WITH-IT-NESS IN THE CLASSROOM

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | EDUCATOR | December 30, 2016

With-it-ness is a pedagogical term that describes a teacher’s continual awareness of all that is going on in the classroom at all times (Marzano, Foseid, Foseid, Gaddy, and Marazano, 2005). Good and Brophy (2003) stated, “Effective managers monitored their classroom regularly. They positioned themselves so that they could see all students and they continuously scanned the room to keep track of what was going on, no matter what else they were doing at the time” (p. 112). I recall times from my own schooling where I sat and thought to myself, “How did the instructor know that?” Literature has suggested four behaviors that constitute with-it-ness: a) occupying the entire room, b) noticing potential problems, c) using a series of graduated actions, and d) forecasting problems (Marazano et al., 2005).

When I began teaching, I really had to tap into my six sense of with-it-ness in order to curtail misbehavior, and be acutely aware of hotspots or combinations of activities that might spell potential problem. For example, there is an outlet on the left side of the classroom, hints why one student always tries to sit there to charge his cell phone. There is a substitute teacher in the building, hints why so many students are trying to get into that class. There is an incident in the downstairs hallway, hints why several students are asking to use the restroom. We are in the computer lab and students are working more quiet than usual, they are probably surfing the web on social media. When students were off-task and fooling around, I had to be sure to send a clear message that communicated to students that I see what they are doing and it needs to stop immediately. I also had to be sure that I reprimanded the right student, otherwise students might perceive me as not really being aware of what was occurring after all. Students had to know that I was constantly scanning the class, walking around the room, and mean business, which helped to eliminate any thoughts of misbehavior before they happened. Occasionally, misbehavior would occur anyway which made timing another important aspect of with-it-ness. I had to ensure that I intervened swiftly and early on when dealing with misbehavior in order to keep the behavior from having a domino effect.

LETTER TO EDUCATORS

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | EDUCATOR | August 31, 2014

Dear Colleagues,

As the first day of classes rapidly approaches, let us all take time to rededicate ourselves to a shared mission and positively focus on what truly matters –providing an exceptional educational experience that prepares, ensures, and empowers all students to be successful members of society despite the incessant cultural and economic transitional world we inhabit. This mission entails strong instructional leadership, delivery of innovative relevant curriculum by a proficient and supportive teacher in every classroom, and high levels of learning for ALL students, alongside accommodations and modifications that enhance comprehension and independence. Accordingly, we must also engage with constituents to ensure high-quality education.

Facing the future, it is important to remember that there are times in life when something constructive is born out of adversity, and every success in life and in learning is mostly a matter of expectation. In other words, if we want to succeed, we must believe and expect that success is a reality. Authenticity is the daily practice of not entertaining pessimistic hypotheticals rather embracing endless possibility. Therefore, we need to set our goals high, expect greatness, and keep faith that it will happen. Among the many things I have learned over the past several years is that high expectations embody a sense of empowerment. They often times energize our classrooms and give momentum to learning. Simply stated, when we believe that something good can happen, it happens, because life responds to our outlook. Robert Stevenson implied, "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant." 

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, reminds us to also believe in our students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level. Connections are huge and play an integral part in our ability to plant seeds as teachers. How do you facilitate being a TEACHER? The answer is best explained by spelling out the term, T = Take time, E = Explain, A = Assure, C = Care, H = Help, E = Encourage, and R = Reward.

As we power through a difficult economy with diminishing resources and budget shortfalls, let us not look for less challenge, only more wisdom and positive outlook and commitment to helping promote the success of youth in this environment, as befits a caring community of stakeholders. Similarly, as we strive to be successful and overcome the obstacles we may encounter, we must accept the things we cannot change and have the faith to keep moving. Not because it is practical to do so, but because it is what we must do. Above all, remember only sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but FAITH looks up. The past is behind and we ought continue to learn from it. The future is ahead so we must prepare, but the present is here, and we must live in it.

The important work that lies ahead is to sustain and accelerate student performance. Let us work together to encourage, challenge, teach, support, inspire, and celebrate OUR STUDENTS. May you continue to enjoy a restful Labor Day weekend and refreshing nights' rest as together we stand on the brink of a bright and productive future and prepare to welcome another new school year with great expectations. 

Respectfully,


Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver
Education Practitioner
The School District of Philadelphia

GREATEST CHALLENGES FACING URBAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS TODAY

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | SCHOLAR | August 28, 2014
The greatest challenges facing urban public schools today stem from a lack of financial support and deficiencies promoting social order (Rose & Gallup, 2004).  Based on the perspective of those who have spent time in classrooms, many contend that these two factors contribute to faculty stress, discontent, and eventual burnout, in addition to negatively affecting the learning environment (Driscoll, 2005; Jones International University, 2009; Noll, 2009; Ozmon & Craver, 2002).  Moreover, these elements permit a disservice and force elimination of our overriding obligation toward students and families to provide the maximum quality public educational opportunities they deserve.

Financial Support

School districts do not have the authority to generate their own revenue.  Instead, districts are funded through a variety of taxes and fees enacted through funding formulas that dictate money how much will be received per student.  Over the past several years, schools have felt the financial brunt and dire conditions of the economic downturn posed by dramatic state budgets that have not been educationally sound or economically prudent for cities or states nationwide.  With state finances in unprecedented trouble, school districts have been faced with intensive budget deficits that have placed them in perilous positions, resulting in the closure of schools, elimination of staff, and reduction of programs, services and resources that students need and want in order to produce the necessary savings and work towards financial balance while seeking to maximize, where possible, the use of available resources and the direct harm to students, families and school communities (Caskey & Kuperberg, 2014; Jennings, 2003).  The stakes are great.  Inadequate and insufficient funding and resources precipitate the challenges that affect student achievement and the well being of children, which ultimately threatens the future of our great nation (Guthrie, Hart, Ray, Candoli, & Hack, 2009; Kettering Foundation, 2011).  School funding challenges carry costs that continue to be felt not only by public schools, students and parents, but communities, and by extension, all citizens of the United States of America.

THE IMAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | ADVOCATE | August 26, 2014

What is the purpose of public schools? 

          Amid widespread concern that schools are failing to prepare students for workforce participation, higher education, and the economic and technological challenges of the twenty-first century, has increasingly focused much of the nation’s public school reform efforts on standards, performance, and accountability. The focus on American schools has been on achievement, particularly on standards of performance dictated by states and tested through state mandated examinations. What is the purpose of a public school? Is it really a place to promote the success of all students, or an expensive and mostly ineffective and inefficient institution to house children until they reach adulthood? Is it a more caring and productive place for students and teachers, or are students and teachers dehumanized in an uncaring and insensitive bureaucracy? Perhaps it is a place where the goals and purposes of the community are inculcated in the children of the community, or a place where special interests perpetuate their special beliefs and interests? What are your thoughts?

ADVOCATING TO GAIN STATE SUPPORT FOR ALTERNATIVE FUNDING FOR SCHOOL RESOURCES

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | SCHOLAR | July 31, 2012
          Public schools are funded through a variety of taxes and fees.  The economic downturn and its dramatic result on tax revenues have affected state budgets nationwide (Jennings, 2003).  With state finances in unprecedented trouble, school districts are faced with intensive budget cuts (Jennings, 2003).  Inadequate funding and resources precipitate the challenges that affect student achievement and the well being of children (Guthrie, Hart, Ray, Candoli, & Hack, 2009; Kettering Foundation, 2011). 

Many major issues in education throughout the United States' history have had strong advocates working in the education system, leading from within (Benedict, 2007; Rademaker, 2003; Shroyer, Yahnke, Bennett, & Dunn, 2007; Walker, 2005).  Examples of advocacy and activism to initiate change in K-12 education are described in the following studies:

-         Walker (2005) focused her research on organized resistance and black educators' quest for school equality within the time period of 1878–1938.  She identified four periods of activism: “1) association building and interracial collaboration, 2) intellectual activity and national collaboration, 3) petitions and shielded collaboration, and 4) direct appeal” (p. 358). 

-      Benedict (2007) advocates the need for music educators to better recount their role in the education scheme, rather than having other ones enforce delineations and functions for them. 

-         Rademaker (2003) considers the implications of having advocates for art external to the school system, a not-for-profit arts organization in this case, involved in promoting arts programs within the school system.  This research suggested that educators have a responsibility to ensure that art educators within the system guide external agencies.

-         Shroyer et al., (2007) researched the Kansas State University Professional Development School Partnership.  In this specific initiative, the educator education program at Kansas State University partnered with local schools to improve educating and learning in K-12, while enhancing an educator-learning program at the university.

These studies have implications for advocacy strategies that can be used by school leaders.  School leaders advocate on behalf of their students and staff every day with the decisions they make.  An increasing scarcity of adequate school funding has forced school leaders to take on a more extensive role in advocating to gain state support for alternative financial resources (Guthrie et al., 209).  This can be done through professional development of the school leader alongside targeted advocacy efforts at the building, district, and state level to promote robust financial support (Education Policy & Leadership Center, 2012; National Association of Secondary School Principals, 2012).

CREATING A VISION THAT IS DEVELOPED WITH AND AMONG STAKEHOLDERS, AND CENTERED ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT FOR A LEARNING COMMUNITY

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | SCHOLAR | July 28, 2012

          A school’s vision binds together its membership, staff, family, and community resources.  Seltzer (2001) indicated that a school’s vision communicates the organization’s purpose and needs to its constituents.  Seltzer also suggested that a school vision sets the standard against which plans, decisions, and actions are measured.  The vision and mission of the school are vital to its creation and subsequent growth, enabling a group of people to begin establishing the goals that will move their organizations forward (Seltzer, 2001).  Mission and vision statements are formulated to project the school’s image, list its programs, and establish long-term direction that guides every aspect of the school’s daily operations (Seltzer, 2001).  Correspondingly, mission and vision statements promote shared values and expectations within the school, plus signal the school’s intent and commitment to worthy goals that deserve support.  Seltzer further highlighted that developing vision and mission with an organization’s key players serves to underline the importance of the statements and deepen the participants’ commitment.  The leadership framework that opens the door to creating a vision must include: a philosophy of education and leadership, a vision for learners, teachers, the organization, and professional growth, alongside a method of vision attainment (Sternberg, 2008).

          A systemic school vision is contextual and dependent upon relationships (Epstein, 2009).  Ideal school leaders build and maintain relationships by listening, supporting others, gaining trust and showing understanding.  Positive relationships cultivate the culture within the learning organization.  Leading from the center, the administrator must believe in, value, and remain committed to the inclusion of all members of the school community to cultivate the culture of learning (Epstein, 2009; Glickman, Gordan, & Ross-Gordon, 2010).  The school leader can facilitate this by listening to others and recognizing their perspectives, empathizing and taking into account the needs and feelings of others, communicating effectively, and gaining the trust and support of colleagues.  The focus on student achievement for a learning community can only happen if student achievement and learning are the central focus of all stakeholders (Blasé & Blasé, 2003).   Identifying and empowering stakeholders in the extended community to make decisions within the organization is the starting point to creating a vision of inclusiveness to address the diverse learning needs of students and their educational achievement.

HOW SCHOOL LEADERS CAN EFFECTIVELY PREPARE TEACHERS AND OTHER SCHOOL LEVEL LEADERS FOR SCHOOL-WIDE IMPROVEMENT

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | SCHOLAR | July 17, 2012
          School leaders must develop processes and techniques to effectively prepare teachers and other school level leaders for facilitation of lasting effective school improvement.  Periodic assessment of traditional practices and careful evaluation of proposed improvement plans are essential to validating the need for improvement in education (Gorton, Alston, & Snowden, 2009).  However, introducing lasting change and improvement require the cooperation and support of a variety of people.  A landmark study conducted by Labonte et al., (1995) highlighted that a promising answer to integrating school improvement initiatives is supported by comprehensive faculty units (as cited in Gorton et al., p.133).  The rationale for a school-wide approach is be based on the premise that a comprehensive effort rather than separate, add-on services are most effective in upgrading an entire educational program in a school (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2007). 

          A well-designed and implemented school-wide improvement effort maximizes all aspects of the learning organization’s operations and promotes effective education services students receive, improves the efficiency of those structures that support student learning, and combines all resources, as allowed, to achieve a shared goal (Glickman et al., 2007).  Facilitating change is a team effort (Hall & Hord, 2006).  The school leader must recognize that the leadership for introducing school improvement can come from many sources and thus should try to encourage ideas and support for change throughout the school (Hall & Hord, 2006).  Additionally, school leaders must teach others what they know and how to do it in order to develop others as leaders to share in the responsibility of implementing the necessary changes.

NECESSARY STEPS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS TO ASSURE COOPERATIVE LEARNING IS BEING IMPLEMENTED EFFECTIVELY IN CLASSROOMS

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | SCHOLAR | June 15, 2012
          The assumption about how students learn or how they should be instructed is reflected in the organizational structure of schools (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994).  Cooperative team-based organizational structures positively influence cooperation among students rather than competitive individualistic organizational structures (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994).  Embedded within team-based organizational structures is effective teamwork the hub around which improving the quality of instruction revolves (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994).  The task of assuring cooperative learning is being implemented effectively in classrooms is made easier when organizational structure of the school and the classroom are congruent (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994).  This entails “the use of cooperative learning in the classroom, faculty collegial support groups in the school, a school-based decision-making structure, and faculty meetings predominated by cooperative procedures” (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1994, par.1).

          The school leader is the tool in schools that draws together the discrete elements of instructional effectiveness into whole-school action (Zepeda, 2007).  Research has shown schools that link their instruction and classroom management with professional development, direct assistance to teachers, curriculum development, group development, and action research under a common purpose achieve their objectives (Zepeda, 2007).  This adhesive pulls together organizational goals and teacher needs and provides for improved learning.  To be truly valuable, an approach must be flexible, adaptable to a particular environment and shaped by the people who apply it (Zepeda, 2007). 

IT IS A PUBLIC OPTION, NOT A PUBLIC MANDATORY, HENCE OPTIONAL

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | ADVOCATE | August 5, 2011

One writer wrote, “It should be instructive that the children of the upper and upper-middle classes are not typically counseled into vocational education curricula, for such curricula are not considered by members of those classes to be adequate for their children, even if their children are not particularly strong academically.” What criteria should be used to make the vocational education decision? One can argue that vocational education is irreducibly education for the pursuit of an occupation. This would entail that education could prepare students for their particular niches they were destined to fulfill as adults. A counter argument would be that vocational education has as its regard the development of intelligent initiative, ingenuity, and executive capacity that makes workers the masters of their own industrial fate. Therefore, the criteria that should be used as to whether or not to use vocational education is something that should be based upon the individual student.

RECREATING SEGREGATED SCHOOLING

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | ADVOCATE | August 2, 2011
          Free public education is something that most of us take for granted; however, it is clear that education has not always been the right of all Americans. The spread of the public education system was met with some resistance to equality. Initially, the government did not want to educate the poor, which later became an issue of race. This issue became one concern for Civil Rights leaders that was overcome with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was unanimous — the doctrine of “separate-but-equal” was inherently unconstitutional.

This landmark ruling began our nation’s long journey toward school desegregation. The purpose of Brown v. Board of Education decision was to enhance the attainment of equal educational opportunity for public education for all the citizens of our country. The implementation of the means to achieve equal opportunity has yet to develop into the desired equity of outcomes. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, a 2nd-generation of problems created in patterns of socioeconomic stratification methods in its creation and maintenance of education systems is developing, which are recreating segregated schooling, in the eyes of some.

REFORM BUILDING-LEVEL SOLUTIONS

 By: Dr. Armãndo R. Tolliver | ADVOCATE | January 28, 2011

          The education crisis is real. As a public school teacher, I have taught and tutored a range of students from the sheltered suburban students to the melting pot of inner city school youth. Thus, I am well acquainted with the achievement gap that has held steady for our public schools today. Today’s educational reform movements emphasize the standardization of curriculum, providing all American students with parallel educational experiences that will assist them in becoming informed and active citizens. However, in working toward these improvements, the processes have revealed glaring problems and contradict the notion of the common school.

          Have we not learned anything from “No Child Left Behind"  which