Some Thoughts on the Future of Education at Penn-Trafford

The first few days of school have flown by and everything is great!  I have spent some time in almost every school greeting teachers and students as they have entered the door.  I want to thank all of the teachers that have engaged me in conversations about their work, the school district, and most importantly the kids.  I have learned that the business department has quite a few dual enrollment options for our students (more on that on a later blog).  I have discussed what Kindergarten kids know when they enter school and what they are expected to know when they leave Kindergarten.  I have talked about the history, art and math curriculum in the middle schools.  Now, this may sound not too exciting for you, but for me it is “good stuff”!  I will continue to be very visible in the school buildings throughout the year but it is especially imperative that I engage in these conversations in the next few months as I learn about the school district.

As I learn more about the inner workings of the school district, I cannot help but start to think of the future; not only the future of Penn-Trafford, but also the future of public education in general.  Although there are many challenges that we face both locally and nationally, I am very optimistic about the future of education.  Locally, Penn-Trafford is poised to have an opportunity to reshape the “look” of education for generations.  Many of you know that the school district is considering a building project in the upcoming years.  Although the Board has not made any decision about the specifics of the building project, the building project is an opportunity for the school district to revolutionize what education looks like for our kids.  The history of Penn-Trafford tells us that the buildings that are remodeled or built new will be used for generations.  After all, this community and school district are very frugal and will get the most out of any buildings that are built. 

Fortunately for the school district as we enter into this process, education and our society are in a time of significant change.  We will see the most significant changes in education in the methods that we use to educate our kids.  For example, the biggest change will be in how students are taught.  In the future, most students will be taught in a “blended” format where some instruction is done face to face and some in an online format.  This is already being done, but will only expand exponentially in the future.   Schools will also start to “mass customize” learning experiences for students.  Students will have a personal education plan that will be tailored to their specific interests and needs. Some students will have the opportunity to take classes much in the same way they are delivered now, while others will be in a more collaborative “blended” approach with their student peers.  Our challenge as educators at Penn-Trafford is to make sure that buildings that we construct will be able to accommodate the blended approach and the collaborative teaching methods that will come to dominate in the future.  When will “the future” come?  I don’t know.  I do know that we will prepare for the changes and we will be ahead of the curve.  After all, as Will Rogers said, “Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.”



The Start of the School Year

What a great last few days in the school district!  As I have toured the different buildings and chatted with different staff members I can feel the positive energy being produced as the schools prepare for the students on Monday.  As one teacher told me earlier today, “This is my best time of year!”  Penn-Trafford has a dedicated, hard working staff and I am very happy that my own children will have the opportunity to be educated in this school district.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been touring the school district engaging in conversations with staff members as they prepare for the first day of school.  The teachers have been back since Wednesday.  They have been engaged in different professional development activities ever since they came back.  As I mentioned a previous blog, these activities centered around PLC’s.  I have sat in on some of these PLC’s and I love the conversations they are starting.  Teachers are talking about their goals for their students for the year and how they can help the students learn.  I am very excited that the high school teachers have made the commitment to incorporate new instructional strategies in their classrooms.  The high school teachers spent Thursday sharing with each other different instructional strategies.  This will allow all teachers to add new tools to their teacher “toolbox”.  I also spent a lot of time with different elementary staffs as they laid out their plan for progressing students through the year.  It has been a great time for me as I listen and learn about the school district.  I am having too much fun!

Finally, the presentation that I gave to the teachers on Wednesday can be found here.  This PowerPoint presentation does not have a lot of wording since I try to use pictures to tell a story.  In other words, you may not find it real informative, but probably somewhat interesting.

Sir Ken Robinson

This is a fabulous talk about the current state of education in our society. The way the lecture is presented is equally fascinating. For anyone that is interested in education, creativity and improving the school experience for all children, this video is a must watch. What he says about the decline of divergent thinking in kids as they move through the school system is very disheartening.

The New Year is Almost Here!

The excitement to start school is building.  One week from today the students will come back to school and in two days the teachers come back.  The custodians and maintenance departments have been working feverishly to get the school buildings ready for the opening day.  I have seen a lot of progress in this area over the past two weeks and the students will find a neat, clean and safe environment.  I am looking forward to meeting with the teachers this week.  On Wednesday I will introduce myself to the entire teaching staff.  This will be an opportunity for them to get to know a little bit about me.  The teachers will then spend the rest of Wednesday and the following day working in Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s).  PLC’s are a time when groups of teachers get together and focus their time together reviewing student data and designing learning experiences that will benefit students.  I have found PLC’s to be a powerful tool to increase student learning.  I am excited to see how they work at Penn-Trafford!

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles" | Video on TED.com

I thought this video might be worthwhile for you.  I hope school districts across the country create students like this speaker that are willing to challenge what seems unchallengeable

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles" Video on TED.com

My First Week and an Opinion on Test Scores

I have enjoyed my first week in the school district.  I have had the opportunity to meet many people that work in the school district and even the people at Lumpy’s! I have taken a ride (thanks to Mr. Smith) out to Claridge and I immediately felt as if I was back home in the country in Tioga County. I am starting to get a sense about why and how the school district has performed so well over the past few years. 

There has been a laser focus at P-T on achieving a 100% proficiency rate on the PSSA exam in English and Math.  Detractors may argue that test scores do not mean that a student will be successful (or not) in life, and I agree.  What the test scores do reflect is good teaching and powerful instruction.  The debate about whether or not test scores are good or bad is a fun one to participate in, but largely irrelevant to understand the real value of these test scores. Test scores can be used as a catalyst to start conversations about great instruction and student learning. I believe that anytime you can engage a teacher or an administrator in a discussion about what is working in a classroom, then students benefit.  So, if an administrator starts the discussion with a teacher about their classroom practice because test scores are either high or low in the school or the subject area, then that is a good thing.  Oftentimes collaboration among colleagues and sincere reflection of teaching practice result in these conversations being started; in other words, the education narrative in the school building or school district is now centered on THE MOST IMPORTANT ACT in the school district…teaching students.  So for that reason I believe a focus on test scores benefit students.

Proud to be a "Public Servant"

The recent debate in Washington D.C. concerning raising the debt ceiling enlightened me on a few things.  First, the amount of cynicism that politicians have for their own occupation is amazing. If they dislike what they do so much and they have so little respect for their profession then I question why they have even chose their occupation.  As a guidance counselor I always told students that they should follow their passion and spend the rest of their lives doing something they loved.  The rhetoric from the politicians in D.C. does not lead me to believe they love their job.   As I followed the debt ceiling debacle I heard many politicians start their interviews with “Those people in Washington “; I think they have forgotten that they are those people in Washington.  Have they forgotten that they are public servants elected to do the work of the people?  I have spent my entire working career as a public servant and I am proud that I have given my blood sweat and tears for public education.

I am happy that I have not worked in any industry whose goal is to create profits by cheating tax payers (Enron).  I am glad that I have not had to create incredibly confusing financial deals to make fake profits (Lehman Brothers).  I am proud that I work with local community members on a daily basis to try to make their life better.  I am overjoyed that I work with local small businesses to create solutions to problems that benefit everyone involved including the community.  I am proud that I work with the most democratic government entity in the United States…the local school board.  The decisions made by school boards are immediately felt in their local community.  If the school board makes a decision that someone questions they will hear about it while they shop at the local grocery store or when they are out in the community.  In other words, they are immediately responsible for the decisions they make.

School board members give their time to improve the lives of students.  Every school board that I have worked with was filled with people that had a passion to help students and the community.  Sure, different board members have differing opinions and there are moments of discord; but that is what democracy is all about.  The art of compromise occurs all of the time on school boards that I have worked with.  I look forward to working with the Penn-Trafford school board as we work with the community to provide the best learning experiences for our children.  This is why I am a public servant and this is why I am proud to be in this profession.