A Reader Writes... Getting Rid of ISS - Part 3

In response to the 1/16/2013 post, “Getting Rid of ISS – Part 1,” a reader writes:

SC,

I love the blog, your insights are educational, thought-provoking and on point for this parent. But,

"...the best revenge on the student that demonstrates a disruptive dislike for school and learning is to figure out ways to keep him in school and teach him something. It’s the ultimate win/win for the adult and the ultimate lose/win for the child."

I think you're leaving out the other "win/lose" on this--what about the disruptive student's 22 or so classmates? One of those adult's wins cheats the other students out of quality instructional time. That's worse than a hollow victory.

Thoughts?

SC Response

Excellent counter-point. I wish you had included your name, because you deserve a gold star!!!

There are students who successfully circumvent all the interventions and supports that we are able to provide in a given instructional setting.  When this happens, an objective, unbiased administrator should first review the case to ensure that the adults dealing with the student did not take any shortcuts and/or follow existing procedures. For this does occur more often than we like to admit. If we find that the adult(s) skipped a step, the student gets the benefit of the doubt and we work with the adult.  In systems with poor oversight, you can safely assume that this occurs at least 10% of the time.

But let’s say the adults did everything they were supposed to do, then the student should be removed and placed in a more restrictive environment.  Now it becomes a numbers game.  Think of the removed student as a casualty. In any instructional setting, there will be casualties.  If there are too many casualties then another setting has to be created or the initial setting has to be modified.

When I was a teacher, the casualty numbers didn’t bother me, because I didn’t think in those terms.  My job was to teach.  When I was an assistant principal the casualty number was a badge of honor, proof that I was no-nonsense and supported my teachers. When I was a principal the casualty number hurt my heart, because I saw where we had failed a student.  When I went to central office, I saw the casualty number was a function of our machine, so I modified the machine and the number of casualties dropped dramatically.

I do recognize there is a point where the One is detrimental to the Many so the One must go.  However, I also understand that adult practice drives student performance. And based on that understanding I have learned that it is possible for a staff to get so good at their practice that the casualty rate can be reduced to close to zero.   

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Principal Asks... PowerWalks Groupings

A Principal who just recently started using PowerWalks on her campus asks the following question:

SC,

I love the PowerWalks system and the reporting function is completely awesome.  We now have enough data in the system to start meeting with teachers to look for trends.  We also want to run some group / team reports to see if bigger patterns are evident.  My question is this: Are there particular groupings that you recommend or that you know are the most useful?

SC Response

Great question. And you are right, the ability to create game film for teachers changes the entire dynamic of teacher coaching and support.  It is amazing what we are able to improve or fix when we can actually see the issue.

When it comes to groupings, the groups that are selected and/or created are based entirely on the needs of the individual campus.  Commonly used groupings include:

• Grade level
• Content area
• Pods
• Vertical teams

In certain instances, I have also used groups made up of:

• Rookies
• Teachers with high failure rates
• Teachers with low failure rates
• Department chairs
• Coaching staff

Remember, the purpose of groupings is to show a team how the team is doing relative to the campus.  But it is never appropriate to show an individual teacher how he or she is doing relative to another teacher or group.  

As an instructional coach, I need to have the ability to easily disaggregate date in order to identify trends, patterns and anomalies.  As such, you should change the groups you use whenever you believe you need to change groups.  You never know where you will find a new and relevant hidden pattern.

I hope this helps.

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Pretty Lies and Powerful Truths - Part 8

In response to the 12/13/12 post, “Pretty Lies and Powerful Truths – Part 7,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent writes:

I don’t want to be thought as a renegade against Charter Schools since I do believe they have a real value for some students.  However, the research on charter schools is not glaringly positive and charter schools take away from the traditional public school funding.  The publication, Texas Lone Star, July 2012 had an extensive study of charter schools regarding instruction, salaries, and teacher experience.  For each topic covered the results were below that of traditional public schools.  If it is competition to have a great education; then we, in public schools must sharpen the saw of our skills and the students must do the same.

  

SC Response

I am neither a charter school advocate nor adversary.  I am a proponent for effective and efficient use of public dollars for public education.  I define effective as educating increasing numbers of students to be critical thinkers and complex problem solvers.  I define efficient as continuously identifying and removing slack from the system.

By those definitions, I can show you schools of all types (traditional, charter, magnet, and alternative) that fail at both criteria.  The problem that I have with the entire education debate is that no one is really advocating for better schools.  Instead the debate is driven by political and personal agendas: 

• “Spend less money.”
• “Divert money.”
• “Spend more money.”
• “Test more.”
• “Test less.”
• “Hold teachers accountable.”
• “Hold principals accountable.”
• “Hold parents accountable.”
• “Don’t hold anyone accountable.”

And so on...

Which brings me to your last sentence, which does a good job of summarizing my beliefs and work throughout my career, “...we, in public schools must sharpen the saw of our skills and the students must do the same.”

How do we do that? 

A. By utilizing our resources proactively.

B. By holding ourselves accountable to on-going success of our students. 

C. By voting for those who understand that the formula for the economic well being of our communities, state and country is a highly educated populace that transcends current socio-economic groupings. 

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

PowerWalks Hero Schools (March 2013)

In furtherance of a LYS Nation tradition, we will take this time to tip our caps to the campuses that have embraced the most important step in creating and maintaining an action oriented professional learning community.  These are the campuses that have conducted an extraordinary number of formative classroom observations in a given month.  There were a total of 6,615 PowerWalks (we're entering the final leg of the race, don’t slow down) conducted during the past month and the March targets for Hero School designation were:

• Big Schools – 265 PowerWalks Observations
• Medium Sized Schools – 190 PowerWalks Observations
• Small Schools – 115 PowerWalks Observations
• Very Small Schools – 60 PowerWalks Observations

For April, since we are heading into testing season, we’ll adjust our Hero School target just slightly. The goals this month are as follows:

• Big Schools – 250 PowerWalks Observations
• Medium Sized Schools – 175 PowerWalks Observations
• Small Schools – 100 PowerWalks Observations
• Very Small Schools – 50 PowerWalks Observations

Now without further adieu, here are your twenty-eight PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of March 2013.  Congratulations!!!

Elementary Schools	Junior High and Middle Schools	Alternative Schools	Combined Campuses	High Schools
McFee ES - 481 (CFISD)	Hutto MS – 250 (HISD)	San Marcos – 66 (JWJPCS)		Hutto HS – 325 (HISD)
JH Hines ES – 284 (WISD)	Tennyson MS - 230 (WISD)			Waco HS – 265 (WISD)
Bell’s Hill ES – 261 (WISD)	Tidehaven IS – 128 (TISD)			Fairdale HS – 222 (1st Month) (JCS)
Kendrick ES – 231 (WISD)	Big Spring MS - 98 (1st month) (BSISD)			Cocke County HS – 133 (CCPS)
Frazier ES – 226 (CFISD)				Tidehaven HS – 78 (TISD)
Cedar Ridge ES – 191 (WISD)				Minot HS MCC – 51 (1st Month) (MPS)
Startzville ES – 172 (CISD)
Dean-Highland ES – 145 (WISD)
Provident Heights ES – 144 (WISD)
Ray ES – 142 (HISD)
Hutto ES – 134 (HISD)
South Waco ES - 134 (WISD)
Cottonwood Creek ES – 126 (HISD)
Alta Vista ES – 125 (WISD)
Johnson ES – 123 (HISD)
Markham ES – 61 (TISD)
Blessing ES – 60 (TISD)

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of March 24, 2013

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now Twitter users.  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 March 24, 2013.

1. You should start every campus meeting with this quote. "It is amazing what happens to rigor when you let students talk to each other and write."

2. Ms. Peters’ kindergarten class (RES) is writing and discussing in small groups. So why can't we do this in secondary? Oh, she also is a Recognition and Reinforcement machine.

3. Rigor is driven by high quality instruction and higher order thinking. Rigor is not driven by testing. (By @Dr. JerryRBurkett)

4. Using the Bloom's Taxonomy chart has been vital in planning my Lesson Frames. Enjoying this new way of planning. (By @Dfaykus)

5. Here's an easy way to ensure that student retention is always low! Never close your lesson!!!

6. How come when it is time for review, teachers select the lowest yield instructional practices in their toolbox?

7. When did simple disagreement become hate? What message are we sending to our youth? (By @cheadhorn)

8. The message we are sending is... You are entitled to one opinion... Mine. (By @cheadhorn)

9. Want to ensure that you work harder than you need to? Don't close your lesson. At least you'll know what you will be re-teaching tomorrow.

10. If CSCOPE is from the devil, then the Texas Legislature should fund a full Curriculum & Instruction team for each district. Texas Legislature, your thoughts? (By @friEdTechnology)

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: Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook