Making Schools Work: Ensuring Equality in Outcome for Every Child

Ensuring Equality in Outcome for EVERY Child - A Call to Action!

“We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”

Ron Edmonds

I believe the quote above with every fiber of my being. I have watched the impossible become possible. I have watched the kids whom no one believed could learn: learn, succeed, and accomplish great things. I have watched teachers and principals transform the non-transformable over and over again, replacing nihilism with hopefulness.

Why is it then that so many of our schools, nationally, continue to fail? Do we have a different definition of “successfully teach?” Or does the truth lie in the reality that we, as adults in this nation, haven’t reached a level of moral conviction to actually be interested in the success of each young person in our midst?

Failing schools are failing because the adults in that community haven’t chosen to change the narrative yet. The two catalytic levers that we can control in schools are Courageous Leadership and Transformational Teaching for Learning. These levers can alter a narrative from one of despair and survival to one of hopefulness, belief, and results. We can control the quality of leaders in schools. We can ensure the skill and expertise of teachers in schools.

Failing schools are failing because students in those schools have not yet captured the hearts and minds of the adults called to serve them. We must create a sense of urgency for EVERY child to be known well by the adults in the schools they attend. Kids need to know that their principals and teachers believe in them and their potential to succeed. We know what to do! We know what the steps are to help every child and each school succeed. My hope is to call each of us as educators to do more: to care about every single child as if they were our own. The starting point for this journey in turning around any under-performing district or school is to create a place where the adults decide that “the schooling of ALL children is of interest to us.”

For the past three years I have been blessed to serve the rural/remote school district in Lyle Washington. Before that, as the Assistant Superintendent in the Office of Student and School Success, supporting the Superintendent of Public Instruction for Washington, I have was lucky to visit schools across our state. Small schools and large schools; urban and rural schools; elementary, middle and high schools; schools filled with rich kids and schools filled with poor kids; and schools with every hue of skin under the rainbow. In each school I have visited, and in each position that I have held, the same truth rings clear: a school that tries to exist without the following six foundational building blocks will not meet the needs of their children. A school that doesn’t possess the following characteristics will ultimately fail to support the frame of success like a healthy skeleton supports the human body.

The six transformational building blocks that ensure Student, School and District Success are as follows:

1.     Strategies and structures: I’m a huge Seahawks fan and would love to get back to the Super Bowl! Can you imagine the odds of a single victory or even a first down in the great game of football if the eleven men on the field at any given time all were using a different playbook? Can you imagine how bad the band concert would sound if none of the clarinet players fingered E♭ the same way or when they were supposed to? All this to say that schools need to have some agreed upon “strategies and structures” that everyone agrees to use, implement, adhere to, etc. Sort of like when Russell Wilson signed his contract with the Seahawks: he agreed to run the playbook and the offense the way that the coach wanted him to. Russell agreed to meet a certain degree of physical fitness and adhere to team rules to ensure that the Seahawks could be as successful as possible (playing as a team).

Why is it in schools we believe that it’s OK to be independent operators and not all be on the same page? Our inability to agree on, adopt and implement common/high-leverage strategies and structures is ultimately damning our kids to a lower level of success than they deserve. Why?

As a new principal, nearly 23 years ago, I believed that it was my job to decide on these strategies and structures. Ah, the kiss of death! I didn’t even know as a new principal what I didn’t know! What I believe today is that it is the principal’s job to courageously lead the faculty through a self-discovery and consensus-based process that ends with a commonly agreed upon set of (research-based) strategies and structures that we know will result, when implemented with fidelity by 100% of the adults on campus, in improved student achievement.

Ø  Do we believe in collaborative grouping of kids?

Ø  Do we display student work, empower student-to-student discourse, insist on standards based grading?

Ø  Do kids sit in rows?

Ø  How and when do we communicate with families?

Ø  Do we clearly state learning targets for kids each period and measure them when instruction is finished?

Ø  Do exit tickets define what we’ll teach tomorrow?

Ø  Are there opportunities for “do overs?”

The list could go on and on! The important thing is that the list exists and that all staff have signed on to implement the same game plan that includes well defined and research-based strategies and structures for all kids.

2.     Ethos: The first known use of this Greek word in the English language was in 1851. It may very well be the most important word used in schools today. Merriam-Webster defines ethos as “the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution.” In schools this is both observable and can be experienced. Ethos might be discussed almost like a paranormal experience in schools. It is how you feel the minute that you walk in the door.

Ø  Are kids and families valued and welcomed?

Ø  Who talks to whom?

Ø  When adults and kids pass each other in the hallways do they speak or acknowledge one another discussing things that are important to the schools’ clients?

Ø  Can the ethos of a school be observed in classrooms?

Ø  How does the teacher engage with kids?

Ø  Does the teacher instruct in a way that every student feels important and valued: like they have something to offer?

Ethos can be heard in the conversations between the people that dwell in the school house. Ethos can be measured after lunch in the cafeteria, at the tether ball poll during recess, in the PE locker room, etc. Ethos is not created by more rigorous or robust rules or consequences and punishment. Ethos grows and develops in schools where culturally competent adults love the kids of the school the way they love their own kids: with high expectations, compassion, care, empathy, and understanding. Schools with an ethos that supports student achievement provides kids space to take risks and a pathway to redemption when kids make a mistake. Simply put, healthy ethos in school is the kind of environment that we would describe if we talked about our favorite teacher from our childhood. It’s the kind of climate we’d want our own kids to experience and it is the kind of school that every child should be able to attend.

3.     PBIS/Restorative Justice: The assumption that kids, when they come to school, understand positive behavior expectations and/or know how to make things “right” when they screw up could never be more wrong than it is today! In fact, the tapestry of different family backgrounds, religious values, life experiences, and parenting expertise that makes our diverse world so fabulous is exactly the reason why schools MUST pay attention to how they deal with discipline and perhaps more importantly, forgiveness, penance, and moving on.

This item is both a “strategy and structure” and a stand-alone item that deserves its own attention.

The research around PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) is strong in the schoolwide impact that this approach can have in setting and reinforcing kids behaving the “right” way. PBIS is the great equalizer that allows all kids to learn and be commended for following the appropriate school expectations regardless of their ethnic, socioeconomic, or familial background. The focus on teaching clearly what we expect and then “catching kids doing the right thing” and rewarding them for that just makes good sense: both as a father and an educator.

Restorative Justice also makes good sense, especially when coupled with a PBIS culture. Restorative Justice is a theory of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused or exposed when kids don’t follow the expectations within the school setting. Just as important to the “ethos” of the school as clear expectations, boundaries, etc. is the “how” we fix it when we make a mistake. There is power in talking with a 9^th grader about how they are going to “make things right” with their teacher following a poor choice.

Easy to punish when a kid tells their teacher to go F*#^ themselves when they are frustrated about being called out for misbehavior. Challenging to coach a student on how they can repair the damage done by their poor choice. This cognitive coaching is imperative for kids developmentally, especially through middle and high school. It provides a framework of life skills that will serve them well as they date, marry, or become parents themselves.

PBIS and Restorative Justice are essential components in a healthy school that works for ALL kids. It is important for me to say in closing on this building block that this is NOT a purchase or implementation of a “neatly boxed” program. There are many schools that “do” PBIS in structure: the bigger question is do they “believe” in it? As a superintendent and principal, I never formally bought a program or formal product.  However, multiple visitors to my schools have commented that it was impressive how our faculty had embedded or seamlessly woven the elements of a positive behavior system or restorative justice into the life-blood of our school community. This is intimately connected to the development of ethos.

4.     Writing as a primary focus: Does every adult on campus know what “grade level” writing looks like?

This is really the essential question!

If the answer is yes, then we can start to do the work. If the answer is no, then the first step is to ensure that every adult in the school knows what grade level writing looks like. Once we all know what the standard looks like the next question is: can we all agree that expecting all kids to write to standard all the time would be a good thing? Most teacher groups can quickly get to this spot. The next part of the challenge is where it gets tough!

If we all know what grade level writing looks like, and agree that expecting all kids to write to standard is a good thing, then it requires the adults to change the way they approach schooling. Bell ringers and journaling suddenly become more rigorous. It’s not acceptable to respond in single word/incomplete answers to written prompts. This commitment and understanding requires staff to reevaluate what kind of homework we ask kids to do, the kind of projects, etc. This commitment to grade level writing also begs the question, what happens when kids don’t write to standard? There must be an embedded process around grading and assessment that allows kids multiple opportunities to show what they know, revise their work, etc.

Writing is the great equalizer. Certainly as important, if not more vital than speech or reading, writing is a vehicle that allows all kids, regardless of language background, disability, or socio-economic status, to clearly articulate their thinking, ask questions, and document exactly what they know and are able to do.

Schools and districts that work for all kids are filled with teachers who know what grade level writing looks like and expect all their kids to meet that standard. Schools and districts that work for all kids have a leader who insists that their teachers never lower the bar for any reason: it’s a matter of social justice.

5.     Data oozing from every pore of kids and adults alike: Have you ever dipped a sponge in water, lifted it out, and squeezed real hard?? Notice how the water oozes from each and every opening on the sponge with tensionless ease and release? Schools that work for ALL kids are like sponges and data is the water. Great schools build everything around “proof”: data that indicates things are either working well or not working so well. In these schools, kids know where they are in relationship to the grade-level benchmark standards. Perhaps more important than knowing where they are, is when they are below standard and they have a well-thought-out plan to improve.

Teachers in these schools know the data on their kids as well. They have used research-based assessments or classroom-based assessments aligned to state standard to ensure that they have an accurate picture about what each student knows and is able to do.

The targets are never a surprise. No one ever wonders what the goals are and/or the pathway to get there. Day-to-day activities on the part of teachers, classified staff, and students are intentionally designed to move all kids to standard and support all educational staff in helping each of their kids grow!

This building block is tough and perhaps always a work in progress. Schools and districts that work for ALL kids have found a way to ensure that data is oozing all the time and that teachers and kids alike are constantly looking to discover ways to move the needle farther and farther ahead: to standard and beyond.

6.     Engagement vs. Compliance: Typically when I visit schools and classrooms we discuss this issue in terms of students. I’ll get to that in a moment. First let’s talk adults. Schools that are filled with adults who do great work for kids are filled with adults who are engaged in their work. “Accountable talk” fills the staff lounge, parking lots, and hallway encounters and staff meetings. The adults in these schools don’t believe that they are being “forced” to do something by the state, district, or principal. The adults do the work of transforming kids’ lives because it is the right thing to do. The adults build coherent systems of support for kids because they want all kids to succeed. The spirit of “can do” and “will do” owns the day and no one in the system from top to bottom responds to the work of schooling as “have to.”

Kids…ah, kids! We’ve all seen the look when we walk into classrooms, or maybe we’ve seen the look when teaching, we’ve certainly all “showed” the look as learners: that half glazed-over stare of respect generally directed to the front of the classroom while our teacher, who we genuinely like, provides usually direct instruction in a way that neither resonates with our soul nor captivates our imaginations based on our prior learning and knowledge.

Ø  Does your school have a clear and common definition that all staff and students have agreed on, in terms of “what does student engagement look like?”

Ø  What are kids doing and saying when they are engaged?

Ø  How is the classroom arranged to maximize student engagement?

Ø  What kind of artifacts might one find on the walls of classrooms that are filled with engaged students?

Ø  What kind of assignments are engaged students asked to complete?

Many schools, especially those that serve high poverty and minority populations (where many of the teachers come from the Caucasian middle class), have inadvertently or intentionally created a definition of student engagement that really isn’t that at all. Instead, they create classrooms of compliant kids who do just enough not to be removed from class and are never really invited to roll up their sleeves and dig into the work. These kids never get to experience the common principle that Ted Sizer (CES) so aptly suggested that, “all students are the workers.”

Schools and districts that work for ALL kids engage all students as the workers! The teacher isn’t about control and compliance but rather about facilitating learning, building on background knowledge, and giving kids authentic opportunities: to talk, get dirty in their learning, and deeply wrestle with new concepts and challenges.

If your school doesn’t have a common definition and “look-fors”, that’s the place to start. If you do, try asking the kids about their level of engagement: they almost certainly will tell the truth!

The choice is up to you!

My goal in sharing my thoughts are two-fold. First, to share what I’ve learned over the past 28 years working in schools as a teacher, principal, and state leader and superintendent. Secondly, I’m hopeful that this short piece gives you hope. School turnaround is hard! It’s not impossible. Bad schools turnaround all the time, and in every single case, schools that pay attention to these foundational building blocks become places where all kids can learn and succeed. Schools and districts that pay attention to these building blocks are places that good teachers and principals want to work. Schools that pay attention to these building blocks most importantly prove what Ron Edmonds said so many years ago…

“We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”

How do you feel?

Are you willing to put the pieces in place to ensure an equality in outcome for EVERY child?

Andrew E. Kelly (Andy) is the father of (6) amazing kids who all attend or have attended public schools. He currently serves as the Superintendent of School in Lyle, WA. He can be reached at Andrew.Kelly@lyleschools.org or radicallytransforminglives@gmail.com.