A New Year is Here, So Now What?
It is nearly impossible to welcome a new calendar year without thinking about what is to come. The pressure to set new goals, make new plans, and start anew is brought on by the constant reminders from our friends, social networks, and media of all types. Essentially, you would have to be living under a rock not to be bombarded with the expectations of setting new year resolutions. Well, this year I asked myself, what if we saw the new year's resolution craze for what it really was, an arbitrary point in time in the dead of winter that is marketed as a reset button. Upon further reflection, I believe that we are easily charmed by this idea of a 'do-over' because we fundamentally lack stick-to-itiveness for many of our challenging goals in life. I say this not as a pessimist, rather, as a realist that aims to focus on the bigger issue to actually achieve real change. After all, isn't that what we all really want in the new year, change? So to do this, I will embark on the following alternative plan of action for 2019 and suggest you do the same.
It is nearly impossible to welcome a new calendar year without thinking about what is to come. The pressure to set new goals, make new plans, and start anew is brought on by the constant reminders from our friends, social networks, and media of all types. Essentially, you would have to be living under a rock not to be bombarded with the expectations of setting new year resolutions. Well, this year I asked myself, what if we saw the new year's resolution craze for what it really was, an arbitrary point in time in the dead of winter that is marketed as a reset button. Upon further reflection, I believe that we are easily charmed by this idea of a 'do-over' because we fundamentally lack stick-to-itiveness for many of our challenging goals in life. I say this not as a pessimist, rather, as a realist that aims to focus on the bigger issue to actually achieve real change. After all, isn't that what we all really want in the new year, change? So to do this, I will embark on the following alternative plan of action for 2019 and suggest you do the same.
Count your blessings and answered prayers for the year.Make this a practical exercise by listing out as many blessings you can think of in 5 minutes for each month of the year. You could start with the December and work your way backward to January. Also, if you have not already done so, commit to keeping a blessings/answered prayer log this year to help you with this process in the future. The best way to put the year in perspective is to review your blessings.
Take time to clarify what is most important to you.It is so easy to fill our lives with things that really don't matter. We are so busy with life's distractions, influences, and entertainment competing for our emotions, energy, and commitment that we can become a magnet for trivial pursuits. To counter this, we have to focus and refocus on 'the main thing continually'. Try putting your ideas on paper with a simple table using columns for spiritual desires, family desires, health desires, personal desires, and professional desires. I suggest these categories because most people usually end up pursuing things related to them, but feel free to make columns for the things that you tend to commit time and effort. Then list your most desired outcomes for each. I recommend adding results to help you clarify what goal obtainment would look like and to encourage action toward each area. Keep refining your list until you have one for each category. Once complete, your table should contain what matters most to you. As your life changes adjust, but always revisit before establishing a new goal and committing your time.
Recognize what is driving you to make a goal.This is probably the most troubling aspect of making new year's resolutions. Far too often we go with the flow without asking the question, 'where is this coming from?' before taking action. Are we being inspired by someone else's success, the fear of missing out, a clever marketing campaign, or are we merely avoiding a more significant issue altogether? The best way to accomplish this is, to be honest with yourself and ask why five times to get to the heart of what is behind our desires to take action. Getting a handle on our motivations will always result in making better choices.
Drop any dead weight - things that are not working need to go.This is easier said than done. You may even say this is harder than starting something new because our human nature and tendency to hold on to things that we have attached emotion or affixed meaning. Unfortunately, the reality is, we all tend to hesitate when it comes to confronting failures. Maybe that is because we are so used to seeing failures as negatives. Don't get me wrong, I like to succeed as the next person, but the older I get, the more I appreciate learning - that is learning what works and what doesn't work. We have to work at framing failures like a researcher developing prototypes. Every day we get the chance to make a new and improved version of ourselves, and this innovative mindset should lead us to scrutinize results frequently and make decisions to stop pursuing the things that don't work. If you really feel the urge to start something new for 2019, how about starting the year with less - no more time wasters!
Make a plan to review the progress of your goals at the beginning of each season - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.Yes, the need to review and revise is real, and I am not suggesting that we run from it. Instead, I am recommending that we put it in perspective. If we had a regular routine of goal evaluation throughout the year, we might find ourselves obtaining more goals and achieving what matters most in life. This is what led to my efforts to turn these steps into a practical exercise every quarter. Developing the right habits of mind toward continuous improvement and establishing practical steps for realizing success in life are always more important than following fads, trends, and emotional rollercoasters that end in failure and the need to reset every year.
So here's to a year filled with daily renewals and not another once a year shot in the arm with the urge to set new goals.
Texas A-F Accountability System - More Questions than Answers
On Aug. 15, the Texas Education Agency released academic accountability ratings for districts, charter schools, and other campuses across the state. In this first implementation of an A-F scale to rate how well school systems are functioning, Texas joined 15 other states across the country that have implemented a similar accountability system.In 1999, Florida became the first state to adopt an A-F school rating system as part of its A+ Education Plan. In 2015, when the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law, the federal government gave states the authority to meet education standards without hampering them with excessive mandates and stipulations. In response to this new flexibility, several states began implementing accountability models like Florida's. Now that the approach is becoming more widely used, educators all over the nation are debating the merit and implications of an A-F accountability system.
On Aug. 15, the Texas Education Agency released academic accountability ratings for districts, charter schools, and other campuses across the state. In this first implementation of an A-F scale to rate how well school systems are functioning, Texas joined 15 other states across the country that have implemented a similar accountability system.In 1999, Florida became the first state to adopt an A-F school rating system as part of its A+ Education Plan. In 2015, when the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law, the federal government gave states the authority to meet education standards without hampering them with excessive mandates and stipulations. In response to this new flexibility, several states began implementing accountability models like Florida's. Now that the approach is becoming more widely used, educators all over the nation are debating the merit and implications of an A-F accountability system.
A-F Accountability Proponents
States that have adopted the A-F school rating system claim that it gives students, parents, educators, and communities clearer information regarding how well their schools are doing. Proponents also argue that the A-F system provides a transparent and objective way to communicate school performance to community stakeholders as well as an incentive to compel improvements in low-performing schools.Another attractive feature of the A-F accountability system is its ability to incorporate standardized test data. Texas policymakers believe that standardized tests, which are tailored to the Texas curriculum standards, offer one of the only consistent statewide metrics that can be used. The state assessment should, therefore, be a significant component of the state's accountability system.
A-F Accountability Opponents
Many schools systems counter states' support for an A-F accountability system by arguing that assigning a letter grade to a school system based almost exclusively on quantitative data (e.g., test scores) does not account for numerous other factors that contribute to school performance, including many that are outside of educators' control. According to critics, the lack of clarity about the relative difference between each letter grade and the absence of explanations about the how or why of low performance impede future school improvement efforts. Some opponents also believe that schools or districts that receive a low grade may find it more difficult to attract and retain the highly effective teachers and school leaders necessary to turn around school performance.Finally, in spite of all the support for such a system, there has been little research conducted to determine the reliability or validity of using them for state accountability. Simply put, many A-F accountability system opponents find that a single letter grade for schools does not tell the whole story.
close up of woman working
The Reason for the Disconnect
Regardless of what your opinion is in regards to the national A-F accountability system trend, one has to wonder why we have such divergence between state policymakers and educators. What lies at the heart of this disagreement? I believe it is rooted in the differences between two schools of educational theory that have been in conflict for centuries - progressivism and essentialism.
To give a brief overview, the progressive education philosophy was established in mid-1920's America and was led by major educational philosophers like John Dewey. Those who subscribe to progressivism believe that learning is rooted in the questions that students devise as they experience the world. They also believe that schools should improve the way of life of citizens through offering the experience of freedom and democracy in schools. This multi-dimensional purpose for schools would lead one to support a more comprehensive and descriptive accountability system that goes beyond standardized tests.
An opposing educational philosophy, essentialism rose in response to the progressive movement. With the goal of molding productive citizens, educators with this perspective emphasize academic rigor and focus on teaching essential knowledge and skills and moral standards. This more conservative belief about the purpose of schools would lead one to support a simplified accountability system that is based on the measurement of the essential knowledge and skills students must know (e.g., standardized tests based on rigorous state standards).
With philosophical differences in mind, it appears that the A-F accountability system, supported by many politically conservative states, is mostly based on a belief that schools and districts should focus in teaching students the essential knowledge and skills addressed through state standards. Conversely, opponents of an A-F accountability system seem to believe that such a system oversimplifies school performance and ignores the fact that schools today are multi-dimensional institutions charged with teaching students much more than what can be measured on a standardized test.
photo of woman teaching
How to Solve the Problem
It is abundantly clear that there are real differences between how proponents and opponents of the A-F accountability system understand what it means. Those differences go beyond what each side argues for: a system that makes it easier for parents to know how schools are doing; or a system that provides comprehensive ratings that don't make it difficult to recruit good teachers and administrators.
A more in-depth analysis should lead us to shift the debate over accountability systems to a debate over what kind of education we want for our children. At the heart of the argument, we should be debating the answer to these questions: what should be the purpose of public schools today? Should schools focus on teaching students the essential knowledge and skills, or should schools and districts focus on preparing students to be productive members of a democratic society? Of course, anyone could conclude that both are necessary for schools. However, people might take a more nuanced perspective when considering the traditional role of the family and public schools have had in educating children.
Such an analysis should also force us to take a more critical look at how educational philosophies like essentialism and progressivism have manifested themselves in our modern educational programs and accountability systems today. Educators should not overlook how relevant these fundamental theories impact what we do in public education and what we believe the role of public schools should play in educating our students today. If we are more explicit about the purpose of our public school system, then we can be more precise about how to measure its effectiveness.
I encourage you to share your thoughts below on what the role of public schools and districts should be in educating children today.
How to Improve Teacher Preparation Programs for Aspiring Urban Educators
When I first became an educator, I taught secondary Mathematics and Physics to high school students in the largest district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and in a much smaller school system in the suburbs. I first worked with low-performing and economically disadvantaged students and later in an environment with all talented and gifted students. Once I decided to move beyond the classroom and into a role as instructional coach, I began mentoring teachers and delivering professional development training. With this background as both an urban educator and teacher leader, I had a close-up opportunity to see the problems that are pervasive in K-12 education. Having served as a District administrator for 9 years, I now have a bird’s eye perspective of those problems as well as potential strategies for success, particularly, in an urban setting.
When I first became an educator, I taught secondary Mathematics and Physics to high school students in the largest district in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and in a much smaller school system in the suburbs. I first worked with low-performing and economically disadvantaged students and later in an environment with all talented and gifted students. Once I decided to move beyond the classroom and into a role as instructional coach, I began mentoring teachers and delivering professional development training. With this background as both an urban educator and teacher leader, I had a close-up opportunity to see the problems that are pervasive in K-12 education. Having served as a District administrator for 9 years, I now have a bird’s eye perspective of those problems as well as potential strategies for success, particularly, in an urban setting.
I am concerned about the fact that, in the 15 years that I’ve been in this field, we have not witnessed more dramatic changes in urban school systems in addressing issues such as the culture of poverty, achievement gaps, dropout rates, and the scarcity of funding and resources. The problem that is most salient to me is the lack of effective educator preparedness. I have made several observations regarding teachers’ general areas of weakness. Some difficulties include: recognizing and addressing student’s social and emotional needs in the context of their content area; developing learning experiences designed to expose student thinking in a culturally diverse classroom; using culturally responsive teaching methods; and recognizing and addressing the needs of students of poverty.
Relatively few teacher education programs concentrate on urban teacher preparation. Moreover, high-quality educators are more likely to work in affluent, suburban school systems than other places, leaving a deficit number of highly skilled educators to serve high-need, urban students. A natural consequence of this produces a significant number of urban school students with learning gaps and low standardized test scores. This leads me to wonder how school leaders can facilitate best practices that meet the needs of their students. From an administrator’s view, I clearly see the need for systemic investment in different models of teacher development. Specifically, I am interested in how models of educational coaching could be utilized to scale up urban teachers’ expertise and, thereby, increase the achievement of students in high-need urban schools and close educational divides.
How Preparation Programs Can Prepare New Teachers for Success in Urban Schools
In addition to including more and specific training about how to work effectively in urban settings, programs should be sure to include certain components in the curriculum. In particular, programs should place a heavy emphasis on social and emotional learning methods, seamlessly connecting social teaching strategies with instructional teaching strategies. Training programs should clarify for teachers how to develop culturally rich learning experiences that, rather than alienate students, create an inclusive environment that takes into account the diverse perspectives of urban students. Teacher preparation programs need to elucidate brain-based research regarding the impact of poverty on learning and shed light on how teachers can address the learning differences of students of poverty with effective lesson design.
One example of a program that is on the right track is Urban Teachers in the Baltimore/D.C. area. It uses an evidence-based approach to guide the structure of their program, requiring that students engage in methods-related coursework (e.g., writing lesson plans, reviewing actual district curricula), participate in a variety of quality and time-intensive practical experiences in school settings like ones in which they want to work, and instructional coaching that involves self-reflection and data collection. Their ideas look promising, and I would love to see more programs take similar approaches to address teacher preparation.Feel free to comment below about programs you believe are innovative about preparing teachers for work in urban education.