Why are School Reformers Accused of “Negative” Thinking?
A friend pointed out that some of my writing might appears to be “negative.”
But, when I am writing about things that need to change, like the practices and politics of US public education, politically correct language targets maintaining the status quo.
Spinning “positive” descriptions our of real-world issues carries us no closer to solutions. Placing failure in a positive light does little to motivate our schools to the resolve those issues, and reform the practices the keep failures entrenched.
Learn from Counselors
Perhaps my tendency to expose “negatives” is a byproduct of counselor training.
There is one counseling dictum…
“The presenting problem is never the real problem.”
This generalization supports a corollary belief that problems that get patched and glossed over, remain unresolved…until root causes are identified and rectified.
We need to dig after root causes, and
Rectifying Root Causes with Targeted Solutions
For example, one problem facing public education is that teachers are burdened with the stress of multiple, useless tasks that distract them from instruction (lunch counts, lunch duty, bus duty, teaching to the test, test score disaggregation, grading papers, etc.)
Closing in on the root cause of this issue, we find that school district decision-makers use a loophole in the labor laws to force teachers to “accept responsibility” and perform these non-payoff tasks (often to the exclusion of important, educationally useful tasks) because teachers are “exempt” from the right to be paid for overtime work.
An easy solution to this issue would be to increase teachers’ pay by 1/7 to give teachers an eight-hour work day, then pay teachers a standard overtime rate (time and one half) for any work performed beyond that eight-hour workday. This strategy would instantly eliminate scores of unnecessary tasks that teachers are “required” to perform because school district administrators would cease assigning useless tasks due to the negative, bottom-line impact.
Another problem facing our schools is that US teachers spend over $1 billion USD of their own money on classroom and instructional supplies that the school districts that employ them fail to provide. The solution: Teachers turn in “discrepancy /variance/ exceptions” reports to school boards and local newspapers;” i.e., “write up” principals, directors and superintendents who fail to perform the basic management function of providing classroom instructional materials in a “just-in-time” manner. This could mount a grassroots effort to oust educational higher-ups that fail to do their jobs.
Upend the “Teacher Accountability Myth”
This strategy would also deal a “death blow” to the “Teacher Accountability Myth;” i.e., that teachers are not accountable.
The correct accountability model would focus upon school district administrators and executives assuming accountability for providing whatever is needed to educate our students and support teachers’ classroom instruction.
In the case of students “falling behind their age-grade achievement level,” one solution is to offer individual tutoring to every student, as needed, for as long as needed; until every student is performing at an adequate level.
Oh! No! We can’t afford a solution like that.
But, where is the real “negative?”
1.) Stating what the real problem is and providing a solution to the underlying problem (to promote debate and targeted action)
or
2.) Accepting the status quo and provide the (lame) excuse that “such although-needed solutions would cost too much?”
Students have Real Talents
In the case of our school districts, I see the incredible talents, abilities and possibilities that our children bring to school…and I compare our current emphasis on achieving minimum-skills test score competencies as “treading water with the hope of achieving greatness.”
In fact, our educational processes seem geared toward achieving uniformity, mediocrity and talent-stagnation.
And, who is taking the action that will actualize and realize the potential of our students?
Trick question: Of course many teachers struggle against politics, bureaucratic handcuffing, and minimal classroom support to draw out learning experiences that boost the lifelong pursuit of excellence from their students.
But, when this alchemy of learning fails to happen, who has the courage to say that our students deserve better and that nurturing our children’s talents requires that we spend real money (a lot more money) on the “right things” of education?
We need to reverse the current pattern of criticizing the folks that point out the need for improvement and change, and we need to chastise the entrenched, “positive” folks whose bureaucratic speech would pretend that they could (in political terms) spin silk donkey ears and silk elephant ears from political pork and political excrement.
The Lack of Money in our Schools Myth
Besides, the lack of money for education is a “myth.” There would be plenty of money for our students’ education if…
* We stop spending (wasting) money on the wrong things
* If we do what it takes to reach and teach each and every student (no excuses)
* If we do what it takes to support our teachers and make their jobs easier
* If we build a track record of real successes for students’ learning
* If we begin to measure students’ progress in meaningful ways and show the tax-paying public that we are getting results
* If we “up end” the “Teacher Accountability Myth” and understand that school district administrators and executives need to be accountable to teachers
A majority of people would fund education to levels that rival our country’s war effort if only our school districts began delivering the results that our students are capable of achieving.
Positive Spin on a Track Record that “Ain’t So!”
Who believes that the bureaucratic-speak (positive spin on negative news) can serve our students better than “telling-it-like-it-is?” The situation is negative and remains so despite the fact that US schools world rank is near the top for spending money.
The number of students that leave school high school without graduating is a national disgrace. And, critics note that these numbers of “drop outs” are undercounted.
At the community college level (even the university level), a large percentage of the students that do graduate must take remedial reading and remedial math courses before they are allowed to take courses that count toward their degrees (a daunting uphill, steep slope climb that many students don’t accomplish).
Bright, talented, dedicated teaching-major graduates come to our schools with zeal, with caring and with a resolve to make a positive difference in the lives of young people…and half of these teachers are gone from the profession in three to five years. Why? Who is telling these teachers what they need to know to survive and thrive? Does misleading Newbie teachers by singing a “positive song” erase the challenges that they face? Will chirping platitudes assist our new teachers?
Or, does someone need to comfort new teachers and explain to them that the stress and frustration that they experience in their daily teaching lives is not their fault. Rather, these issues
A Lesson for our Schools from IT Project Management
Another of my educational vantage points comes from my experience in IT project management.
Do you think that with an infrastructure project installing servers, network stitches, fiber cabling, network drops that we accept that even a single piece of this project fails to function?
No. Every item works, we have warranties and we have service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure that every element continues to function…and we have hand-off training and documentation to ensure that we can manage going forward.
What would happen if we adopted a Zero-Defect-Rate model for Education. This means that all students succeed.
All students means “every single student.” Achieves means that students reach their levels of talent and performance, and that every student learns to his or her academic potential.
Is it negative to write that our school districts are missing the mark when students fail to graduate in huge numbers?
Or is it negative to fluff up excuses such as: “It’s the low quality students fault.” “It’s a lack of parental support for our schools.” “Its the fact that teachers are not accountable.” “It’s the fact that our schools don’t have enough money,” “It’s the fact that we spend too much money on our schools.”
Excuse Givers…The Real Negative People
I believe that “excuse giving” school managers are the real “negative” people, and I believe that identifying problems and providing solutions is a positive step towards change and reform. I believe that “telling it like it is” so that unacceptable situations can be rectified deserves credit for taking a positive step toward the change and reform that our students deserve.
The school year is revving up again. Teachers are raring to go. Students are filled with hope and possibilities.
Will our students talents and abilities shine with new opportunities for subject-area mastery and academic achievement, or will the tarnish of the failed approaches of last year (and the year before, and the year before that) continue to hold our students’ achievement captive?
Our students deserve the joys that blossom from success and achievement. And our students’ children and grandchildren deserve the improved economic conditions that a competent education bestows.
It’s time to accept past failures and decide to embrace reform.
It’s time to label “politically correct, positive spin”…the sin of “painting rainbows over the rust and stagnation of past failure” as the “negative” that it is.
Praise the Whistle Blowers and Reformers
Find praise for the whistle blowers, change agents and reformers that tell us where we’re at…and offer solutions.
Our students deserve more than a “business as usual” school year. Our students deserve targeted school reform. Can we deliver what our students need? Identifying root causes for entrenched failure, then eradicating obstacles to success is the first step. Let’s take action and reform.
