Vulnerable Yet Invincible

Vulnerable Yet Invincible

July 7, 2014

I have to admit that I haven’t thought a great deal about charter schools.  I have entertained the notion of a school with a different vision of education for all students though.  I would greatly enjoy being an educator in a school where there is no need to identify students for this, that or the other thing, but rather provides and education that take students from where they are and moves them on to their next steps.  So while my husband and I struggled to support our son who went through school with a label, I did fantasize about schools with a different vision for all students.

My first reaction and likely my strongest is, access to public education has to be a cornerstone to democracy and students shouldn’t have to “win” a lottery to receive a great education in a democracy.  We ALL need to be able to compete in our globalized economy, not just a few.  We need a more comprehensive solution then charter schools, if we want to turn this situation around in a timely manner. If the CREDO study is accurate and 17% of charter school show “amazing results, that  isn’t going to get us there.

My second reaction is that we need to address poverty as a society.  We also need to work through the effects of poverty in our school by assessing needs and addressing them.  One of the needs is clearly education. There are many students in poverty that are working very hard and achieving in schools.  The fact that Dan Goldhaber said that 60% of achievement is based on non-school factors (family income, support, background) just doesn’t sway me from my role.  These kids are vulnerable yet invincible.  I believe it because I see it daily. So, I’ll meet them where they are and take them to their next level.  Many of these kids are likely sitting just below proficient (low average, 25^th-40^th percentile).  I agree with Ms. Ravitch, these kids aren’t below grade level.  They have many partial knowns and just need powerful instruction to push them over the proficient line.  They are where they are because of their “non-school” factors.  This is a very doable fix in public school.  Provide teachers with the observation skills and tools they need to address low achievement in their classrooms. Provide them with ways to collect on-going formative assessment and differentiate instruction through whole group, small group and 1:1 conferring in order to meet the needs of all of their students. Motivate them with purposeful learning. Meet them where they are and take them to their next step.

I can’t say enough about teacher prep, the provision of coaching, the need for mentors of teachers in their first 3-5 years in order to retain the bright energy that young people bring to this profession. In addition, public school administration needs to be empowered as instructional leaders and that empowerment needs to start with their education.  Finland’s notion of having the most experienced teachers as instructional leaders is spot on.  I had the opportunity to do clinical observation in over 50 classrooms last year.  Every teacher should have this opportunity.  It’s powerful to observe colleagues at the top of their game and reflect on what went well for teaching and learning.  I believe schools can get there if they invest in embedded professional development and provided teachers with these opportunities.  I see teachers daily working hard.  Teachers I would consider effective and not as effective. They don’t get up in the morning and say “I think I’ll go do a lousy job today.”  They go to school with the intent to make a difference.  We need to retool the profession with more effective ways to meet all students where they are and take them to their next steps. We need to stop providing “sit & get” workshops that don’t go beyond that 1 day out of the classroom.  We need to provided PD that meets teachers where they are and takes them to their next step with on-going support through embedded PD.

I believe our profession is as vulnerable yet as invincible as our students.  I would recommend Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan.  I believe we can improve the outcomes of public education as a profession,  if we work together.