Leading Change: A Micro-Innovation

In organizations and schools today, there is great potential for innovation. I'm not talking about an innovation that changes the organization or school as we know it. I'm talking about a small change that could possibly lead to dramatic results- these innovations are know as micro-innovations. Micro-innovations allow people in organizations to change something small that could lead to something greater. At Tide, for instance, they decided to package their detergent in PODS. This led to an increase of 500 million dollars in revenue. A small change with a big return. 

When I think back to my time in the classroom teaching with some of the most amazing teachers out there with some of the most dedicated students ever, I think we were a pretty innovative bunch. First and foremost, one innovation at Gallup Middle School was that all teachers had two, yes two, planning periods that were held sacred (aka never taken away). One was a personal planning period in which we were expected to plan our lessons and prep our materials. The other planning period was a time-wide planning period where it was expected we meet each day of the week to 1) hold student success meetings with parents, 2) plan cross-collaborative lessons, 3) create team-wide initiatives, and 4) talk about behavior management systems across the team. Because of this dedicated time we had for collaboration, my team and I created responsive and structured interventions for individual students and our team of 140 students. We learned from and with each other to really impact student outcomes. And, I must say that the proof is in the pudding- our proficiency rates were significantly higher than other schools who did not have this structure. This is a clear example of a micro-innovation that empowered teachers to do great things for kids and we say significant results.

I would challenge each person, whether in a formal leadership role or not (because we're all leaders in our own way), to think about what innovations could you conjure up that would pay significant dividends in your professional practice! Feel free to share those here! 

Technology's Role In Schools

In education, there is a constant conundrum: does technology enable excellent pedagogy or does excellent pedagogy complement technology? Ultimately, I think this fairly common binary (this or that thinking) isn't helpful in ensuring all students receive an excellent education. It is my deeply held belief that technology won't help students learn when a teacher has no clue how to teach in alignment with rigorous content. Therefore, this blog will explore just how technology and pedagogy can go hand in hand in make sure all students master rigorous academic content. 

First, it's pivotal that teachers deeply understand what mastery looks like for each objective taught. Without exemplar responses to objectives, teachers can fall into the pitfall of lower expectations for what student responses should be. After this exemplar response is determined, then teachers can begin exploring how they want students to engage with the material. One additional pitfall I see beginning teachers fall into is plan the activity without spending time deeply understanding what mastery will look like at the end of each day. Don't do this- it makes your life and your students' lives more stressful. 

After determining and knowing deeply the objective, teachers can then begin to explore the methods in which their particular students will learn best. It could be a self-paced online module, it could be a group activity in which they use research skills to determine and synthesize the information on their own, or it could be basically anything as long as its done with alignment and purpose to the objective. 

Ultimately, I think about this quote from an anonymous person, "pedagogy is the driver and technology is the accelerator" is poignant. A teacher must consistently ask and know what students must master and then figure out which technology best suites their particular group of students. When these things merge, student learning and student academic outcomes will accelerate. 

Assessment- why it's pivotal for equity and student learning.

Assessments have gotten a bad reputation lately, and to me, that's unfortunate. Assessments were NEVER meant to be about teaching to the test and I hate it when people say that. Assessments were created to ensure we know how schools, teachers, and students are performing on a relative basis so we can celebrate success and deploy resources to those schools not meeting the relative bar. Assessments also were formed to ensure that ALL students around our state and country receive an equitable education. Prior to assessments, no one knew what students knew or could show they knew. Since assessments, we know there is an acheivement gap between different demographics. We know that since we've made closing that a gap focus, students from low-income backgrounds and students of color have performend increasingly better which equates to more at-risk students receiving a game-changing and academically rigorous education. Assessments did that. Teachers did that. Communities did that.

I also view assessments as ensuring students know where they stand in purusit of their academic progress. Without assessments, either summative or formative, students lack that basic understanding of how they're performing, the actions they've taken to perform at that level, and that ability to take agency over their own education. Understanding student academic performance is the moral comittment we enter into with parents when we agree to teach. We also receive a pay check to ensure that all students learn. Assessments and reflection allow us to do that.

However, with all good things, assessments have been used to do some awful things as well. Since math and reading are the focus of accountability, schools have increased time students spend in these subjects while reducing other subjects including science and the arts. This was NEVER the purpose of accountability or assessments. In fact, doing this is also an affront to equity. ALL students should have access to a well-rounded education infused with the arts, the sciences, and other subjects that aren't "accountable" in the current system. Also, this approach assumes that more time equates to better results. If a student is in a classroom with a teacher that is not reaching him/her, more time won't really matter. We must think more critically about the total approach to education and not just focus on accountability which should be linked to assessments but not be the end all, be all.

Growth Mindset: Focusing on Progress and Potential

Growth mindset is game-changing when it comes to students' feelings on their worth, their potential as beings, and positive attitude towards new challenges. Growth mindset essentially says, "Hey, it's OK to fail. Failure is a natural part of the learning process and we learn and grow for next time." Fixed mindset says, "I didn't meet an absolute bar the first time so I'm not good at X, Y, or Z and I never will be so I'm not going to try it again."

In schools, students are expected to meet an absolute bar of proficiency in many subjects. For instance, in math and reading, students are assessed almost every year between 3-8 grade and are expected to meet the proficiency bar. Now, what I'm not saying is setting the goal for proficiency for all students is bad- it's not. However, when students don't meet that absolute bar they shouldn't be made to feel awful. Their growth should be showcased and celebrated instead. Also, students should reflect on their progress to build the personal reflective habits that lead to students possessing a growth mindset.

One way I have seen schools lean into and live out growth mindset with their students is by utilizing standards-based grading. In this system, homework, participation, etc. is not graded. The only things that students receive marks on are what they prove they know independently. After each assessment, students reflect on their progress for each learning target and have the opportunity to re-take any learning targets they missed until they master it. Of course, students have to show effort by making note-cards, coming to tutoring, etc. before they re-take it to instill that students must take action to grow and not simply re-take the test until you get lucky.

Overall, it's worth. It shows that the brain is malleable- it can be shaped and changed depending on the actions we take to improve it. It also reiterates that our abilities are not innate- we're not simply born with the ability to do "good" math, but rather we must work hard each day to do "good" math. Creating a school environment of growth mindset for everyone (administrators, teachers, students, etc.) goes a long way to enabling experimentation, failure, and innovation.

Relationships: How Schools and Students Thrive

Take a moment and think about a school experience that you had that was positive. I bet when you thought of a positive experience, there was a teacher's face behind that moment. If so, you are lucky. You had a person at your school that cared deeply for you: a teacher, a mentor, an advisor. Because of this relationship, you more than likely thought that school was a place where you could be you, where you could thrive, and a place where at least one person knew who you were and what you cared about at a deep level.

Far too many of our students don't have that type of relationship in their schools. In the days of curriculum pacing, testing, and urgency (which are all important), it is easy for adults at a school site to de-prioritize deep relationships with their students. It is no one's fault here, and I'm definitely not placing blame on teachers. Teaching is the most difficult job in our country and figuring out where one's priorities should be given the finite amount of time is difficult. However, school leadership doesn't always do a good job of creating structures and systems that enable deep relationships to occur within the natural bounds of a school building.

This blog will explore two different strategies schools could implement in order to build deeper relationships between students and adults at the school building. Ultimately, the goal for each strategy is for every students to have one deep and meaningful relationship with at least one adult in the school building.

First, schools, in all their data-driven glory, can use survey data to better understand who their students are and what they care about in life. Using survey data, schools could, for lack of a better word, seperate students into different advising classes given their interests. The teacher in charge of this advising group would also have a deep interest in the topic. These topics could range from writing to hunting to cars. These advising classes must be structured and outcomes need to be created. It would be my recommendation that two outcomes include 1) continuous student data monitoring. During this time, advisors would ensure students knew their grades for each class and why their grade is the way it is. The advisor would then make sure each student has an action step in order to improve their academic standing in a particular class and 2) connect student acheivement data to the students' interests. In this phase, students would get to explore their interests and deeply see, in an integrated way, why the content they are learning is important given their interests. While there is not, and will never be a silver bullet, this could go a long way in ensuring students have agency in their education and have a person who cares deeply about them, their interestes, and their academic success.

Secondly, in keeping with the theme of schools deeply knowing students' interests, schools could create an internship system that allows students to both learn academic knowledge deeply in the classroom and apply it at an internship that aligns to their future goals and aspirations. This would require teachers to be on the hook for knowing a group of students and their interests. Teachers would also have to have a structure in place to chat with students and help them reflect on their internship experience and make meaning for their future.

Both strategies above could play a role in creating schools where each students is known, loved, and cared for by an adult in the building. However, I don't want anyone to fall into the trap that thinking we can strategize our way to being relationship-oriented with our students. Building relationships start with a mindset that relationships are important. It's important for leaders at any school to model this mindset with teachers and everyone they interact with. Otherwise, these structures become a thing to do as opposed to a "way of being" where everyone is on the hook for deep relationships with each other.

Culture- let's define it.

The words school culture and climate are thrown around frequently in today's eduacational landscape. And, don't get me wrong- CULTURE is vital to having a thriving, connected, and passionate team (students, teachers, parents, administrators, etc.) working hard to improve student outcomes each day. Nonetheless, in my experience, culture is rarely defined. Even rarer, is defining the responsibilities each team member plays in creating, driving, and maintaining culture. So, don't tumble down this culture pit and try a few key strategies below:

1) Come together with your school team (keep this to administrators, teachers, and other staff initially) to define culture by answering the following questions: What is culture? What does culture enable? When we are at our best, what is our culture- be specific with actions/feelings? NOTE: As a facilitator of this process, make sure you have a strong opinion here and strong definitions for yourself so you know where you want this conversation to go!

2) After defining culture, pull out that school vision and link culture to the vision by having your team explore the connection between culture and vision. A few start questions include:  What does our school vision call us to do? How do we need to operate to acheive that vision? What do we need the felt experience at this school to be? Who's responsibility is it?

3) After dreaming a little bit in the previous exploration, get concrete. What are the systems and structures that will enable us to reach our desired culture and enable us to make tangible progress towards our vision? This could be a teacher observation system. This could be a Friday shout-out ceremony! This could be almost anything. As a leader, however, you must make sure that any concrete action taken can be traced directly back to the culture you want to create and the vision you are aspiring towards- always pressure test the "next steps" with your team and make them make their own connections between strategy, culture, and vision.

4) Keep on evaluating! Set goals and measure progress to ensure the culture in your school is moving towards the culture you and your team created and definted. If not, re-evaluate.

A word of warning, too many people think culture is an action or a thing to do. That is false. Culture is all around us and is the air we breath. As such, you have orient yourself as someone who deeply believes leaning into culture is both a "way of being" and "strategies" orientation. Try this and I can't wait to see where your team and your school will go.

40 TFA Teachers In the Appalachian Region Partnering With Others

I am very excited to share that we welcomed twenty capable and committed leaders to our region this school year. These 20 leaders are joining 20 other 2nd year teachers and fifteen alumni working alongisde leaders, educators, parents, and community members in doing great things for our kids from Lawrence County down to Knox County and almost everywhere in between.

These 20 leaders come from all over our country- from California, to Maine, to Pennsylvania, and right here in Martin County. They're a diverse group working hard for their kids each day. 47% of our corps received Pell Grants in college and 36% were the first in their family to go to college. I share these statistics because it's important to know that it takes all types of people (from Appalachia, not from Appalachia, white, black, gay, straight, etc.) to work together to shift the narrative of our Appalachian region.

I, along with our many community members and partners, are excited to welcome our new corps to the region. Their commitment to our students, our communities, and our families continue to inspire me each day and I know their impact in our region will be strong.

Last year, our teachers reached nearly 5,000 students across the region. Collectively, our students in reading grew on average 1.5 years according to the Gates-McGinitie reading assessment. In math, our students grew their average ACT scores almost 3 points in a year (in case you didn't know, one point of growth is very signficiant). Two of our alumni founded the Appalachian Global Service Corps and has provided students from across our region the opporutnity to travel and serve abroad for the past three summers. Our teachers are working right alongside other community members and veteran teachers to truly empower our students to create the Appalachia they want in the future. It's an exciting time to be an Appalachian.

TPACK Framework

Have you ever found yourself in the following conundrum: you have technology in your school and classroom and student academic outcomes don't improve? Or, you have plenty of professional development focused on pedagogy and student outcomes aren't rising? Or, you have pacing guides and content curriclum coaches and student outcomes stay stagnant? If you have or are experiencing this, you are not alone.

Far too often, we take a silo'd approach when it comes to increasing student outcomes. We often think if we have technology in classrooms that enables students to learn independently on programs like Kahn Academy, etc. that we're checking off the box that says students have access to technology. However, that isn't the case and ultimately could be detrimental for student learning.

Here comes the TPACK framwork. You can think of this framework as a way that merges both pedagogy, technology, and content into one. For teachers to be effective and for students to meet high expectations, all three components must come together to form a cohorent strategy in the classroom. Technology must enhance strong pedagogy skills and content-delivery. Technology can't be a substitute for strong content-delivery and pedagogical skills.

Here is a diagram that explains this framework and the intersection between the three components from www.tpack.org:

So, if you're a school leader, consider where your teachers are at and where you need to go in order to hit the TPACK sweet spot.

A fond memory of schooling

This blog is in repsonse to the following prompt:

As part of your assignments in this course, you are asked to look into your past to think of events that shaped your own thinking as an educator and person. For this task, I want you to look into your own background as a learner (anything up to the completion of your bachelors degree) for your own most powerful learning experience. Choose just 1 learning experience. Be sure to choose a positive learning experience (not some time you were deeply embarrassed, for instance) that was structured by some other individual intentionally (likely a teacher, but it could be a scoutmaster, coach, etc.). Your tasks then (you can do it here on the discussion board, but perhaps also repost to your blog only if you want) are:

1. Describe the learning experience being sure to provide enough background so that a reader can contextualize (what age, etc.).

1. What about the learning experience really resonated and stuck with you over time.

1. What about the intentional design of the designer (looking back) really made the learning experience work?

1. Also looking back, what type of form of learning modality (lecture, activity, project, etc.) did the experience take? 

I remember it clear as a sunny day. I was a freshman at Jackson City High School in Mr. Sewell's English class. Now, Mr. Sewell had this aura about him: he was tall (think 6'6', maybe), had a beard, and said exactly what he meant with as few words as possible. He just commanded respect and gave respect to students as well. You didn't show up late to his class, you didn't come without your homework, and you definitely didn't try to distract from honoring the learning time of the class. 

On this particular day, we were working on a research paper. My chosen topic was the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and who was to blame (the thesis really isn't important as I'm sure my perspectives have shifted since writing that paper). There were numerous things that stuck out to me from this project. Many of the skills and habits I developed through this project still enable me to do research and structure papers in ways that are coherent, clear, and compelling. I definitely credit him and this project for massively improving my writing abilities. 

The project was kicked off with a structured discussion of the expectations of the project. We had a rubric detailing the areas in which we would be scored including grammar, length, thesis statement, organization, and having three strong arguments. We explored this rubric in detail and even looked at a few other research papers and scored them using the rubric. Looking back, this was pivotal in my understanding of what good research papers include and how arguments are formulated in ways that make the reader want to take action. This activity set a clear foundation for what was expected, how we would be scored, and why research and research papers are important for our future selves as scholars. 

Fast forward, I was on a computer looking up research for my topic. Mr. Sewell stopped by and asked me how my research was going and for me to tell him something I've found that could play a role in my arguments. I replied, "Israel don't recognize the Palestinian State." He immediately replied, "Let's revisit that sentence, does it sound correct to you?" And I said, "I think so." He said, "You should have said, Israel doesn't recognize the Palestinian State. Be careful to make sure subjects and verbs agree, always." In that moment, he didn't make me feel stupid, but he definitely made me feel as though I needed to interrogate how I wrote and how I spoke in order to be correct. While this moment was part of his every day job (and probably not memorable for him), I consistently ask myself if am I using language that is correct and structuring words and sentences in a grammatically correct way. I guarantee you I haven't made that mistake again. 

In addition, Mr. Sewell deeply believed in learning and growth. We had the option to submit our paper for feedback before the deadline. Of course, I submitted mine for feedback to ensure I was on the right track. I received comments from Mr. Sewell that frustrated me and challenged me (I just wanted to be told it was OK). Mr. Sewell wasn't one for "OKs." He demanded excellence and looking back, I am thankful for the time he took to give us tailored comments that improved everything we did in his course. I still carry those comments with me! 

When I think what made this lesson effective, it's that it wasn't a lesson focusing on one skill. It was a lesson that brought skills together. Mr. Sewell could have ignored my error since it didn't technically align to the project, but he had such a vision for what he wanted to be true for English students (and the skills necessary for us to be competent) that he went for it and made an in-the-moment correction. Of course, the rubric, the expectations, the structure of the research paper, the feedback was all great and made this a deeply personal and challenging learning experience, but it was the vision of "this paper isn't enough and there are so many more skills necessary" attitude of Mr. Sewell that made this particular assignment and the overall class great. 

What should the high school diploma mean?

For those of you who don't know, I am currently enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Kentucky (go cats)! For one of my courses, we were tasked to dream about what the high school diploma should mean. I wanted to share some of my thoughts with you here through an Appalachian contextualized lense.

This is a very difficult question to answer since each district can change the qualifications for a diploma in their district (as long as it sticks to the state minimums). However, when I close my eyes and dream about Appalachia and what it will take for our students to lead the greatest economic turnaround ever a few things stick out to me:

- there must be a clear focus on STEM. When our students graduates high school they should be fluent in coding and the language of computers (I am not)! Some of our biggest bets as a region revolve around making eastern Kentucky a hub for tech startups dubbed silicon hollers. If this is to be true, our students must leave high school with the skills to enter the tech startup world prepared.

- there has to be a focus on interpersonal and intercultural awareness. We know jobs of the future are going to require constantly working across lines of difference (in geography, in beliefs, etc.). Having a high school diploma should mean a student has the basic skills of collaboration, knowing who they are, and recognizing that because others are different doesn't mean anything about their abilities to do great work.

- there has to be a minimum benchmark for the academic knowledge students possess. For instance, do they have the arithmatic and reading skills necessary for the world they're entering? A high school diploma must mean a student can analyze complex texts and figure out real world problems that involve math. A high school diploma should also mean students can express themselves clearly in both verbal and written communication.

- there has to be a focus on failure through the lens of growth mindset. When students graduate high school they should have experienced challenge and failure. At the same time, they should have developed the skills to navigate failure and challenge knowing that the failure they had won't be repeated with the new knowledge they gained. In a world where our jobs are yet to be envisioned in Appalachia, there's going to be a lot of challenge and failure and our students MUST be able to navigate that space appropriately.

Those are just a few thoughts on what I think a high school diploma should mean. What do you think?

Kicking it off... and we have to start with a vision!

As a new Executive Director, I am often finding myself with so much to say (to keep us (and myself) grounded, to share good news, and to make sure we're focusing on the larger picture each day in the work we do with kids across East Kentucky). At the same time, I don't want to send another e-mail to clutter up an inbox or *shutter* it goes directly to someone's trash without reading it.

So, with that in mind, I am starting my own blog to share my thoughts. My first real blog will be coming out soon and I would like to prime it. At Teach For America-Appalachia, one our of main priotities is to make sure we're continually elevating the voices of people doing great work in Appalachia. Given a recent experience I had with a dear friend (which you will read about), I feel even more strongly that I need to share the great things happening around the region to continue to shift the predominant narrative of Appalachia. It's going to be great. It's going to be hard. It's going to be vulnerable.

While I want this to be a place where I orginically share my thoughts, I also need structure and topics to write about. Therefore, here is a list of things you should stay tuned in for (and also feel free to propose some topics too):

1) What does it mean to grow up in Appalachia?
2) What is culturally responsive pedagogy and why is it important in Appalachian classrooms?
3) What are examples of success in our region that the rest of the state and country should be envious about?
4) What does it mean to manage a non-profit attempting to disrupt systems of oppression?

So, here it goes: I am making a commitment to update this every other week. I hope this becomes a routine with a regular cadence in my life. As a leader, it is my responsibility to engage a myriad of people in the work we're doing in the region and this will be just one of the tools as my disposal. I'm glad you'll be on this journey with me.

-Josh