Types of Modules: Examples

I. Annotated literature reviews should include: domain identification; author (of the review); key words; bibliographic citation in APA format (with the author’s first name); and description of the cited publication.

Example:

Domain Identification: School Law

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: equality, Brown v. Board of Education, integration, segregation

Bibliographic Citation: Kozol, Jonathan (2005). The shame of the nation. New York: Crown Publishers.

Description:

Kozol informs those who have forgotten Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that two million Black students attend schools in which 99 to 100 percent of students are nonwhite, which he calls “apartheid schools,” but which perversely are frequently actually named after Martin Luther King. Kozol calls upon this nation to reverse “the present pattern of intensifying segregation.” Having visited 60 schools in 30 districts in 11 different states, Kozol found that in the most calamitous apartheid settings that school principals have often been stampeded into enforcing a scripted didactic curriculum to bring short-term gains which middle-class white parents would never accept for their own children. Kozol warns America not to retreat into separate tribes.

II. Articles on key ideas and theories should include: domain identification; author (of the article); key words; key idea/theory; evidence (for the key idea/theory).

Example:

Domain Identification: Research Methods

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: coefficient of determination, poverty, family wealth, free and reduced price meals, correlation, API, socio-economic level, test scores

Key Idea/Theory:

The “coefficient of determination” is equal to the correlation squared. When multiplied by 100, the coefficient of determination becomes the percentage of the variance that is associated with, determined by, or accounted for by the variance.

For example, if the correlation between two variables (X and Y) is .5, and if a causal relationship between the two variables can be established, then the percentage of the variance in Y that is accounted for by the variance in X is 25, or one-fourth.

Application:

The “No Child Left Behind” Act requires an annual review of each school served. If adequate yearly progress by a school is not made for two consecutive years, the school is designated for “school improvement.” A school that continues to fail to achieve adequate yearly progress for two years after being designated for school improvement must be identified by the local education agency for “corrective action.” If after being designated for “corrective action” a school fails to make adequate yearly progress, the school is to be designated for “restructuring.”

Teaching or administering a school designated for “school improvement,” “corrective action,” or “restructuring” is professionally embarrassing. However, since both James Coleman (1966) and Christopher Jenks (1972) found that there is often a strong correlation between family wealth and student standardized achievement test scores, punishing low-achieving schools in economically poor neighborhoods is questionable at best.

Coleman collected data on 600,000 children in all fifty states. He noticed that there were large differences in school quality, and believed that this was because schools in the affluent suburbs were well financed, whereas schools in the inner cities were deteriorating. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ordered the Commissioner of Education to investigate, and Coleman was asked to head that investigation. He predicted that it was the difference in the quality of schools that accounted for the difference in the academic achievement of the poor and minorities.

To his surprise, he found that non-school factors, particularly family background, accounted for the difference:

One implication stands out above all: That schools bring little influence to bear on a child’s achievement that is independent of his background and general social context; and that this very lack of an independent effect means that the inequalities imposed on children by their home, neighborhood, and peer environment are carried along to become the inequalities with which they confront adult life at the end of school. (Coleman, 1966)

A subsequent large three-year study by Christopher Jenks confirmed Coleman’s findings. (Jenks, 1972)

Additional Evidence:

Given the findings of Coleman and Jenks, here is additional evidence, utilizing data from high schools in Kern County (California):

The correlation between these two variables is -.812 (Notice that this inverse relationship is not perfect, in which case the correlation would have been -1.00, but very close.) Squaring this correlation coefficient allows one to compute the coefficient of determination. In this case the coefficient of determination is .6592 Multiplying by 100 (and rounding), this suggests that about 66% of the variability in the achievement test scores is strongly related to family wealth. High scoring schools have a low percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced price meals, whereas low scoring schools have a high percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced price meals.

This implies that family wealth—a variable not controlled by educators—is having a large impact on student achievement test scores. It suggests that improving student academic achievement in impoverished areas is, and will be, very difficult.

References

Coleman, James et al. (1966). Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 235.

Jenks, Christopher (1972). Inequality. New York: Harper & Row.

III. Instructional modules should include: domain identification; title; author; key words; lesson abstract/objectives; the lesson; references.

Example #1:

Domain Identification: Educational Leadership

Title: Vision

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: vision, educational administration preparation, ISLLC Standard #1

Lesson Abstract/Objectives:

Why identify a vision; examples of educational visions; a theory concerning the visions of teachers and administrators; the “down-side” of the vision concept; and ways to develop a vision.

The Lesson:

Why identify a vision?

Mark Hanson (Hanson, 1996) recounts an old story about the Englishman visiting Rome for the first time, who, as he strolled through the ancient boulevards of that eternal city, came upon three workmen laboring over a patch of stone and concrete. With his curiosity aroused, the foreigner approached the first worker and asked him what he was doing. “I’m breaking my back for a lousy 475 lira an hour.” Undaunted, the Englishman turned to the second worker and asked the same question. “I’m putting up bricks for a big wall.” When the question was posed to the final worker, he looked up for a moment before replying and said, “I’m building a cathedral.”

Presumably the last worker is living a more satisfying life and probably doing a better job, with his noble vision in mind.

The first Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standard for School Leaders is:

A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Peterson and Deal (1998) find that schools that have strong, positive cultures have a shared vision. They say that these are schools:

* where staff have a shared sense of purpose, where they pour their hearts into teaching;

* where the underlying norms are of collegiality, improvement, and hard work;

* where rituals and traditions celebrate student accomplishment, teacher innovation, and parental commitment;

* where the informal network of storytellers, heroes, and heroines provides a social web of information, support, and history; and

* where success, joy, and humor abound.

Brown and Moffett describe the role of vision as follows:

1. Vision functions as an invisible energy field that permeates organizational space, influencing everyone who comes in contact with it.

2. Vision building is an expression of hope. Vision is an act of faith, in the midst of the doubt that surrounds us, that we can imagine and create a better future for our children.

3. Vision is an expression of organizational and personal courage. When we articulate a vision we know who we are, what we stand for, and why we are here. We become fearlessly open with our values and beliefs.

4. Vision building requires personal mastery and emotional intelligence.

5. Vision building is an open-ended, dynamic process. Our visions for the future are not set in stone. As we act and learn from our actions, our visions will evolve, mature and grow.

6. Visions need to be developed collaboratively. Without the involvement of everyone in the school community, our visions become mandates without meaning. Our stakeholders feel discounted and marginalized. The result is a lack of understanding and commitment from those whose support we need most.

7. The enactment of the vision requires personal responsibility.

The Bible says that “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)

Examples of Educational Visions:

Upon being appointed superintendent/principal of a small, remote K-12 school district in western Washington, the board asked me for my vision. I envisioned a small learning community where everyone was trying to learn; where there were frequent discussions and projects which would benefit all. My vision recognized that students and teachers have worthwhile purposes. Students would learn by doing, trying, and modeling. The people would be friendly—sometimes playing together; more often working together for each other. The members of this learning community would try to educate themselves for responsible caring about each other.

For the professionals, the work would be more than a job: a higher calling, a dedication of one’s life. The atmosphere would be conducive to learning and the pursuit of knowledge. The members of the learning community would develop common bonds of trust; the curriculum would model the best we know—a separation from careless ways, toward a higher level of insight and deeper sense of purpose. The members would seek a balanced curriculum of physical, intellectual and artistic habits. The teaching process would involve appreciating, valuing, and studying together, characterized by kindness toward one another, consideration, and cooperation—in a beautiful place: in a place for quiet thought, but not isolated from worldly concerns. This place would be continually evolving; a place where the faculty not only tries to teach students to do things, but also to help them understand what they are doing.

In sum, it would be a small, friendly, learning community with a few students and teachers, striving for excellence, cooperating, helping each other learn, sharing joys and hardships, and studying together. It would never be a completed task, but an adventure for all.

A few years later, as superintendent of a larger school district, parents, faculty and the community as a whole developed the following vision: We started with the motto, “Public Education with a Personal Touch.” Then we listed the ideals we would work for:

1. Strong basic education for good citizenship.

2. Encouragement of initiative.

3. Being responsive to student needs and parent desires.

4. School staff, students and parents working and learning together.

5. Greater utilization of the school facilities by the community.

We said, “This is your school district whether you have students here or not. The schools are for the community, and this community promotes it’s schools.”

Stanford Professor Linda Darling-Hammond has said:

America needs schools that provide engaging successful education for all students—education that helps them locate who they are and how they can make a contribution to the world—that stretches them to achieve very high standards yet affirms their basic humanity and right to pursue what matters most to them. (1997)

Principal Erlinda Griffin describes the vision for Ezequiel A. Balderas Elementary School in Fresno, California:

… We want our students to learn several times faster than they ordinarily would under traditional conditions. We also want our students to be ethical individuals who care about other human beings, who care deeply about their roots, who want to hold on to their native language (Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Mien, Lalu, Vietnamese, Punjabi, African American, Native American), and who want to preserve the natural beauty of their environment and planet. In order to achieve our vision, we know that we must have the zeal of the missionary and the dedication of people with a cause. Our cause is to nurture our students in the best possible manner in the best possible environment in order to insure their successful graduation from the 12th grade. As learners and explorers our staff is dedicated to learning and continuous improvement. …

Here is the vision of the Bakersfield (California) City School District:

1. Students will achieve academic success through a rigorous and innovative instructional program so that all students can become lifelong learners in a technological, global society.

2. Develop a process for staff selection and development to ensure an enthusiastic, competent, child-centered team who shares the district vision of academic success.

3. Recognize, understand, and appreciate cultural diversities in staff, students, and community.

4. Increase positive self-esteem, personal and social responsibility, in order to reduce discipline problems and maintain a safe learning environment.

5. Increase parental/community support and involvement.

6. Promote site-based management with district trust, support, and appropriate resources. Enhance principal authority and accountability through decentralization/site-based management.

7. Continue improving facilities and providing resources while maintaining economic stability.

8. Restructure collective bargaining to be a collaborative process.

Principal Lucy Sprague Mitchell has written a “credo” for the Bank Street School for Children in New York:

What potentialities in human beings—children, teachers, and ourselves—do we want to see develop?

* A zest for living that comes from taking in the world with all five senses alert.

* Lively intellectual curiosities that turn the world into an exciting laboratory and keep one ever a learner.

* Flexibility when confronted with change and ability to relinquish patterns that no longer fit the present.

* The courage to work, unafraid and efficiently, in a world of new needs, new problems, and new ideas.

* Gentleness combined with justice in passing judgments on other human beings.

* Sensitivity, not only to the external formal rights of the “other fellow,” but to him as another human being seeking a good life through his own standards.

* A striving to live democratically, in and out of schools, as the best way to advance our concept of democracy.

* Our credo demands ethical standards as well as scientific attitudes.

* Our work is based on the faith that human beings can improve the society they have created.

A Theory Concerning the Visions of Teachers and Principals:

The vision of principals is usually broader than the vision of teachers, and, contrary to recommended administrative practice (Cotton, 2003), often quite different.

For the past several years, graduate students in the California State University—Bakersfield Educational Administration Program have been asked to interview separately a principal and a teacher in the same school, and ask them about their vision for the school. For example, a series of interviews were conducted in November and December of 2005. In 82% of the pairs, the principal’s vision was broader than the teacher’s vision, which often focused on classroom-related issues. And, despite much advice that encourages teachers and administrators to develop and hold similar, if not the same vision in order to focus a team effort, these interviews consistently (85%) found that principals and teachers have quite different visions.

This assignment has two purposes: First, it is utilized to help teachers transition to attain a broader vision typical of school administrators. Second, it is utilized to help local school administrators reflect upon their vision. When graduate students started asking local administrators in this region about their vision a decade ago, it was not unusual to find that principals had not thought about a school vision. They didn’t have a clear notion of what they were trying to achieve. In recent years, graduate students report that administrators have a vision, but it doesn’t often coincide with the vision of the sampled teacher in that same school. The teacher and principal don’t share a common vision; they don’t appear as though they are on the same team.

Recently, all too often, administrators have said that their sole vision is to improve student test scores. Here is a representative portion of one graduate student’s report:

I interviewed two people, currently working in the field of education in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Ms. B is a fifth grade teacher and Mrs. A is a principal.

Ms. B has changed. I have known her since she came to this elementary school three years ago. I chose to interview her because of the distinct changes I have seen in her attitude, energy, and morale. When I first met Ms. B she had so much energy that it could be felt when speaking with her. She spoke directly and often of her vision for education and more specifically our school. Social justice was her cause, and the children were her inspiration.

This elementary school in south-central Los Angeles is a tough school. In my nine years of teaching there I have seen several new teachers come and go. Exhausted and defeated, these teachers left the school confused and crestfallen, their inspiration turned on them. This is where Ms. B seems to be now. While interviewing Ms. B, I learned that she is very close to quitting. She told me, “I don’t know if I can finish out the year.” She continued, “these kids don’t want to learn, I can’t teach them if they don’t want to learn.” When she said that, I knew that she had lost sight of what inspired her. She lost her connection to her students.

I told Ms. B that I was going to be asking questions about her vision for education and her ideal school. She chuckled and whispered, “I hope I can find it.” She pulled out a portfolio she had put together as a master’s student at UCLA”s School of Education. Ms. B has what I would call a stirring vision statement. She speaks of inclusion and multiculturalism, and described a school that would grow into a “community within itself.” She went on to profess that in her vision of a great school “Every child will learn, and seize their right to be educated.” Her passion was conspicuous and her vision was clear. I asked her if she had taken this paper out since she had been here. She looked down, and said “nope.”

I asked her to explain to me how she thinks her vision has changed since her first year of teaching. She explained to me that she had never intended to let her vision statement become a “dust collector.” More importantly, she remembered that when she designed and put together her vision statement she had told herself that she would share it with her students, her inspiration. “My vision hasn’t changed, “I’ve changed,” she said. “I have let myself be defeated.” Ms. B continued to explain to me that the administration at this elementary school is concerned with one thing, test scores. Everything else is less important than “improving test scores.” She went on to say that she feels threatened when she does not fall in line with Mrs. A’s programs for improvement. “I’m not who I was when I came here, I can’t be.” Almost defeated she shared again, “If I tried to teach the way UCLA taught me how to teach, they’d fire me.”

Mrs. A has been at this elementary school as long as Ms. B. They both came three years ago, and they both came clear-headed and ready to work. Mrs. A has a drive that seems almost unstoppable. She told me very frankly when we started the interview, “my inspiration comes from not wanting to lose my job, period!” I asked her to tell me about her vision. Mrs. A’s vision is tied to the school’s test scores. She described her vision in percentile rankings and “AYP points.”

While we were sitting in her office, my eyes must have drifted around the room; her desk was cluttered; and Mrs. A apologized for “the mess,” and grabbed one of the stapled stacks of papers from in front of her. Mrs. A said, “This is all I can see,” explaining that what she was holding were the third grade CST and Star test results from last year. She went on, clutching the papers in front of her, and said, “If I don’t get these scores up the state’s gonna come and take over.”

Mrs. A spoke frankly with me, and explained that she was “here to do a job,” and that job according to her is to get this elementary school out of the state monitoring system. I asked her if she had a vision for what her ideal elementary school would be like. Again she spoke candidly, and said, “My vision is higher test scores.” Mrs. A did not have a vision she could show me, her vision was alive in her mind. Her vision was of losing her job if she doesn’t bring her school’s test scores up.

During the first ten minutes of our interview she did not mention the words “student” or “teacher.” This struck me later while listening to the taped recording of our conversation. She was able to tell me about her vision, without pause. When all was said and done Mrs. A had uttered the word “student” three times. She mentioned “teachers” seven times, and the “test” word was declared 53 times.

Both Ms. B and Mrs. A spoke quite a bit about tests and test scores. However, Ms. B never mentioned test scores as being an integral part of her vision, nor was it mentioned in her written vision statement. She told me repeatedly that they “want us to teach to the test,” they want “automatons” she said facetiously. Conversely, Mrs. A states that her inspiration is “not losing my job” and her vision is “higher test scores.” Even though Ms. B had nearly lost sight of her vision she can be reminded of why she chose to teach when she looks at her recently posted vision statement on her classroom wall. Ms. B emphatically stated “I’m here for the kids, I just need to remember that and stand up for them and myself.” …

The “Down-side” of the Vision Concept:

When expectations are raised,. It is very difficult to change the organization fast enough to meet those expectations. Wilbur Brookover (1979) found that faculty members in schools that were undergoing improvements were more dissatisfied than faculty members in schools that were not improving. As Carl Glickman (1990) observed, “The more an empowered school improves, the more apparent it is that there’s more to be improved.” Or, as Abraham Zaleznik (1989) found, “An individual’s satisfaction varies directly with the amount of reward received and inversely with the amount of reward expected.” This is why administration tends to be such a conservative activity.

Ways to Develop a Vision:

1. Study the community: student achievement scores, community demographic data, history of the community/school district (including the heroes, ceremonies, stories, and myths), city/county/state planning office data, and Chamber of Commerce forecasts and economic data, and talk with the mayor/city council regarding their vision.

2. Tryout various metaphors for their potential usefulness in describing a desirable future: the school as a family; the school as a corporation; the school as a ship; etc.

3. Involve constituent groups around the questions: “What happens?” “What matters?” and “What matters most?” What do you feel passionate about?” “What have you dedicated your life to doing?” In Edina, Minnesota, the suicide of a superintendent prompted Ray Smyth, the successor, to challenge the district to “figure out what we stand for.” Smyth convened committees of parents, students, custodians, teachers, food service workers, bus drivers, administrators—anyone in the community with a vested interest in education. Later, a smaller committee condensed input from the diverse groups and distributed a short list to each school. The schools sent the list home to parents for their reactions. (Deal, 1990)

4. Reflect on the current vision: “To what extent does the school community share a common vision?” “To what extent does the current school vision guide and inform decision-making and problem-solving?” “To what extent are current practices at odds with the current vision?” “How are the institution’s values communicated?” “How does the organization engage in inquiry to intentionally improve?”

5. Re-examine the great educational ideals: a focus on understanding; acquiring the basic tools for learning; the vocabulary of the academic disciplines; vocational competence; preparation for citizenship; life-long learning; physical and mental health.

References:

Brookover, Wilbur (1979). School social systems and student achievement: Schools can make a difference. New York: Praeger.

Brown, John and Moffett, Cerylle (1999). The hero’s journey. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Cotton, K. (2003). Principals and student achievement: What the research says. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Darling-Hammond, Linda (1997). The right to learn: A blueprint for creating schools that work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Deal, Terrence (1990). Reframing Reform. Educational Leadership, 47(8), 6-12.

Glickman, Carl (1990). Pushing school reform to a new edge: The seven ironies of school empowerment. Phi Delta Kappan, 72(1), 68-75.

Hanson, E. Mark (1996). Educational Administration and Organizational Behavior (4th Edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 37.

Peterson, Kent and Deal, Terrence (1998). How leaders influence the culture of schools. Educational Leadership, 56(1), 28-30.

Zaleznik, Abraham (1989). The managerial mystique. New York: Harper & Row, 51.

Example #2:

Domain Identification: Curriculum

Title: The Integrative Model

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: integrative model, curriculum supervision, consistency, educational philosophy

Lesson Abstract/Objectives:

The integrative model is an analytic tool for curriculum supervision, for analyzing consistency between philosophy, theory and practice, and for comparing the thinking of differing educators.

The Lesson:

What is curriculum supervision?

Curriculum supervision is a supervisory process to establish consistency between the philosophy which supports the school and the curriculum which is actually learned.

Examples:

A Catholic school teaches that the Pope is the supreme interpreter of religious doctrine, as the direct descendent of St. Peter. (Here there is consistency between Catholic theology and school content.)

An Episcopal Church school teaches that the Pope is not the supreme interpreter of religious doctrine. (Here there is consistency between Episcopal Church theology and school content.)

An Evangelical religious school teaches the literal interpretation of the Bible. (Here there is consistency between Evangelical theology and school content.)

A public school admits all students, regardless of their race, religion, or economic circumstance. (Here there is consistency between democratic beliefs and school admission practices.)

Philosophy does make a difference:

Provide alternative answers to the following questions, based upon differing philosophical premises:

1. What are the most important purposes of schools and schooling?

2. What roles should graduates be prepared to perform?

3. What economic and social future do you desire?

Having provided alternative answers to those questions, what differing philosophical positions are revealed in the answers?

The Integrative Model:

The outline in Figure #1 can be utilized to examine consistency between philosophy, theory, and practice.

The “philosophical” part of the model asks such questions as “What is the nature of being or reality?” (metaphysics) and “What is the nature of goodness?” (ethics) These are all questions that students study as undergraduates. They are part of a liberal arts education.

Figure 1

The “theory” part of the model asks such questions as “What do we know about learning?” and “What social needs exist?” These are questions that students meet in schools of education in preparation to become teachers.

The “practice” part of the model asks “What content is being taught?” and “What teaching method is being used?” These are questions that pertain to the reality of what is happening in schools.

The job of a curriculum coordinator is essentially the job of bringing about consistency between philosophy, theory, and practice. Hence a curriculum coordinator working within a public school would want to bring about consistency with democratic philosophy.

Discussion:

1. Review the definitions of the branches of philosophy (metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics) and discuss exemplary alternative beliefs in each area.

2. To become acquainted with the use of the integrative model, discuss what philosophical views, theories, and practices would be consistent with:

A. Grading on the curve

B. Mastery learning

C. Cooperative learning

D. The school as a “factory”

E. Constructivism

F. “The Shopping Mall High School,” as described by Arthur Powell, Eleanor Farrar, and David Cohen in their book by that name. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin)

G. Tracking

H. Teaching “creationism”

I. Teaching “evolution”

J. The “Great Books Curriculum”

K. Socratic dialogue

L. A national curriculum

3. Use the integrative model to outline your basic philosophical and educational beliefs. Then indicate how your beliefs would change if you agreed:

A. with the Buddhist tradition: “To perfect oneself, you should be generous and help one another.”

B. with Aristotle: “All men by nature are actuated with a desire for knowledge.”

C. that dancing is sinful.

The Two Purposes of the Integrative Model:

The integrative model has two purposes:

1. To provide a framework to examine consistency between philosophy, theory, and practice.

2. To facilitate comparison between differing educators.

Assignment:

Use the integrative model to outline the philosophical, theoretical, and recommended practice of Mortimer Adler, as described in his Paideia Proposal (1982). (New York: MacMillan Publishing Co.)

Evaluation:

Apply the integrative model in analyzing the following paragraphs as a whole:

God created heaven and earth. God reveals his purposes and rules for us in the Bible, which should be read literally to gain knowledge, for human reason leads us astray since Adam ate the apple in the Garden of Eden. The Bible contains the knowledge we need.

Christ said, “Render unto Caesar …” Thus we should accept existing, legitimate authority, and praise Him through music and the other fine arts which draw our attention to the Lord. Only religiously oriented music is truly beautiful. Other art is distracting and to varying degrees, sinful.

The exercise of strong adult control over children and adolescents is very important. In effective schools, adults are unquestionably in control. Fair, firm, and appropriate discipline is applied. “He who spares the rod hateth his son … “ (Proverbs 13:24) “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:15)

Effective schools require pupil discipline, affirm good conduct, and treat learning, drill, homework, and grades as important. Thereby students are trained in the basic skills of reading, writing, arithmetic, and history.

The persistence of a society over a long time proves its adaptability and strength. When such conditions exist, change should be approached with great caution. While leaders must lead and followers must follow, only the good should be rewarded and the bad must be consistently and speedily punished.

Answer Key:

1. Metaphysics: God centered.

2. Epistemology: Knowledge comes from the Bible. Human knowledge leads us astray.

3. Logic: “Definitional” or syllogistic logic. (Leaders, lead; followers, follow.)

4. Ethics: Follow God’s rules.

5. Political Philosophy: Accept existing authority. Very conservative. Only incremental change.

6. Aesthetics: Art which praises the Lord.

7. Organized Knowledge: Centered in the Bible.

8. Learning and Growth: Requires strong adult control. (Spare the rod; spoil the child.)

9. Social Needs: We need strong adult control over children.

10.Content: Reading, writing, arithmetic and history.

11.Teaching Method: Heavy emphasis upon student discipline; affirmation of good student conduct; and drill and training, reinforced with homework, and monitored by grades.

Assignment:

Read Anne Cassebaum’s article, “Revisiting Summerhill” (Kappan, April 2003, p. 575-578). Use the following components of the integrative model to analyze Summerhill:

(a) ethics

(b) political philosophy

(c) aesthetics

(d) learning and growth

(e) social needs

(f) teaching method

(g) setting

Answer Key:

Philosophy

Ethics: based upon personal happiness

Political Philosophy: democracy: everyone, including students and teachers, has an equal vote. Communal values.

Aesthetics: “funky” grubbiness. Creative objects more important than general cleanliness and order.

Figure 2

IV. Case studies, simulations, multimedia should include: domain identification; author; key words; title; context/trigger event; analysis/possible causes; problem solving/goals of action/planned solution; result.

Example:

Domain Identification: Site-based Leadership

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: school-community relations, principalship, parent complaints, extra-curricular activities

Title: Parent complains to principal about choral music

Context/trigger Event: Principal received letter from a parent objecting to music being rehearsed by the high school chorus.

Nature of the Problem: The parent is concerned that their son is learning “incorrect” English, by singing Negro spirituals in the high school chorus, such such verse lines as “John, John, wid de holy order, Sittin’ on de golden order.”

Analysis/possible Causes (school-based): Great pressure has been placed on students to improve their writing.

Analysis/Possible Causes (self-based): The family has demonstrated an intolerance for people of different cultures, and a strong preference for “certainty” in a variety of areas, ranging from a desire to know a day in advance as to whether the school would or would not be closed for a “snow day,” to a desire for more specificity regarding how students would be graded.

Additional Information: This school is located in an economically poor and a politically conservative area. There is a high rate of unemployment and there are very few college educated parents. Most adults just have a high school education.

Problem Solving/Goals of Action:

1. Help parents understand the benefits to their son in being part of the school chorus, including the benefits of learning about different cultures.

2. Make sure the parents understand that they can choose to withdraw their son from the school chorus.

3. Improve the educational level of the community.

Planned Solution:

1. Invite the parents to a meeting involving the school music teacher, a counselor, and the principal.

2. Encourage the regional community college to offer more local college courses.

3. Talk with the school music teacher about ways to improve multi-cultural understanding within the music courses and, through various performances, within the community.

Time Line:

1. Schedule parent/music teacher/principal meetings within one week.

2. Talk with the school district superintendent about allowing the local community college to utilize high school space for evening and weekend college classes.

3. Call the president of the regional community college within the next two weeks to encourage local college offerings and to offer classroom space.

4. Talk with school music teacher at next regularly scheduled teacher evaluation pre-observation conference.

Key Events:

11/4Received letter from parents.

11/5Called parents to organize parent/music teacher/counselor/principal meeting

11/10Parent/music teacher/counselor/principal meeting

11/10Discussed offering space to regional community college with superintendent.

11/11Spoke with president of the regional community college. He will decide whether to accept our offer by the end of December.

12/5Spoke with school music teacher about the role the school music program could play in increasing multi-cultural understanding. He will teach his students about the cultural background of the music they perform, and include pertinent explanation in a series of local performances to various service organizations.

Result:

1. Parents have decided to remove their son from the school chorus and transfer him to an auto-shop course.

2. The regional community college president has decided to advertise and offer more general education courses on the high school campus.

3. The high school chorus will perform for the Rotary, the Elks, and the community Chamber of Commerce yet this school year.

Further Reflections:

Even though the parents decided to remove the student from the school chorus, this request prompted other events which will have a positive impact upon the school and community.

V. Practitioner stories should include: domain identification; author; key words; title; story.

Example:

Domain Identification: Personnel (Certification issues, credential and assignment laws)

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: certification, assignment, credential, teacher education

Title: Emergency Certification?

My first superintendency was actually a superintendency/principalship in a tiny, remote school district in the Coast Range of Washington State. While I advertised for teachers in the major city newspapers throughout the United States, and recruited some excellent teachers who were attracted to this unique location with a special small-school vision, one year I still had difficulty filling two high school teaching positions.

After having made a good-faith effort to find credentialed candidates, I decided to exercise my authority as superintendent and grant emergency certification to two individuals who otherwise seemed qualified. One young lady had just graduated from Yale University, and the other was a middle aged man who almost had counseling and English certification, and I needed to fill a joint position.

As the school year started, soon I began to hear reports about these two individuals. The Yale University graduate knew her subject. She was soon doing splendid work with the brightest students, but in public education we need to educate all students. She apparently didn’t recognize this, as she had not taken any courses in the foundation of American education. She did not recognize that our democracy depends upon an educated citizenry, not just the education of an elite group. She didn’t have the needed patience to work with the slower and average students, so resigned in December.

The part-time English teacher and part-time counselor also secured a position as the local community church pastor. Naively, I thought that would be a good combination.

Unfortunately, problems started to surface when I found out that this individual had many suspicions. He suspected that female students were carrying drugs in their purses; he suspected that students were carrying drugs in their lunch sacks. His suspicions, which evidently were consistent with his religious beliefs, consistently portrayed students as having evil intentions, and this attitude was quickly dampening school spirit.

Within just a few weeks, the situation came to a head when he asked to meet with the school board. They reluctantly agreed, and in an executive session listened to him berate the teachers, their neighbors, and myself. As the evening got late, the school board adjourned, and agreed to continue the meeting the following night.

That next morning, I met with this individual and told him what I would be telling the board that evening—pointing out the falsehoods and misinterpretations which he had conveyed. By noon, he handed me his resignation, which the school board accepted that evening. But then he stayed on as community church pastor, frequently mentioning the godless public elementary and high school in his sermons.

So now I had a major public relations problem, that is, until the church vestry discovered that this individual was attempting to put the deed for the church property into his own name! The church vestry then fired this minister, and I was no longer in trouble with the church members.

Through these two experiences, I gained greater respect for the credentialing process. Credentialing protects the profession and it also protects the public. It protects the profession by not allowing just anyone to teach. It protects the public by requiring teachers to understand the nature of public education; to understand learning, growth and development; to have studied teaching methodology within their subject; and to have demonstrated that they can teach in a student teaching setting.

These two individuals were not fully certified, and in my judgment, they probably would not have attained certification.

Obviously, certification is not a perfect guarantee that a candidate will be a succe3ssful teacher. However, I have much more respect for the certification process now than I had initially as a beginning superintendent.

VI. Performance assessments (evaluation items) should include: domain identification; author; key words; evaluation item; answer.

Example #1:

Domain Identification: Learning theory

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: behaviorism, cognitive learning theory

Evaluation Item:

a. A hungry rat was placed in a maze and given time to explore the various pathways and discover that rat food was available at a certain spot in the maze. A gate was then lowered to block one of the pathways to the rat food, but the experimenter soon found that the rat would then choose the correct detour to get to the food. This experiment demonstrates which of the following learning theories?

(1) Behaviorism

X (2) Cognitive Learning Theory

(3) Maslow’s Humanistic Theory

b. What is the main criticism B.F. Skinner would have of cognitive learning theory? Answer: To say that one behaved in a certain way because of what one thought is inadequate because it lacks a measurable account of what determines thinking.

c. For the

(1) constructivists

X (2) behaviorists

Complex learning outcomes are best achieved by breaking-down complex tasks into smaller sub-tasks, then chaining these sub-tasks together through scope and sequence planning.

d. Contrast how you would develop curriculum for the teaching of “map reading for direction giving” to sixth graders from a behaviorist vs. a cognitive perspective.

Answer: A cognitive approach would start with a conceptual view; a behaviorist would likely start by teaching specific examples of direction giving.

Example #2:

Domain Identification: Historical/Philosophical Foundations

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: educational policy, values, educational philosophy, perennialism, pragmatism

Evaluation Item:

a. At the heart of many educational policy debates are four widely held but conflicting values: equity, excellence, efficiency, and individual liberty. Fill in the blanks, citing one of these four values:

(1) Benjamin Franklin’s lessons of thrift and getting one’s money’s worth, stressed

___efficiency___.

(2) A Nation At Risk emphasized the need to attain ____excellence____.

(3) President Johnson’s “Great Society” stressed ____equity____.

b. Based on the following descriptions of two school programs, determine what the dominant philosophy operating in each school is, and write a brief rationale for your choice.

(1) At the University Academy, we stress the great ideas from literature and history. We have few frills here in the way of competitive sports or vocational programs. We take great pride in the ability of students to articulate thoughts both in spoken language and in written work, and in their admission to the finest universities.

Answer: Perennialism. Some knowledge is eternally valid. Education cultivates the intellect.

(2) At Rosemont School, we stress the practical nature of an education to equip students to solve problems, particularly social problems. Therefore, we emphasize the scientific method and those areas of the curriculum that encourage students to analyze situations and find solutions to problems.

Answer: Pragmatism. Knowledge is what works.

VII. Related web sites should include: domain identification; author; key words; url; description of web site.

Example:

Domain Identification: Educational Leadership Preparation Programs

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: professional preparation, education of educational administrators, training, staff development

URL: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~mcleod/edadminwebsites.html

Description of Web Site: This web site includes a list of all educational administration program web sites in the United States.

VIII. Opinion pieces should include: domain identification; author; key words; title; opinion.

Example:

Domain Identification: School Law

Author: Louis Wildman

Key Words: No Child Left Behind, NCLB, federal role

Title: What do you think of the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) Act?

Opinion:

As a professor of educational administration, I see some positive features of the NCLB Act, but more negative consequences. First the positive:

The NCLB Act emphasizes the need to educate all, regardless of race/ethnicity, income, disability, or primary language. This is a noble ideal: democracy does require an educated citizenry. However, educated citizens must learn to participate in government, and not just do what they are told. One problem with the NCLB Act is that it puts too much emphasis upon students learning “what they are told” in terms of state-defined standards, and not enough emphasis on helping students get prepared for active citizenship.

Education partly teaches what we want to teach the next generation (conserving the past), and partly develops student talent, abilities, and creativity (opening the way for change). In other words, on the one hand we want to teach students the “basics,” and on the other hand we want to help each child develop their unique talents and abilities.

The best way to efficiently undertake the first part is to clearly identify the standards to be taught, teach them, evaluate whether they were learned, and, if they were not learned, try other teaching methods until mastery is achieved. The NCLB Act has placed more emphasis upon this procedure in the areas of reading and math than ever before, and that is good.

The bad part is that the NCLB legislation has narrowed the curriculum to reading, math, and little more. Offerings in such areas as the arts, social studies, and the sciences are being dropped from the curriculum, as well-intentioned teachers and administrators try to meet the minimum-competency high-stakes standardized test “accountability” goals. Many test-pressured teachers are actually being told to not teach anything that won’t be tested. In some of the larger school districts, all teachers teaching the same grade are being told to present scripted lessons following a pre-determined year-long day-specific schedule, regardless of how well the students are learning the material. They are being told to conduct score-boosting activities using test-preparation techniques of dubious educational merit which soon sap any pleasure students might otherwise derive from school, turning our public schools into test-prep centers. And, tragically, the developmental side of education—involving those memorable investigatory projects which stimulate creativity and encourage students to start taking over more responsibility for their own education—has been virtually eliminated from the elementary schools. Hence, at the very time when our economy depends upon our creativity, and our democratic processes depend upon individual initiative and responsibility, the school curriculum is cutting out this larger side of education.

Here in California, incredibly, there are over 3,000 state standards. This is far too many. That number should be greatly reduced, and then the students should be tested on those vitally important, key standards. However, this is not the kind of test which is presently being utilized.

What we now have are tests which compare students with each other, so that we get “ranking” reports, comparing one school with another. Since the ranking of schools is largely a function of the economic status of the families in that school, and since everywhere except in Garrison Keeler’s “Lake Wobegone” half the students will always be below average, the emphasis upon high-stakes testing is very discouraging and educationally inappropriate. Schooling is not a competitive sport with winners and losers, if we truly believe that “no child [should be] left behind.”

For example, most everyone would agree that students need to master the basic skills. One such basic skill involves the competence to read a bus or train schedule with sufficient understanding so as to determine when one would have to leave a given location to arrive at another point at a given time. This is an example of an important key objective upon which students should know they will be tested. We don’t need to test students on trivia with questions many successful adults could not answer, just for the purpose of sorting students. A basic achievement test should not resemble a TV quiz game show; rather, a basic achievement test should determine whether students have or have not mastered the important key basic skills necessary for continued learning upon which they know they will be tested. The emphasis should not be on the score but on what knowledge the students have or have not yet learned.

There is virtually no research that suggests that the NCLB accountability system does more than artificially raise test scores. The so-called “Texas Miracle” was the model for the NCLB Act. Scores on their state achievement test went up, but at the expense of very high dropout rates. Meanwhile, Texas student scores on other national tests, such as SAT scores, did not improve.

The NCLB Act states that by 2014 all American students must be “proficient” in reading and math. Any school at which this doesn’t happen will suffer severe penalties, up to and including a takeover by the state. Under such threats, dedicated teachers and administrators are losing their dedication and becoming number-obsessed. Understandably, when schools operate from a compliance perspective, their work on accountability tends to be cynical and mechanical.

The NCLB law requires school districts to hire “highly qualified” teachers—teachers qualified to teach the subjects they teach. School districts are having a “problem” with this law. But who could argue with such a requirement? The problem is not with this requirement. The problem is in getting “highly qualified” teachers who want to teach in schools that require them to “parrot” scripted lessons, rather than utilize their professional expertise. The problem is in finding “highly qualified” teachers who are willing to teach a specific page on a predetermined day, regardless of whether the children have learned the prerequisite material or not. The problem will increasingly be in attracting “highly qualified” teachers who want to teach in schools for children from low-socio-economic families if these low-scoring schools will be unfairly punished.

Fortunately a few changes in the law will likely be made for schools with special education students and students with limited English proficiency. But the realistic cost to implement the NCLB Act far exceeds federal funding. What we have here is an enormous expansion of federal power over the nation’s education system, sending out the order, but leaving the bill with the states and local districts that are less able to pay.

In sum, the NCLB Act has positively awakened some schools that were previously complacent so that they are now much more serious and deliberate in how they approach teaching and learning. On the other hand, overall, this well-intended test-based accountability strategy is having a detrimental effect. The testing mandate is literally choking the creative life out of classrooms. The tests being used are not measuring what students learn in school, but rather what they bring to school, which is strongly related to the child’s socio-economic status.

Rather than trying to find ways to artificially raise test scores (by teaching test-taking skills and by limiting the curriculum just to material that will be covered on the tests), we need to provide schools with the resources to significantly improve the quality of teaching, offer a stimulating and an enriched curriculum, and better conditions in the schools themselves. This will cost a lot. But we could actually save money if we were to change our accountability tests to measure a limited number of key objectives which could be thoroughly assessed. The test report would list which skills the student has and which skills the student has yet to master. It is counter-productive to publicly humiliate dedicated teachers and administrators who continue to envision the education profession as not just a job, but a dedication of one’s life in behalf of children.

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This work is licensed by Louis Wildman under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

Last edited by National Council of Professors of Educational Administration on Mar 9, 2007 1:26 pm US/Central.