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I have had friends ask me what I think of our neighborhood school, and my answer is quite simple. I tell them, "The school is only as good as the teacher your child has that year." I have believed this for a very long time. This stems from my belief that good teaching trumps everything when it comes to student achievement. Analyze all the data you want, throw a bunch of acronyms at people (NCLB, RtI, IEP, DIBELS, FAPE, PBIS, Yada Yada Yada), and race to the top of wherever you want. Yet, everything boils down to good teaching in the classroom.

This opinion is based on watching my own two children go through school and on my 23 years of experience as an educator . Why is it that one child will have a great third grade experience while another one will not? And then in fourth grade, the situation is reversed. They attend the same school with the same curriculum, the same principal, the same assessments, the same materials, supplies, and technology. Yet, their educational experiences differ greatly from year to year.

To a parent, it does not take a PhD from an Ivy League University to figure out why their children's educational experiences are discrepant. Obviously this is the result of the quality of the teacher they have each year. As an educator, I can see the differences in teachers quite clearly so I spend countless hours talking to staff members about good teaching strategies and planning effective (hopefully) staff development activities all for the sake of improved instruction and class management.

I have wondered for a long time if excellent teaching is an innate gift that can't be taught. You either have it or you don't. It sure does not seem as if good teachers are developed in collegiate teacher education programs. Nor do I think outstanding teaching is a self-taught skill.

Well, maybe the best teaching CAN be taught to teachers, and according to a terrific article in the March 7 New York Time Magazine titled "Can Good Teaching be Learned?" excellent teaching is a learned skill.

The article describes the work of Doug Lemov, a teacher, principal, and charter-school founder who has written a book called Teach Like a Champion: The 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. This book, which will be released in April, describes 49 specific teaching techniques (jokingly referred to as the "Lemov Taxonomy") that will make all teachers better.

I have read many books on good teaching and instruction, I have recommended many of these to colleagues of mine, and I have led staff book studies on the best ones. However, if this book turns out to be as good as the NYT article describes, I think it could revolutionize teacher training for years to come. Click on the cover of the book at the Amazon site, and check out the table of contents! Do your teachers need to improve in some or all of these areas?

Maybe the way to make our schools the best in the world is to make our teachers the best in the world.

I can't wait to get my copy!

- Dave Sherman

I have had friends ask me what I think of our neighborhood school, and my answer is quite simple. I tell them, "The school is only as good as the teacher your child has that year." I have believed... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

School districts across the country take advantage of incentives for mounting solar panels.

Many students are up in arms about looming funding losses and teacher layoffs.

As mentioned in a previous post there has been a recent trend of students facing school disciplinary procedures for off-campus activities and behaviors in cyberspace. It is the goal of this post to discuss 1st Amendment common law as it relates to student cyberspace activities. Because there have been no truly definitive rulings to date on 1st Amendment issues regarding free speech in the schoolosphere, all parties are left to hypothesize about the boundary lines of student cyberspeech. However a review of a trilogy of law cases dating back as far as 1969 that acts as the guidelines for current rulings on student free speech might be of use to all of us.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District is the earliest of these keystone cases. Tinker specifically focused on the rights high school students have to express free speech. The case involved a school policy stating that students were not allowed to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. Three students wore the bands, then refused to take them off when directed to do so by school administrators. The students were subsequently suspended. As a result of the suspension, the students sued the school district claiming their first amendment rights were violated. The court found that students do not give up rights to freedom of speech "at the school house gate." The court further stated that absent a "constitutionally valid reason to regulate their speech, students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views." From this came the need for a test to determine what comprises a "constitutionally valid reason." Thus the "substantial disruption test" was born. This test outlined the fact that students' speech may only be regulated if it causes a substantial disruption of school activities.Approximately two decades later, in 1986, the issue of students' freedom of speech was raised yet again.

In Bethel School District Number 403 v. Fraser, the court found that schools were allowed to punish students for speech that administrators deemed to be improper, when spoken by students on school grounds or at school functions. In Bethel, Matthew Frazer was suspended for giving a speech at a school-wide assembly because he used a continuing sexual metaphor to describe the candidate he was supporting. Subsequently, Frazer was given a three day suspension and was prohibited from speaking at graduation. After some disagreement between the district and the state appellate courts, the Supreme Court ruled that sexually explicit student speech was not protected under Tinker.

The final case in the trilogy, from a Supreme Court ruling in 1988, is Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. This case centered on the content of a school newspaper. In Hazelwood, students wrote about their experiences with divorce and teen pregnancy; however, the administration forbade it to be printed. The students claimed that their rights to free speech were violated. However, the court ruled that since the newspapers were part of the school program, the students did not have the shelter of the 1st Amendment umbrella.

Despite these three court opinions, there is no clear wide reaching common law ruling regarding students' behaviors as they relate to internet activities or cyber speech. Further complicating the matter is the fact that prior to widespread use of computers and the internet, speech was typically in the same location as the person. In this digital age, quite often a person may be located a continent away from their "speech," as that "speech" may be displayed on a social networking page, in a website, in a blog, in a tweet, or by a message, viewed on a computer, or even sent to a cell phone.Additionally, proponents for new legislation assert the necessity of addressing students' freedom of speech because the degree of disturbance created by students' speech may be much more broad than in the past. Widespread use of digital technology provides students with a much larger forum to discuss their views than was possible before the digital age. With several keystrokes, students are now able to project their views to an unlimited audience for an unlimited time period.

Until the judicial system addresses current issues surrounding free speech as it relates to students and their cyber activities, there will continue to be questions for us all as to what constitutes acceptable behavior for students as it relates to freedom of speech. As we progress further into our digital lives, it becomes more imperative that we have a judicially determined set of parameters addressing students' freedom of speech. Until that day, teachers, students, and administrators must continue to agree that they may disagree.

For a more inclusive list of relevant common law cases, or if you wish to send us a relevant case from your area please contact us at robert.hancock@selu.edu.

Anita Dubusdevalempre, Robert Hancock, and Julie Matte.

As mentioned in a previous post there has been a recent trend of students facing school disciplinary procedures for off-campus activities and behaviors in cyberspace. It is the goal of this post to discuss 1st Amendment common law as it... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

When I think back to my days in the classroom the most important moments happened when I looked past the hardened sneer of a difficult student to see them as they really were. It turns out they were rarely what they seemed on the surface. Somewhere deep inside them there was something more than the negative image that they projected to the outside world.

Of course, this inner spirit was often walled off and starved; and the more a student needed my help, the more likely they were to push me away. It seems the one's who needed love the most were always the hardest to love. There were many, many days I lost sight of my students as people. I gave in and saw them as they wanted to be seen and not as they truly were.

I believe it is essential for teachers to have the heart of 'Don Quixote', the Man of La Mancha. Don Quixote saw the beauty in life; and he saw the inner beauty of the people around him including Aldonza, a hard-hearted and angry whore. Quixote sees her as Dulcinea, a virtuous lady, and treats her as such. Aldonza rejects Quixote's vision of her. She insists she is nothing. She has given up on herself but Don Quixote has not. She can deal with people's anger and scorn but not with Don Quixote's tenderness and respect.

Quixote's response? "Never deny that you are Dulcinea!" He sees the best in her.

I wish every teacher could see the best that lies hidden in their students. I wish every teacher would do their best to bring that 'best' to the surface. There is a seed in each of us that needs to be nourished. Sometimes a teacher believing in a student when that student doesn't even believe in themselves is all the nourishment it takes to have that seed grow and flower.

The classroom is a complex organism. It is composed of many, many unique individuals, each with their own set of experiences, each on a journey to find their place in the world. It's easy to lose the heart of Don Quixote and to simply deal with the world as we see it. There are so many disappointments and betrayals that bring us to the point of asking, "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe believing in the nobility of others is just a silly, romantic notion."

Near the end of his life even the Man of La Mancha lost faith in his own quest to see others as their best selves.

In fact, it is Aldonza, the most hardened of souls, that finally begins to blossom. She starts to believe in herself as Quixote has believed in her. She sees that she is 'worthy' of respect. She feels the good soul within her. It is Aldonza, the student, who revives Quixote, the teacher, from his despair.

Don Quixote has touched the soul of Aldonza. She will never be the same. No longer a whore. She is Dulcinea, the lady.

May the heart of La Mancha burn in the heart of every teacher. May we open our eyes to the Dulcinea's and the Quixote's that enter our classrooms every day. May we believe in them and may we help them see the goodness within them.

pete

Cross Posted at Ed Tech Journeys

Note: Photo by Anfal Al-Obaidley

When I think back to my days in the classroom the most important moments happened when I looked past the hardened sneer of a difficult student to see them as they really were. It turns out they were rarely what... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

Ok, so we all know someone or know someone who knows someone who took an online course. We all see the increasing popularity of universities like Capella, Walden, and the University of Phoenix.

With regard to school principals, the real question is can a principal candidate with online credentials get a job? The findings might surprise you. We recently sent out a survey to 500 human resource manager to understand the acceptability of online credentials for principal candidates. Among other things we found the following:

Question % Agree It is more difficult to assess the quality of online principal preparation programs than traditional face-to-face programs 80.6% Traditional face-to-face principal preparation programs do a better job than online programs of preparing candidates for the demands of the principalship. 76.0% Online principal preparation programs are of lower quality than face-to-face programs. 65.7% The quality of principal preparation programs that are partially online is higher than those that are wholly online. 53.6%

The study found that principal preparation programs offered online are at best only somewhat accepted by those folks who vet k-12 principal candidate. This is an interesting finding because many brick-and-mortar programs offer part or all of their principal preparation coursework online. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington we have been offering our Masters of School Administration as a hybrid program for years. Starting in the Fall 2010 we will offer our Masters of School Administration Licensure Program 100% online. However when we surveyed our graduates from the past two years, nearly all of then had administrative positions if they wanted one and all were gainfully employed in k-12 education. There seems to be perception / reality mismatch here?

The real question is how can universities that offer online principal preparation courses that are hybrid or totally online be rigorous, of high quality, and be desirable by our local school districts? What can universities do to improve the image of online courses and degrees?

Jayson W. Richardson
University of North Carolina Wilmington

Note: The results of this study have been submitted as two articles. We will let you know when they are published!

Richardson, J.W., McLeod, S., & Garrett Dikkers, A. (under review). How do school districts treat K-12 principals and principal candidates with online credentials?

Richardson, J.W., McLeod, S., & Garrett Dikkers, A. (under review). Perceptions of online credentials for school principals,

Ok, so we all know someone or know someone who knows someone who took an online course. We all see the increasing popularity of universities like Capella, Walden, and the University of Phoenix. With regard to school principals, the real... LeaderTalk Contributor http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/

ERIC KAYNE: CHRONICLEStudents change classes at YES, one of the nation's top-rated charter systems. Research by University of Houston economics professor Scott Imberman shows that while charter schools may not produce significantly higher academic results than their traditional counterparts,...

The star of Ugly Betty talks about her role as Save the Children's artist ambassador for education.

Here's an HISD press release announcing the appointments of 14 new School Improvement Officers. March 3, 2010 - Today HISD Superintendent Terry Grier appointed 14 School Improvement Officers (SIO) as part of HISD's leadership reorganization which will take effect in...

Cindy Rigsbee responds to the recent Metlife survey about teacher collaboration with delight.

The survey, which suggests a direct link between teacher collaboration and student success, rings true with Rigsbee, a former North Carolina Teacher of the Year.

Last night I shared the story of my first year teaching - 1979 - and how in that high school every classroom door was closed. Every teacher taught in isolation - there was no sharing of plans or resources, no discussions of student needs, no back and forth on what was working or wasn't. I spent my days talking only with children and found little avenues for getting any better at what I was doing. As the years went by, those doors opened a little, but for the majority of my career there was still a mentality in the hallways and common areas of "I'm only going to address my own students, the ones I know, and leave the others to the teachers who teach them." But now, according to the Survey of the American Teacher, 67% of the educators who completed the survey believe that increased collaboration has a direct effect on student success. And 80% strongly agree that teachers share responsibility for achievement of all students. We're in this together, folks, and I'm delighted to see that a majority of those questioned agree.

For more on the survey, check out Teacher's special report about the findings.

Cindy Rigsbee responds to the recent Metlife survey about teacher collaboration with delight, as the findings ring true with her. Bryan Toporek

Don't be afraid to move your child to another school -- and don't expect miracles.

Does your school speak Google? If not, you might want to give these great tools a try.

Cut off from much of the non-Communist world for the last fifty years, the island's politics, commerce, and culture offer lessons to learn.

Kids today socialize through many different media, but socializing doesn't necessarily equate with building social skills.

I would like to start this post with a short anecdote:
A friend of mine called me this fall and told me that he was feeling very downtrodden. He had a new superintendent who was not that tech savvy. However, he had stopped by this one particular afternoon all excited and holding a new article about technology. He came into my friend's office waving it and saying that he had a new technology of which he had just learned. He then asked my friend, "Have you heard of 'The Google'?" My friend almost cried.

So what makes this story so humorous? Well because everyone has heard of Google. It is one of the few companies that is also a verb and is so part of our vernacular today that everyone, or so we thought, knows what it is.

But do most people really understand what Google has become? The search engine is an important component of the company but it is now sharing the stage with other tools. Our school district now has a Google Apps account- the Education version. What does this mean? In short, it will allow us to have Google Docs, Gmail, Google Sites, Calendar, Google Video, and more! All of them will have a URL that will start with our district name instead of Google. The next question that many people ask is, Why is this important? or, Why are you embarking on this? The main reason comes down to one word and that is COLLABORATION---a 21st century skill of which all students need to be familiar.

Up until the last few years you would have to have a network with file servers in order to be able to share documents and other pieces of information with colleagues. The problem with this is that once you are outside of "the network," you then have to find a way back in to retrieve your files. This meant cumbersome things like Citrix or VPN. It never really gave you the same experience as if you were actually at your office or classroom and then inside the network.

A second reason is because sharing things with students as well as student to student sharing has always been cumbersome and filled with problems. However, now we are entering an age of cloud computing. This means, for example, I can create a Google Doc and share it with whomever I want in the world. I can also access that Google Doc anywhere in the world. By sharing, I can then share with students, colleagues, and even people outside of the network. You don't have to email the document and then wait for it to come back to continue to work on it! All the editing is live. Again the word is COLLABORATE. Consider the endless possibilities of the global learning and collaboration that can take place between teachers and students!

The possibilities are endless and it opens up many doors including allowing the whole teaching community to have full access to all their files and information 24/7. We all know students (and teachers) who do work at all hours of the night. With cloud computing, this is now easier and the whole learning community can feel connected at any hour of the day and night.

James Yap and Teresa Ivey