A Reader Writes... (A Fatal Flaw - Part 6)

In response to the post “A Fatal Flaw,” and the subsequent comments, a reader writes:

“Not to mince words with the poster, but it is not necessarily true that you have to use professional development to prove you have attempted to salvage an employee. From a philosophical point of view, I agree that administrators have a duty to model what they expect. Teachers don’t write off students, principals don’t right off teachers. However, there can be the need for exceptions. Recent Commissioner (Texas) rulings tend to uphold the principle that districts have no duty to remediate poor performance and employees have no legal right to expect an opportunity to grow. That is a hard stand to take, but since we have Commissioner and court rulings on the issue, obviously some districts have had to take that hard stand. Most superintendents and school boards expect principals to make an attempt to remediate poor performance, but not all, apparently.”

SC Response
Notice and opportunity, it’s what leadership owes every employee. If you are unable, unwilling, or to lazy to provide a staff member with notice that he or she is not meeting expectations and the opportunity to improve his or her performance, you may be sitting in the chair, but you are not a leader. Note that notice and opportunity relates to job performance, not blatant stupidity, illegal acts, negligence, etc. And, notice does not specify a specific number of notices and opportunity does not mean a set amount of time (my rule of thumb was two memos and one semester).

It is the lack of leaders in leadership positions that gives credence to the perceived value of unions.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Another Reader Recommends - "The Global Achievement Gap"

In response to a prior recommendation to read, "The Global Achievement Gap," by Tony Wagner, another reader adds:

"The comment on the example of “not so good situations” mentioned in The Global Achievement Gap is a valid one. The book does address many good points. For example, Wagner discusses the idea that education must crawl out of the mundane, 50-year-old hole it has been drowning in and start preparing our students to meet the challenges of interacting successfully in a culturally diverse and globally connected world. Wagner’s book reinforces the fact that many educational institutions are producing learners that are unable to creatively problem solve, collaboratively interact in teams and with other cultures, be flexible and adaptive to change, become entrepreneurs, communicate effectively, and analyze information in order to make effective changes.

In many cases, educators spend exorbitant amounts of time with teaching in order to pass a high-stakes test instead of teaching the students to think and prepare them for the future. I look forward to changes in the ways that we assess our students’ knowledge to reflect application levels in solving real life problems."

SC Response:
I want to respond to the slippery slope that the reader comments on in the last paragraph. Yes, we spend a lot of time focusing of high stakes tests, sometimes to the detriment of our students (mostly the poor and minority students). But that fact is more the fault of the teachers working in silos, than it is the fault of the test. High stakes tests should be viewed as program reviews. Did we teach the critical components of the curriculum, or not?

Now, if individual teachers are expected to decide what they should teach, when they should teach it, and how they should teach it; they have been assigned an impossible task. There is not enough time in the day to be an expert in all three of those instructional components (if you think you are, I'll blind draw any four teachers, teach them how to work as a team, and in less than one semester, we'll beat you so bad that you will either cry or quit).

If, on the other hand, teachers are provided with an evolving and aligned scope and sequence, short term data that reflects the quality of their craft, and the time and expectation that they work as a team; they can escape the endless remediation cycle. With tools, teams, coaching and leadership, teachers can teach huge numbers of students how to think critically and cover the significant curriculum requirements to the point where state tests just reaffirm that the campus is operating on all cylinders.

One final note, if your test scores are OK, and you aren't using a common scope and sequence, short term data, and teacher teaming; there is a reason for your success. Nine times out of ten, you have a very small campus or serve an affluent zip code.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Tough Endings are Generally Self-Inflicted

We’re in the back stretch of the school year and as I visit campuses, people often apologize because everything is a little ragged. Students are not engaged, teachers are counting days and administrators are trying to keep a lid on it all.

What is sad is that things could be smoother is we didn’t create systems that reinforce the idea that the last month of school isn’t that important. Also, in Texas, once the state accountability test is over, many teachers act as if everything left to teach is less important. Here are some ideas to address the May problem:

1. Start next year’s curriculum the day after the state accountability test. Continue to use short-term, common assessments to ensure that the material is being mastered. This allows a campus to better use all 180 days of instruction, instead of esentially using 160 days or less.

2. Quit exempting students from finals. This practice ensures that students who are exempt slow down and creates a doom cycle for those who are not. Create the expectation that everyone finishes the year at a full sprint. I did this as a principal.

3. Mandate that if a student takes an AP course, then he or she has to take the AP test. If you don’t do this, teachers will cherry pick who sits for the exam and many students will take the course for the extra grade point, with no intention of putting in the extra effort. Dr. Mike Laird was the first to bring this practice to my attention.

4. Implement capstone projects. We know that the evidence of interdisciplinary connections in content areas is almost non-existent. Change that reality and add some real world relevance by using May as a time to let students (or better yet, teams of students) create projects that demonstrate their ability to tackle and solve real world problems. This was an E. Don Brown practice.

5. Unleash the love units. Teachers complain that they don’t have time to teach what they think is important. May is a great time to inject some fresh passion into the content and classroom instruction.

6. Quit saying “goodbye,” say “hello,” instead. May is when teachers are winding down their classroom, anticipating the end of the year. Instead, have teachers spend a couple days each week, teaching the kids that they will teach next year. This will ease transition issues during the next year and create the idea that the new school year has already started. Plus, it will let the receiving teacher highlight what is important in the next class. This is a Lesa Cain practice.

7. Quit doing end of the year countdowns (15 days until the end of school). Instead do start of the year countdowns (95 days until the start of the next school year). It’s a silly but powerful practice.

These are just a few ideas. I hope you, the reader, will send some in more to share with everyone else. Just understand that in order to make May instructionally meaningful for greater number of students, you are going to have to change the system.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (A Fatal Flaw - Part 5)

In response to the post “A Fatal Flaw,” and the subsequent comments, a reader writes:

“…professional development is a necessary means to document that you have tried everything you can for an employee before showing them the door. Not to mention, if it is thoughtful and relevant, it can be very useful!

With my hyper-monitoring this year, our math scores went from acceptable to exemplary. Five teachers have been given the opportunity to explore other career options and student discipline has been given an extreme make-over.

This is what happens when a green, jar-head, rookie vice principal implements the Cain principles without exception. My military background says that you cannot do everything either, you have to delegate and have people you can trust around you, because they will make you shine, or blot out your sun…”

SC Response
I appreciate the props, but they are not solely my principles. It is basic, common sense leadership. Communicate your intent and expectations. Provide resources, monitoring, coaching and frequent feedback. Support those who are working to further organizational goals. Remediate and/or remove those that do not. Focus on student performance and remember that the “easy” kids will learn in spite of you, the tough ones learn because of you.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (A Fatal Flaw - Part 4)

In response to the post “A Fatal Flaw,” and the subsequent comments, a reader writes:

“I agree with Cain on the “Every Marine a Rifleman” concept. You can build an elite organization around just such a hedgehog concept. So the question for us as educators is, “What is our rifle?”

I have given it a lot of thought and I believe the answer is, “Instruction.”

If instruction is our rifle, then “Every Educator an Instructor,” works. You can substitute other words; I tried curriculum, teacher, leader, and others, but none of them captured the actual essence of our business like “instruction.”

Instruction is to an educator what a rifle is to a Marine. When push comes to shove, it is the skillful use of the rifle (and maybe the bayonet, for emphasis) where a Marine actually does the work of being a Marine. For us, it is the skill with instruction (no bayonet needed) where educators do the work of education.

For those who understand, there is no other military command that carries the absolute weight of “Fix Bayonets.” It rings loud and clear. It is elegant in its simplicity, and is an example of perfect communication. There can be no misunderstanding the intent of the leader. I wish we had an equivalent in our profession."

SC Response
Upon brief reflection, I think the closest we get to “Fix Bayonets” is “Focus on the Academically Fragile.”

If “Every Adult a Teacher,” and “Instruction is Our Rifle,” then the performance of our most academically fragile students is the best indicator of our skills and success.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Great Advice - Sunberg Wisdom

I have a friend who is a very successful entrepreneur. He constantly reminds me of the following:

“For every 1000 sheep, there is one shepherd. Be the shepherd.”

If you are in a leadership role, from lead teacher to superintendent, then everyday you have to step up and lead. If you abdicate that responsibility, your staff won’t know it until it is too late and they are in eminent danger.

If the flock wanders off, you don’t blame the sheep, you get a new shepherd.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...