E-mail: When in Doubt, Don't!

There are many life lessons to be learned thanks to the speedy and global reach of the Internet.

Today's cautionary tale of woe comes to you from Catskill, New York, where the superintendent's choice of words in a hastily composed e-mail has landed her in a heap of trouble with her union, families, students and herself.

According to this morning's New York Times, the superintendent, Dr. Kathleen Farrell, was at odds with teachers over fire and safety codes that required classroom doors to be shut while students were in attendance. Without air conditioning, the rooms became stagnant, causing teachers to prop the doors open. According to the paper:

Back and forth the discussion went, until Oct. 3, when Dr. Farrell wrote an e-mail message to the district’s director of facilities, John Willabay. She vented a bit and then allowed: “Please go KILL these people....Please, please, please.”

Then she sent it — not just to him — but, accidentally, to an unknown number of others as well, including Terri Dubuke, a sixth-grade teacher who was one of the critics. Ms. Dubuke read it in shock and referred it to the teachers’ union, and the matter was discussed at a closed-door school board meeting on Oct. 17.

You can imagine the fallout that ensued: apologies were exchanged. Punishment was demanded. Remorse was rampant. But did the reaction fit the infraction?

Granted, an student e-mail with these same words may likely have garnered equal, if not greater attention. But in looking more carefully at the context of the message, it was clearly unprofessional and inappropriate. But was this issue blown out of proportion?

What Would You Do for Your Students?

Here's a great story about Olympic Elementary Principal Brett Ellingson, who was featured in the Centralia Chronicle. Ellingson honored a promise to his students and PTA: if they raised $10,000 to support extras at the school (field trips, etc.), he'd trade in his tie for a hoodie, jeans and tennis shoes and be a student for a day. The result was really a win-win. The school $11,500 in the two-week fund raising window, the paper reported. Ellingson also had a great day in the school classrooms, connecting with students and staff. (Better make that a win-win-win-win.)

This story got us thinking of another principal who made good on a promise. Last week, Lake Roosevelt High Principal Karl Miller surfaced at the AWSP Principals' Conference in Vancouver sporting a fresh mohawk, courtesy a school fundraising event. (It takes a brave person to wager a haircut with students!)

Gold stars to these two principals for keeping their word and being so committed to their students and schools.

This also got us wondering: what's the wackiest thing you've ever done to support a student fundraiser at your school?

Teens and Substance Abuse: A Snapshot

A new report published last week, "A Day in the Life of American Adolescents," details the self-reported habits of 12-17 year-olds in 2006. The report is the work of the Office of Applied Studies, which is part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

On an average day in 2006, researchers found that:

• Nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoked cigarettes
  
• More than 630,000 drank
• Approximately 586,000 used marijuana

To put the numbers in perspective, the nationwide number of adolescents using cigarettes on an average day equals more students than are enrolled in Washington state's K-12 school system.

A short form of the report is also available here.

Finland, Finland, Finland...

A riddle for you this blustery fall afternoon.

Question: What's blue and white and the world leader in K-12 education instruction?

Answer: Finland!

Yes, the country of 5 million people and a heck of a lot more reindeer is apparently the world's leader in education. Forget Japan. Forget the U.S. According to Andrew Hargreaves, the Thomas Moore Brennan Chair in Education at Boston College, the focus should really be on the small northern European country of Finland.

On Monday, Hargreaves captivated attendees at the AWSP Principals' Conference in Vancouver with his research on this country and its relevance to instructional leadership. As Hargreaves noted in his research and presentation:

In less than half a century, Finland has transformed itself from a rural backwater into a high-tech economic powerhouse, through its educational system.

By the way, that Nokia phone in your hand has a direct role in the country's regeneration. Today, 40 percent of the country's GDP is accounted for by Nokia and its suppliers. What was once a rubber products company (making everything from timber to galoshes to electrical cables for telephony), the company has "flexed, adapted and changed" as markets shifted. As a result, Nokia is now ranked #1 in economic competitiveness, Hargreaves said, and its educational system is a key player in this success.

In Finland, Hargreaves noted, teachers are seen as creators of the next generation. There is a strong mission. As a result, the Finnish youth are number one in the world not by an emphasis on testing but on teaching. High quality teachers, coupled with a culture of cooperation, clear guidelines (with flexibility within those guidelines) and, interestingly, a reverence for the music and science, have made Finland the highest performing country in the world on the PISA (Programme for International Student Achievement). This triennial assessment of 15-year-olds is administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Hargreave's presentation was very compelling and entertaining (he does an excellent Tony Blair impression, too). But what does all of this mean for leadership? Hargreaves boiled it down to three things:

1. All leaders must have been teachers. In Finland, it's the law. You can't be a principal without having first been a teacher.
   
2. All principals still teach, even for just two hours a week.
   
3. The job of the principal in Finland is to "pull all of this together -- not pull everything through it." In other words, Hargreaves said, principal are not competing with one another but, rather, boosting each other up for the betterment of all, as they believe they are ethically responsible for each student's success.

Hargreaves gave attendees a wonderful presentation, rich with data, witty anecdotes and substantive knowledge about educational leadership and change.

Did you attend the conference and hear Hargreaves speak? What did you think? Or, perhaps you've read his books/research? What do you think?

(Bonus points to those of you who remember the Monty Python tribute to "the country where [I] want to be...")

Going to the Experts

This afternoon's mathematics panel with students from the Washougal School District was as entertaining as it was insightful. Fourteen students ranging from freshmen to seniors shared their thoughts about the teaching and learning of mathematics with pre-conference attendees.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, the discussion was moderated by Washougal Superintendent Teresa Baldwin. The students she gathered for this conversation exuded an enthusiasm for math. Although, one student acknowledged it was his love of science that led him to a deeper exploration of math ("since math is the language of science" he noted.) But they're also putting their talents to use outside the classroom by volunteering, participating in the Model United Nations or through music and dance.

Perhaps the most telling discussion point of the afternoon came when Baldwin asked the students how they would change math instruction. Here's a quick synopsis of some of their suggestions:

• Show students how classroom instruction applies in real life situations. ("Repetition gets really boring.")
• Help ensure students understand tested concepts by making them retake classroom assessments until they correctly answer all questions -- then let them proceed to the next chapter or section.
• Make sure your teachers are sending positive messages about mathematics in the classroom. What they say has an enormous impact on student attitudes about math. ("It's bad when teachers have negative attitudes about math -- it transfers to the students.")
• Don't abandon those multiplication time tables! The foundational skills are essential and should be emphasized in elementary school.
  
• Teachers need to be able to explain things in different ways and be patient with students who need additional support.

It's Conference Time

Starting today, hundreds of Washington state principals, assistant principals and interns will converge on downtown Vancouver for the Association's fall conference. This event is designed by and for the component levels; members from the elementary, middle and high school boards planned the program around the needs of each grade band.

Today, the boards will meet and in the afternoon, a pre-conference with a special emphasis on the teaching and learning of mathematics will kick-off. Leading this afternoon's session is Teresa Baldwin, superintendent of the neighboring Washougal School District. Baldwin has compiled a great group of high school students from around the area to talk about their views about math. Then participants will break up into their respective grade groupings and tackle challenges specific to elementary, middle and high schools. More on that in a future post.

Then, tomorrow morning, the conference will get rolling with our keynote speaker, education researcher Andrew Hargreaves. Hargreaves is the Thomas Moore Brennan Chair in Education at the Lynch School of Ed in Boston. You can read more about him on his Web page.

All in all, should be a great start to things today.

Tuesday Tidbits - Oct. 9, 2007

Here's today's Tuesday Tidbits in K-12 education with a decidedly tech theme:

• The Los Angeles Unified School District has launched a new campaign to lower dropout rates by using the Internet -- particularly sites like YouTube and MySpace. According to the state of California, one in four of the district's 200,000 high school students dropped out of school in 2006.
  
• In a related note, the Toppenish School District has also launched an online school program, also aimed at dropouts. According to the article in this morning's Yakima Herald-Republic, the program will offer a free online curriculum aligned to state standards and will include home visits and tutoring from state-certified teachers.
  
• Let's just keep the online theme going: Walla Walla Public Schools' online grade program is giving families one more way to connect with schools. The online service allows parents to log in and view middle and high school grades, including information about how students performed on specific assignments. Today's Union-Bulletin praises the tool in an editorial.
  

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

In the vein of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader" comes the online quiz, "Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?"

Amazingly (to me and, probably, to my eighth-grade science teacher) I did pass this little quiz; see my badge of honor below. The questions cover a range of content from photosynthesis to physics. And you can review the answer sheet at the conclusion of the "exam."

What's most interesting is that this is not a science-related site, but rather an Internet dating service called Just Say Hi. Not sure what an online dating site and science quizzes have in common. They have several other online quizzes, too (How Addicted to Coffee Are You? and The Germ Quiz -- How Many Germs Are There On Your Keyboard may also be worth a click.)

A fun diversion, anyway, amidst the heightened focus on math and science these days.