Voice, Choice, and Action: The Potential of Young Citizens to Heal Democracy
by Felton Earls & Mary Carlson, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 2020, 319 pp. with index, $27.95 hardcover

2020 has shown our world in need of learning and healing. Voice, Choice, and Action: The Potential of Young Citizens to Heal Democracy by two Harvard Medical School professors is what we need right now to help us harness the energy of our students and help them change our world for the better. Felton Earls, professor emeritus of social medicine, and Mary Carlson, retired associate professor of psychiatry, developed a four-part program to teach children how to advocate for the changes they believe need to happen in their communities and helped them develop the skills to go forth and make those changes. 

The authors studied children in Chicago housing projects, Romanian leagăns, Tanzania and the Brazilian streets, learning and sharing the essential capabilities for children to make a difference in the world. Only in the case of the Romanian leagăns did the initial lack of nurturing and human contact had an irreversible effect on the children’s future. Even under conditions of extreme poverty, lack of family structure, violence or illness, the children were interested, excited and successful in making their communities better for everyone. 

If children can teach their communities in Tanzania about HIV/AIDS, working to end the stigma of a sexually transmitted disease, children can make our world a better place. The focus for the children was learning about human rights and citizenship. They learned that their voices mattered and that they could choose to improve conditions for themselves, their families and their communities through their actions. 

This book reads like a research study and is recommended for anyone looking to be inspired by what all children can do to make positive changes in their communities. 

Reviewed by Nancy Wagner, superintendent, River Trails School District 26, Mt. Prospect, Ill.

Lean Out: The Truth About Women, Power, and the Workplace
by Marissa Orr, Harper Collins Leadership, Nashville, Tenn., 2020, 240 pp., $19.99 softcover

In Lean Out: The Truth About Women, Power, and the Workplace, Marissa Orr gives readers a glimpse of the challenges between genders in the workplace. She explains how an organization’s culture reflects their leaders’ values, as well as the dangers of gender dominant groups and their influence on those who are trying to find their voice within their role.

In this book, Orr reveals personal stories about her experiences at Google and Facebook, bringing the reader along on her journey with inviting humor, incorporating research from behavioral science and management studies. Her experiences will challenge readers to question preconceived notions related to the gender gap, unpacking its roots, and providing potential solutions. 

Written in a memoir style, Orr encourages readers who are looking to grow in their careers to strive to be themselves and stay true to their voices and values instead of pretending to be someone they’re not. While many of her arguments might appear to be simple, she supports them with data and personal stories from her days in the corporate world. Lean Out is more than a book that inspires its readers to aim for the top, but also encourages them to find their passion and lean towards their true purpose.

Orr’s experiences show that leaning out is not about abandoning a career or quit mentally; but more about shifting our perspectives, personally and professionally. While most of the anecdotes take place in Silicon Valley, anyone in a leadership role can learn about the impact of shifting power away from themselves towards environments that bring harmony. Lean Out is a call for those looking to use their voice and work together towards a common goal.

Reviewed by Lynmara Colón, director of English learner programs and services, Prince William County Public Schools, Manassas, Va.

 

The Power of Disability: Ten Lessons for Surviving, Thriving and Changing the World
by Ed Etmanski, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Oakland, Calif., 2020, 200 pp., $19.95 softcover

Ed Etmanski is a community organizer, writer, and father of a daughter with a disability, which has also made him a parent advocate in his native British Columbia. When he realized that he couldn’t cure his daughter Liz’s Down Syndrome he came to the deeper understanding that she was complete as she was and didn’t need her father to “fix” her. By listening to his daughter and others in the disabled community, Ed began collecting stories of people all over the world, famous and unknown, who ably represent the one in seven people in the world with a disability. Those stories became the basis of this book.

Etmanski says the one in seven number means that people with disabilities are the world’s largest minority group, and their voices have often been overlooked. He says people with disabilities “are the authoritative sources for creativity, resilience, love, resistance, dealing with adversity and living a good life” with a disability. The book challenges the reader to think beyond disability stereotypes and learn from the authentic voices of people who courageously find ways to build better lives for themselves and others. 

Some of the stories featured well-known people like Michael J. Fox, Joni Mitchell, and Muhammad Ali. Peter Dinklage has become known for his work on Game of Thrones for which Dinklage vetoed a plan to make his character look like a stereotypical long-bearded dwarf. As a result, Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister became a much more complex and powerful character.

Other people were less well-known, but often had even more complex lives that are exhausting just to read about. Aimee Mullins lost both legs at age one yet became a Paralympics athlete, a fashion model, an actress, has 12 pairs of prosthetic legs and has given TED talks viewed by seven million people.

In addition to stories of resilience, the author presents some general disability etiquette that will be helpful for all educators and those they teach, including hurtful words to avoid like the “R-word.” He encourages putting the person before the disability, e.g. “a person with a disability,” not “a disabled person.” However, he also cites many people who take pride in putting their disability first. In one of her TED talks, Temple Grandin says, “If I could snap my fingers and be non-autistic, I would not. Autism is part of what I am.” 

The disability movement interacts with every other identity that is used to classify people and the author believes, “This predisposes people in the disability world to understand differences as a natural part of life to be welcomed and celebrated, not curtailed or cured.” As educators, maybe coming to terms with our disabilities and the disabilities of those we educate can help all of us move beyond surviving and thriving and move forward to changing the world.

Reviewed by Bob Schultz, retired superintendent, Davis, Calif.

Leading from the Trenches: What It Takes to Become an Instructional Leader
by Stephen V. Newton, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., 2018, 149 pp., $160 softcover

In Leading from the Trenches: What It Takes to Become an Instructional Leader, Stephen V. Newton reminds us that if schools are indeed places where instructional excellence changes lives, then leadership that is anchored by instructional wisdom serves our teachers and students best. And that type of instructional leadership can only happen when principals and teachers work shoulder to shoulder in the places and spaces where instruction happens, in the classroom. 

The leadership that Newton imagines is informed by the process and the context in which schooling happens. Specifically, the author notes the processes that are associated with high impact teaching. Those processes also highlight how the instructional leaders, being an expert teacher themselves, must find ways for both the reluctant and expert teachers to grow, to reflect, and to realize potential.

Equally important as a contributor to successful school leadership is the presence of someone who understands the culture, the code, the nuances of the school site. It is the last notion that strikes me as remarkable and important: Schools are not often successful when run like a business, by a business-minded person. 

For Newton, schools are social spaces that manufacture habits of mind, that ignite imaginations, and that unlock hidden potential for both students and teachers. For him, school leaders would do well to wage an instructional battle on student and teacher complacency in the classroom. The needs are many and complex and the time to address this challenge is short. But there is a way — and Newton’s book offers a map.

Newton uses words that I sometimes associate with military leadership (e.g., enlists, trenches, surveying landscape, leading the reluctant) and in so doing he reminds me of a piece by four-star general Colin Powell in which Powell noted that when soldiers stop bringing leadership their problems, that is the day that leaders have stopped leading. “They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” For Newton, the best instructional leader for today’s schools may be the one who has come through the ranks, who has earned respect by doing the work faithfully and fully, who remains connected to those in the trenches, and who cares deeply. The author believes the battle for the hearts and minds of children can be won but the crisis in schools is upon us, and we must act now. 

Newton’s book is real, authentic and familiar to anyone who spends time in a classroom. If it is in the classroom and with teachers that instructional leadership happens best, then his writing challenges us to go there, to be present with what is happening in schools, and to rally the troops to build on the many successes rather than being dragged down by negative energy and people. Doing this work, he says, might require a shift in the traditional priorities of many principals from management to instructional leadership. But that type of shift in leadership mindset is how we emerge from the trenches, victorious.

Reviewed by Zach Kelehear, vice provost for instruction, Augusta University, Augusta, Ga.

 

 

Curriculum-Based PD

The Carnegie Corporation of New York released a challenge paper titled “The Elements: Transforming Teaching through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning” that outlines expectations and actions for school leaders and teacher development organizations.

The report includes parameters and settings for curriculum-based professional learning.

Dual Enrollment

The National Center for Education Statistics released a new report describing dual or concurrent enrollment in U.S. public schools for the 2017-18 school year.

Among schools with dual enrollment, funding was provided most often by the school, district or state (78 percent) followed by the family or the student (42 percent) or some other entity (10 percent). Dual enrollment may have multiple funding sources.

Youth with Disabilities

The Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth has published an interactive website examining response to COVID-19 for youth with disabilities in all 50 states.

According to the center, states have supported these students’ needs via distance learning, assistive technology, telehealth and more.

Parents as Educators

The American Educational Research Association published a study that finds roughly 51 percent of parents surveyed last spring reported at least one child struggling with distance learning.

These parents were also more likely to report experiencing anxiety, depression, worry and trouble sleeping than other parents.

Teacher Residencies

The Learning Policy Institute released a report examining California’s teacher residencies and their programs’ strategies for working toward financial sustainability.

In 2018-19, California set aside $75 million to establish a Teacher Residency Grant Program. This and other lessons from the state can be applied elsewhere.

District Reopenings

A short report with findings from a review of school district reopening and recovery plans nationwide has been produced by the Center for Reinventing Public Education.

The findings cover expectations and resource transparency, connectivity and instructional technology, and support of students, staff and families. The study is following 20 districts through the 2020-21 year.

The report is titled “Getting Back to School: An Update on Plans from Across the Country.”

AASA RESOURCES

Women Leaders

With March serving as National Women’s History Month, AASA is promoting its program initiatives in support of female education leaders.

These include the National Women’s Leadership Consortium and the Aspiring Superintendent Academy — for Female Leaders. Information on these programs can be found at www.aasa.org.

Magazine’s Themes

AASA’s monthly magazine has announced its monthly editorial themes for upcoming issues during the second half of 2021, along with submission deadlines for prospective articles:

»SEPTEMBER: School personnel issues; superintendent turnover (March 10)
»OCTOBER: Creativity and the arts (April 1)
»NOVEMBER: Vulnerable student populations (May 1)
»DECEMBER: Accelerating adult learning (June 1)

Find guidelines for article submissions at www.aasa.org/AuthorGuidelineMagazine.aspx.