Greetings! I’m privileged to welcome you to the 2005 Fall SDCO Newsletter as SDCO president. I commend you taking the time for some professional reading with THE organization in the state of Ohio that promotes high quality professional development for advancing student achievement. With this is mind we are working hard to support NSDC’s goal: All teachers in all schools will experience high quality staff development as part of their school day by the year 2007.  I am delighted to be leading Ohio’s efforts and will depend greatly on our outstanding SDCO Board Members (http://www.sdcohio.org/execboard.htm), our past-president, Patty Canupp and; our president-elect, Sherri Houghton.

This newsletter offers a variety of ways to support this measure as we invite the SDCO membership to make contributions. I applaud our editor, Larry Pfrogner, for his time and commitment in creating a high-quality newsletter. Please contact Larry with your ideas for future newsletter contributions. Inside the newsletter you will read more about our upcoming long-term study with Tom Guskey on Standards-based Assessment and Grading, book reviews and Ohio districts doing fabulous work in high quality professional development.  Yes, it’s happening in our own backyard!

Teachers, principals, and district administrators who are concerned with the challenges facing education today will find this book a valuable read.  How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader is written by John G. Gabriel, a former English teacher and department chair. Gabriel uses his experiences as a teacher leader to offer insights into this unique position that is increasingly becoming a critical part of any district that is seriously interested in school improvement. 

To conclusion of book review.

• Clearly define standards for Ohio’s teachers and principals at all stages of their careers
  
• Delineate the effective characteristics of quality professional development.

That is why I established the Governor’s Commission for Student Success. It is why I asked the Commission’s 33 members – committed educators, parents, business and community leaders, and public officials from throughout Ohio – to look at the lessons from other states, and within Ohio, that can help increase academic achievement for all of Ohio’s schoolchildren.

The following Web site has been established to help keep Ohioans updated on the work of the Commission – and on its recommendations about how we can improve student achievement by insisting on high academic expectations for all students, fair and effective assessments based on those standards, and accountability for results.

http://www.osn.state.oh.us/gcss/index.asp

If you haven’t checked lately, you just might be impressed with the updated OGT Web site for students containing:

• Short multiple-choice tests in reading, mathematics, science and social studies
• A writing practice exercise that is scored by Project Essay Grade Automated Essay Scoring (PEG)
• Sample constructed-response papers in reading, mathematics, science and social studies with annotations, links to standards, and scoring guides
• Papers for students to practice scoring

The Web site is available at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/proficiency/ogt/OGT_Website_for_Students.asp.

Looking for some new ideas to add to your professional development presentation skills or are you willing to share/show off some of your own?  SDCO invites you to submit one of your tried and true techniques to be published in a future newsletter. Perhaps it’s been an outstanding ice-breaker, or an activity that creates a clearer understanding, maybe even just a fun diversion. Submit your ideas to our newsletter editor and if they are selected to be published you’ll receive, compliments of Ashland University, a travel hot/cold drink cup. Read on for this month’s suggestion by Larry Pfrogner on helping your staff developers and classroom teachers better appreciate where their audience is “coming from.”  

Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin publishes a list that attempts to give their faculty a clearer sense of the mindset of that year’s incoming freshmen class. For this year’s students a man named George Bush has been President for more than half their lives, the Starship Enterprise has always looked somewhat dated, and Tom Landry never coached the Dallas Cowboys. Ron Neif, the school’s Director of Public Affairs, said the list has practical uses beyond helping faculty see the world in the eyes of their students…branches of the Armed Forces and churches have used it for training officers and ministers. Perhaps, with some tweaking of the dates, it can make sense for your faculty.   

                                                                  To Beloit’s list and the mailing address for your suggestions.

                                                                             To more about last and next summer’s conference.

• Describe the BEST professional development experience you’ve ever had
• Of NSDC’s 12 Standards for Staff Development  (http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm ) identify your top 5 and comment
• NSDC’s current goal is that “All teachers in all schools will experience high-quality professional learning as part of their daily work by 2007.” How do you recommend we accomplish this?

Dr. Gary Brooks

Read on for Dr. Brooks’ Essay.

Who are the board members?
How can I get a membership brochure?
What professional development opportunities are available?

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  If this sounds like something you can relate to, please read what I hope to be a continuing column: “Courageous Conversations”.  It’s meant to bring about uncomfortable conversation about what we know is the right thing to do but is so difficult to implement: Nothing like stirring the pot to provoke some positive dissonance! 

Courageous Conversations….

INSANITY:  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results!

If we know what good design is, why don’t we do it? Don’t we have a far greater chance of meeting goals by intentional design rather than by hope?

It all comes down to the question of Form vs. Function – what comes first? If our function is to provide high quality professional development experiences for our staff, what must the form be? We know what has to be done to make a difference, yet we still force it into canned 1-day approaches and expect it to make a difference and then furl our eyebrows when we realize it doesn’t. How many more times are you willing to hear grumblings like:

Professional development in my district is substandard….Much of the staff development offered is ‘make and take’ types of activities.  Activities that are thought to be ‘cute’ and ‘fun;’ cookie cutter types of activities.  Frankly, ‘fun’ becomes boring very fast if it isn’t coupled with ‘interesting/challenging.’

Professional development is essentially the same in my school as it has always been:  People with $50 haircuts and Italian designer suits who knew a school administrator from a previous job and who haven’t actually taught in a classroom full of kids since the Reagan administration come in for a half-day of power-points and parlor games. 

Our PD days are spent listening to another staff member read a power point presentation to us (that we already have in print).  Discussion is almost futile.

The single most frustrating thing as a classroom teacher is ineffective staff development.

I don’t feel like staff development has ever been meaningful to my job… find much of this staff development training to be repetitious and a waste of time.

I have never been offered PD that consisted of more than a one-day workshop.  I have, however, had the misfortune of getting to spend PD time as a captive audience for 3 sales pitches provided by vendors eager to sell us on products.

The above quotes were actual statements from an NSDC online survey of Educator’s Experiences with the Professional Development Provisions of NCLB.  To see more results from the survey go to:

www.nsdc.org/connect/about/Mizell%20Affiliates%20July05.pdf.

2,123 educators completed the survey with the highest number of responses from states in this order:  North Carolina, Minnesota, Kansas, Indiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Ohio and Louisiana. 

So if we can all relate to this losing battle, why don’t we change our professional development practices (form)?   Because it’s easier? Someone might get mad if we don’t do it the way we always do? Can we still expect the one-shot deals to make a difference? Hayes Mizell, NSDC Distinguished Senior Fellow, describes the following in his April 2005 article:

Most High Quality Professional Learning:
Takes place at school, not away from school;
Occurs daily, not occasionally;
Engages teams, not individuals;
Relies on discussion, not presentation;
Requires initiative, not passivity;
Stimulates thinking, not inattention;
Emphasizes creation, not replication;
Sparks investigation, not transmission;
Generates understanding, not confusion

Does it look this way at your school? Could you use these points to initiate conversation about the professional learning in your district? I invite you to read and take a short survey, Time to Evaluate Adult Learning and Student Achievement developed by Stephanie Hirsch at:

www.nsdc.org/library/publications/results/res4-04hirs.cfm.

The survey is based on questions surrounding the 3 pillars of the NSDC standards for Staff Development: results-driven, standards-based and job-embedded. My bet is that most educators fare well on the first two pillars, but start to lag on “job-embedded.” The NSDC website has developed resources to specifically support this challenging aspect of time and resources:   www.nsdc.org/library/resources.cfm

School districts are not alone in this quandary. SDCO also struggles with this dilemma as we plan for state-wide conferences.  Discussions have centered around how we can walk-the-talk of high quality professional development yet sponsor another 1 or 2-day conference – it just doesn’t cut it! The last few years SDCO has courageously sponsored year-long cohort academies that bring together the same educators for different topics relative to high-quality professional development practices. This year, we embark upon another long term adventure; this time with Tom Guskey as we study standards-based assessment and grading practices (see related article). Quite frankly, this model has not received much attention.  However, if SDCO doesn’t model best practices in professional development, how do we expect our districts to do the same?  You have to ask yourself the hard question of where your priorities are. Doing the right thing is sometimes painful and slow, but isn’t getting nowhere year-after-year painful, too?

Whatever you dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Book:  How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader
Author:  John G. Gabriel
Publisher:  ASCD
ISBN#:  ISBN#1-4166-0031-0

Teachers, principals, and district administrators who are concerned with the challenges facing education today will find this book a valuable read. How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader is written by John G. Gabriel, a former English teacher and department chair. Gabriel takes his experiences as a teacher leader to offer insights into this unique position that is increasingly becoming a critical part of any district that is seriously interested in school improvement. 

Gabriel advocates that teacher leaders can have a profound impact on a school.  Even with its great leadership potential, there are challenges unique to this position.  “Teacher leaders possess a semblance of authority but no formal power – only the illusion of power.” Recognizing this dilemma, Gabriel describes the essential and varied roles of teacher leaders and the leadership qualities one must develop in order to maximize the effectiveness of such a position.  In a style that he keeps throughout the book, Gabriel brings a strong sense of practicality to his suggestions, which keeps the book interesting and thought provoking.

The book’s viewpoint is thoroughly from the perspective of a teacher leader; one who is often caught in the middle between teachers and principals.  Gabriel stays true to this position by offering insights from this perspective. He is neither a “teacher” nor a “principal” but one who must provide the transitional piece of leadership that is often missing in schools. By defining this role so clearly, he makes obvious to teachers and principals the challenges facing teacher leadership and the skills needed to help increase organizational effectiveness.

A part of the strong practical nature of this book is its section on Resources. Throughout the reading no less than thirty separate resources are referred to as ways to increase the effectiveness of the position. Such items as sample memos, surveys, agendas, and newsletters help the reader find practical methods to succeed in the leadership arena.  Both administrators and teachers can use the sample resources as quick references of proven strategies.

Any school leader wanting to increase the role of teacher leaders should treasure this book. The realization must always be present that each school is unique and not all of what Mr. Gabriel writes will be directly relevant to your situation.  School leaders who are designing teacher leadership would be served well to reference this book and to carefully establish what the roles of their teacher leaders will be within their own school setting. Consider a “book study” in which teacher leaders and administrators read together and then discuss the ramifications in their school district. By using How to Thrive as a Teacher Leader as a guide, a structured and well thought out plan could be developed to ensure the value and quality of the teacher leader position.

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Frank Wright serves on the Executive Board of the SDCO.  He currently is a Secondary Curriculum Consultant with the Warren County Educational Service Center.

In addition, the new standards were to link to the academic content standards for students in Pre- Kindergarten through 12th grade and help educators understand how to work in a standards-based system, differentiate instruction and teach to diverse groups of students. 

During this past year, the Educator Standards Board and the Ohio Department of Education facilitated the standards writing process and aggressively engaged the public in reviewing the standards in draft form. As delineated in Senate Bill 2, educators across the state played a key role participating in the writing of each standard and working to discuss, revise and refine them based on feedback received from a variety of identified stakeholders. Throughout the writing process, drafts were posted on the ODE Web site and sent to various entities for review and feedback such as teacher organizations, higher education institutions, professional groups and administrator associations. National reviewers were also asked to respond.

The educator standards and professional development standards are in the final stages of development. In October, the Educator Standards Board will present final drafts to the State Board of Education for review and to make recommendations for adoption. If the State Board accepts the recommendations of the Educator Standards Board, the standards will go through a hearing in December and adoption of the standards will be formalized at the State Board of Education’s January meeting.

SDCO invites you to submit one of your tried and true techniques to be published in a future newsletter. Perhaps it’s been an outstanding ice-breaker for you, or an activity that creates a clearer understanding, maybe even just a fun diversion. Submit your ideas to our newsletter editor and if they are selected to be published you’ll receive, compliments of Ashland University, a travel hot/cold drink cup.

Mail your suggestions to:
Larry Pfrogner, Director of Professional Development Services
University Center, Suite 105
1005 N. Abbe Road
Elyria, OH   44035

Or e-mail to lpfrog@ashland.edu.

Here’s this month’s suggestion:

Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin publishes a list that attempts to give their faculty a clearer sense of the mindset of that year’s incoming freshmen class. For this year’s students a man named George Bush has been President for more than half their lives, the Starship Enterprise has always looked somewhat dated, and Tom Landry never coached the Dallas Cowboys. Ron Neif, the school’s Director of Public Affairs, said the list has practical uses beyond helping faculty see the world in the eyes of their students…branches of the Armed Forces and churches have used it for training officers and ministers. Perhaps, with some tweaking of the dates, it can make sense for your faculty.   

1. The people who are starting college this fall were likely born in 1983. And here’s a Web site that will remind you about 1983…  www.infoplease.com/year/1983.html
2. They have never really feared a nuclear war and “The Day After” is a pill to them, not a movie.
3. They were too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up and Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.
4. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
5. The never had a polio shot and likely do not know what it is.
6. Bottle caps have not only always been screw off. They have no idea what a pull-top can looks like.
7. Atari predates them.
8. The expression “You sound like a broken record.” means nothing. The have never owned a record player.
9. They have never played Pac Man and never heard of Pong.
10. The original Star Wars looks very fake to them.
11. The compact disc was introduced before they were born.
12. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 30 cents.
13. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and may not know he was shot.
14. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
15. They have always had an answering machine, if not voice mail.
16. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels (don’t even think about only 3 channels) nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
17. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.
18. They can’t fathom not having a remote control.
19. They were born after the Walkman was introduced by Sony.
20. The host of the Tonight Show has always been Jay Leno.
21. Popcorn is only cooked in the microwave.
22. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
23. The Vietnam War is as ancient to them as WWI, WWII, or even the Civil War.
24. They can’t imagine hard contact lenses.
25. They don’t know who Mork was or where he was from.
26. The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was.
27. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not music groups.
28. Airports have always had upscale shops and restaurants.
29. They don’t remember when “cut and paste” involved scissors and glue.
30. “Whatever” is not part of the question.

The 2005 conference was titled “Teachers + Leadership + Learning = Student Success” with keynote speakers Dennis Sparks, Ron Epps, and Betsy Rogers. The conference kicked off on Sunday, July 16 and ended at noon on the following Wednesday with sessions focusing around six strands:

·         Implementing learning community and team structures in schools
·         Strengthening leadership skills
·         Using tools that support data-driven decisions
·         Closing the achievement gap in literacy and math
·         Accelerating new teacher competency and satisfaction
·         Supporting school based coaches.

In an effort to keep the sessions directed at classroom teachers and those who directly support classroom teachers, all lead presenters were practicing teachers. Sessions were between 50-75% interactive learning with a strong technology connection. Many had multiple collaborating presenters and were filled with practical strategies, easily adaptable to classroom use. The collegial learning and sharing experience modeled NSDC’s goal that “All teachers in all schools will experience high quality professional development as part of their daily work by 2007.”

Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year, was an outstanding final keynote speaker who held everyone’s attention.  She talked about returning to the work in the neediest school in her County after fulfilling her duties as National Teacher of the Year.  She strongly believes that hiring the best teachers to work in the most challenged schools is one of the ways to close the gap between affluent and high-poverty schools.

Jackie Jackson, Director for Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs, US Department of Education, and Carolyn Snowbarger, Director of the US Department of Education’s Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative both presented interesting information about federal programs and the support available for school districts and teachers.

All meals included directed conversations at each of the tables which encouraged interaction and networking among the 700 participants.  It was not unusual to find presenters, or Keynote speakers, and/or NSDC employees eating at your table.  Another new feature at this session was Reflection Groups to extend and deepen the conversations started during sessions. The bingo game held during the Exhibit Opening was a fun learning experience.

The 2006 Summer Conference is already well underway.  The title of the 2006 Conference is “Powering Up Your Professional Learning.”  It will be held July 16-19, 2006 in Washington, DC.

SDCO Showcase Article
Professional Development…Perspectives Across the Profession

It’s easy to recall the sights and sounds of the best professional development activity I have experienced – a two-day immersion into the exciting world of brain-based research and principles of engaged learning.  The atmosphere of the room was electric, charged with excitement from the moment we entered the room. Music streamed into the hallway, inviting participants into the space. Several tables laden with learning tools reminiscent of elementary school – markers, clay, crayons, – called learner/participants to their tables. An activity utilizing the materials was outlined on each table, providing early attendees with engaging work. Collaboration was encouraged, expected, and rewarded from the opening comments, setting the tone for the experiential learning that followed.”

As superintendent, my primary goal – taken from twelve promulgated by NSDC – is to help teachers understand and appreciate all students, create safe, orderly and supportive learning environments, and hold high expectations for student academic achievement. All students must make significant academic progress, and it is critical that we provide teachers with the skills to address that learning gap. Without understanding the obstacles that poverty, race, and opportunity play on our students’ capacity and readiness to learn, we will be unable to effectively use education as the lever to raise all students to a better place in life.

Secondly, we need to deepen our educators’ content knowledge and providing them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards. This requires more than lip-service to ‘raising the bar. The third step of this journey towards excellence requires skillful school and district leaders who guide meaningful continuous instructional improvement and who are willing to financially support the professional development costs this requires.

Organizing adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district is a critical fourth step. This is not limited to the adults on a central office staff, but includes content area teachers in each building, and school board members too. Board member support is a critical element to raising instructional capacity in any school system.

Finally, we must use disaggregated student data to determine adult learning priorities, monitor progress, and help sustain continuous improvement. We have abandoned ‘one-shot’ professional development activities in favor of recursive, knowledge-building strands that focus our efforts on understanding the complexities of our individual learning communities

Supporting NSDC’s goal of ensuring that teachers in all our schools experience high quality professional learning as part of their daily work is one of the most important functions of my role as superintendent. By providing resources for, leading, and participating in professional learning, I am able to craft a new vision in this learning community – one that is proactively focused on instruction. Even in times of dwindling financial resources, we continue to develop and support instructional leaders.

As superintendents, let’s be sure that our teachers have been given the best professional development possible to lead our students. In the end, the quality of educators we leave behind for the students to follow will be the legacy by which we are remembered.  

Let’s “Keep Score”