Learning Forward
Equity and excellence in teaching and learning.
Policy
December 2010
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In This Issue
ARTICLES
What's happening online
Learning Forward has partnered with School Improvement Network to offer discounted subscriptions to PD 360, School Improvement Network’s on-demand library of professional development resources.
District Finds The Right Equation To Improve Math Instruction
Just months after implementing new instructional strategies for teaching math to her 2nd-grade students, Karen Vaver noted a significant difference in student achievement. “Our textbook has one lesson on adding with 8 or 9. Kids usually have trouble here, and typically only a handful of students get it. This year, it’s a total flip-flop — only a handful of students don’t have it yet.”
Circles Of Leadership
I was sitting cross-legged, sticky notes and pen in hand, leaning in to listen to the instructional coach whisper to the classroom teacher as her students assembled on the rug. Along with the teacher, coach, 20 kindergarteners, and me were six observers — pairs of principals and coaches, an administrative intern, and a visiting teacher. I was coaching the coach, and the coach was coaching the teacher in the presence of these observers. We were learning with the teacher and her students. We were collaborating in practice, observing the teacher during instruction. Listening and anticipating our turn to teach or coach, we’d immediately practice the writing conference she modeled in triads of principal, coach, and student.
Learning Forward's 'big bet' on policy reaps big wins in practice
Several years ago, I served on an advisory committee for Microsoft Partners in Learning, where I heard about the concept of the “big bet.” Microsoft placed big bets on investments promising the biggest returns.
Abstracts
Key Points in Learning Forward’s Definition of Professional Development. Learning Forward described high-quality professional development in detail to influence the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Research from within and beyond education supports the specific strategies and elements of the definition.
2010 Learning Forward Awards
Sponsored by School Improvement Network
Good Policy Enables Good Practice for Teachers and Leaders
We live in a world of rules and regulations that govern our lives. Education policy is the collection of laws, rules, and regulations that govern how school systems, and the people within them, operate. In school systems, good policy enables good practice on the part of teachers and leaders. While policy is only as good as its implementation, good policies are a necessary beginning. The policy context in which we live and work determines whether we can easily navigate decisions and shape practices that help our children and teachers succeed or whether we have to spend our time fighting to gain ground for creativity, innovation, and good practices.
Collaborative Culture
Can you guess what the number 86 represents? This is a question I asked for two consecutive weeks in my staff newsletter, Opal’s Gems. I placed the number 86 on a big sign in the front office and on a bulletin board in the teachers’ lounge. I even placed the number 86 on the back of the adult restroom door! As a result, the conversation in the teachers’ lounge at times consisted of laughter, serious guessing, questions regarding my sanity, or the number of pounds I wanted to lose, how much we could earn working at a convenience store, and, of course, more laughter.
Assumptions about collective bargaining, policies, memoranda of understanding/agreement
Learning Forward recently released Advancing High-Quality Professional Learning Through Collective Bargaining and State Policy. Developed in partnership with the National Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, and Council of Chief State School Officers, the report explores how states and districts can support high-quality professional learning while calling for more collaboration and a common set of standards for developing policy.
Cultural Proficiency: Stay Calm And Detached, But Be Clear In Response To Racist Remarks
I had a father come in one afternoon to talk about a problem on the bus with his daughter. He had a thick accent. Although I didn’t ask, it would be my best guess that he was from somewhere in South America. He told me that a girl on the bus had verbally threatened his daughter with physical violence. She told his daughter she was going to beat her up. He described his daughter as a quiet girl who never got in trouble. He described the student that threatened her as “an African-American girl.” Neither he nor his daughter knew the girl’s name. As we talked through the problem, he expressed concern for his daughter’s safety as any parent would. I told him that we had video cameras on the buses and that I would call transportation, view the video, and hopefully discover the identity of the girl.
Essentials
Coordinating the work of citywide stakeholders, including government, school districts, and nonprofits, holds the promise of increasing the quality of and participation in after-school programs. This study examines efforts in five cities that received The Wallace Foundation’s $58 million investment to increase access to and quality of out-of-school learning opportunities. Attendance in high-quality after-school programs can support school attendance, improve attitudes toward learning, and help students apply what they learn in school.
From The Editor
Examine the human values represented by policy.
Thought Leaders: Who they are, why they matter, and how to reach them
A thought leader is a person or group of people espousing ideas that influence the thinking and actions of many others. National media have recently featured some prominent thought leaders in education. Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “Waiting for Superman” and the related coverage of education included panels, specials, and talk show interviews. It’s not surprising to see Michelle Rhee or Geoffrey Canada speaking with passion about what needs to happen in education — this is their field of expertise. But when Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey focus their attention on education, they reach a wider audience.
Policy Across the Pond
Louise Stoll, professor at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London, offers a different view on policy in these excerpts from a conversation with Tracy Crow, Learning Forward’s associate director of publications. Stoll lives and works in England, and her research and consulting work has taken her all over the world. In her professional learning work, Stoll emphasizes networks, learning communities, and leadership.
The Power Of One, Revisited
More than 10 years ago, I wrote my first version of “The Power of One” for JSD. I described my personal journey of discovering how one person could make a huge difference in the face of what appeared as insurmountable challenges. I described ways in which I had made such a difference and told, through the lens of a school board member, the ways I saw community and education leaders make differences as well.
Alberta Unites On Teaching Quality
Education policy in the province of Alberta is set by Alberta Education, a ministry led by the province’s minister of education. There are two key policies or ministerial orders that guide professional learning in Alberta. The Teaching Quality Standard (Alberta Education, 1997) outlines the knowledge, skills, and attributes that teachers are expected to possess. The standard specifies competencies for those teachers holding interim certificates (typically teachers in their first two years of practice) and permanent certificates. (See the list of knowledge, skills, and attributes in the box on p. 31.) The Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation Policy (Alberta Education, 2008) aims to ensure that each teacher’s ongoing actions, judgments, and decisions are in the best educational interests of students and support optimum learning.
Business Teachers Go To Work
Teacher internships give business education teachers the opportunity to increase their industry skill proficiency levels. Such experiences can help business education teachers focus on developing relevant technical knowledge and skills to better prepare students for technically enhanced work environments and demonstrate competency on technical assessments covering industry recognized standards.
The View Inside the Beltway
National education reform happens with or without teacher input, but teachers are increasingly finding ways to enter the policy dialogue. In addition to traditional union representation and direct contact with elected representatives, emerging web 2.0 tools have created a new level of interaction between teachers and policy makers. I am a classroom teacher who sat squarely at the nexus of these interactions for 11 months as a legislative fellow with the Education and Labor Committee in the House of Representatives. In that role, I listened and responded to groups and individuals who came to our office to discuss federal education legislation.
Key Points In Learning Forward’s Definition Of Professional Development
Because teachers have traditionally worked and sought professional development on their own, their learning opportunities have benefited only them and the students assigned to their classes. To achieve ambitious school performance and student learning goals, schools must strive to provide effective teaching schoolwide.
The Federal Policy Landscape
Four years ago, Learning Forward established “affecting the policy context” as the first of five strategic priorities that would guide its efforts through 2011. Learning Forward believes that good policy promotes good practice and that we need laws and policies that promote and support effective professional development to achieve the organization’s purpose. Learning Forward set its sights on the nation’s most influential education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), currently authorized as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
Up Close
See part three of a three-phase research study from Learning forward and the Stanford university School Redesign Network documenting the status of professional learning in the U.S.
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