{"id":6903,"date":"2016-04-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/building-a-movement-from-within\/"},"modified":"2020-02-27T14:47:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T19:47:03","slug":"building-a-movement-from-within","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/building-a-movement-from-within\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Movement from Within"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Patrice
Patrice Glancey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Within a system of standardized testing and teaching accountability based on student results, it\u2019s understandable that teachers feel like they\u2019re running an obstacle course instead of a classroom. And why wouldn\u2019t they? Federal, state, and local standards are asking them to jump, dodge, and climb all while trying to cram years of content into 180 days. Add to that the paperwork and you get the burnout that we are seeing within our experienced teachers across the country.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that when competency-education was introduced, veteran teachers rolled their collective eyes, closed the door, and continued on as usual: \u201cThis too shall pass.\u201d However, it\u2019s been seven years since New Hampshire included competency education in the Minimum Standards for Public School Approval. This change, which mandates students be evaluated on mastery of competencies, implies that this practice isn\u2019t going away anytime soon. And to be brutally honest, we can\u2019t go back to a one size fits all model; our test scores prove that it doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

If I have learned anything about the implementation of competency-based learning over the past few years, it\u2019s that the fire must start from within. Teachers are already feeling overwhelmed by top-down initiatives and they are beyond the point of being able to take in \u201canother great idea.\u201d Derek Sivers (2013) explains during his inspiring Ted Talk How to Start a Movement<\/em> that every movement needs a leader to get it started. This leader can\u2019t be administration, this leader needs to come from within. Further, Sivers explains that \u201ca leader needs the guts to stand out and be ridiculed,\u201d which not an easy task for most teachers. However, the best schools run on strong teacher leaders who have found success through working in environments that encourage them to take risks and promote \u201cstanding out.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I arrived at Newport School District this past summer, it resembled what I like to refer to as the \u201cperfect storm\u201d: a new set of administrators, a culture of teachers ready for change, and a budget requiring us to think outside the box. The competency framework had already been developed at various stages K-12 and the previous curriculum director had worked with the teachers to move in that direction. My job was to get the teachers back on track and build off of momentum that had already fizzled out.<\/p>\n

\"Patrice1\"It was shortly after opening day professional development that I returned to my elementary school office ecstatic about my presentation and district vision, when one of the teachers stopped in to ask me a question: \u201cWhat reading program are you going to change us to?\u201d I stumbled for words; I was a high school English teacher who hated programs, and just explained how much I believe in teacher choice and freedom of curriculum. \u201cI\u2019m not. Whatever tool works best for you, I suggest you use\u201d I explained. She countered quickly with, \u201cYeah, but what about fidelity?\u201d As I walked toward the door with her I explained, \u201cI\u2019m a firm believer in letting teachers choose how they teach and with what, as long as the standards are met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the next couple of weeks, I realized that while the knowledge about competency education was there, the practice wasn\u2019t yet. Teaching teams were beginning to plan out their first quarter, and debates on how this would be done were popping up everywhere. I could have made a mandate, but I knew that in order to make this transition successful, I needed a leader with not only \u201cthe guts to stand out and be ridiculed,\u201d but the trust and respect of their peers.<\/p>\n

Lisa Ferrigno was that leader. After attending workshops on competency education over the summer, she decided she wanted to move away from the assigned reading program and try a more personalized approach in her first grade classroom. While this could have ended the friendship on the first grade team, the other two teachers, Jen and Kris, understood her passion. Like every new idea, some of the classroom practices worked and some of the lessons could have been better created. The real benefit of Lisa stepping out on her own as a leader was that by the end of the first semester, the first grade team became her \u201cfirst followers.\u201d The buy-in had begun.<\/p>\n

Derek Sivers explains how this helps the movement: \u201cNow, if you notice that the first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself.\u201d It takes guts to join the movement and change the status quo, but it was no longer Lisa standing on her own, it was a team. Suddenly, everyone started speaking up and adding to the conversation.<\/p>\n

Jen Paquette, during the first grade team meeting, reached out in frustration and said, \u201cI have students in my class that haven\u2019t mastered the basic letter sounds yet, but not enough time or space to get the foundations before our reading lessons.\u201d Kris Kidder, the third teacher on the team, explained that she has the same problem, \u201cand now we\u2019re starting to see the discipline problems we did in the beginning of the year.\u201d Exhausted from analyzing the data and current practice, Jen finally said what we knew all along: \u201cWe\u2019re doing a disservice to these kids teaching like this, what if we\u2026\u201d and the movement had reached the tipping point.<\/p>\n

\"Patrice2\"As each of the three teachers pulled out their class lists and starting organizing and arranging, you could feel the excitement; first they sorted the sixty-eight students by test scores, then adjusted based on classroom observation. As they stood back to look at the graph, they realized they were going to need more people. \u201cThe numbers are too high, the students who can\u2019t blend isolated sounds need to have smaller group instruction to close the gap,\u201d Kris Kidder explained to the group. So they brainstormed, and decided that to successfully go competency-based they needed to include paraprofessionals, Title I staff, and special educators in the process. The momentum was building.<\/p>\n

Moving from the status quo often includes a lot of \u201cyeah, buts\u201d and other barriers. This change was no exception. When Ferrigno, Kidder, and Paquette brought everyone together and began the conversations around scheduling, meetings, planning, and \u201ctracking,\u201d there was plenty of concern. However, it wasn\u2019t one person standing out there alone anymore, the three core teachers stood together and asked everyone to make a commitment to putting the barriers aside for six weeks. They asked them to join the movement, and it worked.<\/p>\n

Four weeks later, the team of teachers, specialists, special educators, and paraprofessionals were showing positive gains and averaging an increase of twenty-four sight words every two weeks across the grade level. Some students had made more progress in the past month than they had during the entire first semester. Addressing students\u2019 personal academic needs through competency education is working in a big way.<\/p>\n

Lisa Davis, a special educator on the team, spoke out at a recent faculty meeting. \u201cWe\u2019re making a difference! One of my students told me the other day that she \u2018wasn\u2019t stupid anymore\u2019 and has not only moved up reading levels, but also gained back the confidence she had at the beginning of the year. Students are finally engaged in their learning,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey are more confident and willing to complete work. They are excited to move around and work with other students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Patrice3\"Parents are also seeing the benefit: \u201cI like that my daughter is experiencing having to \u2018try\u2019 in school at a young age so that she is used to studying and working hard, not everything should be easy.\u201d The parent continued, \u201cThis is the first time she isn\u2019t getting hundreds on everything; it\u2019s important.\u201d Meeting students at their level has also changed the culture of first grade. Behavior referrals for this group used to be among the highest; now there are very few incidents that require the attention of an administrator. \u201cStudents are happy when they come back and can tell me all about what they\u2019re learning,\u201d Paquette explained. \u201cNo one feels like a failure with this system.\u201d<\/p>\n

This morning, I was lucky enough to see the excitement for myself. One especially reluctant reader was coloring her book when I walked over. Previously when I\u2019ve asked her to read to me, she\u2019s caused a scene and refused. Today, she read her three page book to me. Even more impressive was that when she struggled with certain words, she didn\u2019t give up or yell, she went back and sounded each word out until she knew what it said. In four weeks of targeted instruction, not only has she learned how to read, she\u2019s developed the grit needed to succeed.<\/p>\n

The first grade team expected to see academic gains with personalized instruction, but they didn\u2019t factor in the social and emotional gains that were going to accompany it. Confidence and positive self-esteem are just as important to cultivate in students as academics. Luckily for us, the competency framework allows us to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of our students.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult for any teacher to stand up and say they are not meeting the needs of all of their students. But, if you look back, that\u2019s exactly where this movement started. Three teachers took a leap and said that our traditional way wasn\u2019t working. And instead of listing the reasons why these students weren\u2019t having success, they began drafting the solution \u2013 competency education.<\/p>\n

All we can hope for now is that as the momentum keeps going that others jump in and become part of the crowd.<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n