Everyone's a Critic, but What's the Real Problem?

"My two kids" is on the front page of today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser "Insight" section.  Paul McKimmy, a faculty member at the University of Hawaii College of Education, shares his experiences as a  parent with two children in the same grade level at the same public school.  One is thriving; the other is struggling. I hope that all educational leaders and policy makers read his personal story and professional insight and discuss and rethink some of their decisions that negatively impact our educational system.

Those of us in education see first-hand the correlation between socioeconomic status and student achievement.  Societal factors have a huge impact on some of our most needy students, and expecting them to be able to focus on school when their basic needs are not met is unrealistic. We know that given time and a caring staff, schools can have a positive impact on disadvantaged students. We know that teachers can be the impetus for students to be the first in their family to break out of the cycle of poverty and attend college.  We know that school can be the one constant in a child's life, the one safe place where family problems can be forgotten for a few hours. We know that every student is different and when they begin school, they do not start at the same starting line; in fact, some students are far behind other students when they first enter kindergarten. Yet we expect them to be at the same place at the end of the year,  Think of it as a running race; can we reasonably expect someone to start half-a-lap behind and finish at the same time as others who started with a big lead? Yet that seems to be what the public expects of schools.

I began my teaching career in a program for low-income preschoolers, Head Start,, and I firmly believe that providing resources to change the lives of families in poverty can pay big dividends. Head Start is not just a preschool; it provides access to health and social services to families to enhance their lives and give them hope for the future. Head Start encourages family involvement and volunteering in the classroom to help parents learn effective ways to help their children at home. Many students transition successfully from preschool programs for the disadvantaged to kindergarten. Studies also indicate that there are positive long-term benefits for children who attended Head Start.

Yet, we are unwilling to commit funds to early interventions such as universal preschool or social service programs that teach parents how to parent.  Just as we all need support when we attempt to try something new, parenting is something that does not come naturally for many new parents.  Those who had no positive parenting models may not know how to nurture their children so they will be ready for school. When students start kindergarten unprepared for the expectations of school, they may demonstrate behaviors that will impact that child's academic progress.  Blaming the school or the teacher is easy but also very unfair. In most cases, teachers and schools do their best to address the needs of the students, but they struggle to close the achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots.

As Mr. McKimmy concludes in his op-ed piece, "We don't have a problem with a broken system or poorly performing teachers.  We have a poverty vs. privilege problem; but we choose to attack public schools and the teaching profession as an easy target rather than addressing the real issues head-on."  It's time for us to stop blaming schools and teachers and start providing the opportunity so ALL students can be successful in their educational experience.

Does a Higher Salary Mean Better Teachers?

Recently, a friend posted an article on Facebook: "Here's What Happens when a School Pays Its Teachers a Lot, Lot More Money."  I read the article with interest. Did a rigorous interview process and high expectations along with high pay - $125,000 per year plus incentives - result in improved student performance in a high-needs school despite larger class sizes and less administrative support?

According to the results of the study, funded by the Melissa and Bill Gates Foundation, "After four years at the charter school, eighth-graders showed average test score gains in math equal to an additional year and a half of school, compared with district students.  The study found these charter students' gains equaled more than an extra half-year in science and almost an extra half-year in English."  

The conclusion of the author? With higher pay, "teachers perform better and students learn more."

To say that higher pay led to greater student achievement gains is too simplistic and doesn't take into account other contributing factors: student motivation, parent involvement, how students were taught, how many hours of extra instruction were provided, and whether students had opportunities to participate in electives or extracurricular activities. Did teachers collaborate on lessons and share data so all students showed gains, or was each teacher judged individually?

The fact that there was a 47% turnover of teachers after one year concerns me.  Just because a teacher is experienced and has had success in the past does not mean that he or she can go into any other school and have the same results.  The first year at any school is a learning experience, and being judged mainly on student test scores does a disservice not just to the teacher, but to the students and the school itself. What message are we sending when nearly half of the staff is replaced after a year? How can we build a collaborative and inclusive culture at the school when there is such a high turnover of teachers?

In his blog, "Questioning the Data," George Couros states, " . . . what is the measure of success? You may see an increase in test scores but kids might hate coming to school every day, because it is easy to teach to a test, while also killing a love of learning in our students. You can also see that you can improve a score in anything if you put a massive focus on it."  

We all know that teaching is an art; content knowledge is not enough.. Effective teaching and learning is about building relationships with students and colleagues and having the pedagogy and skills to manage a classroom of students and engage them so they are invested in their own learning. Effective teachers are constantly learning and adjusting their lessons to meet the needs and interests of their students. As a school principal, I could not agree to a system where teachers are evaluated and retained solely on how well their students performed on a statewide assessment. Students are more than a test score, and our job as educators is to help all students discover a passion for learning so they can achieve success. A huge salary does not guarantee that.

Predicting the Super Bowl Winner

Yesterday was the BIG GAME for many folks who see the Super Bowl as a reason to get together with friends to cheer on their favorite team.  For my hubbie and me, it meant we practically had the whole golf course to ourselves since everyone else was watching the big game.  Don't get me wrong, I am a sports fan, but our teams (the 49ers and the Dolphins) weren't in it, so I was content to check the score on my iPhone every so often until we got home in time for the halftime show with Katy Perry. (I enjoyed it but not as much as last year's with Hawaii's own Bruno Mars.)

Football is just a game, but it's also a great way to teach students lessons.  Our physical education teacher, Mr. B, invited students and staff at our school to enter a Super Bowl contest. He received lots of entries! I asked him about it on Friday, and he shared that in past years, he got some pretty wild responses from students such as scores that were more reflective of a baseball or basketball game than a football game, a personal reason for picking a team based on heart rather than head ("I like their colors" or "I like their name better"), and evidence that the student didn't really know what the Super Bowl was.

We teach our students to predict from the time they are in kindergarten.  Predict what will happen next in the story and explain your reason; predict what the weather might be like tomorrow; predict what will happen when we do a science experiment with the class, predict the results of the Presidential election, etc.  Somehow, though, students weren't making the connection to a real life event like the Super Bowl.

This year, Mr. B made it a point to discuss the contest with the students. He asked them what a prediction is - an educated guess based on data.  He also had a few tiebreaker questions that required students to do a little researching to find the answer.  Mr. B shared that the responses this year indicated that students actually checked football scores and thought carefully before submitting their entry.  Many of the responses were very specific when answering the tiebreaker questions: the game was being played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; Tom Brady played football at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, etc.  Those questions about which colleges Tom Brady and Russell Wilson attended? It's never too early to emphasize a college-going mindset with our students!  The final question asked what does Super Bowl XLIX stand for?  Is this similar to coding? Were the Romans the original coders?  I realize it's not part of the Common Core State Standards, but sharing the Roman Numeral system would be a great lesson that could engage students in thinking logically.

Mr. B will be announcing the winners of the contest today - one for students and one for staff.  I chose the New England Patriots, but the score I wrote down was 20-17.  Someone else will probably be closer to the final score, 28-24.  And if teachers wanted to, they could extend the lesson and ask students if there are other ways to get a score of 28-24 and see what students come up with (there are numerous ways).

I love sports, not just for the competition, but for the many opportunities we can incorporate learning in all content areas!

Random Thoughts - Personal and Educational

The weather is gorgeous today - it doesn't seem like winter weather, but hey, I'm not complaining! I'll be golfing later with my hubby, my sister, and a friend.  What a great way to spend a holiday!

On Friday, it was announced that my husband Randy was appointed by the Governor to be the next Public Utilities Commission Chairperson. Since being asked to take the position, Randy was torn between continuing a relaxing life of retirement or serving the people of Hawaii in this capacity. Service won out, and he is un-retiring from retirement.  There are some major issues coming before the commission, and the opportunity to have an impact on the decisions that will affect our State in the future won out.  Randy has hit the ground running and I know he will do his best for the people of Hawaii.

Of course, going back to work full-time will have its challenges especially the daily commute to Honolulu and back home. (I'm lucky; I travel in the other direction, and my trip is 10-15 minutes each way.) When Randy retired eight years ago, I bought him a membership to 24-Hour Fitness, and he's been going regularly since. On Saturday, when he went to the gym, we changed his membership so he can go to the any center including one near his new workplace.  At the same time, I signed up to join.  I was a member for a couple of years over a decade ago and quit when the work became all-consuming. Now I need to make time to workout and not make excuses.  It'll be hard at first, I'm sure, but I am committed.

On Saturday, our VEX IQ team had a competition at Island Pacific Academy, a private K-12 school in Kapolei. The Head of School, Gerald Teramae, took my husband and me on a personal tour of the school, and we were impressed!  IPA started ten years ago, and they are an International Baccalaureate school.  But that's not what impressed us . . . there are other Hawaii schools, including several public schools that are IB schools.  No, it is their personalization and their focus on the whole child that I loved most -- their Navigator music recording studio, the art work that was displayed literally everywhere, and a room for Robotics, CAD (computer-aided design), a makerspace, and much more for students to explore, discover, create, and share.  In one of the classes we passed by, I was intrigued by the set-up - a "throne" in the middle with desks and chairs lined up in two rows, facing each other.  It was a Humanities class set up for a Socratic discussion.  We chatted with the teacher (sorry, I forgot his name) who shared that the discussions in ninth grade are often "all over the place" but by the time students are seniors, the discussions and the questions are way beyond what we would expect from young people. One of the questions - Is it better to lead with fear or with love? That would be a great topic for any group of leaders (including principals) to discuss!

Our VEX IQ team at Island Pacific Academy (Henry, Brianna, Kenna, and Jamie). These kids love being in Robotics, and our goal is to involve more students from a younger age so they can experience the joy of collaborating to problem-solve and be successful in getting their robot to complete the required tasks. 

So how does this all relate to me as an educator and school leader? First, my husband's new job gives me an opportunity to learn more about the sustainability issues facing our island state.  We talk about the importance of being more self-sustainable, but we don't always walk the talk.  As an educator, I can make a difference by ensuring that our students have the opportunity to think and discuss issues like the high cost of electricity, what other energy sources could we be pursuing (solar? wind? wave? geothermal?), and what we can do to make a difference, not just in Hawaii, but in the world. We believe that our students need to think more deeply, and one way is to get them to ask the questions and to seek answers to their questions.  We know that when students are interested, they are more likely to be engaged. Let's engage them in topics that are relevant to them now and in the future.

As a school principal, I feel my greatest disappointment is in not providing students with rich experiences in the arts or STEM or foreign languages. The focus on academics and having programs to identify and work with struggling students is important so that is where our resources have been in the last few years. But students need a well-rounded education that includes art, music, drama, Robotics, languages, dance, etc. and it is up to us to figure out how to expose students to those experiences.  That will be my priority.

It's time to get to work!

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Yesterday was a Planning/Collaboration Day for our teachers, and our Tech Team asked if they could take charge of this professional development opportunity.  Being a wise person, I gladly stepped aside and gave them full responsibility for the morning session.

The morning "Media Mash Up - A PD Playground" was wonderful! Our staff loved learning from their colleagues, and the whole morning was upbeat. We had 22 different teachers sharing a tech tool or app they use with their students, or with their parents or their colleagues.  At Hale Kula, we use technology as a tool to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create.  Teachers showed examples of student work and shared how they communicate with parents and the community through social media.

We had a gallery walk where the staff got to see which tech tool or app they might want to learn more about.

Then, staff had the opportunity to learn more about that particular tool or app in small-group, 

hands-on sessions.  

The buzz throughout the morning was audible.  Teachers were excited to learn something new, and the fact that they had a choice was important.  Many shared that they wished they could have attended more sessions. Collaboration between teachers was also mentioned as a positive outcome of this professional development opportunity.  Here are some of the comments from our teachers:

• I appreciated the opportunity given to so many of the faculty to share apps that they have used. Hands-on opportunities generally lend themselves to practical application.
• With the choices we had to attend for breakout sessions, we were able to learn more about something we were interested in. Lots of cool ideas out there to extend the students' learning.
• I appreciated that the facilitators actually went over step-by-step how to use the program. 
• I valued the ability to select what we were interested in learning. I also valued that the sessions were hands-on and allowed time to explore and create.
• We were offered choice in what we wanted to learn about.  This made it easy to pick a session that could be directly beneficial to my teaching, as opposed to having to learn about something I may not use or that I already use and know about.
• It was a good opportunity for our own Hale Kula teachers to share all of the great things happening in their classrooms! I think the presenters felt empowered and the attendees were inspired to try new tools with the students.  I really appreciated the positivity before starting the new semester!

We look forward to more opportunities to have teachers share how they are using technology in their classrooms.

The second part of our Planning/Collaboration Day dealt with the Smarter Balanced Assessments which our third, fourth, and fifth graders will be taking this semester.  We decided that it was important for all of our teachers to experience taking the SBA so we spent the afternoon as test-takers.  It was eye-opening for our teachers, and many had concerns about the format and the expectations for students. They questioned whether the SBA measures what is important in education.  Here are a few comments:

• There were so many factors that affected my performance on this test like reading comprehension, familiarity with the computer, keyboarding skills, etc. that I fail to see how this gives a true measure of a child's content knowledge in math.
• I can see why students are guessing.  It was difficult.
• Moving from one section of the test to the next is not intuitive; the test is text-heavy.  It seems never-ending - too bad they don't show a progress bar in the window.
• I have concerns over a computer-graded test as multiple solutions may not be counted due to the lack of thought on the computer's part.  Students may also lack the perseverance to follow through on some of these questions even if they have the skills necessary to solve.
• I think students may be thrown by the format of the test and all of the buttons.  Students may possibly fixate on the technical aspects rather than the academic purpose.
• Students will be limited in writing quality responses due to their lack of confidence in keyboarding skills.  
• The test needs to be scrutinized further because we want to set student up for moderate success, not doomed failure.

Essentially, we went from a very positive, upbeat atmosphere in the morning Media Mash-Up to a negative, frustrating atmosphere in the afternoon where teachers were not engaged in the activity. And they had 45 minutes to take the practice test; our students will have 90 minutes. If adults (including me) could not maintain focus for 45 minutes; will students be focused for twice that time? I don't think so.  My main concern as an administrator, however, is reflected in some of the responses to the question, "What preparation do you think students need to be successful on the test?"  Here are some of the responses:

• More test-prep
• Practicing the format of the test
• Using the computer enough to be comfortable in writing on scratch paper and transferring to the computer
• Lots of practice with the test tools
• Teach students to memorize math algorithms
• Start keyboarding lessons in kindergarten 

Whoa! What's wrong with this picture?  As we observed our teachers and their level of engagement and excitement at learning some new tech tools and apps, we know that our students need those kinds of opportunities as well. Students should be using technology to explore, to discover, to create, and to share. Spending valuable class time to practice so students can do better on a test should not be the purpose of school.

We should be preparing students for life, not preparing for a test. 

Becoming a Digital Leader

2014 was the year I committed to becoming a digital leader. I was inspired by Peter DeWitt and Eric Sheninger, respected principal educators as well as bloggers and digital leaders. I was especially touched that despite their large following and super-busy schedules, they took the time to respond to questions or comments I asked them. Here is a recap of my year as a digital leader.

• I continued to blog, and I am becoming more comfortable about sharing my thoughts with the public. Since I committed to blogging two years ago, I have become more confident about using this venue to reflect and to communicate about my thoughts and my experiences as a leader. 
• Our faculty meetings and professional development days were opportunities to flip the meetings by asking teachers to read and respond to an article or blog ahead-of-time.  We used these staff times to practice using different tools to collaborate and communicate with our colleagues. Teachers were leaders and learners, sharing their expertise with other staff, and I was an active learner and participant along with everyone.
• Google+ became our preferred method of sharing with our staff and having them share as well.  It was great to see our teachers posting articles or blogs they found interesting and starting a discussion via Google+. We also shared photos of successful classroom lessons or activities - it was so wonderful to see the learning that was going on in our classrooms! 
• I still have much to learn, but I am becoming more comfortable about using Google Drive and Google Docs with our staff.  In fact, I presented at my first GAFE Summit this past year on "Building Relationships Using GAFE." I know that GAFE is constantly upgrading and adding new features; I need to make time to learn how to more effectively use these tools to be more efficient and organized.
• I was a guest on several Hangouts (EdTech Mixed Plate and  Google Rocks! Hawaii Hangouts on Air) this past year to share our experiences integrating technology at our school. I also was part of a panel to discuss educational leadership and empowering schools. I was honored to be asked to participate and to share with others through this venue.
• I've had my Twitter account for a number of years, but this year, I realized the power of Twitter as a professional development tool.  My personal and professional networks are expanding and I now view Twitter as a great resource. I make time each day to check for tweets that I am interested in reading or that have relevance to me as a school leader. 
• Social media is an important means of communicating with our families. We have a Facebook page with regular updates and photos. We update our Twitter feed and include photos of what is going on in our classrooms. We have two blogs - Hale Kula Highlights is sent out weekly and informs parents of upcoming events and activities, and we have a blog to update our families about our construction project. Our parents share that they get a lot of information via social media. In fact, we hold our semi-annual School Community Meetings virtually through a Facebook event, and we now have more participation and input than ever before.
• This past year, I participated in edchathi and edcamphonolulu, and I was able to attend the International Society for Technology in Education Conference in Atlanta.  These events motivate me to continue my journey as a digital leader and provided me with valuable ideas and resources that I might use personally or with our staff and colleagues.
• A chance response to a blog resulted in a presentation to our complex area school teams by Eric Sheninger when he was here in Hawaii on vacation.  It was one of the best professional development sessions, I've attended, and  I look forward to a follow-up session this coming spring with our District principals.  
• Our six-year accreditation term is ending in 2015, and we are preparing for our visit in March 2015. Our entire WASC report was collaboratively created using Google Docs, and all of our evidences are in a Google Site. It is hard work, but this is truly a team effort and one that would not be possible if our school were not ready, technology-wise. 
• I decided to create a digital portfolio for my principal evaluation in a Google Site.  It was a challenge for me; I was often frustrated and I made lots of mistakes, but in the end, I was proud that I persevered and was able to share my evidences in this format. 

I am looking forward to 2015 to continue my journey as a digital leader. I will continue to share my thoughts and reflections via my blog.  I have a list of web sites or apps I want to explore, and I will continue to encourage teachers to try new ideas and to share their learnings with their colleagues and with me.  Finally, I want to motivate my colleagues to step out of their comfort zones and become digital leaders at their schools.  If I can learn, so can they.  If the problem is time, then as Eric Sheninger states in this blog, we need to stop making excuses and instead make time to do what is important.

2015, here I come!

#Peter DeWitt
#Eric Sheninger

My Hopes for Education in Hawaii - 2015

I just read a short EduWeek blog about Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Edu-Predictions for 2015.   It got me thinking about what I would want to see happen in education in Hawaii in 2015.

First, as an early childhood education major, I strongly believe in making preschool accessible for all 4-year-olds in Hawaii.  Universal preschool is not a new idea; it's been around since the 1980s with The Berman Report and the 1990's with the Cayetano Task Force. It's taking far too long - over 25 years - for our State to make a commitment to ensure that ALL 4-year-olds have an opportunity to attend a quality pre-kindergarten program.  Until we make that commitment, we will have an opportunity gap that turns into an achievement gap between the haves and the have-nots.   Our children and their future are too important; we need to stop making excuses about the lack of funds to support universal preschool.

Second, with our Superintendent signing the Future Ready pledge, it is my hope that more support will be provided to schools to ensure that our teachers and students are able to personalize teaching and learning through the use of technology to collaborate, communicate, think critically, and create. Our school has been on a journey to create our own curriculum and to address the Common Core State Standards through interdisciplinary units and project-based or problem-based learning. I am hopeful that the State will allow us flexibility in implementation and will allow us to apply for funding through the Future Ready program to provide continued professional development for our teachers as well as to purchase devices for our students.   Recently, over 85 billion students worldwide participated in the second annual Hour of  Code. To prepare our students for their future, we need to introduce coding in every school in Hawaii and it should count as a math or science credit towards high school graduation. We would also like to pilot Bring Your Own Technology with some of our older students. In this day and age, students need to understand that their smartphones or mobile devices are computers that can be used for more than just texting, social media, or playing music or games.

Third, most of our schools were built for a different kind of educational system. Hale Kula, built in 1959, is really fortunate to have received funding from the Department of Defense and the State of Hawaii to transform our school where 21st century teaching and learning will be supported. This whole project has made me realize how important buildings are to a school. We need to invest in upgrading our schools; most of our schools in Hawaii were built for a different era with the factory model that was prevalent in education at that time. Our construction project has made me realize how our teachers were doing their best to give our students 21st century learning experiences without the proper infrastructure.  Educators are creative and do their best to make things work, but they shouldn't have to do so.  It is my hope that policymakers will truly make education a priority by being creative and figuring out a way to fund 21st century buildings at our schools. The Hawaii Institute for Public Affairs conducted a study in 2012 that outlines a long-term plan to address the need to transform outdated and aging schools.  Perhaps this plan should be re-examined and shared with all stakeholders.

Finally, I hope our Department will engage our schools in discussions about the Smarter Balanced Assessments. I've shared my thoughts in two earlier blogs so I won't repeat myself. I believe that we need to examine other ways of determining how students are doing in school, perhaps by having them keep an electronic portfolio of their best work from the time they enter our school system until they graduate. Part of the requirement for this portfolio is to have students reflect on why they chose those pieces and what they learned.  This is a powerful individualized process that holds students accountable and is highly personalized, and when the appropriate support is provided, even kindergarten students can self-reflect on what they want to keep as evidences of their learning and why. It is true that an electronic portfolio doesn't have the capacity to compare students through a common assessment, but I doubt that a test score is the best predictor of success in life.  We need to re-examine whether the amount of money we spend on testing could be better utilized to improve teaching and learning at our schools.

As a lifelong educator who remains passionate about improving education in Hawaii, I believe it takes the commitment of everyone to engage in a discussion to ensure that our children are prepared for their future through a quality public education system. Let's make that commitment together.