A bi-monthly e-newsletter, Volume 3, Number 1, September/October 2004
This edition’s topic: Unity
Contents:
IS UNITY POSSIBLE?
In the continuing examination of the Brown v. Board case that IELC and others began last year, your editors have spotlighted lingering or new concerns related to that decision. In that light, the seed for this commentary was sown when your editors attended a town hall meeting in August that was part of the 2004 UNITY: Journalists of Color Convention, which ultimately drew almost 8000 African American, Asian, Latino, and Native American journalism association members, plus a noticeable Caucasian presence, albeit generally in the roles of (1) funders or (2) managers there to interview and hire. The topic for the meeting was “The New Multicultural Dynamic in Entertainment,” but the issues and themes running around and through the discussion had much broader application. Maria Hinojosa of CNN moderated a panel comprised of Henry Cho, Gary Farmer, Doug E. Fresh, Litefoot, Mo’nique, and Sandra Oh--musicians, actors, and comedians who are blazing trails in their respective milieus, yet, for the most part are not well known by mainstream America. The major discussion issue was that stereotypes of minorities are the norm in the arts in large part because of (1) who is in control of media corporations, and (2) the demeaning way the media tend to cover people of color (intentionally or not). This in turn contributes to the lack of understanding and respect we have for each other’s differences.
The panelists did not always agree with each other or feel that people of color were any less responsible for their own roles in changing (or maintaining) the status quo. All of the panelists did passionately embrace UNITY’s goal for improving coverage of people of color by dispelling stereotypes and myths and by increasing understanding of other cultures. They also applauded the organizational leadership that has managed to bring these usually disassociated voices together as one for the third Unity Convention since 1994.
One of the challenges of leadership in any organization (or country) is how to respect and incorporate diverse viewpoints and experiences while uniting behind a common vision in order to reach common goals – and not allowing the process to be derailed. One of the benefits of unity is the power and influence that combined strengths bring to the goal (e.g., the Unity convention drew public appearances of both presidential candidates, something that the single associations most likely would not have been able to accomplish).
As the election exemplifies, it seems harder and harder to unite on common issues as the focus of the media and local discussions continually shifts to our differences. Are you blue or red? Do you support or condemn the war in Iraq? Do you think No Child Left Behind should be scrapped or salvaged? Regardless of your position, how tolerant are you of opposing viewpoints? Given the tone of the exchanges, the answer to the latter question lately seems to be not at all.
Whether unity is possible depends on your definition. Defined as common ground, unity is very different from everyone thinking and doing the same thing. Part of America’s great promise has been its potential to learn the oftentimes tragic lessons of the past and continue moving toward a society where many different groups can find common ground while respecting individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The leader’s role in this learning process is critical – from the micro-level of families and teachers to America’s role itself on the global front – and is at the heart of a lot of today’s debates.
The proof keeps coming that leadership can make or break any situation or organization, from schools to the nation. A new report from The Wallace Foundation, How Leadership Influences Student Learning, reviews the evidence and finds that “leadership not only matters: it is second only to teaching among school-related factors in its impact on student learning.” Moreover, “leadership’s impact tends to be greatest in schools where the learning needs are most acute.” What do effective leaders do? They set direction, develop people, and make the organization work. To read the full report, go to http://www.wallacefoundation.org/WF/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/EducationLeadership/ HowLeadershipInfluencesStudentLearning.htm. Perhaps the unifying message here is that we all have a leadership role in raising student achievement, beginning with sharing our voices in a thoughtful way in our particular milieus.
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
School leaders should also be interested in a new report from The Civil Rights Project at Harvard. Listening to Teachers: Classroom Realities and No Child Left Behind presents the results of a survey of 1,445 teachers from 24 schools needing improvement and 29 making adequate progress in Fresno, California, and Richmond, Virginia. Both school systems have high populations of low income and minority students. The three most important factors identified by teachers in determining whether they would stay or teach in a school identified as needing improvement were 1) experienced administrators, 2) opportunities and planning time to collaborate with other teachers, and 3) curriculum and instructional materials aligned with state standards. The high ratings attached to experienced administrators are significant, particularly, one would think, to IELC readers. To read the press release, executive summary, and full report, go to http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/news/pressreleases/NCLBTeach.php.
So how do principals actually spend their time? A new report from Education Week, Leading for Learning, also funded by the Wallace Foundation, finds that over 80% of responding principals say they spend part of every day managing school facilities, resources and procedures, and maintaining security. Only 53% say they spend part of every day facilitating student learning. Only 46% of responding teachers say that the principal “talks with me frequently about my instructional practices.” For more information from the report, go to http://www.edweek.org/sreports/special_reports_article.cfm?slug=leadpack_2004.htm.
Finally, some recognition for the people who have the tough task of translating policy into practice: Leading from the Middle: Mid-level District Staff and Instructional Improvement, the first of a series of research reports from the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, examines the “critical leadership role that mid-level central office staff play in implementing district reforms.” The findings suggest that mid-level staff would be more effective as a community of practice that brokers resources, knowledge, and ideas across the district. To read the executive summary or order the complete report, go to http://www.crosscity.org/.
In July the Education Commission of the States published ECS Report to the Nation: State Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act: Respecting Diversity Among States, which compiles a number of indicators including standards and assessments, safe schools, teacher quality, and supplemental services for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report also makes several recommendations such as factoring the progress of student cohorts into AYP calculations for a “more accurate picture of student performance and how schools and teachers are contributing to the gains.” To read the on-line version of the report, go to http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/special/nclb/reporttothenation/reporttothenation.htm.
The National Association of State Boards of Education has published No Child Left Behind and Rural Education: Implications for Policy and Practice, a hefty (335 pages) look at 16 aspects of the law that are most likely to impact rural and small schools. It also includes “relevant text of the law, policy implications, notes on district implementation, and federal non-regulatory guidance.” The volume is only available in print (for purchase at $35.00 per copy), so you may want to read the press release first at http://www.nasbe.org/Front_Page/Press_Release.html.
In one of its recent issues, the PEN Weekly NewsBlast highlighted a valuable resource page from the NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education, titled “Using Data to Improve Professional Development.” Beginning with an issue brief discussing how data already being collected by schools can be used to help teachers become more effective, the page then provides links to 1) accountability data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, 2) a number of helpful Web sites, and 3) several thought-provoking articles, such as “A Knowledge Base for the Teaching Profession: What Would It Look Like and How Can We Get One?” from the June/July 2002 Educational Researcher. To access the NFIE resource page, go to http://www.nfie.org/usingdata.htm.
Another on-line data resource that may be helpful to states, districts, and schools in a variety of contexts—preparing proposals for funders or performance reports for the community come immediately to mind—is the Education Finance Statistics Center’s page on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site. You can build your own table with data from the Common Core of Data, and/or search for data from existing tables. You can also do a “peer search” of school districts by identifying one district that will be matched to others based on student enrollment, student/teacher ratio, district type, locale code, and percentage of children in poverty. For the menu of options, go to http://nces.ed.gov/edfin/index.asp.
The Systems Improvement Training and Technical Assistance Project (SITTAP), based at IEL, has just released Systems Improvement: A Primer for Creating and Sustaining Systems of Care That Work for Children, Youth and Families. Fifth in a series, this toolkit examines issues such as resistance to change and maintaining momentum and contains a resource list for more information on collaboration and improving systems. The new SITTAP toolkit is available at http://www.sittap.org/sittap_whatsnew_page.html.
The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, also based at IEL, has released two new publications of interest to administrators, practitioners, and others who work with or set policy for youth. Career Planning Begins with Assessment: A Guide for Professionals Serving Youth with Educational and Career Development Challenges contains information on selecting career-related assessments, referring youth for additional assessment, providing appropriate accommodations, and making legal and ethical decisions relating to testing. Information on commonly used assessments is also provided. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities of Youth Service Practitioners: The Centerpiece of a Successful Workforce Development System identifies the “KSAs” practitioners need to serve all youth and youth with disabilities. Download both publications in Word or pdf format at http://www.ncwd-youth.info/.
Back to our notion of unity. We know that family involvement is critical to young people's educational success. However, barriers such as language and culture often stand in the way of a family's full engagement in education. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has produced a parent primer on U.S. education that, while intended primarily for immigrant parents, manages to capture in eight pages some very helpful information and resources of which all parents should be aware. Education in the United States, available in English and Spanish, provides an overview of the U.S. educational system and key issues (e.g., testing, reading, and support services), and key points about important years in a child’s development, from birth to college. Parents who want to help their children be successful learners can obtain this and other free “tip guides” prepared by the Parent Leadership Group of KSA-Plus Communications for WKKF by contacting info@ksaplus.com.
Finally, the Learning First Alliance (LFA) has compiled A Practical Guide to Promoting America’s Public Schools, which is intended to assist educators and other stakeholders in promoting the value of public education to our nation. The LFA, a permanent partnership of 12 leading education associations, joined forces to find common ground and develop ideas for action that can be tailored to support academic programs and outcomes when communicating with community members, parents, and media. For example, the Guide suggests what school leaders could say and do to encourage parental involvement, including downloading the LFA’s own “Tips for Parents…to Help Your Child Succeed in School.” Go to http://www.learningfirst.org/lfa-web/rp?pa=doc&docId=72 to download the Guide.
THINGS TO WATCH
SchoolsMovingUp, a WestEd initiative, helps schools and districts address the immense challenge of raising student achievement in low-performing schools. In an interactive Web format, SchoolsMovingUp offers practitioners the knowledge and expertise they need to make sound decisions and take tangible action in their school reform efforts. It provides high-quality resources, proven services, and powerful tools for upgrading low-performing schools nationwide. SchoolsMovingUp also offers information about legislative issues, including the sweeping reform of the No Child Left Behind Act. Visit SchoolsMovingUp at http://www.wested.org/amao
The Southeast Center for Teaching Quality has introduced a new weekly feature on its Web site. “The SECTQ View” will discuss recent events, policy developments, emerging research, and their implications for improving teaching and learning. Recent discussions include the Secretary’s Third Annual Report on Teacher Quality, the Economic Policy Institute’s study on teacher compensation, and the ongoing argument about whether charter schools are better or worse than public schools as measured by NAEP scores and other criteria. Current and archived SECTQ Views can be accessed at http://www.teachingquality.org/.
The new Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is now on-line at http://www.eric.ed.gov/. We like the new look, the thesaurus, the explanation of the selection criteria, and especially the ability to download full-text pdf documents for free. Some searches seemed to take an inordinately long time, even with a DSL line, but the results were worth the wait.
A free Web-based resource, http://www.e-lead.org/ – a partnership of IEL and the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS) offering states and districts information about how to provide better professional development for principals – has launched a renovated site. It now includes over 30 programs in its selected database, in addition to the other guidance and resources. Take a new or a first look.
Speaking of new looks, the Coalition for Community Schools, which has used its unified voice and multi-sector involvement to help bring the community’s role back into education, is sporting a new Web site. Check it out at http://www.communityschools.org/ where you can also register on-line for the March 2005 National Forum in Chicago or subscribe to the CCS e-newsletter.
As you know, IELC has been following the development of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). Now that research reports have been added to the site, Education Week notes that the WWC is getting “mixed reviews” from researchers. The site restricts the “Meets Evidence Standards" rating to certain randomized controlled trials and regression discontinuity designs and restricts the "Meets Evidence Standards with Reservations" rating to strong quasi-experimental studies and some randomized trials. To find out what the fuss is about, visit the clearinghouse at http://www.w-w-c.org/ and read the article at http://www.edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=44WWC.h23&keywords=viadero. Meanwhile, your editors will try to find out what a “regression discontinuity design” is…
READER SURVEY: GET OUT AND VOTE!
Your editors ask you to let your voice be heard where it really counts--in the privacy of the voting booth. To help you do your homework, the Public Education Network (PEN) has prepared A Voter’s Guide to Public Education Candidates. This non-partisan, two-page pamphlet identifies the characteristics of strong education candidates and provides questions they should be able to answer—so that you can exercise your right and responsibility to vote on November 2nd. You also might want to keep it handy during the remaining presidential debates on October 8th and 13th. The guide is available at http://www.publiceducation.org/.
Submission deadline for the next issue: October 31, 2004
Support IELeadership Connections
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IELeadership Connections is a free bi-monthly e-newsletter focusing on leadership for education. The editors are Mary Podmostko and Denise Slaughter. Please feel free to share this newsletter with interested parties. The editors will do their best to provide active links and information but cannot be responsible for expired links.
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