TEACHER COLLABORATION FOR INCREASED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

In my presentations on coaching and PLC’s I often explore the value in teacher collaboration. I propose a need for teachers to make a three year commitment to students:

--Spend enough time with teachers who have students the year before you to assist those teachers in preparing students for your program and to know your students so that you can begin differentiated instruction when the students arrive in your classroom.

--Collaborate with all teachers who are working with students the same year as you are. This creates cross curriculum connections and understanding…a team working to maximize student success.

--Work with teachers who have students the year following you to understand the skills needed for students to be successful in their program and assist that teacher in understanding your students’ needs and planning for their success. Watching your past students’ success and struggles is ideal feedback to assess the impact of your teaching.

Administrators and coaches should seek ways to create and support these collaborations. Here are two examples that I participated in this end of school year:

An elementary school had second grade teachers identify students going to third grade according to these categories…
Ready for Third Grade
Going but not ready
Going to Third Grade and well ahead of grade level

After introducing these groups to the third grade teachers, the 2-3 team created a list of most appropriate learning experiences each group should experience at the start of next year. They planned for differentiated learning as the school year opened. Since this was done with four weeks of school remaining the team then planned the most important things that second graders should focus on during the remaining school year. Using third grade opening assessment tasks, second grade teachers and students identified missing skills and created groupings for reteaching and practice.

A high school freshman academy had students produce a writing assignment in English class that was given to sophomore English teachers, who responded on the papers with comments on how they could be improved. Students reviewed the comments and worked in English class to improve. The improved papers were again given to 10th grade teachers who again made comments for improvement. Students reworked the writing one more time and again submitted to 10th grade teachers who graded them. Those grades served as the students’ first grade in sophomore English. This collaboration put sophomore and freshman teachers “on the same page” regarding writing expectations and gave sophomore teachers a great early read on their incoming students’ skills.

School leaders who increase teacher collaboration can positively impact student achievement.

MAKING TIME: LEADERSHIP CREATIVITY

The current budget cuts in most districts around the country will pressure leaders to use their creativity and risk taking to maintain and implement professional development best practice. Kathy Fuchs, the superintendent for Jefferson Township, NJ, recently informed me of her district’s approach to this challenge. I’ve invited her to be a guest contributor this week.

Welcome Kathy!

Jefferson Township is a suburban K-12 district of approximately 3600 students, located in the northern portion of Morris County, New Jersey. I have been superintendent for four years.

Since January of 2009, I have served as a member of the New Jersey Department of Education Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB). When I was approached by the Executive Director of NJASA and asked if I would be interested in representing the organization on the PTSB, I immediately said yes. My passion has always been curriculum and professional development. My involvement in the PTSB continues to be a very rewarding experience.

Prior to becoming a member of the PTSB my district had begun efforts to implement professional learning communities. We were more or less at the mission/vision stage as a result of a strategic planning initiative, but needed to focus on student achievement and determine the path that would be taken in order to meet our goals. Professional learning communities made a lot of sense and gaining interest and support for the idea was made easier by the endorsement of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and the NJDOE, as well as all of the research provided by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). (See Common PLC Language )

In the spring of 2009 our district applied to be part of a LAB school research project conducted by the NJDOE and EIRC. These organizations were looking for districts that would be willing to participate in action research. Our middle school staff was very interested in the project. A new schedule that would help to facilitate PLC work would be in place for fall of 2009 and the work of collaborative teams would be strengthened by the PLC model. The school applied and was selected. We were thrilled! PLC training has provided, use of the SAI (Standards Assessment Inventory) developed by NSDC provided the district (we opted to pay a fee so that all schools used the SAI—not just the middle school) with additional data for the development of the building level professional development plan.

At the same time our middle school was involved as a LAB school, other schools within the district were piloting PLCs. A PLC model was used for Administrative Council Meetings which provided a means to model and discuss ways to assist staff as we continued to move forward to put PLCs in place. We—teachers, administrators, and support staff—spend time defining student achievement, taking a close look at curriculum, looking at school culture, and identifying ways that we would provide support for students and staff when students did not reach the achievement levels we expected.

Then in March 2010 things changed…When the district was faced with a loss of almost $2.7 million dollars in state aide, when the proposed budget was defeated, and when the budget was reduced by an additional $340,000 by our town council, there were hard choices to make. Truly we have been in “dismantle” mode—and there have been no sacred cows. There is little need to describe our situation further; this has been the climate in NJ and in many other areas of the country. With the “aftermath” the challenge has been to look at ways to scale back and still try to make it work.

For example, the high school schedule—that was to be a rotating block with a unit lunch and time for PLCs, as well as intervention supports for students—has been delayed. How could we find time for PLCs to meet? The principal and his staff proposed a delayed opening that would allow seniors (who drive to school) to arrive 50 minutes later. Students (mostly underclassmen) who report to school at the regular time (we share buses with the middle school and could not afford a second bus run) will be part of supervised study hall or—if we can pull it off—an advisory period that will be overseen by half of the staff. The other half of the staff will use the time for PLC meetings. This structure will rotate. When we proposed the concept to the board of education, our idea was to begin the adjusted schedule in November and to schedule 16 “PLC delay” days throughout the school year. These will be announced in advance so that students and their parents will know when a “PLC delay” will take place. Additional time for PLC meetings will come from faculty meetings, department meetings, and in-service days.

It isn’t perfect, but it is a start and it is, in my mind, a commitment to continue PLC work even under trying circumstances. If you’re faced with similar hard choices I encourage you to seek alternatives rather than abandoning PLCs—the very tool that will increase student achievement in the long run.

Thanks Kathy…Its not perfect but it is a commitment…I think that’s an important message.

iGENERATION LEARNERS

In many of my workshop sessions I have participants work with a backward planning process beginning with defining student achievement and then the student behaviors/effort that are likely to generate that desired achievement. From there we examine teacher behaviors likely to encourage and support the needed student behaviors.
Lastly, we examine teacher relationships like professional learning communities and school leadership practices which support the entire process.

One of my power point slides in this process states:

Students today need a high level of education … a very different kind of education than most of us have had.

At this point we often explore the impact of technology in students’ lives and examine its presence or lack of presence in their world. I suggest that it is difficult for a student with an iPhone in her purse to copy information on paper that could be captured with a click.

A different kind of education??

I’m 60… my daughter is 33. The difference in her high school education and mine was minimal. She did study Woodstock in social studies and I didn’t. She did take a keyboarding course…I did not. Most of the rest was the same.

My grandchild is two and a half. How different should her high school education be?
While she isn’t reading yet, she can turn on the TV, bring up the stored DVDs that are hers and select the one she wants grandpa to watch with her. She has games stored on her mom’s phone that she can play at a restaurant while waiting for her meal.

She is in the iGeneration.

Zoey, an iGeneration Learner

Erik Parker recently posted a blog on ASCD Edge where he examines a box of school materials his parents saved in a box 50 years ago. Can you guess what he found?

I was recently introduced to Dr Larry Rosen’s description of the iGeneration of students.

He writes on a Psychology Today Blog:

With the rapid change in technology and its impact on our lives, it is clear that the Internet is no longer the defining feature in the lives of children and teens. Based on our research, we have now discovered a separate generation, which we label the "iGeneration" with the "i" representing both the types of mobile technologies being heralded by children and adolescents (iPhone, iPod, Wii, iTunes) plus the fact that these technologies are mostly "individualized" in the way they are used. My colleagues and I feel that this new generation encompasses those children and teens born in the new millennium and are defined by their technology and media use, their love of electronic communication, and their need to multitask.
iGeners are the most technologically immersed generation and just watching the intense look on their faces as they play video games, text all day long, Skype, Facebook, watch YouTube videos, and juggle a dozen websites at a time, it is clear that they are engaged. Now, we need to rewire education to take the home iGen lifestyle and transfer it into the classroom.

In his book, Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn, Rosen suggest that students generate original content online as part of lessons. He recommends that we teach students media literacy and the difference between superficial gathering of information and deeper understanding.

I’m wondering how my granddaughter might explore the impact of Woodstock?

SETTING EXPECTATIONS FOR TEACHER GROWTH

Teachers are often reminded that setting expectations for students is critical to maximizing student success. Here is how Emma McDonald presents the importance on the Inspiring Teachers’ website.

Setting expectations is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for our students on the first day of school. Unfortunately, many teachers often think of setting expectations as simply going over the school rules. It is so much more than this! Our expectations for students include not only the rules for the school and classroom, but also what we expect our students to do each and every day.Expectations may include things such as honesty, integrity, neatness, being prompt, striving for personal best, and cooperation with others. Other expectations may include what you want students to do when entering the classroom, leaving the classroom, requesting a break or hall pass, sharpening pencils or getting supplies, turning in homework, working as a group, or taking a test. Too often these expectations are assumed on our part and never explained or outlined to students. How can we expect our students to meet our guidelines and set procedures if we never communicate them?

Employers need to communicate expectations to maximize employee performance and organization success. From an article How to Communicate Employee Expectations:

High morale among employees goes hand in hand with high productivity. One way to keep morale high is to ensure that your staff has a realistic idea of what is expected. From the interview of a potential new hire to communication with a long-term employee you must know how to communicate your company's expectations for job performance.

Hayes Mitzell writing for National Staff Development Council in the Spring 2010 issue of The Learning System (page 2) suggests that when administrators are interviewing teacher candidates they should go beyond the assumption that a teacher will participate in whatever professional development the school requires. He suggests we might share the following expectations for the candidate to consider:

We expect you…

…to develop intellectually. You should keep learning more about the content you teach and how to engage students more successfully in learning that content.

… to engage your colleagues in figuring out how to improve classroom instruction, curriculum, assessment, and results.

…to seek out and test new ideas from within and outside the school.

…to support your colleagues in their learning with your classroom door open for observation.

…to be committed to the learning of your peer’s students taking collective responsibility for all students in the school.

…to inform us whenever the system gets in the way of your intellectual development or that of your students.

While Hayes Mizell has posed these as interview expectations for candidates to consider before joining your staff, it strikes me that they would be worthy reflection points to share. Perhaps in a welcome back to school letter to teachers. Perhaps at a faculty meeting with small group discussions. Perhaps in a conference before building a professional growth plan.

As school leaders, we should consider how we (what actions?) communicate these expectations in daily school life.