A Quick Conversation

Admittedly, today is November 28, and Project 27 posts should be up on the 27th of every month. Sorry for the one day delay. I hope there is some grace period for holiday weekends. In the short story profile below, I am changing the name of the person profiled.

Tamisha – Tamisha is a recent graduate of Sarah T Reed High School in New Orleans East. She now attends Dillard University in Gentilly. She told me that she did not think Reed prepared her well for Dillard, because they taught everyone as if they were all at the same level, but didn’t offer any opportunities for students who wanted to learn more, or who wanted to learn at a faster pace. When she got to Dillard, she already felt behind. When queried about the state of public education in New Orleans, she said that she is against charters, and doesn’t think that the planned chartering of Reed HS will happen. I asked what informed her anti-charter opinion. She remarked that she had been attendingUNTO meetings with a relative for a while and they are very against charters. Also, charter schools kick out kids who don’t achieve or behave, so they get all the best kids.

It's all about choices.....

For Thanksgiving this year I headed upto Michigan. I was able to spend some quality time with my family and friends and it was fantastic. We ended up with something like 22 people at our house and it was awesome. I'll upload some pics later. For dessert we had something like 38 desserts well not quite, but there were like 14 of them. They filled an entire 4x8 table, it was ridiculous. Needless to say, after an entire day of eating it was a challenge to get in line with everyone else. While I was there I noticed lots of different strategies. Some folks opted for a small bite of everything, others chose 2-3 favorites. My brother opted to wait another hour because he had passed out from eating too much earlier in the day. I opted for a mixture of everything and 5 minutes into eating I realized I was doomed. I made the only choice possible, I waved the white flag pulled out the aluminum foil and put it in the fridge. Don't worry I consumed it that night later at like 10:30.

So what does this have to do with education? I would like to argue a lot. To maximize each person's thanksgiving day eating experience they had options. They could select what they wanted and when they wanted it. They could go at their own pace and If they didn't want any then well they could take some home for later. This is differentiation done right. Coincidentally, my dad and I had a great talk this morning about an article in the Grand Rapids Free Press detailing the efforts of several Michigan schools and districts trying to achieve this level of individual differentiated instruction. There are tons of challenges, but I really think this is e future of education in our country. Students receiving custom instruction where they progress when they demonstrate mastery and show themselves to be ready. Not when they are a given a test. Who knew desserts could offer insights into learning.

How Do You Catch Up 4+ Years?

Yesterday I met up with some friends to watch the Georgia-Georgia Tech game. Sadly, Tech lost, but fortuitously, I was able to converse with three other educators--two of whom are teachers at a public school in rural NC and a turnaround public school in DC, and one who is the director of operations at a charter public school in Nashville--about challenges they face every day.

The teacher in DC talked to me about working with students in her remedial reading class. Like many of the students I'll be working with in Memphis, her 9th graders are several years behind their peers and are reading at 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading levels. [Don't get me started about why kids are reading 4+ years below their grade levels in the first place.]

The DC school uses a reading intervention program called READ 180, and she feels that the program is effective thus far and will likely catch the kids up 1-2 grade levels each year. She thinks it is possible that the kids could catch up even more, but because they have not been good readers for so long, they don't enjoy school, and by the time they reach high school, they just aren't excited about learning even though they have special classes to improve their reading ability.

This conversation caused me to think a little deeper about how we can catch kids up (bring them to an appropriate reading and comprehension level) quickly beginning in 9th grade and before 11th grade. Also, how do we make learning fun again? I don't think it's acceptable for these students to catch up only one year at a time and graduate at an 8th or 9th grade level because they won't be competitive in the world once they leave high school; many of them won't even have an opportunity to go to college. It's like watching the UGA-GT game but one of the teams is a high school varsity football team--it's not a fair match and not a fun game to watch.

The Right Fit

Go.

This is the first holiday of my adult life where I have been the host. We had 8 adults and 2 kids at my house on Thanksgiving day. Among the guests was my sister in law, Mary Catherine. Aside from being a great friend of mine she is a great mother of 2 boys. We had a long conversation about her oldest sons education.

Learn.

My nephew, Grady, started kindergarten this year at The Bright School in Chattanooga, TN. The Bright School is a very well-regarded independent elementary school. Overall it seems to be the right fit for Grady and his family. It has the kind of structure a boisterous 4 1/2 year old boy needs, a diverse student body that family wants, and the academic rigor that his mother expects. I didn't learn anything new from our conversation but I was able to affirm a previously held belief.

We need to have different schools for different kids. Just like we teach high school students applying to college to find the "right fit" we need to encourage parents to find the elementary, middle, or high school that is the "right fit" for their child. As education reform pushes for school choice for all we can start to deliver on the promise of supporting all children's potential.

Share.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

"Education Reform Can't Be Just About Education"

On my flight home from Los Angeles, I sat next to a middle aged man named Roz who was flying to New Orleans to run the sound for the Blink-182 show at VOODOO Fest this weekend.

Roz grew up on a US military base in Germany, and attended an American school there. We had a lovely conversation about education: what he received, what kids now are receiving, and how it might be improved. Here are some of Roz’s quotes from our conversation:

“Educational reform can’t just be about education. It’s got to be about rethinking everything. Like, for example, when a kid doesn’t fit into a particular box, he becomes a failure, or gets diagnosed with ADD or ADHD and gets medicated.”

“I don’t even have kids, but already thinking about home schooling them because the pressure to conform to a narrow definition of success is just ridiculous.”

“[Education reform] extends into the political arena. What’s the first thing to get cut? Education. It communicates a lack of will and messed up priorities.”

“I recently read and article about Finland’s education system in the Smithsonian Magazine. They’ve got great success without going crazy with standardized tests. We should be able to do some of that here. Instead, we’re prioritizing conformity, compliance and one way of thinking a linear way.”

“Even my wife, who is a pre-school teacher, has experienced a over-structured approach to education. I mean, her kids are in preschool and they have all of their day structured.”

“When I was in school, if you have an interest in something, they’d streer you toward that. Even in the uber-structured environment of the US Military. One teacher bugged me about track & field, another about computers. Today I feel like that doesn’t happen. Either it’s not valued, or it’s not possible due to a lack of political will and funding.”

“Back in those days, it was all about physical fitness, too. Today, that’s all gone. That’s why it can’t just be about education. We’ve got an obesity problem that involves our schools. Solutions are not limited to academics.”

Community Roots Charter School

Go.

Today I spent some time at Community Roots Charter School in Brooklyn, NY. I spoke with co-director Allie Keil. This K - 5 school has 300 students and was fairly unassuming at first. The school is housed on the 3rd floor of Public School 67. I walked in and saw all the characteristics of a traditional NYC public school. I gave my drivers licensee to the school based police officer and walked past the PS 67's graphs and posters showing their standardized test scores. After trekking up 3 flights of stairs I walked into a totally different school.

Learn

There was so much to learn. This was a totally different type of charter school. From the top down the whole school exemplifies cooperation and inclusion. The school has co-directors; every classroom has 2 teachers. They reason this place is special is because everyone who works there lives the mission and the core values. I let them tell you about it.

Community Roots Core Values from Community Roots on Vimeo.

I learned that "alternative" models of charter schools can be successful. Community Roots is a shining example.

Share!

- Joy

Education Champions!

Again I’m in Memphis on the 27th of the month. Today I had the opportunity to meet with several groups of people from varying backgrounds. I’d like to share with you two of those individuals and how they are thinking about education for Memphis.

This morning I attended a kickoff event for a city-wide initiative called Education Champions, and I met Rick Ferguson, headmaster at St. George’s Independent School. SGIS has a three campus model which is noteworthy for its attempt to build relationships among different socioeconomic and racial groups: the Germantown (suburb) and Memphis lower schools merge into a fully integrated campus middle/upper school. Typically low-income kids leave great private high schools they’ve worked hard to get into within their first year because they are not used to the elite private school environment. What SGIS is doing seems to be a hopeful approach to ensuring better success for our kids from the city.

I also met this morning with mothers to help them understand their choices for their children’s education. (Read & view videos from those meetings here.) After the meeting, I spoke with Carole, a retired teacher who has volunteered in Binghampton for almost ten years and is passionate about helping these women set a positive vision for their future. For Carole, a takeaway from today’s brief meeting was that she can help the mothers learn how to get involved with their children’s education and help empower the mothers to take action.

I am so thankful for all the “education champions” in Memphis who know education is a key to making this city a better place!

A view from the Secretary's desk

I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Hamilton who for the last 38 years has been the secretary of an Elementary school in Indianola, Mississippi.  Mrs. Hamilton is a wealth of knowledge about education in the Delta and I asked if she had seen any changes in the kids over time.  Her response was that school doesn’t seem as important as it once did.  Kids now have so many other things going on that school is not the priority that it was once.  Kids have computers and cell phones in every class at every grade from 3 through 6.  They are constantly texting and chatting with each other daily often in the middle of class.  When I asked her what would make it better she pointed to students valuing school more and them being able greater levels of concentration.  Their work ethic is not the same as it was in the past.

Hearing her reflections was difficult because I had spent 3 years teaching at a school not so unlike this one and the challenges she spoke about seemed daunting.  That being said, she spoke about them with a sense of hope.  The school has recently hired a new principal (a close personal friend of mine) and also received a significant school improvement grant and she remains hopeful that their school can continue to improve and provide a better education for the students.  Where they are going remains to be seen, but it is clear they are trying to adapt and serve students differently.

LEARN-

LEARN-

I’ve been doing quite a bit of learning. I’ve changed the focus of my Greenfield Project since the last time we spoke/blogged, and I’m now working on a way to increase the frequency and speed of which teachers get qualitative feedback from their students.

I’ve spoken to a few teachers and students, and even conducted an online survey that got a response all the way from the NetherlandsJ. Teachers seem to be very interested in figuring out how to get meaningful feedback from their students, but they just don’t seem to have the time. I mean….between planning, grade-level meetings, parent conferences, staff meetings, extracurricular activities, grading, and LIFE…where on earth would they really find the time. I think this may really guide my work from here on out. They understand the need, now I have to make it convenient and sustainable.  I’m working on a website (www.wix.com/tprofice/schoolbook) to convey my message, my idea, and what it looks like.

I plan on having a slew of “go see, learn, share” next month, and I’m extra excited!

-Troave’ Profice

The Lost Boys: Education Edition

“Went to the mayor’s S.O.S (Save Our Sons) event today & still haven’t been able to shake how many names I knew on the list of murdered men in NOLA. Not only did I know them, but I taught them. The latest one was buried today. You may ask why I came back to the city, but THEY are the reason why…enough is enough & I’m giving my ALL to put an end to it.”

This has been my Facebook status every since I attend the City of New Orleans’ S.O.S (Save Our Sons) Campaign. My days and my nights have been filled with anger, slight depression, extreme hurt, and any other emotion that a woman in despair typically feels. I’m not sure how the summit impacted the hundreds of New Orleanians in attendance, but as for me it was a stark reminder of days as a High School Math teacher in the city’s public school system.

You see…there was a small tribute in the summit to the 140+ men and boys that have lost their lives in the city since January 2011. From that list alone, I personally knew 6 victims—with the latest murder occurring just days before the summit. My hurt did not begin nor end at the summit…you see I’ve been hurting for these young men since I started teaching in 2006. I’ve lost so many students to violence, it’s hard for me to even keep count.

It’s hard…it’s hard…it’s hard

It’s hard for not just me, but for every single teacher, staff member, and student in that building. It’s hard to know that when you say “Be safe. Take care. I love you.” to each of your students at the end of the day, you’re doing it not just because it sounds good but it’s your hidden praryer that whatever transcendent power they believe in may protect them, and have mercy on them so you can spend just one more day trying to expose them to a better life—one without senseless violence, one without jail bars and orange suits, one that only a solid education can help them attain.

I did not always think or feel like this as teacher, but I vividly remember the day that these feeling started.  I was working with the students with some test-prep materials—because that’s all we do in low-performing schools, right? Prep, prep, prep…and continue the cycle of low expectations and prep work..I’ll save that for another post—that focused on making logical predictions, reading graphs, etc. The specific question and graph was centered on “Life Expectancy in the United States.” The graph started in 1910 and increased in 20 year increments. The graph showed an increase in life expectancy from 14 years old all the way to 80+ years old. As a young, novice teacher I followed the teaching-concepts very closely, and I knew this problem was screaming “relate to the life of the learner.” And so I did. We discussed why life expectancy was 14 in the 1920’s, and what variables and factors might contribute to the increase throughout the years. The students were engaged, they’re answers were quite thoughtful……and then it happened.  I called on one my male students. He was a relatively well-liked child. He was an over-age, under-credited student, who had numerous run-ins with the city’s criminal justice system; nonetheless he was in my class everyday because he said he was ready to do better.  So I scanned the room, looked him straight in the eyes and said “_____, what do you think the life expectancy will be in 2015?” He laughed, smiled, and said, “You want me to give you the right answer or my answer?” Confused and a tad bit naïve I said, “both.” He proceeded to answer the question correctly and explained his rationale and the steps he took to find the textbook answer, BUT THEN….with a stern face he made a statement that has haunted me ever since. He said….”Shit, if I make it to see 19 I’m doing good.”

It hit me. My approach was all wrong. I preached college to each and every one of my students, talked about what life would probably be like once they hit 30…and never once realized that my vision of them in the future was only MY vision. It was hard for them to see the same picture, because they couldn’t see tomorrow.

How do you change that? I wish I had the answer.

From that day forward, I worked hard to help move my students from the “right now” mindset to the “what could be” mindset. It worked for a handful, and I wished I could’ve done more for the ones who I couldn’t reach.

Mayor Landrieu quoted a statistic from a  report that stated a student at the High School I taught at was more likely to be killed in the streets of New Orleans than a soldier in Iraq.  If for no other reason than that…..I AM COMMITTED TO SAVING OUR SONS.

When you save our sons, you save our daughters, our families, our city! I will not forget. I will not give up!


-Troave' Profice

Memphis moms' perspectives on bettering education

I spent this past weekend in Memphis gathering baseline data for my Greenfield project*. I had the opportunity to speak with many residents about their thoughts on how education affects them, their children, and their neighborhoods, and it helped me to realize just how complex the situation is.

I am particularly interested in the opinions of parents in impoverished neighborhoods, as I don’t think their voice is heard very often. The parents I spoke with are anxious to see the city schools improve and spent a lot of time talking about how this could happen. They all agree that communication and a joint effort that goes both ways between teachers and parents is needed.

Below are excerpts from mothers in South Memphis, home of the Stax museum, and in Binghampton.

Michelle finds it very useful when the school sends information about her child’s performance (academically and behaviorally) home on a daily basis:

Charlene thinks her son should have more homework so that he can refine his knowledge at home, but as of now he is rarely assigned homework. She also speaks the importance of parents and teachers working together:

Kristie talks about how caring parents can act as a catalyst for change in impoverished neighborhoods:

"I'm not a fan of charters"

This evening in my neighborhood of West Riverside in Uptown New Orleans, I met Anastasia.

When I asked Anastasia her opinion of public schools in New Orleans, she got a solemn look on her face and slowly shook her head no, saying, "I'm not a fan of charters, that's for sure. I tell everyone I can that charters are not the way to go."

I inquired further. Anastasia just graduated from Sci High, a charter high school in uptown. She was proud of her high school accomplishments, and was told throughout her high school career that she was on track to college and doing well. What's more, in addition to attending Sci High, Anastasia was also a student at NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, which has offered supplemental enrichment classes for exceptionally talented secondary aged students since 1973 (Harry Connick Jr, Wendell Pierce and the Marsalis brothers are among the alumni). It was clear that Anastasia was on the road to success.

Anastasia had scholarships from various performing arts schools across the country, but turned them down because she was told that she would qualify for a TOPS scholarship in Louisiana, which means that she will be able to attend one of the public colleges or universities in the state for free.

She later learned that she would not qualify for TOPS because her HS curriculum did not include a requisite class in Biology. She blames the Sci High staff for not providing her with the necessary classes to quality for TOPS, and leading her to the decision to turn down the partial scholarships from a school in Baltimore. She is now soured on charter schools entirely, and mentioned that some of her friends had similar experiences.

Anastasia said that "she's learned the hard way" and now has to figure out how to move forward with her education. From her perspective, Sci High let her down, and it, and other charters along with it, are to blame.

The Art of Listening Well

This past weekend my family celebrated the life of my grandmother Elaine Mishler.  In our conversations and reflections I began to realize that schools and education reformers alike could learn a lot from listening to people like my grandmother.  Seemingly, that was her gift she was a phenomenal listener.  She always wanted to know how you were doing and what she could do to help.  It was never, you should do this or you should do that rather it was a “ I am proud of you.” 

I think this level of humility is rarely seen in our communities today and I think it is noteworthy.  My grandmother was a genuinely curious person who sincerely wanted to know how people were and instead of trying to multi-task or listen second hand or send an email, she stopped and she listened.  She made people feel like they were known.  Needless to say though, this is not the first time I have stumbled upon this same message the last couple of weeks.

In my journeys to Texas we asked several school leaders why some kids who were on the border of making it why they thought they stuck it in and it always came back to the student feeling known.  Whether it was a relationship with a teacher, a coach or administrator - the student preserved because they felt like they were known.  This simple fact should not be overlooked.

Relationships are essential to effective schools and even though we may respond in text, tweet or email, I don’t think you can overstate the importance of real communication.  There is something that is incredibly powerful about putting everything down (cell phones, laptops, tvs, etc.) and just listening because you genuinely care about the other person.  Often times I feel like we make this act seem like a hassle.  It requires a great effort to put away our other daily distractions and genuinely listen.  It is this attitude that gets in the way of effective communication and making someone feel like they are known. 

Put down the remote, turn off the cell phone, hibernate the laptop and just listen.  It is not a chore; it is an opportunity to show someone you genuinely care.  This is the gift my grandmother had and something I will never forget.

 From: Chris in Michigan

Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy

Go: Last Friday I went to the Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy. CGLA is an all-girls charter school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is currently in it's 3rd year of operation. I met with the principal, LaMar Wilson and the director, Carolyn Towns. I had a great morning talking to them about the successes and struggles of CGLA.

Learn: I learned how important it is, when planning a school, to have lofty but attainable goals. Both Carolyn and LaMar are new to CGLA this school year. They both commented on their struggle to live up to a "champagne charter on a beer budget." Neither one of the current leaders had participated in the writing of the charter so they were doing their best to interpret what they had inherited.

At 4.0 Schools we often talk about the concept of a beginner's mindset and the idea that leadership is problem solving. I saw both of these approaches in full force at CGLA. Carolyn and LaMar's beginner mindsets were a huge asset to the school. They brought a fresh perspective and were able to ask great questions so that the could solve some of the recurring problems the school had been facing for the past 2 years. This was the first time I had seen the beginner's mindset and leadership as problem solving used in tandem so effectively.

Share: from Joy in New Orleans, LA

The North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain

Yesterday, on August 27, I attended a party to celebrate the wedding of my daughter's pre-K teacher, Ms. Franks. The party was at the house where she grew up, in Mandeville on the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was a crazy party, since her family's home is one of only two houses on a man-made lake/pond hidden behind a residential community.

While at the party, I met many guests who were "New Orleans, born and raised." When they hear what we're up to at 4.0, they are encouraging because, "our public schools are so bad" or maybe they've heard that "the schools have gotten so much better recently" (I heard both of these quotes yesterday).

There was one guest's perspective with which, I empathized. She is from Atlanta, and moved to New Orleans a few years ago, fell in love with the place and is never leaving. She lives in Mid-City. When she heard my 'for now' plans, she said, "yeah, open a school in a few years because that's when I plan to have kids, and I want them in a public school." She was interested in Lusher, but said we needed more schools like that. She was dismissive of Morris Jeff, a charter school in Mid-City trying to reflect the ethnic diversity of New Orleans and of Mid-City while also being a community school. When pushed, she said she hadn't heard anything bad about Morris Jeff, just that she hadn't heard anything great either. My guess is that she hadn't heard anything at all.

Later on at the party, I asked her our 4.0 Essentials question: "What kind of school do you want for your kids?" She said that she really wanted a school full of dedicated, wonderful teachers, and a school that really pushed her kids to think. In New Orleans, I think we've got a ways to go on both fronts, but we're getting there.

Project 27 - Day Two!

I came to Nashville for a dinner last night (read Joy’s entry for more info). Today I was able to meet with friends who live in here Nashville:

Jen is a former PE and health teacher. She taught 2 years in a public school and 1 year each in two private schools. As we all know, Physical Education and the arts are often a low priority in the schools because these subjects aren’t tested on state exams, the ACT, or the SAT. However, Jen brought up a good point: “Not every kid will be a rocket scientist, but every kid will have a body, and they need to know how to move their bodies and take care of them.”

There’s a reason Jen is no longer teaching in the schools. She was very passionate about what students should learn, and she brought innovative and exciting techniques to the classroom (gym). The problem was that she wasn’t supported by leadership and/or her fellow PE teachers, so she constantly felt unappreciated.

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Paul and Sondra have lived in Nashville for about 20 years. Sondra works as a secretary at McGavock High School. Last year MHS held a training for support staff so they could know what was going on and have a better understanding of how their roles fit into the mission and activities at the school. Sondra shared about an interesting initiative they’ve adopted, which is to break the high school into Academies. Students choose a track (similar to a major in college) where they then have exposure to classes in particular subjects, such as aviation, digital design, or law. This is an exciting development that the city of Nashville is adopting for several public high schools and hopefully will better-prepare students for college.

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Want to read about other thoughts for improving education? Check out my blog at http://AStarkReality.com.