Message from the President
by John Correll, NAPSA President
I have returned from the 41st annual NAPSA Conference held in Myrtle Beach, SC from October
22 – 25, 2006 energized and very excited about the professional state of NAPSA and pupil services in general. The conference workshops, organized by President-Elect and Conference Chairperson Pam Potter, reflected a thoughtful theme of excellence in education, teaching and learning, and gave food for thought regarding the role of pupil services in the provision of that excellent education. These days, pupil services cannot be considered ancillary to general education, but must play a major role in leveling the playing field for all students.
There are many models of instruction that are out there, and one that I am fond of is the Understanding by Design model as described by Grant Wiggens and Jay McTighe, who have written a number of publications on this topic for ASCD.
In this model, the first step is to “begin with the end in mind,” by identifying the desired learning targets or outcomes for our students. In the accountability-tinged environment that we all work in today, these desired outcomes are often our state learning objectives or standards. These standards proscribe measurable outcomes that we strive for all students to attain.
The second step involves identifying the “evidence” that a student has achieved the desired learning target. This step involves the whole field of assessment and student reporting, and mandates that our assessments be of high quality and truly measure a student’s progress on the desired outcome. Many assessment experts identify two broad types of assessment: formative assessments for learning (classroom assessments designed to give quick feedback to guide instruction) and summative assessments of learning (high stakes periodic assessments that give broad system feedback at a point in time.
The third stage involves designing excellent instructional activities that directly lead toward accomplishment of the learning objectives. This is where the “rubber meets the road” of education- do the learning experiences we provide for our students provide them with a legitimate opportunity to attain the most important objectives we have previously identified. Given that we have only about 1000 hours per year of instructional time with our students, we must make sure that our efforts are aligned to the most important desired outcomes for them.
A final phase that Wiggens and McTighe do not directly talk aboutare the needed supports for students who do not “get it” through the normal process of the provision of instruction in a school district. This type of needed support is what Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor from UCLA talk about as the “enabling component” of education. While the term “enabling” is often used in a different sense, in this regard it refers to the processes we have in place for getting students help that need it. Of course, this is where Pupil Services fit in and is the hallmark of our work.
In closing, the point is, of course, that Pupil Service professionals need to continually strive to make sure their contributions are fully aligned toward the mission of excellence in learning for all students-and their unique and vital contribution toward that end.