John Hattie

We have the research! Let’s update our practices! #Engage109

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“Many people die with their music still in them.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes

As educators, it’s our job to help them find their music!

I think that the superintendent of schools should ensure that all children have access to educational opportunities despite decades of segregation and practices that have overtly and covertly separated children who learn differently.

Segregation due to race ended by law in 1954, but there have been other ‘segregationary’ practices – some well intentioned as well – like special education, exclusionary tracking, etc..

Often districts and schools practice “sifting” and “sorting” of students, these are practices that have, in general, led to disparate equity of educational opportunity across the schools, districts, states, and nation.

Regardless of evidence and research findings, many educational programs and practices still exist because school systems and leaders don’t understand how to manage change or because they are afraid to change.

When Public Law 94-142 (the special education law) was enacted in 1975, four main purposes were:

  • “to assure that all children with disabilities have available to them … a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs
  • to assure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents … are protected
  • to assist States and localities to provide for the education of all children with disabilities
  • to assess and assure the effectiveness of efforts to educate all children with disabilities”

Source: Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975

The reality is that since 1975, many well intentioned educational programs for diverse learners ended up creating separate (but equal) “programs” and “service delivery models” for various learners.

I also think that it’s incumbent upon a superintendent to share the latest evidence, research, information, studies, etc. with his/her community to inform and improve practices.

I believe in the concept of innovation (changing for improvement).

You have probably heard about John Hattie. Specifically, you may have heard about his research on the factors that affect student achievement. Hattie uses effect sizes to show the relative impact of each factor. An effect size of 0.4 is regarded as average or typical. His work is ongoing. To my knowledge, his results were 1st published in 1999. They became well-known after he published a book in 2008 called Visible Learning. His results were last updated in late 2016. This Hattie effect size 2016 update summarizes these new findings in the context of what went before.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, see Hattie, et. al, for example, updated in 2016, many “mythological” and ineffective educational practices are still in place all over the school systems because “that’s the way it’s always been done“. Doing what’s right is not always popular – but we have no excuses for not doing what’s right.

The figures below show the latest findings from Hattie’s meta-analyses about the most effective instructional practices.  (I have written about Hattie‘s findings from time to time): (from the figures below, the concept of teacher credibility has an effect size of 0.90 and feedback has an effect size of 0.73, acceleration has an effect size of 0.68, for example).

Hattie’s studies have found that an effect size of 0.40 reflects the average impact of an intervention; those above 0.40 are more impactful. (click on the images below to go to the source)

Teacher Credibility Defined:

According to Hattie teacher credibility is vital to learning, and students are very perceptive about knowing which teachers can make a difference. There are four key factors of credibility: trust, competence, dynamism and immediacy. In an interview Hattie puts it like that: “If a teacher is not perceived as credible, the students just turn off.”

Examples for teacher credibility: Earn trust by showing trust towards pupils. Appear highly organised in the presentation of the subject matter. Develop a powerful style of speaking that uses few verbal hesitancies such as “OK” or “you know”. Reduce distance between teachers and students by moving or moving away from barriers (e.g., desk, podiums). Source: cie.asu.edu

The impact of a teacher on a student’s learning is so important that it’s arguably the most important duty of an administrator to select teachers who are predictive of excellence.

 

 

Goals to mathematics are 0.40-0.49 effect size
Play programs to preterm birth weight are 0.50-0.59 effect size
Teaching strategies to acceleration are 0.60-0.69 effect size
Feedback (0.73) to Teacher credibility (0.90) complete the list

The role of superintendent of schools is often a mysterious role. I have found that many people don’t really know what a superintendent actually does on a daily basis. Some think it’s like an “uber” principalship, others think it’s like a “CEO” of a corporation, and still others really have no idea. From time to time I write about what a superintendent does.

From my employment contract it states my responsibilities and duties as superintendent:

The Superintendent shall have charge of the administration of the schools under the direction of the Board; he shall be the chief executive officer for the Board; he shall recommend the selection, retention and dismissal of, and direct and assign, teachers and other employees of the School District under his supervision; he shall organize and direct the administrative and supervisory staff; he shall make recommendations to the Board concerning the budget, building plans, location of sites, and the selection of textbooks, instructional material, and courses of study; he shall direct the keeping of all records and accounts, and aid in the making of all reports, as required by the Board; he shall recommend rules, regulations, and procedures deemed necessary for the welfare of the School District; and, in general, he shall perform all other duties incident to the office of the Superintendent as the Board may delegate to him or as required by law.

 

Subsequent blog posts will reflect on the duties of a superintendent who must lead to ensure that ALL students receive high quality education with structures and systems supported by evidence. It’s time to stop doing what is easy and wrong! It’s time to do what is right – even when it makes people change.

 

Just because our school system was designed in 1893 does not mean that we should still act like it’s 1893!

More on Hattie and Marzano – We KNOW what works!

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“The experience of others is the best classroom you will ever find.”
– Warren Buffett

From time to time I share information about relevant and timely educational research. in this post I am reprinting excerpts from an earlier post regarding the powerful and influential research findings from John Hattie. The excerpt is from a post on January 2015 about my own connections educationally with the constructivist philosophy as well as some powerful findings of impact/effect from John Hattie’s meta analytical research. Following the excerpt, I’m reprinting a blog post from Shaun Killian that shares commonalities from Robert Marzano’s findings and Hattie’s findings. So much information about impact and effects of instructional methods rests at our fingertips – it’s exciting to have multiple mediums to share and communicate and inform!

As early as in 1995, I experimented with U.S. History Workshop where students were given voice and choice – with guidance, support, and direction – as they learned about U.S. History. I published an article in “The Councilor” (the official publication of the Illinois Council for the Social Studies), Volume 56, pages 11-25, title: “Planning Powerful and Engaging Social Studies: The U.S. History Workshop for Students”

Looking back at past blog posts I shared about Hattie’s research and in commentary where I have read and written about Hattie’s meta analytical research, I found that the effect size of student expectations also referred to in his writing as self-reporting grades is 1.44, for more on Hattie, there are books, articles, publications, and links from my blog. The main points are for us to keep our eyes on the prize so to speak, raise our expectations – remove limits and obstacles – teach better, create more active learning spaces and allow our students to soar – using what we know and using what we believe -there are no limits!

It is incumbent upon us – public education leaders – to learn from research findings, apply interventions in the ways enumerated in the syntax of the research – and to cede some control to the students as we activate their learning and as we support their limitless growth and success!

 

From Shaun Killian’s Blog Post: Reprinted and shared with permission

8 Strategies Robert Marzano & John Hattie Agree On

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Robert Marzano and John Hattie have both reviewed research into what teaching strategies make the biggest difference to students’ results. While they used different methods and terminology, they agreed on these 8 powerful strategies.

 

Strategy 1: A Clear Focus for the Lesson

focusJohn Hattie highlights how important it is for you (and your students) to be clear about what you want them to learn in each lesson. According to Hattie, teacher clarity is one of the most potent influences on student achievement. Robert Marzano agrees, including lesson goals in his top 5 list of factors that affect how well students do at school.

Hattie states that lesson goals:

  • Clearly state what you want your students to learn
  • Can focus on surface or deep learning (or both)
  • Must be challenging for the students relative to their current mastery of the topic
  • May be grouped (i.e. a single lesson may have more than one goal)
  • Need to be shared with the students

Marzano also found that posing questions at the start of a lesson is an effective way to focus students: For example:

  • How do you add mixed fractions with different denominators? That’s what you must know by the end of this lesson.
  • What is the difference between elements and compounds? …
  • Why is Persuasive Essay A better than Persuasive Essay B? …
  • When (what period) were Egypt’s great pyramids built? …

Hattie suggests using questions a slightly different way:

  • What are today’s lesson goals?
  • What do I already know that will help me achieve these goals?
  • What actions will I need to do to ensure I achieve these goals?

 

Strategy 2: Offer Overt Instruction

Robert Marzano claims it is important to explicitly teach your students the things they need to learn. His review of research actually revealed it was the most important factor (teacher controlled) affecting students’ success. You need to tell them what they need to know and show them how to do things they must be able to do for themselves.

John Hattie did not review explicit teaching per se, but he did find that Direct Instruction was very effective. Direct Instruction involves explicitly teaching a carefully sequenced curriculum, with built in cumulative practice.

Furthermore, Hattie highlighted the power of giving students worked examples when explaining how to multi-step tasks. Marzano also highlights the importance of giving examples and non-examples (similarities and differences) of the concept you are teaching. For example, when teaching prime numbers it would be useful to highlight 2 as an example, and 9, 15 and 21 as non-examples to avoid confusion with odd numbers.

Marzano also found that you can explicitly teach deeper levels of understanding by using graphic organisers You should use graphic organisers to show how different ideas were related to each other (e.g. steps, cause-effect, hierarchy, lists, comparisons, etc.).

Neither Hattie nor Marzano believes that great teaching is nothing more than standing out the front of the class and imparting knowledge. However, both agree that telling students what they need to know and showing students what they need to be able to do are essential aspects of teaching.

 

Strategy 3: Get the Students to Engage With the Content

While it is essential to actively teach students what they need to know and be able to do, it is also important to get them to actively engage with the content.

Marzano and Hattie agree that this starts with students actively linking your newly provided information with their prior knowledge of the topic. Students need to engage with the content as soon as they hear it by:

  • Adding it to what they already know, or
  • Using it to clarify some of the faulty assumptions they currently hold

Your students can then engage with your information in other ways. Hattie talks about the value of getting kids to take notes. Marzano also found there was great value in having your students take notes, and getting them to work with physical manipulatives.  Also, he found that the simple act of asking students to recall information that you have just taught them (i.e. asking basic questions) had a substantial impact on how well they mastered the material. All these strategies are useful, but they only allow students to engage with the material at a surface level.

vennRobert Marzano also found several ways for students to engage with the material in ways that help them deepen their understanding beyond surface knowledge. These include the use of graphic organizers that show how information is connected (e.g. steps, cause-effect, in comparison to, hierarchical classification). It also includes the use of analogies, such as:

  • Persuasive devices are to a writer what tools are to a tradie, or
  • The Magna Carta offers citizens what a referee offers a game of soccer.

These are practical strategies that exemplify the higher levels of the SOLO taxonomy (an alternative to Bloom) that Hattie also advocates.

 

Strategy 4: Give Feedback

It is important that you give your students feedback after they engage with any new material. This:

  • Highlighting what is right and wrong, or good and bad about their work
  • Helping students to see how they can improve

Robert Marzano highlighted that students need to be given feedback while there is still time to improve (i.e. before finishing a topic or assigning a formal assessment task). John Hattie agreed with this but went further, showing that novice or struggling students need immediate feedback, while more experienced students do better when they receive delayed feedback. Hattie also discovered that different types of students need distinct types of feedback (see How to Give Feedback: The Advanced Guide).

Hattie also highlighted that feedback is a two-way street, where student results tell the teacher the degree to which their efforts are working (or not). When teachers see feedback this way, it has an even larger impact on their students’ subsequent results.

 

Strategy 5: Multiple Exposures

If you want students to internalize new information, you need to expose them to it several times.

When exploring how to enhance students’ vocabulary, Robert Marzano found that it was critical for teachers expose students to the same word multiple times. When each exposure was coupled with an explicit comment about the word and its meaning, students’ vocabulary acquisition doubled.

John Hattie picks up on the significance of multiple exposures by revealing the critical importance of techniques such as rehearsal and review.  Put simply, rehearsal means going over material until you can remember it, while review involves going over things you have learnt previously.

He also stresses the merit of giving students time to practice doing the things they have learned to do. When spaced out over time, Hattie found that having students practice things led to a 26 percentile improvement in their marks.

On a more cautious note, Hattie warned that practice without feedback can be dangerous as it leads to students internalizing the wrong things.

 

Strategy 6: Have Students Apply Their Knowledge

Robert Marzano found that helping students apply their knowledge deepens their understanding.

Knowledge application is a deductive process whereby students apply general principles to specific case studies or problems. Marzano found that teaching students how to think deductively and giving them guided practice in doing so helps them generalize their learning beyond the particular topic or task at hand. Hattie confirmed that deductive processes (i.e. general principle applied to specific situation) is much more effective than inductive teaching (i.e. asking students to discover general principles from observing specific situations).

Knowledge application also involves problem-solving. Robert Marzano’s synthesis of research revealed that problem-solving had a large effect (d = 0.54) on students’ understanding. Marzano believes that problems should require students to apply previously learned knowledge and skills – and Hattie agrees.  When problem-solving is used in this way, Hattie found a similar effect size (d = 0.61) to Marzano. However, when a problem is used to stimulate discovery learning, the opposite is true (d = 0.15). Hattie also emphasized the importance of teaching students how to solve problems, e.g. understand the problem → come up with a plan of action → implement the plan → review the results.

 

Strategy 7: Get Students Working Together

group workRobert Marzano and John Hattie both agree that getting students to work with each other helps them to achieve better results. The use of cooperative learning groups adds value to whole-class instruction (d = 0.41) and to individual work (d = 0.59-0.78).

They also agree that inter-group competition can increase the effect of cooperative learning even more.

However, neither Marzano nor Hattie believes that cooperative learning should replace whole-class instruction or individual learning activities.

  • Hattie highlights how students need you to teach them topic-related facts and skills, so they can make genuine contributions to their group. If students haven’t gained sufficient mastery of the material, they cannot actively participate in cooperative learning tasks.
  • Marzano adds that it if students are to master what they are being taught, they also need opportunities for individual practice and feedback.

Finally, Marzano and Hattie agree that cooperative learning is only effective when you:

  • Structure it carefully
  • Keep groups small
  • Teach students how to work in groups

For further information, read Group Work That Works.

 

Strategy 8: Build Students’ Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to a student’s belief about their ability to successfully complete a task. It is situation specific. For example, a student may feel confident that they can dance well on stage but be insecure about public speaking.

Hattie & Marzano both found that students’ self-efficacy had a substantial impact on their subsequent achievement. Students who believed they would master fractions were more likely to do so, while students who saw themselves as poor readers were less likely to improve their reading.

Marzano’s review of research showed that you can build students’ self-efficacy through praise, and expressing your belief that they can do well. However, to be effective, such praise must:

  • Be genuine – i.e. only given when students have made real improvement
  • Refer to specific accomplishments related to the task

As Carol Dweck noted, if you praise lavishly and liberally, you end up praising mediocrity, which in turn sends a message that you believe that is all you think they are capable of.

Hattie highlighted the fact that the link between self-efficacy and achievement is reciprocal. That is, achieving genuine success has as much impact on subsequent self-efficacy, as self-efficacy has on subsequent achievement.

John Hattie and Robert Marzano have each conducted significant reviews of what works best in the classroom.

There are some clear differences in their work.

  • They use different terminology to each other
  • Marzano uses more isolated strategies, while Hattie combines strategies into broader approaches
  • Marzano’s findings are based heavily on teacher-designed assessments, while Hattie’s findings make more use of standardized tests

However, as you can see, there is significant agreement between Robert Marzano and John Hattie when it comes to what works best in the classroom.

 

Who Is Robert Marzano?

Robert Marzano conducts educational research, and is the co-founder of Marzano Research.

Robert Marzano has authored many books worth reading, and compiled a seminal meta-analysis on the effectiveness of various instructional strategies entitled, A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis of Research on Instruction

Who Is John Hattie?

John Hattie is a professor at the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education. He is also chair of the board for the Australian Institute for Teaching & School Leadership.

John Hattie has reviewed over 800 meta-analysis of research studies exploring the degree to which various factors affect student achievement. It is the most extensive review ever taken.

About the Author

Shaun Killian is an experienced teacher and principal with a passion for helping students to excel. He believes that assisting teachers to adopt evidence-based education is the best way to make this happen. Shaun is committed to bringing you practical advice based on solid research.

More on What is School For? Questions for us all as we lead with passion.

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“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
– African Proverb

Instructionally across the nation in our public schools we are creating a sense of urgency, a tipping point so to speak. Many argue and believe that it is time for the Industrial Age model of education to move aside for the newly forming Information Age of education. As society changes, so too shall the public schools – or will they?

For ten years now educators have been pondering the ‘Rip Van Winkle effect’ as introduced in a December 2006 Time Magazine article. The authors of that article wrote about Rip Van Winkle awakening in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze. Just about every place Rip went baffled him. But when he download (2)finally walks into a schoolroom he feels right at home. When discussing this recently, two of my colleagues Nick Polyak and Alan Siebert and I were struck by the subtle power of the commentary, how schools in the 21st Century were still organized by and modeled on 19th Century standards and structures. If we are to leverage the power of technology to impact and change education, it’s incumbent upon us to Transform – not Reform. It is incumbent upon us to focus on the future, the students’ future, and not on our past. As school superintendents the charge rests upon our shoulders to lead for the future.

As we leaders review and study the latest research on schooling and learning and as we contemplate leadership with our communities, it’s essential that we understand both the urgency and the “why” – the purpose for innovative structural, organizational, and instructional change leadership.

What is school for? This is a question that lately I have been hearing, reading, writing, pondering, and asking others to consider. Is school for:

-preserving our democracy?
-supporting our economy?
-keeping children & young people occupied from 3-21?
-supporting our culture?
-enhancing thinking skills?
-providing young people who are career and college ready?
-increasing knowledge and numeracy and literacy skills?

-all of the above and more?!

If we know what it is for then how can we go from Good to Great. The phrase Good to Great has become a staple in leadership commentary thanks to Jim Collins and his team of researchers and leaders through their publications Built to Last, From Good to Great, Great by Design, and others.

If we are good then it’s a challenge to become great for it’s easier to become good from poor or imagesmediocre, but great, truly great, a set-apart, a cut above the rest – this is where the challenge lies. Organizations who become great are few and far between as Collins, et al and others have reported.

Major educational “heavyweights” like John Hattie and his teams, Robert Marzano and his teams, Michael Fullan and his teams, Kouzes/Posner, and others continue to demonstrate impact/effects of behaviors and techniques on organizational culture and on leadership effectiveness and on learning. If we know all of the answers then why is it proving so challenging – for so many – to move from good to great?

Why is the nation “at risk” (from 1983 reports), why does the federal government have to intervene so that “no child is left behind” (ESEA 2002)? We have so many answers and models at our fingertips yet the prize of excellence, or complete literacy, or complete organizational culture models remains elusive to so many.

Horace Mann said, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”Can public schools truly balance the social machinery – or in modern terms – meet the needs of all people and preserve the middle class? Do wpid-IMG_20150227_115409.jpgthe public schools exist that the economic conditions into which we are born can be mitigated through schooling?

What is the purpose of innovation?

What is the purpose of change?

So many questions that keep me and many others up at night yet also in pursuit of answers to these questions provide such great rewards that we leaders continue to lead and continue to enlist others on our mission of excellence in education. With continued vision from Boards of Education and community members, leaders, teachers, parents, students, administrators, and our entire system of public schooling, will continue to get better and better. My charge is to lead. My charge is to challenge the process and inspire others to act. Thank goodness the people with whom I work are also leaders and they are also visionaries and they are also passionate about education.

Our society is complex enough to present many challenges to people as they pass from childhood to adulthood. It is my firm belief that a strong foundation in educational preparation will support a person’s quest for success and prosperity. My philosophical foundation holds that young people are our windows to the future; working with them has given me a unique vantage point to assess their goals, needs and abilities. I have been, and I remain committed to preparing our young citizens, and those who teach and support them, for their futures – and ours.

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER
ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

Structural Change – What is School? – #Engage109

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“Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away.”
– James B. Stockdale

We in education are grappling with perhaps the largest challenge to structural schooling in the history of the modern era! What is school for? Are we optimizing the greatest force for supporting and sustaining our democratic way of life? How do we ensure that the public school system is fully functional and designed to support a future unknown in this Information Age?

I’m a student of leadership. I’m a student of structural change. I’m working to lead our school system and our community for educational needs of today and not for yesterday’s needs. Beyond rhetoric and admiration of problems, I subscribe to proposals of change and I subscribe to what I am and what we are “FOR” not “against”.

I’ve often wrote about how it is incumbent upon us in education to focus on the newness, freshness, and excitement for each student each day. Every day is a new day for our students. Only one time to “do” first grade, for example; in most school experiences there are no “do overs” for these high impact life experiences. Often I ponder questions like these:

How can we make school, the system created in the 19th Century, relevant for today’s learners?

How can we make school, the system from Horace Mann’s era, meaningful for today’s learners?

How can me make school, the system resistant to change for so long, open to change for our future?

There are some ways to change school systems, but most have not been done so there are not many examples of effective structural change. We in change leadership are pioneers embarking upon the very essence of society and the essence of our place in history. From the 1980’s “A Nation at Risk” to the 2000’s “No Child Left Behind”, to today – we have been

The major findings - distilling from millions of studies on what works.
The major findings – distilling from millions of studies on what works.

bombarded by what is “Wrong” with schools. Well, the Illinois Vision 20/20, of which our district is on record supporting, and creative leaders like Sir Ken Robinson and John Hattie are sharing thoughts and research (proof) about what changes can do.

In pursuit of my own leadership development and growth I am studying personalized learning. This year’s focus from the superintendent’s office is PIE: Personalization, Innovation, and Engagement. This year we are co-hosting innovationa community screening of the film Most Likely to Succeed on November 9, 2015, at the Deerfield High School Auditorium. From an email I sent to the community:

Click to learn more about the film, and to view the trailer.
The educational leaders of both school districts have chosen to show the film community-wide because we believe that it will generate important conversations that will help guide our schools’ transformation. It will allow us to start forming our collective vision of what the education of students in the School District 109 & 113 communities should look like. After the evening screening of the film at Deerfield High School, Joe Taylor, Assistant Principal for STEAM Instruction & Director of Instructional Technology at Deerfield High School, and Marcie Faust, Director for Innovative Learning for District 109, will be part of a panel discussion and Q&A session, moderated by District 109 Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld. The panel discussion will last 25-30 minutes.

Please click here to RSVP so we can get an idea of the number of people who will be attending. This isn’t a binding RSVP – if your plans change at the last minute, or friends convince you to join them, please come. We want you there!

 

personalizationI’m part of a national leadership team studying innovation and personalization from Utah. Please see this TEDx Video about this topic:

I’m convinced we can and we will change education for the better and we will Engage, Inspire and Empower our students for now and more important FOR THEIR FUTURES!

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER
ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

Connecting Hattie’s Research to your own Beliefs and Journey

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“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”
– Anonymous

Over the years I have sought out leaders in research and education so I can learn and grow and improve. One of my research/author heroes is Michael Fullan who writes a lot about culture and relationships and change as well as the forces that support and interfere with organizational change and growth. In this blog, I’ve written before about John Hattie’s research findings and “mindframes”.

Hattie’s “mind frames” and his research and findings and beliefs in “visible learning” underscore for me a number of things including how our EXPECTATIONS greatly matter as well as our communication greatly matters. Our refers to teachers, leaders, community members – really to everyone.

Some of the ways to “live out” these effective mind frames in real life and in real schools and other organizations can be found in feedback communication.

Effective feedback is the essence of formative assessment and it has a number of components (some listed below)
1. communicates desired goal
2. describes present position
3. clarifies understanding of gap between current and desired state develops an – shared language specifics understanding how to close the gap between current and desired results
4. given and sought continuously in a manner that is understood by the learner
5. is timely for updating strategy and status
6. developmental and not judgmental – celebrates progress toward success

As a way to help readers understand a bit more about my beliefs and background, and how my experiences and beliefs relate to Hattie’s findings and suggestions about mind frames and effect sizes of specific actions and interventions, I’m sharing a more autobiographical post than usual to briefly highlight my journey so far as well as the foundational beliefs I hold dear and have remained constant.

In 1993 I was selected to teach 8th grade social studies at Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville Elementary School District #2 in Du Page County, Illinois. Since then my journey in public education has been filled with success, happiness, leadership, challenges, and fulfilment. In 2013 I became the superintendent of schools in Deerfield Public School District 109 in Lake County, Illinois. In between these many years I have had amazing experiences working with some of the finest teachers, administrators, Boards of Education, community leaders, and parents. While I am still learning – there is so much to learn in this “exponential” age of information, I am sharing my stories of success in leading change and moving systems from point A to point B in an effort to increase student learning and staff success!

For the past 20+ years I have had the good fortune of teaching children and adults in many capacities and roles. I have held the titles of teacher, coordinator, consultant, associate principal, principal, director, assistant superintendent, professor, and currently, superintendent of schools. In all of these roles I have been motivated by service to others and belief in the ability of others to succeed. Through connections I have been able to find success and bring out the best in others. In essence, my educational philosophy has always been:

Our complex society presents many challenges to people as they pass from childhood to adulthood. It is my firm belief that a strong educational foundation will support a person’s quest for success and prosperity. Young people are our windows to the future. Working with them has helped me see and consider their views as guideposts in decision making and planning. I am committed to preparing and to supporting our young citizens and their teachers for their future – and ours.

Through connections both personal and professional, I have been able to bring out the best in others and support their work in bringing out the best in others. Today’s world differs from yesterday’s world in that today we can connect with people in real time anytime. Today’s world differs from yesterday’s world in that our messages are received multiple ways all throughout the day. Gone are the days when one had to “wait for the mail” to arrive before knowing about this or that. Now we know about this and that before, during, and after it is all taking place.

As early as in 1995, I experimented with U.S. History Workshop where students were given voice and choice – with guidance, support, and direction – as they learned about U.S. History. I published an article in “The Councilor” (the official publication of the Illinois Council for the Social Studies), Volume 56, pages 11-25, title: “Planning Powerful and Engaging Social Studies: The U.S. History Workshop for Students” and in 2009 I published a few pages on classroom management in (Whitaker, T. (2009). The Ultimate Teacher. HCI, The Life Issues Publisher, www.hcibooks.com)

In 2005, when I was fortunate to publish my doctoral dissertation, I again discovered -this time through scientifically validated research methods- that student voice plays a statistically significant role in student learning. In every setting, my mission/vision/aim/guiding force/foundational philosophy is that students need their voice in order that their learning is maximized. Student voice in all grades, in all settings, in all environments. With guidance, structure, order, and facilitated learning environments, student learning and student satisfaction increases. Educational Reform – start asking, listening, considering, embracing, and adapting to STUDENT VOICE. While I focused so much attention on student voice, I did not realize that by sharing my own voice, by connecting, I was laying the groundwork for professionally leading in a culture of connectivity.

Looking back at the image above where Hattie’s meta analytical research found that the effect size of student expectations also referred to in his writing as self-reporting grades is 1.44, for more on Hattie, there are books, articles, publications, and links from my blog. The main points are for us to keep our eyes on the prize so to speak, raise our expectations – remove limits and obstacles – teach better, create more active learning spaces and allow our students to soar – using what we know and using what we believe -there are no limits!

It is incumbent upon us – public education leaders – to learn from research findings, apply interventions in the ways enumerated in the syntax of the research – and to cede some control to the students as we activate their learning and as we support their limitless growth and success!

Engage, Inspire, Empower