The best of our leaders know how to maintain relationships and respect from both sides of the aisle even when strong differences exist.  It is an imperative if you are a community leader. How does that look in a school?  When decisions are made about whether to reduce class size, or cut an athletic activity, or terminate a popular  teacher, or close a school, there are those who will be pleased and those who will not... always.  …

Symbols are powerful things. Just try to change one that has been around for a long time. Let it be associated with athletic teams or school names and its power is even more profound. Just ask anyone whose district has lived through decisions about keeping or changing a Native American school identity like Indians, Braves, Red Skins or Chiefs.  Grades can be considered symbols. Those letters and numbers can communicate "you are smart" or "you are not smart".  Those messages may not be the…

Summertime is upon us, and a change of pace, bright sunlight, and a time for reflection accompanies it. Summertime is often when data is reviewed.  It invites us to look at mastery rates, failure rates and, now, maybe, a projection for teacher and principal evaluations.  We think these can be helpful only if they are part of a larger data set. There many options before us and so much information available in the extraordinary number of websites and books published that we may not know…

The movement of parents to "opt-out" is exciting. Parents are coming together and standing up for what they believe is good for their children. It is democracy in action, a revolution of sorts. But, the stakes are unclear and misunderstandings abound. Parents are paying attention, asking questions, and investigating what is happening in classrooms. We have wanted this for a long time...right?  We need to capture and harness this energy so that it doesn't dissipate when the crisis of…

We don't deny the necessity of accountability and the need for targeted support for teachers to address the needs of their students by learning how to fill their own gaps in teaching and learning. In schools, the continuously developing skills and knowledge of  is the goal.  Teachers need to be learning about the standards and content, the assessments, their students. At the nexus of these, teachers do their work. Standards are important and national standards in a country like ours,…

Every teacher and every school leader, remember today that racism detected in schools can more easily be eradicated than that which seeps, undetected, into and through the growing years of a child.  While we celebrate diversity, let's be sure the children know we are all members of the human race and our actions will determine its future. Our heads and hearts and hands are extended in this time and in this purpose to those will lead Charleston out of this night into a new light...one…

 We find ourselves in a time when no matter the intention of the assessment of performance, whether of student, teacher, or principal, the result is an evaluation that is most often received as a judgment of and a stopping place for the evaluated...When principals, teachers, and students are being supported, encouraged, and motivated rather than graded and labeled, the path toward success for all is cleared.

 …

There have been a plethora of talented researchers who have presented us with new ways to teach, to offer students new opportunities to learn and to perform their learning. And there are districts, schools, and classrooms that have tried mightily to embed the new theories and methods into their centuries old structures.  But the national results have not changed. Cities continue to struggle with low graduation rates.  Schools in the suburbs and in rural areas investigate their records…

Teachers need great principals who need great superintendents in order to be successful with our students. As far away as the superintendency may seem from the students, the responsibility for building and maintaining a healthy, dynamic, growing system ultimately resides with the superintendent. Read more...

Each of us has our own perspectives, beliefs, and biases. We see the world through our own eyes, carrying with us our past experiences and our present circumstances. How then, can we actually see and know what is the true problem or the best solution?  Grandmothers all shared the old adage "Two heads are better than one." We agree.  And ten heads may be better than two!  Whether planning for a learning opportunity for students or a meeting with colleagues, the perspectives of others…

Feeling badly about an evaluation or an interaction is not necessarily a bad thing.  If one takes the time to reflect on the "bad feeling", it can be a motivator. Feeling bad is a part of life that all of us need to learn how to manage. We have a choice as to whether to allow it to turn into stress or to turn into an informant. Often it is the springboard from which we learn and change. Feeling bad about something can provoke our reflection on how to change "it" the next time. Let's…

Many schools have worked hard to establish communication and maintain transparency with parents. Many are turning to technology for help with this goal.  Schools' missions, visions, codes of conduct, curriculum, requirements, contact information, emergency communications, and budget information have become standard information shared on websites and social media. Using social media to communicate about athletic events, emergencies, school closings, good news, homework and meetings have…

What we expect, what we believe, makes a difference. Our mindset matters. We do not have the right to pigeonhole children by not believing in their ability to learn better tomorrow than today. We do not have the right to stop trying to figure out how to engage more students and help them be more successful.  We do not have the right to determine, as Buchanan is willing to do, that "there were trade jobs and blue collar jobs and construction jobs" out there and…

What is leadership....really? Who wants a leader....really? Is leadership always just a moment in time when all things come together? Could we believe that the Florida Superintendent of the Year for 2015 was a leader? Who would believe how soon after receiving that honor the superintendent would be terminated with a buyout of over a million dollars? And, who would believe that this resilient woman would become the Commissioner of Education in New York State within months after the…

We have arrived at a place where the right issue and the right time have come together. Some have recognized the advantages of having arrived at this place and have begun their journeys toward making the shift to becoming 21st century schools. Our belief remains that the teaching and learning that is required in a STEM based environment benefits all students and demands that teaching and learning be responsive to 21st century…

Our public education system, the center of our democracy, lives within a global environment now. Technology and mobility have made it so. Our graduates from one place will probably work in another. Can we guarantee parity if there were no national standards? So the intention of Carnegie credits, minutes of instruction, and national standards is to guarantee all students, across the country, the same learning expectations. But they don't.…

If attention to creating and maintaining a safe, welcoming, encouraging and disciplined environments in which roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, engaging teaching and learning is taking place, respect and consideration for others is the norm, stress and burnout is in our control and can be ameliorated. It has to happen for adults before they can make it happen for our students. …

At a time when schools are feeling pushed and pulled from outside forces, this is another opportunity for the exercise of local control.  Any time anyone or any organization can take action, it is empowering.  Schools and the people within them need to feel empowered...for without that feeling, we are inviting students into a depressed environment, aren't we?  …

It is difficult enough to truly hear what we are being told. We can turn to the Chinese symbol for listening to remember that deep listening involves eyes, ears, and heart.

Pressures and stresses provoke a lot of negative feelings. Those negative feelings can easily be dismissed as "typical" end of year complaints. They well may be the same typical end of year complaints that have arisen year after year.  Perhaps no one was listening. …

Evaluation is supposed to be the production of evidence and performance of learning and knowledge. When done well, the evaluation process is open and fair, well communicated, and in the best of cases, leaves room for improvement before a final, summative evaluation takes place. There are hundreds of evaluations of students that take place during the learning process. Teachers observe students doing their work, effort, confidence, correct process, types of thinking, clarity, attitude, and…