In 2002 I was asked by our district superintendent to lead the work in secondary school redesign for our district. I was honored to be asked to take advantage of all that I learned as a teacher and administrator and use my experiences to benefit the students and staff in our large district. What I found could influence the thinking of all middle and high school educators.
One of my first actions was to ask our performance and assessment office to help me to research student outcomes of sixth graders in our district in language arts and mathematics. Board members and the superintendent were interested in finding out if we should continue our middle schools as grade 6-8 schools, or should we be moving the sixth graders back to the elementary school. I wanted to do the research because only in sixth grade could we compare practices and outcomes between school levels. Most of our sixth graders were housed in secondary schools, but we had a significant number of sixth grade students attending our elementary schools. I saw this as a possible way to compare the instructional and organizational practices of secondary versus elementary schools and the impact on student achievement.
Our data experts told me that within our district we could compare the two sub groups of sixth graders and there were enough students in both school settings to make the results useful and reliable. This study was done on two separate occasions and the results were remarkably consistent and revealing. These results provide secondary educators with some important information that should be influential in our discussions of secondary school redesign.
Our findings produced the following information:
• Demographic data of both groups showed that the student populations were very similar in both settings.
• Testing data for both groups showed that there was no appreciable difference in student achievement based on the district’s standardized tests for fifth grade.
• Sixth grade students in elementary schools outperformed similar students in the sixth grade middle schools by a significant margin in language arts.
• Sixth grade students in elementary schools outperformed similar students in the sixth grade middle schools by a significant margin in mathematics.
• Seventh grade students who were new to middle school had greater achievement declines than seventh grade students who originally attended sixth grade in a middle school. However, overall their achievement remained higher than the middle school group.
As a result of this data, I wanted to determine the difference in practices within the two school settings that may have resulted in the achievement differences that became apparent. I am a secondary educator and I was not interested in turning our middle schools into elementary schools, but I am interested in improving the secondary schools practices if it will lead to greater student achievement.
By going out and visiting schools, speaking with educators of sixth graders from both elementary and secondary schools, there were some interesting outcomes that I learned and those results have influenced much of what I now believe to be necessary for improving secondary student achievement. My findings are not about sixth grade, but really they are about what all secondary educators could learn from our elementary partners. Many of my own beliefs were reinforced, and new thinking became necessary. The research and data led me to these conclusions:
• Teaching in elementary school is much less bound by time with only one teacher responsible for instruction.
• Teaching in elementary school tends to be more engaging and hands-on instructionally.
• Since there is only one teacher the students become very familiar the strategies and practices that the teacher uses on a regular basis.
• Since students have only one teacher, students know the teacher very well and the teacher knows the students very well.
• Teachers feel a strong sense of ownership for their students’ academic outcomes since they are the primary (and often the only) teacher for their students.
My work on school redesigned has been strongly influenced by this research. It appears to be closely aligned to what educational leaders around the nation believe to be true. I will share what I believe and how it is embedded in all that I write and present in my next blog. I look forward to hearing from you, since I feel strongly that changes in thinking lead to changes in practice, and both occur only through conversations and discussions that continually occur over time.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
VISION IS NOT A FOUR LETTER WORD
I am now working as an educational consultant, a process coach, for several inner city schools. I have spent two weeks visiting these schools in an effort to determine where I can be of the most assistance to small learning community (SLC)stakeholders. I am finding one common misplaced piece in each of the SLCs I have visited, a lack of common vision. By sharing with others what I am learning from this new experience, I hope that we can make a difference in the lives of our students, and in the working conditions for our adults through blog conversations.
My August 24, 2008, blog entitled "Need for Change in Our Schools", I describe a number of areas where change must occur, but none are more important for sustainable change than the development and group acceptance of an SLC vision. I recognize that many, and perhaps most, educators see the vision building process as “fluff” and overly time consuming. I see it in a very different way. It is my strong belief that the vision, when owned and accepted by the entire community, will drive the necessary changes in school practice and student learning that will be required in this century.
Why should vision even be discussed? Mark Twain is frequently quoted as saying, “He never let his schooling interfere with his education.” We are now in a period in the history of this nation that if our educational practices don’t meet the needs of our students as they prepare for a 21st century world, then there will be no need for formally educating our students at all. Our traditional public educational systems are being challenged by politicians, parents/guardians, and even by other educators. We frequently find that school staff members are living with an educational vision that no longer fits the world that we live in or the world that is evolving. Only by creating a current vision, can we hope to change teaching and learning in our schools in order to support our students who will live in a world that we can’t even define yet.
I helped school communities to develop school redesign plans for the last four years of my career. However, I am seeing that these plans that began with the development of a common vision are not changing our high schools from comprehensive to something new. I am seeing that the visions that were presented by SLC teams as the first step in their redesign planning were either not really accepted by the community, or have been forgotten very quickly.
A flexible and living vision that allows for constant change to meet the changing needs of the students in a community will be the driving force for moving our schools from lock step teaching institutions, to educational centers that provide for the differentiated needs of each child. The 21st century requires a new outlook on our work. It certainly requires a new set of goals for our children. We no longer live in an isolated world, and therefore, as a nation we must compete with other nations. This will require a new vision for everyone in all aspects of our nation. Perhaps a new vision has to begin within our schools, since our educational system is meant to prepare kids for the world of their future.
My August 24, 2008, blog entitled "Need for Change in Our Schools", I describe a number of areas where change must occur, but none are more important for sustainable change than the development and group acceptance of an SLC vision. I recognize that many, and perhaps most, educators see the vision building process as “fluff” and overly time consuming. I see it in a very different way. It is my strong belief that the vision, when owned and accepted by the entire community, will drive the necessary changes in school practice and student learning that will be required in this century.
Why should vision even be discussed? Mark Twain is frequently quoted as saying, “He never let his schooling interfere with his education.” We are now in a period in the history of this nation that if our educational practices don’t meet the needs of our students as they prepare for a 21st century world, then there will be no need for formally educating our students at all. Our traditional public educational systems are being challenged by politicians, parents/guardians, and even by other educators. We frequently find that school staff members are living with an educational vision that no longer fits the world that we live in or the world that is evolving. Only by creating a current vision, can we hope to change teaching and learning in our schools in order to support our students who will live in a world that we can’t even define yet.
I helped school communities to develop school redesign plans for the last four years of my career. However, I am seeing that these plans that began with the development of a common vision are not changing our high schools from comprehensive to something new. I am seeing that the visions that were presented by SLC teams as the first step in their redesign planning were either not really accepted by the community, or have been forgotten very quickly.
A flexible and living vision that allows for constant change to meet the changing needs of the students in a community will be the driving force for moving our schools from lock step teaching institutions, to educational centers that provide for the differentiated needs of each child. The 21st century requires a new outlook on our work. It certainly requires a new set of goals for our children. We no longer live in an isolated world, and therefore, as a nation we must compete with other nations. This will require a new vision for everyone in all aspects of our nation. Perhaps a new vision has to begin within our schools, since our educational system is meant to prepare kids for the world of their future.
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