Rowland Foundation

"Can schools as we currently know them ever accomplish the mission we've established for them? This week Richard Elmore, one of the nation's most prominent educational thinkers, emphatically shared his conviction that they cannot. "

"Clinging to dysfunctional models will actually do more damage to our children in the long-run, and so more dramatic shifts of thinking and practice now seem in order."

Looking at our efforts and our work as Rowland Fellows...are we providing "palliative care" to our schools? When we think about what we do, our work must embrace true innovation rather than "fortifying existing institutions that no longer work." I feel we are on the right track and am humbled by the work that is being done through this foundation.

Paraphrasing here..."Society & Learning moving from Hierarchical models to Newtork Relationships as a the central organizing principle." ~ R. Elmore

Education policy leaders and professors, contributors to the recently published The Futures of School Reform, talked about reform of the education model in American schools. They discussed the teacher's role in the classroom, tenure, and collective bargaining and responded to questions from members of the audience.

Just a ton of topics covered in this two hour video. But, some great issues raised and ideas discussed.

"...at the structural level, companies need to be constantly reflective, assessing their relevance... And they should expect to constantly change without fear of their own identity--because it's better to be an adaptive (school) than a well-recognized fossil."

"The best way to promote change is to constantly challenge talent. And the only way to do that is to never act like the learning process is done."

"...by all means ask a team to do something new. But right when you do, make sure to call in experts for roundtable lunches to answer questions. People will be less afraid of change if they know it's expected, and if the (school) provides the right resources to enable it. And those old habits? Let them die.

"What if students instead came to each course or classroom with a digital backpack of data about their learning levels, preferences, motivations, and personal accomplishments? How would this improve each teacher's ability to tailor learning to meet the needs of individual students? What if parents and students could easily access their child's records to share the information with afterschool providers? How would all of the personalization this affords add up to deeper learning and improved college and career readiness?"

The experience of using portfolios in the past may lead to some push back from veteran educators. Reframing ePortfolios as tools to help them might be a good way to begin a process of an indiscernible evolution rather than attempting to implement sudden change. ~jf

"What do teachers wish they knew about new students? In what environment do they learn best? Are they meeting the standards in key areas like math, reading and writing? What goals have they identified for themselves? What level of support do they have at home? Do they participate in any community programs or organizations? Do they do best when working alone or with peers? What are their outside interests that I can use to motivate learning? Is there anything in their learning history that I should flag for follow-up or special attention? What did other teachers note about their strengths and challenges?"

An Odyssey Of Creativity, Innovation and Critical Thinking An Action Research Study By The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Links to the full report: Unleashing Potential, Harnessing Possibilities, the Executive Summary and the Report At-a-Glance are all worth a look

"Under what conditions do healthy and creative individuals and organizations flourish?"

"...this work will have a significant impact on improving student achievement and well-being. This work is rooted in the belief that the more the organization recognizes, values and taps into the creative and unique capacities of everyone within and connected (to the school), the greater the opportunity to reach and teach all of the students in our care. This is the imperative in fostering a truly engaged and creative approach to learning and to individual and organizational health."

"I read a blog post found in my Reader feed, which leads me to a link on YouTube, that leads me to a quote, which leads me to the person who stated the quote, to find a link on their Twitter profile, only to find another article on something that I would have never found myself. ...That is how learning should be; continuous, connected, and meaningful." 

Great video at end of article!

Sign up for the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum 2012 | An Ongoing Conversation Among Friends

Almost 200 videos that describe what PBL is, How to do PBL, Example Projects, and more.

"Implementing proficiency-based learning options for the long term requires purposeful and specific components to ensure that practices can be sustained and result in a new learning culture that improves student achievement."

Really a great post by Vermont Superintendent Dan French. In this he talks about educators from across districts and beyond "utilizing the collective wisdom of their peers." He sees a potential providing an opportunity for educators where "Curriculum development and professional development are 'open sourced' with best practices being identified, implemented, and evaluated much more quickly across a group of schools since teachers are no longer working in isolation within their own schools or districts." I can't imagine that there isn't a person among us that wouldn't agree with the concepts he puts forward here. I think we as a group already have the pieces in place to implement what he proposes. If we were to come together as a true PLC I think that we could not only greatly help with transformation in our individual schools, but could have a profound and powerful impact on education across Vermont.

"It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail." Great piece to consider as we engage in our work as fellows.

"I used to think I was a pretty good teacher. Now I realize that I did the best I could with the knowledge I had, but my classroom was woefully inadequate for many of my students. I failed to equip them with what they needed."

"The industrialist mindset of productivity and predictable perfection has infected all elements of our lives, from school to science. Once you see it, you'll understand how it pushes us to avoid the hard work of doing truly interesting science, and how it encourages us to avoid the maker mindset. In this informal talk, I'll try to get under your skin, at least a little, about what's at stake."

"We need to teach students to STOP following directions."

"...researchers and educators ... want to know how kids learn by tinkering - fooling around with something until one understands how it works. They want to know what happens cognitively - how this learning process helps form habits of mind, builds character and how it affects the individual."

13 schools categorized by area of focus / innovation.

It would be a great resource for the Vermont ed community to put together a categorized list of schools such as this. Sometimes the most innovative practices are happening right down the road. (And, sometimes right down the hall)

Tony Wagner's entire keynote address from the September 27th Rowland Foundation Conference on School Transformation at the University of Vermont. I will also be posting short clips in the coming weeks. If you have a recommendation please let me know. jfinley@rnesu.org

"Resistors to Change" 1."We've always done it this way thinking." 2."Head in the sand thinking." 3."It's someone or something else's fault thinking."  4."You have to do it this way because policy says so thinking." 5."I'm right and everyone else is wrong thinking." 6."Protect our turf at all costs thinking."  7."Change for Change's Sake thinking."

If you don't have a Twitter account and you are in education...you NEED one.  I cannot tell you how many people have told me that it is the best and most personalized Professional Development that they have ever experienced...I'd agree.