Leading for Deeper Learning, A Series in Four Parts, Part 3: Backpacks, Defenses, and Surprises
Carmen Coleman, Chief Academic Officer for a large and struggling school district, has just committed to instituting a bold new method of demonstrating student success. The stakes are high as the 2018-2019 school year begins.
What’s in Your Backpack?
When our district team proposed that we create our own digital vehicle for students to store and demonstrate artifacts of their learning, the superintendent and I reluctantly agreed, knowing that time was not on our side. But amazingly, the school year started and each student had a digital Backpack of Success Skills inside their Google Drive. Our newly formed Digital Innovation team was leading the way, creating lots of excitement within and even outside the district. Suddenly, JCPS, the troubled district that had been somewhat of a mystery across the state, was front and center. It seemed–to us at least–that everyone was watching, and more than a few wanted to join us. It was a new day in the Jefferson County Public Schools!
The first full year of implementation of the Backpack, the beginning of our competency-based system, couldn’t have been better. The once-siloed divisions came together in many different ways to support the kind of work we wanted to see. With our Communications team, we created the “What’s in Your Backpack?” series. There were short videos that started with the “why” behind the Backpack initiative, then moved into episodes focused on various aspects of deeper learning. We defined “quality work” and used a protocol to look at student work during principals’ meetings. Schools scheduled exhibitions of learning. The project-based approach was on the rise.
Defenses began that spring, and we couldn’t have been more proud of our schools. Every student at a key transition point (elementary to middle, middle to high school, and high school to post-secondary) was expected to defend. No exceptions. Although there was never any organized pushback, there were questions along the way…
“Do you really think our students can do this?”
“Do you really think it’s reasonable to expect a 5th grader to put together a formal presentation, like a graduate student might?”
“What about students with severe disabilities?”
“What about English Language Learners?”
“Do you really expect Kindergarteners to be able to upload artifacts?”
Every time, I answered by saying, “I am not sure. But I do know that if we don’t expect it, they definitely won’t. I’m also positive that our students deserve the opportunity.”
From my previous experience, I knew if we could just get to defenses, even the toughest critic would see the value–and they did. Stories were shared across the district about powerful and moving defenses. Just as I expected, we were blown away by what the students could do when just given the chance.
A 5th grader who’d only been in the country a matter of months was dressed in a suit and tie for his defense, looking the part of a young professional. He’d invited his dad. This was a big deal.
He looked each panelist in the eye and shook our hands. He introduced himself and began talking about his progress and his goals. He highlighted several artifacts of which he was especially proud. He talked about how he wanted to become a doctor because he’d learned so much from helping take care of his grandma. Everyone in the room cried.
An 8th grade student at our Newcomer Academy, a school for students very new to the country with little if any formal schooling, started her defense in English but stopped abruptly. She was looking at her notes but struggling with the language, and by now looked very close to tears. It just so happened that the mayor and the superintendent were observing, along with a district staff member whose native language was the same as the student’s. Suddenly, the staff member began speaking to the young girl in her native language. After a moment, the student stood up straight, took a deep breath, and started again. To say that those who were watching were moved would be a tremendous understatement. Witnessing first-hand this student’s struggle and eventual success was an unforgettable moment.
There are many more stories just like these. For me, one of the most memorable moments was meeting a teacher from a school with a very fragile population. She told me about a student’s defense and described how, for the first time, this student was able to express herself in a way that highlighted her special talents and creativity. She talked about how the student smiled as she spoke, which was something very rare. Before we parted, the teacher said, “I just want you to know you are saving lives with this.”
Students sang, played instruments, danced, shared quotes, and performed monologues as part of their defense presentations. One even shared his credit score with tremendous pride. He worked at his dad’s body shop, and he knew that this was important for his future.
After that first year, we understood that our students could do more than we ever thought possible. They had special skills, talents, and interests that we hadn’t realized. For the first time, we really knew them–just when they were leaving.
Over the next several months, we spotlighted awesome defenses, held artifact design studios, and discussed the many instructional implications based on what we saw. We created videos of all kinds, from showing great examples of artifacts to providing directions for students on how to upload. For teachers, we created a Defense Debrief to guide their teaching. The Backpack and the defenses provided an invaluable look into classrooms and the kinds of learning our students were doing. While students in some schools had varied and personalized artifacts, students in others seemed to have the same collection of artifacts. In other classrooms, it was pretty obvious that students didn’t really know yet what the Success Skills meant. Many didn’t exactly align with the “tights” outlined in the New Normal. Nonetheless, all had jumped in, and we were so very proud. Students defended, and panelists talked with them about their learning. They asked questions and listened to students’ responses. Every student in a transition year had their moment in the spotlight and had the chance for meaningful conversation and reflection with a group of adults. It was definitely a win.
We Build Momentum, and Covid Has Other Ideas
After this first year of the Backpack of Success, we found that many teachers were on board. They wanted to design awesome learning for students, but there were barriers, including just not knowing where to begin.
We continually looked for ways to build teacher capacity for the kind of learning experiences we knew were vital to our students’ futures. We formed a partnership with 2Revolutions and two local universities to launch an opportunity for teachers to earn a competency-based certificate. The experience for the teachers would be fully competency-based, immersing them into the practice as students themselves and giving them a profound understanding of the process.
We provided many professional learning opportunities focused on project-based learning and inquiry:
We sent teachers to the Deeper Learning Conference in San Diego.
We collaborated with Envisions to create Performance Outcomes for the Success Skills.
We created a Teacher Backpack, a one-stop-shop for resources we deemed to be most essential for teachers in our district.
We continually highlighted the kind of work we saw in schools that embodied the Quality Work Criteria, and we tried to show that although PBL was one vehicle for getting there, it wasn’t the only way.
We worked with all district leaders and role groups to help them understand the purpose and the urgency for change, and we calibrated.
We shared, we elevated through social media channels and hashtags (#JCPSBackpack), and we celebrated.
We started a summer learning program, the Backpack League, that gave teachers the opportunity to try new approaches. They could submit proposals for “adventures” and then, if accepted (we wanted all of them!), they’d be able to keep the materials they ordered to use in their classrooms during the school year.
Then, we had a pandemic.
Once the shock had faded and reality began to set in, we worked frantically to flip our system from one that had been behind with technology to one that was fully functioning in the virtual world. Not only did students need devices and internet access, our own resources had to be converted. Stopping to think too long about what needed to be done was completely overwhelming, so we never stopped.
Just as with the implementation of the Backpack, our teams came together and somehow pulled it off. Within weeks, while many other districts not nearly our size continued to struggle across the nation, we were rolling. Students had Chromebooks and hotspots, and teachers who weren’t already using Google Classroom got a crash course. Thanks to the creation of a district Digital Learning Channel, our teachers could learn on-demand about that as well as many other aspects of virtual teaching.
Although we’d gained tremendous momentum with the Backpack the previous year and during the first half of 2019-20, the superintendent and I agreed that now was not the time to push. The last thing we wanted was to cause more stress for our already overwhelmed teachers and leaders.
It’s likely that some thought the pandemic was the end of the Backpack. It had a great start but it was still just a start. We had plans for our next steps, but they’d been surpassed by the immediate need.
Against all odds and despite the tremendous strain on teachers, staff, and students, we began to see additions to our district-wide Defense Calendar, the site where schools added their defense schedules so panelists could sign up to participate. Was it possible that despite the pandemic’s challenges, members of our community had seen enough value to keep it going, even when it wasn’t required? They had. Not all, but many. To us, this was significant.
The students, who had learned about virtual presenting right alongside their teachers, were extraordinary. They could share their screens and move between slides and videos with ease. Interestingly, the quality of the defenses seemed even better than before. Students had much to say and really good artifacts to share. They’d had to be creative, and we saw more artifacts resulting from spending more time at home.
Some talked about cooking. Others talked about working and helping to support their families. They talked about helping younger siblings with their on-line classes. They didn’t have the traditional academic measures to discuss, as many students did that first year. Instead, they found new ways to represent their growth and goals. The virtual context required students to be more independent, and their defenses were better because of it. During some of these defenses, I was privileged to be joined by world-renowned educational scholar and leader, Michael Fullan, as well as Justin Wells from Envisions (instrumental in the development of our work). In the face of unexpected adversity and using technology that had been completely unfamiliar a few months earlier, these students persevered. I couldn’t have been more proud.
Next in Leading for Deeper Learning: Part 4, Outcomes and Reflections
