How-to-Innovate-The-Essential-Guide-for-Fearless-School-Leaders-Sample-Pages

How to Innovate The Essential Guide for Fearless School Leaders Mary Moss Brown Alisa Berger Foreword by Tony Wagner Teachers College Columbia University New York and London Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 Copyright © 2014 by Teachers College, Columbia University All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brown, Mary Moss, author How to innovate: the essential guide for fearless school leaders / Mary Moss Brown, Alisa Berger p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN: 978-0-8077-5569-3 (pbk.: alk paper) ISBN: 978-0-8077-7280-5 (ebook) Educational innovations Educational leadership School management and organization I Berger, Alisa, author II Title LB2806.B797 2014 371.2—dc23 2013046103 ISBN: 978-0-8077-5569-3 (paper) eISBN: 978-0-8077-7280-5 (ebook) This book is for all the educators out there who dare to ask “Why?” and “What if?” and for Ana De Los Santos-Tornatore, who always dared to show us why This book is dedicated to the NYC iSchool founding class and faculty, whose energy, spirit, creativity, and integrity inspired us, challenged us, and supported us Together, we created a school that challenged the assumptions about what high school has to be Contents Foreword by Tony Wagner Acknowledgments Preface PART I: WHY INNOVATE? 1.   Imagining: Developing the NYC iSchool Vision Mary’s Vision of Schools for Adolescents Alisa’s Vision of Secondary School Merging Our Beliefs 2:   Implementation: The NYC iSchool Model Focus on Students Context for Innovation Technology at the NYC iSchool NYC iSchool as Model PART II: THE FOUR LEVERS OF CHANGE Perceptions, Not Rules Creation of Foundations and the Pre-College Program Constraints and Innovation What Leaders Can Control 3.   Curriculum Challenge-Based Learning Modules Online Learning Distance Learning Core Experiences and Distribution Requirements Area of Focus Field Experiences Individual Student Mastery Tracking 4.   Culture Alignment of Policies to Values Metacognitive Development Changing Role of Students Adolescent Social and Emotional Development Advisory Adult Culture Space 5.   Time Scheduling Foundations and Pre-College Program Flipped Instruction Blended Learning 6.   Human Capital Challenges of the Changing Role of Teachers Differentiation of Teacher Roles Professional Development Technology Faculty Co-Leadership Public-Private Partnership The Changing Role of School PART III: TRANSFORMING YOUR SCHOOL: A GUIDE Activity 1: Defining Your Goals and Values Activity 2: Developing a Preliminary Vision Activity 3: Identifying the Gaps Activity 4: Exploring Other School Models Activity 5: Determining What to Teach Activity 6: Determining How to Teach and Assess Activity 7: Defining and Aligning the Culture Activity 8: Defining Your Space Activity 9: Assessing Your Current Space Activity 10: Determining the Time Needed for the Instructional Vision Activity 11: Evaluating Your Current Use of Instructional Time Activity 12: Evaluating Teachers’ Use of Time Activity 13: Analyzing and Addressing the Gap Between Current and Ideal Use of Time Activity 14: Defining the Roles That Will Enable Your Vision Activity 15: Analyzing Teacher Roles Activity 16: Evaluating Your Teachers’ Expertise Activity 17: Analyzing the Roles of the Support Team Activity 18: Evaluating Your Support Faculty Members’ Expertise Activity 19: Planning for Transformation Activity 20: Clarifying Your Vision Activity 21: Planning Strategically to Communicate the Vision Moving Ahead References Index About the Authors Foreword In Chapter of this important and valuable book, Mary Moss Brown and Alisa Berger explain why current so-called “innovations” in education are unlikely to adequately prepare students for the 21st century I agree completely with their assessment However, I think educators, parents, and community leaders may not fully understand the economic consequences for our students and for our country if we not reimagine America’s schools The iSchool opened its doors in 2008 at a time of accelerating economic turmoil The global economic meltdown that began that year has hastened the elimination of many kinds of jobs Businesses now use ever more automation to cut jobs and increase profits In their important book, Race Against the Machine, MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue convincingly that even highly skilled jobs are increasingly at risk Half a dozen years ago, no one thought that machines could handle a task as complex as driving in heavy traffic The Google driverless car has proved otherwise Similarly, computers now compile and write complex financial reports and compete successfully against humans in chess and on Jeopardy! The declining unemployment rate that is reported in the media does not capture the percentage of people who have given up looking for jobs or who have part-time jobs and are seeking full-time work As I write this in the late fall of 2013, the percentage of Americans who are working or seeking work—63%—is at the lowest point since women began entering the labor force in significant numbers in the late 1970s Young people in their 20s have been hardest hit of all, with to of them neither in school nor employed Nor does the unemployment rate say anything about the quality of jobs available The vast majority of jobs that have been created in recent years are minimum wage service and sales jobs The result of all of these trends, economists tell us, is that the gap between the rich and the rest of us is greater than at any time in this country’s history since 1929 Historically, college graduates have always had an easier time finding jobs and earn considerably more than high school graduates over the course of their work life It is no surprise, then, that an increasing number of young people are enrolling in college in response to this jobs crisis Indeed, the mantra of many of our policymakers and educators is that all students should graduate from high school “college ready.” As a result, the college attendance rate in this country is the highest that it has ever been However, there is a growing body of evidence that attending college might not be the good investment it once was Since the turn of the century, college tuitions have continued to increase at a significant rate, while median family income has actually declined College tuitions have increased 72% since 2000, while family income is down 10% To close this gap, students and their families are borrowing more money than ever College debt recently exceeded credit card debt in this country—over $1 trillion Students now graduate with an average combined family debt of over $30,000 That is, if they graduate at all Colleges have done nothing to stem the horrible attrition rate of students Of the students who enroll in colleges, only about half complete any sort of degree The completion rate of our community colleges—where many of our most disadvantaged students enroll—is less than 30% Then there is the problem of the job prospects for our recent college graduates Depending upon whose numbers you believe, the combined unemployment and underemployment rate of recent college graduates is somewhere between 27% and 54% Far too many of our college graduates are finding that the only kinds of jobs they can get not require a BA degree and certainly not pay a college graduate wage We talk a lot about government debt in this country, but the debt I worry about most is the debt of our college graduates It is the only form of personal debt that cannot be eliminated by filing for bankruptcy This dismal employment picture for recent college graduates exists at a time when employers say they cannot fill available positions for highly skilled workers This is because there is a profound mismatch between what students learn in college versus what employers say they need It is not merely a matter of students picking the wrong college major Employers say they not care what job applicants’ college majors are They care about skills According to a recent survey of employers conducted on behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, “Nearly all those surveyed (93%) agree, ‘a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major.’” The Seven Survival Skills that I wrote about in my 2008 book, The Global Achievement Gap, are more important than ever to employers As necessary as these skills are, they are no longer sufficient Employers want something more from new hires now Over and over again, business leaders have told me that they want employees who can “just go figure it out”—who can be, in a word, creative problem-solvers or innovators In my most recent book, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World, I explore what parents and teachers can to develop these capacities One of my most striking findings in interviews with young creative problem-solvers in their 20s is that many became innovators in spite of their excellent schools, not because of them Students who went to Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon all told me that it was the rare outlier teacher who had truly made the difference in their development Sadly, there is a growing body of evidence that many of our college graduates are not learning any of the skills that matter most In a recent study that involved 2,300 undergraduates at 24 institutions, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa analyzed data from the Collegiate Learning Assessment, the state-of-the-art test They found that, after years of college, 45% of the students tested were no more able to think critically or communicate effectively than when they started college Their book, Academically Adrift, makes a compelling case for the need to fundamentally rethink the nature of a college education and accountability for results Employers are beginning to wise up to the fact that students’ college transcripts, GPA, and test scores are a poor predictor of employee value Google famously used to hire only students from name brand colleges with the highest GPAs and test scores However,according to recent interviews with Lazlo Bock, senior vice president of people operations at Google, these data are “worthless” as predictors of employee effectiveness at Google The company now looks for evidence of a sense of mission and personal autonomy and is increasingly hiring people who not have a college degree Even the interview questions they pose have changed In the past, Google interviewers asked prospective employees brain teaser questions like how many ping-pong balls can you get into a 747 or how many cows are there in Canada Now they want them to talk about a complex analytic problem they have tried to solve recently Our schools are not failing, as many claim, but rather they are obsolete We continue to focus far too much time on teaching and testing content knowledge that can be retrieved from the Internet, as needed Knowledge has become a free commodity, like air, and so the world no longer cares how much our students know What the world cares about is what they can with what they know, which is a completely different education problem Reimagining school and creating more schools like the iSchool must be our highest national priority All students need to graduate from high school and college “innovation ready,” as well as prepared for the complex challenges of continuous learning and citizenship in the 21st century Time is running short I urge you to read this book with urgency —Tony Wagner, expert in residence, Innovation Lab, Harvard University Quoted from the Association of American Colleges and Universities survey conducted by Hart Research Associates, “It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College Learning and Student Success,” Washington, DC: http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf Accessed October 20, 2013 See the June 19, 2013, New York Times interview with Lazlo Bock: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/business/inhead-hunting-big-data-may-not-be-such-a-big-deal.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0, as well as the April 20, 2013, article by Steve Lohr, “Big Data, Trying to Build Better Workers,” also in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/technology/big-data-trying-to-build-better-workers.html?pagewanted=all Both accessed October 3, 2013 Acknowledgments We have many people to thank for helping us on the journey to this book, which in many ways began when we first met back in 2001 We have to thank John Elwell of Replications, Inc for first introducing us and for giving us both our first opportunities to ask “What if?” and create a school we believed in We must also thank the faculty members and families of Mott Hall II and the iSchool, who constantly pushed us to be better educators and leaders and from whom we continually learned and became inspired Finally, we must acknowledge the role that our students played all these years in showing us the kinds of educators we need to be and the kinds of schools we need to create to help them make their dreams a reality; you really don’t know how important you have been in this process There are many, many people to thank for the role they played in supporting the NYC iSchool: The team at Cisco, especially Gene Longo and Phil Longo Also Mary deWysocki, Bill Fowler, Michael Stevenson, and Tae Yoo You were the best partners any school could ask for! NYC DOE Office of New Schools/Empowerment Schools Organization: Julian Cohen, Alex Camarda, Josh Thomases, Justin Tyack, Veronica Conforme and Eric Nadelstern Joel Klein, for having the vision to make the iSchool possible and for believing that we were the ones to it (and for making the exception so that we could lead as co-principals) Mort Zuckerman, for the initial vision and your generosity to get us started The team at DIIT, who came to know and love the vision so much that they could explain it better than we could! Jim DiGuido (IBM), Nelson Grajales, Oren Hamami, Tony Hon (IBM), Alex Horwatt, Kamran Khan, Diep Le (IBM), Damian Maslinski, Chris Peet, Nick Schepis, Mark Spencer, Rony Thomas, Steve Vigilante, and especially Kathy Tsamasiros, who never turned down an opportunity to fight for us! Sanda Balaban, for the encouragement, connections, and cheerleading along the way of the school and the book Thank you to the current iSchool leaders: Isora, Michelle, and Lauriann, and faculty members who work so diligently, skillfully, and creatively to keep the vision alive (and getting better each year) Finally, special thanks to the members of the iSchool founding staff who have been there from the beginning, through all the ups and downs, and who continue to work hard to bring the complete vision to fruition: Curtis Borg, Susan Herzog, Johnny Lau, Michelle Leimsider, Irvin Navarro, and Gretel Smith We are forever indebted Enormous thanks for your generosity, guidance, and support, Mary and Alisa F or me, this book represents a collection of ideas and beliefs I have gathered over the years from some very inspiring colleagues and mentors: Anne Dodd (Bates College), Theresa Luongo (CPE2), Dr Klaudia Rivera (Bank Street), Frank Finsthwait, Michelle Candela-Jordan (IS 193), Karen Ingalsbe Slaton, Bonnie Webb, and Lynnea Smyre (Garrett MS), and MK Lange and Katrina Humphries (Grays Creek MS), Bob Monson and Carolyn Riehl (TC), John Sullivan (Replications), my colleagues at MHII, my colleagues at the iSchool, and my new colleagues at New Leaders and CMS (who make me want to be a principal forever) There is a group of women educators who continue to provide me with friendship and support and in whom I am continually in awe for their ability to it all: Alisa Berger, Ana De Los Santos Tornatore, Amy Liszt, Michele Cohen, Michelle Leimsider, Claudia Aguirre, Jessica Luciano, and Becky Fagin You all make me proud to be a woman, mother, and educator and you all have made a difference in my life and in the lives of so many students Alisa—you have made me dream and think bigger and question more than I ever thought I could Michelle—you have been the rock at the iSchool and I can’t thank you enough for sticking with it and making it happen Michele—you have been such an amazing friend through all my ups and downs Ana—you have been such a loyal friend and partner, and a true inspiration I can only hope to have a fraction of the impact you’ve had Thanks to my friends who kept me laughing and distracted from my educator world, especially Jessie D’Amico Berliner, Kate Martin, and Mandy Blandford Kriegel, as well as my new friends and neighbors in Charlotte I want to also express my deep gratitude to my family, who have supported me through this process, who have shown patience when I needed to work just a little longer, and plenty of distractions when I needed a reason to procrastinate Dave—thanks for being my best friend and partner through it all Thanks to my sisters, parents, and in-laws for taking on some additional responsibilities so that I could take the time to work and write A special thanks to my parents who have supported me in every venture, who taught me to see the good and possibility in everyone I meet, and who modeled for me a strong work ethic and the inability to ever turn down a great opportunity! Finally, to Grace and James, for helping me keep in mind what’s most important and for giving me two more powerful reminders of why our public schools have to be and better I hope that someday I can build a school that will be everything you need it to be Love and thanks, Mary F irst and foremost I would like to thank my husband, Samuel Moyn You make writing books look so easy that you made me want to it myself On a daily basis you inspire me, love me, and look out for me I will forever work to deserve you as my best friend and husband To Lily and Madeleine, may you continue to push me to understand what it means to inspire and enable a child’s dreams You have made all my dreams come true; I hope I can the same for you Thank you for making me realize that schools that support, nurture, and inspire you are amazing places that exist To Mary Moss, who has been the most amazing partner for 14 years! I am a better person, friend, and educator because of knowing and working with you I would not be where I am without your inspiration, support, candor, and acceptance of who I am—for better and worse Thanks for always encouraging me to dream big, but to always know what I can really, successfully accomplish! To the amazing NYC educators who have become so much more than colleagues, but close friends who make me believe that together we will change the future for every child: Brooke Jackson—Thank you for being such an amazing friend, colleague, and thought partner I always wonder what would have happened to me had I not been the elephant in the room Julian Cohen—Here’s to continuously reimagining and refining what “school” can and be for all of the students we serve Michelle Leimsider—Your relentless focus on the details allowed me to dream big Thank you for making sure the school became the dream Jesse Spevack—For never giving up on imagining what the power of technology can to transform our schools Lauriann Wierzbowski—For always maintaining a clear head and keeping us grounded in the real world of our school I don’t like rules, but I like the way you run a school so objectively and thoughtfully and how everything can best be perceived by others To Sarah Scrogin and Giulia Cox for always making me remember that a good school is one thing, but together we can change the system Prof Susan Reimer Sacks, Mirian Acosta-Sing, Marc Miller, and Mary Reynolds for starting me on my path to becoming the educator I am today To the amazing founding staff of Mott Hall II: Ana de los Santos, Gretel Smith, Rocco Debonis, and Orly Fass You are the four who really pushed me to think outside the box and always imagine a school that could more and be so much better Last but not least, thank you to my parents who have been there to love me, believe in me, and to pick up the slack whenever I need you to (and sometimes before I realize it) I have no words to express how much your faith and encouragement mean to me Thank you to my brothers for making me learn how to stay strong without anyone knowing how hard I’m working Thank you to Anita and Sara for always being my cheerleaders It is wonderful to have you all in my life Alisa Preface We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them —Albert Einstein It is widely accepted that schools must adapt to meet the needs of our changing society and the 21st-century learner The notions of 21st-century schooling, often referred to as school 2.0, and more recently 3.0, in which collaborative technologies are used to enhance students’ development of higher-order thinking skills and interaction with the real world, now dominate conversations around school reform Educators, scholars, and business leaders agree that our school system is antiquated, yet reform efforts have continued to focus on tinkering with aspects of the current system, often with the goal of producing better results on standardized tests Targeted and isolated efforts toward school improvement have not been effective in creating the kind of change and improvement we need to ensure that our schools are adequately preparing students for the ever-changing global society in which we live A more comprehensive and innovative approach, founded on systemic change and dynamic leadership, is needed to redefine secondary schools and the adolescent school experience School systems and school leaders understand that change is necessary and inevitable Unfortunately, few models exist to illustrate for them what the school of the 21st century can look and feel like As the founding co-principals of the NYC iSchool, we wrote this book to introduce a promising and scalable model of what schools can become and how schools can and should redefine themselves The iSchool model is successfully merging the pedagogical ideal of meaningful and relevant learning experiences that teach big ideas and valuable skills, with the realities of accountability, academic preparation, and adolescent development As important as the iSchool model itself, however, is the habit of innovation the school has developed to constantly ask “Why?” and “What if?”—to question what has always been, and to shift the focus from what’s easiest and most efficient for adults or the system Instead the focus is on building an experience for each student that is personalized and that provides the range of experiences that will truly equip him or her with the academic foundation required for success in higher education and the critical 21st-century skills required for success in life In Part I of this book, we focus on how we arrived at the vision for the school and the context in which it was created The chapters in Part II focus on one of the four areas, or levers, of change: curriculum, culture, time, and human capital, and provide illustrative examples from the iSchool’s implementation We show how each of these areas can be rethought and can serve as a driving force for school transformation and ongoing innovation to meet the changing needs of students Part III offers a hands-on guide that we hope other educators will find useful as they engage in the school transformation process For convenience the activities are also available for download on www.tcpress.com These exercises offer guidance for individual or collaborative planning, suitable for new school design or the transformation of existing schools Following the guide step by step, a school leader can rethink all aspects of transformation; or, activities can be selected specifically to support rethinking of the individual levers While many popular existing books focus on the theory of 21st-century learning or highlight case studies of 21st-century learning, few books provide the “how-to” of 21stcentury learning This book offers school practitioners—school and district leaders, teacher leaders, preservice leaders, school designers, and instructional technologists— practical guidance for the key areas of change necessary for 21st-century schools We hope that this book will encourage school systems and school leaders to begin to ask how they can transform their schools, how to become systems of ongoing innovation, and how to continually improve and evolve to meet the needs of their changing student populations It is our goal for this book to push school leaders’ thinking, forcing them to ask the right questions, to rethink the practices they have been implementing, and to adopt a habit of innovation