How to Sustain Community Schools

The Partnership for the Future of Learning has published a new how-to guide: The Community Schools Playbook.  The Playbook is a resource that provides guidance on policies that support community schools. Vermont education leaders, policy makers, practitioners, advocates and funders should find this useful, especially in our current context, where school district consolidation runs the risk of diminishing community engagement in local schools.

You can read more about this and other Community Schools resources here.

You can get a free electronic and/or hard copy of the Community Schools Playbook here.

Words of Wisdom for the Beginning of a New School Year

"Sometimes when things fall apart, we choose the easy way out and hold children responsible for what went wrong.  In our darkest moments, we may even say things like, 'These kids just aren't ready for things like this,' or 'My class this year is so low,' or 'I just need to stick to the basics with these kids - they can't handle choice, or talking together during work time, or really anything except sitting in their seats.'
     But what if, instead, we owned the whole mess? What if we switched our thinking from finding fault with children to asking, 'What can I learn from this? What do children need from me tomorrow to be successful? How can I scaffold them just enough so that they can get started and move forward? What can I do and not do, say and not say, that will let children know I believe in them?'
     In other words, Own it.  Think about what kids need most. Trust yourself and move forward."

(excerpt from What's the Best That Could Happen? by Debbie Miller - spotted in a tweet from @CarolMacken20)

Unfair and Unwise - Vermonters for Schools and Community

"The Secretary of Education's Plan Regarding Involuntary Mergers misguides the State Board of Education, violates the law, and damages public education."
     This report: Unfair and Unwise -  from Vermonters for Schools and Community - was released on August 15, 2018.  For anyone committed to strengthening local democracy, preserving and enhancing community engagement in schools, and improving student learning for all, it is well worth the read.  The report ends with specific, well-reasoned recommendations for both the Vermont State Board of Education and the General Assembly of the Vermont Legislature. The recommendations to the Legislature include these:

• Amend Act 46 and Title 16 to provide for the separation from any unified union school districts any town in which a majority of voters in a duly warned election vote to separate.
• Amend Act 46 by requiring an assessment of its impact on curriculum offerings, education spending, tax and spending equity, equity of student outcomes across gender, race, and income variables, and overall excellence of student outcomes.

Grant Wiggins’s Messages for Teachers

            In this personal tribute to Grant Wiggins, his long-time colleague and collaborator Jay McTighe summarizes three lessons Wiggins imparted to teachers:

-   Plan backwards from authentic performance.

-   Feedback is key to successful learning and performance.

-   Empathize with the learner.

Well worth reading in its entirety!

 “Three Lessons for Teachers from Grant Wiggins” by Jay McTighe, July 2018,

https://www.jaymctighe.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Three-Lessons-from-Grant-Wiggins-1-2.pdf

(Please Note: The item above was spotted in issue #747 of The Marshall Memo, and reprinted here with permission.  Th Marshall Memo is a GREAT resource for educators.)