Sample of Current Lecture Topics BAND-AIDS AND BOONDOGGLES THE MILLENNIUM SCHOOL WHERE HAVE ALL THE (GOOD) TEACHERS GONE? TEACHER LEADERSHIP ISOLATION AND EGALITARIANISM: THE EVIL TWINS OF SCHOOL CULTURE IS IT A REAL PDS OR A WANNABE? Band-Aids and Boondoggles The myths and realities of so-called school reforms School reform is not a modern concept but an ongoing process, one that demands a considerable amount of tinkering. However, much of today's tinkering consists of band-aids and boondoggles that do far more harm than good and result in solving none of the basic problems they were intended to correct. This has continued because the solutions offered have been narrowly focused, inconsistent with a view of public education as a closed-loop system of dysfunction, and therefore unmindful of the underlying causes of failure. Here we examine the most popular band-aids and boondoggles, including smaller classes, high-stakes testing, school vouchers, burdensome homework, schools for profit, charter schools, incentives for teacher recruitment and retention, paying teachers for student performance, and the "teacher-proof" curriculum. An understanding of why certain reforms don't work leads to a more critical assessment of potential reforms and provides strategies for supporting and advocating reforms which show promise for success. The Millennium School A reinvented elementary school could revolutionize the job of teaching We propose a model of public education that calls for reinventing the elementary school, implementing numerous strategies aimed at professionalizing the job of teacher. These include establishing teaching as a real career, with opportunities for increased responsibilities, salaries and promotions commensurate with the acquisition of skills and knowledge proved by a rigorous certification process. The Millennium School, as this model is called, is led by a Principal who shares supervision responsibilities with a cadre of Chief Instructors - certified and highly trained education professionals who have worked their way up the ranks to a significant role as leaders of teaching teams comprised of Professional Teachers, Teachers, Teaching Assistants, and Teaching Interns. The Millennium School is designed to transform teaching from an isolated, freelance craft into a collaborative enterprise built on teamwork and incorporating such best practices as mentoring, peer coaching, peer review, rounds, action research, and ongoing professional development. The goal of public education is academic success for all children. But our educational system has become a perpetuating cycle of dysfunction which defeats education reforms directed at achieving that end. Improved student learning will only take place when teachers are given the necessary training, knowledge, skills, working conditions, and material resources needed to engage in professional practice. Where Have All the (Good) Teachers Gone? How to ensure a long-term supply of quality teachers The teacher shortage has reached the point of crisis. The National Education Association estimates that by the year 2009 about 2.4 million new teachers will be needed throughout the nation. In the mad scramble to recruit more teachers various solutions are proposed, such as quickie training programs, certification waivers, the weakening of state regulations, and offering bonus awards and cash incentives to new recruits. These tactics will merely guarantee that more and more underqualified teachers will fill the positions opened by the experienced teachers who have left. More and more incoming teachers come from the bottom third of their graduating class. And half of incoming teachers will quit within the first 5 years. The reasons teachers give for leaving the classroom - lack of adequate supervision, little or no mentoring, no meaningful professional development opportunities - are left unaddressed. The culture of the classroom and the organization of schools discourage professional development and defeat good teaching. The way to break the cycle is to reinvent the job of teacher. What will it take to ensure that every classroom in America is staffed with a competent, fully qualified teacher? At the very least, it would take changing the culture of schools from one of isolation to one of collaboration, and the transformation of teaching into a real profession, with real career opportunities, and real rewards. This lecture offers ways to professionalize teaching in order to make the job an attractive career choice for the most qualified candidates. Teacher Leadership Teachers as change-agents in an era of education reform In the ongoing debate about education priorities, little is said about the role of the classroom teacher in setting the agenda for education reform. How do we shift the discussion from a criticism of teachers and teaching to how teachers can assume leadership in the improvement of schools? Fundamental issues of organizational life often overlooked in the discussion of teachers and school reform are those of power and leadership. Where the power lies and how power is used by individuals within schools are issues central to any reform. Power relationships among students, parents, teachers and school administrators affect the culture of schools. Given the egalitarian nature of teaching, how can leadership emerge from the ranks of classroom practitioners and what new models of leadership can be created? Isolation and Egalitarianism: The Evil Twins of School Culture School reforms will go nowhere until we change the culture of schools Unlike the work of other professionals such as attorneys or physicians, teaching takes place in isolation, without meaningful supervision, collaboration or peer support. Teachers guard fiercely their independence and consider attempts to open up classrooms to inspection and review as attacks on their prerogative of privacy. Without institutionalized review and accountability, the notion of "teacher improvement" is foreign to the school culture. Meaningful professional development is practically non-existent. This supports the obverse side of school culture, egalitarianism - the insistence that all teachers are of the same quality. Since a teacher is supposed to arrive in class on the first day with all the skills necessary to do the job, and there is little expectation of improvement over the course of a career, no teacher can be better than any other. If isolation and egalitarianism are effective roadblocks to education reform, what can be done to implement effective changes? Is It a Real PDS or a Wannabe? How to tell a pretend Professional Development School from the real thing Professional Development Schools - collaborations between schools and colleges for the preservice education of teachers - are widely accepted as beneficial. So much so, in fact, that some states, such as Texas, have decreed that all teachers must be educated in a PDS. In fact, when Texas passed that law, "professional development schools" suddenly sprung up overnight all over the state. But were they truly professional development schools, in the real sense of the term? What standards have been developed for a PDS, and how do we measure any PDS collaboration against those standards? Unless there are standards the transformative potential of the PDS gives way to downsizing pressures and tendencies, which teachers know all too well. The history of educational innovation is a chronicle of non-events - superficial, cosmetic changes, touted as bold, dramatic departures from the status quo - that disappear with the new superintendent or college dean or the next budget cut. Done carefully, evaluating your PDS according to the standards can be a useful process for clarifying the PDS, moving from general principles and descriptions to more precise, concrete guidelines to direct the work. (c) 2003 Vivian Troen, Katherine Boles; All Rights Reserved.