Keys to Supporting School Leaders

            In this article in The Learning Professional, Massachusetts assistant superintendent Ayesha Farag reports that 20 percent of U.S. principals leave their schools each year, and the average tenure for principals is four years. How can principal supervisors (Farag works with 15 elementary school leaders) support and sustain their colleagues to change these troubling statistics? She believes the key variables are a supportive district ecosystem, aligned values and vision, regular collaboration (including frequent school visits and check-in meetings), and opportunities for continuous professional learning. 

            Farag suggests surveying principals on questions like those below and using the responses to guide districts on providing effective support and creating conditions for success and stamina: 

• What district processes and structures will best support you in your role as a principal? 
• How can your supervisor best support your work? 
• What should trust and transparency look like in the district? 
• What role should principals play in district decision-making? 
• To what extent do you feel that districtwide decisions and policies reflect and promote shared values, and in what ways can alignment be improved? 
• What is the driving force behind your work as a principal? What intrinsic “why” motivates your daily efforts, and how does it show up in your leadership? 
• What will best support your ongoing learning and growth as a principal? 
• What specific skills or areas of expertise would you most like to develop further? How do you imagine doing so would enhance your leadership? 

“How Can We Sustain and Retain Principals?” by Ayesha Farag in The Learning Professional, February 2024 (Vol. 45, #1, pp. 12-15); Farag can be reached at faraga@newton.k12.ma.us.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1025 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

Recommended Children's Nonfiction Books

            This Council Chronicle article lists the 2024 Orbis Pictus winner and honorees for outstanding nonfiction for children (click the link below for cover images and brief summaries). This award commemorates the first children’s book, which was published in 1658. 

Winner: 

• Border Crossings by Sneed Collard III, illustrated by Howard Gray 

Honor books: 

• The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of by Kirsten Larsen, illustrated by Katherine Roy
• Game of Freedom: Mestre Bimba and the Art of Capoeira by Duncan Tonatiuh 
• Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day by Dan Nott 
• Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay, illustrated by Kalila Fuller 
• Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All by Tami Charles, illustrated by Jemma Skidmore 

Recommended books: 

• The Bees of Notre Dame by Meghan Browne, illustrated by E.B. Goodale 
• Benito Juárez Fights for Justice by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez 
• Breaking the Mold: Changing the Face of Climate Science by Dana Alison Levy 
• Cool Green: Amazing Remarkable Trees by Lulu Delacre 
• On the Tip of a Wave: How Ai Weiwei’s Art Is Changing the Tide by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Cátia Chien 
• Polar! Wildlife at the Ends of the Earth by L.E. Carmichael, illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler
• Stars of the Night: The Courageous Children of the Czech Kindertransport by Caren Stelson, illustrated by Selina Alko 
• This is Tap: Savion Glover Finds His Funk by Selene Castrovilla, illustrated by Laura Freeman 

“Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children” in Council Chronicle, December 2023 (Vol. 33, #2, pp. 12-13)

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1024 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

Getting Students Working on Challenging, Open-Ended Math Problems

            “A good problem-solving task involves students getting stuck, experimenting, and getting unstuck,” say Stephen Caviness (Syracuse University) and sixth-grade teachers Crystal Wallen and Lorraine Stewart (River Bend Middle School, Sterling, Virginia) in this Mathematics Teacher article. “When students approach a problem with uncertainty, they have an opportunity for productive struggle.”

            Using a “Thinking Classroom” format (see Memos 976, 992, and 1013), heterogeneous groups of three students work standing up at vertical surfaces (with one marker) tackling “Open Middle” problems, which have the following characteristics: 

• A “closed beginning” – students get a specific prompt to solve a challenging problem; - Students haven’t been taught a prescribed method for solving the problem; 
• An “open middle” – there are multiple approaches for solving the problem; 
• Problems are designed to be accessible to all students, even those not on grade level;
• Students must approach the problem with their own reasoning and creativity; 
• A “closed end” – there are several possible solutions. 

“The Open Middle structure,” say Caviness, Wallen, and Stewart, “provides ample opportunities for teachers to respond to student struggle and help them to embrace struggle as a norm when solving problems.” 

            They conclude: “These tasks are powerful tools for creating a culture of collaboration in which students acknowledge and embrace the various thinking strategies that their peers have to offer… We believe that Open Middle tasks are worthwhile to implement in your classroom because they help students to embrace uncertainty, persevere through struggle, and be creative with mathematics.” 

 “Embracing Uncertainty, Struggle, and Creativity with Open Middle” by Stephen Caviness, Crystal Wallen, and Lorraine Stewart in Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching PK-12, February 2024 (Vol. 117, #2, pp. 138-141); the article includes three videos of students working on a problem. The authors can be reached at scavines@syr.edu, crystal.wallen@lcps.org, and lorraine.stewart@lcps.org. 

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1023 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

A Tribute to Robie Harris, Author of "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, and Sexual Health"

            Robie Harris, renowned author of books on children’s sexual health, died last week at 83. Here’s the New York Times obituary. Her best-known book, It’s Perfectly Normal, has sold more than a million copies and been translated into 27 languages. It’s also one of the most banned books in the United States. Here are a few quotes from Robie Harris: 

• Our children do not grow up in bubbles, so they already know a lot about risky behavior. However, they also have a lot of misinformation about what is risky and what is not. That’s why they need to have an honest understanding and not a sugarcoated understanding of sexuality. And I believe that is what serves our children and teens best. 
• I write books for children because in some small way I hope that they will find the words I write useful, reassuring, interesting, and at times humorous, and also in some small way help them to stay emotionally and/or physically healthy by giving honest, accurate, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information.” 
• I would never say that every family, or school, or library, or health organization, or religious group must have the books I write. But those who choose to should have the right to that choice. And yes, all the work I do is also connected not only to my right to read and write, but to children’s and teens’ right to read. 
• I believe that our librarians are the real heroes in our democracy. They are the keepers of our democracy by allowing children, teens, and adults to choose the books they want to read or may randomly come across in the library. This allows them to have access to ideas and information they may seek, or need, or come across by happenstance. Every librarian is on the front line of his or her community, defending that freedom. As a children’s books author, I am only in front of my computer.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1023 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.