Category Archives: Education Reform

FYI – Listening

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If you want to listen so you really hear what others say, make sure you are not a:

Mindreader. You’ll hear little or nothing as you think “What is this person really thinking or feeling?”

Rehearser. Your mental tryouts for “Here’s what I’ll say next” tune out the speaker.

Filterer. Some call this selective hearing, hearing only what you want to hear.

Dreamer. Drifting off during a face-to-face conversation can lead to an embarrassing “What did you say?” or “Could you repeat that?”

Identifier. If you refer everything you hear to your experience, you probably didn’t really hear what was said.

Comparer. When you get side-tracked assessing the messenger, you’re sure to miss the message.

Derailer. Changing the subject too quickly soon tells others you’re not interested in anything they have to say.

Sparrer. You hear what’s said but quickly belittle it or discount it. That puts you in the same class as the derailer.

Placater. Agreeing with everything you hear just to be nice or to avoid conflict does not mean you’re a good listener.

Reading is silent listening.

Reading is silent listening.

Author – Unknown

What Failed?

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A Mind is Too Beautiful to Waste

A Mind is Too Beautiful to Waste

The beliefs — test-based accountability, financial flexibility, and “choice” — the principles — the pillars upon which No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promised “to close the achievement gap” — have FAILED.

The theory was hailed by state education officialdom prior to NCLB. So all-in-all this grand experiment, concocted by those unwilling to listen to people in the trenches, had decades to “work” to “close the achievement gap.” It failed; it’s a FACT!

People across America are waking up to the reality that testing itself is wasting instructional time and our money. Parents are seeing that test-based accountability led to a narrow and boring curriculum for their children. It is one of the reasons many left the traditional public system to home-school.

Many are also using the “choice” part of this failed equation. But the reality is that “choice-based reform” has not led to reform. And it must be remembered that test-based accountability was used to declare schools as failed thus trumpeting the need for “choice” through a charter system. Failed and double failed!

But what of “flexibility”? Ah, that began as a token gesture of local control. Giving the local people the ability to spend Title I money (federal education dollars for low-income students) in a manner they saw fit was actually part of the original 1965 law. But back then it was understood that the money would be directed to serve the needs of those low-income students. When the states became convinced that test-based accountability was the way to go, the stage was set for federal dollars to be spent on this new focus. The public was duped and double duped.

It is time to view education differently – accountability, flexibility, and choice have failed to deliver on what it promised. And in the process, it did damage. Face that fact. Riding on accountability, flexibility, and choice as reform strategies is like riding a dead horse. Have a little respect. Dismount and bury it!

Whoa on “Reforms”

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The following story was anonymously left in the mailbox of Dr. Emory Cowen of the University of Rochester and relayed to us through Dr. Seymour Sarason:

Common advice from knowledgeable horse trainers includes the adage, “If the horse you’re riding dies, get off.” Seems simple enough, yet, in the education business we don’t always follow that advice. Instead, we often choose from an array of alternatives which include:

Stop the "reforms."

Stop the “reforms.” They failed and are killing US.

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Trying a new bit or bridle.
3. Switching riders.
4. Moving the horse to a new location.
5. Riding the horse for longer periods of time.
6. Saying things like, “This is the way we’ve always ridden this horse.”
7. Appointing a committee to study horses.
8. Arranging to visit other sites where they ride dead horses efficiently.
9. Increasing the standards for riding dead horses.
10. Creating a test for measuring our riding ability.
11. Comparing how we’re riding now with how we did it 10 or 20 years ago.
12. Complaining about the state of horses these days.
13. Coming up with new styles of riding.
14. Blaming the horse’s parents. The problem is in the breeding.

Dismount! As Dr. Sarason wrote: “Instead of doing any of these, we decided to dismount. We began to look at what we needed to do for kids and their families to help them help themselves.”

Shake Before Lifting

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Now what?

Now what?

The people that always do the heavy lifting of community and/or school improvement are those in the trenches. You can’t mandate them to do it. You can’t twist their arms, as much as we might like to. People need to see the need, know they share a common problem, see a way to solve it, and believe they can. Can that be put into reform law? Yes, I not only know think it can; I know that the philosophy of helping people help themselves was put into education law in 1965.

Our common problem is that the education reform laws now are designed to “do to us” instead of helping us to improve. In Idaho, there are clearly ten Title I (low-income schools) that are falling behind the other 93% of Idaho’s Title I schools. The law did make us identify and label theses schools but we — not the schools — continue to fail because society isn’t providing them with the help they need to improve. Recent laws actually make that process harder.

We fail to serve the neediest of our schools because there are no people adequately representing these schools at “the table” were decisions are being made for them. We toss them a bone now and then, occasionally allowing them three minutes to testify and sometimes even inviting them to a conference. This is not allowing them to be part of the solution; it only serves to pacify them, momentarily. This is not full and continuous engagement in the improvement process.

What we need from real “reform” laws — laws that address the needs of schools most in need of improvement — are laws that provide direction, guidance, and assistance in evaluating the problems on the ground, educating the community about those problems and the array of solutions available to them, and making sure the public feels welcomed into the process of being successful with the plan they themselves created. After all, ordinary Americans are the real doers and shakers.

Time to shake it up?

Dare You Face Facts?

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If there are 3 million teachers (roughly) in the US, that’s 1% of the population. And frankly, you teachers out there are not all on the same “education reform” page!

So if teachers are fighting among themselves as to the need for “reform” and what the right way to go about “improvements,” what do you think is going on with the public in general? If the public cared enough about public schools and the children within them, how can they participate in the improvement process without being led down the wrong path —the one we are on right now? face_facts2

People 18 years and under make up 24% of the population — some of them are living in two or more children households, are under school age, attend private or charter schools, are home-schooled or have dropped out. So the number of people directly associated with public schools at any one time is relatively small. And how many of these are struggling to just get by, daily?

My point is: how many people know about the condition of their local schools let alone the real story across the country? And, how many care?…Now that is something to ponder!

Then, think about who is watching the hen-house.bill-allison-quote-youve-got-the-foxes-guarding-the-hen-house-and

Hear Yourself, Mr. President

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“Smarter government, “invest in the best ideas,” “partners for progress.”

“It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient—especially when it’s inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us. That will be my goal as President of the United States.” December, 2008.

487817Hear yourself, Mr. President, and listen to a variety of perspectives as you said you would. “The time has come for a president … who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree…. I will be that president for America.” — Obama, after winning the Iowa Caucus

What makes “smarter government”?

Hear this: Some of the best ideas come from our own past by way of new and sometimes unlikely messengers. It is time for reflection on your part. What do you see as the proper role of the federal government in education?

“The control and operation of education in America must remain the responsibility of State and local governments and private institutions. This tradition assures our educational system of the freedom, the diversity and the vitality necessary to serve our free society fully.

Let us put to rest the unfounded fears that ‘Federal money means Federal control.’ From The Northwest Ordinance of 1787, originally conceived by Thomas Jefferson, through the Morrill Act of 1862, establishing the still-important and still-independent Land-Grant College system, to the National Defense Education Act of 1958, the Congress has repeatedly recognized its responsibility to strengthen our educational system without weakening local responsibility.” JFK 1965

This was about partnering on way more than early childhood education.

In far too many places, local responsibility has been shirked. We need a return to the “proper Federal role of assistance and leadership.”

The Quest for Clarity

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How do we have conversations and bring about clarity of ideas when we don’t speak the same language? I’m talking about the language of education reform. It’s too full of codes and triggers.

The general public, the people whose education system we are talking about, can’t possibly be clear about what is really happening to their system. And how can they possibly crack the “code”?

I personally can’t help with deciphering everything but I can help with one item of reform that we should all sincerely try hard to understand – The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. It won’t be easy. As Harold “Doc” Howe II, the commissioner of education in charge of enacting the law, said,…

“I doubt that anyone could have dreamed up a series of education programs more difficult to administer . . . but ESEA was not designed with that in mind.”

ESEA’s design had one goal in mind — providing equal access to quality educational opportunities. It focused on leveling the playing field. And it was going to accomplish this by first addressing the needs of children from low-income families. The policy stood on the principle that “a rising tide lifts all boats.” When we improve the educational opportunity for the under-privileged, we improve opportunity for others in the process.

The “process” is multifaceted and requires more clarity that a blog can provide.

Please don’t stop trying to understand because of a person’s choice of words. “Turnaround” doesn’t ALWAYS mean the Race to the Top ways, “indicators” or even “assessments” don’t ALWAYS mean standardized tests, and even “always” rarely means “always.” You get my drift.

And remember, teachers have been in the trenches of the education reform wars for far too long. They are —understanably—sensitive to buzzwords.

Right now, the right education battle is the one for clarity. Clarity about education policy gives all children a better shot at being fully educated to the limits of their potential.

When someone pulls your trigger, or you find yourself wondering “what is this person talking about?” – my advice is to slow down. Ask questions and listen to the answers. Isn’t that the very thing we would expect from good students?

The Naked Truth

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I don’t get it! “It” being the fact that the very people who claim to want to save the public education system — from privatization, corporatization, dismantling, and turning it into a confusing, inefficient smorgasbord of charters — don’t want to hear the naked truth. With all this going on around them, they still argue over whether or not the system is broken. Really?

Greed-driven privatizers saw a growing public dissatisfaction with the lack of consistent and reliable quality education. The profiteers saw a weakness; they saw opportunity because of dysfunction and division. The division is greater than ever.

Educators and others who believe that the whole problem has been “created” are ignoring the voices of parents who have had some very bad experiences with the system. When we brush these parents off as complainers or excuse their comments as just a perception problem, we are telling them that their experiences have no value in the discussion. If you later want them to support public schools, how do you think they are going to feel about that?

Do you see what is broken here? Do you see the division?

A PUBLIC system, locally controlled or dictated to from above, is a broken system when it excludes the voice of the public in its decision-making. Any well-run public institution that exists to serve the public’s needs must hear the public’s voice.

We can stop all this wasteful warring by simply agreeing that the country must get back on track to continuously improving all schools. This is where we were in the 30’s, we advanced on the idea in the 70’s, and we lost it after that.

Face the naked truth – we have NEVER had quality education available to all children, all the time — but we can.

Hear Us: Time Out from Testing

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Good riddance to 2012; progress on the education front was too sparse to view it as a productive year.

Welcome 2013! Let this be the year that the crucial voice of the people is not only heard but taken to heart and acted upon.

What is important and what message will our taxpayer-sponsored representatives and officials hear from us? Where do we find common ground on education? Ask yourself, what’s essential in order for growing children to become life-long learners? Is it measurable on a standardized test?

Citizens of the United States are obligated to meet the responsibility of providing quality K-12 education. Does that mean that pre-school and college aren’t important? No. But we must focus on our primary duty and what it will take to accomplish that task. K-12, our current system, must be the focus of our collective voices or we will be drowned out by the confusion of too many irons in the fires. We have to stop patching and start fixing — strategically.

Currently, each state is fighting or giving into education legislation that has at its core the principle belief that standardized test scores accurately judge the quality of education a child has received. It is not just an opinion that this is a false assumption; it has been proven – repeatedly – these test scores do not accurately judge a child’s ability to learn or the quality of their school experiences.

Now is the time for our collective voices to rise up and demand we stop this insane and destructive use of our tax dollars. Our precious dollars are better spent on proven school improvement processes.

It’s time for a “time-out” from test-based “reforms.” It’s time to re-evaluate and regroup. Plan to reach out to the people who work for us – the people.

Are You Listening Secretary Duncan?

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“The problem here is not what the precise policy shall be but rather how shall decision on that policy be reached.” — Francis Keppel 1966

When the process of “reform” targets improving schools that need improving, it shouldn’t begin with a statement by Secretary Duncan that he stands firm on the idea of “competition” and that he is “holding the line” on what he has already set down for the nation. How does that work when he has also said he will listen? Listen, get people’s advice and input, but, proceed with what has already been decided? Is this how decisions shall be reached? This is a common on-going problem – nationally and in my state of Idaho.

In Idaho, voters turned down the “reform” ideas set by our legislature. So now, the governor is setting up a task force — but citizens need not apply. Only the “stakeholder groups” will be represented in the decision-making process. It appears all levels of government have forgotten their roles in education.

The U.S. Department of Education exists because there has always been unequal access to quality education and it was felt to be a national necessity that our citizens be properly educated. A highly-functional public education system is a proper and necessary function of our government. How does competition produce equal access when those most in need of assistance are dysfunctional when left to their own devices? The very existence of chronically low-performing schools is the proof.

And in a state like Idaho, where we underfund education and continue to document chronically low-performing schools, how can we think that putting the same warring factions together and excluding the public in the conversation will produce better policy? The process matters.

Are you listening Secretary Duncan?