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SUPPLEMENT TO

Phi DeltaKappan®

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION GUIDE

for the September 2011 issue

By Lois Easton

PDG1109_September-2.indd 1 8/3/11 3:33:16 PM

authorspeakThe Voices of Solution Tree

Schedule is subject to change.

Thursday, November 3

Tuesday, November 1

Lunch Panel Discussions


21st Century Skills with Richard DuFour, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Meg Ormiston, Will Richardson, Eric SheningerCritical Creative Thinking with Carolyn Chapman, Douglas Fisher, Robin J. Fogarty, Mary Kim Schreck, Carol Ann TomlinsonGrading with Susan Brookhart, Damian Cooper, Anne Davies, Douglas Reeves, Dylan Wiliam

(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration

Exemplary Teachers with Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, William Ferriter, Jane A. G. Kise, Robert J. MarzanoCore Standards with James A. Bellanca, Kay Burke, Chris Jakicic, Timothy Kanold, Chris WeberClosing the Gap with Margarita Calderón, Thomas Guskey, Mike Mattos, Anthony Muhammad, Donna Walker Tileston

Opening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel Pink

Wednesday, November 2

21st Century Skills Assessment Instruction Leadership Literacy Principals Professional Learning Communities

Response to Intervention School Improvement Special Populations Networking Room

8:00–9:15 a.m.

10:00–10:45 a.m. 21st Century SkillsJames A. Bellanca, Ron Brandt

Elements of GradingDouglas Reeves

RTI in Middle and High SchoolsWilliam Bender

Rebuilding the FoundationTimothy V. Rasiniski

Building a PLC at Work™William Ferriter, Parry Graham

Implementing RTI With ELsDouglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Carol Rothenberg

School Improvement for the Next GenerationRaymond Smith, Stephen White

11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Mobile Learning DevicesKipp Rogers

Common Formative AssessmentKim Bailey, Chris Jakicic

Mind, Brain, & EducationDavid A. Sousa

Working With Dif� cult & Resistant StaffJohn F. Eller, Sheila A. Eller

Learning by DoingRebecca DuFour, Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas Many

More Than a SMART GoalAnne Conzemius, Terry Morganti-Fisher

12:30–1:15 p.m.

1:45–2:30 p.m. Enriched Learning ProjectsJames A. Bellanca

Balanced AssessmentKay Burke

Think Big, Start SmallGayle Gregory, Martha Kaufeldt

Thinking MapsLarry Alper, David Hyerle, Kimberly Williams

Effective Program EvaluationDawn Billings, Mardale Dunsworth

Closing the RTI GapDonna Walker Tileston

Breaking thePoverty BarrierRicardo LeBlanc-Esparza, William Roulston

Professional Learning CommunitiesRobert Eaker, Janel Keating

3:00–3:45 p.m. Teaching the iGenerationWilliam Ferriter, Adam Garry

Leading the Way to Making Classroom Assessment WorkAnne Davies, Sandra Herbst, Beth Reynolds

Differentiation and the BrainDavid A. Sousa, Carol Ann Tomlinson

Every School, Every Team, Every ClassroomRobert Eaker, Janel Keating

Differentiated PD in a PLCLinda Bowgren, Kathryn Sever

Beyond the RTI PyramidWilliam Bender

Common Language Assessment for ELsMargo Gottlieb

Elementary EducationCharlie Coleman, Darlene Crane

8:00–8:45 a.m. Embedded Formative AssessmentDylan Wiliam

Motivating StudentsCarolyn Chapman, Nicole Vagle

District Leadership That WorksRobert J. Marzano, Timothy Waters

RTI & Differentiated Reading in the K–8 ClassroomWilliam Bender, Laura Waller

Collaborative Action Research for PLCsRichard Sagor

When Students Failto LearnCatherine Glaude

Leading With TrustSusan Stephenson

Central Of� ce and Building LevelThomas Many, Perry Soldwedel, Mark Van Clay

9:15–10:00 a.m. You’ve Got to Reach Them to Teach ThemMary Kim Schreck

Teaching Students to Read Like Detectives Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Diane Lapp

Communicating & Connecting WithSocial MediaWilliam Ferriter, Jason Ramsden, Eric Sheninger

The Five Disciplines of PLC LeadersTimothy Kanold

Pyramid of Behavior InterventionsCharlie Coleman, Tom Hierck, Chris Weber

The School Board FieldbookPerry Soldwedel, Mark Van Clay

Instructional Coaches and Curriculum DirectorsJane A. G. Kise, Mardale Dunsworth

10:30–11:15 a.m. Critical Conversations in Co-TeachingCarrie Chapman, Cate Hart Hyatt

Grading and LearningSusan Brookhart

Supporting Differentiated InstructionRobin J. Fogarty, Brian M. Pete

Assessment of Student Thinking and Learning Using Thinking MapsLarry Alper, David Hyerle, Kimberly Williams

Raising the Bar and Closing the GapRebecca DuFour, Richard DuFour, Robert Eaker

How RTI Works in Secondary SchoolsKerry Bollman, Sara Johnson,Holly Windram

Rede� ning FairDamian Cooper

LiteracyNancy Frey, Diane Lapp

11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

1:00–1:45 p.m. Creating a Digital-Rich ClassroomMeg Ormiston

The Principal as Assessment LeaderThomas Guskey

Power StrugglesAllen Mendler

Teaching Reading & Comprehension to English Learners, K–5Margarita Calderón

Teaching and Learning MathDiane Briars, Skip Fennell, Timothy Kanold

Simplifying RTIAustin Buffum, Mike Mattos, Chris Weber

The High-Performing SchoolDawn Billings, Mardale Dunsworth

AssessmentKim Bailey, Chris Jakicic, Dylan Wiliam

2:15–3:00 p.m. Personal Learning NetworksRob Mancabelli, Will Richardson

Making Classroom Assessment WorkAnne Davies

Leaders of LearningRichard DuFour, Robert J. Marzano

Literacy 2.0Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, Alex Gonzalez

Creating a Coaching Culture for PLCsJane A. G. Kise

Turning Your School AroundRobert Barr, Debra Yates

Inclusion Strategies & InterventionsToby Karten

Response to InterventionAustin Buffum, Donna Walker Tileston

8:00–8:45 a.m. The Connected EducatorSheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Knowing What CountsAnne Davies

RTI in MathWilliam Bender, Darlene Crane

The Teacher as Assessment LeaderThomas Guskey

Using Formative Assessment in the RTI FrameworkKay Burke, Eileen Depka

The Will to Lead,the Skill to TeachSharroky Hollie, Anthony Muhammad

When Actions Speak Louder Than WordsKim Davis, Susan Dixon

Middle and High School EducationRobert Barr, Debra Yates

9:15–10:00 a.m. Data DynamicsEdie Holcomb

Leading a Learning OrganizationCasey Reason

The Basics of Creating Brain-Compatible ClassroomsDavid A. Sousa

Aligning School Districts as PLCsThomas Many, Perry Soldwedel, Mark Van Clay

On Excellence in TeachingRobert J. Marzano

Teaching for DiversityRicardo García

21st Century LearningSheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Meg Ormiston, Eric Sheninger

10:30–11:15 a.m.

Principals: What sessions will be most valuable to you or your teachers?

Principals: Principals: Principals:

Teachers: What topic area

is most relevant

to your classes?

Curriculum directors:

What author’s research best correlates with your district goals?

Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum

Superintendents: Which strands make the most sense for your staff?

2011_athrSpkSched_KAPPAN_Left.indd 1 7/21/11 8:08 AM

Follow @authorspeak2011 on Twitter or like Solution Tree on Facebook to receive the latest authorspeak updates. Solution Tree

register today!Date and Location November 1–3, 2011Indianapolis, Indiana

$699 per person

Visit or call solution-tree.com800.733.6786 or 812.336.7700Download a registration form and fax to 812.336.7790

Host Hotel and Venue JW Marriott10 South West Street andIndiana Convention Center100 South Capitol Avenue



Tuesday, November 1




(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration(re)defining Excellence Awards and Closing Celebration


Opening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel PinkOpening Keynote: Daniel Pink




8:00–9:15 a.m.














12:30–1:15 p.m.








































11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
































10:30–11:15 a.m.


Principals: Principals: Principals:


is most relevant

to your classes?



Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum Curriculum


2011_athrSpkSched_KAPPAN_Right.indd 1 7/21/11 8:11 AMPDG1109_September-2.indd 2 8/3/11 3:33:21 PM

authorspeakThe Voices of Solution Tree



Tuesday, November 1






8:00–9:15 a.m.














12:30–1:15 p.m.








































11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
































10:30–11:15 a.m.



is most relevant

to your classes?




Superintendents:Superintendents:Superintendents:Superintendents:

2011_athrSpkSched_KAPPAN_Left.indd 1 7/21/11 8:08 AM

Follow @authorspeak2011 on Twitter or like Solution Tree on Facebook to receive the latest authorspeak updates. Solution Tree

register today!Date and Location November 1–3, 2011Indianapolis, Indiana

$699 per person

Visit or call solution-tree.com800.733.6786 or 812.336.7700Download a registration form and fax to 812.336.7790

Host Hotel and Venue JW Marriott10 South West Street andIndiana Convention Center100 South Capitol Avenue



Tuesday, November 1






8:00–9:15 a.m.














12:30–1:15 p.m.








































11:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
































10:30–11:15 a.m.



is most relevant

to your classes?




Superintendents:Superintendents:Superintendents:Superintendents:

2011_athrSpkSched_KAPPAN_Right.indd 1 7/21/11 8:11 AMPDG1109_September-2.indd 3 8/3/11 3:33:25 PM

Using this guide

This discussion guide is intended to assist Kappan readers who want to use articles in staff meetings or university classroom discussions.

Members of Phi Delta Kappa have permission to make copies of the enclosed activities for use in staff meetings, professional development activities, or university classroom discussions. Please ensure that Phi Delta Kappa and Kappan magazine are credited with this material.

All publications and cartoons in Kappan are copyrighted by PDK International, Inc. and/or by the authors. Multiple copies may not be made without permission.

Send permission requests to [email protected].

Copyright Phi Delta Kappa, 2011. All rights reserved.

Contents

5 Guide to Dancing in the rain: Tips on thriving as a leader in tough timesJerome T. MurphyPhi Delta Kappan, 93 (1), 36-41

7 Guide to Improving teaching and learning when budgets are tightAllan Odden and Lawrence O. PicusPhi Delta Kappan, 93 (1), 42-48

9 Guide to I learned to believe in meKirsten OlsonPhi Delta Kappan, 93 (1), 49-53

11 Guide to R&D: The minority teacher shortage: Fact or fable?Richard M. Ingersoll and Henry MayPhi Delta Kappan, 93 (1), 62-65

14 Applications


kappanmagazine.org V93 N1 Kappan Professional Development Discussion Guide 5

Dancing in the rain: Tips on thriving as a leader in tough times

By Jerome T. Murphy

Phi Delta Kappan, 93 (1), 36-41

OVERVIEW OF THE ARTICLE

KEY SENTENCE: You can thrive as a high-performing leader who takes emotional discomfort in stride, who averts debilitating anguish, and who savors what can often be the exhilaration of leadership.

KEY POINTS

• Leaders face “tough times” in today’s world of diminished budgets and demanding agendas for learning.• Combining both Eastern and Western philosophies, the author recommends that leaders:

o “Open up to your here-and-now uncomfortable experiences just as they are instead of trying to escape them;

o “Simply notice your negative thoughts, instead of becoming ensnared by them;

o “Treat yourself with compassion and kindness; and

o “Concentrate on action guided by your core values.”• “Real leaders feel real discomfort” and learn how to control it but not necessarily solve it through “suppression,

escape, and avoidance,” which become the problem.• “Our thoughts about our emotions can add to our anguish, particularly when we identify with our negative self-

evaluations and worries and take them as the literal truth.”• Instead of letting our discomfort rule us, we can accept it; watch “our thoughts come and go”; take care of (rather

than deprecate) ourselves; act according to our values; and learn the process of mindfulness.• Leaders can learn how to cultivate the Balanced Self (versus the Reactive Self).• When leaders attend to events and situations, rather than react to them, they are being mindful; they don’t ignore

“the bad news,” but they don’t let it rule them.• If leaders are mindful, they are aware of situations, pay attention to the “task at hand,” demonstrate calmness and

poise, and “snap back” to what matters.

FULL VALUE

Mindfulness applies not only to leaders and adults. Mindfulness has made its way into pedagogy. Ron Ritchhart and David N. Perkins wrote “Life in the mindful classroom: Nurturing the disposition of mindfulness” in the Journal of Social Issues (2000). In their article, Ritchhart and Perkins focus on the creation of mindfulness as “a disposition, that is, as an enduring trait, rather than a temporary state.”

Ritchhart and Perkins reference the work of Ellen Langer and her colleagues who designed “studies that demonstrate the conditions under which mindfulness is more likely to fl ourish” and supported them in their own work. Earlier studies focused on inducing a period of mindfulness; Ritchhart and Perkins focus on “development of mindfulness as a trait.”

Ritchhart and Perkins explore mindfulness as a desirable school goal and conclude that it is. They describe “the nature of mindfulness as a disposition.” They “identify three high-leverage instructional practices for enculturating mindfulness: looking closely, exploring possibilities and perspectives, and introducing ambiguity.” They also describe an experimental study and present a case study of a mindful algebra classroom. They conclude “in its best incarnation, schooling strives to cultivate the dispositions that lead to a lifetime of learning and enjoyment. Mindfulness is surely one of those dispositions.”

DEEPEN YOUR THINKING

Choose one or more of these individual inquiry topics for thinking and writing.

1. In what ways are you a leader in your education environment?


6 Kappan Professional Development Discussion Guide September 2011

Reference

Ritchhart, R. & Perkins, D.N. (2000). Life in the mindful classroom: Nurturing the disposition of mindfulness. Journal of Social Issues, 56 (1), 27-47, 56.

2. How well did you relate to the author’s description of today’s tough times: “There’s no leading without bleeding”?

3. What experiences have you had with learning ways of opening “up to your here-and-now,” noticing but not being “ensnared by negative thoughts,” treating “yourself with compassion and kindness,” and taking “action guided by your core values”?

4. What leaders do you think of (within and outside education) who exemplify the four characteristics listed above?

5. Why would education leaders be more likely to feel discomfort today than in the past?

6. To what extent should leaders talk about discomfort and their reactions to this state of mind?

7. What are the downsides of stepping away from our “upsetting thoughts” and “treating ourselves with more compassion”?

8. What issues in education need to be held “more lightly,” believed in “less resolutely,” and taken less personally?

9. How do you see mindfulness practiced in your education environment?

Article

Disestablishing sex: The case for released-time sex education

I learned to believe in me

Not teaching ethics

Improving teaching and learning when budgets are tight

R&D: The minority teacher shortage: Fact or fable?

Dilemmas Dancing in the rain

EXTEND YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH ACTIVITIES FOR GROUP DISCUSSION

How can you apply the advice in this article to situations described in other articles in this issue of Kappan? Work with your colleagues to consider both dilemmas and “dancing in the rain” related to other articles.



Improving teaching and learning when budgets are tight

By Allan Odden and Lawrence O. Picus



KEY SENTENCE: Schools can improve learning and teaching using research-based and best practices-based strategies that in many cases don’t require more money and in others where more money will help if it’s spent strategically.

KEY POINTS

• “Education budgets are imploding . . . at the same time that there are growing expectations for improved student performance, better teachers, and closing the achievement gap.”

• The authors suggest fi ve strategies for meeting higher expectations with less money.• Strategy #1: “Resist the cost pressures on schools,” especially public pressures to fund “traditional” aspects of

education, such as reduced class sizes, a panoply of electives, and automatic pay raises.• Strategy #2: “Develop a more powerful school vision” of redesigned schools that, with current funding (or

less), increase achievement based on effective use of current data from a variety of sources; “set very high and ambitious goals regardless of school demographics”; “adopt new curriculum and materials”; invest “in professional development such as coaching and organizing teachers into collaborative groups; providing extra help to struggling students; and distributing leadership among talented staff.”

• Strategy #3: “Identify necessary resources to meet the new school vision” by studying resources needed to support best practices, such as having optimal class sizes; 20%-30% elective teachers on the faculty; at least 10 student-free days for professional development; tutors, extended day, and summer programs for struggling students; student support positions; help (including duty relief) for administrators and teachers; and up to $700 per pupil for technologies, instructional materials and assessments, and extracurricular activities.

• Strategy #4: “Reallocate resources to meet the new school vision,” including using “existing staff in new ways that focus on helping students learn.” With 20 states providing more than the authors’ recommended funding, 10 providing funding at the suggested level, the authors provide fi ve macro strategies for the 20 states that provide less funding.

• Strategy #5: “Rethink teacher compensation,” including new approaches for evaluation and multiple measures of student achievement; they also consider benefi ts and pensions.

FULL VALUE

Strategy #5 brings to mind the mid-1990s research of William L. Sanders and others at the University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center who suggested a relationship between effective/noneffective teaching and current and future student achievement. Their research was the foundation for many policy decisions, including alignment of teacher compensation with student achievement.

In a research progress report, Cumulative and Residual Effects of Teachers on Future Student Academic Achievement (1996), Sanders and June C. Rivers summarized their fi ndings:

• “Differences in student achievement of 50 percentile points were observed as a result of teacher sequence after only three years.

• “The effects of teachers on student achievement are both additive and cumulative with little evidence of compensatory effects.

• “As teacher effectiveness increases, lower-achieving students are the fi rst to benefi t. The top quintile of teachers facilitate appropriate to excellent gains for students of all achievement levels.

• “Students of different ethnicities respond equivalently within the same quintile of teacher effectiveness.”





1. To what extent is there a budget crisis in your district? How have conditions for teaching and learning changed as a result of this crisis?

2. Have expectations for student achievement increased, decreased, or remained relatively the same?

3. Would you agree with the authors that “schools and teachers are caught in this double squeeze”?

4. What kind of competition (charter, private, or religious schools) do public schools have in your community? What are the results of competition?

5. In what ways do schools need to be redesigned to enhance student achievement? What are the budget implications of school redesign?

6. What are the typical class sizes in your district for primary students? Elementary students? Middle school students? High school students? What are the effects of these class sizes?

7. Have there been staff reductions in your local schools? What have been the effects of these reductions?

8. What do stakeholders in your local schools most want in their schools? Lower class sizes, more electives, other?

9. How are struggling students helped to succeed in your local schools?


The authors make the point that, while parents and others may ask for small classes or more electives, “there’s little corresponding pressure — other than from parents of children with disabilities — to provide extra help for struggling students. . . . Since parents of many of these students often don’t have enough political clout to get these services, the calls for smaller classes and more electives often carry the day with local school boards.”

With your colleagues, create a diagram of who has the clout in your district. Consider all possibilities from business owners to students. Represent the power each group has according to the size of the circle you create and proximity to action. Be sure to describe what these stakeholders want with their power.

Your diagram might look like this:

Average students

(engagement)

Teachers (learning)

Getting things done

Major business

owners (cost reduction)

Elected boards (no lawsuits)

Parents of special needs

children (services)



I learned to believe in me

By Kirsten Olson



KEY SENTENCE: Great learners tend to have seven traits and characteristics, learning “habits” that keep them interested and engaged in some of the pleasurable aspects of thinking and creating, even as they experience parts of school as grinding and uninteresting.

KEY POINTS

• Many great learners “were not necessarily conventionally successful in school.”• Some enjoyed the best learning away from school.• Although some educators think resilience for learners is “only for the lucky few,” learning resilience actually has

“some very basic, identifi able components and habits of mind.”• Through interviews with hundreds of people over the past decade, the author discovered seven critical

orientations towards learning. Great learners:

o “see learning as pleasurable and value and cherish this pleasure.”

o “are effort theorists who have learned the hard way that effort is more important than ‘inborn’ ability.”

o “tend to have a strengths-based view of themselves and others, focusing on what they’re good at instead of what they don’t do so well.”

o “practice letting go of negative emotions, of fl ipping

the script on what might be regarded as a failure.”

o “are unusual problem solvers who know how to ask for help. They excel at reframing their diffi culties.”

o “don’t let the institution of school defi ne them. Great learners practice ‘adaptive distancing,’ a capacity to accept the institution’s gifts without being wholly defi ned by its feedback.”

o “have passions.”

FULL VALUE

Two landmark books that relate to this article were published around the turn of the century: How Students Learn: Reforming Schools Through Learner-Centered Education (1998), edited by Nadine M. Lambert and Barbara L. McCombs, and How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (2000), edited by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking. In their introduction, appropriately titled “Learning: From speculation to science,” editors Bransford, Brown, and Cocking preview key fi ndings that “have both a solid research base to support them and strong implications for how we teach.”

1. “Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom.”

2. “To develop competency in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.”

3. “A ‘metacognitive’ approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defi ning learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them.”



1. Can you think of a student (or relative or neighbor or even yourself) who seemed to be a great learner



Activity #2

Consider with your colleagues how your school or district could share this information with parents and adults in the broader community. What would be the benefits of doing so? What would be the challenges? Use the template to consider the questions of journalism, especially why you might engage parents, as well as when, where, what, and how. Share your ideas with others who might be involved.

everywhere other than in school? As you read the seven characteristics of great learners, consider how these apply to the person you’ve identified.

2. What examples of resilience can you think of — in your professional life or in your own life? Does resilience seem to be teachable, or is it innate, privileged to just a few?

3. Should schools teach resilience? How might they do so?

4. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2008) conceptualized the state of flow, during which a person becomes so absorbed in an activity that the world outside that activity disappears (time, space, self-consciousness). What experiences have you and others you know had in terms of being in the state of flow?

5. Should students have fun in school (that is, find school pleasurable)? What are barriers to fun? What helps school be fun for students?

6. What elements of education promote the premise that students are failures?

7. To what extent are educators in schools the “pit crew” for students?

8. In what ways do schools “tell the story” of students as learners?


Activity #1

How do Olson’s characteristics of student learners apply to characteristics of adult learners, especially educators? How would these characteristics manifest in schools and districts? Work with your colleagues to connect student and adult learning.

Reconsider the key sentence, thinking about adult learners rather than student learners. Discuss with your colleagues how school encourages or discourages adults to be great learners.

They “see learning as pleasurable and value and cherish this pleasure.”

Characteristics of Great Learners As Seen in Adults

How Adults Might Apply These Characteristics to Their Own Teaching and Learning

They “are effort theorists who have learned the hard way that effort is more important than ‘inborn’ ability.”

They “tend to have a strengths-based view of themselves and others, focusing on what they’re good at instead of what they don’t do so well.”

They “practice letting go of negative emotions, of flipping the script on what might be regarded as a failure.”They “are unusual problem solvers who know how to ask for help. They excel at reframing their difficulties.”They “don’t let the institution of school define them. Great learners practice ‘adaptive distancing,’ a capacity to accept the institution’s gifts without being wholly defined by its feedback.”

They “have passions.”

Why you would engage parents in this discussion?

Who might you involve? What might

you do?

Where?

When?

How might you engage

parents?

Students as great learners

Reference

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.



R&D: The minority teacher shortage: Fact or fable?

By Richard M. Ingersoll and Henry May



KEY SENTENCE: [T]he data indicate that new teacher recruitment strategies alone do not directly address a major source of minority teacher staffi ng problems — turnover.

KEY POINTS

• The shortage of minority teachers has been an issue to educators and policy makers as they have worked to make the teaching force “look more like America.”

• According to conventional wisdom, the shortage has been caused by the low number of minority students, especially male, who enter and complete college with a teaching degree.

• The effort to ameliorate the shortage has focused on recruitment, support, and removal of barriers to entering teaching.

• The authors analyzed two decades’ worth of data from the late 1980s to 2009 and discovered, to their surprise, that the real problem is not recruitment.

• In fact, “the number of minority teachers in the school system . . . has gone up by 96%, outpacing growth in the number of white teachers and outpacing growth in minority students.”

• With the number of minority male teachers increasing by 92%, the teaching force is much more diverse than it was in the 1980s.

• However, retention of minority teachers has decreased in the same period, many leaving public schools serving high-poverty, high-minority, and urban communities — creating a “revolving door” effect.

• They have left, not because they were serving in the most challenging schools, but because the schools provided them “less desirable working conditions.”

• “Less desirable working conditions” related to how “accountability reforms were implemented,” with “the unintended and unfortunate consequences of “decreases in teacher classroom autonomy and schoolwide decision-making input.”

FULL VALUE

Helen F. Ladd from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University discovered that “working conditions emerge as highly predictive of teachers’ stated intentions to remain in or leave their schools,” “independent of other school characteristics such as the demographic mix of the school’s students” (2009).

Ladd investigated these working conditions through surveys (the number of survey questions related to each condition is in parentheses):

• Leadership (24): At the school level• Teacher empowerment (17): “Authority over educational, planning, spending, and hiring decisions at the school

level” (9)• Facilities and resources (12): “Suffi ciency of teacher access to appropriate instructional materials, technology,

offi ce supplies, and professional space, and to the cleanliness, and safety of school environments” (19)• Professional development (65): “Suffi ciency of funds, resources, and time for teachers to take advantage of

professional development opportunities” including collaboration (19)• Mentoring (41): Support for new teachers and interactions with experienced colleagues• Time (11): “Class sizes, time available to teachers to meet the needs of their students or to collaborate with

colleagues, and the extent to which teachers are protected from administrative duties” (19)

Ladd discovered that leadership emerged “as the most salient dimension in terms of intended exits from the



teaching profession. She also reports that at the high school level, “the empowerment of teachers, which some people interpret as a form of distributive leadership, exhibits a larger coefficient than the leadership factor. Empowerment also emerges as statistically significant at the elementary level, but with a very small coefficient.”

Ladd said teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions are a good indicator of their intention to leave education but they aren’t as predictive about when they actually would leave the profession.



1. To what extent do you think the “elementary and secondary teaching force” looks like America”?

2. In what ways is a shortage of minority teachers a “major civil rights issue”?

3. To what extent were you surprised at the authors’ data related to recruitment? Do you have related data in your own district or state?

4. To what extent does the teaching force resemble a “revolving door” (many entering the school system, more leaving) in your district?

5. What did you think about the findings related to working conditions as the main factor related to minority teacher turnover, as opposed to salary and resources?

6. How does your district provide teachers with classroom autonomy while also including them in schoolwide decision making?

7. To what extent have teacher autonomy and input into decision making decreased because of accountability initiatives in your district or state?

8. Do you think your district or state has a retention problem because of teacher conditions, especially autonomy and input into decision making?



Minority teachers who leave teaching do so because they are teaching in the most challenging schools in terms of demographics (high poverty, urban, and high minority).

More minority teachers than white teachers leave teaching.

The number of minority teachers has gone up since the late 1980s, especially minority male teachers.

Most minority teachers are employed in public schools serving high-poverty, high-minority, and urban communities.

Minority teachers leave the education system at higher rates than white teachers.

Minority teachers leave primarily because of the demographic characteristics of schools.

Minority teachers leave because of salary levels, lack of good professional development, and lack of classroom resources.

Minority teachers leave primarily because of working conditions, such as lack of autonomy and influence on decision making .

Share results and discuss with your colleagues. If you have a chance to survey other colleagues before they read the article, change the survey so that the scale represents the degree of agreement with the statement before and after reading the article.

Issue

The elementary and secondary teaching force should look like America.

Too few minority students enter and complete college.

The teaching force has grown less diverse as the student population has grown more diverse.

Barriers, such as teaching entry tests, prevent minority teachers from entering teaching.

The major reason for the minority achievement gap is the lack of minority adult role models who understand students’ racial and cultural backgrounds and are quality teachers.

Minority recruitment programs help diversify the teaching force.

Degrees of separation

1 2 3 4 5 6


Six Degrees of Separation

Think back to the perceptions you had about the following issues before you began reading this article. How different are your perceptions after reading the article? In other words, how many degrees of separation are there in terms of your pre- and post-perceptions?

Scoring a “1” means that your pre-perception and your post-perception are not very far apart (one degree); scoring a “6” means they are very

far apart (6 degrees).



ApplicationsThis Professional Development Guide was created with the characteristics of adult learners in mind (Tallerico, 2005):

• Active engagement • Relevance to current challenges• Integration of experience • Learning style variation• Choice and self-direction

As you think about sharing this article with other adults, how could you fulfill the adult learning needs above?

This Professional Development Guide was created so that readers could apply what they have learned to work in classrooms (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001):

• Identifying Similarities and Differences • Summarizing and Note-Taking• Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition • Homework and Practice• Nonlinguistic Representations • Cooperative Learning• Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback • Generating and Testing Hypotheses• Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

As you think about sharing this article with classroom teachers, how could you use these strategies with them?

References

Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Tallerico, M. (2005). Supporting and sustaining teachers’ professional development: A principal’s guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, pp. 54-63.

About the AuthorLois Easton is a consultant, coach, and author with a particular interest in learning designs — for adults and for students. She retired as director of professional development at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, Estes Park, Colo. From 1992 to 1994, she was director of Re:Learning Systems at the Education Commission of the States (ECS). Re:Learning was a partnership between the Coalition of Essential Schools and ECS. Before that, she served in the Arizona Department of Education in a variety of positions: English/language arts coordinator, director of curriculum and instruction, and director of curriculum and assessment planning.

A middle school English teacher for 15 years, Easton earned her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona. Easton has been a frequent presenter at conferences and a contributor to educational journals.

She was editor and contributor to Powerful Designs for Professional Learning (NSDC, 2004 & 2008). Her other books include:

• The Other Side of Curriculum: Lessons From Learners (Heinemann, 2002); • Engaging the Disengaged: How Schools Can Help Struggling Students Succeed (Corwin Press, 2008);• Protocols for Professional Learning (ASCD, 2009); and• PLCs by Design: Helping Schools Help Struggling Students (NSDC and Corwin Press, 2011).

Easton lives and works in Arizona. E-mail her at [email protected].

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NEW!

The � rst book from two of the biggest names in education

Professional Learning Communities at WorkTM Institutes

Leading experts deliver keynote presentations and breakout sessions designed to develop your capacity for building a PLC no matter where you are on your journey. Explore the three big ideas essential to sustained school improvement and higher levels of learning for all.

Marzano’s Building Engaged Schools Institutes

Every teacher can create a classroom environment where engagement is the norm, not the exception. Gain anin-depth understanding of how to generate high levels of attention and engagement as a result of careful planning and execution of speci� c strategies.

Books are just the beginning.Explore our professional development opportunities based on the work of Richard DuFour and Robert J. Marzano, including these events:



Call today to schedule training with Robert J. Marzano, Rebecca DuFour, Richard DuFour, Mike Mattos, Anthony Muhammad, David A. Sousa, Carol Ann Tomlinson, Will Richardson, and other experts!

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