I often hear many great athletes, entrepreneurs, and scholars use the term "iron sharpens iron" when referring to their talents and professional growth. As I reflect on the Alabama ASCD (AASCD) 2022 Winter Conference, I would like to thank you for attending. The conference was impactful and another excellent opportunity for educators to "sharpen" their skills. As we chart the course in public education, I am hopeful that the conference provided you with the tools and vision to effectively map the best route for your school district to continue the journey for academic excellence.
As we navigate our course in 2022 and begin mapping the path for 2023, AASCD will stay the course with our mission of providing excellent professional learning. We will continue to provide Alabama educators with the details, practicality, and evidence-based instructional strategies to empower our students to dream, explore, and be innovative. As an organization, we will continue to advocate for you to enhance the supervision, curriculum development, and instruction for your students and teachers.
As President of AASCD, my goal is to continue to be the "go-to" organization as you explore and implement the new ELA and Math standards. AASCD will continue to partner with the Alabama Department of Education for the spring 2022 Bootcamp in April. This year's boot camp will focus on Curriculum and Instruction (ELA and Math Standards), Effective Summer Learning Programs, Prevention and Support (Mental Health), and Learning Management Systems (PowerSchool Q&A). As we prepare for our upcoming Virtual Bootcamp, please make plans to attend. AASCD is committed to providing the highest levels of support and leadership for you to promote social, emotional, and academic learning for students and teachers in Alabama schools.
Instructional Best Practices: A Winter Conference Recap
The AASCD Winter Conference was held virtually on January 24-25, 2022. A perfect blend of national experts and local and state educational leaders presented on an array of pertinent topics. While we missed the networking and community of being physically together, the conference provided an exceptional learning experience. There was definitely something for everyone.
Have you ever tried to implement a change in your school or district, or even personally, only to give up shortly afterwards? Dr. Katy Milkman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, addressed the process of change during the first general session. She brought awareness to the fact that oftentimes we sabotage our own efforts to change. She proposed that we tailor solutions to our obstacles.
During her presentation she elaborated on three of seven obstacles described in her book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Based on her research, Dr. Milkman provided us with practical tips and insights for getting started, impulsivity, and confidence. Afterwards Richard Erdmann and Christine Drew, our partners from Syfr Learning and the Foundation for the Art and Science of Learning, facilitated a panel discussion and Q/A session with Alabama instructional leaders and Dr. Milkman where she provided some practical applications of her research for educators.
Breakout sessions filled the morning of the second day. Topics included the complexity of teaching, preparing for summer learning, the new teacher observation tool, textbook adoption, TIP (Teams Improving Practice), and instructional strategies. Following the morning breakout sessions, over 60 participants attended the AASCD meeting to learn how they could get more involved. Dr. Melissa Shields with the ALSDE Office of School Improvement inspired us during the afternoon session with Know Your Why. She reminded us how we can use data more effectively, the importance of building student connections, and how we can prioritize our work to get better results. The closing session of the conference featured timely updates from both the national and state levels: Walter McKenzie, ASCD Senior Director of Constituent Services and Dr. Eric Mackey, Alabama State Superintendent of Education.
The 2022 AASCD Winter Conference was a huge success thanks to all who participated. We would like to say a special thank you to the CLAS staff, our partners at the Alabama State Department of Education, and our conference sponsors: Classworks, Curriculum Associates, Edmentum, McGraw Hill, Publishers’ Warehouse, Reading Horizons, and Renaissance. Their support enabled us to provide a conference experience filled with high quality professional learning for Alabama’s educational leaders.
Walker County Schools Pre-K Initiative
Many administrators, including myself, who supervise early childhood, have limited knowledge in early childhood development, including curriculum, instruction, assessment, brain development, and developmentally appropriate practices. Because of my limited knowledge, I participated and completed the NAESP’s Pre-K-3 Leadership Academy. It provided me with an understanding of early childhood development.
Now, serving as a mentor for the leadership academy, I have found that many educators lack the fundamental concepts of early childhood behavior, intentional play, and assessment. The academy provides educators with research of why and how to redirect student behavior, and teaches the child how to problem solve, make good decisions, and self-regulate. These skills are developed through a positive relationship with an adult such as a teacher.
One of the most misunderstood areas among educational leaders is the importance of learning through play. Young children are not going to sit at their desks and listen—for long. They need to construct their own knowledge through intentional learning opportunities. Intentional play allows students to learn new concepts while building students’ language skills, social skills, and capacity for empathy.
We often attempt to draw a divide between play and traditional academics, when they should go hand-in-hand. For example, one of our 2nd-grade classrooms built a make-believe bakery where one student would create a menu, another would take an order, and another would measure out ingredients to bake a mock cake. It was a hands-on learning opportunity that imparted a variety of problem-solving skills effectively in a familiar and engaging setting.
Our journey began when the Walker County School District was awarded a Pre-K-3 grant for Lupton Junior High’s kindergarten. The grant focuses on high-quality learning opportunities designed to improve outcomes and close achievement gaps. The principal participated in the Leadership Academy. Classrooms were supplied new materials to support student learning through language development, intentional play, active learning, and social-emotional development.
Teachers attended Teaching Strategies® GOLD training to prepare them to successfully assess whole-child student learning through planning intentional activities and collecting authentic data from their observations. Formative assessments were embedded in the classroom daily and the data was used to tailor student learning, drive teacher instruction, and improve student performance.
After the first year of implementation, data revealed that all students had shown cognitive growth, student attendance had increased and behavior issues had decreased. Better still, teachers had made deeper connections with students and their families.
Our goal is to provide a seamless continuum in pre-K–3 learning. If we can build deep learning constructs that provide a foundation for later learning and teach the whole child, we won’t have to worry about achieving excellent test scores—they will be a byproduct of high-quality student learning and instructional practices that align with the research on early childhood development.
My goal is to have all of our elementary schools’ K–3 classes involved. It is a huge project, but we’re up for the challenge. My motto is, “When we know better, we must do better.” And we now know better.
Teaching is a profession in crisis. High stress, low salary, lack of support and barriers are the reasons most often cited for individuals not choosing the profession and for leaving the profession. Covid has presented even more challenges - to get students back in the classrooms and to keep teachers there. So, why if teacher demand is growing, why does the teacher/educator shortage continue?
Multiple studies (Forbes, 2021; Carroll, 2007; Ronfeidt, 2013) note that teacher attrition remains at about 8% annually. Two-thirds of leavers depart before retirement age and state their dissatisfaction with aspects of their teaching conditions. Teacher supply is shrinking and if current trends continue, we could see as few as 200,000 available teacher hires each year by 2025. This could mean an annual gap of more than 100,000 teachers. There are fewer new entrants into the profession with teacher enrollments having dropped by 35% between 2009 and 2014 (USDE, 2016). Nick Morrison, contributing editor for Forbes wrote on 12/24/2021 that “schools have faced extraordinary challenges over the last two years, but perhaps the biggest is still to come in 2022: stopping the Great Teacher Resignation.” A March 2021 survey by Education Week found that 54% of teachers said they are somewhat likely or very likely to leave the profession in the next two years. This is a bump up from 34% in 2019.
Reducing attrition would also significantly rescue substantial costs for replacing teachers who leave. In 2010, these costs were estimated to reach up to $18,000 per teacher in an urban district (Ronfeidt). With inflation, these costs would be more than $8 billion today. And, as practioners, we know that high teacher turnover negatively affects student achievement. A vicious cycle is often created in hard to staff schools as often these schools have a higher number of inexperienced teachers who typically leave at much higher rates than other teachers. In times of shortage, common sense tells us that many of these teachers are generally underprepared —- this just puts them at a greater risk of leaving. The Alabama State Department of Education has in the past year taken numerous actions to support new hires and one notable one is the Alabama Teacher mentoring Program (ATMP). The principal will designate a mentor for all hires in their first or second year of teaching. The mentor will receive an annual stipend of $1,000 (memorandum, Eric Mackey, August 11, 2021). Another action, The Teacher for Excellence and Accountability for Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) project, came from new state legislation with the goal “to fill every Alabama school with credentialed math and science teachers” who could earn an additional $20,000 annually (May 2021). Ongoing actions are necessary if this educator shortage is to be halted.
A comprehensive approach to reducing attrition would both lessen demand for teacher hiring and save money that could be better spent on other ways to improve instruction. There are four major factors that influence teacher recruitment and retention:
- Compensation
- Preparation
- Mentoring and Induction
- Teaching Conditions
Professional growth and development fill the needs and some gaps for both new and experienced teachers. I invite you to be a part of three exciting learning opportunities this Spring sponsored by AlabamaASCD and one from ASCD.
Khristie Goodwin Honored with AASCD Outstanding Curriculum Leader Lifetime Achievement Award
Leadership in education has never been more critical than it is right now. According to Matthew Lynch (2020), “All great leaders have unique qualities that make them effective, inspiring, and admired. Nevertheless, there are identifiable traits and skills successful change-makers possess that separate them from the rest of the pack.” Lynch cites six characteristics or skills that outstanding leaders use to make a world of difference in their schools and districts: building community, positivity, reflection, vision with a plan, authentic behavior, and passion for the people and the work. Alabama ASCD seeks out the best leaders in curriculum and instruction who possess these characteristics and have used them to bring impactful change for children in Alabama’s schools. We want to highlight those leaders not only for personal recognition, but also for networking opportunities for our members.
The Outstanding Curriculum Leader Lifetime Achievement Award was created for the type of leader Lynch described. This year’s winner is from Oxford City Schools, Mrs. Khristie Goodwin, who is described by her colleagues as an agent of change in her school district since 1992. Her most notable accomplishments include an initiative that she and the superintendent began more than 10 years ago. The system embarked on a journey to improve academic achievement for all students by researching, training staff, and implementing Standards Referenced Grading practices based on the work of Robert Marzano.
Through this yearslong journey the school system has now fully implemented Standards Referenced Grading, an evidenced-based approach to teaching and learning for all students, and quality questioning instructional practices for all grades levels.
Mrs. Goodwin has served as special education teacher, psychometrist, special education coordinator and curriculum coordinator for Oxford City Schools for the past 31 years. Her name and reputation are well known around the state, and she is seen as a well-recognized by her peers as an outstanding leader in her field. The improvements the district has experienced under her leadership over the past ten years are evident on academic accolades and state report card scores.
Another colleague said of Mrs. Goodwin that she is an elite educator and person. Her relentless passion for all children, her tireless work ethic, her knowledge, experience and zeal set her apart, but it is her compassion, empathy, and mentoring that draw people to her.
Alabama ASCD is proud of Khristie Goodwin and her work, and we are proud to recognize her as a valuable AASCD member with the Outstanding Curriculum Leader Lifetime Achievement Award for Winter, 2022, at the AASCD Winter Conference on January 24-25, 2022. The award was sponsored by Edmentum, which provided a gift of $250 for the winner. Edmentum provides digital K-12 curriculum, assessments, and instructional services to schools and districts from full K-12 virtual curriculum and project-based learning, to interventions, reading and phonics, and social emotional learning. We are grateful to Edmentum for their support and partnership with Alabama ASCD.
Recharge and Reconnect
As winter transitions into spring, the days grow longer and warmer and memories of the frosty winter months began to fade away! It is this time of the year when we begin to reflect on the past year and strive to keep those New Years Resolutions that we made just last month. As you continue to recharge the batteries in your personal life, make sure that you also recharge your professional batteries by engaging in meaningful professional learning and networking opportunities.
The Alabama Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (AASCD) has some upcoming events that will transform teaching and learning in your school/system. Make sure to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities.
On March 17, 2022, AASCD will host a “Spring drive-in.” This one-day professional learning opportunity will be held at the beautiful Montgomery Museum of Arts, 1 Museum Dr, Montgomery, AL 36117. This event will compare Katy Milkman’s work with John Hattie’s research on impactful influences on learning. You do not want to miss this event so register by clicking the button below.
According to the dictionary, a boot camp is defined as a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training. AASCD is pleased to announce that we will have our Spring 2022 Bootcamp on April 7, 2022. Come and join us for a full day of virtual learning designed with you in mind. We will hear from our Alabama State Department representatives as well as other instructional leaders across the state on diverse topics such as summer learning, mental health/SEL/character education, course of study (Math and ELA), elementary computer science integration, effective scheduling, and others. Registration is now open.
On the national level, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) will host its 2022 Annual Conference: Recharge and Reconnect on March 18-21, 2022, for in-person participants in Chicago, Illinois. For those who want to participate virtually, ASCD will provide on-demand content on April 20-22, 2022. This will be a time to “come together to reinvigorate, recharge, and grow as a life-changing educator."
Have you registered for the 2022 CLAS Convention? If the answer to this question is no, then WHY not? You do not want to miss two-and-a-half days of professional learning and networking. Join us in the historic city of Birmingham, AL on June 13-15, 2022, as we connect, inspire, and thrive!
Just as the leaves fall off the trees and the roots store the essential nutrients needed for re-growth in the spring, you must find ways to recharge and regrow each year. Take some time for yourself by enjoying these wonderful professional learning and networking opportunities offered by ASCD and AASCD. As always, if CLAS can ever be of any assistance to you, do not hesitate to contact us!
Launching into 2022 with the Office of Student Learning's Better Beliefs, Better Systems, & Better Results!
Ready or not, we have officially launched into 2022, and with the official New Year brings the second semester of our 2021-2022 school year! Did you take time to look back and reflect on 2021? For some of us, we may still think we are in the 2019-2020 school year when the pandemic hit us with a vengeance and has since caused long-term disruptions. However, I made the decision to be intentional with my reflection before I jumped back on my “hamster wheel” that continues to spin daily! We know educators are overwhelmingly tired, worn out, and stressed, but I wanted to grab on to something tangible to ground my focus and energy for 2022!
My reflection time reminded me that while I started most days with the “I can make a difference! I am doing the work needed to help educators, and nothing is going to deter my efforts” attitude, many of my days ended with a much different attitude. Like many others, I unfortunately found myself feeling exhausted, defeated, and most of all overwhelmed with tasks and assignments I couldn’t complete. I decided that I had to do something different, or it was going to be a long year! I think it is safe to say that the pandemic will continue to impact education in 2022, so adjusting to those demands while also trying to support our ongoing state initiatives had to be handled in a different way for me to be able to survive. Just a few of our current ALSDE initiatives we are trying to support include the Alabama Courses of Study, PowerSchool SIS, Schoology LMS, additional federal funding to support learning loss, and expanded rubrics to evaluate textbooks/High-Quality Instructional Material…just to name a few!
So fast forward to my solution. It was very simple and something I not only stressed as an LEA educator but also in my current position at the ALSDE. I had to find a simple way to stay grounded in what I can control and be mindful NOT to focus on what I can’t control. Isn’t that what we tell our teachers all the time? Combine that philosophy with the great advice from the book Extreme Government Makeover: Increasing our Capacity to Do More Good by Ken Miller, and we have a recipe for success. Miller tells us that “To get better results in government, we need to change our systems. To change our systems, we need to change our beliefs.” In simpler terms, 1) Better Beliefs = 2) Better Systems = 3) Better Results.
Better Beliefs
There is a reason that Miller starts with beliefs. Without defined beliefs that serve as the core of the work, emotions and other outside issues can sneak in and control the way we address our challenges and ultimately how we communicate or work. So, I first made a conscious effort to identify the following core beliefs that would keep me grounded in 2022:
- Focus on what I can control daily and not what I can’t control;
- Work to provide specific resources, tools, and other supports one project at a time with a focus on what can be provided today; and
- End each day knowing my ALSDE team has accomplished a task that makes a difference for educators trying to do the very best they can each and every day.
Better Systems
With those beliefs defined, you may ask what “Better Systems” actually looks like. You are in luck; I have a few of the following examples for you:
- Reviewing emails daily to make sure anything that is urgent (or I call them 911 issues) is addressed (notice I did NOT say answer all emails daily);
- Following up with staff and LEAs to ensure they have what they need from prior requests;
- Problem-solving with ALSDE staff to find new, innovative ways to do our work;
- Empowering my staff to try new strategies, invent new resources, and work differently knowing that some of our work will be successful and some will fail miserably; and
- Learning from those failures to realign our work.
Better Results
Now you are on the edge of your seat wondering what “Better Results” really look like, or have I come to the end of the road with no real changes similar to other past New Year’s resolutions? You are in luck; I have several “Better Results” to share with you! Proceed with caution though because once you see what type of results have already come from this simple formula, you will have to with others! Also know that NONE of these results would be possible without my Office of Student Learning team, led by proactive coordinators who work tirelessly to support Alabama educators! The following examples are just the beginning!
1. Geometry and Measurement Preparation for the ACAP
We know there is never enough time in the school year or in the remaining days in our school calendars to teach, intervene, reteach, and ensure mastery for all students. When we review the math blueprints, we realize that Geometry plays a significant role in scoring. To assist LEAs, AMSTI has created ready-to-use classroom resources for each standard in the Geometry, Measurement, and Data content strand in grades 2-5. The resources are designed to provide students with experiences with these standards before the ACAP Summative and are also beneficial as review activities. The activities can be used in classrooms, as math stations, or as a "field day" type of experience. Access these resources here: Geometry Student Experience.
2. Math At-Home (and parent-friendly) Resources
We have several at home resources to help parents with reading, but what about math? Please don’t refer me to online tutorials or video links to review or a chapter excerpt to read that explains how to do math. There isn’t enough time in the day for our teachers to plan “math nights”, and even if there was time, exhaustion continues to be a real challenge with educators and parents. What can we provide to assist LEAs without adding more planning and researching for teachers? Look no further; AMSTI has begun the Mathematics @Home project to make resources available for families of young learners, targeting ages 3-7. The information includes practical suggestions for families to incorporate math into their everyday home routines. Monthly calendars will provide a single activity every day, beginning with February. A new calendar will be released each month. Be sure to follow AMSTI, @amsti4all, on social media to see when new resources are pushed out, and please share from your social media accounts. To access these resources, use the following link Mathematics @Home.
3. Monthly Administrative Planning Guide to Support ALA Implementation
We have provided a variety of support guides, documents, resources, links, websites, etc. to assist in the implementation of the Alabama Literacy Act. We also understand that administrators have 5,431 different tasks daily and sometimes hourly, so ARI has worked with R7CC to develop a month-by-month guide to assist administrators in not only making sure they have due dates and reporting requirements outlined by month but also includes those building-level processes and procedures that further help improve student outcomes. Some of those tools or “processes” may not be specified on a checklist because there is nothing to complete or “turn in” by a certain date, but finding the time to identify those things in the ALA and then put them into action can be challenging. This new resource guide can be accessed to help our administrators achieve “Better Results.”
4. Data Dashboard for Alabama Educators
With the formative and summative assessments we now have, it can be challenging to pull all of the most recent data together for PST meetings, parent conferences, or even data meetings. To transform our ability to compile comprehensive and on-time data for students, the ALSDE has now launched the PowerSchool Performance Matters Assessment and Analytics platform. This tool allows educators to author, administer, and analyze assessment results alongside early warning indicators and third-party assessments to better inform district planning and decision-making around remediation strategies and professional learning initiatives. The following statewide summative assessments data are available in the data analytics platform: ACAP Summative, ACAP Alternate, ACT, ACT WorkKeys, Advanced Placement, WIDA ACCESS for ELL, and Pre-ACT. The following formative assessments data are available: NWEA Map, Istation ISIP, Pearson AimsWEB Plus, Renaissance STAR, Curriculum Associates iReady, and Amplify mClass. We also know that finding time to attend training is in demand, so our Education Technology section is working collaboratively with others to support LEAs with training options, including the following:
- An initial Train-the-Trainer model of Performance Matters Assessment and Analytics training was offered to districts during the first week of October 2021.
- Performance Matters Video Tutorials (Access by logging into Performance Matters, then go to Reports ➡️ My Dashboard ➡️ News & Assignments tab ➡️ Video Tutorials/Webinar Series)
- Current training on PowerSchool Campus PD+ with Multiple Learning Paths Availalble including Curriculum Director, Office/Administrative Staff, School/District Administrator, and Teacher. (Go to Content Library ➡️ Topics ➡️ Performance Matters ➡️ Performance Matters Analytics: Introduction (Video))
5. Alabama Courses of Study Adoption Cycle Modification
Dr. Mackey updated superintendents in November to let them know a new adoption cycle was being published after researching other state models, as well as analyzing our current cycle that had math, ELA, science, and social studies standards revision and adoption in back-to-back years (not necessarily in this order). This update is the culmination research and realignment that will accomplish several important goals including:
- better aligning with the NAEP Framework adoption cycle,
- better aligning CTE and traditional core subjects that offer overlapping credits, and
- making sure that two major core subjects are not back-to-back.
Thank you for your continued commitment to Alabama’s schools! Remember…Better Beliefs = Better Systems = Better Results! Let’s make this year the best year ever in spite of whatever challenges or barriers we are faced with in 2022!
AASCD Board of Directors
Credits:
Created with images by Vitalinka - "Summer holidays, childhood and family concept." • Skitterphoto - "pencils colorful sharpener" • Kanthita - "Asian boy and girl playing with colorful plastic blocks. Learning and imagination of young children. Hand muscle development. Toy sharing. Baby age 1 years and 2 years old." • be free - "Teaching dumb students. Teacher mature man. Fed up. Difficult work. Emotional burnout. Teacher give up. Hate his job. Man desperate teacher in classroom. No hope for better. Tired and exhausted" • Vitalii Vodolazskyi - "Professional development goals list in a note."