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Welcome to the February 20, 2017 edition of the HML Post. A service to the members of the Horace Mann League of the USA.
(Editorials and research articles are selected by
Jack McKay
, Executive director of the HML.Topics are selected to provoke discussions about the importance of strong public schools. Feedback is always appreciated.)
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The Annual Meeting and Luncheon of the Horace Mann League will be on Friday, March 3, 2017, in New Orleans. Click
here
for early registration.
To register for the HML Annual Meeting and Luncheon, click
here.
by
Paul Branwell on the Atlantic Monthly site.
 Leaving my school building the other day, I had an unexpected realization: Perhaps a computer was a more effective teacher than I currently was. The thought unnerved me, and still does as I'm writing this. I'm a nearly 13-year veteran educator dedicated to reflecting upon and refining my teaching craft. But I'm now considering the real possibility that, for at least part of a class period or school day, a computer could-and maybe should-replace me.
For the past several weeks, I've begun class with a simple routine: Students enter the room, grab a new Chromebook, log on to the
Reading Plus program, and spend roughly 20 minutes working at their own pace. I stroll around the room and help with technology troubleshooting or conference with students, quietly chatting about academic progress or missing work.
I've also found myself pausing, marveling at what this program promises to accomplish: meeting students where they are academically and, at least in theory, helping a wildly diverse group of students improve their literacy skills. (
Learn more.)
"By keeping kids in and new thinking out, Friday's incident demonstrates just how hostile some people are to change and to new ideas," DeVos said in a roughly seven-minute speech at the Magnet Schools of America conference in downtown Washington.
"Without realizing it, we, too, can fall victim to this trap of seeing our work in education as an 'us vs.
them
' approach. I know this to be true throughout the reform community, where there are those who claim to be champions of education, but they really only support their respective 'sectors.' These silos are unnecessary and unproductive in our common goal to serve all students."
And DeVos, who didn't face protestors Wednesday, praised magnet schools, which are public schools organized around a particular subject area such as arts or technology, as "the original school choice option."
(
Learn more.
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 A few days after the United States Senate confirmed the appointment of an avowed enemy of public education-Betsy DeVos-to be the nation's education secretary, advocates of public education held a conference in New Brunswick to search for some reason for hope. The meeting's organizers, including members and staff of such pro-public education groups
as
the Education Law Center and Save Our Schools, depicted the election later this year of a new governor to replace Chris Christie as an opportunity-as, indeed, it is.
Christie, after all, shares DeVos's views of a privately operated but publicly funded system of education and was one of a handful of governors to endorse her appointment by President Donald Trump. He called her choice "inspired."
What was not inspirational, however, was the response of the New Jersey advocates-good, right-thinking people all, with whom I have little argument.
Except one-why can't they be as aggressive in promoting a system of free, inclusive, integrated, fully-funded independent public schools as Trump is in destroying it?
(
Learn more.
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Washington has long designed education policy to deal with urban and suburban challenges, often overlooking the unique problems that face rural schools like this one. With a new administration in the White House that p
refers "school-choice" approaches - favoring charter schools and private-school vouchers so parents can opt out of public schools and bring taxpayer dollars with them - the nation's rural schools are left to wonder about their fate.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's emphasis on school choice means very little out here in the wilds of Northern Maine, where the closest "good" schools are all impossibly far away. For
students
here, Schenck is really the only choice.
Eric Steeves, superintendent of schools in East Millinocket, said in an interview Wednesday that rural schools are often left out of conversations about policy decisions in Washington and in Maine. Those like Schenck - institutions that educate millions of students nationwide - stand to gain very little from the school-choice model. If anything, it could siphon away critical funding.
(
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 A successful meeting revolves around clear communication. It can be pivotal to achieving greatness because it explains
precise strategy
and opens the door to new ideas.
An efficient meeting allows an organization to remain one step ahead of the competition and forces it to remain consistent with any existing strategies. But these ideas must be streamlined by a process and guided by a leader who can filter out the good ideas from the bad.
Here are ten ways Great Teams can ensure equally great meetings:
- Begin and end meetings on time. Consider instituting consequences for team members who are chronically late.
- Schedule meetings wisely. Great meetings and huddles are planned when all participants can attend.
- Begin with a shared or pre-read agenda-and stick to it.
- Engage employees with strong, emotion-driving content. Meeting agendas tie back into the organization's greater purpose.
- Make the meeting's objective clear from the beginning. Leaders should state what the meeting should accomplish during the time.
- Don't waste time with off-topic discussion. Meetings are not social hours or brainstorming sessions.
- Allot enough time for necessary discussion points.
- Calculate the cost of all in the meeting and make the appointment count. Remember, time is expensive.
- Tailor the meetings for all participants.
- End the meeting by reviewing
objectives
met or decisions made. Make sure everyone knows the expectations for executing those objectives or decisions. ( Learn more.)
 Given human fallibility and mortality, it is striking how Western society generally deals with issues of spirituality and religion: The Scarf Affair exemplifies the efforts of Western democracies to confine such matters to the private realm. Such a strategy, Nel Noddings writes, "reduces contention (and interest) in the classroom and protects schools from
.
. .
complaints
. . . . However, it also
protects ignorance
." Education for a truly flourishing human life, she argues, must directly confront questions of meaning and worth, not deny them.
Noddings
herself begins by exploring questions of language, especially "spirituality" and "religion" and the relationship between them. Indeed, she contends that it is possible to discuss spiritual experience without promoting or undermining religion. She also argues that religion can be taught in schools without proselytizing; she maintains, for example, that a high school course on world religions may advance religious tolerance (or at least reduce ignorance) and points out that, contrary to popular opinion, the U.S.
Constitution
does not forbid religious discussion, but instead aims at protecting freedom of religion. Nodding believes that education in spirituality and religion can help students "see the possibility of a full human life. . . . This means building, not destroying, real hope." ( Learn more.)
 As the Trump administration appears poised to make school choice the centerpiece of its education agenda, Republican-led legislatures in Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, and elsewhere are rolling out charter school and voucher bills in what could be a more receptive environment.
 The University of Colorado, along with Harvard University and Northwestern University, was awarded a nearly $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to study how educational leaders use research.
The education department's Institute of Education Sciences provided the funding to create a new National Center for Research in Policy and Practice
to study how leaders such as school district supervisors and principals use research to make decisions, and what can be done to make research findings more useful to those leaders.
(
Learn more
.)
 Each year, the Gates Foundation issues an annual newsletter touting what it perceives as the gains make by its spending.
In 2015, the education focus of the newsletter was, "Better software will revolutionize learning." The 2015 Gates ed celebration includes the following comment:
Our foundation gives more money to education than to any other cause in the United States because it's the best lever we've seen for giving every child in America a chance to make the most of their lives.
Gates acknowledges that it gives more money to education than to any other US cause. Therefore, it is strange that there is no mention of the Common Core, which Gates has spent hundreds of millions to fund.
Gates also does not mention that it can pull its financial support if and when it likes, which is what happened in 2015 to Hillsborough County Schools' "Empowering Effective Teachers" grant from Gates.
Hillsborough was left holding the bag to the tune of 20 million "late in the process."
(
Learn more
.)
Republicans have the support o
Noelle Ellerson Ng is the associate executive director for policy and advocacy for The School Superintendents Association, or the AASA. Her organization is among others that have given congressional Republicans political cover as they target the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability regulations issued by former Education Secretary John King Jr.
Though the AASA works with both parties on behalf of its members, in this case, the debate over the repeal efforts has broken along mostly partisan lines.
In an interview with
InsideSources
, Ellerson Ng said that it is unfortunate that the debate over the Obama-era
regulations has
become so pitched, and she suggested that the tenor of the debate has divorced the conversation from the reality of what is actually at stake with the rules repeal.
"The idea that anyone who supports the CRA is 'going nuclear,' is wrong," she said.
 Rick Hanuchek and Hank Levin, friends since the sixties, are education economists with hundreds of books and articles bearing their names, and, also, have starkly differing views on education and our economy.
Hanushek
painted a disturbing picture, compared to other nations the USA education system is not doing well. Using NAEP and PISA
data we
're below the middle of the pack, and New York State is also below the midpoint line.
For
New York State it is especially disturbing since per capita spending is second highest in the nation.
Hanuch
ek s
ees only one solution: increasing teacher quality, and, the only path is substantial salary increases for high VAM teachers and firing low VAM teachers.
Hanachek's
model converts NAEP and PISA score increases into economic growth over extended periods of time and translates academic gains into economic growth and trillions of dollars. Well beyond my statistical skills!
Levin doesn't dispute Hanuchek's data;
however, he looks at per capita GDP by nation, and, asks, since the USA is at the top of the OECD nations, what are we doing right? His answer is that non-cognitive factors may, excuse the expression, trump test scores. See an excellent discussion of the impact of non-cognitive skills on the labor market
here Levin also questions the use of VAM scores, they are only meaningful over extended periods of time, although, he agrees, teacher quality is always important.
(
Learn more.
)
- Build trust. Trust is an absolute foundation of a good coaching relationship.
- Discover motivation. Any sustained change requires commitment rather than just compliance.
- Nurture confidence. Any change effort that a
coachee
undertakes requires confidence in themselves.
- Raise self-awareness. I don't believe anyone
comes
to work deciding that they are going to be a horrible leader today.
- Set clear and measurable goals.
- Bring curiosity. When someone is not following through on their commitments, instead of judgment, skilled coaches bring curiosity.
- Practice presence. Presence is slowing down and being fully here in this moment, listening deeply.
- Be honest and courageous. Honesty builds trust in the relationship.
- Drive accountability. It is your job to help the person being coached improve their performance.
- Bring Choice. As a coach, we must believe that our
coachee
is empowered to make good choices for themselves.
The Education Cartoon of the Week.
Click here to see 23 of the better education (political) cartoons.
The Annual Meeting and Luncheon of the Horace Mann League will be on Friday, March 3, 2017, in New Orleans. Click
here for early registration.
Horace Mann League's Nomination Committee Report
The HML's Nomination Committee is pleased to present the following for the 2017-2018 officers and new directors, pending approval at the 2017 Annual Meeting.
2017 2018 Officers
2017-2018 New Directors
Sponsor a Professional Colleague for membership in the Horace Mann League.
Click here
to download the "Sponsor a Colleague" form.
HML Post Archives: To view past issues of the HML Post, click here. From 2012 to the present. The archives can be searched by using key words. The HML Post Archives can be a useful source of information for research projects and presentations. For assistance, contact Jack McKay.
A gift for your Community and School Leaders:
On the Art of Teaching
by Horace Mann.
The book,
On The Art of Teaching by Horace Mann has been presented to new teachers as a welcome gift by a number of schools district. For orders of 50 or more, the district's name is printed on the front cover.
Ordering Information
Cost per copy: $12.50
Orders of 50 to 99: $11.00
Orders of 100 or more: $10.00
Send orders to: (include name of district, P.O. #, and address)
The Horace Mann League of the USA
560 Rainier Lane
Port Ludlow, WA 98365
FAX (866) 389 0740
To
download the full or summary report,
To
view in an electronic magazine format,
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Horace Mann Prints
The 11 * 18 inch print is available for individual or bulk purchase. Individual prints are $4.00. Discount with orders of 50 or more.
For additional information about this or other prints, please
check here
.
 In 1840 Mann wrote On the Art of Teaching. Some of HML members present
On the Art of Teaching to new teachers as part of their orientation program. On the inside cover, some write a personal welcome message to the recipient. Other HML members present the book to school board members and parental organizations as a token of appreciation for becoming involved in their schools. The book cover can be designed with the organization's name. For more information, contact the HML (
Jack McKay)
All the past issues of the HML Posts are available for review and search purposes.
Finally, 7 links that may be of interest to you.
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About Us
The
Horace Mann League
of the USA is an honorary society that promotes the ideals of Horace Mann by advocating for public education as the cornerstone of our democracy.
Officers:
President: Dr. Christine Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
President-elect: Dr. Martha Bruckner, Superintendent, Council Bluffs Community Schools, IA
Vice President: Dr. Eric King, Superintendent, (ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Past President: Dr. Charles Fowler, Exec. Director, Suburban School Administrators, Exeter, HN
Directors:
Dr. Ruben Alejandro, Supt. of Schools, Weslaco, TX
Dr. Laurie Barron, Supt. of Schools, Evergreen School District, Kalispell , MT
Dr. Evelyn Blose-Holman, (ret.) Superintendent, Bay Shore Schools, NY
Mr. Jeffery Charbonneau, Science Coordinator, ESD 105 and Zillah HS, WA
Dr. Carol Choye, Instructor, (ret.) Superintendent, Scotch Plains Schools, NJ
Dr. Brent Clark, Executive Director, Illinois Assoc. of School Admin. IL
Dr. Ember Conley, Supt. of Schools, Park City, UT
Dr. Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford U. CA
Dr. James Harvey, Exec. Dir., Superintendents Roundtable, WA
Dr. Steven Ladd, Superintendent, (ret.) Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, CA
Dr. Stan Olson, President, Silverback Learning, (former supt. of Boise Schools, ID)
Dr. Steven Webb, Supt. of Schools, Vancouver School District, WA
Executive Director:
Dr. Jack McKay, Professor Emeritus, University of Nebraska at Omaha,
560 Rainier Lane, Port Ludlow, WA 98365 (360) 821 9877
To become a member of the HML, click here to download an application.
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The skill of the coach also has a significant impact. According to a 
