Teacher Quality Partnership

Welcome during Recruitment

2012-02-21T10:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Leasha, Lynne and I went as representatives of the TQP Team to Turkey Valley Schools. We were promoting the TQP project and "recruiting" or "courting" the faculty to consider joining as one of our ten partner districts.

When we entered the building we found this sign welcoming us and directing us to where the meeting was being held. This impressed me so much that I got out my iPad and snapped a photo.

TQP Team Retreat

2012-02-16T15:19:00.000-06:00

Our TQP Team met recently to look at our goals in light of the changes on the horizon at our state level. We chose to revise our goals with actionable terms in essence allowing us to proceed with our work in a more guided way.

Here are the goals of the UNI TQP project:

systematize a culture of effective teaching through continuous professional growth
integrate the qualities of effecting teaching into pre-service programs
utilize reciprocal networds to support effective teaching (the relationship piece)

The discussion was rich, the food was good and the setting peaceful as we got ourselves off campus and out of the hectic routine where we could work undisturbed by phone, email and the casual visitor. Although our work necessitates having phone, email and visitors, the moments when we can remove ourselves from these distractions and reflect on the meaning of our tasks are to be treasured.

Here is anticipating the next one!

Keys for Successful Project Leadership

2012-01-17T10:27:00.000-06:00

Today I read a blog by Mike Figliuolo of ThoughtLeaders. I really liked how he suggested that project management is really not the matter at hand, rather project leadership. It made me wonder if I had been giving the leadership demanded for the TQP project. Sometimes it is good to touch base on progress.
He shared four key ideas for successful project management.

Define Success

leaders set the direction and set the bar as well as determine the metrics for success

Procure Resources

listen to what the team needs
negotiate to get everything they need to be successful

Dress like a Fire Fighter

leaders manage change
leaders advocate
leaders fight fires should to shoulder with team members

Sing Their Praises

be there when team members are successful and make sure people know about it
team members see their hard work is recognized, valued and rewarded

From these four points I can see that I have growth to attain in my leadership of the UNI TQP project. My strengths are not goal setting and measuring success but I will work to change this. The other three areas I feel I do quite well. Fortunately, as a grant project we have many of the resources necessary already. Listening and advocating come naturally to me as does encouraging and celebrating successes.

A new development created by team members is that of a recruitment video. This piece was created to get the message out about student perspective about our experiences of Level 3 students including reflective conversations with cooperating teachers & immersive field experience that may include community home stays. If you have 5 minutes, please take a look at the video. You will learn quite a bit about our approach this Fall 2011 semester. TQP Promo Video

Happy Holidays, 2011

2011-12-18T09:21:00.000-06:00

Greeting card made with Smilebox

End of November

2011-11-30T20:17:00.000-06:00

Where has November gone?

For those of you that follow me on Facebook you know that 11!11!11! had significance to me . . . the day came and proved to be spectacular! I had the day off and I was able to share with many friends and family members as well as was able to make new friends.

Some highlights from this month (some professional, some personal~how does one separate this anyway?)

celebrated my eldest child's birthday 11/1/11
attended Tripoli High School's Musical and assisted with the dinner theater, November 4&5
attended my children's school conferences with many of their teachers (they are in 9th & 10th grade)
attended the National Association for Interpretation national conference for one day in St. Paul~preparing for my adjunct course next semester (Intro to Natural History Interpretation) and connecting with friends
on my return from St. Paul, 8 miles from home, deer meets Prius ($3800 damage; in shop November 11-28)
11!11!11! celebration
Tripoli state VB Champions!! (attended November 10 & 12)
Welcome baby shower to TQP family member Nora Mourlam (born 10/4/11)
attended Benchmark training for the Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium (TPAC) in San Antonio~met new friends and thought deeply about what good teaching of science looks like
attended movie "Breaking Dawn" with my daughters (not that good)
watched my daughter, Megan, play her first JV BB game, November 22 (victory)
my son, Austin, 15 get pneumonia and so in the hospital with him November 23-27~most unusual Thanksgiving ever
completed my philosophy of educational leadership for my course (check my prezi: http://prezi.com/oo-xuyth6uzx/model-the-way-encourage-the-heart/
attended first Tripoli varsity games at CAL, November 29 (victory)
approval of the TQP IRB for UNI student clinical experiences! November 30

Life is a special occasion . . . celebrate!

Motherly Instincts and Education

2011-11-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

"In the final analysis, civilization itself will be measured by the way in which children live and by what chances they have in the world."
Mary Heaton Vorse

This quote was used in a presentation by Dr. Marilyn Cochran-Smith while attending the TPAC Implementation Conference in San Diego. This thought has been turning around in my mind over the past several days and I caught myself mulling over it again today as I contemplated my "mothers" day. On this day nineteen years ago I became a mother . . . perhaps the most uniquely profound identifying experience I have had in my lifetime. The lens of a mother is like no other. The perspective of balancing holding on and letting go with the knowledge that providing the roots that will allow wings to grow is a huge measure of parenting success and one that allows me to fall back and regain focus when needed. The fierce fury of a mother moose or bear protecting their young alongside the nurturing notions that prods the progeny on to greatness is an image that I cling to and moves me on to fulfill my vision of leaving a message on Earth that "I was here".

As proud as I am of the three blessings that I am raising and sharing life's journey, I also find my mind turning to those that I have been fortunate to have taught in school. Last night while trick-or-treating, two siblings that have since begun raising their families, came by my house. The spark in their eyes upon recognition and the warm embrace and fond memories certainly filled my heart just as the recent time when driving through a local fast food window and greeted by a former student who exclaimed, "you were the best I ever knew!" allows my smile to shine stronger. The stories may go on and on until I stop to contemplate: what about those I didn't reach? What could I have done differently?

So how might the entire profession of educators go about making certain that EACH child has extraordinary chances for success? This should be toward what we endeavor rather than belittling ourselves into the politics of which standards and which and how many test scores will matter. We need to move beyond the assembly line production thought to the individual creative process that is uniquely human for EACH child that exists. This will not necessarily be more work if we open our hearts and minds to view this as a labor of love. . . the type of love that mothers know best.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:17:00.000-05:00

TQP Super Heroes!

Happy Halloween to each of you~

Here in our office we are celebrating both Halloween and our first successful Field Test with the TQP grant.

In the past few weeks 35 UNI Level 3 students were placed with 28 educators in our five rural partner districts: CAL, HLV, Midland, Springville, and West Fork. Nineteen of these students also stayed in the community with a staff or community member to further experience the life in a rural community.

Some of the highlights of this initial field test include:

district administrators praising the merits of the program
UNI students participating in evening school activities with students
elementary students wanting their new teachers to return
home stay hosting families indicating that UNI students were well-mannered and gracious
news reporters wanting to do stories about the new experience in the rural area
married UNI students giving up family life for a week to truly experience the rural area as opposed to their life in Waterloo

There is much more information to gather from this field test but thanks to our Super Heroes we have the first round completed and ready for study to improve for the spring.

Leasha Henriksen: Field Placement Coordinator (recruited UNI students, matched them with cooperating teachers and coordinated home stay visits)
Leanne Lewis: coordinated all the travel arrangements, created the copies of consent forms, and in charge of storing and managing all financial and technical grant information
Daniel Mourlam: Technology Specialist (researched the appropriate equipment to record the lessons of our students, purchased the equipment, inventoried it and created manuals for the use of the recording and uploading tools)
Stacey Snyder: that's me . . . I surround myself with capable people and get out of their way! We actually work together well to get all pieces of the system to be in place to be able to gather data to inform the education profession.

Initiatives

2011-10-07T14:35:00.000-05:00

This week the Governor's Office ushered out two initiatives.

The first, on Monday, October 3, consisted of a new plan for education transformation. You can read more about it here; or if you are on Twitter, check out the hashtag #IAedfuture for intriguing dialogue among educational leaders. This initiative seems so complex and so debatable on the merits of the plan.

The second came today, Friday, October 7. This was the Start Somewhere Walk initiative to make Iowa the Healthiest State. This initiative seems so simple and embraceable in its roots. Start somewhere and begin to get healthy. What a great message for our young learners.

Can the same be said for the blueprint? Is it a true original? Is the state of Iowa education as bleak as the measures used to describe it? Is the "solution" too prescriptive? Are we being allowed to grow through innovation, creativity and collaboration?

Let me know your thoughts~

In the meantime, here is a picture of some of our UNI TQP members after the walk today.

Have a glorious weekend!

One Year In The Life of TQP

2011-10-07T14:21:00.000-05:00

It has been a year since I began my new position at UNI. As I reflect on what brought me here and the hopes of where we might take this program I am both bolstered and bewildered.

This takes some explanation. The opportunity to bring pK-12 and IHE to the same table is what brought me here in the first place. Some might say that would be "pie in the sky" thinking but what can I say? I am an optimistic idealist. So to that end, I can say we have made progress toward that. We have created partnerships between UNI faculty and staff and five rural, Iowa districts (CAL, HLV, Midland, Springville and West Fork). Having the chance to collaborate and talk about what each needs from one another may be a beginning of transforming teacher preparation at UNI.

I am also bewildered at the same prospect. Although our scale is small, if we get it right, there are implications for all Iowa districts and teacher prep programs. This is one aspect of the bewilderment. The other aspect is that of the newly-released (October 3) blueprint for educational transformation "One Unshakable Vision". Where is the opportunity to innovate? To create new connections without the evaluative ties of previous programs. Where is the student-centeredness that our youth so deserve? Much has been tweeted, chatted, and dialogued over the past few days and I feel the sense that more of us are not willing to sit and let it just happen to us.

Truly, the bolstering is stronger than the bewilderment. Here is a list of the UNI TQP Accomplishments in our first year:

Hiring of staff (Program Manager, Project Coordinator, Technology Specialist, and Field Placement Coordinator)
Completion of a research document outlining suggestions for transformative change
Securing of 5 rural districts to serve with us as partners
Recruitment of 12 UNI Faculty to have their Level 3 Methods students placed in the 5 partner districts
Familiarization with the TPAC teacher performance assessment handbooks and development of a pre- student teaching document to use in the Fall 2011 Field Test
Determination of how the video component of the field experience will be captured and uploaded
Placement of 35 UNI Level 3 students in our 5 partner districts (ready for the field test to run October 17-November 4)

It has been an interesting year full of new people with which to interact, collaborate and grow. There have been moments when dealing with the ambiguity of the situation was nearly overwhelming. And yet now having come through those moments to see the opportunity to learn and create is truly powerful. Here is to year two!

Rural schools seeking

2011-09-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Rural schools seeking

Midland Community Schools is highlighted in this Iowa Public Radio segment on rural school challenges. Leasha Henriksen of the UNI TQP Team is included promoting our project to potential field experience students as well as Brian Rodenberg, Superintendent, and Kelli Kelck, Midland teacher.

Bugs

2011-09-02T16:00:00.001-05:00

Bugs . . . bugs are on my mind.

Partly because today we had a praying mantis on the window of our fifth floor office in the Schindler Education Center on UNI's campus. As a biology teacher and naturalist I was instantly enamored.

The other reason is that something has been bugging me. The type of thing that has not necessarily been definable but just out there troubling me. Yesterday Leasha Henriksen and I were able to have a great discussion about the future of education in and the opportunities for change in Iowa. We were able to articulate two great questions that sprung for our talk. Amazingly today we read an article by Steve Denning http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/09/01/the-single-best-idea-for-reforming-k-12-education/ that touched on many of the points we had covered! (Thank you, Steve Denning, for helping me articulate some of my frustration.)

At issue is the "factory model of management" that has become the norm in our schools. This system is not necessarily healthy, effective or efficient. It can also be disheartening to the people within it. Denning suggests that one way to make the system more effective is by inspiring lifelong learning in our schools. Seems simple enough. Why do we need to block the way for this to happen with things like evaluation systems and tighter controls that inhibit creativity? As Denning puts it, lets stop our focus on things and shift our focus to people.

Roll With It

2011-09-01T09:39:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday I went to Marshalltown to meet with 19 student teachers that have been selected to serve as an experimental group from UNI for the teacher performance assessment from TPAC (Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium). My theme for the night was "Roll With It". This is the first opportunity for UNI to use this evaluation document and I ended up referring to it as TWS on steroids. TWS (Teacher Work Sample) is the expected end product of all other current UNI student teachers. The "steroids" is a reference to two distinct differences that the TPA offers from the TWS: inclusion of academic language and documentation of performance through video.

I began the evening with small groups given a challenge. They were a task force created to determine what aspects would be seen in a classroom where effective teaching was witnessed. We then compared their lists to the key components of the TWS and the TPA. We noted all the similarities.

Then I emphasized the experimental nature of their opportunity to participate. Although I did this with a Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson, I did so in jest. This cartoon shows the experiment of early transportation where two people were tied by rope to a stone wheel on the top of the hill. We are going to "roll with it" although not blindly and not on top of a stone wheel rolling without concern for the passengers.

We ended the evening by viewing the subject specific handbooks and rubrics and answering questions. Keep these young pioneers in mind as they endeavor into the world of teaching entering in with the current national context of assessing performance with enhanced technology tools.

I took the opportunity to present to create my "first ever" Prezi. Although rough around the edges, I enjoyed the opportunity to create and play while bringing my thoughts together. http://prezi.com/gwk9vzvy8vek/teacher-performance-assessment/

Teacher or Teaching?

2011-09-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

Our office has been having a discussion . . . should we be determining teacher (the noun) effectiveness or teaching (the verb) effectiveness? Weigh in . . .

Looking at Glass

2011-09-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

Last week the Iowa TQP Team met with Jason Glass. It was my first time meeting our new Chief Learner, or Director, of the Iowa Department of Education. I had heard much and often read his tweets and occasionally read his blog so I had a sense of what I might expect. In my typical idealistic ways I decided to go in with an open mind and just listen to what his ideas were about teacher effectiveness and the direction of the grant. After all, how political could it be?

Everyone in the room agreed that Iowa needs a unified system of standards and evaluation from pre-service through career for educators. How we go about deriving these is where the division is apparent.

Currently there are disconnected pieces around the state. Higher education is tied to the InTASC standards. As an employee in PK-12 and AEA for much of the past 25 years, I had never heard of InTASC before last October when I began at UNI. Likewise, not all higher education folks have much working knowledge of the Iowa Teaching Standards, in part based on the Charlotte Danielson framework, by which all teachers in Iowa are evaluated. Each system offers highlights. Crosswalks between them show many similarities. Iowa has also joined on as a state in the Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium which is testing our subject based teacher performance assessments. Each of these also offer merit in the discussion. So where are we going? At this point it isn't clear, but (politically) we are expected to arrive there in 2013.

Our UNI TQP Team met yesterday to consider our direction and our hope to communicate what we understand about the goals of our current situation with the Iowa TQP grant. Here are the key points we would like to have known through our Looking Glass:

The outcome of Goals 2 & 3 of the ITQP grantis the creation of a unified system of standards and evaluation for pre-servicethrough career teachers.

The use of the Teacher Performance AssessmentConsortium’s teacher performance assessment handbook and rubrics, which arebased on the InTASC standards, places us in the context of the nationalconversation around effective teaching.

The UNI portion of the ITQP grant mandatescollaboration with rural LEAs to build capacity for a full-scale implementationof the new standards and evaluation system.

2011-09-01T09:02:00.000-05:00

It is high time I get back to my blog . . . so much has been happening that I just haven't taken the time to get back to this. Now I will pick up where I left off last~the interview process.

We were able to interview five quality candidates for the position of Field Placement Coordinator. Each person could easily have filled the position with their varied strengths. Three rose to the top and then began the process of calling references. Here is where the difference was made. One person overwhelmingly surfaced to the top. We were able to hire this person and she began August 15. The characteristics that I sought in this new employee:

comfort with ambiguity
ability to be flexible
demonstrated skills with working with a variety of people and infrastructures
collaborative demeanor
experience with supervising, mentoring, or coaching

have all been displayed in her first few weeks. Welcome Leasha Henriksen to the UNI TQP Team!

Applicant Pool

2011-07-07T23:06:00.000-05:00

The Teacher Quality Partnership Team is seeking to hire a Field Placement Coordinator. I have often wondered what it would be like to have the opportunity to screen, interview and hire someone . . . and now I am living that moment.

For the past two days I have been reviewing materials from twenty-seven applicants. Reading letters and resumes has given me a new perspective on communicating and promoting one's self. When you rely only on the written word to allow others to get to know you, every word counts. Each word and how it connects to others is critical. Whether the word is spelled accurately or used in the proper context also leaves an impression. This reinforces the value and importance of proof reading your materials before submission.

Today I was able to make some phone calls to check some details for clarification. This made the people almost materialize off the paper. It made me excited to be able to make decisions about which ones to interview and be able to meet in person.

This is an exciting time . . . one that has caused me to pause and reflect. The reflection is on things that have gone well and the challenges of working for a grant project as well as what type of person will work well with the current team. What skills are the ones that we most need? Currently I see those as

comfort with ambiguity
ability to be flexible
demonstrated skills with working with a variety of people and infrastructures
collaborative demeanor
experience with supervising, mentoring, or coaching

Three Key Women and Their Affect on Teacher Effectiveness

2011-06-21T10:37:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of the Mentoring and Induction Institute at the Park Place Conference Center in Cedar Falls. It was an amazing day and one highlighted for me by three women and their perspective on teacher effectiveness.

Linda Darling Hammond began the conference through a live web-based presentation. She was able to make this environment work and to personalize her message to our event within a national lens. She offered these ten points as to what effective teachers do:
1) offer authentic learning experiences
2) provide intellectually ambitious tasks
3) use of a variety of strategies
4) assess learning to adapt and change and inform instruction
5) create scaffolding supports and sequences
6) provide standards and models on high quality work and offer feedback and opportunities for self analysis
7) develop collaborative classrooms
8) build links to families and communities
9) know students well
10) use each other as collaborative partners (teaching is a team sport!)

Then I was able to interact briefly at two times with Mildred Middleton, a generous educator of nearly 98 years (her birthday is 7/4)! She became UNI emeritus status through teaching as an adjunct and still passionately engages in education today.

Her message is given through a golden key (a treasure to keep forever) . . . it is a teacher's job to know when to "lock" and "unlock" the mind. Wow! Her thoughts brought tears to my eyes as the emotions of seeing both my grandmothers in her . . . Later in the day she sat at the grand piano and played as many of us gathered to sing along.

Sarah Brown Wessling closed the night with her thoughts and perspectives of Teaching Spaces. She is the 2010 National Teacher of the Year and she has had a variety of opportunities to travel and reflect about teaching around the country and the world. Some points from her amazing sharing:

We must meet learners where they are
Our learners are worth being listened to
We need to be the lead learner in our classroom
In Iowa we GROW teachers (like corn)
Intellectual Risk Taking as a teacher disposition
We must nurture what we love
Give permission to fail
We are architects, and architects are philosophers first
Her secret is about deliberateness
An extra set of eyes can open our world
Make the implicit explicit through parallel experiences
Stacking means filling compartments, layering creates beauty
Humility is at the center of great teaching
Voice is earned. Be present!
We all have a lens . . . use it to help learners grow~

Thank you, ladies, my soul resonates with your thoughts and actions. You are true role models and leaders in our profession.

Universal Design for Learning

2011-06-03T16:16:00.000-05:00

Today's session for the faculty redesign summit was Universal Design for Learning. Phyllis Anderson, a member of the CAST Faculty for UDL, served as our consultant.

Some new learning for me:

this is a new way of thinking
a conceptual framework to understand an approach to educating for all
this approach originated in architecture
the principles offer the perspective that the curriculum is disabled, not people
UDL offers the ultimate learning context for all to learn

There certainly is a plethora of resources available to use.

We spent several hours perusing what would the resources would offer.

Faculty Redesign Summit

2011-06-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

Wow!

Day two of the summit is now completed. It has been good~very good!

Agenda June 1
   Introduction, Welcome
   Change and Design
   Teaching 2030
   Teacher Effectiveness
   Iowa Core: Content, Constructs, Characteristics

Agenda June 2
     Teacher Performance Assessment (TWS & TPA)
   Rural Education Realities with representatives from our partner districts
   Distribution of iPads

We have a wonderful group of twelve faculty that have been very open to the new ideas and actively participating in our discussions.

Some highlights include:

Welcome and Introduction included four quotes and about change and growth. Each was to individually pick the one that resonated with them the most and physically go to that location. In small groups share the meaning behind it and then share out to the large group. Analogous to ooblek and stretch. Point brought back to design and Pink's book "A Whole New Mind". Designers are change agents. Change is both utilitarian and significant . . . with the ultimate goal of changing the world.
Sharing of the pride for and passion about the partner districts. Each of our five partner districts (West Fork, Midland, Springville, CAL, HLV) gave a presentation about what they would like us to know about them. Phenomenal! From foundations being started to assist the school so that the tax base would not increase, to the donors that make certain that students are able to travel to Hancher Auditorium for cultural events and Washington DC, to the power of 1:1 initiatives for motivation for learning, to the stories of first generation high school graduates, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with these people.
The modeling of blended learning through the use of Blackboard Learn to house some of our course. Dan and I learned about it the week before and it is gratifying to be able to put it to such relevant use.
The arrival of the iPads! These will be tools for the work in the districts. I received one too!

Tomorrow the highlight is UDL, Monday will be blended learning and using technology tools, and Tuesday will be Response to Intervention.

After all the dreaming and hoping and planning, it is good to see some of the pieces falling into place.

TQP Updates

2011-05-27T12:05:00.000-05:00

As I said in my earlier post today, I have not been as faithful to this blog as I had hoped to be. Today I would like to share some updates on our work . . .

Research Team: The research team has "completed" their phase of the journey. It is now up to the Collaborative Team to take the information gleaned from the research and determine a definition of teacher effectiveness that can be measured and used to gauge the success of the pilot.
Faculty Recruitment: We have a strong team of 12 UNI methods instructors that are ready to embrace the process of change in redesigning their course to reflect the challenge of creating the environment to prepare candidates for effective teaching in rural districts.
The TQP Team has been busy preparing for the instruction and workshop leadership for what we are calling the Faculty Redesign Summit. This summit will occur June 1-7 on the UNI Campus
The UNI TQP Assessment Team has met several times to address the determination of baseline data needed to assess the progress toward the goals of the grant and the pilot
Dan and I have begun training through both Quality Matters and Education Technology Online Learning to prepare and facilitate online courses. Dan has been instrumental in getting our first course (a blended learning format) up for next week's summit. I have been pleased that the learning I received on Monday has now been put to use as I was able to upload files to the learning modules for our use. (My own celebration!)

Panther Transition

2011-05-27T11:08:00.000-05:00

Hello, Blog!

Hopefully I can make a return . . . my absence was consumed with the normal everyday things of life and also preparing for and participating in the graduation from high school of my eldest daughter. What a wonderful experience!

She had quite an experience as Tripoli Panther. I am proud of her decisions to be well-rounded. Here are some highlights of her participation:

9th: volleyball, Mock Trial (to state competition), musical, track letter, SADD, academic letter, softball manager letter
10th: cross country, Mock Trial, musical, track, SADD, academic letter, National Honor Society
11th: cross country, Mock Trial, musical, State Physics Olympics, SADD, academic letter
12th: Mock Trial, musical, Envirothon, State National History Day, FFA, SADD, academic letter, track manager letter, NHS President

At commencement she was honored with the Phil M. Snyder Memorial Scholarship and the American Bar Association Citizenship Award. Yes, I am proud!

Next year she will transition to a UNI Panther.
Best wishes to you, Erica!
I love you,
Mom

Michelle Obama at UNI Commencement

2011-05-08T22:27:00.001-05:00

From the moment I heard that Michelle Obama would be UNI's commencement speaker I knew that I wanted to be part of that moment in history. Initially I was concerned that I did not know anyone graduating so I thought I might not be able to attend. But soon it was announced that faculty and staff would be allowed to get tickets. So the day came that staff could receive their two tickets and I strolled across campus to secure my pair.

My first choice to attend with me was my eighteen year old daughter. She considered it, until she received more homework for the weekend prior to graduation than she had received all year. So my friend Kristie attended together. So glad I did!

Her address was moving. From the moment she began with her assertion that embracing family may be the highest value we can seek to attain to her ending of thanking Iowans for our generosity, willingness to serve and ability to accept diversity.

It was a delightful message that unfortunately was overshadowed by my desire to question my ability to accept diversity. This has come naturally to me. But the situation that transpired behind me in the UNI Dome was appalling.

We arrived and were seated by 10:30 am for the 11:00 am start with no issues getting through security. The processional lasted approximately 16 minutes and then it was time for the National Anthem, sung superbly by a UNI tenor. My anticipation to hear Michelle's words were overcome by what happened during the Star Spangled Banner. There were three adults and a toddler that had seated themselves behind us shorty before 11. They spoke fairly loudly in a language that I could not understand. Not all that unusual for UNI and I figured they would settle in and enjoy the ceremony once it begun. There I was wrong.

Through the corner of my eye I noticed the man directly behind me did not rise when the National Anthem began. While I found this rude (the others in his party did), what happened next enraged me. His cell phone rang during the song and he not only answered it but continued to talk in his very loud voice for nearly half the song! Sigh. We accept people into our country, they attend our universities and they choose to disrespect our us in this way?! Parts of me wanted to go find the nearest security guard and ask him to check into this. My head turned and caught the eye of the man with the rude, disrespecting one. This had no effect, or perhaps the opposite, but I have no way of knowing as I could not understand their conversation. More than once I thought about asking them to please be quiet but wondered if they even understood English. Then I thought about going to ask a security guard to deal with this fellow, but I never moved. He took another phone call and continued to speak throughout the entire time I was there.

But getting back to the heart of the matter . . . Michelle said she felt like Iowa was family, like another home to her. She appreciated all she and her husband had received during the campaign trail. Her story was genuine, her passion shown. She is a class act and one that I am glad I was able to hear and see.

Reading the newspaper accounts it seems that many took away the message about the ultimate service of those Nave SEALS that were delivered to the Osama bin Laden compound. Although I do not disagree, it was discouraging to me to read that this was the highlight of her speech. For me and my friend, Kristie, the message was loud and clear: Family is the ultimate.

Happy Mother's Day . . . Happy Family Time~

Iowa 1:! (#i11i)

2011-04-21T14:07:00.001-05:00

Yesterday part of the TQP Team (Dan, Mary and I) traveled to Des Moines for the second annual 1:1 Conference. By my understanding last year there were approximately 600 in attendance. This year, over 1300! What volumes this speaks for the spread of momentum of using personal/mobile computing devices in education. This is also one of the reasons for the TQP Team to be on the scene.One of our Partnership Districts, CAL, is already a 1:1 school. The district brought each and every faculty member to the conference yesterday! Two districts: West Fork and Midland are both getting geared up to begin in the 2012-13 school year.

Another reason to attend is how will Higher Ed address the challenge of preparing teachers to enter into the teaching profession with the skills to teach in a 1:1 or Next Generation classroom? Several UNI faculty and staff were on hand to listen to feedback in one of the sessions.

What did I glean from the sessions I attended:?

1) There is a lot of excitement about 1:1
2) Not everybody is on the same page for what using mobile technology can mean in the classroom
3) Not everybody models the possibilities in their sessions to be able to gain new skills/awareness

Specific ideas that I can apply in the work of the TQP grant:

Engage in a Community of Practice/PLC around using mobile devices in education settings
Model the use of technology in ways that leads to effective instruction and increases learner achievement
Take advantage of the Online Repository
Embrace that the new ecology of learning is no longer about consumption but rather production

I enjoyed my first event and hope to venture there again. It was fun to network with some new folks and to also run into some I haven't seen in years (Steve Bruder, Deb Nagle and Joan Redalen). My interactions with those at the booths were entertaining and engaging (and I hope I win something in addition to the fun yo-yo). It was also a new experience to attend a conference where each person was to create their own name tag. Thankfully for me I have a great computer technology specialist that prepared one for me complete with QR codes! How cool is that?

TQP Progress

2011-04-19T21:36:00.000-05:00

On April 11 the TQP Collaborative Team convened for the first time. This group is charged with taking the information gathered by the Research Team and determining a "definition" of effective teaching that can be used by the Assessment Team to determine measurable methods of expressing effectiveness.

The Collaborative Team was facilitated by Elaine Bright-Smith of Drake University. She opened the meeting asking us to interact with people around the room in talking about a variety of questions . . . such as which teacher first challenged you?(Mrs. Schlicting with 4th grade spelling) Which teacher do you consider a mentor? (John Poock) What is the premier quality of an effective teacher (passion for kids and teaching/learning)

We were also treated with watching an interview of the National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown-Wessling, answering questions around teacher effectiveness. She is truly an eloquent speaker! Three of the things that she considers characteristics of effective teaching are passion, intentionality and deconstruction.

The day ended with a brief overview of the research document that is still under revision. Each member is asked to read and reflect on the 100 page document and be ready for the next meeting on May 4.

On April 18 the TQP Advisory Board met for the second time. The anniversary date for the TQP funding was April 5th. This group is to meet twice a year so we are on track.

Kevin Feldman presided at the meeting.
Mary Beth Schroeder Fracek offered an overview of the grant.
I offered a summary piece of reflective feedback from participant comments from the December meeting.
Jay Pennington offered an update on the RFP for the technology platform.
Mary Herring and Nadene Davidson offered a summary of the Research Team work and the Evolution of the Model of Qualities of Effective Teaching Continuum
Several DE employees talked about grant supported summer projects
The Teacher Effectiveness Interview of Sarah Brown-Wessling was shown.

The day ended with an opportunity to offer ideas or questions about the day and the upcoming process as we begin year two of the five year process.

Getting ready for Graduation

2011-04-11T22:04:00.002-05:00

Announcement personalized with Smilebox

Emerging Attributes of Effective Teaching

2011-03-06T07:05:00.000-06:00

The UNI TQP Research Team has developed these models that we welcome feedback/input. We anticipate this model (to be revised upon informed feedback) to be used in guiding a pilot study and potential implications for future teacher preparation, mentoring and induction.

Again, your thoughtful, informed feedback is welcome.

Past

Present

Future

When Logic Doesn't Seem Necessarily Logical

2011-03-03T14:09:00.000-06:00

Ever since I started this position back in October I was told that Logic Models would need to be developed. I did a bit of background research on them, happened to be in a state science leadership team where we were developing one, attended a webinar on designing them, and read some materials forwarded to me about them. So I had some background about what they are, the components and even why they could prove valuable. The thing I lacked was experience developing them.

So by December I sat down and over a period of a couple days cranked out some ideas for Logic Models to guide the work of our grant. There are 3 goals to our grant and a total of 12 objectives under these goals. This seemed a logical enough place to start in my mind. So I did. There are 12 models anyway, not sure of the logic. Particularly when I think about the whole idea behind a Logic Model, to help in planning a project. How was I ever going to plan a five year project of this immensity alone? That is illogical.

Then on Tuesday our UNI TQP team met with the DE TQP team and the University of Iowa Evaluation team and got down to the (logical) business of Logic Models. Don Yarbrough started off the day with background information so that we were all (logically) on the same page, so to speak. His analogies were good for me and helped some. He likened Logic Models to an X-ray in that they show the anatomy and physiology of a project. The Bone Structure are the 5 features: needs & beneficiaries, resources & inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. When he used the phrase starting with the end in mind, I found a connection. It makes sense to start with a specific outcome and backwards map. Aha, I thought, I may be onto something. And then the non-logical point for me came. That is that Logic Models only make sense if they are in a deep level of detail. Wow, there goes the game for the random, non-sequential thinker that I am . . .

But back to the Logic Models. It does now make sense to not map for each of the objectives and it also makes sense that some of the outcomes will feed each other and some are parallel existers and influencers. As Don said, the process and the models are organic. I can live with that logic.

Now to the business of building models on things like Collaborative Team, Assessment Team, Faculty Recruitment, and Pilot Development. Logic Models, where did they ever get that name? How about Planning Maps? or Outcome Evaluation?

Wish me well as I sit down and try to pick up from where our group left off on Tuesday . . .

Creed for Iowa's Department of Education

2011-03-02T13:52:00.002-06:00

This was in the Iowa School Leader Update that I read today. I found it very interesting . . .

THE DEPARTMENT’S CREED FOR IOWA … from Jason Glass, Director

Leadership

Leadership is the confrontation of important problems in creative ways. Real leadership is not a title and it is not con-veyed via formal authority. Rather, it comes from those willing to seize the moments to make things better that pass most of us by every day. Our leaders are throughout this organization and push at the edges of their formal authority, stepping out to confront what needs to be done and enlisting others to join in the effort.

Innovation

Innovation happens when people take reasonable risks toward a greater goal and are willing to fail. But just trying and failing does not lead to innovation. We must be dedicated enough to learn, adapt, and try again until we succeed. Fear is the innovation killer. Fear paralyzes our creativity and our ability to function at our best. We must have the courage to risk in spite of our fears. In the long run, failing to grow and adapt is the most significant and persistent threat we face.

Service

This department’s highest value is service to others. We hold ourselves accountable to treating all those with whom we interact with dignity, respect, and love. Our paradigm is to build capacity and work with people to help them accomplish more than they could alone. Our role is not to oversee, but rather to be in service of. Real service is neither authoritarian nor enabling - it is empowering.

The point about leadership leads me to something else I read today in Seth Godin's recent blog on Initiative. "Initiative is taken, not given." Love this! Reminds me of the many times that I begged for forgiveness rather than asked in advance for permission.

So, having said that, achieving a balance of allowing initiative without fear of being micro-managed may be the environment that effective teachers flourish in best.

Rural or Urban Perspective

2011-02-25T14:35:00.001-06:00

Perspective . . .

It has been a week since my return from New York City.

One theme that keeps entering my mind is that of perspective. As hard as it is for me to fathom what it must be like to teach in an inner-city school, I imagine it must be as difficult for inner-city educators to fathom a rural district. Much of the talk I hear and read about the condition of education in our nation centers around the urban schools.
Pondering this today prompted me to check a few statistics. . . by sheer numbers I can imagine why us rural folks must seem like a blip on the radar. For instance, in New York City alone there is a student population of 1.1 million in public schools. In Iowa, the number is 468,689 public school pupils as reported in October 2010. Wow. Perspective . . .

And then I wonder, does size matter? People are people, right?

But context does matter. Having a sense of place and knowing that place is central to our being. Certainly there are essential features that exist for educators that are the same no matter which setting of teaching and there are essential characteristics of students no matter which location they may be. But the subtle nuances that influence life in a city versus life in a community of eleven hundred people are distinct and matter; particular to those that live in these areas.

Teacher turnover is an issue I hear about in both urban and rural districts but I wonder how similar the reasons for the turnover might be? I heard those at the conference speak that in urban districts much of that turnover is due to burn-out and not being necessarily prepared for the realities faced in the classroom. That this becomes a retention (to the field) issue. In a recent conversation with an Iowa superintendent of a rural district where educators have two years of mentoring and induction before being permanently licensed, the issue is more of turnover due to wanting a life in a bigger community.

No matter the reason, no matter the location, turnover is an issue for the heart of education: our students. When turnover is high we lose consistency. Our children deserve better. So the vantage point of rural or urban perspective may not be heart of the matter at all. Instead, perhaps it is how we as educators embrace our context and offer our perspective to those we teach.

Promises and Pitfalls of Improving the Teaching Profession

2011-02-23T10:11:00.000-06:00

This is the conference I attended coordinated by the Education Writer’s Association (and sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation) on February 18, 2011, in New York City.

One of the best resources to use to learn more about it, if you are interested, is the following:

http://bubbler.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/ewa-conference/#comment-17637.

For a "wide open spaces" type of girl, New York City was a stimulating, eye-opening experience. My flight arrived shortly before 4 pm Eastern time. When I stepped out of La Guardia to catch a cab the city felt strangely welcoming . . . perhaps it was the 4 pm sun and the promise of a date in Central Park. When I arrived at the Radisson at Lexington and 47th I checked into my 21st floor room and wasted no time in organizing my pack. Armed with my map, phone, camera, and GPS (which didn't receive signals amongst the skyscrapers), I was off to Central Park. I was blessed to be in NYC during unseasonably mild temperatures~by 5 pm when I reached the park I viewed a digital thermometer on the top of a skyscraper that read 57 degrees! The walk was pleasantly easy although I was acutely aware of traffic~largely consisting of cabs~with an incessant and intermittent urgency of motion marked by nearly constant honking. . . almost like its own language. Lining the perimeter of the park were the horse drawn carriages and then I welcomed the embrace of the green space and rock outcroppings. I noted no bird life or squirrels in my few hours in the park which I found quite strange.

I walked 5th Avenue back to the hotel and I happened upon FAO Schwartz and I couldn't resist the opportunity to play "Big" on the piano there! Then I ventured to "Josie's" where I met up with other educators attending the conference: Steve, Ken, David, Mark, Peggy and Ariel. The conversation was good and the food was excellent! (I had pumpkin ravioli with asparagus, mushrooms, leeks, tomatoes and shrimp in marsala cream sauce).

The next morning I went to Rockefeller Center and took in the Today Show for 45 minutes before the conference. What an experience to see Al up close and to have Meredith and Matt wave from the studio as we peered in the window from the street! Mom thinks she saw me and I am pretty certain I was on at 7:03 and 7:37. Unfortunately, Erica, my Today show watcher at home, had to be at school for Envirothon practice and missed my debut!

Then the conference. What an opportunity! I took in every word and eventually found the opportunity to share my voice . . . that of the rural piece.

Then after the conference I decided to walk to Times Square. What a feast for the eyes and senses. Not sure it was a delightful feast, though. I was amazed as to the amount of police officers there . . . not sure I have ever felt so safe and vulnerable at the same moment. Ask me about it sometime . . .

Then I hailed a cab at 4 am the next morning to return home to the wide open spaces and prairies of Iowa. There's no place like home . . .

Elevating the Prestige of the Teaching Profession

2011-02-22T16:50:00.001-06:00

In light of what is happening in Wisconsin my mind wandered today to a comment shared by Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality, at the EWA/Carnegie Corporation conference I attended Friday, February 18 in New York City. The gist of her comment was "teaching is the only industry where we seem to downplay being smart as a desired quality in candidates" in reference to teacher preparation.

Sometimes I have that impression but I know there are those of us that do not make that true. And then I cringe when I think of how many in the profession I have met that share comments like, "I went into teaching because I wanted to coach" or "since I didn't get into med school I figured I might as well just teach" . . . (sigh)

As a parent I truly want only the best of the best messing with the minds of my child. Teachers have a large part of shaping the minds of young learners and I do not want just anyone offered the privilege to do so. As a teacher I recognize the awesome responsibility placed upon me to work with the minds of those learners in which I interact. As a citizen, just as I do not want an ineffective or inexperienced brain surgeon allowed to perform surgery on me or a loved one, I also do not want an ineffective or inexperienced teacher facilitating instruction of students.

So what is our role of educators to promote the profession and push for high standards?

Some of my thoughts include the following:

advocating for quality mentors and mentor training for early year teachers
encouraging IHE and P-12 conversations to ensure that what goes in is what is needed coming out
demanding teachers receive uninterrupted, sufficient periods of time to collaborate
respecting ourselves as a profession and promoting a positive image to the public
continue to learn professionally each day
intentionally planning time to be reflective about our practice

Please join in with your thoughts on what we can do to elevate the prestige of our profession so that we offer the best to our children, the reason we became teachers in the first place . . .

Just What is Effective Teaching?

2011-02-21T15:56:00.000-06:00

On Friday, February 18, I had the opportunity to participate as one of 13 educators in the Education Writers Association (EWA) seminar entitled "The Promise and Pitfalls of Improving the Teaching Profession". I stumbled upon the following tweet on January 11, 2011:

jasonglassIA Jason E. Glass

Would be great to have IA represented: RT @lindaperlstein: Talking teacher effectiveness in NYC. http://bit.ly/ekJp7k. FREE!

Three things caught my eye: 1) effectiveness (which is what our TQP grant is designed to develop and ultimately measure) 2) Iowa representation (encouraged and hoped for by our new Department of Education Director) and 3) FREE! So I followed the link; learned that Linda Perlstein was seeking education bloggers to attend; and applied. Shortly thereafter I learned that I was selected to attend.

In addition to the 13 educator bloggers as mentioned above, also attending were representatives from the Carnegie Corporation (sponsoring organization) and Education Writers Association, 38 journalists, and representatives from a variety of organizations as panelists. With journalists representing such places as the Washington Post, San Antonio Express-News, Wilmington News Journal, Baltimore Sun, the Associated Press, Seattle Times, New York Times and the Harvard Education Letter and educators from New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., it was clear me to that I was the only voice for rural education in the room. Initially I felt I may be even the only Midwesterner but was happy to learn that there were journalists from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Catalyst Chicago.

Although I am still reflecting on assimilating all the information shared that day, as well as intertwining it with my first-ever visit to New York City, I have a few tidbits to share.

The national arena seems to have shifted the conversation about teacher quality (a certified and qualified teacher in every classroom) to teacher effectiveness without necessarily defining what is meant by an effective teacher. Studies have shown that the single most important element in improving student learning and achievement is the teacher. The Carnegie Corporation asserted in their opening remarks that the "excellent" teacher is what is sought. So what is this elusive teacher (whether we use the word quality, effective, or excellent)?

For the work of our grant we have been viewing the definition in "Approaches to evaluating teacher effectiveness: A research synthesis" by Goe, Bell, Little http://www.tqsource.org/publications/teacherEffectiveness.php

This asserts that Effective Teachers:

Have high expectations for all students and help students learn
Contribute to positive academic, attitudinal, and social outcomes for students
Use diverse resources to plan and structure engaging learning opportunities; monitor student progress formatively, adapting instruction as needed; and evaluate learning using multiple sources of evidence
Contribute to the development of classrooms and schools that value diversity and civic-mindedness
Collaborate with other teachers, administrators, parents, and education professionals to ensure student success

Our review of literature asserts that there may be emerging attributes beyond this which we are attempting to incorporate into our model (see previous blog, "Emerging Attributes of Effective Teaching")

Throughout the day various people spoke about and around teacher effectiveness. At the same time I never felt the sense that we all had the same definition from which we were operating. To me, this is a tragedy. Not one that cannot be overcome, but one that does not serve the teaching profession well. The era of measuring effectiveness is upon us. Until we, as educators, can agree on measurable ways to evaluate our performance and not merely those of our students, then I am not certain we are acting as the true professionals we purport to be. The time is now for us as educators to clearly articulate what it is that effective or excellent teachers do, before this definition or measurement is thrust upon us from outside.

I welcome your feedback and hope that a discussion can ensue around this notion.

Past, Present and Future Models

2011-02-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I posted about the models our research team has developed in hopes of gaining feedback. The photo I posted in the blog was taken from a PDF developed to create a 4'x4' poster for our initial presentation. The models are very small in that image so I am posting screen shots taken from each of the three models in hopes that you can see and read these more clearly.

Model of the Past

Model of the Present

Model for the Future

Hoping to hear some feedback! :)

Thank you~

Emerging Attributes of Effective Teaching

2011-02-15T13:31:00.000-06:00

On Friday, February 11, the Office of Sponsored Programs at UNI offered the 2011 Symposium on Research, Scholarship and Creativity. Our Teacher Quality Partnership research team created a poster to share during the poster session on the synthesis we are in the midst of preparing that will provide a foundation for our future work with the grant.

You can view a smaller version of the poster here:

What we particularly seek feedback on is the three models arranged at the top of the document. The review of the past literature about the relationship between student and teacher is reflected in the first. The second shows what we feel represents the current (in contemporary leadership classrooms) scenario. The third reflects what we see beginning to emerge as what teaching and learning needs to become.

If you can take the time to offer your thoughts we welcome them here or by commenting at our webpage www.uni.edu/tqp

Bloom where you are . . .

2011-02-14T14:52:00.000-06:00

When I arrived at my office this morning I was surprised to find a rock sitting on my mousepad. This wasn't just any rock but rather one with the words "Bloom where you are" in calligraphy. Interesting Valentine's Day gift. And a very intriguing gift considering some of the inner turmoil I have been feeling about my current work and professional growth.

This leads to the question running through my mind . . . a coincidence that this shows up now or was it strategically placed there by someone trying to send a message of reassurance. The answer is not clear to me but the question has flitted in and out of my mind throughout the day.

Last Friday it was announced that fifty people would have their contracts terminated at Grant Wood AEA, my former place of employment prior to accepting this position in October. Some of those people I knew and can only begin to wonder what they must be feeling. My family has inquired about what might that have meant for me had I been there . . . my response is always, when one door is shut, another is opened. Opportunities arise all the time . . .

So back to the "bloom where you are" . . . Indeed, I do believe I bloom where ever I am. Sometimes the brilliance of the bloom may depend on the prairie diversity in which you find yourself or from which perspective the viewing is occurring. Blooming relies on nurturing and nutrients as well as timing. And for those that refuse not to bloom, transplanting is also an option.

The mild temperatures the past few days does have my mind wandering to the blooming that soon will occur in the spring. As I sit in my perch (chair) overlooking campus I can see deciduous trees that invariably are readying there buds to burst and I note that the grass, though dormant now, will soon be ready to grow. It makes me wonder if the skunk cabbage and pasque flowers are blooming and then this leads me to thinking about the hikes I have taken with friends to specific Iowa locations to see these in bloom.

Yes, it is a good thing to bloom where you are. Happy Blooming to you!

Collaboration

2011-02-08T11:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was invited to join in a conversation with other UNI grant project leaders about what our grants entailed and anticipated outcomes. With the loss of earmarks it has been decided that strategic transitioning planning will offer greater opportunity for the university and in the long run may allow us to tear down our silos. (Paraphrase from Christie Twait).

It was a very interesting meeting and I could see the excitement swell in the eyes of the participants as they saw interconnections and similarities that may offer us all a way to pool resources. Some of the areas that have potential for this sharing just after the short meeting include: performance assessment methodology, platform for storing electronic data, web design, literacy coaches, survey development.

There are many exciting projects on campus that have potential to effect the effectiveness of education in a variety of ways. Some of those represented or suggested for inclusion in further discussions were: the Jacobson Center for Comprehensive Literacy, SOAR, Early Childhood Special Education, and CEE STEM.

It is my hope to have many more of these discussions in the future.

Engaging Screenagers

2011-02-01T15:18:00.000-06:00

"Education has to change. We can't pull kids into learning in school if they are engaged in a different world outside school."

I ran across this quote today online in Educational Leadership. . . I could not find to whom to directly attribute this thought, but I know I like it. This is so true!

Many kids have found engaging ways of learning by experimenting with a variety of online formats and tools. These "screenagers" are digital natives that have little fear and are willing to spend hours upon hours discovering in front of a screen.

Today happens to be a snow day for many screenagers in the state of Iowa. With several inches of snow on the ground, more on the way and the winds blowing, the blizzard and winter storm warnings have kept many at home. To be captivated in a profession that allows me the luxury to work from home is splendid. Sure there are a few distractions when the kids are home as well, but there are also insights.

For example, take my three children. They each are absorbed in their own form of screen learning today.

Child one: Good Morning America, History Channel, Food Channel, Discovery. From the sound bytes I have caught she now knows about sites to visit in Washington DC, a new meal to try for supper, and what is happening in Egypt. Hope supper is good!

Child two: Three friends over competing on some XBox game. The silence of focused concentration is intermittently broken by giggles, strategy discussions and surprises uttered about onscreen moves. Definitely a social event and team planning as well.

Child three: Reading a book with iPod in hand for music and Facebook interactions.

Maybe after work I can gather them all together for a game of Monopoly or Yahtzee . . . but they will probably talk me into Wii bowling or Scene It. The grasp of the digital allure . . . how best to capture it and engage our teens? Let them do the talking and the answers may be surprising.

Enjoy your snow day~

TPAC Training the Trainers

2011-01-28T22:43:00.000-06:00

TPAC (Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium)

The past two days I shared time at the Westin Hotel in Columbus, Ohio, with several educators from across the nation in a training to learn to evaluate performance assessments for teacher candidates. Specifically I was trained in the area of science performance assessments. There were participants in the science training from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Washington and Massachusetts. I was excited to meet another Iowa, Ted Neal, from the University of Iowa. Although the two of us have many questions as to how this will roll out in the state, we were both pleased to consider that we may be able to train others together as a team.

The TPA is currently in the field test stage. Accelerated states such as Minnesota, Washington and Ohio are already beginning to embed the prompts and rubrics into their course work and anticipate scoring these yet this spring. Once results from this field test are analyzed, the information will be used to revise the documents and "finalize" TPA materials for a pilot study.

The trainer in Science was Fred Freking from USC. He is quite experienced with the PACT (Performance Assessment of California Teachers) and did a good job of overviewing our tasks as trainers. It seems that two key things to keep in mind when scoring are: seeking evidence and then determining a preponderance of the evidence. We noticed how easily our biases came into play and continually found ourselves being reminded to look for evidence in the narrative and the videos.

The process consisted of starting with reviewed/scored rubrics (benchmarks) and comparing our scoring of the evidence to determine a match. We began with a benchmark of 2 on Thursday. Then today we completed the 1 and 3 benchmarks. There are 11 components that are reviewed on the TPA, all on a 4 point scale where a one is a "failing' mark and will need to be re-scored and then potentially revised by the teacher candidate. Now that we have been trained, our next step is to be calibrated. We will have two weeks within which to complete the calibration process. It is estimated that scoring a TPA will take between 2-5 hours. To be successful our marks must match the reviewers in 6 of 11 rubrics and the others must not be off by more than one.

The 11 rubric components are as follows: 3 in Planning, 3 in Instruction, 2 in Assessment, 1 in Reflection and 2 in Academic Language. The process is still a bit raw and rough and as long as I continued to remind myself of that, I was OK. Part of the problem is that we are dealing with TPA rubrics and PACT portfolios as the TPA portfolios and benchmarks do not yet exist. Hopefully these will be available by October 2011.

The burning questions that I have include:

will these TPAs be used by candidates and candidate preparation programs to inform improvement or are they a glorified hoop jumping process
there appears to be a bit of disconnect in the rubrics yet between "next steps" taken that inform instruction (formative assessment) and "next time" I teach I would do such and such different
is this a fair form to use if this eventually gets tied to teacher pay

Columbus, Ohio

2011-01-27T22:12:00.000-06:00

I love to travel . . . and when I do I like to get a bit of the flavor of the area. So I was thrilled to meet new friends as we disembarked from the plane last night. There were seven of us on the flight from Minneapolis it turns out. Two others were in science and we warmed up to one another right away . . . even shared a cab to the hotel. We decided that we were each up for an adventure to find a place to eat.

Suzann from Gonzaga had read online that our hotel was close to Germantown. Furthermore, she had read that the place to eat was Schmidt's. So with a rough map from the hotel desk, our adventurous spirit and this bit of knowledge; we set out. It was a gorgeous night! Once we got off the main drag it was like we had transformed ourselves into an earlier time . . . cobblestone streets and brick buildings and no one out but lights lit up all the homes that we passed. After a bit of walking (30 minutes) we finally stumbled upon our target.

The servers wore traditional German clothing and the menu was all German food. It turns out the "Man vs Food" show visited there two years ago and the host ate the smorgasbord and then 3 cream puffs. Not just any cream puff, but half-pound cream puffs. (And yes, we tried one~split it!) Also, the waitress learned we were educators and she thanked us. No kidding. That floored me . . . so much so I got up and gave her a hug. Suzann, Barb (from U of Minnesota) and I each agreed that it is not often a teacher receives a thank you, particularly from a stranger.

Today was the training and an opportunity to meet more new friends. The guys on my table were a lot of fun: Ted, Jim and Mark. And I also got to meet three from Drake and three from the University of Iowa.

This morning I took a short walk to the Capitol Building so that I could complete a virtual cache there. And this afternoon Ted and I found a ride from an instructor at The Ohio University to campus. I wanted to complete an EarthCache at the Orton Geologic Museum. We visited the Union where I had my photo taken with Brutus and also the 11th Floor of the Library to be able to see Columbus and to view the Horseshoe. We walked part of the 3 miles back before taking the bus back as I learned my friend Jeanne was also at the hotel! So fun to catch up with her too . . .

Seven of us then ate at "Tony's", an Italian Restaurant just down the street. Then back to our rooms to do homework for tomorrow . . .

TQP Talking Points

2011-01-25T09:03:00.000-06:00

Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) Talking Points

Partnership between Iowa Department of Education, University of Northern Iowa, and Stanford University

A focus on highly effective teachers, rather than highly qualified teachers.

Teacher effectiveness is determined by the teacher’s performance in the classroom linked to documented evidence showing impact on student achievement. Standardized tests fail to provide a holistic and valid picture of the impact teachers make with students in their classrooms. This is a shift from highly qualified which is determined through a credentialing checklist process. The TQP grant seeks to increase the learning and achievement of Iowa PK-12 students by continuously developing more highly effective teachers from pre-service through the entire teaching career. UNI will focus on our pre-service program and the transition of our graduates into Iowa’s classrooms.

Pre-service through in-service accountability system intended to retain highly effective teachers and improve student learning.
We need to be more accountable at all levels. The TQP grant will establish this by focusing on measuring teacher effectiveness from pre-service throughout the entire teaching career. Central to this measurement process is the creation of a technologically mediated platform. By the end of the grant this platform will be available statewide. It will be a place where teacher candidates, faculty, practicing teachers, and evaluators can upload and access evidence of teacher effectiveness. UNI will enhance our teacher preparation program by building on our rich history of teacher performance assessment.

Redesign and enhancement of current pre-service programs to address the needs of the next generation learners.
As a result of this work, attributes of effective teaching will emerge. Using data from our performance assessment process, based on these attributes, will allow the examination of programs as part of a continuous improvement process. To prepare future teachers to address the needs of the next generation students, pre-service programs must find ways to redesign courses and programs to better prepare candidates as highly effective educators.

Mutually beneficial university and rural district partnerships will strengthen programs through embedded clinical experiences.
Central to the success of this grant are the partnerships established with rural districts. The TQP grant is working with small, rural districts that have a high rate of teacher turnover and constituents with low socioeconomic status. The realities of being an educator in a rural school district are different than those of urban settings. Rural clinical experiences will prepare our students to lead as effective teachers who understand the importance of school and community partnerships. These partnerships will allow school district and university educators to learn from one another and strengthen programs.

An Open Letter to Tripoli Community School District Members:

2011-01-24T06:23:00.001-06:00

On Monday, January 17, 2011, I attended a school board meeting prompted by reading the report printed in the Tripoli Leader from a meeting held the previous Tuesday. At issue was a major decision about choosing to either remain in or remove our district from the special education pool. After talking to three board members on the telephone it became clear to me that leaving this pool was probably the decision that would be made. At least there was data presented I could reason with in this decision. The concern to me was how the board might choose to spend the “surplus” money from a decision to leave this pool as I was not hearing any data about this.

After a lengthy discussion at the board meeting about the decision to remain or rescind from the pool and some input from a few community members, the decision was made to leave the pool with a vote of 3-2. The follow-up as to what to do with the money saved by this decision appeared to be something that board members said could wait for another meeting. So when the discussion moved on to other agenda topics, and I noted that the agenda had not indicated an opportunity to decide about this topic, I chose to leave the board meeting with unanswered and unasked questions, determined to follow up in the next few days. Imagine my disappointment when I talked to faculty the next day and learned that the board had decided to move ahead to look to hire a new part-time administrator.

At a time when I see Iowa districts pushing education forward through making decisions that are best for kids, I see our district making a decision that is best for administrators. I have asked to see the data that indicates that our current administrators have any more work today than they did when the decision was made to go with this current administrative structure or any more work than other districts. I would also like to see the data that having two part-time individuals fulfill a full-time principal position is an effective working model. The current practice of hiring a lead teacher to fulfill this role does not appear to be very effective for our children, ask any of them that have disrupted class time due to this model.

Several years ago our district chose to move to the current structure of having one person serve as both secondary principal and superintendent. At that time we were told that it would save our district money and be a viable way to allow the Tripoli Community School District to not be forced to merge with another district. What has changed? You would be hard pressed to find any educator, administrator or teacher, which has not been asked to do more paperwork in the past few years due to our compliance-based statewide system. Administrators are hired knowing their plate will be full and that a normal workday of eight hours will not be the norm. One argument I heard for hiring another administrator is to keep up with administrative paperwork with the transition out of the pool. But by Mr. Heller’s admission at the board meeting it was discovered that this paperwork would be minimal. Another argument is that hiring another part-time administrator will allow the current administrators to have more time. (Which leads to the question, more time to do fewer duties at no change in pay?) This is an interesting model to consider when the trend in other districts is to have administrators share duties, like we currently do. And if a part-time administrator/part-time teacher is hired, what courses will our students either gain or lose in such a structure?

Reading about current educational trends and participating in other district professional development over the past year has shown me other models based on what works for kids and teachers. A very common example is one that gives the teacher more time to be a more collaborative, connected learner that allows them to be a more effective teacher. There is research to show that giving teachers a consistent, frequent common time to collaborate during the school day improves performance. A decision to offer this to our teachers is one way to consider using some of this money. This would more directly affect our children.

Another trend in education is to use computers in direct instruction. Although there are many steps in preparing a district to be a 1:1 computer school (which was also talked about during the January 17 meeting), one of these is purchasing computers. Choosing a potential project like this would certainly impact our students directly, more so than hiring another administrator.

One concern I have heard from people for hiring another administrator is that of having the principal and superintendent be a different individual, particularly for matters of discipline. This is a valid concern. Again, will this be accomplished by hiring another part-time person? Perhaps there is more validity in the suggestion made by school board member, Ron Orf, to consider restructuring to have a full-time secondary principal and to share a part-time superintendent with another district.

As you can see, this is a complex issue and one that I believe needs further input from taxpayers in this district and more information showing that this is the best long-term decision for our district. I encourage you to contact school board members with your views about their plan for a new administrative structure and how it will benefit our kids, the ones designed for schools to serve.

Talking Points

2011-01-20T12:59:00.001-06:00

What an exciting last couple days for the small staff in the TQP office. . .

Yesterday we (the three of us: Dan, Leanne and StaceyAnn) decided to organize our timeline and start with some known end points and work back to create a work plan. It felt good to be working together as a team and to get a list of "do-ables" for us in which to move forward.

Today, just as we were moving forward with some of these tasks, a new task presented itself. We have been charged with creating "talking points" on both TQP and TPAC that will be used by the UNI President next week in his meeting with Jason Glass, the new Iowa Department of Education Director. Dean Dwight Watson has requested this aspect as one of the four main points President Allen intends to make with Jason.

We are excited to have this opportunity~particularly after Jason Glass tweeted yesterday the following successive two tweets:

ANNOUNCEMENT: I have made a decision on the most burning question posed to me in Iowa so far. Cyclone or Hawkeye...

After a careful and scientific review of the allegiances my twitter friends, I have decided... GO PANTHERS!

Oh, how fun it is to be engaged in the Twitterverse . . . but for now, back to the drawing board in composing the Talking Points.

Three Questions

2011-01-12T15:11:00.001-06:00

Jason Glass, Terry Branstad's appointee for the Director of the Iowa Department of Education, posted the following on his blog . . .

One of the great things about working in education is that you get the chance to meet so many tremendous leaders who are real practitioners of the servant-leadership concept. One of these tremendous leaders is the Executive Director forBattelle for Kids, Dr. Jim Mahoney.

I had the chance to talk with Dr. Mahoney about my “entry plan” for Iowa being to spend a lot of time up front simply listening. He really liked this approach and he suggested to me a structure for these conversations that includes 3 questions for Iowa education:

1. What should we stop doing?

2. What should we keep doing?

3. What should we start doing?

I love these three questions! Perhaps I will start asking myself these more often~

Over the past several days, several people have offered a variety of suggestions. I decided that I should chime in as well. Below you will find my post. You might notice that I didn't add anything in the "Stop" category. This isn't because I think we should continue everything that is going on but rather some comments left by Trace Pickering had me convinced that we need to "transform" rather than reform. This got me thinking that perhaps the best way to do so would be to stop everything and start with the new transformation. Pretty idealistic, huh?! Anyway, here is what I wrote. To read more, go to: http://trunc.it/dqrva

Keep

• Learning at the center of education

• High expectations

• Preschool Education

• Some sort of system for mentoring new teachers

Start

• Treating all learners as individuals that learn differently and in different environments and in different timeframes

• Promoting partnerships and communication between all tiers of education (State level, AEAs, LEAs, IHE) so that we speak a common language

• Dialogue about a continuum of learning standards from PK-12 through teacher preparation through induction through career. (InTASC and Iowa Teaching Standards . . . can align but why do we need separateness?)

• Offering increased opportunities for immersion experiences during educator preparation

• Restructuring of the PK-12 teacher work day to include time to collaborate, create and envision as a facilitator for student learning for the next generation of learners

• Encouraging professional learning as ongoing growth and personal challenge for all those that choose to become educatorEmbracing environmental education and place-based education as connections to local communities and allows for experiences rich in critical thinking, complex communication, creativity, collaboration, flexibility, productivity and accountability

Colleges of Humanities, Fine Arts and Natural Sciences

2011-01-12T14:53:00.000-06:00

Today our team met with the Executive Council for the Colleges of Humanities, Fine Arts and Natural Sciences. Very diverse group of individuals . . . which was true of our group yesterday as well. The difference for me was that I knew one person at the table today whereas yesterday I knew no one. :)

Again there were some great questions:
How will students be selected?
Will geographic background be a factor?
How does this process change the Teacher Work Sample?
How refined will the model being created be one year later?

John Vallentine, Director of the School of Music felt this was all very positive and positions UNI in the potential for being a leader!

Teacher Quality to Teacher Effectiveness

2011-01-11T15:28:00.000-06:00

Much of the discussion at the national level in teacher preparation and evaluation has moved from beyond teacher quality to teacher effectiveness. Defining what a highly effective teacher looks like and is able to do is at the forefront of many discussions in the national arena. It appears that many Iowans are ready to get into this discussion. Here at UNI we are excited about it too! Today marked the beginning of our campaign to let the other colleges of the university know what is happening with the TQP grant. Our meeting with the Executive Council of the College for Social and Behavioral Sciences went well. There were some very insightful questions and a recognition that some of the proposals "out there" for teacher evaluation are "frightening"!

It sounds like teacher performance will be a priority of the new chief administrator of the Iowa Department of Education. Several of us on the team have been following Jason Glass' tweets and blog with rapt interest.

It is an exciting time to be an educator in Iowa. We have the chance to give direction to the future of our profession in meaningful ways that will indicate to our communities our commitment to quality and accountability. Being an effective educator is more than achieving a prescribed checklist. Let us aspire to greatness for the good of each learner.

Winter Solstice

2010-12-21T16:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday saw much of eastern Iowa in snow and windy conditions which caused schools to be released early and evening activities to be cancelled. A typical event that occurs several times throughout most school years. Yesterday was also an opportunity to view the unusual event of a total lunar eclipse. Not only an eclipse, but one on the Winter Solstice. Wow! And then to be obscured by clouds . . . But now we live in an age where technology can offer a solution. Several sites offered "live" web coverage of the eclipse and I have also seen several photos and videos posted on websites and you tube. Great way to use technology but I am concerned that it offers an excuse for many to not get outdoors and experience the eclipse directly.

Although a rough metaphor, I am going to make the jump to that of comments made by Iowa's own Tom Harkin yesterday. This is reported in "The Answer Sheet" blog by Valerie Strauss on Washington Post.com http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/congress/a-highly-qualified-gift-from-c.html
The office of Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who is chairman of the Senate’s education committee, sent this statement late today:

“There is broad, bipartisan agreement among members of Congress and the Obama administration that it is the intent of Congress for alternative-route teachers to be considered highly qualified, consistent with the regulation that has been in place for several years. Chairman Harkin strongly believes that teacher quality is essential to student success, and intends to address this issue as part of a comprehensive ESEA reauthorization. While that process is underway, the 9th Circuit’s decision – which reverses a previous court ruling in favor of the regulation – could cause significant disruptions in schools across the country and have a negative impact on students. Maintaining current practice is a temporary solution, and underscores the need to act quickly and reauthorize ESEA early in the next Congress.”

Well, that is interesting. Indirect experiences make you "highly qualified"? I might be able to accept "qualified" in the sense that it is a warm, human body in a room that can be responsible for student behavior. But where do we start to consider the learning? Is there anything to be said about a warm,human body performance that engages learners and encourages a continued quest for learning?

Of course, our work here with the Teacher Quality Partnership grant is bridging the expression from "highly qualified" to "highly effective". Now that is a whole other realm to wonder about what Tom would define to be.

Partnership Districts

2010-12-16T15:21:00.000-06:00

As of yesterday we have five districts with which to partner for our project. We are all excited!

CAL
HLV
Midland
Springville
West Fork

We also had our holiday gathering for the seven of us . . . great food and conversation, made particularly special with the sharing of Lebanese traditions and Russian by Zeina and Ksenia. There was something magical about sitting in the 5th floor lounge watching the snow lightly fall. . .

Standing at the left of the stairs:
Dan Mourlam, Ksenia Zhbanova
Standing at the right of the stairs:
Leanne Lewis
On the stairs from top down:
Mary Herring, Stacey Snyder, Nadene Davidson, Zeina Yousef

National Teacher of the Year

2010-12-15T13:07:00.000-06:00

I would venture to guess that it isn't too often that a typical educator gets to share a day with the National Teacher of the Year. So when I heard that Sarah Brown Wessling, an Iowan, was going to be presenting to fellow educators at Grant Wood AEA, I inquired about it. Myra Hall generously agreed that my presence as part of the Teacher Quality Partnership would be welcome.

Sarah's topic: "Ensuring Success: Iowa Core in Action . . . A Day of Learning with National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown Wessling". Part of the description of the day included the following: "Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and consider how they might benefit from Sarah's approach and philosophy to improve teaching and learning in their school communities."

Indeed, this was a day for reflection and for being inspired by Sarah's approach. It left me wanting my children to be in classrooms inspired by Sarah's creative genius. From the moment she began I was enamored. She exclaimed that she was so excited to be a teacher for the day! This invitation mirrored (or renewed) my enthusiasm for being a learner. Wow! What if all classrooms offered this expectation of invitation to learn.

I will try to capture some of my learning and insights from the day:
* Sameness precludes learning
* Sometimes efficiency isn't efficient at all
* Learners who are process driven are lead learners
* Teaching for learner differences: targeting strengths and growth for each student individually~it's that simple and that complex all at once
* Scaffolding is like "Seeing the Board" in chess . . . plan ahead twelve moves
* There is a difference between teaching and playing school.
* Gap as an opportunity rather than an obstacle
* In Iowa we Grow Teachers (slogan with picture of corn field)
* Challenge us to flatten the hierarchy of learning by putting the learner in the center
* Intellectual risk taker (Story of water skiing with her grandfather and getting beyond the wake . . . resonated with me as I am oldest grandchild as well)
* Create in our learning environments, opportunities for mistakes
* Use of "Mona Lisa Smile" clip to discuss growth as an educator
* Use of Mentor and Critic dialogue with clips from Top Master Chefs and American Ido to talk about what makes good descriptive, precise feedback that propels further learning
* Not lowering but rather lengthening expectations
* Making the implicit, explicit through parallel experiences
* Dispositions for learning: Deliberateness, Intentionality, Purposefulness
* "Because you care"

What a blessing to have spent the day with Sarah Brown Wessling.

TQP Advisory Board Meeting

2010-12-09T16:35:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, December 7, our UNI TQP Staff (Dan, Leanne, Mary, Nadene and I) along with Dean Dwight Watson travelled to Des Moines for the first TQP Advisory Board meeting at the Grimes State Office Building. I marveled at the Memorial that adorns the sidewalk leading to the building from the north where we parked. It was a bit unnerving to get close to the memorial and read that it was dedicated to those Iowans that died at Pearl Harbor, the day of infamy. . . coincidentally almost exactly 69 years ago to the hour of the attack that I stood there. Hard to not have tears well up in your eyes. The sidewalk is described as "Victory Walk" and proceeds through the years of World War II.

Attending members of the Advisory Board:
Salvador Aguirre (Meredith MS-DMPS, 1st year teacher)
Isbelia Arzola (DMPS)
Molly Boyle (2011 Iowa Teacher of the Year)
Mary Jane Cobb (ISEA)
Mary Delagardelle (IASB)
Kevin Fangman
Jessica Gogerty (North HS-DMPS)
Deborah Humpal
Dara Lothi-Phaisith (Garton Elementary-DMPS)
Bill Lynch (Superintendent Partner School, HLV)
George Maurer
Terry Rhinehart (Superintendent Partner School, Springville)
Connie Richardson (Green Hills AEA)
Dan Smith (SAI)
Kim Swartz (AEA 267)
Dwight Watson (UNI)
Gail Wortman (2001 Iowa Teacher of the Year and Online Learning)
Others in attendance to listen included UNI TQP Staff and DoE staff including: Mary Beth Schroeder Fracek, Sue Swartz, Colleen Anderson, Kris Crabtree-Groff, Rosanne Malek, Connie Maxson, Geri McMahon, Jay Pennington as well as Julie Kearney as evaluator from the UofI.

The morning included introductions and setting the state and national context by Kevin Fangman. This was followed by the overview of the grant. Mary and Nadene overviewed Goals 1 & 2; Mary Beth did Goal 3; Jay Pennington talked about the role of integrated technology platform; Julie Kearney added grant evaluation information.

Lunch was delightful and included baked chicken breast with stuffing, tossed salad, winter mix vegetables, diced roasted potatoes, rolls and a caramel brownie (that was evidently heavenly, of course those that know me realize I don't care for chocolate so cannot speak directly to its merits).

After lunch Eric Docter and Ameetha Palanki of Show Evidence (from California) overviewed the platform they are creating for online storage of performance assessment data. She is an educator and is certainly well-versed in the needs of allowing evidence-based documentation about teacher effectiveness. They are very much interested in partnering with this process and feel that Iowa is on the right track and ahead of many others in the nation.

Ameetha sat at our lunch table with us and talked about coming with the only coat she had. Who knew I would already be this cold in December (teen and 20s). When we went back in to the meeting room after lunch, Eric Docter greeted me with "thanks for following us on Twitter". Wow! I was floored! I have actually been recognized in the Twitterverse! I asked how he knew I was following him and he said he recognized my picture. Then I asked him to vote for our football video and he said he would. Gosh, it is fun to meet new people!

All in all it was a good day. It feels great to have the process starting and some people in place to guide the process. Interestingly many of those in attendance were concerned that the model we create in small schools may not transfer readily to larger districts. I wonder how often small schools are represented at "think tanks" like this and if the concern is ever the other way?

GWAEA district recruiting

2010-12-01T15:24:00.000-06:00

Today our TQP team traveled to Victor for a 9 am meeting with Bill Lynch, Superintendent. Since we arrived a few minutes early I just had to go meet with the counselor . . . you know me, always needing something! :) Actually, Ron Orf, the counselor there was my high school counselor and the person whose position I accepted upon his "first" retirement. It was great to see him in his district for which he has worked part-time for four years.

Bill has been the superintendent at HLV for 31 years! Wow! He spoke about the reality of small rural districts and how it is important to get the right fit for folks as not all want to be in small districts or recognize its importance. It was also fun to connect with him and learn about all the folks he knew that we were connected to. For me it was Allan Hjelle, my first principal when I was at Underwood.

After our meeting at HLV we traveled to the Grant Wood AEA building. That was a thrill for me. It was strange to put on the "Visitor" badge and go upstairs. Unfortunately folks were not in that I had hoped to see but I left a few little smiley notes for them! :) I did get to talk with Andy Crozier, Keith Stamp and Trace Pickering, all of which I was delighted to see again. Oh, and Cathy, at the front desk!

We met there with Brian Rodenberg of Midland. He has also been in education for many years (30) although in seven different districts. He also knew people that we did. He had great questions such as preparation for candidates in small rural schools and whose responsibility the ARRA paperwork might be for the grant. His insight about community and relationships really resonated with me.

Great news! They both agreed to become involved and partner with us!

Hopefully this means I will get to meet up with more of the comrades I gained from my time at GWAEA.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T11:11:00.000-06:00

The UNI Campus has gotten very quiet this week with no students roaming around . . . I think I have only seen three people on this floor in these three days. It is quiet enough that I have accomplished much reading.

As my mind turns to Thanksgiving I sit here in my office reading research about teacher effectiveness it gives me opportunity to reflect on the past year and my contacts with former students. Although I have not outrightly asked them if they felt I was an effective teacher I do from time to time get feedback that warms the heart.

For instance, Megan Meier McDonough, a student from Fredericksburg recently shared a story about her young son, Vaughn, and how she is teaching him about the moon phases. LLL (lit on the left in the last), LOL. And Amber Dilger O'Neill has told me how her involvement with the Envirothon shaped her career choice. Others have shared fond memories of science lessons including monarch tagging, jelly making, and dandelion eating. Although I haven't heard too many stories about my years as a school counselor, I hope also, that I made a contribution in some way to the lives I touched there as well.

I have no data to prove or disprove my effectiveness as a teacher but I do have small testimonials from former students that make me smile. I also have the knowledge that I did get better each year, with more experience, greater time for reflection, increased opportunities for professional development, exposure to students, and an awareness that teaching really does touch the future. Teaching is a profession that touches all others.

The longer I am away from the classroom the more I wish I could have the chance to go back and teach again. My goal is to teach would-be teachers and I think I have positioned myself in places to enrich my life and offer me the opportunity to be good at that. This makes me thankful for mentors along the way: David McCalley while a graduate student; John Verdon while a young teacher in Waverly; John Rothlisberger while teaching in Fredericksburg; Ed Redalen, Nancy Lockett, Karen Garvin, DJ Corson, and Julie Crotty while serving as AEA consultant; Marti Roling and Traci Penning while serving as school counselor; and Janel Lesan, Bruce Frana, Phyllis Anderson and Kelly Jones while at GWAEA. Many of my friends are teachers and people that I call on for advice along the way: Ginny Elliott, Di Sinclair, Kristie Schult, Jean Eells, Vern Fish. And then there is also a teacher that effected my growth and development all along, my grandmother, Aura Snyder.

Gosh, with all the publicity that teaching receives in the news I hope people take the time to recognize from where we have been as we look for direction into the future. Educators are some of the most flexible folks I know . . . it is with this flexibility and optimism for the future that we need to see how to guide the ship into the future for the next generation of learners. We have the capacity and we have the reason, we now need the enlightened vision of leaders both within and outside of education to collaborate.

Happy Thanksgiving . . . and be sure to thank and recognize your teachers (including those students from which we learn) and our mentors.

Two Big Events and Discovery of Presidential Sense of Humor

2010-11-18T13:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday (November 17) marked the first day of our newest team member, Leann Lewis. She will serve as Project Coordinator of TQP. It was great to be able to meet her and to give her a little bit of background on the project. I also gave her an abbreviated tour of our building and then we headed across campus to get her UNI ID card. As we were leaving that office we were asked if we were planning to attend the ground breaking celebration for the new campus apartments. We were not aware of the event but we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. There I ran into my friend Brenda Buzynski and we caught up a bit. We also heard the remarks of several dignitaries and what this building could come to mean to student life on campus. President Ben Allen had most of us laughing with his remarks about the brisk weather and his reserve from taking off his jacket for what that might mean to the fellows that would speak after him.

Later in the afternoon President Allen and Provost Gibson visited the College of Education. During the first half hour two projects were chosen to highlight their programs. The first was about USA and Olympic training opportunities through five world-class coaches. It was totally new info to me and I found it pretty incredible. Then Mary and Nadene presented about the TQP opportunity. Following this both the President and Provost made their remarks.

Again, President Allen showed his sense of humor. I laughed again (and again as I recall the story). Apparently both he and Gloria Gibson have a degree from the University of Indiana. Not far from the podium there was a broken chair on the stage. He felt it was appropriately welcoming that the COE had saved Bobby Knight's chair for the event. LOL! Interestingly enough, during the time for questions, Mary turned this comment around to ask when we might see some funding to renovate and update the building to keep up with the innovative education appropriate for our next generation learners.

Whoa and Wow

2010-11-16T21:35:00.000-06:00

The "whoa" was attending a training session for "Managing Projects" offered by the Office for Sponsored Programs. There were moments when I wasn't sure I was even speaking the same language as the presenters. Fiscal management . . . how did I get here?! Did they really choose me for this position?! Me, the one who is fiscally challenged and overwhelmed with the amount of money I have overcommitted to in the remodeling/construction project for my home. My brain is in a panic. (Sigh)

The "wow" was visiting our first LEA district, Springville. We (Mary, Nadene, Dan and I) had a delightful visit with Terry Rhinehart. It appears that he is very interested in participating in our pilot project. We also had a good discussion while traveling to and fro.

Nadene said something that resonated with me and my mixed feelings of the day . . . if you can be comfortable with ambiguity then you possess a next generation skill.

What a Week

2010-11-05T16:08:00.000-05:00

Whew . . . what a week!

Working on Logic Models takes lots of brain energy!

Good thing I have had many diversions in my "off"-time to keep me fresh:
~My eldest turned 18
~We traveled to Preston for football tourney game and we won 44-7
~Voted with my adult child
~We traveled to Cedar Rapids for volleyball tourney, beating Preston to get to state tourney
~Cooking class at my newly-found loved cabin (we made squash soup, paninis and pumpkin trifle)
~New flooring in my dining room & kitchen remodel
~Mock Trial practice

Getting ready to wind down the day in the office and head across Hudson Road to the UNIDome to watch the Tripoli Panthers in the Quarterfinals!! GO PANTHERS!

A corrected link . . .

2010-11-04T10:20:00.001-05:00

One of the links posted earlier today does not appear to work. Try this instead:

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/11/teacher_evaluations_shoud_be_m.html

Visual Representations

2010-11-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

As my mind twists and turns around the Logic Models I have found myself visualizing the life of the grant over the next five years in my mind. In my attempts to get these thoughts on paper, I have turned to a couple of web-based tools.

One of these was Webspiration. This allowed me to see the goals and objectives in a format other than a list or table. If you are interested in seeing this the link is:
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/625548a87cd

Then I turned to a tool that was introduced to me by my GWAEA colleague, Erica. The Mindomo tool has many options. My "mind map" is still in development as there are many things yet to place on as inputs, activities and outputs but this initial draft shows a large part of our current status of our work in progress on the grant. If you are curious: http://www.mindomo.com/edit.htm?m=af6c605a15684e13b40f90ebdd9dcbb6

Mary is in Kansas City today presenting about this and Nadene is in San Diego as part of the TPAC training.

Over the last week I have seen several articles and references from other states (see below for two such links) talking about teacher evaluation and effective instruction. Here we are, right in the midst of the national transformation. Sort of exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/11/teacher_evaluations_shoud_be

_m.html

http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2010/10/22/pilotassessments.html?tkn=ZNYDpvo1ApI9NZ%2F3CJYT2LRfTJrvQkI3N9ja&intc=es

I am now going to do some reading. On top of the list is an article by Linda Darling-Hammond entitled "Evaluating Teacher Effectiveness: How Teacher Performance Assessments Can Measure and Improve Teaching", October 2010.

Logic Models

2010-10-29T17:19:00.000-05:00

The majority of this week I spent reading and re-reading the text of the grant. My mission was to understand the goals, objectives and timeline of the next five years of the life of this grant. Also, I spent time looking at various logic model examples, reading a chapter about how to write one, and participated in an online training on creating one.

After my head was full of both of these tasks and I received a pep talk from Julie, I set out to create my first set of logic models. As of now I have the beginning of twelve different logic models on paper. Next week I plan to get them up electronically so our team can look at them and add and detract from them as necessary so that these may become our working documents.

Another task of which I am in the midst is creating a progress report for our Dean on the TQP goals. I have the information in a word notebook, now to just figure out the best way of representing it to pass on.

Two other documents I have worked to create are letters of recruitment for information and participation. I am anxious for Mary and Nadene to have time to review them to see if I am even in the right place.

Dan has been busy working to create powerpoint slides for the five targeted audiences on our horizon. He and I came up with some of the pertinent information from our meetings with Nadene and Mary and then he diligently went forward and created slides to match the content.

It has been a productive week and I am looking forward to the weekend. Busy time for Tripoli Panther Fans and also a crazy time for me as Monday my child that started my motherhood becomes an adult . . . sigh . . . she wil be eighteen!

IACTE

2010-10-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday and Friday I attended the IACTE (Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education). This was a new place for me to be but I was excited to walk into a room where although the context was new, I found two people I knew and even recognized a few familiar faces. The people I already knew and were able to connect with were: Cheryl (Budlong) O'Brien, one of my education professors and early mentors from Wartburg College, and Barb Ehlers, a good friend and ICEC Co-Chair now teaching at Upper Iowa University. The familiar faces were from UNI and UIU but also a couple from my time at IMSEP in August and one from GWAEA/U of Iowa.

Friday morning's session was presented by Circe Stumbo (West Wind Education Policy, Inc) and Nadene Davidson. They presented the Model Core Teaching Standards form InTASK (Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium). I liked Nadene's comment that, this isn't just about tinkering or tweaking but rather a major systems change! This has been a continual theme I have heard in education over the last two years and I am glad I had the opportunity to talk about second order change in Advanced Contemporary School Leadership last year at GWAEA (Thanks, Susan Leddick).

I sat at a table with the staff of three from Faith Baptist Bible College and a UNI colleage, Dianna Briggs. She said something that really resonated with me and that I want to keep with me and share with others. We need to move beyond the sage on the stage and guide on the side to "Mentor in the Center". Wow!

Perhaps most stimulating were the comments about public policy related to teacher standards. In the national arena there is movement toward measuring "Teacher Effectiveness" (what the teacher can do) and beyond the traditional from NCLB, "Teacher Quality" (what the teacher knows). So how do we measure teacher effectiveness? Policy folks are tempted to take the student test scores (which are known to be valid & reliable) and connect these to teachers and then to take the teachers and make the connection to their teacher prep programs. Or another option is the value-added models but the psychometrics aren't strong enough to differentiate the "middle" 80% of folks. Currently Iowa is involved with the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium to determine achievement on Common Core . . . perhaps through authentic measures.

The afternoon I attended the session on Iowa Core and what is happening with Assessment for Learning. Kris Kilibarda (Central College) hosted the session and invited Julie Hukee (AEA 11) and Sue Uppdegraff (AEA 1). I was amazed to learn how few in IHE knew about the Characteristics of Effective Instruction. The moodle site was introduced and there was emphatic emphasis on the urgency of getting the teacher prep programs and the AEA Iowa Core teams on the same page and in the same conversation.

This made me feel like I had a place and role to play . . . I sent off an email to my GWAEA friends and we have engaged in the conversation and will continue to do so~

2010-10-21T17:47:00.001-05:00

Today I attended the IACTE (Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) Conference in Ames. Mary, Nadene, Sue & Mary Beth introduced the TQP project.

Orientation

2010-10-19T22:54:00.000-05:00

Today was Orientation for new employees. Evidently they hold these sessions once a month. It just so happens that I have begun my position already on October 1. And I have already needed to take emergency leave even though I didn't know how to account for it until now. sigh~

The session began at 8 am and it went until 4:30. Many different campus personalities arrived at various times during the day to tell about what was offered. Highlights included two free tickets to a Gallagher Bluedorn performance and a free day pass to the Wellness Center!

Besides learning about various services we were also informed about our benefits (of which there are several) and vacation/holidays. As an 11 month P&S faculty member I will need to work 208 days with 9 paid holidays. Mostly I think I understand but there is much more to this than I figured. The UNI website is rich with information if I only take the time to look. Something particularly new to me is that I will need to fill out a monthly time card. This time card is for us to indicate when we are not at work and to indicate the reason why. I hope I remember to do this!

Lunch was on Human Resources. We ate right in the Union which I hadn't done since 1990 when I think there was a Hardees to choose from. Times have changed!

State Leadership

2010-10-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

Today I traveled to Des Moines for the State Leadership Team meetings. This is a new format for the Department of Education. I was encouraged to see pK-16 representation and hope this continues.

It was fun to walk in and see my Grant Wood colleagues seated together~both math and science. I was able to pull up a chair and join them. It was so good to see them again and to be able to share our thoughts and to catch up on projects.

Kevin Fangman, acting DoE director, opened the morning session. He gave an over view of the Common Core which now becomes the Iowa Core following the recent adoption (translates to standards, word for word). He was excited to have the inclusion of IHE at this meeting. Another highlight of which he wanted us to all be aware was that Iowa is one of several states participating in an assessment consortium~more information to come as they develop.

He also was very impressed with New Tech High and their interdisciplinary approach and hopes that we consider this during our discussions. He mentioned that he had seen them on Saturday at UNI!

The key difference between the Iowa Core an Common Core is that the Common Core is by grade sections and the Iowa Core is organized by grade clusters. The key similarity is they are both a set of shared goals and expectations for student success.

The next session was on STEM education, facilitated by Jeff Weld. A common thread for all STEM topics is that of the Inquiry Process. One group offered the thought of whether STEM was exclusionary . . . for instance, what about the Arts? I quipped that it could be STEAM. The discussion turned to integration rather than splintering. Following this was teaching literacy through science as the content and including problem solving and higher order thinking skills. Jeff encouraged us to become a member of iowastem.org (currently a group of 70)

Some "take aways" for me today that parallel some of the thoughts that I have had for TQP:

Integration of PK-16
Change Process (Institutional Constraints fo Development)
Theory of Action/Logic Model
Statement made: Iowa put a schoolhouse on our quarter, are we living up to it? It made me ask, should we be? Should we limit education to brick and mortar and the four walls of a classroom? I think not and challenge us to go beyond the schoolhouse and value all forms of education.

The Unexpected

2010-10-12T14:08:00.000-05:00

My blog has been interrupted for an unexpected chain of events . . .

Ever since my childhood when my father took our family to Canada for summer vacation I have had an affinity for the North Woods. So when my sister said she had the use of a cabin in Ely for the weekend, I decided to go and clear my mind and rejuvenate; leaving Friday evening after Austin's football game Megan, Conner, Kenny and I arrived at 3:30 am. We enjoyed our time on the lake, near waterfalls, at the International Wolf Center evening feeding of the wolves and then the drive along the North Shore for Gooseberry Falls and smooth stone collecting.

As we neared the Iowa border I received a text from my mother saying, "I just had my chair break and my foot was under it and I cannot put any weight on it." Calls to my daughter, Erica, and sister, Ally, sent them to her house and found her crawling on the floor. Ally took her to the ER around 8:30 pm while Erica and Austin watched Cameron and Cade til I arrived at 10 pm. Her ankle turned out to be broken in three spots and she will have surgery on Wednesday.

So yesterday morning I attended our research meeting and took notes. After that I spent the day with mom at the hospital making calls and being proactive about her care with my sister, Ally.

Today I have been at the hospital for a short time this morning and then I created a Google Site for me to keep track of details of our work and then have been grappling with the timeline and the concept of a logic model to organize our work.

I am going to close for today and go back to visit at the hospital. I will hope to post again on Thursday and get back "on track" on Friday as long as all goes well for my mom . . .

Reading . . .

2010-10-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

On Thursday I met with Jody Stone and we worked on a crosswalk between the Iowa Teaching Standards, the Iowa Core's Characteristics of Effective Instruction, and the AACTE Teaching Standards. What interesting work. We were not able to get very far partially due to time but also because of the rich discussion that engaged us.

I also spent some time getting to know Ksenia and Zeina. K is from Russia and working on her EdD here in Curriculum and Instruction. She had taught in an elementary school in Russia before coming here. Z is from Lebanon (we had fun talking about Tripoli (ee) and Tripoli (la)). She is working on her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology.

Today I have been reading and continuing to wrap my mind around the tasks ahead. And a friend from my summer after high school graduation and a parent from my years of teaching at Fredericksburg, Linda Rosulek, was walking through the hall and saw me and stopped in. How fun to see her!

This afternoon UNI's College of Education is hosting a Leaders in Education Lecture Series in the Maucker Union, Old Central Ballroom. Mary and Nadene have both been quite involved with the planning of this. The featured keynote is Sharon Robinson who currently serves as the President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Her topic is "Envisioning a Premier Pre-K through 12 Teacher and Educational Leader Preparation Program: An Institutional Commitment". I am excited to hear her and hopefully meet her as well.

Following her talk a reception is planned to welcome the new College of Education dean, Dr. Dwight C. Watson.

If you are in the area and have an interest in teacher preparation, please plan to join us from 3:30 until 6 pm.

At the end of a full day . . .

2010-10-06T16:41:00.000-05:00

As I sit at my desk looking out at campus I am amazed by the swarm of Asian beetles that have chosen to make our bank of windows their temporary home. I only hope they don't find their way in! The trees are taking on their autumn colors and the late-afternoon sun gives them great highlights.

This morning was filled with three meetings. The first was a teleconference with our Iowa Department of Education representatives, Mary Beth and Sue. Our task was to put together a half hour introductory session about the grant for the October 21 IACTE Conference in Ames.

As I was leaving my office to go to Bartlett Hall I noticed a woman coming down the hall looking at room numbers. Soon I recognized her as Ana Housel, a friend from my graduate school days! What a pleasure to see her again! She had heard I was on campus and brought me an "office warming" gift of a plant. This is the first time in many years I have had an office with sunlight to have a plant so it is very appropriate. What a wonderful and thoughtful gift. It sure looks nice, too. Thank you, Ana!

Next I met with Christie in the Office of Sponsored Programs. She also introduced me to some of her staff with which I will consult. It is their role to assist with all the details of grant programs and it is here that I will turn with many of my early questions. All I have to remember is 4-3-2-1. It is also here that it sunk in that my title "Program Manager" truly means that I am a manager. (A what?! Celina, help!) After hearing it described that way for the third time, an uneasy feeling came over me and I exclaimed, "but I am an educator". Sigh. Guess I will learn to be both. Two books loaned to me to read are: "You're in Charge-Now What?" and "The Accidental Leader".

Then the rest of the TQP (Teacher Quality Partnership) Team (Mary, Nadene, Dan) joined me in a meeting at the Office of Sponsored Programs with Christie, Paul and Anita. Here we talked about the Logic Model, using TQP to build capacity, operationalizing the elements of effective instruction, documenting our process, whether or not we will be at the table for TPAC, process evaluation, our elevator speech, PAIT, a potential Brown Bag Lunch, and using social media to stay transparent.

For the afternoon Dan and I worked on a visual way of making sense of the goals and objectives for the grant and I went over to get my UNI ID card. On the way back I stopped in to talk with Jane and Beth from yesterday. They both made me feel welcome to the campus and we have vowed to find time to have lunch soon.

My mind is full and there will be more to learn tomorrow~

Room with a View

2010-10-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

As I hit the top of the stairs on the fifth floor I look out onto the campus, catching my breath, and check the time on the Campanile. Then I round the corner into 525 where I am greeted to an office with windows! In the Schindler Education Center (sort of a roundish square building with a strange room numbering system)these are high commodity spaces and I am thrilled to have the view. From the far side of the office I can look west and get a view of the UNI Dome. Oddly enough, there are people walking on top of it as I write. I am told they are doing repairs . . . not the type of work I would want to do. I wonder if they do windows though (the windows here on the 5th floor need washing!) From my desk as I look out I am oriented toward the south and I see West Gym, the Curris Business Building, the Strayer-Wood Theater, the Communication Arts Center and the Kamerick Art Building. It really is a great view! If you are ever on campus, let me know or stop by. My phone on campus is 319/273-7631.

Yesterday (I am still not "on" the date yet~the remodeling project at home has me displaced and staying at my mom's for a bit and just don't have it all together yet) I received my keys for my office and this building. One small step at a time it is feeling like a new home. I have a picture of the kids in here and one from Isle Royale but due to the remodeling project at home I still haven't found all my items to bring to personalize my space yet. . . that day will come.

Mary gave me a tour of the building (six floors and a basement) yesterday. Not only was I able to meet some new folks but I was also able to get reaquainted with several from my past. Most notably, a former roommate of mine from my short stint off-campus during my senior year at Wartburg (fall of 1985). When Mary said Jane Bentley-Gadow, my jaw dropped. Although Jane was in class with students, Mary could see the urgency in my eyes to reconnect with this piece of my past. Jane instantly recognized me and we shared a hug and laughter for a brief moment before Mary and I continued on our way and allowed Jane to complete her work. I look forward to popping in on her again today.

Barb Hill from Tripoli is also in the building; a friend from my days as naturalist in Pocahontas County is adjunct and a doctoral student, Beth Van Meeteren; Greg Stefanich and Linda McCartney are here from my days in graduate school; Linda Nebbe is just down the hall, whom I knew in my naturalist days as a rehabilitator; Lois Lindell is also here and I knew her from Wartburg as well. So many new and familiar faces and all very welcoming. And the package comes with a room with a view~life is good!

More Clarity

2010-10-05T05:33:00.000-05:00

October 4 we had a conference meeting via Polycom with the external review team from the University of Iowa. Our team on-site included our researchers (4 of 5 available), Mary, Dan, and myself. Nadene was in Washington DC for a P21 meeting. We are also missing a Department of Education representative. We will continue these meetings each Monday at 8 am. Mid-December is our deadline to have a draft of the initial research findings compiled.

Then Mary sat with Dan and I and shared the vision, ideas, and questions as well as some direction for each of us in the coming days. We may just be on the right path at the right time. Energized by Mary's comment, "If we get this right, Iowa will be leading the nation." WOW!

I also now have a new email address: stacey.snyder@uni.edu

In the Beginning . . .

2010-10-02T08:41:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my first day . . . I was able to meet all sorts of people~even the President! The morning was spent on paperwork and purchasing a parking permit and beginning the long process of internet and email access (still none!)

Spent the afternoon reading through the actual grant itself to learn what it is we will be doing. Entitled "State of Iowa Teacher Quality Partnership Program" submitted by State of Iowa Department of Education and participating entities: Iowa Department of Education, University of Northern Iowa, and Stanford University School Redesign Network.

Mission: to increase the learning and achievement of Iowa PK-12 students by continuously developing more highly effective teachers from pre-service through the entire teaching career. A key innovation is development and implementation of an integrated technology platform to store digital artifacts documenting effective teaching.

Some key phrases from the grant: universal design for learning, teacher work samples, communities of practice (collaborative teams), and Performance Assessment of Iowa Teachers (PAIT).

For more information please see our website at www.uni.edu/tqp

Transition

2010-10-01T06:31:00.000-05:00

My life isn't necessarily new to change or transition and I don't necessarily shy away from it but this change seems to be different for some reason. As a friend said, it is "pivotal" . . . I like that.

It is strange to me to leave a position that I truly loved. It was the first time in my professional career where I truly felt I was a respected and valued member of a team. Actually, more than one team. The relationships created will stay with me forever. Memories of thinking till my brain was numb, being energized by conversation, creating and innovating new ways of approaching work with schools and the synergy of sharing in the work of doing what's best for kids.

"Best for kids" is the only reason I am leaving . . . maybe it sounds ironic, but now I am talking about my own 3 kids. Traveling to Grant Wood AEA would have me on the road 2.5 hours a day. As another friend said, decisions about job changes made for family are never wrong. With my new position that starts today at UNI I will only be gone from home for travel about an hour. And the opportunities to work with both pre-service and in-service teachers on something that matters: quality teaching, seems like a great place to be.

So the new journey begins today with the support of my friends at Grant Wood AEA and a new sense of eagerness to meet the co-workers with which I will join on this five year venture through the $9 million dollar grant. Here we go!

Thank you for opportunities and courage to try the unknown . . . where would our world be without people who ventured in these ways~