Dangerously Irrelevant

By anyone’s measure, Mike Pearce appears
to be a phenomenal history teacher. His Ellison High
School students in Killeen, Texas had a 99% passing rate on the state
history assessment this year. Part of his success is due to the incredible
wealth of self-created electronic resources that he employs in his classes. You
can see many of them on his web site, www.ushistorynut.com, including
multimedia PowerPoint presentations that have been featured in his local newspaper
and the ASCD Smartbrief e-mail newsletter:

As an educator and technology advocate, I wish there were more teachers like
Mr. Pearce.

As a school law guy, however, I’m also troubled by his web site because it
has a hyperlink to one pro-life web site, LifeNews.com, and has banner ads that link
to another, lovematters.com (click on
screenshot thumbnails for larger images):

This probably would be fine if his web
site had no connection to his school. But the site has notes to
students, links to his school and district, a hyperlink for parents to sign up
for his e-mail list, information for parents like his late homework policy and
school supply requests, the district calendar, his district e-mail address, etc.
He’s very clearly using his site for pedagogical purposes, not just for
marketing of his PowerPoint presentations. And therein lies the problem because
his school and his district have a legal obligation to be politically and
religiously neutral.

Mr. Pearce does have a disclaimer way down at the bottom of his very lengthy
home page:

Disclaimer:  This page was designed solely by Mr. Pearce at his own
expense and was neither approved nor sanctioned by the Killeen Independent
School District.  The content of Mr. Pearce’s site or webpages linked from his
site does not necessarily reflect the views of the Killeen Independent School
District.

He also appears to be trying to be politically neutral. For example, his home
page links to many different political parties, news sources, and news
columnists. But nowhere does he seem to have any pro-choice links or ads, nor
does he have any explanation of why he has chosen to feature one side of this
political / religious / personal issue.

I have never met Mr. Pearce. All evidence points to him being an amazing
teacher. But I’m not sure his
disclaimer and the fact that it’s his
personal web site are enough to survive deep legal scrutiny, particularly as the publicity for what’s he’s doing increases. People are going to logically associate his web site with his school and school
district, neither of which could ever get away with links and banner ads for
pro-life web sites [as an aside, I’m not sure they could get away with links to
the various commercial entities featured on his site either].

I’ve blogged before about the
difficult issues related to school districts allowing and monitoring teachers’
use of off-campus web sites for pedagogical purposes. I think Mr. Pearce’s
site illustrates the challenging questions that I raised in that post. In this
case, I think that he either needs to take his site down, remove all connections
to his school system, or remove the pro-life aspects. I don’t think he can have
it all and still pass constitutional muster.

I’m willing to admit that maybe I’m going overboard here, so I’m asking a few
school law folks to lend their opinion on this, including Pamela Parker at Texas Teacher Law and Mike Tully at
the West Regional Equity Network.
I also have invited Mr. Pearce to tell us more about his site and whether he has received any complaints about the pro-life aspects of the site. Hopefully they
(and you) will have some time to lend some insights into this complex
issue.

Only the lonely (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)
Know the way I feel tonight
(ooh-yay-yay-yay-yeah)
Only the lonely (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)
Know
this feelin ain’t right (dum-dum-dum-dumdy-doo-wah)
     [Roy Orbison, Only
the Lonely]

Blogging can be a strange endeavor. Sometimes you post something that you
know – you JUST KNOW – is going to be a big hit. The post is going to get lots
of comments. A ton of other folks are going to link to it. You are going to get
rich and famous as people offer you interesting opportunities after reading your
brilliance. You get the idea.

But then you get bupkis. Nada. Nix, null, the big goose
egg. Some folks read it, but you get nary a comment, nary a link. Your post is
lost in the Twilight
Zone of the blogosphere. (And, then, of course, sometimes a post will
surprise you and get lots more activity than you ever expected.)

So… let’s give some lonely posts some love. Did you post something on your
blog that was really, really good but didn’t get much traffic? Did you run
across a great post somewhere that you thought deserved more commentary? Do you
know of a post that’s just itchin’ for some good conversation? If so, post the
URL below as a comment (please use TinyURL or
SnipURL) and let’s unearth some of these
hidden gems?

C’mon, each one of you can think of one or two. Take the time to share
‘em with us…

P.S. Speaking of hidden gems, remember that it’s never too late to recognize
a great commenter!

For those of you who haven’t been following politics in Thailand, apparently today’s an important day. Some of the political parties there have been accused of rigging last year’s election and Thailand’s Constitutional Tribunal is handing down an important ruling today that may dissolve one or more of the parties. Many Thai citizens are preparing for post-decision turmoil, including stocking up on food and other essential supplies.

The Thai government sent out a SMS message yesterday to cell phone users in the country: "All Thais should embrace HM the King’s words of advice. Be conscious. Cherish unity. Be sensible and Respect laws…from CNS." [CNS is the Council for National Security, the military regime currently governing Thailand]

My colleague, Dr. Gerry Fry, shares this note from his friend, David Rubin: "We have heard about protest groups and other movements of young persons all over the world using SMS through cell phones to communicate with each other as to movements and tactics, much to the chagrin of local authorities. This is the first instance I have seen of a governmental authority using the same cell phone facilities to send messages out to potential protesters."

Does the possibility of governments using cell phone SMS to reach citizens spook anyone?

Internet access in developing countries can be prohibitively expensive and
cumbersome (e.g., thousands of dollars per month for speeds that often are less than dial-up).
Now imagine if someone identified a wealth of high-quality educational materials
on the Internet, downloaded them using web site ‘scraping’
software, and then made them available on an inexpensive hard drive that could
be plugged into an existing server network. All of a sudden, individuals could
access many of the incredible resources on the Web quickly, easily, and cheaply,
without consuming expensive bandwidth. Can you imagine how empowering that would
be?

‘The Internet
in a Box.’ That’s the idea behind the University of Iowa eGranary Digital Library
project, which is making web sites, books, journals, and educational software
available to universities, schools, clinics, and libraries in the developing
world. This is a pretty nifty idea (and I’m not just saying this because I’m a
U. Iowa alum). I encourage
you to check out the eGranary fact
sheet, content
catalog, list of
subscribers, and other
materials.

I wonder how this could intersect with the One Laptop per Child initiative. Also, wouldn’t it be a great school project to raise money to buy these for some institutions in other countries?

[cartoon made with stripcreator; click on the image to see a larger version]

Read more about the case (and see the YouTube video). Then check out the post at BoardBuzz. Am I missing something here? Sure, it was rude and inappropriate. But was it materially and substantially disruptive to the classroom environment?

I have had the pleasure of working with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on several occasions over the past few years, primarily in conjunction with its Principal Technology Leadership Institute (PTLI), which is a collaborative venture with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). I really enjoy the CPS folks. They face numerous challenges but are some of the most dedicated educators I know.

Some of the principals participating in the data-driven decision-making strand of the PTLI (which I helped design) had some questions that they wanted me to answer about data-driven leadership, so today I had a very pleasant conversation with Phala Daniel, who works in CPS’ eLearning office along with Gerry Beimler (who is one of our CASTLE graduate certificate students). I recorded our 37-minute discussion and present it for your listening pleasure:

• May 25, 2007 CPS DDDM Podcast

  (36:36, 33.35 MB .mp3)

FYI, here’s one example of a protocol for a data-driven team meeting (as mentioned in the conversation). Hope you enjoy the podcast. Let me know what you think!

From Seth Godin:

When there’s a gap between someone doing her job and doing the right thing, then management has failed.

I bet we could come up with some examples of this in schools…

[cross-posted
at the TechLearning blog]

There are two primary standards documents for school administrators: ISLLC
and ELCC. Together they broadly define the parameters of school leaders’ work.
They also guide school district position descriptions; administrator evaluations
and assessments; state licensure, certification, and accreditation expectations;
and the content and coursework of postsecondary leadership preparation
programs.

ISLLC

The Interstate
School Leaders Licensure Consortium Standards for School Leaders (a.k.a.
ISLLC), were created by the Council of Chief State School Officers and are the
foundation of nearly every state’s standards for administrator licensure and
certification. The ISLLC framework was adopted in 1996 and is organized around
six basic standards. The ISLLC standards note that a “school administrator
is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by…”

1. facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship
   of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school
   community;
2. advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional
   program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth;
3. ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a
   safe, efficient, and effective learning environment;
4. collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse
   community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources;
5. acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner; and
6. understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social,
   economic, legal, and cultural context.

The ISLLC standards only mention technology twice:

• the administrator has knowledge and understanding of the role of
  technology in promoting student learning and professional growth (under
  Standard 2); and
• the administrator facilitates processes and engages in activities ensuring
  that there is effective use of technology to manage school operations
  (under Standard 3).

ELCC

The Educational
Leadership Constituent Council standards (a.k.a. ELCC) were adopted by the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education and are used for accreditation of postsecondary educational
leadership programs. The ELCC framework was adopted in 2001 and is organized
around seven basic standards. The ELCC standards note that “[c]andidates who
complete [educational administration programs] are educational leaders who have
the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by…”

1. facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship
   of a school or district vision of learning supported by the school
   community;
2. promoting a positive school culture, providing an effective instructional
   program, applying best practice to student learning, and designing comprehensive
   professional growth plans for staff;
3. managing the organization, operations, and resources in a way that promotes
   a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment;
4. collaborating with families and other community members, responding to
   diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources;
5. acting with integrity, fairly, and in an ethical manner; and
6. understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social,
   economic, legal, and cultural context.

The seventh ELCC standard has to do with preservice administrator
internships.

As you can see, the ELCC standards are extremely similar to ISLLC. However,
the ELCC standards mention technology a little more than does ISLLC:

• candidates demonstrate the ability to use and promote technology and
  information systems to enrich curriculum and instruction, to monitor
  instructional practices and provide staff the assistance needed for improvement
  (under Standard 2);
• candidates are able to use qualitative and quantitative data, appropriate
  research methods, technology, and information systems to develop a long-range
  plan for a district that assesses the district’s improvement and accountability
  systems (under Standard 2); and
• candidates demonstrate knowledge of adult learning strategies and the
  ability to apply technology and research
  to professional development design
  focusing on authentic problems and tasks, mentoring, coaching, conferencing, and
  other techniques that promote new knowledge and skills in the workplace (under
  Standard 2); and
• candidates use problem-solving skills and knowledge of strategic,
  long-range, and operational planning (including applications of technology) in
  the effective, legal, and equitable use of fiscal, human, and material resource
  allocation and alignment that focuses on teaching and learning (under Standard
  3).

There also is some additional language regarding technology in the narrative
sections accompanying Standards 2 and 3.

NETS-A

The International Society for Technology in Education released its National Educational
Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) in 2001. The NETS-A are
comprised of six broad standards and 31 performance indicators. The NETS-A state
that “educational leaders…”

1. inspire a shared vision for comprehensive integration of technology and
   foster an environment and culture conducive to the realization of that
   vision;
2. ensure that curricular design, instructional strategies, and learning
   environments integrate appropriate technologies to maximize learning and
   teaching;
3. apply technology to enhance their professional practice and to increase
   their own productivity and that of others;
4. ensure the integration of technology to support productive systems for
   learning and administration;
5. use technology to plan and implement comprehensive systems of effective
   assessment and evaluation; and
6. understand the social, legal, and ethical issues related to technology and
   model responsible decision-making related to these issues.

The NETS-A do not align very well with the two main sets of administrator
standards. To date they also have had little impact on most state licensure and
accreditation efforts or on most university educational leadership programs.

Discussion

Should there be more mention of technology in either ISLLC or ELCC? Probably.

That said, we also know that technology leadership is just one aspect of
principals’ and superintendents’ busy lives. While we might wish that ISLLC and
ELCC better recognized the ways that digital technologies are revolutionizing
our personal and professional lives, we also must remember that school
administrators are responsible for leading instruction, supervising and
evaluating employees, budgeting, community relations, management and operations,
and a variety of other duties. There’s only so much time in administrators’ days
and we have to prioritize their time and energy.

The NETS-A are an ambitious set of standards. While ideally all of the
NETS-A capacities exist somewhere in the school organization, it is difficult to
argue that a single person should be proficient in every single area the NETS-A
cover. There will be some educators, whoever, who want a comprehensive program
grounded in the NETS-A. The graduate programs offered by CASTLE, our partner universities,
and a few other educational leadership programs are an attempt to meet that
need.

The ISLLC and ELCC standards dominate conversations and
expectations regarding school administrator competency. The next iterations of
both documents probably should more explicitly address the technological changes
that are occurring in our society. Until then, anyone got a good
NETS-A / ISLLC / ELCC crosswalk?

Other questions

• Do you know of any comprehensive, high-quality, district-sponsored staff
  development efforts based on the NETS-A?
• Are the NETS-A too ambitious for principals, superintendents, and/or central
  office administrators?
• Which NETS-A standard is most important for principals? Which is most
  difficult for them to master?
• Does your school organization and/or local university do a good job of
  preparing administrators to be technology leaders?