New View Publications and the Alliance for the Study of School Climate invite you to the

"Transformative Connected School System Seminar" Marina Del Rey, CA * February 13-14, 2013
The TCS Model, A Connected School principles and practices, and the Alliance for the Study of School Climate Assessment Instruments (SCAI) used in the TCS System are currently being used by the US, California, and Michigan Departments of Education, and in a growing number of schools nationally. Transformative Classroom Management and Connected Schools are also being used as the foundation of Title I programs in many of the top rated districts in the country. A paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), April 2012.

John Shindler
jshindl@calstatela.edu

Albert Jones, A Dee Williams, Clint Taylor, Hermenia Cadenas

California State University, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90032

I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend the TCS System (TCSS) Conference. The presenters were fabulous and being able to address real life school situations was an added bonus. This conference solidified the data that indicates that in order to have a successful and long lasting change in schools there has to be a systems change. This system drives accountability for learning to staff and students. It provides a road map where persistently failing schools can become highly successful schools where teachers teach and students are engaged in their learning. TCSS also addressed the need for a school climate assessment to drive the transformation in the systems change. I view TCSS as a valuable part of school improvement and the S3 (Safe and Supportive Schools Grant) initiative and believe it to be of great value for all S3 teams. - Lisa Coney, Saginaw, Michigan

Inciting Something Better than Best Practice: Taking a Closer Look at the Relationships among Classroom Management Practice, School Climate and Student Achievement
Introduction As teacher educators, we are committed to the improvement of teacher practices and methods that increase student academic achievement. To this end we are constantly investigating and evaluating practices that get results, often called best practices. Since the 1960s when we made a national commitment to the education of all children regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and gender, we have also been investigating the preconditions necessary for improved academic achievement. We have engaged is a great deal of research investigating non-school preconditions such as poverty, family structures, and English language acquisition. Additionally, we tended to add to these givens or school preconditions such things as school structure, school leadership, and student behavior. The contention that student behavior is a precondition for increased academic achievement has in many respects guided the development of the field of classroom management to this point. The assumption is that when the teacher obtains an acceptable level of control the result will be the order necessary for teaching and in turn learning. It follows then that any methodologies that obtain order will lead to more student achievement. The findings of this study of thirty (30) urban schools

For more information on TCSS, facilitator bios, resources, please visit our website: http://transformativeconnectedschoolsystem.com

"Transformative Connected School System Seminar" Marina Del Rey, CA * February 13-14, 2013

suggest that the assumption that more control inevitably leads to more learning is to a great degree ill-conceived. When examined more carefully what can be seen is that different kinds of classroom management practices will produce very different levels of student achievement and school climate. The data point to a larger contention that classroom management practices do not simply have the effect of producing the conditions for learning but are essential teaching practices that in themselves will lead to greater or lesser student achievement. It may be true that order as an isolated variable does tend to relate positively with more learning, but as this paper will show, attempts to promote order can and do achieve vastly different outcomes. In fact, most classroom management practices can be inferred to be an attempt to create order in some form. The findings of this study show that some of these attempts contribute to the low achievement and poor climate in many schools. Moreover, the study found that those practices that do produce reliably high levels of achievement to be both predictable and explainable. In this present age of accountability, educators are being encouraged to implement whatever is necessary to achieve higher student achievement. And given the goal of student achievement, there is a great deal of support for the contention that effective classroom management and discipline practices will contribute to more success. Research has consistently shown a relationship between effective classroom management and student achievement (Emmer, Evertson and Worsham, 2003). Wang, Haertel, and Walberg (1993) conducted a metaanalysis of studies on student achievement. Of the 228 variables that they identified in their examination, classroom management practices were found to be the most predictive of student achievement. Moreover, Shindler, Jones, and Williams (2010) found classroom management and discipline to be the most predictive of both school climate as well as student achievement from the eight climate dimensions measured. To read more of this paper, please visit our website: http://transformativeconnectedschoolsystem.com

tend to lose efficacy over time, and ultimately leave little sustained effect. What is a real problem? A real problem is any action, behavior, pattern, practice, system, value, or psychology that is occurring that is leading to some form of dysfunction. In essence everything that occurs in a school is a distinct phenomenon, but all phenomena are inter-related, so no problem exists in isolation. To get at what the real problems are in a school we need to ask the fundamental question What is causing the unwanted condition? We may need to keep asking that question again and again, until we get to the root cause. Often we know we are at the root cause, when after asking a series or why, what and how questions, we find ourselves saying ah ha! The closer our solutions come to dealing with root causes the more effective they will be. Real problems can come from anywhere, but most of them are created within the school, and this is convenient because those are the ones that we are in the best position to solve. What is a symptom? A symptom is the result of a real problem. Symptoms are what happens when the pattern, value, practice, or repetitive action has played itself out and causes something that we identify as unwanted. Symptoms are usually more obvious than the real problem. The Real Problem with Trying to Solve Symptoms. When our assessment of an unwanted condition leads us to the conclusion that the symptom is the problem, we tend to try to fix the symptom directly. The results are (no pun intended) problematic. When we try to treat a symptom too often it leads to an effort to make a direct, external and/or controlling intervention. These can take the form of bribing, coercing, begging, manipulating, and/or conning students into either doing more or less of something. The problem is that 1) these interventions do not work very well to change behavior, 2) they keep us mired in the lower levels of perception, 3) they send a collective reference/R to students that they are irresponsible and untrustworthy, and that in essence the adults in the building care more about their own convenience than the welfare of the students, and 4) they not only do not solve the real problems but more often create a new set of

TCSS Seminar Discussion: Real Problems vs. Symptoms

When our interventions/efforts address real problems we are more likely to get meaningful, sustainable and long lasting results. If they deal with only the symptoms of our real problems, we are more likely to produce band-aides that take a great deal of energy to put into place and then

real problems.
Copyright 2012 by TCSS. All rights reserved

Transformative Connected School System Seminar February 13-14, 2013, Marina del Rey, California The Pathway to Higher Achieving Schools

Faculty for the Seminar

Perry Good, John Shindler and the TCSS faculty facilitators. http://transformativeconnectedschoolsystem.com/speakers For twenty years Perry Good has been leader of A Connected School initiative, working with educators in the implementation of A Connected School principles and practices, keys to creating safe, supportive, and higher achieving schools. John Shindler, Professor of Education at California State University and Co-director of the Alliance for the Study of School Climate, is one of the leaders of the movement to focus on school climate as the fundamental ingredient for student achievement and school improvement.

Conference Dates, Location, Registration

Registration and Information: Call (800)441-3604 Fax (919)942-3760 Mail registrations to: New View Publications, PO Box 3021, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3021 Visit the website: http://transformativeconnectedschoolsystem.com/\ Date: February 13-14, 2013, Private Consultation Day: February 15, 2013 Location: Marina del Rey Hotel, Marina del Rey, California. We have reserved a block of rooms at special rates: single or double occupancy rooms are $129 per night, single or double occupancy rooms with a water view are $139 per night. You may register directly with the hotel by calling the hotel at (800) 882-4000 and referring to New View Publications' room block. http://www.marinadelreyhotel.com/ Cost: $450 per person. $400 if made before January 10, 2013. Continental breakfast, lunch and course materials are provided in cost. Additional cost for Private consultations. Additional information: February 15 facilitator/school participant consultations will be targeted specifically to the school or school system needs of each participant. To individualize your consult and for pricing, please contact us. A limited number of private consultations are available.

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