huge lift this is. We’ve heard from OEA members that they have real concerns about how the Common Core Standards are being implemented – namely their voice in implementation, in terms of resources and professional development in their school district. How can we get implementation of the Common Core right? It has to be teacher directed – and much more teacher directed. That doesn’t mean you’re not working with a principal, but I visualize a principal forming a committee of six-ten teachers and the first question is “in order for you to be successful in teaching the Common Core, what do you need? And let’s figure out how to get it.” There are teachers who have already aligned (their curriculum), are teaching (the Common Core), and loving it. How do we get the teachers who have done it in the same subject areas really working side by side with the teachers who haven’t yet? How do (teachers) share what they’ve done?
HIGH-STAKES TESTING OEA’s membership took a strong position asking for a moratorium on the Smarter Credits: Thomas Patterson
Balanced Assessment. How has Smarter Balanced affected implementation of Common Core and could it be potentially postponed? If we just put a moratorium on (Smarter Balanced) we won’t get into really figuring out what about it works and what about it doesn’t work. The work we’re doing with OEA [is] around what would effective assessments look like and how do we stay focused on that. And how do we help people understand that one snapshot test that’s incredibly high stakes for the educator or the student is not where the really important focus needs to be. The important focus needs to be “what informs teaching and learning all along the way?”
POVERTY Educators and parents around the state see poverty has a significant impact on student success. What is your role and that of the OEIB in addressing poverty? I think this is one of my major responsibilities. What we’re realizing is the number of children in poverty has increased substantially. [We need] to really understand what their lives are like. Sometimes we
know if a parent can’t make it to parentteacher conference it’s because they got a temporary job so they can keep the lights on for their family. [We need] to not judge that as [though] they don’t care about their child; they’re fighting really hard to just help their children have some of the basic needs. I think it’s how do we, as teachers who’ve never been in poverty, really understand what it’s like? We can do a lot of that through staff development and poverty simulation. It’s much bigger than that, too. We have to get more jobs. It’s not just about supporting kids in poverty, it’s about helping to get families out of poverty. I see that as part of my job. There is a tremendous intersection between education – giving people the skills so they can get jobs they might not be able to get otherwise — and [championing the work] to increase jobs. We still have to work toward the standards. It’s very tempting to put the teaching aside and say “I’m just going to become the caseworker who finds the services all of my families need.” But the problem with that is that the [best] hope of moving out of poverty is education. So we have to keep education – the standards our kids need to meet – in front of us, but we need work with our partners and I need to work, on a policy level, to get more integrated health and social services. [Poverty] is a huge policy area, and one where I believe there is tremendous common ground. What inspired you to become the Chief Education Officer and inspires you in your work? I really believe deeply in the vision of 4040-20. And I think there are great teachers in this state, great administrators and great partners. One thing I know that every teacher wants is a child to be successful. If kids came to kindergarten with the skills to be successful, then we could really meet the standards at a much higher rate than we can now. The pathway can really become so much easier if we meet key targets. Teachers are very compelled by students graduating and going on to be successful. But [up until this point] we really haven’t had the systems in place in this state to really make that a bigger reality. n TODAY’S OEA | JUNE 2014
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