By Tamara

We talk a lot here about reform: change in education. But do those conversations lead us to action? Or more conversation? Not that more conversation is bad. More conversation is often needed to flesh out ideas.

It's New Year's Eve. That time when many of us are making resolutions. Some that will stick, some that wont. This year one of mine is start taking real action based on my education policy conversations. I don't know exactly what those actions are going to be. This is probably the year I take the leap and try some lobbying in Olympia.

What about others? Are there actions you are looking forward to taking in the new year that support your thoughts and conversations here?

By Tom

There are about seventeen hours from the time I say goodbye to my students until the time I say hello to them the next day. Of those seventeen hours, I like to spend about eight in bed. That leaves nine. It takes me about an hour a day to commute; dinner and breakfast combined take another hour, and I spend one more hour shaving, showering and performing other “miscellaneous hygienic tasks.”

That leaves me with six hours of free time. But not really; since one of those hours has to be spent at school, according to my contract, and another hour has to be spent at home, doing chores and staying on top of my kids’ homework.

So I really only have four hours of discretionary time each day. Four out of 24.

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By Tom

The Seattle Times came out with a story today about the “Alarming” achievement gap between African American students and the children of African immigrants. Apparently the Seattle School district studied their data and found that African American students perform significantly worse than their African classmates, even when you control for factors such as income and single-parent families.

I’m glad the Times ran this article. It’s hard – not to mention awkward – to generalize when you’re talking about something as emotionally charged as race, but when something like this comes along, you sort of have to. That is, after all, the whole point of analyzing data.

Most teachers have noticed this phenomenon for years. I certainly have. Our school has a large proportion of both populations, and most African immigrants are among the most motivated students in the school. Their parents push them hard and are very supportive of everything we do in school. In talking with these parents, I’ve always gotten the sense that educational opportunity was one of the main reasons for their being here, and they have no intention of watching their children squander that opportunity. I get the feeling, from working with many of these families, that they genuinely trust the teachers, the schools and the entire educational system.

As we know all too well, African American families don’t exactly share that same trust of our educational system. Nor should they; our educational system hasn’t exactly spent the past two hundred years earning that trust. There's no question but that this lack of trust interferes with their children's success in school. It's unfortunate, it's sad, but it's true.

What this data shows is that success in school has nothing to do with race. It might have something to do with poverty, but it has everything to do with the relationships between our schools and our families.

What I want to know is this: where do we go from here? How do we build productive relationships with all of our families so that every child succeeds? 

By Kristin

I admit, when my friend read this to me there was a moment – about when he read "Being an educator means that you are a part of the noblest profession … Quite frankly it takes a special person to be an educator," – that I started thinking of the bills I've paid this month and the bills I have yet to pay. Teachers are either noble or destroying children, it seems, and I think reality is that we're all in a middle ground. Am I noble if I'm tired of looking at essays instead of my daughters?  I don't think so.  Am I destroying children if I often put the grading down and read Go Dog, Go?  I don't think so.

But by the end, I admit it, I was inspired.  I love when I'm proven wrong.  This high school principal's essay got me where it counts when he wrote, "The educator that I just described … will … never fall victim to the bitterness."  "Ouch!" I thought.  I don't want to be that teacher!

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By Tom

In case you missed it, there was a wonderful article in the Seattle Times about Asa Mercer Middle School, named after the guy in the picture. Asa Mercer – the school, not the guy – went from being the poster child of woeful, inner-city education to one of the best schools in the Seattle School District. In only six years.

So how did Asa Mercer accomplish this turnaround?

A strong administrator, dedicated teachers focused on a common vision, good curriculum, a belief that every student can achieve and really hard work.

This is exactly what I found in the schools I visited last month in New York City. And although Mercer is a regular public school, they've found the same answer to the same problems as the charter schools I've visited. Not surprisingly, the principal at Mercer was a former teacher at a NYC charter school.

What this shows is that there's no secret to successful schools. Nor is there a shortcut.

It also shows what happens when we learn from what works – no matter where it's working – and apply it to other schools. 

Our students deserve no less.