CHARTER SCHOOL INSIGHTS

Failing is an option

2012-01-10T21:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we hear "failure is not an option." I suppose there are times when that is appropriate as guidance, but in reality all endeavors that we take on are subject to failure. The question is how do we deal with it.

While not specifically charter school related, "The Benefits of Failure" by Peter DeWitt on the EdWeek site outlines the reason that we ought to allow students to fail and to learn from their failures.

I know that I fail often enough that I need to learn the lesson that a failure is not the end of the world. I also think that DeWitt is right. We have become a society that is in denial about failure and tries to do everything we can to make sure our children don't fail. Sometimes taking away reality is not a good thing.

Advantages of alternative teacher licensing seen in California

2011-12-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

KPBS reports that an alternative licensing program in California brings in 50%-100% more ethnic minority teaching candidates than do traditional programs. This is just one more reason (and a significant one) to opening the doors to alternative licensing for teaching.

Of course the question is always whether or not alternative programs can ensure that teachers are quality teachers, but given the success rate of traditional programs, this is worth a try.

The evidence suggests that having minority teachers teaching minority students can provide an increase in student attitudes toward learning. This is an important avenue for improving both the percentages of minority teachers as well as the overall pool of qualified teacher candidates.

What 2012-13 budgets will bring?

2011-12-22T06:44:00.000-08:00

As we head into the new year, it appears that many states will be cutting education budgets again. In Colorado, the projection is about a 3% cut, which brings the total cut to about 18% over the past five years.

Since charter schools already have to spend about 15% or more on facilities rental or bond payments that aren't paid for by districts (at least not through district per pupil funding), This means that charter schools now only can spend about 65% of what they should have on programs for kids.

I'm not sure how they continue to educate kids. Some will argue that they don't, but there are certainly some that do a great job, even though others are mediocre. However, the fact is that charter schools now cost the state of Colorado far less than district schools in most cases.

I'd love to hear how your school makes it in this difficult times. What have you cut? How have you found extra revenue?

Strategic Planning #8: Implementing the Plan

2011-12-16T08:29:00.001-08:00

When you move from planner to implementer, you have to make the plan the guiding factor in all school operations. Decisions must be made in relation to the plan. This means that you have to communicate the plan to stakeholders. When in the middle of tough financial decisions, you have to go back to the plan and trust that everyone is being guided by the plan. The administrator has to ensure that people are familiar enough with th plan to minimize confusion about goals and strategies.

Educational practices must follow the plan, and teachers need to make sure they abide by the plan. It's only if you follow the plan that you'll know whether or not the plan is successful. Wouldn't you hate to get to the end of a couple of years and not know whether low math scores were the result of a bad plan or non-conformance with the planned math program?

Because of this, all priorities must be guided by the plan. If you have to choose between teacher candidates, you have to make the decision based on how those candidates will work within the plan. If you have to choose between desired curriculum supplements, you have to choose based on the plan.

You then have to measure based on the plan. I've written other blogs on creating a measurement system that I compared to a GPS. You have to measure according to where you thought you would be and if you aren't there, you need to know why. You need to know if the plan is working and is just behind. If you are ahead of plan, you want to know what made you so successful. Was it dumb luck? Does your teaching strategy work better than you thought it would? Did you hire better teachers than you thought you could? What is the reason, not just are you better or worse than planned.

You need to know the reasons because you need to be able to rethink and revise the plan. In order to do that, you have to know what to revise. You don't want to have to guess.

Implementation is the most difficult part of the process because you have to get beyond your great ideas and actually make them reality. Each step of the strategy has to be outlined and followed. Tracking the plan is not easy, but it's the most important part.

Diane Ravitch is wrong!

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I wrote a blog about an article in which Diane Ravitch is right. Just finishing reading twitter feeds, I found that all of the tweets that Ravitch writes are about negative events in the charter school world. She is anti-charter school. Unless you think that eliminating all charter schools would improve education for children, then she isn't pro-kid. She is clearly more anti-charter school than anything.

Here is why she is wrong. First, there are great charter schools and they are not the ones that are the same as traditional public schools. Second, there are charter schools that meet the needs of kids who are different and want a different type of education than many public school districts are able or willing to provide. Third, there are charter schools that are truly experimental and have been successfully educated children.

In addition, there are huge questions still about what content is important as method. There are things that kids need that are not measured by standardized testing and many charter schools deliver those things such as increased discipline, self respect and the value of perseverance. In many cases, even if a charter school isn't showing better test scores than local schools, the school provides other character attributes that may have a higher correspondence to long term success than the short term measures of increased test scores.

It's not clear at all to me that Ravitch or any other education expert (including charter school leaders) know exactly what students must learn in school to be successful. While she may be right about certain individual charter schools, Diane Ravitch is wrong about charter schools.

Diane Ravitch is right!

2011-12-09T06:25:00.001-08:00

You never thought I'd say that. Did you? Well, in a blog republished on the Washington Post's "The Answer Sheet," Ravitch cites three charter schools, highly touted by President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Florida Governor Jeb Bush, that may not be all that they claim.

I won't go through the names of the schools or her argument here. You can read it for yourself. Her point is that these schools boast statistics such as 100% acceptance into college while their students perform poorly on state tests.

She has a good point. For example, 100% acceptance into college is a great measure. It shows determination on the part of the students as well as confidence that they can go to college. Given the demographics of the schools Ravitch uses as examples, it's likely that a large number of these students are the first in their family to go to college. However, Ravitch points out that these students may not be ready for college and they are unlikely to succeed. So, why tout these schools when there are other high performing traditional public schools?

Charter school leaders can't brush off Ravitch on this one. Sure, these are only three examples. It may be that this isn't the fault of charter schools. It may be that these political leaders simply chose the wrong examples to use in their speeches. It may be that there are other schools in the same cities which would have been better examples. Denver boasts other schools besides the one mentioned by Ravitch that have had good success.

In addition, it does seem that sending 100% of students to college is a good thing, even if the students are not college ready according to tests. Why?

First, assuming that the schools have prepared the students mentally for college, the students may have the initiative to improve while in college. They may have to work harder and take remedial courses, but they may have the perseverance and determination to work through the difficulties. An interesting research project would be to see where these students are in four years compared to their peers.

Second, even if these students do not finish college, they will be exposed to college and have that as a goal. They may return later. They also may be able to pass on to their children what it takes to go to college. Students who do not go to college may not have these opportunties.

So, even though I believe that Ravitch's points may be overstated. She is still right. Politicians and charter school leaders must be careful in how they promote charter schools. Ravitch is also right that there are no "silver bullets." Many charter schools know the frustration of not making the progress that they'd like to. Some charter schools know the disappointment of being closed.

Ravitch is right that charter schools are not a silver bullet. However, that is a reason to make charter schools be honest about their results and to cause all of us to think about the real role of charter schools. It's not a reason to oppose all charter schools or to ignore those that are truly successful. There are many charter schools that are not corporate charter schools. There are corporate charter schools that are succeeding. All of us have to be honest and ensure that we are all seeking the good of students, not our own interests whether they be teacher unions, charter school management companies, or politicians.

Charter School Strategic Planning #7 - Mapping Objectives and Tactics

2011-12-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

It's relatively easy to set a bold mission for a school. It's another to accomplish that mission. According to much of the research, many charter schools are not accomplishing their mission.

The real key to a strategic plan is ensuring that you develop the means to accomplish the goals that you set. To do that you have to map out a list of tasks that your teachers and administration will do to accomplish your goals. If you have a goal to improve students' reading scores by a grade level on average, then you have to adopt a method to do that. You have to make sure that someone is responsible for that happening, and you have to monitor those tasks to make sure the tasks are being done as well as that the results are being achieved.

In the planning process, I use a map to visually outline who, how and when that will happen. Using the example of reading scores, I would define who is responsible for developing and implementing the strategy to improve reading scores. I would also ensure that strategy for improving reading scores is in writing and which other staff members will be involved. For example, I would want to know if regular classroom teachers will be implementing the strategies or if there will be pull out sessions with a reading specialist. I would want to know how often assessments would be done and what time frame is realistic to expect measurable results. All of that should be on some kind of a map that anyone can read. This isn't a report. It isn't long. It isn't something that can be used to obscure the facts. I often create a simple matrix with boxes that allow for no more than a sentence or two. That way a board can monitor progress without having a report at every board meeting. The principal may want more detail in monitoring the plan, but for the purposes of the strategic plan, the board does not need every detail.

The Who, How and When format should be defined for achieving every goal. It may be that a goal has multiple means of being achieved. For each of those strategies, you must define Who, How and When.

Accountability is important, not for punishing those who fail, but to monitor progress in order to determine if strategies are working. If they are not, then something has to change. Perhaps the person is the problem, then the person has to be changed. Perhaps the method isn't working. Perhaps the timeline is off. If things go well, you may achieve your goal ahead of time and will want to set new goals, focus on others, or develop a new method for maintaining your achievements.

The development of strategies and tactics for achieving goals is the most difficult and yet the most important part of a strategic plan because its the part of the plan that you monitor to ensure that you accomplish your mission.

OK. I have a question

2011-11-29T05:54:00.001-08:00

I think this is a legitimate question, but you tell me.

I read a tweet this morning stating that the evidence is against charter schools. I also read a tweet of an opinion piece about districts preventing the replication of successful charter schools in New York. The main evidence that was mentioned refers to state test scores, but most of those who write against charter schools also write against high stakes state testing. In other words, we stop successful charter schools. We judge those that are not successful on measures that we don't even like to begin with. It seems to me that while those who support charter school policy are being accused of supporting an ideology without evidence that those who oppose charter schools are just as guilty of supporting ideology.

So my question is how can charter school opponents use a measure that they do not even agree with to say that charter schools aren't successful? If education is something besides performance on standardized tests, then why don't we measure all schools on those other standards rather than measuring charter schools based on a faulty standard?

Academics and Athletics can mix

2011-11-17T18:31:00.001-08:00

As the father of a college soccer player on the eve of an important NCAA tournament match, I have to reflect on the real significance (or not) of Division II college sports. As important as this game is, and has hard as the women work on their soccer skills and conditioning, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers are all outstanding students. All are majoring in some sort of engineering and have been admitted to a very selective school.

From what I can tell, the women put in as many or more hours studying than they do on their significant time commitment to sports. There doesn't have to be a dichotomy between sports and academics. The fact that many of the athletes in the upper ranks of Division I sports get away with non-academic pursuits is tragic. The number of student athletes who will go on to make significant money playing professional sports is a fraction of the total of even the top athletes. Instead those "student" athletes may be out on the street with no degree or a degree that has little value after their four years of athletic eligibility.

So, as I cheer for my daughter and her team, I'm going to try to keep in all in perspective, realizing that as fun and exciting as college athletics is, that these women have much more going for them than just the excitement of athletics. They are proving that academics and athletics can mix.

An important question

2011-11-16T08:00:00.001-08:00

An interesting piece was published on The Answer Sheet by Matthew Di Carlo. I found it interesting because while not an endorsement of charter schools, it makes a very important statement about successful charter schools. Di Carlo's summary of the research on charter schools is that for the most part charter schools are very average or even bad. This is not really new information. I've discussed the implications here more than once.

Di Carlo concludes that the real insights to be gained from the research is that there are pockets where charter schools have been very successful over time. In other words, we need to study what those charter schools are doing that might be able to impact other schools (public or charter).

One of the real truths is that charter schools will not go away soon. Opponents of charter schools (and the real number is probably less than they would have us imagine) fight a lot against charter schools. It's right to fight bad ones. They should go away or be better managed (just like bad public schools). However, everyone should be happy when charter schools show good results with students and should try to emulate what they can about good charter schools. Unfortunately, it seems that research is still to be done or has not been well publicized.

It's also clear that for some districts admitting that they have emulated successful charter school characteristic would be like admitting defeat. It is as if districts who oppose charter schools would rather continue in mediocrity or adopt less effective new methods rather than admit that a neighboring charter school has found some answers.

It's important that as charter schools continue to exist and to increase that non-charter public schools also work to investigate what works in those good charter schools to assist in their own development. The theoretical discussion about whether charter schools should exist may continue, but the fact of charter schools existence is here.

Parents organize and will cooperate with unions

2011-11-15T18:42:00.001-08:00

Parents in LA have begun to organize. They say they want to work with unions to improve education. However, one of their goals is to eliminate lay-offs based on seniority. I'm not sure how they'll get the unions to cooperate with that one. If they can, that will be a major success for them and for their kids.

Strategic Planning: Lessons learned from leading seminars

2011-11-14T12:05:00.001-08:00

I've now led two sessions with charter school leaders on strategic planning. Here are a few things that I've learned.

1. writing a good mission statements is more difficult than some people think.

Teams writing the statements are too big and everyone wants to have their pet phrase in the statement, and no one wants to say, "no."
Teams want to included everything about their school that anyone would possibly want to know. Because of that, they include things that are not mission. They include goals. They included the ways that they will complete the mission. In other words, it's as if they are creating a summary of their strategic plan's executive summary.
The schools don't complete a strategic plan, so they try to make their mission statements a summary of their strategic plan.
On the other end, the mission statements doesn't include enough and ends up being more of a vision statements. It's idealistic to the point that it doesn't specify what the organization will accomplish.

2. Developing strategic goals can be difficult. People want to included goals that are not strategic. They end up with so many goals that some will never and can never be tracked. Some will never even be attempted. Leaders will say that they are still goals. It may be that certain ends are still dreams, but that doesn't make them goals. Goals are the ends that you actually can attain and can develop a plan to attain within the planning period.

Strategic planning takes work, discipline and objectivity. I hope that my sessions have been helpful to schools as they make their strategic plans.

Who pays the price for the charter school experiment?

2011-11-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

A frequently tweeted topic last week was the fact that in order to have successful charter schools some bad charter schools also have to allowed, at least for a while. The tweet from those who do not like that fact was "Who pays the price?" Of course, the answer they give is that the children do with the implication that it isn't acceptable.

However, who pays the price for the continuing existence for inadequate traditional public schools? The answer is, again, the kids. That isn't acceptable either.

In other words, in this dichotomy, you have choose which is the least of bad of the bad options. Here is why I choose charter schools.

First, an alternative to both of the bad options is to "simply" improve the public schools. The reason that's not an option for me is that public schools have had more than enough time and money to try to change and improve. Their actions have not worked. Our schools continue to graduate students from high school who cannot fulfill even some of the basic jobs that their parents could with the same education, sometimes from the same schools.

Second, any school can fail children. How much of a failure can it be? When we look at charter schools that are worse than their public school counterparts, how much worse are they? How much damage is done? How much of that damage is irreparable? Let's compare this to alternative medicines or even alternative diagnoses by different doctors. There are times where the treatment is not clear for a particular diagnosis. In those cases, the patient gets to choose a solution. In fact, there are cases that a doctor says that nothing is wrong, and the doctor is wrong. The patient may die of this misdiagnosis. It's highly unlikely that any student will die from going to a bad charter school. It's even less likely that a student will learn nothing. The price does not seem that high to me and is obviously not too high for the parents who choose those schools to try something different. In a life threatening situation, you can't blame a patient for choosing and alternative medical treatment, if that's all he or she has left. In a situation in which the public schools are very bad, you can't blame a parent for trying something different, especially if there is hope that it might work. After all, if a child is three or four grades behind in reading because of social promotion in a school district, will the child really be harmed if he or she ends up three and a half or four and a half years behind. This is the situation in some of the cases.

Third, while I haven't seen all of the data, I would guess that some of the schools performing worse than their district schools are in good districts in which the "poor" performance is still well above national averages and is still good. In other words, students are likely in situations that would not be difficult to remedy.

If I examine the worst case of each position, it seems to me that allowing charter schools is far better than the alternative of not having charter schools. The fact that there are many high performing charter schools and that charter schools are disproportionately represented among the best high schools in the U.S. should show that charter schools have something to show traditional public schools around the country.

I'm not looking to save American education. In some areas it's not terrible, but in other areas, it's as if it's already dead. It won't be revived. The only answer is to do something new and different. There is little incentive for schools to get better on their own. Charter schools may not be THE answer, but they have to be allowed to try to find the answers.

City forces unwilling residents to pay for public schools

2011-11-10T15:58:00.001-08:00

How about that for a headline. I was reading just a few minutes ago about charter schools begin forced on unwilling city residents. Of course the claim is thoughtless. Public schools are not universally accepted, which is why people go to private schools, home school and have voted to allow charter schools.

Private school and home school parents perhaps have the greatest claim of having public schools forced upon them. It's really only been recently that many areas have accepted home schooling. I recall about 15 years ago when my daughter was home schooled for a few years that people sort of looked at us funny, even in a community that was above the national average for home schooled students. These parents do not use the public schools system and would not vote for it if there was a vote (now wouldn't that be interesting) and yet they pay the same taxes as those who use the public schools or support public education.

In the same way, charter schools are legal and have been voted on my the general populace or their representatives. Charter schools have not been forced on anyone and certainly not anymore than public schools are forced on those who oppose them or don't want to send their kids to them.

The nature of a democracy is that some of my money is going to go to something that I do not support. It's called tolerance and compromise. It's called working within the democratic system. When that's lost, then we have either anarchy or else totalitarianism.

Charter School Strategic Planning #6: Setting Goals

2011-11-03T16:42:00.001-07:00

So what happens once you know your mission and vision and have done your SWOT analysis?

It's time to develop your goals. These should be succinct and measurable goals. A school will need goals for a number of areas. At minimum, you should think about:

Academic achievement goals
Community goals
Discipline goals
Attendance goals
Enrollment goals
Financial goals
Facilities goals

Other goals to consider are teacher hiring, teacher retention, class size, students participating in community services, students participating in extra-curricular activities and any other goals that derive naturally from you mission and your SWOT.

Your goals should be measurable and clear. You should also limit your goals to the achievable. They can be stretch goals, but they should not be unobtainable. I heard a board member recently that said, "We'll never really attain those." If that's the case, then they aren't good goals.

Also, the goals should derive from your SWOT analysis toward fulfilling your mission. For example, you may look at some weaknesses that need to become either strengths or at least neutral in order for you to complete your mission. Create a measurable goal for eliminating that weakness. Not every weakness needs to be eliminated. Even more, not every weakness needs to be eliminated over the same time frame. Goals should have a completion date attached.

Goals can also be overcoming threats and taking advantage of opportunities. A school that I work with has identified an opportunity of becoming the model in their sector of charter schools. The next step will be to define what their goal is and in what time frame exploiting that opportunity will be achieved.

It may seem odd at first, but goals can also relate to strengths. It may be that a school will want to increase and area of strength or take actions to ensure that the strength remains a strength. Strengths that are key to the school's successful completion of its mission should be maintained or even enhanced. This may be having an effective teaching staff. It may be the school's ability to make students feel welcome and inspired. Whatever it is, it's likely that at least one or two strengths will need bolstering, and the strategic plan will need to include goals to accomplish that.

Goals should not simply come out of thin air. A school may have some goals that are not strategic goals, but that's another subject, and those goals must never take priority over the strategic goals. Goals must be based on the answers to two questions.

What strategic goals are necessary now to accomplish the mission?
What does our SWOT tell us about the highest priority areas to be addressed in order to accomplish the mission?

The idea of priority is key. There are many ways to get at this. Some are more efficient than others. An objective facilitator can assist in an organized brainstorming session that can lead quickly to agreement on priorities. This can be done without grandstanding or one person dominating the conversation. A skilled facilitator will not let any participants dominant the discussion nor will he or she allow participants to refrain from giving opinions. There are ways to ensure that all good minds contribute and that the most agreed upon priorities rise to the top.

Once you have your goals, the next step is to figure out how to accomplish them.

Using your GPS to manage your school

2011-11-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

See my other posts about creating a GPS for your school.

Once you've followed my instructions for creating a GPS, then you need to follow it. Here are some things that I've found helpful while hiking.

Don't overuse the GPS. Enjoy the hike.

You don't need to look at the GPS all of the time. You don't need to have it on all the time. If things are OK. Power it down. Enjoy the scenery. Take a few photographs. Relax.

In the same way, boards should use their monitoring mechanism for the strategic plan on a regular basis, but not try to monitor progress all of the time. Some goals are longer term goals and do not need to be constantly monitored.

Use the GPS for essential course corrections

You don't have to change everything because of being off a little. If you're taking fifteen minutes too long on a five hour hike, you probably don't need to start running or walking faster unless you need to be some place immediately after the hike. On the other hand, if you have to finish by a certain time, then certainly hike faster, stop to take pictures less often.

In the same way, if the school has some minor deficiencies compared to the strategic plan, don't over react. AND agree with other board members or leaders on what the minor and major issues are. I've seen boards spend a lot of board meeting time on minor issues. The board chair needs to regulate this and be strong enough to NOT let that happen.

Use the GPS objectively

I can't imagine being on a hike and looking at my GPS that tells me I'm off course and then ignoring it. In the same way do not rationalize differences between the strategic plan and the direction the school is going. I've seen schools ignore warning signs because they don't want to believe they are real. If a major goal of the plan is off track, then either do more investigating or find ways to get it back on track. Resources are limited. Denial is not a good way to manage an organization. I'm not sure where he got it, but a friend of mine likes to say, "Hope is not a strategy." Don't just hope things will get better. Take actions that will make them better.

So, there you have it. The end of my GPS analogy. I hope that your school stays on course and gets home safely.

If you are in Texas, Arizona or Florida...

2011-10-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'll be at your state charter school conference. I'd love to know that you are reading the blog. Come by and see me at the Charter School Management Corporation booth.

Also, in Texas, I'll be speaking Tuesday afternoon about following a strategic plan. I've begun writing in the blog about my analogy of a GPS, which I'll continue and discuss in the presentation.

In Florida, I'll talk about how to write a strategic plan and why you should have one. That is Monday morning.

I hope to see a number of your there. Thanks for reading. Keep up the good work.

Innovation and charter schools: Is regulation making it an oxymoron?

2011-10-28T07:12:00.000-07:00

I was thinking this morning--always a dangerous thing. So, let me set the back drop to my crazy idea. Yesterday I saw a tweet asking the question about research based education versus innovation and aren't they mutually exclusive. I've always agreed with that idea, but hadn't thought about if for awhile. So, one criticism I've seen lately in a few different places is that charter schools are not innovative enough; therefore, they shouldn't exit. On top of that legislation in many states requires charter school applications to demonstrate that their academic program is research based.

Given all of that, have we now put charter schools in a bind? In other words, we've said that charter schools are supposed to innovate, but we are also requiring them to have research based academic programs, which (almost by definition) means that they won't be any more innovative than what is being done in the public schools around them.

I can think of a couple of examples of non-research based programs that worked extremely well. Recently, I used The King's Speech as example for a blog. The movie is all about an incredible relationship that formed between the King of England and a commoner because that commoner dared to used "recognized" methods to cure the King's speech impediment. The method included using profanity as a way to get beyond the fear of speaking. It worked so well that the King defended his speech therapist in front of the Archbishop.

One of our true innovators recently passed away. His company now dominates the portable media market. Steve Jobs created an entire company based on untested ideas. He introduced products that many thought were ridiculous. The average people didn't want to deal with technology did they? Of course, at the time the only way to use computers was to program them yourself. Jobs ability to see a future in which technology could be manipulated easily was not research based.

Sometimes to get beyond mediocrity, we need to listen to those who are slightly eccentric. It's scary. It's not safe. It does require risk of failure. But when the alternative is guaranteed mediocrity and boring and meaningless instruction, why not spend some federal and state money to really innovate? It would make it tougher on authorizers--that's for sure. It may also increase the number of charter school failures. On the other hand, it's unlikely that any student will be so harmed as to be rendered helpless in society. We all know how helpless some students are in the current system. Companies continue, even in a bad economy, to say that they can't get competent workers.

If we expect charter schools to really innovate and not be reflections of their traditional public school counterparts, then we need to reflect on what it means to innovate and not regulate the academic program of charter schools so that the entire idea of innovative schools becomes an oxymoron.

A new report or charter school effectiveness

2011-10-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a review of the literature on charter school results by Betts and Tang.

Does it matter where your teacher went to school?

2011-10-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

A new study says that one of the factors in teacher quality is where the teacher went to school. I guess not all education programs are created equally. I wonder if it has to do with the quality of the program or the quality of the students who enter the programs?

Miriam Freedman exposes more cheating on standardized tests!

2011-10-25T22:30:00.001-07:00

Recently, I compared Miriam Freedman's ideas about education to Milton Friedman's in a way that made Freedman's views look bad.

Today, I write to support Miriam Freedman in her criticism of our standardized testing systems and the fallacy that there is an objective system that gives us "valid" test results. The burden of testing is comical, and Freedman exposes many examples of both the drama and the comedy of testing in America.

Read the opinion piece and see for yourself.

How to use a GPS for your charter school

2011-10-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Last time has been too long and I wrote about your strategic plan and developing a GPS to follow it. Once you have that GPS, how do you use it?

Think about the way you usually use a GPS.

First, you have to have it with you. It doesn't make a lot of sense to go on a hike and leave the GPS on the counter top. In other words, if you don't look at the tools you've developed for following your strategic plan, then they aren't going to help you.

Second, you have to make sure you bring the batteries. I went hiking a few weeks ago, and forgot to check my GPS battery before the hike. Fortunately, I was able to nurse the battery in the unit till the end of the hike, but about 2/3 of the way through the hike, I got the low battery warning. Make sure that everyone is on board with using the documents because they are the right documents, not just because you said so. Make sure that the documents have "power" to direct your decisions.

Third, you have to use the GPS appropriately. Mark points on the trail. Use your board minutes to note times that you've looked at the documents and noted specific deviations to your strategic plan. Make sure you note whether or not you are on plan. Don't just look at the documents then ignore them. Make sure there is a written trail.

Those are just a couple of hints and you move down the path toward a successful school.

Do you have a sense of humor about school choice?

2011-10-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

I continue to read articles and blogs "refuting" the success of charter schools. It seems that it comes down to a few things. First, those who fight charter schools don't like the fact that some people choose to want a different public school. Second, they think they are opposed to risk. I don't know how many times that I've heard that the risk of allowing charter schools isn't worth it. They don't realize that there is a risk to staying with the current system. Third, they don't like the fact that charter schools may change the criteria for hiring teachers or change the roles of teachers entirely. Fourth, they think corporations are evil. Have you seen those blogs that simply want to get corporations out of schools? Do they not think that corporations might have some good ideas about education, especially as they are the ones that hire our mathematically illiterate kids?

If those arguments didn't make me angry, I'd think they were funny.

Creating a GPS for your strategic plan

2011-10-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

In an earlier blog I compared following a strategic plan to following a map on a hike. So, how do you create what amounts to a strategic plan GPS?

In looking at a good GPS, here are some things that I like.

User friendly

I can't use something that I don't understand. My GPS is so easy that I figured out almost all of the functions just by using the device. Keep your planning report card simple. If your plan and your reporting mechanism is complex or too detailed, then you likely will not use it. Most volunteer board members are busy. In addition, charter school administration is busy. No one has the time to prepare complex reports to track the strategic plan goals.

Allows drill down

I don't need all of the information on every screen. It's really nice to have a basic set of information with more detail available. On a GPS, it is right there in my hand. In a strategic plan review, that detail may or may not need to be available right on the spot. I've been in situations in which it is very nice to have that information handy. However, you don't always have to have it in real time. The key is that the detailed information is available if necessary and relevant. You don't need to drill down if there are no problems, although someone should be combing the detail and be able to project whether or not there are problems brewing.

In addition, with my GPS, it is a one stop shop. Board members need to have one stop. Board members shouldn't be calling around different members of the school staff. Their requests for additional information should be to the school leader. Board members often forget that they as individuals do not represent the board. Therefore, the board should have policies and procedures for how individual board members request information from school leadership. In a large school, board members can create a free for all, especially if there is divisiveness on the board when they begin searching around for information without the larger board approval or without school leadership understanding the reason for requests.

A charter school is a public entity so strategic planning and tracking should be done in a way that the general public can follow what is going on and not be done behind closed doors or in such a way that violates sunshine laws.

The next step is what to do with the GPS once you've created it.

How would we know if education needed more money?

2011-10-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Until recently it seemed to me as if spending on public education was a bottomless pit. The amount spent continued to grow and grow with no expectations that things would get better and no serious questioning of where money was spent.

Now that budgets are being cut, we hear more screaming than ever that we are sacrificing our future. The problem is "how would we know?" If you are sacrificing the future, then that's a pretty serious thing to think about. The question is what do we really have to cut? Where is all of the money going?

Laura Rogers asks just such a question and gives some evidence to suggest that education spending isn't as transparent as it needs to be to make a good evaluation of whether or not public education needs more money.

I've long compared the days of my public school years in a relatively affluent area in southern California to what I see being spent around me. The buildings are nicer, athletic fields and uniforms are nicer. Lots of technology going into the classrooms. At the same time, I don't see the quality of education, even in more affluent neighborhoods getting any better.

Perhaps it's a good time to cut to the bone, then rebuild what is really necessary?

Are you encouraging negative behaviors?

2011-10-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

Is is possible that by discussing negative behaviors in class, teachers might actually be encouraging those behaviors and making them more acceptable? Some research has shown that it's very possible.

In business management courses, I learned that you should always discuss negative behaviors directly with those who practice them rather than a whole department because people who do things right do not want to hear about other people's negative behavior. In addition, people feel as if you are accusing them, even if they know that they haven't exhibited any of those behaviors. There are all sorts of good reasons to discuss positive behaviors in a group so that others will know that positive behaviors are what is expected and what most people are actually doing.

So, it's a good lesson for classroom management as well. Focus on the positive with groups. Discuss negative behaviors with individuals.

If you pass the AP exam, I'll give you $100

2011-10-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

We all know that school isn't a game show, right? But what if instead of piling money into special teaching programs or remedial programs, we offered money as an incentive to perform at the highest levels?

One school is trying that and managed to boost its AP enrollment in statistics.

South High Community School, adopted a come one, come all policy for Advanced Placement courses. Today Mr. Nystrom teaches A.P. statistics to eight times as many students as he used to, and this year 70 percent of them scored high enough to qualify for college credit, compared with 50 percent before. One in four earned the top score possible, far outpacing their counterparts worldwide.

Wow, that's no little improvement. In fact, many of those additional students were from low income and ethnic minority groups. It's probable that the cash alone did not increase performance, but given how much money is spent per pupil on education, and given how low enrollment is in many AP courses, the $100 per student is a drop in the bucket compared to the costs of additional teachers and supplies for other courses. The benefits are huge.

More students take and pass advanced courses. Other courses have reduced class sizes, which either assists a teacher by having a smaller class size or eliminates sections of courses to free up teachers to do other things. Teachers benefit from additional pay. It seems like a win-win-win system for students, teachers, and schools. Of course, this evidence is anecdotal for now. We'll see how things turn out as over 300 schools are involved in the program.

I didn't stammer

2011-10-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

Did anyone see The King's Speech? It's the true story of King George VI, who at the beginning of WWII took the throne in a very difficult and unexpected way. So, here was a man who was deathly afraid of public speaking in a role in which he had to speak. Whenever he spoke, he stammered. With the help of a completely unlicensed speech therapist, he managed to make it through his speeches and deal with his fears.

I've been a bit reluctant at times to really say what I think here, but there is one issue that keeps coming up that I have to be extremely blunt on. It is the issue of people criticizing for profit companies in education. As I've said before, I'm not a supporter of any particular education company. I'm not in favor, necessarily of education management companies. My frustration and even sometimes anger about the opposition to for profit companies is that the arguments often are based simply because the company is for profit.

So, here I go, without stammering.

For profit companies are not inherently evil. In fact, many for profit companies perform great services for their clients. Profit is often the reward for great service. We all shop at for profit companies for just about everything. We wouldn't shop at them if we weren't getting something of value. For profit companies provide jobs for people, and if they are good companies, then they hire good people--people who know what they are doing. They may well have more expertise in their fields than many people at the school districts.

Moreover, it's not just the charter realm where for profit companies exist. Public schools use for profit companies for everything, including curriculum, classroom aids, supplies, and education training and consulting. In fact, given the quality of leadership in many non-profits and public schools, it could easily be argued that the lack of a profit motive may lead some to be inefficient and ineffective.

The idea that there is really such a thing as a non-profit or an individual that is not profit motivated is simply silly. Non-profit is a government designation that means that no one directly owns the organization and therefore does not directly get money from the bottom line. It does not mean that employees are not paid well or do not receive substantial bonuses. The same is true for public school leaders. Perks and bonuses are a regular part of their compensation. Often those perks and bonuses are based on nothing more than not getting fired. Even if they get fired, their severance packages are often very nice. The fact is that individuals are just as much for profit as for profit companies. Everyone has to make their personal bottom line positive at some point (I realize that's a harsh reality for many Americans). This is exactly why unions want more money for teachers and district employees also want more money. It's not for the good of the children.

There is no good argument that for profit companies, simply for the reason that they are for profit, should not be managing a school or receiving state or government funds. It's not even a prima facie reason for denying for profit companies participation in the education world. If a school district or a school is failing, then a for profit company has every right to be considered as a means for fixing the problem.

There. I hope I didn't stammer.

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Note: I work for a for profit company that provides accounting and business services to charter schools. We are NOT a management company in the traditional sense. We do not manage the school. We are an independent vendor that provides services to the school and its leadership.

Additional Note: There is nothing that I've written here that is intended to disregard the importance of respecting all people. I do not intend to offend anyone with a stammering problem. I am simply using the issue of stammering as portrayed in the movie as the result of the king's fears both from childhood and of public speaking as analogy to my occasional fear of saying what I really think here in this blog.

It's not hypocritcal to demand merit pay for teachers if you practice it yourself

2011-10-05T18:17:00.000-07:00

Walter Gardner at Education Week argues that "It's Hypocritical to Demand Merit Pay for Teachers."
His argument is based on the fact that many companies provide golden parachutes to CEOs and other execs. Of course, this is not unique to corporations, school districts do it with superintendents that are fired all the time. The larger point is that Gardner can't take what amounts to a practice that pertains to the smallest percentage of corporate workers and universalize it as if it's standard practice in corporations. In addition, he specifically points out Fran Tarkenton's article as the example of hypocrisy. He never addresses whether or not the Hall of Fame quarterback uses merit pay consistently in his company or not. If Tarkenton does use the practice of merit pay, then he is not a hypocrite.

The fact is that most corporations in the United State pay professional employees on some sort of merit pay system. The systems may not be perfect. No system that I know of is perfect. Humans aren't perfect (at least not last time I checked).

The larger question is what is the goal of a merit pay system and what is an appropriate form of merit pay to accomplish the desired goals. As I've written about many times, most merit pay systems, for both teachers and often in the corporate world, do not align with the real strategic goals of the organization. Therefore, they are neither motivating nor do they align with the real tasks that management would like to see accomplished.

The real question has little to do with hypocrisy and lots to do with how we keep teachers accountable to their profession.

I'm not Catholic, but...

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

An interesting study suggest that there is something to be learned from Catholic schools. The study done by Loyola Marymount University suggests that Catholic education, by taking care of the whole person, encourages even lower income and ethnic minority students to complete high school. Because the schools aren't subject to all of the testing requirements and numbers, they can focus on the whole of education. Stressing that Catholic schools do require academic discipline, the study suggests that the private schools develop both the student's academic capacity as well as the person's courage, persistence and confidence.

While some charter schools do focus on character, they also often succumb to the testing syndrome. This is a lesson for everyone involved in education.

Following the map: a lesson from hiking

2011-10-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

I often carry a GPS and a map when I'm hiking, even if the trail is easy and well marked. Why do I like these tools? For one thing, my kids like to ask "how far have we gone?" "When will we get there?" With my tools, I can usually give them a pretty accurate answer. In addition, the map helps me plan my route and allows me to improvise if I have more time than I thought or less time than I thought I would.

A strategic plan is a map. It's great to have with you on your journey. You don't just create the plan, then put it on the shelf. So what do you do with it? How do you use it?

If your strategic plan is done well, then you have set up measurable goals and outlined steps to meet those goals. The first thing you need to do in following it is to set up a schedule to ask "how far have we gone and when will we get there?" One easy way to do this is to set up a set of indicators that you can report on periodically. I'd suggest at least once every quarter. The key to this set of indicators is that it shouldn't be difficult to report on. Don't make the document something that requires a lot of extra work.

Another key is to not get too stressed about the details, and don't spend a lot of time discussing the indicators, unless there is a problem. If you are on plan, then enjoy the journey. If you have serious issues with the plan itself and want to make mid-plan course changes, then that should probably be a separate meeting.

If there are major hiccups in meeting the plan, then that probably warrants a separate meeting as well. In other words, if there are big issues, don't try to solve them in a regular staff meeting or board meeting unless you have the time to resolve them. If you need a facilitator, get one. Big issues warrant big discussions.

So, the first steps in carrying our your plan are to: 1. set a schedule for reviewing progress and 2. set up an easy to read, easy to produce report that identifies where you are on the map. Then you can take other actions from there.

A teacher weighs in on cheating scandals

2011-10-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

I've been called anti-teacher. There is nothing further from the truth as all of my kids' teachers know. The truth is that many teachers have good ideas and are good teachers. I do not envy the teacher who is subject to a performance review based on a single annual test. Here is a link to a great blog by a teacher in Philadelphia explaining one perspective on why the testing scandals happen. While I don't agree with everything that Timothy Boyle writes in the blog, I do agree that so much pressure on such a silly test that gives almost no useful information to teachers is absurd. We have to find a way out of this testing nightmare that has been created. The tests mean even less if adults cheat so that kids really do not know how they would score without cheating. The system has become ridiculous. Enjoy the read.

Look at the Colorado charter school results

2011-09-27T23:33:00.000-07:00

The Colorado League of Charter Schools just posted new data about charter school success in Colorado. You can find it here. While often charter high schools lag their peers, if you remove the alternative high schools from the mix, Colorado charter high schools out perform their traditional public counterparts.

Look at it this way...

2011-09-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

So, remember that CREDO report that came out and is quoted by both sides of the charter school argument. Here is one more in favor of charter schools. So, let's say that 37% of charter schools are terrible. Let's either close them or give them a year or two to improve (unless they've already been warned). That leaves 63% about the same or better than their local schools.

There are a couple of things demonstrated, at least it seems so to me. First, one of the criticisms of charter schools is that they do not always hire certified teachers and they most often do not have unions. So, it seems that this is evidence that union teachers and certified teachers are not a necessary component to a decent education.

Second, charter schools operate on smaller budgets and often in makeshift facilities, not in nice buildings or with all of the frills of traditional public schools. I realize that not all traditional public schools are nice or have frills, but many do, especially in newer areas or suburbs. It seems to me that charter schools give evidence that a decent education can be had for less money and without building new buildings or at least the best new buildings.

This many not mean that charter schools should exist. It does seem to demonstrate that more money and more licensed teachers is not the answer to education reform.

A must read on standarized tests

2011-09-27T12:57:00.001-07:00

Saw this today. Good historical notes and commentary on standardized testing in schools. The other important note is that schools are not natural institutions. They are social creations and are subject to change and need to change with changes in culture and information.

How about these union apples?

2011-09-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

Julia Steiny wrote a nice little piece on the change in A.J. Duffy from his role as union boss to charter school founder. The crux is that Duffy, who formerly fought tooth and nail for the traditional union values of seniority and making it tough to fire teachers, now opposes seniority and long processes for firing teachers.

She quotes an interesting Harris poll about Americans' opinions of unions. It's not surprising that a large number of Americans are becoming anti-union. Fewer people are members and unions interfere with many rational processes. The truly salient statistic is that "well over half – 60 percent – of the union households themselves feel similarly. Only 47 percent of union members believe they’re getting their money’s worth for the dues they pay."

Funny that 60% of the people who benefit from these organizations still think that they aren't really doing what they are supposed to be doing. In a nation in which a newly elected president takes 53% of the vote to be a "mandate" from the people, perhaps unions ought to listen to Americans, perhaps even their own members.

Go, Mr. Duffy. I don't know if you are a true convert or you are a chameleon, but get those charter schools going and promote and pay based on competence and assist those who aren't good teachers to find other forms of employment.

M. Freedman vs. M. Friedman on education

2011-09-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

Miriam Freedman takes an extremely socialistic position when she says that the answer to fixing public schools is "simple." She thinks that if we close private schools (and I assume charter schools) and don't give people a choice about their schools, then because rich and powerful people would have their kids in public schools, they would advocate for more money and more programs in public schools.

I hate to say that someone so intelligent is naive, so I won't say that, but it does make me wonder at her optimism. First, it seems that she must overestimate how many super wealthy people there are in the United States and how many of the next level of wealthy people send their kids to private schools. I assume from her bio that she is in a much higher income and wealth bracket than I am, so perhaps that is the society with which she surrounds herself.

It also seems a bit optimistic that the wealthy who currently flee the public schools for the safe haven of private schools would advocate for any other public schools other than there own. There are many high wealth districts that do very well today. The parents from those neighborhoods are not the ones that pile into school district board rooms demanding charter schools or other education reform.

I also wonder about her idea that teachers are scorned. I certainly don't scorn teachers, either in public schools or private schools. Most people that I know do not. We certainly want bad teachers to receive appropriate coaching, discipline and termination (if necessary). We don't want teaching to be a protected profession. We expect it to be like other professions in which competence as well as education is the determinant of a person's success and advancement. No, this isn't universal, people make mistakes or pick their favorites in any profession, but it's not the way it normally works or is supposed to work in a good organization.

No, I have to admit that I remain unconvinced by attempts at social conditioning. Milton Friedman was right. Most people will work for their own if they have the ability and knowledge. His idea of vouchers, as early as 1955, led the way to saying that individuals do have power, and we need to give it to them. While I support charter schools even more than vouchers, the idea behind charter schools is that parents need to be given the power to choose. They may make mistakes, just as we all do in all aspects of life, but the overriding principal is that you can't make someone learn, even in the perfect school. Even in great schools, kids drop out.

So, in the battle of Freedman vs. Friedman, I'll go with Friedman on this one.

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In fairness, Freedman does emphasize the importance of parental involvement, with which I agree. How to legislate that is another matter. You can lead a horse to water...

Also, in fairness, it's not clear if Freedman takes this position because she is a socialist or because she believes it's a pragmatic way to fix the public school system. In any case, it yields the same results.

Too good to pass up: Stossel on charter schools

2011-09-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a John Stossel article that I retweeted last night, but decided that it was big enough put out out there one more time. Hope you like it. He picks apart a department of education study that said that charter schools did not perform as well as their traditional public school counterparts.

An unlikely hero leads the charter school charge in Washington

2011-09-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Jared Polis isn't the person that you'd normally find leading a charter school bill in the nation's capitol, but the democrat from Boulder, Colorado spearheaded a bill that allows more charter school growth in exchange for accountability.

Polis wants charter schools to lead the way toward success in education. He also wants them to expand best practices in finance and operational accountability. This is the same direction that is being taken by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

The fact that people on both sides of the political aisle are recognizing that charter schools can play a big part in increasing both choice and quality in education is a good sign.

Charter Schools don't network enough

2011-09-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday at the Charter School Finance Seminar in Denver. It was a good group and the sessions were well planned. Because I'm working with some new charter schools, I attended many of the sessions that were attractive to start ups or newer schools.

One of the amazing things is that with about 180 charter schools in Colorado, many of these charter school organizers had not talked to even one existing school to get advice about start up issues. It's especially amazing to me because I attend some of the training programs offered by the Colorado Department of Education Schools of Choice Unit. In almost every training, the CDE staff tells those in the application process to talk with existing schools to flen information. What better way to start a school than to have talked with people who have gone through it.

The reasons for talking to new schools probably seem obvious, but list list a few.

The old horse's mouth - I know that many charter starters are optimists. I've seen it. I describe many of the issues that I've seen in various schools, and either get a deer in the headlights look that says that they do not believe me or I get the response, "we'll be different."
Templates, templates, templates - why create your own if someone already has one. The amount of time that some people spend creating forms, policies, procedures and other documents is astounding. Every charter school I go to has different forms, but they are almost exactly the same (in content, and sometimes in basic layout) to another school's. Folks, most charters don't consider their forms proprietary, you can just change the name.
Enhanced communication for future issues - if you are starting a charter schools, just be aware that every charter school that I'm aware of has had some start up challenges. the ones that have fewest usually are the ones that did their homework the best. They had a list of potential surprises and options.

So, please remember that as you start the application process and create your initial budgets, don't reinvent the wheel. Network with other schools. Learn from those who have gone before you. One last piece of advice is to make sure that you find successful schools. Don't just pick the school closest to you.

Good luck, may your school be great and easier to start because you networked with other successful schools.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2011-09-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

I've written some on Strategic Planning, and I'll be presenting on strat planning for charter schools in Florida in November as well as in Texas. However, instead of my usual how to session, I have a new session for Texas that is about following the strategic plan.

It's difficult enough to get charter schools to take the time to develop a strategic plan. Getting them to follow it is just as difficult.

How many strategic plans end up on a shelf in a binder?

By the way, this isn't unique to charter schools. I've seen this in other businesses. It's never made sense to me to spend the time and energy to create a well thought out strategic plan, then not follow it. If you rush and create a meaningless strategic plan, that's another matter. Then it probably makes sense not to follow it.

However, if your strategic plan really is an expression of your school's mission and a road map to the emerald city, then isn't it relatively important to follow it?

I think so and that's why I've developed this session for Texas. I'll unveil parts here over the next few months so stay tuned.

Dollars Schmollars

2011-08-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

As I read the article about larger class sizes for non-core classes in Florida, I was a bit amazed. I wasn't necessarily amazed that class sizes are increasing. That's happening all over the country. I was amazed that people either can't think of more creative solutions or simply complain.

We've known for a while that the status quo doesn't work for a lot of students. We also know that smaller class sizes are no guarantee of an excellent education. Still the push, especially by unions who have a vested interest in keeping jobs, is to simply tell legislatures to provide more money. It's as if none of these people have realized how bad the economy is.

As a finance guy, I tend to harp on this subject a bit, but there are only so many ways to get money to spend. The main way is to earn it. Governments can't earn it and they can't take money from people who don't have any. Warren Buffet is willing to give a bunch of his money away and does, but then gets criticized for the kinds of schools that he gives it to. Buffet also thinks that others in his income range (of which there are few) can afford to (and therefore, I suppose, are obligated to) be taxed more. The problem is that even a proposed tax on the rich wouldn't be enough to fix the problem. It brings to mind the poor boy with his finger in the dike trying to hold out the ocean.

Of course, who needs money, we'll just borrow more. Oops, we can't do that any longer either say the rating agencies.

I guess there is really only one answer left. Let's figure out ways to provide education for less money. We don't need traditional classrooms for many subjects. Carpe Diem in Yuma, Arizona has a model that saves money and uses fewer teachers per pupil. Many online programs have proven effective. It's sort of like the Six Million Dollar Man (I know. I'm dating myself.) We have the technology, we can rebuild the education system.

There are two reasons to do it. One is that it's the right thing to do. Two is that it's the most feasible thing to do in this economy. The economy is simply a great excuse to do what we ought to be doing anyway. Yes, I believe that dollars do make a difference--saving them, that is.

When public education can't be funded the way it has been

2011-08-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

In business, when profits aren't what they used to be (as in the economic downturn that began in late 2008), there are cut backs, changes in marketing techniques and messages, new products are either cancelled or rushed to market, prices fall. In education, many of those same strategies are criticized. In fact in one recent New York Times opinion piece entitled "When Schools Depend on Handouts" the authors argue that the government's not providing all of the funding that is needed by a school is essentially criminal. Of course, they don't mention the economy, the downgrade in U.S. debt, or the fears of another recession. They also do not discuss ways that schools can save money by reforming their current model to be more cost effective.

For example, schools have found ways to reduce the number of teachers and administrators needed through online programs and hybrid programs. The programs reduce the number of teachers needed per student and reduce the number of square feet required per student. Many of these schools have achieved excellent results, and the really high performing ones often require both AP as well as dual credit with colleges.

It doesn't take a lot of thought or effort to make this change, but it does mean even more layoffs than have already occurred. In other words, I believe that there is even more money to be saved while at the same time providing an excellent education.

One of education's problems is that it is stuck in a mode that makes little sense for our society, especially for certain students. Why talk about student data management, if it's only going to be used once in a while? There are means of tracking student learning every day if desired. Teachers can modify instruction real time while actually serving more kids.

It's also clear to me that featherbedding is a continuing practice of government entities. School Districts and Departments of Education are not innocent of this practice. It's easy to say that a person or function is necessary, but is it, especially with the kind of economic downturn that we've seen over the past three years?

The suggestion that schools should be funded at traditional levels, no matter what, assumes that the present method of education is the only and best method of education and that current education dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively. It also ignores that economic realities that surround us.

Instead, let's let educational leaders who are not afraid of the budget cuts take control. Perhaps we should fire all educational leaders who have not performed well in the past and reopen their jobs and only hire those who have a positive attitude about what can be done with the lower funding as well as real plans for how to accomplish those goals. We don't need to blindly throw money into a pit, when we can strategically allocate money to an efficient and effective education model.

Argument for practical math

2011-08-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

OK. I'm a math geek. I always have been. Loved it. Excelled in it. Once hit an 800 on a major standardized test. But, because of the importance of math in every day life, I always wondered all through school why so much home work was just problems. I remember in college when I took an applied calculus class, it made calculus come alive. I wasn't just studying how a function gives me a certain curve and what that meant in terms of acceleration and velocity, but I had some understanding about how it represented the marginal costs or revenue for my company.

Not all students will take calculus, but most of what people need is algebra and geometry. If more geometry problems deal with construction or home decoration, those concepts of shapes sizes and the calculations associated with them would be much more useful. Students would put algebra in a new perspective also. A student how might be studying basic business could develop a budget and a profit model. A student who wanted to be a carpenter or contractor could put mathematical concepts to work on projects. Art students could work out proper proportions.

These ideas appeared in an opinion piece in The New York Times by Sol Garfunkel and David Mumford. However, this can't be the first time that someone has thought of such a basic modification to our educational system. Of course, the change would be detrimental to text book publishers everywhere and to math teachers who may never have applied their math to any real situation. It might also require modifications to state standards as well as state assessments. In other words, what should be a simple change could end up being a very expensive and time consuming change. Nothing in educational change it easy.

Charter schools and extended learning time

2011-08-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

In a recent Education Week article Eric Schwartz and Fred Frelow describe the benefits of extended learning time. Extended Learning Time is the idea that additional time on task will assist many students to master material that they might otherwise not learn.

In yesterday's blog, I wrote about the concept of proficiency based promotion. While ELT does not completely violate proficiency based promotion, many schools that practice ELT are not flexible enough to practice proficiency based promotion in the way that I would like to see it. In other words, in many ELT environments, all students have extended days. It is, of course, possible to have extended days in which proficient or advanced students have additional enrichment opportunities, but that's not always the way it works. Largely because of seat time restrictions, a school cannot simply dismiss students once they have mastered the day's or even the semester's material.

While I applaud Mr. Schwartz and his achievements at Citizen Schools, I have to differ with him on two points. The first is simply what I've begun to describe above. There are students who do not benefit from an extended day. In fact, depending on the environment, an extended day may even be counterproductive. The second is the idea of closing the achievement gap. It's not that I do not think that all kids should have a good education--far from it. I believe very much that all kids should have opportunities to master a subject before being promoted to the next grade level. I also believe that closing the gap, especially between racial lines is a high priority. There is no scientific reason for the disparity in education between the races. My fear is that too often when I've heard people talk about closing this gap, it means something close to ignoring the needs of superior students and making education better for them. I believe that everyone should have the best education. In other words, in a really good education system, everyone would achieve their best or the best that they could given their genetic make up and their desire to succeed.

So, if ELT helps students, then I say, "Yes." If it does not, then I say, "No." Of course, this is the value of charter schools, they can innovate with ELT or not. Parents can choose what works best for their students. Some traditional public schools and school districts offer similar benefits. I only hope that ELT, as many other good things, does not become legislated as the answer for every student.

Why don't charter schools fight against seat time requirements?

2011-08-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

In an excellent article at The Journal, David Nagel discusses the value of getting rid of a seat time requirement and stressing proficiency as a means of promotion. While many online schools are doing just this, the need to promote this practice in brick and mortar schools is now. I don't understand why more charter schools have not fought for this means of education. So many charter schools simply go along with the flow when I know that several leaders here in Colorado favor at least some modifications to seat time requirements.

This would be especially valuable in dual enrollment situations so that a student might get into college level courses even earlier. It could even benefit vocational students. What if a student who enjoys working on cars can show mastery of auto work within weeks? Why should he or she spend an entire semester in auto shop?

It's the same with literature. Some students read voraciously over the summer. Why not give elective credit or give the student an assigned reading list? Summer school could be incredibly easy for these students.

We used to be the oddball parents who would allow our gifted child to do math over the summer when she was 7 years old. She completed an entire year of 3rd grade math over the summer. What happened when she returned to school for 3rd grade? You guessed it. She got to repeat 3rd grade math.

This would not only help gifted children, but would also help those who needed more time. Students would not simply be passed on, but would attain a certain level of proficiency before being moved on. It's also possible that a student that is good in reading could spend additional time in math so as not to extend the school year or day.

We consider it a punishment that some kids have to go to summer school to complete subjects, but isn't that better than leaving non-proficient student to forget even more over the summer? Part of the problem is the stigma of summer school. When I was younger, there were summer options to get ahead. Now, summer school is for dummies.

While I'm not one that believes that all are created equally when it comes to intellectual capacity, it has become clear to me that many students that have been left to drop out or labeled unteachable are actually capable of learning. The idea that all students should be in school the same number of hours for the same number of days studying each subject for the same amount of time is outdated (if it was really ever believed).

Charter schools as the self-appointed vanguards of innovation need to begin to produce real plans for every child to learn. This should include some modification of the seat time illusion. Charter schools will have to fight in the legislatures to get serious modifications, but the time has come for real innovation. Our children's education depends on it.

Blast off with Rocketship?

2011-08-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

An interesting article over at Edutopia about Rocketship Learning highlights the achievement of Rocketship's online program. It's definitely worth a read.

To get better at math exercises, try exercise

2011-08-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

As an exercise enthusiast, I loved reading this piece of news. I also loved it because one of my boys was often kept in from recess for not doing his best on his seat work. Not a big fan of seat work, I always thought it was a bit silly to keep an elementary school boy indoors while others were running around, thinking that somehow he would do a better job.

The article demonstrates that physical exercise stimulates thinking and can lead to better learning. For those of us who love exercise, that's not a big surprise, but still it's nice to have something besides anecdotal evidence on our side.

Charter school expansion

2011-08-13T07:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing in this post but a link to a good story about charter school expansion. Mary Ann Zehr wrote an excellent piece for Education Week outlining the challenges that some of the better CMO's are facing as they try to expand their excellent educational practices. See it here.

Providence teachers give back to retain their colleagues

2011-08-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, Providence, Rhode Island public school teachers voted to give back a number of benefits in order to guarantee their jobs and those of teachers who would have been laid off. This is an interesting action of collectivism that can be seen two ways. In a sense it is a great act of cooperation with the district and support for those who would have lost jobs. In another sense, it may merely keep people on the job who are not needed. As with many situations, this may be a combination of both of these. Still, it's one of the first major admissions by a union that the economic downturn is real and that teachers have to sacrifice as well as everyone else. I applaud the teachers' union for this effort, even though I'm sure that some of those teacher should have lost their jobs for other reasons. I'm sure that the district and the union would not have allowed lay offs based on performance, so as we continue to wonder what will happen to the future of our economy, it's good to know that someone is dealing with reality.

A charter school to watch

2011-08-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

Global Village Academy began relatively quietly in Aurora with a Spanish and Mandarin immersion program for K-5. The school expanded grades and now is growing a new campus. This charter school is opening a campus in Northglen and adding Russian to its language options.

John Kaufman, a long time charter leader in Colorado, will be the new principal.

I have to admit that I'm also biased. John and Christina Burton, the director of GVA, are some of my favorite charter people in the state. They have such a passion for student achievement that centers on the whole student, which is why this immersion component is so special. It's not just about learning a language, but about learning about other cultures and why they are important.

GVA has sent students to China and has hosted Chinese teachers. They practice what they preach. I wouldn't be surprised if GVA becomes the new model for immersion programs across the country.

My hat is off to you, John, as you take on this new role.

North Carolina Teacher Salary Presentation

2011-08-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

If you didn't come to my session in North Carolina, you can still read this entry. I'm providing this for those who attended the session because I wasn't able to do in an hour what I had hoped, and you all asked such great questions, that I didn't get to answer questions at the end.

So, here are a couple of paragraphs answering questions that I received by email.

1.) You talked a lot about your system. How does that apply to the rest of us?

That's a great question. In the session I tried to emphasize a couple of things. One was to be strategic in your system. Make sure that the system reflects strategic values of the school. The second way this can apply to anyone is to make sure that you are measuring the things about teachers that you must keep. In other words, there may be teachers that you would like to keep or might be good to have around, but they aren't key to achieving your mission and vision. In those cases, you may have to let them go. The third main point is to make sure the system is logical and fair. This will make both communicating salaries and calculating salaries straightforward.

As far as specific application, your school will have to do that work. I recommend that you use an experienced facilitator on the front end to develop the goals of the system as well as the rubrics for measuring teachers. Typical brainstorming session could take hours unless their is already a pretty fair amount of agreement on how the system should work and what it should reward.

2.) What are some of the pitfalls that you ran into in implementing the system?

Another great question that I didn't really address in the session. The biggest pitfall from a financial perspective is that we found that a few teachers were well underpaid. So, once you make the new scales public and give teachers their placement on the scale, they can pretty accurately determine where they should be. So, even if you only publish a range, if a teacher is well below that range, then he or she knows that a big raise is coming. Those few cases can be expensive. That can be a budget issue.

A pitfall that we did not have to deal with is the issue of what do you do with teachers who are on a traditional scale based on years and education, but those are no longer the key factors in pay? This is difficult. You either have to up the entire pay scale or let some people know that they are overpaid. We did have some teachers who turned out to be paid well above our new pay scale. In those cases, we had to let them know that they would not be receiving a raise for many years. This is obviously not emotionally palatable. Some teachers chose to leave, BUT they could not say that our decisions were not rational. In other words, the discussion was easier (NOT EASY) because the system was rational and based on factors that teachers helped choose.

I hope that helps. If there are further questions, you can always ask me for more information.

Thanks to all who attended.

Peter Groff lights a fire in North Carolina

2011-08-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was in Raleigh, North Carolina for the North Carolina Alliance for Public Charter Schools conference. Coincidentally, fellow Coloradoan Peter Groff was there. The President for the National Alliance of Charter Schools addressed the crowd with the message of "no excuses."

Stating that charter school should work with traditional public schools to share best practices, he also compared the charter school movement to the 60s civil rights movement and said that it may be time to go to the courthouse to win our battles.

Stressing quality over quantity in charter schools, Groff said that charter school leaders have to remember that education is "always about our kids and their future."

Looking toward the future of charter schools Groff cited estimates that charter schools could require as many as 85,000 teachers over the next ten years. In light of the potential growth of charter schools, Groff said, "if we are to expand our sector, we all need to work together." Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., Groff stated that for the charter school movement, "tomorrow is today."

With 420,000 students estimated to be on charter school waiting lists, Groff asked the question of leaders, "Will we be steadfast and will we be diligent? Let us work with the fierce urgency that the situation demands."

After the standing ovation given to Groff, I had to get to my presentation so I wasn't able to speak with Mr. Groff afterwards. Still it was nice to see Peter in a smaller setting than the national conference. Go for it, Peter Groff!

Managing the costs of Strategic Teacher Compensation

2011-07-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

It may sound a little simple, but because we propose a strategic pay system, managing the costs is easier than managing the costs of traditional pay for performance systems. First, you have to develop a criteria for the system and the rubrics for evaluation. After that, analyze the current staff at the school. See where they fit into a matrix relative to one another. Then fit a relative salary to each person on the matrix. This gives a baseline for total salaries. You may have to adjust this to the current budget. The next step is a little tricky, but you need to then project where you think people will be a year from now, then two years from now. See how that fits with your current budget as well as if you would need to add or subtract from that budget. See if you can strategically afford the system that you've designed. Carefully projecting is not perfect, but it will allow a pretty fair estimate of the ongoing personnel costs of your system. Compare these costs to your current three or five year salary projections. This determines whether or not you can afford the system as you've designed it.

One temptation is to rate everyone as high performing, especially if you have a group of above-average teachers. Remember that some teachers will alwyas have characteristics that make them strateically necessary to the schoo and to student success than others. Make sure that these factors are included in your rankging system. Only rank teachers highly who have those stratigically valuable characteristics. In addition, remember that the rakings are relative and you hav eto make necessary and disticntions. Make sure these distinctions are clear when developing rubrincs so that this is transparent to teachers.

The next element is to be careful about allowing movement. Because this system allows for negative changes in a teacher's ranking, it is extremely difficult to do this unless you have cler criteria. Even if your criteria is clearly outlined, it's always diffciult to have the conversation with a teacher, especially if it is a good teacher. A good idea is to develop criteria that are not purely associated with one year's performance. Make sure the rubrics allow for gradual movement of teachers in line with trends in the strategic value of the teacher.

The final element is to monitor teacher distribution. Each year leaders must make sure that they are developing appropriate distinctions between teachers. These distinctions should result in something close to a normal bell curve. If a school leader sees that a normal distribution is not being maintained, then the leader must ask why. Has the movement been intentional? Are the criteria not clear? Has the leader allowed "grade inflation" into the evaluations? If evaluations are OK, then does the school really require that 80% of teachers are essential to the strategic plan. Even if you have 100% great teachers, it's unlikely that 100% demonstrate all of the strategically necessary characteristics and values of the school. The system must be set up so that the strategic plan directs the results of the compensation analysis.

Strategic Teacher Compensation: What role does evaluation play?

2011-07-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Teacher evaluation is a fiction in the traditional teacher compensation system. Report after report shows that majority of teachers score proficient or excellent. Only extremely small percentages are rated unsatisfactory. Aside from the logical and intellectual errors evident in the system that treats teachers as children from Lake Wobegon, traditional evaluation is categorically unnecessary to determining rates of compensation. Since the system uses the accurately measurable factors of years of experience and amount of education, there is no need to rate a teacher's effectiveness or the contribution to the overall school strategic vision.

Strategic Teacher Compensation depends heavily on both program evaluation and individual professional evaluation. Because teacher value is aligned directly with explicit strateigic priorities, its evaluations of teacher contributions must be based around fulfillment of the startegy. Consequently, while standardized tests and other traditional academic instruments may be helpful, they are far from sufficient. Universal, summative assessments are not designed to measure a teacher's faithful implementation of a strategic plan. In fact, it is entirely conceivable that a teacher might reject and undermine a strategic plan in order to "teach to the test."

Test scores are an easily available objective measure. They have been the basis for many merit pay systems. However, there are many problems with the use of test scores in determining pay. Some subjects do not have traditional test data. A cohort of students can have a bad year. some schools have greater student mobility than others.

Given the low utility of any single standardized test, Strategic Teacher Compensation relies on a system of self, peer, student, and supervisor observation and evaluation. However, instead of looking for specific score levels or school-wide performance improvements, the evaluation process for Strategic Teacher Compensation is designed to answer a single question: "How well is this teacher representing and executing the strategic priorities of the school?"

The overemphasis on single test scores is wrong. There are situations where measuring and improving test scores may be a strategic priority for a school. In fact, in a very low performing school, it may be appropriate to have test scores as one measure of teacher success. Even in those cases, we recommend that a teacher be evaluated on that a teacher be evaluated on test scores over tme--based on student growth, not necessarily on absolute test scores.

What are the five biggest events in the charter school world over the past few months?

2011-07-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, a lot has been happening. I can't even think of the most important events. Here is the beginning of my list. Can you help me fill it out?

1. Georgia striking down its state charter school authorizer law.
2. Tennessee lifting its cap on charter schools.
3. North Carolina lifting its cap on charter schools.
4. Maine passing a charter school law.

I thought I might be able to get to ten if I really tried, but after those four it's tough to prioritize.

Feel free to comment. Thanks.

How should a charter school think about a financial audit?

2011-07-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I posted yesterday about preparing for an audit and realized that sometimes preparing for an audit is not just the physical documentation portion. There is a huge component that is mental and emotional.

Some people tense up when talking to an auditor or even when the auditor walks into the building. I've been dealing with auditors since 1982 in various types of businesses, aerospace, software, publishing, and schools. I've found the most auditors are very nice and very helpful. They simply want the information they need to confirm the amounts on your financial statements. While they do have a requirement to do some basic fraud testing, they do not come in assuming that someone is committing fraud. (If you are committing fraud, then you probably should worry.) In other words, auditors, like everyone else, are people who are doing their jobs. They actually want their jobs to be as easy as possible. So, the easier you make it for them, the more they like it.

This doesn't mean that you have to be the auditor's best friend or that you have to talk about the show you watched last night on TV or about the football game. However, it doesn't hurt to be friendly. Imagine if you had a job in which 80% of the time you were at someone else's work location and the only people you got to talk to were other auditors.

So, if you get nervous or are afraid of an audit, remember:

Auditors are people too.
Auditors are just doing their job.
An audit is meant to confirm that your books are right, and to find errors for the purpose of correctness, not to be punitive.
The better prepared you are, the better the auditor can do his or her job.
Even if you aren't well prepared, an auditor can often give you great advice on how to better prepare for the following year and how to keep your books or manage supporting documents for the future.

I've found many auditors to be some of the most helpful people around. In many ways, they can be treated as consultants if you work together. I try to contact auditors that I work with during the school year with questions once in a while with difficult situations, even when I'm almost positive I know the right answer. Doing this keeps the auditor apprised of what is going on at the school. It also keeps your school in the auditor's mind as a school that is trying to do a good job.

There is no substitute for good accounting practices, but having a good attitude about the audit and a good relationship with your auditor is also a big part of making the audit go smoothly. Thinking positively and understanding that the auditor is not the boogieman (or boogiewoman) goes a long way.

Charter Schools and Financial Audits: How to prepare

2011-07-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

I get asked a lot about audits--what they are, why we have to have them, what should I be afraid of, how to do we prepare for one. Many of the questions come from a misunderstanding of what an audit is. Some come from fears based on horror stories from friends or articles in the newspapers.

So, what is an audit and how do you prepare?

You began preparing for this year's audit over twelve months ago. You may not have known it, but you did. Ninety percent of audit preparation is what you do right during the fiscal year.

So, here are some tips.

Make sure you have good accounting policies and procedures in place, AND follow them all year. If your bank statements are reconciled monthly, you are about thirty percent ready for audit. If transactions are properly authorized and documented all year long, you are halfway there. If your accounting structure is set up according to your state accounting requirements you are about seventy five percent there. If you reconcile your receivables and payables at least quarterly, you are about ninety five percent there.
Get on your auditor's calendar early. Good auditors are busy. Make sure they know that you are going to be ready to be audited.
Choose an auditor that is familiar with charter schools and school law. This seems obvious, but don't choose a friend or a friend of a friend. The audit will be smooth and you will get good advice from an auditor who is familiar with charter schools.
Get the list of items required by your auditors as soon as they can give it to you. Begin preparing the items now. If at all possible give the items to your auditor electronically a week to two weeks prior to the field work. Try not to give the items to the auditor piecemeal.
Ensure that confirmation letters are signed and given to your auditors in advance. There is nothing like having an audit report held up because of late arriving confirmation letters.
Begin work on any required schedules as soon as you can. We all have shorter memories than we'd like to think. Also, you might run into unforeseen reconciling items that take more research than you'd planned.

I hope that's helpful. I'd love to hear stories from you auditors if you have them or schools if you have ideas as well. dheringcma at msn.com.

New web site wants to link schools to local resources

2011-07-11T05:19:00.000-07:00

Local School Local Needs is an idea for a web site that is like a "Craiglist for schools," says company director Anthony Sung. The organization is looking for seed funding to get their idea off the ground.

The concept is that there are people out there who want to volunteer or who may have excess supplies or materials that schools can use, but do not always know how to find out where the needs are. They also don't have the time to call every school or non-profit in their area. The web site would allow schools to post needs, and others to post availability.

The way this could especially help charter schools is that, in general, charter schools rely more on volunteers than traditional public schools. In addition, charter schools are usually on tighter budgets as well. Donations from local businesses could be easier to find through using such a web site.

It's an interesting concept, and if it works, could save schools both time and money.

States choose only way they can to send a message to the feds

2011-07-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

Many have been looking forward to an overhaul or elimination of NCLB. Some states are choosing actions that essentially make NCLB void or else force the federal government to act punitively. They are choosing to ignore portions of the act that they don't like.

Doing what probably needed to be done years ago, some states have given public notice that they will not honor some of the act's provisions.

Unfortunately, many are not going as far as I'd like them to, but that's the way things go. States need to get to the point where results matter and making people happy is less important.

It's time for all states and the feds to get together and overhaul NCLB or get rid of it and provide educational options for kids that give them opportunities to lead successful lives.

I guess I'm confused

2011-07-07T08:55:00.001-07:00

While I applaud the efforts of those studying summer programs, I have to admit that I'm confused as to why all of this money is being spent. Don't we have enough information about the value of summer programs and the amount of learning that is lost over the summer to make some changes to education?

I've written about my advocacy of a twelve month school year. I don't know that we need to spend more money to have a summer program. It seems that the real answer is probably the same number of school days, but with periodic breaks during the year and a shorter summer break.

So far, no one that I've talked to in the charter world or district world has been able to tell me what would be wrong with a twelve month school year. Would teachers complain? They would still get the same time off. Would parents complain? Students would complain, but let's face it, students don't do much in the summer anyway, especially if their parents work.

If we know that kids take a big step backward during the summer, then why have it?

Believe me, I'm all in favor of summer academic programs, but why don't we just call it school, and not a special program?

LIFO: it's not just for accountants

2011-07-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

Learning Matters has an interesting look at the idea of LIFO, normally an accounting term, applied to teacher termination. I've written about the illogical practice of terminating teachers based purely on seniority.

Learning Matters examines the practice. Check it out.

Americans have overwhelmingly said that they do not agree with the practice.

It also often leads to laying off the brightest teaching prospects.

Does independence apply to education?

2011-07-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

It's a few days before July 4th, Independence Day. I've been thinking about what independence means. Of course, the main purpose of this holiday is to celebrate the colonies' independence from England. The events that we celebrate meant that this set of colonies, settled largely by English citizens would now be independent (assuming they could survive on their own). It was a bold move. It required risk, thinking beyond the status quo, and courage.

All of these qualities describe the leaders and founders of good charter schools. But still many doubt. Many don't want charter schools even when they are successful. They don't want other people to be independent. They don't want independent thinking. They don't want changes to the status quo.

It is strange to me that in a nation (a federation of states) that was built on independent thinking and risk taking, some have decided that others must only follow the lead when it comes to education. Max Weber talked long ago about the dangers of bureaucracy and the natural tendency toward bureaucracy. It seems that independence is being sacrificed on the alter of the bureaucrat. Our education system can only be vibrant when there is reason to change. Otherwise, the status quo may lead to revolution.

Denver approves, New Jersey may take away

2011-07-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

In an interesting contrast, Denver Public Schools approved six new charter schools and is considering a single registration form that would allow parents to enter their children in the regular DPS schools, magnet schools or charter schools while a New Jersey bill, apparently aimed at eliminating new charter schools, would put charter school applications up to a vote.

It's clear that many around the country are still torn about charter schools. Where will we go next?

Maine to allow charter schools

2011-06-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Some in Maine are worried. The budget has been cut and now they will have to fund charter schools. The funny thing is that they will still be funding the same number of students. So, what will a few charters schools do?

Roger Brainerd, who is quoted in the linked article, has been working for a charter school law in Maine for 18 years. He has been doing so with little or no funding. He is passionate about what he is doing.

While I am a believer that education requires money, good education is clearly not ALL about the money. I'm convinced that the change in Maine will be good for both kids and schools.

Why teacher pensions are a bad idea

2011-06-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so this is really about pensions, in general, but since this is a blog about charter schools and education reform, I thought I'd title it teacher pensions because that seems to be the way to get attention around the subject of pensions.

So, now that many companies have given up pensions amidst the screams of unions and some others, let me simply say that pensions, at least significant pensions, are a bad idea.

I said this to a friend who is working on her master's degree in Russia, a country with a significant pension system, when she was working on a paper on pensions and the Russian pension system. She wondered why they were a bad idea.

I'm a pretty simple person (as many of my critics have noticed, although not with quite the same meaning that I intend). I'm also a mathematician. OK, I don't have a degree in math, but in every standardized test during which I have not fallen asleep (the SAT being a notable exception), I have scored well above the national average. On one admissions test I scored an 800 on the quantitative section. OK, I'm bragging a bit. My point is that I understand math and logic.

So, here goes. Any thinking person understands a few basics, such as future promises are always more or less probable, and not certain. If this were not true, then philosophy would be a lot easier, and it wouldn't have caused Mr. Hume to assert silly things about the possibility that we won't see the sunrise in the morning tomorrow. Science is based on probability, not certainty. Economics are based on probability, not certainty. In fact, unless you are talking about basic math, your conclusion is based on assumptions about the probability of events.

A pension is a future promise. It is based on PROBABILITY. However, the promise is given as a CERTAINTY. Now, in case you haven't caught it yet, here is my simple logic. PROBABILITY is not equal to CERTAINTY. You can't (in a logically reasonable sense) make CERTAIN promises about PROBABLE events. Even a bank understands this when it takes promises from people about things like mortgages. This is why they try to get as much information as they can from borrowers and require the house as collateral or even a co-signer in some cases. When they do their profit projections, they include a calculation for mortgages that go bad. One of the problems in the mortgage crisis is that the calculations were based on bad assumptions.

Of course, this is exactly why pensions and pension managers do stupid things. They've begun by being illogical, so then when the assumptions on which they've built their calculations change, the promise has to change or else the assumptions have to change. You can't have the same output, unless you change the inputs.

So, pension managers do stupid things such as increasing benefit payouts when the pot is overflowing because they have made calculations on what is an appropriate maximum balance. They do not include outlying probabilities because outliers (such as the current crisis) rarely happen. The problem is that when they do, they are no longer probabilities or one could say that when they happen the probability immediately goes from remote to 100%.

So, we find ourselves suggesting more stupid things because if you can't change the result (because the result is based on real events, not on assumptions, funny how real life mucks things up), you can only change the inputs. The inputs that get changed don't require more of the future recipients (usually), but of the government. Of course governments are already scraping by. We pretend that we aren't hurting the government because we require the "employers" to pay up, not the "government." Unfortunately, the employers are the government. In this case, schools get hurt. Less money goes into the classrooms and is set aside for government workers' future benefit. In other words, every child and every parent who has school aged children is paying for this CERTAIN promise based on PROBABLE assumptions. If those who say that hurting education hurts everyone are correct (and I believe they are), then we are all paying.

I hope you all understand, that I'm not coming at this from a politically motivated perspective. I'm not intentionally talking about ethics. I'm simply applying a little logic and math to a problem that seems to be driving some emotional reactions in this country. I'm simply saying that the entire idea that you can have a Defined Benefit Plan is a delusion (illusion is not strong enough). It is faulty logic. It's a lie. You can't change math because you desire a conclusion. You can't make 2+2 = 5 just because you want it to be. This isn't Baskin-Robbins or Burger King.

If I wanted to get political, I'd talk about the fairness of government employee pensions versus private sector employee 401(k) plans. That is an ethical discussion. I'm just talking about math.

Believe me, I'd love to have a fully paid retirement at age 60. I've worked hard for what I've gotten in life and feel like I've created a lot of benefit for people and society. The problem is that you can't pay people money that you don't have.

Sorry, friends, but I just can't lie to people. I can't tell someone that I will promise with certainty that I will pay them a guaranteed retirement amount 25 or 30 years from now. I can tell them that I promise to put away X% for you in each pay period and either invest it for them or allow them to invest for themselves. There may even be a way to smooth some of this out so that some don't benefit greatly more than others. I'm not trying to create a false dichotomy as some do in which the choice is Defined Benefit versus individual Defined Contribution. It's possible that the government could set up some sort of group Defined Contribution plan and make payments based on what is really there based on some other calculations of fairness. But to promise an absolute dollar amount is simply illogical. Pensions are not just a bad idea. They are lies. Let's stop lying to ourselves.

So, what's the question?

2011-06-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the National Charter School Conference and the fact that there are so many passionate people who have dedicated themselves to the charter school movement. But why are they so dedicated?

On the way home from the conference I finally got a chance to watch The Adjustment Bureau. If you haven't seen it, don't go run out to watch it. It's not a great movie. It does ask an interesting question about free will and determination. There are debates about this issue in both secular philosophy as well as in religion. The movie centers on the idea that there is a "chairman" who has created a plan and that this chairman's operatives (some have called them "angels") watch over people to make sure that major events in their lives happen (or not). To cut to the chase, the movie gives the idea that for the chairman, there are some people who can be trusted with free will. Those are the people who love--who love so much that they will give up themselves for another.

So, when I think about charter schools and the dedication that many have, I ask why?

What is it that would cause people to put so much energy into starting high quality charter schools? Some criticize for profit management companies. Perhaps that is an issue, there is not the same level of honor or self-sacrifice. But what about all of those others in the movement who have worked extremely hard to develop high performing schools, especially in traditionally low performing areas? There are far more people in that category than in for profit management companies.

What is it that drives them? There is no doubt that it is tougher to motivate and teach kids in some areas than others. There is no doubt that schools in those same areas have often failed kids. But why does someone choose to battle the system?

In my travel, I met a man from Maine, who has fought 18 years to get a charter school law passed. Why?

I've met people who have moved from traditional district jobs to take 20% pay cuts to work in or start charter schools. Why?

Within the accusation that charter schools take advantage of teachers by paying them lower salaries, is the burning question of why? Why would a teacher take such a big pay cut to teach in a charter school? Often the buildings are not as nice. Sometimes the benefits are not as good. In many cases the students are more difficult.

The burning question is why. The only answer that I can come up with is that these people have free will. They aren't following the herd. They aren't just going with the status quo. They aren't accepting the traditional answers, especially in urban and low income communities. They are believers in other people. They believe enough to give up themselves.

Bill Clinton at the National Charter School Conference

2011-06-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, President Bill Clinton spoke at the National Charter School Conference today, and while the event was well attended, the crowd thinned noticeably by the time the 42nd president of the United States of America left the stage. Mr. Clinton began by recounting some of his efforts to fund charter schools and motivate educational advancement. He talked about the fact that a monopoly has no reason to change or move forward and compared this to public education in America. But while he had many significant points, his speech often wandered and many conference goers seemed to agree that the former president just was not his former self on the stage. He slipped into a long analogy about medicare and the school system, taking jabs at the Republican party and its views of government. He always came back to education, but the speech lacked luster and staying power.

Stealing the show was Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker. Citing improvements in public education and constantly going back to examples of the way Americans have achieved the "impossible," Mayor Booker gave a rousing ending to his speech and left the stage to a standing ovation. Mayor Booker gave examples of ways that Newark has improved families to improve education, joking that they started a fraternity in Newark called delta alpha delta sigma (DADS). This mentoring program for dads who have been in prison has drastically reduced recidivism rates and improved homes that were once broken.

By contrast, President Clinton caused the session to go over a half hour past its time slot, meaning that people poured out of the auditorium, even as the Pine Lake Preparatory (a 1,500 student charter school in Mooresville, NC) PRIDE Percussion took the stage for its performance. The band played to an auditorium that was far less than half full.

Another highlight of the program was Mariana Guzman from Ivy Prep Academy. Singing about miracles was a near miracle herself. Coming from Mexico less than five years ago, knowing not even a word of English, the young Ms. Guzman spoke almost without an accent introducing her song. This 8th grader seemed a bit nervous at first, but once she began singing, she demonstrated amazing stage presence throughout. The audience rewarded her with a standing ovation as well.

While budgets are low for schools this year, the conference is still well attended with some 4,000 attendees. My personal meetings went well with more on the way tomorrow. In addition, there seem to be many topics in the breakout sessions of great value to schools. Most of the sessions seem to be receiving positive reviews.

The National Charter School Conference: Opening Reception

2011-06-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Well, day one was interesting as I didn't get to check into my hotel until after the reception. Won't go into it or tell you about how I tried to save my company money by staying at a non-conference hotel. I swore once that I would never do it again. I wonder why I did it again.

Ok, so tonight's reception was at the aquarium here in Atlanta. It's a beautiful place and talking with friends and eating BBQ snacks with a large shark swimming just behind you is a bit strange.

I ran into many friends among this crowd of 4,000. Saw a bunch of fellow Coloradoans as well as got to talk with Nelson Smith for a few minutes and friends from around the country.

I'm looking forward to President Bill Clinton's plenary speech tomorrow as well as time to meet various members of state associations.

This is a great gathering for charter school leaders to grow, but I do wonder in this time of budget cuts about some of the people attending. Friends of mine have told me that some of their client schools are not attending this year because they cut it from their budget. While it's nice to see people face to face, it does make me wonder why many of these sessions can't be hosted as webinars for those who are truly interested. Still, I have to admit, it's nice to see such a large group of charter school people in one place.

Perhaps the most interesting surprise is that I'm staying at the same hotel with a gentleman who has worked for 18 years to get a charter school law passed in Maine. It's still on the governor's desk for signature, but it passed recently. He and I walked together from the hotel to the convention center and it was interesting to hear his story and plans for Maine.

Till tomorrow.

The Education Reform Conversation

2011-06-17T16:27:00.001-07:00

I had an interesting exchange that I may keep up with a guy that I met on Twitter. It's not all that important because, after all, what are a couple of guys trying to see how close together they may really stand going to do to change education in America?

The interesting thing about the exchange is that our first comments on each others tweets were not as nice as they could have been. In fact, in some circles it would be a near miracle that we are still talking together. The important part is that due to a few clarifying comments, we reached the ability to converse. It almost made me hopeful that such a conversation might take place on a national level. In other words, that national representatives of various positions about education could actually talk to each other kindly. Sure, they might never completely agree, but at least the conversation could get civil.

I say almost hopeful because then Derrell Bradford posted a link on Facebook that criticized him without mercy. I was going to add the link here, but it wasn't worth giving the blogger the hits on his blog. The point is that I can't believe that people don't understand that the only way to resolution is talking and trying to understand anothers view point. I'm not always great at it, but I try.

I urge all of us to try to make the battle into a conversation. Certainly, we need to hold to our views if we think we are right. I'm not asking those of you who disagree with me to agree just because I say so, but I am asking you to listen. And in turn, I'll do my best to listen to you.

Sorry for the delay

2011-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

in getting new blog posts up. I'm in Russia for a few days and so it's hard to keep up. There is so much going on and so many good topics to write about.

I hope that you read and reread the posts with Alexander Russo because I think the Locke High School story is such a great story. I think that even if the experiment ultimately fails (and I don't think it will), it is a great test of a lot of things:

Green Dot's system
Potential for good charter school management corps to take on turnaround projects
Examples for school turnaround even without a charter school structure
Opportunity to use the strategies for schools before turnaround is necessary

So, I'll get new material up soon, but for now, enjoy Locke High School and Mr. Russo.

Locke High School Turnaround as told by Alexander Russo

2011-06-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago I posted a guest blog from Alexander summarizing some points from his new book, Stray Dogs, Saints, and Saviors: Saving the Soul of America's Toughest High School. I was so interested in the topic, that I asked Alexander for an interview, which he graciously granted. We talked about Locke High School and why it was such an exciting topic for him.

So, tell me a little bit about your new book.

The book is meant to read like an action novel or a police drama. It doesn’t dwell on the history of education reform or use a lot of education jargon. It’s the story of a startup CMO named Green Dot and a cockamamie idea that it could -- and even should -- take over a full sized district high school rather than starting a charter school from the ground up like charters almost always do.

What was the attraction of this school’s story?

It was the idea that a CMO would try to get into a traditional school environment and take over a high school and try to turn it around. The goal was sort of a neighborhood school, run by a CMO with a “thin” union contract. It was so new and different from the way charter schools are usually done.

What’s your background and how did you come to this story?

I’ve been in education for about 20 years and been writing about it for about ten years. As you know, a lot of reform has been taking place outside of the regular schools system for a long time. Many reform folks get lost in Charterland and forget that there is a mass of kids that need help. I met Steve Barr and found that he was a rare and interesting person, and I began to follow him for a while, and it turned out that I was right about how unusual he was and how interesting the school rescue effort would be. I didn’t know at the time that there would be a national effort to turn around schools or that Obama would win the election and support turnaround programs.

What is unique about Locke?

Fixing broken schools has been around a long time. There’s nothing new about that. But the Locke is a community in transition. So, part of the story is the transition from one minority to another. Also, conversion made a lot of sense for this school. There aren’t a lot of conversion efforts, but it’s clear to me that one way or the other you have to break away from bad habits when rescuing a school. You need to break with bad parts of the past. Having some autonomy from the school district was essential. People and organizations often slide back into the way they used to do things.

What was the difference between “old” and “new” Locke??

Being semi-autonomous [from the district] was important to transform “Old Locke” into “New Locke.” One example that I came across was of security guards at the school who started talking on their cell phones while signing people in, not paying attention, and were being disrespectful to people visiting the school. The new principal challenged this with the guards. The guards resisted at first, but the culture had to change to bring hope for the school.

What made teachers sign on to the petition?

Teachers believed in the kids in the community and had a role in the decision. California has a conversion law, if 51% of tenured teacher sign a petition, the school can be converted. The turnaround wasn’t announced from the central office. Teachers had a chance to be a part of it. They didn’t always feel like they had a voice. Some felt later as if the district was taking over, but in the beginning they had a say.

How did the community feel?

There was always suspicion and skepticism about outsiders. The community has seen a lot of outside help not go well. A key was relationship building. Enough people felt good about Green Dot to support the petition. There was far less protest against the turnaround than often happens. The union opposed it, but the community largely supported Steve Barr. There weren’t many other options. There were not a lot of other reformers who would have taken on such a project.

What lessons can be learned from this example?

The most important thing is that schools can be substantially improved from the condition they are in. I was not sure at the beginning. There wasn’t a miraculous change, but there have been a lot of improvements.

Second, you need a lot to change --change the habits and culture of the work place. The kids will respond to what they get. They broke the school into five campuses. They made every principal responsible for hiring and firing and budgets. All are accountable. Green Dot knew that teachers needed a safety net. They needed protection from being overworked, from stressed out principals,

from unfair termination. They set up a situation in which teachers can picture staying around for three years. Teachers don’t have to worry about being fired on a whim. Unfortunately, no one is really paying attention to the message. Charter school people don’t like unions. Unions don’t like charter schools or thin contracts. People can take gobs of federal money and not do things much different. So, education reform doesn’t really spread like this, especially in

turnaround schools. Green Dot was trying to show that charters could and should be in low income neighborhoods, bilingual, should be more open, should even break their own habits. Charter schools have a reputation for not

doing everything that a public school has to do, but Green Dot was doing all of that with SPED, bilingual education, and open enrollment. The challenge is that taking and keeping those kids makes you look less successful than if you let those kids leave. They experienced the challenge of trying to achieve

lower dropout rates. Test scores do not go up as fast. There is no doubt that charters need to be proactive about addressing a regular public school demographic.

What about the current issues in Los Angeles?

It’s unfortunate that the teacher’s union has gone back to its old habits of blocking people from doing things in new and different ways. Clay Middle School and Jordan High School have been opened to the idea of charter school turnaround. The teachers union is blocking it. A lot of that has to with economics and some of the teacher bashing that has been going around, but still it is blocking what appears to be positive change.

How would you summarize your book and the real message?

We have to try to make schools work better for kids, but to stop looking for Hollywood miracles. People were asking about results six months out. We make fun of kids for the unrealistic career expectations that they articulate, wanting to be models, or superstars, or professional athletes. We sometimes have unrealistic expectations for school improvement speed. We’ve watched Stand and Deliver too many times. We discredit people’s work that takes longer than three years. Real reform is work, and even in Los Angeles, not everything is Hollywood.

My summary

It's still not clear if Green Dot's initial success will last, but Russo's observations seem to indicated that there are some positive steps that turnaround organizations can take to improve even the worst schools. I am hopeful that both charter school leaders and traditional district leaders will take note and move forward to fix these schools. Let's have a change of culture that leads to a change in learning. Let's get beyond what can't be done and get to what can be done.

Does tech really help our kids in school?

2011-05-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Right now depending on who you talk to tech is just the latest craze that no one in education really knows how to use or else it's the next thing that's going to light up both teaching and kids' enthusiasm for learning.

I'm still ambivalent, but here is an interesting piece at Learningmatters.tv on a school that has given every student a laptop. At least one teacher thinks that it's completely transformed her ability to teach.

I'm still not completely sold, but this is an interesting concept.

LAUSD vs. UTLA: Who cares about the kids?

2011-05-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

In a couple of recent articles on disputes between the union and the district in Los Angeles, it's pretty clear that the union cares far less about students than it does its members. While teachers' unions have tried to tell us that they care about our children's education and that they know best, it's become pretty clear that in the past year's nationwide battle in which unions are losing ground in a lot of states that unions are protecting their own. It's often said that one's true colors come out when under pressure. Recent pressures are demonstrating that what unions really care about is their own existence.

In some ways you can't blame them. The survival instinct is just as strong in organizations as it is with individuals. I've been part of business organizations whose lives probably should have ended, but leaders fought for their survival. I understand that. The problem here is that the unions aren't a business. They do not provide a service. In the case of teachers and other public servants, they are not fighting corporation America. They are fighting with taxpayer dollars.

In one instance they are spending lots of time and money fighting the takeover of two LA schools that are failing. The schools will be run by Green Dot, a successful charter school management company. The union is not fighting this transition based on what is good for the kids, but on what is good for their members.

The other article has to do with budget issues and cuts. How could the district attempt to manage the budget based on what is good for students? How dare they? Instead, the union thinks the priority should be protecting its members. Now, does that make sense to any taxpayer who wants a good educational system?

If we need evidence that the union is one of the causes of our failing school system, I think we have two pretty good examples right here.

The Classical Academy wins Colorado 3A girls' soccer state championship

2011-05-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

OK. Not much to say here other than that my daughter used to play for The Classical Academy before going on to play at the Colorado School of Mines (where she is today) so I'm a bit biased and also excited because of how long TCA has said, "so close, and yet so far."

TCA lost a tough 1-0 game last year in the championships against St. Mary's (also of Colorado Springs). This year they beat Peak to Peak Charter High School 1-0 in a very even game.

TCA is a K-12 charter high school in Colorado Springs with a high school of about 600 students. It was recently recognized by Jay Mathews as the number 828th best high school in the country. It consistently has academic scores among the highest in the country.

TCA also has a unique program for junior high and high school students that combines in class with online education and a dual enrollment program located on the same campus as Pikes Peak Community College.

Peak to Peak is also an outstanding high school and was named to Mathews' list as the number 50 high school in the country.

So, it is reasonable to say congratulations to these young women for both their athletic as well as their academic achievements.

Charter schools listed among America's top high schools

2011-05-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

Jay Mathews, who writes Class Struggles at the Washington Post, posted his list of the top high schools in the country. BASIS Tucson, a charter high school in Arizona, was ranked number 4 in the country and the top charter high school. This is especially important as the top high school list is filled with magnet schools and magnet programs from across the country.

Peak to Peak Charter High School in Lafayette, Colorado (a favorite of mine) finished 50th. Still a fine showing when competing against the most prestigious schools in the country.

When people talk about charter school failures, that's fair. But let's also not forget to use the examples of the great charter schools out there to see what their models might offer for all kids around the country.

New York City to make it easier to fire teachers?

2011-05-25T06:36:00.001-07:00

Dennis Walcott, New York City's School Chancellor appealed to law makers for a more rational system of getting rid of bad teachers. He isn't asking for anything that the rest of us don't face. He is merely asking that firings of teachers that are not arbitrary will be upheld and not allowed to drag on in court.

Of course the union thinks this will "stack the deck" against teachers who are merely fighting for their rights.

I'm not sure who else has the right to waste hundreds of thousands of employer dollars to be kicked out of a job that they don't deserve. And unions wonder why the public is beginning to attack them. Hmmm.

The high cost of terminating a teacher

2011-05-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

While teachers fight a new evaluation program in New York, the published numbers on teacher termination cases is astounding.

Here is something to think about. New York spent somewhere between $7 and $8 million on teacher termination cases. This averages about $200,000 per teacher, and it takes almost a year and a half to complete the process.

I don't know about you, but if I was an administrator and knew those numbers, the only people that I'd fire are the ones that really just had to go. In other words, I'd be letting a number of marginally useful teachers stay in their jobs. Assuming that I'm somewhat rational (A huge assumption), that means that many principals are likely to be keeping poor teachers on staff.

I can't say that I'm a huge proponent of the new evaluation system, but it has to do a better job than what we have now. Of course, a new evaluation system doesn't guarantee that some of these expenses won't be incurred, but they should be reduced and perhaps more bad teachers will be removed from the school system.

Taxpayers and students should shout a big "Hurray" for that.

So, if I volunteer, how is that unfair?

2011-05-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is saying that the new teacher evaluation program using "value-added" elements, which include student test scores, is an unfair labor practice. It's funny because all of the participants for the coming year have volunteered to participate.

I'm not a big proponent of making student test scores a large part of the teacher evaluation, but I do believe that teacher evaluation must take into account the value added by the teacher. The current system rewards almost nothing relevant to good teaching.

so, I ask again, if I volunteer to be part of a new pay program how is that unfair? It seems that the current pay program is unfair to the taxpayers and students.

Another school district failure, and what to do?

2011-05-24T09:02:00.000-07:00

In the East Bay of San Francisco there is a problem. It's a problem that needs change. What kind of change? The district says that it has been changing to meet the needs of poor kids. So far, there hasn't been much change.

It's a leap to say that charter schools would immediate fix the problem, but it is also a leap to say that the district, some how, will fix itself.

What happens when public schools fail? They continue to exist. What will bring radical and immediate change in this district and why has it taken so long for the district to recognize and correct its problems?

I'm sure that teaching kids in poor neighborhoods is difficult, but the evidence suggests that in these neighborhoods the adults in the building make a bigger difference than do the children in the building. That starts at the top with the expectations and strategies.

It's districts like these that led to the cry for education reform and charter schools. We have to keep up the pressure because only then will districts need to change and get better. We cannot accept protectionism when it comes to our schools.

If this were a charter school...

2011-05-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Funny how the world turns. East St. Louis just had its school district taken over by the state. Of course, no one knows what will happen or what would happen if charter schools take over the district. However, it's pretty clear from this article that no one could do much worse.

If this were a charter school, it would be used as an example of why there shouldn't be charter schools. I could make an invalid conclusion and use this as an example of why their shouldn't be school districts. I won't. I'll simply say that this is an example of how the existing school system, if left unchecked, would continue to fail kids. Fortunately, Illinois has stepped in. We'll see what happens.

Strategic Planning for Charter Schools #6: Setting Objectives

2011-05-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Objective setting can be extremely easy, but can also be frustrating. On the one hand, setting good objectives is simply being able to provide more detail for the stated goals. On the other hand, many, especially those who are doing strategic planning for the first time, want to set up objectives that are not in line with the stated goals or are not integral to assuring attainment of a goal.

Like setting up goals, strategic planners must be careful not to set up more objectives than are realistic or are essential to meeting the organization's goals. Sometimes the confusion comes because their are other objectives in the organization. However, those other objectives are not necessarily strategic objectives. For example, there can be tasks within an organization that have measurable outcomes that are not strategically linked. They may be set up for many reasons. Administrative tasks may have measurable outcomes, but they often do not affect the strategic outcomes of the organization. A very simply example is a desire to see financial statements produced by the end of the fifth working day. This is an objective, but is not strategic to a school reaching its strategic goals and to fulfill its mission. It may facilitate good accounting practices. It may assist the board in reviewing financial statements in a timely manner. It may achieve a lot of other desired outcomes, but they aren't strategic outcomes.

A good facilitator, and often a good committee, can sift these types of objectives from strategic objectives. It's important to make this distinction clear as well as to ensure that any stated strategic objectives actually will lead to the achievement of the strategic goals.

The importance of objectives is also often underrated. I find that objectives are important because objectives will then be used to task various parts of the organization in developing ways to meet those objectives. If the wrong or irrelevant objectives are considered strategic, and even used for financial rewards, then people or departments within the school will do the wrong things and focus on non-strategic tasks.

Need another reason for tenure reform?

2011-05-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

So, what happens when an employee threatens his or her boss? with death?

Well, in most jobs, the employee would be fired or even perhaps charged with a crime.

In a school, a student would likely face charges and be expelled. But the rules are different for teachers. When a teacher does it, she gets a big pay out. That's the way union contracts and tenure work.

Check out this Michigan case of Lynette Brown.

5 Steps To Fixing A "Broken" School

2011-05-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

We offer our readers this guest blog, by Alexander Russo.

5 Steps To Fixing A "Broken" School
By Alexander Russo
Author of Stray Dogs, Saints and Saviors: Fighting for the Soul of America's Toughest High School

Fixing a neighborhood high school with a quarter of its kids not showing up every day, single-digit test scores, 40 percent graduation rates, and extremely low morale is one of the hardest, least desirable jobs in education. The chances for glory are few and far between, and miracles are rare. And yet, there’s really no choice. Leaving things the way they are at deeply dysfunctional schools isn’t right, pulls down neighborhoods, and can affect an entire school system.

And yet, turnarounds can be done. Disorderly, dreary buildings can become safe, warm, and engaging places for kids to learn. Teachers frustrated and disillusioned with far-off administrators and over-stressed building leaders can become re-energized, hopeful guides and mentors. I know this because I’ve studied the research on school turnarounds and spent three years reporting on the effort at Locke High School. Located in a rough area of South Central Los Angeles, Locke was rescued by a dedicated group of teachers, an outside organization that took on the massive responsibility of running the school, and a lot of very, very hard work. There were mistakes and setbacks along the way, and the effort appeared to be on the rocks several times, but three years later the school is, well, a school again. The students who go there have a legitimate chance to get an education and go on to college.

So how do you start on the path to fixing a broken high school? Here are five not really very easy steps you should take:

1) Where Does Your School Stand?: One of the most important steps is to take a careful look at where things really stand – how students, teachers, and community members feel about the school, and how the school performs compared to other similar schools. What’s the pass rate for students taking key math and English classes? What’s the attendance rate for teachers and kids? How many freshmen make it through to graduate four years later? You’d be amazed how often parents, teachers, and even administrators don’t know where a school stands compared to its demographically-similar counterpart in another part of town.

2) Find Inside Allies: Ideally, a school improvement effort will at least partially come from inside the school itself – involving the teachers, parents, and community members who are part of the school and want change just as much as you do. That’s what happened at Locke, where a group of teachers tried everything they could and then, determined not to give up, circulated a legal petition to hand the school over to an outside education organization. It was a controversial and risky maneuver, but no one could ignore it because it came from a genuine desire to show that the kids and school could do better, and it came from inside the building. Parents, alumni, or community members can do the same.

3) Make the Building Calm and Safe: You want to make the campus safe and welcoming – without turning it into an armed camp or kicking all the so-called knuckleheads out at the first sign of trouble. That “lockdown” mentality won’t work for long and will actually undercut student achievement. You need to show that you can make things better with the same group of kids as before, treat everyone with the utmost respect and restraint, and demonstrate patient persistence during the early months when the new rules and systems are being tested by the kids.

4) Make Changes as soon as Needed: No matter whether you have months or a full year to plan, be prepared to adapt on the fly because there will be mistakes, bad hires, and plans that don’t work out. That's OK. The key is to be prepared to revisit and re-route along the way – whether it’s two days into school or halfway through the year. As long as problems are being addressed rather than being left as they are, the kids, parents, and teachers will generally understand. Problems that aren’t addressed – teachers or administrators who aren’t up to the task, for example, or rules that aren’t being implemented evenly, will create problems and undercut confidence in the effort.

5) Make a Clear Break with the Past: It’s tempting to avoid making big changes, but a turnaround can’t just be new paint and a new set of textbooks or computers if it’s going to have any real chance. It’s got to include new leaders, a certain number of new staff, new rules, and a new way of doing things. The key is to create a balance of familiarity, coordination, and accountability. You don’t want everyone off doing their own thing, or losing sight of the serious task of improving results. A core group of teachers and staff will want to stay and help with the turnaround. Another handful will be deeply opposed and likely to leave. But that’s OK. The veterans will create continuity and help orient the new teachers and administrators.

What’s it like to try and turn around a broken school? It’s deceptively simple at the beginning. It’s a trickle of halting, incremental success -- totally unlike the instant results and heroic figures who dominate the Hollywood version. And at times it may seem like everyone wants you to fail. But you’re not alone in doing this. The federal government is investing $3.5 billion and there are roughly a thousand schools around the country being turned around this year. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently said, "We're not going to stand idly by where you have populations that are being poorly served, where we are in fact perpetuating poverty and social failure. Our country can't afford that."

© Copyright Alexander Russo, 2011.

Author Bio
Alexander Russo, author of Stray Dogs, Saints and Saviors: Fighting for the Soul of America's Toughest High School is an education writer whose work has appeared in Slate, Miller-McCune, Washington Monthly, Chicago Magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post. He's the author of three blogs: This Week In Education, District 299, and Hot For Education. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. Please connect with Alexander on Facebook and Twitter, and visit Amazon.com for more information.

Strategic Teacher Compensation Series #4: How do teachers feel about Strategic Compensation?

2011-05-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Teachers want systems that reward what they can control. With Strategic Teacher Compensation, as we have designed it, teachers are rewarded according to factors that they control. For example, teachers are rewarded for their behaviors and methods, not student achievement on specific exams. Of course, effective school leaders reinforce and institutionalize methods that have been demonstrated to achieve the desired results. For example, if a school implemented a customer-service commitment of responding to student or parent questions within 2 hours, the might see an improvement in student achievement and parent satisfaction. If those improvements were strategic priorities, then it would make sense to hire and reward teachers with strong communications capacity and commitment. However, it may take some time to assess the impact of a particular strategy, so teachers are not paid based o the he snapshot achievements of students in a particular year on a a particular exam.

In addition, teacher efforts to develop their capacity beyond formal degrees can be recognized as well. If degrees and training support strategic priorities then the school will reinforce them. If, however, the static goals call for more relational teachers or more communication from staff, then the compensation system must adjust accordingly. If implemented properly, a strategic pay system honors the factors that teachers and the school believe are important. It honors the factors that most influence teacher success and student achievement.

Not surprisingly, teachers are more supportive of systems where they can access the rewards. Incentives that cannot be earned are more properly characterized as disincentives. The Kansas Teacher Leaders Network, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Quality, reports that teachers who don't receive merit pay are disillusioned with the overall system to a greater degree than teachers who do receive merit pay (2007). In one sense, this can be a positive outcome. If a school system wants to motivate excellent teachers to cluster in high-needs schools, then it makes strategic sense to skew the incentive system in favor of serving at those schools. Traditional models and many merit pay models are skewed in the opposite direction. Teachers at schools with small populations of high needs students are more likely to qualify for typical merit pay bonuses. Similarly, if student performance is not a factor in compensation, then it makes sense that teachers may choose to work with students who have a higher propensity for academic success. Whether from a sense of entitlement or the simple pleasure of working with high-end students on challenging material, teachers typically prefer to work with students that they describe as committed scholars who take school seriously. Over time, the seniority system as well as an informal hierarchy of teacher superiority tends to stratify the "best" or "most-connected" teachers with high performing students in advanced classes. meanwhile, students in basic or remedial cohorts are taught by teachers who do not qualify by experience or excellence to each the more desirable classes. In some of those classrooms, the mutual resentment between teacher and students is palpable.

Because of this dynamic, the natural leaders of the teaching staff have a conflict of interest. On the one hand, their superior performance indicates a commitment to students and learning. On the other hand, they have very little incentive to change a system that gives them preferential working conditions, a great deal of autonomy, and virtual immunity from termination.

Ohio Charter School Association responds to attacks on E-schooling

2011-05-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a partial quote from the press release sent out today by the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Innovation Ohio Report: Frontal Assault on Ohio’s E-Schools by a Highly Partisan “Think” Tank

Columbus, OH – Ohio is one of America’s leading states when it comes to e-Learning. Some of this country’s most cutting-edge innovations in the delivery of K-12 e-Learning are happening in Ohio, thanks to e-school management companies that have made massive investments into their products and services; these are not low-cost enterprises. And traditional school districts are very much in the game as most of the e-schools in Ohio are district run. It doesn’t take much of a crystal ball to come to the conclusion that digital learning will be a huge part of education reform and the future of public education across the globe. Fortunately, these innovators are here and very much a part of school choice options in Ohio.

Context is important. Innovation Ohio’s report: “Ohio’s E-Schools: Funding Failure; Coddling Contributors” was researched by Steve Dyer, a former House member who earned a reputation for attacking charter schools. Ohio’s three largest e-schools in Ohio are currently operating either at “Continuous Improvement” or “Excellent.” So when the report concludes that “Ohio’s e-schools are nothing short of a disaster,” suspicion of an attack report transcends hope for a carefully reasoned report.

The press release goes on to demonstrate "ad hominem" attacks on e-learning in Ohio.

I'm sure the full press release will be available soon, but I couldn't find it immediately on the internet. It's worth looking into, especially since two years ago, the reports were out that E-schooling in Ohio was very successful. Here is the link to a report about the criticisms of e-schooling.

Teachers' unions would never misuse numbers

2011-05-13T16:10:00.001-07:00

Over at Intercepts, I found an interesting post on the California teachers' union and some interesting use of numbers. Given how often unions accuse charter schools of misusing numbers, this one is very interesting.

As a side note, I was thinking the other day about my position on unions and realized that I am really pretty neutral on unions from a theoretical perspective. In other words, I'm not sure that I care much one way or the other. The biggest issue that I have with unions is that they often distract from the real issue. For example, they talk about lost jobs and protecting jobs, etc., but the purpose of a school system is to educate children. The primary question should not be whether or not the education system is creating or cutting jobs. The primary question should be what is the most cost effective way to educate children. If the primary question becomes how do we save teachers' jobs, then we have a welfare program disguising itself as an education program. Maybe this should have been a separate post?

Charter School Strategic Plan #6: Setting your goals

2011-05-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Goal setting is not as easy as if seems at first. In fact, the hardest part of goal setting is keeping the goals obtainable.

Goals, in a strategic plan, are no longer those pie in the sky goals that we discussed in the vision and mission statements. Strategic goals are those than stretch the staff, but won't break them. They have to be attainable.

In addition, you have to make sure not to set more goals than can be attained by the resources available. In other words, strategic goal setting involves both the quality and quantity of goals.

So, how do you decide what a goal is? How do you decide which goals are most important?

Some of this sorts itself out because this is a school. It's obvious that some of the goals will have to do with academic achievement. I am a big fan of making these goals vague enough that the objectives (sub-goals, if you will) can be the measurable components of the goals. For example, a goal might have some measure such as:

Exceed comparable local school test scores at each grade

Objectives will then break that down. One way to break down the objectives for this goal is to set them out by grade. For example, a school could say that third grade scores will average 10% higher than comparable scores around the area. The school could set up such goals for each grade. Remember that all goals (and objectives) should be attainable with the resources available. It may not be realistic or attainable to exceed local schools by 10% this year.

That brings up the next point about goals. They should have time constraints. The time frame of the strategic planning should be clear. In fact, depending on the time frame of the strategic plan, you can set up short term and long term goals. For example, if you are developing a three year strategic plan, it's more than OK to develop objectives for each of the three years of the plan.

Goal setting involves prioritizing. You can't do everything all the time. Setting clear goals and sticking to them requires discipline and perhaps some compromise, but if leaders focus on those goals, it helps leaders and other stakeholders to know where the school is going and what it intends to do. It doesn't mean that some other things aren't important, but it does mean that resources will be allocated to those strategic goals first.

Will North Carolina's Race To The Top include more charter schools?

2011-05-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

North Carolina's legislature passed a bill that would remove the 100 school cap on charter schools. The importance of this bill is huge as you can count the number of new charter schools allowed under currently law on one hand. The bill passed the house by a vote of 68-51, but there is some fear that Governor Perdue could veto the bill.

Given that North Carolina won it's RTTT money in a competition in which change and innovation was a main critierion, I think it would be dangerous for Perdue to veto the removal of the charter school cap. Still, she is not a big fan of charter schools, and anything can happen.

Let's hope that she remembers the old adage, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Getting results from charter schools

2011-05-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty passionate about getting good results from charter schools, so I thought I'd pass along this article about what the University of Western Michigan is doing to get positive results from its charter schools.

12 schools, and a pretty good record. It's probably worth a read.

Denver's Pro Comp: What are the goals and objectives?

2011-05-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've been writing here about strategic planning for charter schools lately. In the past, Peter and I have both done a lot of writing about Strategic Teacher Compensation. I once wrote about why I thought that Pro Comp was flawed, but well intentioned.

Five years later, it's tough to tell what is going on. Denver Public Schools is boasting about the additional pay that it has provided to teachers. The union is concerned because much of the additional compensation is not guaranteed for life. I wonder what the effects have been in enabling DPS to hire better teachers or to inspire teachers to do a better job.

I've never been a big fan of the thinking that additional pay will make someone teach better. I do think that additional pay might attract better teachers. However, DPS appears to have no data on the important results of Pro Comp--has the system driven better instructors into the classroom.

If it hasn't, then it's just another government give away of tax payer dollars.

Need for New Leadership in Schools

2011-05-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to pass along this link, in case you missed it. It's about school leadership and some of the silly things that happen. There are some great quotes from school leaders that make you wonder how they got where they are and how they will stay there.

It's at www.educationnews.org and it's by Laurie H. Rogers.

Charter School Strategic Planning #5: What is your situation?

2011-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

It's often tempting to jump from mission to goals. It seems natural and it feels natural. I think that it's also the nature of charter school leaders that they want to get on to business and they already have a good notion of their goals. However, both because it's part of the strategic planning process and because it's important to ensure that nothing is missed, it's important to develop an analysis of the current situation in order to develop clear goals and objectives.

I saw a poster the other day that showed scuba divers happily diving while a shark was coming up behind them. It's great to plan with just a mission in mind, but the situation that you are in also greatly affects your goals and behavior. If you are walking in a dark parking garage at 1 a.m., you probably act differently than you do if you are walking to your car parked on an open street in the middle of the day.

The situation section of a strategic plan can include many elements. Some include a short section on organizational history. This section is primarily composed of what we call a SWOT analysis. If you have been looking at other information on strategic planning, you've probably come across this acronym. It stands for:

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

The list is divided between two internal considerations and two external considerations. Strengths and Weaknesses are considerations of the internal situation. For example, the school may have STRONG curriculum and WEAK teachers. The major strengths and weaknesses, especially as they contribute to the mission of the school should be outlined and described. Because this is a public document, it often makes it difficult for schools to be brutally honest about some weaknesses. No matter how the wording appears in the final document, the discussion about weaknesses must be brutally honest.

The Opportunities and Threats are external considerations. An opportunity might be that a school has features that make attaining grants more likely than for other schools. A threat might be the economic situation that currently threatens school budgets.

These four lists of factors allow the committee to develop a situational analysis that can assist the school in developing its goals realistically.

Charter School Strategic Planning #4: Vision and Mission

2011-04-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of the things that separates a charter school from a for profit corporation is that there is no mission of creating shareholder value or attaining profitability. The mission is "pure." Because of this, it's easy for schools to create pie in the sky vision and mission statements that may never be achieved.

The idea of a vision statement can give the impression that a vision can be anything that can be imagined. While I hate to limit people's vision and thinking, I find it important to remind people that while a vision should be optimistic, it should not be unrealistic. This is a tough balance and tough to figure out. Think about the vision of "A computer on every desktop." At one time Bill Gates' vision may have seemed impossible and unachievable. Now, its appears that it may have been too short sighted. The vision has to change because now the desktop computer is almost a think of the past. In other words, coming up with a vision is both easy and difficult. It is, perhaps, more difficult than coming up with a mission statement. A mission statement includes a bit more reality into what exactly will be done.

Vision statements for schools often look very similar. This isn't surprising. The fact that a school is a school narrows the vision. For that reason, beginning by looking at other charter school vision statements can be helpful, although it can also be too limiting. Again, this is where a facilitator can draw out ideas, even if members of the strategic planning team have preconceived ideas. Not that we want the facilitator suggesting ideas, but the facilitator can encourage participants to bring out their own vision.

The vision statement should be short and focused on end results, not means of getting there and not a number of specific goals. It must be specific enough to be pursued, but also must create a vision in the minds and emotions of those who read it. I like vision statements that people can rally around.

The mission statement is a further level of detail. So, if your vision is something like "every child a learning and loving person," Your mission statement should explain in more (but still limited and high level) detail of what that means. So, a mission statement for this school might be:

Our mission is to care about every child, educating each one in a nurturing environment that will allow them to develop into thinking and caring people who can live as successful human beings.

For some, this mission statement will still be too vague. Because I believe that the mission statement should be almost unchangeable, I like mission statements that err on the side of too vague. I believe that they are more effective mission statements. I have seen schools with mission statements that are multiple paragraphs. What is the weakness of longer, more detailed mission statements?

Long mission statements:

Lose emotional power
Are not memorable
Cannot be easily explained
May include details that are subject to periodic change (and therefore are not part of the essential mission)

There is plenty of room in the remaining sections of the strategic plan to include other values, goals and objectives. These are not necessarily essential to the mission. Some of them may change. Even core values may be added to or edited, but the mission will rarely change.

Remember that with both the vision and mission statements, the purpose is to motivate and to keep people focused. They are a filter that all goals and strategies must fit through in order to be included in the school's plan. The next step in the process will be to create the goals that the team believes will accomplish the mission of the school.

Charter School Strategic Plan #3: Getting Started

2011-04-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

So, you've decided to write a strategic plan for your charter school. You've listed out all of the elements that you'll need to include. Now, where do you start? I know, you start with the Vision Statement, right?

Well, before that, you need to make some other decisions. For example, whose plan is this? Who is going to use it?

You also need to work out, who needs to be on the strategic planning team. Sometimes a school starting with a strong school founder end up letting the founder come up with the vision and mission. Others then have to fill in the plan. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with that, but the school has to have a mission that truly serves the population and takes into account the ability of the staff to fulfill the mission. So, should staff members be involved? Should board members be involved? Answering these questions are the first step in creating a strategic plan.

As some of have said, "You have to plan to plan." Because the purpose of a strategic plan is like the purpose of a map, you have to decide who is best qualified to create a map. You can't have just a bunch of visionaries because the map will never be completed. The map will look like the picture on the left. It won't have any detail and will be almost useless.

You can't just have a bunch of detailed people because they'll want to fill out the details about the map before the vision for the trip has been planned. They'll probably want to draw in roads that are accurate, but unnecessary.

You also can't just have a free for all with all of these people because nothing with get done.

I recommend that groups choose their participants wisely and keep the number small. The groups has to be large enough to include people who will be valuable to the process, but not so large or diverse as to be unmanageable or divisive.

I also recommend that the facilitator not be a member of the group and optimally someone who has no interest in the outcomes of the school. The facilitator should not contribute ideas to the process. The facilitator is only to facilitate the process so that he or she does not confuse the role. The facilitator must also be commissioned by the group to not allow for favoritism, long speeches and must ensure that all voices are heard, otherwise members of the group whose ideas may be valuable may not get out on the table. The facilitator also must recognize when ideas or discussion on a topic are finished and no longer productive. The facilitator must be have a process that all will follow and that will ensure efficient resolution of issues. In other words, the facilitator is key to the process. It is often necessary to hire an experienced facilitator if an experienced volunteer cannot be found. The facilitator can either ruin a strategic planning session or make a strategic planning session. A good facilitator can be the difference between a strategic plan being completed in a timely manner and taking forever to complete.

Once the team is chosen and a facilitator is selected, then your group can move on to actually beginning the strategic plan.

Is Your School Filled with Pseudo-Teams?

2011-04-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

For two decades, I have seen many schools and organizations struggle with low-performance issues. Here's my take on what's going on.

There are work groups, there pseudoteams and then there are trueteams. A few years ago, my consulting partner Burton Cohen and I coined the term trueteam to describe an end state of effective teaming. We were dissatisfied with the old saw of "Form-Storm-Norm-Perform" but we recognized the reality that teams do have a fairly predictable life cycle. Here's the concept we articulated. It has proven valid and useful over and over.

++Stage One: Group: A group is an assemblage of disconnected individuals who experience low task focus, conflicting loyalties and jockeying for position. Groups are often assigned to function as teams without the appropriate leadership or training.

++Stage Two: PseudoTeam: A Pseudoteam emerges when group member act as they believe a team should act. Although there is increasing familiarity between the group members, there is also surface smoothness and a tendency to overcompromise. Living as a pseudoteam is frustrating because it is essentially false.

++Stage Three: AntiTeam: At some point, sometimes gradually and sometimes abruptly, the pseudoteam goes negative. The purpose of the group fragments because of growing resentment about the false fronts and overcompromising of the pseudoteam stage. Members engage in passive sabotage, withdrawing from discussions or withholding their constructive criticism. Members often slip into dysfunctional roles, such as the classic attacker—victim—rescuer triad. The AntiTeam is painful so…

++Stage Four: Crisis of Purpose & Productivity: Because the AntiTeam is not productive, members begin to challenge the group’s existence. Leaders challenge the group’s productivity and internal conflicts derail the work of the team. The crisis causes many members and leaders to question whether the team should continue.

++Stage Five: Retreat from the discomfort of conflict: Faced with the pain of the crisis, members retreat back to the comfortable familiarity of surface smoothness and artificial courtesy—in other words, they reform the pseudoteam.

++The Low Performance Loop: Many groups cycle through the pseudoteam-antiteam-crisis-retreat pattern indefinitely. They are productive, but not highly so.

There is a way around the low-performance loop. It is the method of ++Acceleration by Facilitation.++ An effective facilitator, (even when the team leader acts as a facilitator) helps the team by clarifying the task, identifying appropriate team roles and establishing a clear process for information gathering, decision-making and execution.

When a team is facilitated, it can function as a trueteam, complete with interdependence, healthy conflict, creativity, cohesiveness and high productivity. A trueteam is an extremely gratifying place to work, even though trueteams work at a very high level.

Talking about teaming and the phases of teaming is an excellent way to help a group of people skip the storm and move quickly to high productivity.

Ravitch: A study in hypocrisy #2

2011-04-18T20:00:00.001-07:00

Here's a twitter exchange with hypocrisy annotations.

I'll keep pointing out Diane Ravitch's hypocrisy as long as she keeps pretending to be respectful.

	•>Ravitch serves with a blanket generalization about online coursework. That's fine—generalizations are her stock in trade and play well on Twitter. 15-Love
	•>Quixotic returns with a specific, personal illustration that rebuts the Ravitch generalization. He points out that the blanket generalization is unfair. That's an opinion, but one supported by personal testimony. Point Q. 15-All
	•>Ravitch gets confused. She tries a dropshot by deducing a positive (cheating) from a negative (a logical fallacy) then tosses in the odd disclaimer, "you did, of course" before hitting it into the net with a desperate hypothetical. 15-30
	•>Quixotic smashes an overhead by pointing out the absolute generalization is unfair to hard-working online students. 15-30
	•>Ravitch double-faults to lose the game by abandoning the topic and going with a dose of ad hominem sarcasm. Game Quixotic

I'm not sure why Ravitch reserves to herself the right to be sarcastic and dismissive. Her final tweet drips with condescension. Quixotic was never rude or personal. Stating that a blanket generalization is unfair does not partake of disrespect. Ravitch, on the other hand, trades in dismissive sarcasm as a matter of course. When she pretends to be a fair-minded broker, remember that Twitter doesn't build character, but in Ravitch's case it reveals it.

Quick—Hire the Wrong Superintendent!

2011-04-18T11:40:00.001-07:00

Inspired by actual events...and a great article by Richard Lee Colvin over at The Quick and the Ed.

The position of school district superintendent is complex, situational and nuanced.

Hiring a superintendent is often simplistic, universal, and one-dimensional.

That delta may be one reason the average time on the job for superintendents is so short. Maybe district leaders look for the wrong things when they hire a CEO.

If you were to compare school district superintendents to the general population, I strongly suspect you would find that they are more likely to be tall, attractive, white, male, poised, extroverted, and articulate. Here are photos of the first eight superintendents I could find who serve in El Paso County, Colorado—the greater Colorado Springs area. Certainly, our community contributes to the more homogenous nature of this pool, but many more diverse locales are led by a group of similar constitution.

I'm not trying to reinforce a superintendent stereotype, but these folks have a lot in common. They are generally photogenic, confident, good in front of a group, extroverted, etc. I have no quarrel with anyone pictured above, though I know some of them personally and work indirectly for one of them. Their names don't matter. Their characteristics do. Superintendent folks are almost always "alpha's" both in the sense of being a leader of the wolfpack and in the sense of coming from the highest caste, à la Huxley's Brave New World.

Among the group above are politicians, athletic stars, award-winners, journalists and authors. They tend to be verbal and insightful—especially with limited preparation. They shine in the kinds of interviews and open houses that are common in most superintendent hiring processes.

But are they the best fit? Some say no.

Superintendents are educational CEO's. As such, they are subject to the myth of the charismatic, heroic CEO. As Collins and Porras point out in Built to Last, their brilliant study of industry-leading firms, the best companies in each industry were six times more likely to promote insiders than their high-performing competition. (Emphasis in the original) Community members, teaches, and especially board members have a long-standing preference for hiring people that fit the image. Although these leaders are more than teeth and hair, I'd be willing to bet that they are not the presumptive leaders on paper. In fact, in my limited experience around two dozen superintendent hires, the best candidates on paper almost never got the nod. The best candidate in the interview—the most likable or inspirational—that's who wins.

In fact, if you want to hire a traditional superintendent, I'll save you a lot of money. Simply have candidates submit a two-minute video in which they explain their vision for the district. Post the videos online, have people vote, and there's your sup. Do diligence with references and a background check, but you'll probably end up hiring the same person you would have hired after a traditional process anyway. Why is that? (For one answer, refer to "Thin-Slicing" as explained by Gladwell in Blink.

For another perspective, think about how we arrive at the board vote.

The start is almost always selection of a search firm. Search firms cast a wide net, filter aggressively, and then present a short slate of candidates. Boards interview, present to the community, solicit feedback and select finalists. They choose, negotiate and hire. By the time the process narrows to a few candidates, the system has usually weeded out those slow to speak, "unimpressive," reserved candidates who don't sparkle in large-group settings. The betas are gone and the alphas survive. Usually, if a person is more reserved and not charismatic they don't have a chance—unless that person is an internal candidate who has proven his or her worth over time.

Depending on the life cycle of the school, and the particular challenges of the district, a solid, administrative-minded candidate might be just right. I've written and presented for years on the importance of recognizing and adapting leadership to life cycle dynamics. For example, your strategic planning and strategic hiring should vary greatly depending on whether your school is in a growth cycle or a stagnation phase. Based on that insight, it is highly unusual to find a circumstance where the celebrity superintendent is the best choice. Although their focus is on business, Collins and Porras found only 4% of the CEO's at great companies came from outside the organization.

If you are involved in the decision about hiring a new superintendent, first examine the process. If you follow the traditional model I can predict with high certainty that you will hire a traditional candidate—one who looks right for the role. Please go deeper. Even if you don't get it right, you can reset and look again.

Diane Ravitch—Simplistic, Simpering or Sinister? Too Close to Call.

2011-04-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

HT Education Gadfly
Diane Ravitch is far too intelligent and experienced to believe the pablum she's been recycling over the last few years. Maybe that's why she offers up comedians and actors as heros who represent our last best hope for leadership. I'm not making this up.
As Whitney Tilson observes, "I couldn’t find a single sentence in [her] entire book that couldn’t have been written by Randi Weingarten. It is just 296 pages of union talking points, utterly lacking in solutions, with no mention whatsoever of the educational malpractice taking place against millions of children in America." (emphasis mine)
Her conversion to the status quo and subsequent adoption by the entrenched left notwithstanding, Ravitch still seems to have residual credibility with many in the media. She shouldn't.
Recently, Ms. Ravitch offered a Twitter challenge to her tweeple asking them to propose pejorative names for charter schools. You can see the resulting tweetriol at #charterschoolnames
Here are some she retweeted.

Dewey, Cheatum & Howe Academy
Erase Your Way to the Top
Shanghai Academy of Human Rights
Remedial Prep
I think I'm better than you Academy
Urban Preparatory for Youth-Oriented Uniform Robotic Systems (Don't miss the UP-YOURS Acronym)

To be clear, these are the names for charter schools that Diane Ravitch felt were worthy of broadcasting to more than 10,000 followers. Thank's for elevating the conversation Diane.
The next time Diane Ravitch pontificates that we need a respectful, evidence-based, thoughtful conversation about education you might remember that she solicited and then broadcast simplistic smears intended to slander and marginalize charter schools.
Here are a few hypocritical Ravitch talking points that are hard to reconcile with trolling for sarcastic slams against charter schools:

"I support charters" (Except when I solicit thousands of followers to mock them)
"I try to ground my critique in history." (Except when I ground my critique in mockery)
"I never ever say anything ad hominem against [colleagues]." (Except to call the schools they found and/or support cheating, elitist, oppressive, robotic etc.—but that's not ad hominem. I'm only criticizing the schools, not the parents, students, teachers, administrators, volunteers and all the other charter zealots who don't agree with me)
"If evidence mattered, they would tone down their rhetoric. But I won't hold my breath." (I'll just inflame the rhetoric by leading the name-calling.)
[Education] works best when administrators, teachers, parents, and the public are in respectful dialogue about the needs of children and schools. (Unless I disagree with you about which kinds of schools meet the needs of children, then I'll just mock you.)
Although one can find exceptions, it is usually the case that voters don't like autocracy. They expect to be treated with respect, not condescension. (Unless they vote to take their children to a charter school, then they're not worthy of my respect.)
"The very behaviors that schools are supposed to teach—how to think, how to participate, how to reason with others, how to find common ground—are the same behaviors that we expect to encounter in public life." (I mean your public life, not mine.)

Of course, if you find trash-talking on Twitter a humorous diversion, why not use a contradictory hashtag to respond to the Ravich rant. Hey, just for fun, why not reference Ravitch on every tweet so she can enjoy the fun. Just start your tweet with: @DianeRavitch #publicschoolnames
Here are a few starters:

Schools Not Good Enough For Ravitch's Kids
You're Trapped—Deal With It. Public Schools
More Money for Lower Performance Unified
Hey, 22% Graduate in NJ for $30K per student
Public Schools—Stifling Poor Kids and Protecting Poor Teachers for 150 years.
Ignore the Problem—Attack the Critics—Repeat Indefinitely Academies

National Charter School Conference: Why go?

2011-04-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

The other day my co-blogger wrote an interesting piece about ROI of attending the National Charter School Conference. There certainly are good and bad reasons for attending. Especially in this budget year, schools have to consider saving their money and not simply providing a free perk to school leaders.

Unlike my friend, I will be attending this year's conference. Unfortunately, I won't be presenting (and that subject and why opens a completely new can of worms that I had not thought about until I received an interesting email from the conference organizers) this year, but will be attending to work with relationships that I've built over the past few years.

Also, unlike many attendees, I do not work for one school. I am primarily going for marketing reasons. I need to meet as many school leaders and organizational leaders as I can. I need to explore the national market for our services. This is why I believe their is ROI for Charter School Management Corporation.

Schools could have an ROI by selecting our service or other services offered at the conference. Peter noted some good purchases that we were able to make on past trips that more than returned the cost of the trip. However, many attendees ignore vendor booths and vendor relationships because "they are just selling stuff." It is true that I and others are selling stuff, but we aren't "just" selling stuff. Most of us who provide services to charter schools believe that we have a good value proposition. In other words, our services benefit schools.

I've been to at least ten state and national conferences now and have talked to many fellow vendors. The truth is that many of them truly do offer great services--some that could save schools a lot of money.

I have found that for me and my company, the national conference is still worth attending the conference.

I hope to see you there.