How to Fix Our City Schools
The Most Important Things I learned in 2022
An important lesson for district leaders to learn is that no matter how much you know, it is likely you don’t know enough. At least, that’s what I learned in 2022.
After “retiring” in 2021, I wanted to write down all the brilliant things I had learned over forty years. My plan was to write a very short book – a handbook, of sorts – that urban educators and school board members could use to adjust their current practices to “transform their failing schools into great ones.” I was sure I knew how to do just that. There was no doubt in my mind.
I began with five basic premises about urban school turn-around: 1) Early literacy and numeracy are the critical foundation for all improvement; 2) differentiation and tiered supports are the key instructional strategies; 3) dramatically more job-embedded training for teachers is absolutely vital; 4) principals who are true instructional leaders are a prerequisite for any effective change; and 5) just as the principal must be the instructional leader at the school level, the superintendent must be the instructional leader at the district level.
In public, almost all district leaders and educational “experts” would likely agree with all or most of the above requirements. However, in private, I suspect there would be consternation and excuses for why some of the above are difficult or impossible to implement. Sadly, that may be the “rub.” As uncomplicated as these requirements are, many educators may well see them as unattainable.
I have written about RTI and differentiation and the “blocking and tackling” of great schools in several past editions and, in the October 19th edition, I wrote specifically about the critical leadership roles of principals and superintendents. In these areas, my views have not changed over the last year.
Where I ran into “trouble” was when I got deeper into the specifics about teacher training and early literacy. Because I knew I wasn’t an expert in either area, I reached out to a number of friends and colleagues who are – including former principals who have successfully turned failing schools into great ones. Not surprisingly, there were critical details I had not fully appreciated – factors that make all the difference between success and failure.
In regard to teacher training, I was only a little surprised to discover that, more often than not, professional learning communities (PLCs) are not implemented effectively. As is well documented, many PLC are little more than periodic meetings with little focus, direction, or impact. In addition, as the late great Richard DuFour and others have documented, often teachers are quite happy to form PLCs and meet regularly with colleagues to address issues – as long as the decisions do not impact how or what they teach. More surprising was finding that some of the most effective “PLCs” do not meet at all – at least not formally. In those schools, most of the training is provided directly by the principals in formal and informal settings – often one-on-one or in small groups. In those schools, it might be hard to recognize that “PLCs” even exist – training and learning are simply part of the everyday culture.
As I have discussed before, by far the area where I most underestimated the requirements concerned the implementation of effective early literacy programs. I assumed that implementation of a “science of reading” program with the full “engagement” of the principal and extensive training for both the teachers and administrators would be sufficient to successfully teach nearly all of the children to read at or near grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
Yes, implementing a “science of reading” program is a big step in the right direction and that cannot happen without extensive training and the full engagement of the principal. But, to be successful and create great schools requires more than just the implementation of a new and better program. To be successful requires that district and school leaders appreciate the “disadvantages” many children bring with them from day one and understand how to overcome those “disadvantages” so that all the children have equal access to the core curriculum.
Imagine you are sitting in a 3rd year French or Spanish class where no English is permitted and you know few of the first, second, and third grade “Dolch” words – words like who, what, where, when, how, which, there, before, after, they, them, and so on (i.e., the most common words in any language). You would be totally lost trying to understand discussions, follow directions, or answer questions. That is the situation, not just for most English Language Learners, but also for many young “native” English speaking children. Whether the “word gap” by age four is 30 million words or 10 million words,[1] arriving in kindergarten with such a large “disadvantage” in word fluency and auditory comprehension is impossible to overcome UNLESS the school is obsessive about ensuring that every child achieves full command of the most commonly used English words – many of which do not follow consistent phonological or phonetic rules.
As I described in earlier newsletters, district leaders often do not recognize the reasons why some schools are “beating the odds.” They either don’t recognize the “subtle” differences or are so “predisposed” to their own specialties, interests, theories, or philosophies that they are uninterested in and/or blind to other approaches. Similarly, in some cases, “successful” principals are not even aware they are doing anything “special.” They are just doing what they think is good practice. In those instances, oddly, the principals have great difficulty articulating what they are doing differently to be successful.
However, in the cases of the Blue Ribbon Schools described in earlier newsletters, the principals identified the critical factors holding back many students (including large ELL populations) and, over time, developed remarkably effective solutions. They not only ensured that every child learned the 800 most commonly used English words, they linked the word fluency strategies to the daily reading and writing programs. In fact, they saw the daily reading component as so critical that they required students to read every night for homework and personally monitored students’ participation and progress.
In math, a very similar approach was taken – ensuring that students learned the requisite basic math skills and then linking those skills to daily math problem solving practice. In the case of math, an important difference is that most children do not receive extensive math instruction at home. As a result, in most U.S. schools, large math achievement gaps do not develop until after the children begin school. Again, as the Blue Ribbon School principals demonstrated, those gaps can be overcome by effectively differentiating instruction to address the gaps in basic math skills so that all the students – including those who learn more slowly – can then access the core math curriculum.
(See the September 3rd and 16th newsletters for more details about the Blue Ribbon Schools and how the principals monitored the three mandatory components.)
Changing the lives of children from poor urban communities begins with literacy. As I argued in the December 8th newsletter, many experts will say that most schools already teach word fluency, phonics, phonemic awareness, reading, writing, and so on. However, the difference between great schools and failing ones is that great schools have a non-negotiable commitment to providing the supports required to eliminate pre-existing skills gaps and achievement gaps, as they develop, and a well-organized system of processes and procedures to effectively deliver the necessary tiered supports. In great schools, teachers do not just keep moving on to “cover the curriculum” while many of the students are falling further and further behind. In the case of literacy, that commitment begins in kindergarten when so many children arrive on day one far behind their peers.
At the district level, to create a system of great schools, requires commitment from the school board and superintendents to provide whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all students are reading at or near grade level by the end of 3rd grade. At the school level, of course, great schools require well-trained teachers and expertly trained principals. Great principals do not need to be charismatic “superstars” – they simply need to behave in ways that create great results. They must be instructional leaders, not just in words, but in actions.
For professionals who have devoted their entire adult lives to serving in urban public schools, change is difficult. But, after years and years of failing to teach young eager children to read and do basic math and failing to send hopeful graduates into the world with the skills they need to succeed, district leaders and all of us so-called experts must step back and reevaluate what we know and what we are missing. To do that, however, requires that we look beyond our own experiences, interests, specialties, theories, and philosophies. Over the past year, as I edited my book, wrote these “monthly” newsletters, and consulted with district leaders, I was forced to do just that. I am very thankful to my friends and colleagues from Austin and Atlanta who have so generously given of their time and, more importantly, shared their solutions – the critical details I would have missed without their help.
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Dear Subscribers,
I hope you find the information and ideas in my newsletters compelling and useful. They are informed by over 40 years of experience working with twenty superintendents, dozens of future superintendents, hundreds of senior administrators, and thousands of principals. (See short BIO below.) On almost a daily basis, I listened to their complaints, hopes, doubts, excuses, and promises and discussed and debated priorities, philosophies, theories, programs, and plans. If you find the newsletters valuable, please share them with friends and colleagues. Only by informing school board members, educators, parents, and community leaders can we finally create the great schools every child and family deserves. If you have questions or comments, those are also very welcome.
Best Regards!
Bill Caritj
President and CEO
Capital Schools Consulting Group
925 S. Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05401
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Links to recent newsletters:
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!
(December 27, 2022)
The Answer is… In Your Own Backyard!
(December 8, 2022)
Where is the Outrage?
(November 8, 2022)
Great Principals, Superintendents, and Board Members
(October 19, 2022)
Six First Steps (Starting with Early Literacy)
(September 16, 2022)
"Game Changers"
(September 3, 2022)
The Solutions are Simple, Change is Not!
(August 8, 2022)
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Bio/Introduction
For forty years, I was fortunate to lead the assessment, evaluation, and accountability departments of nine public school districts, including six of the largest in the nation – Washington, DC, Baltimore, St. Louis, Austin, Atlanta, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). In almost every instance, my position was relatively independent of the internal and external “politics.” As a result, I am not biased toward or against any particular theory, philosophy, or program. My only bias is to results.
Over the years, I have had a wide range of responsibilities including state and local test development, standards alignment, school improvement, information technology, and instructional technology. From 2014-2021, I supervised the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Information Technology, Instructional Technology, Assessment, Research, Evaluation, and Data and Information divisions. Over that period, our teams were credited with restoring the integrity and public trust in the district’s assessment, accountability, and data and information systems after the cheating scandal of 2008. During the COVID pandemic, these outstanding teams also did amazing work to enable and support (and, in many cases, develop) the high quality, virtual programs provided each day to over 50,000 students who were forced to receive their daily instruction at home.
Since “retiring” from the Atlanta Public Schools, I’ve been very busy – working on a book, How to Fix Our City Schools, publishing a monthly newsletter (of the same name), and launching the Capital Schools Consulting Group (CSCG). CSCG services include executive coaching, training, evaluation, and data analytic services to district leaders and school boards. How to Fix Our City Schools is part memoir and part handbook and while I am very excited about finally completing a final draft, the process has made me even more acutely aware of the disappointment I feel about the missed opportunities and failures of the last forty years and my fear that they will continue indefinitely for future generations of poor and disadvantaged children.
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CSCG Services
· Data analysis and reporting
· Board training – data analytics, planning, and goal setting
· Executive coaching for new school board members
· Executive coaching and support for new superintendents’ transition teams
· Planning and monitoring district reforms
· Logic model and strategy map development
· Major program implementation audits
[1] Conor P. Williams, October 13, 2020, New Research Ignites Debate on the “30 Million Word Gap,”
https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-research-ignites-debate-30-million-word-gap