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Welcome to the Tuesday morning, February 13, 2018, edition of the HML Post. This weekly newsletter is a service to the members of the Horace Mann League of the USA.
More articles of interest are on the HML Flipboard site.
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Quote of the Week
An interesting this about golf is that no matter how badly you play, it is always possible to get worse.
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Horace Mann League's Annual Meeting
In deep-red America, the white Christian god is king, figuratively and literally. Religious fundamentalism has shaped most of their belief systems. Systems built on a fundamentalist framework are not conducive to introspection, questioning, learning, or change. When you have a belief system built on fundamentalism, it isn't open to outside criticism, especially by anyone not a member of your tribe and in a position of power. The problem isn't that coastal elites don't understand rural Americans. The problem is that rural America doesn't understand itself and will never listen to anyone outside its bubble. It doesn't matter how "understanding" you are, how well you listen, what language you use...if you are viewed as an outsider, your views will be automatically discounted. I've had hundreds of discussions with rural white Americans and whenever I present them any information that contradicts their entrenched beliefs, no matter how sound, how unquestionable, how obvious, they will not even entertain the possibility that it might be true. Their refusal is a result of the nature of their fundamentalist belief system and the fact that I'm the enemy because I'm an educated liberal. (Learn more.)
Given the current struggles with the United States, it may be hard to remember that up until relatively recently our school system was the envy of the world,. That was an outgrowth of our changing country, for while some public schools existed early on, it was really the rise of education reformers in the antebellum era that set us on the path to true public education. Few loom larger than Horace Mann, who argued that a truly free populace could not remain ignorant and that communities must provide nonsectarian public schools, staffed by trained teachers and open to students of diverse backgrounds.
Some of the most celebrated education reform efforts today serve to make instruction more difficult. Personalized learning, project-based learning, mastery-based learning - they all require more work of teachers and more work of students.
Devin Vodicka, chief impact officer at AltSchool and a former superintendent of California's Vista Unified School District, pointed out that the last transformation of the education system occurred during the industrial revolution. Education went from being localized - think one-room school houses - to mass produced. Flexibility decreased over what would be taught and when, but quality went up and access went up. The number of students graduating from high school skyrocketed in the years between 1900 and about 1970.
There is, of course, a problem. The method of instruction most often employed in industrial-style classrooms, "direct instruction," is a relatively easy lift. Teachers, who have all the information, stand at the front of the room and deliver content to students, who sit passively, absorbing as much as they can before the teacher moves on. Many teachers already do much more than this to teach increasingly diverse groups of students, but for argument's sake, let's call this the basic instructional model in an industrial-era classroom. (Learn more.)
Warren Bennis says there are nine steps to leadership (p.134 of his book):
1. Reflection leading to resolution.
2. Resolution leading to perspective.
3. Perspective leading to point of view.
4. Point of view leading to tests and measures.
5. Test and measures leading to desire.
6. Desire leading to mastery.
7. Mastery leading to strategic thinking.
8. Strategic thinking leading to full self-expression.
9. The synthesis of full self-expression = leadership.
Some of these steps are already a part of who I am as a person. Reflection is something I do regularly and advocate for students and adults in education. If we didn't spend time thinking about our decisions with the intention of moving toward a resolution of some kind, we wouldn't be using our reflection with a goal in mind. Being intentional about how and what we reflect on forces us to dig deeper and see what lies before us more clearly. (
Learn more.)
Goodbye Mr. Chips. Up the Down Staircase. My Posse Don't Do Homework.To Sir With Love. Dead Poet's Society. Mr. Holland's Opus. The 4th season of
The Wire.
The "great teacher" movie has become a bit of a cliche. But decades of film and movies work on our emotions for good reason. That reason is not "Wow, this teacher's practice is soundly based in practice that research shows improves student learning!" (
Learn more.)
One of the best ways to stir up awareness and publicity for your nonprofit brand is to generate some buzz-word of mouth marketing is free (or at least, cheap) and, even better, highly effective. Plus, it's something that spans both the online and the offline worlds, and can put your organization clearly on people's radars in a very positive fashion.
Nothing says, "This organization is worth your time and money" better than a satisfied supporter or volunteer who passionately believes that your organization is truly worth his time and money.
The big question is how do you get people chatting? To boost your nonprofit brand's buzzability, you have to give your brand evangelists something worth talking about beyond the latest direct mail drop or email blast.
Here are five ways to get tongues wagging.
1. Create and Promote Stories that Your Engaged Donors/Volunteers Want to Share.
2. Recruit a Group of Volunteers Who Are Willing to Share Your Brilliant Social Media Content.
3. Take Ten Minutes a Day to Build Your Own Personal Brand.
4. Build Your Street Cred.
5. Finally, Get Your Board on Board. (
Learn more.)
To what extent does the First Amendment apply to students' off-campus communications on the Internet?
Do schools have the authority to punish students for offensive messages they send via social media? Four years ago, Martha Derthick and I argued that the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually be drawn into the debate over off-campus cyber-speech
(see "
Digital Discipline
,"
legal beat, Summer 2013). The court has yet to step in, but a recent federal case out of Pennsylvania illustrates the growing controversy around the issue.
In B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District, a high school sophomore was kicked off the junior-varsity cheerleading squad for a vulgar image she sent via Snapchat, a messaging platform that is supposed to protect against rash juvenile behavior by deleting photos soon after one sends them. As "B.L." learned, though, social media is forever, even with Snapchat, since users can take and share screenshots of any images they receive. (
Learn more.)
A vision statement serves as the anchor of any institution. Aside from expressing your aspirations and dreams for your company, it also provides the framework for all strategic planning. Ultimately it answers the question, "where do we want to go?"
Vision statements are crafted to serve as inspiration and a guide for you and the other members of your institution.
A good vision statement is so important because it will help set the direction of your business. It'll have a huge influence on your decision making process and the way you allocate resources.
What Makes an Effective Vision Statement?
There are certain characteristics that good vision statements, including the vision statement examples above, have in common. Here are a few traits that can help you evaluate your current vision statement and/or help you create a new one.
- Future Focused. Provides the "big picture" and clearly describes what your organization will be like in several years.
- Directional. Serves as guide to organizational plans and strategies.
- Specific. Clear and focused enough to shape decision-making.
- Relevant and Purpose-Driven. Reflects the company's response to the challenges of the day.
- Values-Based. Implies the set of values that are required to support the organization.
- Challenging. Inspires members of the organization to do great things and achieve a higher level of standards.
- Unique and Memorable. Highlights what makes the organization different and why it matters.
- Inspiring. Appealing and engages people to commit to a cause. (Learn more.)
The headlines made a big splash, and yet they were strangely familiar:
Another school system was reporting a higher graduation rate than it deserved.
The most recent scandal-in the District of Columbia-is just the latest example in a growing case file of school systems where investigators have uncovered bogus graduation-rate practices.
Those revelations have unleashed a wave of questions about the pressures and incentives built into U.S. high schools, and fueled nagging doubts that states' rising high school graduation rates-and the country's
current all-time-high rate of 84 percent-aren't what they seem.
The newest round of reflections was triggered by
an investigation, ordered by the D.C. mayor's office
, that found that 34 percent of last year's senior class got diplomas even though they'd missed too much school to earn passing grades, or acquired too many credits through quick, online courses known as credit recovery. (
Learn more.)
2018 Annual Meeting and Awards
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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. Martha Bruckner,
Exec.Dir., MOEC Collective Impact, Omaha, NE
President-elect:
Dr. Eric King, Superintendent, (ret.) Muncie Public Schools, IN
Vice President: Dr. Laurie Barron, Superintendent, Evergreen School District, Kalispell, MT.
Past President:
Dr. Christine Johns-Haines, Superintendent, Utica Community Schools, MI
Directors:
Dr. Ruben Alejandro, Supt.
of
Schools, (ret.) Weslaco, TX
Dr. David Berliner, Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
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 USD, Elk Grove, CA
Dr. Stan Olson, President, Silverback Learning, (former supt.
of
Boise Schools, ID)
Dr. Lisa Parady, Executive Director,
Alaska Council of School Administrators
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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