US Schools Are Under Attack!

SCHOOLS ARE UNDER ATTACK!

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this:  If we have been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.  We are no longer interested in finding the truth.  The bamboozle has captured us.  It is simply too painful to acknowledge – even to ourselves – that we have been so credulous (so the old bamboozles tend to persist as the new bamboozles rise).  Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance and courage.”  -- Carl Sagan

Below is what we know about public education in the United States:

Some of our schools are probably the best schools in the world (especially in our more affluent areas in the State).  Many of our schools treat all children, even those with profound learning disabilities, with the dignity and respect due citizens of a democracy.  Many of these schools actually raise the IQ’s of poor and culturally deprived students (something once thought to be impossible), and their brightest students are among the best learners in the world.  If we look at the entire person and not just school testing, the results are even better.  Their suicide rate is low, our students are accomplished independent thinkers, and they are infinitely better-rounded people than their contemporaries from other countries.  I can personally attest to this as I am currently hosting a foreign exchange student.  Our young students are awesome problem-solvers and possess common sense that is the envy of the world.  They can handle freedom and diversity and know a lot about numerous things.  They can do a plethora of tasks that are not always tested in school.  Most kids around the world want to be like our kids.

Unfortunately, we do have problems with our education system.  It is not perfect by any means.  There are some real concerns.  For example, our curriculum is “a mile wide and in inch deep”.  In fourth grade math, we try to teach more than 40 objectives while the Japanese only teach the 25 most important objectives.  The rest of the world has a curriculum that is set at the national level so that seventh and eighth grade students must take algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics.  Here, many students end up never taking these more challenging courses.  By eighth grade, only a few U.S. students have had algebra and almost none have had geometry, chemistry or physics.  U.S. high school students have no requirement to take all of these courses.  Our kids can not learn what they are not taught.

Schools are eager and willing to change this.  Today, over 45 states have taken it upon themselves, without the input of the federal government, to attempt to address these issues through the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Schools and teachers want to teach essential concepts at an earlier age and in greater depth.

Our schools and students in the United States are both very good and very bad when it comes to comparisons in international testing.  So, what are the real issues with education?  Most say money and politics – little else!

Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because “that is where the money is.”  Corporate America has 610.1 billion reasons to tell everyone that our schools are failing.  Currently, the U.S. spends approximately 610 billion on education across the country.  Private schools, corporate curriculum and after-hours learning centers already make big money, but getting their hands on public education money would be finding the “goose that lays the golden egg.”

Excerpt taken from Jim Dunn – Former NSPRA President

Latest articles that you might be interested in reading

One of my favorite authors, Dan Pink sends out a bi-monthly e-mail recommending several articles, blogs, etc... to read.  In his latest up-date he suggested several articles, but three of them gained my attention.  Those three article were:

"Why are there still so few Women in Science?"  Written by Eileen Pollack for the New York Times.
No matter your gender, if you have a daughter, sister, wife, you will find this article extremely compelling.

"Don't say, I can't, if you say, I don't".   Written by Oliver Burkeman for the Guardian.
Oliver Burkeman describes research that shows that we resist temptation better through consistency than through restraint.  Specifically, avoid saying, "I can't go to the gym today."  Instead say, "I don't skip going to the gym."

"Why Women Prefer Working Together & Why Men Prefer Working Alone".  Written by Derek Thompson for the Atlantic
Based upon research Derek Thompson postulates that the central reason is that "Men demonstrate over-confidence in their own abilities and distrust their colleagues' aptitude except under certain circumstances."


I thought some folks might find these articles very interesting.  Happy reading!

Budget Up-date

Now that we are in the thick of FY 13-14, we are beginning to focus our attention on next year's budget (FY 14-15).  Over the past three years, we have reduced our deficit spending from over 2 million a year to under $400, 000 this year.  We are hopeful that we will be able to provide a balanced budget next year without making any drastic "cuts".

With this in mind, the Board of Education has created a new Budget Committee to begin analyzing where the District can save money or make reductions in the future.  This Budget Committee will begin meeting in the next couple of weeks.  We are hopeful that this committee will bring recommendations back to the whole Board which can be implemented for next year.

Feel free to send your budget recommendations to me via e-mail, phone or snail mail.  Thanks.

New 5 Essentials Survey

Illinois 5 Essentials Survey

 

Over the next two months, certified staff and students in grades 6-12 across Illinois' public schools will be taking the newly required "Illinois 5Essentials Survey." This survey is a research-based instrument that provides statistically valid information for school districts and the Illinois State Board of Education to use for a variety of purposes.

This online survey provides detailed information and reports on each of the "5 Essentials", which are...

1. Effective Leaders
2. Collaborative Teachers
3. Supportive Environment
4. Involved Families
5. Ambitious Instruction

The resulting information provided can, and will, be used for a variety of purposes at both the State and the local levels. For example, the ISBE will use the results for both school improvement initiatives and to provide a picture of school performance that goes beyond simply looking at standardized test scores. At the local level, the survey results can be used as a part of administrator evaluations, school improvement planning, determining professional development needs, and community outreach efforts, just to name a few.

This survey is required by all public schools in Illinois for the following three reasons:

1. PERA requires one or more instruments to provide principals with feedback on the instructional environment within a school.
2. Senate Bill 7 requires an instrument to provide feedback from, at a minimum, students in grades 6-12 and teachers, on the instructional environment within a school.
3. Revised report card statute requires two or more indicators from any school climate survey developed by the State.

The survey itself takes about 20 minutes to complete online, and includes about 120 questions. All results are kept completely anonymous at the State level as school districts only receive the resulting aggregate reports.

Although certified staff and students are the only two groups being surveyed by the State this year, there is a parental survey that could become mandatory in 2014. In the meantime, our District is investigating the possibility of using the parental component of the "5 Essentials Survey" this year on an optional basis in order to gather another data point for our continuous improvement efforts.

If you are a certified staff member in our school district, your building principal will be discussing the implementation of this survey in the next couple of days. If you are a student or parent/guardian of a District #2 student in grades 6-12, you will also be hearing more in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you want any further information, you can visit the "Illinois 5 Essentials Survey" website.

 

 

Dr. Richard S. Decman, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Latest Thoughts

Recently, I read an article about how school districts should be preparing students for the 21st century.  The article highlighed four important concepts called the "Four Cs" that each school district should focus upon.  After reflecting upon the article for a couple of days, I believe these four "Cs" have a alot of merit.  In today;s blog I want to focus on the first one -- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving.

Clearly, the concept of Critical Thinking is one that every student should learn to do and learn to do effectively.  Critical thinking contributes to success in careers, but also in success in our students' personal lives.  Citizens in today's world must be active critical thinkers if they are going to make sensible and important decisions that will affect the future.

So, how do we teach critical thinking and problem solving in today's K-12 classroom? 

One example could include the interpretation of what music or art means to you at the K-4 level.  Does the Music or Art make you happy, sad and why?  What could the musician or artist do differently to elicit a different response?  The student could then create their own music and art to try and elicit a reaction from their classmates.

A second example could have students at the junior high level research how physical and chemical properties of different natural and human-designed materials affect their decomposition under various conditions.  The students could set-up their own experiments to determine the level of decomposition and actually see their results.  Students could also compare their results with one another and discuss how changes would affect the various stages of decomposition.

A third example of critical thinking and problem solving skills could involve a high school english or social studies class in creating a technology plan for the school.  The students could create surveys, establish student advisory teams, evaluate costs, determine the value of technology, etc...  The lessons learned from this type of assignment would be real and meaningful.

In my next blog, I will discuss the second of the four "Cs", Communication.

Lots of Issues to be Determined

The other day I stopped to reflect upon all the issues that we need to resolve as a District over the next couple of years.  (See below as I listed as many as I could think of).  I started listing these issues in my head and thought about all the time and effort that we are going to put into these decisions.  It made me think about a story that I heard recently in a seminar.

The story was about a plane flight in Southern Florida several years ago.  Apparently, in this particular plane there were three pilots (two co-pilots and a Captain). As they were approaching Miami International airport and were preparing to land, one of the pilots noticed that one of the four red landing gear lights was not on or was not working.  As the plane was about 15 minutes from landing, the pilots decided they had better figure out what was going on.  Was the light malfunctioning? or Was the landing gear not functioning correctly?  They could not land if the landing gear was not functioning correctly.  That would risk the lives of the 159 passengers on board.

So, the pilots radioed the air traffic controller to ask for a flight pattern that would allow them to circle the airport to give them time to figure out what was happening.  The air traffic controller responded by giving them a path around the airport where they were to maintain 2, 000 feet.  Over the next fifteen minutes the "black box" recorded various sounds of movement and some conversations about how to determine if the light was malfunctioning and everything was OK or if there were serious problems with the landing gear.  The listener could hear various movements, including wires being tugged, instruments being bumped, etc... 

During this time, the pilots did not realize that one of them accidentally hit the flight controller and the plane's elevation dropped to a dangerous 200 feet and continued to descend.  Right before the plane crashed in the Everglades, the air traffic controller was heard asking if everyone on the flight was OK. 

The point of this story is to highlight that even though we have a host of issues, we need to keep our eyes on helping students grow.  We can not get caught paying so much attention to all the issues that plague education that we forget about our students.  It is my hope that this does not occur in any District.

Issues that I have been thinking about as of 10/02/12

1.  Fiscal crises -- How can we continue to deficit spend more than $1, 000, 000 a year which will deplete all our reserves in a few years?  Is this proper stewardship of public funds?
2.  How far should we "cut" programs?  Should we consider "cutting":  business, art, technology, music, athletics, activities, academically talented, etc...?
3.  Should the BOE attempt to pass a referendum?  Should the BOE attempt to sell Working Cash Bonds?
4.  If the BOE, does try to pass a referendum, who will begin the process of organizing a Referendum Committee?
5.  What should we name our buildings next year?  Should we all schools have the same mascot and colors?
6.  We need to have School Improvement Plans for all our buildings and a District Improvement Plan done by the end of this year.
7.  How are we going to implement the Common Core Standards in our District?
8.  Who are we going to hire for our HS Principal and Special Services Director position and can we ensure the new individuals are given enough assistance for a smooth transition?
9.  How will the new Board Members transition to being a Board member?
10. Who will the BOE appoint to fill the vacant BOE seat?
11.  Are we making sure we are doing everything that we can to provide a smooth transition to grade centers for next year?
12.  When do we notify teachers where they will be teaching next year?  Remembering, that some teachers are likely going to be reduced as well.
13.   How can we make the transition to the new teacher evaluation tool smooth(er)?
14.  How can we notify the public about the current fiscal situation?  How do we garner support?
15.  What is going to happen in regards to the pension payments, transportation reimbursement, CPPRT funding, General State Aid and local property values?
16.  When and will the economy rebound?
17.  Who is going to be elected as the next President of the US?
18.  How will ObamaCare affect our School District?
19.  How can we incorporate a Wellness policy into our current healthcare?
20.  How do we continue to improve technology with limited resources?
21.  How do we maintain the new Athletic facility with limited resources?
22.  Can the Illini football team win another game this year?
23.  Will the Illini basketball team be any good this year?
24.  Will the Bears make the play-offs?
25.  What am I going to eat for dinner?

LOTS OF EXCITEMENT FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!

LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER GREAT YEAR IN HERSCHER CUSD #2

The summer months were extremely busy in all the offices in the District.  Our custodial and maintenance staff were busy cleaning the schools and doing many needed projects (building dugouts and a press box at the athletic complex and other projects).  In addition to this, our secretaries were busy learning the various aspects of our student database system and then implementing all the data necessary for the school year.  Our administrators undertook exhaustive training on the new State-mandated teacher evaluation process.  I am extremely proud to say all our administrators have passed the (5) tests/modules that they had to take this summer.  Unfortunately, not all Districts can say this!

We have many challenges to overcome and prepare for this year.  One of main focuses will be to continue the process of aligning our curriculum to the Common Core Standards.  This would include the creation of Curriculum Binders for each course/class, common assessments and frequent analysis of student progress.  In addition to this, we will be implementing our new teacher performance appraisal system.  Hopefully, this new evaluation tool will help our administrators help our teachers serve our students even better.  Finally, we are hoping to continue to improve our technology across the District.  Currently, all buildings have wireless capabilities which will give our students many new educational opportunities.

Meanwhile, we will also be preparing for the closing of Reddick Grade School at the conclusion of this school year.  We will first look at student enrollment projections to determine the number of sections in each grade.  This will then allow the administration to begin the process of assigning teachers to specific grades and buildings.  Then, we can start to determine how and what we are going to move.  Anyway, there is a lot of work to be done, but we will be working diligently to get this information out quickly, so we can make this transition as smooth as possible.