Letter to the Governor

I will preface this by saying, if I had the ear of Governor-Elect Greg Abbott (today) this is what I’d say. In a year, who knows what I’ll be thinking….

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Governor-Elect Abbot,

I am an educator in Fort Worth Independent School District, a doctoral student at Texas Christian University, and a concerned citizen. I have come to learn, that the issues in our education system have nothing to do with curriculum, accountability, or school choice. Daily, schools are contending with the symptoms of a disease that infects every facet of society. This sickness is not unique to education at all; it plagues health care, the economy, and general welfare. The true problem of education is poverty.

Governor-Elect, imagine being one of the 1.9 million children walking into school hungry because it’s the end of the month and your family is out of food stamps. Imagine being made fun of for wearing the same clothes every day—because they are the only clothes you have. Imagine going to a home with no father, because your dad thought the only way he could support and protect his family was by selling narcotics in your neighborhood – it went bad. Imagine being one of the 95,000 children in Texas that have no home to go to when the bell rings at the end of the day. Put yourself in the mindset of these children and then try to learn Algebra 1.

These problems are not unique to Texas, in fact other nations and states are finding solutions. Take for example the Bolsa Familia in Brazil. The Bolsa Familia is a direct cash transfer program that supports poor Brazilian families. The Brazilian government grants cash to families on the condition that their children are vaccinated and attend school. All of a sudden, students are seeing a relief in poverty and watching their parents place a high value on their schooling. As a result, poverty is dropping and girls, who were previously under educated, are beginning to attend school in greater numbers. Governor-elect, I implore you to look beyond the partisan noise and study the facts. Reducing the stress of poverty helps kids.

Governor-elect, if this example seems to extreme or distant, let’s look to our own backyard. Ask yourself why Breakthrough, Boys and Girls Club, Communities in Schools, Upward Bound, Headstart, Homeless Shelters, Need-based Scholarships, Pell Grants, LULAC, NAACP and so many other institutions exist. Why is there a non-profit office on nearly every corner in our state capitol? What are all of these Good Samaritans trying to accomplish? Individually their goals are varied: they try to help kids improve academically and socially, they try to give voice to the voiceless, they try to grant money for academic results, they try to provide shelter and food to those in need, and they try to fill in the gaps for people from every walk of life. But collectively, each and every one of these organizations is working to circumvent the true issues of poverty. They are working around the mess that poverty created.

Then, the question becomes, “what would I have you to do?” Governor-elect, why can’t we just cut to the chase? Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texas native, declared War on Poverty the battle rages on. In our state, over 4.5 million people live in poverty according to the most recent census. You and I both know the poverty level guidelines are in desperate need of adjustment, when millions of Texans are also members of the “working poor”. Can we stand together and put a stop to poverty? Can we raise the minimum wage? Can we commit to direct cash transfers for our neediest families? Can we commit to providing job training for our citizens?

This is no socialist plot – it is business. If we want drastically different outcomes in education we must change our inputs. But, how? Public schools cannot choose their clientele, nor should they; we must serve all students. If we cannot, exclude students, then we must refine the situations of the students that we do take. We must take away the crippling sting of poverty so our students are truly free to focus on school and excel. If we can treat kids and families better then we can expect more from our students academically.

Governor-elect Abbot, until we are serious about poverty, we will always be “A Nation at Risk”. The voices of opposition come from those that benefit most from the status quo. Please take a stand for poor families across our great state that don’t have the means to do it for themselves.

Thank you,

Trevon R. Jones

Thoughts on “Leadership on the Line”

Finding True North…

This is going to sound very strange, especially coming after a rather long-winded post about the experiences that led me to this place in life, but I am bewildered about what I stand for and what I believe. It’s not that I’ve never known – in fact, I have often known all the answers – but, in my old age (haha) I don’t know exactly where I’m headed anymore….

In class on Saturday, Dr. Johnson challenged the class to articulate for themselves their core values. By doing this, she believed that we would know “true north” or a general guiding principle in our decision making. This ran in tandem with “Leadership on the Line”. In Chapter 9, “Anchor Yourself”, the authors argue “the self relies on our capacity to witness and learn throughout our lives, to refine the core values that orient our decisions,” (pg 430). I too believe this process is essential, but my loyalty to the theory brings me no closer to knowing myself.

Before beginning to teach and go to graduate school I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I knew how long I would teach. I knew what year I would become a principal. I knew what my first moves as a superintendent would be. I had it figured out. I legitimately believed in my plan and I was certain that with a few good ideas and a healthy serving of FTK, I could do what was required to serve all students.But, on Saturday, after class discussion, I immediately scurried off to Trinity Trails to get some time alone. I realized, for the first time in years, I am unsure of my direction.

After a year and a half of teaching and going to graduate school, I am further from knowing my path than I have been in a really long time. I don’t really know what I believe is essential for a high functioning district – or a classroom for that matter. Today, I spent an entire class periods talking to my department head about how to get kids to engage in higher-level thinking. I did the same last night with my learning network specialist. I am more lost than I’ve ever been.

But I think that’s a good thing….

Now more than ever, I understand the levity of the task I hope to take on one day. I want to lead schools and that’s a big freaking deal. So I’ll be lost for a little while and uncomfortable for a long while, because I can’t stop working to figure out what is right for the kids.

I’ll be sure to post when I figure it out though!

 

My Leadership Story – How I arrived here.

My route to this moment and this field of education can be reduced to a phrase consisting of three monosyllabic words. For the kids. FTK, for short. These three words are more than an idealized motto; they are an anthem that has played throughout all of my teaching and learning experiences. Every program, every class, every volunteering experience, every organization membership and every internship has reminded me that students are at the center, top, bottom, left, and right of education.

This vision of education has helped me discover several supporting statements. When teachers stop learning, teachers stop teaching. A classroom will only be successful when teachers, administrators, parents, and students bring their best to the table. And lastly, to just do what I am able to do.

Keep Learning

Eighty percent of my class had failed my first two tests, which were designed to reflect exactly what I covered in class. In every sense of the word, we had failed. At the Breakthrough program, I had been teaching two long weeks, from lengthy lesson plans, which I labored on for many long days and nights. I was immensely embarrassed and ashamed. In my failure, I pounded my mentor teacher for advice, ideas, answers, and support. When the program ended, I was finally improving. Students were beginning to learn, and I was too. When I began working for Breakthrough, I didn’t think I wanted to be a teacher. Three weeks into the summer, I KNEW I didn’t want to be a teacher. But somehow, that summer convinced me that I wanted to teach and that education would be my passion.

At Breakthrough, I worked hard all summer. But, I didn’t get through to my students until I was willing to learn. It was the visits to my mentor teacher, collaborative lesson planning, and curriculum research that brought my class out of the stagnation of the first half of the summer. This experience taught me that as an educator I have to continue to learn and grow to be effective. Now, I am educated in the preferred practices of a nationally recognized program, but I don’t believe learning can stop here. I have to be responsive to feedback and attentive to the needs of my own students to deliver the instruction they need. I won’t cling to practices because the fit my style, I will strive to learn new practices and methods and increase my teacher toolkit, FTK.

Bring the Best

Three summers ago, I had the unique opportunity to lead future teachers as the head intern of the UT Pre-Freshman Engineering Program (UTPREP). The program was seven weeks long and required a lot of everyone involved. After prior experiences with other summer internships, I made it my mission to establish a certain culture, soaking with FTK. It did take some effort, but all of the interns were pushing towards selfless effort throughout the summer. It even seemed that the students grew more driven in many ways as the summer went on. Undoubtedly, the summer was long and hard, both academically and socially, but the two groups had an undeniable energy.

A classroom feeds on the energy of its inhabitants. When poor energy is put in, poor results will be more probable. When students and teachers bring energy to the classroom, the classroom will most likely produce better results. Every day, I will bring my best to the classroom, because my students deserve that. I understand that if I don’t, the capacity of my classroom will be limited by my own efforts; if I do, the classroom has that much more potential. But, I am not so naïve that I believe that is enough. I need my students to bring their best, too. We, as a classroom, can only be as great as we allow each other to be. But, as UTPREP taught me, that energy seems to be contagious.

Do what you can

No experience has been more humbling for me than being a full time teacher in an urban school. I walked in wanting to FTK my way to the top of every data set. I wanted to be a mover, shaker, leader, and thinker. Teaching taught me that I could be some of that to some people, but I could not be all of that to all people. This realization can only be described as shattering. The thought alone made me want to quit. Knowing that I was no savior, made me believe that I was no teacher.

One day Sherry Reed, a counselor (my old counselor), told me “If, when you lay your head down at night, you can honestly say, ‘I did everything I could’, you can sleep well.” To be perfectly honest, the first three times, that message fell on deaf ears, but the more she said it, the more it seeped in. Not being able to do it all, did not mean that you shouldn’t do anything, in fact, the opposite was true. In fact, this was a message Dr. Michael Marder had tried to teach me years before. As I despaired over my futile existence, he once shared with me this quote:

“But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”  ― George Eliot, Middlemarch

As a senior college student should, I ignored him then, but I now know the truth in these words.

At times, I do still despair – at the work still undone, at students who have yet to commit, at educators unwilling to change. I do. In fact, I will admit, I felt wholly ineffective a few hours ago. But, though I forget, I know that if I do all that I can for my students, that is all anyone can ask of me—that is all I can ask of myself.

FTK

In all that I do now, and all that I hope to accomplish, I want to ensure that I act not as a stakeholder, but as an advocate in my students’ education. My leadership is still unfolding and morphing, but I hope it is always FTK.

Thoughts on “This is Not a Test”

Education should be the set of actions and processes by which educators, students, and parents work together to help future citizens succeed and contribute to general society.

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Here’s a multiple choice question. This question is in no way related to the rest of my blog, but I think it fits in well with This is Not a Test.

During the middle of class, a hispanic student was standing in the hallway of the school holding the exterior door open and called to an old teacher. The teacher came over and greeted the child, asking him why he was not in class. The child replied that he had been put out of class for speaking Spanish. His Hispanic reading teacher had told him, “This is an American School. We speak English here.” The teacher walked away, drained and disturbed.

In which of the following years did this exchange occur?

A) 1972   B) 1984   C) 1999   D)2014

The question is truly, in which year did educators believe it was okay to dismiss a student’s culture in favor of their own. I think the interaction between Jose and Mr. Missile in Chapter 4 “What Happened”, gives clarity to that. This interaction could have happened in any of those years. Perhaps, we could change the ethnicities of the teacher and student and find that this situation has been occurring in schools (in varying degrees) for quite sometime.

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I just had to get that off my chest.

In This is Not a Test, Vilson recounts the emotion and fervor of his first year as a teacher. In many ways, I identify with his story as my own (no comment on the drinking habits). I’d like to draw a few comparisons.

“As I completed the summer institute, my advisor sat me down and said, “I’m really happy for you. I thought you’d never make it. I thought you were too idealistic.”

One of the greatest tragedies I experienced as a new teacher was feeling as though I “didn’t believe” anymore. In desperation, I turned to a friend who told me, “You aren’t losing passion, you’re losing arrogance.”

External forces made me believe that my passion was merely naivete and untested theory. People made me believe that it was silly to believe that I could be influential as a novice teacher; that reality needed to set in. I walked into schools with passion and drive and I would leave feeling as though my shiny exterior was being beaten, bruised, and chipped each day. I carried with me an idea, not only about how schools should work, but about how they could work. I believed in the power of public education and the individuals that supported those schools. I just didn’t know if I was foolish for believing it.

A year later, I must say I’m starting to believe again. I don’t know if I was arrogant, I don’t know if I was too idealistic, I don’t know if my hopes were too high, I don’t know if people were trying to help me or merely passing on the wisdom of the jaded. The truth is it’s irrelevant. I believe again.

“What the hell was I thinking? How could I invest this much in kids who totally disregard me on  a whim?”

Story time: Second period was that one class that was always a wild card.It was an honors class with brilliant students that sometimes preferred not to act like it. I always tried to be sure I was challenging them, but I felt like I was wavering in my commitment. On the night before this class, I stayed up late working on an algebraic proof of the quadratic formula to share with them. I knew that they would learn so much about the formula by proving it themselves, so on the morning of the class I placed it on their desks and told them to give it a try. The whining ensued. They didn’t want to collaborate to discover the right answer, they wanted me to tell them. They felt so strongly that they secretly placed a petition on my desk signed by the majority of the class stating that they wanted me to “actually teach”. Now, I’ve got pretty tough skin, but there’s something painful about creating a learning experience for your students only to have your teaching skills questioned.

Today, most of those kids honestly don’t remember anything significant about that day, because they figured out the proof. Some even called me their favorite teacher a couple of times.

“When we assume poor kids misbehave as the do just because of their poverty and not as a manifestation of their frustration with poverty, we do an injustice to their humanity.”

On the two preceding points, I’ve been able to see “things change” — some light at the end of the tunnel. I’m afraid on this issue, I’m still waiting on a happy anecdote. So many times in my community, I hear people talk about kids. There are many accepted code words for my kids, but they all mean the same thing — poor, so, for the sake of conversation, I will call them just that. People commend me for teaching poor kids as if it is innately unbearable. I’ve met teachers across the state that say poor parents just don’t know how to (fill in the blank). I’ve met community members that say it seems like school accountability is just based on poor kids and that doesn’t seem fair. Even children, perhaps professing the opinion of some trusted adult, say poor kids just don’t get it.

Students that come from impoverished homes do undoubtedly view the world differently, I don’t deny that. What I take issue with is that we don’t take them to realize that in the same environment as those kids, our kids might’ve turned out a little different as well. These students are dealing with their world as best they know how… even 16 year olds with a weekly allowance have trouble making good decisions….

TL;DR Being a reflective second year teacher > being a challenged first year teacher

Thoughts on “The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future”

Although I am now embarrassed to admit it, I once espoused the idea that teachers should receive low pay.

Now hold the pitchforks, let me defend my old idea.

As a college student, I saw many students chasing lucrative career paths instead of passions. Every business and engineering student was not in it for the love of the discipline– they weren’t like pre-service teachers. Teachers to be were crusaders, they were believers– there were no riches to be had. I thought low wages were a deterrent to the “impure”.

As a teacher, I’ve realized this is off target. There are in fact teachers that join the ranks for steady income and long vacations. And sadly, low wages don’t just deter the bad, they deter the good as well.

In The Flat World and Education, Linda Darling-Hammond talks about equitable funding for schools. My interpretation of her work is that we need to make an investment in our education system if we expect a return. Her descriptions of North Carolina vs. California show that to be fact.

Part of a comprehensive investment in education is an investment in teaching. As Darling-Hammond points out, that means subsidizing quality teacher education. College students should not be going into debt to serve their community.

That also means paying well. Each year we lose great college grads to business, engineering, medicine, and other high paying fields. Even current teachers have to leave the profession to make more money for their families (often resulting in being able to spend more time for their families).

As a society, we need to pay for the great teachers we desire.

Thoughts on “We’re Losing Our Minds: Rethinking American Higher Education”

“Without higher learning, higher education is just a series of steps that lead to a degree…. (Keeling and Hersh 2012, 2)”

In last weeks reading (Gateway to Opportunity), the author wrestled with the purpose of community colleges. He suggested that they were lost because of a lack of a single, intentional vision. In We’re Losing Our Minds, Keeling and Hersh suggest that Universities have a vision, it’s just wrong. It seems, that universities are essentially becoming job training and outlining the process for becoming certified in a field. Before exploring their recommendations, I want to evaluate their assumptions. Is it really a bad thing that universities have become a training ground for work? Does that necessarily mean higher learning isn’t taking place?

As a former education student and current business student, I have engaged in what can only be called job training often. Case studies, sample lessons, student teaching, business simulations… all of these experiences were created solely to look and feel like “the job”. Moreover, I think my greatest learning experiences were had in these mock job experiences. I was forced to learn about the type of thinking that would prove beneficial in my career. Putting my skills into context were as beneficial and interconnected as any capstone course. I don’t believe any core curriculum in the arts could have challenged my thinking and pushed me into higher learning as well as those situations in which the rubber meets the road. Nevertheless, I will set this dissension aside to discuss the authors’ outline for a successful university.

“We offer them as a package, or constellation, when practiced together and applied intentionally or rigorously, make a significant difference in the quality and quantity of learning and thereby promise a greater educational bang for the buck. (Keeling and Hersh 2012, 131)”

Keeling and Hersh require several components in a quality higher learning institution. Those components and short descriptions are listed below:

1. Intentional Emphasis on Learning – Making learning the deciding factor in operating the institution
2. Holistic Learning – Creating learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom
3. Cumulative and Collective Learning – Classes that logically build and extend learning sequentially
4. Coherent and Integrated Learning – Linking learning experiences
5. Challenging and Rigorous Curriculum – High expectations for all learners
6. Academic Engaged Time – Students committing time to learning
7. Engagement of Students with Full-Time Faculty – Good professors, advisors, and mentors for all students
8. Advising/Mentoring as Teaching – Supporting students in academic decisions well
9. Assessment as Teaching and Learning – Formative assessment benefiting teacher and student
10. General Education as Introduction to the “Great Conversation” – Intro classes should be intro to ideas

When I read this part of the book, I was not moved or shaken. Honestly, I’ve heard this in every training I’ve ever been to and every book I’ve ever read about EC-12. Of course this makes sense for higher ed. What stuck with me is a few words from the quote on page 131 – when practiced together. That’s where we miss the boat in EC-20. We know it sounds good, so we say, “We’ll try 1, 6 and 10 this year and revisit our CEIP in May.” We’ve got to become leaders that are willing to infuriate the community and change the system in the name of learning (and communities willing to give them a few years before pulling out the pitchforks).

Thoughts on “Gateway to Opportunity? A History of the Community College in the United States”

My biggest fear with sending students to community colleges is that they won’t leave. As Beach points out numerous times, the mission of a community college is multifaceted. While many of my students and friends enroll to “get the basics out of the way” before attending a four year institution, often things don’t go according to plan. Even when students do manage to take some classes and transfer out of a community college, they seem to struggle. According to Beach, community colleges reduce the likelihood that students will graduate from a a 4 year university by at least 15% (pg 50). This type of data makes me very nervous. Coupled with the idea that a two year degree could actually hurt students (I’m not sure I actually buy that), I am tempted to discourage my students to attend a community college no matter how much money it could save them.

Still, given the choice between no post secondary education and a community college education, I will most likely choose community college.

Thoughts on “Lessons Learned”

“We keep stumbling, however, [in improving schools] because there is widespread disagreement about what should be improved, what we mean by improvement, and who should do it.” (Ravitch 2010, 223)

In Chapter 11 of The Life and Death of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch spells out what she does and does not believe about education succinctly. I (surprisingly to me) agreed with many of these points. In this blog, I’d like to address a few of them:

• ” I copied this list of successful ingredients of a successful school system: ‘a strong curriculum; experienced teachers; effective instruction; willing students; adequate resources; and a community that values education.” (pg 224)
  •  I found it interesting that everything in this “recipe” is in the classroom or directly supports the classroom, but not all of it can be controlled by a teacher. Students, communities, and administrators must support what is happening in the classroom. Education is certainly a system that requires participation from all stake holders.
• “…intensive test preparation that mirrors actual state tests and borders institutionalized cheating.” (pg 226)
  • Guilty. I have certainly given my students released test questions to practice with repeatedly. I know that this is not real learning, but in our current system, don’t I have a responsibility to use every resource I can to prepare my students? I assume Ravitch would argue I should have never been placed in this situation, but the fact of the matter is I am,
• “The principal should be the school’s ‘head teacher’….” (pg 228)
  • I understand that thought process, but I’m not sure I agree. In our current situation, how many people truly possess the skills of a great teacher and a great operator. Many of the things that must be handled in schools are far removed from classroom instruction, but these things are important. I have often reflected on schools that have a dean of instruction and a principal, it may not be ideal but I think it may be the way to go.
• “Our schools cannot be improved if we ignore the disadvantages associated with poverty….” (pg 229)
  • There is nothing new about this idea, but it needs to be internalized often as an educator. Not as an excuse, but as a reality check. I should not excuse my child from an assignment because he does not have a computer, but I do need to be realistic about offering him assistance on how to be successful.

Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter of the book. I think Ravitch does a good job addressing a myriad of factors that influence schools.

Managers of Virtue: Public School Leadership in America

After reading Managers of Virtue, I have a new appreciation for the interaction of schools and society. The authors present a clear argument that the “virtues” of a time period determine the look and feel of schools in that same period. Although, the authors do contend, “we are rejecting both the great-man theory […] and a deterministic viewpoint (pg 12).” They believe, there is no single actor, but schools are influenced by many sources.

This is interesting to me because as an educator, I often view schools as a change agent. As a teacher, I believe that I am shaping tomorrow’s leaders and followers. It’s very awkward, and to an extent stifling, for me to believe this may not be so.

But as I write, it is beginning to make more sense. A nation hungry to best the Russians gave us “new math”. A nation already entrenched in civil rights disputes integrated our schools. A nation already attached to hand held devices is pushing technology into schools. Schools aren’t causing change, they are reacting to it.

I want schools to be change agents, but the fact of the matter is they never really have been. In fact, as we learned in the documentary from the last class meeting, schools were created with the status quo in mind. Public schools have done great things for society I look forward to the day that they can do great things to society.