School Leader

Teacher evaluation: Is Kentucky an emerging model?

I often recommend individual articles of ASCD's Educational Leadership to colleagues and students, but occasionally I can commend an entire issue to be read cover to cover.  That's the case with the recent November 2012 edition, dedicated to the topic of teacher evaluation.  If the articles in this issue, penned by some of the nation's top education thinkers, are any measure, Kentucky's recent efforts to revise its teacher evaluation system could make it a model in the nation.  But that depends entirely on how effectively Kentucky can implement its plans.

States and federal policy makers have been working hard to improve the teacher evaluation process, in part as a reaction to the headline-grabbing 2010 report from the New Teacher Project called The Widget Effect (which students study in my EDAD 590 class, Administration of School Personnel).  The Widget Effect illustrated in the starkest of terms how profoundly school leaders have failed to develop and use evaluation systems that distinguish teacher performance levels and promote meaningful professional growth and development. 

In light of recent policy changes to improve teacher evaluation, the authors in Educational Leadership explore the topic from multiple angles, reflecting on "what's fair" as well as "what's effective."  A partial list of examples:

• Paul Mielke and Tony Frontier discuss using comprehensive frameworks of effective teaching, like those developed by Robert Marzano and Charlotte Danielson, for establishing a clear picture of what teaching should look like and as a rubric for assessing teacher performance.
• Robert Marzano himself writes about the two purposes of teacher evaluation - measuring teacher performance and developing teacher effectiveness - and how a good evaluation system should do both.
• Susan Moore Johnson and Sarah Fiarman reflect on the role of peer reviews in helping teachers gain self awareness regarding their strengths and weaknesses.
• Charlotte Danielson shares strategies to help school leaders sharpen their skills of observation, so they can more accurately apply rubrics to assess the effectiveness of what they see in the classroom.
• And other authors discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of using various value-added measures to ascertain the impact a given teacher has had on a given group of students' performance in a single year.

Kentucky is not specifically mentioned, but anyone familiar with the sweeping changes to teacher evaluation currently being piloted in Kentucky schools (often called by the acronym PGES) will recognize that the Commonwealth is attempting to address and incorporate almost every feature identified by these authors.

Kentucky's framework for effective teaching is based closely on Charlotte Danielson's (I actually prefer Marzano's, but any comprehensive framework is better than the loose set of standards and indicators we had before).   The proposed system involves peer observation, focuses heavily on reflection and goal setting to for encouraging professional growth and improvement, and features thoughtful approaches to using gains in student achievement as one indicator of effectiveness.

On paper, it looks great.  I am a bit skeptical, however, of any state-mandated policy fixes that are intended to make sweeping improvements of practice in multiple contexts.  Not that the specific features of PGES are flawed.  I actually think they are well-crafted.  But I also know that the effectiveness of any structure depends largely on the leaders who are using them.  And the variance in the performance effectiveness of school administrators is even greater than that of teachers.

It's also unclear which dimensions of PGES will make it through the pilot testing phases of implementation.  And other concerns abound.  We already know that administrators are chronically prone to inflating teacher performance evaluations.  Now that teacher performance actually counts as a component of school-wide accountability, the temptation to go easy on teachers will be greater than ever unless some mechanism is established to address discrepancies in schools where teacher evaluation is high but student performance remains low.

Since I no longer have the front-row seat on evaluation like I once did as a practitioner, I can only wait to hear from my students and colleagues how it will all unfold.  On the surface, however, Kentucky's educators should be excited about these developments.  If we can do it well (a huge "if"), Kentucky could easily become a state example of what powerful and effective teacher evaluation should look like.

Update on Doug Reeves case: Prominent school improvement guru served prison time for securities fraud

Last September I blogged about the distressing news that prominent education author Douglas Reeves, whose work figures prominently in my own teaching and philosophy of school leadership, has been accused of inappropriately touching a child at his home in 2006. 

Reeves was charged and released under several conditions regarding his contact with children.  He has denied the allegations.

I've continued to follow the story through the Swampscott Patch, the newspaper in the Boston suburb of Swampscott, Massachusetts where Reeves used to live, and where the alleged incident took place.  The case has been in limbo for several months while attorneys prepare for a special hearing that will determine if Reeves' prior criminal history will be admissible in this case.

Specifically, the Patch reports that Doug Reeves served five months in prison in 1993 for securities fraud.  It's unclear from the report or records I've reviewed from the internet which of Reeves' business interests were involved in the incidents of fraud, but this Securities and Exchange Commission document suggests a pattern of misappropriating client funds and misleading clients about how their investment money was being used (see page 194 of the 256 page pdf file).

Reeves' next court appearance is scheduled for February 8.

I'll continue to monitor and update readers on this case, which is of great interest to educators who, like me, admire Reeves' work.  

I remain very uncertain about the bearing of this information (and alleged information) on my use of Reeves' books, articles, and ideas in my own teaching and writing.  Clearly the legal process must bear out his guilt or innocence regarding the sex abuse case.  To what extent does his record of fraud in his business dealings influence the usefulness and integrity of his work on education reform, which resonates so powerfully with practicing educators?  These are questions I continue to ponder.

UPDATE, 3/7/2013: Reeves' March 4 court date was postponed; no word yet on a new date.

UPDATE, 6/19/2013: Reeves' case has been postponed numerous times now.  According to the Swampscott Patch, he appeared in court on June 2 but the case was again deferred, with a new date set for June 28.  I'll continue to monitor and post new information as anything significant becomes available.

UPDATE, 7/16/2013: The June 28 hearing was postponed until tomorrow, 7/17/2013.  Story here.

UPDATE, 9/10/2013: Another hearing is set for October 15; unclear at this point what, if anything, took place at the 7/17 hearing.

UPDATE, 10/16/2013: A source close to the case tells me a trial date has been set for January 2014.  Will share more details as soon as they are available.

UPDATE, 1/16/2014: A source who has spoken to officials with Lynn District Court say the trial has been postponed to begin March 27th.

UPDATE, 1/30/2014: The Swampscott Patch reports the trial was rescheduled to begin February 3 and has been moved to a different district court.  More here.

UPDATE, 3/1/2014: A source close to the case tells me that, after multiple delays, the trial is scheduled to begin April 1.  For all future updates check here.

UPDATE, 4/3/2014: A jury found Reeves not guilty today.  More here.

UPDATE, 4/8/2014: Read coverage of the trial and verdict from the Lynn, Massachusetts Daily Item here and here.

UPDATE, 4/16/2014: Read about my interview with Reeves, in which he reflects on the trial and his future, here.

The Ennea-Type Seven School Leader: The Fun Seeker

Note: This post originally appeared on the Contemplative Learning website, host of this series exploring each of the Enneagram personality types, focusing on how personality patterns influence the work of school leadership.

This on-going series has featured profiles of each Enneagram type.  In particular, we've focused on how each type tends to function in the role of school leader.   Education administration and leadership takes place in a unique and complex context, and understanding more about how personality interacts with the function of leadership in P-12 schools can enrich our self-awareness and professional effectiveness.

In this latest installment, we turn to the Ennea-Type Seven, a distinctively exuberant, energetic, and enthusiastic personality style that brings many strengths to a leadership role.  Because of the Seven's drive toward maximizing intensity and joy in their lives, and in the lives of others, we call this type the Fun Seeker.

Maximizing joy; minimizing pain

As a school leader, the Type Seven often fosters a warm, vibrant, and joyful environment for working and learning.  The Seven is a cheerleader, with the innate capacity to make people feel good about their efforts and enthusiastic for the mission of the school.  A seemingly tireless multi-tasker, the Seven is perpetually visible in classrooms, hallways, meetings, and school events, and is initiating new projects and promoting new ideas at a pace that only she seems to be able to manage.  Sevens are especially gifted at the social dimensions of leadership, fostering positive and intense relationships with students, parents, teachers, and community members.  While the Seven sometimes struggles to follow through on ideas, initiatives, and commitments, stakeholders tend to be extremely forgiving of these peccadillos, giving the Seven the benefit of the doubt for his unflagging commitment and dedication to others and to the school or district itself.

Ultimately the Seven's drive to synthesize as many ideas and maximize as much energy as possible is rooted in a deep drive for happiness, and an insecurity about the world.  Every Ennea-type has its own particular fear or insecurity, and the Seven responds to her anxiety by trying to fill up her life with a maximum amount of experiences and activities.  In some ways, the Seven is engaged in a pattern of avoidance, trying to skirt around the uncertainties, pain, and loss that is as essential to life as happiness and pleasure by focusing solely on what is fun, bright, and good.

Ennea-type Seven school leaders can exhibit profound denial about their school's weaknesses and growth areas, about conflicts and problems in the culture, and about their own limitations, losses, and needs.  Sometimes the Seven school leader will barrel ahead with a plan even when it is clearly doomed or deeply flawed, because the discomfort of acknowledging the truth is too great.  Or, perhaps more common, the Seven contributes to the sad tendency in education for schools to pursue a raft of new initiatives every year, never really abandoning old practices but heaping new idea upon the old and leading inevitably to the morale-killing "initiative fatigue" so familiar to many teachers.

Prone to boredom and addicted to stimulation, the Seven school leader can experience terrible burn out and yet be the last to recognize it, or sometimes quit a job - or a series of jobs - in quick succession, always looking for the next big thing professionally or personally.

Practices for wholeness: Being still, being real

The Ennea-Type Seven is constantly in motion, mentally as well as physically, and so learning to take regular "breaks" from activity and intense experience can open the Seven school leader to experience her inner world and see her context from new and broader perspectives.  Reflective practices, mindfulness meditation, and other strategies for slowing down and being still are inherently challenging for the Type Seven, but potentially rewarding and renewing.

Above all, coming to recognize his pattern of avoidance will empower the Type Seven leader to be aware of the ways he might be compensating for insecurity or anxiety by engaging in activity for the sake of activity, or glossing over problems and challenges.  Nurturing a few close, authentic relationships with co-workers who can be a "critical friend" can help the Seven keep a check on these patterns and pitfalls.

There is no inherent contradiction between stability and self-awareness and the Seven's inclination toward exuberance and activity.  By practicing self-awareness and honest, open communication, the Ennea-Type Seven leader can bring her greatest gifts to bear and foster an effective, high-performing school environment.

Look for additional profiles of other Enneagram Types as school leaders in coming weeks. For a complete list of Enneagram resources, check the Enneagram links on the left-hand side of this page, and visit our Services page to learn about the wide range of CLS workshops available for leadership and professional development.  For previous type profiles, click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.

Putting Kentucky's recent education rankings in perspective

Education Week's annual Quality Counts report, which ranks states' education performance, was issued this week, and for the second year in a row Kentucky saw an impressive rise in its ranking from 34 in 2011 to 14 in 2012, and now this year's report places the Commonwealth at 10th in the nation.  Ironically, the previous week Michelle Rhee's education reform outfit, StudentsFirst, issued its state rankings and Kentucky earned a "D" overall, coming in at 35th place.

Before Kentucky educators get too carried away congratulating themselves over their Quality Counts performance, or hyperventilate in protest over how "unfair" the StudentsFirst report was, it's worth putting both of these ranking systems into proper perspective.

Few people in the state have a better handle on such things that Richard Innes, education policy analyst for the Bluegrass Institute.  In recent blog posts Innes has spelled out exactly why both reports should be taken with a major grain of salt.

First, as Innes has written about previously, using simple state-by-state comparisons of National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores, as both reports do, is extremely problematic.  While the NAEP is a well-respected and meaningful tool for measuring longitudinal shifts in student learning, disaggregating NAEP data by demographics paints a much richer picture of educational outcomes, and many states exclude special needs students from taking the NAEP at very high rates (in fact, Kentucky is one of the worst in this respect).

Second, Kentucky's gains this year on the EdWeek Quality Counts report derive entirely from the state's progress in establishing standards and assessments for college and career readiness, not from actual improvements in student achievement.  While it's good that we've made progress in this regard, lauding this year's ranking as some kind of evidence that we're doing substantially better than in the past is misleading.

In fact, as Innes points out, NAEP data reveals that we have a very long way to go in Kentucky, and in many other states as well.  Only one in three Kentucky fourth and eighth graders are proficient in basic skills.  Self-congratulations are premature at this point.

From my perspective, the StudentsFirst report, which ranked Kentucky's educational system very low, is heavily biased toward a handful of specific policy goals that organization has made a top priority, like abolishing seniority systems that protect underperforming teachers just because they are more experienced than other (sometimes more effective) colleagues.  The StudentsFirst report also ranked Kentucky very low for its refusal to allow charter schools and other mechanisms of parental choice.

I am in favor of these policy goals (regular readers know I believe strongly in school choice), but it's important to know that the StudentsFirst report reveals more about Rhee's organization and its agenda than the actual educational performance of the states in its rankings.

As I wrote last year after Kentucky's first major jump in the Quality Counts ranking, the state deserves major credit for making sweeping improvements to curriculum, assessment, and educator evaluation systems.  But all of these changes are simply laying the foundation for the real work still to come: making substantial improvements in day-to-day classroom practice. Progress is being made in this respect too (see this blog post where I enumerate the specific areas of instructional practice Kentucky has improved). 

These are the things Kentucky educators should be proud of, rather than some largely arbitrary rankings reports.  But let's save the celebrations until we start getting more dramatic results.

UPDATED: Montell files Kentucky charter bill for 2013 legislative session

As expected, Kentucky Representative Brad Montell (R-Shelbyville) has filed a bill to allow charter schools in Kentucky.  This is a reprise of Montell's well-crafted bill from last year which was discussed (but not voted on) in the House Education committee.

Kentucky is now one of only eight states that prohibit the creation of charter schools.

I have written extensively in support of charter schools and school choice in general on this blog and hope that Mr. Montell's bill gets a serious look.  Incoming Senate Education chair Mike Wilson (R-Bowling Green) has expressed his support.

Read more on why I believe charter schools are the right way to go for Kentucky:

• The basic case for charters: they offer an optimal level of autonomy and accountability
• Anti-charter school forces frequently cite studies claiming that charter schools do no better than traditional public schools in terms of student achievement.  But a recent research review found that many of these studies have serious methodological flaws.  Research that is well-crafted has found that charter students do as well or better than their traditional school peers.
• Research also finds that teaching conditions in charter schools are as good or better than in traditional public schools, though charter teachers report higher levels of involvement in school-wide decision making.
• Charter opponents claim school choice would drain resources from under-funded schools, but last year's voucher program (which is, admittedly, different than a charter plan per se) in Indiana saved the state millions in taxpayer money.
• Charter opponents also suggest that charter schools will underserve at-risk students or students with special needs.  But experiences in other states (New York and Arkansas) suggest that some charters will actually excel at educating tough-to-teach students.
• Some charter schools will succeed, others will fail; that's the point.  Choice and competition are good things and they don't currently exist in our present system.

And finally, Kentucky's "districts of innovation" law does not in any way address the need for charters and choice in Kentucky, as I've discussed here and here.

UPDATE: I communicated with Rep. Montell today and learned that his bill differs in a few significant ways from the charter proposal submitted last year.  Chiefly, his current bill phases in charter schools with a five-year pilot period during which a maximum of 15 new charter schools could be opened each year, and at least half of those schools would have to be located within a three-mile radius of a school where at least 50% of students receive free or reduced-price meals.

We didn't discuss the rationale for this change, but it may be somewhat more acceptable to lawmakers and citizens concerned about a rapid influx of charters and to ensure that low-income families get the maximum benefit.

Transform schooling: Scrap the "schedule"

A persistent theme in my teaching, writing, and thinking about education the last few years has been the notion that school as we know it must be dismantled and recreated if we ever want schools to accomplish the goals we have set for them.   A key structure of the current schooling system that persistently stands in the way of innovation and learning is the school schedule.  And by schedule I mean the whole array of ways schools fracture the school day from upper elementary grades on up, including the various iterations of the high school schedule, whether's the "traditional" six-period day, the A/B block, the trimester, or what have you. 

While high schools continue to change their schedules every year, somehow looking for the right fix for student learning (the last time I checked there wasn't a shred of research evidence that the schedule structure actually impacts student achievement), more creative thinkers have concluded that its the "schedule" itself that has to go.

Teacher Shawn Cornally offers a short but wide-ranging blog post arguing just this.  The instructional implications are vast, of course.  If we scrapped the century-old practice of fragmenting the school day into disconnected blocks of time wherein a different subject is "taught" each "period," we would have to rethink the whole role of teacher and student.  And by all means, that's exactly what we ought to do:

What if we removed the passive course-to-course drudgery of the school day? What if there was no schedule? What if students were left with a list of coyly worded benchmarks targeted at creating quality humans, and we just waited to see what they could do? What if teachers were seen as mentors for projects designed to help students meet those benchmarks? What if the students initiated these projects and the teachers spent their time recording TED-style talks that would serve as inspiration and help students generate benchmark-related ideas?

Cornally is talking about an approach to learning that is highly student centered, driven by project-based learning, and assessed using standards-based grading (if "grading" remains at all):

If students spent their time producing authentic projects instead of driving toward test scores, it would provide tangible measurement of what they can do, and the tug-of-war over the meaning of grades would end. But as long as we keep the current way classes are scheduled, we will continue claiming that we just don’t have time for learning.

I'm always amazed by the number of educators who cannot imagine such a scenario.  But the way we "do" school is no accident and certainly doesn't exist by divine mandate.  We built schools to work this way, and now we can't another fathom approach.  Unless we figure out a new way, schooling is going to become increasingly irrelevant and ineffective.

Read Cornally's full post here.

UPDATE: See Elizabeth English's piece at the Huffington Post on "Why So Many Schools Remain Penitentiaries of Boredom."