Poverty-Moral Imperative Presentation NYSSBA Convention 2017
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Public schools stand at the threshold of a system that has behind them a history of over five decades of testing for identification and accountability since ESEA was first enacted. In front of them is a landscape that is shaped by dramatic changes in demographics: ever changing technology; significant generational differences; and, policy changes at both the federal and state level that could deliver long sought after changes to top down accountability concepts. As educators, we can stand in the threshold, teaching and leading based on our past, or we can step through the door and facilitate learning in this new and constantly shifting environment. 51% of school children attending public schools in America live in poverty based on the federal definition. We have disaggregated student demographic data as it relates to achievement for many years to determine improvement initiatives. In recent years we have experienced significant increases in the costs associated with remedial instruction and special education; both while overall student enrollment in most rural schools is decreasing. The percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch has reached all-time highs in many rural, suburban, and urban public schools. What are the implications of all this in the schoolhouse when it comes to learning, teaching and leading?
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Poverty-Moral Imperative Presentation NYSSBA Convention 2017
- 1. Disrupting Poverty …A Rural MORAL Imperative October 14, 2017 Robert Mackey, Superintendent, Unadilla Valley CSD Steve Bliss, Assistant CIO, Unadilla Valley CSD X
- 2. We’ve heard it or said it… If you work hard, do well in school, and follow the rules, you can be anything you want to be. My Dad (maybe yours too!) I simply cannot understand the experiences of economically disadvantaged students and their families, or how they relate to school, or how best to engage them, if I do not consider what it means to be poor in contemporary society and its schools. Paul Gorski Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom. George Washington Carver Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Nelson Mandela Education is the great equalizer. Horace Mann
- 3. Outcomes • Better understand changing demographics in public education in NYS • Ignite a moral imperative to address poverty, student learning & school funding The slides are posted on the convention app and at: https://tinyurl.com/ybudfoqo
- 4. The Changing Landscape of Student Demographics • In 21 states more than 50% of public school students were eligible for free & reduced lunch. • In 19 other states between 40 and 49% of students were eligible for free & reduced lunch. • For the first time since the federal government began tracking this data, the majority of our nation’s students lived in poverty. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 1989 2000 2006 2013 32% 38% 42% 51% %LowIncomeStudents Year Students Eligible for Free & Reduced Lunch in Public Schools SEF January 2015 Southern Education Foundation (2015)
- 5. How do we define Poverty? • Poverty is a state of deprivation, lacking the usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. (Merriam-Webster) • The most common measure of poverty in the U.S. is the "poverty threshold" set by the U.S. government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. (U.S. Census Bureau)
- 6. Jensen’s definition of Poverty Poverty is a chronic experience resulting from an aggregate of adverse social and economic risk factors. (Poor Students, Rich Teaching 2016)
- 7. “Human and social capital helps families improve their earnings potential and accumulate assets, gain access to safe neighborhoods and high quality services (such as medical care, schooling), and expand their networks and social connections.” -National Center for Children in Poverty, May 2008
- 8. I’m from the government, and I’m here to help. The potential changes on the horizon for defining poverty in NYS
- 9. Proposed Definition 9 Socioeconomic status is one’s access to financial, social, cultural, and human capital resources. Source: National Forum On Education Statistics, “Forum Guide to Alternative measures of Socioeconomic Status in Education Data System.” Retrieved December 6, 2016 from https://nces.ed.gov/forum/pub_2015158.asp
- 10. Social Resources 10 Education Access to Health Housing Neighborhood SES Social resources refer to those benefits that one receives from connection to or membership in a social network or other social structure. Language Neighborhood SES “Cultural resources refers to the values, norms, knowledge, beliefs, practices, experiences, and language that are the foundation of a culture.” Cultural Resources Source: Kana’iaupuni, S. (2007 June). A brief overview of culture-based education and annotated bibliography. Culture in Education Brief Series, 1-4. Honolulu, HI: Kamehameha Schools Research & Evaluation Division. Retrieved December 6, 2016 from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/jar/HOH/HOH-2.pdf
- 11. Human Capital Resources 11 Occupation Education Access to Health When parents possess the resources and skills to support their families, children develop skills, attitudes, and behaviors that lead to success. Higher levels of education are associated with better economic outcomes as well as more social and psychological resources. Socioeconomic status underlies three major determinants of health: health care, environmental exposure, and health behavior.
- 12. &
- 15. What if there were research based best practices to begin improving the performance of students in poverty?
- 16. A Look at Free & Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) and Enrollment – Statewide
- 17. A Look at Free & Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) and Enrollment – Rural
- 18. A Look at Free & Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) and Enrollment – Upstate Urban
- 19. A Look at Free & Reduced Price Lunch (FRPL) and Enrollment – Low Need
- 20. % FRPL for Districts Represented in the 2014-2015 Data Previously
- 21. Downward Social Mobility • Middle Class: odds are 25% that you’ll be poor in the next 10 years • We are all one tragedy away from living in poverty (Jensen 2016)
- 22. Risk Factors Associated with Poverty and Learning
- 23. How These Risk Factors Affect Kids Vocabulary exposure by age 4: • High SES=46 million words • Mid SES=26 million words • Low SES=13 million words Low family income can negatively impact children’s cognitive development and therefore their ability to learn. Contributing to: • Behavioral problems • Social problems • Emotional problems Later in life these impacts can have powerful ripple effects: • Drop out • Poor health – physical and mental • Poor employment outcomes Children are disproportionately affected by poverty – foreshadowing entrenched health disparities that span generations Ramey, 2015 National Center for Children in Poverty
- 24. Two Kindergarten Classrooms 20 students – 10% live in poverty • 2 – 4 students affected by significant traumatic experience(s) • These 2 – 4 students have been exposed to 13,000,000 words by age 4 • These 2 – 4 students typically lag in speech, fine & gross motor, & social skill development. • 16 – 18 students exposed to 36,000,000 words by age 4 20 students – 60% live in poverty • 10 – 12 affected by significant traumatic experience(s) • These 10 – 12 students have been exposed to 13,000,000 words by age 4 • These 10 – 12 students typically lag in speech, fine & gross motor, & social skill development. • 8 – 10 students exposed to 36,000,000 words by age 4 National Center for Children in Poverty
- 26. 20 Kindergarteners… 15 FRPL 5 Not FRPL 3 FRPL 17 Not FRPL 13 FRPL 7 Not FRPL11 FRPL 9 Not FRPL 10 FRPL 10 Not FRPL
- 27. “It is the mission of our ______ to help each and every _____ realize his or her full _________ and become a __________ and ___________ citizen and ________ learner who is able to use technology ___________ and appreciate the multicultural society in which we ____ as we _______ for the challenges presented by the 21st _______.” Richard DuFour, 1997 You have your MISSION: Find Your District's “Why?”
- 28. Solution Tree, 2015 • In poor implementation, culture (policies, procedures, rules, hierarchical relationships) will prevail. “Culture eats structure for lunch.” • WHY (your mission) decides everything. Culture rules when “why” is not compelling. • Learners learn vs. Teachers teach • Identify winners or create winners? • Individual potential is none of our business. Not our job to figure out who can and who can’t. Judgment is killing education. • Identify the bar—our new minimum. The bar is based on where kids are going, not where they came from. 28
- 29. Active Educators & Staff
- 30. Find Your District's “Why?” Now, What’s your “WHY?” • This is your overarching purpose • It should last for 100 years or more and not change
- 31. After you find your “Why”… • Review key data (achievement, grad rates, absences, participation in extracurriculars, etc) • Clarify Purpose & Mission: identify/sort vs. create • Clarify “poverty” vs. “underserviced” • Clarify “ALL” • What % of UNSUCCESSFUL students is acceptable to your school? • Any student expected to be a financially independent, productive member of society. • .1% will need life-long support. All =99.9% Ken Williams Is your culture ready for equity literacy? 31
- 32. Teachers College Press, 2013. • Equip teachers and administrators with the knowledge and skills to: • Build equitable learning environments, esp. for students in poverty. • Be a threat to the existence of inequities in their classrooms, schools, and districts. • Four abilities of Equity Literacy: • Recognize inequity • Respond to inequity • Redress inequity
- 33. It’s About Poverty • “Equity Literacy” • Research based • Utilize tradition to foster risk-taking idealists • Focus pedagogical study around best practices for ensuring ALL students learn at high levels • http://www.combarriers.co m/ • Build practices & structures that create equity • Build knowledge & application opportunities of mindset research (Dweck & Jensen) It’s About ACTIVITY • Build knowledge of executive function and how to improve it It’s About MINDSET
- 34. Solution Tree, 2016. • Poverty is far more prevalent than you think, and the devastating effects are accelerating. • Because brains change, we can reverse the academic effects of poverty . . . • The classroom teacher is still the single most significant contributor to student achievement; the effect is greater than that of parents,34
- 35. MINDSETS FOR CHANGE • Growth • Relational • Achievement • Rich Classroom Climate • Engagement 35 Dweck & Jensen
- 36. McLaughlin & Talbert, 2006
- 37. One Cultural Shift Guaranteed to Improve Learning Professional Learning Community • A Focus on Learning • A Collaborative Culture with a Focus on Learning for All • Collective Inquiry Into Best Practice and Current Reality • Action Orientation: Learning by Doing • A Commitment to Continuous Improvement • Results Orientation
- 38. Ramey & Ramey, 2000
- 39. • Fund Family Focused Learning Programs combined with accessible, free, health care; at least in all high-needs school districts 0 – 3 YEARS • Fully fund current & expand SBHC; at least in all high-needs school districts SCHOOL BASED HEALTH • Fully Fund Universal Pre- Kindergarten Programs combined with accessible, free, health care; at least in all high-needs school districts 4 – 5 YEARS
- 41. Preparing Preservice Educators We need to advocate for the transformation of teacher and leader preparation programs to become steeped in research and provide opportunities to implement and practice best practices for classrooms and schools. They need to be specific for managing the diverse impacts resulting from lack of one or all of the following: financial, social, cultural, and human capital resources. The cornerstone coursework of all education programs must focus on building capacity through collaborative responsibility to guarantee learning at high levels for all students.
- 42. Engage Everyone in Creating a Culture of Equity & High Expectations for All • Find your Why • Become Equity Literate • Implement Research Based best Practices • Mindsets for Change (Dweck & Jensen) • Professional Learning Community Culture (DuFour) • Advocate for Funding of Research Based Programs • 0-3 year old Family Based Programs (Ramey) • Full UPK • School Based Health Programs
- 43. Contact and Copy of Presentation Unadilla Valley Central School District 4238 State Rte 8 New Berlin, NY 13411 P:(607)847-7500 F:(607)847-6924 Web Page: www.uvstorm.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/U nadilla-Valley-Central-School- District/340853612739318?ref=book marks Email: rmackey@uvstorm.org Presentation link: https://tinyurl.co m/ybudfoqo
- 44. References • Dr. Craig Ramey – http://research.vtc.vt.edu/people/craig-ramey/ and Abecedarian Project as of October 2015. • Communication Across Barriers – http://www.combarriers.com/ & https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/2012thematicmtg/studentpovty.pdf • National Center for Children in Poverty – • Jensen, Eric (2016). Poor Students, Rich Teaching: Mindsets for Change. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. • Jensen, Eric (2013). How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement. Educational Leadership, vol. 70, pages24-30. • National Center for Education Statistics – https://nces.ed.gov/ • U.S. Census Bureau – http://www.census.gov/did/www/saipe/methods/schools/data/20102014.html • The New York Center for Rural Schools – http://www.nyruralschools.org/w/data-tools/#.V36HC7fmrcs • Social Security Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Annual Statistical Supplement, 2014 – https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2014/3e.html • The Brookings Institution, Losing Ground: Income and Poverty in Upstate New York, 1980-2000 – http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2004/9/demographics- pendall/20040914_pendall.pdf • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Poverty Guidelines – https://aspe.hhs.gov/2015- poverty-guidelines
- 45. References • http://my.aasa.org/AASA/Resources/SAMag/May16/Gorski.aspx • Re-examining Beliefs About Students in Poverty By Paul C. Gorski/School Administrator, May 2016 • http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational- leadership/may13/vol70/num08/How-Poverty-Affects-Classroom-Engagement.aspx • How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement By Eric Jensen/Ed Leadership, May 2013 • http://www.pageturnpro.com/AASA/70957-March-2016/index.html#40 • Tine, Michele T. (March 2106). Different Worlds: Rural and Urban Poverty. School Administrator, pages 38-40. • https://nyscommunityaction.org/poverty-in-new-york/povertydata/ • Center for Public Education – http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/You-May- Also-Be-Interested-In-landing-page-level/Organizing-a-School-YMABI/The-United- States-of-education-The-changing-demographics-of-the-United-States-and-their- schools.html • Southern Education Foundation (2015). A New Majority: Low Income Students Now a Majority In the Nation’s Public Schools. http://www.southerneducation.org/getattachment/4ac62e27-5260-47a5-9d02- 14896ec3a531/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.aspx 45
Editor's Notes
- We are facing some very challenging times as educators. As if mandates weren’t enough to juggle, how about we through in the rapidly changing student’s in our rural classrooms? 3x5 entrance ticket: what have you heard or said to explain poor student achievement and or behavior in the classroom? There are many cycling analogies we can apply to education… “If I just focus straight ahead and keep doing what I have always done I can get over this hill.”
- Bell Ringer after the Nelson Mandela quote: do you have any words of wisdom about education you share with students and/or parents? Visualize one student who heeded the moral of quotes like these or yours and was successful? Write the answers down in the margin. Print for close text read: See Pause and Ponder Journal
- Marooned You are marooned on a island. What five (you can use a different number, such as seven, depending upon the size of each team) items would you have brought with you if you knew there was a chance that you might be stranded. Note that they are only allowed five items per team, not per person. You can have them write their items on a flip chart and discuss and defend their choices with the whole group. This activity helps them to learn about other's values and problem solving styles and promotes teamwork.
- Pause and Ponder: when you think of poverty, what comes to mind? When you think of poverty, what locations/places come to mind? What are the characteristics of families who live in poverty that society, social media, and/or media portray? Write and share. Source: Southern Education Foundation (2015). A New Majority: Low Income Students Now a Majority In the Nation’s Public Schools. http://www.southerneducation.org/getattachment/4ac62e27-5260-47a5-9d02-14896ec3a531/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.aspx
- This was developed over 50 years ago by the U.S. Census Bureau and is a measure of a specific dollar amount that varies by family size and is the same across the nation. U.S. Poverty Guideline 2016 1 family member=$11,880 * 4 family members=$24,300 * Increment per family member over 1=$4,160 * * Must multiply each by 185% to equal income qualifications for FRPL The U.S. Census Bureau determines poverty status by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold that is set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963, updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI; see the last section of this FAQ for an explanation of the CPI), and adjusted for family size, composition, and age of householder. "Family" is defined by the official poverty measure as persons living together who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption. Thresholds do not vary geographically. By this definition, 1 in 7 people, 46.7 million, living in America in 2014 were living in poverty according to the US Census Bureau. Children under age 18 made up 1/3rd of this number (15.6 million approximately) Nearly 29% of people age 25 and older without a high school diploma lived in poverty.
- The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University in their 10 Important Questions about Child Poverty and Family Economic Hardship publication from May 2008, states that “To achieve a minimum but decent standard of living, families need more than material resources; they also need “human and social capital.” human and social capital includes education, basic life skills, and employment experience, as well as tangible resources such as social networks and access to civic institutions.” “Human and social capital helps families improve their earnings potential and accumulate assets, gain access to safe neighborhoods and high quality services (such as medical care, schooling), and expand their networks and social connections.” -National Center for Children in Poverty, May 2008
- The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University in their 10 Important Questions about Child Poverty and Family Economic Hardship publication from May 2008, states that “To achieve a minimum but decent standard of living, families need more than material resources; they also need “human and social capital.” human and social capital includes education, basic life skills, and employment experience, as well as tangible resources such as social networks and access to civic institutions.”
- This is a true combination of all of the afore mentioned definitions of poverty, maybe the government is here to help! Existing literature has defined socioeconomic status as: 1. “the social standing or class of an individual or group” 2. “measure of one's combined economic and social status and tends to be positively associated with better health” 3. “the position that an individual or family occupies with reference to the prevailing average of standards of cultural possessions, effective income, material possessions, and participation in group activity in the community” Sources: American Psychological Association, “Education and Socioeconomic Status” Retrieved December 6 from http://www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/; Baker, E. H. 2014. Socioeconomic Status, Definition. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society. 2210–221; F. Stuart Chaplin, “The Measurement of Social Status” (Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press, 1933) (ROMANE) After having done much research, we believe that SES should be defined as “one’s access to financial, social, cultural, and human capital resources.” This definition was proposed in a report published by the National Forum on Education Statistics. However, the terms “financial,” “social,” “cultural” and “human capital” were not defined in the report, and we have conducted additional research to further explain these terms.
- Financial poverty can directly and indirectly impact each of the elements included in social and cultural resources. (NNEKA) Social resources refer to those benefits that one receives from connection to or membership in a social network or other social structure. Proxies for social resources include: education, access to health, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and housing. Social resources are positively correlated with self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual’s anticipation of their ability to be in control under a particular situation. A parents’ degree of education and parents’ occupation have a positive correlation with children’s self-efficacy. (NNEKA) “Cultural resources refers to the values, norms, knowledge, beliefs, practices, experiences, and language that are the foundation of a culture.” Under cultural resources, data can be collected on both language and neighborhood socioeconomic status Language is a component of cultural resources. It is a means of communication and self-presentation acquired from one’s surrounding culture. Neighborhood socioeconomic status paints a picture of the larger community context in which a student lives. The rationale for using this measure lies in the fact that not all financial, social and human capital resources available to a student come from the family. Some may come from the neighborhood or community in which the student resides. These resources shape the home environment and can be correlated with school achievement.
- Adults struggling here can consciously or unconsciously expose their children to other risk factors associated with poverty. (NNEKA) Finally, human capital resources refer to non-material resources such as one’s education, skills, abilities, and knowledge. Data on human capital can be collected by looking at parental occupation, parental education, and access to health. As we have discussed previously, parental occupation and education are directly correlated with student achievement. In addition, access to, use of, and quality of health care are also components of human capital resources. Among adults, 40 percent of those who have not graduated from high school are uninsured, compared with only 10 percent of college graduates; more than 60 percent of the uninsured are in low-income families.
- Let’s look at student achievement… Pause and ponder: given the trends in the data what may be some implications for rural schools 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years from now? Pair-share DIVERGENT! If we don’t begin working together to disrupt poverty and its looming exponential growth, we may soon be doling out more state and federal dollars for rapidly increasing demands for public assistance, spikes in the cost of healthcare due to serving those uninsured or underinsured, and building more prisons. All are services accessed by those in poverty.
- 32% Average Overall not Proficient (43% poverty, 22% Non Poverty) 68% Average Overall Proficient (57% Poverty, 78% Non Poverty)
- 73% Average Overall not Proficient (83% Poverty, 63% Non Poverty) 27% Average Overall Proficient (17% Poverty, 37% Non Poverty)
- What if there were research based best practices to begin improving the performance of students experiencing the trauma’s associated with poverty?
- DIVERGENT! What’s beginning to happen in our schools… As a school leader or BOE member why is this important?
- DIVERGENT!
- The urban high need poverty rates have been consistently higher than the rest of the state for decades. In the case of these upstate cities, one saw significant growth in student population during this 8 year period.
- DIVERGENT! What are the implications of the changing definition of poverty and the changing demographics of our public schools?
- Pause and Ponder: how do you think this could happen for you? Share with partner Would you meet Jensen’s definition of poverty if you : lost your job, wrecked your car, or were being treated for cancer?
- Unemployment Under Employment Teen Parent Unmarried Parent Frequent Change of Residence Low Parental Education Lack of Health Care Poor Nutrition Non-English Speaking Household Take a Step: Illustration of Advantages, Disadvantages and Factors Leading to Poverty Instructions for the facilitator: This is an example of an effort to help participants reflect on the "unequal playing field" that benefits some while making it more likely that others will be left behind. What you will need: tape 3 colors of index cards, such as red, yellow, and blue. There should be more yellow (or whatever color you are substituting for yellow) cards than any other color and only a few blue (or the substitution) cards. For example, if there are 30 participants, have 3 blue cards, 20 yellow, and 8 red.[1] Place a piece of tape on the floor in the center of a large room. Then ask participants to line up shoulder‐to‐shoulder across the room. The participants in the middle of the line should be standing on the taped line on the floor so that the group is shoulder‐to‐shoulder in a line across the center of the room. Ask participants to listen carefully and to follow the instructions given. For a shorter version (ideal for younger grades, if pressed for time, or if in a small room), only read the prompts with * in front of them. http://www.usccb.org/about/justice-peace-and-human-development/take-a-step-activity.cfm
- Pause and Ponder: Think of a student you’ve had in the past that wasn’t successful. Did any of these factors or ones like them apply to the student or the student’s family? Basic Premises: “The circle” • Poverty impacts biology • Biology affects experiences, development, and health • Health and experiences of parents exert influences on the life course of future generations • Intergenerational patterns of health, as well as educational attainment, can be altered by applying fundamental principles of developmental science Ramey, 2015
- We want all the students in both classrooms to be college and career ready, right? What supports will each teacher need to guarantee at least grade-level proficiency for 100% of their students this year? Some say the answer may be… Retention = potential drop out risk even at this age! Merger = in rural, poor areas like ours means we will have more classrooms like the one on the right since our schools are very similar Students living in poverty are typically our most mobile population transferring costs from one district to another at one or more times per year. Also, placing them higher on the risk factor of dropping out of school You may be wondering “how can we address all of these needs?”
- The totality of a child’s experience lays the foundation for a lifetime of greater or lesser competency, health, and happiness Ramey & Ramey, Right from Birth (1999)
- The data shows the need to reach kids living with poverty and/or the related risk factors. Further it shows how the needs are different from Urban High Need to Rural High Need, to Rural & Suburban Low Need. The BOCEs Data exposes the Average to High Need districts potential for costs associated with learning, mental health, and family/community outreach. For Low Needs districts experiencing increased poverty rates (many from 0-10% for example) it shows the need for re-engineering resources and foreshadows professional development needs. Actually, the rapid growth of poverty in rural districts also shows the need for changes to PD, now however it is an urgent reactionary need vs the low need districts having time to be more preventative. We must also remember that outside resources near these schools will differ greatly. Which can compound the problem.
- If you ever had the opportunity to hear Rick DuFour present you likely heard his rendition of the generic American public school mission statement. Help me out with this… “It is the mission of our SCHOOL to help each and every CHILD realize his or her full POTENTIAL and become a PRODUCTIVE and RESPONSIBLE citizen and LIFELONG learner who is able to use technology EFFECTIVELY and appreciate the multicultural society in which we LIVE as we PREPARE for the challenges presented by the 21st CENTURY.” Richard DuFour, 1997 Before revisiting your Mission, Vision, and Belief Statements, identify your purpose. Your reason for being! Mission Versus Purpose: What’s the Difference? April 23, 2015 by Bruce Jones, Senior Programming Director, Disney Institute Last year, Harvard Business Review published an interesting article, Your Company’s Purpose Is Not Its Mission, Vision or Values, in which the author, Graham Kenny, states: “We hear more and more that organizations must have a compelling ‘purpose’ — but what does that mean? Aren’t there already a host of labels out there that describe organizational direction? Do we need yet another?” https://disneyinstitute.com/blog/2015/04/mission-versus-purpose-whats-the-difference/346/ 2007 Mission development…2015 administrative council mission review and purpose development Our team purpose: “We guarantee everyone FLOURISHES today, tomorrow, and beyond.”
- Before revisiting your Mission, Vision, and Belief Statements, identify your purpose. Your reason for being! 2007 Mission development…2015 administrative council mission review and purpose development Our team purpose: “We guarantee everyone FLOURISHES today, tomorrow, and beyond.”
- A mission statement is great, but if we lose track of why we do this, we lose or focus on the true North, that reason we exist. Before revisiting your Mission, Vision, and Belief Statements, identify your purpose. Your reason for being! Mission Versus Purpose: What’s the Difference? April 23, 2015 by Bruce Jones, Senior Programming Director, Disney Institute Last year, Harvard Business Review published an interesting article, Your Company’s Purpose Is Not Its Mission, Vision or Values, in which the author, Graham Kenny, states: “We hear more and more that organizations must have a compelling ‘purpose’ — but what does that mean? Aren’t there already a host of labels out there that describe organizational direction? Do we need yet another?” https://disneyinstitute.com/blog/2015/04/mission-versus-purpose-whats-the-difference/346/ 2007 Mission development…2015 administrative council mission review and purpose development Our team purpose: “We guarantee everyone FLOURISHES today, tomorrow, and beyond.”
- What is Equity? What does it mean to be Literate?
- We must create equitable schools…equity literacy is a key to achieving this according to Gorski. Recognize inequity – “I can understand the experiences students in poverty face outside of school and recognize the subtlest ways those challenges are reproduced in schools.” Respond to inequity – “I am able to skillfully explain why adopting a policy like requiring electronic communication with parents could exacerbate gaps in family engagement.” Redress inequity – “I am willing to develop a policy, however unpopular it might be among wealthier families, to disallow practices that humiliate and disadvangate students experiencing poverty.” Sustain equity – “do I know how to sustain equity efforts and do I have the will to withstand the criticism that occurs when I start to redistribute educational opportunity?”
- Changing Adult Beliefs… Become Equity Literate – It’s not about making excuses, it’s about ensuring all students learn at high levels (minimally at grade level). Research based best practices In our schools we need to immerse ourselves in the research to better understand how poverty impacts learning for our students, how to identify and address inequities, and how to instill a growth mindset for all (failure and success are kissing cousins). We need to develop courses for teacher and principal preparation that are steeped in research and provide opportunities to implement and practice best practices for classrooms and schools. They need to be specific for Rural poverty. http://www.combarriers.com/aboutus Welcome to Communication Across Barriers "My education, my work, and my passion are to help people from all races who are trapped in poverty. I want them to have genuine options for lifelong success. This can only happen if the voices of those struggling with poverty can be heard and their perspectives understood. Poverty is resolvable, however, making a difference for people who live in the crisis of poverty requires a paradigm shift. A shift that moves us beyond stereotypes and judgement to a deeper understanding of the causes of poverty and its impact on human beings. With this awareness, we can work together to provide genuine opportunities for people to move out of poverty." -- Donna Beegle Our Mission Communication Across Barriers is dedicated to broadening and improving opportunities for people who live in the war zone of poverty. Our far reaching goals: Assist communities and organizations to “fight poverty, not the people who live in it.” We illuminate real and structural causes of poverty and provide life changing information that shatters common myths and stereotypes about people who live in poverty Offer research-based strategies and insider perspectives for improving relationships, communication, and opportunities across poverty barriers Develop an army of speakers and trainers who can educate and assist communities in breaking poverty barriers Provide models and programs that increase a connected, collaborative, community-wide approach to fighting poverty Educate and engage people not in poverty with tools and avenues for making a difference in their own communities
- GROWTH: You’re not there, yet… RELATIONAL: Personalize learning – relevance Show empathy – not sympathy ACHIEVEMENT: Teach and model setting goals, gutsy goals Teach and model having the right attitude Give fabulous feedback Teach and model persistence RICH CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT: Is your material relevant? Are you affirming? Is your teaching diverse? Are you empowering? Are you a mentor? Last year we presented on our Future Path Program, this is essential here. Do students feel heard, validated, affirmed, and worthwhile in your classroom? Do you teach your students how to set and track goals? Is your classroom safe and nurturing? Do you foster academic optimism? Harry Wong’s First Days of School Kagan’s work on cooperative learning ENGAGEMENT: Robert Marzano’s research can’t be overlooked in teacher and principal prep. Nor can Jensen’s.
- Now its about changing the culture of our district… "An ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLCs operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators." DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many 2010 At UVCS we like to say it is a collaborative culture focused on learning, results, and actions to guarantee learning at high levels for all students.
- “Three Big Ideas That Drive the Work of a PLC The essence of the PLC process is captured in three big ideas: 1. The purpose of our school is to ensure all students learn at high levels. 2. Helping all students learn requires a collaborative and collective effort. 3. To assess our effectiveness in helping all students learn we must focus on results—evidence of student learning—and use results to inform and improve our professional practice and respond to students who need intervention or enrichment.” ― Richard DuFour, Learning by Doing: A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work “The single most important factor for successful restructuring and the first order of business for those interested in increasing the capacity of their schools is building a collaborative internal environment.” (Kenneth Eastwood & Karen Seashore Louis, Restructuring That Lasts: Managing the Performance Dip 1992, p. 215) “[High-achieving schools] build a highly collaborative school environment where working together to solve problems and to learn from each other become cultural norms.” (WestEd, Teachers Who Learn, Kids Who Achieve: A Look at Schools with Model Professional Development 2000, p. 12) “Quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment, it is a result of a collaborative culture that empowers teachers to team up to improve student learning beyond what anyone of them can achieve alone.” (Carroll, 2009, p. 13) Working as a PLC we can create learning opportunities and schools that are more powerful than poverty. Mike Mattos
- The next step is to advocate and partner with key agencies to implement changes that have a proven track record to work and to begin to cultivate prospective teachers and leaders to build capacity of our public education system. Can we: prevent intellectual and learning disabilities; promote cognitive and social outcomes; and, improve lifelong health and well being… …for children from extremely impoverished homes? Dr. Craig Ramey conducted his first Abecedarian Project over 35 years ago and the longitudinal study of the results for the last 35+ years would irrefutably say, “YES!” The total approved for the NYS Smart Bond was $2 billion
- We need to find ways to address all of those in poverty: adults, expecting parents, and children “People living in poverty often experience education as “stress” and see it [school] as a place they do not belong.” Communication Across Barriers, Educating Students Who Live in Poverty, https://www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/2012thematicmtg/studentpovty.pdf Build relationships with families and children, incorporate activities that can be replicated at home or in a child care environment, build executive function: “A set of processing skills developed in the brain that help us focus on multiple streams of information at the same time, monitor errors, make decisions in light of available information, revise plans as necessary, and resist the urge to let frustration lead to hasty actions.” Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University Children rely on their emerging executive function to: Learn to read & write Remember steps in performing math problems Take part in class discussions or group projects Enter into & sustain play with other children
- Serving 0-5 year old children and their adult care providers has many benefits. The original study occurred nearly 35 years ago. The effects then were overwhelmingly positive. The results of every replication has had nearly the same results. Further, the results of the longitudinal study following the original families involved in the first Abecedarian Project have remained positive.
- “The quality of an educational system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. The only way to improve outcomes is to improve teaching. High performance requires every child to succeed.” (Michael Barber & Mona Mourshed, How the world’s best-performing schools come out on top 2007, p. 4) “There is a constant clamour to emphasize the teacher is the key, with claims the system is only as good as the teacher and that teacher standards must be raised. In many ways that is correct, except that teachers cannot do it on their own: they need support, they need to collaborate with others in and across schools, they need to develop expertise, and they need excellent school leaders.” (John Hattie, What Works Best in Education: The Politics of Collaborative Expertise 2015a, p. 29) We need to develop courses for teacher and principal preparation that are steeped in research and provide opportunities to implement and practice best practices for classrooms and schools. They need to be specific for managing the diverse impacts resulting from lack of one or all of the following: financial, social, cultural, and human capital resources. The cornerstone coursework of all education programs must focus on building capacity through collaborative responsibility to guarantee learning at high levels for all students. Collaborative: Educators share the responsibility and the work for realizing a shared vision of student success. Focused on learning: : Educators believe that students, education professionals, educational organizations and the community can continuously grow and improve to realize a shared vision for student success with a growth mindset. Results-oriented: : Educators gather evidence and engage in rigorous data analysis to develop, manage, refine and evaluate new and more effective approaches. Action-oriented: : Educators break from established ways of doing things to pursue fundamentally new and more effective approaches when needed. Reflective: Educators re-examine their practices and dispositions habitually in order to develop the “wisdom of practice” needed to succeed in pursuing new and more effective approaches. Equity-minded: Educators ensure that all students are treated equitably, and have access to excellent teachers and necessary resources. Leaders of learning will extend this same concept to the community ensuring all families have the opportunity to be engaged in their child’s learning. Perseverant: : Educators are courageous and persevere in doing what is best for students even when challenged by fear, risk and doubt. Ethical: : Educators explicitly and consciously follow laws, policies, and principles of right and wrong in everything they do.
- We can’t simply end poverty with public schools, however we can disrupt the effects it has on learning and success for all students; we can provide interventions for our traditional school cultures and build cultures that guarantee learning at high levels for all students; and, we can advocate for funding of programs proven to “disrupt” the effects of poverty further as well as for a move from compliance to commitment and capacity in preparation programs. A review of the construction of our new “House of Culture” Our long term vision for our high needs community: CREATE A CULTURE OF LITERACY AND LEARNING FOR EVERYONE Building your “All means All” Culture/House Generate a list of actions your team can take to build a culture where SES doesn’t matter. From your list, determine the most important action(s) that should be your footing to build upon. Then the actions that will be the foundation of the culture. Finally the actions that represent the bricks and mortar (everyday actions or beliefs you will act on that can make your culture serve all students, student by student, skill by skill, all means all! “The rise or fall of the professional learning community concept depends not on the merits of the concept itself, but on the most important element on the improvement of any school – the commitment and persistence of the educators within it.” Richard DuFour