Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Happy New Year! As we close out 2019 and look forward to what the new year will bring, let’s take a look back at what our profession learned in the last year. From the over twenty-five articles that I wrote for MultiBriefs in 2019, the topics that seemed to have the highest reach with educators focused on topics such as competency-based / personalized learning, mental health and social emotional learning (SEL), and school safety. In this July MultiBriefs Exclusive on the rise of competency-based education (CBE) models, I reported that forty-nine out of fifty states have policies in place to support the model, and in this October MultiBriefs Exclusive I shared an updated definition for CBE developed by the Aurora Institute . Mental health and SEL continued to trend in 2019 as teachers continued to look for ways to meet the needs of their students. Of all the articles I wrote on this topic, this March MultiBriefs E

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Secondary schools have historically relied on tracking as a way to sort students into ability-groups for the expressed purposes of providing appropriate instruction at a “just right” level. Last week I visited a high school with no fewer than five different tracking levels for their 1,500 student population. When talking with teachers in the school, I had to ask the seemingly obvious question -- what is the difference between a level 3 and a level 4 student? Not surprisingly, the responses I received from the teachers in this school had little to do with academic ability and more to do with work study skills. I couldn’t get a clear answer from the group, with each teacher putting their own spin on what the distinction between the levels meant for them and their approach to their classes. Here in lies one of the fundamental flaws with this broken system. It is a system filled with inequity, bias, and at the very lea

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Imagine arriving home from work each day and being confronted with tasks to complete as soon as you walk through the door. As adults we typically have a little bit of time to “decompress” after a long day. On our commute home from work we may turn on some calming music or turn off all music and enjoy a few minutes of silence.   Upon arriving home we take a few minutes to get the mail, change our clothes,   and take a few deep breaths before starting dinner or taking our own kids where they need to go.   Now more than ever, in a society where we are expected to be executing one task while simultaneously thinking of the next one we as adults need time to be mindful. Children are rarely afforded these mindful opportunities, and that needs to change. They sit on an often loud bus, enter their classroom, and are expected to get right to their morning work. Time is a precious commodity, especially in a school that ha

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . This past week, the CompetencyWorks initiative of the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) released an updated definition of competency-based education (CBE). Aurora developed the first nationally-recognized definition for CBE back in 2011 after much input from over 100 practitioners in the field. The 2011 definition has provided schools and school districts from coast to coast develop a common understanding of the important features needed in CBE systems. As Eliot Levine and Susan Patrick described the release from Aurora this past week, the updated definition reflects the evolution of CBE in the field as the model has grown to include schools from forty nine out of fifty states . The updated definition includes new features that place an emphasis on equity, student agency, and different pathways for student success. With regards to equity, Levine and Patrick stated, “Competency-based education has always

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . If there is one thing I have learned after nearly fifteen years as an administrator in my NH school, it is this: There is no greater return on investment for a school principal than the steps he or she takes to build trust with the staff in their school. After all it is not the principal, but the staff members which includes teachers, support staff, office staff, custodians, bus drivers, and food service providers who act as the boots on the ground to make a school function successfully. Without trust between the principal and their staff, a principal will never be truly effective in his or her role. I know I am in a fortunate and desirable situation having stayed the course in the same school for so long. I have hired, or helped hire, 80% or more of my current staff. We have “grown” together as a team, in good times and bad, through many challenging situations. Longevity makes developing trust a much easier t

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . In an Education Week article last week, Alden S. Blodget asked why we (as educators) believe that speed reflects intelligence? Blodget reported an alarming upward trend he observed over three decades during his tenure as an assistant head of school of students and parents pushing for extended test time accommodations - for both school tests and standardized tests. He would receive diagnosis from families looking to get extended time added to their child’s education plan, and he wasn’t always convinced the diagnosis was accurate. Blodget writes, “A few conversations with a psychologist who offered families this diagnostic service confirmed my suspicions that not all of these diagnoses were legitimate. He explained the complexity and inexact science of arriving at a diagnosis and spoke of the pressure from parents whose goal was to obtain the recommendation for extended time. He recounted instances when he resisted

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . In an Education Week article last month, author Madeline Will reported out on what happens when school's a battleground for transgender kids results in teachers learning to protect and affirm them. Will referenced research which “has found that compared to their non-transgender peers, transgender youth are more likely to miss school, have lower grades, and view their school climate negatively.” Will empowered teachers to take action in their classrooms to provide support, even in instances when schools cannot. Will writes, “Teachers can start by challenging gender norms in their classrooms and avoiding gendered language, such as calling students "boys and girls," she said. And she encourages teachers to create space in their classroom for students to share their pronouns.” For school principals looking for a place to start to address this issue at the school or district-level, read on. Sever

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . In this recent MultiBriefs exclusive , I reported on how competency-based learning (CBL) systems continue to take hold across the nation. According to the International Association of Online K-12 Learning (iNACOL), 49 out of 50 states currently have policy language in place to support CBL systems in schools and school districts. Competency-based learning is sometimes referred to as mastery learning, proficiency-based learning, and, to a lesser degree, standards-based learning. It is part of a larger movement known as personalized learning, a philosophy which puts students at the center of their learning, and encourages schools to identify multiple pathways for student learning and achievement. In effective competency-based schools, the following is true: ●        Students advance upon demonstrated mastery. ●        Competencies include explicit, measurable, transferable learning objectives that empower s

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . As a child, I was always enamored with books and movies that let me imagine what the future would look like. I wasn’t excited about the idea of traveling on spaceships from planet to planet with the crew on Star Wars, and I didn’t care so much about flying a car like the people from Back to the Future 2. Maybe I was afraid of heights. I did, however, love the idea that one day computers would be as smart (or smarter) than humans. That day has been slowly creeping up on us, and we haven’t even noticed. Perhaps it is because we don’t have robots walking around our home and our office, looking like “us.” Remember the character “Data” from the Star Trek the Next Generation series? He was my favorite! My interest as a child was always centered around examples of artificial intelligence, also known as “AI.” By definition, AI can be any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same act

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Imagine having the option to schedule your school days as four ten hour days instead of five eight hour days. Earlier this summer, We Are Teacher’s blogger Elizabeth Mulvahill reported out that 25 states are currently testing four day school weeks . What started as a logistical solution for rural school districts is now gaining popularity in both suburban and urban ones. According to Mulvahill, “ Research by The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates 560 school districts in 25 states have at least one school with a four-day schedule. Leading the charge are Colorado (55%), New Mexico (43%), Idaho (38%), and Oregon (32%).” Of all the reasons to make the switch, many school districts cite financial savings as their top motivator. The move to a four day week can bring about some financial savings, particularly in the areas of building operations/maintenance, food service, and transportation. According

This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education . Last month, ASCD released a series of articles on grading reform where both teachers and researchers identified key considerations for assessments that “fairly gauge and report students' learning” with the rise of the “no-grades classroom”, one where the traditional A–F system is replaced by teachers by one with methods that encourage students to take charge of their learning progress. Included in the list was this recent ASCD article by Jay Percell, which discussed “Strategies for Diving into Successful Grading Reform.” Percell started by making the case for grading reform, noting that traditional grades can be demoralizing to students, inhibit creative thinking, and ultimately stifle lifelong learning. Percell went on to identify a set of stratrategies that teachers could use when starting with grading reform. They included things such as: ●        Don't Go It Alone: Percell encouraged teachers