Both Michael Fullan’s The Moral Imperative of School Leadership (2003) and The Moral Imperative Realized (2011) resonate with me as a school leader. Fullan (2003) defines “the moral imperative” as raising student achievement for all students and narrowing the achievement gap. Paramount is establishing strong relationships with teachers during the “deep cultural change” through respect, competence, personal regard for others, and integrity. It is about celebrating small successes, modelling hope, optimism, lifelong learning, and caring for others. As Fullan (2003) strongly states: “Conflict avoidance in the face of poor performance is an act of moral neglect” (p. 32).

To achieve the moral imperative, principals need to be instructional leaders, focused on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and the professional culture. The principal’s role is to guide and support using a distributive leadership model. He talks about getting the right teachers on the bus and in the right seats, in order to steer the bus. One’s success can be measured by not only by the impact of the change but with how many school leaders are left behind to continue implementation when the principal’s tenure is over. Fullan (2011) emphasizes through a professional learning community, teachers are engaged in job-embedded learning. It is through teachers supporting and pressuring each other that results in the impact making its way into the classroom.

Reflection
Reality is administrators’ days are filled with the day-to-day operations. We must remember the importance of being instructional leaders – to do classroom walk-throughs, to engage with teachers on instruction. Fullan’s books remind me of what is important – student achievement – and how to get there - by being instructional leaders. This is what makes being in education so exciting and complex: we cannot give up any student. A wonderful quote that comes to mind is from Mary Jean Gallagher, at the fall 2011 Quest conference: "When you leave a child behind, you might leave the next Prime Minister behind." Each student is unique; education is the equalizer to a better future. What a legacy each of us will leave behind :-)

Follow-Up: The Four-Letter Word That Can Help New Teachers

Follow-Up: The Four-Letter Word That Can Help New Teachers

By Kate Mulcahy on January 24, 2012 2:35 PM

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_ahead/2012/01/the_four-letter_word_that_can_prepare_new_teachers_for_success.html

It's a four-letter word, but it's what most teachers would say when asked to name the key factor in improving our profession: Time. We need more time to plan, learn, and collaborate, so that our time with students is more effective. And it shouldn't be surprising that (as my colleagues have stated in their responses below) preservice teachers need more guided time in classrooms.

Ideally, a new teacher should develop her own craft under the guidance of a mentor. As policy expert Dana Barlin states, "One of a mentor's chief jobs is to help a new teacher close the 'knowing-doing' gap by learning to apply knowledge of best practices to daily classroom routines."

A new teacher should see educational theory applied in real time by a skilled veteran and not have to guess what it's supposed to look like in her own classroom. The knowing-doing gap can be disheartening for a new teacher who is comparing her chaotic classroom to the ideal classrooms of her teacher-education textbooks, and she could easily settle on blaming herself for her classroom short comings, questioning whether she should be a teacher at all.

Skilled veterans can also benefit from mentoring experiences. My own mentor told me that having a new teacher in her classroom kept her teaching "fresh." In my own experience, I have seen the pendulum can swing to the other extreme: after several years of teaching, even the best teacher can lose his or her connections with new techniques or technologies. A new teacher will bring new ideas.

Finally, as Anna pointed out, if new teachers had the time to develop their skills under the leadership of a mentor, students might not suffer the growing pains. Right now, most new teachers (62 percent, by one estimate) feel underprepared. Consider this next to the fact that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession after only five years (nice—if sobering—stats, Linda!). By not taking the time to fully prepare our new teachers, it's clear that we are setting them up to fail.

Now, I'm no statistician, but I know that this situation adds up to trouble for our kids—who matter most, and would most benefit from new teachers having more quality time in a mentor's classroom. They would have confident, capable teachers who would be there—more than a year or two—to support their students. The only question is will our profession move itself out of the current broken teacher-educational model? Seems like only time will tell.

Kate Mulcahy, a Boettcher Teachers Program graduate, has taught for five years as an English & English-Language Learner teacher at Northglenn High School in Colorado.


Reflections

We all know teaching is complex. My own high schools teachers often stood in front of the class, lectured, and covered curriculum - some did not even learn students' names. To be effective, you needed to know your subject material and be able to manage the classroom so students sat quietly in rows. Fortunately, I had a forward-thinking mathematics education instructor when earning my BEd teaching degree along with an associate teacher who allowed me to try non-traditional teaching practices.

I know why I have been an effective educator - throughout my career, I have had experienced educators and mentors who have supported and invested in my professional growth and development. Take my first year of teaching, my math department head was assigned as my mentor at the all-girls independent school. The endless hours he spent listening and offering advice to me made all the difference from quitting. During my second to fifth years of teaching, my mentor was my math head in Belleville. Again, I had a mentor who sterring me in the right direction. When I transferred to the York Region DSB, I was given leadership positions as assistant math head, math head, and now vice-principal. I konw I would never had gotten to where I am without former principals and vice-principals who served as mentors and encouraged me. Teaching is a journey and life-long learning -- it is an art and science.

As I have grown so much through my mentors, I have given back to the profession by hosting 20 teacher candidates and volunteers. It's always welcoming to know the latest happenings in the faculty of education. Observing teacher candidates in the classroom allows me to reflect on my own practices.

New teachers bring enthusiasm and passion to the profession. Experienced teachers bring experience to the profession. We need each other! In Ontario, we have the New Teacher Induction Programme (NTIP) in which each new teacher is assigned an experienced teacher to serve as mentor. For NTIP to truly be beneficial, it would be great for the mentor to visit the new teacher's classroom (and vice-versa) and offer descriptive feedback on the lesson - non-evaluative. The professional dialogue would be growth to both mentor and mentee. Trust is so important to make this work.

As a vice-principal, I do my best to support new teachers. I will never forget those who supported and encouraged me. Teaching is difficult - especially if you are assigned to courses that the experienced teachers don't want (fortunately I didn't get that). When I was department head, I always believed the toughest courses should go to experienced teachers. New teachers are hired for potential - it's our responsibility to ensure they experience a successful year. Now in my 16th year in education, I still have the passion and enthusiasm for teaching as I did when I was a teacher candidate.

What's Worth Fighting For in the Principalship 2nd Edition

What’s Worth Fighting For in the Principalship 2nd Edition by Michael Fullan

We are reminded that teachers and administration are the top 2 factors to improving student achievement (Leithwood, 2007). As the daily operations of a school can consume an administrator’s entire day, Fullan emphasizes the need to balance both operational leadership and instructional leadership. It is through emphasis on professional development of teachers that the achievement gap can be closed, but it is not easy: “Changing culture is the principal’s hardest job because there is so much previous structure and culture to overcome” (p. 18)

Fullan reminds us of the importance of creating professional learning communities. Teachers can work collaboratively to discuss teaching and learning, observe each other teach, and use data to inform instruction and for accountability purposes. The role of principal is to create those conditions conductive to PLCs as they are the lead teacher or instructional leader: “Effective principals spend their time creating the conditions for teachers and teacher leaders to zero-in on effective instructional practices, and to use data on student learning both as a lever for improvement and as a source for external accountability” (p. 17)

Getting the right people on the bus is vital for sustainability. That includes literacy teachers, subject heads, and encouraging strong curriculum leaders to pursue administration. For professional learning to be effective, it must make its way into the classroom. Through distributive leadership, teachers come to see how change is applicable in their subject disciplines and courses.

The Value of Teachers

Great article from the NY Times, January 11, 2012. Once again, goes to show the impact of effective teachers - as Ken Leithwood has found is the #1 factor to improving student achievement. As administrators, we must focus our energies in supporting teachers with ensuring instruction is differentiated and driven by assessment for learning. Every student needs an important adult...


The Value of Teachers

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF


Suppose your child is about to enter the fourth grade and has been assigned to an excellent teacher. Then the teacher decides to quit. What should you do?

The correct answer? Panic!

Well, not exactly. But a landmark new research paper underscores that the difference between a strong teacher and a weak teacher lasts a lifetime. Having a good fourth-grade teacher makes a student 1.25 percent more likely to go to college, the research suggests, and 1.25 percent less likely to get pregnant as a teenager. Each of the students will go on as an adult to earn, on average, $25,000 more over a lifetime — or about $700,000 in gains for an average size class — all attributable to that ace teacher back in the fourth grade. That’s right: A great teacher is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to each year’s students, just in the extra income they will earn.

The study, by economists at Harvard and Columbia universities, finds that if a great teacher is leaving, parents should hold bake sales or pass the hat around in hopes of collectively offering the teacher as much as a $100,000 bonus to stay for an extra year. Sure, that’s implausible — but their children would gain a benefit that far exceeds even that sum.

Conversely, a very poor teacher has the same effect as a pupil missing 40 percent of the school year. We don’t allow that kind of truancy, so it’s not clear why we should put up with such poor teaching. In fact, the study shows that parents should pay a bad teacher $100,000 to retire (assuming the replacement is of average quality) because a weak teacher holds children back so much.

Our faltering education system may be the most important long-term threat to America’s economy and national well-being, so it’s frustrating that the presidential campaign is mostly ignoring the issue. Candidates are bloviating about all kinds of imaginary or exaggerated threats, while ignoring the most crucial one.

Mitt Romney, who after his victory in New Hampshire on Tuesday seems increasingly likely to be the Republican nominee, refers to education only in passing on his Web site. The topic receives no substantive discussion in his 160-page “Believe in America” economic plan.

This latest study should elevate the issue on the national agenda, because it not only underscores the importance of education but also illuminates how we might improve schools.

An essential answer: more good teachers. Or, to put it another way, fewer bad teachers. The obvious policy solution is more pay for good teachers, more dismissals for weak teachers.

One of the paradoxes of the school reform debate is that teachers’ unions have resisted a focus on teacher quality; instead, they emphasize that the home is the foremost influence and that teachers can only do so much.

That’s all true, and (as I’ve often written) we need an array of other antipoverty measures as well, especially early childhood programs. But the evidence is now overwhelming that even in a grim high-poverty school, some teachers have far more impact on their students than those in the classroom next door. Three consecutive years of data from student tests — the “value added” between student scores at the beginning and end of each year — reveal a great deal about whether a teacher is working out, the researchers found.

This study, by Raj Chetty and John N. Friedman of Harvard University and Jonah E. Rockoff of Columbia University, was influential because it involved a huge database of one million students followed from fourth grade to adulthood.

The blog of the Albert Shanker Institute, endowed by the American Federation of Teachers, praised the study as “one of the most dense, important and interesting analyses on this topic in a very long time” — although it cautioned against policy conclusions (of the kind that I’m reaching).

What shone through the study was the variation among teachers. Great teachers not only raised test scores significantly — an effect that mostly faded within a few years — but also left their students with better life outcomes. A great teacher (defined as one better than 84 percent of peers) for a single year between fourth and eighth grades resulted in students earning almost 1 percent more at age 28.

Suppose that the bottom 5 percent of teachers could be replaced by teachers of average quality. The three economists found that each student in the classroom would have extra cumulative lifetime earnings of more than $52,000. That’s more than $1.4 million in gains for the classroom.

Some Republicans worry that a federal role in education smacks of socialism. On the contrary, schools represent a tough-minded business investment in our economic future. And, increasingly, we’re getting solid evidence of what reforms may help: teacher evaluations based on student performance, higher pay and prestige for good teachers, dismissals for weak teachers.

That, and not most of the fireworks that passes for politics these days, is the debate we should be having on a national stage.

What Works in Schools

What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action by Robert Marzano c2003 ASCD

What Works in Schools uses 35 years of research to organize 3 level factors that impact student achievement: school-level, teacher-level, and student-level.

School-Level Factors
1. Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (identify essential content, organize, sequence)
2. Challenging Goals and Effective Feedback (high expectations for all students; communicate learning goals; timely, descriptive feedback)
3. Parent and Community Involvement
4. Safe and Orderly Environment (school wide rules and procedures with consequences)
5. Collegiality and Professionalism (correlates to school climate and student achievement)

Teacher-Level Factors
6. Instructional Strategies
7. Classroom Management
8. Classroom Curriculum Design (sequencing and pacing of content – to facilitate construction of meaning)

Student-Level Factors
9. Home Environment (much stronger relationship with student achievement than do household income, occupation, and education)
10. Learned Intelligence and Background Knowledge
11. Student Motivation

It is very clear that the teacher is key to improving student achievement: “54 percentile point discrepancy in achievement gains between students with least effective teachers versus those with most effective teachers – 29 percentage points versus 83 percentage points respectively over three years” (p. 73). Administrators need to be the instructional leaders who respect and trust teachers as they facilitate implementation of the reforms. With data being the driving force to improving student achievement, administrators need to work with teachers to, as discussed in chapter 17: 1. Take pulse of school; 2. Identify and implement intervention; 3. Examine effect on achievement; 4. Move to next issue.

Marzano reminds us teachers need to see how the PD learned can be applicable to their subject disciplines if it is to make its way into classrooms. When I was a classroom teacher, I viewed my classroom as a “laboratory” where I conducted action research. I remember investigating the impact of using reading-to-learn and writing-to-learn strategies on student achievement and the affective. Two years ago, I was involved with a small group of teachers at my former school in a ministry project on Assessment for Learning, with culminated in a video being produced. The education officers provided monthly workshops after which one of them observed the class during implementation, followed by feedback. This repeated itself on a monthly basis and allowed for much growth and reflection. Through the process, my confidence grew as my assessment was now driving the instruction. Such learning became lasting in all my classes as I wrote learning goals on the chalkboard, co-constructed the success criteria with the class, provided descriptive feedback, and students self and peer assessed. The impact on student achievement was significant.

We are reminded: “If a school is willing to do all that it can at the school level and if all teachers in the school are at least competent in their profession, the school can have a tremendous impact on student achievement” (p. 75). It is focusing on teachers and their instructional practices that makes all the difference. Marzano’s 9 are: Identifying similarities and differences; summarizing and note taking; reinforcing effort and providing recognition; homework and practice; non-linguistic representations (mental images, pictures, graphic organizers, act out, physical models); cooperative learning; setting objectives and providing feedback; generating and testing hypotheses; questions/cues/advance organizers. Interesting data provided: “schools generally account for only 20 percent of the variance in student achievement and that student background characteristics account for the other 80 percent...the negative effects of these factors can be overcome” (p. 123, 125).

* The videos are available on the Ontario Ministry of Education web site: http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/aer2/aervideo/planningassessmentwithinstruction.html

Creating the Opportunity to Learn

Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap by Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera. ASCD, 2011

Reflections
The focus of Creating the Opportunity to Learn is to close the achievement gap of Blacks and Latinos. I am reminded of the quote “Good for all. Essential for some” by then-Education Officer Anthony Azzopardi back in 2005 when I was contracted to help rewrite the Ontario high school mathematics curriculum. The reality is teachers have students with varying abilities, interests, and readiness. There may be students who have immigrated to Canada from war countries and have not been in school for a few years. There may be students living in poverty. There may be students functioning at the beginnings of the English language. To close the achievement gap, which has remained virtually unchanged, we must meet the needs of our at-risks students. Research gives us hope: “Under the right conditions, poor and minority group children can achieve at high levels” (p. xi)”.

It all begins with relationships and having high expectations for all students. Students know if we genuinely care. We must be disturbed with the findings of the meta-analysis from 1968 to 2003 of Tenenbaum & Ruck (2007): “Teachers have more positive expectations for White students than they do for Black or Latino students. Teachers direct more positive speech (in the form of praise, affirmations, and positive feedback) toward White students” (in Boykin & Noguera, p. 79). With low expectations, these students get asked low-ordered questions, receive more criticism than praise, and less time to answer questions. Sizer (1984) reminds us that “schools should function as the equalizers of opportunity” (in Boykin & Noguera, p. 199) so we must confront out stereotypes.

In addition to high expectations for all students, we need to focus on teachers’ instructional and assessment practices. Much has been written about differentiating instruction and assessment for learning. The focus is on meeting students’ academic, social, and emotional needs – not just “cover curriculum”. At my previous school, I was a part of a pilot study on implementing Assessment for Learning (AfL) – writing and sharing learning goals, co-constructing success criteria with the class, providing descriptive feedback, and student self and peer assessment. My class in the video studyquickly saw how Alf made them actively engaged in their learning, resulting in: “The more self-efficacious a student is, the more likely he or she will pursue adaptive self-regulatory learning strategies and believe that effort matters. The more self-regulated a student is, the more confident he or she will be about the possibility of success and believe that efforts will make him or her ‘smarter’” (p. 67). Similar findings occurred in all subsequent classes, including grade 9 applied mathematics, with AfL being used to drive the instruction.

As Chenoweth (2007) reminds us: “...simply must do whatever it takes to meet the educational and social needs of the children they serve...there is no one single factor that is at the core of a successful school...there is no magic bullet” (in Boykin and Noguera p. 179). Further, “catching up is difficult, particularly when one considers that middle-class White students often have access to substantially superior resources, both within school and at home, that affect learning outcomes” (p. 15). Through the complexity, we cannot give up. We know from the research of Ken Leithwood that the teacher is key. Through quality teacher-student relationships, teachers are empathetic, supportive, fair, and genuinely care. With each small success, students gain confidence and self-efficacy. We need all students actively engaged in higher-order thinking, critical thinking, and problem solving – and they need to see what they are learning relevant and meaningful. We need teachers engaged in professional learning conversations about best practices and development. We need parents as partners. We may need the support of guidance counsellors, administration, and the school social worker. This is a team effort and a worthy one.

Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity

Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity for All By Avis Glaze, Ruth Mattingley, Ben Levin. Published by Pearson Canada, 2012

Equity is defined as giving each student what is needed to be successful – what that looks like differs from student to student. Having high expectations for all students is paramount in reducing the achievement gap. Regardless of student’s race, culture, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, special needs, “All students come to school with a range of strengths and talents. It is important for educators to build on students’ prior knowledge and experiences and not focus solely on the challenges they face” (p. ix). Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity for All describes 21 high-impact strategies organized into 5 key areas of focus for equity of outcomes:
• Strategy 1: High expectations for all students (failure is not an option)
• Inclusive School Culture
o Strategy 2: Build relationships
o Strategy 3: Help students feel safe and respected at school
o Strategy 4: Offer flexible programming
o Strategy 5: Establish career development as an integral part of the
curriculum
• Instructional Practices
o Strategy 6: Focus on literacy across all subjects
o Strategy 7: Develop oral language
o Strategy 8: Differentiate instruction
o Strategy 9: Emphasize higher-order and critical thinking skills
o Strategy 10: Make formative assessment integral to learning
o Strategy 11: Integrate the arts
• Culturally Responsive Classroom Experiences
o Strategy 12: Practise culturally responsive teaching
o Strategy 13: Make classroom activities culturally responsive
o Strategy 14: Select culturally reflective learning materials and resources
• Early Interventions
o Strategy 15: Implement early and ongoing interventions
o Strategy 16: Provide tutoring
o Strategy 17: Support summer learning opportunities
o Strategy 18: Strengthen access to guidance and counselling
• Character Development
o Strategy 19: Identify character attributes
o Strategy 20: Promote inclusive practices
o Strategy 21: Maximize student engagement

Reflections
I truly believe all students can achieve and be successful. As educators, we must put students at the forefront – support them academically, socially, and emotionally. We know from Ken Leithwood that teachers are the number 1 factor to student success and they need to differentiate instruction and use assessment for learning to drive their teaching. Students need to experience genuine success which builds confidence and the desire to learn more. They need to know we care: “Teaching is about human relationships. The more we as educators learn about our students, the more they are likely to learn from us” (Cummins, 2007, in Glaze et al, p. 45). As a vice-principal, I strive to be visible in the hallways, visit classrooms, and get to know students as they work in the library or are called down to my office.

School is our second home – or home away from home. We must take good care of it – that means ensuring it is a safe place to be, where we treat each other with respect, and where each student is here to learn and can reach their potential. All students feel welcomed (regardless of race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, special needs) and are connected to the school (including participation in clubs and sports). They see themselves represented in curriculum and are given a voice on how the school culture can be improved. Bullying and any type of discrimination or harassment are unacceptable and will be dealt with consequences and with learning outcomes. For teachers, instructional time is preserved, and where the workplace is a professional learning community so they can continue to develop. Administrators are responsible for providing such conditions and by serving as instructional leaders.

I agree that literacy is key. When I taught high school mathematics, I modelled and expected students to strengthen their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Each subject discipline has its own vocabulary which needs to be explicitly taught. Reading a mathematical text is not the same as reading a novel in English class. I am proud to have introduced ESL mathematics at the grades 9 and 10 academic levels at my previous school – we focused on literacy to get at the mathematics. As vice-principal, I work with the 5% of the student population who for whatever reasons are not attending class regularly and are disengaged. In my diagnostic questions, I ask about how much reading they do outside of school. If students don’t read then they can read aloud for 20 minutes in my office. I walk the talk as reading is a gift that opens doors to learning.

When I was mathematics head, I received criticism from colleagues for “saving” students. For 3 years, part of my timetable was with the Alternative Education department. Since class maximum is 16 students, I would, with parental and student approval, move students into my Alt Educ class with a level change. Previously, they were resistant to the move and only become receptive when they see the realities of failure. As a vice-principal, I wear a “guidance counsellor hat” and see if a level change can be made before the mid-term; else it becomes me intervening and working with both student and teacher. Fortunately, I also have my student success teacher, special education, ESL, and child-youth worker for support.

Ultimately, it is Character Education traits that I want to see as the end product of our graduating students. My board, York Region DSB, has 10 such traits, spearheaded by Glaze when she was a superintendent in York Region: respect, honesty, courage, optimism, responsibility, perseverance, empathy, fairness, integrity, initiative. The learning skills component of the report card is so important since we need students to adapt to the ever-changing society (e.g., explosion of technology). I am enthused when conducting Teacher Performance Appraisals as a vice-principal that teachers track students’ learning skills and ask them to self-assess them with reasons.

One area of inequity that continues to “bug” me is the private schools where students can buy their credit with high marks (universities treat the mark at face-value). This is so unfair to students who live in poverty. I have students in my office who no longer live at home and must self-support, while others have parents who must work 2 jobs to put food on the table.