What If?

In response to : Education Industry Sees 415 Mergers & Acquisitions, Worth Nearly $18 Billion, in 2015 (Ed Surge, Jan 2016)

The business of education is more lucrative than ever before, and school districts are spending millions of dollars on LMS contracts and consulting fees for services and speakers.  Some of the biggest names in education earn the equivalent of my monthly salary for a single day's speaking engagement or training workshop. 

While I value professional development and feel like consultant fees are often well spent, I can't help but wonder what would happen if that money went directly into school improvement, dynamic curriculum design and teacher salaries.  

According to the Berkery Noyes report, "Professional Training Services" transactions surpassed "K-12 Media and Tech" in 2015 and increased by 26% from 2014.  While the report also includes higher ed, the staggering amount of money invested in the K-12 "industry" is glaring.  People are capitalizing off the current climate of desperation.  Who can blame them?

Bottom line, spending money on motivational speakers and technology will motivate those already motivated, but does not solve the problem of teacher burnout and lack of compensation for engaging and meaningful work in classrooms.  It doesn't solve the problem of teacher turnover in disadvantaged neighborhoods, or the fact that many teachers have to work several jobs to keep families afloat.  It doesn't solve the problem of low performing schools and standardized testing structures that do not serve or accurately represent performance of diverse populations. It does not change the fact that teacher demographics almost never match the student demographics in the community they serve. 

We can continue to blame unions for bad teachers, teachers for low test scores, school districts for misappropriating public funds, or capitalists for profiting off the failures of the system, but what if all that energy was directed at solutions.  I can't help but wonder...

What if $18 billion was divided amongst the lowest performing schools in America? 

What if $18 billion was used to fund a college education for every student attending these schools?

What if $18 billion was used to recruit the top graduates of the most esteemed universities across the world into the teaching profession?

What if $18 billion was used to expand all public libraries into public media labs, open studios and creative learning spaces? Or, build public theaters and community rehearsal and performance spaces?  

What if $18 billion was used to fund programming, coding, game design, CAD and VAPA programs in all inner city schools?  

What if $18 billion was used to bring down student-teacher ratios?

What if $18 billion was used to create and fund research lab schools across the country aimed at actually changing the infrastructure of public education? 

What if?

Dear Anonymous

In response to All Thought in the Machine, @Criticalthough4

Dear Anonymous,
You have turned my ambitions upside down, and I am forever grateful for your critically sardonic and sharply witty blog.  It appears that, like myself, you are new to this social media game. Consult Like a Pirate was amazing. 

I would be honored to co-write Teach Like a Stripper.  It is an autobiographical piece about my career as an arts educator.   

I feel like a young person who just decided it is important to care about politics, and I am playing philosophical chairs on Twitter in an attempt to redefine my purpose as an educator.  The good news is that education "reformers" are much smarter than (most) politicians.  If consultants like Will Richardson are the liberals in this game, then you represent the important (and often silent) voice of a moderate.  If you are a republican, I urge you to infiltrate the party and run for president.  You are well researched and know your shit. You could, very well, save the country from imminent destruction.

I have appreciated all of the author and publication references.  After reading your 2016 Ed Tech predictions, I dug up the Tony Wagner archive from 2012 titled The Principal of Change.  I  couldn't agree more with his contemplative assertions.   But, I don't see his message as a contrast to the preachings of the Ed Tech community.  I am interested in hearing more about your proposed solutions. You offer valid criticism, but I want to hear your constructive ideas.  If you feel like people like me are missing something really important, then what is it?

Here is the deal.  I generally view anonymity as a sign of weakness.  Even Edward Snowden revealed himself.  You offer a much needed voice of reason for those of us who have swallowed the proverbial Kool-Aid of anything branded "innovative."  I want to be your friend.  I want to know who you are.  I want to observe your classroom if you are a teacher.  Why are you hiding?

Sincerely,
Allison Frenzel

The Lost Generation?

In response to We Feel Lost, Will Richardson:

After reading Will Richardson's recent blog post, We Feel Lost, I began to really think about the role student attitude plays in engagement.  Richardson writes insightfully about a student's response to a recent school visit.  The student describes school perfectly.  He very well could be a student at Windsor High School.

 He wrote: We are the lost generation.  Many teachers think standardized tests, endless worksheets, and piles of homework are the answer. The other half don’t believe in homework, think standardized tests are moronic, and believe in activities that make us enjoy the lesson. But it’s too harsh a mix for either side to get its point across. So we end up with this generation who doesn’t care about education or can’t find a motivation to continue it.

The thing is we don’t care. It’s not because we don’t want to care, but it feels like we can’t care. One year you have a drill sergeant for an English teacher who jams vocabulary down your throat to the point you can’t think anymore, who constantly prepares you (not adequately enough) for the never ending flow of standardized tests that seem to be as common as the rising tide. Then next year you get a teacher who wants to teach, who loves to teach, who’s “untraditional”.  And you want to learn, you really do!  But all you can think when you raise your hand is “will this be on the test”. That’s all that seems to matter.

First period will take your phone on sight if it simply falls out of your backpack, while third period encourages the use of all devices. We feel lost. Half of the kids don’t want to learn because learning to them means: classwork, grade, fail- homework, grade, fail- test, grade, fail. It’s an endless cycle they can’t win. The other half of kids desperately wants to learn, but can’t find the motivation because their teacher could be so out of tune with how to correctly teach nowadays, that it sucks the passion from them.  

We’ve become divided. It becomes cool to hate school. To hate learning and education. I separate these by sentences because I believe they are no longer synonymous with each other. Kids love to learn. They hate school. School has become a life draining institution that takes passionate, longing kids and leaves them hollowed husks, begging for a passing grade so they have a slightly better chance to move to the next year. Too many have simply given up. Too many, students and teachers alike, have given up on each other, and the system designed to enlighten us, when in reality all is does is throw us into uneducated darkness.

I am compelled to include this whole letter because of how clearly it describes my daily struggle as a teacher.  Here is my reply:

The student's insight is fascinating--and so real. Our classrooms are islands. The glaring inconsistencies in expected behaviors, tech, and philosophy exist in every public school in America, but they also exist in colleges, courtrooms, dinner tables, households. My initial reaction is to pass judgement on the rigid, traditional classroom teacher, but the idea of teacher autonomy is too precious to me. So, after thinking about this, I have decided that inconsistency may not be a terrible thing. It teaches students how to adapt to different situations, to "code switch" and to figure out their ideal learning spaces.

Gertrude Stein's Lost Generation shares little with the Millennials or Generation Z. The actual Lost Generation was disillusioned because they lived through a horrible war, not horrible teachers. They were creative and edgy. They were risk takers. They read and wrote feverishly and thrived on experiencing culture, making art and learning from each other. The were inspired by each other and the world around them.

Attitude is everything and inspired learners make the most of every situation. Adaptability is as important of a skill as compliance (and this goes for teachers and students alike). Many of my students are plagued by an attitude of entitlement. Entitlement to a grade, or an experience, or to quick and immediate information. They are the NCLB generation and want things to be easy (worksheets and fill in the blank). Many of them resist any activity that involves thinking and creative problem solving, but some thrive on it. I wonder how much of this is simply developmental. Will this "I hate school" attitude change as students come up in Common Core classrooms? Will the inconsistencies diminish as the old school begins to retire? I truly hope so, but kids tend to hate anything they are forced to do.

The student is insightful, and I encourage him to be as solution orientated as that progressive teacher he writes about. Perhaps begin a survey, make proposals, present new ideas, bring attention to the issue. Change requires effort, and that next step is where so many of us fall short.

A Gradeless Classroom

As an Evergreen State College alumni, I understand the value of a gradeless classroom.  Nestled in the temperate rainforest of Olympia Washington, Evergreen creates learners by removing all elements of competition from education.  Evergreen also personalizes learning.  Emphasizing the importance of authenticity of experience, Evergreen's structure allows exploration and complete choice in program design.  They take the game out of education.  

"Founded on the four no’s—no academic departments, no academic requirements, no faculty rank, no grades—The Evergreen State College opened to students in 1971, and has been garnering accolades from various national publications, such as Princeton Review, Fiske Guide, Peace Corps, U.S. News and World Report, Sierra magazine, and others ever since."

--evergreen.edu

Evergreen has been around for over four decades.  The idea of a gradeless, project-based classroom is not new or revolutionary. 

Additionally, MIT’s approach reflects an authentic standards-based assessment protocol. "Grades at MIT are not rigidly related to any numerical scores or distribution functions, that is, grades are not awarded solely according to predetermined percentages. As can be seen from the following grade descriptions, a student’s grade in a subject is related more directly to the student’s mastery of the material than to the relative performance of his or her peers. In determining a student’s grade, consideration is given for elegance of presentation, creativity, imagination, and originality, where these may appropriately be called for." -- odge.mit.edu

Though worlds apart, both Evergreen and MIT's philosophies instill growth mindset through holistic assessment. 

Why has it taken nearly half a century for this approach to catch on in secondary education? 

In Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in aTraditional Grades School (Hack Learning Series Book 3),  Starr Sackstein discusses her experience with piloting a gradeless classroom for different demographic class populations.  She explores the challenges and successes and explains how to morph into a traditional gradebook using standards based rubrics.  Sackstein also gave her stakeholders a voice in the onset of the transition, allowing them to discuss apprehension and fears.  Transparency is essential for risk takers, and I value her process.  Her system is similar to MIT’s. 

While a few of my colleagues have moved to a standards based grading system, I struggle with the fact that they are still required to quantify and record using numerical scoring.  A square peg in a round hole.

How can we take the game out of school?

I tell my students (and my husband) that they need to learn how to play the game of school.  If school has in fact become a game, then strategic navigation requires awareness of that very fact.  If school is a microcosm and is set up to mirror the day to day life of an American worker, then beating the game becomes the outcome.  Not learning.

Learning can happen anywhere at anytime…but only when inspired and motivated.  Traditional grading systems make learning secondary to getting top scores.  

A true gradeless approach requires a complete paradigm shift in secondary and higher education.  Articulation between high school and colleges will begin to take place with the influx of the Common Core generation and hopefully grades will be a part of this discussion. 

Perfect World

Each year around this time, a Perfect World survey appears in our staff bulletin, and I always wonder about the efficiency of the whole attachment-print-fill out-and return process.  I have never thought much of it, except for that.  It is an expected gift to all Windsor High School teachers, and for the last five years, I have mindlessly written "no change" in the request line.  This year, as if by magic, that little survey appeared in the midst of my existential professional mid-life crisis, and so I turned to Twitter for guidance.  New to the platform, I never considered the [immensely inspiring] time suck factor.  I was also completely ignorant to the endless resources and networking possibilities.  Holy goldmine.  I am completely inspired and motivated.

This year, when the survey came, I waited.  I wanted change, but didn't have a vision.  I had so much research to do.

My 5 years of "no change" were not stagnant, but they weren't progressive either.  Nueva blossomed into a model CTE AME program with a strong team and a "successful" model for arts integration and project based learning.  But, a program is only successful if it is sustainable--if it can exist in different contexts with different teachers.  The current structure is too dependant on teachers' willingness to work beyond their contract, to run extra classes, to supervise rehearsals, and to navigate the inefficient district paperwork protocol.  It is also dependant on the $58,000.00 in categorical state grant funds that come in every year.

A true model program must be self contained and movable.  It must be 100% authentic, experiential, and flexible enough to adapt to different student needs. It must be properly staffed and supported by the site and district administrators.

It is time to redesign Nueva, but to do so, I need to be deliberate and well researched.
I would like to use this forum to vet some of the articles and resources I come across.  I hope to engage in dialogue with progressive educators and leaders in educational reform as I explore possibilities for structural changes in my classroom.  I seem to have the admin support I need [for now], which makes anything possible.

As a first step, we decided to give the Perfect World survey to the students as a design thinking challenge around re-organizing and structuring the learning environment.  We are also exploring a model that allows for co-teaching and authentic PBL modules.  So far, no resistance, but I have always been one to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

The Perfect World survey represents a small bite of hope in the strange dysfunctional bureaucracy called public education and unlike past years, I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunity.

Breaking Bounds

I tend to push boundaries, yet I am fortunate enough to have an administration that somewhat supports my rebellion.  Somewhat - keyword. My latest request was for the district to fund an experiment where I completely redesign my English classroom like a coffee shop and replace all of the classroom furniture.  My principal facetiously asked if I was drunk.  

I currently teach English and Dance at Windsor High School in Northern California and am the program coordinator for the Nueva School for the Performing Arts.  We initially designed Nueva as a school within a school and obtained California Partnership Academy funding to establish a career focus for the program.  Our vision was to introduce a project-based learning model on a traditional high school campus, using theater as a vehicle for authentic experiential learning.  We are an atypical performing arts program in that our students are not necessarily "performing artists."  Instead, they are innovators and risk takers, and we encourage creative exploration and offer as much choice in learning as allowable within the confines of the school’s master schedule.  We believe in true interdisciplinary education and use theater as a way to teach transferable skills and expose students to different career experiences.   

After twelve years of teaching in the California public school system, I am highly motivated and inspired by the recent philosophical and pedagogical shift in education and want to contribute to the progress made by educational entrepreneurs and researchers.  I am currently working with a team educators on and educational “startup” that supports secondary schools in the transformation of learning environments and pedagogy, trains innovative educators in the school and program restructuring process, and provides frameworks for authentic interdisciplinary curriculum and courseware to project-based learning programs. Furthering my education is essential to this journey, and  I am ready to focus my energy on professional and educational growth.  I look forward to becoming a designer as the education reform movement gains momentum.  

With my classroom as ground zero, I push my students to take ownership of their education.  I am inspired by innovation and feel a need to engage in meaningful dialogue with twenty first century learners. As an educator, I recognize that in order to make school relevant, I must accept the fact that I am actually irrelevant. Where I once took solace in my two years of rotating curriculum, I now look at my files and question the authenticity of every lesson.  I stand in front of my classroom daily, yet the strangeness of the existing structure becomes all more apparent. I am more of a facilitator than a teacher, and my classroom is more of a place of exposure than instruction.  The room itself should be conducive to learning.  It should have the things we seek out in public learning spaces.  It should a place where people want to come to think.  Like a cafe.