NCSC13 Session: Aligning the Common Core State Standards, Teacher Evaluation and Effectiveness

Thanks to the many of you who attended our breakout session last week at the National Charter Schools Conference in Washington, DC. The session, "Aligning the Common Core State Standards, Teacher Evaluation and Effectiveness," was led by Insight's Maureen Sigler.

For those of you who missed it, Maureen walked the audience through the bridge between teacher effectiveness and the Common Core. Here's how she broke it down:

• Student readiness for postsecondary education and the workforce is WHY we teach.
• Common Core State Standards provide a vision of excellence for WHAT we teach.
• Frameworks and rubrics provide a vision of excellence for HOW we teach.

Download the handouts to learn more.

1. Redefining the College & Career Ready Student and Portrait of a College & Career Ready Student
2. The Insight Core Framework 

If you attended the session, we'd love to know your thoughts. Leave us your comments below or send us a message.

Teacher Evaluation and the Common Core

It seems as if the only two things we are discussing in education circles these days are teacher evaluation and the Common Core State Standards.  

On one hand, this is very exciting.  After all, how often is the entire field focused on an initiative that impacts schools across the country?  On the other hand, this is also producing some anxiety, as both of these initiatives are not only significant game-changers in terms of how we've operated for decades, but both have significant stakes attached to them.

At Insight, we've been focused on really understanding how each of these initiatives interact in order to provide a more comprehensive approach to "reform."  

And we're excited to see the Aspen Institute continue to push the conversation in Teaching to the Core: Integrating Implementation of Common Core and Teacher Effectiveness Policies.  

Importantly, the actions outlined in this publication (see page 2 for an overview of the recommendations) provide some very clear steps for districts thinking about how to integrate teacher effectiveness and the Common Core in order to maximize resources and streamline implementation.  

While this is still a big lift for schools and districts alike, it is indeed time that we bring the work of Common Core implementation into teacher evaluation systems to ensure we're all focused on what we think will have the greatest impact on the students we serve.

The Insight Core Framework

Equally exciting is the mention of the Insight Core Framework as a resource to support districts.  

After significant amounts of research, our work in districts, and conversations with practitioners in the field, the Insight Core Framework was produced as a way of pushing this conversation and providing an example of how the language in teacher evaluation frameworks can be crafted to reflect actions of teachers relative to expectations of the Core.  

We know first-hand that this work is not easy. However, we also believe that it's the right work - and with focus and resolve this work has the potential to significantly change the classroom experience for kids across the country.

Learn more about the Insight Core Framework (including core practices for effective teaching with the Common Core).

Rabbit Holes...

WARNING, this is a rabbit hole we may not get out of in this blog entry.

Regularly. Most of the time. Infrequent. Sometimes. Consistently.   As Insight continues to work across different districts, time and time again educators and practitioners have expressed caution and pause about using these words in teaching and learning frameworks.  As the world of schooling continues to trend towards reaching agreements and sound definitions about effectiveness, our work has uncovered a considerable amount of angst about the practice of teaching becoming victimm to subjectivity.

How does one measure effectiveness?  And, is there a standard tipping point that can shift a behavior or action from ‘sometimes’ to ‘consistently’?  When this question is the lever that can move a rating from ‘Not effective’ to 'meets expectations', there can be lack of trust in an observer’s ability to rate teaching in a way that is both fair and just to the practitioner. 

Accountability is a dual-edged sword.  The age of accountability has inflicted pain and cut through controversial issues like tenure and compensation.  But, accountability has also given us an opportunity to sharpen our focus on what good teaching looks like.  Teaching is not a technical exercise that follows a ‘checklist’.  Good teaching is a practice that is grounded in sound research and is demonstrated by patterns that are intentional, purposeful, and disciplined. 

Intentional. Purposeful. Disciplined. Grounded. These descriptors of powerful practice should be the goal of every teacher looking to achieve mastery in their classrooms. It is highly likely that one will progress from 'sometimes' to 'regular' to 'consistent' in order to get to a disciplined, deep practice that leads to student achievement.  Given that, these proposed words still come with a bit of subjectivity; however, when they lead to strong practice - its less questionable.  We're still in the rabbit hole but, maybe, a little less deep.  

Getting the biggest bang for our buck

Lengthen the school day.  Extend the school year.  Provide more extracurricular activities.  Supplement with ACT preparation courses.  These are some of the reactive initiatives that we see schools add to their programs in hopes of catching students up, in hopes of evening the playing field.  These initiatives, although an attempt, are often too little too late.  Children growing up in low-income communities begin kindergarten behind their more affluent peers.  When these same children have had no preschool experience they are even further behind.  Our schools are band-aiding a large problem—a crisis, really.  Where are the proactive measures? Where are the high-quality early childhood programs for * all * children?

National early childhood initiatives like Head Start have been around since the 60s and Johnson’s War on Poverty.  Yet, despite the large body of research that says early investment in children and families is the best way to mitigate the “failure of schools” and our entire economic system, we still do not have preschool for all families.  Our neediest families are the ones who have the least access.

But, why early childhood?  Why is this * the * vital proactive measure? High quality programs are proven to develop the critical executive function skills that allow children to develop into contributing adults and citizens.  High quality programs develop children’s language and critical thinking skills—skills that are essential for high performance on rigorous high-stakes tests in formal schooling—the same tests that determine the success or failure status of a school.

Early childhood education can break the cycle of poverty.  We live in a communicative world where the power of one’s voice and words is critical.  Children and families in poverty have little voice.  Not only can early intervention help children, it can help entire families by empowering them as advocates.  Early intervention proves to be a game changer in the lives of children growing up in poverty.

Over time, we’ve seen there is little argument that high-quality early childhood programs are a value add.  Obama supports it and philanthropists champion it.  Still, we don’t see politicians putting their money where their mouth is.  We still don’t see early childhood education access increasing on the whole.  Why not invest in this proactive measure?  Why not invest in programs that are shown to reduce incarceration rates while increasing the rate at which adults secure jobs?

We can continue to invest in the reactive measures that we hope will increase test scores and strengthen our schools.  However, we’ll continue to climb an uphill battle until we truly think about where our kids * start * falling behind. We need to be proactive not reactive.  We need to invest where we can work with children and their families to ensure they are truly off to a strong start.  Early childhood programs for all kids and families are truly the biggest bang for our buck.

And the Oscar Goes to...Mrs. Olson!

I like watching movies. If I had a week to do absolutely nothing, I'd probably go to a movie at least six of the seven days of that week. For two consecutive years in high school, I averaged seeing more than ten movies per month in theaters. I was also very involved in student government, athletics, school plays and my church group (all while maintaining a 4.0 gpa), so I'm not sure how I managed to fit that many movies into my month.

I saw a trailer for The Great Gatsby and it sent me through a flood of memories from reading books and watching movies during high school. From there, I thought of Mrs. Olson, my choir and English teacher. I point to Mrs. Olson as a tireless teacher and personal hero who encouraged me to take risks and demand more of myself.

After spending a minute thinking about my youth, I compiled a list of some movies with incredible teachers or movies that highlighted kids in teachable moments or movies with an education focus or just good flicks. I now submit that list. (Click the titles to view the corresponding IMDb entry. Short descriptions also come from IMDb.)

Bully
A documentary on peer-to-peer bullying in schools across America.

Dangerous Minds
An ex-marine teacher struggles to connect with her students in an inner-city school.

Dead Poets Society
English teacher John Keating inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day.

Finding Forrester
An afro-american teen writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author.

Freedom Writers
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Good Will Hunting

Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

A shy, withdrawn English schoolteacher falls for a flashy showgirl.

Lean on Me
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school that he is determined to improve.

Mr. Holland's Opus
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.

October Sky

The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.

Precious
In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

School Ties
A Jewish boy goes to an elite prep school in the 1950's and hides his religion until a jealous bigot forces it out in the open.

Stand and Deliver

The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout prone students to learn calculus.

The Breakfast Club

Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.

The Miracle Worker

The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.

The Paper Chase

A first-year law student struggles with balancing his coursework and his relationship with the daughter of a stern professor.

To Sir, With Love

Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.

Waiting for Superman
Education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily. Follow a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth.

And a few silly flicks:

Clueless

Easy A

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

High School Musical

Kindergarten Cop

Mean Girls

School of Rock

...and check out the very cool marketing site for Monsters University (coming this June!) here: http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/

I've surely missed other great films featuring education. What movies would you add or remove from the list? And how many lawns did I mow to earn enough money to see so many movies!

A Tireless Teacher: Plan, Teach, Adjust, Repeat

The Department of Education caught some heat a week or so ago when the following Mao Zedong quote was posted on a DOE site for kids: "Our attitude towards ourselves should be 'to be satiable in learning' and towards others 'to be tireless in teaching.'" In the future, they'll probably spend a moment more when considering the sources of their blurbs, but the inspiration of this message isn't half bad.

Are students today striving for excellence the way we tend to think they did when we were young? Are we as educators "tireless in teaching" because we can't give up on a single student?

Last week, I was in the neighborhood of the school where a tireless elementary teacher-friend of mine teachers. It was about 3pm, so I decided the timing might be right for a quick dropby. She was just wrapping up class for the day when she looked up and shared her gentle smile. After the intercom permitted the last kids to leave, I greeted her and questioned how her day had gone. She breathed a sigh of relief that said more about her successes with students due to carefully crafted lessons than it did about the exhaustion she was surely feeling. This teacher, like many great instructors, worked longer hours without quite enough classroom support than she preferred. We're nearing the finishline of the school year so I'm sure that was wearing on her, but I didn't see that bubbling behind her eyes. Sure, an instructional coach to help when she had questions about a lesson plan would be great. Another adult to help her when she divides students into small guided reading groups? What a dream!

Instead, this tireless teacher makes due with what she has and spends her time thinking of how she can reach each of her students. I've seen her in action and she pulls from the same Web sites and apps and resources that other teachers do, but she puts such thought into her planning that the teaching (aided by her excited/contagious/soothing/kind nature) comes to her almost effortlessly. Her style compels her students to become "satiable in learning."

We spoke for a moment after she attended a short staff meeting. While walking back to her classroom, she shared a funny story about a kid finally understanding some simple addition concept. As I turned to leave, I told her to have a nice evening. She had already declined my offer to get her a drink somewhere nearby because she wanted to capture some thoughts she had when considering how she might improve one of the lessons she taught that day.

When I told her I was writing a blog post and that she was the inspiration, she asked that I not use her name, so "Tireless Teacher" she is. Finding time to create strong standards-based lessons before executing solid teaching are part of her tirelessness. Finishing up with a reflection and adjustment moment only helps her get better.

But the thing that sticks with me is how every time Tireless Teacher talks to me, she shares stories that prove her heart is focused on her students achieving more than they think they're capable of achieving. She also has a life outside of teaching, but she lives to help kids learn. Tireless Teacher won't rest until the current batch succeeds and the next batch is delivered to her...and she helps that batch succeed and receives a new class the year after...

Thus the tireless teacher cycle continues.

A Sense of Urgency

In a new blog post from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, Andy Smarick writes:

"A new report on state-level implementation of Common Core merits some attention—but less for its top-line findings and more for how it confirms what I’m now calling the “Common Core Implementation Gap.” That’s the miles of daylight between the platitudes about the new standards’ “dramatic,” “transformational” nature and the distressing reality of implementation."

It's a worthwhile read. You can find it in its entirety here: http://educationnext.org/the-common-core-implementation-gap/

He ends the piece with a call to states to get on the ball and figure out implementation. He says: 

"But the bell has rung. It's go time." 

As I read, I could feel my blood pressure rise and in my head I kept thinking "YES, YES!"  States do need to launch coordinated and thorough efforts so that successful implementation is not just a goal, but a reality. But something inside of me also repeated, "People need to know why successful implementation of Common Core is so important!" There is more at stake than states just failing at another reform effort and Common Core being chalked up to another loss in the policy churn game. The success of Common Core is much more urgent than that.  And so here it is; the stark reality of why Common Core implementation and its success are of the utmost importance: 

• "Up to fifty percent of all college students who enter a 2 or 4 year college or university take remedial courses in math of English.

• Only 22% of those students earn their degree in 8 years. 

• Students of color, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and students who are non-native English speakers are over-represented in these remedial courses."  (Ed First, 2010; Atwell, Lavin, Domina, 2006)

• Approximately 90% of the jobs in the fastest-growing occupations require some level of postsecondary education and training. Eighty million to 90 million adults today—about half of the workforce—do not have the skills required to get or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.”
 (US Chamber of Commerce, 2011) 

The achievement gap that persists in K-12 schools keeps persisting in college and career. So, yes, "It's go time." Kids are waiting and we as a nation can not continue to fail them.