Public Education 3.0

What is the 3.0 learning system?  It is a continuous learning system for all learners as a fixture in flexible and multiple school learning environments.  Emerging digital technologies will continue to create an “abundance” of improvements for accessing knowledge, for obtaining skills, for improving instruction and for improving self.  The 3.0 education environment will feature the following in our schoolhouses in the near future:

·       A flexible 24/7 blended learning system for all students available through mobile technology devices, online coursework, digital textbooks, digital curriculum resources, software/apps, social networking and a flexible brick and mortar classroom

·       Individual education plans for all students with access to “instant” student achievement data for guiding and intervening with student achievement needs

·       A “move on when ready” system that seeks to promote and move students to higher achievement levels when academically and emotionally prepared

·       A K-12 college/career ready curriculum with rigor reinforced throughout with instructional best practices that include constant checks for understanding, extensive writing, student engagement practices and student self-accountability practices

·       A K-12 system that regularly assesses students for college/career achievement and skill benchmarks  

·       A community that implements a birth-age 4 program accessing and supporting all infants toward school readiness development resources.

·       A 24/7 professional development program for educators to access and participate working within a continuous, collaborative professional learning environment

·       A consistent system of student support, during and after the school year,  recognizing that for all learners “ learning is constant, time is the variable”

·       A system that recognizes and empowers staff and students to practice the power and energy of “high expectations” for “deeper learning.”

 If 3.0 is not now, it will be soon for school systems will either restructure or fail from the continuous expansion of charter schools, online schools and private school vouchers.  It is not a question of “if” rather the realization that the public school iceberg structure, embedded for over a century, is melting and will collapse with the advancement of new learning platforms, of new digital technologies and of our new digital learners found in our 21^st Century Information Age.

Education Now 2.0 - Part II "A Work in Progress"

After 100+ years the public school system has now come to a point in time when the following characteristics are becoming a reality in practice.

Learning for ALL

J or Nike Curve (Continuous student achievement growth

Focus on Results (Customization for Individual Learners)

Equity and Quality (System able to overcome social challenges)

Data Driven

Research Based

Continuous System Renewal

Learner-Centered

Principle-Centered

Instructional Alignment to National Common Core "Anchor" Standards

Assessment for Learning (grading to enhance learning)

Move on When Ready” (seat time no longer entrenched)

The Fountain Hills Unified School District has mirrored some of these needed changes with the following initiatives and implementations:

FHUSD Building Effective School Plans reflect Common Core Standards (CCS) Initiative

New mathematics curriculum for 2011-12 CCS aligned

ATI Galileo Benchmarks three times annually

Building Data Walls in place

Principals reporting quarterly to School Board on "leading indicator" student achievement data

All campuses wireless allowing for mobile devices and personal technology access

Software support in place and practice grades K-8

Redesigned building specific walkthrough templates developed

Building level teams and administrators receiving PD360 training with access to CCS module

Marketing now available for print, for social network, for website and new mobile website

Flexible technology devices becoming more available in addition to "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD)

Online course development for regular credit as well as credit retrieval in-house and with outside vendor

Despite these evolving changes "the work" continues as 2.0 will not meet the needs of a changing educational, worldwide culture of competition. Foundationally, our classroom teachers must continue to focus on effective classroom lessons anchored by authentic college prep/career ready reading and writing. Non-fiction text must dramatically increase both in quality, quantity and complexity. "Checks for understanding" must increase in regularity and for all students. Finally, our curriculum in the classroom, must truly represent the Common Core stressing the standards "anchors" or "power" standards. As negative and painful the recent journey of public education has been for many educators, the current journey offers opportunity to meet the needs of all learners - this is our mission. Let us take control of the conversation and the continuing, necessary systemic changes.

 

 

 

Our Public Education System - Part I

Recently, I attended three education-related events/workshops reinforcing my firm belief that our quest for a quality 21st century education for "all students" will be a journey of possibility littered with misconceptions, assumptions, data comparisons, and myriad of reform strategies. The three events and their dates were the Arizona School Board Association/Arizona School Administrator Annual Conference (12/15-16), Lexile Reading Standards and the Common Core Standards (12/12) and the Morrison's Institute "State of the State" Conference (11/30). These events neither fully judged our current public school education system as failing our students, nor honored it as the best in the world. What these events did point out is that as Americans we "own" and created our current system of education; we "control" the future of the system that our students will compete within the global, Information Age; and we can "restructure" the system as needed for all students. Below is the first of three blogs.
System Factor #1 - "System Ownership"

Our system is one of independence, societal lag (failure to adapt/change), activities, and growing choice contradicting itself at every turn. As Americans we still offer and created one of the best environments for an education. This is despite the system originally created and still systemically structured as a student "sorting" system and not a system created for 21st century "success for all." It is a system that has seen its lexile levels for national textbooks drop dramatically from the 1960s and now has a system lacking strong K-12 informational text and strong core, literacy practices. It is a system envied by many, but now seen falling behind to a world community.  A world community changing through technology and communication that now provides a lifestyle opportunity never seen before through education.

We currently have and own the most children in poverty for any industrialized nation in the world and know that our so-called "achievement gap" is created from many of our children spending time in literacy poor homes. Driven by low socio-economic factors, the long school summer break based on a long ago outdated agrarian calendar, further complicates and deprives many from overcoming their lack of core literacy skills. The State of Arizona has 50% of their one million school age children eligible for federal freed and reduced school lunch programs. 25% of all Arizona children live at or under the current federal poverty level. It is a system that has taken over the past 4 years over $1 billion away from its K-20 school systems and will further reduce educational funds by not replacing the previously supplanted state education dollars for federal K-12 EduJobs dollars ($35 million) ending this school year.

On the other hand we own this system with students that create, experiment, innovate and think independently for themselves due to a society that generates education through various school and societal platforms anchored by a national public school system. It is all ours with other nations sending their students here to live in the success of our country's university and college system that builds upon academia with social skills and emotional intelligence that cannot occur through standardized or criterion-referenced international assessments. Its success is measured and is developed through many factors (music, art, athletics, community activities, diversity) that cannot be seen in its entirely through international comparisons.

Confused About AZ Education Accountability? So Are the Schools

With Senate Bill 1286, the Arizona State Legislature established a new accountability system for Arizona public schools.  Modeled after "parts" of well-funded school initiatives in Florida and Colorado, it will maintain the current school labels (Excelling, Highly Performing, Performing Plus, Under Performing, Failing) and add school grades (A, B, C, D, and F).  Using current Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) data, both the labels and new grades will be generated from this single, student assessment score.

The confusion in the new system comes with how AIMS data is used by each of these school accountability measures.  The labels measure the percentage of students meeting or exceeding the grade level state standards in addition to graduation, dropout rates and other value related data.  The new school grades will place a major emphasis on weighted measures including student growth with the lowest performing students weighted twice.  An "expected growth" calculation will also occur as well as a "cut-off" point system that will make about 30% of all schools in Arizona "D" schools compared to 10% for the labels "underperforming" schools.  These school grades have twice been delayed due to the outcry from the obvious disconnect between the two systems.  "Excelling" schools in the labels format are being seen as "C" schools in the grade format as the grade system utilizes fewer, meaningful school success measures into account.

It is unfortunate the Arizona Department of Education continues to take a single snapshot of data in time and not fully design an accountability system with many data points of student achievement.  School labels and school grades are just one piece of the education system that should recognize that "learning is a constant, but time is the variable."  Many indicators of school success exist that would meet the accountability need as well as truly and fairly assessing our students' social, emotional and learning levels.

A more proactive and well thought out variety of researched success measures would better serve our shared goal of school improvement rather than a simplistic letter grade created at a single point in time during each school year.  All of us should be concerned about systemic school improvement not creating shortsighted, internal system obstacles.

"Hey, This is Hard Work"

Fountain Hills USD continues to seek learning for all students. Working with education author/consultant ("Focus" and "Results: How Can We Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning"), Mike Schmoker, our Four Peaks ES and Fountain Hills MS administrators and teachers will meet throughout the 2011-12 school year. Their goal is one that every school district and building in the U.S. must answer during this major national era of school restructuring. How do we create a learning system that meets the new Common Core Standards, that meets the increased high stakes assessment needs of our students and that systemically meets our educational mission of "learning for all students?"

Despite the ongoing loss of state Arizona public school funding ($1.4+ billion) and some 6700 teachers lost statewide (U.S. Census Bureau), FHUSD will continue to build on our "school system's capacity" to meet this challenge:

1. Identification of the Common Core Language and Mathematics "Power or Anchor" Standards are key.

Current state standards across our nation would take more than a 300+-day school year and over a 12-year school career would take up to 23 years to complete (Marzano). We are aggressively working to deconstruct the CCS to identify coverage with depth without creating learning gaps.

2. Implementation of student enrichment and intervention programs that create "multiple opportunities" for student learning success. These include technology tools (iTouches web tools, and iPads), enrichment software (SuccessMaker and Waterford), Response to Intervention (RTI), co-teaching models and school site intervention courses.

3. Professional development for faculty that includes the use of the PD360 online resource that will allow for individual, group, building and district wide improvement resources. Professional Learning Communities have also been formed.

4. A continuation of the current classroom walkthrough system with an emphasis on a few specific teaching behaviors and checks for understanding that will provide building data and staff reflection on classroom instructional practices.

5. Finally, a renewed effort on the part of building principals to take "leading indicator" data to have regular and ongoing discussions on needed "second order" teaching behaviors. This will require a continuous discussion on building data walls both at the elementary grade level and secondary department level.

This is the real work of education and it is hard work with little time provided in the current educational system that suffers from "institutional lag." and time constraints. Our ability to create capacity to consistently and to continuously "do the work" will ultimately determine our learning systems success and the success of our students.

2011 N. Scottsdale Lock-Up: Dr. Bill Myhr

2011 N. Scottsdale Lock-Up: Dr. Bill Myhr

Meeting Challenges to Attain Student Achievement

As the new 2011-12 school year opens on August 8th, FHUSD again seeks to strengthen system capacity to meet our student mission. This year will see a number of changes as the district seeks to consolidate buildings in order to protect instructional programs, low elementary class sizes and staff salaries. This district capacity building will specifically be seen in several key areas:

• New mathematics curriculum aligning the district to the National Common Core Standards will be in place for 2011-12. Textbooks will be in hardback and digital versions to offer students and families flexibility in accessing this curriculum. The 7th grade will see new health textbooks and curriculum.


• McDowell Mountain Elementary School will implement Waterford software enrichment program in grades pre-school-grade 2 to partner with SuccessMaker software implemented last year in grades 3-8. This digital platform will strengthen student learning engagement opportunities as well as regularly assessing their core reading and mathematics knowledge and skills.


• FHUSD faculty members will access PD360 online support to strengthen their content knowledge, instructional strategies and classroom tools. This system will be available 24/7 to provide support for district-wide, building-wide, small group and individual improvement initiatives. This program will also offer building administrators and teacher leaders enhanced academic walkthrough support for classroom data gathering and support for classroom instructional improvement.


• Additional programs will be seen in the Fountain Hills HS Career Technical Education for Nursing and Computer Aided Drawing (CAD), 5th grade band, 4th-5th grade Spanish, additional middle school electives and additional technology (iTouches, iPads, building computer labs and SMARTBoards).


• All campuses will be wireless for the new school year as we move toward a more supportive and flexible digital platform with an emphasis on mobile technology. High school students will be allowed during the school year to bring their personal technology devices to school for flexibility and use, when appropriate, within the classroom.


• With the closure of Four Peaks Elementary School, building consolidation on the FH Middle School campus will strengthen programs by creating grades 4-8 for a Four Peaks ES (grades 4-5) and Fountain Hills Middle School (grades 6-8). Grade 3 will stay on the McDowell Mountain ES campus strengthening the upcoming need for all 3rd graders to meet high stakes state reading assessment. This will enhance our vertical and horizontal curriculum and instructional articulation for the new Common Core Standards and current State of Arizona Standards.

We continue to ask for your support in creating a successful learning environment plagued by hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding cuts the past four years. Through the partnerships developed with our parents, Fountain Hills service clubs, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, the Golden Eagle Education Foundation, the Fountain Hills Parent-Teacher Organization, booster clubs and Town of Fountain Hills; our students our positioned to meet their future educational needs. Follow our accomplishments on Facebook "Fountain Hills Unified School District", Twitter @bfmyhr5454, and our school district website www.fhusd.org. Let us all aspire to enhance our students' future lives.