Copy / Paste by Peter Pappas

What Questions Should School Boards Be Asking about 21st Century Learning?

Next week, I'm keynoting at the New Mexico School Board Association's Leader's Retreat. I plan to take a "Socratic approach" and frame my talk around a series of themes and sample questions that I think school boards should be asking in response challenges and opportunities of 21st century learning. 

I wanted to offer readers the chance to offer their suggestions - via this blog's comment or Twitter/edteck.

I plan to address three themes and pose some reflective questions for board members to consider. 

Theme 1. Learning must engage student in rigorous thinking at higher levels of Bloom - analyzing, evaluating and creating. School boards should ask:

• Does our school community recognize the difference between higher and lower order thinking?
• Are students expected to just consume information, or are they asked to create something original that demonstrates their learning?
• Is our district a creative problem-solving organization?
Answers: We cut music and art for remedial math. (Wrong!!!)
We recognize music and art are vehicles to teach math. (That's better!) 

Theme 2. Learning is relevant when the student understands how the information or skill has some application to their life, has an opportunity to figure out their own process rather than just learn “the facts," and is given opportunities to reflect on their work and their progress as learners. School boards should ask ...

• Do our students get high grades for simply memorizing the review sheet for the test?
• Do our students “follow the recipe” or are they increasingly asked to take responsibility for their learning products, process and results?
• Is the audience for student work simply the teacher, or are students asked to share their learning with peers, family, community? 

Theme 3. The digital age has redefined literacy. To paraphrase David Warlick, Literacy now means the ability to: find information, decode it, critically evaluate it, organize it into digital libraries, and be able to share it with others. School boards should ask ...

• If we’re no longer the "information gatekeepers," are we teaching our students to critically evaluate information and use it responsibly?
• Does our technology get used mainly by the educators, or are students regularly employing it to create understanding and share their learning?
• Is our credit system based on seat time or can it be expanded beyond the school walls to any place / time virtual learning?

And finally I will wrap up the talk with an overarching perspective on accountability and assessment. I find it ironic that while schools chase NCLB “proficiency,” life has become an open book test. We need to unleash the power of assessment that targets and inspires. One-shot, high stakes tests are just autopsies. Students need regular check-ups where teachers can gauge student progress and target instruction. Ultimately the program must be designed to foster student self-assessment that gives them responsibility for monitoring their own progress. Students should be supported in on-going sell-reflection that addresses questions such as:

• How can I use this knowledge and these skills to make a difference in my life?
• How am I progressing as a learner?
• How can I communicate what I’m learning with others?
• How can I work with teachers and other students to improve my learning?

Schools will need to become places that create engaging and relevant learning experiences, provoke student reflection, and help students apply the learning to life. Authentic  accountability is reciprocal ...  leadership is responsible to provide resources for success, educators are responsible for results. Simply sorting students along the "bell curve" won't do.

... Please add a comment below or Twitter to let me know if I'm leaving anything out.

Sept 22, 2009 UPDATE: For School Board Leaders' responses to the workshop see: School Board Leaders Reflect on Essential Questions / 21st Century Learning 

What is the Real Value of Educational Technology?

I've come to depend on the folks I follow on Twitter to keep me informed and thinking. One of my favorite contributors is Instructional Technology Coordinator, Ben Grey. This morning I followed his tweet to the post "Why Technology?" he did at the TL Advisor Blog.  Ben raised an important question, 

"Something has been happening lately in education, and the implications are a bit unsettling.  People are beginning to ask a cogent question, but I fear it's being framed for the wrong reason.  I'm hearing more and more important decision makers asking, "Why are we using technology?"

... If tomorrow you had to stand in front of your Board of Education and respond to the question, "why should we continue to use and pursue technology in our district," what would you say?"  more

I invite you to join Ben's conversation. I posted a response to his question at the TL blog. But I want to reprint it here to share with my readers. 

My response:

It's a great question and one that I've had to answer as an assistant superintendent for instruction. Here's a few elements of what I'd say to the school board.

As more information is digitized, we move from a top-down broadcast model of communications to one that fosters creativity and collaboration. The digital age devalues lower-order thinking skills but provides tools that allow us to analyze, evaluate and create. 

New technologies can put our students in charge of the information they access, store, analyze and share.  Many of our students only have access to those tools in our schools. They have the right to participate in the digital age.

Investing in technology should not be a thoughtless response. New technology does not necessarily improve the quality of instruction  (We have all sat through dull PowerPoint presentations that were as "mind-numbing" as an old filmstrip.)

We should continue to look for a ROI on our technology investments, but it may not be tracked in test scores that simply measure lower order recall of information. A better metric would ask if a technology helped us to create learning experiences that provoke student reflection in a new, more engaging and collaborative way. Such as...

• Wordle, a free Web 2.0 offering allows students to visualize and interpret text. 
• Google docs allows students to share their thinking in a way that is difficult to replicate on paper. 
• Web access and social networking allows students to collaborate beyond the confines of the classroom and school day. 

Here's an example of all three put to use in a collaboration by a self-directed international group of teachers (It was mainly coordinated / promoted via Twitter.) "Build Literacy Skills with Wordle"  

Shouldn't our students have access to the technologies that allow them to create, collaborate and share their thinking on subjects that matter to them?

Engaging Teachers in Planning Relevant Staff Development

I recently posted "A Guide to Designing Effective Professional Development: Essential Questions for the Successful Staff Developer." I thought I'd follow up with an example of how those recommendations were followed in a recent professional development project.

This example comes from my recent work with the Edison School of Engineering & Manufacturing, a Rochester (NY)  City School District high school. We began the project by using one of the weekly early releases to do some agenda setting. I was introduced to the faculty and I spent about 40 minutes giving an outline of the types of PD subjects I could offer. I use a TurningPoint audience response system that gathered data to help us target our future PD.

We then utilized two more early release sessions to provide the requested training. I think it is critical to model the learning strategies in the session. That's especially true with PD is offered at the end of the school day. Feedback from teachers noted that they felt as if they were part of a learning environment that gave them a feeling for how the strategies would be perceived by the students.

Professional development need to move from the abstract setting of a training session into a real world classroom. So we next turned to Focus Classroom Walk-Throughs to develop a shared understanding of what the strategies look like when you are working with your students. I came back to the school on three additional days to conduct the walkthroughs.

Teachers were divided into teams of about six teachers and each team was led on a half-day walkthrough experience. Each session began with an orientation regarding goals and protocols. Our group of six was split into two smaller groups and visited classroom in teams of 2-3. We spent about 20 minutes per visit and regrouped all six teachers after visiting a few classes. 

All school faculty were aware of our walks and could elect to host a visit or opt out. We were not evaluating, nor passing judgement. Our goal was to hone our skills at identifying what we saw in the classroom. For example, could we look at classroom activity and agree on what level of Bloom we would assign to it?

After the classroom visits, I led each group in a debriefing with a focus on developing a shared understanding of what the strategies look like in the classroom. A “March Madness” analogy would be a group of observers discussing the defensive strategies they see being used in a basketball game. They share a common vocabulary and they are in full agreement about how to label what they observe.

Armed with a shared understanding of what how we would define our instructional strategies, we then turned to agenda setting for future PD. I led each walkthrough group in brainstorming session on how they would recommend we focus their future PD. I compiled input from all six brainstorming session into a report to the school based planning team. They then met to design their  09-10 professional development program.

Here's a Wordle of the top 50 comments from our brainstorm sessions.

A Guide to Designing Effective Professional Development: Essential Questions for the Successful Staff Developer

All considerations for professional development (PD) should flow from the premise that staff development should model what you want to see in the classroom. We strive to offer our students engaging, relevant, and rigorous instruction that supports students who will, over time, take responsibility for their learning. PD should apply those same goals to training teachers, staff and administration.

I've seen PD from a variety of perspectives - as a 25-year teacher receiving staff development, as a teacher offering PD courses at our district teacher center, as a K-12 director and Assistant Superintendent planning PD, and as outside consultant / trainer. Viewed through those lenses, I've developed few questions for consideration by professional development planners.

Design and planning:

1. Did your teachers have a meaningful role in deciding what PD is being offered? (You're in trouble if the training is merely based on a tip from someone who saw "this really cool presentation.")

2. If it's a school-wide inservice day, have you provided appropriate training for all faculty and staff? ("OMG! We forgot about the librarians! Do you think we can get away with putting them in with PE?)

3. Is there a clear alignment between how the session is promoted to teachers and what the trainer is prepared to deliver? (Before my session begins, I usually ask a few attendees what they expect. When no one has a clue, I've got work to do.) 

4. Have you prioritized your PD objectives to bring focus to your initiatives? (It's easy to turn people off with the perception of "just another reform du jour.")

5. If you are implementing PLC's or action teams, do the participants see their value? (Or do you have groups of "PD prisoners" who only see it as busy work?)

6. Do you offer appropriate training for all staff? (Don't forget, the entire organization can support instruction.) 

Delivery

7. Have you considered internal expertise, before turning to outside trainers? (PD is about building capacity.)

8. Will the trainer be utilizing the strategies being advocated? (If not, at least modeling them.)

9. Do you differentiate PD by instructional method? (Or is that something you only expect teachers to do with their students?)

10. Will teachers leave with ideas they can immediately put to use? (Not everyone is fascinated by the implications of new brain research on student achievement.) 

11. Will appropriate administrators be in attendance? (It sends a powerful message when they are.)

Follow up

12. What is your plan for follow up to the training? (No drive-bys allowed!)

13. If you are offering technology training, will teachers have immediate access to the necessary equipment? (Use it, or lose it!)

14. Do you have a mechanism to gather and act on participant feedback (Learning is about experience and reflection.)

15. Have you clearly identified an instructional outcome you hope to see as a result of the training? (Or are you doing it, just because it's in fashion?)

A high-functioning professional development program considers these questions and many more. The best programs are guided by a tacit "reciprocal accountability." If administration is holding teachers accountable for student performance, then administration is accountable to engage teachers in the design and implementation of meaningful PD. Likewise, if teachers have an active role in shaping their professional learning environment, then administrators should expect to see the strategies utilized in the classroom, followed by an honest appraisal of what's working.

I disagree with the notion that teaching is kind of innate "gift" that only some are born with. Teachers are nurtured with experience, training, and reflection.

If you've read this far,  you might also like a few other posts:

Teacher-Led Professional Development: Eleven Reasons Why You Should be Using Classroom Walk Throughs

Lesson Study: Teacher-Led PD That Works  

The Reflective Teacher: The Taxonomy of Reflection 

President Obama's Education Policy Speech March 9, 2009

President Obama used a talk to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as a forum for a major address on administration education policy. Among his "four pillars of reform," he called for an expansion of charter school as "laboratories of innovation." For text transcript of Obama's speech click here. 

I decided to use Many Eyes to do a textual analysis of these two key words from his talk - "charter" and "innovation." I used the word tree visualization. 

Obama's use of the word "Charter"

Obama's use of the word "Innovation"

Many Eyes in the classroom

Many Eyes is a great new website that gives teachers and students a chance to easily use sophisticated graphic tools to analyze data and create interactive displays. Those who register at the site can use 16 visualization types to present data. Why not have your students use Many Eyes to analyze a selection of non-fiction text to uncover the main ideas and key vocabulary of the piece? Or they could compare text from different sources. Want your students to more fully understand your course content? Let them use Many Eyes to visualize and discover patterns as a catalyst for discussion and collective insights about information, text, and data. As they say at Many Eyes, "Finding the right way view your data is as much an art as a science. The visualizations provided on Many Eyes range from the ordinary to the experimental."

When to use a Word Tree

A word tree is a visual search tool for unstructured text, such as a book, article, speech or poem. It lets you pick a word or phrase and shows you all the different contexts in which it appears. The contexts are arranged in a tree-like branching structure to reveal recurrent themes and phrases.

Keeping Track of Administrator Walkthroughs?

I've been conducting walk-through training for principals and teachers. It's a great way to help a school forge a shared vision for teaching and learning. The walk throughs foster a great dialogue about instruction - what kinds of thinking are students being asked to do? How does information move around the classroom? For more on one of my walk-through workshops click here. 

But I have to share this great ad made by Nextel to promote their phones. Technology at work!

Teach Innovation, Not Test Prep

Tom Friedman writes it's "Time to Reboot America" NY Times 12/24/08.

We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which we’re borrowing from our kids’ future, is spent wisely.

... It has to go into training teachers, educating scientists and engineers, paying for research and building the most productivity-enhancing infrastructure — without building white elephants...

Maybe we can get back to teaching innovation instead of being trapped in test prep!

Transforming Information Flow in School Libraries

Schools have long functioned as information gatekeepers. The flow of information in most classrooms is simply teacher > student > teacher. Many whole group "discussions" are dominated by teachers playing "guess what I'm thinking" and feeling the need to validate every student response. Picture the economics teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off . "Anyone.. Anyone..?" Much of the rest of schools - textbooks, libraries, labs - support the idea that the adults have the information and will ration it out to students in a measured flow. 

We lament that many students aren't motivated in class. I suspect that's because our students are becoming accustomed to a more horizontal and open information flow. They have an ever growing expectation for more control and functionality over the information they access, save, repurpose and share.

How long do we think public schools will be able to monopolize the flow of academic information? Look around us and see that the traditional information gatekeeper  model is failing. Chicago Tribune? Layoffs at NPR? Christian Science Monitor going to web only? Shouldn't we be rethinking the information architecture in our schools?

In his recent article, "Flip This Library: School Libraries Need a Revolution" School Library Journal (11/1/2008),  David Loertscher,  calls for a  a revolution in thinking about the form and function of information in the school library. He envisions a 

"learning commons - both a physical and a virtual space that’s staffed not just by teacher-librarians but also by other school specialists ... such as literacy coaches, teacher technologists, teacher-librarians, art teachers, music teachers, and P.E. teachers..."

The main objective of the open commons is to showcase the school’s best teaching and learning practices... a typical classroom assignment and library Web site are examples of one-way communication. Adults tell learners what to do, how to do it, and where to find information. But in the new learning commons, homework assignments and library Web sites offer two-way communication.  

... Having done that, note that you have created a revolution in thinking. Directive adults have been transformed into coaches; direct teaching has been transformed into collaborative inquiry. 

Sidebar from the article below. 

Teacher Workshop Evaluation of the Year

As my presentation year draws to close I have to look back on one teacher's evaluation of my workshop that beats them all. The teacher wrote: 

I think the most valuable thing I got out of this was to change the perception of my job from "information dispenser to "designer of learning environments." I really enjoyed it. I usually get  online to look for jobs in other fields during inservice, but I didn't do that once during your workshop. I am actually exited about using this information.

As a 25+ year teacher who sat through many dull inservice workshops, I know what it's like to feel that PD is a waste of time (I usually brought papers to grade.) My nonnegotiable rule is that quality staff development should model what you expect to see in the classroom. "Sit and get PD" emulates what you don't want to see in the classroom. It is essential that the presenter models the instructional technique they are advocating, thus giving the teacher attendees the chance to both experience the technique (as student) and reflect on its use (as educator).

BTW - Here's the basic form I use for workshop evaluations. Pappas-evaluation (68 KB pdf) It usually provide very useful feedback. I might add,  it's been developed over the years with input from teachers who were invited to not only evaluate the workshop, but the feedback form. (Special thanks to Stephanie Malin, Beaverton OR, Literacy Coach for her valuable input on the evaluation prompts.)

Principal Academy - Rigor and Relevance Walk-Through Training

This past week I conducted a series of walk-through training sessions for principals. Our workshops were hosted by North West Regional ESD and they took us through NWRESD's four-county service area in the northwest corner of Oregon - Washington, Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook.

Each day opened with a discussion of rigor and relevance "look-for's." I used videos of classrooms that allowed the local principals to generate observations with "virtual walk-throughs." Then we traveled to a local school where we could work in small teams to hone our observations skills using this basic guide. (16 kb pdf.) The day closed with a full-group session where we processed our reflections. Our goal was to assist principals in fostering dialog with teachers about a more shared vision of teaching and learning.

Evaluations from the principals were positive  - they wrote:

The real walkthroughs were beneficial because I was practicing what we discussed in the morning.

This will push me to look for a deeper level of instruction from staff - a deeper level of learning in students.

Just the nudge I needed to "refocus" my professional conversations. I'll be looking at classrooms with a more focused lens.

It makes me want to go back to teaching students - I would be a much better teacher.

21st Century Skills or Adequate Yearly Progress?

The Boston Globe (October 30, 2008) recently reported on efforts to redirect district curriculum to "skills the district has deemed necessary for survival in the 21st century, including critical thinking, invention, problem-solving, and multicultural collaboration."

In a town known for top-notch schools, a Sharon School Committee member has launched a grassroots movement that she and other officials hope could lead to less emphasis on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System statewide.
"Accountability is a good thing. Learning standards are a good thing. But is focusing on one test a fair measure of student success? I think that answer is, 'No,' " said Laura Salomons, a School Committee member since May and a mother of four.
Salomons has submitted a proposal that seeks community support for allowing teachers to avoid tailoring their lessons to the MCAS. Instead, she would like to see teachers directed to instruct students on skills the district has deemed necessary for survival in the 21st century, including critical thinking, invention, problem-solving, and multicultural collaboration.
"I have come to the conclusion that we, as a school district, may be overly consumed with doing well on MCAS," Salomons began in her eight-page proposal. "The focus is a detriment to reaching the school committee and superintendent's goal of 'providing students with . . . learning opportunities that encourage lifelong learning skills and that support a student's artistic, social, emotional and physical development.' "  More

I find that I rarely get asked to do staff development to "bring the scores up." Increasingly I'm asked to help teachers create more engaging learning environments for students.

While NCLB began with the admirable goal of narrowing demographic performance gaps and putting an end to sorting kids on the “bell curve,”  it may be doing just the opposite. Many of our schools are now compelled to force feed the content required for “adequate progress” as measured by standardized state tests. Does test prep = academic "feed-lot?"

Too little time is left for student-centered, project-based learning that allows students to work at the upper level of Bloom. Innovation requires much trial and error (Bloom’s evaluation). Learning to self-assess your problem solving approach is not a skill fostered in multiple-choice test-prep environment.

NCLB correctly put the focus on student achievement. Our students will need a strong foundation in core concepts. But schools can’t be filled with routine tasks. They need to be fluid environments focused on helping students take responsibility for thinking and problem solving where there sometimes isn’t a right answer.

K-12 Walk Throughs Foster Teacher Reflection

I recently conducted walk through training (WT) at Hood River County School District in Oregon. I thought the model we used was very effective at engaging teachers and administrators in reflective discussion on instructional practice.

In February, I did half-day presentations on Rigor, Relevance and Literacy to Hood River's K-5 and 6-12 faculties. In April, I led teams on WTs to give them on opportunity to hone their observational skills. It's one thing to talk about rigor and relevance in a workshop. It's another to go into a classroom and try to decide the level of Bloom's taxonomy being used by the students.

Observers were not in classrooms to evaluate teachers or instructional strategies, but to test their observational skills and have an opportunity to dialogue about their conclusions. We used this simple form to guide our efforts and keep our focus on observation, reflection and discussion. R-R-guide2.pdf  16kb pdf

One day was devoted to K-12 administrative and TOSAs. The next two days were spent with K-12 teacher teams. Each day we began with an orientation session. The team started doing WT's at an elementary building, then moved to middle and finally, high school. We only visited teachers who had volunteered to host our team. At each building we met periodically to process what we had seen.

The most powerful element of the day, was the K-12 settings of the WTs and the use of K-12 teacher teams. Teachers seldom see other classes in action and it rare that a high school teacher would be given a chance to observe an elementary class or vice versa.  All the participants agreed it was a very valuable experience and they came away with greater respect for the contributions being made all each levels of the program. Most importantly, they became more skillful at assessing the rigor and relevance of a variety of instructional strategies. They were then able to apply those perspectives to their own instructional practice.  The district intends to support teachers in collegial observation and peer reflection.

Rigor and Relevance Walk–Through Training for Principals

I’ve been working with Elizabeth Forward School District in Elizabeth PA to enhance the rigor and relevance of their instructional program. I’ve been impressed with the high level of involvement by the full administrative team. We started with half-day workshops for their K-5 and secondary teachers on classroom strategies. I used my TurningPoint audience response system to gather feedback from both audiences. The following day, the administrative team met to analyze the data and develop an action plan.

Soon I will return and we’ll conduct walk-though training for the administrative team. We’ll spend a day working in small teams to observe classrooms in action and alternately meet as a full team to process our observations. By the end of the day we should have a model for conducting walk-throughs that will help principals and teachers to collaborate in a way that is rigorous and relevant to them. Our goal is quick 5-minute walk-throughs that help principals manage the demands of instructional leadership and provide feedback that will enable teachers to reflect on their craft.

I value results over process so I’ve developed a walk-through observation form RR-guide that targets the essentials without becoming a burden to the principal. It designed to serve as the catalyst for a positive principal-teacher discussion. Hopefully that conversation can model the “student-centered” reflection we want to foster in the classroom.

For more on walk-throughs see: Leadership By Walking Around and Walk-Throughs are on the Move!

Leadership for Literacy and Learning

Next week (August 6-8), I will present at the Oregon Department of Education’s 2007 Summer Institute: “Strategies for Student Success” at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. More

I’ll be bringing my TurningPoint audience response system and we will model student engagement strategies with the audience. The last time I was in Oregon, I ran a full day session for over 350 teachers and administrators with a response system and live blog. It includes some great posts by teachers on rigor and relevance in their classrooms. More

Download revised presentation material for each a session below - includes audience response data.

“Rigor, Relevance and Literacy for Middle School Teachers”

Boost student achievement with rigor, relevance and literacy. This session is designed for intermediate and middle school teachers of all disciplines. It will demonstrate that teachers don't have to sacrifice content to help their students achieve academic success. You’ll experience practical examples of how teachers support standards-based instruction in their subject area while improving student skills in vocabulary, comprehension and analysis. This engaging workshop guarantees to be rigorous and relevant to teachers—we’ll actually use the strategies being promoted, not just talk about them! It will feature an audience response system that helps us model a student-centered approach to learning. Teachers prefer workshops that share practical instructional ideas—and you will leave with many strategies ready for use in your classroom.  MS-presentation.pdf (2 MB)

“Rigor, Relevance and Literacy for High School Teachers”

Same themes as the middle school  presentatation with some different examples. HS-presentation.pdf

“Leading for Rigor, Relevance and Literacy”

See what happens when schools share a vision of quality instruction based on Rigor, Relevance and Literacy. The session demonstrates how educators can boost achievement with a consistent focus on common standards-based instructional strategies in a student centered classroom. It is designed for district and building administrators of all levels. The session will demonstrate that teachers don't have to sacrifice content to help their students achieve academic success. This engaging workshop guarantees to be rigorous and relevant to instructional leaders. You'll leave with many new ideas and loads of strategies ready for use with your teachers. We’ll use an audience response system to effectively model a student-centered approach to learning. You’ll experience practical examples of how school leaders can support their teachers while they build student skills in vocabulary, comprehension and analysis. Admin-presentation.pdf  (1 MB)

It's about Rigor, Relevance AND Relationships

In May of this year I ran a two-day workshop for the social studies department at New York City’s High School for International Business and Finance. We focused on rigor and relevance and explored a variety of strategies that enable the student to “do the work of the historian.” More

I was pleased to see the school profiled on the front page of today’s New York Times “The High School Kinship of Cristal and Queen.” PDF version: Download Cristal-Queen.pdf

The feature dealt with the struggles and accomplishments of two recent graduates.

"By the time Cristal and Queen were freshmen, their math and reading skills were well below grade level, and school administrators considered them 'at risk': at risk of failing and dropping out. The high school, with graduation rates higher than the citywide average, turned out to be a place where they discovered talents and aspirations they never knew they had. 'They turned on the switch,' Cristal said. 'It’s like my brain opened up.' ”

Cristal reminds us of the importance of the “three R’s” - rigor, relevance and relationships. Students need a rigorous program with challenging goals and effective feedback. A focus on relevance helps students to better understand themselves as learners and measure progress towards their goals. But most critical, are supportive relationships with educators who can provide the scaffolding that students need to take responsibility for their learning.

I’m grateful to have had the chance to meet the teachers, administrators and support staff that make the New York City’s High School for International Business and Finance an effective small learning community. Read the NY Times article and view the audio slide show “The Kinship of Cristal and Queen.”. ... See for yourself.