Transforming the Education Debate

            This afternoon on MSNBC, there was a continuation of the Education Nation series.  Today’s topic was teacher evaluations. The town hall style meeting was held in New York with the audience consisting of educational advocates, various grade teachers, and individuals from higher education.  As I watched the broadcast, what started as promising discussion, quickly became a rehashing of the same ideas from previous Education Nation discussions.

            The broadcast did not shed any new ideas that would get our educational system back on track to producing world class students.  The reason for this that everyone views education through a narrow lens.  This lens is based on the educational experience of the individual and whatever personal, social or political agenda he/she have.  When all these individuals come together, their competing agendas take precedence over what is best for the children. 

Most people believe our educational system is not broke; it just needs to be “fixed” or “reformed.”  The band-aid approach of reform that has done to our education system is not sustainable and “wears off” after a couple of years.  More importantly, the band-aid approach has discouraged any meaningful discussion by inhibiting the voices of parents, students, and in many cases teachers from having their concerns and or ideas heard over the noise of senseless banter of the competing agendas.  This is evident in many of the discussions on educational reform by those who postulate positions on how to improve education that are out of touch with the realities in the field.  Until the narrow lens on education is widened, the language and ideology that dominates education will remain the same.  Thus, the problems plaguing education will continue and our children will fall further behind. 

            It is time to widen the lens, end the band-aid approach and change the language of fix and reform to transformation.  Our educational system continues to fail because the ideas that have been implemented are based on fix and reform.  Utilizing a transformation approach will dramatically change the direction of the discussion and the language used to create effective and sustainable change of our educational system.

A transformative approach seeks to establish a continuum of learning that assists struggling learners, supports advanced learners, prepares students to compete in a global economy and ensures our country remains an economic superpower.  By establishing a continuum of learning, the achievement gap should be greatly diminished because struggling students would have the academic support needed to get back on grade level.  Additionally, a transformative approach would also greatly diminish the engagement gap that affects teachers, parents, and students.  A transformative approach would invest in teacher trainings, provide multiple opportunities for parents to become actively involved in the education of their child and create enthusiasm for learning among students.  Lastly, a transformative approach would build a genuine parent/school partnership.

            Finally, a transformative approach will attract partnerships with institutions that habitually do not involve themselves with our educational system.  Being skeptical about the commitment to education and the preparation for the global workforce have inhibited our students from benefiting from the expertise and resources partnerships have to offer.  A transformative approach will allow potential partners to view a partnership as mutually beneficial to their institution and the country.

            If we truly want to provide our children with a world-class education we must change the approach.  The fix and reform ideology that dominates our current approach to education must be replaced with the ideology of transformation.  A transformation ideology changes the direction and discussion of our approach to education.  A transformation ideology will end the competing agendas by being inclusive of many voices to create effective and sustainable change of our educational system.

The Missing Elements of the Teacher Evaluation Debate

                The Chicago teachers strike has brought the debate on teacher evaluations to the public.  While the teacher evaluation debate appeared to be discussed only among those in the educational realm (teachers, administrators, educational advocates and some politicians); the rest of the country did not seem to care about the evaluations of teachers given the current state of the economy. 

            Many are wondering why there is such upheaval over how teachers are evaluated.  The primary reason is that states are receiving pressure from educational advocates and politicians to have a section of teacher evaluations on the standardized test scores of their students.  Teachers are not in favor of student test scores being a part of their evaluation due to the socio-economic factors that affect learning.  Teachers do not feel it is fair for them to be evaluated on the test scores of their students when some students lack school readiness, have poor attendance, reading and other academic deficits, and lack parent participation to increase academic achievement.  Additionally, teachers do not feel it is fair to be held accountable for the ineffective instruction of a students’ previous teachers.

            The teachers have a strong argument against having part of their evaluations include the test scores of their students.  However, there needs to be an effective evaluation system that is fair to teachers and is able to isolate ineffective instruction to support struggling teachers or to terminate them if necessary.  While teachers agree to improving the teacher evaluation system, their ideas don’t offer the necessary change required to develop an effective evaluation system.  The current evaluation system where the principal conducts classroom observations is no longer adequate.  In order to effectively evaluate teachers, states will have to look at alternative ways to determine teacher effectiveness.  Instead of evaluating teachers based on test scores, states should consider these alternatives: 1) evaluation of lesson plans and 2) evaluations from parents and students perspective. 

            The evaluation of lesson plans is an effective way to evaluate a teacher.  Lesson plans are written by the teacher and demonstrate the level of content knowledge and instructional practice.  Additionally, lesson plans also demonstrate if the teacher provides instruction to the various learning styles (auditory, visual, etc) and if he/she is utilizing specifically designed instruction (SDI) for students with disabilities.  Finally, since many lesson plans are due weekly or monthly to the principal, a principal is able to assess over time the quality of instruction students are receiving.

            The final alternative, parent and student evaluations will likely be the most controversial and contested.  The purpose for suggesting they are part of the evaluation of teachers is that parents and students are an underutilized and ignored knowledge resource in education.  For those who care about improving the teaching and instruction of our children, they need to hear what parents and students have to say about their experiences with the individuals responsible for grading, assessing, and promotion of children.  There will be some who will claim that having parents and students evaluate them is unfair because parents and/or students may give them a poor evaluation due to receiving poor grades, being disciplined or suspended.  As with any evaluation whenever you are evaluated by your subordinates, there will honest evaluations and evaluations based on retribution.  However, only a small weight percentage is assigned to the overall evaluation and a majority of the time the positive and negative balance evaluations balance out to provide an informative representation of a teachers’ strengths and areas of improvement.

            If the goal is to develop a new teacher evaluation system that is fair and accurately assesses a teachers’ strengths and areas of improvement, adding lesson plans and parent and student perspective into the evaluation process will be vital to obtaining the data needed to improve teacher effectiveness.

What if You Could Only Have One Child?

            What would happen if our country had a one child policy?  Would there continue to be an achievement gap among youth African-American youth and their peers?  Would our schools and parents continue to be at odds, or would they truly become partners in the education of children?  Would our schools continue to be plagued with poor achievement and low expectations, or would our students lead the world in math and science?

            Let me say that I am not advocating for a one child policy.  The following ideas are based on my travel to China in 2002 as an Educational Ambassador. Based on my observations of elementary, middle and high schools, talking with school administrators, students, and parents, I learned several aspects of the one child policy that if implemented, could change the course of educational dialogue and reform efforts.

            In my discussions with parents, I came to understand the true meaning of children being our most valuable resource.  Parents retold stories of how they took the proper prenatal care, spoke positive affirmations, played classical and traditional music, and read to their child in the womb to ensure their child would be born healthy and intelligent.  Parents also discussed the plans they made to help their child get off to a good start academically.  Plans such as beginning academic enrichment prior to formal schooling, paying for tutors or attending Saturday classes and paying for music lessons, were part of many success plans parents talked about.  Parents also taught their child about family, honor and the importance of education.

            Parents understood their role was to provide every benefit possible in order to place their child in the position to become successful.  Extended family and close friends were also included in helping the child to become successful.  The concept of it takes a whole village to raise a child is an idea that was embraced and taken seriously.  The failure of a child is viewed as the fault of the family and causes the family shame.  Therefore, parents and the “village” become heavily involved in every aspect of the child. Nowhere was this more evident than the parents/school dynamic.

            During my visit to schools, I witnessed a true parent/school partnership.  I observed parents volunteering inside and outside the school building.  I observed parents and teachers meeting without hostility, I observed school administrators being a presence in their buildings, observing teachers, talking with teachers, talking with students, and meeting with parents.  While talking with school administrators, their words were not disingenuous or cliché, they spoke of their role with passion and conviction.  The administrators understood they were being entrusted by families with their country’s most valuable resource.  The administrators knew failure was not an option.  They understood that a child’s failure was a reflection of poor leadership and their failure caused shame to the family, to themselves and to their country.

            Imagine if parents in our country adopted the one child ideology for every child.  All of our children would get off to a healthy start because parents utilized proper prenatal care.  Children would be ready for school because their parents would provide early reading, basic writing and math and children would begin school eager to learn. 

            Imagine if our educational system adopted the one child ideology and understood that children are our country’s most valuable resource and integral to the future prosperity of our country.  Administrators, teachers and parents would work together in a true partnership for the benefit of the child?  Administrators and teachers would view the failure of a child as their failure and would do everything to help the child succeed.  There would be no achievement gap, our children would lead the world in math and science, and our country would continue its dominance as an economic superpower.

Unfortunately all we can do is imagine

A Message to Teachers for the New School Year

            As a new school year begins, I would like to speak directly to teachers both seasoned and new.  First, let me thank you for your service on behalf of our most valuable resource, children.  It is important that you never forget this fact and it should inform your pedagogy.  In order for any society to continue to thrive, its children must receive a world class education. 

            With this in mind, remember the crucial role you as the teacher play in the life of a child.  A teacher not only provides educational instruction, a teacher is responsible for the preparation of the next generation of adults who will take their place in society.  The success or failure of each generation will depend on the quality of the education they receive.  More importantly, the country’s future prosperity will depend on the quality of their education.  Although society may not value teachers as much as it should, the services you provide to children are immeasurable and essential to our future. 

            As you embark on a new school year, there are several things I would like for you to consider: first, you should strive to teach your students the same way you would want your child to be taught.  By doing this, you will ensure that your lesson plans, assignments and instruction will reflect a personalized approach that is lacking among many teachers.  By taking this approach, students and parents will recognize you are a teacher who is looking to provide students’ with an opportunity to take advantage of their future. 

            Second, you should remember if students’ are struggling to grasp the materials, it is the responsibility of the teacher to help them understand the materials.  Too many times students are blamed for failing to grasp the materials when the fault may be due to the failure of the teacher to present the materials based on the various learning styles in their classroom.  If a teacher does not present the material to their students’ based on their learning styles, the students’ do not have the opportunity to learn, will fall behind their peers, and lose confidence in their ability to learn which could lead to disengagement. 

            Finally, review your philosophy of education.  If you do not have a philosophy of education, develop one.  A philosophy of education is a blueprint that establishes a foundation of core beliefs from which a teacher will: 1) set goals for the school year 2) set up their classroom, 3) impart instruction, 4) motivate students, 5) manage classroom climate, and 6) conduct student discipline.  Additionally, having a philosophy of education instills confidence in a teacher because it provides structure in the classroom and provides points reference based on best practices that a teacher can call upon when needed.

            You are a teacher!  It is important that you never forget that.  It is important that you understand your true worth to our country, regardless of those who underestimate or fail to value your talents and contributions.  You have been given charge of our most valuable resource and you have been entrusted with the survival of our society.  You should not take your job lightly or take it for granted.  Our future depends on you!