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CONTENTS

President’s Letter – Page 2

Instructional Coaching - Pages 3-5

Book Review: Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools – Page 5

Spotlight on: Robert Magliano- Pages 6-8

Commentary: Technology in Education – Pages 9-10

Sponsors – Pages 11-13

Spring Event Flyer – Page 14

The Delaware Valley Region

Pennsylvania Association for

Supervision And

Curriculum Development

Save the Date! DVR - PASCD SPRING EVENT

TEACHING AND LEADING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Tuesday, April 29, 2014 4:00-6:30 P.M. Cabrini College, Radnor, PA

https://www.smore.com/yy124

PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss LLeetttteerr

To submit articles, information, or feedback, please contact: Meredith Denovan Mbd820@gmail.com

Delaware Valley Region PASCD Officers

Colleen Lelli….…………….....President Linda Bluebello……......President-Elect Rina Vassallo ….……....Past President Dorie Martin…..………..Vice-President Helene Duckett ….…….…...Secretary Robert Magliano…………..…Treasurer

The Delaware Valley Region of the

Pennsylvania Association for Supervision

and Curriculum Development

(DVR-PASCD)

Presents

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President’s Letter

March, 2014

Dear DVR-PASCD Members,

Happy March! As March is underway, we are busy planning our spring event. The

event is entitled, Teaching and Leading in the Digital Age and will be held

Tuesday April 29th at Cabrini College in Radnor, PA from 4-6:30. This is a

collaborative effort with the Sigma Rho Education Honor Society from Cabrini

College and Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and

Technology. Topics for this fabulous event include:

Building Your Professional Learning Network (PLN) Online

Creating a Connected, Transparent Learning Organization

Flipped Learning for Instruction and Professional Development

Amazing Apps: Exciting Educational Apps for Today's Classroom

Cautious Communications: Personal and Professional

Our annual business meeting will take place prior to the presentation and we will

announce our Snag in the River award and Person of Promise Award. Don’t miss

this fabulous event! Complete the registration form by accessing the hyperlink

below: (https://www.smore.com/yy124

I am looking forward to seeing many of you there for this timely and important

presentation.

In the meantime, feel free to contact us for information, propose ideas for region

events and/or to see how you can get involved in this fine organization. We look

forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Colleen Lelli

Delaware Valley Region-PASCD President

colleenlelli@yahoo.com or CL724@cabrini.edu

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Instructional Coaching: The Essential Bridge for Professional Development Evolving into Professional Learning.

Submitted by: Dorie Martin, Ed.D., Vice-­­President DVR-­­PASCD.

A collaborative series of articles by Ellen Eisenberg, Executive Director of

Pennsylvania Institute of Instructional Coaching (PIIC), Erin Saunders,

Communications Coordinator for PIIC, and Dorie Martin, PIIC Mentor Coach,

MCIU.

In 1990, Dennis Sparks (former executive director of NSDC, now Learning

Forward) made several predictions about staff development (or professional

development as we may call it). Many of these predictions have come true. What

really resonates, however, are not the predictions but his conclusion, “Staff

development… must be at the forefront of education’s efforts to prepare all this

nation’s youth for life in the 21st century. That means that individuals who believe

that staff development must play a central role in improvement efforts will need to

make their voices heard…”

School administrators and other school leaders continually look for ways to

improve school wide practices that yield positive student growth. Many have a

series of “drop in” professional development sessions or isolated sessions targeting

the “flavor of the day.” Not surprising, these types of professional development are

ineffective and often result in disenfranchised faculty members grumbling that

“this, too, shall pass.”

One way to ensure that professional development is recognized as critical for

student success is to design a learning plan that is collaborative, ongoing,

deliberate, and relevant. That learning plan must be considered vital to school

improvement and honor the teachers’ voices in deciding what is critical to that

school’s growth. However, this is only one part of the overall process for school

improvement. School administrators need to think with the end in mind in terms of

how their educational system will sustain the professional learning while also

providing supports for continual growth.

Professional development in schools refers to the processes used in promoting

professional learning, the context of the professional development and the

resources needed that support it. Although it is a vital part of the process,

professional development alone is not enough. Schools must consider how

professional development differs from professional learning and understand that

both are needed in school wide planning. Professional learning refers to the

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outcomes; that is, what is learned, how deeply it is learned, and how well it is

applied in classrooms (dennissparks.wordpress.com). In other words,

professional development is to professional learning as teaching is to student

learning. The more effective the professional development, the more effective

the professional learning.

Instructional coaching supports the bridging of professional development to

professional learning through one-on-one, on-site assistance to sustain the learning

and begin to build capacity among those educational professionals within a school

system.

Instructional coaches help embed effective professional development into daily

practice; they are not promoters of the one-day workshops anointing participants

with some knowledge and then hoping that something from the session is learned

and repeated. Instead, instructional coaches differentiate their support to the staff

and help them focus on understanding the new learnings, building new skills, and

then using their new knowledge appropriately. They provide the staff with ample

opportunities for collaboration, critical thinking, and collective problem solving.

Instructional coaches hold all accountable for the learning. In fact, coached

teachers adapted strategies more appropriately and made them “their own” more

often and more successfully than those teachers who did not receive coaching

because they had the opportunities to discuss their practice both before and after

the actual class sessions

(http://literacy.kent.edu/coaching/information/Research/randd-engaged-joyce.pdf).

Additionally, instructional coaching provides the non-evaluative support that

promotes reflect practice among teachers.

Ongoing peer discussions create an environment that recognizes the importance of

effective professional development and its relationship to effective professional

learning. Teachers can be provided with a plethora of strategies, activities,

techniques, and “tricks of the trade” but without ongoing follow up discussion

about practice, learning does not change.

According to Killion (2014) Leaders within schools need to "distribute expertise

among staff" by thoughtfully selecting and purposefully building the capacity of

staff within the school to increase the diffusion of expertise. Schools will

eventually benefit from multiple experts rather than a single expert such as an

instructional coach. Instructional coaches assist in nurturing the growth of

professional learning and the development of more teachers with enhanced

instructional expertise.

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The ultimate outcome of professional development which leads to student

improvement requires a culture of growth.

Killion, J. (2014, February), Professional learning's spillover effect is real-and a

real opportunity for school and systems leaders. Learning Forward, 35(1) 65-66

BOOK REVIEW Submitted by: Carolyn L. Berenato, Executive Board Member DVR-PASCD In Diane Ravitch’s new book Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization

Movement and the Danger to America’s Public School (2013), she purports “ The

public (American) schools are working very well for most students.” She points

out that over the last few decades high school dropout rates have declined.

Average test scores have risen and it is not quantified that American students

actually lag behind their foreign counterparts in science proficiency. Ravitch does

agree with the fact that American school performance by the minority of students

who grow up poor or live in segregated neighborhoods are disproportionately

weaker compared to the wealthier counterparts.

For Ravitch, “public school education is about knowledge, about learning, about

developing character, and about creating citizens for our society”. In recent years,

Ravitch has become very strong advocate against school reform. Ravitch is

considered to be one of the leading historians of primary and secondary education.

She opposes many of the initiatives of President Barack Obama and the Secretary

of Education, Arne Duncan. I recommend reading this book to find out about

Ravitch’s opinion on the reformers seeking to tie teacher salaries to student test

scores, the recruiting of young and inexperienced college graduates to teach in

struggling schools, and funding programs to allow students to use American tax

dollars to attend private schools.

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Spotlight On: Robert F. Magliano, Ed.D

Submitted by: Rina Vassallo, Ed.D., Past President, DVR-­­PASCD

This month we spotlight our most experienced and enthusiastic DVR-PASCD

Executive Board member- Dr. Robert Magliano. Bob’s career in education has

spanned 4 decades where he negotiated numerous changes in policies, statutes and

legislation. For the last 20 years, Bob has served admirably on our Executive

Board. He is the longest tenured member of the Board and thus by default and his

vast knowledge our unofficial historian. Besides the keeper of our organization’s

culture and customs, Bob has served several other roles on our board as Secretary

for six years and Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee for the last

decade, as well as various Ad Hoc Committees.

Bob is a native Philadelphian, who attended Philadelphia public schools then

completed his education in the city attending Temple University where he received

his BA, as well as his Masters and Doctoral Degrees in Educational

Administration.

Philadelphia is where he served as an elementary grade teacher, elementary and

middle school principal, and as the Director of Federal and State Programs expertly

managing over 100 million dollars in program funds.

As the Federal Programs Administrator in Philadelphia, Bob achieved significant

milestones. They include:

Coordinated the efforts of a federal programs administrative team that

secured $1.5 billion of Title I funding for The School District of

Philadelphia providing services which addressed thousands of public and

nonpublic school students’ instructional and social service needs.

In response to the Aguilar vs. Felton Supreme Court decision in 1985 which

mandated the removal of all Title I federally funded instructional services

from the premises of nonpublic schools, worked with nonpublic school

authorities to totally redesign the six million dollar Title I Program to

provide services outside school buildings in vans and trailers and inside with

integrated learning systems.

Worked in the development of 171 Title I Schoolwide Programs.

Schoolwide programs require site-based management, shared decision

making, and enable schools to develop a school plan which integrates Title I

with regular education efforts, allowing for the commingling of funds and

the flexibility to serve all students with Title I resources.

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Presented to and served as a resource to the United States Department of

Education Region B Title I Technical Assistance Center, which provides

technical assistance to school districts and state departments of education in

six states in the Mid-Atlantic region with regard to planning,

implementation, and evaluation of Title I Programs.

Served as Title I program consultant and resource to several state

departments of education, e.g., PA, OH, NJ, HI, PR, IN, AZ, MD, DE, MS.

Worked with the Hawaii state department of education in the planning and

development of Schoolwide projects across the state.

Wrote numerous papers re: Federal and state programs, school planning and

restructuring, and served as a speaker at many state and national

conferences.

Lectured in the Department of Educational Administration at Temple

University.

Served as the President of Pennsylvania Association of Federal Program

Coordinators, a state association of more than 800 federal program

administrators.

Bob also received several noteworthy awards in his career: Recognition for the

M.H. Stanton Elementary School, a Title I inner-city school, which served as the

basis for “I Am a Promise: the Children of the Stanton Elementary School,” Best

Feature Documentary—Academy Award, March, 1994, thirteen awards from the

United States Department of Education for Unusually Effective Title I Programs,

and a special commendation from Dr. Constance Clayton, Superintendent of The

School District of Philadelphia, regarding an outstanding U. S. Department of

Education evaluation of the citywide Title I Program.

Besides his service to DVR which as treasurer includes managing our budget,

getting sources of income for our events and awards and occasionally asking very

pointed questions Bob, as a retiree, also finds the time and energy to consult, to

serve as President of the Advisory Board for the Academic Development Program

at West Chester University, and to volunteer one day a week as a docent in the

main conservatory at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square where he satisfies his

incredible passion for flowers and gardening.

Meredith Denovan, currently our newsletter editor, who has served on the board

over a decade has this to say about Bob: "Bob has been Treasurer for DVR-

PASCD for as long as I can remember. We all tease him that he will be Treasurer-

for-Life. Seriously, he does an outstanding job in both prodding us to solicit

sponsors and ensuring that we spend our money wisely. Bob is highly organized

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and gives his all to any job that he tackles. The DVR-PASCD organization is lucky

to have someone as committed to the organization as Bob is."

Colleen Lelli, our current president is also effusive about Bob’s exceptional

expertise and the ongoing assistance he has provided over her tenure as president.

“Bob has been an integral leading force for the DVR Board for many years. We

appreciate his wisdom and institutional memory. He is truly an asset.”

As past president (2007 through 2011) I found Bob to be my go-to person on the

board. Whether it was a question about past practice or the mind-boggling details

re the Strategic Plan or the Constitution he could always be counted on to get back

to me in a timely manner and with absolute accuracy. I couldn’t imagine trying to

navigate the role without him.

So it is with great pleasure we profile our longest and most devoted board member

and we sincerely hope he will continue to serve in his many roles.

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COMMENTARY Dr. Robert Magliano DVR-PASCD Treasurer

Technology, technology, technology! How can we get teachers to use it more?

Good question which undoubtedly comes up over and over again. I found what

appears to be a pretty good answer in a recent blog in the Huffington Post by Rob

Furman, Principal of South Park Elementary School in South Park, PA. Rob has

been in education for 17 years and a principal for 11 of those years. He is a

columnist for the Huffington Post, an online news aggregator, and he was recently

honored as a “20 to Watch” in the field of educational technology by the National

School Board Association.

Mr. Furman suggests several ways that schools can help teachers feel comfortable

using classroom technology—a system he refers to as T.E.R.M.S. He suggests

giving teachers the time to be properly trained, encouraging teachers along the

way, giving teachers adequate resources, modeling the use of technology and

sharing success.

As we know, it’s not easy to get teachers to feel comfortable when using new

technologies. According to Rob Furman, a common question is, “Where do I

start?” Mr. Furman’s solution, if you want teachers to use technology, is to

approach it on their T.E.R.M.S.!

Specifically, this is Furman’s formula:

Time: The first thing you have to consider when introducing new technology is

the need for TIME. Teachers need to learn the ins and outs of the program if they

are to teach it or use it themselves. They need to be comfortable with the

technology so they feel confident in teaching it to their students or using it with

their students. So administrators need to make sure that teachers have enough time

to practice and learn the new technology before expecting them to incorporate it

into their lessons.

Encouragement: As with any good teaching/learning experience, you need to

ENCOURAGE your teachers to do their best and enjoy the experience. Many

veteran teachers may be reluctant to dive into new technology. Give them the

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necessary encouragement and reinforcement to practice using the technology in a

non-intimidating environment.

Resources: From a veteran technology user to the person who is being asked to

use email for the first time, nothing is more frustrating than broken or

malfunctioning computers. Make sure that when you ask your teachers/students to

use technology that they have the necessary RESOURCES to be successful. This

would include not only the actual hardware being used, but also the web sites.

Make sure beforehand that the websites you want your teachers/students to use are

not blocked by content filters and always make sure the technology is appropriate

for school use.

Modeling: MODELING has always been and continues to be an excellent

teaching strategy, and this is especially true when using technology. If you are

teaching a group about this new app and how it would work in the classroom, then

you need to be using it. Model the type of teacher you want to see when you go to

observe your staff and use the technology you want them to use. As a principal

working in a professional development situation, your teachers are your students.

You cannot expect them to teach their students any differently than you choose to

teach them. Take advantage of those professional development opportunities by

modeling good teaching techniques.

Share success: It is so important to be positive with your staff. You want to

celebrate and SHARE their success. It is just human nature that we want to be

validated and acknowledged for a job well done. When using technology, you may

have to celebrate even the tiniest success. Remember success breeds success.

Okay, there you have it. Now all you have to do is put it into practice.

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SPONSORS Delaware Valley Region PASCD receives generous support from the following

organizations:

Temple University wants to partner

with you to create a customized

professional development program

which addresses the needs of your

organization.

Possible topics may include

• Developing Language and Literacy in the Early

Childhood Classroom

• Finding Deeper Meaning in Children's Drawings

• Differentiated Literacy Instruction

• Teaching Reading, Writing, and Literature to

Exceed the Common Core State Standards

• Adolescent Literature for Diverse Learners

• Positive Behavior Support/RTI

• Classroom Management

• Functional Behavioral Assessment

• Progress Monitoring/Curriculum-based

Measurement

• Transition and Collaboration

• Developing Deep Understanding and Flexible

Problem Solving in the Elementary and

Secondary Mathematics Classroom

• Inquiry-based Science Instruction

• Teaching African American History

• Support of ESL Learners in Mainstream Classes

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