INSIGHT—Spring 2002

TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS QUARTERLY PUBLICATION SPRING 2002

INSIGHT NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Huckabee Ad

INSIGHT F

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No Child Left Behind Act Ushers in Sweeping Reforms

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Accountability Lessons: Findings from the Leader to Leader Survey

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Superintendents! Do You Know Where Your Counselors Are?

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Snapshot of a Leader: Texas’ 2002 NSOTY Nominee Thomas Tocco

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by Mima Gonzalez Highlights the NCLB Act’s four basic principles: increased accountability for results, greater flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents and students, and emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work

by Betty Jo Monk Shares results from a Leader to Leader Survey in which superintendents from both Texas and North Carolina rate the importance of nine statewide policy factors in conjunction with a Leader to Leader: Meeting State and Federal Accountability Requirements project funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Education

by Al Milliren and Carl Hoffmeyer Defines recent legislation mandating the adoption and implementation of a specific counseling program in which all school counselors must comply with regulations in four broad categories: guidance curriculum, responsive services, individual planning, and system support

Offers a snapshot of Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Thomas Tocco through his responses to specific questions in the American Association of School Administrators’ 2002 National Superintendent of the Year Award Program Application

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President’s Message

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Orr to become president-elect, TASA wins three state awards, TASA announces 2002–2004 Executive Committee, AASA launches SUPER-LIST

They just don’t get it

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Executive Director’s View

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The Leader

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Setting the stage

A board member’s perspective on high-quality professional development, review of Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder, board briefs

INSIGHT Officers

At-Large Members

Leonard E. Merrell, President, Katy ISD Don Gibson, President-Elect, Wall ISD Dawson R. Orr, Vice-President, Pampa ISD James E. Wilcox, Past President, Hooks ISD

Willis Mackey, Navasota ISD Dana S. Marable, Marble Falls ISD Hector Montenegro, Dallas ISD Debra K. Nelson, Frisco ISD

Executive Committee

Editorial Advisory Committee

Eliseo Ruiz, Jr., Los Fresnos CISD, 1 Henry D. Herrera, Alice ISD, 2 Tom R. Jones, Jr., Tidehaven ISD, 3 Rick Berry, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, 4 M. R. “Bob” Tilley, Kirbyville CISD, 5 Dorman C. Jackson, Crockett ISD, 6 Dee W. Hartt, Tatum ISD, 7 Harvey Hohenberger, Chisum ISD, 8 Randel R. Beaver, Archer City ISD, 9 Tony Daugherty, Pottsboro ISD, 10 Vernon N. Newsom, Mansfield ISD, 11 Rex Daniels, Lampasas ISD, 12 Ron Reaves, New Braunfels ISD, 13 Gayle Lomax, Snyder ISD, 14 Billy Jack Rankin, Bangs ISD, 15 Kyle Collier, Claude ISD, 16 Ken McCraw, Lamesa ISD, 17 Bobby D. McCall, Iraan-Sheffield ISD, 18 Lu Anna Stephens, Fabens ISD, 19 Alton Fields, Pleasanton ISD, 20 Michael Hinojosa, Hays CISD, Legislative Chair

Leonard E. Merrell, Katy ISD, Chair Don Gibson, Wall ISD Marla M. Guerra, University of Texas–Pan American Michael Hinojosa, Hays CISD Jan C. Jacob, Victoria ISD Thomas Earl Randle, Lamar CISD Jeff N. Turner, Burleson ISD Mary E. Ward, Dripping Springs ISD

TASA Headquarters Staff Johnny L. Veselka, Executive Director Ellen V. Bell, Associate Executive Director, Professional Development Louann H. Martinez, Associate Executive Director, Governmental Relations Paul Whitton, Jr., Associate Executive Director, Administrative Services Dian Cooper, Assistant Executive Director, Professional Development Ann M. Halstead, Assistant Executive Director, Communications & Information Systems Amy T. Turner, Assistant Executive Director, Governmental Relations Pat Johnston, Director, Special Services Gina Friedman, Public Relations Coordinator Emily Starr, Design/Production Karen Limb, Editorial Coordinator Neal W. Adams, TASA General Counsel, Adams, Lynch, & Loftin—Bedford

Advertising For information on advertising in INSIGHT, contact Ann Halstead, TASA, 512-477-6361.

INSIGHT is published quarterly by the Texas Association of School Administrators, 406 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas, 78701-2617.

Subscription is included in TASA membership dues. © 2002 by TASA. All rights reserved. TASA members may reprint articles in limited quantities for in-house educational use. Articles in INSIGHT are expressions of the author or interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of TASA. Advertisements do not necessarily carry the endorsement of the Texas Association of School Administrators.

INSIGHT is printed by Thomas Graphics, Austin, Texas.

SPRING 2002 5

NEWS WIRE

Orr to Become President-Elect Dawson Orr, superintendent, Pampa ISD, and TASA’s 2001–2002 vice-president, will become president-elect on June 1. In accordance with the TASA Constitution, since there was only one nomination for this office, ballots were not mailed to members and the nominee was automatically elected.

Orr has more than 27 years’ experience in public education, 20 of those in administration. He has been superintendent at Pampa ISD since 1990. Prior to that he served as assistant superintendent in Pampa, following completion of his doctorate at The University of Texas at Austin where he participated in the

Cooperative Superintendency Program. From 1981 to 1986, Orr served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent at the American School of Luguna Verde in Veracruz, Mexico. From 1975 to 1981, he was a teacher and then assistant principal in the Muscogee County School District in Columbus, Georgia.

Orr earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Alabama, and his doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin.

Orr has been a member of TASA since 1988 and has served on the TASA Executive Committee for the past three years. Following his one-year term as president-elect, Orr will become TASA president on June 1, 2003.

TASA Wins Three State Awards TASA’s Communications Department won two Gold Star Awards and one Silver Star Award in TSPRA’s Annual Star Awards Communications Contest.

The awards for distinguished achievement in the category of magazines, image/identity packages, and brochures were presented to Ann Halstead, assistant executive director, Communications and Information Systems; Emmy Starr, graphics coordinator; and Karen Limb, editorial coordinator.

TASA is especially proud of its award for INSIGHT, which was rated excellent in every category—overall quality of product, clarity of information presented, visual appeal, creativity of product, and accomplishment of objectives. The awards were presented at the annual TSPRA Conference in Austin, February 19.

The TSPRA Star Awards Contest recognizes outstanding school communications in print and electronic categories. We are honored to be a recipient of these special awards, acknowledging our commitment to producing quality publications for our association members.

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INSIGHT

Announcing: TASA 2002–2004 Executive Committee Election results have been finalized in each of the even-numbered regions in the state for TASA’s 2002–2004 Executive Committee.

The following individuals will serve a two-year term beginning June 1.

Region 2 Region 4 Region 6 Region 8 Region 10 Region 12 Region 14 Region 16 Region 18 Region 20

Henry D. Herrera*, Alice ISD Rick Berry*, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Dorman C. Jackson*, Crockett ISD R. Lynn Marshall, Pittsburg ISD Kay Waggoner, Red Oak ISD George Kazanas, China Spring ISD Rick Howard, Comanche ISD Kyle Collier*, Claude ISD David Kennedy, Terrell County ISD Alton J. Fields*, Pleasanton ISD

When choosing an engineering firm, it’s best to go by the numbers.

* Returning members

AASA Launches SUPER-LIST AASA is inviting members and nonmembers who work at the district level to join SUPER-LIST, a listserv designed for administrators. AASA is providing this service at no cost to the subscriber.

To subscribe, address your request to listserv@listserver.aasa.org.

Leave the subject line blank. In the body of the message, type the following: subscribe super-list and your full name. Once a request to subscribe is granted, you will receive a welcome message, a basic set of instructions, and rules on listserv etiquette.

Now when you have a question or want to solicit an opinion or share an observation about a particular topic, you can post your e-mail message to the SUPER-LIST address. Your message will be sent electronically to the e-mail box of every person who has subscribed to the SUPER-LIST. For more information, contact Jay Goldman, jgoldman@aasa.org, or Amy Schonfeld, aschonfeld@aasa.org.

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SPRING 2002 7

54th Annual Summer Conference on Education

Time’s a tickin’!

Sign up for Summer Conference!

Check out our topics and speakers: No Child Left Behind: Implications for Texas’ Schools Sandy Kress, attorney, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Feld, L.L.P.

Special Session Featuring Candidates for Lieutenant Governor: John Sharp and David Dewhurst

Planning for the 78th Legislature: Report from the Commissioner Felipe Alanis, commissioner of education, and staff, Texas Education Agency

Achieving High Academic Standards for All Students Willard Daggett, president, International Center for Leadership in Education

Special Session Featuring Candidates for Governor: Rick Perry and Tony Sanchez

Scoring High with New Technology Jamie McKenzie, president, Network 609

Registration brochures have been mailed! For more information or to request a registration form, contact TASA, 512-477-6361 or 800-725-8272. PDFs of the full brochure and registration form are available at www.TASAnet.org, under Conferences and Seminars.

President’s

MESSAGE

They Just Don’t Get It How do we know if students graduating today are truly learning more and at higher levels of proficiency than ever before? Can we declare definitively that today’s graduates are equal to their counterparts in other countries? The focus at the national level on state standards and state accountability systems is perceived by many as a means for demonstrating that the resources devoted to educating our children are having a positive effect.

Thus, the standards movement and “high-stakes” accountability measures have become lightening rods for national debate. What is fueling this debate?

To understand the issues, one must understand the problem. Today’s educational system is being asked to make a fundamental change. This change is so deeply rooted and entrenched that it took an act of Congress—HR1, the No Child Left Behind Act—to move the system into action. The real truth is that the traditional model often serves only to sort and classify children. In addition, this model also tends to provide unequal educational opportunities to some “categories” of children, particularly those labeled as “at-risk” or as the “hard to teach.”

President Bush is calling for a national accountability system that guarantees that all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or background, will be equally well prepared to take a productive place in society and in the job market.

Another part of this debate focuses on what should be learned and assessed. We live in a world where knowledge or intellectual wealth is quickly becoming the national resource that fuels our economic, competitive edge. If we are to remain the world leader and maintain our standard of living, we cannot afford to lose the race of producing workers who have the intellectual capacity to create the products and services needed in the 21st century.

Consequently, the business community particularly supports school accountability, for it has linked this issue to our national security and future economic growth.

So, when in the midst of those who oppose HR1, the question that begs to be asked is “What is their problem?” Don’t these individuals understand the urgency of changing the traditional educational system so that we can bring about the kinds of reforms needed to prepare the youth of America for the 21st century? Do they not get the fact that we can no longer promulgate a system that stratifies the population into two distinct groups, the haves versus the have-nots?

Texas has demonstrated that a statewide accountability system can create the conditions where disadvantaged children can learn and perform at high levels of mastery. What educators in Texas have learned throughout the past decade or so of testing is that it is not about the “test.” It is, however, about aligning the written and taught curriculum to the curriculum that is tested. It is also about aligning the resources that are used in the classroom to teach the curriculum. It is about training teachers to deliver the curriculum in ways that are deeply aligned to how students are tested, and preparing administrators to lead this effort.

By simply focusing on “high-stakes testing,” adversaries of HR1 shift the attention from its many benefits to the emotional issues associated with putting disadvantaged children under the stress of increased academic performance standards. These critics argue that such “high-stakes tests” are biased and make the curriculum too narrow and irrelevant. Without thoughtfully designed and executed accountability systems, the achievement gaps that currently exist will only broaden as the demands for academic rigor continue to increase.

Instead, the answer to “high-stakes testing” is found in an effective curriculum and instructional management approach, where alignment, quality control, and systems thinking guide instructional decision making and create coherent systems. When the emphasis is on teaching an aligned curriculum, steps are taken to ensure alignment of teaching materials, teaching practices, and staff development.

Assessment becomes the teacher’s “best friend,” for it is only through quality and timely assessments that the teacher can make decisions that are critical to students’ learning.

There is no question that students do experience stress when required to pass a test before moving to the next grade or, for that matter, graduating from high school. However, as Phil Schelechty so aptly puts it, “The statement that all students can learn is meaningless unless one is prepared to assert what they should learn and at what level they should learn.” A national accountability system, like the one in Texas, defines what students should learn and at what level they should learn. These two issues are fundamental to creating the conditions where the belief that all children can learn is actually realized. To say that we don’t want to subject ourselves to high-stakes testing and accountability is to say that we are willing to sentence our children to a future where they will not have the knowledge base or the skill level to fully participate and succeed in a global economy. This condition is not only unacceptable, but also morally and ethically compromising for those of us who have committed our lives to the public education profession.

SPRING 2002 9

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Executive Director’s VIEW

Setting the Stage From a new program to generate corporate support for the association and a new strategy for communicating and sharing critical information, to the approval of a campaign to garner support for legislation to increase the funding capacity for public education, the TASA Executive Committee, at its April meeting, laid the foundation for a busy summer and the year ahead.

By now, TASA members are busy completing another successful school year and looking ahead to the challenges of an expanded accountability and assessment program, implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, and a new financial accountability system. Our recent Spring Conference for School Executives, attended by more than 200 TASA members, offered a unique opportunity for TASA members to share strategies for dealing with some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The actions of the Executive Committee offered a prelude to the conference itself. First, the Public School Finance Plan Campaign, being launched jointly by TASA and TASB, was given unanimous approval by both the Executive and Legislative Committees. Under the plan, HillCo Partners, an Austin-based media and political consulting firm, will train a group of TASA and TASB members to meet the political and media challenges that lie ahead in persuading legislative leaders to subscribe to the concept of increased funding for Texas public schools. Association members in key House districts will be targeted for training, with the campaign focusing on all forms of media outreach to communicate our message so that legislators will be willing to “TAKE THE PLEDGE” to support necessary funding increases in the 2003 Legislative Session.

Secondly, the committee approved a new program design for the Texas EduPortal, TASA’s electronic communications and resource-sharing network. Under the plan approved by the Executive Committee, state-level documents, best practices, and other resources identified by TASA staff will be made available at no cost to TASA members and other administrators in districts where the superintendent is a TASA member. New online survey technology and electronic forums will soon become part of the new Texas EduPortal. Participants in the Technology Leadership Academy will be able to use this system to access supplemental resources between training sessions, offering a model for the enhancement of other TASA training initiatives as well.

Finally, the Executive Committee approved a Corporate Partner Program to generate ongoing corporate support for TASA programs by companies who regularly do business with Texas schools. Five levels of support have been established, including President’s Circle ($50,000), Platinum ($25,000), Gold ($20,000), Silver ($10,000), and Bronze ($5,000). This program will further the mission of the association and mutually benefit the association and our corporate partners, building upon the advertising, sponsorship, and exhibit opportunities already offered by TASA. Each of these initiatives offers a unique opportunity for TASA to further expand its commitment to our members through advocacy and communication. Collectively, they are part of an even greater strategy to expand the services offered by your professional association in the year ahead.

I look forward to sharing with you our activites and progress in these areas over the coming months. I hope to see all of you in June at the 54th Annual Summer Conference on Education!

SPRING 2002 11

No Child Left Behind Act Ushers in Sweeping Reforms

by Mima Gonzalez the same opportunity as other children to meet challenging state academic standards.

The new law requires states to develop standards in reading, math, and assessments linked to those standards for all students in grades 3–8. LEAs and schools must use Title I funds for activities that scientifically based research suggests will be most effective in helping all students meet the state standards.

States also must develop annual adequate yearly progress (AYP) objectives—disaggregated by student groups and based on poverty, race, ethnicity, disability, and limited English proficiency—that will result in all students achieving proficiency in reading and math within 12 years after the 2001–02 school year.

Biennial state participation in the state-level version of the National Assessment of Educational Progress will provide benchmarks for ensuring the rigor of state standards and assessments.

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n January 8, 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The Act, which embodies his education reform plan sent to Congress on January 23, 2001, is the most sweeping reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since it was enacted in 1965. It redefines the federal role in K–12 education and will help close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their peers. It is based on four basic principles: increased accountability for results, greater flexibility and local control, expanded options for parents and students, and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work.

Increased Accountability Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provides local educational agencies (LEAs) or school districts with extra resources to help improve instruction in high-poverty schools. The goal is to ensure poor and minority children have 12

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No Child Left Behind (NCLB) also requires LEAs and school districts to permit students in schools that fail to meet annual state AYP objectives for two consecutive years to transfer to a better public school. If schools continue to fail in meeting AYP, students will be permitted to use Title I funds to obtain educational services from the public or private sector selected by their parents from a state-approved list.

The new law requires schools identified for improvement (after failing to make AYP for two consecutive years) to develop improvement plans incorporating strategies from scientifically based research. Schools that fail to improve will be subject to increasingly tough corrective actions—such as replacing school staff or significantly decreasing management authority at the school level—and could ultimately face restructuring, which involves fundamental change in governance, such as state takeover or placement under private management. To help states, districts, and schools carry out needed improvements, NCLB significantly increases and makes

mandatory the reservation of a portion of Part A allocations for school improvement.

NCLB also authorizes State Academic Achievement Awards to schools that significantly close achievement gaps or exceed AYP standards for two or more consecutive years, as well as awards to teachers in such schools.

However, the new law punishes states that fail to put in place systems of standards, assessments, and accountability by permitting, and in some cases requiring, a portion to be withheld from federal funds provided for the administration of Title I.

Greater Flexibility and Local Control An important goal of No Child Left Behind is to breathe new life into the federal program’s “flexibility for accountability” bargain with the states. Prior flexibility efforts have focused on the waiver program requirements.

The NCLB moves beyond this limited approach to give states and school districts unprecedented flexibility in the use of federal education funds in exchange for strong accountability and results. It offers school districts powerful tools to provide the best possible education to all children, especially those most in need, by cutting federal red tape; reducing the number of federal education programs; and creating larger, more flexible programs that place decision making at the local level where it belongs. It trusts local parents, educators, and school boards to make the best decisions for their children.

New flexibility provisions in the NCLB include authority for states and school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the funding they receive under four major state grant programs to any one of the programs, or to Title I. The covered programs include Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

Expanded Options for Parents and Students The NCLB Act significantly increases the choices available to the parents of students attending Title I schools that fail to meet state standards. This includes immediate relief, beginning with the 2002–03 school year, for the students in schools that were previously identified for improvement or corrective action under the 1994 ESEA reauthorization.

Local education agencies (LEAs) or school districts must give students attending schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructure the opportunity to attend a better public school, which may include a public charter school, within the school district. The district must provide transportation to the new school, and must use at least 5 percent of its Title I funds for this purpose, if needed.

For students attending persistently failing schools, LEAs and school districts must permit low-income students to use Title I funds to obtain supplemental educational services from the public or private sector provider selected by the students and their parents.

Providers must meet state standards and offer services tailored to help participant students meet challenging state academic standards.

To help ensure that all LEAs and school districts offer meaningful choices, the new law requires school districts to spend up to 20 percent of their Title I allocations to provide school choice and supplemental educational services to eligible students.

In addition to helping ensure that no child loses the opportunity for a quality education because he or she is trapped in a failing school, the choice and supplemental service requirements provide a substantial incentive for lowperforming schools to improve. Schools that want to avoid losing students, along with the portion of their annual budgets typically associated with those students, will have to

“Schools that fail to improve will be subject to increasingly tough corrective actions—such as replacing school staff or significantly decreasing management authority at the school level—” improve. If they fail to make adequate yearly progress for five years, they run the risk of reconstitution under a restructuring plan.

Emphasis on Teaching Methods that Work No Child Left Behind also demonstrates an unequivocal commitment to ensuring that every child can read by the end of the third grade. To accomplish this goal, the new Reading First initiative would significantly SPRING 2002 13

increase the federal investment in scientifically based reading instruction in their early years.

The new Reading First State Grant program will make six-year grants to states, which will make competitive subgrants to local communities. Local recipients will administer screening and diagnostic assessments to determine which students in grades K–3 are at risk of reading failure, and provide professional development for K–3 teachers in the essential components of reading instruction.

The new Early Reading First program will make competitive six-year awards to LEAs to support early language, literacy, and prereading development of preschool-age children, particularly those from low-income families. Recipients will use instructional strategies and professional development drawn from scientifically based reading research to help young children attain the fundamental knowledge and skills they will need for optimal reading development in kindergarten and beyond.

Highlights of Other Major Changes in the NCLB Act School Improvement

“…emphasizes that paraprofessionals ‘may not provide any instructional services’ except under the direct supervision of a teacher.”

• Requires states to reserve 2 percent of Part A allocations for school improvement purposes in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, rising to 4 percent in 2004 and thereafter. (The 1994 law permitted, but did not require, the reservation of .5 percent of allocations for this purpose.) States must distribute 95 percent of these funds to LEAs for schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.

• Requires schools identified for improvement to develop two-year improvement plans incorporating strategies from scientifically based research on how to strengthen the core academic subjects and address the specific issues that caused the school to be identified for improvement.

• Requires schools identified for improvement to reserve annually at least 10 percent of their Part A funds for professional development that directly addresses the problems leading to the identification for improvement.

• Requires LEAs and school districts to immediately provide students attending schools identified for improvement the option of attending another public school, which may include a public charter school, that is not identified for improvement.

LEAs must provide or pay for transportation to the new school, with a limit on the portion of Part A funds that may be used for this purpose. Only 20 percent of the Part A allocations may be used to pay for transportation of students exercising their choice option or obtaining supplemental services for eligible students. In reserving

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such funds, LEAs may not reduce allocations to schools identified for corrective action or restructuring by more than 15 percent.

• Requires LEAs to give priority to lowachieving students from low-income families in making available choices and supplemental education services. Only low-income students are eligible for supplemental services.

Qualifications for Teachers and Paraprofessionals • Requires LEAs to ensure that all Title I teachers hired after the first day of the first school year following the date of enactment are “highly qualified.” For new teachers, this means certified by the state (including alternative routes to state certification), holding at least a bachelor’s degree, and passing a rigorous state test on subject knowledge and teaching skills.

• Requires states to develop plans with annual measurable objectives that will ensure that all teachers teaching in core academic subjects are highly qualified by the end of 2005–06. States and LEAs must report annually, beginning with the 2002–03 school year, on progress toward this goal.

• Strengthens paraprofessional requirements to include two years of postsecondary education or, for an applicant with a high school diploma, the demonstration of necessary skills on a “formal state or local academic assessment.” All new hires must meet these requirements, and existing paraprofessionals have four years to comply with them.

• Specifies permitted paraprofessional duties and emphasizes that paraprofessionals “may not provide any instructional services” except under the direct supervision of a teacher.

• Requires principals to “attest annually in writing” that their schools are in compliance with the teacher and paraprofessional qualification requirements.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 also puts the principles of accountability, choice, and flexibility to work in its reauthorization of other major ESEA programs. For example, the new law combines the Eisenhower Professional Development and Class Size Reduction programs into improving the Teacher Quality State Grants program that focuses on using practices grounded in scientifically based research to prepare, train, and recruit high-quality teachers. The new program gives states and LEAs flexibility to select the strategies that best meet their particular needs for improved teaching that will help them raise achievement in the core academic subjects.

Other changes will support state and local efforts to keep our schools safe and drug-free, while at the same time ensuring that students are not strapped in persistently dangerous schools. As proposed in No Child Left Behind, states must allow students who attend a persistently dangerous school, or who are victims of violent crime at school, to transfer to a safe school. States also must report school safety statistics to the public on a school-by-school basis, and LEAs must use federal, state, and drug-free and communities funding to implement drug and violence prevention programs of demonstrated effectiveness.

Implementing these changes in Texas’ schools will have the support of new federal dollars.

Texas is anticipated to receive $3.6 billion under President George W. Bush’s fiscal year 2003 budget, representing a boost of $207 million from the current level of federal education grants to the state. Approximately $913,016,658 has

been appropriated for Texas in Title I grants, providing school districts additional resources to turn around low-performing schools, improve teacher quality, and ensure that no child is trapped in a failing school. An additional $229,854 in Teacher Quality state grants will give our school districts the flexibility to adopt research-based strategies that will work best to meet their needs for improving the quality of teaching and raising student achievement in the core academic subjects. Other grant areas targeted for increased resources in Texas’ schools include Reading First, English Language Acquisition, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Special Education.

Many of the goals targeted by the No Child Left Behind Act are areas the state of Texas has pioneered and addressed with an increasing

level of success during the last few years.

Although it is too early to determine the full impact of the more rigorous goals and accountability brought about by the NCLB, it is hoped that Texas will remain a leader in its commitment to improve student achievement and leave no child behind.

Mima Gonzalez is executive assistant for special projects at TASA and a fellow in The University of Texas Cooperative Superintendency Program.

SPRING 2002 15

Accountability Lessons: Findings from the Leader to Leader Survey

by Betty Jo Monk

I

n January 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (HR1) reauthorizing the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed by Congress and signed into law

by President George W. Bush.

Under the provisions of this Act, state and local education systems receiving federal funding are held to new levels of accountability—an expansion of the accountability measures advocated by President Bush during his tenure as governor of the state of Texas.

In the fall of 2001, in anticipation of the passage of this bill, the U.S. Department of Education solicited proposals for projects designed to assist state and local education systems in meeting increased accountability standards. TASA and the Texas Leadership Center, working closely with the leadership of the North Carolina Association of School Administrators, submitted a project proposal and received a Fund for the Improvement of Education grant. The purpose of the Leader to Leader: Meeting State and Federal Accountability Requirements project is to jointly plan and share with leaders across the nation, particularly superintendents and state leaders, the lessons learned by Texas and North Carolina administrators and state leaders as they have implemented the mandated accountability systems in their respective states.

As outlined in the project proposal, superintendents and leaders from other states will be invited to attend one of two national meetings where lessons learned in Texas and North Carolina will be shared and discussed. In order to collect information and data related to the steps Texas and North Carolina administrators took in implementing their state accountability systems, members of the Texas and North Carolina superintendent organizations were surveyed. Preliminary findings from the survey 16

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were shared at the annual meeting of the American Association of School Administrators in San Diego, California, in February 2002.

The state associations sent a 34-item online survey to 281 Texas superintendents and 117 North Carolina superintendents. In responding to the survey, the superintendents supplied demographic data, rated the importance of key reform policies developed by the state, identified examples of professional development activities, and provided examples of the use of disaggregated data in the school improvement process.

The key reform policies rated by the respondents were excerpted from a 1998 study by David Grissmer and Ann Flanagan (full report available at www.negp.gov/reports/grissmer.pdf). In their study of the rapid student achievement gains made in Texas and North Carolina, the researchers concluded that factors commonly associated with student achievement, including real per-pupil spending, teacher/pupil ratios, teachers with advanced degrees, and experience levels of teachers, did not explain the gains made in the two states. The most plausible explanation for the score gains, according to Grissmer and Flanagan, is found in the policy environment established in each state. The two states pursued similar paths to improvement and each state succeeded in changing the environment in ways that led to improvement. Respondents to the Leader to Leader survey were asked to rate the importance of nine factors: (1) statewide academic standards, (2) alignment of textbooks with the standards, (3) alignment of curriculum with the standards, (4) holding all students to the standards, (5) state assessments linked to the standards, (6) accountability ratings based on performance, (7) increased local control and flexibility, (8) computerized system for feedback and reporting, and (9) shifting of resources to schools with disadvantaged students. The superintendents’ ratings of these factors are presented in the table on the opposite page.

As shown in the table below, all nine factors were rated as important by both Texas and North Carolina superintendents. Only Factor 9, shifting of resources to schools with more disadvantaged students, had less than a majority rating at the Very Important (VI) level by Texas superintendents. North Carolina superintendents rated eight of the nine factors with a higher percentage at the Very Important (VI) level than did Texas superintendents. Only on Factor 2, alignment of textbooks with statewide standards, did Texas superintendents rate the factor with a higher percentage at the Very Important level than did the North Carolina superintendents. It appears that Texas and North Carolina agree that the factors contributing to the development of a statewide environment for improvement delineated by Grissmer and Flanagan are important.

In response to the question of what professional development activities had been most effective for staff and administrators in implementing the accountability system, the surveyed superintendents most frequently identified workshops and

trainings related to the following topics or areas of study: • Curriculum Alignment • Vertical Teaming • Disaggregation of Data • Effective Schools Research • Baldrige Quality Criteria • Total Quality Management • State Accountability System • Site-Based Decision Making The surveyed superintendents identified the following major uses of disaggregated data and test scores in addressing the instructional needs: • Campus Improvement Planning • Development of Campus and District Improvement Plans • Evaluation of Campus and District Progress • Curriculum Development of Individual Student Progress • Development of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) • Professional Development Planning continued on page 19

Texas and North Carolina Superintendents’ Rating of the Importance of Statewide Policy Factors Texas Superintendents’ Ratings of Factors (N=138)

Statewide Policy Factors Excerpted (1998) from Grissmer and Flanagan

North Carolina Superintendents’ Ratings of Factors (N=61)

NI

SI

VI

NI

SI

VI

1. Development of statewide academic standards

1%

15%

84%

0%

8%

92%

2. Alignment of textbooks with statewide standards

2%

30%

68%

2%

46%

52%

3. Alignment of curriculum with statewide standards

1%

10%

89%

0%

3%

97%

4. Holding all students to the same statewide standards

2%

24%

74%

5%

19%

76%

5. Statewide assessment tests linked to statewide standards

1%

12%

87%

1%

10%

89%

6. Accountability ratings based on performance on statewide assessment tests

4%

36%

60%

3%

25%

72%

7. Increase local control and flexibility in meeting state standards

5%

41%

54%

3%

29%

68%

8. Computerized systems for reporting and accessing test results

5%

39%

56%

2%

17%

81%

9. Shifting of resources to schools with more disadvantaged students

7%

50%

43%

5%

41%

54%

NI = Not Important;

SI = Somewhat Important;

VI = Very Important SPRING 2002 17

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In commenting on the use of disaggregated data, one North Carolina superintendent stated, “All schools are required to use disaggregated data and testing information when writing School Improvement Plans and Personal Education Plans for students and developing Individual Growth Plans for teachers and administrators. We did the same when we developed our district Strategic Plan last school year.” A Texas superintendent responded: “Scores are disaggregated at the district level by content area, student groups (ethnicity and economically disadvantaged), and grade levels. In addition, disaggregation of scores by objective is done for all content areas. At the school level, the same disaggregation process is applied with the addition of disaggregation of scores by classroom, teachers, and students. All disaggregated scores enable the teacher/campus/district to then develop improvement plans to address areas of need in content by objective and by student groups and at the individual student level. This plan will include an integrated improvement process for classroom instruction, in-class small group/individual regrouping, tutorials, mentors, extended days, and parent assistance. Monitoring of student success is a continuous process that drives the instruction process.”

systems, Texas and North Carolina superintendents also know that the participants in the accountability and improvement systems must understand and be knowledgeable about the systems and how they work. People cannot be kept in the dark about what is expected of them and how success can be achieved. Finally, resources must be allocated in a manner that allows educators to address identified priority needs.

Given limited resources and increasing needs, what works must be funded and what does not work must be abandoned. Hopefully, drawing upon the experience of their colleagues in Texas and North Carolina, superintendents and school leaders in other states will make rapid and remarkable progress in meeting the new federal accountability requirements so that no child is ever left behind.

“People cannot

be kept in the dark about what is expected of them and how success can be achieved.”

Betty Jo Monk is associate professor of educational administration at Baylor University and a consultant for the Leader to Leader project.

As revealed by the data from this survey and through discussion with superintendents and state leaders in the two states, it is clear that creating a statewide environment that supports and encourages improvement in student performance is critical. All stakeholders must be proactive participants in the creation of this environment—it takes all the members of the village working together to educate the next generation of Americans.

Educators cannot accomplish this important work without the support of the community. Additionally, it is critical that all parts of the system, including textbooks, curricula, and testing, be aligned with the agreed-upon purpose of the system. After nearly two decades of work with their state accountability SPRING 2002 19

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Superintendents! Do You Know Where Your Counselors Are?

by Al Milliren and Carl Hoffmeyer developmental guidance and counseling program covering four broad categories of activity, which are the focus of this article: • Guidance Curriculum • Responsive Services • Individual Planning • System Support

or the most part, school counselors tend to be Jacks (and Jills) of all trades. They serve as educational diagnosticians, substitute teachers, part-time administrators, bus drivers, lunchroom supervisors, and breakfast supervisors. They may be in charge of “pickle sales,” the student council advisor, the 504 committee chair, or chair of the most recent school fund-raiser. Counselors serve as study hall supervisors, yearbook sponsors, grant or title program coordinators, and computer lab monitors. And although these activities are valued and necessary in the school, recent legislation (SB 518, 2001) requires counselors to focus on other duties.

F

To someone unfamiliar with guidance and counseling programs, the wording of SB 518 may appear to allow districts a great deal of flexibility. In actuality, however, it mandates the adoption and implementation of a specific counseling program in which the dimensions and content are regulated by statute. Previously, these programmatic requirements only applied to counselors in school districts that received state funding for counselor programs—approximately 60 districts and 200 counselors. SB 518, however, requires that all school counselors comply with these regulations.

All school counselors are required to work with school faculty, staff, students, parents, and the community to plan and implement a 22

INSIGHT

In addition, all school counselors are required to: • Plan and implement a guidance program that addresses the special needs of students who are in need of modified instruction; are gifted and talented; and are at risk of dropping out, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide • Consult with a student’s parent or guardian and make appropriate referrals • Consult with staff, parent, and community members in various capacities to promote student education and success • Interpret standardized test results to help with career planning • Deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school’s guidance curriculum (TEA, 2001) Compliance with these rules means a great deal of change in many school districts. It certainly does not leave much time for counselors to be involved in other support activities, such as breakfast duty, study hall supervision, or “pickle sales”!

We are aware that the non-counseling roles that school counselors fill come about sometimes by assignment and sometimes by chance and choice. One of the authors recently served as a counselor in an elementary school in South Carolina. He quickly wound up serving as the computer lab supervisor/monitor—a duty that was highly valued in the school but detracted considerably from providing counseling services to the students in the school. How did this assignment come about? Unfortunately, he was the only one in the building with the technology skills and

time flexibility for dealing with the problems that occurred in the operation of the lab.

Because of interest and availability, he defaulted into the position. This was purely assignment by chance and choice.

So, Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

We ask this question to not only prod you to assess what your counselors are really doing, but also to discuss with them how they envision their role in the school in light of implementing a developmental guidance and counseling program. As mentioned earlier, SB 518 indicates that school counselors should engage in four broad categories of activity. These four components constitute state requirements for a developmental guidance and counseling program.

Component 1: Guidance Curriculum The emphasis here is on helping students develop life skills with the programs or lessons being directed to all students in the school. This is the classroom guidance component or small group guidance activity that is most frequently seen in elementary schools at the present time.

However, this is not meant to be a “hit or miss” component but must include “planned” lessons that are presented directly by the counselor or taught in collaboration with classroom teachers across all grade levels. The guidance curriculum should be organized and sequential and focused on seven skills areas: “(1) Self-confidence development; (2) Motivation to achieve; (3) Decision-making, goal-setting, planning, and problem-solving skills; (4) Interpersonal effectiveness; (5) Communication skills; (6) Cross-cultural effectiveness; and (7) Responsible behavior” (DGCP, p. 47). A developmental guidance program extends this life-skills development aspect of the district’s counseling program from Pre-Kindergarten to the middle school and into the high school. Elementary school counselors should be devoting anywhere from 35–45 percent of their time to specific activities related to a guidance curriculum. At the high school level, this time will be reduced somewhat to about 15–25 percent spent in guidance activities.

However, the guidance curriculum might be identified as the most important core element in a developmental guidance program.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

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Component 2: Responsive Services

Component 3: Individual Planning System

Historically, this component, Responsive Services, has been thought of as the counseling dimension in a developmental guidance program. This includes interventions on behalf of students that are both preventive and remedial but are not limited to one-on-one and small group interactions. The counseling program needs to address the broad areas of student need that relate to both school issues and personal concerns. Programs addressing student needs may range from career indecision to crisis intervention, from financial aid to family abuse, and from school attitudes to substance abuse. Each district will have to set its own priorities for the focus of these services based on a profile of local needs and student populations served. In addition to direct work

In years past, the individual planning system was referred to as “Occ and Voc” and described the information services that school counselors provided. The focus was on providing occupational and vocational information to students to assist them in planning for careers and setting educational and personal goals. In fact, in the history of the guidance and counseling movement, this “career development” component was the reason that counselors were first employed to work in schools and was typically considered an activity that occurred solely at the high school level. Although high school counselors should be devoting 25–35 percent of their time to helping students develop educational and career plans, it is expected that elementary school counselors will spend 5–10 percent of their time in this activity, and middle school counselors will devote 15–25 percent of their time. Planning cannot start too early since students are forming attitudes and beliefs about their life goals before they even begin to attend school.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

Component 4: System Support

with students, counselors will be consulting with parents and teachers, referring students to other specialists, and coordinating the delivery of special services. This component of the developmental guidance program will require 30–40 percent of the elementary and middle school counselor’s time and 25–35 percent of the high school counselor’s time.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

24

INSIGHT

System Support is the glue that holds the other services together. It also is the “administrivia” that is required to make any program work. These services do not directly benefit students, but the necessary involvement in management activities is what makes it possible to deliver a quality program. Elementary and middle school counselors will probably only spend 10–15 percent of their time in this component, whereas high school counselors might find themselves devoting 15–20 percent of their time. Time devoted to system support will require the smallest percentage of counselor time but is often the area that most easily bogs down without adequate secretarial/clerical support.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

Although SB 518 prescribes developmental guidance programs, the requirements for the specifics of the program are not prescriptive.

Each of the four program components needs to be addressed in light of the demographics of

each school district and the specific nature of students’ needs. The responsive services component is probably the most constant element across all grade levels and should consume about one-third of the counselor’s time. Typically, the guidance curriculum will receive more emphasis in the elementary school, whereas the individual planning system will require more time from the high school counselor.

Overall, the balance of time spent in the four components will vary as students become increasingly responsible for their own growth.

Given this new legislation, every school district should engage in program design and development activities to assess the current counseling and guidance program, to examine the recommendations that are provided through the Texas Education Agency, and to create a program that meets student and community needs. We recognize that this is not an easy nor simple task. SB 518 may require that school districts rethink the nature of guidance and counseling services in order to provide the level of service that has been mandated. It is recommended that every counselor in your district begin this process of change by becoming familiar with the TEA Guide for Program Development Pre-K–12th Grade.

In some cases, school counselors may not wish to develop a program that differs so much from what they have been doing. It is likely that they may feel more comfortable continuing in their current roles than to shift to the roles required for effective delivery of the four components of a developmental guidance program. As an assistant superintendent in a multi-high school district, the added leverage of SB 518 would have been welcomed in dealing with entrenched counselors who preferred the role of registrar over the developmental counseling functions. Not only would it have assisted in this effort, it would have legitimized the efforts of those counselors struggling to implement a developmental program over the objections and delaying tactics being practiced by those who were not interested in these roles.

In some small school districts, particularly, counselors are used up and down the administrative ladder to “plug the holes in the dike.”

Even in larger school districts, individual building principals often have their counselors involved in a wide variety of non-counseling tasks that the counselors would just as soon continue doing. In times of funding shortfalls, reduced program budgets, and increased mandates, administrators turn to those individuals who are not tied to a class schedule—and the school counselor gets another assignment. We do recognize that school counselors are invaluable assets in the day-to-day non-guidance operation of a school and that it may be difficult to give up or reassign those activities. However, it is SB 518 that defines or redefines the activities in which school counselors must engage.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

As a superintendent, how many times have you heard the same questions from your board members (especially those who have sons and daughters in high school): “What is the counselor doing to help my child get into the best schools? How are the counselors helping my child find college scholarships? And, on the other hand, how many times have you listed all the tasks that your counselors perform so as to justify their existence? Think about that list of tasks. Does it match the recommendations of SB 518? Or does it meet the emergency of that week, month, or year?

We would urge all levels of administration to provide the necessary support and SPRING 2002 25

encouragement to school counselors to begin the implementation of a developmental program. With the new legislation in mind, school counselors must now provide a broad spectrum of developmental counseling and guidance services to all the children and youth in our schools. SB 518 does not make developmental guidance a choice nor does it allow time for planning and anticipation of the future implementation of a developmental guidance and counseling program in Texas schools.

Superintendents, do you know where your counselors are?

References Texas Education Agency (1998). A model developmental guidance and counseling program for Texas public schools: A guide for program development pre-K–12th grade. Third edition.

Austin, TX: TEA Publications.

Texas Education Agency (2001). Developmental school guidance and counseling programs SB 518–Lucio—Signed by the governor. http://www.tea.state.tx.us/guidance/update.doc.

SB 518 went into effect with the beginning of the 2001–2002 school year!

Al Milliren is associate professor of Counselor Education, and Carl Hoffmeyer is assistant professor of Educational Leadership, School of Education, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

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INSIGHT

Snapshot of a Leader: Texas’ 2002 NSOTY Nominee Thomas Tocco Thomas Tocco, superintendent, Fort Worth ISD, was selected as Texas’ nominee for the 2002 National Superintendent of the Year Program sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators. The following offers a snapshot of his responses to specific questions on AASA’s 2002 NSOTY Award Program Application. and teacher attitudes and behaviors.

Curriculum and instruction must be carefully aligned with state standards, and teachers and administrators must clearly understand their respective roles in ensuring that all students learn required curriculum and skills. Because of the diversity of the Fort Worth ISD’s student body, as in other large urban districts across the country, additional measures, such as tutorials, must be put in place to compensate for children who come to school from family systems that have not adequately prepared them to learn at high levels.

Q. What efforts have been made in your school system to accommodate statemandated tests and still achieve a student learning atmosphere that promotes creative teaching and learning? In today’s politically charged climate, how do you know these efforts have been successful?

A. In an urban district such as ours, preparing students to perform well on state-mandated tests while, at the same time, fostering creative teaching and learning is not an easy task. Yet it is not impossible. It requires a constant evaluation and reevaluation of programs and initiatives based on student data as well as close observation and monitoring of student

This does not mean, however, that there is no place in the curriculum for such things as higher-order thinking, discovery learning, and enrichment activities. And, even within the required curriculum, a variety of teaching activities and strategies can be utilized in the pursuit of desired goals. In reading, for example, once students have demonstrated their acquisition of the fundamental reading skills through direct instruction, classroom activities become more focused on comprehension, inferential thinking, and open-ended discussion. “High-end learners” participate in special classes that make use of more integrated, experiential approaches.

Even though the high-stakes state testing is, to date, confined to mathematics, reading, and writing, Fort Worth ISD students participate in a rich and varied comprehensive curriculum, including social studies, science, health, SPRING 2002

27

physical education, and fine arts with a variety of electives offered at the secondary level. Art and music have returned to the elementary curriculum, and conversational Spanish is taught in all elementary schools. Band and orchestra are offered at the secondary level in addition to culturally specific fine arts programs, such as mariachi, at selected campuses. High academic programs are available in all elementary schools where motivated and gifted students participate in an advanced curriculum. Honors and Advanced Placement classes are offered at the secondary level, and a computer-based, individualized program for the instructions of pre-algebra and algebra is taught at each middle and high school, respectively. Students may advance as far as they are able, with one ninth-grader taking a Stanford University algebra course last year after she completed Algebra I. Special interest programs are offered throughout the district ranging from a science, mathematics, and technology program at an elementary school to fine arts with an emphasis on Hispanic culture offered at a high school. Students in these programs must participate in state-mandated curriculum, but have an opportunity to explore areas of particular interest. Theater arts students from one high school were first to win a new regional competition for outstanding work in musical theater. All students have opportunities for cocurricular experiences as well. The district offers cultural experiences of all kinds, and field trips include symphony, opera, and an overnight visit to an outdoor learning center. Extracurricular experiences abound. An elementary team went to national competition for its entry in the “Destination Imagination” contest. A robotics team, composed of interested students, was the winner in a national competition.

Saturday fine arts programs offer karate, dance, and pottery. An internship program for seventh-graders, Vital Link, provides a weeklong program in businesses where students learn the connection between success in school and in the workplace.

Student achievement continues to increase and the achievement gap continues to close.

Since 1994, there has been an overall increase of nearly 30 percent in passing rates for all students on all portions of the TAAS with a 35 percent increase for African Americans and Hispanics. In addition, 20 percent of FWISD graduates last spring received offers of college scholarships valued at $17 million. Last 28

INSIGHT

spring, Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, reported that “the Fort Worth ISD has a relentless focus on student achievement and is one of the country’s leaders in producing convincing and substantial gains.”

Q. In order of importance, list no more than three ways your school system has built understanding and support for highquality education among students, staff, and community members. How do you measure the effectiveness of these efforts?

A. First and foremost, issues and concerns need to be communicated clearly; problems must be brought to light. Messages need to be stated and restated; redundancy is a burden of leadership. Without it, specific change will not occur. In 1994, there was an urgent need to reform the Fort Worth school system. Too many students were performing poorly, and there was a general atmosphere of complacency. To adequately inform all constituents of the urgency of the problems and to engage them in our efforts, a clear and consistent message was sent to all persons involved, and it was repeated virtually every day throughout the year. Meetings were held with parents, students, teachers, and principals to inform them and gain feedback. An atmosphere of high expectations was established, and the district’s mission statement became “Priority One: Academic Achievement for All Children.”

Every employee was told of the district’s high expectations for him or her and that hard work lay ahead. I even offered to help individuals find another job should they not wish to work with us. “All students can learn at high levels” became somewhat of a mantra as we went to work to change the culture of the district. Our concerns and goals were communicated in publications to parents and the community, in presentations at community forums and meetings of civic groups, in door-to-door neighborhood walks, in interviews with the media, and through our competent and caring board members. Always, the message was the same, and people began to pick it up, repeat it, and believe it.

Careful analysis of problems and the willingness to bring in outside, independent evaluators when necessary to help the district solve problems were critical to our success. In early continued on page 31

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continued from page 28 visits to classrooms, I began to see a pattern: poor and minority children were not reading, and those who were, were not reading well.

When I began asking questions, I realized there was no methodology in place for teachers to follow to ensure success. After an initial restructuring, children were still not reading well. A team of national experts was brought in to evaluate and report its findings and recommendations to the board at a public meeting. After site visits to other school systems, the FWISD reading initiative, a balanced approach to the teaching of reading using direct instruction, was begun. The results speak for themselves. Last spring, more than 80 percent of students in grades 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 passed the reading portion of the TAAS. Using a similar approach, improvements in mathematics, bilingual/ESL, and special education programs followed.

organized opposition, is a strong indicator that this community wholeheartedly supports district efforts to provide a high-quality education for all its children. And finally, none of these accomplishments could have been made without the support and leadership of an outstanding Board of Education headed by a president who has served for 15 years. Only one trustee on our nine-member board is in his first term; the community has demonstrated its enthusiasm for our efforts by continuing to reelect all who have chosen to run for office.

Third, to implement change and to move any district forward, it is necessary for the superintendent to take certain risks. With the support of the board, I selected top-level staff with the courage, vision, and determination to drive much-needed reforms forward. A reorganization of central administrators placed some on instructional support teams where they could work one-on-one in classrooms helping teachers. Others were placed in positions where their skills could best be utilized.

Finally, in a number of cases, I had to make good my early promise; those who were not willing to cooperate were assisted in finding other opportunities.

A. In my first year at Dade County Junior College, I assisted and informally tutored older students in the required freshman mathematics class. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and began to think about teaching as a career.

Because of the effective and motivational teaching of James Crutchfield, a Dade County Junior College mathematics professor, I chose mathematics as a major. I earned my bachelor’s degree in mathematics and chemistry from the University of South Florida in Tampa and opted to teach junior high mathematics in my hometown of Miami, Florida. I worked with and for a truly gifted principal, Don Ali. I found I loved to teach, and with my principal as an extremely effective role model, I began to consider educational administration as a long-term career path.

One true measure of our success lies with the students themselves. The number of students taking Advanced Placement tests for college credit has doubled in just the last three years; these students believe they can learn at high levels and they are. Not only is the district retaining teachers, but others want to join us as evidenced by no teaching vacancies this fall.

Community involvement is at an all-time high with 588 business and community partners actively involved in Adopt-A-School and Vital Link, and a total of 584,910 parent volunteer hours recorded for the last school year. No critics have come forward to oppose tax increases in the past three years, and the community has accepted my challenge to organize a Stay-in-School effort. It will be headed by Texas Christian University Chancellor Michael Ferrari. An 88 percent approval for the district’s $398 million bond program, with no

Q. As we celebrate 15 years of honoring school superintendents, please share with us why you chose to be a school administrator. What research, person, or event has had a major impact on your career?

Explain. What motivates you to stay in school administration?

After receiving my doctorate in educational research methodology from the University of Florida, I was sidetracked and served as a professor of research methodology and statistics for three years. Then I was lured, quite willingly, to an administrative position in Pinellas County, Florida, by Gus Sakkis, the superintendent. For eight years, I served as his assistant superintendent for research, evaluation, data processing, and operations analysis. Because I enjoyed teaching, I maintained my professorship at the university on a joint appointment and received tenure as an associate professor.

As I worked closely with Gus Sakkis, I marveled at his ability to lead a large district during a time SPRING 2002

31

of increasing accountability. That convinced me that the superintendency was the job for me.

Nowhere else, I determined, could I touch as many lives and impact the future to as great an extent. I learned from Gus Sakkis during my years in Pinellas County and then set out to chart my own course.

Twenty years later, having read Sizer’s Horace Cooper at least three times, and having successfully served as superintendent in three different school systems, I know I made the right decision. I can honestly say I get up every morning enthusiastic about the opportunity to provide service to thousands of students and showcase their achievements to a community eager for results.

Q. As you anticipate changes in the delivery of student learning through increased use of technology, describe the roles of teachers and administrators in schools of the future.

What impact will this have on public education? In your school system, what steps have you taken to encourage change toward these new roles?

A. Technological devices will be increasingly used to aid in the delivery of instruction in the classroom, in the workplace, and at home. It is clear to me, after having some 15+ years of experience in the infusion of technological devices, primarily computers, into schools that teachers will continue to play a dominant role in the instructional process. Their role will change, however. No longer will the teacher be a solitary figure in front of the classroom imparting information to the entire class at the same time. Instead, he or she will be more like a coach/tutor who assists students individually as they pursue learning and achievement at a pace that allows them to move through the coursework as rapidly as possible. Equally clear to me is the need to provide continuous training for teachers and others who are charged with using technology.

In the future, teachers not only must be experts in the curriculum, but they will also have to stay current as technology continues to evolve. Without ongoing training for teachers, much of the heavy investment in technology is wasted.

Teachers and administrators in the schools of tomorrow will need to be flexible, change with the time, and remain current. Theirs will be a changing world, but one with promise and opportunity for extending teaching and 32

INSIGHT

learning far beyond the traditional bounds of the classroom and the local community.

As the walls of the classroom vanish, as the veil is lifted, the impact will be profound and, if well planned for, positive. Students will have access to current and updated information online rather than having to depend on textbooks and dictionaries that are out-of-date before they are even published. Relevant life skills will take the place of routine and often repetitive paperwork. Individualized instruction will become a reality. Good teachers will lovingly challenge students to maintain an appropriate pace while achieving mastery.

Here in Fort Worth, we are utilizing technology in our schools in many areas, both vocational and academic. A prime academic example is the use of “I Can Learn” mathematics classes at each high school for the teaching of Algebra I and at each middle school for the teaching of pre-algebra. Students receive direct instruction from the computerized system while teachers assist individuals and small groups by providing additional instruction in areas of difficulty.

Algebra I end-of-course results are improving, and teachers in advanced math courses are pleased with entering students’ increased understanding of algebra concepts. The pre-algebra middle school program is new to Fort Worth, as is a program at the elementary level where children can take home computer devices to practice math skills. Already we are seeing promising signs of better understanding that augur well for improved algebra and advanced mathematics achievements in the future.

Q. In national public opinion polls, public schools in the U.S. receive low marks, but when questioned about their local school systems, respondents rate their schools high. What one or two answers would you give to a questioner who asked why this is so? Please cite examples.

A. The American public today is, to a large degree, influenced by the media and the media’s portrayal of events and situations.

While the public has access to more information than ever before, the media often paints with a broad brush and, unfortunately, tends to portray the negative. Witness the difficulty any school system has for getting out good news, while an isolated case of tuberculosis in a school may appear to be a rampant outbreak by the time the media has finished reporting. continued on page 35

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continued from page 32 Urban schools often appear, through the lens of the media, to be fraught with difficulties.

News reports are filled with accounts of the failure of our nation’s youth to keep pace academically with their counterparts around the world. The lens of the camera captures images of large numbers of adolescents wearing hair and clothing styles seen as trendsetters by them, but looking very different from those worn by older generations. Stories, reports, or accounts of poorly maintained facilities and infrastructures, inadequate teachers, weapons and gangs, and state or county takeovers abound. All cause a nation of television watchers to believe that public schools are failing America’s children. Even a late-night television comic broadcasts interviews with young adults to get laughs through their incorrect answers to basic questions. And the public takes these reports, these images, these stories and innuendoes, and generalizes a negative message about the state of public education.

While people give credence to these media accounts, they also believe what they have experienced firsthand. If they know that schools in their communities have highly skilled teachers, students who are learning at high levels, boards and administrators who are dedicated to doing what is best for children, then they also believe that their local schools are an exception to media reports. Parents and grandparents have a high regard for local schools when the children they love are achieving; community members value local schools when they meet highly skilled graduates who are well prepared to go to work or continue their education.

observed. We have an active outreach program designed to motivate not only parents but the entire community to join us in our efforts.

After the shootings at Columbine, Fort Worth parents sent their children to school despite media reports that copycat crimes would follow. They trust our schools and believe their children are safe with us. Each year at the anniversary, media continue to contact us for a negative story: Are absences up? Have we found any weapons? Instead of negative news, they find school in Fort Worth being conducted as usual. Federal legislation has been proposed to underwrite the “crumbling infrastructure” of the nation’s urban public schools. But, in Fort Worth, nearly 80 percent of residents, when polled by the Texas comptroller, said Fort Worth ISD buildings are clean and well maintained.

Increasingly, urban districts are threatened with takeover or it has already occurred: Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Baltimore. The Texas comptroller in her recent audit stated that the Fort Worth school district is well managed, and commended the district for practices that result in fiscal savings; i.e., sound inventory controls and our competitive bidding process.

Further, the comptroller gave the Fort Worth ISD “a big, strong A!” In addition, the comptroller lauded “programs that provide opportunities for parents to become involved,” and for our “effectively reaching out to the community.” People in this community know for themselves that our schools are making great progress. They have an increasingly positive perception of this district despite negative media generalizations about urban public education.

In Fort Worth, we have taken great pains to inform parents, neighbors, businessmen, business women, civic organizations, and the faith community about our progress. We have invited them into our schools to see for themselves the high-quality education the children of this district are receiving. Visitors see dedicated teachers, orderly classrooms, clean and well-maintained buildings, and children who are learning at high levels. They see a school system on the ascent with a track record of accomplishment, and scenes that are a pleasant contrast from those images on television and in the newspaper. Recently, a group of leaders from the Chamber of Commerce toured three inner city schools and left impressed with the high level of teaching and learning that they SPRING 2002

35

On the Road to High-Quality Professional Development . . .

A Board Member’s Perspective

by Stephanie Hirsh A key way a board member influences administrative actions within a school system is by working with the superintendent to create policies that establish high standards and providing the support necessary to reach them. These policies provide a measuring stick by which the CEO and schools can be held accountable for results.

High-quality staff development is essential to achieving high levels of performance by all students and staff members. National standards for staff development, such as those developed by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC), provide direction for planning effective staff development. A school board can demonstrate its understanding of and commitment to these qualities through the adoption of standards to guide local practice. The process for learning about and adopting the standards also can be used to model high-quality professional learning.

as a result of high-quality professional development. I have shared articles that I believe staff members or board members will find informative and useful in their work. The entire board heard me address the school board’s role in improving student achievement through high-quality staff development at a session I presented at a recent National School Board Association Annual Conference. Slowly and steadily our school board has increased its understanding of staff development and

When the board finalized a new vision statement for the school district, it said the district would: “Provide each student an education in an academically excellent and individually responsive learning community.”

As deputy executive director of NSDC and as a trustee in Richardson ISD, I have a deep appreciation for the role staff development plays in a school district’s quest for high levels of learning and performance for all students and staff members. However, adoption of staff development standards requires the understanding and commitment of more than one board member.

So, for the last five years, I have taken deliberate steps to build support and understanding of high-quality professional development among my fellow trustees. For example, I have drawn attention to situations in which the district and/or individual school performance has risen 36

INSIGHT

become its own learning community. When the board finalized a new vision statement for the school district, it said the district would: “Provide each student an education in an academically excellent and individually responsive learning community.”

Following the vision statement, I felt it was time to consider the adoption of standards for staff development. The National Staff Development Council’s Standards for Staff

Development describe the kind of staff learning that is essential to improve student learning. Drawn from research and best practice, the standards represent the consensus of leaders from 16 professional organizations.

While a simple resolution and adoption process could be used, I was concerned that it would not lead to the level of understanding necessary for the board to become effective staff development decision makers. Given this goal, the superintendent and the director of staff development decided that the director of staff development would facilitate conversations in conjunction with the regularly scheduled board study sessions in January, February, March, and April 2002.

At the January session, the board of trustees engaged in dialogue regarding assumptions that drive the district’s staff development actions. School board members identified what they believed if they disagreed with a district assumption. Some examples of district assumptions are: • High-quality staff development is essential to achieving the results we want for the students in our school system.

• High-quality teaching does not occur without high-quality professional learning and support.

• Investment in professional development is the second most important line item in the budget (next to salaries).

This discussion provided an important first step in building consensus on the role professional development plays in the school system and the responsibilities of its leaders. continued on page 38

theLeader Book Review

News from the Texas Leadership Center

Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder Edited by Marjorie Schiller, Bea Mah Holland, and Deanna Riley Published by the Taos Institute, www.taosinstitute.org, 2001

Reviewed by Nancy Oelklaus, executive coach and systemic change facilitator, Austin, TX, noelklaus@aol.com What have we learned from our successes?

How might we apply that learning to this present challenge? These are typical questions asked by appreciative leaders, who lead in ways that capitalize on people’s strengths and bypass weaknesses, making them irrelevant.

As we become increasingly aware that the most important source of energy for change within organizations is human potential, this book is a must-read for leaders, whose job it is to unleash and focus that potential so that the organization meets its ever-increasing goals.

Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder profiles leaders from the business, health, and community service sectors, including reflections of three people with a lifetime of honorable leadership, the most notable of whom is Warren Bennis.

Through these stories of turning around organizations and reaching higher goals, readers come to understand that there isn’t just one right way to “do” leadership, but there is a common set of principles and concepts for those leaders whose mission is to

empower and focus people. The leaders profiled in this book are diverse in style, but what they have in common is that they lead in a way that increases the value of everyone in the organization and in the organization as a whole, and consequently in the eyes of beholders. Where public schools are concerned, these beholders are the public and public officials. That fact alone makes this book a must-read for school leaders.

In addition to the diversity of leaders profiled, a great value of the book lies in the model for appreciative leaders which the editors distilled from the profiles, thus making an important contribution to the field. Here is what they found: • Appreciative leaders are belief-based, with an explicit spiritual orientation and practice. Because of their trust in, and the openness of, their beliefs and values, they create a reinforcing cycle of affirmation.

• Appreciative leaders understand that leadership lives in the group and not in any one person. They have an explicit understanding that individuals alone do not have the answers. At the same time, they view people as having the capacity to do what needs to be done.

• Appreciative leaders, knowing that there are multiple paths and many truths, play the role of architect, designing the structure in which a process enables the development of an empowered community of people.

• Appreciative leaders have an unwavering commitment to bringing out the best in themselves and others. They lead through appreciation, encouragement, validation, and support of people’s best

talents; they provide the structure for appreciative dialogue.

• Appreciative leaders find generative forces in their many circumstances and multiple systems. Operating in fluid work environments, these leaders listen to others—not only to their direct reports, but also to people in the whole organization and beyond—and develop methods and mindsets that accelerate learning and the diffusion of positive understanding and action.

This book is ideal as a supplementary text for leadership development courses. For those already in leadership positions, when used with the 360º Feedback for Appreciative Leaders, it becomes a blueprint for energizing organizations to achieve higher and higher goals.

Board Briefs The following are highlights of the Texas Leadership Center board of directors meeting held January 27, 2002, in conjunction with the Administrators’ Midwinter Conference on Education.

UPDATES • Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) Leadership Development Initiative Karen Dyer, manager, Education Sector, CCL, presented a brief overview of CCL’s work, which is primarily in the corporate sector but also provides interpersonal skills training for educational leaders through a process of personal assessment, feedback, and coaching.

CCL has been providing leadership development services for more than 20 years in the national and international corporate sectors. continued on page 39 SPRING 2002 37

On the Road to High-Quality Professional Development . . . continued from page 36 At the February session, the director of staff development presented an overview of the 12 NSDC standards. For example, the first standard calls for everyone to be part of a learning community, which means the school board must continue to commit to its own professional learning as well. Each board member and the superintendent chose a standard to study and discuss what the standard calls for and what we are already doing in Richardson ISD, as well as how we can address it in the future. Board members submitted additional questions they wanted answered about the standards and/or staff development.

During the March session, a Q&A document was created to address questions the board members had submitted. A resolution was presented for adoption, and our commitment to professional development was again discussed.

At the April session, we anticipate formal adoption of the following resolution:

WHEREAS the RISD goals articulate the board’s commitment to recruiting, training, and recognizing the highest quality staff,

WHEREAS the RISD believes providing high-quality professional development opportunities is one means of achieving its goals for students,

WHEREAS research and best practice literature document the relationship between high-quality professional development and improved adult and student learning, WHEREAS consensus exists in the field as to the characteristics of high-quality staff development,

WHEREAS consistent application of principles of high-quality staff development contributes to the quality of the learning experience for both adults and students, WHEREAS adequate and appropriate resource allocation decisions impact the 38

INSIGHT

quality of professional learning in the school system,

WHEREAS in 2001 the National Staff Development Council, working in collaboration with more than 13 national organizations, published a set of staff development standards, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the RISD adopt the National Standards of Staff Development to be used as guidelines for staff development planning at individual, school, and district levels and as benchmarks for determining future directions for improvement.

Because the board has invested so much time and effort in conversations regarding the role staff learning must play in its vision for the school district, the adoption of the resolution should serve as both a wonderful culminating as well as initiation activity in its commitment to professional development. The district will have taken another important step in ensuring all students and staff members are learning and performing at high levels.

Stephanie Hirsh is deputy executive director for the National Staff Development Council and a member of the Richardson ISD Board of Trustees. She may be reached at nsdchirsh@aol.com.

Board Briefs continued from page 37 Ellen Bell reported on the October 15–18, 2001, ESC Region 1 Leadership Development Program for Educators (LDPE), in which 28 educators and business partners participated. Funds from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation helped support the seminar. John Horn, Jan Ramsey, and Ellen Bell attended as potential TASA/TLC LDPE trainers. The ESC Region 11 LDPE rescheduled from March to September 16–19, 2002.

CCL will provide a training-of-trainers in fall 2002, in which representatives of ESC Regions 1 and 11 and TASA/TLC will become Texas trainers in the project.

• Technology Leadership Academy The board received a report of Ellen Bell’s and Lyn Mefford’s (evaluator) attendance at the national Gates meeting in Seattle in November 2001 and the interim evaluation report for Year Two of the expanded academy. Seven hundred seventeen administrators are attending the academy. Approximately two hundred additional administrators already are registered for the summer academy in May, June, and July, which is being offered for the first time. Texas Tech completed an online survey of administrators to determine interest in an online portion of the academy and an advanced academy, and results were reported.

A copy of the new Technology Standards for School Administrators (TSSA), developed by the TSSA Collaborative in conjunction with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), was shared with board members.

• Aspiring Superintendents’ Initiative A discussion of the need for an initiative to reach aspiring superintendents was discussed by the board. TASA/TLC staff will explore options to provide such a program.

• Leader to Leader: Meeting State and Federal Accountability Requirements TLC has been funded for $99,360 by the Fund for the Improvement of Education, U.S. Department of Education, to share with other states what Texas and North Carolina have learned in implementing increased accountability standards. An electronic survey of Texas and North Carolina superintendents was conducted by TASA, with more than 300 superintendents

responding. The survey queried superintendents on their efforts in the reform movement, such as in data disaggregation, providing professional development to teachers and administrators, and reallocation of resources to the most needed areas.

A presentation on the grant was held at AASA in San Diego February 17, and two other national meetings—one in Texas in June and another in North Carolina in July—are planned. A publication will be produced by the project.

• Texas Recruitment and Retention Campaign A review of contract and project activities for the Texas Recruitment and Retention Campaign was presented by Johnny Veselka, executive director, TASA. In official business, the board of directors approved the minutes of the September 23, 2001, meeting and approved the financial statement of the center.

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