Washington DC, Day 4

I was really excited for today. We started off with a meeting at the hotel for the official introduction of the new Teacher Leader Model Standards. Teacher leadership is a new concept for education, one that is considered a quality of 21st Century schools. With all the new programs and school improvement processes that go on in schools, schools need teachers to become leaders for those processes. The standards spell out what exactly teacher leaders do and set the foundation for professional development and evaluation criteria.

After this meeting, we headed over to the National Department of Education. I had been looking forward to this roundtable discussion for months. We all separated into topic groups where we had an hour to discuss our topic, after which we presented our ideas and questions to a panel of department members in a townhall meeting format. I appreciated that the department took this time with us, though I am skeptical as to how seriously they took our comments.

My table discussed school leadership. My colleague from Oregon asked this question: If there has been a strong movement to standardize teacher evaluations, why has there not been an parallel movement to do the same for administrators? Her question was not answered by the panel, although after the meeting, a department member pulled her aside to tell her that A) That is happening and B) It hasn’t been a priority because the public attention is on teacher performance, not administrator performance.

I also presented out for our group on our suggestion that administrative prep programs need to be more practicum-oriented. You cannot learn to teach via a textbook; similarly, administrators cannot learn to lead via a textbook. Specifically, we feel that the less tangible elements of administration – things like conflict resolution, dealing with the media, and evaluation of instruction – should be practiced by administrative candidates in their prep programs. Often administrative candidates find themselves doing nothing but student discipline in their internships, which does not provide them with the real-world principal responsibilities they will encounter later in their careers. That experience is important not only for learning but for discovering whether or not principal work is a good match for an administrative candidate.

Jay from Washington, me, Kathy from Arkansas, and Elizabeth from Oklahoma at the DOE.

After the DOE meeting, we went to the office of … where we had a less intensive meeting. Their office is on the top floor of a building directly across from the capital, and our reception took place on their balcony. It provided a lovely moment of reprieve from the hectic schedule and meetings. After some refreshments and mingling, we listened to some speeches, and discussed some issues of concern. One particular issue raised, which is of concern to me, is that of online education and what it means for learning and public schools.

The view from our last meeting of the week.

While I was running around DC discussing educational issues, my mom was visiting with my cousin who drove in from Virginia for the day. Unfortunately, I missed her by five minutes, so I didn’t get to see her at all. I haven’t seen her for over ten years, so I had been looking forward to the visit. I guess I will have to try to make it work another time.

That evening, Target sponsored a bus tour of the monuments, which was a fun and relaxing way to end our week. I am immensely grateful to the Nevada Department of Education, the CCSSO, and everyone who made this trip possible. I feel lucky to have had my mom along with me to make the trip more enjoyable. Mostly, I am grateful to my colleagues, whom I wish could have attended with me and who deserve this trip as much as anyone does.

The 2011 STOYs.

The Washington Monument at sunset.