TeacherDrivenChange

2012-2013 Grant Program is Open

The 2012-2013 Grant Program is open and IFT eagerly awaits applications from CTA members and chapters for projects and programs that demonstrate the efficacy of the strength-based, teacher driven approach to school change. Individual grants up to $5,000 and Chapter grants up to $20,000 are available for next school year. The deadline to submit a grant application is April 30, 2012.

Applications will be reviewed in May by the IFT Grant Selection Committee, composed of teachers from around the state. Awards will be announced in June. In the fall (and again in the spring), members of the Grant Selection Committee will join IFT staff to visit each project location and to meet with team members to discover their learnings.

Project grants are awarded directly to CTA members, although the funds are administered by their local Associations in order to avoid any tax liability to grant recipients.

The IFT Grant Program emphasizes the importance of teachers in school change from a positive, strength-based perspective. Grant proposals are judged based on a strength-based matrix that includes the following seven factors:

• Factor One: Future Oriented - Students have a dramatic, positive image of the future.

• Factor Two: Work Oriented - Work is valued, purposeful, and relevant to students.

• Factor Three: Student Centered - Emphasis is placed on learning over teaching.

• Factor Four: School Family Relations - Parents as strong partners in the teaching and learning process are encouraged to be involved in their children’s education.

• Factor Five: School-Wide Relations - All school stakeholders are responsible for the education of each student.

• Factor Six: Student Relations - Students view other students as supportive and interested in their well-being.

• Factor Seven: Results Oriented - Students understand strength-based thinking increases capacity and resilience to achieve goals.

The CTA IFT Grant Program is for CTA members, teacher teams, and CTA local Chapters. Below are important links for the CTA IFT Grant Program.

• General Grant Information
• Strength-Based Primer
• Frequenly Asked Questions
• Strength-Based Matrix
• 2011-12 Educator Grants
• 2011-12 Chapter Grants
• Grant Online Application (You will be directed to an external site- "CyberGrants")
   

Teachers Shaking Up the Conversation

CTA IFT Teacher Think Tanks are being formed around the state to focus on what's working in public education and what changes teachers believe should take place in our schools.  Specifically, think tanks will provide teachers the opportunity to voice their ideas on the teaching profession, public education, and the teaching and learning process.  Think tank conversations will build on what’s great about our public schools with the goal of making them even better.  Think tank participants will also have the chance to discuss factors believed to be important to the creation of a culture of success for students.

Factors Driving Success - The CTA IFT has identified seven factors supporting student success.  Grounded in student and parent interviews, teacher focus groups, and school-community forums, each factor emphasizes strengths over deficits, creating a teaching and learning environment where student, parent, and teacher assets drive the school change process. 

Think tank participants will help the IFT gain valuable information in support of a strength-based approach to school improvement.  The knowledge gained will not only help students but also provide practical examples in support of authentic school change.

Click on the links below to find out more about the IFT and the Think Tank Program.

• Summary of Current IFT Program
• Shake Up the Conversation
• Teacher Driven Strength-Based Change Model
• Teacher Driven Strength-Based Change Model: Description of Terms
• Think Tank Guide to Strength-Based Thinking
• Seven Factor Strength-Based Matrix

 

Algebra Success Academy Story

The CTA IFT sponsored Algebra Success Academy uses mathematics to create a teaching and learning environment based on student strengths.  Through the Algebra Success Academy students are learning that success is defined in many different ways – not just tests.  Success occurs in quite unassuming teacher-student moments that rarely receive headlines.  Teachers are developing an environment of hope and optimism where their students are gaining a sense of accomplishment and confidence.   Click here for the Algebra Success story. 

The Talent Code

Are there specific behaviors that are more likely to lead to success?  Is it more beneficial to focus on what works as opposed to deficits?  According to Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, greatness is not a mystery but it does take practice.  Coyle explains:

If you distilled all the new science about talent development into two words of advice, they would be “practice better.” The most basic truth is that if you practice better, you’ll develop your talent — and you won’t develop your talent unless you practice better.  

The key is to find out what behaviors need to be practiced more than others.  Visit the IFT Bookstore to purchase a copy of The Talent Code.  Click on the video below to learn more about The Talent Code.   

Theory to Practice - The IFT has been working closely with Merced teachers and students to discover those behaviors and practices that keep students in school.  Using the Positive Deviance (PD) Approach, teachers and students are working together to develop new strategies that lead to student success.  What makes the PD approach unique is that it is driven by those individuals that are directly involved in the teaching and learning process: teachers and students.

 

Merced High School Positive Deviance Project

Merced High School students, teachers, administrators, and parents are making major strides in improving student attendance and reducing dropouts.   Using the Positive Deviance Approach, the entire Merced School Community is working together to find out not why students dropout out but why students stay in school.  Unlike most school improvement efforts that focus on the negative Merced High School believes that more can be learned from emphasizing the positive and building school structures and procedures around teaching and learning practices that keep students in school.  What makes the Merced effort unique is that improvements to the school are coming from within and not being externally imposed on teachers, staff, and especially students.  As a result, a new sense of commitment has been realized that is paying off for the entire school community.  Visit the Merced High School Positive Deviance Web Site for regular updates.

 

Resilience, Research, and Educational Reform

Dr Sara Truebridge, a good friend of the CTA IFT and a major supporter of teacher driven strength-based change, has written an important article on the value of resilience in the school improvement movement. 

November 29th, 2010 by ASCD Whole Child Blog  -  Resilience is one’s ability to spring back from adversity.  Those who engage in resilience research view the world and individuals through positive, protective, and preventive models as opposed to traditional problem-based, deficit, pathology models.  The vast body of resilience research has provided the foundation for many popular movements, such as asset development, positive youth development, strengths-based practice, and positive psychology.

Resilience research in education focuses on healthy development and successful learning, especially with young people facing difficult life challenges in their homes, schools, and communities.  Resilience research emerged over 40 years ago as researchers began asking the question, why do some children who are threatened by exposure to high-risk environments successfully adapt while others do not.  The study of resilience has expanded from an early focus on the individual to a broader, more inclusive focus that situates risk not in children, but rather in a variety of socio-economic systems, institutions, and harmful public and social policies.  Continue reading.

 

Join the Conversation

Discover what other teachers are saying about school change.  Connect with colleagues who have similar interests to yours.  Find new teaching and learning strategies that are practical and make sense.  If you are looking for no-nonsense school improvement initiatives, you are invited to visit The Learning First Alliance. 

What teachers are really doing in their schools and classrooms is constantly being distorted by politicians, media celebrities, and talk show hosts.  Instead of focusing on the day-to-day real-time experiences of teachers, those that have the least amount of knowledge about our schools are advocating for changes based on little evidence, poor research, and at times, simply just a hunch.  Continue reading.

Beyond Superman: A Guest Blog by George Lucas

With all the talk about what’s wrong with our schools, The George Lucas Educational Foundation believes it’s time to have a conversation about what's right with public education, what's working.  The Foundation reminds everyone that there are successes in education every single day and that our children might be better served if we paid more attention to what works than what’s wrong in our schools and classrooms.

In districts of every stripe and demographic make-up, educators are dedicating themselves to providing their students with a high quality

21st century education, and using new technologies to make it happen. They are showing kids how to find and analyze information   .   .   .   These educators are beginning to re-invent the learning process, guiding students through rigorous, real-life projects that integrate core academic topics and personalize the learning experience   .   .   .   Continue reading.

Race to Nowhere: Look for It

A film that deserve your attention – Look for a new documentary about the pressures faced by American schoolchildren and their teachers in a system and culture obsessed with the illusion of achievement, competition and the pressure to perform.  

• Featuring the heartbreaking stories of students pushed to the brink
• Teachers who are burned out and worried students aren’t developing required skills
• Parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids

Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Scheduled for the fall are two nationwide screenings:  Sept. 30 and Oct. 4.  Click here  for more information.   

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens. 

Click here for a Race to Nowhere Trailer.  The film is a dramatic representation why teacher driven strength-based change is so important to students, their parents, and teachers.  Race to Nowhere will help start the conversation around honest and practical discussions on school change.  This film may or may not be the answer, but it is the beginning.  Continue reading.