A Reader Writes... Ten Surprising Things You Learn While Implementing 3-Week Checkpoints - Part 1

In response to the 12/4/2013 post, “10 Surprising Things You Learn While Implementing 3-week Checkpoints,” a reader writes:

Too much testing doesn't allow for re-teaching or mastery.

SC Response

I’m glad you made this observation because it brings us to the 11^th surprising thing that is learned (though not the case on campuses with purposeful training and support). The staff (both teaching and administration) doesn’t understand the basics of an effective formative assessment program.

The most common misunderstanding is that implementing a 3-week checkpoint system increases testing.  It does not. Done correctly, testing (both in number of tests administered and time expended) is actually reduced? How? I’m glad you asked.

1. Multiple, big “release test” benchmarks... Gone. They are a waste of instructional time.  If you have to do one (which I would argue that you do not), administer it at mid-year.  The value received is far outweighed by the cost of the loss of instructional time. Note: These benchmarks usually are administered four times a year and take 60 to 180 minutes to complete.

2. Regular use of statistically invalid, individually made teacher test... Quit doing them.  About the only thing these measure accurately is, well, nothing.  And before anyone gets angry and claims I’m being anti-teacher, I’m not. Just take one graduate level assessment course and you will understand that teachers can either plan for instruction or build valid assessments; no one has time to do both. Note: These tests usually are administered every week or two and take 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

3. Irregularly scheduled unit assessments... Quit doing these also.  The 3-week assessments take their place.  Just understand that on some assessments, you’ll have material from the end of one unit and the beginning of the next unit. Note: These tests usually are administered every two to six weeks and take 45 to 60 minutes to complete.

So take the typical class on the typical campus.  In this class, students will take:

A. Four (4) Benchmarks and use approximately 480 minutes of instructional time.

B. Fifteen (15) teacher made tests and use approximately 450 minutes of instructional time.

C. Eight (8) unit tests and use approximately 360 minutes of instructional time.

This adds up to 27 tests and 21½ hours of instructional time (per class).

Now take the same campus and implement the 3-week checkpoint process that is used by a number of LYS campuses. In this class, students will take:

A. One (1) Benchmarks and use approximately 120 minutes of instructional time.

B. Eight (8) 3-week checkpoints and use approximately 200 minutes of instructional time.

C. Three (3) cumulative tests and use approximately 135 minutes of instructional time.

This adds up to 12 tests and 7¾ hours of instructional time (per class).

So who exactly is doing too much testing? Not the LYS campus. And with 13¾ hours of additional instructional time (per class), which equals 16 extra days of instruction, there actually is time to teach, re-teach, build mastery and stay on pace. 

All it takes is letting go of inefficient tradition.

 

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 (Mutliple Presentations); TASSP State Conference (Multiple Presentations); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations)  
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Senior Elementary School - Part 1

In response to the 10/25/2013 post, “A LYS Principal Asks... Senior Elementary School,” a reader writes:

SC,

I agree with what you say here. How many times have we heard, "I am just trying to get you ready for..."

Or, "The teachers in ______ grade will not put up with this..."

I think this only creates a sense of dread for our students. I also think that it is the job of the teacher in any grade to teach that grade. If they do that, then the students will be ready for the next level.

SC Response

I could not agree more.

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 (Mutliple Presentations); TASSP State Conference (Multiple Presentations); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations)  
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Superintendent Writes... Chain of Command

A LYS Superintendent shares the following:

LYS Nation,

My understanding of Chain of Command has evolved as I have progressed through my career. And I have recently learned a very valuable lesson this year that I want to share.  

Entry-level and mid-level administrators often view following the chain of command as essential to maintaining control of the organization.  This certainly is one effect of following chain of command.  Of course subordinates often take a different view of chain of command, seeing it as stifling and an attempt to suppress points of view.  And indeed, in a poorly ran system with weak leadership, this can very well happen.  But I discovered a deeper benefit to following chain of command, one that I intend to teach to all my young administrators in the future.

I work in a district that has a long history of end-running the chain of command.  Teachers, parents, students, and anyone else with an agenda, go straight to the superintendent or a board member instead of dealing with principals.  This is a learned behavior in my district because this has been allowed for years and it has produced the desired results of the chain breaking actors.  At times, Board Members would intervene with the superintendent, other times the superintendent would get involved to prevent the board from getting unwarranted phone calls.  

The Legislature rightfully allows teachers to directly contact board members, and in very rare circumstances this is the most appropriate communication avenue (criminal conspiracy involving the superintendent, perhaps). But, in general I think this right has done more harm than good.  However, there is an easy fix.  Superintendents should insist that people follow the chain of command because of the organizational benefits it brings.

I realized that my district was lacking something between teachers and principals... trust.  Much of the lack of trust could be attributed to perceived past wrongdoings or hurt feelings.  In other cases, the teachers simply didn’t know the principal.  I decided to short circuit the end-running and insisted teachers follow the chain of command.  It took a lot of effort on my part because teachers were pounding board members.  Which predictably resulted in board members pounding me. Yet I held firm.  At the end of last year I could see some signs of trust building in the organization.

I learned that in the absence of relationship, or trust, or collegiality, in the organization forward progress grinds to a halt.  So I implemented a formal process for bringing the two sides together in a systematic way in order to solve problems.  I got what I was hoping for when I forced everyone to comply with chain of command.  

For example, I had a formal Level 1 grievance filed against the principal.  The end result was a situation that was resolved at Level 1 and each side had a better understanding of the situation.  The process took the place in a relationship and trust void, but by engaging in the process a small step towards building relationship and trust was taken.

So while it is tempting to allow end-runs of the chain of command, I really encourage you halt this practice.  By end-running the process you are denying the two sides the opportunity to work together in a systematic way to resolve problems and to start building trust.  As a superintendent or board member, if you circumventing the process, you are holding your organization back and you perpetuating a culture of mistrust and non-collegiality.  

The real benefit of following the chain of command is not controlling the organization... it is in building the organization.

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 (Mutliple Presentations); TASSP State Conference (Multiple Presentations); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations)  
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Asks... The Fundamental 5 in an Elective Class

A LYS Teacher ask the following:

SC,

I am having trouble finding information about the use of the Fundamental 5 in electives.  Is there any information to help non-core classes use the same processes?  Is the Fundamental 5 intended to be used in nontraditional classes?

SC Response

Great question!

The Fundamental 5 are the five high-yield instruction practices that set-up and leverage every other high-yield instructional practice.  Each of the practices is powerful in isolation, but when executed cohesively in a lesson creates a learning effect greater than the sum of any individual component.  As such, the practices are about instructional delivery decisions and actions, not about grade level, content, or student ability.  

There are settings, content, students or a particular lesson where one of the five fundamental practices is not appropriate at that time.  In those cases you overemphasize the remaining practices.  For example, if Writing Critically doesn’t fit in my automotive technician class today, I will ensure that I embed focused Small Group Purposeful Talk in the lesson.

Sometimes the issue in elective and performance classes is that the class stays in the Application level of cognition.  That is the power of electives, where content classes have to stretch to get to Application, the elective class starts there.  But still, Application isn’t on powerful side of critical thinking.  That side is represented by Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. And the vehicles for students operating at that level of cognition are a well designed Lesson Frame, Purposeful Talk and Critical Writing.  As an elective teacher you may have to pick you spot, but the effort, in terms of student performance and cognition is well worth it.

If you still have questions about your specific content area, just send me another note.

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 (Mutliple Presentations); TASSP State Conference (Multiple Presentations); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (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 January 19, 2014

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 January 19, 2014.

1. A school day without PowerWalks feels like a day where an opportunity to grow was missed. (By @blitzkrieg607)

2. Take care of teachers and they'll take care of kids: Statement is false, until it isn't; and true until it isn't. (By @LYSNation)

3. If you're completely comfortable with every decision that you make, you're probably not making big enough decisions. (By @wadestanford)

4. “People during the day. Paperwork at night.”  Hard to adhere to but the right thing to do. (By @blitzkrieg607)

5. Intentional design is important in lesson planning and leadership. (By @Snowmanlearning)

6. Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of. (By @CoachKWisdom)

7. “If we deliberately tried to come up with a way to widen the achievement gap, we might just invent homework” -Deb Meier (By @alfiekohn)

8. Sometimes I think most politicians really "get" education. Then they open their mouth and speak. (By @BluntEducator)

9. The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction (Cain & Laird) just pushed passed 51,000 copies sold! Thank you, LYS Nation!! (By @LYSNation)

10. Just notified, I'll present at the 2014 NAESP National Conference in July! Make your travel arrangements and I'll see you there! (By @LYSNation)

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; TASSP State Conference (Multiple Presentations); NEASP National Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook