tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88819009524534308012011-04-21T14:07:33.934-05:00A newsletter on education topicsLeigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-2147573998229735092007-04-11T17:20:00.000-05:002007-04-11T17:22:33.374-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about leadership. There are at least three reasons why I think it’s important for all of us in DHR to think and talk about leadership. First, meaningful change requires leadership. You can preserve the status quo without leadership, but you won’t change squat. Second, leadership creates the conversation for accomplishment. Leaders call people to action. They carefully

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-17702027472312611552007-03-28T14:06:00.000-05:002007-04-11T17:23:33.342-05:00

I said I was going to write about leadership and management books this week, but something more interesting intervened. I spent some time in the Teach for America offices, and it really got me thinking.As most of you know, TFA has been remarkably successful doing what many in education predicted was impossible: placing graduates of the country’s most prestigious universities in our highest-need

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-90560655069741772812007-03-22T11:17:00.000-05:002007-03-22T11:20:55.140-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about the contribution of economists to educational research—arguably the geekiest Weekly Reader topic yet. I realized I might not have ever said explicitly why I think those of us who work in Human Resources should be curious and literate about educational research. I see our job as helping the system find, develop, serve, and nurture a workforce that can cause kids to

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-67003192744626405122007-03-07T10:07:00.000-05:002007-04-19T15:33:53.682-05:00

Conversations about education are often peppered with the phrase “research shows……” But not all research is alike, and I thought it might be useful to provide a brief overview of educational research methods as I see them.Educational research studies use both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative research relies on statistical analysis to look for relationships, based on samples that

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-87324210647364253412007-02-28T14:35:00.000-05:002007-02-28T14:40:00.059-05:00

There was important news on the national student achievement front recently. The results of the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (“NAEP”), otherwise known as “The Nation’s Report Card,” are in. It’s not a pretty picture. The average reading score was the lowest since 1992, and not significantly different from 2002. In mathematics, only 23 percent scored at or above the

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-70621691022375430922007-02-15T09:38:00.000-05:002007-02-15T09:41:12.643-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about Fair Student Funding—an important Children First reform. I have written in the past about where the money for the DOE as a whole comes from. Fair Student Funding concerns how that money gets allocated to schools. School districts have typically allocated resources to schools, rather than dollars. For example, based on the number of students a school has, a school

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-14336059924199249002007-02-07T17:33:00.000-05:002007-02-07T17:39:06.540-05:00

I thought I would write a little more this week about the contrast between a culture of compliance and a culture of performance. Last week I talked about the concept of “enabling bureaucracy,” and how an enabling bureaucracy can create a culture of performance, even in a highly regulated setting. For those of you who are interested in the idea, here’s a link to a scholarly article that summarizes

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-62625662261835983582007-02-01T14:36:00.000-05:002007-02-07T17:37:15.155-05:00

This week’s topic is organizational culture: specifically, the difference between an organizational culture of compliance and an organizational culture of performance. This is a subject dear to the Chancellor’s heart, and one that makes its way into many of his speeches. In many ways, though, I don’t think it’s an easy distinction, especially when you work in an environment like education,

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-8521450178777148052007-01-26T11:38:00.000-05:002007-01-30T12:33:44.113-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about money. The best educational leaders I know always ask two questions when making decisions: the first is “what does it mean for kids?” and the second is “what does it mean for taxpayers?” In my view, taking care of student learning and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars are the two primary responsibilities of educational leaders. I’ve written a lot about student

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-16798523012800323012007-01-18T14:44:00.001-05:002007-01-26T11:44:58.094-05:00

I promised to write about money this week, but it’s a week of important announcements, and I thought it best to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to encourage everyone to read about the DOE’s new steps in putting Children First. Go here for the Mayor’s speech, and follow the link there to see a more complete description of the changes that are coming:http://schools.nyc.gov/News/2006-2007/

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-28667990011702656422007-01-11T11:32:00.000-05:002007-01-11T17:15:59.956-05:00

Happy New Year. I predict that 2007 will be an interesting year in education policy. We seem to have a national sense of urgency, which could drive at least the start of some big changes. There are three areas where I think we will see a lot of action:Reauthorization of No Child Left Behind: NCLB, originally sponsored by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) in the Senate, and George Miller (

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-44233406316714591042007-01-11T11:31:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:32:01.148-05:00

Two important things happened in education last week—one national, one local.On the national front, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce issued its report “Tough Choices or Tough Times.” This bipartisan commission includes many of the most influential thinkers on education policy today, including Chancellor Klein, former Senator and Secretary of Labor William Brock, former

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-39869528840569154102007-01-11T11:28:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:30:56.658-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about standardized testing. Given how controversial a topic testing can be, I thought it might be useful to provide a little information on standardized tests generally and on New York’s tests in particular. There is no magic to the term “standardized” test. A test is “standardized” when it is designed to be given in the same way every time, usually with the same degree of

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-86248066015934712032007-01-11T11:26:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:28:12.661-05:00

I was in several meetings this week where the following question came up in one form or another: what do we know about the relative effectiveness of the teachers that we select? The answer often began with “well, Jonah says. . . ,” which then prompted the predictable question “who’s Jonah?” I realized that it might be nice make sure everyone knows: “who’s Jonah?” and to take the opportunity to

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-79127470568024030032007-01-11T11:25:00.001-05:002007-01-11T11:25:59.223-05:00

More on teachers this week. As you know, New York City teachers must be certified to teach by the state of New York. There are two primary certification pathways. The traditional way to become a teacher is through a university teacher training program. A typical program would be a masters degree program in education, specializing in elementary, middle or secondary, perhaps with a further

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-58762430601280032942007-01-11T11:24:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:25:18.318-05:00

This week’s topic is Teachers, Part II. Last week, I began with the observation that any parent will tell you that the quality of teaching is the most important part of any child’s school experience. Interestingly, we’ve only recently developed the research tools in education to support this common sense notion. For a long time, statistical studies in education found that the effects of

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-62625007586237001432007-01-11T11:22:00.000-05:002007-01-26T11:59:54.406-05:00

This Weekly Reader is about teachers. As most parents are quick to tell you, what matters for kids’ learning is what happens in the classroom every day.The DOE currently has almost 77,000 active teachers. About 7,000 new teachers were hired for the start of this school year. About 2,200 of those came through alternative certification programs. These programs, which are the largest and most

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-12909218983773576452007-01-11T11:19:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:21:52.757-05:00

This week's Weekly Reader focuses on academic achievement. I think it's important to know something about student achievement, because no matter what our job title, that’s our job. Everything we do, whether it’s hiring teachers, reporting school opening statistics, or redesigning processes, is done so that kids can learn. And the good news is that New York’s kids are learning, although we still

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-91936879031987865042007-01-11T11:17:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:19:01.922-05:00

This weekly reader is “Principals, Part II.” There are two reasons for talking about principals two weeks in a row: first, I wanted to see if I could get some more entries into my “why is it important for us to understand principals’ jobs?” contest. The winning answer (in 50 words or less) wins not just fame and glory, but a great lunch in the Brooklyn fine dining establishment of your choice.

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-45502989510962404372007-01-11T11:14:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:17:27.509-05:00

The Weekly Reader this week focuses on principals. Like the Chancellor, I believe that effective principals are the essential ingredient for successful schools, especially in urban settings. How often do you find a great urban school with a mediocre principal? Last week’s Daily News featured an article about one of our Empowerment School principals, who described how she has been able to shift

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881900952453430801.post-60895230822770557882007-01-11T11:09:00.000-05:002007-01-11T11:13:44.110-05:00

This is Leigh’s first “Weekly Reader.” Each week, I’ll include something about what is going on here in New York City schools, something of interest that is happening in another district, and something about planning, analysis or organizational management. Read it if it interests you, and feel free to forward it to others who may be interested. Please send me articles and ideas for inclusion.

Leigh McGuiganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08749110011570031017noreply@blogger.com