For Whom the School Bell Tolls: When Riding a Dead Horse—Dismount! Dr. John Draper Engaging Presentations About Public Schools www.JohnDraper.org

My Grandmothers were both school teachers—certified in 1918! They had what was required: 8th grade education Proof of good moral character Teaching certificate School Bell Ask not for whom the bell tolls, the bell tolls for thee! There are practices today for which we need to ring the bell. Too often we continue to do things because we have always done them. These artifacts suck up valuable resources and fail to move us toward our vision and our aspirations. You are perfectly positioned to help long-time educators recognize and understand the artifacts that hold us back. You hold the unique position of trusted advisor and respected expert in an arena that most educators find baffling and illogical—because they have the Curse of Knowledge. It’s up to you to gently open their eyes!

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. In education we have a distressing tendency to jump on every bandwagon that comes clanking down the hall and ride it to death. Open classrooms, whole language, zero tolerance, We are reluctant to declare the horse dead. In fact we come up with a multitude of ways to deny the death of the horse . . .

Ways to Improve Dead Horses . . . Buy a stronger whip Change riders Re-classify dead horses as “living-impaired” Say “This is the way we have always ridden this horse” Appoint a committee to study the horse Arrange site visits to other districts to see how they ride dead horses Pass board policy that declaring that “This horse is not dead” Increase standards for dead horse riders Set up an after-school program to revitalize the dead horses

Ways to Improve Dead Horses . . . Develop remediation plans for dead horses Blame the horse’s parents Harness several dead horses together to increase productivity Do a cost-analysis study to see if contractors can ride the dead horse cheaper Declare that the horse is “better, faster and cheaper” dead Develop a new evaluation system to provide more effective dead horse professional development plans Revamp the performance requirements for all horses Do a productivity study to see if lighter riders improve dead horse performance Promote the dead horse to a central office administrator

When Riding a Dead Horse: Dismount! Education is a big ship that turns very slowly Many times our biggest challenge is ‘in-house’; take care of the in-house before the outhouse

Organizations that never identify absolutes will elevate artifacts to absolute status. Rigid organization in a changing context is doomed to obsolescence. If we do something long enough, we begin to treat it as sacred Must get past that- the one constant we have is that everything is changing

Three Major Trends Affecting Public Schools Trophy Children Individualization Choice

Fertilizer and Farm Machinery Big farms with big tractors were more profitable Families moved into cities and towns for jobs My Mom is one of 13 children . . . Children on a working farm were a financial asset! CHILDREN ARE NO LONGER A FINANCIAL ASSET! Mom is one of 13—she’s a middle child. There were 7 sisters and 6 brothers. When my grandfather died in his will he divided the land between 5 of the sons and each daughter got $300. The will was re-written! Children changed from asset to liability since my mother was born. Change in public schools can be traced back to fertilizer. Big advances in fertilizer and farm machinery after WWII; large families with big machineries became more profitable Before WWII, families lived and worked on small farms; after WWII, farm jobs dried up and factories began to grow

More Loved But Less Liked Trophy Children are . . . More Loved But Less Liked Studies show that children in towns and suburbs are considered more spoiled, more entitled, less courteous. They become an investment. They are trophy children and many parents judge their success by the success of their children.

Trend: Smaller families and Trophy Children As a table, write down three things that will be impacted in your school and your job because of this trend.

Trophy Children Trends . . . Higher expectations for public schools Increased accountability for public schools Parents unreasonable in their defense of student misbehavior Parents competing through their children’s success Spoiled children Over-protective parents

Family-Church-School “It takes a Village to Raise a Child” Parent’s job is to protect the child from the village! The village has changed some. The village used to be a farm/place we didn’t even lock our doors. Bullying is a big deal. Parents are not afraid of their children’s safety at school; they’re afraid of bullying at school (PDK poll). The village is different

Institutional Trust is Dying! In a recent poll the greatest threat to our national economy was identified as Congress! Falling trust in banks, schools, hospitals . . .

Three Major Trends Affecting Public Schools Trophy Children Individualization Choice Education is perceived as governmental, and government is perceived negatively, so education=negative

Trend: From Standardization to Individualization Another outgrowth of small families is the rise of the individual, fueled by technology and lack of institutional trust.

American families come in all designs American families come in all designs. There is less Standardization today. Modern family; fueling the trend for individualization

Trend: From Standardization to Individualization As a table, write down three things that will be impacted in your school and your job because of this trend.

Trend: From Standardization to Individualization Impacts testing, instructional delivery, course credits, K-12 grading design, graduation options and more

Latest PDK poll cites growing dissatisfaction with state testing Students are More than a Test Score!

SAT Test Scores are Declining? Average SAT scores are declining but every sub-group is up! Simpson’s Testing Paradox

USA is Falling Behind on International Tests? The countries with the highest scores have fewer patents, copyrights and Nobel Prize winners.

International Test Scores Are NOT a Valid Predictor of National Success! USA High QUALITY OF LIFE Low There are some things that you don’t want to have the highest score . . . Golf, Teen suicide, cholesterol, and obesity! Low TEST SCORES High

International Test Scores are not like a football game—they’re more like weight! When it comes to fat we have led the world for decades, but we recently fell from 1st place to 2nd place!

Personalized Education Plan for all students A PEP for Every Child!

Time is becoming a variable . . . Technology allows us to be fully self- paced! K-12 grades need to disappear and the trend to individualization is going to drive it.

Three Major Trends Affecting Public Schools Trophy Children Individualization Choice

CHOICE is a new American Value

Trend: Choice is a new American Value As a table, write down three things that will be impacted in your school and your job because of this trend.

Public Schools have had two goals since they were created: Trophy Children/Individualization/Choice Trends are impacting Public School Support Public Schools have had two goals since they were created: No Child Left Behind My Child Ahead of Yours

Two Goals of Public Schools hurt us . . . NCLB Is being perceived as “Mediocrity for All” My Child Ahead of Yours Is imposing a win- lose template on public schools These dueling goals are promoting private schools, Charters, home schools, and home/public school blending.

Latest PDK Poll cites continuing support for . . . Charter Schools (68% favor) Home Schooling (60% favor) Home School/Public School Blending Part time Public (75% favor) Athletic Participation (80% favor) Special Ed services (90% favor)

Every Child Every Chance Every Day Parents want individual and Social success simultaneously, but emphasis must be on the individual to move to abundance mentality! Every Child Every Chance Every Day Every Child a Graduate— Whatever it Takes Don’t lead with the societal goal; not resonating with choice parents Need to provide for every child individually; collectively, society will benefit; all boats will rise

Strong Schools Strong Students Strong Communities Lead with the individual, not the community Texas- 152,0000 inmates; cheaper to educate than incarcerate We must change the Win-Lose mindset associated with Public Schools.

The Bridgebuilder How building/helping one individual helps us ALL

For Whom the School Bell Tolls: When Riding a Dead Horse—Dismount! Dr. John Draper Engaging Presentations About Public Schools www.JohnDraper.org