I was reading a very interesting article in USA Today and was struck by something I read and wanted some input from teachers, especially AP teachers.
Daniel Willingham the author of the book ‘Why don’t students like school?’ was interviewed and got me thinking with this quote, “School is all about mental challenge, and that is hard work, make no mistake. Still, people do enjoy mental work or, more exactly, people enjoy successful mental work. We get a snap of satisfaction when we solve a problem”.
I started to wondering again about students taking AP classes who are failing. Are we setting our students up for failure by not allowing them to have that ‘snap of satisfaction when they solve a problem’ and only see failure?
Then I read the statement “But solving a problem that is trivially easy is not fun”, and I have to ask. Is traditional curriculum enough to keep students engaged and learning, or is it trivially easy?
And then I am brought back to my original thought in my first question by the statement “Neither is hammering away at a problem with no sense you are making progress”. If students are not capable of passing an AP classes or AP exams, are we creating an environment for our students where they feel like they are ‘hammering away at a problem with no sense of making progress?’
The author then goes on to say “So the challenge for a teacher is to find that sweet spot of mental difficulty, and to find it simultaneously for 25 students, each with a different level of preparation. To fight this problem, teachers must engage each student with work that is appropriate for his or her level of preparation. This must be done sensitively, so that students who are behind don't feel like second-class citizens. But the fact is they are behind, and pretending that they are not does them no favors”.
This seems to be the impossible dream. I don’t see how realistically this can be achieved. With all of the state and federal mandates and current curriculum we are using in Hillsborough County, are we giving our teachers the flexibility they need?
Read the USA Today article here and tell me what you think.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Do top teachers avoid schools with large minority populations?
Do highly qualified or better yet, highly effective teachers avoid schools with a large populations of minority students?
A Journal of Labor Economics study suggests that highly trained and effective teachers tend to leave schools that have a high number of minority students. The study focused on the Charlotte-Mecklenberg school district in North Carolina using data supplied by the North Carolina Education Research Data Center.
The study found that "schools that had an increase in black enrollment suffered a decrease in their share of high-quality teachers, as measured by years of experience and certification test scores. Teacher effectiveness, as measured by teachers’ previous ability to improve student test scores, decreased in the black inflow schools as well. The change in quality for each school generally occurred in the same year that the busing program ended, indicating that teachers moved in anticipation of more black students".
Read Chicago Journal article here.
A Journal of Labor Economics study suggests that highly trained and effective teachers tend to leave schools that have a high number of minority students. The study focused on the Charlotte-Mecklenberg school district in North Carolina using data supplied by the North Carolina Education Research Data Center.
The study found that "schools that had an increase in black enrollment suffered a decrease in their share of high-quality teachers, as measured by years of experience and certification test scores. Teacher effectiveness, as measured by teachers’ previous ability to improve student test scores, decreased in the black inflow schools as well. The change in quality for each school generally occurred in the same year that the busing program ended, indicating that teachers moved in anticipation of more black students".
Read Chicago Journal article here.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Pew research shows widening generation gap
A recent poll shows that we are facing the largest generation gap since 1969. From the fast paced, ever changing world of technology, to religion, relationships, manners, and morality; we are seeing larger differences in the way we view the world between younger and older people.
Does this generation gap affect teaching? If so how can we overcome these differences and meet our students on a level where they can understand the curriculum and meet the rigorous standards mandated by the state and the federal government?
Are we headed in the right direction? Or do we need to re-assess the direction we are headed?
Does this generation gap affect teaching? If so how can we overcome these differences and meet our students on a level where they can understand the curriculum and meet the rigorous standards mandated by the state and the federal government?
Are we headed in the right direction? Or do we need to re-assess the direction we are headed?
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Important policy changes
The school board is in the process of re-writing our district policies. First we have had to match existing policies to state and federal laws and create policies that coincide with new laws. Next we want to write them in a way that is easy for people outside of lawyers and academia types to read and understand. We also want to make the policies easier to access via the school district web site with links to the laws and other helpful sites as necessary.
I would like your input on policies you feel that I need to look more closely at as we continue this process. Please share your knowledge with me in the comments section of this post. If we need to have a more detailed conversation email or call me.
At your service, April Griffin
I would like your input on policies you feel that I need to look more closely at as we continue this process. Please share your knowledge with me in the comments section of this post. If we need to have a more detailed conversation email or call me.
At your service, April Griffin
You can't teach a child in pain
When I am in the community talking to people outside of education I hear on a regular basis how we are teaching too many things that are not our responsibility. We should only teach the ABC's and 123's.
If we lived in Utopia that would be true. But we don’t live in an ideal world and according to our constitution we have to educate EVERY child with a “free and appropriate education”.
That’s why I become agitated when people compare our education system to other countries. We are not like other countries who view education the way private schools do, picking and choosing which students are deserving of an education based on aptitude or class. We take every child who comes to us, regardless of any of the circumstances life has handed that child.
I believe we need to raise our children to be good citizens. Whether they are doctors, lawyers, auto mechanics, plumbers, or any career they choose. A wise man once said that being a garbage collector was one of the most important jobs on the planet. When asked why he believed this he responded by saying “have you ever gone several weeks without your garbage being picked up?”…I say “touché”.
How can we raise our children to be good citizens? Teaching them to read and write is vitally important, but what about teaching them how to think critically, or communicate effectively. Or teaching them to resolve conflict using effective communication skills. In other words, how to ‘fight fair’. Life is wrought with conflict and many of our students come to us without appropriate tools to resolve even the most minor conflict.
Then there is the student who comes from a family of addicts. How can we expect a child with no coping skills, or worse; coping skills learned from and addict, to leave all their baggage at the door of the school house and be a successful student?
Schools should be a link to services available in the community. We don’t need to re-invent the wheel, but why can’t we direct families to services already available in the community?
Working at PACE Center for Girls I saw how they referred families to existing services and employed social workers who worked diligently to get to the core of why these young women were acting out. Going above and beyond the ABC’s and 123’s helped them become good students, and above all good people.
Critical thinking skills, effective communication skills, community activism, and civic engagement are all keys to creating at great community. If the families are not providing these skills then it is our responsibility. That is just the reality of today’s world.
READ A VERY INTERESTING WASHINGTON POST STORY HERE.
If we lived in Utopia that would be true. But we don’t live in an ideal world and according to our constitution we have to educate EVERY child with a “free and appropriate education”.
That’s why I become agitated when people compare our education system to other countries. We are not like other countries who view education the way private schools do, picking and choosing which students are deserving of an education based on aptitude or class. We take every child who comes to us, regardless of any of the circumstances life has handed that child.
I believe we need to raise our children to be good citizens. Whether they are doctors, lawyers, auto mechanics, plumbers, or any career they choose. A wise man once said that being a garbage collector was one of the most important jobs on the planet. When asked why he believed this he responded by saying “have you ever gone several weeks without your garbage being picked up?”…I say “touché”.
How can we raise our children to be good citizens? Teaching them to read and write is vitally important, but what about teaching them how to think critically, or communicate effectively. Or teaching them to resolve conflict using effective communication skills. In other words, how to ‘fight fair’. Life is wrought with conflict and many of our students come to us without appropriate tools to resolve even the most minor conflict.
Then there is the student who comes from a family of addicts. How can we expect a child with no coping skills, or worse; coping skills learned from and addict, to leave all their baggage at the door of the school house and be a successful student?
Schools should be a link to services available in the community. We don’t need to re-invent the wheel, but why can’t we direct families to services already available in the community?
Working at PACE Center for Girls I saw how they referred families to existing services and employed social workers who worked diligently to get to the core of why these young women were acting out. Going above and beyond the ABC’s and 123’s helped them become good students, and above all good people.
Critical thinking skills, effective communication skills, community activism, and civic engagement are all keys to creating at great community. If the families are not providing these skills then it is our responsibility. That is just the reality of today’s world.
READ A VERY INTERESTING WASHINGTON POST STORY HERE.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Hillsborough County Schools catching up to the new millennia
Technology is changing at break-neck speed and public education is struggling to keep up. Today's students do not learn, or even communicate the way many of the older (or should I say more experienced) educators do.
In the past, communication has been a weakness in this, the 8th largest school district in the nation. But size is no excuse for poor communication, and as such, has been a major focus for improvement over the past couple of years.
At the school boards urging, the superintendent has been communicating every step of the way during the budget process. It is important that people have the facts, good or bad, because if people are left to wonder rumors will run rampant, productivity will decline and ultimately students interests will not be best served. The board has made it a priority that we do not want to lay off employees and we don’t want the cuts to touch the classroom. The superintendent has communicated this along with the details of what is happening on the financial front as we receive details using email and pop up messages through our internal email system.
I am very happy that HCPS is catching up to the new millennia and using technology to communicate with our staff and the community. We have ‘Parent Link’ which sends out pre-recorded messages to specific groups or the entire universe of current phone numbers and/or email in our system, provided parents or guardians keep their contact information current. This system is used to send updates on everything from emergencies to parent/teacher conferences.
More recently we used Twitter to communicate during the swine flu outbreak that closed 3 local schools. One of the more exciting aspects about using Twitter aside from the real time communication on important updates is that it does not cost the tax payers anything because it is a free service.
Are we where we need to be? Not yet, but we are moving in a positive direction.
In the past, communication has been a weakness in this, the 8th largest school district in the nation. But size is no excuse for poor communication, and as such, has been a major focus for improvement over the past couple of years.
At the school boards urging, the superintendent has been communicating every step of the way during the budget process. It is important that people have the facts, good or bad, because if people are left to wonder rumors will run rampant, productivity will decline and ultimately students interests will not be best served. The board has made it a priority that we do not want to lay off employees and we don’t want the cuts to touch the classroom. The superintendent has communicated this along with the details of what is happening on the financial front as we receive details using email and pop up messages through our internal email system.
I am very happy that HCPS is catching up to the new millennia and using technology to communicate with our staff and the community. We have ‘Parent Link’ which sends out pre-recorded messages to specific groups or the entire universe of current phone numbers and/or email in our system, provided parents or guardians keep their contact information current. This system is used to send updates on everything from emergencies to parent/teacher conferences.
More recently we used Twitter to communicate during the swine flu outbreak that closed 3 local schools. One of the more exciting aspects about using Twitter aside from the real time communication on important updates is that it does not cost the tax payers anything because it is a free service.
Are we where we need to be? Not yet, but we are moving in a positive direction.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Quiet does not mean complacent
I know I have not posted much lately. Believe me; I haven’t lost sight of the importance of sharing information about the inner workings of the school district, or the value of input from the public.
It has been quiet
The school board, the superintendent, and senior staff have been working diligently to make the budget cuts as painless as possible. This crisis is all consuming. No one ever wants to make cuts, but when they are necessary having the executives who have to make the tough decisions put past issues aside and focus on what is important is crucial.
It has been the school board’s priority from the beginning not to lay people off and to not let the budget cuts affect the classroom. We would not exist if it were not for the children. And as far as layoffs are concerned; I realize the impact we have as the largest employer in Hillsborough County on the community as a whole. We are a huge economic engine in our community and if we start laying people off the impact is going to have a much greater cost to the greater good of the community. Salaries constitute over 80% of our total budget. That means over 2.8 billion dollars feeds into sales taxes, property taxes, money spent at local restaurants, stores, etc. The importance of our impact, aside from educating our children, cannot be over looked.
Careful, considerate planning
For the past 2 ½ years or so we have been working realistically and diligently to foresee problems in advance. While other districts are closing schools, laying off employees, or giving across the board pay cuts. Through careful planning we have been able to cut almost a hundred million dollars from our budget without having to resort to any of these drastic measures. When I ran for office Hillsborough County School district had one of the highest administrative cost per student. I am proud to report that I just read a state report that list Hillsborough County School district as one of the lowest administrative cost per student in the entire state of Florida. We started cutting at the administrative level and continue to do so. This is positive progress.
The school board directed the superintendent to communicate every step of the way during these difficult times. I have received a lot of feed-back from employees that they have appreciated the communication. It has alleviated fears and kept the rumor mill to a minimum. We also understand that communication is a two way street and have afforded opportunities to our employees and the general public to share ideas on areas we could cut, and we have listened. We have used many of the ideas submitted and appreciate the input.
Please continue to feel free to share your ideas and concerns…we are listening.
It has been quiet
The school board, the superintendent, and senior staff have been working diligently to make the budget cuts as painless as possible. This crisis is all consuming. No one ever wants to make cuts, but when they are necessary having the executives who have to make the tough decisions put past issues aside and focus on what is important is crucial.
It has been the school board’s priority from the beginning not to lay people off and to not let the budget cuts affect the classroom. We would not exist if it were not for the children. And as far as layoffs are concerned; I realize the impact we have as the largest employer in Hillsborough County on the community as a whole. We are a huge economic engine in our community and if we start laying people off the impact is going to have a much greater cost to the greater good of the community. Salaries constitute over 80% of our total budget. That means over 2.8 billion dollars feeds into sales taxes, property taxes, money spent at local restaurants, stores, etc. The importance of our impact, aside from educating our children, cannot be over looked.
Careful, considerate planning
For the past 2 ½ years or so we have been working realistically and diligently to foresee problems in advance. While other districts are closing schools, laying off employees, or giving across the board pay cuts. Through careful planning we have been able to cut almost a hundred million dollars from our budget without having to resort to any of these drastic measures. When I ran for office Hillsborough County School district had one of the highest administrative cost per student. I am proud to report that I just read a state report that list Hillsborough County School district as one of the lowest administrative cost per student in the entire state of Florida. We started cutting at the administrative level and continue to do so. This is positive progress.
The school board directed the superintendent to communicate every step of the way during these difficult times. I have received a lot of feed-back from employees that they have appreciated the communication. It has alleviated fears and kept the rumor mill to a minimum. We also understand that communication is a two way street and have afforded opportunities to our employees and the general public to share ideas on areas we could cut, and we have listened. We have used many of the ideas submitted and appreciate the input.
Please continue to feel free to share your ideas and concerns…we are listening.
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