Cascade Matters Blog

William Hughes Appointed to UWM School of Education Board of Visitors

2012-04-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

William Hughes, superintendent of the Greendale Schools and a partner with Cascade Educational Consultants will serve on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Education’s Board of Visitors. This invitation is recognition of Hughes’ hard work and dedication to the youth in the greater Milwaukee community.

The UWM School of Education’s Board of Visitors is an external advisory body to the Dean of the School. The group’s purpose is to provide counsel and support and to foster the achievement of equity, diversity and excellence in all aspects of the School of Education. Comprised of 21 members, the Board provides input on how programmatic changes impact the larger community, such as teacher education programs and their impact on the workforce.

Hughes has worked in education for 31 years as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools. He has served as Superintendent of the Greendale School District in Greendale, Wisconsin for the past 14 years. Greendale is a garden community and one of three greenbelt communities in the United States. It is a suburban district of about 2,600 students located in the Milwaukee metro area; an area known for high achieving schools. Greendale is known for its high level of student achievement with over 90 percent of graduates attending higher education institutions, ongoing community engagement on multiple levels, along with collaborative relationships with bargaining groups while retaining a focus on children, service, citizenship and learning. He is a former board member of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, a member of the National School Climate Council, board member of the National Center for Learning and Citizenship and adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

How Do We Define Ourselves?

2012-03-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

It is absolutely critical as schools balance their focus on student knowledge and skills, that they do so within a safe, high quality and inclusive environment consistent with our nation’s democratic principles. Such a school climate combined with engaging teaching and learning strategies more effectively leads to student academic, social emotional and civic development.

This is concept is reflected in Thomas Friedman’s recent New York Times article titled “Pass the Books Hold the Water”. It is a great analysis of my friend Andreas Schleicher’s data and concludes “Add it all up and the numbers say that if you really want to know how a country is going to do in the 21st century, don’t count its oil reserves or gold mines, count its highly effective teachers, involved parents and committed students.”

Friedman mines data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or O.E.C.D., mapping the correlation between performance on the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, exam -- which every two years tests math, science and reading comprehension skills of 15-year-olds in 65 countries -- and the total earnings on natural resources as a percentage of G.D.P. for each participating country. In short, how well do your high school kids do on math compared with how much oil you pump or how many diamonds you dig?

The results indicated that there was a “a significant negative relationship between the money countries extract from national resources and the knowledge and skills of their high school population,” said Andreas Schleicher, who oversees the PISA exams for the O.E.C.D. “This is a global pattern that holds across 65 countries that took part in the latest PISA assessment.” Oil and PISA don’t mix. (See the data map at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/43/9/49881940.pdf)

Friedman makes the case that there are various measures of a nation’s progress and success and we might just want to pay attention to human resources rather than focusing on production and products.

Here are the final two paragraphs of Friedman’s article:

But there is an important message for the industrialized world in this study, too. In these difficult economic times, it is tempting to buttress our own standards of living today by incurring even greater financial liabilities for the future. To be sure, there is a role for stimulus in a prolonged recession, but “the only sustainable way is to grow our way out by giving more people the knowledge and skills to compete, collaborate and connect in a way that drives our countries forward,” argues Schleicher.

In sum, says Schleicher, “Knowledge and skills have become the global currency of 21st-century economies, but there is no central bank that prints this currency. Everyone has to decide on their own how much they will print.” Sure, it’s great to have oil, gas and diamonds; they can buy jobs. But they’ll weaken your society in the long run unless they’re used to build schools and a culture of lifelong learning. “The thing that will keep you moving forward,” says Schleicher, is always “what you bring to the table yourself.”

This article reminds me of Wendell Berry’s analysis of life in its simplest form. Berry suggests four questions that can frame what he calls “Learning Days”:

How does a community amuse itself? What kinds of theatre, dance, music, visual art, book groups, bridge clubs, bowling leagues, folk art, recreation, sports and festivals does a community use to please and divert itself throughout the year?
How does a community console itself? How does it grieve and deal with loss, death, hard time, disappointments and conflict? How does it bring healing when people sustain injury or are hurting?
How does a community educate itself? Not just in its schools but in its workplaces, churches, businesses and celebrations? How does a community use acts of amusement and consolation to learn? How does it use individuals with inventive ways of learning and teaching?

My colleagues and I are committed to high-quality equitable teaching, learning and serving school cultures so all students will succeed in school and in life and recognize the consistency of the O.E.C.D. data with our values and practices. While the international comparisons are meaningful, the focus on knowledge and skill development aligns with our work to assist schools and other youth serving organizations to consider both the context and content of strategies to educate, motivate and activate youth to be successful now and in the future

Given the Friedman article and Berry’s analysis I propose a set of prompts we as citizens, communities and a nation pose to ourselves and contribute to the current and future political narrative:

How do we define ourselves?
How do we measure our progress and success?
How do we maximize the human potential of everyone?
How do we ensure our youngest citizens have equitable access to opportunities?
What culture and climate do we sustain that ensures we have the knowledge and skills to achieve greatness as individuals and a nation?
How do we build a culture and climate that contributes to our youth developing a sense of responsibility?

Our individual and collective responses to these questions define us and identify the elements of our lives we find most important to sustain our democracy. Our nation deserves no less…

About the author: Terry Pickeral, president Cascade Educational Consultants has extensive experience in policy development, advocacy, education reform, youth leadership, teaching and learning strategies, education collaborations and civic development. His commitment is to ensuring schools create and sustain quality teaching and learning environments for all students to be successful in school and contribute to their communities as active principled citizens.

“Remember, you’re responsible for yourself. Make good decisions.”

2012-02-06T15:04:00.001-08:00

In my last blog I wrote about the relationship between responsibility and accountability and how each contributes to my understanding of our democracy, our economy, and our education practices.

With this blog, I want to revisit the topic, but in much more personal and individual terms:

So, picture a 12 year old allowed for the first time to spend the night at a friend’s house. As Mom pulls to the curb to drop me off and I open the car door, I hear: “Remember, you’re responsible for yourself. Make good decisions.”

Now, picture a 16 year old taking the car out on a Friday night for the first time and driving around friends who were still only 15. My key hits the house door and as it cracks to the outside air, electric with anticipated freedom: “Remember, you’re responsible for yourself. Make good decisions.”

Finally, picture an 18 year old taking his girlfriend to Senior Prom and with a curfew extension (past 12pm) for this special occasion. Tuxedo on, my Dad’s car key in hand, I make it as far as the sidewalk and hear: “Remember, you’re responsible for yourself. Make good decisions.”

How many times did I hear this refrain!? Obviously, at 35 it is still in my mind and is the cornerstone of my own sense of personal responsibility. Although as a teen I may have rolled my eyes hearing these words over and over again, I knew what Mom meant, and I knew that she was reminding me of a social contract we had. I got freedom and opportunity as long as I showed that I was responsible enough to handle it.

And, I knew I would be held accountable if and when my responsibility lapsed. I also knew why. There was no question and no fight. I knew what was expected of me and I knew when I had failed those expectations. Candidly, with a teenage son, my Mom knew I would screw up. The question was how badly and how would I respond.

But, what is critical in all of this is that my Mom’s message framed responsibility as an omnipresent driver of decision-making, and she made clear that almost everything boils down to a decision. Even if I chose to be irresponsible, I knew I was responsible for that decision. I couldn’t blame peer pressure. I couldn’t claim ignorance.

Alternatively, it is also important to share what I did not hear from my Mom:

“Remember, don’t smoke cigarettes! If I catch you then I will…”

“Remember, don’t speed or drive recklessly! If I catch you then I will…”

“Remember, don’t drink and don’t have sex! If I catch you then I will…”

Mom knew that responsibility taught only in the shadow of accountability (or threat of punishment) lives in a narrow silo of a single cause and a single effect. As an element of decision-making, on the other hand, it can be a lifelong and life-wide skill. We talked about all of these issues (smoking, drinking, etc.) openly and then it was up to me to make the right decision. Most of the time, I did. Sometimes, I didn’t.

So, at age 35, I am trying to understand and diagnose my Mom’s ability to instill a sense of responsibility in my siblings and me as teenagers. And, as best I can tell, responsibility only exists relationally with accountability and positive relationships. Try reflecting on your own experiences growing up, or even in your life today: A relationship without responsibility? Responsibility without any sense of accountability? Accountability without a relationship? (My experience says these don’t work.)

But what is it that links these elements? What are the connectors?

Relationships - Responsibility: These two are connected by effective communication and trust. It is pretty obvious for most of us that a relationship without trust is usually a pretty poor relationship. But, have we thought about how the quality of communication of our expectations, for example, impacts others’ sense of responsibility to us and to themselves? Have we communicated to our young people how valuable and important they are, how much we love them, how much we believe in them, what we expect of them, so that they feel responsible for honoring their own lives and as well as respecting those around them? Do our own actions model the responsibility we seek from them, so that they can trust us? Have we given them the chance to express what they expect from us?

Responsibility – Accountability: These two are connected by logic and clarity. If I don’t understand the logic of what I am being held accountable for, I am not likely to feel responsible to it. If I understand it but I really don’t buy the logic behind it (and also am not buying the relationship), I am not likely to feel responsible to it. We must ensure that young people understand the logic behind our accountability and be clear (and repetitive) as to what the accountability is and why. And in doing so, we can help them own a sense of responsibility and accountability to themselves and not just to us.

Accountability – Relationships: These two are connected by consistency and unconditional love. Accountability must be consistently and equitably (refer to trust) applied. If I screw up, I should be able to count on those who love me to hold me accountable. I also must know that I can be forgiven and that the love of those around me is unconditional. If I believe love is conditional, then I can be irresponsible all I want, and figure “well, I would have lost it at some point anyway.” If I know love will always be there, I have to make choices knowing I cannot break away from it or set it aside. If love is unconditional then I am unconditionally responsible to/for it.

So, this is just a start. I am still seeking to understand and fulfill my responsibilities to myself and those around me. And, like all of us, I’m still trying to make good decisions.

Anderson Williams currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Tennessee College Access and Success Network and is a Partner in Cascade Educational Consultants. He began his education work as a youth organizer with Community IMPACT! Nashville where his work with students on college access was recognized in 2006 as a finalist for the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. In addition to regional, national, and international training and consulting work, Anderson co-authored “The Core Principles for Engaging Young People in Community Change” and “Youth Organizing for Educational Change” with the Forum for Youth Investment and his writing was published in a special issue of the international Journal of Community Psychology on “Youth and Democracy.”

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and received his B.A. from Wake Forest University. Email Anderson Williams.

“Remember, you’re responsible for yourself. Make good decisions.”

2012-02-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

Activating Inclusion

2012-01-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

Inclusion and participation of youth with disabilities in school, employment, social, community, and leadership activities is vital to their future success and achievement of their life goals. Inclusive schools are higher achieving schools; places where young people develop the skills they need to live fulfilled adult lives. Read the full post at Special Olympics Project UNIFY.

Continuing the Journey Of Martin Luther King Jr.

2012-01-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Martin Luther King Day will be marked on January 16. This national holiday gives us an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. His life symbolizes a time in history when out of confusion; mean spiritedness and conflict came a vision of better possibilities.

This holiday is evolving into a day of community service. Working in service to others helps us to become as Dr. King would say “a molder of consensus,” in conversation and deed, finding possibilities that can improve education for our students and enhance our work in schools.

Jim Heiden, a Milwaukee-area school leader says, “That the work of improving schools in a journey — where the work is never done.”

In Wisconsin and across the country, this seems to be how things are and maybe for the foreseeable future. Understanding this through the lens of finding possibilities and a vision of that we can be better can make help sense of chaos in public education and show us the path forward.

In Greendale, we are focused on student achievement, developing a sense of responsibility to our students through collaboration working and supporting one another. We have the shared goal of keeping Greendale Schools great. We see the possibilities and are engaging in them as we Rethink Greendale Schools.

The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson recently wrote about Martin Luther King and the “Dream that Came True”. Robinson reflects on Dr. King’s moral vision and challenge to each of us saying, “We can be better. We must. We will.”

Our complex times are rich with possibilities. We can take comfort in finding possibilities that rethink and help remake communities, relationships and education. In Greendale Schools, we connect people to one another in conversation and work to improve schools so children and youth learn more. We who work in schools can stand together to follow and deliver good and interesting professional practice.

Please be sure to share Dr. King’s legacy and find empowerment through possibilities not only in your own life but in your students’ lives as well.

About the author: Dr. William Hughes has worked in education for 31 years as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools. He has served as Superintendent of the Greendale School District in Greendale, Wisconsin for the past 14 years. Greendale is a garden community and one of three greenbelt communities in the United States. It is a suburban district of about 2,600 students located in the Milwaukee metro area; an area known for high achieving schools. Greendale is known for its high level of student achievement with over 90 percent of graduates attending higher education institutions, ongoing community engagement on multiple levels, along with collaborative relationships with bargaining groups while retaining a focus on children, service, citizenship and learning. He is a former board member of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, a member of the National School Climate Council, board member of the National Center for Learning and Citizenship and adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

You can contact William Hughes at bill.hughes@cascadeeducationalconsultants.com

Accountability, Responsibility and the 21st Century American Zeitgeist

2012-01-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

I read the following in an article the other day quoting Pasi Sahlberg:

“Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted.”

(Residue.)

And, I would add “…and trust destroyed” to get us fully to our American “culture of accountability”.

To spice it up, I would also like to bring in the old Mark Twain saying, “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

Accountability is the American hammer and we’re nailing ourselves!

This is the 21st Century American zeitgeist. As singular human systems have pluralized and their centralized, simplistic, organizing narratives in global politics (think Cold War or its most recent attempted reclamation the Axis of Evil), democracy (the American model as the only real model), and capitalism (the Bootstraps Story, “if you just work hard enough…”, and the righteous inevitability of American economic dominance) have lost potency, we have grabbed our accountability hammers and started swinging for any nail we can find. We are looking for someone to blame, for clean answers, clear data, and simplistic narratives that reinforce our past but no longer match our work and our world. And, the more we do this, the more we spend our present nailing ourselves to the past. We are grasping for residue.

Despite our American nostalgia for a “simpler time” and our longing for a half-told history of the 20th Century, this sort of pluralization is progress (not an unraveling), and is an indicator of the success of our own very American ideals around the world! We “won” the Cold War and our ideals about democracy and the role of a government “of the people” continue to spread with remarkable speed.

The engine of capitalism, while admittedly creating numerous problems in its wake, is in fact delivering on its promise of economic progress, the only promise it actually makes. Ask China, India, or Brazil. (Equity is a social value, not an economic one, but that is for another post.)

The current angst in the American psyche appears to be a kind of bizarre self loathing as we watch our models and our ideals spread through the rest of the world and reflect back on us. No longer “the only game in town” as we were for most of the 20th Century, we demonstrate a sort of narcissism in which our own reflective love for our past selves is difficult to discern from our disgust for a present in which others look more and more like us (and challenge us to redefine capitalism and democracy).

Our current understanding of our democracy and economy, similar to the nature of accountability measures, is backward looking, based on what we already know and what we have already established as valuable enough to document and evaluate. Precisely for this reason, these all require active investment and vigilance in the present to remain even somewhat relevant.

Accountability without constant attention and evolution keeps us locked in a past in which those accountability principles were standard. Economics without constant attention and evolution keeps us locked in a past in which those economic principles were standard. Democracy without constant attention and evolution keeps us locked in a past in which those democratic principles were standard.

Somewhere along the way, we got lax in our own responsibilities to push such necessary evolution of thought and of our social, political, and economic institutions. We have been lulled to sleep by prior success without realizing the rest of the developed world is no longer a post-WWII bombed-out shell. We got caught up in our own historical inevitability and stopped investing in future iterations of ourselves. We have just continuously maxed out our present state rather than working toward new, improved versions of it.

So, now, in a time of angst and uncertainty in a tired and ragged political and economic present, we seek a culture of accountability in schools, in Washington, and on Wall Street in a way that aligns with short-term reform but obscures the fundamental investments that will keep us relevant over time. We need accountability, but only a newly minted investment in the responsibility of all of us to build our communities, our schools, our political systems, and our economy will allow America to continue to inspire positive global change and to become our best selves at home.

Let’s look forward, not backward.

Let’s invest in cultivating responsibility not just the residue of its absence.

NOTE: Please comment below or send me an email with ideas or examples you have seen or experienced that cultivate responsibility in your work and/or community; or, more broadly, ideas of how to build responsibility in our democracy and/or economy.

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

Dropout Prevention: The Million-Dollar Question

2011-11-29T16:09:00.001-08:00

Audience Member: So, let’s say you have a class full of 10th graders and all of them are in danger of dropping out of high school. They have discipline issues, are under-credited, disengaged, all of it. You have no cost restrictions – no amount of money is too much. There are no limitations – you can literally do anything you want. What would you do to keep these students in school and get them on the right track toward graduation?

This was the question posed to six students on a panel I was moderating at a dropout prevention summit in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Four students were in high school and two in college. I thought it was a great question; a question to promote dreaming; to generate the ideal with the obvious understanding that it would have to be trimmed back into something more real, something with real-world restrictions. But, just offering the chance to dream with “no holds barred” left me excited to hear what these young people would say.

Tear down the traditional school building and start over? Create programs that do X, Y, and Z? Change the time structure of the school day? Connect students to jobs? Make it more “fun”? Get rid of all the teachers (except for Mr./Ms./Mrs. (NAME HERE) who changed my life)? Scrap the boring curriculum and make it relevant to my life? Get an iPad in every student’s hands?

Nope. None of this.

Their answers were clear and consistent, and would cost next-to-nothing.

“Help me access positive social networks”: Whether with peers, family members, community members, or supportive adults in the schools, the answers from the student panel were clear: they had access to more negative social networks than positive ones and this needs to change. They stated this explicitly and it highlights how we must understand student social networks as a vehicle for education and engagement and be proactive in supporting their development. This is little more than an understanding that relationships are basically the core of everything, good, bad or otherwise.
“Help me tap into my motivation”: Schools and communities have not taken the time to understand what motivates our youth. We believe it’s just easier for us to come up with ideas we think should be motivating and then blame the youth when they don’t engage. Adults talk ad nauseum about how un-motivated “today’s youth” are and we have done so for every generation of “today’s youth” for as long as there have been “today’s youth”. We work desperately to try and instill motivation, to fill this void, while never accepting that it is not a void at all. I have met adults around the country who run fantastic programs for youth that no youth actually show up for. So, something’s wrong with the youth? What if we just asked about and explored personal motivation as a foundation for every student’s education? What if, with this answer in hand, we then co-created engagement opportunities with our youth that “tap into” their motivations?
“Help me build a sense of positive personal identity”: School is compulsory; it’s an extension of the law; it’s enforced; it happens to students. (One student panelist even talked to me “off-line” about completely getting rid of compulsory education for this reason.) There is no inherent reason that education as a value or as core to personal identity should be expected from students. The reality is that many of our students are just there because they have to be. And yet, our system is built upon the premise that education is an innate value. What if we took a few moments every now and then and offered activities and reflections on history, language, math and science that were more personal, rather than purely curricular, in nature? What if we rooted education in who students actually are and help them develop a vision of who they want to become? What if every student could answer: What do you want your life to look like when you are 40, and how does education fit into that?

So, for the big question with no money restrictions, the prompt for these students to dream big about dropout prevention “no holds barred”, we get 1. relationships, 2. personal motivation, and 3. a sense of positive personal identity.

I think we may have over-thought the million-dollar question.

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

Dropout Prevention: The Million-Dollar Question

2011-11-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

“Help me access positive social networks”: Whether with peers, family members, community members, or supportive adults in the schools, the answers from the student panel were clear: they had access to more negative social networks than positive ones and this needs to change. They stated this explicitly and it highlights how we must understand student social networks as a vehicle for education and engagement and be proactive in supporting their development. This is little more than an understanding that relationships are basically the core of everything, good, bad or otherwise.
“Help me tap into my motivation”: Schools and communities have not taken the time to understand what motivates our youth. We believe it’s just easier for us to come up with ideas we think should be motivating and then blame the youth when they don’t engage. Adults talk ad nauseum about how un-motivated “today’s youth” are and we have done so for every generation of “today’s youth” for as long as there have been “today’s youth”. We work desperately to try and instill motivation, to fill this void, while never accepting that it is not a void at all. I have met adults around the country who run fantastic programs for youth that no youth actually show up for. So, something’s wrong with the youth? What if we just asked about and explored personal motivation as a foundation for every student’s education? What if, with this answer in hand, we then co-created engagement opportunities with our youth that “tap into” their motivations?
“Help me build a sense of positive personal identity”: School is compulsory; it’s an extension of the law; it’s enforced; it happens to students. (One student panelist even talked to me “off-line” about completely getting rid of compulsory education for this reason.) There is no inherent reason that education as a value or as core to personal identity should be expected from students. The reality is that many of our students are just there because they have to be. And yet, our system is built upon the premise that education is an innate value. What if we took a few moments every now and then and offered activities and reflections on history, language, math and science that were more personal, rather than purely curricular, in nature? What if we rooted education in who students actually are and help them develop a vision of who they want to become? What if every student could answer: What do you want your life to look like when you are 40, and how does education fit into that?

Grappling with Standardized Testing and No Child Left Behind

2011-11-20T15:48:00.000-08:00

Across the country, public schools engage in the yearly ritual of standardized testing. There isn’t a U.S. household with school-age children that hasn’t experienced a standardized test.

Most educational “experts” agree that testing is just one measure of how well students comprehend and apply knowledge. I think we can all agree that high standards are a worthy goal.

However, the current situation in my home state of Wisconsin is reflective of a larger issue.

Recently, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel published a perfectly-timed opinion piece by Alan J. Borsuk, titled “Wisconsin's annual school test still gets lots of attention, but it seems less useful each year.”

I believe this article does a good job of illustrating the declining value of the Wisconsin’s WKCE standardized test. It also shows the importance and urgency of more rigorous, authentic assessments. Hopefully, they will be developed by my state before 2014.

Mr. Borusk's column captures my perspective well and highlights the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's highly public move earlier this year to seek a waiver for No Child Left Behind.

What has been under reported is that Wisconsin’s DPI quietly announced that they aren't going to make the November deadline to file the waiver to the U.S. Department of Education.

Wisconsin isn’t the only state that is seeking such a waiver. Eleven other states met the deadline and have applied for waivers from the federal government.

Wisconsin’s failure to meet the federal deadline puts my state’s schools — and the high performing school districts we benchmark to — in the zone of possibly not making adequate yearly progress: 100 percent of all students must be above standard in the next few years.

In my school district, we listened to teachers and the community and made a decision to begin to put these tests in the rearview mirror. Better, authentic, and rigorous assessments are the order of the day.

In Greendale, we are linking professional development with best practices in the classroom so that we can become more efficient and successful in our work with students. Good teaching and a positive school climate helps support our students in their performance on standardized tests. More importantly, it will push them towards a brighter future with more rigorous assessments ahead and engaged learning ready for higher education and the world beyond high school.

About the author: Dr. William Hughes has worked in education for 31 years as a teacher, principal, superintendent of schools. He has served as Superintendent of the Greendale School District in Greendale, Wisconsin for the past 14 years. Greendale is a garden community and one of three greenbelt communities in the United States. It is a suburban district of about 2,600 students located in the Milwaukee metro area; an area known for high achieving schools. Greendale is known for its high level of student achievement with over 90 percent of graduates attending higher education institutions, ongoing community engagement on multiple levels, along with collaborative relationships with bargaining groups while retaining a focus on children, service, citizenship and learning. He is a former board member of the Milwaukee Area Technical College, a member of the National School Climate Council, board member of the National Center for Learning and Citizenship and adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

I’m Determined

2011-11-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

I had the honor of speaking at a youth conference hosted and led by young people involved with “I’m Determined” in the state of Virginia (www.Imdetermined.org). I knew the focus of the work and leadership development was on young people with disabilities and that “I’m Determined” is committed to ensuring that these young people develop their voices, understand their power, and achieve self-determination. The experience was incredible; the youth were amazing; the adult staff appropriately supportive without claiming too much power; I left inspired and reflective.

Yes, I met some phenomenal young people - powerful leaders - who also had disabilities. From blindness to dyslexia, from Williams Syndrome to Cerebral Palsy, from ADHD to Aspbergers, these young people redefined traditional notions of individual leadership. But, my inspiration didn’t come from any individual, but from who and how they all were together.

So, what happens when you bring 130 young people with disabilities together, many of whom had never been to such a conference, some of whom had never even separated from their parents for hours at a time? What happens when you cram these 130 young people, many in motorized chairs, a few with vision impairments and others with an array of physical walking supports and bulky contraptions into a small hotel ballroom full of tables and chairs and bags and personal items on the floor? What happens when some non-verbal, some partially verbal, and some fully verbal youth “discuss” what leadership means and how they can become better leaders? What happens when it is meal time and there is a buffet line and some do not have the physical capacity to get their food by themselves, much less carry their food back to the ballroom and then eat it? What about the young man walking in circles in the corner? What about the young woman who cannot tolerate the sound of the lights in the room (which the rest of us could not even hear)? What happens when you turn all organizing and facilitation of all of this over to a subset of these same youth?

Beauty.

What sounds like a logistical impossibility was a beautiful manifestation of community, and I don’t mean “disability community”; I mean community in its ideal.

When everyone has a disability, no one has a disability. When the assumption is that everyone could use a little support, everyone offers a little support. When we understand that everyone communicates and learns differently, we listen and teach differently.

Every young person at this meeting stood ready to help someone else. So, when something was in the way of a motorized chair, someone else leaned down to get it. When someone got in line for food and couldn’t serve themselves, someone else helped them first before getting her own. When someone needed help writing, speaking, hearing, or just calming themselves in this foreign environment, another young person made it all happen. The day went off without a hitch.

If only I could be so in tune with others and they with me. I’m determined to be so.

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

It’s College Access Time in Tennessee!

2011-10-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

My colleagues and I are in the midst of launching the Tennessee College Access and Success Network. But, you might have heard, “it’s football time in Tennessee”! It is well acknowledged and documented the cultural role that football plays in the South and the role of the church of the Southeastern Conference in particular during the fall and winter months. So, I figured that if we really want to get our message out and make it stick during this glorious time of year, we had better make the connection between college access and football. And, to be clear, it has nothing to do with athletic scholarships.

So, here are a few things that football teaches us about college access, starting with the offense:

The Playbook: Every good offense has a good playbook. This doesn’t mean it is the most complex playbook or that it has a bunch of flashy trick-plays. It means it has a playbook that 1) Matches the skills and goals of the team and 2) Is understood by all of the players and coaches across different roles and responsibilities. And yet, rather than prescribing every move, a good playbook and a good offensive coordinator allows space for audibles and ad-libs by the players based on their read of a given defense. College access and success requires a well thought-out and executed, but adaptable plan, and one that includes a team of supports with clear roles. For it to be implemented, it must be practiced over time in such a way that the player has the space to struggle on his way to success.

The Quarterback: We all know the role of the quarterback in leading the offense. Every coach knows that no matter what he controls during practice and how much he designs the plays, on game day he turns fate over to his quarterback. In college access, we too often fail to relinquish control to the quarterback, the student, whose decisions will ultimately determine his success. In our attempts to coach and facilitate the transactional components of the college access process (forms, fees, applications, deadlines), we fail to relinquish control to the student so he can succeed “on game day.” The student must be the quarterback of the college access and success process. He must understand and own the playbook in such a way that he is adaptable and can make decisions as needed outside of the playbook.

The Center: The center somewhat quietly triggers every play with the simple snap of the ball. This is the “spark” that ignites every play. After igniting, the center becomes a blocker (see offensive line below). In college access and success, every student needs a center (that’s actually deeper than I even intended). He may need someone to provide a spark, but he also needs a center who knows when to just be a blocker.

The Offensive Line: The offensive line blocks to protect the quarterback. That being said, they are not expected to block indefinitely, just a couple of seconds per play in reality. So, the quarterback has to make decisions in tandem with his blockers and vice versa. In college access and success, supportive adults and peers are the offensive line. As such, we can be the ones that deflect negative messages, that reinforce and support in moments of doubt, and that do some of the unrecognized work that makes college access and success a possibility. We have to know the playbook; we have to know when and where to move; and we have to be honest about whom we may need to block and, therefore, who or what is trying to tackle our quarterback.

The Fullback: As an extension of the blocking scheme, the fullback plays a critical role. He isn’t in on every play in most offenses. But, at critical moments, on the plays that often determine games, the fullback is the guy that puts his head down and takes on any barrier that gets in the way of his quarterback or running back. Different from the blocking of the offensive line, the fullback is targeted and forward moving, and requires a level of fearlessness that opens the hole for the runner. In college access and success, we have to recognize at what point we become the fullback and target our own leverage, power, and social capital to create the space for student success. Sometimes this can be ugly and confrontational work, or sometimes it is just really time sensitive, but it comes at a seminal moment for the student. We have to know when and where to be the fullback. But, we also have to understand that we are still just blocking, we can’t make the play.

The Wide Receivers and Running Backs: If a quarterback runs the ball every time by himself, he ultimately will get tired and his narrow strategy will lose its potency. So, every now and again, even the best running quarterback needs someone to hand the ball off to or pass to, someone to help carry the load. This is where the running back and wide receivers come in. In college access, students need someone to pass or hand the ball off to from time to time. But, we as running backs and receivers have to remember that it is still the quarterback that lines up and leads the team on the next play.

I wanted to start this discussion with the offense, because this is the controllable variable in the college access and success process. Defense, and perhaps even Special Teams, may follow in another blog.

So, let’s celebrate football season! Let’s cheer for our teams. But, when it comes to college access, let’s make sure we are not just fans, but understand our roles and responsibilities in supporting the opportunity of college access and success for all of our students who dream that dream.

Visit: www.tncollegeaccess.org

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

Engaging the Public in Public Education: Back to School Resources

2011-09-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

While public confidence in our public schools is at an all time low, there are signs of hope that positive change is on the horizon. Energetic dialogue about how we might embark on the journey toward this change is prevalent in the media, twitter exchanges, and in private conversations. The public is hungry for change, looking for meaningful ways to engage in the process, ready to lend a hand in improving teaching and learning for our students.

Cascade Educational Consultants has developed a series of articles to provide a set of resources to assist schools in discovering innovative strategies for engaging the full spectrum of stakeholders in the education process. We propose public confidence in our schools will increase proportionally with the level of meaningful engagement everyone has in the process. When youth and adults are committed to working together to co-create solutions to our most pressing challenges, the collective effort will lead to change that results in positive outcomes, leading to increased belief and understanding that the system indeed works.

Table of Contents:

An Inclusive School Climate is a Good Thing by William H. Hughes, PH.D.
Power, Relationships and Language by Anderson Williams
Is Student Engagement Easier Said Than Done? by Brandon Hill
Public Engagement Through Teaching and Learning by Teri Dary
School and Community Engagement by Terry Pickeral

To download the entire series with links and resources, please click here.

School and Community Engagement

2011-09-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

At a nearby elementary school, third-graders eagerly await a bus full of senior citizens to continue their lessons on how to surf the web and send e-mails to their peers and family. Twice a week, these “tech tutors” engage with their older partners from the local senior center to increase their technology knowledge and skills.
The collaboration between the local school and senior center and played out not only in the Technology Lab, but also on the school campus and at the senior center itself. The elementary school students and seniors often join together singing songs, writing poetry and sharing stories for mutual benefit.

You can imagine the joy seniors express sharing their stories with their young friends and the lessons the students learn from the seniors.

Far too often, when schools desire to engage their community, it is for specific short-term opportunities to contribute to a school’s program or classroom project. This limited orientation to engagement might address a current need, but does not mobilize communities to provide long-term sustained collaboration. Most importantly, it does not bring each student to his or her fullest potential.

Sustainable community engagement is the inclusion of community members in school decisions, planning, activities, visioning, communication, and other school-related activities. It is based on the notion that children whose communities are involved in their schooling have a more successful educational experience. The community benefits by better understanding how (1) schools operate, (2) students can contribute to community development and (3) communities can contribute to a high-quality school system that serves all students effectively.

To create opportunities for the community to be deeply engaged in sustainable school-community engagement the school must understand the difference between identifying potential collaborators and mobilizing community members, institutions and organizations.

Identification of potential collaborators simply creates a pool of candidates that might be included in schools; whereas mobilizing not only identifies candidates, but demonstrates the mutual benefit to the school and community and fully taps the community resources.

My experience shows that community members, institutions and organizations are willing to contribute to school improvement, but rarely understand the entry point to do so. Often, they need help to identify the way the school system is organized to take advantage of the resources they can bring. Here’s what schools can do:

Effectively communicate their desire to engage the community
Establish strategies and easily accessed ways for the community to engage with the school
Identify specific benefits to the school and the community to establish school-community collaborations
Engage the community in real elements of school decisions, planning, activities, visioning, communication, and other school-related activities
Conduct research that measures and demonstrates the benefits of engagement to students, schools and the community
Publicly share the results of school-community engagement

At the same time community members, institutions and organizations need to:

Identify the resources they can bring to school improvement and student development and achievement
Co-create and co-design school-community engagement so that there is not a request for the school to “buy-in” but rather to “co-own” from the beginning
Determine the short and long-term benefits of engaging with the local school
Provide the school access to community facilities
Encourage internships, school-to-work programs, shadowing and other opportunities that engage students in the community to acquire/enhance workplace knowledge and skills
Volunteer together with students to address community issues/problems

Sustainable school-community engagement benefits schools and the community by mobilizing their rich resources toward mutual benefits.

The seniors I mentioned certainly learned about technology, but also about the lives of nine year-olds. On the flip side, the students were adept with technology, but less experienced in the world outside their local community. These potentially life-changing experiences do not come from occasional cooperation between schools and communities rather from thoughtful, long-term and sustainable collaborations.

About the author: Terry Pickeral, president Cascade Educational Consultants has extensive experience in policy development, advocacy, education reform, youth leadership, teaching and learning strategies, education collaborations and civic development. His commitment is to ensuring schools create and sustain quality teaching and learning environments for all students to be successful in school and contribute to their communities as active principled citizens.

This article is one in a series on the topic of Engaging the Public in Public Education. It was developed to provide a set of resources to assist schools in discovering innovative strategies for engaging the full spectrum of stakeholders in the education process. To read other entries in the series, please click here. To download the entire series with links and resources, please click here.

Public Engagement Through Teaching and Learning

2011-09-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

We all stand to gain tremendous resources, expertise, and support from having a broader base of constituents working toward a shared vision of public schools as vibrant centers of learning which radiate a positive, safe, and caring environment within which all students thrive. Rather than relegating "outsiders" to the
sidelines, schools need to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with parents, business, and the full spectrum of community members. The collective expertise that will be brought to bear on improving our schools will help us all be more effective in meeting the needs of those at the core of our mission: the students.

Too often, collaborative efforts are hampered by the perception that only teachers know what students need to learn and how to provide the necessary instruction to develop those skills. We will be far more effective in impacting the learning process if we bring all of the available resources to bear on increasing student learning: parents, young people, community members, business leaders, and school staff. The rich perspectives and expertise offered by this diverse group can substantially expand our ability to meet the varied abilities and interests of the students in our classrooms. With teachers as the central guide in the process, each student's educational experience can take great strides by developing collaborative partnerships that enhance learning in a broader context.

As you begin the new school year, renew your commitment to ignite your teaching and learning by engaging the public. The reward? Increased understanding of what it takes to be a successful school, greater support for what you need to be successful, and additional resources to inspire success in your students. Start from where you are, and start small. Begin with a pledge to take one small step toward engaging the wider community in your efforts today, then use the following strategies to get you started.

Ask members of the city council in helping your class write a classroom constitution to establish a democratic classroom.
Send home a Time and Talent survey with your students, asking families to identify ways they would like to be involved in your classroom community. Request that each family identify one other community member to take the survey as well.
Open the school for a broad range of educational opportunities outside the school day, such as a knitting, yoga, or computer classes for learners of all ages.
Structure homework around things that are happening in the community. Assign a research paper on a relevant community topic and then make the copies available at the local library. Give students credit for participating in a community event that relates to your curriculum. Invite community members to speak to your class about relevant topics.
Write an op-ed for the local paper that talks about learning that is going on in your classroom that connects with a current issue or need in the community.
Work with the city council and other community groups to engage youth in addressing community issues. Find out what they're working on and connect it with your curriculum. Become a partner in promoting awareness through a public awareness campaign. Attend city council meetings with your students and get involved.
Invite members of the community to join your class for a community forum to discuss needs in the community. Connect these needs to your curriculum through service-learning and engage your students in designing and implementing a solution.

About the Author: Teri Dary is the Education Consultant for Service-Learning at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and serves as co-chair of the State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network. She has been an educator for 27 years and has extensive experience in curriculum and program development.

Is Student Engagement Easier Said Than Done?

2011-09-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was talking with educators about how they prepare for the start of the school year. Everyone buzzed about the new academic year. I heard about every educational issue under the sun. Topics included new teacher evaluation rules, principal and teacher reassignments, student discipline, testing and more.

I wondered aloud where student engagement and leadership fits into the picture. How strategies to engage students need to be implemented throughout the learning experience. I reeled off a long list of positive outcomes connected to student engagement (development of leadership, communication skills, peer/adult
collaborations); and how these approaches are not a panacea, but still effective in addressing a myriad of problems.

Before I could get fully settled on my soapbox, I was interrupted with a simple, but valid question, “how?”

How do we get students more engaged in the classroom? How do we cultivate student leadership and use it to support our collective goals? How do we utilize students’ leadership skills and integrate engagement into the overall learning experience? Where do we even begin?

Those are key questions.

Student engagement can happen anywhere. It is not an isolated activity or segment of a lesson plan. Clear, practical methods of student engagement can be implemented on an ongoing basis at various levels. Whether at the classroom level (immediate students and teacher within a class); the community level (broader communities of students within grades, racial/culture/gender/ability subgroups, student interest groups, or team sports); or at a systemic level (across schools, districts and cities).

Here are some examples:

Students engaged with peers: On the first day of class allow students to give an in-depth introduction of themselves to classmates. Have students talk about their backgrounds, interests, future goals, as well as the learning environment they need in order to be successful. Acknowledge diversity and similarities in stories, backgrounds and collective needs.

Students engaged in community: Based on students collective needs, allow the students to create a list of
classroom rules (I sometimes use the word “norms” instead as “rules” can sound rigid and restrictive). Have them adapt these rules/norms as official guidelines that govern the classroom community. Revisit the rules/norms often to ensure their effectiveness and encourage dialogue

Students engaged with administrators: Invite principal and/or administrators in to discuss classroom norms and how they relate to overall school policy and guidelines. Discuss diversity of students and needs. Students suggest ideas/strategies to create better learning environments.

Students engaged in school processes: Students work with administrators to establish school-wide policies for healthy learning and classroom climate. Segments of students may highlight and advocate on behalf of specific groups of students. School-wide student voice is solicited and used to inform decisions.

These are just some examples of how engaging students in the creation of rules and norms can go from impacting a single classroom to impacting an entire school.

Think of all the other areas of the educational system where we can engage students to make a positive impact. Student engagement and leadership isn’t just another activity picked from a lesson plan. It’s a way of doing things. Once we learn how to do it effectively we can all reap the benefits.

Brandon Hill is a youth community organizer with over 10 years experience working on local and national youth initiatives. He previously served as National Program Director for grammy-award winning artist Usher Raymond's New Look Foundation and now coordinates the Mayor's Youth Council in Nashville, TN. He received his B.A. from Tennessee State University and is currently working on his M.Ed at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.

Power, Relationships and Language

2011-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

A few months back, I had the opportunity to work with the National Association of State Directors of Special Education and the IDEA Partnership. Our focus was on “self-determination and youth investment” for young people with all sorts of abilities. The group included the deaf and hard of hearing, the physical disabilities community, the autism community, the mental health community, and the intellectual disability community.

Beyond any strategic facilitation purpose, I like to start with conversations about power because it is already in the room with us, and we rarely talk about it. Everyone has it. Everyone has lost it. Everyone has used it. Everyone has been used by it. Everyone intuitively knows what it is, but few know how to talk about it.

We opened the session by having participants (adults and a couple of youth) picture themselves as a youth and then recall a time when they felt that they had power during their youth. Going around the room, you can just imagine the stories, the inspiration, and relationships that were shared among these complex lives. Responses varied from having the chance to drive a car to being told as a young woman that she is “just as good as the boys”; from the first experiences of saying “no” to a parent and making her own decision to holding his first position of formal leadership; from being genuinely listened to and supported by an adult as he overcame his physical challenges to experiencing accountability and ownership of her own mistakes and of her own education; from holding that first job to staging a walk-out to protect and save a school for the deaf and hard of hearing.

These were powerful people. We all are powerful people.

Power is not something we do but underlies what we do. It has no innate value, good or bad. It is not a choice we make but is reflected in the choices we make. It is not the substance of our relationships but defines the nature of our relationships.

And while we don’t talk about power very often, we talk around power in most of the work we do.

As I listened to the stories of these leaders, I began to write down some of the language we were using and its relationship to power. The following is the short (incomplete) list of words I captured in my margin:
Inclusion: sharing and/or balancing power
Actualization: living into one’s power
Self-determination: choosing how to use one’s own power (requires the power of true choice)
Voice: expressing power
Leadership: acting on power

This is just a start from my notes that day and I invite you to look for the other assumed, unspoken and/or unacknowledged power underlying our language, our actions, and relationships.

At the end of the day, we cannot individually enforce inclusion; we cannot singularly define actualization; we cannot provide self-determination; we cannot create voice; and we cannot prescribe leadership. We don’t have the power.

The power to achieve any of these is within each of us and is manifest through powerful relationships.

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

An Inclusive Positive School Climate is a Good Thing

2011-09-03T08:41:00.000-07:00

A positive inclusive school climate improves student achievement and a sense of belonging. This year, more than ever, school leaders need efficient, low cost and effective ways to boost school achievement. Paying attention and leading on a positive inclusive school climate is a strategy that pays off long term for youth, faculty and school districts – with stronger student learning achievement – a good return on investment of human and financial resources.

Starting the new school year means new opportunity to improve student learning. Education is changing right before our eyes across our nation. Successful schools build on their tradition of excellence in serving children; keeping on eye on engaging youth and children in their education so they achieve and become well-rounded adults.

Dr. James Comer of Yale University writes that “A positive school climate exists when all students feel comfortable, wanted, valued, accepted, and secure in an environment where they can interact with caring people they trust.” An inclusive school climate affects everyone associated with the school: students, staff, parents, and the community. It is the belief system or culture that underlies the day-to-day operation of a school. Collectively and individually, a inclusive school climate has a major impact on the success of all students in the school. Research and experience show a link between inclusive school climate and other important measurements of school success, including:

Academic achievement
High morale
Faculty productivity
Effective leadership

Inclusive schools are places where all children can learn and be successful within a shared academic environment. Inclusive opportunities for youth and children that help them become self determined, productive and socially involved citizens. Inclusive schools focus on:

Continuous improvement.
School-community collaboration
Youth leadership
Communication
Collaborative professional development

Here are key factors towards creating a positive inclusive school climate:

Improved academic achievement linked to standard based teaching
Respect – Stronger self esteem and consideration of others
Trust – Faculty and youth can be counted on
Morale – Students and staff feel good about being in the school
Belonging – Everyone, especially youth want cohesiveness; to fit in – grow
Collaboration – able and accepted to talk about; improve teaching and learning
Renewal – openness to change, improvement and spiritually renewed
Caring – Kindness and concern for others – a norm

Schools are experiencing budget shortfalls unseen in our career, and are likely to continue. Over the next few years, schools will be forced to reduce spending due to a drop in revenue and in some cases, public support. Savvy school and teacher leaders are proactively working with their staff and community; finding simple, low cost high return strategies to plan their schools and districts and concentrating on improving student achievement with an eye on the relationships teachers have with youth so they learn more. Focusing on a inclusive school climate costs little; yields high return as youth connected and respecting their teachers – who give them voice and respect while setting high expectations learn more.

School and teacher leaders work in a humble yet confident manner, adapting to the needs of students and their families while respecting what excellence in education is all about. Creating a inclusive school climate takes reflective relationship-oriented school leaders who put greater effort into building and improving relationships than buying a canned program that really won’t work out well. Putting into place a set of low cost/high return strategies over the next year or two will create a inclusive school climate, resulting in higher student achievement and a school where as Paul Houston says, “A place students run to in the morning faster than they leave at the end of the day.”

We can all agree that starting the school year with a inclusive school climate is a great way to begin for school and teacher leaders, not to mention the youth and children they educate.

Conversation: Talk About Core Curriculum!

2011-08-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

What was the last good conversation you had? Think about that for a second…

What made this conversation “good” for you?

As I consider this question, I can think of a number of conversations in just the past week that I would consider good (By the way, I feel fortunate but have also made many personal and professional decisions that allow me to have good conversations on a regular basis). These conversations range from friendly banter over a beer with a co-worker to a phone call with a high school friend while sitting in traffic to deep strategic planning for the launch of a statewide college access network. They can be about nothing, or they can seemingly be about everything. They include short (less than five minutes) conversations and they include conversations that can go into the hours or even span days.

So, what is it that makes these conversations good?

For me, as I distill these and other widely varied good conversations I have had, the following criteria seem to arise consistently:

The conversation is the extension, or creation, of a relationship. It could be the flicker of a new relationship or the growth, or clarification, of an old one. By default then, I also know in the conversation that I am not only safe to be who I am, but I am willing to let others be safe in who they are.
I learn something. Sometimes I learn facts, but usually in my good conversations I learn something about myself and about others. I learn what I don’t know, and what they do. I learn what I do know, and therefore what I have to share. I learn how I think and process the world and how they think and process the world. I learn the value of the conversation itself and the subtle thrill of being truly present in the presence of others.
I leave wanting to do it again. To be clear, I don’t necessarily leave wanting to continue the same content, but I am motivated by the process. A good conversation makes me feel alive, reminds me I am not alone, and keeps me humble in my relationship to those around me and the broader world.

Relationships, safety, learning, teaching, sharing, motivation: all of these outcomes can be found in and developed through a good conversation and, most importantly, regardless of the content of that conversation.

Back in 1964, Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase: “The medium is the message.” In other words, because the means through which content is delivered determines how it will be received, the mode of delivery is in itself content, or is at least symbiotic with the content and not discernable. For this reason, content (think everything we test students on) cannot be conceived of outside of its mode of delivery.

So, what if we taught conversation? Every day. What if we invested explicitly in the medium through which our youth can communicate effectively their own ideas, develop their own positive relationships, create safety, express their challenges, their explorations, their questions? What if we truly valued and assessed conversation knowing it may be the most vital and valuable life skill we can teach? What if we practiced having and modeling our own good conversations every day?

Could we increase safety? Improve relationships and motivation? Open a more equitable process of teaching and learning?

I wonder what schools would be like if we included conversation in our core curriculum?

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

Liberty is a Participatory Sport

2011-08-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Recently, I visited New York City with my four and six year old grandchildren. They were most excited about a visit to the Statue of Liberty. We arrived late at night and they both wondered aloud when they would be going to see the Statue of Liberty. The next day, we were at the top of the Empire State Building. They looked at the Statue of Liberty in the distance and told everyone within earshot that they were going there next. When we finally toured Lady Liberty, I reflected about the Statue of Liberty and what it truly symbolizes for our nation.

The people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States in recognition of the friendship established between our two nations during the American Revolution. Over the years, the Statue of Liberty's symbolism has grown to include freedom and democracy as well as this international friendship.

To me, liberty ensures conditions, in which citizens are able to govern themselves, express their free will and take responsibility for their actions.

It is wonderful that our nation provides us the liberty to be responsible citizens. Adults may well understand liberty, but I wonder how our youth perceive liberty and how effectively our schools provide quality opportunities for all young citizens to engage in democratic actions.

Our nation depends on each generation to participate in our democracy as active principled citizens – in fact to govern, express free will and take responsibility. Schools are a critical social institution to assist youth to gain and enhance their democratic knowledge, skills and dispositions to ensure our liberties are sustained.

I took note when the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the 2010 "Nation's Report Card on Civics" and for the third NAEP Civics Report in a row, (1998, 2006, 2010) the results were very disappointing. It should be a wake-up call for our nation that we are failing to impart the civic knowledge, skills and dispositions critical to being an informed and engaged citizenry.

The data revealed that only 27 percent of fourth-graders, 22 percent of eighth-graders and 24 percent of twelfth-graders scored proficient or higher in civics – meaning that millions of young Americans will be unprepared to be the informed and engaged citizens a healthy democracy requires (www.civicmissionofschools.org).

Schools, however, cannot solely prepare young citizens to express and sustain our liberty; every citizen must also model liberty and other democratic principles so that youth see, hear and experience active principled citizenship.

We should not depend only on our politicians, policymakers and public/private leaders to follow civic virtues while we stand on the sideline complaining when they do not. Liberty is a participatory sport – we all need to understand and express our liberty as citizens and ensure that our nation’s great experiment in democracy is successful.

About the author: Terry Pickeral, president Cascade Educational Consultants has extensive experience in policy development, advocacy, education reform, youth leadership, teaching and learning strategies, education collaborations and civic development. His commitment is to ensuring schools create and sustain quality teaching and learning environments for all students to be successful in school and contribute to their communities as active principled citizens.

Supply, Demand, and the Nonprofit Non-Economy (Something’s gotta give.)

2011-08-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

Supply and demand: it’s probably the one relationship any of us remember from some sort of economics or even government class we had in high school or college. The point where supply meets demand is the equilibrium; it determines price. It is the basic idea of our economy and it’s as fundamental to our daily experience as the air we breathe. It determines what most of us consume and how much, what we get paid for the work we do, where products we consume come from, the brands we choose, where we consume, how far we have to drive to get there, and how much we pay when we do. Despite its ubiquity in our lives, most of us don’t pay too much attention to this fundamental relationship.

But, what would happen if supply and demand suddenly acted independently? Or worse, what would we do if they acted in actual opposition to each other? What if supply never met demand?

Well, this is the economic reality for our community-based nonprofits that are serving our most vulnerable populations and providing basic services for our communities. At the time when the demand for services is growing, the supply of philanthropic investment has diminished. The data related to our recent recession demonstrate this effect most clearly as demand continues to tick upward in the nonprofit services arena and the supply of philanthropy, particularly for crisis and lifeline services, has continued a downward trend.

Here is a glimpse at the current supply reality (There are a bunch of references below if you want to start digging deeper and countless more via Google. I’m just trying to make a point here.):

2008-2010 recession and post-recession giving represents an 11 percent decline from pre-recession highs (adjusted for inflation and including a modest 2010 rebound).
• There has been a significant disinvestment in people in need (human services) on the domestic front with a 5.6 percent decline in inflation adjusted numbers last year alone, and a modest decline again this year.
• 28% of wealthy Americans say the current recession has caused them to cut back on the total amount of money they give to charity.
• Less than 1/3 of philanthropic giving in the United States is targeted at the needs of the poor.

On the other (demand) hand:

87% of lifeline or crisis services organizations saw an increase in demand in 2010.
• Unemployment rate among youth in 2010 was the highest ever recorded since the end of World War II, and the labor force participation rate was the lowest ever recorded.
• 60% of youth and adult lifeline organizations increased the number of clients they served in 2010, yet only 43% were able to meet the demand for their services.

Hopefully you get the sense of where we are today, but the longer term picture tells an even more unsettling story.

While the good news is that philanthropic giving seems to be on a modest rise this year over last, the bad news is that the gap experienced over the past three years cannot easily be undone. The recession will leave a lasting and longitudinal gap. Put simply, when the economy does recover, the wealthy are more resilient than the poor, so the impact lasts longer the poorer you are. Therefore, when the economy starts to grow again, we also experience a perpetually expanding equity gap. The poor stay poor longer and the rich recover faster. The rich rebound fully. The poor rebound minimally. As this gap widens, the generational impact takes deeper root and the apparent shorter term economic shock of the recession becomes a long-term driver of poverty and instability. It becomes a cycle, and one that is not just bad for the poor, but is bad for the long-term health of the economy as a whole:

“The adverse effects on lifetime earnings are most pronounced for unemployment episodes experienced by young people…In a recession, young workers tend to take worse jobs than they would during better times. And as they settle into family life and become less mobile, it is hard to recover from this “cyclical downgrading.” - “The Tragedy of Unemployment”, Finance and Development, December 2010

“There is consensus that macroeconomic instability is harmful for both growth and equity…In particular, episodes of instability disproportionately affect vulnerable groups in the short run, and…economic recovery rarely brings back poverty and equity to their pre-adjustment levels…In addition, it also acts as a deterrent for the determinants of growth, since they affect the process of savings and investment and thus, reduce long run growth and the potential for productive job creation.” - “Social Dimensions of Macroeconomic Policy: Report of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations”, December 2001, p. 11

So, ultimately, unless philanthropic giving levels de-couple from the performance of the economy as a whole (not sure how this would happen), nonprofits will always fail to meet the needs of our communities. And, as every economic downturn occurs, those needs will grow and sustain long after philanthropy and the economy pick back up. The shock to the economy is temporary and the shock to our low-income communities perpetual.

Something’s gotta give.

References and Readings:
“Employment and Unemployment Among Youth – Summer 2010”, Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2010

“The Steep Decline in Teen Summer Employment in the U.S. 2000-2010”, The Center for Labor Market Studies, April 2011

“Social Dimensions of Macroeconomic Policy: Report of the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations”, December 2001, p. 11

“The Tragedy of Unemployment”, Finance and Development, December 2010

“The Other America’s Philanthropy: What Giving USA Numbers Reveal in 2011”, Nonprofit Quarterly, June 2011

“Nonprofit Finance Fund: America’s Nonprofits Struggle to Meet Fast-Climbing Demand for Services”, Nonprofit Finance Fund, 2011

“The Tragedy of Unemployment”, Finance and Development, December 2010

“Giving USA 2011: Unpacking the numbers LIVE”, Philanthropy Daily, June 21, 2011

Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, www.philanthropy.iupui.edu

Giving USA, www.givingUSA.org

Anderson is currently working on his Master of Business Administration at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. He received his B.A. from Wake Forest University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Email Anderson Williams.

Do You Know of an Inclusive School?

2011-08-03T03:24:00.001-07:00

School leaders realize that inclusive schools engage all children and youth, resulting in higher student achievement. That leads to success post high school and beyond. We are looking for inclusive schools.

We have all seen schools that are struggling to be inclusive. Places where adults and youth and students with and without disabilities all seem disconnected. Places where there are clear differences or where there are distinguished characteristics between general and special education programs - students in isolated area of the school house, a lack of attention to participation by students with disabilities in school programs and classes or lack of respect for their well being.

Inclusive schools are places where all children can learn and be successful within a shared academic environment. Inclusive opportunities for youth and children that help them become self determined, productive and socially involved citizens.

Over the past few months, a team and I have been working on establishing inclusive school characteristics. They include but are not limited to:

Continuous improvement
School and District leaders flexible in making necessary changes to adapt school climate or changing needs of student populations to improve the success of the schools.

School-community collaboration
Community and school leaders and organizations working together to develop relationships with a focus on including all youth in the school, resulting in higher student achievement.

Youth Leadership
Youth leadership characteristics – Mutually agreed-upon, decision-making structures and opportunities for real, credible relationships of faculty and all young people with community leaders to be accountable and developing inclusive climate.

Communication
Highlight the inclusiveness of the local school around student development, engagement and achievement.

Professional Development
Opportunities for faculty and students to share and refine strategies to work together creating effective and sustainable inclusive schools.

As Tim Shriver says, “As we hope for the best in them, hope is reborn in us.”

In the end, we want to be living in a better world. We can bring that along with a more inclusive school and with every community fostering equity, justice and engagement so all students can become active, principled citizens, learn more and be achievers in their life.

We are looking for your thoughts on inclusive schools. I am hopeful you know something about inclusive schools. Please take a moment this summer – if you are in the woods, park or at the beach – send us your ideas.

Do You Know of an Inclusive School?

2011-08-03T03:24:00.000-07:00

Where is the Outrage?

2011-07-21T03:57:00.000-07:00

In the world of education there is a current stream of outrage concerning the cheating scandal in Atlanta Public Schools. How dare administrators allow or encourage changing students’ responses on tests? How dare teachers participate in such activities that do not accurately reflect students’ competencies? How dare a system create a culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation?

How dare they!?

The public’s outrage is warranted. Of course we want school systems that are honest about their outcomes; of course we want students to effectively learn course content and score well on tests; at the same time, don’t we also want our students to experience a school environment that is inclusive, fair, safe, equitable and engaging; and shouldn’t we understand how these are all connected TO testing and other educational outcomes?

So, where is the outrage when every day in our schools students, because of race, gender, socio-economics, sexual orientation or physical or intellectual disability, do not feel safe, do not experience fairness and equitable opportunities to succeed and are not engaged in all school activities? Our outrage should not merely be about testing. This is about accountability. Our public schools are created to reflect our nation’s democratic principles and should be held accountable for these civic virtues.

Inclusive schools, according to the Inclusive Schools Network, are built on the strong philosophical belief that all children can learn and be successful within a shared academic environment. Culturally responsive educational strategies, differentiated instruction and positive behavioral supports are some of the inclusive practices employed in academic and non-academic settings within an inclusive school. Inclusive schools offer all students opportunities and support that will allow them to become self-determined, productive, and socially involved citizens – which, in turn, means developing students who are active co-creators of an inclusive school. It’s a generative cycle.

Inclusion should not be an option for schools but rather a commitment and a core value – and in itself an effective strategy - to ensure equitable access and success for students and adults.
Special Olympics Project UNIFY focuses on creating inclusive schools by ensuring all students are encouraged and supported to be “agents of change” - where all students are capable of being leaders, can participate in school activities and encouraged to engage in unified sports (teams of special education and general education students). All students deserve the opportunity to experience an engaging school and community environment that recognizes their gifts and shares them with others. For more information on Project UNIFY visit: http://www.specialolympics.org/project_unify.aspx

The public is outraged when they learn about cheating in schools and makes it an urgent issue for policymakers, education leaders and school staff to address. Shouldn’t there be a similar outrage and sense of urgency when even one student does not feel safe and included in their own school environment?

About the author: Terry Pickeral, president Cascade Educational Consultants has extensive experience in policy development, advocacy, education reform, youth leadership, teaching and learning strategies, education collaborations and civic development. His commitment is to ensuring schools create and sustain quality teaching and learning environments for all students to be successful in school and contribute to their communities as active principled citizens.

Labels Change When They Become Personal

2011-07-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

I had an experience recently that has opened my eyes to an old perspective in unexpected ways. With the loss of Learn and Serve funding at the federal level comes the elimination of my position as the Service-Learning Consultant at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. As a result, I was informed at a recent meeting that I have been placed on “at-risk status.” While I was fully expecting this news, what really shocked me was how those words made me feel. On a cognitive level, I knew this had nothing to do with my job performance and was a situation well beyond my control. Yet, this label brought with it an immediate feeling of inadequacy, as if I had done something wrong to “deserve” this status.

Being the recipient of a label is nothing new in our education system, nor is my distaste for using them. It is just a new experience for me on a personal level. Having been a special education teacher and personally committed to avoiding the use of labels to define people, I am well aware of the detrimental effects of using the deficit model to obtain services. However, my reflection on this experience has made me aware of my very privileged status. I have never been, to my knowledge, labeled anything negative before. I performed well in school, am basically a white middle class female who has been dealt a pretty decent hand in life.

I am so grateful for having had this experience to better help me understand in a very visceral way the experience so many young people have in our schools. Like me, for reasons well beyond their control, we place the “at-risk” label on students, never to be removed. Do you live in a single parent family? You’re at-risk. Is your family considered low income? You’re at-risk. Have a disability? At-risk. Retained in school? At-risk.

And what about our schools? We need to give careful consideration to the impact on all students when a school gets the “In Need of Improvement” label. How can students feel successful in a school that is considered failing? When we place these destructive labels on a school, we are also placing them on the people that work and learn in those environments. The impact on student and staff morale, perception of ability and self worth, pride in one’s accomplishments, and overall school climate can be devastating in the process. Perceiving yourself as a failure does not lift you up; it crushes your spirit. If we are to push schools to higher levels of success, it seems to me that the best course of action is to provide them with a vision for that success, input effective strategies for change, and then use measurement of outcomes to work toward continuous improvement.

How many more youth, or even entire schools of youth, will need to suffer the indignity of being labeled “at-risk” before we figure out a way to provide for their needs without the unnecessary labels? Must we really point out to them (and their peers) what their failures are each and every day they are in our schools? It seems to me that if we simply focus on helping each individual achieve all they can in schools then receive the necessary support, funding, and infrastructure to provide that success, the labels become moot. How we stack up against each other for whatever reason is irrelevant. Moving forward on a path to success is really all that matters. Let’s drive toward a vision of what we aspire to rather than focus on where we fall short.