An Invitation to Climate Solutions, not just surveys

Last week I received an invitation to participate in the City Schools climate survey. While I’m aware of the potential ramifications poor results may cause for a school’s status and an administration’s job security, the e-mail describes the purpose and confidentiality of the survey in a less onerous manner:
“Each year we conduct this survey to learn more about school climate and changes that may have taken place within our schools during the intervening year. The survey focuses on school conditions, not on individual staff members. All surveys are kept strictly confidential.”

While I understand North Avenue’s desire to assess school climate using quantifiable methods that can quickly show trends on teaching, leadership, school safety, etc., as I clicked through Likert scale statements and tried to determine the most accurate responses, I couldn’t help but feel as though the survey is flawed in its design and also is an enabling tool of the politics that engender poor school cultures to begin with.

My hunch is that in the majority of lower performing schools, statements along the lines of: “Students learn a lot in school” and “Teachers collaboration is an effective use of time” don’t fit neatly into a strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. While answering questions such as these, a variety of variables come into play. Students may learn a lot in school if they have strong teachers for each subject. They also may learn a lot from a teacher who supplies copious amounts of book work every day—but "learn" and “a lot” here clearly are not objective measures that necessarily implies or denies quality. If the survey included a “neutral” answer option and the opportunity for free response, I think the results would be much more reflective of an individual’s specific feelings on why some aspects of school climate are wonderful, horrendous, or somewhere in between.

While I think making these revisions to the survey could provide North Avenue with more reliable data, ultimately the climate survey is another method that enables school staff to externalize issues on one another rather than take responsibility in house and work collaboratively to address the most pressing needs. To provide an common example: Imagine a teacher that does not feel safe at his school and feels undervalued by his superiors. He could express this daily to the administration or hall monitors. He could collaborate with a group of teachers bi-monthly to address common concerns. This takes time, effort and poses the potential for conflict and power struggles. If other elements of school culture are lagging, potential for solutions in these areas might appear bleak for our teacher. So instead, annually, the district provides him with the opportunity to check a box in secrecy on a climate survey. This will provide him with the opportunity for honesty—and perhaps, as I’ve heard many teachers express this week, a sense of vengeance against those on staff responsible for the continuation of a tense and unruly climate. His results will be quantified and used as a gauge of the school’s overall climate that he has taken few measures to proactively improve.

In order to empower this teacher to do more than check a box, climate surveys should be used frequently on a school level and trends that cause concern should be used immediately as a spring board for seeking solutions rather than as a method of diffusing responsibility. In current practice, climate surveys enable a nasty type of school politics—like closed door meetings, fear of speaking out of place, and the diffusion of responsibility—these are essential ingredients of negative school culture. While many staff members seek a more open and empowering environment, as long as they are used as annual accountability measures rather than a true tool for improvement, the district will find that in many city schools, climate survey results will continue to measure how politics can pollute school culture. Ultimately schools need teachers and leaders that are confident that climate issues can be solved, not just quanitified on a survey.

Teacher Sick Leave - The Challenge of What is Right for Adults and Our Kids

As many teachers and researchers recognize, the person who has the ultimate impact on student achievement is the teacher standing in front of them day in and day out, throughout the school year. Although there are many high quality teachers in Baltimore City who sacrifice their time and health for the good of their kids, we all know of or may have heard of the teacher who is not there for their kids on such a consistent basis.

Recently, stories have been reported in the Baltimore Sun that administrators and school system officials are trying to "crack down" on teacher truancy within BCPSS because it is nearly impossible to be an effective teacher if your attendance is sporadic or poor. City Officials say this is a distorted message. "What the CEO has said is that if we have employees (not just teachers) that are not coming to work and there is not a legitimate reason for those absences it should be reflected in one’s evaluation," said Tisha Edwards, Alonso's chief of staff. "I think that’s a reasonable expectation in EVERY profession."

I do understand that people get sick, things happen in life, and we all need to look out for our own well being. Should teachers that miss an excessive amount of days be held accountable for being out of the classroom? If they do not have legitimate personal or family excuses, yes. I think that instead of sending threats of impending evaluations or reprimands (as some BCPSS teachers have reported), administrators should work with staff members to help them be more likely to attend work consistently and offer support where necessary. Having teachers in class everyday does impact student achievement and we should be working as a district to support teachers in their demanding (and stressful) jobs rather than place punitive measures on them.

I do believe this is what Dr. Alonso and city school officials truly believe, and unfortunately the message is being distorted as it travels through the messengers to the receivers. Lateness and chronic absence costs the school system more money, lowers student achievement, and hurts the collaborative efforts at a school. Principals should be messaging this to their staff and working with any staff who have attendance problems to solve the issue so that they can be present in the classroom consistently.

Board Meeting: Count(r)y Style

     As all of us resident bloggers must do, I had the fortune of attending a School Board Meeting last night.  Mine was a bit different, however, as it was at "the Greenwood Campus" and it turned into a date with Robby Apple Bassler.  As you may have guessed by now, my meeting was of the Baltimore County variety, a fact that made me unsure of what to expect.  After explaining the assignment to fellow teachers at my school, I was told (following a period of bewilderment/confusion about the reasoning behind it) to either a) bring NO-DOZ with me or b) not go.  Needless to say, I followed neither directive.

     While wading through the rigamarole that seems to be the trademark of every school-affiliated meeting everywhere, I hunkered down for what I assumed would be a long and tedious meeting.  During the 'open-mic' (my term, not BCPS') time, however, I began to notice an interesting pattern: each speaker was both older, and each was vehemently opposed to the construction of a certain elementary school near Mays Chapel.  I quickly and surreptitiously googled "mays+chapel+school" on my smartphone, only to find this article.  My smartphone then died, however at that point I was able to connect this nugget to the overcrowded nature of the meeting and to the presence of a news truck in the parking lot.  After listening to the citizen's arguments and to the position of the board, I came home to do more research.

     I discovered that the elementary schools in the Hampden and Stoneleigh neighborhoods are severely overcrowded, and the solution that BCPS has proposed and will most likely follow through with is to build a new school on the site of a park that they have owned for 26 years.  As I saw both in the article and at the meeting, many of the retired citizens were enraged that "their park" was being "taken away" from them, and they demanded that another course of action be sought.  In his analysis, the President of the Board noted that he too lives in this neighborhood, and that he had heard a number of suggestions during the past few days (Robby and I particularly enjoyed the idea of "buying an abandoned school in the city and using it"; we deemed this questionably-legal at best).  Despite the wishes of the retirees, the President announced that construction was all but guaranteed to happen.  

     After this debacle, I cannot help but think about the perception of our schools within our communities.  Despite the fact that BCPS had purchased this land with this intent 2 years before any of the current neighboring condos even had blueprints, these people wanted nothing to do with a school.  They didn't care that finding another option would be expensive at a time when schools like mine (in year 2 of restructuring) had their budgets cut by more than 50% in the summer of 2011.  They also did not think it relevant that the nature and intent of the park's owner was outlined in the leases that they signed (who reads those things anyway, right?  RIGHT?....).  The lack of concern for and dismissal of a school by these citizens was very upsetting and, unfortunately, largely indicative of a majority of the mindsets regarding our schools.  If we want to change the outcomes of our students' educations inside our buildings, then we must also change the minds of those watching from outside our buildings.  

(P.S.  This post has gotten too long, but the most disconcerting of all was the fact that people get bent out of shape about issues like these, yet no one blinks when a school like mine is egregiously underfunded due to the County's decision to 'eliminate' Title I middle school funding.  I guess I'll save that for another post.)

Generation Gap

I decided to show my students a movie. While that might put me in line with Cameron Diaz's "Bad Teacher," in my defense, the movie was a historical film. I wanted to show the film because I felt that the historical events of the United States during World War II should, especially with regards to race relations, should be of interest. I showed my kids one of my favorite movies, "The Tuskegee Airmen," and I was disheartened. Because "Red Tails," was out in theaters, and I remembered that my students were aware of the movie when it was released, I had high hopes that they would love my movie. Sadly, my kids seem interested in small portions, but overall unimpressed. Why could they not see the merits in this film? Why am I and those of my generation and earlier respectful and appreciative of those that set the foundations for us to follow?

As I reflect on the decision to show the film, I am reminded that even though I am a history buff, not all of my students will be. Yet, a part of me was hoping that I would light a spark within them to be interested, if not fully fascinated, with history. At the least I hoped my students would have an appreciation for the sacrifices of the soldiers and African Americans throughout that time period. I feel that a disconnect with the realities African Americans faced has created a generation gap almost as deep as the achievement gap. As teachers I think it is important to continue to expose our students to resources that are culturally relevant. Even if the relevant resources are not appreciated at the time, maybe they will stick later on. Though I was saddened by the overall reactions, or lack there of, to the movie, I was pleased when a student told me that he wanted to be in the Air Force, and the movie reminded him of a Bessie Coleman article we'd read earlier in the year. While the impact may have been minimal, there was an impact.

Link to complete article: http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/list/classmovies.html

More Money, More Problems

Maryland received a $6.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue to improve underperforming schools within the state. Baltimore City Schools, along with Prince George’s County Schools, are typically allotted funds from federal school improvement grants. In the Baltimore Sun article, Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary, states that’s the money helps with “the very difficult work of turning around some of our hardest to serve schools.” More federal funding increases the likelihood that students will have access to basic school supplies, technology, and instructional resources; however money should not be viewed as the sole solution for failing schools.

As seen in Detroit, the issue is not whether money is available; it is more so how will schools access money and whether they can allocate money to the most essential areas. The Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit Public Schools only spent 42% of their $6.3 million grant. WestEd’s research, a San Francisco-based education and development agency, indicates that “bureaucratic hurdles and impediments” stop schools from spending federal funding. An exhaustive, time consuming approval process delays the delivery of necessary resources, which leaves many school personnel feeling disgruntled and uninterested in utilizing funds. Furthermore, money may be disproportionately allocated to programs or student subgroups that do not need additional funding. Stringent federal guidelines may prohibit schools from spending money in areas simply because they do not align with federal regulations.

Uninhibited funding programs, such as DonorsChoose.org, should indicate to policy makers that teachers need more than money. Teachers need thoughtful, research-based initiatives coupled with flexible funding to impact their students. Teachers, students, and families should have a more direct means of deciding how school money is allocated, especially considering that they are the individuals directly impacted by the lack of funds or resources. Money isn’t the saving grace for schools. Assessing the needs of each area and creating flexible means to allocate money provides a more promising future for Baltimore’s students.

Principal Turnover Study

A new study commissioned by New Leaders for New Schools shows evidence that first-year principals are becoming less likely to stay in their schools after one or two years.  The report cites a few specific factors that are in support of the idea that quickly replacing poorly performing principals can have a negative impact on a school community.  The report is titled “First-year principals in Urban School Districts: How Actions and Working Conditions Relate to Outcomes" and specifically looks at the turnover rates for principals in urban school systems including Baltimore, Washington D.C, Chicago, Oakland, Memphis, and New York City.

Some of the facts that the Baltimore Sun notes in their article are:

(1)    New principals placed in schools that aren’t making AYP are more likely to leave

(2)    New principals are more likely to leave when test scores decline in their first year

(3)    The vast majority of schools that lost its principal after one year noted declining achievement in subsequent years with a new principal 

This report seems to conclude the obvious—new principals in failing schools aren’t likely to stay in their schools.  This could be for a variety of reasons.  The school could be facing closure, the administration could be zero-based, or the principal just might not be able to deal with the demands of a school in need of a radical overhaul.  However, this report shows that a constant turnover of principals is not a good option for a failing school.  It often takes more than one year to turn a school around and schools need consistent leadership. Principals who are not doing well in their first year may still be the best option for a school if given the supports they need to improve for a second year.

Read the Baltimore Sun article here.

Read the full study here.