Education Week - February 19, 2014 - C5

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Articles
PERSPECTIVE
against the learning mission and
may be overly zealous on filtering
and blocking."
'Thinking in New Directions'
Mr. McLeod also points out that
technology is making it easier for
superintendents to network with
one another to share ideas and
best practices.
"Whenever they run into trouble
or they have questions, they
have people they can tap into
that they know have done it," he
said. Building robust networks of
thought leaders can be informative
and encourage new ways of
thinking, Mr. McLeod said.
"Parts of those networks are set
up so they jar [superintendents']
thinking in new directions," he
added.
Perhaps one of the biggest technological
challenges that face
superintendents is the impact of
widespread budget cuts in recent
years, Mr. Baker of TICAL said.
"You're left with a situation of
having to make tough decisions
and be able to go out there and
justify an expenditure of technology
that can't show a direct correlation
to a standardized-test
score," he said. "It takes a lot of
leadership to get those kinds of
expenditures through."
But, he added, "in some ways,
the budget issue has caused us to
look at some things that technology
can do more efficiently."
That has definitely been the
case in the Vancouver school district
in Washington state, said
Steven Webb, the superintendent
of the 22,000-student district.
"We've been able to be very
thoughtful, deliberate, and strategic
about seizing upon the context
to do some strategic pruning,"
he said.
Although the district has faced
more than $20 million in budget
reductions during his six-year
tenure as superintendent, he's
been able to weather the cuts
without resorting to layoffs, he
said, partly by creating efficiencies
in the district that technology
now makes possible.
For instance, the district has
reworked the purchasing department
so that individual schools
order supplies and have them
shipped directly to their sites,
rather than purchases being
made at the district level, shipped
to a central warehouse, and then
delivered to the various schools-
steps that added to the cost.
Ordering office supplies from in-
dividual school sites and getting
next-day delivery is an option facilitated
by the Internet that was
not available when the district
first set up its purchasing and
distribution channels.
The Vancouver system also re-
vamped its nutrition-services
program with new software to
track more accurately how much
food was needed and was being
bought. The program used to
have to be supplemented by the
district's general fund, said Mr.
Webb, but now operates within
its own budget.
The district has been able to
invest those saved dollars, he
said: "We've been able to shift resources
from operation support
to student learning supports and
initiatives."
The district is now rolling out a
1-to-1 computing program, which
will be put in place over the next
five years, starting with middle
schools and scaling to grades
3-12. The district will be distributing
both laptops and iPads to
students.
"This isn't about the technol-
ogy," said Mr. Webb. "It's not about
the devices. It's fundamentally
about preparing our graduates
with the adaptive skills they need
to not only survive but thrive in
the 21st-century global interdependent
world and economy."
This article originally appeared
in Education Week's special report
"Managing the Digital District,"
Sept. 30, 2013.
Five Beliefs That
Hold Teachers Back
From Leading
By Anthony S. Colucci
our profession-but I've also observed false beliefs
prevent teachers from blossoming into teacher
leaders. Do any of these seem familiar to you?
1) "It's not my job to get involved in poli-
A
tics."
There is little doubt that many of the daily frustrations
teachers and students encounter are the
results of misguided policy. Some of these policies
exist because teachers did not make themselves
heard prior to their passage. When teachers are
inactive politically, we abdicate our influence, usually
putting the decisions in the hands of those
less informed than we are. Most of us would agree
that it's important to teach students how to become
responsible citizens who keep current with
the news, have conversations with
their representatives, and vote.
How can we claim to instill
civic virtue when we don't
model it ourselves?
Last year, my students
watched me fight for
our school by organizing
stakeholders and by
speaking at school board
meetings and rallies. And
guess what I realized?
"Walking the walk" makes
a much greater impact on
my students than just telling
them what they should do when
they are older. I'd go so far as to say
that it is part of our job as teachers to be active
citizens.
2) "I'm not the best public speaker [or
s an educator, do you believe
that you can have a positive
impact on education beyond
the walls of your classroom?
If not, ask yourself why, then
give a good hard look at your
answer. I've seen teacher
leaders do great things for
out there who feel overwhelmed and appreciate
teacher leaders' fresh perspectives.
And there's more common ground than we
might think. Many administrators do not like
unfair evaluation measures or beside-the-point
standardized tests any more than we do. In fact,
the same issues that give us headaches give administrators
migraines!
Depending on where we live and what protections
our unions afford, we often have less reason
to fear repercussions for speaking up than
administrators do if they speak up.
For many administrators, it's not that they
don't want teachers to lead. It's that they don't
want to be blindsided or put in compromising
positions. I never ask an administrator's permission
to write or speak. However, I do ask
about including information that may put him
or her in a difficult situation.
4) "But I'm just a teacher."
Some teachers don't want to take on lead-
ership roles because they feel like the bull'seye
on a dartboard. And there's no doubt that
teachers have in fact been the target of a great
deal of hostility lately.
But we shouldn't let these perceptions
prevent us from leading. In reality, teacherbashing
is not a new American sport, but it is
evidence of the concentrated efforts of a few
powerful groups.
The 45th annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup
poll noted that more than 70 percent of Americans
have trust and confidence in the men and
women who teach in public schools. (That's the
highest level of trust since they started asking
the question!)
Bottom line: "The public" is
not out to get us. The public
includes our neighbors and
cousins, our postal carriers
and our dentists. They are
our former students and
the parents of our current
students. They have
every reason to back
us up. (And even if they
haven't asked us to get involved
in an issue, they're
usually curious about what
we think.)
5) "My students will suffer if
iStockphoto
I'm not in my classroom."
writer or fill-in-the-blank]."
Advocating for our profession means helping
policymakers and community members understand
what we do and how we think our schools
can be improved. But many teachers start out
with a deficit mindset. They say, "I can't do that,"
because they don't have the confidence or skill to
do it perfectly.
Mr. Alonso also cautioned against an overreliance on the "heroic principal."

"Leadership matters tremendously, but districts and schools need to
think about developing leadership teams in every building and supporting
all of them," he said.
The Bain report makes the case that school districts can start building
up an in-house cadre of talent to draw on through several steps
that include filling more positions, such as those for assistant principals
and teacher leaders, with people who have strong potential to become
principals.
Mr. Bierly said he's been sharing the report with "any superintendent
who will listen."
Bain's education team works with numerous school districts, chartermanagement
organizations, and other groups such as Teach For America
and StudentsFirst, former District of Columbia Schools Chancellor
Michelle Rhee's advocacy group. Mr. Bierly said the team does much
of its education work pro bono, and gives away roughly $30 million in
consulting services to the education sector annually.
This report, he said, is meant to be in that same vein.
"We did not do this to make a buck," he said. "We want to be in a position
to provide additional counsel on a pro bono basis for people who
want to go to the next level on this important issue."
This article originally appeared in Education Week on Dec. 11, 2013.
EDUCATION WEEK 2014 CALENDAR OF EVENTS & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTORY www.edweek.org/go/calendar 5
But you don't have to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning
author to write a blog post or letter to the
editor. When it comes to speaking, flawless articulation
is not required. Sure, there are tricks we
can pick up to improve our skills over time, but
knowledge and passion are the keys to powerful
communication. Perfectionism will stop teachers
dead in our tracks-and, paradoxically, keep us
from getting any better.
My advice to teachers who want to lead is to
start small. With practice, you'll become more comfortable
and ready to move on to bigger arenas.
Start with an issue that taps into your knowledge
and passion as an educator. Write an editorial
for your local paper, speak at a parent-teacher organization
meeting, or start a Facebook page dedicated
to the issue. You might be surprised by the
impact of your seemingly small action. Recently, I
was shocked to see that a short column I wrote for
my local newspaper garnered national attention.
For teacher leaders, passion must trump
perfection!
3) "My administrator doesn't want me
to lead."
Yes, some administrators don't support teacher
leadership. But there are many administrators
Leading as a teacher can mean missing some
face-to-face time with our students. Meetings with
district officials or partner organizations may not
be able to convene outside the regular business
day. The truth is, our school schedules are outdated
and inflexible-they don't allow as much
opportunity to lead as they should.
That said, when we do miss class, do our stu-
dents really suffer? Many would attest that just
the opposite happens-our students can benefit
from our efforts to expand our horizons and improve
schools. For example, I missed a few days
of school last year to learn how to be a peer coach
and then peer-coach teachers. Carefully analyzing
my district's teacher-evaluation rubric led to me to
polish some of my own practices-and observing
my peers gave me some great ideas that I then
took back to my students and classroom.
Of course, it helps if you can find a great substitute.
Last year, my substitute was a retired
teacher who taught lessons effectively and with
his own unique twist. The kids loved him-and
benefited from the change in routine.
Teaching is a demanding profession. It is easy
for us to let ourselves off the hook. We can allow
false beliefs to become excuses that let us close
our classroom doors. These beliefs become reasons
not to raise our hands or voices. And then, having
excused ourselves from involvement, we groan at
the consequences of top-down decisionmaking.
Help elevate our profession by rejecting these fallacies.
Jump in and lead! n
ANTHONY S. COLUCCI, a national board-certified teacher,
teaches in the gifted-student programs at three elementary
schools in central Florida. This essay originally appeared
on Education Week Teacher, Sept. 10, 2013.

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Education Week - February 19, 2014

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