What can parents do to help their children succeed in school?
Read to young children.
Talk to adolescents.
In her book "The Smartest Kids in the World," Amanda Ripley talked about the survey of parents associated with the international PISA tests, assessments that form the basis of international student comparisons. She states:
When children were young, parents who read to them every day or almost every day had kids who performed much better in reading, all around the world, by the time they wee fifteen (p. 108).
I then went to the PISA test site and looked at their report, Let's Read Them a Story, and that report, in chapter one, said:
Reading books to children when they are just beginning primary school and talking with adolescents about topical political or social issues are shown to have a positive impact on children’s learning. Even just reading at home benefits children, because it shows them that reading is something that their parents value.
Amanda Ripley sums it up nicely:
Parents who read to their children weekly or daily when they were young raised children who scored twenty-five points higher on PISA by the time they wee fifteen years old. that was almost a full year of learning.
What's the take away?
Read to your children!
Talk to your adolescents!
Start today!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
The Detroit Tigers stir passion. Does School?
My Detroit Tigers are killing me!
But before we get into that, let's start on a positive note.
The Tigers made the post-season. They won their first-round divisional match-up. They have had three pitchers start a game and not give up a hit for at least five innings. They are playing for the American League championship and a chance to go to the World Series.
But still they are killing me!
I was fortunate to be able to attend the game on October 15. The Tigers lost 1-0. In the 8th inning the Tigers had runners on first and third with one out. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder were coming to the plate. Surely one of these men would drive in a run to tie the game. They did not.
The Detroit Tigers are killing me!
On October 13th the Tigers led 5-1 when I gave up and went to bed. It was late. I get up early. Surely a 5-1 lead in the 8th inning is safe. It was not.
The Detroit Tigers are killing me!
On October 12th the Tigers starting pitcher gave up no hits for seven innings but walked six batters. Boston's first hit came in the 9th inning. Surely this was one of those "easy" games, probably a runaway victory. It was not. Detroit won 1-0! The game lasted took almost four hours to play.
The Detroit Tigers are killing me!
But, truth be told, I am happy about it. The Detroit Tigers are my team. I root for them. I watch them on TV. I attend their games (when I can). The Tigers make me care.
During that ill-fated 8th inning on October 15, Austin Jackson stood on third base and Torii Hunter stood on first base. Miguel Cabrera strode to the plate and the crowd rose to their feet waving their towels hoping for, if not a miracle, at least a base hit. The crowd was electric!
The enthusiasm, the passion, the collective will of the crowd was fun and energizing.
On my ride home from the game, I asked myself, "What is the corresponding school experience? What stirs our passion? What generates this collective enthusiasm in our schools?"
It is easy to say nothing. There is nothing about education that stirs our passion like - in this case - playoff baseball.
But is that true?
It is true that schools do not have edge-of-the-seat, white knuckle, extreme joy, crushing disappointment experiences like play-off baseball.
But I have seen passion in schools.
Today I saw it in Ms. Zimmerman's kindergarten classroom as she engaged her students around the daily calendar. Students laughed and smiled, they sang and cheered.
Yesterday I saw it in the orchestra class at Novi Middle School. Ms. Rais was introducing a piece of music from the Harry Potter movies that she wanted her students to play. Students were reading along with the music as Ms. Rais played a recording of the song. At the end of the song a student blurted out, "That was awesome!"
I have seen passion in art class, in English, in physics.
In physics? Yes! In Mir. Didio's class at Novi High School students were running experiments on acceleration and velocity, I think, and there was genuine interest and passion about the results.
Schools may not have the white-hot, edge-of-your-seat passion that playoff baseball does. (The events that get recorded where people are screaming at school board meetings don't really count either. Those moments are not really about positive energy and, at times, have little to do with actual teaching and learning.)
But schools do generate passion. I've seen students genuinely enthused and excited about what they were learning. They had to talk about it. They had to find out more. They blocked out distractions to focus on learning.
My Detroit Tigers play tonight and I will be wrapped up in their game. But tomorrow I know that in my school district there are teachers that will inspire students to engage in learning in powerful and passionate ways. I believe that school stirs passion. I have seen it, felt it, and enjoyed it.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Homecoming 2013
Who are these people? They are high school teachers at Novi High School waiting patiently at today's pep rally to perform their hip hop dance in front of the student body.
Why would high school teachers willingly agree to perform a hip hop dance in front of the student body?
Who is this? This is one of our high school teachers and would-be dancers ready to perform. Why would a high school teacher dress up like this and be willing to perform a hip hop dance in front of the student body?
Why would high school teachers willingly agree to perform a hip hop dance in front of the student body?
Who is this? This is one of our high school teachers and would-be dancers ready to perform. Why would a high school teacher dress up like this and be willing to perform a hip hop dance in front of the student body?
The answer to these questions is the same. These teachers understand that relationships matter. When students connect with teachers learning improves.
Dr. Joe Clark (@DrJoeClark) in a tweet earlier this year said the following:
Not one rule your make the first day of school will cause good behavior in May.
But every strong relationship you make will.
Teachers can connect with students in a variety of ways. These Novi HS teachers are willing to connect during our per rally. Other teachers connect by making sure they say hello as students enter the classroom. Some teachers attend football games. Some teachers coach. Some teachers call students at home. Other teachers open their rooms before school or stay after.
Teachers also connect by ensuring that they create engaging lessons. They don't waste students time. They communicate that they respect students but making sure that every day in their class is meaningful.
Every time a teacher takes the time to communicate that a student is important the relationship is strengthened, students are more engaged, and student achievement improves.
I appreciate our teachers and our staff who take the time to build relationships.
I'm just glad they did not ask me to dance!
Friday, September 13, 2013
It is time to change the dominant narrative
Dominant narratives are powerful.
Dominant narratives are the stories that we believe to be true. Sometimes the narrative is true. Others times the narrative is not, but we act as if it is because it is the dominant narrative.
I recently came across this article that captures the power and the danger of dominant narratives. The article tells the story of a basketball player whose "raw talent" is "exceptional," "precocious," "formidable," and the like. Yet, he never became a star.
The dominant narrative was that he was an exceptional player. Yet he never proved it.
I see a similar narrative taking place with our public schools. One current dominant narrative is that public schools are a failure.
I am here to say - they are not!
But this narrative is so pervasive that people believe it even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Let me explain.
Many schools in our state are doing wonderful things. Yet the state's new accountability system places the vast majority of public schools in our state in the yellow category. Venessa Keesler, Deputy Superintendent for Education Services with the Michigan Department of Education, said that yellow rating is a "warning."
The dominant narrative is that over 80% of the schools in Michigan should come with a warning.
That's ridiculous! Yet, that's the dominant narrative.
The dominant narrative says that only 25% of high school graduates are prepared for college. Yet, according to the state of Michigan's own website, only 27.55% of students who graduated in 2010 (the last year for which they have data on their website) took a remedial course in college. Broken down it shows that only 10% took a remedial reading course, 12% took a remedial writing course, and 21% took a remedial math course. So how can it be that only 25% of students are college ready yet 63% did not need any remedial course in college and 90% did not need remediation in reading and 88% did not need remediation in writing, and 79% did not need remediation in math.
The dominant narrative is trying to say that public schools are a failure.
They are not.
It is time to change the dominant narrative.
Public schools are successful. Public schools educate successfully the students who come through their doors.
Can public schools improve? Of course.
But the dominant narrative should be that public schools are working and they are getting better.
Dominant narratives are the stories that we believe to be true. Sometimes the narrative is true. Others times the narrative is not, but we act as if it is because it is the dominant narrative.
I recently came across this article that captures the power and the danger of dominant narratives. The article tells the story of a basketball player whose "raw talent" is "exceptional," "precocious," "formidable," and the like. Yet, he never became a star.
The dominant narrative was that he was an exceptional player. Yet he never proved it.
I see a similar narrative taking place with our public schools. One current dominant narrative is that public schools are a failure.
I am here to say - they are not!
But this narrative is so pervasive that people believe it even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Let me explain.
Many schools in our state are doing wonderful things. Yet the state's new accountability system places the vast majority of public schools in our state in the yellow category. Venessa Keesler, Deputy Superintendent for Education Services with the Michigan Department of Education, said that yellow rating is a "warning."
The dominant narrative is that over 80% of the schools in Michigan should come with a warning.
That's ridiculous! Yet, that's the dominant narrative.
The dominant narrative says that only 25% of high school graduates are prepared for college. Yet, according to the state of Michigan's own website, only 27.55% of students who graduated in 2010 (the last year for which they have data on their website) took a remedial course in college. Broken down it shows that only 10% took a remedial reading course, 12% took a remedial writing course, and 21% took a remedial math course. So how can it be that only 25% of students are college ready yet 63% did not need any remedial course in college and 90% did not need remediation in reading and 88% did not need remediation in writing, and 79% did not need remediation in math.
The dominant narrative is trying to say that public schools are a failure.
They are not.
It is time to change the dominant narrative.
Public schools are successful. Public schools educate successfully the students who come through their doors.
Can public schools improve? Of course.
But the dominant narrative should be that public schools are working and they are getting better.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Does school still mean something?
School starts Tuesday in my district.
As I look forward to Tuesday, I wonder does school really have a place anymore?
After all, students can learn online 24 hours a day.
I see billboards advertising the virtues of virtual schools as I drive to work.
Many districts in Michigan have opened their borders and accept students from different communities.
So is the local public school still something that is important?
There is a passage in Ivan Doig's book The Whistling Season that has fascinated me and stuck with me since the day I read it many years ago.
Do schools still have that "central power?"
Do community schools still mean something in the year 2013?
I think they do.
As I sit on this Thursday afternoon in my office, the girls high school swim and dive team is competing in its first meet of the season.
The Novi HS football team plays its first game tonight.
Teachers have been in all week working with each other, talking about lesson plans and students.
The high school marching band had its camp over three weeks ago.
Parents visited our elementary schools last night to meet teachers and talk to principals.
Our cooks and bus drivers and maintenance staff have spent countless hours getting our schools ready for the start of another school year.
Even with all of this activity I still ask myself, do schools still mean something? Do schools still ask of people to give something? Do schools still pull communities forward?
Again, I answer yes!
Schools connect a community. Teachers connect with students. Students connect with adults outside of their family. A love of learning and a passion for learning are passed on from one generation to another. Students begin to see, through the lives of the people in their school, that there are things to be passionate about.
For a student, schools become places where they learn that they are important. The adults in a school communicate to the students who attend that they matter. Teachers who take an interest in a student help that student understand that they are important.
Schools create places where students learn to fit in. Some students fit in with the athletic teams, others in the band. Some students connect through Quiz Bowl or Student Council or Safety Patrol. In community schools places are created and opportunities are presented for students to learn life lessons by connecting in a club or school activity.
Oh schools can falter. Schools can be places where students are bored or where they feel bullied or ignored or left out.
But community schools work hard to be places where students understand that they have a place, they have an opportunity to learn, and that they have adults who care about them.
Schools do mean something.
As this school year starts in my community, my hope is that we can continue to make schools mean something to every student who attends and to every family who trusts us enough to send us their children.
As I look forward to Tuesday, I wonder does school really have a place anymore?
After all, students can learn online 24 hours a day.
I see billboards advertising the virtues of virtual schools as I drive to work.
Many districts in Michigan have opened their borders and accept students from different communities.
So is the local public school still something that is important?
There is a passage in Ivan Doig's book The Whistling Season that has fascinated me and stuck with me since the day I read it many years ago.
Out beyond the play area, there were round rims of shadow on the patch of prairie where the horses we rode to school had eaten the grass down in circles around their picket stake . .
Forever and a day could go by and that feeling will never leave me. Of knowing, in that instant, the central power of that country school in our lives.
Everyone I could think of had something at stake in that school.
We all answered, with some part of our lives, to the pull of this small knoll of prospect, this isolated square of school ground.
Do community schools still mean something in the year 2013?
I think they do.
As I sit on this Thursday afternoon in my office, the girls high school swim and dive team is competing in its first meet of the season.
The Novi HS football team plays its first game tonight.
Teachers have been in all week working with each other, talking about lesson plans and students.
The high school marching band had its camp over three weeks ago.
Parents visited our elementary schools last night to meet teachers and talk to principals.
Our cooks and bus drivers and maintenance staff have spent countless hours getting our schools ready for the start of another school year.
Even with all of this activity I still ask myself, do schools still mean something? Do schools still ask of people to give something? Do schools still pull communities forward?
Again, I answer yes!
Schools connect a community. Teachers connect with students. Students connect with adults outside of their family. A love of learning and a passion for learning are passed on from one generation to another. Students begin to see, through the lives of the people in their school, that there are things to be passionate about.
For a student, schools become places where they learn that they are important. The adults in a school communicate to the students who attend that they matter. Teachers who take an interest in a student help that student understand that they are important.
Schools create places where students learn to fit in. Some students fit in with the athletic teams, others in the band. Some students connect through Quiz Bowl or Student Council or Safety Patrol. In community schools places are created and opportunities are presented for students to learn life lessons by connecting in a club or school activity.
Oh schools can falter. Schools can be places where students are bored or where they feel bullied or ignored or left out.
But community schools work hard to be places where students understand that they have a place, they have an opportunity to learn, and that they have adults who care about them.
Schools do mean something.
As this school year starts in my community, my hope is that we can continue to make schools mean something to every student who attends and to every family who trusts us enough to send us their children.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
How do I explain?
The state of Michigan released their latest version of the school accountability scores today. It is color code!
My guess is that you know exactly which color is better than the other.
Here are scores from two middle schools in Michigan. One is orange (bad) and one is yellow (caution). Guess which school is which.
Can you guess which is which? Which school has a lower rating than the other?
That's right! The school with 85% proficient overall and which had 50% of its bottom 30% proficient was orange.
To make the point clear, the school with the higher test scores overall and higher scores within subgroups - some significantly - was rated as less effective than the school with the lower test scores.
Now the state would argue that the new "color coded" system is not designed to compare schools. The state would argue that it is based on goals met and goals not met.
But each school has different goals based on subgroups. If you have few subgroups you have few scores. Each school has different goals.
There is a nuance to the system that clearly will be lost in translation.
The colors evidently have very little to do with actual performance.
The state system expects you to stand on land that you cannot stand on. Each parent is now, as we speak, looking at the color of theirs school and comparing it to the color of other schools. Parents will assume incorrectly that schools with orange are worse that schools with yellow and that schools within yellow are all the same.
Here is another example. Two yellow schools. According to Vanessa Kessler, a deputy superintendent at the Michigan Department of Education, yellow doesn’t mean a school is average. Yellow, she said, “is caution.”
One school has 81% of its students proficient; the other has 66% of its students proficient. One has 37% of the bottom 30% of its student proficient and the other school has 9% of its bottom 30% proficient. Yet both schools are rated the same. Both schools are yellow.
It is not true. These schools are different. One school I would suggest has higher achievement and is more successful than the other. Yet the state rates them both the same.
Now some may argue that I am biased. Some may argue that I disagree because the schools in my district are rated poorly.
The schools in my district can improve. The schools in my district can get better.
To have a system that so fundamentally miscommunicates to the public, to parents, to school staff suggests that the system is broken.
The system is fatally flawed.
- Green
- Lime green
- Yellow
- Orange
- Red
My guess is that you know exactly which color is better than the other.
Here are scores from two middle schools in Michigan. One is orange (bad) and one is yellow (caution). Guess which school is which.
| Group | % Proficient |
| All | 85% |
| Bottom 30% | 50% |
| Asian | 97% |
| African American | 59% |
| White | 83% |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 56% |
| Students with Disabilities | 55% |
| Group | % Proficient |
| All | 59% |
| Bottom 30% | 10% |
| Asian | 70% |
| African American | 37% |
| White | 62% |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 48% |
| Students with Disabilities | 39% |
Can you guess which is which? Which school has a lower rating than the other?
That's right! The school with 85% proficient overall and which had 50% of its bottom 30% proficient was orange.
To make the point clear, the school with the higher test scores overall and higher scores within subgroups - some significantly - was rated as less effective than the school with the lower test scores.
Now the state would argue that the new "color coded" system is not designed to compare schools. The state would argue that it is based on goals met and goals not met.
But each school has different goals based on subgroups. If you have few subgroups you have few scores. Each school has different goals.
There is a nuance to the system that clearly will be lost in translation.
The colors evidently have very little to do with actual performance.
The state system expects you to stand on land that you cannot stand on. Each parent is now, as we speak, looking at the color of theirs school and comparing it to the color of other schools. Parents will assume incorrectly that schools with orange are worse that schools with yellow and that schools within yellow are all the same.
Here is another example. Two yellow schools. According to Vanessa Kessler, a deputy superintendent at the Michigan Department of Education, yellow doesn’t mean a school is average. Yellow, she said, “is caution.”
| Group | % Proficient |
| All | 81% |
| Bottom 30% | 37% |
| Asian | 96% |
| African American | 54% |
| White | 78% |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 56% |
| Students with Disabilities | 43% |
| Group | % Proficient |
| All | 66% |
| Bottom 30% | 9% |
| Asian | - |
| African American | - |
| White | 68% |
| Economically Disadvantaged | 53% |
| Students with Disabilities | 34% |
One school has 81% of its students proficient; the other has 66% of its students proficient. One has 37% of the bottom 30% of its student proficient and the other school has 9% of its bottom 30% proficient. Yet both schools are rated the same. Both schools are yellow.
It is not true. These schools are different. One school I would suggest has higher achievement and is more successful than the other. Yet the state rates them both the same.
Now some may argue that I am biased. Some may argue that I disagree because the schools in my district are rated poorly.
The schools in my district can improve. The schools in my district can get better.
To have a system that so fundamentally miscommunicates to the public, to parents, to school staff suggests that the system is broken.
The system is fatally flawed.
Monday, August 12, 2013
My private heresy: I don't care about the state "scorecard"
Any day now my state (Michigan) will release its latest "school accountability" report. This year's version is called the "scorecard." Calling it a "scorecard" suggests that the state has the capacity to identify school winners and losers. After all, the only reason you keep score is to see who wins.
When the state reveals this year's scorecard, I will, as Superintendent of Schools, be asked how I interpret the results.
My answer, "I don't care."
That is probably not entirely true, but let me explain.
I don't care what the state "scorecard" reveals because the results cannot tell me anything that I do not already know.
We have great schools in my district. Students learn. Teachers and principals care.
We have National Merit Semi-Finalists and Finalists every year. We have Advanced Placement Scholars and International Baccalaureate graduates. We have Siemens Award winners.
We have state Quiz Bowl champions and state debate champions. We have students who do well on science fair projects and math league competitions.
We have an award winning theater troupe. Our bands and choirs earn the highest marks at solo and ensemble festivals.
Our athletic teams are competitive and, at times, the best in the state. We have coaches who challenge students to improve but more importantly care about each student.
On the objective measures that the state seems to care inordinately about we do well. Results from the MEAP and the MME rank us among the highest performing districts in the state.
On the NWEA, which our district uses to measure growth and achievement, students perform remarkably well. They perform at a high level and they consistently hit their growth targets.
We have one of the highest graduation rates in the state. Our student attendance rate is exceptionally high.
We have wonderful diversity in our district. We have students from a wide range of backgrounds and countries. This diversity provides an opportunity for our students to experience the world that they will live and work in and gain experiences that will give them confidence as they go off to college and enter the world of work.
We have achievement gaps. Some of these gaps are quite large. We have put in place a variety of supports to address these gaps. We have created smaller classes for students who struggle in math and reading. We have math and literacy coaches. We have reading support teachers. We have created an Academic Advisory at the high school and an Academic 20 at the middle school to connect students in smaller groups with a teacher who cares and who can help focus them academically.
We have teachers who run a Math Boot Camp and who come in early and stay late to tutor. We have teachers who call parents and encourage students every day.
I know our schools. They are wonderful, rich, vibrant, and exciting places to learn. Our district goals challenge us to help each student make a year's growth in a year's time and perform at a high level. We accept that challenge and together we are working hard to ensure that each student is challenged to reach their potential.
We are creating a robust, internal accountability system. This will allow us to us to focus attention not only on the state measurements but also our own internal assessments to give parents a clearer and more accurate picture of their son's and daughter's achievement.
So do I care about the state "scorecard?" Not really. Because I know my schools. I know the teachers and the principals. I know that we are making progress and that a state "scorecard" cannot truly capture the good things that happen in my schools every day.
The only reason I care about the "scorecard" is that I have to answer questions about what the "scorecard" means. So when the state "scorecard" is finally revealed, I will let my community know that I believe in our schools. I believe that we are great and getting better.
When the state reveals this year's scorecard, I will, as Superintendent of Schools, be asked how I interpret the results.
My answer, "I don't care."
That is probably not entirely true, but let me explain.
I don't care what the state "scorecard" reveals because the results cannot tell me anything that I do not already know.
We have great schools in my district. Students learn. Teachers and principals care.
We have National Merit Semi-Finalists and Finalists every year. We have Advanced Placement Scholars and International Baccalaureate graduates. We have Siemens Award winners.
We have state Quiz Bowl champions and state debate champions. We have students who do well on science fair projects and math league competitions.
We have an award winning theater troupe. Our bands and choirs earn the highest marks at solo and ensemble festivals.
Our athletic teams are competitive and, at times, the best in the state. We have coaches who challenge students to improve but more importantly care about each student.
On the objective measures that the state seems to care inordinately about we do well. Results from the MEAP and the MME rank us among the highest performing districts in the state.
On the NWEA, which our district uses to measure growth and achievement, students perform remarkably well. They perform at a high level and they consistently hit their growth targets.
We have one of the highest graduation rates in the state. Our student attendance rate is exceptionally high.
We have wonderful diversity in our district. We have students from a wide range of backgrounds and countries. This diversity provides an opportunity for our students to experience the world that they will live and work in and gain experiences that will give them confidence as they go off to college and enter the world of work.
We have achievement gaps. Some of these gaps are quite large. We have put in place a variety of supports to address these gaps. We have created smaller classes for students who struggle in math and reading. We have math and literacy coaches. We have reading support teachers. We have created an Academic Advisory at the high school and an Academic 20 at the middle school to connect students in smaller groups with a teacher who cares and who can help focus them academically.
We have teachers who run a Math Boot Camp and who come in early and stay late to tutor. We have teachers who call parents and encourage students every day.
I know our schools. They are wonderful, rich, vibrant, and exciting places to learn. Our district goals challenge us to help each student make a year's growth in a year's time and perform at a high level. We accept that challenge and together we are working hard to ensure that each student is challenged to reach their potential.
We are creating a robust, internal accountability system. This will allow us to us to focus attention not only on the state measurements but also our own internal assessments to give parents a clearer and more accurate picture of their son's and daughter's achievement.
So do I care about the state "scorecard?" Not really. Because I know my schools. I know the teachers and the principals. I know that we are making progress and that a state "scorecard" cannot truly capture the good things that happen in my schools every day.
The only reason I care about the "scorecard" is that I have to answer questions about what the "scorecard" means. So when the state "scorecard" is finally revealed, I will let my community know that I believe in our schools. I believe that we are great and getting better.
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