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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch

Beyond Principals: Leadership Assessment Tools for All Educators

As the end of the school year approaches, plans are already being made for the fall in schools throughout the nation. Much-needed summer improvements will take place, along with retiring teachers cleaning out their classrooms and new ones coming in. For areas that observe the traditional “summers off” school calendar, those months are still busy ones on schools grounds. Along with the physical maintenance of schools during the time when students aren’t on the premises, what if schools did some non-physical improvements too?

Two education college professors from The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a consultant from the Wisconsin Center for Educational Products and Services have developed a survey-based system that calculates areas of strengths and weaknesses in schools, and creates an action plan for improvement. The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning, or CALL, does not single any particular educators but rather takes a snapshot of what is happening as a whole entity. It is a smart assessment tool to implement at the end of the year and then brainstorm actionable steps on improvement when school is back in session.

The survey and results-delivery system were born of necessity. More than ever, schools are in need of transformational leadership that creates learning opportunities for students but also prepares them for the real-world economy. The pressure has never been greater, particularly as Common Core Standards and other state-based ones heighten accountability for teachers, administrators and other instructional staff. The belief used to be that principals were responsible for all the leadership roles within a particular school but that theory is starting to fade. While principals certainly need solid leadership traits, distributing those responsibilities can actually lead to stronger school systems that are able to better support student bodies.

The problem with existing leadership assessment tools is that they only evaluate people on an individual basis, instead of looking at how school personnel can work together to achieve maximum effectiveness. CALL was developed with funds from the U.S. Department of Education and tested in more than 150 schools containing thousands of educators. The survey itself has over 100 questions and takes around 40 minutes to complete and is thorough in its approach, thereby making it more of an “activity” than a “survey.” It has five main areas of concentration, including:

  • Focus on learning. Essentially, this portion looks at the way school leaders practice what they preach. Do school leaders do classroom visits, and engage with students? Do they participate in the team-building and leadership programs that they design for others? Collaboration and staff buy-in to school learning initiatives is an integral part of this portion of the survey.
  • Monitoring teaching and learning. School leaders should be able to not only make sense of their student performance, but know how to communicate it to teachers. Monitoring of school successes does not need to mean constant micromanagement; rather, leaders should understand the scope of their students’ strengths and weaknesses and know how to empower improvements.
  • Building nested learning communities. While educators are ultimately responsible for their own teaching successes, school leaders must provide the support and resources to make effective teaching possible. Leaders should have ways to measure teacher/student performance and be willing to put improvement plans in place.
  • Acquiring and allocating resources. Time spent on whole-school, grade-level and subject-matter reflection is just one aspect analyzed in this part of the survey. If external leaders are part of a school’s leadership and decision-making process, then they are asked to give input on this section. The school’s communication with its community through things like social media, and email, are also assessed in this portion. How are schools making the best use of their resources?
  • Maintaining a safe and effective learning environment. Above all, schools must be safe places for students, teachers and administrators. This starts with the basics, like cleanliness, and extends to factors like schools as safe havens for the students who may be struggling. The safety of students and their perception of being in a “safe” place do make a difference in learning effectiveness and this portion of the survey analyzes ways in which schools can maximize that fact.

It really is true that “it takes a village” and understanding how each educator in a school can best contribute to its success leads to stronger student outcomes, and stronger schools. By implementing the in-depth CALL survey, schools can see exactly HOW to get where need to be when it comes to school leaders.

If you are interested in learning more, you can register to join a free webinar on CALL. The webinar will discuss the theory behind CALL as well as provide a demonstration of the CALL automated data feedback report system.

This is a great opportunity for schools to obtain data on leadership effectiveness in order to support school leaders’ professional growth and school improvement.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Matthew Lynch published in Policy & Reform

How to Develop School Reform Policies that Work

Many school administrators enter the field hell-bent on making a name for themselves and refusing to live in the shadows of their predecessors. Often, they feel as though their only choice is to go in a totally different direction, making the previous school reform mandates null and void. This situation creates frustration among the surviving faculty and staff. The changes of the new administrators often happen before they fully think about the consequences or repercussions of their actions. Perfectly competent adults massage their egos instead of thinking about what is in the best interests of the school, the teachers and the children.

To be fair, part of the reason that most administrators take the jobs they do is because they want to make a difference and blaze new trails. As teachers, it may have been difficult to implement the change they really wanted to see – but as administrators, that path is more straightforward. Taking the time to develop a well-thought-out plan, and keeping policies of merit in place, makes a big difference in the well-being of any school community, though. So how should administrators looking for school reform proceed?

Start with a plan.

When initiating reform, an action plan must be developed before the school can determine how the reform implementation will be carried out. Too often, administrators become anxious and feel the need to change the implementation processes before any data has been collected. It is best to examine all the moving parts before making the decision to start from scratch on any initiative.

Allow time for the plan to work.

It is counterproductive to start one reform and then decide to start another several months later. Some school districts revert to a model proven to be ineffective due to impatience and the desire for quick results. Once reform has been implemented, all parties involved must show fidelity to one reform until there is concrete data or evidence that indicates the reform is effective or ineffective. Reform is about creating an environment in which students are the priority and we as their teachers assist them in starting and finishing their journey to becoming educated citizens.

Be okay with some setbacks.

Strategic planning and the implementation of school reform sometimes require schools to absorb temporary setbacks in order to reap the benefits of long-term gains. Student progress might dip for a month or two before teachers and administration see a significant gain in student learning and performance. Teachers and administrators need to allow change to take place and not panic when instant significant changes are not apparent.

Don’t compare.

Model schools can be found in every major city, but when trying to recreate their successes, many schools fail to achieve the same results. Trying to recreate another school’s success is potentially dangerous, even when schools share similar characteristics. This is because, regardless of the similarities, every district is unique. Often, after a large amount of time, energy, and money has been spent, the school declares the plan a failure and has nothing to show for the efforts.

Stay focused.

Too many plans to change can be as dangerous as not having a plan at all. Strategic plans are a district’s consistent road map, even in the face of overturning staff or administration. The plan will also serve as documentation when the federal government looks into accountability. In this way, schools should glean what they can from the efforts of other schools to implement and sustain change. In the end, a strategic plan that reflects the culture and needs of the individual school is likely a better route than attempts to replicate the efforts at another school, or a plan that is over-zealous for the wrong reasons.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Some HBCUs struggling with NCAA academic requirement

A new NCAA requirement that governs if a college or university’s athletic teams will have the ability to compete in the postseason is hitting some HBCU’s pretty hard.

The Academic Progress Rate, or APR, is the rule that the NCAA uses to “hold institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term,” according to diverseeducation.com.

This new rule makes it so that all Division 1 schools would be judged by the same APR.

That’s a mouthful.

But APR is judged in four-year periods, so some of the HBCU’s facing expulsion from postseason play are being judged on academic performance starting in the 2013-14 school year.

According to diverseeducation.com, some of the schools that may be on the outs are Florida A&M University, Savannah State University, and Prairie View A&M University. There are 7 HBCU’s with teams facing penalties.

In an effort to comply, those HBCUs, and other schools, are seeking a deferment of at least one year so that they may show improvement in “their performance in the classroom.”

Also–the NCAA gave “limited-resource institutions” “more flexibility to meet the APR standards.”

Still, with HBCU’s already low funding and state legislatures slashing money that goes towards higher education, some of them were bound to struggle.

Hopefully the NCAA grants the APR extension that will allow these HBCU’s to comply with the order. Disrupting athletic programs could mean some serious financial and morale consequences on the HBCUs involved.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Teachers

Teaching Kids about Standing up for the Underdog

By Annie Fox

**Editor’s note – These tips are applicable to teachers too, as educators face the challenges of teaching kindness in K-12 classrooms**

Kids and teens can view of themselves as powerless in a world where adults call all the shots. But that’s not the whole story. Kids have power. And every day, your children and mine get opportunities to use that power to do good or to do harm. Sometimes, turning a blind eye and choosing to do nothing results in more harm.

If we truly value kindness and appreciate it when it comes our way, we can’t ignore suffering. We’ve got to do our part to keep kindness alive… every chance we get. And we’ve got to teach our kids to be kind. But how?

Child or adult, it takes extra social courage to exit our comfort zone and to help a vulnerable person. When kids ask me about standing up for someone who is being harassed, I tell them they should never put themselves directly in harm’s way. But I make it clear that there are many ways to help an underdog and let him or her know: “I’m not like the others who are giving you a hard time. I’m here to help.”

Fuel for Thought (for adults) —At different times we have all been underdog, top dog, and middle of the pack dog, so we know what it feels in each of those places. Being on the bottom, without support, can be terribly lonely. Think about a time when you felt like an underdog. Where did you turn for support? What response did you get?  Think of a time when you helped an underdog. What happened?

Conversations That Count (with kids)– Talk about the concept of a “pecking order” among animals and humans. Say this to your children: “Most of the time, when we’re not on the bottom, we don’t give much thought to those who are.” Now ask your kids what they think about that. True? Not true? How do you know? Talk about who is “on the bottom” in your child’s class. (Even kids as young as second or third grade have a keen awareness of social strata.) How do other people treat that child? How do you treat that child? What might happen if you stood up for the underdog?

Teach—Challenge your child to be a hero and shake up the social strata at school by standing up for someone who needs a friend. Follow up and find out from your child what happened with the challenge.

Please let me know how you teach your kids and students about the importance of standing up for the underdog.

_____

Annie Fox is an internationally respected parenting expert and family coach who empowers parents with the special support, leadership skills, and practical tools needed during our children’s tween and teen years. Her books include The Girls’ Q&A Book on Friendship and Teaching Kids to Be Good People.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch

The 4 Attributes of Transformational Leadership

Leadership – it’s not just giving orders. The role of school administration is about more than just making schedules and disciplining children. Transformational leadership offers administrators the opportunity to drive organizational change and to create strong schools by fostering a culture of learning and growth in educators that then gives children an environment in which to grow.

It’s not difficult to see how Transformational Leadership would fit well into the school setting, as its attributes line up perfectly with the goals of education. In fact, when transformational leadership is applied to school setting the results are quite remarkable. So what are the attributes of transformational leadership, and how can administrators go about implementing them?

1.    Idealized/Charismatic influence

A leader must be able to inspire the people who they are leading. How? Through language, etiquette, mannerisms and lifestyle. Those being led must have great amount of trust in their leader in order to allow themselves to be guided. Living by example is essential, because just as this model demands that educators look beyond self interest, by extension the leader must look beyond their own self interest as well. High levels of integrity and moral values are absolutely essential.

In order for leadership to be transformational, a charismatic leader has to spread out responsibility and to take it on without compromising. That means that their followers must follow because they are committed to the cause and confident in their leader’s ability to get things done. Charisma isn’t some ethereal quality that’s limited to politicians and movie stars – in the real world it is derived from respect and a visible projection of responsibility. The other point here is that followers will follow other followers. If a leader is able to distribute tasks and have those tasks completed effectively by subordinates, then others will latch onto that and naturally follow. In effect a leader can grow their charisma by utilizing their resources effectively.

2.    Inspirational Motivation

The top goal of a transformational leader is to get the full support of everyone involved, all with an eye for the common goal. The best way to do this is to be open and honest about challenges. When people feel that their leader is willing to face known issues rather than brushing them aside, they become invested. The aim is to develop that sense of belonging within the school culture, which then supports everyone involved.

Transformational Leadership takes the compartments out of the school. Rather than teachers being focused only on what’s going on in their classrooms, their vision becomes expanded to see how their relationships with others in the school affects the outcomes of students. There is an investment in the success of other teachers, who are all working toward the same goal of brightening young minds. The core of transformational leadership is employee commitment, which then creates opportunities for the goals of the entire school environment to be achieved.

  1. Intellectual Stimulation

Education is at it’s core about getting those neurons to fire. Leaders who encourage their employees to stay rational in the face of emotional challenges that come with the educational setting are creating an environment that will have less conflict and more growth. Innovation and hard work are encouraged through intellectual pursuits like problems solving. Just as keeping students intellectually engaged in the classroom keeps them on track, so too does keeping teachers intellectually engaged keep them on track.

It’s so important that there is an understanding that education is about growth. Any good teacher will tell you that teachers learn as much from their students as their students learn from them. There is an organic understanding among educators that teaching and learning are partners. Educators cannot help their children to grow if they are not growing themselves, and in fact educators want to grow. Educational leaders should use this desire for growth to keep their followers actively engaged.

  1. Individualized Consideration

Creating relationships is essential, and that means two-way communication. Followers who feel heard and valued are much more invested in the process and interested in pursuing the larger, organizational goals. Not to mention this individualized process allows leaders to then know the strengths of the people within the organization, so as to better structure the group for success. In a school setting, this translates to interactions beyond the mandatory observations and meetings. Administrators who seek connection with their staff in smaller, more regular ways are able to build trust and a sense of shared service that leads to a better and more productive relationship overall.

Best practice for a transformational leader is to have opportunities to work with individuals on a one-on-one basis in at least some form. While in large settings this might be more of a challenge, nonetheless it is the individualized communication that creates the right environment for transformational leadership. There are myriad ways to make this happen, without having to pile on undue stress or time commitments. Transformational leaders employ creative means to create those relationships.

References

Transformational leadership is a theory of leadership that was developed by James Burns (1978), and has been written about by many other scholars since then. To read more of James Burns’ work on transformational leadership and other topics, click here to visit his Amazon.com page.

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Matthew Lynch published in list, Matthew Lynch, Policy & Reform

8 More Reasons the U.S. Education System is Failing

In the first part of this series, I discussed 10 reasons the U.S. education system is still struggling to return to its glory days. In thinking about the future of education in this great nation, we are inspired by innovation. At the same time, K-12 institutions seem notoriously slow to adapt to the new practices and technologies that are constantly emerging. This is not only a disservice to students, but also problematic for the economy at large. Better access to top-notch education starts before Kindergarten – not after a high school diploma has been earned. In the final part of my series, I continue to examine the problems hindering the U.S. education system from being all that it can be.

  1. We still do not know how to handle high school dropouts. It seems that every time the issue of high school dropouts is discussed, it all centers on money. U.S. Census Statistics tell us that 38 percent of high school dropouts fall below the poverty line, compared with 18 percent of total households in every demographic. Dropouts are also 40 percent more likely to rent their residences and spend $450 less per month on housing costs than the overall population. Only around 60 percent of dropouts own vehicles and they spend over $300 less on entertainment annually than average Americans. It’s clear that a high school diploma is in fact the ticket to higher earnings, at least on a collective level. The negative financial ramifications of dropping out of high school cannot be denied, but the way they are over-emphasized seems like a worn-out tactic to me. Instead of focusing on students as earners, we really need to value them as learners so that we can encourage them to finish their high school education.
  2. We have not achieved education equity. Equity in education has long been an ideal. It’s an ideal celebrated in a variety of contexts, too. Even the Founding Fathers celebrated education as an ideal – something to which every citizen ought to be entitled. Unfortunately, though, the practice of equity in education has been less than effective. Equity, in the end, is a difficult ideal to maintain and many strategies attempting to maintain it have fallen far short in the implementation. To achieve equity, school systems need to have an approach for analyzing findings about recommended shifts in learning approaches and objectives. These approaches should also help teachers and administrators understand not what they have to avoid but what it is that they can do to achieve optimal equity moving forward.
  3. Technology brings a whole new dimension to cheating. Academic dishonesty is nothing new. As long as there have been homework assignments and tests, there have been cheaters. The way that cheating looks has changed over time, though. Technology has made it easier than ever. Perhaps the most interesting caveat of modern-day cheating in U.S. classrooms is that students often do not think they have done anything wrong. Schools must develop anti-cheating policies that include technology and those policies must be updated consistently. Teachers must stay vigilant, too, when it comes to what their students are doing in classrooms and how technology could be playing a negative role in the learning process. Parents must also talk to their kids about the appropriate ways to find academic answers and alert them to unethical behaviors that may seem innocent in their own eyes.
  4. We still struggle with making teacher tenure benefit both students and teachers. One of the most contested points of teacher contracts is the issue of tenure. Hardline education reformers argue that tenure protects underperforming teachers, which ends up punishing the students. Teachers unions challenge (among other reasons) that with the ever-changing landscape of K-12 education, including evaluation systems, tenure is necessary to protect the jobs of excellent teachers who could otherwise be ousted unfairly. It can often be a sticking point – and one that can lead to costly time out of classrooms, as recently seen in large school systems like New York City and Chicago. Now, I’m not suggesting that teachers just “give up” but I would support adjusting the expectations for tenure. It seems an appropriate step in the right direction for teachers in all types of schools. That energy then can be redirected towards realistic and helpful stipulations in teachers’ contracts that benefit the entire industry.
  5. More of our schools need to consider year-round schooling. Does it work? The traditional school year, with roughly three months of vacation days every summer, was first implemented when America was an agricultural society. The time off was not implemented to accommodate contemporary concerns, like children needing “down time” to decompress and “be kids.” The system was born out of economic necessity. In fact, the first schools that went against the summers-off version of the academic calendar were in urban areas that did not revolve around the agricultural calendar, like Chicago and New York, as early as the mid-1800s. It was much later, however, that the idea as a whole gained momentum. Overall, year-round schooling seems to show a slight advantage academically to students enrolled, but the numbers of students are not high enough to really get a good read on it at this point. What does seem clear, however, is that at-risk students do far better without a long summer break, and other students are not harmed by the year-round schedule.
  6. We are still wrestling the achievement gap. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education released student performance data in its National Assessment for Educational Progress report. The data is compiled every two years and it assesses reading and math achievements for fourth and eighth graders. This particular report also outlines differences between students based on racial and socioeconomic demographics. The data points to the places in the U.S. that still struggle with inequality in student opportunity and performance, otherwise known as the achievement gap. The achievement gap will likely always exist in some capacity, in much the same way that the U.S. high school dropout rate will likely never make it down to zero. This doesn’t mean it is a lost cause, of course. Every student who succeeds, from any demographic, is another victory in K-12 education and it benefits society as a whole. Better recognition by every educator, parent and citizen of the true problem that exists is a start; actionable programs are the next step.
  7. We need to consider how school security measures affect students. In theory, parents and educators would do anything to keep students safe, whether those students are pre-Kindergartners or wrapping up a college career. Nothing is too outlandish or over-the-top when it comes to protecting our kids and young adults. Metal detectors, security cameras, more police presence in school hallways, gated campuses – they all work toward the end goal of sheltering students and their educators, protecting some of the most vulnerable of our citizens. Emotions aside, though, how much does school security really increase actual safety? Do school security efforts actually hinder the learning experience? It sounds good to taut the virtues of tighter policies on school campuses but is it all just empty rhetoric? Given the fact that state spending per student is lower than at the start of the recession, how much should schools shell out on security costs? Perhaps the best investment we can make to safeguard our students and educators is in personal vigilance. Perhaps less reliance on so-called safety measures would lead to higher alertness.
  8. We need to make assistive technology more available for students with disabilities. A key to improving the educational experience for students with disabilities is better accommodations in schools and continued improvements in assistive technology. Assistive technology in K-12 classrooms, by definition, is designed to “improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” While the word “technology” automatically conjures up images of cutting-edge electronics, some assistive technology is possible with just simple accommodations. Whether high-tech or simple in design, assistive technology has the ability to transform the learning experiences for the children who benefit. Assistive technology is important for providing a sound education for K-12 students with disabilities but benefits the greater good of the country, too. Nearly one-fourth of a specific student population is not being properly served and with so many technological advances, that is a number I believe can drop. Assistive technology in simple and complex platforms has the ability to lift the entire educational experience and provide a better life foundation for K-12 students with disabilities.

As you may have now noticed, public education underachievement is not the result of one problem. It is a collection of influences that undercut the cultural importance of broad-based knowledge. To reach better outcomes, we must peel back the layers of policy and perception to their cores. I hope you have enjoyed this careful analysis of the present state of K-12 public education in America and its problems and issues. The changes suggested will benefit future generations of students and citizens.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch

Reasons for the Emergence of Distributed Leadership

Two explanations have been offered for the emergence of distributed leadership. The first is the failure of the “charismatic hero” associated with transformational leadership. The second is that school leaders now handle tasks of much greater complexity. . It is not the heroic leader who makes an organization function well, but rather the “mundane,” everyday activities that matter.

Distributed leadership is well within the broader policy spectrum for public services. In a government’s emerging model for public services, we see the three modes of leadership that the government favors. These are hierarchy, market, and network. If we overlay the school setup on the government model, then we see where the schools’ “capability and capacity” fits in relation to the network regime of governance, where distributed leadership is positioned.

Distributed leadership can therefore be said to be similar to the broader policy process, since government will construct a need, goal, or objective that would require both school actors and non-school actors to distribute their efforts between organizations and/or within organizations to achieve this end. It also provides a cultural reference to the official structural similarities of two traditionally separate organizations.

Distributed leadership fits well with the merging or networking of work-based activities according to current trends on inter-agency working in schools; with the joint production of personalized needs and solutions; and finally with the changing workforce . All these efforts seek to merge the professional cultures of different groups.

With the above in mind, the emergence of distributed leadership is not only a reaction to the recent policy shifts; it also reflects changes in contemporary culture. Organizations can no longer control their workers through the so-called rational or bureaucratic structures of the past. Those out-of-date methods inhibit the kind of independent work that relies on solidarity, respect, or mutual trust, since all they end up doing is bringing about authority conflicts.

The present focus on distributed leadership is not so much related to the cultural turn toward taking emotions into account, like transformational leadership, but is more of an example of management theory resonating with a contemporary shift toward the weakening of traditional logic. Organized social structure, as a result, has given way to a “network culture.”

These new changes also indicate a change in the knowledge economy. We have begun to see a form of “socialism” in education, proven by the use of terms such as “universal education” to symbolize the trend toward viewing education as something other than a market commodity in this age. Governments around the world are now keen to set up a policy that ensures that literacy is achieved by all, with no regard to social status. The role of the school leader is therefore shifting from economic management to social management.

References

Distributed leadership is a theory of leadership that was developed by Peter Gronn, and has been written about by many other scholars since then. To read more of his work on distributed leadership and other topics, click here to visit his Amazon.com page.

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Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement

How to Get Your Child to Listen

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding a P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

By JaVohn Perry

As parents we often ask ourselves, “Why isn’t my child listening to me?” We seem to have the assumption that just because we say something, our child should automatically obey. Wouldn’t that be nice? Well it seldom works out that way. In fact, it is frequently the total opposite. We sometimes find that when we tell our child to do something, they don’t do it. Or, when we ask our child not to do a particular thing, they do it anyway. Why is this? Well this happens for a number of reasons including rebellion, misunderstandings, and sometimes our children are just testing us. Whatever the cause may be, there are ways to increase the chances of our children listening to us.

Talk to your kids, not AT them. As parents, we should talk to our children instead of talking at them. Lectures can sometimes be discouraging and one sided. A better option would be having conversations with our children. Try talking to your child about what is expected of them. Let them know what type of behavior is acceptable and what consequences they may encounter if rules are not followed. Encourage your child to engage in the conversation by asking questions. It is also important to let your child speak as well.

Leave out the judgement. It also helps to be non-judgmental when talking with your child. Judging actually does more harm than good because it causes a feeling of shame, which sometimes leads to rebellion. There is a way to tell your child what is acceptable behavior without judging them. By setting the ground rules and making them aware of expectations, you are putting a foundation in place.

Be proactive. Another good idea is to discuss issues with your child before they come up. Talk to your child about listening at a time when everything is calm and there is no issue. Children are more likely to listen and actually remember when issues are discussed while they are in a calm mood. While you and your child are just sitting around or having fun, it would be a nice time to tell them how good it feels when they listen to you. You should also ask them how it feels when people listen to them.

Set a good example. Always try your best to be a good example to your child. It is important for you to listen to your child when he or she is trying to relay a message to you. This can be a verbal message or one shown through behavior. Tell them what you are getting out of the message so that they will know for sure that you understand and that you were really listening. If you pay attention to your child, they are more likely to listen to you.

Follow through. Another very important thing we must do as parents is follow through. If you have established consequences and they are clear to your child, it is important to actually do what you say you will do. Children are very smart and they know when they can get away with things. If there is no follow through, it sends the message that they don’t have to listen because there won’t be a consequence. It also shows inconsistency between your words and actions.

In conclusion, we need to remember that each individual child is different. It is important that we know our child so we know what type of technique works for him or her. This is why we have to try to strengthen the bonds with our children. Having a close relationship with your child is very important. Children with distant relationships with their parents are less likely to listen to them. Children need to know that we care and that they are being heard. Once we start listening to our children, we are one step closer to them listening to us.

___

JaVohn Perry is a devoted mother of three, Early Childhood Educator, Freelance Writer and Business Owner. As a writer, she holds many titles including Seattle Childhood Education Examiner for Examiner.com. With writing and working with children being her two passions, she makes it her duty to utilize her skills in those areas.

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Matthew Lynch published in OpEducation, Policy & Reform

School Reform on a Budget: Where to Invest First

By Matthew Lynch

A major mistake made by school reform groups is to table educational reform efforts because the expenditure does not fit into the school budget. If children are America’s most precious commodity and the focal point of the nation’s educational system, then the lack of funding is no excuse to forgo reform efforts. If we can’t commit money to our K-12 students, how can we expect them to rise above their circumstances?

The old business adage is that you have to spend money to make money – and that should be the mentality when looking at struggling schools or districts that need, sometimes costly, reform. By smartly investing the money, even just in a few key areas, schools will see a return on that reform investment in the way of more successful, higher achieving students. And really – school reform does not need to cost a fortune to make a difference.

In truth, many school reform efforts are cost-effective and can be implemented by resourceful educators. When there is a lack of money, reform is contingent upon the faith and commitment level of the faculty and staff.  Money should not be wasted on model programs and unsubstantiated trends. Reform groups will have to work diligently and efficiently to implement the chosen reform efforts properly and effectively.

So where should the money go?

When school reform is needed and schools have limited resources, spending money on curriculum can be intimidating, but it is a vital place to put money because it makes a huge impact on student outcomes. The curriculum chosen will need to be a good fit for both teachers and students. Math and reading should be the first concern, because they are the building blocks for other subject areas, as well the most frequent measure of future success. Success in these two areas bode well for success in other subjects at all grade levels.

Teachers’ professional development is a key factor for successful school reform as well. When analyzing reform budgets, it is important to set aside money to hire teachers with the ability to create and teach in-service professional development programs. The ability to train the staff and educators internally will save the school money, and will give the teacher/expert a feeling of usefulness. For instance, a teacher with 30 years of experience and a demonstrated ability to obtain amazing results from her specific teaching strategies might create a professional development seminar to share her expertise.

This saves the school an enormous amount of money, and saves the administrator the trouble and cost of hiring a consultant. Another low-cost/no-cost option is to hire professors from neighboring colleges and universities to provide professional development services to your district as a form of community service or to fulfill requirements to obtain or maintain tenure.

In the end, schools operating with limited funds to support reform efforts will need to be both resourceful and creative in order to effect positive change. Forward thinking leaders, committed and imaginative teachers, and a supportive community can contribute to change that improves the educational experiences of our children.

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Higher Education

What can be done to improve the success of black male students?

Did you know that a black male is more likely than any other group to be placed in special education classes, with 80 percent of all special education students being Black or Hispanic males?

Learning disabilities aside, black students (and particularly boys) experience disconnection when it comes to the authority figures in their classrooms. The K-12 teaching profession is dominated by white women, many who are very qualified and very interested in helping all their students succeed but lack the first-hand experience needed to connect with their Black male students.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the disadvantages that Black boys bring to their schools aren’t corrected in K-12 classrooms, they are furthered. As they get older, they are continually marginalized in their schools and societies – given less-than-adequate access to the resources that their already advantaged peers receive. While the connection between items like reading scores and civic responsibility may not seem well defined on the surface, they are related and that relationship is integral to turning the tide for Black boys in America

It has been shown over and over again that punishment for Black boys – even first-time offenders – in schools is harsher than any other demographic. Consider these facts:

Schools with majority Black students also tend to have lower amounts of teachers who are certified in their degree areas. A U.S. Department of Education report found that in schools with at least 50 percent Black students, only 48 percent were certified in the subject, compared with 65 percent in majority white schools. In English, the numbers were 59 and 68 percent, respectively and in science, they were 57 percent and 73 percent.

No wonder they aren’t in college

These trends are not conducive to improving the numbers of young black men who are able to attend college. In fact, the numbers are dismal when it comes to black young men who attend and graduate from colleges in the U.S. Statistically speaking, black men have the lowest test scores, the worst grades and the highest dropout rates – in K-12 education, and in college too.  The recognition of this educational crisis has led to some strong initiatives targeted at young black men with the intention of guiding them through the college years and to successful, productive lives that follow.

Which is why college motivation within and without the black community is so vital for these young men. At this point in the nation’s history, they are in the greatest need for the lifestyle change that higher education can provide, and not just for individual growth, but also for the benefit of the entire nation.

It is clear that improving the successful admission into college and subsequent acquisition of professional degrees would go a long way toward improving the outlook for these young men in crisis.  But, change needs to start early on and involve the entire school system as well as the community as a whole.

Do you think earlier targeting when it comes to young Black men and higher education would impact the number of students?

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Higher Education

Why Are Girls Surpassing Boys in College Achievement?

By Matthew Lynch

Nationally, over 57 percent of college attendees are female when public and private school stats are combined. Females have been consistently edging ahead of their male classmates since the late 1970s when the percentages flip-flopped. Aside from all-female schools, there are others that have marked disproportionate numbers. Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena has nearly 96 percent females in attendance, and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis has over 93 percent. At Indiana University Northwest, located just outside Gary, 67 percent of the student population is female.

These statistics beg the question: What are K-12 educators doing wrong when it comes to preparing young men for a college education?

It Starts before College

According to Dr. Leonard Sax, too many boys are struggling in schools today. Sax proposes that five factors are responsible for the decline in school performance among boys: video games, prescription drugs, endocrine disruptors, devaluation of masculinity in popular culture, and teaching methods.  Sax and many others believe that video games disengage boys from real-world pursuits. Mind-numbing keyboards and flashing images have a seductive effect on the brain.  Medication for ADHD may be damaging motivational centers in boy’s brains, and the harmful effects of estrogens from food and plastic containers are upsetting the balance of boys’ endocrine systems.  The athletic, scholarly male TV heroes of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s have been replaced with Bart Simpson. These and other shifts in modern culture are responsible for devaluing traditional masculine strengths.  Additionally, Sax claims that the ways in which children are being educated today simply turn boys off from schooling.

Males who are completing a four year degree take longer than women to do so, and tend to socialize more in college, study less than women, and have poorer grades. The difference in male-female college/university enrollment reflects performance differences that are evident well before college attendance.

Money aside, there are other pitfalls in a disproportionate number of men going to college. Statistics show that marriages where the couples have differing education levels more often end in divorce than couples with the same educational achievements. And even before divorce is an option, women who set college educational goals may not want to settle for men with less motivation – at least when it comes to academics. If this trend continues, social dynamics may be impacted.

Minority Men Even Worse Off

The problem escalates when race is taken into account.  Recently, the Black Star Project published findings that just 10 percent of eighth-grade Black boys in the U.S. are considered “proficient” in reading. In urban areas like Chicago and Detroit, that number was even lower. By contrast, the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress found that 46 percent of white students are adequate readers by eighth grade, and 17 percent of Black students as a whole are too. The achievement gap between the two races is startling, but the difference between the NAEP report on Black students as a whole and the Black Star findings of just Black boys is troubling too. It is not simply Black children in general who appear to be failing in the basics – like literacy; it is the boys.

So, we must ask ourselves why boys seem to be falling behind academically?  More importantly, what steps need to be taken in order to reverse this trend?

photo credit: Adikos via photopin cc

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

How much trouble are HBCUs really in?

According to essence.com, the plight of HBCUs is quite serious. From finance issues to declining graduation rates, some of the latest stats regarding how well, or maybe bad, HBCUs are doing is quite alarming. How much trouble are HBCUs really in?

By way of of a study published in Newsweek, “fundraising is a major problem for HBCUs.”

The study gives a comparison of the two of the nation’s “richest” schools in terms of how they are sectioned. Howard University receives nearly $590 million from the government, which on the surface, seems like a lot of money.

But compared to the funding that Brown University receives, Howard is dwarfed. Brown is on the receiving end of over $3 billion in government funding each year.

Brown has a bustling alumni base that donates generously. Not saying that Howard doesn’t as they certainly have proud alumni. Yet the differences are hard to miss.

Moving further along in the study, a new book suggests that HBCUs are seriously on the way out. There are currently 104 HBCUs, but as the book predicts, that number will dwindle down to just 35 soon.

Then there is the declining graduation rate and enrollment numbers at HBCUs and the peril is nearly tangible.

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has a plan to underpin HBCUs by funding them with over $25 billion. That still may not be enough.

Some of our nation’s best minds have come out of HBCUs. Saving them should be at the top of our list of educational priorities and we should fight to find new ways to make these schools relevant.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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