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Welcome to the Tuesday morning, May 1, 2018, edition of the HML Post.
click here. The HML Officers and Directors would sure appreciate your input.
Editor's note: The HML Board encourages the wider distribution of the
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HML Post made available to your administrative team (or graduate students),
click here.
Donations to support the League's activities, like the HML Post, are always appreciated. The HML is a 501c3 non-profit association.
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Quote of the Week
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't want to go, but ought to be.
Rosalynn Carter
__________________
Very few government reports have had the staying power of "A Nation At Risk," which appeared 35 years ago this month and stoked widespread concerns about the quality of American schools.
"The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and as a people," the authors thundered in one of its best-known passages.
The report's narrative of failing schools - students being out-competed internationally and declining educational standards - persists, and has become an entrenched part of the debate over education in the U.S.
But what I learned in talking to two of the original authors of "A Nation At Risk" was that they never set out to undertake an objective inquiry into the state of the nation's schools.
They started out already alarmed by what they believed was a decline in education, and looked for facts to fit that narrative.
And while their report is still widely cited, a second official federal government analysis of standardized test scores, produced just seven years later, showed the opposite of what was claimed in "A Nation At Risk." That analysis found, instead, "steady or slightly improving trends" in student achievement.
What is happening? Almost all these states are red states, controlled by Republicans. Almost all are right-to-work states, with weak unions. Yet in these states, teachers have said enough is enough. Typically, it has not been their unions that spurred the walkouts. Time and again, the uprisings were from the grass roots, beginning with a page on social media calling other teachers to get together and protest working conditions. (Learn more.)
Matt Bevin, the conservative Republican governor of Kentucky, lost it a few days ago.
Thousands of his state's teachers had walked off their jobs, forcing many schools to close for a day, to protest his opposition to increased education funding. And Bevin lashed out with a
bizarre accusation
: "I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today a child was sexually assaulted that was left at home because there was nobody there to watch them."
He later apologized. But his hysterical outburst had deep roots:
At the state and local levels, the conservative obsession with tax cuts has forced the G.O.P. into what amounts to a war on education, and in particular a war on schoolteachers. That war is the reason we've been seeing teacher strikes in multiple states. And people like Bevin are having a hard time coming to grips with the reality they've created.
(
Learn more
.)
You are a bad person if you send your children to private school. Not bad like murderer bad-but bad like ruining-one-of-our-nation's-most-essential-institutions-in-order-to-get-what's-best-for-your-kid bad. So, pretty bad.
I am not an education policy wonk: I'm just judgmental.
But it seems to me that if every single parent sent every single child to public school, public schools would improve. This would not happen immediately. It could take generations. Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good. (Yes, rich people might cluster. But rich people will always find a way to game the system: That shouldn't be an argument against an all-in approach to public education any more than it is a case against single-payer health care.)
So, how would this work exactly? It's simple!
Everyone needs to be invested in our public schools in order for them to get better. Not just lip-service investment, or property tax investment, but real flesh-and-blood-offspring investment.
Your local school stinks and you do send your child there? I bet you are going to do everything within your power to make it better.
(
Learn more
.)
These are my top 10 habits I've developed over the last 33 years after studying entrepreneurs, executives from Fortune 1000 companies, and my own personal experiences:
- Every morning, make a list of the 3 most important things you have to do for the day that will make the largest impact.
- Use the 10 years test - When you run into tough situations, often times it will seem like a disaster. Don't sweat the small stuff and keep you eye on the big picture.
- Learn one new thing a day - It could be a list of new habits (wink wink), a new language, a skill or insight. Push yourself to grow every single day.
- Watch a thought leader on Youtube every week - A lot of my friends and gurus recommend reading every day to learn.
- Batch your emails. It's easy to get distracted as a thousand emails hit your inbox throughout the day.
- Drink a green smoothie every morning - It's quick, easy and healthy for you.
- Work out in the morning - It's so simple but it's so effective.
- Practice gratitude - Every morning (or night), tell yourself 3 things that you're grateful for that day. .
- Build a "feel good" crew - Spend time with friends and family that lift you up and inspire you to live the best life possible.
- Have a bias towards experimenting - A lot of times we don't know what the right answer is. What's the best way to find out? (Learn more.)
1.
Determine who your ideal target is, then get to know them and which social networks they frequent.
2.
Focus on your message. What do you want this audience to know about your employment brand? Explain it simply.
3.
Create a posting schedule and make note of the content that receives the most views, likes, and comments.
4.
Build your social brand presence. Do not try to master all social media sites and avoid corporate jargon that could turn viewers away.
Once you've mastered one or two, test drive others.
5.
Share informative articles from credible, well-respected sources. There are plenty of free ones out there.
6.
Figure out what makes your company unique. Every company has something original to it!
7.
Keep your story consistent across social channels to establish a recognizable brand.
8.
Have your recruitment materials reflect your association's
mission statement and story. Be authentic and you'll find
people who share similar values.
9.
Serve up an application experience that's quick and
easy.
10.
Craft compelling posts. Engage those who aren't ready
to apply today, but might be later, by giving them the
ability to receive information about engagement opportunities
tailored to their interests.
There has been a remarkable emphasis in American education on the process of socialization, as if this were the primary responsibility of the schools. This emphasis has intensified in the last ten years at the expense of learning, particularly in the middle school philosophy.
It is generally assumed that unless the gifted are grouped with students of diverse abilities, they will "never learn to get along with others." Therefore, all provisions for gifted students-ability grouping, acceleration, pull-out programs, full day programs, special schools, homeschooling-are held suspect on the grounds that they will "seriously interfere with social adjustment."
Contrary to popular beliefs, an immense amount of research accumulated over the last 70 years indicates that gifted children tend to enjoy greater popularity, greater social competence, more mature social relations, earlier psychological maturity, and fewer indications of psychological problems than their less gifted peers. (
Learn more.)
5 Things to Consider When Attempting to Make Your Schools Your Community's Schools of Choice
by Rich Bagin on the HML blog site.
1.
Focus on the LOCAL SCHOOL, not the School District per se.
Focus on your individual schools because on the local level.
2.
Internal Communication is critical to be successful.
Ideally, we want all staff to become ambassadors for their schools, to vote in finance elections where it applies, and to become advocates for their schools, their children, and their communities.
3. Like it or not,
political communication is now part of our jobs.
There is no denying that our jobs have changed.
- What do we stand for that others also believe in?
- Who is aligned against us?
- Where are we most vulnerable?
- What are our opponents' strengths?
- How can we broaden our base?
- Who are our natural allies?
- What can we unite around, despite our internal differences?
- What are the overlapping interests that might permit us to make common cause with people who are not (education leaders)?
4.
Support communication as management function.
You need to integrate communication into all that you do or you will risk losing the battle we now face.
Communication must be a management function.
5.
We need to tell our stories, and leverage technology and our integrity.
We have always said that the term "PR" really stands for 2 items:
- Having a Public Responsibility to communicate, and
- Developing Public Relationships.
That is where we build credibility and trust though authentic communication.
Please join me in making that happen. Because I ask, if we do not do it, who will?
Make that commitment at the local level now, more than ever. (
Learn more.)
When you're a leader - no matter how long you've been in your role or how hard the journey was to get there - you are merely overhead unless you're bringing out the best in your employees. Unfortunately, many leaders lose sight of this.
Power can cause leaders to become overly obsessed with outcomes and control, and, therefore, treat their employees as means to an end. As I've discovered in my own
research, this ramps up people's fear - fear of not hitting targets, fear of losing bonuses, fear of failing - and as a consequence people stop feeling positive emotions and their drive to experiment and learn is stifled.
Top-down leadership is outdated, and, more importantly, counterproductive. By focusing too much on control and end goals, and not enough on their people, leaders are making it more difficult to achieve their own desired outcomes.
The key, then, is to help people feel purposeful, motivated, and energized so they can bring their best selves to work. (
Learn more.)
This is an odd admission for a psychiatrist to make, but I've never been very good at sitting still. I'm antsy in my chair and jump at any opportunity to escape it. When I'm trying to work out a difficult problem, I often stand and move about the office.
We've known for a while that sitting for long stretches of every day has myriad health consequences, like a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, that culminate in a higher mortality rate. But now a new study has found that sitting is also bad for your brain. And it might be the case that lots of exercise is not enough to save you if you're a couch potato the rest of the time.
A study published last week
, conducted by Dr. Prabha Siddarth at the University of California at Los Angeles, showed that sedentary behavior is associated with reduced thickness of the medial temporal lobe, which contains the hippocampus, a brain region that is critical to learning and memory. (
Learn more.)
If you tend to be more of the low-key observer-type personality, you may be thinking that you don't want to (or aren't capable of) being that person whose presence lights up the room. Not to worry, there's more to it than an outgoing personality.
Studies conclude that present-day charismatic leaders are supportive, sensitive, nurturing, and considerate.
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The Education Cartoon of the Week.
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The Superintendent's Special topics:
(Please share your ideas. Contact Jack McKay
)
Sponsor a Professional Colleague for membership
in
the Horace Mann League.
Click here to download the "Sponsor a Colleague" form.
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
or
email: Jack McKay
FAX (866) 389 0740
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. Eric King, Superintendent, (ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
President-elect:
Dr. Laurie Barron, Superintendent, Evergreen Schools, Kalispell, MT.
Vice President: Dr. Lisa Parady, Exec. Dir. Alaska Assoc. of School Admin., Juneau, AK
Past President:
Dr. Martha Bruckner, Exec.Dir., MOEC Collective Impact, Omaha, NE
Directors:
Dr. Ruben Alejandro, Supt.
of
Schools, (ret.) Weslaco, TX
Dr. David Berliner, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Dr. Talisa Dixon, Supt. of Schools, Cleveland Heights - University Heights, OH
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, Mesa Public Schools, AZ
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 USD, Elk Grove, CA
Dr. Stan Olson, President, Silverback Learning, (former supt.
of
Boise Schools, ID)
Dr. Martin Brook, Executive Direcctor, Tri-State Consortium, Satuket, NY
Dr. Kevin Riley, Superintendent, Gretna Community Schools, NE
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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