Pedagogue Blog

Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch, OpEducation

Why Colleges Need Athletes as Minority Mentors

When it comes to getting more minorities into college, and then graduating them, there are a lot of different ideas out there. Stronger high school recruiting, better guidance programs for first-generation students, and more minority faculty members are just a few of the ways to make college campuses more diverse to the benefit and success of everyone.

Having strong minority role models as mentors is another, and perhaps the most powerful idea of them all. Successful people who look like the students a particular college or university is trying to graduate, and who come from a similar background, can leave a lasting impression and inspire students to similar heights.

One particular group of minority mentors that I feel should be getting even more involved in the minority recruiting and mentorship process are student athletes. Whether still athletes at the school, or alumni, this particular subset of minority mentors should play an important role in graduating other traditionally disadvantaged students.

Maurice Clarett as mentor

One great example of a college-athlete-turned-minority-mentor is The Ohio State University alum Maurice Clarett. The former college running back has taken on a new role as both a cautionary tale, and inspiration, to other young people. If his name sounds familiar, it is because his claim to fame was not just on the football field or as a national champion in the sport. Clarett served four years in prison for aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon. It was behind bars that he started reading up on personal development and ways to grow beyond a delinquent and even ways to rise above his association with being a football star.

Today he talks with other college athletes about things like personal responsibility and being accountable for actions, no matter what their upbringing. Clarett has visited athletes at Alabama, Notre dame, Tennessee and Mississippi State. He recently spoke with the national champion Florida State football team and acknowledged that many minority college athletes come from home environments that leave them “undeveloped” and without the skills needed to function successfully in life. Taking advantage of the resources available on college campuses and determining to be better than life’s circumstances are two lessons that Clarett tries to pass along to the people he mentors.

A story like Clarett’s is so much more powerful than the seemingly-empty warnings from adults on college campuses, many of whom look nothing like the students they are trying to influence and have no shared life experiences. By finding ways to tap into the stories of athletes, colleges can give their students a more impactful way of committing to success.

Mirroring smart mentorship

Traditionally getting into college on an athletic scholarship has been a way that minorities have been able to break onto college campuses, particularly if they came from educational environments that simply did not offer the same resources as advantaged peers. I’d argue that getting these athletes to graduation day is simply not enough; a whole other realm of life skills is needed to ensure that they are successful long after their athletic playing days have passed. When the cheers die down and the attention turns to the more practical things in life, these student athletes need ground to stand on. Pairing them up with mentors, or at the very least bringing in former athletes to share their after-college success stories, is a great way to inspire greatness that lasts a lifetime.

Leadership. Teamwork. Hard work. Earning a “win.” Losing gracefully. All of these are lessons that college athletes know in the context of their respective sports. Translating that to life beyond college can be challenging but can be made much easier with the help of mentors that have a common understanding with the students they address. Schools should make this as much a priority as recruiting minority students to sports and academic programs. Colleges and universities have a responsibility to their students to prepare them for all aspects of life and proper mentorship can be a necessary building block in that process.

How do you think colleges can best mentor minority students?

 

 

 

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

4 Ways Common Core Teaches Life Skills

One of the loudest arguments against Common Core Standards is that they don’t apply to “real-life” situations and that their methods are too far removed from what actually happens in the workplace. It’s unfortunate that this argument is so prominent, because these standards were developed with the opposite intent.

Connecting the material that kids learn with the real world abilities they need to succeed is a foundational element of the internationally benchmarked standards. At the heart of Common Core is a recognition that students must be able to retain what they learn and that is accomplished by using real-life examples and applications.

Here are just a few of the ways that the transition to the standards and new Core-aligned assessments will teach life skills:

  1. Emphasis on the “how” of things. You can find the answer to anything by typing your question into a search engine box. Think about how often you rely on this technology to find answers to your everyday queries compared to the amount of effort you used to expend as a student before the Internet existed. Common Core puts an emphasis on the journey to finding answers, particularly when it comes to the math standards. It eliminates rote memorization and gives students the freedom to decide their own path to finding a correct answer.
  2. Computer-based test taking. When was the last time you did anything in your professional life that was handwritten? Even if you are in a business where you handwrite invoices, receipts or memos, technology likely comes into play with communications, bookkeeping and other day-to-day functions. We ask our high school students to complete assignments online, take college assessment exams online and even apply to college online. It makes sense to shift to a universal computer-based assessment model for our younger students, too. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test aligns with Common Core benchmarks using familiar technology that helps take away some of the test-taking anxiety, allowing students to focus solely on showing what they have learned. These new tests also require more writing and break away from the decades-old “fill in the bubble” multiple-choice format that focused on rote memorization rather than any true critical thinking.
  3. Better feedback. When you are on the job, your superiors do not wait until you’ve been promoted to review your strengths and weaknesses from the previous position. The end goal for tests like PARCC is to return answers to students in the year that the assessment is taken so it can have an impact on what they are learning in the present. Instead of reporting back to students on what they know, PARCC testing informs them about where they still need improvement in a timely way that allows that progress to take place more quickly.
  4. Discipline-specific writing skills. Despite the dominance of digital technology, more than ever, many jobs demand strong writing skills. Common Core standards address this growing need by calling for more rigorous reading, writing and critical thinking across subjects. It is not enough to simply know something—you must be able to communicate that knowledge. Common Core does not supplant or discount language arts instruction, but strengthens it through better connecting the practice of writing with the needs of employers today.

Students, parents and educators are discovering Common Core and hearing a great deal of conflicting information. One truth that should not get lost in the public debate is how the new standards promise to create a generation of K-12 students who are not only prepared for the world stage, but who excel on it.

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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, Education News

Ahmed's clock proves reality of the school to prison pipeline

One kid, one clock, and one set of handcuffs set the nation ablaze this week. Ahmed Mohamed was detained by officers from the Irving Police Department for bringing a homemade clock to school that his teacher mistook for a bomb.

In an effort to defuse the clock–and the situation–the police were called and Ahmed was arrested for bringing a “hoax bomb” to school.

Officials later learned that Ahmed’s faux bomb was just a homemade clock and he had no intention of harming anyone. It was all, as stated by the police, just a misunderstanding.

If only misunderstandings were that simple.

Since the melee, Ahmed has been invited to the White House, MIT, and Facebook for his creativity. Each organization or group has shown support for Ahmed due to his unfair arrest.

But the unfairness tagged to his arrest has more to do with Ahmed’s culture and skin color than safety.

Ahmed Mohamed was born in America, is Muslim, and his parents aren’t native. The stereotypes associated with Ahmed’s existence led to his arrest, not a clock misidentified as a bomb.

According to study by the University of Pennsylvania, students of color, specifically black students, are suspended at a much higher rate than white students. While Ahmed isn’t black, he is considered to be a student of color.

The study also notes that in 84 districts within the 13 states studied, “blacks were 100 percent of students suspended from school.”

This perpetuates an unfortunate theory that students of color are pushed towards prison instead of higher education.

Ahmed is a curious kid who enjoyed putting things together and fixing broken electronics. He was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, which on so many levels, means that a part of his creativity was doused due to racism, stereotypes, and ignorance.

We need to push more kids like Ahmed to advance boundaries, not punish their ability to blow by them.

Too bad Ahmed’s lesson about how rules are applied to certain students, culture, and races were learned through his ability to be creative.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Teachers

Using EdTech to assess small group instruction

A panel discussion with the teachers of Richardson ISD in Richardson, Texas

PANELISTS:

Caroline Canessa, Merriman Park Elementary, 5th Grade Reading-Language Arts

Leah Janoe, Dover Elementary, 5th Grade Math

Ashley Scott, White Rock Elementary, 3rd Grade

Jennifer Looney, Wallace Elementary, 3rd Grade

Alyson Hollon, Dover Elementary, 6th Grade Science

 

For those who may not know, can you elaborate on what your state standards ask teachers to assess in terms of small group discussions?

Jennifer Looney: According to our third grade standards, students should be involved in teacher-led and student-led discussions.

Leah Janoe: Students should participate in small-group discussions by asking questions and answering questions appropriately, which includes answering the question thoroughly, giving enough detail, and most importantly helping the conversation build and continue through their input.

Ashley Scott: We’re also asked to determine if students can use proper verb tense and grammar through discussions with peers.

 

Why is it challenging for teachers to monitor small group discussions?

Alyson Hollon: The biggest challenge with small group discussions or team collaborations is being able to monitor each group’s discussions at once, so that any misconceptions are addressed.

Caroline Canessa: This area of teaching can be very challenging! Often times it is hard to know whether or not student conversations or focus on the task at hand, or completely off the mark. Also, students may pretend to be on task while the teacher is near, but then return to being off task as soon as the teacher leaves the area.

Jennifer Looney: Small groups are often spread out all over the class, so it is hard for a teacher to have the time to engage with all groups. It is also a challenge to talk to one group while also monitoring behavior in a group across the room.

 

RISD has found and is trying out a tool that allows teachers to monitor several discussions all at once. Can you tell us about it?

Ashley Scott: The Flexcat system comes with two teacher microphones and remotes, one large speaker, and six individual speaker pods. The microphones can be used to project your voice out of the large speaker or out of individual pods. The remote controls the volume of your voice. You can use your normal talking voice and it does a wonderful job making it louder for all students to hear. With the pods I can control which group I would like to speak to directly. The microphone comes with an earpiece, which allows for you to listen through the pod to that group. You can turn on the pod without the students knowing and listen. Students can also use the call button on their pod and speak to the teacher through their pod.

Jennifer Looney: The speaker pods allow you to have ears all over the classroom. From working with a small group at my teacher table, I can tell what a group in the hallway is discussing and talk to them directly to refocus them without interrupting precious teaching time.

 

How has the Flexcat changed the way you run your classroom?

Leah Janoe: The Flexcat allows me to hear students’ natural conversations with each other, especially when I can listen in and hear how students are explaining a concept to each other. As a math teacher, I can listen in and see what steps students are verbalizing during group work and help clear up misconceptions in that manner. With the ability to project my voice using the main speaker, I’ve noticed that my students can actually hear my from any point in the room without me having to yell while teaching.

Ashley Scott: My kids are highly motivated to share their thinking and “be the teacher” up at the front of the class wearing the microphone. I can also send a student into a breakout room with a pod to finish work or make up a test. I can pop in on the pod and make sure everything is going OK or they can call me if they have a question. There is also a place for headphones so you could send a child with a pod and headphones to another class to work and still be able to talk directly to the student. It provides so much freedom and flexibility.

 

How have students reacted to the Flexcat?

Caroline Canessa: The students think the Flexcat is a lot of fun! They always ask to use the microphone and love to push the call button.

Alyson Hollon: The students were shocked at first when they realize that I could listen to their conversations even when I wasn’t near them. This has really pushed them to remain on topic and have higher-level group discussions. It has also given students who normally don’t ask questions the opportunity to ask me direct questions, reducing their feeling of apprehension.

Leah Janoe: My students have loved using the Flexcat system because they can discreetly call me to ask for help on a problem. Students who normally would not ask for help feel more comfortable asking for help if they can do so without me having to walk over to address them.

 

Could you share an example of a time when the Flexcat allowed you to catch a student really shining that you would have otherwise missed?

Ashley Scott: This year I had a few students new to our school. Most of my class has gone to school with their peers since kindergarten, and it can be an intimidating situation to walk into. It took this student until the third week to raise her hand to share with the class. One day I called on this particular child to “be the teacher” and share her thinking with the class during math. I gave her the microphone and once she heard her voice from the back of the room, she immediately smiled and stood up straight. You could see how excited and proud she was. Without the microphone, there is no way anyone would have been able to hear her because she was so nervous about sharing with her new peers.

Jennifer Looney: I have a very intelligent student who prefers to only share a few words at a time whole group because she is so shy. When she is with her tablemates, however, she is very talkative. I am able to listen in on her responses in a more laidback situation. I know several students have anxiety about whole class answers and responding directly to a teacher. As this student was working through a table problem in math, she guided her peers to solve a multiplication problem. It was really great to witness her come out of her shell and collaborate!

Alyson Hollon: I have this one student who really struggles working with teammates. One day I was listening to his group as they were finishing up a lab and he explained to another teammate why the chemical reaction occurred and he explained it so well. At this time I was working with my small group students and if I didn’t have the Flexcat I would never have heard his wonderful explanation.

 

What are your thoughts on education these days?

Caroline Canessa: The world of education is just as challenging and rigorous as it has always been.

Alyson Hollon: Today’s education is changing from teacher lead to student lead. Our students need “21st century skills” to be successful today which changes the role of teacher in a 21st century classroom. Students are more motivated and want to be in charge in their own learning.

Leah Janoe: In these times, I am amazed at what students are learning and how they are being taught. The methods and topics that students are using are amazing and I cannot imagine having learned with so many technology tools when I was in school.

 

What are your thoughts on technology in education? Why?

Jennifer Looney: Technology is used, in some way, for every career out there. Students must graduate knowing how to use this technology. To exclude technology from the classroom would be a great disservice to our students.

Leah Janoe: I am so excited for (and slightly jealous of) the technology opportunities my students have to integrate into their classes and learning. I’m amazed at all the tools students can use to encourage their learning.

Caroline Canessa: Technology in education is critical. It allows students access to information that they may not otherwise be able to access at home. It also readies all students for the future – which is increasingly more and more digital world.

 

Any other comments or experiences to share?

Alyson Hollon: I honestly believe with all the technology that I have in my classroom, the Flexcat is essential and necessary. A Flexcat should be in every classroom.

Ashley Scott: I would not want to go back to teaching without the Flexcat!

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

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership

Educational leadership: Tips for inspiring students and making a difference

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding 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.**

A guest column by Anita Ginsburg

As a teacher, you do your best to plan every lesson and prepare every lecture several days in advance. You follow the curriculum to the letter, and you only use the best textbooks when planning your assignments. But as a teacher, you want to do more than just hand out grades and percentages. You want to inspire, encourage and motivate students. You recognize that a complete education doesn’t always come from a textbook or essay. If you truly want to make a difference in the classroom, you’ll need to implement the following steps:

  1. Set High Expectations

At the beginning of each school year, you probably establish a few ground rules for expected behavior. You let students know that you want their homework in on time, and you tell them to turn off their phones when they enter the room. But your expectations should go beyond basic classroom guidelines. You need to communicate that you expect them to not just listen but to absorb, and that you want them to not just pass a test but to remember what they’ve learned. At every opportunity, let your students know when you see an improvement in their progress. Give your students examples of what a successful assignment, paper, or test looks like, so they can work toward that goal.

  1. Show Your Enthusiasm

You likely spent several years studying specific courses to earn your degree, so clearly you have a passion for certain areas of education. When you share your enthusiasm for your favorite subjects, you can spread that energetic spark to the rest of your students. Even if students don’t seem initially engaged in science, math, or social studies, your own excitement can often pique their curiosity. They’ll feel intrigued about your enthusiasm, and they just might want to do a little research of their own to find out more. To develop better teaching techniques and leadership skills to keep students engaged and excited, consider getting a master’s degree in education. The experience and knowledge you can pass on to your students can be very beneficial.

  1. Let Your Students Take Control

While you shouldn’t let your students push you around, you can give them a degree of choice about what they do in your classroom. Rather than reigning supreme and assigning what you think best, let your students choose their own topics for papers and projects, so long as they relate to the course content.

For example, if you teach history, you could let a student write about his or her family’s historical immigration experience, rather than restricting an essay to the immigration act of 1924. Or if you teach physics, you could let an athletic student compare the spin and rotation of a soccer ball versus a football. When you let your students connect their assignments to their own personal interests, you give them the opportunity to engage in and explore their work more deeply.

Of course, these are just a few ways you can make a difference in the classroom. It’s important to keep learning yourself to continue inspiring your students. From small seminars to higher education, every step counts to making a difference in the lives of your students.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, list, Matthew Lynch

5 Tips You Can Use to Become an Academic Entrepreneur

More and more academics are recognizing the potential to supplement their income from higher education positions with out-of-the-box projects and schemes. To try and get to grips with the so-called academic entrepreneur, I met with Shonell Bacon, Instructor of Mass Communication at McNeese State University.

In this article, you’ll see some of her tips on understanding the relationship between academia and entrepreneurship—and how you can marry the two concepts together to generate supplementary income.

  1. You can be an academic entrepreneur. Bacon defined “academic entrepreneur” as “someone who knows what their talents are and is able to capitalize on them. They are able to take those qualities that make them excel in the academic arena and apply them to additional revenue streams. They are not necessarily unique; they are just always looking for opportunities. They are broad thinkers with narrow goals and lanes to optimize success for those goals.
  2. The tools you find useful in the academy are also useful in your entrepreneurial ventures. Bacon said, “For me, the biggest advantage to this approach is how I use knowledge from these two worlds, academic and business, to better myself in both worlds. For example, outside of academia, I am an author and an editor. With both, I constantly use my creativity; my knowledge of grammar, structure, and organization; my ability to think outside the box to strengthen my own writing as an author and others’ writing as an editor. When I’m in the classroom, I bring these tools with me. When I’m considering academic research projects, I use my creative, my outside-the- box thinking to explore topics that on the surface might not seem as academic as other topics, but in the end, they are creative endeavors for me that satisfy their academic requirements.”
  3. Online tools and technology are your best friends. “I would probably say that higher education’s embrace of technology, especially with moving some classes online, allows for accommodating entrepreneurship into your career” Bacon said. The use of technology forces educators to think outside the box and figure out how to deliver the same quality education electronically. Bacon recalled her first foray into online teaching and remembered how teaching online made her consider how she might offer her expertise in other areas digitally.

“The minute I had to reconsider and think creatively about my teaching, those same reconsiderations came to me in regards to entrepreneurial endeavors. I also think about the ‘leisure learning’ style courses that are offered at most colleges and universities. Oftentimes, these courses enable academics to make a little money in activities outside of their academic work. For example, I’ve taught leisure learning classes in fiction writing, fiction workshop, and developing projects for submissions. These courses allowed me to blend my teaching qualities with those qualities often exhibited in my entrepreneurial activities. I also think that schools, such as University of Phoenix, those schools that offer credit for “life learning” and business activities and experience suggest that entrepreneurialism–the work we do outside of academia–is important.”

  1. Value your time. “Work doesn’t end because you leave your campus office. With working 60+ hours a week, sometimes more, academics often don’t have the time for entrepreneurial activities, especially if they want to have some life to live while also taking care of home and family. And that time affects them in another way, too, because you have to make time to think on the idea of entrepreneurship: what skills do I have as an academic? How might those skills be useful outside of academia? What non-academic skills do I have? How can I bridge these skills to develop real financial independence through entrepreneurial ventures? There has to be time taken to consider these questions and others before a person can even get to developing the success s/he wants.”
  2. Be part of the revolution. “I definitely think more academics will embrace entrepreneurship,” Bacon said when asked if more academics would become entrepreneurs. “One reason will be out of necessity, say for example, the need for additional money. But others will come to embrace it because we live in such a fluid, technological world where one person can seamlessly move in and through many identities at any one time. Technology, whether it’s the actual device, or the app, or the software, etc., enables us to branch into other arenas, and more academics can take part of entrepreneurship through technology. Because of technology and the ability for an academic to blend multiple identities simultaneously, the field will definitely not only emerge, but also expand. I definitely see this more so for the future as younger academics come into the landscape, particularly those who are digital natives, from birth living with Internet and the many other advances of technology.”

We would like to thank Shonell for sitting down with us.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, Teachers

What teachers need to know about multicultural education

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding 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.**

A guest column by Rae Votta

For a brief time, at the inadvisable age of 20, I had a brief stint teaching English and Social Studies in West Philadelphia. I’d never taken a formal education class, nor had I any real aspirations of teaching middle schoolers, but I was part of a bandage-style solution aimed at fixing failing school systems by patching them with inexperienced but optimistic young teachers.

I’m white, and not a single one of my students were white. This is none too surprising, considering the demographics of West Philadelphia, as well as the propensity for college-educated young white adults wishing to “give back” by working in low-income neighborhoods. Despite the fact that there’s a call for nonwhite teachers to work with students of color, which often produces better educational results, 80% of teachers are white—and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. One of the things I learned clearly and quickly during this experience was that there is a gap in the educational standards of what was expected in predominantly white, middle-class, suburban schools versus what urban and low-income schools had available to their students. In addition, the cultures surrounding those students have a massive effect on how the education system works for or against them. Reflecting multiculturalism in the classroom is imperative in our increasingly multicultural society.

For me, teaching was as much of an education on culture as it was a fundamental education for the 13-year-olds I taught. While we worked our way through the common core, we also worked our way through navigating a school system that told them learning Social Studies didn’t require dedicated books. My parents would have stormed the school if I came home telling them I wasn’t given a book for a subject, but not a single one of my students’ parents complained, nor did the students seem concerned. Instead, we worked around it, and my students were adaptable to items I brought in; they became an active part of determining what they were interested in and what we’d learn about under the massive umbrella of “World History.” Instead of falling into the trap of a Eurocentric approach, we decided to mix it up and include Africa, since we didn’t have a book dictating our every move.

For my students, or at least some of them, our brief time together was eye-opening for them about a different world outside of the few blocks they inhabited in Philadelphia. At 13, I had been obsessed with college, and so I thought some of my students might be as well. I brought in magazines about picking the right college and about getting ready for applications in high school. No one had really emphasized this to them before. A group of students who had acknowledged the existence of the colleges in their town thought that maybe they’d be lucky enough to attend one since, as one told me, there was a McDonalds near one. That was when I realized that, in their world, a fast-food joint that’s taken for granted elsewhere was considered almost a luxury, or a neighborhood perk, to these students. By the end of my time teaching, the students had started to learn about out-of-state colleges and realized they could aim for them if they wanted. I sat one high-achieving student down with her mother and explained that she was the smartest girl in her grade, but that kids like her in suburbia were already doing SAT prep and practicing essay writing. I gave her books so she could compete outside of the confines of her community.

There is a call for the opposite of my situation as well—to increase the diversity of teachers for predominantly white schools. After my experiences on both sides of the situation, I cannot agree more. For all my well-meaning suburban teachers, I can’t remember a single one who wasn’t white, and I think that was a disservice to my understanding of the world outside of my bubble—until I was in the “real world” as an adult. Outside of history classes about emancipation and civil rights, no one talked about how racism applies to other areas of education, and no one took stock of the diversity of our source material. No teacher or educational leader had ever led me to believe there were other types of community and culture outside of the one we existed within.

One moment that stands out from my time as a teacher was when I was trying to mitigate the daily fighting that broke out in my classroom. It was a far cry from my middle school education, where fights were few and far between. At first, I tried to bandage the situation and just tell them to stop, assuming that my authority was all that was needed. It wasn’t until one day that I stopped lessons, sat everyone down, and said, “Tell me why this happens” that I understood the cultural issue at play that I’d simply never experienced. My students expressed that they had to stand up for themselves, that their families had instilled a value of not backing down, and with honor on the line the threat of a suspension didn’t matter because dishonor was worse. Knowing this, however, did not stop my students from fighting, and neither did my explanations of how there were different ways to handle conflict. On the other hand, understanding the cultural aspects of the situation gave me new ways to handle such conflicts.

Multicultural diversity in education is not just about what is taught to the students, but who is teaching these students and the interplay between the cultures of the educator and of the students. The more diversity we can infuse into the mix, the better the outcomes for both students and teachers.

____________________

Rae Votta is a senior account planner from Prime Access, one of the largest health and wellness marketing agency and is the only full-service advertising and marketing communications company at the intersection of health care and multicultural markets.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

HBCU Insights: A social justice toolkit for university administrators

A column by Dr. Larry Walker

Throughout their history historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been incubators for social change. Alumni, faculty and students including John Lewis and Rosa Parks left an indomitable footprint, which continues to inspire political leaders and activists. During the Civil Rights Movement students from North Carolina A & T, Shaw University and other HBCUs took stances on important issues to fight economic, political and social disparities. While students at HBCUs rallied to change conditions in the United States students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) also fought against racial and gender discrimination during turbulent times. Unfortunately, incidents including the deaths of students from South Carolina State University, Jackson State and Kent State University represent a cautionary tale for college administrators.

Each tragic event highlights the delicate balance between individual rights, social activism and government intervention. The Neo-Civil Rights Movement spurned by issues including #BlackLivesMatter, immigrant, transgender and women’s rights are reshaping the political landscape. HBCU administrators have to be prepared to address a variety of issues without alienating subgroups. Maintaining a collegial environment that respects the rights of faculty and students to organize and protest is paramount. Members of the university community may support a platform, which is inconsistent with the institution’s policies. Determining how to handle socially delicate topics during politically challenging times is difficult yet some HBCUs have succeeded.  

Over the last few months HBCUs including Coppin State University, Harris-Stowe University and Morgan State University stood steadfast despite the events following the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. For example, Harris-Stowe facilitated a dialogue among faculty and students, Coppin State helped to clean up West Baltimore and Morgan State University recently convened a task force “Gray Days, Better Tomorrow” to address systemic issues in Baltimore. In each case administrators heeded the call to help transform communities with limited political capital.

Although some HBCUs have taken steps to eliminate economic and social inequities administrators have to continue to work closely with faculty members, students and alumni committed to important causes. Adopting proactive policies that are community centered can mediate philosophical differences between student and administrative leaders. To prevent short and long term problems post-secondary institutions should consider the following:

  1. Cultivating relations with student leaders- Ensuring administrators, faculty and students have an open line of communication is critical. School administrators have to take time to seek out campus leaders before an on or off campus event negatively impacts the campus community. Students recognize when school leaders are ignoring their concerns. Hosting campus wide meetings that allow individuals to discuss pertinent issues creates a sense of trust.
  2. Utilizing social media- Recently students at Howard University took steps via social media to address systemic issues including financial aid, school infrastructure and customer service. #TakeBackHU was a trending topic on Twitter and led Howard University President Frederick to address concerns from students. Dr. Frederick assured members of the Howard community that he was committed to addressing issues, which began before his appointment. The efforts by campus leaders to fight for change highlight the power of social media. Topics on Facebook, Periscope, etc. can generate discussion that shapes local, national and international concerns. HBCU administrators including Dr. Walter Kimbrough, (the Hip Hop) President of Dillard University has an active presence on Twitter and communicates with alumni, faculty and students. Dr. Kimbrough embraces social media during a time when more administrators recognize its importance. It is critical that HBCU presidents follow Dr. Kimbrough’s example and continue to communicate with the campus community to avert issues that could disrupt learning.
  3. Maintaining an active presence on campus- HBCU presidents have to take time to interact with alumni, faculty, staff and students. Developing strong relationships can build social capital, which administrators can use at critical junctures. Meeting with members of the campus community during homecoming, graduation and other events is not enough. Students, faculty and national leaders respect administrators including Dr. William Harvey, President of Hampton University, because of his ability to build coalitions. Throughout his tenure Dr. Harvey has worked collaboratively with faculty to increase funding for research, lower student attrition rates and work with the local community. Administrators should use Dr. Harvey as a template to ensure they develop relationships that can survive turbulent times.
  4. Recognize emerging trends- Administrators including former Xavier President Dr. Norman Francis recognized that there was a need for more African-American doctors. Currently, Xavier leads the nation in producing African-Americans students that are admitted and graduate from Medical School. The statistic is noteworthy because Xavier does not have a large endowment or educate students from predominantly affluent families. School leaders have to anticipate how national and international issues will impact the campus community. Students may support efforts including #BlackLivesMatter which seek to address police misconduct. Taking a proactive approach could prevent problems between students and administrators from engulfing the campus community.

HBCU administrators have to work with the local community, faculty and student leaders to create a healthy environment that supports efforts to address economic, political and social issues. Ensuring university leaders are active on social media would allow students to interact with officials in real time. The events at Howard University highlight the importance of communicating with students to address legitimate concerns. Cultivating relationships with students can prevent important social issues from negatively affecting the campus community.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Dr. Larry J. Walker is an educational consultant focused on supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). His research examines the impact environmental factors have on the academic performance and social emotional functioning of students from HBCUs.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Policy & Reform

How to help high school students find a career

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 30 percent of teens and young adults work in the leisure and hospitality industry. While those jobs are usually entry level and easy to attain, they aren’t necessarily career defining.

In addition to working entry level positions, most high school students aren’t exactly sure of what career path to take after high school.

To help them with such an important decision, Myverse has launched a new tool that will match high school students with a potential career path.

Myverse, “an online and mobile resource for middle school and high school students,” is a device that students may use to help them with selecting which career may best suit them.

One of the goals of Myverse is for students to at least have an idea of what career may interest them prior to stepping foot on a college campus.

Wayne Sharp, Myverse founder and president, believes that this test may change our future workforce for the better.

“Education shouldn’t be about getting through the next lesson or the next test, it’s bigger than that.  We as adults need to contextualize education in a way students can make real world connections with what they’re learning, especially when considering what they will do after graduation.  Myverse provides the starting point in this quest for students and teachers alike.”

As our economy continues to grow and change and the world’s workforce becomes more diverse, allowing students to explore career options that may be available to them before going to college is just another way to better prepare them for the future.

For more information on Myverse and to take the free career test, please visit www.myverse.com.

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

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Higher Education, Matthew Lynch

Diverse Conversations: Current Issues in Higher Education

With each passing decade, colleges and universities are faced with the task of responding to the spirit of the times. Those that deal with these trends and issues proactively often receive great rewards. However, those that do not keep up with the times face an uncertain future and in extreme cases, failure. Recently, I spoke with Dr. Helen F. Giles-Gee to discuss some of the current issues in higher education and how colleges and universities should respond to them.

Dr. Helen F. Giles-Gee began her tenure as the 22nd president of University of the Sciences on July 16, 2012. A well-respected and nationally-known scholar, educator, and administrator, she brings more than 30 years of experience in higher education to the campus.

Q: What are the major challenges facing American colleges and universities?

A: American colleges and universities are facing many challenges. I’ll name just 10: (1) Diversifying revenue streams to adjust to government divestment in higher education; (2) Enrolling a more diverse college bound population, some of whom may be ill prepared for college-level work; (3) Informing the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which impacts federal student aid (student affordability), fundraising opportunities because of expiring tax provisions and more; (4) Greater accountability at state and federal levels for student learning outcomes such as increasing retention and graduation rates and student academic achievement; (5) Increased competition with other colleges that are becoming entrepreneurial in their academic program development and/or are utilizing new ways to assess students’ prior learning now paid for using federal financial aid; (6) Addressing the new credentialing of competencies that may make the “credit hour” irrelevant; (7) Forecasting capital plant needs with a changing delivery market for higher education; (8) Maintaining good community relations when balancing the desire by some cities and towns for tax revenues from nonprofits; (9) Addressing risk and compliance issues associated with needs for additional security, greater internationalism and resulting visa needs, greater sensitivity to complaints of sexual harassment, whistleblowers, and other possible personnel issues; and (10) Supporting the K through 12 pipeline regarding student academic achievement by strengthening teacher education programs and their outcomes.

Q: In what areas do American colleges and universities need the most help?

A: With decreasing college bound populations, greater competition from an increased number of colleges and universities, and fewer government subsidies for financial aid, having tuition and fees as the predominant source of revenue is a recipe for disaster. Colleges with fewer than 4,000 students are especially fiscally vulnerable as they need the same core operations as larger colleges unless they possess very great endowments with payouts that contribute high percentages to operations. Small institutions that still try to “go it alone” without considering joining consortia or merging with another institution may see their coffers empty sooner rather than later. Some institutions may need assistance in considering appropriate strategies to diversify their revenues and contain costs.

Q: What is the current enrollment of University of the Sciences? What is a realistic projection of enrollment over the next five years?

A: University of the Sciences’ current enrollment is about 2,800 students. With a mission of educating students for healthcare professions, sciences and mathematics, and management and health policy, USciences aims to stay small in size and focused in its program offerings. The majority of our programs are in fields that are highly desirable by employers with 94% of students graduating in 2012 having jobs or admitted into graduate programs within six months of graduation. We currently provide three online full programs in biomedical writing, and expect to see enrollment growth occurring in new specialized online programs that are in sync with our mission.

Q: What is the approach to recruiting new students? What challenges do you face in attracting students to the school?

A: We are increasingly informing new students about our value and distinctiveness. Our strengths include: a small faculty to student ratio; an urban location amidst other great universities; collaborations with great universities and research institutes on research and academic programs; student/faculty research opportunities that result in presentations and/or publications; great possibility for graduate work; clinical practice in sites across the country; faculty who are esteemed in their fields; reputation for innovation and entrepreneurship as documented by graduates like Eli Lilly, Robert L. McNeil Jr., and others.

We are also increasing our articulations with surrounding schools and community colleges. As Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, we were the first college of pharmacy in North America. When academic programs expanded to include degrees in science as well as professional doctorates in occupational therapy and physical therapy, our name changed to Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Sciences and later to University of the Sciences. Name recognition has been a challenge that we are overcoming with greater media exposure and publicizing the positive outcomes of a USciences education.

Q: What is the graduation rate at the University of the Sciences now?

A: The six year graduation rate for the 2006 cohort is 74%. We are instituting new retention efforts and expect to see this percentage increase.

Q: Do you have any parting messages for our readers, many of whom are our current and future presidents?

A: This era calls for presidents who can lead institutions to develop tactics that effectively address new problems and who can educate boards to a changing higher education landscape. We will need to develop collaborative models within our institutions as well as with external partners. I am both humbled and challenged by the many new issues we face while knowing that when we succeed at improving higher education our students and our world will be the better for it.

Well, that concludes my interview with President Giles-Gee. I would like to thank her for taking time out of her busy schedule to speak with me.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Matthew Lynch

Empowering Leadership Behavior in Schools: Lessons Learned from the Business Sector

Empowering leadership behavior includes encouraging of self-reward systems, self-leadership, opportunity awareness, participation in goal setting, and independent behavior by followers and group members. In other words, it’s all about helping followers take ownership of their positions, toward the greater good of the organization. And, as studies have shown, the effects are often positive and far-reaching.

Empowering leaders, through positive emotional support and encouragement, increases motivation and confidence among subordinates as they set out to accomplish their individual and organizational goals. Therefore, empowering leadership can be quite useful, particularly as a behavioral tactic for entrepreneurs, who must gain commitment from those they work with in order to compete against bigger, more established, and resource-rich enterprises.

Additionally, empowering leadership behavior in entrepreneurs is crucial in dynamic environments. Entrepreneurs attempting to lead their ventures toward higher growth while operating in ever-changing conditions can benefit from adopting an empowering leadership style. It is an effective way to distribute leadership throughout the management team. This enhances the shaping of emerging strategy, which harnesses the individual talents of each team member that are most relevant to the current situation.

However, there are some negative effects that come with empowering leadership, which are often left out of leadership literature. One of the disadvantages of empowering diverse teams is that it can be counterproductive. Empowering leadership can cause incompatibility among certain innovative enterprises.

In addition, empowered management teams tend to seek out too much information before making decisions. They may also attempt to follow too many opportunities, without refining a single business concept to establish a solid basis in the market. These challenges more often occur in experienced firms with diverse top management teams.

Diverse teams can be quite effective at considering multiple alternatives and making sense of challenging situations, but they are much slower to reach agreement on decisions. Different perspectives within top management teams can produce conflict, slowing the decision-making process.

We can conclude that empowering management teams can provide greater opportunity for conflicts to emerge. Conflicts among team members are likely to be particularly damaging to ventures operating in dynamic environments, where decision-making must be speedy in order to take advantage of the brief windows of opportunity . Entrepreneurs should be cautious about when and where to empower their management teams.

In fast-changing environments, empowerment reduces the new enterprise’s performance, causing the relationship between the management team’s diversity and the new venture’s performance to become increasingly negative. In more stable industry environments, this kind of empowerment leadership behavior is more likely to have a positive effect on the performance of new ventures with non-uniform top management teams . This is because the information available is clearer and there is more time available for planning.

Stable environments allow the empowered top management teams to spend more time considering what alternative strategies are available, and exploring the potential for various innovative activities, since total agreement is not urgent. As a result, there is generally less conflict within empowered diverse teams operating in stable environments.

School leaders seeking effectiveness should learn from entrepreneurs, and particularly those from start-ups in fast-moving industries, which tend to be highly creative. They should strive to create environments in which positive ideas are encouraged, and in which there is ample opportunity for those ideas to be put in place.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, list, Matthew Lynch

4 Transformational Leadership Practices That Motivate Teachers

The emotions of teachers are an often ignored, but very important part of a school’s learning climate. With each decision or policy they put in place, school leaders have an effect on the emotions of their teachers. Transformational leadership practices that have emotional consequences reflect four sets of “core practices” for effective leadership. These practices form a major part of what most successful school leaders do, in many different organizational and cultural contexts. Here are four core practices that keep teachers excited to come to work every day.

  1. Direction-setting. The practices of school leaders geared at building an inclusive sense of purpose in the school, and a grasp of the specific goals often leads to success, and broader school purposes are also accomplished. Most successful school leaders set higher expectations for their own performance as well as those of their teaching staff and students.
  2. Focusing on helping teachers improve professionalism. The development of teachers’ capacities includes most of the principal practices that influence teachers’ feelings. These practices include: being genuinely friendly, considerate, supportive, attentive to teachers’ ideas, and mindful of teachers’ welfare. School leaders who provide individualized consideration and learning opportunities build the teachers’ need to accomplish their own goals as well as those of the school. Success in building capacity is also achieved by reducing distractions to instructional work, as well as modeling values and practices that are aligned with the teachers’ core purpose.
  3. Redesigning the organization. This entails building a culture that is supportive and collaborative in teaching and learning, and creating and sustaining school structures that complement such a culture. In this context, successful principals nurture productive relationships with parents and the entire community, to influence future policies and prevent situations that might affect the school.
  4. Managing the instructional program. This aspect of leadership basically requires instructional knowledge. It includes efforts by school leaders to ensure that their schools have highly competent staff, to observe the progress of students and the school improvement, to monitor teachers’ instructional practices, and to provide supportive, helpful feedback to their staff.

Based on the extensive research carried out in both educational and non-school contexts, it is evident that emotionally responsive practices are closely associated with social assessment abilities. These abilities enable one to appreciate the emotional states of others, find out what those states entail in complex social situations, respond in helpful ways, and manage one’s own emotions.

Transformational leaders are known for their emotional capabilities and are prepared to include it in their professional life, despite the fact that it may involve breaking the traditions of professional culture and norms to maintain and repair relationships. They realize that building trusting relationships is vital for a cooperative culture.

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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