers have responded, here is a small sampling:

Good points! Thank you.

Thanks for helping me flesh out my arguments as we get ready for the legislative season.  Protecting our schools will mean keeping our communities informed.

The election is over.... Can we go back to the posts that will help with student achievement?

SC Response

1. You’re welcome.

2. Glad you found this helpful and I agree

3. Yes and no.

I don’t think we’ll be able to put the issue of vouchers to bed until the legislate goes back home in May.  But I agree, a little voucher discussion goes along way. So I will close with this.  A friend, who is an elected official, recently met with our new pro-voucher Education Commissioner.  My friend asked the Commissioner what he thought about our public schools, to which he answered, “Our public schools do a fantastic job.”

Which produced the follow-up question, “Then why the do we need vouchers?”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of December 2, 2012

A recent survey reports what is becoming increasingly obvious; students are using bootleg technology as they work on their homework. Away from school, the use of smart phones and tablets is encroaching on the use of laptop and desktop computers. 

Not surprisingly, students reported that they were more likely to use their bootleg technology to complete their academic tasks at home than they were at school.  That’s on us, the educator.  Older generations are much slower to adapt new tools than younger generations, so as school leaders we must keep encouraging our staff and peers to adapt and grow. 

Buried in the report was an interesting finding, which I believe has practical and powerful implications.  Hispanic and African American students report higher usage of bootleg technology to complete their schoolwork than white students.  White students rely more on laptop and desktop computers.  So what does this mean? Two things:

1.     Bootleg technology availability is less a factor of SES status than any of us (middle class educators) believe.

2.     As computing becomes increasingly app based, bootleg technology may become a primary tool in decreasing achievement gaps.  In fact, those students who traditionally have less may be able to navigate faster and more successfully on bootleg devices than the traditional “haves” due to greater exposure and familiarity. 

This means that the wholesale practices of disallowing and discouraging the use of bootleg technology in classrooms could very well be a real, yet inadvertent, discriminatory practice. Since this is not the intent of any educator that I know, let’s fix this.    

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own 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 December 2, 2012.

1. Congratulations to LYSer, Raul Nuques. He is the new Director of Special Education in Austin ISD! Who will be next?

2. In an elementary class, kid pukes, wipes his mouth and keeps working. Not hygienic but I admire his focus.

3. You've got to write a lot to learn how, but many kids are not writing more than a paragraph of text in school. (By @anniemurphypaul)

4. Education needs to become a priority in Texas again. We need to grow business but not at the expense of schools, roads, and health care. (By @DrJerryRBurkett)

5. Was at Rutherford this morning and saw excellent examples of framing the lesson. Teacher said it helped her and students to stay focused. (By @LindaHenrie1)

6. Teachers at Sanger MS will receive copies of Fun 5 tomorrow. Excited to see increased time in the "Power Zone." (By @dsteeber)

7. 4th graders show up to flag football Super Bowl in limos... How many of those parents will send them to school in limos on the day of the STAAR test? (By @ cheadhorn)

8. Politicians and pundits can save themselves a lot of time trying to identify problem with education by just looking in the mirror. (By @ cheadhorn)

9. Texas ranks 48th among all states in public education spending, spending on average $8,654 per pupil--Thank you Mississippi and Louisiana! (By @tgrierhisd)

10. Expert testifies that Texas underpays teachers & that is impacting teacher quality. In other breaking news, water is wet.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation