The Power Tools (Transcript Of the May 1, 2000 Teleconference)Transmitted via New York 's Public Broadcasting Stations, produced by the New York State Education Department and the New York State Satellite Broadcast Network; recorded at the studios at Bulmer Telecommunications Center, Hudson Valley Community College. For additional information, call or write: John Quinn For copies of the videotape and Facilitator Guide, contact Teresa Moore, Questar III BOCES, (518) 477-6749. >> Rochelle: Hello. Welcome to the New York State Education Department's Satellite Broadcast Network. Our program, "Tools for Schools." The topic today, "Power Tools." I'll be your moderator. I'm Rochelle Cassella. >> We have let the parents, the students, the teachers, everyone know that our main focus is going to be on making this the best academic school that we can be. >> And I think if you give them a challenge and prepare them well, they can do it. >> What we want them to do is to leave high school as informed citizens who can then deal with important issues in their communities, their state, and their nation. >> We know that if the children do fail, then it's our problem, not just their problem. And we have to help double up those supports to help them get through. >> What literary elements or techniques are we talking about that make dandelion wine come to mind? >> We need to integrate all of our subjects as much as possible because we can't address each subject individually and do an adequate job of preparing our children for all these different evaluations. >> I will buy a book that will help him improve in reading, in vocabulary, help him with his vocabulary, help him with his math. >> The value in these assessments is that they are testing not only material but also testing concepts and skills in a way that gets at deeper thinking. >> We start off modeling things after practice tests. What you need to do is pull -- you know, takes the standards, pull the tests apart and say, "All right. What does the child need to be able to do to get here, and how do I put this in a way that I want to be teaching?" >> I think the fourth grade ELA test is right on the money in terms of assessing reading and writing and listening in authentic ways. >> Right in the very beginning we talked about how we're going to start studying social studies. >> Tweaking our English language arts to help us facilitate them to take the test helps immensely. Their writing had improved 100% last year. We were amazed at how well their writing came about. >> And then you're going to tell us what he does, what he looks like, what he feels... >> I think it's important for kids to relate to their own experiences as they incorporate it into our lessons. >> I see my role not as a traditional teacher but more as a facilitator of knowledge does. >> When you actually have to interpret information rather than just memorize it, I think it shows that the children are really learning. >> We went over the things that we thought -- the first time, you know, we were taught like how to graph the things that we needed to put in our papers and stuff. >> I realize that whatever the question was asking me was what I needed to -- was what was important and I should involve those questions, flip it around and answer the statements in my own words and use it. >> Peer means that someone in your own group is going to evaluate what you have written. >> There was a lot of preparation ahead of time. We had a lot of workshops, a lot of exposure. Once we felt comfortable as a staff, then we started going through and really taking a look at our curriculum. >> The curriculum mapping is probably the biggest factor that has been the most helpful. >> Teams need to be built. The atmosphere needs to be created in a school district where teachers know that they can be comfortable working together as a team, critiquing one another and growing as professionals. >> I believe the process of brainstorming for us is to become a better teacher. It makes me see things from a different perspective. >> This meeting is like many we have at different grade levels, which we take a look at the content that the teachers are already delivering and trying to examine ways that we can integrate the language arts skills, the social studies skills, the math skills, the technology skills. >> Okay. Thank you. You did a great job! (Music) >> These kids can meet the Regents standards, can meet higher standards, and they can be successful. >> Most of our students who have been classified have achieved higher again than expectations, achieving in an area of Regents curriculum, again, that they haven't been involved in. >> Usually when I get home from school, my mom is at work and so I call her and I tell her, "Oh, mom, guess what?" I got like 100 on my test or something. >> We know they have the safety net. If they don't do well, we don't dwell on that. We concentrate on passing the Regents exams. >> The expectation is that everyone will pass in the long run and it's just a matter of being patient and keeping at it and keeping working hard and keeping focus. >> All of the teachers are putting in place a very high level instructional program and we cannot say these students cannot excel. We have to say these children will excel. (Music) >> Rochelle: That video montage shows highlights from our "Tools for Schools" programs given this year. We introduced the "Tools for Schools" theme last fall, those six elements that research has shown are common to successful schools. Throughout the year, the series has shown you the use of those tools in relation to the teaching of English language arts, math A, geography, social studies and global history. Today Education Commissioner Richard Mills and I bring this season of "Tools for Schools" programs to a close by once again reviewing those tools and celebrating their successful use. And it really is a celebration, isn't it, Commissioner? >> Commissioner Mills: "Celebration" is clearly the word. I have been visiting schools with the Regents relentlessly, and I think the early returns on the Regents exams and the fourth grade and the eighth grade exams are far, far better than anyone had a right to expect, certainly beyond predictions. It has nothing to do with the children in terms of their demographic background; it has nothing to do with wealth; it has nothing to do with the size of the community. I think it's the persistent and consistent use of these concepts, the tools. People just, you know, they need to balance urgency with patience. They need to use all of these tools together. It's not picking and choosing your favorite one. It's just making sure that the curriculum is engaging and having responsive leadership and having continuous professional development, and engaging with the community. And I think it's important to over communicate the importance of these things, that everyone has to know about it and we have to keep telling him or her. >> Rochelle: That's true. The community needs to know; your teachers need to know; your parents need to know; your students need to know. >> Commissioner Mills: And we need to remind ourselves again why we're doing what we're doing. >> Rochelle: Okay. We're just going to prove it to you one more time. We're going to take you to a small, rural elementary school where scores on the fourth grade assessments are enviable and where all the tools are mentioned when administrators and staff are asked to list the reasons behind the students' success. In the Bronx, we see a vocational/technical high school that was once in danger of being closed ten years ago until the principal and her power tools did some serious rebuilding. And a western New York high school put the tools to work for its students with disabilities and the results are... well, what we said they would be. We begin with a review of what we have been talking about all school year, the tools for schools. (Music) >> Rochelle: We want to assure everyone that these aren't just some arbitrary elements that we have picked out. There's some solid research behind that indicates that these tools really work. >> Commissioner Mills: Indeed there is. People who have followed this series all year know that we began with an interview with Kati Haycock, who is the Director of the Education Trust and a longtime scholar and advocate for closing the gaps in student achievement. She worked with us for quite awhile. She came and talked with the Board of Regents. More to the point, people can see these tools emerging from even an hour's visit to a high-performance school. And I can speak with authority on this point in particular because the Regents and I have, for the last year, been visiting pairs of schools, high performance and low performance. And what distinguishes the high performers, what makes them very different, is the presence of these factors, of leadership, engagement with the community, engaging curriculum, and it's so powerful that almost nothing else is going on. It's really quite remarkable. >> Rochelle: Okay. >> Commissioner Mills: When we have asked, more recently, school leaders, "What do we do to get the last few students through to meet the standards?" these are the very ideas that come out of the crowd. >> Rochelle: Okay. Exactly. So now it's time to show you once again that the tools do work. Annsville Elementary School is one of four elementary schools in the Camden Central School District. It's located in Taberg, a rural community of some 2,000 residents not far from Rome, New York. But some excellent work is being done here. On the fourth grade E.L.A. and math assessments last school year, 70% of the students scored at Level 3 and 4 in English language arts. 86% scored at Level 3 and 4 in math. At Level 1, no students. How does this small district without much money achieve such high student performance? By relying on the tools for schools, of course. >> All right. Let's see. How about Jessica Proctor? Could you talk to me a little bit about what you did next on the second problem? >> We have responsive leadership at the building level. Our principal, Pat Fallon, has a vision for her students and her school. >> One of the reasons why I think our school is successful is because of our commitment to staff development. >> What makes us successful is that we do have a long-term comprehensive planning program in our district. >> And there is such commitment by the parents. >> We have built a community of writers and we're now working on document-based questions and using primary sources. >> Combining our state aid with our local resources and also seeking out some extra funding through Goals 2000, moneys through Chapter I and through special education funding, we're able to provide a variety of resources to our teachers and to our students. >> Annsville Elementary, a school poor in financial resources but rich in the range of its classroom instruction, support for its staff and its commitment to the academic performance of its 279 students. Each school day, academic success begins with a morning program for kindergarten through second grade students -- (Students singing) -- Along with staff and interested parents and community members. For the school, academic success begins with planning based on documented evidence and a vision shared by everyone, from the Board of Education to parents. ~ Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies ~ ~ For amber waves of grain ~ >> We have very high expectations here. I communicate that all the time to my faculty and they communicate it to the children. We want them to succeed. The superintendent and the board have supported my efforts by encouraging innovation and by encouraging risk-taking and by also communicating, not only to myself but to the other administrators, the importance of the new assessments and evolving to meeting the new standards. >> What types of thinking do we need to have in order to make and choose the right, the best connection for our ending project? What are some things that you guys have been through, that you know that you have to think about? >> You have to choose the strongest one that has the most supporting details. >> In Annsville's classrooms, which include general education students and students with disabilities, success comes in the form of curriculum aligned to the learning standards. Lessons are taught using the latest instructional strategies by a well-supported faculty. The use of thematic units -- one-lesson topics carried through English, social studies, and math classes -- makes good use of time. Working smarter, not harder, in Annsville lingo. >> Just to recap some of the things that we should be thinking about as we work today to make our final choice of connections: Does the connection include all our books? That's the most important thing. That's what our project is going to be based on. >> The school offers an after-school program from October through May to supplement preparations for the fourth grade English language arts and math assessments. And a summer learning camp emphasizes reading, writing and note taking skills along with field trips. >> We have a districtwide steering committee that has worked over the last several years aligning our curriculum with the New York State standards. >> Think about the things that you jotted down about Jordan's explanation and look up here at our rubric. This would be a three-point explanation rubric because it's multistep. We have quite a few things going on in the problem: Division, addition and also multiplication. >> We have also taken all of the rubrics that we have received from the state, rewritten them so that they are kid-friendly and parent-friendly, and we use that and we give copies of those rubrics to our students. >> Staff development is high on Annsville's priority list. New teachers have mentors. Staff collaborates on lessons and projects, and risk-taking by teachers is strongly encouraged. >> Did you make a decision? >> Yeah. >> Why did you go with that one? >> It stretches people's minds... >> Prefers the company of animals to family. That's an interesting connection. >> I had pitched an idea a couple of years ago to my principal about the need for teacher support groups, and out of our teacher support groups, we focused on some of the areas that we feel we want to grow and expand upon as teachers. One of the supports groups -- we usually have two different ones a year. So one of those groups that I worked in last year was dealing with reading and our interest in literature discussion groups and tech stuff, and so we often purchase books from Heineman and we -- almost like a college course. We go through the book and we actually model some of the things that we're learning both in the classroom and just in our support groups. It's a great format for expanding and keeping current with educational practices. >> Eight times two are not two equal numbers that can fit in the same box, so I put four times four. >> Excellent job. He realized that he had done eight times two; however, the problem says to cover the same number with the same shape. >> Our administrators really keep us up to date on new things that are happening in the assessments. I'm working right now actually with another teacher, and we are reworking our social studies curriculum to address the new fifth grade assessments. >> So even though this is division, what in fact are you really doing to solve this? Everybody? >> All: Multiplying. >> So what is four times three? >> All: Twelve. >> Mrs. Ponds, our fourth grade teacher, has become an expert in math problem solving. She's a second-year teacher. When she arrived at Annsville, the standards were just starting to kick in. What she has done in her classroom is spent considerable time helping our students not only think like mathematicians but also to put their thoughts on paper. "What steps will I go through? What steps did I go through in order to solve this problem? What worked? What didn't work?" That's all part of being a mathematical writer. >> We talked about starting out your explanation with a proper format. Even though I'm asking you how did you get your answer, you can be starting out with telling words and saying, "I got my answer by." Remember, we don't want to start our explanations with "How I got my answer was..." We want to use telling words, not asking words. >> There's no slowdown anticipated at Annsville. In fact, the future includes the introduction of technology into classroom instruction and the same expectations for academic achievement. >> Over the next three years, I think it's very important for us to continue our efforts in aligning our curriculum with the new standards, making sure that our teachers have the resources necessary to develop curriculum and to effectively implement instructional strategies in their classrooms. And also an area that we are working very hard on is integrating instructional technology into all of our daily lessons. We have a long-range instructional technology plan that will incorporate the latest and greatest technology in helping our teachers accomplish their goals. >> On Monday, you did a very nice job. Your explanations have come a long way. Nice job. >> Rochelle: Great work going on there. For more information about Annsville, I welcome now Patricia Fallon, Elementary School Principal. First of all, Pat congratulations on the success you have achieved so far. >> Thank you, but we have a ways to go. >> Rochelle: You have a ways to go. What do you want to do that you haven't done yet? >> I want the scores to go up in English language arts and math. And we're also looking down the road to social studies assessment in November. We're preparing our students for that. We just started, or we're about to start in June, a History Begins with Me project. It's a voluntary summer school, fourth grade, and reading. And the children will be required to read four picks about different topics like the Erie Canal, immigration, and we want to build historical literacy. So we're looking ahead in that area. >> Rochelle: What other kinds of programs do you have in support of students there? >> One of our oldest programs is Accelerated Reader. We implemented it about ten years ago, and every book in each classroom is assigned a point value. The student reads the book, and if they pass the test, they achieve the points. Every quarter each student is expected to achieve at least 10 points. It's figured into their mark. And many of our students, you know, go well above that. In 1998, we revamped that because we wanted our students to read in different genres in preparation for the new E.L.A., and we now go into essays. And also our third and fourth grade teachers have each become a different specialist in a genre, and the third and fourth grade students rotate every ten weeks to a different teacher and study a different genre and they must read within that genre. For example, if they're required to get ten points, then three points must be in historical fiction, if that's what they're exploring, or three points must be in biography or poetry. >> Commissioner Mills: I have a question about the curriculum I'm seeing here. >> Yes. >> Commissioner Mills: It looks very serious and also fun. There's great strength in this. Do you -- are their conventions in your school to hone the curriculum? In other words, the very powerful lessons we're seeing here, are they tried and tried again and modified and preserved so that that becomes part of the practice in the school? >> Yes. And when I hire a new teacher, Commissioner Mills, I tell them that I want them to risk. I want them to be innovative. I feel that if you try once and it doesn't work, you haven't failed. You've learned something and next time you're going to get it better and you'll do it right. >> Commissioner Mills: Okay. Well, that's -- I'm asking something a little different; it's not about taking risks. But this teacher who has been a teacher for two years, she obviously has great strengths in the classroom. They'll be even stronger three years from now. Sometimes we visit schools where they are always changing curriculums. It's always brand new rather than taking something that works, polishing it, honing it to be stronger and stronger and stronger and sharing it. Does that go on in your school? >> Yes, it does go on. As a matter of fact, it also goes on within our BOCES, Madison-Oneida BOCES. Right now, our teachers are engaged in writing a regionalized prioritized curriculum in math, social studies, English language arts and science. We take it and we refine it and we try to make it engaging because we know what will work for one student may not work for another. So we have to address our entire student needs. >> Rochelle: So you basically take that curriculum and then you're building on that expertise, what works and what doesn't work and how can we adjust to make it work even better? >> Yes. The content is the same but our approach may be different. >> Rochelle: Okay. And when does all of that training and staff development take place? That takes time. >> Well, I'm a big proponent of staff development. One way that we've gotten around the time issue is that the teachers meet once a week to -- in literary support groups. It first started three years ago when I discovered that we needed to become a community of writers and I needed to get all our teachers up to the level so that the fifth grade teachers were not teaching the basic craft of writing; rather, they were teaching their students how to polish and refine. So I purchased the book, Carol Avery's "With a Light Touch," and then using Goals 2000 money, I brought her in for three days to work with our teachers on time, choice and response. From there we went to Ralph Fletcher's "The Craft of Writing," which discusses voice, the different types of voice, the background that my teachers needed in order to conduct writing workshops. >> Commissioner Mills: Sounds like everyone in the school is learning, the teachers... >> Yes, and I sit in on the groups, too. And since then it's evolved. For example, this semester I have a third and fourth grade teacher working on the new social studies assessments. They're incorporating primary source documents. What kind of activities can we have our students do? I have a fourth and fifth grade math/science teacher looking at our entire science curriculum. They have developed a rubric that they can use to evaluate fourth and fifth grade science. I have a first-year reading recovery teacher leading a group of K-2 teachers in guided reading. And at the end of the semester, each group will have to give a short ten-minute presentation telling what they learned and how they applied it in their classroom. >> Rochelle: Briefly, before we move on, Pat, do you use a lot of data analysis to help determine where your needs are and what needs to be done first, to help set priorities? >> Yes, I do. And I got into that about three years ago because Annsville was the first school with Madison Onoda BOCES to pilot on-site staff development and we did team teaching and cognitive coaching. And as a result of that, teachers had to go into other rooms and observe, and they also had to collaborate. In conjunction with that, we conducted an on-site action research report entitled "My Palms Sweat," and we collected the data as to what was going on during this in-service. And since then, I've been really hooked on data and I look at everything. >> Rochelle: Thank you very much, Pat. Congratulations again. We first visited Frontier Senior High School in Western New York for a program sponsored by the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Students with Disabilities, VESID. That program focused on safety nets for students with disabilities who may not be able to meet the Regents requirements for graduation. It didn't seem to be an issue at Frontier, however, because blended inclusion classes co-taught by general education and special education teachers in conjunction with block scheduling and an academic support program working with the other tools for schools were helping all students succeed. On last year's school report cards, 33 out of 37 students with disabilities took the English Regents. Eight passed with a score of at least 55. 25 passed with a score of 65 or better. And of the 19 students with disabilities who took the math Regents last year, 2 received at least a 55 score, while 16 scored a 65 or better. Let's take a look at Frontier. >> I was upset that my son had to take the Regents exams. He is a student with disabilities and he has his own individualized education plan in special ed, working with test modifications, and I just did not think he was going to do it. He started with the blended classes, the support from the teachers, the block scheduling, and it's been very successful. >> Don't be overwhelmed by the math. Just try and follow along what I'm telling you. >> Okay. Okay. >> Can you help me? >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right. So you've got three, zero, plus four is zero plus three is going to be what? >> Three. >> Very good. >> What this is a time period where students can go to see different teachers and really learn the information more in depth, which is one of the New York State standards, one of the goals, and also give them a time to connect and a time to get involved with enrichment programs. >> Academic support is a time where they can use me as someone who can help to remediate or help them with a subject they're behind in. I think they need that to keep them on track because there are higher standards, because they have to do more, they have to know more. >> Most of our students who have been classified have achieved higher again than expectations, achieving in the area of Regents curriculum, again that they haven't been involved in. We looked at credits earned from one year to the next. Now, there was an increase of 69 credits earned by our students who had been classified. And we review it and they're credits earned in Regents courses. >> In classes now, I mean, like every time I get a good grade, I'm telling them right away, "I got a 90," "I got this..." >> Usually when I get home from school my mom's at work, so I call her and I tell her, "Oh, Mom, guess what?" I got like 100 on my test or something. >> Rochelle: Frontier principal Dr. Mary Ann Costello could not be with us in the studio today but we do have her standing by on telephone. Mary Ann, are you with us? >> Yes. Good morning. >> Rochelle: Good morning. Congratulations on what you have achieved at Frontier. >> Thank you. >> Rochelle: What happened at Frontier, including the blended inclusion, the block scheduling, the academic support programs, it didn't happen overnight and it really involved some planning, did it not, Mary Ann? >> Yes, it did. We studied all of this for probably about three years. The blended inclusion came on at the end as we were looking at the new standards coming from Albany, knowing that we wanted our students to be successful and be real contributors in the world of work, and knowing that the standards for all of our students were now going to be the same. So we decided to take a real look at blended inclusion and the results we were very, very happy with. >> Rochelle: How did you go about preparing parents such as Lisa Luendowski who talked about "I was concerned at first, when I heard this, for my son?" How did you start preparing parents and community for what you were going to do? >> We had several information evenings for parents to come, to hear about what kinds of changes we were going to make for their students and to let them know exactly what their students needed to achieve to be able to receive a high school diploma. We told them that we were going to do everything in our power to give them the support as well as the knowledge and information and all of those things that they needed, and we would kind of think outside of the box for other ways to help students. And one of the ways we did that was to look at different ways that students learn. We did a lot of research on time and learning with Newman. The Dunn and Dunn model for learning styles was a great help to address the different modalities in which different students learn. So all of those things helped us. >> Rochelle: You have also found that the different ways students learn doesn't just take into account the students with disabilities, but it really helps general education populations as well. >> Yes, definitely. >> Commissioner Mills: I have a question. It's Rick Mills. Part of leadership, I think, is drawing the public's attention to the success that you have been able to achieve here. We all, I think, are stunned from time to time by an overfocus on what's not working. You clearly have a situation that is working. Does the community know about that in your area? >> Yes, I think they do. We have certainly celebrated it and publicized it in the district, and I think it all works because we have great relationships in the community with our parents. We have great support from our board of education, and our central office works very closely with all of the teachers and administrators in the building. So I think we have that as a real positive going. With all of those people, all of those stakeholders working together, I think that's what helps our students be successful. >> Commissioner Mills: How do you balance the message that it's working and we also have farther to go? How do you personally talk about that? >> Well, and this is something that we review every year when the results come in, with faculty and with the parents, certainly praising ourselves and the students for what they have achieved, but I always tell them until every single student is passing with distinction, we still have a ways to go. >> Commissioner Mills: Harsh discipline. (Chuckling) >> Rochelle: Mary Ann, thank you very much. Congratulations for what you have achieved and good luck for work still to be done. >> Thank you very much. >> Commissioner Mills: Looks great. >> Rochelle: Just ten short years ago, Samuel Gompers Vocational and Technical High School in the Bronx was a school in serious trouble. Hard work by a committed team, headed by Principal Mary Ann Hawthorn, has made Samuel Gompers into a new school, as we'll see in the video. Watch and listen carefully and you'll see some of these tools in use: A plan that includes a strong vision that includes staff and parents as well, staff development using in-house and outside expertise, and creatively using time to deliver training, leveraging of finances, support of community to meet needs that money can't buy, engaging curriculum and instructional techniques. Here now is Samuel Gompers High School. >> Good morning, class. >> Good morning, Miss Johnson. >> And on the count of three... One, two, three... >> All: There's nobody quite like me. You see my hands? You see my feet? In the entire world, there's nobody quite like me. >> I come here and the students are waiting for me to open the door first period. They get here about 7:15 in the morning. Classes begin at 8:01. I think that says it all. This is an environment where we want more and we're doing all that we can to get more. >> It wasn't always that way at Samuel Gompers Vocational and Technical High School in the heart of the South Bronx. Just ten years ago, there was talk that this school would be shut down for problems with attendance, staff indifference, and physical deterioration. >> Good morning. Good morning. >> When I first came to Gompers High School, we had attendance of 67.9. Currently we have close to 90 on certain days and other days over 90. When I first came to Gompers, we had very few students going on to college. Currently, we have 75% of our students going on to college and we had $1.2 million worth of scholarships last year, of which we're extremely proud and we hope to surpass this year. Before I came on board, the building itself was not clean, not well kept. Now, graffiti-free. The students take pride. Students walking in the halls: Before, the students were more in the halls than they were in the classroom; now, very little movement during class. >> All right. I'd like to hear someone who chose guided prewrite (A). >> What made the difference? The tools for schools and a considerable amount of hard work by the teachers, the administrative staff, the students and those parents who shared the vision and plan that Mary Ann Hawthorn developed for Gompers. >> Building a team, you have to let your team know that you are there 1,000%. If they feel that you are there and that you have a vision and you have the support to give to them; they will support you in turn. >> Everybody say that with me. The human condition... >> All: The human condition. >> And I have news for you: The same human condition that Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet dealt with in the 15th century, we're stilling with that same human condition today. >> Staffs development at Gompers is a potpourri of activities that constantly keep us moving, constantly keep us updated with what's happening in education and what's happening in society. >> We have special schedules that the principal has set up for the school where she shortens classes by maybe five minutes, which then frees up some time after school and we meet. And during these meetings, we even invite people from companies or within house to present and upgrade our knowledge, and just whatever needs to be addressed and get feedback from the teachers and the administrator at that moment is when we do it. >> I'm going to give you a few lines that I would like for you to translate. I want you to have fun with it. Use modern day language. Remember, if you're going to use slang, you want to temper it... >> One of the devices I have picked up from staff development is collaborative learning. The principal initiated it and insists on it and I see why she insists on it: It works. >> (Reading) >> Throw your crappy weapons to the floor. >> Listen to your man. >> Three street fights started by an instigator. >> Excellent. >> I have seen more productivity, higher achievement amongst that class in particular. They're honor students and they have risen to a level of aptitude that sometimes just mesmerizes me on a regular basis. >> Excellent, excellent. Have an excellent day, class. >> Have an excellent day, Miss Johnson. >> In today's world, our children need a lot of hands-on, visible, action-packed lessons. It makes them want to learn. >> For instance, in my robotics class this morning, I was able to give them a task where one student had to sort of coach the other students. Just pick ups this ball, this object, and deposits it into this basket, and this requires -- though it may look simple, it require teamwork. One person has to control the movement while the other person controls the arm. >> Back, back, back... >> There wasn't just one coach. There was a team of coaches. So it was two students talking to this one student, and then the operator had to listen to this one operator because if he listens to three people, you know what happens then. It's just who do you listen to and who takes part? He's just listening to the one student that's coaching. And there's another communication component where the two operators have to communicate and they all have to listen to each other. And then there's a human player also that was out facilitating with the ball. So it's a lot of listening technique that takes place within that learning environment. >> Hawthorn leveraged what funding she could from the district and then turned to parents and the community for support. Parents conducted fund-raisers and corporations offered used equipment and training for staff and even incentives for student attendance. The relationships built are lasting ones. >> We offer many opportunities to have the parents totally involved in their child's education. We ask them to come out, to pick up the report cards. We ask them to come out if their child is having a problem. We call them; we write them. This is so important, that they become so involved. So as a result, we have a large participation at our Parent Association meetings as well as open school. The community will, at a certain point, hire our children. In order to do that, you have to know about our school. You have to know what trades and technical areas we have here to offer. >> Success at Samuel Gompers is its own motivation these days. The school's robot, Gompers' first entry in the national competition, won the award for effective design. And all but two seniors have met the English Regents graduation requirements. But Gompers is not resting on its laurels. Mary Ann Hawthorn has plans to become a blue ribbon school by next year. (Applause) >> Rochelle: Mary Ann Hawthorn could not be with us today. She has community people in for a Principal for a Day program, so we're delighted to welcome teacher Sonja Johnson to our discussion. Thank you very much for coming and sharing with us. >> Thank you. >> Rochelle: Fascinating, the changes that have taken place at this school in ten years. And all the tools that we talked about in place here. Tell us a little bit about what was going on in your classroom. The students all reciting at the very beginning, what was that about? >> Sonja Johnson: We're reading "Romeo and Juliet," and for a lot of people, Shakespearean language is intimidating. What I ask my students to do is to translate the words into modern day terminology, words that they would use. This way they can understand Shakespeare and I know that they understand the material and that they'll even like "Romeo and Juliet." So we were working collaboratively in teams of three or four, and each student was given a line to translate. At that point, I would read the lines again and then each of them would take turns in translating. It's very successful. >> Commissioner Mills: I keep running into people who say, "Why do they need to know Shakespeare?" >> They need to know Shakespeare because one, it's classic; it's classical. Two, it promotes creative and critical thinking and analysis. It's also -- it gives them confidence. Why would I not teach students, particularly in the heart of the South Bronx, not teach them Shakespeare? I think I owe it to them. Students will rise to the level of our expectations, and Miss Hawthorn has extremely high expectations and that's what encourages me and supports me to teach Shakespeare. Particularly at a vocational and technical high school, who would think that you would teach a student Shakespeare? >> Commissioner Mills: I think sometimes the people who are asking that question never read it, don't realize the themes are about power and violence and love and all those other things... >> Absolutely, emotions that we're dealing with every day. >> Rochelle: Incredible. >> I believe it was said, "A classic is a text that everyone wants to have read but no one wants to read." >> Rochelle: Exactly. Staff development is very high on the list there. You say you have learned a lot. Mary Ann has also brought in some corporate style and has borrowed a lot from her business partners. One of the things is a strategic planning retreat on-site? >> Yes. >> Rochelle: Tell me a little bit about that and how it works. >> This is what amazes me daily about going to work at 147th Street and Southern Boulevard. Miss Hawthorn has this vision, and the vision is that the more the teachers know about the business world, the better we can teach it. Many teachers have been in the classroom for 30 years. And we need to get out there and she has provided externships for us in addition to these planning retreats. It allows us to know what business is thinking. We ask them, "What do you want in a student?" Then our job is to go back into the classroom and prepare our students so that they can be work-ready, thinking critically. No man is an island. I tell my students all the time, "We have to work together. Strength is in numbers, not in division," and so that's one of the golden gems of being at Gompers, the idea that my principal respects me enough to give me the staff development, professional development workshops, seminars that will many times happen on a Saturday, on an evening, and, you know, you may kind of moan and groan about it at the moment, but when you get in these workshops and you realize, "This is something I can use. Now I'm understanding the connection between my electronics and computer colleagues, as well as the academic personnel," we're working together. >> Commissioner Mills: Do you find it difficult to make those kinds of arrangements with the business community? >> It's not difficult at all. The business community is -- they are excited about coming into the schools. I think that's what has been lacking for a long time. Business has wanted to work independently. Schools have been working independently. Miss Hawthorn has this wonderful rapport with the business community and it's now just -- it's mesmerizing for us. >> Commissioner Mills: Obviously the business community is one really vital part of the community. >> Absolutely. >> Commissioner Mills: But there are other parts of the community. Are there other engagements that you have? >> We work with community-based organizations where we'll have SAT prep come in. We have different types of connections that help us with our computer literacy. We have done programs where we have even educated parents in terms of computer literacy and how we can just better work together as a community. There are just so many different entities that I'm probably not doing justice to remembering them all now, but we're constantly -- it's a revolving door in terms of Gompers and community-based organizations and corporations. >> Commissioner Mills: With all of that help, you need to keep it disciplined, obviously, and focused on what the school is trying to do. How do you as a school community make sure that it's all adding up to helping youngsters achieve the standards? >> Well, as with any great operation, it starts at the top, and it works its way around and down. Miss Hawthorn's mission is that every child make that learning connection, of course do well on the Regents, that we have students going to college, working, going into the military, providing a service for the community, being registered and voters, and that also filters to our assistant principals, who then pass on the information to us as teachers. And then as teachers, we share and exchange information among ourselves, and not even in the same disciplines. But I'm proud to say that an English teacher will sit in a computer class. A science teacher will sit in an art class to make those necessary connections. >> Commissioner Mills: That's a very, very interesting point. I was with a group of school leaders out in western New York yesterday and they -- we were talking about how we can support one another, how we can help one another. And one of the ideas was just that, that the science faculty can help the English faculty. >> Absolutely. >> Commissioner Mills: And vice versa. And we need to back one another's play, one another's effort, because the students are watching. >> Absolutely. >> Commissioner Mills: And they hear that, too. >> And I also have the opportunity to be in a small community. Gompers, we have maybe 1,000 to 1,100 students, and so many times we may circulate and see the same students in different grades, and it's just wonderful to be able to go to Dr. Gaston's history class or go to Mr. Gershin's biology class or Mr. Morales' computer class, and we can now confer about students we have in common and "What are you doing?" "How are you getting writing across the curriculum?" "I notice you're working collaboratively." "You're doing project-based learning. I want to get in on that." >> Commissioner Mills: How do you get time to do that? >> Somehow, Miss Hawthorn has been able to show us that there can be more than 24 hours a day and we're taking advantage of it. >> Rochelle: Amazing. Congratulations and continued good luck to you. >> Thanks so much. >> Rochelle: Time for a final review. Here are some of the tool tips developed for the schools we visited today. (Music) >> Rochelle: Commissioner, our "Tools for Schools" series is coming to a close. This is our final program in that particular series. That doesn't mean the tools are going to go away, does it? >> Commissioner Mills: Absolutely not. We're not going to mess with the success. It's quite obvious this is working. Congratulations again to the three schools that we visited, to Gompers and Annsville and Frontier, and to the leaders and the teachers and students and everyone there. I certainly want to encourage everyone who hasn't been part of this yet to become part of it. You can see the payoff in terms of students' success. People who need more information can get ahold of the facilitator's guide. There's a lot of information on these tools. I hope people pick up the phone. That's probably the best way to do it. All these schools have parking lots. They take visitors. >> Rochelle: That's right. >> Commissioner Mills: And we have a checklist -- that's another thing I want to mention. We have a checklist. I find those kinds of things helpful. >> Rochelle: I think I have a copy. It's in your facilitator's guide. It's a Checklist for Self-Assessment. It's kind of hard to see here on camera, but it's in the facilitator's guide, and basically what it does is it has some checkpoints to help you measure where you are. "Do you do this sometimes, always, never?" It will hopefully help you see where you are and what you need to do. Even Pat was flipping through it going, "This is pretty helpful," from somebody who is doing pretty well to begin with. >> Commissioner Mills: So we'll have more programs on this in the coming year, and we'll have more examples of people, who tried it, developed and built success on success. >> Rochelle: I can't see why people aren't doing it. I think it's just one of the things that we look at and it seems so common sense, what is it that stops you from doing it? Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. My thanks also to the staffs and students at Frontier, Annsville and Samuel Gompers, for letting us into their classrooms and showing us their excellent work. Please take a moment to tell us what you thought about this program and the entire series of shows we offered this year. Check out our online web survey at www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/home.html. Click on the Satellite Broadcast Network icon and then the Viewer's Survey. Two events to brief you about before we leave: On May 31st and June 1st, we'll hold two days of live training on scoring the fourth and eighth grade math assessments. Representatives from Measurements Inc. and the State Education Department will be on hand to go through the entire exam and to answer your questions. These teleconferences will be the only scoring training to be offered on the exams this year. If you're not signed up yet, please contact jquinn@mail.nysed.gov for satellite coordinates. And on Tuesday, June 6, VESID offers its last program of the season, this on how assistive technology can help students with disabilities achieve academic success. That program airs from 2 to 3 p.m.; available on satellite downlink only, the coordinates to be sent out in the next couple of weeks. For teleconference transcripts and additional information, check out the Satellite Broadcast Network web site at the address on your screen. That's all the time we have for today. I'm Rochelle Cassella. Congratulations again to those tool users who are doing well. Thank you all and have a good day. (Music) |