The challenge with ensuring mastery of literacy and
numeracy is not with the skills, knowledge, and experience to do so.
My passion, conviction, and certainty of this
possibility is fueled by a reality that there are few challenges, obstacles, or
circumstances that are insurmountable especially within the context of American
ingenuity, imagination, creativity, and perseverance. Simply put, we
"can" and "do" based on our will. That being said,
the second step necessary to eradicate illiteracy and ensure universal mastery
of numeracy is “permission”.
Permission underpins the inside out mindset - the
first step. Each of us must accept and embrace different in what we think and
how we think about universal mastery. Thinking different requires
suspending practices that to date have not fulfilled their promises.
Though there are pockets of success and isolated examples of improvement,
efficacy has yet to be achieved.
My intent is not to malign products, practices, or
services that are based on best hopes and good intentions. The challenge
however is most, if not all, of these are based on several assumptions about
learners that now more than ever are inaccurate including what constitutes a
"normal" learner, trajectory of "normal" learning, and the
instructional methodologies and strategies to meet those ends.
Our present reality is that we have moved the needle
for many learners based on the aforementioned but for the most part many
learners remain a hostage to these assumptions resulting in a
treatment, reaction to, or response to failed learning rather than a
prevention model.
Policy makers and those tasked with system governance
must accept the responsibility, accountability and authority to empower school
and school system leadership with permission to shift the design, structure,
programming, and practices to a prevention to intervention mindset and model
for universal literacy and numeracy mastery.
A prevention model requires unprecedented courage and
commitment.
A prevention model is strategic, intentional,
purposeful, and comprehensive.
In my second superintendency we did just that.
We designed a model that began in pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.
Using key transition points or milestones, we described the proficiency
skills, knowledge and experience with respect to literacy and numeracy for
various learners in our system. Most important were the learners who
educational attainment was heavily reliant - you may say hugely dependent upon
us.
Once described, we set in motion a “gap analysis"
of the essential learnings, instructional strategies, programs, and “leading”
indicators (aka assessments) that inform our classroom practitioners of, for,
and by instructional decisions as well as keenly informed learners of their
progress towards mastery.
Our educators began to visualize what their lives
looked like with each learner entering their grade level or course with the
requisite foundations, learnings, and proficiencies. Though the gaps were
identified, our educators were not overwhelmed or discouraged. We
achieved this by staying on message - that message was we have permission to do
“whatever it takes” to achieve success. The “whatever” for us was
permission not to dwell or obsess on state assessments and accountability.
Rather, we needed to focus on these gaps.
If we did, the state testing and accountability system would take care
of itself.
These gaps opened our individual and collective eyes
to possibilities culminating with seeking a new kind of “partner”. A
partner that was committed to the same “ends” we were not just to make money.
I learned that to be serious about prevention to intervention we needed
partnering reimagined.
Reimagined partnering required permission as well.
I found a few CEOs and Chief Sales Officers that were willing to lead
their respective companies with permission to think and be different about
their solutions in the marketplace. Once articulated, the prevention to
intervention model made sense to them. In fact, they too, saw the
possibilities of what reimagined learning could, should, and would do for
learners, community, and our nation.
An inside-out mindset accompanied
by permission set in motion the need to move the “fulcrum”. The fulcrum
as I will explain next was the “game changer” that allowed us to pivot from an
intervention model to a prevention to intervention model. These three are
the steps to universal mastery. Moreover, they and are within our reach.
We need only to take hold and not let go -
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