School Policy or School Culture?

It's relatively easy to change a school policy: a conversation and stroke of the pen will usually do it.

For an entire public school district, it might be an executive decision, or a board decision.

But changing a school's culture is more difficult and more complex. It requires leadership, teamwork, time, and lots of concerted effort.

Changing a school's culture is also more powerful than merely changing its policies.

A leader needs to do a lot of preliminary work behind the scenes before rolling out measures intended to alter school culture. A leader must have a careful discussion with the teaching faculty and other staff.

Policies can be tools toward changing a culture.

Culture will change only when the policy changes are kept consistently in place over a longer period of time.

Babbling about the 21st-Century High School

Huron High School and Pioneer High School are not only among the state’s best, but among the nation’s best. Yet one reads continuously of calls for “reform” in America’s public education system. Can those calls properly be construed as extending even to Huron and Pioneer?

These two schools produce not only a large number of individual high achievers (students with stellar ACT, SAT, AP, PSAT, PLAN, and other standardized scores), but also significant average scores: as was recently demonstrated, the average scores among the lowest thirty percent of students in these schools is above the statewide average score for all students.

The word ‘reform,’ meanwhile, as it applies to American public schooling, has become as common as blades of grass on a golf course.

For all of this century (so far), and for most of the last, the phrase “call for reform,” applying to public education, is an automatic reflex for both politicians and journalists. This language is used as a reaction to perceived flaws in the system, real or imagined.

Correspondingly, reform efforts and initiatives have multiplied, some of them with sincerely good intentions, none with lasting results.

How can the word ‘none’ be used so confidently here? Because “lasting” does not describe any aspect of our public school system. The chant of “reform” ensures that as soon as any attempted reform is implemented, it becomes part of the status quo and a target of the very demand for reform which gave birth to it.

It’s the French Revolution of education, where the revolutionaries, who finally wrest power from the monarchs, are instantly seen as the new monarchs against whom the rebellion must fight.

In a K-12 educational system, any hypothesis would reasonably require, at a minimum, thirteen years of implementation before one might even attempt any preliminary evaluation of it. Yet most reforms have only a year or two before they are jettisoned in favor of the next reform.

Further confusion is created by the fact that the discussions of educational reform are conducted on a national level, which to some extent by its very nature cannot account for the wide variation among local schools. According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are approximately 37,100 high schools in the United States.

Consider the diversity among the nation’s approximately 14,000,000 high school students: the variables include religion, size of community, ethnic heritages, native languages, attitude of parents toward education, income levels, etc.

Any single nationwide reform movement is bound to be inappropriate for some set of schools somewhere, and the number in that set is likely to be quite large. This thought nudges us toward the consideration of local control.

Until the creation of the Department of Education in 1980, schools were largely the jurisdiction of cities, counties, and states. Certainly, the federal government was increasingly encroaching on local control even prior to that year.

Education is currently the object in a three-way tug of war between cities, states, and the federal government. The chances of all three agreeing on a policy, or having a consistent view on school matters, are small.

States are often threatened with a loss of federal funding if they don’t comply with some Department of Education policy; yet the federal government still imposes unfunded mandates on local schools, despite a 1995 congressional effort to eliminate this practice.

There are reasons to suppose that a significant reduction in the federal government’s role in education, and a corresponding shift to local decision-making, would benefit students. The reader may catalogue such reasons.

A different question, however, is this: whether reducing federal intervention in education would be good for Huron High School, Pioneer High School, and AAPS students in general. Because Huron and Pioneer are statistical outliers, what’s good for education in general might not be good for them.

Whence this perpetual tumult of “calls for reform”? Many problems confronting our schools can be traced, directly or indirectly, back to John Dewey. He was a professor at the University of Michigan from 1884 to 1894, and died in 1952.

Dewey either reconceptualized schools so that they had little to do with education, or he reconceptualized ‘education’ so fundamentally that the word obtained a very different definition. Mortimer Smith writes:

Much of modern educational thought has its roots in the past, in the reformers Rousseau, Froebel, and Pestalozzi; but I think it would be generally agreed that the philosophical godfather of the movement is John Dewey. Traditionally, philosophers are scholarly, bookish individuals who are happy to idle in quiet backwaters, avoiding the mainstream of the life about them, content in the hope that whatever small contribution they may make to the total of the world's thought will make itself apparent to future students examining a past age; but a happy exception to this tradition is Professor Dewey, whose long life may rightfully be called a useful one, and whose thought has had the most direct and potent sort of influence on the society in which he has lived, and in the one field of educational theory has been the dominant influence in America during the past fifty years.

Whether we say that schools no longer have much to do with education, or we say that the education which schools offer has been redefined in such a way that it has little to do with all prior education, Dewey influence has much to do with this transformation.

It is now de rigueur to scoff at the notion of curriculum as a body of knowledge, or to dismiss the idea that text is a centerpiece, if not the centerpiece, of education.

Instead, “life skills” and “hygiene” replace text, and “self expression” replace “self discipline.”

There is nothing new about this: Dewey’s effect on American education is almost a century old. The quote from Mortimer Smith, above, is from 1949. The malaise is long upon us. In that same year, Bernard Iddings Bell wrote:

American education is so defective in theory and practice as seriously to threaten the long continuance of the way of life to further which this nation was founded. We have become, largely because of what schooling has done to us, a people incompetent to function as free men, which is something else again than flattered and manipulated robots. What is the use of abundance if we are trained to use it with the intelligence of children who never grow up? Quite a few observers of the American scene have lately been speaking their minds concerning this. Even I have said my two-pennies' worth about it. We fault-finders vary in the way we put things but we agree in being mighty dissatisfied, alarmed.

To return to our local situation, we ask whether, or in which ways, Huron High School and Pioneer High School can be improved.

Those who toil daily in the classroom might address this question: a Math teacher points out that work habits and study skills empower students to succeed; those who have the self-discipline to attend to daily homework master concepts and score better.

A Spanish teacher notes the intellectual fragmentation caused by the constant use of handheld electronic devices. While they can be, at times, useful in the learning process, they cultivate a habit of allowing one’s mind to dart about, rather than work on a topic reflectively.

A History teacher wrestles with curricula which have been rewritten repeatedly, and in which History as a body of knowledge is unrecognizable. The skills (“know how”) have been retained and expanded at the expense of mastery (“know that”).

A German teacher works belatedly to instill rigor and abstraction as skills used in thinking about language, because they have been purged from the curricula of the primary years.

These examples show that there are points of contact between Ann Arbor’s statistical outliers and the other high schools in America. These examples are by no means exclusive to the Ann Arbor Public Schools, but rather typical of the nation.

There is a paradox lurking in this situation: on the one hand, Huron and Pioneer are producing excellent, world-class students, who achieve at stratospheric levels. The preparation these schools offer is amazingly good, as their graduates discover during their freshman year at whichever college or university they attend. On the other hand, despite these superlative academic offerings, there are also areas for growth.

This rambling bit of prose is intended primarily to stimulate the reader’s thinking about these topics. Sadly, it cannot offer definite solutions or proposals. The reader is encouraged to do so.

[Andrew Smith is a German teacher both Huron High School and Pioneer High School. Although the topics here discussed can be controversial, there is intention neither to irritate nor to advocate, but rather merely to think. Andrew Smith reserves to the right to change his mind about any or all of what is here written.]

IB in the AAPS: MYP

One possible interpretation of the IB materials is that each student will have enrolled in classroom sections of two different world languages by the end of tenth grade:

For this reason, it will be important to ensure that sufficient numbers of teachers are available to teach German, Latin, and other languages.

[Andrew Smith is both a Huron High School teacher, and an Ann Arbor Pioneer High School teacher placed on temporary assignment for at Pioneer for the 2014/2015 academic year. Although based out of Huron High School, Andrew Smith may continue to teach a class or two at Pioneer in future academic years as program needs dictate.]

As the AAPS explores and adopts the International Baccalaureate program, the teaching of World Languages (Foreign Languages) will assume a more central role in the curriculum.

IB Testing Protocols

Teachers and administrators in an International Baccalaureate school use a guidebook or manual called the Vade Mecum which explains policies and procedures.
The IB program includes assessments which are administered in situ but then shipped to IB for evaluation. This brings a higher level of objectivity and neutrality to the IB program, and is one of the reasons it can present itself as an international standard.

[Andrew Smith teaches at both Pioneer High School and Huron High School. Although based primarily out of Huron High School, during the 2014/2015 academic year, and possibly into the future, Andrew Smith is an Ann Arbor Pioneer High School teacher placed on assignment at Pioneer for two hours daily, and a Ann Arbor Huron High School teacher placed on assignment there for three hours daily.]

Implementing New Programs - Move Slowly

Observers of the American education scene over the last five or six decades are familiar with the fanfare surrounding the introduction of a new program or methodology. School boards and administrators sing its praises, and teachers attend seminars at which they redesign their lesson plans to correspond to the new pedagogy.

Wave after wave of "something new" has washed through the educational community in the United States. Some good, some bad, some unremarkable, these innovations recede quickly at the advent of the next novelty.

Given that our system is currently structured as a K through 12 matrix, any proposed change should be given, at a a minimum, a thirteen-year trial before any conclusion is drawn about its merits or lack thereof.

The wise reader will quickly chuckle at such a notion. The idea of a thirteen-year trial period goes so against the current of the political establishment that it would be almost incomprehensible to any elected or appointed educational bureaucrat.

While America's educational system has done much to harm itself, it, or at least the public portion thereof, is also at the mercy of the larger social framework in which it exists. Nobody's interested in thirteen-year studies. Even outside of education, researchers find it difficult to garner support for longitudinal studies. Quick projects, with the hope of instant gratification, find more support. Perhaps in some quiet corners of the private sector someone would be willing to engage in a long-term trial of a method or pedagogy.

With great ceremony a new program is placed into the school system, but administrative dynamics will not leave it in place long. Its introduction will be an important item on some agenda, but its demise will take place almost without notice, as it is moved aside for the next new thing.

The reality being what it is, we will continue to lurch from one initiative to another every few years.

[Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Teacher Andrew Smith currently teaches at both Huron High School and Pioneer High School. He teaches History and German. For the 2014/2015 academic year, he has two classes every morning at Pioneer and three classes every afternoon at Huron.]

STEAM in the AAPS

The acronym STEM, denoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, has become popular in educational bureaucracies across the nation. In Ann Arbor, administrators use a variation, STEAM, which indicates the addition of Arts to the emphasis. STEM and STEAM are, by themselves, not programs, but rather expressions of content areas which educators turn into programs. The following is not meant to be a comprehensive overview, but rather is a sampling of facts and anecdotes which illustrate what STEAM can do for students:

• To get AAPS students ready for what they'll encounter after graduating from high school, we can look at examples like these:
• The University of Michigan's program in Cell Biology and Molecular Biology informs students (on its website as of February 2014) that they should have some exposure to French, German, or Russian.
• The U of M's program in Physics and Astronomy likewise informs students (on its website as of February 2014) that they should have some exposure to French, German, or Russian.
• The U of M's Chemistry Department (on its website as of February 2014) informs undergraduate majors that they should have a reading knowledge of German.
• The U of M's School of Engineering teaches, in conjunction with the U of M's German Department, technical vocabulary and writing in German; the School of Engineering sends undergraduate interns in large numbers to countries like Switzerland and Austria.

For more information about the study of the German language can accelerate your career in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics, ask your local high school German teacher!

[Andrew Smith is a German teacher at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.]

Managing ASD

For those working in educational, or other management, settings, it is not necessary or appropriate to discuss the etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder, or any treatments or therapies which may be prescribed or given for it. In schools and businesses, the questions about ASD are applied and practical.

One potential starting point is cognitive therapy. One hypothesis is that the expected behaviors, the mysterious unwritten rules of society, need to be taught in the way one teaches mathematics or history.

Under this hypothesis, an individual with ASD should be instructed about everything from eye-contact and shaking hands to polite phrases and self-censorship. By objectifying this content, the affective filter can be reduced. A neutral presentation and mastery of this knowledge might be a reasonable approach.

A different approach is that of behavior modification and operant conditioning. The former is sometimes called ‘applied behavioral analysis.’ This approach hypothesizes that a clear incentive or motivation is needed for individuals with ASD, in order to produce behavior toward which they have no inclination, and which they may find distasteful, but which society expects.

To be sure, these remain hypotheses, and it remains to be seen whether either, neither, or both of them will be ultimately found helpful.

Perhaps some blend of the two is possible.

The type of society in which an individual lives is also a variable for consideration. Does a society have relatively clear, if unspoken, rules? Does the majority of that society produce behavior which approximates those rules? If so, such a society will be more navigable for an individual with ASD than other societies.

[Andrew Smith is a German teacher at Pioneer High School.]

Pioneer's German T-Shirts!

Get 'em now! Pioneer High School is producing its annual German t-shirt. But you must order by Fri., Feb. 13, 2015! After that, it will be too late.

Interested? Talk to a German teacher. There are three of them at Pioneer: Robert Lederer, Andrew Smith, and Astrid Tackett.

If you get one of these shirts, you can wear it when we take our annual field trip to the German Day event at U of M.

Andrew Smith - Pioneer High School

During the 2014 / 2015, Andrew Smith is teaching German III and German IIIAC at Pioneer High School. These classes use room C-204. The textbook for the class is Deutsch Aktuell, fifth edition.

These classes continue an aligned curriculum with German II, German IIAC, and German I. Grammar, vocabulary, conversational patterns, and idioms are practiced in the modalities of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

One highlight of the school year was the annual trip to Chicago's Christkindlmarkt, which took place in December. The class is also looking forward to participating in the University of Michigan's annual German Day event, which will be held on Friday, March 13.

IB and AAPS

Readers are aware that the Ann Arbor Public Schools is not only considering the creation of an International Baccalaureate Program, but is even beginning to take concrete steps toward that end. What is an IB program, and what would it mean for AAPS parents and students?

The materials provided to date by the official IB organization contain mainly broad language about vision and mission, but are short on the specific details of how an IB program would be different than what is currently operating at Pioneer High School or Huron High School. There are, however, a few details which are beginning to emerge.

First, there is an extended research and writing project which seems to be a centerpiece of the student’s senior year. Second, there is an emphasis on close reading and textual analysis in the foreign language (‘world language’) curriculum.

To the latter point, it seems that students are to read one or two pieces of literature in the target language and create analytical essays, in the target language, about what they’ve read. A German teacher, for example, might assign Goethe’s Faust and Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and the student might compare the two in an essay written in German.

Money is, naturally, an issue. An IB program will cost something: fees must be paid to the International Baccalaureate organization, e.g., for the administration of standarized IB tests. The AAPS will need additional materials for classrooms.

Beyond those costs, a different sort of cost will be incurred in terms of which programs will have to give way in order to make room for IB. If Huron High School and Pioneer High School stay at approximately their present size - students bodies of around 1,600 - certain courses and curricula currently offered may disappear upon the arrival of IB.

The district is currently holding community meetings to gather remarks and comments from parents and other stakeholders. One comment which has already appeared several times questions whether the district will be able to continue to offer the wide range of AP courses which it currently maintains. Another remark questions whether or not retaining AP courses is, or should be, a high priority.

At this early stage, and in this continuously changing set of economic and political variables, it would be inappropriate to speculate about the exact details of a future IB program in Ann Arbor. Indeed, the purpose of the next year or two is to carefully investigate precisely that question.

Written IB materials include frequent mention of ‘philosophy’ in the International Baccalaureate curriculum. The AAPS will need to discover exactly what the IB means by that word. Teachers currently in the district who hold a State of Michigan teaching certificate in the content area of philosophy are few in number; one of them is Andrew Smith. Teaching certificates in that subject matter are rare.

To what extent does an IB certification indicate a “raising of the bar” in terms of how an outside governing body will examine the district?

The district has long been subject to accreditation audits, first by the North Central Association (NCA), and then by its successor organization, ‘AdvanceED.’

The State of Michigan has also monitored schools districts, and over the decades has done so with increasing levels of scrutiny.

Will the IB program bring more rigor to external reviews of the AAPS program? If, this would greatly serve the district’s purpose of attracting more students: being able to demonstrate that the AAPS offers a program strong enough to withstand IB scrutiny would be a feather in the district’s metaphorical cap.

By contrast, the examinations by the NCA and AdvancedED have been easy enough that passing them is no great achievement - after all, thousands of other high schools pass those same reviews. Likewise, the State of Michigan’s oversight is nearly meaningless, with constantly changing and irrelevant metrics which yield letters of reprimand precisely to those schools which are doing a good job of educating students, while allowing mediocre schools to pass.

(The letter of reprimand and threatened disciplinary action handed to Pioneer High School and Huron High School was based on bizarre statistical calculations; in reality, the average - mean, median, and mode - students in both schools were above the statewide averages on all relevant metrics.)

What remains to be discerned: more concrete and precise details about how an International Baccalaureate program would play out in the classroom, and whether the scrutiny of the IB organization is rigorous enough to ensure that passing IB reviews is something about which the AAPS can truly brag.

Over the coming months, a disciplined inquiry will, one hopes, yield this information.

[Andrew Smith is a German teacher at Pioneer High School and Huron High School.]

Final Exams - January 2015 - Getting Ready!

To help students get ready for final exams, volunteers from the U of M will be at Huron High School, in room 4315, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, on Monday, January 19, 2015, to work with small groups or with individuals reviewing for their tests.

This event is open to all Huron High School students.

We’ve offered this type of study session in previous years, and received many positive remarks and comments from parents and students. This type of feedback indicated that reviewing with the student volunteers from the university is helpful in the process of getting ready for final exams.

While it would be inappropriate to promise that everyone who attends the review sessions will get excellent grades, it is definitely helpful to study in this way. You can study for:

History (US, European, World), Government, Psychology, English, Philosophy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, Calculus, Pre-Calc, Algebra, Geometry, German, and Trigonometry

Other subjects may be available as well. These sessions, along with some disciplined review at home with flashcards and textbooks, are an excellent way to get ready for final exams!

If you have any questions about the review sessions, or would like to make a comment or remark about your experience at the review sessions, please talk to Andrew Smith.

[Although Andrew Smith is a German teacher at both Huron High School and Pioneer High School, this event is for Huron High School only. Similar events will be scheduled for Pioneer.]

Huron High School (HHS) and Pioneer High School (PHS) are part of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS).