Inspiring Learners

A day or two before the Thanksgiving holiday I paid a brief visit to each one of the elementary classrooms to extend best wishes to each classroom teacher and say hello to the students. I am always impressed but never surprised at the level of excitement and engagement in these classes!

These and my other classroom visits remind me of the skill, wisdom, and competence of our teaching staff here in Needham. I regularly observe students tuned in and turned on to any number of tasks, projects, and discussions. Whether the students are working alone, in small groups, or in pairs there is a joyful sense of purpose and self-discovery evident in our schools, and it’s led by talented and committed teachers. Students are clearly in charge of their learning, and they take pride and ownership in their individual achievement, creativity, and growth.

Of course, it is a skilled and mature instructor who can step to the side and guide the learning rather than stand in front and command the students. And that takes time, persistence, and patience. There are no quick routes or easy paths to become the kind of teacher who connects closely to students and can assess their personal needs and potential with efficacy and compassion. I like what Carol Steele, writing in December’s (2010) Educational Leadership, says about the stages successful teachers go through in their career: “I believe teachers progress through four stages: unaware, aware, capable, inspired.” She observes that teachers work through these stages as they develop experience, competence, and the flexibility to respond to a variety of situations and divergent thinkers and learners.

Within a collaborative structure and provided with a reasonable amount of training and support (versus a well-intentioned but overwhelming amount of professional development), our teachers can move through these stages and develop a sense of accomplishment that comes with doing something meaningful and purposeful in a classroom full of students.

We simply must give teachers the support, time, and latitude to try new ideas and even make mistakes as they grow and develop into inspired teachers who excite children. So what else does it take? Steele concludes that “desire, a curious mind, and a thirst for continuous learning” are the links in a chain of teacher growth and improvement.

In Needham’s classrooms, I am proud to say that our teachers have these prerequisite skills and attitudes, and wherever they are on Steele’s continuum, they are working hard each day to empower and inspire young minds.

Needham's Community Steps Up... and Students Benefit

I shared the following remarks at the Needham Steps Up Benefit at the Sheraton on October 7^th:

Several years ago I began my teaching career in Los Angeles. I was an English teacher working in a Catholic high school set amidst the poverty and violence of Watts.

The noise of city life—screeching buses, honking horns, whistling trains—was routinely interrupted by the staccato of automatic gunfire, sirens, and the thumping of police helicopters hovering overhead. Nickerson Gardens, the largest public housing project on the West Coast, loomed over the school and was—and still is—the home of the notorious gang, the Bloods. Some of my students came from the Gardens, but many came from Slauson—Crips territory. And somehow, under one roof, students from different religious traditions, neighborhoods, family situations, and gang affiliations gathered each day to grow and learn.

To this day, the school remains an island oasis surrounded by chaotic and desperate waves of hunger, fear, and loneliness. The school nurtures the lives of young people who, in a daily act of courage, step from a battered neighborhood and into a learning environment that embraces them and challenges them to be their best.

It was in this unlikely setting that as a young man and new teacher I learned the meaning of community.

Within a neighborhood of broken and burned out buildings, vacated by families but infested with gangbangers and drug dealers, there existed a spirit of common expectations, connections, and care. There, even in this wounded city, a spirit of community thrived to serve our students. The teachers and coaches, parents and pastors, police detectives and probation officers, bus drivers and convenience store clerks and even the Bloods and the Crips figured out a way to work together to ensure the students were encouraged, supported, and loved.

There, folks from different perspectives and walks of life collaborated to ensure the young people of Verbum Dei High School received an excellent education. And the energy, pride, and support generated by a sense of community not only empowered learning, it served to diminish the factions, the fear, and the dissonance of adults and young people alike. A passionate belief in building community, I learned, breaks barriers, promotes understanding, and boosts young people.

The mean streets of Needham are a far cry from Central Ave. in LA! But I have learned that here, too, in Needham the commitment to build community is strong and it is an expectation you have of one another. Needham’s students, parents, teachers, religious and civic leaders, business owners, and older citizens understand the power of community.

As your superintendent, I have watched you work together, pool resources, and embrace uncertainty and differences to address real concerns. Your fierce dedication to young people is a vital part of a web of cooperation and commitment called community. And Steps to Success is yet another example of Needham’s steadfast support of access, equity, and opportunity for all students, including those who are often alienated and distanced from their learning and their community. Simply stated: Needham gets it!

Needham is not South Central, but we are hardly immune from pockets of broken families, economically disadvantaged youth, unemployment, ignorance, and loneliness. And Needham knows—you know—that if we participate as active citizens and work together on common problems and on behalf of young people, we will enrich their lives and, in turn, they will grow strong and achieve and become full and responsible partners in the life of the community.

Steps to Success provides high school students the opportunity to connect with a caring mentor who offers guidance, support, and friendship. And research suggests that a program like Steps to Success provides students more access to college and beyond. You should be immensely pleased that your personal contribution has enabled and empowered students! And know that your personal involvement is multiplied many times over by those around you and by many more who are not here this evening.

Working together, your voices and actions proclaim the value of young people and a commitment to their education. Thank you for all your work on behalf of Needham’s youth and families; thank you for sharing lessons of care, generosity, and humility. And thank you for continuing to demonstrate the purpose and the power of a hope-filled community.

Budget Priorities for the 2011-12 School Year

Believe it or not, the Needham School Committee and school administration are gearing up for a new budget season. While one budget year concluded on June 30th (Fiscal Year ’10 or FY10) and another began on July 1st (FY11), we must now prepare for the school department budget that will begin on July 1, 2011 (FY12). It seems as if we are always in budget season!

And, like last year, the development of the FY12 budget will be a challenge. Growing school enrollment at the middle and high school level, decreasing local and state revenue due to the economic downturn, and increasing student needs have combined to make the development of a school budget an enormous undertaking for the School Committee.

Each year the School Committee establishes Operating Budget Guidelines to provide the school administration guidance as we go about the task of developing a budget that best meets the needs of our students. This year, parents and members of the community are encouraged to comment on and provide feedback to the School Committee about its draft FY12 budget priorities. Please take a few minutes to read the draft budget priorities (excerpted from the document above) and submit a suggestion, comment, or question on the blog or directly to the School Committee: schoolcommittee@needham.k12.ma.us


FY12 Draft Budget Priorities (excerpted from Operating Budget Guidelines)

The School Committee budget should reflect certain priorities that address the needs of the Needham Public Schools. These priorities should provide direction to administrators and guide staff in developing budget recommendations. The priorities also should guide the School Committee in its deliberations and the budget planning process.

The budget should reflect the following priorities, in relative order. The School Committee may sometimes choose to fund items addressing the lower priorities over items that may claim a higher priority. While not done lightly, such choices must sometimes be made to ensure that no priority is neglected.

1. The District’s mission, vision, values, and goals;
2. The need for highly qualified staff teaching within established student/teacher ratio guidelines;
3. The ongoing refinement of curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices; and
4. The need to develop and maintain educational resources and a technology infrastructure that supports student learning and meets District goals.

For a detailed description of the budget guidelines and priorities, please visit the School Committee's webpage for more information. Thanks for your feedback!

Here’s to Summer Vacation.

A recent TIME magazine lamented the lazy days of summer for children, observing that a two-month reprieve from books, classes, and testing is a sentimental and archaic throwback to the agrarian age when the planting schedule dictated a need for extra farmhands to bring in the corn and cabbage. I am not so sure, however, we should ring the bell on summer vacation.

The TIME author correctly notes that many children, who often languish unsupervised at home or in urban areas without benefit of summer school, campfire ghost stories, reading, or family trips to the Cape or mountains, do lose some of the academic progress they have made during the school year. In fact, some analyses have suggested this is especially true for students with certain learning disabilities who require frequent repetition and instruction to keep up with their peers. And there is some evidence that students, regardless of race, background, or socio-economic status, may lose ground in math, perhaps because there are fewer opportunities for children in all grades to practice or discuss math and mathematical concepts in July and August.

But should we extend the school year into July, plan on a few weeks off after the 4th and return in early August? I’m not convinced. Time off in June, July, and August may be a throwback to a an earlier age, but the opportunity for children to get away from the routine of school to vacation, attend camp, visit with distant relatives, or just loaf in the backyard still makes sense, even in the high stakes environment of the 21st Century.

On the other hand, an extended school day for all children does make sense today, especially if we wish to engage students in a rich and diverse curriculum as well as teach them how to work together, problem solve, and create. Even an additional 30 minutes a day would provide needed time for students to deepen their knowledge and extend their learning. But keeping them in stuffy classrooms until mid-July seems like a loss rather than a gain.

Kids need some unstructured time to play, relax, and daydream. Summer vacation is a great time to continue learning and growing by making new friends, reading a book, or hiking a trail. The structure of the contemporary school day and the after school regimen of play dates, athletics, religious school, and music practice mean that most of our young people are “on” all the time with little chance to slow down or even try something new. Summer vacation provides relief from the routines and an opportunity to explore.

One of my friends brought his 13 year old son and another boy to work with him a couple times recently and gave them money for a Charlie Card and told them to stay in touch by cell phone but encouraged them to visit the New England Aquarium, Beacon Hill, and Harvard Yard. The boys, routinely programmed during the school year with classes, homework, and a host of other guided and supervised after school activities, were eager to be off by themselves, exploring on the T. They had a great time! Sure they got off at the wrong stop a couple times and had to ask directions and double back. They even had to figure out how to use a payphone when their cell phone died. But they had the freedom of a summer’s day to take it all in and learn a little bit about Boston, friendship, and having fun. Not a bad way to spend a couple July afternoons.

We certainly need to get it right and lengthen the school day to ensure we have sufficient time to assist children to learn a challenging and innovative curriculum. But let’s make sure we don’t wipe out summer vacation and all of its opportunities for young people to grow, explore, and, yes—even to learn.

Pomp and Circumstance: One Dad's View

At approximately noon on Sunday, May 17th in Washington, D.C. my wife and I officially became parents of a college graduate for the first time. Sitting in front of the U.S. Capitol where members of the George Washington University Class of 2010 assembled under a cloudless sky, we watched with a jumble of emotions, mostly pride, as our oldest daughter stepped further away from her parents and childhood and processed off the National Mall and into her future and adulthood. Yes, I told our youngest daughter seated next to me, the bright sun’s angle caused my eyes to tear up. Well, sort of.

As a high school principal and now as superintendent I have presided over 14 graduation ceremonies, signed about 4,500 diplomas, and endured countless commencement speeches, a couple of them my own. I fretted about weather on the big day and worried if we had enough seats for grandmothers and uncles. Pomp and Circumstance is practically the National Anthem of school and college administrators, and it rings in our ears reminding us of some little graduation detail we have neglected to attend to (Did I spell the School Committee Chair’s name correctly in the program? Did we ask for a traffic detail?). I chew my nails a lot in May and June, and I am relieved when the last grad, fists pumping, runs off the stage to the thunderous cheers of his friends and family. It’s over! I sigh. And no one did anything embarrassing!

This time, though, sitting on the National Mall I was not so anxious for the ceremony to conclude. This time I was not an officious administrator, and as parents and family we lingered, snapping photos, and congratulated other parents and graduates as the afternoon wore on. We laughed and joked, and we commented on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Commencement address (Thumbs up, we all agreed.). We watched as thousands strolled past, stopping for hugs and handshakes along the way. I enjoyed this moment in our lives and saw no reason to hurry. Of course, the college officials and professors made a polite but hasty exit, their academic robes and regalia flying in the wind as they raced toward the Metro or waiting cars; they wanted to get home to their families. I smiled because I understood.

This time, though, my family was together, and I was celebrating and not officiating. There we were—Karen and I and our three incredible daughters, one clad in black, diploma in hand, all grown up. How could anyone rush from this tableau and not take the time to notice the stunning brilliance and beauty of thousands of young people, all eager to take on the world? Countless stories and struggles, freshly minted degrees, untold opportunities ahead, and energy to light up New York. I got to be Dad this time and it felt great to luxuriate in the moment and take in the scene around me.

In a few weeks the Needham High School Class of 2010 will take to the stage and, once again, the principal and I will fret about distant drizzle and missing mortarboards. We will call each other about fifteen times on Graduation Day checking in on humidity, security, and our own sanity. We will be thrilled and exhausted when the ceremony goes off smoothly and parents are beaming as the sun sets on Memorial Field.

But this time, instead of rushing off, maybe I will hang back a few minutes longer to take it all in. You see, I don’t have a child in the Needham High School Class of ’10, but I am a parent and it’s a good thing every once and a while to slow down and remember that and remember what Graduation is really all about.

To the Class of 2010: Congratulations!

To their (us) parents: Savor this time with our remarkable sons and daughters.

Personnel is Job # 1

When I first became a high school principal years ago my superintendent, Anthony Bent, told me: “Daniel, the most important work you are going to do is to hire great teachers.” And when I became a superintendent he advised me: “Daniel, the most important work you are going to do is to hire great leaders.”

He was right on both counts: Personnel is Job # 1. Oh sure, superintendents and school leaders are preoccupied with budget development, curriculum design, school safety (this above all), MCAS, and school culture. But the priority must be recruiting, hiring, supervising, and retaining the most qualified classroom teachers and principals around. It is critical that I spend time seeking the best folks possible to lead our schools and programs.

We might have a well researched, robust, and rigorous science curriculum with all the bells and whistles, but in the hands of a mediocre teacher the curriculum is rendered ineffective. However, a strong teacher who is skilled and intuitive can take a poorly formed or resourced curriculum and create a worthwhile and exciting learning experience for students. In the same way, a thoughtfully developed school safety plan with detailed descriptions of protocols and procedures becomes useless in the hands of a disorganized, unfocused, and careless administrator. But a strong and experienced principal can secure a school and lead students and staff to safety even if the plan is outdated, impractical, or poorly written.

Effective, skillful, and smart school and program leaders make good things happen in schools for kids. A great principal will hire and lead exceptional teachers who will instruct, inspire, and care for children throughout the year. What could be more important?

In Needham, we spend a lot of time (some complain too much time) selecting and interviewing administrative candidates. We involve teachers, community members, parents, administrators, and at the high school level, students to participate on an interview team. After narrowing the field to three or four candidates, we begin reference checking; ask candidates to spend a day visiting our district to meet with staff, parents, and students; and we will then conduct a site visit to the candidate’s school. We will also ask candidates to speak at an evening forum to parents and members of the community. The candidate is asked to complete a writing prompt and provide a portfolio of their best work. Along the way, we ask staff, students, and parents to provide written feedback and input about the candidates. My favorite part of principal interviews is when the candidates are grilled by a panel of students who ask challenging questions, take notes, and immediately following the interview provide very honest and candid feedback.

It’s a grueling and often emotional process for the candidate and time consuming for the administrators, but I believe it’s what we need to do. I think we have been tremendously successful in the last few years bringing aboard talented, mature, and savvy building and program leaders who are doing an exceptional job. It’s a joy to watch them work with teachers and students!

Unfortunately, there are times, despite our best efforts, we may still come up empty-handed. We may learn at a site visit that a candidate is not exactly the person portrayed in his interview or on his resume. Or we may discover that transcripts are incomplete, references weak, or the candidate lacks strong communication skills. One finalist told me recently “It’s clear Needham will expect too much from me, and I won’t be able to deliver.” That candidate bowed out.

I don’t like to break up searches and start over, but I won’t settle for the runner up, a mediocre pick, or the comfortable choice. We will start searches all over again to find the best match for Needham, even if it consumes more time and resources. And time and resources are hard to come by these days.

But nothing else is more important than finding the right teacher for your child and the right principal for your child, her teacher, and the school community.

Cyberbully: What’s the school’s response?

The untimely death of a South Hadley (Massachusetts) teenager has prompted concern throughout the Commonwealth about the tragic effects and consequences of school bullying. Since the news surfaced about this beautiful young woman’s suicide, parents, school administrators, legislators, and talk radio hosts have clamored for answers and have assigned blame. I have received several inquiries about what our district is doing to protect young people from bullying and what steps we are taking to eliminate it from our schools. One community member offered to send a large donation to help put programs and training in place. Needham Schools have practices and procedures in place to confront bullying. But one thing is certain: Schools can’t do this alone.

The playground bully has been around since there were school playgrounds; it is not news that some bigger and stronger kids may take advantage of their peers through the use of persistent threats, intimidation, hazing, and bullying. Each of us has probably either been the victim of a bully or witnessed an encounter—even among adults!

What is new, and in some ways more insidious, is the issue of cyberbullying. The National Crime Prevention Council describes cyberbullying this way: “Cyber bullying is similar to other types of bullying, except it takes place online and through text messages sent to cell phones. Cyber bullies can be classmates, online acquaintances, and even anonymous users, but most often they do know their victims.”

Our young people can be vulnerable to a bully on the playground, classroom, or bus, but cyberbullying silently confronts children and teen-agers at home, where kids are supposed to feel safe. The widespread use of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other online social networking sites makes the bullying possibilities almost endless. Additionally, electronic bullying can often remain hidden to parents, teachers, and other caring adults who may not know that a child is being harassed in the online environment. Kids (and, let’s be fair, adults) will write, record, and publish things online they would never say in a personal encounter with a peer. And the videos, text messages, photos, and email diatribes can even be more excruciating than the schoolyard bully’s punches and putdowns: In the electronic age, the hurtful message is distributed instantly to a large audience, exacerbating and magnifying the shame, grief, and pain of the bully’s victim.

Most of the cyberbullying occurs at home and away from the school setting, which makes it difficult for school administrators to monitor and address. I do not believe that school administrators should assume responsibility for addressing online bullying that occurs away from school. Unfortunately, in the online environment, the “he said-she said” behavior that is standard teen drama can quickly spiral out of control and become cruel and bullying behavior. Household and neighborhood problems between and among young people need to be resolved by parents, older family members, and, if necessary, the police. The school principal simply cannot and should not referee a child’s online behavior in the family livingroom.

Sometimes, though, what happens on the walk home from school or even a late night Facebook posting can result in a fight, personal injury, or serious disruption on campus that requires a swift and unambiguous response from the school administration. In these cases, schools need to have clear, consistent, and tough reactions to those students who bully others in person at school or whose online behavior outside of the schoolhouse affects the safe operation of the school community. All students have the right to feel safe and secure on the bus, in their classroom, on the playground, in the cafeteria or locker-room, and on the playing field. School principals can’t monitor Facebook, but they can take aggressive action if cyberbullying affects the safe and orderly operation of the school.

The Needham Public Schools has invested significant energy and resources into the instruction of social and emotional skills for all children. Embedded in our curriculum and programs are messages of respect, integrity, tolerance, and care. We simply expect young people to treat one another in a way that is consistent with our core values of Scholarship, Citizenship, Community, and Personal Growth. We believe young people want to do the right thing and, mostly, their behavior demonstrates that core belief.

But we will continue to be alert and vigilant. Our school principals and staff work closely with students and families to ensure safe and secure learning environments. And the Needham School Committee is developing a bullying policy to complement the principals’ work and to ensure that we have the procedures, practices, and programs in place to address bullying behavior. We can’t guarantee a student will not be bullied while in school; but we can assure a swift and immediate response to both the schoolyard bully and the cyberbully whose online behavior at home in the evening disrupts the classroom during the day.

First the bad news...

This week I will ask the Needham School Committee to vote on a budget plan totaling $46,059,078 for the 2010-11 school year (Fiscal Year 2011), a 1.49% increase, or $676,193, over the current year. Unfortunately, due to the current economic realities we face locally and as a nation, we have been unable to craft a budget that will allow us to retain the same level of service next year that we enjoy this year. Nonetheless, it is a prudent plan and one that requires us to slow down, but not halt, progress on various district goals and initiatives.

It has also become clear that the following year (2011-12) will present its own challenges as well and will require further cuts and reductions unless there is a new and stable source of revenue. We will utilize over $600,000 in one time and federal stimulus funds to balance the FY11 budget; but the following year we will face a funding cliff in the same amount because that money dries up.

Increased staff contractual obligations and rising special education costs are two of the budget drivers for FY11. Unfortunately, local and state revenues are down resulting in significant decreases in aid to the schools and town. For example, one state program we rely on to reimburse the schools for certain special education costs is down over $600,000. We must still provide the service, but we have to reduce other areas of the budget in order to make up the shortfall. Increased student enrollments, particularly at the secondary level, place additional and growing pressure on this and future budgets.

We have worked hard to avoid reductions to classroom teachers, but with over 88% of our total budget in staff salaries, most of that teachers, it is impossible to avoid classroom cutbacks. We first reduced professional development, supplies, conferences, and then cut back on administration and administrative support. Ultimately, however, we had to cut three elementary teachers, two and a half middle school teachers, and up to two high school teachers to balance the budget. These cuts, though painful, are measured, balanced and will maintain reasonable class sizes, consistent with School Committee policy, throughout the district.

Now here is the good news: A lot of good folks are working very hard to ensure an appropriate and reasonable level of support for the schools in one of the worst economic climates in generations.

The work is not over. We await news from Beacon Hill around the State budget plan for FY11. New or reduced revenue could ultimately affect decisions around the school budget. And the Finance Committee, working closely and collaboratively with the Selectmen and School Committee, will continue to review the Town and School budgets as they prepare for their budget recommendation to Town Meeting in May.

Here is the best news: Using the resources the community provides, Needham’s teachers, administrators, and support staff will continue to provide a consistent and first rate educational program to the best students around.

We know the community has high expectations and wants the staff, administration, and School Committee to work very hard to ensure we are providing an optimal level of service to each child. We will continue to scour the budget for efficiencies, seek grant opportunities for funding, and look to economize wherever possible. We are dedicated to providing each Needham student with a competent, qualified, and inspiring teacher within a supportive learning environment.

The dollars may be hard to come by, but you can take our collective commitment to the bank.

For more information about the FY11 Budget plan, check out our website:

http://rwd1.needham.k12.ma.us/finance/Budget