A School Administrator's Recipe for Successful 1:1 Implementation

On July 1, 2015, I packed my things and moved offices up the hall to the big seat- the principal's office at N. L. Dillard Middle School in Yanceyville, NC.  For two years prior, I had served as an assistant principal at Dillard under an extraordinary school administrator who worked diligently to rebuild the climate and culture that had been previously damaged by unforeseen circumstances.  I am grateful to have worked with her, and any success our school currently has and will have is a direct result of her talent, work ethic, and expertise.  She was transferred to our district's high school to work her magic, and I inherited her mighty large shoes to fill.

Even though she and I had begun building relationships with our IT department, The Golden Leaf Foundation, and The Friday Institute to successfully implement our new 1:1 initiative (our district received $2.1 million in grant money to do this), I was really nervous about my new role and whether or not this initiative was going to work.  We were selected as the first school in our small district to implement this program, and I felt that all eyes were on me.  I knew that I was totally and completely responsible for the success of this program.

I'm pleased to say that we're currently two months into the first year of our initiative, and while it's early and I'm probably a little partial, it's going great!  ALL OF MY TEACHERS, including the ones who touted the inevitable failure of this program even before we started , ARE USING THE DEVICES IN RIGOROUS, ENGAGING WAYS WITH OUR STUDENTS!  Any visitor who peeks into the classroom doors of our school sees students solving problems, building relationships, and developing critical 21st century skills with their Chromebooks and web tools that they are exploring and learning from our teachers how to use.  I see now that, whether all of my teachers know this or not, our school was hungry for this type of technology and for these resources.  The students were starving for it.

There are many, many working parts to the effective roll out of any initiative, and each of those working parts requires regular attention and maintenance; however, through reflection with my wonderful Instructional Technology Facilitator and partners at The Friday Institute and The Golden Leaf Foundation, I've identified the essential ingredients for creating a successful 1:1 program:  assembling the perfect team, sharing decision-making, operating with complete transparency, and maintaining open lines of communication.

I feel empowered to share this recipe with other school administrators.  Like with any recipe, there's never just one "right" way to create the finished product.  Below is compilation of the processes and educational perspectives that worked for me and my school and linked examples of how I used each "ingredient" to achieve a specific outcome.  Happy implementing!

To My Mentor: Thank You!

One of my favorite professors recently asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her.  I was completely honored and humbled at the experience to reflect on how much I really owe to her:

It is with great pride and pleasure that I write this letter on behalf of Dr. Kimberly Pyne. For four years, Dr. Pyne served as my mentor, professor, and coach while I completed my bachelor's degree in English and earned a North Carolina teaching license at Elon University. Dr. Pyne's knowledge, encouragement, and passion directly and profoundly contributed to the career success I currently enjoy in the field of education. Not only have I benefitted from Dr. Pyne's academic expertise, but I have also benefitted from her experiential wisdom as well; she taught me one of the most transformational life-lessons I have yet to experience, for which I will always be most grateful.

The most significant opportunity of my college career was completing my semester-long, student teaching internship. I was placed in a high-poverty, historically low-achieving local high school teaching senior English Language Arts. My cooperating teacher and I struggled to develop a strong relationship, and I faced daily challenges working with high-needs students. Within the first few weeks, I begged Dr. Pyne to assign me a new placement, but, to my dismay, she would not. It was not until the end of the semester that I realized why; Dr. Pyne believed in my skills, passion, and ability to overcome the obstacles I was facing. I believe she saw something in me that I never had. She held firm in her decision and provided me all of the guidance and support I needed along the way. I had never been more proud of myself than I

was at the end of the semester I spent teaching some of the brightest, sincerest, hardest-working students I have ever taught.

Dr. Pyne not only provided me with the knowledge I needed to effectively teach my classes, but she also helped me develop the self-confidence, strength and perseverance I needed to complete the student-teaching requirement and continue a career in education. Without her constant guidance, support, and wisdom, I would have given up on not only my students, but on myself as well. Because of her, I reaped (and continue to reap) priceless rewards as I learned the value of having a positive impact on the lives of students. Without Dr. Pyne, I would not be the educational leader that I am today.

Dr. Pyne is not only an asset to Elon University, but to the teaching profession as well. Under her

guidance and direction, countless adolescents will continue to be positively affected as she provides the highest quality training and support to pre-service educators. Her impact is infinite. Please accept my very, very highest recommendation of Dr. Pyne for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor.

Sincerely,

Emily Buchanan

Assistant Principal

N. L. Dillard Middle School

Who was your mentor?  Who impacted your future in ways you never imagined?  Take time to thank them today.

The Flipped Classroom: What Is It?

American educators are inundated with more new programs and strategies than ever before, each claiming to be the magical remedy for the most difficult problems facing educators and learners today.   Classroom differentiation is not one of these buzz words that teachers can ignore, believing that time will diminish the hype behind it.  In most public school classrooms across the United States, educators face teaching 25 students at a time, on average (“Education Week,” 2011).  Of course, no two students are exactly alike, and every one enters each teacher’s class with a different combination of varying learning styles, preferences and readiness levels.  In order to meet the learning needs of all students effectively, teachers must differentiate their instruction, tailoring their methods to serve each learner.

Differentiation is meeting students where they are and ensuring that each student competes against himself or herself as he or she grows and develops.  A teacher who effectively differentiates begins where a student is, not at the beginning of a curriculum guide.  According to Carol A. Tomlinson (1999), an expert in classroom differentiation, teachers must be ready to, “engage students in instruction through different learning modalities by appealing to different interests, and by using varied rates of instruction along with varied degrees of complexity” (p. 62).  Ideally, teachers must not use only differentiated instruction for every student, but they must also differentiate in each of these three ways. Many teachers find this difficult, and not all differentiate their instruction well; how can one individual appeal to the constant, dynamic needs of twenty-five or more students on a daily basis?

Tips and resources for teachers to differentiate their instruction effectively abound; one new strategy is inverting or “flipping” classrooms in order to appeal to the readiness and pacing differentiation modality.  In a flipped classroom, that which is traditionally done in class is done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is completed in class.  It allows for more personalized instruction because teachers are no longer the presenters of new information; instead, the classroom becomes student-centered, and instead of lecturing for an entire class period, which may only speak to the learning needs of a few students, teachers can spend their precious class minutes working with students through activities, assignments, and problems.  According to Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, two chemistry teachers who helped coin the concept, conducting inverted class sessions can help all teachers reach all students every day:

The present model of education reflects the age in which it was designed: the industrial revolution.  Students are educated in an assembly line to make their standardized education efficient.  The weakness for the traditional approach is that not all students come to class prepared to learn.  Some lack adequate backgrounds for the material, are uninterested in the subject, or have simply been disenchanted with the present educational model.  When we began flipping our classrooms, we quickly realized that we had stumbled upon a framework that enables teachers to effectively personalize the education of each student-the goal of educators since the concept of individualized learning first appeared (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).

In their research, Bergmann and Sams also distinguish between two different forms of the flipped classroom teaching style: traditional “flipped” teaching in which the entire class learns the course material at generally the same pace, and instructional differentiation occurs at home as students complete the “homework” on their own schedules at their own paces.  The second type is called “flipped mastery” which is geared toward students mastering the entire content of a course individually.  Through this second inverted classroom method, individual students move through the course content at their own pace; teachers make the content available in advance. Every student completes a pre-assessment to determine his or her readiness level and then begins mastering the content appropriately based on how much they know about the content at the beginning of the academic year or semester.  The students move through it at their own paces for the entire length of the course and can advance only to subsequent units once they have mastered earlier units.  The instructor checks for mastery through formative and summative assessments.  If the students do not master a level or unit, the teacher re-mediates and reteaches that particular student until complete mastery is achieved.  While this method appeals subscribing to differentiated instruction, Bergmann  B and Sams recommend only moving to this format once a teacher is comfortable with “traditional” flipping (Bergmann and Sams, 2012).

 

These teachers also maintain that inverting a classroom does not require the use of technology; flipping a classroom simply entails making instruction student-centered, as the teacher goes from being “the sage on the stage” to the “guide on the side” (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).  However, technology can make the process easier and more engaging for students, and it can help the teacher virtually be in more than one place at a time.  Many who teach through flipped classrooms record their lessons as video files and then upload the videos in an online format that students can access to learn the material at their own individual paces.  After the students access the lecture videos on their own schedules and as many times as they need to, the students come into class to clarify questions, practice their skills, and work on activities.

Educational research in differentiated instruction has shown that, for this type of blended learning to be successful, it is important to structure the face-to-face and the online portions of the learning experience so that they coherently support one another to help students achieve the learning goals for the course in question (Strayer, 2012).  Dean Shimamoto (2012) from the Department of Educational Technology at the University of Hawaii Manoa recently conducted a study on developing an instructional model for successfully flipping a public school classroom, and his results also determined that while using technology to support this strategy was effective in conveying information to students, face-to-face interactions between teachers and students was also necessary for information retainment.  He concluded his study by stating that even though this strategy is becoming wildly popular and information on its advantages and disadvantages is plentiful, educators have a difficult time finding information on specifically how to get started because this information is less-widely researched and published.  Shimamoto suggests that this may be because inverting a classroom can take on an infinite variety of forms; to engage in this strategy, teachers should work together to engage in active research to determine resources and strategies for differentiation through inverting instruction which will best fit their unique teaching and student learning needs.  As with all changes in education, ample time and patience should be used in order to really determine its effectiveness (Shimamoto, 2012). 

Although teachers will not be able to find all of the answers for their specific questions on how to flip their unique classrooms, a multitude of online resources exist for teachers as they research and begin inverting.  Presently, the most widely referenced online resource for flipping classrooms is The Khan Academy, which was featured on CBS’s show, 60 Minutes, in the summer of 2012.  This not-for-profit organization was started by Salman Khan, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Business School.  He began making instructional math videos to tutor his long-distance, younger relative; he posted them online, and they were an instant success, but not in the way he intended.  Students all over the world began using the videos to help them understand math concepts they were learning in school.  Teachers began showing his videos in class and assigning them to be viewed as homework.  Khan acknowledged the popularity and saw a need for education in America and began Khan Academy, an online library with thousands of instructional videos.  Now, millions of users visit every day to view and listen to lectures on math, computer science, art history, science, and social studies.  The website is free, which speaks to Khan’s belief of global, equal access to information (Khan, 2012).

           

Another favored resource of currently flipping teachers is TED-Ed, a free, online library of educational videos created and posted by professional educators.  Like Khan Academy, TED-Ed offers instructional videos on a wide variety of topics, including literature and language, mathematics, philosophy and religion, design, engineering, and much more.  These resources can help make flipping classrooms much easier for teachers because instead of having to create all of their own video lectures, which can be time consuming as one begins the inverting process, educators can assign these videos for students to view and learn from (“TED-Ed”).

Proponents of more traditional classroom methods have clearly and publicly stated the disadvantages to instructing through inverted classrooms since the developmental stages of the strategy.  Some disadvantages that they cite include that just as with each new teaching strategy, flipped classrooms will not meet the needs of every individual student.  Also, students from rural and low-income areas may not have the access to computers and the Internet that high-tech, flipped classrooms require.  Some teachers dodge this equity issue by creating DVDs of their lessons and letting students take those home to view, but this does require extra efforts from the teacher outside of the classroom.  Another commonly cited disadvantage is that with the inverted class model, students will spend all of their “homework” time in front of a computer screen, and not all students learn well this way.  Supporters counter argue, however, that American children use technology for entertainment anyway, and teaching them through the use of technology outlets can help peak their interests in education (Jenkins, 2012).

           

There is no one right way to differentiate instruction or to invert a classroom.  The perfect combination of instruction, collaboration, and resources can come only from direct interaction and relationship building between a teacher and his or her student.  Just as with every new teaching strategy, teachers should research and try transitioning into an inverted classroom in order to determine its effectiveness; this can be determined by how well it meets the learning needs of their students and if their students are academically successful learning through such a structure.  Flipping classrooms is not an enchanted solution to all of public education’s problems; instead, it is one strategy some are finding success with as they both experiment and follow best practices through classroom differentiation.

References

Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class every day. (1 ed., Vol. 1). New York: International Society for Technology in Education

Education week. (2011, July). Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/class-size/

Jenkins, C. (2012, Aug. 29). Lecture Tools.  Retrieved from http://info.lecturetools.com/blog/bid/59158/The-Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-the-Flipped-Classroom

Khan, S. (2012). Khan academy. Retrieved from http://www.khanacademy.org/

Shimamoto, Dean. (2012). Implementing a Flipped Classroom: An Instructional Module. TCC Conference.

Strayer, J. F. (2012). How learning in an inverted classroom influences cooperation, innovation and task orientation. Learning Environments Research, 15, 2, 171-193.

Ted-ed. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ed.ted.com/

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999).  The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners.  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Teacher Support in Rural V. Urban: An Original Study (Yes, It's Mine)

Teaching is a difficult profession, one that demands time, energy, collaboration, and resources to master. With new national curriculum standards with which to comply, more rigorous, high-stakes tests for which to prepare students, and limited resources with which to budget, teachers can use all of the support they can get to perform effectively in the classroom.  Research shows that classroom instruction improves when teachers experience on-going, job-embedded professional development and instructional coaching.  Such job support is even proven to contribute to teacher satisfaction, particularly that of beginning teachers.  Since larger, urban districts typically have more financial and human resources to provide such support to educators, the researcher hypothesized that teachers from those districts have much higher job satisfaction when compared to teachers of rural districts without as many supportive financial and human resources.  This idea could have far-reaching effects for rural districts regarding teacher retention, requiring smaller, rural districts to find new, creative approaches to resource allocation and instructional support for teachers. 

Review of Literature

Many aspects of teaching in smaller, rural schools versus teaching in larger, urban schools have been researched for more than 30 years.  Most of the publications regarding this topic mostly focus on student performance and community involvement in each setting while only briefly discussing teacher satisfaction.  One study published by Bruce O. Barker (2008) concludes that Americans are in fact rediscovering the small school since the largeness of many of schools in the United States may be one factor contributing to declines in test scores and increases in violence among students.  Compiling research from the 1960s, he iterates an idea that is beginning to reemerge in public education: the inside-out paradox: “Over 20 years ago, Barker and Gump (1964) proposed the ‘inside-outside perceptual paradox’ which stated that even though larger schools were more impressive on the outside, upon closer scrutiny, the small school provided a better quality of education.  The small school can offer benefits in several areas: personal relationships, students, teachers, administration, and curriculum and instruction” (Barker, 2008, p. 2).  Barker mildly focuses on personal relationships and curriculum and instruction by concluding that the size of a school does not inhibit personal interaction, but that it encourages it.  He states that small schools typically serve a community nucleus which invites strong support from parents and community members as well as closer working relationships among the school staff, which may contribute to higher teacher satisfaction (Barker, 2008).  He also claims that in smaller schools, relationships between teachers and administrators tend to be more personal and informal which lends itself to a greater tendency for cooperation among the staff.  In terms of curriculum and instruction, Barker argues that, due to low student/teacher ratios, smaller schools (which more vastly populate rural areas than urban areas) are more likely to be learner-centered with strong emphasis placed on individualized and small group instruction.  According to Barker, smallness also permits changes in curricula and organization of instructional materials with relative ease, providing teachers with more autonomy in instructional decisions which may also enhance rates of educator satisfaction (Barker, 2008).

Conversely, researcher Jerry M. Lowe argues in his 2006 publication that, because of teacher working conditions, many small rural school districts across America continue to be majorly concerned with attracting and retaining quality teachers.  According to Lowe, the most critical factor to be considered in teacher recruitment and retention is that schools must be effective and provide teaching and learning environments that are attractive.  He claims that a variety of issues contributes to the problems of recruiting and retaining teachers in small and rural schools, issues which larger, urban school districts have systems in place for addressing.  Lowe states:

A school’s character is determined by how well it consistently reflects local culture, community, and the individual needs and competences of all stakeholders.  No one wants to serve in a school district where the environment for teaching and learning is less than positive.  Local school administrators must create meaning and purpose at work.  They must ensure that ‘the people side of the school’ is the most important and that teachers are empowered by their own efficacy as professionals (Lowe, 2006, p.28).

Lowe emphasizes that rural school districts should follow the lead of larger, urban districts and develop school administrators who are authentic instructional leaders, establish systems of frequently monitoring student progress, invest in quality staff development, budget for teacher recruiting, focus on planning, offer incentives to teachers (such as considering a loan forgiveness plan and providing housing for new teachers), develop marketing strategies, and provide authentic mentoring for new teachers (Lowe, 2006).  In his conclusion, Lowe recognizes budgeting issues are a concern; however, he offers no strategies for overcoming this large obstacle for teacher retention in smaller, rural districts:

Teacher recruitment and retention is of critical importance to most rural school districts.  During these times of small budgets and unfunded federal mandates, it is necessary that rural school districts develop a dynamic structure for finding and keeping good teachers…  To combat this trend, rural districts should consider teacher recruiting and retention to be an integral component of the total school program by initiating bold strategies designed to attract and retain the best teachers possible.  Considering the recruiting effort to be an on-going educational priority will surely enhance the number and quality of the rural school instructional staff (Lowe, 2006, p.31). 

In 2008, researcher John T. Huysman published an award-winning dissertation regarding rural teacher satisfaction.  In it, he establishes that for years, there has been a general consensus that rural schools exist in a unique environment as compared to the balance of other types of schools in public education since they operate under the same laws and with comparable expectations and goals as their urban and suburban counterparts, but without the quantity or quality of support and resources available from a school’s central organization or the local community.  He establishes that teachers and administrators become the main vehicles in rural districts for establishing processes for professional and curriculum development, but that unfortunately, the expertise, experience, talents, commitment, and enthusiasm are typically highly underutilized, contributing to high rates of teacher dissatisfaction in rural areas (Huysman, 2008).  Huysman conducted a mixed-methods study in one rural Florida school district that operated three schools countywide.  Eighty-nine teachers contributed responses to the study which led to Huysman’s conclusions and recommendations:

·         Security, activity, social service, variety, and ability utilization are intrinsic factors which rank highest with job satisfaction.

·         Extrinsic factors of recognition, company policies; opportunities for advancement, co-workers, and compensation most influence rural teacher dissatisfaction.

·         Rural teachers do not feel respected as “homegrown” teachers.

·         In rural districts, “role confusion” exists between homegrown and transplanted teachers which causes rural teachers to question the respect and recognition offered from the administration and their peers, the distribution of power and influence of their peers, and the retention of quality homegrown and transplanted teachers.

·         To increase job satisfaction, district administration should recognize and utilize the expertise and experience of the district’s faculty.

·         An ongoing district-wide teacher recognition program should be designed in addition to the Teacher of the Year program to acknowledge teacher achievements.

·         The county induction program needs to be reviewed, restructured, and funded to provide continuing training and meaningful information to all new teachers, homegrown or transplanted (Huysman, 2008).

Methods, Instrumentation, and Data Collection

The researcher collected quantitative survey data from 40 practicing teachers; 20 from two different rural elementary schools in a small school district, and 20 from three urban schools from two large, urban school districts. When creating the survey questions to be distributed in the study, the researcher referenced the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey (2012) to generate a list of multiple choice survey questions regarding demographic information and teacher job satisfaction specifically related to instructional support, curriculum development, and professional development provided by each respondent’s school district.  The researcher included one open-ended survey question in which teachers could list factors related to either their job satisfaction or dissatisfaction.  The survey was created using Qualtrics software and distributed to teachers as a hyperlink in an email.  School administrators and administrative interns distributed the surveys in each participating school. 

Findings

Of the twenty educators from larger, urban districts who participated in the survey, 50 percent of them had been teaching for five or less years, 40 percent had been teaching between six and 15, and 10 percent had taught for 16 or more years.  Twenty-five percent of teachers were 26 years old or younger, 55 percent were between 27 and 35, 5 percent were between 36 and 45, and 15 percent were 46 or older.  Thirty percent of the urban teachers surveyed were K-2 teachers while the remaining 70 percent taught in grades 3-5. Overall, 20 percent of urban teachers surveyed were very satisfied with their school and district’s instructional improvement practices while 60 percent were satisfied.  Teachers who were satisfied with the levels of instructional support in their schools and districts cited the following reasons for that satisfaction:

·            The staff at their schools

·            Being able to collaborate with their colleagues across the district

·            A principal who is a strong, supportive instructional leader

·            Strong, supportive mentors

One survey participant who was not satisfied with the levels of instructional support in his or her school and district cited the following reason for that dissatisfaction:  support and resources are sufficient at the school level, but not at the district level.

Of the twenty educators from small, rural districts who participated in the survey, 35 percent of them had been teaching for five or less years, 40 percent had been teaching between six and 15, and 25 percent had taught for 16 or more years.  Twenty-five percent of teachers were 26 years old or younger, 30 percent were between 27 and 35, 20 percent were between 36 and 45, and 25 percent were 46 or older.  Thirty-five percent of the rural teachers surveyed were K-2 teachers while the remaining 65 percent taught in grades 3-5. 

           

Overall, two percent of rural teachers surveyed were very satisfied with their school and district’s instructional improvement practices while 70 percent were satisfied.  Interestingly, this pattern somewhat aligned with data from the survey question regarding autonomy in the classroom: 37 percent of rural educators surveyed were very satisfied with the autonomy their small school and district allows them in the classroom while 63 percent of the teachers were satisfied; no teachers were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the level of autonomy they enjoy in their classrooms.  Teachers who were satisfied with the levels of instructional support in their schools and districts cited the following reasons for that satisfaction:

·            Having workdays built in during the school year for professional development
·            Having PLC time during the instructional day to collaborate
·            Receiving CASE 21 (benchmark) scores quickly after administering tests
·            Curriculum specialists for each elementary school
·            Personal connections with district personnel, such as curriculum directors
·            Autonomy in making instructional decisions at the classroom level
·            Wealth and variety of resources provided
·            Family atmosphere
·            A strong principal

Teachers who were not satisfied with the levels of instructional support in their schools and districts cited the following reasons for that dissatisfaction: 

·         Lack of communication between schools

·         Too much theory in professional development (needs more hands-on approaches)

·         Lack of support from the district level in implementation of instructional practices

·         Too much focus on testing, scores, and research rather than meaningful approaches

·         On-site curriculum specialists will not be rehired next year due to budget cuts

·         Feeling lost as a first-year teacher

·         Lack of communication between district-level and teachers

·         Need more time to study provided resources

In rural districts, “role confusion” exists between homegrown and transplanted teachers which causes rural teachers to question the respect and recognition offered from the administration and their peers, the distribution of power and influence of their peers, and the retention of quality homegrown and transplanted teachers.

·         To increase job satisfaction, district administration should recognize and utilize the expertise and experience of the district’s faculty.

·         An ongoing district-wide teacher recognition program should be designed in addition to the Teacher of the Year program to acknowledge teacher achievements.

·         The county induction program needs to be reviewed, restructured, and funded to provide continuing training and meaningful information to all new teachers, homegrown or transplanted (Huysman, 2008).

 Implications for Teachers and School Leaders

The most surprising pattern in this study’s data is the fact that most of teacher dissatisfaction from both large, urban and small, rural districts come from the least experienced teachers, which indicates that school organizations of all types need to nurture their beginning educators and allocate time and resources for their professional development.  This may prove to be most difficult for small, rural schools and districts and resources are more limited than in larger, urban districts, but educators as well as school and district leaders would fare well to utilize technology, particularly online mentoring, collaboration, and professional development, to strengthen the practices of their beginning teachers. The practice of online mentoring and collaborating for educators is currently being implemented all over the United States.  E-Mentoring for Student Success, a program created by the Santa Cruz, California-based New Teacher Center, is beginning to gain ground as a new tactic for teacher support as states and districts seek ways to keep beginning teachers in the practice.  Currently, users benefiting from the service attribute the program’s success to the fact that rural participants have been able to overcome two factors that rural educators typically find challenging in collaboration and professional development: geography and time.  The program’s goal is to learn how technology could support teachers during the most difficult first few years in a classroom, and it has expanded to include support from the United States Department of Education (Sawchuck, 2013).    Districts and schools could benefit from this approach by surveying the needs of their faculty and staff, particularly those of beginning teachers and creating online forums and sites tailored to the specific needs of those educators.  Not only would this provide the instructional resources and support beginning teachers require, but it also would increase communication between users, which could include teachers in the same schools, different schools but within the same district, and teachers of different districts.  This could help address the teacher concern of lack of communication between district leaders, schools, and educators. 

Limitations of Study

 The major limitation of this study was the time constraint.  The researcher only had eight weeks to create and distribute the survey questions and gather and analyze results.  Having more time to conduct the research could have provided the opportunity for a larger sample size and better survey results, which would have led to stronger conclusions.  With more time and a larger sample size, the researcher would have included more qualitative data in the results in order to better inform recommendations for teachers and school leaders.  The researcher would have also conducted subsequent research on beginning teacher satisfaction in rural areas versus urban school districts, if the data from the larger sample size produced the same pattern of results as this study.  Additionally, the researcher would have liked to gather quantitative and qualitative data from school and district leaders from the schools involved in this study to gather detailed information about how professional development resources are allocated and used comparatively.  Future studies on this topic can also focus on the efficacy of online-based mentoring programs and their impacts on both urban and rural educators.

Conclusions

 Based on the data from this research, the researcher concluded that veteran teachers from small, rural districts and large, urban districts are fairly satisfied with the professional development instructional support practices at their respective teaching assignments, and that beginning teachers from both types of schools and districts are the most dissatisfied; thus, schools and districts should focus financial and human resources on beginning teacher development.  Technology and internet-based programs for teacher support could benefit educators from all types of schools and districts and could help overcome any financial, time, and geographic barriers to providing beginning teachers the instructional support they need early in their careers.  Further research should be conducted on the development and efficacy of such programs.  

References

Barker, B. (2008).  The advantages of small schools.  Educational Resource Information Center U. S. Department of Education.  Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Advantages_Small/

Huysman, John. T. (2008).  Rural teacher satisfaction: An analysis of beliefs and attitudes of rural teachers’ job satisfaction.  The Rural Educator, Winter 2008, 31-38.  Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ869291

Lowe, Jerry M.  (2006).  Rural education: Attracting and retaining teachers in small schools.  The Rural Educator, Winter 2006, 28-32.  Retrieved from http://www.ruraleducator.net/archive/27-2/27-2_Lowe.pdf

Redding, S., & Walberg, H. J. (2012).  Promoting Learning in rural schools.  Center on Innovation & Improvement.  Retrieved from http://www.adi.org/about/downloads/Promoting_Learning_in_Rural_Schools.pdf

Sawchuk, S. (2013). For rural teachers, support is a click away.  Education Week.  Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/08/28/02mentor.h33.html?tkn=WZMFCYEQYp1x%2B7vSrJyBlQL%2FkOq7aZcx%2Bz6o&cmp=ENL-TU-NEWS2

Privatizing Education? I think not!

The NC school voucher program (AKA- school choice) worries me.  A lot.  What if it's just the beginning of the demise of public education as we know it?  The government does have a right to tax citizens to pay for schools; this does not violate the individual rights of those citizens who do not have children in public schools because public education is a service that will always be available for families, whether they choose to employ it or not.  One of our society’s collective values is a free and public education for all, and we are one of the only countries in the world that believes in this level of equity, even though we sometimes have to pay for it with excellence.  Not having every citizen monetarily contribute to sustaining this value, whether they have children in the public education system or not, would be violating a defining element of our society.  Some argue that only parents have the right and obligation to provide their children with education they deem appropriate, and that the government has no right to interfere with those decisions, but this stance completely discounts the vast numbers of students who do not have much parental support at home.

If the United States chose to implement a school financing policy in which each child’s parents were solely responsible for providing the appropriate level of education for their children, the achievement gap that exists between to financially advantaged and the financially disadvantaged would grow.  Without a system in place in which the government ensures that each individual has access to equal educational rights, students with parents who either do not care about their children, are unable to make sound parental decisions, or do not have financial means to provide an education, will most likely remain in a never-ending cycle of poverty and ignorance.  Not only would such a system emasculate the rights of its citizens, but it would also undermine thousands of professionals this country relies on to provide public education services. 

Well-Educated: What Does It Mean?

Anyone who has studied the works of John Searle knows his definition of intellect.  I agree with his characteristics of a well-educated person, that he or she knows the origins of his or her cultural traditions, the basics of natural sciences, society, philosophy and one foreign language, and the essentials of verbal communication; however, this definition omits three very important aspects of education; pattern recognition, athleticism, and artistic inclination. 

While the definition does mention knowing enough philosophy to be able to use tools of logical analysis, it does not include math concepts.  Would Searle prefer that our math teachers taught philosophy instead and hoped that students could work out math basics upon high school graduation?  Personally, I have known several people with advanced degrees who were considered to be “well-educated” but who were also terrible with money management. 

Also, while this definition does mention that a well-educated person knows enough about natural sciences to not be a stranger in the world, it fails to include knowing about the human body and athleticism.  Certainly, the most talented athletes in the world are well-educated, even if by a different definition.  In my four years of teaching, I have witnessed students struggling in their core classes but who act ingeniously on the football field and basketball courts.

Finally, the definition fails to mention an artistic talent or appreciation.  Certainly, society would consider our artistic geniuses, such as Mozart, Picasso, and Gregory Peck, to be well-educated.  Just as I have witnessed students excel in athletics but struggle with core subjects, so I have I witnessed students mastering art while struggling in other academic areas.  Thus, there are other ways to be a well-educated person.  What world the be like if there was only one kind of smart?  Or only five kinds of smart?

Nationally Controlled Schools: Do We Need Saving?

In 2010, Davis Guggenheim released a controversial documentary about the current crises engulfing public education (Waiting for Superman). The documentary cites many sources of problems impacting the education of America’s children; the main question presented, however, is how a system of education can function effectively and efficiently when so many different governing bodies have dominating influences on such a system; today’s American public schools have to abide by complicated mandates from local, state, and national levels, and educators are overwhelmed with how often new initiatives are implemented that will “save” the system. Though more and more initiatives are employed from each level, few ever get taken out of the equation. Thus, the focus of education becomes appeasing the system of mandates, not the individual learner.

 Moving from a state governed system to a nationally based system of education in the United States would alleviate some educator and student stress because stakeholders would have just one set of standards to meet; schools could narrow their focuses on what the United States collectively value as important information and skills for America’s students, and teachers could spend more time identifying student needs and differentiating instruction. Although a nationally-based educational system would include standardized tests, the general public would finally understand the system and know who to hold accountable for the learning of students in the United States. While some argue that one set of national standards could not possibly “fit” every student in the American public education system, this view fails to realize that with only one set of standards and expectations to follow, educators would have more time, resources, and energy to strengthen their relationships with students and communities, and differentiate instruction to best fit learner needs.  What's worth more to us: clarity, or autonomy?