We ran across this New York Times story of a teacher, a 33-year veteran in a Massachusetts public middle school, who is a portrait of excellence in teaching. Ron Adams, teaches seventh-grade English in a school where half the children qualify for subsidized lunches and many live in housing projects. He dislikes standardized testing, and does not do very much prep for the required exams. Yet, his students fare much better than state averages. Adams teaches social consciousness—his first assignment each year is to write a letter to someone who has the power to fix a problem that upsets each child—to help them learn to take action. He also leads the school’s Save the World Club.
Letters of Reference: Navigating Dangerous Waters With a Prudent Process
For many years, employers have been advised to respond to reference requests with nothing more than dates of employment and positions held. This well-meaning advice was intended to help avoid lawsuits brought by former employees unhappy with what they see as a subjective or defamatory reference. However, this “see no evil, speak no evil” approach creates at least as many issues as it solves in both the moral and legal realms.
Research Report: Faculty Culture Profile II, Spring 2012 Data
ISM published its Student Experience Study 2010–11 outcomes in January 2012, and published related articles in Ideas & Perspectives throughout the spring. Among the features in the report was a revised Faculty Culture Profile—ISM’s longstanding measure of the quality of a school’s faculty culture—along with the study’s statistical findings and two other instruments, the Student Culture Profile II and the Characteristics of Professional Excellence II.
Turn Assessments Into Welcome Processes
Let’s think about one idea that might be helpful: process versus event. Where do we see this in practice? A standard question we ask students when face to face is “What is the most difficult time of year?” Typically, at least one student will talk about the end of each quarter, semester, or marking period. When asked why that is so hard, the answer is always “The faculty are rushing to get work done so they can have ‘marks’ to report on."
Speaking of Scheduling …
While we are conducting on-site consultations, one of the things we hear is that schedules do not allow enough time for faculty collaboration. Faculty collaboration breaks down the learning silos of the 20th-century model, which in turn helps slow the frenetic pace many students deal with. In other words, faculty collaboration time will help balance demands on students while allowing to have a richer, more productive experience.
Foreign Language in the Elementary Grades: Is It Worth It?
Parents continue to pressure private-independent schools to introduce foreign language in the curriculum of their elementary grades—or to increase the languages offered in an existing program. This would add yet another special (a class that students attend with a specialist outside their homerooms) to students’ hectic schedules. A typical list of specials might also include music, science, library, computer, art, and physical education.
The 21st Century School: Exam Periods
Schools often turn to ISM Scheduling Consultants to help design student-centered schedules that support 21st century teaching and learning. The proposed schedule options are always different because of the particular combinations of time, people, space, and program unique to each school. However, certain best-practice recommendations are made to every school; one is the elimination of exam periods (those days when classes stop exclusively for the administration of exams that students take simultaneously and en masse). The traditional exam structure favors the 20th century modality where time is the constant and achievement is the variable. In the 21st century, achievement is the constant and time is the variable.
Playing the Numbers: An Exercise in Civics and Math
As the Presidential election grows closer, students are hearing a lot about deficit spending, the national debt, and balancing the budget. Now they have a chance to be in the government’s seat and come up with their own solutions.
Common Core Standards and Independent Schools
According to a recent article in Education Week, Common Core State Standards, which are being adopted in public schools in 46 of the 50 US states, are starting to move into some independent school curricula. The standards cover K-12 math and English/language arts, in an attempt to provide all US students with the knowledge and skills they need for college and employment success.
Teacher Induction That Supports and Inspires
A well-planned introduction to the school’s policies, processes, mission, culture, and values helps new faculty members get off to a good start. Many private-independent schools put much time and energy into carrying out upbeat, friendly, and informative “new-teacher orientation” programs each fall. Effective induction, however, must be more far-reaching in scope than simply having an engaging orientation meeting. This article provides a framework for an induction effort that has long-lasting effects on teacher performance and career satisfaction. In this way, a broadly conceived induction process will benefit not only the new teacher, but also your students and the life of your school.