Winter 2018 Today's OEA

A PUBLICATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

SPECIAL SECTION

OEA CANDIDATES INSERT

TODAY’S

PAGE 26

OEA incredible difference HOW THE UNION SAVED ONE TEACHER FROM LEAVING THE PROFESSION FOR GOOD

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE » SUICIDE PREVENTION PROJECT » DISRUPTED LEARNING » WHAT IF WE TRAINED TEACHERS LIKE DOCTORS? WINTER 2018 | VOLUME 92 : NUMBER 2

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CONTENTS / Winter2018 VOLUME 92 : ISSUE NO. 2

Features

Departments President’s Column

05 / You Shared. We listened.

By John Larson, OEA President

Upcoming

06 / Events for OEA Members Newsflash

16 On the Cover

16 / Incredible Difference

How the union saved one teacher from leaving the profession for good

By Milana Grant and Charlie Lapham

In-Depth

07 / take the Oregon TELL Survey!

09 / Pathways for Teachers of COlor ESSA

10 / School Improvement is Everyone’s Job 11 / Rep. Suzanne Bonamici Spends a Day with St. Helens Educators Quality Assessment Practices

12 / ONE-CLICK Powerful Professional LEARNING Politics & You

20 / What if we trained teachers like we train doctors?

14 / Disrupted Learning Takes Center Stage 15 / OEA-PAc convention is coming soon »

By Gregg Kleiner

22 / it's ok to ask

Engaging my students in a suicide prevention project

By Roseanna Larson

Special Section

26 / OEA board & NEA RA DELEGATE candidates Sources + Resources

32 / Books and Opportunities + Social justice book List 33 / Tax Time: Dues Deduction

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On the Web

34 / resources for talking about race

ON THE COVER: Teaching a science class at the Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences, Rebecca Miller discusses genetics and its role in inherited traits such as straight thumbs and the ability to roll tongues. PhotO by THOMAS Patterson Credits: Thomas Patterson

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8 1 0 2

C A P OEA I O N EN V N O C

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18 0 2 , 0 9-1 H C R MA tel o H n nso e B e h T way d a o r B W S 9 30 n o g e r d, O n a l t r Po

OEA-PAC works to elect pro-public education candidates to public office.

Join us for the 2018 OEAPAC convention and help decide Oregon’s future leaders – and the direction of public education.

Meet the candidates for federal and state offices and discuss your priority issues with them.

www.oregoned.org/PACconvention

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE / Winter2018 John Larson OEA President

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or the past two and a half years, serving both as Vice President and now President of the Oregon Education Association, the number one issue highlighted by our members has been disrupted learning and lack of supports for students experiencing trauma. Each time the subject has come up, we have attempted working through various channels in government and in the Department of Education to stress the importance of addressing this pervasive problem in Oregon schools across the state. In December of 2017, we tried a different approach.

At that month's State Board of Education meeting, four OEA members told their stories during the public hearing portion of the meeting ... and something remarkable happened. Instead of politely listening to testimony as was the Board’s common practice, they stopped their meeting for more than 20 minutes to discuss the issue and make sure that each member of the State Board understood what was truly happening in Oregon classrooms.

Since that meeting, the Oregon Department of Education has called on OEA to work in partnership in solving both the immediate and long-term problem of disrupted learning environments.

Deputy Superintendent Colt Gill and Chief Education Officer Lindsey Capps took the time to meet with local leaders from Eugene, Springfield, and Bethel in order to hear first-hand the stories of disrupted learning in that area of the state. OEA has proposed a series of educator town-hall meetings in the Spring and into the Fall of 2018, and both Secretary Gill and CEO Capps have agreed to attend

to listen to concerns. Additionally, OEA has called on the Governor, as the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to form a task force to both study the issue and propose long-term solutions.

While this sudden flurry of activity around this pressing issue is welcome, it does little to alleviate the immediate needs of students and educators, so OEA members showed up in droves to tell their stories at the Feb. 5 lobby day at the opening session of the Oregon Legislature. Stories of room-clears, of students desperate for supports, and of educators’ frustration at not being able to help their students were poignant. One possible immediate solution to the problem has taken shape as OEA’s priority legislation during the 2018 short session of the Oregon Legislature: House Bill 4113. HB 4113 would make class size a mandatory subject of bargaining. Oregon currently has the 5th largest class sizes in the nation, and we believe the issue must be discussed by all adults involved in making decisions for students’ education, especially those who work with students on a daily basis. While HB 4113 will not necessarily improve class size, it will, at the very least, cause people to take notice of a problem for which educators have been sounding the alarm for some time to no avail.

I am so proud to count myself among the fine members of the Oregon Education Association, and it is an honor to carry the message of educators to the legislature, the Department of Education, and every media outlet in the state. Thank you all for all you do every day to make each and every child’s education be the best it can be.

STORIES OF ROOM-CLEARS, OF STUDENTS DESPERATE FOR SUPPORTS, AND OF EDUCATORS’ FRUSTRATION AT NOT BEING ABLE TO HELP THEIR STUDENTS WERE POIGNANT. Credit: Becca Uherbelau

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UPCOMING Winter2018

TODAY’S

OEA

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OREGON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION February 24, 2018

8th Annual OEA Symposium

WINTER 2018 VOLUME 92 : ISSUE NO. 2

n WHAT: Join us for this year’s Symposium, which focuses on trauma-informed practices. Toxic

stress brought on by complex trauma can harm the developing brain of a learner, which may in turn contribute to behavioral and academic problems. In order to better support learners of all ages, Oregon educators are looking to trauma-informed practices to turn the tide on student success. n WHERE: Embassy Suites Washington Square, Tigard, OR n HOW: For more information, go to www.oregoned.org/symposium.

March 2, 2018

NEA's Read Across America Day 20th Anniversary n WHAT: Celebrated on the birthday of beloved children’s book author Dr. Seuss, NEA provides

all the resources and tools you’ll need to plan and implement a reading celebration on March 2. n HOW: For more information and resources, go to www.nea.org and click on the “Grants and Events” tab.

March 23-25, 2018

2018 NEA ESP Conference n WHAT: The NEA ESP conference is the premier professional development opportunity for

Education Support Professionals across the nation. The goal of this conference is to enhance the skills and knowledge of ESP members to positively impact student achievement, build community relations, organize members, advocate for educators, and build stronger locals. n WHERE: Hilton Orlando, Lake Buena Vista, FL n HOW: For more information, go to www.nea.org/espconference.

Mar. 26-27, 2018

7th Annual Oregon School Employee Wellness Conference n WHAT: During this conference, participants learn to engage school employees in creating

healthier school environments that support the physical, social, and emotional health and wellbeing of staff. No registration fees. Earn 1 CPE credit from PSU and/or 10 CPDUs sponsored by OEA. n WHERE: The Riverhouse, Bend, OR n HOW: For more information, go to www.oeachoice.com or contact Maureen Caldwell at maureen@oeachoice.com.

SAVE THIS DATE! Apr. 27-28, 2018

OEA Representative Assembly n WHAT: OEA member-delegates from across Oregon gather at OEA's annual Representative

Assembly (RA) to elect new leaders, review OEA programs, reform bylaws and policies, propose new business items, attend caucus meetings, and celebrate member achievements. n WHERE: Red Lion Hotel on the River, Jantzen Beach, OR. n HOW: Details available at www.oregoned.org/ra.

OFFICE HEADQUARTERS 6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223 Phone: 503.684.3300 FAX: 503.684.8063 www.oregoned.org PUBLISHERS John Larson, President Jim Fotter, Executive Director EDITOR Meg Krugel PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Milana Grant CONTRIBUTORS Milana Grant, Jenny Smith, Andrea Shunk, Thomas Patterson To submit a story idea for publication in Today’s OEA magazine, email editor Meg Krugel at meg.krugel@oregoned.org PRINTER Morel Ink, Portland, OR TODAY’S OEA (ISSN #0030-4689) is published four times a year (October, February, April and June) as a benefit of membership ($6.50 of dues) by the Oregon Education Association, 6900 SW Atlanta Street, Portland OR 97223-2513. Non-member subscription rate is $10 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR. POSTMASTER Send address corrections to: Oregon Education Association Membership Processing 6900 SW Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223-2513 DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Francesca Genovese-Finch

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Newsflash 2018 TELL Oregon Survey

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n February 2018, Oregon will again administer the TELL Oregon Survey, an anonymous online teaching and learning conditions survey. The survey is taken every two years by teachers and building-level licensed administrators and staff with the results accessible on the TELL website. The survey is used by school and district leaders for purposes of school and district improvements and is used by state leaders to inform policy. Research shows that teaching conditions are positively associated with improved student achievement and teacher retention.

The 2018 TELL Oregon Survey will provide educators with data, tools and direct support to facilitate school improvement.

Every school that reaches the minimum response rate threshold of 50 percent (and a minimum of 5 respondents) will be able to use its own data in school improvement planning. The 2018 TELL Oregon Survey will be administered over a four-week survey window: February 1–28, 2018. Anyone can view the live response rate tracker for your district by visiting www.telloregon.org during the four-week survey window.

School board to revisit contraceptives in school-based clinics in 2018

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he arrival of four new faces on the Hillsboro School Board has led to a challenge to the current district policy on prescribing and distributing contraceptives in schoolbased health clinics. The board voted against providing contraceptives to students in May 2016. The four male members who cast that vote have since vacated their positions on the board, and the four new members made statements of support for changing this policy during their campaigns in December.

Credits: iStockphoto.com

DIGITAL STORYTELLING WORKSHOP HELPS REVIVE HISTORIC OREGON LANDMARK

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here has not been public access to the base of Willamette Falls, the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest, for over 100 years. With the help of OEA member and Clackamas Community College English professor Sue Mach, The Willamette Falls Legacy Project hopes to turn the falls into a destination for outdoor enthusiasts.

The organization is gathering stories from community members who have a connection to Willamette Falls as part of their effort to raise money to reopen the site. Shelly Parini, executive director of the Friends of Willamette Falls Legacy Project, is a former Clackamas Community College employee who had taken a class – taught by Mach – on digital storytelling. When the idea for the Willamette Falls story project took flight, Parini knew who she wanted to bring on board.

Mach is offering three-day workshops in February and May, which help participants craft their own script, record narration, and add imagery and music to produce a video that represents their experiences with Willamette Falls. Community members can sign up for the free workshop through Clackamas Community College, and can give permission for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project to use the films on their website.

The cultural significance of Willamette Falls to local Native American tribes has been a big part of the inspiration for this project. "The falls represent thousands of years of history. That's why we're hoping some of the Native American community will take part,” Mach says. According to the Kalapuya Indian tribe, the falls were created by Coyote, a hero in their legends, to trap the salmon that run the Willamette River every year; it has long been a traditional fishing area for many local-area tribes.

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Newsflash DID YOU KNOW? » Today’s OEA’s best story ideas come from you, our readers! Is your school working on a cutting edge concept, or do you know an educator who should be featured? Email your suggestions for articles to webadmin@oregoned.org.

Middle school student encourages a love of reading in younger generation

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ne eighth grader from Joseph Lane Middle School in Roseburg is hoping to change the way elementary students in the Roseburg area access books.

Upon hearing of the closure of the Douglas County Library, Marin Gray created a fundraising campaign on Facebook to purchase Kindle e-readers for young students in her community. She garnered the help of nonprofit organization Mercy Foundation, and was able to raise $2,400 – enough to purchase 56 Kindles! “It’s important to develop an early love of reading for kids, so I wanted to provide kids a way to do that,” says Gray.

She presented the Kindles to Eastwood Elementary School in December. The school plans to use the e-readers in second grade classrooms until next year, when they will purchase Chromebooks for classroom use.

The Kindles will then be added to the school

library’s checkout offerings so that students can download books from a digital library.

Eastwood principal Nicki Opp says that students are much more excited about reading on the tablets. “It gives some variety and makes it a little different when you’re given an opportunity to read off a device as opposed to a book.”

Gray has long been a proponent of community action, having already helped develop

two anti-bullying programs within her own community as part of the Miss Oregon Junior High pageant. She has learned the value of networking to make a bigger impact through this project, stating that “you can only get so much done with one person, but once you reach out to someone else, you can get an infinite number of things done and impact your community.” She hopes to grow the program into other Roseburg elementary schools.

Forest Grove High School students show “Promise”

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he thought of going off to college after graduation can be daunting for high school students. Rising tuition costs and academic demands are some of their biggest concerns, but Western Oregon University is aiming to put those fears to rest so students can focus on their education. The Willamette Promise is a partnership between the university and local-area high schools which gives students the opportunity to earn college credit before they even set foot on campus.

Teachers collaborate with WOU faculty to align their curriculum with college-level coursework, and hold their students to grading standards used by the university.

Students pay $35 per year to take as many

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college-level classes as they want in subjects like English, mathematics, psychology, Spanish, and biology.

Forest Grove High School students are taking full advantage of this partnership, to the tune of 1,011 WOU credits earned last year.

That translates into over $200,000 in potential savings, based on current tuition rates at WOU. Principal Karen O’Neill says that many

students are earning enough credit to take a year or more off their total time at university, which saves them thousands of dollars on tuition costs. Forest Grove students are also relieved that they will be able to take on a more manageable workload in college. “It will be less of a burden knowing I won’t have to take those classes again,” says Briana Larios, a junior.

The program allows students who are unsure if they are prepared for college-level classes – any student can sign up – to test the waters, oftentimes finding that they are more capable than they thought. "It helps kids understand college is within their reach.

They can handle the rigor and it's encouraging,” says O’Neill.

Newsflash TODAY'S OEA IS NOW ONLINE! » Have you checked out todaysoea.org? It's time! Our new magazine website features each of the articles you find in every issue of your member magazine - plus additional photos, video and content relative to your profession. www.todaysoea.org

Program creates leadership pathway for teachers of color

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ver one-third of students in Oregon identify with one or more ethnic minority groups, and the achievement gap between students of color and white students can no longer be ignored. Research overwhelmingly suggests that having just one single teacher that looks like them can greatly improve a student’s academic performance, so what can Oregon do to put more teachers of color in the classroom? The Graduate School of Education at PSU thinks we need to start from the top.

The Educational Leadership & Policy department has received a generous grant to fund their Diversifying School Leadership program. The funding will allow them to actively recruit mid-career teachers of color into their Initial Administrator Leadership program, with a special focus on recruiting from districts where the ratio of students of color to teachers or administrators of color is particularly disparate. “Administrators have a lot of influence over programs and curriculum and opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students,” says Susan Carlile, an associate professor involved in the program.

“We’re not going to sit back and wait for people to come to us,” Carlile says.

“We’re going to actively communicate and collaborate with the superintendents in those districts we identify.”

The program will help candidates through the application process, offer financial aid to make sure that there are as few barriers as possible, and provide mentorship during their transition to teaching in their first year.

Credits: pexels.com

Students address community issues through multi-disciplinary course

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he Integrated Design Studio (IDS) program at Newberg High School has melded required subjects like math and language arts into a nontraditional, hands-on learning environment that creates a vision for the future of education. The course is a three-period semester-long class that is structured around learning the skills necessary to complete a communitybased design project. Students learn basic construction principles, including math and language arts concepts, in the first semester. In the second semester, students in the two sections of the program must

address a problem in their own community with a capstone project.

This year, students chose to tackle the housing crisis and homelessness by building two tiny houses. The program has partnered with Love INC to put the tiny houses to good use once they are complete. Program instructor Matt Miller says that presenting conventional education subjects in a realworld environment gives his students valuable experience that they wouldn’t get elsewhere. “Some of them have not done well in the traditional classroom and now they're getting engaged in those core subjects in a very non-traditional way,” says Laier.

Educator worries that ODE is leaving them ill-prepared

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n an op-ed piece for the Oregonian, Molalla High School teacher John Flavin expresses concern that the Oregon Department of Education is keeping educators in the dark about what they can expect to replace the Smarter Balanced assessment. ODE has said that a new testing model can be expected as early as next school year, but have yet to determine exactly which test they plan to require. This puts teachers in a predicament when it comes to preparing their students for the test; they can’t teach students to pass a test that they themselves have not studied.

Flavin says that since ODE chose Smarter Balanced as their statewide benchmark test in 2015, “math and English language arts teachers have scrambled to learn the test so they could prepare their students. And now, after just three years, it’s back to square one.” He suggests that ODE suspend mandating changes once a decision has been made for at least one school year to give educators the opportunity to review the new standardized test and plan their curriculum in a way that meets state requirements without sacrificing the learning needs of their students.

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ESSA

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT IS EVERYONE’S JOB

BY ANDREA SHUNK / Policy & Practice Consultant, OEA Center for Great Public Schools

M

any of us have heard the famous story of President John F. Kennedy and his encounter with a NASA janitor. The story goes that while visiting NASA, Pres. Kennedy encountered a janitor and asked, “What do you do here?” The janitor replied, “I’m putting a man on the moon.”

Though the exact details of the story vary, the message remains the same. NASA and Pres. Kennedy had a vision and a dream to be the first country to land a man on the moon. That vision and dream was embraced by all in the organization, not just the astronauts or engineers. Every day, that janitor came to work to create the best work environment for others at NASA, but they were all in it together with each job helping the organization to achieve excellence.

The Every Student Succeeds Act holds many opportunities for our schools, and chief among them is the same vision that drove that janitor to do his part. It is the responsibility of everyone in a school community to help improve our schools.

A Shared Vision

NEA and OEA cheered when ESSA passed in December 2015. One of the overarching themes of the legislation is that ESSA returned decision making to those who know schools and students the best – the educators, community, and families in the school community.

Gone are the days of No Child Left Behind where the federal government dictated the strategies schools could use to improve. Gone are the days of having to choose to close and reopen a school as a charter school or hire a new principal and staff in order to get federal improvement funds. Gone are the days of improvement decisions made behind closed doors by a select few.

The new legislation mandates that school improvement decisions be made 10

TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

with the involvement of stakeholders. This includes classroom teachers, specialized instructors like counselors or school psychologists, paraprofessionals, families, and tribal members.

ESSA also doesn’t outline a limited number of approaches to improving schools. Instead, it gives that autonomy to school communities to respond to their local need. What works in Glide might not be right for Nyssa. A strategy that works for chronic absenteeism with elementary students might not work for high school students.

Who’s at the Table

OEA’s in-depth overview of ESSA includes a document listing which people school and district leaders must include on what decisions and to what extent across all federal programs.

Two key decisions related to improving individual schools include:

Improvement for All Schools

ESSA is sometimes seen as only affecting schools that receive Title I money. Title I funds are federally designated to provide supplemental funds so all children have the opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high quality education, and to meet the education needs of students in schools with high rates of poverty.

But all schools should constantly be in a state of improvement. In Oregon, every school and district is required to write and submit continuous improvement plans, also known as CIPs. The goal of this requirement is that schools and districts continuously assess student outcomes and student needs, and then act to meet those needs.

As educators, we should always be looking for ways to improve teaching and learning conditions for our students.

We never arrive at a place of perfection or conclude that we’re doing “good

Decisions

Required Stakeholders

Level of Engagement

Schoolwide Title I program plans (Title I is funding to provide all children with significant opportunities to receive a fair, equitable, and high quality education; and to meet the needs of students in schools with high rates of poverty)

n Teachers

Schools must develop a school plan with the involvement of stakeholders

Schools identified for comprehensive or targeted support (Oregon formerly referred to schools identified for comprehensive and targeted support as priority and focus schools, respectively)

Must include, but is not limited to: n Principals and other school leaders n Teachers n Parents

n Principals or other school

leaders n Paraprofessionals n Specialized instructional support personnel n Administrators n Other appropriate school personnel n Parents of children served

by Title I

ESSA citation: Section 1114(b)(2)

Schools and school districts must develop and implement improvement plans in partnership with stakeholders ESSA citation: Section 1111(d)(2)(B)

enough.” Instead, educators should strive for that man on the moon vision.

Getting Started

Start by getting educated.

Use resources available through OEA’s ESSA website or NEA’s My School, My Voice website (www. myschoolmyvoice.nea.org).

Then, ask questions. Ask your principal about school improvement teams or to see the school’s improvement plan or Title I plan.

Are there opportunities to join work groups or leadership teams to have your voice heard?

Ask your union leaders if they are engaged in districtlevel conversations. Does your local association have a school improvement committee, labor management committee, or professional development committee you could join?

Then, get organized and involved. If your school or district isn’t adhering to ESSA’s intent for wide stakeholder engagement, how can you organize to ensure educator, community and family voices are heard? OEA’s Educator-Led Improvement Toolkit is a great place to start organizing for educator voice. OEA staff members and leaders can also help local teams organize for educator voice. If your school and district have embraced collaboration, find ways to get involved and get your voice heard.

Shaping the Future

President Kennedy had a vision to put a man on the moon. OEA has a vision to improve the future of all Oregonians through quality education.

Our association can only achieve that vision if we all work together to turn that vision into a reality.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici visits Lewis and Clark Elementary School in St. Helens.

A Day in the Life

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici Spends a Day with St. Helens Educators U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR 1st District) went back to the classroom in October.

The congresswoman visited Lewis and Clark Elementary School in the St. Helens School District to watch educators putting quality assessment practices into place in their classrooms.

OEA’s Center for Great Public Schools began a partnership with the St. Helens Education Association and the St. Helens School District in January 2016 to improve classroom assessment practices, preparing educators to lead their colleagues in professional learning and transforming learning across the district.

Rep. Bonamici visited the classrooms of Catherine Contreras, 6th grade; Kathleen Alexander, 3rd grade; and Marcy Schaffer, 2nd grade. Each showcased a different aspect of quality assessment practices including students self-assessing their progress toward mastering a learning target, student engagement in a learning target, and students tracking their own progress.

The Congresswoman then engaged in a roundtable discussion with educators and school leaders from each of the district’s five schools. Rep. Bonamici asked educators how these practices have impacted student learning.

Contreras shared that she sees students making huge gains in their learning.

Lori Cardiff, a teacher at St. Helens Middle School said, “We’re telling students up front what we are doing and why we are doing it each day. Those answers are important to them.”

Scot Stockwell, Superintendent of St. Helens, emphasized the partnership between OEA and the district as critical to the success of the work. He said that when teachers saw that the work was designed and lead by teachers, taking risks and trying new approaches to instruction became easier.

Rep. Bonamici represents the northwest corner of the state including Columbia, Clatsop, Washington, Yamhill and portions of Multnomah Counties. Her regions include both the St. Helens School District and the Banks School District, which are two pilot sites for OEA’s quality assessment work. She also sits on the House Education Committee and was a key player in helping to pass the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act, which ended the testand-punish era of No Child Left Behind.

The Congresswoman told the educators that seeing their work in action helps her continue to make the case for increasing federal funding (like Title IIA funds that support the type of work St. Helens engaged in), and to show other lawmakers examples of emerging practices and success stories. —Andrea Shunk TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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Quality Assessment Practices

ONE-CLICK POWERFUL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

BY ANDREA SHUNK / Policy & Practice Consultant, OEA Center for Great Public Schools

INTRODUCTION

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his January, OEA’s Center for Great Public Schools has released a powerful professional development tool created by members for members. Using your member log-in, you can access it for free on the OEA wesbite!

The Quality Assessment Practices cadre, a team of educators from around the state, has been leading transformative learning for educators in local associations to improve classroom assessment practices for the past two years. The cadre can’t get to every educator in the state, so these leaders have also developed a series of modules designed for teams of educators to use in a learning community.

This infographic will explore how to get the most out of these modules to enhance classroom practices.

ere!

Start H

SETTING UP A LEARNING COMMUNITY

The modules are designed for team learning rather than individual use.

Working in a team provides more opportunity to share best practices, discuss what works and doesn’t work, and offers collegial support to apply new learning to teaching.

TYPES OF PLCS

Often called professional learning communities, or PLCs, educator teams can take many shapes or operate under many names including:  Grade level teams;  Content specific teams;  Learning that takes place at staff meetings;  Teams made up of like-minded educators;  Critical friends or affinity groups;  Cross-school teams;  And be made up of a variety of educators including classroom teachers, specialists, principals, and coaches.

No matter the name, these communities commit to engaging in

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learning to improve teaching to affect student outcomes.

Learning Forward, a non-profit dedicated to improving professional learning for educators, defines PLCs as:  A group of educators who meet regularly to engage in professional learning …  For the purpose of enhancing their own practice as educators …  In order to help all students succeed. (source: Powerful Designs for Professional Learning, 3rd edition, edited by Lois Brown Easton)

ESSENTIAL PLC CONDITIONS 1.

2.

3.

Focus on professional learning activities Focus on what educators can do, what’s happening in classrooms and schools, and how educators can get better at what they do; And focus on helping all students succeed.

HOW TO LOG-IN

Access the modules on the OEA website: www.oregoned.org/professionallearning

SO, IS THIS JUST FOR K-12 TEACHERS? K-12 Educators

Early Childhood

Community College

All educators who work with students can use and access the learning in these modules from early childhood to K-12 educators and ESPs to higher education faculty.

Classroom assessment is a key instructional practice no matter the age of the student in the learning environment or the content educators deliver. The modules provide numerous examples and activities across student age levels, grades and content areas.

The QAP cadre also operates a group in NEA’s EdCommunities. Anyone can join and use this group to find examples and artifacts of quality assessment practices from a wide range of educators. Or, email or-qap@oregoned.org for additional resources and help.

g is Carin Sharing

OEA developed these resources under a Creative Commons license for members to customize and share. You can share and adapt the materials, but may not use these for commercial purposes.

Please give the appropriate credit when using the materials.

Quality Assessment Practices BEGINNING YOUR SEQUENCE OF LEARNING Before beginning modules, review the facilitator agenda, handouts, and presentation.

Prepare all necessary materials.

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Before leading a Quality Assessment Practices module, the facilitator(s) should carefully review the presentation and handouts,and prepare all necessary materials and handouts. Questions on the modules can be sent to or-qap@oregoned.org.

WHAT’S IN A MODULE?

SEQUENCE OF LEARNING

1.

The modules are all simultaneously available. For the greatest benefit, follow a sequence of learning to build understanding and skills in a developmental progression. Based on previous professional learning, some teams may simply review some modules or start elsewhere in the sequence. Review all the modules before deciding to skip over earlier modules.

Facilitator agenda: Includes purpose of module activities, required materials, and approximate time for each learning activity or strategy 2. Handouts: Numbered in order of use 3. Presentation: Including presenter notes and talking points

Unit Sample Units house modules; each module has a one-hour or threehour option depending on a team’s prior knowledge, learning needs, and available time. Some units only have one module.

Other units have multiple modules.

Unit

Purpose

Foundations Why Quality Assessment Practices?

Provides the foundation for the remaining modules, and establishes how quality assessment contributes to meaningful student learning.

Quality Assessment Practices and Educator Standards

Makes explicit the links between quality assessment practices and quality teaching and learning within the context of Oregon’s Educator Support and Evaluation System.

Knowing Your Content Standards

This unit is broken into three, one-hour modules: 1. Deconstructing Standards 2. Learning Progressions 3. Prioritizing Standards The modules can be completed together as a three-hour module or separately in one-hour sections.

Overview of the Guiding Principles

Provides an overview of the five guiding principles of quality assessment established in A New Path for Oregon and the Oregon Department of Education Assessment Guidance.

Find the full catalog online: www.oregoned.org/professional-learning

TEXTBOOKS & RESOURCES A New Path for Oregon: System of Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning (www.oregoned.org/newpath) is a foundational document for OEA as an organization and the QAP cadre. This policy paper, published July 2015, was developed jointly by OEA, the Office of the Governor, the Oregon Department of Education, and the Chief Education Office. It is the guiding policy document for all of OEA’s work on improving quality assessment.

Teams may consider using the modules in conjunction with:  Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Using it Right - Doing it Well (2nd Edition by Jan Chappuis, Rick Stiggins, Steve Chappuis, and Judith Arter)  Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning (2nd Edition by Jan Chappuis).

The OEA Quality Assessment Practices cadre uses these texts along with other materials to anchor their learning.

The textbooks are not necessary. When modules reference either of the texts, opensource resources available through the Oregon Department of Education’s Student Centered Assessment Pilot Projects or are also suggested as alternatives to complement the learning. (www.oregon. gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/ Pages/Student-centered-AssessmentProject.aspx ).

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Politics & You

DISRUPTED LEARNING TAKES CENTER STAGE THIS SESSION

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BY JENNY SMITH / OEA Political Organizer

ur students and classrooms are in crisis right now. Room clears.

Students experiencing trauma. Lack of support.

Stress management. Unmet student needs.

Disrupted learning. Behavioral issues.

Large class sizes. Housing instability.

Decades of under-funding have brought our schools to the boiling point.

From Vale to Vernonia and Pendleton to Phoenix, educators and students alike are dealing with this issue of disrupted learning. Without adequate staffing levels, support staff, wrap-around services, and resources to execute restorative justice programs, our students are suffering.

Educators are experiencing increasingly frequent and severe behavioral outbursts in their classrooms and schools, in all grade levels and school buildings. These behaviors impact both students and educators. Without adequate supports, educators’ ability to solve and prevent outbursts is limited, and it is incredibly difficult to meet the needs of those students who are acting out.

Laurel Ross, a music specialist in Springfield, shared last year: “[A huge] impact of budget cuts is the elimination of self-contained classrooms in districts.

Districts no longer have the resources to support programs for students with significant behavior issues. Originally, we were told by the school district there would be classroom support and trainings for instructional assistants. Very little of that has happened due to budget constraints. In 14

TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

some classes, significant instructional time is lost due to outbursts, de-escalation plans, keeping everyone safe, and getting help for the students involved.

Teachers want students with severe

Laurel Ross, music specialist in Springfield

behaviors to be successful in their classrooms, but we need them in here WITH additional adult support so that we can teach all students well.”

Brenda Roland, a first grade teacher in Oregon City, shared her story with the legislature last year: “Increasing numbers of students experiencing poverty combined with large class sizes sets up the perfect storm.

Large class sizes impact my ability to educate and support students living through trauma.

In my class right now, trauma means not having enough food at home, homelessness, not knowing where they’ll be sleeping each night, grieving the death of a parent or any variety of abuses/neglect. Students share their plight verbally and through their actions, unable to gain control of the situation – they’re first graders.

Each year, the number of students affected by trauma increases. Our counselors are not full time and as my class size increases, my ability to provide individual attention decreases. The classroom isn’t exclusively about academics

Politics & You anymore; it’s about meeting each child’s social and emotional needs.

I should be focused on strategies to teach reading and math, how to be a good communicator, and work effectively in groups to problem solve. But until each students’ primary needs are met, rigorous learning can’t be a priority for students with trauma. They can’t access academics and that causes behavioral issues to escalate.

Kids experiencing trauma can’t selfregulate. When their needs are not met immediately, screaming, running, chair throwing or single sweep table-top clearing happens. Kids just don’t know what to do with the emotions that trauma produces.

Horrifically, it’s a chain reaction.

Outbursts and explosive behaviors becomes the trigger for yet another student’s anxiety. Additional behavior ensues. Before you know it, all academics have stopped and our class has realized the perfect storm.”

Already, OEA has been working hard to raise the profile of this issue. We’ve met with the Oregon Department of Education, the Chief Education Office, the Governor’s Office, and the State Board of Education.

On Feb. 5, we hosted a lobby day for members across the state to talk to legislators about their own experiences.

Throughout the session, we’ll be sharing one story a day with legislators, demonstrating the impact under-funding has on our students and our schools.

Your union will be focused on this broad, complex issue over the next several years, but we need your help.

How can you support this work?

Share your story! This issue is wideranging and complex, encompassing many different problems with varying solutions.

We need to hear from you and what’s going on in your day-to-day work. Go to: www.oregoned.org/storyproject for more information.

We’ll share these stories with legislators in Salem as well as with other OEA members.

Stay tuned for a townhall event near you on this issue in the springtime and next school year.

Credits: iStockphoto.com; Laurel Ross

Measure 101 Passes!

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e are so excited to share that Measure 101 has PASSED! Oregon voters resoundingly affirmed that everyone deserves access to affordable healthcare.

M101 brought together an amazing coalition of doctors, nurses, hospital associations, educators, and business to protect and support healthcare. We are proud to be one of 175 organizations supporting this measure, and are united in our belief that everyone deserves health care and should be able to see a doctor or nurse when necessary.

In response to the win, OEA President John Larson issued the following statement, “Educators across Oregon are celebrating the passage of Measure 101 tonight because this measure ensures healthcare for so many of our students. As educators, we know that access to healthcare impacts our students’ ability to learn and be successful. We believe no child should fall behind in school because their family cannot afford a doctor’s visit."

Thank you to all our members who voted, volunteered, and talked to family and friends about the importance of this special election.

PAC Convention T

he 2018 OEA-PAC Convention is quickly approaching! This year’s convention will be held on March 9-10 at the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland.

The state’s only democratic convention to endorse candidates, the biannual OEA-PAC Convention is an exciting event. This year we’ll consider Congressional candidates, the Governor’s race, and the candidates for the Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner (BOLI).

Please register for the event ASAP here: https:// www.oregoned.org/ PACConvention

Class Size as a Subject of Mandatory Bargaining

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n the 2018 legislative session, OEA will be working hard to pass legislation to make Class Size a mandatory subject of collective bargaining. This bill would require that school districts discuss locally appropriate class size with educators at the bargaining table. HB 4113 would give educators the ability to improve outcomes for students while negotiating with school districts about salaries, benefits, working conditions, and other issues affecting students.

TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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Rebecca Miller's quality of life as a teacher has vastly improved since her move from Georgia to Oregon, where she now teaches at the Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences.

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incredible difference HOW THE UNION SAVED ONE TEACHER FROM LEAVING THE PROFESSION FOR GOOD

S

BY MILANA GRANT AND CHARLIE LAPHAM ix months ago, science teacher Rebecca Miller was almost ready to leave the profession. It wasn’t because she disliked her students, or that she had lost her passion for teaching science. Five years under high-stress working conditions with incommensurate wages and benefits left her considering whether the reward outweighed the cost.

She was simply burned out. Almost anyone who has been an educator for any length of time can relate; according to NPR, nearly half a million teachers quit the education field every year. Exceedingly susceptible are those who are in their first five years of teaching, considered to be the most influential years in an educator’s career.

During these crucial years, most teachers are able to determine if they’re cut out to be a “lifer.” For Miller, the conflict between keeping a job she loved and keeping her head above water was enough to make her want to change careers for the second time in her life.

Like many teachers, Miller did not begin her professional career in education. For 10 years, she worked as a research scientist. An experience with teaching college students awakened her passion for sharing her love of science with students. She decided to pack up her lab coat and go back to school, earning a Master’s degree in Science. Eventually, she found a teaching position in Athens, Georgia, where she taught for five years.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

While she got to experience the wonderfully gratifying parts of teaching in that first year, she soon came to realize how vulnerable teachers were to exploitation.

Her previous job in research had prepared her for the intense workload, but she had hoped to have support from school administrators to help manage her evergrowing duties. She was sorely disappointed. “There were a lot of things we were promised, but never actually received,” she explains. “I was given a planning period, but in reality, teachers rarely had that period free for planning. We were always on call.” She would often talk to her colleagues about the working conditions and low pay, but felt powerless to change anything.

“Our contract was take it or leave it,” she explains. “We had no bargaining power.”

Georgia is one of 28 states with socalled “right-to-work” laws, meaning that individuals within the bargaining unit can choose not to pay union dues. Lack of funding diminishes a union’s power to represent its members in contract negotiations, making it very challenging to improve pay and working conditions. To make matters worse, collective bargaining for publicsector employees is prohibited in Georgia. Because of these harsh anti-worker laws, educators are at the mercy of their administrators to ensure they are treated fairly. Miller says that she felt expendable and destitute. “If you didn’t like how things were, the district would ask you to leave and TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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WHY DO UNIONS MATTER? Unions defend democracy by defending public schools. When political forces work to dismantle and privatize public education, our union is a powerful defender of the core mission of public education: to provide students — all students, from all walks of life — with the skills to be involved, informed, and engaged in our representative democracy. n

Unions create better learning conditions. Through collective bargaining or simply speaking with a unified voice, our union advocates for — and wins — better learning conditions for students, like lower class sizes, more resources for learning materials and technology, and more enrichment programs like the arts. n

Unions fight to protect our First Amendment rights. Without them, we couldn’t advocate for children and schools without facing retaliation.

Unions have long fought to prevent political repercussions against members who speak out or disagree with school boards or administrators. n

Unions defends collective action to benefit everyone. When working people have the freedom to come together in strong unions, we have the power in numbers we need to negotiate a fair return on our work. We use our collective voice to advocate for policies that benefit all working people — like increases to the minimum wage, affordable health care, and great public schools. n

Union jobs have historically been and continue to be a path to the middle class for communities of color, who often face low wages in their professions.

Black union members today earn 14.7 percent more and Latino union workers 21.8 percent more than their non-union counterparts. In some sectors, the difference is even greater. n

Source: Economic Policy Institute

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TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

they would find someone to replace you.”

Last winter, Miller’s husband was offered a position working for the City of Portland.

It was an opportunity their family couldn’t turn down, so they decided to make the cross-country move to Oregon. Miller finished out the school year in Georgia, and joined her husband in Portland over the summer. Then, it was time for her to start making some decisions about the direction in which she wanted her own career to go.

Her experience teaching in Georgia had left her feeling sour toward the education field, but she needed a job, at least until she figured out her next move.

In August, she was hired by the Oregon City School District to teach science at the Clackamas Academy of Industrial Sciences (CAIS), a public charter high school

operated in a collaboration between the school district, Clackamas Community College, and regional partners. After just one semester teaching in Oregon, she’s reconsidered becoming a lifelong educator.

Miller says the improvements in her pay and benefits after coming to Oregon have been profound. “Coming from an environment that has lost its union power to a place that still has strong unions is like night and day,” she says.

Since she started teaching in Oregon City, her salary has increased by about $15,000, and she is amazed at the quality of the health insurance package the district offers. While working in Georgia, she was paying $300 out-of-pocket each month for a high-deductible plan that didn’t even cover her husband. Oregon City School

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Since moving to Oregon, Miller feels like she's treated as a true professional, something she never felt in Georgia. The difference makes it possible to see herself teaching for the long haul.

District’s plan allows her to cover both herself and her husband for a fraction of her old premium and comes with a deductible which is thousands of dollars less than the insurance plan she had in Georgia. For the first time in her career, she receives a dutyfree lunch, and her PhD credits are now counted toward salary advancement.

She says the most significant change is that she feels like she’s treated as a professional — something she never felt in Georgia. She’s the first to admit that Oregon’s education system faces serious challenges but laments how demoralizing it was to feel disposable. Security and the feeling that she is valued as an educator and employee has given her back the passion for teaching that she once felt in the early days of her career. She is giddy as she Credits: Thomas Patterson

explains the variety of subjects she teaches at CAIS. “I’m teaching marine biology, both macro and microbiology, chemistry, [and] environmental science. It really is fantastic.” Her excitement for the profession has returned now that she can put more focus on teaching, and less on how she will support her family.

Compared to Georgia, Oregon’s labor laws are extremely worker-friendly. In 1973 the state passed the Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA), which gave public employees the right to form, join, and participate in labor unions. Most public employees also have the right to strike if the bargaining process does not result in a contract. This law gives publicsector employees a collective, powerful voice, making it much more difficult to take advantage of them.

OEA-Retired member and activist Steve Hillis remembers a time when teaching in Oregon looked a lot like it does in Georgia currently. He explains that many of the benefits that Oregon educators enjoy today, such as collective bargaining or dutyfree lunches, were won by the persistence of previous generations of educators. “If it weren’t for having a strong association, educators wouldn’t have the privileges of working the way they do today.”

Rebecca Miller is now an active member of her local association, attending regular Oregon City Education Association meetings and increasing her involvement in OEA activities. Her appreciation for the union is one that only someone who has experienced the disadvantages of “right-to-work” laws could have. “The financial and personal value of OEA membership has made an incredible difference to me and my family,” she says. Things that she never thought possible while teaching in Georgia, like buying a house, are now within reach. She knows that Oregon’s public-school system is not perfect – large class sizes, stagnant wage growth, and attacks on PERS continue to haunt Oregon teachers – but she also knows that things could be a lot worse. Miller hopes her experience shows other Oregon educators, especially those in the early stages of their career, how much power they have as a united front and what they stand to lose without a collective voice. ■

In September 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a controversial case that could require all states to establish “right-to-work” laws for public-sector employees. Janus vs. AFSCME has been bankrolled by corporate wealth to undermine workers’ rights to fair wages and working conditions. The wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and their paid politicians support this case because it would diminish the power of unions, allowing for them to exploit working people in favor of their own economic gains.

“This case is yet another example of corporate interests using their power and influence to launch a political attack on working people and rig the rules of the economy in their own favor,” said Lee Saunders, president of AFSCME. “When working people are able to join strong unions, they have the strength in numbers they need to fight for the freedoms they deserve.” Janus is being funded by organizations like the Right to Work Foundation, which is a member of a nationwide network backed by billionaires who do not want workers to be able to leverage their labor for fair wages and benefits.

When unions demand better pay and benefits for their own members, workplace standards are better for all workers and the middle class is strengthened.

Without strong unions, working families will be less able to provide basic needs for their children, which means that more students will already be at a disadvantage when they walk into class. “As the nation’s largest union, this fight not only hurts our members, but also the families of the children we educate,” says NEA President Lily Eskelsen-Garcia.

Educators will be especially affected by the decision, as they make up nearly half of all public-sector employees. As one of the lowest-paid professions that require advanced education, educators depend on the cost-of-living increases and healthcare benefits that a good contract provides. By diminishing the power of their unions, those benefits are at risk.

It will be much more difficult to not only attract new educators to the field, but also to keep veteran educators in the classroom — meaning the biggest impact falls on our students. —Milana Grant TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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What if we trained teachers like we train doctors?

By Gregg Kleiner Reprinted with Permission from Oregon State University’s INSPIRE Magazine 20

TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

What if part of your teacher education included an intensive, 2-year residency inside a public school where you co-taught with — and were mentored by — a seasoned teacher from day one? (Think medical school residencies, but in schools instead of hospitals.)

What if, during the first year of your residency, you were encouraged to substitute teach, helping fund your education and reducing the school district’s substitute shortage? And during the second year, what if the district paid you a stipend for teaching full time in a classroom, where you could immediately apply what you’re learning in courses?

Finally, what if your residency potentially puts you at the front of the line for teaching jobs in the district?

A newly launched graduate program is doing all of this and more.

Now entering its second year, Oregon State’s immersive Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Clinically Based Elementary Education is a partnership between the College of Education and one of

Top: OEA members across Beaverton (from left to right: at Kinnaman, Hazeldale and Fir Grove schools) benefit from the teacher preparatory program currently underway in the district.

three years, often because they are not prepared for real-world challenges ranging from socioeconomics, to special needs, to language barriers.

Matt Nyman, the Oregon State instructor who coordinates the MAT program, believes it will have a significant impact on teacher retention rates.

“This is learning by immersion — our students experience exactly what they will be getting into as teachers, and they are prepared for that,” Nyman says. “We’re accessing the wisdom of practice from Beaverton clinical teachers.”

Competitive and collaborative

Oregon’s largest and most diverse public school districts: Beaverton. Just outside of Portland, the district has 2,300 teachers, 53 schools and 41,000 students — half of whom are students of color from homes where 101 different primary languages are spoken.

Graduate students in the new program are mentored by experienced Beaverton educators, called clinical teachers. The first-year students are known as practicum teachers and hone their skills in the classroom two days a week. When not teaching, they take online and hybrid courses and can work as paid substitute teachers within the district under a restricted license.

Second-year students, called resident teachers, dive in deeper. They teach five days a week while taking classes and earning a 0.4 FTE stipend paid by the district.

During the second year, the clinical teachers split their time between two different classrooms, each run by a resident teacher.

“This is super immersive learning — from the first day of the year, the grad students are introduced as teachers, not as student teachers,” says Nell O’Malley, a

senior instructor who helped launch the program and serves as director of education licensure at the College of Education.

Everyone benefits

The graduate students are not the only beneficiaries of the new program.

“Our partnership with Oregon State not only allows grad students to learn from our master teachers and apply what they’re learning in their OSU courses the very next day, but our teachers and staff also get exposure to the latest educational research,” says Sue Robertson, the chief human resource officer at the Beaverton School District.

Clinical teachers get quality help with teaching loads, and the district gains access to good substitute teachers, who are in short supply nationwide. And because the grad students are in the same school for two full years, the school’s entire staff and students benefit.

A boost for teacher retention

Studies show that more than 40 percent of new teachers leave the profession within

Credits: Oregon State University College of Education; Paul Barker/FreeImages.com (stethoscope)

Although there are other immersiontype teacher education programs in the U.S., the sustainable funding model of the Oregon State program sets it apart.

“Having students in classrooms as substitute teachers during the first year, and then as part-time employees the second year — now that is very different,” O’Malley says.

Robertson has worked closely with the teachers’ union, and so far, the MAT program is proving to be a good fit.

“We have a very good relationship with the teachers’ association,” says Robertson.

“They understand that the better prepared teachers are, and the more the district invests at the front end, the more successful teachers will be in the long run.”

Another distinguishing feature is that everyone gets a say in which graduate students are accepted into the program and which clinical teachers get to work with them.

“It’s very competitive because both OSU and Beaverton have to agree,” says Melissa Potter, university partner liaison for the Beaverton School District. “We’re at the table when deciding which grad students will go into the classroom. And they’re at the table when selecting the clinical teachers. It’s very unique.”

Although it has been just a year, all parties are committed, flexible and looking forward to the second year.

“We’re really lucky to have such a special group of people — both at OSU and here in Beaverton,” Potter says. “It’s very exciting.” ■ TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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IT’S OK TO ASK

ENGAGING MY STUDENTS IN A SUICIDE PREVENTION PROJECT

BY ROSEANNA LARSON • PHOTOS BY THOMAS PATTERSON

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ur school needed a change. It was the spring of 2015, and Central High School’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) team was in its second year, envisioning ways to positively impact the culture of our school. The prior year, our PBIS team had created monthly school-wide lessons on our expectations for them as students, citizens, and people, with no noticeable changes in positive behavior; we couldn’t figure out what we were doing wrong. In order to really accomplish something, we figured out that we needed a program that was student-driven. The proposal was made to start a new leadership class – one unlike anything our school had ever offered. Students would take the lead in helping staff create messages that their peers could relate to. Little did I know when we came up with this brilliant idea that I would be the one asked to teach the class. When our administration said that they thought I was the teacher for this task and that it could work with my schedule, I agreed.

It was an exciting, yet overwhelming opportunity; there was no curriculum, and I was tasked with the “simple” goal of creating a student-driven class that would develop lessons and activities designed to create a positive culture and climate in our school and community—no big deal! I only had the spring term to recruit students to sign up for a class that they had never heard of, and I couldn’t really even tell them what we would be doing. Fortunately, we had an awesome response from our students, and the CHS Power Peer class was ready to launch – or, as ready as it could be. Some of my students who have been in the class since it began joke about how, “Mrs. Larson forced me to sign up for the class.” At least I think they’re joking since they’ve stayed with me year after year.

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SUICIDE STATISTICS

n Suicide is the second leading cause of

death for young people (aged 15-24) globally. n The prevalence of suicidal thoughts, suicidal planning and suicide attempts is significantly higher among adults aged 18-29 than among adults aged 30+. (CDC) n Lesbian, gay, and bisexual kids are three times more likely than straight kids to attempt suicide at some point in their lives. n African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American people who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual attempt suicide at especially high rates. n Lesbian, gay, and bisexual young people who come from families that reject or do not accept them are over eight times more likely to attempt suicide than those whose families accept them. n Nearly 20 percent of teen girls (aged 12-17) in the United States report major depressive episodes within the last year. n 40 percent of all people with a serious mental health issue do not seek treatment.

That summer, I worked with another member of our PBIS team, Laura Waight, and together we developed a rough outline of monthly lessons to teach our school expectations through our P.O.W.E.R. matrix, (P=purpose, O=ownership, W=work ethic, E=empathy, and R=respect). The PBIS team had designed several lessons for the first few weeks of school to teach students about behavior expectations, including a school-wide lesson for the first day of school to kick off the 2015-16 school year. I was excited to get feedback from the Power Peers about our first PBIS lesson of the year, since they were dispersed into different classroom “focus groups” while the lesson was taught. Their notes were a little disheartening. Some teachers had not taught the PBIS lesson in their classroom, and those who did each presented it a bit differently, sometimes going off on unrelated tangents or opting not to finish all the parts. There wasn’t a consistent message going out to our students and staff about the expectations in our school. Students also thought the lessons were too detailed and boring.

Back to the drawing board. At least this time around, we had the right resources to help find a better solution – the Power Peers themselves.

The students suggested making video lessons so that teachers would not have extra work, and the same message would be played in each classroom; this would create the consistency we had been lacking. I panicked a little at the thought of making monthly videos due to my own personal technology deficiencies, but the kids assured me they knew how to do it. We even had one student who had film editing experience. They wanted to ditch the lesson the PBIS team had created for the following week and make a video. We had just a few days to write a script, assign parts, come up with an engaging activity, get supplies for 1000 students, edit, and share the video with staff. Somehow, we pulled it off. Our first lesson on “Finding your Purpose” was created.

This class truly was unique. Most traditional leadership courses require students to run for office or give a speech to the student body, which can be very intimidating for many students. Any student who

wanted to sign up could take this class. We ended up with an incredibly diverse group, which was wonderful because we had representation in our class from all walks of life. Our messages were more realistic and relatable to our student body, since there was at least one person in the class who all other students knew or could relate to.

As the year progressed, we continued to develop monthly lessons, using the students’ ideas to improve the school culture and climate. One of my favorites was a video on the importance of empathy.

Our school is fortunate enough to have recently gotten a school-based health center, the Central Health and Wellness

Center, located across the street from CHS. Our class decided to form a partnership with the center, and we were able to get three water-bottle filling stations for our school through one of their grant programs.

We also were able to provide water bottles with a student-designed CHS logo to all students and staff.

Our partnership with the center led to an introduction to Doug Gouge and Stephanie Gilbert from the Mid-Valley Suicide Prevention Coalition. Mental health awareness for young people is so important, and knowing what to do in the event that someone you know is thinking of suicide can save a life. Our class had the opportunity for

Gouge to train us in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), which is a suicide prevention approach that uses a similar model to CPR. Suicide prevention and mental health awareness were two areas that the class wanted to promote at our school and in the community. Having lost my own father to suicide as a teenager, these areas were very close to my heart.

In the fall of 2016, we were approached

by Mid-Valley Suicide Prevention Coalition with the idea of continuing our partnership by creating two videos about mental health awareness. We had a group of students who were passionate about this subject, so we started to have planning sessions to discuss

Roseanna Larson's Power Peers class creates projects that help their fellow students at Central High School.

TODAY’S OEA | WINTER 2018

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From top: Signs from an anti-suicide video the class produced.

Roseanna Larson's Power Peers class creates projects that help their fellow students at Central High School in Independence.

Savannah Mendoza and Jacob Hamilton arrange donated food in the student-run pantry.

Savannah Mendoza arranges donated clothes in the student-run pantry.

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ideas for the videos. During the planning phase, Doug Gouge arranged for the group to work with Talewind Visuals, a media company who did all the amazing filming and editing for this project. It was decided that the videos would not have any speaking parts, just students, music, and words. The effect was tremendously powerful. When our class previewed the first video, You Are Not Alone, #OK2ASK, we could not believe how well it all came together. Our students were in awe of the power behind their message. The school was planning to kick off a yearlong campaign to promote mental health awareness in the fall of 2017, and we were excited to show our video to the entire student body. We wanted our staff to see the video before showing it to students, so I shared it during our staff meeting the week before the release. I was surprised that there was no response from our staff after showing the video, and at first, I thought that they did not care for it. Then the lights came back on and I could see the impact on their faces. Many of them told me later that they simply had no words.

After school on Oct. 11, we put up posters that had been created from still shots of the video all around our school. We wanted to get students talking about the posters as soon as they arrived at school the next day, before they saw the video during our schoolwide video lesson. Gouge’s team had cards made in English and Spanish that were identical to the cards used in the video with the message, “Need someone to talk to?” on one side, and three resources with phone numbers where students could get help on the other side. These cards had been distributed to all of the teachers at CHS to give out after showing the video as part of the campaign.

While the video was shown in all classrooms at CHS, the Mid-Valley Suicide Prevention Coalition simultaneously posted the video on social media and their webpage.

The response has been overwhelming.

The impact made by this project has been felt by students at CHS, and around the world. Students who starred in the video immediately had friends, family members, and strangers messaging them about how amazing it was. I had emails and messages coming in from mental health agencies, law enforcement agencies, other schools, and

Roseanna Larson's Power Peers class creates projects that help their fellow students at Central High School in Independence.

community members. It spoke to everyone who has ever struggled in life, watched a loved one struggle, or felt alone.

We have continued our campaign by teaching our students and staff about regulating tools to help reduce stress and anxiety.

In our video lesson for February, we will be focusing on how to control “flipping your lid,” which is part of mental health awareness and our trauma-informed approach at CHS. We will be releasing the second video we made with Doug Gouge and his team in the spring.

The Power Peers are truly an amazing group of students with a desire to serve others and make a positive difference in the world. What they have accomplished in the two and half years since we started this class is astonishing, makes me incredibly proud, and to be totally honest, a bit exhausted. These young leaders are the reason I love teaching and inspire me each day.

Credits: Thomas Patterson

PREVENTION IS POSSIBLE

The Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) is an organization that provides resources for teachers, parents, students, and students on mental health awareness.

They offer screenings for depression, coping resources for loved ones, and information about mental health awareness events. Visit www.save.org to learn how you can help prevent teen suicides.

They are my ‘why.’ My Power Peers were asked to write an essay for their final in our class this semester about how this class has affected them. One of my students could not have summed up my feelings about this class any better when he wrote, “We are family, a family known as Power Peers! I love this family.”

Our class has continued to take on additional projects to benefit our school and

community. This year the Power Peers opened The Pantry at CHS for students who are in need of food, hygiene items, school supplies, and clothing. They stock it every week with donations from our partnership with the Ella Curran Food Bank and members of the community, take inventory, write grants to purchase additional items for The Pantry including new socks and underwear, and create videos to build a school-wide culture that supports and respects The Pantry. So many of our students have benefited from the resources provided in The Pantry, and it is inspiring to see our young people taking the lead to help their fellow students and make them feel supported and loved by their peers. ■

The Power Peers moving video can be viewed here: https://mvsuicideprevention.com/ resources/display/Home.

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OEA BOARD CANDIDATES OEA MEMBERS SEEK ASSOCIATION POSITIONS » Candidates’ statements are printed exactly as submitted and have not been

corrected for spelling, grammar, or punctuation. PLEASE NOTE: Candidate statements that exceeded the 100-word limit were cut off at the

District 04 (3-year term) Laura Scruggs

Photo Unavailable

Teacher Briggs Middle School Springfield School Districtct

STATEMENT My goal as an association leader is to build understanding between our locals whether large or small; urban, suburban or rural; K-12, Community College, or Education Service District (ESD); certified or classified. I believe the intentional use of technology is key to increasing our communication and thereby our knowledge of education across Oregon. Additionally, I believe in supporting our members as educators first.

We can then weave in an understanding of the need for and means by which we advocate for one another.

QUALIFICATIONS Springfield Education Association » Bargaining Chair (2008-Present) » OEA-RA Representative (2000-Present) » NEA-RA Representative (2004-2008) » Bargaining Team Member (2001-2008) » Middle School Representative to the Executive Board (2003-2007) » New Member Representative to the Executive Board (2000-2003) t State: Oregon Education Association » Board Member District #4 (2013-Present) » Center for Advocacy and Affiliate Services (2013-Present) » Structures Committee (2012-2015) » New Member Award (1998) » Noel Connall Professional Development Award (2014) Bandon Education Association » South Coast UniServ President (1998-1999) » President (1997-1999) » OEA- RA Representative (1997-1999) » Vice President (1995-1997) » Building Representative (1993-1995)

District 05 (3-year term) Lisa Fragala

Teacher Adams Elementary School Eugene School District

STATEMENT My first year as a teacher I clearly remember being excited to be part of a union. To this day, I continue to have this same type of enthusiasm. I believe that our association, at the state and local levels, should play an important role in improving and protecting public education. As your OEA Board Director, I would work to ensure that members of the Eugene Education Association have a voice in the statewide governance process. Additionally, I am committed to OEA’s goal of eliminating institutional racism and believe in making this work an OEA priority.

QUALIFICATIONS Local: Eugene Education Association » Elementary Building Representative » Legislative Interview Committee » Political Action Committee » Community Organizing Committee » Ethnic Minorities Affairs Committee » EEA Listening Projects State: OEA » OEA Representative Assembly Delegate » PIE Convention Delegate » Statewide Lobby & Advocacy Days » Statewide Organizing Taskforce » Legislative Contact » OEA-PAC Board » Statewide Organizing Coordinator » Engage Listening Campaigns National: NEA » NEA Leadership Summit » National Urban Educators Summit

District 06 (1-year term) Bobby Marshall

Teacher Harding Learning Center Coos Bay School District

STATEMENT Also known as Bobby, a dedicated, fresh & energetic leader, I am seeking your support! I am dedicated to leading OEA, through this transformational time, to strengthen the stand of public education. Through engagement and active listening, my goal is to bring the rural voice of members to guide the direction of our organization. I believe with the creation of the Conservative Educator Caucus, our conservative member voices will have a conduit to influence our member driven association.

QUALIFICATIONS Local: » UniServ Council President, Vice-President » Local President » Bargaining Team Chair, Member » Building Representative State: OEA » Board Director » Representative Assembly Delegate » PIE Convention Delegate » New Member Advisory Council member » Strategic Action Task Force member » Goal & Policy Alignment Workgroup member » Summer Leadership Conference Presenter » Attendee Multiple OEA Conferences » Conservative Educator Caucasus National: NEA » Representative Assembly Delegate » Republican Leadership Conference (II, III, V) Delegate » Pacific Regional Leadership Conference » Legislative Contact » Lobby Capitol Hill as NEA Representative Personal: » Republican Central Committee Vice-President » Precinct Committee Person » Oregon Republican Platform Convention Delegate » Dorchester Conference Delegate, Intern

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100th word. Elections for OEA Board Directors and NEA RA Delegates are determined by mail-in ballots, due to OEA Headquarters received or postmarked by March 10th (Bylaws, Article 7, Section 4, C.1.)

District 07 (3-year term) Travis Overley

Teacher Summit High School Bend LaPine School District

STATEMENT I have taught in Oregon for seven years serving K-12 students from the valley to the high desert. My goal as an association leader is to fight for adequate funding and get the schools our students deserve. I believe that teachers know their students and what they need better than anyone. I hope to elevate our voices at the state and local level to affect change and to influence policy decisions that impact students, parents and our community. I also believe that teachers can best serve their students when they are treated as professionals, compensated justly and when they receive QUALIFICATIONS Local: Bend Education Association » Vice President » Executive Board » Social Media Coordinator » Building Representative State: OEA » District 7 Board Director » Oregon Education Association Foundation Board Member » OEA Representative Assembly Delegate (2016, 2017) Personal Qualifications: » Political Action Award, OEA RA: 2017 » Keep Oregon’s Promise - PERS Advocate » Hopeful & engaged community member » Social Justice Advocate » US Coast Guard Veteran

District 08 (1-year term) Brita Scott

Teacher LaGrande High School LaGrande School District

STATEMENT I have enjoyed serving the educators of Eastern Oregon through the La Grande Education Association and the Eastern Oregon UniServ Council for the past several years. Our power comes from our membership!

Collective action at the local level is the key for continued success in bargaining, advocating for social justice, and upholding standards of professionalism.

In this current political climate, it is imperative that we continue to work together to strengthen public education in Eastern Oregon.

QUALIFICATIONS Local » Elementary Educator, Elgin School District, 32 years » Local President » Local Vice-President` » Bargaining Team Chair » Grievance Committee Chair State: Oregon Education Association » District 8 Board Member » Representative Assembly Delegate » RA Planning Committee » Member Benefits Committee » Resolutions Committee » Legislative Action Day » OEA Presidential Award National » Women's Leadership Training 2015

District 10a (3-year term) Tom Kane

Teacher Alliance High School @ Meek Portland Public Schools

STATEMENT I ask for your vote for OEA Executive Board. The qualities I bring arise from broad life experience and political activism--from working to close the Trojan Nuclear plant to fundraising for Congressional campaigns, and most recently collecting over 700 signatures for Ballot Measure 97 while running for the State Legislature. I have been active at OEA-RA, introducing numerous NBls ranging from divesting from fossil fuels to organizing efforts against SBAC and high-stakes testing. We cannot separate the needs of students from the need to work with others to create a just and sustainable society. I hope I earn your QUALIFICATIONS Local: Portland Association of Teachers » Building Rep Bargaining Rep » PAT Executive Board » Joint PAT/PPS District Advisory Committee on Assessment PAT Legislative Committee » PAT Social Justice Committee PAT PAC Board » PAT Liaison to Jobs with Justice State: » OEA-RA Rep » OEA-PIE Convention » OEA Bargaining Task Force » OEA Cabinet for Advocacy and Affiliate Services OEA Legislative Action Committee » OEA Public Affairs Committee National: » NEA-RA Delegate » NEA Leadership Conference » Labor Notes Conference Personal: » House District Leader for Clackamas County Democratic Party Candidate for State Legislature » Long-time Activist on Peace, Social Justice and Environmental Issues » Taught at High School and College

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OEA BOARD CANDIDATES

District 12 (1-year term)

District 14 (3-year term) Teacher Davis Elementary School Reynolds School District

Teacher Rocky Heights Elementary School Hermiston School District

QUALIFICATIONS Local: » Building Representative-5 yrs » Secretary-8 yrs » Bargaining Team Member-3 yrs » OEA RA Delegate-12 yrs State/National: » NEA RA Delegate-4 yrs » Interim OEA Board of Directors-1 yr

STATEMENT My goal as an association leader is to amplify the voices of our rank and file members. As we prepare to meet the challenges unions will face in the coming years, we need to ensure that the decisions made

by OEA leaders reflect the needs and beliefs of our members.

QUALIFICATIONS Local: Reynolds Education Association » Building Rep » Secretary » Vice President » President » Bargaining Chair » Organizing Chair » Political Chair Council: East Multnomah County » Secretary » Organizer » Candidate Interview Committee » Promising Practices Grant Committee State: OEA » OEA RA rep » Board Director » Statewide Organizing Task Force » Legislative Advisory Council » Summer Leadership Trainer National: NEA: » NEA RA rep

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Lindsay Jansen-Hostetler

Tammy Sykes

DayLee Lathim

STATEMENT Over the past 14 years, I have been working to educate the children of my district that I work in and increasing my involvement in our Oregon Education Association. I started as a building representative, then to local leader (Secretary) which I have been working as for the past 8 years. Through my different opportunities, I believe I know District 12 members and their needs, wants and can represent our large diverse area. This year, I took on the interim Board Director role and am seeking to continue the position for the next year, serving the remainder of the term.

District 17 (3-year term)

Photo Unavailable

Teacher Albany Options Greater Albany School District

STATEMENT My goal as an association leader is to advocate for the resources teachers and students need to succeed.

Supporting my fellow educators is essential. Through collaborative problem solving, political engagement, and working for social justice, we can achieve greater equality and equity in education. Public education affords young minds an opportunity to grow and learn critical thinking skills; it is crucial to give everyone the opportunity to become a functioning citizen in our democratic society, and this can only be achieved through supporting public education. I am committed to understanding, listening, and valuing others in order to advocate for them.

QUALIFICATIONS Local: Greater Albany Education Association

» Building Representative » Governance Council Member » Executive Board Area Representative » Political Action Committee Member » Bargaining Team Member » Vice-President State: » OEA-RA Delegate » Legislative Advisory Council Member Statewide Activities » OEA Lobby Days » Summer Leadership Conference » Organizing and Bargaining Conference » Albany ENGAGE 2017

District 18 (3-year term)

District 19 (1-year term)

Mikka Irusta

Teacher Mid Valley Elementary School Hood River County School District

STATEMENT My goal as an association leader is to empower our members to stand up for the rights of our students and ourselves. I believe that we need to make our voices heard now more than ever, with the political climate that we are currently in. It would be a privilege to be the voice of District 18. It is important to make sure that the special and unique needs of all members in our district are represented at the state level. I will help to ensure that this happens.

QUALIFICATIONS Local - Hood River Education Association » Vice President » Building Rep » Bargaining Team Member State - Oregon Education Association » OEA Representative Assembly Delegate » OEA Summer Leadership Conference National - National Education Association » NEA Representative Assembly Delegate Personal Qualifications: » Educator for 14 years » Advisory Member of HRCSD Budget Committee » Member of HRCSD Financial Advisory Committee » Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD) Key Trainer

Jennifer DeForrest

Photo Unavailable

Teacher Mazama High School Klamath School District

STATEMENT My goal as an association leader is to ensure that all of my members voices are represented and that I provide the most up to date information to those members. I believe that open communication is vital to our success. I want my members to know that I am ready and willing to work hard on providing them the resources needed to sustain and keep our union strong.

I am committed to doing my part to ensure the future success for students, teachers, and the education system as a whole. Together we can make a difference in building a stronger QUALIFICATIONS Local: Klamath County Education Association » Bargaining Team Member » Secretary for KCEA » Building Representative for KCEA State: OEA » OEA Representative Assembly Delegate » Relief Fund Interest Task Force Committee Member Personal: » Collaborative » Organized » Willingness to Learn » Positive Work Ethic » Honest » Friendly » Perseverance

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NEA RA STATE DELEGATE CANDIDATES Region I Candidates Six Positions (3-year terms)

Photo Unavailable

Elizabeth Nahl

Counselor McKinney Elementary School Hillsboro School District

Abby Jones

Teacher Witch Hazel Elementary School Hillsboro School District

Gregory “Greg” Burrill Substitute Teacher Portland Public Schools

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Adolfo Garza-Cano

Teacher Woodlawn Elementary School Portland Public Schools

Christine Estep

Katrina Ayres

Teacher Ladd Acres Elementary School Hillsboro School District

Substitute Teacher Beaverton School District

Lindsay Ray

Suzanne Cohen

Janine Weir

Teacher Westview High School Hillsboro School District

Teacher BESC Portland Public Schools

Teacher Beaverton School District

NEA RA STATE DELEGATE CANDIDATES Region II Candidates Four Positions (3-year terms)

Photo Unavailable

Erika Breton

Teacher Lincoln Elementary School Woodburn School District

Mari Jones

Teacher Elmira/Veneta Elementary School Fern Ridge School District

Photo Unavailable

Apolo Curiel

Teacher South Shore Elementary School Greater Albany School District

Anne Goff

Teacher Springfield School District

Forrest Cooper

Teacher Elmira High School Fern Ridge School District

Jill Schmitt

Instructional Assistant Junction City High School Junction City School District

Region III Candidates Three Positions (3-year terms)

Photo Unavailable

Janelle Rebick

Teacher William E Miller Elementary School Bend LaPine School District

Bobby Marshall

Teacher Harding Learning Center Coos Bay School District

Kathy Coon

Teacher Allen Dale Elementary School Grants Pass School District

David Morocco

Teacher Joseph Lane Middle School Roseburg School District

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Sources + Resources The following information is provided as a resource to members of the Oregon Education Association. Their publication within Today’s OEA is not to be construed as a recommendation or endorsement of the products or services by the Oregon Education Association, its Board of Directors or staff.

AWARDS, GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS

Ezra Jack Keats Mini-Grants

WHAT: This program offers funding of up to $500 and the opportunity to design and implement a creative program for your school or library. n HOW: To read the guidelines and submit your application, visit http://www.ezrajack-keats.org/section/ezra-jack-keatsmini-grant-program-for-public-librariespublic-schools/ n

Get Out and Grow School Garden Sweepstakes

WHAT: Grants of up to $15,000 to develop school gardens that cultivate hard work and healthy eating habits. n WHO: School administrators or foodservice directors of K-12 schools n WHEN: Submission deadline is March 11, 2018 n HOW: For more information and to access the application, please visit http:// growwithsmuckers.com/ n

history as the focus. Teachers have the opportunity to exchange ideas with historians, meet character interpreters and become part of the story in The Revolutionary City. Scholarships available for Oregon teachers.

HOW: To learn more, visit http://www. history.org/history/teaching/tchsti.cfm

was established by the Pet Care Trust to provide children with an opportunity to interact with pets—an experience that can help to shape their lives for years to come. n HOW: To see if you qualify, visit http:// www.petsintheclassroom.org/

Multiple Dates

California Academy of Sciences Teacher Resources

Classroom Law Project Courthouse Experience

WHAT: The Courthouse Experience Program provides students in grades 5-12 with an authentic opportunity to learn about the justice system by observing real cases and court procedures. Each year, nearly 5,000 students watch the law come alive on these enriching and valuable visits to the Multnomah County Courthouse and the Justice Center, led by committed volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds. n HOW: For more information, visit http://www.classroomlaw.org/programs/ courthouse-experience/ n

OPPORTUNITIES

Oregon Council of Teachers of English Spring Conference

WHEN: April 14, 2018 WHAT: Join K-12 English Language Arts educators for an inspiring day of learning with an acclaimed keynote speaker!

Professional development and Graduate credits available through Portland State University. n HOW: Visit http://www.octe.org/ conferences.html n n

Multiple Dates

Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute

WHAT: During immersive, weeklong sessions and three-day themed seminars on location in Williamsburg, 25 participants and a Master Teacher engage in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with American

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FOR STUDENTS

Doodle 4 Google Student Art Contest

WHAT: Every year, students in grades K-12 can enter into the Doodle 4 Google contest and have a chance to have their doodle featured as an interactive experience on google.com. Prizes include a college scholarship, a trip to Google HQ in California, and a tech package for their school. n WHEN: Submission deadline is March 2, 2018 n HOW: To submit an entry, visit https:// doodles.google.com/d4g/how-it-works. html n

Pets in the Classroom

WHAT: An educational grant program that provides financial support to teachers to purchase and maintain small animals in the classroom. The program n

ON THE WEB

WHAT: If you're looking for fun, engaging science resources, you're bound to find some useful ones here. Choose from lesson plans, as well as games, films and clips, and other interesting multimedia, online courses, interactives, toolkits, and much more. n HOW: Find inspiration at https://www. calacademy.org/educators n

Be Internet Awesome (Digital Citizenship Curriculum)

WHAT: To make the most of the Internet, kids need to be prepared to make smart decisions. Be Internet Awesome teaches kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence. n HOW: Start being awesome here: https:// beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/ n

Teaching Tolerance in the Classroom

WHAT: For teachers who want to bring a social justice framework into their classroom, but aren’t sure how, Teaching Tolerance is here to help. From film kits and lesson plans to the building blocks of a customized Learning Plan—texts, student tasks and teaching strategies—our resources will help you bring relevance, rigor and social emotional learning into your classroom. n HOW: Helpful tools available at https:// www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources n

Sources + Resources

ADD SOCIAL JUSTICE TEXTS TO YOUR CLASSROOM!

BY BRETT BIGHAM / 2014 Oregon Teacher of the Year

I

don’t remember many actual lessons from fifth grade but I remember hanging on every word as my teacher Brett Bigham read “Where the Red Fern Grows.” For weeks on end I was terrified I’d get sick and miss a day in the life of those dogs.

In fourth grade I sat in horror realizing the ending of Anne Frank was the closest I’d ever been to attending a funeral. Rows of children silently crying. A few, not so silently. That teacher may well have tattooed me because that book made an indelible mark on my life.

Don’t even get me started on Charlotte’s Web. The literature a teacher chooses to share with their students is an incredibly personal thing. It is a bond between teacher and students that has impact for years to come.

How do you pick the right book? Has the classic held up or has it become uncomfortable? Do you teach empathy

through the pages of Charlotte’s Web or Wonder or Brown Girl Dreaming? And then there is that constant nagging question: Is the book you are about to invest several months in good enough? Is there something better?

As I travelled through Oregon as Teacher of the Year I was constantly asked what books I’d recommend. I’ve learned there is a lot of angst about the quality of books in a classroom library.

Pre-service teachers wanted the nuts and bolts. They didn’t want to hear “Get books about social justice.” they wanted a list that said, “The Book Of Isaias

by Daniel Connolly is a great book to teach about Dreamers.”

The need for guidance was so clear the National Network of State Teachers of the Year and I joined up to create the NNSTOY Social Justice Book List. Working with Katherine Bassett and Laurie Calvert we surveyed Teachers of the Year from all over the country to find out what books they were using in their classroom to teach social justice.

We ended up with over two hundred books that had been vetted by our most

recognized educators. The list is by grade level with an additional section of books for teachers themselves. Now, whenever I am asked what books I would choose to support LGBT students or kids living in poverty or dealing with bullying and racism I can send them the link for the book list.

The NNSTOY Social Justice Book List, edited by Katherine Bassett, Laurie Calvert and Brett Bigham is available free online at: www.nnstoy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NNSTOY-Social-Justice-Book-List.pdf

 TAX TIME

Dues Deduction for OEA Members Members may be able to deduct NEA, OEA and Local union dues for 2017 income taxes. The deduction must meet the limitations on miscellaneous itemized deductions (when “Miscellaneous” itemized deductions exceed 2% of adjusted gross income). To deduct union dues, you must use the standard Form 1040. Union dues are reported on line 21 of Schedule A (Form 1040) –Itemized Deductions.

The amount of the deduction will be based on 62 percent of dues paid in 2017.

You will likely be able to find this amount on your final 2017 pay stub listed as "Dues."

If you are not able to find the amount in either place, a call to your employer’s payroll office should provide the most accurate information.

The 2018 tax act eliminates miscellaneous itemized deductions, so union dues will not be deductible in 2018. However, Oregon hasn’t yet adopted all the federal changes.

More concrete information about this to follow in the coming year.

The $250 Educator Expenses deduction is available to reduce your taxes without the requirement of itemizing your

deductions. The deduction for K-12 educators is taken on line 23 of Form 1040 or line 16 of Form 1040A. Each form refers to specific instructions that explain the qualification for the deduction. This deduction was not eliminated by the 2018 tax act. For 2017, expenses beyond the $250 limit may be deductible as a “Miscellaneous” itemized deduction, like union dues, subject to the limitations mentioned above.

Go to to: www.neamb.com/finance/ dont-miss-these-educator-taxdeductions.htm to find more details on these and other educator tax deductions.

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ON THE WEB / Winter2018 » www.oregoned.org

Black Lives Matter At School » neaEdJustice.org

A

Take the Pledge for Racial Justice » educationvotes.nea.org/neaedjustice/ racialjustice

A

s educators and allies, we are committed to addressing the inequities that result from the institutionally racist policies and practices in our schools and in the communities our students live in. We choose not to accept these conditions as they exist, but to accept the responsibility for changing them. Take the online pledge to address access and opportunity for all students by highlighting inequities and increasing awareness, organizing for change, and growing the movement.

Bonus! When you sign the online pledge, you’ll receive a free download of the NEA Ed Justice Black Lives Matter at School poster.

s racism and xenophobia become more prevalent and overt in our schools and communities, it is more important than ever to listen to and elevate the voices, experiences, and history of our fellow citizens and communities under attack.

To support the work that OEA and NEA members do to educate and organize around racial justice in education, To support these important efforts, NEA’s Human & Civil Rights Department has developed a resource site: Black Lives Matter at School. Here you will find stories detailing how educators and students are organizing for racial justice, resources from locals, school districts, & partners, and art and videos for members and allies to use to educate, engage and take action for racial justice in education.

The goal of Black Lives Matter at School is to spark an ongoing movement of critical reflection and honest conversation in school communities for people of all ages to engage with issues of racial justice. Find stories, resources and ideas highlighting Black Lives Matter at School from across the country here.

In addition to union-developed resources, grade-level appropriate lessons curated by educators and partners and stories highlighting member activism can also be found here. The art and multimedia resources on the page are essential components for awareness building, engagement, connection, and change for racial and social justice.

The site is dedicated to lifting stories and resources from educator activists working for social and racial justice.

Resources for Talking About Race » educationvotes.nea.org/neaedjustice/black-lives-matter-school-resources

C

heck out NEA’s cultivated list of resources to help facilitate conversations about race, including classroom appropriate lesson plans, guides on how to have tough conversations with peers and students, and more. A sampling of these include: n Guiding Principles for Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter n Black Lives Matter: Resources for Curriculum, The Rochester Board of Education, Rochester Teachers Association and Association of Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester n Black Lives Matter School Resources by Grade Level, Teaching for Change n Creating the Space to Talk about Race in Your School (PDF), National Education Association

> QUOTABLE

Creating the space to talk about race can open the way for some of the most powerful learning and change that you and your students will ever experience.

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The Official Publication of Oregon Education Association

OEA • NEA 6900 S.W. Atlanta Street Portland, OR 97223 tel: (503) 684-3300 fax: (503) 684-8063 www.oregoned.org

Periodicals POSTAGE PAID at Portland OR

Educating

OEA’S 8TH ANNUAL EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM

th e w h o l e stu d e n t

How Trauma-Informed Practices Help Students Thrive

DATE: February 24, 2018 / 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

LOCATION: Embassy Suites, Washington Sq.

REGISTRATION & INFORMATION www.oregoned.org/symposium