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The Children, Youth and Family Consortium, University of Minnesota,
is proud to present the 2004 Capitol Conversations: A dialogue about
research and public policy held in a dynamic forum for faculty and legislators.
February 10,
2004
Supporting Minnesota’s Teachers
University of Minnesota President
Robert Bruininks joined this conversation to kick off the 2004 Capitol
Conversations and to talk about the University’s
commitment to preparing and supporting teachers throughout the state.
| Facilitator: |
Jean King, Education Policy and Administration,
U of M |
| Panelists: |
Scott McLeod, Education Policy and Administration, U of M |
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Karen Seashore, Education Policy and Administration, U of M |
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Jennifer York-Barr, Education Policy and Administration, U
of M |
Highlights
from February 10, 2004
- We need to provide databased research for decision
making from the state level to the school district and even classroom
levels. This provides support
and accountability to teachers by guiding their decision making with
relevant information about their current students.
- Preparing, mentoring
and supporting new teachers in the classroom is critically important.
This will reduce attrition rates.
- Being deliberate about school and
classroom size reduces problems for students and stress for teachers.
Minutes from February 10, 2004
Joan Sykora, CYFC, convened
the session and recognized State Representative Barb Sykora, who had
requested the House Education Policy Committee,
which she chairs, to meet with this Conversation. Representative Sykora introduced
University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks and he gave opening
remarks. President Bruininks spoke about his Presidential Initiative
on
Children, Youth and Families, of which Capitol Conversations is a key
policy aspect. This Initiative is an opportunity to advance knowledge and connect
University resources and the community.
Karen Seashore opened her comments
by acknowledging that teachers’ working
conditions have a strong effect on their teaching quality as well as
their satisfaction with the profession. She identified three key research
based
findings: (1) change affects both teachers and schools, and both need
attention, (2) supporting teachers requires changing schools, and (3)
effective teacher
change is based on two kinds of knowledge, research-based “best
practice” and “reflective
practice” or “clinical judgment” that comes from applying
new ideas in a particular setting. Dr. Seashore also remarked that we
should care about schools as teacher learning communities because schools
that
create better learning environments for teachers have stronger instruction,
which translates into higher levels of student achievement.
Dr. Seashore’s
final remarks included the characteristics of effective school environments.
She noted that these characteristics are evident both
within the structure and human resource domains of schools. Structure
(time, teacher influence, access to “good data”, and smaller,
less complex schools) and human resources (supportive leadership, access
to
expertise, relevant feedback from peers, and respect and trust) combine
to create effective school environments.
Jennifer York-Barr followed
Karen’s discussion on conditions that
are supportive of teachers by reminding attendees that the primary goal
of teaching is student learning and growth. With this goal in mind Dr.
York-Barr addressed the issue of the early career teacher. She articulated
the need to support teachers early on in their careers through mentoring
and induction programs within a supportive culture.
Dr. York Barr also
highlighted findings from a study examining what professional development
is needed to change teacher instruction. She reported that
a focus on academic subject matter, opportunities for hands-on, active
learning, initial and ongoing learning with colleagues, and integration
within the school context were characteristics of professional development
efforts that increased the quality of instruction.
Scott McLeod focused
his remarks on the need for greater databased decision-making. He conveyed
the need for data to be disaggregated to help guide the decision-making
process. This needs to be done at a building and classroom level so that
educators can base their decisions on data-based information.
Dr. McLeod
also acknowledged that school districts need help with data analysis
and management. There is also a need for professional development
to allow those within the districts to learn what they do not know about
using data.
Open Discussion
Q: I hear about research on the implications
of both class size and school size on student performance. What can you
tell us about this research?
- Nationally, findings are robust for
small class sizes having a positive impact on the younger grades
(K-3). Also at a national level smaller
school sizes have a positive impact on success in secondary schools. So while
these factors can make a difference, the effects are not equal not
across the board.
- One type of solution some schools are trying is
to have “pocket
schools” or
schools within schools. However, the research on this is not yet definitive
but in a few years we will be able to determine if these efforts have
a demonstrable impact on student achievement by allowing kids to feel
better
about their schools and their learning. The assumption is that if it
is done well then the outcomes will be good.
- Another aspect of promoting smaller schools and
class sizes is the financial implications this has for the school
district’s
budget. Much of the school’s budget goes toward facilities and
physical set-up, and salaries. This doesn’t leave much room for
the extra costs of having more teachers and more classes/classrooms.
Q: We know schools
have staff development opportunities, however few,
yet we are hearing that teachers need more time and resources to pursue
these.
Do school districts simply need to focus these opportunities more for
improvement? And, where can districts look for more information on how
to do this?
- This can be done in conjunction with statewide work on determining
what is strong professional development (setting standards) and widening
this
knowledge base.
- More then just the school districts, individual schools need
to focus their opportunities, as much of what takes place is on an
individual level
of preferences rather than by consensus of what a particular school needs
to work on as a whole unit.
- The University has a Continuing Professional Studies
program, now in its fourth year, for principals, teachers, staff
and curriculum developers,
(http://education.umn.edu/CPS/default.html). Also, the Minnesota
Staff Development Council, an affiliate of the National Staff Development
Council,
promotes research-based staff development and collaboration among
all educators (http://www.mn-sdc.org).
Q: One of the biggest challenges
in education is high attrition rates
during the first few years of teaching. What are the national rates
during these
years and what can Minnesota do about these?
- The attrition rates for new teachers during
the first three years are 20-30%, much higher than other professions.
A few of the
reasons for such high
rates include low starting salaries, although this is not a
factor in Minnesota, and the working conditions new teachers face with
the enormous demands
and lack of time for reflection on their work.
- Induction programs are shown to be successful
in certain areas, Brainerd schools have proven to be a case of this
with lower
attrition rates.
Fostering effective relationships between teachers and their peers
within a school provides an avenue for feedback, support and mentoring.
Such relationships
will also reduce the need for long, after-hours training seminars
for teachers.
Data-driven schools can also answer questions of what is working
regarding teacher and staff issues.
- School violence is not related to increased
attrition rates. Research finds that school violence is on the decline
from 15 years
ago. The issue at
hand is the lack of resources that new teachers need to assess
the current culture that children live in.
- Classroom management and working with
special education kids are two areas in which teacher preparation
needs to be improved.
Having these improved
skills would help new teachers feel better about their situation
and ability to deal with the challenges in their classrooms.
Q: Currently,
the University is the only place to obtain a Ph.D. in educational
administration. This makes it difficult for students in greater
Minnesota to obtain such degrees. Would it make sense for St. Cloud State
University
and Mankato State University to offer Ph.D. programs?
- It is very expensive at the Ph.D. level
as well as resource-intensive for universities to offer these programs.
Yet, it is part of an ongoing
discussion of how to best serve students in greater Minnesota in a
face-to-face
style, which is the best way to provide quality leadership training.
- An alternative to spending the money and
resources on creating Ph.D. programs at other universities would
be to concentrate
on building the learning
networks across the state. This would increase the capacity
of our various centers of learning and be a way to more efficiently
share
resources.
Q: The element of time is very important and definitely
has an
impact on learning and teaching. What are the implications of varying
school
year
calendars as on example of this?
- While there are not many examples of year-round
schools in the U.S., we do see the possibility of enormous effects
of this type
of school year
for low-income, disadvantaged kids. During regular school years,
these kids experience a huge summer learning loss since they often
do not have
access to learning opportunities such as language camps or
tutoring. These learning gaps are increased each summer break so year-round
schools could
alleviate this to a certain extent.
- The year-round schedule also would allow
for more frequent breaks for teachers and opportunities to meet and
conduct their professional
development
on
a more regular and frequent basis, not just once a semester.
- Yet, we observe that summer learning opportunities
and enhanced staff development support are generally the first pieces
cut from overstressed school
budgets.
Q: How would a data-driven system operate for our schools?
- This would be a multi-level, multi-faceted operation.
Data would be collected at the state level, district level, school
level and even the classroom
level. Disaggregating the data is necessary to enable teachers
to see trends and set appropriate goals for the current student’s
in their individual classrooms, rather than generalizing from
data that is out-of-date, on
a larger group or different group of students altogether.
- State level data is good for state policy;
district level data is good for district policy; school level/building
data is good
for school policy,
and classroom data is what is good for the individual teachers
and students.
- Schools will need new and better technology
systems and training to use the systems. Often larger school districts
can afford such upgrades
while
smaller, and many times rural, school districts cannot.
- Becoming a data-driven school system is
a process that needs everyone on board to ensure an adequate infrastructure
of technology,
training and
understanding.
- Most teachers estimate three to four weeks lost
each school year as time spent figuring out where their students are
academically in subject
matters because they don’t have this data available to them.
Varying levels of ability is a tough situation for a classroom teacher
to deal with
and is made increasingly so by the ongoing lack of data to
alleviate this situation.
In addition, the gaps in ability levels are increasing as a
result of this lack of preparedness and therefore accuracy in curriculum
planning.
Q: Are college students (training to be teachers) being
prepared to practice data-driven decision-making?
- These students do take a statistics course so
they know what statistical terms mean and to a certain extent how to
interpret them. They are not,
however, required to take courses on collecting data. Making
changes in the U of M’s curriculum for future teachers is a slow
process and difficult to achieve given the number of other
requirements seen to be
equally as necessary for teacher preparation.
- The early years of teaching are pivotal
for educators, there is a great need for continuity of assessment
as new teachers transition
from college
into professional careers. Such assessment will enable education
programs to better tailor resources offered with teacher needs.
Jean
King concluded the first session of Capitol Conversations at 9:00am.
Please continue to visit the Capitol Conversations
web site
(www.cyfc.umn.edu/poliyc/capcon)
for further information on the series.
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