This week, National Teachers Appreciation Week, is a time to remember and acknowledge those who undertake one of the most important tasks in our society - educating our youth. If you are like me, some of your most cherished childhood memories involve a teacher, guidance counselor or coach who made a difference.
As the Superintendent of Schools, I join in the chorus of those taking time this week to appreciate our fine teachers. Your commitment does not go unnoticed as evidenced by the wonderful occassion last night honoring the 2012 Pioneer Valley Teachers of Excellence at the Log Cabin Banquet Hall and Meeting House in Easthampton. Though 26 of our teachers were honored, we know the teacher attributes celebrated by that award extends deep into the hallways and classrooms of all of our schools.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Music Teacher Strikes All the Right Chords
Last night I had the opportunity to attend the New England Public Radio 2012 Arts and Humanities Awards Gala recognizing the talents of various artists in Western New England. One of the honorees was our very own Gary Bernice, an outstanding music teacher from the High School of Science and Technology (Sci Tech) who directs the school’s Concert Band, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, and Stomp Percussion Ensemble.
Under Gary’s leadership, the band program at Sci Tech provides a comprehensive instrumental music curriculum infused with many student leadership opportunities, and is affectionately known as the “The Pride of Springfield.” Since his arrival in January 2007, the Sci Tech Band has grown tenfold to over 300 students.
Further evidence of the band program’s success is seen in the fact that 98 percent of students who join the band for more than one year graduate from high school; far exceeding the school’s, district and statewide averages. As part of the awards program, Gary rocked the house in leading the Sci Tech Band’s performance of “12 Bar Blues,”a piece highlighting improvised instrumental solos based on a standard 12 bar blues chord progression.
In accepting the award, Gary thanked his students and spoke fondly of his former mentor (UMASS professor, George Parks), who inspired him to make the most of every second and every minute. More importantly, Gary is not only paying it forward but is profoundly touching the lives of his students, many of whom come from distressed backgrounds and have never picked up an instrument before. He also co-founded the Springfield Mentoring Through Music Program that pairs high school students and younger students together for music lessons.
Gary Bernice is but one of the many outstanding educators we have in Springfield Public Schools making a difference everyday in the lives of students. I’d say our music future is in very good hands!
Under Gary’s leadership, the band program at Sci Tech provides a comprehensive instrumental music curriculum infused with many student leadership opportunities, and is affectionately known as the “The Pride of Springfield.” Since his arrival in January 2007, the Sci Tech Band has grown tenfold to over 300 students.
Further evidence of the band program’s success is seen in the fact that 98 percent of students who join the band for more than one year graduate from high school; far exceeding the school’s, district and statewide averages. As part of the awards program, Gary rocked the house in leading the Sci Tech Band’s performance of “12 Bar Blues,”a piece highlighting improvised instrumental solos based on a standard 12 bar blues chord progression.
In accepting the award, Gary thanked his students and spoke fondly of his former mentor (UMASS professor, George Parks), who inspired him to make the most of every second and every minute. More importantly, Gary is not only paying it forward but is profoundly touching the lives of his students, many of whom come from distressed backgrounds and have never picked up an instrument before. He also co-founded the Springfield Mentoring Through Music Program that pairs high school students and younger students together for music lessons.
Gary Bernice is but one of the many outstanding educators we have in Springfield Public Schools making a difference everyday in the lives of students. I’d say our music future is in very good hands!
Friday, April 13, 2012
It takes ONE and ALL to make change
The work of the superintendency is filled with challenges and opportunities. Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend some quality time at Bay Path College with Erin Gruwell, the self ascribed “maverick teacher” and famed author of The Freedom Writers Diary, an amazing true story of strength, courage, and achievement in the face of adversity that offers hope for schools in urban centers.
The day began with a small informal luncheon with Erin, Bay Path College officials, business leaders, foundation representatives and our Mayor. More importantly, Erin had the occasion to update us on her work through the Freedom Writers Foundation whose mission is to change the educational system one classroom at a time by providing educators with transformative tools to engage, enlighten and empower at-risk students to help them reach their full potential. The Foundation’s Freedom Writers Institute has trained over 200 teachers to strengthen their capacity in working with at-risk students.
The luncheon was followed by an evening event on campus for a film screening of “Stories from an Undeclared War” chronicling Erin’s work as a new teacher with 150 students at Wilson High School - all of whom graduated in spite of the odds. Her class was diverse in its ethnicity with many students having grown up in the tough neighborhoods of Long Beach, California and impacted by all the challenges of living in an urban center. Their work together in Classroom 203 was transformative through writing, changed lives and is now being paid forward through the Freedom Writers Foundation.
Although I’ve met Erin before, have read some of her work, and fully embrace the power of hope, my time with her yesterday was inspiring. Most importantly, it affirmed my belief that it takes many leaders, community members, parents and teachers working together to help our children realize their full potential and dreams; and yet, one person can make a significant difference.
The day began with a small informal luncheon with Erin, Bay Path College officials, business leaders, foundation representatives and our Mayor. More importantly, Erin had the occasion to update us on her work through the Freedom Writers Foundation whose mission is to change the educational system one classroom at a time by providing educators with transformative tools to engage, enlighten and empower at-risk students to help them reach their full potential. The Foundation’s Freedom Writers Institute has trained over 200 teachers to strengthen their capacity in working with at-risk students.
The luncheon was followed by an evening event on campus for a film screening of “Stories from an Undeclared War” chronicling Erin’s work as a new teacher with 150 students at Wilson High School - all of whom graduated in spite of the odds. Her class was diverse in its ethnicity with many students having grown up in the tough neighborhoods of Long Beach, California and impacted by all the challenges of living in an urban center. Their work together in Classroom 203 was transformative through writing, changed lives and is now being paid forward through the Freedom Writers Foundation.
Although I’ve met Erin before, have read some of her work, and fully embrace the power of hope, my time with her yesterday was inspiring. Most importantly, it affirmed my belief that it takes many leaders, community members, parents and teachers working together to help our children realize their full potential and dreams; and yet, one person can make a significant difference.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Health Proposal Aims to Protect Kids
Two years ago, the district adopted a health curriculum that included a more comprehensive reproductive health component. This year, the proposed policy to make condoms available to sexually active middle and high school students who ask for them with their parents’ permission is the next small step towards helping improve the health and welfare of the city’s youth. The goal of the proposed policy is to decrease the amount of sexually transmitted infections and pregnancies among our youth (Springfield teens have among the highest rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea compared to their peers across the Commonwealth and the fourth highest teen birth rate in the state).
On March 15th, the School Committee voted 5 to 1 in favor in of a Springfield Public Schools Access to Comprehensive Reproductive Health Policy that would make condoms available to students aged 12 and above who ask the school nurse for one. School nurses would be obligated to advocate for abstinence and thoroughly explain the risks associated with sexual activity before availing a condom to the student. The nurse would also check to see if the student’s parents had directed the school not to make condoms available to their child. Students whose parents “opt-out” of condom availability will not be provided condoms or sexual health counseling.
Though the School Committee voted in favor of the policy earlier this month, a second vote is required per School Committee policy. I fully respect and value the personal opinion that each School Committee member may hold. Certainly, this issue has been controversial. I myself, was hesitant to address it. However, the startling statistics around the sexual health of our youth, for me, was an eye-opener and a call to action. It’s my hope that the Committee will continue to act in the best interest of kids and pass this policy.
On March 15th, the School Committee voted 5 to 1 in favor in of a Springfield Public Schools Access to Comprehensive Reproductive Health Policy that would make condoms available to students aged 12 and above who ask the school nurse for one. School nurses would be obligated to advocate for abstinence and thoroughly explain the risks associated with sexual activity before availing a condom to the student. The nurse would also check to see if the student’s parents had directed the school not to make condoms available to their child. Students whose parents “opt-out” of condom availability will not be provided condoms or sexual health counseling.
Though the School Committee voted in favor of the policy earlier this month, a second vote is required per School Committee policy. I fully respect and value the personal opinion that each School Committee member may hold. Certainly, this issue has been controversial. I myself, was hesitant to address it. However, the startling statistics around the sexual health of our youth, for me, was an eye-opener and a call to action. It’s my hope that the Committee will continue to act in the best interest of kids and pass this policy.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Technological Advancements for Professional Development
This week the school district begins training for a new web-based system that will allow staff members to better organize, track and participate in strategically designed Professional Development opportunities.
This new addition to our Professional Development repertoire provides: an online catalog and enrollment system; approval routing of all forms and requests; the instructor and participant application and hiring process; and tracking and printing of certificates of hours completed for professional development.
It is a remarkable replacement for the manually processed blue professional development postings that have traditionally been sent out to the schools.
More than that, this new Professional Development Program, called My Learning Plan, exemplifies the critical role that technology can play as a solution to forming effective collaborations geared directly towards improving student achievement.
This new addition to our Professional Development repertoire provides: an online catalog and enrollment system; approval routing of all forms and requests; the instructor and participant application and hiring process; and tracking and printing of certificates of hours completed for professional development.
It is a remarkable replacement for the manually processed blue professional development postings that have traditionally been sent out to the schools.
More than that, this new Professional Development Program, called My Learning Plan, exemplifies the critical role that technology can play as a solution to forming effective collaborations geared directly towards improving student achievement.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Road Ahead is Paved with SMARTer Goals
Good goals help school districts improve. As part of the ongoing training that administrators have been receiving in preparation for a new statewide educator evaluation system, principals and central office administrators recently attended a workshop that centered around what it means to create “SMART” goals.
Not all goals are created equally and this understanding is so important and pivotal to progress that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has taken it on as a statewide initiative.
As we reviewed during the workshop, SMART goals are Specific and Strategic, Measurable, Action oriented, Rigorous, Realistic and Results driven; Timed and Tracked.
Karla Baehr, our facilitator, emphasized the unique opportunity that the new educator evaluation system represents as Springfield Public Schools continues the hard work of improving our district. The creation of new goals to help improve teaching and learning in the classroom is an integral part of the new teacher evaluation system. These goals are to be arrived at jointly through conversation and reflection by both the principal and teacher. SMARTer goals will include action plans and benchmarks and will be aligned with district goals and priorities.
The workshop offered administrators an opportunity to “turn and talk” to their colleagues about how SMART goals relate specifically to the work they do daily and how they can best incorporate this new system into their daily work routine. The session ended with Karla Baehr asking us all to recollect a time in our lives when we achieved a personal or professional goal and reflect on the pride we felt in our accomplishment.
Her challenge to all of us was to remember and fully understand the important role that our personal commitment played in our goal attainment and how we didn’t allow “perfection to be the enemy of action.” The exercise modeled how important it is for our teachers and staff to be personally vested in their goals. The new educator evaluation system will help us achieve those results through the creation of goals that are aligned to district objectives yet customized and personal to the educator.
As Karla Baehr pointed out for us, no one highlighted a goal that they felt was an easy achievement. They were all accomplishments that we had worked hard to achieve.
Good goals are not easy to achieve but there is no way forward without them.
Not all goals are created equally and this understanding is so important and pivotal to progress that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has taken it on as a statewide initiative.
As we reviewed during the workshop, SMART goals are Specific and Strategic, Measurable, Action oriented, Rigorous, Realistic and Results driven; Timed and Tracked.
Karla Baehr, our facilitator, emphasized the unique opportunity that the new educator evaluation system represents as Springfield Public Schools continues the hard work of improving our district. The creation of new goals to help improve teaching and learning in the classroom is an integral part of the new teacher evaluation system. These goals are to be arrived at jointly through conversation and reflection by both the principal and teacher. SMARTer goals will include action plans and benchmarks and will be aligned with district goals and priorities.
The workshop offered administrators an opportunity to “turn and talk” to their colleagues about how SMART goals relate specifically to the work they do daily and how they can best incorporate this new system into their daily work routine. The session ended with Karla Baehr asking us all to recollect a time in our lives when we achieved a personal or professional goal and reflect on the pride we felt in our accomplishment.
Her challenge to all of us was to remember and fully understand the important role that our personal commitment played in our goal attainment and how we didn’t allow “perfection to be the enemy of action.” The exercise modeled how important it is for our teachers and staff to be personally vested in their goals. The new educator evaluation system will help us achieve those results through the creation of goals that are aligned to district objectives yet customized and personal to the educator.
As Karla Baehr pointed out for us, no one highlighted a goal that they felt was an easy achievement. They were all accomplishments that we had worked hard to achieve.
Good goals are not easy to achieve but there is no way forward without them.
Monday, February 27, 2012
National Summit Highlights Progress; SPS Students
Recently, members of my senior team, the president of our local teachers association and I had the opportunity to participate in a U.S. Department of Education (USDE) School Turnaround Summit and Nation Education Association (NEA) Foundation events, February 9-10 in Washington, D.C.
The School Turnaround Summit included School Improvement Grant (SIG) teams from 26 districts across the nation and several state education agencies. The summit was hosted by the USDE new Office of School Turnaround in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The summit provided an opportunity to reflect on our existing educational practices; to learn from other district leaders who have been successful in addressing persistent challenges in turning around their lowest-performing schools; and a chance to stay abreast of some of the latest research, promising practices and tools for practitioners in the work of school turnaround.
In addition to the summit agenda and targeted breakout sessions, there was also team time relative to the unique needs of our respective districts. Finally, the summit provided an opportunity for participating superintendents and union leaders to meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the White House to discuss challenges, impediments and what’s needed from USDE to support our work in the school turnaround arena.
The NEA events afforded SEA President Tim Collins and I the chance to co-present before the Foundation’s Board on labor-management-community collaborations as it relates to the Springfield Closing the Achievement Gap Grant. This allowed us to highlight our successes and opportunities for improvement as we approach the close of our second year of the grant (i.e., project interventions, union-district collaborations, community partnerships and performance outcomes).
The highlight of our visit to D.C. for me occurred Friday evening at the NEA Foundation's Salute to Excellence in Education Gala, where seven Springfield performing arts students (and their teachers) from Rebecca Johnson Elementary School, the High School of Science and Technology and Central High School got to perform on a national stage.
The genres included dance, instrumental and vocal performances. It was a heartfelt evening to watch our students represent themselves and Springfield so well in showcasing their talents and abilities.
The School Turnaround Summit included School Improvement Grant (SIG) teams from 26 districts across the nation and several state education agencies. The summit was hosted by the USDE new Office of School Turnaround in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The summit provided an opportunity to reflect on our existing educational practices; to learn from other district leaders who have been successful in addressing persistent challenges in turning around their lowest-performing schools; and a chance to stay abreast of some of the latest research, promising practices and tools for practitioners in the work of school turnaround.
In addition to the summit agenda and targeted breakout sessions, there was also team time relative to the unique needs of our respective districts. Finally, the summit provided an opportunity for participating superintendents and union leaders to meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the White House to discuss challenges, impediments and what’s needed from USDE to support our work in the school turnaround arena.
The NEA events afforded SEA President Tim Collins and I the chance to co-present before the Foundation’s Board on labor-management-community collaborations as it relates to the Springfield Closing the Achievement Gap Grant. This allowed us to highlight our successes and opportunities for improvement as we approach the close of our second year of the grant (i.e., project interventions, union-district collaborations, community partnerships and performance outcomes).
The highlight of our visit to D.C. for me occurred Friday evening at the NEA Foundation's Salute to Excellence in Education Gala, where seven Springfield performing arts students (and their teachers) from Rebecca Johnson Elementary School, the High School of Science and Technology and Central High School got to perform on a national stage.
The genres included dance, instrumental and vocal performances. It was a heartfelt evening to watch our students represent themselves and Springfield so well in showcasing their talents and abilities.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Rethinking Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
An emphasis on team-building took center stage during a daylong training today where all of our principals and senior staff heard from Kim Marshall, author of “Rethinking Teacher Supervision and Evaluation.” While principals are generally resistant about leaving their schools for a full day, I believe everyone understood the great value contained in today’s session as we work as a district to strive for academic excellence.
The bulk of Kim Marshall’s workshop centered around meaningful, effective and efficient means of evaluating teachers. Discussions included points related to high performance expectations, trust building, meaningful feedback and support, continual improvement, time management, teacher involvement and effective supervision.
Today’s session was a vital resource and included several tools that principals can begin using immediately for vastly improving supervision and evaluation practices to foster teacher professional development district wide.
Kim emphasized four high yield strategies: Mini-observations, End-of-Year Rubric Evaluations, Team Interim Assessments and Team Curriculum Unit Planning. This work is consistent with changes in the Massachusetts Model System for Educator Evaluations, which helps us leverage the implementation locally with a profound impact on teaching and learning to improve student achievement.
The bulk of Kim Marshall’s workshop centered around meaningful, effective and efficient means of evaluating teachers. Discussions included points related to high performance expectations, trust building, meaningful feedback and support, continual improvement, time management, teacher involvement and effective supervision.
Today’s session was a vital resource and included several tools that principals can begin using immediately for vastly improving supervision and evaluation practices to foster teacher professional development district wide.
Kim emphasized four high yield strategies: Mini-observations, End-of-Year Rubric Evaluations, Team Interim Assessments and Team Curriculum Unit Planning. This work is consistent with changes in the Massachusetts Model System for Educator Evaluations, which helps us leverage the implementation locally with a profound impact on teaching and learning to improve student achievement.
Friday, January 20, 2012
School Committee meeting highlights the positive
Thanks to all of you and your respective teams who presented at last night’s school committee meeting!
In particular, I thought our students and teachers recognized for their music accomplishments were magnificent along with the RtTT Early Learning Challenge Grant presentation by Erin Craft and Paul Foster’s very informative presentation to update the public regarding our work to improve student support plans.
In short, I felt the meeting focused on the right issues and the informational/discussion items gave further evidence of our progress towards the vision of “educational excellence.”
While we have a ways to go, there are signs of “hope” all around us.
In particular, I thought our students and teachers recognized for their music accomplishments were magnificent along with the RtTT Early Learning Challenge Grant presentation by Erin Craft and Paul Foster’s very informative presentation to update the public regarding our work to improve student support plans.
In short, I felt the meeting focused on the right issues and the informational/discussion items gave further evidence of our progress towards the vision of “educational excellence.”
While we have a ways to go, there are signs of “hope” all around us.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Book Offers Practical and Refreshing Ideas
Over the holidays I had the chance to discuss Doug Lemov’s book, Teach Like a Champion, with my wife Lisa, who is a National Board Certified Teacher in an elementary school. As a veteran teacher of 18 years in the classroom and one who is always looking for ways to improve her craft, I wasn’t surprised that she found Lemov’s 49 techniques essential to the art of teaching to be concrete, specific and easy to implement for novice and/or career teachers alike.
Our discussion of Teach Like a Champion and review of the DVD contents centered on three things: some great reminders and validations about good teaching techniques; some new ways of thinking; and her overall thoughts.
Doug Lemov believes teaching is an art and is not innate — what a refreshing, and often contradictory idea these days. As Lisa reminded me, the book tackles some of the most difficult issues K-12 teachers deal with daily: how can you make more time, how can you keep from being stressed out and angry by things beyond your control, how can you get students to think critically, why have so many students given up on learning so early in their lives, and why does it seem that so many teachers are working harder than some of their students.
Although the book provides suggestions for responses to students, we discussed how it doesn’t diminish a teacher’s creativity and doesn’t assume teachers are not capable of teaching without a script. Teach Like a Champion can truly help teachers put students first by focusing on their success. The techniques are true examples of the saying “work smarter, not harder.”
Reading and using this book as a resource will cause you to reflect seriously on your practice as a teacher, not because someone mandated something new, but because it provides practical knowledge and tools that can help without assigning blame and because students will be the direct beneficiary.
I believe Doug Lemov’s book, Teach Like a Champion is insightful and practical. We’ve used it in SPS as a book study for our academic team at the central office, principals and instructional leadership teams in schools.
Our discussion of Teach Like a Champion and review of the DVD contents centered on three things: some great reminders and validations about good teaching techniques; some new ways of thinking; and her overall thoughts.
Doug Lemov believes teaching is an art and is not innate — what a refreshing, and often contradictory idea these days. As Lisa reminded me, the book tackles some of the most difficult issues K-12 teachers deal with daily: how can you make more time, how can you keep from being stressed out and angry by things beyond your control, how can you get students to think critically, why have so many students given up on learning so early in their lives, and why does it seem that so many teachers are working harder than some of their students.
Although the book provides suggestions for responses to students, we discussed how it doesn’t diminish a teacher’s creativity and doesn’t assume teachers are not capable of teaching without a script. Teach Like a Champion can truly help teachers put students first by focusing on their success. The techniques are true examples of the saying “work smarter, not harder.”
Reading and using this book as a resource will cause you to reflect seriously on your practice as a teacher, not because someone mandated something new, but because it provides practical knowledge and tools that can help without assigning blame and because students will be the direct beneficiary.
I believe Doug Lemov’s book, Teach Like a Champion is insightful and practical. We’ve used it in SPS as a book study for our academic team at the central office, principals and instructional leadership teams in schools.
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