School-of-Thought

Each night before going to bed I read teacher blogs.  I’m impressed how technology is transforming the classroom, and I can’t help but wonder how long it will take for technology to impact school board members like it has teachers.  

What if school board members, like teachers, used Nings, Personal Learning Networks, and other Web 2.0 tools to help us become better at what we do? What would that mean for our school districts?  And for education in general? 

What impact might web-connected, modestly tech savvy school board members have upon the development of  effective 21st century schools; and what role might that play in improving student achievement? 

Just a few things I ponder, late at night before going to bed. 

Your thoughts?

I ran across this video from Toby Fischer’s blog, Future of Education.  The video is his take on education — either where we’re at now, or where we’re going.  It all really kind of blows me away.  

Your thoughts?

Superintendent Kimberly Moritz commented about how an “us vs. them” attitude is a big problem for school districts because it permeates through an entire school climate.

I’ve been on the job as superintendent in my current district for a year now. When I interviewed with all of the committees one thing came through loud and clear. The BOE actually asked me at my final interview what I thought the biggest problem was and I was able to answer, “us vs. them”.

The suggestions offered by you and Pat are invaluable. That “us vs. them” is created through a lack of first hand understanding (everyone hears things but that’s not the same as being there) and lack of good communication.

It’s extremely rewarding to work to repair those feelings and regain trust on both sides but it’s not a quick or easy fix. We’re a year in and we still have a way to go on this path. It’s an important goal though because it permeates the entire school climate.

My impression of an “us vs. them” attitude is that it’s one of the major causes of union-school district strife as well as superintendent-school board strife.

To counter the effects of an us vs. them culture requires a superintendent that functions not only as a CEO, but also as a “chief partnership officer” – empowering both teacher leadership and school board development. In my experience, the consummate superintendent is a partnership builder, not a fence builder. Sounds to me like that’s what Kim is.

What do you think?

Check out this brilliant three minute talk from the TED site on the 8 secrets of success.   

It’s something we should all watch — and then show our children.

The secrets are Passion, Work, Focus, Push, Ideas, Improve, Serve, and Persist. 

But don’t take my word for it, watch the video & enjoy!

Today I participated in a webinar with the National School Board Association about what’s happening on Capitol Hill and the Department of Education.  These are the notes I took about what’s going on: 

1. HR 3221 – funding for modernization, repair and renovation passed the House last month.  It awaits action in the Senate. 
2. IDEA funding – HR 3578 and S 1652 are bipartisan bills to provide full funding for IDEA.  The average cost across the nation to educate a special education student is $10,000. Of this amount, the federal government’s share is 40% ,but currently only pays 17%.  The bill would provide for the federal government to pay its full share. 
3. Education Appropriations Bill – HR 3293 passed in the House and is waiting Senate consideration.  It involves redirection of $700 million of title I funding for disadvantaged students to competitive grants for school renovation. 
4. Review of how ARRA funds (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) have been used in education: 
   a. Primary use has been in state stabilization to save education jobs.
   b. Secondary use has been for school reform initiatives. 
5. Race to the Top Review –   $4.5 Billion in competitive grants is available to encourage and reward States that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform — implementing plans in the four education reform areas described in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 
6. School Improvement Grants – increased funding available to all states — $3 Billion.  Targeting the lowest performing 5000 schools in the US. 
7. Investing in Innovation (I3) Funds – $650 million in competitive grants are available to support school/nonprofit community partnerships. 
8. Pre-K/Early Learning – HR 3211, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) has passed the House.  Nothing has been done yet on the Senate side. SAFRA would invest $1 billion each year over the next eight years to establish an Early Learning Challenge Fund for states.  The fund would award grants to states that improve early education standards and practices, and improve the school readiness outcomes of young children. 
9. Education Technology – The FCC has been tasked with creating a national broadband plan by February, 2010.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included initiatives in the Act to accelerate broadband deployment across the United States. The Recovery Act authorizes the FCC to create a National Broadband Plan, that “shall seek to ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.”  To learn more, go to www.broadband.gov. 
10. In addition, the US Department of Education is developing a national Education Technology Plan.  A draft plan is expected in early 2010.  The emerging framework for the plan focuses on four areas in which technology has the potential to transform education:
    a. Learning: Providing access to high-quality learning experiences.
    b. Assessment: Measuring what matters and providing the information that enables continuous improvement at all levels of the education system.
    c. Teaching: New ways to support those who support learning.
    d. Productivity: Redesigning systems and processes to free up education system resources to support learning. 
    To learn more, go to www.edtechfuture.org. 
11. Last, a note about the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.  They have established goals to upgrade educational standards to better meet the needs of the 21^st Century.  More here: http://www.ostp.gov/ 
12. To learn more about national education issues, see www.nsba.org/advocacy.

I also asked if anyone has an idea of what we might expect with the re-authorization of NCLB.  The best answer they could give was they anticipate many of the themes seen in the Race to the Top to become part of the new Elementary and Secondary Education Act, but nothing specific quite yet.

On a percentage basis, South Dakota has one of the highest rates of high school 1:1 laptop programs in the country. 

If only our internet access was as good. 

The other day I emailed our superintendent about the  Flat Classroom™ Project — a global collaborative that joins together high school students to work collaboratively with others from around the world.  We don’t participate, and I wondered why. 

She responded, “we don’t participate because the state won’t allow us.  South Dakota has limited bandwidth. ”

That’s just one example, but there are many others.  Limited internet access is one of the downsides of being a rural state.  Too much volume on the state servers shut them down.  Student usage is growing but our state infrastructure isn’t.

 Today I learned it’s possible that may change.  I participated in a webinar by the National School Board Association on “What’s Happening on Capitol Hill and at the Department of Education.”  One of the points discussed was that the FCC has been tasked with creating a national broadband plan by February, 2010. 

According to the Website, www.broadband.gov, the “National Broadband Plan shall seek to ensure all people of the United States have access to broadband capability and shall establish benchmarks for meeting that goal.” 

So could this help the students in our state?  It’s too early to tell, but I’m lobbying everyone that has anything to do with it.  It would be wonderful if it could. 

Time will tell.

Pat, over at Successful Teaching, read my recent post about Education Week taking a slap at school board members, and came up with a list of suggestions about how teachers can develop relationships with their school board members.  Pat’s ideas are right-on in my opinion, and I re-print them for you to consider:

1. Teachers should know the person who represents the district they live in. Share this information with your students so they see you as a role model. Help them see who their school board member is.

2. Teachers should know the names of all of the school board members and have their contact information.

3. Teachers should attend a school board meeting as much as possible. They might be making decisions that impact your classroom and you should know what is going on.

4. Teachers should know and understand the issues that are coming before the school board.

5. Teachers should invite school board members to their classrooms, especially if you have a special lesson going on. They might not be able to attend but I’m sure they would appreciate the invitation.

6. If there is a special issue that you feel strongly about, call or email your school board member and tell them about it. They may not have any one who is giving them input from your point of view.

7. Contact your school board member and give them your contact information in case they have a question or if they want to know how you feel about a specific issue.

Below is the feedback I left for Pat’s Blog:

Pat, I understand your idea of “us versus them.”  When I first ran for school board, I invited leaders of our local teacher union out to lunch to discuss educational issues. In addition to speaking about the issues, they said a few things that surprised me.  First, they said no school board member (or school board candidate) had ever sought their opinion before; and second, they described their concept of a school board member as someone “sitting in an ivory castle,” removed from the realities of the classroom.  

I invited them to lunch because I genuinely wanted their opinions.  To my way of thinking, who else knows the nitty-gritty of front-lines down-in-the-ditch education better than teachers?  If I’m going to assume a leadership role to develop policy and participate in establishing a vision for the future of the school district, it seems to me that it’s prudent to solicit input from local teachers. 

The “ivory tower” concept annoyed me as much back then as it does now.  I don’t think that’s a beneficial concept for education, and I’ve worked hard to dispel that notion by just being a normal guy as a school board member —  welcoming, honest and transparent.  No one is education should occupy an ivory tower, in my opinion. School board members, administrators, and teachers all play different but vital roles.  It seems to me the more teachers can be empowered, the more they can be encouraged to take leadership roles, the better it is for the entire system – which to me means the better it is for all our children.    

Concerning your suggestion about inviting board members into your classroom, I’ve never received an invitation, but I would love to receive one!  I have to tell you, I periodically visit classrooms, and one of my personal goals is to visit every classroom in the school district sometime during my three year elected term.  I believe it’s important for me to simply observe what’s going on.  I look at interactions between teacher and student, and between students.  I look at the classroom – is it warm and inviting, conducive to learning?  I walk the hallways.  Is the school safe and clean?  I always let the teacher know ahead of time that I’ll be coming, and I always let them know that my visit has nothing to do with evaluating – it’s not my role to do that.  The entire purpose is to get a sense of how things are going – are children learning?  The visit also sends a message to the teacher, I hope, that the school board cares. 

An invitation to visit a classroom, perhaps to observe something special, would be like icing on the cake.

What do you think?  Do you have other suggestions?  What other ways can teachers reach out to school board members?  What other ways can we get to know each other?

Last week our country’s premier education newspaper for educators, Education Week, went after School Board Members with it’s “Leading for Learning report.”  

The lead article by Lesli Maxwell set the tone.  Titled, “An Overlooked Institution Struggles to Remain Relevant,” the article begins with the foundation that ”local school boards remain mostly overlooked in national discussions of K-12 policy.”   As a result, school boards are “a governance system that is too often ineffective, if not dysfunctional.”  

Nice, huh? 

The writer’s attempt to balance to her piece is lost on me as she writes “Others argue that district school boards are a vital piece of the democratic process and help ensure a community voice in important decisions about educating children. The focus, they argue, should be on changing the way boards behave.” 

I agree, boards are a vital piece of the democratic process, but it seems to me the statement about changing the way boards behave takes an awful large swipe at American schoolboarding and presupposes that most school boards are dysfunctional. 

Thats NOT been my experience. 

Sure there are school board’s that don’t work well — some that are indeed dysfunctional.  And of course there are individual school board members that simply don’t understand their proper roles.  But to suggest that American school boards are struggling to “remain relevant” is a stretching the truth beyond reality.  

There are good and bad folks in every line of work, including those that serve on school boards.  The truth is it burns my butt when I see school board member that aren’t doing what they were elected to do.  Our work is just too damn important!  But those board members are few and far between in my experience.  When I go to state or national meetings, I talk with school board members that are concerned, energized and passionate about education.  It’s rare that I meet a school board member that isn’t.  

The most significant challenge for national and state school board associations, in my opinion, is to do a better job in getting the word out about the “job requirements” of a school board member, and the important relationship between what we do in the board room, and academic achievement in the classroom.  We have to do a better job in getting the word out that serving on a school board is richly rewarding.

As I write this, I’m realizing I’ve created a job for me to do – to describe to you, my dear reader, the vital role and purpose of a school board member.  Look for part one on Monday. 

Until then, I look forward to your comments and will do my best to respond to them.

The week after I was first elected to our school board, a little old couple stopped me at the local café and asked if they could visit.  They were concerned the school district was spending more money on paper supplies at their old competitor than the store they used to own (turns out they sold the store 20 years ago when they retired).  That was my first lesson in school district finances, coming even before I had met with our business manager! 

I was quick to learn how many people read the school district’s financial reports in the local newspaper, The Watertown Public Opinion.  Since that first week, I’ve had scores of people ask me how the district decides where to spend its money – how do we decide which hardware store to buy from . . .  which grocery store, and so on.  

If you’re one of those people – or if you own a business and want to develop a relationship with a school district — this post is for you.  What I’m about to share is not a policy you’ll find on paper somewhere, it’s just what I’ve observed – and of course it may differ significantly from district to district.   

Let’s begin by talking about what NOT to do. 

1. Do NOT write the administrator a nasty letter.
2. Do NOT say that you’re a tax-paying citizen and therefore what you say must be followed.
3. Do NOT say it’s their job to spread the tax dollars out across the community.
4. Do NOT say the school district must immediately start buying products from your business.
5. And do NOT say that if he/she doesn’t do business with you, that you’ll have their job! 

 Wasn’t it Dale Carnegie who wrote a book titled, “How to Win Friends and Influence People?”  Eh, that not the way. 

Here’s what you need to do: 

1. Realize that the business of education is to educate children.  That’s what’s important to people involved in education.  It’s our mission and constant focus.  If you want to know your customer, that’s the first thing you need to know.  
2. Doing business with a school district means developing a RELATIONSHIP.  School districts are big into relationships – relationship with their students, with their staff, and with their suppliers. 
3. In our school district each building principal is provided an annual budget and empowered to make his or her own decisions about where to purchase.  The only dirrection from Central Office is that purchases, when possible, be made locally.  Other than the directive to buy locally, each principal makes his or her own call.
4. It’s ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP BUILDING – and it’s up to you to take the first step.  Get to know your school.  Get involved.  Let your principal or superintendent know who you are. Look for ways to participate, for example if you have a child in your neighbor school, maybe a foot in the door would be to become active in your school’s parent teacher organization.  If you don’t have children, look for ways to volunteer.  Usually there are more needs than there are people to do them.  Ask yourself, what can you do to build a relationship with the school?    
5. Through your involvement, demonstrate you’re trustworthy.  Are you a person of integrity?  People of high character are always in demand in school districts.
6. Be able to demonstrate your expertise or special skill.  If you want to sell the business manager on a new-fangled retirement plan, you better be able to communicate in a way that demonstrates you’re the expert and that we can count on you when questions arise. If you’re a baker, ask the superintendent if you can drop off a box of your secret-recipe extra-delicious donuts for her next administration team meeting.  Get your foot in the door.  Let us know who you are.
7. Last, ask for the business.  Sure, it’s important you’re product or service be competitively priced – that’s a given.  What’s important is that we know you CARE about the school district, and you’re willing to work in any way you can to make it better.

Well, that’s it for now.  As always, I appreciate your comments.

As columnist Bob Mercer points out in his “Domino Theory” post, the Mitchell school district is developing student housing for Mitchell Technical Institute, apparently by working around the law that says: 

13-24-9.   School board power to erect, acquire, equip and dispose of school and accessory buildings–Dormitories for postsecondary students prohibited. Any school board shall have power to erect, purchase, lease, rent, sell, equip, and move schoolhouses, dormitories, dwellings for teachers’ homes, and other structures, fences, or other enclosure as the board shall deem necessary subject to the limitations as provided by law; provided, however, that no school board may erect or purchase dormitories for use by postsecondary or adult vocational education students attending postsecondary vocational schools. 

Mitchell’s work-around of the law involves selling property to its Technical School Foundation, which in turn will build student housing.  Pretty ingenious, eh? The law refers only to “school boards” – however someone comes up with the idea of getting around the law by developing housing through an affiliated third party. 

Former state Rep. Mitch Richter responds with a comment that Mitchell tech wasn’t the first tech school to develop a work-around, it was Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls.  They actually advertise “on-campus apartments” on its website!  How do they get around the law?  Note they advertise for “on-campus apartments” – the law refers only to dormitories. 

In the competition for students, will the other two tech schools follow suit? Our school board hasn’t discussed this, but I’d personally be surprised if there was any movement in this direction from Watertown.  Though two boards have developed apparent work-arounds to the law, the intent of the law seems pretty clear to me.  

My only question to this whole matter is this:  now that Mr. Mercer has exposed this to the public, will there be a response by the legislature to close the loophole?

With the weather turning cold in South Dakota, I’ve been doing some blog house-cleaning.  Awhile ago I received a post that my blog was too “visually noisy.”  You know, too much stuff packed into too little a space.  Kind of reminded my of my old college dorm room back at Kalamazoo College.

Anyway, I’ve been doing some tidying up.  I moved the list of blogs I read and my sweet-16 list of books every school board member should read before they die (my school board bucket list) to static pages that are now accessible on tabs near the top of the page.  That opened up the sidebars and hopefully gives a much more relaxing reading environment.  What do you think – look better?

 Today I also updated my feed reader of educational blogs I follow each evening.  I added five great finds to my list of educator blogs, bringing the total for the educator section to thirty: 

• Conversation Starters by Burke Scarbrough, educator
• Education PR by Paul Baker, Education Research, Univ of Wisc
• Stories from School: Practice Meets Policy by multiple educators
• Teacher Certified by Matthew Brown, educator
• Why Homeschool by Janine, Henry & Darek Cate, Homeschool Parents & Educators

My goal is to give myself a well rounded education about education in the US and elsewhere in the world – so I try to have a little bit of everything to give myself differing perspectives on issues that all too often are complex.  

 Well, off to a multi-district meeting.  Until next time, thanks for visiting!

To what extent do schools limit creativity?  Anyone involved with education should watch this and then take a minute to reflect.  Thanks to Lisa N. at Education Innovation for sharing this.