Principle 1: Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality

This is the follow up to the Fierce Conversations post.

I left the book club thinking how we could leverage Principle 1: Master the Courage to Interrogate Reality for school improvement. When we work with school improvement teams we see a nearly universal response. High school says if only the middle school had done its job, and the middle school says kids are not coming prepared. Other favorites include lack of motivation, students moving into the district, or it’s the parents.

Let’s Interrogate Reality:

When data is the foundation, we often see a different trend. High elementary scores, down slightly at middle school, then a sharp decrease at high school. NAEP data suggest the lower grades are beginning to close the achievement gap, while the gap is widening at the high school level.

So in the words of Fierce Conversations author, Susan Scott, “What are we pretending not to know?”

“What is our (administrators and teachers) contribution to the problem?”

When will we be ready to hear the answers?

Comments

kemeigh said…
GREAT QUESTIONS! Until we take a courageous and honest look at our high schools and what we are doing there.... nothing will change. What part do I, the adult in this system, play in the lower scores, low motivation, lack of engagement of our students?
I know many high school students - they are working extra jobs, active in their churches and other organizations, taking care of younger siblings, contributing financially to help their families... and yet in school they are viewed as unengaged, even lazy.... What are the contributing factors to the lower educational achievement of these students? Is it time to look at ourselves? Could we hold the answer? Or do we want to continue to blame the students, their parents, the teachers in the lower grades? Do we have the courage to interrogate our own belief systems????
June 25, 2009 at 7:17 AM
Anonymous said…
I also see it as a skill deficit--not being able to evaluate ourselves. There are so many factors of our own performances or our own environment that we can control, yet we don't often look at those factors. In my experience with behavior, it is often blame the child or blame the parent. I would be even too idealistic for me to say that there aren't home or child factors that influence the student's behavior--but we have no control over those factors and we give up entirely too much power if we don't look at ourselves and what we can do to change.
July 8, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Controversy Over Cursive

Image
Twenty years ago ---- eek that's how long it has been since I graduated from high school, cursive was a given in the curriculum. Teachers used it, students had to be able to read it and write it. I can remember copying copious notes from the board in cursive. A lot has changed in those two decades. I now reserve cursive for signing checks and other documents. I rarely find I need to read something in cursive, other than perhaps a name. Typing, however, has become an absolute necessity. How important is cursive? With all the content that has been added, not to mention accountability.... how valuable is it? Do we need to spend time as early as third grade on teaching cursive? What do you think? Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocherdraco/88217480/
Read more

Planning for Differentiation

Image
An article in the Washington Post, Schools Look At Providing More Time For Teachers caught my eye recently which looks at teacher planning time. As you might imagine, teachers feel they lack planning time.... and they may have a point. The amount of planning time has stayed constant while requirements for inclusion and accountability have increased. My question is do we design curriculum to address these challenges from the onset or do we expect teachers to plan lessons, adjust their instruction for a variety of diverse learners, grade assignments, connect with parents and other colleagues, make copies in a 40 minute planning period? Why not differentiate the curriculum from the beginning? The graphic to the left depicts the Curriculum Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994) which represents how curriculum might be organized to meet the needs of all learners. The base represents the most important concepts you want ALL STUDENTS to learn. The middle layer represents
Read more

Luau as a Metaphor for School Improvement

Image
The luau, once called the aha aina, was an event that was designed to unite the participants and foster good will, thanks and praise. The purpose of the luau could have been to celebrate accomplishments, honor heroes or gods, or commemorate important events. While some ancient foods represented strength or virility, other foods might symbolize virtues or goals the participants hoped to achieve (from To-Hawaii.com) A luau, in other words, is all about reflection. What is going well? What are the next steps? This is exactly what our school improvement teams did last week. They reflected on the level of implementation of their plan and the level of effectiveness. Participants spent the morning going through their plans goal by goal – looking back toward accomplishments and looking forward to next steps. We over-laid these discussions with information on managing and effectively facilitating change. We read Implications for School Leaders Facilitating Change , which is from H
Read more