Abeo Partnership - Lincoln High School's Success

Lincoln High School in Tacoma, WA is one of Abeo’s success stories. It has been a long term partnership with Abeo that has allowed Lincoln to become an exemplary program in Washington State. Recently, Algebra 1 and Geometry end of course assessment scores were published and the results are amazing: 90% pass rate with no achievement gap. This alone should cause eyebrows and wonder, what is going on at this school? What is fostering this community of scholars? In addition, Fisk University, after being impressed by Lincoln students and the city college fair, visited the school to meet one-on-one with students. 5 students were offered admission on the spot, and one is being flied out to interview for a full ride scholarship. Clearly, when we are talking about education reform, we need to be talking about Lincoln High School.

Lincoln has been mentioned in the Tacoma News Tribune often, chronicling its journey from one of the lowest performing schools in Washington State to a school with much to celebrate. One of the key structural changes mentioned was creating Lincoln Center with an extended school day. Students can choose to participate in the program, while some are counseled into it. The school day runs from 7:30am to around 5pm. This extra time provides structural support for students including homework help, clubs and other programs that help students complete their work and meet standard.

There are many other best practices in terms of instruction and structures that Lincoln boasts. Staff have common planning to work on integrated projects across grade level and provide intervention support for students needing it. Late arrival on Wednesdays allows for further staff development on a regular basis to foster reflection and implementation of best practices. Classrooms have an open door policy where essential questions and clear learning targets are posted. The staff is reflective and constantly seeks feedback from teammates and Abeo coaches on an individual basis. Staff loop with students in order to build relationships, and students look at data often to set and meet goals.

The culture of excellence is evident. Teachers constantly exert the phrase “You will go to college” They have unfailingly high expectations, so much so that they commit to this ongoing professional development in real ways. Teacher efficacy is seen in everyday conversations between teachers and coaches. The teachers openly tell students that hey have coaches. How was this culture built? As one teacher says, “If we have high expectations for our students, then we need to have the same for ourselves.”

Great work is occurring at Lincoln High School, both in terms of student work and in terms of teacher practice. Through shared leadership, clear vision, and commitment to excellence, Lincoln has created a safe place for students to learn at their highest potential.


From Andrew Miller, New Media Innovations

Fall Forum of the Coalition of Essential Schools

Holli Hanson, partner at Abeo School Change and director of the CES NW Center travelled along with Abeo Executive Director, Andrew Kelly to Providence, RI to participate in “A Conversation among Friends.”

The forum kicked off with a series of school visits to area schools known for their progressive work around schooling in the Boston, MA and Providence, RI communities. Participants were invited to join in discussion and learn from practitioners in schools that are working to continually improve through the implementation and growth of the 10 Common Principles.

Over the two days of the conference there were a variety of teacher-led presentations about improving pedagogy in classrooms and serving students better. Focused conversations around inquiry, helping students to use their minds well, crafting essential questions and using various methods to allow students to show what they know and are able to do. Highlights from the teacher-led conference were two exceptional presentations by Washington teachers. Amy Lavold, teacher at Lincoln High School/Lincoln Center from the Tacoma School District facilitated a session titled: I am the Master of My Fate: Understanding Resiliency. This session focused on the real work that has occurred at the Lincoln Center to equitably crate high-level rigor in every classroom ensuring that kids graduate college ready and that the achievement gap ceases to exist. Jennifer Zamira, also of Lincoln High School shared: The Classroom’s a Stage: Building a Bridge to College Preparedness through the Canon, giving participants practice in bringing the classics to “life” for urban kids through creative interaction, drama and fun.

Highlights also included some of the great thinkers of our time inspiring us all to continue to dream for the future and continue to press on in the work. Dennis Littkey, founder and co-director of Big Picture Learning and The Met center put student voice front and center as he shared his vision for continued expansion of personalized learning. His work to capitalize on kids’ passions as a strategy to overcome obstacles has truly created a model worthy of consideration and/or replication for all of us. Many at the conference were thrilled to hear that he is launching a college to counter the dysfunction in post-secondary education. Statistically, 86% of first generation students who make it to college fail to earn their degree and/or drop out. His work may very well reshape how we think about post secondary learning.

Deborah Meier and Alfie Kohn invited us as a group to consider the ideas of work, play and learning and how all three interface within schools today. Their conversation reminded each of us to consider the whole child and whenever possible resist the lock step initiatives that have time and time in our nation failed to yield consistent results. Perhaps the most powerful quote of the dialogue came from Kohn who challenged us to “consider that the most important factor in schools isn’t engagement, but rather joy.” Inspiring to think about the learning that could happen and the challenges that could be overcome if there were more joy in each classroom, each day, for the benefit of students and teachers alike.

Debbie Meier’s quote, “Only secretly rebellious teachers have ever done right by our least advantaged kid,” left us with encouragement to think outside the box and push the assumptions of the systems, schools and leaders around us.

Both Hanson and Kelly return to Seattle from Providence, RI eager to engage our colleagues, schools, teachers, and leaders to continue to push for more innovative ways to meet the diverse needs of our students.

Look for several innovations from Abeo School Change in the months to come to offer more support and keep the Coalition ideals alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.

From Andrew Kelly, Abeo Executive Director

Online Learning Needs True Student Collaboration

Steven Johnson, the author of “Where Good Ideas Come From,” was featured on CNN last year where he shared his ideas from his TED talk aired earlier this summer. Learning does not occur in isolation. Great ideas do not occur in isolation. Why then are most online courses structured in a way that fosters mostly the teacher-student relationship?  

If we look at the way many learning management systems and courses are setup, it is still very traditional. Students have an assignment, they complete it, and they turn it in. The material is geared toward multiple learning styles, but authentic learning style of collaboration may not exist. Now there may be occasions where discussion board posts are required, or peer review. In fact the best online teachers are using these tools synchronously and asynchronously. The best teachers are doing their best to create activities and routines that foster student interaction and collaboration.  But is the curriculum and structure set up in a way that requires collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking?

One of the biggest strengths of online learning is fosters true student-teacher relationship in order to create an individualized education plan. Parents say this, teachers say this, and students say this. Julie Young, CEO of Florida Virtual Schools, recently shared in an article that “it is perhaps one of the greatest ironies of online learning that teachers and students often find it more personal than the classroom experience.” She then goes on to advocate for more hybrid programs, in order to balance face-to-face learning with online. I would agree that with the hybrid model, you can build face-to-face experiences that foster more collaboration, but this is one idea.

If we truly want the 21^st century skills, we need to create online environments that truly require collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. Are students working together to problem solve and create while still being held accountable individually? Are the student forums open so that students may collaborate? Are students leading discussions and live class meetings?  Are students allowed voice and choice in their assessments? These are just some of the questions that educators of the online world need to consider. 

In online education, we are in danger of replicating a system that has only worked well for some. The traditional classroom, where the teacher is the center and the students do the assignment, has not worked for all. We in the world of education reform agree on this. We believe in these 21^st century skills. We have seen brick and mortar and hybrid programs that have worked, where collaboration and innovation is occurring regularly. We need to look at these examples and learn from them. We need to ensure the structures and curriculum foster not only online individualized instruction, but collaboration for the purposes of innovation.  As Steven Johnson says, “Chance favors the connected mind.”

From Andrew Miller, New Media Innovations

Letter from a Teacher - Need for Transparency

Good Morning Editor,

Excellent article in Sunday's paper by Sharon Noguchi on problem teachers.

I'm a "second career" teacher after having served as a Navy pilot, currently teaching 4th grade in Los Altos.  Teaching has been a tough job but presents a lot fewer risks than landing on a pitching / rolling deck at night in the middle of the ocean.

I've always been of the opinion that my classroom is open.  The principal or parents are welcome anytime - they never need an appointment.  There is nothing I do in my classroom that is ever "hidden" from public view.  Want to learn about H.A.W. Tabor and Chicken Bill?  How about Charles C. Fremont and how his ranch was stolen but it resulted in his becoming California's first Senator and stupendously rich?  How about the fact that the only reason we're not part of Mexico today is that John Sutter and James Marshall kept their mouths shut until the Treaty of Gualalupe Hidalgo was signed?  Come on down.

We learn multiplication but in such a way that we're given the "Keys to Quadratic Factorization."  We study art but also use it to write stories about going fishing with Winslow Homer or trekking with Hieronymus Bosch.  If we use a video it's never more than 8 to 10 minutes and ties directly into the lesson we're teaching.

What I do is public.  I'm standing in front of 20 to 30 people (4th graders though they may be) and presenting materials, guiding activities, helping them learn to work together, maintaining classroom discipline (mostly), and hopefully inspiring students.  

The last thing I teach is the most important - inspiring.  What did you learn the most about?  It's something you WANTED to learn about.  Inspire a student and then get out of their way.  They'll learn more than you could ever teach them, all on their own.

I consider that duty my most important.  Every single human has a specialty.  As a teacher it's my job to help them find it and point them in the right direction.  

The rest of teaching is an overview of data - learning something about many things and, most important, learning how to "go and find out."  The motto of our classroom comes from Rudyard Kipling's story, Rikki Tikki Tavi.  "The motto of the mongoose is 'Go and Find Out.'"   That's the motto of Room 9 at Gardner Bullis School, where I am very proud to help young men and women learn a little more about the world and how they fit into it.

ciao and best

jim

James Thurber 

4th Grade - Room 9

Gardner Bullis School

Los Altos School District

Do you need a coach or a consultant?

Do you need a coach or a consultant? 

A good question – one we like to ask and help clients answer often because there are distinct differences and justifiable needs for both.  The key is in knowing the difference and assessing your needs as an organization.

A simple way of distinguishing between the two is to think of a consultant as a way of adding staff capacity and a coach as building staff capacity.  Here’s how it looks:

Many organizations need a task completed for which they lack adequate staffing.  This could be a numbers game (everyone’s busy) or a capacity issue (nobody knows how to do this).  Often it’s in the best interest of everyone to bring in an expert to complete the task and hand it off, particularly if the expertise needed is likely to be sporadic or very specialized – such as strategic planning.  This calls for a consultant: someone who comes in from the outside to do internal work, temporarily adding staff capacity….and then departing.

A coach, however, is called for when there are ongoing needs within an organization, yet the skills are not present within current personnel. This is where an organization would be better served to build the capacity of existing staff so that they are able to take on the task into the future.  This might be a completely new area (such as a new approach to literacy or numeracy that calls for an instructional coach), fine-tuning practice as might be the case with a leadership coach, or preparing and implementing a major change initiative where there is anticipated resistance.  For more thoughts on who needs to be coached, see our web site post, “Oh to be Coached!”

We see very few schools and districts that would not benefit from additional support.  The trick is to make sure it’s a good match for the task at hand.  Coaches teach you to do the work.  Consultants do the work for you.  It’s as simple as that.

From Abeo Partner, Harriette Thurber Rasmussen

Online Teacher Professional Development – What do we do?

At the iNACOL conference this last fall, I encountered many professionals asking the same question. “What does Professional Development for online teachers look like?” Many sessions addressed the topic, but most of it was around processes that were in place to train and evaluate teachers. These were great sessions and highlighted many ways to create effective systems, but many participants were disappointed. They wanted to see content. What were teachers being trained in? What do online teachers do when they participate in professional development? Great questions all. They were looking for modules to take back to their schools and districts. iNACOL recently put out a report around professional development and it too gives great indications of what online teachers need. Since we lack a plethora of content to distribute, we need to think about ways to create an effective professional development program for online teachers. As a teacher and teacher trainer in the online education world, here are some important steps I believe one must take in order to create an effective professional development.

1)      Identify what good online teachers do – Take time with teachers to identify and discuss with them what online teachers do. You will hear comments like “They are in constant contact with their teachers,” or “They give useful feedback in a timely matter.”  You will end up with many topics to cover.

2)      Identify critical components of the school framework – Schools have a vision, and this vision is articulated in its framework which includes, of course, structures and curriculum. Perhaps your school has an iRTI structure. Perhaps you focus on PBL. Perhaps you focus on competency –based pathways. Regardless, teachers will need coaching in these areas of the school framework.

3)      Analyze what teachers need – Through both feedback from teachers and things noticed while “walking the halls,” identify what teachers need to know. There is no use in covering everything, and frankly, there is not enough time. You may find that only some teachers need a certain topic, while other content will need to be pushed out to all teachers.

4)      Create modules or trainings based on each of these needs – Use a competency-based pathway model to create modules based on needs the teachers.  Some of these modules will call for synchronous and asynchronous learning. On a side note, ensure that if a PD session is synchronous, keep it sacred. Don’t crowd it with logistics, announcements or other pieces that might distract from focused, deep learning.

5)      Show teachers what it “looks like.” – Teachers, like students, need specific models and examples. If they need help with effective communication with students, play them a recording of a model phone call. Have teachers look at a model welcome email. Show them paragraphs of ideal feedback for student work. Again, examples and models speak volumes.

6)      Continue to monitor and set goals with teachers – Be authentic and transparent with teachers with the quality indicators for evaluation. Don’t do “drive by” evaluations, but instead, create a culture of continuous feedback and improvement.  Partner with teachers to set goals and improve.

While all of these pieces may seem obvious to many, I see many professionals skip to step 4. Professional development should come from authentic needs and quality characteristics of online teachers. This is just a starting point in the conversation around professional development for online teachers. A major next step in this world of professional for online teacher is to create open source training resources. Although there will specific components unique to individual schools that teachers must be trained and coached in, there are some common pieces all teachers will need in the future. 

From Andrew Miller, Abeo New Media Innovations

Who is sponsoring the change you want to see?

In any change initiative, there are distinct roles to be played. In education, the ones we pay attention to the most are the roles of sponsor and agent.  Who are these folks, what are their roles, and why do they matter? 

A quick primer:  A sponsor is an individual who has authority over those responsible for implementation – line authority to be exact.  In schools this is often the principal but it could be someone several rungs above the principal, such as the principal’s supervisor, or the superintendent.   An agent is someone whose job it is to support the change. This could be an internal position (such as a staff developer) or external support (such as a school improvement coach).  You’ll know you’re an agent if you have the responsibility to make something happen without the authority to mandate it.

Why do we pay so much attention to these roles when we know that sustainability requires broad-based ownership and that top-down mandates generally fail?  We’ve found that oftentimes change initiatives need a jump-start (“just try this”) and that successful implementation is then dependent upon an ability to focus.  Permission to choose one activity over another comes from a sponsor, someone in authority such as a supervisor.  Much of our education system is organized in ways that separate sponsors and agents so that those supporting the work are unable to either require it or allow it.  At the building level this might be an instructional coach who may (or may not) report to the principal but does not supervise those he or she is coaching.  Another prevalent example is the way in which most central offices are structured, with a curriculum department (often incorporating professional development) that does not include those able to call the shots on use of time or who supervises those that do (such as the principal or principal supervisor). We call this phenomena responsibility without authority. And when we point this out in coaching venues (most often with agents), we see huge ah-ha’s and recognition of what’s missing in their efforts.

This reality simply means attention to roles so that necessary sponsorship takes place.  For those in positions of authority, be certain that you are visibly supporting the work.  Make it a public priority.  Be present at high leverage events, if only to kick off and affirm the work underway. Make it a public priority.  By doing so you will give those responsible for actual implementation permission to focus and a little nudge that this is important.  If you are in an agent’s role, you’ll need to be strategic in how you make sure the work is sponsored.  An agent operates through influence and relationships; he or she must determine which are the most important relationships to cultivate if the work is to be adequately sponsored.  Sometimes an agent’s responsibility is not a priority of those needed for sponsorship and the agent will need to become the sponsor’s new “best friend.”   In rare cases, it may be necessary to carefully move up the ladder of authority for adequate sponsorship.  Delicate? Yes, but we can almost guarantee an initiative will fail without sponsorship.

Known as organizational alignment, establishing roles in any change or improvement effort is essential.  So if implementation is not going as expected, one of the first questions we would ask is, “Who is sponsoring the change you want to see?”

Abeo Partner Harriette Thurber-Rasmussen - Abeo Partner