The Fundamental 5 Summit - SAVE THE DATE

3rd Annual Fundamental 5 Summit

November 8 and 9, 2015

Austin, Texas

Hilton Downtown Austin

All Grades! All States!

A Response to the Plan for Improving Urban Schools

A new report from, The Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS), outlines a five-part plan for improving schools.  As a former urban teacher and principal, here is my critique and suggestions.

1. AROS: A challenging curriculum; including access to honors courses, services for English-language learners and special education students, GED preparation, and job training.

SC: More important than a challenging curriculum is an aligned curriculum.  Aligned to the learning standards of the state. In Texas, teaching the TEKS at the required rigor is challenging.  To not teach the TEKS is a disservice to any student, but especially to the at-risk student.  The same dynamic is true of states that have adopted the Common Core. 

I agree that access to honors courses is important, but without proactive leadership this will simply add to the all too common practice of using honors courses to segregate affluent students from poor students. Which in a word is... Repugnant.

I agree that we can do a much better job of serving our special needs students but will add that we must address the fact that we are significantly over-referring poor students to special education. 

GED preparation is simply a short-term solution that addresses the wave of under-educated students that we have ignored for multiple years.  The long-term solution is to improve the quality of education provided to students which in turn reduces the number of student who need to take the GED.

Career ready / college ready graduates from high school, every high school, must be the norm, not the exception.

    

2. AROS: Emphasis on quality teaching instead of high-stakes testing.

SC: A high stakes test aligned to state standards is not the enemy.  And it is high quality, aligned instruction (over time) that prepares students to be successful on any aligned test.  The issue is that those in charge of testing policy equate raw test scores with academic success.  Raw test scores are primarily a factor of family wealth.  The bottom line is that better instructional staffs and their schools measure performance.  Weaker staff and their schools make excuses.

    

3. AROS: Support services available to the school and surrounding community.

SC: I agree with this, in theory.  The more impoverished the community, the more external support (state and district) the campus requires to compete on an equal footing. However, I have yet to witness this implemented, at scale, with any true success.

4. AROS: Positive discipline practices, including social and emotional learning supports.

SC: I agree with this, but not for conventional thinking of “these kids are bad” reasons. Students at urban schools are not “bad.” If anything, they are justifiably wary of institutions and unfamiliar with middle-class language and expectations. Campus-wide social skills programs, coaching, and modeling better prepare poor and urban students to “code-switch” as they transition from poor to middle class settings and environments, often multiple times a day.

5. AROS: Improved parent and community engagement.

SC: As is generally the case, AROS is confusing leading and lagging indicators.  Improves parent and community engagement does not make a better school.  A better school improves parent and community engagement.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

Simply Legendary

There are those select few that have a building named in their honor.

And then there are those who get a statue...

To LYS Superintendent Emeritus, Bob Brezina, and the "Brezina Boys," CONGRATULATIONS!

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
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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

PLC Schedule

A LYS Principal asks the following:

SC,

This summer I heard you mention that PLCs should operate on a predictable schedule and meeting topic cycle.  This has become a brain-worm.  Please explain this to me.

SC Response

First, I am a PLC proponent.  Second, I would argue that PLCs on most campuses are a waste or time, energy and resources.  Much ado about nothing.

The purpose of a PLC is to improve the quality of instruction provided to students.  Everything else is a waste of PLC time.

So how do you ensure that your PLC isn’t wasting time?  Make sure that PLC activities directly align with at least one component of the Foundation Trinity. Insist on an agenda before each meeting and an actionable plan, activity or product by the end of every meeting.  Otherwise, even if your people are engaged and busy, productivity is diminished, which is a guaranteed morale killer.

Now the discussion you referenced concerned campuses implementing a new scope and sequence.  So here is how you use the PLC process to reduce the heartburn and/or non-compliance of Common Scope and Sequence implementation:

PLC Meeting 1: Curriculum preview for the upcoming unit and/or time window.

PLC Meeting 2: Instructional activities and delivery practices that support the scheduled curriculum content.

PLC Meeting 3: Assessment development for the unit and/or time window.

PLC Meeting 4: Data analysis and adjustment

Repeat PLC meeting cycle.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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 Asks... This Year, Be a More Effective You - Part 1

After reading the 8/27/2015 post, “This Year Be a More Effective You,” a teacher asks:

SC,

OK, I’ll be the one who asks for everyone else, “What is the appropriate way to close a lesson?”

SC Response

Excellent question, and one that should be asked more often due to this one fact. In the field (actual classrooms) effective lesson closure is observed less than 1% of the time.  So in spite of the fact that everyone says that they know how to do it, no one is.  Which would seem to be a lot more damning than simply not knowing how to do it. But enough of that... now to your question. 

How to Close a Lesson Effectively

In the last five minutes of class, have EVERY student articulate in their own words the critical understanding of the lesson.  The two best ways manage this process are to:

1.  Have all students respond to a quick critical writing prompt on an exit-ticket; or

2. Have all students pair up and address a higher order question prompt.

Here is the absolute truth.  To not close the lesson is to squander effort and leave student retention on the table.

 

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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 September 6, 2015

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of September 6, 2015 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. Congratulations to LYSer, Dr. Randy Brown! He is the new Superintendent in Alvord ISD!! Who will be next? (By @LYSNation)

2. Congratulations to LYSer, Lee Crews! He is a new Assistant Superintendent in Katy ISD!! Who will be next? (By @LYSNation)

3. It's not the program; it's the conversation about the practice. (By @lauriekey)

4. The mood of adults in our schools directly impacts the mood of our students... So check yourself! (By @justintarte)

5. Everything rises and falls on leadership. (By @blitzkrieg)

6. Free market principles aren't always the best thing for kids. (By @RatliffT)

7. Observation: Those outside of the classroom tend to claim what is "right/wrong" quicker than those in the classroom. (By @stumpteacher)

8. Learning and fun don't have to be separate entities. (By BluntEducator)

9. "In 11 states with waiting periods, the longer the waiting period, the lower the gun suicide rate." (By @FareedZakaria)

10. Excited to announce that I will again present at the AASA National Conference in February!!! (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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: Illinois ASCD Fall Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association Fall AP Conference, The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); American Association of School Administrators Conference; National 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