Promising+Future

Synthesis - Promising Future - [|Meghan] [|Chrissy] [|Justin] [|Katie]

However, is this really practical or even achievable by our schools? || There seems to be a lot of contradictions here between our hopes for Maine's Secondary Education system and what we actually have in so far as resources, motivation on the part of both parents, teachers, and administration, and how we can effectively monitor and/or enforce these new practices. It is true that things like separations between content areas, strict schedules, lack of student involvement in deciding what they will learn and how, and the gap between our schools and the communities that they serve, prevent us from having a truly effective education system. However, the solutions offered by this publication would take a complete overhaul in our state's system, which is a tall order for a state with limited funds, gaping disparities in the socioeconomic status between towns and districts, and a generally apathetic attitude towards schooling by the general public. Maine is a state that is a bit old fashioned still, and there are far too many areas who are so cut off from resources that these applications may never reach them. Establishing a system that would effectively develop and implement the practices set forth by the Maine Commission would be so costly, both in the sense of money and in time, that I doubt we will ever see a cohesive shift in the way our state approaches secondary education. I know this sounds fatalist, but we have had so many failures our state's system that it is hard to see a 52 page study doing much in the way of reforming such a broken and worn system in which there is little internal motivation to change. That being said, I do strongly agree with a few points set forth here. I like the progressive ideas behind the study as a whole, with things like Core Practices 2, 3, and 4 encouraging cross-discipline collaboration and learning, hands-on activities, and problem solving and critical thinking skill development being emphasized. I also think that Core Practice 11 & 12 are excellent; it is so important for our teachers in the public school system to be life long learners and experts in both their content area and in the field of education. Teachers should have the resources to continue learning, and the support of the administration to do so. If our teachers are not prepared, then aren't we just having the blind lead the blind? I think that at the very core of every education system there needs to be good teachers- excellent teachers- who are not only passionate about their content but about the art of teaching itself, and I think that this is the first, and perhaps the easiest, change we need to make in our public education systems. After we create this revolution, all of the other pieces, from student interest to community and parental involvement to the way our schools are run, will change. ||
 * **Name** || **Abstract** || **Reflection** ||
 * Brann Meghan || After reading the Promising Futures text I can not imagine a school saying no to a great project like this. The 15 core practices totally make sense to me as a future teacher. I like how they broke down the 15 core practices in 1-8 being about the educators, parents, students and school committees. Then having the 9-15 practices being for educators, school committees, and professional associations. Each core practice is broken down into a rationale and then essential elements; which I found very helpful. Also in the margins of each practice they display what other core practices this one practice also fulfills. || I think this programs gives hope to a lot of teachers out there who feels like they are always doing the same things or even different things and still not reaching their students. Each teachers would only have a maximum of 80 students instead of the average of 120. This alone I think would make a huge difference in schools. I also like the fact that the very first practices is " every students is respected and valued by adults and by fellow students." To me that is a great first foot to start the program out on. Now when I go out in search for a job I will for sure be looking into the schools core beliefs and practices. ||
 * Brissette Samantha || Promising futures is a movement that seeks to improve education by implementing fundamental “core” practices that schools should have been practicing already. The most different from current procedures is their idea of having “family groups” spend an hour together each day to have the teachers help their students through the entire high school process. They also state that day, year and week should pretty much be unlimited, that the learning going on takes precedent over all time constraints. They go on to describe many other core principles both for student learning and school support. || I didn’t read this as the ground breaking movement it seems like it was meant to be, but as a booklet stating the obvious of what we need to do for our students to succeed. Obviously teachers need to respect and understand their student, obviously students need to be engaged on several levels and be an integral part of determining their own educations. What this booklet lacks however, is how they intend on carrying out these goals. I don’t think administrators and teachers start the day wondering how they cannot respect their students at this moment. Likewise, having been in schools that are supposedly already following this system I see nothing except more than a few differences between this promising futures school and my own. I’ve been a presence in the school for a little over six months, and the only differences I can see are a larger selection of classes and their homeroom occurs near the end of the day and consists of them creating binders. There is no evidence of these hour long family groups that Futures wishes to create. I suppose if having some ideal that whole school has to subscribe to will help school embrace new educational ideals than I can see no harm in it. However, I still see many of the same problems plaguing these schools as well, and that once again one thing cannot solve all of education’s problems. ||
 * Davis Christine || After reading through the Department of Education's report done by the Maine Commission on Secondary Education it became clear to me that our education here at UMF meshes together quite well with what we consider to be new and necessary practices in our public education system. It emphasizes the importance of having capable teachers who are not only experts in their content area but experts on the art of teaching, parent involvement, student ownership over what they learn, activity in the community, and the overall goal of preparing students for our changing world. Ultimately our goal as educators is to provide a safe and comfortable environment where are students have access to the resources they need to learn and our support during that process. I think that this publication articulates this very well, and provides some means by which we can achieve this goal.
 * Gergosian Katharine || "Promising Futures" is basically a call to action for Mainers. The Maine Commission on Secondary Education and the Department of Education explored the education system in Maine in 1998 and found that we have a lot to work on. In an effort to overhaul school systems and encourage change, "Promising Futures" was born. The program is a collection of suggestions on how to make school a better place. There are 15 practices to implement and 19 to "consider phasing out". There is also a special section explaining that schools cannot make these changes without support from the greater Maine community. In the end, "Promising Futures" is an action plan that is grant-based so that schools with 98% of their faculty in agreement, can receive funding to help implement the ideas presented in this document. || I like the premise behind this plan. I think that the schools do need to improve and sadly, even 10 years after this document came out, that need is still there. I feel like the suggestions are largely common sense, but maybe that back-to-basics mentality is what we need. Of course students should be respected. Of course teachers should have the resources they need to teach successfully . Of course students should be involved in their education and make their own choices. These things should always be in effect whether a school is labeled "Promising Futures" or not but maybe it takes something like this document to remind people that those principles lead to excellence in schools. I thought the idea of "phasing out" old practices is a good idea. I think using that vocabulary makes the whole plan seem less threatening. I also thought it was really essential that this book included the section on schools needing community help and support to implement this plan. ||
 * Goodrow Megan || Promising Futures focuses on the importance of incorporating core practices into education for improvement. This book makes a point that these should already be practiced. We learn about the idea of having family groups that give students an opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have about school. Promising Futures has a view of students being a main focus, it is important to hear what students are thinking about when it comes to education. Not only is a student focus important, but to make sure that students parents are involved as well. With a goal of challenging students, Promising Futures schools have a strong focus on teacher planning. They make sure to allot enough time for teachers to plan a solid curriculum. || I had never heard about Promising Futures schools until we discussed this book. I think that it has good ideas and could help with improvement in education. I would like to actually see a school that has this program and then compare it to another school that does not, such as my old high school. I think that it is important for students to be heard within schools because they are really main focus of the school. If students do not feel a level of respect or feeling that their opinions will be heard, then the school would not be as effective if they did feel that way. I think that it is also really helpful to allow teachers that time they need to form a really strong curriculum. I would really like to see the difference that a program like this makes over the years compared to other schools who do not follow Promising Futures. ||
 * Hebert Justin ||  ||   ||
 * Howard Nikki || Maine's Promising Futures Program is a challenge for schools to rise up to the idea of making school achievements higher, graduating more students and cover knowledge and subject areas with greater depth and comprehension. || One of the core principals of the Promising Futures program that I like is the safe,caring and respectful learning environment; I think that this IS one of the very first important steps in improving education because students must feel free to express their ideas without being judged, and students must feel respected and valued from everyone around them.

Another one of the core principals that I hope to have in a school that I teach in is the principal of specialized and integrated learning. This is particularly designed to help teachers challenge their students in several different areas, while integrating the skills that they are learning in other classes. I think that this will help students retain and be apply to apply the information that they are learning.

I also like valuing student choices. Rather than forcing students to learn everything, teachers should allow some flexibility and options in order to enable students to pursue personal interests and abilities. By allowing students to make choices, they must take responsibility for the choices they make, and they will be more informed on the decisions that they make. I hope that the school in which I teach is "organized for learning" as the Promising Futures book promotes. I feel that with learning organization, then certain issues can be prevented, and the learning environment will be more productive for everyone.

One last thing that I really liked about the Promising Futures plan was the idea about promoting a positive and knowledgeable staff base; without this base, I feel that the school environment can give way to negative feelings which can inhibit learning. Students sense if there is bickering or disagreement among staff members, and can exploit these issues even further. By having a positive staff base, students will feel positive about their school as well. ||
 * Killam Kathleen || Promising Futures is a book that was written to help improve the high schools in Maine. People at the Department of Education observed things in Maine's high schools that bothered them. Academic achievement was very uneven from school to school. Students were disengaged from learning. Students didn't feel like they had any input on their education. And the rate of students that were accepted to college, the rate of them finishing was lower then the national average. The state wanted to do something to change this, so they created six core principles that they believe will help students be more successful. Schools which promote a safe, respectful and caring environment, high universal expectations with a variety of learning opportunities, understanding the actions based on assessment data, teacher practice which values and builds upon the contributions and needs of each learner, equitable and democratic practices, and coherence among mission, goals, actions, and outcomes. The book then goes through these six principles as well as other principles in more detail. It explains the rationale of each one and gives an example from a real school. || The one thing that I like best about Promising Futures is that they show within this entire book that everyone has to participate in order to make this work. There are principles involving the teachers, there are principles involving the students, and their are principles involving the administration. This process won't work unless everyone is involved. The entire school needs to change.

One of my favorite principles was the one that says that students and teachers belong to teams within the school that provides each student continuous personal and academic attention and a supportive environment for learning and growth. I can not say how much I love teams within schools. It makes things so much easier. The teams of teachers get to know each other better and they can collaborate on units. The book also made a good point that if a student is having a problem with a teacher or a student, then the student has someone they can go with for help on how to solve the issue.

The other principle that I liked was the one that said every teacher has sufficient time and resources to learn, to plan, and to confer with individual students, colleagues, and families. Teams don't work unless they have the time to get together to meet. But it's also great for students. They can use time to meet with teachers to get extra help or make up for assignments that they missed. Parents can be given these times too so they know what time is the best for calling teachers.

At the end of Promising Futures, they have a section labeled "Practices to Consider Phasing Out." And this section has 19 things that schools should avoid doing. I think it's a helpful thing because schools can check easily to see if they're doing the things that are on this list. || I really enjoyed reading this short book about Promising Futures. If all Practices are implemented correctly and maintained in //all// high schools in Maine, I think we will see a huge improvements over the next tens years. ||
 * Minor Maria ||  ||   ||
 * Serrantino Jessica || This book highlights the core practices and beliefs of the Promising Futures schools in Maine. In a Promising Futures school it is important that every student is respected and every voice is heard. To accomplish this, Family Groups are formed for students to discuss “’hot’ issues” and ask questions about school (13). Lessons are also tailored to the student. Students have the option of listening to their teacher’s lessons more than once if they don’t understand it the first time. It is a goal that students are challenged, and they learn collaboration skills through these challenges. Parents are actively involved in their child’s learning, and everyone is given choices in this school. This school also caters to the teachers needs, too. For example, teachers are given a sufficient amount of time to plan their curriculum. The book also recommends practices to phase out of schools. Master Schedules, grade based Assessments, and Student and Parental exclusion are amongst some of these. || Reading the promising futures book makes me wonder why more schools don’t hold the same core principles. Education has been evolving for such a long time, and it seems like everyone knows they need to teach students based on their needs and learning styles, but few seem to actually act on it. I thought the section of practices that have been recommended to be phased out was interesting along with the schools Challenge, which was at the beginning of the book. I enjoyed reading the core principles because I found I could relate to a lot of them. I like the fact that these schools give both students and teachers a voice, and they help with everyone succeeding. However, I think this is something all teachers need to do, Promising Futures school or not. We need to respect our students and give them choices. That’s how students learn better and classrooms become more successful. ||
 * Trexler Sarah || Basically, this book covers the concepts outline in order for Maine's secondary schools to become a Promising Futures school. The focus is on how to provide students with a better education to prepare them for the real world. It discusses the importance of professional development for the entire school, how school should provide students with more hands on experiences and allow them to apply what they are learning to real life problems. It also outlines the fact that students should be required to meet standards outlined by the state and that they should all be learning specific materials (the MLR's). || This document is interesting. I say that because most of the ideas that are discussed are the things that we have been learning about in our education classes. BUT, I was really excited when one of the core practices talked about continual professional development. I know a lot of teachers know you have to do this, but we met a lady at the MAMLE conference who was telling us about this woman she had worked with who taught for 35 years or something and had never been to a conference, or taken a class, or done any work to keep up with the field. So I think it is important for schools to have requirements and implement professional development programs for the entire school. I love the focus on applying learning to real life settings. I have been on a tear these past few weeks about how learning without application is useless. I was doing some research for my Environmental Geoscience class about Buckminster Fuller the other day. He's passed away now, but there is an institute in his honor that seeks out people to apply for 100,000 awards in which they have to present an idea that will solve some of the problems we face in the world today. I was reading that and it made me sad. It made me sad because in the 22 years that I have been in school I have never been given the opportunity to take knowledge that I have learned and apply it to a real life problem. I have never been pushed to try something like that. And I think that students need more of that. If we want them to become social agents of change, how else are we going to get them to change anything if we don't allow them to learn stuff and then take that to the next level by applying it to life? I really liked that this focused on that. I thought it was interesting how they suggested that students participate in internships in high school as well as community service projects and community based learning. How much more engaged are you going to be when the classroom isn't defined by the 4 walls and windows that you are given in the school building? And come on people, real life isn't defined by 4 walls and windows either. Yes, we may work in these types of buildings, but the answers to our problems do not lie within these walls. They lie outside of them, in the world, where we work with other people to create solutions and figure out new things. I HATE the concept of covering material as well. I think it's great that this document stresses the concept that the teacher is more of a coach and/or a facilitator than the person who holds all of the knowledge. Because how many times can you count when your students knew more about something than you did? GREAT. Because we have to be willing to learn from each other and to work with each other to become the best we can all be. I don't have to work at a Promising Futures school to want to be able to use some of these practices. Although, I have to say it would help to have others on board with me. ||
 * Whitehead Evan ||  ||   ||
 * Wyman Sara || The book began with A Call to Action; a //challenge and invitation to join the effort// to improve learning. The 6 Core Principles for Secondary Educational Practice in Maine were listed as a //guide to improvement.// The book continued on with an //overview of observations and challenges// seen in the public secondary education system in Maine in 1998. After clarifying the challenges most schools are facing, the book goes on to describe the 15 Core Practices which are recommendations for actively improvement. These practices were split up into two types: Core Practices for Learning and Teaching and Core School Practices to Support Learning. Once these 15 practices were listed and described with essential elements, they went on to describe practices that need to be phased out because they impede the Core Practices. And finally, they describe how seven recommendations to local and state policy makers, parent groups, school district leadership, town officials, and state leaders. These policy makers must help if high schools are to serve our youth most effectively! || I feel they did a really great job creating these Promising Future Core Principles, Practices and Recommendations. All of them are important and need to be implemented in order to improve all Maine high schools. I think Core Practice 3: Every teacher challenges learners both to master the fundamentals of the disciplines and to integrate skills and concepts across the disciplines to address relevant issues and problems, is very important. So many teachers teach their subject and only their subject; a lot more learning could occur by integrating disciplines. One practice that I do not think is applied nearly enough is Core Practice 4: Every Student learns in collaborative groups of students with diverse learning styles, skills, ages, personal backgrounds, and career goals. Tracking is used in most high schools and it hinders the learning of the majority of students. Given that we are a culture that "communicates high expectations for all, equity of educational opportunity and goals, and democracy requires that students experience learning alongside students who are distinctly different from them" (pg 18). Why, if our culture requires us to work in a diverse society, should we teach students in homogeneous groupings?