Friday, October 25, 2013

A LYS Principal Asks... Senior Elementary School


A LYS Principal asks,

SC,

What are the characteristics of a Senior Elementary?  I COMPLETELY agree with your statement about running a middle school like a Senior Elementary (instead of a Junior High School). I just want to be sure we are on the same page.

SC Response
What sets a good elementary school apart from the typical middle and high school is the overriding understanding that the responsibility for student success lies with the adult. There is the understanding that children make mistakes both behaviorally and academically and so we have to teach and re-teach in both areas.  It is understood that it is the responsibility of the teacher to contact parents, to keep track of student work, and help students complete their academic tasks.  

Teachers and students work hard to create a community of "Together" rather than perpetuate an environment of "Us versus Them."  There is a focus on flexibility and discovery instead of control and conformity.

That’s what I mean when I talk about a senior elementary school.  Yes, I know the middle school has to prepare students for high school.  But there is generally three years to complete that transition.  It does not have to be completed in the first six weeks of the first semester that students arrive to their new campus.

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21st Century High School Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Thursday, October 24, 2013

A Reader Writes... Getting Rid of ISS - Part 5


In response to the 4/5/2013 post, “Getting Rid of ISS – Part 3,” a reader writes:

SC,

I believe we need to be thinking in terms of logical consequences versus punishment. Punishment comes from a seat of power, is arbitrary, and does not always fit the crime. It also leaves the recipient angry and bitter. Logical consequences on the other hand are a logical outshoot of the infraction. Bottom line; ISS is punishment and does not work.

SC Response
Amen! At a certain point, usually after years of failure, you realize that if punishment were the answer, there wouldn’t be student discipline problems.  Because one thing that adults are good at is inventing new forms of punishment.  And then it finally dawns on you that you either ignore misbehavior and non-compliance (an unacceptable solution) or you create systems and incentives that extinguish delinquency.

The question becomes what are you going to spend your time on, what works or what doesn’t?

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21st Century High School Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A Reader Asks... Common Assessment Review


A reader asks the following questions.

SC,

I'm currently a teacher working in an LYS school district. I have a question regarding Common Assessments, specifically addressing questions on "reviewing for common assessments". As an educator, I'm looking for my students to be successful on their assessments, so I'm wondering if we should review the covered content prior to the Common Assessments?

There seems to be confusion with what the best practices are for this. I understand we must keep from teaching or reviewing from the common assessment itself, in order to maintain the fidelity of the test. However, the question still stands, are we able to review for the common assessments, but doing so from the scope and sequence? If so, are we able to review the day of the test or should it be done a few days before the test?  

Thank you for your time.
  

SC Response
Great questions.  First, you have to decide why you are administering the assessment.  For grades or information? If it is just for grades, honestly the common assessment process is too much of a hassle. So just stick with using statistically invalid teacher made tests. But if you are administering the assessment for information then an entirely new world opens up in front of you. One where field practice can actually inform and improve the profession.  It is in this world where I endeavor to spend my time and energy.  For me there is nothing more exciting.

All of that to say this, “I believe that reviewing for a common assessment is a waste of instructional time and effectively invalidates the assessment for data analysis, problem solving and system level decision-making.” 

What you want to do is teach the curriculum to the best of your ability up to the assessment administration.  If you do this, over time the data will reveal the following:

A. Am I (or, are we) staying on pace with the scope and sequence

B. Am I (or, are we) using more effective or less effective practices, in terms of student retaining, processing and using the delivered content.

If I review for the assessment, what the data primarily tells me is how effective my review sessions are. Now some will say, “If I don’t review, my students will get lower grades.”

To which I respond, “The purpose of the assessment is not to collect grades but to generate instructional data that informs our next instructional decisions.”

Others will say, “If I don’t review, it will look like I’m less of a teacher than my peers who are providing a review.”

To which I respond, “The purpose of the assessment is not to collect grades but to generate instructional data that informs our next instructional decisions. If you can suffer through a couple of assessment cycles, you will soon leave the reviewers in the dust.  Because you will soon be teaching better and those using the crutch of review won’t be able to keep up with you and your class.”

Now, that does mean that I never review for a common assessment.  It is my hope that based on your embedded formative assessment and how students respond to the closing question in each lesson that there is a constant cycle of review of prior knowledge, introduction of new material, practice, demonstrated understanding, repeat.  That is solid instruction.  And good assessment data puts you in a position to get even better at it.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, you know how to find me.

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21st Century High School Conference
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Superintendent Writes... Getting Rid of ISS - Part 4


In response to the 3/26/13 post, “Getting Rid of ISS – Part 2,” a LYS Superintendent writes:

LYS Nation,

First, if you truly believe in keeping children in the classroom, do it.  There is nothing stopping you.  

Second, I virtually eliminated ISS on two high school campuses and now in my district.  The result of this work has been two-fold: it works for kids; most teachers hate it.  Now let's explore a couple of ideas.

As you indicated children spend a whole lot of time in ISS for dress code and other trivial violations.  I would ask you these questions.

What are you trying to accomplish with your dress code?  

Is your academic program so strong you have time and resources to devote to dress code enforcement and other trivial issues?  

Can a child still learn with an earring?  

This is where Cain and I differ: I think dress code is largely a waste of time, for more than one reason.  

Cain will say dress code is important to teach children an expectation of middle class life.  That may certainly be true.  However, there is something between high school and most paths to the middle class life style, and it is called college.  I have taught at universities, and I can tell you student dress is an absolute free for all.  So for me, I see little value in the idea of holding the line in public schools on an issue that has dubious (zero?) academic benefits and is an absolute non-issue at every university I have ever seen.

Also, dress code and other trivial concerns are not really discipline issues, they are nuisances.  Some teachers like to call them discipline issues for a variety of reasons.  Some teachers can't separate the issues of discipline from the fact they have no guarantee or right NOT to be annoyed by children.  Children CAN and WILL be annoying.  Other teachers know they can get administration concentrating on the petty things children do, and then leadership has no time to concentrate on meaningful adult issues, like improving teachers and instruction. And there is an unfortunate group of teachers who use the perception of discipline as a weapon against administration.

The old model was that if the child annoyed the teacher, the teacher got a three-day break from the child via ISS.  I had mentor principals who advised me to do just that.  And principals, don’t try to fool yourself into believing that staffing ISS with a certified teacher makes a difference.  There is simply no way a single teacher (particularly at the secondary level) can effectively teach a child all subject areas.  Are you committed to staffing your ISS with a full team of instructional core teachers?  I will bet your superintendent isn't ready for you to do that.  

Keep in mind the idea of student discipline being out of control is universal and largely a myth.  Do the following Google search, "teacher student discipline perceptions."  You will find teachers all over the world identify nuisances as discipline problems.  Even in the stereotypical "well disciplined" Asiatic countries you will find articles concerning teachers' perceptions of student discipline problems.  I find that simply fascinating.    

SC Response
First let me clarify my position on dress code.  If you have one, it should be:

1. Designed to further something the organization values.

2. Universal

3. Modeled by the adults in the organization

4. Enforced

If you will not, there is no cannot in this case, meet all four requirements, then don’t have a dress code. So in summary, model and enforce what you believe in or don’t be a hypocrite.

Second, if used correctly, dress code builds esprit de corps and provides children a model of purposeful dress.  The dress codes on my campuses were designed to give my students a model of (and a closet full of) appropriate job interview attire.  We dressed for success and for the job we wanted, not the job we had.  That is a life skill, not an academic skill.

I like your point about the three-day break.  I briefly worked for a Superintendent who told me to back off my no-expulsion, no-suspension, and no-ISS polices because my staff needed respite.  No mention that no one could match my campus for safety and performance.  I was faced with a classic, “If you and your boss have a problem... it is your problem” dilemma.  So I ignored his “Couldn’t be more wrong” suggestion and polished my resume.  If you are not willing to face the consequence of your convictions, then you don’t have any.  

I have to second your observation about the universal belief that student behavior is always getting worse. I recently spent a number of days assessing a large district.  One of the primary complaints from teachers was that discipline was out of control, which was creating a detrimental effect on instruction.  Here is what I observed after 24 hours of in-class observation on seventeen campuses. Only four instances of disruptive student behavior.  But the kicker was this; in all four cases the teacher was the antecedent.  In each case, poor or lazy adult practice set up a student to fail. And in each case, the teacher wanted something done to the student.  So maybe ISS is student respite from adults.  Something for me to consider.

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21st Century High School Conference 
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Monday, October 21, 2013

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of October 13, 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 October 13, 2013.

1. Establish an intervention time that keeps kids from being pulled from core instruction. They can't learn what they don't have access to... (By @Snowmanlearning)

2. The instructional goal shouldn't be a beautifully filled-in graphic organizer, but organized thinking. (By @CarolJago)

3. Teachers who don't like technology say, "I can't see what's happening in the back of the room!" I say, "So get up." They look shocked. (By @kevinhoneycutt) 

4. Assessment is not about results, it is about data. (By @RandyMBrown)

5. Every piece of walk-thru data is an extension of student voice telling us if learning is occurring. We should listen. (By @writingtired)

6. Assessment should not be a goal, assessment should be a tool. (By @RandyMBrown)

7. I think the more we focus on the way things 'used to be' the more we miss out on the way things 'can be.' (By @justintarte)

8. Results are about “Why did this happen?” Not about “Why did this happen to me?” (By @RandyMBrown)

9. “No one became a teacher because they loved copying notes off a board.” (BY @thomascmurray)

10. I'm sitting in North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders Conference session and the data expert presenter referenced, The Fundamental 5. (By @Paul777Mary)

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: NASSP National Conference; The 21st Century High School Conference
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook