SPS Shifts to New Missouri Educator Standards
by Dr. Brady Quirk, Director of Talent Initiatives

Missouri teachers and school leaders will soon be working from a new set of educator standards designed to promote educator growth and ultimately help students reach higher levels of achievement. The standards fit right in with Springfield Public School’s philosophy of continuous improvement.  Rooted in best practices, the research-based standards are designed along a continuum that illustrates how educators grow and mature professionally throughout their career. These new standards will be the foundation for a new educator evaluation system that will be piloted during the 2014-15 school year and fully implemented for the 2015-16 school year.

The new standards and evaluation system are a result of Missouri’s Senate Bill 291, passed in 2010, which requires districts to adopt revised standards of teaching and learning. The standards were examined by all the primary Missouri educator organizations that represent teachers and leaders, vetted by 32 K-12 districts of various sizes (including SPS), and reviewed by 25 Missouri colleges and universities before being adopted by the state board of education in 2013. Additionally, the standards are cross-referenced with the research-based initiatives of Dr. Robert Marzano (author of Classroom Instruction that Works, among many others), Dr. John Hattie (Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers), and Doug Lemov (Teach like a Champion). 

SPS teachers will find that the new standards support much of what they already do. The emphases on communication, collaboration, and critical thinking align perfectly with the Springfield Public Schools’ Learning Model. Associate Superintendent for Education Services Marty Moore describes the connection: “Our Learning Model captures what effective teachers have always known and, more importantly, DONE in their classrooms: built relationships with their students, communicated high expectations, worked with them to set clear learning targets, and created streams of feedback to guide their progress. The classrooms they lead provide opportunities for students to think critically, collaborate, and communicate about significant, relevant issues that prepare them for THEIR futures, rather than our past.”

Other standards and indicators perfectly match the professional learning training currently facilitated by the Department of Professional Learning, including classroom management, cooperative learning, and differentiated instruction. Director of Professional Learning Kathy Gross comments, “As I read the quality indicators under each standard I make connections to the core, the capabilities, and the processes of our Learning Model. I see the philosophy of being a continuous learner. I am reminded of what we’ve considered the essentials of our induction program. The members of the Department of Professional Learning are anxious to support each professional’s growth plan as we focus on the commitment and practice of professional educators and their impact.”

The new educator evaluation system is based on educator growth over time rather than a “gotcha” style evaluation. The evaluation process involves the principal and teacher collaboratively selecting three indicators that will be the focus for the year, with a growth plan established based on those selections. The nine standards and 36 accompanying indicators offer many venues for teachers to select from when planning their professional learning growth opportunities.

The entire Educational Services Division, including the departments of Professional Learning, Curriculum, Assessment & Instruction, Information Technology, Quality Improvement & Accountability, and Information Literacy will be partnering with sites as the new evaluation process is piloted this school year. Focus on Learning will highlight the standards in each edition throughout the 2014-15 school year to help familiarize teachers with the details.

For more information, please check out the DESEvideo on the creation & implementation of new standards (8 minutes).

Standard #1: Content Knowledge and Perspectives Aligned with Appropriate Instruction

The teacher understands the central concepts, structures and tools of inquiry of the discipline(s) and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful and engaging for all students.

Quality Indicator 1: Content knowledge and academic language
Quality Indicator 2: Engaging students in subject matter
Quality Indicator 3: Disciplinary research and inquiry methodologies
Quality Indicator 4: Interdisciplinary instruction
Quality Indicator 5: Diverse social and cultural perspective

Standard #2: Understanding and Encouraging Student Learning, Growth and Development

The teacher understands how students learn, develop and differ in their approaches to learning. The teacher provides learning opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners and support the intellectual, social and personal development of all students.

Quality Indicator 1: Cognitive, social, emotional and physical development
Quality Indicator 2: Student goals
Quality Indicator 3: Theory of learning
Quality Indicator 4: Meeting the needs of every student
Quality Indicator 5: Prior experiences, learning styles, multiple intelligences, strengths and needs
Quality Indicator 6: Language, culture, family and knowledge of community

Standard #3: Implementing the Curriculum

The teacher recognizes the importance of long-range planning and curriculum development. The teacher develops, implements and evaluates curriculum based upon standards and student needs.

Quality Indicator 1: Implementation of curriculum standards
Quality Indicator 2: Develop lessons for diverse learners
Quality Indicator 3: Analyze instructional goals and differentiated instructional strategies

Standard #4: Teaching for Critical Thinking

The teacher uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ critical thinking, problem solving and performance skills including instructional resources.

Quality Indicator 1: Instructional strategies leading to student engagement in problem solving and critical thinking
Quality Indicator 2: Appropriate use of instructional resources to enhance student learning
Quality Indicator 3: Cooperative learning

Standard #5: Creating a Positive Classroom Learning Environment

The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages active engagement in learning, positive social interaction and self-motivation.

Quality Indicator 1: Classroom management, motivation and engagement
Quality Indicator 2: Managing time, space, transitions and activities
Quality Indicator 3: Classroom, school and community culture

Standard #6: Utilizing Effective Communication

The teacher models effective verbal, nonverbal and media communication techniques with students and parents to foster active inquiry, collaboration and supportive interaction in the classroom.

Quality Indicator 1: Verbal and nonverbal communication
Quality Indicator 2: Sensitivity to culture, gender, intellectual and physical differences
Quality Indicator 3: Learner expression in speaking, writing and other media
Quality Indicator 4: Technology and media communication tools

Standard #7: Use of Student Assessment Data to Analyze and Modify Instruction

The teacher understands and uses formative and summative assessment strategies to assess the learner’s progress, uses assessment data to plan ongoing instruction, monitors the performance of each student, and devises instruction to enable students to grow and develop.

Quality Indicator 1: Effective use of assessments
Quality Indicator 2: Assessment data to improve learning
Quality Indicator 3: Student-led assessment strategies
Quality Indicator 4: Effect of instruction on individual/class learning
Quality Indicator 5: Communication of student progress and maintaining records
Quality Indicator 6: Collaborative data analysis process

Standard #8: Professional Practice

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually assesses the effects of choices and actions on others. The teacher actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally in order to improve learning for all students.

Quality Indicator 1: Self-assessment and improvement
Quality Indicator 2: Professional learning
Quality Indicator 3: Professional rights, responsibilities and ethical practices

Standard #9: Professional Collaboration

The teacher has effective working relationships with students, parents, school colleagues and community members.

Quality Indicator 1: Roles, responsibilities and collegial activities
Quality Indicator 2: Collaborating with historical, cultural, political and social context to meet the needs of students
Quality Indicator 3: Cooperative partnerships in support of student learning

Going Beyond Good Enough
by Curtis Cunningham, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

Welcome back to another school year!  We have a clean slate, a fresh start.  What will we do with the time we are given during the 2014-2015 school year? 

If you’ve had much opportunity to engage in professional reading, you’ve probably become familiar with the work of Carol Dweck in the area of mindset.  Simply put, Dweck (2006) learned through her research at Stanford “that there were two meanings to ability, not one: a fixed ability that needs to be proven, and a changeable ability that can be developed through learning” (p. 15).  Our approach to ability can have profound impact on the way in which our students interact with our curriculum, our instructional strategies, our school culture.  The sometimes merciless pursuit of excellence can seem to threaten the slow methodical pace of gradual improvement.  Our students experience this pressure, and it can affect even the most stalwart teachers.

Oftentimes we place a focus on how we want our students to grow.  But what about our personal growth?  What do we want to see in ourselves?  Is there ever a “good enough” when it comes to teaching?  Is this a dangerous term?  We say we’ll never arrive at the destination of becoming a perfect teacher.  Do we sometimes use that as an excuse to stop trying?

In the coming years we will have a unique opportunity to apply a growth mindset to our performance as educators.  The new teacher evaluation system will reflect a continuum of several criteria.  These criteria are indicative of high performing teachers and as such can serve as a useful tool for continued professional growth.  On the other hand, these criteria can serve as a checklist whereby an experienced teacher can satisfy their own fixed mindset and neglect continuous growth.  I suggest the difference comes in the question we ask ourselves.  As we review the criteria, we can ask “Am I doing this in my classroom?” or we can ask “To what degree am I doing this in my classroom?” 

There is little doubt that effective teachers are already implementing many of these criteria.  After all, these criteria are designed to create a picture of effective teaching.  It seems logical that effective teachers would naturally gravitate toward behaviors that support student learning.  If we simply ask “Am I doing this in my classroom?” we are in essence looking for an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back and check the box.

However, if we ask ourselves “To what extent am I meeting this criteria?” we have the opportunity to validate what we are already doing well and recognize what we might need to do more frequently or in greater depth.

At Leadership Institute, Dr. Jungmann asked each leader to write down two roses and two weeds which exist in our district.  Perhaps one weed might be a “good enough” mentality.  Perhaps we need to be intentional to plant a growth mindset each day where we determine that we indeed have a “changeable ability that can be developed through learning” (Dweck, 2006, p. 15).

Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

Professional Learning Advisory Updates
by Debbie Yonke, Coordinator, Quality Assurance in Learning

We are excited to announce the newest members of the Professional Learning Advisory, who will begin their three-year term with the 2014-15 school year.
-Barbara Wormington (Field Elementary)
-Cassie Downs (Robberson Community School)
-Thomas Maerke (Pleasant View Middle School)
-Tabitha Eutsler (Jeffries Elementary)

Please join us in welcoming these new members.  This Advisory joins with the Department of Professional Learning to empower educators and ensure student success. 

The primary focus of the Professional Learning (PL) Advisory is to…
-review the yearly Professional Learning Needs Assessment.
-use the Needs Assessment data to develop a Professional Learning Plan which is submitted to the School Board on a yearly basis.
-use the Professional Learning Plan to guide setting Professional Learning priorities for expenditures.

In compliance with Missouri mandates and regulations, PL Advisory members are teachers who are employed full-time by the district and serve staggered three-year terms.  The PL Advisory also includes appointed representatives from teacher organizations and administration as well as facilitators from the PL Department. 

We would also like to recognize the following teachers who just completed their three-year terms:
-Dr. Melissa Albright (Wilson’s Creek)
-Dr. Gwyn Burns (Twain Elementary)
-Nicole Bueno (Cherokee Middle School)
-Laurie Sullivan (Hillcrest High School)

We appreciate the professionalism and service of these individuals, and we look forward to working with our new team to support Springfield’s educators and students.

Refresh, Rejuvenate, Reflect
by Martha Doennig, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

With Independence Day just around the corner, I am reminded of many vivid summer childhood memories. Decorating bikes in red, white, and blue for the annual neighborhood parade, long days at the community swimming pool engaged in diving contests followed by the carnival and fireworks, and spending the dog days of summer sprawled on the couch under the only window unit engrossed in book after book. July 4^th marked the midpoint to the much anticipated arrival of a new school year.  Now, Fourth of July signals the arrival of school supplies and back to school promotions at local retailers. As exciting as school supplies are, don’t let the retail world cut your summer short.  Maximize your time to refresh, rejuvenate, and reflect.   Should you have already exhausted your summer goals, here are some ideas to recharge for the coming school year.

Retreat.  Many of us tend to be like Carol Ann Tomlinson.  In “Architects of Summer” she refers to herself as a certifiable education addict.   Teaching and its demands consume and sap mental and physical energy.  As a child, it was easy to turn off the school brain, but certainly easier said than done in adulthood.   Granting the teacher brain an opportunity to rest and focus on other elements of our lives that contribute to joy inspires rejuvenation.

Do Something Just for Yourself.    During the school year, we often neglect our basic needs.  Restroom breaks, lunch, and time for appointments go by the wayside.  In “Take Time for Yourself-and Cultivate Learning,” Rick Wormeli discusses the importance of being physically present and in good health to be a teacher.  The personal energy needed to move our students forward is intense.  Our well-being is crucial for the impact we want in the classroom.  Therefore, take this time to tune up your body, and possibly spoil it a little bit, too.

Try Something New.   Taking the risk to experience something new has multiple benefits.  Tomlinson indicates that newness allows a deepening of self- identity beyond an educator, as well as the opportunity to “refashion the old in promising ways.”  

Reflect.   Now that you have had a break from the school year, it might be time to look back.  Consider what you did well to make it go well.  Make comparisons to what you hoped would happen in your classroom and what actually happened. Consider who you are as an educator compared to a few years ago.  

Grow.  Once you have reflected on the year, it seems logical to hone in on knowledge or a skill that you feel would benefit your future students. It may seem ridiculous to even mention it, but find time to cultivate your own growth this summer.  Tomlinson argues summer to be a great opportunity to take the time to study teaching and learning.  We are fortunate to have collaboration built into our professional learning during the school year, but adequate time to grow is hard to find during the school year.  A small nugget of learning from the school year could become a catalyst for extensive thought and growth during the summer. Choose something of interest and commit to knowing more.  Commit to growing in new knowledge and find ways to make that new knowledge relevant to what you do in the classroom.

Create.  Creativity has been at the heart of much recent research. Sir Ken Robinson, in Out of Our Minds, states that “creativity is the greatest gift of human intelligence.  The more complex the world becomes, the more creative we need to be to meet its challenges.”  What evidence might you have of creativity in your life? Recombine the familiar into something unfamiliar; let new ideas simmer. Ignite and unleash your inner creative self. If the 20% project is familiar to you, you know that Google encourages employees to spend 20% of work time on a pet project.  This can be a challenging task during the school year, but might be a perfect fit from the summer. 3M and Google have had great success with this approach; post-its, masking tape, and Gmail are all a result. Imagine what might materialize with energy focused on a personal interest project. 

Stay Connected.   A successful school year requires investment in relationships.  Collegial relationships are as important as those with students.  Although you will all be reunited soon, it is still beneficial to stay connected to your colleagues.  The simplest of texts, emails, or notes or a more dedicated time for coffee or lunch reaps benefits that are immeasurable.  

Disconnect.   To flip the coin, find time to disconnect.  In a recent Educational Leadership article, Thomas Hoerr explores what might happen if you disconnect from your digital world for three days.  It might feel like you miss out on something substantial, but chances are, life will go on, and you will be given the gift of hours to do something spectacular with your time. 

Explore.  In Brain Rules, John Medina explores twelve things that we know about the brain. Aside from the deep understanding of how exercise, sleep, and stress affect our brain, he discusses the natural need for exploration.  Humans are by nature curious. In fact, curiosity is everything.  It seems most prevalent in our younger children who begin most questions with “why?” but quite truthfully we never outgrow the desire to know why.  Think about your lists of “why?” and take this as an opportunity to explore what intrigues you.

Smell the Roses.   Finally, slow down.  The school year does not always allow for time to enjoy the beauty and simplicity the world has to offer.  Allow your senses to be overloaded, your mind to drift to a place it has not visited in months.  This sense of serenity might be all you need to recharge your emotional and physical self.

So before the retail world trumps summer vacation, enjoy the opportunity to refresh, rejuvenate, and reflect.    Relish in the time to invest in your personal and professional growth, as it will certainly influence who you will be as an educator in the coming school year. 

Hoerr, T. “Principal Connection-The Top 10 To-Do List for Summer.” Educational Leadership. May 2014: 88-89.
Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds: learning to be creative. West Sussex, UK: Capstone Publishing Ltd.
Tomlinson, C. “Architects of Summer.” Educational Leadership. June 2013: 8-12.
Wormeli, R. “Take Time for Yourself-and for Learning.” Educational Leadership. June 2013: 14-19.

A Teacher’s Perspective on Cognitive Coaching Seminars®
by Sarah Logan, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

Barbara Wormington, 4^th grade teacher at Field Elementary, is one of several SPS teachers who were able to participate in Cognitive Coaching(SM)  training this school year. She credits the seminar for giving her effective communication tools and skills to use with various members of the school community. The impact is seen most directly with students in her classroom.

Find out more about what Barb has to say about Cognitive Coaching below:

Students in my classroom have benefited from my Cognitive Coaching training because there is rarely a time when I do not paraphrase their thinking.  I believe this makes them feel heard, and gives the rest of the class a chance to hear what that student has said in a different way.  It takes our learning to a deeper level.

I use Cognitive Coaching daily.  If it’s not with my students, then it’s with other teachers in my building or with parents. I think parents appreciate being paraphrased, and intently listened too. So often they stop by my classroom with a problem they are having with homework, or with their child at home, and it’s nice how quickly we can work through the problem resolving map and how much time it actually saves rather than me just listening and then talking back, or giving suggestions.

I hope to have a leadership position one day in the district, and the opportunities I have had with Cognitive Coaching have really prepared me for situations I will have as a leader: like handling difficult parents, and most importantly; giving people the tools they need to solve their own problems, which is part of my personal philosophy with teaching children, that directly applies to working with adults.  I’m definitely more prepared and qualified to hold a leadership position with my training and practices in Cognitive Coaching.

All SPS teachers, counselors, and librarians will have the opportunity to begin the journey into Cognitive Coaching (SM) this summer! Days 1-4 will be offered June 11, 12, 16 & 17. For more details, click here.

We look forward to seeing you!

Continue Strong
by Curtis Cunningham, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

May marks the culmination of months of planning and work.  We all want to finish strong. While this is a very common colloquialism, I wonder what might happen if we entertain a different perspective for the month of May-- What if we decide to continue strong?

Continue Focus:
It might be we have addressed all of the elements of our curriculum guide and are considering how to deepen or extend our students’ learning.  It might be we are prioritizing the most important “big rocks” to hone in on during this time.  Consider the following questions. What might be a topic that would be important to review?  What might be crucial understandings students will need to be successful in the next grade or next level of your content area?  What might be some topics you would like to cover based on student interest or learning profile?  While the bulletin boards might come down at the end of the month and the books might be inventoried, there are still opportunities between now and then to communicate to our students that learning can continue through the summer and serve as a spring board to the next school year.

Continue Impact:
We have heard it said, “Once a teacher, always a teacher” and many of us have realized that in our personal lives. That is why we want to redirect children we encounter at Walmart or work so intently with children in our families. Our role as a teacher never really stops.  To illustrate this point, try to remember the name of a favorite teacher.  Perhaps you have regular communication with this individual, if not, imagine a conversation with him or her.  How would you refer to them?  What might be your default?  I recently had the opportunity to interact with my Kindergarten teacher.  I was surprised by my immediate reaction.  “Hello, Mrs. Potts.”  Even though it has been decades since I was in Kindergarten, I still refer to her by her surname.  She will forever hold a special place in my life, as will all of my teachers.  Our role of teacher will never stop.  It might be that we no longer have daily interaction with this particular group of students.  It might be that we will no longer provide feedback on their progress, but we can be assured that we will always hold a place of teacher in their lives. We continue learning, we continue our role as teachers, we continue our impact. 

Greg Anderson, founder of Cancer Recovery Foundation International, encourages all of us to “Focus on the journey, not the destination.  Joy is found not in finishing an activity, but in doing it.”  As teachers in the month of May we have a choice.  We can focus on the finish line or we can continue to enjoy the journey with our students know that learning and teaching never really end.

An old Chinese proverb states “If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.”  Congratulations on the successful completion of another academic year.  Even more, congratulations for planning for a lifetime and hundreds of lifetimes over the course of the past nine months.  As we head into summer-- rest well, enjoy family and friends and continue strong.

Another Year in the Books
by Martha Doennig, SPS Professional Learning Specialist

Might these be familiar titles?

How to Survive and Thrive in the First Three Weeks of School by Elaine K. McEwan
The First Days of School by Harry Wong
Day One and Beyond by Rick Wormeli

Countless titles explore just what we might do to kick off a school year filled with stellar elements.  So where might one find the following book titles?

How to Survive and Thrive the Final Weeks
The Final Days of School
Day 175 and Beyond
or even
Assessment Window Closed, Now What?  

After scouring educational writings, my hunch is these books have not been penned for a simple reason: demand, or lack thereof.  Teachers have had a strong commitment to the principles of classroom management from day one, and are reaping the benefits in the final days and weeks of school. As the year has marched along, components of effective classroom management have been at the forefront of classrooms throughout Springfield.  

While I recently walked through a building, evidence of strong classroom management wafted through the halls. Energetic teacher voices and the hum of student conversation around concepts filled classrooms.   The intensity of work was exemplified by the substance of the content.  Expectations for procedures were clear; simple looks or quick directives moved entire classes.   Movement, contagious energy, and novelty engaged learning.   Strong relationships were apparent as students and teachers embraced what the other had to offer.  It was better than textbook and evident class after class, hallway after hallway.  

So as you count down the final days until this year goes in the books and continue to enjoy your well managed classroom, I invite you to revisit the Classroom Management Instructional Configuration.  Look at it with reflecting eyes; rate yourself and consider the following:   What have you done well to make things go so well?   What new learning might you have from this year?   How might that new learning transfer to your 2014-2015 classroom?