Readers Weigh In!
Some recent blog posts have generated quite a bit of discussion by email, texts, and phone calls. I’m using this post to touch on some of those points of view. (Comments have been lightly edited to preserve anonymity and for clarity.)
“Rock star teachers are a problem for education systems” generated the most responses. I had thought it might be controversial, but in fact most commenters weighed in to agree. One of them wrote:
“{The post} really makes me think about the teachers who work 4 extra hours a night, use their own money, etc. We shouldn’t look to those teachers as how it should be but rather as what the problems are that should be solved.”
Two commenters talked about the lack of replicability inherent in relying on teachers in unsustainable ways:
“You couldn’t be more spot on. I would actually say that this expression is accurate for any organization.
We call them heroes. As strange as it sounds, we made a conscious effort to eliminate hero employees from the system. Not by firing them of course. But helping them flowchart their processes to the point where they can be published and replicated. The reason is that hero efforts are unsustainable. But more importantly, they can’t be predictably replicated to create a quality product. I know in education we don’t often talk about producing something like in the manufacturing sector. But we absolutely do. We create learning for students.
To create a quality system that produces predictable results that meet customer quality standards means that a work process can be replicated. Otherwise, there is not predictability and total quality is all over the place.”
Another, relating this issue to mastery learning:
“When I encountered the teachers who were actually enabling students to move forward in their learning at their own pace as they mastered content (at least in some small way), it was always a superhero teacher who had created some kind of Google Sheet-based system. Then I asked them two questions:
How long did it take you to create this? Their answer was some form of "all summer" or "every weekend for months."
Can the teacher in the next classroom over use this? Their answer was always "no." They usually didn't think they would even be able to use it the following year without a ton of work.
When I heard those two answers, I knew we could not expect teachers to build the data infrastructure for mastery learning.”
Finally, a teacher wrote in with a slightly different perspective, saying that “being a rock star is how teachers get flexibility and options from school leaders.” (I’m not sure if that contradicts or validates my point that rock star teachers are a problem for the system.) She teaches in a hybrid school, and when I pointed out that in such a school, she could take advantage of more flexibility and options than many teachers in mainstream schools, she very reluctantly agreed with my point. But her addition adds a valuable and realistic understanding.
“Simulteaching stresses teachers and isn’t great for students either” generated quite a few responses as well. One noted a recent article on the student perspective, which despite the title of the post wasn’t addressed deeply in it. In the Washington Post, a high school student wrote that when he returned to in-person schooling:
“I assumed that about 50 percent of students would opt in. The numbers didn’t go that way. On the first day back, my largest class had four students in-person; in the smallest, there were just two of us. On Friday, my largest class had 10 in-person students, but in another class, it was only me and the teacher.
My parents advised me to use the small class sizes to my advantage and to get the most out of being able to spend time with my teachers.
But the teachers aren’t dealing just with the handful of students in the classroom — they’re also teaching about 20 students online, and have to stay in front of the laptop camera. The students in the classroom ended up looking like extras in a low-budget movie. I felt like an afterthought, watching someone teach instead of being taught.”
“Parents’ views on education” led several people to let us know “that’s what I needed for my (school board/media/leadership/etc)!” Most were referring to this graphic:
Many thanks to the National Parents Union for providing that valuable data and graphic.
Finally, a couple of months ago, “The digital learning outlook as we begin 2021” included this text:
“Our research over nearly two decades shows that only 1-2% of students and families choose fully virtual options. Most hybrid schools are much newer, such that we don’t have good data on them, but good reasons exist to think they may attract a larger number of students. Districts that believe they should build fully online may have to re-think their approaches and add some hybrid options.”
That passage prompted this response:
“One thing I encourage you to consider is that the pandemic and exposure to online schools will have created a greater willingness for families to choose fully virtual options in the long-term. While I believe it will still be a niche market, I also think the traditional 1-2% may no longer apply. In general, I agree with your thinking, I just feel like the upper bound of enrollments will now be higher.”
This is a very valid point. The jury is still out on what enrollments in full-time online schools will look like in fall 2021 and beyond, but we should acknowledge that any projections based on pre-pandemic data may no longer be applicable.
We love hearing from blog readers, whether they agree with us or—even better— write in to suggest a different point of view!