What I've Learned by Michelle Rhee (Blog 7)

After my boss, Washington, D.C., mayor Adrian Fenty, lost his primary in September, I was stunned. I had never imagined he wouldn’t win the contest, given the progress that was visible throughout the city—the new recreation centers, the turnaround of once struggling neighborhoods, and, yes, the improvements in the schools. Three and a half years ago, when I first met with Fenty about becoming chancellor of the D.C. public-school system, I had warned him that he wouldn’t want to hire me. If we did the job right for the city’s children, I told him, it would upset the status quo—I was sure I would be a political problem. But Fenty was adamant. He said he would back me—and my changes—100 percent. He never wavered, and I convinced myself the public would see the progress and want it to continue. But now I have no doubt this cost him the election.

The timing couldn’t have been more ironic. The new movie Waiting for Superman—which aimed to generate public passion for school reform the way An Inconvenient Truth had for climate change—premiered in Washington the night after the election. The film championed the progress Fenty and I had been making in the District, and lamented the roadblocks we’d faced from the teachers’ union. In the pro-reform crowd, you could feel the shock that voters had just rejected this mayor and, to some extent, the reforms in their schools.

When I started as chancellor in 2007, I never had any illusions about how tough it would be to turn around a failing system like D.C.’s; the city had gone through seven chancellors in the 10 years before me. While I had to make many structural changes—overhauling the system for evaluating teachers and principals, adopting new reading and math programs, making sure textbooks got delivered on time—I believed the hardest thing would be changing the culture. We had to raise the expectations that people had about what was possible for our kids.

I quickly announced a plan to close almost two dozen schools, which provoked community outrage. We cut the central office administration in half. And I also proposed a new contract for teachers that would increase their salaries dramatically if they abandoned the tenure system and agreed to be paid based on their effectiveness.

Though all of these actions caused turmoil in the district, they were long overdue and reaped benefits quickly. In my first two years in office, the D.C. schools went from being the worst performing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress examination, the national test, to leading the nation in gains at both the fourth and eighth grade in reading as well as math. By this school year we reversed a trend of declining enrollment and increased the number of families choosing District schools for the first time in 41 years.

Because of results like these, I have no regrets about moving so fast. So much needed to be fixed, and there were times when I know it must have felt overwhelming to the teachers because we were trying to fix everything at once. But from my point of view, waiting meant that another year was going by when kids were not getting the education they deserved.

--- First Page of Michelle Rhee's article. To read the whole article, click here.

Michelle Rhee is currently a trailblazer for school reform in Washington, D.C. Her slash-and-burn type education reform has been harshly criticized by the public. In the article she admits her disconnection from the community has hurt her cause.

Although I'm not sure I would do it the exact way she does, I admire Michelle Rhee because of her tenacity and her willingness to take criticism for the sake of the kids in underperforming schools. Many, many teachers and parents were made upset. But when i read this article, I get so excited. As if I really am with her and going to be apart of the movement to reform American schools with my teaching.

Politics and Education Reform isn't what I'm doing right now. But her mission: "defend and promote the interests of of children so that America has the best education system in the world." makes sense to me. Her point was that too often, decisions about education are made based on what feels comfortable for the adults.

She claims that conflict was necessary to move the agenda forward. That is one big difference that I have with her. While conflict is necessary, I don't believe the ends always justify the means when it comes to firing so many teachers.  But her courage in putting the kids interests first makes me want to be more excellent for my future student's sake and take on more challenges.

I believe that people willing to make tough decisions can help a failing education system but I also believe that it's an effort that can't be complete without the consensus of the entire community, including parents and teachers. This is what I learned from Michelle's article:

Be gutsy. Be courageous. Make tough decisions. But also work with the people around you. That means parents, other teachers, peers. Just today I had several students who continually act up in class that I was working on but when I had another teacher cadet with me (Socrates), it felt that much more effective because now he was backing up what I was trying to teach, too.

So not only can I affect change in the classroom, but in collaborating with my mentor teacher (something I should do more often) and a peer, I do a lot more than I can on my own.

2/22/11: Ready. Aim... (Blog 6)

When Miss Q walked over to the playground yesterday, one particular awkward turtle was there walking a lap as if purposely placed there for Miss Q's sake.

Beancurd.

And he was upset over something. Yes.

"I don't like Miz Boss at all." he said. "She always picks on me. Even My momma says so. And when Miss Bieber was doing such-and-such..." Miss Q let him vent anxiously for a bit.

"You do talk a lot." she reminded evenly.

"Yeah, but I just don't think it's fair."

"Hey look, every time I see you, you're always so anxious. Like someone's gonna ignore you or push you around or treat you unfairly. You're thinkin' you have to be so defensive but no one else sees you that way. No one's gonna push you around. Not if I can help it. Do you think I'd let anybody push you around if I could help it?"

"No." he said, looking only slightly less anxious.

Miss Q figured it was at least a good start. She pictured herself being able to say, "Hey what happened? You didn't have to do that. I said I wouldn't let people push you around, remember?" Beancurd is small, but Miss Q wants him to act big.

After that, the Gage, Freakazoid, and Mook came over and they were all excited because apparently, Freakazoid got caught in the middle of a sandstorm. That kind of thing is always fun.

Memphis was back. He hangs sort of aloof from everybody. He's one you can tell, isn't really into being in full compliance with the group. School for him so far meant getting in trouble. Though quiet on the outset, at every other moment he was intent on getting away with his own thing. He talks to Miss Q, though.

"I was raised in the ghetto." he says in his natural southern drawl at lunch when Miss Q comments on his tough-guy demeanor. Hmm.

"Shut up." he says suddenly to The Gage. "I'm mad at you." After a beat he says, "My brother was a fighter. He does UFC, wrestling... He taught me how to fight." He went on to explain that he had punched or fought every boy at the table at least once exluding Dexter and the Brit. The boys then talked about the various kids he had challenged. You could tell they thought Memphis was cool, if not particularly nice.

"His future's a bit scary." remarked Miz Boss, watching Memphis at his mischief in the bathroom.

I know you don't like getting in trouble all the time.

The words were starting to form in Miss Q's head. What to say to him. How to draw him in. This is one of the things that guy at the conference said. They really don't like getting in trouble all the time. Acknowledge it. When they're at their worse, don't just send them away. Draw them into you.

That day, Miss Q remembered to say happy birthday to Fruitbat, who's sleepover had been this Saturday. Uniqua attended, but Miss Bieber wasn't able to come.

Nala's brother was coming home the next day for his birthday and the same age as Miss Q's brother. He was 21, celebrating 'becoming a man', and "sorta skipped college". himself since 'he's a man'. Today, instead of a loose ponytail with flyaways, Nala's hair had been intricately cornrowed into a neat bun with a scrunchy that reminded you of confetti. Her mother had done it, so that meant she was back home for her birthday. Miss Q smiled, happy for Nala because of the way her own mother used to do up her hair.

"You shouldn't be afraid of him." said Nala, refering to Memphis' tough reputation. She and Memphis weren't exactly getting along that day.

"The only person I'm afraid of is my brother." she said with obvious respect and reverence.

They turned off the lights at lunch and everyone was quiet. Mook, Freakazoid, and The Gage had been loud and they got pointed out. Zefron?

"They act like this is some kind of fancy restaurant."

During work The Gage sometimes gets a bit loopy, looking over other people's papers and things like that. It was funny to watch Princesstard try to be diplomatic after saying several times, they'd already fixed an answer on the board.

He definitely gets loopy with cursive. The Gage has a way of letting you know he doesn't like an assignment without saying anything about it. However, he seeemed intent on doing it.

"My cursive stinks." he says holding out his paper, chin laid out on the desk.

"Hmm. It actually looks better than if you'd never tried. It actually looks better than yesterday's." said Miss Q. In all honesty, Miss Q had no idea what his cursive looked like yesterday. But the important thing was that in doing it, he was, in fact getting better than if he hadn't done it.

"It's hard..." he lets Miss Q know again as she walks away.

Lining up to go to gym, Miz Boss was doing her thing to motivate the kids. Exactly the thing Miss Q had in mind to start doing.

"Everything turns out better if you work as a team. Take for example..." she said, searching. Miss Q had been in a musical recently.

"A play." Her eyes widened as she smiled. she had seen Miss Q in Hairspray.

"A perfect example. When you're on stage, if everyone does their part right (you were fabulous by the way Miss Q) only then does it look good. One person can't support the whole show by doing their best. Everyone has to help the team out. I want some footballs from you guys." Footballs were for good class behavior.

"And can I add one thing?" asked Miss Q. "There are some of you that do what they're supposed to even when no one's watching. I want all of you to be like that."

Miss Q looked at Freakazoid, Mook, and The Gage. She had gotten their attention.

In gym they were really goin' for it. Everyone sat quietly on the first step, paying full attention. Although unclear whether by choice, The Gage was sitting apart from Mook and Freakazoid and was paying attention.

"You're doing good Gage." Miss Q made sure to tell him. It's good for him to hear positive things for a change.

The gym lady came over with a friendly smile and asked about Miss Q. Yep, I go to Such-and-such High School. I'm here for Teacher Cadet. It's fun with them, isn't it?

"What were you sayin' to them just now?" She has a bright voice and a slight southern accent that Miss Q likes.

"I want them to have integrity." said Miss Q, making sure they could hear her. "'Cause not enough people in this world have it."

That day in gym, the awkward turtles all went to get jump ropes. Right. Easy. Miss Q removed her heels. As Miss Q made her stupid way to the middle of the floor with her jump rope, Gym Lady announced that first they would be doing a couple of warm-ups first.

It was intense! Miss Q had to go around the rope galloping, hopping from side to side, duck squats and other things she had never even heard of. But in the midst of it, a competition between The Gage had developed as they counted to ten.
"Ha, Miss Q, I got there first!"
"No fair, my rope is bigger!"

Miss Q decided it was worth all the effort to see him smiling so much and having fun with her. Freakazoid obviously wanted in on it. We did "180's" back and forth across the jump ropes.

"I do 180's on my skateboard!" said Freakazoid. "Don't we, Gage.?"
"Sure you do." said Miss Q, messing with them. "Miss Q does 180's on her skateboard all the time, too."

Today, cool things happened.

I was slightly off about Beancurd. It was Mook who reminded him that he needed to do his Owl Project, so he didn't just interact with the girls exclusively. Freakazoid showed Miss Q a 25$ Amazon.com gift card he'd found.
"Really? Wow, you get to buy Miss Q something!"
"Nuooo."

In the lunch line, Miss Q asked the Gage how he did for the rest of the time at gym after she left.
"Good. I sweated harder than everybody."

In class Miz Boss took a few minutes to go to the bathroom. While still quiet, their tiny whispers got just a few decibel's louder. Because kids are smart, they can sense the difference between Miz Boss' talking limit and Miss Q's. However, Dubby and Princesstard were starting to talk to The Gage in a normal tone.

As Miss Q looked at The Gage a funny thing happened. Suddenly he stopped talking.

"Guys, not so loud." He said, looking back at me. Princesstard and Dubby looked at him like 'are you serious?' but he meant it.

Why would he do that?

You're doing good, Gage.
How'd you do at gym while I was gone?
Your cursive's better than it was yesterday.

Was that it?

Today, during cursive, he wanted Miss Q to sit next to him. She was happy to.
"See my cursive today? Look how good the 'd' is..."
He wanted to look at all Miss Q's Visitor Sticker photos. Between assignments, Miss Q obliged, amazed that she was as interesting to him as he was to her.

During the computer lab, The Gage was not allowed to sit by Mook or Freakazoid. Watching him stare off into space, 'sharpen' his pencil, and lean back in his chair, Miz Boss and Miss Q exchanged glances.

The Gage always started during these online answer-from-the-article assignments. Miss Q decided to sit beside him. That helped him get started. However, soon enough...

"This is hard." Reading wasn't really Gage's thing. He likes math.
"It's just like cursive."

Miss Q tried to urge him through number two and told him to keep working before she had to leave. As she walked out the door she whispered, "Bye guys, keep working hard, you can do it." nodding her head yes as
The Gage shook his head no. The Gage was just being The Gage, of course. Miss Q knows he can do it.

Miz Boss took the opportunity to show her sentimental side, which comes out often when talking about the turtles.
"It's so interesting to picture them as teenagers. Here, I've got some pictures I have to show you..."

The Gage as a teenager would definately be interesting.