Sunday, November 25, 2018

It’s Not Too Late to Change: The School Year’s Not Even Half Over


Why Schools Fail to Act When their Students Fail

Dear Colleagues,

[CLICK HERE for the Entire Blog]

Introduction

   In the past few weeks (or months), a number of professional and college coaches (especially in football, basketball, and hockey) have lost their jobs—some in the first few weeks of their seasons.  Typically, their teams have “gotten off on the wrong foot” by losing a series of games, and fans (and alumni) are clamoring for a change and beginning to boycott games.

   Given the “bad press”—but more often because of the economic implications, owners and College Presidents know that they need to act quickly and decisively.

   As we all know by now, professional and college sports are big, multi-million dollars businesses.  And when business is not going well, the business must reorganize so that it can return to profitability.
_ _ _ _ _

   Education is a big business also.  But the “profit” in education (some charter schools aside) is about human capital—the academic and social, emotional, and behavioral success of our preschool through high school students.

   And yet, when the school and schooling process is not going well—that is, when large numbers of students are failing, underperforming, or not mastering essential skills—why do our educational CEOs not move with the same strategic speed as their business counterparts?

   And while I know that you “can’t fire the team,” I also know that when the team is failing, it may need to be reorganized and the coaching may need to be changed.

   More about this later. . . .
_ _ _ _ _

Why Do Students (and Schools) Fail?

   As usual, I am consulting across the country right now with ten or twelve different school districts—from traditional preschool through high school districts, to a high school-only district, to an inner-city charter school district.

   And while the descriptions below are occurring in a number of these current districts, the issues are common to districts I have worked with for almost 40 years.

   Many of my districts are working on upgrading their multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) practices.  Based on my work—especially in designing this system for thirteen years as the Director of the Arkansas Department of Education’s State Personnel Development Grant (funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs), the first component of an effective MTSS system is an effective general education classroom with effective differentiated instruction and effective classroom management led by an effective teacher.

   As students present with frequent or significant academic and/or social, emotional, or behavioral challenges, the next components of an effective MTSS system involve “layers” of support or multidisciplinary teams.
_ _ _ _ _

   In analyzing their students in preparation for the MTSS upgrade, many of my districts are discovering five themes.
  •  Theme 1: Teachers Don’t Know Students’ Mastered Skills
  • Theme 2: Teachers Have Too Many Discrepant Skills Levels of Students to Teach
  • Theme 3: Teachers Don’t Have, Understand, and Follow Curricular Scope and Sequences
  • Theme 4: School-level MTSS Teams Need to Refocus 
  • Theme 5: Schools have Too Many “Tier II” and “Tier III” Students

[CLICK HERE for the full Blog, and comprehensive descriptions of these five Themes.]

   In summary, the five themes above represent the many common reasons why many schools are not succeeding with 85, 90, or 95 percent or more of their students.

   Because of ESEA, many school districts are (responsibly) upgrading their multi-tiered systems of support.  But to do this, districts and schools need to first look at the quality of their general education curriculum, instruction, assessment, schedules, and student grouping patterns.  Simultaneously, they need to evaluate their multi-tiered assessment-to-intervention services, supports, strategies, and programs for students with academic and/or social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges.

   As alluded to above, this will necessitate a different approach to thinking, evaluation, strategic planning, capacity-building, and professional development.

   Many of the districts and schools that I am consulting with get this. . . but there is still another hurdle to address. . . .
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It’s Not Too Late to Change

   I am writing this in late November.  For most August-start school districts, they have been “in session,” during this 2018-2019 school year, for approximately 65 school days.  For the September-start school districts, they have been in session for just over 50 days.

   This means—based on a 180-day school year, that all of these districts have at least two-thirds (approximately 120 days) of their school years remaining.

   And yet, in the face of the themes and issues discussed above, and having recognized that the educational processes they are implementing for and with their students is not working, many of these districts and their schools are still hesitant to act. . . boldly and now.

   Instead, many schools act as if decisive changes cannot be made “mid-year.” 

   It’s almost as if they are resigned to their students’ failure, even as they commit, “We will change and do better next year.”

   The two problems with this statement are:  First, the statement is a rationalization.  If any failing business waited two business quarters (i.e., 120 working days) to make crucial changes to its business practices, it would likely be out of business before the third quarter.

   Revisiting the Introduction to this Blog. . . when most sports teams begin the year in an exceptionally unsuccessful way, they do not resign themselves to a poor season.  Instead, their owners fire their coach and re-boot the process.

   The second problem with the statement above is that too many schools, despite their lip service, never really “change next year.”  Indeed, for most of these schools, “next year” looks remarkably like “this year.”
_ _ _ _ _

   So. . . why do schools wait to change. . . when two-thirds of the school year remains, their students already are failing at unacceptable levels, and they know that waiting will simply strengthen the cycle of failure?

   If I want to be insensitive, boorish, or just an extremely assertive student advocate, I would answer the question above saying, “I don’t want to know.  There is no acceptable reason for these schools not to change now.  They should not and cannot wait.”

   But as an organizational consultant, this answer—and its accompanying attitude—will likely be counterproductive. . . consolidating peoples’ resistance to introspection and change, and resulting in an externalization of blame and a move for my dismissal.

   And so, in contrast, I need to (help the school to) analyze the underlying reasons that explain peoples’ reticence to change (now), and identify any legitimate barriers. 

   I also need to recruit those who recognize and support the need for change (now), and decide how to maximize the school’s assets and strengths.

   To start this process, we need to identify and validate the “high-hit” hypotheses that explain the reticence to change (now), so that we know the staff changes that will lead to the student changes.

   In my experience, there are eight high-hit hypotheses.

[CLICK HERE for the full Blog, and comprehensive descriptions of these eight hypotheses.]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Summary

   While I know that the process described above is “easier said than done,” the thesis of this discussion is that the process and the changes need to be done now. . . even if the required changes are uncommon, unorthodox, controversial, or risky.

   But I am not trying to be pushy or impractical here. 

   Indeed, if a school’s organizational and/or situational variables make it more advantageous to build an “infrastructure of success” at the end of the school year—in preparation for the beginning of the next school year—then so be it.

   But many of the high-hit reasons described in the full Blog exist to delay actions that are realistic, do-able, and that could be accomplished now. . . especially with 120 days left in the school year.

   And so. . . rather than “sacrifice the students to protect the staff, school, and system. . . tough decisions need to be made.

   In the final analysis, we all know that . . . “You can’t score if you don’t take the field.”
_ _ _ _ _

   We do have at least 120 school days remaining in the current school year. 

   And all of our schools have student challenges that are serious, evident, and sometimes escalating.  And yet, many of these challenges could be solved if we confront the issues with courage, communication, commitment, and collaboration.

   Sometimes our districts and schools have the resources to take the steps needed for change.  At other times, it takes an outside expert to guide the process.

   If you need an outside expert, and would like to discuss your current concerns with an eye toward using the next 120 days to begin the change process, I would be happy to provide a free, one-hour consultation to discuss the possibilities.

   Regardless of who you choose, please begin now.  If you are not currently in a leadership position, feel free to share this Blog with your supervisor or administrator.

   Remember: “You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.”

[CLICK HERE for the Entire Blog]

Best,

Howie

No comments:

Post a Comment