Editor’s note: Pomp, circumstance and the hokey pokey
By:
Brian Taylor
It’s not easy being a school board member: long hours, low (or no) pay, underfunded resources, high stakes—all in the expectation that, after 13 years’ instruction, our children will march to the stately, measured pace of “Pomp and Circumstance.” That’s ultimately what it’s all about: getting California’s public school students ready to graduate and move on to college and careers.
The task, never easy, is complicated by pressures inside and out. CSBA Executive Director Vernon M. Billy eloquently explains some of those in his note on closing the achievement gap, and our CSBA at Issue department offers resources to help keep kids in school so they can achieve.
Our features this spring take a topical look at some of the most pressing issues facing school governance teams: implementing the rigorous new Common Core State Standards in math and English-language arts, and telling the stories of our schools and students to sometimes skeptical audiences. The intent, as always, is to illuminate helpful resources and best practices among our school districts and county offices of education.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson tells much of the first story in his own words. Our conversation with him focuses largely on the Common Core, and that’s followed by staff writer Carol Brydolf’s package of solid reporting on the challenge and how districts and county offices are—that’s right—stepping up.
“Part of our whole philosophy is to be proactive rather than reactive,” Glendora Tremper, a board member in the Chula Vista Elementary School District, told Brydolf. “We decided we needed to have a vision and plan for what’s ahead, rather than waiting until something hits you upside the head. At that point it becomes problematic.”
It’s a work in progress thoughout the state and nation, much like the computer-adaptive tests that will replace multiple-choice bubble sheets to measure student mastery of the new standards.
“Some LEAs will be tempted to put their heads down and say, ‘This, too, shall pass,’ ” Charlene Stringham, of the Tulare County Office of Education, said of the seismic shift. “In response, we refer to the ‘promise’ of the Common Core and emphasize that we have to embrace it, and get it right.”
One essential tool: communication, to rouse community understanding and support, especially since the transition from California Standards Tests to the Common Core may be a bumpy one in terms of initial results from the new assessments. The numbers will require interpretation and explication through a narrative that gives them meaning.
Fortunately, Executive Editor Laurie Weidner explains how to do that in “Telling Your Story with Conviction: Use Data and Storytelling to Persuade and Influence.” Opening with a personal anecdote from her own school days, she establishes a vital personal connection to engage her readers, and she quickly follows that up with examples from districts and county offices that put her data-crunching and storytelling tips into practice.
Every picture tells a story, too, and the picture on page 10, accompanying one of staff writer Kristi Garrett’s Class Acts, tells a great one. Sure, “Pomp and Circumstance” is the unofficial theme song of graduation, but that story—that march down the aisle—begins far earlier, with those first steps children take into school. At the La Habra City School District, Garrett explains, those steps can be a dance, one that joins children, parents and teachers in a welcoming introduction to the mysteries of school: You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out … What I said earlier about college and career is true: Getting our kids ready for college and career is the ultimate goal.
But maybe, in a way, the hokey pokey is really what it’s all about!
Thanks for reading.
Brian Taylor (btaylor@csba.org) is the managing editor of California Schools.