Proficient Child, Whole Child

Oregon Proficiency Conference

“It’s About Time”

April 30, 2012

PBTL Cornerstone

“It works on the base expectation that all students - given the right learning environment – can achieve the high standards of proficiency required for work citizenship and life.”

BEC, Proficiency-Based Teaching and Learning: An Overview

Barriers to All

We must have the courage to seek solutions

rather than place blame

Clarity for ALL Students

Closing the Clarity Gaps

• Alignment between what we say we value and what we actually practice

– What do we measure?

– What do we celebrate?

– What do we confront?

What We Know, What We Believe

and What We Practice

“…If decisions about education policy and practice started by asking what works for the child, how would resources – time, space and human – be arrayed to ensure each child’s success? If the student were truly at the center of the system, what could we achieve?” From ASCD’s The Whole Child Compact

Student Voice• Where there’s smoke…..

• Better late than….

• Two’s company…

• Don’t bite the hand that….

• A penny saved….

• No news is….

• A miss is a good as…

• Kid’s should be seen…

CLARITY OF PURPOSE

“It works on the base expectation that all students - given the right learning environment – can achieve the high standards of proficiency required for work citizenship and life.”

A vision that is not consistent with values by which people live continuously will fail to inspire and often will foster cynicism.

(Senge, 1990). Miles (1987, cited in Fullan, 1991)

Are We Clear?

Our Fundamental Purpose

TO ENSURE HIGH LEVELS OF LEARNING FOR ALL STUDENTS.

ALL. EACH. EVERY. PERIOD.

What Does “All” Really Mean?

ALL

What is Success?

“Our current definition of success is too narrow. It is time to put students first, align resources to students’ multiple needs, and advocate for a more balanced approach.” From ASCD’s Making the Case for Educating the Whole Child

So What do we REALLY believe?

All Kids are Capable of Success…

No Exceptions?

The Proficient Child, The Whole Child

• SAFE

• HEALTHY

• CARED FOR AND SUPPORTED

• ENGAGED AND CONNECTED

• CHALLENGED

• HOPEFUL

Proficiency and Basic Needs

Assets and Proficiency

The asset concept is simple and based on common sense: young people need positive external supports and internal strengths in order to succeed in life. And, most important, they need people to help nurture these assets. And EVERYONE can be an “Asset Builder.”

Research Review: School-based Health Interventions and Academic Achievement

Julia Dilley, 2009

• Health and education are linked

• Every health risk can affect academic success

• Interventions can narrow disparities

• Health interventions can improve learning and health

Health and Proficiency

The Hopeful, Proficient Child• Children who succeed do so when they

have people in their lives who believe they can succeed.

• Children who succeed have meaningful relationships with caring adults.

• Children who succeed are nurtured by a culture that is focused on success and strengths.

• Children who succeed have “Treasure Hunters” in their lives who have and hold them to high expectations

I am a Kid at Hope.

I am talented, smart & capable of success.

I have dreams for the future and I will climb to reach those goals & dreams everyday.All Children are Capable of Success, No

Exceptions!

A Pledge of Hope

Why Hope?

“…research has shown that hope, engagement and wellbeing are positioned as actionable targets and indicators for future success…”

Dr. Shane Lopez, Conclusions from the 2009 Student Gallup Poll

Why Hope?“Hope drives attendance, credits earned,

and academic performance of high school students.”

Students with hope are:• Engaged, highly involved and

enthusiastic about school• Arrive at school prepared and eager to

learn• Promote excitement about learning in

those around them

I am scaredI am sad

I am pinnedI am lost

I am motionlessI am forgot

I am unhappyI am stuck

I am trappedI am hopelessI am a nobody.

-Morgan, 5th Grade

Failure is NOT a Choice

Absolute Fact: Not a single child CHOSE to be hungry, to be sick, to be in foster care, to not have a Dad, to have a disability, to move multiple times, to be homeless, to be hopeless….

“Kids should be seen…..

and not be invisible.”

CLARITY OF PEOPLE

“It works on the base expectation that all students - given the right learning environment – can achieve on the high standards of proficiency required for work citizenship and life.”

- given the right learning environment -

The Treasure Hunter Pledge

As an adult and a Treasure Hunter

I am committed to search for all the talents, skills and intelligence

that exists in all children and youth.

I believe all children are capable of success,

No Exceptions!

Treasures, Locks and Keys

It’s not about

finding the treasure…it’s about opening

it…

CURIOSITYUNCONDITIONAL LOVETRUSTINGHAPPINESSDEPENDENCEAFFECTIONATE EXPRESSIVEDREAMSPOTENTIALHOPE

Locks reflect not what was done FOR our kids…

They symbolize what has been done TO them

UNCERTAINTLYFEAR

DISTRUSTANGER

LONLINESSHUNGER

PAINGUILTBLAME

BULLIEDNO OPPORTUNITIES

HOPELESSNESS

The Keys to “I Can”

I Believe in Me…Because YOU first Believed in Me!

The Thing about Keys…..

Treasure Hunter?

Treasure Hunter!

CLARITY OF PRACTICE

“It works on the base expectation that all students - given the right learning environment – can achieve on the high standards of proficiency required for work citizenship and life.”

Systems of Practice for ALL

– THE Four Critical Questions

• What do we want kids to know (what can they not afford to know)

• How do we know if they do

• What do we do if they don’t

• What do we do if they do

Collaboration is Key“A PLC is composed of collaborative teams

whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals linked to the purpose of learning for all.” (R. DuFour; 2006)

Instead, if students are to show measurable and sustained improvement, schools must also foster what sociologists label “social capital”—the patterns of interactions among teachers. - Carrie R. Leana, School Reform – The Missing Link

Practicing Together

“The relationship among the adults in the schoolhouse has more impact on the quality and the character of the schoolhouse – and on the accomplishments of youngsters – than any other factor.”

– Barth, 2001

Collective Impact

Further, when the relationships among teachers in a school are characterized by high trust and frequent interaction—that is, when social capital is strong—student achievement scores improve.

-Carrie R. Leana, School Reform – The Missing Link

Interdependence vs. Independence

“Your address should not determine your achievement”

Straight A’s• AND

• ALL

• ALIGNED

“AND” & “ALL”

ALL Kids are Capable of Success – Without Exception!

Ensuring High Levels of Learning for ALL Students

Success for ALL Takes Us ALL

Student AND Adult Centered

Compliant AND Compelling

Visionary AND Urgent

Proficient AND Whole

Beliefs AND Data

Art AND Science

Curriculum AND Culture

Aligning Purpose and Practice

“In these improved districts, their change efforts were system-wide rather than program based. Consequently, the efforts superceded specific programs, departments, or operations.”

-“Characteristics of Improved School Districts: Themes from Research” Shannon, Bylsma

Question 3, Part II

What do we do if they don’t?

We Must First Answer – Why Don’t They? Why are they not proficient, Why are they not WHOLE?

What happens if they don’t?

The Whole Child Challenge

School systems are not responsible for meeting every need of their students. But when the need directly affects learning, the school must meet the challenge.

Quoted in ASCD’s Whole Child Compact

The Power of “I Can”

“I know what is expected of me and I know what I have to

do to get there.”

- From Praise for Proficiency, by Tim Buckley

I Can!

Clarity with Conviction

“Failure is not an option.”