A Five year Strategic Plan

It's funny how schools have to develop a 5 year strategic plan. My gut reaction is, a 5 year plan without our "best guess_ vision" of what we think education can look like in 5 years will only put us another 5 years behind. In fact, at the rate of technological innovation and invention of new ways to apply it to education, we could fall even a higher multiple of 5 years behind. So, whatever plan schools develop, there has to be a built in flexibility, a "research and development" initiative that will do it's best to keep up with the on-line educational community and technology.

This is the strategy our committee was given:

Strategy #1 Develop and implement plans for the integration of technology, curriculum, instruction and assessment to help students meet Aurora Standards on Achievement tests and academic benchmarks, to include special needs students and co-curricular programs.


Our first step was to define a couple words from above


Definition of education - noun
the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university: a course of education. • the theory and practice of teaching: colleges of education. • [count noun] a body of knowledge acquired while being educated: his ...
(From The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised) in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses)

Definition - to instruct
impart knowledge to; direct, command; put in order.

(From The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology in English Language Reference)

Our first step as a group was to decide on whether the questions that were in the “instruction” category actually were questions dealing with “instruction”.

Second we decided to categorize the research ideas and questions into 4 divisions. Those divisions were:

1. Assessment
…the process of gathering information about students-what they know and can do.
(From Authentic Assessment a handbook for educators ; Diane Hart, Addison-Wesley pub., c.1994)

• What is Collaboration and common assessments?
• What is Systemic strategy for intervention and support?
• How do we measure continued improvement on test scores? (moved from Aurora Standards)
• What models are available for systematic intervention and support?
• Are common assessments teacher friendly? (are we about teachers or students)
• Are these common assessments learning friendly; student friendly?
• Can we differentiate and still have common assessments?
• How well do Aurora students compare to international standards?
• How does authentic assessment impact students with significant needs – what does it look like?
• How do we analyze data, tests and assessments and get it to teachers in a usable way so teachers can be more effective in helping students learn what they need to learn?

2. Teacher Training
The training of teacher’s on “how-to” do things.

• How to teach problem solving and critical thinking
• PLC increase time for collaboration
• How do we retrain existing teachers to prepare for the 21st century
• How are fluid class groupings managed/organized
• How can we embrace differences in teaching styles

3. Teaching Methods
Different ways that teacher’s help students to learn.

• Focus on science and math instruction
• Student choice
• Learning environment, not teaching environment
• Authentic learning
• How can we get more efficient contact time with students
• How do we make math and science more enjoyable for our students
• How do real scientists and mathematicians think
• How can we differentiate in large classrooms

4. Structure
The organization of the school day.

• More contact time with students

What is Assessment?

Assessment , as stated earlier is the process of gathering information about students-what they know and can do. Evaluation is the process of interpreting and making judgments about assessment information. By itself assessment data is neither good or bad. It simply mirrors what is going on in the classroom. This information becomes meaningful only when we decide that it reflects something that we value, such as how well a student has mastered long division. The key question in evaluation is: Are students learning what we want them to learn? (From Authentic Assessment a handbook for educators ; Diane Hart, Addison-Wesley pub., c.1994

In January, 2007, Gene R. Carter, Executive Director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, wrote an article titled, “Why Tests Aren’t Enough”. In his article, he cites why the ASCD High School Reform Proposal is making one of it’s top 5 priorities to be multiple ways of assessing student learning. “The ASCD High School Reform Proposal includes multiple measures of assessment as one of its top five priorities because we know tests alone are an incomplete measure of what we want students to know and do well.

ASCD has also included multiple measures of assessment as a top priority in its Legislative Agenda, because a more sophisticated system of assessment is essential for students of all ages. Better assessment systems with multiple measures mean better accountability for school improvement and better data that educators can use to help each student succeed.”
States and districts need high quality standardized tests that measure students’ performance of the elements of a 21st century education. However, standardized tests alone can measure only a few of the important skills and knowledge we hope our students will learn. A balance of assessments — that is, high-quality standardized testing for accountability purposes and classroom assessments for improved teaching and learning in the classroom — offers students a powerful way to master the content and skills central to success in the 21st century. To be effective, sustainable and affordable, sophisticated assessment at all levels must use new information technologies to increase efficiency and timeliness. From “Learning for the 21st Century: A Report and MILE Guide for 21st Century Skills by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, www.21stcenturyskills.org .



Assessment is one of the most powerful educational tools for promoting effective learning. But it must be used in the right way. There is no evidence that increasing the amount of testing will enhance learning. Instead the focus needs to be on helping teachers use assessment, as part of teaching and learning, in ways that will raise pupils’ achievement. The Assessment Reform Group, Assessment for Learning: Beyond the black box, currently funded by The Nuffield Foundation and consists of: Professor Patricia Broadfoot, University
of Bristol Professor Richard Daugherty, University of Wales, Aberystwyth; et al. http://www.qca.org.uk/7444.html

Why Assess?

• Provide diagnosis
• Set standards
• Evaluate progress
• Communicate results
• Motivate performance

My proposal for the 5 year plan is 3-fold:

1. One of our strategies should be to investigate and utilize a variety of assessment systems to help teachers in the classroom with as immediate as possible, formative assessment data and strategies to help each student be more successful in school. We need to find the right blend of formative assessments. We need to include assessments of 21st Century Learning skills such as, Higher-Order Thinking skills, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, information and communication skills, and interpersonal and self-directional skills.
This includes a mix of:

A. Completion, Short-Answer, and extended response
B. Multiple-Choice and Matching Exercises
C. Essay Assessment Tasks
D. Performance, Portfolio, and Authentic




2. We need to provide teachers with the training, environment, and support to be successful in utilizing a variety of teaching methods, assessment development, assessment data and interpretation, and strategies to use the information to help students be more successful. This includes:

A. Assessment tools and technology
B. On-line educational environments that meet standards with viable and immediate assessment feedback

3. We need to provide a “Research and Development” initiative to keep the school district aware of and working with new developments in education, not just in the area of educational philosophy but also in the research-driven, technological enhancement of student learning. This includes hardware, software, on-line educational environments, and other developments that have yet to be discovered.

Where is Education Going?

Will there really be school buildings in the future? Will all of education be like RiverCity or SecondLife?

Is it years away or is it just around the corner?

My opinion is that the new "schoolhouse" is in development now and pieces and parts of it have been put together for our kids, already, if we are ready to see it. That's what my goal is, now is to incorporate as much of this new stuff as I can. Reminds me of Thomas Friedman's book, "The World is flat"; that is, Friedman keeps referring to, "While I slept..." the world changed on him. Realistically, he was one of the few who was awake. For me, I'm supposed to be in the middle of the tech world as a teacher, but, I've been asleep, too, and the world has changed. "Web 2.0" has taken over, and left me behind. Also, true visionaries in education, like Chris Dede of Harvard and his "River City" project, certainly has nudged me toward the new and better direction of education and I find that it will be a place where "No child will be left behind" because the "distributed learning" concept of Dr. Dede's will become the norm.

Imagine a virtual world where every country has created learning environments for all of the subject areas deemed important for societies to live and grow; music, math, science, languages, art, history, geography, and others. Imagine the opportunity for any student of any age to visit and be immersed into those areas of choice where he or she will be challenged to collaborate with others, learn new things, develop new knowledge, and share discoveries. What an engaging, virtual world we live in. And, to continue with Chris Dede's philosophy of new learning styles, with the power of handhelds, laptops, and other technological advances that we might not be aware of yet, teachers will have open to them a plethora of real and virtual learning tools available to them in there 21st century toolbox for teaching. After all, we still have all the educational teaching tools from the 20th century. Not that all of them are outdated, but we certainly have to be selective in what we choose to utilize and aware that, no matter what types of teaching tools that we use, we still have to find the blend of tools that will work best.

Here's a great video of Chris Dede as a keynote speaker being presented by Alan November. Please watch.

http://nlcommunities.com/podcasts/1798/blc06/entry84465.aspx

The Orchestration of Education: Analysis not Paralysis

These are Random thoughts not yet complete - feel free to complete them

1. First, there needs to be a desire to play an instrument or to play in the band. Students have heard, seen, or felt something that captured their heart and imagination. Sometimes an external force (like a parent) gets them into it.
2. Certain skills are taught on an individual basis. Reading music, playing scales. The fundamentals are given to individuals. The instrument is technology. It is the means through which we create the music.
3. Section skills are taught, i.e., trumpets can go into a separate room and try playing certain passages of a song. More experienced students can help the less experienced students.
4. Every lesson needs to be Schlechty-ized to engage as many students as possible. The juice has to be worth the squeeze. If all the student’s are playing and if the director knows the score, the director can hear a general area where someone isn’t quite right with their playing. So the director focuses in on that section, 3rd trumpet for example, and has only that section play until the person making the mistake is recognized and corrected either immediately, if possible, or later if the individual skill has to be re-taught. We need to recognize those few who aren’t playing their instrument, and raise the level of desire or the level of anxiety so that they will want to play the instrument.
5. Like a band class, everybody needs to perform
6. Every body needs to practice, but there always has to be a way that the practice is efficient and that everyone practices the right things. People have to have immediate, individual response during practice. Skills must be taught and re-taught so that the student has a good vision of what is right and if something goes wrong, how to self-correct. What are individual tendencies, how to be aware of those tendencies, and how to correct ourselves. Self correction is a must because the teacher can not always be there during the practice time. In sports, it’s muscle memory or feeling how to start a golf swing, to feel where the back swing goes, to feel how to transition to the fore swing, and then trusting to let it go. See it. Feel it. Trust it. In music, could it be hear it, feel it, trust it.
7. Change our focus of assessing. In other words, if everyone is playing their “instrument, it’s the one’s with the wrong notes that we hear and need to correct immediately. The other students who seem to be proficient (who aren’t playing the wrong notes) need to have direction on “where do I go from here.” In other words, what fine tunings are necessary and how do I get to the next level. There should always be a “where do I go from here” for everyone. On the other hand, there should always be an opportunity to sit back momentarily and enjoy what one has accomplished. This is also a “learned” behavior, and it’s necessary to keep the motivation up and moving forward.
8. So now, let’s apply this to every subject. Math, science, language arts, etc.


a. Individual Motivation
b. Confidence
c. Must have the skills needed to perform
d. Must be able to recognize when you aren’t in tune or sounding good.
e. Must be able to self-correct
f. Always think about how to reach another level
g. Enjoy your success
h. Be able to move on.

Now, let's think like a scientist. Let's assume that all things are possible. Let's look at a "Space Elevator" and think: if this can be accomplished, what can we do in our schools?