Superintendent - All Staff Address August 2007All Staff Address
August 2007
Dr. Stephen C. Jones
Exceeding Expectations: Serving with our Heads, Hearts & Hands
Good morning.
I want to thank each of you for joining me this morning. And I would like to thank the many dignitaries who have joined us this morning — city officials, business leaders, and our colleagues in higher education. They are here because they believe that quality public education is vital to our city and our workforce. And, they believe that Norfolk Public Schools can achieve its goal of becoming world-class.
I’d like to begin this morning by recalling a familiar story… a quest involving four unlikely heroes thrown together in a common cause. They believed their way was clearly marked… almost golden. But they encountered obstacles. Difficulties stood between them and their individual goals.
One sought intelligence. One sought compassion. One sought courage. One wanted to find a way home. Have you figured out which story I’m talking about? Do you know who searched for a brain… for a heart… for courage?
You’re right... I’m talking about the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion. I’m talking about the Wizard of Oz and I bring this story to your attention because today I want to talk to you about using your head… following your heart… and having the courage to use your hands.
Ladies and gentlemen: We follow a different path than Dorothy and her companions. We already have what they sought.
Our quest is not to benefit ourselves. It is for the benefit of Norfolk’s children. Our “yellow brick road” leads to world-class status. Our path is not smooth and well-paved. We will encounter obstacles. But we will achieve our goal of becoming a world-class school system. We will exceed expectations by serving with our heads, hearts and hands.
(Serving with Our Heads)
The first part should be easy. Serving with our heads comes naturally to us now. We’ve been doing it for a while. You see, serving with our heads is all about accountability and using data to drive our decisions.
Nine years ago we adopted a laser-like focus on instruction and achievement. We began putting systems in place to track our data. We began using that data to shape our curricula and our practice. And, we began to see some results.
According to 2006-2007 preliminary SOL data:
We also know from previous years’ data:
Success such as this comes because we hold high expectations for our students and provide high levels of support.
Consider Jessica Huntoon, a ninth grade social studies teacher at Maury High School and a member of their Inspiration Award-winning Freshman Academy instructional team. Ms. Huntoon embraces differentiated instructional strategies in her classroom to teach Honors World Studies to ALL her students — not just the ones who would traditionally be considered candidates for honors classes.
Ms. Huntoon also was a member of the team that developed the Freshman Leadership Seminar curriculum used in 2005-2006 to help ninth graders develop study, time-management, and test-taking skills. The seminar also stressed the importance of community service.
Ms. Huntoon single-handedly revised the curriculum over this past summer to help ensure that every student that participates in the course will be successful throughout high school and beyond.
Let’s give her a hand.
Leading with our heads represents our past… where we started. But that doesn’t mean we stop doing the things that got us here. We can’t lead with our heads THEN our hearts THEN our hands. We must lead with our heads AND our hearts AND our hands. We must place all three in service of our vision.
We must continue to hold ourselves personally accountable for the success of all students and ALL means ALL. We must continue to analyze data and use it to drive our decisions. And, we must bring new staff members into the fold and teach them how to do this…
(Serving with Our Hearts)
Serving with the heart is all about compassion and empathy and it is the challenge of our present.
The technical challenges of implementing data collection and reporting systems and of aligning curricula are done. The challenges that face us now are adaptive. And they are significant.
Despite the fact that many of you willingly accompanied me as we continued climbing our Everest…although many of you were willing to join me last year in starting a revolution in public education… there are still some among us who do not believe that all children can succeed.
As educators, we must be less concerned about our own convenience... less concerned about arbitrary rules and more focused on the welfare of our students. We must open our hearts and feel compassion for “our kids.” These kids are my kids!
This is a tall order… a significant adaptive challenge because we can no longer just talk the talk. We have to commit to change and make it happen. And I must be honest: It won’t be convenient for us and it won’t be easy.
There is an “urban legend” in our school system that claims that teachers do not have to provide make-up work when a child is suspended or absent. The problem with this attitude is that we are not only punishing the child for inappropriate behavior, we are sacrificing his or her academic success at the same time.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe that students must be punished appropriately for acting out, but we must discipline responsibly. Refusing to give make-up work or awarding zeroes for assignments missed while a child is absent is not punishment… it is sabotage. We are shooting ourselves in the foot!
Ladies and gentlemen: There is no policy that allows the withholding of work. There is no reason that it would be okay to do so.
We know from examining attendance data that when a child misses more than 10 days of school, he or she performs markedly worse on the Standards of Learning tests. We know that last year students lost 32,000 instructional days to short-term suspensions. We also know one more thing: WE are part of the problem.
Our discipline must be compassionate. After all, the root of the word “discipline” is “disciple.” Our resolve to teach children what is appropriate behavior must be tempered by our love. We must serve our students with our hearts.
We must do what is best for students… even when it is inconvenient for adults.
You might remember that I spoke last year of my encounter with one of our bus drivers in Calz Pizza. Monique Smichnick told me how much she loved working with “her kids.”
As fate would have it, I encountered Ms. Smichnick again. This time she was waiting to pick up students at Lake Taylor Middle School. She was excited to tell me that she had worked especially hard that year with her students to decrease discipline problems. In fact NOT ONE of her students was suspended for misbehavior on her bus that year.
She told me how proud she was of her kids. But more than that, she explained why this was so important: If “her” kids were out on suspension, they couldn’t be in class learning and they couldn’t be successful.
Please join me in a round of applause for Ms. Smichnick.
I understand the need for responsible punishment. But, I also understand the need for prevention. And, so does Ms. Smichnick…
What are you doing to de-escalate situations? What are you doing to keep students in class and on track with their learning?
It’s so easy for things to spiral out of control or for situations to get worse when they don’t have to — especially if someone feels they are being unjustly accused.
Let me share a personal example…
Many years ago I served as a coordinator for an alternative education program that helped students work during the summer. Federal money was allocated to put students into community volunteer positions and pay them for that work.
One of my students came from a very poor family. They were so poor that the parents would go by the student’s work place and get his money and use it for themselves.
Well, during a federal audit the student reported he wasn’t getting paid and we had to take steps to ensure he was the one who collected the paycheck.
The mother got so upset that she “reported” me to my principal. She alleged that I had mismanaged money and accused me of cheating the family.
Now, mind you, this was a student I had gone to bat for on many occasions…
buying him work clothes and boots… paying him out of my own pocket on occasion so he would have some money. So, this accusation really hurt.
As I sat and listened to the horrible things this mother was saying, I could feel my eyes welling up a bit from anger. I wasn’t going to boo-hoo, but her words cut me to the core.
And right about that time, my principal, Rupert Neary, turned to look at me. He saw my face. There is so much that could have gone wrong in that moment. Dr. Neary could have blasted me and placated the mother. I could have lost my cool and responded from a place of hurt and anger.
There was so much potential for this to spiral out of control. But it didn’t. Dr. Neary validated me and supported my actions. He defended me. And what he did that day has stuck with me all my life.
I kept my cool and kept my mouth shut because I had the benefit of years to build up my self-control. But, we are dealing with children and they won’t necessarily have the self-control we expect from adults.
I can guarantee that, if you stay in education for any extended period of time, you will be a key player in a seminal moment for one of your students. You will be in the position to make a profound difference in the life of a child.
Will you be empathetic? Will you be forgiving? People need second chances. Our students deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Inevitably, we will have to administer discipline. But we must do so with calm and compassion. We must ensure that we do not contribute to the problem’s escalation. We must model self-control and genuine concern. We must be equitable and responsible.
It’s hard to go wrong treating others as you would like to be treated… mercifully and with respect.
In the heat of the moment, I urge you to stop and take a breath. Look at the face of your student. Is there a way to defuse the situation? Is there a way to separate the behavior from the child?
Let me share a story with you from Northside Middle School… a story about a young special education student with emotional disturbances who was in danger of slipping through the cracks.
This young man had missed 42 percent of the school year due to out-of-school suspension and had begun skipping classes since he returned. He was in sixth grade and had an older brother in seventh grade that ended up running away from home and dropping out of school.
But then, while he was serving time in an in-school-alternative program, he met Katrina Lassiter, a special education teacher. Ms. Lassiter asked to be the student’s case manager and began rallying people and services to help him.
Corby Lane, a guidance counselor made sure this student got a good breakfast whenever he needed it. Unfortunately, the boy often was unable to eat at home and his father did not fill out an application for free meals.
It was a constant battle to redirect negative and inappropriate behaviors. It was a struggle to convince the young man to take responsibility for his actions and his behavior. He resisted a suggestion that he move to 8th grade – he was still having problems at home and wasn’t sure he was capable of doing the work.
But Mrs. Lassiter pushed him. She told him he could have a better life. BUT… he had to make a choice and he had to take responsibility for his actions.
He had been suspended for a total of nine days between September and December. After that discussion with Mrs. Lassiter, he had no more suspensions… no more referrals… no more discipline problems.
When his behavior changed, his work began to improve. And, because his teachers wouldn’t accept excuses for him not being able to do work, his grades improved. They kept telling him he was capable… and he demonstrated that he truly was.
He began talking about the honor roll. His first report card after the move to eighth grade demonstrated improved achievement… and by the time interim reports were issued he had earned four A’s… including one in math. He passed all his classes and moved on to ninth grade all because one person was able to separate the behavior from the child… all because a group of committed educators was willing to see the potential in him.
Let’s hear it for Mrs. Lassiter and the others at Northside that helped out this young man.
The principal at Oakwood Elementary shared a similar story with me about one of her fifth grade teachers… Sharon Ruffin-Cannon.
Sharon recognized that one of her students, a young black male, had the intellectual ability to succeed, but he was choosing to perform at a lower level.
He felt hopeless. He would come to school wearing soiled clothing three times too large. He ignored his personal hygiene and was unmotivated. He had medication to control aggressive behaviors, but often would come to school not having taken it.
Mrs. Cannon got permission from the boy’s mother to pick him up on weekends for outings. She bought him clothes, underwear, shoes and hygiene accessories so that he could come to school clean… smelling and looking good. Mrs. Cannon even made several trips to the boy’s home in hopes of having the parents encourage the boy to complete his work and take care of his personal hygiene.
The principal witnessed the mom using some “choice” words with Mrs. Cannon, but the teacher never gave up on the student. She worked diligently to ensure he received all the services possible to help him have more success and a better life.
This boy had stated on several occasions that he wished he were dead since “the world would be a better place without him.” When the principal asked who cared about him, he first answered “no one.” Then, he paused, looked up, and said “Mrs. Cannon. Although I get on her last nerve, she loves me. She is the only one that never gives up on me.”
Even though he insists he doesn’t like school, this boy shows up every day to look Mrs. Cannon in the eyes and strut for her in his new clothes.
Our focus on accountability and data analysis has built a strong foundation, but just doing more of the same won’t take us the rest of the way to world-class status.
We must serve with our hearts if we want to achieve more. Mrs. Cannon understands this. She had a 100 percent pass rate on the fourth grade math and reading SOLs for the past two years. But she knows her students’ success depends on more than her lesson plans. It depends on the relationships she has with them.
Please join me for a round of applause for Mrs. Cannon.
(Serving with Our Hands)
Having the know-how and the empathy isn’t enough, however. Serving with our hands is all about execution. What we value must translate into what we do. Mrs. Cannon's actions demonstrate that clearly.
The Council for Leadership and Strategic Planning, the Guiding Coalition, the LAP team, and various workgroups and subcommittees have worked for the last year to develop our district-wide strategic plan. You will learn more about that strategic plan as the year progresses from your principals and department directors and from me.
Our goal to become world class is ambitious, but achievable.
Several years ago, the School Board adopted a single goal: Improving the quality of teaching and learning for all… and all means all. The board supported that goal with three objectives:
To meet this goal and achieve the spirit of these three objectives, Norfolk Public Schools committed itself to becoming a world-class school system.
In a world-class school system:
Our strategic plan maps out the remainder of our journey. It prioritizes our actions and moves us further on the path to becoming world class. And, perhaps most importantly, it provides a system for measuring our progress… performance measures such as teacher quality; student quality; leadership and organizational quality; and learning environment quality.
We have established benchmarks for the school system and for each school. These performance measures track closely with our Tier 1 indicators and readily integrate into our accountability plans.
But, our strategic plan means nothing if we don’t put it into action. We must execute it.
Parts of our strategic plan already are in progress… expanding pre-kindergarten… offering more AP classes… preparing students to complete Algebra I by the end of 8th grade.
But others elements will be ramping up.
We must actively place our hands in the service of our vision… in the service of our students. We cannot simply talk… we must DO!
The work… the change must play out in our classrooms… in our departments… on our buses… in our offices.
We see evidence of this already in our school system.
Principal Ted Daughtrey was at the mall with his wife when he encountered one of his Granby High School students working in the Hallmark store. She had not graduated because she hadn’t earned a verified credit in Algebra. She was in summer school, but was still having a hard time with the content. Mr. Daughtrey invited her to come back to Granby the next day.
His lead Algebra teacher, Barbara Waefler agreed to work one-on-one with the student to prepare the young woman for the SOL test coming in just five days. Rick Fraley, the summer school principal, allowed the student to withdraw from summer school without penalty to participate in this intensive tutoring.
The result: she passed her Algebra SOL test and graduated from Granby High School.
Without that follow-through… without a teacher willing to go the extra mile and two administrators willing to facilitate that high level of support, she might have failed again.
Please join me in a round of applause for these concerned staff members.
It is only when we commit to serving with our hands… when we commit to executing on what we know is right that we can find the traction to complete our climb to world-class status. That is the challenge of our future.
Let me share another story: Have you met “Mama Lewis?” She is the media assistant at Chesterfield Academy but her co-workers say that she wears many hats. She feeds people when they are hungry because she knows the brain needs nourishment. She offers praise and affirmation and she serves with her hands.
According to her peers, Kathy Lewis’ winning personality and business savvy have helped her forge strong business partnerships that will benefit the school and the community for years to come. As a result of her hard work, the school has enjoyed some landscaping and beautification improvements and benefited from opportunities for students to chat with community leaders about their future goals.
Let’s hear it for Mama Lewis.
“Mama Lewis” understands that the community is willing to support us. We just have to reach out.
Norfolk Public Schools was blessed recently by the service of two area churches.
A group of 75 community members from Grace Bible Church visited Monroe Elementary and picked up trash on the grounds, power-washed walls, weeded flower beds, and provided a variety of other services.
A group of 170 people from the WAVE church came to Dreamkeepers Academy and mowed grass, trimmed hedges, installed new lighting, painted and provided school supplies for distribution at the school’s open house on September 20th.
Let’s hear a round of applause for their contributions…
When you look closely at Norfolk Public Schools, you can see the tremendous amount of change that has taken place over the last few years. If you look at leadership at all levels of the organization you can see evidence of significant change. But we can’t allow natural turnover to impact our progress. We must continue to move the needle.
As Superintendent, it is important for me to acknowledge that some of this year’s data gives me pause. The challenges are clear… especially at the middle school level. We have tremendous work to do there. We also must be sure that our special needs students are achieving at high levels like their peers.
If we don’t make significant progress, we run the risk of proving our critics right:
Too many have said that we would plateau and that would be “as good as it gets.” Too many are waiting in the wings to say “I told you so.”
It would be easy to find excuses. It would be easy to place blame for lack of success on our situation or the circumstances of our students. But, that’s not productive.
Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson, a left fielder for the Baltimore Orioles, went on to become the manager of that team during a period when the Orioles endured the longest losing streak in league history. I saw him give a speech at the local press club during that time and the reporters kept asking why the team wasn’t winning:
Was it an issue of self-esteem? Was it a lack of motivation?
Robinson dismissed those questions. He said in the end it’s not about motivation or even feeling good about yourself. He said he needed his players to go up to the plate and make contact with the ball when they were at bat and to make outs when they were on the field.
In short, he needed them to do their jobs.
Ladies and gentlemen: We have a job to do as well. Even though it isn’t easy, we must deliver. I need for you to look inside yourself and dig even deeper.
This will be the most difficult year we have faced… It will be a pivotal year for Norfolk Public Schools. This is not the time to engage in self-doubt. We must strive for “deeper implementation” of our best practices. We must ensure that every teacher… every instructional leader… every support staff member is using the practices that achieve proven results.
As Doug Reeves reminds us: DEEP IMPLEMENTATION is the key!
The progress we achieve this year will be examined in 2009 when we become eligible once again for the Broad Prize. What will that data look like? What will our accomplishments say about us?
I believe that we can be the first repeat winner of the Broad Prize. I believe that we can change the lives of our students.
(Exceeding Expectations)
I believe that our school system can exceed expectations. I believe that we can achieve progress so profound that the community will rally around our cause.
It won’t happen tomorrow. Our cause will not be achieved in a single year. Our journey will take time, but I am willing to invest. I hope that you are, too.
You see, success is never final. There is always more to accomplish… more to achieve. The demands on our graduates will be great and that means the demands on us as educators must be great as well.
How important is our work?
Just watch… (click to view video, entitled "Shift Happens")
Ladies and Gentlemen: Our world is flat… and it is growing. Our students will face challenges we cannot imagine today. They will be equipped only with the skills and knowledge we impart. This is a serious responsibility…and a sacred charge. A charge we can fulfill if we lead with our heads, hearts and hands.
A board member recently shared a newspaper clipping with me that talked about how New York City had hired a young Harvard researcher to become its Chief Equity Officer to help advise them on how to close achievement gaps. I had to chuckle a bit when I read the news. I certainly hope their Chief Equity Officer is successful and helps them… but one person can’t do it alone. Everyone has to be focused on equity and on providing outstanding teaching.
There is no silver bullet. There is no single program that will change everything. If there was, every school system already would have bought it.
We know what we need to do: We must ensure our curriculum is aligned. We must ensure we hold high expectations for our students. And, we must ensure the deep implementation of best practices across the disciplines.
Our HEADS must know what we are about.
Our HEARTS must challenge us to be equitable and rigorous.
Our HANDS must put all that into practice.
We don’t need to go in search of the wizard in the Emerald City…
We have what we need.
We are on the path to providing world-class educational opportunities here in Norfolk. And we can deliver on that promise if we are willing to serve with our heads, our hearts and our hands.
Thank you for your attention this morning. Have a great and productive school year!
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