These are my notes from COSN breakout session 1: “Developing 21st Century Skills in School and District Leaders.” I obtained permission from the panel presenters to record this session and share it later as a podcast. This was a GREAT discussion. My own thoughts and comments below are in ALL CAPS. The conference program description was:
Developing 21st Century Skills in School and District Leaders
Education leaders must harness the value of information and communications technology and reconsider the longstanding goals for technology integration that are systemically focused on student outcomes. What are the skills that educational technology leaders need today? In this session, panelists will discuss the 2007 revised framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which offers such a vision. The panel, comprised of experts from cutting-edge districts and thought leaders from higher education and the nonprofit sector, will examine common assumptions and goals for technology integration in the context of the 21st century skills movement. More importantly, panelists will foster dialogue with attendees about what skills, knowledge, and expertise school leaders must have for evolving learning expectations.
Helen Soulé, PhD, Educational Consultant and Former Executive Director, Cable in the Classroom (Moderator)
Terry Clark, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Technology, Bethpage Union Free School District, NY
Scott McLeod, JD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Iowa State University
Christopher Corallo, EdD, Director of Staff Development, Henrico County Public Schools, VA
Marianne Hauser, Director of Professional Development, Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment/Accountability Department, Fayetteville Public Schools, AR
Susan Norton, Chief Information Officer, Communications and Technology, Fayetteville Public Schools, AR
Helen: former director of Cable in the Classroom
- left in Dec 2007
going to talk about leadership in the 21st century
- very few PPT slides, and hopefully no technical glitches
Doug Levin from CIC
Terry Clark, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Technology, Bethpage Union Free School District, NY
Christopher Corallo, Director of Staff Development, Henrico Public Schools, VA
Marianne Hauser, director of PD, Fayetteville PS
Susan Norton, CIO, Communiations and Technology, Fayetteville Public Schools, AR
Every student must be:
- an analytic thinker
- a problem solver
- etc
it takes a different type of leader for transformational leadership
new skills, new assumptions, new tools
new models for pedagogy
Leadership Proverb: “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only talking a walk.”
framing this via the Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Presentation by Ken Kay or other members of 21st century skills
- hear a lot about 21st century skills and how that is different than what we have been doing
- the partnership started about 6 years ago
- define knowledge and skills kids need not jut for work, but for life and citizenship
- this means a lot to different people
- I do want to walk through this recently revised framework: is like a 2.0 framework, was released at NECC in 2007
Framework has 2 parts
- the rainbow should look familiar to those who have seen this before
- knowledge and skills kids need to have
- life and career skills
- learning and innovation skills
- information, media and technology skills
- core subjects and 21st century themes
the pools below represent the support structures that need to align to bring about that skill set
- standards and assessments
- curriculum and instruction
- professional development
- learning environments
global awareness
financial and business literacy
civic and health literacy
responsibility for people’s lives are increasingly in individuals’ lives
the world is a more complicated place
this presents new challenges for all of us
promoting themed approach, cross-disciplinary approaches
keystones: learning and innovation skills
- those are going to differentiate U.S. graduates from others
- this is the engine for our growth
we talk about digital native: that seems to connote a deep understanding of the meanings of media use, that is not always the case
- kids may be able to punch buttons, doesn’t mean they are critical thinkers or are making good decisions when they are posting and publishing content
this is a wholistic framework
while we are clear on this vision, we are MODEST about how the best way to bring this about in the classroom is
- that is why we have our panelists, to provide that “on the ground” perspective
we’re going to do this through a series of questions
question 1: how does the leadership in your district drive the vision
in Fayetteville, started after a Partnership presentation several years ago
- board and superintendent get together every 3 years to do “visioning” for the next 3 years
- my handout has to do with how your board might set goals, develop activities
strategic goals for Fayetteville School District
1- hire, place, develop and retain only high-performing staff
2- develop, implement, and support an articulated curriculum, effective instructional strategies, and a comprehensive assessment program that integrates progressive technology
3- improve efficiency and quality of district facilities, fleet management, and food service operations
4- manage financial resources for optimal effectiveness
5- provide a progressive information technology infrastructure to enable everyone to develop 21st century skills and effectively communicate ides
6- continually and effectively communicate with all stakeholders. engage in ongoing dialogues with appropriate local and state government officials to advance the interests of the Fayetteville School District
7- provide a safe school environment that promotes positive emotional and physical well being and mutual respect for students and staff
8- create and promote participation in a variety of activities that develop a full range of life skills
Comments from Terry Clark
- we are a very small district
- our NCLB fear is the tests are down low, and our kids are up high, and the tests are going to force us to teach down
- expectations for teachers, not only students
- the expectation is that it is NOT just about “those tests”
- we do well, our kids exceed, so the framework has been a way to think about bigger things and go beyond NCLB
- we are in the middle to creating a portfolio that addresses the core elements in the framework
- our board and administrators have bought into it, teacher buy-in is a continuing conversation
Christopher Corallo in Henrico
- in September we turned over our board entirely
- so now we are re-educating our board
- we are a large school system, almost 50,000 students
- have a vision statement
25,000 laptops deployed to students in grades 6-12, have had this for 8 years
- in 8 years we have NOT found that laptops changed pedagogy in our classrooms
- much of that deals with state assessments, and the focus on drill and practice
- as a district 2 years ago we grabbed onto the framework, seeing that it would move us forward
- we are using the framework to jumpstart
- it is not about the tool, it is about instruction
I WOULD CHANGE THIS TO SAY IT IS NOT ABOUT THE INSTRUCTION, IT IS ABOUT THE PROCESSES OF CREATION AND COLLABORATION AMONG AND BETWEEN LEARNERS (STUDENTS AS WELL AS TEACHERS)
Susan
- this is very important to get principals on board, so they are having these conversations regularly in their buildings with teachers
Comments from Marianne Hauser
- director of PD, Fayetteville PS
challenge is greatest with secondary teachers who are VERY content-focused
-at a recent retreat for principals: talking about 21st century teaching and a 21st century environment, it was all practical
- most powerful thing we did: model the 21st century learning environment, participatory, pair and shares, reflections, 2 hour geo-caching activity one night to talk about communication and collaboration
- the key has been to model in our PD sessions what we mean by a 21st century classroom
Henrico:
- our school board had (the previous one) brought in the 1:1
- we had to SHOW them the money in classrooms
- we have many pockets of excellence in Henrico
- we brought our board members to see that
- we are in the midst of doing 2 extensive studies
- we wanted to bring in interactive whiteboards from Promethian, doing a study about what happens with results in classrooms with
- it was about showing the board through data
- eventual question was: did the kids still get the test scores
we can do all this stuff at the division level, but what happens in the classroom is really the key
- we were talking this talk, but we
our key: establishing the baseline of WHY: 21st century skills
- why we need to change
- then: making THEM (principals) 21st century learning
THIS IS SO RIGHT ON: PERSONAL USE OF THESE TOOLS IS KEY
forcing principals to use their laptops, giving a blog address for a workshop and that is how they ask questions in the workshop
Terry Clark: have board members that have been on for 25 or 30 years
- have a great deal of stability
- we get new parents every year, they rotate in
- like a good college basketball team
Questions from Helen Soule
talking more about teachers: they are the key to everything
20% of teachers will do it, early adopters – but we want 100%
what
Susan Norton:
- there are so many successful things going on already in the classroom
- key was showcasing those things
- state level task force focusing on best practices in the classroom
- if a principal walks into a classroom, what should they see, what would the learning look like
shared a handout for what a 21C teacher does, and a 21C student does
we have 8 foot screens and projectors in all our classrooms, with ceiling mounted speakers
this has led to us creating videos showcasing teachers and student work, these are shown and celebrated
- these are shown regularly at the board meeting
Christopher Corallo
- we are doing similar things, we are archiving these
COSN NEEDS TO HELP AGGREGATE THESE BEST PRACTICES VIDEOS FOR ALL TO USE
teachers are going to start realizing this is important when principals start measuring this in their observations and evaluations
- reflective conferencing skills with teachers, helping them reflect on their practice
- just doing the workshops has not helped
- we are bringing out consultants from Pearson, spend half the day in classrooms doing observations
- having the principals debrief with the consultants, focusing on what principals can ask teachers that will push the teachers’ thinking beyond where they are or wre
once the teachers are pushed to think differently, we believe in just in time PD
- all our PD is in modules
- we have an electronic module out there on project based learning, for example
- we have gone away from bringing in people to teach strategies, but rather
- we are killing ourselves creating these now
- difficulty is weeding out the
we have been working with vendors who are
SO DR CORALLO AND HENRICIO NEEDS TO EMBRACE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, CREATING MATERIALS FOR THE OPEN WEB WITH COPYRIGHT FRIENDLY MATERIALS, AND SHARING THEM IN AN AGGREGATED WAY
- THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY OR NICHE FOR AN ORGANIZATION OR COMPANY, TO PROVIDE A TRULY OPEN (OER ETHIC) VIDEO SERVER WHERE THESE TYPES OF VIDEO RESOURCES CAN BE AGGREGATED AND SHARED
I WANT TO ASK A QUESTION ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORKING AND STUDENT-CREATED MEDIA / READ-WRITE WEB PUBLISHING
Susan in Fayetteville
- lots of investment
Dr Corallo from Henrico
- the tools are a good help if you have someone who can help teachers directly
- generalists have not done as well helping teachers
- we are a mile wide and an inch thick, we are great with technology for management
Terry Clark:
- “we just want good teachin’.”
I WOULD CHANGE THIS TO SAY: WE JUST WANT AUTHENTICALLY ENGAGED LEARNING. (REFERENCE TO “WORKING ON THE WORK BY PHIL SCHLECTY”
have a project where kids take apart computers and put them back together again
I just want good teaching
- there are great ways to teach without technology
Susan Norton:
- high performing staff
- should imply that our teachers are ready for change ALL the time
- teachers taking as much PD as they can
Dr Corallo
- our question is: can you be a great teacher without technology to do it?
- lots of people say that is not ok, kids will need to use these when they get into the world of work
- we ran the danger of putting the tools in the hands of
study from England: showed interactive whiteboard increased teacher lecture and reduced
I NEED TO GET THE LINK TO THAT STUDY, HAVEN’T SEEN THAT YET
we view the technology
- it is all about training and how you use the tool
Helen: that is great
I WOULD CHANGE THAT. I DON’T THINK IT IS ALL ABOUT THE TRAINING. IT IS ABOUT EMPOWERMENT AND JUST IN TIME LEARNING. DR. CORALLO IS TALKING ABOUT JUST IN TIME LEARNING FOR PD, BUT I REALLY OBJECT TO THE STATEMENT “IT’S ALL ABOUT TRAINING.”
Marianne:
- lots of focus on project-based learning (PBL) and rubrics
- how do you evaluate students if they are doing group-based projects and collaborating on the work and the project
- this is quite difficult to get high school teachers to engage in this
Terry Clark
- in the middle of creating a portfolio that talks to the themes and skills emphasized here
- they are not all about technology
- we are nicknaming this “the Renaissance project”
- just had a meeting with a school graduate who edits the US President’s daily briefing, he is coming back to our school to visit with students
are mandating an online geography course for all 9th graders next year, outside the scope of the “regular” day
Susan Norton:
Fayetteville brought a DVD for everyone
- focus that every teacher is a literacy teacher
- videos are on the website
Chris Corallo
http://staffdev.henrico,k12.va.us/doetech
- you are welcome to use any of this as long as you credit Henrico Schools
- leaders have to understand instruction, teaching and learning
- if you are talking about a tech director, in Henrico they are under instruction
- feeling is those people have to have a better feel for instruction
- without the vision and understanding the instruction, we are unable to build the structures that allow us to apply the 21st century structures
Susan Norton:
- combined technology dept and communication dept
- leadership needed to reflect what the goals of our communication as a fundamental vehicle for how we do business in the classroom and the district
- not just parents, also in the business community
Marianne:
- emphasis on collaborative leadership
- page 8 of program guide
- ran across essential skills of the k12 CTO
- we see that as importance for principals and our superintendent
- refer to your program guide
question from the audience: biggest challenge seems to be secondary teachers set in their ways, and the elementary teachers who don’t want to work with others / collaborative
- how do you bring them together and get different groups of teachers to work togeter
Marianne:
- had a leadership retreat last summer, this was an issue
- younger teachers are being pushed back by older teachers, esp if they were trying riskier things in the classrooms
- this is more about risk taking teachers, bringing them out to the public, giving them recognition outside the school culture
- some principals are specifically tagging which teachers are on which committees
Dr Corallo:
- teachers are self-selecting study groups
- have to implement it and come back
- Virginia has no union
audience member speaking of California with unions and teacher contracts
Dr Corallo
- goes back to teaching standards, working with principals
Terry Clark: using Drupal now for some walled garden publishing
- teach students to create websites at
- we are behind the wall
Marianne
- our students can publish onto a teacher website
- same with blogs: they are through our web-authoring program, student blogs get pre-read by a teacher
Susan:
- using sourcepoint in a new initiative, in 4th grade, students beginning to develop interests and portfolios, that will carry beyond the wall
DR CORALLO DIDN’T RESPOND TO THIS FOR HENRICO, I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR HIS RESPONSE 
audience question about previoius SRI Internetal
- 3 year study by Dale Mann, just completed UVA Walt Heneikie, when completed those will be available
Helen: we got though about half our questions for the panel
Summary by Doug
- there has really been a sea change in the rooms we’ve been in
- this is a very ambitions agenda, it is systemic, it works against many of the issues we face in our day jobs
- then NCLB happened
- we are finding that people are resonating to this agenda
- we are good at silos in education, this is contrary
- thinking how to leverage kids’ time outside of school
- from the partnership’s perspective: we’ve talked about teachers and principals
- partnership is focused on the state level, and regional level (working with the governor, high level, systemic
– address PD, systemic change
– learn more on our website
have a tool called “route 21″
- can search for best practices videos
- you can upload it, tag it, etc
I AM SO GLAD TO LEARN ABOUT THIS!!!
Technorati Tags:
cosn, cosn2008, cosn08, leadership
On this day..
- All bloggers are not scrape blog pirates - 2011
- High Stakes Testing Must End in the USA - 2011
- Local Advocacy Update in Alabama by Bruce Ellard - 2011
- 2011 Alabama Legislative Session Update (10 March) - 2011
- Oklahoma City Podcasting Club - March 2010 Meeting Notes - 2010
- A professor who takes laptop banning too far - 2010
- The Race to Nowhere - A New Educational Documentary - 2010
- Imagineering iPad Educational Apps - 2010
- Apologies for Ustream non-event today - 2008
- COSN 2008 Opening Session (notes) - 2008
