Holiday at EKU

We got 99% highly qualified teachers in Kentucky.
But why is it we've still got high schools
that have a 50% graduation rate?
--Terry Holliday

EKU student Jason Williams asks a question of Commissioner Terry Holliday.
In background left is Holliday's wife Denise chatting with
former Fayette County principal Judy Boggs,
now working with Ky Center on Instructional Discipline.

Wednesday, Terry Holliday was our guest speaker in EDF 203: Schooling and Society, which I team teach with June Hyndman. Watch the Commissioner's chat on streaming video at EKU (57:00).

Here are some snippets from the Commissioner:

On Technology in the Classroom

Every one of you, I bet, have a cell phone...Think about all the ability you have to retrieve information, share it with each other, edit information, and do the work in the classroom with your cell phones or a laptop. But what we do with students when they come in the door, is we tell them to slow down...We're still teaching 18th century style in a 21st century classroom. So I encourage you as professors, and I encourage you as teachers to figure out what makes a good teacher for 21st century learning.

On Highly Effective Teachers

Here's what's going to happen. You're going to go out and get that job teaching. And we're going to track you back to your university preparation program. We're going to provide the professors ...with data that tells them how effective you are as a teacher.

On Evaluating Highly Effective Teachers

Now, here's the thing that we cannot let happen: We cannot let it happen that the only measure we look at is performance on standardized tests.

On NCLB

No Child Left Behind, if it's done one thing, it's let us know which children aren't getting it. But what it's done probably more than anything - and many professors and many researchers will tell you this - there is a concern that maybe No Child Left Behind actually dumbed down America.

On Testing and Program Reviews

I am extremely concerned that we cannot test your creative ability with a standardized test....Everybody wants to take the easy way out. Everybody wants to say, well, let's just measure effectiveness with standardized tests....

How many of you want to teach [something in the arts]? Ah. Sorry. We can't measure your effectiveness. We don't have a standardized test for you. We got a thing called program review. And we're not real sure what we're going to put in that yet, but we'll figure it out by the time you guys get to teaching. So those of you guys who are teaching reading, math science or social studies, it's simple. We're going to hire and fire you based on how well you do off those standardized tests. All you other people, you might slide a little bit because, you know, it's going to be a little bit more subjective.

We can't let that happen. You're coming into teaching in the near future and will be impacted by this, so I need your help today with the types of questions you might ask...What would teacher effectiveness look like?

On Teachers

Don't tell me teachers don't make a difference. Teachers are the only thing that make the most difference. I can tell you that we shouldn't be spending our time repainting the Cadillac. We ought to be spending our time focusing on helping you guys be great instruction people. And principals need to be great instruction leaders. Just reshaping and making magnet schools and schools of choice and this, that, and the other - none of that's going to work unless you change what happens in the classroom.

On Assessing Creativity and Problem Solving

[Holliday once asked the head of the Research Triangle Park, NC] How do you assess creativity, problem solving and critical thinking [in your employees]? He said, 'We do it with...game-based simulations.' ...Why can't we develop game-based instruction and game-based assessment rather than always relying on paper and pencil tests?

On Photography

Here's the Commish's snapshot of the class for his Facebook page. 'Nuf said. : )

A special thanks to Terry and Denise Holliday for stopping by and spending the day with us at EKU; to Dorie Combs for her continuing support and for shepherding our guests around campus; Janna Vice for her help in planning the day's activities; Bill Phillips for organizing meetings, events and topics for the day; June Hyndman and Rebecca Sears for their help in ramping up EDF 203 this year; and our colleagues Kim Naugle, Billy Thames, James Dantic, and Rande Jones for their assistance. And special thanks to President Doug Whitlock for his very supportive comments to our students:

Now, I want to say some nice things about the students in this room. I was very proud of the quality and depth of the questions that our students asked in here today because I think it is both reflective of how serious you are about this preparation to become teachers, but it's also a great testimony to the job our faculty is doing here exposing you to what some of the real issues in education today. That was a feel good moment for me, so thanks.