See you on the dance floor

The title of a recent article by Steven Rosenfeld caught my attention: "If We Don’t Act Now, Fascism Will Be on Our Doorstep, Says Yale Historian," (March 15, 2017).

I'm not happy about the fear meme embedded and critiqued in the article, i.e. prepare for the worst. It's as if we're coaxing it into existence.

This sentence from Rosenfeld's article also struck me: "Fascism says, disregard the evidence of your senses, disregard observation, embolden deeds that can’t be proven, don’t have faith in God but have faith in leaders, take part in collective myth of an organic national unity and so forth." Manuela Cadelli writes about this phenomenon in her article "Neoliberalism is a Species of Fascism."

I think the tilt towards fascism started before Drumph, but I really don't want to be right about that. In any case, language, and how we choose to create and experience the world, matters. 

I remember when Walter Mondale closed the 1984 (!) Democratic National Convention by repeatedly calling out for Ronald Reagan. He was supposedly pulling together a fractured party by railing against a common Republican enemy (i.e. President Ronald Reagan), and all that we heard on TV and radio, and read in newspapers, and felt in the universe, was a loud and clear invocation of Ronald Reagan's name. We lost before we started, and I wonder if HRC et al. did the same thing in 2016.

Should we focus on what we want, rather than what we don't want? Do we amplify democracy or echo dark foreboding? What's the implication for the world that we want to live in?

See you on the march, at the grille, or on the dance floor.

The Once and Future ED

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-4) has proposed that ED be eliminated on Dec 31, 2018: H.R.899 - To terminate the Department of Education (ED; https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/899)

If you're gong to contact your Representative about this, please consider promoting another direction for ED's mission (see Option B, below).

re: Teacher observations have been a waste of time and money

The US is the wealthiest country on the planet, and Mark Dynarski wants to implicate teachers for low test scores.

Mark Dynarski gets it wrong with teacher evaluation (Brookings, Dec. 8, 2016).

1. Mark Dynarski does not understand assessment: "The crucial question is whether students are learning. To answer that, we need some measure of learning: a test."
   
   Tests do not measure student learning. Tests measure a student's ability, or choice, to achieve high test scores.
   
   Alternatively, students benefit from assessments that are designed to help them show what they have learned, from their own perspective. Crafty educators can use data, both qualitative and quantitative, from student-driven assessments to adjust instructional strategies to meet students' needs.
   
   
2. The author does not understand science: "Teacher evaluation systems need a stronger scientific basis."
   
   Quantitative data from high stakes standardized tests does not constitute "science." Science would consider a systemic, holistic approach, and then isolate variables. And there are at least as many variables in a classroom as there are students.
   
   Individual students are too varied to prove (or disprove) a teacher's effectiveness. Trends or patterns within one classroom with 25 students -- or across several classrooms with 150 students -- in the same year, or over several years, SHOULD vary based on students' interests and needs, and the extent to which a teacher is supported by her/his school.
   
   There are also too many variables before, during, and after school to link teacher effectiveness with "objective" test scores.
   
   
3.  Perhaps the author does not understand inequity: "We need a more solid research and measurement foundation about what aspects of teaching improve learning."
   
   When children arrive at school well-rested, well-fed, and feeling safe and curious, well-supported teachers can do wonders. Teachers are life-long learners, and we can always enrich our curricular, instructional, and assessment strategies. Fair-enough.
   
   However, students who are proximate to the violence of poverty exhibit enormous amounts of stress that they bring to schools. These students need equity, i.e. unique in-school services that can help them want to do well in school. And it would be really helpful if our society acted to address the upstream source of poverty, i.e. income inequality.
   Data from The Spirit Level shows that even wealthy American children also suffer from the fallout of an unhealthy society.
   
   Among the wealthiest 23 countries on the planet, those with the biggest income inequality (i.e. the U.S.) have the highest rates of depression, mental illness, teen pregnancy, incarceration rates, drug abuse, obesity, and violence, and low educational "achievement" rates (see Fig. 1 below).
   
   Fig. 1: Educational scores are higher in more equal rich countries. - The Spirit Level
   
   
4. The author does not understand pedagogy: "We are spending billions to little effect because we do not know enough about what we are looking for."
   
   I know what I am looking for; I'm sure it varies among colleagues -- and I'm OK with that. I think that effective teachers:
   a. cultivate a love of life-long learning
   b. promote critical and creative literacy
   c. foster democratic civic engagement
   
   If these outcomes come close to what we are looking for within the profession, then we should ask teachers to design their own professional learning plans so that they become more effective at realizing such aims.
   If students come to school and aren't ready to learn, then we need to support students and educators by creating and sustaining equitable in-school conditions.
   Focusing on education as a means to redress poverty will help to a point: but it will not address the source of inequities, i.e. income inequality. Therefore, we need to support students and educators by creating and sustaining equitable out-of-school conditions.
   
5. The author has a point: "We need a more solid research and measurement foundation about what aspects of teaching improve learning."
   
   We need hybrid teaching roles so that more teachers can conduct meaningful research and advocate for effective systemic strategies that promote student engagement.

 

 

Here's the Deal: We already know what needs improving.

Education Post's sensational headline reads, "Here’s the Deal: We Can’t Help Teachers Improve If We Don’t Know What Needs Improving (11/29/16)." Author Thomas Toch argues that better teacher accountability metrics will lead to—what? Higher test scores? A stronger workforce?

How about we improve teaching with the aim of a more green, healthy, and sustainable America?

And we already know what needs improving.

Our country needs to improve family access to safe neighborhoods, healthy housing, meaningful employment, and balanced nutrition. We need to improve parents' and guardians' access to time and resources so that they can make sure their children are curious, energetic, well-fed, well-rested, and learning ready.

We need to improve student and staff access to green, healthy, and sustainable schools; beautiful schools that conserve energy and water, foster wellness, and advance equity between people, planet, and prosperity are good for students. This will help teachers.

We need to improve the capacity of educators to collaborate on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and policy that enriches students' love of learning, critical and creative thinking, and democratic civic engagement. 

We need to improve supports for educators as they exercise their professional expertise.

We need to improve teachers' stewardship of the profession. 

We need to improve our civic commitment to American values such as democracy, liberty, and justice for all.

We need to improve our courage. 

This will help teachers.

Check out the organizations below.
Green Schools National Network U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Green Schoolyards America Women Of Green Center for Green SchoolsEcoRise Youth Innovations Eco-Schools USA National Environmental Education Foundation Shelburne Farms Center for Ecoliteracy GreenFutures UN Sustainable Development Platform The Networked Teacher Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse Caucus of Working Educators Badass Teachers Association Center for Teaching Quality Teacher Powered Schools Teach to Lead Network for Public Education Sustainable Happiness

What does a society look like with no racism, sexism, classism...?

I believe that one of the best responses to economic and social inequity is joy and happiness. After all, what does a society look with no racism, classism, sexism...?

I want to live in prospering, abundant, and democratic society, and I want to help create it. I am probably best situated to do so when I am coming from a place of well being. It is our well being that we risk when we maintain inequitable social and economic structures. And our civility towards our brothers and sisters can become masked if not stunted, as well.

This short video from Matthew Cooke, called Race Baiting 101, profiles some of the complexity of how the Masters conjure lateral conflict among the 99%. The video has compelling arguments and stark images that hopefully affirm how we are connected in our humanity. So although there is a bit of ugliness in the video, I think it serves as a good reminder of why I am aligned with the hope of Black Lives Matter, sustainability, feminism, and other movements for a better world.

I also remind myself that the embrace of well being, as a political act, is not a form of surrender. To want to be everywhere, all of the time -- to right every wrong, to confront every injustice -- is to succumb to the violence. I choose to acknowledge the violence, educate myself, and focus on what I want, rather than what I don't want.

In solidarity, and in peace without appeasement.

What is a Culture of Sustainabilty?

By Gamal Sherif 

Everyday, teachers work hard to foster passion, engagement, and equity into our schools. What do we need to make this work sustainable? What has to happen within our schools -- or within ourselves -- so that students and staff have beautiful environments that conserve energy and water, foster wellness, and advance social and economic justice?

On Saturday, October 15, 2016, Francine Locke, the Environmental Director at the School District of Philadelphia, and I will be hosting a workshop about sustainability at the Global Education Forum in Philadelphia, USA.

Our workshop, entitled GreenFutures - Local Action for Global Stewardship, will focus on how GreenFutures overlaps with the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). As part of our introduction, we're going to ask participants a series of questions that are designed to cultivate small-group discussion -- and more questions!

One of our first questions is: "What is a culture of sustainability?"

Beautiful green schools that engage students and staff do so, not because of solar panels, farm-to-cafeteria, or clean air and water, though these certainly do help! It's something else.

How would you describe a culture of sustainability? Let us know what you think via email, tweet, or the ProgressEd blog.

Or just feel it.

Letter to Bernie Sanders: A green, healthy, and sustainable U.S. for peace in the Middle East

Dear Bernie,

I've been thinking about your positions on war and peace, and I was especially interested in your comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As an American with Hebrew and Arab roots, I'd like to make a few suggestions about the best way to advance peace here in the U.S., and in the Middle East.

I think that, as Americans, we have to focus on what we want here in the U.S. as we address inequities around the world. I recommend that we advocate for a green, healthy, and sustainable America. I’ve outlined some general principles below.

• Green: reduce energy consumption and conserve water. The result is that we reduce greenhouse emissions, stabilize our climate, and create green jobs. A green economy fosters interdependence rather than violent competition for resources such as energy, land and water.

• Healthy: provide free health care and promote effective working conditions. People have a right to be healthy, and we need to create a culture that values emotional, social and physical wellness. We need recreation in schools and communities, contact with nature, experience with the arts and sciences, and a sense of belonging. Healthy Americans take care of themselves, their families, and their communities. Healthy Americans also have the time to influence local and global politics for a just world.

• Sustainable: study and advocate for systemic economic, social and ecological balance. War isn’t good for children and other people, and it is expensive. War is a result of fear, desperation and greed. Conflict in the U.S. and in the Middle East results from an imbalance that positions economy against people and the planet. Alternatively, sustainability is a road map to a flourishing world that ensures a high standard of living for all, in the present and in the future. For more information, read the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Middle East is a beautiful part of the world that could easily celebrate cultural diversity, honor and protect indigenous people, and even create abundance through low impact eco-tourism.

For Americans, the best way to bring peace to the Middle East is to focus on a green, healthy and sustainable America as we promote a culture of peace and joy at home and abroad.

Yours,

Gamal

A modified version of this letter was published in The Swarthmorean on Mar. 11, 2016.

And what about a "progressive" teacher union movement?

What is the difference between a progressive, liberal and Marxist union? The answer, in part, might have something to do with the emphasis on members' stewardship of the union.

Thanks to Xian Franzinger Barrett and his colleagues at the Chicago Teachers Union for inspiring the Caucus of Working Educators (WE), a social justice caucus within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT). WE is challenging the Collective Bargaining Team (CB) for leadership of the PFT. CB has run the PFT since the 1980s. Ballots go out this week and are due by Feb. 19, 2016.

In this informative 10-min video, Kelley Collings provides a summary of how WE came together, the importance of union member stewardship, and the emergence of hope for the schools and the city.

PFT's Kelley Collings, candidate for VP of Middle Schools

Sharif El-Mekki, a principal with Mastery Charter Schools, has worked in Philly since the 1990s, and shared a few comments on what I will call CB's "old school" v. WE's "new school" unionism:

I'm excited about WE's desire to align with social justice issues that impact communities. They appear to look at the profession as a natural alliance with others who are fighting oppression from various angles. Encouraging.

WE's "new school" unionism has already had an impact on the PFT, the city, and teacher leadership. Should WE win the upcoming election, I expect and hope that they will build on the best of the CB legacy and then continue to innovate.

Back to the question of the "progressive" union. The Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN; ca. 1995) has published a paper called "Three Frames of Progressive Unionism," which emphasizes:

1. industrial frame
2. professional frame, and 
3. social justice frame 

Although the document has changed over the years (i.e. from 2005 to 2011, v. 5), and is arguably less "progressive," I've found that the three frames are helpful tools to understand the sociology of unions. Steve Owens has a lot of knowledge about TURN and may be able to provide more context.

• For more information on WE, go to http://www.workingeducators.org/.
• For more information on CB, go to http://collectivebargainingteam.com/.
• For more information on the Three Frames...: http://www.mooneyinstitute.org/…/three-frames-progressive-u…

American Education Week and Neoliberal Market Efficiencies

Founded in 1921, American Education Week was designed to inform "the public of the accomplishments and needs of the public schools and to secure the cooperation and support of the public in meeting those needs." 17 years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed "the teachers and patrons of American schools" about the relationship between democracy and education.

As American Education Week is once more observed throughout the schools of the United States, opportunity again is afforded to evaluate the part which our schools play in the preservation and promotion of democratic life.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education (Sep. 27, 1938).

Roosevelt's comments, though brief, provide sharp contrast with the writings of Joanne Weiss, who served as President Obama's director of Race to the Top and then Secretary Duncan's Chief of Staff. Weiss actually sees teachers as passive recipients of education reform -- to be fed data -- rather than co-constructors of democratic practices that engage students, families, and colleagues. From Weiss' Harvard Business Review (HBR) post:

It will make sense for researchers to mine data to learn which materials and teaching strategies are effective for which students – and then feed that information back to students, teachers, and parents (Mar. 31, 2011).

Weiss' comments reflect the notion that teachers are passive observers within their own profession. She assumes that teachers do not, in fact, do research everyday on what works and what doesn't work for children. And when we place her comments within ED's push for the adoption of common standards across the U.S. via Race to the Top, her framework becomes so much more dangerous. From her HBR post:

The development of common standards and shared assessments radically alters the market for innovation in curriculum development, professional development, and formative assessments. Previously, these markets operated on a state-by-state basis, and often on a district-by-district basis. But the adoption of common standards and shared assessments means that education entrepreneurs will enjoy national markets where the best products can be taken to scale.

Some may note that Weiss' post was from 2011, and that her views might have "evolved," in part, due to the good work of ED's diverse, passionate, and caring colleagues. Yet with such a Machiavellian view of education, I wonder how Weiss even ended up in ED in the first place.

I'm not interested in gnarling Weiss' reputation.

I am interested in engaging colleagues in a critique of the anti-democratic practices that sometimes pass for a "kinder and gentler" neoliberalism. A neoliberalism that sees children as a revenue stream, and teachers as an obstacle to market efficiencies. The threat to our democracy is real, and the saboteurs are in the room.

Sometimes, nuance is not good enough.

Trackback.

Mapping Sustainability Education (in the U.S.): Process, Engagement, and Democracy

Education for Sustainabilty (2012),
from Nektarina Non Profit (internat'l).

There is an interesting richness to how different groups conceive of sustainability education in the U.S.. Some call it sustainability intelligence, or ecoliteracy, or environmental education, or education for sustainability (sometimes abbreviated as either EFS or EfS).

There is a difference between sustainability and sustainability education. One simple distinction is that the latter is the process in which students study the former. And yet both emphasize the importance of local decision-making and relevance. For example, check out Shelburne Farm's take on the local context:

The broad nature of these definitions [of sustainability] has allowed groups and individuals to define sustainability on their own terms, to meet their own needs and those of their places. In one way, this is the promise of sustainability: it is not a prescribed endpoint, but a goal or vision that individuals or communities must design themselves and then plan and take actions to realize. Ultimately, the goal of sustainability increases the investment of citizens—including students—in their communities as they work towards creating their desired future (p. 2 in A Guide to Education for Sustainability, 2011).

Another salient feature of sustainability education is the engagement with a process rather than compliance with and end-product. Shelburne Farms emphasizes this (above): "...it is not a prescribed endpoint." This process-oriented approach to sustainability can be found in John Dewey's [sometimes wordy] emphasis on aims in education:

For it assumed that the aim of education is to enable individuals to continue their education -- or that the object and reward of learning is continued capacity for growth.... In our search for aims in education, we are not concerned, therefore, with finding an end outside of the educative process to which education is subordinate. Our whole conception forbids. We are rather concerned with the contrast which exists when aims belong within the process in which they operate and when they are set up from without (p. 100 in Democracy and Education, 1916).

For more information on sustainability education, you can check out The Journal of Sustainability Education. And below is a partial listing of several sustainability education groups, their websites, and selected text.

• Center for Ecoliteracy (link): Big Ideas: Linking Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment: A New Alignment with Academic Standards (2014). "Most people engage in the act of eating every day. What we eat and how we grow, process, prepare, and consume food profoundly affect the lives and welfare of humans and other beings, yet our food systems remain a mystery to many people. It is vital that we all understand the linkages between the food we eat, the ways that culture shapes our food choices and behaviors, the relationship between food and our health, and the interconnections between our food systems and the environment."

• Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education (link): Brief History. "Education for Sustainability was formed out of the recognition that there is a distinct difference between “education about sustainable development and education for sustainable development.” The former was seen to be a theoretical exercise while the latter asked for the educative process to be used as a tool to achieve sustainability (McKeown, 2002)."

• Eco-Schools USA (link): Education for Sustainability."Because of the urgent need for citizens to understand the concepts of sustainability, Education for Sustainability (EFS) or Sustainability Education has become a strong focus worldwide. EFS is a framework that can be used to engage students in all subjects by using the real-world context of the complex interconnections between the creation of vibrant communities, strong economies, and healthy ecosystems, both locally and globally. Education forms the foundation for building sustainable communities, and without education we cannot achieve sustainability."

• EcoRise (link): Sustainability Curriculum Overview (2015)."The Sustainable Intelligence lessons are focused on building the environmental literacy of students and encouraging youth to become thoughtful stewards of the environment and leaders in their communities! Our lessons introduce students to challenges and opportunities surrounding sustainability and engage youth in developing real-world solutions in their communities through design labs, campus eco-audits, and much more. Lessons are available in both English and Spanish...."

• Green Living Project (link): Student Connecting to Global Sustainability (nd). "The approach is to embrace the positive and successful stories around global sustainability [and] serve as an effective "the-glass-is-half-full" type [of strategy]. As the future generation, students play a vital role in leading the charge on sustainable living through their schools and communities in an attempt to make a difference locally and globally.

• National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF; link): Environmental Literacy Report (2015)."Although knowledge and understanding are important components of environmental literacy, they are not the whole picture. Research has shown that there is often a disconnect between what people know and what they do. In reality, other factors — how people feel, their environmental experiences, social norms, what their priorities are, their skills, their self-identity, and other factors — come into play when people decide to do something or not."

• ​​Shelburne Farms (link): A Guide to Education for Sustainability (2011). "Education for Sustainability is not something new. Aspects of sustainability have been a part of formal
  education for the past century. Many teachers have been, and continue to be, engaged in EFS or similarly named efforts in the United States and around the world. Schools and programs can relate sustainability to the curriculum through multiple pathways: a school- or program-wide approach; service-learning projects; curricular units; and courses. Just as service learning can provide a needed connection between different subjects and skills, Education for Sustainability creates intrinsic opportunities for students to apply their learning through real work in the school and community."

• The Center for Green Schools (link): National Plan for Educating for Sustainability (2014)."EfS was officially “born” as a new field of inquiry in 1992, and thought leaders have been asking what students need to know, to be able to do, and to be like if we are to increase the possibility that humans and other life can flourish on Earth indefinitely. The rich collection of answers and subsequent field work has propelled the movement to a place where, today, elements of EfS exist to some degree in schools across the country and around the world. We don’t yet know the total number of schools that have engaged in any of the EfS approaches such as environmental education, place-based learning, or expeditionary learning; nor do we have a firm grasp on how many have placed a sustainability lens on instructional attributes such as systems thinking, lateral
  thinking, metacognition, or creativity."

• US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development (USP; link): National Education for Sustainability K-12 Student Learning Standards (2009)."Education for Sustainability or Sustainability Education is a relatively new and evolving field. For the purpose of the USP standards, Education for Sustainability is defined as a combination of content, learning methods, and outcomes that helps students develop a knowledge base about the environment, the economy, and society, in addition to helping them learn skills, perspectives, and values that guide and motivate them to seek sustainable livelihoods, participate in a democratic society, and live in a sustainable manner (McMillan and Higgs, 2003)." 

Know of any others resources? Send them my way!

Neoliberal Education and the Male Gaze

Over at Curmudgucation, Peter Greene writes about the snazzy misdirection found in reports like The Gates Foundation's Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning.  Green concludes that the report isn't worth reading, but he also cautions that somewhere, somebody is using the fancy, color process report to lead people astray.

TNTP (a.k.a. The New Teacher Project), came out with a similar glossy report entitled The Mirage - Confronting the Hard Truth About Our Quest for Teacher Development. The report is a fancy screed that hides behind the "path-to-success" cloak. The report isn't worth reading, but I guess we should really be cautious about the spectacle of these media blitzes.

Below are a few examples of how the report misdirects and obfuscates, and then essentially blames teachers:

1) I wish the authors were clearer on what "...putting students on the path to success..." means. (p. 5)

Your gaze hits the side of my face. Barbara Kruger, 1982.

2) I appreciate their finding that "Teacher development appears to be a highly individualized process, one that has been dramatically oversimplified." (p. 7) I think this applies to the experiences of our students, as well.

Scientifically, there’s no way to honor our student’s individualism while emphasizing high-stakes standardized tests that simplify “knowing” and “experiencing” to a series of check-off boxes. [See the AERA report: State Value-Added Performance Measures Do Not Reflect the Content or Quality of Teachers’ Instruction, Nov, 2015.]

3) This is an ad for the Common Core: "For example, teachers need to demonstrate to their observers that they are posing meaningful questions to students, which lead students to critically assess information and rely on evidence to put forth a point of view." (p. 21) Let's not pretend that this is THE accepted standard for students' engagement with text.

And who are these observers? This is a variation of the male gaze.

4) The recommendation to provide “rewards and consequences [emphasis added]” for teacher improvement is a symptom of the problem . From the report: “Changing one’s professional practice can be difficult and uncomfortable. It often requires teachers to confront weaknesses, disrupt old routines and learn new skills. Even the most intrinsically motivated educator may need additional incentives to start and persist through the improvement process.” (p. 40)

If we’re going to grow (growth doesn't have to be painful, unless you’re a fan of Dweck, apologists or behaviorists), we should ask “Towards what end?”

5) The beatings will continue until morale improves. From the report: “Creating meaningful rewards and consequences [emphasis added] can send a clear message that improvement should be a top priority, and energize teachers about opportunities to innovate and grow."(p. 40)

6) This makes no sense: “Even as districts continue trying to help more teachers improve on the job, they should also prioritize recruiting teachers who already have a track record of success and retaining teachers after they actually become highly effective. In these areas, there are proven strategies, such as hiring teachers earlier and by mutual consent….” (p. 42) How do teachers who “already have a track record of success” get hired in the first place?

And what does "mutual consent" mean? Is this code for at-will employment, i.e. no unions? I value labor history and it’s role on creating safe and effective working conditions, so where are the authors going with this?

7) When the authors suggest that teachers’ jobs be “reconstructed,” I wonder if this is a cost-savings strategy that actually de-skills teachers (p. 42). As for on-ramping new teachers, I think it would be great to have hybrid teachers who work ½ time with the their classes, and half-time with new, fully-paid teachers who also work ½ time with the their classes, and 1/2 with their mentors. (Hey Gates Foundation! Ring me up if you want to talk about a Green Teacher Network led by hybrid teachers and smart education  policy. We can do this -- and -- this is an offer, not a request.)

8) And BOOM! There it is: “Rather, it’s worth exploring ways to combine the disaggregation of the teacher’s role, as described above, with alternative models for school design that allow higher-performing teachers to reach more students.” (p. 43) Is this a recipe for dystopian "personalization," in which computers manage students' learning?

I love the idea of efficiencies, but education is a social, people-centered, labor-intensive endeavor. Sure, I’d like my well-supervised 10th graders to work with gaggles of 6th graders doing field studies, but the ratio should always honor the development of community, student safety, and well-rounded learning. Are these the criteria for TNTP's conception of personalization?

It’s amazing how terms like “blended learning” and "personalization" can be so easily co-opted by for-profit corporate interests with little understanding of the human dimensions of learning. How does this happen? How do smart people within the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation get so distracted?

The Caucus of WE: Who's listening?

The merry:
"The more, the merrier." This phrase came to me twice now (through email and voice) via the Caucus of Working Educators (WE), over the last two weeks. For those unfamiliar with WE, it is a social justice caucus within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, the AFT-affiliated union that represents staff within the School District of Philadelphia. WE is also engaged in a listening campaign and bid for union leadership.

The timing of "the merry" phrase is good, as the WE General Membership meeting is this Thursday, October 22 at 5:30pm @ Temple U: Tuttleman Learning Center, 1809 N. 13th Street, Hall 105, @ 13th & Montgomery. From the WE website:

• Save the date for our next WE General Membership Meeting, where we will have updates from our listening campaign and campaign committee-- and lots of conversation on how to keep building the power and membership of our union.
• If you are not currently a WE member, you will be asked to join before entering the meeting. (But what are you waiting for? Start getting members-only info and invites by joining today: workingeducators.org/joinus).

The anger:

Fig. 1: One model of the Sustainability Compass

I also received a WE email about the focus on "...anger, hope, and a plan" as a means to transform the Philadelphia education landscape. Anger is understandable, and we should acknowledge, rather than suppress, how we feel. For example, last month I visited a high school on Broad Street, and there were signs over the water fountain that warned, "Do Not Drink." Right next to the water fountain was a for-profit corporate vending machine that sold $1 water bottles. The "Do Not Drink" sign has been there for years. What does this messaging convey to students and staff?

I was angry, and I acknowledged that. But focusing on anger is no way to sustain teachers, and hope is a deficit model. I am a much better teacher and colleague when I am merry, and when I have conviction.

The sustainability:
When I think about socio-economic equity, curricular innovation, and sustaining teachers, I am reminded of the sustainability compass (see Fig. 1), something that brings it all together for me. We need healthy schools that have social policies that engage students and staff, provide clean air, water, and food, and foster the capacity of school communities to study and advance systemic wellness.

If we want to advance equity, innovation, and sustainability, we will be more likely to do so through intentional consideration of merriness and anger, and how each influences the decisions we make. Which of the two, merriness or anger, will be more likely to sustain students, staff, and the movement for social justice?

What should WE focus on?

Does VIVA's Idea Exchange implicate teachers?

As an organization committed to advancing "...classroom teachers’ participation in important policy decisions...," VIVA Teachers has had a nice run, and was even better when Xian Barrett was advising them. However, their recent invitation to discuss the Common Core tilts towards teacher bashing. Below is an excerpt from a VIVA invitation to dialogue:

To ensure that teachers are key players in the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, New Voice Strategies is inviting you to participate in this VIVA Idea Exchange™.

Your recommendations will foster the environment necessary to ensure successful implementation of Common Core....

I am not against academic content standards that engage students and teachers. I am for teacher stewardship of educational reform. However, the assumption that teachers are "...key players in the implementation of Common Core..." overwrites, if not co-opts, teacher leadership. To what extent have teachers been the authors of the Common Core State Standards?

A recent VIVA blog post by Paul Toner actually passed editorial review while advancing the teacher bashing meme:

We’re all familiar with the negative stereotypes that paint teachers unions as only being concerned with salaries and benefits and disavow being held accountable for student performance.

I am concerned by the phrase "... being held accountable for student performance." The assumption is that teachers are, indeed, accountable for student performance. But if children arrive at school stressed out, hungry, or tired, then a teacher's ability to be effective is diminished. According to Renee Moore, "The health of the public schools is a primary indicator of the health of an entire community." So if a community is stressed, and children arrive at school stressed, why would anyone implicate teachers? 

Teachers love their students. We love them so much that we know we have to advocate for systemic equity and reform so that children arrive at school ready to learn. We could agree or disagree on the teachers' role in low student achievement. However, there are so many factors that influence student agency, and I would argue that teachers are only a small portion of that. And what about reciprocal accountability?

So what next? Do teachers get more involved in the VIVA Teachers dialogue? Do we pick our battles? Do we embrace our own respective organizational mission (Teachers Lead Philly, Teacher Action Group, Caucus of WE, CTQ, NBCT)? Do we focus on what we want rather than what we don't want? Do we enter the discussion as advocates or diplomats?

A Call for the End of "Parent Trigger"

We've got to stop using the phrase "parent tri**er." For those not literate in edu-speak, "parent tri**er" is a process in which parents can call for the closure or transformation of a school if it is not doing well.

As a society, we've got to eliminate the use of "trigger" in association with our schools. It evokes violent imagery and sets up parents v. teachers when the real issue is two-fold:

• Are children arriving at school ready to learn? Children need to feel safe and be well-fed, well-rested -- and curious -- in order to do well in school. If the answer to this question is "no," then we need to look at the variables that influence learning readiness. That is a societal issue worthy of a systemic response.

• Do schools have the capacity to engage students? In wealthier schools, the answer is yes, but we have to ask to what end? Are we preparing students for individual achievement or civic engagement, or both? In our less wealthy schools, we need to develop the school cultures that foster effective learning and working conditions so that students make connections between school and society and teachers can do their jobs -- and flourish.

Can schools be more effective? Certainly. However, we've got to develop systemic solutions that engage families and unfurl educators' professional stewardship of education.

Sustaining a Hybrid Teacher Network

Thanks to Nicole Gillespie, KSTF's CEO, I just finished reading "Getting Ideas into Action: Building Networked Improvement Communities in Education (2011). This article advances the idea that [K-12] educational practitioners should also be at the table when educational research -- and policy -- is designed.

As a busy practitioner, I know I could benefit from succinct access to academic research frameworks. And I KNOW that teacher voices can enrich and ground the often-lofty "Here, try this..." interventions.

Looking ahead to the elusive "Hybrid Teacher Network," teachers need time and support to stay in the classroom (1/2 time), but also have stewardship of the profession (1/2 time). Everything from curriculum, instruction, assessment and policy is on the table, and practicing teachers need to be creating the narrative with community partners.

How can NNSTOY, NBCT, VIVA Teachers, Hope Street Fellows, TAFNet, a nascent STEM teacher network, and other groups advance and sustain hybrid teacher roles?

What can we learn about teacher networks that aligns with [inter-]national educational equity and is based on local innovation?

What is Effective Teacher Leadership?

I just re-read Carrie R. Leana's "The Missing Link in School Reform (2011)," and I agree that teacher collaboration, described by the author as a form of social capital, is what makes really good teachers become excellent.

The U.S. Department of Education's Blueprint for Reform (2009) suggests that teacher evaluation include room for multiple measures such as teacher leadership or peer-review (see p. 4).

I appreciate the flexible, aim-focused tone of the Blueprint. I wonder how the Department could be more explicit about what teacher leadership and peer review actually look like. How can the Department advance incentives, infrastructure or models that develop and sustain the essence of teachers' stewardship of the profession?

I also wonder about the future of the Blueprint, its intersection with Race to The Top and the reauthorization of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka No Child Left Behind). What can the Department do to foster policy that engages the millions of teachers we already have in our classrooms?

Cultivating the Effective Hybrid Teachers

Effective teachers help students develop a love of life-long learning.  Do our school systems provide opportunities for teachers to effectively use their wondrous crafts? How can teacher effectiveness be enriched by the hybrid teaching role? 

Essentially, hybrid teachers spend part of their time in the classroom and part of their time in stewardship of the profession. But before we agree this is idea, we have to develop the infrastructure that supports and sustains hybrid teachers. Bruce Taterka and I will be facilitating a conversation about the hybrid teacher at this year's annual EduCon in Philadelphia. 

An abstract of our conversation follows:

In order for K-12 teachers to be more effective, we need opportunities to study the intersection of curriculum, instruction, assessment and policy. For example, as federal agencies call for more teacher research, and states design high-stakes standardized assessments of student growth, teachers need to be more involved with what goes in in schools and districts. One of the challenges we face is that many teachers already work 50 hours a week; where do we find the time we need to lead? Data from the 2013 Measures of Effective Teaching study also shows that teachers also seek opportunities to lead without leaving the classroom.

Experience:

We'd love to hear more about your experiences with hybrid teaching. What experience do you have with hybrid teacher roles? What systems should be in place so that the hybrid teacher roles are effective and sustainable? 

How can the Feds enrich public education?

I'm delighted to be attending a White House briefing on public education.  I know there will be a lot of people in the room and if I have an opportunity to make some suggestions, I'll have to be brief and focused.

Below are three recommendations for what I think we need to do on a federal level.  Of course the details matter, yet I thought it would be helpful to set some worthwhile aims.

• Effective school systems should align federal, state and local policy that supports teacher leadership. 
• Federal policy should ensure that all teachers have effective working conditions. 
• Most importantly, the federal government should do everything it can to ensure that all children are "school ready." That means that all children should be well-rested, well-fed and healthy.  All children should come from safe homes and neighborhoods in which caregivers have time to spend with their children. "School ready" children are curious and eager to learn.

If you had a few moments to talk about education with White House officials, what would you like to say?

Building a Better Economy

Once again, the print edition of The New York Times (NYT) included the "Building a Better Teacher" theme for the Schools For Tomorrow conference (Jun 25 & Jul 2, 2012; p. A18 & p. A16, respectively).  The NYT should consider modifying the "Building a Better Teacher" theme.

"Building a Better Teacher" is an ideologically-loaded theme that 1) advances the notion that schools are failing because of bad teachers and 2) alienates over 3 million teachers in the US. And not one of the 14 featured guest speakers is a teacher.

Of course teachers can get better at their craft; we are life-long learners.  Yet Secretary Duncan estimates that 10% of California's teachers don't belong in the classroom. Dan Goldhaber, a research professor with the Center on Reinventing Public Education, estimates that nationally, the number of unqualified teachers is closer to 7%.  So what are we doing for the other 90-93%?

If we want teachers to be better at their jobs, we can first cultivate effective working conditions.  Yet the idea of "Building a Better Teacher" is aligned with the notion of human capital; "If we only had good teachers, then education would improve."  A more worthwhile approach to supporting education is to consider teachers' working conditions and their social capital; "If teachers have the support to collaborate and then influence curriculum, instruction, assessment and policy, then education will improve." Better working conditions translates into deeper teacher and student engagement.

We can also consider the importance of children's "school readiness."  Children will learn better if they are well-rested and well-fed, feel safe and are curious.  Children's proximity to poverty diminishes their school readiness.  Families in or near poverty are less able to provide the stability necessary for children's healthy development. This suggests that we might consider "Building a Better Economy" as one means to better engage students in their own learning.

The idea that print media are failing because of weak journalists is as preposterous as the idea that public education is failing because we have weak teachers. What if teachers decided to hold a conference called "Newspapers for Tomorrow" with "Building a Better Journalist" as a theme? The Guest Speakers would feature everyone BUT journalists.

Equitable Funding of Public Education

Public education is underfunded because of:

1. mis-management
2. mis-use of our military in countries like Afghanistan
3. warped emphasis on privatized wealth at the expense of the common good

Here are a few examples:

• In 2001, the Philadelphia Public School Notebook reported that the State of Pennsylvania had taken over the Philadelphia School District. How has that oversight helped students and teachers be more engaged? What stability or efficiencies has state oversight provided? Most importantly, what are examples of effective school district organization? How can we help teachers create effective working conditions so that they and their students can flourish?
• In 2011, The Washington Post reported that "[t]he U.S. military is on track to spend $113 billion on its operations in Afghanistan this fiscal year, and it is seeking $107 billion for the next." Are there better uses for that money?
• The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that the outgoing CEO of Sunoco is receiving about $37 million in compensation for liquidating assets. How can we create a sustainable economy that honors labor and fosters a commitment to the social good? Individual excellence is essential, but we are all more effective when we advance social equity along with individual liberty.

If the explanations for inequitable funding of public education are accurate (numbers 1, 2 and 3 above), then what are the solutions?  Below is my list -- what's yours?

Federal solutions:

• Reauthorize a modified ESEA that acknowledges "college and career readiness" with an emphasize on systemic creation of "school readiness." All children should arrive at school safe, well-fed, well-rested, and curious.
• Re-visit the 14th Amendment and the Brown v. Board of Ed. decision with consideration of funding inequities that create a "suspect class." All schools should be able to fund education at equal (if not equitable) levels.

State solutions:

• Ensure teacher representation on state-wide panels that roll-out RTTT.
• Ensure equitable funding of all school districts akin to NJ's Abbott decisions.

District solutions:

• Create real equitable choice options so that students can attend schools of interest anywhere in the city -- or across District boundaries.
• Develop and sustain teacher leadership so that teachers lead the integration of curriculum, instruction, assessment and policy that engages students and teachers.

Union solutions:

• Integrate the labor frame with professional and social justice frames for an enriched unionism.
• Cultivate cohorts of teacher leaders who are connected and can advocate for effective working conditions, participate in teacher-led research, and foster democratic learning environments .

Administrative solutions:

• Provide operational flexibility for principals to build community partnerships, coach teachers, know students, and build the capacity of learning organizations.
• Require extensive support for nurses, social workers, therapists and counselors so that all students with diverse needs are recognized and supported.

Teacher solutions:

• View teachers as experts and support the professional development needed so that teachers can effectively lead schools.
• Create professional learning communities within and between schools and the community so that teachers are facilitating and modeling the collaboration necessary to life-long learning.