CLINICAL PRACTICE: MOVING TOWARD A CULTURE OF “WE” Rodrick S. Lucero

CLINICAL PRACTICE MOVING TOWARD A CULTURE OF “WE”

By Rodrick S. Lucero, Ph.D.

Clinical Practice, Defined

Partnerships between PK-12 schools and Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) have gained momentum as the foundation for effective clinical practice, and a rich conversation is now being held across the country. As we have defined it at The National Center for Clinical Practice in Educator Preparation (NCCPEP), clinical practice is a paradigm calling for teacher preparation courses, activities, and opportunities to be conducted at the school site in front of real students, real teachers, and in a real school.

EPPs bring their theoretical frames to the partnership, and PK-12 schools provide their practice frames to the partnership. These frames come together to form a clinical framework upon which to build effective teacher preparation with input from both research and practice, while also elevating learning outcomes for PK-12 students.

The partnerships allow for a more thorough analysis to assess gaps and craft a more cogent future direction as stakeholders engage with the learning process. The synergy built within partnerships is iterative, ongoing, and process-oriented and inclusive.

Clinical practice prepares us well for the rapidly changing landscape of a modern democracy requiring a responsive and individually-focused educational process.

Clinical Practice is founded on the principle of “simultaneous renewal” (Goodlad, 1993).

This concept realizes that in authentic partnership work, every participant has a realized, articulated benefit for their participation. This is a crucial element of effective clinical practice. The mutual-benefit context of clinical practice is locally situated because context matters! Therefore, the construction of clinical practice is “messy” and difficult to replicate.

Clinical practice partnerships in Los Angeles are not the same as in Chicago, or Savannah, or Santa Fe, as there exists a myriad of challenges, needs, policies, that are quantifiably different and locally prioritized. Clinical practice allows flexible partnerships to meet the needs of their local students, the teacher candidates who work with them, and the schools where they learn.

Clinical Practice benefits the educational journey of teacher candidates, PK-12 students, and veteran teachers, relationships at the heart of effective learning. Teacher candidates benefit by planning, delivering lessons, and assessing learning alongside veteran teachers at the school

site. There is no substitute for working in classrooms to cultivate and catalyze a “teacher voice.” These authentic, formative experiences are the strong foundation upon which neophyte educators build a career. Graduates from clinical practice sites enter the field feeling more prepared for the challenges, and confident in their ability to manage classroom behaviors, effectively deliver relevant content, and engage students using proven pedagogical strategies. PK-12 students enjoy access to two or three adults in the classroom who are guiding activities, small group instruction, and providing individualized instruction as candidates explore, discover, and hone their skills. This is being done, with real children, in real classrooms, in real schools, and (most importantly), under the tutelage of a real teacher who serves as a coach and mentor.

What Teacher Candidates Bring to the Table

Teacher candidates receive immediate, actionable feedback upon which they can build a skillset that will buoy their career and set a trajectory of success and retention. The presence of candidates in the classroom decreases student-to-teacher ratios, allowing for a much more dynamic learning experience for everyone involved, where students have more access to an adult and the adults are able to provide individualized, student-focused support.

Teacher candidates offer another adult perspective for individual PK-12 students that could prove helpful as students strive to make meaning of their learning within the context they bring to school. Veteran teachers also recognize that they gain direct access to new theories, current research, and new pedagogical strategies when collaborating with teacher candidates, which, in turn, renews their practice and their overall effectiveness with their students.

In my work in clinical practice sites, veteran teachers report a high degree of validation, satisfaction and appreciation for the opportunity to share their expertise with the next generation of teachers. The mutual benefits introduced here are the basis for clinical practice.

The protocols of clinical practice serve all students, candidates, and veteran teachers and include the development of learning goals, assessing progress, planning and delivering content as well as the meeting social-emotional needs of every child with whom they have contact. These protocols are woven together, inextricably and are an essential part of effective candidate preparation. Teacher candidates who are present and engaged in daily instruction and classroom activities significantly add to the whole-child focus of effective learning. Finally, teacher candidates serve as role models for students by encouraging PK-12 learners to pursue their post-secondary objectives. Everyone benefits!

A Paradigm Shift

The sharing of responsibility for PK-12 learning outcomes and the effective preparation of teachers defines a marked paradigm shift in our profession. A purposeful conflation of the siloed roles was previously held by EPPs and PK-12 schools. The new paradigm requires a systemic look that defines continuous improvement as a cornerstone for iterative growth—a process that is ongoing, process-oriented, and responsive to the needs found within each EPP/PK-12 partnership.

In this paradigm shift, we see ourselves as one continuum of services reflecting learning outcomes for all learners, be they PK-12 students, teacher candidates and even veteran teachers. This work focuses on the most important relationship in education: the sacrosanct relationship between teachers and their students. Clinical Practice calls for EPPs and PK-12 educators to work collaboratively in planning and bringing research to practice in the preparation of all teachers and to elevate the learning of PK-12 students. Together, they craft experiences that prepare teacher candidates who are “Day #1 ready,” retained beyond the five-year mark, and inclined to reach back, as veteran teachers, to support and guide the next generation of high-quality teacher candidates.

The educational experts who can provide solutions to our problems of practice are those within our ranks—including PK-12 staff and EPPs who choose to see their important role on the educational continuum—in one profession focused on learning for all students. They will

shape our narrative, a narrative that all educators own and celebrate.

Improving Teacher Retention and Diversity

One important aspect of this narrative is the discussion of one of the most assiduous problems of practice, currently facing professional educators; the dramatic decrease of teachers in classrooms, and the lack of diversity represented by those teachers.

The Learning Policy Institute has noted that between 2009 and 2014, the United States saw a 35% decrease in practicing teachers—a national decrease of more than 240,000 teachers. Additionally, research indicates that 80% of all teachers are white and that 80% of those are women. These statistics represent a particularly difficult challenge for the profession.

It is the belief of The Center (NCCPEP) that Clinical Practice will support the solutions to this and many other problems of practice. We need MORE QUALIFIED teachers, and MORE QUALIFIED teachers of color, not simply MORE teachers.

How do we accomplish that goal? Teacher preparation

One proven way is to ensure that new teachers are well prepared and “Day #1 ready” to meet student needs. The confidence they derive from being prepared will ensure their retention in the field. In fact, Linda Darling-Hammond has noted that teachers who are effectively trained in pedagogy and content, in programs that allow for iterative cycles of continuous improvement, leave the profession at only 12% within the first five years. This attrition rate is better than most other professions.

Those who are prepared in less pedagogically rigorous programs leave the profession at 48% within the first five years. We cannot fill our classrooms with MORE teachers, even though the allure of many alternative programs is compelling when facing teacher shortages. We must hold to MORE QUALIFIED, and MORE DIVERSIFIED teachers.

In their fall, 2016 report, the Shanker Institute noted that teachers of color leave the profession for two primary reasons: feeling unprepared and the lack of autonomy in their classrooms. Clinical practice allows teachers to become prepared over time, so they can master their content while refining their delivery and assessment through a pedagogical lens. It leverages the science of pedagogy and pairs it effectively with content preparation to prepare the most highly qualified teachers possible.

We can, indeed, make a difference in the recruitment and retention of teachers of color by listening and acting upon their concerns.

Conclusion

The paradigm shift discussed here is a move away from our institutionalized siloes to a culture of “WE”. This shared responsibility brings professional educators together in concert, in collaboration, in the fulfillment of a moral obligation to ensure that every student has the teacher they need. And that every teacher has had the pedagogically rich preparation that will ensure their longevity in the profession and their commitment to the next generation of highly effective teachers.

How do we meet the needs of every learner every day? By leveraging clinical practice to invite historically marginalized populations to join our profession as well prepared teachers. These challenges are massive, but if they are to be solved, PK-12 and EPPs must come together, see ourselves as one profession, harness the incredible thinking that exists among our colleagues, and aspire to be educators sharing our craft in our culture, the culture of “WE.”

Dr. Rodrick S. Lucero’s career ranges from PK-12 schools, university work, to serving at the national level where he led The AACTE Clinical Practice Commission, whose report, “A Pivot Toward Clinical Practice, its Lexicon, and the Renewal of Educator Preparation” was released in January, 2018. Currently, Dr. Lucero serves as a consultant and has founded The National Center for Clinical Practice in Educator Preparation (NCCPEP).

NOT ALL LEARNING IS ONLINE, BUT EVERY LEARNER SHOULD BE.

By John Harrington

There is a growing gap between students who have access to a fast Internet connection and those who do not. This gap is sometimes referred to as the Digital Divide. More recently, the term “homework gap” has been used. But no matter how you refer to it, for students who lack the necessary resources, the inability to get online is a barrier to their success. Like access to running water and electricity, Internet access plays a vital role in providing students a quality education. It is time for our society to address digital equity by ensuring that every learner is online. Not all learning is online, but every learner should be.

NO INTERNET ACCESS AFTER SCHOOL

7.2 million family households in the United States who are not online -- millions of Americans who lack and cannot afford Internet access at home. For students, this means an inability to complete homework assignments, collaborate with their peers, review materials from their teacher, or access a Khan Academy video to help them understand a concept. They cannot check their grades, take a practice quiz, or ask a question via chat. In the best case, they can a visit the local library (inside, or, more likely, outside in the parking lot). But that is hardly an ideal learning environment.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

There is good news. The challenge facing our communities is surmountable. This is a not a

“moon launch” situation requiring us to stretch the limits of human knowledge. No, on the contrary, we can readily address now. It turns out there is quite a bit that can be done and there are legions of individuals lining up to help. The same technologies that connect most Americans to the Internet are accessible, or nearly accessible, to many of those who do not have it already. For a broad segment of the disconnected population, the cables or wireless signals needed are relatively close by. In a study conducted by Funds For Learning in 2016, we found that there were one million Americans living in public low-income housing within a quarter mile of a school or library with Internet access.

In other situations, school buses and library book mobiles loaded with Wi-Fi have been used to bring the Internet further out into the community. Cellular data plans and special “point-to-point” connections can also be used. The point is this: in almost every circumstance in which a student is offline, there exists a way to bring them back across the digital divide, and many of those options are quite affordable.

NO FEDERAL SUPPORT

If the technology is there, what is stopping online education? The piece missing is a serious commitment from the federal government to address the need of off-campus Internet access for students. A lack of financial support, combined with regulations that prohibit off-campus Internet

John Harrington is the CEO of Funds For Learning, a nationwide consulting firm committed to helping schools and libraries connect students to the Internet.

Learn more about Funds For Learning.

access, is the primary barrier to closing the digital divide. There are no federal funds specifically earmarked to address this need. For years, many of us in the “EdTech” community have been calling for additional aid to help these students. But no support has been made available. Furthermore, there is a perverse wrinkle in the current federal regulations. Schools and libraries are prohibited from extending their Internet connectivity to the community around them. If a Wi-Fi signal stays on school property, that is okay. But if a student uses that Wi-Fi signal across the street, then the school risks losing federal funding.

ACTION IS NEEDED

The lack of Internet access for students is a systemic problem that results in limited academic opportunities for far too many children. These impediments then fuel cycles of poverty and other social ailments. We can and should do better. It starts with understanding and communicating the need. Leaders and decision makers in Washington, DC, cannot address situations if they are not aware of them. We each have a responsibility to educate members of Congress and federal regulators to make sure they comprehend the scope of this problem, and then we need to hold them accountable to help our communities.

By prioritizing federal funding and cutting through unnecessary red tape, we can help connect all students to the Internet.

NAVIGATING COVID-19: PROVIDING LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT By Phyllis Wolfram

The Council of Administrators of Special Education continues to support their members and all leaders seeking guidance in special education. As early as March 2020, CASE began collaborating with local directors across the nation, the Office of Special Education Programs, national partners, and many others.

CASE developed a series of webinars providing guidance as schools began to close due to the spread of COVID-19. These webinars are currently located at www.casecec.org and available to all. It is important to note that CASE focused on “Four Priorities” throughout each of the webinars:

1) Focus on the safety, health, and welfare of students and staff members in your community.

• Follow the CDC and State Guidance Documents even during the summer as you are planning for ESY and reopening. • Plan for possible challenges with health and welfare in the long term. • Focus on mental health for your staff and for students - what are you doing to keep balance?

2) Provide FAPE - Deliver services to as many students as you reasonably can in the best way you know how.

• Continue to provide as many services as possible through remote learning as you can. • Provide Extended School Year services as you typically would have (just provide them virtually) • Make services and supports individualized for students with disabilities.

3) Document your efforts; make sure documentation is focused, consistent, detailed and demonstrates a good faith effort to provide good services.

• Assist your teams with staying organized with all of the “paper” and virtual records. • Organize yourself and your team over the summer for what the Fall will look like (i.e., evaluations, meetings, etc.)

4) Compliance during the pandemic - IDEA wasn’t built for this.

• Comply with meeting notification requirements in the best way you know how. • Attempt to meet timelines as best as possible. • Follow through with state guidance documents.

CASE will continue to support our members and those working in the field of special education as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and return to normal or maybe our “new normal” of educating our students. Visit the CASE website for more information at www.casecec.org.

Phyllis Wolfram, Executive Director of CASE, has worked in public education for 37 years. She has served as a local director in three districts, including the largest urban district in Missouri. A former CASE President and Chair of the Policy and Legislative Committee, she chaired on the CASE Ad Hoc Committee on IDEA Reauthorization and the CASE Task Force; Design for the Future. Phyllis has also served on the Board of Directors for the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEC IDEA Reauthorization Workgroup. In 2017, Missouri CASE honored Phyllis with the Distinguished Service Award and in 2018, CASE honored her with the Harrie M. Selznick Distinguished Service Award.

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