Every. Single. Student.

This morning at Orchard View I participated in two different grade-level data meetings. The meetings are conducted quarterly, and teacher teams bring three or more sources of recent, common data on each individual student’s reading and writing proficiency. The data discussion is facilitated by the school principal, and the counselor and an interventionist are also present to provide additional information as needed.

Wow! Let me say that again – wow! Each individual student’s name was mentioned at least once, and our students were carefully placed into specific groups to improve and enrich their reading and writing power. After the groups are formed, each teacher takes one group, and others, depending on need, are placed into an interventionist-led or specialized educator group for which the teacher provides guided instruction. Beginning next week, each of the groups meets Monday through Thursday for 30 minutes each day during “Target Team Time.” Every single student in each grade will be receiving targeted instruction during this time, in addition to all of the other intentional instruction they receive throughout the course of a school day. That is powerful!

The care with which students were discussed and placed into need-based groups was inspirational (but not surprising). The way in which teachers discussed data, and more importantly, their observations about our students, so that each student was a person rather than a score, was impressive. Each meeting lasted 90 minutes, and through deft facilitation by the principal, the planning was completed. In twelve years of education, I have never been a part of something quite like this, and I am glad I had the chance to see it in action.

For our students needing the most help, we use the Fountas & Pinnell Leveled Literacy Intervention System (LLI). It is specifically targeted at small group instruction and helps teachers provide those impactful, daily learning pieces to bring students to grade level in reading. Students who are currently at grade level or higher are also in smaller groups with intentionally planned instruction to enhance their capacity as well.

Like any implemented strategy, two vital pieces are monitoring of adult implementation of the plan, and monitoring of student growth through the plan. In fact, the LLI program, as part of OV’s School Improvement Plan, is the chosen program for evaluation through the Michigan Department of Education’s newly-required Program Evaluation Tool. As we move through the second half of the school year, it will be important and interesting to continually evaluate our efforts to live out our district vision of “all learners achieving individual potential.”

-          J. Walton

P.S. Check out the Principal Intern Video Blog: http://pointofviewsquared.blogspot.com/

Anchors Aweigh

Well, the news that the Michigan Department of Education was awarding its testing contract to the College Board and the SAT took everyone by surprise. Many reactions were quite visceral, and I found myself trying to explain it to someone who was taking a balcony view of what might be best for kids.

Once upon a time, students taking the ACT in high school was voluntary. Only those students who were college-bound to schools that required the ACT tended to take it. After the introduction of the Michigan Merit Curriculum, the ACT became mandatory for all juniors. In that first year, our high schools, like others around the state, saw their average ACT score dip by a significant amount. ELA teachers, among others, took up the challenge to revisit how they supported readers and writers. No one wanted to be teaching simply to a test, but to the extent that the test was now serving two separate purposes (individually by students to apply to college and by the state to "score" high schools), it was important for all students to be prepared to perform at their best. After many years of hard work, our district average on the ACT finally met and exceeded the average we had before mandatory testing. More importantly, it meant that more of our kids had improved their reading and writing skills.

Having worked so diligently with and for kids, and feeling successful, it is no wonder that teachers (and administrators) felt punched in the gut last week. It does not mean that the SAT is a "bad" test, or that the skills we have been cultivating in our students are wasted. In fact, I know I don't know enough about the revamped SAT to make an objective evaluation of whether it is in the best interests of our kids. All I am trying to do is explain why the news hurt.

For me, some wisdom from Peter Senge helps. In Breaking the Code of Change, he writes about people and groups being anchored in established thinking (2000). It causes me to look at the "heaviness" of my "anchor," or in other words, is the "weight of [my] established thinking...too great to overcome?" (Senge, p. 69). Even when presented with logic and clarity for meaningful change, it is extraordinarily difficult to let go of our core, entrenched strategy because we are personally invested in the success of the strategy. Ironically, the very attributes that made us successful in that strategy may now be holding us back; our commitment to the strategy has positioned us to reflect the commitment.The new proposal, which seems radical to many, creates tremendous emotional and cognitive processing demands, and might exceed our capacity to honestly reflect upon it, even if we have more information and time to process (Senge).

The phrase "anchors aweigh" comes from the U.S. Navy, and it is used to signify that the ship's hoisted anchor has just cleared the sea bottom. In other words, the voyage is underway. I know that I have to re-establish my thinking, but it will be difficult. So, how might we learn together to hoist this testing anchor, even if just a little, to begin the voyage of sailing toward the SAT?

-- J. Walton

The Student Chair

It's been an interesting four months. Instruction Office by day, Michigan State student by night (and Saturday mornings). Going back to school in your early fifties (emphasis on the early) highlights the idea of being a lifelong learner, and perhaps a glutton for punishment. At any given time, I have two classes: one a year-long, online class and the others change in a trimester fashion, meeting on Saturdays for four hours. So far, I have been exposed to three different professors, all with very different backgrounds and teaching styles.

Aside from the actual content of the classes, sitting in the proverbial student chair has taught me a lot, and hopefully makes me a better teacher and coach. In no particular order, here is what I have gleaned:

• As readings are assigned, it is extraordinarily helpful to have a prior explanation of the author's background, our purpose in reading it, and some look-fors.
• Going to class when the rest of the campus is tailgating before a home football game is an odd experience, but the MSU fans are very friendly and have offered coffee on more than one occasion (except the day of the Michigan-Michigan State game when I was wearing my Michigan sweatshirt - understandable).
• At the beginning of each class session, the overview of where we are going and how it connects to our last meeting helps. It's even better when it is written or projected on the board so that I can read it and hear it. When it's not provided, I spend time in my head wondering "why" instead of focusing all of my thoughts on the subject at hand. Inevitably I miss something.
• It is a challenge to sit on a hard chair and pay attention for any stretch of time. I appreciate it when we get up to move into different learning groups. I love the classroom with the swivel office chairs; not only are they more comfortable, but I can easily turn and focus on whomever is speaking.
• Online Zoom discussion sessions (think Skype) get unwieldy when the group gets any bigger than eight or nine.
• Our online professor had us form small (three to four people) learning groups within our cohort, and it is an excellent resource. I have two partners to touch base with for questions, peer review, brainstorming, etc. when we're not in class.
• I love it when our professor stops and asks us if his/her choice of instructional strategy for a chunk of information is working, or if we need to change it up.
• The official title of a class really tells you nothing about the learning journey you are embarking upon. The learning needs to be put into perspective every time the class meets.
• Learners need multiple opportunities to dialogue with each other during the learning process. It helps clarify and solidify the content.
• You cannot disguise "busy" work. It's about compliance, not learning.
• Time leading up to a deadline goes more quickly than say, a minute running on a treadmill or waiting for something to come out of the microwave. It is important to plan enough time to revise your writing so that the professor is not grading your first draft. The perception of time between turning a paper in and receiving a grade is also skewed. Corollary: online drop boxes to turn in work and receive feedback are wonderful.
• The same people are always late.

(If you are interested in learning more about the educational leadership program at MSU, click here. Applications for the Fall 2015 Cohort are being considered through the end of January)

Any readers out there currently taking classes? I wonder how your experience compares. What have you learned about the student perspective? If you are also teaching at the same time, how has it impacted teaching and learning with your students?

Happy New Year, and as always, thanks for reading.

- J. Walton