STEM Learning Communities

The current issue of Education Week, highlights a program called South Dakota Counts, in which teachers receive professional development and support from content specialists and teacher leaders in math [who work outside of the education field – this phrase seems contradictory to what was just stated, I suggest taking this phrase out]. Also, the program is working to establish a “math specialist” endorsement for educators who want to be recognized for their skills and their ability to mentor others.

The article states, “Improving elementary math education, and the skills of teachers who deliver math content, has received increased attention from policymakers and advocacy organizations in recent years.” In fact, NCTAF has been looking at strategies for inducting STEM teachers into professional learning communities to reduce teacher turnover and improve teaching effectiveness. In partnership with WestEd, NCTAF is also conducting a literature synthesis about the impact of professional learning communities on STEM teaching, this work is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

NCTAF and WestEd staff will review and synthesize relevant research articles, evaluations and reports, as well as interview practitioners working in STEM learning communities. Any suggestions … we invite you to contact us if you are doing work in this area.

Assessment for the 21st Century

Imagine a world in which to get your driver’s license, all you have to do is take the written test. There would be no actual in-car assessment or demonstration of your skills behind the wheel. While the written portion is essential basic knowledge, it does not give one the necessary skills to problem solve on the road. Would you know how to change lanes in bumper to bumper traffic? Merge onto a highway full of speeding cars? Many people balk at the idea of learning to drive this way, calling it ludicrous. Yet it is primarily the way we educate our children … there’s a lot of testing to determine how much students know but we don’t ask students to demonstrate their knowledge through problem solving and projects.

This week, there was a forum on using performance assessment to enhance teaching and learning for higher order skills. The foundation for the forum was the notion that expectations for learning are changing – higher order thinking and performance skills are essential for guiding teaching and learning in order to prepare students for 21st century careers and college.

Take the story of Kiri Davis, one of the forum’s panelists, and now a college sophomore and graduate of the Urban Academy Laboratory High School in New York City. Kiri talked about her experiences at Urban, which is one of the schools in the NY Performance Standards Consortium. These schools have developed an approach to teaching and a system for performance based assessment where students are actively involved in their learning and challenged to meet rigorous academic standards. For one creative arts assessment, Kiri built upon several classes she had taken and an internship to produce a documentary film, which was later shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and it won several awards. Kiri expressed her support for performance assessment, noting she learned far more from creating and producing a film than she ever would have learned by filling in a scantron sheet. Kiri said it best: “I don’t want to be only worth as high as my test score.”

Yet developing performance based assessment does come with its own set of challenges. We must still hold educators collectively accountable for student learning and offer them support to learn, build, use and score assessments that will inform and guide their teaching. Teachers need time to plan, evaluate and share data together.

State and district leaders will also need to become skilled in developing and managing these assessments AND providing assistance to classroom teachers in order to make the system work.

As a nation, can we really afford to send our young people into the 21st century workforce without any real-life, authentic experiences?

A Silver Lining in a Time of Crisis?

As we mentioned several weeks ago, 53% of our teacher workforce are baby boomers, and they are rapidly approaching retirement. If we act now, we can ensure that their years of expertise and experience is not lost. It may very well be possible to turn the retirement “crisis” into an opportunity to staff schools in different ways.

According to Civic Ventures, the financial crisis will force more people to work longer and some people will opt for second or “Encore” careers. A recent Washington Post article said the luxury of retirement is turning out to be unattainable for many Americans due to a wildly fluctuating stock market, depleted 401k plans and empty individual retirement accounts. As a result, Americans are increasingly postponing retirement or getting work in other fields. The economic disaster will crimp budgets, but social needs are only growing and many employers are eager to tap encore talent, according to the Civic Ventures survey. If baby boomer teachers follow the pattern of the larger workforce, then 50% of them will seek at least part-time work in a capacity that allows them to give back to society. Many veteran teachers – especially those who have dedicated their entire careers to improving student achievement – will surely be seeking new learning challenges and new roles.

At the same time, schools are trying to address the changing needs of 21st century learners who have access to more information and more learning resources than ever before, while trying to keep young teachers who leave because they don’t want to work in an industrial-age system. Instead of retiring, what if a valued veteran teacher could act as a mentor and support for new teachers – part time work that would afford her some income and encourage her to impart experience-based knowledge.

An article in yesterday’s USA Today examined the silver lining from the financial crisis. Some of the strongest mathematical minds may be found on Wall Street, and in the current mess, many may be interested in trading math lesson plans rather than stocks. If we take this opportunity to mobilize educators and community members to join forces in schools to prepare today’s students – especially in high-need communities – for 21st century workforce success, we can bridge supply and demand. But we must act quickly to build these pathways before the demographic tsunami hits us. NCTAF is at the forefront of developing a model that demonstrates how exactly this can be done so we can get out in front of the impending school staffing crisis and take advantage of the resources about to be freed up by the collision of economic crises and demographic shifts.

NCTAF wants to hear your Encore career stories! Share them here!

Stayed tuned for more on this as NCTAF prepares to release a survey in December on the demographic shift in the teaching workforce!

A Time for Teamwork in Schools

In Monday’s Washington Post, Jay Mathews’ column “Merit Pay Could Ruin Teacher Teamwork”, discusses the incentive bonus plan, created by Chancellor Michelle Rhee, for D.C. public school teachers and the need for collaboration among teachers.

Mathews said, “The idea troubles me, because it is at odds with what I have learned from charter leaders who have made great achievement gains in their independent public schools. Their staffs thrive on teamwork. Everyone shares lesson plans, swaps ideas and reinforces discipline to help each child.”

Teachers can be encouraged to work in teams and rewarded through pay systems that recognize their collaborative efforts to improve student learning. However, it is not always pay that teachers site as their biggest concern with the profession. The 2004-05 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher found that principals and teachers place a high value on personal connections and supportive professional relationships. The study also found that beginning teachers’ satisfaction with the quality of their professional support is directly related to whether they plan to remain in education.

The importance of teamwork and supportive learning environments is highlighted in the NCTAF pledge – Principle One: Create schools that are genuine learning communities. Learning teams are essential for building and deepening teacher knowledge, integrating new practitioners into a learning community, supporting constant professional development and encouraging dialogue on best practices.

NCTAF has been all over the United States seeking out learning communities and shining a spotlight on these best practices. Take Steve Smith, superintendent of Lowndes County School District in Valdosta, GA. After a working conditions survey of the district found that teachers were dissatisfied with the amount of time they had to collaborate with their colleagues, Smith rearranged the busing schedule in order to find an extra 90 minutes every day for teachers to work together. The big winners though are the students. At Lowndes High School, the graduation rate increased by 6 percent in one year, and the school is now meeting its AYP goals.

There is a lot of evidence that suggests teamwork is an integral part to building and sustaining a true learning organization. So back to Jay Mathews’ question, can teamwork and merit pay co-exist? What are your thoughts?

Read for the Record!

This morning NCTAF joined the Pearson Foundation and Jumpstart in an attempt at breaking a world record. As part of Jumpstart’s “Read for the Record” campaign, thousands of children across the United States created the world’s largest “shared reading experience.” This year’s book of choice is the beloved children’s classic Corduroy by Don Freeman. First Lady, Laura Bush and musician LL Cool J kicked off the campaign this morning on the Today Show. Today’s event in DC took place at the new Nationals Park where kids listened to readings and even got a chance to run on the field.

Can you imagine your childhood without favorites like Charlotte’s Webb, Green Eggs and Ham or The Velveteen Rabbit? We sure can’t. And thanks to the Read for the Record campaign, over 250,000 books have been donated to children who need them most, and more than $2 million have been raised to provide adult mentors to children.

The number of books in a home is the single strongest indicator of a child’s future reading ability – setting him or her on a track for success in school and life.