Public School

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

A Twitter view of Digital Learning Day in DPS109 via #Engage109

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“Big thinking precedes great achievement.”
– Wilferd A. Peterson

WE

in Deerfield Public Schools, District 109 (Lake County, IL) are so very proud of Engaging, Inspiring, and Empowering our learners each and every day! With a National Event like Digital Learning Day sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education we get to celebrate and highlight ways we are ready for innovation and the future!We are Future Ready!

Through this blog post we announce/publicize/share/celebrate the use of the District 109 Twitter Hashtag, #Engage109, used in DPS109 to communicate, “brand”, inform, celebrate, and share with the world the comings and goings in education in our transformative learning environments!

Through the use of Storify, a digital archive tool – another example of digital inspiration and sharing, we can share social media information (see below for a collection of #Engage109 tweets from throughout today). On Digital Learning Day we are proud to join so many other educators in the USA and around the world taking the time to share and inform successful public school educational experiences.

We are so much more than “test scores” and “politics” we are about children and learning – we are about teachers and learning, we are about leadership and community engagement! The future is now and it’s an honor to serve a forward thinking community of learners.

Storify can archive Tweets or other social media, what follows is a collection of #Engage109 tweets from today!

Financial impact of proposed legislation

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“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
– John Wooden

As a public school superintendent, I am non-partisan and publicly a-political. From time to time I post information about pending or actual legislation affecting our public schools. In Illinois, school funding is a regular source of debate, review, analysis, and concern. Right now there is proposed legislation (SB16) that would change the way the state funds for public schools would be allocated.

With this communication I am sharing factual information with the intent of sharing, educating and communicating.

Last July, the Illinois Senate Education Funding Advisory Committee was tasked with recommending ways to improve public education funding in Illinois. The result of the task force was the creation of Senate Bill 16 (SB 16). If enacted into law, SB 16 will make sweeping changes in how the state funds education. SB 16 does not increase the level of education funding, but changes the way in which limited state funding is apportioned among school districts. All state funding, with few exceptions, would be combined under one funding formula.

Generally, school districts with higher assessed property values (including District 109) will receive much less state funding. Other districts will receive much more in state funding. This is an attempt by the state legislators to provide greater equity among school districts across the state. The Bill does not address the current issue of unfunded obligations to school districts that has occurred in recent years.

How Will SB16 Impact District 109?
The Illinois State Board of Education has calculated the amount each school district would receive next year if SB16, as written, becomes law. Deerfield Public Schools District 109 would lose over 50 percent of its state funding – or $1.3 million per year. The cuts will be phased in over a four-year period. Beginning in year five, there will be a full $1.3 million reduction in funding to the District.

District 109 spends approximately $15,800 per student; only $900 per student currently comes from the state of Illinois in the form of special education reimbursement and general state aid. If SB 16 becomes law, revenue from state sources will be just 2% of operating revenues. It is obvious that with the loss of $1.3 million in funding, District 109 will be put in a position of reducing programs and services to our students. These cuts will likely impact the District’s classrooms and result in a reduction of teaching staff leading to larger class sizes with less personalized instruction for our students.

Many North Shore residents pay high property taxes in part to access high-achieving schools. This proposed law would undermine suburban taxpayers and would significantly reduce the state funding to these high-achieving schools. SB16 will pull state funding away from schools that are successful and would in no way guarantee greater success for schools with high poverty levels. SB 16 takes from some to give to others. A far better solution would be for Illinois to fully fund education, rather than ranking 50th in the nation in education funding.

SB 16 comes at a time when many school districts anticipate a further hit from the state. The pension system that funds teacher retirement is woefully underfunded and attempts may be made to shift the state’s burden to local districts. Deerfield Public Schools would face an additional $2.4 million cost, which would be even more impactful than SB 16.

SB16 has already passed the Illinois State Senate. Click to see how the Senators voted.


What Can You Do?
The House is expected to vote on SB16 in November, following the fall election. If you are concerned about the dramatic effect on Deerfield Public Schools District 109 and the students we serve, voice your opinion on this important education bill. Use the Illinois State Board of Elections search engine to find your Representative (you’ll need your full ZIP+4 zip code). Here is a full list of Illinois Representatives.

Let’s Talk! Focus on Communication – Big 5 Organizational Culture

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“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
– Marie Curie

As part of our District’s Big 5, Organizational Culture plays a huge part of our focus and energy! In support of keeping up with the pulse of the community, we have partnered with K12Insight.com for climate survey development as well as ongoing communication tracking through Let’s Talk.

Let’s Talk! is not meant to replace emails, phone calls or meetings with teachers or staff; it provides an additional (and very easy) way for parents, staff and community members to communicate with the District. Each submission to Let’s Talk! is sent to the appropriate school, department and/or staff members. If you request a response, you will receive it within two business days. If you don’t ask for a response, but simply want to let us know what’s on your mind, please be assured that we are listening! District 109 will track the submissions to Let’s Talk to determine where we need to communicate better, or areas we need to focus our work to engage, inspire, and empower our students and each other.

If you have questions about your child’s academic experience, please contact your child’s teacher directly. Do not use Let’s Talk! for emergency situations. If you have an emergency, please call 9-1-1 to reach the Deerfield Police Department.

From their website:
FAQs: “Let’s Talk About Let’s Talk!”

What is Let’s Talk!?
In short, Let’s Talk! is a simple way for a school district to monitor the pulse of its community while giving parents, teachers, staff, students and community members a 24/7 channel for ideas, questions, concerns and praise. While not every submission requires a personal reply, Let’s Talk! embodies a district’s commitment to listening and responding with care.

Let’s Talk! is prominently featured on your district’s website and accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device. Participants may provide their contact information or choose to remain anonymous. District staff can also update Let’s Talk! as they receive emails, calls, letters and in-person feedback from stakeholders. Let’s Talk! works via mobile app, too — far exceeding today’s “right-now” customer service expectations.

How does Let’s Talk! work?
Districts with Let’s Talk! are committed to authentic communication, which includes reading, reflecting on and responding to stakeholder input promptly. Let’s Talk! eases this process by organizing feedback and ensuring follow-up with appropriate staff. An intuitive “dashboard” manages access and displays common themes, average staff response times and user satisfaction, turning every interaction into an opportunity for progress.

Why is Let’s Talk! important?
Stakeholders are always talking, and their conversations shape your district’s brand — often on social media and without district input. It’s easy for naysayers to cloud perceptions and hinder progress. Let’s Talk! prevents this by opening dialogue, identifying critical issues and promoting solutions. Whether your district responds via phone, email, blog or other means, the result will be the same: Community goodwill, a culture of collaboration and a relationship built on trust.

Won’t I be overwhelmed with negative Let’s Talk! feedback?
Let’s Talk! entries typically represent a manageable range of opinions — many of them positive. Let’s Talk! also addresses concerns at their earliest stages, preventing site-level problems from becoming district-wide issues. Rather than magnifying criticism, Let’s Talk! defuses it by strengthening communication, resolving problems and promoting collaborative success.

Our district handles community feedback well. Why should we add Let’s Talk! to our services?
Let’s Talk! integrates the many ways districts receive and manage input. Say goodbye to countless emails, voicemails, “While You Were Out” messages and sticky notes about wide-ranging stakeholder issues. Let’s Talk! replaces them with organization, efficiency and measurable outcomes. Contact us now to get started.

Why not drop us a line via Let’s Talk!