The 88th WASB State Education Convention

WASB * WASDA * WASBO
REPORT ON THE
88th State Education Convention
January 2009

A Few Comments and Meeting Notes from my experience as the Wisconsin Association of Sschool Boards, MMSD Board Liaison & 2009 Delegate.

The state education convention is a convention for the state of the state on education from those working, breathing and living K-12 education.

I found it more than a series of seminars and presentations; more than a formal meeting of delegates debating resolutions. I personally found it an integral part of my commitment to professional development as a member of our board of education. In fact, it’s much like an open window in the dreary days of January - both refreshing and stimulating at the same time.

The conference had funny, motivational speakers like the 2009 WI Superintendent of the Year, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and speaker/educator/world cross country ski champion Murray Banks.

On another note, a large school district such as ours may benefit from continuing to build relationships with the smaller school districts and those like Milwaukee. I had too many conversations where folks were surprised that a Madison board member had shown up.

Simply put, we talk about access to opportunities for our students, and yet as a board, have limited our own access to opportunities to school board professional development. In the future, I would hope we might have a conversation on how we can support and plan for our professional development as a board in the future. I truly believe it is worth the investment ($) for the community.

Finally, when I talk about access, some of the opportunities I enjoyed most during my time in Milwaukee were those presentations by the young students. Students set up with actual bio-fuel initiatives for their schools and were there to educate us! Performances between keynote speakers consisted of wonderful musical interludes. Each was a reminder of why we do what we do.

A Few Notes of Interest:

Data Points for Boards to Measure Success
Ft. Atkinson School District

Discussion on “Just 5 Clicks” program and the data presented to the Board of Education by the district.

Key Points:

• Anticipate and Communicate with all stakeholders on “What You Expect to Achieve.”
• Know what you want to measure (WKCE, SRI, NAEP, district measures, BOE measures) BEFORE you direct administration to purchase or create the IT software.
• The BOE must ask itself: What do you want kids to know? How will you measure this? ASK, What if you have kids that are not meeting these goals?

Pros/Cons:

• The big question: How do you get “buy-in” from teachers? Doesn’t this take away from teaching?
• Some Answers: 1. It must be understood that this ultimately should help teachers get better at teaching. 2. Use prep-time for some of the data input and gives immediate feedback that a teacher can use. 3. Teachers need to either write the individual assessments or need to be in from the beginning. 4. The message to staff must be, “This data will help those who need help or more information. It is not a measure of whether teachers are doing their job.”

How Could This Benefit Madison?

1. Ft. Atkinson supplied a great chart that shows exactly what they measure and go over with the BOE. I like the format. The data is also broken down by demographics and multiple test results.
2. One other measure that may assist the board is a regular update of Intervention Data – data on WHAT courses are offered by the district; and, measures for HOW we know the intervention is working.

Ft. Atkinson Contact:
School Board President, Kent Koebke and several staff.



Special Issues Forum: China – Implications in Preparing Students for the World Market.
West Bend School District

Discussion and analysis on visit to several schools in China by several members of West Bend business community and school district to better understand the “global marketplace” and “international education.”

Note: This was a very dynamic, information-rich session and my notes cannot do it justice. I would like to have Pat Herdich talk some time in front of the Dane County School Board Consortium – if she would be willing to speak. Her presentation is available on the web in powerPoint - I highly recommend this.

Key Points:
• West Bend is similar to MMSD in that it has ACT scores and is recognized as ranking in the top 5% of high schools.
• West Bend differs in that it is very conservative – they are the 19th largest school district in WI and the 6th lowest in revenue collected.
• The state of WI has many factors influencing our future economy including an increasing aging population, a strained public infrastructure and an economy looking increasingly like Mississippi.
• The top 5 jobs in WI are forecast to be: #1. Registered nurse and #2-5. Service Sector jobs. In contrast, Minnesota’s top five jobs are all forecasted to be in IT.
• Transition time is low for students during the day and high for teachers. The idea is to limit transitions for children (who it affects most) and have teachers move through the classrooms for different subjects.
• In China, heat in schools is optional; access to technology is not. In China, only 20% of the population of children has access to formal education. Every classroom has a Smartboard.

Pros/Cons:
• We need another name for “professional development.” Adult learning or adult development for too long has been cited as “fluff.” It is an essential investment.
• Ideas to consider that are offered on the world stage: International diploma; foreign language starts in Kindergarten and programs supporting students to travel abroad.
• Current attitude throughout country (Madison?) is that the investment in K-12 public education is a “necessary evil” as opposed to (China & others) an “economic driver for the state.”
• We need more support from state for applied math and science standards.




How Could This Knowledge Benefit Madison?
1. We are on the right track with Project Lead the Way and AVID.
2. We are on the right track regarding professional development and investing resources in it.
3. National standards/assessments are absent and place challenges for large districts like MMSD. It might be beneficial to advocate for more universal standards.
4. Ideas that have been percolating were mentioned as ways to make MMSD more competitive: career academies (health services, entrepreneurial, technology); partnerships with technical colleges; world language expansion; virtual classes/school and, emphasis on learning through summer school sessions.
5. Raise standards for all – not necessarily “college-bound” but access to “post-secondary options.” West Bend has begun to implement guidance strategies to match each student with a “post-secondary option.” Similar to field trips or conversations with employers, university, tech schools, etc.

West Bend Contact:
School Board President & President of Lakeside Manufacturing, Joe Carlson
Superintendent, Pat Herdich


Editor’s note:

I have taped some of the speeches presented which were very topical and thought provoking. I will post them on my podcast as soon as I get them cleaned up.

Next year’s convention dates - January 20-22, 2010 in Milwaukee.

Dane County School Board Consortium - Ahead of the Curve

Last spring the Dane County School Board Consortium (DCSBC) met with Dan Rossmiller, Director of Legislative Services from the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) to begin our discussion on what issues the consortium could focus on for the school year. This brainstorming session led to the Waunakee Community School District's Board of Education to craft a formal advocacy letter to improve testing in our state.

Waunakee sent that letter to their state and national representatives to specifically address the issue of improved testing to meet No Child Left Behind. Currently, school districts administer the state mandated WKCE. Additional districts in the consortium are in the process of adopting a similar letter and sending it to their representatives.

It turns out however, that this past week, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction issued a press release announcing a new task force to work on this very issue. "Wisconsin needs a comprehensive assessment system that provides educators and parents with timely and relevant information that helps them make instructional decisions to improve student achievement,” said State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster [while] announcing members of a statewide Next Generation Assessment Task Force.

Representatives from business, commerce, and education will make recommendations to the state superintendent on the components of an assessment system that are essential to increase student achievement. The NGA Task Force will meet in Madison next week on the 8th of October.

One recommendation I would give the task force is to invest in new testing technologies. School districts and educators need continuous feedback mechanisms, according to a recent article in Forbes magazine. Schools should "...return to the more individualized approach..." which has been recommended by many education experts.

You can see the letter that the DCSBC is encouraging area school districts to send to their representatives. Thank you to Peggy Hill-Breunig and the Waunakee Community School District Board of Education for sharing this letter.

Dear State Leaders,

We are writing to share with you our concerns about the WKCE, or Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination - the assessment test Wisconsin currently requires all public school students take in order to comply with No Child Left Behind. We join our district’s professional educators, the Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance, and a growing number of school districts around the state in asking that the State of Wisconsin not renew its current testing contract without addressing key issues that currently make the WKCE a costly distraction to the goals we are trying to achieve in our classrooms today.

Before summarizing these issues, we want you to know we believe in holding our schools accountable for the work they do. We support the use of student assessments that provide teachers (and parents) relevant, timely and actionable information, and that guide instruction in ways that lead to individual student growth and achievement. (Note: We support proposed H.R. 3979, the Assessment Accuracy and Improvement Act, which will allow states to use adaptive assessments that include items outside of grade level for state assessments required under the No Child Left Behind Act.) We recognize the need to be held accountable to the state and federal government for student achievement. However, we believe we should be held even more accountable to our parents and taxpayers. It is a difficult decision when we are forced to approve the use of scarce resources (money and instructional time) for something we know is substandard.

Issue 1: WKCE test results lack the utility which other forms of assessment provide.

Fact: Last November, students in our district took the 2007-2008 WKCE tests. Results from those tests were released to us in late May, 2008. In November 2008, a different group of students will be tested for 2008-09 and their results will be compared to last year’s group to determine AYP (adequate yearly progress) for that subject and grade.

Concerns: The inability to provide timely feedback leaves little or no time for educators and parents to use what information they do receive to address student performance before the end of the school year. Targeted recommendations for the group of students who took the test are not possible. In addition, due to structure and design, tests like this fail to provide an accurate and complete picture of student growth and information educators and administrators can use to improve achievement. (Note: Some currently available adaptive forms of assessment measure student growth over time and can provide quick feedback using technology. Many districts administer this type of test twice a year to measure how students perform at the beginning and then at the end of the school year.)

Issue 2: The true cost to districts for the WKCE is high.

Concerns: In addition to any fees paid, administering standardized tests takes time away from instruction as well as other student support services (i.e. guidance). Each district might differ in how they handle the requirements of preparing for the test, administering the test, and then reporting results of the test to appropriate stakeholders. Whether they choose to utilize internal resources exclusively, or hire outside resources to help (substitute teachers, temporary clerical services, etc.) the work needs to be done and it all takes time and money. Although this could be said for any standardized paper and pencil test which all students take at the same time, the cost is greater for WKCE because (1) students and parents see the test as irrelevant, and (2) teachers and administrators cannot use the information which is eventually provided. As board members, we interpret this as having to waste precious district resources because the State is unwilling to seriously consider alternatives which may be more effective for everyone in the long run.

Issue 3: The WKCE is not as effectively aligned with the requirements of workforce readiness and higher education as other forms of assessment which are currently being used by our neighboring states.

Fact: There is research that supports this statement. The WKCE does not align as well with 21st Century Skills (a DPI initiative) as do other forms of assessment. Regarding potential alternatives, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota are among the states that have implemented statewide tests in partnership with ACT, which all students take, satisfying No Child Left Behind requirements and yielding unexpected results for students who might not have considered furthering their education beyond high school.


In closing, this is not the first time education professionals and associations from around the state have raised issues about the WKCE with our state leaders. There is, however, growing concern that the current 10-year contract may be under consideration for renewal without conducting a serious review of alternatives. As elected school board representatives, we could not let that happen without voicing our concerns with elected state representatives like you. We appreciate your leadership and support as we work to improve student achievement for all of our students.

Distance Learning, MMSD, MTI, MOU

Distance learning, virtual learning or online learning is a relatively innovative way of instructing our students and perhaps, transforming education. Recently the Board of Education discussed where we are on the long path to fully utilizing technology in our district...

Unfortunately, it was not the result of a strategic planning initiative, but was a precipitate of a bargaining agreement with labor that eventually resulted in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Madison Teachers, Incorporated (MTI).

I did not vote for the memorandum of understanding that the administration brought forward to us. However, I recognize the good work that our new superintendent, Dan Nerad, put into this MOU with MTI. Both sides negotiated toward the center line and found a somewhat workable solution. It's a fine point that most people may not understand nor care to read about in the paper. But getting this done helped both parties to walk away from the inevitablility of litigating far into the future if we had not worked together. It's difficult to decide where to start when it comes to the demands of a large, urban school district such as ours; but I trust our superintendent can lead us in the right direction.

If you haven’t been following this current board decision, take a look at the recent excerpt from Solidarity, the MTI newsletter, as union leadership interpreted the decision:

“The agreement provides that for both local and distance virtual education Madison teachers will be in control of the education; that the work will be part of the teacher’s class size and teaching load; and enable additive compensation for a teacher who volunteers to work with or correspond with virtual school students after the teachers’ contractual work day.”

Ideally, the main premise for the use of technology should be to extend the learning experience and/or individualize the learning environment for our students. Think - engagement, learning.

In sum total, our practices should be in alignment with our policies. Of concern to me in agreeing to an MOU at this time is that we have unfinished policy changes regarding educational options. One area of concern is whether to grant credit for online courses such as those offered by online providers who are not MTI employees.

This MOU may tie us to a status quo of only using MTI (bargaining unit teachers) for many years to come for any online learning. This is specifically due to the precedent set by our Collective Bargaining Agreement from the ‘70s which speaks to only MTI members providing instruction in the district. I can’t help but remind myself that this was an agreement written before the advent of online teaching technology; it’s an outdated model of where we need to go as a district for the sake of the kids.

There’s a similar take on this from a leader in the field of innovation & technology in an Education Week (June 4, 2008) commentary titled, How 'Disruptive Innovation' Will Change the Way We Learn by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn, & Curtis W. Johnson.

If the goal is to educate every student to the highest potential, schools need to move away from this monolithic classroom model and toward a student-centric model with a modular design that enables mass customization.

Computer-based learning is emerging as a disruptive force and a promising opportunity to make this shift. The proper use of technology as a platform for learning offers a chance to modularize the system and thereby customize learning.

But if this is the case, how does one explain the minimal impact computers have had in the classroom? The United States has spent more than $60 billion equipping schools with computers over the last two decades, but as countless studies and any routine observation reveal, they have not transformed the classroom, nor has their use boosted learning as measured by test scores.

That schools have gotten so little back from their investment comes as no surprise. Schools have done what virtually every organization does when implementing an innovation: Its natural instinct is to cram the innovation into its existing operating model to sustain what it already does. This is perfectly predictable, perfectly logical—and perfectly wrong.

For myself I see this agreement as something we may have to do for the short term - like the cod liver oil of systems management. But we should never take our eyes off the prize when it comes to educating kids. I hope we can have further discussions on this important topic with a focus on the long term.

For more on Clayton M. Christensen's writing, go to:
Education Week: Online Education Cast as ‘Disruptive Innovation’

For a nice example of an informed discussion on Online Teaching and Learning go here for a recent online forum held by Education Week.

WASB Fall Regional Conference

Tonight I am going to the fall conference for region 12 of the WASB as the Madison Metropolitan School District's delegate. This is one of the few opportunities where board members get together, share information and discuss advocacy at a state level.

The agenda for tonight's meeting will include: recognizing the award-winning work of students in grades K-12 who submitted books in the WASB Write and Illustrate Your Own Book contest; presenting the WASB Board Governance Awards; holding our election for our WASB regional director; and, ending with a keynote presentation on Achievement Beyond High School.

I'm excited to learn from leading experts and fellow board members about what we can do to create a path to (post-secondary) success for our students. I will also be presenting on behalf of the MMSD board of education two resolutions that I recently submitted as part of our state advocacy efforts through WASB.

It should be a great meeting.


The resolutions submitted to our regional delegation are:

Proposal for the 2009 WASB Delegate Assembly Subject: Cooperative purchasing program
Submitted by: The School Board of the Madison Metropolitan School District
Resolution:
Be it RESOLVED that the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (“WASB”) shall call on the State legislature to commit resources towards the coordination and expansion of the State’s cooperative purchasing program to address the needs of school districts and other units of local government.

Rationale:
All levels of government—state, county, local, and school districts—are under pressure to use tax dollars wisely in these times of economic stress.
School Districts’ budgets in particular have been constrained by state statutes on revenue limits for 15 years, leading to many cuts in programs and employees.
The investment by the state to coordinate this purchasing service would benefit all levels of government by lowering their costs.
Leveraging the combined purchasing volume of both state agencies and local governmental units would lower the costs of acquiring goods and services and ultimately benefit the taxpayers of our state.


Proposal for the 2009 WASB Delegate Assembly Subject: Localized Purchasing in School Nutrition Programs
Submitted by: The School Board of the Madison Metropolitan School District
Resolution:
WHEREAS School Boards recognize the connection between a healthy diet and a student’s ability to learn effectively and experience success in school; and
WHEREAS School Boards recognize the school district’s role, as part of the larger community, to establish and maintain life-long healthy eating habits, to support the local economy, and to act as a good steward of community resources;
THEREFORE, be it RESOLVED that School Boards in Wisconsin shall actively promote the purchase of local products and produce from local farms in their respective county or region, based upon availability, and be it further RESOLVED that school districts should work together with CESAs and county organizations to coordinate a list of producers to increase the amount of products purchased from local farms and organic food suppliers.

Rationale:
Recent changes enacted as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 address procurements in Child Nutrition Programs, amending the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to encourage institutions to purchase unprocessed locally-grown and locally-raised agricultural products. Specifically, “The Secretary shall … allow institutions receiving funds … to use a geographic preference for the procurement of unprocessed agricultural products, both locally grown and locally raised.” (P.L. 110-246, Sec. 4302).
Effective October 1, 2008, the National School Lunch Act allows institutions (including school districts) to apply a geographic preference when procuring unprocessed locally grown or locally raised agricultural products. Appropriate geographic preferences would include, State, county, region, etc.
Moreover, as Woodbury (IA) County Rural Economic Development Director Robert Marqusee stated for the July 2007 National Association of Counties publication on Local Food Systems and sustainable communities, “Most people think we have to look outside of [our county] to reinvigorate our economy … We simply have to be willing to support local farmers and help them develop products that are lucrative in today’s markets rather than putting them out of business just to save a few dollars in the short term.” [http://www.farmtoschool.org/files/publications_133.pdf]
[See http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/Policy-Memos/2008/SP_30-2008.pdf]

Approved by motion of the School Board of the Madison Metropolitan School District on September 8, 2008.

Parent Organizations in the News

This past week I shared an article by Sandra Tsing Loh about the importance of parents getting involved in their child's education. I believe many are involved and engaged but sometimes not recognized as true partners in a public education system.

I'm pleased that there was a mention of the Black Star Project and the National PTA. Phillip Jackson's organization (BSP) has been doing great work in the Chicago area for years. Charles J. Saylors (PTA) is also mentioned as the first father to be elected as president in his organization's history.

Here's the video showing parents and fathers getting involved in their children's education. I am hoping in the coming months our district can make greater strides in this area as well.