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40 Triggering reform at public schools
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JOAN RICHARDSON
Editor-in-chief
GREGORY A. PATTERSON
Managing editor, content
CAROL BUCHERI
Drip, drip, drip
Psst, the Republicans are the folks who once opposed school? Those early charter
Managing editor, design and production
winning the education debate. outcomes-based education schools were a bit on the
TERRI LAWSON
Permissions Thats my take-away from tend to support standards, sketchy side. I visited charter
EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS
this years PDK/Gallup poll re- testing, and results. And schools in converted garages
LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND
sults. When I look at the num- many, many Democrats have and strip shopping centers. I
Charles E. Ducommun Prof. of bers, I see an American public become not only charter would never have sent one of
Teaching and Teacher Education
Stanford University
that largely has been won over advocates but developers of my own children to schools
JOYCE L. EPSTEIN
by reform ideas first generated charter schools. Democrats with such obviously poor fa-
Director, Center on School, Family, and by Republicans a few decades who once marched to the cilities and less-than-stellar
Community Partnerships
Johns Hopkins University ago ideas they have steadily tune of the unions, now of- staff. But time passed and the
JESUS GARCIA nurtured ever since. ten are at odds with them idea became more acceptable,
Prof., Social Studies Education This year, we learned that because of union resistance credible, and well-funded.
University of Nevada
Americans favor charter to reforms. Even merit pay, Now, I visit charter schools
GILBERT T. SEWALL
President schools (70%), favor allow- once a Republican-only idea, that wow me with their fa-
Center for Education Studies ing parents to choose a childs now garners wide support. cilities, their staffs, and
MICHAEL D. USDAN
Senior Fellow
school (74%), and believe Consider the evolution of their very clear vision about
Institute for Educational Leadership that natural talent is more charter schools. Al Shanker the work they do. Charter
ELLIOT WASHOR important than college train- may have introduced charters schools have moved into the
Co-founder/co-director
Big Picture Learning
ing (70%). (And nearly half to policy discussions in the mainstream.
SUZANNE M. WILSON
47% believe unioniza- late 1980s, but Republicans In this cozy atmosphere,
Chair, Dept. of Teacher Education tion is bad for public school picked up the choice torch overlooking the philosophy
Michigan State University
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SANDEE CROWTHER
Past President, PDK International it, those ideas have been part of moted the triple-threat pack- is easy. But we ignore that at
the Republican reform agenda. age of charters, choice, and our peril. I believe the Ameri-
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Summer Issue #1 What started in the 1990s system! continue to decline, which
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P
ractitioners, researchers, and policy makers agree that most current teacher evaluation sys-
tems do little to help teachers improve or to support personnel decision making. Theres also
a growing consensus that evidence of teacher contributions to student learning should be
part of teacher evaluation systems, along with evidence about the quality of teacher practices.
Value-added models (VAMs), designed to evaluate student test score gains from one year to
the next, are often promoted as tools to accomplish this goal.
Value-added models enable researchers to use statistical methods to measure changes in student scores
over time while considering student characteristics and other factors often found to influence achievement.
In large-scale studies, these methods have proved valuable for looking at factors affecting achievement and
measuring the effects of programs or interventions.
Using VAMs for individual teacher evaluation is based on the belief that measured achievement
gains for a specific teachers students reflect that teachers effectiveness. This attribution, however,
assumes that student learning is measured well by a given test, is influenced by the teacher alone, and is
independent from the growth of classmates and other aspects of the classroom context. None of these
assumptions is well supported by current evidence.
Most importantly, research reveals that gains in student achievement are influenced by much more than
any individual teacher. Others factors include:
School factors such as class sizes, curriculum materials, instructional time, availability of specialists and
tutors, and resources for learning (books, computers, science labs, and more);
Home and community supports or challenges;
Individual student needs and abilities, health, and attendance;
Peer culture and achievement;
Prior teachers and schooling, as well as other current teachers;
Differential summer learning loss, which especially affects low-income children; and
The specific tests used, which emphasize some kinds of learning and not others and which rarely
measure achievement that is well above or below grade level.
However, value-added models dont actually measure most of these factors. VAMs rely on statistical
controls for past achievement to parse out the small portion of student gains that is due to other factors,
This article
was originally LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND (ldh@stanford.edu) is the Charles Ducommun professor of teaching and teacher education, Stan-
published in Phi ford University, Stanford, Calif. AUDREY AMREIN-BEARDSLEY is an associate professor of education, Arizona State University,
Delta Kappan, 93 Phoenix, Ariz. EDWARD HAERTEL is the Jacks Family professor of education, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. JESSE ROTH-
(6), 8-15. STEIN is an associate professor of economics and public policy, University of California, Berkeley.
of which the teacher is only one. As a consequence, ror and, when teacher evaluation results are tied
researchers have documented a number of problems to student test scores, the effects of emphasiz-
with VAM models as accurate measures of teachers ing teaching to the test at the expense of other
effectiveness. kinds of learning, especially given the narrowness
of most tests in the United States.
1. Value-added models of teacher effectiveness are
inconsistent. 2. Teachers value-added performance is affected
Researchers have found that teacher effectiveness by the students assigned to them.
ratings differ substantially from class to class and VAMs are designed to identify teachers effects
from year to year, as well as from one statistical model
to the next, as Table 1 shows.
A study examining data from five school districts
found, for example, that of teachers who scored in
the bottom 20% of rankings in one year, only 20%
to 30% had similar ratings the next year, while 25%
to 45% of these teachers moved to the top part of
the distribution, scoring well above average. (See
Figure 1.) The same was true for those who scored
at the top of the distribution in one year: A small
minority stayed in the same rating band the follow-
ing year, while most scores moved to other parts of
the distribution.
TABLE 1.
Percent of teachers whose effectiveness rankings change
BY 1 OR MORE DECILES BY 2 OR MORE DECILES BY 3 OR MORE DECILES
Across models a
56-80% 12-33% 0-14%
Across courses b
85-100% 54-92% 39-54%
Across years b
74-93% 45-63% 19-41%
FIG. 1.
Changes in VA scores from 2001 to 2002 for low-ranking teachers
100-
70-
Move up in
60- rankings
50-
Stay in bottom
40-
20%
30-
20-
10-
0-
San Diego Duval Co., Hillsborough Co., Orange Co., Palm Beach Co.,
Calif. Fla. Fla. Fla. Fla.
School districts
Source: Sass, T. (2008).
80 -
75
70- Year 1
60- 58
Year 2
Percentage/years
50-
42
40-
36
31.6
30-
26
20.4
20-
10-
4
0-
% % % Parent
ELL Low-income Hispanic education
(in years)
Student characteristics
that teacher effectiveness is not a stable enough Houston as a result of its Education Value-Added
construct to be uniquely identified even under ideal Assessment System (EVAAS) scores was a 10-year
conditions (for example, with random assignment veteran who had been voted Teacher of the Month
of teachers to schools and students to teachers, and and Teacher of the Year and was rated each year as
with some means of controlling differences in out- exceeding expectations by her supervisor (Amrein-
of-school effects). Furthermore, some teachers may Beardsley & Collins, in press). She showed positive
be effective at some forms of instruction or in some VA scores on 8 of 16 tests over four years (50% of
portions of the curriculum and less effective in oth- the total observations), with wide fluctuations from
ers. If so, their rated effectiveness would depend on year to year, both across and within subjects. (See
whether the student tests used for the VAM empha- Table 2.) It is worth noting that this teachers lower
size skills and topics for which the teacher is relatively value-added in 4th grade, when English learners
more or relatively less effective. are mainstreamed in Houston, was also a pattern
Other research indicates that teachers whose for many other teachers.
students do best on end-of-year tests arent always The wide variability shown in this teachers rat-
effective at promoting longer-run achievement for ings from year to year, like that documented in many
their students. Thus, VAM-style measures may be other studies, wasnt unusual for Houston teachers
influenced by how much the teacher emphasizes in this analysis, regardless of whether the teacher
short-run test preparation. One study even found was terminated. Teachers said they couldnt identify
that teachers who raised end-of-course grades most a relationship between their instructional practices
were, on average, less effective than others at prepar- and their value-added ratings, which appear unpre-
ing students for next years course (Carrell & West, dictable. As one teacher noted:
2010).
Initial research on using value-added methods to I do what I do every year. I teach the way I teach
dismiss some teachers and award bonuses to oth- every year. [My] first year got me pats on the back;
[my] second year got me kicked in the backside. And
ers shows that value-added ratings often dont agree for year three, my scores were off the charts. I got a
with ratings from skilled observers and are influ- huge bonus, and now I am in the top quartile of all
enced by all of the factors described above. the English teachers. What did I do differently? I
For example, one of the teachers dismissed in have no clue (Amrein-Beardsley & Collins, in press).
TABLE 2.
2006-2010 EVAAS scores of a teacher dismissed as a result of these scores
EVAAS scores 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010
(Teacher A) GRADE 5 GRADE 4 GRADE 3 GRADE 3
Math -2.03 +0.68* +0.16* +03.26
Reading -1.15 -0.96* +2.03 +1.81
Language arts +1.12 -0.49* -1.77 -0.20*
Science +2.37 -3.45 n/a n/a
Social studies +0.91* -2.39 n/a n/a
ASPIRE bonus $3,400 $700 $3,700 $0
Notes: The scores with asterisks (*) signify that the scores are not detectably different from the reference gain scores of other
*
teachers across Houston Independent School District within one standard error; however, the scores are still reported to both
the teachers and their supervisors as they are here.
Amrein-Beardsley, A. & Collins, C. (In press). The SAS Newton, X., Darling-Hammond, L., Haertel, E., & Thomas,
education value-added assessment system (EVAAS): Its E. (2010). Value-added modeling of teacher effectiveness:
intended and unintended effects in a major urban school An exploration of stability across models and contexts.
system. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 18 (23).
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2010). Learning about Packard, R. & Dereshiwsky, M. (1991). Final quantitative
teaching: Initial findings from the Measures of Effective assessment of the Arizona career ladder pilot-test project.
Teaching Project. Seattle, WA: Author. Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University.
Braun, H. (2005). Using student progress to evaluate teachers: Rockoff, J. & Speroni, C. (2010). Subjective and objective
A primer on value-added models. Princeton, NJ: Educational evaluations of teacher effectiveness. New York, NY: Columbia
Testing Service. University.
Briggs, D. & Domingue, B. (2011). Due diligence and the Rothstein, J. (2007). Do value-added models add value?
evaluation of teachers: A review of the value-added analysis Tracking, fixed effects, and causal inference. CEPS Working
underlying the effectiveness rankings of Los Angeles Unified Paper No. 159. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic
School District teachers by the Los Angeles Times. Boulder, Research.
CO: National Education Policy Center.
Rothstein, J. (2010). Teacher quality in educational production:
Carrell, S. & West, J. (2010). Does professor quality tracking, decay, and student achievement. Quarterly Journal of
matter? Evidence from random assignment of students to Economics, 125 (1), 175-214.
professors.Journal of Political Economy, 118 (3).
Rothstein, J. (2011). Review of Learning about teaching: Initial
Darling-Hammond, L. & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing
findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching Project.
teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and
Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center.
be able to do. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Sass, T. (2008). The stability of value-added measures of
Goddard, Y. & Goddard, R.D. (2007). A theoretical and
teacher quality and implications for teacher compensation
empirical investigation of teacher collaboration for school
policy. Washington, DC: CALDER.
improvement and student achievement in public elementary
schools. Teachers College Record, 109 (4), 877-896. Solmon, L., White, J.T., Cohen, D., & Woo, D. (2007).
The effectiveness of the Teacher Advancement Program.
Jackson, C.K. & Bruegmann, E. (2009). Teaching students
Washington, DC: National Institute for Excellence in Teaching.
and teaching each other: The importance of peer learning
for teachers. Washington, DC: National Bureau of Economic Springer, M., Ballou, D., Hamilton, L., Le, V., Lockwood, V.,
Research. McCaffrey, D., Pepper, M., & Stecher, B. (2010). Teacher pay
Lockwood, J., McCaffrey, D., Hamilton, L., Stetcher, B., Le, for performance: Experimental evidence from the Project
V.N., & Martinez, J. (2007). The sensitivity of value-added on Incentives in Teaching. Nashville, TN: National Center on
teacher effect estimates to different mathematics achievement Performance Incentives.
measures. Journal of Educational Measurement, 44 (1), 47-67. Taylor, E. & Tyler, J. (2011, March). The effect of evaluation on
Milanowski, A. (2004). The relationship between teacher performance: Evidence of longitudinal student achievement
performance evaluation scores and student achievement: data of mid-career teachers. Working Paper No. 16877.
Evidence from Cincinnati. Peabody Journal of Education, 79 Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
(4), 33-53. Van Lier, P. (2008). Learning from Ohios best teachers: A
Milanowski, A., Kimball, S.M., & White, B. (2004). The homegrown model to improve our schools. Policy Matters
relationship between standards-based teacher evaluation Ohio. www.policymattersohio.org/learning-from-ohios-best-
scores and student achievement. Madison, WI: University teachers-a-homegrown-model-to-improve-our-schools
of Wisconsin-Madison, Consortium for Policy Research in Wilson, M, Hallam, P., Pecheone, R., & Moss, P. (2011).
Education. Investigating the validity of portfolio assessments of beginning
National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future. teachers: Relationships with student achievement and tests
(1996). What matters most: Teaching for Americas future. of teacher knowledge. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Evaluation,
New York, NY: Author. Assessment, and Research Center.
Evaluating teacher
evaluation
By Linda Darling-Hammond, Audrey Amrein-
Beardsley, Edward Haertel, and Jesse Rothstein
Phi Delta Kappan, 93 (6), 8-15
KEY POINTS
Value-added models (VAMs) use statistical methods to try to isolate teacher performance from student
characteristics and other factors.
VAMs dont work because they cant control or disentangle infl uences on student progress; they inconsistently
rate teachers, and they dont account for students assigned to teachers in a particular year.
VAMs are useful to researchers who want to identify the effect of a teaching practice on large groups of
students, but the model should not be used for high-stakes, individual-level decisions, or comparisons across
highly dissimilar schools or student populations.
Alternative approaches include using professional standards, such as those developed by the Interstate New
Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and incorporating observations/videotapes and
artifacts of practice developed by the Measures of Effective Teaching Project (MET).
Alternatives are best when developed as part of a system that includes the following: multiple classroom
observations and data sources, expert evaluators, rubrics, mentors, collaboration with other teachers, and
professional development.
FULL VALUE
The name most closely associated with VAMs is William Sanders, currently senior research fellow with the University
of North Carolina. A statistician, Sanders focused on how a teacher or school could be evaluated by comparing
students current test scores to their previous test scores and forecasting future scores accordingly. The Tennessee
State Board of Education adopted the Sanders model, also known as a growth-based model, in 2000 as the
Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). The U.S. Department of Education approved Sanders
growth model as a means of determining whether schools were making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the
No Child Left Behind Act.
The late Gerald Bracey, a columnist for Phi Delta Kappan and a fellow at the Education Policy Studies Laboratory
at Arizona State University, acknowledged that the VAM makes more sense than the current successive-cohorts
system for determining AYP. It makes more sense to follow kids over time, although if the goal remains 100%
proficiency, the whole operation remains nuts. Among his criticisms, however, was that a VAM is circular: It
defines effective teachers as those who raise test scores, then uses test score gains to determine whos an effective
teacher.
1. How are teachers evaluated in your district (or a district you know well)? To what extent does the evaluation system in this
district seem effective to you?
2. What are the best indicators of teacher effectiveness in your experience? How can these indicators be measured?
3. Other than teacher effectiveness, what influences student achievement? To what extent can these influences be accounted for
so that teacher effectiveness is measurable?
4. Why might teacher effectiveness differ from class to class as well as from year to year or from test to test?
5. What kind of performance assessments could teachers use to document their effectiveness? How would these be scored?
6. What might be the role of a coach or mentor in terms of a teacher evaluation system? What might be the role of professional
development?
Note: You can download the whole report or an executive summary of The Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on
Differences in Teacher Effectiveness at http://widgeteffect.org/.
References
Bracey, G. (2007, May 1). Value subtracted: A debate with William Sanders. The Huffington Post. www.huffingtonpost.com/gerald-bracey/value-
subtracted-a-debate_b_47404.html
Sanders, W.L. & Horn, S.P. (1994). The Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS): Mixed model methodology in educational assessment.
Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 8, 299-311.
A smart ALEC
threatens public
education
Coordinated efforts to introduce model legislation aimed at defunding
and dismantling public schools is the signature work of this conservative
organization.
A
legislative contagion seemed to sweep across the Midwest during the early months
of 2011. First, Wisconsin legislators wanted to strip public employees of the right
to bargain. Then, Indiana legislators got into the act. Then, it was Ohio. In each
case, Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures had in-
troduced substantially similar bills that sought sweeping changes to each states collective
bargaining statutes and various school funding provisions.
This article
was originally JULIE UNDERWOOD (junderwood@education.wisc.edu) is professor and dean of the School of Education at the University of
published in Phi Wisconsin-Madison. She previously served as general counsel of the National School Boards Association. JULIE F. MEAD is pro-
Delta Kappan, 93 fessor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The views
(6), 51-55. expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect those of the University of Wisconsin.
Common throughout the bills are proposals Privatize education through vouchers, char-
ters, and tax incentives (Ladner, LeFevre, &
to decrease local control of schools by Lips, 2010, p. 87) to be carried out through model
legislation such as Foster Child Scholarship
democratically elected school boards while Program Act, Great Schools Tax Credit, Mili-
increasing access to all facets of education tary Family Scholarship Program Act, Parental
Choice Scholarship Accountability Act, Paren-
to private entities and corporations. tal Choice Scholarship Program Act (means-
tested eligibility), Parental Choice Scholarship
Program Act (universal eligibility), Parental
Choice Scholarship Program Act (universal
eligibility, means-tested scholarship amount),
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (Sept. 2, 2011)
Parental Choice Scholarship Tax Credit Ac-
reported that about 2,000 students applied for en-
countability Act, Education Enterprise Zone
rollment in the Tennessee Virtual Academy for fall
Act, Smart Start Scholarship Program, Special
2011. Recent reports raise concerns that the pro-
Needs Scholarship Program Act, Family Educa-
grams popularity with home schoolers may drain
tion Savings Account Act, Parental Rights Act,
taxpayer funds while enriching the corporation ac-
Resolution Supporting Private Scholarship Tax
tively and aggressively recruiting students to enroll
Credits, Autism Scholarship Program Act, and
(Locker, 2011). Locker also reports that K-12 Inc.
Family Education Tax Credit Program Act.
compensated its CEO more than $2.6 million last
year, its chief financial officer more than $1.7 million, Increase student testing and reporting (Lad-
and other top executives several hundred thousand ner, LeFevre, & Lips, 2010, p. 93) to be carried
dollars each, according to its latest annual report to out through model legislation such as Resolu-
shareholders. tion Supporting the Principles of No Child Left
Behind Act, Student Right to Learn Act, Educa-
ALEC on education tion Accountability Act, Longitudinal Student
ALECs success in Tennessee is by no means its Growth Act, One to One Reading Improvement
only incursion into state education policy. ALECs Act, and Resolution on Nonverified Science
interest in education is ambitious and multifaceted, Curriculum Funding.
and includes promoting dozens of model acts to
Reduce the influence of or eliminate local
its legislative members (Ladner, LeFevre, & Lips,
school districts and school boards (Ladner,
2010). Proposed bills seek to influence teacher cer-
LeFevre, & Lips, 2010, p. 96) to be carried
tification, teacher evaluation, collective bargaining,
out through model legislation such as Charter
curriculum, funding, special education, student as-
Schools Act, Innovation Schools and School
sessment, and numerous other education and edu-
Districts Act, Open Enrollment Act, Virtual
cation-related issues. Common throughout the bills
Public Schools Act, and Next Generation Char-
are proposals to decrease local control of schools by
ter Schools Act.
democratically elected school boards while increas-
ing access to all facets of education by private enti-
ties and corporations. ALECs outlined agenda is to: ALECs special interest in privatization
While ALECs forays into education policy are
Introduce market factors into schools, par- broad, privatization of public education has been
ticularly the teaching profession (Ladner, a long-standing ALEC objective. As early as 1985,
16 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #1
ALECs motivation for privatization was made clear 1990. Although the Milwaukee voucher program
(Barrett, 1985). had the backing of leaders from other philosophic
camps, including Howard Fuller, a former superin-
As schools became larger and society more mobile, tendent of Milwaukee Public Schools and current
teachers and superintendents grew further removed board member of Black Alliance for Educational Op-
from parents and, all too frequently, from the students
themselves. Policies dictated from state capitals and tions, the legislation was modeled after the rubric
Washington, D.C., placed burdens on public schools ALEC provided in its 1985 Education Source Book.
to compensate for economic disadvantages in fam- ALECs hand in this program continues. In 2011,
ily backgrounds and overcome centuries-old preju- one of the ultimately defeated amendments to the
dices, to confer equality on youngsters with physical Milwaukee program proposed removing all income
or mental handicaps, and to transmit our common
culture while preserving each of its diverse elements. requirements for participating students, a proposal
As a result, public schools were forced to meet all of laid out in ALECs Parental Choice Scholarship Pro-
the needs of all the people without pleasing anyone. gram Act (universal eligibility) and a step toward a
(Barrett, 1985, p. 7) full-scale state voucher program.
In fact, to help states advance school choice
without running afoul of state constitutional lim-
itations, ALEC published School Choice and State
Constitutions (Komer & Neily, 2007) to provide a
By elevating parental choice over all other state-by-state analysis and promote programs tai-
values, the ALEC push for privatization lored to foster privatization. Since then, a number
of states have adopted the ALEC recommenda-
supports schools that can be segregated by tions. For example:
academic ability and disability, ethnicity, Arizona: Vouchers for foster children, special ed-
ucation vouchers, and tax credits;
economics, language, and culture.
Indiana: Means-tested vouchers, special
education vouchers, tax deductions for private
school tuition and home-schooling expenses,
and tax credits;
In response, ALEC offered model legislation to
foster educational freedom and quality through Georgia: Special education vouchers and
privatization (Barrett, 1985, p. 8). Privatization takes the newer ALEC proposal tax incentives
multiple forms: vouchers, tax incentives for sending for contributions to scholarship-granting
children to private schools, and charter schools oper- organizations;
ated by for-profit entities.
Today, ALEC calls this approach choice and
renames vouchers scholarships, but its aim is
clear: Defund and dismantle public schools. While
many other right-wing organizations support this
agenda, ALEC is the mechanism for implementing
it through its many pieces of model legislation that
propose legislative methods for defunding public
schools, particularly low-income, urban schools.
The motivation for dismantling the public edu-
cation system creating a system where schools
do not provide for everyone is ideological, and
it is motivated by profit. The corporate members
on ALECs education task force include represen-
tatives from the Friedman Foundation, Goldwater
Institute, Evergreen Education Group, Washington
Policy Center, and corporations providing education
services such as Sylvan Learning and K-12, Inc. All
stand to benefit from public funding sent in their
direction.
The first large-scale voucher program, the Mil- Good night, dear. Text me if you need anything.
waukee Parental Choice Program, was enacted in
Whether you believe that ALEC has the issues Ladner, M., LeFevre, A., & Lips, D. (2010). Report card on
right or wrong, the organization clearly wields con- American education: Ranking state K-12 performance,
siderable power and influence over state educa- progress, and reform (16th ed.). Washington, DC: American
tion policy. But perhaps by boldly sending so many Legislative Exchange Council.
moles to legislative surfaces all at once, ALEC has Locker, R. (2011, September 24). Virtual school in Tennessee
permitted those concerned with the influence of cor- may drain taxpayer funds. The Commercial Appeal.
porate interests on public education to awaken to its
strategy. From now on, champions of public educa- Virtual Public Schools Act, Tennessee House Bill No. 1030.
tion have a new set of questions to ask whenever (2011).
legislation is introduced: Orfield, G. & Lee, C. (2007). Historic reversals, accelerating
Is the sponsor a member of ALEC? resegregation and the need for new integration strategies. Los
Does the bill borrow from ALEC model Angeles, CA: Civil Rights Project.
legislation? Rogers, J. & Dresser, L. (2011, July 12). ALEC exposed:
What corporations had a hand in drafting the Business domination Inc. The Nation.
legislation?
What interests would benefit or even profit Virtual school hits enrollment hiccup. (2011, September 2).
from its passage? The Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Few observers doubt that Teach For America (TFA) has high aspirations. Established in
1990, TFA strives to close persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps in U.S.
public education by recruiting high-achieving college graduates to teach for two years in
low-income urban and rural schools. In recent years, applications to TFA have soared,
especially at highly selective colleges. In 2009-10, for example, 18% of Harvard Universitys
seniors applied to the program. Proposing to expand its teaching corps from 7,300 to
13,000 over the next five years, TFA recently won $50 million in the federal i3 (Investing in
Innovation) competition and succeeded in raising $10 million in matching funds.
This article
was originally
published in Phi
Delta Kappan, 93
(2), 47-51.
had become lawyers and only 1.6% had Our findings suggest two explanations for how
become medical professionals. long TFA teachers stay in the profession and in their
placement schools. The first involves their initial in-
tentions and their background in education before
entering TFA; the second is the working conditions
sion, argue that by requiring only a two-year commit- in their schools.
ment from corps members who have received only five
weeks of formal preparation, TFA undermines efforts WHY RETENTION MATTERS
to stabilize and improve staffing in the very schools Teacher retention, particularly in low-income
most overwhelmed by teacher turnover and most in schools such as those where TFA teachers are placed,
need of consistency in the classroom. Moreover, crit- is critically important. Attrition, already high among
ics argue that TFA compromises teaching as a pro- new teachers across the nation (Ingersoll, 2002), has
fession by minimizing the importance of preservice its greatest impact in low-income, high-minority
preparation and casting teaching as a prelude to the schools. In the most recent data available, 21% of
higher-status careers that many corps members enter teachers at high-poverty schools leave their schools
after their TFA experience. Some cynically assert that annually, compared to 14% of their counterparts in
the program functions primarily as a rsum booster low-poverty settings (Planty et al., 2008). As teachers
for ambitious upper-middle-class college graduates, transfer within districts, they typically leave schools
intent on fashioning the most compelling application that enroll lower-income students and enter schools
to the nations top law or medical schools. with higher-income students (Hanushek, Kain, &
Debates about whether TFA can revive chroni- Rivkin, 2004).
cally failing schools or will further aggravate the This revolving-door effect (Ingersoll, 2004)
problems facing these schools often turn on compet- leaves the very schools that most need stability and
ing claims about how long TFA teachers stay on the continuity perpetually searching for new teachers to
job. Critics conclude that corps members routinely replace those who leave. When teachers leave their
leave their school after their two-year commitment, schools after only a few years, those schools incur
if not before. For their part, TFA relies on internal substantial costs. Most importantly, students are
surveys, which show that 60% of corps members likely to suffer. Novices typically fill vacancies. As a
remain in education, holding various roles at various result, students are taught by a stream of first-year
levels of the system. teachers who are, on average, less effective than their
Until now, however, solid information about how more experienced counterparts (Murnane & Phil-
long TFA teachers actually remain in teaching and in lips, 1981; Rockoff, 2004). When effective teachers
their low-income schools has not been available to leave, schools also lose their investment in formal
policy makers and school officials. Our large-scale, and informal professional development (National
nationwide analysis of TFA teacher turnover pres- Commission on Teaching and Americas Future,
ents a more detailed picture of which TFAers stay, 2003). Moreover, routinely high levels of teacher
turnover impede a schools efforts to coordinate cur-
riculum, to track and share important information
MORGAEN L. DONALDSON (morgaen.donaldson@uconn.edu)
about students as they move from grade to grade,
is an assistant professor in the Neag School of Education, Uni- and to maintain productive relationships with par-
versity of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. SUSAN MOORE JOHN- ents and the local community. Quite simply, they
SON is the Jerome T. Murphy Professor of Education, Harvard cannot build instructional capacity. Given such high
Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Mass. stakes, knowing more about TFA teachers careers
20 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #1
in low-income schools and in the profession more turnover to teachers turnover in similar high-pov-
broadly is essential. erty schools, although reports from Philadelphia
suggest that the rates may be roughly comparable
(Neild, Useem, Travers, & Lesnick, 2003).
WHETHER, WHEN, AND WHY Most people would be surprised to learn that a
In 2007, we set out to understand whether, when, substantial percentage of TFA teachers 43.6%
and why TFA teachers left the teaching profession remained in their initial, low-income placement
and/or their low-income placement schools. We sur- school beyond their two-year obligation. However,
veyed all members of three cohorts (entering in 2000, many individuals who stayed in teaching did leave
2001, and 2002) from all TFA sites across the country their original placement schools at some point.
and asked them to provide information about their About half of those who remained in teaching after
work lives in the four to six years since they began their third year had changed schools. And, after the
teaching. They reported whether and when they left fourth year, only 14.8% continued to teach in their
public teaching and/or their initial school and they original school. This level of turnover is very prob-
explained why. lematic from the perspective of low-income schools
Sixty-two percent of the total population com- and their students.
pleted the survey for a final sample of 2,029 indi-
viduals. We used a statistical approach, called dis- How did TFA teachers original plans and
crete-time survival analysis, to estimate teachers education background influence their
unbiased probability of leaving their schools or the retention?
profession in a given year. We were able to focus on When we examined the survey responses, we found
the choices that the teachers made to stay at their two explanations for these teachers career choices.
school, change schools, or leave teaching because The first emerged from self-reports about their origi-
we could identify and set aside career changes due to nal plans when they applied to TFA as well as evidence
involuntary transfers, layoffs, and dismissals. about their prior educational preparation.
Getting religion
right
in public schools
If we cant get this right in public schools, we have little hope of
getting this right in the public square of what is now the most
religiously diverse nation on Earth.
By Charles C. Haynes
C
ontrary to culture-war rhetoric from the Right, there is more student religious expression and more
study about religion in public schools today than at any time in the last 100 years. And contrary to
dire warnings from the Left, much of the religion that goes to school these days arrives through the
First Amendment door.
This article Of course, this isnt to suggest that all school districts get religion right. In some parts of the coun-
was originally try, school officials continue to unconstitutionally promote school-sponsored religious activities. In other
published in Phi
Delta Kappan, 93 CHARLES C. HAYNES (chaynes@freedomforum.org) is senior scholar at the First Amendment Center and director of the Religious
(4), 8-14. Freedom Education Project at the Newseum, Washington, D.C.
places, administrators and teachers wrongly censor religion at the schoolhouse door.
constitutionally protected student religious expres- Of course, some other schools, especially in the
sion. And throughout the country, the public school rural South, continued to do what they had always
curriculum still falls short of serious consideration done to promote the majoritys religion through
of religious ways of seeing the world (Nord, 2010; various school-sponsored practices.
Lester, 2011). But that was 20 years ago. Today, most state social
Nevertheless, a quiet revolution in public policy studies standards and textbooks include considerable
over the last two decades is transforming how many mention of religion; student religious clubs meet on
(if not most) public schools address religion during hundreds, if not thousands, of high school campuses;
the school day. For public school leaders, under- the sight of Christian students praying around the
standing the new and expanded place of religion in flagpole or in the lunchroom is commonplace; and
schools especially what is and isnt permissible Muslim students routinely perform daily prayers
under current law is critical for preventing conflict during the school day to cite just a few of many
and building public support for public education. examples.
Whats at stake?
Getting religion right in public schools matters
because religion and religious liberty matter. For Those determined to restore the past need to
better and for worse, religious convictions play a cen- accept that the sacred public school is no longer
tral role is shaping events in America and throughout tenable in our pluralistic society.
the world. A cursory glance at the daily headlines re-
minds us that religious differences are at the heart of
many of the worlds most violent conflicts. And in the
United States, rapidly expanding religious diversity What accounts for this dramatic change in such
presents daunting new challenges for building one a relatively short time? Part of the credit, at least,
nation out of many faiths and cultures in the 21st goes to consensus guidelines developed by leading
century (Eck, 2001). religious, civil liberties, and educational groups on a
Despite the recent increase in study about religion wide range of issues concerning religious liberty in
in schools, many Americans still have little or no public schools. In 1987, religious-liberty attorney
knowledge about religions other than their own Oliver Thomas and I convened the first effort to
and even that knowledge is often thin (Pew Forum find common ground where there had been none.
on Religion & Public Life, 2010; Prothero, 2007). After a year and a half of intense negotiation,
Religious illiteracy may be a contributing factor to we reached agreement on Religion in the Public
the rising intolerance in the United States, includ- School Curriculum: Questions and Answers, the
ing the growing number of hate crimes motivated first-ever consensus statement on teaching about
by anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. If we hope to religion in the public schools. Endorsed by a broad
prevent religious discrimination and division in the coalition ranging from the National Education As-
United States, schools need to take religion seriously, sociation to the National Association of Evangeli-
not only to increase religious literacy, but also to pro- cals, this statement was the first of a series of com-
mote religious freedom as a fundamental, inalienable mon ground agreements that would help transform
right for every person (Lester & Roberts, 2006). the religious-liberty landscape in public education
(Haynes & Thomas, 2007).
How we got here The culture-war conflicts of the 1980s in-
To understand the significance and scope of the cluding textbook trials in Tennessee and Alabama
recent changes in how many public schools address inspired diverse groups to come to the table. But
religion, a little history is needed. Twenty years ago, other developments also contributed to changes that
many public schools did, in fact, come close to be- would occur over the next two decades, most notably
ing religion-free zones. In the wake of controversial the Equal Access Act of 1984 that opened the door
and widely misrepresented U.S. Supreme Court de- to student religious clubs and the California history-
cisions banning state-sponsored religious practices, social science framework of 1989 that broke with
worried educators often overreacted by trying to precedent by including significant attention to the
keep all religion out of schools. Textbook publishers study of world religions.
largely ignored religion, and teachers wouldnt touch
it with the proverbial 10-foot pole. Some admin- The new consensus
istrators mistakenly confused student speech with Since the first guidelines on religion in the cur-
government speech and told students to leave their riculum in 1988, there have been eight additional
Summer Issue #1 kappanmagazine.org 25
consensus statements. In 2005, for example, the religion in the curriculum or when students may pray
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, together doesnt mean agreement on everything.
the Christian Educators Association International, Current conflicts regarding Bible elective courses
and other groups reached agreement on a common- and lawsuits over student religious expression before
ground process for ending conflicts over sexual ori- a captive audience are reminders of how much work
entation in public schools, one of the most emotional remains to be done.
and divisive issues in public education today. We now Nevertheless, a growing number of school dis-
have widely supported guides on many divisive is- tricts across the nation have used the new consen-
sues, from how to address religious holidays to the sus to move from battleground to common ground
role of the Bible in public schools. on the role of religion in their schools. From Davis
Of course, we still have some distance to go. County, Utah, to Richardson, Texas, to Mustang,
Agreement on some issues such as the place of Okla., school districts have successfully translated
KEY POINTS
FULL VALUE
The author asks, Whose schools are these? This is a huge, enduring, and fundamental question in education. Patricia Moor
Harbour, writing for the Kettering Foundation, comments that, even though public ownership of and responsibility for education is
at the heart of our democracy . . . parents, citizens, and the public [have felt] isolated from the education process.
Isolation changed to activism upon the release of A Nation at Risk (1983), which exhorted parents and communities to do
something. They began to pressure schools, which pushed back, and adversarial relationships deepened between schools and
the public. Education became a political battlefield of blame and shame.
As a superintendent, Harbour noted, citizens spoke with their feet and with their vote. Flight from public schools and failed
bond levies increased. Partisan politics, rhetoric, harsh media stories, and territorial battles prevailed. Public education, in crisis,
was caught between the demands of a powerful mayor, a stand-her-ground superintendent, intervening city council members,
outspoken angry parents . . . frustrated business and infl uential community leaders. Furthermore, school board members,
who were perceived as concerned more with their personal political agendas, failed to achieve a policy level necessary to meet
educational goals crucial for students achievement and community aspirations.
More recently as a researcher, Harbour has noticed a change as a village of citizen teachers, individuals, institutions, organizations, and
communities focused on the growth, development, education, and well-being of youth in their communities has begun to take charge.
References
Harbour, P.M. (2008). Whats changed? Are citizens reestablishing education ownership? Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation.
Haynes, C.C. (2008). A teachers guide to religion in the public schools. Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center.
By Frederick M. Hess
The year 2005 seems like a long time ago. That year, I published a hard look at education philanthropy
titled With the Best of Intentions: How Philanthropy is Reshaping K-12 Education, using the dismal experience
of the then recently concluded $1.1 billion Annenberg Challenge as a jumping-off point. At the same time,
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was walking away from the disappointing results of its enormous in-
vestment in small high schools.
At that point, Gates foundation officials were, for the first time, seriously considering whether to play
an active role in shaping public policy. Race to the Top, the Common Core, Democrats for Education Re-
form, and StudentsFirst were unimagined. No one regarded New Orleans, Washington, D.C.,
or Newark as hotbeds of school reform. Diane Ravitch was still a champion of school choice and
accountability, and few had heard of Barack Obama, Michelle Rhee, Deborah Gist, or Geoffrey A handful of key
Canada. No Child Left Behind was still novel and fairly popular, and not a single state was try- philanthropists have
ing to build teacher evaluation around value-added systems. been responsible for
In short, it was a different educational world. And I think its fair to say that a handful of key much of the tectonic
philanthropists have been responsible for much of the tectonic shift that we have seen since. A shift that we have
generation of new philanthropists with names like Gates, Walton, Dell, Broad, Fischer, and
seen since 2005.
Arnold charged into the K-12 arena in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. Having
made billions in technology, energy, retail, and the like, they shared an impatience, an entre-
preneurial bent, and a focus on measured outcomes that set them apart from established education givers.
Now, let me be straight I think most of these developments have been good and promising. Obviously,
readers are free to disagree. But, whatever ones view, the past seven years offer telling insights about the evolving
role of education philanthropy, the promise and the perils of the muscular philanthropy that unapologetically This article
tried to change policy, and how both funders and the rest of us can best navigate the waters ahead. was originally
published in Phi
FREDERICK M. HESS (rhess@aei.org) is director of education policy studies for the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, Delta Kappan, 93
D.C. (8), 17-21.
A decade ago, a big frustration for edu-philanthro- Third, a vital piece of leverage was producing re-
pists was the sense that they would invest in exciting search and supporting advocacy in a manner that
programs or practices, but that these never seemed would shape policy. Policy analyst Andy Rotherham
to deliver lasting improvement. A piloted reading argued that this kind of investment could be aptly
or mentoring program would offer promising re- captured by the adage: Give a man a fish and you
sults, only to disappoint when scaled. Or a founda- feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed
tion would underwrite professional development or a him for a lifetime. Foundation-backed advocacy, re-
new curriculum for several years, only to see it die on search, and proof points that new rules were possible
the vine when outside funding dried up. Or funders and offered a way to alter public policies and priori-
would help launch dynamic schools, only to see them ties in order to create the conditions for long-term,
fall apart when the charismatic founder left. systemic change.
Where an earlier generation of donors had At the time, I heartily endorsed the policy-centric
chalked up the challenges to problems of implemen- approach that the contributors had encouraged, but
tation or program design, the new philanthropists also wrestled with some of the repercussions. I wor-
were much more receptive to the notion that the ried about foundations being wedded to reformers
problem was the inhospitable cultures, systems, and and thinkers who tell them what they want to hear,
policy environments in which those scale-ups were the perils of groupthink, the disinclination of critics
being attempted. New donors who had made their to challenge deep-pocketed funders and how all
fortunes in the new economy frequently staffed their this gets even dicier when foundations are actively
foundations with Teach For America alums, MBAs, pursuing an agenda in policy or research.
or other nontraditional educators and focused on
problems posed by system rigidity, leadership, and Whats the deal?
policy. The new givers gravitated toward a strategy Caustic critics have accused the Gates foundation
that rested on three key insights, all sketched out in and other deep-pocketed donors of buying Americas
Best Intentions (Hess, 2005): schools. The truth is, even big-dollar philanthropy is
First, University of Arkansas professor Jay pretty miniscule when viewed alongside the nations
Greenes seminal analysis pointed out that the K-12 spending.
amount of edu-philanthropy is so small that its ri- According to the Foundation Center, the five big-
diculous to think that investments in programs or gest K-12 givers in 2010 were:
practice will have a noticeable effect. Using various
approaches, Greene calculated that all private giv- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $209
ing combined amounts to perhaps 1% of total K-12 million;
spending or, maybe, one penny on the dollar. Con- Walton Family Foundation $110 million;
sequently, he argued that philanthropy only mat- W.K. Kellogg Foundation $58 million;
tered when it funded high-leverage investments Michael and Susan Dell Foundation $55
(e.g., when it altered policies or practices governing million; and
the long-term use of the public funds that account Silicon Valley Community Foundation $35
for 99% of school spending). million (Foundation Center, 2012).
Second, Don McAdams, founder of the Center
for Reform of School Systems, argued that philan- The top 10 donors gave about $585 million in
thropy typically entails limited dollars in the grand total, out of total reported giving of $983 million.
scheme of things, but has an outsized influence be- This total amounts to not even one-fifth of 1% of
cause this money is nimble and can be used to drive the $600 billion or so that the U.S. spends on K-12
a state or a districts reforms, where its hugely dif- schooling; the entirety of reported national giving
ficult to redeploy more than a sliver of public funds. in 2010 didnt even add up to 5% of what New York
What to do?
Odd as it may seem, Im suggesting that
foundations should make it conscious pol-
icy to welcome even encourage public
criticism. Im not talking about hired evalu-
ations or strategic assessments conducted
by friendly consultants but about rigorous
debate over objectives, strategies, and out-
comes. Given that even tart-tongued ob-
Jeffrey S. Brooks Kevin K. Kumashiro Edited by Lisa Arrasta
servers will be unusually reluctant to share Foreword by Lisa D. Delpit and Marvin Hoffman
their thoughts, foundations must make it Afterword by William Ayers This book could be a Foreword by Pedro Noguera
springboard for teachers.
extravagantly clear that they wont blacklist After reading this Grace Lee Boggs, Contributions by Debbie
critics and that they wont look kindly upon important book, one is The Boggs Center Almontaser, Ann Cook,
thoroughly convinced David Domenici, David
anyone who does. that leadership matters Courageous, blunt, and
TC Ellis, James Forman Jr.,
Of course, such debate inevitably en- with respect to race hopeful.
Sonia Nieto, David Greenberg, Dennis
tails critiques that may seem incomplete, andeducation. University of Massachusetts Littky, Rito Martinez,
Dalton Conley, at Amherst Deborah Meier, Samuel
wrong-headed, or unfair. However, the New York University Seidel, Phyllis Tashlik, and
value of skeptics is that they raise unpleas- Elliot Washor.
ant issues and make it possible for those in-
side an organizational bubble to see things TEACHERS COLLEGE PRESS 800.575.6566
in a new light. Engaging with critics in a Teachers College, Columbia University www.tcpress.com
real and sustained way is essential to fore-
Summer Issue #1 kappanmagazine.org 37
Professional development guide to:
KEY POINTS
In 2005, the educational philanthropy world before Race to the Top and the Common Core was quite different, with big
philanthropies investing in programs and practices that looked promising (but often failed to live up to that promise) and hoping
to change policies.
In 2010, foundation-funded programs amounted to less than 0.2% of total funding on education ($983 million out of $600
billion).
The big shift in the thinking of philanthropists and their staffs is that they should no longer fund programs and practices (hoping
to infl uence policy), but should focus on advocacy, research, and efforts to upend structural constraints.
They should consider the degree to which what they fund can leverage substantive change a lot more oomph for their
penny on the dollar. The author calls this approach muscular, or assertive, philanthropy.
While not new, muscular philanthropy requires careful attention to democratic principles.
Foundations must be willing to embrace criticism and feedback much more productively than has been the norm; they need
to become civically responsible.
Public (rather than private) self-appraisal that includes the viewpoints of those who are most skeptical about the philanthropys
efforts (not just the sycophants) and ending explicit collaborations with the federal government are important moves
philanthropies can make in order to become more democratic.
FULL VALUE
One way of thinking about foundations that fund education is to examine their mission statements. Here are a few:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough
problems: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, the failures of Americas education system. We focus
on only a few issues because we think thats the best way to have great impact, and we focus on these issues in particular
because we think they are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.
Broad Foundation: Transforming K-12 urban public education through better governance, management, labor relations,
and competition.
Walton Family Foundation: The Walton Family Foundation is committed to improving K-12 student achievement in the
United States at every level in traditional public schools, charter public schools, and private schools. Our core strategy is
to infuse competitive pressure into Americas K-12 education system by increasing the quantity and quality of school choices
available to parents, especially in low-income communities.
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation: Transforming the lives of children living in urban poverty through better health and education.
References
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (n.d.). Letter from Bill and Melinda Gates. www.gatesfoundation.org/about/
Broad Foundation. (n.d.). Mission of the Broad Foundations (Education). www.broadfoundation.org/about_foundations.html
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. (n.d.). About us. www.msdf.org/about-us
Walton Family Foundation. (n.d.). Education reform. www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/educationreform
By Andrew P. Kelly
An intriguing experiment in direct democracy is afoot in some of the na-
tions struggling public schools. Under new parent trigger laws passed in Cali-
fornia and on the agenda in New York, Ohio,
Colorado, and Chicago, parents of children in
chronically failing schools can petition to un-
seat the schools current leadership and staff.
If petitioners obtain signatures from 51% of
parents, the school must undergo some kind
of major change. The options include replac-
ing the principal or existing faculty, converting
to a charter school, or closing the school en-
tirely. Californias first test case McKinley
Elementary in Compton provoked consid-
erable controversy, including a successful legal
challenge by the district and charges that the
schools current teachers had harassed children
whose parents had signed the petition.
The parent trigger gives reformers a new
weapon in the battle to improve schooling,
and the ideas growing popularity has excited
many across the country. After decades of a
focus on parental choice as a way to pressure
traditional schools to improve, reformers now
have a more direct route to influence individual
schools. The trigger gives parents an option
other than exit through school choice or
loyalty to the school. If parents can collect
enough signatures, the school must listen to their collective voice.
Optimism surrounding parent trigger laws is understandable. We all should be
in favor of giving parents the ability to demand more of their childrens schools.
But the promise of increased democratic control is not without its pitfalls. In
particular, parent trigger proponents must acknowledge that while mobilizing
This article parents to overturn the status quo may be straightforward, encouraging stability
was originally
published in Phi
Delta Kappan, 93 ANDREW P. KELLY (andrew.kelly@aei.org) is a research fellow in education policy
(6), 46-50. at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.
and patience after the fact could be much more difficult. Without sufficient at-
tention to the rules and institutions necessary to build stability into the process,
parent trigger laws may lead to the same policy churn, inefficiencies, and persis-
tently troubled schools that exist today.
KEY POINTS
According to California law (which is being considered in New York, Ohio, Colorado, and Chicago), if 51% of parents petition
for change of a chronically failing school, the school must undergo some major change (most likely by adopting one of the four
federal models for changing unsuccessful schools).
Change is diffi cult to make, as WestEd discovered in studying California schools, determining that only 12 of 262 initially low-
performing schools were able to make sizable gains . . . and sustain those gains.
As the parent population of a school changes over time, remaining and new parents may want to trigger another change before
the first change has shown results, a process called cycling.
The California law was designed to enfranchise parents through majority rule, but subsequent laws may take away some of that
authority in order to prevent cycling and give a reform time to take hold.
The formation of parent unions such as Parent Revolution is one way to ensure both parent enfranchisement and protection on
the back end of a trigger.
Policy makers might want to consider requiring a supermajority if parents want to trigger another reform while the fi rst is still
being enacted; they also might want to make schools undergoing parent-sponsored reform immune from further reform for a
period of time.
1. What role(s) do parents play in your district (or a district you know well)?
2. How are reforms usually triggered in your district (or a district you know well)? How are parents involved in these reforms?
3. Think of a school you know well. What might be the focus of a parent trigger in that school? What would be the result(s) of the
trigger?
4. To what extent do you think parents should have a more direct route to infl uence individual schools? What are the benefi ts?
What are the challenges of this route?
5. Are any of the four federal turnaround models operating in your district (or a district you know well)? How well are they
working?
6. What might happen when parents who trigger a reform move on (as their children graduate or move to another school)? What
might happen when new parents become involved in the school?
7. To what extent have you seen reforms come and go in the district youre thinking about? Has there been enough time for each
reform to produce effects before the next reform is implemented? Has there been some immunity from new reform while the
current reform is being implemented?
1. Read the article yourselves. Develop a statement of the issue. Develop some questions you want parents to discuss.
2. Determine how to invite parents to the focus group. Consider the value of inclusiveness versus an approach that seeks
representation from various groups. Keep the focus group to between 10 and 15 people. Determine who should participate in
the focus group, trying to keep the number equal (or nearly equal) to the number of parents.
3. Make sure to send a copy of the article to parents along with the invitation to participate and a way to RSVP.
5. Prepare a space that can comfortably seat two rings of chairs, the inside ring for parents and the outside ring for the school
group.
6. Choose two facilitators, one from the parent group and one from the school group. The parent group should have its own
facilitator so parents dont feel that theyre being led by the educators, but its also important for the two facilitators to work
together to coordinate the process. Have the two facilitators meet in advance to discuss the process below.
7. Set a date and time. Plan 90 minutes for the process. Schedule a debriefing session for educators right after the focus group,
if possible. Provide refreshments.
8. Start the focus group by having the parents sit in the inner circle with their facilitator, facing each other. Have the educators sit
in the outer circle with their facilitator, facing inwards. Put the two facilitators close to each other so they can consult on the
process.
9. Have parents and educators introduce themselves and then review some norms (see Easton, 2011, for some starter norms).
10. Have the educator facilitator share the statement of the topic (see #1 in this list) and invite the parents to discuss the
statement. At this point, the parent facilitator should moderate the process.
11. At some point, as agreed upon by the educator and the parent facilitators, ask the parents to discuss any questions that
educators drafted in step #1. The parent facilitator should moderate this process.
12. The educators remain silent during this process, which might last an hour. They may take notes, but they should not engage in
any part of the discussion with the parents. They should listen closely, however.
13. At a time selected by the facilitators, this part of the focus group should end, and those in the inner circle should turn their
chairs to face those in the outer circle for one-on-one discussion. (Some groups could have three participants.) This discussion
proceeds without facilitation on any issue raised by the parent group.
14. Finally, the facilitators should open the discussion to both groups, based on an issue that people want to discuss.
15. When it seems as if open discussion is winding down, the facilitators should ask the group what went well and what could be
improved in terms of the process. They should then address possible next steps and thank the parents for their participation.
16. The educator group should stay to more completely debrief both the process and the content of the focus group, including
what should be done next, if anything.
17. The educator group should communicate the outcomes of the focus group to everyone involved (and others, if important) in
whatever form is most appropriate. And, of course, if there are next steps, the educator group (working with the parent group,
if thats desired) should design and implement the next actions.
References
Easton, L.B. (2011). Professional learning communities by design: Putting the learning back into PLCs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin and Oxford, OH:
Learning Forward.
Robertson, H. & Hord, S. (2008). Accessing student voices. In L.B. Easton (Ed.), Powerful designs for professional learning, 2nd ed. Oxford, OH:
National Staff Development Council.
Participate in professional development training and networking events held in Washington, D.C.
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15 A crash course on giving grades
library. Please check with your college or
Timothy Quinn university about access.
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Teaching to
the Common Core
by design,
,
not accident
The Gates Foundations substantial investment in developing the
Common Core State Standards now depends on translating big
ideas into practices that teachers can and will use.
A
fter years of hard work by state leaders, educators, and other advocates, the Common Core
State Standards in English language arts and mathematics are final, and 45 states and the
District of Columbia have officially adopted them.
But getting from standards on paper to the deep changes required in practice will be a
significant challenge. For example, the literacy standards for grades 6 and above assume that
history, social studies, science, and technical teachers not just English teachers will use
their content expertise to help students read, write, speak, and listen using the language of their disciplines.
Yet, historically, literacy has been the sole domain of English language arts classes. The math standards
ask teachers to focus and spend more time on fewer, more important things so students can build concep-
tual understanding, achieve procedural skill and fluency, and learn how to transfer what they know to solve
problems in and out of the math classroom.
As strong believers in clear, consistent standards that focus on what students need to be prepared for col-
lege and careers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was proud to support the Common Core work. We
also understood that there was a window of opportunity to support teachers in turning the standards from
policy into practice between the time that states adopt the standards and when new summative assessments
come on line in 2014-15. In particular, we wanted to give teachers a good starting place to prepare for the
new assessments and to begin shifting instruction to make the standards real in classrooms. Based on our
experiences as classroom teachers and as state and district administrators, we knew we wanted to invest in
really well-designed tools and supports that could find the right balance between encouraging teachers cre-
ativity and giving them enough guidance to ensure quality. And we wanted to ground these tools in evidence
about what really powerful teaching aligned with the Common Core looks like.
Between 2009 and 2011, the College-Ready Work team at the Gates Foundation committed more than
$76 million in direct charitable expenditures to support teachers in implementing the Common Core. We
funded projects that included the design of new tools to help teachers enact the standards in their class-
rooms, like our $5.9-million investment at the University of California, Berkeley to create a set of Classroom This article
Challenges in Mathematics to help teachers enact formative assessments aligned to the Common Core. was originally
published in Phi
VICKI PHILLIPS is director of education and CARINA WONG is deputy director, College-Ready Work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Delta Kappan, 93
Foundation. (7), 31-37.
www.pdkintl.org/join
800-766-1156
Yes,
black males are
different, but
different
is not
deficient
Stop pretending that all students
are alike; teaching to their
differences will improve their
chances for academic success.
By Christopher Emdin
their true selves to the teacher. traditional coteaching and empowers the black male
To create the conditions for these dialogues, the student by allowing him to become engaged in class
teacher: and validated for enacting a positive and more aca-
demic behavior.
Selects students to participate based on Coteaching in reality pedagogy can be supported
the different types of black male academic through the following steps:
roles e.g., high-achieving and low-achieving
students. Before class, the teacher:
Tells students that participating in the dialogues Invites black male students who have been
is voluntary and that the teachers goal is to engaged in cogenerative dialogues to be the
become a more effective teacher. initial coteachers.
Ensures that all participants in the dialogues Assigns these student-teachers to design a
have equal turns to talk by soliciting responses lesson.
from all students. Does a quick review of the lesson plan before
Ensures that all talk is respectful of other class to ensure that content is reflected
participants. The teacher also asks all partici- accurately.
pants to listen attentively and allow their peers
to complete their thoughts before responding. During class, the teacher:
The phrase one mic is repeated when this Sits in the seat of the student-teacher and in the
rule is violated by any member of the group, so view of the student-teacher.
students can manage each other and maintain a Takes notes on the students teaching, focusing
fruitful dialogue. on modes of interaction, use of analogy/meta-
phor, and types of phrases used to support
The conversation must generate an action plan learners who are struggling with content.
for addressing an issue raised in dialogues. Pays close attention to parts of the lesson where
the content delivered may not be correct and
Coteaching guides the instruction (by raising a hand as a
In traditional coteaching, a novice teacher ob- traditional student would) only when there are
serves or assists an expert teacher. In reality pedagogy issues with the content.
with black males, coteaching positions the black male
as the expert and allows him to teach the class. Al- After class, the teacher:
lowing the student to be the teacher moves beyond Engages in a cogenerative dialogue with the
KEY POINTS
Although there are similarities in the perceptions of young black males, there also are variations in their experiences and readiness
to learn.
For fear of being labeled racists, sometimes educators may not want to acknowledge differences between black male students
and other students.
The author is not speaking about genetic or developmental differences but is focusing on the social and psychological baggage of
being both male and black.
Black males are being socially typecast, tied to antischool identities, and face a constant internal battle to t into expectations.
Cogenerative dialogue occurs when a small group of students has a conversation with the teacher about the classroom that
takes place outside the standard classroom setting, is fully participatory, and yields an action plan generated from issues raised in
the conversation.
In coteaching, the black male student is allowed to teach the class, with signicant assistance before, during, and after teaching.
Cosmopolitanism is a philosophy that all humans are responsible for each other in terms of the roles they play and the
responsibilities they assume.
In terms of context, the teacher engages with students to bring symbolic artifacts of their world into the classroom, connecting
the artifacts to the content being studied.
Content is the nal step in reality pedagogy; it requires that the teacher be willing to expose his or her lack of knowledge about
certain subjects, be vulnerable, humble, and invite students into the search for learning.
FULL VALUE
In their article, Implementing Coteaching and Cogenerative Dialoguing in Urban Science Education, Kenneth Tobin and Wolff-Michael
Roth believe these practices should include representatives from all stakeholder groups in teaching since the purpose is improving
school life and learning environments. Coteaching typically includes the coteachers, two or three students, and frequently a university
supervisor or a school administrator talking about specific lessons. On the surface, a cogenerative dialogue may look like reflection
on practice (Schon, 1987). However, the authors say there are crucial differences: When cogenerative dialoguing is associated with
coteaching, teachers and a selection of students reflect together on a lesson they shared not long ago, and participants have a
concrete, common object on which to focus verbal interactions. The session is used to identify what worked and what did not work in
order to design strategies for the next lesson.
The power of cogenerative dialoguing lies in the fact that all participants refer to the same set of events, often replayed using
videotapes of the lesson, and that the views and understandings of all participants are valued. Thus, understandings and explanations
are cogenerated. Cogenerative dialogues can be used by new and inexperienced teachers to learn from their experiences and other
participants, especially from the perspectives of the youths they teach, said Tobin and Roth.
1. To what extent did you grow up with the notion that black males are different and deficient?
2. As an educator, have you been in situations in which people act as if all students are alike?
3. How will teaching to student differences improve their chances for academic success?
4. Have you been in situations in which acknowledging differences (related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, etc.)
results in an -ist label (e.g., racist, sexist)?
5. How do schools treat genetic or developmental differences? How are social and psychological differences treated differently?
Are black males seen as bringing social and psychological baggage to their classrooms?
6. How does the media portray black males in school settings? How do you think these images affect young black students?
7. Which of the five aspects of the authors reality pedagogy seem most applicable in the educational system where you work?
8. Why would applying them make a difference for black male students? Would applying them with other students also make a
difference?
1. Read the article quickly, looking for a sentence that strikes you as particularly important. Underline or star it.
2. Continue reading the article. Look for a phrase (group of words) that is particularly meaningful. Underline or star it.
3. Finally, find a single word that means the most to you. Underline or star it.
When everyone has finished reading the article and found their sentences, phrases, and words, begin dialogue by round-robin sharing:
1. Have each person read the highlighted sentence and help others find it on the page.
2. After everyone has read their sentences, have each person read the highlighted phrase and help others find it on the page.
3. Finally, have each person share the single word that was most meaningful.
4. Then, launch a discussion based on any sentence, phrase, or word that interested the group.
Note: This is called a text-rendering protocol because participants render the text down to a single word. It is an effective way to
get everyones voice in the room as each person shares an important sentence, phrase, and word before opening up a general
discussion.
References
Schon, D.A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tobin, K. & Roth, W.M. (2005, October). Implementing coteaching and cogenerative dialoguing in urban science education. School Science and
Mathematics, 105, 313-322.
A crash course on
giving grades
Grades tell students how well they did in comparison to each other,
but almost nothing of what they need to work on to get better.
By Timothy Quinn
Grades. Almost no one likes them. Most students deplore them, many teachers hate giving them, and I
havent met one teacher who enjoys the process of determining them. In fact, grading is often the bane
of a teachers existence. Yet, it must be done at least until we have a major shift in educational philoso-
phy. Nonetheless, grades can be important and useful. Ideally, grades give students constructive feedback
on how they performed on an assessment, and, on a societal level, one can argue that we need grades so we
can categorize students before we send them to appropriate colleges and hire them for appropriate jobs.
This essay, however, is not about grading, it is about the physical act of giving grades. Sure, we all
agree that teachers dont give grades; students earn them. Yet, while this adage is correct in spirit, literally,
it is untrue. Teachers do, in fact, physically hand students tests, quizzes, and essays, with grades on them.
TIMOTHY QUINN (tquinn@westminster-school.org) is director of the Westminster Teaching Initiative and an English teacher at
Westminster School, Simsbury, Conn.
By Jerome L. Rekart
The average high school upperclassman reports spending between seven and eight hours a day using vari-
ous electronic media, such as television and cellular phones. Of those eight hours, only about 25% is spent
watching television, which means the rest is devoted to playing video games, using the computer, text mes-
saging, etc. On average, students report that over one-third of the time that theyre reading and over half
of the time they spend completing homework on a computer theyre also using at least two other forms of
electronic media (Foehr, 2006). Thus, it can be presumed that a typical high school student routinely media
multitasks while studying. Contrary to what may have occurred as recently as 20 years ago, todays students
arent focusing solely on assigned pages of reading or completing an assignment, but are jumping back and
forth from homework to Facebook updating both their own status (Im reading right now) and checking
on updates from others to a phone call to a text message (R U DONE YET?).
JEROME L. REKART (jrekart@rivier.edu) is an associate professor of education and psychology at Rivier Col-
lege, Nashua, N.H.
Given the pervasiveness of media multitasking, the need to focus and reduce extraneous stimuli while
examining how it affects learning in and out of the studying or reading.
classroom is important. Luckily, research from both Certainly getting todays youth to turn off devices
cognitive psychology and neuroscience can provide that may be antithetical to learning is no small task.
important insights into what happens when students Given the Net generations comfort level, they may
media multitask and how to combat negative effects feel as though their performance on school-related
on learning. work is unaffected by multitasking. Unfortunately,
The multitasking brain
Dividing attention by multitasking
When one tries doing several things at once, as
occurs with media multitasking, there is no choice Individuals who multitask
but to divide attention. Because the total amount of
attention available is limited, the amount of focused
impedes learning and performance in
attention for any single task decreases as the number more often are more distractible than
of demands increases. Changes in the amount of at-
tention for tasks are caused by changes within the the short-term and could also affect
brain. When neuroscientists examine the brains role
in cognition, they focus on areas that show changes
those who do so less often.
in different markers of activity, such as blood oxy- long-term memory and retention.
gen levels or the amount of a radioactive substance.
Hypotheses about the importance of different brain even when a task is mastered, true media multitask-
structures for cognition are then based on relative ing impairs the performance of experts and novices
changes in the amount of these markers. Thus, if an similarly (Lin, Robertson, & Lee, 2009). Further-
increase in the activation in the frontal cortex occurs more, because of multitasking-induced changes in
when someone learns strings of letters, this suggests the brain regions recruited for learning and long-
that this area is important for this type of learning. term memory, even diligent students who multitask
The total amount of brain activity present when while completing homework may be jeopardizing
two tasks are attempted simultaneously seems to be their long-term success.
less than the sum of brain activation that occurs when
each task is completed in isolation (Just, Carpenter, Distractibility in the classroom
Keller, Emery, Zajac, & Thulborn, 2001; Newman, So, dividing attention away from school has an
Keller, & Just, 2007). In addition, the patterns of effect on not just short-term performance, but per-
brainwaves look quite different (Mangels, Picton, & haps long-term learning as well. But are there effects
Craik, 2001) when individuals are asked to complete caused by excessive multitasking outside of school that
one task at a time compared with when they try to can affect attention and learning in the classroom?
work on both simultaneously. Reductions in brain An elegant study conducted at Stanford University
activation and the changes in brain waves that are suggests that time spent multitasking may be affect-
seen during multitasking are accompanied by de- ing how students pay attention in general. This study
creases in short-term learning and task accuracy. assessed the amount of time college students spent
Therefore, the impairing effect of multitasking performing one task, computer word processing, for
upon learning may be related to reduced brain re- example, while using another form of media at the
sources that are available to satisfactorily complete same time (Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009).
tasks when theyre tried together. Separating light from heavy media multitaskers,
Dividing attention reduces total brain activation the study found that individuals who multitasked
and could recruit brain regions normally involved more often were more distractible than those who
in habit or rote learning the striatum rather did so less often. Heavy multitaskers had more dif-
than regions such as the hippocampus that are nec- ficulty switching between stimuli than light multi-
essary for acquiring the type of knowledge thats taskers. This result suggests that frequent media
critical for academic success (Foerde, Knowlton, & multitasking may be affecting ones ability to switch
Poldrack, 2006). This means that dividing attention focus between tasks that are important, such as a
by multitasking impedes learning and performance teachers lecture, and those that may not be, such as
in the short-term and may, by underutilizing brain extraneous sounds in a classroom (Ophir, Nass, & This article
structures necessary for the correct type of learn- Wagner, 2009). These results may have far-reaching was originally
ing, affect long-term memory and retention. The ramifications as they suggest that lifestyle choices published in Phi
implications of these findings make it critical that may be changing how an entire generation attends Delta Kappan, 93
educators and parents try to impress upon students to information. What happens when everything one (4), 60-63.
should be considered for removal. Todays students are used to attending to mul-
tiple streams of information, which may make them
final exams. more distractible than previous generations. Teach-
ers can respond to such a trend by limiting items in
dom clicks, pop-up windows, and ring tones. Stu- the classroom that may distract student attention.
dents who spend more time instant messaging are An informal audit, conducted by the teacher who
less likely to read and they report being more easily knows her students and class best, is recommended
distracted while reading than students who instant to remove potentially distracting stimuli. This audit
message less. An increase in student distractibility should indicate what items in the class are critical
presents a challenge for the lecturing teacher trying for learning and which are not. Example questions
to maintain the focus of students as well as the stu- to guide such an audit should include:
dent taking a test whose focus should be on the ex-
Is the class well-organized?
amination, but is routinely redirected to classmates
tapping pencils and sighing in exasperation. Is there clutter on shelves, the floor, etc.? What
can be moved, removed, or organized?
Proposed classroom solutions
Are there too many posters or signs on
Teachers everywhere openly lament shrinking at-
the wall? Do the posters reinforce learning
tention spans and a lack of focus by their students.
or pose potential distractions?
Professional educators know that an inability to pay
attention will limit the amount and quality of learning A careful consideration of the class environment
that can occur. So, given changes in attentional control may even uncover that some learning tools may ac-
and the reliance on study habits that use brain structures tually be counterproductive. For example, Hem-
that dont facilitate deep learning, what are teachers to brooke and Gay (2003) found that using laptops in
do? Fortunately, teachers can employ several research- a classroom may limit understanding and retention
based strategies to grab and maintain attention and, in of course concepts. Students who used their laptops
turn, facilitate learning in the classroom. for course-related learning while listening to lec-
tures actually fared worse than students who used
Strategy: Assess often
their laptops during lecture to surf the web for non-
Teachers can use course-based quizzes and tests course-related information.
for more than assigning grades. Testing enhances Counter-intuitive findings such as these indicate
learning. Formative assessments themselves have a that it never hurts to re-examine practices and even
pronounced and lasting effect on a students ability to class layouts with the goal of finding the best fit for
learn, retain, and retrieve information. The frequent optimizing learning. Anything that may unnecessar-
and routine quizzing of knowledge throughout a ily divide attention or that could prove to be distract-
term can more than double student performance on ing should be considered for removal.
final exams.
Though the significant learning gains obtained by Strategy: Introduce novelty
testing frequently would make this particular strategy Students are spending roughly one-third of their
a best practice for all students, evidence demonstrat- day immersed in environments where something new,
ing its effectiveness when individuals are multitasking be it a text message or e-mail, can and does pop into ex-
reinforces its importance as a pedagogical strategy in istence unexpectedly. How can standard lectures, seat-
the modern classroom. The testing effect likely works work, and recitation compete with the flash-bang-whiz
by reactivating and strengthening brain pathways that novelty of video games and Internet sites? Class periods
20 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #2
should be structured so students arent just engaged at attentional changes with sound pedagogical strate-
the beginning but consistently reengaged throughout gies, such as testing frequently, reducing unnecessary
a session. For example, rather than spending an en- stimuli, and using multiple, novel instructional meth-
tire class period lecturing about the fall of the Roman ods. What should not be overlooked,
Empire and reading passages from a text, teachers can however, is that most researchers and Share these
break the material to be covered into 10- to 12-minute teachers are designing studies and view-
findings with
modules with each module covering key concepts using ing students through lenses colored by
a different instructional vehicle a film clip, role play, a different age. Todays student may be students
pair-share activities, class debates, etc. paying attention in a different way, and The majority of time
Many individuals have advocated using multiple ap- so one must be careful not to assume that that students are
proaches as a way to address different learning styles the ramifications are entirely negative.
media multitasking
and as a best practice for general instruction. However, One effect of media multitasking is that
the novelty of using a modular approach is whats most students are paying attention to multiple is spent away from
important here. Incorporating the novelty throughout stimuli rather than sustaining focus on school. Because of
a single class session by using a modular approach is just one stimulus. This has been referred this, its imperative
likely to engage the brains medial temporal lobe, in- to as a breadth approach, and it may yield that educators share
cluding the hippocampus, which has been found to be benefits that have yet to be uncovered or with students and
a kind of novelty detector. As indicated when discussing realized. In addition, the ability of mem-
their parents the
the selective recruitment of brain regions when mul- bers of the Net generation to use current
titasking, the hippocampus is critical for storing the technology is likely to be critical to their facts concerning
type of new information necessary for academic suc- own future success in the 21st-century multitasking, the brain,
cess. Thus, by using multiple approaches, an educator job market. By employing evidence- and learning.
not only grabs student attention via novelty detection based strategies to harness attention and
but, due to a focus of attention, increases the likelihood facilitate learning, educators can help ensure that to-
that the student will store the conveyed information. morrows citizens have the knowledge and skills nec-
essary to be successful in a multitasking world. K
Closing thoughts
Research supports the popular notion that the at- References
tention of todays student is different from students of
Foehr, U.G. (2006). Media multitasking among American
past generations. These differences, at a cognitive and youth: Prevalence, predictors, and pairings. Washington, DC:
brain level, are likely to become more widespread as Kaiser Family Foundation.
smartphones and laptops are most likely here to stay.
Because of the importance of attention for learning, Foerde, K., Knowlton, B.J., & Poldrack, A. (2006). Modulation
of competing memory systems by distraction. Proceedings
we need to be concerned about the ramifications of
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of
widespread media multitasking. Classic and current
America, 103, 11778-11783.
research on best practices for teaching and learning
suggest that it may be possible to counteract some Hembrooke, H. & Gay, G. (2003). The laptop and the lecture:
The effects of multitasking in learning environments. Journal of
Computing in Higher Education, 15, 46.
Just, M.A., Carpenter, P.A., Keller, T.A., Emery, L., Zajac, H.,
& Thulborn, K. (2001). Interdependence of nonoverlapping
cortical systems in dual cognitive tasks. Neuroimage, 14,
417-426.
Ophir, E., Nass, C., & Wagner, A.D. (2009). Cognitive control in
We were told to multitask, so I was attending class while
media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of
sleeping.
Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 15583-15587.
Taking on multitasking
By Jerome Rekart
KEY POINTS
Research by cognitive scientists and neuroscientists shows that attention is nite, and the multitasking brain has to divide
attention so that the focus on any single task may be less than optimum for learning.
Students report, on average, that they spend over one-third of the time theyre reading and one-half of the time theyre doing
homework on the computer simultaneously using at least two other forms of electronic media.
When students try to perform two tasks at the same time, the total amount of brain activity actually falls below what it would be if
students were completing only one task.
Brainwave patterns are different when students are multitasking versus working on one task.
The effect on learning is a decrease in short-term memory, retention, and accurate task completion; students suffer the same
decreases when theyre in classrooms that distract them with irrelevant stimuli.
The author provides some strategies for addressing these decreases, especially when teachers use lecture and text reading;
these include frequent assessment, limiting competing stimuli in the classroom, and teaching in 10- to 12-minute modules that
each feature novel learning media.
Multitasking may one day provide an advantage to learners who may be paying attention in a different way, taking a breadth
approach to their stimuli, and preparing for success in the 21st century.
FULL VALUE
In a National Public Radio broadcast, Think Youre Multitasking? Think Again, Jon Hamilton (October 2, 2008) reported on a multitasking
experiment:
At a lab at the University of Michigan, researchers are using an MRI scanner to photograph test subjects brains as they take on different
tasks. During a recent test, Daniel Weissman, the neuroscientist in charge of the experiment, explained that a man lying inside the scanner
would be performing different tasks, depending on the color of two numbers he sees on a screen. If the two digits are one color say, red
the subject decides which digit is numerically larger, Weissman said. On the other hand, if the digits are a different color say green
then the subject decides which digit is actually printed in a larger font size. MRI studies like this one, Weissman said, have shown that when
the man in the scanner sees green, his brain has to pause before responding to round up all the information it has about the green task.
When the man sees red, his brain pauses again to push aside information about the green task and replace it with information about
the red task. If the tasks were simpler, they might not require this sort of full-throttle switching. But, Weissman said, even simple tasks can
overwhelm the brain when we try to do several at once.
1. To what extent do you multitask? When are you most likely to multitask? What electronic media do you use? Whats the effect
on your short-term memory, retention, and accurate task completion of any one task?
2. What have you noticed about todays students? To what extent have they increased or decreased multitasking? To what
extent has multitasking affected learning?
3. To what extent do you believe that attention is finite (limited) in the brain? To what extent do brains change as demands
change?
4. How is multitasking with electronic media like being in a classroom stuffed with irrelevant distractions?
5. How well would these solutions help in a classroom featuring lecture and reading text: Frequent assessment? Limiting
competitive stimuli? Working in short modules with a variety of learning media?
Convene a focus group of students (4th grade and older). Use the following process to discover students multitasking habits, their
attitudes toward multitasking, and how they can learn best in your schools classrooms.
1. Plan on two facilitators a student from the group and an adult from the group. Prepare the student facilitator for the task.
2. Prepare a room with two circles of chairs, both facing inward. Have students and their facilitator sit in the inner circle facing
each other; have teachers sit in the outer circle facing in, with the adult facilitator sitting near the student facilitator.
3. Teachers will be listening in (flies on the wall, an image students will enjoy!) to the discussion among students but wont
interact with them. Teachers will be silent during the focus group process, until the last step.
4. After introductions around both groups, students should talk freely with each other about the topics and try to ignore the
teachers in the room.
5. After discussion of the topics and subtopics, students should turn their chairs to face the adults and engage in follow-up
questions framed by the teachers.
6. After the adult facilitator debriefs students about the process and the students leave, the adult facilitator should take 15
minutes or more with the teachers in the room to debrief the process as well as to create a list of key ideas from the students.
Reference
Hamilton, J. (2008, October 2). Think youre multitasking? Think again, National Public Radio (NPR) broadcast. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=95256794
There is little doubt that students challenging behavior in schools is always on the minds
of teachers, school administrators, and parents. But what precisely are the challenging be-
haviors of greatest concern? Media portrayals and surveys of public opinion suggest a wide-
spread perception that schools are dangerous places, but data dont support such conclu-
sions. School violence has been on a steady decline for more than a decade. Nonetheless,
student behavior presents consistent, albeit less violent, challenges to teaching and learning.
This hypothetical represents what we think is a typical example:
J
ason is a 7th grader with below grade-level academic skills.
He is one of 24 students in a general math class. His teacher
Mr. Monroe does his best to present material that all stu-
dents can understand, but faces the constant challenge that
his more capable students will be bored if he moves too
slowly through the curriculum, while Jason and others who
struggle academically will be lost if he moves too quickly.
Predictably, when theyre bored or frustrated, students become dis-
tracted and disruptive. On this particular day, as Mr. Monroe reviews
the process of simplifying fractions by demonstrating a few examples
on the smartboard, his capable students essentially ignore this review
and engage in their own off-topic conversations, while Jason and his
friends begin complaining that this stuff is too hard, that Mr. Mon-
roe is a terrible teacher who never explains things right. When Mr.
Monroe challenges them to stop talking and pay attention, they es-
calate their complaints. Jason becomes defiant, and says, This whole
TIMOTHY J. LANDRUM (tlandrum@ school and all the teachers suck, which draws laughter from a few
louisville.edu) and AMY S. LINGO are students. Mr. Monroe threatens a discipline referral to the office if he
associate professors and TERRANCE M.
SCOTT is a professor and chair of the
hears one more word, to which Jason replies, Fine, thatd be better
department of special education at the than sitting in here.
University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.
and frequent problems teachers face. But three ele- PREDICT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR
ments of chronic patterns of disruptive behavior give Fairly simple analyses consistently show that be-
us reason for hope, though our optimism is contin- havior positive and negative generally occurs
gent on schools changing how they view and respond quite predictably in relation to objects or events in
to problem behavior in general. the environment. Some might argue that environ-
mental events may come and go in a random manner,
Problem behavior is predictable. but how students respond to environmental cues is,
Problem behavior is preventable. in fact, highly predictable. If teachers can identify
environmental predictors, they can generally manip-
Preventing problem behavior
ulate them to prevent undesirable behaviors. Such
requires attention to instruction. predictions are based on repeated observations of a
behavior in the context of the environment in which
Toward the third point, we emphasize that atten- it occurs. In Jasons case, above, careful observation
tion to instruction means two things: First, academic and analysis of his problem episodes may reveal that
instruction must be designed and delivered in a way his most common misbehaviors occur during group
that engages all students; and second, many of the instruction, when the class is split so that some are
social and academic skills teachers expect students to working and others talking, or when questions are to
display must be actively taught. We briefly consider be answered orally in front of the class. Identifying This article
each of the elements of prediction, prevention, and these predictors would allow his teacher to be much was originally
instruction with an eye toward what teachers and more prescriptive, both in how he organizes the en- published in Phi
administrators must do to reduce and reverse pat- vironment for each lesson and in how he delivers Delta Kappan, 93
terns of disruptive, challenging behavior in schools. prompts and reminders during the lesson. (2), 30-34.
Summer Issue #2 kappanmagazine.org 25
Thinkstock/Stockbyte
Students with challenging behaviors are more bling student (e.g., show up at 11 a.m., biology, 3rd
likely to have academic deficits in reading, math, and period; watch him and his lab partner as soon as
written language (Lane, Carter, Pierson, & Glaeser, theyre told to start their lab independently). As
2006). While the precise nature of the relationship a general rule, if teachers can make such predictions
between academic deficits and problem behavior re- with some accuracy, theyre well on their way to pre-
mains unclear, indeed presenting a chicken-or-the- venting the problem behavior in question.
egg conundrum, we do know with some certainly
that each influences the other in a reciprocal way PREVENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR
(Scott, Nelson, & Liaupsin, 2001). Problem behav- There is no shortage of interventions touted as
ior contributes to academic difficulties, which con- best practice in dealing with difficult behavior, but
tribute to additional behavioral concerns, which fur- no single strategy or program has been demonstrated
ther impinge on a students academic success, and so to be effective with all individuals and all types of
on. No matter which came first, students identified challenging behaviors in our schools and commu-
as having challenging behaviors or academic deficits nities. There is no magic bullet. The most logical,
in the classroom are more likely to experience nega- practical, and efficient way to deal with failure is to
tive or punitive interactions with teachers, regardless use information on predictors to create physical and
of their behavior; less likely to receive time engaged instructional environments that both avoid predict-
in instruction with their teachers; and more likely able problems and create predictable successes. We
to be subjected to reduced demands and lowered believe that we can increase the odds of academic
expectations. engagement and positive behavior, though its absurd
to think of raising that rate to 100%. Likewise, we
believe that we can lower the odds of problem be-
havior, but again well never lower that rate to zero.
Use information on predictors to create Using what we know to increase our odds of success,
physical and instructional environments we think, is simply the best approach we have.
that both avoid predictable problems and The key to tipping these odds in our favor is to
help teachers consider how to use identified predic-
create predictable successes. tors to prevent certain behaviors. Think of a follow-
up to the earlier hypothetical we posed, with one key
alteration; imagine that a teacher is now asked: If
As a result of this pattern, we shouldnt be sur- I were to come in tomorrow at the same time and under
prised that students with academic or behavioral dif- the same conditions you just named, but this time Ill give
ficulties dont see school or time in academic classes you $1 million if Jason is successful, rather than disrup-
as exciting opportunities for learning, or even op- tive, what would you do differently? The object is to
portunities to demonstrate their success and receive help the teacher consider how to use information on
positive acknowledgement for their efforts. Rather, predictability to create success. Generally, preven-
they come to see school itself as an aversive situa- tion involves efforts to control those events that are
tion. Failure in reading class leads to withdrawal and identified as most predictive of student failure, and
avoidance of reading tasks, which, in turn, sets the to teach specific skills that will help the student to
occasion for less instruction and growing academic more effectively deal with those events.
deficits. For students with academic skill deficits, Teachers can prevent certain behaviors by de-
even physically laborious tasks come to be more ap- veloping routines and arrangements. Teachers have
pealing than academic activities (Juel, 1988). great control over some things, such as the number of
The key to prediction is to help teachers consider students engaging in a task at one time, the procedure
multiple episodes of behavior and to begin think- for transitioning from one task to another, and the
ing in terms of the larger environment. Imagine, for routine for lining up at the door. Still, controlling the
example, that a teacher were asked something like environment is a tricky proposition for teachers. To
the following by an outside, objective observer: If I be sure, well never have the foresight or ability to
were to come in tomorrow to observe for only five minutes, control all of the potential events in school. For ex-
and offered you $1 million if I could see Jason display his ample, manipulating where the teacher is located in
typical problem behavior, when would you have me come the room so as to better answer questions or changing
observe? Where should I be looking? What would be going the seating arrangement to separate two antagonistic
on in the environment? This gets the teacher thinking students are simple prevention strategies because the
seriously about the environments role in predicting predictors are largely under the teachers control. In
behavior. We think most teachers could answer this contrast, predictors cant be as easily controlled for
question quickly and easily about their most trou- a student whose misbehavior is sparked by a peers
26 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #2
comments or a perceived slight on the playground. use is crucial. The reluctance to acknowledge posi-
While the teacher may create environments where tive behavior is sometimes justified by the notion
student comments are limited and playgrounds are that internal reinforcement success is prefer-
well monitored, preventing the random remark or able to external reinforcement praise. While this
look that precipitates a perceived slight will always might be true in certain contexts, the teachers role
be much more difficult. Thus, prevention must al- in developing, recognizing, and reinforcing initial
ways involve arranging environmental variables and success is critical. For example, if we asked a student
events that are under a teachers control to increase
the odds of positive engagement and decrease the
odds of problem behavior. But, even when we do our The teachers role in developing,
best to manipulate the environment to tip the odds in
our favor, what teachers do instructionally remains a recognizing, and reinforcing initial
key ingredient in dealing with challenging behavior. success is critical.
ENGAGE THROUGH INSTRUCTION
What teachers do during instruction is often sim- to solve a math problem and then refused to let him
ply a matter of whats most comfortable or familiar or her know whether the problem was solved cor-
to the teacher, often with little attention to evidence- rectly, we wouldnt have taught anything, nor would
based strategies. Recent large-scale analyses clearly we have changed the probability of the students suc-
identify instructional practices associated with in- cess or failure in the future. While most teachers
creased student success (Hattie, 2009). Among the understand this in the context of academic instruc-
most effective teacher-based practices identified are tion, positive feedback is often missing in dealing
such basic strategies as teacher clarity, teacher feed- with behavior. Even teachers who routinely praise a
back, opportunities for students to respond, model- student verbally for a correctly performed academic
ing, and guided practice. What we find most strik- task rarely say thank you to the student who raises a
ing about these strategies is that while theyre listed hand in class for the first time or gets to class on time.
here because of their link to students
academic success, they also provide a
high probability of positively influencing
student engagement and, consequently, What are we going to do about homework?
their behavior. Is homework an effective instructional tool?
Providing students with opportunities Do you have students that are failing because
to respond in class, using effective mod-
els, and relevant and engaging opportu-
they do not complete their homework?
nities to practice, and offering consistent
feedback doesnt constitute special pro- Answers to these questions and more are found in this
gramming for students with challenging compelling research from the
behavior. Rather, these essential compo- students perspective.
nents of instruction allow us to shape and Whether your students
maintain success for all students. The
are gifted, have special
key is to use these effective strategies to
help students avoid contexts that predict needs, are English
problems and teach behaviors that will language learners, or
effectively replace and prevent problem they follow the general
behavior. Still, students with challenging curriculum, there is
behaviors present special problems when something crucial they
teachers are trying to provide effective
want to tell you.
instruction. Whether a student responds
best to group versus individual question-
ing, verbal versus physical modeling, or Listen to them!
private versus group feedback are ques- Available now for $66.32
tions that are determined through the at Amazon.com
trial-and-error history thats part of the
prediction and prevention process.
Feedback may present one of the
more difficult issues for teachers, and its
Summer Issue #2 kappanmagazine.org 27
As a general rule, what makes instruction effective in he asks students to look at the challenge problem in the
the academic realm applies equally to teaching social book. He says that its extremely difficult and that it will
behavior. In all cases, we simply use the tools at our require someone very smart at math. Several students,
disposal to maximize the probability that the student including Jason, raise their hands. Mr. Monroe calls on Jason
will be successful with the very next trial. who strolls confidently to the board. As Jason works the
problem, Mr. Monroe asks questions to both Jason and
the class about why different steps were taken engag-
The same routines used to teach and ing all in the lesson. As Jason finishes, Mr. Monroe publicly
acknowledges his success and then directs the class on to
reinforce reading, math, or science independent work. Jason returns to his desk and slowly
concepts can and should be used to brings himself to begin the work.
teach and promote positive social and There are no guarantees that any given instruc-
classroom behavior. tional or management approach will work with a
given student. Indeed, we believe that our best hope
is merely to increase our odds of success. If failure has
SUMMARY occurred repeatedly, manipulating environmental
variables or instructional routines can increase our
We argue that dealing with difficult behavior is a odds of success. Picking apart Mr. Monroes response
matter of awareness of the factors involved in predic- to Jason would be easy, and we recognize that teach-
tion, prevention, and instruction. This means three ers might come at this problem with any number
things. First, teachers know or can be assisted in of proposed solutions, potentially including drastic
thinking through the environmental events and con- variation from the one described here. Indeed, we
texts associated with higher probabilities of problem accept that any number of responses to Jason might
behavior. Second, based on these predictions, teach- be appropriate. But we return to our original sugges-
ers can actively manipulate many of the environmen- tion that effective responses must address the three
tal or contextual variables under their control in ways concerns we raised above: We can predict problem
that increase the odds of students being engaged and behavior in the classroom; we can manipulate the
displaying positive behavior, and decrease the odds environment in response to these predictions; and
of disruptive behavior. Finally, instruction is key to instruction can be used or altered in ways that engage
success in this area. This means that instruction must students and ensure success. We think Mr. Mon-
be designed and delivered in a way that addresses roes response represents a reasonable approach to
student needs and skill levels appropriately, provid- the problem. More important, if the alternative is
ing ample opportunities for successful responding. to do nothing, we can say with great certainty that
It also means that the same routines used to teach the prognosis for Jasons success in school and life is
and reinforce reading, math, or science concepts can extremely bleak. K
and should be used to teach and promote positive
social and classroom behavior. Consider a potential References
outcome to the scenario described earlier:
Hattie, J.C. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800
After Jasons suggestion that hed love to be sent to the meta-analyses relating to achievement. London, UK & New
office, Mr. Monroe quietly slides a chair next to Jason and York, NY: Routledge, Taylor, & Francis.
sits by him. Mr. Monroe says calmly, We can talk about
that later; right now, get out your math book because Ive Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: A longitudinal
got a trick solution to show you on our challenge problem. study of 54 children from 1st through 4th grade. Journal of
I want you to show the class when youre ready. Jason Educational Psychology, 80, 437-447.
just scowls. Mr. Monroe takes a look around the room,
Lane, K., Carter, W., Pierson, M., & Glaeser, B. (2006).
praises those whose books are out, then picks up Jasons
Academic, social, and behavioral characteristics of high school
book himself, and opens it to the correct page. Look
students with emotional disturbances or learning disabilities.
at this problem. Its the hardest one, and nobody knows
Journal of Emotional & Behavioral Disorders, 14 (2), 108-117.
how to solve it, but I can give you a trick to make it work
and youll be the only one who can do it. Jason switches Scott, T.M., Nelson, C.M., & Liaupsin, C. (2001). Effective
his glance to the book and stares at the problem, finally instruction: The forgotten component in preventing school
asking, Whats the trick? Mr. Monroe talks Jason through violence. Education and Treatment of Children, 24, 309-322.
the problem, modeling the key procedures, and giving
Jason opportunities to demonstrate his understanding. Walker, H.M., Ramsey, E., & Gresham, F.M. (Eds.). (2004).
After about two minutes, he leaves Jason and returns to Antisocial behavior in school: Evidence-based practices (2nd
instruction with the entire group. After a few minutes, ed.). Belmont CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.
KEY POINTS
Although schools may be portrayed as dangerous, data indicate that school violence has decreased; however, problem behavior
that doesnt necessarily lead to violence is seen every day in most schools.
Educators need to be aware that problem behavior can be predicted in relation to whats happening to students personally and
in the classroom, school, and larger environment.
Educators can manage an environmental problem (such as a learning decit or whole-class discussion) to change behavior.
They can also prevent problems from occurring (such as focusing on the needs of a child struggling to learn or having small
groups engage in discussion).
Prevention requires routines and arrangements that facilitate learning as well as teaching students strategies to become better
learners.
Educators can also use proven and engaging instructional strategies, such as feedback, to positively influence student
behavior.
FULL VALUE
Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock describe several research-based strategies for increasing student
achievement in their book Classroom Instruction That Works (2001). These are listed at the end of this Professional Development
Discussion Guide.
These strategies are becoming increasingly popular in todays schools but, according to the authors, they were not understood and
used 30 to 40 years ago. Indeed, teaching had not been systematically studied in a scientific manner (p. 1). Teaching was seen
as an art rather than a science. In fact, in 1966, James Coleman and his colleagues determined as a result of analyzing data from
600,000 students in 1966 that the quality of schooling a student receives accounts for only about 10% of the variance in student
achievement (in Marzano, et al., p. 1).
Two books are especially helpful in describing what researchers now know about how students learn: How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000) and How Students Learn: Reforming Schools Through Learner-centered
Education (Lambert & McCombs, 1998).
1. If you had been asked before reading this article whether violence has increased in schools, what would have been your
response?
4. To what extent do you think problem behavior is predictable, preventable, and dependent on attention to instruction?
5. How well do educators today teach students the personal, social, and academic skills they want students to exhibit?
6. What percent of environmental conditions can a classroom teacher control, arrange, or manipulate?
7. What are the barriers to using instructional practices that help students succeed? Can these be overcome, and if so, how?
8. What kind of feedback do students receive in classrooms? To what extent do these types of feedback help students improve
behavior?
The authors suggest that academic deficits and challenging behavior are something like the chicken-or-the-egg problem. Which came
first? Which influences the other?
With your colleagues, make a list of students who challenge their teachers in terms of personal, social, and educational behaviors.
Select one student and picture this person; work together to describe this student. Prepare a chart like this:
Then, engage in the chicken-or-the-egg conundrum the authors mention. What came first?
What reinforces the other?
Actually, if you read Marc Brasofs article, Student Input Improves Behavior, Fosters
Leadership and its Professional Development Discussion Guide in this issue of Kappan, you
have encountered single- and double-loop thinking. What are the typical responses a teacher
might make toward this student? These are chicken-or-the-egg or single-loop thinking. Draw single loops to represent these and
consider that typical reactions might result in increased problem behavior.
Then, push yourselves to step out of single-loop thinking in order to consider other responses (based on different mental models or
assumptions) that might help this student learn. Think about how this students teachers and principal could act or react, based on
viewing misbehavior as predictable, preventable, and manageable through instructional strategies. Create some double-loop models.
References
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press.
Coleman et al. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office as cited in Marzano,
R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student
achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Lambert, N.M. & McCombs, B.L. (Eds.). (1998). How students learn: Reforming schools through learner-centered education.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing
student achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
By Spencer J. Salend
Every student takes tests, whether theyre in 1st grade or graduate school. Many
of those students will experience some degree of test anxiety, which can negatively af-
fect their grades, promotions, graduation, and post-secondary opportunities (Salend,
2011a). Even though educators are the ones responsible for testing students and
probably creating much of that anxiety they can also be the ones who help alleviate
student test anxiety if they are armed with information and knowledge about useful
strategies.
During testing, students experiencing test anxiety encounter extreme levels of stress,
nervousness, and apprehension that drastically hinders their ability to perform well
and negatively affects their social-emotional and behavioral development and feelings
about themselves and school (Cizek & Burg, 2006; Huberty, 2009). Students may have
Students can learn to generalized anxiety disorders, but anxiousness over tests is different (Huberty, 2009).
use anxiety reduction Students with generalized anxiety disorders are distinguished by a trait anxiety, which
results in experiencing high levels of stress across a wide range of situations (Cassady,
strategies before, during, 2010; Cizek & Burg, 2006). Conversely, students experiencing test anxiety have a state
and after testing. anxiety, which results in high levels of nervousness specific to testing.
A variety of interrelated variables associated with individualized student character-
istics, family and peer interactions, and school and classroom practices can lead to test
anxiety (Salend, 2011a). These factors include:
These factors often interact to create a cycle that results in heightened levels of
This article test anxiety (Cassady, 2010). For example, a student may initially do badly on a test
was originally
published in Phi SPENCER J. SALEND is a professor of education at the State University of New York-New Paltz, N.Y.
Delta Kappan, 93 He is author of Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Effective and Reflective Practices. (Pearson Education,
(6), 20-25. 2011) and Classroom Testing and Assessment for All Students: Beyond Standardization (Corwin, 2009).
TABLE 1.
Possible symptoms associated with test anxiety
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS AFFECTIVE SYMPTOMS
Excessive perspiration Difficulties with concentration, attention, and memory that interfere Making negative self-statements
with:
Sweaty palms Having pessimistic expectations
Reading and understanding test directions and items
(e.g., Im going to fail this test.)
Unexplained headache or Retrieving words, facts, and concepts
stomachache Organizing thoughts and answers Being apathetic and unmotivated
Nausea Performing poorly on tests when the content: Negative comparisons of self to
others (e.g., Im not as smart as
Has been studied
Shaking body parts others.)
Has been mastered previously as demonstrated via nontesting
Rapid heartbeat performance assessment activities Making excuses for poor test
performance (e.g., I dont do
Dizziness and light-headedness Off-task behaviors such as inappropriate comments, fidgeting, well on tests because I have test
squirming, pacing, staring, tapping, crying, and rapid speech during anxiety.)
Muscle tension testing
Expressing avoidance and fear
Tics Asking numerous unnecessary questions about test of testing situations
Cheating on tests
Source: Salend, S.J. (2011, November/December). Addressing test anxiety. Teaching Exceptional Children, 44 (2), p. 61. 2011 Council for Ex-
ceptional Children. Reprinted with permission.
KEY POINTS
Test anxiety is a state anxiety, specic to a situation; students may also experience trait anxieties that are more generalized.
A variety of factors can result in test anxiety, including negative self-esteem, pressure from peers or family, poorly made tests, and
ineffective teaching.
Test anxiety may result from doing poorly on one test and then transferring that experience to subsequent tests, intensifying the
anxiety with each test.
While some stress is good for optimum performance on a test, 25% to 40% of students experience disabling test anxiety.
Teachers can deploy interventions in terms of creating student-friendly tests (that are valid, accessible, and use best practices for
creating items and directions), fostering motivation, teaching test-taking strategies, using relaxation techniques before and during
tests, involving family members in preparing students for tests, and enlisting the help of other professionals in the school.
The author provides a chart describing physical, behavioral, and affective symptoms associated with test anxiety.
FULL VALUE
Here are some other ways of thinking about test anxiety:
George Washington Universitys Counseling Center distinguishes between two phases of anxiety: Anxiety can be labeled as
anticipatory anxiety if you feel distress while studying and when thinking about what might happen when you take a test. Anxiety can
be labeled as situational anxiety if it occurs while taking a test.
The Education Testing Service (ETS) in its booklet on test anxiety related to taking the Praxis (a teacher-licensing test) recommends
that students not waste time on beat the test strategies. There are a number of test-prep books and classes out there that advertise
shortcuts for studying, such as methods for finding the answers to multiple-choice questions or secrets for fooling essay-test scorers
into giving you a high score. But the truth is, you cant trick your way to a high score.
In a study of the relationship between test anxiety and academic performance at Missouri Western State University, Vogel and Collins
found no effect. Academic performance of students in two undergraduate psychology classes took quizzes and completed surveys
on anxiety. The quiz grades were then compared to the survey scores in order to determine if high- and low-anxiety groups perform
lower than moderate-anxiety groups (Vogel & Collins, 2009). The researchers found no difference in quiz grades between the two
groups.
1. Do you experience test anxiety (or do you know someone who does)? How does the anxiety manifest itself (physically,
behaviorally, affectively)?
2. What factors that affect test anxiety are out of a teachers control? What factors are within a teachers control?
4. In your experience, what types of students are more likely to experience test anxiety than other students?
5. The author suggests that test question format should align to instructional practices. For example, an essay question should
address material taught via role playing, simulations, cooperative learning, and problem-solving strategies. Objective test
items should relate to fact-based learning. How does your experience in creating tests and taking tests align with that
suggestion?
6. To what extent would the educational community with which you work consider having students collaborate on test answers
cheating?
7. To what extent should students have choices on their tests? What kinds of choices?
I used to hate tests. Everybody thought some- I was afraid the tests
thing was wrong with me, so they would prove that Im not
kept giving me these tests. I used to freak out, and very good at things, so I
Id get all the answers wrong. I knew something messed up on purpose.
was wrong with me. Sevi
David
References
Easton, L.B. (2008). Engaging the disengaged: How schools can help struggling students succeed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
University Counseling Center, George Washington University. (n.d.). Test anxiety. http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/index.gw/Site_ID/5176/Page_ID/14095
Vogel, H.L. & Collins, A. L. (2009). The relationship between test anxiety and academic performance. http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/
manuscripts/333.php
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If teachers are a finite
resource, how can
schools/districts best
deploy them where
they matter the most?
What is the role of
technology in helping
schools work smaller
and smarter?
If schools and districts
must abandon the 25-
to-1 student-to-teacher
model, what other
models could be ad-
opted to ensure high-
quality learning?
Where are there
examples of schools
and districts that have
successfully reduced
themselves and
continued to provide
high-quality learning
for students?
Submit manuscripts
to manuscripts@
pdkintl.org.
The transformation of the Kansas City, Mo., These statistics strongly suggested that, at the
School District (KCMSD) has been long overdue. current rate of progress, the district would achieve
Multiple superintendents and administrations, using only minimal success. (See Figs. 1-4.) Making incre-
billions of dollars of desegregation funds, tried to mental changes each year would have tempered the
transform the district by creating magnet schools, affect on the community, but there was little political
themed schools, and career-focused high school ini- will to make any changes because the school district
tiatives. Missing from these initiatives, but included was a major employer in Kansas City. To create a
in the current restructuring, was a laser-like focus on sense of urgency throughout the community regard-
teaching and learning. ing the plight of public education for Kansas City
By the 2009-10 school year, the district faced a
myriad of problems: More than 70% of its schools
posted student proficiency levels below 25% on the Kansas City saved $68 million, cut vendor
state assessment, and fewer than one-third of ele- contracts from 6,000 to fewer than 1,000,
mentary students were reading at grade level. Stu- and improved its focus on optimizing
dent enrollment had dropped from 30,000 in 2000 resources to support teaching and
to just over 17,000 in 2010, creating a building use learning.
rate of 48% in the districts 63 open schools. (Fifty
percent of all open seats were in secondary schools.)
State revenues had sharply declined in the face of students, newly appointed Supt. John Covington
the worst recession since the 1930s. The result was called for a radical transformation and rightsizing
a projected budget deficit of $8.5 million in FY2011 of the district.
and a two-year revenue decline of over $100 million
with little likelihood of a significant upturn projected The plan takes shape
for FY2012. Finally, the district had been cited by the In October 2009, a community task force ap-
state as having no viable and guaranteed curriculum, pointed by Covington kicked off the rightsizing
with local schools having scant capacity for ensuring process by having two sets of forums. The first fo-
that students would be college, career, or workforce rum confirmed the priorities in deciding on school
ready when they graduated from high school (Essel- closures, and a second set in spring 2010 obtained
man & Reynolds, 2010). feedback on the final recommendations. To avoid
MARY ESSELMAN (esselmanm@michigan.gov) is chief officer, accountability, equity, and innovation for the Michigan Education Achieve-
ment Authority. She is a former assistant superintendent for professional development, assessment and accountability in Missouri.
REBECCA LEE-GWIN is deputy chancellor business and fiscal affairs and operations for the Michigan Education Achievement Author-
ity, an agency tasked with handling Michigans lowest-performing schools. She is a former chief financial officer in Missouri. MICHAEL
ROUNDS is chief operating officer for the Kansas City Public Schools, Kansas City, Mo.
FIG 1.
Percentage of students reading at or above grade level
40 -
Percentage of students
35 -
30 -
25 -
20 -
15 -
10 -
5-
0-
GRADE 2 GRADE 3 GRADE 4 GRADE 5 GRADE 6 GRADE 7 GRADE 8 TOTAL
This article
was originally
Source: Esselman, M. & Reynolds, M. (2010). Rightsizing the Kansas City, Missouri, School District: Teaching and learn- published in Phi
ing for a new millennium. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City School District. Delta Kappan, 93
(6), 56-61.
40 -
30 -
20 -
10 -
0-
TOTALS ASIAN BLACK HISPANIC WHITE F/R LUNCH IEP LEP
Source: Esselman, M. & Reynolds, M. (2010). Rightsizing the Kansas City, Missouri, School District: Teaching and learn-
ing for a new millennium. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City School District.
relying on a single factor to determine which schools Ultimately, data from the scorecards, along with
would close, district officials created a matrix of 52 input from the task force, community forums, and
indicators across four categories academic perfor- economic indicators provided by city planners were
mance, building conditions and infrastructure, en- used to identify 30 schools for closure. While grade
rollment and demand for schools and programs, and configurations in the elementary schools did not
other special program considerations and created change, secondary schools were reconstituted to
scorecards for each district school. 7-12 grade-level organizations, with many of the sec-
Upon review of the districts recommendations ondary magnet programs collapsed into one building
for school closures, the second set of community from two.
forums unearthed disagreements over grade-level The district made reducing vendor contracts an
organizations and gang issues. The administra- important objective. For years, the district had sup-
tion initially recommended reorganizing schools plied contracts to a number of individuals in the city
into grade-level groupings of K-2, 3-6, and 7-12. whose lifestyles required this flow of money to con-
Numerous parents opposed this and cited personal tinue. These individuals pressured board members
hardships in getting children to as many as three and the superintendent to no avail.
schools each day as a significant problem. Com- In March 2010, the board approved closing all
bining middle school students with high school 30 targeted schools on a 5-to-4 vote. Kansas City
students also provoked strong sentiments. Parents reduced its budget by $68 million for FY2011, cut
did not want their 13- and 14-year-old daughters vendor contracts from 6,000 to fewer than 1,000, and
mingling with 17- and 18-year-old boys. improved its focus on optimizing resources to sup-
Parents, community activists, and students raised port teaching and learning. Rightsizing continued in
concerns that changing school attendance boundar- FY 2012 with an additional reduction of $37 million
ies would send children across gang turf lines, plac- across both operations and instruction.
ing them in jeopardy. Also, there was a strong sense Included in the cuts were 1,247 full-time equiv-
that comingling gang-connected students would alent positions over a two-year span. The district
bring trouble. They worried that adding 7th and spent $8 million to provide a retirement or buyout
8th graders in the mix would provide bigger pools incentive for eligible employees, both certified and
for gang recruiting. City Council members joined classified. The plan was designed to recoup the cost
the fray, focusing on the number of schools being of incentives within three years through lower sal-
closed in each subdistrict. They wanted the pain of ary expenditures and reduced legal fees. The union
school closings to be shared equally among atten- requested but the administration did not sup-
dence districts. port a 4% raise for teachers and support staff.
4 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #3
The district took the stance that including a raise in access to both aggregated and disaggregated student
the proposed collective bargaining agreement would progress reports aligned with local, state, national
have returned the district to its prior state of finan- and international standards. The increased use of
cial instability. The district intends to restructure technology provides cost savings by eliminating out-
the salary schedule to reward performance rather side vendors and is therefore financially sustainable.
than longevity. In light of shrinking dollars, professional devel-
opment funds have shifted to support in-house cur-
A new pedagogy riculum writing and other leadership activities. The
In transforming teaching and learning after the districts new teaching and learning center hosts
cuts, district leaders wanted to create a system in resource rooms for each content area and teacher-
which students assume ownership for their learning led workshops. The district uses technology to sup-
under the guidance of teachers working as facilitators port collaboration among teachers through profes-
(Prensky, 2009). Through a culture of continuous sional learning communities, data teams, discussion
improvement, the district plans to eliminate path- threads, and transmedia platforms. Teachers con-
ways based soley on age and time. tinue to have access to individual professional devel-
The new instructional model embraces a learner- opment through commercial and district-generated
centered paradigm of education in which peda- video links.
gogy, assessments, and support systems are changed
(Reigeluth et al., 2008). Students work individually,
in pairs, and small groups facilitated by teachers, KCMSD is using technology more widely
peers, technology, and/or tutors. Students are orga-
as a result of the rightsizing.
nized by instructional level rather than grade level
and progress via mastery rather than time.
KCMSD is using technology more widely as a re-
sult of the rightsizing. The districts distance learning Principals and other administrators are able to
platforms support individualized learning plans for evaluate teachers with observation tools that al-
all students. Low-enrollment classes will be offered low them to use iPads to electronically document
through distance learning labs in each high school teachers instructional practices. Information from
during the 2012-13 school year. Virtual courses are walk-throughs is downloaded in real-time to a data
planned to support students with diverse interests, a warehouse that immediately generates a report for
desire to accelerate, or a need for remediation. In ad- viewing by teachers and administrators. Teachers
dition, parents, teachers, and students will have ready who need additional assistance receive video links
FIG 3.
Annual percentage of students proficient in math
60 -
50 -
Percentage of students proficient
40 -
30 -
20 -
10 -
0-
TOTALS ASIAN BLACK HISPANIC WHITE F/R LUNCH IEP LEP
Source: Esselman, M. & Reynolds, M. (2010). Rightsizing the Kansas City, Missouri, School District: Teaching and learn-
ing for a new millennium. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City School District.
25,000 -
Enrollment
20,000 -
15,000 -
10,000 -
5,000 -
0-
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009* 2010** 2011 2012
* Independence annexation was effective 7/1/2008. ** Actual enrollment as of 10/13/2009. Projected enrollment.
Source: Esselman, M. & Reynolds, M. (2010). Rightsizing the Kansas City, Missouri, School District: Teaching and
learning for a new millennium. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City School District.
aligned to the area of need. The district bought small, tally sound buildings, and the opportunity to have
portable cameras to provide panoramic filming; the effective teachers.
footage will be used for coaching, evaluating, and
demonstrating achieved competencies for new and Operational changes
struggling teachers. A school can be considered operationally effec-
tive if teachers and school administrators can focus
on learning and not on the surrounding environ-
ment. In each of the 33 open KCMSD buildings,
The district will continue to bear the
some level of infrastructure dysfunction routinely
expense of maintaining the large number disrupts teaching and learning. In many cases, its
of closed school buildings until theyre difficult to guarantee day to day that the physical
either sold or leased, a process that is environment in district schools will be adequate to
projected to take at least five years. support all school activities. Twice during spring
2011, for example, elementary school students had
to be sent home early because of plumbing failures.
Acute maintenance issues exist because the district
The broad restructuring resulted in balanced largely ignored routine and preventive maintenance
budgets for FY2011 and FY2012, demonstrating the for three decades. A 2007 study by ACI/Frangkiser
districts ability to respond effectively to changing Hutchens outlined over $150 million of deferred
student needs; even with fewer dollars, KCMSD can maintenance that needed to be addressed in order
no longer depend on its once privileged funding for district school buildings to remain viable in both
status. Rightsizing forced the district to truly assess the near and long term.
revenues and reduce expenditures accordingly. The To re-establish the functionality of all schools
district had to rethink staffing, class sizes, and tech- and address a good portion of their deferred mainte-
nology to replace some teachers (Hess & Osberg, nance, KCMSD has embarked on an aggressive pro-
2010). gram to refurbish its buildings. Putting the buildings
Leadership adopted the mantra of nothing into acceptable shape will require an $85-million in-
changes if nothing changes. The operational side of vestment. Equally important to the rapid execution
the district took the approach that efficiency would of the building refurbishment process is a commit-
ultimately strengthen the instructional side. The ment to keep the project funding neutral for district
budget, buildings, and staffing, if controlled effec- stakeholders. About $40 million will be provided
tively, would offer financial stability, environmen- up-front as available capital funds from the district.
6 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #3
The remaining $45 million, secured through leased- vide a benchmark cost to refurbish existing build-
purchase bonds, will be paid back over 15 years from ings and replace several. The cost is expected to be
the maintenance and utility savings achieved from between $200 million and $300 million. To meet
upgrading the schools. Similar projects have realized these needs, the district will ultimately need to gain
more than 20% savings on both maintenance and voter support for the first school bond in Kansas
energy costs. The proposed KCMSD refurbishment City since 1969.
project will be funding neutral by achieving mainte-
nance and utility savings of only 10% even though Conclusion
savings are expected to be well over the normal 20%. By erasing inefficient practices in the instruc-
The district has demanded that the selected con- tional, financial, and operational arenas, Kansas City
struction partner guarantee the performance of the has freed resources that can be redirected to teach-
refurbished energy management systems for the full ing and learning. The district must now turn its full
15 years of the contract, ensuring at least one genera- attention to meeting the challenge of regaining its
tion of building functionality. accreditation. For the past decade, the district has
not met the states proficiency requirements. In Sep-
tember 2011, the Missouri State Board of Education
The operational side of the district took gave the district an unaccredited status. The constant
the approach that efficiency would cloud of financial stress does have a direct relation-
ultimately strengthen the instructional ship to performance. With operational stability, the
side. district now has the financial wherewithal to move
forward to address student performance.
Rightsizing is not an isolated event. Rather, its an
At the same time the district is refurbishing all iterative process that requires continued self-exami-
existing schools, KCMSD is making a concerted ef- nation as the student population evolves. A lean orga-
fort to change the maintenance culture of the work- nization sends a signal that efficacy is valued. In com-
force. A key element is a new data-driven mainte- ing years, KCMSD must be agile enough to make
nance management system that provides real-time adjustments based on population shifts, student per-
visibility for each work order from the time its initi- formance, and shrinking dollars. The district must
ated until the work is completed. Tracking mainte- make decisions according to a zero sum mandate.
nance performance indicators will be a key factor in The district wants new programs to be funding neu-
ensuring that maintenance backlogs are eliminated tral while also ensuring that new schools, such as the
for good. proposed advanced career and technical education
The cost of securing and maintaining the large center, are sustainable and have the resources they
inventory of closed buildings is considerable. The need to achieve. Staying the course will continue
district is working with the community to repur- to be challenging for KCMSD as it seeks to regain
pose the buildings to meet local needs. This can be its accreditation, but its essential if the district is to
difficult because neighborhoods surrounding the remain independent and able to determine its own
buildings have been declining for years. KCMSD future.K
will keep seven of the buildings to provide for hoped-
for expansion as the district once again becomes the
education option of choice for students and parents References
in the district. These seven schools already have been
Esselman, M. & Reynolds, M. (2010). Rightsizing the Kansas
staged and mothballed. The district will continue to
City, Missouri, School District: Teaching and learning for a new
bear the expense of maintaining the closed buildings
millennium. Kansas City, MO: Kansas City School District.
until theyre either sold or leased, a process projected
to take at least five years. Hess, F. & Osberg, E. (2010). Stretching the school dollar:
The true operational transformation of the How schools and districts can save money while serving
KCMSD will require a sustained effort by all dis- students best. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
trict stakeholders. A key element of the transfor-
Prensky, M. (2008, November-December). The role of
mation is creating a living Facilities Master Plan.
technology in teaching and in the classroom. Educational
District stakeholders are collaborating on a 20-year
Technology, 48 (6), 64.
model that ensures the district has the right capacity
to meet an ever-evolving student population. The Reigeluth, C., Watson, W., Watson, S., Dutta, P., Chen, C., &
right capacity includes sustaining the right inven- Powell, N. (2008, November-December). Roles for technology
tory of buildings in the right locations and in the in the information-age paradigm of education: Learning
right condition. The facilities plan will also pro- management systems. Educational Technology, 48 (6), 32-39.
By Khym G. Goslin
Modeling
I remember once walking down a
school hallway, picking up paper and
placing it in the trash container a few
steps away thinking, Doesnt anybody
else see this? I cant recall others pick-
This article
was originally
KHYM G. GOSLIN (dr.khym.goslin@gmail.com)
published in Phi is an assistant professor at the University of
Delta Kappan, 93 Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince
(7), 42-45. Edward Island, Canada.
ing up on my practice. Ive come to believe that peo- pick it up please? How about going for a two pointer
ple interpreted the nonverbal message of my model- in that trash can? Crumpling the paper in my hand,
ing behavior as, Hes the principal, and its his job to I make my attempt. Regardless of the outcome of
keep the place tidy. The individuals who interpreted the playful challenge, Ive made more explicit my
my behavior werent picking up on the message that message conveyed through my modeling, and Ive
I intended, which means that my modeling was in- invited others to share in the value of maintaining
sufficient to send the message I wanted to send. My a tidy environment.
error was twofold. I had failed to grasp Sergiovannis I became more aware of the challenge principals
assertion that leaders must help constituents make face in effectively communicating their vision and
sense of what they observe the leader model. Further, intentions for teaching and learning as I studied their
I had ignored the six elements that are part of suc- instructional leadership practices. The stories of four
cessfully communicating any message symbolic principals (represented with pseudonyms) help to il-
or otherwise. Leaders use modeling effectively when lustrate that modeling, as a channel of communica-
their actions attend to the: tion, is no easy task.
Carol Ross, a mid-career elementary school prin-
Intended target audience; cipal, had an understanding of modeling similar to
Message; mine. She characterized being a role model as one
Channels of articulation; who maintained contact with staff and students.
Interference; She described her instructional leadership actions
Feedback; and as being a facilitator of resources and a participant Modeling
Context. in staff activities. Providing teachers with resources is more
may send a symbolic message that the principal cares, complex than
but, more likely, the principals action reinforces a
Modeling explained teachers belief that she is doing her managerial job simply taking
My action of picking up trash was symbolically correctly. High school principal Barry Lewis ex- an action
hollow. People were more quick to assume that emplified a more sophisticated understanding. An repeatedly
caretaking duties were part of my job. I gave them administrator needs to demonstrate through their
no cause to believe otherwise or to be self-reflective actions that instructional practice is an important in hopes that
about their beliefs that keeping the school tidy was part of the school climate, he said. As a teaching others will
a shared responsibility for everyone. My first er- principal, he icollaborates in grade-level meetings pick up on it.
ror was thinking that actions alone speak louder and leads teachers in his school in discussions of how
than words. The leaders actions must be consistent curriculum mapping could enhance student engage-
with the observers state of consciousness regard- ment.
ing the actions (White & Marx, 2011). If students Learning that symbolic leaders serving as models
and teachers arent conscious about the tidiness of require actions and conversations that convey the
the school or arent inwardly seeking a positive role values and beliefs surrounding the desired changes
model to inspire them to act, the leaders symbolic helped clarify my first error. Failing to help constitu-
act is lost. Sergiovanni argued that the key to sym- ents consciously make sense of what is being mod-
bolic leadership is focusing the attention of others eled limits the leaders influential use of modeling as
on matters of importance to the school (2001, p. a strategy for conveying messages about the values
24). He went on to explain that leaders signal the they hold and the behaviors that exemplify them.
beliefs and values that underlie the action by using While modeling without consciousness-raising is
more explicit communications. In this way, others tremendously important in letting teachers see who
begin the process of making sense of symbolic mes- the principal really is, the mode of communicating
sages. Effective symbolic leaders who use modeling is passive and ambiguous. As such, modeling allows
understand that the real message is not do as I do. individuals to misinterpret the symbolic message or
Rather, it is value what I value believe what I ignore the message as irrelevant. My second error
believe. To gain this level of understanding, lead- was failing to recognize that effective modeling is
ers must engage others in conversations that ignite an active and strategic form of communication. By
self-reflection and sense making. As a trash-pick- re-examining modeling through the lenses of the ele-
ing principal, I would have been a more successful ments that constitute all communications, I became
leader using modeling by holding on to the piece conscious of how some principals were successful
of paper and waiting until I spotted some litter near using modeling to guide and direct change.
some students. Seeing opportunity, I would have
simply called out, Hey, Jason, theres some paper Six elements of communication
by your foot, can you help keep the place tidy and The six elements of communication apply when
Summer Issue #3 kappanmagazine.org 9
symbolic leaders model behaviors to communicate of creating a more coherent curricular experience
messages about either the behaviors or the values for students. He has taken steps to create common
and beliefs behind them. Communication successes planning periods for teachers and uses his class-
and failures can be better understood by examin- room visits to inform his conversations with teach-
ing the people involved, the type of message used, ers about necessary changes in instructional practices
the channels used, the interference that distracts or that lead to enhanced student engagement. While
distorts the message, the feedback provided to the his own teaching and classroom visits symbolically
messenger, and the context within which the mes- tell staff that he cares about teaching and learning,
sage occurs (Simonds & Cooper, 2011). My own ex- Hughes also has recurring conversations with staff
ample of picking up paper may have been admirably that he believes helps them make sense of the shifts
altruistic, but if no one noticed because the channel toward a more engaging, coherent curriculum. He
of modeling was too subtle or because the hallway also uses other modes of communications, such as
too crowded (context and interference), then the memos and staff meetings, to express the values por-
message was lost. I believed I was being a symbolic trayed through his modeling.
leader and modeling the behavior I wanted to see in Hughes admits that a lot of challenges related to
others. The feedback I got didnt tell me my mes- improving instruction and learning remain, which
sage was wrong or culturally inappropriate, but it suggest that communicating transformative changes
did tell me that communicating important messages is complex and ongoing. It is possible to hypoth-
by modeling is more complex than simply taking esize why Hughes is making headway if we look at
an action repeatedly in hopes that others will pick his symbolic leadership through the communica-
up on it. tion elements lenses. His teaching may signal to his
Carl Taylor, a middle school vice-principal, ex- colleagues that he is credible, which enhances the
pressed his frustration about how he works hard to value of other symbolic gestures. Teacher attitudes
model that teachers should work together, develop toward his verbal and nonverbal messages, a pos-
shared goals, and participate in professional discus- sible source of communications interference, may be
sions to develop a robust learning community. Yet, he more positive because they perceive him to be more
reported that, at his school, there is little sustained credible. Hughes explicit work to engage teachers
dialogue around current research and best practice, in the discussions about changes in the school gives
and that staff meetings are clerical with little dialogue him opportunities to gain feedback and reinforce the
among staff. Taylor indicated he has presented im- core values hes trying to express through his actions.
portant issues for discussion at faculty meetings and Recognizing that teachers cant develop a sense of
brought consultants to speak to teachers on topics curricular coherency when they work in a context
that concern them. However, his messages are run- that supports isolation, Hughes developed a school
ning into interference from the school principal and schedule with common planning times, thus aligning
others who are happy with the status quo. The peo- the context more closely with the values and actions
ple with whom Taylor is communicating, through he modeled.
his modeling and verbal messages, have a different
frame of reference (Simonds & Cooper, 2011, p. Leading through modeling
8) in that their values and beliefs about school devel- My study of principals instructional leadership
opment arent consistent with his. Symbolic leaders practices suggests that modeling, as a strategy used
must recognize that groups have norms that create by successful symbolic leaders, is more sophisticated
and maintain social order. Group members judge and complex than first assumed. From this review,
potential leaders as capable if the leader reflects and I have three tips for school leaders confronted with
symbolizes the groups norms. If incongruity exists, leading the changes that will touch and transform
then it tends to interfere with communicating the the values and beliefs of the teachers with whom they
intended message because the group does not share work: reflect, envision, articulate.
the same meaning. For Taylor, this may mean tena-
ciously sustaining the delivery of his messages until REFLECT
the current school leadership changes. Symbolic leadership has at its heart values and
Principal David Hughes middle school serves beliefs (Kouzes & Posner, 2005; Sergiovanni, 2001).
a large central urban population. Hughes has pur- But a leaders actions must appear to be consistent
posely positioned himself as a symbolic model for with the beliefs they espouse (Argyris & Schn, 1996;
teachers. Besides having teaching responsibilities Schein, 2004). Thus, begin by honestly reflecting
that he believes help him better understand the chal- on what actions you model now and the content
lenges teachers face in the classroom, he contributes and clarity of the messages youre trying to project.
to the ongoing discussions about the schools goal What values do those actions explicitly and implicitly
10 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #3
model? A principal seen happily monitoring hallways flict and discomfort that is a part of change. Help-
doesnt convey the same message or values about ing others articulate their values and beliefs through
high learner expectations as a principal who regularly dialogue creates shared understanding. Modeling is
visits classrooms and observes instruction. A prin- one-way communication. To be most effective, suc-
cipal shoveling snow-covered sidewalks in front of cessful principals must combine it with other mes-
the school believes that he is modeling behavior that sages that reflect the elements of good communica-
teachers will interpret as caring for students. This tion.
may be admirable, but, as one teacher pointed out,
it fails to communicate a message that the principal A final word: Nonbelievers
cares about instruction and learning. Recall Carl Taylors efforts to model positive col-
laborative learning processes and his frustration aris-
ENVISION ing from those whose attitudes and beliefs were out We use our
The power of symbolic leadership is its ability of sync with his. We must remember that even the beliefs to
to advance transformative changes in organizations. most well-regarded symbolic leaders who are skilled
Principals who use modeling as a strategic leader- at modeling the best behaviors, values, and beliefs guide our
ship approach do so in conjunction with their vision couldnt convert everyone. The very fact that we are behaviors,
for the changes they want to achieve. David Hughes not all of one faith yet can recognize the modeling comfort
envisioned a transformative change in how teachers exhibited by the symbolic leaders at the heart of each
develop and deliver the implemented curriculum. faith is evidence of this. Symbolic leadership and lead- our fears,
He held and espoused a belief that all students have ing through modeling has a long history of practice. and give us
a right to experience the most robust and complete Sergiovanni found inspiration for his understanding meaning.
curriculum that a school can offer. Hughes mod- of the approach arising from his deeply rich back-
eled how that could be achieved through his own ground in Christianity. Others have recognized paral-
teaching and by valuing teamwork by entrenching lel leadership styles in other cultures. Gardner points
shared planning time as a new cultural norm. Fur- out, humans are believing animals (1986, p. 9). We
ther, his clarity of purpose created some constancy in use our beliefs to guide our behaviors, comfort our
his verbal and nonverbal messages, thus reinforcing fears, and give us meaning. Not every teacher will
the change process. believe that working in collaboration rather than in
isolation will result in a better education for students
ARTICULATE any more than everyone believes that Sundays are a
Successful principals seeking to improve teach- day of rest. The question in these instances is whether
ing and learning help others make sense of what the people can work respectfully with each other so as to
leader models. These leaders articulate the values do no harm to those they serve.K
and beliefs message directly and indirectly. Verbal
References
messages are used to reinforce the values being mod-
eled through the principals use of deliberate con- Argyris, C. & Schn, D.A. (1996). Organizational learning II.
versations with colleagues (Sergiovanni, 2001, p. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
34). Principals facilitate these conversations both
formally and informally, using multiple channels Gardner, J.W. (1986). Heart of the matter: Leader-constituent
while maintaining an eye on the envisioned change. interaction. Washington, DC: Independent Sector.
Good communication also requires the messenger
Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2005). Encouraging the heart:
to target the message to the people for whom its
A leaders guide to rewarding and recognizing others. San
intended. At times, a principal may feel that teachers
Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
are oblivious to the message she or he is attempt-
ing to convey. Following up from this feedback, the Schein, E.H. (2004). Organizational culture and leadership. San
principal resorts to using a blanket message at a Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
staff meeting to try to draw it to everyones attention.
Like spraying rock salt from a shotgun, this subtle Sergiovanni, T. (2001). Leadership: Whats in it for schools?
approach covers a lot but may be more irritating than New York, NY: Routledge.
effective. Those who thought they got the message Simonds, C.J. & Cooper, P. J. (2011). Communication for
are wondering if they really did get it the first time. the classroom teacher (9th ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Pearson
Those who failed to pick up on the visual cues, now Education.
ask, Is she talking to me?
By enhancing peoples understanding through White, J. & Marx, D. (2011). Beyond behavioral modeling:
conversations about the values and belief expressed Three ways role models guide leadership development.
in your actions, the principal can manage the con- www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/news/articles/model-behavior/
Is modeling enough?
By Khym G. Goslin
KEY POINTS
FULL VALUE
Thomas Sergiovanni identifies five leadership forces:
3. Educational: Derived from expert knowledge about matters of education and schooling
4. Symbolic: Derived from focusing the attention of others on matters of importance to the school
Sergiovanni describes the symbolic leader as one who assumes the role of chief and, by emphasizing selective attention
the modeling of important goals and behaviors signals to others what is of importance and value: touring the school; visiting
classrooms; seeking out and visibly spending time with students; downplaying management concerns in favor of educational
ones; presiding over ceremonies, rituals, and other important occasions; and providing a unified vision of the school through
proper use of works and actions are examples of leader activities associated with this fourth force (1984, p. 9).
1. Who are the symbolic leaders in your organization? How well do they achieve the characteristics Sergiovanni and the author
delineate for such leaders?
3. To what extent are leaders modeling the changes they want to effect?
5. To what extent do the leaders involved in change make their modeling and the beliefs and values that underlie it explicit
through communication?
6. How well have the leaders of this change analyzed the needs of the people involved? The type of message theyll use? The
medium theyll use for communicating? Possible interference that distracts or distorts the message and the context of the
message itself? (Simonds & Cooper, 2011).
7. How are reflecting, envisioning, and articulating important processes for change leaders to go through?
The principal models Walking the talk no The principal examines Whatever the issue is, The principal makes
desired behavior. matter what the current behaviors; the principal models a point of saying that
issue is; honesty in compares them to the it. Example: being on he/she values walking
relationships. change envisioned; time to meetings. the talk because
models the change; it inspires honesty
and articulates it to in relationships
colleagues. and announces
the intention to do
whatever he/she
requires of others.
References
Sergiovanni, T.J. (1984, February). Leadership excellence in schools: Excellent schools need freedom within boundaries. Educational Leadership, 41
(5), 4-13.
Simonds, C.J. & Cooper, P.J. (2011). Communication for the classroom teacher (9th ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Pearson.
By Brooke Haycock
O
ne of the most dramatic scenes in Shakespeares Henry V occurs on the eve of
the great St. Crispins Day battle. The king stands before his ailing, battle-weary
troops, and uses his words to renew their spirits and resolve: That he which
hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns
for convoy put into his purse; We would not die in that mans company . . . but we in it
shall be remembered we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that
sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
Henry communicated a clear course to victory to his band of brothers, marked by
honor at all costs, bolstering the fighting spirits of his men while inviting the disillusioned
to depart. The sheer strength of his words and conviction inspired his men to risk their
lives for their country. The following day, he led them to victory.
School leaders could learn a lot from Henry V.
Listening to leaders
For more than a decade, Ive had the privilege of spending time in schools and districts
across the country. Im not a traditional educator, a curriculum specialist, or a turnaround
leader. Im a playwright with a background not in pedagogy but in performance and
communication. I create and perform documentary dramas based on interviews with
educators and students to start conversations about race, class, and equity in schools.
Im often invited to share these documentary dramas at kickoffs for achievement gap
initiatives and equity-focused school professional development days. Over the years,
Ive learned that these moments are ripe with opportunity for inspired leadership and
that the way leaders talk about change matters a lot.
This article Unlike Henry Vs inspiring speech to his troops, what Ive witnessed over the years
was originally often goes more like this:
published in Phi
Delta Kappan, 93
(4), 48-51. BROOKE HAYCOCK (bhaycock@edtrust.org) is artist-in-residence at The Education Trust, Washington, D.C.
[Its the first week of school. The principal stands at a podium in front of 40 teachers who are
seated in tiny plastic chairs in the small library. The room is buzzing with conversation. This is
the principals first opportunity to harness the energy of his staff and focus it squarely on stu-
dents, the schools mission, and the year ahead.]
PRINCIPAL: So, this is our first faculty meeting this year, but it already feels like weve been in school
for months, doesnt it?
The first order of business is chairs. Some teachers have been saying they dont have enough chairs in
their rooms. If you need chairs, please e-mail Mrs. Micks, and well put an order into Central. Second,
I promised I would update you on the 8th-grade science books. They are still at the warehouse, but
Im told theyll be here next week.
As I think you all know, we didnt make AYP last year because of scores from our diverse students.
Were going to be starting a new reading program this year as part of our improvement plan for raising
test scores to get off the list. Well talk more about who will be affected by that later. But first, I want
W
to brief everyone on the new hall pass policy.
ould Henrys troops have been these details are handled. But great leaders dont get
willing to risk their lives to follow stuck on the details. Lessons emerging now from
this leader? successful schools have much to teach us about the
Its not that chairs or new practices of dynamic leaders, everything from how
programs are unimportant. Cer- they guide instruction to how they grow leaders
tainly, leaders must ensure that within their ranks. Surely these practices are core
If
scantrons, No. 2 pencils, and a spot on the dreaded
list. Test scores are an indicator of academic learn-
ing and, in many states, a low-level one. If lead-
leaders talk about assessments as ers talk about assessments as somehow disconnected
from the work of schools to grow student learning,
somehow disconnected from the work then they become meaningless measures. Indeed,
of schools to grow student learning, when we discredit assessments, we leave leaders
without one of the most powerful tools in their di-
then they become meaningless agnostic toolbox for highlighting success and driving
real achievement and outcome-oriented change in
measures. their buildings.
Similarly, when leaders frame achievement and
accountability through a daunting lens of state take-
over and federal sanction, they shift the impetus of
change from being driven by whats right for kids
I listen to school leaders send versions of these to what will keep adults out of trouble. This not
messages all the time; messages casting kids, parents, any accountability policy is the seed of drill-and-
and communities as obstacles to a schools otherwise kill test prep, strangled curriculum, teacher disillu-
inevitable path back to perfection, an ideal that, at sionment, and student disengagement. How leaders
best, is an unsubstantiated goal and, at worst, a desire respond to external pressures and filter those mes-
to vanish certain sets of kids. The explanation I too sages for their staffs will determine how the school
often hear for why students cant read goes some- community internalizes and responds to those chal-
thing like this: These kids just dont like to read. lenges.
Or, Nobody at home reads to these kids. Parents
would rather buy video games for their children than THE RIGHT WORDS GET RESULTS. There are hard-
books. Comedian Bill Cosby said as much, so it must charging school and district leaders across the coun-
be OK for educators to say, right? try who know how hard change is and how much
These are fictions woven from threads of truth, honor there is in this work. They know their staffs are
and spools of misunderstanding. Educators fre- critical to winning the battle. They know the power
quently talk about kids using the same clichs prop- of their words and choose them accordingly. And
agated by Hollywood directors: African-American they get results.
kids come from multi-child, single-parent, drug-ad- Theres the elementary principal in poverty-
dicted, bullet-riddled homes while white kids play stricken, post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans who
hopscotch in the two-car driveways of their two- I witnessed bring a room of educators to tears and
parent, two-point-five kid, education-centered sub- to their feet as she spoke of the importance of her
urban homes. schools mission, declaring education the best war on
These narratives are not only damaging, theyre poverty this nation can wage.
16 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #3
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once leadership is beginning to move the needle on stu-
more . . . dent achievement. But, perhaps more important ul-
timately to the long-term success of the district, it
Just four years after Katrina, a time that seemed to has changed the way an entire system of adults think
wash away what little hope there was for this strug- of themselves.
gling school, achievement is soaring over state av-
L
erages, surpassing mere proficiency and giving new
hope to a community that has seen too many safe-
guards fail.
By Jerome T. Murphy
In todays education arena, theres no leading without bleeding. No matter what we call it stress, agita-
tion, loss, frustration, fear, exhaustion, shame, confusion, sadness, loneliness, hurt theres not an execu-
Discomfort is tive alive who can lead without experiencing emotional discomfort. As a Harvard dean, I certainly had my
share of spills along with the thrills.
inevitable, but
Unfortunately, many leaders inadvertently transmute everyday discomfort into debilitating anguish. In
anguish is the privacy of our minds, we can make things worse by fighting our discomfort, getting hooked on our
preventable. troubling thoughts, and scolding ourselves for falling short. As a consequence, we can sidetrack our work
and lose sight of what really matters to us. Too often our performance deteriorates, our joy evaporates, our
misery escalates, our energy dissipates and some of us even burn out.
If this pattern sometimes rings true for you, theres good news: Discomfort is inevitable, but anguish is
preventable. Indeed, you can thrive as a high-performing leader who takes emotional discomfort in stride,
who averts debilitating anguish, and who savors what can often be the exhilaration of leadership. To do so,
consider this unconventional approach:
Open up to your here-and-now uncomfortable experiences just as they are instead of trying to escape them;
Simply notice your negative thoughts, instead of becoming ensnared by them;
Treat yourself with compassion and kindness; and
Concentrate on action guided by your core values.
This approach draws heavily from Western psychology, which is increasingly applying Eastern practices
to challenges ranging from anxiety to optimal athletic performance (Forsyth & Eifert, 2007; Gardner &
Moore, 2007; Hayes & Smith, 2005; Orsillo & Roemer, 2011). In this sympathetic look at the painful side of
leadership, I explore how insights from this marriage of West and East can help leaders thrive by foster-
ing a transformation in how we relate and respond to discomfort. Strange as it may sound, instead of fleeing
the storms of leadership, I invite you to step into the rain. Better yet . . . dance in it!
berg has documented this pattern in the life of edu- the Measure Up Monster MUM for short that
cation leaders who encounter surprising upheavals emerges from its cave waggling a censorious claw as
and the agony of decision making, which can take we struggle to do a good job. In our darkest moments,
a heavy emotional toll with which few are prepared MUM is there voicing such criticism as Leaders
to deal (2008). dont get confused youre an impostor! Little
Moreover, discomfort levels skyrocket when lead- wonder that we try to get rid of the problem.
ers promote transformative change. We can expect
personal attacks, marginalization, and efforts to di- The solution becomes the problem
vert us from our goals. Leaders will be undercut, While control stratagems solve problems in the
Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky (2002) argue, physical world caught in a rainstorm, we put up
because people want to be comfortable again, and our umbrella they often dont work the same way
youre in the way. in the psychological arena. More often than not such
Even if youre not knocked out of the game, almost solutions as suppression, escape, and avoidance be-
inevitably youll fail to placate a key constituency, come the problem as captured in this rule of thumb
commit a public gaffe, be misunderstood, or face about our inner life: Everyday Discomfort x Control
biting criticism. The harsh truth, Heifetz and Lin- = Debilitating Anguish (Young, n.d.)
For sure, some self-control efforts e.g., learning
to relax can provide significant temporary relief.
In the long run, however, trying to control discom-
Discomfort levels fort is usually like trying to escape quicksand. The
skyrocket when more we thrash around, the deeper we sink. As psy-
chologists remind us, what we resist persists.
leaders promote Whats more, our thoughts about our emotions
transformative can add to our anguish, particularly when we identify
change. with our negative self-evaluations and worries and
take them as the literal truth. In the grip of mind
chatter that sounds like a Greek chorus of naysay-
ers, its not unusual to rehash the past, fret about
the future, and hang ourselves out to dry (Hayes &
Smith, 2005).
Whether we pretend were not uncomfortable, or
we resist pain whenever it erupts, or we become en-
snared in our thoughts, or we berate ourselves for
failing to master our difficulties, we often end up
feeling like were trying to hold down the lid on
sky remind us, is that it is not possible to know the a boiling cauldron; the effort requires unrelenting
rewards and joys of leadership without experiencing focus and energy, and demands essential resources
the pain as well. that sidetrack our leadership work.
You are1 degree away from changing your world. Which 1 will it be?
Y
ou are one degree away from achieving more.
American Public University has 87 online
degrees. Our tuition is far less than other top
online universities so you can further your education
without breaking the bank. You are one click away
from making it happen.
Cornell, A.W. (2005). The radical acceptance of everything: Orsillo, S.M. & Roemer, L. (2011). The mindful way through
Living a focusing life. Berkeley, CA: Calluna Press. anxiety: Break free from chronic worry and reclaim your life.
New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Deikman, A.J. (1982). The observing self: Mysticism and
psychotherapy. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Ricard, M. (2010). Why meditate? Working with thoughts and
emotions. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.
Forsyth, J.P. & Eifert, G.H. (2007). The mindfulness and
acceptance workbook for anxiety: A guide to breaking free Shapiro, S.L. & Carlson, L.E. (2009). The art and science of
from anxiety, phobias and worry using acceptance and mindfulness: Integrating mindfulness into psychology and the
commitment therapy. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger. helping professions. Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association.
Gardner, F.L. & Moore, Z.E. (2007). The psychology of
enhancing human performance: The mindfulness-acceptance- Young, S. (n.d.). Working with physical discomfort during
commitment (MAC) approach. New York, NY: Springer. meditation. www.shinzen.org.
KEY POINTS
Leaders face tough times in todays world of diminished budgets and demanding agendas for learning.
Combining both Eastern and Western philosophies, the author recommends that leaders:
o Open up to your here-and-now uncomfortable experiences just as they are instead of trying to escape them;
o Simply notice your negative thoughts, instead of becoming ensnared by them;
o Treat yourself with compassion and kindness; and
o Concentrate on action guided by your core values.
Real leaders feel real discomfort and learn how to control it but not necessarily solve it through suppression,
escape, and avoidance, which become the problem.
Our thoughts about our emotions can add to our anguish, particularly when we identify with our negative self-
evaluations and worries and take them as the literal truth.
Instead of letting our discomfort rule us, we can accept it; watch our thoughts come and go; take care of
(rather than deprecate) ourselves; act according to our values; and learn the process of mindfulness.
Leaders can learn how to cultivate the Balanced Self (versus the Reactive Self).
When leaders attend to events and situations, rather than react to them, they are being mindful; they dont ignore
the bad news, but they dont let it rule them.
If leaders are mindful, they are aware of situations, pay attention to the task at hand, demonstrate calmness and
poise, and snap back to what matters.
FULL VALUE
Mindfulness applies not only to leaders and adults. Mindfulness has made its way into pedagogy. Ron Ritchhart and
David N. Perkins wrote Life in the mindful classroom: Nurturing the disposition of mindfulness in the Journal of Social
Issues (2000). In their article, Ritchhart and Perkins focus on the creation of mindfulness as a disposition, that is, as
an enduring trait, rather than a temporary state.
Ritchhart and Perkins reference the work of Ellen Langer and her colleagues who designed studies that demonstrate
the conditions under which mindfulness is more likely to flourish and supported them in their own work. Earlier studies
focused on inducing a period of mindfulness; Ritchhart and Perkins focus on development of mindfulness as a trait.
Ritchhart and Perkins explore mindfulness as a desirable school goal and conclude that it is. They describe the
nature of mindfulness as a disposition. They identify three high-leverage instructional practices for enculturating
mindfulness: looking closely, exploring possibilities and perspectives, and introducing ambiguity. They also describe
an experimental study and present a case study of a mindful algebra classroom. They conclude in its best incarnation,
schooling strives to cultivate the dispositions that lead to a lifetime of learning and enjoyment. Mindfulness is surely one
of those dispositions.
2. How well did you relate to the authors description of todays tough times: Theres no leading without
bleeding?
3. What experiences have you had with learning ways of opening up to your here-and-now, noticing but
not being ensnared by negative thoughts, treating yourself with compassion and kindness, and taking
action guided by your core values?
4. What leaders do you think of (within and outside education) who exemplify the four characteristics listed
above?
5. Why would education leaders be more likely to feel discomfort today than in the past?
6. To what extent should leaders talk about discomfort and their reactions to this state of mind?
7. What are the downsides of stepping away from our upsetting thoughts and treating ourselves with more
compassion?
8. What issues in education need to be held more lightly, believed in less resolutely, and taken less
personally?
How can you apply the advice in this article to situations described in other articles in this issue of Kappan? Work with your colleagues
to consider both dilemmas and dancing in the rain related to other articles.
I learned to believe in me
Reference
Ritchhart, R. & Perkins, D.N. (2000). Life in the mindful classroom: Nurturing the disposition of mindfulness. Journal of Social Issues, 56 (1), 27-47, 56.
ALLAN ODDEN (arodden@wisc.edu) is a professor of educational leadership and policy analysis, director of strategic management of human
capital, and co-director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis. LAWRENCE O. PICUS (lpicus@usc.edu) is a professor at the Rossier School of Education, University of South-
ern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
over spending decisions. These approaches have merit, but competition per se wont
improve schools. After all, two of Americas automobile manufacturing companies went
bankrupt in competitive markets. To survive and compete in a vastly different market-
place, they had to redesign and improve the cars they build. So competition only works
if it leads to school redesign, and there is scant evidence for that in education so far,
but what is important is school redesign regardless of the competitive environment.
Others argue that schools just need more money. But, if that argument were valid,
high-spending schools would be doing better than low-spending schools, and thats not
always the case. Weve found that even when resources increase substantially, schools
frequently dont use the new dollars to strategically improve performance (Picus,
Odden, Aportela, Mangan, & Goetz, 2008).
But, were confident school performance can improve even when funding is con-
The Shrinking Schoolhouse
strained. These conclusions draw from our work in school finance adequacy (Odden As dollars for schools decline, K-12 schools
& Picus, 2008), our study of schools and districts that have literally doubled student need to reduce staff and focus efforts. How
do schools realistically do more with less?
performance on state tests over a four- to six-year time period (Odden, 2009), and our
Kappan will be publishing articles related
partnerships with districts in reallocating resources to more powerful education vi- to this throughout the year. We are seeking
sions. We see five interrelated strategies. We present four here and a fifth in a sidebar manuscripts that help educators address
to this article. these issues:
Strategy #1. Resist the cost pressures on schools. What ideas will benet school and district
leaders as they balance conflicting needs
Our current system of local control of education works well, but it tends to boost and conflicting challenges? What disasters
costs, not student performance. Key factors behind these pressures to increase costs are looming as budgets shrink?
include: If teachers are a nite resource, how can
schools/districts best deploy them where
Smaller classes. Most districts find that reducing class size by one or two students eats they matter the most?
up large portions of the budget and generally has modest impacts on achievement. More
What is the role of technology in helping
specifically, research mainly the Tennessee STAR experiment supports class-size schools work smaller and smarter?
reduction only for grades K-3. In that study, larger classes (24-25 students) were compared
to similar size classes with an instructional aide as well as to smaller classes (15-17 students). If schools and districts must abandon the
25-to-1 student-to-teacher model, what
The small class sizes (but not the regular classes with an instructional aide) did increase other models could be adopted to ensure
student achievement by about 0.25 standard deviations for all students (Nye, Hedges, & high-quality learning?
Konstantopulos, 2002) and about twice that level for low-income and minority, primar-
Where are there examples of schools and
ily black, children (Krueger & Whitmore, 2001). Subsequent research showed that the
districts that have successfully reduced
positive impact of small classes continued on into middle and high school and beyond themselves and continued to provide
(Nye, Hedges, & Konstantopulos, 2001). Unfortunately, theres no similar research on high-quality learning for students?
class-size reduction in upper elementary, middle, and high school grades.
Submit manuscripts to manuscripts@
Yet pressure to reduce class size remains a high priority for many school districts.
pdkintl.org.
Strategy #1. Resist Strategy #2. Develop a Strategy #3. Identify Strategy #4. Reallocate Strategy #5. Rethink
the cost pressures on more powerful school necessary resources to resources to meet the teacher compensation.
schools. vision. meet the new school new school vision. Educations traditional
Schools must redirect Educators need a vision vision. School resources compensation structures
spending away from of a redesigned school Drawing on schoolwide must be allocated or are unrelated to better
traditional patterns of that will produce twice and districtwide findings, reallocated to support teaching and learning
resource use for smaller the student performance as well as studies of that new vision of a and they keep all
classes, more elective with the same or individual programs, successful school. This education budgets
courses, automatic pay possibly even fewer educators can identify includes using existing structurally out of
raises, and enhanced dollars. what resources are staff in new ways balance every year.
benefit programs and required to support that focus on helping
their associated cost these best practices. students learn.
increases.
FIG. 1
Proposed Teacher Salary Schedule Based on Multiple Measures of Teacher Effectiveness
Step
within
level BA MA MA 60/Doctorate
Entry 1 $40,000 $41,600 $43,264
Level 1 Effectiveness 2 $40,600 $42,224 $43,913
3 $41,209 $42,857 $44,572
Emerging Professional 1 $45,330 $47,143 $49,029
Level 2 Effectiveness 2 $46,010 $47,850 $49,764
3 $46,700 $48,568 $50,511
4 $47,400 $49,297 $51,268
5 $48,112 $50,036 $52,037
6 $48,833 $50,787 $52,818
Professional 1 $53,716 $55,865 $58,100
Level 3 Effectiveness 2 $54,522 $56,703 $58,971
3 $55,340 $57,554 $59,856
4 $56,170 $58,417 $60,754
5 $57,013 $59,293 $61,665
6 $57,868 $60,183 $62,590
Master 1 $63,655 $66,201 $68,849
Level 4 Effectiveness 2 $64,610 $67,194 $69,882
3 $65,579 $68,202 $70,930
4 $66,562 $69,225 $71,994
5 $67,561 $70,263 $73,074
6 $68,574 $71,317 $74,170
I
ts time to rethink a teachers effectiveness stays bonus programs for individual only way to address pension
how educators are at level 3, his or her salary will teachers or all faculty in grades or change is to shift pension
paid. Weve argued always be lower than the salary schools could and we argue responsibility from employers
elsewhere that the current for teachers in level 4. should be provided on top to employees by moving from
teacher salary schedule of these base salary schedules defined benefit to defined
is antiquated (Odden, Third, the largest pay increases (Milanowski, 2008). contribution plans (e.g. 401ks),
2008a). Beyond the first three are provided when the This approach to compensation there is an alternative. Several
or four years, experience is not effectiveness measures indicate would structure base pay for companies, including IBM, have
linked to teacher effectiveness, performance at a higher level. teachers and principals on their adopted cash balance plans.
and except for graduate degrees instructional (or leadership) Such funds share a number of
in the area of licensure, neither Fourth, this schedule shows effectiveness and provide common qualities:
are education units or degrees. some step increases within bonuses for directly improving
And there is nothing linked each level; fewer or more steps student performance. Finally, if Cash balance plans are
directly to student performance. could be provided, but the desired, the system could even individually based; each worker
As a result, the current teacher highest step in each category eliminate automatic pay increases has his or her own cash
salary structure provides weak is, and should be, lower than by specifying an annual salary balance fund.
if any incentives for the core the first step in the next highest increase pool, and then establish
goals of the education system effectiveness level. priorities for how the pool would Both the employer and
improved teaching and learning. be allocated to the various employee contribute to the
As the country develops new Fifth, this basic structure can compensation elements. fund monthly based on agreed-
approaches to teacher evaluation, be augmented with incentives upon relative shares from each
including multiple measures of a for teachers in areas for which party.
there are teacher shortages, Personnel benefits
teachers instructional practice The issue of benefits is too
and multiple indicators of impact such as math and science, as They are portable. Contributions
complex to cover completely
on student learning, states and well as provide an additional are provided wherever one
in this article and, in the short
districts will have metrics they incentive for certification works, eliminating the inequity
term, there are few options for
can use to redesign teacher from the National Board to individuals who move and
reducing benefit costs. For the
salary structures, such as the one for Professional Teaching cant take their pension benefits
most part, the only realistic
displayed in Figure 1. Standards. with them.
short-term solution is to increase
There are several points to briefly the employee share of the costs
This structure would transform The value of each individuals
note about this salary structure, in places where employees have,
how teachers are paid, by linking pension fund is linked to
for which the numbers, steps, to date, only paid for a small
the level of pay to the level of the contributions made to it
and columns are only illustrative: portion of health and pension
effectiveness, a goal long sought over their work life, and can
benefit costs.
by policy makers and education be turned into an annuity at
First, the various performance
leaders. In addition a salary The major longer-term issue is to retirement. Payouts would
categories would be driven
structure of this type is affordable address pensions for educators. not be artificially increased by
by multiple measures of
by almost all school districts if they In addition to substantial significantly larger salaries in
effectiveness and the higher
reallocate current salary dollars to unfunded liabilities in many their last few years of work,
the effectiveness level, the
this structure over time (Odden, states, a number of research artificial retirement multipliers,
greater the salary.
2008b), and assuming the overall studies now show that educator or other options that often
Second, movement up the system develops the multiple pensions: are inequitably inflate pension fund liabilities.
schedule is determined by effectiveness indicators needed distributed; redistribute pension
the level of effectiveness. to operate it. A similar structure resources from younger to Though states would need to
Young super stars, if theyre could be developed for principals. older teachers; discriminate determine how pension costs
really effective, can get to the against educators who move would be shared, cash balance
School systems could use such
top levels more quickly; as across state lines; and can be plans would eliminate pension
structures and NOT provide
effectiveness indicators show gamed to pay large pensions underfunding because pension
automatic pay increases every
they meet the standards for by inflating salaries in the last contributions would be made
year. Each year, a district would
the next higher performance years of service. Consequently monthly by law, would make
first determine how much
category they can skip steps many pension plans are not pension amounts fairer by having
additional money was available
in the schedule and jump up economically aligned with them vest immediately with the
for salaries. The district would
to the higher salary category. lifetime pension contributions employee regardless of where
then decide priorities for salary
But salaries are capped and the investment gains linked the individual worked, and link
increases, such as funding all
(except for periodic market to contributions to those plans them appropriately to the work
effectiveness level increases first,
adjustments) by the top step in (Costrell & Podgursky, 2010). life contributions and investments
then subject-area shortages, and
each effectiveness level, so if then step increases. In addition, Though many believe that the gains of each individual.
than these recommendations classroom instruction for all Nye, B.A., Hedges, L.V., & Konstantopulos, S. (2001). The
require; 20 states provide less. students, and they felt time long-term effects of small classes in early grades: Lasting
for teacher collaboration benefits in mathematics achievement at grade nine. Journal of
during the regular school day Experimental Education, 69 (3), 245-258.
was critical to improve core instruction. They also Nye, B., Hedges, L.V., & Konstantopulos, S. (2002). Do low-
argued that teacher tutors were the most effective, achieving students benefit more from small classes? Evidence
initial intervention strategy for struggling students, from the Tennessee class-size experiment. Educational
particularly for reading (Odden & Archibald, 2009). Evaluation & Policy Analysis, 24 (3), 201-217.
This overall school vision and these particular
staffing formulas and configurations provide guid- Odden, A. (2008a). New teacher pay structures: The
ance for estimating an adequate level of education compensation side of the strategic management of human
funding. They can serve as a structure when schools capital. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin
with greater resources face budget reductions, and Center for Education Research, Consortium for Policy
offer guidance to schools with fewer resources as Research in Education, Strategic Management of Human
they face further cuts. They can also help schools Capital.
determine how best to benefit from any increases Odden, A. (2008b). How to fund teacher compensation
in revenues. changes. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin
Conclusion Center for Education Research, Consortium for Policy
Research in Education, Strategic Management of Human
Despite tight budgets, all schools across the coun- Capital.
try can and must continue to focus resources on im-
proving instructional practice and student learning. Odden, A. (2009). Ten strategies for doubling student
Though some schools clearly have more flexibility performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
than others, most schools probably need to engage Odden, A.R. & Archibald, S.J. (2009). Doubling student
in some instructional revisioning and staff reallo- performance . . . and finding the resources to do it. Thousand
cation. The current fiscal shortcomings buffeting Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
schools shouldnt be used as a rationale for failure
to make continued progress toward higher levels Odden, A.R. & Picus, L.O. (2008). School finance: A policy
of student achievement. Despite the recent budget perspective, 4th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
cuts, the United States spends over $500 billion on Odden, A.R., Picus, L.O., & Goetz, M.E. (2009). A
public K-12 education including many billions for 50-state strategy to achieve school finance adequacy.
students who need extra help to meet state standards. Educational Policy. http://epx.sagepub.com/cgi/
The education system must continue to use those rapidpdf/0895904809335107v1
resources in the most strategic and efficient ways to
boost student learning and close existing achieve- Picus, L.O., Odden, A., Aportela, A., Mangan, M.T., & Goetz,
ment gaps. The country needs this performance for M. (2008). Implementing school finance adequacy: School
its economy, and each child needs it in order to fully level resource use in Wyoming following adequacy-oriented
participate in family, work, and our democracy in the finance reform. North Hollywood, CA: Lawrence O. Picus and
future. K Associates. Prepared for the Wyoming Legislative Service
Office. Available at http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2008/interim/
schoolfinance/Resources.pdf
References
Roza, M. (2010). Educational economics: Where do school
Costrell, R.M. & Podgursky, M. (Eds.). (2010). Rethinking funds go? Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
teacher retirement benefit systems. Journal of Education
Snyder, T.D., & Dillow, S.A. (2010). Digest of Education
Finance and Policy, 5 (4).
Statistics, 2009. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Krueger, A.B. & Whitmore, D.M. (2001). Would smaller classes Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
KEY POINTS
Education budgets are imploding . . . at the same time that there are growing expectations for improved
student performance, better teachers, and closing the achievement gap.
The authors suggest ve strategies for meeting higher expectations with less money.
Strategy #1: Resist the cost pressures on schools, especially public pressures to fund traditional aspects of
education, such as reduced class sizes, a panoply of electives, and automatic pay raises.
Strategy #2: Develop a more powerful school vision of redesigned schools that, with current funding (or
less), increase achievement based on effective use of current data from a variety of sources; set very high
and ambitious goals regardless of school demographics; adopt new curriculum and materials; invest in
professional development such as coaching and organizing teachers into collaborative groups; providing extra
help to struggling students; and distributing leadership among talented staff.
Strategy #3: Identify necessary resources to meet the new school vision by studying resources needed to
support best practices, such as having optimal class sizes; 20%-30% elective teachers on the faculty; at least
10 student-free days for professional development; tutors, extended day, and summer programs for struggling
students; student support positions; help (including duty relief) for administrators and teachers; and up to $700
per pupil for technologies, instructional materials and assessments, and extracurricular activities.
Strategy #4: Reallocate resources to meet the new school vision, including using existing staff in new ways
that focus on helping students learn. With 20 states providing more than the authors recommended funding,
10 providing funding at the suggested level, the authors provide five macro strategies for the 20 states that
provide less funding.
Strategy #5: Rethink teacher compensation, including new approaches for evaluation and multiple measures
of student achievement; they also consider benefits and pensions.
FULL VALUE
Strategy #5 brings to mind the mid-1990s research of William L. Sanders and others at the University of Tennessee
Value-Added Research and Assessment Center who suggested a relationship between effective/noneffective
teaching and current and future student achievement. Their research was the foundation for many policy decisions,
including alignment of teacher compensation with student achievement.
In a research progress report, Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic
Achievement (1996), Sanders and June C. Rivers summarized their findings:
Differences in student achievement of 50 percentile points were observed as a result of teacher sequence
after only three years.
The effects of teachers on student achievement are both additive and cumulative with little evidence of
compensatory effects.
As teacher effectiveness increases, lower-achieving students are the rst to benet. The top quintile of
teachers facilitate appropriate to excellent gains for students of all achievement levels.
Students of different ethnicities respond equivalently within the same quintile of teacher effectiveness.
1. To what extent is there a budget crisis in your district? How have conditions for teaching and learning
changed as a result of this crisis?
2. Have expectations for student achievement increased, decreased, or remained relatively the same?
3. Would you agree with the authors that schools and teachers are caught in this double squeeze?
4. What kind of competition (charter, private, or religious schools) do public schools have in your community?
What are the results of competition?
5. In what ways do schools need to be redesigned to enhance student achievement? What are the budget
implications of school redesign?
6. What are the typical class sizes in your district for primary students? Elementary students? Middle school
students? High school students? What are the effects of these class sizes?
7. Have there been staff reductions in your local schools? What have been the effects of these reductions?
8. What do stakeholders in your local schools most want in their schools? Lower class sizes, more electives,
other?
The authors make the point that, while parents and others may ask for small classes or more electives, theres little
corresponding pressure other than from parents of children with disabilities to provide extra help for struggling
students. . . . Since parents of many of these students often dont have enough political clout to get these services,
the calls for smaller classes and more electives often carry the day with local school boards.
With your colleagues, create a diagram of who has the clout in your district. Consider all possibilities from business
owners to students. Represent the power each group has according to the size of the circle you create and
proximity to action. Be sure to describe what these stakeholders want with their power.
Average Major
students Getting business
(engagement) things done owners (cost
reduction)
Teachers
(learning)
Parents of Elected
special needs boards (no
children lawsuits)
(services)
By Frederick M. Hess
that all children will learn. Whats not OK is to use sonable people telling me that they werent going
budget cuts as an excuse to accept mediocrity to If schools and districts
to do their job . . . I feel we have taken a huge step
must abandon the 25-
say, Well, we used to think no one should fail, but backwards in our communication, trust, and cooper- to-1 student-to-teacher
now weve changed our mind. Every leader, public ation. So, we have more work to do and are working model, what other
and private, has good budget years and bad ones. together more poorly. The principal should have models could be ad-
opted to ensure high-
Responsible leaders make it their mission to do the been outraged rather than calmly relaying the em- quality learning?
very best they can with the resources they have. ployee reaction; he should have expressed disbelief
that reasonable people were declaring an intention Are there examples of
MISTAKE #2: ASSUMING THAT PROGRESS
to shortchange children. Until that kind of sentiment schools and districts
ONLY COMES WITH NEW DOLLARS.
routinely draws an appropriately fierce public reac- that have successfully
One leader insisted, You cant push forward with tion from leaders, instead of a watery we have taken reduced themselves
and continued to
new innovations without the funding to see them a huge step backwards in our communication, its provide high-quality
through. Thats just silliness. The most innovative tough to make the case that the public can be confi- learning for students?
organizations in the world tend to be cash-poor start- dent that new funds will be well spent.
Submit manuscripts
ups. They rely on moxie, creativity, and elbow grease. What to do? The winning course, given that fami-
to manuscripts@
In schooling, innovation has typically meant layer- lies, i.e., taxpayers, across America have lost jobs and pdkintl.org.
ing new dollars and programs atop everything that homes, and had to tighten their belts, is to recognize
came before. So, districts didnt rethink staffing or that things are tough all over and then protect kids
school libraries when they got classroom computers and programs by optimizing spending, rethinking
Summer Issue #3 kappanmagazine.org 37
instructional delivery, or finding ways for adults to that can take root, and how leaner, efficiency-hun-
shoulder the load. gry organizations create an environment that attracts
and energizes talent.
TOUGH TIMES ARE AN OPPORTUNITY The Council of Great City Schools, the nations
Michigan state treasurer Andy Dillon, whose primary coalition of big-city districts, has launched
state knows something about dealing with wrench- a Performance Measurement and Benchmarking
ing economic challenges after the travails of the Project that allows urban school systems to com-
auto industry, has encouraged states to view tough pare their operational and financial efficiency against
budgetary conditions as an opportunity to pursue their peers. In the first few years of the project, dis-
reform. We have to do what General Motors did tricts have saved millions by improving the efficiency
to itself, Dillon said. It wasnt until [General Mo- of their custodians, bus fleets, procurement opera-
tors] hit the wall that the real structural changes tions, and electricity use. CGCSs roster of power-
happened. We have a small window of opportu- ful diagnostic tools will prove useful to any district
nity to make structural, long-term changes to state (Casserly, 2010).
government to avoid hitting a similar wall. That University of Washington scholar Marguerite
time is now. Roza has shown how districts can use unit-cost anal-
yses of programs and practices to identify savings
(2010). In one district, for example, cheerleading
The most innovative organizations cost the district $1,348 per cheerleader. The prob-
lem: cheerleading was offered as a class, requiring a
in the world rely on moxie, creativity, salaried teacher. The superintendent shifted cheer-
leading to after-school status, saving tens of thou-
and elbow grease. sands of dollars without eliminating any opportu-
nities.
Boosting productivity requires grappling with
Educators would do well to embrace that same the cost of teaching. Teacher salaries and benefits
kind of mindset. Fortunately, as contributors ex- amount to half or more of district spending. The
plored in my 2010 book Stretching the School Dollar, most promising way to control costs without slashing
education leaders have a wealth of ways to control services is to get more value out of each employee.
spending by tightening operations, rethinking staff- While American schools have been in a multi-de-
ing, and using technology in more powerful ways. cade push for class-size reduction cutting student-
Lets be blunt: No one makes tough choices in teacher ratios from 23:1 in the early 1970s to about
flush times. The leaders of any organization would 15:1 today this massive increase in staffing has
rather sidestep problems than confront them. It shown no evidence of academic benefits. Smaller
doesnt matter if youre a tough-minded, for-profit classes are attractive in the abstract, but its also the
CEO or a cuddly koala of a nonprofit executive; no- case that the need to hire more bodies dilutes the
body is eager to squeeze salaries, shut down ineffi- quality of teacher selection and training. Indeed,
cient programs, seek out savings, or trim employees some high-performing nations, like South Korea
when they can avoid it. A manager who tries when and Singapore, have some middle school and high
times are good is just a mean-spirited S.O.B. who school classes that are much larger than the Ameri-
alienates staff and creates disruptions. Thats why can norm. Increasing aggregate student-teacher ra-
recessions, threats posed by new competitors, diffi- tios by about two students, from 15:1 to 17:1, could
cult fund-raising cycles, and the like are so beneficial yield savings of nearly 10% when it comes to district
for organizations. They make possible the occasional salary and benefits.
pruning. They allow managers to tackle problems Another key to getting much more bang for the
that otherwise get swept under the carpet. buck is to explore how to seize on the transformative
Tough times come to serve as a healthful (if bit- power of education technology. Unfortunately, too
ter) tonic by forcing leaders to identify priorities often, education leaders, industry shills, and tech-
and giving them political cover to trim the fat. Un- nology enthusiasts seem to insist that the technol-
fortunately, most districts havent had a meaning- ogy itself will be a difference-maker. Fact is, its the
ful house cleaning in decades. Consequently, in my rethinking that matters, not the technology. The
experience, I have found district after district to be promise lies in using these tools to solve problems
careless about deploying talent, undisciplined at the more smartly, deliver knowledge, support students,
negotiating table, and lax about pursuing operational reimagine instruction, refashion cost structures, and
efficiencies. This is not just about making sure re- challenge students in new ways. Put another way:
sources are better used. Its also about the lethargy The greatest power in emerging technologies is the
38 Must-Reads from Kappan, 2011-12/Summer Issue #3
opportunity to reconsider whats doable. Technology picture is grimmer than we might wish, and educa-
makes it possible to deliver expertise over distances, tors and district leaders would do well to look ahead
differentiate functions of support staff and educators with no illusions and a cool resolve to make the most
and permit them to specialize, automate rote instruc- of this difficult time. K
choices in flush times. Chubb, J. (2010). More productive schools through online
learning. In F. Hess & E. Osberg (Eds.), Stretching the school
dollar: How schools and districts can save money while
serving students best (pp. 155-176). Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Hoover Institution scholar John Chubb has cal- Education Press.
culated that integrating online instruction into the
Education Intelligence Agency. (2010, October 4). Education
school day by having elementary students work
hiring grew 2.3% during recession. Elk Grove, CA: Author.
online for one hour, middle school students for two
www.eiaonline.com/archives/20101004.htm
hours, and high school students for three hours
could cut spending by perhaps 8% (or more than Fox, M. (2011, March 1). Health care law to cost states
$700 per student) in the typical district (Chubb, $118 billion, Republican report says. National Journal. www.
2010). The Rocketship Academies in San Jose have nationaljournal.com/healthcare/health-care-law-to-cost-states-
used computer-assisted instruction to deliver im- 118-billion-republican-report-says-20110301
pressive results while relaxing student-teacher ra-
tios because classroom instruction is complemented Ginsberg, R. & Multon, K. (2011, May). Leading through
by technological tools. A handful of school districts the fiscal nightmare: The impact on principals and
are using providers like Rosetta Stone or tutor.com superintendents. Phi Delta Kappan, 92 (8), 42-47.
in ways that start to reduce some of the burdens on
Goodman, J. (2011, January 13). State budget outlook: the
classroom teachers, creating the opportunity to take
worst isnt over. Stateline. www.stateline.org/live/printable/
a fresh look at staffing approaches.
story?contentId=541781
More broadly, states and districts have em-
braced accountability systems predicated on student Heath, M. & Salamat, R. (2010, August 5). Stiglitz says U.S.
achievement, but this is only half of the equation. faces anemic recovery, needs more stimulus. Bloomberg
Any well-run public or private organization cares Businessweek, www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-05/
not just about outcomes but about the inputs re- stiglitz-says-anemic-u-s-recovery-means-obama-should-seek-
quired to deliver those outcomes. Today, however, more-stimulus.html
theres not a single state and precious few districts
where accountability metrics emphasize cost-ef- Pew Center on the States. (2011, April). The widening gap:
fectiveness. This is an enormous opportunity. By re- The great recessions impact on state pension and retiree
porting spending data in tandem with school and dis- health care costs. Washington, DC: Author.
trict achievement data (adjusting appropriately for
Roza, M. (2010). Now is a great time to consider per-unit
cost-of-living and student need), it becomes possible
cost of everything in education. In F. Hess, & E. Osberg
to start talking about which programs, schools, and
(Eds.), Stretching the school dollar: How schools and districts
educators are doing more with less. And it provides
can save money while serving students best (pp. 71-96).
an opportunity to ask whether seemingly impressive
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
or disappointing results look the same once weve
considered the resources in play. If we want district U.S. Department of Education. (2010, August 10). U.S.
and school leaders to focus on maximizing bang-for- Secretary of Education Arne Duncan press conference call on
the-buck, we need to start tracking it and recognizing passage of education jobs bill. Washington, DC: Author.
those who are getting it done.
Some educators and education advocates have Vestal, C. (2011, January 14). Health care budgets in
hoped that theyve ridden out the worst and that critical condition. Stateline. www.stateline.org/live/details/
things will get better soon. Unfortunately, the fiscal story?contentId=542173