Funding Plan

By Steve Atwater | Published: March 9, 2014

Last week while in Juneau, I met with several legislators to share that we are doing good work and deserve a modest increase in funding.  Predictably, each of the senators and representatives was confident that schools would see more money next year, but no one was willing to say how much more.  And so from now until the end of the session in April, we will do our best to convince our elected officials that without an increase we will be forced to reduce services.  While this is not news to anyone, when I step away from the process I am amazed that year after year we are tasked with preparing a budget without knowing our level of revenue for the coming year.  Wouldn’t it make sense to create a funding plan for education?  Think of all the saved time and energy if the state were to map out what they will spend on schools ahead of time. 

Section I of Article VII of our constitution states that the legislature shall by general law establish and maintain a system of public schools open to all children of the State, and may provide for other public educational institutions. To do so requires sufficient funds.  So while we are stuck in the current year-to-year model of funding, looking ahead, let’s encourage those in Juneau to create a funding plan to meet this constitutional requirement.   Everyone except Alaska Airlines would be happy if this was the case.

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Distance Delivery

By Steve Atwater | Published: March 2, 2014

Last week I traveled to Seldovia to hold interviews for the school’s principal vacancy.  The three candidates appeared on a SmartBoard through Skype with about 25 community and staff members in attendance.  One of the questions asked about distance learning, but unfortunately, none of the candidates answered this as well as they might have.  Their responses mostly focused on the mechanics of the interface and not on how to facilitate this type of learning.  In reflection, I feel that many still view distance learning as a passive, sit in front of a computer activity where  directing a student to a website is all that is needed.  As you might expect, many of our students who are learning online have a difficult time generating the needed discipline to stay away from social websites so that they can focus on the course’s content.  As a way to help foster this focus, schools need to ensure that there is a support system in place for the students.

Whether we like it or not, our students and adults for that matter, are increasingly drawn to digital content that is largely social.  This attraction is a concern for many who feel that the distraction of the Internet will prevent or slow learning.  I am sympathetic to this concern but don’t feel that we should use it as a reason to delay our expansion of using digitally delivered content.   To take full advantage of digital content, school staff must be able to monitor where students are and to ask questions of the student to check for understanding.  The efficiency of digital instruction is a plus for schools because it allows for the teacher to oversee more students and to focus on the higher order or application of the content with small groups of students.  Many school districts now require a student to successfully complete a distance course as a part of their graduation requirements.  Whether we add this requirement or not, it is clear that we will increasingly use digitally delivered content and that we need to train staff for how to support the students taking distance courses.  It is not enough to just worry about the mechanics of the interface.

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Increasing Bandwidth

By Steve Atwater | Published: February 18, 2014

I recently heard a prominent superintendent from Maryland ask, “if you can find it on Google, then why teach it?”  He went on to note that it is not wrong to teach something found on the Internet, but that this critical question should be considered before asking students to learn (usually memorize) certain content.  After hearing this, my mind immediately jumped to the time I observed a class quiz that asked students how many soldiers died in the US Civil War?  Was it 625,000, 500,000 or 475,000?   A Google search will find you the answer in less than 10 seconds. It is 625,000, although this number is disputed making knowledge of this fact dubious.

Six years ago none of our schools had wireless networks.  Today, all of them do. Each year (or is it every day?) our dependence on accessing information through the Internet increases. Our challenge is how to ensure that our teachers’ instruction takes full advantage of this resource as a way to provide time for higher order learning that is more readily achieved through interpersonal communication.  And herein lies the rub- we must have a robust level of connectivity at each of our schools to make accessing information a seamless part of a student’s schooling experience.  Not all of our schools have such connectivity.  There is a bill in the AK Legislature (HB179) that would help us increase our bandwidth, and also a proposed federal increase to E-Rate funding that would do the same.  If you get the opportunity, please support these two items, their passage will benefit our students.  Let’s continue to learn how to utilize the web to assist our students’ learning.

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Under the radar

By Steve Atwater | Published: February 8, 2014

At the end of the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, NBC interviewed one of our American athletes who competes in the bobsled event.  He was a gold medalist at the previous games, but I had no idea who he was because his sport does not command the media’s attention as does figure skating or downhill skiing.  This lack of a celebrity status for someone who is famous in his sport made me think of our individual teachers who are doing a superb job with their students but are for the most part, not gaining a lot of individual public attention.  It is of course interesting times with legislators debating how to better support education without simply raising the amount of funds dedicated to our schools.  The majority of the 620 Kenai teachers is aware of this debate but is not doing much to participate in it; their attention is on their students.  It is somewhat ironic then, that the larger discussion of whether public funds for education are being well used, rarely draws in a focus group of teachers to share their ideas.

The distance between what is happening in our classrooms and what some of the public perceive as poor schools can only be narrowed by actually spending time in schools.  It is easy to write an opinion piece claiming that our schools are failing because of a test score.  My challenge to those who feel that this is the case is to spend a day at school observing the daily routines.  Those who choose to do so will find teachers, like the bobsledder, who are stars to their students and schools but generally unknown by the greater public.  This is as it should be, a teacher’s energy needs to be on his or her students.  With that said, those who debate the merits of public education do have a duty to  spend some time at the classroom level and not be overly swayed by the rhetoric of those who have not set foot in a public school in the last fifteen years.

 

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School Counselors

By Steve Atwater | Published: February 1, 2014

Last week I attended the first 90 minutes of a district counselor meeting.  It was a good chance to see this group and to get a feel for their meetings.  After some initial discussion, the training turned to how counselors can recognize and support students who injure themselves. Although I knew that some teens do this, I never really spent much time considering the implications of this act or how to respond to it.  For our counselors, assisting those who self-injure is one of a myriad of their responsibilities to help our students. The training was good in that it caused me to step back from the consuming macro perspective of the district and instead focus on the micro. 

The recent release of the NAEP reading scores shows that Alaska’s 4th and 8th grade students do not read terribly well when compared to their peers across the country.  This disconcerting news is fodder for many to show that public schools do not work.  Although I don’t have access to KPBSD’s scores on this exam, I am confident that our students score above the national average.  While the NAEP tests disaggregate for socioeconomic status, they of course do not do the same for the emotional or psychological well-being of the test takers.  In a perfect world all of our students would have a low level of stress and would excel at school.  Our reality however, is that some of our students experience a fair amount of stress and partially depend on school to help them cope with it. Because test scores are quantifiable, it is easy to use them to suggest school quality.  A more holistic assessment of our schools would include the micro data that is not readily available.  It is expected that schools do so much more than teach students to read. I offer this not as an excuse for not having higher test scores (our scores by the way, are pretty good) but to help ensure that the perspective of public schools is not limited to these scores. Please join in me in celebrating our counselors this week (it is National Counseling Week) who do so much for our students.  Our counselors are a critical piece of the KPBSD puzzle, often helping students with the micro that few take time to think about.

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Service Learning

By Steve Atwater | Published: January 18, 2014

On Monday most of KPBSD will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day.  The extra day of this weekend gives us time to pause and reflect on why the third Monday in January is a federal holiday.  For many, the day is also a time to give back to your community by doing service. On Monday, scores of volunteers will be cleaning up neighborhoods, dishing out food in soup kitchens or holding activities for seniors or children.  The concept of service is one that most people support- how could you not?- but often do little about. 

A quick scan of websites shows that service-learning has been a part of schools for a long time and really gained popularity in the 1980s.  Some states now require a credit in service-learning to graduate.  Homer High School, Homer Flex and River City Academy are our only schools that require its seniors to complete a service project.  The question of whether schools should venture beyond teaching academics to include items that have more social value such as service-learning, is not easily answered because we already require our schools to cover so much that is non-academic. I know however, that most educators support service-learning as a way to help shape civically minded students. Our strategic plan includes a goal that all students will participate in a service learning project by May of 2016. Our mission statement calls on us to develop productive, responsible citizens.   KPBSD students spending time doing service as a part of their schooling helps us to meet this mission, and ultimately helps them recognize that they are part of a larger system that functions best when people freely give to their community.  Looking ahead, the application of learning through a service project is an excellent way to make school more meaningful for our students.  It also makes our communities a nicer place to live.

 

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Student Safety

By Steve Atwater | Published: January 11, 2014

At the end of each school day I receive a report that lists student injuries that require medical attention.  This is the district’s way of tracking each time a student is in an accident or gets hurt during an activity. On a good day there are one or two entries and on a bad day a dozen.  The injuries range from two students butting heads during a game of tag to a broken bone suffered during a sporting event.  Yesterday’s bus accident with 43 students and 6 adults will make Monday’s report a long one.  

All school district employees are trained to ensure that the safety and welfare of students is their most important responsibility.  When you consider that 8,000 students are in action at our schools each day and only a couple of them need to see a nurse due to an accident, you can assume that we do a pretty good job of ensuring that this is the case.  But when a serious accident occurs, as it did yesterday, things move to a whole new dimension.  As we held our collective breath, waiting for the details of what took place, I experienced that sense of loss of control and found myself questioning whether we need stricter guidelines for travel.  We are fortunate that the students’ injuries are not life threatening and will for the most part, soon be well behind them. 

I offer thanks to the multitude of people who dropped everything following the accident to help with next steps.  While the accident serves to remind us that despite all our efforts to ensure safety, there will be accidents.  It also causes us to pause and reflect on how we can improve to ensure that our priority of student safety and welfare maintains its utmost level of importance.

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Children and poverty

By Steve Atwater | Published: December 22, 2013

If you go to the Safeway in Soldotna, you will notice that the store has placed a brown paper bag filled with non-perishable food items on most of the conveyor belts of the checkout aisles.  If purchased, the bag will go to the local food bank.  Earlier this week I added a bag to my groceries hoping that it would help a family with children. On the way home, the news on the radio shared that Congress planned to cut food stamps to several million people. I had to marvel at the timing of doing this so close to Christmas and wondered if the cuts would affect any of our district’s students. Regardless of your views on curbing poverty, I worry that children are being lost in the conversation.  About 45% of our students qualify for a free or reduced price lunch. I don’t know how many of these children also benefit from food stamps, but am sure that many do.

The ongoing debate of how to move people out of poverty is complicated and for me frustrating because children for many are an afterthought.  The good news is that our communities on the Kenai are generous and regularly step up to help the needy.  When tragedy strikes, our neighbors rally together to offer relief.  Each year our schools demonstrate this generosity with food and clothes drives.  Our teachers regularly spend their own money to provide supplies for their students.  During this holiday season I offer thanks to everyone who gives something extra to our students.  While the bigger picture of how to help adults move out of poverty persists, let’s not lose sight of our children who desperately need support to help them weather the poverty storm.  There is optimism that our growing economy will reduce our students’ level of poverty.  Until then, let’s continue to give all that we can to help our children look ahead.

 

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The art and science of teaching

By Steve Atwater | Published: December 14, 2013

Earlier this week I spent time with some of our teachers discussing the challenges of their jobs.  We had a good conversation about the changing nature of teaching and how more record keeping of the acquisition of basic skills is now required.  While these teachers are prepared to fight the fight for their students, it is clear they are also a bit overwhelmed by all that is asked of them. In reflection, my take away is that they are concerned that the tension that exists between the art and science of teaching has swung too hard to the science side. Since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was reauthorized as No Child Left Behind, there has been an increased emphasis on the science of teaching.  We now collect and analyze more student data than ever before.  And while it is clear that this shift has led to improved results, for many teachers, it has also diminished the reason why they chose the profession.

I firmly believe that standard expectations for student achievement that include close monitoring of progress are a necessary part of school improvement. Without this, improvement can be random and overly dependent on the individual. I also recognize however, that school needs to be much more than attaining proficiency in the basic skills. Setting the goal of a set percentage of students showing proficiency in reading should not be all that matters for our students. Our teachers are also tasked with helping their students develop a love of learning.  It is important that school does not solely offer a fixed destination but also includes a general direction for students.  As adults we understand that the broader your understanding of a variety of things is, the more you can appreciate all that life has to offer.  Basic skills are the foundation of this appreciation, but they are not the end all.

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Preschool and Math

By Steve Atwater | Published: December 8, 2013

I recently read that only 18% of the adults in our country can calculate how much a carpet will cost if they know the size of the room and the per-yard price of the carpet.  This was written in response to another mediocre performance by American students on the math portion of an international test.  For our students, math is their tested area of lowest performance with about 1 in 5 students failing to score proficient on the state’s annual exam. When looking for an answer for why our students do not do better in math, there are lots of places to point.  I feel however, that a new study by researchers at the University of Missouri (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054651) is our best place to start.  The study found that students who have a good understanding of numbers before entering kindergarten will have more math success later in school than do their peers who do not.

We use federal Title I funds to offer preschool to about a third of our four year olds.  These students receive regular instruction in math to help them learn that a number represents a quantity  and that there are relationships among numbers.  This is a critical first skill for young students gaining math literacy. It is unfortunate that we can only afford to offer this preschool opportunity to less than half of our four year olds.   I feel it is time for Alaska to join the vast majority of other states in our country and supply funds for preschool.  As a way to make this palatable to our legislators, the state could require a partial local match of federal funds so that all 4-year olds have the opportunity for preschool.  I don’t feel it is appropriate to make preschool attendance mandatory, we do however, need to ensure that more of our 4 year olds have this opportunity. This change would go a long way toward helping the 20% of our students who are not proficient have success in math.

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