THE INSTITUTE for Learning Centered Education NEWSLETTER
TOPIC: PARENT INVOLVEMENT
Templates for writing units to the standards are being turned out rapid fire throughput the country. Have you seen any that suggest, much less require, that teachers address strategies for parental involvement when they draft a unit?
When we get serious about involving parents (meaningfully) in the schools, we will make parental involvement strategies as much a part of unit writing templates as assessments and identifying standards. In fact, we’ll also require teachers to address strategies for meeting the needs of students with disabilities (but that’s a topic for another article).
New York State PTA Parent Involvement Chair Roberta Stillin-Dowman shared with me a rubric for parent involvement (reprinted at the end of this article) which she obtained from a Nationwide Listserv. That got me to thinking.
Parent involvement is like the weather. “Everyone talks about it…."
Why don’t we do more about it?
That’s simple. Few school personnel feel strongly enough about it to make it a priority. Those teachers and administrators who want to increase parental involvement want to do it by calling a few meetings a year and making whatever effort they can find time for. Everyone in education is so overwhelmed with a heavy workload that anything that isn’t a State mandate, regardless of how important, gets put on the back burner.
The paradigm of the parent at home baking cookies for the school meeting, but not meaningfully involved in the educational process, is so strong we are not going to change it with a few meetings a year any more than we will raise student achievement, have a winning football team, or put on the school musical with a few meetings a year.
Generating meaningful parental involvement requires commitment at the top, a strategic plan and a prolonged effort. (Does your district have a strategic plan for generating parental involvement?)
However, seeing the rubric sent to me by Roberta gave me an idea for a simple step that can be taken by every parent group in the country:
Shouldn't every district have two rubrics: one to guide the principal in the role of the principal in parent involvement; one to guide the teacher?
Think about it. What a project for a combined group of parents, teachers, and administrators - to create a rubric for the principal's role in parent involvement and a rubric for the teacher's role. You wouldn't need a large group - just a few people representing all three-stakeholder groups. Parents need to be there, obviously, to ensure that the rubrics identify significant and appropriate parent involvement. The teachers and administrators need to be there to ensure that what is in the rubric represents realistic expectations for teachers and administrators in a climate where they are over-worked, deluged with demands on their time, and struggling to keep their heads above water as they swim amongst the tides of educational change.
Imagine the universal application for such a model - PTAs and PTOs could spread it across the State in no time (or the Nation). It could be accomplished with the initiative of two or three parents, the involvement of two or three teachers and administrators, and less time than is required for most meetings.
It would be valuable, also, for communities where parents are having difficulty gaining cooperation from the educational establishment. They could create the rubric and kind of just let it hang out there for all to see - sort of like a "Consumers Report" article on which cars are the safest. In fact, parents could use their rubric and rate their school system just like the State uses its Report Cards to focus on how well districts are doing to raise student achievement.
The rubric Roberta shared with me is a good start, but the rubric used in each community should be tailored to that community and developed by parents, teachers, and administrators in the community. This rubric should also be subject to revision on an on-going basis. It should not be rammed down anyone’s throats. Teachers, parents, and administrators should be challenged to propose changes in the rubric for parental involvement, if they are not comfortable with it. But those who don’t challenge the validity of the parental involvement rubric should be challenged to strive to address its criteria.
Here is the rubric shared with me by Roberta. This rubric was created for use by a district as part of a hiring guide for the category of Parent/Community Involvement.
“The ratings are (from 1 to 4, 4 being highest):
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THE INSTITUTE for Learning Centered Education NEWSLETTER
TOPIC: AN ALIGNED CURRICULUM
I have yet to locate an aligned curriculum.
I’m sure there must be a few out there, but I have yet to see one. Many districts purport to have aligned curriculums, but these almost always turn out to be “Shelf Art.”
In the past four months I’ve asked teachers, in countless schools, how they determine what they teach. None has said to me that they have an aligned curriculum (K-12), which lets them know what their students must learn to meet required standards. What most people consider to be an “Aligned Curriculum,” is usually a list of topics to be covered, but without sample activities and assessments. Topics, without activities and assessments, do not represent an “Aligned” curriculum anymore than two pieces of bread, with nothing in between, represent a sandwich.
Typically, seven 3rd grade teachers will each have totally different ways of determining what they teach during the course of a year. Some may never address certain topics, readings, and skills required of students on the 4th grade assessments. Even where they all address the same skills, topics, or knowledge, they often have drastically different standards for what constitutes quality work at their grade level.
The reason there are few aligned curriculums is because it takes a long time to do it right. Districts must either spend sufficient funds to have teachers accomplish the task within a relatively short period of time, or they must keep to the task over the prolonged time it can take (years) if it’s done at brief, periodic meetings.
Whether the “Aligned Curriculum” is attempted over a short or long period of time, it usually becomes Shelf Art because it will be missing one of the following three critical ingredients:
Sample Activities Sample Assessments Professional Development to support implementation of the newly aligned curriculum The easy part of aligning a curriculum is listing what must be addressed at every grade level in a particular discipline. What most people shy away from is examples of activities and assessments at each grade level. Yet, without an example of an activity and an assessment, it is impossible to have standards for quality that are consistently maintained by every teacher.
(You can tell me you are teaching the skill of “estimation,” or you can say you are requiring students to know about “the depression,” but unless I see an example of an activity you are using and your assessment, I can totally misunderstand what you are requiring of students.)
The Professional Development aspect is also critical. In the districts that do engage staff to align curriculum, often the staff members who create the alignment learn a great deal about what they need to teach and how they need to teach it. But then we expect the rest of the staff (and new staff, in this age of high turnover) to accept the newly aligned curriculum and use it effectively without any of the time and training that the curriculum writers committed.
Few initiatives would provide as much bang for the buck in terms of advancing students toward higher standards than focusing on legitimate curriculum alignment in every district.
Does anyone have a truly aligned curriculum to send me? One that meets these simple criteria?
Identifies what must be taught in each course or at each grade level, for a particular discipline. Has a sample activity and assessment to see if students can meet the standard for knowledge, understanding, or application that is required in order to pass by the end of the course/or year. Is written in user-friendly language that the average literate parent or teacher could understand.
The author welcome comments, feedback, reactions of any kind to the thoughts expressed (above).
Please feel free to forward this
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THE INSTITUTE for Learning Centered Education NEWSLETTER
TOPIC: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS (PDP'S)
I have had quite a response to my article on Professional Development Plans (PDPs) - .
Before I share the observations of one respected staff developer, I want to emphasize that it is not my intent to be critical of anyone at the state level or anyone who is in any way involved in the education reform movement. I think what the State of New York is trying to accomplish through the standards-based approach to student learning is revolutionary, necessary and wonderful. My suggestions are in the context that bringing about reform is extremely difficult and we must all be in a “continuous improvement” mode in order to make this work.
Here is what one staff developer said in response to newsletter article #15 on Professional Development Plans (PDPs):
“I agree wholeheartedly that accountability for PDPs by SED will very definitely determine how soon goals related to raising student achievement standards will be met. . . . .Should not the State have considered putting out a draft rubric for evaluation of the PDP process (as well as to guide the development of the plan itself), from the ONSET? In this manner, the rubric might have been utilized as an instructional tool for those developing the PDPs, as suggested by Heidi Goodrich Andrade in her excellent article, "Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning", Educational Leadership, February 2000. (Wow, what a CONCEPT!! Tell them what is expected so that they might know what it is they are supposed to learn!!!).”
These blunt observations are from a person who is informed on the goals and strategies for good professional development. I have also received numerous calls from teachers who have been thrown onto committees to design PDPs with little guidance from anyone within their school district.
It is also becoming apparent that the attitude of many beleaguered administrators is “Just write a PDP that will keep us out of trouble with the State and I don’t care what it says.” This is a heck of a way to run a railroad, but there is an “under siege” mentality overtaking professional educators. They are so overwhelmed with CDEPs, PDPs, AISs, and other alphabet plans (most of which they don’t understand) that they are looking for shortcuts that will keep everyone out of their hair regardless of the outcome for student learning.
No one has disputed my call for a rubric to define expectations for districts designing a PDP. But no one has stepped forth to provide that rubric. I guess I will have to begin development of such a rubric. I welcome any thoughts you may have for what should be in a rubric for a Professional Development Plan. Please send ideas. This should be our rubric - not mine.
Please feel free to forward this
message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be
put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.
THE INSTITUTE for Learning Centered Education NEWSLETTER
TOPIC: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS (PDP'S)
Date: April 24 , 2000
Newsletter Edition # 20
I have had quite a response to my article on Professional Development Plans (PDPs) - Newsletter #15..
Before I share the observations of one respected staff developer, I want to emphasize that it is not my intent to be critical of anyone at the state level or anyone who is in any way involved in the education reform movement. I think what the State of New York (along with other states) is trying to accomplish through the standards-based approach to student learning is revolutionary, necessary and wonderful. My suggestions are in the context that bringing about reform is extremely difficult and we must all be in a “continuous improvement” mode in order to make this work.
Here is what one staff developer said in response to newsletter article #15 on Professional Development Plans (PDPs):
“I agree wholeheartedly that accountability for PDPs by SED will very definitely determine how soon goals related to raising student achievement standards will be met. . . . .Should not the State have considered putting out a draft rubric for evaluation of the PDP process (as well as to guide the development of the plan itself), from the ONSET? In this manner, the rubric might have been utilized as an instructional tool for those developing the PDPs, as suggested by Heidi Goodrich Andrade in her excellent article, "Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning", Educational Leadership, February 2000. (Wow, what a CONCEPT!! Tell them what is expected so that they might know what it is they are supposed to learn!!!).”
These blunt observations are from a person who is informed on the goals and strategies for good professional development. I have also received numerous calls from teachers who have been thrown onto committees to design PDPs with little guidance from anyone within their school district.
It is also becoming apparent that the attitude of many beleaguered administrators is “Just write a PDP that will keep us out of trouble with the State and I don’t care what it says.” This is a heck of a way to run a railroad, but there is an “under siege” mentality overtaking professional educators. They are so overwhelmed with CDEPs, PDPs, AISs, and other alphabet plans (most of which they don’t understand) that they are looking for shortcuts that will keep everyone out of their hair regardless of the outcome for student learning.
No one has disputed my call for a rubric to define expectations for districts designing a PDP. But no one has stepped forth to provide that rubric. I guess I will have to begin development of such a rubric. I welcome any thoughts you may have for what should be in a rubric for a Professional Development Plan. Please send ideas. This should be our rubric - not mine.
Please feel free to forward this
message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be
put on the list, please send a
message to Don Mesibov at dmesibov@twcny.rr.com.
____________________________________________________
THE INSTITUTE for Learning Centered Education NEWSLETTER
TOPIC: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Next week I will explore a topic recently brought to my attention by a high school teacher who referred to the "Classroom Rage" of a colleague who teaches kindergarten. Today we will explore Professional Development Plans (PDPs) one more time before moving on to the relationship (next week) between PDPs, CDEPs, AISs and "Classroom Rage." In fact, next week's newsletter might be subtitled:
"Are we ignoring the needs of the classroom teacher and administration in our efforts to create data driven alphabet plans?"
Today's newsletter will address three aspects of professional development planning:
Ideas on how Districts can provide Professional Development
Here is an example of how districts can approach professional development so that they avoid the pitfall of offering traditional opportunities in an effort to obtain non traditional results.
To design effective Professional Development requires a change in mind-set for the average administrator or teacher. (While teachers often grumble about administrative planning for professional development, teachers are often just as guilty of planning "Traditional" Professional Development for their colleagues.) Most administrators approach a staff development day anywhere from two weeks to six months, in advance, and pose the question (to themselves) "What shall we do for professional development on this up and coming superintendent's day?"
I submit, that as soon as you take that approach, you are doomed to provide professional development in the old paradigm. You are thinking of planning a single day of professional development as isolated training.
Here's a simple formula for professional development (a changed mind-set):
Think of professional development as something that should occur over two or more days and should include in-class implementation (for authenticity).
The two days can be (and often should be) weeks, or a month or more, apart. Allow teachers to work on something they will implement in the classroom. Subsequent sessions should allow for structured collegial dialogue on the results of what was implemented in the classroom, should require evidence of student success, and should also include time to plan the next steps for classroom implementation.
In other words, teachers should be working on something "Authentic" when they are engaged in professional development. This is an example of modeling what we want teachers to do with their students. Don't we want to encourage teachers to design "authentic" tasks for their students? If so, we must design "authentic" tasks for (and with) teachers on staff development days.
Here's an additional thought: it's hard for me to conceive of a good Professional Development Plan (PDP) that doesn't result in a long-term PGP (Professional Growth Plan) for every teacher. This PGP should define the teacher's goals and the benchmarks that will indicate success in achieving them. The school's PDP should spell out how individual teacher's Professional Growth Plan will be developed.
Does this sound difficult and untraditional?
Yes, it will be difficult, but it can be done and must be done if we are serious about bringing about change and raising standards.
It's time we stopped trying to achieve dramatic results without being willing to make dramatic adjustments in how we deliver professional development.
Just as a good teacher has a plan for his/her students and monitors progress throughout the year, each teacher must design a plan for his/her own professional growth, with benchmarks to assess progress.
A report on the progress of our efforts to create a rubric for PDPs:
Seven of you responded to my request (last week) for help in designing a rubric for PDPs. I will begin circulating ideas among the eight of us. We will share our results with everyone receiving this newsletter and request input.
Information on a valuable effort by a Statewide committee to provide guidance for the design of Professional Development Plans
In response to my initial newsletter on PDPs, I received an e-mail from Cathy Battaglia who is an appointed member of the NYS Staff Development Leadership Council. Cathy provided encouraging information about the work of the Leadership Council toward design of a rubric for PDPs. Here is additional information forwarded to me by Cathy:
"The New York State Staff Development Leadership Council (SDLC) was formed late in 1998 as an outgrowth of the National Staff Development Council (NSDC).
"As a grassroots, activist organization comprised of professional development practitioners, we are working closely with the New York State Staff Development Council (NYSSDC)., an affiliate Council of NSDC. Individuals from both groups have been represented at a New York State Education Department's advisory and planning meetings since November of 1998 as our Education Department was formulating and finalizing the new regulations on professional development.
"One of the SDLC's major goals was to affect school districts thinking, this year and beyond, as they write their Professional Development Plans and look ahead to affording teachers high quality learning experiences that result in a change in teacher practice and student learning. To this end, we were successful in our request of the New York State Education Department to produce a video to share with districts across the State.
"As a result of their funding and the work of the eleven SDLC members from across this state, a thirty-minute video was mailed to every New York State School Superintendent and each BOCES District Superintendent. The primary use of the video is intended for professional development teams, Boards of Education, and parent/community groups. The NYS SDLC hopes that the video materials will be both helpful and meaningful, and they offer their services to districts who would like assistance and support in helping to develop quality learning for professionals in our schools."
I thank Cathy for her communications and hope we will be kept abreast of the Council's efforts to provide leadership to districts designing their Professional Development Plans.
Please feel free to forward this
message to a friend or colleague. If
you know someone who would like to be
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_____________________________________________________
.
TOPIC: “Classroom Rage,” PDPs, CDEPs, AIS,
Etc.
Edition # 22 May 8,
2000
I start with the premise that each recent state initiative
(PDP, CDEP, AIS, revised regents requirements, higher standards, new
assessments, etc.) is worthwhile and worth pursuing. The concept of using
data as the North Star to guide education reform is valid and
indisputable.
But are we following a good strategic plan for encouraging
districts to implement each of these alphabet plans? Let’s think about the
research which points us toward the importance of building on prior knowledge
(Brooks and Brooks, among others) - the research that asks us to take the
learner (in this case the school district) from where he/she is. A respected
high school teacher recently observed that a colleague, a kindergarten teacher,
was on the verge of “Classroom Rage.” This is where many of our educators
are - on the verge of “Classroom Rage.”
Let’s think about how districts
are responding to PDPs, CDEPs, AISs, and all the data driven strategic planning
they are being asked/required to undertake. This is where “Classroom Rage” comes
in.
I have noticed a drastic change in the educational environment during
the 1990s from anything I experienced between 1960 and 1990. As the severe
recession of the early nineties caused massive layoffs, the people who retained
their jobs were asked to handle a much larger share of the workload. While the
economy has improved in recent years, any reduction in the work overload of the
average teacher, administrator (or anyone else in the field of education) as
more personnel are hired has been mitigated by an increased workload due to all
the changes occurring in the field of education.
Is there anyone
reading this newsletter who doesn’t feel grossly overworked and who isn’t
struggling to keep pace with all that you need (want) to accomplish to achieve
job satisfaction?
Hence, the “Classroom Rage.” We need to recognize that
the average teacher is a good teacher who is working (just as you and I are)
an inordinate amount of hours just struggling to keep pace.
The
average administrator is inundated with mandates, paperwork, harassment from all
sides and, despite a 28 hour a day schedule wants to find time to be an
instructional leader.
CDEPs, PDPs, AISs, Regents requirements, higher
standards, new assessments are all being foisted upon an already overloaded
system.
How long does it take to design a good CDEP? How much skill with
data analysis, strategic planning, and group process is required of individuals
who are to design and implement a good CDEP? The answer, as you know, is that it
requires a great deal of expertise, time, and guidance for a district to address
any of these reform initiatives.
What is my point?
Most teachers,
administrators, parents, and others have not had training in the skills and
knowledge required for any of these state initiatives. We all have full plates
and are being asked to undertake initiatives, each of which would be a handful
for someone with an empty plate.
Does the state have sufficient
staffing to hold districts accountable for quality work on each of these
initiatives by the deadlines which have been set?
What I fear is what I
already see occurring - administrators will be satisfied to submit anything they
feel the State will accept whether the administrators or anyone in the district
understand it, intend to implement it, or see any relevance to the educational
process.
Then when the state is unable to hold districts accountable it
will reinforce the perception that “If I wait long enough (with my eyes and ears
closed) this initiative, too, shall pass.”
I think each of the recent
state initiatives is extremely worthwhile and needs to be pursued. I question
whether the strategic plan being followed by the state will lead to the results
that are desired.
What do I purpose as an alternative?
Here is a
simple 3 step plan:
Postpone all deadlines for one year. Encourage districts to submit plans (PDPs, CDEPs, PDPs, AISs, etc.) by the current deadline, but for feedback purposes only. (By proposing this I am simply suggesting we follow the axiom we all apply with students - don’t set a rule if we aren’t prepared to enforce it.)
Draw on teacher center personnel., BOCES leaders and staff developers to devise a multi year plan for getting every district in compliance with a CDEP, PDP, AIS, etc. Have a rubric, in advance, for every plan required of a district.
Drawing on the talent in our BOCES, teacher centers, NYSUT, and
other staff developers, create a support system that can lead a district
through development of each of these plans, in a logical sequence,
according to a time line that is realistic in consideration of everything that
is happening in most districts and with an awareness of the long
journey it will be for any district to design any one of these plans, much
less all of them.
“Classroom Rage” is a state of mind being
approached by a growing number of caring educators who are struggling to keep
pace with the growing demands on our schools at a time when we are engaged in
the change process and all that this entails. This is where the learner is:
approaching “Classroom Rage”. If we don’t take this into account in our
planning, we will not be successful in moving to the next level.
My
worst fear is that districts will try to comply with requirements for PDPs,
CDEPs, etc. by putting anything on paper they think will be accepted
without changing district practices or meeting the spirit of intent of
each of these plans. These fears were heightened, recently, when I received
the following e-mail from an administrator in a district in another part
of the state:
“Dear Don, I sent your newsletter on PDP's to my
superintendent as you hit the nail on the head .... I'm embarrassed to say
our PDP is useless. It was only designed to meet the state mandate and it
has nothing to do with professional growth. What a wasted opportunity, and
mainly because of the lack of time because of all the other mandates we need
to have in place asap. The result is we do a half __ job (fill in the blank)
on each thing. It’s too bad .”
The person who sent me this note is, in
my opinion, one of the most effective and well respected administrators in the
country.