After a lovely Fourth of July weekend I came back to the office ready for the work ahead. My plan for this week was to dive into my research on turnaround strategies. I've been picking at it here and there since I arrived, but I wanted to really dig deep this week.
What I've learned has been fascinating so far. Usually when we think "turnaround" we think of the radical changes some districts are implementing where the entire staff has to reapply for their jobs and a new principal is brought in. I plan to investigate those attempts as well, but I also want to learn about specific strategies used in those turn around efforts. For instance, I read this case on Charlotte-Mecklenburg's Strategic Staffing model, which essentially describes how the school district incentivized working in the school district's lowest performing schools. Like with the radical change approach, the school district hires a new principal. However, they recruit a principal who had a track record of results and then give her the ability to select the administrative team she wants to move to the school with her. The principal also gets to hire a team of teachers to join the school. The teachers also have to have a track record of results and are compensated for working at a higher need school. They receive additional supports from the district such as targeted professional development and a training during the summer. The initiative is young, but the results have been promising so far. They are learning a lot as they go and are being very disciplined about improving the program at every step of the process.
Yesterday I read reports on New York City's Small Schools initiative. Today I tried to learn more about Chicago's turnaround method and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). I found what looks like a promising resource--a list of reports on turnaround strategies, each with a different focus. This toolkit on competencies for turnaround success seemed especially interesting. It reminded me of TFA's TAL (Teach as Leadership) rubric and essentially how we assess students. There are a set of standards students must meet and we assess them in order to determine if they have met those standards. Similarly, if we can specify the standards (aka "competencies") we want leaders that are turning around schools to meet we can better assess if they have attained them and if they are up for the challenge of turning around a low-performing school.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Partnership Schools and Door Knocking Campaign
Today we had an Ed Strategy meeting, which included the team here in the office (there are four other interns, my boss, and her assistant), but also representatives from other units in the Mayor's Office and a representatives from the Mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools.
I've gotten to learn more about the Mayor's Partnership these past few days. I had known about the Mayor's attempt at mayoral control in 2005, but by the time I began teaching the talks about it had subsided. In a nutshell, instead of getting full mayoral control the Mayor was able to establish a separate organization called the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. The Partnership manages 15 schools in its network and is implementing several reforms in its attempt to raise student achievement. Before a school entered the Partnership, its staff had to vote on entering the network. The Partnership tried to target feeder schools so that students who attended an elementary school in the network, moved on to a middle school and high school that were also part of the network. The Partnership's strategy is summed up in the five focus areas below (from website):
I had a chance to meet some of the Partnership staff at a reception this week and was eager to learn more about their work. The people I met were equally eager to answer questions and talk about their work. I met a fellow Yalie who just finished law school and is now working for the Partnership. Although we had met six years ago and only once, one of the members of the Partnership's Communications team remembered me! In the summer of 2004 he was participating in a youth program at a South LA organization called Community Coalition. I was getting ready to start my senior year of college and was working as an intern at a neighboring organization called the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. I visited Community Coalition to announce an event that the library was hosting the following weekend. I remember staying for the afternoon and talking to the students about the event, the program, and about college in general. Well, he was one of the students I spoke to! What a great memory. You just never know what interactions will stay with people. It was great to learn about how he is doing now. He's working at the Partnership and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which he got to attend with a scholarship from the Posse Foundation. I just felt so encouraged that folks like him are involved in this important work.
At the Ed Strategy meeting today we talked about some of the projects that are coming up for the Partnership and one that really excited me was a Door Knocking Campaign set to start this summer. The plan is to visit as many Partnership families as possible. This is huge! When I was a teacher I tried to visit my students and their families. I was never able to visit all of them, but when I was able to visit I noticed that it made a big difference. Students and parents know that you are invested and they appreciate the extra effort. If the Partnership is able to reach every family that would be fantastic. They are still ironing out the details, but the organizer in me was so inspired by just the prospect of mobilizing enough volunteers to reach all those families. I signed up to volunteer and will be inviting others to join as well.
We also talked about how to better coordinate city services with the needs that arise at Partnership schools. This as well was exciting. Imagine if when a parent has a question about city resources, right there on the school site you can answer the question! Or imagine if there's a street light malfunctioning and being able to call the city agency responsible for repairing it and addressing it right away. Better collaboration means schools could be better served, but it also means that students and parents may also feel more connected to their municipal government. That's the part that's really exciting. If students and parents feel a closer link to their local government because their school provides that connection for them, that would be a tremendous accomplishment! I'd love to see it happen.
I've gotten to learn more about the Mayor's Partnership these past few days. I had known about the Mayor's attempt at mayoral control in 2005, but by the time I began teaching the talks about it had subsided. In a nutshell, instead of getting full mayoral control the Mayor was able to establish a separate organization called the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. The Partnership manages 15 schools in its network and is implementing several reforms in its attempt to raise student achievement. Before a school entered the Partnership, its staff had to vote on entering the network. The Partnership tried to target feeder schools so that students who attended an elementary school in the network, moved on to a middle school and high school that were also part of the network. The Partnership's strategy is summed up in the five focus areas below (from website):
- Transforming School Site Leadership and Culture
- Strengthening Quality Instruction
- Accelerating Opportunities for Students
- Engaging Families and Communities
- Optimizing School Structures and Operations
I had a chance to meet some of the Partnership staff at a reception this week and was eager to learn more about their work. The people I met were equally eager to answer questions and talk about their work. I met a fellow Yalie who just finished law school and is now working for the Partnership. Although we had met six years ago and only once, one of the members of the Partnership's Communications team remembered me! In the summer of 2004 he was participating in a youth program at a South LA organization called Community Coalition. I was getting ready to start my senior year of college and was working as an intern at a neighboring organization called the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. I visited Community Coalition to announce an event that the library was hosting the following weekend. I remember staying for the afternoon and talking to the students about the event, the program, and about college in general. Well, he was one of the students I spoke to! What a great memory. You just never know what interactions will stay with people. It was great to learn about how he is doing now. He's working at the Partnership and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, which he got to attend with a scholarship from the Posse Foundation. I just felt so encouraged that folks like him are involved in this important work.
At the Ed Strategy meeting today we talked about some of the projects that are coming up for the Partnership and one that really excited me was a Door Knocking Campaign set to start this summer. The plan is to visit as many Partnership families as possible. This is huge! When I was a teacher I tried to visit my students and their families. I was never able to visit all of them, but when I was able to visit I noticed that it made a big difference. Students and parents know that you are invested and they appreciate the extra effort. If the Partnership is able to reach every family that would be fantastic. They are still ironing out the details, but the organizer in me was so inspired by just the prospect of mobilizing enough volunteers to reach all those families. I signed up to volunteer and will be inviting others to join as well.
We also talked about how to better coordinate city services with the needs that arise at Partnership schools. This as well was exciting. Imagine if when a parent has a question about city resources, right there on the school site you can answer the question! Or imagine if there's a street light malfunctioning and being able to call the city agency responsible for repairing it and addressing it right away. Better collaboration means schools could be better served, but it also means that students and parents may also feel more connected to their municipal government. That's the part that's really exciting. If students and parents feel a closer link to their local government because their school provides that connection for them, that would be a tremendous accomplishment! I'd love to see it happen.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Egg Shell Wall Concentration
The research is going well. I'm also now working on a memo on the Parent Trigger and how other education reform organizations in LA can use it. I'm also learning about UTLA and its governance structure. It's pretty extensive. They elect a House of Representatives and a Board of Directors.
The high I had when I started my job still motivates me, but today I started to feel the gravity of the issues we are trying to address here in Los Angeles.
A lof of memories from high school have been coming back to me since I've been back home. I have this one memory of being in my room. There is nothing up on the egg shell-colored walls. I have no car to drive. No close girlfriends to visit. The girlfriends that I do have also have strict parents so we can't just get up and go somewhere without giving them at least two days advance notice. I have no CDs that I bought with my allowance, just some tapes with some recorded songs from the radio. So I stared at the egg shell walls. And I remember taking that staring really seriously. I felt like some good thoughts had to come out of there.
I thought that if I focused, concentrated hard enough something brilliant would surface.
Just in my first two days “back in the trenches” I have a sense that the work I’m about to embark upon will require a similar kind of egg shell wall concentration. However, the thing about education reform is that there are already brilliant ideas already out there. KIPP tells us so. Broad awards prizes to brilliant ideas each year. Children are learning at great schools and with great teachers in different pockets of the country. I am learning how incredibly politicized education reform work is in LA and in other parts of the country. But we need to distill the noise, pull out the truth.
Coordination is big.
Trust is huge.
The high I had when I started my job still motivates me, but today I started to feel the gravity of the issues we are trying to address here in Los Angeles.
A lof of memories from high school have been coming back to me since I've been back home. I have this one memory of being in my room. There is nothing up on the egg shell-colored walls. I have no car to drive. No close girlfriends to visit. The girlfriends that I do have also have strict parents so we can't just get up and go somewhere without giving them at least two days advance notice. I have no CDs that I bought with my allowance, just some tapes with some recorded songs from the radio. So I stared at the egg shell walls. And I remember taking that staring really seriously. I felt like some good thoughts had to come out of there.
I thought that if I focused, concentrated hard enough something brilliant would surface.
Just in my first two days “back in the trenches” I have a sense that the work I’m about to embark upon will require a similar kind of egg shell wall concentration. However, the thing about education reform is that there are already brilliant ideas already out there. KIPP tells us so. Broad awards prizes to brilliant ideas each year. Children are learning at great schools and with great teachers in different pockets of the country. I am learning how incredibly politicized education reform work is in LA and in other parts of the country. But we need to distill the noise, pull out the truth.
Coordination is big.
Trust is huge.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Official First Day
Yesterday was officially my first day. I arrived and right away my boss had things for me to work on. After a quick overview of the office and reading through some memos and briefings to catch up to speed, I dove into my first research project. I have to learn about the candidates running for California Superintendent of Public Instruction and what the powers of this position includes.
At mid-morning, Alysha, my boss’s assistant and fellow policy analyst, asked me if I wanted to attend a conference she was going to later that day. I said yes. I was unsure what the conference was going to address, but I was eager to learn more. I made a promise to myself that I would try to learn and see as much as a could while I am here. If an opportunity to experience something new presents itself I will most likely say yes.
When we arrived everyone was already seated into small groups and the facilitator was explaining the next activity. Each team needed to discuss and chart the leadership challenges that inhibit collaboration in their work. Alysha and I sat with two other ladies and attempted to join the conversation.
As we were debriefing the small group work, the facilitator referenced material they had covered earlier in the day. She began using terms that I was familiar with like “adaptive leadership.” Once she drew concentric circles and described the difference between “self,” “role,” and “system” I knew exactly what she was walking about. Ronald Heifetz!
What a treat again.
I was witnessing the Heifetz model at work. For the Kennedy School folks out there and other people who have been exposed to his work, I hope you can especially appreciate the affirmation encompassed in this moment. I took the infamous Heifetz course my last semester at the Kennedy School. I did not take the class with Ronald Heifetz. I took it with Dean Williams and had the perspective-shifting experience that its intended to have on its students. It has greatly informed how I think about collaborative work, coalition-building, and certainly leadership.
Later I found out that the gathering was sponsored by the Anne E. Casey foundation and that they’ve done similar trainings for government agencies that serve children and families. I thought it was fascinating work and got really excited that the work may come to Los Angeles. I want to learn more.
Alysha and I returned to the office in time for the new intern orientation. I found a fellow Kennedy School intern at the orientation and met a few more people who will be working there for the summer. The Mayor spoke, we got to ask questions, and take a picture.
We also heard from some deputies and representatives from different offices. One of the speakers was particularly interesting. He is one of the deputies and was once an intern as well. He described his work history and gave us some tips, such as writing as much as we can this summer and asking a lot of questions. As he was speaking my public narrative sensitivities started to kick in and I began to wonder, "Yes, but why were you called to public service in the first place?" Despite his impressive resume, what I wanted to know was what moved him to do this work--specifically. I asked him. He said he wanted to make a difference and do it at the local level because when you work locally you can actually see that impact right away. National policy-making is encumbered by a lot of beauracracy. Local policy-making, on the other hand, does not have as many barriers. I agree, but I still don't understand why he was moved to make a different at all. To his credit, it's a tough question to answer especially in two minutes. However, here was another instance where I felt like my last two years in school made a difference. Working with Marshall Ganz and his team of public narrative trainers has developed sensitivities in me that I think will help me better understand my context.
After my first day at the Mayor's office was over, I went to Parents Union’s office. Parents Union is where I will be working full-time starting at the end of August. We'll be launching our first Parent Trigger Campaign this upcoming school year. Our executive director asked me to come in to meet the board and attend their meeting. When I walked in everyone was chatting, catching up. It was like walking into a family reunion. Once the meeting got started and I introduced myself, they were all so excited to meet me and my fellow new organizer. All I can say is that it was so nice to know they were happy to have me. It was a wonderful welcoming.
It was already turning into a twelve-hour day and I was ready to go home, but our executive director explained that Parents Union had gotten free tickets to watch a screening of Waiting for Superman, a film by the same director who directed An Inconvenient Truth. It highlights the disparities in our educational system and the challenges to reform. I had heard about the movie before so I signed up to go to the screening that night. I HIGHLY recommend the movie. It describes the crisis quite well. I remember sitting in my seat, in the dark theater, feeling so alone and so outnumbered, like when I was a teacher. The problems that we have in education can be so overwhelming. Although the solutions that the film offers can be a bit simplistic, it inspires urgency, which is what the educational reform movement really needs right now. GO WATCH IT and check out the trailer for the film below!
I could not have engineered a better first day--relevant and important research to do, Heifetz's work applied in the real world, public narrative stimulated, a warm welcome at Parents Union, and art pushing us to take action on education reform.
At the end of the day, I remember thinking, “I just want to do what I do really, really well.” I want the work I do at the Mayor’s Office to be done well. I want the work I will be embarking upon with Parents Union to be done well. It’s important. It matters a tremendous amount to me and I need to do my part.
At mid-morning, Alysha, my boss’s assistant and fellow policy analyst, asked me if I wanted to attend a conference she was going to later that day. I said yes. I was unsure what the conference was going to address, but I was eager to learn more. I made a promise to myself that I would try to learn and see as much as a could while I am here. If an opportunity to experience something new presents itself I will most likely say yes.
When we arrived everyone was already seated into small groups and the facilitator was explaining the next activity. Each team needed to discuss and chart the leadership challenges that inhibit collaboration in their work. Alysha and I sat with two other ladies and attempted to join the conversation.
As we were debriefing the small group work, the facilitator referenced material they had covered earlier in the day. She began using terms that I was familiar with like “adaptive leadership.” Once she drew concentric circles and described the difference between “self,” “role,” and “system” I knew exactly what she was walking about. Ronald Heifetz!
What a treat again.
I was witnessing the Heifetz model at work. For the Kennedy School folks out there and other people who have been exposed to his work, I hope you can especially appreciate the affirmation encompassed in this moment. I took the infamous Heifetz course my last semester at the Kennedy School. I did not take the class with Ronald Heifetz. I took it with Dean Williams and had the perspective-shifting experience that its intended to have on its students. It has greatly informed how I think about collaborative work, coalition-building, and certainly leadership.Later I found out that the gathering was sponsored by the Anne E. Casey foundation and that they’ve done similar trainings for government agencies that serve children and families. I thought it was fascinating work and got really excited that the work may come to Los Angeles. I want to learn more.
Alysha and I returned to the office in time for the new intern orientation. I found a fellow Kennedy School intern at the orientation and met a few more people who will be working there for the summer. The Mayor spoke, we got to ask questions, and take a picture.
We also heard from some deputies and representatives from different offices. One of the speakers was particularly interesting. He is one of the deputies and was once an intern as well. He described his work history and gave us some tips, such as writing as much as we can this summer and asking a lot of questions. As he was speaking my public narrative sensitivities started to kick in and I began to wonder, "Yes, but why were you called to public service in the first place?" Despite his impressive resume, what I wanted to know was what moved him to do this work--specifically. I asked him. He said he wanted to make a difference and do it at the local level because when you work locally you can actually see that impact right away. National policy-making is encumbered by a lot of beauracracy. Local policy-making, on the other hand, does not have as many barriers. I agree, but I still don't understand why he was moved to make a different at all. To his credit, it's a tough question to answer especially in two minutes. However, here was another instance where I felt like my last two years in school made a difference. Working with Marshall Ganz and his team of public narrative trainers has developed sensitivities in me that I think will help me better understand my context.
After my first day at the Mayor's office was over, I went to Parents Union’s office. Parents Union is where I will be working full-time starting at the end of August. We'll be launching our first Parent Trigger Campaign this upcoming school year. Our executive director asked me to come in to meet the board and attend their meeting. When I walked in everyone was chatting, catching up. It was like walking into a family reunion. Once the meeting got started and I introduced myself, they were all so excited to meet me and my fellow new organizer. All I can say is that it was so nice to know they were happy to have me. It was a wonderful welcoming.
It was already turning into a twelve-hour day and I was ready to go home, but our executive director explained that Parents Union had gotten free tickets to watch a screening of Waiting for Superman, a film by the same director who directed An Inconvenient Truth. It highlights the disparities in our educational system and the challenges to reform. I had heard about the movie before so I signed up to go to the screening that night. I HIGHLY recommend the movie. It describes the crisis quite well. I remember sitting in my seat, in the dark theater, feeling so alone and so outnumbered, like when I was a teacher. The problems that we have in education can be so overwhelming. Although the solutions that the film offers can be a bit simplistic, it inspires urgency, which is what the educational reform movement really needs right now. GO WATCH IT and check out the trailer for the film below!
I could not have engineered a better first day--relevant and important research to do, Heifetz's work applied in the real world, public narrative stimulated, a warm welcome at Parents Union, and art pushing us to take action on education reform.
At the end of the day, I remember thinking, “I just want to do what I do really, really well.” I want the work I do at the Mayor’s Office to be done well. I want the work I will be embarking upon with Parents Union to be done well. It’s important. It matters a tremendous amount to me and I need to do my part.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
"First Day"
Although my first day in the office is not officially until this Monday, I think my internship really began last week in New York City.
I was visiting Greg for a few days. Greg's roommate Ned works at Teach for America's New York office. On Thursday, he invited me to visit the office. TFA has done a great job of standardizing its offices. I walked into the NY office and felt like I was back in LA entering the TFA office there--bright accents on the walls, a sea of cubicles, everyone in business casual, looking very hard at work. Ned was still in a meeting so I decided to wait in the resource library. LA has one too. It’s a collection of donated textbooks, teacher's guides, workbooks, and lesson planning resources for new TFA teachers.
I sat at the first table and scanned the room. Right behind me, above my head, I recognized a set of High Point textbooks. I used High Point when I taught ESL in LA. I sat up and picked up the green book--level 2B. I taught 2B for three semesters when I was a teacher. I turned to the Table of Contents and the flashback scenes began right there. I thought of my carefully prepared PowerPoints, 12am-made worksheets, vocabulary games, and High Point tests. I remembered. I was once a teacher.
As I read through the first unit, I was impressed at how much was packed in just one section—book recommendations that supported the themes for each unit, activities, and art projects. When I was a teacher I remember dismissing this “extra stuff” because we had such limited instructional time with our students, but it was such good “extra stuff”! As I began reading through the first reading assignment—three poems by Gary Soto—I was surprised by all the ideas that were coming to me. I could have taken my students on a field trip to the beach and then guided them through writing their own poem. Or for the section on “Talking Walls” we could have taken a walking tour of murals in East LA. At the end of this unit they have to write a fantasy story. I could have showed them the opening scene of Toy Story 3 and modeled how Andy created a fantasy story with his toys.
I wanted to start lesson planning right away. Besides awakening the enthusiastic teacher hiding inside of me, my resource library experienced really served as a true assessment of what I have learned these past two years in graduate school.
So many of us that go back to school after we try out some work experience say we go back to “improve our skills.” We want to address the issues that we care about with more purpose, preparation, and learn from the best minds in our search for policy solutions. I certainly said this when I started graduate school. By revisiting the material I used when I was a teacher, I found a test to measure if I could in fact be better at my job after investing in a graduate education.
So would I be better at it? Have my two years in graduate school helped me to make a bigger impact? It is too soon to tell. But the flood of ideas in the resource library infused me with a lot of hope. If I went back to the classroom now I think I could do a much better job. I have some new perspectives to contribute and a resurgence of enthusiasm to sustain me. Would I be the best? Probably not. The amazing teachers who were born to lesson plan would surely outperform me, but I certainly would be better than the 2008 teacher version of me.
I was visiting Greg for a few days. Greg's roommate Ned works at Teach for America's New York office. On Thursday, he invited me to visit the office. TFA has done a great job of standardizing its offices. I walked into the NY office and felt like I was back in LA entering the TFA office there--bright accents on the walls, a sea of cubicles, everyone in business casual, looking very hard at work. Ned was still in a meeting so I decided to wait in the resource library. LA has one too. It’s a collection of donated textbooks, teacher's guides, workbooks, and lesson planning resources for new TFA teachers.
I sat at the first table and scanned the room. Right behind me, above my head, I recognized a set of High Point textbooks. I used High Point when I taught ESL in LA. I sat up and picked up the green book--level 2B. I taught 2B for three semesters when I was a teacher. I turned to the Table of Contents and the flashback scenes began right there. I thought of my carefully prepared PowerPoints, 12am-made worksheets, vocabulary games, and High Point tests. I remembered. I was once a teacher.
As I read through the first unit, I was impressed at how much was packed in just one section—book recommendations that supported the themes for each unit, activities, and art projects. When I was a teacher I remember dismissing this “extra stuff” because we had such limited instructional time with our students, but it was such good “extra stuff”! As I began reading through the first reading assignment—three poems by Gary Soto—I was surprised by all the ideas that were coming to me. I could have taken my students on a field trip to the beach and then guided them through writing their own poem. Or for the section on “Talking Walls” we could have taken a walking tour of murals in East LA. At the end of this unit they have to write a fantasy story. I could have showed them the opening scene of Toy Story 3 and modeled how Andy created a fantasy story with his toys.
I wanted to start lesson planning right away. Besides awakening the enthusiastic teacher hiding inside of me, my resource library experienced really served as a true assessment of what I have learned these past two years in graduate school.
So many of us that go back to school after we try out some work experience say we go back to “improve our skills.” We want to address the issues that we care about with more purpose, preparation, and learn from the best minds in our search for policy solutions. I certainly said this when I started graduate school. By revisiting the material I used when I was a teacher, I found a test to measure if I could in fact be better at my job after investing in a graduate education.
So would I be better at it? Have my two years in graduate school helped me to make a bigger impact? It is too soon to tell. But the flood of ideas in the resource library infused me with a lot of hope. If I went back to the classroom now I think I could do a much better job. I have some new perspectives to contribute and a resurgence of enthusiasm to sustain me. Would I be the best? Probably not. The amazing teachers who were born to lesson plan would surely outperform me, but I certainly would be better than the 2008 teacher version of me.
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