March 2010 Archives

On Sunday, The Washington Post posed the question, "Our kids need great teachers. Who makes the grade?" Well, it might help if there were a data based rubric of what makes a great teacher, but Marc Fisher walked away from his experience observing potential with the Center for Inspired Teaching acknowledging that

Maybe there is such a thing as an "inspired teacher" -- someone who listens well and takes students at face value, someone with high standards and perseverance who is also warm, vulnerable and loving. Sounds like a character who exists only in fiction -- and that's part of the problem with the school reform movement.

That's a little vague, but maybe it will help some of the overworked school system HR directors. They've got their hands full this fall because it seems that we've discovered a new fix for broken schools. Just load up a bunch of silver bullets and fire the whole staff (including the cafeteria lady and the custodian). Surely everyone has heard that on February 25th in Central Falls, Rhode Island, all the teachers at Central Falls High School were fired. The story was blasted across the evening news. The New York Times covered the story.The blogosphere buzzed.

The general consensus: It was an unfortunate but necessary wake up call to the teacher unions who were inflexible and unwilling to negotiate. Yes it was a drastic measure, the argument went, but when you have a strong union, there just isn't any alternative. After all, think about the children. And that's interesting because,

On March 25, in Savannah, Georgia, all the teachers at A.E. Beach High School were fired. Other than The Savannah Morning News and Education Week, no one seemed to care.

Ho Hum...just another school where firing all the teachers had been done. More union trouble? Hmmm. Says here that Georgia is a right-to-work state with no collective bargaining. No union--no union bashing potential---no news.

Even though A.E. Beach was a "me-too" firing, I was curious, so I checked out The Savannah Morning News to see what I could find out about what was so bad at Beach. Well, first of all, this isn't a big deal. Seems this is a local custom in Savannah.

Mounting state pressure over its Needs Improvement quagmire has prompted Savannah-Chatham schools officials to take drastic measures at several schools. In 2006-07, all employees at Spencer Elementary were replaced. This year, Savannah High was divided up into small academically themed schools, and Bartlett Middle, like Beach, will purge its faculty, staff and administration this summer.

But anyway, about Beach High School. It was marked as a loser school from the get go when, in 2003, teachers were told they better make sure No Child was Left Behind. That's probably why

Crime and poverty moved in. Neighborhood problems affected everything from graduation rates and safety to test scores and teacher turnover. After Beach was stripped of its prized medical magnet program, most of the top performing students assigned to the school left for private schools or public school specialty programs. Others took advantage of the No Child Left Behind Act's accountability clause, which allows students to transfer out of Needs Improvement Schools. Of those who continued to enroll at Beach, nearly half had not mastered their middle school curriculum.

Well, gee, who'd want to go to school there anyway? It's pretty obvious the staff didn't really believe all students can learn because they didn't make Adequate Yearly Progress. Hmm...even though...

During the 2007-08 school year, Beach was the district's only traditional high school that raised its pass rates on the Georgia High School Graduation and Writing tests. The number of students who passed the math portion of the test rose from 82 percent to 88 percent; the social studies pass rate went from 59 percent to 65 percent. Their gains in math and social studies exceeded the state average. Even their special needs students averaged a 71 percent pass rate, exceeding their peers statewide.

Last year, math SAT scores jumped 10 points, and the dropout rate fell below the state average. This year, Beach raised its graduation rate by more than 16 percentage points.

But you know, you can only put up with excuses and half efforts for so long and Georgia had quite frankly given them enough time. Because of leniency

Principal Deonn Stone and her staff were able to stave off the state for four years by making slow, steady academic gains. That gave them time to battle through the social and economic issues that had driven down outcomes for years. But Savannah-Chatham public schools Superintendent Thomas Lockamy met with Beach High employees Thursday to inform them the state is raising its No Child Left Behind Act benchmarks this year and won't give them any more time to catch up.

Sure, the superintendent acknowledged that Dr. Stone and her staff have made tremendous progress in moving this school from where it was five years ago, but not enough to push it over the line. So instead, Georgia pushed the Beach teachers under the bus. Savannah mayor Otis Johnson, an alumnus of Beach High School, explained

I regret the work Dr. Stone has attempted to do wasn't enough to get Beach off the Needs Improvement List, but it is not because she didn't give it her all, but I don't think the superintendent has any alternative but to do what he has to do.

Well, yes, he did have other alternatives, but then

The state has offered to clear Beach High School's academic record and provide up to $6 million to bolster their fresh start. But they'll have to purge Beach High's 200 teachers, staff and administrators to seal the deal. Only 49 percent of them, excluding the principal, can be rehired.

And really, who in their right mind would say no to $6 million, if all you have to do is let a couple of hundred experienced teachers go. After all that score raising, they're probably burnt out anyway. They could be replaced with inexpensive fresh faces from TFA that could attract some private grant money and a lot of positive press as well.

Some people may wonder what happens during the last few months of the year in a school where everyone got a pink slip as a reward for not jumping ship long ago. Well, this is what the principal who just didn't try hard enough had to say,

I came here for a season to do the work we needed to do, and that's what we've done. I'm encouraging everyone to stay focused because we're here to do what's best for the kids and wherever we are we will continue to do our best.

I was curious about what kind of a school fails so badly that it requires a purging of every staff member. There's not a lot of information out there, but I did find this

In 1867, the Beach Institute was established by the Freedmen's Bureau with funds donated by Alfred Ely Beach, editor of Scientific American. The school was initially privately funded as a manual training school to provide a means for newly freed African Americans to assimilate into white society. By 1874, the institute was appropriated by the Savannah-Chatham Board of Education for the purpose of providing free education to Savannah's African American citizenry. Although the Beach Institute closed its doors in 1915, it was reopened as an African American cultural center and is currently operated by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation. The Beach name survives in the name of Alfred E. Beach High School.

A.E. Beach High School's home page tells us

The Beach Institute was opened to educate the newly freed slaves in 1867. Over the years, Alfred Ely Beach has become an "icon" of the Savannah-Chatham County community. Some of her most notable alumni have gone to become President of Savannah State College, Georgia State Senator, Mayor of Savannah, and Dean of a major university in New England.

I wonder what A. E. Beach, who had the audacity of hope to offer education to freed slaves would think about this final bit of irony:

A little over a year ago, the school took part in another historic moment. The A. E. Beach High School Choir sang at the inauguration of the first African American to be elected as President of the United States of America. I hope part of the $6 million payout can be used to get the kids a great new music teacher. I'm sure they'll understand that the old one just had to go.

Mr. President, are you listening?

Can you hear the people sing?

Do you get it? Because right now a lot of teachers who have invested their lives in the lives of children don't get you. They saw you stand up on TV and encourage mass firings.
Please help the foot soldiers of public education to understand how firing the people on the front lines will fix the most troubled schools in the most troubled neighborhoods in our country.

Picture: A. E. Beach High School

Posted by Susan Graham at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If you teach middle school, this will not be news. If you don't, you may have heard about this late breaking story: While we may have dodged the disaster of the swine flu, we should not let our guard down. We now face a new threat of spring fever, as evidenced by the recent outbreak of middle school hugging in Oregon.

Despite efforts to contain the spread of hugging among young adolescents the syndrome apparently reoccurs annually. In 2007 hugging was reported to have broken out in the Midwest states of Illinois and Iowa. Hugging also infected middle school hallways in the southern states of Texas and Alabama during the same time period. Not confined to North America, hugging was observed among middle school aged students in England.

In 2008, an effort was made to control the spread of hugging by limiting hug contact time to 2 seconds. However, a regulation resistant hug protest in Arizona may have incubated a resistant strain of embrace because in 2009 hugging had migrated to Australia and resurfaced inConnecticut.

Why are all the kids hugging in the hall? Well, first of all, if you've spent 22 years in middle school you know that hugging in the hall is nothing new. What is new is the level of angst by adults that hugging might be physically dangerous, emotionally damaging or, worst of all, legally hazardous. One thing is certain--the more attention adults pay to hugging, the more flamboyant the hugging will become.

While the discussion may rage about kids hugging each other in the hallway, no one is even going near the topic of teachers hugging kids in the classroom. Every student teacher is cautioned in no uncertain terms that teacher should never ever touch students because it's unprofessional and probably grounds for a lawsuit. At the same time, every honored teacher is photographed hugging kids. Call me a lawsuit waiting to happen, but I hugged a kid today. The truth is, I don't know many teachers who have not committed the offense of kid hugging.

Teachers hug their students because kids are frightened or hurt or worried and there isn't a parent there to hug them and tell them it will be okay. Teachers hug their students because they are partners who celebrate accomplishment that comes through hard work. Teachers hug kids because kids hug their teachers; and what kind of a teacher would reject a kid who shows appreciation or seeks affirmation with an embrace?

So...To hug or not to hug, that is the question. Psychologist Virginia Satir says that "We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth." I missed National Hug Day on January 21, but there seem to be some basic guidelines for hugging etiquette that I can practice up on before National Hug Your Kid Day on July 19. I'm going to practice upon the one armed side hug technique to minimize body contact that is recommended by some teacher web resources.

But I really think hugging is a question of judgment and learning to make informed judgments is a critical skill for a teacher and an important part aspect of student learning. In Japan they have a saying "You have to read the air." Somewhere between our animal instincts for bonding with our tribe and our cultural mores of respecting personal space we ought be able to squeeze in a little breathing room for some Free Hugs.

Posted by Susan Graham at 1:37 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

If you're a teacher, the education news can be pretty much a downer these days. It seems awfully political, cynical, and detached from what happens with kids in the classroom. So if you're down and troubled and need a helping hand, I'm offering up a some education easy reading tonight with a story where everything turns out right.

Susie Hamlin, who is a middle school Family and Consumer Science in St. Louis, was an NBPTS candidate when she first contacted me. I offered to be a reader for her entries. As is so often the case, when I offer to help a colleague I'm usually the one who benefits the most. Thanks to Susie, I discovered that King Arthur Flour Company would partner with schools and bring their Life Skills Bread Baking Project to schools and communities.

The deal was this: King Arthur would send a representative to do an assembly, demonstrating how to make bread and connecting it to science concepts. Every child would be sent home with supplies to bake two loaves of bread. The only stipulation was that students were asked to return one of the two loaves to contribute to a local food insufficiency program.

You always wonder how these things will play out. Will the presentation be any good? How commercial is this going to be? Will the kids behave? Will they want to take home flour and bake bread? Will they bring it back? Will the bread be edible?

Paula Grey, the King Arthur representative, had asked me to have three student helpers ready for the assembly. She handed one her camera and ask her to get a lot of good shots. She told the other two that they'd be helping her make bread and just to relax and follow her instructions. What impressed me was her confidence in students she didn't know doing something they'd never done before. And sure enough as two of their peers measured and mixed and kneaded and shaped, the rest of the seventh grade was quiet and observant. Paula didn't push product, she pushed the satisfaction of competence to do something that looked complicated and commitment to contribute to one's community. At the end of the day about 75% of the seventh graders came down to pick up a baking kit.

..... But would they bake? Middle school kids are not generally known for their ability to remember commitments or for their altruism. Would close 1,000 pounds of flour make it home without incident? Would the parents let them try? Would the kids follow through? Would the bread be edible? What if we only got a dozen loaves back?

I worried most of the weekend, but on Monday, the bread came back. Loaves and loaves of bread that filled the table and the counter brought in by kids wanting to share their stories about who they baked with and how they solved their problems and what they thought of their finished product and when they were going to make bread again. They had tried something that seemed hard, they had done it themselves, and they had produced a tangible product that had real benefit to themselves and someone else as a result. They had learned something that mattered and they had taught themselves.

Sometimes school just really seems hard and almost hopeless for teachers and for students. But sometimes as teachers we have a chance to invest more in empowering our students than fixing them. Sometimes kids discover that contributing can be as rewarding as competing. And most times, I still believe that even when times are hard it's worth the effort.

Hey have you ever tried,
Really reaching out for the other side?
I may be climbing on rainbows
But, baby here goes.

I want to make it with you
I really think that we can make it.

And a few of you might even recall that was recorded back in 1970 by a group called Bread!

Posted by Susan Graham at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

I don't know any of the students or faculty from Central Falls High School personally. I've never been to Central Falls High School. In fact, I had never heard of Central Falls before last week. I would guess that very few of the people who are commenting on "the failure of Central Falls High" have ventured inside Central Falls High or taken time to actually talk to the students and staff. However, lack of first hand knowledge certainly hasn't inhibited politicians, pundits and the public from pontificating about "those" teachers and "those" students. It would seem that without any real information, a great many people have labeled the students as losers and their teachers as users and abusers.

As the rhetoric rolls on about the firing of the entire Central Falls High School staff I have been reminded of a comment made by a former teacher who understood the power of the press. While I can't share Thomas Paine's amusement, I can appreciate his perception when he said

• I have frequently amused myself both in public and private companies, with silently remarking the specious errors of those who speak without reflecting. Thomas Paine

As a propagandist, political activist, agitator and journalist himself, I began to wonder if Mr. Paine might contribute some Common Sense to The Crisis that seems to be swirling around the fate of a school that was almost invisible until last week when

At the committee meeting Tuesday night, 93 names were called for --74 classroom teachers, plus reading specialists, guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the school psychologist, the principal and three assistant principals, according to the Providence Journal. Not one of them was good enough to stay.

• "Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society." Thomas Paine

The Secretary of Education applauded the action insisting

"I will tell you what doesn't work," Duncan told reporters Wednesday. "Doing nothing."

• "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Thomas Paine

But the teachers claim that they have made progress, pointing out that

"We don't take lightly that the test scores are very low, but in the last two years, reading has gone up 21 percent at the high school because of the teachers. We don't make excuses, but we do have to speak about reality. Children in poverty come to school with a lot of issues. We are willing to make changes, but we don't want to be dictated to. We're professionals and deserve to be treated as such." said the Central Falls French teacher.

• "You will do me the justice to remember, that I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it." Thomas Paine

According to the AFL-CIO

This battle is about more than Central Falls High School. It is about working together to lift all boats, transform society and give children the education they deserve. It should not be about pitting teachers against students or school district against school district. This is a cause that unites working families and the labor movement.

• "If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately." Thomas Paine

This week talks have resumed and Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo said in a statement

"I am pleased to reassure the union their place in the planning process." She said she welcomes union input in developing "a dynamic plan to dramatically improve student achievement" at Central Falls High School.

• "The greatest remedy for anger is delay." Thomas Paine

In defense of the Central Falls teachers, the American Federation of Teachers website presents its case stating

Attached is a report from then-Rhode Island Education Commissioner Peter McWalters following a district team's visit to Central Falls High School on April 29 and 30, 2009. The visit focused on reading and literacy. We are distributing the report on the same day as President Obama praised the Central Falls school board's decision to fire the school staff.

• " We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities." Thomas Paine

In the conclusion of the Commissioner's Report, the Team Chair advises

It was evident to the team that your school has undergone an intense change process that has restructured responsibilities, impacted teaching practices, changed curriculum and challenged many beliefs and values. It is just as evident that you still need more time, as a learning community, to have honest discussions as you process these changes. As you work to do this, stakeholders should view these changes, particularly the introduction of new teaching practices, as more powerful tools that can be used to help all students become proficient readers and writers. Take the time to celebrate your successes and accomplishments in building a school-wide culture of literacy. Be sure to take the time as well to have the conversations that need to take place and determine the best ways for your school to proceed. Recognize that your work is not finished as you continue to move forward in this charge. I wish you continued success in the future. At Central Falls High School, students are engaged in meaningful, rigorous, and diverse learning activities designed to prepare them for further education and successful careers.

It is possible that the teachers at Central Falls went from being hard workers to unconcerned slackers between April 2009 and February 2010. What seems more plausible is that the agendas of stakeholders who have any real investment in Central Falls have changed and once again, the students are pawns and the staff the pieces in an adult game of political chess. There are some who say that the Crisis at Central Falls was an unfortunate but bold and necessary move to be competitive. But in the excitement of competing in the Race to the Top for more money to ensure that No Child was Left Behind it seems that the people in charge didn't notice that if you fire all the teachers the kids of Central Falls are left home alone and that's not bold, it's foolhardy.

• "These are the times that try men's souls." Thomas Paine

Image: National Portrait Gallery

Posted by Susan Graham at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend