Friday, October 28, 2011

A Talk With Chuck Schwahn

I want to update you about the work that the “reinventing school” group has done and their talk with Chuck Schwahn yesterday.  The group decided they needed to learn more about the experience that students have in our current school system.  They also wanted to learn more about what other stakeholders in the system have to say about the current state of education.  Our starting point is that Penn-Trafford offers excellent education and that the staff cares deeply for students.  With that being said, if we want to continue our quest to become a top 10 school district in the nation, we need to learn more about our current system. 

The author had many insights to offer the participants yesterday.  I particularly was struck by what he said about the importance of setting a vision for education that was a beyond what we are doing now.  He gave the example of President Kennedy’s goal of putting the man on the moon.  At the time the president made the declaration that within 10 years we would send a man to the moon and bring him back, mankind only knew about 15% of what we needed to know to accomplish the goal.  The reason the goal was so powerful is that it stretched the boundaries of what most people thought was possible.  We need to do something similar at Penn-Trafford.  We need to set a goal (about what learning means for our community and learners) that seems almost impossible with the knowledge that we currently have.  However, from what I have learned about the people in this community, once an “impossible” goal is set, we will start the hard work necessary to accomplish the goal.

The group also reported out what they had learned from their research.  The group had two learning facilitators (teachers) decide to follow learners through their high school schedule.  This was a great experience as it gave the adults insight into what life is like for a student.  Overwhelmingly (through observations and student interviews), high school students do not perform well intellectually until after about 9:00AM.  As a matter of fact, students were clear that a later start in the school day would benefit them.  There is brain research that supports this contention.  Adolescents need more sleep than younger students and adults, and their brains (like all organs) need time to “get going” during the course of the day; that in and of itself is interesting.  In addition, other members of the group interviewed or surveyed over 100 students in all grade levels.  What the kids had to say (or recommend) can be summed up as follows:

1.     Learners like collaborative activities to help them learn.  Even though learners did not mind lectures, they liked lectures that were interactive and showed the learning facilitator had a “human” side.

2.     High school learners wanted more flexibility in their schedules and when their classes were.

3.     Learners want to create things and like it when instruction is centered on projects and making something.

4.     Learning facilitators would like to go deeper into concepts instead of covering things “an inch deep and a mile wide”.  This would allow for better critical thinking on subjects for the learners.

5.     Mentorship of learners to help them decide on future goals and what path they should take to accomplish the goals was an overwhelming response from all groups involved in the school system.  This includes more School to Work opportunities as well as simple guidance.

These were the major findings from the group.  The group also learned that the school system must be vigilant that learners are not disengaged for their entire school day.  One way to combat this potential trap is to create a learning experience where learners are learning in ways that address their strengths and interests.  I am excited by the enthusiasm for learning that permeates the school district and the community. I am learning a lot about the culture and the character of the school district and I am overjoyed with what I am learning.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Imagine...

With all due respect to the late John Lennon, I want to talk today about a concept that has been brewing in my mind for some time and I ask you to imagine a different kind of educational experience.  I am not going to take credit for being the “author” of this idea.  Rather, I am just a person who has though deeply about education in many different contexts for awhile and this idea seems to make some sense to me.  The concept is called “mass customized learning”.  The idea is eloquently explained in the book Inevitable: Mass customized learning, learning in the age ofempowerment by Charles Schwahn and Beatrice McGarvey.  The best way to first think about mass customized learning is to think of other examples in our daily lives of mass customization.  For example, if you go to Sheetz and buy a coffee, the coffee can be made exactly the way you want it to be made, which may be different than the person behind you in line.  Your coffee that you enjoy as you are walking out the door is a perfect example of mass customization.  The coffee was made to your specifications.  Think about how mass customization can lead to a better educational experience for our children.  Imagine if all of our students had (at some level) their educational experience customized to their passions, interests and life stories.  Can a school system accomplish this mass customization at a granular level of detail…I do not know.  I do know that public education can strive to assure that the educational experience of our students is more in tuned to their personalities and interests.

I believe strongly in the power of prototyping and “pilot projects” and PT has a handful of educators who have read the book and are trying to incorporate some mass customized learning principles into their classrooms.  I will share their stories with you in the Friday blog.  We are also fortunate that on Thursday a group of teachers, administrators, and a Board member will have a chance to discuss mass customized learning with one of the authors.  Mr. Schwahn will meet with the group through an online discussion format Thursday afternoon.  I will let you know about that discussion in Friday’s blog.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Community Meeting Part Two

I conducted the second community meeting at Penn Middle School on Tuesday.  I have been talking to enough people now in the district that I can start to see themes emerging of what peoplelike as well as their concerns.  It is overwhelming that the community members are satisfied with the education their children receive.  That is not to say that they do not see areas of improvement, but overall, they are satisfied.  One area of concern that is universal is that communication needs with the district needs to be made easier.    Basically people want to make sure it is easy to communicate with the school; whether it is with teachers, principals or other administrators.  They also want to be able to find information easily on the web site.  I believe there is a hope for more transparency in the system.  I know that all of us from the Board on down have nothing to hide and have a lot to be proud of.  It is our job to make sure that people can easily see that we are doing a lot of good for the students and that we always strive to do what is best for the students of the school district.  I really enjoyed the public meetings.  As I told many people, I had a blast at both of them. 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Hometown High Q

I am forwarding you an email from Mrs. Wukish about students from Penn-Trafford who won the Hometown High Q event this past weekend.  I want to congratulate the students and everyone that helped them win.  Finally, good luck in the future competitions!

The students who participated at Hometown High Q this weekend faced some stiff competition on Saturday. The students competed against Chartiers Valley and Laurel Highlands. The team was supported by members of the Select Choir who performed the school alma mater as well as students, parents and grandparents.

The competition was fierce and students from Penn Trafford were in the lead for most of the competition. During the final round, they were neck and neck with Chartiers Valley. In the final seconds of the game, Penn Trafford took the lead and won! Penn Trafford won for the first time during their participation in Hometown High Q. I am extremely proud of their performance.  They will advance to the next round of competition in late fall/early winter.   This episode will be shown on Saturday, November 5th at 11:00 am.

Please take a moment to congratulate the students involved with the competition when you see them today. They did a fine job of representing our school district.

Participating students:    Tim Hanna (Starter)
                                            Grant Smith (Captain)
                                            Paul Stock (Starter)
                                            Dominic Johnson (Backup)
                                               

Christina Wukich

Friday, October 14, 2011

Last Night's Community Meeting

Last night was the first community meeting and I had a great time.  The discussions were very informative and I had a chance to meet people that I did not have a chance to meet before.  Overall, there were 26 people in attendance.  The meeting was broken down into three parts.  First I gave a little presentation about myself. We then broke the people into groups and they listed the strengths and weaknesses of the school district (on flip chart paper) and answered the question “what does it mean to be educated”. Finally, we ended the night with a question and answer period.  I really had a blast.  It was great hearing from the people as they worked through the group project and the questions at the end were a great opportunity to learn about the community but also a chance to inform people about the school district.

I will simply list some of the themes that emerged as a result of people answering the questions last night.  I will not comment or defend anything and just give you the uncensored facts.  For school district strengths, the technology available to the students was an overwhelming choice.  People felt that our students had the opportunity to learn using up to date technology.  There was also a lot of support for the fact that were many curricular choices for students.  Finally, most of the groups mentioned that there was a focus across the school district on student learning.  The last one is something that should not be overlooked and is one that contributes the great academic reputation that PT has in the State. 

On weaknesses (or areas that may need improvement) of the school district, there were three themes.  First, there was a concern that there is too much concentration on “teaching to the test”.  In this case, the “test” being the State PSSA test.  Another concern centered on the wish to have a more individualized plan of education for all students.  Finally, in the question and answer time there was a strong feeling that the school needs to do a better job of communicating student schedules with parents at the high school level and let parents now earlier what teachers their children have in the elementary school.

Finally, we had some great answers to the question “What does it mean to be educated”.  I feel this question is important because it can help us develop a baseline for what the school district needs to do for our students.  Overwhelming, people mentioned that life-long learning is important.  Digging deeper into what “life-ling learning” means you will find that people consider critical thinking skills important.  People also believe that problem solving in academic and social situations on a daily basis is important and reflects an educated person.  Life-long learning also implies that an educated person “learns how to learn” and can adapt their learning to all situations and contexts.  Finally, the discussion also mentioned the fact that an educated person is a productive member of society.  I think that if an educated person has critical thinking skills, can problem solve in all types of situations and takes an interest in their community then they are a productive citizen.

I have posted all of the flip chart paper with these answers in the conference room that the school district uses for our leadership meetings.  I believe it is important for school leaders to be reminded of the answers that the community gave to these questions.  It will be a continual reminder of what is important as educational decisions are made.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Community Meeting Tonight in Trafford

I can't wait for the community meeting tonight at the Trafford Middle/Elementary school library starting at 6:30. This will be a chance for people to get an introduction to me, but more importantly, I will be able to learn from them. I will have a short presentation about me then we will move right into an activity where those present will get a chance to answer this question: "What does it mean to be educated?" This question will be answered in small groups and an agreed upon answer within the group will be shared with all participants. After we have completed this task we will have time for a question and answer session. This will be a great learning experience for me. If you cannot make it tonight, there will be one at Penn Middle School on Tuesday at 6:30 in the cafeteria. I look forward to seeing you at one of the meetings!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Last Night's Board Meeting

Last night was the regularly scheduled meeting of the Penn-Trafford School Board.  The meeting was held at 7:00PM in the high school library.  Although the agenda for the meeting was rather routine, there were a few presentations that I think you would find interesting.  First, the Board had an opportunity to meet the students that operate the “coffee house” (Coffee with a Cause) in the library.  The students are life skills students who operate a “café” (think of the coffee shop in a Barnes and Nobles) and they get a chance to practice practical life skills like making money, organizing their work, budgeting etc. The proceeds from the sale of the coffee go to a different charity every month. Some of the students introduced themselves to the Board and explained why they liked the program so much.  The Board then purchased coffee of hot chocolate from the café.  I want to thank the student’s teachers, Mrs. Enick and Mrs. Blank and Mrs. Momeyer the class health technician.  It is truly a wonderful thing to watch students interact with adults that care as deeply about their students as these three do.

The Board also saw a presentation about the school district’s PSSA scores.  The presentation can be found here.  In a nutshell, Penn-Trafford has once again showed its commitment to student learning.  Overall, 90.7% of Penn-Trafford students are proficient in Reading; while 91.5% are proficient in Math.  Also, according to www.schooldigger.com, PT is the 10th ranked public school district in the State (out of 500) and 15th overall when you include charter schools.  I know (and agree) that there is a lot more to a school system then just test scores.  In a lot of ways it is unfair to judge a student or a school based solely on a test score.  However, test scores do reflect student learning and student learning has been the focus of the school district for quite some time.  These scores reflect a lot of hard work by the students, parents and teachers.  Congratulations!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Change of Venue for School Board Meetings

The school board has changed the place and time of school board meetings.  This initiative was undertaken in the hopes of increasing community participation at board meetings.  The meetings are now being held at the high school library at 7:00PM in the library.  This allows for easy access for anyone that is handicapped or has a hard time climbing stairs.  Our next meeting is this Monday, October 10th at 7:00PM.  Please come and watch the meeting if you have a chance.  The school board is committed to openness and transparency in the school district’s operation.  We hope to see you there!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Great Discussions About Education

I apologize for not updating the blog this week.  My goal is to update the blog at least twice a week so I guess I will have to have posts two days in a row!  The reason that I have not updated is that I have been enjoying so many great conversations with people about Penn-Trafford’s education as well as the future of education.  Yesterday I met with a group of parents and we spent two hours talking about how we can work together to improve the learning experience for the students in our school district.  My take away from that meeting was the school district must continually strive to become the best communicator possible.  Parents must have all relevant information easily accessible to them so they can help guide their children through school.  We also spent time discussing how education should be crafted to meet the students at their intellectual, social, and interest level.  After all, all students should have an educational experience that is tailored exclusively to them.

I also spent some time this morning with a group of teachers that I am calling my “guinea pigs”.  On September 22nd I posted a link to a web site that invites people to “reinvent” education.  The process involved in the “reinvention” is called design thinking and I have used aspects of design thinking through my years as a superintendent.  The web site invites people to form teams to work though a self paced course and the end result would be a project that would reinvent education.  I asked a group of teachers to meet with me a few times to work through the class and evaluate the process as well as the finished product.  I am simply overjoyed with the way the first meeting went.  The discussion about the potential direction of education, and the enthusiasm to provide the best learning experience for students was AWESOME!  One of the tasks this morning was to view videos that would challenge us to think differently about education.  The videos that the group chose as exemplars are here, here, here, and here.  Please view them, I think you will find them inspiringly challenging!