International Center for Leadership in Education

1. Creating Relationships Focused on Rigor and Relevance in Schools and Communities International Center for Leadership in Education Louis D. Martinez - Senior Consultant Nevada 2007 Mega Conference

2. Creating Relationships Begin with concepts that the best schools have in common, namely, that education has two great goals:  to help students become smart (in the multi- dimensional sense of intelligence and skill sets) and  to help them become good(in the multi- dimensional sense of character and maturity).

3. Skills and Character In rigorous, relevant, relationship-driven districts and schools, all things in the life of the school: routines, rituals, discipline, curriculum, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, as well as unplanned “teachable moments” are intentionally utilized as opportunities to impart skills and character. Simple.

4. Relationships are the pathways to both skill sets and character The operating strategies that flow from relationships are also simple: work to ensure that everything you do: • does not detract from the cultivation of academic skills and character • contributes maximally to the development andintegration of academic skills with character.

5. Creating Relationships… clearly indicates our belief that if you want individual teachers and other staff to pursue the mission of excellence and ethics with students, then you should create a whole-school design (addressing such issues as teaching load and time for planning) and a positive school culture that motivate and help staff implement such a vision.

6. Who is responsible? (1) individual school practitioners - teachers, counselors, school psychologists, coaches, student leaders, parents, and all others who play a role in shaping the character of students and the character of schools; • school leaders - principals, superintendents, curriculum directors, teacher leaders, and reform-minded heads of unions - who are in a position to influence whole-school change; (3) leaders, such as heads of state departments of education or educational organizations, who are in a position to influence educational policies affecting many schools; and (4) schools of education responsible for preparing the next generation of teachers and administrators.

7. The Power of One “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. Helen Keller

8. The Power of One We also do well to remember that a single adult can make a significant difference in the life of a young per- son. How many of you remember your best teacher? Your worst? Optimize your personal contribution to the character development of every student. In this study, researchers found many individual practitioners who were doing just that, in spite of less than ideal working conditions.

9. Rigor/Relevance Framework KNOWLEDGE D C B A A P P L I C A T I O N

10. KNOWLEDGE Rigor EVALUATION SYNTHESIS ANALYSIS APPLICATION COMPREHENSION KNOWLEDGE

11. Relevance Knowledge in one discipline Application within discipline Application across disciplines Application to real-world predictable situations Application to real-world unpredictable situations A P P L I C A T I O N

12. So - where do I start? I. Make the development of skills and character - the integration of excellence and ethics - the cornerstone of the district’s or the school’s mission and identity. Define skills and character in terms of guiding principles.

13. Guiding Principles - Relationships Universal Responsibility, Respect, Compassion, Honesty, Trustworthiness, Loyalty Cultural and Professional Laws, Mores, Customs; Gender Roles; Manners/Etiquette; Professional Codes; Organizational Values/Cultures; Industry Standards; Occupational Mores Religious & Philosophical Religious: Reverence, Dietary Rules, Ten Commandments, Golden Rule, Sins and Virtue, Holiday Observances, Rituals Related to Birth; Marriage; Death Philosophical: Abortion, Monogamy, Euthanasia, Capital Punishment, Duty to Parents and Children, Lifestyle Preference Sex: Pre-marital Sex, Extra-marital Sex; Promiscuity; Sexual OrientationPrudence & Responsibility: Child Rearing; Drinking; Drugs; Gambling

14. International Center Guiding Principles Beliefs Skills Responsibility Respect Compassion Honesty Trustworthiness Loyalty Contemplation Initiative Perseverance Optimism Courage Adaptability

15. Easier Said Than Done II. Work to establish the conditions that support the implementation of the vision: Rigor, Relevance and Relationships for all students. Continually address these factors in order to create the optimal conditions for successful implementation.

16. What Conditions? These conditions include: • strong leadership, • optimal school size, • time for planning and reflection, • supportive scheduling, • manageable teaching loads, • a safe and orderly environment, • trusting and respectful relationships, and • adequate budgetary resources.

17. Define the Outcome • As an individual practitioner, capitalize on the Power of One - your personal contribution to the skill sets and character of every student. To amplify the Power of One, seek out other, like-minded individuals - another teacher, another coach, another parent - and work together. You can do it.

18. Common Language Changing whole-school climate is very important but will be a slow, difficult process in most schools. The Power of One really matters and is at the heart of most school students’ character-forming school experiences.

19. What Can I Do? Because relationship-building is a one-on-one process - every educator needs to ask, “What can I do better to foster character in my work with students? How am I modeling character for my students? How can I assess my perceived effectiveness in these areas?”

20. External vs Internal Motivation Experience in many communities has taught us that we also want to avoid seeming to hold up, as “exemplary” any particular school or teacher. Unlike an awards program, whose purpose is to give a stamp of approval, this study was not aimed at producing a list of schools or programs that others should go and emulate.

21. Can We Agree to Agree? Rather, the study was set up to identify promising practices for character development in schools - and ended up, from the many good things we saw around the country, developing a new vision: Smart & Good Schools fully integratedrigor, relevance and relationships in every phase of school life. The district and/or the school is shaped by that dual mission.

22. School (or District) Culture IV. Develop an Ethical Learning Community (ELC). Place the development of skills (relevant to academic performance) and character at the center of your school’s mission. Make the ELC a partnership of staff, students, parents, and the wider community.

23. Six Steps to an ELC 1. Develop shared purpose and identity. Cultivate a school-wide sense of purpose, identity, and community based on a shared commitment to promoting skills performance and character development.

24. Six Steps to an ELC • Align practices with desired outcomes and relevant research. Review everything in the life of the school: curriculum, co-curricular activities, discipline, routines, and traditionsas opportunities to develop performance skills and character. In ELC meetings, ask “Does a given practice con- tribute to the integration of academic excellence and character? What is the evidence of its effectiveness?

25. Six Steps to an ELC 3. Have a voice; take a stand. Create a democratic community that maximizes participation in the quest for excellence and ethics; challenge all members of the Ethical Learning Community to use their voices with courage and integrity.

26. Six Steps to an ELC 4. Take personal responsibility for continuous self-development. See yourself as a work in progress; pursue your personal best.

27. Six Steps to an ELC 5. Practice collective responsibility. Care enough to expect the best from others; commit to the norm of “care-frontation” in relationships.

28. Six Steps to an ELC 6. Grapple with the tough issues. Tough issues are those elephants in the living room. Address the critical issues - in school and outside school - that affect performance and character.

29. We’re Already Doing That! VI. Develop a Professional Ethical Learning Community (PELC) among faculty, staff, and administration. Define the PELC to include all staff - administrators, teachers, counselors, coaches, custodians, secretaries, and all other adults whose example and work affect the character of the school and the character development of students. Promote collegiality, collaboration, and a culture of critique in order to help all staff continually reflect on their own development of skills and character.

30. You Don’t Have to be Sick to Get Better Every individual has the power and responsibility to contribute to the Ethical Learning Community and to develop skill sets and character in oneself and others.

31. Skills Gap

32. How do I break the Skills Gap? 1. ASSIGN WORK THAT MATTERS (Relevance). Students need assignments that challenge and inspire them. Projects that challenge students with real-life problems not only help students achieve excellence by real-world standards but also make a tangible contribution to the welfare of the community.

33. How do I break the Skills Gap? 2. PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE (Rigor). Before they begin work on a project, the teacher and students examine models of excellence - high-quality work done by previous students as well as work done by professionals. What makes a particular science project, piece of writing, or architectural blueprint so good? What was the process of achieving such high quality? What mistakes and revisions were probably part of the process?

34. How do I break the Skills Gap? 3. BUILD A CULTURE OF CRITIQUE (Relationships). Formal feedback sessions build a culture of critique that is essential for improving students’ work. How do we create this culture?

35. How do I break the Skills Gap? CRITIQUE, continued Rules for group critique: • Be kind; be specific; be helpful. • Students presenting a piece of work first explain their ideas/goals and state what they are seeking help with. • Classmates begin with positive comments and phrase suggestions as questions- i.e. Have you considered . . ? • The teacher uses the critique session as the optimal opportunity for teaching necessary concepts and skills. Through this process, students have regular experiences of being able to improve the quality of a piece of work as a result of feedback from others.

36. How do I break the Skills Gap? 4. REQUIRE MULTIPLE REVISIONS. In most schools, students turn in first drafts - work that doesn’t represent their best effort and is typically discarded after it has been graded and returned. In life, when the quality of one’s work really matters, one almost never submits a first draft. An ethic of excellence requires revision.

37. How do I break the Skills Gap? 5. PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC PRESENTATION. Every final draft students complete is done for an outside audience - whether for a class of kindergartners or for the wider community. The teacher’s role is not as the sole judge of the work but rather similar to that of a sports coach or play director - helping them get their work ready for the public eye.

38. How do I Communicate? Oftentimes we overhear lounge talk - “These students don’t have the same work ethic we had as youth.” “They’ll never amount to anything - they’re... (poor, colored, lazy, lacking parental support.” “They can’t read, write, or make a complete sentence.”

39. Me Others See & Hear Tell a Story Tell a Story See & Hear Feel Act Act Feel How do I Communicate? All of which MAY be true - but if they were erudite, articulate and socially adept - they may not need us… Silence Safety Pool of Shared Meaning Safety Violence

40. Current Condition What is your greatest concern for 2007? Student Issues Adult Issues

41. J. “Moms” Mabley If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.

42. It's very difficult to change the minds of adults on any issue of significance. But the highest probability of a lasting change of opinion comes when the first six "levers" are in concert, and the seventh factor, resistances, is low. Howard Gardner Changing the Minds of Adults

43. Lever 1 - ReasonThe rational approach, involving identifying relevant factors and weighing them. This lever is especially important among those who deem themselves to be educated.

44. Lever 2 - ResearchComplementing the use of rational argument is the collection of data, which is used to test trends or assertions.

45. Lever 3 - ResonanceWhereas reason and research appeal to the cognitive mind, resonance refers to emotions. An opinion or idea resonates when it just "feels right" to a person.

46. Lever 4 - Representational Redescriptions The repetition of a point of view in many different forms: linguistic, numerical or graphic, to reinforce the message - commonly referred to as “spin”

47. Lever 5 - Resources And Rewards Money and other resources can be applied directly (as a bonus, for example) or indirectly (as a donation to a charity as long as the philanthropist's wishes are adopted). Unless resources and rewards work together with other mind-changing levers, however, a new course of thought is unlikely to last when the money runs out.

48. Lever 7 - ResistanceBarriers to changing one's mind are created by age (as people get older, their neural pathways are less susceptible to alteration), the emotion that a topic creates and the public stand one has previously taken on a topic.Overcoming resistance requires “critical mass” and/or confrontation

49. Components of Successful School Reform 1. Create a culture that embraces a rigorous and relevant curriculum 2. Use data to provide clear unwavering focus 3. Set high expectations that are monitored for student’s continuous improvement 4. Create a framework to organize curriculum that drives instruction 5. Provide students real-worldapplications

50. Components of Successful School Reform 6. Create multiple pathways to rigor and relevance 7. Provide sustained professional development that is focused 8. Obtain and leverage parent and community involvement 9. Maintain safe and orderly schools. 10. Offer effective leadership development.