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While thinking about celebrating Thanksgiving, it occurred to me that turkey day is a total team sport, filled with pre-game planning in all areas. Besides all the obvious metaphors of cooking and football, I also thought about the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Specifically, I thought about the teamwork it takes to manage the hallmark of the parade...the balloons!
Those balloons are managed by teams of handlers, with the average balloon requiring 90 people and a pilot who walks backward the whole way. There also is a balloon captain who signals to the handlers when they need to change hand positions on the ropes. It is a totally coordinated effort for these balloons to fly straight and not escape into the crowd...or other hazards. Planning and training go on all year — no one just shows up and grabs a rope!
How does this metaphor relate to personalized learning? In my last blog, A Year on Pause, I shared my reflections on personalized learning with regard to my recovery from a serious auto accident. One of my major takeaways from my year was how amazing and essential the team approach was to my progress. If the team approach works so well, why don’t we use it more often in education?
To systematically transform schools into true personalized learning environments, a vision and a plan that includes all areas to support education would be a good place to start. One resource to help districts is the Future Ready Framework. Using the Future Ready Framework for visioning and planning is a great way to look at all the different elements that support education in your district. Ohio is supporting this free resource for districts looking for a way to plan and implement personalized learning. This national initiative was designed to have state support and, most importantly, local impact.
When high-quality teaching is infused with the dynamic use of technology, personalized student learning becomes possible. The Future Ready Framework is a road map that districts can use to successfully implement personalized, digital learning. The framework assists districts in planning how to prepare students for success in college, careers and citizenship. Following this road map requires systemic changes. With personalized student learning at its core, the framework helps districts align each of the seven key categories, called Gears, to ensure a successful conversion to digital learning.
The outside ring of the framework emphasizes the need for collaborative leadership. It also displays a continuous cycle of district visioning, planning, implementation and assessment. Once a district is prepared in each gear, district leaders can be confident they are ready for a highly successful implementation phase that leads to innovation empowered by digital learning.
Using this resource starts with a district leadership team doing an assessment to find out where the district stands in each gear. After this initial district assessment, leaders can determine the district’s digital readiness in each gear. Then, they can dive deeper into a gear they may want to develop. Ohio will be kicking off its official training for using the framework at the annual Ohio Educational Technology Conference. There will be sessions for district leaders, individual programs and specific school personnel roles. In addition to the district framework, there are frameworks based on roles to help support the work, including frameworks for district leaders, principals, technology leaders, coaches and librarians. You can find more information here.
If you are ready to use this framework or would like more information, you can start on the Department’s Future Ready site.
In future blogs, I will discuss the individual gears and programs. If you already are using this resource for planning, let me know. I will share your achievements to help other Ohio districts build their success. Use #FutureReadyOH to stay up to date with the Future Ready work around Ohio.
I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving — no matter how you choose to personalize and celebrate it. Since all my family cannot be together on the official day, we have created our own unique celebration the weekend before in a feast we call Molto Grazie. It does take serious planning and a team effort, but it is always worth it.
Stephanie Donofe Meeks is director of integrated technology at the Ohio Department of Education, where she supports technology integration innovations and blended learning initiatives for districts and schools across the state. You can learn more about Stephanie by clicking here.
Curiouser and Curiouser: How Well Are You Using Your Data?
We should all strive to use curiosity and inquiry to propel our work forward. Imagine for a moment that I shared with you the exact piece of information you need to improve something. Imagine I cup this in my hands, I respectfully bow and gently place the knowledge in your hands.
To change ourselves in such a way that we, in turn, improve others, most of us would start with some data. We probably would invest the most time looking at four types of data: achievement or student performance, perception, program and demographic.
However, the question remains — are we using that data well?
When I talk about data I mean more than just the “big” data, like the report card. Data use has the greatest impact when building and teacher teams use data to look at student performance and adult instructional practices and when data use is ongoing.
In Move Your Numbers, the conversations that teams had about data moved from just looking at the data to deeper discussions. They began to analyze the quality of adult practices and eventually organized data in a more meaningful manner that supported the district. The district became a learning organization with the ability to continuously grow and improve.
Data helps us ground our strategic processes and plans around a common set of goals. These goals are based on evidence from data rather than a feeling based on a single experience.
The responsibility to use data well applies to the entire education system, including the state, regional support systems, communities, districts and buildings. At the state level, we are thinking about how our individual offices can better share our data and merge our approaches to supporting schools. As a result, the Department is updating several systems and tools. The biggest effort currently underway is the consolidation of a needs assessment tool (the Decision Framework), a district and building planning tool, a budget tool and an implementation tool. This will help districts and buildings accurately track progress as they implement specific plans and strategies.
Additionally, we are intentionally aligning the work of regional support systems. This includes creating shared tools for regional providers and a consistent process to follow. Our consistent process is the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP). The OIP is designed to establish a common, shared leadership system throughout a district and in buildings and teacher-based teams. It involves the use of continuous communication and good decision-making. The OIP supports strategies that improve teacher effectiveness.
The systems of support that I have been referencing include regional state support teams and educational service centers. Educational service centers provide a combination of services to districts and schools to build skills and empower teachers to use instructional strategies that lead to student growth. This includes systems structure around the OIP process, instructional support and student supports. State support teams provide support to districts and schools to engage in inclusive continuous and sustainable improvement to meet IDEA State Performance Plan performance indicators and the state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
This guide was developed at the University of Dayton School of Education and Allied Professions Grant Center by Dr. Deborah Telfer, with support from Allison Glasgow. The Moving Your Numbers Advisory Work Group also provided input on the guide.
Improvement work takes effort and changes in adult perceptions, behavior and beliefs. I believe you have the effort and energy to focus on adult change, as we all move forward to continuously improve.
Jo Hannah Ward is director of the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the Ohio Department of Education, where she helps Ohio’s most challenged schools and districts improve outcomes for their students.
Editor’s note: In honor of Veterans Day and the inaugural Purple Star Awards, we invited Jodi Singleton, a history teacher at Caldwell High School, a Purple Star school, to reflect on the meaning of Veterans Day. Purple Star schools demonstrate a commitment to supporting students and families connected to our nation’s military. On behalf of the Ohio Department of Education, we thank all veterans and current service members who sacrifice so much to protect our freedoms.
How can we best engage students in the history classroom? How can we encourage them with the enthusiasm and intrinsic desire to learn the truth of our past? The answer lies in those around us...the one you might see in the grocery line ahead of you, the one patiently waiting his turn at the doctor, the one who proudly salutes as the flag is presented at the local football game or the one who sits quietly at the Veterans Day assembly with tears in his eyes, pride in his heart and memories that won’t fade. The answer to the original question is simple...teach our students to talk to our veterans. These men and women who have made sacrifices unknown to many of us are the true primary sources that our students need to know.
As educators, we often find ourselves studying new classroom strategies, taking part in workshops and conferences, and continuing our education. While all of this is beneficial, the lessons I have learned from those who have served have proven to completely intrigue and captivate my students. When discussing Vietnam — and when I tell students about the bounty that was offered to the North Vietnamese for my stepfather’s life — you can hear a pin drop in my classroom. As we talk about his bravery and his willingness to serve others on the field with injuries before worrying about himself, the students yearn for more. They realize the sacrifices he made and understand the camaraderie of the military and each service member’s duty to protect one another. He truly deserved his Navy Commendation Medal.
Yet the stories do not stop there. Two years ago, a family member sent recovered letters to my mother that my grandfather wrote during his service in World War II. While he has passed, and I greatly miss him, I hold those letters close, sharing excerpts with the students, yet longing to hear the words from him personally. I embrace his words, study his handwriting and imagine the emotion he felt. I have had others in my family serve as well, and I continue to listen as they find themselves ready and willing to share. These stories are priceless. Someday, when the veterans of past wars are gone, we will find ourselves yearning for deeper understanding. The raw emotion, the stories of heroism, the sacrifices of tours of duty, active service and combat will all be left behind as we rely on textbooks to teach our students.
Where does this leave us? The mission is laid out before us. Seek out veterans, thank them for their service and invite them into your schools. Teach your students to investigate the living history before them. The legacy our veterans leave with us is the reason for our freedoms. It is for those who have served and are currently serving that we continue to work with military families in our schools and to find ways to honor veterans.
It is with great honor that Caldwell High School earned a 2017 Purple Star Award. Through the communications of our guidance counselor, military families can stay connected, have smoother transitions and know that their students have the best care. Even schools such as ours that have very few families from this background can accept the challenge set before them to strive for excellence.
Servicemen, servicewomen and veterans of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Airforce, National Guard and Coast Guard...thank you for your service!
Jodi Singleton has taught for 15 years in the Caldwell Exempted Village School District in southeastern Ohio. She is certified to teach language arts and social studies for grades 4-9 and integrated social studies for grades 7-12. She earned a Master of Arts in Education from Muskingum University. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys spending time with her husband, two children and extended family. You can reach Jodi at jsingleton@caldwell.k12.oh.us.
I am not a teacher by profession, but I try my hardest to be a good one. I have great admiration for what classroom teachers do every single day across the world. Whether it was a part of previous positions I’ve had or currently in public health — teaching has always been an integral part of my work. In addition to teaching, I’ve had the opportunity to work with youth on prevention education curriculums ranging from tobacco to communicable disease. None have been as challenging as attempting to address the opioid epidemic.
I don’t claim to have all the answers to solve the opioid epidemic across this country, but I wish I did. It has torn apart families, crumbled portions of our workforce and completely rocked the medical community. This epidemic has no road map. There is no established, evidence-based practice that says if you do “x,” then you will receive “y” as a positive result.
As a public health professional, I try to think of ways to avoid adverse health outcomes. While this sounds oversimplified, prevention is the backbone of public health. Working for the Cincinnati Health Department, I am a witness to the constantly moving pieces of this epidemic — from endless overdose data, to potential policy changes, to Quick Response Teams and resource identification.
Working from different angles on this epidemic, I felt more could be done on the prevention side. I was fortunate to find an organization willing to fund a prevention initiative. My project is entitled Not Even Once. Not Even Once aims to implement the HOPE (Health and Opioid Prevention Education) curriculum at Oyler School. Oyler was strategically selected as a pilot site for HOPE due to the high number of overdoses in the surrounding neighborhood. Prevention curriculums like HOPE are key — key to saving lives, saving resources and most important, preventing youth from ever starting to abuse drugs.
What makes HOPE different is that it is the opposite of most anti-drug programs. It is pro-youth empowerment; pro-good decision-making; pro-self-respect. Kids are told, “No,” enough. This curriculum puts them in the driver’s seat of their own lives. It gives them the tools to use throughout their lives to build resiliency, self-respect and community awareness. It goes beyond basic knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes and turns it into functional health knowledge.
Understanding the differences between over-the-counter and prescription medicines.
I started teaching HOPE in June 2017 for ages 9-13 and will continue through December. From the moment the project began, I was astounded by the openness of the kids and their profound awareness of this epidemic right on their doorstep. One night a few weeks into class, my phone rang — it was a parent of a child in class, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Again, I was taken aback by her honesty. She stressed how difficult it is as a parent to talk to her children about what’s going on 15 feet from their doorstep. Instead, she tells her kids to “always stay inside” instead of playing at the park across the street.
Some people have told me that kids in certain drug-ridden parts of town are “lost causes.” I vehemently disagree with this, especially with my kids. Because they have HOPE. I believe in the village. I believe we will overcome this epidemic one day, with people who have rallied together to empower others to fully utilize talents to create a society of empathy.
This project would not be possible without the generosity of the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, People’s Liberty and especially Dr. Kevin Lorson, Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance president and professor and Physical Education program director at Wright State University. I am eternally grateful that he was willing to take a chance on me to implement HOPE.
Christa Hyson is the health communication specialist at the Cincinnati Health Department and project grantee for People’s Liberty. She combines her public health skills and youth prevention education to execute, Not Even Once. Click here to learn more about the Hope Curriculum. You can learn more about Christa and her project here.
Off to a great start is the theme the Ohio Department of Education is promoting for schools and students throughout Ohio. To prevent and address bullying behavior, we are promoting four strategies that create a positive school climate and a safe and supportive teaching and learning environment in Ohio schools. Promoting a positive school climate, along with implementing bullying prevention practices will help staff members, students and families be off to a great start this school year.
The first strategy is for every district and school to have an Anti-Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying policy that outlines how schools identify bullying behavior. An active anti-harassment, intimidation and bullying policy ensures all staff members, students and parents know how bullying behavior is defined and addressed in your school. School staff members should be trained to respond to bullying behavior when it occurs.
Second, school staff members should be trained to recognize and respond to bullying behavior. The Department requires educators to take Safety and Violence Prevention training every five years. This training gives school staff members skills to recognize, reach out and refer potential problems before they escalate. The Safety and Violence Prevention Curriculum reminds school professionals of the important role they play in the early identification of critical issues affecting students. It also attempts to raise school staff members’ awareness of the warning signs for mental, emotional and behavioral problems among students and advises educators on ways to reach out to these students and refer them to appropriate assistance. Through identifying student needs and providing appropriate interventions, educators can ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed at school.
The third strategy to support your school community is to implement a schoolwide safety plan. Using the PBIS framework and schoolwide safety strategies, all school employees, social workers and mental health partners can create a culture of respect to prevent bullying behavior. Positive school climate and bullying prevention practices are the product of a school’s attention to fostering trust and safety; promoting a supportive academic, disciplinary, and physical environment; and encouraging and maintaining respectful and caring relationships throughout the school. Feeling safe and supported at school is fundamental to success for staff and students.
Finally, to address the individual needs of students, we recommend the development and implementation of a Student Action Plan. Bullying behavior undermines a student’s sense of security and distracts from a student’s ability to be successful in school. A Student Action Plan provides students involved in bullying behavior (either the target or perpetrator) with supports before, during and after the school day, as well as interventions for identified behavior needs.
October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, prepare to be off to a great start by promoting a positive school climate and bullying prevention practices this school year. This will promote healthy relationships, school safety, increased school attendance and greater academic achievement. October is a good time for administrators and staff to discuss how they can update their anti-bullying policies and practices to make them even more effective. Explore the tools available here, including a nine-minute video, the Department’s Model Anti-Bullying Policy and a guidance document that outlines everyone’s role in addressing student incidents and strategies for developing individual Student Action Plans.
Jill Jackson is an education program specialist at the Ohio Department of Education where she leads the Department's anti-bullying efforts. She can be reached at Jill.Jackson@education.ohio.gov.