Loading ...
Here’s my bottom line: The most important task of a school leader is to embrace the challenge of having a clear and shared vision of equitable outcomes for all students. It is the democratic principle of fairness upon which our country is founded and the basis for truly changing the achievement gaps that now prevail.
With the recent news that only 66% of Oregon students graduate high school, it’s clear that this vision does not “just happen.” It has to be owned and shared by the whole school community. It must be intentional, planned, implemented and supported to be sustainable. It must be evident every day, every week and every month in every classroom. All students, teachers and parents need to know and own a common vision of outcomes at their school. What must each student know and be able to do when he/she graduates? When this is clear and held dear, there is a true school spirit.
All students come from somewhere special, each with different backgrounds, different experiences and different circumstances. The whole of their differences is the beautiful mosaic of school. And when they come through the school doors, they are in a place where equity can happen. But there must be a roadmap for success for each student in each classroom across these differences.
Teachers must lead the way for the students. They must know their students well, understanding them across all their differences. They must ask the question: What does it take for a student to enter a school at one level of achievement, move forward, and then graduate with the highest potential achievement? That’s the daily challenge of teaching, at every level.
Many teachers do incredible work for many students. Many reach a majority of students, however, not enough reach all of the students. Unfortunately, there are students in most classrooms who are left out of the loop sometime during the school day. Their voices are not heard. Their needs are not acknowledged. Their minds are not challenged. They start to not “show up,” either physically or mentally. They fail in one or more subjects. They are “pushed out” of the system eventually, and we all lose. Teaching effectively so that all students can move forward on their own roadmap is critical. Knowing what that pathway looks like for each student is the vision!
As a school leader, I might expect to see the following in a classroom where good teaching takes place:
• There is a sense of a learning community within the classroom—the environment is open, inclusive, supportive, trusting.
• The lessons are well-prepared (by a teacher, team, or in collaboration), strong in the content areas, and intentionally designed for understanding by each and all students in the classroom. There is a myriad of strategies in place to address differences throughout the period. There could be various groupings, individual learning, small group learning, whole group learning, and projects that relate to real life experiences. There is technology to support their work. Most importantly, there is rigor for all—at all levels of understanding. There is a seamless differentiation in instruction according to student learning needs and expected outcomes. The processes in the classroom are democratic.
• Assessments occur continually throughout the lesson with feedback given to the students to encourage and help them “own” their learning. Students are receptive to the feedback as it is part of their understanding that the vision is for their realization of success.
• All students are engaged in deeper understanding of the learning that day. They know the expected outcome for themselves that day. The teacher is making certain all students are acknowledged and heard.
• Students are involved in thinking, writing, researching, listening… and you hear them speaking and questioning (more often than the teacher’s voice). You hear their voices addressing what they are learning. They seem confident and know the power of their ideas. They are respectful of each other.
• A trusting relationship is evident among the teachers, students and peers. Students are inspired by the challenge of the expectations while feeling assured of support from their teacher and peers.
• As students leave the classroom, they know what they have learned that day and are able to take it to the next step or level…. They have their plan in mind and are intellectually alive!
Good leadership must provide consistent support for teachers to carry the vision. Teachers need more training in understanding racism, sexism, ageism, special needs, disabilities, socio-economic status, second languages, cultural backgrounds, etc. There are many cultural differences to understand and incorporate into how to deliver good teaching.
But teachers are in the profession because they care! They should be congratulated and rewarded when they move forward in making each day more equitable for all students. It takes being conscious and intentional, with a willingness to reflect on the incredible uniqueness of each student.
Leading a school with a vision for each student to be inspired to learn and demonstrate achievement on a daily basis is critical for success. That clear and shared vision can assure all students graduate with the confidence to participate, excel and celebrate in their community.
Hi Eva – I admire the passion conveyed in your blog post. But at the same time I’m unclear about your central equity message. Could you say a little more about what you literally mean by the idea of “equitable outcomes?” I want to make sure I’m crystal clear about your core idea before I respond in more detail.
Hello Ron, I appreciate your question. From my point of view:
“Equitable outcomes” must be the fair results of education – In our system, that ultimately means graduating “career and college ready.“ It means there is evidence that each student is proficient and confident in all academic areas and in being a contributor to his/her community. Along the way, it means we have given our greatest efforts to assure each student’s needs have been met, regardless of differences of culture, race, color, gender, life experiences, language, special needs, socio-economic status, etc. How we provide each student the opportunity and support to reach that outcome is what the vision of equity is all about. It starts in the classroom and requires constant attention to each student’s growth in achievement, confidence, and participation in the school community. Each student should know and own their pathway to that outcome, knowing they are in a community of support. It means that their academic and social/emotional needs are met across differences. If measures of equitable outcomes are in the forefront of leadership, there will be a constant conversation of how to support students to realize their potential and succeed.
My core idea is that leaders, especially principals, need to have a full and complete commitment to closing the achievement gap! They must have a clear and articulated vision of what equity looks like on a daily basis throughout the school and school year. That commitment will be evident in the implementation of the vision. It should be evident not only in assessment data, but of student attendance, participation in school and community, willingness to share and voice ideas, and especially in the demonstration of innovative ideas and excitement for learning. How much does the student participate? How often is his/her voice heard? Where do you see evidence of his/her ideas and strengths? Where are the demonstrations of innovation? There are many questions in regard to achieving equitable outcomes, and they should always be filtered through the vision of equity.
Thanks, Eva. That helps, I think. Consider the following scenario: Every child attends school 180 days a year and receives instruction for approximately 6 hours a day. Within this time box each student receives top notch, innovative, exciting instruction in a solid core curriculum based on standards and precisely focused on individual needs. Every day each child is seen and heard and connected with in a meaningful way. Children are active participants and happy in their work. While they are aware of differences among their peers they honor these differences and support each other. Every day there is evidence that learning is taking place and that each child is content and secure.
I hope you would agree that this is a pretty compelling scenario and that children would be better off if we could secure it for them. Now suppose these conditions could be created and sustained year after year. At the end of the day, would all students complete high school having achieved exactly the same learning outcomes? Short answer, no.
If we are successful in responding to the interests, talents and needs of our students, there will ultimately be significant variation in outcomes – as there should be. Our daunting task in public education is to help every student make as much progress as possible given the resources and time at our disposal. Achieveing the highest rate of continuous growth should be our goal for every student. But that rate of progress will vary from student to student, primarily as a function of differences in cognitive ability.
Content and performance standards are useful benchmarks that help us sequence curriculum and focus instruction. But they fail us if they cause us to ignore crucial individual differences that affect learning. We do students a disservice if we label them a failure for not meeting a specific outcome at a specific point in time, regardless of the learning challenges they face.
Equity means giving every student access to quaity instruction, support and attention – with the exact mix of these influenced by the needs of the child. Equity means consistently celebrating leaning gains no matter how small or large. Equity means minimzing the irrelevant barriers to academic success such as poverty, discrimination, social class or low expectations. But equity is not about the sameness of outcomes. Our purpose is to help each student gain as much from schooling as possible and to celebrate the differences that arise from our successful efforts.
The current fixation on the attainment of the same outcomes for all students at the same time (thank you NCLB) is deeply problematic and will utlimately cause great harm to our students and weaken the credibility of public education. A new paradigm for characterizing student achievement is desperately needed.
For additional perspective, see my May 5 Chalkboard blog, “The Invisible Elephant in the Room.”