November 2009 Archives

Out in the yard the leaves are cleaned up. Upstairs and downstairs, the guest rooms have been fluffed up. In the kitchen the refrigerator is filled up. In the dining room the silver and the brass is shined up. Those antique fern prints for the living room are finally mounted, framed and hung up. I've put in some long hours and some late nights and a lot of work, but I'm almost ready for Thanksgiving. I want the day to be perfect and I'm something of an idealist.

Yesterday, while I was at school, Judy came and cleaned. I did the last minute shopping and put fresh flowers all over the house. Today, my daughter will take a day off work and the two of us will set the table and prep the turkey, and, best of all, bake the pies. Then company will come and on Thursday, my house will be filled with the smells of Thanksgiving, with an abundant table of good food promising plenty of leftovers, and people I love around the table. All the work will be worth it and I will go to bed tired but contented.

Sunday, we'll take out-of-town company to the airport. I'll put away the Thanksgiving dishes, change sheets, clean out the refrigerator, pick up the house, and get ready for school. Then the next weekend it's time to get the house decorated for Christmas, try to find perfect presents, bake a bunch of stuff, give a couple of parties, and get everyone in costume for the church Christmas pageant. I'm an idealist about Christmas as well. I'll have to settle on some presents now because they have to get in the mail. Some people forget to RSVP. I know that I'll discover that we are short two angel costumes. And I will realize that once again the Christmas letter will go out after Christmas. I have to admit I may be a little disheartened.

My personal life and my professional life have a lot in common. I am a contented idealist who, on occasion, becomes a little disheartened about the direction American education has been moving lately. I've been thinking about this a lot since reading Public Agenda's recent report, Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today. Based on teacher responses to their survey, 37% of teachers are Contented, 40% of teachers are Disheartened, and 23% of teachers are Idealists. There seems to be a strong implication that the Contented might be passive; the Disheartened might have given up; and that the Idealist might be, are, sort of, you know, ideal.

The report says that

It is the Idealists--23 percent of teachers overall--who voice the strongest sense of mission about teaching. Nearly 9 in 10 Idealists believe that "good teachers can lead all students to learn, even those from poor families or who have uninvolved parents." Idealists overwhelmingly say that helping underprivileged children improve their prospects motivated them to enter the profession. In addition, 54 percent strongly agree that all their students, "given the right support, can go to college," the highest percentage among any group. More than half are 32 or younger and teach in elementary schools, and 36 percent say that although they intend to stay in education, they do plan to leave classroom teaching for other jobs in the field.
Although the researchers caution that the teachers' idealism does not necessarily guarantee that they are more effective teachers than their colleagues, half of Idealists believe their students' test scores have increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a higher percentage than other teachers in the survey.

My concern is that the Idealist seems to be defined by hopes and aspirations rather than how they impact student learning. Let's begin by being more precise about "all students can learn." Of course they can. You can't stop kids from learning, but can you motivate or coerce them into learning what you, not they, have decided matters? That's a little more complicated. Idealists, with the best of intentions, have a tendency to be moralists, imposing their ideals and values on others, with an unspoken subscript that "Your values should be more like mine."

Apparently Public Agenda's ideal Idealist believes the ideal outcome of public education is that "with proper support, all students can go to college." But isn't that somewhat presumptuous? Ideally, shouldn't the parent and the learner be stakeholders as well in determining an appropriate education goal? Does the Idealist ever ask, "Do you want what I want?" or does the Idealist believe "Everyone shares my values or at least, they should." And I wonder, why do one-third of the Idealists who plan to stay in education plan to leave the classroom? Could it be that they see teaching as less than their ideal job? Is the classroom just a stepping stone to something more ideal?

Finally, the report states that "half of the Idealists believe their students' test scores have increased significantly as a result of their teaching, a higher percentage than other teachers in the survey." But If student test scores are the data driven measurement of success, then shouldn't the impact of an Idealist's practice be based on actual test score data rather than what the Idealist "believes" about his or her impact on student learning?

Being an Idealist in education is hard because of the Sisyphean nature of teaching. Teaching is never finished and there will always be room for improvement and a new group of children who present new challenges. It is no wonder to me that Public Agenda reports

The view that teaching is "so demanding, it's a wonder that more people don't burn out" is remarkably pervasive, particularly among the Disheartened,--they are twice as likely as other teachers to strongly agree with this view. Members of that group, which accounts for 40 percent of K-12 teachers in the United States, tend to have been teaching longer and are older than the Idealists, and more than half teach in low-income schools.

In spite of the complexity of the work, it appears that a great many teachers are Contented. When I read the report, there was a nagging feeling that being contented somehow correlated with having settled for status quo -- a need to awake from their self-satisfied stupor, become discontent with their inadequate practice, and strive to be Idlealists. But my friend Nancy pointed out

Why would we want to convert disheartened teachers into firebrands, especially since idealistic teachers in the survey were overwhelmingly young and frequently admitted that they weren't interested in teaching as a long-term career? The thing about idealists is that they burn out--or they become pragmatic, understanding that changing the world happens slowly, but is worth the effort.
Maybe giving the satisfied and confident teachers a bovine label--contented--was intentional.

I was never a total idealist about teaching and I was never fully content with my own teaching, my school, or the teaching profession as a whole. What worked for me was that I never took success with students for granted. And I never beat myself up when something didn't go as well as I expected.

Public Agenda reduces the discussion of teachers' perspective on their professions to a three-option-multiple-choice assessment of (A) Idealist (B) Disheartened (C) Contented. But teaching is much more complex than that. In my humble opinion, How Teachers See the Profession Today is an essay question. I wonder, how many other teachers would have answered (D) All of the Above?

Posted by Susan Graham at 12:56 AM | Permalink | 2 Comments | Recommend

It is the picture that captured my attention. In his white dress shirt and dark necktie, he stares into the camera--back straight and hands folded in front of him on the desk. He is serious, focused, and completely on task. He is five years old and he has "assumed the learning position" at his UNO charter school in Chicago. In the background I can see a classroom of children, all of whom have all assumed the position. The first word that comes to me is compliant. The second is conformity. That's not surprising, because assuming a position as part of an induction process has traditionally been associated with unquestioned deference to superiors. For UNO students, the induction prepares them to be "assimilated into American society."

I'm pretty sure that Chris Allen, director of the school, would perceive this as a good thing since he

....Spends a good part of a recent morning visiting classrooms with a check list of the elements of the culture. He notes if students aren't "100 percent" in uniform. Are they wearing tennis shoes instead of the requisite black dress shoes?

Hummm.....Do black dress shoes improve learning? Is there a research base that indicates black shoes are more effective than brown shoes? The reason I ask is because there is another picture showing Allen talking to a little boy in the hallway, and I couldn't help but notice that Allen is wearing brown shoes. The little boy is not making eye contact. He's looking down. Is he wondering about the brown shoes too?

He [Allen] also notes whether teachers are making smooth transitions between lessons and whether their libraries are well organized. Have students formed straight lines on the way to the restroom? Are they making noise in class that isn't what Mr. Allen calls "purposeful"?

Hummm....Smooth transitions. Yes, I get that. Organized libraries. Yes, even though "well- used" seems more important, I won't quibble. But I'm distracted by the bathroom line thing. Does it really matter if the line is straight? As a teacher I understand the importance of regulating of body functions. Experienced educators are experts at calculating fluid intake to align with bathroom break timetables. But even experienced teachers miscalculate sometimes and are really in a big hurry to go. Is it an expectation that Mrs. Smith's 20 kindergarteners synchronize their bladders?

The [UNO] directors are charged with having students grow academically by 1½ grade levels each school year on average, a goal that leaders of the organization say about 60 percent of students in their K-8 schools in Chicago have reached.

That's impressive. Especially since a large number of their students are English Language Learners. They also have satisfied parents and a waiting list. UNO students are being prepped for college enrollment and then for leadership roles. But, to my thinking, UNO schools, in a philosophical sense, have assumed a position that may include some false assumptions not in the best long term interests of their students.

UNO schools seem to have assumed the position that students must be thinking with a "school mind" rather than a "summer mind" for learning to take place. But I assume that to develop life long learners, the transition from "school minds" to "summer minds" should be seamless.

UNO schools seem to have assumed the position that total immersion will help Spanish speaking students become fluent in English. But I assume, since grownups can get frustrated when attempting to communicate while traveling abroad, that kindergarteners might really need a little bit of help to make the transition from Spanish to English when their parents drop them off and leave them alone in the strange new world of school.

UNO schools have assumed the position that discipline can best be achieved through conformity and compliance and that conformity and compliance will support the network's overall mission which is "to foster a culture that can turn out students who are leaders in the community and beyond." But I assume that the best leadership, more often than not, emerges from individuals who express their knowledge, skills, and thinking in unique and creative ways.

We all make assumptions, because our own values and experiences shape our goals and our behaviors. Like Dr. Evil with his Mini Me, we delight in children who mimic our own values and goals. There's nothing wrong with that, but it seems to me that as educators we have a responsibility to tread cautiously. When we look into their eyes, we must be careful not to seek out a reflection of ourselves. Rather, we need to see what Kahlil Gibran saw when he wrote

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.

Posted by Susan Graham at 10:37 PM | Permalink | 6 Comments | Recommend

I don't need any new kitchen knives, but when a former student or kid from church calls and asks to come do a knife demonstration I watch one more time. I warn them that while I won't buy another knife, but I am happy to let them practice their presentation on me and to offer them a critique on their sales pitch. So every summer I watch and am asked to evaluate just how effectively those fine knives can cut through rope with a single stroke and how powerful those all purpose kitchen shears must be to cut a penny in half. And while I watch, I wonder: When and why would I need a kitchen knife that slices rope? We almost never have rope for dinner. Under what circumstances I would I cut up my spare change? I usually put it my pocket.

Still, it's a smart presentation design because the focus is on the tools, not the skill of person doing the demonstration. This makes sense, because while the knives are really are high quality tools, the college-age sales representatives often have more enthusiasm than knife handling skill. In fact, I can vividly recall the night that night Amy came to do the demonstration. While she cut the rope with a single stroke, she also managed to slice open her finger. She bled all over my kitchen table; she nearly pass out; and it took us half an hour to get her bandaged, cleaned up and calmed down.

These home sales demonstrations that supposedly evaluate the efficacy of kitchen knives can provide insight into why teachers are a bit skeptical of the accolades heaped on some of the new teacher evaluation systems by education reformers. Excellent tools are important; but sometimes it's more important to make sure a tool is appropriate for the job. And, no matter how good the tool and how well intended and highly motivated the user may be, the outcome is still dependent of that individual's knowledge and skill. Two new teacher evaluation scenarios in Washington, D.C. and New Haven, Connecticut have received a great deal of media attention lately, so let's take a look at those. A spokesperson for DC schools says,

What saves IMPACT is that it's clear for both teachers and evaluators. . . . There is no way a teacher can say, 'I don't understand how they expect me to plan lessons.' It's all there: setting ambitious and measurable goals, aligning each lesson with content standards, communicating goals to students." Allan Odden, a University of Wisconsin educational leadership expert, said IMPACT was "sophisticated, well thought through and, if executed well, will represent one of the most rigorous systems in the country."

The politically savvy American Federation of Teachers has decided that it is better to get in the game. In New Haven, the union has agreed in its new contract to develop an evaluation system in collaboration with the city. Secretary Duncan praised the agreement lavishly.

So what's the difference? It seems to me that the issue is not so much the instrument, but rather the credibility of the evaluators and the degree of trust that the evaluation results will be objective and that the outcome will be used appropriately. My good friend, Renee Moore, teaches in Mississippi, where there is no union collective bargaining for teachers. When she recently sat on a panel for the Forum for Education and Democracy's Capitol Hill briefing. Renee said that

My comments focused on what I believe are two closely related reasons why we do not have quality teachers for all students, particularly for those in high needs, high poverty areas: ineffective teacher evaluation and weak professional development/support..... The true culprit appears to be the what passes for teacher evaluation in most places. Apparently, we do not have systems that accurately identify teacher effectiveness or the degree of that effectiveness. Rigorous evaluation systems would not only identify quality teaching, but give each teacher a realistic, timely assessment of his/her work, identifying areas or strength and weakness; thereby, guiding professional development and support needs.

This is why teachers submit themselves to processes such as National Board for Professional Teaching Standards assessment, even when they have to pay for the process out of their own pocket and receive no additional compensation for this validation of their expertise. That's why it's frustrating when an editorial on the New Haven contract in the New York Times cautions that,

School reformers were excited to hear that New Haven planned to take student performance into account in its teacher evaluations. But they uttered a collective "uh-oh" upon hearing that the details -- including how much weight would be given to student performance -- would be hashed out by a committee that includes teachers and administrators.... Political leaders, school administrators, parents and everyone else who cares about improving education in this country will have to keep a close eye as this effort moves forward.

Now that confuses me. Does the writer really believe that teachers are obstructionists who have no stake in advancing teacher quality? Did he do his investigative work, asking teachers what they thought? Or did he just parrot what some school reform pundit told him?Teachers are regularly accused of just caring about the money and protecting their own jobs, but let's not forget that there's serious money to be made in school reform. In order to get press, prestige, power, and a paycheck as a reformer, you need to frame the problem and come up with a solution. Teachers are an easy mark because there are a lot of us and if you ever had a bad one, you'll never forget it. But, after the children, who pay the highest price for all the adult bickering, teachers have the most to lose. Yet,

Teachers, it turns out, are tougher on each other than anyone else, That's one of the lessons of Toledo's 25-year-old peer-review program, in which veteran teachers sift out the timid, disorganized, or otherwise unfit. Today some 70 NEA and AFT districts--mostly in California, Connecticut, and Ohio--use the approach. Teachers, least of all it seems, want to share the lunchroom with someone who can't hack it in the classroom.

I believe most teachers value meaningful assessment of their practice, and a well designed and thoughtfully administered evaluation can be the cutting edge tool to accomplish that goal. When that evaluation comes from peers, it sets a level of expectation for all participants, it creates an opportunity for meaningful professional sharing and growth, and it empowers skilled classroom practitioners to become part of the answer by giving them ownership of their profession. But, teachers have a legitimate concern that best cutting edge evaluation tool, when placed in unskilled or unbiased hands, could turn out to be nothing more than a blunt object for teacher bashing.

Posted by Susan Graham at 11:24 PM | Permalink | 7 Comments | Recommend