The Next Secretary of Education in the U.S.?

During the past week, I spent two days serving as part of a national “Expert Panel” discussing how we could do a better job of helping beginning teachers (and all educators) incorporate developmentally appropriate practices into our work. Let’s face it – there are things that we do in schools even though we know they aren’t the best educational practice. For example, we have high school students begin their day around 7:30 AM even though research has shown they will do better academically by starting a couple of hours later.

It was a real privilege to represent the teaching profession amongst this group of cognitive psychologists and professors of education from prestigious universities across the country. Maybe the most impressive individual was one of the co-chairs, Professor Linda Darling-Hammond from Stanford University. She truly understands the realities of teaching in today’s public schools. She also understands what needs to be fixed with NCLB. She even understands that paying teachers based on their student’s test scores is a very bad strategy.

Dr. Darling-Hammond left a bit early on the second day. In addition to her many other duties, she is the chief policy analyst on education issues for Senator Barack Obama. She left to participate in a debate with the chief policy analyst for Senator John McCain, former Superintendent of Public Instruction from Arizona, Lisa Graham Keegan.

There could be no clearer contrast for me – Dr Darling-Hammond collaborates with NEA and has a positive agenda for improving schools in the U.S. Ms. Keegan sees vouchers, private schools, and pay for test scores as the best course for public education. I sincerely hope that Dr. Darling-Hammond is the next Secretary of Education in the U.S. because the alternative could mean that the Department of Education goes from bad to worse (yes, worse than calling teachers terrorists!)

Policy Pundits versus Pratitioners: KNEA Teachers Shine!

I spent much of last week chairing the Accreditation Board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) in Washington, DC. NCATE establishes standards for preparation of teachers, administrators, and other school personnel. Then, teams of practitioners review schools/colleges of education every seven years to determine if they are nationally accredited.

In addition to reviewing 63 colleges and universities, we took time to invite a panel of “experts” to talk about the future of teacher preparation. The panel included a range of speakers – from the Ohio Commissioner of Education to a couple of pundits with limited real school experience (but many opinions.)

Some ideas they shared were fine. Others were troublesome. For example, a non-teacher suggested that we lower standards for teachers and then use high-paid specialists to diagnose student needs and prescribe interventions for the “education workers” to implement. It is kind of a medical model… a high paid physician sees the student for a few minutes to prescribe for the nursing staff to “treat” the student.

I’m guessing that most parents really DO want their child to have a qualified, caring teacher. We have the best results helping students learn when their teacher works directly with them in a manner that demonstrates genuine caring. Teaching is about skill as an educator… AND about the dispositions that teachers possess. As teachers, we want to make a difference. Every child deserves a great teacher that cares. In Kansas, that is what we have had for many years and we must work to ensure that it continues.

Also on a positive note, the staff at NCATE reported to me that they LOVE having teachers from Kansas serve on their accreditation visits and boards. National folks tell me that we, in Kansas, have extremely professional, knowledgeable educators. That may be why we are the only state with TWO teachers on the Unit Accreditation Board! Just for your information, KNEA’s Advisory Councils online will be a place we will look for teachers who demonstrate expertise and their willingness to be a voice for public education. We'll tap these folks when opportunities for national appointments arise. I hope our members are joining those communities of practitioners where we can work together to raise our skills and energize our advocacy for great schools and a great profession.

Keep up the great work!

21st Century Skills and Satanta, KS

Rural districts in many parts of Kansas are under tremendous pressure to maintain quality schools and to fill teaching vacancies when retirements occur. Schools are at the heart of whether a community can survive and thrive.

That’s why I appreciated the chance to spend a day last week in Satanta, KS. For much of our time we visited schools in the district, met staff members and heard their ideas and concerns for their schools. I’d like to particularly thank Linda Nelson (KNEA Board member from Satanta) and Steve Taton (local president) for hosting a great reception for me after school. I enjoyed meeting the teachers and school board members who stopped by!

As the “main event” for the day, I was the luncheon presenter for a meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce. What a great group! At least 60 people were in attendance and my topic was transforming schools to prepare students for the 21st century.

For some, talking about 21st century skills in rural Kansas is like suggesting that their kids should all be prepared to leave rural Kansas to “join the global workforce.” Nothing could be farther from the actual facts, though.

Students who learn for the 21st century are engaged in real-world projects, solving community problems, etc. Rather than simply preparing students for 20th century businesses, rural schools could be getting students involved in seeing how technology can make their communities great centers for future work and life. In one locale, students are beginning to manage a wind-farm. With connectivity, we could have students working with startup business ideas that involve online work from the great communities of rural Kansas.

KNEA supports 21st century teaching and learning – authentic projects, creativity and problem solving, communications and collaboration – infused into a rigorous curriculum of core subjects. This MAY be the key to energizing vital communities across rural Kansas… so our grandkids will still live in town for us to visit when we’re old (someday.)

Pratt teachers make a difference in spite of NCLB

Opportunities to visit classrooms are never frequent enough for me – being back in schools is like going home. Yesterday I had a chance to "return home" and visit classrooms, meet with teachers, administrators, and support professionals in Pratt, KS. Let me thank the staff in Pratt for welcoming me as I interrupted their work and lunch time, and especially thank Denise Roebkes for scheduling a wonderful event ending with a pot luck dinner at the high school with teachers from across the district.

I asked them, “what are the most pressing issues you face in your profession?’ This kind of question always raises some of the financial challenges to be a teacher… and it did in Pratt, too. Retirement system with no COLA, salaries far below other professions, student loans for the new teacher were all heavy on their hearts and minds.

But the FIRST issue they raised was how to fix NCLB and overcome the negative pressures of testing. I heard about a student who loved music class, but wasn’t being allowed to go to music any more since he needed extra help in reading… all in the name of test scores. Think of this: The student was being deprived of one thing that made school enjoyable; the student lost the connection between singing lyrics and learning to read; AND the student was forced to give up a broad 21st century curriculum so he would perform on a narrow slice of life - the test.

The teachers of Pratt reminded me how profoundly important Election Day will be in November. We MUST elect policy makers that will reform NCLB to include locally-developed authentic assessments, support for a broad 21st century curriculum, and appreciation for creativity and problem-solving. These changes won’t be easy, but this is the challenge teachers across Kansas embrace with enthusiasm every single day. Keep up the good work!