With all there is to do in a school day though, I wonder how any one educator or evaluator can stay mindful to so many elements at once? What is the best way to truly learn these elements and embed each and every one into your practice as educator or leader? How do we transfer this knowledge into our independent practice, collegial work, and evaluations successfully? And, in what ways do educators and administrations assimilate this knowledge into practice at the same time that they're learning about and embedding countless new standards related to the common core? Even the most experienced, well educated, and successful practitioners will find this dual-initiative time very challenging on top of the already challenging roles and responsibilities they have each day as educators.
My first bit of advice is to streamline the efforts at the leadership level. Know that this dual-initiative time of common core and new evaluation standards presents a challenging professional landscape to all educators. Think about your school or area of leadership with depth, and determine priorities for growth and effect. For example, at the elementary level, you might want to choose one area of the curriculum or practice as a school-wide priority--then you could encourage teachers to meet both the common core and the education evaluation standards with regard to that priority area with depth. That would provide educators and leaders with a focus with which to embrace the educator standards and the common core.
Let's say a school leader chooses writing as the overarching theme for the year. Then PLCs and RTI could most heavily focus on writing. Grade-level teams could create a specific writing goal that crosses all curriculum areas. Then, as part of their collaborative work, the team could study and learn the educator evaluation standards and the common core standards through the writing lens. With specific practice, teachers could create and or revise related units, then leaders could focus their evaluations on that area of the curriculum. Further, family members could be advised about the priority and invited to join the effort by attending writing-related workshops, focusing on writing during conferences, and supporting their children's efforts with regard to writing. Since goal setting and measurement are relatively new, a school objectives could be set, and measurements reviewed regularly to note school-wide growth and the effectiveness of efforts.
Yet, if we center on one area, what will happen to the others? That's a question to consider. However, if we continually try to do it all, will we ever be able to grow with new practice, tools, and intent?
How are your colleagues, schools, and teams dealing with the fact that multiple initiatives are at play at the same time during this changing time in education? How are you fostering student and teacher growth with regard to these changes? In what ways are you using these changes to develop better schools with reasonable, yet effective, timelines?
I'm curious.
