Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School - Chapter 2 Review

Chapter 2 of Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School lays out a different thesis than chapter 1; in this chapter the authors begin their examination of who teachers are, what they deal with every day, and the competing views of teachers in general.

 

Hargreaves and Fullan go to great lengths to describe the problems that teachers face in their profession  Low support, technology inequity, and performance based pay are just a few of the major issues that the authors highlight.  The authors also go on to describe "flaws" in the U.S. educational strategy that create a culture for educational ineffectiveness.  Overwhelming compliance issues, merit based pay, and school environment are highlighted at great length.   

It is all of these issues, however, that I believe Hargreaves and Fullan highlight to prepare the reader to understand that in the midst of the myriad struggles facing the teaching profession, teachers are still important.  And to sustain their importance, we must understand a few key tenants:

• Good teaching is technically sophisticated and difficult
• Good teaching requires high levels of education and long periods of training
• Good teaching is perfected through continuous improvement
• Good teaching involves wise judgments informed by evidence and experience
• Good teaching is a collective accomplishment and responsibility   

In the end, Hargreaves and Fullan begin to lay the groundwork to argue their points to transform teaching in every school.  The authors admit that "to change anything, we must first know what it is that we are changing" (23).  In chapter three, they will go deeper into the nature of teaching in an attempt to know what we attempting to change. 

OTES Changes!

On June 4, some important changes were made to OTES; understanding these changes will be important for implementation of OTES in school districts.  The changes are listed below.  Go to http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/News/Changes-to-Ohio-Teacher-Evaluation-System-for-2014 to read more about the changes. 


Changes to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3319.111


TEACHERS RATED ACCOMPLISHED OR SKILLED BEGINNING IN 2014-2015
A board of education may elect to evaluate a teacher receiving a rating of accomplished every threeyears as long as the teacher’s student academic growth measure for the most recent school year forwhich data is available is average or higher.

A board of education may elect to evaluate a teacher receiving a rating of skilled every two years aslong as the teacher’s student academic growth measure for the most recent school year for which datais available is average or higher.

In any year in which a teacher who has not been formally evaluated as a result of having previouslyreceived a rating of accomplished or skilled, a credentialed evaluator shall conduct at least oneobservation of the teacher and hold at least one conference with the teacher. This also applies toteachers who received an accomplished rating in 2013-2014.

TEACHERS ON LEAVE OR RETIRING
A board of education may elect not to conduct an evaluation of a teacher who: (1) was on leave for 50percent or more of the school year; or (2) has submitted notice of retirement on or before Dec. 1 of theschool year.


Changes to ORC 3319.112 and New ORC 3319.114
OPTION TO USE ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK
For the 2014-2015 school year, a district or school may choose to use either the 50 percent teacherperformance and 50 percent student growth measure framework (ORC 3319.112) or the followingalternative framework (ORC 3319.114):

oTeacher performance measure shall be 42.5 percent

oStudent academic growth measure shall be 42.5 percent

oOne of the following components shall be 15 percent:

Student surveys;

Teacher self-evaluations;

Peer review evaluations;

Student portfolios.

Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year and any school year thereafter, a district or school maychoose to use either the 50 percent teacher performance and 50 percent student growth measureframework (ORC 3319.112) or the following alternative framework (ORC 3319.114):

• Teacher performance measure shall account for 42.5 to 50 percent

• Student academic growth measure shall account for 42.5 to 50 percent

• Remainder shall be one of the following components:

Student surveys;
Teacher self-evaluations;
Peer review evaluations;
Student portfolios.

• If a district or school chooses to use the alternative framework, the teacher performancemeasure and the student academic growth measure shall account for equal percentages ofeach rating.

ODE-APPROVED INSTRUMENTS

The Ohio Department of Education must compile a list of approved instruments for districts and schoolsto use when evaluating teachers using student surveys, teacher self-evaluations, peer reviewevaluations and student portfolios.

Districts and schools must choose one of the ODE-approved instruments if they are using thealternative framework.

 

Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School - Chapter 1 Review

This time I'm serious!  I've been picking away at this book all year, but now I'm committing to reviewing it on TeachingtoLead.  Stay tuned for more.  (The following is a re-post from May 13, 2014)

To begin my summer book review series, I’ve decided to read an intriguing book called Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan.  I’ll dedicate a new post to my reactions on each chapter.  Feel free to comment and join in the conversation. 

Chapter 1: A Capital Idea

Hargreaves and Fullan do a great job in chapter 1 to establish the groundwork for their ultimate thesis: to change education through “professional capital” and “articulate an inspiring vision of the future for the teaching profession, along with a coherent set of actions to get there” (9). 

To establish an understanding of professional capital, the authors mention several different types of capital: financial capital, business capital, cultural capital, spiritual capital, and “natural” capital (1).  However, to better understand the types of capital that make up professional capital, the authors’ definitions are as follows:

1.       Human Capital – the “talent” of the individual and his ability to use his talent to be a great classroom teacher (3)

2.       Social Capital – the relationships and interactions among teachers and between teachers and administrators (3)

3.       Decisional Capital – exercising judgments and decisions with collective responsibility, openness to feedback, and willing transparency (5)

These three types of capital, according to the authors, make up professional capital. 

In the long run, the author’s argue, that cultivating human capital (talents) and relying only on human capital to sustain education will ultimately fail.  Programs like Teach for America rely on human capital and take advantage of highly talented individuals to step into schools and teach.  However, these “teachers” cannot sustain a school and leave after several short years because they are overworked, burned out, and underpaid. 

The only real way to sustain a high standard of education is to invest in social capital.  According to the authors, investing in a school’s social capital will also increase the human capital of the school; this idea will not work in reverse order, by the way. 

In the end, the authors state that 40% of teachers in the United States are ‘disheartened’ with their jobs (6) and the only way to create dedicated, creative, and dynamic teachers is to invest in the social capital of the school.  While professional capital is comprised of human, social, and decisional capital, the relationships and interactions among teachers and between teachers and administrators is a key component to creating a healthy school. 

Making Peace with the Common Core

It was not surprising to see several articles in the June 2014 edition of OhioSchools magazine that highlighted the mounting concerns with the implementation of the more rigorous Common Core standards and the increase in high-stakes standardized testing.  As these articles simply mirror the voices of teachers and administrators across our state, I fear that after several years of aligning assessments and courses of study to the Common Core, we have still not made peace with the changes that are immediately in front of us. 

In my own experiences, I've talked with teachers who are comfortable with these changes and are at the forefront of experimenting with performance based assessments and more diverse digital resources that increase the rigor and relevance of the content in their classrooms, but I've also met with many teachers who are not ready to face the changes that the Common Core and new testing have brought forth.

So the challenge that we face as administrators is: How do we make peace with the Common Core?

I offer a few ideas here to perhaps assuage the fears of our staff members who need the most support, but I also hope these suggestions compliment the strengths of our best teachers. 

• Professional Development - While this is a no-brainer, it must be mentioned.  Listen to the voices of those teachers who need support and provide a variety of professional development opportunities for all teachers to access.  
• Mentorship - Listen to the voices of those teachers who are leading the change process.  Create mentorship opportunities for these teachers to meet with other teachers and discuss the changes they've made in their classrooms.  Create time for struggling teachers to observe and emulate those teachers in your schools who are tackling the challenges of the Common Core head on.  
• Utilize technology - I'm not talking about teaching here!  I'm talking about using technology as a means of engaging stakeholders in discussion about the Common Core and spreading the word about what your school and district are doing to prepare teachers, educate students, and inform parents about the new standards.  Administrators should be using Twitter, blogs, district websites, etc. to extend the message outside the walls of their schools. 
• Focus on the big picture - There is certainly a place for compliance, but with so many initiatives been created to combat the myriad issues facing schools today, it may be important to examine the non-negotiable initiatives already in place and determine if there are some processes that do not compliment the Common Core vision of your schools.  

In the end, there is no silver bullet.  Change is an arduous process; it leaves many people frustrated, angry, and dismissive.  If we focus on developing the relationships between our best teachers and those teachers who need the most support, and focus less on compliance and more on vision, I think there is a chance to make peace with the Common Core. 

Video Games Engage Children with Disabilities

As a teacher, I spent countless hours adjusting lesson plans and activities or modifying the content of my lessons to make literature accessible to every student in my classroom.  As an administrator, I've worked with teachers and students to continue that work.  However, it is not only the educational world who is making changes to reach everyone. 

In the most recent issue of Game Informer Magazine (#254), Kyle Hilliard's story "Creating Controllers For All Disabilities" briefly follows the life of Lee Knight and his experiences with spinal muscular atrophy.  When Knight reached 11 years old, he began to experience the debilitating effects of spinal muscular atrophy and was wheelchair bound by age 12.  What Hilliard highlights in this story, however, is that Knight was an avid video game player and with the help of organizations like Special Effect, a charity organization that makes video games accessible to disabled gamers, Knight is able to continue to enjoy playing video games. 

With a small team, Special Effect modifies controllers according to a person's disability to allow them the ability to play video games.  In Knight's story, Special Effect created a controller the utilized his chin to manipulate the control sticks and placed the buttons of the Xbox 360 game controller underneath his fingers.  Additionally, they included a special device that allows Knight to control buttons on the game pad using voice commands. 

In the educational world, teachers and administrators work very hard to make curriculum accessible to students with disabilities.  While our modifications make look different, they don't differ much from the kinds of changes that Special Effect makes.  In the end, we both take on the task of looking at each individual person to make appropriate modifications and we both have a goal of making life for the person with the disability more enjoyable. 

Knight, in response to Special Effect's help in creating the modified controller said, 'All my life I've played games and [Special Effect] have bridged the gap between what I can and can't do.'  As a school administrator, I certainly hope our students will someday utter those same words as they progress in their own academic careers. 

**To read Kyle Hilliard's article "Creating Controllers For All Disabilities" go to your nearest GameStop retailer and politely ask for issue 254. 

**To learn more about Special Effect visit http://www.specialeffect.org.uk/.