think:lab

Re-thinking the Public School Question

Mmmm, Pittsburgh is following Philly's lead in the school reform realm.  A major urban school system taking an unorthodox approach to district leadership and school planning/programming.  Not an easy thing -- gotta take your lumps with your future success -- but I'm encouraged by the decision to go after 'what works' rather than simply what is familiar:

Under pressure to right the finances and improve pupil performance, school directors hired a nontraditional leader who implemented a new curriculum, enhanced professional development, closed bad schools, increased the district's use of K-8 schools and launched a project to improve high schools.

Before this became the story of Pittsburgh Public Schools, it was the story of the School District of Philadelphia. The larger district has shown that improvement is possible, if traumatic and slow, using some of the same strategies that have been proposed for Pittsburgh.

Only time will tell, but worth keeping an eye/ear on.

Otherwise, it's only about point fingers.  Talking failure.  Taking sides.  Fear.  So easy to point the casual finger at big city public schooling -- "Oh, it's not what it used to be" -- and claim some sort of holier-than-thou editorial stance.  In spite of easy target stats and the unspoken socio-economic biases that still run amok even in 'polite' circles, I'm not so sure our system is failing, or that public education needs yet another soundbyte critic to go there.

Let's try a different spin:

Public schools in America are succeeding wildly.  Beyond expecations in some respects.  The only problem?  They're succeeding for a context and scenario that existed a generation ago, with students and teachers having to do back-flips that were inconceivable in past lifetimes (hey, put away your papyrus diploma and ancient Greek lessons...and really think back as to what you were expected to do a generation ago against today's standards/challenges/context.  Considering the obstacles in their way -- real and self-referential -- it's amazing anyone goes, anyone still dreams, anyone still succeeds.  When everyone thinks you're destined to fail, a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Taken another level, the entire 'experiment' of public education as we know it is a remarkably 'new' experiment.  Yes, experiment.  200 years of mass literacy and training for mass employment in an 'urban' context is pretty radical stuff, if you think about the entire span of human/social history.  Let alone the 'everybody gets to come' piece of the puzzle.  And then society began expecting schools to do, well, everything else in less time at the very same time that the entire understanding of what 'learning' really means on an individual and/or collaborative level. 

And the real kicker?  Instead of being in awe of the changes, we look only to discuss failure in a desperately territorial manner. 

Not only do I think districts like Philly and now Pittsburgh demonstrate that much is still possible, but I think we need to finally begin to admit that the great experiment of public education was a crazy risk 200 years ago and that it pretty much succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.  And then instead of concentrating on the growing fear of failure, we need to re-visit the entire premise of education, what we mean by learning, orienting schools around engaged learning more than just the 'system' of education, and begin to imagine what we'd do from scratch if we were to be considering public education for the first time today.

Is it mind fodder?  Yes.  If you're a "the system is failing" kind of guy/gal.  Or perhaps its an opportunity to rekindle something more primal, more powerful, more full of potential. Perhaps.  Or just a chance to wish Pittsburgh a bit of luck as they navigate in some pretty uncharted territory in the meantime.

Edu-Speak for Edu-Speakers

My wife, Karla, hates edu-speak!  Note, she's a very successful educator and MS principal, and a rising-star in the private school adminstrative ranks with degrees from 2 of our nations top universities, and a mother who was a 36-year honors English teacher who won a Fullbright and many other prestigious educator awards, and a husband who is also an educator-of-sorts.  But she hates edu-speak.  Say "cohort" and she'll throw an apple at ya.

(Psst...sometimes I say the word just to see how good her aim is!)

After learning how to say "cohort" (read: team, group) in the right context during grad school myself, as well as frequently hearing about and having to say the word "pedagogy" (read: teaching style) on a daily basis to sound 'wicked smahhht', and not to mention hearing school architects now say "LCS" for liquid-chalk system (when they really mean to say "white board" so "users" (read: teachers, kids)  will actually understand them), I had to laugh at the following article entitled "Mumbo Gumbo" (3.1.06) at Teacher Magazine.

An excerpt:

Each profession has its own insider language. Thick with acronyms and polysyllabics, such argot helps colleagues communicate complex ideas precisely and with as few words as possible.

But even by the standards of technical talk, the jargon of education often seems unnecessarily, perhaps willfully, opaque—even to other educators. To the uninitiated, it can sound like speaking in tongues. Such doozies as “phonemic awareness,” “morphosyntactic skills,” and the constantly shifting quicksand of euphemistic acronyms—EALR, anyone?—can give fits to parents trying to read a report card, school board members trying to follow the money, and textbook writers just trying to stay afloat on the sea of verbosity. 

A related story that also is worth reading for the following gem: "Education jargon also consists of what I call "noun-droids""

New Schools, Better Neighborhoods

New Schools, Better Neighborhoods is a great organization to explore when time allows:

"California faces the unenviable task of building hundreds of new schools to relieve overcrowded classrooms and serve a growing student population. To accomplish this mission, NSBN promotes the concept of designing smaller school facilities that can build upon and accommodate existing community land and facilities to save on the time, money, land, and other resources used to duplicate functions elsewhere."

A couple of snippets out of their recent e-newsletter that seem to get to the heart of the focus on small learning communities:

• Article:  "The mayor of Los Angeles discusses the need for building small, community-centered schools and the essential role that organizations such as NSBN can play in establishing and planning these neighborhood schools."
• Article:  "Well-Designed Learning Centers Offer Immense Health Benefits for Families and Children"
• Article:  "School Bond Passes, but Families Want More than Just New Seats Built" - A look into the distinction between rushing to build new schools vs. creating effective learning communities.

The Cheshire Cat Had It Right

Not sure why, but if you forced me to pick a novel or a text or a piece of writing that had made the greatest impact upon me, it'd be Alice in Wonderland by leaps and bounds. Haven't begun to unpack the reasons why -- even after receiving an ancient hard-bound copy from a dear family member -- but I think it comes down to 2 variables:

1. The 'follow the rabbit down the hole' discovery metaphor really seems to contain 'life' in all its shapes and sizes and flavors.
2. When Alice eventually comes across the Chesire Cat, sitting on the tree limb, and asks for help in finding her way, it is his response that above all else places this piece of literature in the pantheon of 'must reads' (over and over again) for me:  "If you don't know where you're headed, any path will get you there."

I bring this up because of the responses I've seen from my last post re: the 1st year teacher experience.  I remember being at a Columbia University fellowship for young teachers a few years ago and wondering why little was published to truly help the 1st year teacher make sense of the powerfully painful, frightening, humbling, and heart-lifting experience of that initial undertaking.  The 'sink or swim' mindset seemed to dominate even in gentle terms.

Today I was privileged to sit in a presentation - names and details later - that focused on how to return the focus of academic assessment from the student to the teacher, where the 'growth' or 'value-added' achievement of a student would be assessed from beginning to end, with the onus being placed on the teacher (as opposed to the end-of-the-year-only NCLB design we have currently).  What was particularly powerful about this was not the increased attention of making teachers accountable for a student's academic achievement (shocking, but somehow schools escape what the rest of the world accepts as the cost-of-entry in their professions), but the equally impressive commitment to teacher development, cohort mentoring, and honest feedback to help a young teacher improve.

I wonder if all young teachers were given permission to a) "love their students" without apology (and stop letting their own egos get in the way -- am I good enough, etc, etc, etc,) and b) they actually took full responsibility for the growth curve of their students (and received appropriate and constant feedback/mentoring along the way), how the 1st year experience would be.

Conclusions are inconsequential tonight.  Just a thought.  Or question.  Or challenge to us all.

More News from New Orleans

Claudia:  Wonderful seeing you and Steven in this recent "Gambit Weekly" article re: the "Rethinking New Orleans" design salon that took place recently.  Clearly all of you down in NO and at Concordia are focused on the underlying foundation pieces that are critical to the re-building of the city and the learning environments that will be so critical to the return of families over time.

[Note:  I made a trip down there to visit the Concordia team in early November and talked briefly about it in the "Flying In and Out of the Big Easy" post.  I'm thrilled to be able to join them out in Santa Monica/Malibu, CA in February to watch them first hand with their client district utilize the Concordia Systemic model for Community Engagement, as well as to have their team join us in Ft. Worth to begin collaborating on work of community-building with one of our districts.]

Here's a quick link to the blog that helped sponsor the "Rethinking New Orleans" salon, FYI. Appreciate the following description greatly:  ""Rethinking New Orleans is a loose and open salon where socially conscious and engaged citizens of New Orleans get together weekly to discuss the progression and problems found in the city's rebuilding effort."

For those on the 'outside', here's a quick peek into the "Gambit Weekly" article:

The first order of business at a recent happy-hour gathering of the informal Rethinking New Orleans group was to define "charette." The discussion began well past the 6 p.m. scheduled start, after the 13 attendees arrived on foot, by bicycle, Vespa and luxury sedan and greeted one another this Friday night in mid-November on the front porch of host Blake Haney's office on Thalia Street.

"Charette" is French for cart, with the connotation coming from several centuries ago when architecture students at Ecole des Beaux Arts would huddle in a cart carrying them through Parisian streets and to final exams. The idea of a frenzied preparation shared between talented and determined minds, under pressure of a tight deadline, is one Rethinking New Orleans participants feel they can relate to in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Here is how Claudia, Steven and the entire Concordia team comes into it:

Steven Bingler and Claudia Kent, two members of Rethinking New Orleans from the architecture and community-planning firm Concordia, dispute Bennett's contention [ "Before the storm, people didn't go into Central City; people didn't invest there," says architect John Bennett.]. "There is a strong culture in Central City that is not going to give up what it has," Kent, senior associate at Concordia, says. "The answer needs to come from the people that live there."

"We need to work from a bottom-up model," adds Bingler, Concordia's founder. Bingler, a member of the Cultural Committee of Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission, voices a holistic rebuilding concept that parallels his company's mission as stated on its Web site, www.concordia.com: "We implement our work through an integrative and participatory process that addresses physical, cultural, social, educational, organizational and economic assets and needs."

It is a true honor to have spent a quick-second-in-time with the Concordia team in New Orleans this fall, seeing first hand the work they are doing with their city neighbors.  And knowing that every initiative they are involved in will keep the dynamic focused on the real needs of NO rather than some 'carpet bagger' solution (that so many are willing to offer at this point) makes the city's rebuilding all the more possible.

If you haven't come across Concordia, jump on their link. 

They are truly wonderful people that have been involved in the heart of NO for ages now...and understand that design separate from true social impact is nothing more than a box.  What they do and have always done goes much, much deeper.  Thankfully!

Education Outreach Campaign Design

If you find yourself involved as a partner in an education outreach initiative, or simply may be exploring the opportunity, head over to Brett's blog for a great resource that will focus upon:

• Maximizing Your Campaign Assets
• Targeting Your Efforts
• Designing Your Program
• Building Your Evaluation Plan
• Building Your Communications Plan

I keep saying it over and over again...but PARTNERSHIPS are the future of education if schools are to remain relevant!

120 Kids Give a City & Nation Hope

With so many obstacles to overcome, sometimes just seeing kids walk into a school building is a reminder that things are finally moving forward in New Orleans. 

According to "New Orleans Takes Another Step" (IndyStar.com, 11.29.05), 120 elementary-age students walked into Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, the first public school to open in New Orleans since Katrina:

Welcome signs hung over the door and in the hallways as students began trickling into the three-story brick building in the Uptown section that was largely spared by the storm. The building has a capacity of 550, but only 210 students were registered and only about 120 showed up.

Sabina Puri, a teacher in the school's gifted program, had a tearful reunion with first-grader Michael Bankston. She had taught him in kindergarten last year (he was reading at a third-grade level) and she had not heard from him since his family evacuated.

"He started crying and I started crying," Puri said, wiping away a tear as she sat next to Michael.

On a side note, I received a wonderful email yesterday from Bobbie Hill, a principal with Steven Bingler of Concordia down in New Orleans, an architecture, planning and public policy firm that is working very closely with the city to plan its future schools and neighborhoods.  I was honored to spend a day with them last month, seeing first hand the passion they have for the recovery of New Orleans and the entire Gulf region.  It reminded me of the remarkable degree of patience and wisdom required of all who are in the middle of redesigning and rebuilding schools and communities in that city:

"With each passing day, the scale and scope of the region's rebuild becomes more overwhelming and awesome.  As well, the complexity of it all is clearer." 

Hopefully these 120 kids and the undying determination of the folks of Concordia and folks throughout the city and region will continue to remind us all that believing in the future still counts in infinite terms. 

To that end, here are two links worth reading from the Concordia site that put a voice of heart and soul to the conversation:

• "Our Hope for New Orleans," Steven Bingler, 11.9.05.  Excerpt:  "Our hope is for New Orleans to be rebuilt in a way that leverages its physical, cultural, social, economic, organizational and educational infrastructure in a way that will most authentically manifest the SOUL and SPIRIT of the city and its people."
• "Community Planning in Central City, New Orleans," Claudia Kent, 11.9.05.  Excerpt: "The Central City Renaissance Alliance is a community planning initiative commissioned b y the City of New Orleans and the Ford Foundation to create a comprehensive community plan that would direct the City in it's delivery of services and resources in addressing community needs while strengthening the community's leadership base for on-going development."    

First New Orleans School to Re-Open Today

From The Times-Picayune today, "1st N.O. School District Campus Opens Today":

"New Orleans public schools are scheduled to open their first campus, Ben Franklin Elementary in Uptown, this morning, while across the river in Algiers registration begins for five newly minted charter schools on the city's West Bank."

"The charters will offer half-days in December and begin full school days in January. Charter system officials have said students who are already in another district should wait until January to begin school here, although they encourage early registration. More information about the charters is available on the Web at http://www.algierscharterschools.org/acsa.htm or by calling (504) 324-7039."

New Orleans: School #1 To Open

According to the SchoolHouse Beat e-newsletter (American School & University magazine), New Orleans is about to open up their first school since the devastion of Katrina:

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that the Ben Franklin Elementary School is scheduled to open next Monday and will accept as many as 500 students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The district also plans to open Eleanor McMain School on Jan. 9 as a secondary school serving students in grades 7 to 12. Both schools will be open to students from throughout the city.

Trying to turn around the lives of kids and struggling schools in other parts of the country, the same e-newsletter is reporting that NYC is looking at further initiatives to help kids who are struggling in the traditional 'comprehensive' high school model.  Again, the 'small school' initiative is at the center of it, including Gates funding/support:

The New York City school system has announced a series of initiatives to improve the city's high schools. The New York Times reports that the proposal calls for 15 new "transfer" schools for students in danger of dropping out and a project to convert eight large, struggling schools into small learning communities. The plan is backed by $24 million in private donations, $18.8 million of it from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Research and Hands-On Assistance for Charter Schools

From "The Education Innovator" (of the U.S. Dept. of Education), the following caught my eye:

"Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) graduate students will study the nonprofit, business, and academic components of charter schools. Additionally, the students will help Indiana's 29 charter schools with fundraising, transportation, and other issues. The state's charter school enrollment has more than tripled to 4,300 students since the first charter schools opened three years ago."

To read the entire article, go to this link:  "Students Study Charter Schools"

I'm very intrigued by the connection between 'research' and partnership in this effort...and the potential impact it might have not only on these 29 schools in Indiana, but the entire formula for community's coming together to help schools of innovation.  Charter schools are profound opportunities when they have the necessary resources to allow them to concentrate on the core business of engaging students in the learning process.

Hopefully this unique partnership and study will help put the focus where it deserves to be...for all concerned.  This is not only right for the kids, but it will help to live up to the original mission of charter schools, which is to be an innovator of ideas that can then circle back to mainstream public schools for the good of the whole.