The Role of the Central Office

In his State of Education Address in 1987, Secretary of Education William Bennett attached the nickname "the blob" to administrators and the administrative system in public schools. The blob, he argued, is made up of people in the education system who work outside the classroom, soaking up resources and resisting reform without contributing to student achievement. In 1999, he reiterated his point in a book he coauthored. In the Educated Child, Bennett explained that the "B.L.O.B." referred to the "Bloated Education Bureaucracy" and included superintendents, district office staff, and local school board members.



Certainly one can find examples of local school district bureaucracies that stand in the way of efforts to improve schooling. But does this characterization apply to administration in general? Is district leadership really unrelated to student learning (at best) or detrimental to student learning (at worst)?



These were precisely the types of questions Marzano and Waters set out to answer in their book District Leadership that Works (2009). These researchers conducted a meta-analysis (synthesis of studies) to determine if there is a correlation between district-level leadership and average academic student achievement in a school district. Fourteen studies met the requirements for inclusion in their meta analysis. These fourteen studies included data from 1,210 school districts.



The computed correlation found was .24 and was statistically significant at the .05 level. To interpret this correlation, consider an average superintendent (50th percentile in terms of leadership skills). Also assume that this superintendent is leading a district where the average student achievement is also at the 50th percentile. Now, assume that the superintendent improves his or leadership abilities by one standard deviation (in this case, rising to the 84th percentile of district leaders). Given the correlation between district leadership and student achievement of .24, we would predict the average student achievement in the district would increase by 9.5% points. In other words, average student achievement in the district would rise to the 59.5th percentile.



These findings stand in sharp contrast to the notion that district administration is a part of an amorphous blob that soaks up valuable resoureces without adding value to a district's effectiveness. On the contrary, these findings suggest that when district leaders are carrying out their leadership responsibilities effectively, student achievement across the district is positively affected. So what specific leadership behaviors are associated with student achievement?



In response to this question, Marzano and Waters (2009) found five district-level leadership responsibilities with a statisticallys significant correlation with average student academic achievement. These responsibilities are:

1) Including central office staff, building-level administrators, board members and other relevant stakeholders in establishing nonnegotiable goals for the district.

2) Ensuring that the goal-setting process results in nonnegotiable goals (goals that all staff members must act on) in at least two areas: (a) student achievement (b) classroom instruction.

3) Creating board alignment with and support for the district's goals.

4) Monitoring progress towards the established achievement and instruction goals.

5) Allocating the necessary resources (time, money, personnel and materials) to accomplish the district's goals.



Two other findings from their study are worth noting. First, the relationship between the schools and central office should be based on defined autonomy. In other words, the central office administration expects building principals to lead within the boundaries defined by the district goals. Second, the longevity of the superintendent has a positive effect on the average academic achievement of students in the district. This is an alarming conclusion when one considers the frequency of leadership changes in school districts throughout New Jersey.



Certainly this study does not identify all of the roles and responsibilities of central office administration. However, it does provide perspective on the impact leadership can have as well as guidance for what responsibilities to emphasize as priorities.



On a separate note, during the holiday season more than ever, my thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our progress possible. In this spirit, I say, simply but sincerely, thank you and best wishes for the holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Giving Thanks

It is the time of year when many of us gather with family and friends to give thanks for what life has blessed us with. This year, I am thankful for many things. In my professional life, I am thankful for the opportunity to wake up each morning knowing that I have the opportunity to make a difference. I believe in public education as a vehicle for creating a better future for all!

I am thankful for my colleagues. I have never worked with a group of more dedicated school administrators. Every day they come to work with the intention of making the school district a place where students can thrive.

I am thankful for our teaching staff. Teaching is a difficult profession that requires dedication, sacrifice and skill. I am proud to say that we have many professional staff members that possess these qualities.

I am thankful for our support staff. These talented, hard-working staff members are responsible for making our school district operate efficiently and effectively. They do this for the least amount of compensation and recognition in the whole school district.

I am thankful for our Board of Education. I often kid with them about why anyone in their right mind would want to volunteer for such a thankless task. They receive no compensation, are held to a higher standard than the general public, usually only hear the negative news and spend countless hours. I admire their dedication to public service and their willingness to share their viewpoints and talents.

I am thankful for the parents of students in our school district. The children you send to school each day are incredible! They are well-mannered and well-behaved. We are lucky to work in such an environment.

Thank you to all and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

NCLB & AYP

Recently, I have had some inquiries related to the district's status regarding the No Child Left Behind Act. The inquiries have centered on the topic of our middle school being designated as a School in Need of Improvement. This blog is an attempt to explain why we have received this designation and what it means.

Each year the district's performance on the New Jersey Assessment of Student's Skills and Knowledge (grades 3-8) are disaggregated by subgroups for examination. There are 40 groups, including gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, etc. One of these subcategories is students with disabilities.

Of the 40 groups, two of ours did not make Adequate Yearly Progress according to the NCLB criteria. Those two categories were students with disabilities in both math and language arts. If any subgroup does not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress standard, then that school is designated as in need of improvement. This is the case, even though every other category including the total student population passes.

You might be asking, why this year for those two groups? In order for a subgroup to be reported annually, there must be 30 students in that subcategory across three grade spans. Alexandria Township has never met this requirement, so this subcategory was never reported upon. Last year, the district had one student with individualized educational plans move into the school district in grade 7. In addition, we graduated 5 students with individualized education plans. Eight students moved up from seventh to eighth grade. As a result, the district had 31 students with disabilities in grades 6,7 and 8. The previous year we had twenty-six students in these three grades.

Grade # of students 2008-2009 # of students 2009-2010
6 13 9
7 8 14
8 5 8
Totals 26 31

As a result of this increase in the subcategory of students with disabilities, the school district is now reported on in this category. If we had to report on this subcategory in any previous year, the school district would have received the designation of in need of improvement at that point in time. It is not that the average performance for the students has declined significantly, it is that the total number of students eligible to be reported on in this category has increased.

This does not mean that we do not dedicate ourselves to improving the performance of our students who have disabilities. However, as a professional educator with an extensive background in special education, I have serious reservations about using criterion-referenced standardized tests to measure the progress of our students with disabilities.

In some cases, the material on these tests is not the most important things for these students to learn. I do not expect my child study team or special education teachers to focus their instruction on improving test scores when the content is not truly what the student needs to learn. The I in the IEP stands for Individualized, a concept that seems to have been forgotten by the NCLB creators.

In some cases, the nature of the testing does not allow for our students with disabilities to present their full complement of knowledge and skills. Those who have the most difficulty with paper and pencil tasks are being required to complete an assessment that utilizes paper and pencil as the sole source of producing answers. Could our students with disabilities perform better if they were allowed to express their knowledge in other forms?

Standardized testing bases student performance on expected outcomes by chronological age. This assumes that all students can learn at the same rate of speed. Yet, brain research clearly informs educators of the developmental differences in learning. This is not to mention the clearly established differences among students with regards to the speed at which the brain processes information. I do believe that all children can learn, I just don't believe they can all learn at the same rate of speed or in the same way.

Do these flaws excuse us from expecting academic growth from our students with disabilities? Of course not! In fact, I argue that these students need more growth than their peers. That is why we have been in the process of implementing our own curriculum-based measurement program that will track the progress of students in resource center classrooms throughout the school district. Monthly we intend to use quick but reliable and valid "probes" to assess students' performance in reading, writing and math. We will use the information to inform instructional and program decisions. We are currently training our teachers in this program and anticipate having it started by the end of this school year.

I am a strong advocate of accountability for results with students. Those who know me, realize that I do not make excuses for not obtaining the results expected. However, I am also realistic and try my best to be fair minded. I do expect significant growth for all of our students, I just don't think that the best way to measure this growth is via a flawed standardized test that is taken once a year.

Two Types of Change in Schools

Since I have been an educator, and probably long before that, one of the constants of the K-12 educational system is that someone is always trying to change it. Some of the changes implemented are well thought out, well articulated, and even well researched. So why are they so short lived?

One reason may be the assumption that the magnitude of the change represented by all innovations are the same. This is definately not the case. Some changes are what is referred to as first-order change and others can be referred to as second-order change.

First-order change is incremental. It can be thought of as the next most obvious step to take in a class, school or district. Second-order change is anything but incremental. This type of change involves a radical departure from the norm.

It has been my experience that the common perspective used to address all problems in schools is to view them as first-order change issues. In other words, we tend to approach new problems from the perspective of our experiences. Unfortunately, solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our schools require a second-order perspective. We need deep, radical change to our schools if we are to maintain a competitive edge in the world.

Second-order change is never a small task. In fact, second-order change is so complex that it is not to be entered into lightly. Prestine (1992) cautions that second-order change cannot approach hesitantly. Sizer asserts that second-order change calls for decisive, swift action. Fullan (1993) states "I'm increasingly persuaded that schools that go slow and a little at a time end up doing so little that they succeed in only upsetting everything without accuring the benefits of the change."

Furthermore whether a change is considered first or second order varies based on the perceptions of individual staff members. To some, an innovation is a natural extension of everyday practice. To others, it is a radical departure from the past. For example, using computers to teach writing is easy for some, but is very scary for others.

In my most recent post, I described 21 responsibilities of the school principal. Interestingly, the importance of each responsibility varies according to the perception of the types of changes a school district is experiencing. Second-order change is associated with 7 of the 21 responsibilities I described. These include:
* Knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment.
* Optimizer
* Intellectual stimulation
* Change agent
* Monitoring/evaluating
* Flexibility
* Ideals/Beliefs
In other words, to be successful a school leader striving to provide leadership for a second-order change initiative must prioritize these aspects of leadership.

Unfortunately, second-order change initiatives negatively impact on four of the other principal responsibilities. These are:
* Culture
* Communication
* Order
* Input

A school leader must pay a certain price for the implementation of second-order change initiatives. Team spirit, cooperation, communication, order and routine and the level of input from all members of the staff typically deteriorate as a result of second-order change initiatives. Fullan (1993) states that "those individuals and organizations that are most effective do not experience fewer problems, less stressful situations, and greater fortune, they just deal with them differently."

To successfully implement a second-order change initiative, school leaders must ratchet up their idealism, energy and enthusiasm. Additionally, they must be willing to sustain these behaviors when confronted by frustration and even anger from some staff members. While this may take a personal toll on that school leader, this is the price we must pay for long-term progress.

The Importance of School Principals

Each day more than 53.6 million students walk into more than 94,000 K-12 schools in the hopes that the 13 years of schooling they will experience will dramatically enhance their chances of success in modern world. Indeed, evidence of income in 2001 supports these hopes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the earning potential of a student who graduates from high school is $19,900 compared with $11,864 for a student who does not. If the high school graduate completes college, that earning potential increases to $37,203. A master's degree increases the figure to $49,324. A doctorate or professional licensure reaches $71,606. School, then can be the door to advancement--at least financial advancement--in our complex society. For a particular school to be a launchpad to the levels of success sought by students, however, it must operate effectively.

Whether a school operates effectively or not will increase or decrease a student's chances of academic success. Marzano (2003) has shown that students in effective schools as opposed to ineffective schools have a 44% difference in their expected passing rate on a test that has a typical passing rate of 50 percent. To illustrate, consider two schools--School A and School B. Assume that the schools have a typical population of students--some with advantages in their home environment and background experiences, some with few if any advantages, most somewhere in the middle. If students in both schools take a test that has a typical passing rate of 50%, we would expect 72% of the students in the effective school to pass the test and only 28% in the ineffective school to pass. A difference of 44%.

To what extent does leadership play a role in whether a school is effective or ineffective? That is, how much of a school's impact on student achievement is due to the leadership displayed in that school? To answer this question, it is valuable to look at the results of a meta-analysis conducted by Marzano and associates (2003).

After examining 69 studies that involved 2,802 schools, they computed the correlation between the leadership behavior of the principal in the school and the average academic achievement of students in the school to be .25. To interpret this correlation, assume that the principal is hired into a district and assigned to a school that is at the 50th percentile in the average achievement of its students. Also assume that the principal is at the 50th percentile in his or her leadership ability.

Assuming the principal stays in the school for an extended period of time, the .25 correlation implies that over time, it would be expected that the average achievement of the school would remain at the 50th percentile. Interestingly, if you increase the principal's leadership behaviors by one standard deviation--from the 50th to the 84th percentile--you would expect to see the average achievement of the students in the school to rise to the 60th percentile. Increasing leadership behavior by two standard deviations--the 99th percentile--would allow us to predict student achievement to rise to 72nd percentile. Taken at face value, these findings are compelling. A highly effective school level leader can have a dramatic influence on the overall academic achievement of students. So what makes for an effective school level leader?

Examining 69 studies, looking for specific behaviors related to principal leadership has lead to the identification of 21 core responsibilities. These responsibilities and a description are:

Affirmation - Recognizes and celebrates accomplishments and acknowledges failures.
Change Agent - Willing to challenge and actively challenges the status quo.
Contingent Reward - Recognizes and rewards individual accomplishments.
Communication - Establishes strong lines of communication with and among teachers and students.
Culture - Fosters shared believes and a sense of community and cooperation.
Discipline - Protects teachers from issues and influences that would detract from their teaching time or focus.
Flexibility - Adapts his or her leadership behavior to the needs of the current situation and is comfortable with dissent.
Focus - Establishes clear goals and keeps these goals at the forefront of the school's attention.
Ideals/Beliefs - Communicates and operates from strong ideals and beliefs about schooling.
Input - Involves teachers in the design and implementation of important decisions.
Intellectual Stimulation - Ensures faculty and staff are aware of the most current theories and practices.
Involvement in Curriculum and Instruction - Is directly involved in the design and implementation of curriculum, instruction and assessment practices.
Knowledge of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment - Is knowledgeable about current curriculum, instruction and assessment practices.
Monitoring/Evaluating - Monitors the effectiveness of school practices and their impact on student learning.
Optimizer - Inspires and leads new and challenging innovations.
Order - Establishes a set of standard operating procedures and routines.
Outreach - Is an advocate and spokesperson for the school to all stakeholders.
Relationships - Demonstrates an awareness of the personal aspects of teachers and staff.
Resources - Provides teachers with materials and professional development necessary for the successful execution of their jobs.
Situational Awareness - Is aware of the details and undercurrents in the running of the school.
Visibility - Has quality contact and interactions with teachers and students.

How does one person manage to demonstrate all of these behaviors? I am not sure they can. In my personal and professional life I have known many fine principals, and none of them could demonstrate all 21 of these characteristics. The best ones I have known were honest with themselves about their strengths and weaknesses and then used this information to delegate, compensate or improve.

Having only been a principal for a short period of time, I can tell you that I found it the most rewarding, yet most challenging job I have ever held. The rewards came from being able to make a direct impact on the lives of teachers and students. It is a job you could never understand unless you have done it yourself.

On a final note, I would like to address anonymous comments. While I certainly support and will continue to post the statements of those that disagree with my actions or decisions, I will no longer post anything that criticizes anyone else. I also wish that those who need to post a comment would consider contacting me directly. I cannot work through an issue or discuss a problem with someone when they provide feedback anonymously. It is hard to accept the validity of a comment if the person is unwilling to put their name to the statement. We are all trying to do the best we can for our students. If we keep that in mind, we can work constructively and even agree to disagree when necessary.

The Importance of Great Teachers

What influence does an individual teacher have in their classroom? Although most attempts to answer this question arrive at slightly different quantitative estimates, all researchers agree that the impact of the decisions and actions made by individual teachers is far greater than the impact of decisions made at the school or district level.

Reporting on their analysis of achievement scores from five subject areas for some 60,000 students across grades 3 through 5, Wright, Horn and Sanders (1997) note:
The most effective factor affecting student learning is the teacher. In addition, the results show wide variation in effectivness among teachers. Effective teachers appear to be effective with students of all achievement levels regardless of the level of diversity in their class.

Hayock (1998) describes the achievement difference between students who spend a year with a highly effective teacher as opposed to a less effective teacher.

On average, the most effective teachers produced gains of 53 percentage points in student achievement over one year, whereas the least effective teachers produced achievement gains of about 14 percentage points over one year. To understand these results, consider the fact that researchers estimate that students typically gain about 34 percentile points in achievement during one academic year. That is, a student who scores at the 50th percentile in mathematics in September will score at the 84th percentile on the same test given in May.

Even more startling about these numbers is the generally accepted notion that students gain about 6 percentage points simply from growing one year older and gleaning new knowledge and information through everyday life.

If the effect of attending the class of one of the least effective teachers for a year is not debilitating enough, the cumulative effect can be devastating. To illustrate, consider the findings from Haycock (1998). Over three years, students with the most effective teachers made an 83 percentile point gain. Over those same three years, students with the least effective teachers made a 29 percentile point gain. Differences of this magnitude are stunning! They can represent the differences between a "remedial label" and placement in the "accelerated" track.

So what makes for an effective teacher? One teacher level factor that affects student achievement is "instructional strategies". It is perhaps self-evident that more effective teachers use more effective instructional strategies. It is probably also true that effective teachers have more instructional strategies at their disposal. The expert teacher has acquired a wide array of instructional strategies along with the knowledge of when these strategies might be most useful.

Another teacher level factor is classroom management. It is mentioned in some form in virtually every major study of student achievement. This makes intuitive sense--a classroom that is chaotic as a result of poor management not only does not enhance student achievement, it might even inhibit it.

The final factor is "instructional planning". This may be the least addressed teacher-level factor. This lack of attention is unfortunate for two reasons. First, there is a strong and extensive research base that can be readily translated into practical suggestions and protocols for the construction of classroom curriculum. Second, many breakdowns in student learning may be a function of poor classroom curriculum design.

One of the most important responsibilities I have as the Superintendent of Schools is to hire, develop and retain the most effective instructional staff. I believe the purpose of school administration is to create the conditions under which a school staff can successfully educate all students. In a future blog post, I will describe what I believe those conditions are.

One thing I do not believe is that schools exist to meet adult needs. I value, respect and want to hire and retain staff members who understand and believe our job is to produce results with our students - whatever it takes. This is the type of person I would want teaching my child, so why would I expect anything less for your children?

Powerschool Update

Recently, I have become aware of concerns about the features provided by the PowerSchool program. More specifically, there has been the concern about the loss of the ability to view student assignments and grades. The good news is that this is a temporary situation. After participating in a sales presentation and discussing satisfaction with other school districts, we made a decision as an administrative team to switch our student information system from Administrator's Plus to PowerSchool. Factored into this decision making were the following:

1) It is currently the system used by the high school. Having the same system would allow for increased sharing of data between us.
2) The price for PowerSchool was higher in the first year, but would result in savings every year after the first one.
3) PowerSchool had an integrated system that included features not available in Administrator's Plus. For example, eventually we will be able to have lunch balances tracked and paid for through this system. Another example is the increased precision that the gradebook feature has for teachers.

At the time the decision was made, we were aware of the fact that we would encounter difficulties with this transition. Much to their credit, Denise Fichner, Dave Pawlowski and our twelve month secretarial staff, Pat Aversa and Doreen Penge managed to get the system operational for all internal school functions by the established deadline. In addition, they were also able to train teachers in the most essential functions prior to the start of the school year.

We are at the point now where we are moving forward with other features of the program. We have an early October deadline to have Google team sites up and running, as well as the features in PowerSchool that will allow a parent to monitor their child's work.

We are confident that the short term "pain" associated with this transition will result in a long term gain that will benefit our school district. I ask for your patience as we move as fast as we can to provide you with the desired features.

In the interim, I would like to stress the importance of parent-teacher communication. Our electronic means of communication were never intended to replace the personal connection established when a school staff member and a parent discuss the progress of a child. Our staff knows the expectation that they should be contacting you by phone or through a meeting if they have concerns about your child completing assignments, classroom behavior or academic progress. As a staff, we also expect to respond to all parent communication within a 24 hour time period. Communication with the parents of our students is important to us. Our parents are our partners, sharing our mission to provide the best possible education to our students.

High Expectations

Schools that establish high expectations for all students--and provide the support necessary to achieve these expectations--have high rates of academic success. Conveying positive and high expectations to students occurs in several ways. One of the most obvious and powerful is through personal relationships in which teachers and other school staff communicate to students, "This work is important; I know you can do it; I won't give up on you." I believe that one of the characteristics that separates marginal teachers from good teachers is their ability to look for childrens' strengths and interests, and then use those as the starting points for learning.

Schools also communicate expectations in the way they structure and organize learning. A rich and varied curriculum gives students the opportunity to be successful in more than just academics. Similarly, teachers who teach to a broad range of learning styles and multiple intelligences communicate that the school values the unique strengths and intelligences of each individual. All students can learn, just not in the same way or at the same rate!

How we group children in our classrooms and schools indicates the expectations we have for them. No matter how well meaning, labels that identify children may be doing more harm than good. It has been my experience that once we label a child, they frequently begin to act in a manner that fulfills the behaviors expected by these labels. Without a doubt, students will require additional assistance to meet the expectations in school. Why can't we just provide the services based on these individual needs without having to label the child?

A final area in which expectations play a role is in motivating students and instilling within them a responsibility for learning. I believe that extrinsic rewards can actually undermine a true love and appreciation for learning. I see this when well meaning parents and teachers reward students when they accomplish something academic. Unfortunately, many of these students develop the attitude that learning is something to tolerate in order to achieve some other gain. It is true that learning can be a means to an end, but if it is to be a life-long endeavor then it must become intrinsically valued.

As an organization, we must hold high expectations for ourselves and our students. I believe that we have made significant progress in establishing new procedures and programs in our school district. However, implementing these programs and procedures is not enough. We must expect these changes to produce the desired results. Accountability for producing significant academic achievement gains is our responsibility as educators. If we are to hold high expectations for our students, then we must begin by holding high expectations for ourselves.

The Start of School

As a school administrator, you normally wake-up in a cold sweat during the night before the students are due back to school. Concerns of forgetting something or potential glitches due to changes usually produce an inability to get much needed rest.
Even though I had my typical concerns about the start of school, I am glad to report that this was the smoothest opening I have experienced in my four years as the Superintendent of Alexandria Township. The quality of start to the year can be directly attributed to the efforts of every employee in our school district. Thanks to them, our students appear to be off to a great start!
I am hopeful that this momentum will build, leading us into a year that will be unforgettable. Many changes and challenges are on the horizon. Some of them initiated by the school district, others imposed by outside entities. These changes and challenges will likely lead to conflict. In and of itself, this fact is not problematic.
I tend to view any conflict as having the potential to be either productive or destructive. When individuals engage in passionate discussion focused on important issues, the potential exists to gain increased understanding. On the other hand, when the conflict focuses on the people and personalities involved it usually leads to frustration, hostility, blaming and little to no progress.
It is my hope that this year all of us involved in any way with the education of our students will focus our energy and attention on the issues and not the people involved. Imagine what we could do as a school system and a community if we all placed all of our energy into understanding and solving the problems and challenges we encounter. I am certain that going beyond identifying problems to working together to solve them would be beneficial to our students. I hope you will join with me in helping to see this vision become reality.

Summer Accomplishments

Every summer I look at the list of tasks we expect our 12 month staff to accomplish and I have great concerns. This year was no different. I actually created a list that required the completion of more tasks than in prior years that due to budget cuts, had to be done by fewer people. Based on experience, I should stop worrying and trust in the work-ethic and capacity of our staff. As usual, we are in great shape to start the school year. I am very pleased to say that our 12 month staff has managed to complete the following projects:
- Conversion of our student information system to Powerschool.
- Revision of all of our curriculum guides, core vocabulary lists and curriculum brochures.
- Development of formative benchmark assessments for science, social studies, language arts and math in grades 4 through 8.
- Development of a Response to Intervention model for academic and behavioral assistance.
- Preparation for the implementation of Study Island
- Creation of a Parent Volunteer Handbook and a Parent Volunteer Center in each building.
- Preparation for the pilot of our "TIPS" homework program in kindergarten and 4th grade.
- Development of a curriculum for our Chinese program and schedule students for this program.

This was in addition to the regular cleaning and maintenance of the buildings and grounds, completion of the annual audit, student scheduling, enrolling new students, updating computers, conducting contractually required staff training, completing all of the federal grants and state reports, updates to the website and all of our handbooks and distributing supplies and materials.

What is done in the summer by the twelve month staff is often overlooked. Yet, without their efforts we could never be ready for the return of the ten month staff or our students. Please join me in thanking them for another summer in which they have managed to put us in the position to have another great school year!

Summer Activities

It has been a while since my last post. With the flurry of activity near the end of the year and the difficulties associated with the past year, I decided I needed a break. Fortunately I was able to go on vacation with family to Wildwood Crest for a week. It is amazing how therapeutic time with family can be. Thanks to the great weather, most of the time was spent at the beach, where of course to my wife's dismay, I continued to read books about educational topics. However I did manage to do some serious body surfing. I even taught both my son and daughter how to do it. By the end of the vacation, they didn't need those boogie boards anymore! I played a very competitive round of miniature golf, managing to beat my wife by three strokes (She normally wins). I definitely ate more ice cream than I should have, but I can't resist those Kohrs brothers stands on the boardwalk. The highlight of the trip was the water park. For the first time, my kids decided they were ready to go down the adult slides. Times like these remind me how important it is for my own soul not to neglect time with my spouse and children.

Sitting in a beach chair at the end of a long beach day staring out at the ocean can also lead to some insightful self reflection. One evening, when the kids and my wife had gone for a walk looking for some seashells, I found myself reflecting on my life. More specifically, I thought about where I am with my life and asked myself if this was where I want to be. I came to the conclusion that I am happy with who I am and what I am doing with my life. I have a wonderful family, I have excellent health, good friends, parents and siblings I can count on and I make a difference in the world. I am not happy with everything, but I would not change anything.

As all good times do, my vacation had to come to an end. I was sad, but at least I felt rejuvenated. Most people don't realize how much has to be done in the school system during the summertime. There are the routine tasks like receiving, processing and distributing orders, and thoroughly cleaning all of the buildings. Other regular tasks include updating all of the curriculum guides, providing teacher training, updating staff and student handbooks, and completing class lists and student schedules. In addition, we have multiple one time projects like converting our student information system to Powerschool and implementing a new formative assessment system. We are busy and that does make the summer go fast. I always have some anxiety about whether we will get everything ready for the opening of school. Yet, I know from past experience that it will all get done because Alexandria is blessed to have a dedicated and determined crew holding down "the fort" during these summer months.

Student Portfolios

Near the middle of last year, our administrative team decided to begin implementing showcase portfolios for our students in grades 4 through 8 during the 2009-2010 school year. The reason for implementing this new project was our belief that students need to become more active participants in the assessment of their own learning. We hoped to begin changing student perception of assessment from something done to them to something done with them.

In September, we introduced this project to our staff. As part of a full-day training on best practices in assessment, we explained the implementation process to our staff members. As with anything new, there was concern regarding how students would complete the project and how much time it would take. Having completed their portfolio for the third trimester, we can now say that the project was a success. The following are just a sample of comments provided by parents on their feedback forms.

" I love that you have the kids put these portfolios together. I think it is exceptionally beneficial for all concerned. It is a great opportunity for the kids to see and celebrate their successes and it focused them on what needs to be improved."

" I believe it is a great idea because it allows children to assess themselves and monitor their own progress."

" It is nice to see what ____ can do and where he still needs work. Great idea for the portfolio."

" We are glad to see _______ reflection on his accomplishments this year particulary pointing out the reading speed increases this year. We spoke to _____ about his writing skills and he agreed this is the area he needs the most practice to improve."

" I really enjoyed reading these. I think it is an excellent way for kids to self-reflect"

Comments like these lead me to believe we are on the right path with our assessment program. We will continue to refine this project based on the feedback we received from staff, students and parents this year. We hope to find additional ways to ensure that our students understand how grades are determined and to involve them as much as possible in all phases of learning and assessment.

Leadership Beliefs

In my masters level graduate education courses, I learned about school finance, school law, curriculum and instruction, staff supervision and many other valuable topics. In my doctoral studies, I expanded this knowledge to include understanding how to evaluate and then produce original research in education. One thing they do not teach you in preparation for school administration is the development of your own leadership style.

Honestly, I am not sure this is a topic that can be taught in a college course. Much of what I have come to believe about leadership has been developed over time. Particulary valuable has been adverse circumstances. They really can teach you a great deal about who you are and what you value.

Since my childhood, I have always been a person who took charge in group situations. My mother thought my future would be as a social director. I naturally gravitated towards being the captain of the sports teams I played on. I have struggled with my role as a leader as I have grown older. Sometimes I wish that I could be a follower. It would be easier, but it is not who I am.

As I have struggled with issues over time, I have consistently sought out advice and information on the topic of leadership. Besides consulting with leaders I have come to respect, I am an avid reader of literature on this topic. In particular, I have read as many biographies of leaders as I could. While I am sure that this will be a never ending effort, I have learned a few things that I use to guide my actions.

First, I believe in modeling the way. I have spent many hours reflecting on what I value and believe in as a person. While it is hard to put into a short list, at this point in my life, I believe in:

Perseverance - Almost everything worth accomplishing in my life has been achieved through extended amounts of hard work. Nothing really has come easy to me. I was not a gifted athlete or student. I believe that I have achieved what I have accomplished because I have been willing to work harder for longer periods of time than others. I value people who are willing to work hard to achieve the results they seek.

Be honest but tactful - I have learned that sugar coating the truth can be a disservice. I never want to hurt someone's feelings, but there are times when the news you have to deliver is not pleasant. I believe that you must say what you mean and mean what you say, but you do not have to say anything in a mean way.

Do what you believe is right - Above all else, I have learned that you must be true to yourself. At the end of the day when you look in the mirror, you need to be proud of what you see. I strive to have a clear conscience by acting in a manner consistent with what I truly believe to be best.

Grow yourself and others - Perhaps because I was never particulary gifted in any area, I learned the value of working hard to get better. It is a constant in my life that I must challenge myself to do and be better tomorrow than I am today. I get great pleasure out of helping others to do the same.

Work hard but lead a balanced life - My dad worked two jobs when I was growing up. He was part of a generation of men who believed their primary purpose was to put food on the table. He did a great job doing that considering my mother was a stay at home mom and I am from a family of six boys. Yet, I know now that in his later years he wishes he had more time with us as we were growing up. I am certain that he has no regrets as he did what he had to do. On the other hand, I have made a conscious decision not to do the same thing with my children. I truly believe in what I do and will work hard and make sacrifices when necessary. However, I will not allow work to dominate my life. I value the time with my family and want to be an active part of my own children's lives. This is the hardest of the values for me to maintain in my life. I must consistently remind myself of what is most important in the long run.

Take calculated but thoughtful risks - Nothing great has ever been achieved without some degree of risk. Risk and experimentation go hand in hand with personal and professional growth. I do not believe in failure. To me, everything I have ever failed at is really just a learning experience in disguise. I have "failed forward" many times in my life and am better for it. I do not seek to fail, but I know that it is a possibility when I embark on something new.

This has been a tough year to be a school leader. Circumstances at both the local and state levels have presented me with challenges I have never faced before. As a result, I have been the subject of criticism and some degree of hostility. While I find some comfort in talking with colleagues who tell me I am not alone, I would be lying if I said that it never gets to me. I frequently drive home and reflect on what I am doing or not doing. I am not blessed with teflon coated skin. However, I always find that if I stay true to the principles I have shared in this blog, I may get more gray hairs and gain a few more pounds, but I will always sleep well at night.

Assessment & Grading Part 3

In 2009, the Board of Education adopted a new policy and regulation for student grading. This policy and regulation were based on research and best practice in the area of student assessment. Provided below are the major aspects of the regulations and the rationale supporting each of them:

1) Non achievement factors (behavior, effort, attendance, etc...) shall not be included in the academic grade.

Rationale: Grades are flawed when they mix achievement and non-achievement elements. Grades are inflated for some students when desired behaviors are exhibited and grades are deflated for others because of their failure to exhibit these same behaviors. The fix is to report variables such as behaviors separately from achievement, there by ensuring that the grades reflect student achievement as accurately as possible.

2) Care should be taken to ensure that penalties (if used) do not distort achievement or decrease motivation.

Rationale: Penalties distort achievement and can actually reduce motivation for completing the assignment. The fix for late student work is a positive, supportive approach that directly affects student behavior, leaving the scores and the resulting grades as pure measures of achievement.

3) Zeros shall not be used for incomplete work.

Rationale: Grades are flawed when zeros are used; zeros distort the actual achievement record and can decrease student motivation to learn. Zeros represent very extreme scores and their effect on the grade is always exaggerated.

4) Criterion-reference standards shall be used to distribute grades and marks.

Rationale: Grading students by comparing their performance to one another distorts individual achievement. Far superior is clear, criterion-referenced achievement standards that describe a student's proficiency level. The grade is assigned to the student based only on that student's achievement in relation to the applicable standards.

5) Teachers shall make and/or provide quality feedback on formative assessments. Mark from formative assessments shall not be included in grades.

Rationale: Grades are flawed if scores for everything students do find their way into report card grades. The fix is to include, in all but specific, limited cases, only evidence from summative assesments intended to document learning, that is designed to serve as an assessment of learning. By their very nature formative assessments are intended to serve as feedback on progress towards the learning objectives.

6) When repetitive measures are made of the same or similar knowledge skills or behaviors, the more recent mark or marks shall replace the previous mark for grade determination.

Rationale: Grades are flawed when learning is developmental (likely to improve over time with practice and repeated opporunities) and the final grade does not recognize the student's final level of proficiency. The fix for this flaw is that for any developmental learning we must emphasize the more recent evidence and allow new evidence to replace, not simply be added to, old evidence.

7) Consideration shall be given to the use of statistical measures other than the mean for grade calculation.

Rationale: Grades are flawed when they result only from the calculation of the mean (average) in contexts where extreme scores distort results. This can be fixed by considering other measures of central tendency (median and mode) and using professional judgment. We should think and talk about not the calculation, but rather the determination of grades.

8) Teachers shall base grades on quality assessment instruments.

Rationale: Grades are flawed when they arise from poor-quality assesment because the evidence is not accurate. The fix is to check every assessment for quality--clear purpose, clear learning goals, sound design, and avoidance of bias. Assessments that do not meet these four standards of quality will mismeasure student achievement and thus will lead to inaccurate grades.

9) Individual achievement of stated learning goals shall be the sole basis for determining grades.

Rationale: Grades are flawed if they involve the use of group scores from cooperative learning or group activities. This is so because the group scores may not accurately reflect the achievement of each student and therefore would be unfair for some group members.

Grades are summary symbols that should communicate only about student achievement at a point in time. To be effective, they must be consistent, accurate, meaningful, and should support student learning. Unfortunately, because grading has often been an unexamined and private practice, grades have frequently not met these standards and as a result are very often flawed. Our policy and regulation are meant to improve this situation.

Alumni Social and Staff Changes

Last evening, (Wednesday June 8th) we held our first Alumni Social. Thanks to the efforts of our staff members, this event was a huge success. We had over 30 former students and staff members attend. This event was so successful, we intend to host it again next year. During this event, we also dedicated the "Honoring Our Past" plaque. This plaque will contain the names of staff members with 25 or more years of service to the school district who are selected by a committee to join the Alexandria Faculty Hall of Fame. Five individuals were inducted during this first year. The plaque will be placed outside of the Superintendent's office for all to see.

This is the time of year when many positive culminating events are occurring in the school district. One of these events that can be viewed as being either positive or negative is staff assignments for the next school year. The assignments for 2010-2011 will be available early next week on each school district's webpage.

Our administrative team holds many meetings to consider the best way to arrange our staff to meet the needs of our students. We consider staff member's input and expressed wishes, the mix of personalities and dynamics among teams and departments, and our impressions of a staff member's strengths and talents. Ultimately our administrative team makes a decision that we believe is in the best interest of the overall school district. Each person who is being assigned to a different position is met with on a one-on-one basis. During this meeting, they are provided with the rationale for the move. We express and will continue to provide support for staff members who are unsure if they can meet the expectations of their new assignments.

The decisions we make are not taken lightly and are thoroughly discussed and debated. Some of our staff members are ecstatic with their new assignment, others accept it, and some express strong emotions related to the change. It is difficult to have any staff member upset that they did not get placed in the position they desired. Yet, our administrative team must always strive to achieve our primary mission of serving the students in the best way we think we can with the legal and budgetary constraints we have.

As part of our past experience, we have learned that while change can feel painful at first, it presents individuals with the opportunity for personal and professional growth. We hope that this year's changes will accomplish this goal.

Assessment & Grading Part 2

As was mentioned in my previous post, there are three underpinning issues we must consider before addressing the specifics of how to determine grades. They are fairness, motivation, as well as objectivity and professional development.

In education, we have tended to think of fairness as uniformity. All students have been required to do the same assessment in the same amount of time, and their grades have been calculated in the same way from the same number of assessments. But students are different in many various ways. So treating them the same can actually be unfair. Fairness is much more about equity of opportunity than it is about uniformity. For example, some students need to wear glasses and for equity of opportunity they wear their glasses when they need them. For fairness, we do not say, "You are doing a test today, but you cannot wear your glasses because everyone is not wearing glasses." I believe that all students should be given an equal opportunity to demonstrate what they know and can do as part of the assessment process. Adaptations should be available for all students when they are necessary for demonstrating their individual knowledge and skills, provided those adaptations do not jeopardize the integrity of the content of the assessment.

Grades are often extrinsic motivators, meaning that their power to influence student behavior derives from outside the student. Many teachers, parents, and other adults have used grades as extrinsic motivators. "If you get an A on this test, you will have no homework" or "If you get all A's on your report card, I will buy you a new Gameboy game." There are at least two problems with this approach. First, extrinsic motivators increase students' focus on the reward or punishment rather than on the desire for lifelong learning. Second, they give rise to the need to continuously increase the amount of the reward or punishment to elicit the desired behavior. I believe that the primary reward for learning should be intrinsic - the positive feelings that result from success. Success at learning is the single most important factor in increasing intrinsic motivation. However, it is important to recognize that success is relative--it is seeing oneself make significant and meaningful improvements.

The only aspects of learning that can be assessed objectively are such elements as the correctness of factual content like spelling and arithmetic. Assessments by their very nature are subjective. We need to acknowledge this fact. The question is not whether an assessment is subjective, but whether it is defensible and credible. We need to have assessments and grades that are accurate and consistent. One method for doing this is shared understanding of performance standards. Another is a unified approach to determining grades. In my next post, I will describe our grading policy and how it is designed to achieve this objective.

Grading

Every state in the U.S. (except Iowa) has educational content standards. These standards define what students are expected to know, understand, and be able to do. The primary goal of a standards-based system is for all students to "meet standards"; that is to be proficient in every aspect of the curriculum. One important strategy for meeting this goal is the evaluation of every student's achievement using similar criteria that is consistently applied at all levels.

The two essential questions all educators should ask about the grades they assign are, "How confident am I that the grades students get in my class are consistent, accurate, meaningful and support student learning?" and "How confident am I that the grades I assign students accurately reflect the district's published content standards and desired learning outcomes?"

In most of the schools and districts I have worked in or consulted with, the answers to these questions (especially at the middle and high school levels) range from "not very" to "not at all". As a school district, we are working to make sure our grades meet a higher standard.

As the first "essential question" indicates, effective grades need to meet four overarching criteria. They must be consistent, accurate, and meaningful and must support learning.

Consistent - the grades students' receive should not be a function of whether they are in teacher X's or teacher Y's class. Students achieving at the same level should get the same grade regardless of context.

Accurate - Inaccurate grades lead to poor instructional decisions being made by and about any student whose grades are used as the basis of those decisions. Inaccurate grades most commonly occur because teachers determine them by blending achievement with behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules), poor quality assessment and inappropriate use of the mean(average) in combining data.

Meaningful - Grades must communicate useful information to students and to everyone interested in or needing to know about their learning.

Supporting Learning - Students and parents need to understand that achieving in schools is not about only "doing the work" or "accumulating points". When teachers assign a point value to simply turning in work, or put a mark or number on everything students do and use every number when calculating the grade, the message sent to students is clear: success lies in the quantity of points earned. Any intended message about valuing the quality of the learning is blurred. We want students to understand that school is about learning. Grades are simply artifacts of that learning; as such they should reflect student achievement only.

In this blog, I have provided the overarching principles for developing sound grades in schools. Because this issue is one that is frequently controversial, I intend to devote my next two blogs to addressing this topic. In my next post, I intend to discuss three philosophical issues that we must consider before addressing the specifics of how grades should be determined. They are fairness, motivation, and objectivity and professional judgment. In the post following that one, I will discuss our district policy and how it relates to improving the accuracy of grading.

Some Great Feedback to Share!

Per the New Jersey Administrative Code, certified school administrators are required to conduct observations and evaluations with all certificated staff members. For tenured teachers the requirement is one observation and one summative evaluation per year. For non-tenured teachers, the requirement is three observations and one summative evaluation per year. In Alexandria Township, our observation and evaluation committee developed the model we use for the observation and evaluation process. This committee which consisted of teachers, administrators, special area teachers and educational specialists completed this document approximately 2 years ago. We are very proud of the process we have created to encourage the continuous growth and development of all of our staff members. If you would like to review this document, it is on our website (on the Staff page).

As the Superintendent of Schools, not only do I conduct these observations, I also review all of those completed by the other members of my administrative team. To determine our future staff development needs as well as our progress towards the district’s expectations for teaching and learning, I analyze the ratings given to our staff on an annual basis. The breakdown for this year is based on all of the observations and evaluations conducted by May 5, 2010. More specifically, 69 classroom teacher observations and evaluations and 16 special area/educational specialists’ observations and evaluations are the basis for the results that follow. The breakdown for the results are:

Teacher Evaluations

Instruction
3% (Improvement Needed) 77% (Proficient) 20% (Distinguished)

Assessment
1% (Improvement Needed) 89% (Proficient) 10% (Distinguished)

Learning
Environment
5% (Improvement Needed) 74% (Proficient) 21% (Distinguished)

Communications
9% (Improvement Needed) 86% (Proficient) 5% (Distinguished)

Professionalism
6% (Improvement Needed) 76% (Proficient) 18% (Distinguished)


Special Area/Ed. Specialists

Program Management
3%(Improvement Needed) 97% (Proficient) 0% (Distinguished)

Direct Services
0% (Improvement Needed) 50% (Proficient) 50% (Distinguished)

Assessment
3% (Improvement Needed) 68% (Proficient) 29% (Distinguished)

Collaboration
6% (Improvement Needed) 39% (Proficient) 55% (Distinguished)

Professionalism
29% (Improvement Needed) 71% (Proficient) 0% (Distinguished)

Total of all ratings
4% (Improvement Needed) 77% (Proficient) 19% (Distinguished)

As you can see, many of our teachers are doing an outstanding job! The fact that we have so few needs improvements and so many distinguished is a testament to the hard work of everyone in our schools. This is just but one more reason I am proud to be the leader of the Alexandria Township Public Schools!

Teacher Morale

During the May 12, 2010 Alexandria Township Town Council Meeting, a member of the Alexandria Township Town Council indicated that morale could be improved between the teachers, administrators and Board of Education in the school district. While I am always open to feedback and improvement suggestions regarding the district, I would suggest that we need to consider all viewpoints within the context of the current environment.

This district is morally obligated to constantly improve the educational experience that is afforded to our students. Significant changes and improvements have been implemented during my tenure within the district. These changes focus on; coordination, partnership and consistency among and between the classrooms, staff development, and accountability. The Administration and the Board of Education have actively solicited input from the community and the staff, and have been transparent in the communication of our approach. We are beginning to see the fruits of our labor as evidenced by the quality of our programs and the other metrics that we are tracking.

Unfortunately, change can also cause discomfort. Often times it can elicit resistance. As transparent and effectively we have managed the change, there are always those who are unwilling to accept the change, regardless of how well it is managed. I acknowledge that there are staff members whom are not happy with the changes made in the school district. Some degree of autonomy has been reduced in favor of increasing the coordination and consistency among and between classrooms and grade levels.

The totality of the changes in our school district has evoked feelings of fear, uncertainty and sometimes skepticism. Some staff members may wonder if they will be able to meet these expectations. Many staff members will feel overloaded and overwhelmed. On the other hand some other staff members are excited by the possibilities and look forward to the opportunities for personal and professional growth. The same change initiatives can be viewed very differently by different people, depending at least in part upon, how much they see it as a break from the past.

While being encouraged to teach what and how you want may provide adults with comfort and satisfaction, it does not always produce positive results for students. After all, we are a "school system". We have implemented changes to ensure that students in two classes at the same grade level will not have a fundamentally different experience depending upon what teacher they had.

In addition, accountability for the professional behavior and collegiality of staff has been raised. The administration and Board of Education have high expectations for our staff. I make no apologies for this attitude. Education is an honorable profession that has a major impact on the future of our society.

Make no mistake we are in the midst of making planned, thoughtful changes to our school district. The world has changed, expectations have changed, and we will be forced to change if we do not take the initiative to do it ourselves. However, I would argue that while morale may be suffering for some, it is not a universal problem among our staff.

I suggest that the implication that the Board and administration need some external event to focus us on the issue of staff morale is off target. Nothing could be further from the truth. Examples of efforts from this school year that are designed to promote morale among staff include:
* Having a veteran staff member address the staff at our first staff development day.
* Presenting every teacher that earned tenure, had 25 or more years experience in the district, or was new to the staff with a gift.
* Providing breakfast on both days of our initial staff development meetings.
* Having AMS teachers recognize a colleague or team for their efforts at school staff meetings.
* Every administrator has provided staff members with positive notes, cards or token items to reinforce positive things they have observed.
* Providing staff members with a small gift during teacher appreciation week.
* Sponsoring a breakfast for the entire faculty prior to winter break.
* Hosting an ice cream social for all staff members prior to spring break.
* Establishing a box at the front of each office for parents to leave compliments for staff members.
* Improving the appearance of each school's faculty room.
* Providing a preschool program that our staff can use.
* Having decision making teams that consist of representative staff members at each school to discuss school related issues.
* Having district committees to develop or revise observation documents, curriculum guides and the district's strategic plan.
* Providing staff members with an extraordinary amount of technology (laptops, laptop carts, SMART boards) and the training and support to use them.
* Providing an extensive offering of professional development opportunities in district both during and after the school day.
* Being understanding and flexible when staff have health or family related issues that require their immediate attention.

Upcoming events include an Alumni Social and our very first Employee Appreciation Dinner. I wish that I did not have to highlight these things, as they are not being done for that purpose. I just want to make sure it is clear that the Board and the administration have cared about employee morale and are making sincere attempts to improve it.

What Works in Schools

In 2003, Robert Marzano published a book entitled, "What Works in Schools". For those interested in the research on effective school practices, this book is an excellent synthesis of approximately 35 years of research in the field of education. In the first section of this book, Dr. Marzano describes five "macro" level factors that a school (or district) should use to focus their improvement efforts.

The first of these factors is the development of a guaranteed and viable school curriculum. He defines a guaranteed and viable curriculum as one that provides every student with the opportunity to learn the essential content within the instructional time available. As a school district we have worked hard to make sure our curriculum guides identify the most important instructional objectives. We have also attempted to reduce the number of objectives so that teachers can teach for depth instead of breadth. Currently our teachers and administrators are hard at work revising these new guides. They will be finalized for board adoption by June.

The second factor identified is challenging goals and effective feedback. Marzano describes this as establishing challenging goals for students and monitoring these goals so that meaningful feedback can be provided. We are currently hard at work developing a series of assessments in math, science, social studies, language arts, physical education and world languages that our teachers will administer three times during the year. The goal for these assessments is to assess student competence in the identified essential curriculum content. These assessments will be finalized this summer. In addition, I am developing a database that teachers will be able to use for establishing specific goals for their classes and students. Anyone who is an expert in Microsoft Access 2003, please contact me. While I am doing my best to learn how to use this program, I could certainly use some technical assistance.

The third factor identified by Marzano is parent and community involvement. This factor has to do with the extent to which parents and the community at large are both supportive and involved in the schools. However, he is clear that not all types of parental or community involvement are beneficial. Speaking of parental involvement, he states "It is clear that parental involvement in such areas as criticism of the school or visits to the school to complain are likely to generate negative effectiveness at the school level."

Three features define effective parental and community involvement: communication, participation, and governance. Based on his research, he recommends three action steps for improving in these areas. The first is to establish vehicles for communication between schools and parents and the community. In our school district, we use our website, district and school newsletters, superintendent's chats, parent/teacher conferences, this blog, and the marquee in the front of each school building. To improve in this area, we intend to switch over to Powerschool. Not only is this less costly than Edline, it is more user friendly. It is also being used by the other districts in our region. Once it is up and going, we will be able to share more data with the high school and the other districts in the Delaware Valley Region. We will be making this conversion this summer.

The second action step recommended is the establishment of multiple ways for parents and community members to be involved in the day-to-day operations of the school. A major focus for us next year will be strengthening our volunteer program. I am currently at work developing a recruiting, orientation and training program that I hope will strengthen our efforts in this area.

The third action step recommended is the establishment of governance vehicles that allow for the involvement of parents and community members. To increase parent and community member input on school decisions, next year I intend to establish a district advisory committee. This committee will meet once a month. The purpose of this committee will be for me to receive input on major decisions. I am also working with each of our administrators to establish a similar structure in each school.

A major strength of our district relates to the fourth factor. This factor is a safe and orderly school environment. If teachers and students do not feel safe, they will not have the psychological energy required for teaching and learning. While we have seen an increase in incidents of bullying and harassment, overall our schools are a safe place. Even so, we are not satisfied. This year LDW established and implemented a code of conduct for student behavior. In grades K-5, our guidance counselors are teaching the Second Step Curriculum. This curriculum is designed to teach pro social skills. Every staff member in our district was required to take a 2hour on-line course that addressed identifying and dealing effectively with student related bullying and harassment.

The final factor is collegial, professional behavior among staff members. Collegiality is demonstrated by teachers who are supportive of one another. Teachers demonstrating a high degree of collegiality openly enjoy professional interactions, and are respectful and courteous of each other's needs. By having teaming in every grade level in our school district, we have created the structure for collegiality to emerge. Every teacher in the school district has regularly scheduled planning time with their colleagues in either their grade or department. This is in addition to their daily individual preparation period. We intend to enhance our teaming next year by doing work with understanding. personality types and their impact on communication, conflict resolution, problem-solving and decision-making.

A major aspect of professionalism is professional development. As a school district we have taken the professional development of our staff very seriously. In the past three years every staff member has received one full day of training on both classroom assessment and basic learning principles and two full days of training on cooperative learning. This is in addition to the many other professional development experiences we have offered both during and after school. The next step in our sequence of professional development activities will be differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all learners.

Lastly, we are working to incorporate structures that provide our staff members with input into the decisions that impact upon their work. Each school has developed and is currently implementing a site-based decision making team. At the district level we have curriculum committees and an observation/evaluation committee. Recently I have started a staff liaison committee to provide a forum for the positive resolution of any staff concerns.

I am proud of what our school district has accomplished. We are working hard every day to continuously improve the quality of instruction the children of Alexandria Township receive.

Turbulent Times

Never have I seen such turbulent times in the field of education. Whether it be pay for performance, elimination of tenure, regionalization or any of the many other reforms proposed, we can be sure that changes in education are inevitable. This fact has caused many parents, educators and concerned citizens to feel anxious. In our hearts, we all know that while change may be inevitable, progress remains optional.

Over the past ten years, the Alexandria Township Public Schools have seen their fair share of change. In particular, changes in leadership have become the norm. More specifically, there have been ten changes in leadership at the principal level and four changes in the Superintendency. While each of these changes occurred for a variety of reasons, the result has been a cynical attitude toward change and a lack of trust for school leaders. I can remember in my first six months as the Superintendent, there were already rumors that I intended to use this position as a stepping stone for something "better".

With these turbulent times and the history of succession, it is important to maintain stability in our school system. For the first time in many years, a leadership team remains intact and unified in purpose. While some may not agree with or understand the direction we have taken, our goals remain the same:
* A superior teacher in every classroom.
* A curriculum that prepares learners for the 21st century.
* An assessment system that provides parents, students and teachers with meaningful feedback.
* An organizational structure that ensures coordination between and within grade levels.
* A positive partnership between families, community members and the educational system.

The school district's leadership team is unified in our belief that we can and we will achieve these goals. The future of our students and your children depends upon it.

Teacher Appreciation Week

"Teaching, the one profession that makes all other professions possible."

Having been a classroom teacher for ten years, I can tell you it is a physically draining and emotionally taxing vocation. At the end of a day with students that have all different abilities, learning styles, and interests, are evenings correcting student work and preparing for the next sequence of lessons.

Most teachers do not do this job for the pay, benefits or recognition. Rather, they do it because it offers them the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of children. Recently, government officials and some members of the public have been very vocal in criticizing teachers. I think this is truly unfortunate. What value could you really put on the contributions to our future that a great teacher makes? Should they be paid equal to what a rock star, professional athlete or movie actor make? This will never happen.

Great teachers know this and never expect to receive that level of compensation. They may even be uncomfortable being singled out for recognition from others. However, they deserve to be positively recognized for the efforts they make on a daily basis. As this week is teacher appreciation week, it is an opportunity for providing much deserved thanks.

Yet, I have often wondered why we limit our appreciation to a single week. Perhaps it is because we forget, or we have no vehicle to express our gratitude. I am proposing a solution to these problems. First, I will be placing cards in each front office that anyone may complete. This card will provide everyone with the opportunity to write a positive comment about something one of our staff members has done. These cards will be collected and then posted on a bulletin board in each faculty lounge. Once each trimester, we will hold a lottery drawing to select one of these cards. That teacher will be provided with a special gift donated by the school administration.

I will be putting these cards in each front office by May 17th. We will collect them for the remainder of this school year. At our first day back for staff, I will hold the drawing near the end of our full staff meeting. I hope you will accept my offer to provide our staff with much deserved appreciation all year round.

I am initiating this blog in a continued attempt to strengthen the lines of communication. I hope that it will serve as a forum for asking questions, offering opinions and suggestions and clarifying confusion. Regarding confusion, I often feel like parents, staff and community members do not know who I am or what I do. This makes sense considering the fact that most of the interactions occur with staff and other members of my administrative team. So, let me start with who I am.

I am the youngest of six boys. I grew up in Edison Township and now live in North Brunswick. I am married to MaryAnn. We were best friends since the age of 13. I have been married for sixteen years (God bless her). I am the father of Ryan (age 11) and Tara (age 9). Our family also includes Amber, the family dog. I complain about her a lot, but there is something about her wagging her tail when I get home that I would miss.

I earned my bachelors, masters and doctorate from Rutgers University. It is kind of a family tradition since four of my brothers and my father also graduated from there. I still attend all of the home football games and have been a season ticket holder for about sixteen years.

Interestingly, I never wanted to be a teacher. My dad was a teacher and social studies department chair in Highland Park for 25 years. I wanted to be my own man. My dream job was to be an FBI agent or a Navy Seal.

I have been a classroom aide, special education teacher, curriculum supervisor, director of student services, principal and assistant superintendent. In addition, I am an author, consultant for several educational publishers, a speaker at educational conferences and an adjunct professor for Rutgers.

In my “free time”, I coach my daughter’s softball team, my son’s flag football team and also his travel basketball team. I love to play Fantasy Football and I am the reigning champ of my neighborhood league. Long before the movie, I had developed a “bucket list”. I have done pretty well knocking off items on this list. Some of the items I have managed to accomplish include:
• Skydiving
• Scuba diving
• Driving cross country stopping at select National Parks
• Completing an Iron Man triathlon
• Running the NYC Marathon
• Publishing a book

Current items on my list include catching a shark (going this June), climbing a mountain and attending Oktoberfest in Germany. I believe in experiencing life to the fullest.

As far as what I am trying to accomplish as the Superintendent of Schools, I have developed a personal mission that drives what I do. I envision a school system in which:
• All teachers effectively manage, instruct and assess all students.
• Administrators share a vision, model the way, challenge the process, enable others to act and encourage their hearts.
• Parents are informed, supported and positively involved.
• Students are achieving to their full potential in academics, athletics and the arts.

I loved being a classroom teacher. I left the classroom because I believed I could make a bigger difference by changing the system. I have always been the type of person that looked at something and said how could it be better? This personal quality has been both a blessing and a curse. Change is hard on those experiencing it. It can be even harder on those attempting to lead it. Because of fear, issues of control, misunderstandings or a desire to maintain the status quo, the attacks on change leaders become personal. I sometimes ask myself why not just go along and get along? Wouldn’t that be easier? Then I realize that I could not look myself in the mirror if I was not doing what I thought was best.

I believe it was Abraham Lincoln who said, “Good leaders take people where they want to go, great leaders take them where they ought to be.” This quote hangs on my wall as a reminder. While patience is not my strongest virtue, I do believe we are closer to the vision than we were three years ago. It has not been easy, and I do not anticipate it getting any easier. Yet, my heart and soul tell me to have courage and be persistent. For those who disagree with me now, I hope that over time evidence will change their minds.

If you have a suggestion, comment, or question please reply to this entry. I will do my best to reply in a timely manner.