2018-19 Subbing, Day 1, 09/04/18

Well. The 2018-19 school year is about a week in and I subbed today, September 4, for the first time.

The kids were hilarious.

Me: "Tell me about you and your family."
Funny Boy, Age 6: "Well, my dad is a pain in the butt."
Me: "Oh, no. I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully, he'll improve with time."
Funny Boy, Age 6: "Maybe. He always picks the shows we watch. How come he picks? What about me?"
Me: "Age has its privilege."
Funny Boy, Age 6: "I don't know what that means."
Me: "Someday you'll get to pick."
Funny Boy Age 6: "Not as long as my dad's around."

I am getting old (I'm quite sure the kids would say I'm not getting there, but that I've arrived), and as often happens, I leaned over, and I had a little flatulence. It was just two kids and me in the room, and it was loud. They both stopped in their tracks, turned around, and looked at me in disbelief.

Kid 1: "Did you just fart?"
Me, ever the teacher: "Yes, I did. It's better to say someone lets a stinker, rather than farted."
Kids collapsed in laughter. I only tell you this because I am certain it is all over town by now, and I wanted you to hear it from me first.

There were lots of new faces. I hear the turnover in education is high and I saw that today. The principal was terrific. She stopped in twice to make sure all was going well, and I appreciated that. I'm hoping she didn't stop in to make sure it wasn't a total disaster but even if that was the reason, I was glad she did. She said she values the subs and wanted me to know she appreciates my presence in the building. She may not think that after she reads this post. Keep your fingers crossed.

More later.

I'm a Substitute Teacher... Introduction

A long time ago, Bill W. confessed to a group of people, "I am an alcoholic." He said that small statement changed his life - made him admit his challenges, his reality. So today, I say to you, I am a substitute teacher. Holy moly. I was a teacher and school administrator for just shy of 30 years. I worked in education serving organizations for another 15 years. Greatest (more likely least great) last words uttered by me. "When I retire, I sure won't sub." Well, guess what? I am subbing and for the most part loving it. I'll write more in subsequent posts about the "loving it" and "for the most part" references.

My dream job went to part time before I was ready for that to happen. My employers were/are great friends, problem solvers, interesting people.  One of my projects went away. No one's fault - time moves on. Things change. I panicked a bit -  I hadn't planned on taking social security until I was 70 and wanted to have enough income to wait it out, And I couldn't imagine not working full time and not seeing these wonderful friends regularly. I couldn't even imagine not driving to Des Moines every day - I'd learned to love the commute what with podcasts, NPR, and lately MSNBC. Yes, I'm a liberal - what teacher isn't?  What on earth would I do? But after some teeth gnashing and tears,  I determined with my part time job, subbing, and a supportive husband still working at 70, I could probably make the financial part work and I'd try to fill the time with noble endeavors. So it was all solved, and it is working. Not always like I thought it would, but it is working.

So subbing. How's it going? I've been at for a couple of years now and it is always surprising.  Two weeks ago, I didn't sub at all. Had a great time - drank coffee with my friends, took a trip to Des Moines, spent some time with my grandchildren, read, binged watched a couple of good things on Netflix, and got a lot of work done for my part time job. Not exactly the "noble endeavors" I had imagined, but what the hey?  It was an all around wonderful week. I gotta say, though, I had this silly yearning to see kids and be uplifted.  Last week I subbed four days at the local elementary. That was the busiest week I've had all year. By Friday I could barely sit up and take nourishment. No silly yearning by Friday. Just plain flat out exhaustion. And a sense of incompetence -  all the planning had been done for me. Can't imagine what it would've been like if I'd been responsible for putting together exceptional lessons that drew in all learners and moved them forward, as well as being fully alert to the needs of kids all day and teaching my rear end off. Somewhere between four days and zero days, surely there is a happy medium.

A few things I've learned in these two years - some new learning, some affirmation of what I already knew. Teachers work really hard and somehow, most of them, maintain their good humor. Kids come to school with far more problems than when I was a teacher. As the social fabric of Iowa falls apart with no mental health system for children and a poor excuse of one for adults, schools are profoundly affected. Schools are resource short. That shows up in all kinds of ways - building maintenance, text books, certainly salaries,, etc. For the most part communities look to their schools as the driving force. And if they don't, they should.

So in conclusion, I am a substitute, something I thought I would never be. And I love it! Life changes hit you like a ton of bricks and if you take a breath, everything will be okay. Schools have big problems brought on by changes in the social fabric of Iowa, and communities need to work to solve them. I look forward to sharing my thoughts in the weeks to come and hope you will weigh in as well.

More later....

Hiring practices favor young, attractive, tall, gregarious leaders. Should they?

I wonder about hiring practices in all businesses, but particularly in schools.  We know that leadership matters in student success, yet sometimes that doesn't show up in hiring practices. What are the criteria used to ensure both technical expertise and leadership skills of the school leaders we hire? Have we defined them? Once we define them, do we use them when we hire and promote? Who gets hired? Are we clear about what we expect? Do we support those hires so they and the staff can be successful as they focus on student success? 

I notice an unsettling trend borne out in the research. In this article in Forbes "Think Looks Don't Matter, Think Again," Laura Sinberg notes, "Women who advance most at work, studies agree, are more attractive, thinner, taller and have a more youthful appearance than their female colleagues who are promoted less often."  https://www.forbes.com/2009/12/05/appearance-work-pay-forbes-woman-leadership-body-weight.html 

Joe Pinsker writes in The Atlantic about "The Financial Perks of Being Tall, "In Western countries, a jump from the 25th percentile of height to the 75th—about four or five inches—is associated with an increase in salary between 9 and 15 percent. Another analysis suggests that an extra inch is worth almost $800 a year in elevated earnings. “If you take this over the course of a 30-year career and compound it,” one researcher told Malcolm Gladwell for his book Blink, “we’re talking about a tall person enjoying literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of earnings advantage.”  (https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/the-financial-perks-o being-tall/393518/) 

And then there's the problem of introverts. In her article "Introverts Pose a Problem for Hirers"  in The Financial Times Hazel Davis writes,  "Yet organisations are more likely to hire individuals who 'relish social life, and are energised by interacting with friends and strangers' – people who are assertive, go-getting, and able to seize the day'. These descriptions of introverts and extroverts are taken from the website of Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. She believes institutions are so geared up to hiring extroverts that the best candidates do not always get the job." https://www.ft.com/content/34d170a2-4c56-11e3-923d-00144feabdc0
There are many sources that help schools determine what they should be looking for when hiring school leaders.  The Wallace Foundation notes:http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/Pages/The-Effective-Principal.aspx

"What makes an effective principal? A decade of Wallace Foundation-supported research and work in school districts and states suggests that five practices are key to helping principals improve teaching and learning in their schools:

1. Shaping a vision of academic success for all students, one based on high standards;
2. Creating a climate hospitable to education so safety, a cooperative spirit and other foundations of fruitful interaction prevail;
3. Cultivating leadership in others so teachers and other adults assume their part in realizing the school vision;
4. Improving instruction to enable teachers to teach at their best and students to learn at their utmost; and
5. Managing people, data and processes to foster school improvement."

Nick Morrison wrote an article in Forbes, "The Eight Characteristics of Effective School Leaders," and shared these, not substantially different from the Wallace list.  https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2013/12/30/the-eight-characteristics-of-effective-school-leaders/#1a99a1b59762

1. "They have consistent, high expectations and are very ambitious for the success of their pupils.
2. They constantly demonstrate that disadvantage need not be a barrier to achievement.
3. They focus relentlessly on improving teaching and learning with very effective professional development of all staff.
4. They are expert at assessment and the tracking of pupil progress with appropriate support and intervention based upon a detailed knowledge of individual pupils.
5. They are highly inclusive, having complete regard for the progress and personal development of every pupil.
6. They develop individual students through promoting rich opportunities for learning both within and out of the classroom.
7. They cultivate a range of partnerships particularly with parents, business and the community to support pupil learning and progress.
8. They are robust and rigorous in terms of self-evaluation and data analysis with clear strategies for improvement."

Think about Hettie on NCIS. She's small, not particularly attractive, seemingly an introvert, and old. On the other side of the coin, she has leadership coming out of her pores, as well as great technical knowledge about her craft. The characters do whatever impossible task she asks within a timeline. They are occasionally annoyed with her, but have great respect for her judgment and character. While Hettie is a fictional character, is there a message to all of us in what to look for in an employee? 

One leader I knew in the course of my career was a solid introvert. As new leaders came and went, this administrator did the job, focused on student learning, used data extensively, supported teachers in their professional learning and being successful classroom leaders,  reached out to the community and the school. This person exemplifiedthe leadership and technical expertise necessary to move the school in a positive direction. Yet, this leader was never hired as the lead principal. Too quiet. Too unassuming. Too introverted to take credit. As lead principals were hired again and again - extroverted, good looking, prolific talkers -  they received the credit for what was this person's behind the scenes, solid work. 

In my work in schools, I have seen many effective administrators exhibiting all sorts of character and physical traits. This piece is certainly not written in the spirit of getting rid of good looking, tall, male extroverts.  And it also isn't a plea to hire short, unattractive, old, female introverts. It IS a plea to determine what it is you want the new hire to do, and then work to find someone who has the technical expertise and the leadership skills to do what you need, no matter how they look or their personality type. 

To the Editor:

Education spending is a complex issue and cannot be quickly explained. But it takes a large part of our state budget, and more importantly, determines the future for our children, so we hope you will stick with us and read this rather long explanation.

Recently Representative Baudler wrote that an increase in state supplemental aid (SSA) for Iowa schools cannot be more than 1.25%. School district costs for doing business increase annually by 3% or more just to hold even with the previous year.  He explained how generous the Legislature has been with school funding and said that SSA had grown 22% in the last five years. Annual increases in the cost per pupil have actually been 2%, 0%, 2%, 2%, and 4% per child over that same time. That adds up to 10% not 22%. As with many claims, it’s all in how you look at the data.  Schools are funded by a combination of state, federal, and local dollars. If you only look at state funding and then you cherry pick the years to make your case, it might look like the state has been generous. But here’s the “rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey would say.

Federal stimulus funds of over $280 million were directed to Iowa in 2010 to prop up Iowa’s school budgets because of the recession. While there was an across the board cut in Iowa due to the recession, had those funds not been made available for education in Iowa, the cuts would have been far more dire. The $280 million had been allocated in the Iowa budget prior to the recession, but when the feds sent that money to Iowa, it supplanted Iowa’s responsibility for that funding for one year.  After that year, Iowa resumed the responsibility of paying that $280 million to local schools. So if you don’t acknowledge that for one year federal funds were substituted for state funds, your base year is 2011 when Iowa resumed the cost, and  you incorrectly assume the $280 million was new funding for schools, it looks like the state increased funding dramatically. If you start in 2010, you get quite a different picture. See the table below:

		State School Aid Total Appropriation	Dollar Change from FY2010	Percent Change from FY2010	Dollar Change from FY2011	Percent Change from FY-20 11
FY 2010		$2,587,500,001
FY 2011		$2,317,532,290
FY 2015		$2,873,761,312	$286,261,3111	11.0%	$556,229,022	24.0%

There is a Conference Committee currently meeting to resolve the House and Senate differences. The Senate came into the Conference Committee having first passed a 6% increase per pupil for FY 2016 for schools to make up lost ground back in the 2014 Legislative Session.  That bill died in the House.  The Senate then passed a 4% increase in school funding for FY 2016 this Session.  The House bill set an increase of 1.25%. The Conference Committee has met 6 times to find common ground. During the last meeting, the Senate offered to “split the difference”, this time proposing 2.625%, below the 3% it costs just to stay even.  The House refused. The proposed 1.25% increase is $80 per student, but only applies to the students still in the district. Nodaway Valley is among half of Iowa schools losing enrollment. So the 1.25% statewide translates to 1% total increase in the budget for Nodaway Valley.  Even that could be handled with cuts if all the students who left were, say in the 4^th grade, since we wouldn’t then need a 4^th grade teacher. That is of course not the case, and districts with declining enrollment must figure out how to continue 4^th grade and maintain other programs, with fewer and fewer funds.

Education funding is a significant part of the Iowa budget. If you listen to Representative Baudler and some of his colleagues, you get the idea that we are on the brink of collapse. But consider these highlights about Iowa’s Economy:

·        Iowa’s Economy ranks 9^th in the nation in reserve funds on hand (8^th in percent on hand from www.taxfoundation.org/maps )  

·        Ranks 12^th highest growth rate in gross domestic product nationally,

·        Ranks 9^th in growth of per capita personal income nationwide (2012 – 2013).  Although farm income contributed to a lower increase in 2014, we still rank 25^th.

·        Ranks 24^th in median household income (2011)

·        The Revenue Estimating Conference estimates 4.3% growth in state revenue for FY 2015  and 6.0% for FY 2016 ($408 million)

·        Ranks 38^th in State/Local Corporate Income Tax Collections per Capita (USA $139 vs. Iowa $63) http://taxfoundation.org/article/statelocal-corporate-income-tax-collections-capita-2006-2010

·        Ranks 29^th  in State-Local Tax Burden as a Percentage of State Income, FY 2011 taxfoundation.org/burdens

·        Ranks 27^th  in Combined State & Average Local Sales Tax Rates in 2014 (taxfoundation.org/maps)

·        Additionally, the Governor champions in his budget book, “in the last four years:

•        168,700 jobs have been created

•        Iowa’s unemployment rate has been slashed by nearly 30%

•        Over $9 billion in private capital investment has located in Iowa

•        Iowa passed the largest tax cut in state’s history (property tax reform)

•        Invested historically in our children’s future through transformational education reform.”  ($50 million annually in grants beginning in FY 2015 and $50 million annually to include early implementers in the formula beginning in FY 2016)

The details of the Governor’s budget are found in the Legislative Service Agency’s analysis, along with much more detail, here:  https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LAGRP/620691.pdf

The note above about $150 million being allocated for Iowa schools is accurate, although that’s over 3 years. The Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) grants started this school year provided to schools serving 1/3 of Iowa students. Next year another 1/3 of the schools receive that funding, including Nodaway Valley. By the end of the 2016-17 school year, all schools in the state could be participating and getting the new funding. That new money MUST be directed toward the Governor’s TLC Program, however.  It cannot be used for regular operating expenses. So as operating expenses go up at the rate of 3% and NV gets 1%, cuts will have to be made.  And cuts have already been made. What would you like to see go next?

We’ve had a decade of underfunding in Iowa K-12 public schools. Prior to 1993, school funding increases were calculated by a formula that considered inflation and other economic factors. Now those increases are decided by the legislature, most recently late in the process with political debates dominating the conversation.  The gap between funding per pupil for Iowa and the nation has widened dramatically. Prior to the 2000s, student learning in Iowa ranked at the top of the pack in NAEP scores compared with other states. Since, despite modest gains for Iowa kids, other states have passed us by in both achievement and funding.

Think of this convergence of issues. Iowa is now over $1,600 below the national average in per pupil school spending in the nation.  We have an increasing economic divide in our state with more children in poverty, despite good employment and economic gains. In 2009 we had 34.1% of our kids receiving free and reduced lunches. By 2015 that number exceeds 41% according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Given the history of underfunding, the increasing needs of students, Iowa’s strong economy and ability to pay, 1.25% is not sufficient. Please let Mr. Baudler and Mr. Chapman know, as well as Governor Branstad, that education in this state matters. Iowa’s future well-being depends on a well-educated workforce. We invest in education today or we pay more tomorrow for social services, criminal and corrections costs, and other lost opportunity costs for our citizens.  Which future do you prefer for your children and grandchildren?

Respectfully submitted,

Willard and Susan Olesen

Greenfield

Bruce Joyce Video

Welcome to Instruction Matters. If we expect students to learn more, the instructional practice of teachers must improve. We've  found a video that will help make clear how teachers improve their instructional practice from Bruce Joyce.  He and Beverly Showers did the seminal research in professional development related to how teachers do this -  improve their  instructional practice.

This video from Dr. Joyce is REALLY old. In fact when I first saw it, I wondered who it was. But it IS Bruce Joyce and I would guess this video is 35-40 years old. He references Jimmy Connors whose peak years as a tennis player ended  in 1978. However, old doesn't mean obsolete. In fact nothing has been done that would dispute Dr. Joyce and Dr. Showers' research.

Amazing that we've known this for 40 years but we still don't design our PD using this model. So despite knowledge and policy (this is the model embedded in the Iowa Administrative Code), we still expect teachers to change their practice by talking to each other in short meetings or going to workshops. 

Bruce Joyce Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHRViyHsuo

This video is about an hour long, but would be a good thing to spend some time in a leadership meeting watching. After all improving instruction, is THE most important responsibility leaders have in schools if they are interested in improving outcomes for kids. So get the popcorn, watch the video and then respond to these questions:

• What from this video is new for you? 
• What did you already know? 
• How is our PD like this? 
• How is our PD different from this? 
• How can we begin to improve our PD?

We'd love to hear from you and your impressions.