Discussion Board for EDLD 5333

DISCUSSION WEEK 1

What critical attributes of a positive school culture does your campus exhibit? How does your principal contribute to that positive culture?

Four characteristics of positive school culture exhibited at our elementary are a mission focused on student and teacher learning, the presence of rituals and ceremonies that reinforce core cultural values, a physical environment that symbolizes joy and pride and a widely shared sense of respect and caring for everyone. (Deal & Peterson, 1999) Our principal contributes to this culture by participation in the knighting ceremonies and character education program. She also supports the student efforts to keep the campus clean and the recycling program engaged. The principal encourages the PTO in their efforts to improve the campus physically and to provide technology to the campus through the purchase of “computers on wheels”. She is often present in the hallway greeting parents and students attending school events.

My opinion of two effects of NCLB:

#3 “Schools are paying much more attention to the alignment of the curriculum and instruction and are analyzing test score data much more closely”. This is a positive effect of NCLB. Although educators can become buried in the data, it is extremely helpful to teachers to take the test data and aggregate it by grade, class or individual student. Not only does the data point out areas of concern, it also will show student improvement. This data analysis will propel an increase in data-driven decisions even for the individual student. It also spurs motivation by positive outcomes.

#10 “NCLB requirements have meant that state governments and school districts also have expanded roles in school operations, but often without adequate federal funds to carry out their duties.” This is an extreme problem. When you realize that TEA stated that just the publishing of the new STARR and EOC exams for next year cost 89 million dollars, this is a large amount of money. It is also true that the requirement for yearly professional development is provided little to no money. As I have spent this legislative session following blogs and political arguments, I have found a great deal of criticism of public school expenditures that the general public has no clue are federal requirements of NCLB. If state and federal unfunded mandates are not lifted, so that districts can make financial decisions based on their community’s values and needs, further loss of student services that are not specified in such laws will occur. At the very least, schools will have to work to educate the public on what these unfunded mandates cost – and at some point, a push back must occur.

Response to Jason M.

Social studies and technology not taught.
The perceived lack of emphasis on social studies and technology in your school is definitely caused by the need to meet AYP, but could more readily be defined by effect #9 “the federal government is playing a bigger role in education”. Whenever Big Bro tells schools to shine to light on “X”, that means the light is dimmed on the surrounding topics. There are not enough hours or dollars to do both. Moreover, when the dollars will be taken away if schools do not comply, suggestions become mandates.
Schools are unique entities with individual flavors, values and needs. Local control is necessary to meet the needs of a community. The more mandates that are placed on schools without the money to fund the requirements, the greater loss of specialized programs unique to the local community.

Response to Colin S.
It is interesting to me that you suggest the idea of placing low achieving students all in one class to get specialized instruction. This was the craze in the 90s – the debate then was “do you want homogeneous or heterogeneous grouping?” I do not think money determined these decisions, because conceivably grouping students as such should be more efficient. Nevertheless, the problem was homogeneous grouping ended up segregating students within the campus by economic status and race. In addition, a problem created was students thought they were dumb for being placed in these groups and their expectations and their parents’ expectations for them - fell.

Personally, I like the idea of the Universal Design for Learning. Varied instruction meets the needs of each student learning style. (Rose & Meyer, 2002) Yes, students are pulled for specialized instruction at times. In addition, it is hard when some students seem to be pulled throughout the day. However, it is more important for each student to realize their potential and have to opportunity to achieve more than is expected of him. Being in a classroom with students of all abilities can teach the more gifted to walk with their peers. This gives benefit to both.

Discussion Board Week #2

Each school is required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to hold a public meeting after receipt of the campus performance reports (AYP & AEIS). How does your school maximize attendance at this annual meeting to ensure that a cross section of the community you serve is well represented? Do you advertise? Do you hold an appealing event along with the informational meeting agenda? Share your strategies with your group in the discussion board.

• Share the approach your campus has taken to train the staff in effective data use, or explain how you would manage this challenge when you are the principal.

Week Two

Our superintendent holds several “State of the District” presentations throughout the school year. He gives the first report in January at the school board meeting. He then also gives this presentation to the Chamber of Commerce that includes a luncheon honoring our teachers of the year. He also speaks to the Rotary club and at several PTO meetings. This month he will be giving an updated report to the local Republican Women (he did the Democrats last month). Most of these events are advertised in the newspapers and through emails. Sometimes the PTOs use the auto dialer system to let parents know.

Our campus has recently adopted the use of Aware software for student testing data. Last year the principals, counselors and over campus office personnel were trained on the program. The teachers have been trained some, but a big push will come in August to include more teachers during the professional development time to learn to navigate the software. The Aware program promises to be technology that “supports data disaggregation, provides data access, and generates useful data displays” (Ronka, Lachat, Slaughter, & Meltzer, January 2009, p. 18)

Response to

Looking at the test scores and sub-pops is a great way to determine instructional strategies for a campus. I wonder if your campus has available a program that can drill down to each student. For example, in the article Answering the Questions that Count, the authors suggest the question ”Do some of my course sections have a higher proportion of students below grade level in reading skills?” (Ronka, Lachat, Slaughter, & Meltzer, January 2009, p. 20) should be able to be answered to ensure that the data is of high quality. Although looking at TAKS data as a whole can give large goals for students such as “we need to increase 5th grade science scores”. But what if the data can be divided up to find that one aspect of the science test is tripping up the students.

Discussion Board #3 Week

Review how to survive data overload. What do you think of the tool titled team dialogue guide. What do you think of the reflection guide? How might you introduce these tools and use them with your teachers?

Having been out of the teaching field for several years, I am not that knowledgeable about teachers in their interactions with committees and the need to formulate school wide initiatives. I have served on committees both in church and in the community and I can see where a dialogue guide is necessary. Especially in church committees, where some are full time employed and want the meeting to be efficient and quick so they can get home and then others who see the meeting as their social event for the day and are in no hurry to go anywhere.
When lots of data is involved, people have a tendency to focus in on the data that is most important to them. It is a good process to search through the data from three sources as someone’s fears may be assuaged when they see the big picture. This also helps the group to come to a consensus about what is the most important goal to achieve. The teachers/staff can then take ownership of the goal since they all went down the same path to get to that goal. Thomas states, “unless the team emerges from the data analysis process with a clear plan of action for identified students and for classroom instruction, it has wasted its time” (Thomas, 2006).

The reflection guide is useful not only in the group setting to gain insight as to what is working in the school, but also for the individual teacher. He/she can reflect upon the methods and practices they have used in the classroom and how those have benefitted students.

As a principal, I may introduce the reflection guide first maybe with the gift of a journal. Teachers could then begin the process early in the year and record successes and failures. These journal entries parlay into useful in-class assessment data.
Week 4
It is interesting to me that after all the research done, tests required, and theories produced, that the most effective way to increase student achievement gains is to allow the teachers and students dual ownership in the progress of their learning. This is not the extrinsic motivation schools often provide. For example, extrinsic motivation is an invitation to the Accelerated Reading Store to use the points you have earned to buy candy and toys. However, intrinsic motivation is much more difficult to cultivate in people (students). Author Daniel Pink in his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us (2009) states, “Give people meaningful information about their work. The more feedback focuses on specifics…-and the more the praise is about effort and strategy rather than about achieving a particular outcome – the more effective it can be” (Pink, 2009, p. 66).
In regards to the use of formative assessment and assessment FOR learning, these motivational ideas may be the driving force behind doubling of the speed of learning implementing these classroom techniques (William, December 2007/January 2008). As students see their progress in learning, they are encouraged to do better and work harder.
If I had to give a title to this group of readings, I would propose, “No Teacher is an Island.”In regards to professional development, the most difficult endeavor for all subjects is “to enable people to learn new knowledge and skills and to transfer these into their practice” (Joyce & Showers, 2003, p. 2). Heritage (2007) suggests four skills teachers must effectively use to employ formative assessment. These include designing a classroom culture that permits assessment, training students to assess their work and the work of their peers, deducing the results of the assessments and seeing the instructional gap followed by choosing the correct instruction to get results (Heritage, 2007). Teacher professional learning communities are an effective way to provide peer coaching for teachers who wish to implement assessment for learning in their classrooms.

Reply to Michelle
Implementing what teachers learn during professional development is difficult if you are on your own without the support of your fellow staff members through a learning community. The advice given by William (December 2007/January 2008) to not attempt to change more than two or three things at a time, is wise. Even in our daily lives, attempting to change too many things at once in our diet or exercise habits leads to failure and discouragement. The same is true for “teaching habits”. I hope that more professional development facilitators will get beyond the information dissemination mode and on to the needed application techniques.

Week FIVE
The philosophy of education expressed by Richard Elmore (2007) is so lacking in the belief that we serve children for a higher purpose that I find his beliefs both discouraging and an explanation for his inability to help schools improve. He clearly believes that entire academic achievement of the schools rests on the shoulders of the teachers because he does not mention parents, students or administrators much and I counted seventeen times when he mentions teacher practices that need to change for schools to improve. I am not surprised at all that schools he comes to “help” flat line soon thereafter. Can you imagine his introductory speech – “do not expect improvement, you teachers are doing it all wrong.”
If you come into a school looking for “stuckness”, you will find it – most likely in the corner of the teacher’s lounge griping. However, even those that have negative outlooks toward life, as Elmore has, can be brought about through a change in school expectations and culture. If your school culture is one that fosters positive and professional attitudes among staff, the griper’s in the corner either get on board or move on.

By using the term “punctuated equilibrium” in reference to schools and stating that this is “common across all types of human development: individual, organizational, economic, and sociopolitical,” Elmore is showing his entire philosophy of life (Elmore & City, 2007) and it is one that I think is an extreme downer. Essentially, he lost my respectful attention in paragraph two.

When Charles Darwin wrote the book, The Origin of Species, he stated that unless transitional species appeared in the fossil record, his theory was false. In the 1970s, evolutionists became very frustrated with the fact that they had yet found no transitional species. During this time, Steven J. Gould proposed a new theory – “punctuated equilibrium”. This theory believes that, “…new species evolve suddenly over relatively short periods of time…, followed by longer periods in which little genetic change occurs. Punctuated equilibrium is a revision of Darwin's theory…” (punctuated equilibrium, n.d.).

Applying this godless theory with no hope to schools and children is just gross. I do not believe we are all just “food for worms”.

Question #2
The value of consensus building is the shared ownership of the process and goals to achievement. When the eventual opposition to decisions made comes, the source is usually people who are unfamiliar with the shared goals or sadly, have a personal (“best for my child”) goal in mind, which they place before the shared goals. When those that oppose the campus vision realize that the entire school is behind this process, they often “back off” realizing that the tide of positive support for the school is too strong. If they are of a sound mind, they will re-evaluate their desire to impose their personal goal on the entire campus.

Our elementary campus has built consensus with a large community based campus improvement committee. The goals are clearly established and an active character education program involving being “knighted” by real knights is a great experience for the kids. If parents have concerns about the campus culture, they can present them to the campus site-based committee.

“The purpose of committee is to improve the school in order to increase student learning, heighten the enjoyment of the school experience for students and teachers, and build stronger bonds with the community” (Fridell, 2006).

Deal, T., & Peterson, K. (1999). Shaping School Culture. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2011, from Dictionary.com: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/punctuated+equilibrium
Elmore, R., & City, E. (2007). The road to school improvement:It's hard, it's bumpy, and it takes as long as it takes. Harvard Education Letter , 23(3),1-3.
Fridell, M. (2006). The new principal's role in establishing a collaborative, progressive vision. Retrieved June 20, 2011, from National Council of the Professors Educational Administration: http://cnx.org/content/m14078/latest/
Heritage, M. (2007). Formative assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan , 140-145.
Jennings, J., & Rentner, D. (2006). Ten big effects of the no child left behind act on public schools. Phi Delta Kappan , 110-113.
Joyce, B., & Showers, B. (2003). Student acheivement through staff development. National College for School Leadership , 1-5.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. New York: Penguin Group.
Ronka, D., Lachat, M., Slaughter, R., & Meltzer, J. (January 2009). Answering the questions that count. Educational Leadership , 18-24.
Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from CAST: http://www.cast.org/teaching everystudent/ideas/tes/
Thomas, R. (2006, October). How to survive data overload. Principal Leadership , pp. 37-42.
William, D. (December 2007/January 2008). Changing classroom practice. Educational Leadership , 36-42.

May Monthly Field-based Activities 2011

This was a light month again on my internship. Two hours were earned interviewing the business manger through email and the technology director also. I desired to learn about the information system that our district was moving to over the summer and the advantages claimed for this program. I am looking forward to better teacher / parent communication as a result of the change. I also shared a physics ebook with the science teachers at our Middle School. This website developed by MIT allows students to visually see on the page the changes within a reaction or change in an object. Very interesting! http://web.mit.edu/viz/EM/flash/E&M_Master/E&M.swf

Web Conference - June 1, 2011

EDLD 5333 - Leadership for Accountability

This web conference had 71 attendees at one point. Dr. Jason Mixon led it. There was a mixture of both Educational Administration and Educational Technology students in attendance. The students asked several questions about expectations for the Instructional Associates. Dr. Mixon said that IAs should give answers to questions within 24 hours. This is a large class with over 1700 taking this class. Lamar’s program is the largest in the world. Several students asked about an email containing the seven steps for using TK20. I have not received that email this week, but it may not be necessary since I have already used TK20. Some in this class had not. The ED AD students were to attend three web conferences during their courseware and upload their notes to the TK20. The Ed Tech students did not have to do that since we all have blogs and wikis.