When the ASCD Annual Conference planning committee met to set a theme for the 2005 meeting in Orlando, it quickly became clear that because of our experiences as educators, we shared a desire to help students who neither like nor easily succeed in school.
Using Richard Sagor's September 2002 Educational Leadership article, "Lessons from Skateboarders," as a discussion starter, we recalled students who could practice skateboarding or could play video games for hours, attempting increasingly difficult maneuvers without expecting extrinsic rewards. Often, these same students fell short of teachers' expectations. Then we agreed on our responsibility—who, if not educators, should be at the front lines to help every student succeed?
The resulting theme of the 2005 ASCD Annual Conference—"Voices of Education: Unleashing the Power, Passion, and Promise"—mirrors our concerns about supporting all students. The theme calls upon educators to use their power to challenge, tap their passion to lead, and fulfill students' promise to succeed. Over the next year, my columns will address these ideas.
To wisely use our power as educators, we have the obligation to challenge anything that hurts children or gets in the way of their learning. At times we may need to challenge our bosses, our school leaders, teachers, parents, peers, even our governments.
A young student named David, in Jonathan Kozol's book Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, astutely places this need to challenge on the moral plane. When considering the desperate lives of the poor in the South Bronx, David says that something needs to be done to stop the evil on the earth and to change the hearts of people. "People who let other people be destroyed do evil. People who know but do not act do evil, too," David says.
Maverick Leaders
Likewise, educators must not allow inequities to continue, whether they are in school funding, teacher quality, or unfair labeling of schools. We need not only the knowledge of the issues but also the courage to act on that knowledge. Larry Lezotte and Dan Levine talk about the "maverick orientation" as a characteristic of effective school leaders. The best school leaders buffer the faculty and students from influences that could hinder student achievement. Such leaders recognize and use their power to challenge situations that get in the way of teaching and learning.
For example, Nebraska Commissioner of Education Doug Christensen, like several state chief school officers, has questioned some aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act. Christensen has said, "There is no right way to do the wrong thing. It is better to fail at doing the right thing than to succeed at doing the wrong thing." Following his own advice, he has upheld high standards for teachers, schools, and learners by trusting local districts to develop their own assessments rather than fostering a punitive culture based on a single state test.
Acting Locally
In my own district, Millard Public Schools Superintendent Keith Lutz insists that "our goal is to render the state and the federal government irrelevant." In other words, schools and districts should be far ahead of state and federal mandates because we're constantly challenging what we do to best serve our students. That means regularly challenging ourselves personally—and learning from the consequences.
As an associate superintendent dealing with curriculum, I recently challenged myself by teaching in a classroom for three weeks. "My" high school class wasn't impressed with my title or my focus on teaching the official curriculum. I soon discovered that telling others how to improve student achievement is much easier than actually improving student achievement. Although I didn't fare too well, I did learn more than I would have from months of reading new research or reflecting on my past experiences! Being in the classroom reaffirmed my support of Alfie Kohn's view that a caring community, an engaging curriculum, and student choice are the keys for creating successful schools.
Using our power as educators to challenge conventions is a first step toward keeping our promise to make a difference in students' lives. As the 2005 ASCD Annual Conference planning team suggested, defining and issuing the challenge to ourselves and others is the hard first step on a long journey toward helping each student succeed.