Attendance: The Rebounding of Education

May 17th, 2012 No Comments
mel_sm

USA Today reports that new research suggests that as many as 7.5 million students miss a month of school each year, raising the likelihood that they’ll fail academically and eventually drop out of high school.

The findings, from education researcher Robert Balfanz of Johns Hopkins University and supported by GetSchooled estimate that 10% to 15% of students nationwide are “chronically absent” from school, missing enough class time to be at “severe risk” of dropping out.

Based on my experience as a school leader in four different decades:

  • I agree that attendance is a key to student success and school effectiveness.
  • If students refuse to attend, we have no chance of raising achievement.
  • I have never found a high-performing school, which had poor student attendance.
  • This is not a rural or urban problem.

Bob Balfanz provides school leaders with high-leverage research because it is both timely and it impacts the daily practice of school leaders.

Regular school attendance is so fundamental and so basic that we often incorrectly assume that it is being adequately addressed.

Attendance is to school what rebounding is to basketball—it is hard work, requires effort and persistence, and it often goes

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No Educational Gifts under This Tree

May 14th, 2012 No Comments
stu

By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle

There is no lack of inexplicable policies in education. One of the most baffling is an evaluation process for schools, administrators and teachers that give significant weight to the results of standardized tests for which the test-takers have no accountability. In a recent post Mel Riddile recounted a number of stories he had been told of students purposely giving incorrect answers on end-of-course state mandated exams which led to jobs being lost. Here is an example of one of those interactions:

“This reminded me of a conversation I had two years ago with a high school faculty. This was a school that had been restructured. All teachers had to reapply for their jobs and only half were rehired. The school also had a new principal and a new administrative staff.

“We were discussing accountability and one teacher mentioned that the students were ‘Christmas-treeing’ the tests. While I had never heard the term ‘Christmas-treeing,’ I quickly figured out that the students were not taking the tests seriously and were using the answer sheets to create drawings… In our discussion, the teachers talked about their frustration with the lack of student accountability. The school, the teachers, and the administrators were being held accountable for the results of the test, but the students were not.

“In reality, the careers of these educators as well as the reputation of the school and the school district depend on the good will of the students. Teacher evaluation systems that include student test scores are now being implemented in many states in which students are not accountable in any way for the results of the test. If students do not feel like taking the test, there is nothing that can be done.”

A legitimate concern

Anyone who doubts the motivation provided by student accountability on standardized testing need only study the English Standards of Learning (SOL) exam scores

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Icebergs, The Titanic, and School Culture

May 11th, 2012 No Comments
mel_sm

The recent anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic reminded me again of the power of icebergs. The scary thing about icebergs is not what you see above the surface of the water. Ninety percent of an iceberg is below the surface hidden from our view. Yet, it is that invisible part that can have the most impact. The world’s greatest ship of its time was sunk by what it could not see below the surface.

School culture is like an iceberg. There are aspects of our culture that are visible above the surface. These visible parts of our school culture include the master schedule, handbooks, bell schedules, the physical appearance of our school, how we talk about students, how we label students, and how we make decisions. In fact, just about every thing we say and do is in someway a reflection of our school culture.

Improving student performance–placing all students on the pathway to college and career readiness–is a much different outcome than sending a select group of students to postsecondary education and training. Changing the outcome means changing our behavior.

School leaders who focus only on the visible aspects of culture do so to the detriment of their school. Focusing only on the visible aspects of school culture is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic in hopes that somehow that will keep our ship from sinking. Lasting, sustainable change can only be accomplished by addressing both the visible and invisible, but very real, aspects of school culture.

This is not the first time I have addressed mindsets, nor will it be the last, because, if we are really serious about impacting the culture of our school, we are going to have to address our own thinking and the thinking of our teachers.

Our mindset is our own individual operating system and the collective OS of our school. Our mindsets drive our behavior. If we believe that, through work and effort, all our students can reach high levels of achievement, that mindset focuses and directs what we do to ensure student success. Why would I invest in literacy programs and afterschool tutoring if I didn’t believe that work and effort would improve student achievement?

Given the choice, I would choose a staff and a school with a growth mindset over a school with a more experienced and knowledgeable staff. Why? Because the changes we face in readying each and every student for post secondary education and training and in implementing the Common Core Standards will require a complete retraining of our entire teaching staff as well as a new attitude. Today, it is not as much about what we know as about what we are willing to learn. In this rapidly changing environment, a school and a school leader with the right mindset will be unstoppable.

Do you have a growth mindset? Do you believe that the harder your students work, the smarter they get? What about your

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No more Xmas-treeing tests?

May 6th, 2012 No Comments
mel_sm

This week, an Education Week headline caught my attention–Tenn. Students Now Have Stakes in State Test Scores.

“Tennessee students in elementary and middle school (but not high school) will have a greater stake in the scores they earn on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests that start this week.

This is the first year that those scores will make up between 15 percent and 25 percent of the second-semester grades for students. Tennessee legislators wanted students to be just as accountable for those grades as their teachers, whose evaluations depend on how well students do on the tests.”

This reminded me of a conversation I had two years ago with a high school faculty. This was a school that had been restructured. All teachers had to reapply for their jobs and only half were rehired. The school also had a new principal and a new administrative staff.

We were discussing accountability and one teacher mentioned that the students were “Christmas-treeing” the tests. While I had never heard the term

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College Loans and High Schools

May 6th, 2012 No Comments
stu

By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle

Student loans are back in the headlines as a result of some recent political wrangling. With interest on some of these loans due to double in a few weeks, the subject has become a hot topic on the campaign trail. Both parties now endorse at least a one-year extension of the current rate and the issue of funding—is this a war on women or an attack on big oil—can be left to others. But this conversation has far more potential impact on high school education than many may realize and it is critical that educators turn this into a discussion of academics rather than a campaign slogan for political of candidates.

Worthy of further discussion

More than six months ago during the “Occupy Wall Street” movement this topic had reached center stage. Many involved in that protest expressed extreme frustration with the debt they had accrued during their college years and lamented that if companies can be bailed out, these loans should be forgiven too. This concern became the subject of an earlier post.  The central point at that time was the role high school should serve in educating students on how to avoid this financial jeopardy. The suggestions included counseling students on which colleges are a good fit both academically and financially, conducting seminars using solid mathematical models to demonstrate the difference between good and bad borrowing strategies and offering sessions which are designed to address the issues of budgeting during the first two years of college. In addition, while most schools offer panels of former students talking about their first years at college, additional panels need to be formed that talk about student loans and their impact after graduation. The bottom line was simple—plant the seeds

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Common Core Implementation: Having Enough Compelling Reasons

April 30th, 2012 No Comments
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“80% of success is having enough whys.” – Anthony Robbins

If we are going to successfully implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), then we are going to need a lot of whys, and it will be up to school leaders to provide those whys. The fact is that many of our staff members will view these new standards as just another set of standards—same old, same old. For example, in a recent survey, 73% of teachers indicated that they believed they were already prepared to teach the CCSS. The reality is that these standards are not the same. The changes required by these standards are monolithic in scope. Continue reading

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Costco and School Culture

April 29th, 2012 No Comments
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“Culture isn’t the most important thing. Culture is the only thing.”—Jim Senigal, CEO Costco (retired)

Recently, a colleague of mine could not stop talking about CNBC’s production of The Costco Craze. I recorded it and watched it last night, and, I too, cannot stop talking about it. Why? While the report is about retail giant Costco, it offers numerous insights for school leaders as we prepare to take on our most daunting challenge ever—all students on the pathway to college and career-readiness.

Each one of the unique characteristics mentioned here make up the unique culture of Costco. Each of them reminds me of the lessons that I had to learn from years of practice and trial-and-error learning.

Vision – For Sinegal, the standard rules may not apply, but a simple idea seems to prevail. ”All we’re trying to do is sell stuff cheaper than anybody else,” he said, “but there’s a lot more work that goes into it. We try to create an image of a warehouse type of an environment,” said Jim Sinegal, Costco’s co-founder and recently retired CEO. “I once joked it costs a lot of money to make these places look cheap.  But we spend a lot of time and energy in trying to create that image. This is a value place. But you need to deliver.”

Takeaway: Everything begins with vision—a clear mental picture of what we want our students to know and be able to do. Without that vision, our behavior have no purpose. Activity does not equal success!

LBWA (Leadership By Wandering Around) – Instead of enjoying the perks of a successful CEO, Jim Senigal spends most of his time visiting Costco’s more than 360 locations. At the same time, he places decision-making authority in the hands of his people and he

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Mistakes in Math Can be Educational

April 29th, 2012 No Comments
stu

By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle

Leah Alcala is on to something. As Mel Riddile reported, the eighth-grade math teacher has a unique method for helping her students learn from their mistakes. At the beginning of each class Ms. Alcala places a problem on the board and for five minutes everyone in the room writes their solution on an index card. After all of the cards are collected, Ms. Alcala quickly sorts them in piles of right and wrong responses. She then selects her “favorite no” an incorrect solution that is flashed onto a screen in the front of the room. Each step of the anonymous attempt is analyzed by the class.

Avoiding the pitfalls

This process is not without risk. Virtually every successful teacher will tell you that it is far harder to unlearn bad behaviors than it is to teach correct ones. Consequently, at first glance this approach could appear to be an invitation to reinforcing faulty math. But Ms. Alcala is well aware of this potential problem and has established a method to avoid it during this educational autopsy. With every “favorite no” she initially emphasizes all of the correct steps that have been taken and only after those have been thoroughly discussed does the class determine what went wrong. This process provides positive outcomes for all involved. It requires minimal class time, the entire exercise is no more than ten minutes, it is focused, the students are engaged as a group to root out the mistakes, and it gives both the students and teacher immediate feedback on their mastery of the topic.

Discovering what students do not understand

Frequent, accurate feedback on the effectiveness of instruction is the lifeblood of good teaching. As discussed in a recent post, I administered

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Removing Friction From Education

April 21st, 2012 No Comments
stu

By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle

In the April edition of Scientific American, David Pogue has written a brilliant article on the need and the benefit of removing friction from daily activities. In his piece “Make Technology—and the World—Frictionless” he demonstrates what works and what does not in today’s marketplace.

Pogue used an example from his own life to demonstrate his point:

“A few months back I was at the main Apple Store in New York City. I wanted to buy a case for my son’s iPod touch—but it was December 23. The crowds were so thick, I envied sardines.

“Fortunately, I knew something that most of these people didn’t: I could grab an item off the shelf, scan it with my iPhone and walk right out. Thanks to the free Apple Store app, I didn’t have to wait in line or even find an employee. The purchase was instantly billed to my Apple account. I was in and out of there in two minutes.

“Apple, in other words, has reached new heights in reducing friction—which benefits it as much as its customers.”

Plenty of places to eliminate friction

Pogue applied this principle to more than an Apple store purchase. He believes that lessened friction could reduce

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A Surprising Test Result

April 16th, 2012 1 Comment
stu

By Stuart Singer, author of The Algebra Miracle

In a recent post, Mel Riddile wrote that research has shown that more testing can result in improved learning. Such an assertion would appear to be misguided in an educational world where the phrases “teaching to the test”, “barrier exams” and “value-added evaluations” have taken on extremely negative connotations. But the discussion here is not about NCLB or AYP issues. This study is advocating the benefits of frequent and systematic testing throughout a course.

Dr. Riddile begins by posing these questions:

“Recent research may help school leaders with two important challenges that they face on a daily basis. First, in these tight budget times with fewer teachers, larger classes, and fewer resources, how do we improve student performance? How do we do more with less? What are some no-cost ways that we can improve our schools?

“Second, given the complexity of course content, particularly in high schools, how do we enhance our skills as instructional leaders? How do we give meaningful feedback to teachers that will enhance their instruction even though we may have little or no background knowledge regarding the content of the course? For example, how do we give feedback to a world language teacher when we have never studied the language and cannot understand a single word they said in the lesson?”

A surprising answer

The study that was summarized in Science magazine and reported in a New York Times

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